Chapter 35: Yuuri's POV

All this time, since I found Wolf lying lifeless on that dungeon I've known, on some level I suspected it from the beginning... that something wasn't right. And when it became more and more obvious, I just sat there and let it pass by.

Now I wonder why. I guess part of me just didn't want to believe there was a possibility of losing Wolfram for good; even if what was in front of me wasn't the real thing, it was better than nothing.

But I have to be honest, at least with myself, and the truth is, I did came to like the fake Wolfram, I'm just not sure in exactly what way.

I love the fiery and uncontrollable side of Wolf, but it is something I grew to love with time, and no little effort. Fake Wolfram would just let me take the wheel, he would let me protect him and let himself be vulnerable in front of me...

"And yet you were still going to save me, weren't you?" Is that Wolfram's voice!?

"Where...? What...?" I ask to no one in particular, trying to figure out what just happened.

Yes, I was going to save Wolfram, I was going to choose him, because I love him, and that is what matters the most.

But then what happened? I remember a light and being really, really hot.

I open my eyes after several failed attempts. Something here, wherever this is, is shining right in front of my eyes. A golden, warm and bright light, too bright to stand looking at it directly.

My senses slowly recover from their numbness and the smell of sunflowers reaches me, like a gentle slap on the face.

"Wolf?" I ask looking at the feet of the person in front of me. Everything else seems to have disappeared, I'm not sure I'm still in the conference room, but if I am, everyone else is gone.

"Yes, wimp?"

Wimp? He just called me a wimp, right? That means... it has to be... I blink a few times trying to convince myself I'm not just imagining things and look up slowly.

Suddenly my gaze meets two emerald eyes that look at me lovingly, but with a little scold written in between the lines. That look, those eyes filled with fire...

"Wolf... tell me this isn't a dream..." I plead as the tears start falling down my cheeks. I want to take a step forwards, I want to hold him in my arms, but I don't dare to move a muscle. If this isn't real, I don't know if I'd be able to handle it.

"Yuuri, tell me, what were you going to say?" he asks, leaning towards me and cupping my left cheek with his hand, wiping away my tears with his thumb. The contact feels so real, so warm. I take his hand with mine and let myself smile, not really caring about what he just said. He's here, alive, right here in front of me.

"Yuuri..." he tries to call my attention to him, and to what he's trying to say. I have a bad feeling about this.

"I was going to pick you!" I say and hold him close to me. "I don't know what happened or how to get back, but I will save you Wolf, whatever I have to do is fine with me" I step back to look at him and see he's smiling at me, a sad smile somehow.

"Wolf, I meant to tell you this sooner, but somehow it never seemed like the right time and I wanted, I mean... whatever, it doesn't matter anymore"

"I love you, Wolf" there, I said it.

Wolfram looks at me and smiles, but for some reason I feel as if the air has just become colder and his eyes seem so sad somehow... Wait... he can't be thinking...

"I know, Yuuri, I know" he says and takes a few more steps back. "I love you too, and for that I cannot let you make this choice. I can't let you kill him"

What? Then I wasn't wrong, back then Wolf really told me to save the fake him? Even is that kills him... doesn't he know how important he is, to me, to everyone? That I couldn't go on without him...

"Wolf, what are you talking about? I love you, don't you get it!?" the tears start falling again. Frustration, sadness, I'm not even sure what brought them back.

"Yuuri, could you live with yourself knowing you were the one who killed him? An innocent boy, who trusted you with his life, and who you came to like?"

So he knew?

"I... I..." Oh God, I can't even say it. I don't know... probably not... but I still...

"I love you Yuuri, the wimpy, goofy, big hearted Maou that makes friend too easily and who's too kind to hurt anyone if he can help it" he says and his eyes become a bit glassy.

"That is why I won't let you make this choice, wimp. I don't want you to change, and killing him will change you" Change... well, maybe but who cares?

Suddenly everything around me starts to get blurry and the warmth starts to fade away. I can see Wolfram's figure getting further away.

"Oh no! You are NOT doing this to me!" I shout running with a speed I really didn't knew I had, it actually feels as if I just made the distance between us shorter instead of actually moving

I grab Wolfram by the shoulders and make him look at me.

"You are not going to leave me, do you hear me? I love you Wolf! I won't let you go!"

I think I'm shaking him a little, but I really don't care, and apparently, neither does he. For the first time in who knows how long, I see a smile forming on his lips, one of those rare ones Wolf only gives when he thinks the world isn't looking, with a single tear falling down his right cheek.

So maybe he didn't want to leave me, maybe there's a solution for all of this, maybe...

Oh crap, who cares! Right now I just...

I grab his thin waist and he hesitantly wraps his arms around my shoulders. My heart is beating so fast, I feel like I can't breathe. Our eyes locked together as I slowly close the distance between us.

Maybe this is not how I imagined this moment would be... But nothing else matters in the world, nothing aside from this soft, pink lips in front of me.