CHAPTER THREE HUNDRED FOURTY EIGHT

Trying to fit everything through the hotel room door after carrying it halfway across Hell's Creation was a trial.

"I can't feel my arms." Yuri whined, practically dragging his own inventory inside while Viktor leaned by to hold the door open, "We need a pack mule."

"Or a shopping cart..." The Russian added, letting the door go to hold open with his foot instead, as he reached for the bags he'd set down in the hall a moment before, and squeezed through before letting it all go on the floor just inside, "Maybe we should swipe one of those concierge trolleys next time." The door clicked as it shut, and the room became quieter, save for the rustling of bags being moved around and shoes being pushed off.

Yuri was done when he got his own cache to the far side of the hotel space. He lined the series up along the base of the wall and under the window, then simply walked a few paces backwards before dropping onto the bed on his back rather dramatically. He stretched his arms and legs out as far as they could go, then flopped and went lax, staring blankly up at the ceiling, "...I can still feel the gravity-rush of the Flying Dinosaur ride. My adrenaline is going to crash right as we hit the ice tonight."

"Don't say that...!" Viktor huffed, barely managing to crawl onto the other side of the bed before flopping down on his face nearby. He waited there a moment before turning his head to see again, "Opening Ceremonies is going to be a lot of fun."

Yuri lifted his head a bit, but then smiled and pulled his arms back down to his sides, using them to help roll onto his stomach and then lift himself further up the bed. Though tired and sore, he managed to crawl around and draped one arm over his partner's back as he flopped down next to him.

"You're not about to fall asleep, are you?" The Russian mused, leaning over slightly to nose at his partner's hair, "Yuri~"

"Mmmhhh..."

"That's what I thought." Viktor smirked, kissing the edge of one ear before turning to flip onto his back, and made at least half-an-effort to undo the front of his coat so he could pull his arms free. He then did his best to move the younger man on top of himself, though in that state, Yuri felt like a sack of bricks, and Viktor had a hard time with any of it, making him laugh sadly and give up, "I can hardly move now. My muscles all feel like jelly."

Yuri lifted his head, looking on sleepily, but then shrugged out of his heavy coat and did his best to shimmy himself over, throwing one leg over the man's nearest thigh, and wiggled his way up inch-by-inch. He curled his arms around and pressed his hands to his partner's chest, just under his chin, resting a cheek against one collar-bone, "...I need a nap..."

"We came back a bit early because of all our stuff." Viktor murmured, reaching one hand back into his coat to fumble for his phone. He held the device up above his spouse's head, opened the clock app, and quietly set a timer, "I think we can manage 30 minutes safely. It's only 4:30pm."

"45 minutes."

"45 it is." He answered, scrolling through the list until it found the number, and hit 'Start' at the bottom of the screen. He dropped the phone down to the blankets, pinched his fingers around the front edges of his coat, and lifted them up as he wrapped his arms around his husband's thin frame. Though the coat wouldn't go all the way around the both of them, it went enough to come up behind Yuri's shoulders, and the Russian rolled slightly to the side. He felt the deep exhale against the side of his neck, but just as he thought Yuri had already dozed off, those cherry-hazel eyes open in front of him, "What is it?" He wondered quietly, feeling the one leg between his own rising up a bit further as the younger man tried to get more comfortable in that new half-tilted position.

"I had a lot of fun today." Yuri answered, smiling despite his losing battle to stay awake. He slid his left hand down his partner's chest and under the arm that came around him, letting is drape across the man's side, "I want to keep having fun. We can make it through this one event without something horrible happening, right...?"

"If anyone out there is keeping tabs, I think we've more-than-suffered enough this season." Viktor agreed, "We're due for some relief."

"Yeah..."

"Get some rest, my love." The silver legend whispered, leaning forward to close the gap between their lips for a moment, "Sleep time is now."

Yuri looked on for a few seconds longer, but then nodded, and closed his eyes as he drew in closer before dozing off.

.

Tinnnnnnggggggggg...

The high-pitched chime of the singing bowl resonated through the room as the small striking hammer was set down on a shelf. Smoke from an incense stick rose into the air, filling it with a mild, sweet scent touched by smoke. The lights were dimmed, and quiet prevailed as the bowl's chime faded to nothing. A pinprick of light glowed as the embers at the tip of the scented stick smoldered.

Asahi sat on his knees before the little make-shift shrine, hands pressed together a few inches in front of his face, eyes closed. He held there for a little while, words whispering at the edge of his mind, before finally lowering his hands to press against the top of his thighs as he bent down in a bow towards the small altar. When he rose again, his eyes opened, and he looked on at the small framed picture of his deceased friend.

It's my first competition back on the National level, Riku... He thought, staring at the small black and white photo, Please watch. I'm going out first, so my performance will set the bar for everyone else.

He bowed his head again, snuffling slightly.

Lend me the strength I need to keep it together.

"Ikimasu." (I'm going.) He finally said, pushing to stand up then. He reached down for the smoking stick of incense and broke the burning end off, holding it carefully as he went to put the embers out with running water, and discarded it. He grabbed up his gear and garment bag, and moved off towards the door, clicking off the last light as he went.

.

The Ladies' Singles event had just ended as the first waves of the Men's Singles were starting to show up at the arena. Even though the Opening Ceremonies event would be held after them, many of the earlier-day's competitors were excited enough to stay and watch that hardly any took their male counterparts' places on the shuttles to go back to the hotel.

Even with so many skaters who'd artificially colored their hair though, there was only one skater in the crowd whose hair was naturally silver...and he stuck out like a sore thumb, towering over most other competitors by at least a foot, and with skin so pale, he'd probably tan under moonlight.

Loyal as a dog though, Viktor remained close to his person, disembarking from the hotel shuttle with a few other skaters to the excited crowd of spectators that were waiting outside the events center. With as much fanfare as they saw though, it almost felt like Worlds, rather than just a Nationals competition.

"It's completely different from last year, isn't it?" He mused quietly, leaning slightly towards his partner as they walked through the wide partition that lead to the doors. He leaned back up again and waved politely, earning him a few cheers and excited screams.

"Lots of things are different from last year." Yuri answered, nodding a few times to the crowd before the bright lights of the outside faded to the muted lights of the indoors, "There's a completely different energy."

"It helps that we're decked out in our Olympic gear." The Russian added, looking down at the white jackets and teal runner-pants, and stuck his right leg out a little further to admire the white font reading 'JAPAN' down his shin, "This is way better than when I got my old Russian Olympic outfit."

"You're not going to throw all that stuff away, are you?" Yuri wondered nervously, "You have a bad habit of wanting to bury the past when the memories aren't the best."

"No way." Viktor shook his head, diverting their walk towards the left as he followed the signs to the prep area, "I never throw any of my old outfits away. Besides, I don't have bad memories of being part of the RSF. They just weren't as fulfilling as the ones I'm making now. Besides..."

Yuri glanced up at the man as they went through the last set of doors that separated them from the public-access areas.

"Now that I'm getting to compete, you'll actually have to take the event a bit more seriously." Viktor teased, "Unlike last year, when you spent half the weekend moping about whether or not to skate your best or just skate to averages."

"How do you feel about it now?"

"I always try to give the performance people expect from me." He answered simply, "The scores themselves don't mean so much this time, given how we've already secured our spots for the rest of the year. So I just give the show that entertains and surprises people the most. It's a smorgasbord of skating experience, artistry, and talent. If I score well then that's just a plus."

"...I guess so." Yuri agreed, veering off to find themselves a spot on some nearby benches where they could deposit their gear bags and start stretching, "It's kind of like at that one Regionals event I had to go to...when Minami-kun got the audience all riled up over the energy of his show, even if it wasn't technically that impressive."

"That's exactly the kind of show I expected you to give back then." Viktor went on, rubbing the man's back as he came around the other side, "Before you were settled into your quads. It's much more practical to drop elements you're not comfortable with than to force them. No one will worry that much about why you're only doing triples if you're entertaining the audience in other ways."

"That's true."

"It's a shame you didn't have more faith in me back then."

Yuri's brow furrowed in sudden surprise, but when he whipped his head around to contest the point, he just found Viktor there smiling at him.

"Maybe we should challenge each other by agreeing that neither of us will do any quads?" The Russian suggested, booping his husband's nose briefly to shake him from his stunned pause, "What do you think?"

Before Yuri could even answer, he caught the tag-end of an echo coming from the public hallway. Coming into sight a moment later was Coach Nagisa, as well as the rest of the team. Asahi came in last, but just as he came into view, he turned on a heel and bowed back towards the crowd that had ushered him through. The cheering was different for him than it was for Yuri or Viktor; there was an air of celebration about it.

"Forget what I said." Viktor suddenly stated, "I'm not dropping any quads."

Yuri just sighed and shook his head, "I feel like an awkward third wheel between you two."

"The crowd didn't cheer for us like that..." The Russian sulked a little, but then turned back towards their gear and started rummaging for his skates.

"That's because they're cheering for different reasons." Yuri explained, unfurling his exercise mat on the floor nearby, "When the fans cheer for us, it's because of the skill they all know we already have...we're wearing our Olympic outfits, and have nothing to prove here. But...Asahi-kun is different. He's vying for the last spot on the Singles team, a spot that could go to someone in Ladies instead if he's not careful, so they're cheering to wish him good luck. Plus..." He pulled one arm behind his head by the elbow, stretching as he stood, "...Given what I've heard, Asahi-kun is almost like a war-hero. He's coming back after being gone for two years. He has a lot to prove this weekend. It's kind of an uphill climb for him."

"Well, if he's good enough then he'll get his jacket." Viktor said with a shrug, setting his blades aside on the bench as he grabbed his own work-out mat to set down on the ground.

Yuri sighed to himself, looking back one more time to spot Asahi moving further down the hall, as though deliberately avoiding him. His brow furrowed, "...I wonder what Nationals would've been like if you had gone to Moscow after all."

Viktor narrowed one eye at him, but then turned back down the hall, "Maybe it would've been better. Maybe it would've been worse."

"Probably better, at least with regards to him." Yuri suggested, moving down to the floor to sit on the end of his mat, "It might've just gone exactly the same way things had always gone."

"Are you saying I specifically made it worse?"

Brown eyes turned up towards the man, but Yuri shrugged, "All I can say to that, is that before you were involved, I never had any reason to believe Asahi-kun and I were anything but friends. It's entirely possible he could've gone his whole life never suggesting anything more to me."

"So in order words, I'm making it worse." Viktor huffed, sitting roughly and crossing both his arms and legs, "Sorry if my protectiveness over you is inconvenient."

"I didn't say that."

"Then what are you saying?"

"Asahi-kun is super Japanese." Yuri tried to explain, gesturing to himself suddenly, "I mean, I am Japanese...but he's really Japanese. If he really has a thing for me, he's gone out of his way to keep it secret, even from me."

"What does being Japanese have to do with that?"

"Remember that conversation we had way back last year, around this time, and I said that it was expected that I take a wife?"

"That's how it is everywhere."

Yuri shook his head, "Not to the same degree. In Japanese culture, your whole life is supposed to fit into these pre-designed boxes of expectation. If you don't go with the flow, you run the risk of being ostracized for being irregular. People think you're a freak if you don't watch television regularly...because that's what everyone else does. There's this kind of hive mind mentality with us, and people who go against the flow upset the balance for everyone, not just themselves. He's acutely aware of the box he's supposed to be in, and the kind of social stigma he may face for refusing to be put in it."

"Can't say I've noticed anyone being uncomfortable around us." Viktor huffed, straightening out his mat and sticking one leg out before leaning down over it, holding his foot with both hands.

"We're different. You're not Japanese, so it kind of gives me a pass."

"...Thanks, I think?" The Russian switched legs and leaned down again, "...And maybe you're welcome?"

"My point is...it's easy for us to be open about who we are." Yuri tried to explain, matching his partner's stretch with one leg out to start, "For Asahi-kun...if what you say is true...then not only does he have to live with the frustration of me being taken already, but he has to watch the both of us being celebrated. Publicly. We can be affectionate towards each other openly, in a way that we probably couldn't have been if you were a native like him."

"No one's culture is going to stop me from loving on you when and where I want." Viktor pointed out, rising up and gaping at his partner.

Yuri rose back up as well, giving him a strange look, "...I vaguely recall your culture doing that."

Crystal eyes widened for a moment, but then narrowed and looked away, "...Touché."

"You and him are a lot alike." Yuri went on, "If not for me being in the middle of things, you two might've even been friends."

"I'm not exactly black-listing him." Viktor shrugged, putting the soles of his feet together as he pulled his ankles close, and leaned down over them while pressing his knees down, "But he's going to have to get over you at some point. From what it sounds like, he's been pining for you for nearly a decade. How much more time does he need before he gives up and moves on?"

"Maybe he just needs the right motivation." The younger skater suggested, though not entirely with confidence, "He'll never directly ask me out. Especially now, since he knows he can't. But maybe there's something we can do to help let him down easy, in a way that doesn't just make things worse. He's still my friend...I don't want to hurt him."

"Whatever we do, it's going to hurt him. There's no pain-free way of explaining to someone that their love is pointless."

"I don't think that fact is lost on him." Yuri huffed.

"Maybe it's just one of those things where it has to come from someone else." Viktor suggested.

"I already said I wanted to talk to him about this, and you told me no." Yuri side-eyed his partner.

"You wanted to talk to him alone." The Russian corrected, "Maybe it needs to be me."

"Yeah right." The younger figure shook his head, "You and him are already butting heads. Neither of you wants to hear what the other has to say, and I doubt he'd ever bear his soul to you if confronted on it anyway."

"And you think he'd bear his soul to you?"

Yuri nodded, "So far as he knows, I'm unaware of how he feels about me. If that changed...maybe he'd open up about it. Or maybe this is just some huge misunderstanding. We'll never know unless we try to talk to him."

Viktor pondered for a moment, which gave Yuri pause. A finger went up to the Russian's lip as he closed his eyes to think, but when one eye crept open again, it turned to look on the anxious younger skater, "No, I stand by what I said before. Let's leave it alone for now."

"Eh? ...Really...?" The younger skater sighed, his hopes of changing the man's mind dashed.

"Mh." Viktor nodded to himself, "He's already avoiding us, but he can't ignore the ice. Maybe the stuff I planned to say during Opening Ceremonies will help move things along."

"...You're going to use your mic-time during Opening Ceremonies to throw shade?" Yuri gaped.

The silver legend shrugged and leaned back on his hands, sitting casually, "It was going to be a little subtle shade at the RSF's expense. Nothing annoys bullies more than having their victims happy with the circumstances, right?"

"...I don't follow..."

"You explained to me that joke about Asahi's hair looking like a chicken-butt, but then he came around and used a chicken squeeze-toy to make you laugh. It's like he was using the insult as armor. I'll give him credit where it's due on that one...it was pretty clever." Viktor explained, "But what I mean is...the RSF sanctioned me for giving up my Gold to you at the Final. They thought I'd go quietly into retirement after that, leaving the sport with my tail between my legs. What greater rebuttal can I give than to be as excited as I am to skate for the JSF instead? I've turned my punishment into a reward. I have no doubt that the RSF will hear about everything I say and do here."

"...What does that have to do with Asahi-kun though?" Yuri wondered, utterly confused.

Viktor just smiled and winked at him from behind his bangs, "You'll see."

"Now you're just making me anxious!"

"It's a good thing that I plan to do, I promise." Viktor laughed, "It's not mean-spirited or vindictive in any way. In fact, I should've done something like this a really long time ago, and I would've done it even if Asahi hadn't been here. It just turns out that my plans also help to defuse that whole crazy situation. At least, I hope they do." He pushed back to sitting normally and twisted around on his exercise mat, reaching forward to take both of his husband's hands into his own, lifted them, and kissed the ring, "I swear on my life that nothing I'm going to say or do during the OCs will be malicious towards your friend in any way."

Yuri gave a skeptical look anyway, "He's going to be hurt by it anyway though, isn't he."

"There is nothing we can do about that." Viktor explained, pressing those fingers to his lips as he spoke, "But this is the kindest possible way I can think of to let him know all the things you want to tell him, without either of us looking like the badguys. It puts the ball in his court...it'll be up to him to decide what to do with it."

The younger figure nodded quietly, and sighed a breath, "I guess it'll be like ripping off a band-aid...it only hurts for a second, but then it's done..."

"Exactly."