Chapter 3 – Still in Love


Oh God, I still love him… (Wolfram von Bielefeld)


It was dinner time.

Yuri and his family was eating peacefully without a word in the dining room, until Miko stood up roughly from her chair.

"I can't take it anymore!" Miko shouted suddenly.

All of Shibuya family members stared at her with a startled look.

"Wha – what's wrong, mom?" asked Shouri with a worried expression.

"Yuu-chan!" Miko pointed at her youngest son. "Can you please just snap out of it?!"

"Eh?" Yuri looked lost.

"Just tell us about your problem and get over it already! It has been a week since you returned home!"

Yuri smiled and said, "I'm okay, mom. You don't have to worry about me."

"But, Yuu-chan! You look horrible! The dark bangs under your eyes even got darker each day!"

"I'm okay, mom. Don't worry about me." Said Yuri again with a reassuring smile.

"Yuu-chan!" Miko whined even more.

"I'm done eating." Yuri stood up calmly. Seconds after, he disappeared from the dining room, back to his room.

Miko sat up again and grabbed her head stressfully. "What's wrong with Yuu-chan? He won't tell us about his problem at all!"

Shouma hugged his wife from behind, comforting her. "I'm sure he has his own reason not to tell us."

"But, Uma-chan! Yuu-chan is—"

"He's okay… You're just tired," Shouma pushed his wife toward the main bedroom gently. "You should rest first. Leave the rest to me."

Miko looked at her husband with a teary face and then nodded her head. She entered the bedroom obediently.

"Now…" Shouma sighed heavily. "I think I have to go up and confront Yuri, huh?"

"…Dad," Shouri called his father. "Let me do it."

"Eh?"

"I'm sure that Yuri don't want to tell us because he don't want to make you and mom worry about his problem. So, let me do it instead."

"… Then, I'm counting on you, Shouri." Said Shouma as he patted his eldest son's shoulder with affection.


—*.*—


*knock knock*

"Yuri?" Shouri called his name loudly. "Yuri? Can I come in?"

No answer.

"Yuri? Hey, Yuri!" Shouri continued to shout his name.

"…" Yuri lifted his head from the pillow lazily and said, "Alright, alright. Just come in already."

The door opened and closed quickly.

"What is it, Shouri? I want to sleep."

The oldest scoffed and said, "Sleep? Hah, right! Like you can sleep. You didn't fall asleep even once in this past week, didn't you?"

Yuri rolled over his body on the bed and faced his brother. "Just tell me why you're here."

Shouri walked closer to Yuri and sat on the chair near the bed. "Mom and dad are worried about you, you know. Well, I'm worried about you, too. It's not like you to keep silent when you have a problem."

The double black didn't say anything.

"Just tell me already, Yuri. What's bothering you so much?"

Yuri sighed and sat up slowly. "I can't tell you."

"Why?"

"Because you're normal."

"Huh?" Shouri responded with a stupid look on his face. "What's that supposed to mean? Anyway, just tell me!"

The Maou sighed heavily again for the second time that night and said, "I really can't, Shouri." He hung his head tiredly. "You will freak out."

"Yuri. Tell me." Said Shouri with a firm tone.

"… Fine. Just… don't tell Mom and Dad, okay?"

The oldest son just nodded his head in response.

"It's… about Wolfram. He confessed to me. Like… he really confessed to me."

"… I see. So Wolfram told you that he's in love with you?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I guess it does make sense." Shouri mumbled quietly to himself. Unfortunately, his brother heard that.

"What? What do you mean?"

Shouri stared at the younger man face with an unsure look. "…Wait, don't tell me you never think why he wanted to stay as your fiancé all this time?"

Yuri fell silent. True, he never once thought about it. 'Why is Wolfram want to stay engaged to me? He can break off the engagement first… Is he in love with me from the very start?'

"If I were him," Shouri spoke up, cutting Yuri's thought. "I won't stay engaged with a person I'm not interested in for four years."

Yuri lowered his head, avoiding his brother's gaze. "… It's not four years yet."

"Okay, almost four years." Shouri corrected his words with an annoyed look. "The point is, it's kinda late for him to confess to you right now."

"What? … I don't understand."

Shouri sighed. "Did you even listening to what I said? I said that no one wants to stay engaged with the person they're not interested in for so long."

Yuri was taken aback. 'So it's true that he's been in love with me all this time?'

"Knowing you, you probably ran off to here immediately after he confessed to you, didn't you?" Shouri guessed correctly.

The King didn't say anything to object. He did run off to earth right after his fiancé confessed to him.

"… I see. So I'm right." Shouri sighed. "Yuri, that's not very manly."

"Shut up! Then, what would you do if you were in my position?"

"Of course I would reject him flat out!" answered his brother without thinking. "But before that, if I were you, I would break off the engagement a long time ago."

"…Why?"

"Why?" Shouri repeated Yuri's question with a frown on his face. "Like I said, Yuri… I won't stay engaged with a person I'm not interested in, and a man to boot!"

'That's true… if I were to break off the engagement long ago, he won't think that there's still hope with me, huh? I guess it is my fault…' thought Yuri. The guiltiness inside him eating him slowly. 'If I broke off the engagement, I didn't have to see his painful face…'

"But the fact that you didn't break off the engagement means that you're comfortable enough with him, aren't you?"

"Eh?" Yuri lifted his head and stared at his brother's face.

"If you really feel comfortable with Wolfram as your fiancé, then why don't you just give it a go?"

"… I don't think that's possible."

"Why not?"

"Why not?!" Yuri repeated his brother's question with an unbelievable look on his face. "Because it's not fair for him! If I still can't love him after trying him out, I—"

"At least try, Yuri. You're not in love with anyone, right? Then why are you afraid to try it out with him? Maybe you can fall in love with him and give him his happiness. Or maybe he can turns out to be your 'fated one'?"


—*.*—


Yuri entered the classroom and walked to his desk with a sleepy face. He was the first one to arrive. Thanks to Shouri's words last night, he got even more things to think about.

'Fated one, my ass! What's that supposed to mean, anyway?' Yuri stared outside the window with a blank face. 'And he told me to at least try? What the hell Shouri, I don't want to fool around! What if I really can't love him back? Wait, will Wolfram even agree to it?'

He yawned and rubbed his eyes. 'Shouri you jerk! That didn't help at all!'

The classroom's door was opened.

"Yo, Shibuya! Aren't you early today!"

Yuri turned his gaze from the window when one of his classmates greeted him. "Oh, Okada. Good morning!"

Okada put his bag at his desk and walked towards Yuri casually. "I'm usually the first one to arrive." He nudged Yuri's shoulder. "What's wrong? Not feeling comfortable at home?"

"… Are you?"

Okada laughed. "No way! I'm just bored at home."

"Hm…" The double black averted his gaze back to the window.

"... Shibuya, are you okay?"

"Huh?"

"Well, you're always cheerful all the time. It's kind of weird when I see you all down like this for the past week."

Yuri smiled bitterly at his comment. "Well, I do have problems, you know…"

"Well, everyone have problems. It's just that… You don't seem to be the type to show it to everyone."

The double black sighed heavily. "Say, Okada…"

"Hm? What is it?" asked the man as he sat in front of him.

"Well… if... If a girl far from your type showed up and confessed to you, what would you say?"

"Eh? Far from my type? Hm… then, she doesn't have big boobs? If that's so… well… I think it's okay? It's not too bad, right? …Wait, Shibuya! Did someone confessed to you?"

"… Kind of."

"When?" Okada got excited all of a sudden.

"… A week ago."

"Eh? A week ago? And you haven't given her a reply yet?"

Yuri nodded shortly.

"That's… not very manly, Shibuya… Anyway, you have been thinking about her this whole week?"

The double black nodded his head again.

"If that's the case… Well, once you've got that person going round and round in your head, doesn't it mean that you're already in love with her?"


—*.*—


"It's been a week, my dear Daikenja."

Murata closed the book he was reading just now and picked the small Shinou off of his shoulder. "My dear Shinou, can you please stop appeared so suddenly in people's shoulder?"

Shinou chuckled and said, "Why does it matter? I only do it to you."

"That's the problem!" Murata put Shinou on the table and glared at him. "Why are you here anyway?"

"It's been a week and Yuri hasn't come here to pick you up. How about your exam?" He paused for a moment. "I'm worried about you." Said the blonde king with a straight face.

"I feel honored." Murata replied with a smug look. "Anyway, I don't think that you feel that much worried about me. You're more worried about Yuri, right?"

Shinou smiled at him sweetly. "As expected from my dear Daikenja. You know my every thoughts so well."

Murata sighed and gazed outside the big window in the library. "I don't care about Yuri. I'm more worried about Wolfram-kyo."

The first King nodded his head in agreement. "Sure, Wolfram-kyo conditions is far worse than Yuri, but I can't help worried about Yuri since he's not here at the moment. And about Wolfram-kyo… well, I'm worried about him too, since he has been behaving like a doll lately."


—*.*—


"Well, once you've got that person going round and round in your head, doesn't it mean that you're already in love with her?"

Yuri drank the soda slowly as he sat on the bench in the park near his school. He was thinking about Okada's words since that morning.

'Am I in love with Wolfram?'

The double black sighed and stared into the evening sky quietly.

'I miss Wolfram… I miss his scent. I miss his golden hair. I miss his sweet smile—though he rarely shows me. And I miss his scolding too…'

Yuri drank the soda again and got up suddenly. "Alright! I'm going to meet him!"

He walked back into his school and dived into the pool behind the building with one thing in his mind.

'I want to meet Wolfram.'


—*.*—


*knock knock*

"Come in!"

Wolfram opened the door and stepped inside. "Did you call me, Aniue?"

Gwendal raised his head from the paperwork on his desk and glared at his youngest brother. "Wolfram. Can you please just snap out of it?! It's irritating to look at!"

"… What do you mean?" asked the third prince with a flat tone.

The gray haired man stood up and walked closer to the blonde. "You have been acting like a doll for a whole week! Your face is blank all the time, you ignored the people around you, and you even ignored Greta!"

"… I still do my work properly."

"You didn't. You only watched your men training by themselves."

Wolfram fell silent. The room was filled with a heavy silence for a while until Gwendal spoke up.

"Give up on Heika, Wolfram."

The blonde stared into his brother's eyes with a blank face. "I don't feel anything, Gwendal. I don't know which feeling I have to give up since I'm unable to feel anything."

Gwendal sighed and rubbed his forehead stressfully. "That's not true, Wolfram."

Wolfram didn't respond anything.

The eldest man sighed again and continued his words. "It's not that you're unable to feel anything… You just don't want to think about anything. You don't want to face the reality. You ignored your feelings." He stepped closer to his brother. "You ran away. Just like Heika did."


—*.*—


Wolfram walked slowly into the big fountain in the center of the garden and sat on the edge of it. He gazed into his own reflection on the water quietly.

"I see a blank face." The blonde murmured to himself. "Is it because of Yuri? But I never think about him even once in this past week…"

But despite what he said, the tears started to fill his eyes.

"No, I don't want to cry over him again!" He rubbed his eyes roughly, but the tears kept falling down on his cheek.

"Heh," he chuckled quietly. "Only now my face is not blank…"

He turned around and walked back inside the castle with a slow pace. He almost reached his bedroom door when Gunter and Conrad ran past him quickly into the garden.

'What? Did something happen?'

The blonde ran after the two men and entered the garden again shortly after. There, he saw Yuri sat in the middle of the fountain with his usual sheepish smile.

"Oh, Wolfram!" The double black called his name loudly and waved at him.

The blonde was frozen in his place for a while. He just stood there, motionless, until he turned back and ran away from the garden quickly. 'Oh God, I still love him…'


—*.*—


*splash*

Yuri opened his eyes and gazed into the night sky in the Shin Makoku with a big smile on his face.

'Somehow, I feel at peace whenever I gaze at the sky here…'

He heard loud footsteps, and soon after, a man in a white cloak hugged him tightly.

"Heika!" Gunter hugged him even tighter with tears streaming down his face. "I miss you, Heika!"

Yuri laughed nervously and said. "I'm back, Gunter."

"Heika." Conrad walked to him calmly with a white towel in his hand. "Welcome back."

Yuri smiled and answered, "Yeah. I'm back, Conrad." He grabbed the towel and rubbed his wet hair. "Is Wolfram asleep—oh, Wolfram!"

The double black shouted his fiancé name and waved his hand to him with a big spirit. "Wolf—ah, he ran away."

The Maou gave the towel back to his godfather and said, "Thanks for the towel, Conrad!" He flashed a big smile again and then ran after his fiancé quickly.

"Ah, Heika! Don't go!" Gunter wailed as he watched Yuri ran after Wolfram. He wanted to go after them, but Conrad stopped him.

"Just let them be, Gunter."


—*.*—


"Wolfram, wait!" Yuri shouted loudly as he continued to run after his fiancé. "You're too quick! Slow down for a bit, will you?!"

The blonde slowed down his pace and stopped running eventually. He turned around and glared at the King quietly.

But Yuri ignored his glare and smiled at him instead. "I'm back, Wolfram!"

Wolfram blushed slightly. 'This is bad. I'm still in love with him.'


—*.*—


To be continued…

A/N: My exam has ended! Yay! Sorry for the late update *bows* Please continue to give me your supports as always :D

Oh by the way, Okada is a character made by me, and this is his only appearance in the story (at least, I hope so), so please don't bother yourself with Okada :)

See the comment box below? Great! Don't forget to leave a review for me, okay? :D