(A/N: Over 3 years have passed since the last chapter. Toshiro is now 5 going on 6 and Aiko is 16 going on 17.)
An ear-piercing scream rattled the entire house, scaring Bebe who was sleeping in the living room.
"NOO! I'm a big boy now! Big boy's don't need their hair brushed!"
"Toshiro! Stop it! You can't go out with your hair looking like this. Big boys have nice and neat hair." Yuuri yelled, holding the boy down with one arm and the brush in the other.
"It hurts when you brush it Daddy!" Toshiro yelled.
"That's because you let it get all tangled up. If you would let me brush it more often, it wouldn't be such a problem." Yuuri said, taking the brush from the ends of his hair first. He shivered and winced even though Yuuri was being as gentle as he could.
"It hurts!" he cried.
Toshiro squirmed violently until he was able to break free from Yuuri's grasp. Yuuri just sighed deeply and tossed the brush to the side.
"Fine. If you don't want me to brush your hair, I'll just have to cut it all off. You can't have long hair if you don't want to take care of it. You say you are a big boy now but big boys take care of their hair so they don't have to go through all this." Yuuri said, crossing his arms across his chest. The boy puffed out his cheeks in anger and plopped down in front of Yuuri again.
"That's what I thought." he said, picking up the brush again and starting from the bottom, working his way up. Each brush stroke made the boy wince and whine. By the time he finished brushing his entire head, he was in tears. He put the top part back in a ponytail and let the rest hang underneath.
"All finished." he said, patting the young boy's shoulder. "Now, go get dressed. We are going to leave soon."
Toshiro huffed and walked away back towards his room. Viktor came in shortly after, dressed and ready to go.
"I heard him screaming. I assumed you were trying to brush his hair." Viktor said, fixing his shirt in the mirror nearby.
"Yup. It was horrible this time Viktor. I swear I pulled out some twigs and leaves in there." he said, sitting up in the chair.
"He's a 5-year-old with hair down his back. Of course he is going to have things stuck in there."
"Well since you know so much, why don't you try to brush his hair next time." Yuuri said in a huff.
"We all know how that ended last time. I prefer not to have to another foot in my chest."
Yuuri rolled his eyes and walked to the back of the house to finish getting ready. They were all going to the rink today since Aiko and some of the other older skaters were holding a beginners class for the little ones. They figured why not get Toshiro on the ice now since he was around the same age they put Aiko on the ice. Plus, Yuri and Otabek bought him a pair of skates last time they visited and Yuri was constantly asking if he had used them yet.
Yuuri finished getting ready and peaked his head inside Toshiro's door. He was trying to pull his long sleeve over his head but managing to miss the head hole each time. Yuuri chuckled and walked in to aid the boy.
"Let me help you, sweetie." Yuuri said, reaching out and fixing the hole right over his head and pulling the shirt down. Toshiro took a deep breath as soon as his head popped out. All Yuuri's hard work on the boy's hair had gone to waste though.
"Thank you Daddy..." he said, pouting a bit. Yuuri held his hand out and the boy reluctantly grabbed it, letting Yuuri lead him to the front door. Viktor had both his and Yuuri's skating bag as well as a little tiger print bag (obviously bought by his uncle Yurio as well) that held Toshiro's skates.
"Are we going to skate?" Toshiro asked, noticing the bags on Viktor's arms.
"Yeah. I told you last night that Kiki is holding a class at the Ice Castle so we were going to take you so you can use those new skates Uncle Yurio got you." Viktor explained.
Toshiro pulled his hand away from Yuuri's and crossed his arms across his chest. "I don't want to go."
"Toshiro, come on. Your sister would want you there. Don't you want Kiki to teach you?"
"No!"
Viktor and Yuuri let out collective sighs.
"Aiko is going to be heartbroken when she sees you aren't there Toshiro. Do you want to make your sister cry?" Viktor said, stretching the truth a bit in order to get him to agree.
"Kiki will cry?" he asked, his expression changing.
Both men nodded.
"Buckets." Yuuri added. "She has been looking forward to it all week. It's not often she gets to hang out with you these days."
Toshiro's eyes blew big and tears started to form. "I don't want Kiki to cry!" he said.
"Then let's hurry and get to the rink. The class will start soon." Viktor said, grabbing the car keys.
Toshiro let out a sad sigh and nodded. Yuuri smiled and helped the boy put on his shoes before heading out the door.
That was easier than they thought.
-Later-
The rink was filled with little kids and their parents when they got there. Toshiro shied away, hiding behind his Papa's legs when he saw how crowded it was. Yuuri noticed and picked the boy up and slung him on his hip before walking into the crowd.
They spotted Aiko on the other side of the ice with Hikaru Toyama, Viktor's students Sanjou and Ryo and a few other kids that Yuuri had in his older class. Hikaru was standing behind Aiko, with his hands at her waist as she talked. Viktor's eyebrows furrowed.
"Hikaru! Hands off!" he yelled from across the ice. Both turned around to the sound and Aiko blushed a bright red. Hikaru put his hands up, showing Viktor that he was no longer touching her. Aiko put her head in her hands and shook her head. Even though they had been dating seriously for a year now, Viktor still acted exactly the same way he did when they were talking years ago.
Yuuri chuckled and shook his head as well, putting Toshiro down on a nearby bench to put his skates on him.
"Give her a break Vitya." Yuuri teased. Viktor cut his eyes at him, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I don't need to see him feeling up my little girl."
"He wasn't "feeling her up" but I am not going to argue with you about that right now." Yuuri said, pulling out the skates from the bag. He slipped off Toshiro's shoes and carefully put the skates on his feet.
Toshiro had his arms across his chest, nervously looking around. He didn't really do well around kids he didn't know. It also didn't help that he didn't want to skate either.
Yuuri tightly laced Toshiro's skates, causing the boy to whine about how they were going to so tight that his feet were going to come off. Yuuri chuckled a bit and snapped a quick picture of him in the skates to send to Yuri.
Yuuri and Viktor both slipped on their skates as well, since most of the parents were going to go out on the ice and help their kids along with the "teachers".
They both stood up and each took one of Toshiro's hands and headed toward the other group. Toshiro looked up pulled his Papa's hand down so he could hear him over the crowd.
"Papa, I don't want to skate." he said softly.
"What's wrong, malyutka ? I know there is a lot of people here but it okay. Daddy and I are right here." he said with a soft smile. Toshiro shook his head.
"I don't want to skate. Please don't make me skate Papa."
Viktor let go of the boy's hand and dropped down into a squat to get eye to eye with him. He ran his fingers through that messy blond hair of his. "Tell me what is wrong Toshiro. Do you not feel good?" he asked, still running his fingers through his hair.
"I want to go home and color." he said with a cute little pout.
"We can go home and color after the class okay? It's only an hour and a half."
Toshiro got teary eyed but before Viktor could say anything, the parents and kids were heading onto the ice.
"We can go get mochi after class? Would you like that?" Viktor asks. Toshiro lower lip started to quiver, as if he is going to cry. Viktor sighed and pulled off the guards on his skates, Yuuri followed suit. Yuuri managed to get Toshiro to stay still long enough to take his guards off as well.
Viktor stepped on the ice first, helping Toshiro put his first foot up. Yuuri helped him put the second one up and stood right behind him. Both men held on to his hands tightly. This wasn't Toshiro's first time skating. He had gone a few times before and each time he fell hard enough to end up a crying mess. Both Yuuri and Viktor wanted to avoid that more than anything, so they kept a tight grip on him.
Toshiro put one foot forward, trying to move along the ice, but instead, he just slipped. Yuuri and Viktor yanked his arms up to keep him from falling. Toshiro looked over and saw that some of the other kids could already stand up and move around. His face went into a sad pout again as tears welled up in his eyes.
"Don't cry sweetie! You will get it!" Yuuri said, rubbing the boy's back with his free hand. Toshiro tried again, pushing his feet forwards on the ice.
"There you go buddy! Don't lock up your knees, otherwise, you will fall." Viktor said, holding the boy's upper arm. Toshiro listened intently, relaxing his knees and pushing his feet forward again. But his feet got caught and caused him to fall forward, He fell on his knees on the ice, both arms still being tightly held by his parents so he didn't fall over onto his face.
But this seemed to be his last straw. Toshiro didn't get up from his knees, instead, he sat down on his bottom and started to cry loudly.
"I don't want to skate anymore! I don't want to skate ever!" he cried, his arm covering his face. The group of people turned to look at the crying boy but Yuuri cut his eyes at the people, causing them to turn back around.
"Toshi, It's okay. Everyone falls. I fall, Papa falls, Kiki falls, even your uncle Yurio falls. It is not the end of the world." Yuuri said, still rubbing his back. Viktor got down and ran his fingers through his hair once more.
"Daddy is right Toshiro. Everybody falls. No need to get upset. Come on. Let's get up and try again."
Toshiro continued to cry. "No! I keep falling Papa! I fall and fall and fall. No one else does that." He said, starting to calm down. "I'm not good at skating like you or daddy or Kiki...I'm good at other things like drawing cars and elephants and playing hide and go seek. Can't I do that instead Papa?" He asked, his icy blue eye filled with tears.
He was speaking beyond his years. Maybe they were projecting themselves on him a bit. Maybe everyone was. They wanted him to skate just like everyone else, but they didn't think about what Toshiro wanted to do. He was always an unconventional child. Maybe they should have seen it coming. Both men felt that familiar pang in their chest as he spoke. Viktor picked up Toshiro the ice and kissed his forehead.
"Of course Toshi. You can be good at those things. You don't have to be good at skating. We are sorry for pushing you." He said, kissing his head again.
Yuuri made a noise in agreement. "You can be good at whatever you want to. Papa and I will support you no matter what you want to do." Yuuri said, kissing the back of his head.
"Anything?" Toshiro asked, wiping his runny nose.
"Anything." Viktor said with a smile.
"Okay!"
"I know you don't want to skate, but your sister is still running the class. Will you finish this one class, for her?" Yuuri asked.
Toshiro brows furrowed.
Aiko came skating up to them, Hikaru following close behind. "Is everything okay?" Aiko asked.
"Yeah, now it is." Viktor said.
"Good. I was worried there for a second when I heard him cry. I thought he hurt himself." She said."Ready to skate with us now Toshi?"
Toshiro shook his head.
"He decided he is not good at skating so he doesn't want to." Viktor explained.
Aiko put on a feigned sad face. "So you don't want to skate with your sister, not even one time?" She asked, making her lip quiver.
Toshiro's face softened and he reached over towards her. He grabbed her face and looked right at her. "Don't cry Kiki! I'll skate with you. But just one time, okay?"
Aiko smiled brightly and nodded. "Sounds like a plan." She said, grabbing him from Viktor's arms and setting him down on the ice. Hikaru grabbed one hand and Aiko grabbed the other. Viktor and Yuuri skated off the ice and headed back to their bags. Seemed like their help was no longer needed.
They both watched as Aiko and Hikaru helped him get to center ice, no matter how many times he fell. It was a sweet moment for sure. Viktor snapped a picture and sent it to Yuri and Otabek.
He wasn't going to tell them just yet about his decision. He just hoped Yuri would be as understanding as they were. Of course, Viktor and Yuuri were a little heartbroken. It was natural. They all skated and they hoped their little boy would too. But they weren't upset. Toshiro would find something soon or maybe he will try the ice again when he gets older and would find out he wanted to skate again. But either way, it was his decision to make.
He was a "big boy" after all.
Bonus:
"Mochi~ Mochi~ Mochi~" Toshiro sang, his mouth full of the sticky treat as the family walked in the park. Viktor and Yuuri were walking behind the young boy and Aiko was in the way front, walking with Hikaru. Both men smiled at the sight.
"See? Wasn't it worth it?" Viktor asked, ruffling the boy's hair. Toshiro shook his head. Viktor chuckled and reached over to grab Yuuri's free hand.
The park was rather crowded today. It was a nice day outside so they could understand why it was so packed. They walked by a baseball field where there was a game going on.
Toshiro stopped in his tracks, staring at the game unfolding before him. The pitch was thrown, faster than the boy could make out. He imagined no one could hit a ball that was going that fast. But he was swiftly proven wrong as the batter smashed it to the outfield. The batter ran as fast as he could to the first base, heading towards second.
Toshiro had run up to the gate, almost dropping his mochi. He was enamored. He couldn't look away.
The outfielder had thrown the ball into the second baseman who was waiting for the runner to come up. But the batter had gotten down and slid face first into the base, trying to reach it before he touched him. But he had come up short, getting tagged out. The batter stood up, wiping some of the dirt off himself, headed back to the dugout and the cycle started again.
Toshiro turned back to his parents with those big blue eyes.
"Daddy! Papa! I want to play this!" he yelled, pointing towards the field.
"Baseball? You want to play baseball?" Yuuri asked.
Toshiro, with a grin from ear to ear, nodded excitedly.
Yuuri and Viktor looked at each other, sharing a worried look.
What did they get themselves into?