I've just had a very strange thought, and I felt compelled to ask you a prompt about it.
See, Desast from Saber and Yurio from Yuri on Ice have the same VA (Uchiyama Kouki). He also voiced Philip/Kamen Rider W in the Memory of Heroez video game. So what would happen if, by some strange twist of destiny, these three happen to cross paths?
Oh my God... Are you for real? Okay, now I want to write this!!!
"Hey, Shotaro, did you know that the reigning champion of men's singles figure skating was fifteen when he won his first gold medal in seniors?" Philip asked, holding out his phone to his husband.
"I have no idea what half of that means, but..." Shotaro's voice trailed off as his eyes found the phone screen. Pictured there was a young blond man, shoulder-length hair tied back in a ponytail, who was staring arrogantly at the camera. He was leaning on a dark-haired guy who was half a head taller and was, at the moment of the photo being taken, kissing the side of the blond's head. "Okay, who is that?"
Philip smiled as he took his phone back. "Kentaro found this compilation of the top ice skaters in the world, and wouldn't you guess, but two of them live just ten kilometers from Fuuto!"
"No. Surely you've heard of Yuuri Katsuki and Victor Nikiforov?"
"The names do ring a bell." Shotaro frowned, trying to remember where he'd heard them. "Hang on, aren't they the first two officially married gay ice skaters?"
"Exactly!" Philip snapped his fingers. "Now, they'll be making an appearance at the NHK competition, because they're friends with the skater I just showed you and because they're training a junior skater competing there. I was thinking that maybe we could go and see them."
"What???" Shotaro's mouth dropped open. Then he thought better of himself. "Okay, but how do you expect to pay for it?"
Philip smirked, an expression that rarely showed up on his face and thus unnerved Shotaro every time. "You'll see."
Against all odds, Philip had managed to procure two two-day tickets for the NHK Trophy, so Shotaro had no choice but to admit defeat. They dropped Kentaro off at Shinnosuke's, apologizing for the inconvenience, and then drove off to Nagoya, where the competition was being held. They definitely were not expecting to be recognized.
"Hidari Shotaro-san?" A man in his thirties approached them cautiously, the expression in his eyes approaching awe.
"Yes?" Shotaro didn't mean to sound curt, but his surprise had overtaken him. "Yes, that's me."
"I live in Hasetsu. When I was fourteen, my poodle, Vicchan, disappeared, and you helped me find him. I remember you clearly." The man smiled a bit. "I never got the opportunity to say thank you."
"You're welcome-" Shotaro paused, not knowing the man's name.
"You can call me Yuuri. May I introduce my husband, Victor?" Yuuri patted the shoulder of the silver-blond man next to him before rising up to kiss his cheek, only to be startled away by Philip squealing.
"Yuuri Katsuki and Victor Nikiforov??? I can't believe it! It's you two!" Philip grinned, trying to contain his excitement.
"That would be us." Victor smiled, then glanced at his watch. "Oh, Yuuri, we're supposed to head in. Didn't Yurio want to meet us before he had to warm up?"
"Damn, that's right! I'm sorry, we have to go find our friends." Yuuri dragged Victor off before anybody could say a word.
Shotaro and Philip were left there, speechless. Then they both started talking at once.
"You know Yuuri Katsuki?"
"I know Japan's former leading ice skater?"
This continued until they had to go in to get their seats. Then they shut up, watching as the skaters warmed up on the rink.
"Isn't that the guy you showed me?" Shotaro pointed out a blond on the ice, his sleek hair combed into an elaborate hairdo. He had left a red, white and blue striped jacket on the wall of the rink, and was now skating around in a red-orange outfit.
"I think so. I forgot his name, though, so I guess we'll have to find that out later."
All the skaters left the ice except the blond, who skated over to the wall to grab a drink. "First on the ice: Yuri Plisetsky, of Russia."
"I bet you ten thousand yen that that's the Yurio Victor Nikiforov mentioned," Shotaro whispered as Yuri skated out to the middle of the rink and struck a pose. The music started up just as Philip answered, a rushing, rising piece that reminded both of them of flames, so Shotaro couldn't hear him, though he had a feeling that the bet had not been taken.
Both of them were entranced by the skating, so when the music ended, they both felt like it had been far too short. But, as Philip pointed out, "Today is the day of the short programs. The free skates are tomorrow."
Just as Yuri stepped off the ice, screams erupted from the rinkside as a black figure jumped down from somewhere. It was not human by any means.
"Crap!" Shotaro cursed his bad luck as he and Philip scrambled through the screaming crowds to get to an aisle, any aisle, where they'd have a chance to transform.
Kamen Rider W, now transformed, floated down in front of the monster. Its features were twisted, red and black, and it was holding a sword to Yuri Plisetsky's throat. "Leave. Him. Alone."
"Oh? And who's going to stop me? You?" The monster's voice was eerily calm and snarky, and apparently Yuri didn't like it, as he started screaming obscenities in Russian. Just a few meters away, Victor was apparently translating for Yuuri, because both of them looked about as freaked out as the dark-haired guy next to them.
"Yes, I am. Now, count up your sins!"
"Desast!" someone yelled from behind W, and they whirled around to see a very familiar dragon-themed Rider. "Hang on, you guys are also here?"
"Yeah, we were watching the ice skating," Philip replied in Shotaro's place, wondering how Touma Kamiyama had known to come here. "Now, we should probably get that guy away from Desast."
"On it!" Touma tackled Desast away, and W held out a hand to Yuri.
"Are you okay there?" Philip asked in slow, careful English.
"No, not okay, why would you think that?" Yuri snapped in Russian-accented English that was still clearly legible. That voice made Shotaro freeze up.
"Uh, that's weird... You sound like him," Shotaro blurted out before he could think about what he was saying.
Yuri rolled his eyes. "Yeah, duh, that's why he targeted me. He said that he was looking for a human disguise, and that because I had a similar voice to his, nobody would suspect him. Not that that would work, given that that mudak attacked me in the middle of the khrenoten' competition."
"Well, you should go find out your score. We'll deal with the monster." W ran off, leaving a very confused Yuri Plisetsky behind. One of the figure's voices also sounded remarkably similar to his.
After chasing away Desast and watching what they hadn't missed of the rest of the short programs, Shotaro and Philip met up with Victor, Yuuri, Yuri and the dark-haired guy, a retired skater himself, and Yuri's boyfriend, by the name Otabek Altyn. The moment he spotted them, Yuuri bombarded Shotaro with questions.
"What the hell was that? Who were those? Why did that monster attack Yurio? Is it going to attack again?" Yuuri paused, breathless, and Philip took the opportunity to answer the questions.
"That was a monster attack. The two figures in suits were Kamen Riders, defenders of justice. As for why the monster attacked Plisetsky-san, and whether it will attack again, I simply don't know."
Yuri raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it. The young man's voice also sounded similar to his own, but the idea that he was one of the voices of the Kamen Rider who'd saved him? No way. He said something to Victor and Otabek in Russian, smiling slightly at the three Japanese men, who shrugged in confusion.
"Well, we'll be here tomorrow to watch the free skate. Which place did Plisetsky-san get?" Philip asked Yuuri, smiling to learn that the blond Russian skater was in first place.
"You flatter me." Yuri slapped Yuuri's hand away as the latter tried to give him a slap on the back, his dry, acidic tone reminding all those present of the monster.
"See you tomorrow!" Victor called as Philip and Shotaro walked off to their car, wide-eyed with joy. Victor Nikiforov, who still held several records around the globe and was currently one of the most elite skating coaches in the world, was looking forward to see them again. How awesome was that?
