"Wait, hold up a minute!" Phichit cried.
He sat next to Yuri at an outdoor table. The waitress had just sat down their drinks. She scooted off to check on other tables. Yuri and Viktor were, overly enthusiastically, telling the other two about their morning. Yuri was just about to tell them about the owner of the ice rink. He hadn't even gotten to the best part when Phichit stopped him.
"You're telling me you can skate?" Phichit looked amazed.
"You're tall, handsome, and talented? What are you doing working in a café?" Yuuko asked looking confused.
"Well, um, that's a bit of a longer conversation." Viktor's cheeks flushed as he muttered out the answer.
"Well, we...." Yuuko began.
Yuri slammed his palms down on the table. The silverware jumped as their glasses jiggled. He leaned forward to get in the faces of his two best friends. He caught each of their eyes with his own. They jerked back a little bit, Yuuko giggling, at the strange way their friend was acting.
"You're not listening!" Yuri cried.
"Yes Viktor can skate. In fact he is pretty amazing, honestly." He added once he had everyone's attention.
"But that's not the point for this luncheon." Yuri sat back, twin red splotches appearing on his cheeks.
"No. Yuri and I have been talking..." Viktor smiled over at the shy dark haired male.
"You're not going to elope, are you?" Yuuko gasped.
"WHAT?" Yuri shouted making a few people turn to look at them.
"We aren't even officially dating, yet." He muttered as he did his best to resemble a tomato.
"Oh well..." Yuuko flushed a slight pink.
"OK, Ok!" Phichit pulled her back into her seat. She had been leaning over him to get closer to Yuri.
"Let them talk, Yuuko!" He insisted as he settled her down.
"Alright, fine!" She folded her arms across her chest to glare at the table of boys looking her over.
"Talk!" She commanded.
"OK, so, we were skating and when we finished..." Yuri began.
"... the owner was there. He had watched us." Viktor beamed.
"We came up to talk to him. We didn't know it was the owner right away, he told us." Yuri rushed to explain.
"He seemed a bit upset about having to sell to some big corporation." Viktor added just the right amount of sadness to his face as he said this.
"Yes, so I mentioned how you tried to make the offer..." Yuri gestured to Phichit.
"But we don't have enough money." Phichit pouted. In his frustration he punched his fist down onto the table top.
Yuuko rubbed his arm. "Not even with all our savings combined." She muttered.
"That's just it. You didn't factor in all our savings." Viktor purred.
Phichit's head rose up slowly. He gaped at the smiling silver haired male. He attempted to talk a few times, but only odd gurgling sounds came out. Yuuko was beside him, she looked them over just as stunned.
"You don't mean..." She mumbled.
Viktor nodded. "I have a small savings account. It isn't much, but enough to give you the money to reach the asking price of the skating rink." He offered.
"You, you would..." Phichit muttered.
Yuuko grabbed his arm. "Wait, you spoke to the owner..." She looked toward Yuri with an open mouthed expression. She waited for his response, not realizing she was holding her breath.
"Yes, we did!" Yuri smiled.
"He accepted." Viktor added.
"You mean..." Phichit whispered.
"We can buy it?" Yuuko cried out clapping her hands over her mouth.
Viktor nodded. Yuri beamed as he spoke up. "Yes. He wants to meet us all tonight." He stated.
Yuuko flung herself across the table. She spilled drinks, got stabbed in the chest by something, but she managed to wrap her arms around the two beaming men across from her. Phichit cried out as his drink spilled into his lap. He leapt up yelling at Yuuko to be careful. The damage was already done as Yuri hugged his friend.
Yuuko jumped up dancing around. "You're shirt is white!" Phichit yelled at her.
"What? Who cares we are..." She yelled.
"Seeing your bra!" Yuri yanked off his hoodie to toss at his friend.
She gasped covering herself with the material. Quickly she shimmied into the over sized hoodie. She thanked Yuri as she sat back down. Several waiters rushed over to clean up the mess. Yuuko apologized to them all. New drinks were brought out to them.
"We, we are really doing this then?" Yuuko asked in a voice hardly louder than a whisper.
"I don't see why not." Yuri smiled. "As long as we all agree."
"Let's do it!" Phichit cried.
"If you didn't have the total asking price without Viktor's help, how are you going to pay the operating costs?" a voice spoke up from around the corner.
"The electric bill, the heating, not to mention a trained Zamboni driver to clean the ice for you." A grumpy looking man turned to face them.
"Yakov!" Viktor cried in shock.
"Hello, Viktor." He purred out the name.
"None of you have any idea of what you are getting into." The man pointed out.
"What do you plan to do with this rink?" he asked.
"We want to put together an ice show." Phichit insisted.
"That would be even more money. Where will you find the funds to pay the entertainers? Costumes? Dance instructors?" Yakov went off as they looked up at him in total disbelief.
"I will use all of my savings." Viktor offered.
Yakov scuffed. "I thought you wanted your freedom?" he arched an eyebrow.
"You're nearly there, unless you enter into this ridiculous plan." He huffed when Viktor said nothing.
"I will find a different way to repay you." Viktor growled.
Yakov chuckled. "I never wanted your money, Viktor. I want you." He turned to walk away.
"This is a fools plight you have gotten yourself into. You will be mine forever." He added as he strolled away.
"What, what did he mean by that?" Yuuko asked.
Viktor sat watching the short male walking away. His face was blank as the others watched on. As Yakov disappeared around a corner in the distance, Viktor shook himself. He turned to face the others, a smile on his face as a light danced in his eyes.
"Don't worry about it." He waved a hand.
"You're working at the café to buy your freedom from him?" Yuuko looked like she may be sick.
"I was an orphan, on the verge of turning eighteen. I would be out on the streets with little money and no job prospects. That was how Yakov found me." Viktor said.
"He offered you a job? For what? The price of you're soul?" Phichit asked.
"At the time it sounded good. I would be given a place to live, food, a job. All I had to do was whatever Yakov wanted me too." Viktor shrugged.
"We can't take your escape money." Yuuko whispered as she sank deep into her chair.
"Not when we will need you to be our star performer." Phichit added.
"Without my money, you can't even buy the rink." Viktor pointed out.
"Well, that's not entirely true." A new voice spoke up.
The group of four looked up. Standing before them were two people who looked more like thugs than anything else. The tall dark haired man had a half shaved head. His flop of black hair covered the undercut. His smirk was dangerous under his sunglasses. The leather jacket he wore, creaked as he shifted his booted feet.
Beside him stood a wiry teen. The blond hair blew wildly in the gentle breeze. He wore a denim jacket with a large tiger patch on the back. His face was twisted into a scowl as he wrinkled his nose. His eyes scanned over the group before him.
"Viktor, what are you doing with these filthy piggys?" the blond demanded.
"I'm going to purchase a business opportunity with them." Viktor smirked.
"Not alone you're not." The dark haired male snorted.
"Yes, why waste your money, when I can waste his?" the blond pointed out.
"What are you getting at little Yuri?" Viktor leaned back.
"I have the trust fund he gave me, plus access to the account from which he pays my school." Blond Yuri stated.
"Please have a seat and introduce yourselves." The pale boy beside Viktor offered.
"I'm Otabek Altin." The dark haired male introduced himself.
Otabek took a seat as he pulled one out for the blond. "This is my partner, Yuri Plisetsky."
"Partner? Don't you mean boyfriend?" Yuuko smirked.
"Well, yes, but we are undercover." Otabek smiled back at her.
"He is twelve!" Yuuko cried.
"I'm fifteen!" Yuri yelled at her.
"Relax. Its OK. We work for an organization that is trying to stop the human trafficking and other human enterprises in this country. So, let's talk." Otabek grinned at each of them in turn. They all looked startled by his confession.