The Theme is Love

By Gwynhafra

Disclaimer: I do not own Yuri on Ice or any of its characters.

Warnings: Mild BL undertones.

Pairing: Viktor x Yuuri. Hinted Otabek x Yurio.

Phichit Chulanont could not, for the life of him, figure out Viktor Nikiforov and Katsuki Yuuri's relationship.

There were speculations all over social media the minute Viktor dropped everything - his achievements, his career, and even his fans, just to rush to Japan to become the coach of a guy who had just entered the Grand Prix Finals only to flop badly and have the future of his skating career questioned. The skating community was taken aback by the actions of the world's best skater, and ever since then, the obscure, anti-social Yuuri became a target of scrutiny as everybody tried to figure out what it was the Russian world champion saw in him.

Phichit was Yuuri's rink-mate for about five years, and even managed to become one of Yuuri's closest friends within the skating circle. While he thought very highly of his own friend, even he was curious to see what could have drawn Viktor to Yuuri, as Yuuri was a person who did not display his own charms to others. Heck, he himself didn't even believe he had any, no matter how his fans told him otherwise. (He probably didn't even realise he had fans).

He did not have much contact with Yuuri after the latter finished college and left their coach, Celestino, but if Viktor was going to be his new coach, he was pretty sure Yuuri would somehow find his will to skate again. After all, he was Viktor's fan for years. If he did get any news about his former rink-mate, it was through online communities posting pictures and updates about the coach-student pair. The ones who were in Hasetsu were especially thorough with sneaking in pictures of their daily life, be it at Yu-topia, the inn owned by Yuuri's family, Hasetsu Ice Castle, or even if they were out having a meal together.

When Phichit finally saw Yuuri in person, it was right before the Cup of China, where Yuuri and Viktor were having a hot pot at one of the family restaurants. It was also at this restaurant where Phichit formed his first impression of Viktor and Yuuri's highly ambiguous relationship, especially after Yuuri moved over to Viktor's side of the table to give Phichit his seat. A few drinks later, Celestino was halfway to heaven, while Viktor for some reason became a professional stripper, removing all his clothes and throwing them all over the place. Leo and Guang Hong, both of whom had only just arrived at the restaurant, became Viktor's unfortunate clothes racks. Viktor then proceeded to shamelessly try to kiss Yuuri, who was desperately putting up some resistance while glancing nervously at the still under-aged American and Chinese skaters.

Phichit could see the conflict both skaters had on their faces, at both being tempted to take pictures and tweet them, or resist the urge to spare Yuuri and Viktor the publicity. Phichit spared them both the trouble by tweeting the pic on their behalf, much to their chagrin.

When Yuuri went on to the ice, Phichit had to do a double take. Gone was the reserved, self-destructing skater with the heart of glass, and instead in his place was a confident, somewhat flirty young man oozing sex appeal in his performance. The audience could tell that while Yuuri was performing to impress the judges, based on where his gaze kept falling to, his actual attention was on his coach, who was watching attentively at the side.

It was from that point onwards where Phichit tried to guess the nature of their relationship. Doubtless, Yuuri's coach was the cause to his change of personality. When he was not performing, Yuuri went back to being his reserved self, but even then Phichit, who was a master at watching people (having honed that skill from years of taking pictures and selfies), could tell that something had changed in the Japanese skater. Viktor tended to be more obvious in his affections, as it was difficult not finding the Russian coach draping himself all over Yuuri or putting his arm around his shoulders, or speaking so close to Yuuri that their faces were almost touching.

From what Phichit knew of Yuuri, the latter was a person who had a rather large personal space. Phichit once got into an accident, and his rink-mates were there at the hospital with him, Yuuri included. When he was finally discharged, he could still remember one of his rink-mates, a girl, complaining that Yuuri was being very rude when he pushed her away when all she wanted to do was offer him support.

That did not seem to be a problem with Viktor though. Viktor could be hugging him all over the place, but Yuuri did not seem to mind or want to push him away.

Phichit started to wonder if their relationship actually had a romantic nature (then again, Yuuri himself did say that the theme of his skating routine that year was "love"), and that thought only got stronger after the free skate programme, where Viktor threw himself at Yuuri and kissed him in public, on live broadcast.

The next time Phichit saw him, it was before the finals, where all skaters checked into the official hotel in Barcelona and both Viktor and Yuuri shared the same room. There were definitely changes to their relationship, from the subtle gazes to how Yuuri himself was fine with standing closer to his coach, not flinching if their hands accidentally touched.

Their relationship, while strong, didn't seem to be expressed the same way JJ and his fiancée did. JJ took every opportunity to show off his lead JJ gal, be it kissing her in front of cameras, or holding her hands, or basically doing everything to express that they were a couple in love.

Viktor and Yuuri, on the other hand, didn't do anything out of the ordinary. When they were together, they conversed, they hung out, and Viktor gave his usual vocal support, expressed with hugs and shoulder touches. Yuuri responded with smiles and soft gazes, enough for Phichit to guess that their relationship was special, but still unable to confirm what he wanted to know.

He received his confirmation that night though, during dinner itself, where Otabek, Yuri Plisetsky, Yuuri, Viktor, Chris and himself were all seated at the same table. He was still trying to look through some pictures of the previous year's Awards Banquet when Chris suddenly brought everyone's attention to Viktor and Yuuri. It took Phichit a while, as his mind was still trying to process the pictures of Yuuri he had seen in Chris' phone. When he finally saw the golden rings though, he could not look away.

They actually moved that fast?! God, was he an idiot for not noticing!

"Congrats on your marriage!" Phichit exclaimed excitedly, ignoring Yuuri's protests as he proceeded to declare it to the whole restaurant, garnering applause for the new couple. Yuuri tried to explain himself, stuttering through his sentences as he did so, but Phichit knew that he was not fooling anyone. One does not buy a golden wedding ring, put it on the ring finger of another grown man and call it a thank-you gift.

Viktor didn't seem to think so either, countering Yuuri's attempts at making their relationship platonic by confirming that their rings were engagement rings, and that they would get married after Yuuri won gold in the finals. Yuuri seemed to have realised that he was fighting a losing battle, and did not deny Viktor's claim.

Viktor was both staking his claim on Yuuri with that statement as well as declaring war on all of Yuuri's fellow competitors. Ever since then, Phichit had not seen either of them take off the rings even once, not even when Yuuri went out on to the ice for his competition, not when he failed to meet the mark in his short programme, and not even when their relationship seemed strained before the free programme.

Even up until the Grand Prix Finals was over and they were getting ready for the Awards Banquet, both Viktor and Yuuri turned up together with their gold rings gleaming on their fingers.

Of course, none of the reporters missed that, as every single one of them tried to enquire the nature of their current relationship. Yuuri kept denying romantic connotations to the rings, and Viktor respected his decision enough to let him say it.

That was, until liquor was served.

Yuuri kept restraining himself from drinking, seemingly still traumatized by the pictures kept in Viktor's phone of what he had done last year when he got drunk. He was not one strong enough to withstand peer pressure though, and both Viktor and Chris managed to convince him to take a glass of champagne (each). Somehow hooked to the taste, Yuuri kept accepting every new glass Viktor (whose expression clearly showed that he had other motives) handed him, and when he started to undo his tie, suddenly the whole hall went silent, and the largest number of camera phones was raised into the air. It was a good bet that everyone still remembered last year and came well prepared this time.

Yurio gave an odd yelp and went running to hide behind Otabek, loudly exclaiming that he would not fall for the same trap and humiliate himself with another dance battle. Those could pretty much be Yurio's famous last words, as it didn't take Yuuri five minutes of break dancing and garnering all the attention of everyone there before Yurio tossed his tie to Otabek and angrily joined in, declaring loudly that he would not be outdone by someone who 'only got second place'.

The organizers somehow learnt from last year and got a pole ready in the hall itself, where Yuuri, Chris and strangely, even JJ started pole dancing. JJ was probably doing that to impress his girl, while both Yuuri and Chris moved like long-lost pole dancing buddies.

It was truly a sight to try to match the Yuuri he knew to the Yuuri right now doing all sorts of erotic moves before him. If Phichit hadn't seen Chris' phone, he would have thought that he was dreaming. He turned to throw a glance at Viktor, who was beaming with pride at the sight of Yuuri gyrating against a fellow competitor. Phichit was not too sure of what to make of that. Viktor either had the strongest faith in his own fiancé or he was just quite open to sharing him. Probably the former.

"This was what drew me to Yuuri in the first place, the way his body moves as if creating music…though he doesn't even remember that." Viktor suddenly spoke up softly, his gaze softening with a tinge of loneliness.

Phichit patted him on the back. "Have more faith. Yuuri is actually very fond of you. I've never seen him being so comfortable with anyone else when he's sober as when he's with you." It was right at that moment when Yuuri's gaze turned to Viktor, and, as everyone watched him, got down from the pole, walked over and held out a hand, the same hand upon which his ring was gleaming. "Viktor. Come here."

Phichit grinned and gave Viktor a slight shove from the back. "Go on then."

Viktor walked over to Yuuri, taking his hand and allowing himself to be led to the centre of the room. The whole hall cheered and clapped as both coach and student began a slow dance. While they have not rehearsed for it, both moved as one, as if they were dance partners who have practiced this for weeks.

Chris was attempting to put his clothes back on as he went to take a place next to Phichit. "And so Viktor steals my spotlight. Again." He huffed. Nearby, Otabek was trying to groom a still ruffled Yurio.

Nobody wanted the dance to end, and least of all Viktor. Both Viktor and Yuuri were too busy gazing at each other to notice that there were camera clicks all over the place - every time they did a spin, every time either of them did a dip.

"Viktor…" Yuuri slurred, getting his coach's attention immediately. "I didn't get the gold this time, so I can't marry you…but…the next time, I will win gold. When that time comes, be my husband, Viktor!" He threw his arms around Viktor once he said that.

Viktor smiled, wrapping his arms around Yuuri's back and pulling him closer. "Again with your demands when you can't even remember it by tomorrow. I'll be a competitor next year. It was very bold of you to think of even defeating me. What happens if you can't get the gold from me then, Yuuri?"

Yuuri pulled back, seemingly trying to think in his drunken state. "Then…you'll be the one to propose. Either way, be mine, Viktor!"

Viktor looked down at him, gave a soft chuckle, then another, until it quickly turned into full out laughter. "I'd like that, Yuuri. I'll hold your word on to it then."

The whole hall broke out into applause once more, congratulating them for their engagement. Phichit made sure to record every single bit of it. There was no way he'd allow Yuuri to worm his way out of this one once he got sober.

Their dance performance stayed in the minds of all those who watched it, enough that the organizers of the banquet and the gala approached Viktor to propose that both coach and student did a pair skating routine for the gala performance instead of Yuuri's individual skating performance.

As Phichit watched the two go out onto the ice, moving to Viktor's "Stay Close to Me" routine while very clearly expressing their affections towards each other, he knew that Yuuri's theme of the year, "love", may end in the competition, but for the two, it would continue on for a long time after.

~fin~

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