Disclaimer: I don't own Kyou Kara Maoh!
No money made from this fanfiction. For entertainment's purposes only.
Thank you very much to the reviewers as always.
WARNING: piss and vomit?
4. Spiral of the Last Chance
Reconnection
Wolfram was curled on the cold ground, his sword laying beside him. He could barely breathe, his nausea so strong that it blocked his throat. His hot forehead could melt the hardest stone. He opened his eyes to look at his weapon. His thin white cotton nightgown was soaked with sweat.
He was not used to be in such a state. For God's sake, he was Wolfram von Bielefeld, one of the strongest men in the kingdom!
Yet, his shaking was so powerful that he could barely direct his hand to try to reach for his sword.
No part of his body was spared from pain: he was hurting everywhere.
He wanted to pee, but the toilets and the chamber pot seemed too far from his current spot.
Why had he tried to get up from his bed and get dressed? How could he go to work, sick as he was?
Oh, dear Shinou, he wanted that pain to stop. Why was his body killing him like that? He pressed his hands against his stomach then, weakly, raised his right one to his mouth. He had to throw up, he couldn't breathe. Why was a single medicine not able to calm this nausea?
Tears gathered at the corner of his eyes.
This was ridiculous: he felt too weak to even press a single finger on his tongue to vomit. He couldn't even do that.
Please, Shinou...Stop that pain. I can't stand it anymore.
No medicine had been effective enough. Nothing had worked so far to relieve his aching body. It had been days and days that the doctors had remained completely at a loss.
His love chagrin made it even worse.
In spite of the torture his body was going through, he couldn't escape from thinking of his fiancé. His gone fiancé. He bit his lips as his heart swelled again, too many emotions rushing through his soul. He strangled every sob, every desperate moan which loomed over his resistance.
No fucking self-pity, he had the will to think.
If it lasts like this again...I don't think I can make it...It hurts, it hurts...
His identity was stolen from him. Wolfram von Bielefeld, strong? What a joke. He envied every single healthy person. A wretched man is no one to rely on.
At last, his torso blipped, he hiccoughed, his mouth opened and a load of vomit came out and spilt on the floor, running down his right cheek. The soup, swallowed just a few minutes earlier, was now spreading there. Such a foul smell. Yet...he couldn't care less. He barely realized when his own piss started to flow on the ground, hot and disgusting liquid with an abominable smell.
Whatever had suppressed his strength had totally won.
He couldn't take it any more, his eyes closed softly. Celi entered. As she rushed towards Wolf, she called him. And so loudly that her scream spread towards all nearest chambers. But that, she didn't realize.
XXX
On the field, Yuuri was ready. Arms raised, hands wrapped tight around the bat, his eyes reflecting his determination focused on the opponent. His feet were both light and firmly planted on the ground as his knees and waist changed their position when the ball flew into Yuuri.
As if he didn't see anything else but this tiny object thrown to him, Yuuri swang his arms with strength, and hit the ball with perfection. His extreme concentration seemed to make the sound, the noises louder, more precise. BAAAM!
The game drew towards its end, to Yuuri's team's victory. His friends patted his shoulders in admiration and joy:
"Well done, Shibuya!"
"Thanks."
His first move was to grab his bottle of water and drink his heart content. He smiled as he checked the scores.
Today was one of the best days of the week. Yuuri's mood had changed, and he nearly didn't remember why he was so irritated when he got back here. Now he seemed to trust life again and felt ready to start all over again, on good basis. He was thinking of himself, and himself only, of what he wanted and needed. What he had longed for-and that he couldn't admit to Conrad- was a social life with people who didn't have anything to do with Shin Makoku, royalty or whatever. Just...normal people.
He sat with his friends on the near benches and they chatted all together, basked in the sunlight and the ambient excellent mood that the game had brought. Yuuri's happiness to have reconnected with former friends exceeded any earlier melancholia. He had plans for parties, restaurants, studying together...There was nothing else he wanted so strong now as he wanted to live a happy and fullfilled life.
The chat went on, before they all got up to head back towards their locker-room.
A beautiful red car horned at him when he was out. Yuuri quickly recognized Hana and her crimson red lips. She waved at him. He gave her a grateful smile as he took place in the car, on the passager's seat. She leaned over him and kissed his cheek, surprising him. "As a friend," she winked. She drove him back home.
The evening arrived quickly.
In his bedroom, the young man was ironing his shirt. Indeed, he and Mikari and few other friends had made plans for bowling. Mikari wanted to introduce him to someone. A pretty girl. Yuuri had accepted with slight reluctance. He kept at the back of his mind that he had "an engagement" and that he would first properly end it before moving onto another relationship.
But truth be told, he felt in such a hurry to move on, precisely, to start something new.
His phone rang, a nice visual kei song. Mikari was calling him. It was one of his habits to always check ten minutes before coming at his place, to see if Yuuri was still up for hanging out.
"Hey, Yuuri, are you ready?"
"Yep, just finished to button my shirt."
"Okay, I'm coming in a few minutes."
"No need to knock on the door, I'll be out when you arrive."
He made way to his bathroom and checked his reflection. The mirror was telling him he had buffed his muscles up, and gained a rather flattering silhouette. He smiled at that. He decided to put on some gel on his hair then rinsed his hands.
The tap wouldn't close as Yuuri turned it. The more pressure he applied in turning it, the more it resisted. His heart beat as anguish started to build up within. Water filled the washbasin, and at this very moment, as if a ghost hand had turned the tap, water stopped running.
"Yuuri..."
Conrad's voice. Yuuri's breath got laborious. For a few seconds, he was unable to make a single move. He stared at the clear liquid and its untrouble surface. In water, just like on a laptop screen, the face of Conrad appeared.
"Yuuri...I'm really sorry to bother you...But it's urgent. We really need you, right now-"
The godfather's voice trailed off as Yuuri began to shake his head violently.
"No-No, just no! Not now! Go away, Conrad!"
"Yuuri, please listen to me!"
But flinging the bathroom's door open, Yuuri was already stomping into the corridor. Conrad had no other choice.
To Yuuri's horror, water flowed from the washbasin until it reached the floor. Similarly to a snake, it followed Yuuri through the corridor. The sound of a river resounded between the four walls.
"Yuuri you have to come back, please! I wouldn't do this if that wasn't urgent!"
"Get away!"
Yuuri ran down the stairs to the main door but he had the neat sensation that water was still trailing in his track. And-and how could Conrad do this? Had he gained new powers? Did Shinou help him to master water?
He opened the door, and he caught sight of Mikari's car. His friend pulled it aside, got out and waved at him:
"Yuuri!...Yuuri..."
Mikari's once joyful voice completely shut off. Behind Yuuri, in a whirl of water, a tall and handsome man formed and rose. Conrad gripped Yuuri's wrist:
"Yuuri! Please!"
"What?!" His black eyes couldn't lie: hatred was invading Yuuri. Hatred fed by the anger and the fear that Conrad's presence elicited. His voice, the seriousness in which he pleaded Yuuri to come back home, the deep concern in his light brown eyes made Yuuri's heart hammer vigourously like a mad drummer. At the same time, Yuuri couldn't help but feel so much hatred for Conrad for disrupting his quiet night. He barked into his face.
"What do you want?!"
Conrad took a few breaths, staring at his godson.
"Wolfram is dying."
Yuuri's anger faded away. His wrist was only a limp in Conrad's hand. His disbelief was so strong that he remained speechless. Those three simple words started to make him shake.
"What..."
"He is dying, Yuuri. His health had suddenly lessened. He only has a few hours. Maybe you don't care, and I won't be resentful towards you: this is your right. But as a big brother...as a big brother, I beg you. Beg you, please," Conrad's voice strangled, he was out of breath, his eyes getting wet. To have Wolfram lose his life a second time would be like breaking Conrad's heart never to be fixed. "We-"
They gasped. The hand that Conrad was wrapping around Yuuri's softened, got colder and the skin lightened. All at once, it returned to a liquid state. Before an envelop of water engulfed Conrad, his lips spoke again:
"Wolfram needs you. He won't tell it but he..."
Water splashed at Yuuri's feet. He shivered as the spot where Conrad had stood was nothing more than a puddle.
XXX
The lights in Shinou's temple revealed Wolfram's pale form laying in the air as though on an invisible bed. He was breathing lowly. His body could only sustain such a mere and vital action. Doing more than that would have been too big an effort. He was not aware of his surroundings.
All of a sudden, Conrad's silhouette appeared in the centre with a wave sound, like a slow splash.
The brown-haired man walked towards his brother. His heart broke at seeing Wolfram so weak. In his white shirt and trousers, his little brother was sort of floating. He had lost much weight, and his sunken cheeks began to prove how debilitated he had become. It was hard to imagine that this young man, devoid of any strength, used to ride on a horse, holding his sword, and defend his beloved king. He reminded of those skeletons Conrad had seen so many times during and after battles.
"I'm sorry, Wolfram, I've done everything I could," Conrad murmured, holding back tears that he wasn't used to shed. I've done everything. Run all around the kingdom for a rare medicine that would allow your breath to come back. Consult every doctor, every witch or whatever to find you a cure...I didn't do as you wanted, as far as Yuuri is concerned...
A mellow buzz reached Conrad's ears.
Shinou was standing on the other side of Wolfram. He looked cold, yet forlorn. He gazed at Wolfram. Conrad bowed, out of respect. What was the Great One, the first king of Shin Makoku, doing there?
"I can only do this for Wolfram von Bielefeld," Shinou said after a short while. "Maintening his heart. But I won't do it foreover-"
"Majesty!" Conrad said, panicked. No, Shinou couldn't abandon his brother; he was their last hope.
Shinou sighed, eyes still on Wolfram. He frowned, extremely pensive, and looking like he was not seeing Conrad.
"He's one of my last descendants. I may have a soft spot for him, by the way...He's brave and courageous. That is probably why I want him to survive. But I want him to heal and give up on Yuuri. Yes, I want his love for Yuuri to disappear."
The last statement puzzled Conrad as he peered at Shinou with a growing worry.
All of a sudden, a force jerked Conrad forward until his hand reached for Wolfram's arm.
Wolfram startled, eyes so wide open that they could burst out, air rushing through his lungs and his brain. A sudden lightning exploded in the whole room before everything became white.
Conrad's recent memories were transmitted to Wolfram's mind.
Yuuri rejecting him, Yuuri surrounded by unknown people, Yuuri dancing with a girl, lovingly holding her with no disgust or embarrassment, Yuuri laughing-eyes sparkling with joy, Yuuri in a state of happiness he'd never witnessed before, Yuuri refusing to help him, Yuuri ordering Conrad to stay away.
"Conrad, I'm asking you to leave. I'll come back when my vacation is over. Not before."
"...Your majesty, I'm...I'm not so sure that Wolfram would bear any longer..."
"I don't want to hear about this. I'm telling you, he'll recover without me. And if he doesn't,...so what?" Yuuri raised dark eyes at his godfather: "I don't want him in my life anymore."
At this Yuuri spun around to disappear inside his house's corridor.
The temple's walls came back in view. Conrad let out Wolfram's hand.
Wolfram was staring at the ceiling, lips quivering. A single tear streamed from his eye.
"Your majesty...wh-what happened?"Conrad asked, eyes darting with panic towards Shinou. The blond spirit's facial features had become next to impassible, undecipherable; yet a light of satisfaction was glinting in his blue eyes. Wolfram's life would change, from now on. He would make sure of that.
"I told you, Weller. I want him to heal-and he will heal, Yuuri will come. But I want no trace of love for Yuuri in Wolfram's heart any-more. He has suffered too much, already."
And at this, Shinou's form disintegrated.
XXX TBC XXX
