Previews for Namida are open, so I am excited to preview the collab I am doing with KLY (@toastibo), entitled The Price We Pay for Love. This fic will be rated Mature and includes a Major Character Death.
I’m excited to be a part of this zine! Please go to the @yoiangstzine blog and check out all the other previews~~<3
“Yuuri, make me breakfast,” Viktor whined, his belabored trot slowing as he reached the gate to Hasetsu’s Yu-Topia.
The morning’s first rose-colored sunbeams were just peeking over the hills. Yuuri, already waiting at the gate, puffed an exhausted laugh.
“You are going to have to keep up if you want to work off that off-season tummy,” he teased. “You have to look your best for your final season.” He pulled Viktor close and patted him gently on the stomach. Viktor smiled and kissed him lightly on the cheek.
“I thought this was supposed to be a vacation.”
The two were just in time to watch the sun rise while their aching muscles soaked in the steamy onsen. This was the first time they had managed to finish their run in enough time, with only two days left before they had to return to St. Petersburg to train.
Viktor slipped slowly into the bath and seemed to melt in the warm, relaxing waters. He sank down and rested his head on his arms right next to where Yuuri sat huddled over a steaming cup of tea. They watched the rest of the sunrise together in silence. Yuuri had brought home plenty of gold medals last season, and he was beyond grateful to even share the podium with Viktor once. For the first time, they had worked together to strengthen one another and had the pleasure of watching each other succeed and grow. The tension of competing was exhilarating both on and off the ice.
All the same, Viktor’s body was beginning to show signs of strain. He would never admit it, but Yuuri was sure he knew. He could not help but feel worried at what this season would bring for Viktor. He was thrilled to continue skating together, but he would feel at fault if his love felt even the slightest disappointment in himself, or worse, if he was injured. Viktor’s standards and expectations for his own skating had skyrocketed ever since his two students had beaten his record. The wins he had once cinched easily had become a challenge once again.
Yuuri gazed over at his husband’s willowy frame. He was leaning against the wall of the pool, eyes turned skyward, lost in thought. His fingers twirled that silver hair of their own accord.
It had only been two years since Viktor first greeted him here on a snowy April morning. How much had changed. It really did feel like home. Him. Here. The onsen—not just the spring itself, but the entire resort—seemed to calm Viktor immensely. It was here that his head was clearest, his features brightest. Yuuri had wanted to come now, right before training, for that reason. The last thing they needed was a stressful start.
A half an hour later, as the two men changed into their clothes, a startling gasp shook Yuuri out of his pleasant honeymoon daze.
Viktor thrust his phone in Yuuri’s direction, his eyes wide and worried.
It took a few moments for Yuuri to understand what he was seeing.
On the little screen in his hand, a gruesome image hung in disturbing resolution beneath an international news banner. Smoke and flashing lights masked most of the wreckage, but one thing was recognizable in the midst of everything: a motorcycle.
No, no no no, this couldn’t happen now.
