Disclaimer: Don't own Kyo Kara Maou.

Chapter 3:

A few days after the arm burning incident, Airi and the rest of his group had slipped away from the sights of the nobles, and yes, also the spies, that were sent to follow them as well. They were watching a few fights over at one of the training grounds, they were watching every movement, cataloging it for further reference. One of the higher up soldiers had noticed them and made his way over to the group.

"You guys have a problem or something?" He asked in a bored tone, when he reached them..

Neither person of the group was wearing black today, or hats. The soldier glanced at Airi's streaked black hair, but dismissed him when he saw the cold gray of his eyes. He must have thought they were people from the village.

"Nah, where're just observing. Is this the only training field?" Fiyori asked.

"... It's the only one that's not under construction. Why? You're not planning on challenging us are you?" He asked with an incredulous tone.

"Not really. We only wanted a little space to spar with each other a little." Fiyori answered, and it was obvious the soldier was getting pissed.

"... You think you're better than Shin Makoku's soldier's?"

"... I didn't say that." The blond answered back.

"You didn't have to, you implied it." The soldier answered gruffly.

"You two gonna stop bickering like a married couple?" Airi asked out of the blue, pulling on a set of silver pair of sunglasses.

The soldier blushed and Fiyori glared at Airi. "You're going to pay for saying that..." he stated.

Airi laughed. "Promises promises. You know something, you'd definitely be Uke."

Seeing blond's killing aura the soldier nearly ran off, but Hiro was behind him, stopping his escape.

"Well? Can we spar? We're actually quite bored and need something fun to do." Hiro asked in his monotone voice.

The soldier seemed to weigh his options, and decided that his soldiers needed a break anyways. "Well... If you wouldn't mind letting my soldiers watch, then I don't see why not." He said, finally at his breaking point. "Let me just tell them." He walked off and came back a few moments later. Every eye was on them and it was clear they were placing bets. "Go right ahead." The soldier called out.

"Tsume, you call the sets." Airi said.

"Kay', I want to fight Hiro-niichan." He answered.

"You wanna go first?" Airi asked.

"Nah, we gotta put on a show remember? I say we fight our assigned partners, then switch after every ten minutes." He said smirking.

"... That's not a bad idea..." Fiyori muttered.

"Alright, it's decided then." Airi stated.

"Hey! You guys gonna do something or what?" One of the soldier's called out.

Said soldier received a glare that could very well, have been what backed the meaning of the phrase: 'If looks could kill' ( A/N: That's it right?), from Fiyori. Needless to say he shut up pretty quickly. All four men made their way over to the center of the field, and the soldiers shrinked back when they saw the sheer size of Tsume.

Airi stretched from left to right and reached into his jacket. He pulled out a long thin sword. He could hear the soldiers laugh, when he pulled it from its sheath. 'Idiot's, guess they've never seen a katana before.' He thought dully.

Airi and the other's held their weapons out in front of them, waiting for the starting signal. One of the soldiers released the white handkerchief and it floated until it hit the ground, signaling the start of the match. Both boys lunged at each other, so quickly their bodies disappeared in a blur and reappeared when they slammed into each other. The soldiers stared in awe at the sparks that were coming off the blades, and the number of sword clashings through the air. Fiyori jumped back, and was panting slightly, while Airi kept his footing. He chuckled lightly and it was obvious that Fiyori was starting to get frustrated.

"... Dammit! Screw this!" Fiyori yelled and his eyes became black as night.

"It's about time." Airi muttered.

Fiyori blinked at Airi in confusion, but growled. A force tore through the ground, demolishing every boulder into fragments, and it headed straight towards Airi. It was the same as the one that hit Conrad against the fence back on Earth, but on a much higher level. Airi had closed his eyes and everyone was watching in anticipation as the force drew closer to him. When it was close enough, Airi wrapped his right arm around his body and backhanded it the other direction, where it lost the power it had and fizzed out. Fiyori looked at Airi with an incredulous look on his face, when Airi opened his eyes. They weren't black at all, but the same steel gray that they had been before, and Fiyori looked at Airi in amazement, but recovered quickly phasing. Airi quickly looked around trying to locate where the blond could have gone to, and when he whipped his head to the right, he was met with an iron clad boot, hitting him square on the side of the face. Airi's body was thrown a good twenty feet before crashing into a boulder, back first. The impact broke the boulder in two with a deafening snapping, and it sounded like to poor man had snapped his spine. Most of the soldiers let out a gasp, when Airi didn't move.

Fiyori smiled evilly, and walked over, when he reached Airi's body he prodded him in the ribs with his foot, before smirking. He whirled around and faced the other two in the group.

"Dude, I took him down!" He yelled with triumph.

He turned his body around and let out a light scream, before falling forward. Airi had grabbed Fiyori's ankle and yanked his leg up, spinning around in a blur, before finally letting go. Fiyori's body rammed into a pole, with such force that it snapped in half. He tumbled from the wreckage, looking dumbfounded before looking back at Airi.

"...My turn." Airi said with a smile.

He raised his foot a good distance off the ground and slammed it down, making the Earth rumble. Huge boulders were ripped from the ground and levitated before being thrown at Fiyori. He was able to dodge a few of them, but didn't see the last one, which slammed into his back. The impact sent him head first into the ground in front of him, and he stopped moving. Airi didn't drop the stones, instead they circled above Fiyori's body and slammed down, pummeling the body into the ground. Hiro and Tsume, had long stopped fighting, and watched the spectacle taking place.

Airi released his hold over the boulders, and looked over at the soldiers, they actually looked afraid. He brought his gaze back to the boulders and crossed his arms.

"... How long are you going to make them think I killed you, hmmm?" Airi called out.

Silence ensued, but after a few moments one of the boulders started to move. It didn't shift though, and everyone could hear muffled screams of outrage from underneath the rock. Airi blinked and remembered that Fiyori wasn't know for his strength.

The rock started to levitate, and Fiyori came into view, his eyes black. He was absolutely pissed, and glaring at Airi. "Bastard! I can't believe you left that rock on me. I could have been suffocating for all you know."

"... You weren't. I would have known if you were." Airi said. "Well... Since you're so testy right now, wanna call it a day?" He looked towards Hiro.

"Yeah this is starting to get boring anyway. It's not like we can go all out with this many people around anyway." Hiro said as he looked towards the group of soldiers. "Besides I think you and Fiyori are drawing a fan crowd." He finished in English.

Airi and Fiyori blinked in confusion, before looking at the group of soldiers, and sure enough some of them were blushing.

"Yeah Hiro-niichan's right. We got the cute blond lolita Fiyori, as well as the sexy masked stranger. At least that's what I picked off their minds."

"... Thanks for picking the less graphic versions..." Airi mumbled when he knew what the soldiers were thinking now. 'Shit, these guys have too much time on their hands... And what's with the peanut butter?' He shivered when he saw the next scene and waved to the group. "We're calling it a day, thanks for letting us use the field." He called out.

The three boys disappeared in a flash and Airi pulled out a cigarette, placing it between his lips.

"Hey!" One of the more bolder soldiers called out, making Airi look up. 'Damn, just had to stop for the cigarette didn't I?' "That was a pretty amazing fight you two had... You're really..." A faint blush tainted his cheeks, Airi ran his hands through his hair trying to smooth the disarrayed spikes out.

Airi ran through his memories, something he's always done when he met someone new, and saw explicit scenes with a blond brat. 'Well well, what do we have here?'

"You know, I'm a pretty far cry from a short green eyed blond." Airi chuckled darkly, when he saw the man's face pale. "Yeah, that's what I thought. See ya." He gave a cheery wave and blurred out, leaving a baffled soldier.

He had phased into the castle and walked into Gwendal's office, hearing his name on the man's mind.

Gwendal was surprised when he entered his office to see that Airi was already there, holding a small stuffed animal that he had knit a few days ago. He looked up seeing Gwendal and smiled, patting the small creature on the head, with his finger.

"I hope you don't mind, but I heard that you needed to see me?" Gwendal nodded slowly 'When had I said that?' he thought as he sat down, and Gunter and Corad came in.

He kept his eyes on the toy, as Airi balanced the creature on the back of his hand observing it. "Cute tiger." He mumbled, and Gwendal blinked. Airi was looking at him. "... Did I get it wrong?" He asked.

"... No, and that's what intrigued me, everyone always guesses wrong..." Conrad and Gunter were looking at Airi now.

"I don't see why, it is kind of obvious." He said looking at the other animals adorning the shelves. "Left to right." He said pointing to a particular shelf. "Sheep, fish, puppy, parrot, rabbit, otter, lizard, and mouse." Airi said, each name rolling off his tongue easily, he didn't falter once. "I take it that's a shelf dedicated to Earth animals?" He asked a flabbergasted Gwendal.

No one had ever been that accurate in naming Gwendal's creations, it was a shock for everyone, but Airi, when Gwendal agreed that he got every single one.

"Well aside from that shelf I can't really recognize the other's, but that might be because they're from this world." He looked back at Gwendal. "I really look forward to what you create next." He said with such honesty Gunter experienced a slight nosebleed.

"... Well... As ecstatic as I am to hear that you know what my creations are..." Gwendal said mockingly, but Conrad, Gunter, and yes, even Airi, knew that he was actually happy. "We actually need to discuss this 'organization' that your friend brought up." Airi paled.

"... I was actually kind of hoping you guys forgot about that..." Airi said while laughing. "The organization is called the brotherhood. Baa-chan, the person who is running it now, is the third generation to receive it. The brotherhood is actually a secret organization, that hides itself behind a small town, and acts as it's council. We... are actually a group of mercenaries, that believe in killing one in order to save many... The band that I mentioned being a part of before is actually a cover. Plus it gives me money for new weapons." He added.

"... So you kill people for a living..." Gwendal deduced and Airi nodded sadly.

"... That's about right..." Airi said, everyone stayed silent. Airi chuckled darkly. "See why I didn't want to tell you? Anyway, I understand if you want nothing more to do with me, I'll be taking my leave now." Airi said rising to his feet.

Conrad stepped in his way, before he could leave. "Why are you so ready to believe that we would just shun you like this?" Conrad asked, and Airi blinked.

"... It wouldn't be the first time... Like I said I am a part of the brotherhood, but even its own people and the governors all think I'm nothing more than a monster... Even after everything I've done for them." He shrugged like it was a normal occurrence. "I work alongside with fate. If I can't kill the person whose name shows up, then he or she kills a multitude of others. Consider it taking care of the problem of serial killers before they start."

"... Why do you place so much faith in something that tells you to murder someone else?" Gwendal asked with a scowl.

"... It's a matter of first hand experience. Before I joined the brotherhood, I was hurt. Pretty badly too, for some reason I just showed up in a lake, with a sword stabbed through me. By the time I came to, I had washed up on shore, and it was already daybreak." Conrad looked at the floor with a guilty stare. "That was when I saw Kaa-san and Tou-san. They were apart of the town and were know for there renowned healing abilities. Thankfully they took me in, and helped me recover.They were the only people that accepted me. Well anyways, I was working late one night, and came back to an empty house, which was really odd. I walked inside and was tackled and knocked out by Edu, who was a renowned murderer in the city. When I woke up, I was tied to a chair, and Edu was standing over tou-san and Kaa-san. He noticed I was awake, and started laughing." Airi growled out. "'Bout' time you woke up, now the fun can begin', he said to me. He shot both of them in the head, then turned on me. Imagine my surprise when he thought it would be more fun to torture me, then kill me." Gwendal paled considerably as he listened to the story. "That's how I got this." Airi pulled back the collar on his jacket and revealed a long thin scar, that stretched from his ear to his chest. "I have other's on my back and on my wrists. Edu heated up a wire hanger and branded me, and left me there over night. Little did he know, I was able to pull free from my bindings and I waited for him to come back. He didn't even know what hit him... It was actually my first kill. About two weeks after I joined the brotherhood, and that was when I found out that one of their recruitments couldn't handle killing his assignment, Edu Moore, weeks before killing my parents. The very same man that killed my family." He finished.

"... Still... Killing someone like that. I never would have though that you were capable of something like that." Gwendal said.

"... There's a difference between being capable and wanting to. I hate killing needlessly, and only hurt those who try to attack me or my friends. Even then I try to give the other a chance to them... Besides, it's not like I go around killing everyone I see." Airi whispered.

Everyone took in the information in silence, when Gwendal spoke up. "What is that around your neck?"

A silver chain with a beautiful set of golden rings came into view, and Airi looked down to see what he had pointed at. "... Those are my wedding rings..." He said nonchalantly, but the entire room went silent. "... What?" Airi said confused.

"You are married?" Conrad asked, disbelief coloring his voice and sadness showing up on his face.

Airi looked at him confused at the sudden change in emotion, but answered. "... Only in name... Kyra was a dear friend of mine, nothing more. In order to be seen as an applicant for leader of the brotherhood and be protected, I needed to be a part of the the family. Kyra agreed to marry me." Airi shrugged. "It was nothing more than political, and it's 'was' married."

"What happened?" Gunter asked sadly.

"... The council saw it fit to destroy me, even if I was protected by marriage or not. They had me chained up and was getting ready to publicly hang me, when she attacked the head of the council. They killed her right in front of me... I only keep these as a reminder..."

"... I'm sorry Airi." Gwendal murmured.

"Don't be. You didn't kill her, besides, let's just say that that council is no longer a problem." He shrugged again, silence filled the room.

After a few minutes, it was broken by someone knocking on the door. Wolfram's voice filled the air. "Brother are you in here?" He asked opening the door, and froze when he saw Airi.

"Relax, squirt. If I was going to hurt you I would have done so when I had you pinned to the wall..." He said in a monotone drawl. "One last thing Gwendal..." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a folded up piece of paper handing it over to Gwendal. "I found this among my journal's, thought you would need it to make it official."

Gwendal look it over and chuckled. "What is that brother?" Wolfram asked from the doorway.

"... It's the paperwork, calling of the engagement between you and Yuri. He asked for the annulment before he left, and I thought I had misplaced it." Gwendal said.

"... You can't do that, I won't let you." Wolfram hissed, glaring at Airi, but he just ignored him.

"This makes it official right?" He asked, looking at Gwendal.

"Yes, it does."

"Well, see you guys later." Airi said and got to his feet, he walked right past a seething Wolfram.

Conrad saw the way that Wolfram was glaring at him, and decided it would be better if he left the room. He traveled down towards the dining room and passed one of the maids hallway's when he heard a sound, that caught his attention. He walked back to the hallway and looked down, seeing a figure in the shadows. There was Airi leaning against the wall with a pained expression on his face, clutching at the clothes over his heart. His breathing was erratic, and fast, like he couldn't get a decent breath of air, and he had a glazed over look in his eyes. Conrad rushed over and caught the young man just as he slid to the ground, and checked him over. Airi had no external wounds and he was fine earlier, so why did he have such a sudden attack? Conrad tried to lay the man down, in order to clear his airway, but he couldn't move the man. Airi had wrapped his fists in Conrad's shirt and was clutching at him, it stopped Conrad from going to get help, and no one would be coming to this part of the castle until after lunch. Conrad cursed, and tried to unlatch the young man from him, but wasn't able to. After a few moments, Airi seemed to calm down considerably, until he looked up at the person that he was attached to...

"... C-Conrad? What are you doing here?" Airi asked, with a confused expression.

"I saw you collapse Airi, you had me worried." Conrad answered back and helped Airi to his feet.

"... Call me Yuri."

Yes, it's a cliff hanger. What will Conrad do now? Stay tuned and fiiiiiiiiiind out...

TBC