A/N: Hello everyone ! I'm back with chapter 2!
So we get to find out a little more about Victor's strange behavior in this chapter but nothing is heavily revealed (That's later 😉 ) But this chapter is when things start to get interesting !
Hope you enjoy !
May 4th, 5:15 PM, Yu-Topia
hic* "I'm tellin ya Victor...you hava gooood bunch of kidsss. Most of my students won't even listeeenn ta meee." Minako slurred, taking another swig of her beer.
Victor chuckled, taking a sip of his own drink " Well...I think it's how you come off to them as a teacher. They won't respect you if you don't respect them."
Yuuri nodded in agreement, sitting down after setting the table with napkins and chopsticks, "Plus, the dancing season just started so you're teaching a whole new group of students. Give them some time, I'm sure they'll come around."
Minako scoffed and flung open her arms, hitting a half open beer bottle on the table. It wobbled, nearly falling onto the floor before Yuuri quickly extended his body to grab it. He sighed in relief.
"Eassy for u ta say ! Isss like some of the brats aient ever seen an adult before ! They have no respect fer mee !"
Yuuri sweatdropped, 'And I'm willing to bet that respect wouldn't get ANY better if they saw you in this state.'
Toshiya and Mari Katsuki, Yuuri's dad and older sister were sitting at the table as well, watching the scene unfold before them, both chuckling softly.
This was the typical pre-family dinner playout with the exception of Minako's drunk state. ( She had arrived earlier and was invited to stay for dinner and the night as well, too smashed to go home on her own.)
"Honestly Minako," Hiroko said, entering the room, carrying 6 empty bowls and a 2 large serving spoons, "it's not good for you to drink that much without hardly eating today." She set the bowls and spoons on the table before standing up to head back to the kitchen.
Minako waved her hand, "Ohhhh I'll be *hic fiiiiine. Don worry about me Hirokooo."
The older women shook her head from the kitchen entry way, a large metal pot in her possession, steaming from the small ventilation holes on top of the lid. She made her way back into the room and set the pot down before grasping the handle of the lid and removing it completely.
The pent up steam warmed the air with the rich, delicious, inviting scent of oden entering everyone's nostrils almost instantly.
( A/N: In case you don't know what oden is, it's sort of like a Japanese hot pot. Ingredients are cooked together such as daikon raddish, eggs, fish cakes, and meat to create a stew like dish. The pieces are big enough to be freely pulled out and eaten with chopsticks or sometimes toothpicks.)
"Look amazing as always dear," Toshiya said, kissing his wife's cheek, causing her to smile warmly.
Everyone put their hands together, a soft unison of "itadakimasu" leaving their lips before they all started to indulge in Hiroko's incredible cooking.
Just as Yuuri was about to put a piece of the soft, juicy pork in his mouth, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to his left, seeing his sister with a concerned expression on her face.
She spoke to him in a hushed voice, "Are you sure you should be eating something this rich Yuuri ? You seemed pretty sick this morning. I could hear your heaving your guts out all the way from my room this morning."
Yuuri gave a reasurring smile, "I'll be okay. It's just a small bug. I'm sure it'll go away soon. Really, it's not that bad."
Mari's eyebrows furrowed, "Well it's bad enough for Victor to make you stay home again from your classes today."
Yuuri grimaced. She had him there.
That morning, nausea had woken him up and he had thrown up again.
Victor had been beside him in the bathroom, rubbing his back and shoulders to soothe him through his vomiting spells.
When he finished, Victor flushed the toilet and carried him back to bed. He had fetched water bottles to make sure he stayed hydrated and put the wastebasket from the bathroom by Yuuri's bed in case he couldn't make it to the toilet.
"But Victor," Yuuri said, but said individual shut him up right away.
"No buts. You are in no condition to skate and teach. You need rest."
Yuuri sighed, knowing there was no use in arguing.
He had sat in bed while Victor dressed to leave, watching him get ready from the connected bathroom.
Before Victor left, he gave Yuuri a sweet kiss on the lips, running his fingers through his hair. Then, making sure his omega had everything he needed, he left for the rink.
Yuuri had decided to get a little more sleep after Victor left, but was shocked after he had woken up to find out he had slept until 1:30 in the afternoon !
He's hardly EVER slept in that late.
Why had he been so tired ?
But strangely enough after waking up, he discovered that, once again, he felt totally fine. No nausea, no dizziness. Just a little bit of fatigue and soreness.
Even now at the dinner table he felt mostly alright. He even felt hungry. And the thought of cosuming the oden didn't disagree with him in the slightest.
He noticed Mari was still looking at him with worried eyes, so he gave her a reasurring smile.
"I'll be fine."
Even with him saying that, she was still worried for her baby brother, but reluctantly replied with a quiet, unsure, "Alright..."
*TimeSkip~~~~~~~
After dinner, everyone assisted in helping with the dishes and tidying things up ( except for Minako who had passed out on the floor.)
Hiroko and Toshiya were washing the dishes, Mari was wiping off the table, Yuuri was packing up what few leftovers remained, and Victor was drying the dishes as they were cleaned.
"I certainly hope I can cook a good enough dinner for you like that for Mother's Day !" Toshiya laughed.
This caused Mari and Yuuri to look up at eachother from their cleaning and packing, both biting their lips, keeping their snickers at bay.
Hiroko smiled warmly, "Oh, now dear I don't expect you to do that for me ! I'd be just fine to cook ! Even if it is Mother's Day !"
"But I insist ! It's only natural that I do something nice for you !"
"No offense dad" Yuuri said, "But the last time you tried to cook, you nearly burned the house down."
This caused Mari to snort from the table, " Not only that, but it took HOURS to scrub out that pot of burnt rice. And the curry you attempted to make boiled over and splattered all over the kitchen floor!"
Toshiya's cheeks turned pink, "Oh it wasn't THAT bad."
This caused the whole family to let out loud bouts of laughter.
"Why don't you have the kids help you out this time dear ? Oh ! And I'm sure Victor could help too ! Those dumplings he made that one time...oh what were they called...Pelmeni ! They were delicious !"
Toshiya thought for a moment before nodding in agreement, " Yes they were, weren't they ? Alright then."
He turned to look at the silver haired man next to him, smiling " Victor would be okay with helping us out with -?""
But he stopped, noticing the Russian's demeanor.
Yuuri, noticing the silence, turned to look at his husband.
Oh no...not again.
He stopped what he was doing to go stand beside him.
Victor wasn't moving aside from his shaking hands that were gripping the counter so hard that his knuckles were turning white. Upon looking closer, Yuuri could see that his eyes were glossy, looking as if he were about to cry.
"Vitya," Yuuri whispered, covering one of Victor's shaking hands with his own, " Are you okay ?"
Hearing Yuuri's voice and feeling his hand over top of his seemed to snap him out of his thoughts once again. Turning his head, his distressed icy blue gaze met a concerned brown.
Victor nodded slowly, letting out a shaky sigh.
"Y-yes. I...I'm fine. I'm sorry for worrying you."
Yuuri gave a tiny relieved smile, putting his other hand on Victor's back.
"But..."
His smile faded.
"I...I need to get some fresh air...please excuse me."
Victor slid his hand out from under Yuuri's, walking past him and out of the kitchen. He slipped on his shoes, opened the shutter doors leading outside, and walked out, closing them softly behind him.
"Oh dear..." Hiroko whispered, "I hope he's okay."
Mari stood up from the table and looked at her brother with concern, "Yuuri...what's wrong with him ?"
The Japanese man met his sister's worried eyes, fist clenched over his heart. He bit his lip, the words stuck in his throat.
He took a deep breath, giving him the capability to answer, but his words were strained.
"I...I don't know..."
Timeskip*~~~~~~~
After everything had been cleaned up, Yuuri retreated to his and Victor's bedroom to shower.
Worry planted itself in the back of Yuuri's mind as he rummaged through his drawer for a pair of pajamas.
Victor still hadn't come back yet...but that wasn't what he was worried about.
He knew Victor had habits of taking jogs in order to clear his mind...but it's what he was clearing his mind OF that made Yuuri concerned.
Victor still hadn't told him anything yet...but he was pretty sure if he pressed him, he would get the same answers as before.
With a tired sigh, Yuuri walked into the bathroom and opened the shower curtain.
But just as he was about to flip the handle to turn on the water, an upbeat, little jingle sound came from the bedroom.
His phone was ringing.
Pulling back from the shower tap, Yuuri made his way back into the bedroom.
His phone lay on the nightstand, hooked up to a charger, buzzing along with the sound of his ringtone.
When he picked it up, he examined the caller ID on the screen.
Unknown.
He contemplated on answering since it could very well be a wrong number, but decided to answer it anyways.
He slid the answer icon to the right, putting the phone up to his ear.
"Hello ?"
"Hi, Mr. Katsuki !"
The voice shocked him. It's sounded like a little girl's voice. He didn't recognize it first hand and it didn't sound like the familiar voice of one of the Nishigori triplets. He cancelled that idea immediately since the voice was too high pitched to belong to one of them anways.
"I-I'm sorry...who is this ?"
He heard a gasp come from the unknown caller.
"Whaaaat ? Mr. Katsuki I can't believe you ! How can you not know the voice of one of your bestest students ?"
Yuuri blinked, but realization kicked in only a second later, now believing he had knowledge of the identity of the caller.
"Wait...Ayumi ? Is that you ?"
He heard laughter on the other side side of the line, before there was an answer of " Yep ! That's me !"
Yuuri smiled.
Ayumi Hiraoka was a bright, energetic, 6 year old girl and was in the first two hour class that Victor and Yuuri held at the rink. She showed immediate talent on the ice the moment she set foot on it, standing out amongst the other students.
But she was never cocky about it and always listened to Yuuri and Victor's instructed lessons. She even assisted her other rink mates when they were having problems with their forms and balance.
She was no doubt an amazing student.
Yuuri sat down on his bed, " Well, hi ! How are you ?"
He could here Ayumi's sweet, little giggles " I'm doing good. How are you ? Mr. Nikiforov told us you haven't been feeling well. Are you okay ? I've been worried about you and so has everyone else. We all miss you. Lots."
This made Yuuri's heart swell, " Awe, well I miss you guys too. But don't worry. I've been a little sick, but I should be back at the rink on Friday for our next class."
" Oh thank goodness ! I mean I'm not tired of Mr. Nikiforov ! He's amazing ! But it's even better with the both of you there."
Yuuri chuckled, "Well it WILL be the both of us. Soon. We just have to wait until I'm feeling better."
"Haha, okay...actually...I'm calling because there's something I wanted to talk to you about."
Yuuri's interest piqued a little, " Oh ? What is it Ayumi ?"
She didn't speak for a moment, but when she did, her voice was softer, and more quiet than it had been before.
" Is...is Mr. Nikiforov okay ?"
Okay...now his interest was piqued even more.
"Why do you ask Ayumi?"
"Well," she began, " On Friday before class, a few of my friends and I were tieing our skates, talking about our plans for Mother's Day this weekend ! We were talking about spending the day with our mommies and going shopping and stuff."
Yuuri hummed, hinting to her that he was listening.
"After we were done, we went onto the ice, and I noticed Mr. Nikiforov was standing near us, looking over our training papers. He looked... upset. I asked if he was ok and he said he was fine. But he hasn't seemed like himself since then. I mean he's still teaching us, and being funny and all of that...but his eyes look sad and sometimes his smile does too..."
So it wasn't just here at Yu-Topia that Victor was acting strangely. And if a bunch of little kids could notice it, then something must be REALLY wrong.
Yuuri swallowed thickly "A-and are you the only one noticing this ?"
"Well...I told my friends I would call you...and ask you since we've all been a little worried. I found your number in the phone book...and..." She trailed off.
"Oh...I see. " Yuuri picked at the fabric of his sweatpants, before clearing his throat, forcing out his voice to sound more positive and upbeat, " I'll tell you what. I'll try my best to see what's going on and fix things the best I can. But while doing so, I don't want you to worry and I don't want your friends to worry either. So can you promise me you'll enjoy your week for me and come back excited for a fun practice this Friday ? "
There was a split second of silence followed by an exclaimed " Yeah ! Of course I can !" Almost as if the answer, according to Ayumi, was completely obvious.
Yuuri beamed, " That's what I like to hear. But I have to go now okay ? Gotta uphold my end of the deal."
" Heehee, okay ! Thank you Mr. Katsuki ! I'll see you and Mr. Nikiforov on Friday okay ? Feel better !"
" Your welcome Ayumi." Yuuri smiled "See you on Friday ! And thank you."
Ayumi giggled before she hung up, causing Yuuri's to chuckle to himself.
She was such a sweet little girl.
A little girl who had so much dedication to the ice.
A little girl who never took up the chance to listen and learn.
A little girl...who was counting on him.
She adored him and Victor, similar to how Yuuri adored Victor back in the day, so to hear her upset tugged at his heartstrings.
He had to do something.
Looking back down on at his phone, he noticed it was now back on its contact screen, multiple names and phone numbers crossing his vision.
But his eyes landed on one in particular. He hesitated.
Would he be able to help ? It was worth a try right ?
Yuuri took in a breath, thinking about the ear full he would possibly receive from calling him.
You know what ? It didn't matter. He needed to figure this out, and he would probably have more answers than anyone else he knew.
With a quick tap of the screen, his phone began to dial. Just as soon as he put his phone to his ear, another voice appeared on the end, signaling the call to be successful. But the greeting was no less than what he expected.
"What do you want ?"
Yuuri laughed hesitantly, "Hey... I'm sorry to call at this hour but if you'll just here me out...it's kind of sudden I know, but extremely important... something's wrong with Victor and..."
He paused, taking a breath and letting it out slowly.
"... I need your help."
A/N: And that's chapter 2 !
Sooooo...any ideas as to who Yuuri is asking for help from ?
Leave your guesses in the comments ️ ( Though I think it's kiiiinda obvious ).
Poor Victor 😢 There's something really wrong but Yuuri is determined to find out what. And we start that path tomorrow !
But until then, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter ! See you guys tomorrow !
Bye bye !
(Ayumi was just a quick little OC. I think she turned out cute for someone who I came up with in like 5 minutes 😁 )