Chapter Text
The Hot Springs on Ice event was officially over. The sun was setting, washing the small crowd in deceptively warm colors as they streamed out into the brisk spring afternoon, breath misting as they chattered excitedly about the programs they’d just watched. Yuuri hung back to shower and change, leaving Victor to chat amicably with Minako-sensei and Yu-chan while he waited.
Yuuri washed himself in a daze, the joyful rush he felt at winning at odds with the slightly hollow feeling that had taken up residence in his stomach the moment he realized that the second place podium would remain empty that evening. He’d stepped off the ice into his friends’ awaiting arms, and after a round of congratulations Yu-chan had quietly explained that Yurio had already left for Russia.
A wave of sadness washed through Yuuri as he dressed and packed up his gear because, despite his hot temper and foul mouth, the little delinquent skater had been immediately and wholeheartedly enveloped into their motley family exactly the way Victor had, and Yuuri would miss him. But, he reminded himself firmly, physically shaking his head to dispel his melancholy, leaving was Yurio’s choice and there was nothing he could do about it. He still had Victor. He’d won, and Victor would stay with him, and coach him, and they would eat katsudon together and it would be perfect. His stomach gave a trembling swoop at the thought of it, nervous excitement and the bizarre realization that after his eros performance he would never quite think of katsudon in the same way again. He huffed a self-deprecating laugh, sliding his glasses onto his nose and picking up his bag before stepping out of the locker room.
“Oh,” Yuuri said in surprise. The lights around the rink were dimmed, and the room was empty except for Victor, who was leaning against the wall waiting for him. Yuuri walked over to him, looking around the room in confusion. “Is it just you? I thought Minako-sensei and Yu-chan would be here.”
Victor smiled brightly, reaching out to slip an arm around Yuuri’s shoulders, casually disregarding his personal space as he always did. Yuuri blushed bright red and was abruptly thankful for the dim lighting. “They thought about coming home with us to celebrate,” Victor explained, waving his free hand flippantly. “Especially Minako, but I thought you’d be tired and want some quiet for tonight, so they’re going to stop by tomorrow instead.”
“Oh,” Yuuri repeated dumbly, and it was only after the silence stretched for several seconds that Victor seemed to realize he’d said anything strange.
“Sorry, did I overstep my bounds?” Victor asked, actually looking sheepish for once. It was so out of character that Yuuri laughed right in his perplexed face.
“Sorry!” Yuuri blurted, covering his mouth in embarrassment despite the fact that he hadn’t quite stopped laughing yet. “No, no, it’s fine. You were right; I’m very happy right now, but I’m really tired, too. Let’s go have some dinner.” He cautiously gripped the back of Victor’s coat and started toward the exit, Victor smiling bemusedly at Yuuri’s odd behaviour as he walked alongside him.
It was probably a slip of the tongue, Yuuri knew. Victor didn’t mean anything by it, and he was staying at Yu-topia for an indefinite period of time. Still, the arm around his shoulder coupled with the knowledge that even a small part of Victor considered Yuuri’s house ‘home’ kept him warm the entire walk back.
***
“So good,” Yuuri moaned, actual tears in his eyes as his body shivered and went limp with pleasure. He didn’t even care that Victor was watching him intently, cataloging his reactions with a delighted grin on his face.
“You look like you’re enjoying yourself,” Victor teased, his smile curving up into something almost wicked. “Is it always like this, or is it just that it’s been a long time for you?”
Yuuri blushed, finally having the presence of mind to be mildly embarrassed before he brushed the cumbersome feeling aside and concentrated instead on his second bite of katsudon. It was so good. He chewed reverently and swallowed before deigning to answer. “It’s always good,” he sighed happily, curling and flexing his bare toes against the tatami floor. “But it’s especially good after winning. And all that dieting!” He made a face, thinking about the broccoli and onions that had made up most of his meals for the past two weeks, and banished the memory with another bite of rice and pork. An involuntary pleased sound hummed in his throat, and he practically wriggled with happiness.
“I can see why you chose this as your eros,” Victor said, laughing and taking a bite of his own katsudon. Yuuri froze briefly, before resuming his chewing and trying very hard to tamp down the heat that was slowly rising up his neck and ears. He did love katsudon, and his body loved katsudon, but in the end he had skated for Victor. And Victor knew it.
Don’t think about that now, he chided himself. Enjoy this. You’re eating katsudon with Victor, and it’s exactly what you wanted. So he didn’t think about it, focusing on his katsudon, and Victor, and somehow the stilted awkwardness that he usually felt around his idol gradually dissipated into something more like contentment.
“I’m so full,” Yuuri groaned, patting his faintly distended stomach, mournful only because there wasn’t room for any more and he was pretty sure Victor would only let him get away with eating it tonight.
Victor smiled indulgently, pushing away his own empty bowl. “Was it worth it?” he asked, leaning over to poke at Yuuri’s belly. Yuuri flinched away with a gasping sort of laugh, curling his arms around his stomach protectively before pausing to seriously consider the question.
He thought about the past two weeks of grueling training. The running, the dieting, the endless step-ups and sit-ups, the cutting commentary and the aching muscles. The waterfall and Yurio’s open face, the blond snarling at him while trying to teach him to land a quad Salchow. Victor’s constant presence by his side, teasing him, guiding him, a hand on his arm or his hip, adjusting his position. Victor in front of him, face serious for once, grounding him when panic made the world blur and shift. The thrill of skating, the thrill of winning, the thrill of Victor standing with him on that podium, steadying him with both hands. This moment right now, the lights turned down to a honey-yellow, sitting on the floor smiling at each other with mouths greasy from his mother’s cooking.
“Yes,” he breathed, and his expression was too open, he could feel it, so he cut his eyes away, hastily adding an, “I love katsudon, after all,” to lighten the mood again before glancing shyly back at Victor’s face.
Victor was watching him, as he had been every moment they were together that evening, ever since Yuuri had asked him to. His normally exuberant smile dwindled to a slight curve of his mouth. It felt more real, somehow, and left Yuuri shaken. “I know you do,” Victor said, and his voice was unbearably fond. “I love katsudon, too.”
***
Yuuri was right; there was no more katsudon after that. The dreaded broccoli and onion combo was back the next day despite the ensuing celebrations, and again the next, and the day after that, his mother and Victor teaming up in an effort to chase away the last stubborn bits of fat still clinging to his waist and thighs. There were endless stretches and jumps, weight training and ballet lessons. At one point he and Victor jogged through a park to catch the last burst of cherry blossoms before they withered, and it was beautiful. It would have almost felt like a date if it weren’t for the fact that it was nothing like a date, his legs felt like lead, and he wanted nothing more than to sleep for a week.
On-ice training was his favorite, though it wasn’t any easier. Victor had him practicing quad Salchows until his legs gave out, shaky as a fawn’s. He staggered to his feet, clinging to the boards to keep upright, while Victor stood perfectly poised next to him, a thoughtful frown on his face.
“You’re having a lot of trouble with timing,” Victor said, giving Yuuri a conciliatory pat on one trembling shoulder. Yuuri gritted his teeth and tried to get his feet to support him properly without slipping out from under him. He was exhausted. “Well,” Victor said, eyeing him critically. “That’s probably all for today. Come out off the ice and catch your breath before we go home.”
It probably said something about him that, despite his irritation and inability to move without his body loudly protesting, the word ‘home’ on Victor’s lips still made his chest light up with warmth. It was a small consolation that he was too damn tired to bother feeling particularly pathetic about it.
“I know Yurio was helping you with this jump,” Victor said conversationally as Yuuri slumped onto a bench and took a sip of water, closing his eyes. There was a rustle of cloth, and Yuuri was a bit proud of himself for not reacting when Victor slid a coat around his shoulders to ward off the chill now that Yuuri wasn’t moving. Of course, that momentary pride vanished a moment later as Victor picked up one of his feet, startling Yuuri badly and causing him to slosh water down his front.
Victor tsked, and Yuuri opened wide eyes to see Victor on his knees, one of Yuuri’s feet propped on his thigh as he deftly unlaced the skate for him. This was new. Yuuri fought down a blush as his idol took off his skates for him and replaced them with shoes, commenting that they’d have to hurry back and get Yuuri into a hot bath before he caught a chill.
“As I was saying,” Victor said once the two of them were outside, stretched and packed and with the door locked behind them. “Did you learn anything from the kitten while he was here?”
“Not much,” Yuuri admitted, embarrassed. “He mostly just showed me the jump a couple of times and told me to copy him, and you showed up before we got very far.” His hand drifted to his pocket, touching his phone out of habit. He’d sent Yurio a few messages since the teen had left, but the only responses he’d gotten were increasingly angry-looking cat emojis or nothing at all.
“I see,” Victor mused, absent-mindedly tucking Yuuri close to him when his damp clothes made him shiver. Yuuri opened his mouth to protest, then gave up and shut it. It really was warmer this way. “You mentioned before that you could land it in practice sometimes, but that you had trouble with confidence. I’m surprised you’re still struggling so much with it after winning the competition, but then again you failed to land the Salchow during your program-”
“That wasn’t enough to make me lose my charms,” Yuuri muttered under his breath, before he realized what he’d said and froze from embarrassment, heat flooding his face as Victor laughed in delight. “Um! I mean, I didn’t think I was so shaken by that, but that might be it.”
The arm Victor had around him squeezed him tighter briefly, a sort of hug that Yuuri immediately tucked away into the back of his mind as something dangerous and precious. “No,” Victor said agreeably. “Shaken or not, you certainly have charms to spare.” He grinned down at Yuuri fondly, and Yuuri gazed back with his throat too full of his heart to say anything else for the rest of the walk home.