Chapter 10 – Bob, the Demon King of Earth
The plane ride hadn't been so bad, though waking Wolfram up had been somewhat troublesome. After getting on the plane late, Wolfram had taken to gazing out of the window, whilst Yuuri was bored out of his head and decided to engage in small talk with the blonde.
And now, they were in Switzerland. Somewhere on road to Bob's 'castle'. Rodriguez hadn't said much at all and when he did, it was either to state where they were, what time it was, or how close they were. To Yuuri's relief, he was keeping his end of the deal and not mentioning anything.
Yuuri liked how this was going...he just didn't like his reasoning behind it. It seemed to him that his mother was doing well to keep herself composed. He could tell she was bothered by it more than she was showing. She'd cried of course. Once. Once? She was a mother and a wife. She might still be a mother, but it hurts any mother when they lose their child, even more so when they lose their husband at the same time. There was no way she had fully recovered. It would be to soon.
Another thing that was bothering Yuuri was that right now, he remembered his position.
Shin Makoku. King. King of Shin Makoku. King of Shin Makoku. He was king of a country. How man days – weeks – had he been gone? Wolfram wouldn't know. He'd have no way of knowing. The only person he could try to ask was Bob, but he still doubted Bob would have any idea. Besides, he was already asking a lot of Bob, there was no need to know really. He'd been gone long periods of time before, this was just the same, right?
"...Hey, Wolfram?"
"Yuuri?"
"I was wondering, is there any way that, from Earth, I could watch Shin Makoku?"
"You mean like keeping an eye on everyone? Not one that I've ever heard of. Why would you need to do that, anyway? You're supposed to go back there after you've finished everything you've done here."
"I thought that was what I was supposed to do there," Yuuri said, more to himself than anyone else. "What about when I'm here though? In situations like..the one I'm in now?" Yuuri finished, looking at Wolfram now.
"But, you're going back when we get there aren't you?" Wolfram crossed his arms disapprovingly. "Right?"
"..A-actually, I was planning on-"
"Yuuri, look. We need you back in Shin Makoku, that was the whole reason I'm here. To get you back. You have issues to resolve." Wolfram thrust his head in the opposite direction.
"Issues?.. Like what? I don't remember anything going wrong before I left." Yuuri said, looking slightly confused.
""Firstly, there's the fact that when a country's king isn't there, the enemies try to take advantage of the weakness. And then there's the issue of your paper work." Wolfram replied, counting them off on his fingers, but also watching Yuuri from the corner of his eyes to check if he was getting it. " Also the desire for new equipment from the soldiers, but of course that was an issue before you left. Then there's the issue of our wedding-"
"Whoa, whoa...Slow down. That last one's not really ha-ha, an issue, is it?"
"Yes. It is. You slapped me about a year ago. It has been far too long, thus is now an issue. To me." Wolfram averted his gaze towards the window. Yuuri's uneasiness was just oozing out of him and it made Wolfram insecure. Surely being proposed to a year ago, a wedding had to be happening soon. Wolfram wanted it, obviously, but Yuuri wasn't so sure, he wasn't even sure of himself.
"Wolfram. I'm not gay, I can't marry a man."
"...So I've been told..." Wolfram replied, quietly.
"Ah-" Yuuri was about to reply, when he noticed the car coming to a halt.
"Guys, unbuckle. We're here." True to an over-joyed sounding Rodriguez, out of the car window was a huge skyscraper. It was built from glass, or at least that's how it looked to the naked eye. The sun reflected off it, making how high it was unclear. They'd parked just east of it and were only a few minutes walk from the door.
Wolfram was first to leave with what looked a hurried exit. Yuuri followed not a second later.
Upon walking through the door, the placed hadn't changed. The building definitely looked bigger on the inside, even if it was huge on the outside. They followed – almost – the same path the had when they'd first been in the building, but taking the door to the left instead of the diversion from the 'warm welcome' they'd had last time. It was awkwardly quiet. The place seemed empty, though they knew it wasn't. No one said anything until they reached the huge double doors, not even when they were opened to reveal an older looking man wearing a jet black suit sitting several metres across the floor.
Bob looked indifferent, as always. His black hair was combed back, his glasses slipping down his nose in the same place as always. Apparently, the building wasn't the only thing that hadn't changed. He was sitting at his desk with a blonde woman stood next to him. She was familiar.
Stepping forward, Yuuri made his way towards the desk. The other three stayed back. For now, Yuuri looked like he knew what he was doing.
"Bob, I'd like to thank you for offering to help, even if there's nothing you can do." A small smile appeared on Yuuri's face. "But, if there is anything, I will do whatever I can to help you do it. Dad and Shouri mean too much to me just to have them left here...not when I'm hoping to-"
"Move you and your mother to Shin Makoku? Did she agree to that?" The first lines out of Bob's mouth, and Yuuri froze. In actual fact, she had been avoiding the question. He'd tried, but he'd never received a real answer. It was odd that his mother was avoiding the question: she'd never kept anything from him before, why start now? Especially in the turn of recent events. But then again, Yuuri hadn't noticed she'd been avoiding it until Bob mentioned it. And Wolfram...Well, he did say he only came to Earth to take Yuuri back, but if he had noticed, why hadn't he said anything?
"W-well she didn't agree...as such..but, um, she didn't disagree. Let's just say...she never answered when I asked." Yuuri let out, feeling defeated. Here he was trying to help his mother, and yet it was seemingly harder than he thought.
"Does that mean she's not going with you?" Bob was good at this whole manipulation thing, but what was he trying to do? He was succeeding in making Yuuri feel uneasy and self-conscious. Yuuri turned to look at his mother. She looked fine, all smiles and what not, but still. It didn't feel right. It felt weird. She didn't look happy, even with the smiles, but she didn't look sad either. She was just standing next to Wolfram, who looked bored, waiting to be told what she was here for.
"I'm not sure what it means. But I want her there with me. I'm not going to leave her here alone. She's never been alone. Ever. She's always had someone around her, if not Dad, then it was Shouri and if it wasn't him then it was a friend from the neighbourhood. Right now, I'm pretty sure she- we are still worked up over..." Yuuri stopped. He couldn't say it. He couldn't understand how his mother was capable of keeping up the front, he'd always known she was strong, but in this way too? Emotionally strong? Yuuri had never been emotionally strong, and he never though of his father as strong either knowing the amount of times his mother had won in an argument with him. He wasn't strong, Shouri wasn't strong, he wanted to become strong. It seemed Miko was the strongest one in the family.
"All right then. Should we have a talk with her?" Standing up, Bob gestured the woman over. She approached them, still holding the smile whilst Wolfram stayed put. This wasn't his business and he had no need or desire to interrupt in it. He leaned casually against the wall and watched as she made her way to her sons side.
"Mum-"
"Mama, Yuu-chan." Yuuri made a face. As expected as that was, that was unexpected. He knew she'd say it, but straight away? "Hello again, Bob. It's good to see you are well."
"As are you, I can see. Do you know why Yuuri has come, Jennifer?" Miko shook her head. That was a good sign. That meant she hadn't over heard them talking, although Yuuri still had his doubts. It was common knowledge that his mother was full of surprises.
"I see. Yuuri, are you going to tell her?" He visibly stiffened. He wasn't ready for that. He was expecting them to go over preparations here. He didn't expect he'd actually have to tell his mother now.
"A-actually-"
"Yuu-chan, is there something you have to tell mama? You can tell me anything. Go on." She said, but it wasn't at all reassuring. If Yuuri wasn't ready, how on Earth or Shin Makoku would she be ready? Wait. She was able to put up this front...and for so long. Yuuri gulped. Telling her was the hard part.
From afar, Wolfram could see the panic in Yuuri's eyes. His first reaction was a palm to the head and a 'I told you so' but that wouldn't really do any good. He'd been waiting for the part where Yuuri would show what and how he'd prepare for this moment, but now he could see the wimpiness he knew would never change. From now, he'd make it official to have Yuuri scheme a plan before going through with it. All this time wasting was unnecessary. Then again, he'd seen it coming. If only Yuuri understood the consequences of most of his actions...
"Mama, you never answered my question." Yuuri said, purposely avoiding her eyes.
"..What question was that, hun?" She looked confused, and it worked to convince Yuuri that she'd forgotten, but Wolfram thought otherwise. Miko had remembered everything as far as he had known, and if she hadn't, it was unimportant from then on.
"Mother. Would you come and live with me in Shin Makoku?" It wasn't more than a whisper, but it was enough to make everyone but Bob gasp.
"Y-Yuu-chan?"
"I just think it'll be easier for you if you're with me. We could get through this together. Dad and Shouri mean the world to me, and I know it's no different with you. We'll take them with us. I wont have to come back here again and I'll be able to run the country properly...It's perfect, right?" Yuuri turned to look at her. There were tears in her eyes. And Yuuri himself was on the verge of tears. There was no clear confirmation on her face anywhere.
Miko stepped forwards and wrapped her arm's around him.
"Thank you, Yuuri. Thank you for trying to make this easier. Thank you for trying to ease the pain." A tear fell from her eye, but she made no move to wipe it away. "Thank you, but Yuuri, things like these happen in life. I loved your father and my son, and I love you, but there are some things that we have to accept. You have no need to make such a decision because of this. You should be able to come back here whenever to see me, wasn't that one of the joys of being such a grown up man, huh Yuuri?" She smiled, hugging all the more tighter. "You don't have to give up a whole planet just for me, Yuuri." Yuuri's eyes were blurry with tears. He returned the hug, but he was lost in his mind. Did that mean she was staying? But wouldn't that be harder? Wouldn't it be easier for her to go to Shin Makoku to get away from the memories and live with her son, knowing he wasn't going to come to harm any time soon? Would she rather live alone, as a widow, with no one around her?
"But-"
"No, Yuuri." She smiled even wider. "What would they think of a king who needs their mother around to protect him? How would that look?" Yuuri almost laughed. "Besides, it's nice here, wouldn't you agree?"
"But I don't-"
"Yuuri, if I came with you, I'd only be a burden." Yuuri eyes grew sizes. That wasn't true. Not at all. Having her there would be a privilege. But, thinking over it again, would having his mother there benefit her more, or him? When put that way, it sounded more selfish. But he really wanted for her to come.
"That's not true!" Yuuri yell, almost chocking on his words as the tears started to fall. "I want you there so you can be happy. I want you there so we can be happy. You don't have to stay at the castle, I'll find somewhere for you to live an I'll come visit whenever I can!" Miko didn't argue, she just held Yuuri tighter.
Wolfram just stared. Everything that Yuuri said was doable, so why wouldn't she agree? Was there something keeping her back?
"Now, Demon King. About your family."
"Huh?" Yuuri looked up at Bob.
"We've been given the caskets. They're all ready for us to go through the ritual. We can start whenever you're ready."
"Hmm." Yuuri nodded. This was finally it. No more waiting. He'd be back in Shin Makoku, with his mother, his brother, and his father. If only he was there to see it.
Murata let out a loud sigh. This was getting annoying. He was sat on the stairs watching his parents were rushing around the house getting ready to leave again, though he didn't know what for. All he knew was that after receiving a phone call and agreeing to whatever was said, they were send into a frenzy of 'Where's this?' and 'Where's that?'. And frankly, Murata had had it. It was close to midnight. Any responsible parents wouldn't dare leave their sixteen year old alone to babysit their 4 year old sister. Especially not when they didn't trust him. So just what was so important.?
"Kenny, are mummy and daddy leaving again?"
"Mayumi? Hmm, yeah." He said, putting an arm around her back and pulling her onto his knee. She was a small child, she barely weighed a thing whenever Murata picked her up.
"What for this time?" She sounded so innocent. It almost made Murata smile to know that he was her favourite. She'd always said she liked him best because he would hug her and play with her when she was bored. She hated her parents when they left. They were constantly leaving. If it wasn't work, then something had coincidentally 'come up'. Murata knew why they just loved leaving. It hurt him to know that even if he told her, she wouldn't understand. Not at her age, anyway. Because he knew that they were scared of him. Their own son. They'd tried as much as they could to get him out of the house, they used Rodriguez to take him away whenever he had a 'weird dream'. They'd sent him to nursery early just to get him out of the house. And they were more than overjoyed when he was old enough to start school. They had him take ever club he could just to keep him there longer. Though it wasn't long before he realised what they were doing. He wasn't as stupid or 'crazy' as he sounded. Every club he'd been to, every doctor he'd seen had just helped him grow stronger and stronger and smarter. His parents weren't expecting him to get anywhere, and he was sure that they'd love to get rid of him the first chance they had. That wasn't the case with Mayumi, but they still weren't around enough for her to actually get to know them well enough. And small children are scared of strangers.
"I'm not sure, but it looks like they're in a hurry."
"Hmm, Kenny, read me a bedtime story?"
"You should be asleep already, May."
"But they're being noisy. I can't sleep when they're wrushing around like this." She hid her face in his shoulder; she looked tired, but Murata decided it was better to wait till they'd actually left the premises before putting her back to bed.
"Okay, okay. When they've driven away. Which book tonight?"
"Not the scawry ones..." She said, hiding her face deeper and deeper into his sweater.
"Of course not. How about...I tell you a story?" She looked up at him this time with pleading eyes and a huge grin.
"Sure! Kenny tells amazing stowries. Hahah!" Murata laughed along with her. He tapped her on the nose lightly. What a joy it was to have siblings, he thought. Mayumi was the only reason he came home for longer periods now. Shin Makoku didn't have anyone like her around, the Great One was a long shot from the type of person he liked to be around.
Murata grinned as he picked her up and carried her up the stairs then turned the corner and entered her room. He lay her down on her bed and started tucking her in.
"Hahah, that tickles!" She started wriggling under his hands whilst he was trying to keep her still.
"Hey, hey. Stop moving!" Murata laughed too. She did this every time. "Okay, what type of story do you want?"
"Um...Oh! That love story, about that king!" Murata nodded and ruffled her hair.
"That one again? Okay, then. Once upon a time, four thousand years ago..."
"Is this everything?" Yuuri asked, looking at the pool before him. There were two caskets sitting at the bottom. He'd been overwhelmed when he saw them, and it took a while for him to calm down. It was a horrible feeling. When he'd asked his mother if she was okay, she'd just put an arm around his shoulders and nodded. Yuuri was glad that pretending they weren't in there was working for the time being. He'd keep thinking that until they got to Shin Makoku and everything should go on as planned.
"Yes." Bob replied. "We'll have you, Lord von Bielefeld and your mother travel between them. If you keep a proper focus the whole trip, they should stay where they are. When you arrive, I'm not sure where you'll be wanting to end up, but where ever it is, you may need someone to help you carry them." Yuuri nodded.
"Yuuri."
"Wolf?"
"Can I speak to you? Just for a moment."
"Of course, what is it?"
"Follow me." Wolfram turned and walked out of a door close to where he was standing. Yuuri followed on after excusing himself and caught him up.
"Wolfram, what's wrong?"
"Yuuri, are you sure you're okay with this? I mean, that's your brother and your father. And how will you explain this when we get to Shin Makoku? Will you be able to handle that?" Yuuri didn't answer. His fringe was covering his eyes, so Wolfram couldn't tell if he was looking at him or something else. "Yuuri?"
"...No...no. I-I can handle it. I'll- I'll tell them what happened. I'll... tell them the truth. I can tell them. Wolfram. I can tell them." Wolfram saw something shine on Yuuri's face. He stepped closer, until they were almost touching. Yuuri was crying.
"Yuuri...Please, don't cry." Yuuri shook his head slightly.
"Wolf... I don't want to cry..."
"Yuuri, it's okay. You can cry if you need to." Wolfram hesitated, but he wrapped his arms around Yuuri, bringing him closer to his chest. "Calm down, Yuuri. It'll be fine. We'll take them to Shin Makoku. Everyone will love to help you with the funeral, and they'll be overjoyed to hear that you're back. They're all really worried about you. You left without saying anything, so I chased after you. I'm worried about you too, Yuuri and I-"
"...Thanks, Wolf."
"For what?" Wolfram replied, stoking Yuuri's hair in effort to calm him down.
"...Being here.,," The reply was slow, but it made Wolfram smile.
"Hah, it's not like a wimp like you could've stopped me."
"I'm...not a wimp." Yuuri said, leaning his head on Wolfram's chest. "Not a wimp. I'm just...sensitive."
"Oh, yeah? And I'm a smiling Gwendal." Yuuri choked out a little laugh. "Come on, we have to get back to mother and the others. They're all waiting for you."
"Mmm." Yuuri replied weakly, but with more enthusiasm. "But Wolfram. Seriously. Thank you."
"Haha, come on." Wolfram replied, grabbing Yuuri's hand and dragging him back to the pool side.
"There was a king. He never had a name, or I suppose he just never told anyone it. Anyway, he was strong. Stronger than everyone else and all the people followed him. He was amazingly powerful and after beating the almighty Originators, he started to build his kingdom."
"So, he's not king yet?"
"He is, but they had to vote that first. Though there's no way he could have lost, there was no one more powerful than him...Not for a long time after that either. But, we're getting side tracked. He had a certain follower. Someone even he looked up to. Someone who never left his side."
"The Sage?" She yelled, sitting back up again. Murata laughed and pushed her back down gently.
"Don't mess up my work; I just tucked you in." He started tucking her back in and carried on. "The Sage was always by his side. He helping him win against the Originators by coming up with a strategy to beat them. The king was proud of him, he often praised him. And not only for his work during the war, but for his beauty, his compassion and his dedication."
"They're both male, right?"
"Yup."
"But, isn't that dangewous? I thought two men weren't allowed to be together..." She said, eyeing Murata with a curious look.
"There's no rules against it."
"Oh...Yeah, you're right. Carry on, hehe."
"The king fell in love with the Sage. And for years, he lived hiding it. The Sage lived, completely unaware of his feelings. He never mentioned them. The Sage was smart, genius even, but he never knew anything abut love, because we both know that-
"Adults are naïve when it comes to love!" She giggled, saying it dramatically.
"Right!" Murata replied, giving a small applause. "Then one day, the King go a little too close to the Sage, by accident of course. He was reading a book, and the king was bored. The king was also curious, so he lent over-"
"A little too far..." She quickly covered the smirk with her hand to barricade her laughter.
"May! Stop interrupting, if you do that, I'll wont get the chance to finish."
"..Sorry" She whispered, sinking lower into the covers. It looked like she was just getting more comfortable instead of trying to shy away from Murata's 'wrath'.
"Hmm, where was I? Oh, so he leant over – and yes, a little to far – and fell. Right on top of the Sage. When he looked up, he was looking right into the Sages wide black eyes. He smiled, a big wide, beautiful, grin. He started playing with the Sages hair, whilst sitting on his knee. He found it all funny; the Sage, not so much. But he had to admit he was enjoying the attention. It wasn't everyday the king was allowed to joke around like that, so it was nice when they could share special moments like that. Sitting under a tree, alone and- May?" There was no response other than a small snort. "N'ah, she fell asleep. At the goo part too. I never seem to finish that story..." Murata ruffled her hair again, she was such a cute child. It was a shame her parents didn't make more time for her, she always seemed so down and lonely.
Muarta stood up off the bed and gave Mayumi a peck on the cheek. She stirred slightly and rolled onto her side. Murata just chuckled to himself.
"...Maybe one day I'll tell her the whole story. Aah, but right now, this Sage has to sleep. I'm burnt out." Stretching his arms, Murata made his way out, turning the lights off as he went. He entered his own room and fell flat on his bed, not even bothering to change.
"Hmm, I wonder how Shibuya's doing. I hope he's okay. Though I supposed he has Bielefeld with him. Then again, that's a whole challenge on it's own. Good luck with that Shibuya." Murata said, smiling to himself before rolling on his side, pulling up the covers and eventually falling asleep.
A/N
Ahh, finally. Sorry for the late update. Now, here's my valid excuse. All my chapters are saved onto the laptop, which charger inconveniently broke. We wont be getting a new one for about two weeks. So until then, no updates for Maou for a Day or Scandalous. Their chapters are almost done, so I'm not starting them over like I have this one. It did start differently, but I've changed it.
Anyway, this is just a chapter for character development. Mostly on Murata's and Mayumi's side.
Fwaah, that's all. Sorry for taking so long but I only decided to restart this yesterday because of my irritating desire to write. Any mistakes are thanks to this good-for-nothing keyboard and all it's stiff keys. D: Most annoying thing ever.
Thanks for reading.
Review if you liked, review if you didn't. Reiews equals Yuuram. ;D
Review Replies (Thanks for reviewing :D)
Miyuki Meiru
Aah! This time it wasn't my fault. D: I'm sorry. Feel free to throw socks at me...
WezL
Me too, but everyone has their moments.
IloveAnimeVeryMuch123
I try.
StandingOnTheRooftops
Why thank you. By the way, just thought you should know, the moment I saw you're name I burst into "Standing on the rooftops, everybody scream your heart out". Good times, good times.
Thanks for reading! Y'know, I might sound like a weirdo, but I really am one.
