Chapter 1: Unforeseen intentions

The dark-haired Maou, Shibuya Yuri, was sitting in the study. Surrounded by a mountain of paperwork, that had required both Gwendal and Gunter to move.

This had to be the most tedious part of of being Maou, Yuri thought to himself. Seeing as he was damn near illiterate when it came the new language. Yuri allowed himself to let out a defeated sigh, just as Wolfram stepped through the door with another stack of papers.

"You have got to be kidding me, another one?" Yuri pouted.

"Oh, stop whining, you wimp. This is all a part of your duty as Maou. It's been what, a year and a half since you came here? You should be used to this by now." Yuri could just feel the the familiar condescending tone wash over him, as it hit its mark.

Yuri only chuckled lightly," I never said I wasn't used to it, only that it was a hassle."

Wolfram's gaze drifted over Yuri, just as he started writing again. Yuri was getting smarter. He didn't get so worked up over Wolfram's remarks anymore. Wolfram smiled slightly, maybe Yuri was finally starting to grow up a little bit. He couldn't help admiring yuri as he worked. His obsidian black hair, falling lightly into his equally dark, and sensual, eyes. His lithe form was visible, even under his black uniform. Wolfram couldn't stop himself from staring at Yuri's tanned skin, that he most likely got from chasing around that little white sphere. Wolfram secretly loved the passion that emanated from Yuri when he played baseball.

Unfortunately, all these qualities in Yuri presented a multitude of problems, that Wolfram had to deal with constantly. Yuri was just far too good looking to be left alone anymore. Not to mention that he was as naive and forgiving as a five year old child. People, especially women, were constantly throwing themselves at Yuri, hoping to catch the young man's attention. Wolfram had to practically beat them away with a stick, making sure that no one captured Yuri's heart. After all Wolfram cared deeply for his fiancée. He was actually happy to be engaged him, but he'd rather drive a nail through his hand before admitting that. After a while, Wolfram decided to risk one last glance at Yuri, before he left. Only, when he glanced up he saw those charcoal eyes staring straight back.

"You know... It's hard to concentrate when you keep staring a me like that, Wolfram." Yuri whispered.

Wolfram could feel a blush starting to stain his face. So... he had been caught.

"I-I was not staring." Wolfram stuttered, making sure to place extra emphasis on 'staring'. " I was merely making sure that you had continued your work," he added on hastily.

A smile spread across Yuri's face, "Sure you were," he said with a low chuckle.

Suddenly, feeling embarrassed, Wolfram stalked out of the room, leaving Yuri to quietly sign papers.

Wolfram had planned on avoiding Yuri the next day, but it was inevitable that they would eventually run into each other. He decided to just get it get it over with and see Yuri. That, and the fact that Gunter had given him a folder of documents that Yuri needed to see, helped him to change his mind.

Wolfram walked around a corner and ended up crashing into his older brother, Conrad, and all the papers that he'd been holding scattered everywhere.

"Ah, watch where you are going Conrad!" Wolfram began to hastily gather the documents off the floor before anyone could step on them. "You haven't happened to see Yuri anywhere, have you?" he inquired.

"Yes, I believe I have actually. I thought I spotted him walking in the garden after his work. If you hurry you just might be able to catch up to him." He handed Wolfram the remaining papers and began to walk in the opposite direction.

Wolfram arranged the papers in the folder as best as he could and headed off towards the garden. This was going to be difficult, seeing as how the garden covered about four square miles of land within the castle walls. It was going to take awhile to find Yuri, and that was if he stayed to the trails that had been carved out within the forest. Which, Yuri most likely hadn't. Wolfram began to pick through the massive area, and after about twenty minutes of cursing out Yuri for choosing a place like this to hide, he spotted a mass of black hair bobbing in the distance. He started to jog towards it, but didn't see the drop that lead into the meadow. He ended up tripping over a tree root and tumbling down the grassy hill, until he finally came to a stop by landing on something soft. He heard a soft grunt and looked up to see what he had landed on.

"JEEZ, you sure know how to make an entrance, don't you?" Yuri complained.

Wolfram looked up to see those dark eyes staring at him, he looked down and realized that he was laying criss cross style across Yuri's abdomen. Blushing furiously, he scrambled off Yuri, which only made Yuri gasp for air.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to land on you like that," Wolfram gave Yuri a sheepish look.

Yuri laughed, It's alright, don't worry about it. I came out here to take a nap... And avoid Gunter too." Yuri glanced at his watch. "but it seems as if I've been asleep for about two hours, so I guess I ought to thank you for the wake up call."

Wolfram thought for a moment about what Yuri said. He was asleep for two hours? Than what was it he saw in the distance? It must have just been a bird... Wolfram concluded.

"Umm, Yuri? Gunter wanted me to give you these." He handed Yuri the documents. "He said that I might be better at finding out where you were hiding"

Yuri laughed again, "Yeah, that sounds like something Gunter would do." Yuri sat up and started dusting himself off."Well... Wanna take a walk before we head back?" Yuri asked.

"Uh, sure"

They headed out further into the meadow and stepped onto one of the trails near the castle wall. Wolfram purposely let Yuri walk slightly in front of him and let his eyes drift over him.

"Wolfram, I can't talk to you when you walk behind me like that" Yuri chuckled.

Wolfram could feel his face start to turn red again. How was it that Yuri could make him defenseless so easily? He only needed to say a few words, and Wolfram would be completely disarmed. He sped up lightly and covered the distance between them easily.

"Gwendal is going to be angry again if you don't finish your work." Wolfram stated.

"Yeah, you're right. He might even stop helping me huh?" Yuri shivered at the thought.

Wolfram started to talk to Yuri about Greta, their adopted daughter, and how she had made a mess in the kitchen again.

"When I found her she was completely covered in flour, she was as white as a ghost" Wolfram said.

Both started to laugh at the incident. Wolfram found it easy to talk to Yuri about anything, he found it easy to drop the defenses that he had when talking to others. He could be himself without being ridiculed. The two chattered animatedly about the stunts Yuri pulled off in his Maou form. Wolfram didn't even notice when the leaves in the trees rustled, and Yuri just shrugged it off as the wind. Clouds started to cover the sun and Yuri stopped to see if it was about to rain. That was when the attack happened. Five men leaped over the wall and surrounded both Wolfram and Yuri. The sixth man came above them, from the tree, and tackled Yuri to the ground. The man pulled from his pocket a small needle, and plunged it into the neck of the wrestling young man under him. Yuri immediately went limp and was thrown over the assassins shoulders. Shouting in outrage Wolfram tried to reach for his sword. Seeing Wolfram's attempt at attacking, the men focused their attention on the blond Mazoku Wolfram felt the impact of the club as it hit his brow, he began to feel warm stickiness drip down his face. He glared towards the man that was carrying Yuri away, then everything went black.