Demon-filled Valentine's Candy by Shukumei

Disclaimer: Kyou Kara Maou and all its characters belong to Tomo Takabayashi. You know the drill.

Warnings/Spoilers: Same as usual. Male/male relationships. This fanfic isn't AU from the OVA, so along with the series, I've included the first 3 episodes of the OVA into this fanfics history. Not that it's entirely important, except for the fact that /spoiler alert/ Shinou's soul is running around the temple.

Rating: M for Mature. Rated as such for mild language and sexual themes (but not actual sex, just implied).

Summary: YuuramxMaou. After hearing from his own daughter on Valentine's Day that he wouldn't know what love was if it hit him in the face, Yuri has to battle against his feelings and himself before he loses the fight for Wolfram's heart.

Author yapping: Okay, done editing.

-o-o-

Part 3: "Strawberry Candy"

Wolfram reached for the shampoo on the edge of the bath. As he poured the gel-like liquid into this hand, the smell of strawberries wafted up, a fragrance that not only the Maou liked because it made him smell like food, but one that Yuuri had also noticed and said he liked. Of course their reactions had been entirely different, what with Yuuri leaning over him to make sure it was Wolfram that smelled like strawberries and saying the blond smelled really nice. Not moments later, the king had changed into the Maou and jumped his bones; Wolfram had wondered how much of that had been a reflection of Yuuri himself.

The scent of strawberries grew stronger as he worked the shampoo into his hair, massaging his scalp. Wolfram returned to the bath's water, sinking in up to his chin.

"That strawberry shampoo on you is almost as dangerous as your mother's Orchid Perfume, Your Majesty."

Wolfram looked up from the water to see Murata Ken standing near the bath's edge wrapped in a towel. The blond smiled at him and asked, "Still afraid to bathe with the women at the temple, Your Highness?"

Murata snorted and set his bathing supplies on the floor. "Shinou's the problem. He keeps possessing Evelyn and making passes at me."

Wolfram laughed and crossed his arms over the edge of the pool. "Evelyn's too far along to have sex, right?"

Murata sat near Wolfram, still wrapped in his towel, and dipped his legs in the warm water. "Yeah, she's well into the seventh month. Shinou just can't seem to understand that. He didn't get it the first time."

Wolfram laughed again, quickly submerging himself completely to rinse the shampoo from his hair. He resurfaced and turned to Murata. "Silvia's almost five now, isn't she?" He continued when Murata nodded. "Are she and Evelyn coming to the party? I know we invited them."

"I think that Shinou may try to tag along again though." The black-haired sage jumped into the water, splashing Wolfram in the process. He flipped his long black hair over his head as he came back up for air.

Wolfram always marveled over the sage's thin and reedy body. Murata had started to grow slowly, just like Yuuri had, aging perhaps two years as a human, but kept a much smaller frame. The man wasn't running around doing manual labor, so it made sense that he hadn't developed the lean muscles that Wolfram and Yuuri had. He did grow out his hair though, just past his shoulders. It flipped out at the bottom when he didn't have it pulled back into a ponytail.

And Wolfram thought that his love life was a little complicated… Murata's was all twisted up. No one even knew that Shinou had come to start possessing one of the shrine maidens and undertaking nightly visits with Murata until the maiden, Evelyn, had become pregnant. Murata had been horrified, blaming himself for letting the innocent maiden be involved in their relationship. He had promptly scolded Shinou for being so seductive no matter what form he was in, but Evelyn had been quite honored to fulfill the Original King's wish to be with his Great Sage and said she was even more honored to birth their child. So when a girl with blond hair and blue eyes was the result, everyone began to wonder if it was all from Evelyn's genes or if Shinou had had some sort of influence in her looks.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I still think your relationship is more complex than mine," Murata said with a smile.

Wolfram blinked, lost in thought, and regarded the black-haired sage. "And how is that, Your Highness?"

Murata swam around the pool for a little bit before coming to rest near Wolfram again. "Well, for one, I'm not married to either Evelyn or Shinou. They are two separate people and getting married would mean I'd have to commit to Evelyn. She still seems to be okay with our little arrangement, so I don't want to do anything to mess that up. But you - you've married Yuuri, and thus, married the Maou. Although they seem different, Yuuri and the Maou really are the same person. You keep trying to figure out Yuuri's feelings but really they're right there; you're both just making it harder on yourself."

"That still doesn't explain why my love life is more complex than yours." Wolfram dunked his head under water again to give it one last rinse.

"By accepting the Maou's feelings, you've given Yuuri the reason not to love you." Murata grabbed for his own shampoo and put it in his hair.

Wolfram lifted himself out of the water and started to towel-dry himself. "That doesn't make any sense, Murata." Wolfram grabbed another dry towel to wrap around his wet hair and sat on a marble slap near the bath, enjoying the warm steam in the air.

Murata dipped his head back into the water so he could still talk while rinsing out his hair. "Not really. Yuuri loves you, but because of the Maou he's unsure of what those feelings are. Yuuri himself has admitted that he's paranoid that you'll fall for the Maou over him, and he'll lose any chance he had with you." Murata paused to let Wolfram respond, but the blond just sat up straighter, waiting for him to continue his explanation. But the sage noticed the glimmer of hope mixed with confusion in the prince's eyes. "He's afraid he can't live up the Maou's – how shall I put this – dexterity."

Murata lifted his head back up and ran his fingers through his black hair. "Since you are intimate with the Maou whom shares Yuuri's mind and body, Yuuri's sexual needs are satisfied. While he's busy trying to figure out his actual feelings over the Maou's, which in reality are no different, he's not desperate to copulate with you. If you had denied the Maou his passions, Yuuri probably would have done so years ago, being that his body wasn't fulfilled."

Wolfram's mouth opened and closed, too many emotions to grasp flitting across his features. But he was able to group together a thought, grabbing at it before another thought threw it off to the back of his mind even if it sort of was a dumb question. "So Yuuri doesn't want to have sex with me because he already does, is want you're saying?"

"When was the last time you came on to him, Wolfram?" Murata grabbed the bar of soap from Earth and started to rub it on his arms.

"I…" Wolfram drew his eyes away from Murata, his brows furrowing. "I can't remember. Honestly, I haven't tried in years, I think. I just assumed Yuuri would brush me off or try to get out of it as usual. He's so immature for his age."

Murata rubbed the soap into his hands and started scrubbing around his face. "Just a little immature. What were you like when you were 25, Wolfram?"

"But I'm a demon, that's different."

"Actually, both Yuuri and I are now growing as demons. We're developing at the same rate you do - that includes our brains." Murata continued scrubbing, careful to avoid his eyes. "So the three of us have the bodies and mentalities of eighteen-year-olds.

"Not only that, you don't need to get any action from Yuuri since his alter-ego is doing that for you. Neither of you need satisfaction from one another. But his body knows you, Wolfram; I think you should try something on him, even if it's just a kiss." Murata splashed water on his face to rinse away the soap.

"You don't think it'll screw things up?" Wolfram gently blushed, too confused with the great sage's 'wisdom' to really argue or not believe his words.

"You two couldn't screw things up anymore than they already are."

-o-o-

End part 3.

/laughs/ I just had to get Shinou back for being such a prankster to the Great Sage and continuing to do so, even after his death. I'm taking it that Shinou can possess whomever he wants, but especially did so to Wolram since, well, duh. And hey, Shinou's jumping into women since they're always around Murata at the temple. /smiles/ I'm a fan over the Original King/Great Sage pairing since they were so totally gay for each other, but of course the series doesn't say that. And I'm still trying to come to terms with the GwendalxGunter and ConrartxYozak, not because I don't like them, but because OMG, I need a straight couple! Why are all the women in KKM scary or only able to be coupled with Yuuri? CecilexRaven, yay! But poor Stoffel, gah! Another gay coupling! See?! You can't escape it...