Akikee: I'm so sorry for the long delay. I just can't count how many months had passed since the last update. Gah, my bad, so don't blame Akirina. So here's chapter 8. I know it's rather short for the long wait, but it shall do for now.
Akirina: Despite the fact that she took a long time to complete the chapter, I think her sense of humor is much better than mine :)
Chapter 8
Shouri was distressed. Distressed with a capital 'D'! Watching the water streaming down from the tap, filling the bathtub, Shouri couldn't help but feel more and more irritated as the seconds passed by. Every drop of water and every sound in the bathroom were making him feel irritated and frustrated. Why oh why? Had those cunning three brothers who claimed to be Yuuri's protectors tied him up and refused to let him return to Earth, to him, Shouri, his dearest big brother?
Common sense told him those brothers would never do that, but that would mean that it was Yuuri who had forgotten all about him. It had been three days since Yuuri had gone to Shin Makoku. THREE DAYS! That would have been a few months there already! Could his sweet baby brother forget all about him? He refused to believe it! Yuuri, with all his shortcomings, would never, ever—EVER!—forget about him!
Tossing his towel at the rack, Shouri gritted his teeth as he stuck a hand into the filled bathtub to check if the water temperature was to his liking. A voice in him told him that Yuuri must have met with some mishap and those three brothers are too ashamed to show their face here and tell him, thus with the delay of Yuuri coming home. That must be it. Satisfied with his own theory, Shouri stirred his hand in the tub, feeling that the temperature was just nice for him while the steam coming from the water fogged his glasses, his mind suddenly rid of all troubling thoughts as the welcoming bath awaits him, until his fingers met with a lock of hair.
That was weird. He had checked that there was nothing in the tub before turning on the tap. What was that…? Images of vengeful female ghost with long black hair appearing from the bathtub clogged Shouri's mind as he tried to untangle his fingers from the unknown source of hair. That couldn't be! Those were just horror movie productions that were meant to scare people out of the daylights by doing even the simplest of daily chores like bathing. He would not be frightened just by that!
Well, at least that was what was on his mind, until he felt a pair of hands pulled him down to the tub, where a whirlpool had appeared out of the blue. Oh god! Would this be the end of him? Would this be the way how he, Shibuya Shouri the great, would fall? Struggling, Shouri pulled his hand away from the tub, but the thing inside gave a tug, causing him knock his legs against the tub.
Water was splashing out from the tub and the next thing Shouri knew was that he lost his footing and slipped, face straight into the tub. He wasn't even given any chance to give a cry before water the water filled his mouth. Then, everything was still. Pushing himself from the tub, he broke to the surface, gasping for air frantically. What was that? Hands reaching out for his fallen glasses, he felt them touching a face, then a pair of hands holding his glasses, then—
His vision was blurry due to the absence of his glasses. But never in his life would he mistake this. Grabbing his glasses away from the hand, he put them on to confirm his discovery. Could this be real? Had Christmas came early?
Because his baby brother (literally), Yuuri was sitting in the tub right in front of him.
"Yuuri! How? Why? You?" Shouri found himself not able to string his words. How could this happen?
"Nii-san?" came the extremely cute reply and Shouri could swear that he was on cloud nine.
Grabbing Yuuri up from the tub, Shouri held Yuuri in the air as he turned him around, unable to believe his eyes? Why had Yuuri turned back into how he looked thirteen years ago? Well, of course, Shouri was not going to complain about it. He could still remember in his mind how cute Yuuri was back then. Now, imagination won't be needed, because Yuuri had turned back into a child.
"Nii-san? Could you not do that? It's making me giddy," Yuuri said as he rubbed his eyes with his small fist, which was enough to make Shouri swoon.
"Okay, onii-chan will stop that. Now, we must see our mother. She'll be so happy to see you again!" Shouri said as he opened the bathroom door and sprang to the kitchen, his bath completely forgotten.
Could this be the work of the three brothers? If so, he was so ever grateful to them. They must have felt too guilty about the fact that they had shamelessly stole Yuuri away from him that they turned Yuuri into a child and sent him back so as to apologise? Well, Shouri certainly had no qualms about that. In fact, he felt like hugging those three brothers to thank them for it.
Indeed, Christmas had come early for Shibuya Shouri.
Meanwhile in Shin Makoku, the three mentioned brothers were pacing about their camp frantically. News had travelled to them that the Dai Shimaron's troops were near their camp site. This made the rescue mission much more difficult to handle.
Eyeing Conrad nervously, Gwendal swallowed as he looked at the map, trying to plan for a detour to get near to the castle where Yuuri was held captive. This is certainly working not very well. Why did the Dai Shimaron's troops know where they are? Had they been tipped off? Or were they just doing ordinary patrol? This made their rescue mission more tedious and difficult. They have to ensure Yuuri's safety above all things. If the Dai Shimaron troops knew they were here, they might use Yuuri as some hostage to threaten them into doing something that will result in dire consequences…
"General! We had caught three suspicious people lurking near our camps!" a soldier came running in, reporting on what had happened.
Suspicious people? Could it be spies from the Dai Shimaron?
"Bring them in," Gwendal said as he put the map down, massaging his temple, thinking why trouble seemed to come one after another. But again, perhaps there suspicious people will in turn help them with their rescue plan. Now, some interrogation might actually do them good. First, they would need to know where Yuuri was held captive.
Conrad was tired, anxious and worn out. He couldn't even think straight. How was Yuuri doing now? What could he be doing? Is he safe? All these questions flitted in his head as he sat on the chair, head buried in his hands. He wasn't even interested in what those suspicious people might say. For all he knows, they might be just some random passer-by…Oh…could he just rush inside the castle of Dai Shimaron and snatched Yuuri back? That would have save a lot of trouble for everybody. Conrad just couldn't get the fact that he left Yuuri alone in the stables and caused for this mishap to happen.
"Conrad? Gwendal? Thank goodness it's you guys!" a familiar voice permeated through the tent as the soldier brought the 'three suspicious people' in.
Raising his head up, Conrad was surprised to look into Adelbert, Saralegui and Belias's faces.
"Why are you here?" Gwendal asked as he looked at the three, noting their torn clothing and dirt-streaked faces.
"We—"
"No, let me talk!"
"Me!"
"Me!"
"Somebody, just drag those two idiots out," Gwendal sighed as he slapped his hand against his forehead. Who could have known that Adelbert and Saralegui could bicker like that?
"Sir Gwendal, Yuuri had escaped from Dai Shimaron. We saw him not long ago, and it seemed that he had escaped from where he was held captive by himself. We meant to bring him back, away from Dai Shimaron, but unfortunately, he had fallen into a stream—"
"He what?"
"And we think that he was transported back to Earth," Belias finished his explanations, looking at the Gwendal and Conrad, both looking surprised.
"He transported…to Earth….?" Conrad repeated slowly, letting the fact sink in, before heaving a sigh of relief. Thank goodness. Yuuri was safe after all. Thank goodness! At least on Earth, his parents would take good care of him….wait.
"He transported back as a child, right…?"
"Oh God! That brother complex!"
