Keep Tryin'

All Characters are owned by Konami. I own nothing absolutely NOTHING at all and I do not hope to gain any profit from this. Set in an Alternate Universe…Sort of. All track titles from the album "ULTRA BLUE" are not owned by me too.

Thoughts

"Speech"

Chapter 1: Keep Tryin'

That day was the first day of my life. For as long as I remembered, my father told me to train very hard to become a soldier. Not a single day went by without sweat and hard work. I didn't know anything else or any other life outside training to become what I knew little of. The other kids called me a demon. I fought hard to prove myself to Father, till Mueller came into my otherwise stagnant life. He saved me from that and freed me from Father. I don't hate Father but now I have someone else to prove myself to with all my heart and soul.

"Mueller, where you want me to put this?"

"Just put it somewhere we can easily find later on."

Richard lugged two large exquisitely made bags into the tiny room fit for two. Mueller looked out the window of their room as he sighed, thinking and planning ahead yet again like always before a new contract. On the bed was Wilhelm who was just getting comfy. Richard dragged the two bags under the bed that belonged to the two older men. Though it looked like the situation from when he was with his father to when he landed with Mueller weren't legions apart, Richard felt an unspoken stream of concern pouring from Mueller.

"So Mueller, wanna hit the town to check out the ladies before meeting with the boss?"

This is Wilhelm. Though he may seem like a perverse sex-craved lunatic, he's actually a really nice guy. He used to give me lots of candy and presents when I was younger, though each and every of them were taken away by Mueller till the end of the month. Recently he stopped giving me the presents and started to lecture me on "getting laid". I'm not sure what that means, but it doesn't sound like fun. Well, I still love both of them.

"Wilhelm, I'm astounded by how calm you feel before meeting with a very important client of ours for the first time."

"Right. Shouldn't have asked in the place, frigid prick. Shake it off once in a while, will ya?"

"Say that one more time it'd be more than a sword going up your ass!"

Mueller was short tempered as it gets. Mueller raised his hand furiously and yet nervously at the same time, though Wilhelm did not seem to falter. He was too used to Mueller's short bursts of anger and usually expected Richard to break them up and cool Mueller down, which he did.

"Mu…Mueller, there's lunch provided by the inn for us. Shall I get it for us?"

"Tch…fine. Just get…"

"…Extra pepper on the eggs and just a fork right?"

"Don't finish my sentences for me. Now get going before I teach you your manners."

Richard gave a slight giggle before closing the door behind. Being with Mueller for so long meant a chance for Richard to know more about him. Richard read Mueller like a book. He knew all his habits, right from his sleeping habits to how he sits when he's in a bad mood. He respected and loved Mueller so much as a father-figure that he could look up to. But deep down inside Richard had one big, dark secret that he hope to reveal to Mueller one day. He liked the older man, not as a father-figure, but as a person he hoped to spend the rest of his life with. The way he talked, the way he walked always somehow made Richard curl up with glee inside. To Richard, Mueller was the personification of perfection.

Richard never stopped training even with Mueller. He was exceptionally well with the sword and always won duels between his fellow brigade members. Despite his demure stature, he was as lethal as the blade he was welding. Usually people would underestimate him and take him easy and almost as usual Richard will prove them wrong and beat them to the ground. Wilhelm happened to witness one of these duels and appointed him under Mueller's personal care, taking the fact that he owed Mueller his freedom.

Richard was as skilled in handling the tray filled with a mountain of food as he was in sword-fighting. As he steadily made his up the stairs and entered the room, he saw the two men where he left them. One man was deep in military thought and the other deep in perverse thoughts. The atmosphere was so tense with thoughts, something which Richard wasn't good with. It was almost as if a pin could split his eardrums if he happened to drop one on the wooden floor. As he walked towards the tiny table between the two beds, he managed to take a glance at Mueller as he always did. Trying to read his thoughts, he found himself startled as Mueller gave a bellowing sigh. Richard jumped in shock as his hands turned into butter, dropping the food on Mueller's bed and onto himself. This resulted in Richard falling back first onto Wilhelm who was blissfully daydreaming. A huge metallic clank caused Mueller to jump a bit who turned from the window to see what was happening. Soon his troubled face contorted into his usual annoyed and furious expression.

"You damn klutz! Look what you have done! Where the hell am I going to sleep now? What are we going to eat now? Sometimes I wonder why I let you tag along with me when you can't even do the simplest of jobs! Maybe it was better if I left you with your dead father!"

The last sentence pierced Richard's heart in two. Richard knew Mueller didn't mean it as much as Richard treated it with but he couldn't help but shed a tear hearing these kinds of statements coming out from the mouth of the one he adored most. Richard was subjected to Mueller's constant forms of verbal abuse every now and then, but he didn't really mind as the rest of the brigade members were also in the same plight as him, even Wilhelm who was higher in rank than him. Whether he was sensitive to Mueller's words or not, somehow Mueller was a little bit more personal in his form of attacks to Richard than the rest. Mueller stormed out of the room, leaving Richard with the dumbfounded Wilhelm who was just in bliss a moment ago.

Wilhelm recovered rather quickly from seeing Mueller barging out of the room and came to realize Richard was on top of him. Upon closer observation, he also noticed the trickle of liquid flowing down Richard's eyes. Wilhelm smiled as he patted and stroked Richard's head.

"Don't worry about the old fart. He probably didn't mean what he said. You know him; he's as frigid as stale bread."

Hiding his emotions, Richard smiled broadly towards Wilhelm with tears still flowing down his cheeks.

I will…no. I must keep trying to make Mueller love me.

This is a short story I planned to write when I decided to continue with Prime. It was so spontaneous that I decided to use the track titles of Utada Hikaru's Ultra Blue album, and it looks pretty good don't you think:3