Things to read while Can You Hear My Heartbeat is on vacation #3
Yuuri's plan to commemorate Vicchan at the Floating Lantern Festival almost ends in Viktor discovering all the merch Yuuri has ever bought of his idol-turned-coach. Naturally, Yuuri is very protective of this particular secret, but little did he know how nosy Viktor can be, especially when being in his cups.
Tags: summer of mutual pining, dorks in love, secrets, character study, falling in love, slice of life
The well-known mix of grief and guilt settled over Yuuri as he knelt in front of the butsudan and he let it happen because he deserved it. “Hi, Vicchan,” he said to the framed picture of the brown poodle pup that was hugged by Yuuri’s twelve-year-old self. He placed a plate with sticky buns on the altar. “I hope you’ve been fine. I, um, brought you fresh food.”
Yuuri lit incense and folded his hands. As he closed his eyes, an echo of the sheer joy when his parents had presented him with the brown toy poodle for his twelfth birthday twisted his heart as if it had happened yesterday. Yuuri had named the tiny dog after his idol. He would never forget the first time he had brought Vicchan to the rink to show it to Yuuko—on that day his best friend had realised how big of a fan of Viktor Yuuri was, and her support had ultimately brought Yuuri to pursue his dream of becoming Viktor’s equal. Vicchan had been the faithful companion by Yuuri’s side who had comforted him after a disastrous practice or a bad result at a domestic competition for years to come. Vicchan had been a constant reminder of the dream that so often had seemed too large to bear alone until…
His heart heavy, Yuuri blinked away his tears. “Vicchan, I wish you were still around. You would have a playmate now. He’s a lot like you, but much bigger and greedier. I think you two would have lots of fun together. To be honest, I came because—”
“There you are,” a familiar voice said from the door.
Viktor was leaning against the door frame, his long, shaved legs sticking out of a pair of bermudas. The T-shirt he was wearing had the size of a tent, hiding his muscular frame. “I wanted to ask you if you want to go to the rink a few minutes earlier.” He lifted his T-shirt to fan himself. “I must buy ome ice cream on the way before this greenhouse climate is going to melt me.”
“Okay,” Yuuri said, suppressing a chuckle. Since summer had arrived in Kyushu, Viktor had been claiming that the climate was hotter than a Finnish sauna—a statement Yuuri begged to differ on. “I could use some ice cream myself.”
A smile spread across Viktor’s face. “Okay.” His gaze shifted to the butsudan. “What are you doing here?”
Viktor’s flip-flops made a soft slapping noise as he walked across the tatami mats covering the floor. His blue eyes focused on the framed picture on the altar. “That’s your poodle? He’s cute!”
Read The Storeroom Incident here.
