A/N: This story came to be as a present for my dear friend, it's a bartender AU

Please enjoy
Especially you, love!

P.s.: Every named location exists in Japan, so yay!
I never visited those places though, just did some research!

At late night when everybody sleeps, just a very special district stays lit. Its name as prosperous as the lights that make it shine against the darkness. Golden Gai. It's a small little district in the middle of Shinjuku, Tokio. As soon as you step foot into this district it's like you go back in time, visit forbidden land that was never meant to stay, never meant to be seen by human eyes. It's a throwback to the time Japan came in touch with the western world, where it changed its politics and worldview, learned a lot of things but also lost a lot. This little district filled with bars and little food shops is someplace special where people can meet and talk, maybe even get to know each other more intimately.

In this little district is a bar called the Albatross. The name may not seem like the shop is something special, but it is. The insides decorated in a way that leaves people in awe of how classy it looks, the drinks prepared in a way that leaves you satisfied after every sip you take from it. It may be because the place on its own feels fairytale like with the mahogany bar, and the chandelier on the ceiling, yet there is another attribute that makes this place so very special. It's their bartender. A small man in his twenties, who just started to work there. His glasses placed neatly on his nose and his face nervous but cute as he tries to please the customers with what he serves. It may not have been his dream to end up in this kind of work but he liked it still. Talking to all these people or at least listening to them as they talked to him about their day made him feel somewhat needed. When they cried and needed consolation he was there with a napkin and a shy smile, always trying his best.

This bartender, though, as much as he talked to people, tried to be as outgoing as he could without having a panic attack, never had someone to return to when going home. Every night after his shift was over he would return to his own small apartment, open the door to an empty home and think of his past self, how he loved figure skating and that he missed his parents and friends. Yet he felt like he could not return home, not yet, not when he had disappointed them with his choice to stop skating after losing in a grand way, not when he felt like he would betray Yuuko when he just plain stopped visiting Hasetsu no Castle after making his decision. These were the thoughts that drove him to bed, hugged him into sleep and threw him into the dark abyss of another dreamless night. Because what could he dream of at this point anyways?

xoxoxooxoxoxox

Losing your inspiration is like losing yourself. That's at least how a brilliant figure skater in Russia saw it. His pale hair kept neatly and his blue eyes sharp, always searching for what was missing. What it was that he needed to get his inspiration back. His every routine was dissatisfying, he couldn't skate to them with all of his heart while feeling the purpose behind every step. How he ended up like this was a mystery to him, how that one thing that gave him everything ended up disappearing so easily. His childhood seemed like it meant nothing at all as he lost himself. Lost his inspiration.

Another day after returning from his rather fruitless affords to improve his routine, he was greeted at the door by his dog. He sat down on his couch, hands buried deep in his hair. He thought of ways to help himself, how he could gain back what he lost. Maybe even find something new along the way. Then something brilliant came to his mind, a vacation could do wonders. Some weeks to get his head back on track while still being able to work on his routine from time to time. With this he fished for his laptop and started browsing through the internet, searching for a place he occasionally visited, where the culture spoke to him and sometimes even had been his inspiration. He petted his dog as he began to think of what his visit this year would look like. With a satisfied smile he laid down on the couch. After pulling his dog on his lap he closed his eyes and welcomed his sleep too eagerly. Just too caught up in his dream of finding what he so achingly wanted.

xoxoxooxoxoxox

"Yuuri! There you are! Here to rescue me from my shift." His coworker, a rather small woman, threw herself in his arms. "I am so grateful that you take my shift today. I really am." With big green eyes she looked up to him. "I can't believe such a nice person as you even exists. Nobody else would have changed shifts with me out of the blue." She held him in a strong embrace. "Thanks to you I can have some free time with my husband for my wedding anniversary."

Yuuri though, was stiff as he tried to respond to her, he placed a hand behind her back and tried to think of a place to be instead of in her arms. It felt awkward. He had never wanted her to thank him for this, he barely had anything else to do and his work helped him keep his thoughts everywhere but in the past.

"I- uhm... no problem. I had nothing else to do..." He trailed off to the end of his sentence.

She let go of him and after taking some steps back she once again smiled sweetly. "I am really grateful."

"You really don't have to be." He laughed nervously and scratched the side of his cheek, then pushed his glasses up.

"I still am." She gave him a last smiling look, a hug and then turned to leave the establishment. "I'll get going now. I hope my regulars won't cause you any troubles." With a laugh she disappeared into the small alleyway.

Yuuri sighed and leaned back against the counter. It was always hard to deal with her. She could be so clingy sometimes. It made him uneasy. Being touched. Yet he didn't want to push her away, didn't want to repeat what he had done to his friend some years ago, he didn't want this friendship to end the same awkward way. His coworker, after all, was a good person. The nicest anyone had been to him after he stopped skating and decided to live in this area. He breathed in deep and then out. He pushed his glasses up again and looked around in the bar. The light was lit dimly yet bright enough for people to see everything. He reached for some glasses and began polishing them. It was a habit of his that established itself after he had started working here. It made him feel at ease. To use a simple object as a towel to make these beautiful glasses shine like brilliant. The drinks he mixed looked all the more beautiful in them.

A smile found its way on his lips, as he polished and listened for any incoming customers. He placed the polished glass away and took the next. Moved the towel in circular movements. It were smooth movements, the glass so similar to the ice on the rink, the towel a small object between his skin and the ice. He sighed and closed his eyes shortly. The smile dropped from his face as he laid the glass away and was about to take another one when he heard someone greeting at the entrance. Someone with a heavy accent had just stepped into the bar. Yuuri swallowed against his nervous heart and opened his eyes turning to look at the visitor. In that moment he may have wished that he wouldn't have opened his eyes at all because standing in front of him was none other than Viktor Nikiforov. His eyes widened and he was more than relieved that he had put aside any glass that he had been polishing since right in that moment he sure would have let it fall down.

"Konbanwa." Said the other again with a heavy Russian accent when he noticed Yuuri staring at him.

Yuuri had to calm down. He swallowed and counted up to five before setting up his most charming smile. "Hello." He responded in English.

A/N: Comments are always welcomed!
Tell me if something seems off :3
or if you just want to say hello
I like talking to you guys!
Also visit me on my yuri on ice blog cuteanxiousbaby