In which Phichit must reconcile that there are calls on the time of his best friend other than his own, Otabek, Yuri and Axel must sort out what was, could have been, and is, and Yuuri must deal with the confusion Victor, Yuri and Otabek's respect brings.
For all that Axel was trapped in the body of her four-year-old self, convincing Yuu-ji that she needed time to speak with Yurio and Beka took less time than expected. So, she claimed the hands of both young men, dragging them away as she chattered inanely, mentally snickering when she saw her sisters corner Agustine Crispino and Phichit Chulanont. Perhaps Lutz and Loop didn't remember who they'd been, but they seemed fascinated by the males nonetheless.
Finally, Axel found a disused room and dropped Yurio and Beka's hands, garnering looks of confusion before she realized they didn't seem to realize what was going on. She blew out a breath and stomped around to face them, wincing when she saw the flickering of the changes incurred before their death or being flung back in time. Because four-year-old body or not, Axel knew they were good looking. Both had reached the six foot mark and filled out nicely, maintaining their respective physiques nicely.
Screwing up her courage, she said calmly
"Listen, you two. We have enough problems going on without you pussyfooting around each other. Sort out your relationship, for everyone's sakes." Spinning on her heel, the toddler stormed out, throwing a threatening look at Yurio when he protested.
When Axel's footsteps had silenced, Yurio turned to his best friend and explained with a resigned sigh
"You probably don't know what happened after-" Otabek interrupted
"Actually, Yuri, I do. Victor, Yuuri and I hung around as spirits long enough to make sure everyone would be okay. We passed over a few days after your wedding." Yurio grimaced, muttering under his breath about unbearable morons seeing him cry. Otabek smiled and continued
"Yeah, Yuri, we were- are going to be- both bisexual, but you lean more towards women and I lean towards men. And you're my best friend. I don't need sex to have a meaningful relationship with you. Though, you know I won't say no in a few years..." Yuri yelped and asked angrily
"Are you trying to get me killed? A-chan will have my balls, and then Aniki and Vitya will have my head!" Beka chuckled and pointed out
"I was there when Axel said she wouldn't object to the three of us." Yuri went red, recalling he'd answered My wife and my best friend in my bed, what more could I ask for?
Shaking his head, Yuri said defeatedly
"I'll talk to Axel, then." Beka lay a hand on his arm and said quietly
"Remind her that to the public, we're her friends and mentors first, more will come when it's appropriate." With a nod, Yuri stalked off to find his wife. Er, once-and-future-bride.
AEVITAS
On the second day of Representationals, Phichit took a moment to reflect, sitting with the rest of what had been dubbed 'Team Katsuki'. There was him and Yuuri for Seniors, Otabek Altin, Minami and the Nishigori triplets for Juniors. Victor Nikiforov had stolen Yuuri several times for small chats, Yuri Plisetsky had respectfully asked that
"Would Katsuki-sensei show us the Gokuden step sequence?" With Otabek cheering in the background
"Please, Katsuki-sensei!" Phichit had felt awed at watching his friend run through a brilliant step sequence before gesturing with his arm and calling
"Vitya, Yurio, come on!" With a smirk, Plisetsky had looped around the rink before stopping abruptly alongside Yuuri, snorting when his silver haired mentor called teasingly
"But, Yuu-chan, you have the best stamina!" as the three of them kicked off into a three man weave on ice, each landing a jump before the next two did so, slapping high fives when they finished.
Next, the Juniors lined up to watch the Seniors jump contest, the last on-ice activity before lunch (after which, the dance program would commence), Otabek cheering
"Go, Katsuki-sensei!" while Yuri cackled
"Give it all you got, old man!" Minami watched in awe (as Phichit waited for his turn, he observed the young ones) before Victor and Yuuri took off and completed side-by-side triple axels, otabek cheering and Yuri booing when Yuuri landed better.
Phichit was honestly surprised when he started his run alongside Emil Nekola to hear Otabek cheer
"Go, Phichit-sempai!" and then Yuri yelled
"Yeah, you better not embarrass Aniki, Chulanont!"
It had been pretty fun, Phichit conceded, to jump with the men he would soon compete against, his- what had Yuuri said they were?- kouhai (even Minami had cheered when he landed his jump) cheering for Phichit-sempai. Still...
"What are you thinking about, Phichit-kun?" Yuuri's serious brown eyes bored into his, as the Asian man sat down beside him. Phichit blew out a breath and admitted
"I'm still a little intimidated that you have students, pretty well, and Victor Nikiforov respects you, and Plisetsky and Altin call you sensei." Yuuri bumped his shoulder with his own and said gently
"Phichit-kun, having students doesn't mean you're not my best friend. I've known Otabek since he competed in a Junior event in my last year, and the last time I spoke to Yuri, he askedif he could call me sensei on the ice because I've been skating and dancing longer than he has, and their friends, Otabek respects Yuri's opinion. Victor and I met a couple years ago and I impressed him with my footwork and stamina. I didn't say anything because those are personal connections, not business. Same with Minami and the Nishigori girls. I met Minami the last time I was in Japan and struck up a conversation with his parents, I've known Yuuko and Takeshi since we were children ourselves." He paused, clearing his throat before continuing
"My personal connections, no matter how illustrious they may be, do not overshadow that you are my best friend, Phichit. If you want to call me sempai, sensei, nii-san or even Aniki, that's you respecting my culture, as Yuri and Beka have done. Your choice, and no one else's, Phichit-kun." Phichit stared at his best friend, who'd just finished swallowing his food before Nikiforov and Plisetsky waved him over to consult him on something. Deciding for himself, Phichit got up and shouted excitedly as he was able
"Team Katsuki! I need a team selfie for my Insta right this moment!" Yuuri smiled, coming over and waving over Beka and Minami. The Nishigori girls demanded to be put on shoulders, Yuri and Victor pouted until Yuuri took a group selfie with the, as well as Otabek and Axel (Yuri had already declared that he and Beka would be mentoring the little girl in the future).
Phichit was too busy tagging the team selfie to notice (#Representationals2013 #TeamKatsuki #ThailandRepresent #JapanRepresent #KazakhstanRepresent #Katsuki-sensei #PhichitChu'sAniki #BekasSempai #NishigoriGirlsJiichan #MinamiKunsSempai Katsu-Yuu PhichitChu Altabek-Oltin NishigoriGirls MinamiKenKUN). But he did feel much better about the whole thing.
AEVITAS
Yuuri had known Rep Week would be tricky, considering it was the first time such an event had been convened, but so far, it was going well, the vilest invitee being sixteen year old JJ Leroy. It had been Victor who had suggested that they might head off his ego by including him while he was younger. Of course, they had not counted on anyone questioning the respect Otabek and Yuri were giving him, or Victor's jubilant affection.
Even Makkachin had bounded up to Yuuri and demanded affection (dying at a respectable fifteen years of age in his previous life).
So, the suspicion in the others' eyes made Yuuri uncomfortable. What made him nervous was the gasket Yakov just about blew when Yuri had sweetly asked 'Katsuki-sensei' for advice, skating and dancing for hours after Yuuri had made his recommendations.
All in all, Yuuri was quite glad to take his charges home, swatting Victor when the older man presented him with a leatherette portfolio. Yuuri was pretty sure he knew what was in it. An apartment in Detroit, with room for guests and a pet allowance policy, as well as the necessary paperwork to fly Vicchan to Detroit. It wasn't that Yuuri didn't love his husband, but the grand gestures were a little excessive. Flicking through the papers to discover he was right, Yuuri sighed before finding the itinerary Victor had so thoughtfully included. A whole week, where he and Yuri would be in Detroit, with a message scribbled in Kanji (the rest was typed in Romaji) down the side of the page (I'll see about bringing Beka, too).
Maybe the grand gestures were excessive, Yuuri decided, but they were well intentioned and quite nice.
For those of you who are curious, I didn't include the Yurio/Axel discussion because it's still technically a thirteen and four-year old discussing sex. I thought two teenagers discussing a hypothetical threesome was enough for the kinky crowd. And it would have been a pretty predictable discussion.