Yuri's eyes shot open and he jerked awake, half an hour too early. What on earth was that that had awoken him? Was it that infernal vibrating noise, or some sixth sense of impending doom-

Yuri picked up his phone. Three hundred and twenty sixnotifications.

"What in all hell-"

sukeota3sisters tagged you in a picture.

yuriangels, phichitchu and 269 others liked a picture you were tagged in.

jjleroy, christophe-giacometti and 52 others have commented on a picture you were tagged in.

The picture was one of Yuko, sitting in an armchair by a window, silhouetted against a vivid sunset outside, talking on the phone. The caption read:

OMG! @plisetsky-yuri asking for help with his math homework! #ordinaryteenageboyproblems #math #sucks #adorable #domestic #fluff #kawaii

"DAMN THOSE PESKY LITTLE INTERFERING TRIPLETS!" roared Yuri, practically shaking with outrage and humiliation. Everybody in the skating community followed those kids for their sneaky insider views of popular skaters' lives! Why in heaven's name hadn't he thought of this before calling Yuko!

His rapidly squirming insides only grew worse when he saw the comments.

christophe-giacometti what an adorable domestic scene! Yuko-san, what a cute little son you have :3

jjleroy omg AHAHAHAHA i'm dying XD ground him if he doesn't do it right, momma!

milabb who dis? anyone o* should be jealous of? ;)

phichitchu @otabek-altin time to help out, buddy.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Yuri's despair was way too big to be done justice to by any form of retaliation right now. Why, why, why me! That stupid old hag and that freaky Thai fanboy, argh! He would have to put his career on hold indefinitely now until Otabek retired, because there was no way, absolutely no way in hell he could look him in the face now!

His phone rang and Yuri was so distracted in his desperation that he actually answered it.

"Hello?"

"...Yuri?"

"Who the heck is it this time?"

"It's Otabek."

Yuri stared at the wall. He could swear his insides had suddenly disappeared.

What do I do now????The silence was so long that Otabek cleared his throat uneasily. "I don't know if you remember me, but..."

"No wait, wait, of course I remember, what d'you think," blurted out Yuri. No! Too eager! Play it cool, Yuri, play it cool!"Ah, that's great." Otabek actually sounded relieved. "So, um, I saw something on the internet about you needing help with your homework or something..."

"No, that's nothing," snapped Yuri, too quickly. No! No! Too harsh!"Oh, okay." Was he imagining it or did Otabek sound disappointed? "Well, catch up with you later, then."

Yuri's nerves all jangled together like a bunch of electrical live wires. Nononono wait wait stop stop don't hang up.Calm down, Yuri Plisetsky.For god's sake, breathe.You're going to be yourself, and ask your best friend for help with your homework."Actually, Otabek, d'you think you can help me with it? It's algebra, and I suck at it."

"Sure. Fire away."

Yuri sat up and flipped to the right page in his math book. "Okay, so we have to prove that x cubed plus four x squared...are you writing this down?"

Damn it, this is so easy, thought Yuri, ruefully. Otabek knew the answers to everything! Plus, he explained it so clearly and simply that Yuri had no trouble understanding at all. And he didn't go off on tangents, or ask stupid questions, or yell at him or pretend to be smart, he just...answered everything Yuri asked him.

So simple. So convenient. So straightforward. What a blessing people like this are to this world, thought Yuri. What a rare fount of absolute pure common sense.

"Thanks, man," he found himself saying. "I'd probably have to give up my career if it hadn't been for you. I owe you one."

Otabek probably shrugged. "That's what best friends are for, right?"

"Yeah, I know, right?" said Yuri, as breezily as he could, but inside, his heart was doing combination quadruple lutzes. Otabek said it! Otabek, not me! Otabek considers me his. Best. Friend!"So, guess I'll catch you later, Yura."

"'Kay," said Yuri, still feeling lightheaded, ang hung up. It took him a while to realize that the other skater had called him Yura and it hadn't sounded annoying.

Later that evening, at dinner

"Someone's in a mighty good mood," commented Viktor curiously as the three of them tucked into the food.

"Who's that?" retorted Yuri, happily. "It isn't me! Pass the salt, Nikiforov. Your cooking sucks ass."