Fragile Hearts

Chapter II

It was noon when Yuuri got out of his last class and started heading for the adoption agency. He was anxious about Phichit first meeting Victor, and worried that his friend would somehow scare him away. It was a silly thing to be anxious about, Phichit would never do such a thing while knowing Yuuri's feelings, but Yuuri couldn't help it. While he walked his anxiety slowly ate away at his mind, he tried to keep his thoughts away from it, but the nature of anxiety made it hard.
It seemed to be a longer walk then it usually was to get to the store, but when he opened the door and entered, he glanced at his phone and saw that he had taken his usual time.
Phichit greeted him happily as soon as he noticed Yuuri had arrived, and Yuuri responded in kind, "Hey, where's Nishigori?"
Phichit shrugged, "He left really quickly about an hour ago, I don't know really what for. Something about Yuuko?"
Yuuri felt his anxiety abate somewhat as he talked with Phichit.
"Yuuri, when does Victor usually get here?" Phichit questioned.
Nope, his anxiety was back in full force. "One o'clock." He answered quickly, hiding the shaking of his hands by stuffing them into his pockets.
Phichit, always very perceptive to Yuuri's emotions, came over and rested his hand on Yuuri's shoulder, "Can I help?"
Yuuri shook his head, "It's stupid and unrealistic anyways I shouldn't even be worried about it." Phichit sighed and Yuuri gave him an unconvincing smile. Phichit let his hand fall back to his side and went to do a routine check on the animals. Yuuri watched for a moment before going to sit behind the counter to wait for any customers - of course, he was really waiting for Victor.
As the time grew nearer to one, Yuuri kept checking his phone, his anxiety growing and growing until his heart threatened to jump out of his throat. 'Why are you anxious about this? It is a stupid thing to be anxious about!' He mentally berated himself. He was so preoccupied he didn't even notice when one o'clock actually came around.
Suddenly he was pulled out of his self-deprecating thoughts when the front door burst open, "Yuuri!" Victor's voice shouted out in excitement. Yuuri hardly had time to look up before he found himself encased in Victor's arms. Yuuri froze in embarrassment as Victor whirled him around the store while laughing happily.
"Yuuri I finally convinced Yuri that we should adopt a puppy! You know it is confusing there being two of you. But I can finally adopt him!" Victor grinned happily down at Yuuri's beet red face, childish exuberance shining in their eyes. They pulled Yuuri into an even tighter hug and let out a scream of excitement, only for it be cut short with an "OW!" and their head jerking back. Yuuri pulled away regretfully when he noticed the teenager that had entered the shop.
"Stop making that ridiculous sound!" the kid snapped with an accent similar to Victor's.
"Yuri! You pulled my hair!" Victor sounded surprised and offended while they lifted their hand to the base of their ponytail. Yuuri's eyebrows rose, so this punk was Victor's adopted kid? Yuri only rolled their eyes.
"Two Yuuri's? That's confusing." all three of them turned to look at Phichit.
Victor immediately bounced forward and shook Phichit's hand, "You must be Phichit, Yuuri has told me about you! Nice to finally meet you! I agree by the way, much too confusing!"
Phichit laughed at the onslaught he was recieving, "I've heard a lot about you as well Victor." He turned to Yuri, "And you must be Yuri." Yuri shrugged in response. "Well to avoid confusion between you and Yuuri, I think I'll call you Yurio."
The newly dubbed Yurio's face contorted in disgust, but before they could say anything Victor chimed in, "I love it! I'll call you that too!" They threw their arms around Yurio, who nearly screeched in anger.
"Don't call me that name, it's stupid!" Victor merely threw their head back and laughed. Yurio growled while glaring up at Victor, "Are we here for you to embarrass me or for you to adopt that stupid dog?" they snapped.
That distracted Victor and they immediately straightened up, taking hold of both Yurio's and Yuuri's hands and leading them back to the puppy litter. They picked up their favorite puppy with near reverence, "It's this one, isn't he cute Yurio?"
"Don't call me that," Yurio snapped, but when Victor glared at them, they relented, "fine, he's cute."
Victor's face immediately morphed into a joy filled grin, "I know right! Now Yuuri, let's get to adopting." Yuuri led Victor to the counter where the papers were while Victor followed, cuddling the small puppy like their life depended on it. A slight smile adorned Yuuri's face while he handed Victor the papers. He sat and watched Victor while they filled out the forms, taking in their cheekbones, the slope of their nose, the way their lips moved while they wrote, and the way that their long and beautiful hair moved around them.
Yuuri's admiration was cut short as the smaller Russian called out, "Hey Pops!" Both Yuuri and Victor turned to see what the teen wanted, and were surprised to find him sitting on the floor with a kitten in his lap. "If you get to adopt a dog I should be able to adopt a cat, da?"
Victor blinked in surprise for a moment, but soon grinned, "Of course Yuratchka!" Yurio stood with a slight smile, as if unwilling to admit the cute kitten made them happy, and brought the yellow kitten over. Victor watched for a moment before going back to filling out their own adoption forms.
"Fake Yuuri!" Yurio got Yuuri's attention, "I need those forms!"
"Be polite Yurio," Victor muttered while Yuuri handed Yurio the papers, "I'm sorry Yuuri." They smiled apologetically up at Yuuri, who found himself blushing and stammering about how it was fine. Victor laughed slightly before looking back down at the papers, "So...what should I name this cutie? Oh! I know! Makkachin!"
"Makkachin?" Yurio snorted, "What kind of a name is that?"
Victor reached over and flicked Yurio's forehead. The teen's attitude shocked Yuuri, but Victor seemed used to it.
"What are you going to name your cat that is so much better than Makkachin?" Victor asked as they signed their name and hand the papers back to Yuuri.
Yurio was silent for a moment as they thought, stroking the yellow kitten, "Utenok," they uttered softly.
Victor rolled their eyes, "Me calling my dog Makkachin is ridiculous but you can name your cat Duckling. I see how it is," they stuck their tongue out jokingly in Yurio's direction.
"Yeah whatever," from their answer Yuuri thought that it seemed that Yurio was mostly used to Victor's antics. Yurio finished with their forms and shoved the papers in Yuuri's direction, continuing to debate with Victor.
"Alright," Yuuri interrupted Victor and Yurio's verbal tennis match, "you two just need to buy some supplies and pay the fee and you'll be all set." Yuuri handed Victor a list of suggestions to buy for the two pets.
Victor smiled at him brightly, "Yuuri, thank you so much for putting up with me for the past two weeks, and for making sure Makkachin didn't get adopted by anyone, and for being so helpful!"
Yurio's gagging sound was all that stopped Victor from continuing to talk, they snatched the list out of Victor's hand, "I'll get this stuff, I can't handle your disgusting flirting Pops." They stomped off with Utenok cuddled in the crook of their elbow, muttering about Victor's embarrassing tendencies.
Victor merely laughed at Yurio's words, but Yuuri turned bright red at the suggestion that Victor was flirting with him.
"That shade of red suits you," Victor teased, and laughed slightly when Yuuri's stuttering prevented him from answering. They wrapped an arm comfortably around Yuuri's shoulders and turned to make sure Yurio wasn't doing any damage. At the moment he and Phichit were apparently decided on what cat bed to  get Utenok.
"I'm sorry that Yurio is so rude," Victor spoke with what sounded like regret, "this move to America has been so hard on him. I'm sure you can empathize a little, having moved here yourself from a foreign country, but it is still no excuse to be as rude as he is." Victor sighed, "I'm afraid I have spoiled him a little too much."
Yet as Yuuri watched Victor speak of Yurio, he noticed the unconditional love that was held in their eyes, and the smile that danced across their face.
"It's fine Victor," Yuuri replied quietly, feeling as if his body was on fire from the close proximity to Victor, "Yurio is lucky to have a parent like you."
Victor turned his head to look at Yuuri, and they were so close that Yuuri could feel their breath blowing across his skin.
"This is disgusting," Yurio's voice interrupted them and they broke apart as a camera shutter flashed.
"Yurio!" Phichit cried out in frustration, "I was trying to get a picture of them to post, they looked so cute, and you ruined it!"
Yuuri went red again and buried his face in his hands, "Oh my God Phichit don't post pictures!"
"Who cares about pictures?" Yurio snapped, "I have all of the stuff so let's go."
Victor sighed and pulled out a card, "Alright, alright Yurio."
Phichit finalized the adoption and checked out their pet supplies. Victor cuddled with Makkachin, pressing kisses to the top of his head gently. "Yuuri, I'll still be coming by to visit you," they looked up to find Yuuri looking shocked, "I enjoy your company too much to simply not come back!" They grinned at the flustered man. A shout from Yurio got their attention and they glanced behind them as Yurio exited the store. Victor sighed "I must go now Yuuri, thank you so much." They leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to Yuuri's cheek before dashing out the door.
Yuuri was frozen, he felt another blush take over his body. Only Phichit's fangirling squeal tore him from his reverie.
"They are so hot!" Phichit screamed, "you two are so cute together aaahhhh!"
"We aren't together!" Yuuri tried to defend himself, but he couldn't help but remember the way that Victor's lips had felt when they kissed his cheek, or the way it felt to be hugged by Victor as they had whirled Yuuri around the store in excitement.