He had thought it was something most artists did when they were at a loss of inspiration. Playing music that others before him had created, weaving through stories that had already been spun. He had thought it was even more usual to play music that already caused a stir. Only this was different. Not every pianist willed themselves to learn full pieces that were created especially for a five-time-consecutive gold medalist who was known as a living legend to the world. Needless to say, Yuuri Katsuki wasn't exactly like every other pianist out there.

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He had started playing the piano seriously back when he was almost fourteen years-old. The Japanese teen only did it for fun until his friend and childhood crush Yuuko sat him down to watch the Juniors Division of the Grand Prix Final. He never minded watching the skating competitions she sat him down for since some of the skaters had their own pieces made to accompany their programs but never cared enough to remember any particular competitor's name. That is, until that very year.

Viktor Nikiforov, or the only skater Yuuko ever gushed about, had stepped onto the ice like every other skater before him did. The difference was that the announcers didn't fail to mention how the skater had music created to fit his program to a tee, which was uncommon in the Juniors Division. Curiously, Yuuri turned to Yuuko from where he sat on the bench facing the small TV.

"Do skaters not use original music for their performances?" His bright brown eyes were fixed on Yuuko's own lighter ones.

"Not in the Juniors Division! That's what makes Viktor even more amazing! He's just so incredible!" She turned away from him to face the TV again, eyes sparkling with wonder for the seventeen year-old Russian figure skater.

He watched her for a moment longer before focusing back on the TV once more. Once the music began and Viktor pushed his way across the rink, Yuuri found himself utterly entranced. Everything about the skater caught his attention. The way he tilted his head back while his long silver hair flowed behind him and the way he skated to the music as if it were a part of him stunned Yuuri into silence. Before long he realized that Viktor had made his way off the rink and Yuuko had started to rave about his newest program. However, it all went past him as he continued to stare at the screen, still not over what he had just watched.

"-ri? Yuuri? Yuuri!" The sound of his name practically being yelled into his ear and the frantic wave of a hand in front of his eyes finally registered in his mind, snapping his attention out of the haze it was in.

"Huh?" Yuuri kept replaying the young Russian skater's routine in his head, unable to forget what he heard and saw. His mind instantly putting the music for the skater's program into notes he could play when he got back to his piano later.

"I asked what you thought of Viktor's performance." She giggled into her hands before continuing. "I guess I already know your answer."

In response, Yuuri's cheeks grew red, and his gaze shifted to his hands, which were folded in his lap. "I-It was great." He didn't know how else to express what he felt. Although embarrassed beyond belief over his childhood friend's observation, the teen couldn't prevent the smile that spread across his lips as the need to play the piano greatened. The rest of what Yuuko had begun to enthuse over went over his head. His fingers became restless as the instrument he longed to play appeared invisibly in front of him.

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As the years droned on after Viktor's gold medal in the Junior Grand Prix Final, Yuuri had become a different person, although never losing his shyness. He had begun to push himself harder in learning more technically challenging pieces and studying different notations on sheet music. He had also started to plaster photos of Viktor everywhere. Once his bedroom walls had become filled with the Russian skater, Yuuri soon turned to keeping a few photos on his piano. Once he turned fifteen, Yuuri began entering himself in competitions, winning more than he thought he would and earning himself the title of a late-blooming prodigy. At the age of eighteen he moved to Detroit, where he studied under a well-known and accomplished teacher and soon met with Phichit Chulanont, who was a figure skater that loved listening and skating to Yuuri's new compositions. After losing big time in competitions when he turned twenty-three as well as inspiration and love for the piano that he accustomed over the years, Yuuri decided maybe it was time to go home for awhile and assess where he stood. His family had welcomed him back enthusiastically but couldn't help worrying over the slump he landed himself in.

Yuuko came over to talk with him, distracting him from his losses with words of what she had been up to over the years.

"Wow, three kids, too?"

"Yep! It sure has been crazy here. The kids love listening to your music by the way. Huge fans of yours to be precise."

Yuuri smiled from where he sat on the piano bench in front of the instrument itself. He shifted his eyes to the ivory keys, remembering all the restless nights he spent hammering them until his fingers bled.

"They actually came with me in hopes of hearing you play at least once." Yuuko nervously laughed and twirled the ends of her ponytail.

"Actually, there's something I want to play for you." Yuuri took a deep breath and turned towards the piano, fingers resting over the keys. "I learned this when I didn't really know what to do. Everything seemed to sound the same to me. I was hoping if I did this, I would be able to think clearer."

Yuuko listened to him talk patiently before the subtle sound of the piano rang throughout the room. She gasped and threw hands over her mouth when she recognized the tune. As the song lulled on, tears formed in the corners of her eyes and she tried to keep herself quiet as Yuuri continued to play.

Yuuri slowly closed his eyes, every key and swift movement dug into his mind perfectly. As if his fingers were floating, he ended the song as gently as he began. Yuuko let out the cheers she had been holding, much to his surprise. As he turned away from the keys, he brought his attention to his hands on his knees.

"Yuuri, that was perfect! I felt as though I was watching Viktor perform all over again!"

Before he could comment, the kids Yuuko had mentioned earlier burst into the room. As he practically fell off the piano bench, Yuuko had to hold her sides from laughing too hard. After a introductions and a few more minutes of talking, Yuuri was soon saying his goodbyes to the Nishigoris.

The day had felt endless, and the pianist wanted nothing more than to rest. After setting his suitcases down on the floor of his bedroom, he collapsed onto the bed in the corner of the room. His gaze flicked around the familiar room, the posters of the one he looked up to still on every surface on his walls. Yuuri sighed and turned to his side, sleep finally taking over his relaxed form.

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"Viktor, have you seen this yet?" A girl with short red hair and bright was watching some video on her phone as she leaned against the boards around the rink.

"Could you be talking about that video everyone keeps mentioning to me, Mila?" The silver-haired Russian had just finished running through a step sequence he took pride over completing recently and skated towards the redhead, named Mila Babicheva, in curiosity. This wasn't the first time he had heard about it today, so he wasn't shocked to hear about it again. Georgi had mentioned something about how he should absolutely look it up after his practice, and then he continued to drone on about how it was practically dripping in pure love and adoration as he passed the older skater in hallway.

"It's something else. This kid is too cute. I almost wish he could do this for me." Once Viktor arrived at the boards in front of her, she restarted the video for the third time and turned her phone around to show him. Viktor took the device into his hands and listened with amazement at the pianist play the piece he had written for the program he just won the Grand Prix Final with.

"Yuuri Katsuki..."

Mila watched in amusement as Viktor kept replaying the video with an indescribable expression on. His concentration soon broke away from the video as he thrust it back into her hands, heading off the ice in what looked like a hurry.

"Where are you heading? Coach Yakov isn't going to be happy when he comes back and you're gone."

"Tell him I have somewhere important to go." Viktor practically ripped his skates off and shoved them into his back before standing back up and heading to the door.

"Huh?" Completely confused, Mila shrugged as Viktor sent her a wink and left her alone in the rink, the music from the video still playing in her hands.

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Since dawn broke, Yuuri had been helping around the onsen his family owned, Yu-topia. They had told him he could sit back and relax today, but he had wanted to help regardless. It was oddly calming how easily he set back into his old routine of working there. Or at least it was. For some odd reason, a few of the customers were either eyeing him or whispering once he walked away. When customers kept asking if he was really Yuuri Katsuki, he started to get a tad bit suspicious but ignored it anyways. He had been in quite a few famous competitions, even though he failed most. Someone probably made a compilation video of his worst fails somewhere is what he told himself as the stares and whispers continued throughout the day. As the pianist started cleaning up for the night, he could hear footsteps and the sliding of the entrance door.

"Hello? Anyone here?"

Yuuri began practicing his English in his head once he figured the guest had to be a tourist. He thanked his piano teacher silently for teaching him English more thoroughly. With a few towels in hand, Yuuri rushed to the sound of the voice at the entrance.

"Hello, how can I-" Yuuri's eyes widened and his glasses almost slipped off his face at the sight before him.

There in the doorway of Yu-topia with luggage in hand stood Viktor Nikiforov. The Viktor Nikiforov. Five-time-consecutive gold medalist Viktor Nikiforov.

"You!" Viktor seemed to have brightened up as he stabbed a finger in Yuuri's direction.

Yuuri as dumbfound as he was pointed to himself. "M-Me?"

Viktor only grinned in response and brought his hand down back to his luggage. "You're Yuuri Katsuki!" The Russian looked so proud of himself as his icy blue eyes met brown ones.

The pianist was flushed bright red as he continued to stare at Viktor. Say something! Anything! Don't keep gawking at him! He kept opening his mouth as if he was going to do exactly what he kept telling himself, but he seemed unable to find the right words except squeak out the obvious. "Y-you're... Viktor Nikiforov... w-why...?"

Viktor simply chuckled and walked towards him, never breaking eye contact. "You know exactly why I'm here, Yuuri. You're to be my new composer! I look forward to working with you."

His cheeks became even more inflamed while his jaw dropped to the floor. This couldn't be really happening. There was no way. Viktor wasn't really here. The Viktor Nikiforov wasn't in Japan in front of him. He had to be dreaming.

Viktor walked past a still stammering Yuuri to look around the space before him.

"This is a nice little place. Where will I be staying?" Viktor turned around to meet Yuuri's eyes once more with a grin still evident on his face.

Meanwhile, Yuuri still couldn't process what was happening. Why is Viktor Nikiforov standing in front of me? He heard what the Russian said, but it made no sense to him. Not that he liked saying it since he hardly believed it, but Yuuri did realize he was pretty well known for his abilities. Sure he had composed original music for certain people, participated in dozens of competitions, and had his own performances before, but he never would've thought he was good enough to have Viktor Nikiforov come all the way from Russia just to meet him. There was definitely something wrong here. That's when he realized what Viktor had said.

"Wha-What do you m-mean I know w-why?" Curse his inability to form coherent sentences right now.

Viktor responded with another lighthearted laugh which only confused the pianist further. "I saw the video, Yuuri. The way your fingers caressed the ivory keys as if they were a part of you drove me here. It was like you were trying to tell me something. In the future, I recommend you get someone else to record you. The video was very choppy."

"V-video?" Yuuri's face paled instantly at the words. "What video?"

The figure skating legend's face mimicked Yuuri's own confused one. "You haven't seen it? It has eight million views. I'm surprised you haven't."

Yuuri scrambled to where his phone laid on top of his piano, practically tripping over everything in his path as he ran. The other male watched in sheer confusion as the pianist bolted to a back room.

"Yuuri?"Viktor stood in the hallway, unsure of whether or not he should follow him.

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The pianist was hunched over his phone in shock. When did... How did this... Who took this...? So many questions came to his mind, yet no answers popped up in response. On the screen of his phone was a video of himself. More specifically, him playing Stammi Vicino on the piano. The song he played only for Yuuko. The song Viktor Nikiforov got made specifically for his program. The reason the living legend was standing out in the entrance of his family's onsen. The man Yuuri left in a panic. As realization hit him, and boy did it hit him like a truck, he slowly stood up and peeked out the doorway to find Viktor walking around the room and gazing at the unfamiliar decorations. After pinching himself more than a dozen times and coming to the conclusion that this was really happening, Yuuri stepped out of the room cautiously and towards the room the skater stood in.

Viktor looked towards Yuuri with a framed photo in his hands. "Is this you as a little kid?"

Embarrassment shot through the pianist, who only coughed in reply to him.

"Viktor..."

Said male looked up from the photo to a furiously blushing Yuuri. With the same grin he wore all afternoon soon far, he answered, "Yes, Yuuri?"

"I-I'm so so sorry a-about the video... I had no idea... i-it wasn't supposed to be seen by anyone... especially y-you..." His chocolate eyes shut tightly as he bowed his head in apology, cheeks still as red as the sunset outside.

"Why?"

The one word caught him off-guard. Immediately, he lifted his head to find the Russian standing in front of him.

"Do I look upset to you?"

"I-I... well, no... b-but-" Piercing blue eyes gazed at him, causing him to stumble over his words even more than he already was.

"Then there's no reason to apologize. Now," The man's short silver hair spun as he turned and walked back to his luggage, "I'm going to need a room, some food, and I heard the bath here is just divine." With his red luggage in tow, Viktor walked back up to Yuuri.

"R-Right..."