Student

Yuuri and Victor were messing around in the ice, chasing each other in a game of tag, while Yuri warmed up beside the rink wall.

The blonde looked at his former colleagues, now coaches, with an expression akin to exasperation. If both of them weren't so good (not that he would ever say that out loud!) he would have kicked their asses back to Japan the day after Yuuri retired.

But, alas, here they were, still in St. Petersburg, training Yuri until he himself reached all the potential he aspired to.

Being closer to the door, Yuri heard it opening, and soft footsteps approaching the ice rink and then stopping suddenly. A flash of red, yellow and brown hair made itself noticeable over the highest seats.

"Hey, old geezers!" Yuri called, grabbing his coaches' attention.

They stopped their game and followed their student's glare until they found the young man staring at them from above.

"Is that…?" Victor started.

"Minami!" Yuuri called, waving his hand in the air and making the younger Japanese skater tremble. They could see his nervous expression even from a distance.

Minami descended the steps in a mechanical way, until he was right next to the rink, in front of the three men. He bowed profusely, before looking between the three legends in front of him.

"What do you want, kid?" Yuri asked and Victor coughed to hide his chuckle.

"He is older than you…" Victor whispered and Yuri chocked, eyeing his coach with disgust.

"Yuuri…" Minami started and the Japanese coach looked at him expectantly. "Be my coach!"

Victor exploded in laughter, remembering someone else making that same request to him, while Yuri's cheeks pinked in fury.

"Katsudon is my coach! Don't you dare try to steal him!" the Russian Punk yelled.

"Oh! Yuri! You are so sweet!" Victor said, messing with his protegee's hair.

Yuri pushed him away and crossed his arms in front of his chest, fulminating Minami with his eyes.

Yuuri was the only one that kept silence in between.

"Minami, why do you want me to coach you? What about coach Kanako?" Yuuri asked, ignoring the antics of the other two.

"Coach Kanako found out she has a health problem and can't coach me anymore…" Minami said and the Russians stopped messing with each other in face of those dark news. "You are the only one I wanted to coach me! You are my idol and I want to learn with you and bring gold to our country and make everyone proud of me!" Minami confessed in a rush.

Yuuri looked at Victor and Yuri and then at Minami.

"I can't take that decision now… I need to talk with my team before, okay?" Yuuri said and Minami nodded. "So I will call you when I do it, alright? By the way, do you have a place to stay?"

Minami nodded, telling them his hotel's name, in case any of them wanted to talk face-to-face.

After Minami left, Yuuri turned around to face Victor and Yuri.

"So…?"

Victor had a thoughtful expression on his face, while Yuri was refusing to look him in the eyes.

"Yuri…" Yuuri called in a soft voice and the Russian blonde looked at him. "I won't accept Minami unless you say it's alright with you. I made you a promise and intend to keep it if you want. Just say the word…"

Yuri was caught by surprise with Yuuri's words, clearly not expecting him to put such a decision in his hands. Behind him, Victor smiled proudly, knowing exactly what Yuuri was doing. They all knew how temperamental Yuri was and how much promises meant to him. How much, no matter how many times he denied it, he trusted Yuuri and his opinions, much more than Victor's if they were being honest.

"What are you going to do if we have to face each other in a competition?" Yuri asked.

"Yakov trained you, Victor and Georgi after Victor came back, right? I can still coach you and Minami, but during the competition I would be with him, while Victor is with you… Would that be okay with you?" once again Victor nodded at Yuuri's words. Damn, he was way too good a coach, so much better than Victor. Maybe he should start taking notes…

Yuri was thinking the words over and over inside his head. Suddenly, he skated away, yelling at them without looking back.

"You can take the Matchbox! Just make sure you tell me your secrets first!"

Yuuri and Victor chuckled and looked at each other sweetly.

"And stop staring at each other like two newlyeds!"

"But we are newlyweds!" Victor whined.

"You have been married for the last two years, you idiot!" Yuri yelled, before turning around and making a perfect Axel.

"Victor?" Yuuri asked, clearly wanting to know his opinion. He thought he interpreted his expression correctly, but he needed to be sure. It was not only his life, but also Victor's. They were not only spouses, they also worked together and having a new student would change their dynamics.

Victor grabbed Yuuri's hand and squeezed it.

"Darling, I will love to see you training Minami to be the best he can be. Things will change, yes, but we will figure everything out, together, like we always do!" and he kissed his husband softly, before joining Yuri in his quick steps.

Yuuri smiled at Victor's retreating figure. He was way too lucky...

The next day, when Yuuri arrived at the rink, Minami was already skating. He could still remember the way the younger man had squealed on the phone, probably jumping up and down, when Yuuri called him and told him his decision. However, he also remembered telling him to be in the rink at 8 am, and now it was barely 7 am. Yuri was not here yet and Victor was still in the locker room.

"Minami!" Yuuri called and the man immediately stopped and approached the rink wall.

"Coach Katsuki!" he said and bowed, making Yuuri stop in shock. Minami was being way too formal. "Coach Nikiforov!" and bowed again when Victor joined Yuuri and took his hand in his. He also looked surprised.

"Minami, how long have you been here?" Yuuri asked, noticing the sweat running down the man's face.

"Since 5 am, sir!"

Victor and Yuuri chocked, their eyes opening in shock.

"W-Why?" Victor asked, stuttering.

"Yuri Plisetsky gave me a list of things I should do…" and then Minami actually took out a long list from his pocket.

Victor face-palmed himself and Yuuri sighed.

"Did he tell you to be here at 5 am?"

"Yes, and how to correctly approach you as my coach and Coach Nikiforov as your husband and his coach!"

"What else did he tell you?" Yuuri asked, afraid of what crazy stuff Yuri came up with.

"I should run before and after the training, always bring a cup of tea for you, by the way, I couldn't do it today because everything was closed at 5 am, always keep my skates with me, never train less than 6 days a week…" and Minami was ready to continue if Yuuri hadn't grabbed his phone and called someone.

"YURI! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU TELL MINAMI!?" from Yuuri's phone they could hear the Russian's laugh.

"You should know that I never thought he would actually believe me…"

Yuuri sighed deeply, while behind him, Victor trembled with barely suppressed laughter.

"Not helping!" Yuuri side-eyed his husband that had the decency of reducing his merriness to a simple smile.

"So, it was a prank?" Minami asked. "Oh thank god!" and he proceeded to fall to his knees. "I thought I was going to die!"

"Welcome to the loony house!" Yuuri said, with a smile.

Minami laughed faintly.

However, no matter how much they tried to stop him, during any competition, he would always call Yuuri Coach Katsuki and Victor Coach Nikiforov. Poor Victor could only hope his own student wouldn't punch him in the face during a competition.