After dinner, Aki retreated to her room, nerves thrumming in her chest. She took out her phone with slightly shaking hands and composed a message to her boyfriend:

'Hey, are you available tomorrow night? I'm making dinner and would love to have you come over.'

He responded back much more quickly than she was used to:

'Sure. I don't have anything going on. At your place?'

She took a deep breath. This was where she had to stick up for herself. He would never know how she felt if she didn't say anything. With trembling fingers, she typed:

'Yeah. I think we're moving a bit fast, so I thought it would be good to slow down a little and just spend some time together.'

She hit send on the message before she had time to second-guess herself. Throwing her phone onto the bed, she deliberately started her bedtime routine. But when she returned back to her room, she made a beeline for her bed and picked up her phone. Her stomach fluttered when she saw a notification. She flicked the screen open and read:

"That's fine with me.'

She flopped bonelessly on the bed, feeling relieved. She was grateful that Hedeon was willing to accommodate her as she sorted out her emotions. A weight lifted off her chest, she slept soundly that night.

The next evening found her scurrying around busily, trying her best to make sure everything was perfect. Her otousan had offered to help her cook, but she had insisted on doing it herself. Instead, he sat at the kitchen table, chatting idly with her as she made some Japanese dishes. A few times, she thought that he was going to offer advice, but held himself back. She was grateful. Whether she succeeded or failed, she wanted it to be of her own volition. She paused several times during cooking to recall how her obaasan had taught her certain techniques, but in the end, she was fairly satisfied with the result as she put the dishes in the oven to keep them warm.

Looking at the clock, she saw that she had finished early, and had about five minutes before her boyfriend was due to arrive. Her otousan was already nearly done setting the dining room table, so she wandered idly out into the living room where her brother and his friend were playing cards.

As she entered, Aliya smiled at her. "It smells really good, Aki."

Nikolai glanced up at his sister, too, and grunted noncommittally.

His attitude worried Aki. Her brother wasn't known for his tact. Looping around her otousan's armchair so she could face her brother, she said sternly, "Now, Nika, remember to behave yourself while Hedeon's here."

He flicked his gaze up at her, then back down to the cards in his hand.

She tightened her tone. "Nika, I'm serious! You can't start any fights with him, all right?"

That made him bristle. "Geez, Aki, what do you think I do? Go around looking for people to fight with?"

She snorted. Her brother had a long history of getting into fist fights with kids who insulted their parents, and she wouldn't put it past him to start something with Hedeon.

Aliya cut in before Aki had a chance to respond to this statement, however. "Kolya, you haven't gotten in a fight for a long time, so I know that you'll do just fine." She smiled sunnily at him, and he shut his mouth with a nearly audible snap. He glared at his sister, but seemed willing to let the argument go.

She sighed in relief. "That's good. The last thing I need is for Hedeon to get insulted by my little brother."

An icy voice came from down the hallway. "Who's getting insulted by Nika, now?"

Aki froze, then turned slowly towards her papa. He settled his arms over his chest, staring her down sternly. "Did you just say Hedeon?"

She suddenly realized that she had never told her otousan the name of her boyfriend, so there had been no time to prepare Victor for the shock of her boyfriend's identity. She shifted nervously, trying to think of something to say. "Oh, uh, yeah, Papa, that is, he's my, uh…"

Luckily for her, there was a knock on the door. She brightened immediately. "Oh, there he is! I'll just…"

Before she could finish her sentence, her papa was swiftly crossing the room and yanking the door open, staring imposingly down at the boy standing on the other side. Undeterred, Hedeon stared back at him, and said calmly, "Victor Roksanaich, good evening."

Yuuri emerged from the dining room. "Oh, Vitya, you already know Aki's boyfriend?"

Victor turned stiffly to his spouse. "Yes, I've been choreographing his routines at the Federation."

Sensing a touchy topic, Yuuri turned to their guest instead, a smile on his face. "Welcome, please come in."

At these words, Victor reluctantly stepped backwards, allowing Hedeon into the apartment as Yuuri walked over to loop his arm through his husband's. Victor's face softened visibly, and he turned back to Hedeon. Gesturing to the man on his arm, Victor said, "Let me introduce you. This is my ex-fiancé."

Yuuri rolled his eyes as Aki stared at her papa in horror and Nikolai snorted in laughter. She glared at her brother as their otousan broke in smoothly. "Ignore him. I'm Victor's husband, Yuuri Toshiyavich." He bowed slightly, the motion made a bit awkward since he was still holding onto his spouse's arm.

Hedeon eyed him with his dark gaze. "Toshiyavich? That's a bit unusual."

"Ah, yes, my father is Toshiya," Yuuri explained.

Aki butted in, trying to head off any further embarrassment from her parents. "It's a bit unusual because we're Japanese," she explained.

Hedeon turned his gaze onto her, and scrutinized her. "Huh. Yeah, I guess you are kind of half-Japanese, aren't you?"

She blinked, confused. "Well, yeah, my otousan is Japanese, so…"

"But does that count? Since you're adopted."

She stared at him, mouth slightly open. Her brother, however, was rarely at a loss for words in moments where his family's honor was at stake.

"Hey, what the hell is that supposed to mean!" he snapped, standing up and scattering cards everywhere. Aliya rose with him, but he was unstoppable in that moment. "I don't know who you think you are to judge our family! We don't need your approval for our heritage, and we sure as hell don't need to listen to your crap!" Aliya tugged on his sleeve, and he looked down at her, face losing a bit of its fury as he saw the tears welling in her eyes. Aliya hated confrontation like this, and although Aki privately agreed with what Nikolai had said, she knew that it was best to leave Aliya to smooth him over.

She looked at her parents, and saw her otousan offering similar soothing motions to her papa, who had an interesting nerve jumping in his jaw. Victor fixed Hedeon with the stiff smile that he gave to paparazzi, and opened his mouth to speak.

Thankfully, his husband cut him off with a forced laugh. "Well, Hedeon, that's not really how we see it. At any rate, Aki made a lovely dinner, and I think we should all enjoy it before it gets cold. Come on, Vitya, come help me carry things to the table." He forcefully propelled his husband towards the kitchen, shooting Aliya a sharp glance on the way. Thankfully, she was often more mature than her nine years would suggest, and caught on to what he was trying to signal to her. She pulled on the arm of her charge as well, leading Nikolai, albeit grumbling as he went, into the dining room, leaving Aki alone with her boyfriend.

He looked at her and raised one eyebrow. "It appears that I said something wrong."

Her own anger flared. "Of course you did! How could you say that?" She sighed, trying to calm herself down. "At any rate, it's better not to talk like that. As you can see, some of us are...very protective of our family." Suddenly feeling tired, she waved her hand at Hedeon. "Anyway, come on into the dining room and we'll have dinner." She led her guest into the dining room, and situated him on her left hand side, as far from her brother and parents as she could get him. They all settled in as her parents brought her dishes in and set them on the table. Usually, when food was brought out like this, they all fell to with bright chatter, but now the atmosphere was much more subdued. They all waited until Victor and Yuuri were settled in before starting to serve themselves.

Conversation was undeniably stunted during their meal. Hedeon complimented her cooking, but Aki just smiled stiffly as she thanked him politely. Her otousan tried his best to draw their guest into the fold of the table, but between her papa's and brother's unwillingness to engage with him, and Hedeon's own propensity towards clipped answers, it didn't go much of anywhere. By the time they were finished, Aki was more relieved than anything that it was over. She stood up almost too quickly to start clearing the table, but her otousan waved her back.

"I'll get it, Aki. You worry about your guest."

She managed to keep a grimace off her face as she saw the look in her papa's eyes. He was intending to follow them, too.

Sure enough, her prediction proved correct as Victor stood up from the table. "Why don't we all go into the living room, then? Aliya's papa should be here soon to pick her up, and we can chat as we wait." He gave that icy smile again, although Hedeon seemed immune to it. He simply stood and followed the family as they trooped back out of the dining room.

Fortunately for Aki, her papa's prediction came true almost immediately. A knock sounded on the front door just as she was trying to find a seat. Gratefully, she walked over to the door instead, throwing it open.

The smile she gave was filled with relief as she saw the man standing there. "Yurio!" she exclaimed.

He smiled at her fondly, reaching out to pat her hair. She was one of the few people Yurio would treat like this, as he had been her babysitter until she was old enough to take care of herself at home. Even after that, they had maintained a close relationship, and she privately thought of him as somewhere between an uncle and a big brother.

"Hey, there, Aki. How's your new bike working out for you?"

"It's great, Yurio. Tell Otabek thank you again for helping me pick it out." She had relied on them fairly heavily when she was choosing her motorcycle. If it had been up to her parents to pick a vehicle, she would have ended up with either a flashy monstrosity like her papa's, or something that an old woman would drive for safety.

Yurio's expression softened even further as he stepped into the apartment and saw Aliya. "Are you ready to go, malyshka?"

She beamed at him. "Yeah, Papa." She gave Nikolai a big hug, then ran over to her papa.

As she was putting on her shoes, Yurio finally seemed to notice their guest. His eyebrows raised as he said, "Oh, a new one. I don't think we've met before."

Aki hurried to introduce them, not wanting any more incidents. "Yurio, this is my boyfriend, Hedeon. He's entering the Men's division this year. Hedeon, this is our family friend, Yuri. You actually might see him this year, he judges for Men's skating."

Yurio was scrutinizing her boyfriend carefully. Thankfully, he chose not to say anything, instead turning to her parents and saying, "Thanks for having my kid over again."

Yuuri smiled. "Any time, Yuri. You know your family is always welcome here."

Yurio grunted at this, then held out his hand to his daughter. "Come on, Aliya. Let's get going."

The little girl turned around, waving her hand cheerfully. "Bye, everyone!" she chirped, taking her papa's hand without protest. Aki smiled at the sight. Most kids her age wouldn't be caught dead holding their parents' hands, but Aliya was such a good-natured girl that she went along with her papa's request without protest.

As the door closed behind the two of them, Hedeon turned to her parents and said, "I should probably be going as well. Thank you very much for a lovely evening." He looked at Aki and added, "And thank you for cooking. It was all very good."

She smiled at him, feeling a little more relaxed now. "I'm glad you thought so." She followed him to the door, opening it for him as he put his shoes on. He turned and faced the door, and for a moment their faces were within inches of each other. She froze, unsure of the protocol in this situation. He had kissed her the last time they had parted, but her parents were here now. She was at a complete loss.

Her brother solved the problem for her, clearing his throat loudly behind her. Hedeon gave a lopsided smile, and ducked out of the door without another word. Aki, as always, was a bit stunned by his smile, and stood staring dumbly at the empty hall.

Nikolai brought her back to reality, saying in a snide tone, "Are you just going to stand there with the door open all day?"

Cheeks flushing, she shut the door quickly and turned around, not meeting the eyes of her family members. Suddenly, the last thing in the world that she wanted to do was talk to any of them. "Um...I'd better go make sure the dishes are all clean," she muttered, and before anyone could protest, she scurried off to the kitchen. She refused to admit to herself that she was running away from the problem of her boyfriend.