It felt like a dream, the strange sensation over his whole being, like he was enveloped in the warmth of sunlight, that same feeling he'd get when he fell asleep at his desk when the light would peek through the glass window pane.

Something panged at that, the thought of having work to do, and having not done it. Something important no less! Yuri tried to focus, as if realization was the first step to awareness, and thus consciousness.

Jose stood at the door, ready to kick it open.

"Remember the plan, we secure Yuri first. Help the others once we withdraw with Yuri and meet at the car."

The group nodded, Jose kicked open the door holding his arms up in an exaggerated defensive pose with more holes in it than cheese from Switzerland.

Conrad felt the charm in his pocket; it felt warmer now reacting to the presence in the room.

The room was a bit of a horror in its own right, with several bloodied bodies on the floor as if they were too weak to even keep on their feet at this point. Wolfram put his hand over his mouth, it looked like a war zone.

Coolly, Conrad's eyes flicked across the room until spotting what he needed to see, upon landing on Yuri, his legs were already moving, rapidly. The aura was nothing short of intense, five people were hovering around the body in a sort of fascination with it, one of which was a woman holding a shikigami, perched on her finger just like any real bird would do with its beloved owner.

"We knew you'd be here." She smirked, turning into a fighting position. "You did make it that much easier for us though. Now hand it over."

Conrad didn't seem too concerned as he increased the speed in his step, shoving into her with his shoulder he rolled thus changing his position and hers, he himself now closer to Yuri than she was.

Shori stood up, indignant that his efforts were rewarded by idiots walking into what to him seemed like such an obvious trap. He brought up a shield to push between his brother and the five necromancers. Conrad put his hand on Yuri's shoulder.

"Yuri!"

For a moment, he could see in those black orbs a sign of recognition that he wasn't sure if he was imagining or not. He took the stone from his pocket and put it around his neck, donning the necklace.

As the necklace fell against Yuri's chest, Conrad tried again.

"Yuri…"

Blinking, Yuri's black eyes quickly took in Conrad's sight. "Oh, good morning Conrad…" He shook his head, hand touching the side of his head, "There was something important I was doing… before I fell asleep, wasn't there?" Yuri asked himself, before the rest of the room came to view. His eyes shot wide, "What is going on here?!"

Yuri's hand went to his mouth. He could see a room littered with bodies, a room he didn't remember being in before he had gone to sleep, his eyes darted back to Conrad, before pushing past him, finally recalling what had been going on right before he had fallen asleep.

He attempted weakly to push past Conrad to take in more of a view, though Conrad hardly allowed that. "Yuri, we have to get you out of here."

"With things this bad?! How can I just leave a situation like this…"

Conrad's firm hands on Yuri's arms indicated it would be by putting right foot in front of left foot then left foot in front of right foot, repeating until out of the door.

Dark eyes focused on brown, "What is happening?"

"We aren't letting you take him. We need him." Two men on the stage took out a jar of powder, one of which dipped his fingers inside, as he pulled out the powder, chanting, a wind took hold of the powder moving in a tactile fashion toward Yuri. The other man continued to chant, blood pooling at the corners of his nostrils.

Yuri put his hands out defensively, a powerful blue aura blocking the ravenous, repetitive attacks.

"Why are you attacking me? Don't you realize this is just making everything take longer?"

"You mean your escape? We won't let you leave! We need your help and we won't let you abandon us! We thought you were merciful, how could you just discard us like this!"

Yuri's eyebrows furrowed, "When did I ever abandon anyone? We've been trying to figure out where to house you, the others have been preparing the rituals necessary in Shin Makoku to open up a portal…"

"You're lying! Our spies reported what your true ambitions, how your advisors said to forget it."

Conrad turned to face the man speaking, his own aura was becoming darker, gripping several paper charms as he began to summon something. To Conrad's surprise, nothing happened, beside an increased nosebleed. He pressed closer.

Drawing his sword, Conrad realized something did happen, when the man attacked he possessed a greater physical strength than what was natural for him.

"Conrad!" Yuri's hand pressed to his head, gods he was exhausted, he touched Conrad's forearm, using him to steady his own weight before stepping closer to the man. "There's something wrong with him… he isn't… right." Yuri reached his hand towards the man.

Conrad again kept a physical barrier, pushing Yuri behind him, "Yuri please stand aside. They have gone berserk with their own powers and desperation. They might try something to endanger you, foolishly."

Yuri shook his head, "No. Conrad, stand down. You said you wanted to be direct, then tell me what is happening!"

Another man approached, this one looked like Kiyosuke, beside him stood two others, including the woman holding the shikigami and a woman with black hair that looked frightfully similar to Anissina.

Yuri's eyes widened before narrowing again, "What is happening to you? Why are you acting in such desperation?"

"Because we're dying." He looked at the man standing before Yuri and Conrad, "We're down to half of our population."

"…That's impossible, there's still a thousand people here!" Wolfram spat out.

"We're necromancers, you don't think we'd be smart enough to attach our own souls to ourselves? The problem is, that only lasts until the maryoki is truly on empty, then we can't even keep attached to our own bodies." He looked to the corner.

"We've lost ten more since this morning." The female doctor mentioned. "Our population is down to a little more than 600. As far as actual head-count of people standing, we're at 970."

Yuri's eyes widened. "What's killing you?"

"Their own maryoki. The more they use it the faster they die, but the more they use it the more intoxicated they become, the less rational, the more they go berserk." Ken fixed his glasses, he looked winded though carried himself well.

"Most of them refuse to stop, all we have to latch on is hope that you'll open the portal before we all die." Kiyosuke added.

"Then have your people stand down! Make them stop." Yuri's voice was a hard and authoritative voice, one that sent shivers down the spines of anyone within a fifteen foot radius.

"I told you, we can't just get through to…" Kiyosuke watched as Yuri's body emitted a calming blue, too fascinated to turn away, everyone in the crowd seemed to be taken in the same way.

Conrad quickly grabbed Yuri's shoulder. "Yuri, please stop this, don't over-exert yourself further Yuri. Yuri-- please!"

Yuri shook his head to clear the fog, he had hardly realized he had started to use maryoki, but he felt the after-effects. His legs felt as solid as jelly and as light as bags of cement. He swayed, his weight giving out, sending him toppling into Conrad's arms.

Conrad caught Yuri underneath his arms, the teenager groaned sleepily. "We really are thinking of how to do this, until I can open that portal I forbid you from using maryoki. Please just be patient, I'm not so powerful as to be able to do that at the drop of the hat. I don't even know if I'm powerful enough to open the portal that size, but I'm trying! Now stop being counterproductive, I know your dilemma so I'll try to speed this up, so don't rush me more. Understand?"

Kiyosuke and the others nodded.

"It might have to be staggered, and if it is, I'm sorry, now make sure you get ready and only bring absolutely essential things like clothing, food, some pictures, blankets, but only what you can carry through yourselves. No furniture, no electronics, okay? The others will contact you in a few days so please make your own preparations until such time."

The crowd nodded.

"..." He looked at Conrad quietly adding to him, "I'm going to faint on you, you know."

Conrad smiled at Yuri protectively and lovingly, "I'm going to catch you, you know." Yuri smiled before going limp. He turned to spot Murata and Shori.

"Tell Shori I'm sorry, I know he's been worrying a lot lately. I don't think I'm waking up any time soon."

"Understood," Conrad turned his hold from under Yuri's arms to one under his knees, the other under both arms, scooping Yuri up into his arms instead of holding him upright. Yuri closed his eyes to sleep.

-.-.-.-.-

Yuri woke up in a large, plush bed familiar in size to his suite in Shin Makoku. Turning his head to the left, he saw an oversized mirror, and his ragged looking reflection.

His mop-bed-hair poking out at awkward angles from under bandages; the oversized pajamas that he didn't remember owning let alone bringing, and the over-all pale tone of his skin did not go amiss in this observation of said reflection. Yuri's body was stiff as he forced himself upright.

"…Is anyone here?" Yuri asked empty air. He glanced around, no Shori, no Murata or Wolfram, no Gwendel or Gunter or Jose, and no Conrad. He wasn't sure how to interpret the emptiness. Yuri kicked his legs off of the corner of the bed before adjusting his sitting position. "Hello?"

Sighing, he decided he'd have to get up, a shame really, because that bed was near divine. His body hissed at him, achy, when he stood. He rubbed the corner of his head, still sore despite the rest, though for the record it was only an eighth as bad as it had been. "Hello? Anyone?" He tripped over the excess fabric at his feet as he made his way to the vanity.

Once upon it, he saw a change of clothing set out for himself, he happily changed into the clothes before venturing further from the bed in the large room, he went to the door. "Conrad? Shori? …Anyone?"

He opened the door to see an extensive hall with masterful paintings up and down the hallway. Yuri wandered down the hallway, his hand gracing the walls in random spots in order to keep his footing. Finally wandering to an intersection after seemingly forever, he spotted some familiar faces.

Shori turned to see Yuri. "Oi, Yuu-chan you're up already?"

Bob smiled at the other maoh, fixing his own sunglasses.

Jose and Conrad were speaking at first, though Conrad seemed to fall from the conversation at sight of Yuri as he stepped away, excusing himself. He approached Yuri.

"Good morning, Yuri-heika." Yuri shot him a look. "Yuri." Conrad amended.

Yuri smiled softly. "…Good morning, how long was I out for this time?"

"Ten hours." Shori commented, "You should still be asleep. Jose, I thought you said you gave him something to help him sleep."

Jose smiled, "I didn't say I drugged him." His eyes were squinting shut at Shori's accusation, "I just made sure the room was relaxing, really, you'll get me in trouble talking like that."

"Where are the others?" Yuri asked, silently asking why they were at one of Bob's homes instead of at the hotel.

"Currently, the others are working on a method to open a portal that size. Murata Ken is with them." Shori explained, cutting Conrad off.

Conrad smiled slyly, he was on to that challenge for Yuri's attentions and affections, "Would you like to eat, Yuri?"

Yuri's stomach growling just then did not go amiss, he scratched the back of his head, "Aha ha, ha… I guess I am a bit hungry after that."

Shori sighed before he raised up a hand, "I'll go on a coffee and breakfast run. Bob you really should invest in a kitchen in your own house." He mentioned cynically. That man was strangely funny about the weirdest of things.

"I'll go with you to help you carry things." Jose volunteered. "We'll let the others know their precious heika is awake." He smirked.

Yuri groaned, "You infected someone else with that now too, huh Conrad?"

Conrad smiled a bit at that. Yuri slid his back against Conrad's chest.

"…Yuri, if you're still tired you should lie back down."

"I don't want to! It seems that's all I do nowadays." Yuri brooded, "Besides, I want to know what's going on. Bob-sama, you'll fill me in, won't you? After all, that's why you brought me here isn't it?"

Bob nodded. "I'm sorry for not talking to you about this earlier, though I had thought it best not to interfere with your maoh-ship."

-To Be Continued.-

A/N: Hi all! Thanks for reading, please R & R. I'm going to take this moment to let off a rant or three though, about some stuff that should be mentioned under the Author-Tangent section, so friends, please do not feel the need to read that and I do apologize for it taking up some story-space. It is not really meant for the people who read multiple pairings, either, so much as the people who are just rude and won't read it anyway unless to work themselves up to be more indignant in their flames for me.

This is a dedication to all the ConYuu haters, because for as many CONverts as I've made, I've made other 'friends' too, apparently. -Le-sigh-

A/T: Dear readers, I am a ConYuu author, that is the pairing I put rhyme and reason to, I kindly state that with every ONE of my stories, typically at the beginning and the end of the synopses that I put effort into writing, type-count permitting the second warning. So, I do not appreciate people who read it then flame it for being ConYuu that I so aptly warn you about.

Now, why do I write Yuri the way I do for Conrad and the way I do for Wolfram? In other words, why does Yuri use the "I'm not gay" excuse with Wolfram when he is so obviously gay for Conrad? Simple! You see, it's called a lie, also known as an excuse. You lie to shield feelings or get rid of persistent idiots when you go to a bar, or have you ever met someone in the closet and check out his laptop with a booklink to lots of gay porn? I have, many times, actually. So just because Yuri's homophobic to someone I interpret him as not liking, and yet open to possibilities with someone whom he has labeled as perfect… If I have to spell it out for you I'm sorry, but for the sake of decency just realize that it's not so far of a jump (if you allow for that interpretation, again, if you just WRITE YuuRam, interpret it as he hasn't coped yet).

Also, can you ever recall any straight men mentioning how pretty another guy is? Seriously, most guys won't say that if they are straight, in the closet and let one slip, yeah, that'll happen. Just because I interpret the characters a certain way does not mean I am saying burn all Yuuram fanfics, I don't like the pairing at all, that's my choice. My solution? I don't READ it either, and it isn't like you're hurting for reading material in this fandom, there is a lot of it, so why flame me when all I have done is write a clearly and well-labeled story using a set of values and parameters allowed for in the series and the videogames? (KKM, btw is a dating-sim/RPG where you can determine who will be your love interest. Plus, read the manga by the artist and writer, the illustrations and characters tend to be in the shota range, and I can clearly spot many character pairings to the likes of Gwendel x Yuri, Gunter x Yuri, and a LOT of Conrad x Yuri (the most actually). I have yet to spot one that was like Yuri x Wolfram or Wolfram x Yuri, I have seen one Ken x Yuri type, but that's the closest to any near-age uke-seme team-up.) If you really hate my writing, stop reading it half-way through and then go read some other drivel, it's NOT that hard to find.

ConYuu pairings are hard to find though, and I am one to refuse to back down in writing it just because you hate-mail me, either.

Frankly, for all of you haters, let me just say every story I leave Wolfram alive I cringe a bit, because I'd have happily written him out time and again, I only pair him with Murata Ken because he's the only one in the series who I think could tolerate the brat, and that's probably because he reminds him of Shinou minus twenty cool-points. I leave him in instead of having a character-death fic because it's closer to canon and I don't want to really write a Wolf-angst story of the characters lamenting him because he's pretty much useless to me so I made him dead. Ok? There, the inner bitch has said things she's been trying to be nice about. Again, I am allowed to have my own interpretations and you can happily skip over my shit, it isn't hard. Now, be good little buggers and either sign in so we can discuss in PMs why you dislike my stories if you want to be constructive, orrrrrrr stfu and read something ELSE clearly labeled.

-The Management.