All of the underground tunnels were a winding labyrinth of damp dirt and impending doom. Despite the number of upgrades made to the upper floors, the underneath areas had gone untouched. Old lanterns, whose fixtures had been replaced twenty years ago to use lightbulbs, worked only in sporadic order, causing them to move between periods of light and dark.

Yuuri had been slightly offended when he had received the packet indicating Hasetsu castle was going to be the location of his fight against Victor. He had known that the fight was going to take place in Hasetsu, the location itself having been set prior to the final announcement of the international tournament bracket, but he had never imagined that Takeshi, or the town for that matter, would allow the public such open access to one of its cherished landmarks.

Although he didn't have all the pieces yet, he supposed that Takeshi's manipulation through the threat of harm to his family played a large role in the decision. Despite the Nirogishi's being "humble business owners," Yuuri knew that meant they now owned most of the properties which housed the town's most popular businesses. Takeshi was a prominent figure in the fighting world as well, working closely with the UFC to plan and execute the tournaments and brackets that occurred in Japan. Yuuri still couldn't explain how Takeshi had gone from attending Yuuri's fights, to sitting among the organization's figureheads, but he always admired Takeshi's tenacity for networking.

The international tournament had been a chance for Takeshi to increase tourism to Hasetsu and Yuuri had accepted this fact, even though the idea of being inside of Hasetsu castle still bothered him. It was even more unsettling now, after watching an undetermined amount of the castle be destroyed by an explosion and being dumped unconscious in the bowels of the place. Grunting with the thought, Yuuri pulled his mind back to the present, refocusing on putting one foot in front of the other as he led their small group through the dimly lit tunnels.

Footsteps, light but still noticeable, approached from an opening ahead of them to the left. Using his free arm, Yuuri guided Yuuko and the girls back against the wall, bracing himself to take on whoever was about to appear around the corner. His heart hammered in his chest, only calming slightly when Victor took a place at his side, already braced for another round of fighting.

Tension hung in the air as the footsteps came to an abrupt stop. Holding his breath, Yuuri carefully pulled his hand from his side, the dirt and blood caked on his wound providing a momentary seal against the bleeding. A body hurled around the corner, arm striking out and colliding with Yuuri's forearm as he lifted it to block the blow.

"Yuuri?"

Hearing his name, this time not shouted but spoken with the level of condescending relief that only a sister could produce, Yuuri dropped his arms. "Mari?"

"Mari-san!" The triplets threw themselves forward, no longer controlling their volume. Panicked Yuuri scanned the hallway making sure there were not adversarial humans approaching them from any direction.

"Mari, what are you doing here?" Yuuri winced, sucking in his breath and grappling back at his side.

"News of the explosion has spread. People are leaving town, but when you didn't return and Phichit burst into the onsen screaming about Yuuko, I figured something bigger was going on." Cracking her neck, Mari let the triplets hang on her waist. "The way is clear if we head back out the side tunnels."

What she didn't say, and what Yuuri and Yuuko acknowledged through a shared glance, was that the way was clear except for the bodies they would have to step over. Mari had been the one who had taught Yuuri how to fight, and although she had given up her dreams to allow Yuuri to chase his, she was still the best fighter Yuuri had ever known. Even in their scrimmages, including the one she had dragged him into last night, she was still as agile and lethal as she ever was. Anyone who had encountered Mari and attempted to prevent her from her rescue mission surely met with a world of pain greater than they could have ever imagined.

"Take Yuuko and the girls. Get them to mom and dad and don't let anyone see them." Yuuri squared his shoulders when he saw Mari's eyes take in the wound on his side, sucking in his breath to conceal the pain still searing into his side. "Victor and I are going after Takeshi. I think he might still be somewhere in the building. They wanted this place for a reason, I intend to find out why." He hadn't known that the thought was in his head until he was saying the words out loud. Rolling the thought through his mind again, Yuuri knew it had to be true. Someone wanted access to the castle and they used Takeshi to get it, there was no way they would leave before getting what they came for; Yuuri only hoped that meant that Takeshi was still inside somewhere.

"Yuuri," Mari warned, speaking in English while squaring her shoulders to mimic her brother's stance. "You don't know who or what you're facing. You are hurt. You aren't even dressed." She flung a hand between Yuuri and Victor, making the triplets laugh. "You fight in a ring, with rules and referees. That doesn't translate to fighting guys with guns. You are going to get yourself killed, little brother."

Fascinated, Victor let his mind wrap around the fact that the fierce woman with the calm voice was Yuuri's sister. He wanted to ask questions, the compulsive part of him noted the bruises rising on Mari's hands and forearms and was screaming at him to ask if she was a fighter too. Instead, he took a step forward, lightly pressing his shoulder to Yuuri's as a sign of support.

"If I don't try," Yuuri glanced to his side as Victor stepped up, "if we don't try, then it could be Takeshi's life on the line. I'm not willing to risk that. Get them to safety, Mari. Tell mom and dad that I love them." Wincing again as little arms circled his waist, Yuuri shifted to keep the triplets from putting pressure on his injured side. They took turns hugging him, accepting his decision far faster than either Mari or Yuuko.

Sighing, Mari stepped aside to let Yuuko and the girls move around the corner from where she came. "Check the old throne room. It is big and doesn't have outside access. Something tells me that whoever is doing this probably doesn't want an audience for whatever they are doing. First, go wherever your trainer was supposed to be. I hope for your sake, you still remember how to stitch a cut." Turning her back on Yuuri and Victor, Mari paused. "Good luck, Yuuri. Come back to us." Without looking back, Mari disappeared into the darkness.

Fading footsteps padded down the dirt tunnel and Yuuri tracked them until they could no longer be heard. His mind felt clouded, the pain in his side beginning to bleed into his ability to function as the world suddenly seemed to be tilting. Feeling his legs begin to give out, Yuuri resigned himself to falling onto the floor. Instead his body was lifted into the air, a pair of strong arms hooking underneath his legs and carefully cradling him under his back.

"Can you get us to a training room?" Victor asked, his chest expanding with the effort of holding Yuuri's weight. "If we run into anyone else, I will set you down and then kick their asses." He grinned, a failing attempt to reassure Yuuri even as the concern danced in his eyes. Yuuri's color was no longer tinged with pink, but was instead a muted pallor highlighted with smears of sweat and dirt. Victor didn't want to admit that he was scared, but he was absolutely terrified for Yuuri's safety.

"I'll get us there," Yuuri looped his arms over Victor's shoulders, hissing as the slice in his skin opened again. "Just don't drop me." Tucking his head into Victor's neck, Yuuri counted to ten in his mind to slow his heartbeat. "Go straight," Yuuri paused to chuckle as Victor muttered "that would be a first," shaking his head against Victor's shoulder. "Stay on this path," he emphasized every word, liking the feeling of Victor's chuckles rumbling in his chest, "hang a right where it dead ends."

Hoisting Yuuri up higher in his arms, Victor set off into the darkness, silently begging Yuuri to be okay with every step.


"Fuuccckkkk…"

The water in the basin of the sink ran red and brown, Yuuri's low groan of a curse strangely matching the rhythm of the sickly colored swirl disappearing down the drain. His scalp burned where he was pulling on the strands of his hair, keeping his own hands out of the way as he allowed Victor to clean the sizeable gash in his side.

If it hadn't been for his exertion and the contamination of the wound, its edges would have been smooth. Yuuri had hooked the knife into his makeshift rope belt, which now lay discarded on the metal table stained red with his blood in the same manner as the blade that had cut him. When he had patiently allowed Victor to unwind the rope from around his waist, he had studied the blade to distract himself from the feeling of Victor touching him. Even ripped open and bleeding, the feeling of Victor's fingers on his bare skin had caused the heat inside of him to reignite.

"Damn it," Yuuri growled, training his eyes on the bright white of the ceiling, breathing through the sting of the warm cloth scraping the dirt from the edges of his cut.

Victor felt sick. Perched on a stool, he hunched over at the waist, bringing his face closer to Yuuri's body to thoroughly clean the area on Yuuri's side which continued to bleed despite Victor's best efforts to stop it. He was meticulous in his scrubbing, breathing through his mouth as the iron smell of Yuuri's blood began to turn his stomach. Tossing his third rag into the sink, Victor reached for the last available clean towel, covering his palm with the fabric and pressing it hard against Yuuri's side. He felt the warmth spread up his arm as Yuuri's hand came down to cover his.

'Mari's right, I need to stitch it," using his other hand, Yuuri pulled Victor's hand away from his body. Keeping a firm hold on the towel, Yuuri moved to the opposite side of the room, pulling Celestino's abandoned tackle box across the counter. Carefully he pulled the antiseptic, numbing spray and suture kit from each of their layers, placing each item on the counter. Luckily, there was a single mirror mounted on the wall of the renovated space and Yuuri lined himself in front of it, psyching himself up for what he was about to do.

"You're not…" Victor trailed off, catching Yuuri's gaze in the mirror. The stubborn determination burned in Yuuri's eyes, and Victor halted his argument at those two words. "How can I help?" was where he went instead, taking his place back at Yuuri's side.

"Wipe the blood for me, if you don't mind." Yuuri was already prepping his suture, laying the needle across the counter and retrieving the antiseptic. Popping the bottle open with his teeth, Yuuri poured it directly over his side, letting the excess run onto the towel Victor held and gritting his teeth against the sting. He closed his eyes as Victor patted his skin dry, taking a breath and reaching out to grab the numbing spray. It wouldn't numb him nearly enough, but Yuuri was used to pain and he had sewn himself shut plenty of times in life. None of his stitch work had ever been more than a handful of stitches, but unfortunately he didn't have that luxury this time around. He needed to get his side closed up and get back to locating Takeshi as soon as possible. With a shaking hand, he sprayed down his side, tossing the can back on the counter and retrieving the already threaded needle. Forcing himself to ignore the pain, Yuuri bit the inside of his cheek and sank the needle home.

Victor gagged, covering up his reaction with a small cough as he trained his eyes away from Yuuri's remarkably sturdy hands. He had a hard time getting stitches when a doctor was creating them, and couldn't believe the quiet way Yuuri was currently piercing his own skin, methodically closing his own wound without a single sound. Victor had always known Yuuri was tough, had always admired and waxed poetic about his toughness, but none of that compared to what he had seen from Yuuri over the last couple of hours. His crush on Yuuri Katsuki had grown from a distant fascination to an all-out obsession.

Slow, Yuuri told himself, humming the word inside of his mind. Steady. Careful. Don't rush. He repeated his sister's words over in his mind, remembering the first time Mari had taught him how to stitch a wound. He had split his calf on an ill-timed kick on an overstuffed bag, lamenting over the fact that their parents definitely didn't need the stress of taking Yuuri to the hospital (again). Mari had shoved him into the onsen showers, going down on one knee to clean the back of his leg, muttering under her breath about bad form. She had made him stitch it himself though, and for that lesson (among so many other things) he would be eternally grateful.

The last stitch pinched together the remaining miniscule fraction of his skin and Yuuri concentrated as he finished his handiwork, mildly impressed with his own results. He nodded at Victor when the towel was raised in question, grabbing the bottle of antiseptic and pouring the last of the liquid down his side. The press of Victor's fingers beneath the terry cloth was contrast to the sting of the cool liquid and Yuuri closed his eyes to focus on the former. When Victor let out an impressed hum, Yuuri tilted his head back down to look at him. Poking Victor at the peak of the part in his hair, Yuuri whispered "thank you."

Those two words sank directly to the depths of Victor's heart as he raised his face to study Yuuri's. On the surface, Yuuri's gratitude was attributed to Victor's help in getting him back into one piece. Underneath, however, those two words sang of a thankfulness which encompassed every moment since they had leapt from the octagon and every moment that still laid before them. The meaning sparkled in Yuuri's eyes and it radiated from the soft smile parting Yuuri's lips.

Emotional with his understanding, Victor slowly rose to his feet, dropping the towel onto the counter and gently using his fingers to guide Yuuri to face him fully. For a moment, Victor searched Yuuri's face, looking for resistance or rebuttal of their closeness. When he found none, he took a deep, pressing forward and chancing a kiss against Yuuri's lips.

Yuuri had spent a remarkable amount of time considering the circumstances in which he would ever find himself kissing Victor Nikiforov. There had been entire drunken nights with Phichit, where they had suggested the most outrageous scenarios imaginable in which the two rivals would find themselves coming together, in every meaning of the word.

None of those hypothetical situations included being bloody, muddy, and stupidly determined to get themselves killed by partaking in a rescue mission that they were unprepared for. Still, Yuuri wouldn't deny himself this, especially as it was Victor who had made the first move. Reaching to curl his fingers between the tangled silver locks, he shifted his hips, bracing his lower back against the counter and sighing with the pressure of Victor's body against his own.

Victor had imagined this moment. He always believed Yuuri would kiss the same way he fought, full of fire and raw emotion. Even with that expectation, the reality of Yuuri's power had Victor's brain softening into a pile of heated goo. He forgot that they were currently working on borrowed time, every minute that passed one minute closer to someone discovering they had escaped. He ignored the fact that they were going to leave this room and engage in a fight that could potentially be their last. Instead he fell into the natural rhythm of his lips against Yuuri's, kissing Yuuri as if they had been doing so their entire lives.

A shout, in deep, guttural Russian, echoed down the hallway outside of the training room door. Yanking themselves apart, Victor remained chest-to-chest with Yuuri, eyes flicking between the furrow in Yuuri's brow and the nervous jump of Yuuri's pulse in his neck. Swallowing hard, Victor placed a single finger to his lips, straining to hear the words being spoken.

"No one is down there!" Footsteps came closer with every word, punctuating the anger of each syllable. Raising an eyebrow at Yuuri, Victor remained silent. "All gone. Bunch of bodies though. Pretty sure Vlad is dead." Curiosity had Victor wondering whether it was him or Yuuri who had potentially killed someone, a sick feeling in his stomach settling when the reality of that possibility set in. They had done what they needed to do to save themselves and Yuuri's friends, but Victor had never intended to take another person's life.

Shaking his head when Yuuri tried to get his attention, Victor nodded toward the door. He had the ability to protect Yuuri from the same knowledge, and clutched to that as he stepped back to put space between them. Witnessing the worry flicker over Yuuri's face, Victor leaned forward to swipe a kiss against Yuuri's cheek, still listening to the interaction occurring outside of their door.

"Boss isn't going to like that they got out." The speaker was closer to them than the last voice, making both Yuuri and Victor react by moving into defensive stances. Glancing sideways at each other, they stifled nervous laughter behind their hands. No one knew they were tucked away inside the small room, but they were ready to fight their way out if need be.

"Don't tell him about it." The original speaker was equally close now, causing Yuuri and Victor to freeze in their positions. Two on two would still be a fair fight, but hearing what was being said was a more valuable choice. "What he doesn't know won't kill him… or us." The two men laughed, the sound fading as they moved away.

Squeezing Victor's arm, Yuuri silently inquired as to what he had heard. Russian was certainly on his list of languages to study, but currently he was feeling lucky that he had merely recognized it. Unfortunately, his knowledge of the Russian language consisted of the translations for "thank you" and "nice fight," leaving Yuuri completely in the dark regarding what the other men had said. The adrenaline from kissing Victor had already pushed his heart back to a racing pace, and he was positive that it was going to explode from his chest with the crippling uncertainty now banging around instead of him.

Dropping back against the examine table in the middle of the room, Victor sighed. "They know we escaped. The second guy wanted to tell 'the boss'," Victor used air quotes to emphasize the exact phrasing, "but the first one told him not to. Said something about them getting killed for letting us get away." Without overthinking it, Victor reached for Yuuri again, hooking a finger in the top of Yuuri's shorts to encourage him forward. There was comfort in touching Yuuri, and Victor let himself fall into it as he threw his arms over Yuuri's shoulders.

Normally, Yuuri would have analyzed Victor's closeness and driven himself mad over what it could mean. Without the luxury of time or the promise of life beyond the next few hours, Yuuri chucked all of his old hesitations aside, bringing his arms to link his hands behind Victor's bare back. "Nothing about Mari, right? Or planning to go after Yuuko and the girls?" Yuuri would have faced a thousand enemies if it meant distracting them all long enough for the people who mattered to get to safety. His considered himself dispensable, but Yuuko, Mari and the girls were not.

"I'm assuming," Victor paused as he ran the tips of his fingers over Yuuri's bare shoulders and into his hairline, distracted momentarily by the softness of Yuuri's skin. He smiled sheepishly when Yuuri nudged him. "I'm assuming," he restarted, "that they were included when they spoke of missing people. But nothing was explicitly said about them."

Relief spread through Yuuri's chest. He had no disillusions about the life-threatening decisions he and Victor had made, but he couldn't live with himself if his sister and oldest friends hadn't made it out safely. Even as his mind tried to tell him that they weren't necessarily safe, Yuuri forcibly shoved the thought away, convincing himself that he had to believe in the best case scenario. This included living through saving Takeshi and hopefully having more chances to kiss Victor. As his brain switched gears, Yuuri frowned, looking back up at Victor. "You kissed me."

Victor couldn't avoid snorting at the shock and accusation in Yuuri's whisper. "I did," he answered with a shrug of his shoulder, trying to appear casual despite the nerves now raving inside of his stomach. "I should have done so a long time ago. Considering we are about to make some very brave, yet very stupid joint decisions, I decided it would be foolish to wait any longer." Victor knew he was babbling, but he was terrified to stop talking on the off chance that Yuuri was going to reject him. "Besides, I figured if you decided to hit me, the power of your punch would at least be less significant with the gash in your side-"

"Victor," Yuuri interrupted, tugging on the rope still wrapped around Victor's waist. "I'm not mad that you kissed me. I'm happy." He waited, eyes trained on Victor's face as he watched the realization set in. Yuuri let his smile take over as Victor's cheeks turned pink.

"Yeah?" Leaning down, Victor trailed his nose along the bridge of Yuuri's, "me too." Before Yuuri could respond again, Victor was kissing him. He felt selfish stealing these moments with Yuuri, knowing that they had other, more important goals to accomplish, but he couldn't pull away. If he was going to die within the walls of this ancient castle, he was not going to do so without fulfilling this unsatisfied part of his heart.

Everything about kissing Victor was perfect. In the same way that they pushed and pulled each other in a fight, they moved together in their kiss. Yuuri felt a lightness settling into his mind, a calm clashing against the excitement buzzing through his body. It would be so easy to forget why they were stowed away in the trainer room, to let the last few hours fall away along with their plans to play rescuers. Getting lost in Victor was so tempting. The feel of Victor's hands in his hair and Victor's chest sliding against his own was quickly building to an addiction in Yuuri's mind. Yet…

Pulling back, Yuuri rested his head on Victor's shoulder. "We can't stay here forever," he remarked, the voice in his head screaming a defiant "why not!" as Yuuri registered Victor's physical signs of arousal. Internally, he groaned with the desire that had been nothing but a sleeping beast inside of him until Victor kissed him. Externally, he hugged Victor around the waist, before dropping his arms and stepping back. "We have to find Takeshi."

The part of Victor that always questioned whether people genuinely cared about him revved up in his mind, attempting to overthrow all the positive feelings of finally having Yuuri close enough to touch. With a frown, Victor nodded, reaching behind him and wrapping his fingers around the dagger which had been abandoned on the table. Opening his palm, he offered the blade to Yuuri with a sad smile.

"If we make it out of here alive…" Yuuri reached around Victor to seize the rope on the table, bringing them back into each other's space. Feeling the powerful heat between them, Yuuri cleared his throat and amended his statement. "When we make it out of here alive, would you want to stay with me and my family for a while? I can show you the non-deadly parts of Hasetsu."

Relief was the driving force behind Victor's quick laugh, and his instant decision to tackle Yuuri into another kiss. Somehow, Yuuri had driven out Victor's worries, without ever knowing that they were there. "Of course," Victor answered against Yuuri's lips, "when we make it out I'm all yours." With one last kiss, Victor pushed away from the table, cocking one hip to consider Yuuri. "Now… what's the plan?"

Nodding, a smug smirk tinted with deadly determination, Yuuri began to describe exactly how they were going to make their way to the throne room.