CHAPTER THREE HUNDRED SEVEN

Yurio had barely had his phone in his hand for four seconds when he saw the notification of a new text message on his screen. Reading it, he quirked a brow and clicked into the window to read the rest.

[Yuri!] It started, [Did you see Minako at all this morning? She never came back to the hotel last night and we're not sure where she ended up overnight.]

The teen huffed, but started typing away with his thumbs, [I saw her at breakfast with Mari, but then we all went our separate ways.]

[Oh...]
[So where are you guys now?]

[The skating rink that Katsudon used to train at before he moved back to Japan last year.]

[And you don't know where Minako's at now?]

[We left her at the hotel. Unless she decided to go somewhere else with Mari, she's probably still there. Why?]

[Dad rented a limo so he could sleep while we wandered around town. I think he's calmed down a bit about everything so I want to find Minako and see if we can't sort this all out before we go to Moscow tomorrow. We just found out she's not coming with us.]

[...She's not? Why?] Yurio made a face at that, like he didn't appreciate being the last person to find out about it.

[We don't know. Dad just said she wasn't coming.]

The teen felt his heart sink, his brow furrowed as it felt like a knife was driven through him. However, he lifted his head and stood back up onto those naked blades, walking the few steps forward to the rink wall and leaned over it. He skimmed through the different groups on the ice until he spotted the SkateHusbands on the far side.

[You have her number, don't you?] Another message read, making the phone beep and vibrate.

[Da] He answered, closing down the window to go into his contacts list, and clicked into the ballerina's. He tapped the small "i" icon on the right, and hit the 'send Contact as message' button after that. A moment later, a block-bubble appeared in the text window, reading [Минако Окукаwа]

[What's that?] Nikki wondered.

[Minako's number. Knowing her, she's probably hanging around the Marriot, trying to catch a glimpse of all the other skaters.]
[She stayed with Katusdon and Viktor overnight. I'm going to see if they know anything.]
[Later]

[Cya]

Yurio clicked the phone off after that, and slipped the device into his back pocket. He waited a moment before moving back towards the rink entrance, and moved one blade at a time to slide across the ice, heading for the Nikiforovs. They each noticed his B-line for them, and paused in what they were doing to focus on him.

"What's wrong?" Yuri wondered, seeing the dour look on the teen's face, "Did something happen?"

The Russian Kitten just looked down to the ice for a moment, lifting his head but not really looking at anything in particular, "Nikki was messaging me. She said that they just found out Minako isn't coming to Moscow with us tomorrow. Did you know?"

Two pair glanced at one another, and Yuri nodded, "She mentioned it when she turned up last night. Her and my sister made plans way back during the summer that they would come to the Final together, and already had their return trip boo-"

"I know that." Yurio said impatiently, "She gave me her ticket to come here, remember?"

"Sure, but-"

"She should've said something as soon as she realized Mikhail was planning on taking everyone to Moscow! As if this whole stupid situation wasn't annoying enough already..."

"Yuri." Viktor interjected, setting his hand on the teen's closest shoulder, and nudging him until one green eye peered back up at him, "Considering everything that's happened in the last week, even in just the last few days, the plans Minako made before probably got sidelined for a bit. It would hardly be the first time someone made arrangements for something, only for it to slip their mind later because they got caught up in something else."

"She could've picked a better time to remember..." Yurio grumbled, "If Mikhail spends the next two weeks acting like the way he's been the last two days, it's going to be a total nightmare."

The two older skaters glanced at one another, then back at the anxious teen in front of them.

The elder Russian just pulled the teen closer where he still had a hand on one shoulder, "If it weren't for the fact that going to Japanese Nationals with Yuri was her original plan, it probably wouldn't be that big of a deal for her to forego those plans and just go to Moscow with the rest of you guys. But since it is, and Minako realized Yuri would be there by himself if she didn't go, she decided to stick by it."

Yurio's eyes got white and beady suddenly, and the jerky turning of his head to look at the pair sounded like the hinge of an old wooden door, "...Oh."

Yuri gave a nervous smile, "Except for last year, when I only just decided to go at the last second, Minako-sensei has always been at my local competitions. With Viktor going to Russian Nationals though...practically everyone we know is going to be in Moscow. My parents don't have the option of shutting down Yu-Topia for a whole weekend, Mari-nee-chan has to go back to work, too...and the rest, well...only Nishigori has co-"

"...I get it," The teen shook his head, "Now I just feel like an idiot for making such a fuss."

"Ehh..." The older skater bobbed his head back and forth a bit in consideration, "...I don't blame you for it. Mikhail's being stand-off-ish and distant. I don't think he's been his usual self since...ah...Skate Canada? Maybe Trophée de France..." Yuri reached up one hand to scratch the side of his head, "He's for sure been different since NHK, since everyone took a pound of flesh out of his hide for bringing Konstantin...then it's just been one thing after another for him. Unlike the rest of us, he doesn't really have anyone higher on the social totem-pole to defer to when he's tired or runs out of answers. He must be feeling pretty helpless right now, so he's avoiding everyone so no one sees it."

"Maybe you can be part of what helps him settle down again." Viktor suggested, "You're the lynch pin for all of this stuff anyway."

"Minako was the reason we were going to set up camp in Hasetsu though." Yurio sighed, "If not for her, there would basically be no reason to leave Moscow once we get there. I mean, other than disappointing Nikki and Viktoria with yet another change of plans, what's to stop him from just moving us all into your old house in St. Petersburg?"

"Because he's mad at me and it is my old house?" Viktor huffed.

Yurio deadpanned the silver legend, "...Oh...right." He shook his head, "Can I room with you at Nationals...?"

The elder Russian just laughed, "It'll be like old times."

"With Yakov yelling at the both of us."

"Yeesh, try not to have too much fun without me..." Yuri grumbled.

Viktor suddenly hugged him tight, rather dramatically laying on the affection, "I love you~!"

"Ugh, you guys, gross."

.

"There they are." Nikki said quietly, sitting in the front seat of the limo and spying through the windshield with a pair of binoculars.

The driver had a pair as well, "Which ones are they?"

"Them." She pointed to the pair of ladies leaning against the railing, looking out across the frozen river, "The one with long, dark brown hair, and the long tan coat, and next to her, the brown hair with highlights in the bandana and with the long grey coat."

"And which one is the one that your dad's trying to impress?"

"Minako. Tan coat."

"So if they know you're coming, why are we spying on them from a distance like this?"

The sliding-glass panel behind them pushed open, and Viktoria gawked at them from behind it, "Where did you even find those things?"

"Shhht!" Nikki shushed, putting a finger over her mouth, "If dad wakes up right now then it's all ruined!"

"Relax, he's out cold." The older sister pointed behind herself, and Nikki spotted where Mikhail had settled into what likely would've been a rather uncomfortable position, had it not been for the fact that he was asleep and didn't notice, "He only gets like that when he's in a coma."

"Okay." The younger nodded and put the binoculars away in the glove-box, then looked over to the driver, "Let's pull up right behind them."

The limo started creeping forward, moving slowly along the road that followed parallel to the walkway. It passed the corner of the RenCen complex were Joe Muer Seafood gave way to the Andiamo restaurant, and then finally to the front of the General Motors building. Across from the metroplex of five tall towers, one of them being for the Marriot, was the Riverfront promenade, and well across the frozen-over river, the Canadian border and the city of Winsdor. The limo came to a quiet halt on the shoulder of the road; though technically it was a bike lane, there weren't any cyclists testing the winter roads.

Nikki quickly hopped out as the chauffer opened the door, bundling herself loosely in all her cold-weather gear. Viktoria stayed back to make sure nothing dared awaken the sleeping Russian Dragon. As the younger of the two sisters made her way down the walkway, she set her feet down carefully onto the ledge of the long stone stairway, which lined the riverfront area from the front of the GM building to where the road was forced to turn at the far corner. Snow and ice made the polished stone precarious to walk on, but the teen managed to get to the bottom without slipping, and there, slowed her pace a little.

Mari was the first to notice, lifting her head where she had been dragging on a half-spent cigarette, "Oh, you're here already."

Minako lifted her head after, and twisted around to spot the girl right behind them both, "Nikki!" She was stunned to realize that, as bundled-up as the teen was from the hips up, her legs were nearly bare but for the pleated knee-length black skirt, dark nylon stockings, and knee-high boots, "You'll catch your death out here!"

"We got as close as we could-" She tried to explain, pointing back up towards the road, "But the parking lot is way back there-" She pointed then to the north, "Past the stage area and the tree field."

"I don't see the van...where did you park...?" The ballerina asked, lifting a hand to get the hair out of her face as it whipped around with the wind.

"Dad's not driving. He got a limo for us and told us to do whatever we wanted till the Gala tonight." The teen explained, point back to the vehicle she'd singled out before, "That one."

"Wh-" Minako was thrown off, "...Is he not with you?"

"What? Yes, he's in there, he's just sleeping." Nikki explained, her own hair flapping about like a wavy silver cape, "He's really broken down about all this. He only just told us that you weren't even coming to Moscow with us tomorrow... We really don't know what's going on."

The ballerina gave an exasperated sigh, "That man, I swear..." She took a few steps forward and hugged the bundle of winter clothes, "Alright... Lead the way..."

"Please don't be mad at him." The teen pleaded, "I know he's thicker than a brick wall sometimes but..."

Minako pet the teen's head reassuringly, "He's really good at helping other people sort things out, but he's really bad at doing that for himself."

"Oh we know...believe me we know..." Nikki answered, letting the older woman turn her around and start ushering her back up the stairs, "Vikki and I suggested asking Viktor's Yuri to help out but he got all snarky about not wanting someone half his age giving him advice."

"Maybe he has about point about it regarding me at least." The woman agreed, "But if he wants to iron things out with Viktor at some point, he's going to have to get over himself a little."

"...No kidding, especially after the fight they had yesterday..."

"Wait..." Minako paused where they were, barely half-way to the upper ledge, "What fight yesterday?"

Nikki blinked through where she'd wrapped the scarf around her head, "...Uh...I..."

"Nikki!"

The teen cringed, "I thought you'd have known about it..." She said nervously, "A while after Yuri called us down to the Players' Club, dad came looking for us and wanted to bring us back up to the stands. We'd barely left the room when Cousin Viktor came running up behind us. I'm...not even really sure what he wanted, since dad immediately went on the attack."

"Attack...?" Minako echoed nervously.

The teen nodded, "Dad thinks that you called off the engagement because of the stuff Viktor yelled at him about the day before that. Viktor tried to explain, but dad cut him off...then they started talking in Russian so Vikki and I left."

The ballerina all-but snorted in irritation at the revelation of this new argument, and she started marching up the stairs, supremely irritated. The driver of the limo didn't even have a chance to get around the back of the vehicle before Minako reached for the door handle, "MIKHAIL ROZOVSKY-"

"M-Minako!" Nikki called after her, lunging at the woman's back and stopping her, for the moment, from opening the door, "He's still asleep! If he wakes up and you're already mad at him then he might not listen to anything you say!"

"How can I not be mad at him!? He's misunderstanding everything!"

"We know! He's the dumbest smart-person in the world!" The silver teen agreed, still clinging, keeping the woman's arms pinned to her sides, "Where do you think Sergio got it from!?"

Mari just shook her head at the both of them, "Are we going to get in or are we going to stand out here until the cops come and tow the limo away?"

"Ugh let's just get in. If he doesn't wake up right away, then I'll just stay quiet until I get my head together." Minako growled, "I'll try not to clobber him on sight."

The chauffer nervously opened the door for the trio, and Nikki stuck her head in first to scope things out, seeing her rather-unimpressed sister gawking back at her, and thankfully, Mikhail still comatose.

"I was wondering how long you guys would stand out there." Viktoria huffed, "Driver-guy was starting to get worried he'd get a ticket for being parked here."

Minako was the last to get in, waiting to catch her breath in the cold winter air for a moment longer before finally letting the door be closed behind her. The limo started moving a few seconds later, pulling away from the Riverfront and taking the next corner around the RenCenter. Being inside the stretched-out vehicle though gave the woman an odd sense of déjà vu, and the irritated look on her face slowly melted away.

"It's just like at Worlds last year, huh?" Mari mused, heedless of the tension, "Except this time we've got Viktor's cousins instead of Viktor and my little brother."

"Yeah."

"Oh, dad this for you guys too?" Nikki wondered, "This is the first time we've gotten to be in one."

"Really...?" Minako was a bit surprised, "He had that whole house set up for you guys in Edmonton though."

"We had access to it, but it was still his house." The older teen answered, "Always said that he didn't want to spoil us too much, especially if he wasn't around. I guess he gave in this time. I don't think he's slept since...well, all this went down." She gestured between the two oldest members of their little group, even if one was still unconscious and unaware, "I don't think I've seen him this stressed out since mom got cancer the first time. Not...that I want you to feel like this is y-"

"No," The ballerina held a hand up to stop the words, "I own a piece of this." She drew in a breath and shrugged out of her jacket, "I've tried to explain to him twice already that this isn't as bad as he seems to think it is, but it's like he didn't hear a word I said. At least right now, if I have to go through the whole thing again, I've got witnesses this time."

Nikki unburdened herself from her own winter clothes, settling everything into a pile in a corner near the front of the cabin, and watched quietly with her sister as Minako shuffled across the floor towards the still-catatonic Mikhail. The ballerina sat on her knees and crossed her arms, looking down on the man like she still wasn't sure how to start things...but eventually reached over to at least pull the flat-cap off of its perch covering the man's face.

Beneath it, eyes were closed, lips slightly parted. A few silver strands shifted as the hat moved away, settling over the elder Russian's pale skin.

Minako made a face at him, and set the hat away, "Mikhail."

Nothing.

She grit her teeth and repeated herself, this time a bit louder, but again...nothing. The woman crossed her arms and sat back upright again, "What's it going to take to wake this guy up?"

"Pinch his nose." Viktoria suggested, "Can't sleep when you can't breathe."

"...Isn't that rude...?"

"Gotta wake him up somehow."

Minako sighed and nodded, but then reached out...and closed her pointer finger and thumb around the man's nose as she'd been told. Within seconds, the elder Russian seemed to be snorting and coughing instead of breathing normally, and one jade eye crept open...then both shot open.

Mikhail was up so fast and in such a panic that he cracked his head against the roof of the car, coming down again and cringing as he held his head over his knees with both hands, all but weeping from both the pain and the surprise, "...Wh-what the Hell is going on!?"

"Give it over." Minako said flatly, holding her cupped hand out.

The pained older man gaped at her, one eye twitching in confusion, "Gi..wh...huh?"

"The ring, dummy. Give it over." She repeated, moving her hand even closer, all but poking his closest arm.

The two teens side-eyed each other in wonder, but dared not interrupt. Mari just deadpanned the whole lot of them.

In utter panic and perplexed hysteria, Mikhail reached for his coat and rummaged around in it until he found the demanded item. He barely had a moment to bring it into sight before Minako literally swiped it from his grasp.

"If being in possession of this thing is the only way you'll open your ears, then fine." She said stiffly, keeping hold of the little trinket in her fingers as she slid the thin chain of a necklace around so she could find the clasp. Once it was unhooked, she threaded the delicate metal links through the ring until the glimmering bauble joined to the necklace's existing small centerpiece, and anchored them together such that the main stone of the ring was visible on top. That done, the ballerina replaced the necklace around her thin neck, and combed her fingers through her hair, "There. Now will you listen?"

"But...I... Uh..." Was all the stunned man managed.

"No buts." She cut him off, "You've been dragging your feet and miserable for days. Maybe that's my fault, giving the ring back first and explaining myself after...so I'll try it this way instead." She clasped her hand over the ring, "I like you a lot, and I'm really flattered that you want to take this next step...but I'm not ready for it. I want to keep going the way we've been going for the last few months. Traveling and having fun and tormenting Yura every chance we get. Things were already going to be changing enough with the addition of all your existing kids, and I need a minute to get used to that before you start getting all worked up about anything else."

"...Existing kids...?" Viktoria echoed, "That's a weird way to describe us."

"Isthisreallythebesttimeorplacetobediscussingthis!?" Mikhail argued between clenched teeth, finally grabbing his lost hat and putting it onto his head, as though in part, trying to hide the goose-egg he knew would be growing there.

Minako just stared at him with her steely eyes, "Viktor told Yuri everything. Everyone else is just suffering from the fallout of not knowing what's going on. I'm getting to a point where the attempt to keep this a secret is more annoying than it'll probably be when everyone finds out."

"Find out what...?" Mari asked tepidly.

Minako furrowed her brow, but kept her eyes on Mikhail, who was giving her a nervous and terrified look in return. She closed her eyes then and lowered her head, and turned back to look at her companion, "...There may be another silver-haired kid running around in a year."

"...Eh?" Mari's eye twitched, "What...?"

The ballerina pinched the bridge of her nose, not wanting to see the reactions on anyone else's faces even as she explained herself, "That's the whole reason why he popped the question so suddenly, when a week ago he was still mostly kidding about it. I got sick one morning while in Banff and the next thing I know, I've got this ring on my finger and he's acting like this is already a done deal." She gestured towards the Russian before herself, "I've just been trying to wrap my brain around half of the things that've happened in the last week and I just...want to put the brakes on as much as I can until I've dealt with this."

"I didn't-" Mikhail tried to interject, but Minako cut him off, moving her hand up to cover his mouth.

She looked at him with pleading eyes, "Let me adjust to one thing at a time. I need space and room to think. I want you by my side but I don't need you smothering me."

He just furrowed his brow and looked over the ballerina's hand, giving a tired expression like he wasn't sure what else to do anymore.

"And for the sake of all that's good and holy in this world, Mikhail, I'm not ditching you just because I'm going with Mari back to Hasetsu tomorrow." Minako went on, "My plan from the beginning was to go with Yuri to the All Japan Championships...I just got so caught up in all these bombs that've been dropping around me that it slipped my mind for a minute."

"...Bombs...?" The Russian repeated, "...You sound like all these things are the worst things ever."

"I don't mean it in a bad way, hun." Minako shook her head, pulling her hand back to rest that elbow on the front of the seat she'd knelt beside, "I just mean that these things are all big and drastic and...kind of explosive..." She drew in a breath, "You've been through all these things a few times before but this is all new to me. I've only ever lived this live vicariously through Hiroko...but Yuri and Mari aren't my kids." Arms crossed loosely in front of herself, and she looked down, "If this whole thing isn't just some false alarm...and I really...am..." She refused to say the word, "...Then I need to make a lot of adjustments in my way of thinking pretty soon."

"...Why do you think I was so quick to propose...?" Mikhail finally spoke, daring to reach for one hand where he could find it, "I don't want you to think this is your burden to bear alone."

"I don't need a ring to know that!" Minako harped.

"...Giving it back makes me feel like you don't want me around though." He added, "Rejecting the ring, the engagement...everything that goes with it...maybe even so far as rejecting me as a father. Like you want to do all of this on your own."

"...I've always done things on my own..." The woman rubbed her nose on the back of a wrist, "It's the only way I know how to handle things. I mean..." She snuffled a little, and leaned back on her free hand, "...I was having a lot of fun before, when you'd be around for a little while and then I'd go back to my life... But suddenly I feel like I'm having to give up everything, and this ring..." She clasped it again within her fingers, "It feels more like a ball and chain...tying me to you...and that I don't have my own voice anymore... I don't want to lose myself in you by becoming us..."

It felt like a knife in his chest, and Mikhail found himself without words.

"But..." Minako started again, her voice quieter than before, "...I can't expect anyone else to think or feel like I do...and if the only way I can assure you that I don't want you to leave, is by keeping this trinket...then I will..." She looked at the sparkling item where she held it in the palm of her hand, attached to that thin silver chain, "But...I can't wear it on my finger. Not yet." She turned her brown eyes up to the grey-green ones looking back at her, "I'm trying to meet you half-way on this..."

Nikki had both hands over her mouth as she gaped between the pair, eyes wide as she watched...and waited. Viktoria was anxious as well, but she was less emotive about it, simply watching the spectacle unfold rather seriously.

Mari was just ready for it to be over.

Mikhail stewed where he sat, worriedly thinking about everything that had been said, and trying to make sense of it. Eventually, he closed his eyes and drew a breath, and let himself sit back against his seat before he let the breath out again, "...Maybe I overstepped..."

The ballerina blinked at him.

"All my life, practically since birth, it was hammered into my head that I would always have to be the one in charge... To be the provider, the protector, the leader... It worked in so many ways and places, and for so long...maybe I just settled into that mindset too quickly when it seemed like the old scenarios were playing up again. I just wanted to do the right thing in the only way I'd ever known how."

"You don't have to do that with me." Minako said, her voice barely above a whisper, "Especially since I'm not ready to give up being who I am just because a few things might be changing soon...and I don't want you to change, either." She pushed up from where she sat on the floor of the cabin and sat on the edge of the side-facing leather-clad bench, "I like you just the way you are. Neither of us spent our whole lives figuring out what kind of people we want to be, just for circumstances to force us to be something we're not."

Mikhail just huffed a nervous laugh, reaching up to rub his eyes before anyone could see that he was getting emotional, "...My teenaged self would've started a revolution if only to get others to hear me say those same words." He lowered his gaze as he felt cool fingers reach forward to clasp his right hand, and he dared to let himself return the gesture, curling his fingers as well, "I've changed enough for the sake of my kids...even for my not-kids like Viktor, even Yura... It's...actually kind of a relief that you don't want or expect me to be more than what I already am, given what might become of us soon."

"It's like I told you before any of this stuff even came up... I like you for who you are, not for what you have." Minako told him straightforwardly, "If you want to share all of that stuff, then you're welcome to, but more than anything, I just want you to be there. You're enough for me."

Nikki was practically sobbing rivers by then, and she looked desperately to her father for that final resolution.

"Jeeze..." Minako huffed, leaning her shoulder against the backrest of the seat, "...It's getting to a point where we've gotten so worked up about this whole thing, that we'd better have a kid just to make all the trouble worthwhile."

The exhausted Russian just sagged in his seat, and tilted his head slightly to face the woman sitting next to him, "You think so?"

"Wouldn't it be kind of cruel to meet back up after Nationals, only to say 'just kidding' about the whole thing?"

"...I guess it'll take till then just to be sure..."

"Maybe if I'd been through this before, I could know better by now..." Minako added, sliding one arm behind the man's neck and the other in front, and rested her chin on the top of his head, "But the way you reacted...I think I'd be a fool not to trust your instincts. If I had to go through this with anyone, though...I'm glad it's you."

"...That's...oddly reassuring?" The Russian mused nervously, "I guess it's kind of neat to be able to say that I'm fluent in Russian, English, and morning sickness."

"And food-mumble." Viktoria added, "You have a knack for knowing what people are saying when their mouths are full."

"...Ah, yes, that's true."

"Speaking of food..." Mari interrupted, "If no one's too busy...I'm starving. I didn't have much of an appetite this morning with all the tension at the table."

Mikhail twisted his head to look up at his newly-reinstated lady love, "...Did you eat?"

She just looked back at him, pulling one hand back to trace a finger along his jaw, "I could eat."

The silver Russian, with his wisps of white, just looked on for a moment...and dared to steal the briefest kiss.

Minako didn't seem all that surprised, and smiled when he pulled back again, hugging him tightly, "There's still a few hours left till the Exhibition. Let's all go do something fun."