CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY EIGHT

With appropriate winter gear assembled and put on, all four skaters reunited in the hotel lobby, looking out into the cold Detroit evening and the snow blanketing it. Phichit was practically squishing his face to the inside of the glass, looking out, trying to see if there was any sign that snow would start to fall before they left. Chris, on the other hand, reached a hand up to adjust his thin, circular glasses just as he spotted the second half of their party finally coming out to meet them.

"That took a long time. Did you get lost?" He joked, "We've been waiting."

Viktor answered by tossing the car keys at him and giving a wry smile.

The Swiss skater fumbled to catch the little jangle of metal, feeling the cluster bump off his chest before his hands could come up and secure them. When he looked up again, the smile on that pale face was even more obvious, "...You sure look happy."

"I like to think I'm happy most of the time."

Phichit heard the voices and lifted his head, turning to look at the trio over his shoulder. Abandoning his inspection of the sky, he went over to where he and Chris had left their backpacks on a table near a wall, and his phone charging alongside them, checking quickly to see what his battery status was; 57%. He unplugged it and slung his pack over a shoulder, grabbing the second to hand to its owner as he got closer, "It's been like 30 minutes. We were starting to think we'd have to go find you."

Yuri just shook his head sheepishly, "It's my fault. I just wanted a minute of quiet before we went out into the world again."

"Seems you used the time to cheer Viktor up." Chris huffed, twirling the keychain on a finger before clasping the bunch into his palm, "What did you do?"

"Yuri? Cheering me up?" The Russian mused, that dumb-happy smile creeping across his face again, "He sucks at that."

Phichit and Yuri both gave the same horrified expressions, looking from one another to the silver legend incredulously, but Chris gave a knowing smile, "He sure does."

"V-Viktor...I th-..." The Japanese skater started, only to get a wink from the man.

"He really sucks at cheering me up, right? Yuri~"

The horrified expression suddenly became embarrassed, and the young figure could feel the strength in his legs give out. The last thing he heard as he descended towards the floor was the sound of Chris laughing and Phichit telling him he should try harder; then everything went to black.

When he finally roused again, he could feel the vibration of the car under him, and the weight of another body leaning against him. He blinked his eyes and pushed up a little, finding himself propped up against the inside panel of a car door in the back passenger area, with Viktor, presumably asleep for the nap he wanted, twisted around to lay backward against his side. He squished his eyes closed for a moment and shook his head, reaching a hand up to adjust his glasses and get a better look around, seeing Chris driving and Phichit in the front passenger seat; the car was moving slowly, pedestrians not too far outside, walking a bit slower than they themselves were going, lights hanging above the road were bright and festive, the moorings around lamp posts decked with garland and wreaths as well. As he sat further up, Yuri could spot the top of the massive Christmas tree at the far end of what he knew would be the outdoor skating rink. He drew his sights back into the car again though, "...How long have we been driving around...?"

"Oh, just 10 minutes...long enough to get here but not long enough to park." Chris answered, looking up to the rearview mirror, "The way things are out here though, I may just have to drop everyone off and walk back when I find somewhere to park."

"...Maybe we should've walked here." Yuri leaned back again.

"If I end up parking at the hotel, I won't be hard-pressed to agree."

"Oh!" Phichit was practically clambering over the blonde as he pointed excitedly, "Go there! Someone's leaving!"

"Good eye."

The car practically stopped in the middle of the road, and Chris 'bullied' his way through other hopeful vehicles to get the spot, pulling out and backing in multiple times as he parallel-parked from the U-turn. But, eventually, they were stopped, and the rest of traffic finally started moving by them normally again.

Yuri turned his head aside lazily where it was resting against the back of his seat, pulling up his arm a bit where it had been draped over his partner's shoulder. He rubbed his tired face with his free hand as the other went to gently rubbing his husband's chest, "Viktor...we're here..."

The Russian just mumbled something and turned his head, clinging to his dreams a little longer.

"Viktor..."

Both front doors opened as the other skaters got out, and were pushed shut, causing a loud enough noise that the hapless silver genius was forced to crack his eyes open in mortified shock. He rose where he sat like Frankenstein's monster and deadpanned the whole world in front of him.

Yuri blinked at him wordlessly, but the Russian soon turned, and spoke only one word.

"...Hungry..."

"...What...do you...want to eat?"

The feeling of déjà vu was overpowering, but thankfully, it didn't last long. Just as Viktor was about to say something, the door ahead of him opened, and his legs went spilling out.

"Come on, Viktor...rise and shine." Chris mused, looking down through the open door to those confused slate eyes, "There's the whole rest of the evening to enjoy."

"Ah, I can see the other Yuri and Otabek on the ice already." Phichit pointed out, holding a finger up close to his chest where he gestured to the other side of the street, "They must've gone with Viktor's uncle or something."

"Chris...help..." Viktor whined, lazily holding his arms out even as he stayed sitting inside the car.

The Swiss skater looked on and smiled warmly, "Oh, my dearest, my sweet..."

Yuri's brows were so high up on his brow that they threatened to get lost over the top of his head, but he watched in amused confusion as Chris leaned further in, wrapped his arms under the Russian's, hugged him for balance and pulled him out of the car, letting the weary man hang from his grasp for a moment before setting him down onto his feet in the road-worn snow. Yuri himself soon followed, scooching over the seats towards the open door, and stepping out in time to find that Chris was still holding the older skater up. He huffed a laugh and pat his husband's head as he shook his own, but then wedged his way between the two to pull Viktor free and hoisted him up against his hip, one arm around the man's back, "Come along..."

"Oh, he's strong!" The Russian mused, even though his toes dragged on the ground as Yuri hobbled towards the back of the car.

"Not for long though." The Swiss man joked, pointing to the younger figure's quickly reddening face.

Viktor finally took pity and set his feet on the ground normally, holding up his own weight even as he tried to stay where his partner had held him up, "He gets an A for effort." He mused, nosing the man's cheek affectionately as Chris clicked the key-fob to open the trunk and reveal all the gear they'd brought.

"Buh...you're heavy..." Yuri puffed a few breaths to catch his wind again, leaning against the Russian instead, "I don't know how you manage to carry me around so easily...3 inches isn't that big a difference between us."

"How much do you weigh, like 65 kilos? Tops?"

"...Maybe."

"And I'm just over 80."

"Phichit must be 55 at best." Chris offered, "We'd better tie a rock around one ankle so he doesn't float away in the breeze."

Yuri lifted his head a bit to look around his husband's back to where the other two were cued up, "Minami-kun is even smaller than Phichit-kun. I think Makkachin probably weighs more than he does."

Viktor lifted his head at the sound of his dog's name, "Makkachin..." He reached his arms out around his partner's head and held tight, tears comically dripping from his eyes like rivers, "I miss Makkachin so much! He must be devastated! We were gone for nearly 2 months and then we were only home for like 3 days before we left again! I'm a bad pet-parent!"

The younger figure flailed slightly, "I'm sure Makkachin is fine!"

.

The woofer sneezed where he sat in the Yu-topia common room, lifted his head, looked around...and fell back asleep.

.

Yuri was stuck dragging his husband across the street, the Russian's heels slogging through the snow where he was pulled along. Still, those crystal blue eyes sobbed distressed tears, even as the younger figure struggled with his weight, the distance, and all of their gear on his back at the same time.

"V-Viktor...walk on your own...! It's too far...!"

"...Makkachin must hate me...!"

"He doesn't hate you! He'll be bouncing off the walls when we get home again on Monday!"

Neither of them had noticed that a small crowd had begun to gather, revelers already recognizing the rest of the Men's skaters as they came across the street.

Many were fawning over Chris and Phichit, but others were watching or recording the antics of the final two athletes, laughing quietly so as not to draw attention to themselves. Yuri eventually found his sneakers giving out under him, catching some ice as he tried to drag the Russian's ankles over the last ledge of the sidewalk, and the both of them tumbled to the snowy ground in a heap. The pictures and gawking finally caught their attention then, finding themselves looking up into the eyes of a dozen or more stick-mounted & hand-held smartphones and GoPros. Viktor's eyes went wide for a moment in surprise, but he was suddenly launching up onto his feet, looking like quite the 'Knight in Shining Armor' as he knelt back down to amorously help his husband back up as well. All the while, every device in the immediate area recorded his every move, and as they both stood back up again, Viktor was sure to tousle his bangs a bit, glance over a shoulder, and wink at everyone on that side. Hearts exploded out of peoples' chests to see it, men and women alike.

Otabek lifted his head as the commotion caught his attention, spotting the growing crowd just on the other side of the make-shift rink wall. It wasn't hard to spot Viktor's silver-haired head in the mass, but he noted the others quickly after that, and nudged Yurio's arm to get his attention as well, "Looks like Yuri and the rest finally got here."

Green eyes lifted to look past the rim of the teen's hoodie, and he spotted the group just as easily, "Hm...was starting to think they got lost or something."

"Maybe they couldn't find parking. Even your pseudo-dad hasn't come back yet since dropping everyone off to put up that giant van."

"Tsh...honestly, there could be a bunch of reasons why he hasn't come back yet." Yurio shrugged. He toed-off again to stop from blocking the path of other skaters, with the Kazakh following quickly behind. Within mere seconds of passing the popular end of the rink though, the Russian Tiger heard something he hadn't expected...people shrieking his own name.

"There he is!"

"You were right! Following Viktor made finding Yuri easy!"

"Yurrriiiii!"

"Oh jeeze..." The blonde stammered and nearly fell, spotting the entire Yuri's Angels Fanclub suddenly making a B-Line for the rink where they'd been coming up along the sidewalk. He latched on desperately to Otabek's arm, "You gotta get me outta here! Do like last year and save me!"

"...I was on a motorcycle last year when I found you...what am I supposed to do right n-"

"NIKKITA."

Otabek gave a blank stare, utterly stunned by the teen's suddenly shriek. However, when he heard the telltale sound of a mob of skaters being shoved aside at the whim of a petite, silver-haired teenage girl, he was more perplexed than surprised. She quickly made her way across the middle of the rink to where they both were, looking like the pre-green version of some scary She-Hulk, looking around like she were getting ready to hurt someone.

"Who's bothering you!? What's going on!?" Nikki barked, trying to push up the sleeve on one arm, though the bulky coat didn't allow for much of that, "Lemme at 'em...!"

"No need for that, just do the thing you did before...!" Yurio said frantically, the mob getting closer and looking more and more excited with every step. He flailed an arm out in front of the teen, "Nikki!"

"Do what thing?"

"The thing where you cling to my arm like some koala-bear!"

Her cheeks just went bright red, "...Wh...why are you asking me to do that? I was just doing it to annoy you bef-"

"No time to explain! Just do it!"

Mittened-hands went out, and the silver teen awkwardly did as asked, sliding up on rented silver skates to take the blonde's arm. She stood there with a painfully artless smile on her face, like she was being told to smile for some picture after having gotten bad news, and Yurio did much the same...though he was facing the oncoming Fan Club.

Otabek watched in rapt fascination, his eyes going from the two painfully bumbling younger teenagers to the hoard that had suddenly stopped on the rink wall, each of them looking progressively more confused and/or horrified as they approached and saw what was going on.

"Who's that girl?"

"Is she a fan of Yuri's?"

"Where'd she come from?"

"I've never seen her before. What does she think she's doing latching onto our Angel!?"

Yurio was on the edge of cackling for his victory, but he held that breath in and started skating again instead. He pulled Nikki along until she pivoted on her own blades to move with her own power, and Otabek glided along on the blonde's opposite side.

"I guess that works."

"Just act natural." Yurio said quietly, the three of them passing the confused mob, "They must've lost sight of me leaving the LCA. I heard them saying they followed Viktor's rental car instead."

"Yuri, this is super weird." Nikki mumbled, "I think they think I'm your girlfriend or something."

"That's the point. Just go with it until they disperse."

"But I'm not your girlfriend."

"I know that; this is just a trick. Do me this favor and I'll owe you." He all-but-begged, looking over like he dreaded that she might let go and abandon him to the whim of the perturbed mass.

"Who are they anyway?" Nikki wondered, staying at least for the moment, "Fans?"

"...They call themselves Yuri's Angels." Otabek explained in the teen's place, "I saved him from them last year."

"The follow me to all my Russian events, and usually the Grand Prix Final and Worlds. If Euros is held in Russia then they'll go there, too." Yurio added, "They've been after me since my days in Juniors."

"Didn't you just join Seniors last year?" The silver teen wondered, "And you're only 16 right now."

"Yeah, why?"

So you joined Seniors when you were 15...which means that Fan Club has been following after you since before that, when you were 14 or younger." She surmised, "...They all look like they're in love with you. That's a little creepy."

"And thus, the reason for the situation as it is." He lightly nudged her in the ribs with the elbow she was holding onto, "You'd be amazed the lengths they'd go to to try and find me though. They almost had me last year...I think I heard one of them saying they could track me by scent..."

"That's definitely creepy." Otabek and Nikki said in tandem.

"I'll bet they have little Yuri-shaped dolls at home, with little strands of Yuri's hair on them." The silver girl mused, looking past her 'brother' to the older skater on the other side of him, "Like little voodoo dolls."

"Well, they're all Russians, so they probably have little Matryoshka doll-sets with the lock inside the smallest one." The Kazakh added instead.

"Don't give them any ideas! They'll find out what room I'm in and cut all my hair off while I sleep!"

Nikkita suddenly gasped loudly, her blades scratching the ice as she abruptly let go of the Russian Tiger's arm to get in front of him, mittened-hands going up to his shoulders, "I should braid it!"

"Wh-what...? Why?" He stammered.

"Let that Fan Club watch me do it. It'll mess with them all so bad."

"But why braid it?" He asked instead.

"Didn't your choreographer braid your hair for your Free Skates last year?" The Kazakh wondered, remembering it vaguely.

"I could braid it, or I could play with it while we skate." Nikkita mused, moving one hand up to push the hood off that mess of blonde hair, "Now that I know what's at stake..."

"...I was just wanting to keep them at bay...now you're wanting to actively screw with their heads...? You're evil." The middle teen gaped, one eye twitching slightly in surprise, but seeing the girl in front of him smile sweetly. He drew in a breath and reached up one hand, pushing a few strands of hair out of his covered right eye, and giving the girl the same confident look he'd once given to the aforementioned choreographer on the day they'd first met, "...Let's do it."

"This is going to be glorious." She laughed, pulling the Russian Tiger along towards the rink exit nearest to them, the Kazakh following dubiously after them.