Reason I Love to Fly
Chapter 10
"Yuri-sama," Krad called as they sat in silence at their secret garden looking at the setting sun. "I promised you that you will take you up to the sky today," Krad continued, "I don't want to break the promise I made to you."
"But, Krad-san is hurt!" Yuri protested.
"Let's go," Krad offered his hand. Yuri stepped away from him and shook her head.
"No," she said, "Krad-san is supposed to rest today."
"I'm fine," Krad insisted.
"No," Yuri turned to run back into the house but Krad grabbed her from the back and lifted her into his arms before he kicked himself up into the sky. With an arm around her back and the other beneath her knees, Krad knew that he will have no where to hide his blush if they appear today.
"Krad-san, Yuri doesn't want to fly," Yuri said, her hands refusing to hold onto Krad.
"But we are already flying," Krad said to her.
"Yuri wants Krad-san to get his rest," Yuri said.
"I'm really fine," Krad said. 'Even if I'm not fine, I still want to fly. Because I want to hold you, Yuri-chan,' his mind said.
At last, Yuri circled her arms around Krad's body and rested her head on his shoulder. "Promise Yuri that Krad-san will not force himself today," she said.
"Promised," he replied with a smile.
After a while of flying, Krad suddenly felt a stinging pain in his chest. Yuri, who sensed Krad's pain, looked up worriedly.
"It's alright," Krad forced a smile to her.
"No," Yuri said.
"Just a little further and we'll be home," he said.
"No," Yuri shook her head, "Please?" Tears were threatening to fall as she pleaded him. Krad sighed in defeat and flew down to the forest below them.
Once Yuri's feet touched the ground, Krad's began to fell forward and Yuri happened to look up at him. Their lips met. Krad realized that their lips had met but he found no energy left in him to push himself away from her as his consciousness began to slip away. Instead he unfurled his wings and tried to steer his body away from Yuri. Though unwilling, he was glad that he had fallen into her warm arms just before his body touched the ground.
"Krad-san!" Yuri's eyes widened as she saw Krad's wings slowly faded away. "Krad-san!" Yuri called as she rolled Krad on his back. She immediately checked for Krad's pulse and was relieved to know that he was still alive.
When Krad came to himself, he saw Yuri rubbing her hands and blowing some warm breath into her palms as she held them above the small fire she managed to make by herself. Krad pulled himself up into a sitting position. His hand touched his chest where the pain had begun before he passed out. A warm hand rested on his hand. Krad looked up to see Yuri's worried eyes looking at him.
"Is Krad-san alright?" she asked.
"I'm alright," he answered.
"Yuri's glad," she said with a sigh of relief.
"I'm sorry it turned out like this," Krad apologized.
"It's alright," Yuri said, "Yuri shouldn't have made Krad-san promised in the first place." Silence ensued between the two. Krad blushed as he thought about the kiss but he shook his head to get rid of the blush before Yuri saw it.
"I'm sorry about the," Krad stuttered, "About the, um, accident."
"Don't worry about it," Yuri looked away from him, blushing, "It was an accident after all."
"I should get you back home," Krad stood up.
"Krad-san, please take some rest here," Yuri said looking at the crackling flame in front of her, "What if the pain strikes again?"
"But you couldn't possibly sleep outside in the cold," Krad said.
"It's only for a night," Yuri answered without looking at him, "Besides, Yuri'll get worried if Krad-san passes out again." She drew her knees closer to her body and rested her chin on them.
"Yuri-sama," he knelt beside her, "I'm alright."
"Krad-san said it before but," she trailed off. A moment of silence passed them by as Yuri watched the fire dancing on the wood. Yuri suddenly drew in a shaky breath and rubbed her bare arms. She heard Krad moved but she kept rubbing her arms.
"I will give you my coat if I have one now," Krad said behind her.
"Yuri'll be alright by the fire," Yuri said, still rubbing her arms.
"I'm sorry," Krad said.
"Yuri's alr-" Yuri gasped as Krad wrapped his arms gently around her.
"Let me be your coat for tonight," he whispered softly in her ears. Yuri did not reply but her body began to melt into his embrace. She blushed knowing that she was sitting between Krad's legs with his arms around her. She could feel Krad resting his head on hers and she could feel her body gave in to the warmth Krad was offering.
"Can Yuri ask Krad-san one thing?" she said softly.
"What is it?" Krad replied and his mind mused, 'If your question is "Do you love me?" I would answer "Yes".'
"That white feather," she began, "It is from Krad-san, isn't it?"
"Yes," he admitted, "It wasn't much. That's why I lied to you."
"It is precious to me," Yuri shook her head, "Because it's from Krad-san."
"Thank you," he smiled, "Take a rest. I'll protect you." Yuri nodded as she rested her head on his chest. She felt Krad's warmth began to seep into her and she began to drift into her sleep, listening to Krad's steady heartbeat.
'She looked so much like an angel,' Krad said in his mind, 'So innocent and so sweet.' He looked at the smiling Yuri who curled up inside his arms. 'I wish that I could always hold her like this. I wish I could protect her from anything that could cause her harm,' he continued.
XXXXX
"I will not tolerate such irresponsible act!" a deep voice boomed.
"But Father!" Yuri protested.
"I will not have another word from you, young lady!" her father shouted at her. The man who seldom came home to spend time with his family was red with anger at his daughter's disappearance last night. The tall man glared at Krad, who stood in front of him.
"I had faith in you," he began, "But you brought my daughter to such a place and who knows what kind of danger that could have fallen to her?"
"Nothing-" Yuri wanted to interrupt but her mother placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her head to her daughter.
"I want you out of this house and never come near my daughter again!" Kasumi Kosuke commanded the blonde guardian. Yuri gasped and looked at Krad, who was surprisingly calm after listening to all of her father's rude words. "OUT NOW!" came the command again.
"No, Krad-san," Yuri reached out a hand to him but her mother pulled her away from him, "Krad-san!" Krad turned to look at Yuri and smiled but she already had tears in her eyes, "Don't leave Yuri alone, please?"
"Goodbye," he said and disappeared behind the door.
"Yuri! We told you to never speak in the third person view!" her father scolded, "You are grounded! Not a step out of your room until I say so!"
'Yuri has always been grounded,' Yuri thought as she lay on the bed. 'It's especially lonely today,' she commented as she stared at the white ceiling. An image of sad golden eyes pierced her mind and she remembered the last time she saw those eyes, 'Is Krad-san angry at Yuri? Maybe Krad-san is still angry at Yuri now and Yuri even asked Krad-san not to leave me. Krad-san must hate me now. Yuri's so sorry, Krad-san.'
A tear made its way to the side of her eyes and Yuri wiped it away, 'Why is Yuri crying?" Before she could answer herself, a knock on her door made Yuri got up and looked at her visitor. One sentence was all that her mother said before leaving Yuri to cry silently.
XXXXX
"WHAT?" Dark's voice was heard echoing down the street from Daisuke's house. Dark gaped at his other half before settling down in front of him and re-sorted every detail Krad just told him. "You usually get a kiss for bringing a girl out!" he said, "Not losing your job."
"When she told me not to leave her," Krad said looking up at the blue sky, "I was happy but the sorrow of leaving her was so much more painful."
"Right," Dark muttered as sat on the ground. "What are you gonna do now?" he asked casually.
"I don't know," he replied, "I just want to see her now."
"Then get going already!" Dark urged him, "She might want too see you too!"
"She must be feeling very lonely now," Krad didn't listen to the impatient thief, "I wonder what she's doing to cure the boredom."
"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Dark nudged him out of his daze and in reply, Dark got a confused look, "You are hopelessly in love."
"I am NOT!" Krad denied.
"Krad-san," Riku's voice came from the sliding door, "Just so you know, Yuri's grounded in her room until her father says so."
"Say, you never told us how you guys were related to them! Let's hear it! Dark tried to brighten up the atmosphere with family tree stories. The two couples sat in a circle along with both angels and began to tell the stories.
"My grandma and Yuri-san's grandma were the best of friends since the day they met," Riku began and her sister smiled and continued, "Her grandma liked our grandma's name and that's how Yuri-san's mom got her name."
"What's so interesting about family relations?" Satoshi rolled his eyes.
"Her dad and mine shared the same name in college," Daisuke smiled, "I heard that's what started their friendship and Satoshi-kun knew them while he was working as the police commander a year ago."
"Ah!" Daisuke exclaimed when he heard the house phone rang, "Excuse me." Everyone was silent as they listened to Daisuke talking over the phone. "It's you, Takeshi. What's up? What? Are you serious?" they heard the shock in his voice, "Okay…calm down, Takeshi. Well, thanks for letting me know. Bye!"
"Another big scoop?" Risa asked.
"Yeah," the redhead answered and scratched his head, "It's not really a nice one though."
"How bad can it be?" Riku asked.
"Well," Daisuke looked at Krad who was still staring up at the sky, "Yuri has been promised to the Baron named Varen."
"WHAT?" everyone exclaimed at the redhead excluding the blonde angel, who was still trying to analyze the simple sentence into his mind.
"She'll finally have someone dear to her," Krad said with a smile. Everyone turned their heads to him, shocked that he would take the news so well. "Here I was, wondering if she was bored but I think she's celebrating her engagement now," he continued.
"Don't you understand?" both Riku and Risa shouted at Krad.
"I understand," Krad said, "This is great news for her."
"You don't understand!" Risa said.
"That's right!" Riku supported her sister. Krad ignored the stares from the men and the statement by the ladies. He stood up and went into his room.
'I truly understand,' Krad said to himself as he sat on his bed, and faced Dark's unmade bed. 'I just didn't want anyone to know especially her,' he continued, 'I still remember the warmth of her lips on mine.'
"Knowing Yuri-san," Krad heard Risa's voice outside the door, "She may be crying now. If possible, can you go see if she's doing alright?"
"She's having fun right now. Why should I be interrupting her party?" he found himself replying coldly. 'You really want to see her, don't you?' he asked himself, 'You feared that she would get punished again, that's why you locked yourself in here.'
