CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED FOURTY

Yuri took the small black case in his hands and opened it, seeing the brand new pair of blue-rimmed glasses sitting therein. They were slightly different in style, having two half-inch diagonal black stripes on each of the arms, but otherwise, looked exactly the same. He took a moment to pop out his contact lenses and slipped the glasses on over his nose, blinking a few times to adjust, and looking around the small optical shop to test them.

"Dou desu ka?"

Brown eyes glanced up, "Ii da yo." He clicked the small case closed and put them into a brown paper bag on the counter in front of him, slipping the small contact-lens case in after it, and the sample-size bottle of lens solution, "Domo."

The clerk bowed her head, and Yuri turned to head back towards the door, and the waiting car just outside. He piled in happily and pulled the seat-belt across.

"Ready?"

Makkachin wedged himself in between the two front seats to sniff at the new frames, licking Yuri's face before pulling back to his own seat to stick his head out the window. Yuri laughed and rubbed the slobber off his cheek, "Yeah. How do I look?"

Viktor smirked, but just lifted his husband's hand between them and kissed his fingers, "Adorable."

.

Phichit was already waiting by the sliding doors when the duo arrived at the resort, and waved excitedly when he saw the pair walking under the entry-way. Yuri stepped up first to reach for the closest of the suitcases.

"Yuri! You got new glasses!"

"Yeah." He nodded, tipping the frames up with a finger, "Just today. Felt kind of naked without them for a while."

"I didn't mind." Viktor mused, making the young skater's face flush. He crouched down to smoosh his poodle's face, "This is it, Makkachin. Just one more weekend and then we're staying together again for a while! Remember…no sticky-buns! You remember what happened last time I left for just a weekend and you ate them anyway?"

The dog just panted quietly, tail wagging back and forth. A dribble of drool descended from that muzzle.

"Noooooo!" Viktor got dramatic suddenly, throwing himself over the dog, "Don't let another one of my premonitions come true! It happened already once before!" He held the dog by the shoulders and went nose-to-nose with him, "PROMISE ME."

Makkachin licked his face happily, knocking the impeccable silver legend onto his butt, tail wagging the whole time.

"Yuri! Vik-chan!" Hiroko's voice came, the short woman coming up to the open doorway, "Are you boys heading out already? It feels like you've been home for barely any time at all."

"Hai." Yuri nodded, pausing where he had turned with Phichit, "Wait just a second...I'm going to help Phichit-kun take his stuff to the car. We'll be right back." The two turned back towards the courtyard and moved out with the bit of luggage.

Viktor rose back up to his full height to happily herd his pup into the building, glancing around briefly before turning back to give his mother-in-law an affectionate kiss on the cheek, "Thanks for watching Makkachin for us again. He's a lot less frantic when he gets to stay here."

"No problem! He's so well-behaved!" Hiroko fawned, patting the flufferbutt on the head as he sat dutifully next to her, panting quietly like usual, "He kind of has a calming presence around here, especially on competition nights. You two have had quite the run these past few weeks. I'm almost scared for the Final! You two need to be more careful!"

"I'm sure it'll be fine. I only got one bad feeling about it and it had nothing to do with either of us."

"Well..." Hiroko went on, reaching out to take the Russian's fingers with her own, smiling up at his comparatively ultra-tall self, "They say that if you can survive your first year of marriage, it gets easier every year after that. You boys have gone through so much together already, and it's only been 9 months. If you can make it the last 3...I think it should be smooth sailing after that! You should have a long and happy life together!"

Blue eyes blinked down at the woman, and he suddenly found himself comically overwhelmed with emotion. He went down on one knee and hugged her tight, weeping exaggerated tears against her uniform, "Spasibo."

Outside, luggage was being shuffled around to make room in the trunk, though small as it was, some of the carry-bags ended up being moved to the back driver's-side passenger seat. Yuri closed the door and nodded, turning to Phichit, "Well, this is way easier than when we started the GP Series...that's for sure."

The Thai skater nodded, jokingly patting his older friend's back, "I'm sure every suitcase was necessary."

"Well, Viktor did use everything in all of them...so...I guess it was." He laughed nervously, thinking back on all of it as they started heading back towards the resort's front courtyard, "But I am glad to only have to worry about a single weekend's worth of stuff rather than nearly 6 full weeks. Trying to find a home for everything we brought back with us, too… That huge NHK trophy took over half a suitcase just on its own!"

"Viktor probably has a whole closet-full of those things by now."

"Actually..."

Phichit's expression changed and he stopped in place, an eye twitching slightly, "...Wow...he...he really has so many that he has to store them to get them out of the way, huh?"

Yuri made the same face, though he tried to smile anyway, "...Y-Yeah..."

The two sighed, "...Competing against Viktor is hard…!"

The older of the two started moving back towards the resort again, "...Oh, did you talk to Yurio at all today?"

"I haven't seen him, actually."

"Really…? At all?"

"He didn't come down for breakfast. I thought he'd come down for lunch, but...nope. He's been in his room all morning."

Yuri sighed again, "...I need to try to talk to him before we go… I hate leaving him like this."

By the time they'd gotten back inside, Viktor was seemingly already trying to do that exact same thing, standing outside the Russian Tiger's room...but waiting quietly. Listening. He cast his eyes over to that end of the hall as he heard the footsteps coming up the stairs, and held his hand out for his husband as he came around the corner.

"Have you tried to get his attention?" Yuri wondered quietly, taking the offered hand and speaking against the Russian's ear where the man had leaned down slightly to hear him.

Viktor shook his head, "I haven't heard anything inside the room. I'm not even sure he's in there."

The younger figure looked back at Phichit, and then to the door, raising his free hand and knocking quietly, "Yuri...are you in there?" No answer came, even for the good few seconds they waited, "...Yuri...we're all about to leave. I'd really rather not have to go knowing you're still mad at us. Would you come out and talk to us?"

Still nothing.

The Russian knocked as well, "Yuri...I get why you're mad about what you heard yesterday. We all want what's best for everyone, but that doesn't mean everyone's going to get the outcome they want. I didn't refuse your request because I'm trying to spite you, though."

As before...nothing came.

Viktor looked back at his partner, "Well, he's either sticking to his guns, or he's not here. Should we check the onsen real fast?"

"Yeah."

Phichit turned on his heel to head back the way they came and clear the path, and Viktor followed after, but he paused when he felt a tug on his hand where Yuri hadn't quite started to move yet. The two skaters glanced at the third, but neither knew what to say.

"Yuri..." The raven-haired figure said, a worried look on his face, "Minako-sensei told us about the plans you guys have made, and we're actually pretty happy for you. We all think the change of scenery, and being around people who care a lot about you will probably do you a lot of good. Having a real family to come home to every day...it's different than just hanging out with a couple of older skaters who joke about being your SkateDads." He explained, hoping the teen was inside, so that he wasn't just speaking to an empty room like he'd done once before, "...So we're wishing you the best in it all, okay? We're looking forward to you being in Hasetsu full time. Maybe we'll train together again like we did in St. Petersburg, just with Minako-sensei instead of Yakov. It'll be fun...right?"

Without an answer, Yuri drew in a disappointed breath and turned back to the two ahead of him, following down the stairs without another word.

Inside the room though...the Russian Tiger had indeed been present...but had been stone-cold unconscious the entire time.

.

"Well...we'd better get out of here. Plane leaves in about 2 hours." Yuri explained, standing in the snowy front entranceway of the resort. Ahead of him was his father, holding onto a camera, having just taken the last few pictures of the group. Phichit was unhooking his phone from a selfie-stick, and Viktor was looking at the pictures he'd taken on his own phone as well, leaning against Yuri's back as he did so.

Mari was looking a bit nervous off to the side, "What do I do if he doesn't come out...?"

"Just barge the door down and drag him out." Viktor offered with a wink, "I don't think it'll come to that though. I'll bet he was just asleep, since we couldn't find him anywhere else. Uncle Mimi and Minako-sensei said they talked to him really early this morning. He may not be super-chatty, but he'll come downstairs to get to the airport when it's time. He does know when you plan on leaving, right?"

"...I think so...but knowing him, he might've just said 'yeah yeah' to get me to stop talking to him..."

"Did Yurio ever give you his cell number?" Yuri wondered, "You can always scare him awake by phoning him."

The older woman shook her head, and pulled her own phone out of her jacket pocket, dressed in normal clothing for the trip later that night, "No, I don't think he ever gave it to me. Text it?"

"Sure." The skater nodded and flipped through his contacts to do just that. When it was done, he put his phone away again, and then looked up at his husband, then to the family again, "We're off."

"Ganbatte, ne? Yuri! Viktor!" Hiroko cheered, Toshiya standing by her side, "Bring home another Gold medal!"

"I'm going to try." He answered nervously.

"Of course you're going to win Gold." Viktor encouraged, wrapping an arm around his partner's back and settling his hand that hip.

"What about you then?"

"I'm going to win Gold!" The Russian said proudly.

The group just gawked at him, "...This again..."

.

With Minako's car safely parked in front of her apartment building, everything transferred to the cab that came to pick the skaters up, and the eventual move onto the train itself, the trip to Detroit was officially underway. The first plane took off from Fukuoka and landed for the initial layover in Tokyo for a meager 1-hour break. After that, it was a full 12 hour flight to Chicago, a brief 45-minute second layover, and the final 90 minute flight to Detroit itself. It was just around 3:30pm local time when they finally got off that last plane, and though Yuri was still slightly tired, he'd managed to find the mercy of sleep for a few hours of the main flight.

Phichit had been completely enamored with Business Class, foreswearing Coach from then on, despite knowing there was no way he'd ever be able to hold to those plans. Still, he took so many photos that it might as well have been a movie, giving him something of an anthology to look through on any later flights he'd take so he could at least fool himself by living through the images vicariously.

As they made their way out into the main part of the North Terminal, Yuri felt the second-wind he'd been hoping for. Coffee helped in that regard as well; it was Viktor's mission to go to the first cafe they found upon entering the D-Wing, and as though by providence, the first restaurant he spotted after coming off the ramp was a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.

Concourse-D was a massive and long terminal, completely separate from the rest of the airport, and up the road a ways to boot. It took several minutes, for lack of an indoor shuttle service, to walk from the gate to the baggage claim area. It was all becoming terribly nostalgic, though.

One thing that caught Yuri's eye as they got their things and were heading out to the road to find their shuttle, was the huge banner welcoming participants and spectators to Detroit for the Grand Prix Final. It featured a grandiose image of the Little Caesar's Arena, and the official ISU logo for the event off to the side, as well as the Top 3 qualifying participants from each of the different disciplines. Naturally, it featured himself, Viktor, and JJ, since they'd all won Gold medals, and JJ had scored just barely higher than Otabek.

Viktor gave the banner something of a smug gesture, "Are you ready for this?" He turned to his partner, who was still looking at the banner.

Yuri glanced back, "What, for this? It's-" He whipped his hands back and gave an atrociously-bad impersonation of JJ-Style-hands. He did it wrong the first several attempts though, unable to quite figure out which direction one hand was supposed to go to make the first J-sign, and getting the second backwards anyway, so he gave up, shrugged, and laughed at it nervously, "...Yuri Style, I guess?"

The Russian just made V-signs with his fingers, waving them around before thrusting them both forward, "It's Vivi Style!"

Both younger skaters just grabbed for the man's arms though and pulled them down, "Careful! Americans are super sensitive about that!"

"About what? Vivi Style?" He asked, still laughing but super confused.

"Something about some guy once saying 'I'm not a crook' or whatever." Yuri tried to explain, "I forget."

"And then there's this one-" Phichit added, making a sign with his free hand as they let the older figure go, with his pinky and index finger out, and the other fingers curled inward, "...Some people think it's supposed to be a sign of solidarity for some Texas college football team, but other people are like 'blearg it's Satan!' You can never tell which one people are going to think you're doing until they freak out about it."

"Wow~! Really?" Viktor wondered, inevitably making the sign with his own hands, "It's like little hand-puppets! See? If I do my fingers like this, it's like a snout!" He gestured at his husband, making his middle and ring fingers and thumb act like the face and jaw of some dragon he'd created, "Rawr~!"

"Viktorstopitohmygod." Yuri stammered, trying not to laugh as the Russian did everything he could to tickle him with the 'dragon-face.'

Viktor just laughed as the younger figure tried to wiggle away, snaking his dragon-headed-hands around the man's sides to hug him from behind, "Anyway though... I only came through this place once before today. I guess you must've come through here a hundred times during the 5 years you trained with Ciao Ciao."

"Mh." The skater nodded, "...It's actually kinda weird being here again now." He went on, looking back at the terminal one last time as they finally made their way through the last doors to get outside. His sudden shift from being on the edge of laughing to being serious caught his partner by surprise, and Yuri could feel the light squeeze where the man hugged him a bit tighter to get his attention back.

"Yuri?"

"Sorry, I just..."

Images flashed through his mind, past versions of himself appearing like apparitions all around them. The return from dozens of different competitions, some happy and excited, others significantly less so...and the time he'd come back from Skate Canada swearing he'd never wash his hand again.

It all happened right here...

"This is where I came when I got off the plane the first time, moving up to Seniors and leaving home to train. ...I was...never any particular genius at skating...I just had a lot of free time on my hands, and about a billion reasons to want to leave Hasetsu." The anxious skater explained, his eyes wandering across every wall and window, escalator and sign, "Most of all, this is where I came when I really buckled down and got serious about wanting to compete on the same ice as you..."

Viktor could feel the shorter man wiggle a bit to get free, and let him go easily enough, watching quietly, but sliding one hand down the skater's arm to find his palm again.

Yuri turned to face him finally, finding the man's other hand to take it as well, lacing their fingers together though keeping his eyes low on that tan long-coat the whole time, "...All these times, I came through this place...never once did I ever think that, one day, I'd not only have gotten to actually meet you...but that I'd have gotten to skate with you... Everything that's happened since I last set foot in this building...going back to Japan with my tail between my legs, when I thought I'd given up skating for good...having never so much as told you my name with my own voice... And yet, now...I'm back again, not just as a top figure skater, but...with you...here by my side..."

The Russian could hear the subtle crack in his husband's voice, and lowered his face a bit with a sad smile, "It's all coming a bit full-circle for you here, isn't it? Even more than when you did 'Firebird' at last year's Exhibition."

The younger skater snuffled a breath, trying to rub his eyes and nose on the inside of his shoulder, but it didn't help. As soon as he looked up and saw the silver legend's face, the tears rolled down his cheeks anyway, "I needed to do 'Firebird'...to show you, to show everyone how far I'd finally come because of what you'd done... The sacrifices you made, the tremendous personal risk you took put on your own career and reputation, the time you spent trying to sort me out... I wanted everyone to see that it wasn't a waste. But now...I'm back in this place, and I'm more than what I was when I last came through here...and I can prove to this city that I finally achieved, and surpassed, my wildest dreams."

Viktor couldn't keep still after that, stepping forward to put his arms over his emotional husband's shoulders and pull him close. He felt the hug returned quickly, the younger skater's arms coming around his sides and holding tight, "Your dreams weren't the only ones that were surpassed. You did that with mine, too...and..." He said quietly, "...We achieved it all together. I couldn't be prouder or happier."

"Me n-neither..." Yuri quaked, pressing his eyes to his husband's shoulder. He held there for a moment, until he was sure he wouldn't completely burst out crying when he pulled away again, and huffed an incredulous laugh at himself as he rubbed one wrist against his cheek, "S-Sorry...I guess...I'm a bit emotional and over-tired..."

"Maybe a little bit." The Russian mused, leaning forward again to give his partner a reassuring kiss...only for them both to suddenly realize...

...Phichit had been taking pictures the entire time.