Title: Springtime in the Middle of Winter

Author: Dark Nuriko

Category: Yuri! On Ice!

Genre: Romance/Humor/Friendship

Pairings: None at first, eventually Victor/Yuri K.

Warnings: Shounen Ai, Language, Naughty Thoughts, perhaps Yaoi in later parts.

Ratings: T to NC-17, depending on my mood.

Disclaimer: Yuri! On Ice! And its wonderful characters do not belong to me. If they did, it would have been obviously Yaoi from the first episode. I make no profit off this fanfiction.

Author's Note: And just as another episode comes out to make my heart both jump in excitement and worry, I find myself hard at work on yet the next chapter. Hopefully, dear readers, you are all enjoying yourselves and I'm not writing some travesty. Do let me know in some small way you're enjoying this, even if it is just to demand more. Also, starting here we will really start moving away from the anime. Mostly because a lot of what I want to do will be done after the series, because I don't want to just write fanfiction about what we already know is going on in the series.

Springtime in the Middle of Winter

Chapter Three: Dancing on the Blades: Yuri POV:

Surprisingly, I hadn't heard anything about the confession at the beach from Victor in the days that followed. The Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu Championship went by in a blur and both of us had been far too busy to focus on something I'd said. Nerves had been rampant and Victor had even taken to chastising me when I'd been rude to one of the other skaters, who apparently looked up to me as I looked up to Victor.

Yet even with nerves and a face-plant in the wall, I found myself with a first-place win. The first I'd ever received. Sure, it was against a bunch of young boys who were just starting out, but it still made me happy. The icing on the cake was just how proud Victor had been of me, though he'd avoided a hug after my free skate, seeing as I was bleeding from my nose.

"So, next is China. Are you eager for it?" Victor asked, even as we were in a hired car for the short trip back home. A small smile crossed my lips at that thought. Home for us was the same place. It was almost far more than I could have ever dreamed of. Even Victor had started calling it home and that made me smile even more.

"A little bit," I admitted, even as I could feel my nerves once more beginning to build. The competition had just ended, but it was just the first in many on the way toward the Grand Prix Final. Because I placed so poorly last season, I had to work even harder to even get close to it. With the Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu Championship under my belt, the easiest part of this journey was over. From here on out, it would be people closer to my own age. People I had skated around before. My friend, Phichit Chulanont, would be there. While I was happy about that, I also knew there would be others with whom I had skated with before and were not on as good terms with. Leo de la Iglesia and Guang-Hong Ji were two skaters I didn't know too well, but I knew they were nice people. The one I was most concerned about was Christophe Giacometti, who was at more of a Victor level of skating. That meant he was going to be the hardest person to beat. Though I knew slacking off was something that I couldn't… wouldn't do. Victor was putting so much of himself into all of this. He was taking time away from his own career to train me. So, I couldn't afford to be so stubborn or foolish.

Victor laughed softly at that and I found myself glancing toward him. What was so funny about what I said? Apparently, there must have been some questioning look on my face, because he gave me a small smile before speaking. "You say that and yet your face looks like you're going to face a firing squad," he remarked with humor in his voice.

I could feel heat creep up my throat and wash across my cheeks, even as I looked away from him. "Well… if we're honest, this was the easiest of the competitions I will be in. Sure, they were skilled but fairly new still to the sport so in that aspect I had a large advantage."

"Not to mention that cute little blond had a huge idolization fix toward you," Victor commented, the smile still not leaving his lips.

That, I would have to agree with. Minami Kenjiro had been rather adorable, looking up to me the way he did. He'd even gotten upset when I'd talked down about myself. I'd never realized I had inspired other skaters before. Just like Victor did for me, I was a role model for other skaters... and that made me happy.

"Well, I suppose that's true. He did seem to idolize me. I admit, that's pretty new," I admitted, even as I found myself smiling softly. I'd never dreamed of having a fan before. At least not one that looked up to me. So to me... it was kind of new but I liked it all the same.

"Its nice, isn't it?" Victor questioned, giving me a knowing look. I couldn't help but nod and smile at his question.

"Yes. It also gives me a bit of motivation that I wasn't expecting. Its fun, knowing there's someone out there who looks up to me."

Victor grinned and placed an arm around me. "Its one of the reasons I was so happy to realize you looked up to me. Because knowing you liked me means that my helping you as a coach means a lot more," he remarked, which only succeeded in making me blush once more. Damn, the man certainly loved to get me to blush. And while I couldn't fault him... it did get a little tiring at times.

"So... what's planned for when we get back? More training?" I asked, hoping to change the subject and get the other to stop teasing me for a little bit.

"First, its sharing a pork cutlet bowl to celebrate... and then we can worry about more training in the morning."

Tears filled my eyes as I turned to look at Victor with a surprised look. This, of course, had the Russian all off guard. He was obviously not realizing why I looked like I would cry. "You remembered," I whispered softly, knowing that in the past, Victor had shown that remembering certain things wasn't something he was good at. Yurio would be the first to agree with that.

Victor seemed confused for a moment before he smiled softly and nodded. "Of course. It was the one thing you said you wanted to do, wasn't it Yuri? Sure, it wasn't a gold win, but you did bring home first place. So I fully believe that this event deserves eating pork cutlet bowls together."

I couldn't stop myself then. I moved in and hugged the silver haired male. He seemed surprised for a moment, but then hugged me back. It was well known I didn't normally instigate any of the closeness between us. It was always Victor who made the first move. Yet this was something I couldn't hold back from. Not when I really was happy he remembered such a simple thing.

Victor seemed frozen for a second, perhaps because he hadn't been expecting me to inciate a hug. I couldn't blame him, since normally, I would let him always do whatever he wanted. It just seemed that if Victor was going to be so touchy-feely toward me, that I wouldn't keep trying to stop him. So I guess having me actually make a move first for something like that, surprised him. Yet I could feel his arms wrapping around me to hug me in return and I found I wasn't as embarrassed as I normally would be to be held by my idol this time.

"You know, Yuri, its okay to feel nervous. Its okay to worry. But in the end, you have to have confidence in yourself. That no matter what, you're going to do your best despite how you feel inside. Once you accomplish that, then even when the stress and nerves of competition begin to wear on you, when you step out on the ice, they'll just melt away," Victor told me, even as I couldn't help but stare at him as he pulled back and let his blue gaze meet my ordinary brown one.

"That's funny, it almost sounds like you're speaking from experience," I joked, looking away after a moment because I couldn't keep my eyes on his. Those blue eyes looked through me. They saw everything. There was nothing I could hide from him and he knew it, too.

Victor's expression got serious as he answered, my gaze having glanced toward him and catching the look, making me unable to look away. "Just because you only see the confident side of me on the ice doesn't mean I don't have the same worries and fears as other skaters," he said after a moment.

"But..." I trailed off as one of his fingers came up to press against my lips, effectively silencing me.

"No buts," Victor began, tipping his head to the side in a rather adorable way, watching me closely. "You see what I want everyone to see. When I'm in front of the crowds, I make myself act as if its all apart of my competition. Its all as if I'm on the ice and showing anything else other than confidence is wrong. Even as your coach, I treat it as I would anything else and don't show any weakness."

"You... feel nervous and worried before events as well?" I murmured questioningly, even as I really didn't expect an answer after what he'd told me. It was hard to imagine. After all, he seemed so calm, collected, and confident all the time. How could there ever be a time where the man I idolized wasn't in control? There was just no way. It wasn't possible.

"Hey, I'm glad you think I'm some super skater. Kind of flattered, honestly. Yet to tell the truth, I'm not some superman. I'm not flawless. I just have a mind to never show the weaknesses I have when I'm out on the ice. That's what everyone see's. So I suppose it isn't surprising that that's what you would believe as well." Victor's words sank deep inside my mind, reminding me of the press confrence after the competition and the announcement of my skating routine. I'd been so nervous, yet I'd done just as I was told by Victor. I told the truth and spoke from my heart. Sure, it was embarrassing, since I'd admitted I wanted to go as far as I could with Victor and that it was because of him that I'd learned love. Yet... there was a lot of that love that no one realized. Sure, it started out innocent enough. But being so close to him, hugging him so much, being intimate with him in ways I've never been with anyone else. Sure, none of it was sexual, but that didn't matter. In the end, it was what it was beginning to mean to me.

I was falling in love with Victor... and I wasn't certain I would survive it when this whole dream ended and I found myself going seperate ways from him.

To Be Continued:

Added Author's Note: Sorry its so short, but as I said at the beginning, I plan to start changing the story because while the anime is doing an amazing job with them, there is a lot of questions I personally have and that I want to answer. So the skating will be taking a back seat. Most of what will be written will be between events and after the GPF, of which, I will only be taking a guess as to who wins. Though that could change if it takes me longer to write this than the series goes. Though I hope it doesn't.