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There was a knock on Yuuri’s door one Sunday morning. It was one of his few days off from practice and classes, and he quite literally rolled out of bed to get to it. He was rubbing the bleariness of the morning out of his eyes when he opened the door.
No one was there.
Yuuri put on his glasses and blinked slowly as his vision cleared. Did he imagine the knock? Was this a prank? He blinked again and turned to go back inside.
“Hey! Are you ignoring me?” he heard someone yell, and Yuuri jumped. Something brushed up his leg and he looked down.
A cat. A fluffy black and white cat that was letting itself into his house.
A talking cat.
Yuuri rubbed his eyes again.
“Pay attention to me. Loser.”
It wasn't the cat talking. It was the little boy next to the cat. A little blond boy that had his arms crossed, a scowl on his face. His eyes flashed dangerously. Yuuri jumped back in surprise, blinking a few more times.
“Are you going to let me inside?” he asked, almost exasperated, tapping his shoe against the floor impatiently. Yuuri didn’t know what else to do other than move out of the way and let the kid in. The moment he was inside, the kid made a beeline towards Yuuri’s couch, where the cat was already making herself comfortable. He sat there, still looking annoyed (and also pretty adorable), swinging his legs as they didn’t quite meet the floor. He looked maybe seven years old. The cat moved closer to him and purred.
Oh. He recognized the cat. She hung around the building and liked to climb the fire escape. Sometimes Yuuri left food for her on his doorstep. He actually bought some tuna last time he was out specifically for her. Maybe the kid was just following her around.
Yuuri scratched the back of his head awkwardly and shut the door, leaving it unlocked. He stretched his arms and yawned, heading towards the kitchen. Well, he was awake now. Might as well get breakfast.
He opened the fridge. The kid sighed loudly as if waiting for Yuuri to do something. It was almost amusing.
“Do you…” Yuuri suppressed a smile. “Do you want anything to eat?” The kid looked at him blankly, blowing his bangs out of his face.
“Well duh. But first, you gotta feed Potya.”
“Po… Oh. Of course.” The cat. So that’s what her name was. Yuuri grabbed a can of tuna from his cupboard. The moment he opened it, Potya’s ears perked up. He smiled and put the can on the floor. The moment he did, the cat pounced off the couch (using the kid as a launchpad) and scrambled to the food. The kid didn’t say anything but looked at Potya with an odd mixture of affection and betrayal. He was still scowling though. What an interesting kid.
The two of them just watched Potya eat tuna. It took a couple of minutes. When she was done, she started to lick her paws and clean herself. Yuuri blinked and looked at the other kid. He was surprised to see him staring at him intently.
“Do you want something too? I… uh…” Yuuri racked his brain for a second. He was a college student, for god’s sake, it’s not like he had any actual food in the house. He was probably just going to eat instant ramen. If he happened to have cereal or something in the back of his pantry, then it was probably stale. “I have tea. Would you like some tea?” He winced a little. What was he doing with his life, asking a random kid who barged into his house if he wanted tea? The kid hesitated, then frowned.
“Milk tea?” he asked.
He had some milk in his fridge. It probably wasn’t spoiled. “Sure.”
The kid didn’t say anything else, so Yuuri started to heat up the water. Then he started scouring the kitchen for the unused box of teabags that his mother had sent in a care package a few months ago. He usually just got his tea from the cafe a block away. Did he even remember how to make tea? Why was he doing this again?
A soft meow interrupted his thoughts. Potya was rubbing his head against his leg. He smiled a little and bent down to scratch her behind her ears. She purred and leaned into his touch. He thought of his own dog back in Japan. It had been years since he had seen Vicchan. He missed having a pet around.
“It’s a good thing she likes you,” the kid muttered almost fondly. Raising an eyebrow curiously, Yuuri glanced at him. The moment he did, the kid turned red and turned his head the other way.
“Why’s that?”
The boy frowned, still not meeting his eye. “She doesn’t like a lot of people. But you feed her. So I suppose you’re okay.”
Yuuri smiled. It felt good to be validated by a grumpy little boy and his cat.
“What’s your name?” he asked, finally awake enough to ask logical questions. He stood up to pour the water into two cups and plopped in the teabags. “I’m Yuuri.”
The kid snapped his head to look at Yuuri again, his eyes wide. “That’s not fair.”
Yuuri rested his elbows on the table and looked at him curiously. “Why’s that?”
“Yuri is my name.”
Yuuri laughed. “What a coincidence. Nice to meet you, Yuri.”
He mumbled something that Yuuri didn’t quite hear and looked at his feet. They waited a little while in silence until Yuuri decided that the tea was probably done. He trashed the soggy teabags and poured some milk into both cups. The colours swirled in the cup. Yuuri added some sugar too, because sugar is very healthy, and finally brought both cups over to Yuri, setting them down on the table in front of the couch. He sat down on the other side of the couch. Yuri didn’t take his eyes off of him. He was studying him. Yuuri smiled brightly, which made Yuri’s ears turn red.
“I don’t know if the tea will be good,” he confessed, “but you don’t have to drink it.”
Yuri eyed the cup before picking it up and bringing it to his lips. He took a sip. He blinked.
“Do you work at a cafe?” he asked.
“No?”
“Good. Promise me you’ll never.”
Yuuri took a sip from his own cup. Blinked. “I promise I will never work in a cafe,” he said solemnly. It wasn’t terrible… but it wasn’t good either. Oh well. He took another sip. Yuri did too. Potya jumped in between them and curled into a ball. And they just sat there, sipping their tea together. Then Yuuri realized that he had no idea why there was a child in his apartment.
“Um, Yuri, why are you here?” he asked slowly.
Yuri scowled. “Because Viktor is pining and I don’t want to deal with him.” Huh. Blunt.
“Is Viktor… your brother?” he asked. Yuri’s eyes widened, looking offended.
“No! I don’t want to share blood with that… that… ugh.” he started angrily speaking in Russian at that point, and Yuuri didn’t know what to really say, so he just sat there, mildly confused but nodding along. “... old man. He’s a crazy old man,” Yuri finally said in English.
Yuuri raised his eyebrows. “So… you’re avoiding him?”
“Duh.”
“Why… Why here?”
Yuri looked down at his feet again, and then glanced at Potya. “Potya likes you. You’re nice to her. That’s why.”
Yuuri really had no response for that, so instead, he reached over and rubbed the cat’s back. After another minute of silence, he asked,
“Viktor. Is he going to look for you or something?”
Yuri frowned, and looked thoughtful for a moment. He took a sip of the tea. “Probably. He’s clingy like that. It’s annoying.”
“You said he’s pining?” Yuuri asked, almost amused.
Yuri groaned, slumping back into the couch dramatically. “Yes. And it’s annoying. He doesn’t even know his name, but that’s all he talks about. It’s just ‘neighbour guy’ this and ‘neighbour guy’ that, just because the guy got drunk and naked and danced all over him at some housewarming party last week. It’s ridiculous,” he huffed. Yuuri bit his lip. He actually went to that party, but he’s pretty sure that no one was dancing naked. Then again, he didn’t really remember a lot of it. That was slightly worrying.
For a moment, Yuuri wondered how exactly he got to this point in his life.
That’s when they heard someone shouting in the halls. It sounded like Russian. Yuri made a face.
“That’s him. Yuuri, hide me.”
Yuuri stared at him. “But… But I don’t want it to seem like I’m kidnapping you,” he sputtered. It made Yuri snort.
“Viktor won’t question you, don’t worry.”
“What? Why?”
From across the hall, they heard a door opening, and then a conversation. Oh. Viktor was going door to door. Great.
“If he’s looking for you, doesn’t that mean he’s worried for you?”
“I can think of other reasons he would go door to door.” Yuri rolled his eyes. “He’s using it as an excuse to find you.” Yuri picked up Potya and stood up. “Let me hide in your room. Wait, no. He’ll insist on coming inside. Don’t let him seduce you. Nowhere is safe. I’m going out the fire escape.” Yuuri had trouble processing what was going on.
“Hold on, what ? He’s trying to find me ?” They could hear Viktor coming closer just outside the door.
“You’re Japanese? Sayonara . That means goodbye, right?” He headed towards the window. Yuuri frantically got up and grabbed him by the arm.
“Yuri, you can’t just—I mean—I’m not letting a kid climb out the fire escape. And what do you mean—Yuri!”
“Idiot. You’re neighbour guy. It’s a shame. Potya liked you, but Viktor’s going to ruin you. I would protect your innocence, but…” Yuri shrugged. “He’s pining hard and I don’t think I can. Apparently your pole dancing skills made him swoon, and I don't think there’s any way to reverse that.” Yuuri let go in shock. “Anyways, your tea was awful and I’m leaving now.”
There was a knock on the door.
Yuuri almost died right there and then.
Yuri groaned and turned around. “Ugh. There’s no getting away now. Yuuri, I’m going to open the door. He’ll be distracted by whatever it is he sees in you, and I’ll make a run for it. Potya, say goodbye.”
Potya meowed.
The door was opened.
“Yura? What are you doing here?”
“ Sayonara , I say.” Yuri runs off.
The guy in the doorway has silver hair and he's tall and speaks Russian and has blue eyes and oh my god he's Viktor Nikiforov.
He finally seems to notice Yuuri, who has sunken to the floor in defeat. When they make eye contact, they both go red.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
And that’s how far they get when the entire world explodes.