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It's late, but I'll confess: I don't own Kyou Kara Maou.

The Day with Wolfram, Chapter Two

Experiment

The next day marked the beginning of a festival. There were many festivals in New Makoku, Yuuri had learned. Gunter had once given him a lively lecture about which festivals were related to the seasons, spirits, love, and old Mazoku military victories.

The Maou was always so busy, though, that he often forgot about each festival…or about world outside the castle in general.

He woke up that morning, drowsy because Wolfram had interrupted his sleep the night before. As Yuuri looked around, he saw the usual sight: Wolfram was gone, and both of their pillows were lying in odd locations in the room.

/Maybe I should ask Wolfram to pitch for the team…/ He thought.

Although Yuuri was curious as to his fiance's whereabouts, he decided to not track him down that day. /I think I learned enough yesterday/ He thought.

Yuuri sighed. How could Wolfram always act like such a spoiled child, a child who didn't REALLY have a care in the world although he always acted like he did, and yet have such a sad past? His relationship with his brother, his frustration with the old war, his troubled relationship with Elizabeth, and now the memories of his assailant, Balint. These moments of truth, when the prince dropped his "I'll get things my way, dammit!" attitude, sometimes frightened Yuuri.

It was difficult, when he had to think of Wolfram as a person.

"Your majesty!" came a soft voice from the hall.

/Gunter./

Yuuri was torn between pretending that he was asleep, and getting out of bed so that he could perform his royal duties. He chose the latter and opened the door to see an exited Gunter.

"Your majesty, today marks the beginning of the Augustine festival!" He said happily, clasping his hands.

/Shit…what does that one mean…/

Yuuri smiled and asked politely, "Gunter, which one is that again?"

The tall man's face read "Oh, I'm glad you didn't know because I want to tell you!" and Gunter took a breath.

"Augustine was a famous courtesan years ago. She had many lovers, all noblemen."

/Oh my god./

"The Augustine festival is intended for adults, usually lovers." He smiled a somewhat disturbing smile. "It's said that if people go there together, they are bound to develop a strong relationship with one another…have you considered going, your Majesty?"

Yuuri sighed. "I guess I should take Wolfram, then?"

Gunter blushed. "Oh, if you'd like to take him, then, because, he's your, er, fiancé…" Gunter took a step back. "But of course, your Majesty, if he doesn't feel like going, then I could…"

"I'm sure that Wolfram would love to go."

Yuuri and Gunter both turned to see Conrad standing in the hallway, smiling his usual "Life is so good and I have no problems…and I'm smarter than you," smile.

The Maou sighed. "Is it okay to ask others to come along?"

Gunter held his hands up. "No! It's said to be bad luck to invite a third member. The festival is for couples only." He looked saddened. "Well, I am happy that you would consider bringing me, your Majesty…"

"No, I though Murata might want to come."

Close to tears, Gunter left his king and the soldier to look for sympathy.

"So, Yuuri, are you going to ask Wolfram?" Conrad asked, a little more serious this time.

Yuuri averted his eyes, and then said, "Honestly, I don't want to go with him as a COUPLE. I have to hear enough about that on ordinary days. Can I take Greta instead, or…"

"Children are forbade from the festival. And," he said, lowering his voice in case his younger brother was around and looking Yuuri directly in the face, "even if you don't act as a couple, I'm sure that he'd be happy that you asked him to the festival. It would mean a lot to him."

Yuuri understood. Conrad was always very thoughtful, even when it came the brother who would sooner than not rip up a winning lottery ticket if it had been a gift from Conrad.

"I don't have to buy him anything or wear anything strange, do I?" He asked apprehensively.

"Well, it's customary for women to dress as prostitutes. Men typically dress as nobles or businessmen."

"PROSTITUTES!"

Conrad chuckled. "It's all in fun, to celebrate that particular way of life."

Yuuri's face reddened. "Wolfram wouldn't dress like a prostitute, would he?"

"Do you think that he would?"

He thought about that. "Well, it would be pretty funny, but I don't think he'd really…"

The soldier smiled. "The dress is usually the same even for same-sex couples. There are some couples, same-sex and not, that do attend the festival wearing clothing that is more 'interesting', but it's usually for the sake of humor. I should warn you, though, that some women—and men—use the festival as a mask for prostitution."

Yuuri's face showed his displeasure. "You mean, they actually…."

"Yes."

Yuuri thought for a moment, and then he realized the time. "I need to get dressed. Um…."

"Ask Gunter where the clothing for the festival is. You should be able to fit into something we have."

The Maou thanked Conrad, and stalked off in search of Gunter.

What Yuuri found an hour later was his fiancé, dressed as he normally was for "outings in disguise", playing with Greta in the Toy Room. He felt uneasy, and wasn't entirely sure about whether he should approach Wolfram, or just back out.

Wolfram heard Yuuri's footsteps when he arrived at the doorway, but he ignored the Japanese boy's presence.

/If he wants to go with me, he'll ask me./ Wolfram thought. /I won't bother him or beg./

"So, Greta," he said proudly as he sat in front of her. They were drawing in a coloring book—or rather, she was coloring lady's dresses, and he helped her decided which colors to use.

"You're very good at coloring." He said. Greta blushed. "Wolf, this is just a kid's thing…"

Wolfram shook his head, and smiled at Yuuri's daughter. "It's very good to be able to do this. Why, if you showed your grandmother Cecile, I know that she'd tell you the same thing." Wolfram knew this from experience; his mother had always fawned over his coloring books, his choice in food…the fact that he could pick out matching socks for the day…

/Is he going to come over here/The blonde prince wondered.

The cozy father-daughter scene served to deepen Yuuri's nervousness. /He really does take our relationship seriously. He's the only one in the castle…even his mother and Greta want us to look for girls./

He spoke up, after watching for a few more seconds. "Wolfram, can I speak to you?"

Wolfram feigned surprise, and then nonchalantly said, "So, you're finally up, Yuuri." His expression showed that he was hurt, but the only emotion in his voice was agitation.

/Oh no…did we miss part of the festival/

"Well," the prince said as he stood gracefully, putting one hand on his hip, "Since you asked so nicely, then yes." He turned to 'their' daughter. "Greta, why don't you go show Grandma Ceci what you did? I'm sure that she'll have the chefs make something special for you," as he said this, he patted her on the head, "because you're a good little girl."

She gathered the pastels and books. "Thanks, Wolfram-daddy!" she said as she crossed him. Upon arriving at Yuuri, she took his hand for a moment, and then said, "Wake up earlier tomorrow so we can play together."

Yuuri grinned sheepishly at his daughter. "It's a promise."

She skipped down the hallway.

As soon as she was out of the boy's sight, Yuuri turned towards Wolfram. Wolfram gazed back at him intently, clearing waiting for whatever Yuuri planned to tell him. It was obvious that Wolfram planned to go to the festival by his clothing; it was his way of 'asking' Yuuri to take him.

"Well?" the prince asked impatiently.

Yuuri sighed. /I don't really like this, but…/ "Gunter told me that today is the Augustine festival, and since I don't know much about the customs and holidays here, I wanted to go out today."

He paused for a moment.

"You're not asking Weller to attend, are you?"

Displeased but not surprised by this response, Yuuri said the little bit that he had hoped he wouldn't actually have to say, think, or feel. "No, I want to go with you."

"Well, good." Wolfram folded his arms and averted his eyes for a moment, before allowing them to travel over Yuuri's body. He smiled.

"What?"

"Yuuri, what are you wearing?"

Yuuri looked down over his own body. He was dressed in the costume that Gunter had leant him—amidst much sobbing and a nosebleed; Gunter had told him that it was the typical businessman's costume. The color was a deadish blue-grey, which Yuuri preferred over the prostitute costumes he'd seen in the same room (which he suspected were Cecile's possessions.)

"Conrad and Gunter told me that this was normal."

Wolfram blushed, looked away, and asked, "Don't you feel embarrassed wearing that?"

"Why would I?"

Wolfram poked Yuuri's shoulder. "It's a costume, and…" He drew his hand back guiltily, then looked in Yuuri's eyes. "…by wearing it, you're portraying a man who's paying for sex."

Yuuri's face reddened. "Oh, it's for a festival for crying out loud."

"Well, only children and old people should wear costumes."

"Oh, oh, did someone say costume?"

Both boys turned to see Cecile walking down the hall, wearing—

"MOTHER!" Wolfram shouted.

Yuuri would have been embarrassed if his mother had worn the costume, but that didn't keep him from finding Wolfram's frustration humorous. Cecile was wearing an all-black corset and a ripped-up, shortened version of a black-and-white barmaid's skirt with knee-high black boots. Yuuri had seen the woman naked before, or wearing small amounts of clothing, and she wasn't HIS mother…he also found that he didn't feel compelled to glance at her chest.

/She's my friend's mother…my mom is weird too, so this is just entertaining./

Wolfram covered Yuuri's eyes. "Mother, how can you walk around like that? You used to be the MAOU! How can you be so indecent!"

She smiled, and pulled Wolframs's hands away as soon as she could. "Oh, but it's the Augustine festival!" She hugged Yuuri tightly, and then admired his costume. "What do you say, your Majesty?" She winked at him. "How much?"

"MOTHER!"

Yuuri smiled. "I'm very afraid of answering that question."

Cecile smiled even wider as she released him. "And you should be. I'm worth more than every other woman in this world…" She pouted. "Since I don't have a lover I was going to ask your Majesty, but you'll be bring Wolfy-Wolf, so maybe I'll ask someone else…"

"MOTHER!"

She ignored her youngest-born. "Say, your Majesty, is my makeup too much?"

Yuuri inspected her face. /Why is a girl…er, much older woman…asking me that/ "What's too much?"

"Do I look like a dirty whore?" she asked, smiling widely. She knew what the reaction would be.

"MOTHER!"

Yuuri smiled, and played along. "No, I don't think you have enough on."

"YUURI! Don't HELP her!"

They both smiled. "Well, if that's the case, I'll go fix my makeup. Hm, maybe Gunter would like to accompany me…" she looked outside the castle window. "If I don't have a chauffer, I might just get swept away by some handsome man!"

She laughed as she walked away, and then began singing some obscene song.

Yuuri was in a good mood. Wolfram was clearly flustered…/Maybe he's not too sure about this festival either./

"Wolfram, are you going to put a costume on?"

The red-faced prince turned on him. "The hell I am."

Yuuri and Wolfram left the castle together. When they arrived at the first stalls, Yuuri realized that he didn't know how OPEN the Mazoku were.

/Back home, anybody can rent rooms in hotels by the hour, buy schoolgirls' panties from vending machines, and watch porn./ He thought. /I wonder if the Mazoku are even more open than that…./

Yuuri's suspicions were soon confirmed. The eighth stall they crossed featured a booth where women could PAY to undress and give a private show to the man who was with them, or any man for that matter. At another, a talented candy-maker sold candy in a variety of shapes…naked women, naked men, naked women WITH naked men…

"Wolfram, is everyone in New Makoku very…open?"

Wolfram gave him a look. "I don't understand the question." He smiled. "Or does this kind of thing make you nervous, you wimp?"

Yuuri blushed. /OF COURSE it does! Who wouldn't feel…funny…here/ "It's just that you don't usually see things like this back in Japan. Not in broad daylight, at least./

The prince 'hmphed'. "Well, maybe you just don't like our culture!"

"No, it's not that…"

The next booth almost made Yuuri faint.

"Experiment! Experiment!" The booth owner called out. He was a good-looking young man. Beside him was an equally attractive woman.

"What's that?" Yuuri asked Wolfram.

Wolfram blushed. "Um, 'experiment' is slang for…experimenting with…new things."

"Like what?"

"Don't ask me, YOU DAMN WIMP!"

Yuuri tapped Wolfram on the shoulder (which was very significant to Wolfram) and pointed to a man approaching the booth. "Like that?"

The young man running the booth smiled. "Would you like to experiment?"

"Yeah," he replied. "How much?"

"Five."

"Sure."

Yuuri watched in curiosity as the man pulled out a few coins and handed them to the booth owner.

The booth owner smiled wider, and then started talking louder to attract a crowd.

"So, this man wants to experiment! Well, sir, what are you normally into?"

The man blushed. "Er, it's men."

"Alright! Next to me I have the lovely Helen." The pretty girl stood and waved at the crowd. Yuuri heard a few whistles, and Helen blushed, looking pleased.

She stepped down, and stood in front of the customer. "Is this your first time kissing a girl?"

"Sure." He said. The question was embarrassing.

The woman put her hands on his shoulders, leaned forward, and kissed him on the lips. A few people in the crowd clapped or cheered.

Yuuri stared in shock.

/Gay guy…kissing girl…huh/

Wolfram 'hmphed' again. "Disgusting. Why is he kissing a women if he likes men? Jeez, what would his lover think?"

The booth owner started to speak again. "So, how was it?" he asked the man.

The man thought for a moment. "Pretty good. Better than I thought."

Wolfram glared holes in the man's head.

"There you have it!" the booth owner shouted. "Anyone else want to experiment?"

Wolfram grabbed Yuuri's hand and pulled him away from THAT booth. "That's disgusting. What business does he have, kissing a women he doesn't really long for?"

Yuuri looked at Wolfram's pale hand on his wrist.

/Experiment./

It was like an infection. The warmth, and the knowledge that he indeed was the person Wolfram really longed for.