Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kozuki-sensei had to return to Japan in the middle of the semester due to a family emergency. The news that she wasn’t coming back made quite a few students nervous—some of them needed that grade badly.

The dean came in person to reassure them that the school was doing everything to find a solution but his words didn’t quite have the desired effect. “We’re terribly sorry. We’re looking for Japanese language teachers but the academic year has already started and they’re all employed elsewhere,” he explained.

“Will a native Japanese speaker do? Or does he need a teaching licence or something?” Yuri Plisetsky spoke up. Honestly, Milly didn’t know much about him, given that he missed more classes than he actually attended. He was Russian, had a long mane of blond hair which every girl envied, appearance of an Elf straight from Tolkien’s Middle-earth, and one hell of a temper.

“Frankly, at this point, anyone will do,” the dean sighed.

Yuri rudely took out his phone right there and started talking to someone in fast-paced Russian. After a relatively short, mostly one-sided conversation Yuri lowered the phone a little and turned to the dean.

“I have a native Japanese friend willing to give it a shot. Can you arrange an interview today at five?”

“Yes,” the dean nodded hopefully.

Lifting the phone to his ear again Yuri continued the conversation in English: “Okay, today at five. I’ll wait for you at the main entrance and take you to the dean’s office ... Uh-huh ... Yeah ... No, thanks, I’d rather walk ... Not a bad driver? Katsudon, he’s a menace! ... Keep telling yourself that ... Yes, dad ... Sure. See you at five,” he ended the call with a small smile. He noticed the stares the entire class was giving him. “What?”

Milly’s first impression of their new Japanese 101 teacher was ‘precious cinnamon roll’. Katsuki-sensei was handsome, kind and somewhat shy. He was a great teacher, with gentle voice and smile of an angel—and patience of one, too. And did Milly mention he was handsome? Because he was. Shiny black hair, warm brown eyes giving away his Japanese descent framed by elegant glasses, kissable lips, strong jaw line... There was some softness in his features, complementing his personality nicely. Not to mention his posture was always textbook perfect and he moved with a dancer’s grace. There was hardly a person in their class who didn’t have a least a tiny little platonic crush on him (though he seemed to be completely oblivious to the fact). Milly couldn’t help but wonder how a man like this befriended someone like Yuri Plisetsky. And there was no doubt the two were very good friends—or maybe even something more. Unlike Kozuki-sensei, Katsuki-sensei didn’t try to engage the uncooperative Yuri in class activities – he usually gave Yuri a manga to keep him entertained and focused on the rest of the class. (Milly had had no idea Yuri was that fluent in Japanese. Though it did explain why Yuri had always appeared so bored in the class before.) Katsuki-sensei always had a fond smile ready for Yuri, often ate lunch with him and had been seen in the park braiding Yuri’s hair. They called each other affectionate nicknames, like Yura and Katsudon. (“That’s Katsudon-sensei for you when we’re in class, Yuratchka,” Katsuki-sensei had corrected him with a smile.) Milly definitely wasn’t the only one who wondered about their relationship.

Until Viktor showed up, that is.

Viktor walked into their classroom one day, dressed like the model he probably was, discussing something with Yuri in rapid-fire Russian. He followed Yuri to his desk and sat down next to him, as if it was the most natural thing to do. And maybe it was, because Yuri Don’t-come-near-me-or-I’ll-bite-your-hand-off Plisetsky did not protest. (Not that Milly understood a word of Russian, mind you, but there was something universal about cursing and complaining that transcended language barriers.) Viktor stayed seated even after the bell rang and the class started.

Katsuki-sensei raised an eyebrow at him questioningly. What followed was a conversation between them in fluent Russian. Eventually Katsuki-sensei shook his head with a smile and asked Viktor to introduce himself.

“Hello, everyone,” Viktor greeted them in flawless Japanese. “My name is Viktor. Nice to meet you! Please take care of me!”

Not many were able to concentrate on the lesson that day, too distracted by his radiant presence. Frankly, the man was beautiful. Platinum hair, icy blue eyes, heart-shaped smile... Unfairly attractive.

“So, Viktor.” Unsurprisingly, Linda was the one to approach him after the class ended, outspoken as she was. “You seem to be fluent in Japanese. What are you doing in the beginners’ class?”

“Ah, there are no advanced Japanese courses at the moment. I had a gap in my schedule and I thought it would be good to brush up on the basics, considering I had no formal training. Besides,” he added with a dreamy smile, “I get to watch the most beautiful man on Earth teach it. What’s not to like?”

Milly’s eyes zeroed in on Yuri, who was still sitting next to Viktor, but instead of a fit of jealous rage, Yuri just turned his eyes to the sky with a resigned sigh of someone long used to hearing such things. Huh...

During the next lesson Milly carefully observed Katsuki-sensei’s interactions with Viktor. She suddenly felt incredibly foolish for assuming there might be something going on between him and Yuri. Because while Katsuki-sensei did look at Yuri with barely hidden tenderness, it was now painfully obvious his fondness of the blond was familial in nature, especially compared to how he looked at Viktor (AKA Milly’s #husbandgoals). The two clearly had a thing for each other.

Well then. Time to play matchmaker.

Katsudon’s wannabe suitor dashed Yuri’s hopes for long-term quality entertainment by walking up to Katsudon and asking him out on a date in a way that for once couldn’t be misinterpreted.

“You didn’t tell me he was married!” the guy snarled at him, pissed.

“In my defence, you didn’t ask if he was single, you asked if he was gay,” Yuri shrugged.

And that was it. Yuri resigned himself to another boring semester. Especially when Viktor decided he suddenly needed a refresher course in kana and invited himself to Yuri’s class. No idiot would dare make eyes at Katsudon when Viktor was around.

And then he received an email. It said:

Hey guys,
I know hearts were broken last Wednesday when Viktor declared Katsuki-sensei the most beautiful man on Earth, but we have all seen how Katsuki-sensei looks at Viktor when he thinks nobody is watching. The two are obviously into each other, so why not give them a little push to help them get together?

Yuri almost choked to death on his ginger ale.

I’m open to your suggestions. If you’re with me, meet me tomorrow after school in the cafeteria. Let’s get Viktor and Katsuki-sensei together!
Have a nice day. Best regards,
Milly

“Oi, Viktor. I need to cut the practice short tomorrow. There’s a study group for a school project and I really need to be there.”

“But of course, Yura!” his coach was quick to agree, probably looking forward to spending some uninterrupted ice time with his husband. “You’ve been training too hard lately anyway. You deserve a break.”

Why had Yuri thought school would be boring, again?

Chapter Text

Milly was pleased with how many of her classmates came to her planning session. Too bad Yuri hadn’t showed up – his contribution would certainly be invaluable. Wasn’t he frustrated with seeing his friends pine for each other?

She waited until everyone ordered their drinks and cupcakes and opened the session.

“So, Viktor and Katsuki-sensei.”

“Not to play the devil’s advocate,” Lucas spoke up, “but should we really meddle in their love lives? I’m pretty sure there are school regulations prohibiting a relationship between teachers and students.”

Well, he had a point. But Milly was prepared for this question.

“True, but Katsuki-sensei is only a temporary teacher. When the summer semester ends he will be free to date anyone he wants.”

“And how can you be sure that he won’t decide to stay?” Jessie raised her eyebrows.

Damn, Milly hadn’t thought of that. Katsuki-sensei was a great teacher. What if he decided to take the job permanently?

“He won’t,” someone declared resolutely. Milly turned to see Yuri taking an empty chair from the nearby table and joining them. “Katsudon’s only doing this because I’m cashing in on the favour he owed me. He does have a full-time job, you know. The moment they find a qualified replacement—or the moment the school year ends—he’ll be gone.”

See? Invaluable information!

“What does he do?”

They all leaned forward, curious.

“He owns an ice rink and teaches kids how to skate.”

Wow. Milly hadn’t expected that. And judging by the surprised faces around her, neither did they.

“Interesting. Hey, maybe we can use that! Let’s brainstorm, okay?” And that’s why Angie was Milly’s favourite. “I’ve been thinking—maybe a group activity? We could invite Viktor to hang out with us and take him to Katsuki-sensei’s rink?”

That actually sounded like a great idea!

“Yeah, no. That’s a horrible idea!” Yuri protested, vehement.

“But why?”

Yeah, why?

“Because I said so!” Yuri crossed his arms over his chest and refused to elaborate.

Milly decided to trust Yuri on that. After all, he was the one who knew Katsuki-sensei and Viktor best.

The debate continued, suggestions flying around. They ranged from terribly clichéd (sending Katsuki-sensei flowers on behalf of Viktor, fake love notes, setting them up on a date, luring them to a cabinet and locking the door) to moderately usable. A class trip was rejected because it was an uncontrolled environment in which there was no way to force Viktor and Katsuki-sensei to interact. The same would apply to Katsuki-sensei taking the class to an anime convention under the pretence of getting to know Japanese culture better, but Jessie suggested an interesting twist—cosplay.

“If we dressed them up as a lovely-dovey couple, or someone people ship, fans would drag them together to pose for photos even if they try to separate.”

“Ship? What ship?” Several people frowned in confusion.

“Don’t talk to me, you heathens!” Jessie gasped dramatically.

“To ship means to support a romantic relationship between someone,” Angie explained with a sigh. “Can we get back on topic?”

“Okay, but would they even agree to it? Dressing up, I mean?” Mark raised a sceptical eyebrow.

“They would,” Yuri assured them, eyeing their cupcakes and milkshakes enviously but stubbornly sticking to his salad and tea. Was he on a diet or something?

“Well,” Milly concluded, looking around. “That actually sounds like a viable plan. When is the next con?”

“Gimme a sec,” Lucy whipped up her phone. “November 2–5,” she announced after a brief search. “It’s the last one this year.”

Milly perked up, only for Yuri to dash her hopes. Again.

“Nope, Viktor’s gonna be in China.”

Damn it. Back to the planning board.

“Oh, well,” Angie sighed. “What about Valentine’s Day ball?”

“But that’s still so far away!” Jessie whined.

“Yeah, and there’s no guarantee they would dance together,” Lucas nodded.

“Maybe...” Diana began shyly, immediately drawing all eyes to her. The Vice-President of the Student Council was a quiet bookworm—the type that often came up with totally unexpected (downright brilliant) ideas. “Will Viktor be back from China by the 25^th?”

Yuri nodded.

“Well, the school celebrates 150 years this November, right? There will be a banquet and everything. As the Student Council we could suggest that the first dance of the night be a dance of students with professors, to represent unity and all that. We could assign Viktor as a dance partner to Katsuki-sensei?”

“Diana. You’re a genius, you know that?” The opinion was promptly seconded by everyone around the table.

“This is great!” Milly clapped her hands in delight. “I’ll suggest it to the dean in our next meeting.” She was, after all, the Student Council President. “And the last dance could also be a joined professors–students dance. Not necessarily a ballroom dance but maybe something more relaxed?”

They shrugged but at least nobody objected.

“Yeah, but can Viktor dance?” Lucy asked.

Ah, good point.

“He can,” Yuri confirmed. Milly noticed he had been strangely quiet all evening, answering questions directed to him but not contributing to the discussion with any suggestions.

Nobody asked whether Katsuki-sensei could dance. The man moved like he was dancing.

The cafeteria was closing just as they began fine-tuning the details. Milly promised on behalf of the Student Council to take care of organisational matters and keep them all in the loop.

This was so exciting!

Yuri was having too much fun with this wannabe matchmaking. Thankfully he had managed to discourage them from taking Viktor to Ice Castle. Seeing their faces would be hilarious but he didn’t want things to end too quickly.

Then again, maybe he should have let them do it. At least then the big reveal would take place at a time and location of Yuri’s choice. Considering how often Viktor went on gushing about his husband, it was a matter of time before he opened his big mouth in the Japanese class and spoiled the surprise. It was not like Yuri could tell him to keep quiet about being married; he didn’t want Viktor to suspect anything.

Oh, well. Nothing he could do about it now. He decided to let things run their course and see what happened. Hopefully his classmates would stay in the dark for as long as possible.

The day after Little Miss Matchmaker’s planning session (Yuri did remember her name because it reminded him of Mila but he kept calling her Little Miss Matchmaker in his head) he accidentally stumbled upon the Student Council meeting (he was distracted by his phone and didn’t watch where he was going, sue him). Yuri’s first thought was that generals planning a battle strategy were probably less serious and gloomy than these guys. Like, they almost went into a shouting match over fuckin’ soda. And when Little Miss Matchmaker finally calmed them down, they almost started the third world war over food. There was the gluten-free camp, the vegan-friendly camp and the meat-lovers camp. Yuri wished he’d brought popcorn. Finally, after about fifteen minutes, the desperate Little Miss Matchmaker convinced them it was possible to have all three groups of food (yes, on three separate tables, and yes, they would be appropriately labelled) and asked them to move on. Yuri wished he could have stayed to watch their frenzied discussion about music but he had a skating practice he needed to get to.

Should he volunteer to help with the preparation? It was painfully obvious they had never been to a real banquet before, whereas Yuri had been to more than he cared to count. Which meant that under normal circumstances he would ignore this one but... He was kinda curious if they could pull it off or if the celebration ended up as a disaster. Plus, there would be Katsudon and Viktor, possibly spoiling his fun, and he needed to see his classmates’ reactions when they finally found out. Would Miss Photogenic be there too? Yuri wondered what kind of face she would make seeing Viktor glued to Katsudon...

Chapter Text

Christine had been looking forward to the banquet for a long time. What a wonderful opportunity to show off her new dress – and her boyfriend, of course. He was so much better than a no-name figure skating coach!

She was well aware how gorgeous she looked in her purple dress and she genuinely enjoyed the admiring stares. Not to mention her boyfriend’s reaction when he first saw her. She couldn’t wait to see Viktor’s jaw drop at the sight of her too.

However, as Christine understood few seconds into the opening song, her wish would not be granted. The first dance of the night was a dance of teachers with students. She had guessed that Viktor would dance with his husband. (She would admit, in the privacy of her head, that she was curious what said husband looked like.) She found Viktor easily, he stood out in the crowd with his silver hair and ridiculously good-looking three-piece suit. And he only had eyes for one man – equally attractive Japanese with a beautiful smile. And the way they moved together!

“Beautiful bastards,” she sighed enviously, before remembering her date who he might not appreciate Christine ogling the dancing pair. “I—”

“Hey, it’s okay. Can’t blame you,” Jason nodded in understanding. “They really are beautiful together. On the ice as well as off it.”

That caught her by surprise.

“You know them?”

“Who doesn’t? They’re pretty famous, after all.”

As Milly later declared in her triumphant email, the banquet was a resounding success. Yuri concurred. His favourite part was seeing Miss Photogenic turn up with JJ 2.0 as her date. That alone had been hilarious. (Thankfully nobody noticed that he had spilled most of his drink on the floor as he shook with laughter. It was dark, the music was loud, and everyone was staring on the dance floor.) And then JJ 2.0 showed her something on his mobile and Yuri had the pleasure of seeing her gape, eyes incredulously flickering between the screen and Katsudon with Viktor. Damn, too bad the lights had been dimmed, he would have loved to take a picture of her face!

Another wonderful thing about the banquet was that somehow, none of his Japanese 101 classmates had found out the truth about Viktor and Katsudon. Yuri didn’t understand how it was possible. If the matching wedding rings weren’t a glaringly obvious indicator (though Yuri was willing to concede that not everybody noticed such small details and Americans wore wedding rings on their left hand), surely the way they looked at each other gave them away! Viktor stared at Katsudon like he hung the stars in the sky—not that Katsudon was any better, mind you. But seriously, even disregarding the rings and the besotted gazes, the way they danced was a dead giveaway that they were sleeping together! Only lovers were that attuned to each other’s bodies, for crying out loud!

But no, it appeared that the members of the matchmaking club were struck by a serious case of selective blindness. Little Miss Matchmaker even raved in her email how Viktor had danced four times with Katsuki-sensei, which gave Yuri’s abs another workout on top of his training.

The next Japanese lesson was on Tuesday after the banquet. November 29^th, Katsudon’s birthday. Yuri hoped Viktor would make some grand gesture like the drama queen he openly was and shock the hell out of the matchmaking club.

Speaking of the matchmaking club, Little Miss Matchmaker practically ran into the classroom with a smile brighter than the sun.

“Mary saw Viktor and Katsuki-sensei kiss!” she announced excitedly and proceeded to high-five the members of the matchmaking club with a sense of unabashed accomplishment.

Yuri was mysteriously overcome with a sudden violent coughing fit.

Thankfully they all calmed down when Katsudon and his husband entered the classroom, completely oblivious to the proud grins of the wannabe matchmakers.

“Don’t mind me,” Katsudon smiled at them as he sat down at his desk, “I’m a bit early. We still have some time before the class starts.”

Meanwhile Viktor flopped down next to Yuri and started babbling about some movie or other, Yuri wasn’t really listening. It appeared Viktor wasn’t carrying any extravagant gifts on his person – but that didn’t mean a delivery man wouldn’t unexpectedly materialise on the doorstep with an armful of red roses or something equally pompous.

Yuri kept an eye on the door. However, the next person who entered the classroom wasn’t a delivery man—it was the dean.

“Mr Katsuki, I’m glad I caught you. I have those documents for you to sign.”

Katsudon nodded and they started quietly discussing something.

“Yuraaa,” Viktor whined. “Are you even listening to me?”

“No,” Yuri admitted freely, not bothering to lie.

Viktor pouted, like the man-child he was. What Katsudon saw in him, Yuri would never understand. Ignoring his coach with practised ease, Yuri returned to watching the door.

Until the dean’s disapproving voice caught his attention.

“Mr Katsuki,” the dean frowned, looking between Katsudon and Viktor, “it’s against the school regulations for you to teach your husband.”

Damn it. Thanks for that, dean.

“Viktor is not officially taking this class and he won’t get a grade for his participation,” Katsudon assured him.

“Oh. Well in that case, everything’s alright. Thank you for your time. Have a nice day,” the dean nodded at the class and left, just as the bell rang, announcing the start of the lesson.

“So—” Katsudon began, only to be interrupted by the shocked Little Miss Matchmaker.

“Husband?! When did you two get married?”

“Six years ago?” Katsudon answered, blinking in surprise at her outburst.

“You!” the president of the matchmaking club pointed an accusing finger at Yuri and glared at him like he had committed a high treason. “You knew!”

Yuri finally lost it, laughing his ass off, gripping the edge of his desk to keep himself from falling off his chair. Somebody giggled, setting off a chain reaction. Soon, the entire class was laughing, Milly included, several people wiping away a stray tear.

Amidst the chaos, Katsudon and Viktor exchanged confused looks and shrugs.

There was a knock on the door but nobody heard it over the ruckus. A surprised delivery man stood on the doorstep with an armful of red roses. (He was a few minutes late but Yuri loved being right.) Katsudon accepted the roses with a fondly exasperated look at his husband. Preening like a cat that got the canary, Viktor stood up and kissed him.

The matchmaking club cheered loudly, finally satisfied.

The end :)