"I still don't think you'll find anyone who is willing to take the time out of their training schedule for this," Yuuri said while he and Viktor were relaxing in the hot spring one evening. It had been a few weeks since they had agreed to do the synchronized swimming with Nagisa and Rei. Phichit had gone back to Thailand only a few days after that and now it was just Yuuri and Viktor again.
"Unless you try you don't know if it's possible or not," Viktor replied. Yuuri hadn't specified the topic of the conversation, but Viktor did know what he was talking about anyway.
"I'm not even doing this willingly you know," Yuuri said.
"But you will do it," Viktor stated.
Yuuri nodded his head. Of course he would. He had no other choice but to go along with this idea. There were a few reasons for this. One of them was the fact that Viktor was in on it and that meant practicing anything was completely out of the question while Viktor was gone. Another reason was that Yuuri didn't think Nagisa and Rei had the slightest idea of what they had gotten themselves into in regards of inviting foreigners to Japan to do something they weren't comfortable with. They would need someone who could act as a communication-way between them and being in the position he was, Yuuri saw himself as the ideal person to fill in that role.
Yuuri turned in the water to allow his arms to rest on the rock directly behind him before he went to rest his head on his arms.
"Have you thought of anyone to ask besides me and Phichit-kun?" Yuuri asked, not looking at Viktor.
"Hmm…" Viktor seemed to think. "I still think we should ask Yurio. It shouldn't be that difficult to convince him to join us. Aside from that… I think we should pick some of the better figure skaters because they are more likely to have mastered the elements of the sport."
"Who would that be then?" Yuuri asked.
"JJ and Chris are fairly good, but Chris might be a little too old to adjust to it, so I won't ask him unless I don't have a choice," Viktor said.
"That doesn't sound bad actually… but who else would you invite?" Yuuri asked.
"I don't know," Viktor declared. "I should probably write to Yurio though since we are going to invite him." With these words, Viktor stood up and left the water to go back and get dressed. Yuuri stayed in the water for a bit longer, still wishing that he wasn't going to be involved in this.
It was later that same week when Viktor got a response from Yurio. The answer was, as Yuuri had expected, an ice cold 'NO!'. He gave several reasons. He didn't want to take the time out of his training regimen to go to Japan and do something that may look like figure skating but certainly wasn't, and on that note was a complete waste of time. Furthermore if he were to do it, he certainly didn't want to do it with a bunch of amateurs who had no flexibility. What would he gain from this anyway, he asked.
Viktor showed the response to Yuuri, asking for help with figuring out what to reply back and how to convince Yurio to join them.
"I thought you said you had an idea," Yuuri said while reading the email. He had absolutely no idea of how to convince Yurio to join them, the primary reason being that he completely agreed with his points and if it hadn't been for himself not having a choice in the matter, he probably have given a similar response.
"I only said it wasn't going to be difficult," Viktor protested.
"Shouldn't that mean you had some kind of idea?" Yuuri asked while thinking about the matter.
"I couldn't find out anything once I read the response," Viktor said.
Yuuri didn't respond now. He was in deep thoughts, nearly arriving at an answer. "You could ask him if he would join if we asked someone else to join and they agreed, like a specific person?"
"Like that hero from Kazakhstan who kidnapped the fairy from Russia?" Viktor asked.
"What?" Yuuri asked, confused.
"Nothing," Viktor replied before he started writing on his reply to Yurio, offering a handful of things that may or may not make him join them. Yuuri left him while he was writing, and therefore he didn't see as Viktor sent another email. In both the emails he sent there was a small lie.
By the end of the week Viktor had gotten the response he needed and he came to Yuuri with a bright smile on his face while holding his phone up victoriously, showing the emails he had received.
"Yuuri!" Viktor exclaimed, claiming Yuuri's attention.
Yuuri turned his head to look up at Viktor. He wasn't entirely sure if he should be curious or pretend not to care so the expression he ended up wearing looked like a hilarious mix between the two.
"Yuuri, we only need one more to have five people in our group!" Viktor said as he put his phone in Yuuri's hand, forcing him to take a look at the display.
"What?" Yuuri asked. Then he took a look at the screen. As it turned out, the first mail was from Yurio. Yuuri read it with continuously widening eyes. Yurio had completely changed his view on the situation, sure he still didn't think it was a good idea to quit training for a project like this but since Otabek Altin was coming, it was fine. When Yuuri looked at what Viktor had written beforehand, he saw that he had promised that Otabek would come and also informed Yurio that training his flexibility and balance in water would increase his level of balance on the ice. Yuuri wasn't sure if the last was entirely true, but it worked well as bate.
He then looked at the other email Viktor had received. This one was from Otabek. He decided to read Viktor's email to him first. In this, the pattern was the same. There was an introduction to the event, where and when it would take place, pros and cons and then Viktor had written that Yuri Plisetsky would be there and wanted Otabek to come as well. When Yuuri read the response, he wasn't surprised to see that Otabek agreed to come. Also he had taken the bate.
"You do realize that your plan would have fallen if one of them declined, right?" Yuuri asked.
"I know," Viktor replied. "But the other party wouldn't need to know that detail."
No matter which party that was, Yuuri was pretty sure that either one of them would be pissed off if they got here and figured out they had been lied to. They probably would figure that out either way. But at least now they were four figure skaters participating and Viktor was happy.
"You were planning on asking JJ too?" Yuuri asked.
Viktor nodded his head. "I'm thinking of a way to convince him and his coaches."
Yuuri sighed, handing Viktor's phone back to him, praying that he would be left out of the rest of this work. But as he was about to leave, he remembered something.
"Do you have Hazuki-kun's email?" he asked.
"We did exchange emails, why?" Viktor asked.
"Tell him that he and his team should start practicing their flexibility, probably through ballet or something like that, if possible," Yuuri answered.
"You're right, Yuuri," Viktor agreed. "It would be best if we weren't starting off from scratch. Besides, didn't Yurio mention something about flexibility in his first reply?" he asked.
Yuuri nodded his head. It was actually that reply that had made him think of this in the first place. Without uttering another word, Yuuri left while Viktor was preparing to write an email to Nagisa about what he and Yuuri had just talked about.
