Chapter Text
“No fucking way. Are you insane?!” Yuuri winced, pulling the phone away from his ear at the last moment, waiting until the yelling had ended to bring his phone back.
“Yuuri, we have what, three weeks at most until August starts?. Even if you did decide to go through with everything, it’s a little late. Everything is normally due on like May 1st or something.”
“Well…”
“Are you serious?! You sent in your decision already? Does Victor know? Hell, does the skating community know?”
“Victor and I’ve talked about it, but this is a SECRET, Phichit. I’m trying to stay on the down low.”
There was a burst of laughter on the other end before phichit responded.
“You know you’re not just any skater anymore, right? You’ve actually won, a lot. Like, a lot a lot. Not to mention the fact that you’re married to Victor freaking Nikiforov. How exactly do you intend to, stay on the down low exactly? And can I see your application? Cause, I feel bad for the poor guy who has to look through the monster of a list that is your “awards and accomplishments” portion of the application.”
“Well, I won’t have to worry about that because, I just didn’t put anything other than a few global service awards I got. I just tried not to put anything related to skating just in case someone noticed my name. That way, they’ll just think it’s a fluke and I won’t have to deal with any sort of publicity-”
“Excuse me? Did you just say you didn’t put any skating awards on your application? Like, none at all? Not even the ones you won in competitions in Japan?”
“The only thing skating related is the community service hours I did in Russia when I help Victor’s rink out with some goodwill open ice practices.”
“Who the heck has community service hours in different countries but also refuses to put actual awards?”
“Okay, I also wanted to see if I could get in with just my grades without anything else. If I did get noticed, I didn’t want people to be able to say that I got in just because I was a ranked athlete.”
He could practically see the eye roll that followed Phichit’s sigh.
“Sometimes I think that you are way too modest about yourself, Katsuki, I’m sure your hunk of a husband would care to agree.”
That brought out a genuine chuckle.
“He tells me so very often. But, I feel like it’s just the perfect time for this. I don’t think I’ll need more than a year since I had other courses done. I may or may not have taken some international courses online here and there, so I should be okay on credits.”
“You skated and did classes?!”
“Yeah, but, think of all of the essays I had to write. I just couldn’t let it go.”
“You are insane. I swear. I mean, I’m obviously rooting for you, but at the same time, I seriously worry about your decision making skills.”
“Thanks for the support, Phichit.”
“I expect a hoodie in the mail.”
“Actually…”
“I need you to choose your next words very carefully, my friend.”
“I may or may not be able to give it to you in person.”
“You’re coming here?”
“I’ll see you at Four Continents and maybe the World Championships?”
There was a long suffering sigh at the other end before Phichit replied.
“Don’t tell me, Nikiforov is taking time off again? Are you guys getting a place together or something? Is this some sort of weird version of a honeymoon slash break from skating?”
“No, no! Victor is gonna stay here in Russia. It’s just going to be me. But I’ll be using a public rink near the school. I'll probably just use the bus system or something”
“Who’s going to be your coach?”
“Ciao Ciao said he had a friend who was free for a season, so…”
“You don’t even know the guy’s name?”
“I haven’t been able to get to all of that. I’ve just been so busy with the paper work and everything. And it’s kind of been a stressful time for us here in Russia as well.”
“Ooo, do tell.”
“Phichit, you’ve got to promise me, this stays a secret . No one outside of our rink knows about this yet, but we’re going to be putting out a statement within the next month.”
“My lips are sealed. Cross my heart.”
“Yakov hasn’t been in the best condition for the past few months, so he’s going to retire early. Well, earlier than he wants to. So Victor is going to be taking over in coaching Yuri for a month while the new coach settles in. And since he’s got to practice his own program and work with Yuri, he’s going to be busy. So I was thinking about sitting out for a season but then I got the idea to go back and get my degree. It just so happens that I would have a coach too. So I won’t be competing very much globally, but maybe a few here and there in the US?”
“Woah…”
“Yeah. Everyone’s trying their best to keep their cool but I know it’s hit Victor hard. I mean, Yakov’s been with him from before he even started actually competing. He’s told me that the man’s basically like the father he’s never really had. I can’t imaging the stress in knowing that someone so close isn’t doing well healthwise.”
“Is he up to competing?”
“He had a freak out when Yakov told him, apparently he told Victor first. And he threatened to stop his treatment if Victor stopped skating just because of him.”
“Ouch…”
“Yeah. It was a really bad couple of days. But I think they talked after that. So Victor’s been working on his own routine and helping Yuri. Georgi decided that he wanted to change coaches, and Mila said she wanted to take things slow, so she’ll be the only senior skater working with the new coach from the get go.”
“How’s the angry little one taking things?”
Yuuri choked before answering “Plisetsky?”
“Yeah, him.”
“Honestly, I can’t really say. I’ve never seen him so quiet. He had a three hour practice session yesterday with Victor and he didn’t yell or say anything mean the entire time.”
Yuuri hummed.
“But I think he’s taken it hard too. I mean, he’s trained with Yakov for more than ten years. I’m sure they were close as well. And now that his grandfather moved in with his aunt and he has his own place, he’s got one less adult in his life.”
“Poor guy.”
“He may not look the part, but he’s actually a really caring guy. Just with a whole bunch of teenage hormones.”
“He’s what, nineteen?”
“He’s turning eighteen this year.” Yuuri corrected.
“Yikes…”
“He’s mellowed out a little-”
Yuuri’s phone vibrated as he received an onslaught of texts.
“Hey, I’ll call you right back.”
He ended the call only to be immediately faced with an incoming call from the angry little one himself.
“I know you said you were busy today, but I personally would like to request that you come to the rink. Like right now. Please.”
“...Are you okay?”
He heard muffled cursing before Yuri replied.
“Look, Victor said that you need to be especially polite sometimes to get what you want, but that was obviously shit advice. You need to get your goddamn ass over here because your fucking menopausal husband is crying. Again. I didn’t even say anything this time.”
“Is Victor okay?”
“You have two eyes. Get the fuck over here and see for yourself.”
Yuuri honestly wasn’t even surprised at the sudden dial tone as Yuri hung up on him.. Yet again..
He sent off an apologetic message to Phichit before pulling a coat over his hoodie and sweats, toeing on his tennis shoes before calling for Makka who bounded enthusiastically to the front door where Yuuri waited with her lead.
“We’ve got some serious cheering up to do, Makka.” she wagged her tail excitedly as he clipped the lead to her collar.
And within seconds they were venturing out into the cold Russian afternoon.