CHAPTER EIGHTY

The slow trickle of known people had grown into a slightly bigger trickle of unknown people, and pretty soon, Yuri was gawking at an arena full of spectators just like back during Hot Springs on Ice. They'd all come so quickly that the Nishigoris and Minako had a hard time stemming the flow, and eventually gave up entirely.

Yuuko apologized profusely, "I don't know where they're all coming from, but a good chunk of them seem to be media, and..."

"...And?" Yuri wondered pensively, unsure how to process it all.

"...They said that they were invited."

"Invited!? But...how? When? By who!?" He was starting to panic, "This was supposed to be a small thing!"

"I know, I'm sorry!"

Yuri looked around for an answer, but only saw Viktor off near the entrance where he'd already been caught by journalists.

"...This is sure a lot more people than I thought were going to be here." Minako was saying, "The girls are trying to stop people at the door, but they just keep coming."

"How many more are out there?"

"You're not going to like the answer."

The young skater was at a loss, and grabbed both women by the wrists to pull them into the men's locker room for lack of knowing what else to do. Once inside, he backed up against the door to keep it closed, "We have to do something!"

"...I don't know that there's much we can do." Yuuko said unhappily, "Short of throwing everyone out, but..."

"No...I couldn't do that, but..." Yuri sighed, "How in the world did all these people get invitations? We didn't even send any out!"

"Don't you remember?" Chris' voice came, followed soon after by the man himself, who had apparently already been in there changing for his part of the show, "Viktor told them to come."

"...What?" The Asian could hardly process it, "But...that was just supposed to be for a few photographers..."

"Not the way they understood it."

"Maybe he's out there trying to fix it?" Minako wondered, "He wasn't exactly hiding when the press showed up. He practically threw himself at the cameras when he saw them..."

Yuri was half-sliding down the door when he was suddenly launched forward, flying between the two ladies before landing face-first about 20ft further into the locker room. Yuuko and Minako watched him go, but soon they were looking back at the source of the impact, and saw Yurio bludgeoning his way in with his foot against the door.

"KATSUDON." He barked, stepping in with his hands stuffed in his pockets, only to see the two women looking back at him, "...Why are you in the men's locker room?"

"We were dragged in here." The older of the two explained, thumbing back at Yuri, who was still face-first on the floor with his arse in the air.

Chris went over to help him up, and Yurio loomed over them both as he turned around, "Viktor wants to know what you want to do."

"...Eh?" Yuri was dumbfounded, rubbing his face where he'd skidded, "What I want to do? It's a bit late for that, isn't it?"

"The JSF is out there interviewing him right now. It'd be easy for him to just tell them all this is a private event and send them away."

"T-The JSF is out there!?" Yuri was up and sweating bullets, "I can't just have them leave! It could be bad for my career!"

"So let them stay. Does it really matter?"

"Of course it does! This is supposed to by Viktor's and my wedding party, not another skating event! I didn't even want the photographers to come!"

Chris had pulled out his phone by then and was looking at the JSF website, seeing first the big thumbnail for the LiveStream of the 'event,' and second, a big photo of Yuri from the World Championships. It was big enough for him to see Yuri's hands without having to enlarge the photo, "...Yuri, did you know the JSF edited the ring out of your photos from Worlds?"

"...Yeah..." He answered dejectedly, "I found out when Viktor and I were stopped over in St. Petersburg." He moved over to one of the benches and sat down, head in his hands, "They edit out my ring or they pick photos where no one can see it."

"You know what?" Chris wondered, sitting next to the younger skater and putting his arm over the man's shoulder reassuringly, "They can't edit anything on live television."

"...Are you saying I should go out there and make a huge stink about it?" Yuri wondered, side-eyeing him from where his face was pointed to the ground.

Yurio and the others had pulled up their phones by then and were looking at the JSF site as well, seeing the photo Chris had mentioned. Yurio had pulled up the video feed though, and sat down next to Yuri with the device in his hand to make him look, "It's like they don't even know what's going on here today."

Yuri looked anxiously, and the blond turned up the volume for everyone to hear.

"...think it would probably be best if Yuri were out here himself to answer that question, but I'm not actually sure where he went." Viktor was saying, trying to look amiable, "Anything having to do with his plans for next season would be unfair of me to reveal without him here. We already told you everything we had to say about it when the media met us at the airport in Fukuoka anyway. It's barely been a few days!"

"So then what's up with this huge gathering of skaters?" Someone off-screen asked, "It seemed even more impromptu than last year's Hot Springs on Ice event, and you all at least told us about that ahead of time!"

"It's...just a gathering of friends." Viktor tried to explain, "Is it really so crazy for us to be friendly with fellow athletes?"

"Viktor isn't going to be able to bullshit forever." Yurio explained, resting his forearm on Yuri's closer shoulder the same way Chris was doing on the opposite side, "You need to get out there and do something."

"I don't know what to do though..." He sighed, shaking his head.

"Text him then." Yuuko suggested, "If he has his phone on anyway...you could buy some time."

Yuri nodded quickly and pulled his own phone out, pulling up his archive of texts with his husband and sending out a new message.

[Bail out, Viktor. Come to the locker room.]

They all looked back at Yurio's phone to see what would happen, but their attention was grabbed by the sudden explosion of noise on the far end of the locker room; the door being frantically shoved open and then closed again followed by yelling.

"That was Phichit!" Yuri was on his feet, "What's going on back there!? Phichit-kun!"

"Yuri!?" He called back from around a corner, "It's a circus out there! Why are you hiding in here!?"

"Cuz it's a circus out there." Yuri answered, "Come around, a bunch of us are here."

The Thai skater stuck his head around a corner, hoping and pleading that the door wouldn't just open after he took his hands off of it, but thankfully, the reporters didn't seem that keen on getting footage from inside the changing area, and the door stayed peacefully still. He sighed in relief and came around to join the group, only to pause and point at Minako and Yuuko, "...Why are you guys in the men's room?"

"...We were dragged in here." The younger answered this time, smiling nervously.

"Why are all of you in here? I mean, I know, but..." Phichit went on, getting closer.

"Trying to figure out what to do about what's out there?" Yuri answered, sitting back down and reaching for where Yurio had pulled his phone away, "Did Viktor get my text?" He looked back at his own phone, seeing that it said 'Delivered' at the bottom at very least.

Oddly, the Russian wasn't the one on the screen anymore...it was Otabek.

A split second later, Viktor himself was barging into the locker room, rushing in and shoving the door closed behind him in much the same way Yuri and Phichit had before him.

"Ah I can't believe it!" He lamented, feet out ahead of him where he leaned back against the panel, "There's so many people!" He looked at the two women and raised an eyebrow, "...Why are yo-"

"I dragged them in here." Yuri answered for them, sitting back down again between Chris and Yurio with a huff, "What are we going to do? This is turning out to be a bigger deal than the actual event we once hosted here, and back then we were actually trying to get peoples' attention."

"We only had two skaters performing back then though." Viktor said, realizing no one was trying to push the door in from behind him and he reluctantly pushed off of it to stand normally again, "Now we have two, plus one, plus two..." He pointed at each of the new-comers in turn, himself included. He then went down on one knee in front of his husband and put his gloved hands on the man's knees, "...I'm so sorry."

Yuri couldn't help but look at him with a slightly blaming expression on his face, but he shook his head, "...I know you didn't mean for it to turn out like this."

"I did my best to keep them all at the door as soon as I saw the cameras, so I sent Yuri to find you in my place." The Russian explained, "What do you want to do?"

Otabek and Mikhail were tumbling in through the doors just as the words were spoken, one through each door, and each in turn trying to shove them closed again.

"Getting a bit crowded in here." Yurio pointed out, "We can't hide in here all day."

"How bad is it out there now?" Minako wondered, picking up Mikhail's hat where it had fallen onto the tile floor, "It must be getting pretty hairy if they're going after you now."

"...Sort of." He answered, dusting the garment off before putting it back onto his silver-haired head, "A bunch of them are starting to catch on that this isn't just some random get-together like Viktor explained. Something about all the hanging portraits and the rink walls being decorated." He said sarcastically, "Maybe it was all the flower arrangements. Hard to say."

I can't take this anymore. Yuri thought. Viktor was so worried something bad would happen to us if he was too open about our relationship while we were in Russia...but we're back in Hasetsu now. This is my home. No one would hurt us here.

He could feel Viktor's hand coming up to cradle the side of his face, and he looked into those slate blue eyes for the answer. Viktor wasn't sure either though.

...I'm a World Champion Gold Medalist now. Would the JSF punish me if I forced them to upload something that undeniably showcased that Viktor and I are more than just a coach and student?

He lowered his eyes away, pressing his forehead to Viktor's, wishing he could meld their minds in that moment.

I'm going to go out there and tell them everything. I know now... All the confidence I gained this last year came from my slow acceptance that I was falling for you. Every time we got closer to each other, I did better on the ice. My heart and my skating are one and the same. One can't exist without the other. Viktor...you are my life and my love...and I'm going to make sure everyone knows it!

"...I'm going out there." Yuri said, rising to stand suddenly, "If the JSF drops me because of this, then fine. But I'm not going to hide in here anymore. They can't censor out my ring when I'm on a LiveStream...and I'm not going to let them shame me into silence about what we're doing here today." He turned his face up to where Viktor had risen back up to his full height, "You stay here." He looked back at his in-law, "Mikhail, Yuri, you come with me."

"...Why me?" The older Russian was skeptical.

"Because I said so." Yuri answered simply, marching back towards the door he'd come through and pulling the panel open to go back out. The two followed gingerly while the rest of the group stayed behind, watching them go with utterly perplexed looks on their faces.

The mob saw Yuri first and immediately tried to get his attention, but he just kept walking. Mikhail suddenly realized his purpose and went ahead to clear a path to the rink doorway.

As they went, they heard equal parts about Yuri's being the latest World Champion and Yurio having been cut from the Russian Team, but neither was willing to address the questions as they continued forward.

Everyone in the locker room surrounded Viktor after that, as he had taken Yuri's place on the bench and loaded the video stream on his phone, wondering what the brave young fool had planned.

Takeshi saw the group making their way through the crowd, and his daughters were stunned to see them.

"Dad! They're going onto the ice!" Lutz said, pointing at the rink wall where the opening was just ahead.

"Get the spotlights!" Loop agreed.

"Where's the megaphone!?" Axel looked around in a panic.

The Nishigoris went into overdrive after that, trying to accommodate the sudden turn of events. As soon as one of Yuri's dark sneakers touched down on the ice, a light shone down on him from above, joined soon by another and then a third, following his slow shuffle out into the middle of the rink. Yurio was close on his heels, but Mikhail stayed at the doorway to prevent anyone from going out after them.

"Everyone..." Yuri started, getting under a very specific tapestry. No one seemed to hear him though, "Everyone, please!"

"EVERYONE SHUT YOUR FACE-HOLES AND LISTEN." Yurio yelled on his behalf, silencing most of the clamor almost instantaneously. He looked back at his Japanese counterpart, "There."

"...Thanks." Yuri sighed, a bit embarrassed either way, "Figured I'd need you for that." He cleared his throat, "...Everyone! Please listen to me!"

The crowd seemed on edge, confused and curious, but they stayed quiet.

"I know you all must be really bewildered by everything you see here today." He went on, speaking as loudly as he could without screaming at them, "This wasn't supposed to be a big deal. It was just Viktor and I wanting to put on a show for our family and friends since we didn't get to come back home again after Four Continents."

"Seems more like they set up a show for YOU." Someone called back; Yuri couldn't tell who.

"That's because they wanted to help us make it as special as possible. You see..." He swallowed nervously.

Viktor had one hand over his mouth as he waited anxiously for the 'big reveal.' Everyone else was piling in close around him as well.

"...This whole thing was supposed to be our honeymoon celebration." He held up his right hand to show the ring, "Because of how things are here in Japan and back in Russia, we had to go all the way back to Spain to get our papers. The JSF has even done everything it could to hide my ring in all its official work about me...but I'm not going to let them hide it anymore." He could feel the emotion rising up in him, just like back when he was presenting his theme for the previous season and had gotten all riled up, "...I told you all before the Grand Prix Series that Viktor was the only person I've ever wanted to hold onto, and that I was going to call that 'love' for lack of a better word. Well, it IS love! I LOVE VIKTOR AND I MARRIED THAT MAN RIGHT BEFORE WORLDS." He pointed straight up at the tapestry above him and Yurio, the one featuring the photo of them with their marriage certificate in Barcelona, "My name is Yuri Nikiforov and this is OUR WEDDING PARTY."

The aforementioned Russian was in stunned silence.

"So you can take it or leave it!" Yuri continued, "We made no secret about it online! Viktor even called me his husband when he announced my name during my last Free Skate! So you can stay and celebrate with us or you can take your stuff and leave! I won't have bigotry ruin this. NOT TODAY, NOT IN MY HOME TOWN, NOT ON MY TURF."

The crowd was quiet for a moment after that...

...and then burst into raucous applause.

The two Yuris looked around in surprise at it all. The more they looked, the more they realized it was Viktuuri fans in the crowd, not so much journalists from the JSF. It seemed a bunch of them had even suspected what was going on and had made flags or banners with wedding-themed cartoon versions of themselves decorating the panels.

Yuuko and Chris were the first to see the droplets fall onto the small screen, and they looked up to see Viktor trying to hold back. His gloved hand was still over his mouth, tears falling from his eyes as he lowered the phone away.

"...Viktor?" The Swiss skater wondered aloud, only to find the man rising up to rush out of their hiding place, "Viktor!"

He was out the door in a hurry, pushing past the crowd where most of it had their backs turned to where he was coming from. From so far in the rear, it was hard, almost impossible to see him moving though, but eventually, he found his way to where Mikhail had guarded the rink door and slipped by, rushing out onto the ice with dress-shoes on his feet.

The crowd cheered even louder to see him, and the couple went for one another like it was even more urgent than their reunion after Makkachin's emergency.

The actually-small-number of JSF reporters were stunned by the excitement of the crowd, but the camera man just kept rolling.