Yuri on Ice, "A Glimpse of You" (Victor/Yuuri)

[melodytree]

Pairing/characters: Victor/Yuuri, Hasetsu characters
Rating: G
Contains: N/A
Summary: Yuuri is ten when he first feels the connection to his soulmate, twelve when he gets to find out who is on the other end. Victor is nice and has a dog and skates more beautifully than anyone. Yuuri likes talking with him through their connection, but he also badly wants to meet him.
Notes: Soulmate AU. Written for Aeiouna for Soul Exchange 2017.

Yuuri is ten when the connection first whispers into existence. It's so vague it takes him a while to figure it out – it's not like how Mari or Yuuko or Takeshi or his parents have all described theirs, something that came on suddenly, a little shock and knowing that there was another person somewhere out there. When he mentions it to Minako, though, she tells him that hers came on like his did, slowly, and that her connection didn't fully bloom for six years afterward.

It's very strange at first – snatches of conversation he can't make out when he's alone in his room, working on homework. The sensation of something touching his hand when there definitely isn't. Random moments of emotion – usually joy, occasionally frustration – when there's no reason for him to feel anything in particular. As the months go by, Yuuri gradually learns to separate them out from his own feelings, and eventually, it retreats to mostly murmurs in the back of his head sometimes, too quiet to make out.

It's impossible not to wonder who is at the other end. Yuuri thinks it's another boy – it feels like a boy, somehow – but that's about all he can figure out from the tiny fragments that leak into his head. Yuuri hopes he lives in Kyushu, so that it's easier to meet him, and he hopes he likes dogs and skating and video games like he does, and he hopes he's nice and easier to talk to than his classmates.

Yuuri is twelve when, on a warm spring evening, bent over his English homework, he realizes something in-between two difficult exercises. The whispers in the back of his mind aren't any louder than usual, but they're sharper. There are words there, real words, and he drops his pencil to listen to them with fascination. It sounds like the person on the other end is talking at someone, maybe himself, with no interruptions. He sounds happy, and the voice Yuuri can hear is pleasant, smooth, deeper than his own but not by too much.

The only thing, is, while he can hear all the words for once, they're not in Japanese. They're not in English, either.

Yuuri swallows his sudden panic of what if he can't even speak the same language as his soulmate and tries pushing at it, like he's read about, like he can almost see his parents doing sometimes. Hello?

The voice abruptly stops. There's a long stretch of silence. Has he messed it up? That shouldn't be possible. But then there comes a reply, English, Hello!, and Yuuri feels relief leach the tension from his muscles. What's your name? the voice is asking already, mine is Victor Nikiforov, and Yuuri can't help but press fingers to his smile, this just feels so right, so easy.

Western order, he thinks, Yuuri Katsuki.

Where are you from? I'm in Russia, Saint Petersburg. Yuuri doesn't know where that is, and he hastily scrawls it across the top of his English homework, not caring if he spells it wrong.

Japan, he replies. He doesn't know how to say 'south' in English and he isn't sure if someone from Russia would recognize 'Kyushu' or any other markers Yuuri can use to explain exactly where. He wonders who Victor was talking to, but Victor is already replying to his question before he can rearrange the words into English.

He says something Yuuri can't quite understand, and then an image flashes before his eyes, momentary but vivid. It's a dog, a large one, a breed that Yuuri recognizes. Poodle!

There's a sensation of amusement, like Victor is laughing, and then it cuts off as a headache slams down. Yuuri leans his head on arms, folded on his desk. It hurts a lot, and he hates the sudden silence in his own head, but at the same time, he's giddy from even that very short conversation.

Victor Nikiforov. Yuuri peeks out long enough to write it down on his homework, too. He's too tired for English letters and writes it in katakana instead, stares at it for a moment before the throbbing behind his eyes gets to be too much and he drops his head again.

There's so much more he wants to ask. Like how old Victor is, and if that was his dog, and what he looks like.

His mom eventually comes up to tell him to help clean before dinner and finds him sitting there, head still hurting. "Yuuri?" she asks, rubbing his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

He blinks up at her. Forming words is still hard. "I got to talk to him."

"Him?" After a moment, she brightens. "Ah, the person on the other end of your red string?"

"His name is Victor and he lives in Russia!"

"My!" She smiles more widely. "I bet you got excited and tried to talk too much, didn't you? Your father and I were the same way. Here, let's get you some medicine and you can tell us about it."

But she still wants him to clean first – it wouldn't be fair to make Mari do it all herself. The medicine doesn't kick in until they've all sat down to eat, but then he finally gets to tell them what little he knows.

"Russia?" says Mari. "He's pretty far away, then."

Yuuri deflates at the reminder. Russia's really big, isn't it? There's parts close to Japan, but don't most people live in the part right next to the rest of Europe? Europe is half the world away. That's probably an expensive plane ticket. So it could be a long time before they can meet each other, and then if they really do like each other and want to get married someday and everything, they're going to have to figure out where to live. Yuuri doesn't know anything about what Russia is like.

"But how exciting," says Dad, pulling Yuuri from his thoughts. "You should see if he has an email. And maybe one summer we'll see if we can swing a family trip, hm?"

Mari lights up. "All of us?"

"We'll see," says Mom. Yuuri tries not to get his hopes up too far – the onsen keeps itself afloat, and he knows his parents make some money off land in the city, so it may not even be out of the question, but they've never taken an international vacation. The farthest from home they've been was a trip to Kyoto. "And you said he has a dog?" and at his family's insistence, he tries to describe it for them based on his memory of that fleeting image.

After dinner, he washes the dishes with Mari. "You know," she says, handing him a bowl, "Minako-sensei spent time in Russia. Maybe she can tell you more about it."

"She did?"

"Russia has a lot of ballet, remember? I don't remember the details, but she's mentioned it before."

So, with the connection between him and Victor still sore and closed the next day, he bugs Minako for information after their lesson. He has already looked up Saint Petersburg – it's a long way from the only other city in Russia he can name, Moscow, and it's on the ocean, like Hasetsu.

She makes him tea and tells him about what it's like to be there, a little, how it really is cold in winter and stories she has from the times she danced there. It sounds like a nice city, as far as he can tell from what she says.

It's several days more before the connection opens up again. Victor is the one who pokes at it first, this time. Hello?, he hears while he's supposed to be cleaning the baths. He drops the sponge with a gasp, attention completely taken. There's a wave of mild concern, too.

I'm okay, are you? he sends back.

Warmth. A flash of the dog again, this time sleeping on a bed, a little longer than before. Her name is Makkachin.

Cute!

They mutually, wordlessly agree to leave it there for the moment – apparently neither of them wants that kind of headache again. But they send more snippets at each other the next day, and the next, until it becomes a regular thing they do. Yuuri wishes he and Victor could have a full connection already, like his parents do, so they could have whole conversations in their heads, even though he knows that it takes time to develop fully. But he and Victor haven't even traded email addresses a month in, because in the moment, everything else seems more important to get across first.

Victor doesn't talk about his family, but Yuuri tells him about his, sends images (which is hard, Victor seems much better at it) and I have a mother and a father and an older sister. They trade ages and birthdays – Victor is sixteen, almost exactly four years older, which explains why he feels so much older than Yuuri even though it's really not a large difference, it wasn't just that his English is better. They soon trade images of themselves in the mirror, and Yuuri's heart jumps when he sees Victor for the first time, wishes it had lasted longer, because he has these bright blue eyes and – was that long hair? It was so pale, shining in the bright light of Victor's bathroom. And he was smiling, just for Yuuri.

And one day Victor happens to mention the word 'skate' in a sentence that Yuuri mostly doesn't understand, and it turns out that he also does ballet and skating. Yuuri feels so lucky. Victor is easy to talk to and he skates and he has a dog, it really is like they were made for each other. If only they didn't live so far apart.

And if only they didn't speak different languages. Yuuri's English grades jump up, both from the extra practice and from his suddenly studying hard so he can tell Victor things, or understand what he says.

The only real downside to their newfound connection is how distracting it is. Because of the time difference, Victor is asleep during his morning classes, but anytime from lunch onward, Yuuri might get flashes of emotion, or words whispered from the back of his skull, and they demand his attention more than any teacher ever could.

What's worse is that even if he tries to not think about them them – which is difficult, he doesn't want to ignore Victor – Victor does not take to being ignored, and he'll just ping Yuuri until he gets a response. The only time he stops is if Yuuri tells him that he's in practice; he doesn't seem to care as much if Yuuri is in class or eating with his parents or trying to do homework, though at least he doesn't bother Yuuri late at night, even when Yuuri has gone out on a long walk to calm his nerves and would like to be bothered. (He could try prodding Victor, but what if he's eating with his family, or doing his own homework? Which – Yuuri knows it's not actually that big of a deal, but he can rarely bring himself to do it anyway.)

Yuuri tries to be a bit more conscious of Victor's schedule, especially after the one time about a week and a half after their connection opened where he was in skating practice and fell apart halfway through a jump because Victor called his name. (Victor apologizes later, after wringing the short version of the story out of Yuuri, and gets better at remembering when Yuuri is scheduled to be at the rink or Minako's studio.)

And then a couple of months in, Yuuko pulls him and Takeshi aside after practice, saying she has this video she has to show them, some competitor she likes from the Junior World Championship. Takeshi slumps back on the seat, not looking that interested – but he's sticking around anyway – while Yuuri gulps water down and waits for Yuuko to finish fiddling with the TV. Yuuko is always on top of the latest skating news. Yuuri had actually intended to watch the competition so he could talk about it with her like usual, but alas, there had been dinner and English homework and he'd forgotten the time until it was already over.

When she gets the tape to play, she doesn't even sit down, still in their way, so he can't see the screen at first. "Russia's Victor Nikiforov," she breathes, and Yuuri can't believe his ears. But no, there's a glimpse of silver hair on the screen behind her as she says, "He won the gold in the Junior Worlds with the highest score in history!" and jumps to turn around and face them. "He's so cool!"

Yuuri can't say anything. He can't say anything when Takeshi grumbles. He can't say anything when Yuuko shoves him and tells him to shut up. He can't say anything when Yuuko plonks down between them, smile wide, legs jittering with her excitement, and says, "Just watch, okay? He's amazing."

He knew Victor was a skater, and pretty serious about it – he doesn't talk about his family or school at all, but Yuuri knows the name of his coach and his ballet instructor and at least one of his rinkmates. But he didn't know Victor could skate like this.

Yuuri doesn't think that he's ever seen anything so graceful in his life. Victor comes out of a spiral smiling, then turns right into a split jump, before he glides off across the ice again. The camera zooms in on his face when he tips his head back; his hair follows the spinning motion of his body, and his closed eyes open half-way for just a moment, and he is captivating.

When the video finishes, all he wants is to play it again, and again, and again, to see every line of Victor's limbs under the sleek black costume, to watch the way he moved his hands every second.

Yuuko nudges him, eyes bright. "You liked him too, right?"

"I didn't know – he was – I didn't know Victor was a real skater!"

Yuuko blinks at him. Takeshi goes from slipping away to staring at him. He gets the story out, and at first Yuuko is mad at him for not telling her that he was already speaking with his soulmate, even in bits and pieces. But then she starts to pester him for more about Victor, and she's not angry with him at all anymore.

When they have to leave, she lends him the video. He tucks it into his backpack carefully. He's not entirely sure he'll want to give it back. (He will! Yuuko is his best friend. But he might keep it for a long time first.)

He lingers behind near the Ice Castle as they go home, because it's hard for him to walk and concentrate on this at the same time. You were really beautiful, he tells Victor, senses amusement and confusion at the same time from him. I saw – on the TV. In Sofia. Your skating. It was really really beautiful. He wishes he had more words to tell him these things, how his hair is so pretty and shiny, how his expressions were gorgeous, how perfect everything was from start to finish. He tries, anyway, stumbles along his sentences, aware that he's probably courting another headache.

He probably sounds like an idiot, but Victor just radiates happiness. Sometime I'll come to Japan, and I'll show you. You can show me your skating, too.

Yuuri wishes they didn't, but they have to stop there; there's already a throbbing behind his eyes. He's probably just dumped a headache on Victor, too. At least it was while he was saying nice things.

As he walks back home, there's only one thing on his mind: Yuuri wants, more than anything, to skate like that. And to skate with Victor. To skate with Victor like that.

When the skating season starts up again, Yuuri makes sure to never, ever miss an opportunity to watch Victor skate, no matter how much he has to fight with the patrons of the onsen for control of the TV channel. (Most of them eventually give in when one of his parents pops in to mention that Yuuri's soulmate will be competing.) Victor goes quiet around competitions, and Yuuri doesn't dare pester him – he clearly needs to focus all he can on his senior debut, and Yuuri would hate to make him mess up. Occasionally, though, some of Victor's excitement leaks through, and when he finishes, Yuuri can often feel the glow of his joy.

As far as Yuuri can tell, he never gets nervous. Not like Yuuri does, even at his much lower level of competition, so nervous that his stomach aches. Sometimes it goes away when he steps on the ice, and he does fine. Sometimes it doesn't.

He tries to tell Victor about it, but he's no help. I never get butterflies, he says, and Yuuri has to go look that saying up. Just focus on your performance and you'll do fine.

Maybe it's that easy when you're as amazing as Victor is. Yuuri is not amazing, though Victor protests otherwise after the one time Yuuko filmed him and they figured out how to send him the video file.

I wish you were in Russia with me, Victor says one evening soon after, not for the first time. I'm sure Lilia would love you, and we could skate together.

I know, Yuuri says, curling on his bed, feeling unreasonably lonely just as he says it. I dreamed of it last night. Most of the dream has fallen away, as they do, but he sends Victor the last image of it that remains in his mind: the two of them, on an icy pond, Victor laughing and reaching for him.

Victor says things like that a lot, now that they've started to get used to each other. I want to meet you and I wish I could see you and so on in endless variations. Yuuri kind of wishes he wouldn't say it so often, actually, not because he doesn't want to meet Victor, too, but because it makes his heart ache when it was fine the moment before. They'll see each other someday – maybe next summer Victor can visit, or they'll be at the same competition, or his parents will work something out. There's nothing to do for it now but to wait and write and keep pushing their connection.

He does start spending more and more time out of the house, at the dance studio or at the rink. He's getting better, too, if not as fast as he would like – he's nowhere near Victor's level – and moving on to tougher competition. Minako makes him a spare key for her studio, and he likes to go there at night, after his homework is done and he's finished reading the latest interview with Victor he found (even though he knows most of everything that's said in those things already, but if nothing else there's always the pictures). Her studio is quiet, except for him, and working through exercises there always does something good to his head.

And if he's up late enough, he can chat with Victor as he stretches, see snatches of his city and his dog as he walks her through it and whatever it is that he's eating for dinner.

Victor can't visit next summer, as it turns out – Yuuri can feel the disappointment coming off of him, but he's busy with training and sponsorships and a bit of something else he only mentions vaguely – family, maybe? And Yuuri's parent's still haven't mentioned visiting, so there's probably not money for it, so Yuuri doesn't ask. They do get a dog, though, an adorable tiny poodle, like Makkachin but much smaller. Yuuri names him Vicchan and doesn't think to be embarrassed about it until he's sending Victor images of his new puppy and Victor asks what his name is.

I named him after you, Yuuri admits.

Oh, goes Victor, and warmth bubbles up. I'm honored, Yuuri. He's a very cute dog. Almost as cute as Makkachin.

And she's almost as cute as Vicchan, Yuuri says, smiles into Vicchan's fur at the silent laughter from Victo.

The days get hotter and longer, and one afternoon he's trying to take neat notes in class when Victor starts prodding at him.

Yuuri Yuuri Yuuri Yuuri, Victor goes, and he gives up trying to appreciate his last lesson of the day. Not when Victor is this excited about something. Yuuri, did you see? Assignments came out, and I'm going to be at the NHK Trophy! Yuuri has not seen. He perks up, too, and Victor goes on. Yuuri, I could visit you afterward! How do I get to Hasetsu from Tokyo?

It's kind of far from Tokyo.

That's okay. It probably wouldn't be for that long, maybe a day, but Yakov and Lilia already said we could go – I don't think he really wanted to, but Lilia said yes first. How do we get there?

Yuuri promises to look it up later for him, and invites them to stay at Yuutopia. He definitely does not hear a single word for the rest of the lesson, already daydreaming about what he and Victor can do together. Go see the Ice Castle, of course, and maybe Victor will skate for him and Yuuko. Maybe Victor will skate with him. And the ninja castle, and the beach, and all the good places here in Hasetsu.

The first people he tells are Yuuko and Takeshi, right as they get out of school for the day. She nearly faints with joy. Takeshi seems surprised but claps him on the shoulder, smiles at him. "You'll finally get to meet him, huh?"

"I can't believe Victor is going to come to Hasetsu!" Yuuko squeals before he can say anything. "You'll take him to the Ice Castle, right? Do you think he'll skate for you? Can I come watch? Just for a while, then you can have him to yourself again – and it'll be right after your birthday, won't it? It'll be like a present. You're so lucky, Yuuri!" She pouts; her connection is still vague, and neither she nor Takeshi know who's on the other end of their red strings yet.

He nods, because Yuuko really, really likes Victor, too, and lends him magazines that feature Victor and joins him to watch Victor skate, and it would only be for a while. And then Victor will come over to him and leave with him and maybe if nobody's at the park Yuuri can sit and hold hands with him and – why can't summer be over already?

He spends it practicing with more determination than ever, counting down the days until he's going to see Victor.

When the next season begins, he does so well at his first competition that he surprises himself. And it's not that important of a competition, but he scores so well, and sets a new personal best, and he wins comfortably. He can barely hear his coach congratulating him. It feels so good to win. Maybe he can skate like this again, next time, instead of ending up crying in a back room because he crashed halfway through his routine.

Mom's katsudon is delicious, and for the first time he tries to get the taste of it across to Victor, the feel of it, until Victor begs him to stop because dinner isn't finished and you're making me so hungry. And then he says, does that mean you won something? Congratulations! He was already happy, but more warmth blooms in his chest.

It wasn't anything important.

But you still won, didn't you?

The NHK Trophy finally comes, a couple of days after he turns fourteen, and Victor performs beautifully, more so than last year. Yuuko exclaims every time he lands his jumps, every time he comes out of a spin, anytime he shows off his grace or flexibility – so, most of the time he's on the ice. Takeshi complains at her about it, but he waits until Victor is done, and Yuuri may not be making all the noise she is, but he has trouble being coherent when he tries to congratulate Victor afterward. It's all your layback Ina Bauer and that combination and in the end he just sends along You did really well today. He got silver, not gold, but that hardly matters to Yuuri. None of the other competitors measure up so well.

The connection seems stronger now that Victor's physically closer. He feels like he can feel Victor smiling at him.

Thank you, Yuuri. A pause. Now that I'm in Japan, tell me what food I should try. What do you like to eat besides katsudon?

So he tells him, against the background chatter of Yuuko and Takeshi, the patrons of the onsen, Mari and Minako having a quiet talk. He forgets the limits they still have and gets lost in answering Victor's questions. It takes a lot longer than it used to – a real conversation – before he feels a stab of pain behind his eyes. Oh. Oops. Sorry, they both send at once.

Mari breaks off her conversation to ask him if he's okay. "It's just a headache," he tells her. She takes him upstairs to find something for it.

"You were talking with Victor, right? You looked kind of faraway." She shuffles through a shelf full of bottles, turning them around to squint at the labels. "That's what you get for forgetting about the rest of the world, dummy."

He takes the pills and thanks her – it's hard to find what he needs when his head hurts like this. "Did you ever," he starts, stops. Mari doesn't really talk about her red string. Yuuri doesn't know exactly why. Maybe it's just private for her, like there are things of Victor that he doesn't even tell Yuuko no matter what she asks.

"Only once," she says. "The first time. I think everyone does it the first time, but you're supposed to pick up the warning signs after that. Pay more attention, okay? I know you're daydreaming about your romantic future together, but—"

Face burning, Yuuri ducks away to avoid her teasing grin and goes to find his friends again. He isn't even thinking about – well, of course, they're soulmates, that's the usual way for things to go. But he just wants to meet Victor, more than anything, and it would be nice to hold his hand, but they also live in different countries and Victor's really busy and if Yuuri gets good enough he's also going to be really busy, so it's not like they're going to be dating or anything.

Not much longer until that happens. A couple more days, and Victor will be here.

On the afternoon that Victor and his coaches are set to arrive, Minako takes him to the train station to pick them up, since his parents are getting Yuutopia ready for the evening. Victor tells him every time they pass another station, reading the names off the signs. Yuuri follows him on the map above the ticket machines, though he has that line half memorized after taking it so many times.

The closer Victor gets, the more Yuuri's heart rate jumps, and the more difficult it gets to stand still instead of fidgeting with his hands. And then the train is coming in – he can hear it, faintly. He peers over the ticket gates, waiting for a glimpse of Victor.

There he is. Coming up the escalator, glancing over. Yuuri sees his eyes widen, how he jumps up the last few steps to race toward him. Yuuri wants to go to him, too, more than anything, though he barely makes it a few steps before Victor is though the gates and dropping his suitcase to throw his arms around Yuuri.

Yuuri clutches him back. Victor is warm and real under his hands, against his cheek where it's pressed to Victor's neck. Yuuri feels like he can hardly breathe, either from finally meeting him or because of how hard Victor's holding him. "Yuuri," he murmurs, burrowing his face in his hair. "Yuuri, Yuuri."

Yuuri pushes himself farther into his hold, moves his hands across Victor's coat to hug him properly and shuts his eyes. His mind goes quiet; it's just him and Victor, clutching each other. He tries his name out, whispers, "Victor." Victor squeezes him at that.

"Vitya, let the boy breathe."

"He can breathe just fine," Victor says, though he pulls away enough to say it over his shoulder. Yuuri tugs him back, and Victor holds him tighter again.

The moment does eventually pass, and they slowly move away from each other, enough to look at the other's face. Victor stares at him so intently that Yuuri blushes and ducks his head – not all the way, though, he can't look away from Victor's eyes. They really are that shade of bright blue, it's not the photographs. And his smile, it's different from the ones he's seen before, somehow, besides the fact that it's all for him.

"Look at you," Victor breathes. As though he's in awe, when it should be only Yuuri marveling – he's much plainer than Victor is. "Yakov!" he shouts sudden, swinging them around. "Didn't I tell you he was adorable?"

Yuuri recognizes Yakov, who looks much bigger in person than he does through Victor's eyes or on the TV, and who sighs and rubs at his forehead. Next to him is Lilia, who is... having a staring contest with Minako? Well, they're both ballerinas, perhaps they know each other from when Minako went to Russia.

Victor's fingers slide down his arms; one goes to grab his suitcase, while the other goes for Yuuri's hand. It's very warm. Yuuri can feel the blood rushing to his face.

"Are we walking, or...?"

"It's not very far, but Minako-sensei brought her car."

"I want to walk with you," Victor declares, launching butterflies in Yuuri's stomach. The good kind, not the kind that makes him want to throw up while he's waiting for his turn on the ice. Victor twists around again. "Yakov, I'm walking back with him."

"You can leave your suitcase, I'll take care of it," says Minako, breaking off from whatever it is that she's having with Lilia. Victor gives her a bright smile and says a thank-you and a moment later, he's dragged Yuuri out the station.

"It's a lot warmer here than in Tokyo!"

"We're farther south than Tokyo is."

"And a lot farther south than Russia." Victor pulls at his scarf with one hand. He's still holding Yuuri's hand with the other. Yuuri doesn't want to let go, so he doesn't, even though it's kind of embarrassing. The last time he held hands with someone was either with Yuuko or with his sister, a long time ago. And it's not like they're dating or anything.

But Victor doesn't let go, either, so Yuuri just tries to enjoy the feeling of Victor's hand in his as he starts to guide them down the streets of Hasetsu. "Was your trip okay?"

"It was fine." He bumps his shoulder into Yuuri's, gentle. "I felt it when we were getting closer. I couldn't wait to see you." He smiles again, and Yuuri is so distracted by it, by the questions Victor has about the city, that he misses turns they need to make twice.

Victor just seems to like everything. This kind of enthusiasm should be fake, but as far as Yuuri can tell, it isn't. He likes the view of the ocean. He likes that one shopping street with the cute little stores and cafés. He likes the weird statue that Yuuri takes them by. When they finally get to Yuutopia, he loves Vicchan and immediately crouches down to pet him. He loves Mom's cooking. He loves the hot springs, and Yuuri ends up having to persuade him to come out, trying not to stare the entire time.

Yuuri likes this Victor. The one who fumbles with his chopsticks for a couple of minutes before getting the hang of it, who argues with Yakov but not with Lilia, who gets covered in dog hair when he picks up Vicchan. The Victor who wears normal clothes and not just glittering costumes, who isn't ethereal but still very handsome, who happily strips before Yuuri's eyes to try out the baths.

(Yuuri does stare a little. He can't help it. He looks so slim and graceful in his costumes, but he has so much muscle! And he's slim, not like pudgy like Yuuri tends to get.)

He and Mari cleared out an old banquet room to use as a temporary guest room, large enough for a bed and a futon, but Victor follows Yuuri right into his bedroom. "Oh," he says, laughing, when he sees that Yuuri has a poster of him up. He goes to poke at it; Yuuri's cheeks flame behind him. He took down the rest, but that one wasn't coming off the wall correctly earlier; he must have forgotten to come back and finish taking it down. At least it's only the one. "I liked this one. Makkachin did really well with the photographer."

Vicchan is already here – he always sleeps with Yuuri – and Yuuri hides his flush by sitting on the bed and scooping him up. Victor joins him a moment later, plopping down beside him and leaning on Yuuri's shoulder to scratch Vicchan's head. "Careful," Yuuri says, because Vicchan doesn't like it when people get too rough with him, prefers slower pets to enthusiastic head rubs, and Victor's hand gentles. "Tomorrow," he says, and tries not to think about how they only have tomorrow, since Victor's leaving in the evening. "If you want, I can show you around, and then maybe in the afternoon, we could go to the rink."

"Of course," Victor says. "I want to see you skate. You're pretty good, aren't you? You should come train in Russia with me." He smiles again, the bright, wide one. "You'd get even better and we could stay together."

Yuuri's breath catches. Training with Victor, seeing him every day, would be like a dream, and certainly Yakov must be an excellent coach. But Russia's so far away, would his parents even let him? And he hasn't even finished middle school, yet – Yuuri couldn't go to school in Russia, could he, although he doesn't know exactly how this sort of thing works.

All that's if Yakov would even want to take him on as a student, though. Yuuri's decent, but he's not that good. Not yet. Victor's probably just thinks so because he likes Yuuri.

"I'd like that, but I don't know if I could."

"I'll tell Yakov to come by the rink when we've been there for a while. I'm sure he'd like you. He's always mad that I don't do what he says, but you're a lot quieter."

"Only sometimes," Yuuri mutters. He's made his own coach sigh more than once after pulling something she didn't like.

Victor laughs, sending Vicchan scrabbling off of Yuuri's lap and up to his usual sleeping place near Yuuri's pillow. He leans further in, his damp hair falling in front of his shoulders. "So where are you going to take me tomorrow? Your favorite places?"

"I thought you liked surprises."

"Okay," Victor says with another small laugh. "Surprise me." The way he says it, light and happy, pleases Yuuri. He likes being able to make Victor laugh and smile like that.

More of his hair is falling forward. Yuuri starts to reach for one strand without thinking. "Can I?" he remembers to ask.

"Go ahead." So Yuuri slides his fingers down the strand, careful. It's smooth, still wet at the top, but dry at the tips, and in the middle some hairs are still stuck together while others have dried off enough to work themselves free, making it look kind of messy. "When it's dry tomorrow, you can braid it if you want." In his head, there's a sudden assortment of images and feelings, fingers combing through long hair and tugging it into place and shivers of pleasure on his scalp.

Yuuri blinks them away. They've been communicating almost entirely through spoken words since Victor got here, and it's a little dizzying to use both ways at the same time like that. "I don't know how," he says, guessing at what 'braid' means from the image of Victor winding three strands together.

"I'll teach you." He reaches over to run his fingers through Yuuri's hair, and oh, that really does feel nice. "I thought it would be soft! And it's dry already. I bet you hardly have to comb it, too." Yuuri nods, and Victor brushes his hand over his whole head, front to back. "Lucky. I think about cutting mine, but I like the way it looks, and the press would throw a fit. Not that I care, but it would be such a pain. You know how reporters can get."

Yuuri doesn't. Thankfully, Victor switches topics to Japanese food, which is something he can say a lot about, and they stay up for a long time talking. Yuuri absently winds the strand of Victor's hair around his fingers and smooths it out again, while Victor keeps touching him – a hand on his head, sliding around his neck, plucking at the shoulder seam of his shirt.

Eventually, there is a knock on his door. "Yes," Yuuri calls, twisting around. It slides open to reveal Lilia.

"It's time for bed," she says, leveling a look at Victor.

He pouts and throws his arms around Yuuri's shoulders, making him squeak and try not to overbalance from the sudden weight. His hands slip on the blanket, but at least he doesn't fall on Vicchan. "I want to sleep with Yuuri," Victor whines.

Which – nevermind that they shouldn't, the way that Yuuri's heart pounds at the thought, the fact that Yuuri knows he'd never get to sleep if Victor was with him, his bed is too small for the both of them, they would barely fit.

"Vitya," Lilia says, her tone stern. "It is not appropriate. Come to bed."

"Fine," he sighs. He gives Yuuri one last hug before letting him go and sliding from the bed. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night," Yuuri says, "I hope you sleep well."

And then they're gone. Yuuri can hear them murmuring in Russian as they go down the hall. In his head, Victor is still radiating disappointment.

Even alone, with only Vicchan for company, it takes him much longer than usual to fall asleep.

They get an early start – much earlier than Yuuri would have chosen, except Victor shows up in his room and practically pulls him out of bed before he's finished waking. Mom is up, though nobody else seems to be. She fixes them something quick for breakfast, asking about their plans for the day. It feels awkward talking with her in Japanese in front of Victor, who probably can't understand a word, but she doesn't know much English, and Victor doesn't seem to mind. He's too busy with demonstrating how braiding works until Yuuri can follow along.

It takes him a couple of tries to get right. The first time he doesn't divide Victor's hair into thirds properly, and the second he makes it way too loose, afraid of pulling and hurting him. His third try comes out more or less okay. "See, I said it was easy," Victor says as he twists a hair tie on the bottom. "Thank you."

He returns the favor by combing down Yuuri's hair for him. He takes a lot longer than he needs to – Yuuri's hair does not need much convincing to look neat enough – and when Yuuri goes, "Victor?" he rubs harder, laughing slightly as Yuuri squirms. He only stops when Mom comes out with breakfast. She smiles at them as she sets their bowls down.

"Arigatou," Victor chirps at her, making her smile wider despite his terrible pronunciation.

"You're welcome," she says in her heavily-accented English, then switches back to Japanese. "I'm glad you two are getting along so well."

"Did I say it right?" Victor asks when she's gone, and when Yuuri slowly shakes his head, says, "Teach me!"

By the time they finish breakfast, Victor is saying it with a proper long o and has decided to teach Yuuri a few words of Russian. Actually, Yuuri has already taught himself how to read Cyrillic and knows how to read some words – not a lot, because he doesn't have the time to study it properly – but he doesn't know how to say any of it right. It's surprisingly fun, and it feels different from the times that Victor teaches him new English words so they can talk with each other more easily.

It's warmer out today, so they leave their coats unbuttoned as they wander around Hasetsu. Yuuri takes him by his school, and then they go on a detour to the beach with its gray waves and crying gulls, which Victor says sound like the ones in Saint Petersburg. They sit at the edge of the edge of the beach for a few minutes, listening, and then Victor says, "I brought you a present."

"You didn't have to," Yuuri says automatically.

"But I wanted to, even if it's late," and oh, he means for his birthday. "I probably would have brought you something anyway." He sticks his hand in the pocket of his coat and says, "Close your eyes."

He does so. Besides the seagulls and the waves and the wind, he can hear Victor digging something out of his pocket. There's a faint crinkling noise, and then something taps against his mouth. Yuuri opens it, and he can tell instantly that it's chocolate. It's good chocolate, too, the kind best left to slowly melt on the tongue. He makes a little sound at the rich taste and opens his eyes to see Victor smiling at him before he drops the bar in Yuuri's lap.

"Thank you," says Yuuri, once he's swallowed the chocolate. "It's really good." Victor looks pleased. Yuuri can't resist breaking off another small piece, and it feels rude not to offer Victor any, so he break off a piece for him, too, and holds out his hand.

"Don't tell Yakov," Victor says with a little laugh as he takes it, winks at Yuuri before popping it in his mouth. They sit there for a minute longer, enjoying their shared indulgence, and Yuuri thinks about how Victor is turning eighteen later this month and he hasn't gotten him anything. Maybe he can send him something later, though he isn't sure what, yet. When he finishes his piece, Yuuri reluctantly re-wraps the bar before putting it away in his own pocket. He'll try to get through the rest of it slowly; it's a good thing he doesn't have a sweet tooth. He stands up and offers a hand to Victor, who takes it and doesn't let go.

They brush the sand off their coats and turn to climb all the way up the hill up to the castle. Victor is so excited to see it, even when Yuuri tries to explain it's not a real castle, and insists on taking their pictures in front of it.

Afterward, they climb down a bit to sit on the bench with the good view down the hill. "Wow," Victor says, and he takes another picture before coming to sit with Yuuri. "I like your town," he says. "It's nice here."

"Thank you," Yuuri says. It's not really special in any way. There's a few hot springs left, and there are the summer tourists who come to enjoy the fresh wind off the sea. It's not exciting like Tokyo.

He glances down and finds Victor's hand, wraps his own around it. Victor squeezes it and drops his head to Yuuri's shoulder. That can't possibly be comfortable for him, with their height difference, but it feels nice to hold up just a little of his weight.

They sit quietly for a while like that, admiring the view. If he listens closely, he can hear the occasional bit of traffic, a bicyclist on a nearby path, but much louder is Victor's breathing when it huffs across his collar. He can feel Victor's contentment in his head. Is this what it would be like if he did go to Russia to train with him, every day?

When Victor sits up again, he rubs at his neck with his free hand. "Does it hurt?" Yuuri asks.

"Only a little. It's okay. Your shoulder is comfortable."

Yuuri glances away. "It's just my coat."

"No, it's not." Victor pulls his coat half off as Yuuri protests, wriggling, then plunks his head back down. "See?" he says, looking up at him. "It's nice." He sends the feeling as he says it, and it does feel softer than it looks.

"You're going to hurt your neck."

Victor sighs and sits up again to rub it some more. "I wish you would come train with me," he says abruptly, dropping his hand. "You want to, don't you?" He looks at Yuuri, his eyes intent, holds his hand tightly.

"I do." Not just because of Victor, but also because he wants to improve his skating until he's at Victor's level, able to compete with him and everyone else. "But I'd have to ask my parents. I don't know if I could."

"Your parents are nice," Victor says, like that has any bearing on whether or not they could afford to pay for his coaching fees and everything. "I'll show you around and help you do everything, it's not like they have to worry about you being alone."

"Oh." Yuuri hasn't even considered that. Of course he'd be alright, Victor would be there for him. Like how he'll help Victor order food when they go to find lunch.

"So it's fine," Victor says. He squeezes Yuuri's hand again, so tight it almost hurts, then lets go to smooth down a few stray hairs on Yuuri's head. He brushes them off his forehead, his fingers moving slowly. His eyes are still looking right into Yuuri's. When did he get so close? "Hey, Yuuri."

"Mm?" He has to fight not to lean back when Victor shifts even closer.

"Can I kiss you?"

Yuuri swallows. He can feel his heart pounding. Victor doesn't look nervous at all. He wants to. "Okay," he whispers.

He closes his eyes when Victor moves in, and takes in a shuddery gasp when their lips actually touch. Victor's mouth is soft and his chapstick rubs off on Yuuri's lips. Yuuri's never kissed anyone before, so he tries to copy what Victor does: breathe through his nose, move slowly, clutch at his shoulder with one hand. It feels good. He didn't know kisses felt this good.

Victor makes a low moan and pushes closer, wraps his other arm around his waist and pulls Yuuri into him. Their noses bump and Yuuri has to work to keep himself upright, but he doesn't want to stop. He's thought about doing this before – not a lot, he wasn't hoping for so much – but this isn't like how he imagined. It makes his body heat up, and there are little echoes of Victor's pleasure in his head, as if he couldn't tell Victor was enjoying it from the way his fingers are tangled in Yuuri's shirt.

When they finally draw away from each other, Yuuri is breathing hard, and Victor's breath has picked up, too. "Was that okay?" he blurts out.

"It was amazing, Yuuri." He swoops in again to peck Yuuri's cheek, quick, and grins at him. "Did you like it?"

He nods. He wants to do it again, but his face is so hot he's not sure he should. And they've been sitting up here for so long that he's getting hungry. So instead, he gets to his feet. Victor follows, and after stretch out their stiff muscles, Victor tucks their hands together and they start heading back down the hill.

They get lunch at a small restaurant, early enough that the midday rush hasn't started to hit yet. Victor spends several minutes marveling over the plastic food in the window and asking Yuuri what each and every one of them is, which is fine, since there's no English menu. When their food arrives, Yuuri goes, "Vkusno," and Victor goes, "Oishii," and it's hard not to break down in giggles.

They have to go back to Yuutopia afterward to pick up their skates. Minako is there, talking with Lilia in the main room. Yuuri leaves Victor for a few minutes to use the bathroom, and when he's done, quickly texts Yuuko that they're going to the rink. She replies with a bunch of exclamation marks.

On the way there, Victor tells him, "Yakov said he'll come by in a bit." Yuuri can feel himself getting nervous already, but he tries to swallow it and focus on Victor and the thought of skating.

Yuuko makes it to the Ice Castle ahead of them. She's practically bubbling over by the time they reach her, panting from all the stairs. Yuuri introduces her.

"Are you a fan of mine, too?" Victor asks, grinning when she nods enthusiastically.

He doesn't seem to mind showing off a bit for her. They stand together at the side of the rink, watching Victor dance and skate across the ice. Yuuko keeps making tiny high-pitched noises like she's dying. Yuuri couldn't look away if he wanted to. Seeing Victor on the TV is nothing like this, watching him glide from one side of the rink to the other, hearing every sound his skates make. He's almost close enough to touch.

"Yuuri's turn," Victor says eventually, coming back over to them.

Yuuri swallows and takes off his glasses and folds them. "Yuu-chan, can you...." She takes them from him before he finishes the sentence and nudges him towards the ice.

Yuuri skates to the middle, swallows his stupid nerves. This isn't a competition. It's just Yuuko and Victor watching. They're not expecting a masterpiece; they just want to see him skate. So Yuuri skates.

There's no music, but that's fine. He doesn't mess up any of his jumps, and as always, the step sequence is his favorite part, the way it reminds him of long hours spent in the dance studio.

He feels pleased with it when he's done. Yuuko and Victor clap, and he goes back over to them. "I told you he was good," Yuuko says to Victor.

"She's right," Victor says. "There's a lot you can improve on, but the way you move is like music, which is the most important part."

"Improve on?" Yuuri echoes.

"Your spins were pretty good, and I really liked your step sequence, but you need to work on your jumps, the landing on that last one was pretty bad, and—"

"Are you a coach now, Vitya?" All three of them jump, not having noticed Yakov coming in.

Yakov asks Yuuri to show him what he can do. Yuuri looks him in the eyes and nods and skates out to do so.

To Yuuri's ears, Yakov sounds very critical about Yuuri's abilities, but Victor keeps telling him through their connection that it means he can see Yuuri's potential. You should hear him at the kiss-and-cry when I'm waiting for scores! You know you've done really badly when he doesn't even say anything.

And maybe he's right, because when they go back for dinner, after spending most of the afternoon fooling around on the ice after Yakov's gone – Yuuko joins them for a while, and Victor even tries to pick Yuuri up, though he almost drops him – Mari gives him a look when he goes to help set the table. "So what's this about you moving to Russia?"

"Nothing's decided yet."

"Hm," she says, and then, "Well, if you go, make sure you call once in a while, at least. And send me some CDs when you get the chance. You know the kinds of bands I like."

"It's not decided yet," he repeats, ducking his head.

When they've finished eating, it's time to leave for the train station. Minako drives them there, a few minutes early, and he and Victor find a quiet corner away from the adults to try and say goodbye.

"Good luck with the rest of your season," Yuuri says, fidgeting. He doesn't want Victor to leave. Only having a day with him wasn't enough.

"I'll do fine." Victor grabs his hands. He rubs his thumbs across the back of Yuuri's hands, then turns them around to lace their fingers together. "I'll miss you."

"I will, too." At least they have their connection. At least if Victor's far away, a part of them will still be together. "I'll practice really hard! So we can be on the same ice together some day."

"Vitya," Lilia calls. "We have to catch the train."

"Okay," Victor shouts, and then turns back to Yuuri. "I'm looking forward to it. I had a really good time here, I can't wait to see you again. Next time, we'll be in Saint Petersburg."

She calls for him again, and they let their hands fall apart and head to the ticket gates. Victor hesitates before putting his ticket it and spins back around. Suddenly, his hand is on Yuuri's shoulder and their lips are pressed together, not for long, but long enough to miss when he pulls away.

"See you soon," Yuuri breathes, feeling dazed, and Victor pauses once more to nod and smile, a feeling like promise in his mind, before he rushes off.