Unconditional Love

Cousin?

7th September 2006 (Hasetsu, Japan)

Giggles and woofs filled the traditional Japanese room as a 5-year-old blonde boy played with a small brown poodle while loud voices could be heard from the other side of the building, probably watching some championship or soccer. Yuri knew it wasn't about figure skating, because they would have called him if there was anything about skating on the TV.

He would never miss it, and they promised to call him in case there was something, both Yuri and his cousin loved watching figure skating, it was one of the few things they had in common and everyone knew that.

Then, Yuri heard footsteps approaching and stopped playing with the poodle for a moment. The blonde turned to look at the door, waiting to see who it was.

"Yurochka! Have you seen Vicchan?"

Suddenly, a head popped out by the door as Yuri was petting the puppy and, the blonde noticed very quickly, it was his 12-year-old cousin looking at him.

He nodded and pointed beside him, where Vicchan was seated. "He's here with me." Said poodle tilted his head to the side and woofed happily before jumping onto Yuri.

And so, his voice was drowned out by his giggles as the little chocolate poodle began licking his face. Then, as Vicchan stopped his attack on the blonde, a hand appeared from beside Yuri to pat the dog, getting a few yips in response from the said poodle. Yuri turned his head and beamed when he saw his older cousin.

"Where's Dedushka?" the blonde asked as he draped himself over his cousin's shoulders—and the black haired boy didn't even flinch, since he was used to it—while the small poodle decided to seize his cousin's lap, as if it was his possession—which it wasn't, by the way, seeing that both Vicchan and Yuri often took turns to sit there, but the puppy didn't need to know that.

The older boy hummed and pointed towards the direction of the kitchen. "Kolya is helping Otou-san with lunch" And Yuri nodded, his grandpa had wanted to learn Yu-Topia's recipes before going back to Moscow, so they could cook Japanese food even in Russia, resulting in him helping Toshiya in the kitchen even during work hours, despite the other's protests.

With a smile, Yuri rested his chin on top of his cousin's head. "Yuuri, are we going to Ice Castle today?" He asked with sparkling eyes. Of course, Yuuri couldn't see them but he knew they were sparkling.

Yuri's eyes sparkled every time he talked about skating. Both he and his cousin shared the love for the ice.

The little blonde, when he was around three, insisted on doing ballet together with Yuuri, too. Minako was very happy to have another student, since it was rare for someone to practice ballet in Hasetsu, which was the reason as to why Minako also ran a bar.

Little Yuri also seemed like a natural for ballet, just like Yuuri was, or so Minako told him, not that he believed her anyway. Yuri had no problem keeping up with the lessons and Yuuri was happy to see that his little cousin enjoyed ballet, just as he did.

Yuuri smiled and poked the blonde's chubby cheek. "Sure, let me just tell Yuuko-san" He informed the younger one as he felt the weight on his head disappear. Turning around, he could see Yuri jumping around in excitement, chanting "Ice Castle" over and over.

Chuckling, he nudged Vicchan, who yipped in annoyance at being bothered but still rose from Yuuri's lap and jumped away, probably following the little blonde currently jumping around the room, allowing the teen to stand up and walk to the door.

He took out his phone as he stepped out of the room and quickly texted Yuuko to warn her of their visit—which wasn't a rare occurrence—to Ice Castle.