I do not own KKM, Tomo Takabayashi owns the series.

I am so thankful that all of you liked the first chapter! You have no idea how happy that makes my muse. Seriously, since the sex change, she's been a prissy little thing, and it is increasingly hard to give her a compliment without her snatching an insult out of it. So you have made her happy, which means she leaves me alone for weeks of undisturbed rest.

Well now the fun begins! I wonder how everyone will take to my OC. I hope I have designed a well structured, spunky little twit for you all. It's so hard to find a good self-invented character that people actually keep realistic (although I have read several good fics on this site where I have found marvelous writers and their OC's. You know who you are.) So I invented this little OC out of boredom and sugar high. Now on with the show!

Chapter Two

A Gift Horse in the Mouth

By the time Yuuri entered his room, there was already a steadily breathing lump under the covers on Wolfram's side of the bed. Yuuri sighed; he had really hoped he could have at least said good night to the boy; if only to end the evening on a slightly positive note. Now it seemed he wouldn't even get that. Venturing towards the foot of the bed, he coughed into his fist and waited.

The blanket covered lump remained still.

Gesturing questioningly towards the ceiling, Yuuri went to put on his pajamas, which he couldn't help but notice had been thrown to the floor in a rumpled heap. He let out a small chuckle at that. The armoire doors were flung open in the corner with a few shirts and pants strewn out of it like some fabric spew from an ornate, wooden monster. So Wolfram actually went looking for the pajamas to do that, did he? The fact alone that Wolf hadn't set fire to them was a good sign in Yuuri's eyes.

Buttoning up his now wrinkled night shirt, Yuuri cast another glance at bed and let out a louder, more forceful cough and patiently waited.

The lump moveth not. Yuuri stood over his own side of the bed and tugged the covers back a little. Jostling the mattress with his knee as he climbed in, he coughed again, even louder. He watched in disappointment as Wolfram did nothing more than nuzzle further into his pillow.

Switching to obnoxious throat clearing yielded the same results. Yuuri was getting more than a little annoyed. He placed both hands firmly on the bed and jerked back and forth. Wolfram seemed to not register the makeshift tremor in the slightest.

'This would be so much easier if Greta were here,' thought the Maou. It was true, Wolfram knew as well as anyone how much Greta weighed he happiness on the happiness of her two fathers. For the sake of the little princess, Wolfram would willingly talk out his frustrations with Yuuri, rather than the current silent treatment he was subjecting the double black to. Unfortunately, Greta wouldn't be sleeping in their room tonight. She had insisted on Yuuri reading a story in her room so that her newest teddy from Gwendal (Mr. Big Pig, she called him) could have a pleasant first night in his new home, surrounding by all the other misleading stuffed animals. Another questionable, women empowering tale written by the castle's resident inventor, and the cherub faced child was out like a light. So it had been with a growing fear that Yuuri had returned to his bedroom alone and without his "Wolfram deflector". And now, he was being ignored of all things!

"Wolf"

"…"

Yuuri grabbed the blonde's shoulder and shook it a bit. "Wolfram"

Wolfram muttered a bit and swatted the hand away. "nnghmph"

A frown to rival Gwendal's was beginning to form across the current maou's brow. "Wolfram, you can't honestly expect me to believe that you could possibly sleep through all this. I can't even blink on most nights without you yelling at me to be quiet!" He pulled the covers back fully and shook the blond more roughly. ".—AH!"

Yuuri found himself with a face full of aristocratic fist and a quick introduction to the floor as Wolfram rolled onto his back with a atrocious snore and delivered a powerful smack to the double black's nose.

"Ow…"

"Mmmmmm"

…well that sure sounded like a satisfied hum if he ever heard it. With a grunt, Yuuri hefted himself back onto the bed with a hand rubbing his face. Sure enough, there was his so called friend curled up quite comfortably with a rather prominent smirk on his face. "So you were awake all along!"

"And I'm going to stay awake as it appears someone is set on making a racket" One emerald orb peeked out from beneath golden curls and lashes and settled on Yuuri with drowsy ill intent. "Now, Good night, Wimp" He rolled over yet again and viciously yanked the blankets back over his head with a very audible "humph".

Yuuri rolled his eyes. "Come on, Wolfram. Talk to me; tell me what's up." He curled over the prone lump and poked it in the side. "I know you're mad at me, so just come out and say what I did wrong this time so I'll know what to apologize for." He tugged at the blankets, but Wolfram held on tight from within. The blonde prince was beginning to look like a royal cocoon.

"Just go to sleep and leave me alone."

"But Wolf" Yuuri pleaded.

"Goodnight, Yuuri."

"Just listen to me for a second"

"I said goodnight"

"Wolfram, I'm sorry-"

Yuuri was tumbling to the floor before he could finish as the Wolfram cocoon burst forth. Yelping, he dodged to the left as a fireball shot past his ear. "…W-wolfram?"

Wolfram stood before him on the bed with a murderous aura exuding off him. One hand was still outstretched in front of him, smoke trailing upwards towards the ceiling. "WIMP!" He hurled another fireball at Yuuri, quickly followed by a barrage of pillows.

"Yipe!" Yuuri ducked the flames, only to be smacked upside the head with an ornamental throw pillow, a recent gift of Celi from one of her trips. "Ow. Hey, ack! Phbbt" the next hit left him with a mouthful of down feathers. "Knock it off. Ow!" A vase whizzed past his head and burst against the wall. It seemed Wolfram had taken to throwing whatever was in reach. Yuuri winced as an ornate mirror went flying and landed with a crash; Celi had gotten them that too.

"Wolfram, please!"

"SHUT UP!" Wolfram leapt off the bed and stormed to the door.

Yuuri headed Wolfram off and blocked the exit. "You're upset, just tell me why."

Wolfram shoved Yuuri aside and made to open the doors, but Yuuri slammed his hands over Wolfram's and held them closed. "Look, I'm sorry. Okay? Can't you forgive me? At least tell me what I did wrong."

"STOP IT!" Wolfram pushed him back and fixed him with an icy stare. "Just stop it, Yuuri."

"Wolfram…" Yuuri moved to touch him, but Wolfram jerked away.

"You…" Yuuri had to strain to hear Wolfram when he next spoke. "You just don't get it, Yuuri. You just don't" he looked unusually small, standing there in that ridiculous, pink nightgown. From what Yuuri could see, he was digging his nails into his fists.

"Wolfram, whatever I did, I'm sorry. I really am."

"What does it matter?"

"…What…?"

Wolfram's head was bowed, but Yuuri could tell whatever he was thinking, it probably showed on his face. "I said, 'what does it matter'? It doesn't change anything" His voice was raising with each word. "Your 'sorry' doesn't mean much." He raised his head and looked Yuuri dead in the eyes, his emerald orbs hard. "I mean, how can it, when—"

SLAM!

"Heika, Lord von Bielefeld!"

Yuuri and Wolfram turned to find a soldier standing in the doorway, panting heavily. Wolfram recognized him as one of Conrad's.

"What is it?"

"Your presence is needed immediately. A body was found in the Temple fountain!" With that, the soldier left to wait outside for them to change.

Exchanging a glance, the two nodded and rushed to don their clothes.

As they ran down the hall with the Soldier leading the way, Wolfram risked a peak at Yuuri out of the corner of his eye. 'You'll never get it Yuuri. Apologies don't mean anything. Even if you say you're sorry, you're just going to continue like this. As long as you don't love me, you'll continue to say sorry…and I don't have time for words you give away without thought anymore'.

thisisaline

"So am I to understand" Yuuri began as they neared the Temple entrance, "that not only was a body found floating faced own in the Temple Fountain, but…it survived?"

"Would you have preferred it hadn't, Wimp?"

"…eh…" Yuuri blanched at the idea of trying to fish out a clammy corpse from the water. "…you're right, never mind."

Conrad attempted a smile despite the situation, "Heika, you should let us go before you to inspect the arrival. It could be dangerous for you if we don't know what we are dealing with." Behind him, Gunter wailed at the thought of anything harmful befalling his precious Maou. Gwendal merely nodded in agreement; it would not due to have their airheaded, well meaning king bursting in on a dangerous situation. For that matter… "Perhaps Wolfram should wait with him as well"

"What?"

Their horses stopped in front of the large Temple doors. The shrine maidens and guards out front yelped and jumped at the loud outcry. Gwendal pinched the bridge of his nose. "Wolfram, it would be ludicrous to let you.."

"—to let You…ri stand unguarded while we interpret the level of precaution needed for our visitor" Conrad cut in, sending a glance at his older brother. "Surely you can handle his protection on your own?"

Wolfram hmphed and stepped down from Nemesis (A/N: his horse, right?). "Of COURSE I can handle it." He crossed his arms, "The wimp needs the best, and who better than me?"

Conrad smiled and turned to the Temple guards with a nod, "You may inform Ulrike that we have arrived." The guards bowed and left to inform the Priestess. Conrad stood back to observe his traveling party. Gwendal was still pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation, probably none too happy about being up at the current hour to handle such a strange occurrence. The guards they brought with them appeared to be stuck between watching Gunter swoon over an oblivious Maou, and shirking away from said Maou and his fire wielding fiancé. The pair was currently caught up in a feud of "wimp"s and "am not"s. Conrad grinned at the sight, "It's good to see that you two have made up."

"Eh?"

"Wah?"

"That's right" Gunter chimed in, "The silence between you was so eerie. I much rather prefer your spirited banter."

Wolfram gaped like a fish. "wah? B-but I never…we never…we've most certainly not made u-"

"It's good to know everything's back to normal between us, Wolf." Yuuri beamed at him happily.

"but…uh..…fehhh" Wolfram sighed and slumped forward defeated, "Yeah, normal…I guess."

At that moment the doors reopened and a Shrine Maiden's head peeked out at them, "T-the Great Sage will see you now" she said timidly. With that the doors swung wide and the group made their way forward.

"Right, let's go see...THE GREAT SAGE?" Yuuri stopped dead in his tracks. "Murata's here? But he…he was back at Blood Pledge. He had dinner with us! Didn't he spend the night too? Don't tell me he got here before us?"

thisisaline

Yuuri and his friends were led down the hall by the Shrine Maidens anxiously. "What hall is this?" Wolfram inquired, "I don't remember being down this way before."

"It's traditionally the chamber of life" one of the Maidens explained. "It's one of the more sacred chamber's of the temple. It's rumored to be blessed by one of the very first oracles of the temple. It seemed the best place to lay the visitor, as it is the closest hall to the healer's quarters. We are still required to treat any injured that should come to our door..er…or fountain, stranger or not."

"You may not be familiar with this place, Wolfram," Conrad leaned over his brother's shoulder, "But you were born here. Right behind this very door" he extended his finger towards the large ornate doors in front of them.

The Maiden stopped with her hand on the doors. "Normally we don't allow visitors in here, but given the circumstances, we had no choice." With that, she tapped the doors twice. With a rumbling of gears and locks bearing turned, the heavy door heaved open.

Inside, the room buzzed with activity. Shrine maidens and Temple Guards were scurrying about in flurry chatter. In the center of the room Ulrike stood bent over a scroll on the dais, along with some of the lower priestesses, muttering indecipherably. Several of the shrine maidens were darting back and forth behind a tall curtain erected on the far side of the room. The curtain was silhouetted in shadows by the candle light, skewed shapes flitting behind it. One of the shadows moved to the edge of the curtain and out popped Murata, nodding to the maidens at his right and smirking as they blushed and giggled before darting behind the curtain in his place. Being the only man in the Temple on a regular basis must have its perks.

"Murata!" Yuuri exclaimed, still not entirely sure how the other double black could have possibly made it there before them all.

Said double black looked up. "Ah Yuuri, long time no see"

"…we just saw you at dinner…"

Murata laughed, "Of course, of course." He turned back to the curtain for a moment, the glared falling upon his glasses even in the dim lighting. "You're probably wondering why you were called here."

"Well of course we know why" Wolfram huffed, "Someone was found in the temple that shouldn't be here."

Murata held up a finger and wagged it at the blonde, "Ah, but we could easily have our own lovely guards handle it," he glanced at the guards who did their best to look professional and unaffected, "and had a report sent to you in the morning. Why is it that we felt it best you be present for this personally?" He stood there looking quite smug to have caught Wolfram without an answer to that. "No idea? Well then, feel free to come with me." He waved his hand to them and approached the dais Ulrike was hunched over.

"Ulrike, would you like to fill them in?" Murata asked the Oracle.

He was met with no response, the vague muttering continued uninterrupted.

"Ulrike? Ulrike. Ulllllrikeeeee…Ulrike, the forbidden boxes exploded!"

"What?" Ulrike leapt up with a start. Her large, childish eyes fixed upon Murata. "What was that, Geika?"

"Well, now that I have your attention" Murata gestured to Yuuri and the others, "Heika is here to see you as you asked."

Ulrike immediately perked up at that. She turned to Yuuri with a bright, cheerful smile. "Oh Heika, it's good to see you again! I hope we didn't disturb your rest."

"Well actually.."

"Of course not!" Yuuri cut Wolfram off. "Don't worry about it. We're just happy to be of some help. But…what exactly is going on?"

Ulrike face became serious once more. She beckoned them all closer to the parchment she had laid out upon the dais. Etched into the aged and crackling paper was a large map of stars and astrological designs, every symbol and lines swirling around each other.

Conrad and Gwendal gasped (A/N: Can Gwendal gasp?"); it was the same star map when Wolfram was born.

Ulrike caught the look of surprise upon their faces and nodded. "I take it you all forgot about this map? I almost did too, it has been so long. However, I always knew that this day would come." She ignored the looks of confusion upon Yuuri and Wolfram's faces and leaned over the map. She touched the center of the spinning shapes and the map instantly stilled. "As you all know a visitor as arrived to us in Shin Makou." Everyone nodded. "Well," she continued "It's no coincidence that they ended up in our fountain. They came here through the fountain."

The group gasped. Gunter stepped closer, "You mean…"

Ulrike nodded again. "Yes, the power of Shinou was called upon to bring them here without my knowing." She leveled the three demon brothers with a solemn stare. "I believe the prophecy is finally coming to pass"

Conrad and Gwendal looked rather startled, while Wolfram was simply confused. "What Prophecy?" Yuuri was just as lost. What could possibly have happened that concerned Wolfram?

"Wolfram," Gunter placed a hand on the young man's shoulder, "on the eve of your birth, a prophecy was made up concerning the future of the kingdom."

"When I was born?"

"Yes" Ulrike reached out to grip both Wolfram and Yuuri's hands. "This prophecy concerns both of you, established on the eve of which the first of you two was born." She directed them to a section of the map, where two archaic symbols laid intertwined together. "These are the symbols for water and fire, as written in one of the oldest forms of the language of Shin Makou. The destinies of two particular wielders of these elements are tied together."

"And you believe those two are us?" Yuuri asked.

"That's what we have interpreted the map to mean. Let me make this short," Ulrike tapped the map and it sprung to life again. "According to the prophecy, a great war is approaching" she raised a hand to silence any protest from Yuuri, "Do not question me, Heika. It is written in the stars. Take them for what they are and do not blame me. Now then, it is said a warrior will be sent to aid the Maou in the battle for our Kingdom's welfare. This warrior will be neither great nor meager, fair nor foul. This indescribable warrior will be the deciding factor in not only the fate of our Kingdom, but the fate of you and Lord Von Bielefeld."

"So you're saying that this warrior will win the war for us?" Yuuri shared a look with Wolfram; still none too thrill at the prospect of going to war at all.

"There is no mention to the outcome of the war, Heika, nor is there any indication of what role this warrior will truly play," Ulrike shrugged. "It is only implied that their involvement will be the key influence in the battle and your lives. It doesn't even say whether this influence will be positive or negative"

Wolfram turned to Conrad and the others, "And you all knew about this?" he glared at the Great Sage, "And I suppose you had some knowledge of this too, right?"

Murata only laughed, "But of course, it is my job to be all knowing, isn't it?"

"That's not your job at all!"

The wrinkle between Gwendal's eyebrows was growing more prominent as the moments wore on. "Enough" He turned to face Ulrike with a frown settled upon his face. "Ulrike, are you implying that this visitor of ours is the fabled warrior from the prophecy?"

"It would appear so. This star map became active only moments before they arrived. It nearly scared the priestess who tends to the library half to death." Behind her, Murata chuckled.

"And" Gunter looked about, "Where is this fabled warrior?"

"Where else?" Murata jerked a thumb towards the curtain on the far side of the room. "Our healer has been making an examination for health reasons. Not every day someone alive floats face down in the water."

Cautiously the group approached the curtain. Who could this brave and bold warrior of Shin Makou be?

Wolfram's thoughts, however, where elsewhere. Eyes fixed resolutely on his fiancé's back; the blonde bishonen was attempting to burn a hole into the black jacket with looks alone. While he was still pretty miffed at Yuuri for being the insensitive, clueless wimp he was, there was very little he could do to solve the matter; that he knew. Yuuri wasn't going to figure out what was wrong without being told, and that would only lead to another one of the boy king's special lectures on the immoral of love in the same sex. Wolfram would like to avoid as much unknowingly hurtful words as possible this evening.

A flutter of gray and flowing white snuck into the corner of Wolfram's vision. "You seem a bit troubled, Lord von Bielefeld," Ulrike gave the young lord a small smile. "Perhaps you would like to talk about you and Heika with someone who will offer a listening ear?"

Wolfram avoided her gaze and waved a manicured hand in dismissal. "I believe you'll find this to be none of your concern." He gave her a small glance out of the corner of his eye, "why do you care anyway? We aren't exactly the best of friends, if you haven't noticed."

Ulrike's smile widened with warmth. "One doesn't become an Oracle for nothing, Lord von Bielefeld. I have known you since the day you were born. I know all about the life you have lived and," She reached out and smoothed a small, childlike hand over the chest of his uniform, "and the walls you have built around your heart."

Wolfram bristled and stepped away hastily. "Knock it off!"

Ulrike only giggled. "I think it is wonderful the effect Heika has had on you. I hear it had been quite a long time since you smiled truly happy before our Maou arrived."

"And just who would have you been talking to that has known me since childhood?"

"teehee…"

"Shinou!" Gunter and Gwendal turned back to them for a second, a puzzled look on their faces. Wolfram waited till they turned back around again before crouching down slightly. "It was Shinou, wasn't it? Why can't he mind his own business?"

"He only wants to look out for his descendants, I assure you" Ulrike patted his arm. "You may not believe this, but despite Shinou's less than…appropriate behavior in the past, he does want what is best for you. Trust me."

Wolfram huffed and looked at the floor, "Lady Ulrike…is…is the fate that the prophecy refers to…about Yuuri and mine's relationship…or our lives?"

"Who can say" Ulrike smile was very reminiscent of Conrad's, a hint of sad hiding in the corners. "The problem with these prophecies is that they were made so long ago without any reveal intent. Who knows if the spirits making them foresaw the questions their predictions would have?"

Wolfram nodded. "Well…thanks I guess for…whatever…"

"Anytime, Wolfram. Anytime." Ulrike bowed deep to the young lord and, with a smile, whirled around and went back to the dais and the parchment it held. Wolfram gave her one last backwards glance before rejoining Yuuri and the others at the curtain.

There was a rustle of movement behind the curtain, and a weary looking woman with Auburn hair emerged from behind it. "I wouldn't be too loud," advised the healer, "My patient requires rest." She stepped aside and gestured to them, "after you, then."

Yuuri made to go forward, but felt a hand on his shoulder. Conrad shook his head and told him to stay behind. Wolfram stood at Yuuri's side with a scowl on his face as the other's past them and stepped behind the curtain.

There was a collective gasp from the other side. "Oh…my…" Gunter murmured.

"What? What is it?" Yuuri hurried behind the curtain, Wolfram on his heels.

The Maou and his fiancé stopped short as their gaze fell upon the figure asleep before them.

"The fabled warrior" asked Gwendal.

"A double black!" Gunter gushed.

Yuuri was stunned. "A…a..a twelve year old boy?"