The Decision

By: Chi no Tsubasa

Rating: PG-13; for slight violence ;)

The morning wasn't any different from any other- the sky was a simple blue and the sun hit the bright red roof of the castle in Shin Makoku with an eerie light. This was something to be expected from the grand castle of a demon king- and nothing less adorned the inside. Dark halls crowded with gothic decorations filled the castle with a certain ambience that could only belong to it. The room where the high profiles of the castle were shined with a slightly different light. In this room, the sun hit silver utensils with gentle beams, one of the sporks hitting the side of a crystal glass.

"Everybody…" The King, Yuuri Shibuya, uttered with certain clarity to his tone that was not usually apparent, "I… I know who I want to be with." The last word faltered only slightly. The King's fiancé looked up in surprise and bit his lip- he was ready to pounce as soon as the name was spoken. Everyone else looked up with the same interest- but none as great as Conrad's.

"Yuuri—I swear—" Wolfram hissed through clenched teeth, his eyes studying the other occupants of the table. He stopped abruptly when the half-mazoku took in another shaky breath filled with determination.

"I'm sorry to do it this way… but, I can't say this over breakfast." His eyes scanned the faces at the table- Gwendal was nonchalant, Günter's eyes were filled with tears and anticipation, Wolfram was melodramatically uneasy, and Conrad looked uncharacteristically anxious. Conrad's back straightened sharply when Yuuri's eyes met his own. "Could you come with me downtown?"

Wolfram's fist hit the table in a rage and Günter began to bawl. "Yuuri! This is unacceptable! You should ask no man but your fiancé to a-"

"Please, calm down. I'm trying to…" The King sighed and glanced to Conrad, who simply smiled gently at him. Yuuri smiled in gratitude and gestured to the door.

"Yuuri!" Wolf attempted to lunge forward but was held back by his eldest brother. The blonde glared up at Gwendal with great contempt, his eyes overflowing with tears begging for escape. "What do you think you're doing!"

"It's out of your hands now." Gwendal grunted as he watched Yuuri and Conrad leave the room. He tightened his grip on the prince's shoulder as he felt the boy try to twist out of his grasp. "I don't like the idea, either… but, if it's how the king sees fit…"

Günter's shoulders fell dramatically and he began to cry. His body began to heave in despair as he continually moaned out a single word. "Heika…"

The road to the café in Shin Makoku was a short one that was filled with brightly colored shops. Yuuri always enjoyed walking around the area, but could never do so by himself as he was the king. He looked up to his company and was grateful for it—how could he ask for someone who knew his situation better? Conrad looked down at the other man in surprise, his heart almost leaping out of his chest. I'm really the one… aren't I? It must be fate…Yuuri…

Yuuri cocked his head in wonder as he watched the concentration draw deep lines on the other man's forehead. "Conrad…?" He asked, the gentle sound of the half-makoku's name pulling him back into the cushioned reality.

"Y-Yuuri… you wanted to talk to me about your decision?" Conrad's mouth became dry as he even considered the possibility of hearing a confession of love from his king… the things that the love would entail would be endless. They would have a beautiful ceremony; they would rule over Shin Makoku… they would sleep together. Blush heated Conrad's cheeks as he looked away, little did he know that Yuuri was blushing even harder than he was.

"Yeah… It's kind of hard for me to talk about. You see… just the idea that I fell in love with another guy is…" He laughed and shook his head, deciding that to Conrad, it would not be odd. After all, homosexuality seemed to be commonplace in this world. "I mean… when I came here, I ended up getting engaged to Wolf, but… falling in love is different." He looked up and caught Conrad's eye. "You understand that, don't you?"

Conrad shivered as he thought about Julia's engagement to Adelbert and how she had to have loved him as well. Julia… you've returned to me…Even in death. Yuuri watched the man in silence before looking away, wondering if Conrad had already figured it all out. Smiling gently, Conrad took in a deep breath. "I do understand the difference."

"I'm glad, I was-"Yuuri suddenly stopped as Conrad gripped his hand. Freezing in place, he stared intently at Conrad. "What are you doing?" He asked, quietly, not making an attempt to move.

"I'm sorry… is this too fast?" Conrad asked, pressing closer to Yuuri. He couldn't help himself- all this time he only had the ability to look and now that he knew the king was open to his affection… He noticed the fretfulness in Yuuri's eyes and he frowned, dropping the hand in his own. "I'm sorry… it can wait." Rolling his hand into a fist, his heart continued to beat quickly, the same relief still playing in his head.

Heaving a great sigh, Yuuri looked away again, not quite being able to meet Conrad's eyes. I wish I knew what he was thinking… I wonder if he thinks I don't like… Shaking his head slightly, he looked up with a grin. "Hey, let's not walk too close to the water…" He joked, trading sides with Conrad. The latter's deep brown eyes waded out across the water and he smiled gently.

"Yuuri…" He muttered, not wanting to frighten the other man again, "When you look into the water on Earth, do you think of Shin Makoku?" A sincere smile danced across his lips as he looked down at his king, the boy's heart skipping a beat.

"Whenever I look into the water on Earth, of course I think of Shin Makoku… but…" He cleared his throat, hesitating for a minute, before continuing in a weaker voice, "I mostly think of a person…" His eyes continued to look at the ground as Conrad's focused on the pendent around Yuuri's neck. It was dark blue, like the water that spanned for kilometers in front of them. The pendent was breathtaking, just like the boy in front of him… and for a moment, he wondered if the king thought of him while the pendent hung around his neck. "…Shall we go?" Yuuri asked again, beckoning toward the path.

Conrad nodded as they began to walk again, his heart racing as he saw the café was within eyesight. Looking at the Maou again, he smiled gently. "Yuuri… You don't have to buy the food for me…"

Yuuri smiled as they got closer and closer to the café. This was it—he was about to tell Conrad his decision. "Conrad… of course I can." He ran a hand through his hair and looked aside. "After all, you are the one who named me." As he put his foot into the street, a carriage swung quickly around the corner. Conrad saw it out of the corner of his eye and pushed Yuuri out of the way, getting struck by the carriage.

The Maou watched in fear, rushing forward and taking Conrad into his arms. The man's head was gushing blood and he was unable to move his neck. "Conrad!" Yuuri yelled, his eyes filling with tears, "Conrad, are you alright!"

Conrad's eyes opened slowly, misty brown catching the fine black eyes of his beloved. A hand brushed Yuuri's cheek and the boy trembled. Propping his body up against Yuuri's chest, his eyes shone. "I'm so glad that it was me."

Yuuri shook his head. "No! You shouldn't have jumped out there! It should have been me." Conrad smiled gently at the remark and leaned in closer, his lips caressing Yuuri's ear.

"I'm happy you made your decision." He whispered, wincing in pain as he attempted to move again. He could feel his body beginning to go limp. He secured his arms around Yuuri's waist and stared longingly into his eyes.

"Conrad…" Yuuri whispered, "If you knew I was in love with your brother all along, why did you keep hitting on me?" He frowned and continued to stare intently at Conrad, wanting to wiggle out of his grasp.

The words paralyzed Conrad and his heart stopped on the spot, the last thing he saw was Yuuri's gaze looking lovingly at a blonde boy running to their side… Wolfram. Was his final thought and there was no more Conrad.

Wolfram kicked the body out of Yuuri's hands and glared at the king, grabbing his wrist and pulling him up. "You cheater! Why did you come here with that!" Tears stained Wolf's cheeks as he studied his fiancé's face.

Yuuri looked down in surprise at Conrad before shrugging. He was just a perv, anyway. "I was going to ask him your ring size." The boy whispered, looking down at the ground, but avoiding the place where Conrad's blood was. He didn't like the sight of blood. It reminded him of all those times Wolf was hurt.

Wolfram shook his head and dropped Yuuri's wrist. "That still doesn't make you any less of a cheater!" He crossed his arms before sighing, reaching out again to intertwine his fingers with his fiancé's. "Well… I'll go show you the wedding rings I was looking at."

Yuuri jerked Wolfram back to his side again, the prince glared at his fiancé. "Wolf… could you just kiss me first? I mean, I always wanted to kiss you in front of Conrad because I knew he'd be happy to see I found love. And… now that he's dead, we could at least do it in front of his corpse."

Wolf nodded and stood on Conrad's chest, smirking at the Maou. "Well… I always wanted to best him." He muttered before leaning in. Their lips met slowly at first before Wolfram's tongue pressed against Yuuri's lips. Parting his lips slightly, Yuuri closed his eyes tighter. He continued to let Wolfram have his way with his mouth until almost everyone that had been watching the scene had moved on to do other things.

Parting, Wolfram accidentally kicked off Conrad's arm. "Ooops… I knew that wasn't put back on right."

With that, the soon to be newlyweds walked to the ring store that was right next to the café, leaving Conrad's corpse on the street. The people in the carriage just happened to collect dead bodies and so they took it with them. Other than getting his clothes a little dirty, Yuuri had a nice day. Wolfram even bought him lunch at the café!