Yuri Plisetsky

Outside the hotel room window, darkness was already beginning to settle, with the last streaks of evening light stretching across the glass of neighboring buildings. On the table beside Yuri lay scattered papers, a sports bag, and a neglected bottle of water. Yuri himself had been sitting on the edge of the futon for several minutes, eyes glued to his phone.

On the screen, the same photograph of Viktor Nikiforov opened again and again. Viktor was standing on a narrow Japanese street, smiling quite broadly at the camera. Behind him, small buildings housing shops and cafes crowded together, their entrances adorned with bright signs. One sign featured large kanji characters displaying the name of an establishment, but part of the text was obscured by Viktor's shoulder. A bit further off, another plaque was visible, looking like the name of a street or a district.

Yuri zoomed in on the image, squinting as he tried to decipher the symbols, then pulled back from the screen and let out an irritated sigh.

— Where the hell is this place even...?

He zoomed in on the photo again. The characters grew larger, but they didn't become any clearer.

— Of course... Viktor, — Yuri muttered under his breath. — I guess writing down where he actually is was just too much to ask.

He spent a few more seconds trying to figure it out on his own before snapping his gaze up and turning the phone toward you.

— Hey. I didn't bring you along just to go on sightseeing tours.

Yuri poked the screen with his finger.

— You know Japanese, don't you? Can you figure out what it says here and where this is?

He held the phone out, but snatched it back almost immediately to scroll through the photo, zooming in on the bottom of the shot.

— There's something else here. Maybe a district name. Or a street. I don't know.

Yuri frowned, clearly starting to lose his patience.

— If it's a restaurant, a shop, or something else—tell me. And if you can figure out where it is, even better.

He held the phone out again, this time not pulling it away from you.

— And preferably fast. I'm starting to suspect Viktor posted this photo specifically to piss me off.

The screen still displayed the enlarged photo with the partially obscured sign.

— Well? What does it say?