The baseball tournament was between four local schools and would last three days. Yuuri, Wolfram, Conrad and Murata were among the first to arrive, but the stadium didn't remain empty for long. Yuuri sat between Wolfram and Conrad and talked constantly with his godfather, telling him details about the teams, the players and speculating about the winner.
Murata sat on the other side of Wolfram and noted the blond demon's sullen mood. He clearly hadn't come for his own amusement. When the game started Murata offered to explain some basic rules about the game and Wolfram seemed to liven up a little; the ex-prince listened to him and even asked some questions. But by the fourth inning Murata could see that Wolfram had already lost what little interest he'd had in the game and was getting bored. Therefore Murata wasn't surprised that when he got up to get something to drink, Wolfram quickly volunteered to go with him. Yuuri was too absorbed in the game to barely even notice their leaving, which did nothing to improve Wolfram's mood.
"Exciting game, don't you think?" Murata commented as they made their way towards a nearby vending machine.
"Oh, yes, very," Wolfram replied dully.
"You're bored out of your mind, aren't you?"
"Yes!" Wolfram burst rolling his eyes. "I really don't see what's so special about that game. I'm sorry, but I don't."
Murata laughed.
"It's alright. Baseball isn't for everyone. I don't like watching tennis."
Wolfram looked at him, confused.
"What's that?"
"Never mind. But if you hate baseball so much, why did you come?"
"Because Yuuri likes it," Wolfram answered gloomily. "He loves it so much and I thought… well, I guess it was a stupid idea."
"What?" Murata asked gently, dropping coins into the vending machine.
Wolfram bit his lip.
"I thought that if I could see something he loves, I'd understand him better. That I'd see where his passion comes from," he said quietly and then shook his head. "But I don't see it. I just see a stupid, pointless game."
Murata gave Wolfram a little pat on the back.
"I don't think you'll really get to understand Shibuya by watching baseball, no matter how hard you try. It's only a part of what he is and what he loves. You need the whole picture."
"But how can I get it?" Wolfram asked.
"Well, it's only a suggestion, but you might want to talk to his mother. Find out what he was like as a child and how he was raised. I'm sure Mama Shibuya would be more than happy to tell you," Murata said handing a soda can to the thoughtful looking blonde. "And you'll probably have more fun being with her than sitting here."
Wolfram nodded and accepted the can. He handed it back after a moment, looking confused and Murata opened it for him before handing it back.
"Ah, thank you," Wolfram said and Murata knew it wasn't just for the soda.
They returned to their seats, but there were two boys sitting in their places. Both of them seemed to be talking animatedly with Yuuri. Murata felt Wolfram tense as they approached the boys and prepared for the inevitable outburst of jealousy. He was rather surprised, when Wolfram didn't say a word.
"Oh, we must be in your seats," the boy closest to them said as they came nearer. "Hi, Murata!"
They turned and Murata recognized both of them now; they were players from the team Yuuri had been coaching and he himself managing.
"Nice to see you, Tanaka," he said to the boy who had spoken first. He was a nice guy, a good pitcher. "And you too, Matsuri," he said to the other one, a smaller boy with a wide smile.
Matsuri waved cheerfully at him and then both boys' eyes drifted to Wolfram. Murata carefully hid a smile. This was maybe the twentieth time today, but it still was every bit as entertaining to watch. Wolfram von Bielefeld was considered good-looking even by the demon standards. Here on Earth surrounded by humans he looked like a magnificent flower in the middle of a desert. He looked, in a word, breathtaking. Both Tanaka and Matsuri went very quiet and looked for a moment like their eyes were about to pop out of their heads.
Yuuri coughed a little and broke the stunned silence.
"Uh, guys, this is Wolfram von Bielefeld," he introduced, "Wolfram, these are my friends Daiki Tanaka and Haruka Matsuri."
Tanaka and Matsuri seemed to snap out of their trance at the sound of their names and bowed politely to Wolfram.
"Nice to meet you," Wolfram said nodding to them both.
Tanaka and Matsuri quickly moved out of Wolfram's way as he took his seat next to Yuuri.
"So, uh… Shibuya tells me you're from Europe?" Tanaka asked regaining his ability to speak sooner than Matsuri.
"Yes, that's right," Wolfram said, sticking to their cover story.
"Are you two really brothers?" Matsuri asked looking between Conrad and Wolfram with wide eyes. "You don't look alike at all! If you don't mind me saying so," he added quickly.
"Not at all," Conrad replied smiling. "We're half-brothers, we have different fathers. I take after my own father quite a bit and Wolfram takes after our mother."
"Ah, I see," Matsuri said and smiled brightly, the shock of seeing Wolfram fading quickly. "We'll we have to go back to our seats now, but I'm sure we'll see you all around. And you are all coming to the party, right?"
"What party?" Wolfram asked, before Yuuri had time to respond.
"Oh, didn't Shibuya tell you? It's nothing fancy, really, just a little gathering at our school after the finals," Matsuri explained. "But you are all most welcome and please bring your girlfriends as well!"
"We don't have girlfriends," Yuuri said blushing and avoiding Wolfram's gaze.
"Well, then there are a lot of potential ones at the party!" Matsuri said cheerfully. "See you there!"
Tanaka gave them all a friendly wave before turning to follow his friend.
Murata half-expected to see a mini volcano erupt in Wolfram's seat, but the blond demon didn't even comment on the invitation. Yuuri had apparently thought the same judging from the worried glances he kept shooting Wolfram's way. But Wolfram remained calm, albeit more tense for the rest of the game. Murata suspected, however, that it would be a different story once they got home. He was suddenly very glad to be sleeping in another house.
Yuuri spent the rest of the match getting more and more nervous. He tried to concentrate on watching the game, but found his thoughts and eyes wandering. He glanced at his fiancé from time to time, but didn't see any signs of the inevitable explosion on Wolfram's placid face. This only made the prospect of going home and shutting himself into his small bedroom alone with a righteously angry fire-wielding demon a very unpleasant one. It was fortunate that Wolfram's powers didn't work on Earth; otherwise Yuuri might have had to explain to his parents why the house had suddenly caught on fire.
Yuuri barely even registered that the game had ended until Conrad stood up beside him. They made their way back on foot and Yuuri absent-mindedly listened as Murata and Conrad discussed the game. He was too anxious to say anything about it himself, and there was little point to it anyway, since he hadn't paid real attention to the game for the last half-an-hour or so. On his right side Wolfram stayed equally silent, but Yuuri could feel his fiancés dark mood as clearly as if he'd seen a small thundercloud forming above the pretty blond head.
They said goodnight to Murata a block away from the house and Yuuri felt very envious of his friend. Murata was so damned lucky for not having to deal with any of this additional drama. Even the Shrine Maidens that he was always complaining about couldn't possibly be this difficult to deal with.
You have made your own bed, Yuuri, said the little voice in his head firmly. Lie in it.
Yuuri sighed. It was true, of course. He should have told Wolfram about the party and now the blonde had every right to be angry with him. He would just have to take it like a man.
When they got inside, Wolfram immediately excused himself saying that he didn't feel well and disappeared upstairs. Yuuri meant to follow the boy right away, but his cowardice got the better of him and he sat to the dinner table instead, feeling thoroughly wretched and displeased with himself. After dinner, he stalled downstairs as long as he possibly could, until his mother told him to go and ask dear Wolf-chan if he was feeling any better and if he would like something to eat.
Resigning to his fate Yuuri threw one last helpless look at Conrad, who smiled reassuringly, and headed for the stairs. He knocked softly on the door of his room, before entering and found his fiancé sprawled on the bed, his back to the door.
"Wolf?" Yuuri called softly. "You awake?"
Wolfram let out a small huff indicating that he was.
"Ah, good. Feeling any better?" Yuuri continued.
"Who wants to know? You or your mother?" Wolfram snapped. "She sent you to check upon me, didn't she?"
Yuuri swallowed and sat gingerly on the bed, next to Wolfram's legs. The small gap between them felt like an invisible wall.
"Well, we're both… concerned," he replied ignoring the last question.
"How touching. Well, you can tell your mother that I'm just fine. And that I won't cause any scenes that could embarrass her son."
"I wasn't worried about that!" Yuuri told him earnestly. "I was worried about you!"
Wolfram snorted.
"Sure you were. You were so worried about me, that you didn't even bother to tell me about the party you're going to attend."
"The party we're going to attend," Yuuri corrected. "And I am sorry I didn't tell you! Honestly, Wolf, I am! I was going to, but-"
"But what, Yuuri? You forgot?"
"Yes, I forgot!"
"Just like you 'forgot' to tell me you were planning to come here?" Wolfram asked sharply.
Yuuri swallowed.
"Well, I-"
"You knew about it before we even left home, didn't you?"
"Wolfram, listen-"
"This was why you didn't want me to come, wasn't it?"
"No, of course it wasn't!" Yuuri denied vehemently.
Wolfram suddenly spun around to face his fiancé and Yuuri noted with slight alarm that the emerald-green eyes looked rather red-rimmed.
"Wasn't it?" Wolfram hissed, looking Yuuri straight in the eye.
"No," Yuuri replied, but broke the eye-contact and quickly dropped his gaze.
Wolfram regarded him for a moment, staring intently at his face.
"Then why can't we tell your friends that we're engaged? I don't understand why we should keep it a secret, if you aren't planning on hooking up with some-"
"I'm not planning on hooking up with anyone!" Yuuri cried frustratedly.
"Then why? Tell me, Yuuri! Help me understand!" Wolfram demanded sitting up.
"I told you why before. It's not… normal here," Yuuri said awkwardly.
"What? Being engaged?"
"No. Being with… another boy."
"Being with me makes you… abnormal?" Wolfram asked incredulously.
Yuuri sighed.
"It's really difficult to explain. The point is that if my friends here knew about us, they might treat me differently. They might… they might not be my friends at all any more."
Wolfram stared at him.
"But that's absurd! What right have they got-"
"Yes, yes, but that's… that's just how it is on Earth," Yuuri said quickly.
Wolfram fell silent for awhile.
"I… see," he finally said slowly. "So, in other words, if I were a girl, there wouldn't be a problem?"
"Well, yes, I suppose," Yuuri admitted tiredly. "But really, Wolf, I have no intention of hooking up with girls or anything like that at the party. I just want to see my friends and talk about baseball. You don't have to come if-"
"The hell I don't, you cheater!"
"Okay, okay, of course you can come," Yuuri said hastily. "I just would like you to know, that you have nothing to worry about. And I wish you'd trust me a little."
The look in Wolfram's eyes softened a bit, but he still looked very annoyed.
"I still don't quite understand why you would want to spend an evening with your so called 'friends' if what you just told me is true," he sniffed.
"Wolf, please try to understand," Yuuri pleaded. "This might be my last chance to see them at all. My visits to Earth aren't that frequent any more and my friends are all going to graduate soon. I just want one evening, when I can be the old Yuuri that they know, without any… complications."
Wolfram looked at Yuuri's honest face for a long moment before nodding with a little scowl.
"Okay, fine, I guess I can understand that. But I don't have to like it."
Yuuri let out a breath he'd been holding and smiled.
"Thanks, Wolf," he said and reached a hand to squeeze Wolfram's.
Wolfram responded to the touch and squeezed back.
"Now, won't you come downstairs and eat something? Otherwise I fear Mom will bring it here," Yuuri said with an easy smile.
Wolfram didn't reply, but nodded slightly.
Yuuri rose and pulled Wolfram up. Yuuri held onto Wolfram's hand until they got to the stairs and then let go.