A/N: Hi everyone and welcome to chapter four! I'm falling in love with baby Yuuri; so I hope you all are too! I've noticed in some reviews Yuuri's lack of speech is brought up. I hope it's not too annoying that he hasn't really spoken yet, but don't worry, it should happen sooner or later. Yuu-chan is just a little shy. Thank you all of you who are being faithful to this story and reviewing! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Chapter Four
"Conrad? Hey, Conrad?"
Yuuri searched for his protector and friend throughout the halls of the castle. He wanted to see if Conrad was up for some catch since Gunter let him have a break today. It seemed as if he hardly got to spend any time with the half-mazoku at all, so Yuuri was eager to spend any and all free time he had with Conrad. But so far, the man was nowhere to be found.
Yozak would probably know where he was since the spy knew almost everything around the castle especially when it concerned his captain. The young king was about to search for the red-head instead when he passed by the library. The door was open a crack, but it didn't look like anyone was in there.
"It wouldn't hurt to look." Yuuri decided, nudging the door open more and glancing around.
It was very quiet, though libraries are usually quiet, but it felt so peaceful. He took a few steps towards the window. It had a lovely view of the garden; Cheri's flowers were starting to bloom. He could see the Conrad Stands Upon the Earths very clearly. The sun warmed his skin through the window; it was a beautiful day… which reminded Yuuri of why he was in here. He needed to find Conrad so they could play catch.
Yuuri spun around and started for the door when he heard a small sound. It was kind of like a sigh. He glanced around, trying to pinpoint where it came from. Down one of the aisles of books there was a chair and table in the back corner. Yuuri's jaw dropped as he gazed at the breath-taking sight.
Conrad leaned back in the chair with his head lolled to one side so that his cheek rested on his shoulder. His long, dark lashes fluttered against his sunned skin. His arms were folded across his chest and moved steadily as he took deep, peaceful breaths. His lips parted just slightly, the source of the sigh that alerted Yuuri his presence.
Never before had Yuuri seen Conrad in such a vulnerable state. Even after all the time he spent in Shin Makoku, he'd never once seen Conrad sleep. On tip toe, Yuuri crept closer to the soldier and knelt down on the ground beside the chair. The sight captivated him; he couldn't bring himself to wake him up. He always wondered when Conrad had time to sleep; the man seemed overworked with guard duty at night, early morning rounds, training his soldiers at midday, and spending what little time he could in the evening with Yuuri before starting all over again.
Yuuri smiled softly; he was glad he caught Conrad sleeping openly like this. It made him feel a bit more real to him instead of some perfect entity. Although, Yuuri had to admit, he looked pretty perfect caught up in dreamland too. Very quietly, he stole out of the library only to return a few moments later with a blanket. He carefully draped it over Conrad and took a few steps back. He felt a little strange; after all, who enjoyed watching people sleep? But he decided that this was just as good as playing catch.
Yuuri watched Conrad sleep for most of the afternoon; managing to sneak away before the soldier woke up, baffled at the blanket bestowed upon him.
Sunlight trickled in through the square window and warmed the blankets of Conrad's bed. The warmth slowly rose to an unbearable level and little Yuuri twisted in the sheets he cocooned in during his sleep. He finally opened his eyes after some time and struggled to sit up. His hair stuck up in odd angles and his eyes were half open. The room didn't startle him; the sun being out and lighting up the place helped, but he actually remembered coming in here the night before. He looked next to him and felt his heart rate pick up speed when he saw that it was empty. Where is he? Yuuri glanced around nervously, but it didn't take long for him to realize that who he was looking for was seated at his desk with his back to him.
Relief flooded the small child. He quickly tumbled out of bed and padded over to where Conrad was sitting. The soldier had heard Yuuri's thrashing and had expected him to wake up soon, so it didn't surprise him when he popped up right next to him.
He offered him a friendly smile, "Good morning, Yuuri."
To Conrad's utter astonishment, Yuuri smiled back. It was the first time he'd seen the child smile; the only emotion he witnessed the night before was fear followed by exhaustion. Now a genuine grin lit up his face. His eyes practically sparkled as they focused on Conrad. The man seemed to be caught in a stupor until Yuuri tugged on his sleeve.
"Ah, are you hungry, Yuuri? Would you like breakfast?" he ventured, remembering that other than a light snack Yuuri hadn't eaten anything yesterday. Not only had he missed out on breakfast and lunch, his accident caused him to miss dinner as well. Conrad was suddenly very eager to get some food in Yuuri.
Luckily the child nodded, still smiling and reached for Conrad. He took it as a request to be picked up, so he did so and Yuuri's beaming face told him that it was the right thing to do. He noted that the shirt Yuuri was wearing was fine for sleeping in, but it wouldn't do to walk around in public in it.
"Hopefully we'll be able to find you some clothes, too." Conrad stood up balancing Yuuri in his arms and left his room.
When Conrad awoke hours beforehand, he'd taken the time to completely change and then requested that someone else do his morning rounds for him. He thought that leaving Yuuri alone in this state was out of the question; the boy would surely panic again if he woke up alone in a strange place after somehow bonding with Conrad. He also told someone to inform the rest of the castle that the maou was safe with him so no one needed to worry. Shinou knows the hysteria that Gunter and the rest of the castle would've ended up in if they discovered Yuuri missing.
Strangely enough, holding Yuuri in his arms wasn't as bizarre as he thought it would be. Certainly seeing him as a child rather than an awkward sixteen year old was bizarre, but his comfortable weight and warmth was familiar. He supposed it was because he'd seen Yuuri as an infant. The infant that gave him the rubber duck and smiled at him just as this child did now.
As they headed for the dining room, Conrad realized how silent Yuuri was. The sixteen year old usually had many things to chatter on about; but so far the younger Yuuri hadn't said a single word other than the incoherent screams from the previous night. His brown eyes searched Yuuri's face for any signs of distress. So far, Yuuri just appeared wary of his surroundings and clung to Conrad just in case the strange castle tried to rip him away.
"Yuuri?" Conrad kept his voice light, but Yuuri still looked up startled anyway. "Can you… you know how to speak, right Yuuri?"
The child scrunched up his face and nodded firmly, as if he were offended by the notion that he couldn't talk. This relieved Conrad, but still didn't explain why he had yet to say anything.
"Will you talk to me?" he asked, shifting Yuuri's weight to his left side.
Yuuri bit down on his lower lip and his eye brows furrowed like Gwendal's did when he worried over cute animals. He looked oddly conflicted for a five year old. Eventually he just shook his head and looked away. Conrad tried to ignore the pain that caused him, but it did make sense. Yuuri saw him as someone who could remind him of his mother, he didn't really feel comfortable enough with him to speak to him. After all, he'd probably been taught to never talk to strangers.
They arrived in the dining room; everyone was already seated and eating. As Conrad approached the table Gunter looked up and promptly rose to greet the young king. Yuuri stiffened upon seeing all the people at the table and Gunter approaching him just made him more agitated. He started to squirm; attempting to get out of Conrad's arms to go hide somewhere, but the soldier held on tightly. Gunter's face fell and he proceeded to weep.
"His Majesty doesn't love me anymore!" he choked out a sob and buried his face in his hands.
"Gunter, I think he'd be less likely to get upset if you didn't startle him with your… enthusiasm. He's still nervous about being here." Conrad told Gunter, easing Yuuri into his seat and surprised to see that only the top of his head reached the table. "I think we'll need a higher chair."
Yuuri craned his head upward and blinked at Conrad as if to say "you think?" and Gunter immediately set to it, "His Majesty needs a new chair!"
Conrad couldn't help but wonder how being addressed as 'Your Majesty' and being treated as a king would affect Yuuri's mind. Perhaps he'd become spoiled? He glanced down at the child beside him and noticed that the boy was now able to reach the table. How? He looked at the seat of the chair; Yuuri was sitting on his knees. He chuckled inwardly; of course Yuuri would remain self-sufficient even as a child.
"It's alright, Gunter. I think he can handle it." Conrad gestured to the chair.
Gunter shook his head, "But, Your Majesty… won't your knees get sore and stiff? I cannot possibly allow such a malady to afflict your delicate body."
Yuuri stared at him; he seemed to be understanding that he was this "Majesty" that everyone spoke of. He shrugged and placed his index finger in his mouth as he looked down at his knees. On earth it wasn't so unusual for children to sit like this. His stomach started to growl and, instead of blushing and stammering as the sixteen year old would have, he looked at the plates of food in front of the others forlornly.
Suddenly, a plate appeared in front of him courtesy of Doria. He brightened considerably before his expression became confused. Conrad glanced down at the food in front of him. It looked fine… Yuuri often ate this dish before and claimed to like it. Everyone had the same thing and they looked down at their own plates and back to Yuuri, unsure of why he wasn't eating his food if he was hungry.
Conrad grasped the reason first; their food didn't look like the kind Yuuri was used to on earth. He'd mentioned something about that when he first arrived here, but young adults are more apt to trying new things than small children. Yuuri's stomach growled again, but he refused to pick up his spork and eat.
"Yuuri." Yuuri's head snapped up when Conrad called him and saw the man take a bite of his own food. "It's good, see?"
"Conrad! It's not proper to eat before the maou has when he's present at the table!" Gunter exclaimed, sounding scandalized.
Gwendal held up a hand to silence the fretting advisor, "He's just trying to get him to eat, Gunter. It's fine."
Yuuri looked around the table and noticed that everyone had indeed stopped eating and were waiting on him. He bit his lower lip and looked back at Conrad who took another bite. Well, the food hadn't killed Conrad… and he was hungry. His small, baby hand wrapped around his spork and he scooped up something that had the same consistency as scrambled eggs and popped it in his mouth. He chewed slowly, watching Conrad watch him. Finally he swallowed and paused. The room fell silent and still; waiting for Yuuri's judgment. The child just took another bite and then another and everyone relaxed in unison.
As they ate, Conrad remembered his thoughts earlier on Yuuri's clothes, "Gunter, His Majesty is going to need something to wear. Do you know if Mother kept any of our baby clothes?" Cheri was currently on one of her free love cruises.
Gunter smiled while Wolfram stared at Yuuri for some reason, "Don't worry. I've already had a tailor get to work on proper attire for him."
"Good, but how did you know his measurements?" Conrad inquired, his eyes drawn to the strange expression on his younger brother's face.
"I had several sizes that I asked for based on what I saw of His Majesty last night. Surely one of them will fit him." He informed him, sounding quite sure about his judgment.
"I see. Wolfram? What's the matter?" Conrad turned to look at what Wolfram was looking at, which was Yuuri, and found his answer.
The boy was glaring at him! Well, as much of a glare as a child could muster up. "He made that face after you asked about the clothes the first time." Wolfram supplied and Conrad thought back to what he'd said that would make Yuuri react in such a way.
It's Yuuri! You should know, you named me!
Conrad smiled apologetically, "Sorry, Yuuri."
This seemed to appease him and Yuuri went back to eating his food. Conrad settled for watching him; it was amazing how much of him was the same and yet so much was different about him.
After breakfast, Gunter was informed that the clothes were ready.
"That was fast." Wolfram muttered and Gunter puffed out his chest in pride.
"I had every tailor in the kingdom working on clothes for His Majesty. I pray that they will not disappoint." He led them to Yuuri's bedroom where the clothes were laid out on the bed.
A replica of his traditional black uniform in a smaller size was the first in line, followed by tunics of multiple colors and fashioned from expensive silk. There were leggings and pants and cloaks and undershirts and polished shoes filling the room. Gunter looked at Yuuri expectantly, but the child appeared overwhelmed by all the fancy clothes. He was used to his mother putting him in dresses, but this was ridiculous!
"Gunter… these are all very nice, but…" Conrad figured that Yuuri was an active child and would most likely want to run around outside. These clothes didn't cater to that exactly.
"His Majesty will be the sweetest of all children; fit to be the child of The Great Sage himself!" Gunter was going on, oblivious to everyone's concern over the outfits.
"Lord von Christ, I'm flattered, but I really don't want Shibuya to be my love child. No offense, Shibuya." Everyone turned around to see Murata standing in the doorway with Yozak at his side.
"I fetched him just like you asked." Yozak gave a cheerful salute to Gwendal, before looking down at Yuuri. "Wow. You weren't joking. The kid's a kid! A really little kid."
"Yozak." Conrad warned; he didn't want Yuuri to become upset by any teasing, though the boy seemed fascinated by Yozak's hair for the time being.
Yozak grinned sheepishly, "Sorry, captain. I couldn't resist."
Meanwhile, Murata walked up to little Yuuri and bent down in front of him, "Hi, Yuu-chan." He smiled, using the nickname that Miko Shibuya gave her son and his best children's voice. It eased Yuuri up some, "I'm Murata Ken, nice to meet you."
Yuuri nodded and smiled a tiny bit; Murata was familiar to him given that he had black hair and black eyes like his father and brother. Hair like Yozak's and the others were uncommon and just a bit strange to him. Murata gave him a pat on the head and looked at the clothes on the bed.
"Oh, no. This won't do at all. How will Yuu-chan be able to play in these?" Murata shook his head. "Well, I suppose a quick trip to earth is in order." He smiled at Yuuri again, "What's your favorite color?" Yuuri looked around, his eyes settled on a blue tunic and pointed at it. "Blue?" he received a nod as his response. "Okay, blue it is. I'll be back in a week or two. It depends on how amiable Shinou feels like being. Take good care of Little Shibuya."
"But, Your Holiness, what about turning Yuuri back?" Wolfram questioned; luckily the child in question wasn't paying attention and got distracted by Yozak's hair again.
Murata fixed his glasses and they gleamed dangerously, "We'll just have to wait and see."
Somehow the mood turned ominous and everyone looked down at Yuuri, who was blissfully unaware of his current predicament.