Beyond the Silence
By Orenda
Fandom: Kyou Kara Maou (Yuuri/Wolfram)

A/N: So… this is my first attempt at multi-chaptered KKM fic. I have tried writing them before, and have never managed to finish. Since I'm almost done with chapter 4, I feel kind of safe-ish posting this now. I'm mostly doing so because I really want inspiration to finish, or at least continue. I'll try my best to post semi-regularly.

Boats… why did it always have to be a boat of some sort? Of course they couldn't just travel to places on horseback… No, not Yuuri. He had to go gallivanting off to other countries to see foreign diplomats rather than letting them come to visit him, and the vast majority of which required traveling by water for some period of time or another.

And of course there was no way that Wolfram was going to let his king go without him… Someone had to make sure that he wasn't going to cheat with some woman or something, even if it meant a bit of agony and a whole lot of time leaning over the deck's railing along the way.

At the moment, however, they were safe back in their own country and firmly on solid ground, on the way back to the castle. Wolfram allowed himself to sink into a light doze against the side of the carriage they were riding in, giving his stomach the chance to recover. He tried to drown out the sound of Gunter's voice, who had yet to stop chattering to Yuuri over one thing or another about the trip and it's results; he was probably getting to the point where he told the young king how much he was missed in his absence, and so on…

A light shake to his shoulder made him jolt upright, the sudden sight of the castle in front of them making him realize that he had, in fact, fallen asleep. Wolfram blinked a few times to reorient himself, and sat up even as Conrad smiled at him warmly.

"Feeling better now?"

Wolfram knew that he was referring to the seasickness, which his impromptu nap managed to eliminate the last remaining remnants of and helped him to feel not so dead anymore. He offered his brother a nod, eyes gazing over at his fiancé calmly. It seemed that he wasn't the only one who'd drifted off in the middle of Gunter's welcoming home speech, because Yuuri was just being shaken awake as well.

"Wimp," he muttered softly under his breath, but there was a quiet fondness in his tone, and perhaps a hint of sadness.

It was somewhere around that point that he finally started listening in to the conversation going on in the carriage at that moment, only the topic up for discussion made him frown in displeasure.

"Your Majesty, there's much that will need your attention before the upcoming ball," Gunter was lecturing a still somewhat groggy Yuuri. "Gwendal has been making sure all the necessary documents are ready while I've been organizing the proper staff…"

"Do we really have to go through all this trouble? We could simply meet with the diplomats, sign the treaties, and–"

The silver-haired adviser quickly cut Yuuri off, "Of course it is necessary! If we want to insure that countries continue to form alliances with Shin Makoku, then we must go through all the proper procedures to gain their respect. And as one of the largest sources of power, they shall be looking up to you most of all, Your Majesty."

Yuuri scratched his head with a sheepish grin, "Well, I guess if it's all to show them respect…"

It wasn't the idea of having to actually host the ball itself that bothered Wolfram; he'd been around long enough to know that things like that were all part of the game of politics and had to be dealt with. It was all the socializing required that went along with it that left a sour taste in his mouth. And it was mostly all Yuuri's fault.

For five years their engagement had been ignored and failed to be dealt with one way or another. And for five years, every time there was a social function, the Maou generally ended up dancing with a wide number of beautiful females, ranging from the elegant ruler of Caloria to their energetic daughter who would be reaching the human age of fifteen in another four months. But not Wolfram; very rarely the king might spare a dance for his fiancé when his temper suggested possible death threats if he didn't, but in general he just tended to be, well, forgotten.

And considering the fact that the engagement was public knowledge, people tended to talk, usually in whispers when they thought he couldn't hear them. "I wonder why His Majesty hasn't announced a wedding date yet," or, "It's a pity that Lord von Bielefeld isn't attractive enough to keep his fiancé's attention." Or even, "It's a shame they don't renounce the engagement, because I wouldn't mind being able to sleep in the king's royal chambers…" But Wolfram bore it all, the same way he silently accepted the taunts of being spoiled, lazy, selfish, and more. He stood up for Yuuri and his decisions at all times, even though by now he was doubting their relationship himself more and more as the weeks and months passed on without much change. He'd been so certain that ever since Yuuri had made his decision to stay and rule the country permanently that over time he would certainly gain access to his heart…

Wolfram was shaken out of his thoughts when he realized that the carriage had stopped moving completely, and the others were climbing out. Conrad offered a helping arm, but he quickly brushed it off, stepping out on his own two feet without assistance. The talk of dances put him into a foul mood, so once they entered one of the long hallways inside, Wolfram started walking in the opposite direction from the others.

Yuuri gave him a questioning look, but Wolfram raised his hand in a wave as reassurance. "I have personal business to attend to," he called out. "I'll see you later tonight."

It seemed that Yuuri decided not to question him, afraid of getting in the way of the blond's temper, and Wolfram was free to disappear on his own for the time being.

Little did he know that things were about to start becoming much more interesting.

It was a few days later that Yuuri found himself with quite a lot to think about. The ball was tomorrow night, the treaty to be signed in the afternoon beforehand, and he'd been running almost nonstop since their return to the Blood Pledge Castle. He'd finally been dismissed after almost dozing off for the third time during his refresher course on the proper way to greet the soon to be arriving foreign representatives, and took the opportunity to lock himself into his private bath.

Sighing softly, he stripped out of his clothes and sank down to his neck in the pleasantly warm water, steam making its way into his nose as his eyes drifted shut. It was quite late by now, enough that he was certain that Wolfram had probably already gone to bed. At least it meant he was far less likely to be interrupted by anyone, and for that Yuuri was grateful.

At the moment, his mind actually wasn't on the ball, or the peace treaty, or all the stress he'd be about to be put under, or anything like that at all. It was rather that his brain was currently stuck on a certain blond haired fiancé of his.

The truth was that he'd actually grown up quite a bit in the last five years. Physically, he wasn't all that different than when he'd arrived in this world, with the exception of a few inches in height, a bit longer hair (although not quite as long as his other half yet), and a little more maturity scattered throughout his still boyish features. It appeared that having the magic of the Mazoku race was affecting him, and his aging had slowed down considerably; this pleased all of his people greatly, knowing that he would live longer, but at the same time, his visits to Earth had started to become annoying, seeing as how most people didn't believe he was twenty years old without proof of identification anymore. It wouldn't be too long before he'd have to start lying about his age the same way the others did while on his home world.

But that didn't explain his situation about Wolfram very much. The main problem was that it was much easier to ignore his feelings than it was to confront them, but at the same time he knew that he was hurting his best friend in the process. Wolfram had been avoiding him lately, it seemed, going off on his own a lot or occupying his time with Greta when he didn't have duties to perform with his men. Yuuri wanted to ask him about it, but he just hadn't had the time to chase after him, either. Although…. He did have a fairly good guess for once on what was wrong. It seemed that the blond was most likely to storm off when the ball was mentioned in one way or another, and honestly… Yuuri didn't blame him all that much.

He knew that he tended to let the crowds get the best of him, and enjoyed being social and talking to everyone. And he knew that he never paid half as much attention as he should to Wolfram. He'd even heard one or two whispers himself from the crowd about what they thought about his "engagement". Grown from the awkward teen he had been, he wasn't as naïve as he used to be. He just… didn't know what to do about it.

Yuuri knew that Wolfram loved him from the bottom of his heart; there was never a doubt in his mind about that. The problem had always been his own indecisiveness, his fear that held him back. But lately… he had a very strong feeling that he couldn't ignore it anymore.

It started off innocently enough. One day Yuuri found himself alone, and he'd been hit with the strongest urge to curl up against Wolfram's side and lean his head on the prince's shoulder. He wasn't entirely sure why, because he wasn't particularly stressed or lonely at the time, but the feeling lingered. He'd eventually pushed it to the back of his mind, telling himself that it was stupid to be thinking of such things as a man… But then it persisted again later. Finally unable to stand it anymore, he'd compromised to himself by sitting down next to Wolfram and resting his arm against Wolfram's warm thigh. When the blond gave him a thoroughly confused look and had asked what was wrong, he quickly pulled away again, insisting that it had been nothing at all.

And then the dreams began. Luckily for Yuuri, his fiancé was quite a sound sleeper and there was very little that could wake him up, so Wolfram hadn't even stirred the few nights that Yuuri woke up panting for air and his body far more excited than it should have been. He tended to sneak into the bathroom to quickly take care of his… problem, but the images that lingered in his mind after those episodes left him blushing horribly, not to mention confused. Shouldn't he be having these kinds of thoughts about some girl, and not his best friend? Nights like that after he woke up, he usually laid there silently awake in bed for hours after, his heart beating a lot faster than it probably was supposed to be while Wolfram slept on beside him.

He had a strong feeling that Wolfram wouldn't have minded if he knew – correction, he probably would have been thrilled. But… Yuuri was still scared. So he did everything in his power to act normal during the day, kept these new feelings well-hidden, and tried to continue on as he always had.

But now… lately it had been starting to interrupt his daily thoughts as well. And not just in a sexual, lustful way like the dreams. He started thinking about dragging Wolfram out into the rain with him, and pulling him close and kissing him deeply when he complained about getting too wet. Or maybe reading together in the library, which he knew Wolfram liked, surrounded by soft glowing candles and wrapped up together in a giant blanket. Things like that or similar situations kept creeping into his thought patterns, leaving him to look even more distracted than usual lately as he fought back the urges to make them reality.

Although in his confusion, he'd been pushing Wolfram away, and he had a feeling that the young Mazoku was probably taking his reactions the wrong way, and most likely certain that the engagement was nothing but a lost cause.

Yuuri finished scrubbing his hair, lathered thickly with soap, and dove down under the watery depths to rinse it all out again. When he came back up for air, brushing wet bangs out of his face, he lingered for a bit longer. The water soothed him, which wasn't much of a surprise considering it was his element and all, and he didn't want to leave it just yet.

There was one person that knew of his feelings, and only one person – Conrad. It had finally gotten to the point where he had to talk to someone about his dilemma, and Conrad had been his only logical choice. He'd been sworn to complete secrecy, and Yuuri was confident that the word on his thoughts wouldn't get out and become public knowledge before he had the courage to bring the subject up to Wolfram personally. Especially with the treaty being so close and with all the extra people that would be around during the ball…

Actually… that didn't sound like a bad idea at all. Surely Wolfram would be depressed, expecting Yuuri to act the way he usually did and ignore him all night. So really, the best way to handle the situation would be to spend the night with him. Dance with Wolfram, talk with him, while still performing his duties as Maou of course…

And then after it was over, perhaps it was finally the right time to ask for an actual wedding date. He wasn't completely sure whether it was the right idea or not just yet, but Wolfram had been waiting for him for a long time. And surely his could live with a few doubts in order to set his fiancé's mind at ease, couldn't he?

Already he could imagine the look of pure joy on Wolfram's face tomorrow night. The prince was so beautiful when he was happy, and that in itself would be worth it. Stretching one last time, Yuuri stood up, let the water drain back into the bath from his wet skin, and stepped out to wrap a soft towel around his torso.

Suddenly he couldn't wait for tomorrow to be almost over with.