Title: Do you think it would be a good idea to put
chocolate in katsudon? 
Author: Lainx
Rating: /
Warnings: /
Summary:

It’s
Valentine’s Day in St Petersburg! Or, as Yuri Plisetsky likes to call it, “Idiots
in Love’s Day”. Well, he isn’t that wrong, is he?

 

Link to A03: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9724148

When Yuuri still went to school in Japan, he gradually
understood the importance of the day. Girls would sweep homemade chocolate
delicacies to boys or other girls, or everyone would gift everyone plain
chocolate, and a month later, guys would reciprocate triply. Some people, of
course, would just celebrate both days – the more chocolate or candies, the
better, after all. But while he had received his fair part of chocolate, he
never had to reciprocate anything but obligatory presents on White Day.

However, as he now has a non-Japanese lover, he
quickly starts pondering about Valentine’s Day itself. Could Victor really be
expecting to be offered chocolates on this day? Or maybe would he want
something else? They were athletes, after all…

His musings take the form of endless loops on
the ice, mostly after his practice, while Victor works on his own programs. It
does not go unnoticed by some younger blond skater, who had grown into the
habit of staying after practice, too. He would never say it, but he actually
enjoys getting Yuuri to himself after their parallel training sessions – they still
trade instructions on jumps or steps sequence.

And Yuuri is a nice person. After stealing Victor
in Japan for a year, he actually brought him back to competition, and then
proceeded to make the whole Russian team fall in love with him as well. For
Georgi, it happened when he confided that half of his skating feelings now
emanated from the love he felt for his fiancé. For Mila, it had been easier – Yuuri
just had to shyly comment on her strength on the ice, before promptly bowing
before her out of respect, and she had been enchanted by his character. Even Yakov
had come to admire his tenacity on the ice, and Lilia had been charmed by his underlying
skill in ballet-like step sequences.

So, even if he does not say it, Yuri Plisetsky
is damn grateful the other Yuuri became his rink mate. Hence why, after
watching him circle for a good dozen minutes on the ice without attempting any
jumps or any more complex patterns, he starts skating towards him, matching his
speed and adjusting to his movements.

They would do great in pair skating, he thinks,
then blushes, and also scowls.

“Oï, katsudon!” he calls him, shaking him out
of his thoughts.

“Ah, Yurio!” Yuuri smiles, reducing his speed. “Are
you going to wait on Victor too? Did you want to come over tonight?”

“Do I… Yeah, why not”, Yuri easily agrees, even
if spending the night at Victor and Yuuri’s apartment during the week meant
lazily ordered cheese and pepperoni pizza with an added ration of home-cooked green
vegetables. “But that’s not what I wanted to ask, in fact.”

His embarrassment tints his cheeks in an even
deeper red, and he purposefully faces the other way before continuing his
sentence.

“You’ve been at it for hours now,” he exaggerates
to refer to Yuuri aimless skating. “I’ve seen you staring at Vitya. Is there
any…you know…anything going on?”

And Yuuri, in a testament of how much he must
be worried at something, does not even tease him for caring about his stupid
couple. Instead, he gestures for Yuri to follow him to the edge of the rink,
reaching for a tissue in the puddle tissue box Victor always brings to
practice. After blowing his nose, he leans on the barrier, and while gazing at
his fiancé, asks Yuri in a low voice:

“Do you think Victor even celebrate Valentine’s
Day, Yura?”

Okay, no. Yuri did not expect this to be
bothering the other skater. His own Valentine’s records were a big, empty grid,
and he does not particularly want to think about it right now. But after one
look at the other man’s face, he painfully understands that he apparently has
to. Damn.

“Do you mean it, like, do we celebrate the dumb
day in Russia, or does he personally
do it?”

“No, I meant… Victor. I know you do it in
Russia, I researched it a bit, but… Do you think he would like to do it, you
know, with me?”

Yuri stares at him, speechless. What an idiot.

“Katsudon. You and Victor literally are
engaged. With gold rings and all. Do you really
think he would object to being your Valentine?!”

At this, the other skater actually smiles, his
face brightening as if he had momentarily forgotten he was engaged to his
partner. What an idiot.

“Ah, you’re right, Yurio… I should not worry so
much!” he says in a self-conscious voice.

“I know you don’t do it on purpose,” Yuri
mechanically answers.

Yuuri turns his attention to him, a fond look
on his face. Suddenly, his grin freezes, and he starts biting his lip.

“Say, Yurio… In Japan, when we…well, when girls
offer chocolates on Valentine’s Day, they often try making it themselves.”

“Are you a girl?” Yuri asks, nonplussed.

“No,” the other admits. “But it is Valentine’s Day.”

“What is your point, katsudon?”

“My point is… I do share a kitchen with Victor, now. Do you think Yakov and Lilia
would object to me using theirs for a day?”

---

 

Yuuri had never thought baking homemade
chocolates would be this hard. In this moment of adversity, he finds himself
thanking Kami and the Heavens for the presence of Yuri Plisetsky who, after
having sworn he would not be setting
a foot in the kitchen except for a fire breaking out, came rushing in as soon
as one of the bowls clattered to the floor.

“It is not that
hard, katsudon, stop moaning.”

They are both wearing aprons, and while Yuri’s
is immaculate, even as he is stirring a sugarish paste with force, Yuuri’s own
cloth is covered in colorful blotches of food.

“I can’t believe Hiroko did not teach you how
to cook. Or your father. Whatever. How did you survive in Detroit?”

“Making chocolate is very different from
cooking everyday dishes,” Yuuri defends himself while attempting to tidy the
counters. “I can usually get by as long as it’s not too complicated. But I’m
helpless when it comes to pastries or such.”

“Nah, you think?” the boy sarcastically
answers, still picturing the mess he helped saving.

His cat had been far too happy to try licking
everything on the floor as well. As if one idiot in the house was not enough.

“Perhaps I should try using chocolate in other
stuff. I heard people use it as spice sometimes. Do you think it would be a
good idea to put chocolate in katsudon?”

The blond teenager stops stirring, addressing a
look of pure disgust at the Japanese man.

“Get out of here. I don’t even want to see your
face anymore. I’ll keep you away from the chocolate even if that’s the last
thing I do.”

The other has the audacity to laugh, as he puts
the already baked confections out of the oven.

“Hey, look, these turned out okay!” he happily
exclaims, sliding the batch of chocolates on the kitchen table.

He then rummages into a plastic bag, retrieving
a still sealed package covered with Japanese writings. He opens it, and shows a
bright heart-shaped box at Yuri, an excited grin on his lips.

“Isn’t it the cutest? Mom sent it to me, she
said it was the one she used for my dad and her first Valentine’s Day!”

As Yuri bits back the urge to gag at the overly
sweet gesture, he contemplates the state of the kitchen, and sighs at the
lecture awaiting him. Truly, the things he would do for his friends…

---

 

On the fourteenth, Victor wakes up alone.
Slightly disappointed, he rolls out of bed and starts a little at the time
displayed on his microwave. Ten in the morning. Well, no wonder Yuuri had
already left! Especially since his coach had not even told him practice was not
in order for the day…

Yuuri left him a note, stating he did not want
to wake him up too early since yesterday had been very…rowdy. Yuuri is used to
short nights – and Victor is not. The note also tells him that Makkachin needs
to be walked and that fresh coffee awaits him in the coffee pot.

Victor’s throat grows tight. How did he even
live here without Yuuri? The little reminders of his fiancé’s presence in his
apartment are as many reminders that he is loved. He is such a lucky man.

He wants the day he had planned to begin
already. He eats quickly, dresses in the same manner, and finally coaxes Makkachin
into leaving the couch – her old bones more often than not make her prefer to
rest in on the soft furniture instead of frolicking outside. As he comes back
with her from the nearby park, he stops before the florist shop in which he had
made his order a week ago. The huge bouquet of blue roses smells heavenly and
weights a comforting lot in his arms.

“Now, Makkachin, what do you want to do today?”
he asks his dog, which yawns, clearly indicating that she plans on napping and
lounging around the place.

Well, someone has to. If this day goes the
right way, he would not be coming home before late at night, after all.

After a last thorough petting of Makkachin
bouncy curls and plump cheeks, he finally leaves, practically jogging to the
rink where he is sure to find his lover. When he arrives, Yuuri is not even on
the ice, but half-lying on the bleachers, languidly watching the other skaters
practice under Yakov’s rough lead.

“So that’s what you do when your coach isn’t
around? Lazing around like a slob?”

Yuuri sits, directing a serene smile to his
lover, who swoops in to steal him a kiss. They separate under the
oh-so-not-discrete belching of someone on the ice, and Victor reveals the
bouquet hiding behind his back.

“Oh, Victor… Are you serious…”

“Be my Valentiiine, Yuuri!!” Victor singsongs, offering
him the elegant flowers with a smirk.

“Tch… You wouldn’t let me ask, would you?”
Yuuri answers, accepting the present with trembling hands. He is so thrilled. “There’s
…”

“Yuuri!!” Victor exclaims, already going down
on one knee.

“Victor, if you planned on proposing to me, I’m
sorry to break it down to you, but I kinda beat you to it months ago…”

“No no,” Victor guffaws, his hands working on
his fiancé’s skates laces. “Just let me untie that.”

“No practice today?”

“No practice today,” he confirms, making the
other man steps out of his shoes. “I’m taking you on a picturesque tour around
St Petersburg today!”

“Did you find that expression in a touristic
brochure?” Yuuri teases, laughing at Victor’s face. “Come on, big dork; take me
sightseeing instead of pouting.”

And despite Yakov’s protests at his eloping
pupil, they rush out of the rink, chuckling under the drizzling rain of a “regular”
day in St Petersburg.

---

 

Yuuri won’t lie. This has easily been one of
their best dates yet. Victor went all out – rented car, champagne, and finally
a candlelight dinner at a restaurant he had been forbidden from looking at the
prices. He would feel bad if not for the cheerful expressions on Victor’s face
each time he revealed another surprise. If the man wanted to dote on him, he
would let him.

When they come back home, they first and
foremost spend some time with their loving puddle, feeding her and brushing her
difficult fur. High-maintenance, just like her human, Yuuri scoffs internally.
Even though today, he felt the one
pampered.

As they enter their bedroom, he thinks that he
has to reciprocate, somehow. He wants to do the pampering, now. Since he does
not want to be bothered by on overly curious dog in the middle of things, he
kicks the door close with the heel of his feet, before passing a hand through
his hair, almost absent-mindedly.

Victor gulps, already retreating to the bed.
His Yuuri has the looks of long and pleasurable nights and he can’t wait. He
throws an angelic smile at him, opening his arms invitingly.

Yuuri does not hesitate to pounce on him,
pushing Victor on the bed. He gets an enthusiastic “Wow!” from the man, before
he shuts him up for good.

---

 

On the next day, a thoroughly ravished and
hickeys covered Victor wakes up in his bed, alone once again. As he extends his
arms, he smiles contentedly, stretching. His fingers meeting the warm body of
his dog, which Yuuri must have let climb on the bed after he left for the rink,
meaning he has already walked her.  

He gets up, his smile widening at the enormous bouquet
put in a vase on the coffee table. He is way too eager to meet his fiancé
again, so he packs his breakfast to eat on the way to the rink.

It is almost noon when he reaches the building,
and he goes straight to the locker room, ready to change and pull on his
skates. What he gets, however, when he opens his locker’s door, is a note and a
colorful heart-shaped box. His own heart begins beating twice as hard, as he
quickly retrieves the note.

To Victor Nikiforov,

I feel like a
schoolboy, hiding these in your locker and leaving you a note, but please bear
with me. I never got to do this when I was an actual Japanese schoolboy, because
even when I was a child, you already occupied my every thought. I won’t lie and
say I never offered Yuuko chocolates, that would be rude, and I am not rude,
but these are the first I effectively baked myself, and that ought to count for
something, no?

This is how we
celebrate our loved ones in Japan. And God, do I love you. It is embarrassing how
much I do. Some days, I have to pinch myself to be sure all of that is real.

I am so glad I’m living
and training with you here in St Petersburg. Even your bad coffee and horrible
cooking skills make me glad. This is our first Valentine’s Day together, but I
will make sure it is the first of a lifetime of Valentine’s Day.

I love you. Please be
my Valentine?

Katsuki Yuuri

Victor is not aware he is letting delighted
giggles escape him until he is running out of the locker room half naked and
barefoot, clutching the chocolate box to his chest. He barges in the rink main
area, spotting the dark hair of his lover resting at the barrier. He gently
shakes the box in the air, shouting at his skater.

“No solo practice today, Yuuri! I’m your
Valentine for one more day!!”

Young Yuri looks away and grumbles. Exactly
what he needed today, watching Katsudon and Victor pair skate all afternoon
with mushy looks on their faces.

Ah, well, as long as these idiots are happy…he
feels like he can, maybe, deal with it.