Author's Note: Hey everyone! I am so. So. SOOOOOO sorry that it's taken me so freaking long to update this! I know you guys have been waiting for the new chapter for literally years, but I really want to get these edits done before I start adding more to the story because the new version that I'm working on now is a million times better than the previous version and I'm really proud of it. For the older readers of this story, I don't truly plan to change the main ideas for the plot that was presented previously all that much, though I am adding more substance to it as I go, so the changes shouldn't make the story confusing or anything.
Anyways, I hope you guys like this new and improved version and I promise that now that my computer is functional again and I have more time to update everything I will try to keep updating as much as I can. Thank you again for being so understanding and giving so much love to this story so far. It really means a lot to me. Let me know what you think! Critics are always welcome! :)
P.S., While you are waiting for the next update, I actually have four short stories that I wrote a while back about Yuuri and Wolfram, so if you are into one shots, go check those out as well! Love you all!
Update 8/3/17: Quick shout out to my new beta reader AnimeFanFicXD. She has been a humongous help editing this monster of a story and it's taking some of the load off of me. She's amazing and you should go check out her stories as well! ^_^
Yuuri startled awake, immediately aware of the searing pain across his face. He gingerly touched his cheek, wincing when his fingertips brushed the already swelling skin. He shifted his eyes over to the bed, having been flung off it by an unintentional kick to the face by his supposed fiancé. Wolfram was lying in the middle of the bed, his entire body fanned out to take up almost the entirety of the king sized mattress. Despite his high status as soldier and a commanding officer, he was an extremely heavy sleeper. The world could explode and he would still be lying there, snoring the night away. Yuuri rolled his eyes when he heard Wolfram mutter the word 'wimp' in his sleep. Evidently he had infiltrated Wolfram's dreams again. From the throbbing of his jaw he could only assume that his presence in the dream was not a welcome one.
"Are you okay Yuuri?" Greta called softly, poking her head out over the edge of the bed. Yuuri smiled softly to reassure her.
"Yeah, just a little sore, no big deal." He replied, scratching the side of his face out of habit, only to wince when he remembered the ache in his face. "Go back to sleep Greta, you'll need it for your trip with Anissina tomorrow." He said, crawling back into bed, being mindful not to disturb Wolfram. He may be a heavy sleeper, but touch him even slightly, and you would be burned to a crisp. Although apparently that little rule was only limited to someone touching Wolfram, not the other way around. Oh, and he would still be asleep. How he managed it, Yuuri didn't know.
Yuuri sighed and pulled the covers back for Greta to crawl under before settling down himself.
"Night Yuuri, love you." Greta whispered, rubbing her eye sleepily before she rested her head on the pillow, falling back asleep almost instantly.
"Love you too." He whispered back, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. He rolled over and came face to face with Wolfram's sleeping face. He stared at him, quietly observing the slight twitches and frowns that flashed over his features. Yuuri felt a smile tug at his lips, but he immediately shut those feelings down. He feared the route that those types of feelings and thoughts would lead him so he chose to ignore them in favor of going back to sleep himself, returning to his fascinating dream of people turning themselves into bearbees.
What he didn't realize was that half way through the night he had somehow managed to tangle his limbs with Wolfram's and was practically hugging him when the sun rose the next morning. Unfortunately for him, Wolfram was the cuddly type, especially in the mornings.
"Owowow!" Yuuri whimpered, rubbing his poor abused skull.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? Sleeping or not, that is beyond inappropriate behavior! I will not tolerate being molested while unconscious, do you hear me?" Wolfram hollered, his voice bouncing off the walls and making Yuuri's ears ring.
"Mole- What in the world are you talking about?! " Yuuri shouted, wishing more than anything he could just go back to bed. Wolfram growled and placed his hands on his hips.
"Oh like you don't know what you did." Wolfram huffed, turning away from Yuuri so that he could change into his uniform. Yuuri frowned, but chose not to say anything more in fear of making him even more agitated. Instead he just turned to his own uniform and began dressing himself for the day.
Once he finished, he was about to head out the door when Wolfram stopped him, pointing at him with a stern look on his face. "Don't you ever do that again, do you hear me?"
Yuuri decided that again it was best not to argue, so instead he just nodded his head in agreement. Wolfram turned and headed out the door, stopping only for a moment to say, "Unless I'm awake."
Yuuri sputtered in embarrassment while Wolfram just smirked at him and left the room. Yuuri sighed again and shook his head.
This, he thought, was not how I wanted to start my day.
~*(&)*~
After the rude awakening, the rest of the morning was, for the most part, uneventful. Yuuri sighed over his lunch plate, glad that nothing more had come out of the argument this morning with Wolfram. He may look like a pretty boy, but don't let those angelic features fool you; Wolfram had the shortest fuse Yuuri had ever seen on a person. His element of choice really reflected his personality now that Yuuri thought of it. He snorted when he remembered that his own element, water, that many people had told him matched his personality as well, was literally the antithesis of Wolfram's. It was kind of funny when you thought about how much they bickered and argued. He was just glad that they had Greta there with them. Whenever Greta was around Wolfram seemed a lot calmer.
Yuuri looked over at Greta's empty seat and sighed, missing his daughter already. Anissina had suggested, demanded actually, that Greta come with her to learn to be an independent woman like her. Without even asking him if he was okay with her taking his daughter around on a ship to who knows where, she decided that it would happen and demanded that Greta pack her bags immediately. Luckily, Yuuri had convinced her to at least wait a few days so that Greta wouldn't feel so rushed, though in actuality, that was the time it took for Yuuri to be okay with letting his daughter go somewhere without either him or Wolfram present. He knew he was being ridiculous, and sure, Anissina could come off as… Well, strong willed at times, and maybe her experiments didn't always work out and left the poor sap that she had roped into being her test subject with some scars, be it physical or otherwise.
Yup. Not nervous at all about the trip.
Yuuri was brought out of his musings with a sharp elbow to the ribs. He glared to his left, but knew better than to anger Wolfram twice in one day, so he kept his mouth shut as Wolfram began to scold him for spacing out and continued to tell him how being king meant he had to stay focused, attentive, and… Well, by this part of the lecture he usually stopped listening.
Conrad coughed in a poor attempt to cover the fact that he was clearly laughing at them, though why he found Wolfram yelling at him to be funny, Yuuri had no idea. Meanwhile Gwendal just glared. Yuuri grinned sheepishly, still not used to Gwendal's harsh facial expressions. He wasn't afraid per say, but even knowing Gwendal for this long, he still found himself intimidated by him.
"Sorry Gwendal, you were saying?" Yuuri asked, trying to ignore the heated glare from Wolfram. Gwendal opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Dakoskos bursting into the room.
"I'm sorry for the interruption, but-"
"Why are you here?" Gwendal growled, making the poor soldier nearly wet himself in fear.
"What's up Dakoskos?" Yuuri asked kindly, giving him a reassuring smile. Dakoskos paused for a moment, giving Yuuri an odd look, clearly not understanding what he was saying. Yuuri nearly smacked himself. Though he was getting better, there were times where he would slip up and use lingo that he often used on earth, which was usually lost on the people in this realm. Yuuri tried again, "Is everything alright?"
"Sir, there was a break in at the temple, and the Great Sage wishes for assistance." Dakoskos replied urgently. Yuuri nearly leaped out of his seat. A break in? How could someone break in? The only ways into the temple were the water route, which was only accessible through a portal created in a different realm such as earth, and the front gate. In either case, you would have to get through the guardian shrine maidens, and it was basically impossible to come near the Demon Kingdom itself without Ulrike already knowing, even for Yuuri.
"Did anyone get hurt?" Yuuri asked, trying to sound calm.
"I'm afraid I don't know, your Majesty, I just received a message to bring help," he explained, looking away. Yuuri patted him on the shoulder in reassurance and turned back towards the others.
"Shall we get going your Majesty?" Conrad asked with his usual calm smile in place, already standing to join him.
"It's Yuuri, Conrad, and yeah, let's get a move on." Yuuri replied, about to turn and head to the door, when Wolfram's words stopped him.
"I'm going too. There's no telling what kind of trouble an accident-prone wimp like you will get into." Wolfram said, his nose in the air. Yuuri rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything more as he grabbed the handle of the door and swung it open.
"Günter and I will stay here for now. Let us know what you find." Yuuri turned to Gwendal and gave him a small nod before heading out the door, Conrad and Wolfram following closely behind him.
As they got closer to the temple, Yuuri's anxiety grew and grew. Who could possibly break into the temple? Who in their right mind would even try with the shrine guards there? They may be pretty, but they were just as strong as the soldiers in the castle, so if someone got past them and caused enough ruckus to make them call for help… Yuuri encouraged his horse to go faster, his fear mounting.
Whatever was awaiting them at the temple, it couldn't be good.
~*(&)*~
Murata was waiting for them when they arrived. Yuuri hopped off of Ao and hurried to meet him at the entrance. Yuuri was put off by Murata's cheerful wave. Didn't Dakoskos say that it was an emergency? Why didn't Murata seem to be concerned?
"Good to see you Shibuya!" Murata greeted. Yuuri was put off by his attitude, but again, he decided to put the thought aside for now and simply waved back.
"So, what exactly happened, your Eminence?" Conrad asked, already off his horse. Murata paused for a moment, seemingly to think it over, before he stepped aside, gesturing for them to follow.
"I feel it would be better to show you all first." He said cryptically, leading the way to the prayer chambers. As they walked Yuuri looked around and found that all of the shrine maidens were in the same state as Murata, calm and almost happy. Nothing seemed to be out of place either, so what on earth was going on?
Yuuri stopped when he heard crying coming from somewhere. He whipped his head around to find the source but found that there was nothing there. He jumped when he felt a hand land on his shoulder.
"Is everything alright your Majesty?" Conrad asked.
"I thought I heard something." He replied. "Did you hear it?"
"The crying? Yes idiot, we all heard it, now hurry up before we leave you behind." Wolfram answered for Conrad, glaring at the two of them.
"Actually, I didn't hear crying at all." Conrad said.
"I didn't hear anything either!" Murata supplied, his cheerful demeanor never faltering. Yuuri looked around again. He could have sworn he had heard someone crying, so why had everyone other than Wolfram not heard it? This whole situation had him spooked.
He didn't hear it again until they approached the doors to the prayer chamber. This time it was louder and even higher in pitch. Determined to find the source this time, he pushed the doors open. As soon as the doors opened, the crying stopped again. Frustrated, he looked around the room only to find Ulrike and another priestess standing on either side of what seemed to be a half-hazard nest that was laying on the floor.
"Hello your Majesty! I'm glad you could make it!" Ulrike said with a smile. Yuuri's nerves were reaching their peek at this point. What was this situation and how did they get into it? Seriously! The suspense was killing him.
"What is going on here?" Wolfram demanded. Apparently the craziness of the situation was getting to Wolfram too. Murata ignored the question and instead turned his attention to the mass of blankets on the floor.
Yuuri looked at Conrad, but he seemed just as confused as he was, so without saying anything he stepped forward. Both Wolfram and Conrad called out to him to stop, but he ignored them and continued forward. He felt a bead of sweat drip down his neck. It was smaller than he expected. This was the creature that broke in?
Yuuri's eyes shifted to Ulrike and her assistant. Without a word they stepped aside to give him a full view of the pile of blankets on the floor. He took a breath to calm his nerves and was about to kneel down when Wolfram spoke up.
"Yuuri, wait." Yuuri turned to him. He saw clear worry swimming in his eyes.
"It's okay Wolf, just stay there for a minute." Yuuri smiled in an attempt to reassure him, but Wolfram's face only tensed. Yuuri felt a bead of sweat drip down his neck when he saw that. Wolfram was the type of person to never show weakness in front of others, especially when he was faced with potential danger. Seeing the fear and worry flicker in his eyes made him feel off-kilter. Not that this situation wasn't already unsettling to begin with.
Wolfram opened his mouth but Conrad placed a hand on his shoulder, silently stoping the words before they could form. Wolfram cast his eyes down, his fists clenching at his sides. Yuuri nodded at Conrad in thanks before returning his gaze to the nest. He knelt down in front of it and was about to reach out to remove one of the blankets when he felt himself hesitate. He took a deep breath and yanked the thin fabric out of the way. His jaw slacked in shock. The culprit behind the break in, the one that had caused all the ruckus, was a baby?
More specifically, it was a baby girl. Her entire body was pure white in color. She was so white that her body almost seemed to glow in the dim light of the chamber. Her eyes were closed and upon further inspection he realized that she wasn't moving at all, as if she were a doll frozen in place and waiting for a child to play with her.
"Who is she?" Wolfram asked quietly next to him, making Yuuri jump. When had he moved? Yuuri shook his head and turned back to the bundle in front of him. He nearly jumped in shock again when he realized that not only was the baby now breathing, but her features had completely changed. Skin that was once pure white now had a healthy olive tone to it. She also had a small tuft of curly black hair on the top of her head. She opened her eyes, revealing beautiful emerald green irises that reminded him of Wolfram. It was crazy, but she almost looked like she could be-
"Daddy?" she said, staring at him. Yuuri was startled to say the least. She was so small that he didn't think she was old enough to be able to form words, and yet there she was, doing just that. He stopped his train of thought when he felt a dangerous dark aura building next to him. It was then that he realized what the implications were for this little girl to call him 'Daddy'.
"Yuuri..." Wolfram growled dangerously, grabbing Yuuri by the collar and yanking him up to stand. Yuuri flinched, bracing himself for the punch… or the rant... whichever came first.
"You stupid flirt! Going behind my back with some whore?! How could you!" Ah, it was the rant first this time. Before he could open his mouth to reply, the baby interrupted them again.
"Mama?" the babe whimpered, throwing her tiny hands in the air, reaching for Wolfram. Yuuri's jaw dropped. What the hell was going on here?
"I believe she is referring to you, von Bielefeld." Murata said calmly, a smirk twitching his lips. Yuuri winced slightly at his tone, knowing Wolfram's anger would sky rocket. He hated it when anybody was disrespectful, let alone anyone who made fun of him. Yuuri turned to Wolfram, ready to act as the peacemaker as per usual when he noticed that Wolfram wasn't even looking at Murata. In fact, Yuuri realized that Wolfram's eyes had never left the little girl. And speaking of, the baby had taken on a reddish tone, looking like she was about to explode into a fit.
"Mama!" she whined, reaching her little arms towards Wolfram, her little hands opening and closing desperately. Yuuri watched in awe as Wolfram slowly knelt down and scooped her up, wrapping one of the blankets around her clumsily while the baby was giggling and waving her arms around. Wolfram held her close and let a small smile take over his face, which Yuuri couldn't help but notice made his face soften, making its usual beauty almost shine. Yuuri's eyes widened slightly when he caught what he was thinking, and immediately shoved those thoughts into the farthest reaches of his mind, praying they would disappear quickly.
"Your Excellence, is this what we were called here for?" Conrad asked calmly from behind him, giving Yuuri a welcome distraction from his thoughts. Murata nodded and turned his curious gaze back to the baby.
"Let's go back to the castle to discuss this further. I want to avoid the gossip if at all possible." He said, then as an afterthought he added "and bring the kid."
Yuuri didn't like being in the dark still, but he had to agree with him. The grape vine in the Demon Kingdom was even worse than his old high school back on earth, so the sooner they could get to the castle and figure this out the better. He turned to Wolfram and held out his hand. Wordlessly Wolfram took it and stood up slowly, being mindful of the little girl in his arms. Yuuri stared at Wolfram's back curiously. He had been waiting for Wolfram to yell, shout, to say something, but he was being oddly quiet. Even when Murata teased him again, he didn't become enraged and let Murata have it, he just ignored him to appease the baby in his arms. Yuuri didn't know how he felt about seeing Wolfram like this. He was so used to him being the usual loud and proud Wolfram that when something changed, no matter how small, it made him feel a little nervous.
"Yuuri?" Wolfram called softly, yanking Yuuri out of his own head. He looked around and realized that they were already outside and standing next to the horses, everybody else having already mounted their horses. Yuuri turned to Wolfram and waited for him to continue his sentence. "I need my hand." Wolfram said, a smug smile twitching at the corners of his mouth.
Yuuri looked down only to realize that he had actually forgotten to let go of Wolfram's hand in the temple and was still holding it. Turning bright red he immediately let it go and looked anywhere but at Wolfram "Sorry."
Wolfram rolled his eyes, "Why are you sorry? It is perfectly natural for a man to hold his fiancé's hand." He said with a huff, handing the baby over to Yuuri.
"What are you doing?" Yuuri asked, holding the wiggling bundle tentatively to his chest.
"Obviously, I can't mount my horse with her in my arms, idiot." Wolfram replied, his tone laced with annoyance. He knew it was a dumb question, so Yuuri let him have that one. He watched Wolfram mount his horse and looked at Ao, only to find that Murata was waiting patiently for everyone else on Ao's back, so he had no choice but to ride with someone on the way back. Before he could decide who to ride with, the baby started squirming and whimpering in his arms, reaching for Wolfram again.
"Hey, it's okay, shh." Yuuri tried to comfort her, but to no avail. Her cries were getting louder and louder, her face turning red. Panicked, Yuuri immediately handed the baby over to the equally surprised Wolfram and hopped onto the back of his mare. Wolfram was about to hand the now calm baby back, but she refused to be moved and clung to the front of Wolfram's uniform as best as she could.
"Mama!" She cried, her lower lip quivering. Wolfram stopped what he was doing and looked at Yuuri for help, but to be honest Yuuri was just as lost as he was. Wolfram turned back to face forward and attempted to take the reins but Yuuri stopped him and took them himself. He led Wolfram's horse forward. He wondered why the little girl seemed to only like Wolfram even though she had called him 'Daddy'. He felt it was ridiculous to feel left out when this baby literally just entered their lives, not to mention to have already accepted the title she had given them. He wondered what the others at the castle would think of her. What did her presence entail?
Most importantly; who was she?