Disclaimer: I do not own Kyou Kara Maou. No profit is made. It's all just for fun.
Title: Escape
Summery: Wolfram, Anissina, and Yuuri. A slighted artist, a brilliant scientist, and a king who just wanted to get away. Wolfram/Yuuri shounen-ai.
Warning: Shounen-ai. Kissing between two boys. You don't like? You don't read.
A/N: Although Shin Makoku is obviously not Japan, I thought that perhaps Yuuri, who is from Japan, might occasionally slip into the habit of using honorifics, especially when it comes to the issue of addressing people he respects, or when he is flustered. So that's what those honorifics are doing in there.
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The sound of breaking glass echoed through the courtyard below. Yuuri winced. Wolfram often tended to be unnecessarily violent. Although now that he thought about it, Yuuri supposed he ought have been more impressed, considering the kind of strength it must have taken to break the thick glass window with a single paintbrush.
While Wolfram was busy searching for something else to fling, Yuuri chanced a look down through the broken window. He breathed a sigh of relief at the empty courtyard and bent over to pick up a shard of glass just as the second paint brush soared over his head.
"You stupid wimp! I can't believe that even you—" a pot of paint splattered the curtains, "—would have the gall to—" another arsenal of paintbrushes, "—ask why there was a woman of all people—" Wolfram advanced on Yuuri, holding his final paintbrush like a sword, "—in my masterpiece!"
A bit of yellow paint dripped from the outstretched brush onto the carpet and Yuuri took a moment to appreciate the fact that he had agreed to sit for the painting in a room other than his bedroom.
"There's no way I can paint you in here, Yuri. The background light makes your face look blotchy at the best of times. I refuse."
"But Wolfram, I'd really much rather—"
"Too bad," Wolfram said, gripping his wrist and pulling him out the door. "This is art."
"Ah, Wolfram," Yuuri said, drawing his mind back to the present. He mentally calculated the possible distance from the room to the ground. It was too far to jump, but maybe a rope or something? "I swear I didn't mean anything bad. I was just wondering because, you know . . ." he drifted off as Wolfram glared at him. Yuuri rubbed the back of his neck. What had Günter said about diplomacy?
"Your Majesty, you have to keep them on their toes. Keep them guessing your next move at all times. Flatter them, but do not let it be at your own expense."
"But Günter," Yuuri said, trying not to trip over the elaborate robes Günter had wrestled him into. "Wouldn't it be easier if everyone just said what they meant? I mean, wouldn't it at least cut down on the time these meetings take?"
"Ah, Your Majesty!" Günter said, clapping his hands together. His eyes shone. Yuuri moved back a bit and heard the ripping of a hem. "As always, I am truly amazed at the depth of your love for honesty and justice! What a kingly way to look at the tangled mess of scheming and greed that make up international politics!"
"Er" Yuuri swallowed. "Thanks, Günter."
"Who are you thinking about?" Wolfram demanded, still brandishing the paintbrush. Green eyes narrowed. "You're thinking about that 'woman' in my painting, aren't you? Aren't you? You cheater!"
"N- no, Wolfram!" Yuuri stuttered, waving his hands and trying to look placating. His gaze darted to the window again. There was no rope in the room, but those curtains might do. He frowned. The paint might get all over him though. "I was curious because I . . . um," Keep him on his toes, Shibuya! Make him guess your next move! "—because since you're my, ah, fiancé and all that, wouldn't it really make much more sense if you were in the painting next to me instead of some, uh, random woman?" Brilliant, Shibuya! Excellent distractive maneuver!
Wolfram's eyes widened for a moment. The paintbrush lowered imperceptibly. Yuuri felt like patting himself on the back. Then Wolfram scowled. A bead of sweat dripped down Yuuri's neck.
"That is me, you idiot!" Wolfram shouted. Dropping the paintbrush, he lunged for Yuuri, who sidestepped him and bolted for the unlocked door.
Well, thought Yuuri, charging down the corridor, intent on putting as much space as possible between himself and Wolfram. That does explain why he was so upset.
Yuuri skidded around the corner just in time to catch sight of a shock of bright red ponytail as it vanished into a room at the far end of the hall. Without stopping to think, he raced after it.
"Anissina! Wait, Anissina!"
Anissina poked her head out the door, a wide smile on her face. "Your Majesty!" she said, reaching behind her and pulling out what appeared to be a halfway inflated bright pink basketball. "If you could—"
"I would love to!" Yuuri panted, stopping to place his hands on his knees. "Just let me into your lab, quick!"
Anissina nodded, grabbed him by the arm with what Yuuri privately thought was a little too much enthusiasm, yanked him in, and slammed the door shut. Yuuri immediately pressed his ear to the heavy wood. He thought he could hear some yelling off in the distance, but it was growing fainter. His legs weak, he slid down to the floor and passed his hand over his eyes.
"Never again," he muttered. "Never again will I make any comments about anything artistic that any of Cheri-san's children happen to produce."
"Oh," Anissina said, adjusting some straps on the pink monstrosity she was carrying. "Has Gwendal been knitting again?"
"No," Yuuri said. "But Wolfram—"
"You poor boy. Here, put this on." Anissina shoved the basketball look-a-like down over Yuuri's ears. Yuuri grimaced. It was a tight fit.
". . . Anissina?"
Anissina beamed, and held up a tangle of wires. "Let me introduce you," she said, "to Passion-powered-kiss-kun IV!"
Yuuri paled. A feeling of dread began to form in the pit of his stomach. Why had he come here again? Oh right, because it was the one place Wolfram would never go . . .
He resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall. Reasons! There were very good reasons why Wolfram would never come here! He forced himself to listen to Anissina.
"—Kun IV," she was saying, "is intended to collect maryoku through the act of kissing, wherein any possible energy transferred from the lips of one kisser to the other is caught and stored within this receptacle." She gestured to the thing on Yuuri's head. "I actually came up with the idea after the incident with that cursed crown that Günter had to have Gwendal kiss off for him. I figured for it to work there had to be some sort of energy exchange during the point of contact, and so I—"
"Hold on," Yuuri broke in, trying not to think about what she might have in mind for him with a machine that contained 'kiss' as part of its name. He gripped the sides of his head to stave off the inevitable headache and felt the smooth surface of Passion-powered-kiss-kun IV beneath his fingertips. "Gwendal's been kissing Günter?"
"Oh yes," Anissina said, pulling out a large pair of pliers. "I had to push him into it of course, the stubborn man." She snipped a wire. "Now as I was saying, I usually just ask her former Majesty Cheri to test it for me (she's always so helpful when it comes to this sort of thing), but there was recently a nasty occurrence with Passion-powered-kiss-kun III's second test run, and so," she shook her head. Yuuri's palms grew sweaty. "Since she's still in recovery and your Majesty has graciously volunteered, all that's left to do now is to find Wolfram."
"What? Wolfram? Why Wolfram?" Yuuri said, certain that he didn't want to know.
"Because I need you to kiss him," she said, cutting three wires at once.
Yuuri turned even whiter. "What?" he squeaked. It was so wrong. So very wrong. "No, Anissina, I can't kiss Wolfram! I can't! He's a boy!"
Anissina blinked. Yuuri thought it was quite possibly the first time he had ever seen her look surprised. "You haven't kissed him yet?"
Yuuri waved his fists in the air. "I don't want to kiss him! I don't want to kiss anybody!"
"Oh?" she said, and tilted her head. The surprised vanished. "I see." She advanced on him, a small smile on her lips. "I have just the thing for that."
Panic stricken at the sudden light in her eyes, Yuuri scrabbled for the door handle. He wrenched it open with a slight gasp.
"A- actually, Anissina-san, you know what? I'll just go find Wolfram myself. Right now. Yes, going to find Wolfram on my own! Right now. Bye!"
"Wait, Your Majesty!" Anissina called after his vanishing form. "It's not scientific if it's not recorded properly!"
She was chasing him. He knew she was chasing him. Along with the stitch in his side, Yuuri felt a great pity for Gwendal. How many times had he been in Yuuri's same, unfortunate, position? One hundred? One million?
No, too many to count, he thought, turning down a side passage. As he ran, he reached up to try and tug off Passion-powered-kiss-kun IV. The pink thing pulled at his scalp, and he squeezed his eyes shut. Just once more, he judged, steadying himself. Just one more—
And that was when he ran headlong into the door. Or at least, what he assumed was a door.
"Oof!" the door said, clutching at the closest thing available, which happened to be Yuuri. As they fell to the ground, the loosened Passion-powered-kiss-kun IV went flying.
"Ow," Yuuri groaned. The door was on top of him now and quite heavy. What was more disturbing however, was the fact that it also had hands. Yuuri groaned again. Elbows too, by the feel of whatever was jammed into his ribcage. He cracked open an eye.
Blond hair, green eyes, and a furious expression were the only things Yuuri registered before catching a last glimpse of Passion-powered-kiss-kun IV as it plummeted down to hit Wolfram in the back of the skull. Wolfram's head jolted forward, and Yuuri had no time to react before Wolfram's lips connected with his own.
Yuuri's eyes bulged. He tried to shout something, but it was muffled. Wolfram! Kissing? What? What am I— Wolfram's lips, he noted, were chapped from training outside. But still kind of soft.
And then their lips weren't just touching through painful coincidence, but Wolfram was doing something with his tongue that made it feel like they were actually kissing and Yuuri wanted to punch him or something, except the last time that he'd done that he'd ended up engaged to a boy and—
It wasn't all that different from kissing a girl really, which Yuuri had done once on a dare in the third grade. Only Wolfram – and here Yuuri made a whimper in the back of his mind that was three parts alarm and one part something else – was a much better kisser.
Wolfram's hands had let go of Yuuri's uniform to thread in his hair, and Yuuri may or may not have made a small sound of appreciation in the back of his throat when abruptly, Wolfram froze.
Yuuri opened eyes that he didn't remember closing just in time to see Wolfram shift away from him as if he had been burned.
Stunned, Yuuri sat up. He didn't know whether to be furious or embarrassed. His hand drifted to his face to touch his lips. He opened his mouth.
"I—"
"Don't think a little kissing is going to make me forgive you, you wimp," Wolfram said, his back to Yuuri. He prodded the part of his head that had been struck by Passion-powered-kiss-kun IV. "Watch where you're going."
Yuuri looked down at his knees. "Sorry," he muttered. Wolfram gave a small huff. Something occurred to Yuuri. "Are you—are you bleeding?"
Wolfram turned around and glared. "I'm fine!" he snapped. His cheeks were red, Yuuri noticed. Assuming that Wolfram's flushed face meant that the other was in considerable pain, Yuuri scooted over.
"Let me see," he said. He reached out a hand to examine the injured area, but Wolfram blocked it.
"I said I'm fine, wimp! You don't have to—"
Yuuri rolled his eyes. Stubborn. Before he knew what he was doing, he had placed a hand over Wolfram's mouth. He could feel Wolfram's warm breath tickling his palm. Wolfram stared at him, something indescribable in his expression. He did not look pained. Yuuri removed his hand.
"Let me see it," Yuuri said, speaking to a spot somewhere over Wolfram's left shoulder. His own face felt hot now. There was a pause.
"All right," Wolfram said, crossing his arms and turning his head. "All right."
Yuuri reached out again. His fingers moved gently over the part that had been struck by Passion-powered-kiss-kun IV. He pressed down a little. Wolfram's breath hissed between his teeth and Yuuri lowered his hand.
"There's going to be a bump," he said. "But there's no bleeding." He hesitated a moment, tapping his fingers on the ground. "I could send for Gisela if you'd like her to have a closer look."
Wolfram shook his head. "No."
"Are you sure?" Yuuri asked. He rubbed the back of his neck. "She might have something to put on it."
"No," Wolfram said again. "I'm fine."
Another pause. They didn't look at each other. The air was thick, awkward. Yuuri's throat felt tight.
"Wolfram," he said. "You— we—" He stumbled. You should get it looked at. We need to talk or something. Why the hell did you keep on kissing me? "We should get out of here before Anissina finds us." He jerked his thumb in the direction of Passion-powered-kiss-kun IV. "That thing belongs to her, you know."
"Even an idiot like you would be able to tell something like that," Wolfram said. But the insult lacked his usual enthusiasm. He stood, and offered his hand to Yuuri. "You're covered in dust, Yuuri. You should go to the bath." He nodded to himself. "I'll wash your back for you."
Yuuri swallowed. "Ah no, really, that's okay," he said, standing as well. Wolfram's eyebrows drew together.
"Of course I'm washing your back for you," he said, his voice matter-of-fact. "I'm your fiancé."
Yuuri felt it best not to answer that. However, at his silence, Wolfram's face darkened. He grabbed hold of Yuuri's uniform and pulled the other to a stop. "Unless there's someone else who's been performing that duty," he said, eyes flashing with a possessiveness that Yuuri hadn't seen since the first weeks of their accidental engagement.
"What? No!" Yuuri said. He wiggled his arm. This was getting ridiculous. "Wolfram, let go!"
Wolfram's lip curled a little. Then, he jerked Yuuri forward and kissed him hard on the mouth. Yuuri's eyes widened and he stumbled back into the wall as Wolfram released him.
"I'm washing it," Wolfram said, marching down the corridor, chin held high. This time, Yuuri didn't argue.
End