A/n: Thanks to my betas/prereaders - Mae_Cruz and Lady Eve.

Edt: Thanks to skla2010star for the beta!

The Right Direction

After Yuuri had got back from the press conference, it was business as usual. They had just over a month until the Cup of China, and there was a lot of work to do yet. They spent most of their day at the rink. Viktor didn't want to push Yuuri too much, but after hearing what Minako said Yuuri confessed on air, he had to do something. While he wasn't sure he would ever understand completely why things had progressed - or hadn't progressed for that matter - the way they had, the Russian also knew that his efforts hadn't been completely in vain. He still needed to respect Yuuri's anxieties, though, but that didn't mean that he couldn't push him just a bit.

Knowing that Yuuri loved him should make things a bit, easier, though he knew from previous experience that wasn't going to be the case.

Viktor saw his first opportunity to push Yuuri ever so slightly during practice that week. It had been a while since had been forthright with him. He thought he could get away with it now, and if it backfired he would back off again. After all, he wanted his relationship with Yuuri to move forward, not backward. However, with what he had in mind, Yuuri couldn't run away, and thus it wouldn't backfire. With any luck, it would push Yuuri to admit what was going on between them so that they could take the next step in their relationship.

Yuuri had been skating through his program when Viktor saw it - a slight misstep that he made. The Japanese man's posture had been off in one of the moves during his choreographic sequence. "Stop!" Viktor cried out.

Yuuri did, turning to look back at Viktor. "What, what is it?"

"Get in the pose you were in when I stopped you."

Yuuri did as he was instructed, stopping in the move. Viktor then skated over to him until he was standing behind him. Yuuri's posture right now left something to be desired. It would look so much better if it was fixed. All he needed was just a slight straightening of his posture in that particular move. The problem was, and why Yuuri's posture wasn't perfect, was because of the series of moves in this particular section. Yuuri wasn't pushing through it quite as much as he needed to, and it was causing his posture to suffer just a bit.

Sure, he could just tell him to fix his posture; Yuuri had ballet experience, so it wasn't as if he wouldn't know what Viktor was talking about. However, where would the fun in that be? The Russian slowly put his hands on Yuuri's waist, and felt Yuuri's body tense up just a bit. Viktor moved his hand along to Yuuri's back, slowly and gently correcting the younger man's posture.

Yuuri's body was still tense, and he gasped in shock feeling Viktor's hands. Viktor kept it short, though, and then took his hands off Yuuri's body. "There, you see? It'll look much better now," he said, though he didn't step back. "You need to push through this section, but keep this posture and not let it slide."

Yuuri turned and looked back at him. "Uh, yeah… I got it," he said, and then immediately skated away to start that part of the program again. Viktor kept his emotions in check, but couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. That had been gentle, hadn't it? Surely that should have worked? Apparently not. Well, there was something else he could try.

Viktor decided to wait just a bit before doing anything else. He didn't want to scare Yuuri off. That would ruin any headway that the two of them had made. After all, he wanted things to progress, not go backward. That meant that he had to do things at Yuuri's pace, but doing things at Yuuri's pace might mean that nothing happened. He was beginning to realize that maybe the Japanese man needed to be pushed just a little bit. Gently, of course, though, because perhaps showing up at Yuuri's house, getting into the onsen naked before even talking to Yuuri first had been a mistake. Oh, well, too late to do anything about that now.

Viktor almost started teasing Yuuri in the onsen one night but thought better of it. He usually flirted with him lightly when they bathed together, but if he started teasing him about what he said at the press conference, it might scare him a bit. Viktor felt that some light teasing about what he said might get him to say something. If they could just talk about it, it would be better. That was so hard, though, when he was afraid of pushing too much and scaring Yuuri off. He didn't want the Japanese man to run away; he wanted him to come closer.

Viktor saw his opportunity as they were eating together the next evening. They were alone, for the time being. Yuuri's mother had just left. "Oh, by the way, Yuuri," Viktor said in between bites, "I thought you did very well at the press conference."

Yuuri looked up, a bit shocked. "Hmm? Oh, thanks," he said. "You… understood everything?"

Viktor kept his face passive and just shrugged. "Not really," he said. "I could only pick out a word or two. I still don't know enough Japanese, and it was way too fast even if I did. Minako filled me in a bit, though."

"Did she?" Yuuri said, and Viktor almost thought he heard a bit of nervousness in his voice.

"Yes, she made a comment about how… passionately you were speaking," Viktor said, and he glanced up at Yuuri. He was hoping that by teasing him a bit, he could get Yuuri to admit what he said and he how he felt. He had no reason to believe that Minako was lying to him, of course. Besides, it wasn't as if they were the only ones in the room who spoke English. If she had lied, someone else would have spoken up. Viktor believed her; now he only needed Yuuri to admit it himself.

A light blush crossed Yuuri's cheeks. "Did she? I guess so," he said. "I was just… Once I got started speaking, my mouth kind of got away from me."

"Is that so?" Viktor said, but Yuuri kept avoiding his gaze.

Yuuri nodded. "Yeah, I've never really liked interviews," he said, "so I was a bit nervous at first."

"I would agree with her, though," Viktor said. "I've never seen you speak that passionately about anything before." A slight smile crossed his lips, and he kept his eyes firmly fixed on Yuuri. His heart rate had sped up a bit, and he hoped that the younger man's next words were what he'd wanted to hear. "Based on what she said, it makes sense." He had a light teasing tone to his voice.

Yuuri gave Viktor a light smile, and then quickly looked back down at his bowl. "I suppose so."

Viktor nodded, and his heart sank. It was apparent that his plan had failed. What else was he supposed to do? Surely, that should have worked. Yuuri had not taken the bait, and aside from demanding to know if what he said was true or if they had misunderstood what he had said during the press conference, there was nothing else that the Russian could think of to do. He was at a complete and utter loss.

Yuuri was walking to his room when he heard the door to Viktor's room open. "Hey, I want to talk to you about something," he said. "Do you mind?" He mentioned back towards the direction of his bedroom.

Shrugging, Yuuri turned and followed him. "Sure, what is it?"

Viktor, however, didn't speak again until they were inside. The Russian sat down on his bed and gestured for Yuuri to do the same. He did so without hesitation. It wasn't the first time he had been inside his room, after all.

"I wanted to ask you something," Viktor said. "Will you teach me Japanese?"

"You know Japanese."

Viktor gave a light chuckle. "I speak three languages," he said, "Japanese is not one of them. I am… conversational, I'll give you that, but I am not fluent. I still can't really speak with either of your parents, as they probably know as much English as I know Japanese. I struggle with ordering at restaurants without you." Viktor smiled at him. "I want to be as fluent in Japanese as I am with English. I live here now. I need to be able to get around without your constant help, and I would like to be able to hold a conversation with your parents one day without you or Mari there to translate."

Yuuri smiled at him and nodded. "Okay, sure, I'd love to teach you."

"Thank you," Viktor said. "Oh, I mean, arigatou." Yuuri nodded, and then got off the bed and turned, making to leave the room and go back to his own. However, it seemed as if the Russian wasn't done speaking yet, though his next words made Yuuri's breath catch in his throat. "Yuuri, you have to know how I feel about you by now. I haven't exactly made it a secret." He tried to force himself to breathe as he heard Viktor's words, but it was as if his lungs wouldn't work properly. His palms suddenly became very sweaty, and his heart was now beating more rapidly than he was sure was healthy. "I love you, more than I've ever loved anyone."

Viktor's words reverberated through Yuuri's head. His chest physically hurt from how fast his heart was beating. The only thing he could think about right now was what Viktor had said. Part of him knew that he should turn around to face him and say something. They should talk about this. Yuuri wasn't stupid; part of him had seen what had been going on between them and had kept telling himself that he was crazy. He had no experience in these matters, and he no idea what to do. Right now, though, he couldn't focus. He couldn't think straight.

I have to get out of here, he thought to himself. However, his legs wouldn't move, as if he was frozen his place. Slowly, he forced himself to walk towards the door. Yuuri slid the door open, gripping the frame so hard that he was sure he was going to break it. "I love you, too," he said before he could stop himself. He couldn't stay there another minute, though, and left, shutting the door behind him.

Viktor hadn't planned on spilling his feelings like that, but the words had come out of his mouth before he could stop them. He had been sure that it wouldn't have worked. He was even more surprised that it actually had worked. Sure, Yuuri had still left the room after that, but it was definitely a step in the right direction.

It was a couple of days later, and Viktor decided to try something. They were walking home, and he reached over, brushing his fingers against Yuuri's. He felt the younger man's hand jerk a bit, but to hs credit, Yuuri didn't pull his hand away. Viktor took that as a sign and gently reached over again. This time, Yuuri's hand didn't move, though he could see a slight tenseness in his arm. Viktor kept going, gently entwining their fingers and slowly felt the tenseness go out of Yuuri's arm. He couldn't help but smile at him. He wondered if the Japanese man had any idea what he did to him.

Yuuri must have sensed something because he looked over at him. "What?"

"I was just thinking," Viktor said. "How about we go out for dinner tonight? We haven't had a chance to do that very much since I came here because we're always training."

Yuuri smiled back at him. "Sure, that sounds great," he said. "I know of a good place not far from here that we can go to. I think you'll like it."

"I'm sure I will," Viktor said as they continued their walk home. Yuuri's hand was so warm in his; he felt his heart skip a beat. Considering how long it took them to get here, the fact that they were now holding hands was a huge step. Yuuri wasn't running or pushing him away or anything. They were walking side-by-side, holding hands. They weren't even speaking, and right now, they didn't need to. It was a small victory, but he couldn't be happier.

Soon, they had both changed and were off to the restaurant that Yuuri wanted to take him to. It almost felt like a date. Okay, it did feel like a date. Viktor unlaced their fingers. Yuuri glanced over at him, and he could see a look of shock on the shorter man's face, but Viktor quickly wrapped his arm around Yuuri's shoulders. The Japanese man's shoulders stiffened a bit, but he quickly relaxed, and soon they got to talking about the restaurant that they were going to. This is nice…

It was a few days later, and they were in Viktor's room for another Japanese lesson. "I'm not improving as quickly as I'd like," Viktor told him.

Yuuri smiled at him. "It's fine. You're getting better with every lesson," he said, "just give it time." He was getting better, and it helped that he already knew some Japanese. However, these things didn't happen overnight. It had taken years for him be comfortable enough with English, and he only attributed how good he was now to living in the United States for five years. He had no idea how Viktor had managed to learn English so well because he spoke it just as well as Yuuri did. "Besides, you've only had a few lessons, and you spend most of your time with me, and I speak English."

"Mmm so what's next, then?" Viktor asked.

Yuuri shook his head. "I think we're done for today," he said. "A little bit at a time, right?"

The Russian smiled back at him. "Mmm, yes, I suppose so."

Yuuri didn't leave, though, and for a minute they just sat there in silence together. "Can I ask you something?" He wasn't sure why he had thought of it just now, but it was something he had wondered about before. Only now, he was comfortable enough with Viktor to ask it.

Viktor smiled at him. "Of course. Anything you want."

"Why did you start figure skating?"

Viktor looked surprised, but the surprise quickly disappeared into another smile. "I've talked about that before," he said. "I'm surprised you don't know."

"No, I know what you've said," Yuuri replied. "'Figure skating is a popular sport' or 'I was an active child, and it was an outlet.' That's very generic; it doesn't really say why or what got you into it." He had always wondered if there was more to it, because for someone to be as good and as brilliant as Viktor is, surely there had to be a bigger story behind it?

"That's a good catch," the Russian replied. "Well, both of those things are true. I did need an outlet. I didn't really have anyone as a child, and it was a good place to get away. Besides, I was very, very good at it. My group instructor when I was young said he'd never seen anyone who took to it as well as I did."

Yuuri smiled at him. "I can see that," he said. "You are a skating genius." It was only then that he picked up something that Viktor had just said. I didn't really have anyone as a child. What did that mean? That was a stupid question; it was pretty obvious what it meant. Did Viktor have no family? It was true that Yuuri had never seen him call home, and not once had Viktor mentioned any family. In fact, he didn't talk about his past at all. He was the kind of person that lived in the moment, but even so…

"What about you?" Viktor asked, breaking Yuuri out of his thoughts. "What got you into skating?"

"Oh, Minako-sensei did, actually," he said. "I was always a bit on the heavy side, even as a kid. My parents enrolled me in her ballet class when I was little. She suggested that I get into figure skating, and well… the rest is history."

Viktor smiled at him. "It is indeed," he said.

Yuuri couldn't help but smile back at him. "I should go," he said, getting up and heading towards the door.

"You don't have to."

"Yes, I do," he said. "Goodnight, Viktor." With that, he shut the door behind him. As soon as the door was closed, he took a deep breath. His heart was racing, and he was sure that it was going to burst out of his chest. He couldn't believe that Viktor had said that. Yes, things had been… changing between them as of late; he wasn't an idiot. Even someone as inexperienced as him could see it, but he still didn't know how to deal with it. What was he supposed to do? This arrangement was only temporary; Viktor had said that himself, and then he said that he loved him...

"So, what's going on between you two?" Yuuri looked up to see his sister standing there, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Going on? Nothing!" Yuuri lied, but he wasn't about to go off on Mari about what was going on - or not going on, he still wasn't sure - between him and Viktor. Nonetheless, he could feel the heat rising to his cheeks.

"Uh-huh," she said, clearly not buying anything he was saying. "Sure."

"Really, there isn't," he said again. 'I'm just helping him with his Japanese, that's all." He looked down at the floor, avoiding his sister's gaze. "I need to go to sleep. Goodnight," He walked past her to his room, wishing that he knew how was he supposed to handle this. What was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to deal with this? Viktor had only said that he was here until the Grand Prix Final. He said he'd help him win that and never promised anything else. Yuuri knew how he felt, and he knew that Viktor said he loved him, but what was going to happen when Viktor left?