IN HIS SHOES

Disclaimer: I do not own Kyou Kara Maou.

Pairing: Yuuri/Wolfram (but in this chapter there is a touch of brotherly Conrart/Wolfram and Shori/Yuuri love!)

Notes: I hope this chapter is better than the one before although I can't say that this is a happy one either. I realized how complicated the last chapter was because everything just seemed to happen all at once there. But that chapter was deliberately written that way because a change of pace is needed for the sake of keeping things interesting. After all that 'excitement, this time, we're going to slow it down a little bit. But, I repeat, no one's a happy camper here. You've been warned but hopefully you will still find this fic interesting.

I know saying things repetitively is frowned upon in many fandoms and yes, I fully realize the redundancy of it; but this is a sincere plea from my part: Please bear with me a while longer and continue reading. Thanks.

Chapter X: Homecoming

Tempers flare, tears flood and, oh those wounds! But at least the brothers have each other.

Right after Shori's right hook hit Conrart squarely on the face, he felt someone grabbing the collar of his by-now-tattered designer shirt and pulling him back. He adjusted his vision that had been temporarily blinded in his rage and determination to get back at the older Mazoku for punching him. Opening his eyes clearly for the first time, he saw Conrart was also being pulled away from him. Yozak got Conrart and Gwendal, who had finally arrived on the area sometime during the punch-fest, got him.

Soon enough Shori and Conrart were being dragged towards another tent that no doubt served as another makeshift infirmary. Once there, they were shoved down to a chair and forced to sit while Gwendal glared at them menacingly. Shori and Conrart wanted to ignore him and have a go at punching at each other again but Gwendal seemed to have had enough nonsense.

"Good job, you two!" he barked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "So now you've resorted to hitting each other for no reason at all in front of the subordinates like a bunch of two-year-olds fighting over a toy! Brilliant! I should congratulate you for being so mature!"

He first unleashed his wrath on his own brother. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Conrart?! You are one of the highest ranking officers here and here are you acting like a boy who was born yesterday with snot still hanging on his nose! Your king is unconscious, your soldiers are injured, the area is still not completely secure… yet you pick up a fight and create a needless commotion!"

That rather rhetorical question went unanswered as Gwendal turned on Shori. "As for you, Shori Shibuya, I don't care what your relation is with our king but I do not tolerate abductors in my kingdom – even more so abductors who involve themselves in a public brawl with a high-ranking military officer! It seems to me that, for all your intelligence and prowess, you possess the wisdom of a sand bear!"

Finally the formidable Mazoku spun on his heel and delivered his final blow. "I will have your action properly assessed and disciplined. I am ordering you to stay put. Don't even think about moving an inch from this place!"

After that, he stomped outside without saying another word, leaving two properly chastised big boys under Yozak's sympathetic albeit extremely amused guard.

"What are you doing there, wimp?"

"Don't call me wimp."

Wolfram smirked at the sight of the king, his fiancé, who also happened to be the biggest wimp in the whole kingdom (at least in Wolfram's twisted opinion), peeping through the curtains at the grand ballroom in Von Spitzberg castle where a majestic celebration in honor of the previous Demon Queen's birthday was currently taking place. The current king was somewhat restless as he stole a glance of the party through the slits of the curtains; his hands were slightly shaking and he nervously kept shifting his weight from foot to foot.

"What are you so worried about?" he finally asked after he grew tired of watching the king acting so edgy.

All of a sudden, Yuuri exploded in a barrage of frantic rambling. "Your uncle Stoffel said that I was going to have my first dance with him when I show up at the ballroom! What the hell is up with that?! Now I can't show myself in the ballroom at all! I don't want to dance with an old geezer like him! Sorry, I know he's your uncle… and I don't mind dancing with you, because you're my fiancé and all, but I draw the line at dancing with other men, especially one who is probably two hundred years older than me! God! The nerve of that man! What does he want with me anyway?! Can't you do anything about him? You handled your Von Bielefeld cousins so well… why can't you deal with this one uncle of yours too! Burn his pants or something! Seriously, Wolfram, I would rather bathe in your bear bee paint than dance with Stoffel!"

Before Yuuri even finished, Wolfram was already laughing. And he was laughing hard. Yuuri pouted at his insensitivity. Placing his hands on his hips, he reprimanded, "It's NOT funny, Wolfram! Show some concern here!"

"WIMP!" was all Wolfram managed to say in the midst of his unstoppable mirth.

"WOLFRAM!"

Wolfram worked hard to stifle his laughter and managed to curb his hilarity to a mere grin but that still vexed Yuuri. The king's pout turned into frown and he turned around, refusing to look at Wolfram. Realizing that Yuuri was upset, Wolfram finally sighed, rolled his eyes and approached the young king.

"Don't be angry, Yuuri," Wolfram said softly as he touched Yuuri's shoulder with one hand.

Yuuri tried to shrug away from Wolfram's touch but the blonde prince's other hand took Yuuri's other shoulder and forced the king to turn around and face him. After a moment's struggle with Yuuri stubbornness, Wolfram finally managed to make Yuuri look at him. Apparently, Yuuri was still pouting.

"Come on, wimp," Wolfram said, nodding towards the curtain. "We'll waltz into the ballroom together."

Yuuri gaped. "Are you kidding me?! Are you saying we walk in there while twirling around together?!"

Wolfram glared at his fiancé. "Do you have any better idea? You said I had to do something about Stoffel! Now if you don't want to have your first dance with him upon your entrance in the ballroom, you should just walk in there and dance with someone more appropriate – as in MEyour fiancé! Besides, if you've got your hands full of me since the beginning, you will have an excuse not to meet Stoffel at all! You can just tell him that I'm monopolizing you for the whole evening! Do you get any of that, wimp?"

It took Yuuri a while to grasp Wolfram's intention but when he did, he broke out in a big smile. "Ah, I see…now I get it! So that means… once you've got your hands on mine, you won't ever let go, right? You're going to keep me by your side all night long, right? You're not going to let me mingle with anyone tonight, right?"

Wolfram raised his eyebrows. "Oh, so you're actually looking forward to the prospect of spending the whole night at a party with me instead of with some insipid female for a change? Because, you know, that's what you do at all the other parties. Ignore me, talk to the girls. Or to Conrart. Right?"

Yuuri blushed but he retorted, "I don't do that!"

Wolfram snorted quite ungentlemanly. "Whatever, wimp."

"Wolfram…"

"What now?!" He sighed in impatience. "Are we going to dance or not?!"

"Thank you."

Wolfram snorted again. "You're welcome, wimp. Now let's go!"

Without warning, Wolfram took Yuuri's hand in his and pulled him out through the curtain. Yuuri nearly tripped on the long velvety fabric of the curtain but Wolfram's hold kept him steady and prevented him from an embarrassing fall. Wolfram practically dragged him to the edge of the dance floor, just as the music from the previous waltz ended. The ball announcer spotted them and announced to the crowd that His Majesty King Yuuri Shibuya and His Highness Lord Wolfram Von Bielefeld had arrived.

From the corner of his eyes Yuuri saw Stoffel running towards him. Yuuri started to panic again but, immediately after their names were done being pronounced, Wolfram dragged him again. Silence accompanied their short walk to the center of the dance floor while the other attendants of the ball eyed them curiously. It was definitely a rare sight to see the young king and his beautiful fiancé appearing exclusively together at this kind of party. The fact that they were holding hands quite tightly raised the level of marvel the crowd had for them.

When Wolfram bowed to Yuuri, Yuuri tried to remember what Gunter said about dancing etiquettes. What did he have to do now?! Ah, yes, he remembered. He had to bow as well. And so he did.

At that bow, the crowd around them gasped. Wolfram's eyes widened in surprise. Yuuri grimaced inwardly. Now what the hell did he do wrong this time?!

The music started nonetheless and Wolfram took Yuuri's hand and stated twirling him around. Yuuri followed his steps and was glad for once that Wolfram was taking the lead. He had absolutely no idea what he had to do in these dances so it was nice that someone else was showing him how.

"I can't believe you did that," Wolfram said through the perfect smile he was showing for the benefit of the crowd during the dance.

"Did what?" Yuuri asked confusedly. He wished Wolfram did not have to talk. He was busy enough counting the dance steps!

"You bowed to me!" Wolfram replied exasperatedly. Yuuri stepped on Wolfram's toe when he said that and prompted the blonde to reprimand him, "Focus, Yuuri!"

"Well, isn't that what I had to do?" Yuuri argued, so sure that he had this rule correctly. "According to Gunter, if your dance partner is male, you have to bow as well and not curtsy because curtsying is done by females only!"

"You wimp!"

"Stop calling me that!"

"You didn't have to bow to me!" Wolfram scolded.

"Why not?!" Yuuri countered. "You're male, aren't you? Last time I checked, you are!"

Wolfram rolled his eyes. "Idiot! You're the king. You don't have to bow to anyone at the dance floor! By bowing to me you're acknowledging that I'm of the same rank as you are!"

Yuuri stared long and hard at Wolfram. Finally, he asked, "Well, aren't you?"

Wolfram blushed at that but he fervently denied, "No! I'm just your… well, your fiancé. But that doesn't give us equal standing." He sighed and muttered, "Not yet anyway."

"What the hell…so when will you be equal in standing with me?" Yuuri asked. As the question poured out of his mouth, Yuuri suddenly realized that the question was stupid. He guessed the answer immediately after he had finished his sentence.

Wolfram's answer was just as he expected. "When you marry me." The blonde sighed again and grumbled, "Which is not going to happen in this lifetime, I suspect. So the answer is never."

At Wolfram's dejected voice and face, Yuuri suddenly felt the insane urge to hug the blonde and tell him that it was going to happen. He did not know when but it would happen…if only to wipe that sad look on Wolfram's face.

However, the blonde seemed to refuse to be let down by negative thoughts tonight. He lifted his chin up and adopted that haughty tone once again as he said, "Well, it's not like I actually want to marry a bad dancer like you."

Yuuri actually smiled. He decided to tease Wolfram, "But what if I learn how to dance properly?"

"Hmph! That one is also never going to happen in this lifetime!"

"Oh, come on… don't you have faith in your fiancé?"

"Frankly? No."

"Hey, why not?"

"Because you're a wimp! Once a wimp, forever a wimp!"

"That's so unfair!"

Thus, under the watchful eyes of the spectators, Yuuri and Wolfram continued dancing and arguing and sometimes even occasionally smiling at each other warmly throughout the night. As for Stoffel? He never stood a chance. Wolfram stood by Yuuri's side for the whole night. They danced some more… they talked some more…

All night long…

The melody of the waltz that had been ringing in his head stopped when he slowly started to open his eyes. There was whiteness all over that was soon taken over by bright light. Then the light faded revealing blurry shapes. The blurry shapes in turn took form… there were people… people who were hurrying from one side to another… there was also noise but no music… this was no party.

"OUCH! THAT HURT! BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU TOUCH!"

Who the hell was shouting?

"OW! THAT HURT!"

Wolfram. It was Wolfram. Wolfram was shouting!

"DAMN IT, YOU'RE HURTING ME!"

Wolfram was hurt! He had to be saved!

Yuuri woke up with a start and jolted to a seating position. When he did, three men came rushing towards him. They were all shouting, "Your Majesty! You're awake!"

Yuuri ignored them. He frantically perused the busy place – wherever this was – to find the one person he had wanted to see since months ago…

And finally he found him. He saw a topless Wolfram sitting on a bed across the room. Standing next to Wolfram, hovering by his bed with a damp cloth, was the soldier Dacascos. He was attempting to treat Wolfram's wounds by dabbing it on the cuts and bruises. The blonde, however, was giving the bald headed soldier hell. He could not stop shouting.

Yuuri had to blink several times to make sure that the being in front of him with blonde hair and green eyes was not merely an apparition. Despite his own injuries, he pinched his own arm to make sure that he was not in a dream either. After all that, the blonde did not disappear. Nor did his mind feel hazy like in a dream. It was reality. The reality was that Wolfram was there, in the same place, just right across him.

A medic approached Yuuri and gently coaxed him, "Your Majesty, please lie down. You are hurt and you need proper treatment."

When he heard Yuuri's name being uttered, Dacascos turned to Yuuri and smiled. Gisela's right hand man greeted him, "Hello, Your Majesty! I will be right with you after I finish treating Lord Wolfram!"

Wolfram growled, "Just go away now, baldie!"

At the endearingly vexing scene, Yuuri unconsciously chuckled. He blurted out, "Oh, Wolfram, you're such a baby."

Right at that moment, he felt like he could just hit his head on a brick wall. He had not seen his fiancé for several long weeks and they had not spoken to each other for even more. And yet, his first words to his him came out as a mockery. He felt guilty enough to want to cry and disappear from the face of this world.

Wolfram narrowed his eyes on Yuuri but did not seem to take offense. Perhaps he was too much in pain to take exception to Yuuri's unintentional jibe. He did say, "I'm a baby? Wait until you try one of these cloths on your raw skin. Let's see who will cry then! And–"

Gwendal entered the tent. His presence put an end to whatever it was Wolfram had to say. Everyone else in the tent paused from their hustling and bustling to salute their commander. Gwendal merely nodded his acknowledgement at them before shifting his gaze to his younger brother. Wolfram gazed back at Gwendal. Yuuri threw his gaze back and forth between the two unlikely siblings.

The air was thick with tension as everyone held their breath in anticipation of Gwendal's next words. But they never came. Instead, those who were near enough could see a flicker of emotion in his eyes as he stared at his youngest brother. One would swear it was relief. Another could contend that it was longing. In any case, even if they saw it, perhaps they would not dare to say it: the military chief's eyes were tear-glazed.

After a long while, Gwendal finally tore his gaze away from Wolfram and turned to Yuuri. He asked gruffly, "Are you all right, Your Majesty?"

Surprised at having been addressed while he was in the middle of scrutinizing Gwendal, Yuuri stammered, "I… uh… I'm f-fine! P-perfectly f-fine!"

Gwendal had a distrusting look on his face. Then he called Dacascos, who stepped forward immediately. He ordered him, "Make sure that that gash on His Majesty's left arm is properly treated and healed."

Yuuri glanced down at his left arm and, just as Gwendal indicated, there was a large gash. He had seen wounds like these before but seeing one on his own body gave his head a certain lightheadedness that he knew was not good for his well-being. He gulped and looked back at Gwendal although the older man's terrifying face was not a better sight than his wound.

"Where's Conrad?" Yuuri asked to get his mind off the wound.

Gwendal's scowl intensified considerably. He made a low growling sound on his throat and then answered in a clipped tone, "In the other tent with your brother."

That statement made Yuuri flinch. He gaped and asked, "My brother? He's here?!"

Gwendal shifted his attention back to Wolfram and said, "Apparently so. No doubt he came together with Wolfram."

Wolfram promptly swung his face to the side to show his denial. "Hmph! We didn't come together! He followed me here! That jerk!"

Yuuri, Gwendal, Dacascos and everyone around them arched their eyebrows and stared at him in wide-eyed astonishment after that last insult on Shori's character. Yuuri had to shake his head several times before he could produce any response.

"Did you… did you have a fight with Shori?" the king asked.

Wolfram glared at him. "Ask him. He started it." Then, as if suddenly realizing who he was talking to, he shook his head in exasperation. "And I don't even know why I'm talking to you! You are no different from him! Hmph!"

Gwendal and Yuuri exchanged bemused looks. The former gave a small shrug of indifference but the latter could not help but feel intrigued. Extremely intrigued. He wondered what had happened between Wolfram and Shori on Earth that could induce Wolfram's wrath like this. He knew it was a long shot for Wolfram and Shori to be fast friends but he did not even know what happened between Shori and Wolfram while they had been together on Earth. For all he knew, on Earth, anything could have happened. To prove it, just now, the way Wolfram spoke of Shori just now sounded… somehow… a little like – Yuuri gulped at this thought – a lover's quarrel.

What the hell?!

Suddenly Yuuri could not handle his curiosity and uneasiness anymore. He needed to find out. He had to talk to Shori now. Without thinking twice, Yuuri jumped out of bed, surprising the hell out of everyone, including Wolfram. When Yuuri made his way towards the exit, the medics scrambled to stop him. But the king could be fast if he wanted to. Without too much work, the wounded king slipped through opening of the tent and marched outside to the other tent… wherever that other tent was!

"You know you screwed up, didn't you?" Yozak pointed out the obvious at his captain.

"Shut up," Conrart growled.

His friend and fellow Ruttenberg survivor decided to be merciless and implacably continued to assault Conrart's judgment. "It was bad enough that you followed me to run after Gunter but during the course of the hour-long battle you left his side twice more and failed to get him to safety. What was that all about, captain? Aren't you usually joined at the hip with the kiddo?"

Shori choked on his drink when he heard Yozak's last sentence. He coughed out the water that accidentally clogged his nose. The sound drew Yozak and Conrart's attention to him.

At the sight of Shori, Yozak smiled. "By the way, Shori-sama, you may not have been able to wield a sword but I noticed your Maryoku had become stronger. You finished off a battalion of thugs with your water magic, didn't you? I saw you during the battle. Now, if only you didn't keep gawking at the captain's little brother, you would have finished finishing them off a little sooner than it took you to."

It was Conrart's turn to choke on his drink. He swiveled and glared at Shori. "You were doing what?!"

Shori snapped at the accusation. "Don't start with me again, Conrad! I was only looking out for Wolfram! He was fighting all by himself! I was just trying to protect him!"

Conrart somehow hated the sound of that. It was not Shori's job or responsibility to protect Wolfram, damn it, Conrart wanted to scream. It was his right! His! Wolfram was his brother.

"Besides, where were you when your brother collapsed? Did you even know where he was standing?" Shori persisted. Then, somewhat jealously, the dark haired man shot, "Of course you didn't! You were, as always, too busy tending to my brother! So don't blame me for looking out for yours!"

Conrart had never felt so livid in his whole entire life. There had been many times when he wanted to break away from his smiling façade and explode in rage but he had always been able to contain his anger. And in all of those times, his wrath had always been directed at the people who wanted to do him, his family, his country and his monarch harm. Never before had he felt this upset at someone whom he usually called friend. Now, however, all he could think about was violate Shori for those accusations.

Yozak sensed that they were dangerously close to hitting each other again so he stepped forward to put some kind of barrier intervened between them. He then said placatingly, "Enough already. You two will get into more trouble if you continue to act like this. Just stay calm until Lord Von Voltaire returns, all right?"

"SHORI!"

The king made his grand entrance at their tent, followed by several medics and soldiers who had been tagging along behind him when he escaped from the medical tent. He had circled the whole camp once before someone finally indicated the correct directions to the exact tent that Conrart and Shori were occupying. When he appeared, both Shori and Conrart rose from their seats. Then, brushing past Conrart, Shori hurriedly approached his brother.

"Yuuri! Are you all right?" Shori asked.

"I'm fine!" Yuuri insisted. "Don't worry about me. Hey, I need to talk to you about something. Let's step outside for a while."

Shori took no notice of Yuuri's words. He stared at the terrible gash on Yuuri's arm and turned completely pallid. Seething, he looked at Conrart accusingly and sneered at him, "You did screw up, didn't you?"

"That's not important!" Yuuri impatiently cut in. "I need to talk to you!"

"Later, Yuuri," Shori said rigidly. "You need to get that wound treated first."

"Who cares about the damn would right now!" Yuuri practically shouted.

The shout, however, rendered him unsteady. He started to sway the way Wolfram had earlier and Shori quickly steadied him with his hands. His eyes filled with concern, he firmly held Yuuri's shoulders to support him.

"I care, Yuuri," Shori softly said, his concern very obvious.

Some of that concern must have been properly conveyed to his younger brother because after that Yuuri sighed and acquiesced. "Fine," the king said, "I'll have it treated first."

Shori nodded gladly. "And I'll stay with you."

Soon enough, the medics swarmed the place to do their job. On the meantime, Yozak slipped outside to do more useful things. Dacascos instructed the soldiers to carry Yuuri to a bed that was available in the tent. Shori was having none of it; he wanted to be the one to carry his own brother. Dacascos let him have his way and even thanked him for helping. When that happened, Conrart, now ignored, slipped out as well. He did not want to be there at the moment; seeing Shori and Yuuri together was too unbearable right now.

He wanted to be with his own brother. So, with Shori's words looming at the back of his mind, he went in search for Wolfram. He needed to see Wolfram and he needed to tell him how sorry he was that he had not been there for him. He prayed that Wolfram would not push him away right now and he would give everything that he owned for his younger brother to forgive him… to accept him… to let him stand beside him…

Before he got anywhere near the other medical tent, he suddenly heard a small voice calling out his name.

"Conrart."

The soldier halted in surprise. He turned around. How surprised and, on top of all, relieved he was when he found the face of the one whom he had been missing for many months…

"Wolfram…"

His younger brother, wrapped in a thin ragged blanket that undoubtedly must have been salvaged from the raided supply, was staring at him intently. Conrart was almost too afraid to see how Wolfram was looking at him because there used to be only repugnance in those beautiful green orbs. This time, however, after everything that had happened and was happening, he could not avoid them any longer. Bracing himself, he lifted his eyes to look straight into Wolfram's eyes for the first time in many years.

What he saw there knocked the wind out of him. Wolfram was staring at him sadly, longingly and tearfully. Wolfram looked tired and wounded. Not just physically… but mentally as well. Conrart could not help himself.

He went over to Wolfram and seized his brother in a hug, not caring what Wolfram or anyone else might think. He prepared himself to be pushed away as he had always been but, surprisingly, Wolfram was docile in his arms. He did not even breathe a word of disdain when Conrart suddenly tightened his embrace. It was as if the blonde was relishing Conrart's warmth.

Before long, Conrart felt moisture on his shirt. Then he heard a sob. His heart twisted and turned at the sight of his brother sobbing. At that Conrart did another thing that he had not done in years ever since their childhood, before Wolfram discovered what sort of blood Conrart had running through his veins; he kissed Wolfram's head.

"It's all right, Wolfram, I'm here," Conrart said.

Wolfram then wrenched his head away from Conrart's chest and looked at his brother. Desperately, the blonde said, "Take me away, Conrart. I don't want to be here. Please take me away… I don't want to be here!"

Conrart did not ask questions. He merely nodded and promised, "Yes, Wolfram. I'll take you away. We'll leave. Together."

"Promise?" Wolfram asked, choking on a sob.

"Promise."

TO BE CONTINUED