HEELS OVER HEAD
Chapter Five
A ConYuu Fan-fiction
By: Ami
Beta-reader: thisissong
Alternate Universe. No spoilers, though I've (finally) watched it up to episode 41.
Standard disclaimers apply.
XXX
At first, the man just walked quietly among the crowd, ignoring people's curious looks at both his suspicious appearance and the sword at his waist. As he got far enough from the center of town, he started to increase his pace, compelling Yuuri to quicken his steps. Soon enough, the pursuit became obvious to anyone who saw it. The man had presumably noticed that he was being followed, that was probably the main reason of speeded up. But Yuuri was too excited to care, and Wolfram was too tired to think about it.
It took Wolfram a few moments to realize that Yuuri had stopped running. The blond abruptly stopped his steps, just a few seconds away from bumping on his king's back.
"Where's he?" He asked after taking a few seconds to regulate his breath. For some reasons, he felt very exhausted, although they hadn't run very far away from the restaurant. His sudden stinging headache just made things worse.
Yuuri gestured Wolfram to lower his tone and look at the suspicious man who was currently standing at the desolate alleyway. He had his back turned to Yuuri and Wolfram.
"It's probably the hideout," Yuuri whispered, looking really excited about the dangerous situation, "let's wait for a few moments here to confirm it. And we might also be able to overhear their password."
"Pass…what?" Wolfram frowned.
Yuuri just smiled and gestured Wolfram to be silent.
Wolfram obeyed, lowered his head and observed the man carefully. It seemed that Yuuri's suspicion about the man was true. The more Wolfram looked at him, the man looked more and more dubious.
"What are we going to do now?" Wolfram asked, "It seems that he's just standing there. We can't arrest someone who hasn't done anything wrong, Yuuri."
"Hmm…" Yuuri rolled his eyes, "let's wait for a few more minutes."
"And if he's just a beggar?" Wolfram frowned.
"Then we'll leave him alone." Yuuri replied lightly, "Ah, right. We'll give him some money too."
Wolfram sighed, and did as he had been instructed to. He stood there, monitoring the man carefully. For some reasons, his figure seemed familiar. For a moment, his vision was suddenly blurred. Wolfram shook his head and closed his eyes tightly.
'Must be from the lack of sleep and skipping meal'
Wolfram opened his eyes again. His sight had cleared up, but he felt a bit dizzy. Determined to keep alert, he tightened his grip on his sword. He really hoped that the man was just a common beggar.
"Captain, I have brought them here!" The man suddenly exclaimed.
Wolfram was momentarily taken aback at the remark. It took him a few moments to gather himself and recognized the voice and the whole circumstances. The blond quickly turned to Yuuri, staring at the clueless boy while trying to find the right words to explain what was going on.
"What an odd password," Yuuri commented as he stared back at his fiancé's tense face, still seeming oblivious, "Huh? What's wrong with you? You look pale. Are you all right?"
Wolfram quickly shook his head and opened his mouth to explain, but suddenly his sight was blurred again, and this time he lost his balance and fell backward. He could hear Yuuri gasped out his name, then he felt a pair of strong arms catch him from behind just in time. For a moment, he thought that the arms were Yuuri's. Then he looked up and saw the smiling face of his second brother.
"Conrad!" Yuuri glanced at the older man disbelievingly, "…How did you know that we're here? And the man…"
"So," Yozak revealed his disguise with a wide, proud grin, "am I forgiven now, Captain?"
"More or less, Yozak." Conrad replied lightly, "At least you've spared yourself from severe punishment."
Yozak sighed, "You heard that, Heika. I hope you're not blaming me for this. He's really good at threatening."
Yuuri repeatedly turned his eyes to Yozak, then back to Conrad, looking unsure what to say.
"I apologize, Heika." Conrad stood up, carrying the half-conscious Wolfram in his arms, "You may punish me for this later. But for now, we must hurry and take care of Wolfram. He's burning up."
Yuuri diverted his eyes to Wolfram and quickly regretted himself for forcing Wolfram to keep him company without paying attention to his strange attitudes. The boy was exhausted from his work, yet he still wanted to go with Yuuri. Guilt promptly overwhelmed Yuuri's mind. After managing to recollect himself, Yuuri turned his eyes to Conrad and nodded.
XXX
Yuuri came out of Wolfram's room with a relieved face, as Conrad followed him from behind with a similar expression. They just stood there and stared at each other for a few moments, before Yuuri decided to end the awkward silence.
"Should we take him back to the castle now?"
"He's just exhausted. I think it'll be better to let him stay in bed today, then get back to the castle tomorrow." Conrad said, "Don't worry about him. He's strong. He'll be just fine. I'll ask some soldiers to guard his room."
"I see…" Yuuri paused, sighing softly as he turned his eyes back to Conrad with an apologetic look, "I… sorry for disturbing you in the middle of your work… I sneaked out of the castle without Gunter's permission, I even selfishly dragged Yozak and Wolfram along, and I didn't pay attention to Wolfram's sickness… I feel kinda ashamed of myself…"
"There's nothing to be ashamed of, Yuuri." Conrad smiled reassuringly, "You haven't gotten out of the castle for over two weeks. I can understand that you're bored. I'll ask Gunter to let me take you out once in a while. It's not going to be easy, but let's hope that I can convince him."
Yuuri still looked doubtful, "But I'm getting in your way. Now you have to protect Wolfram and I and you'll not be able to arrest the bandits… the townspeople will be endangered… and…"
"Trust me," Conrad gently pressed a hand on Yuuri's shoulder, gazing deep in to the young king's dark eyes, "everything will be just fine."
Yuuri knew that he had screwed things up. He knew that Conrad was just trying to cheer him up, spoiling him with his limitless patience and mercy. He also knew that he wasn't supposed to feel relieved at the time like this. But he couldn't withstand the feeling. His anxiety and guilt were just suddenly blown away at Conrad's gentle words.
"…Yes. Thanks." He smiled, "By the way, I've been wondering what's with the bag?"
"Ah, right." Conrad looked down at the paper-bag he had been holding, then brought it up so Yuuri could examine it.
Yuuri looked inside and saw a set of male clothes.
"You look so comfortable with the clothes, but… I still think that you need to get changed soon."
Yuuri looked down at his dress and blushed bright red at Conrad's amused chuckle.
"…I completely forgot…"
XXX
"Finally I can get a decent meal! This time, I won't leave this no matter what happens!" Yuuri looked at the food in front of him happily.
Conrad just chuckled at his king's cheerful face, "Let's hope so."
"And it's also my first time entering this restaurant with a decent suit," Yuuri glanced at the waitress, still the same girl who had served him in his two previous visits. Her face looked a bit down. Yuuri wondered if she was still thinking about Wolfram, "I just can't believe she gave me this table number 13 again. You think she recognizes me?"
"I don't think so," Conrad observed the waitress, "it was an almost perfect disguise."
"Yeah. Almost," Yuuri cringed, "by the way, when exactly did you find out about me?"
Conrad looked thoughtful for a moment, "…Since the time I asked Yozak to keep you company the day before yesterday… I knew that he'd lure you in to something like this."
Yuuri laughed, "Really? You must know him pretty well. You can even read his mind."
Yuuri didn't know if it was just his imagination, but Conrad looked a bit… nervous at the topic.
"Not really," Conrad coughed and recovered his smile, "I mean, he's pretty predictable."
"You think so?" Yuuri blinked, "I still find it hard to know what he's thinking about. Does he have a girlfriend? He seems busy all the time."
"I don't think he has someone like that," Conrad replied, "Well, he never told me."
"Really? It must be lonely, doing work all the time…" Yuuri commented, unaware of Conrad's sudden change of expression, "Umm… but maybe it is not that bad to stay single. As for me, as long as I have you and the others around, I'll never feel lonely."
Conrad's tensed face softened a bit, "…Yes. You're right."
Then they ate in silence. Yuuri didn't feel really comfortable with the silence, but couldn't find the right topic to start a conversation. Besides, Conrad didn't seem to be in a good mood. Yuuri wondered if he had by some means offended the man with his words.
'…Perhaps I reminded him of his girlfriend when I talked about Yozak's girlfriend…' Yuuri stole a glance at the brunet who was still eating quietly, 'to think about it, Conrad is just the same with Yozak. He does work all the time and does not have time for a girlfriend… maybe I have said something I shouldn't have said…'
"You know, Conrad," Conrad seemed a bit surprised at Yuuri's sudden voice breaking the silence, "I think a man who dedicates himself to his job is pretty cool."
Yuuri immediately regretted the words as Conrad stared at him with a puzzled look.
'…He must be thinking that I'm weird…'
"I---I mean---" Yuuri tried to correct his previous statement, "Working all the time, not having a girlfriend---I don't think it's bad at all. I'm even worse. I've never asked a girl out---the only woman I've ever kissed is my mom---ah, and also my teacher when I was in the kindergarten---a kind aunt who lived next door---but she has moved out a few months ago---and---and---"
The sound of Conrad's chuckle made Yuuri pause, glancing at the older man in confusion.
"I see." Conrad smiled, "I'm not very experienced with things like that either."
Then the silence fell again. But Yuuri was relieved. At least Conrad had seemed to overcome his earlier bad mood.
Yuuri turned his eyes to the number-tag on his table. It was his third time at the table number 13. Something was definitely wrong with it.
"I have been having a bad feeling about this. Maybe I shouldn't have agreed to take you here."
Yuuri recalled Wolfram's words.
"Is something wrong?" Conrad asked, snapping him out of his deep thought.
"Nothing." Yuuri smiled, although he didn't seem very sincere, "I just remembered about something Wolfram said. He said that he had a bad feeling about us coming to this place. And it's my third time using table number 13. It kinda disturbs me."
Conrad smiled reassuringly, "Wolfram wasn't feeling well at the time."
Yuuri nodded, "Yeah… maybe that's why…"
"KYAAAAAAAAAA!"
Screams were heard from outside of the restaurant. All people inside the restaurant immediately stood up and gathered together, looking frightened. It seemed that they knew what was going on outside.
Yuuri reflexively stood up and was about to leave his table.
"Hold it." Conrad held Yuuri back. Some of the soldiers inside the restaurant had also stood up and got prepared.
"What's happening outside?" Yuuri asked.
"It might be the bandits." Conrad stood up and ordered one of the soldiers to go outside and inspect the circumstances. The soldier soon came back, informing Conrad that it was indeed the attack of the bandits.
"Please, wait here," Conrad placed a hand on Yuuri's shoulder and gave him a stern look, "I'll be right back to escort you back to the castle."
Yuuri didn't object. Conrad only spoke with that tone and look when he really meant his words.
Soon, Yuuri was left inside the restaurant with females, kids and a few males, most of the men had moved out to help the soldiers.
Although Conrad had assigned some soldiers to stay inside and guard the civilians, the most of the people had seemed to lose their cool. Children were crying, while their mothers tried to calm them down. The sound of battle from outside only worsened the situation. One more kid would start to cry when he heard a scream or a roar from outside. Conrad had definitely lied about the number of the bandits.
Ignoring a soldier's protest, Yuuri joined the females to soothe the crying children. He was glad that he could make most of the children calm by telling them that the Maou would soon come to blow all the villains away.
"Yuuri!"
Conrad entered the restaurant, "Yozak has taken care of Wolfram. It's time to leave."
"Eh? Now?" Yuuri looked doubtful as he glanced at the children who were now looking at him with pleading eyes, "I can't leave them here. Can we bring them along?"
"I'm afraid it is not possible," Conrad replied, "We don't have enough soldiers to guard them all. Besides, they're kids. It won't be easy to escort them. It will put all of us in danger."
"Just some soldiers would be fine! I'll protect them!" Yuuri insisted, "If we leave them here, they might be killed! I can't allow something like that happen to my people! I don't wanna run away by myself!"
Conrad sighed, knowing that knocking the king unconscious and carrying him all the way back to the castle was the only option to make him leave the children there.
"…I guess we can escort them up to the hideout." Conrad said.
"Hideout? We have something like that here?" Yuuri blinked.
"It's where townspeople hid during the previous attacks." Conrad explained, "It's a bit far from here, located in the middle of the town. We have sent most of the people there. This place has been surrounded by the bandits, so I planned to keep them inside and protect them until the situation was resolved."
"Is it possible to escort all of them there safely?" Yuuri asked.
Conrad nodded, "However, it will be dangerous."
Yuuri didn't waste a second and just nodded.
XXX
TBC
