HELLO TO ALL YOU LOVELY READERS! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS!
Victor: *gasp* BONDING MOMENTS?
Me: Soon Victor, soon *bites into dry toast* Geez you're so impatient
Victor: Bonding moments?
Me: Uh?
Yuuri: It's no use Midnight, all he ever said was those two words ever since the last chapter *turns to audience* You all know she doesn't own us or the anime except for the children OC so please enjoy
Victor: Bonding moment?
Me: Okay... I think -_-
...
Victor could only think of those words Chris has told him as he stood alone in the living room that next stormy morning while staring at the little note on a piece of paper on the table. Cold sweat dripped down as he wondered how this came to be.
Dear Victor,
As you may have already noticed, all of us except for Yurio, Otabek, Hana, Anatasia, and Yusha are gone. Something urgent has just come up that required our attention that might take a few days. Please look after the onsen with them while we're gone. And please, when the rain lets up, take Yusha and Hana to the beach. They have wanted to go on that trip as soon as they can.
With love,
Hiroko
It has been at least a week since everyone left out of nowhere and coincidentally, they haven't been picking up phone calls or text messages. He tried getting answers out of Yurio and Otabek but they somehow were able to keep themselves busy with the incoming guests. And during that week, it hasn't stopped raining for now but the weather forecast calls for bright sunny weather the next day. Which means that any moment now, his kids, mainly Hana would be asking for a trip to the beach.
He couldn't think of a way to avoid skipping this trip. Not when his son has been avoiding him like the plague, even if they were able to stay in the same room there was nothing but quiet between the two. It wasn't wise to force a conversation out of Yusha, all Victor could do was wait and listen to how his son would have a calm conversation with his energetic daughter and niece. So far, Victor had refused to eat a single bowl of katsudon but thankfully, it seems like they knew not to ask for a bowl. Unfortunately, that didn't stop the customers from ordering, even if Yurio was preparing them himself. Yusha and Hana took notice of how Victor would get up and leave the serving area the moment Anatasia would announce that someone's order of katsudon is ready to be served. He would come back once meal time was over.
He just couldn't bring himself to remember too quickly.
"Vkusno!" Victor lifted the empty bowl up towards Yuuri. "Another bowl please!"
"Me too!" Yurio demanded, his bowl up in the air as well. "Make it quick!"
Yuuri simply chuckled, his hands were on his hips while a small two-year-old was still finishing her first bowl. "It's your tenth bowl within the hours you two. Any more and you might gain more gain than me."
"But your katsudon tastes so good," Victor pouted.
"You're lucky Otabek helped me with the first batch," Yuuri sighed, crossing his arms. "But if you two want more katsudon then you're going to have to make more for yourselves. There are only two bowls but that's for me and Otabek." On cue, Otabek came out of the kitchen holding two bowls as Yuuri continued. "Don't worry there's still a ton of ingredients left for you to make enough for everyone."
"Huh!?" Victor and Yurio gasped, sure they knew how to make katsudon but not without Yuuri's supervision!
"It's only fair," Yuuri smirked, handing the two aprons to the gaping Russians. "Don't worry I'll pop in every now and then to check on your process. Unless the two legendary gold medalists of Russia aren't capable of cooking katsudon?"
At that moment, Victor and Yurio both got up from their seats with determination and shouted, "If it's a challenge you're trying to suggest then you're on!"
...About an Hour Later...
"So, you two were supposed to make katsudon, even with Yuuri popped in a few times to help, but instead..." Otabek began, staring at the giant plate at the center holding the cooking result. "You ended up making pirozhki katsudon instead."
Victor and Yurio looked away, their cheeks turning red with embarrassment.
Yuuri looked at the plate pile of katsudon pirozhkis then at his husband before breaking down with laughter. Hana, despite being two-years-old, joined in the laughing which left the other two men stunned. But within moments, everyone in the room was laughing out loud which was soon replaced with the continuation of their dinner.
"Daddy?"
Victor blinked out of his thoughts, looking to his side where Hana was looking his shoulder.
"You've been staring at uncle Yurio's pirozhkis for a while," Hana pointed out. "Yusha already went to play with Anatasia."
"Oh, sorry, about that Hana," Victor forced a smile. "I was just getting a little sidetracked that's all."
Hana was quiet for a moment, almost contemplating on her next train of thought before she sat next to him, looking down and asked, "Daddy, do you think you can maybe tell me and Yusha about papa? Tell us what he was like?"
His eyes widened with shock at the request. Sure, Hana knew Yuuri and he was told that he should be more openly honest with his children but then again...It's too soon to share anything. Sure, Yusha doesn't know anything about Yuuri, Hana should at least be able to remember and hear more about him. There was so much we couldn't tell her before he died and so much she can't remember. But still...
"H-Have you tried asking Baba, or maybe Deda about papa?" Victor carefully asked. "Maybe Uncle Yurio or Otabek? Anyone?"
"Yusha asked everyone one of them," Hana quietly explained, a bit disappointed. "They wouldn't tell us anything, they'd go quiet and switch the subject. Baba made me promise not to tell him anything about papa but he really wants to know."
This is selfish of me, probably putting everyone's efforts in vain but I just can't handle this now.
"Ask them again," Victor lowered his gaze away. They're willing to go so far just to make sure I'm the one to tell Hana and Yusha about Yuuri."Tell them I couldn't give you an answer...Let's just talk about something else now."
...
It hasn't stopped raining for a week, Yusha wanted to go on the trip to the beach so badly with his grandparents but they suddenly had to go somewhere with everyone else for a reason that couldn't be explained. He was lucky to still have Anatasia around to keep him busy while his big sister kept his daddy distracted at the dinner table. Now with Anatasia waiting for him to bring back the extra rice balls, he couldn't help but overhear the small conversation his big sister had with their daddy.
Daddy doesn't want to tell us about papa...Yusha could feel the riceballs crush on his hold. He doesn't want us to know papa? Why? Why can't he tell us?
"Your father is just going through what's left of the pain that hasn't been healed just yet." A voice whispered.
Yusha jumped, turning around to see Uncle Yurio standing right beside him as his eyes glanced over to the direction where Victor was. "Try to understand Yusha, losing your papa wasn't easy on any of us, especially your dad. He lost the love of his life and you kids lost a father, just give him some time Yusha. If you just give him that time, then I'm sure that the wait will be worth it."
Yurio ruffled Yusha's hair, then headed back to the kitchens. "Try not to get into trouble with my Anatasia."
All Yusha could do was nod with a small smile before heading off to meet with Anatasia, oblivious to the concerned glances his uncle Yurio sent him. Yurio made a mental note to himself that when he and Victor are alone, he ought to force some sense into that idiot. There's only so much patience he could hold in before he blows a fuse.
...
"Anya! Anya! I got the rice balls!" Yusha entered the room which turned out to be empty as he looked around. "Anatasia?"
"Pst! Over here Yusha!" Anatasia called out from the last room all the way down the hallway that happens to have no lights on.
"Wait, that room is supposed to be locked." Yusha suddenly recalled. "How did you open it?"
Anatasia's eyes shined brightly as she happily explained, "I used this cool trick mommy taught me to open locked doors in case of bad things happening." She then giggled a little. "And when daddy found out he fell down and was asleep but then mommy began to yell at him to wake up."
"U-Um I think you meant to say that Uncle Otabek fainted," Yusha corrected awkwardly. He already knew how Anatasia would call Uncle Yurio 'mommy' but he didn't think he knew how to unlock doors. What else does Uncle Yurio know about?
"Come on Yusha! I found a lot of boxes in here and a bed!" Anatasia rushed forward to drag Yusha inside the room to reveal to a mountain of closed cardboard boxes.
Not only did the room have a neatly fixed bed, a computer desk with a couple of shelves with books, a keyboard all covered in dust but the fascinating part of the room was the posters. There were posters of Yusha's daddy everywhere but he looked a bit younger. He knew that his daddy was a famous figure skater, it was a topic his big sister would mention every now and then. Somebody here must have been a big fan of daddy to have posters everywhere, Yusha thought to himself. How did someone get that many posters in one place? Does daddy even know about this room?
Anatasia left the door a little open as she climbed on the bed to try reach for the top box. "There could be a treasure in here! Come on Yusha, help me look."
"But Baba said that it's not good to look at things that don't belong to us," Yusha argued, even though he was climbing on the bed to go after her. "You're gonna fall and drop all those boxes then we'll get in big trouble."
"Nuh-uh. I'm not gonna fall or drop anything," She reassured with a chuckle. "I wanna know what's in those boxes." Unfortunately, she didn't expect her shortness to be her undoing since the tip of her tips barely reached the lid which led to her foot to slip from the sheets. She didn't fall to the floor since Yusha grabbed her to fall back on the bed but he couldn't do the same for the boxes. The first top three tumbled down with a loud CRASH filling the room with a gust of dust making the two kids make a cough for a bit until they looked over the bed to see the mess they've caused.
...
"You know you can't hide their papa from them forever," Yurio commented when he was Victor found themselves alone. "Don't you remember what Chris told you?
Victor looked down, almost in shame as he muttered. "It's not as easy as it sounds...I can't talk about him without remembering everything. What will they think of me if I can't handle my emotions correctly? Can I honestly tell them everything without breaking down?"
"No said you had to be perfect," Yurio shrugged. "No one expects you to be the strong stone, your kids know you're still hurting. Let them heal you too."
Before Victor could make a reply, they suddenly heard a loud CRASH coming from one of the rooms the family owns. Well to be specific, the sound came from the last room at the end of a certain hallway as Victor whispered with desperation. "Don't tell me that crash came from his room."
...
The three boxes were opened, most likely not taped from the very start with strange items poured out of them. They were hesitant but they were able to get off the bed to see the pile of strange items scattered on the floor.
"Yusha, look!" Anatasia picked up a black and blue jacket. "A figure skater jacket like the kind mommy and daddy wore when they used to go to the competitions."
"But that's not for Russia though," Yusha pointed out then he picked up a framed photo and stared in awe. The photo showed an oddly familiar beach shore with people in the background and someone holding his hands up to probably cover his face while laughing but ultimately failing especially when someone behind the camera was holding their hand out to reach for that person. However, this person wasn't just any strange trying to shy away from a photo.
This person had wet raven hair, his eyes were closed behind blue framed glasses while wearing a plain white t-shirt.
Yusha gasped in realization, holding the picture out for Anatasia to see. "Anya! It's the nice stranger from my dreams!" He pointed to the glasses. "See! See, he's wearing those same glasses!"'..it's okay, this is Hasetsu beach Yusha' The man's words repeated in his mind. "He's in Hasetsu beach!"
Anatasia took a closer look at the photo before gasping out loud and pointing to the background of the photo. "And my mommy is there with daddy and me! See, right there under that umbrella behind that man. Do you think my mommy and daddy know him? Why didn't we meet him?"
"We lived in Russia and we couldn't visit yet. That means I can find the nice man in the beach," Yusha smiled, holding the picture tightly against his chest. "Maybe he knows who my papa was. He can tell me everything I want to know. Then daddy doesn't have to tell me anything about papa without getting sad, I'll ask the nice man. He must know, he has to."
"We just gotta go to the beach then," Anatasia cheered until she sneezed. "Achoo! AAAchho!" Before Yusha could ask for her wellbeing she was quick to reassure him, "I'm good, I'm not hurting at all! Now that we're going to the beach tomorrow with your daddy."
"And when we find the nice man maybe he can make daddy happy again," Yusha added with hope rising in his eyes.
"Yusha, there's ice skates too, look!" She lifted an old pair of ice skates with silver blades still shining that happens to have a poodle head as a logo on the heel. "Do you think he skates like my mommy and daddy did?"
Before Yusha could answer, he noticed something through the pile that happened to be a phone in a blue case that was decorated with brown poodles. He picked it up, remembering what the twins taught him when it came to turning phones on but the black screen only showed the image that indicated that it has no battery. He then found another phone that had a phone case that had a pink suit image as he picked it up as well to try to turn it on. Unfortunately, like the first phone, he found that it was also dead. Maybe Mali and Lee know how to turn it back on when they get back. "Anya, do you think all this is the nice man's stuff?"
"It must be," Anya observed, her hands searching through the pile of clothing and small trinkets scattered. "Maybe we'll find something about your papa. The nice man has his stuff in this room in the house that your papa used to live in."
"Yeah! They must have been friends for sure!" Yusha gasped, frantically looking through the items, finding the same clothing, some plushies, pictures of the same nice man posing with one of his uncles and aunts. He got up to try to reach for the other unopened boxes. "Maybe we can find more in these."
"STOP LOOKING THROUGH THEM!"
Yusha and Anatasia both flinched at the sharpness of the loud scold, turning around as gasp to see that the one who screamed was Yusha's daddy. They didn't hear the door opening so of course, it brought so much shock. The phones in Yusha's hands fell to the ground along with the skates on Anatasia's hold with soft thuds on the ground. They were still as statues, unsure of what to do while they only could stare horrified at the angered expression plastered on Victor's face.
One moment, Victor was speeding ahead of Yurio to find the source of the crash only to find himself standing in front of the doors of his late husband. Just standing there in silence until he heard the quiet voices of his son and Yurio's daughter behind that door. He leaned closer to listen better but the mere mentions of the phones, the jacket, the photo, and the beach! Basically, everything they mentioned that was on the mess made his heart begin to ache. He suddenly remembered that this was the room where Mari mentioned to have stored all the boxes Victor filled up with things that reminded him of Yuuri.
Suddenly bringing back the flashes of the pain.
Next thing he knew, he burst through the door and shouted out which startled the kids from whatever they were doing. His eyes locked onto Yusha, seeing that the boy wanted to reach out to another box to look through. He didn't want his son to find any more than he already saw. That would mean questions. Questions Victor couldn't find the courage to answer without the fear of breaking once more. He couldn't bring that pain to his son, or to his daughter, to nobody! It was a relief but also very heartbreaking to know that Yusha didn't realize that these were Yuuri's belongings or photos.
"Victor, calm down!" Yurio scolded the man, placing his hand on his shoulder. "They didn't know better, so stop making that face or else you'll scare them more than you already have!"
Victor took one look at their horrified faces before he gasped in realization. He may have stopped them from looking, but was it worth seeing the trembling fear in Yusha's innocent eyes? No, it wasn't. He then sighed with frustration, slapping his face in his palm and muttered. "Just, leave this room. Leave everything where you found them." Then ever so softly, unwilling to look at them in the eye, whispered out, "Please."
Without protest, Yusha was quick to slip away with Anatasia not far behind him until they disappeared down the hall and into the room where they were supposed to be while dropping the rice balls at the process. The door to their room shut leaving silence once more. Victor fell to his knees, hand covering his eyes as his lips trembled but not a single tear fell. Yurio didn't say a word as he quietly put every last thing back into their respected box, stacking those three where they once stood and picked up the rice ball mess.
"Come on Victor, we still got an inn to run. Don't let this incident ruin your trip to the beach tomorrow. Or your chance." He simply told the man, helping him back up and led him away from the room.
...
Me: Whoops did I do that?
Everyone (except Victor): YES!
Me: Oops, I wanted some angst okay *shrugs*
Victor: Bonding moment?!
Yuuri: Next chapter Victor, next chapter. *turns to audience* Midnight hopes you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a lot of reviews, favorite, and follow to see how things go
