Pavel Antonivich Chekov

Raised in Rostov
Pavel was born in Taganrog, Rostov Oblast, Russia. With his identical twin brother Ivan, Pavel Mikhail Antonivich Chekov was born as one of two twin sons of Anton Antonivich Chekov II, PhD. and classical musician Yulia Pavlovna Vasilyev. Ever since Pavel was born, music became an essential part of his life. His mother was an accomplished violinist and classical singer until she bore Pavel and Ivan and became a mother. She used to play music when Pavel was still an infant. As a prodigy in music, Pavel learned the alphabet and music theory under his mother’s tutelage, and he also learned classical arias as a young soprano that he was once known to be the idol of Rostov. His personal lessons with her was cut off short when she passed away from acute pneumonia and Pavel was five. His mother’s untimely death greatly affected Pavel that he sang "Laschia ch'io pianga" for her funeral, which Ivan recalled to be Pavel's swan song and his darkest hour that he was no longer able to sing due to his broken heart.

Following his mother's death, Pavel isolated himself from his brother and father who was more close to Ivan than him, referring Ivan as the “teacher’s pet”. He was revealed to be close to his maternal relatives. His maternal grandfather who was a violin maker made Pavel’s viola and his aunt Mila who was a music teacher taught him how to play the viola and the piano. His uncle Ilya used to take him to the Sea of Azov for skating during winter, fishing during summer, and birdwatching swans during spring, especially when he befriended a rare black swan.

Sometime during their childhood before meeting Pierre, Ivan and Pavel knew the endeavors of Stefan and Vasily Trifonov, but he admired Vasily more than Stefan because of Vasily’s down-to-earth personality.

Ivan and Pavel got enrolled in a co-ed private school in Moscow, Svitigaila Technical School. When 5-year-old Ivan had a crush on his fellow classmate named Svetlana Maximov, Pavel teased Ivan by making up his brother’s nickname “Pomme-Pomme” after reading a French grammar book and learning the said word. After three years in the school, Ivan couldn’t stand the embarrassment. Pavel also met Sharon, who was introduced as the daughter of Stefan Trifonov, one of Ivan's idols, and became one of her best friends in Moscow, up to the point that he had a crush on her.

Decided to move on from his ancestral lands, their father decided to move to Ekaterinburg, where he would work as a professor in Razumikhin Academy, a private school for boys. When Ivan heard about it, he convinced his father to transfer him to Razumikhin Academy and stay with his father. When Ivan and his father agreed to move to Ekaterinburg together, it greatly devastated Pavel because he couldn’t stand to be far away from Rostov.

Ballet in the Bolshoi Theater
To keep himself preoccupied and cope with his loneliness and mourning, Pavel taught himself how to play the viola and piano with notes from his aunt and scores passed down by his late mother. Proving to be a child prodigy in the musical arts, Pavel, at the age of 8, gained attention to the Bolshoi Theatre, where he was trained in the orchestra under the Chief Conductor that time, Alexander Lazarev. For his dedicated training in the Bolshoi Theater, he was transferred from Svitigaila Technical School to Malta Crown Boarding School in Moscow, saving him from living with his father and twin brother in Ekaterinburg. Since his new school was only 2 hours away from Rostov, he decided to live away from Ivan and his father as he remained in Rostov with his aunt, uncle, and grandfather.

In the Bolshoi Ballet Company, he also met Sharon. As a means of pursuing Sharon, Pavel secretly learned ballet in his leisure time after observing the ballet company until the Director of the Bolshoi Ballet discovered his potential and made a deal with Lazarev to mentor him in the Bolshoi Ballet Academy after his recital with the orchestra. Pavel was also transferred from Malta to the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in preparation for his induction in the company. According to Sharon, Pavel was the most versatile dancer in the company, and as the youngest principal dancer, he played many of the lead roles in their productions, in spite of his young age. After his participation in the RSF’s summer camps under Yakov, Pavel was also offered to train for figure skating by the RSF but declined the offer in favor of ballet and his studies.

Despite of his great accolades in ballet, Pavel was not completely happy, however, because his passion in ballet was stemmed to his childish pursuit of Sharon, who transferred to the Bolshoi Opera. Because he apparently lost his ability to sing, Pavel quitted from the Bolshoi Theater and pursued his education in the national gymnasium at Moscow, where he met his brother and his best friend Pierre. Unlike his twin brother and his best friend Pierre, he wasn’t among the top of the class; instead, he was placed in the top 10%, proving that he was still an academically strong student.

Because of his longtime achievements and seniority (he stayed for seven years), Pavel was offered an opportunity from the Bolshoi Ballet Company to be a mentor in their Summer Intensive Program at New York; however, he turned it down because of two reasons: (1) His father was going to teach as an interim professor in Boston University and he and Ivan will move with him; and (2) the one who recruited his father sent Pavel’s CV and video of his dancing expertise to a connection from the Boston Ballet and the connection was the Director of that company who offered Pavel a spot in the company. Pavel explained that he agreed on the offer because it’ll give him an opportunity to teach ballet to beginners and newcomers in the community like how the Bolshoi Ballet Academy taught him so. Thus, the Bolshoi Company gave the offer to Sharon Trifonov, who will do her rest of her schooling in New York. Pavel moved to Boston with his father and brother.

Separation from Pierre
Due to a change in route and a flight delay that placed them temporarily in New York, Pavel witnessed Pierre’s arrest in the customs area. Unlike Ivan, who was preoccupied and worried about Pierre’s welfare, Pavel was more preoccupied with his future plans in Boston than with the welfare of Pierre out of sheer jealousy with the relationship of Ivan and Pierre, who he considered to be his brother’s best friend, not as his own. Despite being irritated with Ivan's anxiety and attention on Pierre, Pavel was at least concerned with his brother that he took him out to shopping in New York to cheer him up and said words of hope that he’ll see him again. When they went to Boston without Pierre, he didn’t mind on his brother’s worries about Pierre and his consequent loneliness because he wanted Ivan to feel the isolation he endured after their mother’s death and his induction in the Bolshoi Theater.

Boston University
Unlike his brother who went to Harvard University with Pierre, Pavel studied in Boston University, where he majored in Psychology and Music. In Boston, he joined the Boston Ballet, while he practiced in the Boston University Orchestra and worked in the Muger Memorial Library part time. Sometime in the university, he managed to learn how to speak in French and Japanese that he managed to speak both of the languages fluently.

Sex Addiction and Alcoholism
When Pavel was a freshman, he befriended a student from Boston University, Vladimir Kravinoff, and a community college student and his half-brother, Alyosha Kravinoff. At first glance, Vladimir once mistook him as Ivan, and Pavel didn't know about Ivan's history with Vladimir and Razumikhin Academy because he was in Moscow that time. Wanting Ivan to suffer in revenge for snitching on his plagiarism that cost his best friend, Vladimir regularly invited him at parties in Boston University, where he educated him in the ways of a ladies' man. After surpassing them in charm and skill, Pavel then started to have a reputation as a ladies’ man in the university, or “a regular Alfie” (how Pavel himself described himself after watching Alfie) or “a regular Al” (referred by Alyosha and Ana Kravinoff later in life because of Alyosha’s similar reputation), that Ivan turned out to be mistaken for him and got a streak of bad luck when he got hurt by more than one of Pavel’s flings and one-night stands in the city, much to Pavel and Vladimir's amusement with the fact that in spite of Ivan being intelligent, he could be extremely clueless. Pavel also stole Ivan's ID and used it to get around campus and crash parties with Vladimir in his brother's name, and because Harvard students didn't know about Ivan and Pavel being identical twins, Ivan received multiple warnings and calls from the security.

Pavel, as a womanizer, was also one with principles; he only pursued single women that he was not above to pursue and sleep a single TA from one of his advanced French classes in his sophomore year but never on anyone who was in a relationship. Sharon joked that she was lucky to be Pierre’s girlfriend that time because she would be like those “poor women who had to sacrifice their virginity to be with Pavel”, indicating Pavel to be a promiscuous heartbreaker with a fear of commitment. Pavel encountered Sharon once again when she got into Harvard, and he learned that Pierre was her childhood friend and eventual boyfriend, much to his bittersweet respect for her and eventual heartbreak and depression. He also received a message from his aunt Mila that his beloved uncle Ilya from Rostov had passed away, worsening his depression. He resorted to alcoholism that he secretly stole and drank whiskey from his father’s storage and brought vodka when he came to age.

Pavel once got lost after getting drunk from a social he and Vladimir crashed in Harvard and went off alone that he stumbled near Harvard Square. Pierre found Pavel and nursed him back to health in his dorm. When Pierre prevented the security from coming into his dorm and kicking Pavel out, Pierre became close to Pavel and knew Pavel’s feelings of loneliness and inferiority that lingered since childhood, which explained his sexual experiences and his rebellious outlook in life. After learning about Pierre’s lonely childhood through Vladimir and how much Vladimir regretted for not treating him better in the past, Pavel figured Pierre to be a good friend and a brother from another mother. Pierre advised him that true happiness doesn’t come solely from anyone or anything in the world other than himself and questioned him whether he felt any better when he was not being good to his brother and father for his own want to be wanted. After being told to respect women and his own family as he did with his late mother, Pavel then realized his selfishness and decided to change for the better; however, Ivan caught up with what happened and lost his trust in Pavel for hurting his reputation.

Ivan and Svetlana
When Pavel discovered Svetlana, who got into Harvard University, and Ivan feared for his dignity, he told Pierre about Ivan’s embarrassing moment and his feelings for Svetlana. Trying to be selfless to his brother for once, Pavel tried to convince Ivan to make his romantic move on her, but Svetlana didn’t react well when Ivan approached her. Pavel noticed that Svetlana was under depression when she stepped in Harvard. She didn’t do well in her government classes, while she did extremely well in her comparative literature classes. He met with her in the library during his working hours and found out that she still had feelings for Ivan but was forced to take government classes due to her arranged marriage to a governor’s son back in Russia. Feeling similar with his loneliness because of his differences in his family and wanting to do something good for his brother for once, Pavel insisted her to go out with Ivan after telling her about Ivan’s secret feelings of her.

When Pavel tried to arrange Svetlana and Ivan on a date in Cambridge Queen’s Head, he waited for Ivan in the rendezvous place (not knowing that after initially agreeing to the arrangement, he couldn’t make to the date because of shyness), ending up being mistaken for Ivan by Svetlana and having to act like Ivan most of the time. Unknown of Pavel’s date with Svetlana, Ivan was asked about his absence and told him that he was going to office hours with his economics professor. After learning that Ivan was in their apartment the entire time when Sharon told him that Ivan didn’t take office hours with the professor because he was one of the best students in the class, Pavel got fed up with such terrible embarrassment from playing second fiddle to Ivan and decided to horrify Ivan with a video recording of him having sex with a Russian Harvard student who resembled Svetlana. Ivan snapped and snuck a cocktail mix of vodka and stimulants in Pavel's hydroflask. Pavel got intoxicated throughout his performance and collapsed in the middle of the performance, becoming pale. Pavel saw an apparition of his dead uncle and apologized to him for not being able to come home. Ivan was shell-shocked for what he had done to his brother and Anton went to the stage to take Pavel to the hospital. Thinking that he was going to die, Pavel told his father to stay with Ivan like he always did and apologized to his father for being mean to both Ivan and him.

Last Years in Boston
When his father knew about his previous sexual escapades and shenanigans, Pavel, like his brother, wore a “Hello, my name is” badge with his name on it every day as a punishment and to prevent any mix-up with Ivan, and he received a lot of retaliation from his ex-girlfriends but felt that it was “worth it” and felt like it’s time for closure and conclude his sexual activity for some time. Pavel was laughing so hard at how Svetlana took advantage of the punishment by putting the name “Pomme-Pomme” on all of Ivan’s name tags. He dyed his hair dirty blonde to differentiate him from his brother. Vladimir met up with Pavel and told him his history with Ivan and his true intentions on settling the score with Ivan. Vladimir knew that both of them went overboard, and he only meant to get even with Ivan, not to hurt anyone. Pavel told Vladimir that what both of them did was irresponsible and when it comes to responsibility, he was no saint. Pavel forgave Vladimir and parted ways, not before Vladimir told Pavel, "Tell Pierre that I said 'hi'." Pavel realized that Vladimir was enlightened by Pierre, just as he was.

On his last year in Boston University, Pavel finished his studies early so he could continue on performing full time in the ballet company and attending rehab for his alcoholism. When Svetlana’s family and her fiancé came to take her away, Svetlana stood up for her current relationship with Ivan, who was then beaten up by the arrogant fiancé after Ivan defended her. After hearing him disgracing his father’s name, Pavel came in behind and beat up the jerk. While her strict father disowned her, Svetlana’s mother Evegenia and older sister Xenia fully offered her a substantial amount of money to help her live on her own, but Svetlana declined the money for she wanted to earn on her own with the support of her new family. Once Ivan and Svetlana got their full time jobs in New York Times, Ivan and Svetlana got married. Pavel later became an uncle to Ivan’s only daughter, Valerie.

Columbia University
After his graduation from Boston University, Pavel got accepted into Julliard School for his MFA in Music. In Columbia University, he came to know Shizuka Kawai, Sharon's MBA classmate and former roommate. Sharon took care of Shizuka when she was pregnant until her baby son, Shinji, was born. Because of Sharon's double degree work and Shizuka's need of a caretaker, Shizuka left and moved in with Pavel under Sharon's personal request. In spite of not having experience with children like his brother, Pavel raised Shinji for four years that Ivan and his father thought that Pavel was considering to get married to Shizuka. Pavel initially had feelings for Shizuka, but he was considerate to Shizuka, who was still faithful to her ex-boyfriend who was the biological father of Shinji, that he didn't act on them and instead focus on raising Shinji.

Outside his graduate studies in Julliard, Pavel eventually returned with the Bolshoi Ballet Company as a full-time teacher for the Summer Intensive Program in New York, and after every season, he performed with the New York Philharmonic. After many years of dedication in the ballet arts, Pavel eventually received the Prix Benois de la Danse, one of the most prestigious awards in the ballet world. After graduating from the Julliard School, Pavel became a part time blogger for the New York Times.

Meeting Mokuba for the First Time
After one of his winter performances with the New York Philharmonic, there was a social gathering in the Lincoln Center. Pavel encountered Shizuka with Mokuba Kaiba. While Shizuka was talking with Svetlana and Ivan, Pavel spoke with Mokuba. In spite of being strangers, Pavel and Mokuba talked in friendly terms until Pavel asked Mokuba about his relationship with Shizuka. Mokuba revealed that Shizuka was never his girlfriend; she was his brother's ex-girlfriend. Knowing the means of being with women, Pavel questioned Mokuba why he came to New York, instead of his brother. Mokuba replied that his brother Seto was extremely busy with his business, revealing that his brother was actually Seto Kaiba, the CEO and President of Kaiba Corporation, a multibillion-dollar conglomerate in Japan. Initially not knowing about Kaiba Corporation, Pavel sarcastically expressed his ignorance before apologizing and letting Mokuba finish his thoughts. Mokuba said that he already knew about Shinji and wanted to check on him. Pavel asked him whether or not his brother knew about Shinji, with Mokuba replying with a resounding no. When Pavel asked him why, Mokuba stated his case that while his brother was sharp and efficient in running Kaiba Corporation, he was also corrupt and competitive that if he would know about Shinji, he would force Shinji to be his puppet and succeeding heir to maintain Kaiba Corporation, preventing Mokuba from taking over. Before Shinji was born, Seto and Mokuba were in a power struggle to take over the company, and Mokuba was planning to take over so the company would be out of Seto's mind and he could prioritize more on Shizuka and Shinji. Shizuka and Seto broke up because Seto knew that he couldn't support Shizuka in a long-distance relationship with his company that he worked most of his life for, despite the fact that Mokuba was preparing himself to take over. Realizing that Mokuba had noble intentions to keep up the secrecy, Pavel suggested Mokuba to go to college and grow his network so he could gain education and leverage as he takes over, and he gave Mokuba his contact information for further correspondence.

Rebound in His Sex Addiction
When Shizuka and Shinji left for Japan and Pavel came to know about Sharon’s engagement to Pierre, his dormant feelings for Sharon was awakened, but Pavel attempted multiple times to suppress them because of his close friendship with Pierre. Afraid of confronting them and interfering with the happy couple, Pavel tried to move on by dating some girls in the city, only to revert back to his sex addiction when he ended up not having a solid relationship and resorted to one-night stands and nights at clubs. When Pavel was a participant in Dancing With the Stars, Pavel passed through the first few rounds until he was eliminated off-stage due to his inappropriate behavior toward his dance partner.

Due to the scandal, he decided to retire from the performing arts due to his conditions. Despite his retirement, his former ballet coach Lilia called and offered him to return to Russia and join the RSF as a coach for his former Bolshoi mentee and newcomer RSF skater Ana Kravinoff, who was doing her senior debut after achieving early success and was going through severe difficulty with the Russian press and skating fans due to her ongoing relationship with rising star and her boyfriend Yuri Plisetsky. Pavel refused the offer, but Lilia told him that the position would be open if he changed his mind. Overhearing the phone call, Ivan noticed the strange yet familiar behavior of Pavel, knowing about his depression and sex addiction. Ivan provided Pavel a card from the Church that Pierre was going to, saying that he needed it more than him.

After talking to Pavel about his condition, Ivan placed him under sex addiction therapy again and assigned him to interview Oskar Razumikhin as a father surviving from the Chechnya anti-gay purges. Oskar lived in Japan due to his employment in Trifonov Corporation. After knowing about Sharon working in Japan, he finally decided to go to her and confess everything to her, even though it may jeopardize his friendships with her and Pierre.

Assigned to Japan
When he went to Japan, he realized that his image of the romance between Sharon and Pierre was not as romantic as it used to be back during the Harvard days. Pierre was working for Kaiba Corporation and Sharon worked for her family business, Trifonov Corporation. Because of the long distance between Osaka and Nagoya, they couldn’t be together all the time, which left them to a long distance relationship between the two. Pavel was also shocked but hopeful about Pierre’s idea to work with Kaiba, in hopes that Kaiba could be redeemed like how he and Vladimir was. Sharon was struggling to catch up with her father Stefan Trifonov, who was known to be one of the most powerful people in Russia. He recalled of him and Ivan looking up to Stefan and his brother Vasily in their childhood, but he started to lose respect for Stefan due to his coldness to Sharon and disrespect to Pierre.

Meeting Mo Again
Meanwhile, Pavel met Mokuba, who he addressed as "Mo" throughout their correspondence, again who disguised himself as a tourist in the hanamachi district of Gion in Kyoto to avoid the press and have a break from the busy hustle back in Osaka. From their shared correspondence over the years, Mokuba knew about Pavel’s situation with his rebounding addiction and his lingering feelings for Sharon, while Pavel knew about Mokuba’s strained relationship with his brother and his illness: Mokuba was actually HIV positive due to routine sexual abuse from his stepfather. Pavel also came to know about Mokuba’s ambition to take over Kaiba Corporation due to an ongoing power struggle between him and his brother. Pavel actually shared the card that Ivan gave him, and Mokuba revealed that he actually knew about the Church through his high school friend but lagged in attending bible studies due to his job and his college classes in the evening.

Pavel and Mokuba went to Kurasu and discussed about the things going on since their last conversation. Mokuba shared that Seto made this nasty rumor that he was gay as a means of persecution and prevention from Mokuba being his competition for control of the company. When Mokuba was introduced to the Church by his high school friend and he was caught with him one time after attending an evening bible study, Seto assumed that Mokuba was sick due to a homosexual relationship with his friend. Coming to know and understand the teachings in the Church, Mokuba wanted to invite Seto to the Church, but Seto adamantly refused by coming up with excuses like his job and his late hours in the lab. When Mokuba secretly enrolled in Kyoto University and stated his decision to take over the company, Seto started to brew rumors and skepticism from the inside: He spread the rumor that Mokuba was gay to the major shareholders of the company and their investors, preventing Mokuba from gaining shares of the company.

Mokuba revealed that Pierre came to know about his plight because Pierre was an active officer in the Church, and he decided to converse with the resident minister in the nearest local congregation about Mokuba's issue and see if the minister can help Mokuba resume in his bible studies by doing them during Mokuba's lunch hour. Knowing how he was once to Ivan, Pavel was sickened by Seto's treatment of his own brother. Pavel wanted to know more about the Church because he knew Pierre and Mokuba to be good people and he wanted to live like them. Pavel requested Mokuba to let him accompany Mokuba in his bible study so he could be part of the Church too.

Arrangements
A few days later, Mokuba distracted Seto from the question by asking about the testing of a product of Pierre’s making, which resulted a fiasco in the lab when Seto secretly hacked into the computer that controlled the Virtual Visors and altered the photosensitive settings that hurt Shinji’s eyes (Shinji was diagnosed with acute glaucoma). It resulted Pierre’s further revocation from his lab privileges and halted the project’s progress. Understanding the grand scheme of things and settling things with Pierre, Mokuba decided to buy some of Seto’s shares that he took from Pierre and a bit more for himself.

When Seto came to know about Mokuba’s insubordination and argued with Mokuba about that, Mokuba fainted during an argument with his brother due to lack of sleep and food for the past few hours. When Pierre invited Mokuba into his rented condominium for his tutorials on self-care and adult responsibilities, Pavel coincidentally met Pierre inside and told him that he should have said goodbye before leaving New York. Pavel revealed that he and Mokuba had been pen pals and he was the one who was calling Mokuba in his office. A laughing Pierre told Pavel that Seto thought that Mokuba had a boyfriend, and Pavel told him that he knew that and Seto was doing this just to get Mokuba out of the competition. Pierre also told Mokuba that the minister replied to Pierre's call, saying that he can arrange an individual bible study in midday hours so Mokuba could attend bible studies without compromising his work schedule and college classes, as long as he would not miss a worship service. Pavel informed Pierre that he came to know about the Church through Ivan and asked Pierre if it's okay to attend the bible study with Mokuba. Pierre was elated and agreed to make the proper arrangements.

In private from Mokuba learning how to cook with Dmitri, Pierre severely discussed with Pavel separately about his knowledge of Pavel’s rebound in his sex addiction and prior living with Shizuka from Ivan. Pavel told him that he wanted to change his life for the better and said that this rebound happened because of his lingering feelings for Sharon. Pierre informed him that his sex addiction can not disappear overnight and encouraged him to tell Sharon his feelings so he can gain closure from these unwanted feelings and move past them, especially if that would be in the way of living a new life. In the matter of Shizuka and Shinji, Pierre warned Pavel that he could be Seto's next victim because of his possessiveness and his prior relationship with Shizuka. Pavel revealed that Mokuba already told him who Shinji's real father was because he had no relation with Kaiba Corporation, and Seto would be considered an idiot for assuming that Shinji was someone else's child while Shizuka was actually faithful to Seto. Pierre told Pavel about Shinji's diagnosis with acute glaucoma and accident when Seto hacked Pierre's prototype that gave Shinji headaches to degrade Pierre's credibility. Pavel was abhorred with Seto for hurting the child he raised to degrade the credibility of his friend.

One day, Suzuka, who was Shinji's teacher in Kyoto International School, got sick, and she called Pavel to be the substitute teacher for that day. On that day, Pavel taught Shinji and the kids music with joy, and he took care of Shinji after taking him home. Shizuka contacted him to take care of Shinji in his after-school hours, and Pavel complied, much to his brother Ivan's dismay and reprimand for taking unnecessary responsibility. Pavel nevertheless took care of Shinji like he had done back home. In spite the fact that Shinji was not his son, Pavel raised him like his own. Ever since his conversation with his brother, Pavel started to ponder on what to do in his future.

Bible Students
Pierre arranged both Mokuba and Pavel to attend a midday bible study in the Church. Every lunch hour, Mokuba would leave the office in incognito for his bible study, and Pavel would meet Mokuba at the Church, which was a few blocks away from Kaiba Corporation. Since Pavel was fluent in Japanese and the lessons would be in Nihongo, Pavel was able to understand the lessons without needing a translator. Pavel and Mokuba also attended midweek worship services in Kyoto due to its proximity to Kyoto University and weekend worship services in Osaka. As they became probationers, or candidates for baptism, they made new friends in both Kyoto and Osaka that the brethren in the Church became their second family.

Probationer in Persecution
When Mokuba became a probationer, Mokuba changed some of the traditions that Kaiba Corporation upheld before his conversion. Because the members of the Church don't celebrate Christmas, Mokuba had to amend the name of the program and move the date of the donations forward from Christmas Day to the end of December. Seto and some of the major shareholders were against the amendment because of the trust that the orphanages had in them, but because Mokuba and Pierre decided to host the Year End Celebration with the local congregation of Osaka, who will donate as part of the program, the major shareholders who were taken aback decided to agree due to the reduction of cost to do the program itself.

Seto remained adamant to persecute Mokuba for his conversion to Christianity (Seto was actually an atheist) and had the press to alter photos that appear to show that Mokuba was a closeted homosexual. Because of the press, the resident District accepted Pavel's final screening but denied Mokuba due to the allegations of homosexuality. Mokuba was devastated that he cried that time, and the resident minister and the brethren who knew Mokuba during his bible studies knew that these allegations were false. Knowing how the press can be brutal to people like Mokuba due to being a journalist himself, Pavel decided to help Mokuba into getting baptized by helping him take over the company and expose the lies that Seto helped to publish. Pavel got baptized in the Church.

When Mokuba graduated from Kyoto University with honors, he was invited along with Pierre and Sharon.

Oskar Razumikhin
Ivan and Pavel went on their assignment to interview Oskar Razumikhin in his residence in Nagoya. Knowing that the NYT could help with the publicity that Vasily needed to decrease support for Stefan and his loyalist Boris (Oskar’s conservative younger brother), Oskar told them the bitter truths about the Chechnya riots and how his son died. In Russia, there were conservative policies that condemn homosexuality, and in Chechnya, the government took them as far to torturing gay citizens and killing them. Oskar lived with his son Kolya, and one day, Kolya was reported missing art school for two weeks. Oskar found Kolya beaten to a pulp and starved for days, and one Chechen police officer suspected Oskar to be Kolya’s father and gave him a gun to kill his son. Oskar refused to kill his son and struggled with the police officer. A weakened Kolya went in between of the struggle and died protecting his father by taking the shot himself. While Pavel was appalled by the brutal nature of Kolya’s death and Ivan was disgusted with the way his country treated people like Kolya, Oskar cried for the recall of this personal tragedy. By coincidence, Oskar actually housed Viktor Nikiforov, a famous figure skater in the RSF and an acquaintance of Pavel in the Bolshoi Ballet, and Viktor’s fiancé Yuri Katsuki, who actually knew Mokuba due to Mokuba recently being a primary sponsor of the JSF. Viktor offered to give Pavel more information about Kolya.

In return of the Chekov brothers’ kindness and condolences to Kolya, Oskar offered to help the brothers in anything. Pavel asked Oskar if he knew anyone who could help Mokuba out with impressing the Trifonov family, especially Stefan and Vasily, into gaining sponsorship and support as future investors. Oskar told Mokuba that the best way to impress anyone was being himself.

At the Business Gala
Kaiba banned Mokuba from joining him in the business gala with his false allegations about his supposed "homosexuality" and how it may affect the investors’ faith in Kaiba Corporation. One of Mokuba’s supporters who worked as Assistant Chair in Risk Management in Kaiba Corporation, Kyoya Ootori, came with the Ootori Group.

When Pavel and Mokuba came into the lobby, someone called Mokuba’s last name but he was calling Seto, but it’s someone who Mokuba did not know. The one who called him was the young Max Meinhardt, grandson of Drake Meinhardt, the former German owner of one of the ultra-rare Blue Eyes White Dragon cards. Max asked Seto about the whereabouts of the card that he stole from his grandfather. Kaiba told him that he currently has it in his deck so Max can’t take it, but an adamant Max was asking for the card back because that card was rightfully his grandfather’s and it should be in his deck, not Kaiba’s. Seto nonchalantly replied that he couldn’t do anything about it, but it prompted Max to physically attack him. Kaiba punched Max, initiating Mokuba to secretly signal security officers to break up the fight. When Seto left, Mokuba came to Max’s aid and tended to his black eye and bloody nose, winning the unconditional interest of the Meinhardt family in spite of their support for Schroeder Corporation, the rival of Kaiba Corporation in Germany.

Kaiba scored a stalemate in a chess match against Chess Grandmaster Stefan, gaining ground in the usual investors of the company due to their faith in him as the top gamer in the country. Despite of his inability to play the strategy games that his brother was typically good at, Mokuba showed himself as a good sport and learned every game just as he was able to learn from the players. Knowing that Kaiba's weak spot was in socialization, Mokuba also became a conversationalist, which impressed both Stefan and Vasily Trifonov of Trifonov Corporation, much to Seto and Boris’ dismay.

He even came across Skander, who posed as Stefan’s lost heir in hopes to find a family in the Trifonov family. Skander asked Mokuba if he was an angel after seeing what Mokuba did to Max and Stefan. Slightly confused, Mokuba was a bit flattered but he was friendly enough to make a honest conversation with him, up to the point where Mokuba came to know Skander’s identity as an orphan who just wanted to find a family. Mokuba told him that family doesn’t necessarily come from blood; it comes from love. He assured Skander that he would someday have a family who would love him.

In the main event, Mokuba managed to win in the interest of many more investors than Seto, namely the Trifonov family from Trifonov Corporation and Mads Meinhardt from Meinhardt Industries, with his sweet wit, empathetic personality, and business-savvy cleverness by dancing beautifully with the maiko and geiko performers, which reminded Stefan and Vasily of the late Lady Tomoka, and showing some of his visionary plans for Kaiba Corporation that he generated for four years. He also answered other questions from investors, especially about his "homosexuality". Mokuba truthfully replied that he was not gay, and just because he was about to be converted to the Church, it didn't mean that he and the Church were discriminating against homosexuals at any kind. Mokuba answered that what people should understand about this is that homosexuality is against the teachings that he chose to believe in, and he chose to believe in these teachings because he always had faith in God's promises, even if he had to suffer for them. In society's terms, like religion, sexuality is a choice made by the free will of the individual, and whatever choices anyone would make, Mokuba would have to respect and also protect them because he knew what was like to be persecuted because of a choice he made.

Mokuba's insightful answers impressed the crowd and shocked his own brother by telling him that he would rather lose his profit over his principles and saying with a nasty smile, “No one loves a sore loser, nii-sama, but everyone loves a winner.” Getting it on camera, Pavel snickered at his victory and karma served on Kaiba, while Max just said, “Payback’s a b$&@.” After Seto stood up from his table and faced Mokuba in a stand-off, Seto abruptly quietly threatened, “I’ll destroy you,” and left the room after a humiliating defeat to Mokuba’s cunning and cleverness that Seto had underestimated, much to the majority of the audience’s applause started by Skander and Mads from Meinhardt Industries. Mads’ daughter and Vice President of Meinhardt Industries Maddelyn amicably complemented his courtesy and dancing as Mokuba genuinely complemented her in return. He won positive attention from the majority that many investors were interested in investing in Kaiba Corporation as soon Mokuba takes over.

Mokuba won the night with his natural spontaneity and charismatic personality that he gained more support for his possible takeover. When Seto angrily demanded Mokuba to go home before he could embarrass himself even more, Mokuba scathingly replied that Seto was the real fool, and Seto left Mokuba with his chaperones. That night officially started the proxy fight against each other. As Seto took his leave, Mokuba and Pavel celebrated this moment with Pierre and Kyoya.

Coming to Mokuba and his group, Mads Meinhard appreciated Mokuba’s initiative to tend to Max’s injury that he sustained from Seto and apologized for his son’s impulsive attempt to hurt Seto. He praised for Mokuba’s brilliant presentation of his plans for Kaiba Corporation, which included proactive participation in humanitarian aid and improvement in international business relations, giving his support for Mokuba once he would take over the company. Mokuba stated his honor to be Mads’ acquaintance and asked about the meaning of what Max said to his brother at the eve of the gala; Mads told Mokuba that Kaiba coerced his father’s copy of the Blue Eyes White Dragon in threat to put his family business to bankruptcy but there was no need to think further about his damage to them for it was rectified by someone who gave their hard-earned fortune back, except that person was sent to prison for ten years due to his involvement with Kaiba’s theft and he was a 14 year old orphan. Remembering Dmitri's recall of Joe Cord's arrest for alleged larceny of the same rare card, Mokuba was devastated that Seto gained one of the Blue Eyes White Dragon cards by involving a orphan and hurting an innocent family for his selfish goals.

Due to the humiliating defeat that night, Kaiba was unhappy, scolding him for his “humiliating” behavior in front of the investors and listening to someone who accused his brother of stealing while refuting that it was untrue and there were more issues to deal with than what may happen in the past. After knowing Pavel's involvement in Mokuba's plans, Kaiba arranged his men to assault some of the brethren of the Church and beat Pavel down, but it failed due to the SCAN's interference and containment of the threat. Due to the failure, Seto got his men to assassinate Mokuba that he was forced to leave Osaka and decided to do something to remove Seto out of office.

Refuge in Razumikhin
Fearing for his friends' safety, Pierre informed Sharon, who entrusted Oskar Razumikhin who volunteered to take the Chekhov twins and Mokuba in his spacious house in Nagoya until further notice. Since Trifonov Corporation marked Nagoya as its territory since its civil war against Kaiba Corporation, Kaiba Corporation representatives are typically not allowed to be in a close distance to Trifonov Corporation HQ. Since Mokuba destroyed the transmitter that would allow Kaiba to track him down in his locket, neither the special forces of Trifonov Corporation nor Kaiba couldn’t touch him.

Since the business gala, Mokuba had an incredible amount of investors planning to invest in him, and some of the major shareholders started to give their shares to Mokuba in favor of putting Seto out of business. Mokuba made a video recording of himself exposing every scandal involving Seto and stating his petition of no confidence in Seto’s leadership, so the rest of the major shareholders will make their final decisions on the day of the Championship, where Mokuba predicted that Seto would lose his confidence and faith from his investors after researching about the contestants’ odds of winning, especially veteran Russian duelist Stefan.

Overhearing Oskar’s recall of the tragic death of Kolya the other day, Viktor volunteered to talk to Pavel and Ivan about his personal account of Kolya who died in the Chechnya anti-gay purges. It was revealed that Kolya was his first boyfriend before Yuri Katsuki, a figure skater representing Japan. Viktor said that Kolya was a developing artist who was a skilled painter and a skilled violinist like Pavel back then. Kolya was the one who advised Viktor to treat his skating as an art, and that was how Viktor became famous. Kolya’s artistic perception and imagination were of great inspiration in Viktor’s life. Kolya died before his senior debut of his skating career, which left Viktor alone for many years later until he met Yuri. Viktor never thought that he would love someone else after Kolya died, but Kolya’s love lived in him and those who cared for Kolya like Oskar and his nephew Rodion who was actually gay in spite of his conservative father. While writing his notes down, Pavel started to think about his feelings for Sharon and realized that he found his strength to love again like what Viktor did but in a different form.

In the Eve Party of the Championship of Legends, Mokuba had no choice but to go to Tokyo from hiding and work with his brother, in spite of the eminent danger of getting abuse from him. When Seto met Stefan again that night after knowing Stefan’s superiority in Duel Monsters and feared the worst of losing the competition and thus the faith of his investors from a possible loss to Stefan, Seto encountered him again and put Mokuba’s choices into question again. After gaslighting Mokuba about his religion and his involvement in Seto's crimes as an accessory due to giving him the precise locations of the rare cards, Seto threatened Mokuba to stall the proxy battle and destroy the video. Trying to maintain his sanity, Mokuba denied his involvement and argued that it was Isono who gave him the precise locations and he gave them to Seto, not knowing about his criminal intention. Seto assured him that if Mokuba would return to his side and yield his substantial shares that he had gained already to him as he had done years ago, he would save himself and one life at least as they did years ago when they prevented Gozaburo’s crime against humanity, which was something that Mokuba couldn’t refuse. When Mokuba initially refused to step aside, Mokuba was subdued by Seto’s special forces and Boris Razumikhin of Trifonov Corporation, who was known for his torture of many homosexuals in Russia and Seto bribed to torture Mokuba into agreeing to Seto’s terms. Unknowingly to Seto, Mokuba called Pavel beforehand and Pavel recorded everything he heard on the phone call. Horrified of what Mokuba was going through, Pavel gave Pierre the unedited recording of Seto gaslighting and torturing Mokuba, and Pierre gave the go signal to the supporters to spread the video with the recording Pavel gave him.

Finding Fault and Closure
When Ivan and Pavel went to the Championship of Legends and witnessed Sharon’s loss at the quarterfinals to Seto Kaiba, Pavel immediately expressed his disgust for Seto for humiliating Sharon to a level that Sharon got far too vulnerable to lose the duel and his hate for Stefan for disowning Sharon when she needed his comfort the most. Arriving at the scene in secret, Mokuba secretly knew that Stefan was his biological father before the tournament, and he was devastated that his family was in a terrible state. When Stefan made an ante on his duel with Seto, an overconfident Seto confidently agreed due to his greed.

When Pierre was shot protecting Sharon, Pavel regretted for accusing Pierre for not caring about Sharon. After overhearing Vladimir confronting Skander for shooting Pierre and Skander saying that it was Kaiba who pulled the trigger when the gun was pointed in Pierre’s direction, Pavel was devastated because he knew that Seto shot Pierre because of the video and his possession of evidence that Pavel gave him, feeling guilty for Pierre's near-fatal injury. Mokuba found out the truth that it was Skander who got involved with Seto’s theft of the copy of the Blue Eyes White Dragon from the Meinhardt family that resulted his imprisonment for ten years, which explained Max and Skander’s personal attacks. As Pavel encountered Mokuba, who was bandaged from his injuries, Mokuba knew what happened and broke down into tears. Mokuba went to the hospital with Pavel to visit Pierre. Ivan informed Mokuba and Pavel that Pierre was saved by Skander, who had the same blood type as Pierre and donated blood via transfusion, saving Pierre's life. Then, they heard an argument between Sharon and Seto. Mokuba came around the hall and told Seto that if Seto had to fight against Sharon, he had to fight against him too. Seto told Mokuba to stay out of this. Mokuba refused as he finally said that Sharon was their sister, shocking Sharon and the Chekhov brothers. Mokuba profusely apologized to Sharon for what happened to Pierre, and Sharon comforted him and reassured him that what happened to Pierre wasn’t his fault.

On the other hand, Seto scolded Mokuba that he shouldn't be fighting against him for the control of the company in the first place; after all, he practically raised him and chose to be a Kaiba because Gozaburo was the only one who could adopt both of them and Seto only did this for Mokuba and their future together. Sickened of Seto's indirect way of putting Mokuba in the blame due to her personal experience as an orphan and a former social worker like Pierre, Sharon firmly put her foot down and stated her disbelief in his reason of becoming a Kaiba because being adopted by a dangerous man could had put himself and Mokuba in danger. Seto was just only adamant to be a Kaiba for himself, even if that meant being a nasty man who hurt his family, especially his brother and father, and destroying many lives - Pierre could had been one of them. People like him had potential of hurting other people, especially children and those who had no parents. She understood her father to be despicable because of her father's terrible experiences that caused his mental instability, but unlike him and Seto, she and Pierre would not let despicable jerks like them get the best of them. When Seto was about to say something, Sharon told him to leave before he could hurt somebody else. Seto left them.

When Sharon was on her own after breaking up with Pierre and almost losing him, Pavel consoled her for everything she lost in one day. He finally told her his suppressed love for Sharon, and just as he expected, Sharon was about to turn his feelings down. Pavel told her that he expected Sharon to turn him down and he just needed closure. When he was about to leave her, Sharon was into tears because she couldn’t afford to lose another friend after what happened. Pavel, feeling sorry for Sharon, gave up his suppressed feelings by giving her his compassion and finally getting the closure he needed. He remained close friends with Sharon.

Future Plans
After he and Ivan covered Skander’s trial that repatriated Zigfried back to Germany to serve prison time for five years and court-ordered therapy for corporate espionage and placed a mentally unstable Kaiba under house arrest (under Mokuba’s conditions) and court-ordered therapy, Pavel returned to New York with his brother right afterwards. He remained an active journalist in the New York Times and his articles about the Chechnya anti-gay purges and a memorial article dedicated to Oskar Razumikhin’s son Kolya who died in the purges got critical acclaim that he also hosted a discussion panel series with his brother and many of his NYT colleagues. He was in a happier mood than before he left New York. Remembering the last conversation he had with Viktor, he rekindled his passion for the arts that he returned to the studios and accepted Lilia’s offer to help Ana return to the RSF as her coach. After Ana made her victorious comeback in the Grand Prix Finals with a Gold medal, Pavel decided to leave his coaching duties to Viktor, not before negotiating his roles with him.

In one of the episodes covered by Ivan, Pavel heard Mokuba, who successfully took over Kaiba Corporation and ruthlessly stripped Kaiba his last remaining power he had left, as he stated his conviction in redeeming Kaiba Corporation from a long era of brutal competition and corruption and his disgust with Kaiba’s actions against many others who could’ve had the help like Skander and support from them who swore himself as an advocate for the foster youth, calling him as “a sick, narcissistic hypocrite that he was so embarrassed that he would ever supported him.” An elated Pavel laughed and applauded at the idea of Kaiba watching it due to his retirement and celebrated that moment with an equally elated Pierre and Sharon, who felt the same way, via video chat with a toast. Unsurprisingly, it made the series a success since Mokuba’s appearance that it included Vasily and the Osborn, Meinhardt, and Schroeder families as guest appearances and all of them applauded for Mokuba’s newfound courage and kindness and his principle-over-profit conviction.

Epilogue
A few months later, Pavel became a groomsman for Pierre and Sharon’s spring wedding, while his brother became Pierre’s best man. Pavel found this as the final phase of his closure from his feelings for Sharon, and he moved on as he became an active member in the Church, helping out in humanitarian projects. After securing his dream job as a music teacher in Kyoto International School, Pavel decided to live on his own in Kyoto. In Kyoto, he also revived two of Kolya’s original music scores for Yuri Katsuki’s short and long programs, much to Oskar and Viktor’s surprise.

After witnessing Mokuba's baptism in Nagoya, he was happy for his friend after his takeover of Kaiba Corporation. Even though Kaiba Corporation lost some of its more conservative investors due to Mokuba's choice of religion, it managed to gain faith in more investors than before due to Mokuba’s progressive leadership, empathy, and integrity. Mokuba made history as the first Christian to be President of Kaiba Corporation and CEO in a major corporation in Japan as he appointed Shizuka as the first female Vice President in Kaiba Corporation’s history and when he immediately started making amends with Schroeder Corporation, which was under Leon’s leadership when Zigfried had to serve prison time. Since the 30-year-old rivalry, Kaiba Corporation aided Schroeder Corporation for the first time with a financial aid package that helped both companies to move forward. Under Mokuba’s strong leadership, Kaiba Corporation had progressively built strong alliances with innovative companies like IDEO and the Ootori Group and done international movements with humanitarian organizations, including SOS Children’s Villages, Children International, Save the Children, Make-a-Wish Foundation, Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF, and Big Brothers Big Sisters International. Seto received the Order of the Sacred Treasure during his reign in Kaiba Corporation; however, Mokuba received a higher honor: the Order of the Rising Sun.

A few months later, Seto responded to the civil subpoena forwarded by the ICC and called Pavel Chekov from Kyoto to visit him before his departure. Seto sincerely pleaded to Pavel that he wanted to see Mokuba, Shizuka, and Shinji for the last time because the chance of a life sentence in prison was imminent and if he would remain in prison for the rest of his life, Pavel would take his place in taking care of them. Even though Pavel was initially reluctant to accept Seto's last request, he agreed to let Seto see Shizuka and Shinji soon. After the final judgment was given the ICC trial and before Seto was transferred to Fuchu Prison for his sentence, Pavel agreed to take care of Shizuka and Shinji until Seto would return only in one condition: Even if Pavel would do whatever it takes to take care of them, he could never entirely replace Seto in their lives. Seto and Pavel parted ways.