NEW A/N: I lost this chapter for the longest time- FF deleted it, by accident I'm sure, but I found it on my old external harddrive~ Yay~

Lol, maybe now it'll make more sense? More sense than what they put in it's place:

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^I don't know how. I don't know why either. But that's what happened. Enjoy this instead.

Chapter 14

There were a lot of things that had to be figured out, and not enough time to figure said things out. It took Wolfram almost no time at all to realize that Yuuri was being distracted during every conversation that took place with any person, no matter the topic.

He also soon found out that Yuuri didn't really want to talk about it.

'I don't want to bother you with it.'

'It's nothing.'

'Don't worry about me.'

How could he not? Wolfram's entire life was centered around Yuuri; he could freely admit that to himself now, so how could he not wonder what was on his mind?

Even now as Yuuri sat on the bed playing with Greta's hair as she watched a kid's show on television, fascinated though the words meant nothing to her, his expression was incredibly distant. Wolfram tried to get his attention by waving a hand in front of his face, and he knew Yuuri must have noticed it somehow given his amazing sense of perception, but Wolfram was still ignored. Yuuri wasn't trying to be rude, but he didn't want to straight out address the problem (not that he admitted there was one) for some reason.

"Yuuri…" Wolfram breathed as the teen shifted Greta onto Wolfram's lap instead and got off of the bed.

The blonde wanted to approach Yuuri and demand once and for all to know what was going through his brain, but Greta was there and she had every right to remain oblivious to the fact that there was a problem. There had been for the entire week they had been there.

Yuuri didn't really want to admit that he was curling in on himself, mentally and sometimes physically, but what was he supposed to do? He was worried about way too many things. Here on earth he had to worry about his brother and his real family getting along, the fact that his parents were murdered, the amount of school he was skipping, Bob and his followers, and… heck, he had too much on his plate here. Oh, and if that wasn't bad enough, he was worrying about the war back in Shin Makoku. Honestly, that's just too much to put on the plate of a young teenage boy.

Yuuri knew he would never change what had happened if he could though, not looking at his Wolf and his daughter both equally enraptured by a toddler's program on the television.

Yuuri had never been fond of meetings, not even when Wolfram was present (though that helped.) Now he had to leave Wolfram with Greta, partially so she was supervised and partially because Shori was in the meeting. Doesn't mean he was happy to be there though, even if he was warming up to the people there.

Lost in the drone of one of the people talking, and his only purpose being there because he was the Maoh of Shin Makoku, Yuuri pulled out a piece of paper and began to write in Shin Makoku-ian. That way, at least, nobody could tell he wasn't taking notes.

He began to write as long a letter as he possibly could, outlining his plans to help people as soon as he got back home. It was almost calming to have his wrist move in the same patterns over and over again as he put his thoughts on war relief on paper. He stopped.

I don't even know how bad it is, how am I supposed to plan… Yuuri cursed under his breath, and forgetting his company he crumpled the paper and tossed it into the trash bin by the door behind him several meters away, of course making a perfect basket.

He would have remained ignorant to his accidental faux pas had the room not become rather silent. He lifted his head and cleared his throat.

"My apologies, please continue?" His words were met with quizzical looks.

His muttering had pulled eyes to him and his perfect basket had made Bob give everyone a look that meant 'not a word.'

"No apologies necessary Yuuri, but I do wonder what's troubling you." Bob received a nervous fidget from Yuuri. "Perhaps we could talk about it alone if you wished."

Yuuri nodded slowly though he would rather not, his problems were his alone. He wondered why there were still eyes on the trash bin. Well, if they wanted to see what he wrote, let them. They wouldn't be able to read it regardless.

Before he realized it, the meeting was over and he was receiving an invitation from a man named Akihiko Tamu to play basketball with him that afternoon. Yuuri certainly had the option to reject the offer, but the man was an important client to Bob and so if he denied the request outright it would certainly be rude.

"It would be an honor, Akihiko-san."

Wolfram was interested in this game, so he came along to watch Yuuri play. Greta as well, interested in earth sports.

Honestly, it's bad enough that I'm going to make a fool out of myself in front of these men, but in front of my family too? Yuuri internally moaned as he put on some loose-fitting basketball clothes that he decided automatically that he didn't like.

"So how long have you been playing basketball Shibuya-Heika?" Akihiko smiled at Yuuri as he came out of the bathroom with a blank look.

"I… have never played a sport before. I'm afraid you will have to teach me the rules." As an afterthought he added; "and please, call me Yuuri."

This revelation made Akihiko lift an eyebrow as he bounced the ball on the ground a few times. He looked at Yuuri's physique and then at the court and sighed. He then grabbed the ball and threw it without a warning at Yuuri, who caught it in one hand before it flew past the side of his face.

"Ah, thought so. You have amazing reflexes Yuuri-Heika; I am surprised you do not play sports."

Yuuri did not bother to admonish the man for still calling him Heika, nor did he call him on what would have been considered an attack to his person under normal circumstances. He already saw Wolfram having trouble sitting still on the bleachers as Flora explained to him hurriedly that it was just a game.

"A pretty foolish game if you ask me" Yuuri heard Wolfram loudly complain from across the gym. Oh well, there was always time to worry about that later.

A few hours later, Akihiko was covered in sweat and hadn't managed to win a single round of HORSE against Yuuri, and Yuuri wasn't even out of breath as he looked at the ball with curiosity.

"This is a sport?" Yuuri asked in honest surprise. "Should it not be harder?" His words prompted the man to laugh and plop down on a bench nearby.

"Easy for you to say kid, easy for you to say."

"Wait, are we stopping? This was actually kind of fun…" Yuuri looked over to Wolfram and Greta and his lips quirked into a smile as he saw Greta asleep and Wolfram looking rather bored but staying alert as always. "Hey Wolf, wanna try?"

A blonde head bobbed up and down with a 'yes' as he stood. Yuuri chucked the ball across the room and it landed firmly in Wolfram's grasp as he climbed down from the benches. A whistle of disbelief and admiration came from Akihiko as they began to run around in circles playfully.

Yuuri seemed to be having a lot more fun keeping the ball away from Wolfram than he had Akihiko, and rightly so as the blonde gave him much more of a challenge. They whizzed across the court and the man who had before that day thought he was good at basketball sighed and hung his head. They were only, what, 15? 16?

Akihiko's head shot up in shock when he hear something heavy fall down. Apparently the basketball hoop decided to fall over on top of Yuuri when Wolfram attempted to 'slam dunk' it like he saw on the television. (Yuuri vaguely wondered what else he saw on the T.V. when he wasn't looking.)

Before Akihiko could even get up to help him and call a medic or something, Yuuri got up laughing and straightened the pole as best he could, even though it had a tell-tale dent in it. Yuuri apologized for messing up the metal pole, but other than that they were happy and playing the game like the kids they were.

"Remind me to never get on their bad side…" Akihiko mumbled to himself as he marveled at their endurance.

No, Yuuri is not a huge fan of basketball now and he's not going to make it his kingdom sport or anything foolish like that. Yuuri's never really found a sport he likes; he thinks they're all boring. All the same, it did wonders for him to clear his mind and simply play a game with his Wolf.

I'm glad a lot of you liked my last chapter *snicker snicker* and I'll probably fit in another lemon or two before this story is over, it's just that they're totally irrelevant to the plot, you know? Easily can do without them *nods to self* but then again, you'd hate me if I stopped writing them so *shrugs* I'll make do.

OH! I forgot to give you guys songs! How many chapters did I miss? Drat. FAIL! I FAIL!

~We're Not Gonna Take It - By: Twisted Sister~

~ Pour Some Sugar On Me - By: Def Leopard~