Chapter 21

"Heika… Heika, are you in there?" Conrad was knocking at their bedroom door as the sun poured in through their window. "It's time to get up. I need to talk to you."

Wolfram sleepily tried to lift his head off of his warm 'pillow' and sighed when he realized he couldn't move. He wasn't sure what had woken him up, but he knew it was time to get up anyway.

"Yuuri…" he blushed as he realized his throat was a little dry from the night before "Yuuri, please let go of me." The bare chest below him rose once more as Yuuri took a deep breath and shifted before hugging Wolfram closer and turning on his side while snuggling.

"Don't wanna… five more minutes." Yuuri might have gotten those five more minutes had the knocking not come back into effect.

"Heika? Do I need to come in there?" Wolfram jolted and struggled for freedom until Yuuri relented and let his fiancé go.

"S'not nice…" Yuuri sleepily sat up while rubbing his eyes. "I was sleeping." He yawned and smiled when he saw Wolfram hurriedly yanking on his dress so he could answer the door while looking quite irritated.

"Maybe we wouldn't have slept in if you didn't keep us up so late!" He hissed at Yuuri while rushing towards the door and motioning for Yuuri to start getting dressed as well.

"Sorry for being in love~" Yuuri grinned completely unapologetically as he rushed behind the changing screen.

Wolfram answered the door with a blush and stared his older brothers in the eyes. Gwendal turned a similar shade of pink, as he always did when he was Wolfram in a dress while angry. He was simply too cute to be frightening. (Doesn't mean he didn't try.)

"Some people have no respect for other peoples' privacy! What do you want?" Conrad cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry, but we need to talk to Yuuri Heika, it's important."

"Hey!" A voice rang out from inside the room as Yuuri was getting dressed hurriedly. "You can tell Wolf anything you can tell me! I'd just tell him later anyway!" Both men sighed and Wolfram nodded briskly.

"Well… I suppose we can't help it then." Conrad sighed and Gwendal continued for him.

"There's a meeting with the ten nobles today, and-"

"I don't wanna go." Yuuri's voice was muffled as he was putting his shirt on.

"Heika… it's mandatory. You missed the last meeting because you were on earth and the one before that because you were sick and the very first one because you wouldn't talk to anybody but Wolfram. You. Have. To. Go."

Yuuri came into view of the others, looking surprisingly like he had been ready all morning instead of rushing for the past few minutes.

"Okay, but Wolf's coming too right?" Gwendal shook his head.

"Wolfram does not have clearance to go to the meeting. You have to-"

"Well too bad, I'm not going without him!" All present sweat-dropped at Yuuri's demand.

"Heika, there are certain things that-"

"Nope."

"Heika-"

"Not happening." Yuuri suddenly grabbed Wolfram's arm and all but dragged him back into their room. "Come on Wolf, I think we're done here."

"Y-Yuuri, stop being so childish! It's just a meeting! You can go by yourself!" Yuuri let go of Wolfram and the blonde immediately felt guilty.

Yuuri looked incredibly hurt, almost like Wolfram had said he was breaking up with him rather than just saying he wouldn't sit in a room with him for a few hours. It was incredible how quickly Yuuri could transition from happy and playfully stubborn to looking like a kicked puppy left out in the rain.

Yuuri turned around and walked further into the room, away from the three brothers staring at him. He then sat down in the corner and you could see waves of depression radiating off of his body. It was scary.

"Heika…" Conrad tried.

"Leave me alone." Yuuri muttered while staring at the floor.

"Yuuri, I'm sorry… you're not childish okay? But you have to go to the meeting, you'll get in trouble."

"Wolfram is right," Gwendal began "not all of the nobles agree with you holding the position of Maoh as it is. For you to skip a meeting without a valid reason is a bad idea."

They aren't called advisors for nothing. Yuuri sourly noted in his head as he turned around slowly. I know that makes sense but… "Wolfram has to come." Ooh… full name and a nonnegotiable request. That's just got towork!

"Fine." Gwendal and Wolfram stared at Conrad in shock as he easily conceded. He looked at them as if to say 'What? He won't go otherwise!' and for the most part, they understood.

Yuuri suddenly seemed shades brighter as he stood up and smiled softly.

"Thank you… I'm sorry for being so stubborn. I hope you're not mad at me." Conrad shook his head.

"It's not like I'd rather have a king who did what everyone told him to do regardless of his own desires after all." He smiled gently and pulled his older brother away. "Now let's go add another chair shall we?"

Wolfram stared at them and then at Yuuri. He looked back at their retreating figures long enough for Yuuri to sneak up behind him and glomp onto him making him squeak in surprise.

"Yuuri, don't-" he paused when he realized Yuuri was holding him tighter than normal "Yuuri, I'm not leaving you or anything… you don't have to crush me."

"Sorry." He let go and frowned. Wolfram sighed.

"What's wrong Yuuri?" Yuuri shrugged.

"I guess I'm just nervous. I mean, what if they don't like me and tell me I can't be king anymore? What if I do or say something wrong and-" Wolfram pecked him on the lips.

"Just be yourself and you'll be fine. I believe in you." Yuuri smiled in relief and kissed him back quickly.

"Thanks… now unless you want to show up in a pajama dress I suggest getting ready." Yuuri walked out of the room quickly before Wolfram could rebut.

"Hey!" The blonde sighed. "That's what I get for being a loving fiancé." He smiled to himself and went to the dresser.

At a round table were twelve chairs. Ten for the attending nobles, one for the Maoh, and one for his fiancé. Gwendal was standing to the side while filling them in on the latest report from a spy, the report that prompted the meeting in the first place.

"…and so we think that they might in fact be preparing to declare war on one of the outlying… regions." It was unknown to anyone but Gwendal why he looked so incredibly irritated as he spoke.

Gwendal noticed about half-way through his speech that Yuuri was holding Wolfram's hand under the table and both of them were acting like they weren't being so openly affectionate. It was bad enough that Yuuri had blatantly insisted Wolfram sit next to him instead of his uncle, but his reasons were obvious to anyone who was looking. (It wasn't just because he was 'Von Shin Makoku' or whatever ridiculous thing Yuuri had tried to tell him that managed to make Wolfram turn red while explaining that wasn't how it worked.)

"Um… Gwendal?" The stoic man held in a sigh as he nodded his head with respect for his king to continue. "We didn't do anything to them, so it wouldn't make sense for them to attack right? We can't just go to war like that."

"I'm afraid it might come to that your majesty." Densham Von Karbelnikoff spoke. "Many things simply don't make sense." Yuuri refrained from telling him that the man with a chicken in his lap was the last one he wanted to be hearing from about things 'making sense.'

"I know that, but war is simply not an option." Waltrana Von Bielefelt glared at Yuuri unabashed, it was no secret he didn't approve of him.

"War is always 'on the table' as one might put it. You can't simply say 'no' when they attack you." Yuuri's eye twitched slightly.

"But it can be prevented in the first place if you say no beforehand." Yuuri countered as calmly as he could. Waltrana smirked.

"And if they don't listen? Asking for peace before they attack is weak, they would see it as a sign that you can't fight for yourself and so they would attack with even more ferocity! War is all they know!" His voice rose as he tried to intimidate Yuuri, but the double-black would not back down.

"If you call wanting people to not die meaningless deaths weak, then I don't want to be strong! You don't know until you try every option you have!"

"But what about when the only option is war? You aren't strong, and I'm glad you admit that! You're too weak to do anything and you're only here because someone else told you to be here! You have no right to be here, you're not even from a noble family!"

The room became rather silent from his outburst for a second as he waited for Yuuri to retaliate with anger and show his instability and temper or for him to give up and cry. Either way would give him a basis for Yuuri to be forced to abdicate, whether or not the others disagreed. Yuuri did neither.

The double black suddenly calmed and relaxed back into his chair that he had been seconds away from jumping out of, ignoring Wolfram's pleading looks behind him.

"I cannot argue that I am from a regular family, nor can I argue that I am only here because I was chosen to be the Maoh." Waltrana smirked like he had won, but then Yuuri continued. "However, I was chosen. I was chosen by Shinou and was given the power to do something to change the world. You argue that war is all they know, but that is because they have never given peace a try, correct?"

"I… That's not fair! War is-" he tried to argue.

"War is meaningless death because leaders cannot come to a decision on their own, so they send people to fight for it. Only cowards do not fight for themselves, and I am not a coward. I prefer to 'fight' with words and treaties even as you pick up your weapons, but I will not lie… I am rather well versed in combat as well."

Everyone gaped at Yuuri. He just seemed so… regal. It was a big change (to those who knew him) from the grinning idiot they knew and loved, and an even bigger change from the scared little boy they first met nearly a year ago.

Waltrana shut his mouth and after a moment smiled gently and nodded. Yuuri didn't know it, but he had just won the approval of the most stubborn noble in the room. He was even more hot headed than his nephew used to be if you can believe it.

"Then I supposed it's settled. We'll wait for further news but work towards the most peaceful choice we can manage?" Del Kierson Von Wincott nodded to himself before standing. "Thank you for the lovely meeting, but I need to go check on Lindsey… he gets ever so antsy if I leave him for too long."

And with that, the horror was over.

Yuuri was holding his head while rubbing his temples, he had a big headache. Wolfram sighed and moved so he was closer to him on the bench.

"Are you alright?" He whispered.

"No." Yuuri deadpanned. He used zero emotion with his statement, but then he groaned and turned to Wolfram. "Why is it so hard to be king?" He whined before his forehead met with Wolfram's chest and he whimpered into it in a very un-kingly fashion.

"Oh Yuuri… don't be such a baby." Though his words were a bit mean, his tone was very soothing. Wolfram hugged Yuuri closer to his chest and Yuuri wrapped his arms around his lower back. "Nobody said it was easy to be king."

"I know… it helps to have someone you love with you though." Wolfram blushed a bit and nodded.

Yuuri nuzzled into Wolfram's shirt and cuddled with him while the blonde secretly hoped nobody would see them even as he was enjoying their moment… Yuuri couldn't care less.

SHINOU that was hard! So. Fucking. Hard! I barely had anything fun to write in that, but it was necessary and… ugh, Yuuri and I are sharing a headache. I'd say I felt bad for him, but he has an EXTREMELY ATTRACTIVE LOVER TO COMFORT HIM so there.

Yuuri: You know, it's not nice to yell when people have headaches.

Shut up and hug your blonde.

Yuuri: 'Kay. *continues to hug a blushing Wolfram who is now glaring at me*

Wolfram: When did you get here? I thought you were in your world!

I'm always here, always there… always watching. Just let that sink in my fiery friend. Let it sink in. *walks away quickly before they can figure out my hidden meaning*

ANYWAY, I updated way faster than I had planned to, know why? BECAUSE WE BROKE 100 REVIEWS MY MINIONS!

PCK: When did we become your minions?

You have always been my minions, whether you knew it or not. (Somewhere there is a little yellow dude with one eye giggling insanely and nodding.)

R&R