Summary: Yuuri wakes up

Chapter 2

--Yuuri--

I woke up on Wolfram's side of the bed the next morning. That in itself was not unusual. Not with bedmates like mine. I would probably start worrying if they actually stayed in the same position throughout the night. It usually signaled something very wrong. And I didn't like it when things were out of place.

I grunted loudly as a leg hit me right in the middle of the stomach. I love my daughter, I really do. But she was growing fast and strong. Strong. There was no doubt about that. And she seemed to be gaining more and more of Wolfram's habits as she grew older. Like sleeping wildly in bed. I didn't recall her being this terrible when I first adopted her.

I removed the errant leg and put my hands underneath her to position her better so she's not kicking me. That was when I noticed that Wolfram wasn't in bed. That in itself was also not unusual. It just meant that he ended up on the floor.

After repositioning Greta beside me, I looked for my wayward fiancé. Okay, he wasn't on this side. Not by the foot of the bed either. I threw myself across the lower part of the mattress and looked down on the floor at the other side. No blond bishonen. Strange. Was he up already? He and Greta usually lingered in bed while I took off for my morning run.

I looked at my watch. Okay, who took my trusty G-shock? Or did I take it off? No. I lifted a pink sleeve all the way up to my elbow. No watch there. I did the same for the other pink sleeve. Not there either.

I was missing my watch and the blond tempest. I might as well get up. It couldn't be that late yet. Normally, Conrad would wake me up for my morning run. And if he wasn't at Blood Pledge Castle, then my melodramatic tutor would.

I opened the door and asked one of the guards to have someone bring me my running outfit. My voice sounded weird and my legs felt cold. I hoped I wasn't catching a cold.

After the guard's acquiescence, I closed the door and proceeded to the adjoining bathroom.

...Wait a minute! Did he just say? No. I had to have been hearing things. He did not just address me as 'Your Excellency'.

Before I could get to the bathroom, my daughter sat up and looked at me sleepily.

"Wolfram..." she said sluggishly then gave out a big yawn. "Did I oversleep?"

"No, Greta. I think Wolfram just left early. Perhaps, he wanted to get a head start for his trip. Why don't you go back to sleep?"

I wasn't even fully awake yet, and I was sure she wasn't either. However, she got a strange look on her face that made me stop what I was doing. I went and sat down on the bed instead. I put my hand over her forehead. This was what parents do, right? It was what Wolfram did whenever he thought I was acting weird.

"Are you feeling okay?" I asked with concern.

"I... I'm not really sure," she answered. "Are you feeling okay?"

She was so cute when she was trying to be an adult. "Yes, I feel fine. I'm about to go for my daily run but I seem to be missing my watch, but I'm sure I just misplaced it."

"When did you start running everyday?" she asked with a tone of surprise.

My brows knitted themselves into a worried frown. "You know I always run everyday."

The knock at the door interrupted what Greta was about to say. I was expecting it to be Conrad but instead it was one of the maids bringing my running suit. Or more specifically, Wolfram's suit.

"Is something wrong, Your Excellency?" the maid asked as she watched me stare at the clothes. Never mind that she addressed me incorrectly; I wasn't like Wolfram who was very particular when it comes to proper etiquette.

I shook my head not wanting her to feel bad about getting me the wrong clothes and addressing me with the wrong honorific. Wolfram and I wore the same size and he had worn my clothes before (including my underwear, not that I liked advertising that) so it was no big deal. Speaking of clothes, this was when I realized why my legs felt cold. I was wearing Wolfram's nightgown. Many possibilities flashed in my head. Some scarier than others. Well, it wasn't a mystery that was going to solve itself that very second.

Before the maid left, I asked her where Conrad was. She gave me a strange look, the same kind of look Greta gave me earlier. I wondered for a moment if everyone in the castle was coming down with the Shin Makoku version of the flu. Perhaps that was why my voice sounded funny and why I was wearing Wolfram's clothes. She shook her head and the moment passed.

"I believe His Excellency is currently on his morning run," she informed me. "Is there anything else you needed, Lord Wolfram?"

"Yes, where is he?" I asked.

"Um..." she said confused. "His Excellency?"

"Yes, have you seen him?"

"Well..." she paused as if she was trying to figure out what I was asking her. Perhaps I should have been clearer, like asking, where is the proud, blond, beautiful third son of the ex-Maou?

"His Excellency is currently on his daily morning run," she finally said enunciating each word carefully.

When did Wolfram start going on a daily run? I wasn't going to ask her. It looked like she had already reached her limit of questioning for the day. So instead, I just nodded thanks.

"I wonder if she needs a vacation," I wondered out loud after she left.

"Why?" Greta asked.

"She seemed a little off this morning. Perhaps it's the stress of her work. Cleaning the castle day in and day out. I think I would probably get bored pretty quickly."

"She just came back from seeing her family," Greta said. "And she looked fine to me." She paused and gave me another weird look before continuing, "On the other hand, are you sure you're feeling fine?" Then she mimicked my earlier action and put a hand on my forehead. She was just too cute!

"Greta, fathers are supposed to worry about their daughter. Not the other way around," I said as I give her a tight hug. "Tell you what, we'll go play baseball later today and I'll hit a few home runs for you to prove I'm fine. How about that? Wolfram is doing border patrols today so we don't have to worry about him."

"O-kay," she said in a very serious voice. She patted my hand and gave me a look that said she was humoring me, "I'll go get dressed and I'll see you at breakfast alright?"

As she opened the door, Conrad walked in.

"There you are Conrad, I thought you went running--" I never finished the sentence because the person who followed Conrad into the room was none other than myself.

This explained the abnormality of this morning: the missing watch, the funny voice, the guards and the maid addressing me as 'Your Excellency', the weird looks, the nightgown.

I didn't panic. Maybe for three seconds I panicked. But I quickly got over it. Firstly, this was Shin Makoku where strange things were the norm. Secondly, I had experienced this 'out of body and into somebody else's body' ordeal previously with my older brother. Wolfram had to be in my body and all we needed to do was figure out a way to exchange minds, preferably without Anissina's intervention. The difficulty was I really didn't understand how I undid the first brain mix. I just sort of winged it. I guess I would just wing this also.

I heard our daughter whisper to Wolfram-in-my-body before leaving, "Yuuri, I don't think Wolfram is feeling well."

Wow, this body has really good hearing. No wonder Wolfram always knew what I was up to.

"Wolfram, if you're not feeling well, I'll let Gwendal know. I'll take over your mission," Conrad said helpfully.

Wait a minute. Something was odd in what Conrad said.

"Wolf, I know how you get when it comes to your duty," Wolfram-in-my-body added, "but you know how I worry about you. Just this once, perhaps, you'd stay." Then he gave me the look.

Wait a minute there. I just got the look from myself. That was the wide-eyed innocent look that Wolfram accuses me of using on him whenever I wanted something.

"Uh... yeah," I finally muttered. "Thanks Conrad."

Conrad gazed at me worriedly before he left.

"You really must not be feeling well," my companion said as he guided me back to the bed. "You didn't even put up any fight. Wait here okay and I'll have the guards get Gisela."

Okay, something was really, definitely, indubitably wrong here. Conrad, my name-giver, who knew me even before birth, who could always tell what I was up to, who had a sixth-sense of my whereabouts, who realized that Shouri and I traded bodies before anyone else -- that Conrad didn't sense that there was something wrong with Yuuri. Not me Yuuri, but the other Yuuri. The one that looked like Yuuri. The one that's suppose to have Wolfram's mind. How could he not sense I wasn't in my body and that I was in this one? Wolfram couldn't pretend to be anything other than himself. He couldn't have fooled Conrad.

But Wolfram-in-my-body was not acting like Wolfram at all. He was acting like me. No, that could not be right. It was clear that I was in Wolfram's body, therefore, someone else had to be in my body.

I think I am Yuuri therefore I am Yuuri. Wasn't that how it went?

I grabbed my arms (Yuuri's arms not Wolfram's arms that I was using to hold onto... this was hell of a lot confusing). I hold onto my companion's arms before he could move away.

"Wolfram," I said staring into the black pupils as if they were the proverbial windows to the soul and I was determined to find out who was in there. It had to be Wolfram. "Wolfram! Answer me," I said as I shook him. "You're in there, right Wolf. Look all we need to do is undo this. It shouldn't be that hard. Maybe, all we need to do is go to Earth and the dimensional traveling will flip us back..."

There was worry in his eyes. And pity. Wolfram, why are you pitying me? What am I, a dying man?

No, not a dying man. Just a sick one.

"You..." Wolfram-in-my-body or whoever-in-my-body that suspiciously acted very much like me emphasized the word, "you are Wolfram. Wolf, do you remember where you are, who you are, who I am?"

"You're Oda Nobunaga," I replied. Well that surprised Yuuri-that-was-not-Yuuri-who-may-or-may-not-be-Wolfram.

He frowned and asked, "Where did you learn about Nobunaga?"

Where did you learn about Nobunaga? I queried silently.

"Why? Who is Oda Nobunaga?" I asked. Why not, Wolfram wouldn't really know. This was a test of the Yuuri broadcasting system. If he did not pass then we could switch and go to our regularly scheduled programming.

"He's... he's a major daimyo from the Sengoku period of Japanese history. A daimyo is a territorial lord, similar to the Ten Nobles here in Shin Makoku."

I was flabbergasted. No, I was not flabbergasted about Nobunaga. I was flabbergasted that Wolfram-in-Yuuri's-body knew who he was.

Alright, I could buy that Wolfram studied Japanese history while I spent time at school and he was stuck at the house. I mean he couldn't possibly have spent every single minute talking about wedding dresses with my mother. And he was not the type that would pine away for his beloved. He was a man of action, not a man who sighs dramatically into a handkerchief. That would be Günter.

"I'm really getting worried about you," Yuuri-that-cannot-possibly-be-me said.

You and me both pal.

tbc...

A/N: Who could that possibly be in Yuuri's body? Next chapter: Wolfram wakes up.