Chapter Text
It’s a few months later, at the Cup of China, when everything changes for Yuri… Again.
He’s not actually competing in the Cup, he’s just tagged along with Victor to cheer Yuuri on. And Otabek is competing too, so there’s that.
Mila’s also joined them. By then, Yuri doesn’t mind her presence at all, and his heart only hurts a little bit when she tackles a surprised - but clearly pleased - Otabek at the airport. He’s been making progress.
Anyway, it’s on the first day of the competition when Yuri meets him.
It’s not hard to notice him; he stands out. Or rather, his hair does. It’s a wild mess of dirty blond with a shock of bright red that Yuri spots from several feet away. It’s not until he walks closer that he sees the person attached to the hair - a teenager like him, but maybe a little younger, with bright, round eyes and a toothy smile. He’s waving his arms around excitedly, and belatedly, Yuri realizes that he’s talking to Yuuri.
Then it clicks - he’s seen the guy before. His name is Minami, or something. According to Victor, he’s one of Yuuri’s biggest fans. And yeah, from the way he looks at Yuuri, which is only a few degrees less severe than the way Victor looks at him, Yuri can tell that it’s true.
Yuri strolls up to them anyway, uncaring that he’s probably interrupting their conversation. Yuuri notices him and smiles.
“Yurio! Where’s Victor?”
Yuri shrugs, aware that Minami is now looking at him with curiosity clear in his gaze. “Interviews or some shit. He’ll get here eventually, pig, don’t worry.”
Minami makes a noise, so Yuri finally looks at him, only to be shocked to discover a furious look on the teen’s face. Yuuri glances between the two of them and quickly places a hand on Minami’s shoulder. The immediately makes the younger skater flush, and his dopey smile returns.
“Yurio, this is Kenjirou Minami. He’s competing, too. It’s his first year in Seniors’, isn’t that exciting?”
Yuri raises an eyebrow. “Nice to meet you,” he offers blandly, and Minami - or Kenjirou, he later learns is his first name - lets his expression falter, his smile turning back to a small frown.
There’s an awkward silence for a few moments, and then suddenly Victor bursts into the room, drawing everyone’s eye, as per usual. Yuuri is going on in just a few minutes, he says, so the Japanese skater bows to his juniors and follows after Victor to do… whatever it is those two do before they perform. Yuri doesn’t want to think about it.
Unfortunately, that leaves Yuri and Kenjirou by themselves. Yuri’s about to turn and leave when Kenjirou unexpectedly speaks up.
“Why did you call Yuuri-kun ‘pig’?” he asks, giving Yuri a stern look.
Yuri scoffs. “Have you seen the guy off-season? He puts on pounds like he’s a fat magnet or some shit.”
It’s by far not the meanest thing he’s ever said about Yuuri, and if the older man were there, he’d probably just laugh it off. But Kenjirou bristles, his eyes lighting up with absolute fury.
“That doesn’t mean you should call him names!” he all but shouts, causing Yuri to flinch back in surprise at the intensity in his voice. “If anything, I think that makes Yuuri-kun even more amazing! He has to work twice as hard to stay in shape! And I bet he’s still pretty anyway!”
Yuri holds up his hands, his eyes wide. “Whoa, okay, calm the fuck down.”
Kenjirou is still glaring at him, but he does stop talking, thankfully.
“Look,” says Yuri. “I say shit like that about Katsudo- I mean, Katsuki all the time. To his face, more often than not. He doesn’t give a fuck.”
Kenjirou pouts. Yuri blinks. It is not adorable, he tells himself. He does not look like an angry lion cub.
(… Yes he does.)
“I still don’t think it’s alright…” Kenjirou murmurs. “You should be nicer to him.”
Yuri is about to reply, when they hear the roar of the crowd and Kenjirou startles. His expression switches back to the one of pure joy.
“Oh! Yuuri-kun is going on!”
And just like that, Kenjirou speeds towards the rink to watch his idol perform live, leaving a thoroughly confused Yuri in his wake.
Yuri blinks again, staring at the spot Kenjirou was standing in before.
“The fuck?” he says, entirely to himself.
Kenjirou is… not bad. His routines are upbeat and energetic, and so is he, so the crowd loves him. He’s not technically proficient yet - he flubbed his triple axel and his only quad was met with a shaky landing - but yeah. He’s not bad.
He ends up placing third, amazingly, and he holds up his bronze medal with pride, sneaking the occasional glance up at Yuuri, who holds his gold medal with his usual exhausted-but-content smile.
Otabek places second. The moment he steps off the podium Mila sweeps him up in a another hug, and the usually stoic Kazakh actually laughs, spinning her in a little circle.
Yuri stares. He’s been making progress, sure, but Otabek looks so happy.
He doesn’t have a lot of time to think about it before Victor starts kissing Yuuri as soon as the Japanese skater steps into his arms. Cameras and reporters go off all around them, because apparently the skating community isn’t as sick of those two as Yuri is, but Victor doesn’t pay them any mind, too focused on trying to shove his tongue down an all too-willing Yuuri’s throat on national television.
Yuri makes a loud retching noise and turns away from the two disgusting couple. As he does, he catches a glimpse of Kenjirou, who’s stepped down from the podium last. The wild-maned teen is staring at Victor and Yuuri, shocked, and for a moment, Yuri thinks he’s going to start crying. He really likes Yuuri, after all, so watching him get all handsy with his coach-slash-future-husband must be difficult.
Except, Kenjirou only smiles. And it’s not a wide grin of admiration, either; it’s a soft, gentle thing, like he’s a parent watching their child do something endearing. Except he’s eighteen years old - and how fucking weird was that, he was just a year younger than Otabek and two years older than Yuri himself - and Yuuri is most definitely not his child. Yuri doesn’t get it.
Much later, once they manage to pry Victor and Yuuri off each other, Victor offers to treat everyone to dinner. He wants to go to that ‘cute little place’ he and Yuuri found the last time they were in China, where Victor had gotten shitfaced and naked pictures of him clinging to Yuuri began circulating all over the internet. He loves that place, he says.
Victor is fucking weird.
But anyway, Yuuri wants to go too, and if Yuuri wanted to go, that meant Kenjirou did as well.
Mila and Otabek politely decline, with the excuse that they want to spend some ‘quality time’ together. Mila found a restaurant that serves Kazakhstani food nearby, and Otabek fully intends to judge said food on its authenticity.
They invite Yuri, but it’s almost like an afterthought for them, so he declines.
“I’m more in the mood for Chinese food anyway,” he lies. Kazakhstani food is actually delicious, and he wants nothing more than to tuck into some laghman noodles right now, but he knows the food won’t stay down if he has to watch Mila and Otabek make cow eyes at each other the entire time.
So they break off into two groups, Mila and Otabek headed one way, Victor, Kenjirou, and the two Yu(u)ri’s headed the other.
They arrive at the restaurant and pick a booth situated next to a window. Naturally, Victor and Yuuri sit beside each other, leaving Kenjirou and Yuri to awkwardly share a seat.
They’ve barely said a word to each other since their earlier incident. Yuri’s still not sure what his problem is - everyone knows he talks to Yuuri like that, it’s just how their relationship is.
Maybe Kenjirou just needs to tone down the hero worship; the teen is positively gazing at Yuuri as the Japanese skater eats, as if watching him eat somehow unlocks the answers to the universe’s greatest questions. And whenever Yuuri talks, he hangs off his every word.
Yuri is confused. He obviously likes the guy, so why was he smiling when he and Victor kissed earlier?
He eventually decides to say something, and in his typical fashion, he says it with fried shrimp stuffed in his mouth.
“So what’s the deal, Kenjirou? You’re piggy’s biggest fan, right?”
Kenjirou glances at him, the wonderfully adorable pout returning to his lips as Yuri uses the nickname he hates so much. It makes Yuri grin.
After a beat, he answers. “ Yuuri-kun. And yeah. I mean, I’m the president of the Fukuoka chapter of the Katsuki Yuuri fanclub, so I’m a pretty big one, at least.”
Yuuri chokes on some Shanghai crab while Victor just laughs.
“Gross,” Yuri says in reply, almost reflexively. “But anyway, aren’t you like, in love with him or whatever?”
“Yurio!” scolds Yuuri, though his Mom Voice is a little strained, due to the bits of crab still stuck in his throat. Victor passes him a glass of water, which he gratefully accepts, while Kenjirou answers Yuri’s second query.
The eighteen-year-old doesn’t looked fazed in the slightest. “Oh, definitely. I mean, have you seen him?”
As if to prove his point, he gestures across the table at Yuuri, who’s just finished chugging an entire glass of water and blinks owlishly at the two younger skaters. Yuri raises an eyebrow. Victor beams, heart-shaped smile in full effect, and loops one of his arms around Yuuri’s shoulders, bringing him in close.
“I know! Isn’t he just the best?” he sighs happily.
“Can you all please stop talking?” Yuuri begs.
“So, like,” Yuri says, talking over him, “you’re not upset that he and Victor are…?” He waves his hands at Victor and Yuuri.
Kenjirou smiles and shakes his head. “Oh, no. It doesn’t really matter to me.”
All three at the table frown and regard him curiously.
“What do you mean?” asks Yuri.
Kenjirou replies with a benign smile on his face. “I guarantee, ten years from now, I will be Yuuri-kun’s second husband.”
It’s silent for a moment. Then Victor blinks, raising his other hand to point to his own face.
“What happened to me?”
“Nothing you can prove,” comes Kenjirou’s flippant reply.
Victor looks stunned, and incredibly, instead of embarrassed or mortified, Yuuri is quietly amused, a small smile on his face.
Yuri, for his part, starts giggling.
“Why wait ten years?” he manages in between laughs. “Just do it now and save me from their hell.”
“Well,” Kenjirou folds his arms across his chest, looking like he’s actually thinking about it. “I was thinking when I turned eighteen and could actually marry Yuuri-kun, yeah, but then I thought, ‘why not let him marry his idol? Yuuri-kun deserves that much.’ So yeah. I’ll give Victor-san ten years.”
“I’ll help hide the body,” he offers seriously. “If you do it now, I swear to god I’ll help.”
Kenjirou lets out a boisterous laugh - Yuri is struck for a moment, staring incredulously at the teen. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks, Yuri-san.”
Yuri is still staring at Kenjirou with an awestruck expression. Then Victor whines, squeezing his fiance around the middle.
“Yuuri, our kids are being mean to me…”
That snaps Yuri out of his daze. “We aren’t your damn kids.”
“Calm down, Vitya,” says Yuuri placidly. He turns his gaze to Yuri and Kenjirou. “You two, stop teasing him.”
Kenjirou has the decency to look abashed. He rubs the back of his head and grins sheepishly.
“Sorry, Yuuri-kun…”
Yuri just snorts. “Tell your soon-to-be dead fiance to toughen up.”
Victor wails, loudly, and the rest of the night is spent with Yuuri trying to cheer him up, Kenjirou and Yuri watching on like they’re a TV show.
At the end of the night, they head back to the hotel, and Kenjirou bids them goodnight with a happy wave as he trounces off to his room. Yuri finds himself smiling after the bouncing skater, and quickly schools his face into a neutral expression. Yuuri and Victor go to their shared room, and Yuri goes to his, though only after making them swear to ‘keep it down tonight’ or he’ll follow through on Kenjirou’s earlier threat.
Yuri checks Instagram right before bed, and sees a photo uploaded on Mila’s account from that very night. It’s of her and Otabek, obviously; she’s in the lower corner of the photo, hiding a grin behind her hand as her other holds up the phone, and Otabek is seen at a restaurant table, making a face at what looks to be a pile of dumplings, one of which he’s holding, half-eaten.
It’s captioned “the beshbarmak passed inspection, but @otabek-altin doesn’t like the manti #lol #kazakhfoodtastetest #hesgoingtogetmebackforthis”.
Yuri blinks, frowning at his phone’s screen for what feels like an hour. The nauseous feeling in his gut is back, but it’s not nearly as severe as it has been before.
He likes the picture, sends a message to Otabek saying “torture her with holodets, she fuckin hates those”, then tucks himself in for sleep.
Just before he drifts off, Otabek replies with a thumbs-up and a devil emoji, and Yuri falls asleep with a smile.
A few weeks later, Yuri gets the gold at Trophée de France, so all he needs now is to get at least third at Rostelecom and he’ll have made it to the Grand Prix Finals for this season. Yuuri’s already secured his spot with another gold at the NHK Trophy, narrowly beating out that Czech skater Emil.
Victor’s big comeback has been, as expected, phenomenal, so Yuri doesn’t doubt he’ll make the podium at Rostelecom and advance to the GPF, though he’s determined to snatch another gold medal from under the Russian hero’s nose.
The only other skater he knows has a spot in the Men’s Singles Division is Otabek, but he’s not surprised by that. Mila, who also has a spot in the Women’s Singles, is ecstatic about being able to see him in person again when they fly out to Nagoya for the competition.
Otabek’s been texting Yuri about it, too; he’s planning a big romantic date for after the Finals, since it just so happens to coincide with their six month anniversary. And when Yuri reads that little fact, he pauses.
Has it really been six months already? It feels like less. The first few weeks of their relationship, Yuri felt like the days were dragging by, but as he began to make progress on his own feelings, time suddenly sped by. When he thinks back to how he was back then, when he tries to remember how badly he’d been hurt, he’s surprised.
That pain is almost nonexistent by now. Of course, it’s still there, and Yuri’s content with the fact that it will probably always be there - but now, instead of a fresh wound, it’s more like an old scar. The reminder will always be there, but it’s not too distracting.
It helps that he’s had a different sort of distraction the past few weeks.
His phone pings with another message, this one not from Otabek, who’s currently musing over what type of restaurant he should bring Mila to in Nagoya.
He grins upon reading the contact name; it’s Kenjirou.
Apparently, Kenjirou had followed Yuri’s Instagram and Twitter, and after about a week of liking and retweeting with no actual contact, Yuri had caved first, and sent him a message. Shortly after, they exchanged numbers, and they’ve been texting constantly ever since.
Kenjirou is… a lot more awesome than Yuri initially gave him credit for.
Sure, he's still an annoyingly huge fan of Yuuri’s, and he's a dog person (another one, Christ), but he has his good qualities.
Firstly, he's boundlessly enthusiastic. With anyone else, this would just annoy Yuri further, but something about Kenjirou - the way he cheers everyone on, his words of encouragement, right down to the handmade banners he's shown off to Yuri via Skype - makes it more endearing than anything else.
Secondly, he… listens. You’d think someone like Kenjirou would be someone who never shuts up, and on some accounts, that’s accurate. Kenjirou can wax poetic about Yuuri Katsuki’s skating and artistry for a solid three hours if you let him - not that Yuri ever has, shut up - and oddly, he’s got an extensive knowledge of musicals from the 1950s that he’s more than willing to share with others.
But when Yuri needs to talk, Kenjirou lets him.
He hadn’t meant to, at first. Talk to Kenjirou. It just sort of… happened.
Kenjirou is asking for pointers on his triple salchow on Skype, when Yuri’s phone pings with a notification. He checks it as Kenjirou keeps talking, only to see it was text from Otabek, asking him to find out if Mila likes sweets - his mom was putting together a care package of all things, for her son’s girlfriend, and he was helping her.
Now, Yuri’s gotten better over the past few months, but that’s just ridiculous.
It must have shown on his face, because Kenjirou stops babbling and asks him what’s wrong.
Half an hour later, he’s spilling out his guts to an accommodating skater all the way in Japan. Normally, he has better restraint.
Kenjirou doesn’t say anything, he just… listens. All the way until Yuri is done, nearly two hours later, and even then, he only asks one question.
“Do you want me to punch Otabek in the face?”
Yuri stares. Kenjirou’s face is dead-serious. Then, after a beat, the Russian skater starts to giggle.
“Are you kidding me? Beka’s like, a foot taller than you! Can you even reach his face?”
Kenjirou sniffs disdainfully, though Yuri sees a hint of a smile on his lips.
“Okay, fine. I’ll kick him in the shins.”
Yuri straight-up chortles at that, trying desperately to smother his laughter with a hand.
“Please don’t,” he says eventually, once he calms down. “It wasn’t ever Otabek’s fault, anyway. I missed my chance, I’ve gotta live with it. Besides…” Yuri glances at his lap, where his phone with Otabek’s text still sat open. “He’s happy with Mila. They really love each other.”
Kenjirou offers him a small smile. “Okay. But if you ever change your mind, hit me up. I will find him.”
Yuri laughs again, and smiles at the Japanese teen on his computer screen.
“... Thanks, Ken.”
Just before the Grand Prix Finals, Kenjirou takes an hour flight from his hometown to Nagoya to act as Yuri’s personal tour guide-slash-translator.
Normally, he’d get Yuuri to do it, but the older Japanese skater disappeared along with Victor half an hour after their plane landed. He’d rather not think about where they’ve run off to, so he accepts Kenjirou’s offer, and they run around Nagoya together.
Or, more accurately, they run from Yuri’s fans, then Kenjirou’s fans, hide in a shopping mall, and buy a truckload of Japanese sweets. They reunite with Yuuri and Victor while visiting a shrine, and then the four of them go out to eat.
It’s fun. Yuri can’t remember the last time he had so much fun.
(He can. It’s when Otabek first visited St. Petersburg. Wow, it’s been a while.)
He checks his phone as the others eat and laugh. After a moment’s hesitation, he texts Otabek.
To: Beka
Hows the date goin? If ur bein gross just send back a thumbs up, i dont want details
He doesn’t have to wait long. Otabek’s text tone alerts him to a new message.
It’s four thumbs up and a heart.
Yuri finds himself snickering, a smile threatening to make its way onto his face. Beside him, Kenjirou waves his hands excitedly, distracting him from his phone.
Kenjirou catches his gaze and grins.
Yuri grins back, and pockets his phone.
Yuuri wins the Grand Prix Finals that year. Victor is a few scant points behind him, but he beams adoringly at his fiance as he shyly accepts the congratulations and praise from his peers. Of course he’s happy; with a gold medal around Yuuri’s neck, they can finally start planning the wedding.
Yuri’s own bronze medal hangs as a heavy weight, but he can’t bring himself to be too upset about it. Not when he’s just worked up the nerve to ask Kenjirou to be his date for the banquet.
He hasn’t stopped smiling since Kenjirou shouted ‘of course!’ and tackled him in a hug.
Six months later…
Otabek glides up to Yuri where he rests against the dividers.
On the rink, Mila is giggling and taking pictures as Yuuri tries to teach Kenjirou how to properly land a quad, impeded only by the younger man’s uncontrollable excitement at being taught by his idol. Victor watches them with a smile, completely ignoring Yakov’s annoyed criticisms about his short program’s choreography, and Lilia simply tuts by her ex-husband’s side. Georgi’s absent today, off on a date with his fiance.
It’s a good day, Yuri decides.
He offers Otabek a small grin; the Kazakh returns it just before grabbing his water bottle. Yuri goes back to watching Kenjirou fawn over Yuuri’s perfect landing, and his grin morphs to a soft smile.
He feels a nudge at his arm, and turns his head to see Otabek again.
“How are things with you and Kenjirou?” he asks, not unkindly.
“They’re…” Yuri searches for a word. He’s not a poet, though, so he settles for what he knows. “They’re really good. Like, really good.”
Otabek hums and takes another sip of his water.
“What about you and Mila?” Yuri asks.
“We’re great,” he replies, smiling at his girlfriend. “Actually, uh…”
He sets down his water bottle and gestures for Yuri to come closer. Yuri does, though he frowns in confusion.
Otabek licks his lips, clearly nervous, as he speaks in a low murmur. “I… I’m thinking of asking her to marry me.”
Yuri’s eyes go wide. He’s about to shout when Otabek hurriedly shushes him, looking back out at the rink; luckily, no one seems to have noticed. More quietly, Yuri responds.
“That’s awesome, Beka,” he beams. “When? Have you talked about this with her? You told her parents, right?”
Otabek huffs out a laugh. “I’ve already asked her mother. She’s… She’s giving me her grandmother’s ring to propose with. And yeah, we’ve talked about it… We’ve been living together for two months now, and things have been really good, so… I was thinking, maybe after Victor and Yuuri’s wedding, two weeks from now?”
Yuri pretends to make a face. “Ugh. Proposing after a wedding, using a family ring… You sap. You used to be cool, Beka.”
Otabek shoves him in the arm, grinning. “Shut up. Anyway, if… If she says yes - !”
“Which she will, unless she’s an idiot.”
“Would you be my best man?”
Yuri blinks. “Wh… Of course I will! What kind of fucking question is that?”
“Just had to make sure,” Otabek chuckles.
They both turn back to keep watching the crowd. Mila is hefting Kenjirou over her head in a truly impressive lift - Kenjirou is holding out his arms as though he’s flying. Yuuri is doubled over laughing, as is Victor, and even Yakov and Lilia seem to have a hard time keeping the smiles off their faces.
It’s quiet between the two of them for a moment.
“Hey, Beka?”
“Yeah?”
“You know I used to have a crush on you?”
Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Otabek’s head whip around to stare at him.
“What - really?”
“Yeah. I mean, I don’t anymore, obviously, but it used to be really bad.”
“Oh… Huh.” Otabek is still staring at him. “I had no idea…”
“Good. I would’ve been fucking mortified if you knew.”
“Well.” Otabek glances back at Mila and Kenjirou. “Everything worked out in the end, I guess.”
“Yeah,” Yuri agrees. “It really did.”
It’s a really good day.