Telling Yuuri that he had any kind of sex appeal was like telling a child that they were the next Van Gogh: it was nice encouragement, but the statement probably didn't have much weight to it. Especially coming from someone like Viktor, who Yuuri couldn't help but stare, the statement came very flat. However, despite Yuuri's initial protests, Viktor truly seemed to believe that this was the program for Yuuri.

With only just a week to perfect this performance, Yuuri's self-confidence was slowly waning. His nerves began popping up during key points of the routine and just the sight of Yurio was enough to cause his stomach to lurch.

What made it worst is that Yuuri, at some point, truly believed that Viktor would leave if he didn't win.

Yuuri wasn't sure if Viktor slept at night, but when Yuuri slept, he felt as if he was seeing someone else's dreams. Sometimes they were blurry and hard to make out, but there were days were the vision was as clear as day. On some nights, he will be on a desolate frozen lake, gliding across the icy surface and someone laughing beside him. On other nights, he could hear someone barking at him to keep his arms closer to his chest. As they got closer to the tournament, Yuuri felt as if he was stuck in a reoccurring nightmare.

He was at an empty ice rink. The AC was turned off but the lights were on and pointing to the rink. At the center stood a lone figure. To unheard music, the figure began skating across the ice. They skated beautifully, but before long, the figure began disappearing. Atom by atom, the figure began dissolving away. The figure seemed to notice it at first but brushed it aside. Soon enough, the figure's arms had disappeared and the face was beginning to erode. Once, right before the eyes finally faded, the figure skated near the edge and looked right at Yuuri.

He knew those sea blue eyes anywhere.

Yuuri always woke up after that. Since that first night, he believed it meant that Viktor truly was going to disappear if he didn't won. Whether that was a part of this supernatural contract they had or Viktor was so disgusted with him, he wasn't sure. Yuuri wasn't even sure which one hurt more.

As the pressure began to get to him, his performance become more and more of a disaster. When Yuuri failed his second quad of the program for the fifth time that day, he had enough. He packed his bags, dragged himself back home, and pretended that he couldn't hear Viktor.

The competition was tomorrow, but Yuuri was nowhere near good enough to beat Yurio. This was the same kid who beat him in the Grand Prix before. This was the same kid who claimed to know Viktor better for him. This was the same kid who told Yuuri that there was only enough room for one Yuri on the rink. And maybe he was right.

Yuuri didn't wake up early for practice. He skipped breakfast. He only made it to the rink because Viktor was getting restless. He lazily skated a few figure eights before excusing himself to the bathroom. He was just about to make his escape when a hand landed on his shoulder.

"My turn!" Viktor smiled and pulled Yuuri into his Soul Room.

Viktor! Yuuri yelled as he reached out and try to switch places. Was he that disappointed in him already that he was going back on his promise on letting Yuuri live his life? Yuuri cried out, hoping to reach and touch something.

"Shh," Viktor whispered to him, and Yuuri felt himself take off his skates and pull on his shoes.

Where are you taking me? Yuuri asked.

"We're going for a small walk," Viktor informed and hummed as he exited the ice rink.

Yuuri began pacing the room. Never before had Viktor been able to just swipe control like this. Was Viktor getting stronger? Was Yuuri slowly getting weaker? Was Viktor finally getting tired at how horrible and talentless Yuuri was and finally gave up on him? Did his truly deserve this?

"Hey, don't make me out to be some kind of vengeful ghost in there," Viktor lightly scolded at his tapped his skull. Yuuri breathed and sat down. Yuuri's thoughts stopped, and he chose to focus on his breathing. Viktor broke up the silence with his humming. Yuuri liked when Viktor hummed in his head. The song was soft and familiar, but he could never place where he heard it before.

What are you humming? Yuuri asked, seeing as he wasn't going anywhere.

"It's a song from my childhood. My mother loved to sing to me instead of reading stories. I always find myself humming them when it's quiet. One of my routines were focused on those songs actually," Viktor explained and he laughed suddenly. "She was so delighted to see that routine. My mother knows nothing about figure skating, but she knows music. That was probably her favorite routine." Viktor stopped humming, but his feet kept moving. Yuuri took it as his cue to keep talking.

Do you miss your old life? Yuuri asked. His chest tightening as he waited for Viktor's answer.

"A little bit. After all, I am back in the world of the living, but I am forced to simply wander. However, I lived a nice life, doing what I love and leaving before it was taken away from me. I am happy where I am now," Viktor concluded. He didn't start humming again.

Through Viktor's eyes, Yuuri recognized the woods they were walking through. It was a familiar path that Yuuri sometimes walked through when he was in middle school. It was a quiet path that very few people knew about. The perfect place if someone wanted to perform a human sacrifice.

"Stop that," Viktor reprimanded, and Yuuri sighed. He knew he should have paid less attention to Phichit during Halloween.

"I hope you don't mind. I was flipping through a few memories, and I saw this path. I figured that this would be a nice place to just talk," Viktor admitted as he sat near the water. "I never thought I would miss the sounds of those damn birds."

Yuuri curled further into himself.

They sat in silence like that for a long time. The sun began to dip under the horizon, and the birds continued to screech in the distance. The familiar hum of insects from the woods gave Yuuri a sense of nostalgia. The quiet waves gave him made him think of unfamiliar memories.

"Yuuri," Viktor finally said, "What do you want me to be to you?"

After a moment a silence, Viktor continued, "Your conscious?"

Yuuri shook his head. He didn't want that. He didn't want Viktor to just be a part of him.

"A brother? A father figure?" That was too weird to think of. They didn't know each other like that. Something inside him twisted when he thought that maybe that's how Viktor thought of him.

"A lover then?" Yuuri jumped ten feet in the air. "I'll do my best," Viktor concluded when Yuuri didn't object.

"No, no, no, no!" Yuuri denied as he sent out waves of distress. Viktor smiled, and played with the sand under his hands. He waited.

Yuuri emerged from himself and stared into the void that was his soul room. The room was calm, reflecting Viktor's own emotions. There was no rain nor sun, no wind nor rays of warmth. The room was empty and allowed Yuuri to just think. There was no push for Yuuri to get better, but no one was driving him further down the ocean either. It was nice to just be given time to sit and think.

Yuuri breathed in the salty sea air and after a moment realized that his body was his own again. Viktor appeared beside him, propping himself up with his arm but leaving no impression on the sand. He was closing his eyes. Although he looked as young as he died, the light made him look years older than he should have.

"One time in Detroit, there was a girl who was really pushy and kept talking to me," Yuuri started and waited for Viktor to tease him about a possible lover. When no response came, Yuuri continued with a little more confidence. "When a rink mate got into a serious accident, the girl and I waited in the hospital together."

He could remember her perfume being forced against himself. The smell of flowers were overpoweringly fake, the squeaks of the wheel were too loud, and the flickering light above were driving him insane. He was being crushed, but he couldn't leave. Not with Phichit in the room and possibly dying and hurt and alone and-

He remembered her saying that it was going to be okay. He remember being angry at that statement. What right did she have to invalidate what he was feeling? Phichit was hurt. How did she know what was going to happen?

"I shoved her away when she hugged me," Yuuri admitted.

"Wow. Why?" Viktor asked, his eyes never judging or looking concerned. Yuuri glanced to the apparition beside him. Those sea blue eyes locked with the scene in front of him.

"I didn't want her know what I was feeling. She was coming into my world when I didn't want her to in the first place, and she didn't listen to when I told her not to come. I hated it. She felt as if she could fix my world, but I didn't want anything to be fixed. I just wanted to destroy everything and tell the world that I was upset. I could fix everything later, I really could," Yuuri explained, imagining the hurt look on the girl's face. They never talked again after that. Yuuri was sure that he hurt her feelings, but Phichit was okay afterwards, so in his mind, it didn't matter.

"When I think back, my family, Yuuko-san, Nishigori-san, they never treated me like a weakling. They never thought that because I was crying, I needed to be comforted. They all had faith that even though I was showing weakness, it was necessary step for me to keep growing as a person and never stepped over the line unless I needed them to," Yuuri explained.

"Yuuri, you're not weak, and no one thinks that either," Viktor declared.

"I never said-"

"But you think about it sometimes, right? Even though you know it isn't true, your brain thinks about it sometimes. And sometimes, that thought becomes real, right? It's scary, but that doesn't make you weak Yuuri," Viktor assured, his eyes never leaving the sea and his hands never leaving the sand.

"Yuuri, who do you want me to be to you?" Viktor repeated. Yuuri thought back. Viktor was too frank and too… different to be a family member. He wasn't always the supportive type like Phichit was. However, he wasn't pushy and obvious with his feelings like that girl was. Yuuri shook his head.

"I want you to stay who you are, Viktor," Yuuri answered, standing up as he said this. "I've always looked up to you, but now that we're linked, I keep thinking that you might regret being stuck with me. I was worried that might shortcomings might reinforce that idea, so I ignored you." Yuuri thought back to those last few days where Yuuri hardly ever humored Viktor with his antics. Someone like Viktor must hate being alone, and with Yuuri the only one to talk to him, it must have hurt even more.

He always thought of Viktor as being strong. Someone who didn't need others to help him climb to the top. Viktor didn't people to drag him down, but Yuuri was the only person Viktor really had left. It wasn't fair for Yuuri to drag him down for not trying. Yuuri was going to have to rise – it was the least he could do for his hero. Yuuri exhaled.

It might not work. He wasn't particularly strong willed or anything like that. However, he wasn't going to hurt Viktor for not trying. Breathing in one more time, he tossed his thoughts away and made strides to his new goal.

"I'll make it up to you with my skating! Tomorrow, I'm going to win that tournament, and make sure you're proud of your revival!"

"Revival?" Viktor tilted his head in amusement. Yuuri quickly covered his mouth. Viktor's eyes stared at Yuuri with a sparkle Yuuri hadn't seen in weeks. The ghost began laughing.

"In that case, I should be tougher on you during practice. 'Yuuri Katsuki – the skater to ascend higher than Viktor Nikiforov!'" Viktor continued laughing, but it was never hurtfully towards Yuuri. That infectious laughter came over Yuuri soon enough.

A transparent hand appeared in Yuuri's line of sight. "I won't let you off easy then. This is how I show my love to you," Viktor winked as Yuuri pulled him up.

Yuuri smiled. It was refreshing. Instead of being intrusive and nosy, Viktor was calm and knew his boundaries, most of the time. When Yuuri took a step forward, Viktor took a step back, unless he was given permission to stand still. When Yuuri opens up, Viktor doesn't rush forward to see everything; he waits. He waits for Yuuri to show him what Yuuri wants to show, and for once, Yuuri felt as if he was in control of his emotions.

Something in Yuuri began to twist and turn, but in a good way. Viktor's smile didn't help.

"Ah, that reminds me Yuuri, you don't have an outfit to wear for tomorrow, do you?"

Yuuri's face dropped. "That's right! Oh, I think I still have a costume in the attic somewhere…"

"I got it covered!" Viktor smiled and ran off in the direction of the inn. Yuuri smiled fondly after him and placed a hand over his chest. Whatever he was feeling, he could just take comfort in that it was definitely a good feeling.

When Viktor remembered, he was a very reliable person. When Viktor says he got the costume covered, Yuuri believed him. However, Yuuri sometimes forgot that Viktor loves to surprise people, so when three crates of clothes were placed in his room, he couldn't help but wonder what he was expecting.

"Yuuri! A few packages from Russia came in! Are they from your fan club?" his mother asked as she helped unpacked. Of course, this led to a mental fight with Viktor who was more curious about Yuuri's mysterious if still existent fan club than finding the right costume.

"Ah! A letter!" his mother exclaimed and waved it teasingly across Yuuri's face. Yuuri wanted nothing more than to burn it, but Viktor reached forward and grabbed it with Yuuri's hand. The address was written in beautiful Cyrillic handwriting. Carefully, Viktor opened the letter, and chocked down a cry.

"From my mother," Viktor explained, and wiped his tears away. He smiled brighter than before. He placed the letter on his desk to allow Viktor to read it again and again.

After a half an hour or so, all the costumes were unpacked and spread around his room. Yuuri's eyes glittered as he placed where each and every costume was from, and then squealed when he found a new one. Viktor, at some point, pulled his attention from the letter and stared and Yuuri with amusement.

"And this one was when you skated in the 2007 Grand Prix!"

"Ah yes! My hair was longer back then, so I had a costume made to represent both male and female genders," Viktor reminisced, and Yuuri knew that this was the costume for him. However, with three crates of costumes, easily an hour of screaming and teasing, Yurio was bound to come down and see what all the fuss was all about.

"You…" Yurio growled as he saw the clothing explosion in his room. "Do you think you'll get away with a competitive edge like this?" Yurio didn't wait for an answer and searched the room for his own costume. Once he settled on Viktor's 2008 Cup of Canada tournament, Yurio immediately left the room.

Viktor sighed. "That boy, he didn't even bother asking where we got all of these clothes from." Yuuri could only laugh.

"Ah! What the hell? Since when was there a dog in this place?" Yurio growled as the sound of a body falling echoed in the halls.

"A dog?" Yuuri asked and eagerly opened the door. Behind the slide was a very familiar brown poodle, and Yuuri's heart melted.

"Makkachin! You made it safe!" Viktor exclaimed as he hid behind Yuuri. He cooed at the dog and smiled as moved around Yuuri's hand to make Yuuri pet him more. Viktor laughed at his dog's antics. "Same old Makkachin," Viktor smiled. Yuuri could feel his own heart constrict as the dog wagged his tale.

At that moment, the dog stopped squirming around Yuuri's hand and lunged at the space behind him, going through Viktor, and hitting empty air. Makkachin sniffed the air and whined as his mind didn't seem to comprehend what was happening. Yuuri and Viktor glanced at each other before grinning from ear to ear. Viktor looked at Yuuri pleadingly as Yuuri closed his eyes and allowed Viktor to take control.

"Makkachin!" Yuuri heard his voice exclaimed as series of Russian words also came out. The dog, forgetting about his confusion, barked back and excitedly licked Yuuri's face. In all the time Viktor had walked with Yuuri on this world, this was probably the happiest he had seen him. Yuuri was glad for this moment.

It didn't take much to convince his parents to keep the poodle. After all, Yuuri's Victor was adopted because he looked so much like Makkachin. Since his dog's recent departure, it filled a small hole in his family's hearts to have a dog again. Viktor didn't miss an opportunity to inquire more about this supposedly identical poodle Yuuri had but stopped as Yuuri reminded Viktor that he had a tournament to win tomorrow.

"You bet you do," Viktor winked and allowed the matter to rest. For now.

With hours until the fated tournament, Yuuri decided it was time to go to sleep. Or at least pretend to go to sleep until Viktor disappeared and then run off to do one last bit of training.

Even with Viktor's encouragement, reassurances, and declaration to help Yuuri for the sake of helping Yuuri, there was something about the performance that didn't quite fit with Yuuri. After his costume decision, it finally clicked.

Taking care to delicately leave his gift skates in his room, Yuuri dashed out and ran to Minako-sensei's studio. He was going to surprise Viktor with his eros, and he was going to assure Viktor that he had made the right decision.

Yuuri creeped into his room a few hours before he normally woke up. Of course, Makkachin, who currently claimed the bed as his, woke up as the door opened and stretched to greet Yuuri. Distracted by the fact that he had a dog again, Yuuri almost didn't catch the ghostly hand crawling up behind him.

"Yuuri, you didn't go out last night to practice without my skates, did you?" Yuuri swallowed.

"O-oh Makkachin! Don't you need to go out for a walk? Let's go!" Yuuri cheered as he took Vic-chan's old leash and hooked it onto Makkachin's collar.

"Yuuri! You can't get away from me that easily!" Viktor teased as he watched Yuuri run out the door. Yuuri could only grin as if he was talking to an old friend. When he stopped running, he placed a hand to his mouth.

He wondered when he began thinking of Viktor as less of an actor and more of a friend.

The day passed. Yuuri was greeted by the locals that wished him good luck on his competition today. Even Yurio gave him a thumbs up before accompanying it with another finger soon after. Viktor had half a mind to go show him what an entire fist could do but calmed down immediately when he saw how his anger was affecting Yuuri.

It was about an hour before they were set to go out that Yuuri's nerves hit the strongest.

"Yuuri, you'll do fine," Viktor assured. Yuuri wondered if Viktor could change clothes to anything he wanted. He looked down and remembered that he was wearing Viktor's old costume. Oh god he was supposed to be Viktor's living legacy. What was he thinking? He wasn't going to be able to pull this off. Yurio can already do plenty of quads and now here he when he can only do a quad salchow when Viktor is looking at him and this is so pathetic what is he going to

A warm feeling enveloped him. His mind cleared. He breathed and opened his eyes.

"Feel better?" Viktor asked with a small smile.

Yuuri took in the feeling. The sun was shining on him as he was wrapped in one of the softest blanket he has ever felt. Wind was blowing gently and the smell of katsudon was surrounding him. It felt like home.

"Better," Yuuri smiled and hugged Viktor.

"I'll be the tastiest Katsudon," Yuuri declared, "so please, watch me." Yuuri's heart almost burst out of his chest when Viktor lifted his arms to embrace Yuuri as well. He laughed lightly and whispered in his ear: "Always."

It was decided that Yurio would go first. His performance was supposed to be for his short program in this year's Grand Prix series. Viktor and Yuuri stood outside the rink to watch.

Without a doubt, Yurio had as much technical skill as any experienced skater. He was obviously able to perform any quad that was given to him, but what the performance had in skill, it lacked in emotion. Yuuri didn't miss the frown on Viktor's face as he watched the routine.

"Yakov, what are you doing?" Viktor muttered as he shook his head and sighed. His eyes watched every spin and quad critically.

By the end of the performance, the audience cheered, but Yurio look as pleased as always. Even for a kid with that much confidence, he didn't seem happy with what he produced. Viktor stared at the boy with hard eyes. Yuuri couldn't help but feel bad for him. Yuuri might not be as skilled, but he knew what it felt like to know you weren't skating your best.

As he walked off the rink, he glared at Yuuri.

"Get out of my face pig," Yurio growled and walked to an empty seat. Yuuri took a deep breath and tried not to get his words stuck in his head.

"Poor kid," Viktor frowned. With a longing glance, Viktor pulled his attention back to Yuuri who was just about to push himself onto the ice.

"Go and seduce me, my sexy Katsudon" Viktor reminded with a wink. He grasped Yuuri's shoulder, and Viktor's eros came rushing through Yuuri. The feelings of selfish desire and want rushed through him. However, as Yuuri overcame the initial shock of the emotion, the cloud of lust subsided as his mind focused on one thing in particular. Yuuri didn't miss the slight surprise on Viktor's face as Yuuri winked back.

"And to follow up on that brilliant performance is Hatestu's very own Yuuri Katsuki! Will he be able to recreate Viktor's legacy through his routine? He will be skating to a segment from the score In Regards to Love: Eros. The audience is quiet as they watch their hero skate to the center of the ice," the announcer narrated, but Yuuri had long since tuned him out. His mind was only on the focus of his eros. The delicious smell of pork cutlet bowls, warm arms around him, the familiar noises of home, stunning blue eyes.

The guitar played, and Yuuri lost himself in the performance.

He hoped that Minako-sensei's late lessons helped him convey the emotion he was feeling. He hoped that Viktor was watching his every move. He looked over to Yurio who was watching and smirked. He looked over to the audience, but he couldn't care. There was only one person in this world that deserved to see this performance: the rest were simply lucky onlookers.

Yuuri was the seductress who was going to seduce the whole world for the love of one man.

The performance was over before he knew it. To be honest, Yuuri wasn't even sure if it was a flawless performance or not. He might have slipped here or there, but the emotions he was feeling did not betray him at all. As the feeling of eros quietly died down from within him, Yuuri could feel two eyes staring at him with intensity.

"Yuuri!" Viktor waved over. Yuuri smiled. Viktor was watching him. Viktor Nikiforov, his idol and favorite skater, was watching him and seemed happy about his performance and-

"What was that quad salchow? We've been working on it for weeks – I thought you would have been able to pull off by now. Also, that step sequence? I know those are you specialty, but if you want to do it effortlessly and score the most points, you are going to have to make sure you keep you balance. Plus, we're going to have to increase the difficulty, so don't think that because you did so well this time-"

I did well. The words rang in Yuuri's mind. He couldn't help the smile from appearing on Yuuri's face.

"Yuuri?"

"Oi Pig? What was that performance?" Yurio yelled from behind him. "Are you smiling?"

Yuuri didn't have it in him to drop his expression. He kept smiling. It only grew wider as he felt Viktor hold him closer.

"You better work on those quads during the Grand Prix. I'm not going to lose to some half-rate shadow," Yurio swore and rushed himself out the arena.

Yuuri wasn't sure who exactly was in control at that moment. In the mix of eros, the praise, the breathlessness of preforming once again, and the feeling of Viktor beside him, Yuuri lost himself in the moment.

"Yurio," he spoke calmly and waited for the Russian punk to look back at him, "I look forward to seeing you at the podium." The small bout of happiness when he saw the boy twitch at that thought made it all worth it.

"We are just getting a translation now! Yuuri Katsuki has just declared his anticipation to meeting the Russian Fairy at the podium. First the quad flip and his apparent fluency of Russian? Where do the comparisons end? Is Yuuri Katsuki truly the reincarnation of Viktor Nikiforov?"

A/N: I apologize everyone who has been waiting for this update! I was not in a great place this last month, but I finally was able to pull myself together to write this. I am currently planning and finalizing plans for the rest of this fic, but be assured that it will be finished!

Because the show ended as it did (Fantastically may I add), some revisions will need to be added, but I am so excited for everyone to see the end. Thank you for all of your support!