Disclaimer: I do not own Kyo Kara Maoh.

Pairings: Yuuri x Wolfram

WARNINGS: Shounan ai (boy/boy pairing), you have been warned

Your Romeo, My Juliet

By V. Shalyr

Chapter 2

Going shopping with his mother and Wolfram for girls' clothes that would suit said fiancé was, oddly enough when he really thought about it, not the weirdest thing Yuuri had ever done. It wasn't even all that embarrassing to tell the truth. And this was probably because he'd gone shopping with Wolfram and Jennifer for nightgowns the week before and that had been far, far worse. Wolfram had no shame in some things—he just didn't care what strangers thought of him, the only people whose opinions mattered to him were the people he cared about—and would come marching out of the dressing rooms in whatever to demand Yuuri's opinion. The shop assistants and other shoppers kept throwing them strange looks alternating between amusement and disapproval. They really looked a bit too young for this. At least shopping for daytime clothes came across as less inappropriate.

"What do you think about this one?" Wolfram asked, emerging from the changing rooms in a rather skimpy, dark crimson dress that showed off his legs and clung to all the right places. Yuuri choked. Leaping to his feet, he grabbed his fiancé and hauled him hurriedly back inside.

"Mom! He is not going to school in that!"

"Aw, but why not? Wolf-chan looks so beautiful in it! Didn't you notice?"

Of course he'd noticed! What kind of question was that?

"That's not the point!"

"You don't like it?" Wolfram asked, pouting a little as he examined his reflection in the dressing room mirror again. Of course, red wasn't one of his favorite colors, but he'd thought it fit him reasonably well.

"I didn't say that." The double black sighed and rubbed his temples. His eyes couldn't help but wander back down the blonde's slender figure and he blushed, tearing his gaze away to glare at his mother. "We're not going to a party, Mom. We're going to my school!"

And even if it was a party, Yuuri wasn't sure he wanted other people to see Wolfram in—in that. For some reason, imagining it made a rather unpleasant feeling well up in his chest that he wasn't all that used to.

Jennifer tapped her chin, scrutinizing the outfit thoughtfully. "I guess maybe it is a bit too much for school. Wolf-chan, how about trying this one?"

She held up a different outfit and Yuuri beat a hasty retreat before Wolfram could start undressing. He had more important things to worry about right now than what his fiancé was wearing. He had to find a way to get Wolfram into the auditions first, not to mention onto the acting staff. This was going to be a very busy few days.

.

"I'm so glad you actually came!" Haru exclaimed, jumping off the theatre stage to meet them as Yuuri came down the aisle amidst the seats with his backpack slung over one shoulder. "We were just making the final plans for the auditions in a few days. Since it's going to be for your costar, we were really hoping you could be there."

"Er, yeah, about that," Yuuri said, clearing his throat. "Is—is it okay for someone from another school to join the auditions? My, uh, girlfriend would really like to try out."

"Your girlfriend?" Haru blinked and the chatter amidst the other present club members died down as people strained to hear their conversation. They'd all heard the rumors that the captain of the baseball team had a foreign girlfriend, but Haru had never been much of a gossip and had never considered that the rumors might be true. This was certainly an unexpected if interesting development.

"I guess I don't see why not," she said slowly, glancing around to make sure no one was going to object to her decision. It seemed that everyone was curious.

"Great," Yuuri grinned, relieved. Step one successful! And he'd had this whole argument planned in case he needed to convince them to come around to his point of view. Oh well, better safe than sorry. Being prepared with backup plans like that was part and parcel of being a king, especially when he conducted as many negotiations as he did. Peace hinged a lot on words and understanding. "So what time did you guys want to hold the audition?"

"That's actually what we wanted to talk with you about," a boy with a clipboard said, crouching down on the edge of the stage next to them. "I'm not familiar with when baseball practice happens. Would this Thursday after school work for you?"

.

Wolfram looked up as Yuuri sat down on the couch next to him and pressed a book into his hands. "Okay, Wolf, they've agreed to let you audition. But that means we need to get you updated on the story. All the other candidates will most likely already know it since we were forced to read it for class. For the audition, you'll have to perform a short section from the play—one of Juliet's early scenes."

Wolfram glanced at the text and his forehead wrinkled. "That sounds weird. And I have to say this?"

"If you want to be in the play then yes." Yuuri shrugged. "I know it might sound a little strange to you, but that's how people were back when this was written—well, how people were in plays anyway. Don't worry. When people actually perform, they don't tend to say it exactly the same way. But this is for the sake of the audition."

Wolfram pouted but made no further objections.

Satisfied that his fiancé understood, Yuuri went over to the television and searched through the stuff he'd piled next to it until he found the DVD he'd been looking for. "I borrowed a copy of one of the more recent renditions of the play so you could see how people do this. It's kind of long, so let's just go through the first part for now and then focus on the scene you're going to have to perform. Good thing they don't want a lot of lines."

It had been the best strategy he could come up with to help Wolfram catch up with the people he was going to be competing with. Plays were really meant to be watched and listened to, not read. Those were two completely different experiences and Yuuri had seen enough movies and shows about the making of them to know that it wasn't as easy as just understanding the words.

On the bright side, when it came to emotions, Wolfram was more than capable of putting it all out there.

Still sitting on the couch waiting, Wolfram flipped idly through the pages. Yuuri had explained the overall plot to him earlier. Pausing on one page, he scowled, though it was more of a contemplative expression than an angry one. "So this Romeo character was a cheater too. He only just said he loved a different woman at the start of the play."

Yuuri blinked then frowned. "Hey! I told you already, I'm not a cheater!"

Wolfram had gotten better about not throwing baseless accusations at him all the time, but they still seemed to have this conversation every other week. Honestly, it was starting to get frustrating—not that it hadn't already been frustrating before, he supposed, but still.

Wolfram grumbled something incoherent under his breath then averted his eyes guiltily. Apparently, Yuuri wasn't the only one who remembered their conversations. "I'm… sorry."

This was such a shock that Yuuri turned all the way around to stare at him and make sure he hadn't imagined it. Had Wolfram just apologized to him?

The blonde suddenly seemed to find the couch cushions utterly fascinating, picking at the seams with his fingers. "You've been really good about me wanting to be in the play. And… you're doing all this to try to help me…"

He waved towards the television without looking up.

And because he didn't look up, he failed to see the gentle smile that settled onto the double black's face. Pushing the DVD into the player, Yuuri grabbed the remote and went back to join his fiancé on the couch. Slipping one arm around the blonde's slim waist, he pulled him against his side and leaned down to press a kiss to Wolfram's temple. The Mazoku's cheeks turned a pleasant, faint pink and he rested his head against Yuuri's shoulder.

The double black had been a little hesitant the first time he'd actually kissed his fiancé after the whole coming to Earth and confessions thing. But somehow, seeing Wolfram blush had gotten rid of any embarrassment Yuuri thought he would have felt at such public displays of affection. Maybe he was spending too much time with Murata, but his fiancé really was too cute when he blushed.

"That's because I want you to get the part too. Now, let's get started. We've got a lot of work to do."

.

The entire theatre was in chaos. Haru surveyed the crowd milling about the plush, auditorium seats with a mixture of excitement, glee, and exasperation. Half of the people had turned out for the auditions while the other half had come to catch a glimpse of the baseball team captain's elusive, foreign girlfriend. How the word had gotten out she had no idea, but that was gossip for you, spreading like wildfire with no regard for truth or inconvenience.

"You know," Takeshi mused, joining her beside the red velvet curtains, "maybe someone should go outside and see if they can catch Shibuya and his girl before they walk into…this."

He gestured emphatically at the crowd. At this rate, just getting close to the stage for the two would be like trying to cross the Red Sea without Moses.

Haru nodded. "I'll go. You guys still have some last minute preparations to see to."

And not a moment too soon. She had only just arrived outside when she spotted a familiar, dark-haired young man heading towards her with a second, smaller figure trailing after him.

"Shibuya-san, over here! The auditorium's pretty crowded so we thought it would be best if we got you two in through the back."

"That's fine." Yuuri smiled and turned, slipping an arm around his companion's waist to urge "her" forward. "This is Wolfram von Bielefeld. She's, ah, from Germany."

At least he thought the Mazoku tongue sounded a bit like German. Luckily, to his knowledge, there weren't any students in his school who spoke German to prove him wrong.

Finally getting a good look at her, Haru almost dropped her clipboard. Wow, she'd known the girl was foreign but she hadn't expected golden hair and green eyes to be quite so stunning. On this person, the combination seemed almost angelic.

Well, Haru mused, if she got the part, she would certainly help bring in the crowds. This could definitely work. Not to mention she knew a good dozen people at least who had been dying to know just who it was had stolen the attention of their favorite sports team captain. Some of them hadn't made it today, but the crowd in the theatre right now was proof enough.

Smiling brightly, she held out her hand. "Hi! My name's Tanaka Haru and it's a pleasure to meet you."

Wolfram accepted the hand gingerly and shook it. If he remembered correctly, Yuuri had said that in this country, you tended to address people with their last names and they gave their last names before their first ones. Ugh, why did customs have to be so complicatedly different everywhere? "It's nice to meet you too, Tanaka-san."

Haru beamed and mentally rubbed her hands together. This was going to be so exciting! It felt like for the first time in way too long, they were finally getting somewhere.

"Come on, I'll lead the way. And welcome to our school, Bielefeld-san. I know you haven't been around much, but I hope you like it here. Please feel free to ask me if you need anything."

Wolfram surveyed their surroundings with open curiosity as they followed the girl around to the back door of the building that contained the school's auditorium. He'd visited Yuuri's school before, but only on brief occasions. There didn't seem to be anything particularly unusual or spectacular about it as far as he could see, not that he'd really expected anything different. So this was a "high school", huh? He couldn't see why Yuuri wanted to come here everyday. He could get a perfectly good education back in Shin Makoku—the best really, being the king.

It took a moment for people to realize that the metaphorical "guests of honor" had arrived. Whispers, squeals, and giggles swept through the rows of seats and the people farther in the back stood up to try and see. Wolfram being Wolfram, however, either ignored or failed to notice the attention he was attracting, zeroing in instead on the crowd of girls near the stage who were talking behind their hands and casting looks at his fiancé. Wolfram glared at them and immediately attached himself to Yuuri's side.

Yuuri was still holding the blonde's hand and he gave it a reassuring squeeze, hoping to calm him down. It worked at least a little and Wolfram settled down to listen as Haru vaulted onto the stage.

She clapped her hands and waved for everyone's attention. "The auditions are going to start in five minutes, so please get ready."

Hopping back down into the walkway, she gestured at Wolfram. "Could you please go wait over there with the other girls?"

Reluctantly, Wolfram nodded and moved across to the other section of seats while Yuuri sat down to watch. The double black felt almost just as nervous as Wolfram. He'd been utterly truthful when he'd told the blonde that he wanted him to get the part. So maybe this hadn't been his idea to begin with, but when he'd taken a moment to really think about it, he honestly couldn't imagine going through all those scenes with someone else.

If he was honest with himself, Wolfram had always been on his mind a lot. The fiery blond Mazoku tended to be extremely emotional and provoked a lot of emotions in return from the people around him. It had just taken a long time for him to sort out just what those emotions were.

A couple months before their return to Earth, Murata had caught Yuuri watching Wolfram accompanying Greta down in the gardens through the window of the Maoh's study. He'd given his friend that disturbingly knowing look of his and asked, "Enjoying the view?"

Yuuri had jumped at the interruption and given his paperwork a rather guilty look. "What are you talking about?"

The Sage had simply rolled his eyes, not fooled one bit. "I'm talking about Lord Wolfram, obviously. You can't honestly expect me to believe that you've had someone as attractive as Lord von Bielefeld sleeping in your bed for more than five years and you never once thought about what it might be like to take him. You're a healthy young man. Let's be logical here."

Yuuri flushed a little but didn't deny it, which made Murata raise his eyebrows. A few years ago, the Maoh would probably have gone into a spluttering, embarrassed tirade at such a comment. "So are you finally going to do something about your engagement?"

Yuuri had simply sighed, sagging back into his armchair. What was he going to do? "I… don't know."

And somehow, that answer had made Murata frown—really frown. He supposed the Sage had watched his and Wolfram's relationship for so long that in some ways, he perhaps knew them better than they did. He watched and he understood things in ways that the Maoh and his fiancé did not or could not because there were some things that you had to be a thousand-year-old sage to understand.

"He's yours. He's been yours since the moment he fell in love with you—more so because you are his king. That means it's your job to take care of him."

"But he doesn't really need me to take care of him."

"Don't be an idiot, Shibuya. Everyone needs someone to take care of them. And if anything, Lord Wolfram is more high maintenance than most. If that's the way you think then no wonder you've been doing such a poor job."

The Sage had let out an exasperated sigh and changed the tone of his voice before continuing. "Fine, let's talk about this with language you understand better. Who do you picture yourself spending the rest of your life with? How would you feel if he left? If you lost him?"

Yuuri's hand had clenched under the table at that, his mind flashing back to when the blonde had almost died, courtesy of Shinou. It wasn't a memory he was fond of revisiting.

"Do you love him? Think about the question before you answer it, Shibuya."

Love, engagements, marriage—Yuuri had thought that he was too young to be thinking about such things before. But he was twenty-one now, even if he still looked only about eighteen at most. Youth wasn't an excuse anymore. And a little more than half a decade ruling a country had taught him a couple things about facing the truth and making his own decisions.

"…Yes." A shake of the head as though to clear it, a flash of determination in obsidian eyes, "yes, I do."

"Then for heaven's sake do something about it. He would do anything for you. Do you know how lucky you are to have someone love you like that?"

And it had been strange really to realize that, as much as Yuuri now knew about taking care of a country, he really didn't know all that much about caring for a person. Of course he knew the basics of how it was supposed to work. But knowing and putting things into practice wasn't always the same thing. The problem with Wolfram was that Yuuri was always afraid he'd make some terrible mistake. And the blonde really didn't help matters with all his complaints and calling him a wimp all the time, even if the insult turned nickname had more or less stopped bothering him a long time ago.

"You're thinking too much about it," Conrad had told him seriously when Yuuri had hesitantly consulted his godfather for advice. "Just be yourself. My little brother loves you for who you are. I don't think you would have won him over so easily if you had been any different." Then he'd paused and added, "Please… be careful with him."

Because much as Conrad respected and cared for his king, Wolfram was his baby brother and he didn't like to see him hurt.

That had been helpful but also a little sobering. Had everyone known how much Wolfram genuinely loved him except him?

Yuuri's thoughts were interrupted as the first girl was called on stage to give her rendition of the selected passage from the script. She was so nervous she was visibly shaking and Yuuri couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for her. If just auditioning made her this uncomfortable, he couldn't imagine that actually having to perform for real in front of a full audience would do her nerves any good. She looked utterly relieved when she finished that Haru gave her a soothing pat on the back as she made her way down the steps back to her seat.

Four students later and it was Wolfram's turn. Was it wrong of him to be relieved that so far, none of them had given a performance that Yuuri thought the blonde couldn't outdo?

"That's not really your girlfriend, is it?"

Yuuri frowned at the rude tone of the question, glancing up at the girl who had come to stand in front of him. He recognized her from his class but couldn't quite remember her name.

"As a matter of fact, she is."

The girl pursed her lips, folding her arms across her chest. "I suppose she is pretty," she conceded, "but I'd be careful if I were you. You never know what these foreign girls actually want. Especially the pretty ones."

Yuuri wasn't sure what she was trying to insinuate, but the tone of her voice made him bristle. Aside from that, despite his looks, Wolfram was one of the least vain people Yuuri knew.

"Don't say things like that when you don't even know hi—her," he snapped, catching himself on the last word. Damn, this was going to take some getting used to after all.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, not sounding apologetic at all as she took a step closer to him. "I was only trying to look out for you. I didn't mean to make you angry."

"Who I choose to date is none of your business," the double black said evenly, adopting the cool tone he'd learned to use during political discussions where the other side was being particularly unpleasant. Due to her interference, he hadn't been able to really listen to Wolfram's performance, but at least he could tell that the blonde hadn't forgotten any of the words and there didn't seem to have been any unplanned pauses in his monologue.

Yuuri silently thanked Shinou that Wolfram hadn't spotted the girl until after he'd finished his lines because his emerald green eyes instantly turned murderous and Yuuri didn't think murderous was Juliet's best look in the middle of a romantic contemplation. Not bothering to wait for the applause to finish, the blonde marched off the stage towards the front row of seats, shoved said girl aside none too gently, and seated himself rather pointedly in Yuuri's lap.

The girl scowled, spinning on her heel and leaving without another word. Wolfram watched her go with satisfaction before what he'd just done finally clicked in his head and he tensed, looking worriedly at Yuuri for his reaction. They had talked about his impulsive, jealousy-led behavior before, and the double black had managed—with great effort—to impress upon him that it could cause problems. He relaxed again when Yuuri just smiled and slipped an arm around his back to support him. The double black thought he saw a faint blush color the other's cheeks before Wolfram cautiously rested his head against Yuuri's shoulder.

They watched the rest of the auditions like that.

.

"Shibuya-san, do you have a minute?"

Yuuri had been dreading this moment all morning. Pausing in the hallway, he turned to face Haru and managed a smile in greeting. "What is it?"

"Okay, so here's the thing," Haru said, cutting straight to the point. Luckily, the corridor was mostly empty so they could talk without disturbing anyone. "Technically, this girl from the junior class gave the best performance during the audition."

Yuuri's heart sank. He'd been afraid of that.

"But," she continued and Yuuri held his breath, "I know her and she's a right pain to work with. So I'm hoping to push the others into going for Wolfram. But I just wanted to make sure, seeing as I don't know her that well yet..." She trailed off, embarrassed. "I know that's a weird question to ask someone's boyfriend, but there isn't anyone else around here who knows her, so…"

"She has something of a temper, but she's really sweet once she warms up to you," Yuuri said honestly, "and I can assure you she's really responsible."

"Great." Haru sighed in relief. "Then I can almost assure you that she's got the part. I know Takeshi liked her and I'm pretty sure the others will come around easily. But I'll let you know for sure by the end of the day."

.

From the moment his king had left for school, Wolfram had been unable to calm down. He paced about the house in a state of restless agitation until Jennifer recruited him to help her with meal preparations in the kitchen. Learning to cook from "Mama" had proved surprisingly fun when he and Yuuri had first arrived to begin their extended stay on Earth and Wolfram had become quite an accomplished cook—at least after he'd finally mastered the use of the oven, stove, and microwave. Earth technology could be so confusing sometimes.

"You shouldn't look so distressed," Jennifer said, pulling him back from his thoughts as she stirred the bubbling liquid in the pot she was hovering over. "I'm sure everything will work out just fine. Yuu-chan will make sure of it."

"Will he?"

"Of course he will. You do believe in him, don't you?"

Wolfram nodded. He had grown to believe in Yuuri as a king a long time ago. But as a fiancé? That was something they were still working on. They'd made significant progress and he so wanted to believe, but at the same time, the more he wanted to believe, the more afraid he was of just letting it happen. It made Wolfram feel a little guilty too because he knew Yuuri was trying so hard.

"Let me tell you something," Jennifer said conspiratorily, accepting the bowl of eggs Wolfram had beaten for her and adding it to what now appeared to be some kind of noodle. "The men in this family can be very silly sometimes, but they always pull through when it matters. Now, could you please help Mama put together that sauce I showed you how to make last week?"

Wolfram knew she was right. But he also knew that in this particular case, Yuuri only had so much say in the matter.

"I'm home!"

As soon as he heard the double black's voice, Wolfram was out of the kitchen and through the living room to the front door where Yuuri was just taking off his shoes.

"So?" he demanded, green eyes fixed on Yuuri full of anxiety disguised for the most part as impatient irritation.

Yuuri paused for dramatic effect then grinned. "You made it."

TBC…

.