Chapter Text
Sometimes, things just don't go Yuuri's way. Well, a lot of times, things don't go his way. Yuuri is the unfortunate victim of a lot of shit that is just simple bad luck. It also doesn't help that he's an anxious mess, so that even when things do start to go his way, he tends to ruin it.
Cue, a kid. In Walmart. Alone.
"Uhh," Yuuri stared wide eyed at the seven (eight?) year old in front of him. His grip on the A/C filter he’d just grabbed tightened slightly. The kid reached up and angrily swept a few tears from the corners of his eyes as he scowled up at Yuuri. He looked around for the kid's parents, but they were alone. The sounds of the busy store were far from the empty corner they were in. "Um, where are your parents?"
The kid's eyes welled up and his eyebrows knit together. "I don't know," he snapped.
Yuuri took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He knew he had to help the kid, and he wanted to, but, he also, really, really didn't want to. He really wanted to go home and talk to Phichit and play video games. "Uh, do you want me to help you find them?" Yuuri's voice cracked towards the end and he cringed at himself.
"No, I don't need help from you," the little boy sneered and crossed his arms over his chest.
There was a beat of silence. "Um."
The kid sniffled and blinked hard before huffing and standing up. "Find my dad," he demanded. Glaring at the ground in front of Yuuri.
Yuuri was taken aback. It took him a second to get moving and reply with an unsteady "Okay." Yuuri turned and walked down out of the section they were in. It was the home repair and auto section and quite frankly they were alone in it. Not only would the kid's father most likely not be somehow dead quiet nearby, Yuuri was a little anxious about being alone with a kid in the back corner of a big store.
As they reached the edge of the busy part of the store, Yuuri asked the kid's name.
"Yuri," the kid muttered, his shaggy hair falling in his face as he looked at his feet. Yuuri hummed a reply. He asked his dad's name. "Viktor." The kid had an accent. It wasn't too much of one, but Yuuri was quite certain the kid's first language was not English, but hey, neither was his.
They stopped next to a flat screen. Yuuri wasn't sure what to do. Did he walk the kid to the front and get security to call for a missing kid? Did he walk the store with Yuri and just try to find his dad? Fuck, he had no clue.
"He has gray hair."
"Huh?" Yuuri startled out of his thoughts and looked over to the smaller Yuri.
"My dad, he has gray hair. And a blue hoodie. Dark blue," Yuri shoved his hands into the pockets of his leopard-print jacket. Walking the store, then.
They were walking for a good ten minutes going up and down aisles before they finally found him. He was staring at the milk on the opposite side of the store, a finger tapping the corner of his mouth gently.
Yuuri opened his mouth to call out to him as they approached, but Yuri stopped, dug his heels into the ground, and took a huge breath before yelling, "Hey Papa, forgot something?" along with a few other phrases in what Yuuri thought might be Russian.
Viktor turned smoothly, a carton of almondmilk in his hand. A wide smile blossomed across his face. "Yuri!"
Yuri's nostrils flared and for a kid that couldn't be older than ten, he looked so done with his own father's shit. Viktor walked over, still smiling, and handed the carton of almondmilk to Yuri. "Is this alright?" He closed his eyes and tilted his head as he spoke. Yuri practically growled and smacked the carton out of his hand before stalking away.
He only went down the aisle a little bit before slamming his back into a freezer door and glaring at a light fixture. Viktor chuckled and picked up the milk, putting it in his basket. "Thank you," Viktor practically sung. He seemed completely undisturbed by the fact that he just accidentally lost his son in Walmart and that said son just smacked milk out of his hand. "For finding him, I mean. I tend to forget things, it's nothing new to us," he laughed and rubbed the back of his head.
Yuuri pressed his lips together and hummed as he stared at the corner on the tile beneath Viktor's feet. "Ah, well, it's fine then." When he looked up, he jolted, as Viktor was staring at him intently and was leaned forward slightly.
"Hello," he murmured, "I'm Viktor."
"Um," Yuuri leaned far back and looked hard at the eggs that sat across the aisle, "I'm Yuuri."
"It's nice to meet you, Yuuri," he practically purred as he held his hand out for Yuuri. He took it cautiously, and shook it once softly before letting go. Viktor grinned, before straightening up. "Maybe I'll see you around?" his playful demeanor resurfaced and his eyes sparkled.
"Uh, yeah, maybe," Yuuri wheezed. Viktor seemed satisfied with that and nodded shortly before turning on his heel and walking over to Yuri. He said something to him as he passed by and didn't stop. Yuri got up with a start and yelled something in at him in Russian as he raced to catch up and disappeared around a corner.
All the air seemed to rush out of Yuuri. His face felt hot and his death grip on the filter had bent the side completely out of shape. He gulped and quickly scurried back to the home repair section to retrieve a new one.
--
Yuuri sighed with relief as he cracked his neck and sunk into his uncomfortable desk chair. His room was finally put together. He was supposed to have finished the Friday prior, but he kept taking the decorations apart and putting them back together in different ways. He just wasn't satisfied. The current room configuration would make do, though. He could get the kids to move desks around for him in a few weeks or so if he wanted.
It was his second year teaching second grade, and it was easy to tell he loved his job. Sometimes, he would get incredibly insecure and anxious about the quality of his teaching and whether the kids liked him, but anyone that spent two minutes in a class Yuuri helmed knew that the kids adored him.
He had thirty minutes until the first day of classes of the new school year. He stretched his back out and went over his plans for the class that day until the first kids began to arrive.
Nothing special really happened. He had two "Ann"s, which was a problem, but blonde of the two "Ann"s quickly announced she'd be henceforth called "Annie" and demanded she sit on the opposite side of the room as Ann.
At eight, five minutes until class was to begin, he was only missing two students. One Joseph, and one Yuri.
He was in a deep discussion about the possibility of robots on the sun when Joseph came in, three minutes to the bell. Yuuri had opened his mouth to begin his start of the year introduction as the bell sounded at exactly 8:05 AM, when the door opened with a slam and a small blonde kid was shoved inside (and nearly fell).
"Sorry, we were running behind," a head of gray hair poked around the door frame, an easy smile resting on his lips, "I hope it's not a- oh, I know you!" A light flush dusted Viktor's face (from rushing, Yuuri assumed) as he straightened up a little more and waved to Yuuri, who went completely red.
"It's fine, Mr. ... Viktor, we'll talk after school," Yuuri cleared his throat and turned towards the class as Viktor chuckled quietly and pulled the door shut behind him.
"Alright Yuri, sit next to Mila, and we'll start on introductions," Yuuri smiled softly. Viktor and Yuri's late arrival might've shaken him for a second, but when he was in front of a class, he could hold it together through anything.
--
At three fifteen, his room was packed with people. Most of them he'd met at the ice cream social the elementary school held every year so that the parents could meet the teachers, but not everyone had come. He talked to and greeted and pacified twenty six parents as each came to him and left with their appropriate child.
At three forty, it was just him and Yuri.
"Is Vi- your father usually late?" Yuuri asked nervously. He could handle most types of kids, but it was the overly aggressive ones he had trouble with.
"Erghhhh," Yuri groaned into the reading rug pillow he had smushed against his face. Normally, Yuuri would take the pillow from the kid (it's seen a lot of kid's butts), but he just let Yuri do it.
"I take that as a yes," Yuuri murmured as he walked the room, picking up stray markers and pushing chairs under tables.
Yuri pushed the pillow into his upright thighs, his lower legs dangling, and made another upset noise before finally replying, "Yes, he's a moron."
Yuuri clicked his tongue, "As I said earlier, Yuri, I don't tolerate that kind of language in my class."
Yuri's eyes turned to slits as he scowled. He shoved the pillow back on his face.
"Hello!" a bright voice called from the doorway. Viktor stood with the same wide, unperturbed smile as Yuri stood up and grumbling in Russian. Viktor ignored him and waltzed up to Yuuri, "Sorry, I was at a meeting." ("Meeting?! Blah!" came from behind him.)
"It's fine, just know that I do have to record the times parents come late, both for drop off and pick up," Yuuri smiled, having said this about nineteen times already today.
"Ah, I understand," Viktor looked at Yuri, who was back on the reading rug with the pillow on his face. Viktor let the cool smile slide off his face and met Yuuri’s eyes, "How was he?"
Yuuri hesitated for a second, "Um, nothing really. We just did introductions and a bonding activity together today."
"Did he make any friends?" Viktor lowered his voice and leaned in, so Yuri wouldn't hear.
Yuuri blinked, confused at the man's sudden change in personality. "He and another girl argued over a pencil at one point, but it wasn't really much. He seemed mad, but the girl, Mila, she seemed to view it as a playful argument. I talked to them about it and Yuri seemed fine. Other than that, he... kept to himself," Yuuri pursed his lips, he’d noticed Yuri was one of the kids he'd need to work on socially that year earlier and had already made note of it.
Viktor nodded, eyes steely. Then he blinked. His face melted back into charisma and peacefulness as he leaned back. "Good."
"Hey, can we go home already or what?" Yuri snapped from the carpet, his long hair fanned out around his head as it laid on the ground. Yuuri tried not to think about the last time that rug had been washed.
"Yeah," Viktor waved, eyes still on Yuuri.
"I look forward to seeing you and Yuri tomorrow," Yuuri put on his best teacher smile and held his hand out to Viktor.
The corner of Viktor's lips twitched as he took it and shook. As he let go, he caught Yuuri's eye and winked, before spinning around and walking out of the class with Yuri by his side (who had not stopped complaining).
Yuuri squeezed his eyes shut and sagged against his desk. His heart was going a mile a minute and he knew this school year was certainly going to be a trip.