Hey everyone! So, this entire story was supposed to be a oneshot but then it started getting hella long so I'm making it into a full story. This story uses some Russian, but there are translations at the end of each chapter. I had to use Google Translate, but hopefully, nothing sounds too awkward or is just plain wrong... Anyway, please enjoy! Please leave a review to help me improve! I'd like to hear what you liked or disliked or your random thoughts~.
Victor Phone Home
Before we begin, I've been told that a disclaimer is in order. It should be known that Yuuri Katsuki wishes to make this and this alone very clear: He had no idea that any of this would happen the way that it did, however, upon later inspection, everything – every strange occurrence and awkward moment – made sense considering Victor's own personality. In the moment, however, Yuuri Katsuki could not possible be blamed for the events that ensued, even if they did end rather happily. He does admit, however, that given the chance, he would definitely relive these events in hindsight. Now that that's out of the way, our story can commence.
It all started on what seemed like a regular Sunday afternoon. The hot springs were not the busiest they had ever been, but Yu-Topia Katsuki was definitely busy enough to keep its owners happy and the family's pockets reasonably full. Victor and Yuuri had been living at the resort with the Katsukis for a little while since they had started dating. They were in the process of looking for an apartment to move into, but until then, they were happy to help out at the resort for room and board. Their help wasn't needed at the moment, however, so the couple spent their time lounging about. That day in particular wasn't quite cold, but it was nippy, so after a relaxing dip in the spring, Victor had dressed himself in one of the inn's robes and was playing Candy Crush with his head in Yuuri's lap. Yuuri was busy reading an English hardcover copy of Les Miserables which he had borrowed from Victor's personal library while Makkachin napped with his head resting on Victor's stomach. Everything was peaceful until the chorus of Lum no Love Song by Nana Kitade rang out into the silence, causing Makkachin to raise his fluffy head and search for the origin of the sound. Yuuri looked down from his book at Victor, who was now sitting straight up, an excited grin quickly growing across his face. Before Yuuri could ask about when Victor had seen or read Urusei Yatsura, the platinum blond tapped the screen on his cellphone to take the call and brought the phone up to his face.
"Sergei! Ya skuchal po tebe!" exclaimed the silver haired Russian before laughing a little bit with happiness. His boyfriend and his dog watched him with silent curiosity. Who on earth was calling him from Russia? Whoever it was, Yuuri could hear their deep, booming voice respond with a "Vitya!", Victor's Russian nickname, followed by some more Russian he didn't understand. The man on the other side of the call seemed so loud, but Victor didn't appear to mind, not even flinching as the caller was no doubt yelling into his ear.
As Yuuri continued to stare, Victor laughed when the other man was finished talking. He folded his legs underneath him and it seemed he would be too distracted to return to lying where he was. Too bad – Victor had been keeping Yuuri's legs warm. "Kak dela? Kak Oksana i Dmitri? Yavlyayetsya li on do sikh por v Anglii?"
The low voice spoke again for a longer time now and Victor would make little 'I'm listening' noises like "uh huh", "yeah", and "okay" before finally responding with a happy, "Oh, eto zamechatel'nyye novosti!".
By this point, Yuuri had given up trying to use his very simple knowledge of the Slavic language to decipher what his boyfriend was saying and he decided to return to his book. It was kind of hard to redirect his attention when he felt he could hear the caller so loud and clear. Honestly, it almost sounded like whoever it was was on speaker phone but Yuuri was sure he wasn't. Victor laid his free hand on the floor and shifted his weight onto it. "Menya? U menya vse khorosho... Ah-... Oh... Mmm hmm... Yes..."
Suddenly, Victor let out a gasp which caught both Yuuri and Makkachin's attention. "Da, konechno, ya pridu! Kogda eto? Ya prinesu Yuuri so mnoy."
Did he just say my name...? Yuuri thought. Now he was really interested in Victor's conversation. He folded over the corner of the page he had stopped on and laid Les Miserables on the floor beside him, now leaning in toward Victor to indicate his attention.
"O-oh... Alright... I see..." Victor's shoulders slumped a little. His blue eyes which were so full of excitement a second ago shifted and looked at the floor, that happy spark now mysteriously gone. Why did he look disappointed? Even the loud mouthed caller seemed to quiet down with the new negative tone of their conversation.
After some silence however, Victor's sad eyes widened in realization that pushed the sadness away. "Sergei, podozhdi minutu," he said to the man apparently named Sergei, the joy from before now evident once again on his face. "Ya mog by imet' plan. Pozvol'te mne nazyvat' tebya pozzhe, okay? ... Alright. Ciao ciao!"
When he finally hung up the phone, Yuuri took the opportunity to speak. "What was that all about?"
Without warning, Victor had taken both Yuuri's shoulders in his hands to look straight into the younger man's eyes. Yuuri was slightly startled by this and made a little yelp noise as he was grabbed quickly.
"Yuuri!" said Victor, a determined look on his face. "I need to borrow the resort for a week!"
"A family reunion?" asked Yuuri curiously.
Victor and the Katsuki family were all gathered in the dining area after work hours. The five of them sat around the dinner table in the same places where they normally sat at each meal with Makkachin lounging in his little bed in the corner, chewing on a bone shaped squeaky toy while the humans discussed the content of Victor's prior conversation. It turned out that the man with the ear-splitting voice named Sergei Nikiforov was his oldest brother who was currently living in Ukraine with his wife and adult son. He'd called to tell Victor about the family reunion he was planning, however, he was having difficulty finding a place to host the week-long event. The family had spread out quite far over the years so it was important to find one place where they could all stay. Sergei had admitted that he thought it might not be possible to gather everyone this year and he was considering calling it off until his baby brother was struck with an idea.
"I know it's very last minute. Sergei always procrastinates on these things," explained Victor to the Katsuki family. "But it would really help us a great deal if we could host the reunion here."
"It sounds like a wonderful idea!" pipped Hiroko. Yuuri smiled at his mother as she turned to her husband with eager eyes. If there was one thing Mrs. Katsuki lived for, it was having guests over, and the fact that they were her son's boyfriend's family made her even more inclined to do everything she could to put Victor's plans in motion. "Toshiya, wouldn't it be so much fun to meet Victor's family?"
"It would be nice to see the tree that the apple fell from," said Mr. Katsuki, holding his chin thoughtfully.
Victor looked as though he could have jumped out of his seat. Instead, he reached across the table and took the Katsuki parents' hands in his gratefully. Mari and Yuuri watched him from their places with silent amusement. "Thank you both so much! You'll all love my family!"
"So how many people are we talking here?" asked Mari before stuffing a pink macaron into her mouth. One of their regulars who'd come back from a vacation in Paris brought a bundle of them as a gift to the family and now the French desserts sat in a little dish in the centre of the oak table.
"Hm, let's see," Victor looked up at the ceiling as if counting the people in his head. "There's my parents of course and my siblings and I suppose they'll want to bring their spouses... Hmm... Is Ivanna still with that Matteo guy...? I can't remember... Um, maybe like... Around... Ten people?"
Clearly, the family wasn't ready for that number because Yuuri stopped drinking his tea mid-sip, Mari almost choked on her macaron, and Toshiya's mouth gaped open. Hiroko looked a little shocked but quickly composed herself.
"Ten people!?" Mari gasped once she'd gotten the French dessert down her throat. "That's like all our rooms!"
"And this is just your immediate family?" asked Yuuri. He couldn't believe Victor grew up with so many people in the same house. Granted, some of those people were siblings' spouses, but clearly, Victor's old home was likely more crowded than what he himself was used to with his own four-member family.
Victor shrunk a little with disappointment, but he tried to hide it in front of Yuuri's family. The change did not go unnoticed by Hiroko, however. Yuuri noticed it too and he suddenly felt guilty for his outburst. Victor covered it up with his signature smile and put his hands up in front of him. "It's fine if you can't do it. I'm sure Sergei and I can work out something else."
"No, we'll do it!" said Yuuri's mother, earning her surprised looks from the rest of her family. "It's fine. We can just book those rooms for the week."
"Honey," started Toshiya, his voice and expression holding a hint of concern. "If we do that, we won't have any rooms left for our guests."
"Well, maybe Victor's family members wouldn't mind sharing," she reasoned. "Toshiya, Victor is like part of our family now, so I really want to do this for him... Please?"
On the other side of the table, both Victor and Yuuri looked shocked by Hiroko's words. Yuuri hadn't realized how accustomed his family had grown to his boyfriend's presence over the past year. He glanced at Mari and she didn't seem surprised in the least. Could it be that she had similarly begun to see his Russian boyfriend as a second younger brother? Yuuri supposed that his family's fondness for Victor really shouldn't have been that hard for him to figure out. Victor had tried moving out after Yuuri won second at the Grand Prix Final because he didn't want to take advantage of the Katsukis' kindness. For a few weeks, he was only a ten minute walk away, but it turned out that the family had missed his energy too much for him to leave them. With this realization, Yuuri turned his gaze then to the platinum blond himself and the look in his blue eyes which displayed how moved he was by this casual revelation. The moment warmed Yuuri's core like a sweet cup of hot cocoa.
Toshiya sighed. He too considered Victor as close as family, especially after he saw just how much the Russian man really cared for his son. Maybe five rooms being occupied for the week wouldn't be so bad. "Well, alright. But they will definitely need to share rooms." He turned to Victor then. "Will that be okay?"
"That will be more than okay!" Victor announced ecstatically, his mood automatically brightening. "Thank you so very much!"
About a month later, the day was finally upon them. It had started out more or less uneventful until the evening when Victor bolted excitedly to where Yuuri was playing cards with his sister in the living room, looking ever bit like a very large child running to the tree on Christmas day.
"Yuuri! Mari!" he called, out of breath from running so fast. "I just got a text from Sergei! They landed an hour ago and now, they're on their way!"
"That's great, Victor," said Mari, putting down her hand. Secretly, she was thankful for the interruption as she was losing anyway. "We'll be right there."
When Victor left, Yuuri's stomach suddenly started doing toe loops and flips. This was it. Yuuri was about to meet Victor's family. What would they even be like? Victor had given him vague descriptions over the past month, but nothing might paint a full picture of what to expect. He remembered hearing when he was very young that the Nikiforovs were a famous family not only because of Victor but because of other huge achievements within their ranks. Yuuri's heart sunk right into his belly. He was about to invite an all-star well-to-do family whose accomplishments did not stop at birthing the biggest figure skating legend in recent history who he himself had admired since childhood to stay two to a room in his tiny, modest little family-run hot spring resort on a bitty little Japanese island whose only current claim to fame was a fake ninja castle. On top of that, being Victor's current boyfriend, it was important that he make a good impression or else he might never be allowed around his former coach again having not met his family's expectations.
What. Was. He. Thinking?!
This was a horrible idea, but Yuuri had very little time to lament his past decisions when he heard the front door creak open.
The only sound he heard next was a booming chorus of, "Vitya!", followed by more loud talking in Russian. Slowly, Yuuri peaked around the corner of the living room into the hallway which lead to the front of the Katsuki dwelling. He could barely see a thing besides glimpses of the shadows of bustling Europeans in the foyer of the house moving about and speaking at a solid mezzo-forte. Yuuri breathed in deeply. He was so very nervous, but he couldn't possibly creep about back here. That would only make things worse if he seemed weird or standoffish so he picked himself up, gave himself a little mental pep talk, and headed out into the hallway to brave the mysterious unknown. When he finally got to the end, he found his own family huddled up against the wall nearest to him, watching the large group of swirling Russians with looks varying between excitement and cautious wonder. They'd realized a lot of people were coming, but nine people plus their own Victor in a small space certainly looked like a lot more than they imagined.
Yuuri joined the lineup beside Mari as different members of the group continued to talk over each other and exchange tearful embraces with the Russian figure skater, who was standing in the centre of the chaos like the eye of a storm. Yuuri thought to himself that he'd never seen a bigger collection of blue eyed platinum blonds in his life, most of them ranging between full moon silver, thunder cloud grey, and avalanche white. There was a tall slender graceful-looking woman in an expensive black fur coat with her long moonlight hair draping over her noble bony shoulders who had wrapped her long arms tightly around Victor's midsection and was sobbing something about, "Moy dragotsennyy Vitya!". She looked older than the other women who were there as evidenced by the soft creases around her emerald green eyes. She must have been Victor's mother. Yuuri looked at Victor's face and was surprised to see him looking down at his mother's white head with glassy blue eyes. Was he about to cry himself?
"Ya skuchal po tebe, mama," he said with a quiet, nearly quivering voice that Yuuri almost didn't recognize and the woman in his arms hugged him tighter. The group around them "awwed" in unison at the display. Seemed like a weird thing to do, Yuuri thought, but he supposed that such an emotional moment between parent and child might strike some people as rather cute.
Suddenly, as if the Katsuki family had only just then morphed into existence, Victor turned his attention to them and began speaking in his lightly accented English. "Katsuki family, let me introduce you!"
With that, the group of Europeans turned to the group of East Asians standing by the wall. The platinum blond in the middle then said the names of each of Yuuri's family while pointing at them individually. When he finally introduced Yuuri, the Russians seemed especially interested, each of their green and blue eyeing him carefully while he fidgeted underneath their gaze. He tried not to look too nervous, but he wasn't sure if it was working. What were they thinking? Was everything fine? Where they disappointed? The suspense was driving him nuts.
"So, Vitya, this is Yuuri?" asked one of the women who Yuuri had decided wasn't Victor's mother. The first thing Yuuri noticed about her was her waist-length white hair pulled up tightly into a high ponytail. The hourglass-shaped woman wore a fitted white military coat over her gracious chest paired with a black belt, dark stockings, and black leather knee-high boots which Yuuri swore must have been four inches tall. A careful application of rosy pink lipstick completed her high fashion look. This woman must have been one of the older sisters. Victor had explained to Yuuri before that he was the youngest child of five. The Russian woman's snowy voice made Yuuri even more nervous because he still couldn't tell what she thought of him, but then a smile crossed her pretty face and he was a little more inclined to be at ease. She approached the young man and Yuuri realized with some intimidation that she was taller than him. She looked like some sort of model, her fingers were perfectly manicured, and she smelled of expensive perfume. "He's a cute one, Vitya. He looks so innocent."
Victor laughed, his mother having let go of him a little while ago. "Of course! My Yuuri is adorable!"
"Er, hi!" Yuuri said to Victor's older sister, quite flustered by all the attention he was getting.
Suddenly, someone was grabbing at his arm from behind. Yuuri twirled quickly around to see Victor's mother closely inspecting his body with her watchful eyes. One could tell by looking at her aquiline features that once upon a time, she must have looked like a naive little swan, but knowledge and age transformed her into more of an eagle and she was using the expert vision which that afforded her to carefully scrutinize every last inch of the young man's body, even going so far as to grab at him wherever she felt she needed to. In her thickly accented English, she talked to herself as if taking note. "Hm, shoulders little small, but nice hard chest..."
"M-mama!" Victor stammered, stepping closer as if attempting to stop her. "What are you doing?!"
"I am checking to see how sturdy he is," Mama Nikiforov explained as she put one hand on her hip and pointed with the other, seeming not to find anything weird or awkward in the weird and awkward things she was doing. "My darling Vitya needs big strong husband to help take care for children."
Yuuri's entire face including both his ears turned a brilliant shade of pink. Husband? Children? WHAT?
The eccentric old woman seemed not to notice his reaction as she bent at the hip to get a good look at his midsection. "Hm, hips a little small, but you carry no children anyway, yes?" She did ask a question, but Yuuri could tell she wasn't really asking him.
As if the poor young figure skater couldn't possibly be made any more uncomfortable, a short and stocky old man with an intricate cane by his side and his dark brown hair in a ring around the shiny bald spot on his bullet-shaped head emerged from the crowd and said through an accent that made his English near indecipherable, "Check the legs, Anushka".
Mrs. Nikiforov then bent on her knees and wrapped her hands around Yuuri's right thigh, squeezing it slightly and seeming to check to see if her thumbs and index fingers would meet. Yuuri nearly yelped with surprise and his entire body went straight like a board, a nervous sweat dripping down his forehead. Mrs. Nikiforov smiled with satisfaction when she found her fingers did not meet. "Yes, very firm, quite strong. He will do."
A chill was still going up and down Yuuri's spine as his family watched uselessly with their mouths hanging open. W-what the hell is going on?! thought Yuuri. He didn't even know Victor's mother's name and she was already invading his personal space!
Victor gently took his mother's hands then, pulling her away from his nervous boyfriend and looking almost as flustered as Yuuri. The younger Japanese man barely noticed this as his own family could only stare with expressions ranging between shock and horror. "Mama, please! Just... let me introduce you all, alright?"
The tall, slender woman gasped and covered her mouth with one of her thin delicate hands. "Oh! Where are my manners?"
I think you left them somewhere in between my legs, Yuuri thought sarcastically as he began to relax a bit.
Victor flashed his boyfriend a brief apologetic look before freeing his mother's hands from his grasp. Behind him, a large white hulk of a man with a large black ushanka perched atop his head giggled, or, he probably meant to giggle but it came out as a booming roar that threatened to destroy the entire house. "Oh, mama, you are so funny!"
Translations
- Victor: "Sergei! Ya skuchal po tebe!" – Sergei! I've missed you!
- Victor: "Kak dela? Kak Oksana i Dmitri? Yavlyayetsya li on do sikh por v Anglii?" – How are you? How are Oksana and Dmitri? Is he still in England?
- Victor: "Oh, eto zamechatel'nyye novosti!" – Oh, that's great news!
- Victor: "Menya? U menya vse khorosho."– Me? I've been well.
- Victor: "Da, konechno, ya pridu! Kogda eto? Ya prinesu Yuuri so mnoy." – Yes, of course I'll come! When is it? I'll bring Yuuri with me.
- Victor: "Sergei, odozhdi minutu." – Sergei, wait a minute.
- Victor: "Ya mog by imet' plan. Pozvol'te mne nazyvat' tebya pozzhe, okay?" – I might have a plan. Let me call you later, okay?
- Anastasia: "Moy dragotsennyy Vitya!" – My precious Vitya!
- Victor: "Ya skuchal po tebe, mama" – I missed you, mama.
