CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FIFTY THREE

Minako was lying on her back on her hotel bed, the television playing something quietly that she wasn't really paying much attention to. She pulled a pillow over her face and groaned dramatically, "This is so boring!" Kicking her legs, she suddenly sat up and squashed the pillow against her lap, "There has to be something to do around here."

Reaching for her phone, she did her best to look up anything at all that she could entertain herself with, but everything that came up was either too far away or too expensive to be worthwhile to do alone, "On occasions like this, without Mari around, it would be easy to just drag Yuri out to do something. But he's probably too busy with trying to sort out what happened today..." She grumbled to herself.

KNOCK...KNOCK KNOCK

"Eh?"

Two dainty bare feet touched down onto the carpet and strolled towards the door, taking a look through the peep-hole. A blurry, pale, grey-haired figure stood outside, much to the woman's confusion.

"...Only two people look like that and both are equally unlikely to be standing in the hall right now." She whispered to herself skeptically, "...But it must be..."

The door was unlocked and unlatched, and Minako leaned down to peek a single grey-blue eye past the crack, seeing two slate eyes peeking right back at her.

"Hii~"

"V-Viktor!" Minako threw the door open, watching as the young Russian rose back to standing upright again, "What are you-? Shouldn't you be with Yuri?" She looked around the hall, "Where is Yuri?"

"He's off on his own adventure tonight."

"But...shouldn't you guys be working out the Free Program for tomorrow...?"

"Sometimes the best thing to do is relax and have fun. That's his training tonight, so he's out with Yurio and Otabek." Viktor answered, turning side-face and extending his bent elbow, "So...since both of our partners are MIA, come drink with me."

She blinked at him, but then looked excited, "Yeah! Stay right here-"

The door closed with a click as the woman rushed back into the room to pull on her shoes and grab her purse and jacket, but just as she was about to get back to grab the handle, she paused. Turning towards the window, past the two queen-sized beds, one of which was covered in Yurio's stuff, the ballerina smiled, "Thank you for seducing Viktor, Yuri...this is way better than just having you tell me their hotel room numbers!"

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Following along dutifully, Yuri had taken somewhat of a back-seat to the conversation since the trio departed from the tour boat. He walked next to, and slightly behind, his younger blonde counterpart, listening to their conversation idly. His mind had wondered far and wind since Otabek had 'shot' him though.

'No one gets my katsudon and lives.'

The words echoed in his mind.

'You have no moxy.'

Skating has always been a performance art to me... Yuri thought, looking at the brilliantly-illuminated architecture along the riverfront, It's competitive, sure...but, most of it has been about telling stories and expressing myself on the ice...

"...then where are you skating these days?" He heard Yurio asking, "Kazakhstan keeps losing its bids to host big winter sports events."

"It's not like Almaty is some horrid shanty-town." Otabek explained, " The Medeo Ice Skating Rink is one of the highest-elevation skating rinks in the world."

"Really?"

Yuri turned his head to look at the two.

"It's up in the mountains just outside the city." The Kazakh went on, "Sits in the shadow of a big dam. It's an outdoor rink though so there's no heating, but the view is great, especially in the winter." He pulled out his phone and started to look up photos, careful to keep an eye on where he was walking so as to avoid running into other people, "Once the Final is over, I'll be training there when I can until Four Continents. ...After that, the ice will be gone and I'll have to go back to train inside the city again at the Almaty Arena. The Medeo rink is a really popular tourist place." He finally held out his phone and showed a photo of the rink, surrounded by snowcapped mountains, pine trees, and the valley below, "You should come sometime."

Yurio looked at the photo excitedly, "Yeah!"

"Where will you be training after the Final anyway?" Otabek wondered, taking his phone back to put it away, "The way you bounced around during the off-season, it's like you don't even have a home rink anymore."

"St. Petersburg is technically my home rink, even if I skate in Moscow and Hasetsu sometimes." The teen explained, pausing to take a photo of a giant bronze bull statue as they meandered around the north end of The Bund. The iconic imagery of the Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower glowed on the eastern bank of the river, "Yakov would have a cow bigger than this if I ever tried to change rinks officially."

"Oh, Yuri..." The Japanese skater said, breaking his silence abruptly.

The teen glanced at him, and saw the figure pointing just up and across the street, "What is it? Did my mention of Yakov suddenly make him appear...?"

"Phsht..." Yuri scoffed, "No, look. Just in front of those windows on either side of the main entrance arches of that building."

The blonde gazed over, but saw nothing initially. Yuri grabbed him by the head from behind and moved it around to help him see in the right direction. The teen's eyes suddenly went as wide as saucers and he took off running as fast as he could, leaving Yuri huffing a laugh to himself as he watched.

"What was that all about?" Otabek wondered, not sure what had gotten the younger skater's attention.

"If there's nothing else in this world besides skating that gets Yuri going...it's cats." The oldest skater explained, looking back long enough to give the subtle hint that they should chase after the Russian Punk, and then starting to jog.

Otabek was perplexed, but followed after briskly. The pair crossed over the road, finally catching up to the teen, and saw him almost in tears where he stood in front of the first of two bronze lion statues.

"YURI TAKE MY PICTURE."

A phone was abruptly shoved into the older skater's hands, and before Yuri could even get a decent hold on it, having it hop between hands briefly until he could catch it, Yurio was already climbing on top of the statue's stone base. In truly dramatic fashion, the teen sat sideway between the big lion's paws and wrapped his arms around its bronze mane, and put on a face like he was oh-so-vulnerable and the stoic lion was his guardian.

"You're not really gonna look at the camera like that." Yuri grimaced, "That's-"

"TAKE THE PICTURE, KATSUDON."

"Aright aright...!" The man huffed, backing up a little to get the whole lion into the frame. Jeeze, I wish Phichit-kun was here...he's so much better at taking pictures than I am...

Yurio ended up making him take half a dozen pictures with that lion alone, then moved over to the one further up the building. That one was reclined like the first, but it had its jaws open in a roar, looking more fierce. The blonde yanked Otabek to get into the pictures with him in that case, and the normally-quite-proud-and-mature Kazakhstani let loose briefly. He sat on the back of that lion and pointed forward like the Commander at the head of some fantasy army, a completely serious look on his face, while Yurio clung to the side of it like some noble Watcher.

Just as Yuri thought it was over, still quite entertained by the Russian's reaction, the teen pulled him into the frame too and took a quick selfie with all three of them in sight.

Quite proud of himself, Yurio started typing away into Instagram, "That one's going online for sure."

"...I haven't been online since Friday." Yuri admitted, "The whole internet's probably losing its mind over my horrid Short Program. I'm scared to look."

"Yeah. They are." The teen answered nonchalantly, "It's pretty bad."

The older skater held his head where his hair was still slicked back from earlier in the afternoon, and sighed audibly, "...I have to do better tomorrow..."

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"KANPAAAAAI!"

Clink.

It was already the 7th round of drinks by then.

The 58th floor of the Shanghai Ritz-Carlton Hotel hosted a restaurant and bar called Flair. It was on the opposite side of the river from the Bund, with the shining yellow glow of the financial and government buildings looking like Christmas decorations from so far away. The Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower was rather close to them, just to the right of their vantage, with the tourist path of the Bund far ahead.

Viktor set his empty glass down, "This is fun~!"

"Better than sitting around in a hotel room all night!"

"Vyp'em za to, čto my zdes' sobralis', i čtoby čaŝe sobiralis'!" The Russian announced excitedly.

Minako just blinked at him, "I have no idea what you just said, but okay!"

"We should do this more often, that's all!" He 'translated,' then leaned back into his chair.

They were sitting right along the ledge in one of the 3-part sectional couch areas, with a short table in the middle and a quaint yellow lamp sitting on top of it. It was nearly 1am by then, and only 1/4th of the patio was occupied; most of those patrons were sitting at proper tables so they could eat. For the world-class skater and ballerina, sitting on the couches just to drink was well and good enough.

Viktor was fairly toasted already by then, but Minako was barely getting started. She easily had 20 years experience on the Russian's liver...and she'd had the sense to eat before going back to the hotel.

"So what'd you do with Yuri then?" She asked pointedly, sipping at her Sake, "I doubt you just sent him on his way with Yura without having at least talked about his SP."

The Russian kept his head back on the couch, but raised a hand and limply waved it at her, "He'll be fine, I'm sure of it... I told him his score and I helped him feel better and then he cried and then he left."

The ballerina blinked at him, "In that order?"

"Yeah, why?" He looked up, a happy-tired look on his face, cheeks flushed from the alcohol.

"You sent him out the door while he was crying...?"

"What? No way!" Viktor sat up and leaned onto one knee, twisting awkwardly towards her and pointing, "Yurio called and totally upended his train of thought. We got to finish our sexy times before he left, so he was fine."

Minako leaned her side against the back of her part of the couch, looking at him awkwardly, "Hearing about Yuri having any kind of sexy time is so weird. This must be what it's like for kids to walk in on their parents making out."

The silver Russian just laughed and fell back again, draping himself across the sofa like a wet towel, "Oh you should've seen his face the first time..." His filter was long-gone, "I thought he was going to pass out."

"I don't know if I want to hear this." Minako mused dubiously, "I've known Yuri since he was a baby."

"Really?" Viktor turned his head, his silvery hair tousled against the fabric of the headrest, "How come you've known him so long? I thought he only knew you from ballet."

"Oh, no, his mom and I were in school together. Haven't you ever heard Hiroko call me 'Senpai'?"

"I don't remember!" He laughed, reaching into his coat to find his phone, "I wonder where he's at right now? It's really late." The numbers swirled on the touch-screen, and he blinked one eye at a time in an attempt to decipher them, "...I can't read right now apparently...!"

"Did you come get me on an empty stomach?" She quirked a brow at the skater.

"Maybe~!"

"No wonder you're so sauced already." She poked his shoulder, "You should get something! You're drinking like a lightweight!"

"I'm not hungry though!" Viktor protested, "I haven't had an appetite!"

"Why not? When was the last time you did eat something?"

"Lunch I think. Yuri and I got something ahead of the Short Program, but I haven't wanted to eat since." He got rather sullen at that point.

"...You're not blaming yourself for what happened, are you?" Her poking changed to a gentle touch against his arm, "Viktor..."

"What if he doesn't want me to be his coach anymore?" The Russian suddenly wondered, staring up into the night sky with anxious eyes, "Every event this season so far has been a disaster in some form or another. He ran off in Calgary and got himself sick...then this..."

'Viktor...after the Final, let's end this.' The words echoed in his mind like they'd just been said to him all over again.

"OH MY GOD HE BROKE UP WITH ME IN BARCELONA." Viktor was up on his feet and in a total panic, "WHY WOULD HE DO THAT!? HE JUST GOT OUR RINGS AND WE HAD SUCH A NICE NIGHT AND-"

"Viktor, sit down, you're drunk-"

"-HE WAS SO SWEET AND WE WENT TO THE SAGRADA FAMILIA AND THE CHOIR WAS SO ATMOSPHERIC-"

A few other patrons were looking up from their tables, seeing the frantic Russian on the lower deck losing his mind.

"-AND HE PUT THE RING ON MY FINGER AND I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE I WAS SO HAPPY-"

"Viktor, sit down!" Minako was up by then, trying to pull him down again but failing to budge the man.

"-BUT THEN HE ONLY WON SILVER WHEN I TOLD HIM I'D MAKE HIM WIN GOLD...I'M A FAILURE AS A COACH...!"

"He won gold at Four Continents and Worlds!" The ballerina pointed out, "Plus he won gold in Calgary even if he had a total melt-down in the middle of it! That was his own fault though for setting his expectations so high! I even told him once myself that it was a bad idea to expect to get over 110, at least not right off the bat!"

The Russian collapsed back onto the couch, practically sobbing in his drunken despair. He twisted over to where Minako had returned to sitting side-face like before, putting both hands just below where her knee was folded over the cushions, "HE SCORED THE WORST EVER TODAY AND MAYBE HE WON'T EVEN GET ON THE PODIUM TOMORROW AT ALL AND HE'LL LOSE HIS SPOT IN THE FINAL AND IT'LL ALL BE MY FAULT-"

"H-How would it be your fault?"

"Uncle Mimi said it was because I'm Yuri's husband too! Yuri doesn't listen to me like he would if I was just his coach! WHAT IF THE ONLY WAY HE'LL DO BETTER IS IF HE DIVORCES ME?"

"Are you kidding...?"

"WHAT IF HE DOESN'T LOVE ME ANYMORE?"

"Vikt-"

He buried his face against the back of his hands, forcing the woman to raise both eyebrows at him. She could feel his tears on the scant bit of skin around her ankle, "I love him so much but I keep failing him...!"

"You haven't! What are you talking about!? Yuri worships you! He'd never leave you! He probably thinks he failed you out there today, not the other way around!"

"HOW CAN YOU BE SURE!?" The Russian lifted his face up again, his eyes red and wet, tears falling down his cheeks, "HE HAD TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO TO MAKE HIM FEEL BETTER, LIKE I DIDN'T KNOW HOW ON MY OWN ANYMORE. IF I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHEN I SHOULD MAKE LOVE TO HIM, HOW CAN I BE A GOOD COACH TO HIM!? I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING-"

"You don't have to yell, I'm right here." Minako blanched, "And I know because it's like I told you; I've known him his whole life. He comes running to me too sometimes, remember? You came looking for him once at my Snack Bar because someone told you he'd sometimes come to 'my place' if he was anxious or upset."

Viktor just went back to sobbing uncontrollably, this time at least into his own hands rather than against the woman's leg.

I don't know how to get him to calm down...he's completely irrational... Minako thought. I need Yuri up here...

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The younger skater was sleepily walking with the two teens towards a waiting shuttle, ready to head to bed and at least try for a decent night's rest. He slumped against the window where he sat and felt himself starting to nod off.

"Yuri,"

"Huh?" Both answered, one half-asleep and the other wide awake.

Otabek just glared stiffly again, but pointed at the teen, "Since you're not competing here, where are you even staying?"

"Viktor's Uncle is my sponsor, remember? He was going to be here with his lady friend. Since he hurt himself and couldn't come, I just took his place, so I'm staying with her instead." Yurio answered simply, "There's a hotel just on the other side of the river. You can see the rooftop bar from here, just next to the Pearl Tower." He pointed out the window at it.

"...You're staying at the Ritz-Carlton? Damn. That's way nicer than the hotel the ISU booked."

"They're cheap-asses." The blonde laughed, feeling confident that he'd at least one-upped the older skater this one time off the ice, "Only willing to pay for plane tickets in Economy Class, rooms in the cheapest hotels, a food card that barely covers two meals a day..."

Yuri felt a jingle in his pocket, and he lifted his head from where he'd set it back against the window after realizing he wasn't the one being addressed. He blinked his tired eyes at the screen, but saw a call from Minako coming through. He yawned and blearily answered, "Hey."

"Yuri I really need you right now."

"Eh? Why?" He rubbed his eyes a little, his gelled-back hair starting to look more disheveled where strands were coming down over his forehead, "Is everything okay?"

"...YURI I LOVE YOU...I MUST OVERCOME..." Viktor's voice was audible in the background.

Yuri was immediately upright, glasses tilted slightly in his disbelief, "Wa-was that Viktor just now?"

"Yeah he's having a drunken meltdown. I need you to convince him you're not going to divorce him or fire him as your coach. Like now."

"Ah jeeze..." The skater sighed nervously, "Alright, put him on..."

"What's going on?" Yurio wondered suddenly, looking over at him.

"Viktor's drunk."

"I have Yuri on the phone right now if you want to talk to him!" Minako said, holding the device out.

"THAT COULD BE ANYONE-"

"What!? IT'S HIS CALLER ID."

"HE'S WITH OTHER PEOPLE."

"VIKTOR NIKIFOROV, GET DOWN FROM THERE RIGHT NOW."

"M-Minako-sensei...?" Yuri asked pensively, "What's he doing?"

"Please come to the hotel with Yura. We're at the 58th-floor outdoor bar." She said frantically, "...And come quickly, he's starting to take his clothes off."

"What!? No! Tell him NOT to take his clothes off!"

"Viktor, your husband is telling you NOT to get naked!" She hollered to no avail, then turning back to her phone, "He isn't listening to me! Come quickly!"