Victor never really minded getting up early. He had always considered himself somewhat of a morning person. However, he had not slept very well last night due to a headache and then, to make matters worse, the fire alarm had gone off at 3am.

By the time his phone alarm finally blared at 6am, Victor had gotten a grand total of 2 hours sleep. He groaned as he tapped his phone to turn off the alarm before begrudgingly dragging himself out of bed. At least my headache is gone. He thought.

As he got on with his morning routine, he noticed an incoming text from Chris:

[Chris] – Got any plans this evening?

Victor gave a small sigh.

His best friend had been particularly concerned with how few friends Victor had made since arriving at this new university. He had moved here just over a month ago and besides a few people from his course and Chris, Victor didn't really have many friends in the city.

It's not that Victor was antisocial, he just didn't really go out of his way to meet new people and most of his time was taken up by studying for his doctorate.

As such, Chris had taken it upon himself to try and drag Victor out to social events more often, and that was very likely what this text was about.

Victor would love to meet up with Chris, but he couldn't today, so he sent back a quick "Sorry, I have an assignment I need to work on tonight :(" before grabbing his bag, bidding a sleepy Makkachin goodbye and leaving his room.

As he locked the door behind him, he noticed a man with a cute black beanie going down the hall and leaving the building.

Victor had yet to actually speak to any of the other students in his building yet. Well, except from going to complain at the guy who lived in the room above his, who had very considerately decided to blast his music at 2am once. But Victor didn't really count that.

Maybe he should take Chris' advice and start talking to more people and put himself out there more.

Victor just about made it to the bus stop in time. As soon as he arrived, he saw the bus appear in the distance.

Victor sighed in relief. Made it. He thought.

He was moving to queue behind the other person at the bus stop when he noticed that it was the student with the cute beanie. And now that Victor can see the man better, he noticed that he had a cute face to match.

Luckily for Victor the man was too occupied with whatever was on his phone to notice that he was staring a little too much.

The bus pulled up to the curb, catching the man's attention as he moved to board the bus, Victor just behind him.

The man went and sat down, and Victor followed, sitting down in the seat just in front of him.

Victor had just been thinking about how he needed to talk to people more. Plus, some conversation might make this dull morning half-an-hour long bus ride that little bit more bearable. So, Victor bit the bullet, and turned around, smiling at the man.

The man noticed him right away, looking at him a bit nervously, likely wondering what this random guy wanted, but smiling back anyway.

"Hey, are you living in the student apartment building around here too?" Victor asked.

The man looks a bit confused at that.

"Um, yeah?" He answered, unsurely.

"Ah, so do I! I saw you leaving this morning. Your beanie is adorable by the way. It almost looks like it has cat ears!"

"Thanks." The man stuttered.

"So, did you hear the fire alarm go off last night?"

The beanie wearing man looks at him, even more confused. "No? Which floor do you live on?"

"Oh. I'm on the ground floor. How about you?"

"I'm on the 4th floor. Maybe it only went off for you? Although that doesn't seem right…"

"It doesn't. Maybe I should ask the building manager about it. Anyway, you're very lucky. It went off at 3am and I'd already had enough difficulty sleeping as it was." Victor said exasperatedly.

The man looked at him with sympathy. "That sucks, I barely managed to get out of bed myself this morning."

"What has you up so early anyway?" Victor asked. Few students chose to be out and about this early in the morning.

"Well, my class today is at the university's secondary campus, so I had to leave extra early to be able to make it there for 9am."

"I've never been to that campus. But it's quite far isn't it? And this bus doesn't even go there?"

The man sighed. "Yeah, at the beginning of the semester they helpfully cancelled the bus that left from here and went straight to my campus. Now I have to get this bus to main campus and then another bus from there to my campus."

Victor frowned. "Ugh, that must suck. How long does it take you to get there?"

"Around an hour and half, but I try to get there a bit early, so I can go over my reading notes before class."

"That's very sensible of you."

"What about you, why are you here so early?"

"I help teach a class on Thursday mornings at the main campus. I like to go early too so I can help out the professor with the class preparation or to get some study time in at the café beforehand."

"That's cool. What course are you studying?"

"I'm working towards my doctorate in sports science. What about you?"

"I'm in my final year studying for my bachelor's degree in physics."

"Wow that must be really difficult!" Victor said.

The man gave a shy laugh. "I guess it is, but I enjoy it so it's okay. But what about your course? I mean you're studying for your doctorate, that must be a lot of work."

Victor hummed in agreement. "Well yes, but like you, I enjoy my course so it's not too bad. Just very time consuming and stressful sometimes."

"I can imagine."

The two continued their pleasant conversation until they reached the stop for main campus. The two proceeded to get off the bus together.

"I need to go over the road to catch my next bus, but it was nice talking to you, I'll see you around!" The man promised as he left, giving Victor a smile and wave as he went.

"See you!" Victor replied, as he watched him go.

It was nice, Victor thought, how naturally their conversation had progressed, and whilst he felt somewhat energized from the interaction, he was sad to see the man leave. At least he lives nearby, I'm sure I'll bump into him again! Victor thought with hope, before realising Wait…what was his name?!

Victor did not see the cute beanie boy again until the following Thursday morning as he hurried to the bus stop once more.

The man was stood there waiting for the bus, beanie on, headphones in and staring at his phone. Victor called out to him as he approached with a 'Hey!'.

The man looked up at Victor, a small smile brightening his face before he returned the greeting, removing his headphones.

"Another early Thursday huh?" Victor asked with a small chuckle.

"Yup." The man sighed. "My class is every Thursday morning this semester after all."

"Ah, of course. Well how was your week anyway?"

"Same as usual I guess, but the work is already starting to pile up and it's only the third week of the semester!"

"I know that feeling." Victor agreed, shoulders slumping. "I expect it'll only get worse as the semester goes on."

Again, the conversation continued effortlessly between the two until they reached their destination. The two off them got of the bus together before separating.

"See you next Thursday!" Victor said.

"Yeah see you!" The man responded as he turned to walk away.

Instantly, Victor realised he had forgotten to ask him for his name again. How could they have spoken to each other for this long without either of them thinking to ask the other's name?

A few weeks and a few more encounters with bus boy later, and Victor was out to dinner with Chris.

"Honestly Victor? Isn't asking someone their name one of the first questions you ask a stranger? Or at least you should have introduced yourself by now." Chris chuckled.

"I know! But I guess we kind of just skipped over it? And now it's been four weeks and isn't it weird to ask what his name is now?"

"Well, it might be a little odd but it's better than us having to refer to him as 'the cute beanie boy you met on the bus'."

"True."

"Although it is kind of mysterious, not knowing his name. Makes it a bit more exciting hm?" Chris said with a wink.

Victor had been taking a sip of his drink and choked a bit on it before whining "Chriiiiis."

"Oh, come on. I can tell by the way you talk about him you're into him."

There was a pause.

"No comment." Victor stated defiantly.

"That's as good as a yes." Chris smirked. "Who knew all it took to get you a boyfriend was for you to talk to strangers on the bus." Chris teased.

Victor sighed. "Can you not, I doubt he's even into me like that. He's just…a really nice person. Who apparently tolerates a complete stranger bothering him on the bus every week."

"Hmm, well I haven't met him yet, so I can't say for sure, but darling have you seen yourself?" Chris asked, gesturing to Victor. "There are very few men who would say no to you. And you seem to get on well enough on a personal level considering he's made the effort to keep the conversations going this long. You should at least ask for his number."

"We've discussed this, I need to ask for his name first."

"Well yes, shortly followed by asking him for his number though." Chris insisted.

The next time Victor saw beanie boy was not on their usual Thursday morning commute, but it wasstill at their usual bus stop.

It was a little after midday on Saturday, and Victor was taking Makkachin on the bus to take her for a walk along the riverside.

The man was already waiting at the bus stop. This time though, he did not have headphones in and he looked up when he heard Victor approaching. A grin spread across his face as he recognised Victor, and it made Victor's heart flutter.

"Hey!" The man greeted, before his eyes flickered down to the dog beside Victor.

Well, the dog that was beside Victor and was now sprinting at the man, tugging the leash out of Victor's weak grasp.

Victor watched in mild horror as his dog barrelled into beanie boy, knocking him to the ground.

"Makkachin no!" He shouted, chasing after the mischievous dog.

To his surprise (and relief) the man laughed. And rather than shoving Makkachin off of himself immediately, he petted her gently as she panted excitedly, begging for his attention.

Victor squatted down next to them. "I'm so sorry. She's usually better behaved." He apologised as he reached to pull her away from the man.

"It's fine! She's adorable so I don't mind." The man beamed, but he did let Victor tug the dog away so that he could stand up.

Makkachin let out a sad whine at being pulled back from her target, prompting the man to start petting her again.

"I'm guessing her name is Makkachin then?" The man asked.

"Yes, it is." Victor confirmed, staring in awe as the man scratched behind Makkachin's ear. After a moment of watching the two, his brain finally jumped back into gear. "Ah! I've been meaning to ask actually. I know we've been talking for weeks and all, but I don't think we ever exchanged names?"

The man snapped his gaze away from Makkachin to look at Victor. "You're right! I kept intending to ask, but once we got talking, I would just forget." He laughed.

"Well then, let me introduce myself. My name is Victor." Victor said, giving the man a small flourish and a charming smile, causing the man to blush a little.

"It's nice to meet you Victor, my name is Yuuri." He replied.

Yuuri. Victor repeated sweetly in his mind. And now it was Victor's turn to blush. "That's a lovely name Yuuri~." He sang.

The bus pulled up then, cueing the two to board it. They chose to sit near the front to give Makkachin plenty of space to sit.

"So, what brings you onto the bus this fine Saturday?" Victor asked.

"I'm just going food shopping." Yuuri answered. "What about you?"

"I thought the weather looked nice so I'm taking Makka for a walk along the riverside." Victor replied. "You're welcome to walk with us if you'd like?"

"I'd love to! Um, that is if you don't mind." Yuuri said, pink tinting his cheeks.

"Of course, it's fine, I think we'd both appreciate the extra company."

Once they arrived, they got off the bus and walked two minutes to the riverside path. The two strolled and chatted for a bit as they enjoyed the sunny weather. Victor tried to walk beside Yuuri, however Makkachin seemed insistent on trotting between the two of them so that Yuuri could give her occasional head pats.

They wondered across a nearby field before Victor suggested that they take a seat at the bench close by so that he could let Makkachin loose for a bit. Yuuri agreed happily and the two sat as Victor unclipped Makkachin's leash.

Usually, Makkachin would take this opportunity to bolt off and run around in such a large open space, but instead, she decided she would rather seize the chance to tackle Yuuri again.

Fortunately, as he was already sitting down, the large poodle could not push Yuuri to the ground as she had earlier, but she did put her paws up on his chest and promptly began licking his face, causing Yuuri to laugh with joy and hug her in return.

Victor knew Makkachin was a friendly dog, but he had never known her to take to someone so strongly, so quickly. Not that he could really blame her. Yuuri was a delightful person, and he clearly adored her in exchange.

"She really seems to like you. Have you been sneaking her treats or something?" Victor joked.

"I promise I haven't been. Strangely enough, I don't just carry dog treats on me."

"Oh, but if you had some with you, you would give them to her?"

"Of course! She's such a good girl, aren't you?" Yuuri says, refocusing his attention on Makkachin. Eventually, Victor takes out a ball, handing it to Yuuri to throw. Yuuri showed it to Makkachin before hurling it away, and finally she jumps down, running to fetch the ball.

Yuuri and Victor watched her fondly as she chased after it.

"You know, I have a dog that looks just like her back home. Only he's a toy poodle so he's much smaller." Yuuri told Victor.

Oh my god he has a dog too?! And a poodle at that! Victor thought with excitement.

"Wow, really? What's their name? Can I see them? Do they like other dogs?" Victor enthused, eyes lit up with the joy of potentially meeting Yuuri's dog.

Yuuri seemed to return his enthusiasm. "His name is Vicchan! Ah, but when I said he's back home I meant he's with my family back in Japan. But I can show you pictures if you'd like? My sister sends me them all the time."

Victor quickly nodded his head.

Yuuri took out his phone from his pocket and pulled up some images of his dog. Victor looked at them with adoration. Just as Yuuri had told him, the little dog looked a lot like his own Makkachin, but he was much smaller.

"He's so precious Yuuri. Why did you leave him in Japan? Now I'll have to fly all the way there just to meet him!"

Yuuri chuckled. "Sorry, the places that I stayed in during first and second year didn't allow dogs, plus he doesn't really like travelling so I didn't want to drag him all the way here."

"Hm, I suppose those are acceptable reasons to leave such a cutie behind."

"My family take very good care of him for me. I miss him a lot though. I haven't been back there since I started studying here two years ago."

Concern flitted across Victor's eyes. "You haven't been home in two years?"

"I haven't. It's just…" Yuuri began nervously. "I kind of just wanted to immerse myself in living here you know? Not to mention how expensive flights can be."

"I can appreciate that. But I'm sure your family must miss you."

"They do, I miss them too, but we videocall each other all the time which helps a lot."

Victor hums.

The two continue to watch Makkachin play. She occasionally brings the ball back to them, wanting them to throw it for her, which they do so gladly.

However, all good things must come to an end, and eventually Yuuri let Victor know that he had to get going.

"I need to do my shopping before I go out later." He explained. "I'm meeting up with my group for a group assignment."

"Oh, okay then." Victor said. He knew this could not last forever, but God he wished it could. "I better take Makkachin home now anyway. But I'll see you next Thursday?"

Yuuri smiled. "Yeah, see you next Thursday."

When Victor got home after his little jaunt by the river with Yuuri, he removes his shoes and Makkachin's leash before collapsing on the couch and texting Chris.

I finally know his name! – [Victor]
It's 'Yuuri' – [Victor]

[Chris] – Well done! But it isn't Thursday? How did you find out?

We bumped into each other on the bus when I was taking Makka for a walk – [Victor]
He came on the walk with us! – [Victor]
He loves dogs Chris! I thought I liked him before, but he was so good with Makka and he has his own poodle too! MY HEART CAN'T TAKE IT – [Victor]
I think I might love him – [Victor]

[Chris] – I knew it! And I'm glad to hear he was good to Makka

God, I think Makka might love him more than she loves me. She rarely left his side the whole time - [Victor]

[Chris] - D'aw
[Chris] – You'll have to fight her for his attention
[Chris] - Well you've got his name now. Did you get his number too?

No :( - [Victor]
I want to ask but I just don't know how to without coming on too strong – [Victor]
You know what I'm like – [Victor]

[Chris] – Well you better figure it out soon
[Chris] – He seems like a keeper and there are only so many Thursdays left in this semester and who knows when you'll bump into him next

The weeks go by and somehow Victor would fall a little more for Yuuri each time they spoke. But as the semester drew to an end, sadness began to seep into Victor. He kept getting cold feet when he went to ask for Yuuri's number, praying that Yuuri would just ask him instead. But he hadn't yet.

Their weekly commute together may soon come to an end, as the end of the semester would bring about to the end of their current timetables. Whilst Victor could hope that their timetables would match up so that he could continue to enjoy his commute with Yuuri, there was no guarantee of that happening.

The final week of semester came all too soon. Their morning commute began ordinarily enough, besides the constant thought of "You need to ask him now idiot" looping through Victor's head.

Before he knew it, the bus had arrived at its stop and the two had to get off. As they were about to part-ways, Victor panicked. He should have done this earlier, but here he was at the last minute, about to bumble his way through this.

"Hey, um, are you single?" Victor asked as they stood by the university's bus stop.

Yuuri's face tinted pink. "Um, yeah?"

"So am I." Victor commented before quickly realising that was perhaps a strange statement to make. "I was wondering, would you like to go on a date sometime? Maybe for dinner?"

Yuuri's eyes widened, blush intensifying. "Really? Um, I'd like that a lot actually."

Victor felt relief wash over him. "How does Saturday sound?"

"That would be great." Yuuri responded looking at Victor softly before quickly glancing towards his next bus stop. "Look, I really want to talk about this, I do, but I also really need to go catch my bus, it'll be there any minute and…"

"Of course, here's my number, just text me when you can!" Victor said handing Yuuri a slip of paper with his phone number on.

Yuuri smiled. "Thanks! I need to get going, but I'll talk to you soon."

It wasn't until that evening, after an exhausting day at university that Victor got the message he had been waiting all day for.

[Unknown] – Hey Victor, this is Yuuri! :)
[Unknown] – Sorry I took so long to send this to you, it's been a hectic day!

Victor could not contain the smile that spread over his face at seeing the messages.

Hi Yuuri! – [Victor]

Makkachin had been lying next to him on the couch when he received the message. So, he took a quick photo of her before sending it to Yuuri.

[img] Makkachin says hi too! – [Victor]

[Yuuri] - ! ! ! !
[Yuuri ] – She's so cute, tell her I say hi back

Will do! – [Victor]
So about that dinner? What time works best for you? – [Victor]

Fin

A/N: Thanks for reading! It's been so long since I wrote something and actually published it, I hope you liked it!

This little one-shot was based on something that happened to me in real life recently (although what happened with me was just friendly, I've romanticised it for the sake of the OTP). I thought it would make for a cute OTP prompt, so I wrote this! I hope you enjoyed it :D

If anyone's interested in what actually happened to me: a girl who lives in my building randomly started talking to me on the bus a few weeks ago and we kinda bonded over our long, 2 bus commute to uni and now we sit and talk on the bus every Friday! And much like in the story, I don't know her name :') I really should just ask her but I keep forgetting!