CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED FOURTY THREE

The cheering and hollering was deafening, even for a group as small as the one at the rink that day. Yuri could hardly believe it.

Some of the clamor started coalescing into words, but the first thing Viktor had apparently heard clearly was a request to see the rings. The Russian quickly turned where he stood, pulling his right arm out from behind his husband's back and moving that arm in front to hold up his hand, nudging the younger skater with an elbow to make him do the same. With both hands out on display, and both rings upon them, the cheering changed to include clapping again like before.

As the clapping died down, one of the other coaches leaned in next to Phichit, resting her chin on the palm of her hand, elbow on the rink-wall's blue upper ledge, "It's pretty crazy to see how things have changed since we last laid eyes on you, Katsuki. Or, I guess I should say 'Nikiforov' now." She smiled, "After storming off like you did before, only to hear that Viktor had gone to be your coach a month later...wow! I mean...wow! How in the world did that even happen?"

Yuri got a little sheepish, reaching his ringed hand back to rub the back of his neck, "...Er, well...in Sochi...I..." He huffed to himself and drew in a breath, "I got pretty drunk and apparently started flirting with him. I told him about the hot-spring resort at home and said he should come be my coach after Worlds."

Phichit pointed at him teasingly, "And then you forgot! You were so trashed that you blacked out!"

"It was a really horrible event for me!" The older skater retorted, "Celestino dragged me to that Banquet against my will!"

"All for the better that he did." Viktor laughed, settling his arm over his partner's shoulders, "Though I'm still a bit embarrassed to realize you hadn't remembered that night until it came up in Barcelona."

The elder coach stared a little, pointing at his former student, "...You didn't remember? At all?"

Yuri just made a face, "...Don'tjudgeme..."

Celestino just burst out laughing, "You forgot about that Banquet!? You spent hours hanging out with Viktor. If I hadn't dragged you back to our room at the end, I'm certain you would've ended up in his somehow."

"...What..." The skater just gaped, wide-eyed and in disbelief, "...There was more to it...than the dance-off...?"

The older man gaped right back at him, "Well sure...the Banquet went until sometime around 2am. We were there for nearly 5 hours, and you started drinking almost as soon as we got there. After all that crazy stripping with Chris and the random dancing with the Russians, you ended up just hanging around Viktor for the rest of the event. By the time I decided to call it a night and went looking for you, I found you sitting sideways on his lap at their team table and had to drag you away, practically kicking and screaming."

The skater's wide eyes twitched a little, "...I was what...? S-sitting on Viktor's lap!?" He turned his flushed face towards the man in question, "...Why didn't you tell me about that!?"

"You were already pretty upset about finding out that you'd asked me to be your coach, so I didn't want to make it worse by saying how much time we spent together, too." The Russian mused, thinking back on the night rather fondly, one hand on his cheek as he sighed dreamily, "But...you were really beautiful that night."

Yuri was stunned, his glasses sliding slightly out of place as he looked on, "...I was black-out drunk. How was I anything less than a slobbering, dizzy mess?"

"You underestimate the power of a smitten heart." Viktor smiled, "I mean...I'd been a bit concerned over you when you collapsed during your Free Skate, but then when you did that strip-tease with Chris...and especially after that, when you did all that break-dancing in your Dance Battle against Yurio...wow~!"

The group around them was laughing, and the lady-coach from earlier spoke up again, "Didn't you once say it was in your blood to get completely trashed sometimes, Yuri?"

He just sunk a little, putting his hands on his head and looking down to the floor, "This is too much... What next, am I going to be told we were making out, too?"

Viktor sighed at that, "Unfortunately, no...we didn't. But I absolutely would've let you if you tried." He smiled deviously, leaning in close to kiss the man's cheek.

"What did we even do all that time...?" Yuri wondered, lifting his head again and giving a curious, albeit perplexed look, "If we really spent most of those hours together... "

"You spent most of it drinking and talking about skating things." The Russian explained, "Chris came by at some point and confirmed a bunch of the stories you'd told...I think it was about all the times he'd tried to introduce us? I know he joked that if he knew getting you drunk would make it that easy, he would've spiked your water years ago. I forget all the exact details of it though. I was too busy looking at you."

"...Looking...at me...?" He echoed again.

"I bet you guys have so many great stories." One of the other skaters pointed out.

"I want to hear this, too!" Phichit cheered, pointing towards the open cafeteria area, "We should sit!"

Viktor was too excited about it, raising an arm up to cheer as well as the group on the ice started sliding along the rink wall towards an exit.

All Yuri could do was think about how much it reminded him of the day 'Onsen on Ice' had been created. He was just along for the ride at that point. By the time they'd all pulled chairs together and sat around one of the round tables, Yuri felt obliged to start introducing people, pointing at them as he went around in a circle, "...Ben, Camilla, Ivan, Hitomi, Shui, Fatima, pairs Eric and Joanna, then Elijah and Kristen...Coach Gerard, Coach Lisa, Choreographers Michael and Stephan..." He explained, "I don't know those two out on the ice right now though. They're new."

"That's Antoine and Becky. They just got out of Junior Pairs and were training in Toronto before. Their coach told them to come down here so they'd be in a competitive environment, since they'd been training alone prior." Coach Gerard explained, "You'd just missed them when you left."

"Ah..."

"So start from the top!" Coach Lisa asked excitedly, "What was it like having Viktor show up? We heard all about it on SMS but you never post anything so we had to hear about it from others."

Yuri got a bit sheepish, "Yeah...I never really posted much of anything back then. Even now...I've been trying to get better, but the GP Series has been pretty stressful, so I haven't posted much since we got out of Paris..." He stretched his arms out over the table, feeling Viktor snake his own arm down as well to weave their fingers together as he spoke, "How to even describe how things started... Viktor showed up during a rare spring snow-storm..."

"I was totally naked." Viktor added.

"Youweresittinginthehotspringofcourseyouwerenaked." Yuri clarified quickly, his face turning red as the group laughed.

"And you barged in like you couldn't find me fast enough. Broke all the rules about not running on deck and wearing shoes and everything." The Russian nudged his partner fondly.

Flushed and flustered, Yuri went on, "So he tells me, point blank, that he's going to be my coach and that he's going to make me win the next Grand Prix Final. I showed him around tow-"

"Whoa whoa, time out." Hitomi stopped him, putting her hands together in a T-shape, "You can't just move on with the story like there isn't a whole extra story to be told here. Viktor Nikiforov showed up buck-ass naked in your house and you just showed him around town?" She turned to the Russian, "Please, good sir, tell us how it really was."

Yuri could feel his skin getting tight from how deeply crimson he was turning, but he deferred and let the man speak.

Viktor just smiled excitedly, "He thought he was dreaming for a while." He said with a chuckle, "Then he screamed, then he left outright."

"YOU DID WHAT?" Three skaters were up, slamming their hands down on the table-top and making Yuri back up almost to the point of falling off his stool.

Viktor caught him and pushed him back up, "He was so stunned that he went back into the main shower-room like a robot." He went on happily, though his expression soured dramatically, "I thought he was going to ignore me...I was so hurt! But then the door cracked a little bit and he was looking out again from inside. I made him come back out onto the deck, and splashed him with some of the water so he'd know he was awake and everything was real. So after I soaked for a bit, I ate some resort-fare, then I fell asleep on the floor I think...and when I woke up, Yuri and his ballet teacher were both there. That's when the coaching started!"

"He wanted to sleep with me on the first night." Yuri said flatly, giving a nervous smile, "Banging on my door and demanding to be let in."

The group laughed again, but Viktor was entirely unashamed, "I wanted to get to know you! How was I going to do that when the only time I ever got to talk to you was when you were around other people? I needed to get you alone sometimes!"

"In my bedroom though?"

"Sure! It's like camping!" The Russian teased, "It took until after 'Hot-Springs on Ice' for you to calm down about me being there though."

"Ah yeah, I remember hearing about that." Coach Lisa mused, loving every second of the story, "Yuri Plisetsky turned up after he found out where you'd gone." She pointed a free hand at the older skater, "I read that there was some bet going on behind the scenes, but for the most part it just looked like some random Exhibition you guys had put together for fun."

"Yeah..." Yuri nodded, "Yurio showed up demanding that Viktor go back with him to Russia and be his coach there. We did the event to decide who Viktor would stay with."

"I knew Yuri would win from the start though." Viktor said, rubbing his thumb gently across where his hand held to his partner's, "But they both took it really seriously."

"You couldn't have known I was going to win." The younger figure retorted.

"Sure I could." The Russian nodded, "We were in your home territory, we were at your home rink. It was your big return to the ice as a competitor since you'd fallen apart in Sochi and at Nationals, plus it was a big thing that I was there as your coach already anyway. You would've won that thing even if you fell on every jump."

"...He's got you there, Yuri." Phichit mused, nudging him with a shoulder as well from his own side.

"Mmmhhhhhnnnn..."

"And I wouldn't have gone back to Russia even if Yurio had won somehow." Viktor added, "I was on a mission. And so it just went from there...half of most days we spent on the ice, fine tuning 'Eros' and putting together 'YoI,' the rest of the time playing around on the beach or in town. You were a pretty tough nut to crack though, Yuri..."

"Eh? Really?"

Half the people at the round-table snorted with laughter, but it was Hitomi again who spoke, "That's the understatement of the year, if I ever heard it!"

Yuri just blinked and looked around, "What? What are you talking about? I'm the least tough person out there!"

"Oh sure, you're a big softie, no doubt about that," She agreed, nodding sagely, "But it takes a lot of work and effort to get close to you. For the most part, you keep people at arm's length and rarely put yourself out there. I mean, the only thing anyone really knew about you was based on what your skating profile said with the JSF, and the fact that you had a major man-crush on Viktor."

"IdidnothaveamancrushonViktor." He barked defensively.

The Russian and Phichit just laughed on both sides of him.

"Oh don't be modest, Yuri." Hitomi went on, laughing as well, "If the joke goes that there are only two things certain in life...death and taxes...then I would have to add a third, that being 'Yuri Katsuki is in love with Viktor Nikiforov.'"

"I had a thing for someone else back then." The apprehensive skater insisted, "Half the reason I moved all the way to Detroit in the first place was to get away from her after she married a guy who tormented me as a kid."

"You liked a girl before?" The lady-skater was surprised to hear it, "Who?"

"...A childhood friend of mine; Yuuko. The one who got me started into competitive skating and told me about Viktor. We used to practice his old Junior programs together...and she was even better at skating than I was." Yuri admitted, his tone a bit more dour than it had been, "But there was this other guy that was always around...and as far back as I can remember, he made fun of my weight and my skating ability. Yuuko was always defending me from him." He lowered his head a little, his heart aching already from the memory of it all, "But...the day I finally decided I was going to tell her how I felt...was the day I found out she was dating that guy. I never stood a chance, so I just kept it all to myself. I tried to ignore it all, but everything happened so fast. Before I could blink, they were married and had triplets. I couldn't get out of Hasetsu fast enough." He lifted his head again, casting his eyes onto where Viktor held his hand on the table-top, and the thumb that slowly went back and forth along his skin, "So when I got here, and didn't have to think about it anymore...I put all my newfound energy into improving my skating. What better way to get to the top than my emulating someone who was already there? Viktor was my hero. He was everything I ever wanted and aspired to be. In a selfish, stupid kind of way...I even thought, if I was as good as Viktor, maybe Yuuko would finally see me. But when I fell apart and went back home...I realized that Yuuko hadn't even really noticed. She knew stuff about my skating, but she hadn't been actively following it, even though she'd once said she hoped to see me compete against Viktor one day. I guess she was too busy with her kids. She didn't even recognize me at first." He turned his head slightly as he felt his husband's chin rest on his shoulder, sliding down a bit to kiss there as well, "I had been practicing 'Aria' for a while, so I showed it to her the first time I got my courage up to go to the Ice Castle. I was really nervous to show her, but when I was done, she was literally in tears over it. For a second and a half, I thought it was just her and I in the world...but then her triplets popped up, and her...husband...and just like before, he was making fun of my weight, and Yuuko was having to defend me. The years I'd been away vanished into the air like smoke. Nothing had really changed. ...Unknown to me at the time though, Yuuko's girls had recorded my replica of 'Aria' and posted it online. Ten days later, the video had gone viral...and Viktor showed up."

"...I remember that video." Phichit pointed out, trying to lighten the mood, "I was actually walking in front of my rink in Bangkok when I saw it! All the times I'd seen you doing it here, in this rink...I'd have recorded it and put it online myself if I knew it would've gotten Viktor to you faster! At the time though, I was just happy to see you hadn't completely given up on skating."

"I was trying to think of ways to keep going on my own." Yuri noted, "I'd already lost a little of the weight I'd gained before going home, but I was still looking for my motivation to compete. The idea of coming back here and asking Celestino to take me on again was at the back of my mind. I really didn't know what I was going to do."

"Yeah, it took you long enough to call." The elder coach huffed, leaning against the nearby wall with his hands tucked casually into his coat pockets, "But I guess things worked out for you pretty well in the end. What Viktor has said since then was pretty true...you needed a kind of motivation that I couldn't give."

The young skater sank a bit, "...It's not like you were a bad coach...I was just a bad student."

"And I wasn't about to sleep with you to make you better."

The whole group started howling with laughter, even Viktor.

Yuri's jaw would've been on the floor it could go that far. Instead, he just pulled his hands up and shook them back and forth frantically, "Th-that's not even what happened!"

The Russian sighed in agreement, "It's true...we didn't sleep together until after the Grand Prix."

"V-VIKTOR."

More laughing from the American club, though Celestino had just lowered his head and covered his eyes with one hand, shaking his head back and forth like he was hearing inappropriate stories about his own children.

"You made me wait such a long time, Yuri!" The older skater went on teasingly, "Almost a whole year!"

"I married you almost a year to the day after you arrived!"

"Yeah but all the fun parts didn't start until practically the end of that time!"

Yuri blustered, "You kissed me in China in front of everyone!"

"Eight months after I got there! And you didn't kiss me until we were back in Hasetsu again after the Final! A full year since that fated Banquet in Sochi!" Viktor retorted, "So like I said before, you were a tough nut to crack! I've never had to work so hard at seducing someone in my whole life, especially since you started it!"

"Don't feel so bad, Viktor." Coach Lisa mused, "Yuri had plenty of opportunities while he trained here, but he refused all of them."

The Russian's expression changed, and he turned stiffly to look at his husband's nervous face, "...Plenty of opportunities? Yuri. You never told me that."

"I-It's not true, that's why!"

"Don't lie, Yuri." The lady-Coach went on, "I can think of at least seven girls and one guy who tried to get your attention, and then there was Cel-"

"Ahhh noooo if you mention her she'll turn up!" Yuri protested, waving his hands around again, this time half-way rising from his chair in desperation.

"I doubt it." Lisa laughed, "Shortly after you humiliated her, she deployed with the Air Force. Why do you think she stopped coming to the rink?"

"...I...honestly thought she just..." The skater sighed and sat back down, "I don't know what I thought. She was pretty upset. I guess I just figured she stopped coming to the rink because of me."

"Who are you talking about?" Viktor asked, still flat like before.

"...We don't mention her name here...but it's the girl I told you about who tried to hug me. The one I shoved off."

"Oh. So this isn't someone else."

Yuri shook his head.

Phichit leaned across the table and not-so-quietly whispered, "Viktor gets super jealous. No one touches his Yuri."

The Russian took the moment for what it was and twisted to wrap both arms around his partner's head, pulling him close, and glancing around at the group, "...He's my cinnamon roll." More laughter, and Viktor let the man go, returning to slide his hand down an arm to take his husband's hand between them again. He smiled though and it was all in good fun, patting their hands with his free one, "Yuri's a better man than I am in that regard, I guess. When Sophia showed up in Bordeaux...I don't think I saw a shred of jealousy out of him that whole time."

"Sophia?" Someone in the group wondered, "An old flame?"

"Da." The Russian nodded, "From years and years ago. She was in Ladies Singles back then, but had to drop because of an injury. I lost touch with her, but she popped up as a correspondent from a local news station at Trophée de France."

"I never felt like I needed to be jealous." Yuri explained, tilting a bit where he sat to lean against the man's shoulder, "At worst, I was upset at her for upsetting you...but...I never felt like she could take you away from me. Even before you said as much when you pulled her over to the team prep area."

"...Wow, now I suddenly feel so insecure!" Viktor lamented, an awkward smile on his face like he wasn't sure what to think, "I completely lost my mind when I found out that fan got you on the mouth back home! And yet there you were, totally level-headed about someone who you knew I'd been with before...not a stranger at all..."

"Well...I feel really secure in this relationship...so..." The younger skater rationalized, "My only worry with Sophia was that she might try to put you into a compromising situation to try and force a conflict between us. But in the end, the worst that ever happened was her saying she'd be open to the idea of picking up where you guys left off, if you wanted to...but you told her you weren't interested, and that was basically the end of it. The rest was just her doing her job..."

"I guess so."

"And then...there was China." Phichit snickered, "The ultimate contrast."

A quiet murmur of laughs and whispers rumbled through the group, but the Russian just sighed, "Not my proudest moment."

"You really need to stop worrying that I might leave you." Yuri said, "There's no chance of that ever happening."

"Fanboy dreams sometimes do come true." Coach Gerard huffed, casually leaning back on his plastic chair, nudging his head towards the legendary skater, "The only way Yuri's leaving you is when they pry off his cold, dead fingers. But even then, I think he'd probably come back as a ghost and haunt you until you joined him in the Beyond."

Viktor just blinked widely at the man, a bit slack-jawed and utterly speechless. He quickly moved his arms up to wrap around Yuri's head again protectively. Even the idea of his husband dying was enough to turn on the water-works in the Russian's eyes.

Yuri just pat one arm where he could, smiling nervously from under the pretzel-knot of limbs encircling him.

Phichit just smiled anxiously as he saw the rivers cascading down the silver skater's cheeks, "Sorry! Sorry! I didn't mean to hit a soft-spot!"

"So how did this whole thing turn into a marriage anyway?" Gerard asked instead, trying to get off the topic and onto something a bit more pleasing to think about, "I mean, you guys started as coach and student...but neither of you were even friends before that. I didn't even think either of you were into dudes anyway, and by the sounds of it, you both had a thing for the ladies before."

"W-Well..." Yuri gasped, trying to pull his husband's arms away so he could breathe again. He managed to get enough space to draw in some air, but Viktor just clamped down from a different angle, so he gave up a little and just settled where he was, "It just kind of turned out this way... I sort of defaulted back to how I was before the Banquet once the alcohol wore off, so I had no idea what Viktor was thinking when he came to Hasetsu. I guess that's why it took so long for thing to...uh...well, get moving, I guess? I was so clueless. Things started to fall into place only after he knocked me onto my back after my China Free Skate. A month later, we were engaged, and 3 months after that, we were married."

"I actually thought they were married already," Phichit laughed sheepishly, scratching the side of his jaw, "A bunch of us met for drinks before the Final got started, and they both already had their rings...all I knew was that they didn't have them when we competed in Beijing. So, there I was, my dorky self congratulating them and yelling at everyone nearby that 'hey everyone, my best friend just got hitched!'"

Yuri's face was pink again, "I just wanted to get Viktor a thank-you gift for being my coach. It didn't make sense to buy him a fake Gold Medal, since I was still hoping to win one for him...so when I thought about something 'round and golden,' and saw a jeweler's shop...I just went with it. I only bought the one though. He got the other without me knowing."

The Russian finally shut off the faucets behind his eyes and let himself fondly remember the day, nuzzling his partner's head where he still had it clamped in his grasp, "I did! Yuri fought so hard to clear up the fact that Phichit was mistaken...but in the end, I said they were engagement rings and told everyone that we'd get married when he won Gold. He only won Silver in the end...but I already knew that the Final wouldn't be the end for us. Not counting the time I fell asleep on top of him...the night after the Banquet was the first time he let me hold him while we slept. And then..." He let go of Yuri's head so he could bring his hands up in front of his own face, his cheeks pink and his voice rising up excitedly, "...The next day, after we got back to Hasetsu, he finally kissed meeee!"

Laughter and clapping resonated after that, though Yuri just nodded and smiled anxiously.

"I think I've re-fallen in love with him at least a hundred times since that night." Viktor went on, "Probably around 500 times, actually."

"You should've kept the log after all." Yuri smirked.

"I should start!" The Russian laughed, moving his arms around his husband's back and side again, resting his chin on the closest shoulder, "It would be like in those scifi shows!" He pulled his phone out quickly and held it up to his mouth, "Star-date 12.10-8234...fell in love with Yuri again. He finally fell asleep on the plane, but drooled a bit onto his neck-pillow. Note: It was adorable drool. Also he was adorable. Sub-note: How did I ever deserve this perfect cinnamon roll?"

"...That was today."

"Yes, about 6 hours ago." Viktor nodded happily, "You were precious."

The group was laughing again, though Phichit had gone seeking his own phone by then, "I think I have pictures of that..." He thumbed at the screen a bit, and his eyes lit up, "Ah! Yes, I do! Look!" He held the device out over the table and showed off the picture...of both skaters unconscious in their seats, leaning against each other over the arm-rest between them. Yuri was indeed drooling...but so was Viktor...right into the man's hair.

The Russian laughed, "Whoops."

"...I guess it dried before I woke up...I didn't notice." The younger skater reached up to ruffle his black mop-top anyway.

"So who from the old crew have you run into so far?" Coach Lisa asked, "I can only imagine how people will react to you two."

"We actually came here first." Yuri answered, trying to straighten the fluff out, "We were going to make pit-stops along the way as we went back. Can you give us a heads-up on who's still around at this point?"

.

Subject 01: Starbucks Manager

"Yuri?" A tall, thin man said, coming out from the back of the store and onto the sale's floor, seeing that recognizable face, "Yuri Katsuki?"

"I'm back." The skater smiled, resisting the urge to correct like he normally did under such circumstances.

"Holy shit!" The figure tossed a small white towel over his shoulder and came forward, reaching a hand out to shake, "It's been ages! All the old staff has already moved on at this point. It's just me left."

"Yeah, that's what they were saying at the Skate Club. Kinda sad. So much has changed since I came here for my last latté."

"Are you here for the Grand Prix Final?"

"Yup." Yuri nodded excitedly, the butterflies rising up in his stomach, "I'm competing in it again, if you can believe it."

"Wow! That's really great! The others were saying you left in a big hurry before. Made it sound like you had decided to retire."

"I was on the edge of it."

"What brought you back?"

"I found a new coach...Celestino was good, but I needed a more personal touch."

"A personal touch, huh? What sort?" The manager gave Yuri a look, curious.

The skater just held up his hand, "The married kind of touch."

The man raised a brow, looking at his own wedding band, but realizing it was on the other hand, "...Shouldn't that be on the left if it's for marriage?" He asked, pointing at the simple gold ring on Yuri's finger.

"They go on the right in Russia."

"Russia..." He repeated, "...Russia... Oh, now I remember why that's familiar. Isn't that skater you obsessed over before from there?"

Yuri twitched slightly, but then nodded, "Yeah."

"What was his name again...? Martin...Verrik...? Something with a V..."

"Two grande Chai-tea lattés, one with 6 pumps, ready at the bar for Viktor." One of the baristas called out, "One tall pumpkin spice latté for Phichit."

"Viktor! That's the one. ...That's funny." The manager laughed, seeing the two aforementioned figures moving forward to collect their drinks. He turned back to Yuri though, "Phichit's here, too. You guys were always together back then. Is he competing?"

"...Ah, sadly no...he barely didn't make it this time. He was there last year though. But we couldn't stand to go without him, so we offered to pay for his plane ticket so he could come with us." The skater explained.

"Yuri," The silver Russian stepped up, offering him the first cup, "You ready to get moving? We need to get to practice."

The manager paused a moment.

'We need to get to practice?' He spoke with a Russian accent. Mel called for 'Viktor' to collect those drinks...and one was for Yuri himself.

The man's eyes went down to where the taller figure was holding onto his own drink, and saw a second gold band on a finger there...on the right hand.

...Wedding rings go on the right hand in Russia...

"Yeah, we probably should get going..." Yuri agreed, taking a light sip from the small mouthpiece at the top of his cup.

"...Waaaait a minute." The manager started up again, pointing from the skater he knew to the one he didn't. He wasn't quite sure if he should be so bold as to assume, so he reached for his phone from his back pocket, pulling up a Google image search and typing [that famous russian figure skater victor guy] into the query window. A moment later, the webspace spat out a series of results, and a familiar silver-haired head popped up in dozens of different pictures. He clicked on one to enlarge it, and held it up to compare, looking back and forth between the photo and the man, "...Well. Hm."

The Thai skater jumped up between them, pointing at each of the other two with a finger, "Yuri and Viktor are married! Disney dreams do come true!" He laughed.

"Ph-Phichito-kun!" The older skater harped, trying to get him out of the way, "You were supposed to let him figure it out!"

"...I got it." The older man said, putting his phone away again and just staring at the pair, "...I hate to ask this, but..."

Both of their faces changed...suddenly wondering the worst.

"...How did a scrub like you manage to score a super-famous, mega-hot foreign husband like him?"

Phichit nearly died laughing. Yuri dropped to the floor. Viktor just slowly turned his face, not sure if he should be proud of the description given to him or not, and looked at where his partner was twitching incoherently...latté held straight up in the air, as though the floor would turn to lava if it fell.

.

Subject 02: Sushi Hana Staff

Yuri had barely made it three steps inside the restaurant with Phichit before someone recognized him and started yelling for people to come. Other guests were looking around, wondering what madness had overtaken the servers as they all rushed towards the front of the store. When all the back-and-forth excited yelling had stopped, there were four young ladies, an older couple, and one middle-aged man standing before the duo.

"Yuri! Phichit! Yuri Phichit! Phichit Yuri!" The girls were chanting happily, reaching to stack all their hands together, "Are you guys here to watch Viktor skate!? He's here in town! He's here for the Final!"

"Oh, have you guys been watching the events?" The older of the two wondered, worried the surprise was ruined already.

"...No...!" They answered nervously, each of them making faces like they'd been caught off-guard with their mitts in the dessert pie, but then went right back to happily bobbing up and down on their toes, still holding to their hand-stack between them, "We heard from the Skate Club! They were talking about how he'd set all these crazy new World Records at his last event! But they told us ages ago that you'd gone back home and retired, so...if you're here, that must mean you're going to watch Viktor skate, right!?"

"Well...yes..."

"Eeeeeeee!" They all laughed, "We thought so! You used to talk about him all the time before! Always trying to do the same stuff!"

Yuri smiled innocently, and gently pulled his hands out of the small tower, stepping lightly to the door and pushing it open a bit. The confused group watched him as he waved at someone outside, and then pushed the door even further open to make room. When the silver-haired Russian stepped in, the three ladies froze, gaping at him...and then screamed again.

"Everyone...this is Viktor Nikiforov." The skater explained.

"WE KNOOOOW!" They screeched, doing everything in their power not to paw at him, "He's the hottest bachelor aliiiiiive!"

"No he's not." Yuri grimaced.

The three meandered closer to the tall skater, speaking behind their hands, "Don't mind him. He doesn't know what he's talking about."

"He's right, actually." Viktor nodded and smiled, "About part of it, anyway."

"Eh?"

One long arm went around the younger skater's back, pulling him close and swinging him around in front of himself gently. With a dip, and closed eyes, the 'hottest bachelor alive' kissed his husband for all the group to see.

Eyes went wide...and the trio could do nothing more than make caught-up breathless noises.

"I can't even."

"How did you...?"

"What is air?"

Yuri just smiled innocently, looking at them from his upside-down vantage where Viktor held him up. He raised his arms up for dramatic effect, and pointed to his ring rather smugly where his hands were closest to them, "He's no bachelor."

The girls all pawed at the limb, and looked from it to where the Russian pulled his own hand up to waggle his finger, and displayed the matching ring thereupon, "I'll gladly accept the moniker of 'hottest' though."

As usual, Phichit was 'documenting' the whole thing.

For research.

.

Subject 03: Apartment Property Manager

"This one might be tough." Phichit warned quietly, looking at the small office-house of Fox Pointe Apartments from the safety of the car, "Mrs. Desoto was mad at you for leaving so fast."

"Really?"

"Yup." The skater nodded wisely, "She might hit you."

"If she tries-" Viktor interrupted.

Yuri just laughed nervously and pushed the door open, "Well...it wouldn't be the first time."

"Why did she hit you before...?" The Russian wondered, stepping out as well and giving the building something of a wary glare.

"Yuri, why don't you have a girlfriend!? Yuri, why haven't you done your laundry in two weeks!? Yuri, were you trying to cook again!? I see smoke! Yuri, let me set you up with one of my girls! You can pick which one you want, they're all nice! Yuri, you're on the verge of being an old man and you're still single! Yuri, don't make me come over there...!" He answered, making his best impression of the spicy Hispanic woman's voice.

They barely made it to the steps before the skater suddenly found himself getting hit in the head with not one...but two sandals.

"YURI." An angry voice barked.

"Oh no, she saw us!" Phichit yelled, trying to run off, but stopped by Viktor grabbing the back of his jacket.

"I'D HIT YOU WITH MORE BUT I ONLY HAVE TWO FEET."

"Why did you throw your sandals at me!?" Yuri whined from where he'd landed in the snow, "And why are you wearing sandals in winter anyway!? It's Detroit, not the Bahamas!"

"Sandals are easier to aim with than big winter boots!"

Viktor settled his eyes on the woman; she was no more than 4'6" tall, thickly built, and perhaps in her 50s...though the years had not been as kind to her as they had been to Minako. Standing in the snow with bare feet, she was obviously not someone to mess with, being something of a spitfire as she was. She came sauntering right up to the group and collected her footwear...and then chucked them both at Phichit's head. He went down into the snow as well, flailing like a grounded bird.

"Mrs. Desoto, show mercy!" He pleaded.

She gazed up at the nearly-6' Russian, holding a hand over her eyes to block the light of the sun so she could see him, "Do I have to hit you for some reason, too? Just to round it out?"

"...Nyet."

"Oh, he's a foreign one!" She huffed, plodding along to get her sandals a second time, but this time putting them on her feet instead of chucking them. She huffed loudly and put her hands on her hips, "You boys are something else! Picking up and leaving like you did! You didn't even say goodbye! After everything I did for you!"

The pair suddenly jumped to sitting side by side, bowing and pleading, "We're sorry! We're so sorry!"

"Why did you even go!?"

Viktor was looking on at the spectacle in complete confusion, not sure if he should step in or not.

"I had to go home!" Yuri explained, pushing up from where his nose had been to the ground, "The skating thing wasn't working out back then!"

"And it is now?"

He nodded enthusiastically, his head practically rattling from how fast he moved it.

"What about you?" She turned her eyes to the Thai skater, "What's your excuse?"

"It..." Phichit started nervously, "...It was boring without Yuri! Ciao Ciao and I went to Bangkok!"

"LA CHANCLA ATTACK!" The woman yelled, whopping the hapless skater with both sandals again and knocking him down into the snow a second time, "You abandoned me!"

"We're sooorrryyyyy!" They whined, bowing deeply on their knees again.

"So who's this tall dark and brooding guy following you around?" She asked, collecting her shoes yet again and crossing her arms this time to look the Russian up and down, "New coach or something? Seems kind of young to know what he's doing. Does he speak English?"

"Yes, kind of, and of course he speaks English." Yuri answered, "But he's also m-"

"How come he doesn't talk then?" The squat woman circled around him; the sun was right behind his head, so she could only get a good look at him from behind, "Is he shy?"

"I dunno, he doesn't have anything to say...?"

Viktor stepped off from her, reaching a hand down to each of the apologetic skaters to hoist them back up to their feet. He stayed by Yuri though, helping to dust the snow off his clothes, but then refusing to leave, snaking an arm around the man to protect him from any further sandal-throws.

"What. What is this." She waved the sandals in their direction instead, "He's awful touchy-feely with you."

The young skater's face flushed a little, more nervous than before, but holding up his ring-hand, "Well, yeah...he's my husband. I tried to te-"

"Don't you make fun of me, Yuri Katsuki!" Mrs. Desoto yelled, managing to ding the man in the head with one shoe anyway, waving the other one around emphatically, "You were going to marry one of my girls!"

"I never agreed to that!" He insisted, "Your oldest was like 15 at the time anyway!"

"And she's 17 now!" The woman barked, looking on rather awkwardly as she saw the silver Russian checking for damage in his husband's hair, whispering questions to him and generally being rather meticulously attentive, "...Ay, Dios mío... Are you serious?"

Yuri blinked, but then nodded, stepping forward slightly, "You remember that Russian skater I was always saying I'd compete against?"

"How does that have anything to do with this betrayal?"

The man drew in a breath, but then presented his partner, "Well, this is him. We're married now."

"Careful, Yuri!" Phichit warned quietly, "She's about to go 'Red Wedding' on you!"

"I'M NOT WALDER FREY!" The woman yelled, chasing the youngest of the three away with a throw of her last remaining sandal, sending him running off, laughing and crying all at once. He took refuge behind the rental car. Mrs. Desoto turned back again, seeing where Viktor's right hand had come up to find his partner's, and the gold that shined on his finger, "...I guess it is true then. But why a guy...? I never thought you went that way."

"It just worked out like this." Yuri tried to explain, "I was only back home for a month when he came to be my coach. Apparently I seduced him when I had too much to drink once." He reached up to rub one of the spots where La Chancla had whopped him previously, and gave a nervous smile anyway, "But then he seduced me back. How can I say no to that face?"

Brown eyes went up to the Russian, seeing him well for the first time since they'd arrived, no longer having the sun blocking her sights. His silver hair moved gently in the breeze, his blue eyes piercing like crystalline ice, pale skin smooth and unblemished. She just glowered at them both then, her painted eyebrows raised as high as they could go, but then gave the most Hispanic of sighs, "Figure skaters."