GENTLE FIRE
Author's Notes: (Aqua Alta)
Hi! My first KKM fic, so don't blame me for any OOC-ness and missed out details. I was too busy drooling on Yuuri (the demon king version) and Wolfram to notice the plot and the characters' names….
I still can't get over with my dislike on shounen-ai…. No offense for shounen-ai lovers, but I'm so in love with YuuRam and my problem is that I can't stand shounen-ai if it is not very mild…. Please understand.
Disclaimer: Don't own KKM. If I did, Wolfram or Yuuri would be a girl by now.
CHAPTER 1: THE PRINCE?
"Hey, isn't that the new girl?"
"Yeah. What was her name again?"
"Shibuya, I thought. Shibuya Yuuri."
Shibuya Yuuri walked through the corridor of the school, searching for her classroom. This was definitely not what she wanted: getting lost in her first day in her new school. Her jet-black hair was tied in a short ponytail at the back of her head and her onyx eyes were looking around frantically.
That was when she heard a muffled sound from the girls' toilet not several feet away. She stepped in silently, curious as always.
Three girls were standing in front of a closet, and another girl's head was being dumped into the water. Yuuri remembered about yelling for them to stop, gathering courage from nowhere. Then suddenly, HER head was being dumped into the toilet and flushed down.
And the rest of her body followed.
She landed on soft earth, blinking hard. The sun was shining brightly, and she was lying on a green field.
That was Yuuri's first arrival in Shin Makoku.
XXX
Now, with her body invaded with the Maou (a male, yes), and constant paperwork to do, added with the inscrutable timing of drowning into the other world, Yuuri felt very tired. She had to learn manners with Gunter, sword wielding with Conrad, history, politics, economics, language, she might just jump off from the window of her office in the Blood-Pledge Castle and feel happier than ever.
"You are going to meet Lady Celi this afternoon. She said this time she would be bringing her son," Conrad, who had been like a big brother to her, said, smiling warmly as always. She glanced up from her paperwork, feeling the hope of meeting someone around her age finally. She had met Lady Celi before, and she liked her quite much, although the older woman was a little…eccentric.
"Really?" she asked, all ears. "How old is he?"
"Eighty two."
That nearly caused Yuuri to fall out of her chair. "It's not funny, Conrad!" she protested.
"I am not joking, heka," the man said, chuckling softly. "Wolfram will be eighty two this year. He is a fine young soldier, hot-blooded as always."
'I forgot,' Yuuri thought as she focused back on her paperwork, trying to hide her embarrassment. 'I forgot that demons outlive humans.'
Somehow, she was getting bad feelings about this whole demon-and-human thing. But perhaps it was for the better of her.
XXX
Yuuri woke up slowly, the sleep gradually disappearing. She was lying with one cheek pressed on her desk in her own office. A hand was stroking her hair tenderly. It was a nice feeling, being cared like that. Then, to her surprise, the hand started to undo the ribbon that held her ponytail in place, letting the black strands fell to her shoulder blades. Then the very same hand combed through the strands slowly, as if afraid to wake her up.
Feeling heavenly, Yuuri drifted back to sleep again.
XXX
Yuuri woke up, this time feeling no hand stroking he head. 'Was it Conrad? Or was it just a dream?' she questioned herself, looking around. Then she realized that her hair was falling down freely to her shoulder, and she gasped. 'It was not a dream! But, who?'
Some kind of music was playing. Someone had set up the gramophone on the second shelf of the bookshelves. It was beautiful. She had brought the gramophone along with her accidentally when she was pulled back to Shin Makoku. She was bringing the old thing to her strange friend who liked to collect ancient things. Her parents did not need it anymore. Unfortunately, she needed to walk near a river in order to take a shortcut to her friend's home.
'It seems that there is a gramophone too in this world,' she thought.
Then she saw him, a boy, sleeping on the couch opposite of her desk. For a moment, she blushed merely at the sight of him. His golden tresses gleamed under the sunset rays, which was reflected on his smooth, pale skin. He was wearing a blue uniform, and a sword hung from his hip. 'Who is he?' she thought, leaning forward to inspect his features more carefully.
Suddenly, a pair of eyes snapped open, and Yuuri found herself staring into the deepest emerald eyes she had ever seen.
"What the…!" the boy exclaimed, sitting upright immediately. Something on his right hand caught Yuuri's gaze.
It was her hair band.
Yuuri blushed heavily. 'So he is the one with such gentle caresses….'
"Oh, so you are awake finally," the boy said, frowning somehow elegantly, stubbornly, and boyishly at once. "I was bored waiting for you to wake up, heka."
"You are…."
"Wolfram vonBielefield, Celi's youngest son."
Yuuri stared at the stranger, and the stranger stared back. "You…," she croaked. "You are Lady Celi's son?"
The boy folded his arms in annoyance. "And what's wrong with it?"
Yuuri racked her brain. Would she be forgiven if she said that it was because she did not expect that Celi's son would be so….beautiful and very…young in his eighties.
She gazed at the boy and decided that it was better not to discuss that matter.
"Hey, wimp, why won't you answer me?" Wolfram asked again, getting more annoyed.
Yuuri backed a little. This boy was dangerous, nearly like Gwendal, but in a different way. "Uh, nothing. Believe me," she said nervously.
"Oh yeah, wimp. No wonder you act really like a true wimp. Your mother is one of the disgusting humans, isn't she?" Wolfram said uncaringly, tapping an impatient finger on the couch.
Yuuri stared at Wolfram, very long, with blood starting to boil. "Pardon me?" she asked, tone cold and flat.
"I said your mother is a disgusting human. Don't know why you have been chosen as the Maou," the blond continued, staring challengingly back at the girl.
That was it. Even the sometimes-dumb-and-peace-lover-girl like Yuuri had her limit. And Yuuri was on her limit right now. The raging courage appeared from nowhere, exactly like when she stopped the girls from hurting the other girl. She advanced toward Wolfram and, in a flash, slapped him on his left cheek.
The force made the pale blond wince, but that was all. Yet his eyes portrayed one thing: a great shock. "This is absurd!" he shouted at Yuuri's face. "We just met!"
The Meditation from Thais melody was filling the room, echoing from the gramophone. "What…what do you mean?" Yuuri asked hesitantly.
The boy threw a glance of rage and disbelief at her. "You! You just…you just proposed to me!" he blurted out, red on the face.
Yuuri froze. She could not have heard it right. "Could you repeat that, please?" she asked, a little afraid of the angered boy in front of her.
The boy sent a glare of thousands daggers ar her, and she cowered a little under such strong gaze. "You. A. Wimp. Who. Is. Also. A. Maou. Just. Proposed. To. Me," he said slowly and clearly, emphasizing each syllable. "And I have to accept!"
"But…how?"
"You slapped me on my left cheek with your palm, moron!"
"Then, why you have to accept?" she asked, not really sure what she was saying.
"Because you are the Maou, wimp! And I can't even ask you for a duel in order to call off the engagement since you are a girl!"
"But I have learnt sword play from Conrad!"
Wolfram suddenly silenced, then turned away, huffing arrogantly before walking out of the room.
Leaving Yuuri alone with her paperwork and the soft music.
XXX
"How delightful for you to engage my son, Yuuri-heka!" Celi squealed delightfully.
"Okaasan…," Wolfram tried to interrupt the woman's ranting, groaning over his soup. "It's not…."
"My baby boy here is such a shy person to ask first! But I have never guessed that Yuuri-heka is such a brave person in things such as love at first sight! It is so surprising and amazing!"
"Lady Celi, I am sorry, but…."
"When will you two get married? Oh, I am finally going to be a grandmother! But, does that mean I have to stop my journey searching for freedom of love?"
"Okaasan…!"
Celi finally stopped babbling, and stared at her youngest son, who was already on his feet. "Yes, Wolfy dear?" she asked, smiling.
"Yuuri and I are not getting married. She is a wimp."
Yuuri, feeling insulted, stood up immediately. "I am not a wimp!"
Conrad spoke up, "Wolfram, it is rude to address the Maou on first name basis."
The blond turned to him and snapped harshly, "I don't care. She is a wimp, after all."
"Don't call me wimp!" Yuuri shouted. "That whole engagement is an accident!"
Wolfram stared at her, eyes blazing with rage. "How dare you to say that!" he shouted. "I am not going to be dumped by a wimp like you!"
"Well, you are not going to be, then! I've told you: that whole thing was a pure accident!"
"YOU LIAR! Now you are being irresponsible!"
"I am being responsible by calling off this engagement! I do not want to b married just because of a silly accident! And that accident will never happen if you had not insulted my mother!" Yuuri gave a final shout, face pale with rage and her outburst. She then stormed off to her chamber, unshed tears welling up in her eyes.
The rest stared at her back, then Celi spoke up, "Wolfy dear, I think it is better for you to follow her."
"I will go…," Conrad offered, but Wolfram had already walked briskly to the direction where Yuuri disappeared.
The dinner was finished in silence.
XXX
Yuuri lay sobbing on her bed, covering her head with a pillow. The pillow was getting damp from her tears, but she could not care less.
There was a soft knocking on her door, and she mumbled a nearly incoherent "Come in."
The room was dark, and Yuuri could not see who was coming in. The shadows showed a person, carrying a huge thing. She turned her head away, unwilling to greet her unknown guest.
Suddenly, music filled the room. 'Greensleeves,' she thought bitterly, concentrating on the calming music.
Someone sat at the edge of her bed. "Are you finished with the tears, wimp?" a voice asked. The sentence was rough, but the tone was soft.
Yuuri edged away instantly. "What the hell are you doing here?" she snapped.
"Gotta take care of my fiancé 'cause she is a wimp," came the brisk reply.
Yuuri was about to throw a hot comeback when a hand started to stroke her head. Her words died on her tongue, and instead she sobbed softly. The hand caresses her wet cheeks, then back to stroking her hair again.
The gramophone was playing another song now, which only added the soothing effect and the tension in the room. It was sad and slow, and suddenly more tears flew from her eyes.
She scrambled up in the darkness, crawling toward her source of salvation. Ironically, the source was also her source of sadness and her tears right now. Two hands grabbed her, pulling her toward another body. She buried her face on Wolfram's uniform, not caring anymore.
The boy's hands never stopped caring for her, one around her waist and the other stroking her hair, sometimes caressing her cheeks to wipe the tears away. "You are such a wimp," she heard him whisper, but she simply cried more.
She felt sleepy, lying on Wolfram's chest with his hands never stopped soothing her and her senses enveloped in his scent. "You smelled like jasmine flowers," she mumbled, the sleep starting to take over.
"Yeah, that is my perfume today."
"I like it," Yuuri whispered, her eyes closing as she snuggled more comfortably on him.
"Goodnight, wimp," Wolfram whispered, getting sleepy too. He lied on Yuuri's bed, with her in his arms. Her head was on her chest, and he couldn't resist taking a sniff of her perfume.
It was rose, mixed with jasmine. The jasmine sure came from him.
With that, he fell asleep.
XXX
Very OOC, I know. Give me comments, please! It's hard keeping with Wolfram's character. Anybody, help me, please! BTW, I recommend the readers to listen to You Are My Love from Tsubasa Chronicle by Yui Makino, since the song fits perfectly, when reading the last scene.
Thanks and see you later! If you don't like it, I will simply discontinue this. I have many fics waiting for updates…..
Celon Ierith