SAPPHIRE WATER, RUBY FIRE
Author's Note:
For my reviewers, thanks so much for your support! This is the point where all the characters begin to doubt their own feelings. I hope I can capture their feelings right (winces). The Maou is the hardest of all, but he is the coolest, so (shrugs) I won't mind, will I?
Disclaimer: Don't own KKM.
CHAPTER 3: THE GOOD FRIEND AND THE FIANCÉE
"Just a very good friend of yours."
He pondered upon the sentence, poking on his soup restlessly. Why would such a simple sentence bother him this much? His hunger was lost somewhere within him, and he reluctantly recalled how awkward the end of their conversation was.
He had stood up, releasing himself from the other boy's embrace. "The wimp will be waiting for us," he said shakily, starting to make his way toward the door, his heart partly wishing for the other boy to stop him, to do something, anything.
Yet he walked out of the door without any disturbance at all.
Giving the soup a last furious poke, he looked up from his bowl, signing that he surrendered his attempts to eat. The wimp glanced at his sudden act, and immediately said for the entire table to hear. "Wolfram! Why aren't you eating your soup? Don't you like it? Perhaps the cook can give you something else…."
From his left, he could hear Greta's giggles. He snorted, trying to save whatever was left from his pride. "I can take care of myself, wimp!" he said, giving Yuuri a well-deserved thwack on the head.
While the young King was busy protesting and rubbing his head, his emerald eyes caught the sight of the Maou, eating his soup silently, yet with dark eyes fixed on him. He shuddered, feeling the intensity of the gaze, noticing the slight frown on the Maou's brows. Was that concern he saw?
He sat back on his seat, slightly realizing that his daughter was already busy chatting happily with Conrad. Gwendal was there, at the other end of the table, dark blue eyes fixed on the figure of the Maou with slight suspicion. Gunther was sitting right next to the Maou, trying to engage the latter one in a polite conversation. The Great Sage was eating his dinner in slight amusement, eyes forever trailing A small pang of jealousy rose within his heart. He frowned. Why would he be jealous because of seeing Gunther trying to approach the Maou?
"Just a very good friend of yours."
It was what he expected, wasn't it? A good friend. Nothing less from the Maou.
Did he except for something more?
"Wolfram, you really have to eat!"
He shook his head wearily, a small smile forming on his lips, a genuine smile this time. Not now. Even though it was the Maou, this particular issue was impossible. He had a fiancée to take care, a fiancée who was also a wimp, by the way.
A wimp he loved so much whom he would gladly shed his tears every night for.
XXX
He watched the changes on Wolfram's expression with mild amusement. 'Ho boy, this is getting interesting, isn't it?' he mused, grinning inwardly. 'First, there is a couple in need of matchmaking. Wolfram's brother and his adoptive daughter. What a couple.' He snickered, barely containing himself. 'Then, there is the potential love triangle between Shibuya, Maou, and Wolfram. That is if Shibuya managed to realize his own feelings before that Maou snatches Wolfram.'
"What do you say about that particular problem, Great Sage?"
He turned at Gunther, who was staring at him with expecting eyes. "What was that again?" he asked sheepishly, smiling. "Sorry, Gunther. I didn't catch that one."
The lavender-haired man immediately replied, "It is about the naming of the Maou, geika. Maou-sama is no longer sharing a body with Yuuri heika, therefore I think it is appropriate to search for a name for Maou-sama, isn't it?" There was a dreamy sigh. "The name will represent Maou-sama, the counterpart of Yuuri heika. If Yuuri heika is famous for his passionate acts toward the others, then Maou-sama will be known as the great being of justice!"
Murata coughed into his hands, attempting to hide his snickers. "Eh, Gunther, surely the Maou can choose his own name as he likes it," he reasoned, and Gunther immediately looked downcast. He sighed, massaging his temples, yet then catching the Maou looking at him with…was that interest in his eyes?
He grinned cheerfully at the powerful being, and somehow he could discern the faint smirk on the Maou's lips.
'Hell,' he thought, still grinning. 'Who says that getting friendly with the Maou is not easy?'
XXX
Pale skin. Golden hair, nearing to platinum blond. Deep emerald eyes.
He sighed, staring at his own reflection on the surface of the water. The lavender-and-mint-scented water. Somehow, he found himself getting addicted with that incense.
Usually he had asked the maids to use the jasmine and orchid one, and occasionally the rose one. Yuuri smelled like jasmine and orchid, and he tried to preserve that scent by using the incense in the bath. Sometimes he used rose, just to remind himself of his mother. He always found rose as the perfect scent to personify Lady Celi. Alluring, seductive, and beautiful.
But now….
Lavender and mint. He found the scent bringing peace to his heart. It soothed him, as if embracing him, enveloping him in the sweet and fresh scent. Just like being in the Maou's embrace.
He had assured himself that he was not cheating on Yuuri. No, the Maou was just a friend. A very good friend that took care of him, that pampered him, that soothed him when he cried. Nearly like his older brothers, yet this one is more affectionate, and somehow always managed to bring bliss into his heart, easily lulling him into a blissful state. Just a person he needed second to the most right now. But not someone whom he would love. A friend, helping him through all his troubles to gain what he needed the most: love.
Love. From Yuuri.
True, at first he grudged the sheepish black-haired boy. He despised it when boys flocked him just because of his looks, thinking that he was a girl. How many times had a boy asked him to go out for a date, yet immediately left him when he said that he was actually a male?
Sometimes he hated being his mother's son. His mother was simply too beautiful to be true. His two brothers were simply fine with their looks, then why him?
"You look like Shin'ou more than me, Wolf," his mother often teased.
A bad thing that Shin'ou had the looks of a perfect bishounen.
Then there was Yuuri's unexpected proposal. And—damn it—why did that clueless wimp have to say that he would not take that slap back?! He had hated him for that, for taking him as a fiancée, just because of an accident nonetheless! Yet he never expected himself to begin liking the Soukoku, more even to fall for him.
Surely Yuuri would have liked him more, perhaps even fallen in love with him, if he had been a girl.
Sighing deeply, he dove underwater, closing his eyes, then just let the water push him afloat again. The water was warm, nearing to hot, almost like the Maou, its touches tender and soft against his skin….
"Wolfram?"
He inhaled quite a lot of water before finally he could get back to the surface, spluttering and coughing like mad, emerald eyes wide in panic. Two strong hands lifted him up, out of the water. The pull on his right arm was slightly stronger than the left, and he wondered whether there were two people watching this embarrassing episode.
He, Wolfram von Bielefeld, just nearly drowned in the royal bath.
"Gods, are you okay, Wolf?" a panicked voice asked, followed with a dark chuckle behind. He laid down on the stone floor, gasping for oxygen, eyes still closed. He blinked finally, trying to clear his hazy sight.
And, for Shin'ou's sake, perhaps it was better for him to just drown in the royal bath.
XXX
Yuuri watched the boy who was lying on the stone floor closely, concern claiming his whole mind. Did Wolfram plan to drown himself in the royal bath? Or was it purely an accident?
He shivered without realizing. He simply could not imagine why Wolfram would kill himself. No, that was impossible. Wolfram was strong. A strong and fiery soldier. None could defeat his spirit.
"Wolfram, have you ever cried?"
The question was simple and pure, yet it left Wolfram stunned on his spot, eyes wide and mouth agape, finding himself at loss of words. "Yes," he finally replied harshly. "Yes, I have. For many times."
Suddenly his heart and mind seemed to freeze at that particular memory.
Had that reply been genuine?
He shook the scene out of his head, realizing that it was not the right time for it. The Maou was crouching next to Wolfram, and suddenly he was painfully aware that Wolfram (actually, all of them were) was only clad in a towel.
The Maou and Wolfram. The Maou's dark features and Wolfram's pale ones. He noted, icily, how the two looked good together.
He could not help himself from being suspicious, he told himself. Hell, that man had kidnapped Wolfram once right under his very nose!
The Maou supported Wolfram so that the latter was sitting up, still coughing water from his lungs. "Little wolf, are you okay?" The voice, which he had known before as the voice that shouted indifferent justice, now sounded warm, and he could hear the hidden concern within it. There was a nod from Wolfram, and he let out a breath he had—unconsciously—been holding.
"Mou, Wolfram, how could you drown in the bath?" he asked, pouting, patting the blonde's back.
Several coughs were his only reply, with a muffled "Take care of your own business, wimp!" inserted somewhere between those coughs.
"Don't call me a wimp!" he immediately countered hotly in reflex.
Wolfram only coughed more, and when the blonde prince looked up, his eyes were glassy from the force. Another fit of coughs, and soon the mazoku soldier's lithe body was shaking uncontrollably.
He immediately frowned in concern, crouching beside Wolfram, copying the Maou's previous act. "What's the matter, Wolf?" he asked, rubbing the blonde boy's back harder. Wolfram surely did not look fine, and he realized that the mazoku prince was more fragile than what he let the others see.
"Water…in my lungs…."
"How much water did you inhale actually?" Yuuri questioned, half-joking, trying to ease the blonde's pain. His eyes caught the Maou, whose eyes were closed and brows knitted in deep concentration. "What are you doing?" he asked curiously at the latter, still rubbing Wolfram's back, who was still coughing restlessly.
A spark wandered from the Maou's hand, which was holding Wolfram's own. The spark traveled through Wolfram's arm, then to his nose, mouth, and then torso. Before Yuuri could do anything, say anything, suddenly Wolfram coughed, once, hard.
Al the water Wolfram had previously inhaled went out, spluttering out from the blonde's mouth, leaving Wolfram panting and gasping. Wolfram blinked, then stared at the two boys, who were still watching him intently. A small smile spread on lips, and he whispered a hazy "Thank you" before falling into unconsciousness.
XXX
"How could Wolfram faint so easily just because of water in his lungs?"
He raised an eyebrow at this question. "Shibuya, what element Wolfram possesses?" he asked, eyes fixed straight at the hallway ahead. It was unlikely for him to trip, but with the blonde still sleeping peacefully in his arms, cuddling onto his chest like a small kitten, he was not willing to take the risk.
"Uh, fire?"
"What defeats fire?"
"Mm, water?"
He kept silent, not giving any response, letting the sentence sink into Shibuya's (dense) brain. "Oh," Shibuya said grimly after a few seconds. "That explains it."
An awkward silence kicked in, and he was surprised when Shibuya spoke out his next question. "Did you wonder…whether Wolfram's accident was purely an accident or not?"
He turned his gaze toward the boy icily. "I do not think that Wolfram would take such drastic measure to drown himself, if that were what you were thinking, Shibuya," he replied coolly, before setting his eyes ahead once again.
A relieved sigh from his companion. His gaze fell on the boy in his arms. 'Shibuya and little wolf….'
This was an assignment. He was not supposed to be involved much further with his own feelings.
Yet he could not help himself. His cold composure was gone in front of those deep emerald eyes. All his rational thoughts simply fled out of the door whenever the blonde was around. And, damn it, he, the Maou, was simply unable to stop himself from not caressing Wolfram's pale skin.
Or, was it simply because he did not wish to stop?
Shin'ou would not be happy when he heard this. He did not worry about that particular matter. Shin'ou knew that he, the Maou, could defeat Shin'ou if he had wanted to. Yet Shin'ou could grant him something he could not do all by himself, and in return, the Shin'ou had asked him to do a task for him. The deal was agreed by the two parties, and here he was.
Wolfram snuggled deeper into his chest, and murmured something incomprehensible in his sleep. A smile tugged on his lips. Right now, he decided, he would just live the moment, and wait 'till his time ran up.
What would come next would be left in the hands of Fate.
XXX
Wolfram woke up, feeling hazy and oddly comfortable. The scent that was surrounding him was a unique mixture of jasmine, orchid, lavender, and mint. A weight was draped over his waist, and he opened his eyes, finding himself clad in one set of Yuuri's pajamas and the dozing King's arm settling comfortably on his waist.
His immediate and first reaction was to blush.
He smiled, not holding back his smile this time. He liked it, moments where Yuuri was sleeping, with no one to see as his mask crumbled, showing his true, fragile form beneath. The weight that usually settled on his mind, forever there, for once was gone, replaced by fragile bliss. Bliss that would be gone once he woke up in the next morning.
Slowly, careful not to wake Yuuri up, he pushed the boy's arm off his waist, and sat up, eyes fixed on the looming moon outside the balcony. He stood up, approaching the balcony ever so silently, the pale moonlight basking his whole form.
He leaned on the cold railing, just like what he had done last night. He could not help but smile at the memory. Memory of the Maou.
His 'good friend'.
Who was currently standing on the balcony next to the one he was standing on.
"Little wolf," the Maou acknowledged him, shoulder-length hair whipping in the strong night wind, deep eyes with slanted pupils of a cat staring into his own emerald depths. He smiled uncertainly, yet not uncomfortably. Somehow, he did not mind the pet name the Maou had given him.
The two balconies were separated less than two feet away. The Maou extended a hand toward him, which he accepted with a confused look on his face. Surely he did not expect him to….
"Jump." His mind obeyed the order with no further thought, as if his feet had been moving by their own will. He climbed onto the railing, and the Maou hoisted him onto the balcony where the great being was currently standing on. The Maou immediately pulled him into his own room (which was next to the King's chamber), and forced him to seat on his bed.
"Sit." Again, he obeyed silently, wondering what the hell the Maou was up to.
His eyes widened when he saw what the Maou had on his hands.
XXX
Cliffhanger! Can't believe I made that! So what? Next chapter: OuRam fluff at the first part and YuuRam fluff for the second part (that is if I managed to write fluff). Before you go, why don't you press that little button below which has a text 'Submit Review' next to it?
See you in the next chapter!
Aqua Alta