CHAPTER FOURTY FIVE

-The past slowly creeps in, like smoke through a keyhole!-

"MinakosenseiMarineechanthsisMikhailVictor'suncleI'msurehe'spleasedtomeetyouVictorwhyareyoudoingthistome." Yuri blurted uncomfortably.

Mikhail couldn't help a stifled, quiet laugh from escaping him, and the sound of it immediately lightened the mood for the two women, even if it made Victor bristle.

"Mikhail, huh?" Minako started, and stepped forward, "I'm Minako Okukawa. I was Yuri's ballet instructor when he was young." She reached out her hand to the man.

He looked at it awkwardly, eyes looking straight past the woman to Victor behind her, as though seeking some tacit acknowledgement that he was being put on the spot and needed permission to participate. No one but him and Yuri noticed, but Victor actually rolled his eyes before finally waving his hand a little to let him go.

"The pleasure is mine." The elder Russian finally said. He took a step forward and collected the offered hand, but instead of shaking it like she'd expected, he leaned down to kiss the back of it, "It's nice to learn more about the people in Victor's life."

"I'm Yuri's older sister, Mari Katsuki." The second or the pair interjected, "So I guess that makes you...my uncle in-law? What side of his family are you from?"

"Maternal."

"Mhm, mhm... Not a Nikiforov then, I suppose." Mari was looking him over from top to bottom, "You definitely have the look though."

"What do you mean?" Mikhail wondered nervously, and watched her circle around him like a hungry shark, "...And no, I'm not a Nikiforov. That title went to my sister."

Mari had gotten behind him when she looked past his shoulder to see Victor beyond him, "Yep." She held her hands up, as though taking a picture of them between her fingers, looking through the 'window' with one eye closed, "You and Victor were absolutely cut from the same cloth." She explained.

Victor grimaced at that...and so did Mikhail, though for entirely different reasons.

"Oh my God, look at their faces; they even have the same expressions!" Mari cackled, severely amused by the whole thing.

Minako glanced between them and nodded in agreement, "They really do look alike... How old are you?"

"...Fifty seven."

"Oh." She blinked at him, "That's... You're just a bit older than I am."

Mikhail chortled at her, "There's no way you're in your fifties."

"...Well, a lady never reveals such things, but... Barely."

Mari elbowed the ballerina comically, "Better jump on him now for your own vintage version of Victor."

"MARI KATSUKI I SWEAR." She retorted, embarrassed, and shoved her off.

Yuri could tell that those words had put burning thorns under Victor's skin, but the man just listened quietly. He reached into Victor's track-suit coat pocket where he could feel his fist balled up tightly, and with a few gentle rubs, loosened it enough that he could lace their fingers together, "Do you want to leave?" He whispered, "We can go."

"No."

"You'll just spend all night chaperoning him. Is that really what you want? I thought we were going to go out to celebrate..."

Victor grips tightened around the fingers that held his, even as he tried his best not to let the look on his face change, "...I...don't want him getting wound up in everything."

"...I just don't understand. I mean...I get that you're worried he'll leave again, but..." Yuri finally admitted, and pulled his husband's arm to his chest with his free hand. He huffed a sad grumble and shook his head, "You know...if you'd told me that your father hit you as a kid, I would've never in a million years suggest that you go meet with him again, and then Mikhail wouldn't even be here. Is there something else? Something that Mik-"

"He's a stranger." Victor confessed quietly, "I feel like I'm just being followed around by some older fan who's trying his hardest to look like me."

"That can't be it..." The younger man wondered, and turned his head a little to look at the side of his partner's face, "You're trying so hard to imagine him as something other than family that you're actually starting to convince yourself that's the case."

"I don't want to think of him as family. You're my family, and Makkachin..."

Yuri sighed, and pressed his cheek to Victor's shoulder, "I wish I could see what you're seeing inside your head. You seemed so keen to introduce people at first, but then it's like a flip switched and now you see him as an enemy."

The Russian wasn't sure how to answer, but he brought his free hand up under his bangs, "...Every time I see him, my eye hurts." He admitted, and flicked his hair away, "I just...have so much pent-up anger that I never deal with from back then...when he left." He said grimly, his eyes starting to sting as he tried his hardest not to let it get away from him, "If he'd never left, maybe everything that went wrong afterwards wouldn't have happened."

The revelation made Yuri's eyes widen, and he pulled out in front of his husband. He reached up both hands to cup gently over cold cheeks, "Victor...it wasn't his fault..."

"I know that, b-"

"No, Victor...listen to what I'm saying." Yuri insisted, trying to keep his voice low, "Blaming him for what happened when he wasn't there makes as much sense blaming me for the same."

Cool blue eyes just looked down into him, as though trying to accept it but unable to get over the precipice.

"This guy standing behind me...he loves and supports you." Yuri continued, "He likes figure skating, and he likes me. He's trying so hard to do everything you want that he wouldn't even say 'hi' to any of us until you showed up to say it was okay. Would he be this careful if he didn't care about how you felt?"

"...Yuri..."

"He told me..." He went on, "When we met in secret that one night. We talked for nearly an hour. He told me about all the reasons why he left that town you both grew up in. About how he was tired of how backwards and old fashioned everyone was, how he never fit in with the rest of the family...and that he left abruptly when he did to escape the suffocating oppression he felt there. It killed him that he couldn't take you with him...but you're not his kid. He couldn't. He said he couldn't even understand why your mother stayed there, or why she didn't let him have you when she had the chance. He even went back once, before you left on your own, to see if he could get you out!"

"...That's just not true." Victor contested, the hair on the back of his neck bristling and stiff.

"Why would he lie about something like that!?"

"Why wouldn't he? I don't remember him ever coming back."

"You were a child. Even I barely remember things that happened to me before I turned ten. Why are you so convinced he wants to hurt you?" Yuri was desperate for understanding, and it was getting harder to keep his voice low, "He's cursed himself for the last two decades because he feels like he failed you! Now you're giving him the cold shoulder and won't even give him the benefit of the doubt!"

Victor turned his eyes away, but held his ground.

"...Please, Victor..." Yuri added sadly, and lowered his hands so they rested flat on his spouse's chest, "You once dropped everything and risked your entire career to take a chance on a scrub like me. You're not risking anything to give him a chance..."

The Russian looked up and around his partner; over to where Mikhail was still chatting it up with the ladies of Hasetsu, and to the wandering fans who slipped by around them, having no clue what was going on, then back to Mikhail. The man had pulled his phone out and was making grand gestures.

"...and so, I tell him...I have in my hand a device that gives me access to the entirety of human knowledge and understanding...and I use it to watch cat videos and get into pointless arguments with complete strangers."

The three of them laughed, realizing how sad and true it was.

Victor sighed to himself and brought his arms up over his beloved's shoulders; he wrapped them around and buried his face in the middle of it all. He held there for a while as Yuri returned the hug, holding him tight around the chest.

"You once told me that it was okay to be scared." Yuri whispered in the small space between them, "You can be scared too, okay? Mikhail won't ever lay a finger on you. And if he does, well..." He pulled back a little and smiled, "...I don't know if you're aware, but I happen to own a pair of boots with some pretty big knives bolted to the bottoms."

Victor gawked at him, and then burst out into sudden laughter, enough so that he had to wipe a tear from his eye. It drew the attention of the trio behind Yuri, and even some awkward glances from spectators who were passing in the hall. The Russian pulled his hand back and pinched the bridge of his nose before he moved it up to run the length of his husband's fluffy black hair, "I can't believe how much I love you right now, Yuri."

Brown eyes shimmered as he heard those words, and Yuri let himself laugh a little, too.

The Russian leaned in to kiss him right there in front of everyone, and Yuri was relieved for it. Victor then finally turned to face his uncle evenly, "...Yuri and I have to go do our post-event conference, but...let's all go get something to eat after."

.

By the time they were ready to come back down from their hotel room, the lights of the city twinkled with life. Yuri checked Instagram idly as the elevator descended the floors, and shared with Victor the wave of posts that repeated the quad Axel. Animated gifs, short clips of video, still-frames that showed every second of the jump with markers for each complete revolution - and the final extra half - ...all of it.

"It's still hard to believe it, even though I've seen it myself now." Yuri said, leaning against the wall with his free hand clasped with his husband's, "A quad Axel... Just...wow."

"Once upon a time, it was considered impossible to do a double jump, then a triple...then a quad." Victor pointed out, "Times change, and so do possibilities. Maybe you'll put me to shame one day with a quint." He mused.

Yuri just scoffed though, "Quintuple jumps have to be impossible."

There were a few people in the elevator with them who were gaping inconspicuously, and eavesdropping. Though maybe it was just the sight of the pair holding hands that was awkward for them...not everyone who skated followed the lives of every one of the other skaters, too.

"Oh, here...you'll like this." Yuri started again, and held his phone a little closer to his face as he read the tiny text out loud, "...'After the first day of Men's Singles, the leader-board is dominated by Russia, Japan, and Canada. Reigning Russian champion, Victor Nikiforov, leads the pack in his come-back performance with an unbelievable record-setting score topping 122, while his husband, Yuri Nikiforov..." Victor squeezed his hand affectionately, "...previously Yuri Katsuki, is in second place currently with a score over 118. It's speculated that both of these skaters will end the season with scores that will likely be insurmountable for generations to come.'"

"Nice."

"Right!? We're history makers!"

The elevator finally came to rest on the lobby floor, and the doors opened, releasing the riders to the open atrium. Victor spotted the expected trio waiting for them just outside, and he pulled Yuri through the revolving doors to join them.

"The internet's going crazy over you two." Minako started, and nudged her phone-hand out for emphasis, "That quad Axel and both of your Short Program scores...it's unreal. Are you two sure you haven't been abducted by aliens and made into super-humans?"

"I was abducted by an alien!" Yuri raised his arm quickly, "But he's Russian, and I went willingly, so I don't know if that counts."

"Well, he definitely made you super-human, Yuri."

"This is all so surreal..." He admitted, and finally put his own phone away, "I'm so close to getting to skate the Exhibition Gala for the World Championships...and not have to pay to get in, either."

"Got something big planned?" Mari asked curiously.

"Yes!" Yuri answered enthusiastically, "I can't wait!"

"Victor...?" Minako gave him a smirk, "Do you know what he's up to?"

"For the Exhibition? No, actually." He shrugged and smiled, "He's keeping this one close to his chest."

"What are you planning?"

"Something easy."

"Watching the shows you've both done before, I'm not even sure what 'easy' looks like." Mikhail finally commented, drawing eyes towards himself, "What...?" He asked nervously.

Minako huffed a laugh, "'Easy' for Victor just means 'I'm not telling anyone anything because it's a surprise.'"

"Yeah, that's basically true." Yuri affirmed, "Where are we going for food though? Victor and I are famished."