A/N: I don't own Yuri On Ice, but God I wish I did. The ships are just so perfect. Please enjoy this new story–here is chapter one!

Viktuuri Arc Chapter One: A New Job

Yuuri Katsuki wasn't particularly tired, but there was no way he was missing his daily cup of coffee. It wasn't because of any caffeine addiction–although at this point he had probably developed one of those too–it was because of a barista addiction.

He was in love with Viktor Nikiforov.

The silver-haired, silver-tongued man was head day barista at Kohi A-Katsuki, Yuuri's cousin's coffee shop, and he had been the main reason Yuuri had gone to the shop every day for the past one hundred and eighty-six days. It was true that Kohi A-Katsuki's double caramel cappuccino was a delicious phenomenon, but in Yuuri's opinion, Viktor's smile was infinitely sweeter. And it provided nutrition of the soul more crucial than any designer latte could. He was sure he couldn't live without it.

When he went into the shop that Monday, his heart snapped to attention and began its usual set of jumping jacks when he saw the flash of silver behind the counter.

"Yuuri!" Viktor exclaimed, flashing him a grin, and the Japanese man's heartbeat doubled in speed. "The usual?"

Yuuri nodded, blushing furiously. Even though he had been coming into the store for one hundred and eighty-six days (he had counted each one, at some point he had started marking them in his phone calendar with the coffee cup and heart emojis), he was still overwhelmed with happiness Viktor had noticed him enough to have committed his usual order to memory. Admittedly, he'd ordered the same thing every single day over the six month span, but the shop had a lot of customers; he wouldn't have been surprised if Viktor forgot about some random shy Japanese man. But at some point he had started referring to Yuuri by name when the man came into the shop, asking if he wanted "the usual", and it had made the glasses-wearing man fall even deeper in love with him than he had been before.

"Coming right up!" The silver-haired Russian man announced, and Yuuri stepped towards the pickup counter. Probably because he was such a long-standing customer, Viktor always stepped up to take his order, saving him from the Russian Yuri's wrath. For some reason, the blond teenager hated the idea of coffee with cream and sugar in it, giving anyone who should order a drink without an extra espresso shot or three his angstiest dirty look. Yuuri could see him now at the other register, glaring down some poor girl who just wanted a regular peppermint latte. Internally he praised Viktor again–not only did he dread ever having to order his sugary drink from Yuri the Hater, but he doubted Yuri would make much of an effort to get the cappuccino tasting just right if he did make it. Viktor knew how to make the coffee perfectly: to Yuuri it always tasted like coffee and caramel and happiness.

He remembered the first time he had come to Kohi A-Katsuki–he had moved to the city a few days prior and had gone to the shop to see his friend Phitchit, who worked there. Phitchit was on the afternoon shift and he had invited Yuuri to drop by the shop sometime when he was working for coffee on the house. Yuuri had wondered what his cousin's shop was like anyway, so he had decided to go over one lazy Wednesday afternoon towards the end of Phitchit's shift, figuring they could go out for an early dinner afterwards.

"Yuuri!" Phitchit hailed him as soon as he came through the door, grinning his biggest white-teeth smile. The two had been best friends ever since the Chulanont family had moved to Japan from Thailand and Phitchit had been enrolled in Yuuri's middle school. The gregarious boy had gravitated towards his shy counterpart, breaking through his introverted shell and coaxing Yuuri to open up to him. It was because of Phitchit that he'd grown from a nervous wreck who hid from everyone to a nervous wreck who could put his anxiety aside and go out into the world, even moving away from home.

"Phitchit!" he called back, a smile filling his face. Even though he knew Phitchit would be working that day at that time, having texted him earlier to confirm, he had still been worried about coming into the coffee shop and not knowing what to do, sticking out like a sore and thoroughly awkward thumb. It was the way he was, prone to overthinking things even when he knew exactly what was going to happen.

Phitchit beckoned him over and he approached the counter. They had chosen a time late in Phitchit's shift for double reasoning: both that they could go out to dinner after Phitchit got off, and that the hour would mean Phitchit wouldn't be terribly busy with customers. Kohi A-Katsuki was a twenty-four hour place, popular enough that there were always a few people drinking coffee and eating the accompanying snacks, but there were busier and lighter times. Yuuri was glad they had chosen that time, crowds of people made him nervous, and he wanted to be at leisure to talk with Phitchit.

At the moment, Phitchit was alone at the counter, the other employee having disappeared into the back room. He leaned across the counter, and the two chatted a bit about how Yuuri liked the city after having newly arrived and how everyone they knew in Hasetsu was doing.

"Anyway, what can I make for you?" Phitchit asked at a pause in the conversation.

Yuuri wasn't much of a coffee drinker, so he replied with a question, "What's good here?"

"I would recommend the double caramel cappuccino," announced a voice like liquid silver, and that was when Viktor Nikiforov came into Yuuri's life.

When Yuuri looked up to see where the voice was coming from, the flash of silver and Viktor's inhuman beauty conspired together to nearly blind him. Unlike what a normal person might do when confronted with something blinding, though, Yuuri stared at Viktor like his vision depended on it. Shining silver hair waterfalling down over half of his face, one aquamarine eye returning his gaze, a smile that would have made even the most suicidal person decide to live forever. Yuuri's heart passed by skips a beat and stopped completely. This is the image of perfection, he thought distantly.

Ages could have passed with the two looking at each other, Yuuri staring intently and Viktor's smile transitioning from nice to meet you to vaguely puzzled, but Phitchit broke into the moment with an introduction.

"Yuuri, this is Viktor Nikiforov, my co-worker," he said, "Viktor, this is Yuuri Katsuki, my best friend."

Viktor's smile quickly returned to its former brilliance as he beamed at Yuuri. "Oh, right, you've mentioned him. Yuuri, it's a pleasure to meet you, Phitchit's told me all about you."

"Only nice things, I hope," Yuuri returned weakly.

"Of course," Viktor assured him. "What can I get you, Katsudon?"

Yuuri's cheeks reddened at the nickname. He had eaten the dish so often in Hasetsu Phitchit had finally asked him about it, and he had confessed it was his favorite, even with how filling it was. He would eat it whenever he had something to celebrate because he loved it so much; he'd eat it when he was feeling down to cheer himself up. Whenever there was an occasion to eat it, he would–he didn't need an excuse. It was the reason he was still known as the chubby kid by his friends and family, even though he ran enough now he'd lost most of the weight.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Viktor quickly apologized, seeing his embarrassment.

"It's okay," Yuuri forced out, "I'll have that… cappuccino thing you mentioned."

Viktor's smile returned in full force at his words. "The double caramel cappuccino?" he exclaimed happily. "It's a personal favorite of mine! I'll make it for you right away!"

With those words, he fluttered off to make the drink, leaving Phitchit and Yuuri standing watching him go.

"Wow, he's really something, isn't he?" Yuuri muttered when he had recovered enough to peel his eyes off Viktor's coffee-making form.

"Right?" Phitchit had agreed. "And he's single."

Yuuri blushed even darker at Phitchit's words. True to form, the Thai man had once again read his mind and guessed the tenor of his impression of Viktor. Phitchit had always been able to predict just what Yuuri was thinking–he said it was because everything Yuuri thought was pasted clearly across his face. Yuuri assumed it was simply that he was more perceptive than others. That, or no one else had taken the time to look at Yuuri's face, since no one else had been able to tell what he was thinking about with such ease. Yuuri wasn't really sure which one it was, if he was truthful with himself, because he didn't have many other friends besides Phitchit. Not close ones, anyway. He was just too shy.

At that moment, Viktor had returned with the drink, and Yuuri had taken it gratefully, sure that anything such an angel could make would be a supreme delicacy. When he took the first sip, it was just as he had guessed. That was when he had gotten the first taste of the particular brand of coffee and caramel-flavored happiness that was Viktor's favorite drink, and he fell in love there and then–both with the drink and with the man who had made it.

Yuuri was dragged out of his reverie by Viktor arriving with his daily double caramel cappuccino.

"Here's your drink, Yuuri!" the silver-haired man exclaimed, as excited by the prospect of someone else sharing his favorite drink today as he had been the first day they met. Yuuri took a drink of the warm beverage; it tasted today just as divine as it had when he first imbibed it. He wasn't sure if it had gotten better over time or if it was just his growing love for Viktor that made it taste better every time. He didn't care: it was heavenly either way. Anything Viktor gave the seal of approval was bound to be, he had decided.

Viktor had told Yuuri, in the chats they sometimes had when it wasn't busy, that he had tried everything on Kohi A-Katsuki's menu, deciding on the double caramel cappuccino as his favorite. He considered it part of his job as head day barista to know the taste of every drink they offered, he had said, and Yuuri had been impressed. Some of the drinks his cousin offered weren't his cup of tea, literally, and he could tell from the expression on Viktor's face when he had confessed trying everything that they weren't to the silver-haired man's liking either, but he had tried them just the same. It was just one of the many things he loved about Viktor. The care he put into his job, making every drink like it was going to be drunk by the person he loved most in the world. Yuuri had come to the conclusion that coffee tasted better when it was made by someone who really cared about the people he was making it for, even if there were still only strangers. He didn't know, but this was a philosophy his cousin, the shop's owner, shared, the reason he had hired Viktor and placed so much trust in him. All he knew was that he didn't really care to drink a cup of coffee unless it had been made by Viktor.

"Watching your idol again?" came a familiar voice from behind him, and Yuuri turned to see Phitchit standing there grinning at him.

"Phitchit!" he greeted his best friend, smiling back at the Thai man. "Working the afternoon shift again today?"

"It's the best time of the day," Phitchit told him, waving at Viktor as the silver-haired man mixed up another customer's drink. "How are you? How's school?"

They started talking about how Yuuri was doing at university. It was what he had moved to the city for in the first place, encouraged Phitchit to find his new self outside the confines of Hasetsu. Yuuri had complained a few times about the strangeness of living in a large city after having spent all his childhood in Hasetsu, but he had come to love the city under Phitchit's tutelage. The Thai man had taken him around to all of his favorite spots, and Yuuri had discovered some of his own, and now it felt like home to him, albeit a home he felt awkward in. That was nothing new for him, though, he had felt awkward in Hasetsu, too. It was just his natural state. The two friends' topic today was Yuuri's money woes. It was more expensive living in a big city, the Japanese man complained, especially with the way he went out of his way to buy a fancy coffee drink every morning. He was looking for a job, but it wasn't something he was comfortable with, being too shy to do the requisite "putting yourself out there" needed in an interview. And he didn't really know anyone in the city, so he didn't have the necessary connections to get a job where they wouldn't mind his anxiety.

"Why don't you apply here?" Phitchit asked, the idea suddenly hitting him. "Doesn't your cousin own this place? There's your connection." He grinned, "And you could see you idol every day for work if you were on the day shift." His face grew suddenly thoughtful, "You know, I think Leo is looking to move to the night shift anyway, so we're kind of looking for someone for the day shift. You should ask for an application."

Feeling suddenly bold, Yuuri replied, "That's a good idea, I will."

Phitchit turned to Viktor, who had just finished making the previous customer's order and had come down to the pick-up counter to hand off the drink.

"Viktor, do you know when Ayuna's coming in today?" he asked.

"Ayuna?" Yuuri asked, confused. He had thought it was his cousin Ryuji, not Ryuji's sister Ayuna, who owned the coffee shop.

"Yeah, Ryuji's on his annual coffee tour," Phitchit explained. "Ayuna's filling in for him."

"She should be by pretty soon," Viktor informed him. "She always comes at her lunch break just to check up on us."

Right, though Yuuri, Ayuna's around my age, so she'd be in school right now.

"Yuuri's decided to apply to work here," Phitchit was telling Viktor, who smiled with delight at the idea. "You know how Leo wants to move to night, and Seung-gil was going to leave anyway, so he'd be perfect."

"Great!" Viktor exclaimed, turning his spotlight-bright smile on Yuuri, who blushed half though his natural shyness and half through force of habit being around the man he loved. Viktor missed the change in color; though, he had looked away right in that moment, distracted by someone at the door. "And there's Ayuna," he said, explaining the reason for his lapse in attention. "Ayuna!" he cried, waving the woman over.

"Viktor, Phitchit," she greeted. "Yuuri? I didn't know you came here."

"Yeah, he's a regular," Viktor explained. "He and I have the same favorite drink, you know. I was the one who introduced him to it, actually."

Yuuri started, shocked that Viktor would remember their first meeting. He wondered what he had seemed like to the silver-haired man then. He knew he'd become less anxious as a result of living in a big city, so he must have seemed like a complete nervous wreck that day. Fervently, he hoped Viktor didn't remember that part.

Ayuna smiled, "Well, it's nice to see you as always, Yuuri-chan. Now what can I do for you, Viktor? Any problems in the shop?"

"No, nothing like that," Viktor said, exuding charm. "In fact, it's the opposite. We were just talking, and Yuuri was interested in working here. Since Seung-gil's planning on leaving, and Leo wants to move to the night shift, he'd be the perfect solution to our problem."

"Oh, really?" Ayuna spared a glance for Yuuri, who nodded his head to confirm Viktor's words. "Well, I'm not sure what Aniki would say about that, but I trust you, Yuuri. I find nervous types like you always pay extra attention to what they're doing, and you're smart, plus Phitchit and Viktor can mentor you so you'll catch on quickly. If you want the job, it's yours–leave convincing my brother to me."

"Really! Thank you, Ayuna!" Yuuri replied, momentarily bursting out enthusiastically. His cousin, always business-minded, got right down to the subject of hours, making sure to schedule him with Phitchit or Viktor for his shifts so they could show him the ropes. His heart leapt with glee–he would really be working with Viktor, his idol. Viktor was even smiling at him, Phitchit too: they were happy to have him working with him.

As he left the shop that day his head swam with daydreams of perfect happiness, and he marked that day with extra heart and coffee cup emojis on his calendar.