Nikolai's alarm went off earlier than usual, and he was instantly wide awake.

Today was April Fool's Day.

In his house, this was a day that was filled with unknown terrors left for him and his otousan. His sister and papa always got...creative with their pranks. Nikolai had even considered trying to move out before April Fool's Day this year, as he had just celebrated his 18th birthday, and was technically old enough to leave the house. But he figured if he had done that, his sister would have just followed him to his new place and set up traps there instead. After all, she hadn't lived in their home for years, and always managed to collude with his papa to play tricks anyway. In the end, he had decided it wasn't worth trying to move out, and instead settled on waking up early to leave the house as quickly as possible.

Carefully, he placed his feet on the floor, checking for any unusual textures under his toes. All seemed clear, so he stood up and turned on the light, quickly grabbing his skating bag that he had kept hidden in his closet overnight. He was already dressed in his jogging clothes, and had an extra change of clothes packed just in case.

Shouldering his bag, he went to his door and cracked it open just far enough to allow him to run his fingers along the edge. He paid particular attention to the handle, making sure there was nothing attached to either side. Once he was satisfied that there were no foreign objects on his door, he swung it open definitively.

Instantly, there was a loud pop. Nikolai jumped, flinging his hands up in front of himself instinctively. After a moment, the door opposite him clicked open, and his papa's sleepy face peeked out. "Ah, Nika, good morning."

"Good morning, my ass! What was that?" Nikolai did his best to calm himself down, peering tentatively into the hallway lest he set off another bang.

His papa chuckled. "I just set a little surprise for you when you woke up. I rigged a party popper to the bottom of your door so it would be pulled when you opened it. Did you enjoy your surprise?"

Glaring at his papa, Nikolai lifted his feet several inches over his doorway as he stepped into the hall, calling, "Otousan, do you want to go for a run with me?"

His parents' bedroom door was pushed open wider, and his otousan appeared, also fully dressed and carrying his own skating bag. "I would love to," he responded, stepping swiftly around his spouse.

His papa whined, "Yuuuuri, Nikaaa, why are you leaving so early? You haven't even had breakfast yet."

His otousan looked sternly at his papa. "I cannot imagine why you think we would have breakfast with you on April Fool's Day, Vitya. We will be perfectly fine picking up something after our run. Oh, and please be sure to take Makkachin out for a walk, he's probably scared stiff after that horrid noise." Turning to his son, Yuuri said, "Come on, Nika," and brushed authoritatively down the hallway. Nikolai scurried after him, hoping desperately that his otousan's protection would help him leave the house safely.

It wasn't until they reached their regular running path that Nikolai allowed himself to relax a little. If they hadn't triggered any more pranks by now, it was likely they were in the clear, at least for the moment. They fell into an easy pace next to each other as they did every morning, going a tad slower due to the added weight of their skating bags. When they reached the end of their regular running path, his otousan slowed their pace to a walk, barely even breathing hard. Nikolai always admired Yuuri's stamina, as he felt much more worn-out than his otousan looked.

Chatting nonchalantly, they stopped by a bakery for breakfast, eating it slowly as they walked to the ice skating rink. Although they were early for the first class of the day, when Nikolai pushed the arena door open, he saw a familiar figure sitting on a bench.

Allowing the door to swing shut, he called, "Aliyen'ka?"

The sandy head lifted to look at him, and his girlfriend, Aliya, smiled broadly as he walked towards her. "Kolya! You're here!"

He smiled back at her automatically. "Yeah, but we're a bit early. Why are you here so early?"

She swung her feet leisurely. "Oh, no reason. I just wanted to see you."

His chest constricted. Glancing around quickly, he noted that his otousan was absorbed in getting his skates out. Nikolai leaned forward and pecked a kiss onto Aliya's lips. They were just too pretty to resist.

As he pulled back, she smiled up at him languidly. "Are you going to practice before the lessons start?"

Quickly, he plopped his bag onto the floor and took a seat next to her. "I didn't really have any plans either way. We just ended the season, so it's not like I have to practice right now."

She giggled. "Yeah, you're right. And my әкем will make sure we get plenty of practice in later, anyway."

Nikolai suppressed a groan. He knew that his girlfriend was right. Otabek wasn't one to give breaks to his skaters, even in the off season. And it didn't help that the only skaters he would take on were his daughter and her boyfriend, so they received his sole Spartan attention.

Aliya interrupted his thoughts by leaning into him. He found it extremely endearing that her head was barely able to reach the top of his shoulder to rest on it. "Well, we can at least relax for now," she said.

Nikolai hummed in agreement. He knew that the kids would be coming in soon for their group lesson with his otousan, but he wanted to enjoy a little time with his girlfriend while he could.

All too soon, children began trickling in, shouting greetings to Nikolai and Yuuri as they entered. With a sigh, Nikolai bent down and unzipped his bag, trying his best not to disturb Aliya as he put on his skates. She giggled at his efforts and said, "Be careful not to shake me off, okay, Kolya?"

He nodded seriously. She laughed again, clinging onto his upper arm as he leaned forward and carefully laced up his skates. She dangled herself off of him, her honey-brown hair hanging in a curtain from the side of her head. He couldn't help smiling back at her, and when his skates were fully laced, he jerked his body forward, pretending to throw her off. She squealed and threw one of her arms around his neck, anchoring herself to him.

"If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me!"

Her eyes invited him to laugh along with her, and he couldn't resist a chuckle. Straightening up, he assured her, "All right, all right, you know I'd never drop you."

She pecked a quick kiss onto his cheek. "I know, you lift me all the time on the ice. I trust you." Releasing him, she patted him on the back. "You'd better get going, the kids will be waiting for you."

As if proving her prediction, he heard a voice calling his name. "Nikolai Victorevich!"

He looked over Aliya's head and saw a little boy dashing towards him. Planting a kiss on the top of Aliya's hair, he stood up and smiled in greeting. "Hey, Fyodor. How are you?"

The boy stopped short of them, grinning in return. He directed his gaze to Aliya and greeted her too. "Hello!"

She chuckled. "Hello, Fyodor. Are you ready for practice today?"

"Yup!" He sat down on a bench near them and began pulling his skates on.

Nikolai patted him on the head. "Then let's get out there and have fun today! I'll wait for you on the ice."

"Okay, Nikolai Victorevich!"

As he walked towards the rink, Nikolai remembered how, less than a year ago, this boy had been full of anger and resentment towards him. Now Nikolai was his favorite teacher, and he seemed to be blossoming on the ice. Yuuri had even started to talk about getting Fyodor a private coach.

He was thrown from his musings by a small chorus of children's voices greeting him as he stepped onto the ice. He smiled and offered a small bow to them as they kicked off their group lesson for the day. Nikolai tried his best to focus on helping his otousan with the class, but it was rather distracting knowing his pretty girlfriend was sitting just a short distance away. He sneaked a few glances at her during the practice, but she seemed immersed in her phone, only meeting his eyes once to give him a sunny smile.

When the lesson was over and all the children had trickled away, Nikolai turned his attention back to his girlfriend. As he made his way towards her, he saw that she was sitting with someone, and realized with a sinking stomach that the someone was his sister.

He exited the rink and cautiously approached them. At the best of times, his sister liked to tease him, and April Fool's Day was anything but the best of times in his family. As he walked over to them, he positioned himself behind Aliya, halfway thinking of using her as a buffer and halfway wanting to watch over her in case Aki tried to do anything to her.

As he put his hands on Aliya's shoulders, his sister looked up at him with a wicked smile. "Hey, Nika, how are you today?"

He squeezed Aliya's shoulders reflexively. "What do you want, Aki?"

She tutted at him. "Oh, my, is that any way to speak to your dear onee-san? Especially when I went out of my way and took a long break today just to bring you a home made lunch?" She held up two bento boxes.

Nikolai looked at them warily, but was saved from answering by his otousan. "Aki, what a nice surprise!" Yuuri walked over to his daughter and gave her a kiss on top of her head. "What are you doing here?" he asked, and Nikolai couldn't help but notice the note of suspicion that threaded through his voice.

Aki didn't seem to notice anything amiss, however, and smiled up at their otousan. "I brought you and Nika lunch today!"

Yuuri eyed the bentos warily. Nikolai cut in, "Yeah, thanks but no thanks, Aki. I'm not that dumb. I'll go get something to eat with Aliya."

"Well, actually Kolya, I made lunch today too." Almost sheepishly, Aliya dug around in her bag and produced a lunch box.

Without hesitation, Nikolai snatched the box from her hands and positioned himself on a bench facing the girls. His sister clicked her tongue. "Wow, not even going to try my bento, huh, Nika?"

"Nope," he said flatly, opening the lunch box. He picked up a sandwich and took a large bite.

Instantly his tongue regretted his decision. He dropped the sandwich as his eyes started to water, desperately trying to chew so he could swallow the bite he had taken. He held his hands out to Aliya, miming a drink. Aki was in stitches, bent nearly in half laughing at him as his girlfriend handed him a thermos. Yuuri directed a stern look at his daughter as Nikolai gratefully gulped down the soothing liquid. "Akilina, what did you do?" he demanded.

She wiped tears from her eyes, an innocent look settling over her face. "Me? I didn't do it, Otousan. Aliya made it."

Having finally caught his breath, Nikolai lifted the bread of his sandwich and asked incredulously, "What did you put on this, Aliyen'ka?"

Her eyes sparkled with mirth, and for a brief moment Nikolai thought that look was worth the pain his mouth had experienced. She answered, "Oh, just some peppers."

He spluttered, "Like hell those were 'just' peppers. What kind of peppers were they?"

"Hmm, I think they were cayenne peppers?"

Locating the slices of red on his sandwich, Nikolai carefully picked them off one by one and set them to the side. He attempted to wipe the inside of the sandwich with a napkin to get some of the juice off as his sister giggled uncontrollably.

"Too bad you chose that one, Nika. My lunch is fine." Aki popped a lid off of a bento and started to eat, looking pleased with herself.

Yuuri leaned forward and picked up the other bento, sitting next to his daughter. "In that case, I suppose I'll take this one." He picked up the chopsticks included in the bento and selected a piece of fried meat. As soon as he started chewing, his face turned red, and he snatched the thermos out of Nikolai's hand and chugged a healthy gulp. He handed the drink back and coughed a little, glaring at his daughter.

She was laughing again, not even attempting to disguise her guilt now. "Ahaha, Otousan, you should have seen your face!"

Nikolai looked at his otousan. "Cayenne?" he asked.

Yuuri nodded and stood up. "I really should have known better than to trust food that was given to me today. I'm going to run out and get something for lunch. Nika, would you care to come with me?"

Nikolai shook his head. "No, I think I'll be all right. I took the peppers off." He didn't say it, but he didn't want to waste food that Aliya had made for him, even if it was tainted with cayenne peppers.

His otousan shrugged. "Suit yourself, then. I'll be back for the preschool class. And Aki," he said sternly, "don't torment your brother any more while I'm gone."

Her mouth fell open in indignation. "What! You'll scold me but not Aliya? No fair, Otousan!"

Yuuri smiled down at Aliya indulgently. "I didn't get tricked by Aliya. And besides, this is the first time she's done something like this. You're a repeat offender. So behave yourself." With a last warning stare, he turned and swept out of the arena.

As he left, Aki held out her fist expectantly, and Aliya grinned and gave her a fist bump. "We did it, Aliya!" she whispered, and the younger girl giggled.

Nikolai watched them in dismay. He was used to being tricked by his sister, but now he had to be wary of his girlfriend, too? Aliya noticed him looking at her and strained to pat the top of his head, saying, "Don't look at me so forlornly, Kolya. I just wanted to tease you a little. Now eat the rest of your lunch, I put a special treat in there for you!"

He looked sullenly back at the lunch box, and saw that there were a couple of desserts included. He couldn't keep a snort of laughter back as he saw that one of them was a small arrangement of chocolate-covered pretzels with eyes on them. He picked one up and turned it over. "What in the world is this, Aliyen'ka?"

"I thought they looked cute. I made them just for you. Do you not like them?"

Hurriedly, he said, "No, no, they look adorable." He popped one into his mouth, and was relieved when it just tasted like a chocolate pretzel. As he chewed, he asked, "Are the eyes made out of sugar?"

Aliya nodded. "Yup, they were such cute little googly eyes that I just had to use them for something." She smiled at him, and in his heart, he fully forgave her for the cayenne peppers. He looked back at the lunch and saw a few Oreos next to the pretzels. He bit into one, stopping mid-chew to stare at his girlfriend.

Aki was once again laughing as Aliya grinned at him like a cat. "Do you like my special Oreos?"

He rummaged around in the box for the napkin, spitting the offending bite out. "Was that toothpaste?" he asked incredulously.

Aki snorted as Aliya nodded. "Yes, I thought you might need something to cool your mouth off after that sandwich." She gave him a dazzling smile, and Nikolai stared at her, caught between irritation and admiration. Finally he gave up and sighed, turning his attention back to his lunch. Now that his sandwich was mostly clean, he ate it carefully, deciding to completely ignore the side dishes in the lunch. He somehow made it through the rest of the meal, although he easily drained the contents of the thermos, and still would have happily had more to drink.

When he was completely done eating, he took a long swig from his own water bottle and stood up. Aki said in her best falsely innocent voice, "Nika, don't you want to sit and talk with us any longer?"

He glared down at her. "No, the preschool class is starting soon, so I'm going to go warm up a bit." He saw the door of the arena opening, and added, "And besides, Otousan just got back." He started to walk away, then paused and said sternly, "Be nice to Aliyen'ka while I'm gone."

Aki gave him an offended look. "I would never be mean to my adorable Aliya. You go on and do your class, us girls will wait for you here." She scooted closer to Aliya and threw an arm around her shoulders, smirking up at her brother. Nikolai sighed and gave up, walking towards his otousan.

As he drew within hearing range, his otousan asked, "Any more mishaps?"

"Other than a toothpaste Oreo, everything was fine." Nikolai sighed wearily. "I never thought that Aki would get poor Aliyen'ka mixed up in her pranks."

Yuuri clapped his son on the shoulder as they walked towards the rink. "We'll just have to stick together today, I suppose. And at least she isn't playing pranks on Aliya."

Nikolai nodded begrudgingly. His otousan was right, it could have been worse.

Suddenly, the doors burst open and the preschool class began streaming in. Nikolai stepped out onto the ice to receive the children as his otousan greeted them. When they had gathered everyone together, and all of the children had chirped their enthusiastic greetings, they began. Although his otousan's words had soothed him a bit, Nikolai couldn't help but stare at the girls sitting on the sidelines during the class. It certainly didn't look like they were planning anything. They simply sat and talked, laughing together every once in a while.

Nikolai found it hard to concentrate on teaching, and was glad when the parents reappeared to collect their children. He decided to let his otousan handle pick up alone today, and went over to where his sister and girlfriend were sitting together, laughing over some shared joke. He sat down on the bench next to Aliya, drawing her into his side possessively as he glared at Aki.

His sister stood up and said, "Well, I can take a hint. This has been a lot of fun, but I've got to be going. Aliya, good work today. Welcome to one of the best holidays in this family."

Nikolai glared at her back as she left, and his girlfriend laughed. "Kolya, she didn't even do anything to you. Why are you mad at her instead of me?"

Startled, he looked at Aliya and mumbled, "You're too cute to be mad at."

"Hmm, am I? That's good to know." She leaned over and kissed him gently.

Just as he was considering deepening the kiss, he heard a stern voice. "Are you two ready for practice yet?"

Breaking away hastily, Nikolai looked up to see Aliya's әкем standing behind her. She sighed and stood up, turning to face Otabek. "Иә, Әкем, we're ready."

He regarded them with his serious dark eyes. "Good. Then let's get out there and do some warm up laps."

"All right. Come on, Kolya, let's go." Grabbing Nikolai's hand, Aliya pulled him towards the gate.

They worked hard for the next couple of hours, and Nikolai couldn't help but feel that he was being punished for kissing Otabek's daughter in front of him. When they were finally allowed to stop, he thunked gratefully down onto their bench, barely wanting to move to unlace his skates. As he was trying to convince himself that moving was indeed a good thing, Aliya said to her әкем, "Is it okay if I go to Kolya's for a while?"

Otabek stared at Nikolai for a moment, then nodded. "I suppose that's fine. Will you have dinner with them?"

"I'm not sure. I'll call you or Papa when we figure it out."

He nodded again. "All right. Then I will see you later, Aliya. Good work today, you two."

As he left, Nikolai said, "I'll call my otousan and see what he wants to do about dinner." Digging in his bag, his hand hit an object that was about the same size and shape as his phone, but it felt somehow...rubbery? He pulled it out and stared at it. It was undoubtedly his phone, but it had been completely covered in layers and layers of rubber bands.

He heard a snicker, and turned to look at his girlfriend incredulously. She was holding her hand over her mouth, but the corners of her eyes were crinkled in an unmistakable smile. Until then, he had been sure that his sister was responsible for this prank. He stared in awe at his girlfriend and said slowly, "You did this?"

A burst of laughter escaped from behind her hand, and she nodded.

Looking at her face, Nikolai couldn't help but join in her laughter. "Wow, Aliyen'ka, you're just fitting right into my family, aren't you?"

She lowered her hand, her face already sobering a bit. "Do you really think so?"

Nikolai stuffed his skates into his bag and shoved his feet into his street shoes. Standing up, Nikolai pulled her to her feet and hefted his bag onto his shoulder. They started to walk out of the building as he assured her, "Yeah, of course. They've always loved you. You were practically family in the first place, even before we started dating."

"Really?" She looked up at him as he held the arena door open for her. He nodded at the secretary then held the outer door of the building for his girlfriend.

Once they were outside, he responded, "Yeah, of course." He gave her an absent kiss on the top of her head as his attention turned to the problem of his phone. He started pulling off a few rubber bands, and quickly found that he had nowhere to put them. Giggling, Aliya held out her hands and he gratefully began piling them up in her open palms. As the number grew, he said with begrudging admiration, "I hate to admit it, but this was a pretty good prank. How long did it take you to put all of these on?"

"Oh, I was working on it during most of your first group lesson," she said airily.

"I thought you were on your own phone. At the very least, that's certainly dedication," he said, peeling off another rubber band and dropping it into her palm as she laughed.

It took him the rest of their walk back to his house to free his phone from its rubber band prison. As they reached the parking lot, he plopped the last one into her palm triumphantly.

"I'm a little upset. I think it took me longer to set up the prank than it did for you to undo it," Aliya griped.

He stuck his tongue out at her, and she laughed. Digging in her bag, she said, "I have a prize for you since you did such a good job untangling it. And, you know, a late present since you just had your birthday." She held out a small fuzzy ball and pushed it into his hand.

He examined it, trying not to trip up the apartment's stairs as they started to ascend. It was a small keychain, about the size of a golf ball, entirely made up of what appeared to be a large pom pom. It sported two small googly eyes that wiggled up at him comically as they walked. He gave his girlfriend a lopsided smile. "It's pretty cute. Thanks, Aliyen'ka."

They were in front of the door to his apartment now. He produced his key and they went in, shutting the door behind them quickly to prevent Makkachin from escaping.

Aliya laughed as the poodle enthusiastically greeted her. Nikolai called, "Otousan, Papa, tadaima. I brought Aliya."

The person who greeted him, however, had a decidedly feminine voice. "Nika, is that you? Okaeri!" His sister came out of the hallway, followed closely by their papa.

Victor made a beeline for his son, wrapping him in his arms as he wailed, "Nika, your otousan is mad at me! You have to save us!"

Instantly, Nikolai was wary. His body stiffened, and he looked over his papa's shoulder and asked his sister coldy, "What did you two do? And why are you even here? I thought you went back to work."

Aki feigned indignation. "Why, my own little brother doesn't trust me? How cruel. And besides, I never said I was going back to work. I actually took the whole day off today."

Nikolai deeply disliked the smug look his sister was wearing. It didn't bode well for him. Suddenly, he realized that he hadn't seen his other parent. He called, "Otousan? Are you all right?"

His otousan appeared from the kitchen, his face a mixture of weariness and annoyance. "Nika, you're back. Ah, and Aliya, you came along. Are you staying for dinner?"

Nikolai cut off their conversation. "Otousan, what did they do?"

Yuuri sighed deeply. "If you want to know, it's probably better if I show you. Come into the kitchen."

Nikolai extracted himself from his papa's hold and followed his otousan. As soon as he stepped into the kitchen, his jaw dropped. There were googly eyes everywhere. They stared at him from every cabinet, from the backs of the chairs, and all the appliances. There was even a comically large pair, about the size of plates, somehow attached to the fridge. He heard several muffled sounds behind him, and turned to see his papa and the girls trying their best to hold in their laughter.

"This isn't even the worst of it," Yuuri said, drawing Nikolai's attention. He opened the fridge, and Nikolai peeked inside. Every single food item sported a pair of googly eyes, down to individual cans and bottles. He looked incredulously at his otousan. Yuuri looked annoyed as he explained, "And they also had them all over the glasses. I had just finished that when you arrived home. You missed the living room. I can't tell you how long it took me to remove all the googly eyes from our family pictures."

The three mischief-makers all started snickering audibly now. Yuuri glared at his spouse. "I had thought I had made myself clear after the Putin picture fiasco that family pictures were off limits for pranks."

Victor, to his credit, tried his best to straighten his face out into an expression of remorse. "But, dorogoi, I didn't do anything to the pictures. I just put the googly eyes on the glass, on top of the pictures. Besides, the whole thing was Aliya's idea anyway."

Now it was Nikolai's turn to stare at his partner. She looked like she was about to burst at the seams. He asked, "Aliyen'ka, did you really do all this?"

Her face was red from repressed laughter as she replied, "No, I just had the idea. And I kept you busy so that Victor and Aki could carry out the decorations." Aki raised her fist again, and the two fist bumped enthusiastically.

As he stared in disbelief at his girlfriend, Aki chimed in, "You should probably go check your room, Nika. You might have some surprises in there, too."

He stared at his sister in horror, then bolted out of the kitchen. Reaching his bedroom, he threw open the door and flicked on the light.

Now he could understand the sight that had greeted his otousan when he had arrived home. Every available object had been adorned with a pair of googly eyes. His eyes roamed over the room, and he noticed that his bed had also been graced with oversized eyes. Even his individual pencils and pens all sported tiny googly eyes that had somehow been attached to them. He stared at the room for a solid minute, then turned off the light and slowly closed the door. Walking back down the hallway, he went into the kitchen where his family was still standing. Victor was giving Yuuri his best puppy eyes while the girls laughed as quietly as they could.

When Nikolai entered, Aki smirked at him. "Did you enjoy your room?"

He looked airily at his sister. "I have decided to pretend that it doesn't exist for now." He turned to Yuuri and said, "Anyway, Otousan, what are we doing about dinner? Is Aliya staying to eat with us?"

His otousan closed the fridge door and turned around with a smile that instantly wiped the mirth off of the prankers' faces. "Why, yes, Nika. That's a splendid idea. Aki, why don't you stay for dinner, too? I can show you all how thankful I am for the lovely surprise you set up."

Aki began sputtering, "Now, Tousan, it was just a joke, don't get too mad."

He smiled chillingly at his daughter. "Don't try to get out of this by being all cute, Akilina. Why don't all of you go wait in the living room while I get dinner ready?" He turned around decisively, and they all understood that they had been dismissed. They trudged into the living room.

Nikolai followed them, trying his best not to be smug. His otousan didn't snap often, but when he did, it was legendary. He sat down on the couch next to his girlfriend as Aki settled in a chair and turned the TV on. Aliya leaned over and said to him quietly, "You don't think your otousan is too mad at me, do you?"

He snorted. "Not in any real way, no. But you guys have definitely pissed him off. I wouldn't expect dinner to taste very good." He leaned towards his girlfriend and gave her an overly sweet smile. "Besides, shouldn't you be worried about your boyfriend being mad at you, too? You gave me such a lovely belated birthday present. I'll be sure to remember it when your birthday comes later this month." He kissed her temple and smiled wickedly at her.

She stared at him for a moment before pushing his shoulder lightly. "Oh, Kolya, don't be mean! You know this was just a joke!"

He laughed. "Of course I do. I already bought you a real present, anyway. I wouldn't be so mean as to buy you a revenge present." He kissed her hair reassuringly as she settled down in the crook of his arm to watch the show that was on. Nikolai couldn't help but smile to himself a little. She certainly was fitting right in with his family.