Disclaimer: I do not own Kyo kara Maoh.

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed.

Chapter 10: Yuuri travels to Earth.

In the movies people often looked tranquil and serene when they swam underwater. Effortlessly gliding. Reality, unfortunately, was nothing like those movies.

Traveling between the two worlds was draining. Magically, because it required him to use some of his maryoku, and physically, since he traveled through water for the duration of the trip. After all, Yuuri was half-human. And he was a baseball player, not a professional swimmer. Yes, water was his element. But that didn't change the fact that he couldn't breathe underwater.

He had gotten used to traveling, to some degree. But it still wasn't easy. Especially when he had three other people to take along with him.

Yuuri forced himself to relax as he took a deep breath. He concentrated his power on returning home. A whirlpool started to form, encircling Yuuri and the others. The water swirled faster, and they were pulled down, submerged underneath the water and on their way to Earth.

His cheeks puffed as he strategically conserved the last breath he had taken. Bubbles streamed out of his nose as he tried to release the pressure building up in his chest.

Then he was struggling upwards, the all-consuming need to take in air dominating his thoughts. Just when he thought he wouldn't be able to hold his breath any longer, he surfaced, reflexively inhaling. Yuuri felt the slight burning sensation as air entered his lungs. He heard the splashes as the others surfaced as well, the gasps as they inhaled.

When Yuuri caught his breath, he looked around. The others had made it safely. Good.

They had arrived in the bathtub. His mother usually kept it filled constantly while he was in Shin Makoku in the hopes that he would return. She probably wasn't expecting him back so soon, but there was still some water left in the tub. Not as much as usual though. The amount didn't matter though. He had once traveled to Shin Makoku in a puddle.

"This water's pretty shallow." Yuuri commented.

"At least we don't have a deeper problem."

Yuuri and Murata both groaned. Why did Conrad have to think that puns were funny? And lame puns too?

"Yuu-chan…!" A hopeful voice called.

The door to the bathroom was thrown open and he was enthusiastically embraced by his mother. Fortunately they had been able to wear clothes for this trip.

"Oh Yuu-chan, I missed you so much!" Miko exclaimed. "But you're back a little earlier than I expected." She looked around, realizing that Yuuri had brought Wolfram, Conrad and Murata with him. "But don't worry, there's enough food for everyone!"

His mother looked at him smiling. But then she glanced down and looked annoyed. "Yuu-chan! You're dripping water everywhere. Go dry off and get changed!" Before leaving the bathroom she added, "And when you finish, I'll have some curry ready for you and your friends!"

-ooo-ooo-

Yuuri changed into a dry pair of clothes. He gave a pair to Wolfram. And he sneaked a pair of clothes out of Shori's room for Conrad. He made sure he took the blue t-shirt that Shori was so fond of. Over-protective older brothers deserved to be annoyed once in a while.

He looked around. Murata was no-where in sight. Yuuri sighed. Murata was probably busy helping his mother in the kitchen. He looked at Conrad and Wolfram. It was still early in the day. Maybe they could all play baseball after lunch. Conrad smiled at him. Wolfram absentmindedly scratched his arm and looked annoyed. Then Yuuri remembered why they had traveled to Earth in the first place. Oh. Games would probably have to wait until after they bought bug-spray. Yuuri wasn't irresponsible on purpose, he just got distracted by doing fun things sometimes.

-ooo-ooo-

His mother descended upon him when he entered the kitchen. "Yuu-chan! Ken-chan told me that you brought mosquitoes along with you to the other world!"

"Uh, it was an accident!"

"You have to be more careful, Yuu-chan!" Miko scolded.

"Boys are so dirty." Miko complained. "When Yuu-chan was younger, he would always forget to take his shoes off, and then he would track mud all over the house." She said dramatically.

"I'm sure he will manage to find a solution." Conrad said.

Miko smiled at Conrad, then looked over at Wolfram, who was still scratching his mosquito bites. "Wolf-chan! Are those mosquito bites?"

"Uh." Wolfram looked up, surprised to suddenly have Miko's full attention.

"Stop scratching, you'll only make it worse!" she scolded. Then she turned her attention back to Yuuri. "Yuu-chan, did you tell Wolf-chan to put vinegar on the bites to keep them from itching?"

"Uh, no, I forgot." Yuuri said sheepishly.

"So careless." Miko commented. Then she turned back to Wolfram. "Here, let me show you." She said while grabbing Wolfram's arm. She marched him over to the sink and started applying some vinegar with a damp cloth.

"Ow, that hurts!" Wolfram protested.

"Of course it does!" Miko said indignantly. "You've been scratching! Now hold still!"

"It's a good thing Mama-san is taking care of Wolfram." Murata commented. "He could have gotten an infection here with all those tiny cuts from scratching." Murata adjusted his glasses so the light gleamed off of them. "And we wouldn't want that." (1)

Sometimes Yuuri had the feeling that Murata knew more than he was saying.

-ooo-ooo-

After they had finished eating Miko's curry, Murata suggested that they get started working on the mosquito problem. Miko, of course, was curious as to what they were planning on doing.

"First, we are going to buy some bug-spray." Yuuri said proudly.

"Then, I think we should head over to the library to get some books on mosquito control." Murata said. "We still need to come up with a good idea."

"Bug-spray is a good idea!" Yuuri said defensively.

"Bug-spray only keeps mosquitoes from biting. We need to get rid of them" Murata pointed out.

"Hmmm" Miko pondered the problem. Then her face lit up. "What if you could just vacuum them up?" she asked.

"What?" Yuuri exclaimed.

"That's how I used to get rid of the dirt you would track into the house, Yuu-chan. I would have to vacuum it up." She became more excited as she thought of all the possibilities of this idea. "Do you think they have a big magical demon-vacuum cleaner that could just clean all the mosquitoes up?" she asked with wide, excited eyes.

Murata smiled kindly, "That's certainly an unusual idea, Mama-san." Then he turned to Yuuri and the others. "Come on, let's get started, we have a lot to do today."

-ooo-ooo-

"Maybe the 'vacuum cleaner' would be another good idea for Anissina." Yuuri said as they walked down the sidewalk.

"I'm not so sure." Murata replied.

Yuuri frowned, and tried to picture a giant demonic vacuum cleaner sucking up everything in its path. He shuddered. Maybe it was a good thing Anissina had never traveled to Earth.

Miko's Mosquito Advice

Putting ice on a mosquito bite can help reduce the inflammation and itching.

You can put something like lemon juice or vinegar on the bite. It will help with the itching, and it will kill bacteria that could cause an infection if you've been scratching (Which you shouldn't! Never scratch! That means you, Wolf-chan!)

If they still keep itching, try using something stronger, like calamine lotion.

And the best advice? Avoid getting bitten!

Author's Notes:

(1) With Wolfram having limited to no immunity for bacteria on Earth, having tiny cuts could potentially be dangerous. Not to mention he could also bring the bacteria back to Shin Makoku.

And the idea that will present itself in chapter 12 is entomologically awesome.