A/N: Hello, there! It's been a while this was something I thought of out of the blue that didn't take years to materialize. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kyou Kara Maou! or any of the Pokemon titles.

Little Games

Rain continued to pour outside. It started a couple of hours ago, maybe an hour after they had settled in that little coffee shop. Droplets of water would find themselves stuck on the windowpane and later on, slide down as gravity starts to do its trick. Yuri had his eyes on them. It wasn't the most interesting sight, but it was enough to keep his mind off some things. He watched one droplet slowly make its way downward, getting friends which made it go faster down, also leaving a few behind as it moved onward. The other droplets had gone through the same story as those that went before it, and he was sure other would follow its footsteps.

"Your turn."

These two words came out too soft as to what the speaker of these words wanted them to be. He was bothered by it; though, he wasn't that bothered to the point of asking if his companion heard him. He set down the mechanical pencil he was holding and positioned his arms to serve as a substitute for a pillow and gently lay his head on them. His head hurt, as well as his eyes. He didn't close his emerald green eyes, though. Who knows what could happen if let himself indulge in that little luxury? He didn't bother think about it; he let his droopy eyes stare at the droplets racing down toward the windowsill. He didn't even care that the mechanical pencil was positioned quite out of his companion's reach.

Despite the buzzing all around them Yuri heard these two softly spoken words. He knew that humans and demons are naturally social beings, but he couldn't help sighing. He knew it was none of their business what the other table's occupants' problems are, but he wished they would care enough to keep the noise down. Not everyone was in their best shape, you know. He leaned over to pick the mechanical pencil up, as well as the paper that served as their game board. He squinted as he held the paper close to his eyes when he settled back down on his chair. He didn't want his unusually big tinted glasses to slip down the bridge of his nose; he'd get a yelling from Wolfram if someone were to notice his "unusually" black eyes. It was his turn in their game of the classic Tic-Tac-Toe; he got the "X" symbol. He placed the paper down and sighed once again.

"Do you want to take a little nap? You don't look so good," Yuri asked, concern dripping in every word.

"No, I'm fine. How many times have I told you that?" Wolfram replied as he carefully lifted his head up to look at his companion. "I can't sleep at a place like this. We're in human territory, need I remind you. What if you suddenly get kidnapped or we get ambushed? I can't protect you if I'm fast asleep."

To tell the truth, it took much effort to project those words clear and loud enough for Yuri to hear. He mustn't let that idiot get the satisfaction of being right. He was a soldier, after all. He wasn't going to break that easily.

Even with tinted glasses on, the double-black could feel daggers going in his direction. He felt a chill go down his spine. Despite the other's weakened condition an intimidating aura still surrounded him and his will didn't seem to be close to breaking.

"I sure don't feel anything, but I know those stones are getting the best of you. You should really rest." Yuri went on, brushing off the intimidation he felt. "I'll be fine."

Yuri took a sip of cold coffee from the cup beside their makeshift game board.

"Besides…" He trailed off. "Aren't you getting bored of this game?"

He took a look at their current set and blocked off Wolfram's attempt on making a row. Taking a few seconds to consider other possible routes, he decided to go with it and passed the mechanical pencil and paper to the blonde.

Wolfram couldn't take his headache longer and let his head fall down on his arm. He made some sounds of discomfort and let one of his hands blindly receive the paper and pencil Yuri was handing over to him.

"I am."

Yuri stared at the figure before him in confusion.

"Then why-?"

"It's because there's no winner yet." Wolfram stated flatly. "It helps in keeping me awake."

Yuri leaned back in his chair and placed the cup back on its saucer. It gave him something to ponder on. They had been playing the game for almost an hour. They were on their fifth round and all the other four ended in a tie. He guessed no two people would take this simple, little game so seriously, or as seriously as they have. Was it that odd to be a competitive in a game like this? He had his hand on his chin, his finger gently stroking the curve of his chin. They played other games before the Tic-Tac-Toe. They had a couple of rounds of P-A-N-T-S*, a round or two of S-O-S** before that and some F-L-A-M-E-S*** and L-O-V-E-R-S**** crack before the SOS game. Of course, they didn't try it on themselves. There was no way their love life will be dictated by childish games like that.

"How many hours do you think we still have to wait for those two to come back?"

"Maybe an hour or so," Wolfram replied, still not doing anything with the paper and pencil on his hand. "The rain's not letting up."

"That's true…" Yuri commented absent-mindedly. "Looking for a place to stay for the night is tough in this rain. Even if they did find one, I bet it's going to take a while to get back here. We're practically in the middle of nowhere!"

The double-black gave a little laugh. This, sadly, reminded him of their day so far. He frowned.

The baby at the table adjacent to theirs began to wail. Its cries brought everyone's attention to its family's table. It is probably a baby boy.

"There, there, little Henry, 'tis okay. Mommy's here." The baby's mother cooed as she brought him to her shoulder, trying to soothe him. "It wouldn't take long, dear Henry."

Yuri took a glance at them and saw the mother's jewellery. His frown deepened. The necklace wasn't by all means simple. It was intricate, beautiful and studded with all sort of colourful stones. He could tell they weren't just sapphires, emeralds and rubies. Oh no, she wore carefully crafted esoteric stones. The whole lot of them were esoteric stones.

Fashion, he would never understand it works. He was certain it has caused everyone a headache or two trying to follow it.

He couldn't frown that long. It wasn't in his design, and the baby had nothing to do with his slight irritation. He did look concerned, though. The child just wouldn't calm down. He wanted to help out, even just a little. He wanted to do it subtly. He waited for the baby to get a glimpse of him before he started making some funny faces. He stopped when he saw Henry stop a while and look at him. He was about to feel relief when tears brimmed on the child's eyelids and let out a wail. With this little defeat, he looked defeated, deflated.

"You really like sticking your nose where it doesn't belong, don't you?"

Ah, a familiar remark. It somehow made him feel better. If Wolfram was able to come up with something to rebuke him, then that means he was feeling fine.

"Serves you right," Wolfram added helpfully.

Yes, feeling just fine.

"I get it, I get it. I failed." Yuri replied gently and shrugged. "At least I could sit straight without worrying about an incoming headache."

The blond held his head high and snorted. He handed over the paper and mechanical pencil to the other as well.

"At least I didn't get rejected by a kid and look like an idiot."

Wolfram didn't reply, but he seemed satisfied with Yuri's defeat. With that, he rested his head back on his makeshift pillow with one arm outstretched. He was so delighted with this little victory he forgot all about his stubbornness about keeping his eyes open.

The double-black in disguise took the paper and pencil and looked at the condition of their game. Wolfram had an advantage with his circle on the center. He was really in a tight spot. It seemed that the blond finally figured out a winning strategy. It's really hard to think of something to counter it. He placed the items down and leaned his head back, eyes closed. Darkness completely overwhelmed him as he placed his hand over them, his elbows resting on the window glass. He decided he was having a tough day.

His imagination created a movie-like recollection of how things ended up the way they did so far.

The carriage was moving through a forest towards a foreign human country in a mellow pace. It wasn't in a hurry to get there. The passengers inside were content with the sound of birds chirping, the insects' slightly eerie thrumming and the cool air the morning had to offer. The sun was up, and a few clouds decorated the blue sky. It was a peaceful morning.

The sound of fast galloping horses suddenly broke the scene. It was the beginning of a robbery. Conrad, who was riding on his horse, clashed blades with a couple of them. The carriage, under Günter's instruction, sped through the path, only to be stopped by the others who blocked the road. Some others swung and landed on the roof of the carriage. Günter fended the thieves off while Wolfram protected Yuri as they exited the carriage, moving out to safer grounds. When the carriage was abandoned, the thieves made a quick getaway. They took the carriage with them, as well as most of their belongings they brought with them for the trip.

The group watched the thieves get smaller and smaller across the horizon. Once they were out of sight, they decided to look for a place to stay in and began to move on forward. They spent around two hours walking along the path when they found the coffeehouse. Luckily, they had their money on them, which made things easier for them. They bought some coffee and some sandwiches to snack on while Günter and Conrad discussed their plans. They decided to leave Yuri and Wolfram in the coffeehouse until they've found an inn where they could stay over before they move on. They also sent a carrier pigeon to Gwendal back in Covenant Castle.

With some paper given to them by the shop owner upon request, they made the best they could with them.

Yuri picked up Murata's habit of bringing writing materials with him everywhere he went, claiming:

"You never know when you'll need one".

He went with a mechanical pencil with some spare sticks of lead. He was glad to have picked that up.

They were playing the S-O-S game when the rain poured in and brought over some who wanted to take shelter from the rain. One of these would be the woman who was trying to calm little Henry down. Her family settled on the table beside theirs.

The effect of those stones was immediate.

Wolfram felt his energy drain away and felt a migraine coming his way. It didn't take long before he felt the need to lie down. Of course, Yuri asked him if anything was wrong. He denied it every time the double-black asked him. It did take a while before they figured that esoteric stones were the cause of such discomforts.

Hours passed and they ended up in the same spot they had been in for a while.

"Say, Yuri," Wolfram called, opening his eyes. "What do you think is there between us? Does our relationship seem like a game to you?"

Yuri jerked back up in his seat, His hand uncovering his eyes as they snapped wide open. It wasn't those questions that surprised him. He figured those two questions would be asked by either of them sooner or later. Thinking that way didn't make it surprising at all. It was the tone the blond used that caught him off guard. Wolfram said it gently, something that hints that the thought just crossed his mind. It was as if he never thought about it before. Yuri was sure it wasn't so; even he had thought of it many times before. But to compare it to a game...he wasn't so sure what to say.

"Ah…er..." Yuri stuttered, unable to come up with anything coherent to say.

There was silence between them. Wolfram simply propped his chin on the back of his hand without having to reposition his arms and stared at the person in front of him through his tinted glasses. Yuri had his head held down as he watched his fumbling thumbs. He could feel the other's gaze on him, both gentle and patient.

That's right; Wolfram had been patient with him all this time.

Sure, the blond has his outbursts, acts of jealousy; you could argue that he is quite possessive, but you couldn't say he didn't give Yuri enough time and space to think about these things. For a long time, he knew that the problem lay within himself. He was never confident of his feelings and despite having a headstrong attitude towards hi objectives, he could never tell himself to take risks on whatever relationship they had between them. He was afraid of labelling that relationship.

"Wolfram, I don't want to lie to you," Yuri said and raised his head slowly to meet the other's gaze. "You're...important to me. You have a very special place in my heart, and right now, I just...I just can't tell right now what exactly you are to me. And, that is the truth."

The words were delivered very carefully. Wolfram softened his gaze on the man in front of him. He wasn't numb; he knew that confession oozed with sincerity. He could feel care in those words. He felt loved. He smiled as the other's cheeks get redder and redder. He began to wonder whether Yuri really understood what he had said; that guy was the type to blurt out anything that comes to his head when he's under pressure.

"Idiot," Wolfram called with a chuckle. "I'll tell you what I am to you. I knew from the start you were a mindless idiot, but I never knew you were this bad."

"Wha- Would you care explaining to me what makes me an idiot?" Yuri furrowed his eyes brows as he talked; a second later, he turned his head away. "Look, I told you my honest opinion of our status right now, and I don't think I deserve to be called an -"

"You're right; I was wrong. You're not an idiot, but you definitely are suffering from Alzheimer's."

"What? I don't get you at all!" Yuri turned his attention back to the blond as he exclaimed; his irritation grew when he saw the other smirking.

"I'm you're fiancé."

"Huh?!"

"You said you didn't know what I was to you, so I'm reminding you exactly what I am to you. I'm your fiancé."

The two remained silent for a while. Yuri bit his lip as he tried to process what in the world just happened. It didn't take a while and he proceeded by laughing. He didn't understand why he went on and laughed. He was so serious a few minutes ago, and yet he had this uncontrollable urge to laugh. Personally, he didn't want to laugh. They were tackling a very serious topic; it was a topic they had swept under the bed for countless of occasions, yet for some reason, his only reply came in the form of a fit of laughter.

"What's so funny?" Wolfram asked, keeping his laughter from coming out.

Yuri just kept on laughing. Knowing he wouldn't get an answer, Wolfram joined in, turning his awful headache into a part of his memory. They're laughter wasn't loud or rambunctious enough to draw the other diners' attention, which they thought was relieving when they eventually stopped.

"I was taking this seriously, you know," Yuri was the first to break from the spell, wiping a tear.

"I know." Wolfram replied after a deep breath. "You were unnaturally tense. I figured I just had to do something."

He paused and smiled at the double-black.

"I'm someone important, huh?" Wolfram mumbled and returned to the position he had before the laughter started. He could feel his cheek heat up a little. He figured Yuri saw it because he could see the other's cheeks redden too.

"Yes," Yuri mumbled his answer, turning his head away and scribbling something on the paper.

"There are many kinds of games, you know." He said in a louder voice an looked at the blond. "I think you're thinking about games that don't mean anything at all. That's it, right?"

Wolfram paused for a while, thinking where did that come from. His eyes lit up when he remembered asking it earlier. Yuri found this reaction to remembering things quite cute; Wolfram found it amazing that this mindless idiot of a fiancé to remember such a question.

"Well, yes. Technically, that's what games are, right?"

Yuri shook his head. There was something more to that, he was sure.

"You're not exactly wrong. Yes, there are games that are meant to just pass the time like the ones we've been playing. But, there are also games that you give importance to, the kind you exert a lot of time and effort on, like baseball."

Wolfram raised an eyebrow. He understood what his fiancé was telling him; he just couldn't understand why Yuri likes baseball so much.

Yuri sighed and thought of something Wolf can relate to.

"How about those Pokémon games you like so much. You take a lot of time and effort to train your teams so that you get to face the elite four and the champion, right?" Yuri suggested, brightening up. "And those puzzle games^ you like, it falls under the same case."

Wolfram solemnly nodded as he pictures in his mind those gruelling hours he spent to level up his team and to solve some puzzles that were trickier than most. He might've started to play those games to pass the time, but the reason he played them now isn't just to pass the time. Yes, those games really did need a lot of time and effort, and the more he played those games, the more precious they became to him.

"What I'm saying is...my answer is yes," Yuri went on a little hesitantly. "In some ways, I do see it like a game. Don't get me wrong; I didn't say it is a game. That's too shallow. What I mean is...we both work hard to make it...work. There's even a lot of patience on your part. It's also something important. It's...it's...it's meaningful. Even though it looks like a game of tag right now, I'll work harder to make it better. I promise."

Wolfram could only stare at the sight before him. He was...he was dumbfounded. Never in his wildest dreams did he think could that kind of expression off. He could see behind those tinted glasses determination, honesty and, if he would actually admit seeing it, love, burning in the depth of those pitch-black eyes. The other's flushed cheeks made the whole thing utterly adorable. In his eyes, he could see a wilful puppy who was trying to move his master's heart with all that he's got.

"No, really, I don't mean it in a negative way! Eh...a-ano..." Yuri exclaimed, standing up and getting even flustered in panic, and stuttered as he racked his brain for a better explanation; he knew he wasn't very good in explaining things and seeing no reaction coming from the blond probably meant confusion.

"I get it, I get it. You don't have to tell me twice!" Wolfram chuckled. "You somehow come up with the strangest of explanations...I sometimes don't get what comes to your head."

Yuri sighed and plumped back to his seat, obviously relieved.

"Besides, people even call life a game. So, there's nothing to worry about," Wolfram assured him and closed his eyes for a bit, relief washing over him.

"In that case…"

Wolfram looked at his companion.

"If life is a game, I'd like you to be on my side, okay?" Yuri beamed and flashed that goofy smile of his.

"Fine, just don't label me as mere 'family' in your head, got it?" Wolfram crossed his arms and held his head high.

"What's wrong with 'family'?" Yuri asked, sincerely worried because he does consider Wolfram as part of his family.

"Hmph, figure that on your own." Wolfram spat as he went back to sleeping position.

He could feel his headache coming back. He had watched it on television, heard it from Murata and seen it in some of Shouri's games. 'Family' would almost always equal to 'brother', and no, he wasn't going to be the one to taint this pure boy's mind with incest (not that they are related by blood by any means) or repel him by breaking his trust or anything.

After much thinking, Yuri believed he finally got the answer.

"Ah, I know. You're afraid that if I label you as family, you would…"

Wolfram found it incredible Yuri was able to know that fast.

"You'd be something like a 'grandpa' to me, given your age and all. Don't worry, it's not what I had in mind at all!"

That answer wasn't what he expected.

"Who said anything about a 'grandpa'?" Wolfram yelled as he got up, grabbed his fiancé by the collar with his two hands and proceeded to shake him. "Do you think I look like someone's grandfather?"

"N-no...i-it's ju-just your a-age, tha-that's all," Yuri managed the reply.

"What?!" Wolfram exclaimed and finally let go. "Unbelievable."

He sat back down on his seat with his legs and arms crossed, looking away. He wasn't going to talk to this idiot for the rest of the day.

"Yuri's right, you know," said a familiar voice.

Just as Wolfram was about to look up, Yuri had already called the man's name.

"Conrad!"

The man was wearing his signature smile and it somehow ticked the blond off.

"Did you manage to find a place to stay?" Wolfram asked.

"Where's Günter?" Yuri asked.

"Günter is waiting for us outside. We have managed to find the carriage and the horses when we were wandering around. The thieves took all of our luggage and food, but they didn't take the horses. And yes, we found a place to stay for the night." Conrad answered the questions calmly. "You two go ahead. I'll head to the counter to take care of some things."

The two stood up and glanced at the window. The rain has stopped and it was getting dark outside. Wolfram felt a little light-headed. His knees almost gave in. Those esoteric stones are affecting him again. He placed his hand on the table surface and saw the piece of paper they were having a game on.

"You alright?" Yuri asked and took the other's arm around his neck without waiting for a reply. "Sorry about earlier."

Wolfram's eyes widened in realisation that he had won this game of tic-tac-toe. He wrote his symbol onto the black tile to authenticate this win. He let Yuri assist him as they went through the maze of tables and chairs.

"No, really. What's wrong with 'family'?" Yuri whispered to the blond's ear. "Doesn't a spouse also make up a family?"

Wolfram titled his head down and didn't reply. He also looked away; there was no way he was going to let Yuri see his face, especially since the wimp probably didn't know what he was talking about. His heartbeat was erratic and he wanted to break free from Yuri, yet his body doesn't comply to his mind's wish.

Thinking about it, maybe Yuri did know what he was talking about and that, he decided, was what made their game-like relationship more interesting.

THE END

Footnotes:

*P-A-N-T-S = Place – Animal – Name – Thing – Score = A simple multi-player game that uses a letter to come up with a Place, an Animal, a Name and a Thing that starts with that letter starting from letter A then B then C, etc. There is a higher score for each unique word and those with the same words as the opponent would only score five for that word. Example: A = Airport, Armadillo, Anna and Alarm clock

**S-O-S = It's like Tic-Tac-Toe, only a little complicated. The players draw a grid – can be as big as they want. Each player takes turns placing an 'S' or an 'O' on the grid. When an 'SOS' is formed, they player can cross it and count is as a point. The objective it mark as many 'SOS's' as possible until the grid is full.

***F-L-A-M-E-S = Friends – Lovers – Acquaintance/Anger – Married – Engaged/Enemies – Soul mates = Start off by writing down the full names of the couple one wishes to pair up. Cross out all recurring letters. Find the total number of unique letters. Write the word FLAMES on the paper and start counting from 'F". There are two ways of counting: a) by starting where you left off (example: [4] 'M' is eliminated and start counting four again from 'E' to eliminate 'A') and b) by starting from 'F' (example: [4] 'M' is eliminated and start counting four again from 'F' to eliminate 'E'). The last letter will be the couple's 'relationship'.

****L-O-V-E-R-S = This is a 'game' that determines the couple's potential (in percentage form) to be lovers. Start off by writing the couples names. Next, write the letters of the word 'LOVERS' vertically. Determine the number of L's, O's, V's, E's, R's and S's in the couple's name (example: L=3, O=2, V=1, E=3, R=2, S=1 in Yuri & Wolf's full names). Then, add the adjacent numbers until they become one number (example = L+O, O+V, V+E, E+R, R+S then LO+OV, OV+VE, VE+ER and ER+RS, etc)

^puzzle games - Care to guess?

A/N: If the footnotes aren't very helpful, searching online would be for the best. Thanks for reading it till the end! Again, I hope you enjoyed it! Submitting a review would make me very happy!