Disclaimers: I do not own Kyou Kara Maou, its characters and setting. I would love to own Conrad and Yuuri though. Sob sob.

Pairings: Yuuri X Wolfram, Conrad X Julia. Gwendal X Annissina hints

Title: Let's Dance! (One-shot)

Conrad loved Julia. It seemed he always had, since his mother Cecelia introduced him to the blue haired healer, so many years ago. Julia had given him her most treasured blue pendent as a token of their time together. "There will come a day when humans and demons will live together in peace. I look forward to that day. You don't have to be discriminated against anymore. All of us can live together harmoniously." She said softly, resting her head on the half-demon's chest.

Conrad knew she must feel the same feelings for him as he does to her. Alas, fate was cruel. Julia was engaged to that Aldebert through an arranged marriage planned by her family. That man was a typical headstrong, dominant male. As a result of this, even though they still loved each other, they suppressed their feelings and remained merely as friends. Conrad gave a sad sigh as he recalled over 20 years ago.

He was jolted back to reality when he heard a sharp voice, his younger half-brother's voice, to be exact. "Stop right there, hennachoko!" Wolfram was chasing an extremely flustered Maou around the gardens. Conrad sighed again. Julia and he were never fated to be together. First she gets engaged to Aldebert. Now Yuuri, who holds Julia's soul, was 'accidentally' engaged to Wolfram. Conrad knew Yuuri loved and trusted him with all his heart, though it was more of a brotherly kind and not a romantic one.

As Yuuri whizzed past Conrad for the umpteenth time, the Maou looked imploringly at him. "Help me, Conrad!" he gasped.

Conrad obeyed, catching Wolfram by his shirt collar as he dashed past. "Enough, Wolfram. Don't tire His Majesty."

"Let me go, Weller-kyo!" The blond Mazoku soldier snarled.

Yuuri slumped onto the ground, looking considerably relieved, one hand wiping away the sweat on his forehead. "I'm saved." He said happily. Wolfram was clawing in Yuuri's direction, though Conrad's grip was quite strong, so Yuuri was safe for now.

"You cheater! How dare you dance with Gunter!?"

"As I told you, Gunter's giving me lessons for the ball next week. As the Maou I have to lead the dance, and I don't want to dance like a duck."

"What are you talking about? Ducks are extremely good dancers." Wolfram retorted.

Yuuri sighed. He had forgotten that all animals in this world are weird. "I could have taught you to dance." Wolfram muttered sulkily.

Yuuri's face twitched, doing a very good impersonation of Gwendal as he pictured being taught to dance by that extremely arrogant blond. He wouldn't survive even an hour.

Right at that moment, Yuuri felt arms wrap around him. "Heika, shall we resume our lessons?" An extremely delighted Gunter was saying. Yuuri gave a sheepish laugh, while Wolfram looked mutinous. "I…think I've had enough lessons for today. Next time then, Gunter?"

The purple-haired advisor looked greatly disappointed. "But I haven't shown you the best moves yet! I'll give a demonstration. Look, you must put your hand on my waist here…"

"Yuuri!" Wolfram snarled, going on jealous fiancé mode. Conrad was finding it increasingly difficult to restrain the blond as he was laughing silently. Yuuri had an expression on his face similar to the one he had when he first tasted 'red' apples in this world. The boy looked up at Conrad, black eyes silently pleading.

Conrad sighed. Ah well, looks like it's his chance to save him. Again. Keeping a firm grip on Wolfram's arm, Conrad turned to the purple-haired advisor. "I'll train Yuuri."

All eyes were upon him in an instant. "Eh?" Was all Gunter could say. "Weller-kyo!?" Wolfram demanded. Conrad gave his brother a broad grin in reply. "I'll train Yuuri-heika to dance."

XXX

Yuuri had always known that Conrad was inhumanly perfect in every aspect, except for his witheringly lame puns, that was. He found himself unsurprised that dancing was yet another thing that Conrad could do perfectly. Conrad's instructions were much easier to follow. Not to mention there was much less hugging and molesting as compared to Gunter's training.

Under Conrad's tutoring, Yuuri mastered the basics in two hours flat. "You're very good at this, heika." Conrad complimented as Yuuri demonstrated the way to end a dance.

Yuuri's face flushed slightly with pride. "It's all thanks to your training, Conrad. And didn't I say that you don't have to use formalities with me, nazukeoya?"

Conrad gave a laugh and threw up his hands to show defeat. "I understand. Yuuri." He strode over. "Alright, just now the one I taught you was the 'submissive' partner's dance steps. You'll be learning the 'leading' partner's steps now."

Conrad's right hand held Yuuri's left, while his left hand rested on Yuuri's shoulder gently. Yuuri's face flushed again. He was not a touchy-feely person. "What am I supposed to do?" he asked stupidly.

Conrad gave an innocent grin. "I'm afraid what Gunter said was true. You have to put your right hand on my waist." He half-expected Yuuri to protest loudly, as he would do if it were Wolfram standing there instead. He had forgotten the extent of Yuuri's trust towards him, and was surprised when Yuuri placed his hand on Conrad's waist without hesitation. Poor Gunter never had the same treatment.

Conrad smiled. Apart from Julia, Yuuri was the only other person who trusted him completely. The last one was a much younger Wolfram, but his younger brother no longer trusted him, it seemed, after finding out that he was half-human. Conrad once more began training Yuuri.

Yuuri mastered it faster this time, as he more or less knew the basics already. "How is it that you're so good at dancing, Conrad?" Yuuri inquired curiously.

Conrad remained smiling, though Yuuri caught a hint of sadness in the brunette's eyes. "I used to dance a lot…with a friend of mine." The atmosphere in the room became awkward as Yuuri could roughly guess what happened to this 'friend' of Conrad's through the tone of his voice. He realized he must have asked the wrong question and fidgeted slightly.

Conrad looked down at the younger boy and upon seeing the uneasy look on the king's face, gave the boy a pat on the head to reassure him. "I'm not angry. You asked nothing wrong. My friend was an excellent dancer. She had sightless eyes, so when she danced, she used her feelings to express the steps. You could say she felt the moves as she couldn't see them. She allowed her instincts to guide her. As I've danced with her so often that I have picked up a trick or two myself."

"Feel the moves huh…" Yuuri said silently. For some reason he felt like he could do it.

Yuuri closed his eyes and sure enough, he could dance just as nicely as when he could see the moves. Conrad smiled, knowing that Yuuri did not know the real reason as to why he could dance like that. Conrad spoke up, making Yuuri open his eyes. "Shall we go back to the others then? We should end today's lessons as it's getting late."

"You're right." A mental image of a certain blonde Mazoku ran through his mind suddenly. Already, he could hear the impending explosion in his mind. 'Yuuri! How dare you spend so much time with Weller-kyo?! What were the two of you doing? You cheater!'

The Maou hugged himself as a powerful shudder ran through him. "We really need to go back. I sensed something very dangerous…" He glared as Conrad burst out laughing.

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"For all things that make up the element of fire, heed this brave Mazoku who summons you, fry this cheating wimp on my command!"

"Wolfram!" Yuuri yelped, ducking just in time as several fireballs charged past. It was finally the day of the ball, and earlier on, Yuuri was delighted to hear that Mr. Shiny Head…err…Mr. Hristo Cruyff's daughter Beatrice was coming to the ball as well. "Finally! I can show her how my dancing has improved!" he punched a fist into the air.

He regretted the show of enthusiasm almost immediately. So it was, a few minutes later he found himself in this position, dodging fireballs from a demon of a fiancé.

"You have me and you still want to dance with a woman? You cheater!" Wolfram charged up another fireball. Yuuri had enough. "Wolfram, stop it!" He seized both Wolfram's hands and pinned a stare at the blond in the eyes.

Both of them began a silent glaring contest until they heard someone giggle. Yuuri turned to see Greta, his daughter looking absolutely delighted. She half covered her eyes. "Both of you are so romantic! So sorry to have disrupted both of you. I saw nothing. Both of you can continue kissing."

Both of them went red in the face at that. "E…Eh?!" Yuuri spluttered. He looked down and when he saw the position both of them were in he realized what Greta meant.

He gave a yelp and quickly let go of Wolfram's hands. "Greta! Don't be mistaken!" he dashed after the little girl.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Wolfram snarled after Yuuri.

Conrad and Yozak, who were both positioned nearby yet out of sight to keep an eye on the Maou, chuckled at the drama before them. "Those two really are getting cuter." Yozak snickered. Conrad merely smiled at his best friend. "That's true." He straightened up. "Both of them are in there now. There's no point in us guarding out here anymore. Let's go." "Hai. Captain." Yozak gave a mock salute and followed the brunette.

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Yuuri was given a last minute briefing by Gunter on how to welcome the guests. "Oh Heika! You look absolutely gorgeous! You should go and meet the guests now." Yuuri was wearing a different kind of outfit. Black, as usual. Though not his school uniform. This one's design was similar to Gunter's attire. Not to mention he had a deep purple cape. It was Gunter who suggested for him to wear it after all, and Yuuri had a nasty feeling the advisor had supervised its making. Yuuri felt like he had just popped out of a fairytale. Maybe Gunter even had a white horse waiting for him?

Wolfram gave him a once-over. "Well, at least you look less of a hennachoko in that." The blonde's cheeks were slightly pink.

Yuuri made a face at him. "I am not a wimp!" he gave his usual reply. He noticed several of the ladies were gawking at him. Maybe Gunter's choice was not so bad after all. But was Wolfram really alright with all the staring?

Speaking of the blonde, the soldier had marched off to snuff out all the gazing from the ladies. "Yuuri's my fiancé! Stop staring!"

"Wolfram! Don't do anything foolish! These are our guests!" He grabbed one of Wolfram's arms to restrain him. More of the guests poured in and Yuuri knew that he had to go meet them.

Fortunately at that moment, Greta came and took Wolfram's other hand. "Yuuri. Daddy Wolfram and I would go over to the dinner table. Join us later." She dragged the blond soldier away. Yuuri felt rather awkward as all eyes were upon him. "Good evening. Welcome to Shin Makoku…" Yuuri greeted.

Someone tapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Go on with your speech. Don't worry. I'll be watching over you." Conrad's voice could be heard.

Yuuri was considerably more confident after that with Conrad's presence. He smiled as he shook the guests' hands. Conrad gave a sigh as he watched. Julia was also awkward when it comes to crowds. These two have a lot in common.

After a while, Yuuri returned to Conrad's side. "Man…being the Maou is not an easy task." He groaned. Conrad playfully wrapped his right arm around Yuuri's neck in a chokehold, just like he did when he rescued Yuuri from Aldebert. "It is not easy, but you managed just fine." Yuuri looked contented in Conrad's reassuring embrace.

Right at that moment, the music started. Yuuri stiffened. "Conrad…does this mean?" Conrad freed the king from his grip and stepped back. "It's the signal for the dance to begin. As the Maou, you have to start the dance."

"It is? I was hoping they had forgotten about it." Yuuri sighed.

Conrad chuckled. "If that's the case, won't all that training be wasted? You'll be fine. Still remember the steps?"

"Definitely. You're my tutor after all." Yuuri thumped his chest confidently.

Yuuri gave a squeak when he felt arms wrap around him. Gunter had mysteriously appeared out of nowhere. "Ah. My dear heika! Shall we dance?" It was not a request, more of a warning for Yuuri to brace himself as he was dragged out to the dance floor. "Ch…Chotto matte, Gunter!" Yuuri protested.

The poor Demon King was steered by Gunter, who was dancing so fast and so excitedly that Yuuri looked like a rag doll being thrown around. Yuuri now knew what it feels like to be a helicopter propeller. In fact, the king was having trouble keeping up with Gunter's superhuman pace that he couldn't follow the steps, resulting in Gunter's poor toes being squashed repeatedly.

The advisor took that to be a good omen. "Ah. How many people are lucky enough to have their feet trod upon by maou-heika? I am truly blessed!" Yuuri looked like he was about to faint at that.

The song felt endless. Yuuri wondered if he would suddenly go into Maou mode with all the tension he was feeling when the song suddenly changed. Yuuri knew what it meant.

"Change partners!" he gasped in relief, fleeing from Gunter. "Heika! Heika!" Gunter was looking heartbroken.

Yuuri skillfully wormed his way through the crowd, who were all moving around to seek a new dance partner. He had to speed up as a horde of males and females alike were making their way towards him. Was he really that sought after? He spotted someone with light brown hair and smiled. At last he found his target.

"Ojo-san, may I have this dance?" he asked, extending his hand. Beatrice beamed with delight. "Of course, Yuuri-heika!" she allowed him to lead her to the dance floor.

After a while, Beatrice looked up at him, unable to contain the wonder in her voice. "You're much better at dancing now."

"Ah well, I've received some training." Yuuri laughed sheepishly. Before long, the song changed again. Beatrice gave a curtsy and ran back to her father's side happily.

Yuuri looked around, wondering if he should continue dancing when his eyes spotted another target. "Just the one I was looking for. Conrad! Let's dance!"

"Eh?" Conrad looked surprised for a moment. He smiled as Yuuri took his hand and dragged him towards the dance floor.

"Consider it that you're giving me training. Ne, Conrad?" Yuuri grinned, looking so happy to be able to dance with his favourite godfather. Conrad gave Yuuri a twirl. "Very well then, Yuuri." Yuuri closed his eyes, somehow being able to feel the steps even without seeing them. He failed to see how Conrad's eyes saddened.

To Conrad, it was like dancing with Julia all over again. When Yuuri opened his eyes, Conrad hurriedly put on his usual smiling mask again. From the corner of Yuuri's eyes, he noticed that Gunter was looking jealous. Gwendal waltzed past with Annissina, though Yuuri had a feeling the dark-haired man was forced into it.

Sweeping his gaze around the room, he had only just realized that someone was missing. "If you're looking for Wolfram, he stormed off to the balcony half an hour ago. Conrad smiled knowingly.

Yuuri gulped. "Ah…crap. He's going to kill me…" Yuuri sweatdropped.

Conrad smiled. "Not necessarily. There is a way you could coax him." He leaned over and whispered into Yuuri's ear.

The Maou's face flushed slightly. "I…I suppose. I have to apologize to him after all."

Right at that moment, the music ended. Yuuri gave his trusted protector a hug. "Arigatou Conrad. Wish me luck that I don't get fried."

"Good luck, Yuuri." Conrad gave the black haired boy one last squeeze and stepped back.

With that, Yuuri walked towards the direction of the balcony. He paused slightly as he saw his daughter dancing with Beatrice, and both girls were laughing, obviously enjoying themselves.

He walked on to find Wolfram leaning heavily on the railing of the balcony, his whole body slumped forwards. The blonde Mazoku was so busy brooding he didn't seem to sense Yuuri's presence at all. Yuuri felt uneasy at seeing how dejected the usually proud soldier looked. Ah well, he'd have to try Conrad's plan to seek for the blonde's forgiveness. Wolfram did not notice that Yuuri had already walked over to his side, and started when the black-haired Maou suddenly took his right hand.

Yuuri stared at the blonde, his eyes wide and sincere. "Wolfram. Would you dance with me?"

Wolfram was so taken aback by the question he was unable to answer for a moment. He soon recovered, however and snatched his hand back from Yuuri's grip. "You cheating hennachoko! Why don't you dance with that Beatrice?!" He folded his arms and turned his back to the king.

Yuuri was relieved Wolfram had stormed off when he was still dancing with Beatrice. If Wolf knew that he danced with Conrad next, the blonde would have murdered him on the spot. Seeing how Wolfram was now ignoring him, Yuuri tried to recall what Conrad told him. "Dance with him. He's your fiancé after all. He must have been feeling really left out, Yuuri." The brunette's words rang in his head.

Without realizing what he was doing, Yuuri's hands moved to Wolfram's shoulders. Nuzzling his face close, he whispered in the Mazoku's ears. "Nay. I realized it is my fiancé I really want to dance with." Yuuri blinked, nearly choking on the word 'fiancé'. Did he really say that? What on earth was wrong with him?

Wolfram spun around, his emerald eyes sparkling. "Really?" A sort of warmth spread through Yuuri as he saw how happy Wolfram looked. He nodded.

This time, when Yuuri held out his hand Wolfram took it. The usually dominant blonde allowed Yuuri to lead the dance. In fact, he even smiled slightly. "You're not that bad at dancing anymore, wimp."

"Don't call me a wimp." Yuuri sighed wearily. He nearly started in surprise when Wolfram rested his head on Yuuri's shoulders, but the Maou for once did not push him away. At least the blonde had cheered up.

'Arigatou, Conrad.' The Maou said silently in his head.

Meanwhile, Conrad smiled in the direction of the balcony. "You're welcome Yuuri…Julia…" he said softly.

Owari

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A/N: Edited and reposted, 27 August 2007.

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-Gwyn