Victor had awoken before Yuuri as usual, grabbing his bento out of the fridge and checking on Aki before he left. He had considered waking up Yuuri to ask him what had upset him the night before, but he decided that his sleep was more important. He left the apartment as quietly as possible and made his way to work.

During the day, he did his best to avoid Oleg, and was largely successful. He couldn't shake the feeling that something had happened between Oleg and his husband last night, and he wanted to talk to Yuuri about it first if possible. When lunch time rolled around, he sat in the break room with his bento and tried to call Yuuri. His husband usually made an effort to answer his lunch time calls, but sometimes he was busy with the baby and Victor left a voicemail instead.

Today, however, the phone didn't even ring. It went straight to voicemail. Frowning, Victor hung up and stared at his phone. Maybe it had been a fluke? He tried to call again, and the same thing happened.

Now he was starting to get worried. Had Yuuri shut off his phone? Had something happened? He tried his best to calm himself down, but in light of how his husband had been acting last night, it was hard. He finally convinced himself that maybe Yuuri's phone had just died and he hadn't noticed.

He found it difficult to concentrate on the rest of his work after that. Despite his best efforts, he had a mountain of work to be done, and it was well past dark by the time he was wrapping up for the day. Just as he was about to leave, Oleg appeared in his doorway.

Victor gritted his teeth. His boss was the last person he'd wanted to see right now. He stood up decisively and said, "What is it, Oleg? I was about to go home."

The older man smiled and said, "Are you sure that's what you want to do right now?"

Victor narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

Walking closer, Oleg said, "I just think that it's time for you to consider what's really going to be best for you in the long run. And I think we both know that your current lifestyle isn't the right fit for you." He was now standing mere inches away from Victor, wearing a suggestive smile that sent unpleasant shivers down his spine.

He took a step backwards and snapped, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Oleg laughed, a deliberately breathy sound. "Oh, come on, Vitya, we both know that your husband hasn't been paying enough attention to you lately. Besides that, he's certainly let himself go since he got that baby. He's hardly someone worthy of your attention, is he? Why, I'd venture a guess that he's not satisfying you in bed anymore, either–"

Victor's hand moved before he could think. It flew up, slapping Oleg across the face sharply. He reeled away from Victor, catching himself after a few steps. His hand slowly came up to cradle his face, and he turned back to face Victor, a stunned look on his face.

Victor was far beyond caring about what any consequences would be. He gave Oleg a frozen smile. "You watch your fucking mouth when you're talking about my husband. I don't know who you think you are to talk about him like that. Yuuri has been nothing but wonderful since the day I met him, and he means the world to me. I've put up with a lot of overfamiliarity with you because you were my boss, but you've gone too far. Nobody. Insults. My. Husband." With each punctuated word, he took another step closer to Oleg until he was breathing the last word into his face. He gave the older man a hard stare for another moment before sweeping around him and out of the office.

He didn't look back once as he hurried to his car. His brain started running a million miles an hour as soon as he left the building. It seemed clear now that Oleg had gotten it into his head that he had some sort of chance with Victor. He had probably been the cause of Yuuri's mood last night, one way or another. As soon as he started driving, he attempted to call Yuuri again, but it once again went straight to voicemail.

Now he was starting to panic. Yuuri had never had his phone off for this long. Something was obviously wrong. And Oleg's words were starting to get to Victor, too. Although he had accused Yuuri of not paying enough attention to their marriage lately, Victor started to wonder if in reality he had been the one guilty of that. When he had first taken this job, he had been promised that the hours would be part-time and flexible, and it had quickly turned into a job where he had been working every day, staying out later and later while his husband was at home alone with their baby. Hadn't it been evident in the fact that Yuuri was sleeping in every day that he needed more help at home than he was getting? And Victor had done nothing about it. He had sent Yuri over once, but after that he had simply kept going to work as normal, and hoping that the hours would even out eventually. No matter how he looked at it, he knew that whatever Yuuri was feeling was, in a big way, his own doing.

He drove home as quickly as he could with these thoughts swirling through his head, somehow miraculously avoiding several accidents. He parked the car and was out of it almost before he had the key out of the ignition, running up the stairs by twos. He reached the apartment door and fumbled for the key, bursting in at last.

The apartment was dark. Makkachin came bounding over to him, whining low in his throat, but there were no other signs of life. Victor switched on the living room light and started walking through the apartment, hoping that maybe Yuuri had fallen asleep early and forgotten to turn on the lights. Makkachin followed him forlornly as he went, which just added another layer of anxiety. He usually only followed Victor around like this when he had been left at home alone.

Nevertheless, Victor tried to tamp down his worry until he had checked the bedrooms and kitchen. They were all empty. Making his way back to the living room, Victor sat down on the couch and placed his head in his hands. Makkachin whined and laid his head on Victor's lap, seeming to sense his worry.

Where the hell had they gone? Maybe they had gone to the store? He looked over by the door to see if their shoes were missing, and his blood ran cold when he saw that not only were several pairs of shoes missing, but Aki's car seat was also gone.

His phone was in his hand almost before he had realized it, and he was scrolling desperately through his contacts. Where could they have gone? The first possibility he thought of was Yuri, and he quickly selected his friend's name and called. The phone rang once, twice, each ring seeming like an eternity until it was finally picked up.

Yuri's annoyed voice came over the speaker, seeming unnaturally loud in the vacant apartment. "Yeah, old man, what do you need?"

Victor almost cried at the normal atmosphere evoked by his tone. He managed to ask, "Yurio...are Yuuri and Aki there, by any chance?"

"What? No, they're not here."

Victor pressed on. "Do you have any idea where they are? Have you talked to Yuuri at all today?"

"Whoa, slow down there, old man. What's going on? I haven't talked to them. Are they gone? Do you need–"

Impatiently, Victor hung up the phone. There was no further point in talking to Yuri if he didn't know where his family was. He went back to his contacts list, pressing ignore when Yuri tried to call him back.

His next thought was his mothers. They lived fairly close to the city, and sometimes their family went to visit on the train. Aki really liked the train. He selected his mama's phone number and waited anxiously as it rang. It was fairly common for his mama to not answer her phone right away, or sometimes even at all, as she rarely kept it close to her. Today, however, he was in luck, and she finally answered. "Vitya? Are you there?"

Her gentle voice was like a balm to his panic. He didn't have time to be comforted, however. "Yes, Mama, I'm here," he replied.

"Oh, good! How are–"

"Listen, Mama, I don't have time to chat. I need to know, are Yuuri and Aki at your house? Or have you talked to Yuuri today?"

"What? No, Vitya, they aren't here. Are they missing?" He heard a note of concern entering his mama's voice, and felt a pang of kinship with her. He knew that his parents, particularly his mama, loved Yuuri like a second son.

"Yes, Mama, I came home and they were gone. Some of their shoes are missing too, and Aki's car seat. Can you please ask Mat if she knows anything?" He was aware of the note of panic creeping into his voice, but found that he didn't care.

"Of course. Give me a moment, I'll ask her." He heard the phone rustle, and then his mama's muffled voice called, "Ronya, have you heard anything from Yuuri today?"

Even more distant, his mat's voice replied, "No, I haven't spoken to him today. Why?"

"Vitya is looking for him. I'll tell him you haven't seen him." The phone rustled again, and his mama began to say, "Your mat hasn't heard–"

"I heard, Mama," Victor interrupted. "I'm sorry, but I have to let you go. I need to try to figure out where they are."

"Please call us when you find them, or if there's anything we can do to help."

"Da, Mama. Thank you."

Victor hung up the phone and stared at it, at a loss now. Those were the only places in St. Petersburg that he could think where Yuuri might have gone. He tried hard to concentrate and put himself in Yuuri's position. If he had been very upset...there was only one other place Victor could think of that he might have gone.

Hasetsu.

He checked the clock. It was past eight here, which meant that in Hasetsu it would be well into the early hours of the morning. He briefly considered going to sleep and calling them in the morning, or even waiting a few hours without sleeping until it was a decent time in Japan, but he quickly dismissed the thought. His family was missing, and he was going to wake up whoever it took to get them back again. He scrolled through his contacts, trying to decide which family member to call. Finally, he settled on Mari. She was the one most likely to be awake. Selecting her name, he pressed the call button and waited anxiously.

Surprisingly, after just one ring, the phone was answered. Mari's whispered voice said, "Moshi moshi."

"Mari, it's Victor. I'm really sorry to wake you up, but this is an emergency."

"You didn't wake me. And anyway, I figured you might be calling. Yuuri got here about an hour ago with Aki, and Otousan just settled them into Yuuri's room without you. What's going on? Is everything all right?"

A huge wave of relief washed over Victor, and he suddenly felt like he was going to cry. He managed to say, "Slava bogu! I couldn't find them anywhere, Mari. I'm so glad they're safe."

"Victor, what on earth is going on?"

"I'm not sure, Mari, but I'll be getting on a plane to come there as quickly as I can. Don't say anything to Yuuri, I don't want him running off before I get there."

Her answer was immediate. "Ryokai. I'll do my best to make sure he stays at Yu-topia until you get here. Let me know if you need anything else to help that stupid brother of mine."

"Thank you, Mari. I'll be there soon."

Victor clicked the phone off, and sat for a moment staring at it. He was overwhelmed with relief at having located his family. He had never been that scared before, when he hadn't known where they were. He scowled. Obviously something major had happened. Why had Yuuri run away to Hasetsu without telling him? And he'd even taken Aki, but left Makkachin. Had he been trying to leave? He didn't want to admit it, but the whole thing smacked of a separation. He clenched his fists tight. There was no way he was going to let that happen. His family was the one thing in his life that he could never let go of, no matter the costs. He would just have to figure out some way to get Yuuri to come back, and that was all there was to it.

He stood up resolutely, and went to his bedroom to pack a carry on bag. He didn't plan on being in Hasetsu long, but he figured he should bring a change of clothes and some toiletries just in case. He also packed a few things for Makkachin, since he planned to bring the dog along with him. Partway through his packing, he realized that he would be gone for at least a day or two at work, and should probably inform someone. Unfortunately, it was past the time when the office was open, and the only person whose personal phone number he had was Oleg. Almost disdainfully, he selected Oleg's name from his contact list and pressed the call button.

The phone had barely rang before it was answered. "Yes, Vitya, is there something I can–"

Victor cut him off savagely. "First of all, let's get one thing straight. I am nowhere near close enough to you for you to call me that. Please refer to me as Victor, or even Victor Roksanaich. And I didn't call you to chat. I'm letting you know that I'm taking an indefinite vacation starting tomorrow."

There was a pause. "Now, Victor, I can't exactly authorise that without a reason, especially considering that you've only been with the federation for a month."

Victor gritted his teeth. "I'm going to Japan for a few days."

He could practically hear the smugness in Oleg's voice as he purred, "Oh, and why would you be doing that, I wonder? Did Yuuri perhaps return there?"

Keeping his voice cold and even, Victor replied, "I don't feel the need to discuss my family matters with you. All you need to know is that I'm taking personal days, or vacation days, or whatever you need to call it."

"So I'm right, then. Vitya, please be reasonable. If he left, then there's no reason to go chasing after him. You should just stay here. You can't force him to come back when he clearly doesn't want you anymore. And why should you pander to him? I can take much better care of you than he ever did."

Victor's blood boiled, and his voice grew even icier than before. "Like I said before, please do not call me Vitya, and my personal life is none of your affair, mainly because I wish to keep you out of it in every way possible. Even if I was not married, you wouldn't even cross my radar. Yuuri is a thousand times more loving and wonderful than you could ever imagine."

There was a pause, and then Oleg said in a desperate, strained voice, "I just don't get it, Victor. I've done everything I can think of to show you, to convince you that I can be a good partner for you. I've learned everything I can about you, done all I can, and still you deny me. Why is it that he's the only one who can make you really smile?"

"You obviously wouldn't understand, but that's just how love is. And now, I'm afraid I have no more time to spend on this conversation. My husband is waiting for me." Resolutely, he clicked the phone off, ignoring the plaintive voice on the other end.

He didn't have any more time to worry about Oleg. He needed to go to his family.