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There was always a feeling that Yuuri got whenever something big was going to happen. Sometimes he knew specifically what that something was, sometimes he didn’t. Sometimes he had to try a little harder to get specifics.
But he never had to try really hard about anything concerning his own fate.
Yuuri knew that his life would be cut short. He knew it since his mother told him as a young boy while she held him close and let her tears fall into his hair, and he knew it when he had his own vision of an unknown man weeping over his body.
Visions.
Though, they never told the full truth. Yuuri learned that. Nothing in this profession of his could give full truths, no. Fate was never that simple.
It was cruel however.
He’d seen lovers come and beg for him to tell them they were destined for each other when he could already see the cracks in their foundation. He’d seen people who had a few days to live come in about financial luck or love. Fate was cruel.
Yuuri was no exception.
Not only was his life going to be cut short, but he would also have to meet the one person meant for him before that. He would have to meet that unknown man who wept over him.
Then, he would have to make a decision that he wasn’t ready to make.
And that feeling? It was filling Yuuri’s gut. He knew what was going to happen. He knew who was going to knock on his door in the next few minutes.
Still, he took a deep breath and set to work in making his parlor as presentable as he could for his new guest. And when the sound of the three knocks echoed throughout the parlor, he smoothed down his clothes, took a few breaths in and out, and walked over to open the door.
The man stood across from him. He wore a suit, which meant he came from an office of sorts. The man obviously had wealth. Before he could say anything, Yuuri stepped aside to let him pass through. “Come in.”
As the man stepped in, Yuuri closed the door. “Would you like me to take your coat?”
“I'm fine,” He muttered and looked around. “Did I read the sign outside wrong? It seems a bit….”
“Mundane?” Yuuri suggested. Most of his guests thought so. The man only nodded. “I'm not here to give you a show, Mister-”
“Call me Viktor.”
“Well, Viktor, I'm here to try and tell you what you want to know. Would you prefer I get out a spirit board and light some sage?” He raised an eyebrow.
Viktor’s eyes widened slightly. “No. I apologize. Admittedly, this is my first time doing this… or anything like this.”
“No worries. Follow me,” Yuuri said as he led Viktor into the parlor. “You may sit down wherever you feel most comfortable.”
He expected Viktor to sit on one of the two chairs at the small table in the middle of the room, but instead the silver haired man opted to sit on the loveseat. Yuuri brought a chair to sit directly across from him. “What have you come here for?”
“My future,” Viktor said. He sat up straight, crossed his legs as gentlemen are opt to do and settled his hands in his lap.
“Vague questions yield vague responses,” Yuuri replied easily, though his heart pounded a little louder than normal. “What specifically would you like to know?”
Viktor was quiet for a bit, his eyes never left Yuuri. “This was a mistake, I think.”
“Maybe,” Yuuri said, but he knew it was far from a mistake.
“I don't know what I want to know,” He explained. “I don't know why I'm here.”
“Most people want to know if they'll have a job by the end of the month or if they'll marry and have a family. Love and wealth. Paranoia, as well. Do you think something is going to happen to you, Viktor?”
Yuuri wasn't sure of the answer. Fate had never granted him his soul mate’s path… yet, he coils feel the anticipation of something… something he can't explain.
“I have wealth… I'm secure in my finances,” Viktor finally said. Yuuri hummed. “Love… I've never thought about it.”
Yuuri did have the answer to Viktor’s love life. He wasn't sure if he could go through with answering it, though. Still, “Would you like to know?”
“Something tells me I won't like the answer to it,” His voice was softer this time. Yuuri looked at him and smiled.
“And here I thought I was the one with the psychic abilities.”
The other man let out a laugh, though it was more of a breath than an actual laugh. “Tell me then… will I find love?”
Yuuri didn't tell him that he technically has. “Yes.”
Viktor raised an eyebrow. “Just like that? Yes?”
“Yes,” Yuuri repeated. He looked at Viktor again, noticed his suit, the slight chew mark on the tip of his shoes. It would be enough for him to use to create an answer without telling him the truth. “You have to be open to it. If you keep living in your work or home, how will you ever have the chance to live? To find what you seek? Animal companions are loving, but that's not what you seek.”
“How did… Okay, so I need to leave my house to find love? That seems a bit obvious.”
Yuuri sighed softly. “Sometimes the answers are obvious. Most of the times, the people who walk through my door leave knowing exactly what they knew before. I cannot tell you what you want to hear, I can only tell you what is. Do you believe in magic, Viktor?”
“I don’t see how that matters,” He replied.
“People come in here expecting magic. They expect me to fix their future if they don't like it, or for me to force their fate into a direction that it can't go on. My answers are mostly obvious because you already see these paths starting to form,” Yuuri explained. “My gift is unreliable. Rarely do I get an actual vision. It's like viewing the world and being sensitive to all the hints it gives you, or rather all the signs.”
“So why do people bother coming to see you, if you can't help them?” Viktor asked.
Yuuri could only give a sympathetic smile. “I'm afraid people view me as a last resort, sometimes. Once they're at that point, not a lot else matters.”
“What about the ones who simply saw a sign on a small wooden gate and stepped in?”
“Then maybe that was your path,” Yuuri said in a hushed tone.
Viktor stared at Yuuri for a few seconds before he focused his gaze on something else in the room. “Then, what if I asked you to tell me if this path is a good one?”
Yuuri frowned. “Is that what you’re asking?”
“Yes.”
Yuuri thought about it, thought about telling him the truth. He didn’t know how Viktor would react, or if he’d even believe him… but he couldn’t. Maybe it was cowardice on his part, but the thought of letting the man in front of him know that the path he was on would only lead to pain… especially at his own hand. He couldn’t do that. “Would you mind stepping outback with me? I'd like to show you something before I give you your answer.”
Viktor gave him an odd look. “I suppose I wouldn't mind.”
Yuuri sat up and waited until Viktor was up to lead him to the back of his small house. He opened the door for Viktor and allowed him to step out onto the makeshift patio. “What do you see around you?”
Viktor looked back at Yuuri. “Besides you?”
“Besides me.”
He turned back around. “I see trees, a fence, lights coming from other houses, the sky, clouds, the moon, a few stars… I don't get what this has to do with anything.”
“How do you feel?” Yuuri asked.
“Confused, mostly.”
“Yes, that does tend to happen,” Yuuri sighed and stepped out to stand next to Viktor. “A lot of people think that reading stars will predict their futures. Of course, I never understood that because stars tend to always be there whether we can see them or not. Then again, I’m not an astronomer and I do not know how stars really work.”
Viktor looked at him from the corner of his eyes.
“I prefer to look at what’s here on Earth. What we can see and touch, what is unpredictable,” He continued. “You want to know about your path?”
“I do.”
Yuuri stared up at the sky. He still didn’t know if he was doing the right thing by letting Viktor go, or keeping the truth from him. He couldn’t guarantee if fate would make his pain worse for trying to cheat or if it would work to change what his mother’s vision was, but it was a chance. He was willing to bet it all on one chance.
He stayed quiet for a few more seconds before lowering his head. “The path you’re on is a good one. I can’t tell you what will happen when you leave here tonight, not for sure, but I know that you’ll be okay.”
“You weren’t kidding about people leaving not liking their answers,” Viktor laughed.
Yuuri frowned. “You don’t like your answer?”
“I-Well, it’s not what I expected when I walked in,” He said.
“What did you expect when you walked in?”
Viktor pursed his lips before he shrugged. “I guess I walked in expecting what everyone else was expecting.”
“That bothers you.”
“Have I just wasted your time?” Viktor asked instead.
“I don’t think you’ve wasted my time if here is where you were supposed to be.” Yuuri said softly and glanced at him. “Besides, I was expecting you. I would have been very disappointed had you not knocked on my door.”
Viktor’s eyes widened slightly, but Yuuri noticed. Viktor turned to look at him. “Maybe I was supposed to meet you tonight.”
“Maybe,” Yuuri said. “Maybe you were supposed to get answers that I can’t give you.”
“Maybe I’m okay with that,” Viktor shrugged again. Yuuri felt something twist in his gut. “I should go.”
“Of course.”
“How much do I owe you?” The question struck Yuuri as odd before he realized that Viktor was a client. Viktor was about to take his wallet out, but Yuuri shook his head. He didn’t feel comfortable taking money from someone he was lying to.
“If your fate was to come here tonight, then I won’t accept your money,” He said instead.
Viktor took his hand out of his pocket. “Well, in that case, thank you for taking a stranger into your home and humoring him.”
Yuuri looked at him and it hurt. It hurt him more than he cared to admit. He could see a life where he would fall in love with this man, one where he wouldn’t have an early death and they’d get to know each other. One where maybe he wouldn’t have the burden of knowing.
“It was a pleasure, Viktor.” Yuuri forced a smile.
They were quiet as they walked back into Yuuri’s home and toward the front door. Before Viktor walked out, he turned to face Yuuri. “Thank you, again.”
“Of course,” Yuuri said. “Just remember to go out and live your life. If you want the love you talked about earlier, you need to do more than just work and stay at home with your pet.”
Viktor smiled, a genuine one that made his eyes crinkle a little. “I will, but if Makkachin starts whining about it, I’m blaming you.”
Yuuri’s smile was a little more genuine this time. “I accept that blame.”
They looked at each other for a moment, maybe there were words left unsaid. No, there were definitely words left unsaid. When it became clear that neither would say anything, Viktor held out his hand.
Yuuri reluctantly took it and gave a quick squeeze before he let go. There wasn’t an electric zap, but he felt like his palm was on fire. “Goodbye, Viktor.”
“Goodbye.” Viktor put his hand in his pocket and turned around. He walked out the door, down the wooden steps, out through the gate and out of Yuuri’s life.
It was only when minutes passed, and a gust of wind made his wind chimes ring, that Yuuri turned back inside. The door clicked shut and Yuuri let his first tear fall.
“It was for the best.” He whispered to himself.
And years later, he used his last breath to ask someone who reminded him of the trees, and fences, and lights from other houses, and the sky with it’s clouds and stars and moon; he asked someone who looked like home, “Was it for the best?”