A/N: Hello, people!
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Summary: Rubatosis: the unsettling awareness of ones own heartbeat. But the legend goes a little further than that. When you feel it, you have a crush, and when it draws you like a magnet to another, you have a soulmate. Yuuri and Victor are in for some surprises.
-This was inspired by the animated short film, 'In a Heartbeat'.
It's adorable and the whole idea of the heart popping out of
the boy's chest and basically following his crush around was
so cute! So I worked part of the plot of the film, with the word
Rubatosis, and voila! A new soulmate AU.
-I suggest watching In a Heartbeat. It's adorable.
Rubatosis was described as an unsettling awareness of ones of heartbeat. And Yuuri had never actually thought he would experience such a phenomenon. But indeed he was. And it was because of the silver-haired tenshi skating across the television screen.
Yuuri placed a hand over his heart. He could feel it pounding.
Th-thump. Th-thump. Th-thump.
All because of Victor Nikiforov. All because he was the most beautiful and amazing person that Yuuri had ever laid eyes on. And Yuuri… he was besotted long before he knew what the word meant. Not like with Yuuko. The thumps had been low when he'd first met her, so he'd assumed he'd imagined it. This was different.
The day his friend Yuuko introduced him to the existence of Victor Nikiforov, ended up with Yuuri holding his chest for hours afterward. He was bewildered, and amazed, and impressed. And he was completely smitten.
It was a natural sensation, he'd learned in his younger years. The way to know if you had a genuine crush on someone, was to check if you were experiencing Rubatosis. It had always been such, and the fact had spread over the past several centuries.
However, there was even more. Rubatosis, which was considered a sign of love in a way, had another level than just simply beating erratically. In Japan it was said that Amaterasu had gifted mortals with the ability to know their soulmates. All they had to do was wait for their hearts to show them the way.
And the thing was, their hearts literally showed them the way!
Yuuri had seen it when he was very little. Maybe six or seven. He'd been in his ballet class with Minako-sensei and some of her other students, when a teen had walked in. He and one of the older girls had both stared each down for several seconds, hands over their chests. Suddenly, Akira seemed to lose any control of her body as she was suddenly yanked forward by an invisible force.
The teen also seemed to be under the same control. And the two met, chests pressed tightly together and breathing erratic.
There had been nothing else. Also, both ended up getting married a few years later, having been crushing on each other for years already.
Basically, the heart acted as a magnet. Any time someone experienced Rubatosis, it always came with the possibility of the person in question becoming your soulmate. No one knew what decided soulmates, since some had lost their's and managed to find new ones, but it was just a universal thing that they didn't question much any longer.
Rubatosis could evolve at any time, into something more. And if you were near enough to your crush, your heart decided the rest. Or so the legends said.
Victor Nikiforov smiled at his fans, watching as many of them grasped at their chests where their hearts were no doubt trying to beat right out of their cages. It had been like this for many years. Of course people would fancy him. He was attractive, talented, and famous. That would always draw people in no matter what.
Unfortunately, Victor had never felt his own heartbeat. That meant that he'd never had a crush on anyone. And that was fine, he'd been quite dedicated to his career for many years to really consider it in depth. But there were whispers. Whispers that said that because Victor was so perfect and amazing at everything he did, no one could ever be his perfect match.
Personally, he was slightly offended. After all, it was a rumor started by fans who tried to justify the fact that they weren't drawn to Victor the way soulmates would bring each other together. No one lost their footing and found themselves flying across the room to attach themselves to him. But just because none of them were for him, didn't mean that there wasn't someone out there that he needed, who was perfect for him. Romantic or otherwise.
While he liked attention, the pedestal was kind of lonely. And just once he'd like to know what it felt like for his heart to go crazy because of someone else.
It seemed, however, that that kind of day was afar off. So until then, Victor would dedicate himself to his training, and his choreography. After all, Stammi Vicino needed to be perfect if he wanted to impress the audience. And skating about what he never had but desperately wanted, surely fit the situation very well.
There was a problem! There was a very big problem! His heart was beating too quickly, his breath was coming in short gasps, and he felt ill. All of it at once didn't really help him at present because he was trying to not mourn the death of his beloved poodle who he had named after his long-time crush. He was trying to keep it together.
It wasn't working. Too much. Being close to Victor was one thing, but adding on his apprehension when facing the crowd, the fear of failure, and the sadness from Vic-chan's death, and Yuuri was a mess. And not even a 'hot mess' as hisfriend Phichit loved to say.
He was a wreck. Victor's stunning performance seen live didn't even help him!
Coach Celestino tried to be supportive. He smiled and patted Yuuri's back comfortingly, but that wasn't enough. It wouldn't ever be enough.
Yuuri's day only go worse from there on out. The big day ruined.
Victor turned to look at the skater who was staring him down from several feet away. He recognized the face, though the glasses were an unexpected addition. Still, the Japanese skater, who was a fan of his judging by his transitions and sequences, wasn't a stranger in a sense. They'd never spoken before, but Victor paid attention.
If he made it to the GPF, he was obviously one of the best skaters in the world. Even if he somehow fell to last place from third after a decent Short Program. Katsuki Yuuri had made it in his first run through the Grand Prix circuit, and not many could claim that. Not even Victor. Of course he would pay attention to the other in order to spot weaknesses and strengths!
However, it seemed he wasn't the only one watching, since Katsuki was staring at him with wide eyes, hand over his heart. And when Victor turned to give him his undivided attention and asked if he wanted a photograph, he got a reaction that wasn't exactly… expected.
He knew the position well enough. A lot of people fancied him after all. But he hadn't expected for someone who seemed to be trying to force his heart to shut up, to turn and walked away. No one had ever done that before, and he grew concerned when the boy hunched over more and more as he shuffled away as quickly as he could.
Was there something he wasn't aware of?
Katsuki's coach forced him to come to the banquet. It was probably the greatest and worst thing to have ever happened. It all depended on who was asking and who was answering. Victor would swear it was the best night ever. Others might not agree.
It had started off boring like all other banquets, but then… then it got crazy!
As he'd been concerned, there was nothing wrong with him watching his fellow skater in order to gauge his mood. He'd looked downtrodden and completely unapproachable. Victor wanted to know what was wrong, but was also a little scared to just talk to someone who had seemed so depressed.
Instead, he watched as Yuuri drank glass after glass of champagne. The number of empty flutes left on the table could no longer be counted form where he stood, but sixteen was the number he reached before losing count. So 16+ glasses ended up leaving Yuuri more smashed than even Victor had ever gotten.
But his attitude had done a one-eighty! He turned, ripped his tie off, and proceeded across the room where he challenged Yuri Plisetsky to a dance off. He dared the boy to 'prove his supposedly superior skills' and said that it would 'determine who was the better Yuri'.
Yurachka got soundly thrashed when Yuuri busted out some shocking moves to the music Mila had agreed to play for them. It escalated from there, where Chris produced a few unexpected items, and the banquet went from stifling and boring, to pumped and exciting! The music banging in their ears and bodies swaying on the improvised dance floor.
And from watching Katsuki Yuuri dance on his own for a moment, Victor felt it. That small th-thump in his chest.
Th-thump.
There it was again.
Th-thump.
It was so strange.
TH-THUMP!
And so insistent!
Yuuri turned and sent him a flirtatious look as he seemed to float across the floor and take up Victor's hand. "Dance with me."
And so Victor danced. They challenged each other and teased and flirted, and it was great! Victor felt alive and wonderful, and the pounding in his chest seemed to only escalate until he could no longer control it. Because Katsuki Yuuri was smiling up at him, eyes glittering with glee and face flushed from intense exertion.
No need for speaking between them. Yuuri could understand his movements even before Victor finished moving. They were in sync. Sympatico. And in his ears, above the music and the ringing laughter, Victor could hear the beating of his heart getting stronger. Could feel it in his chest, begging to be released.
Yuuri held him, dipped him, spun him around. They laughed. They swayed. And they just had a good time.
Victor didn't even have a chance to be jealous when Yuuri went off to beat Chris at a pole dancing contest. He didn't know where the pole came from, but it was there, and Yuuri was stripping alongside Victor's friend.
No jealousy was needed because Yuuri stared at him very blatantly the entire time, caressing himself and the pole and doing things that Victor's hadn't even thought possible, but he found them so erotic! Yuuri looked good as he spun around, and Victor's entire body seemed to sway in his direction, and he could barely keep himself centered enough to remain on his feet.
Rubatosis Stage 2: Magnetism, as the scientists had called it.
Yuuri returned to him, his atrocious, blue tie looped around his head and his white shirt held out expectantly. "Help?"
He helped. Unfortunately, the buttons were mostly gone so it was askew, but it covered him well enough. Only his underwear and legs were visible now. They needed to find his trousers.
"We should have a dance off of our own!" said Yuuri with a smile as he brought a hand up to his chest. "I've always wanted to dance with you and it's really fun."
His heart was soaring.
"If I win, you'll come to Japan and be by coach. Okay?"
What?
"My family runs an onsen and you can stay forever."
And suddenly the two feet of space between them was gone as they squished together unexpectedly, and Victor could feel both of their heartbeats. Both slightly out of time with each other, but incredibly powerful. Any attempt at pulling away had their bodies pressing together ever harder than before.
Stage 2 was complete.
It was complete!
Victor had a soulmate! He'd developed a sudden crush and then said crush ended up being his perfect match!
"Be my coach, Victor!"
With the way Yuuri was looking at him, Victor was ready to be anything. Absolutely anything. He was so lucky!
But… he wasn't going to make it easy. What fun would it be if there was no challenge?
"Only if you win, Yuuri," he teased, enjoying the spark that entered those caramel eyes and the breathtaking smile that followed.
"Then I'll make sure to always win so you can stay with me forever."
His heart might as well have exploded! Victor would always stay no matter what!
Yuuri won, much to his delight. He'd need to make plans and talk with Yakov. But everything would be fine.
And Victor, in his ever brilliant mind, even made sure that Yuuri would never forget their evening. Past the photos and videos that many people had taken, he'd brought his soulmate up to his hotel room and tucked him into his bed. Victor proceeded to spend the rest of the night reveling in the fact that his heart hadn't betrayed him, and that there was actually someone out there who was deemed perfect for him, by whatever divine being existed.
He wasn't alone.
"Thank you," he whispered whole-heartedly.
Th-thump.
A/N: Another is done!
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