CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY

"Wow." Yurio grumbled, sitting cross-legged on the end of the one bed in the room, holding his phone in front of himself, "This city is the most boring place I think I've ever been."

The television was on ahead of him, the remote on the entertainment stand, just within reach. The volume was low; loud enough to know it hadn't been muted but too quiet to hear whatever was being said.

"Really?" Yuri wondered a bit hopelessly, loosely wearing Viktor's team jacket even under the blankets, "What's here?"

"...A bunch of boring parks...a really boring-looking historical district...a super-boring sheep...park...thing..." The blonde listed, "The Sapporo Beer Museum...? They make those?"

"...A beer museum?" The older skater echoed, lifting his head up slightly from where he was still in the bed, shaking off his jet-lag, "Viktor might've liked that. He drinks beer sometimes."

"BOOOORIINNNGGGGGG."

"Well, we have to think of something to do for the next 2 days..." Yuri muttered, finally sitting up and looking out from under the night-mask he'd put on when they'd arrived earlier that morning, when it was still pitch black outside, "Have you heard from Minako-sensei? Maybe she has some ideas."

"Yeah, a few hours ago." The teen answered, twisting slightly to look back at the man over his shoulder, "I've been awake for a while."

"What'd she say?"

Yurio raised a brow, then clicked into his text history, showing the message to the skater so he could see for himself.

Okukawa:
[This place is so boring! Why'd NHK have to be here?]

Me:
[NHK is probably the most exciting thing this place has seen since the Olympics]

Okukawa:
[Starting to think we should've gone back to Hasetsu first]

Me:
[Preach]

"Sheesh. Why not tell me how you guys really feel?" Yuri grimaced, rubbing his eyes as he leaned back, "I figured Viktor would've looked ahead to see what there would be to do here while we waited for the event."

Green eyes just blinked at him, and soon, the teen was pointing his phone at the older figure, "You make it sound like Viktor ever plans that far ahead."

"He was the one who booked all our flights and hotel rooms."

"Yeah, cuz if you did it, you'd be booking flights in Economy and your hotel rooms would be basic."

"What? That's not true."

Yurio just gave him a look.

Yuri returned the gesture, crossing his arms like he thought that would somehow make himself more intimidating. He broke down pretty quickly though and just flopped back down to the pillows, "...Okay, maybe, but only because it would've been free that way. I don't even want to know what he spent for us to travel this season so far. The La Premiere tickets cost more than everything else combined, I bet."

"Don't you guys share a bank account now or something...? Shouldn't you be able to tell what he paid?"

"Sure." He answered sullenly, "But when he got that money from his mom, he kept a huge chunk of it separate, and used some of it to pay for our travel expenses. He said he'd never be able to surprise me if I could always see what he bought just by looking at the bank app." He pushed over onto his side, reaching for the night-stand where his glasses and phone were resting. With the glasses pressed to his face, Yuri picked up the phone and unplugged it from the charger, seeing the screen come on to show that it was already nearly 4pm. He sighed and dropped it to his chest, "It's about 10am back in Moscow right now...I wonder if Viktor and Mikhail have started traveling?"

"If they're smart." Yurio suggested, pushing to stand up and stuffing his hands, and phone, in his pockets as he went, "It's a 4 hour ride just on the Sapsan train, 8 hours if they're taking a car, and that's just to get to St. Petersburg. If Viktor says they'll be here by Wednesday, they won't have a whole lot of time to waste by taking the scenic route to the middle of nowhere."

"Yeah..."

"Well, anyway, if Your Royal Highness doesn't mind, I'm starving." The teen went on, bowing sarcastically, "Sapporo is apparently good for ramen at least, so let's meet up with Okukawa and go."

.

.

.

Barreling at 155mph through the snowy Russian countryside, the bullet-train was making its way steadily towards St. Petersburg. It was hard to see much through the pre-noon snow and fog, but the shadows of trees and power-line poles flying by made note of its progress.

Viktor was passed out in his seat, ear-buds in, arms crossed, coat used like a blanket, scarf wrapped around his whole head. He wasn't recognizable under all the layers, which was for the better, given the newspaper his uncle had in-hand next to him.

[National hero, Viktor Nikiforov, is set to compete in Japan this weekend. After announcing after last year's Grand Prix Final in Barcelona that he was returning to the sport, he was only able to make it to the World Championship, where his 1st place, record-breaking victory was usurped by the very skater he'd briefly retired to coach. However, winning gold at his first event of the season at Trophée de France in Bordeaux, he's showing the whole world why Russia consistently produces the best figure skaters in the world.] Mikhail read aloud, though still quietly. He huffed a little and shook his head, reading a little further down the page of the sports section, seeing the podium-photo of Viktor, Yurio, and Chris, where it was inlaid over the massive page-length image of just Viktor himself in his Free Skate ensemble. The way Viktor looked all excited, him and Chris hugging and being giant dorks like always, and Yurio to the side like he was miles away...to an outsider, it might look normal, but to Mikhail, it gave away the rift that had formed. He knew about the fighting that had been going on that day, and how tense it had been throughout the afternoon.

I wonder how that whole thing would've played out if Viktor's old flame hadn't been there? Would there have been any fighting at all at that point...?

The scarf around his nephew's head came loose and tumbled down around his shoulders when the man fidgeted a little in his sleep. One ear-bud came loose as well.

As the older figure reached to put it back into place, hearing the quiet piano of 'Yuri on Ice' playing, he noted where it paused to make way for the distinct jingle of Viktor's phone ringing. He gently tugged on the cable to pull the other bud out, and used the line to fish the device from the man's coat pocket before it woke him up. When he saw that it was Yuri calling though, he couldn't help but answer, and set the ear-buds into his own ears as his thumb hit the screen.

"Dobroe utro, Yuri."

"Dobrik din, Dyadya Mikhail."

The man's eyes were wide, but then he laughed, "You're getting better at that. Your accent is terrible though."

"Let me move back to Russia and I'll figure it out." Yuri answered, smiling despite the diss, "I guess Viktor's asleep if you're answering."

The older man glanced back at his nephew, who wiggled a little to get comfortable again, head tilted towards the window, "Yeah... We're almost to St. Petersburg though. I can tell him to call you when he's awake."

"It's okay if he's too tired. We were just going to ask if he knew of anything to do in Sapporo that we might've missed. This place is boring."

"Really? That's hard to bel-"

There was a sudden ruckus in the background, and Mikhail could hear the struggle going on. He heard Yuri yelling something and what probably sounded like his phone hitting the ground, then someone yelling IDIOT really loudly. There was a rustle, a pitifully quiet whine where Yuri was begging for his phone back from the woman who'd swiped it, and then a voice that sounded like all smiles and sunshine.

"Mikhail." Minako said sweetly, almost too sweetly, "Dearest, best friend, buddy, pal."

"Uh oh." He answered stiffly, "You listed those in descending order. Am I in trouble?"

"Minako-senseeeeiiiiii..." Yuri whined again in the background, "You're sitting on me..."

"Quit being grabby-hands at the phone." She answered, smiling innocently and patting the skater's head beneath her, sitting on his back where he'd slipped side-ways on the bench in his desperate bid to get his phone back, "The grown-ups are talking now." She turned her attention back to the conversation, leaving the hapless younger figure to go limp under her weight, giving up and sulking.

Yurio just sniggered mockingly at him from the other side of the table, taking his own phone out to grab a few pictures while he could.

"Please do tell me exactly what your plans are for this weekend in light of recent developments." Minako said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "If you'd be so kind."

"...Uhh...well, from the sound of it, sleeping on the couch, probably..." He answered weakly, pulling the front of his flat-cap down a little to hide his eyes from the rest of the cabin, "Is it a big couch or a small one...?"

"It's a chair."

"...Mh..."

"It's a pretty nice chair, but it's still a chair." She went on, then pulling her hand up to cover her mouth while she spoke, whispering after that, "Where is Yura going to stay? No one planned on him being here."

"Oh, uh...I hadn't thought about it. With Yuri?" Mikhail held his nephew's phone nervously, feeling a bead of sweat slide down the back of his neck.

"Do you really think either him or Viktor are going to want him around when they get back together?"

"...I guess I could get him his own room then..."

"There aren't any rooms left. I already checked." Minako whispered, putting her hand down on Yuri's head where he was trying to get up again, "Practically everything is sold out because of the event. Even the local hot springs resorts are sold out. The only places with vacancies are so far away that they might as well be out of town."

"That is a problem."

"Minako-sensei-"

"Shhhhht!"

Yuri found new strength and flailed one last time, finally managing to uproot the woman long enough to twist onto his back before she came back down on him, half-sitting on his stomach with a confused look on her face. He reached for her hands again, "Mikhail! Tell her to give me my phone back!"

The man was just sweating bullets by then and said nothing, listening to them arguing with each other in the background. He nearly jumped out of his seat though as he heard Minako scream suddenly, and his ghost left him a second time as he realized his abrupt panic had caused him to grab Viktor's arm. The hazy skater grumbled a little, rousing partly from sleep. Mikhail turned his attention back to the 'conversation' though, "Minako!"

"Gah, no, it's me, I got it." Yuri said, heaving breaths. He turned back to the ballerina, "You're heavier than you think! And you've got a bony butt, sheesh!"

"What'd you...do...? Exactly...?" Mikhail asked dubiously, "Why'd she scream?"

"She was sitting on my back before to pin me down, but I managed to turn over...so when she had her arms up trying to play keep-away with my phone, I got her sides. She's ticklish."

"DON'TYOUTELLHIMTHATYURIISWEARTOGOD-" Minako had her arms wrapped tightly around herself protectively as she glowered at him from Yurio's side of the table.

Yuri just smiled devilishly at her expense, setting his elbow on the tabletop casually, "Right on the ribs."

"I don't know if I should be grateful for that bit of info or not..." Mikhail said anxiously.

"Anyway...I was trying to say..." The skater went on, "If you keep him the first night you're both here, we'll take him the second, and we can trade off like that until we're all heading back to Hasetsu together anyway."

The blonde just gawked at him curiously, "...The Hell are you saying...? Why does it sound like you're talking about me?"

"...Oh yeah...sure...that... That sounds great." Mikhail's voice drifted a little bit though. He watched, seeing the sight in front of him practically in slow motion, as his nephew turned slate-blue eyes straight at him, albeit sleepily, "...Uhhh...uh oh..."

"Uh oh?"

"I woke the beast."

Yuri blinked in confusion, "Eh?"

Viktor stared, only his eyes moving, looking down the length of the white ear-bud cable until they came to rest on his phone in Mikhail's right hand, "...Who's on the other end?"

"...A...bunch of people...?"

"You mean Viktor?" Yuri asked, his voice inaudible as yet from the younger Russian's perspective.

A long pale hand came forward towards Mikhail's left ear and snatched the one ear-bud, and Viktor squished his head to his uncle's and replaced the nubbin in his own ear, "This is Viktor, who's my uncle talking to?" He asked, sounding eerily chipper for someone who'd just been woken out of a near-coma.

"Viktor!"

Blue eyes lit up at the voice, "Yuri!" He practically would've jumped out of his chair if he could, but he swiped the phone back and curled back up into his seat instead, leaving his uncle a bit stunned and disheveled, "Sorry, I was trying to sleep just now...what'd I miss?" He asked, putting the other nub in as well.

"Not a whole lot...I was calling to ask if you knew of anything fun to do in Sapporo, but..."

"Oh, no, that place is boring." The Russian answered cheerfully, "My to-do list was going to be shockingly short there."

"Really? You had a to-do list?" Yuri was a bit skeptical, "Did you have a to-do list for the other places we went to?"

"Sure. The first three things are always the same though."

"...The first three things?"

"Da." Viktor said, dropping his phone to his stomach as he started counting off on his fingers, "My to-do list, in order...1, Arrive, 2, Get luggage inside, 3, Yuri."

"...Eh?"

Mikhail gave his nephew a look, but then rolled his eyes and laughed anyway. He wished he could be there to see the look on the young skater's face when he heard the words.

No one in the Sapporo restaurant knew what had been said though. All they could see was Yuri's face turning red as he found himself a little speechless.

"Things are a little out of order now though." Viktor went on, "You're already there and the luggage is with you, so I guess...I can skip straight to doing number 3 as soon as I get there."

"Oh, well..." The younger man coughed a little, trying not to draw more attention to himself than he had already, "Speaking of all that... We're going to have to let Yura stay with us a few times this weekend."

"Eh?" This time, Viktor was the one confused, "Why?"

Yuri glanced across the table, but then huffed to himself and stood up, heading towards the doors of the venue to exit. Once on the sidewalk, he glanced around for a spot of wall to lean against so he could finish the thought.

"Yuri? Why'd you go quiet all of a sudden?"

"Sorry, I wanted to step outside." He answered, "I was texting with Minako-sensei earlier about what to do in this city, and she happened to ask how it was with Yurio staying with me last night. ...Oh...er, is Mikhail still listening?"

"No." Viktor said simply, turning his head to look out the big windows, watching the snow fly by.

"Phew...okay, well. Apparently Mikhail said something before sending Minako-sensei and Yurio on to Shanghai and...long story short...she doesn't want to babysit all weekend. I suggested that we could take him every other night, as long as they took him the first night."

The Russian just went silent for a moment, making Yuri worry, but then he huffed a laugh and shook his head, "...We really are SkateDads. We should get shirts. It would be hilarious because of how embarrassed Yurio would get. Think about it..." He went on, raising one hand as though setting the stage for his imagination, "They'd have text on the front that reads, 'Proud SkateDads to a good kid who's kind of a MUDAK sometimes.'"

"...Mudak?" The younger skater echoed in confusion, "...I can only assume that's a short list of words."

"I'll let your imagination fill it in."

Yuri couldn't help himself, and just started quietly laughing. It was quickly contagious, and he could he hear his husband starting to do the same thing on the other end of the line. The young Asian skater sighed, his mirth mixed with a bit of sadness, "I really miss you... It's hard to sleep without you here."

"Same..." Viktor agreed, "I've had a really hard time getting any sleep at all since I left. I just keep..." His words trailed, and he slouched a bit in his seat.

"Viktor?"

"It'd be so much easier to deal with all this stuff if I could just...hold you, even if only for a minute..." He went on reluctantly.

"You mean...the trip back to where you grew up?"

"Yeah..."

"I don't really understand why you want to go back there all of a sudden. You said you were just going to Moscow to be with your uncle for the trip to Sapporo...but now all this, too?" Yuri said, "What are you hoping to achieve by going back there...?"

The Russian paused, his words catching in his throat a little. He shook his head and lowered his eyes, bringing his knees up a bit where he could perch his feet on the extended foot-rest, "...There are a lot of things I've...never really had the guts to tell you about. Things I wanted to put so far behind me that even I would forget about them. I don't want you to have to worry about me going back to my home-town, since things are better now... There's just some things I need to deal with. I won't be able to skate if I don't."

Mikhail listened quietly, thinking it was at least a reasonable first step, even if only half of one at best.

"I promise...I'll tell you everything once I'm with you again." Viktor said, "The things you told me before though, when we were still at Four Continents... I guess, it's just taken this long for it all to really hit me. I'm... I'm trying to be a better man now, to be more like you... So, I'm going back..." He reached up to rub his eyes on the front of his wrists, "...And I'm going to finally let myself feel the way I should've felt back then..."

"Viktor..."

"Wish me luck, okay? I love you, Yuri...and I'll see you soon."