*The 2 Acts of KKM: The Melodious Wedding*
Miko Shibuya giggled to herself as she prepared dinner, her famous curry, as she recalled the past few hours of her life.
Her youngest son and Ken Murata came through the kiddie pool that served as a portal to and from the Demon Kingdom and Earth. The two double black males came into this dimension, wet obviously, and she and her husband were there awaiting them with towels in hand. Once the two young males entered the Japanese home she was all over them, asking question upon question.
"How was the Demon Kingdom Yu-chan? How come you didn't come to visit me sooner? Where's Wolfie-chan? And Conrad-kun? Yu-chan? Yu-chan?!"
The Maoh of the alternate universe was overcome with questions and ended up slamming his head onto the dinner table. "Mother, could you please—"
"Call me mama!" Miko recited with a loopy grin on her face.
Shouma Shibuya smiled softly and shook his head to himself. Over the past eight years the two parents of now two Maohs have aged substantially. No longer did they look young now that wrinkles covered their skin and gray hair was starting to come in on both individuals. He, who was always on the side of his children, spoke to his wife in a calm but soft voice (he was still admittedly scared of her at times). "Miko, dear… our son is a grown man. To call his mother 'mama' is—"
"Oh quiet Shouma." Miko snipped back at him, shaking a celery stick at him, she was beginning dinner. "And you know that I prefer to be called Jenifer or Jen."
Shouma sighed. "Yes Jen dear." He glanced towards his son and the two shared a looked that equally said 'I'm sorry.'
Murata on the other hand was in heaven. He always enjoyed coming to his friend's parent's house. He enjoyed the cooking, the atmosphere… everything really. "Shibuya might not want to call you 'mama' but I sure will, mama."
The woman giggled and blushed slightly. "Thank you Kenny-kun. Why don't you two go upstairs, dry off and change?"
"Can do mama." Murata said as he took a hold of his friend's arm and pulled his out of his seat and up the stairs.
Shouma nodded once and took a sip of his coffee before remembering something. "Oh, Yuuri!" He called up to them. "Your brother is coming over tonight too with his girlfriend."
"Nani?!" Yuuri almost yelled as he ran halfway down the staircase, nearly tripping on his face doing so. "Girlfriend? Shouri has a girlfriend?"
"Yes. She's a barista in one of the coffee and internet cafes in Tokyo."
"Oh… strange. I always pictured him with like, a secretary or something." Shouma and Miko only chuckled in response. They too thought the same thing. Yuuri hummed softly, happy for his brother, before sighing dramatically. "Meanwhile I'm stuck with Wolfram."
"Yuuri!" Miko scolded from the kitchen, she getting ready to lecture him when she heard the sounds of pounding—her son retreating upstairs.
This brings us to the present, with Miko still in the kitchen, her husband at the table, finishing off his newspaper that he couldn't finish that morning and the house peacefully quiet and filled with a soft happiness that really made a person seem relaxed and calm.
*The 2 Acts of KKM: The Melodious Wedding*
Shouri did arrive later that night, after the others had their dinner, and he used his key to get into the house, smiling at his girlfriend behind him as he turned into the house and hollered… "I'm home!"
"Oh Shouri!" Miko squealed as she came running into the hall just as the two new additions into the house were closing the door and beginning to take off their shoes. "And hello to you too Hanako-chan."
"Hello, Jen-sama." The woman smiled. She was a young beauty, just two years Shouri's junior, with mid back length, curly black hair, big brown eyes, and oval shaped face with rose red glasses siting on a straight nose. Her clothing was a maroon colored beret on her head, a brown wool cardigan, opened to reveal a white ruffled shirt underneath, blue jeans and brown ankle high and three inch boots. She was very cute and blushing slightly due to her bubbly, somewhat shy personality.
"Please come in. Yu-chan is here tonight, as you probably know, with his friend Ken Murata. We're all in the living room. Oh! And before I forget, I made curry so please help yourself. I'm afraid we already ate though."
"Don't worry about it mom." Shouri stated. "We'll grab some curry after we say hi, right Hana-chan?"
The woman nodded and smiled. The three made their way into the living room where Yuuri and Murata were continuing their conversation from dinner. "It will be difficult. Already I had seated two others on my side." Yuuri spoke, unbeknownst that his brother and girlfriend entered the room.
"I'm sure that one of them wouldn't mind to give up his or her seat."
Murata nodded. "Josak might not mind. He was just going to stay on watch throughout the night anyways."
"So it's decided." Yuuri said as he then turned, feeling eyes on him. "Shouri, hey."
"Otouto." Shouri responded before going over to meet Yuuri halfway on a hug.
"So…" Yuuri started slowly as he looked around his brother towards Hanako. "You must be Hanako Yoshida. I've heard a lot about you from mother."
"And you must be Yuuri, Shouri's brother. I've heard a lot from both your family and Shouri." The two shook hands, each giving the other a warm smile.
"And I'm Ken Murata." Murata said as he spoke and joined Yuuri at his side, shaking his hand with Hanako in greeting. "Younger-Shibuya-brother's friend."
She giggled. "Nice to meet you."
"Well," Shouri began as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "We're gonna get some of mom's curry so please go back to your conversation."
"It's pretty much done already Shouri." Yuuri said as the couple moved away into the kitchen, Miko in there preparing their plates already.
The two double blacks retreated back to their original seat on the sofa, soon being joined by Miko as the couple sat themselves down at the table. "Thanks for the food." The two recited together as they began to dig in.
The room was silent for a moment when Yuuri spoke up. "Okay, I'm just gonna be direct with this. Hanako, you do know what my brother and I—and dad too—are right?"
Hanako swallowed and nodded. "Yes, Shouri told me. You two are half breed demons and Shouma-sama is a full blooded demon."
"Yes, well, I came here really to do two things. One, I officially invite you all to my wedding in (what would be for you guys) a few months, sorry for the short notice."
"Oh Yu-chan!" Miko squealed as she hugged her son to her. "My baby's finally getting married to Wolfie-chan!"
Shouri nearly choked on his curry and glanced over at his younger brother. "You're going to go ahead and marry Wolfram? A guy?"
Hanako took a sip from her tea calmly. "I don't judge. As long as the two of you are happy."
"And they make such a cute couple too!" Miko added, Shouma nodding his head in agreement. It was safe to say that both Shibuya parents were both happy of whom their youngest son was marrying.
Yuuri sighed heavily, he not even bothering to cover up the blush that had formed. "Yeah, well, there's that and… I need your help." With that the others (minus Murata who was in on this) in the room stopped what they were doing and looked carefully at Yuuri. "… I have no idea in hell what we're going to do for entertainment."
*The 2 Acts of KKM: The Melodious Wedding*
The two double blacks stayed in Japan for a few days, enjoying their stay for a bit before going back through the portal in the kiddie pool. All the while Shouri and Hanako stayed in town to spend as much time with the alternate dimension Maoh and his friend (The Great Sage) for as long as possible before they leave (since it was imperative that they wouldn't see each other again until a few days before the wedding, a date which is still not set). Miko was sad that her son was leaving again (but then again she's always sad now that her two sons are gone and out of the house). It was seriously some empty-nest syndrome but she was glad to hear that her Yu-chan was going to get married, and to Wolfram too. She liked Wolfram, he was cute and one could tell that he truly cared for her son. Shouma on the other was doing alright with his son leaving, sure he was sad, but he knew that they would meet again and that this wasn't forever. That and he was excited to attend a royal wedding—his son's royal wedding.
Shouri hugged his brother before they left, he eyeing Murata since he still has some trust issues with the Sage since what happened eight years ago. Though it was bridge under the water and it was actually for the betterment of all, Shouri still had to keep his guard up to protect his precious Yu-chan. Hanako was just excited to see some demon magic. Though she was a human, she was trusted enough to know the truth and since she had learned it (and overreacted to it at first) she wanted to see some demonic power but never got the chance since Shouri hardly uses it and most demons in this realm even know their demons at all. She, like Shouma was also excited to attend a demon royal wedding (she was just excited to be invited at all) and couldn't wait to see her (hopefully) soon-to-be-brother-in-law again.
Needless to say she was kind of disappointed when the magic she was waiting for wasn't as 'demonic' as she had imagined. "Where's the fire and the loud roar of power? What the hell was that?!" She yelled loudly when the water stilled again. The others just laughed (not at her but with her though she wasn't laughing) and Shouri placed a hand on her shoulder, softly telling her to 'Let it go Hana-chan. Just let it go.'
*The 2 Acts of KKM: The Melodious Wedding*
When Yuuri returned to the Demon Kingdom, he was awaited by Conrad, Gunter, Gwendal and Wolfram. "There he is—finally!" The blonde lord scoffed as he turned sideways away from Yuuri.
Is he still mad at me? Yuuri questioned himself in his head. It's not like I could take him… besides the 'my-not-knowing-what-entertainment-to-get' which would have pissed him off I had other… things to do…
At the same time he and Murata glanced at each other. Of course Murata was in on it. He went didn't he? Even Yuuri's family (and Hanako) didn't know about the Maoh's alternate reason to go to Japan. Murata, then, knowing something Yuuri doesn't know, smiled and shot into a standing position in the fountain. "Come on guys! We've got a royal wedding to plan and seat arrangements to rearrange."
"What?" Wolfram asked, shocked really. "But it took us forever to get the current seating chart done."
"It's nothing much Your Excellence." Murata spoke for Yuuri as he helped him out of the fountain and began pushing him towards the temple exit, grabbing the towels from an equally surprised Gunter on the way. "But we've still got a lot of work to do so let's get hopping."
*The 2 Acts of KKM: The Melodious Wedding*
It was then so than in a few days' time, Yuuri and company were holding auditions for the royal wedding's entertainment. The auditions were happening in the throne room, Yuuri sitting in his chair, Wolfram immediately to his left side, Murata to his right, Conrad, Gwendal, Gunter and Greta standing on the stairs, Conrad and Greta in standing before Wolfram on the stairs and the latter before Murata.
From when they started the auditions in the morning they have seen acts in which they looked promising and others (many others) not as promising. This one was definitely one of them.
Josak, dressed as a woman, was singing a bar song before stopping and in a high pitched voice started to list other things he could do the night of the wedding. "And I could serve drinks in a comically way, converse with people on practically any subject, and I can protect the event as well because as you can see…" He gestured, much like a hand model, at one of his biceps. "I have muscles to spare." He winked and Yuuri could swear he saw a star shine out and disappear into the air.
"T-thank you Josak… uh, we'll let you know."
"Oh thank you Your Majesty." He then blew him a kiss before skipping out of the room, a snickering grin on his face as he saw his little joke had done wonders. "Anyways, continuing on…" Yuuri stated as he sighed. "Next please." He called out.
In walked in three women and a man, one woman being a bit older than the other three. This older woman looked like to be in her late thirties but still held a lot of her youthful beauty. Her hair, much like all the women's hair, was a dirty blonde color, the roots of the hair being brown but the rest of the hair a light blonde color. The older woman's hair was tied up in a high ponytail but still her hair reached mid back. Her face was very bright and heart shaped, eyebrows being brown and eyes dark but warm chocolate brown eyes with long black eyelashes and soft pink lips. She wore a floor length lace dress with cap sleeves and a sweetheart neckline. It was pretty much all white except for the light pink lace floral designs on the skirt of the dress and the pink bow tied between her breasts. She was slim but athletic, as well as tall, just as tall as the male in the group and he appeared to be at least six feet three inches tall.
The other two women looked (obviously as stated before) younger and similar to the first woman, both in shape and appearance though they were a bit shorter—still tall for women—coming in at just under six feet. One of the younger women had waist length, straight hair that was loose; the hair swooped over at the front. The other had much shorter hair, the tips just hitting her shoulders. The one with long hair had a strapless dress on; it was ruffled slightly on the top with a brown corset that ties in the front, the underneath being white, the skirt was green, like a soft Kelly green, and around her waist she wore a blue lose belt that hung off one hip. The woman with the shorter hair wore a white, knee length dress with a beaded bateau neckline and a lace empire waist that had a rose in the center under her bust. The skirt of the dress was plain except for the roses that adorned the bottom hem of the dress. All three women wore the same high heeled, ivory shoes with the ruched and bowed toe.
The male looked far different from the females. He had light black, mid neck length hair with bangs that could nearly cover his olive colored eyes. He wore a sapphire colored, long sleeved jacket with a very light yellow hem, the jacket having a high neck and buttons that button on one side of his chest. The pants he wore were the same color of the jacket, his shoes being polished black boots. He, compared to the women was less impressive looks wise but still very beautiful looking.
"We are called The Four Muses, Your Majesty." The older woman curtsied first before the other three curtsied and bowed in respect. "I am Rina Ross, the leader of this troupe and these are my daughters Erena and Erella and my son Edward." She gestured to each one of her broad with a hand and each bowed their heads when their names were mentioned, Erena being the one with long hair, Erella with the short hair and of course the male being Edward.
Gwendal watched them carefully. "Muses you say?"
"Oh yes, my lord. One of the few that are left." Rina replied back with a smile. "Muses are a dying race of demons I'm afraid."
Yuuri blinked and leaned closer to Conrad who in turn bent forward. "So what are Muses? Isn't it inspiration or something like that?"
"That could be the meaning of the word, yes, but the Muses we are speaking of have a capital 'M'. The four you see before you are an underclass of demon who, as their name imply, inspire artists, visionaries and really anyone with their own special gift. Most Muses have the gift of song and music but there are others who have powers in writing, drawing and art… as long as it's an artistic field, Muses can have that gift. Sadly Muses were never truly populous in either world and as a result their race has been slowly dying off since their creation." Conrad explained in detail, whispering softly as to not upset the atmosphere of the chamber or the Muses before them by the Maoh's not knowing of them.
"Ah…" The king sounded softly, Conrad returning to a straight position. "So what are you offering to the royal wedding Four Muses?" Yuuri asked towards the four.
Rina smiled and gave a short bow. "Why, music of course. Entertainment if you will, Your Majesty."
"Let's hear it then." Wolfram sounded as he leaned back in his seat some more, interested in the four but not the one to actually reveal it.
Rina smiled and without a word or sound the son, Edward, stepped aside and leaned against the wall, looking rather bored of everything. Slowly he lifted a hand and in it formed a glowing, blue violet orb that was fading in and out in brightness. Edward's hand fell to his side slowly and he stared at the orb, his eyes turning from his olive green to the same color as the orb. Then from out of nowhere, a sound started to fade into the room. After a moment it was soon realized to be the opening score to music. Yuuri blinked and his eyebrows tilted in wonder for he recognized the song quickly to be one from Earth—Flashdance (What a Feeling). Before any other thought could arise Rina Ross began to sing—and quite beautifully too.
First, when there's nothing but a slow glowing dream
That your fear seems to hide deep inside your mind
After her mother had ended, Erena followed suit, singing her lines, almost as beautifully as her mother but not nearly in the same manner.
All alone I have cried, silent tears full of pride
In a world made of steel, made of stone
It was Erella's turn following suit after the beat had dropped, she starting to swing side to side as her mother and sister remained still. Her singing was much like her sister's, though her voice was a bit lower in tone than Erena's.
Well I hear the music
Close my eyes, feel the rhythm
Wrap around, take a hold of my heart
The chorus was quickly approaching and all at once their brown eyes shifted colors—Rina's to a plum color, Erena's to an ocean blue and finally Erella's as a coral color. Together they sang the chorus, the three of them now moving together and dancing as they song.
What a feeling
Being's believin'
I can have it all, now I'm dancing for my life
Take your passion
And make it happen
Pictures come alive, you can dance right through your life
"Now I hear the music, close my eyes, I am rhythm…" Erella sang a small solo coming out forward to dance closer to where the king sat, but not stepping onto the stairs.
Erena followed behind her sister, joining her singing her own mini solo. "In a flash it takes hold of my heart…"
The sisters broke apart together, each going their separate sides as their mother moved up forward between them as the chorus was once again starting up, the sisters quickly joining their mother's side.
What a feeling
Being's believin'
I can have it all, now I'm dancing for my life
Take your passion
And make it happen
Pictures come alive, now I'm dancing through my life
What a feeling…!
Next Rina became the obvious lead singer, her daughters singing the background chorus, the lyrics in the parenthesis, after their mother's lines.
What a feeling(I am music now)
Being's believin'(I am rhythm now)
"Pictures come alive; you can dance right through your life." They all sang at once before they continued singing in the same way as before while Edward was still leaning against the wall, it obvious now that he had no part in this song at all.
What a feeling(I can really have it all)
What a feeling(pictures come alive when I call)
I can have it all(I can really have it all)
Have it all(pictures come alive when I call)
Call, call, call, call(what a feeling)
I can have it all(being's believin')
Being's believin'(take your passion)
(make it happen)
Make it happen
"What a feeling!" The female Muses sang out loudly and passionately, ending their dance and song number on a high note, the three not even panting heavily at all as all of their colors disappeared as well as Edward's glowing, blue violet orb.
The room broke out into applause, almost everyone clapping, except of course for Gwendal and Wolfram, both of which make it a rule to not to show any straight out appreciation towards anything they may think is good. "That was an amazing performance." Yuuri commented, he completely blown away by the grade of performance he had just witnessed.
"I agree with Shibuya." Murata spoke up, ceasing his clapping in the process. "It was a really good performance, one of the best I've seen."
Wolfram on the other hand scoffed. "It was great, that I'll admit to, but I failed to see—Edward Ross was it?—actually truly contribute to the performance." The Ross females blinked at once and held their breaths as they all glanced back to Edward who was still leaning against the wall, his facial expression still reading extremely bored but though this time one dark eyebrow was raised in question towards the blonde demon lord. "I doubt he can even sing at all which in that case I can understand why he didn't do anything but supply the music. I'd be embarrassed too if I couldn't sing and I was in a family of singing Muses."
The three blonde women hisses softly as they sucked in air through their teeth. "Oh, he shouldn't have said that." Erella started first.
"I agree Ella. Ed's gonna be pissed." Erena agreed, the two of them starting to step away from their mother, they knowing what is to come next.
Rina sighed and stepped back at the same time as Edward was moving forward to join his sisters and take his mother's place in between his two older siblings. All at once the four's eyes changed color again and this time Rina took Edward's place and supplied the music, a plum orb appearing beside her shoulder and floated there in anticipation.
"Can't sing?" Edward began as his eyes glowed their blue violet color brightly in contained anger. "I'll have you know, I am far better than my sisters, I was just not required in the song they wanted to introduce us with." His hands turned to fists at his side, his scowl deep on his face. "I'll show you who can and can't sing."
Edward's sisters started to vocalize almost immediately, they knowing that their brother would not let this topic slide by so easily. The song they knew their brother would choose to sing was none other than Uptown Girl. "Oooh, Oooh…"
When it became Edward's time to sing, the Muse did a complete one eighty and turned from a scowling, angered male to a pure performer. It was obvious then to all that the male Muse could also sing, possibly even better than his sisters but still not on the same level of his more experience mother.
Uptown girl,
She's been living in her uptown world
I bet she never had a backstreet guy
I bet her momma never told her why
As he sung he was acting out the song while his sisters sung background vocals and acted along with him. He added a few modern dance moves as he sang, all which went in relation to the song and made him come off as a bad boy—in other words a backstreet guy.
I'm gonna try for an uptown girl
She's been living in her white bred world
As long as anyone with hot blood can
And now she's looking for a downtown man
That's what I am
In the following verse he seemingly targeted Greta to act as his "uptown girl", an act that made the young princess get flustered as she stared into those blue violet eyes as he sung towards her.
And when she knows what
She wants from her time
And when she wakes up
And makes up her mind
She'll see I'm not so tough
Just because
I'm in love with an uptown girl
You know I've seen her in her uptown world
She's getting tired of her high class toys
And all her presents from her uptown boys
She's got a choice
Throughout the song Edward continuously either targeted Greta as his "uptown girl" or danced with his sisters as they acted like his friends and supporters of his love for this "uptown girl" which this "backstreet guy" fell in love with. All of this did not go unnoticed by almost everyone else in the room, especially one very over protective father, Yuuri Shibuya. He wasn't quite sure how to take this possible flirting towards his daughter but was, at the same time, captivated by the music, song and dance moves the Ross siblings were performing before them.
Uptown girl
You know I can't afford to buy her pearls
But maybe someday when my ship comes in
She'll understand what kind of guy I've been
And then I'll win
And when she's walking
She's looking so fine
And when she's talking
She'll say that she's mine
Meanwhile Rina smiled softly to herself. It had become apparent to her as she watched her children perform that her son might have finally fallen in love with someone after almost nineteen years being alive.
She'll say I'm not so tough
Just because
I'm in love
With an uptown girl
She's been living in her white bred world
As long as anyone with hot blood can
And now she's looking for a downtown man
That's what I am
"Oooh, Oooh…" The Ross sisters vocalized as Edward danced much like one would if he were on the movie West Side Story, with that same swag and coolness factor that those male characters had. This was definitely drawing in the young princess more towards this singing Muse who was using her as his "uptown girl." As the final verse came up, the whole room was silently watching on as the performance given to them by this Edward Ross was really a good, believable and actually awe-inspiring one. He was most definitely a better performer—both singing and dancing wise—than his sisters.
Uptown girl
She's my uptown girl
You know I'm in love
With an uptown girl
My uptown girl
You know I'm in love (You know he's in love)
With an uptown girl
My uptown girl…
The Muses stopped moving and their eyes returned to their normal colors, Rina moving up to join her offspring. "As you can see," she spoke for them all, "we are all very talented and would love to be the entertainment for the royal wedding."
Wolfram nodded his head once, his arms still crossed in front of chest. Murata smiles at the four Muses and nodded a few times. He thought that these Four Muses would definitely make the entertainment at the wedding worthwhile. Gwendal was, as always, apathetic and Conrad enjoyed the performance but didn't really recognize the songs, they sounded familiar to him but he couldn't remember where he had heard them before. Greta thought that both performances were really amazing, and though she didn't know the songs, she really felt drawn into the music and wanted to dance.
Yuuri for once was the only one questioning the situation for once. "And I would like to have you perform but… I must ask… how do you know those songs? They are songs from Earth." With that the others in room started to question as well. How could they know of this music if it's from Earth? Murata grinned; he knew something the others did not.
Rina smiled, she apparently in on the joke for she saw Murata grin beside Yuuri. "Consider us a wedding present… from the ex-Maoh of Earth… Bob sends his regards." With that The Four Muses all bow at once.
*The 2 Acts of KKM: The Melodious Wedding*
Whoo… long chapter. Well now you know why this Act's called "The Melodious Wedding"… because the introduction of The Four Muses. From here on out, this fanfiction will have music involved, even in Act III. In fact music will be used to express character's emotions and feelings so be prepared for that.
Sorry if this chapter felt a bit rushed. Still in the process and getting scholarship money and it's not going so well… (that's the same reason why I haven't really updated in a while).
Please review! Reviews make me happy; a happy writer probably means more updates.
Next chapter: Will The Four Muses become the entertainment for the royal wedding? And what about the rest of the wedding preparations—how are they doing? And Wolfram? Has insecurities started to bring him down about the marriage—nay, the whole engagement? (Mostly Yuuram centric, congrats guys).
Disclaimer: I don't own any songs bro… except the ones I buy off the internet… I just don't own the rights to them 'kay?