Umbrella

Somewhere in Harajuku, a young college student named Yuri Shibuya was walking around and humming a song.

The song was something he picked up while watching international music shows. Those Americans during the summer apparently enjoyed it very much. While he wished he could sing the stuck song out of his head, he's not exactly very skilled when it comes to pronouncing English things. Furthermore, it's not like he understood what the song really means. All he could fathom was that there were the words "star," "friend," "rain," and "you" in the song, so…

"Hmmhmmhmm andaa mai umburera… era… era… ei… ei… ei…" he hummed to himself. He didn't mind at all that he mispronounced most of it, just get that blasted rhythm out of his head…

Huh? He blinked. A drop of water just landed on his nose. Two more blinks. And then his eyesight was muddled by silver lines of water landing from the sky.

In front of him, two girls in punk Lolita get-ups gave a small shriek and ran towards a café. A no-nonsense salary man nonchalantly unfolded a plain, black umbrella and kept on walking. And still, others around him either ran faster, ducked under roofs, or else shielded their heads with their bags or folders.

Hey, wait. This is weird. I should be moving, but I'm not. Yuri sighed. Because of his absentmindedness, he was now drenched. His black Nirvana shirt and blue jeans clung to his skin and were dripping all over with water. As he wiggled his toes, he actuallyheard the sickening squish of his socks.

Oh well. He shrugged his shoulders and went inside a convenience store. Ignoring the odd looks he got from some of the customers and the cashier, he twisted his shirt and let the water drip on the floor.

"Sir, please do that in the bathroom," said the bewildered cashier. No doubt, he was thinking about all the trouble he's going to go through by mopping the floor.

"Ah, sorry," he said. It's not that he wanted to give the poor guy more trouble. Sometimes it's hard to shift your gears from Demon King to Normal Japanese Citizen.

Yuri entered the toilets and proceeded to squeeze his clothing free of water: first, his socks, then his shirt, and then his jeans. Of course, there was no way that he'd get them dry, and he'd ended up wearing the damp clothes anyway, now colder due to the air conditioning in the store.

Feeling the cold cloth touch the back of his neck, he shivered. He also succumbed to his urge to cough, because an uncomfortable roughness in his throat started to form. This is ridiculous. I'm killing myself over this, he thought to himself. If only I had some dry clothes…

He stared at the empty cubicles in the toilet. Inside that would be slightly-clean toilet bowls, with lots of water in them.

Hey. There's an idea, he thought, smiling to himself mischievously.

MuraKen explained to him that Yuri, by himself, could transport himself from Earth to the Great Demon Kingdom. Admittedly, the Demon King hadn't had many opportunities to use this power. Usually, he and Murata would go to the Demon Kingdom together on weekends, when schoolwork in the University wasn't so hectic.

How did it go again? Yuri asked himself. Murata said that all he had to do was go into the water and will the gates to open to where he wanted to go… or was it will the gates first, and then go into the water? Maybe he had to synchronize it, that at the moment of jumping, the gates had to be open? And come to think of it, did he have to will it to a specific place, or not…?

Too bad he had a tendency to think-as-he-act So even before he touched the flusher, he was already sinking deeper and deeper into the toilet bowl. The fetid water spiraled around him in rapid circles, and before he knew it, he was sinking into a noisy, wet, murky darkness…

It was troublesome getting up on his feet again. For one thing, he didn't know where he was. It was slightly unfamiliar territory; he guessed that it was a port of a human city. It was a struggle dog-paddling towards some unreliable-looking rocks by the dock, as was standing up. And when he finally got up on his feet, as if on cue, a heavy drop of water fell on his nose bridge. This is, of course, only a gentle prelude to the heavy-rain-bordering-on-typhoon downpour that followed around three seconds later.

Oh crap, he said, tottering off to more solid ground. He looked at the seawater, now violent with waves and ripples from the rain. It would be stupid and dangerous to jump back in there at that moment, and so it looks like he had no choice but to wander off somewhere else…

But apparently, it was a decision he'd be regretting. Around an hour later, he found himself walking around miserably on deserted roads by the countryside (for some reason, he missed the road that would take him to the human city, and there was no-one around to tell him so), and during that space of time, the rain hadn't let up at all. On the contrary, the winds got stronger, and the water got just a little colder and heavier.

Damn. What were you thinking, stupid?! You should have just gone back to Japan. Instead, you're gonna die on human turf. That's a bit embarrassing for demon king, he thought. He covered his ears to quit hearing the unbearable whistle of the typhoon, as well as the breaking of tree branches here and there. (For all he knew, they were actually the sounds of his own bones breaking.)

He sighed. He decided to duck under the shade of a sturdy-looking tree and do some thinking there. Regretting his choice of clothing that day, he sat down at one of the roots and looked up at the sky.

"Gee, you're not exactly gonna get dry here..." he said to himself out loud. He closed his eyes and sighed again. "Maybe you should try sleeping. Maybe you'll wake up as the Demon King. I dunno if he's able to do anything, but at least it wouldn't be your responsibility anymore…"

To his surprise, he found himself following his orders. Or maybe it was because of the rhythmic beating of water upon earth, the rustling of leaves, or the wind song that lulled him to a shallow sleep. In any case, he realized that the light passing through his eyelids slowly darkened, his thoughts slowly scrambled into incoherence, and then static…

He awoke to the sound of a small voice:

"King Yuri…?"

He felt himself rise to freezing, damp wakefulness. Before he opened his eyes, other sounds entered his ears. It seems that the rain hadn't stopped yet.

"I wonder what's he doing here… so far away from the Great Demon Kingdom…"

Hey, that voice sounds familiar… Light entered his opened eyes. First, it was a vague shape, then it was a round shadow.

What happened to the rain…? He realized that water wasn't falling all over him like before. He looked down on himself—he was still wet—and then he looked up.

A person with a big black umbrella was looking down on him, unashamed and curious.

It was a face he knew well. "Lady Flynn? What are you doing here?"

She gasped and jumped back. Yuri's head was now unshielded from the rain, and it pounded against his skull hard.

"Ow! Hey, don't go away now," he said, dodging further rain by ducking under her umbrella. "Oh, wow, I'm so glad that you found me, Lady Flynn… I thought that I'd be in the Demon Kingdom, but I ended up getting lost here. I thought no-one would find me," he said happily. Now that he wasn't alone, he mustered up some strength to stand up again, and stand up he did.

Flynn, however, still hadn't recovered from shock. "Y-your majesty…" she began.

Yuri grinned at her. But his face fell when he noticed the look of utter bewilderment on her face. "Is anything wrong?" he asked.

"I…" her voice broke off. To put it simply, she didn't look well. Perhaps it was because that she was pale from the cold, but… "It's just that… I guess your appearance surprised me, your majesty…"

"This?" Yuri looked down at his clothes. "Ah, it's been long since I last saw you, wasn't it? I guess I forgot to tell you, I'm in college now. I don't need to wear my usual black gakuran anymore," he explained.

"O-oh." The strange look on her face never left.

"I'm sorry if it looks offensive, but don't worry. Once I get some dry clothes, you don't need to look at this anymore, hehe," said Yuri bashfully. "Anyway, what were you doing here, Lady Flynn?"

She stared at him with a strange sort of intensity. She was silent for a long time, and just when Yuri was about to say something to get rid of the uncomfortable gulf of silence between them, she spoke. "It's been a while since you've left, King Yuri," she said. "Come on, I'll walk you to where you can get a change of clothes, and perhaps we can get someone to contact people from the Great Demon Kingdom."

He was a college boy now: a little bit taller, older, and a bit more versed in the ways of the world. After all, he'd been taking care of himself in the dorms, doing his own laundry, groceries, cleaning, and juggling studying at the same time. So he had imagined this meeting under different circumstances—maybe make her step back a little, look at him up and down, make her say, "there's something different about you since I last saw you, Your Majesty."Of course, all these in an impressed way.

But now that the meeting happened, Yuri could only marvel at how much younger he feels next to her—indeed, much more childish than he usually admits himself to be.

The way she walked was measured, delicate, and dignified, but even then Yuri stumbled as he attempted to walk next to her. It was his shaking knees, probably, and the fact that they were walking opposite the direction of the wind. He felt so cold that all he wished to do was to curl up and muster what remained of his body warmth.

Of course Flynn noticed this. A gentle pause first. The way she blinked, his eyes tended to focus on her eyelashes (look at how long they are, look at how they're pointing towards the underside of her umbrella, towards the sky) and the way her mouth opened when she said, "I'm sorry… I know how hard it must be, but it's going to be a long walk…"

And before Yuri could say another word through his blue lips and chattering teeth, she handed the umbrella to him. Then she shed off the grey cloak that hung from her shoulders and, being careful not to touch his skin, draped it across his shoulders. "There. That should help," she said.

"Oh. Thanks," was all he could say. For a few relieving moments, his cheeks felt warm (or at least, he believed so). When she attempted to take back her umbrella, he refused. "Well, I have your cloak, I should at least hold the umbrella for us this time."

"But you're the king. A human like me shouldn't let you do small things like that." But she said this with the tone of teasing in her voice.

What was that? "Hey, no need for the special treatment there, Lady Flynn," he said, smiling. "We're both rulers, right? It means that we're equals here."

"Sadly, King Yuri, I'm not the ruler of Caloria anymore. I've… how would you put it..." she paused, searching in her mind an appropriate euphemism for good measure, "… retired. Yes, that's the right term."

Yuri tried to analyze her. Her voice was detached as if it didn't matter. She was looking away, and shadows were covering some of her features, but he could tell that her face was stoic. "Retired? Why—"

"It's simple, really. For human societies, it's more sensible to have a new ruler every so often. I stepped down as soon as I realized there were more fit leaders for Caloria." She said this in a matter-of-fact voice. She could as well be telling him that he was wet because it was raining. "So please don't ask me about it anymore. If you're worried that it happened out of dirty politics, I can tell you that it didn't. It's the way of the world, you know."

"… I see."

They fell silent after that, and Yuri realized soon after that it was a long walk. Even with Flynn's cloak around his shoulders, Yuri felt like a living ice sculpture walking. His Nirvana shirt was darker than it was before, and his jeans got so heavy with water that they threatened to slip off his skinny hips every so often. He felt a bit relieved that amidst the noise of the rain he couldn't hear thesquish squish squish of his socks inside his trainers, but that didn't stop the icky feeling of his wrinkled toes inside cold shoes…

But all discomforts aside, it was a nice walk. It was a bit dark, but the shade of grey that the sky shifted into was rather beautiful. And even though they were silent for most of the walk (mostly because talking would mean fighting the loud wind noises, and this would take up more of Yuri's energy), it was… comforting.

Every now and then, he found himself staring at Flynn. It was strange that he felt like he was stealing those glances from her, as if he shouldn't be looking at her at all. But every time he did, he felt like he was burning illegal photographs in his mind: the image of the back of her head, snow-white hair floating with the wind, and the endless grey scenery behind it; the solitary glow of green eyes as it captured light under the umbrella's shadow; the sturdy black boots that silently trod on soft grass;

and those lonely white hands, gracefully yet nervously fidgeting, as if they were cold with a secret that yearned to be told.

Finally, Yuri saw iridescent circles of firelight from a distance. They had finally reached a human city.

"This is a part of the business district of Caloria," she said. "You can go to one of the taverns nearby. I'm sure there is someone there who could contact guards… and they'll be the ones who could arrange for a messenger to contact Blood Pledge Castle. Don't worry, everyone knows who you are, so even if they find your clothes strange, they won't leave you out on the street."

"Oh, thanks," said Yuri. "Hey, wait a minute. You aren't coming with me?" he asked in bafflement.

She shook her head. "I guess I forgot to mention it to you, but I don't live in Caloria anymore."

"Really? But… where do you live now?"

She didn't answer him at all. She only stood there, her gaze fixed on the soft glow that emanated from the buildings. There was a sense of longing in her stare.

"Lady Flynn? Hello?" A bit confused, he put his hand in front of her face. It didn't faze her, but she did look up at him again.

"Are you okay? Maybe you should come in with me and have a warm drink?"

Now her stare didn't leave his face. It pierced at him. There was an unnatural intensity in that stare, and Yuri felt a sudden turbulence writhing inside of him. And it only made him more confused.

This painful silence lasted for three minutes. For a while, it was as if Flynn pressed the mute button, and Yuri could only wonder where all the living noises went. But at the same time, he was too afraid to open his mouth. He couldn't explain it, but he felt like he'd disappear if he even dared to move…

A small voice whispered in his ear: there's something different about you since I last saw you, Your Majesty.

And the next thing he knew, she was standing on tip-toe, and her face drew closer to his. This surprised him so much that all he could do was to stand there, eyes wide open, but even then his vision darkened once he felt the chill of her lips: first, on his forehead, then at the side of his right eye, and finally, at the side of his neck.

After that, all she said was farewell, and then she took her cloak from around his shoulders (still careful not to touch his skin), and then she draped this on her head, and then like the lone cloud that covers the sun, she floated away and blended into the violent white lines of rain.

Yuri made it to one of the taverns. The people inside were shocked at first to see him—indeed, even threatened him with kitchen knives of different sizes—but after a haphazard explanation and a testimonial from someone who recognized him from a history textbook, a guard was sent to the castle, and later a messenger was braving the typhoon towards the Demon Kingdom.

They told him that it was going to be a while before the message is read, so why don't he spend the night here? He said, sure, thanks for the food and change of clothes, and being the tavern that it was, he was asked to tell a story or two. Where'd he come from? What's he doing on human territory? And what's with his clothes?

Embarrassed, he simply told them that he got lost on the way to the Demon Kingdom, had no other clothes, and it was thanks to an old human friend of his that he made it to Caloria. Oh, the Demon King has an old human friend, huh? Hey, I heard that you were friends with one of the previous rulers of Caloria, right?

"That's right. I'm friends with Lady Flynn Gilbert. I don't know what she was doing, walking through a typhoon, but she helped me find my way here," he explained.

The tavern fell silent for a few moments, and then exploded into roars of laughter.

When he asked why, they said that it's nothing, Your Majesty. Most of us here think that it's her new profession, you know. The people she finds are really lucky gents.

The next morning, Yuri awoke to the sound of a wooden door banging on the wall, and the booming voice of a young boy.

"THERE YOU ARE, you wimp!" Before he could say another word, he was embraced by this young boy, pushed away, and slapped on the head in rapid succession. "You idiot! You know how worried we were?!"

"Ow—ow! Er, yeah, nice to see you too," he said with some difficulty.

"Is that all you have to say to your fiancé, who was up all night traveling just to take you home?! You miserable pathetic ungrateful wimp!" growled the younger boy.

"Gee, Wolfram, sorry… I'm still half-asleep, you know," he said.

"Wolfram, calm down," said another voice from the doorway. A taller figure calmly watched this scene and was apparently stifling his giggles.

"Konrad!" Yuri jumped up and walked next to him. "Nice seeing you again! It's been, what, a week since I last saw you!"

Konrad smiled at him and said, "That may be so back on Earth, but it's been more than a few years already on this side," he explained.

"Oh yeah… I keep forgetting that the time zone here's really weird," said Yuri. "Anyway, I'm just glad that I can finally get home on Demon Kingdom. It was a hard day yesterday, you know."

"Yeah, but it's only because you've been slacking off with controlling your powers. That can only be expected from someone like you," said Wolfram. "Anyway, how in the world did you get here?"

Yuri sighed. "Well, like you probably knew already, I goofed up when I tried transporting myself to Shinou Temple. I dunno where I ended up in, but it was the port of a human country. There wasn't anyone there whom I could ask for directions because of the typhoon, so I ended up getting lost in the countryside…"

"That's terrible, Your Majesty," said Konrad, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "But you know, ports eventually lead to cities. I don't understand how you could have gotten lost."

"Please, Konrad. It's because he's an idiotic wimp. He's helpless without me or you to guide him," commented Wolfram.

Yuri made a face at him. "Gee, sorry for being clueless. Anyway, well…" he paused and looked at Wolfram. (Should I tell it to this guy?) "… I got some help and I ended up in the business district of Caloria. It's good that I was recognized, even though I got a few death threats… They told me that they sent a messenger to Demon Kingdom, and here we all are."

But that detail didn't escape Wolfram. "Oh no, you don't. Who did you get this helpfrom, huh?" He narrowed his eyes at him. "Why do I have a sneaking suspicion that you cheated again?!"

Despite himself, Yuri blushed. "H-hey, Wolfram, don't act like you have to be suspicious of me all the time…"

Konrad, with that holding-back-a-bigger-smile smile, asked, "So, who was this person who helped you find your way here?"

Yuri cleared his throat. "Er… you guys remember Lady Flynn, right…?"

Konrad and Wolfram fell silent. At first, they stared at him incredulously, as if they didn't believe what he said. The next moment, their faces changed: Wolfram was avoiding his gaze, and Konrad's face suddenly fell into seriousness.

"What's wrong, you guys?" he asked. And then, he gasped. "Oh no… something happened to her last night, is that it?! Did she get into an accident after she left me alone?"

When they didn't answer, Yuri took a step closer to Konrad. With a mixed look of worry and determination on his face, he asked, "What is it? Please tell me, Konrad! If something happened, then it's my fault…"

Konrad prolonged his stare at him, and then closed his eyes and sighed. Slowly, he put a shoulder on Yuri's hand and said, "It certainly isn't your fault, Yuri."

"Then, why—"

Wolfram, still not looking at him, answered. "You idiot. You know, you've been in college for a year now, but that's Earth time. You know how long that is in this world?" He said this with a low tone, something that a person uses when he's sorry.

Yuri stared at him.

Konrad shook his head. "It doesn't matter to us, Yuri, since we have demon blood in our veins, but to humans in this world, it's a bit too long."

So. That's how it is, huh.

Time goes by a bit too quickly in this world… or was it in my world?

Yuri stood by the side of the ship, staring into the cold blue blanket of ocean below.

He was aware of Wolfram at his side, summoning all his energy to control his seasickness, all so he could remain by Yuri's side and 'guard' him. Under his watchful eye, Yuri felt a little bit warmer, yes—but not warm enough to forget the chill of the winds and rain yesterday, and of her mouth against his face…

In his mind, he reviewed the burned images of Flynn. They were of various shades of blue and grey, the same shade of the heart of a flame, where it's supposed to feel the hottest.

Overhead, a plain black umbrella floated off from the hands of a noblewoman. It rode on the wind, got caught by a wave, and sank further into oblivion, never to return.

- end -

Author's notes: I'm practicing love stories now, and obviously I'm still bad at it, especially with the mushy scenes. Somehow, I had to put some dark twist to it to make it easier for me to write. Who better to experiment the mushiness with but one of the most unpopular pairings in Kyou Kara Maou, Flynn and Yuri! (or Flurin to some of you who prefer to use the fansub version.) Haha. Blame it on a few friends who are smitten with this pairing, but who are at the same time still afraid to come out of the closet because of the sheer "radicalness" of the idea. ;)

Final note: Yuri was singing Rihanna's "Umbrella" during the beginning. It's so... addicting.