CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED EIGHTEEN

Yuri and Viktor tried to keep a low profile on the shuttle-ride back to the hotel, but they could feel Yakov staring daggers into the back of their heads from the row behind. Eventually though, Mila sat forward, draping her arms over Yuri's shoulders since he was directly in front of her, and turned to look at her former rink-mate.

"Viktor." She said sweetly, "I think Coach Yakov wants to say something."

"I know." The Russian answered warily, finding the whole thing funny but super-awkward at the same time. He twisted in his seat to look behind himself, settling an elbow over the top of it, "...I know what you're thinking."

"No you don't." The elder shot back, arms crossed, eyes barely visible past the brim of his hat.

"You think I'm crazy, right?"

"Among other things."

Yuri slid his hand over to settle on his partner's thigh, but stayed quiet, looking instead to see Phichit in front of him, scrolling through Instagram and the Gala feed that went with it.

"It's reckless to just start treating Konstantin like he's a changed man. He's spent almost your entire life being who he was." Yakov warned, "You think one weekend will make a difference?"

"I know it already has." Viktor insisted, "The fact that he was even willing to come in the first place was a huge deal." He turned a bit more to rest his head on his up-turned arm, squishing his cheek against his knuckles, "Yuri chewed him out pretty good earlier. I think my father was well on his way to this point though already. I'm not sure when things started to change for him, bu-"

"You're going too fast with this, Vitya." Yakov said grimly, "Giving him your car...I could tell you were considering even giving him your old house. You barely know the man anymore. He may be your father but you don't owe him anything."

"He apologized for hitting me at the funeral." The skater whispered.

"How about for everything else he did to you?" The coach wondered, speaking lower as well so the people at the front couldn't hear as easily over the sound of the van driving, "You may have been able to grow past a lot of the traumas you faced as a young kid, but they never left you. Not entirely. That much was obvious during your Short Program."

"I know...but it'd take him days to apologize for everything he did, even if I took the time to make a list." Viktor pointed out, "He came farther this weekend than I ever thought he would in his entire life. I was content with him acknowledging that he understands how he's hurt me and the family I've made since leaving home."

Mila seemed to be the only one who smiled at that nod, but Yuri did his best despite the strangeness of having the woman still hugging his head from the back seat.

"But he actually kind-of accepts Yuri now, too. How much more could I possibly ask for?" The silver skater asked, "I feel like giving him a hand-me-down is the least I can do to show that I appreciate his efforts."

"You can ask him to get his head examined." The coach said stiffly, "I don't trust this. I think you should take a step back and let things sit for a while."

"I plan to." Viktor nodded, "If he actually takes me up on my offer to come to Russian Nationals, it'll be a good Litmus test for how he really feels about everything."

Yuri glanced up at that, "...You invited him to Nationals? But I'm not-"

"I know." The Russian cut him off, putting a finger on his lips to stop him, "You'll be at your own that weekend. That's the point."

The younger skater's brow crinkled though, giving quite the look.

"You don't trust him either?"

Yuri gave a nervous shrug, but then shook his head, pulling back so he could speak again, "I agree that Konstantin's come a long way, but both times you went to see him without me, you came back a complete wreck. It's been said that 'the more things change, the more they stay the same.' Mikhail's going to be with you guys then, too, since he's still Yurio's sponsor. The three of you together are a cauldron of trouble." He turned and sighed though, looking out the window into the clear Sapporo night sky, "Minako-sensei might be there too, now that I think about it. It'll be weird to have no one at Japanese Nationals..."

Viktor worried at that, "Then I'll drop mine and go to yours like last year. Problem solved."

"What!?" Everyone barked, Yuri included, whipping his head back around. Folks in the front seat were looking back in confusion.

"Vitya, you were lucky last year to get into Worlds without going to Nationals first." Yakov argued, his 'lecture face' already on, "But you can't go around thinking that'll happen again! You're competing this year! You HAVE to go to Nationals!"

"I can't just steal Yuri's entire cheering section!" Viktor argued back, "He'll be all by himself!"

"It's Japanese Nationals! The entire country is his cheering section!"

"I guess I'll have Minami-kun..." Yuri suggested quietly, "...Maybe Mari-nee-chan will come...?"

"I'll tell Uncle Mimi to go to your show. Minako will go with him." Viktor offered instead.

"But then it'll just be you and your father alone..." The younger skater pointed out, a bit apprehensive, "...That almost might be worse..."

"I think it'll be fine."

"You've been saying that and then it isn't fine!"

"...Should I uninvite him then?" The Russian wondered nervously.

Yuri gave him an uncertain look, but it was Yakov that ended up answering on his behalf, "You make too many choices without thinking, Vitya." The annoyed older man said stiffly, "And you often don't think about how other people will feel about it later. In that regard, you and your Uncle are very similar."

Viktor just slouched where he sat, making a disgruntled face as he listened.

"You need to reign in your impulsiveness a little bit. Let him have the car, but don't offer to have him come to Nationals again." Yakov went on; Mila was nodding in turn as he spoke, "Maybe he won't even remember it, then you won't have to feel like the bad-guy if or when he doesn't show up. By the sounds of it, he's going to have his hands full for the next little while anyway."

"...I know...that's why I want to help..." Viktor argued quietly, "He's lost everything. By the end of the month, it'll just be him and the memories, all alone in the Russian wilderness."

"Good." Yakov said, a bit coldly, "He could use the time to think about all the wrong he's done and maybe change his way of projecting it onto people. He's never once been punished for the things he did. Don't you be his 'get out of jail free' card now."

"You don't think losing his wife over me is punishment enough?" The skater shot back, "He can see her gravestone from the front door. Every day is a reminder of how his anger caused her to run away, and the fatal accident that came after."

Yakov sighed, but reached forward to pat the man's shoulder, "Vitya, it's good of you to want to help him in his time of need, but one apology shouldn't absolve him of all the things he's done and the time he stole from you and your mother. Give him the car if you must, but leave the rest alone. He's your father, not your son. You're not responsible for his life or his happiness. Let him come to you to mend those broken fences."

Viktor still looked sour, but at least he wasn't arguing back anymore. He just turned in his seat and crossed his arms, going entirely quiet for the rest of the trip back to the hotel.

.

Getting Konstantin checked out of the room was easy. Trying to figure out what to do with everyone else was a little more difficult.

Mikhail stared at his bank card, flipping it over in his fingers a few times as he waited for the final receipt to sign, tapping a pen against the high counter with the other hand. When the paper finally appeared, and he put his squiggle down at the bottom, he put the card away and turned to face the group waiting in the lower part of the lobby. The bag with his tablet swung behind his back lightly, having reclaimed it from Konstantin when they cleaned up before check-out.

"You can go up to the room if you want, Yura." He said to the teen, but only got a shrug in response. He looked at the bear instead, who was sitting a bit removed from the other two, [Everything's done. We can head back to the airport now.]

[I'll go wait by the car then.]

"Da." The younger Russian nodded, stepping reluctantly up to Minako then, "...We're heading out."

"I really wish you'd tell me what was going on." She pointed out, a bit unimpressed, "If it's nothing then it's nothing, but you're acting like it's something."

Mikhail made a face like he wasn't sure how to answer, but then withdrew his wallet again and handed his bank card over to the teen, "Go buy something in the restaurant. I'll get it back in a minute."

The teen raised a brow at him, but said nothing, taking the plastic and walking off as suggested.

Grey-green eyes turned back to the ballerina, waiting for Yurio to get out of ear-shot before speaking, "My kids..." He started reluctantly, quietly, "...Having been trying to live alone for the last 2 weeks, apparently."

"...Alone? But we were just out there after Skate Canada 3 weeks ago and they weren't alone then."

"I know." The Russian answer nervously.

"Did they all move out?"

"No."

"Did your ex-wife abandon them...?"

"...No."

"What then?"

"Their mother is dead." He said pointedly, just wanting to be out with it already, "That's part of why she didn't want to come out or talk to us when we were there dropping Viktoria and Nikkita off after Sergio left on his own. I thought she was just being a drama Queen because you were there, but...apparently it was because she was too sick to come outside."

Minako wasn't sure what to say. She just looked on in quiet surprise as Mikhail explained, seeing how he himself wasn't sure what to say either.

"After I got involved with Vivi and all this skating stuff, my kids were worried I'd come back to take them away to Russia or Japan if I found out their mother's cancer came back, so they said nothing. Sergio's been telling his sisters to shut up this whole time because he thought he could handle it all on his own. In the end...Nikkita reached out to my work buddy, asking him what they should do. He explained it all in the email I missed this morning. ...The thing is, though...none of them have jobs since they're still in school, so they've been running up a dead woman's credit card instead. But envelopes of bills are piling up and...well..." He reached up to rub his eyes on the back of a sleeve, "...There it is."

The ballerina just stepped forward and put her arms over the unraveling Russian's shoulders, "We're going to have to do something."

"We?" Mikhail guffawed, pulling back suddenly, "I can't drag you into all of this. You'd either be stuck as the unexpected step-mom to three teens you barely know, or you'll be in the background watching me struggle as a single dad instead. Neither are options I could subject you to."

"I'm not asking you to subject me to anything." Minako pointed out, "I'm telling you not to shut me out because you think it's too hard. All three of your kids are old enough to be over the idea of having to call someone else their mom, and I wouldn't want that anyway. But I can be their friend. So let's just go out there and figure out what to do to pick up the pieces. Maybe it won't be as bad as you think."

"I don't even know what they did when they found out she died." Mikhail said, his voice shaky, "How did they find her? Was it a long time before they knew? Which one of them actually discovered her? I can't even call out there for another 2 hours, so I don't wake them all up in the middle of the night..."

"Hey." The ballerina poked a finger against the man's chin to turn his face back towards her, "Deep breaths. They've been dealing with the fall-out for two weeks already. By the sounds of it already, they've all been pretty pragmatic about the whole thing anyway. Let's just both go out there and deal with it. One step at a time."

"...Are...y-you sure about this...?"

"I can't let you go out there to do this alone. Besides..." She shrugged, leaning in to hug him again, "You act like we haven't already become the unofficial pseudo-parents to three older kids already anyway. What's three more? We'll figure it out."

The anxious Russian nodded, reaching around to his carry-bag as Minako let him go again. He held the rectangular item in his hands and looked around, nudging his head over towards the seats nearby, and sitting quietly. Withdrawing his tablet, he drew in a hesitant breath and turned it on, looking at the ballerina skeptically as it booted up, "Dealing with the SkateKids is entirely different than bringing my actual kids into things." He said, trying not to let his voice quake from the stress of it all weighing on him suddenly, "It's going to change everything."

Minako just shook her head and pulled the tablet from the man's trembling hands, loading up Safari when she could see the home-screen. It took only a few swift clicks and scrolls to find a plane ticket from Fukuoka to Edmonton, "There." She said, pointing, "I'll head out of Fukuoka Airport at 9:45am on Wednesday and be there by 3pm the same day, accounting for time differences and flight duration. Find whatever flight gets you from Russia to Edmonton that arrives around the same time, that way you have all of tomorrow and Tuesday to deal with Viktor's car and getting Yura's skate-things."

"...You and Yuri's sister were supposed to fly to Detroit together though."

"She can still fly to Detroit without me. It's no different than how you've been giving up your seats to Yura lately. She just won't have anyone flying with her in my place. Mari will be fine."

"...W-We might be late to the Final... Depending on what's going on, we might not even get to go at all..." Mikhail warned, looking at the flight listings.

"We have to get to the Final. Yura's counting on you to bring him his stuff from Moscow."

The Russian heaved a breath, "...My kids are going to hate me for this..."

"They should've told you what happened sooner."

"It's g-going to be hairy... I can't think of anything else to do right now that'll make it work for everyone...but I can't j-just leave them alone over Christmas Break."

"I'm less worried about your kids being in Detroit with us than I am about how jet-lagged we're both going to be when we're done. Besides...it'll be Christmas-time in Detroit all month long. I'm sure it'll be a lot easier to find things for them to do than it would be if we had them here in Sapporo."

"I wouldn't have been able to bring them here if I knew sooner..." Mikhail said, again rubbing his nose on his sleeve, "They're supposed to be finishing Finals this coming week before Winter Holiday starts. I can't even imagine how they've been managing their studies until now, given what's happened..." He drooped his head low, "What a clusterfuck."

"We'll find out when we get there. If you said you have to wait a couple hours before calling them, then just call them from the airport later." The ballerina suggested, "It'll barely morning for them today by then, so it's not like you're stalling their school schedule. We'll go pick them up, go to Detroit together, then head to Hasetsu after that. Make it an impromptu Christmas vacation. Tell them to pack their bags while you're on the phone with them and use the weekend to decompress from all that's happened."

Yurio watched quietly from where he slouched over the railing of the 2nd floor, having heard most of the conversation from up there. He chewed on one of his hoodie strings, grumbling quietly to himself as the thought of having to deal with The Trio again loomed overhead.