IN HIS SHOES
Disclaimer: I do not own Kyou Kara Maou.
Pairing: Yuuri/Wolfram
Notes: This chapter has more shape than the previous. I hope. Thanks to those who put this fic on alert and those who placed a comment in chapter 1. I was quite encouraged. Please bear further with my attempts at a multi-chaptered fic. I will update the chapter as soon as I can.
Chapter II: Annoyance
Because that's what brothers are
He was not proud of himself. He was not ashamed to declare that to himself the moment he boarded this ship that was taking him and his name-giver to Human Territory by sea. In fact, he added as an afterthought, he, Yuuri Shibuya, the great Demon King of the great Demon Kingdom, Shin Makoku, was downright stupid, cowardly and wimpy. Those accusations a certain blonde prince made about his character were, as it turned out, very true.
His name-giver, the man he looked up to as a combination of idol, role model and godfather, knew the emotions flaring inside his heart at the moment but did and said nothing to condemn him. The king wished he did not mollycoddle him sometimes but the gentle, comforting smiles and warm pats on his shoulder he gave were like a drug. They made him feel good and comfortable and it was so hard to let go of the comfort. His reaction to the king's actions was an understanding smile. His eyes were a little bit sad but his smile was one of understanding nonetheless.
"How many more days is it until we arrive in Cavalcade?" he asked his travel companion in order to avoid awkward silences.
Conrart Weller looked up from the map he was holding and said apologetically, "Three more days. I'm so sorry we can't go straight to Cavalcade but that stopover in Malvesia was inevitable. If the mayor of Malvesia was not a cousin of the king of Cavalcade, and if Mr. Heathcliff and Gwendal hadn't already arranged for us to meet him, we would be able to proceed faster."
Yuuri smiled. "Oh, that's all right. No problem! That visit to Malvesia was much needed. Now we can start importing the famous Malvesian wine that Lady Celi loves so much. I'm just glad Gwendal is allowing me negotiate the trade agreements on my own now. Do you think he's starting to trust me as a king?"
Conrart nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty– I mean, Yuuri. He has." He paused then but his face showed that he might still have another statement to make. Yuuri waited for him to speak. But a few minutes passed and Conrart did not say anything. Instead he smiled again and looked away.
"What's the matter?" Yuuri asked. "You look like you have more to say."
"Do I?" he replied, laughter in his voice. "I actually don't. Not really."
Yuuri raised his eyebrows. "Really? Are you sure? Look, Conrad, if you have something to say, you just say it. Is something bothering you?"
Conrart hesitated but Yuuri's black eyes were too big, too curious and too pleadingly so that he could not help but want to tell Yuuri what was on his mind. He said, "I guess… I just wish we could travel with… Wolfram."
At the mention of his younger half-brother's name, the king's expression turned steely. He turned around and gave Conrart his back. The soldier knew he had touched a sensitive issue when he saw the king's reaction but he could not help but say it. Of course traveling alone with Yuuri with a smaller entourage than usual meant that he got to spend more time with the king; perhaps even in a more intimate manner than usual because now there were less people around them. But at the same time he could also not deny that his heart wished that Wolfram could travel with them. They had made so many trips together in the past and it was quite strange not having him with them this time.
There was nothing he could do about this, of course. The king made it clear that he did not want the blonde prince to join them. He had rejected the prince's company in an agonizingly brutal way. Other than not mentioning his travel plans to Wolfram until the last minute, when he did, he had even told Wolfram that he especially wanted to travel alone with Conrart, the one person in this universe who could make Wolfram green with envy. The final blow was to not acknowledge Wolfram's goodbye at all at departure. Thanks to this, whatever intentions Wolfram had of sneaking aboard the ship to join and follow them had been squashed before the idea even materialized in his mind.
Both Conrart and Yuuri knew how cruel his action was so it was little wonder that Yuuri felt disgusted with himself earlier. Even now, the self-loathing would not go away and he was pretty sure it would plague him for the rest of the journey. Yuuri inwardly argued that there was actually a very good reason why he did what he did and said what he said. But he was too stupid, cowardly and wimpy to reveal it and admit it to anyone, even to himself. And so he had chosen to ignore Wolfram and gave no explanation whatsoever.
Conrart wondered if he should pursue the matter. But one look at Yuuri's cold back and he decided that it was best to let the sleeping dogs lie… for now. When there was another chance, he would probably ask again. Right now, however, all he needed to do was make sure that the young king was out of harm's way. Guilt or no guilt and curiosity aside, this was the reason why he had to go along with Yuuri.
"Yuuri," Conrart called.
"Yes?" Yuuri replied.
"I'm going to see the captain to speak with him. I'll see you later."
Yuuri forced smiled and a cheerful reply. "Roger that!"
Dinner was a dreaded affair that evening. The castle was deprived of its main residents at the moment, with the king gone on a trip with the captain of the Royal Guard, and his predecessor gone too on a luxury holiday trip. The chief of military and state affairs had been called up back to his ancestral home to settle a dispute between two of his older relatives. The light-haired mentor who had been grieving over his majesty's safety earlier this morning had been sedated by his physician/daughter and was now resting in said physician/daughter's place… just in case he lost it again. So now the only ones left at the castle other than the guards and household staffs were the king's daughter, the king's abandoned fiancé, the king's older brother and Anissina.
When he heard that Anissina was going to join him and their guest for dinner, Wolfram resisted the urge to run away to Gwendal and hide from Anissina behind his older brother's back. The only thing that was preventing him to run away like a coward was his pride. Besides, there were good manners to consider. As much as he preferred his privacy right now, he was too proud a Mazoku of nobility to let bad manners getting in the way. That and Gunter. Gunter would probably spank him if he knew that Wolfram, the only one in the castle who could entertain their guest, neglected his duties.
Anissina somehow knew that Wolfram was agitated at the situation but had no choice than to grin and bear it and she was very, very amused. The moment she entered the dining room and found him sitting awkwardly across Shori Shibuya at the table in silence, she felt like rolling on the floor and laughing out loud. But she could not bring herself to do it. It was bad enough that the boy was feeling helplessly abandoned. She did not think it was weird to rub more salt to a wide open wound by making fun of him.
"Good evening, gentleman," Anissina greeted.
"Lady Anissina," Shori acknowledged. He rose from his seat and went over to pull a chair for Anissina. Anissina thanked him for seating her.
The appetizer was served. Anissina looked to her left at Wolfram and to her right at Shori. Neither was inclined to start a conversation. Anissina sighed quietly. Apparently, it was up to her to break this ice.
"Shori, it's really nice to have you here," Anissina started. "I'm just sorry that no one is around at this moment. Your day must have been quite boring."
Shori politely shook his head. "I spent some time with Greta."
Anissina smiled. "So I've heard. Greta can't stop talking about her Uncle Shori."
Shori blushed at the word 'uncle'. He cleared his throat and said, "She showed me her sketches." Turning to Wolfram, he said, "Wolfram had been teaching her how to sketch."
"Excellent! Sketching is a useful hobby for an inventor to start. It helps with the design of an invention," Anissina said with a nod of approval to Wolfram. As the king's daughter's self-appointed mentor, she always encouraged the little girl to start as many useful hobbies as possible.
"Thank you for your approval," Wolfram muttered sarcastically to his soup.
Anissina heard the snide remark and decided to retaliate. Turning to Shori, she said loudly, "You know what, Shori, I know that you said you only plan to be here until tomorrow morning but I think you should stay for a few days more to keep Greta company. Wolfram has been nothing but sulky in these past few days because Yuuri is gone. And, quite frankly, I don't think all that sulkiness is doing Greta any good."
If looks could kill, Anissina would have been dead. Annihilated. Turned to ash. Shori arched his eyebrows and turned to Wolfram. He replied Anissina while staring at Wolfram, "Indeed, I have noticed." And now Shori would probably join Anissina in ash form.
His patience snapped. Good manners or no, Wolfram knew he could not stay there for a minute longer because he was very close to burning his dining companions alive. Glaring at the both of them, Wolfram threw his spoon down and got up from the table with a bang. He pushed his chair back and walked towards the door. The maid attending to the dinner jumped out of his way as he opened the door, exited and slammed it to a close.
Anissina and Shori shared a look. After a few seconds, Shori asked, "I knew he was a temperamental brat but I've never seen him that angry unless there was an enemy in front of him. What exactly is wrong with him?"
Anissina shrugged. "What else? Let's see if I can put it simply and correctly for you. First, your brother decided to go on a trip without him. Then, your brother said that he wanted to go alone with Wolfram's brother and therefore making Wolfram green with envy. Finally, when your brother was about to leave, he didn't acknowledge Wolfram's goodbye. He just… left."
Shori's defense of his brother was automatic. "It's unlike Yuuri to be that cruel."
"Perhaps His Majesty had a stomachache at that time," Anissina suggested.
"That still doesn't sound like Yuuri," Shori replied. He started to furrow his eyebrows.
She rolled her eyes. "Well, try explaining that to the person he left behind."
Shori sat there, assessing Anissina's words, while toying with the contents of his bowl. Not long after that, he looked up to the beautiful redhead Mazoku. Anissina met his eyes and inquired quietly through her gaze what Shori wanted to say.
His reply was not long in coming. "I think I will try to explain that to the person he left behind. I hope you don't mind dining alone."
Anissina nodded. She understood. "That's great. That would help us a lot. I definitely don't mind dining alone. More food for me!"
And so, Shori left to have a little talk with Conrart's little brother.
Philippe was the proudest of them all. In terms of size, he was even smaller than his next-door-neighbor, the dark Ao, and his next-door-neighbor was already considered small among them. Those who did not know probably thought that they were already gigantic but compared to their mates, they were easily the smallest. Unlike Ao who had a gentle nature, however, Philippe was haughty and refused to let anyone near him. In fact, the only other being he would ever allow near him was Ao. If it was not Ao, then it was no one. His stubborn single-mindedness often caused trouble for those who cared for him. His owner, on the other hand, was quite proud of that fact. After all, Philippe resembled Wolfram so much that he might as well be his clone.
"Hey, Philippe," Wolfram greeted his loyal steed. Philippe approached Wolfram and nuzzled Wolfram's neck, asking for a pat and a treat. He only received the pat. There was no treat. Philippe stomped his foreleg to indicate his disappointment.
"Sorry but even I didn't even get to dessert," Wolfram replied. He continued stroking Philippe's glistening coat. He checked Philippe's grooming for a moment and was pleased to find that Dacascos had groomed him well.
"You look good as always," Wolfram said to the horse. Philippe seemed to understand. He nuzzled Wolfram's palm.
Turning to the horse housed next to Philippe's stall, he greeted Ao. "Hey, there. Miss your rider? Well, you should. He's going to go away for a long time. You're stuck here in this place like the rest of us. Not too fun, huh? Did he say goodbye to you? No? Well, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't. He has always been that insensitive."
Ao gave Wolfram a sad look. Wolfram tried to resist the urge to pat the king's horse but failed. Just because Ao was owned by the king it did not mean it was the king. He might be dark like the king but he was much nicer than the king, Wolfram decided. So he reached over and patted Ao's head.
"Wolfram!"
Surprised, Wolfram took a step back. He lost his footing and fell down on his derriere on a stack of hay. Shori appeared in front of him, looming above him as he stared amusedly at Wolfram's position. Wolfram thought he was smiling but it was dark and he could not really see Shori's face properly.
Shori offered his hand to help Wolfram get up. Wolfram regarded Shori's hand apprehensively. It took him a very long time to contemplate whether or not to take Shori's hand. In the end, Shori lost his patience and grabbed Wolfram's hand to pull him back up in a single yank.
When Wolfram said nothing, Shori felt it in him to correct his manners. "Usually when someone offers you a hand, you take it. And then you thank him."
Wolfram flushed. Shori's tone was stern and authoritative. It reminded him of something or someone that he could not put his finger onto. It was maddening. But he had been chastised for displaying bad manners. It embarrassed him. Nonetheless, Wolfram liked to think he was a good sport. So he apologized.
"Sorry. And thank you for helping me get up," Wolfram said.
"Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Shori replied.
"No, it wasn't," Wolfram retorted. He shook his head. "What do you want? I came here to be alone. Do you need help with something?" He paused as if realizing something. The look that showed on his face next surprised Shori. He looked somewhat… uncertain?
Well, that was definitely new for Shori. The Wolfram he knew was always confident and straightforward. He never expected to see an uncertain side of Wolfram for as long as they both lived. Wolfram then continued, "My brother… well, neither of my brothers is here. If you need help, they're probably more qualified than I am to help you. I… don't know if I can help you much. As you can see, I had not been chosen to accompany the king on his journey, nor have I been called to my home in Von Bielefeld territory to settle a dispute. So… if you do need help, keep it simple."
It took all the discipline that Shori had not to drop his jaws in shock. Wolfram was actually acting like a… lost child? No, that could not be right. Shori shook his head, only to stop himself before he let his amusement and amazement show in front of the proud Wolfram, thus embarrassing him further. But Wolfram's admission of not being able to be much of a help was definitely shocking. Indeed.
Where on Earth – or Shin Makoku – did Wolfram get the idea that he could not possibly help Shori? It was true that he and Wolfram did not interact much in the past. They had only exchanged a few short conversations in the history of their acquaintance. Shori never sought Wolfram to purposefully engage him in a private conversation before and found it much easier to talk to Conrart, Gwendal and even Gunter he looked up to both those men as his mentors and friends with the same maturity level as his. Besides, Wolfram was usually so focused on Yuuri that he practically ignored everyone else when they were together.
That did not mean, however, that Wolfram was useless. Shori knew for a fact – he had heard everything from Ken Murata and managed to deduce it from Yuuri's subconsciously constant rambling of Wolfram whenever he was back on Earth – that Wolfram was a capable and competent Mazoku. Perhaps Wolfram was not the most intelligent or the strongest among Lady Cecilie's offspring but he was definitely the most loyal and eager.
Suddenly Shori felt annoyed. The feeling just popped out of nowhere. He was annoyed that Wolfram did not seem to realize his worth. And he was probably annoyed that no one ever reassured him otherwise. And he was somehow annoyed, too, that even his own brother did not do anything for this young man who was supposedly his fiancé. It annoyed Shori to no end. And it annoyed him even more that he did not know why he felt so annoyed for Wolfram.
"Yes, you can help," Shori said with finality after a while.
Wolfram's head snapped up. His eyes widened for a moment before he narrowed it again to regard Shori inquisitively. "How could I be of service to you?"
"Come with me to Earth," Shori blurted out.
Wolfram did not bother containing his shock the way Shori did earlier. "WHAT?!"
Shori stared at him levelly. "I need your help. I was hoping to ask Yuuri for a huge favor but seeing that he's not around… I can only ask you for this favor."
"And the favor is going to Earth?" Wolfram asked suspiciously.
Shori nodded. "A part of it, yes," he answered. "But there's more to it. I can't explain it to you until I show you."
Wolfram did not speak for a whole minute. Shori sighed impatiently. "Look, if you can't help me…"
"Do you realize that your request is highly unusual?" Wolfram asked. This time he did not sound cynical or angry. He only sounded amazed.
"I don't know, actually," Shori answered frankly after he gave it a moment's thought. "Has… has… no one ever asked you something like this before?"
"Yuuri never asked me to come," Wolfram said. His tone was flat but Shori detected exasperation in his voice. "I always volunteered to follow him whenever he said he was going back to Earth."
Shori made up his mind then. Mentally cursing his brother's endless insensitivity, Shori grabbed Wolfram by his arms and squeezed them tight. Wolfram was about to protest at Shori's rude treatment of his arms when Shori suddenly bowed his head and pleaded, "Please. I beg you. Come with me. I need you to come. I swear it won't be more than a few days!" But he added under his breath, "If all goes well."
Wolfram was surprised – and perhaps a little scared – at Shori's intensity. But now he did not think that Shori was joking. Yuuri's older brother never really told them his reason for coming to visit. He said he wanted to see Yuuri and ask him for a favor. Whatever it was, if Shori was willing to take just about anyone to come to Earth and help him with it, it could only mean that this thing was serious. And if it was serious, Wolfram had to help. Shori was, after all, the brother of his fiancé and his king.
He did a quick calculation in his mind. If he transported himself to Earth with Shori and left Shin Makoku for a few days, in his rough estimation, he would be away for at least four weeks in Shin Makoku time. Yuuri was gone for who knew how long. Gwendal would not be back until two more weeks. Someone had to take care of Greta and that someone would not be Anissina. Then again, Anissina would never harm a hair on Greta's head and she had done this 'babysitting' job many times before. If they were all lucky, Gisela would have managed to calm Gunter and by tomorrow morning Gunter would already be his usual efficient self again. Gunter and Gisela would probably be able to help with the babysitting as well. As for his duties, training the staff could be handled by Gunter. Let the trainees learn from the best mentor in Shin Makoku.
Satisfied with the arrangements, he finally said to Shori, "All right."
Shori blinked. "Really?"
"Yes," Wolfram answered. "You seem to need this favor a lot. Since I have nothing important to do around here that cannot be handled by anyone else, I'll help you."
Shori was glad. He felt like jumping around and hugging Wolfram but that would probably cause Wolfram to retract his offer. So all he did was clear his throat and step back, finally releasing Wolfram's arms from his clutches. Wolfram smoothed his sleeves and turned around to leave.
"When do we leave?" he asked before he exited the stables.
"As soon as possible," Shori answered.
"I'll meet you back here in two hours. I'm going to say goodbye to my daughter first."
"Anissina!" Greta called out as she entered Gwendal's study where Anissina was writing the daily report Gwendal made her do in his absence.
"Greta, aren't you supposed to be in bed?" Anissina replied sternly. But she was not immune to the king's daughter. She let Greta approach the table and hang on to her arms. The princess was all smiles.
"Wolfram said I could say goodbye to him," Greta replied. "So I got up from bed, went to the stables with him and Doria, said goodbye and returned here with Doria."
Anissina's quill stopped midway. Turning sharply to the little girl, Anissina inquired coolly, "What did you say about Wolfram?"
"Wolfram is going away for a while," Greta announced importantly. "He said that he would try to get back as soon as possible. He also told me to behave and follow your, Gunter's and Gisela's orders until Gwendal comes back. Of course, when he comes back, I'll follow his orders again."
"And where, pray tell, is Wolfram going away?" Anissina asked.
Greta's reply was cheerful and excited. "To Earth! And he said he is going to bring me plenty of souvenirs! He promised!"
TO BE CONTINUED