CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED TWENTY ONE

For the moment, the press had been mercifully sparse in the prep area while skaters were getting ready for their Official Practice for the day. Mikhail practically dragged Yuri to where he knew the rest of the Russian team was setting up; almost the same corner as the day before but slightly closer to the rink-side entrance.

Yuri was having a bad case of déjà vu, watching as Mikhail pulled him along by his wrist. He grit his teeth though and dug in his heels, twisting his arm around to get free...but unlike when Minako had been there, Mikhail's grip was a bit more sure of itself, and he didn't let go.

"Struggle all you like, kid, you're not as slippery as you think." He chided.

"You don't have to pull me so hard! I can walk just fine!" Yuri insisted, albeit weakly.

The elder Russian raised a brow at him behind silver bangs, "And you'd walk yourself in the other direction if I didn't have a hold on you."

"You respect my judgment, don't you?" Yuri stood a little more normally.

"Sure?" The older man was skeptical though.

"You told Yurio to let me go after Viktor when he ran off into the woods that one tim-"

"And then I held you back when he went to confront his father in the graveyard."

"Because he told you to."

"I'm not letting you go after him right now, Yuri." Mikhail said firmly, "He's just going to go change. He doesn't need you to hold his hand for that."

"You know as well as I do that I don't mean to help him get dressed." Yuri grumbled, "If she finds him on the way there or on the way back, and I'm not there to make sure it doesn't go sou-"

"Every word you're saying right now is just a fancy dress you're putting on a pig." The Russian said, letting Yuri go and putting his hand in his pocket.

"...I have no idea what that means."

"You're dressing up a lie to make it seem like a valid concern. If you don't trust Viktor to be faithful then just say so."

"T-That's a horrible thing to say!" The young skater protested, "That's not even what I'm worried about at all."

"Then what?"

Yuri paused, grimacing as he rubbed his wrist, but then drew in a short breath, "...'I'm not afraid of heights; it's the ground I'm suspicious of.' I'm not worried about Viktor, it's her that makes me uneasy." He admitted, "I don't know anything about her. When she and Viktor were a thing back in the day, I was 16 years old and trying to figure out if I was ready to leave the Junior ISU yet or not. I literally did not give a single flip about Viktor's love-life at the time...it was him and his skating I was enamored by. But...I'm turning 25 in a few days...and I'm not just admiring him from a distance anymore...I care a whole lot about everything now. I'd put his stories about his past lovers at the back of my mind because I can't stand the thought of him being with anyone else, even in the past."

"What's your point?"

"I want to find her so I can keep an eye on her."

"And?"

"And what?"

"And just...stalk her all afternoon?"

"...No..." Yuri sighed, looking a little defeated, "Well, I don't know...maybe...? I just want to do what I can to prevent her from getting close to Viktor. If he wants to deal with her, fine, he can do that, but I want to make sure it doesn't happen before his Free Skate. Viktor's always been a genius at skating, and other than at Worlds, I can't think of any time he's fallen...but I don't know what would set him off. Finding out my dog died was enough for me back at the GP Final in Sochi. I can't even land my jumps when I'm worrying about something. But Viktor? I have no idea! NO IDEA what would make him fall apart on the ice. I'd be happy if I died never knowing."

"Knowing your partner's weaknesses is supposed to be a good thing." Mikhail said, tilting his head a little, which confused the young skater in front of him, "When you guys did your marital vows, I'll bet there was some provision in there somewhere that said you'd he the other's crutch in times of weakness, right?"

"...Sure."

"How can you be Viktor's crutch if you can't even be sure when he needs you to be one? A crutch is worthless if it's leaning against a wall in another room."

"I'm not going to ignore this situation because you want me to wait and see if Viktor collapses during his Long Program."

Mikhail shook his head and chuckled at that, "Not even close to what I'm saying. We got off on a tangent. The point I was making there is that it seems like you still don't really know all that much about Viktor. But going back to the previous point..."

The Russian's words were fading to the background by then, and Yuri couldn't hear him. His eyes descended to look at the ground.

...I...don't know that much about Viktor still? Is that really how it is? But...

"Yuri."

"Huh?"

"You zoned out." Mikhail said flatly.

Hazy eyes became clear as the younger man shook his head. He looked at the Russian squarely, "I know you don't want me to go do anything, but I'm going to go anyway. This is my marriage and I have to do what I think is right. Viktor would do the same." He turned on his heel and started heading back to where he knew the changing rooms would be, leaving his in-law behind him rather perplexed.

"Yuuurrrrrriiiiiiiii." Mikhail groaned.

.

Viktor only had his show-pants on when he paused and sat on the small bench in the changing booth, glaring at the Instagram icon on his phone's home screen. He hovered his thumb over it and circled it around slowly.

"Mmmhhhhh..."

He closed his eyes finally and set the phone aside, face down on the bench next to him, and then rose back up to unpack the rest of his outfit. By the time he was done, he slipped his long-coat back on for lack of his track-suit to wear overtop of it, and stepped out into the main locker-room area. There was a long row of mirrors not far off, and he quickly hair-sprayed his bangs into place. A few other skaters were also getting ready, but none really paid any other any mind while they were in there. Viktor slung his carry-bag over one shoulder and pulled his rolling suitcase along to leave the room, poking around on his phone again as he pushed through the doors that lead to the main prep area. A quick glance up and around to get his bearings, and he started heading for where he knew the Lists would be posted on the walls.

Ladies Singles and Pairs had already gone up and done their performances for the day, so it was just Men's Singles and Ice Dancers left. Whoever won would go on to perform at the Exhibition Gala later on that same night, followed by the traditional Banquet after it was all said and done.

"Vitya."

The Russian looked up, glancing to his left to see Yakov approaching. Behind him, Yurio was still looking at the lists, but turned soon after to see him.

"You're going up first this time."

"Da." Viktor nodded, "I was just making sure nothing changed."

"Don't push yourself too hard. Your body can't take the strain for much longer. Even Georgi is retiring this year."

"Oh, he's finally calling it quits then?" Viktor huffed a laugh, "I thought he'd keep going until after I stopped, just to spite me."

"He's using his head and accepting advice." Yakov said, "Figure skaters are only competitive for a short period of time. Mikhail already has Yuri figuring out what he's going to do when he retires, and he's only 16."

"My uncle thinks differently than I do."

"Yes, he thinks about the long-term. You're still quite reactionary, and act in the moment." The elder coach pointed out, "I heard that your Swiss friend put it in your head that you can do Exhibitions after competition ends for you. That's all fine and well, but you're not winning prize money from invitationals."

"I won't be destitute when I stop competing!" Viktor laughed, "Right now I just want to focus on finishing this year and coaching Yuri."

Yakov pat the skater's shoulder, "Think about the long-term, Vitya. Not even Katsuki will be skating forever."

"Nikiforov." Viktor corrected.

"You three share too many names. I have to differentiate him somehow without referring to him as food."

"Fair enough."

"Oh, did you know that Sophia is here?" Yakov continued, starting to move past, "You once dropped everything to go be with her, too. That didn't work out too well."

"Are you suggesting I'm doomed to repeat history?" Viktor wondered dubiously.

The older man shrugged, but then nudged his hat with a finger as he departed, "Only if you don't learn from it. You were short-sighted back then, too. You've aged, but you haven't really grown up. Push off retirement as long as you want, but eventually you're going to have to look in that mirror and explain to yourself what you did with all the time you wasted. You're both the most impulsive person, and the worst procrastinator I know, Vitya. It's going to get you one day."

"See you on the ice, Viktor." Yurio turned briefly, "I'm up right after you."

"...Okay." Viktor said quietly, watching as the pair headed back to where their gear was waiting. He adjusted where the carry-bag strap sat on his shoulder and started shuffling on down the line to briefly look at the scores for the earlier events. A smile crossed his face, "...British Pair Skaters...Silver. Good for him."

[There he is!] Came a French man's voice, somewhat distant, [They were right!]

Viktor turned his head, as did several other people nearby, wondering what the commotion was about even if most of them had no idea what had been said. He sighed and half-rolled his eyes as he saw the camera and audio guys there that he recognized from the day before. He still had his phone in-hand though and wondered half-heartedly if he could get away with walking by them, pretending to be on a call, and acting like he didn't notice them wanting his attention. He clicked open the home screen and looked over his contacts, trying to avoid eye-contact with the two. Only one of them was starting to approach though...the other had ducked into an adjacent hall like he was after something.

...This is just getting weird now.

When the camera operator finally came back, he had Sophia around the waist and was dragging her back. She was trying not to cause a scene, but the scene had already set before she was even there, and so everyone was looking at her despite her best efforts to stay quiet. A small crowd had gathered in a semi-circle around the trio, with Viktor somewhere in the back still 'looking' at the scoreboard, gawking curiously. It was almost too pitiful to take his eyes away where he was side-eyeing them all through the growing crowd.

"This local newsgroup has been really weird." He heard someone nearby saying, "The techs keep asking where Viktor is and then their reporter goes in the other direction."

"Did you see the super awkward interview she did with Yuri yesterday?" Someone else mentioned, "I doubt they aired it. You should've seen the look on his face when she called him 'Yuri Katsuki.'"

"Wow, she messed that up? Is she living under a rock?"

"They're not skating press. Who knows how much they actually know about what goes on around here?"

"Haven't you two seen Instagram lately? That reporter used to be Viktor Nikiforov's girlfriend!"

The crowd's back-and-forth was starting to get on Viktor's nerves; in part because he was standing right there, but also in part because he was standing right there. They were event personnel, and had already been closer to the newsgroup than he himself had been when everything started, so it was likely they had no idea he was right behind them. The sudden gasps and whispers as he excused himself to push forward confirmed that much.

Sophia was still trying to get away, and Viktor just looked at her silently.

[Soph, he's standing right here. There's no sense in trying to avoid him anymore. Let's just do this so we can leave.] The audio tech was saying. He turned to face the Russian like he was just some other stranger on the street, [Do you mind if we interview you?]

[Yes.] He answered firmly, looking down on the man that was barely taller than Yurio.

[...Yes?]

[See!? He doesn't want to do it! Let's just leave!]

[It's not the job of the camera man or the audio guy to ask people to do interviews.] Viktor said, pointing at them, [If any of you wants an interview, it would be her, the newscaster. She asks the questions, not you.]

The three glanced at one another awkwardly.

[...Do any of you have the slightest idea what you're doing?] He followed.

More anxious side-eyeing between them.

Viktor drew in a deep breath, and then exhaled in a sigh, [That's what I thought.] He lifted his phone again and clicked the side button to see the time, and then put it into his coat pocket, [Look, I don't have a whole lot of time right now. I saw on your network's website that you're expecting some big interview with me. Normally, something advertised like that is a scheduled sit-down, but here you three are, showing up at a skating competition like you can just walk in and talk to anyone you want. That's not how this works. Were you counting on Sophia to make it happen anyway?]

Nodding.

[Well, that's a shame then. Look at her.] He gestured with his phone-hand, [She can't even stand to look at me.]

[She's just nervou-]

[Don't tell her what she is.] Viktor said more-than-firmly, moving his hand to point at the figure who'd spoken the words. Sophia was at least looking at him by then, but not directly.

...This whole thing is no different than when Yuri and Yurio ran into each other at the Helsinki airport. I really don't have that kind of time though...

He glanced between the trio, then shook his head and walked through them, right past the woman who'd spurned him. She watched him go in stunned silence, and flinched as he paused and looked slightly over his shoulder, [If you want that interview, then come along. But only Sophia for now. You other two need to learn your place.]

[...Wh-] The pale-haired woman stammered, watching Viktor stepping away again, [Where are you...?]

The Russian turned side-face, not really looking so much as acknowledging the direction he was speaking, [Practice starts soon. I have to put my things away, stretch, and get my skates on. Plus, my husband has an anxious heart. He should be around.]

[...So...you really are...]

Viktor turned fully around at that, looking wary at first, but then thinking on Yuri and finding a smile cross his face, [I'm the happiest I've been in a long time. Now...come along. I need to be on the ice in 15 minutes.]