A/N: So this story takes place 5 years after Home. In that time, I quietly shuffled Makkachin off the mortal coil because I didn't want to have to write Viktor and Yuuri going through that. Telling you this now so that you can brace yourselves.

Also, I've had a lot of people asking about the Yurabek/Otayuri. I just want to be clear that I do not dislike the Yurabek ship. I also do not dislike the idea of Yurio and Otabek being really, really, really good friends (like the kind of friends that make your family think you're secretly together anyway). My reason for staying neutral on this is because I have a feeling MAPPA might explore this more in Season 2, and I want to see what they do. I don't want to make predictions, because Yuri on Ice absolutely blew me away with Viktuuri (and this coming from a person who does not normally ship M/M ships—nothing against them, I just prefer not to do it without canonical evidence). I would be totally happy whichever way Yamamoto and Kubo decide to take Yurio and Otabek.

Unfortunately this means that I'm going to be very ambiguous on the Yurabek front. However, if they do end up getting together in the show (and I know we're going to get a Season 2), you better believe I'll go back and write the fluff you're all craving.

Also, this chapter is primarily Clara's POV, but it's also sort of a prologue. More POVs to come, including those of canon characters!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yuri on Ice!

Clara woke up to the feel of a wet nose being shoved into her hand, followed by a tentative lick.

She groaned and rolled over in bed, throwing her arm over her eyes. Rapid footsteps followed her, padding over to the other side of her bed. She felt something snuffling at her blankets from just over her waist, poking its nose into her side.

"Come on, Latte," Clara groaned. "Go away."

There was a huff of breath in front of her face, followed by a tongue scraping over her cheek. Clara's eyes snapped open at the wet sensation and she jerked back, letting out a sharp cry. Latte barked happily, front feet resting on her futon and tail wagging.

Clara sighed and sat up, running a hand through her hair.

"Alright," she said. "Alright, geez. I'm up."

Latte huffed, contented, and leaped off of Clara's bed to sniff at a pillow that had fallen to the floor. Clara sighed, looking around the quiet room.

It was summer in Hasetsu. The curtains were drawn over the windows, keeping the morning sun out, but it was just starting to skirt the edge of too warm. Sonia's side of the room was empty, her futon still lying the way she had left it when she got up. Clara blinked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She reached for the phone on the floor next to her, checking the time.

8:46 AM. Still early. She groped for the notebook that lay next to her phone and pulled it close to her, squinting at it in the dim light. The practice schedule for this morning was blank, with the only thing written on the day being 'Dad-Kids class 4PM' in blue ink.

Right, she remembered. The skaters had the morning off today.

So where was Sonia?

Clara tapped out a quick: 'Where are you?' on her phone, sending it to her sister.

One of Sonia's discarded pillows buzzed, then beeped. Clara let out another sigh and rolled out of bed, pulling out Sonia's phone. She shook her head, getting to her feet.

"What would she do without me, girl?" she asked, glancing at Latte.

Latte barked in response, pawing at the door. Clara exhaled and pulled off her pajamas, changing into a set of fresh clothes before following Latte out.

Hasetsu was a country town at its heart, and like most country towns, the day started early. From the hallway outside of her room, Clara could hear the sound of far-off conversation as her grandparents and aunt went about their daily chores and the inn's guests started entering the main dining room, looking for breakfast and conversation. Their side of the inn, however—the family side—was quiet, with the hush of a lazy summer morning.

It was nice. Peaceful even. Most of them didn't get mornings like this too often.

She found her papa sitting at the kitchen table, empty breakfast dishes stacked neatly in front of him as he looked at something on his phone. Mokka, their family's new poodle pup, sniffed around for food scraps at his feet. Latte's ears perked up from Clara's side, and she immediately went to investigate the puppy.

"Morning, Papa," Clara said, walking around the table.

Viktor looked up from his phone. He offered her a smile. "Good morning, Klaroshka."

There was breakfast already laid out for them, covered to keep it warm. Clara lifted the cover off of the plate at her seat, picking up her chopsticks. "Itadakimasu!" she said, starting to eat. "Dad's still asleep?"

A smile tugged at Viktor's lips and he glanced fondly in the direction of their bedroom. "Of course," he said. "You know how he is in the morning."

Clara hummed in response around a mouthful of miso soup. Viktor, she noticed, went back to his phone. Clara frowned, trying to catch a glimpse of what he was doing, but with her sitting in front of him, all she could see was his phone case. "Who are you texting?" she asked.

"Oh, no one really," said Viktor with a wave of his hand.

Sure, Clara thought, passing a piece of egg to Latte under the table. That's not suspicious at all.

Out loud, she said, "Have you seen Sonia? She was gone when I woke up this morning."

"Sonechka went for a walk," Viktor said. The way he said it implied that she had gone on one of those aimless introspective 'finding yourself' rambles that everyone in her family seemed to be prone to go on but her. "She should be back sometime this morning."

Which could mean anything from 'within the next ten minutes' to 'right before practice'. Clara sighed. She knew the drill. "Do you know where she went?" she asked.

"Hmm, no idea," Viktor said. "Have you tried texting her?"

In response, Clara pulled Sonia's phone out of her pocket, setting it on the table. Viktor blinked down at it, then looked over at her.

"Oh," he said. "That makes things a little complicated. Still—," He gave her an encouraging smile. "—Hasetsu isn't so big. I'm sure she'll turn up."

Yeah. Eventually.

In the meantime, however, Clara was the one that had to sit here and find something to do. She finished eating quickly and got to her feet, but Viktor was already absorbed in whatever was so interesting on his phone. He barely seemed to notice, which meant that this was going to be one of those 'thinking' mornings.

Well, what was it that people said? If you can't beat them, join them?

She got up, stretched, and turned towards Latte. "Come on, girl," she said. "Let's go for a walk."

Latte's ears perked up immediately, and she jumped to her feet. Beside her, Mokka let out a whine, fixing Clara with big brown eyes.

"Sorry, bud," Clara said, reaching down to pet him. "I can only walk one poodle at a time."

"He's already been out for a walk," Viktor said, although his smile was fond as he said it. "Don't listen to him. He's getting spoiled."

"Noted," Clara said. "I do not see this puppy at all."

Still, it was hard to ignore Mokka pawing at her legs as she and Latte turned to go.

Before she left the inn, Clara gave their rooms a quick pass to see if anyone else was awake. She knew before reaching his room that Yura was a lost cause. There was no way that Yura would be up before ten on a free morning, and unlike her dad, he slept in so rarely that disturbing him would probably be considered a life-threatening venture. That wasn't even taking into account the news he had received last night, that there was a fair chance this year would be Otabek Altin's last season.

She liked Yura. Yura liked her. She didn't want to ruin it.

She found Hana, their rink's other skater, outside in a courtyard with Clara's grandmother.

"Oh, you don't have to do that, Hana-chan," Hiroko said in Japanese, as the younger woman bent down to pick up a laundry basket. "I'm sure you're tired from practice yesterday."

"No, don't worry about it, Hiroko-san," Hana said, replying in the same language. "I'm happy to help out."

Clara left them to it, tugging on Latte's leash and walking out of the inn's main doors. Her grandfather, Toshiya, was standing on a ladder just outside the main entrance to the inn, adjusting the sign. A group of older men that Clara recognized as regulars were standing around him, one of them holding on to the ladder, the other three standing around to offer good-natured teasing and the occasional bit of unsolicited advice.

"Morning, ojii-san," Clara said in Japanese, coming to a stop just outside the doors. "Do you need any help?"

Toshiya jumped and almost dropped the sign. "Oh—good morning," he said, when he had caught it. "No, I think we've got this. Are you going into town today?"

"Yep," Clara said, holding up Latte's leash. "Just taking Latte for a walk."

"Could you put those fliers up while you're out?" Toshiya asked, shifting the sign to one hand and gesturing at a stack of posters that had been set aside. "We're having a viewing party for the soccer game this weekend."

Clara picked up the stack of fliers, frowning down at them. She was getting better at reading Japanese, but the words still didn't come as easily to her as they did in English, especially when they were handwritten. Still, she understood the gist.

"Sure!" she said brightly, smiling up at her grandfather. "Outside the supermarket and on the bulletin board in the park?"

"And in the shopping district, please," Toshiya said.

"No problem! See you later, ojii-san. Come on, Latte!"

Clara tucked the papers under one arm, heading off down the path. As she walked away, she could hear the men around her grandfather asking about her, the echoes of their conversation following her out.

"Is that your older granddaughter, Toshiya-san?" she heard one of them ask.

"No, that's the younger one," her grandfather said in reply, going back to the sign.

"That's Clara-chan?! She's so big now!"

Clara smiled at that, running a hand over Latte's head as they walked past the gate and onto the road that led into town.

Putting up the fliers didn't take her very long at all, and at the end of it, she was painfully aware that she still had nothing to do with her time. Sonia hadn't turned up, and she was halfway to texting the Nishigori triplets to see if they wanted to hang out when she remembered that summer holidays in Japan wouldn't be until August, and they were still in school. She glanced around the shopping district, wondering where Sonia could be, and was just debating whether or not to ask someone if they had seen her when she heard someone call her name.

"Is that you, Clara-chan?" an elderly woman asked, walking over to her from down the road.

Clara smiled, recognizing her as another of the inn's regulars. "It's me, Matsuda-san," she said.

Mrs. Matsuda let out a laugh. "I recognized you from that monstrous dog of yours," she said, bending down to pet Latte. Latte's tail wagged happily as she licked at Mrs. Matsuda's hands. Latte had an aggressive side at times, but apparently that didn't apply to sweet old ladies. "Where's your sister?" Mrs. Matsuda asked as she straightened up.

"That's what I'm trying to find out," said Clara.

"Have you tried the beach yet?" Mrs. Matsuda said, smiling.

"That was where I was going next."

"Well, when you find her…" The old woman reached into her purse, bringing out a small drawstring bag that felt like it was filled with cookies. "Share these with her. I made too many."

Clara's eyes lit up. "Thank you, Matsuda-san," she said, taking the bag from her and heading off to the beach.

She had gotten halfway down the road when the cookies became too much of a temptation. Clara glanced left, then right, then opened the bag. Latte huffed at her.

"What?" Clara asked, arching her brows at the dog. "Sonia's not here, and she probably can't eat this anyway."

Latte let out a small whine. Clara sighed, pulling the bag closed again.

"Traitor."

Latte licked at her hand, tail wagging.

Sonia wasn't there on the beach either. For a moment, Clara entertained the terrifying possibility that Sonia had decided to go swimming and gotten lost, but not even Sonia would be distracted enough to break their rule about not going swimming in the ocean alone. She sighed, tired from the walk, and let Latte off-leash while she flopped onto the sand and tried to think about where her sister could be.

Somewhere quiet, she thought, which didn't really narrow it down. In Hasetsu, pretty much everywhere was quiet. She stared up at the sky, listening to the sound of waves lapping against the sand and Latte chasing gulls.

It was shaping up to be a perfect summer day, she thought, staring up at the sky. Hot and clear. She stretched her arm up, watching the way sunlight filtered through her fingertips.

Hi, she thought, I'm Clara Katsuki-Nikiforova, eleven years old. In September, I'll be twelve, and I'll be in sixth grade. My parents are figure skating legend Viktor Nikiforov and Japan's favorite comeback story, Yuuri Katsuki. My sister, Sonia, is going to be skating in the Junior Grand Prix series next year, which will be her international debut and a really big deal. I speak three languages, understand four, and have seen more of the world than most people five times my age. Right now, though, it's the off-season, so I'm spending my summer with my grandparents in Hasetsu.

…I'm also really bored.

Clara sighed, lowering her hand back to her side and burying her fingertips in the sand. She wondered if that made her a bad person. It wasn't that she didn't like Hasetsu. It was just…summers here seemed to drag on forever.

Her phone beeped, startling her out of her thoughts. Clara pulled it out of her pocket and glanced down at it, smiling. It was an Instagram message from one of her friends at school, Amy Lam. Attached to it was a picture of Amy with another friend and three other kids that Clara didn't know, all posing for a selfie while eating ice cream. The caption was 'Just got out of theater camp. Tons of fun. Wish you were here!'

She sat up and snapped a picture of the horizon with Latte harassing a crab in the foreground, then sent it back. 'Me too.'

The crab snapped at Latte with one of its pincers. Latte jumped back, then growled, sinking down onto her haunches. Clara stood up and dusted herself off, then whistled for Latte to come back before the poodle could get herself hurt.

When she finally found Sonia, it was on the bridge, right when she had just decided to give up and go home. The older girl was sitting next to Mr. Kishimoto, an old man who often fished there. She was also fishing.

Clara shook her head, giving Sonia a smile that was equal parts fond and exasperated. She raised her hand in a wave.

"I can't believe you'd rather hang out with an old man than me," Clara said, half-teasing, half-serious as she and Sonia walked back to the inn together.

"Kishimoto-san said he'd teach me how to fish," Sonia said, walking beside Clara. She held a small cooler in one hand. "I didn't have anything else to do, so I thought it was okay. It was nice. Quiet. We caught an octopus."

Quiet like all of Hasetsu. Clara gave her sister a sidelong glance, trying to figure out if something was bothering her. She'd never been very good at figuring out Sonia's moods. Sonia didn't show too many of her feelings on the surface, and the older she got, the more impenetrable she was.

Sonia was thirteen now, taller than Clara, with a lean, athletic build. Out of the two of them, Clara didn't have any question as to who was prettier.

Well, if Sonia bothered to put on clothes that matched instead of a handful of old favorites and whatever she grabbed first out of her closet, anyway. And if she didn't spend so much of her off-ice time staring into space.

"You should have said something," Clara said. "I didn't know where you went."

Sonia frowned, glancing at her. "I thought you would text me if anything came up," she said.

"Uh-huh," said Clara. "Where's your phone, princess?"

Sonia reached into her pocket, blinked, and looked at Clara. Clara smiled, pulling out Sonia's phone and handing it to her. "What would you do without me?"

A smile tugged at the corner of Sonia's mouth as she took the phone, putting it away. "I don't know," she said. "Die probably."

"Probably," Clara agreed as they turned onto the road that led to the inn. They walked in silence for a few more minutes. Clara frowned, focusing on managing Latte's leash as she thought about what to say. She'd never been very good with the touchy-feely stuff. Probably better to just say things outright. "Are you…alright?"

Sonia blinked in surprise. "Does it look like I'm not?" she asked.

"The early morning wandering off was kind of a clue."

"Ah…" Sonia slipped her hands into her pockets, rocking forward onto the balls of her feet. Clara waited for her to collect her thoughts. "I'm…fine, I think. I'm just a little…" She gestured vaguely.

"Nervous?" Clara supplied.

"That," said Sonia. "Probably."

"For later in the year?"

"Mm," Sonia said. "It's…" She trailed off, but this time, Clara knew her well enough to be able to fill in the blanks. A lot of pressure to handle. A lot to live up to. "…a lot," Sonia finished.

"Well, don't worry," Clara said, smiling at her. "We got this."

Sonia smiled back. "You're really confident, aren't you?"

"Of course," said Clara, nudging Sonia in the side. "Why wouldn't I be? You've got two world-class coaches behind you, you're amazing, you'll do fine. And then I get to tell everyone that my big sister's a superstar."

Sonia shook her head, and her expression was that same 'equal parts fond and exasperated' smile that Clara had greeted her with earlier. It was amazing how they could be so different while still being so the same. "I knew it," she said. "You're just in it for the glory."

"You know it," said Clara, grinning at her. "Come on. You'll be okay. Fight on!"

That got a laugh out of her, a soft laugh that made Sonia turn her head away from Clara as it died down into giggles. "What is that?" she asked. "You've been watching too much anime."

"Not much else to do out here," said Clara, giving Sonia a quick smile. "Now come on! Let's get Mr. Octopus back to the inn already. I want takoyaki."

Later at the rink, while Clara sat on the bleachers with her laptop, breathing in the artificially-cooled air, Viktor and Yuuri left the skaters on the ice to have a quick conference. When they came back, there was an air of gravity about them, as if things were going to change. Clara, seeing that, paused the video she was watching, tugging her headphones off her head as she leaned in to listen.

Viktor stopped at the edge of the ice and clapped his hands. The sound echoed, and all three skaters stopped what they were doing immediately, pausing in place and turning to face him.

"The Grand Prix assignments have just been announced," he said. "Yurio."

From across the rink, Yuri Plisetsky, now 24 years old, turned to face him.

"Skate Canada and the Cup of China."

Yura nodded, and Viktor inclined his head towards Yuuri.

"Hana-chan," Yuuri said.

Hana turned to face him, expectantly.

"Skate Canada and the NHK Trophy."

She nodded, folding her arms.

"And finally, Sonechka," said Viktor.

Sonia turned to face them both, balanced on her skates, and Clara found herself leaning closer so that she could hear.

"The Junior Grand Prix events in Saransk and Bratislava," Viktor said. "Welcome to the Junior Grand Prix Series."

From behind Sonia, Yura and Hana exchanged a look that Clara couldn't read. Viktor was smiling, but it was a tight smile, one that didn't reach his eyes. Clara would have given anything to know what that smile meant, and from the look on her sister's face, so would Sonia.

But as Clara watched, she drew herself up to her full height, the nervousness vanishing from her face. It was replaced by a look of calm and determination. She nodded.

Phichit Chulanont with Direct Messages

Phichit: hey (5m)

Viktor: hi, what's up? (5m)

Phichit: is yuri with you rn? (5m)

Viktor: he's still sleeping, why? (5m)

Phichit: Perfect! (4m)

Viktor: …? (4m)

Phichit: I have a secret to tell you, but you can't tell anyone, okay? even yuri? (4m)

Phichit: okay? (4m)

Viktor: I am intrigued. go on. (3m)

Phichit: wanna be in an ice show? (3m)