CHAPTER FOUR HUNDRED ELEVEN
The dim winter dawn spread through the sky, a pale blue and white contrast to the little red car that moved along the ground beneath it. As the Audi made its way back the way it had come, passing Yu-Topia again at the end of the bridge, Viktor glanced over to check for lights. It was about 7:25am by then, and the sleepy hot-spring resort was starting to come alive. There was one window on the second floor that had been dark for some time though, the view inside obstructed by curtains pulled to, snow caked to the sill.
I wonder if they'll repurpose that room...? Or will it always be Yuri's?
It wasn't much longer before the car turned down the narrow street, off the main road, and went back into the small covered driveway that it now called home. Viktor could already hear the sound of the barks from inside as he stepped out, and spotted the blur of fuzzy bodies inside; he left the car door open - seat pulled forward - even as he reached for the doorknob to the house.
Makkachin was bouncing up and down in the air when he came inside, and Jiro whipped around underfoot, but the pup eventually took to looking outside again, tail wagging slower than before.
The silver Russian crouched down as well as he could and stroked the puppy's back; Jiro had gotten up onto his back paws the try and look over the bottom of the door, "Don't worry, little buddy, your papa will be back soon. You'll be spending most of the day with dad instead." He draped one arm across his poodle's back as Makkachin stood nearby, "You guys ready to go to Yu-Topia?"
Both dogs got excitable to hear those words, and Viktor pushed the door open again, letting the blurs of craziness rush towards the open car. The poodle made one big leap into the back seat, but Jiro needed help, and Viktor plunked the pup into Yuri's spot in the front passenger seat. The car was still running, but the silver Russian closed the door and went back into the house for a moment, gathering up a few items like leash and harness before finally joining his best bois in the Audi. Sunglasses came out from the holster above the rear-view mirror, and Viktor put them on as the winter sun started to glare off the clouds.
"Let's get going!"
.
Slow-going at first, the train left Hasetsu Station and started rolling out eastward, moving from the ground-level rail to the raised platform that whisked across the river. It was hard to see the castle from as far away as the train was, but Yuri was sure that he was at least looking in the right direction. With the train-car being heated, the warmth broke through the chill he'd developed from standing on the platform, and as the rail-line took them out of the city, Yuri started peeling his layers off. By the end, he took his glasses off as well to rub the lenses down on the cuff of his sweater. As he raised them up to check for spots and smears in the light going by above himself, he spotted Minako glancing in his direction.
[Everything okay?] He wondered quietly, bringing his hands down to rub a few more times, then replaced the frames on his face.
Minako looked back towards the ground, [I just...noticed how you're still styling your hair like you do for competition.]
[Oh...yeah.] Yuri reached up to play with a loose strand that came down over his forehead, [I told Viktor last year that I'd imagined wearing a messy top-knot for my Free Skate at some point. I kept putting it off because it grows so fast anyway...but I haven't had it trimmed since the week before the Grand Prix Series started. It's getting so long in front that it's in my eyes now though, so I have to style it back until it's grown enough to tie it.]
[Hm... Last year feels like a lifetime ago now.]
[Right?] He offered a smile, but then looked back out through the window, [Have you seen Asahi's Instagram? We got him to make one.]
[Oh...uhm, yeah... I followed him there.] She admitted, [I'm completely amazed at the outpouring of support he's seen. You and Viktor probably saved his life, on a number of levels. As often as he credits you two, I'm sure he realized that, too.]
[Was it really that bad? I saw some of the things people were saying on SMS, but...it's second-hand, so I took it with a grain of salt.]
Minako nodded, sliding down slightly where she sat on the wall-mounted bench, hands wedged into her coat pockets still, [He was in really bad shape. Thinking back on that meeting Viktor and I did with him on Saturday morning...I'm convinced we dodged a bullet, since he didn't actually do anything to himself that day. That whole talk probably pushed him right to the edge, and threatened to throw him off. I'm honestly not entirely sure what stopped him at that point.] She rolled her head aside where it was leaning against the back of the bench's top cushion, [Probably that you didn't file those papers Viktor filled out.]
[Ah I don't need that kind of guilt...] Yuri dismissed, shaking his head, [He would've known all along that I would never submit that complaint. I'm really non-confrontational...I didn't want him to get in trouble with the JSF over a personal thing. It was already bad enough dealing with the fall-out on my own...the last thing I needed or wanted was for everyone else to get into the middle of it, too.]
[He seems to be coming to terms with everything pretty well though,] The ballerina added, tilting her head to face forward again, and looked out through the window on the opposite side of the rail-car, [I saw the post he made yesterday with those cute pics of him and Riku. Those pics at the end though, with that dog lying on the grave marker...I don't know why, but it hit me right in the heart.]
[Same...] The skater agreed quietly, remembering the image as though it was seared into his mind, [Viktor and I were trying to spend some time relaxing together last night before going to bed early... I had it in my head that we'd fool around a bit, but then he showed me the Insta post and the mood in my brain immediately imploded. I spent the next hour or so trying to forget about it all, and I nearly made a mess of everything.]
[Nearly?]
[Well, Viktor picked it up again and saved the moment from complete and utter ruin.] He explained somewhat dramatically, waving his hands around a little for emphasis, [I thought things couldn't get worse after the Final. This weekend showed me who's boss.]
[Different problems. Different reactions.] Minako pointed out, [I think, at this point, you and Viktor have probably confronted every possible bad thing that could happen to newlyweds and athletes. And you've each had a turn with those dramas, so you can claim experience on both ends.]
[What do you mean?]
[Well...past flames showing up...Sophia for Viktor, and in a roundabout kind of way, Asahi for you. Then there's sports injuries...Viktor's dealing with his right now...but then you had your moments. Your face versus the rink wall, your hip versus the rink wall, then your head versus the ice... You've even both had pet problems...though I guess maybe it wouldn't count since yours happened before Viktor showed up.] She put a finger on her lip in thought, [I'll count it anyway just in case, to spare Jiro.]
Yuri gave a disgruntled-skeptical look at the woman, [You better not have the same freakish prophetic powers that Viktor does. If something happens to Jiro...I'm gonna blame you for it.]
Minako waved her hands frantically, [I don't! I promise!]
[You know that Viktor predicted my accident in Detroit? Even pegged it down to being because of JJ. He was so sure that it'd take at least 2 weeks to come true though, that he felt comfortable taking off with Chris while JJ and I were in the practice rink.] He rubbed idly at the marks still barely-visible in the hairline above his right eye, [Every time I get a headache now, it starts under this spot.]
[That may never go away.]
[Hmph...a lifetime of reminders to look forward to, then.]
[At least you have a lifetime to worry about it.]
[Eh...? Oh...I guess so.] Yuri looked down slightly, then out the window again to watch the world pass by through the snow, [So...what's...the plan with Mikhail once they're all in Hasetsu?]
[I thought I knew. Now I'm not so sure anymore.] Minako admitted with a sullen shrug, [Things for me are only going by a minute at a time. Thinking too far ahead makes my head spin.]
[...Cuz you haven't decided what you want to do yet?]
[I can't even think about that.] She said simply, [I just have this...weird mental fog about it all. I've never felt like I couldn't see what my future had in store, but now it's like I have this strange disconnect with the whole concept.]
[Oh...]
[I can only really see myself getting to the end of any given day. Nothing beyond it. There's this...shadow over it all.]
Yuri started feeling guilty again, [It's not a shadow shaped like Viktor, is it?]
[...Maybe it is...]
He sighed to himself, [I had a feeling...] He sat up a bit straighter, [I tried to talk to him a few times about reconciling things with Mikhail, but he just...couldn't care less about it right now. He said just this morning that 'the ball is in his Uncle's court' because he tried to make peace in Detroit, only for Mikhail to throw it back in his face and storm off after the girls.]
Minako reached one hand up idly to toy with the ring hanging from her necklace, [Mikhail's stubborn and prideful. I've asked him about it, too, and he doesn't think he owes any kind of apology to begin with. The two of them have pretty extreme ideologies about how this was supposed to work out and it's just...not working out.]
[I know I'm biased, but...in Viktor's defense...he was in Hasetsu first...]
[No, I get that.] Minako agreed, [I side with him in this. I've been hoping Mikhail would see that he's accountable to some people and he just doesn't see it. It took Viktor, what...8 months? To stop treating Mikhail like a pariah.]
"Mhm."
[And it took all of 3 weeks for Mikhail to ruin it all...] She twisted around and poked Yuri in the center of his chest, [That's barely longer than the time between yours and Viktor's birthdays.]
[Yeah...] Yuri agreed, [He went from just Uncle, to Uncle Mimi, and back to Uncle again in a pretty big hurry... Viktor thinks the 'Mimi' part went to Mikhail's head, and that's why he started taking liberties.]
[Yeah, that's around the start of when Mikhail started getting stupid with a lot of things.] The ballerina added, [He was really smart up to the end of Trophée de France. Then he fell off that stupid roof and it's been a cluster ever since. I'm starting to wonder which end of him actually hit the ground...his ass or his head.]
Yuri couldn't help but laugh at that, and shook his head. He propped an elbow up onto the back of the bench and set his cheek against the back of his knuckles, [Maybe he's having an adverse reaction to the meds they gave him in Russia when they did the surgery. He's lived in Canada for so long...]
[You know...] Minako nudged the man's chest again, [He did seem to be having something of a late mid-life crisis when Yurio and I went to see him in the hospital. Maybe the fact that he broke his back rather than anything else spooked him. I mean, anyone and everyone breaks their legs and arms, but only old people break their backs.]
[Old people and figure skaters.] Yuri corrected dubiously.
[Mikhail is only one of those though,] The ballerina teased, [I wonder...if it's not out of the realm of possibility...that Mikhail's doing this weird power-grab because he feels like he's getting too old. Like...if it wasn't already bad enough that he hurt himself doing something that never hurt him before, but then his oldest kid just left the nest in the middle of all this, and that whole joke between Nikki and Yurio at the Final...? Maybe Mik just feels like he's got to do something to get a handle on everything again because everything is aging and growing up too fast all of a sudden. Then this thing with me...] She hesitated a moment to continue, [...Well...it resets everything, in a way. This is the kind of thing young people go through; people your age, not ours. The idea of bringing Viktor into the middle of it all seems like such an afterthought when I think about it like this...]
[I guess so. But he still should've known better.]
[What was he going to do differently?] Minako wondered, [I'm sure the idea was in his head when he bought the ring for me...but when he suddenly realized my stupid situation, and proposed on the spot... Should he have told me to stop feeling sick for a minute so he could ask for his nephew's blessing? It sounds kind of insane.]
[I know, but... From Viktor's point of view, it's just one more instance where Mikhail didn't think about his feelings when he made big decisions.] Yuri explained, [I only know the stories I've been told, but from what I've heard...Viktor idolized Mikhail as a kid. His whole world revolved around his Uncle Mimi. Then Mikhail just...left him. For a quarter of a century that guy was gone, only to pop up out of tragic circumstances with a whole new life and family, and the expectation of picking up where they left off when Viktor was five years old. The only reason Viktor even gave this situation a chance is because I started meddling in things... If not for me accidentally texting Mikhail as he was leaving St. Petersburg, he would never have ended up being invited to Worlds...and everything after that.]
[It's funny how the things that cause the biggest changes are things that happen by accident.]
Yuri hesitated a moment, seeing the multiple facets of the statement. He reached out his free hand and pressed it around the woman's forearm, and gave it a reassuring squeeze, [Yeah.]
.
"Tadaimaaaaaa~!" Viktor called, stepping in through the sliding front doors of the bath resort, both dogs barreling in on either side of his legs.
Toshiya waved from the other side of the check-in podium, "Ohayo, Vik-chan."
The Russian watched the pups head straight to the common room, and gave a half-amused sigh, "They probably think Yuri's here...now they'll be disappointed."
"Vik-chan!" Hiroko called, peeking around the corner from the kitchen, "You're way earlier than I expected!"
He nodded and turned towards the lockers on the left side of the entryway, kicked his shoes off, and stowed them away before hanging up his coat, "Yeah... I thought about taking a nap at home before coming but...it kind of felt lonely there on my own so I decided to come here early. Hope it's okay."
"Of course!" The older woman practically snorted in disbelief at the suggestion that it wouldn't be okay, "Come inside and get warm! Have you eaten anything yet? We'll make you breakfast!"
"It's been an age since I've had breakfast here." The silver Russian commented, hobbling over towards the common room after the bois.
"Do you want anything special?"
"Chef's choice."
"Yay~!"
Viktor settled himself gently down by one of the tables in the back of the room, seeing the weather playing on the television for one of the other early-rising patrons. It was all in Japanese of course, and there weren't any subtitles, so he could only watch and listen, hoping to glean some understanding based on the imagery.
I'm supposed to have a basic understanding of Japanese to get my citizenship... Even though the provisional one I'm getting won't require it right now, I still feel like I'm way behind the curve on learning.
He frowned a little before putting his elbows down on the table-top, resting his chin in the palms of his hands. Hiroko was out a moment later with a tray of foodables; freshly-baked pastries, assorted cut fruit, coffee with fixings, juice, a soft-boiled egg in an egg-cup, and some toast on the side. She set the tray down on the table and then went down onto her knees before setting everything out. Viktor watched her closely, glancing away only as he spotted Jiro come trotting back.
"It's strange seeing you without Yuri after so long," The older woman commented, setting a folded fabric napkin with western-style utensils out last, "I imagine it's weird for you, too."
"...Yeah..." He agreed, carefully considering each item before him, "I left him once before to go back to Russia for a minute, but it's still an odd feeling to be on my own." He settled on doctoring the coffee first, finding a few sugar cubes to drop into the black brew, followed by white cream, "Especially in this place. The last time I was here by myself was when Makkachin had that steamed bun scare." He looked down suddenly as he felt the puppy crawl into his lap, staying close where he was under the table, "I was just thinking about how far I still have to go for the citizenship that the JSF offered to fast-track for me, because of the Olympics. Without Yuri around to translate or react to things being said in Japanese, I'm really noticing how little I actually understand. I hear words that I know, tenses and particles, honorifics and all that...but in combinations that make no sense at all." He took a small sip of the coffee to make sure it tasted like he wanted, and set the cup down again, "Yuri even tried explaining Kanji to me when we were in Detroit. It blows my mind that the same character can be pronounced in so many different ways, depending on where it shows up in a word, especially names."
"And the same name can mean many different things, depending on what Kanji are chosen to spell it." Hiroko added, "The ones Toshiya and I chose for Yuri...his name means 'courage to win.' Katsuki also means 'born to win,' which is why we chose 'Yuri' to go with it."
"He certainly embodies those qualities."
"Ahh...he must've been so disappointed with getting Bronze after how well he did in the Grand Prix." She went on idly, "That other boy came out of nowhere. I don't think I've ever seen him before. Do you and Yuri know him?"
"We do now." Viktor explained, nibbling on a piece of toast. He reached for the circular metal shell cracker and set it around the soft-boiled egg, clicking it to create a ring of perforations in the enamel, then set it down again, "Yuri actually knew him from Juniors, years ago. They lost track of one another when they moved up to Seniors. I didn't know he existed until Yuri introduced us on Thursday."
"Ooohhh...from Juniors, huh?" Hiroko thought hard, "Yuri said he had a friend back then...but always said there was something odd about him. I wonder what that was all about?"
"The guy is private to a fault." The Russian said simply, breaking off the top of the egg with a butter knife, and sprinkled a little salt and pepper into the exposed whites, "Made it seem like he wasn't paying attention to anyone...and in a way, it was kind of true. He didn't want anyone getting into his business, so he never made a note of anyone else's. He didn't even know about Yuri's affinity for katsudon."
"Oh~! And you learned about that practically on the first day you were here."
"Mh." He nodded, sliding the edge of a spoon into the egg-cap, and scooped out the morsel before tasting it, "But anyway though..."
"Ah...yes..." Hiroko shied away, glancing off to the side briefly as Makkachin came trotting through. The poodle was keen on his search, and went upstairs to the family residences next, "So...uhm... Minako-senpai told me about some things that you and Yuri helped her with this weekend."
Spoon in-mouth, Viktor paused, but then withdrew it and nodded reluctantly, "It's not my favorite subject, but yes."
"...She mentioned that, too."
The Russian just kept his eyes on the soft-boiled egg in its little red holder, and slid the spoon into the white of it, digging enough to find creamy yellow yolk just beneath the spot where he'd cut across a moment before, "I can't help it. That's why I'm not with Yuri right now. I know I'm making Minako uncomfortable."
"She thinks you hate her."
Viktor was grateful then that he didn't have anything in his mouth, else it would've been flying across the room in that moment. He gaped and reached for the folded napkin instead, pressing it to his mouth before turning to the woman next to him, "I don't hate her! Why would she think that?"
"Because of how things have fallen apart between you and your Uncle, it seems. You've gone around telling people that you and Yuri are a packaged deal, and that you can't impress, offend, or assume one without the other. In a way, she kind of feels the same way about her situation with Mikhail." Hiroko explained calmly, "She told me all about what happened after she went back to Canada to help him with his other kids...and then how things went south in Detroit. Everything got overshadowed because of Yuri's accident, but...the rest was still there."
"I tried to patch things up with my Uncle while we were still in Detroit, but he has a wild hair up his arse." Viktor explained, "I'm tired of feeling like people are making it my responsibility to reconcile things when I did what I could and was turned down."
"That's not actually where I was going," Hiroko reassured, "After Yuri, Minako-senpai is your biggest fan. She'd fight people here for control of the remote whenever a competition was happening, even if she was the only one who wanted to watch it. Even though things are much more casual around you now, since you've been around for so long, she still feels like a badguy for being involved in something you're reacting rather badly to."
"I don't know what more I can say or do to reassure her that I don't hold this situation against her."
"Maybe try to be happy for her." Hiroko suggested, catching the man a bit by surprise, "She's going to be a mom to a cousin of yours."
Viktor held still, feeling paralyzed.
"Just think about it." She went on. She pushed up against the table to stand again, stepped up behind him as she went back towards the kitchen, and set a hand on her son-in-law's arm, "It could take some of the stress off of your shoulders, too."