Chapter Text
January – Japan
It was an amazing opportunity, Victor knew that well enough. To get to spend an entire year traveling the globe with others his own age, while still earning valuable educational credits towards his degree? He hadn’t even paused for the smallest of seconds before filling out his application and sending it in. A once in a lifetime chance, his parents had said. The perfect chance to see the world and broaden his horizons.
So here he was, on an airplane flying away from Russia and towards the first stop in his journey. The program was to begin in Japan and go from there. One month in each country on the itinerary. They would be taking their usual course load through online classes while taking in person lectures on the culture and history of the current country they were calling home at a local participating university. The group was supposed to be around forty students and they were all to convene at the University of Tokyo to meet and start the adventure together.
Would he make friends? He already knew there would be one person he already knew waiting for him in Japan, but what about everyone else? Victor knew he was popular enough back home. He had silver hair, all natural somehow, and stunning blue eyes. Pale skin and no small amount of muscle. Often he had heard himself described as bright and outgoing, but for all the ‘friends’ he had in St. Petersburg, he didn’t feel as though he was really close to any of them. Was that going to happen again here? Victor the center of attention, but for what he was on the outside and not who he could be on the inside?
The mix of nerves and excitement made it difficult to sit still. It was only an eight-hour direct flight from St. Petersburg to Tokyo, but it felt like far longer. Trapped in the first class seats his parents had bought him for his twenty-third birthday, Victor tried to stay calm. Tried to listen to music, watch the in-flight movie, stare out the window at the puffy clouds, or strike up a conversation with the flight attendants as they passed.
Nothing seemed to help stop his fidgeting.
By the time he’d collected his bags and made it through customs, he felt like he was going to explode.
“Victor Nikiforov?” Victor perked up at the sound of his own name and turned to find a Japanese woman with a sign that had his name written on it in English, Russian, and what he assumed to be Japanese. Her hair was long and her bangs were pulled back from her face.
“Yes, that’s me.” Victor returned her welcoming smile with one of his own. “Are you here to make sure I make it to the university?”
“I am Okukawa Minako at your service, but you’ll want to refer to me as Okukawa-sensei.” Minako chirped happily as she extended her hand for him to shake.
“Sensei?” Victor thought back to the welcome packet he’d received a few weeks ago. “That means you are a teacher, right?”
“Correct! Someone has done their homework.” Minako winked and motioned for Victor to follow her over to a bank of chairs. “I hope you don’t mind, but we had another student coming in on a flight about twenty minutes after yours so we’ll need to stick around for a little bit longer to pick him up.”
“I understand.” Victor watched as the teacher folded the sign with his name and stuck it back in the oversized bag she was carrying. Her accent was there, but it was soft and she was easy to understand. Victor hadn’t even realized how worried he’d been about being able to communicate. He should have known the participating schools would make sure there was always someone around to translate into a common language.
“Are you excited about your year abroad?”
“Of course.” Victor tapped his fingers against his thigh. “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t.”
He winked then, and Minako smiled and shook her head softly. She rolled her eyes and tugged her phone out of her bag, unlocking the screen and scrolling through some information that Victor could not translate. Victor followed suit, dragging his own phone out of his back pocket and turning airplane mode off so he could send a text to let his parents know he had made it safely.
He contented himself to pass the time by checking his various social media accounts. He used his camera to adjust where his hair had become mussed from the flight and stood up to take a selfie with the backdrop of a giant poster that proclaimed ‘Welcome to Tokyo!’ in five different languages. Content with how the sixth picture looked, he uploaded it to his Instagram and then sent another copy to his mother.
“Plane just landed. It won’t be long now.” Minako stretched as she looked Victor over out of the corner of her eye. “Then we can get both of you back to the dorms and settled. You’re one of the first to arrive. Classes don’t start for another three days.”
“I wanted to have enough time to sightsee.” Victor offered up as an explanation as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He’d been sitting for hours. Right now he wanted to stand and stretch his cramped legs. “Is that something we’ll be allowed to do?”
Minako nodded. “You’re all grown adults. You can do whatever you like so long as you don’t break the rules of conduct or start failing any of your courses. There are enough tourist attractions within public transportation distance from campus to keep you occupied for weeks, but I would suggest taking someone who speaks Japanese with you if you are thinking of going too far off the beaten path.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Before he knew it, it was time for Minako to pull out another sign from her purse and drag him back towards the customs area he had just left.
Then Victor could get started with the best year of his life.
~
The other student they were meeting at the airport turned out to be a small Chinese boy. The sign Minako had pulled out of her purse said he was Guang Hong Ji. He was soft spoken and clearly very shy, although his English was good as well, if not also slightly accented. Victor exchanged an exuberant greeting that was met with a mumbled reply and a deep blush and then they’d been packed into Minako’s car and driven away into the heart of the city.
Victor had spent most of the ride to the university staring out the window. He had never seen so many people in his entire life, not even when he’d gone to Moscow on a school trip when he had been fourteen. Here and there were smatterings of English on the signs, but for the most part everything was just so foreign. Victor had never been out of Russia before and it was jarring seeing the sweep of kanji as opposed to the Cyrillic lettering he was so used to.
Shit, he’d only been here for an hour and he was already being hit with his first wave of homesickness.
Minako had led them to a building on the outskirts of the campus that turned out to be the dorm room where the study abroad students were to be housed for their one month here. Victor had been left alone with another packet of paperwork in his hands and an empty dorm room with two beds.
He sighed as he dropped his bags onto the bed furthest from the door. He was tired, all that wired energy from before had bled out of him now and he was craving a nap, but before he could consider stowing his bags to make enough space to lie down, his stomach let him know that it hadn’t liked the minimal airplane fare he’d been offered on the flight and would like something more solid.
Victor groaned and shuffled through the paperwork he’d been given to find a map of the campus. It seemed like one of the cafeterias wasn’t too far from the dorm. He could gather together enough courage to make a go of it. Maybe with a full stomach, a quick shower, and a nap he would feel a little more like his usual self.
“Okay, Nikiforov. You can do this. It’s just going and getting some food. You’ve done that plenty of times back home. Shouldn’t be any different here.” Victor suddenly regretted his decision to come here a little early. He’d honestly thought there would have been more people who would have done the same, but the only other student in his program so far seemed to be the shy Chinese boy from earlier and Victor wasn’t even sure where his room was as he’d been dropped off first. “You don’t need someone to hold your hand, idiot. People get food here every day.”
The pep talk helped a little and Victor pat down his pockets to make sure he had his phone, wallet, and the key to his room that Minako had given him.
As an afterthought, he grabbed the map, too, and stuck it in his back pocket along with his phone. At least if he got turned around he would have a way to make it back here.
Finding the cafeteria turned out to be easier than he’d hoped. Figuring out how to order something he could eat turned out to be a little bit more difficult.
Victor hovered near the counter, eyes narrowed as though that would help him understand the incomprehensible characters in front of him. He bit his lip and hummed to himself as the girl at the register stared at him with a mixture of confusion and impatience. If she spoke any English, she was hiding it well as no matter how slowly he’d spoken, she still just kept staring and muttering in Japanese, gesturing to the menu and then back to him again as though trying to encourage him to just pick something and be on his way.
Victor was about to give up. He was pretty sure he saw some vending machines at the front of the building. At least a vending machine wasn’t going to judge him while he spent a ridiculous amount of time staring into space while trying to make what should be a simple decision. He took a step back, not bothering to look behind him before he did.
In retrospect, he shouldn’t have assumed there wouldn’t be someone behind him.
In retrospect, he found he really didn’t care as the boy he bumped into had to be one of the most gorgeous human beings he’d ever seen in his life.
Victor turned even as he stumbled, catching sight of dark hair, blue glasses, and wide brown eyes that were the strangest shade of mahogany he’d ever seen. A pink blush stained the boy’s cheeks and he was stammering what must have been apologies. Victor couldn’t look away.
The boy looked up at him and waited, as though he expected Victor to say something. When Victor did nothing more than stare in stunned silence, he straightened his glasses and turned to the girl at the counter, saying something in rapid fire Japanese that Victor couldn’t have hoped to understand even if he had bothered to brush up on the language before coming here. The girl behind the counter rolled her eyes and said something back, gesturing with her hands from the menu and back to where Victor was still standing shell-shocked.
“I was just trying to buy something to eat.” Victor was sure he sounded pathetic, if the Japanese boy even understood a word of what he’d said. Even if he didn’t, Victor definitely looked pathetic, standing there with his hands in his pockets like some kind of lost puppy.
Apparently he made a sympathetic enough picture, as the Japanese boy turned back to the girl and said something else, handing her a card as he did so. She scoffed but punched some buttons on her register anyways. They exchanged a few more words before there was a ringing from the boy’s phone. He said one more thing to the girl, shot Victor an apologetic glance and then turned away as he answered the call, walking away with a quick wave over his shoulder, still speaking Japanese as he went.
Victor had never wanted to learn another language this badly before in his entire life.
~
Yuri was pulled out of a deep sleep by the blaring of a Japanese pop song right in his ear.
Groaning he rolled over on the narrow dorm bed and fumbled for the glasses he’d left on the desk next to his bed. As soon as he could see properly, he grabbed his phone, frowning in confusion as he saw his best friend’s name flashing across the screen.
“Hello? Phichit?”
“Yuri!” Yuri winced and moved the speaker away from his ear a little bit. Phichit always had been just this side of too loud for Yuri’s tastes sometimes and even the slight distortion from the phone speakers didn’t do enough to dampen the noise. “Where are you!? I’ve been waiting for like ten minutes now… Holy, shit! You’re not asleep, are you?”
“Not anymore.” Yuri sat up and ran a hand through his hair. There was something whispering in the back of his mind that he’d forgotten something important, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint what it could have been in his sleep haze. “I was up late unpacking last night so I took a nap.”
“You forgot to set an alarm, didn’t you?” Phichit laughed.
“Set an alarm…?” Suddenly Yuri remembered exactly what it was he had forgotten. “Oh, fuck. I was supposed to pick you up from the airport this afternoon. I am so sorry!”
“It’s fine. I can take a cab.” If it had been anyone else, Yuri might have thought that Phichit was just saying it was fine in order to make Yuri feel better for forgetting his promise, but Phichit was nothing if not genuine at all times. It was one of the many things Yuri admired him for. “I know how you get when you’re tired.”
“No, no. The airport isn’t far. I can be there in like twenty minutes…” Yuri looked down at his rumpled sleepwear. He didn’t even need to find a mirror to know that his hair was a tangled mess, too. “Maybe make it thirty minutes. We can stop by your favorite café on the way back and I’ll buy you lunch to make up for it.”
“Deal.” Phichit was now mumbling something in Japanese that Yuri couldn’t quite hear before he spoke into his phone again. “Sorry about that. One of my bags hadn’t turned up yet, but it’s here now. I’ll get started heading through customs and see you soon?”
“See you soon.” Yuri agreed, already untangling himself from his covers and heading to dig through his closet for something decent to wear. “I really am sorry. I can’t believe I forgot something so important.”
“It is totally fine, my friend! Don’t beat yourself up about it. These things happen?” Phichit’s assurances eased the guilt settling in his heart. “We’ve got an entire year full of wandering through airports together to make up for it. Hey, but I really do have to go. Bye!”
“Goodbye.” Yuri tapped the button to end the call and tossed his phone on the bed.
Yuri got dressed and brushed his hair quickly, his thoughts blessedly quiet as he went through the familiar routine of preparing himself to go into the outside world. He locked the door of their dorm room behind him as he went.
It wouldn’t be their dorm room for long though, would it?
Yuri had gotten used to sharing the small space with Phichit. The Thai man had been his roommate for the past two years and had spent more time in Japan than out of it even during the various breaks in the school year. When Phichit had heard about the study aboard program being offered for this year, Yuri hadn’t been able to stop him from applying. Phichit always had been thirsty for some adventure or another. Yuri, on the other hand had not, but the thought of spending the school year alone or being paired with another stranger once Phichit left had settled poorly with him.
He hadn’t thought about what he would do if one had been accepted and the other not. He hadn’t thought about what he would do if he was accepted in any situation. He’d been pretty convinced he wouldn’t be good enough. And then they’d both gotten the acceptance letters and Yuri had been filled with a different kind of worried.
How was he going to travel the world with a bunch of strangers and not have an anxiety attack every five minutes?
Yuri had certainly traveled before. He’d been all over Japan either helping with his parents’ business or competing in regional figure skating competitions when he’d been younger. He’d even visited Thailand for a week last summer with Phichit to meet his friend’s family. The traveling itself wasn’t the problem.
The traveling with strangers was what was causing his skin to scrawl and the butterflies that resided in his stomach to flit around with a fresh intensity he’d never felt before. What would he do if he was in some country and got separated? If he couldn’t speak the language or find his way back to the group? Aside from Phichit, who he knew would love him no matter what, what if the others he was supposed to spend the next year with thought he was nothing more than a weird nervous wreck and wanted nothing to do with him? Who would want anything to do with a twenty-two year old adult that sometimes curled up into a ball crying for no apparent reason?
It wouldn’t be as simple as going back to his dorm and hiding under the covers for days if he embarrassed himself or made a massive mistake.
He decided to cut through the cafeteria on his way to borrow the keys to the school van from Minako-sensei. It was faster than going around and Yuri had grabbed a lighter jacket than he intended in his hurry so taking the time to step out of the cold was tempting as well.
He was so caught up in all the ‘what ifs’ floating through his brain that he didn’t notice as someone took a step away from one of the counters and stepped right into his path.
“[I am so sorry! I should have been looking where I was going…]” Yuri was quick to offer an apology, instinctually speaking in Japanese before he looked up and saw the most beautiful pair of blue eyes he’d ever seen staring back down at him. The breath caught in Yuri’s throat and his mind ground to a halt, all languages completely lost to him as he took in the stranger’s silver hair, pale skin, and refined features.
The stranger was looking at him in confusion. Yuri tried to wrestle his blush and whirring thoughts under control by adjusting where his glasses had been set askew and turning to the girl who was staring at them blandly from behind the counter.
“[Is he okay?]” Yuri wasn’t quite sure why he would ask her that instead of just the man himself, but he looked so foreign. Yuri wasn’t even sure if spoke English or Japanese or some other language entirely.
“[I don’t know. He’s been trying to order something to eat for ten minutes now.]” The girl motioned towards the menu above her head and back at the stranger for emphasis. “[Does he want to order something or not?]”
“I was just trying to buy something to eat.” The stranger sounded sad and confused as he watched Yuri’s every move with wide eyes. Well, that settled it. He was going to have to help whether he like it or not. Yuri never had been one to turn away someone that clearly needed his help.
“[Use my card.]” Yuri handed his student ID to the girl. “[The beef udon should be safe enough.]”
“[It’s your money.]” The girl tapped something into her register and swiped his card, handing it back with a scowl. “[Do you want anything else?]”
“[No, just the udon should be fine.]” Yuri accepted his ID back and was about to turn to say something to the other man, this time in English as even with the odd accent Yuri couldn’t quite place, it was obvious that he understood that language well enough, before his phone went off again, the same stupid bubblegum pop song and Phichit’s name flashing across the screen.
“[Shit, I’m sorry, I got held up. I’m on my way now I swear.]” Yuri answered the call, shot an apologetic glance at the stranger and took off babbling apologies to Phichit over the phone as he went.
He knew he had just been rude, but what were the odds he was ever going to see the stranger again?
And if that thought left a sour taste in his mouth and a lump in his stomach… Well, Yuri was just going to have to deal with that later.
~
“Chris! Why didn’t you convince me to learn Japanese instead of French?” Victor was sprawled out on his bed as Chris wandered around what was now their shared dorm room, putting away some of his things. When Victor had applied for the study abroad program he’d convinced his best friend Christophe Giacometti to apply as well. They had met online several years ago when Victor had taken an online French class and had bonded through the Internet, though this was their first time meeting in person.
“You’ve been here for all of ten hours and you’ve already fallen in love with a stranger?” Chris sounded more amused than anything else. He turned his stunning, green eyes on Victor’s prone form and raised an eyebrow. “On second thought, that does definitely sound exactly like something you’d do. You didn’t happen to catch his name, did you?”
“Of course not.” Victor knew he was being dramatic, but he couldn’t help it. He had met an angel that day and his heart ached at the thought that he’d let him slip out of his fingers because of something so stupid as a language barrier. “He just ordered me some of the best food I’ve ever had and then his phone rang and he left.”
“Which leads me to believe you have no way to find out who he was or even where he is.” Chris pointed out. “You don’t even know if he speaks English.”
“So I’ll learn Japanese and go find him.” Victor sat up and pulled his legs up underneath himself. “He saved my life, Chris.”
“He really didn’t. Someone was bound to feed you sooner or later.” Victor scoffed and waved off Chris’ logic. His friend hadn’t been there. How was he supposed to know? “In any case, even if you do find him again, and manage to find someone to translate for you if he doesn’t speak English, what are you going to do about it? We’re only in Japan for one month. Are you going to start a long distance relationship just because a complete stranger bought you lunch? If I knew it was that easy, I would have sent you food a long time ago.”
“Maybe he speaks French? Or Russian?” Victor was only half paying attention now, instead he had grabbed his laptop from where he’d left it on the table next to his bed and was now trying to find a website for learning Japanese. “Hm, I guess that would be too much to hope for. There’s nothing else for it, then. If he doesn’t speak English, then I’m just going to have to learn Japanese tonight and go find him tomorrow.”
“You’ve got it bad… Please tell me you don’t really think you are going to be able to learn an entire language in a few hours.” Chris rolled his eyes and Victor merely shrugged. That was exactly what Victor was going to do. How else was he supposed to track down the man that could very well be the love of his life? “You’ve got almost twenty-four hours before we have to go to the introductory meeting. Good luck.”
“You don’t think he’ll be there, do you?” Victor felt excitement creeping through his body. He hadn’t thought about that. What if the boy was a part of their group? Instead of having one month to get to know him, he could have a whole year to dedicate to romance against the backdrop of some of the most beautiful cities in the world. Could the fates ever be that kind?
“I think the odds of that are astronomically not in your favor, but I suppose it’s not impossible.” Chris admitted.
“So you’re saying there’s a chance?”
“As much of a chance as you learning Japanese in twenty-four hours.”
“I thought best friends were supposed to support each other.” Victor grumbled, tilting the screen of his laptop down a little so he could peer over at Chris better. “Build each other up when you’re feeling down. That kind of thing.”
“Oh, I totally support you making a giant fool of yourself. Don’t let me stop you.”
“Thanks, Chris. You’re a real pal.”
~
Victor did not learn Japanese in twenty-four hours.
He hadn’t actually gotten far at all before he was hit with a sudden wave of jetlag so strong he’d barely been able to stay conscious long enough to take a quick shower before falling sleep. When he’d woken up, it was morning and they had twelve hours now before they had to meet in the expansive common area on the first floor of the dorm to meet the other students they would be spending the next year with.
Chris was already up, if still slightly jetlagged himself, and they had ventured to the cafeteria Victor had found the previous day together. This time there was an older gentleman working the counter. His English was slightly better than non-existent and he was far more patient than the girl from before. It didn’t take long for Victor and Chis to walk away with some puffy omelets and coffee.
As they ate, Victor scanned the students coming and going, but there was no sign of the mystery boy who had helped him the day before. Chris smirked and shook his head, but didn’t bring it up again, instead allowing the conversation to stick closer to safe topics like speculating about their fellow students or how they were going to manage their usual class load while still getting enough time to explore whatever country they happened to be in.
Afterwards they took a stroll around the campus, taking notes of the various educational buildings and notating a small museum nearby which could be an interesting place to visit if they were to get bored enough. It was cold, and as they walked, a light snow began to fall.
“I thought it would be busier.” Victor muttered into his scarf. He shoved his hands into his pockets as they continued their aimless ambling. Chris was Swiss and Victor was Russian. A little cold and snow were not going to be enough to send them indoors.
“Regular classes don’t start until next week.” Chris took a long drag from his coffee cup and looked around, green eyes bright and curious “I’m sure this place will be beyond crowded in a few days.”
“Do you think this was a good idea?”
“Walking around in the freezing cold?”
“No.” Victor frowned and shot Chris a look. The blonde smirked and took another sip of his drink.
“Okay, I understand what you’re asking. Shit, Victor, I don’t know. It sure sounds like a good idea. You’ve been bitching about wanting to leave St. Petersburg and see the world for years now. That was the whole point of learning French and English, right? If you didn’t really want to leave Russia, why bother?”
“It gave me something to do.” Victor knew that was a half-truth at best. “I am glad I got to see you in person for once though. This whole thing is probably worth it just for that.”
Chris smiled warmly. “I’m glad to finally get to see you in person, too. I can’t wait until we get to Switzerland and I can show you around some. Take you to meet the boyfriend and family. Introduce you to the local nightlife…”
“When do we go to Switzerland again?” Victor ran over the itinerary in his mind, trying to pinpoint the exact month he’s looking for. “Right after Russia… So May?”
“Yes, May.” Chris agrees. “Is April in Russia as cold as they say?”
“It’s definitely not warm, but it’s not the dead of winter any longer so that helps.” Victor pulls the crinkled map out of his pocket and traces a finger across a street printed there. “I think there’s supposed to be a ramen place down the road somewhere. It’ll probably be lunch by the time we get there. Could be fun?”
“Could be.”
~
The ramen place had been fun. Spending time with Christophe had been fun as well. When they’d gotten back there had been a few more students from their program hanging out in the common area playing cards. They’d joined them and that had been fun, too.
In fact, aside from the buzzing in the back of his mind that caused him to scan the faces of every single person passing by in the hopes that one of them would be his cute Japanese savior from the day before, he was beginning to lose some of the nerves that had been hounding him since boarding the plane to come here. Worrying was going to do him no good after all. The money had already been spent and he was here now for better or worse.
Just when he was finally cheering up, things got even better.
It happened at the introduction party that evening. Everyone seemed to be trickling into the room slowly, wandering around and picking at the trays of food and drink that had been left out. It seemed that the administrators had gone out of their way to make sure there was food representation from every country that had sent students, and Victor was happily munching on a pirozhki while sharing an animated conversation with Chris and a pair of twins from Italy when the door opened and two new students came in, shoulders hunched against the icy winds.
It took him a minute for his brain to catch up to what his eyes were seeing, and another minute for his brain to confer with his eyes for a second time as the two figures unwrapped thick scarves from around their necks to confirm that he really was seeing what he thought he was seeing. Then he was gripping Chris’ arm tightly and staring so intently he was just shy of actually having his mouth hanging open in surprise.
“Ouch, Victor. What the hell?” Chris jolted as Victor grabbed him.
“Chris! It’s him! It’s the mystery boy!” Victor knew he was being rude and that the Italian twins were staring at him as though he’d lost his mind since that last sentence had been said in French instead of English, but he didn’t care. Chris would understand him. “Oh my god, it’s really him!”
“Which one? The one with the glasses?” Chris peered around Victor’s shoulder to get a better look. He was speaking French as well, much to the obvious disappointment of the twins who were now edging away from them, clearly not pleased with suddenly being ignored. “If so, I can see what you mean. He is definitely cute.”
“Yes.” Victor watched as the Japanese boy with the blue glasses turned and said something to his similarly dark-haired companion and shrugged out of his winter coat. “Yes, the one with the glasses. It’s him. It’s really him. Does that mean he’s on this trip, too?”
“Looks like it.” Chris murmured as the Japanese boy and his friend placed their coats on the back of a chair and made their way over to a nearby table where the darker-skinned part of the duo had waved and caught the attention of the Chinese boy Victor had met at the airport and an American student they had yet to acquaint themselves with. “I guess you’re regretting not following through with your learn a foreign language in the space of a day plan, huh?”
“It looks like his companion can communicate with him well enough.” Victor pointed out. Maybe he could translate. That could work.
“Cheer up! Someone around here is bound to be able to speak both Japanese and English. At the very least that teacher from the airport does.”
Before Victor could say anything, the boy seemed to sense he was being stared at and turned, catching sight of Victor and raising his eyebrows in recognition and surprise. He turned to his friend and said something, gesturing in Victor’s direction before nudging his shoulder against his friend’s and peeling away from the conversation.
“Is he heading this way?” Victor’s stomach dropped down into his shoes. “Oh my god, he’s heading this way. How do I look? Is my hair okay? What am I supposed to say to him? Chris, what do I do? Help me!”
“You might want to stop babbling in French for a start.” Chris offered up and Victor shot his friend a potent glare, ready to tell him exactly where he could shove his unhelpful attitude when he realized that he was out of time. The boy was here, in front of him, a slight smile on his face and a bright twinkle in his chocolate eyes that made Victor’s heart stutter in his chest.
“I was hoping to run into you again. I’m sorry about the other day. I was running late to pick up my roommate from the airport or I would have stuck around longer. Did you like the udon?”
Victor was floored. He’d selfishly imagined what would happen if he ran into his mystery savior again. He’d been expecting to swoop with his trademark smile and sweep the other boy off his feet. He’d intend on being calm, cool, and collected. Every bit the suave flirt everyone back home seemed to think he was. Of all the scenarios, having the boy walk over and start a conversation had not been one of them.
Wait… Victor had understood every word the other boy had said. He still didn’t know Japanese, so that must mean…
His crush spoke English!
“You speak English!” Victor exclaimed in the same language as he threw his arms around the boy, who was now sputtering and blushing and halfheartedly trying to push Victor off him.
“Y-yes?” Victor released him and turned on his brightest, most flirty grin. The other boy looked flustered now, face stained red and glasses askew. “I thought that was a requirement for applying for the study abroad program?”
“He didn’t know you were part of the program.” Chris took pity on Victor and inserted himself into the conversation before Victor could let his excitement embarrass himself for the second time. “Hello, my name is Christophe Giacometti. I’m from Switzerland. This is Victor Nikiforov, he’s from Russia and is fairly harmless. Like a puppy.”
Victor felt his smile widen, if that was at all possible, and he bounced on the balls of his feet. He winked and the other boy’s face turned about two shades darker while Victor’s nerves sang and burned. Maybe Chris hadn’t been too far off with the puppy metaphor. If Victor had a tail, he was sure it would have been wagging so hard it would have been a blur.
“Katsuki Yuri, nice to meet you.” Yuri straightened his glasses and his smile was a little more nervous this time, but he wasn’t running so Victor guessed his exuberance hadn’t driven him away. “Or should it be Yuri Katsuki? I guess I should get used to introducing myself the Western way, huh?”
“Yuri!” Yuri’s friend was now yelling and waving from across the room. Yuri winced and waved back.
“I should go back over there.” Yuri hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath as though to fortify his resolve. “Let me introduce you to my friends?”
“Yes! Let’s do that!” Victor bounced along as Yuri’s side and the other boy led the way.
This was going to be the best year of his life.