I do not own KKM, Tomo Takabayashi owns the series. Though if I did own it, there would be far more obvious hints of boy love, yaoi galore, and all anime remakes of Thriller and Tub Thumping music videos. Humor me here, Takabayashi.
I am ridiculously happy and grateful to those of you who have read, reviewed and even put my story on your favorites list. It was lovely to find that I have such loyal readers out there! I appreciate each and every one of the reviews left for my eyes to see. I apologize for having been M.I.A for so long and leaving my precious baby untouched. I've was swamped in work at my University near the end of the spring semester and then this summer has been slightly hectic for me. But now I am back and ready to roll! Also, did you know that automatically gets rid of the symbols you put in to signify a scene change or time skip? I used the asterisk symbol in between scenes and I recently discovered that they weren't there after the uploading through , leaving me with scenes massed together. So I went back and re-uploaded every chapter with "thisisaline" inserted. You don't have to go back and re-read the past chapters if you have already read them, I only fixed the scene break marker.
Ah, the OC has been introduced (sort of) and now the party will really start cranking! I hope I have managed to capture a realistic yet fun person in my writing, one that you can all enjoy. This chapter and the true OC introduction are dedicated to Chazzyheartslexi, for her heartwarming review which has inspired me to get my rear in gear.
Chapter Three
A Book by its Cover
The group stared down in shocked at the limp form in front of them. None of them seemed to know what to make of it. Behind them, Murata could be seem with his ever present smirk plastered across his face, a light source seemingly coming from nowhere to obscure his eyes behind the frames of his glasses. It was obvious to the temple residents that his royal companions' varying surprised, shocked, and (in Yuuri's case) slacked jawed expressions were quite amusing to the Great Sage.
"Now, wait a minute, wait a minute!" Yuuri couldn't seem to wrap his mind around it. "You mean to tell me that the hero the prophecy spoke of is a-a little kid?"
"Your Majesty!" The auburn haired healer admonished gently, "Please do be mindful of the volume of your voice. My patient needs to rest."
"Actually the medicine you used was pretty strong" Murata corrected, "I doubt you could wake even the lightest sleeper during a rockslide while under the influence of that stuff."
"Still it's the principal of the thing," the healer insisted.
Yuuri had enough control over his shock to smile apologetically at the weary woman. "Sorry. It's just that…" he gestured to the figure on the bed the Shrine maidens had brought into the chamber for this occasion, "it's….a preteen we're talking about here!"
It was true; lying on the medical bed was a child. Their visitor seemed roughly around eleven or twelve years old. His eyes were half concealed under a messy bowl cut of thick, black hair, lids shut tight like he was perhaps having a nightmare of some sort. Either the dream was a bad one, or the boy had naturally stern features. A stiff, rigid jaw line with a mouth twisted down into a frown painted the boy's face. One of his sleeves were rolled up exposing a pale, skinny arm with a boney wrist; shrine maidens alternating between checking his pulse and rubbing a replenishing salve against it to be absorbed into the skin. Judging by where the outlines ended under the blanket pulled over him, it was safe to say he was shorter than Wolfram, probably only a foot or two taller than Greta. "This is the Great Warrior?"
"The prophecy never said to expect the warrior to be great, Shibuya." Murata reminded Yuuri with a wry grin.
Wolfram snorted from besides the demon king. "Wimp," he huffed, "If I recall correctly, Ulrike told us the prophecy said our warrior would be 'neither great nor meager, fair nor foul'" the blonde recited with one finger waving merrily. He cast a smug look at his fiancé, "Wimp" he added snidely one more time. Yuuri scowled something akin to Gwendal and stuck his tongue out at the youngest prince.
Yuuri cast his gaze back over the alleged "hero". "Whatever the prophecy said," he sent a glare Wolfram's way, "I still can't grasp how the one sent to help us is a little boy."
"Um…" the healer piped up nervously from behind them all, "Y-your highness…" she was abruptly cut off by Gunter.
"How wonderful!" he gushed, hands clasped together in what Yuuri could only describe as the fan girlish adoration they had seen in the TV shows of Earth. The Lavender haired advisor's eyes glistens with unshed tears and if one tried hard enough, they could almost imagine the cascading torrents of flower petals spiraling in the background. "To think the fates would bless us with yet another Double Black makes my heart leap with joy! Oh praise Shinou and all his wonders!" He spun around in a circle while the rest of the room edged away from him. Gwendal massaged the bridge of his nose to soothe an oncoming headache at the antics of the flaky Noble.
"E-excuse me…" the healer mumbled.
"Now let's not get ahead of ourselves here, Gunter." Conrad waved a hand over the sleeping form, "we don't know for sure if he is a double black. After all, while black hair is not the most common, by itself it is certainly not unheard of. We haven't even seen what color his are yet to be making the assumption." He turned to the healer with a kind smile. "Coincidentally, what color are his eyes, Lady…?"
"Corona, Sir Weller," the healer stammered. "And w-well the patient—"
"Those eyes are black alright," Murata cut in, ignoring Yuuri's scolding about it being rude to interrupt a person and Wolfram's comments on "lousy, know-it-all, pervert sages". "I checked myself when they first brought the patient in."
"Y-your Eminence…"
He grinned at the healer. "Right Lady Corona?"
Lady Corona flushed, a frown marring her gentle features. "Y-yes, but about what I was trying to say…"
Gwendal took a step closer to the medical bed and looked down his nose at the boy. "So then he is a double black. Interesting. Then he really is from Earth."
"Yes b-but"
"Gotta be" Yuuri moved forward, Wolfram right behind him. "Look at these clothes he's wearing." He fingered the drawstrings dangling from the fabric gathered loosely at the boy's neck. "How many Mazoku do you guys know in Shin Makoku go around wearing hooded sweatshirts?" Without waiting for permission, he flipped up the corner of the blanket, ignoring Wolfram's cry of outrage at his unabashed peeping, "And cargo shorts?" He let the blanket fall back down in place.
"I have something to say…" piped Lady Corona.
"And he must be Japanese if he is a double black, right Yuuri?" Wolfram asked from besides him. He had leaned over next to the young monarch to inspect the strange clothes.
Yuuri finally took notice of how close the blonde was actually standing to him and turned a slight shade of red. Coughing he pretended to be quite interested in the frayed edge of the blanket. "Well, there are plenty of other ethnicities of Asian descent—that's the race Japanese is from" he explained, "—that have both black hair and eyes." He leaned over to get a closer look at the front of the sleeping boy's hoodie, pulling back the blanket a tad. "However, he might actually be from Japan, all things considered. Not only is he from Earth and Asian, but take a look at this." He lightly tapped the design embroidered across the fabric, a numbered of artistically slashed lines and symbols. "This means Kawasaki, a Japanese company that makes transportation vehicles for all over Earth. It's written in Kanji here (1). I can think of Japan as the only place that would use Japanese characters, make sense? I mean they don't use Kanji in Europe or America as far as I know." Wolfram nodded in agreement, not quite knowing what "Europe" or "Kawasaki" was still, but agreeing all the same. Unnoticed behind them, Corona was wringing her hands.
"I-if I could just say something about the patient…"
"I wonder why we would be sent someone so young" Gwendal wondered aloud. He and Gunter were now standing at the head of the medical bed, the latter still staring in awe at the Asian child, mumbling about how wonderful it would be to see him with his eyes open. Something caught Gwendal's eye at that moment. "What's this?" he asked, carefully pulling out the end of a long, jet black curl that had been previously sticking out from underneath the boys neck.
"Hmm?" Yuuri replaced Gwendal's hand with his own and gave the strand a look over. It was a fine skinny strand, growing from base of the boy's hair line in the back. Closer inspection revealed it to be actually a long, unusually slim braid. "I've seen these before, I think. Some of the boys at school had them. Not too many though, now that I think of it."
"I believe that is what they call a 'rat tail' in America, Shibuya" Murata filled in, chuckling at the look of the disgust that flashed over Wolfram's face at the name. Gwendal too sported an expression of disapproval. "They were quite popular over there during the 1980's."
"The 1980's?" Yuuri considered this for a moment. "Hey do you think he was sent from the past? Like in those old sci-fi flicks? Maybe he's sent from the past to help us save our future!" Yuuri's eyes bugged out like a little kid's in a candy store, completely oblivious to the fact that he had lost everyone but Murata and Conrad with words like "Sci-Fi" and "flicks".
Murata debated humoring Shibuya's notion but decided for once that a straightforward answer would be best. "I highly doubt that Shibuya. Time travel seems very unlikely in any case. Besides, I checked the clothes myself," his glasses gleamed eerily, "they're recent fashions. They must have been manufactured in the last year or so. My guess is our guest just liked that hairstyle." He shook his head with a smile and shrugged his shoulders. "Though I can't imagine why anyone would want a style so outdated."
Yuuri took that all in and nodded. "I guess you're right." His sci-fi adventure crushed before it even began.
"M-may I speak?"
"Please be quiet for the time being, my good woman. We are still deliberating over the boy at this time. We will answer any questions you have soon enough." Gunter waved off the flustered healer's attempts to speak, brows creased in thought as he too examined the braid, though it may have been more so for the thrill of fondling the "Glorious Double Black's" soft hair.
"I-it's not a question. You see, I need to tell you that…"
"Actually, come here a moment." Gunter called the woman forward and she obeyed without hesitation. "What is this bandage here for?" the advisor had pulled back the edge of the sweatshirt's collar, exposing a large stretch of white medicinal wrappings, already reddening in the middle. "What caused such an injury as this? Was he attacked?" He smoothed a hand over the boy's forehead, feeling a pang of sympathy for someone so young to have possibly suffered so.
"N-no, Lord Gunter, well maybe. At least we don't think it was an attack." Lady Corona signaled to one of the shrine maidens nearby who was carrying an object wrapped in cloth. The girl scurried over and stood before the healer and group of nobles. "You see, this came through the fountain as well" Corona explained as she began to un-wrap the cloth from the object. As more layers of cloth came off, the group caught a glimpse of rough, course string.
Conrad furrowed his eyebrows. "So this was wrap around his neck, I take it? When he came through?"
"Yes." Murata answered before the healer could speak. Next to them the shrine maiden was giving him an odd, questioning look. "It was wrapped pretty tightly from what I was told; made a real deep gash."
Lady Corona was starting to glare at him, "Yes…" she echoed. She turned to the others as the final wrappings came off the object in the shrine maiden's hands. "Do you think it is a weapon?"
Yuuri stared at the item laid out on the cloth. A minute of silence went by, everyone looking to their King for answers on the strange object sent from Earth. Then, "Murata…have you…looked at this supposed weapon since it was removed from his neck?"
Murata kept his face pleasantly calm and neutral. "Why, yes I did, Shibuya."
Wolfram glanced in between the two dark haired young men. He turned to Gunter, who only shrugged his shoulders at him.
Yuuri took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. "Then why didn't you SAY ANYTHING SOONER TO THEM?" The young Maoh practically exploded. A few of the meeker shrine maidens jumped slightly or backed away. Yuuri waved his arms at the Sage in frustration. "You knew what these were all along and you said NOTHING! You had everyone here thinking the kid had been through some horrid ordeal, beaten with a weapon, when you knew the whole time exactly what these were!" He grabbed the Wise Man the shoulders and shook him a bit. "So why didn't you say anything to them."
"Excuse me, Heika" Gunter interrupted the small tiff. "But you said 'these'? As in, there is more than one thing on that cloth?" Gwendal and Conrad also seemed interested by this sudden multiplication of the item that harmed the boy on the bed.
"Yeah…they're tied together." Yuuri sheepishly turned to the feared weapons on the cloth and picked them up to show the others. A set of bulky plastic and wheels in bright colors and reflective tape were the assailants of their visitor. "It's a pair of roller blades!"
"…..what…Your Majesty…?"
"Yes…what he said…what?"
"…so they are a weapon…"
Wolfram just stared blankly, not having anything to say for once.
Yuuri sighed. "Roller blades. They're shoes with wheels. Kids use them all the time back on Earth." Yuuri had long since ditched the phrase "back home" when referencing Earth. Though the house his family lived in would always be part of his home, Earth itself was no longer where he felt he truly belonged. Earth was more like a vacation spot away from his home, Shin Makoku. Shaking himself from this small reverie, Yuuri picked up where he left off. "Roller blades are faster than walking so they come in handy for getting places when you don't have a car or bike. Kids at my old school used them a lot since they were cheaper than most bikes." He brought the pair of skates up to his face and ran his hand along the string. "These must be an older pair though, because they still have shoelaces on them. Most new pairs can clip into place (2)." He glared at Murata. "He actually let everyone believe these could be used as a weapon."
"Well they technically can be, Heika" Conrad reminded him. "They were in fact wrapped around the boy's neck and we still don't know the reason why or who could have put them there."
For once, Yuuri didn't bother to correct his Godfather's lack of using his name, too busy considering the man's words. "You're right. I supposed they might have been used against him or something." He slammed his fist into his other palm. "Detective Shibuya is on the case!"
Wolfram groaned, he had hoped that being so close to eighteen years old, Yuuri would have grown out of such childish, first year ruling antics.
Murata snickered. "Don't worry," he whispered. "He'll find something to distract himself and be over it in five minutes tops." Wolfram grinned despite himself and nodded.
"We'll be needed the 'roller blades' as evidence, Lady Corona" Gwendal said, taking the blades from Yuuri and giving the healer a curt nod.
"Of course" Lady Corona shooed away the shrine maiden holding the now empty cloth. "Now, I would actually like to discuss something with you. Concerning the patient?"
Before she could continue, one of the temple guards joined them behind the curtain and spoke quickly to Gwendal. He listened to the women intently, before dismissing her. "I'm afraid it will have to wait, Lady Corona. I have received word that a messenger has just reached our guards at the temple gate." The guards from Shin Makoku, being very male had been forced to remain outside the temple, as only Yuuri and his companions had been granted entrance by Ulrike to enter. "It seems that Gisela is ready and waiting to examine the boy at Blood Pledge Castle. The sooner she tends to that neck wound the better, I dare say. You yourself are not a maryokou user, are you?" He gave her a knowing look.
The healer frowned slightly, "No, unfortunately our own maryokou healer is sick in bed tonight. Normally I would be concerned to treat a case like this without her, but I had a feeling Lady Gisela would be asked to intervene given the circumstances." She seemed only a tad offended that the best healer in Shin Makoku wanted to question her abilities and re-examine her patient.
"Yes, well that said, we should get going. It is a decent length of a ride and I doubt Gisela is going to be feeling very patient at this hour." Gunter was already having some of the shrine maidens carefully lower the boy unto a stretcher. "Please allow us to borrow a carriage for transportation. You may hook it up to some of our horses; one or two of us don't mind riding back together in the carriage I'm sure." The maidens nodded and set about their tasks, already carrying the boy out the door.
Lady Corona pursued the departing group. "Wait! I still must speak to you about the patient. It is very important!"
"We are pressed for time as it is, Lady Corona." Gunter called out merrily over his shoulder. "Fear not for my daughter Gisela will surely spot and inform us of anything concerning the lad's health in short order. Goodnight to you! And thank you for looking after him for us." He left with the boy on the stretcher.
"No, you don't understand. Don't misunderstand!" But no one seemed to be listening.
"Why are you following us Murata?" Yuuri was asking as he and Wolfram headed out the door. They had already figured out who would no doubt be asked to ride in the carriage to make use of their horses to pull it; them. It made the most sense. Yuuri 'needed protection' and his fiancé was expected to ride inside to provided company and guarding. Now there was the matter of the sage.
"Well you can't expect me to miss out on greeting our hero in the morning, can you?" The bespectacled boy inquired. "It makes more sense for me to simply come now and sleep at the castle."
"Wait everyone, you must know…"
"Well where will you ride then?" Wolfram cut in. He already had a feeling where this was going.
"Wait!"
Murata laughed. "Why in the carriage, of course!"
He was answered back by a duet of "There's no room!" before the doors to the chamber of life slammed shut.
"Wa-ait…" the healer sighed. "I never got to tell them."
"I wonder why His Eminence didn't say anything" the shrine maiden with the cloth from earlier spoke up, "he knew all along. He was here before them."
Ulrike finally looked up from the dais she had been bent over the entire time the gang was present. She giggled aloud, drawing the curious stares of those around her. "I'm sure they will find out soon. In fact, I bet the Great Sage didn't say anything because he wanted to see the look on His Majesty's face when he finds out."
thisisaline
"I really wished you could have brought him here sooner, father," Gisela scolded. The Demon King and company were currently in the resident Castle healer's medic ward (3) and the verdant haired maryokou user was laying into her father with as much barely suppressed agitation as a recently woken sandbear. "With a gash this big on his neck, a quick and proper healing is essential. As it is, I fear the wound might be already infected." She grimaced to herself as she proceeded to gather fresh bandages and salves. "Really, when was the last time those things were washed?"
She was, of course, referring to the accursed roller blades or more so the dirty frayed laces strung between them. Currently the objects of her scorn, besides her flaky father, were resting on a medical table at the far side of the room. Conrad had brought them directly to the healing woman's place of work upon arrival in case any odd occurrences appeared in their young visitor's health and Gisela wished to check the pair of "blades" for poison. Also, the swordsman wished to keep Anissina's from discovering the dreaded rolling shoes for as long as possible. Shinou only knows what complicated demon powered monstrosity she would create inspired by such a simplistic and uncomplicated design as shoes with wheels!
"Ah-ha. Well, you see, Gisela…" Yuuri placated the irritable healer. "We are terribly sorry to have taken so long. We got…uh…caught up in some other matters, unfortunately." He trailed off, sharing an uncomfortable look with Wolfram. The words of the prophecy still rang in both their heads. It would affect their very futures…their very lives…
Gisela grace her monarch with a smile. "Oh I certainly don't blame you for this, Your Majesty," she bowed in respect to show she had not forgotten in her anger that he was present.
Yuuri return her smile with a sheepish grin of his own. He could almost hear the faint ring of 'cheater' echoing in his head. Well at least Wolfram had stopped that yelling tangent a while back; for the most part. Yuuri could still set off the old familiar fit if he pushed Wolfram's buttons just right and for much too long around pretty women. Yuuri was only thankful it had drastically decreased in the past year.
At the moment, said blond was only trying to burn a hole into the back of his head with a pair of emerald eyes.
Gisela had turned to regard the rest of the group gathered around their injured guest. "In fact, I'm not blaming any of you for this. The only one to be held accountable for the current condition of this poor boy would be my father!" she fixed her father with a disapproving gaze. "I am very disappointed in you."
"Me, Gisela?" Gunter seemed absolutely aghast. "But I had no role in deciding how fast our grand visitor got here. If I had possessed the power to influence our arrival time, I would have literally flown him to you out before you had the chance to send word to the temple!" He clapped a hand to his forehead and dramatically cried, "That is the range of my devotion to this kingdom and any honored guest of my beloved Heika!"
"Oh really?" Gisela stormed up to her father and stood nose to nose with him, poking him painfully in the chest as she spoke, "Do refresh my memory then. When I met you all at the Castle gates upon arrival, did you or did you not claim, with much pride may I add, that it was you who was the first to notice the wound among everyone who visited the Temple of the Great One?" when Gunter could only offer sputtering of nonsensical nonsense in his defense, she continued, "Well, then you should have brought my patient back to the Castle the second you saw it without delay, regardless of whether the others were with you!" She was beginning to slip more and more into her feared "Sergeant" persona by the minute. With sweet smile, turned rather eerie in her current mood she added with upbeat cheer, "I'm sure anything Heika and the others would have discussed after you left, they would have been more than happy to fill you in on at a later time."
"But, I had only noticed it just moments before your message arrived," Gunter's protest fell on deaf ears.
Gisela turned back to the youth laid out on the bed she had prepared. Taking the bandages with her as she went, she approached him and pulled back the collar of the boy's shirt to get a better look at the gash. "As it is, I've got my work cut out for me with this one." She dabbed at the sore and open flesh with a salve-soaked cloth, wincing when the spot immediately began to bubble up. Washing the area out, Gisela placed her hands over the boy's neck and began to use her maryokou. "He really should have been brought in the second he came to Shin Makoku," she stated with a shake of her head.
"But, you can fix it, right, Gisela?" Wolfram asked. "I mean, he's going to be alright, isn't he? It isn't going to scar?"
Gisela sighed and lifted one hand to wipe the accumulating sweat from her brow, the other hand still glowing faintly over her charge's neck. "No, it won't scar thankfully. But unfortunately he's going to have to keep it wrapped up for a long time. He'll probably need to see me often during the first few weeks, to have the wrappings changed. It shouldn't have gotten this infected; those laces must have been really dirty."
"It's safe to say then that our guest here might have some demon in their blood," Murata had decided to enter the conversation.
The occupants of the room looked at him curiously.
"What do you mean, Murata?" Yuuri cocked his head to the side.
"Well Gisela did say the injury seems to have become infected faster than it should have. Demons tend to react quicker to outside forces harming the body." He began to count off on his fingers, "Poisons, diseases, even a bit of dirt in a sore that big can accelerate to infection in a demon body whereas it would reside longer in a human's system before any harm became apparent."
"You are quite right, Geika." Gunter nodded, "Quite right indeed. It is very possible for the boy to be of demon blood."
"Well why don't we ask him?" Yuuri pointed at the bed Gisela was leaning over. "He's waking up now." He was answered by a chorus of gasps.
The child Gisela was treating did seem to be returning to consciousness. His eyes were flickering under the lids, eyebrows twitching. His mouth scrunched up at the corner as he let out a little groan.
"You're right, Yuuri." Wolfram was at his fiancé's side in an instant.
"Gunter also flocked to the bedside. "Oh how marvelous!"
Everyone watched with bated breath as the black haired boy slowly opened his eyes…
thisisaline
The boy's eyes had seemed to settle on the ceiling once the initial blurriness had worn off. From there the onyx orbs lazily roamed to Gisela, probably taking in the pinched looked of concentration on her face and just how close she actually was to him. The others watched as he began to look around with a bit more perplexed clarity, gradually becoming more and more alarmed with every face he came to, every detail of unfamiliar brick and stone walls. For a few seconds no one spoke.
Then he snapped up in the bed, struggling to swing his legs over the side, the other side, the one with no strange people on it.
"Calm down, calm down now," Gisela addressed him as firmly as one talking to a wild boar (A/N do they even have those in Shin Makoku?), gentle but sure, soft yet calculating. "No one is going to hurt you." She began to push him to lie back down. When that didn't work, she gripped his shoulders and attempted to stronghold him back down onto the mattress. "You're with friends now. Just rest and let me tend to…urgh…your…wounds…oh, will someone help me with him?" Conrad came over to the opposite side of the bed and together they managed to ease the frightened male back into a reclined position. Though cooperating for now, the boy was far from calm. He was lying stiff as a board on the mattress like a prisoner awaiting execution by pendulum in the pit (4), his dark eyes darting back and forth every so often.
Not one to be discouraged or possibly not even aware of their guest extreme discomfort in his own excitement, Gunter unleashed his own brand of greeting; misty eyed gushing, and flailing passion. "Welcome to Shin Makoku!" he cried with much a gusto. "The glorious demon Kingdom ruled by the even more glorious 27th Maoh. May I present to you His Majesty." He gestured with a dramatic sweeping of his arm to Yuuri, who could only smile and wave nervously. "We hope you will enjoy your stay here."
Everyone sweat dropped at the advisors overtop antics. Hoping to cut off any further attempts at unveiling the welcome wagon, Gwendal sighed and reached a hand out to yank the flaky man over to him. "Gunter…"
"Our guest can't understand us."
Shocked silence.
"What, Murata?" Yuuri stared at his friend in question. "What do you mean he can't understand us? What makes you say that?"
"Look," the sage gestured to the dark haired boy on the bed. The boy was regarding them with a mixed expression of confusion and suspicion, the fear receding. "It doesn't look like there is any comprehension to what we're saying at all. Earth demons only speak Earth languages I assume, probably like Yuuri did when he first arrived."
Yuuri cringed. "I had forgotten about that. I guess it would be foolish to assume he knows our language right off the bat. Wolfram looked like he was chanting 'wimp' in his head at that moment.
Conrad gave his usual kind smile. "It's been a long night, Heika. It's understandable that we would all be a little forgetful of that detail. After all, it was a few years ago that you went through the language barrier."
"Well," Gwendal approached the bed. "If this boy really is the fabled warrior of the prophecy and of demon blood, then perhaps he has lived a past life, chosen by Shinou as Geika and Heika were." He stood over the boy and turned the group. "If so then it is possible to bring out the Mazoku language suppressed in his subconscious. It's worth a try at least." He finished as he placed both hands on the apprehensive child's head. Pressing down, the room seemed to fill with a sudden thick tension. The boy made a chocked off sound in the back of his throat.
Yuuri flinched as he watched the look of pain scrawl across the boy's face. He certainly remembered how bad it felt when Adelbert had tapped into his mind so that he could speak with everyone. Then again, the boy may simply be wincing from the undo pressure on his injured neck when Gwendal pushed down on his head.
Gwendal drew his hands back and looked down at the boy. "Can you understand me?"
It took the boy a moment to gather his senses after that experience. When he finally did his brows knitted together, his mouth working noiselessly before any sound came out. "What's…where….you bring… here…?"
Yuuri found himself switching between Japanese and Mazoku as the boy spoke. The weak attempt had been mixed between Mazoku and a definite Tokyo dialect. Piecing the words together, it sounded like the boy was saying, "What's going on? Where am I? Why did you bring me here?"
Gwendal frowned. "It seems that I can't fully draw out the Mazoku language from his mind. We can understand him now, but he still doesn't seem to fully understand us."
"But this was a good sign, Gwendal." Gunter pointed out, "You were able to do it somewhat. Perhaps he did live a past life. Either way, he will have to be taught proper demon dialect." A brief glimpse of happiness crossed the tutor's face before being replaced with a frown. "But how will we speak with him for now?"
"Well I supposed there is always this." Everyone turned to find Murata holding a small gadget in his hand. "Translating was its intended purpose after all."
"Isn't that Anissina's invention for helping Wolfram and the others understand people when we visit Earth (5)?" Yuuri asked "How is that going to help us now? You can't all wear one."
Murata chuckled. "Ah, but we won't have to, Shibuya." He chided, wagging a finger back and forth. It works in reverse as well. It can translate Mazoku into Japanese for our friend here." Judging by the grin on his face, it was obvious Murata had also been able to make out and understand the snippets of his and Yuuri's mother tongue.
"You had that this whole time?" Yuuri cried. "Why didn't you simply suggest we use it to begin with instead of watching us all get lost in translation?"
"I merely wanted to see if our guest truly had any mazoku memories stored up like you did first. That's all." Behind the sage Yuuri groaned in exasperation.
Murata had taken a place next to the boy and was gesturing between the device and his own ear before pointing at the boy's. "This earpiece" he explained, "makes us," he pointed to himself then to the group, "easy to understand. Do you want to try?"
The boy sat up slightly, Gisela allowing it for the time being. Brows furrowed in deep thought, he stared at the device. He appeared to be mulling over the sage's words. Finally, he nodded.
Smiling, Murata coaxed the boy to tilt his head to the side, giving the Wise Man better access to his ear. Slipping the gadget into place, he turned it on and stood back. "Is that better?"
"Y-yes," the boy stuttered softly, seemingly startled at the sudden change. "Much better, t-thanks I guess."
Wolfram couldn't help but note that the boy certainly didn't sound too impressive for a warrior. His voice had a slight nasal quality, not enough to grate on ones nerves, but enough to be noticeable. It was deeper than the prince expected for someone around twelve, but then again, he couldn't really expect anything too adorable with eyes like the ones the boy was sporting. They were certainly reminiscent of Gwendal in their narrowed shape, the prominent eyebrows above them. 'If he was older he'd certainly have the face of a warrior.'
The boy looked around nervously. "So where am I, exactly?" He made to step off the bed.
"Don't get up." Gisela pushed him back down onto the mattress, albeit easier than last time. "Now just hold still, I'm not done yet." She returned to treating his neck injury, looping an arm under him to start lacing the bandages over and around. She slipped a finger in to hold them far enough away from his skin to not be too tight. "You're in the medical ward of Blood Pledge Castle, my medical ward, so I suggest you listen to me. You were brought to me with a severe neck injury, due to strangulation by your…Roller Blades," she said the words like she had eaten something unpleasant; displeased with such bizarre objects harming her patient. "So you are not to use those things until I deem you well enough to handle it. It's non-negotiable," she added when the boy opened his mouth to protest.
He pouted. "Fine. And you can call them skates, by the way. It's shorter. So…how did I get injured exactly?"
"We were hoping you could tell us, actually." Conrad spoke up. "Were you attacked?"
"With my skates?" The boy looked skeptical. "Not that I recall. In fact," he paused and stared off into space. "The last thing I remember was leaving for school this morning…"
"Really?" Gunter seemed shocked. "Think carefully; surely you remember more than that. An attack, an ambush, anything that could have brought you to us in such a state?" He stopped and shook his head with a slight laugh. "Forgive me. We have not been properly introduced. I am Gunter von Christ. You just met my daughter Gisela." He gesture to the green haired woman now smiling kindly and helping the boy back into a sitting position. "May we inquire as to what your name is?"
The boy seemed momentarily stunned to find such a pretty man talking to him. Snapping out of his stupor, he cleared his throat noisily. "Um, since we're being so formal, it's Kim Lee. And no, I honestly don't know what happened. One minute I'm going to school, the next I'm here. Speaking of which," he turned a suspicious eye to Murata and Gwendal. "Where is here? Why did you bring me here?"
"You're in Shin Makoku, the capital of the demon kingdom" Gwendal answered curtly. "As for what you are doing here, you were brought to us through the fountain at our temple and needed immediate medical attention." Leave to Gwendal to get to the point.
"D-demon kingdom?" the boy gaped. "Shin what now? Fountain?" He held his hands up like he was pushing back an invisible force. "Wait, wait, wait. One thing at a time here; start at the beginning for me."
Yuuri could see this was going nowhere fast. "Well, first off" he began "let me introduce everyone. You met Gunter and Gisela. This is Conrad Weller, Wolfram Von Bielefeld, and Gwendal von Voltaire. All brothers…I'll eh, explain later. Anyway this is Murata Ken and I'm Yuuri Shibuya." He stuck his hand out with a large grin. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Kim Lee!"
Kim Lee took the proffered hand, looking as though he highly doubted he'd remember who anyone was. "Okay, with the exception of you two, I'm in the land of funny names." He gave a small smile. "And call me Kimi, everyone does."
Yuuri paused mid-shake. "Really? Kimi? Huh, I guess it makes sense, a cute nickname for someone so young. Your parents must have started it, right?" He asked, remembering his own mom's penchant for the adorable when he was little.
Kim, or Kimi blushed, embarrassed. "N-no! I started it; it sounds better than Kim Lee does." He glared up at the taller boy suddenly, "Just how young do you think I am anyway?"
Yuuri shrugged. "Eleven, Twelve maybe?"
"I'm sixteen!"
Silence.
"WHA?" Yuuri was positively gob smacked, as were Wolfram and Gunter. "B-but…you look so young!"
Kimi's blush deepened. "So I'm a little short of stature, big whoop. It's rude to make assumptions before you get to know someone, you know."
Yuuri had the good graces to look ashamed. "Sorry."
The not so young boy huffed. "So besides whom you all are," He folded his legs up on the bed and crossed his arms, "what else should I know?"
"Only that you are in the great presence of the magnificent Demon King, his Majesty the Maoh, Yuuri Shibuya!" Gunter seemed to have gotten second wind on his excitement. "You, my dear child, are in the Great kingdom of Shin Makoku. Welcome!"
Kimi blinked. "…excuse me?" He turned to regard Yuuri. "A king and a demon kingdom? Sounds like some bad fairytale. What does this have to do with me anyway?"
"Well…"
"Why you were sent to us!" Gunter continued. "Through the fountain at the Temple of the Great one to fulfill the fabled prophecy!"
"…What?"
"Let's go into that some other time, Gunter." Conrad placed a hand on the advisors shoulder and turned to the boy with a kind smile. "What you should know is that this isn't Earth you are in. You see in order to come to the demon kingdom you were brought through a rift created between the two worlds leading you through to the water of the fountain." His smile turned sympathetic. "I know this must all sound confusing and hard to believe but you have traveled the plane between worlds and are in Shin Makoku, the home of both demons and humans alike."
Kimi laughed. "This, this is a joke right." He searched the faces before him for a sign of falsehood. "I mean you can't be serious. You can't honestly expect me to believe that, can you?" He froze and turned slowly to Gisela. "You mentioned a castle before…something, something Castle…"
The healer nodded, "Blood Pledge Castle, yes. You're in the medical ward right now." She patted his knee in a motherly sort of way. "I know this is hard to take in right now, but don't worry, you'll love it here. His majesty is quite kind and everyone will do their best to make you feel comfortable."
"Y-yeah but…but. Look you can't really be serious! This is some kind of tourist attraction right? I bunch of foreigners in a prop castle, that's what this is, isn't it?" Kimi was getting more hysterical by the second. "This isn't real."
"Wimp"
Kimi started. He barely noticed the blonde in the room before, he was so quite. Said blond was currently regarding him with a pair of stunning, yet rather annoyed, green eyes.
Yuuri was shocked that Wolfram was calling someone else a wimp for once.
Wolfram, huffed. "Look if you want proof, I'll give you it." He held his hands out in front of him. "The flames to which all the particles belong" he began "Obey the demon tribe that destroyed the Originators (6)!" As Kimi stared on transfixed, a ball of fire roared to life out of nowhere in the center of the prince's palm. It danced above the skin of his hand, floating there, the flickering tongues of flame burning no part of him. "In our world any Mazoku with a treaty with the elements may tap into their powers in such a way. On Earth, only those of immense strength like the demon king can get even a twitch of power out of it."
Kimi's face went pale, that demonstration had made this joke seem shockingly real. "I-I think I need to lay down."
"I think bed rest is a lovely idea," Gisela nodded. "But first, I would like to do a quick check up of the rest of you, to make sure everything is in order. You have been through quite the ordeal." She tugged on the edge of his hoodie. "If you could take this off, please."
Kimi recoiled in horror. "You want to do a physical? Now? You can't do that!" He looked absolutely scandalized.
"What's wrong?" Yuuri asked. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Gisela may be a girl, but this is strictly professional. She's just wants to make sure you're alright."
"That isn't the problem" Kimi insisted hugging himself.
Gisela stared very closely at the boy for a moment before her eyes open wide, a look of understanding crossing her face. "Oh yes, of course," she said. "Silly me, of course you're uncomfortable." She turned to the others. "Everyone's examinations are supposed to be private, right? I've never had an audience for a patient's physical before, why start now?" She began ushering Yuuri and rest out the door. "Anyway, I'm sure you all could use some rest. Tell you what, I'll get this all taken care of and contact you in the morning." She pushed them all out into the hallway and closed the door with a hasty, "Goodnight".
Yuuri stood in front of the doors confused. "Well that was a little odd."
"This whole night has been odd," Wolfram stated with a yawn as they began to walk down the hallway. "And what is she talking about, "in the morning"? It's almost morning now. I'll be lucky if I get any sleep."
"I'm sure Gwendal wouldn't mind if you slept in a bit today, Wolfram. We each could use the rest, so I won't be surprise if we all sleep in," Conrad soothed with a side glance at his eldest brother. The grumpy man nodded stoically. "We'll cancel our morning jog, if you don't mind Heika," the brunette added.
"It's Yuuri, Conrad," the black haired boy corrected. He yawned loudly. "And I don't mind at all. I could use a good nap. At least Greta didn't have to stay up through all this."
"Yeah, she'll get to meet Kimi in the morning," Wolfram agreed. "Won't she be surprised to meet him?"
"Oh shoot!" Yuuri came to a halt. "I almost forgot. We never asked whether Kimi would be staying the night in the medical ward or if he needed a room." He headed back the way they had come. "I'll go find out."
"Yuuri wait," Conrad called after him.
"Heika, let one of us ask for you," Gunter cried.
"Wimp, wait for me!"
"Me too, Shibuya!"
Yuuri rushed up to the ward doors and pushed them open with some effort, Wolfram and Murata at his heels. In the center of the room, a curtain had been drawn around the bed. "Sorry about this Gisela," he called out as he rushed over and pulled the fabric aside. "I just wanted to know if he was…"
Yuuri's brain shorted out.
Gisela was sitting on a stool that she had pulled up next to the bed. Face frozen in shock, she had been in the process of checking Kimi's breathing.
But that's not what Yuuri couldn't wrap his mind around.
On the bed sat Kimi. He was staring at Yuuri looking completely horrified. His hoodie had been removed and was lying on the mattress next to a white tank top Kimi must have been wearing under it.
But instead of Yuuri looking a bare back, he was looking at pale skin and the thin fabric of a training bra…
"Uh…"
thisisaline
Miles away at Shinou's Temple, the shrine maidens in the Chamber of Life could faintly hear shrill screaming echoing over the hilltops. It was accompanied by the howling of "Cheater".
Without looking up from the dais, Ulrike smile. "It sounds like Heika just found out."
Huzzah! A chapter is finished. Well how'd you like that little twist at the end? I hope it was as surprising for you as I intended it to be. What do you think of Kimi? Don't hold back, I can handle the truth. *gets up on the edge of a bridge* Really, I can handle it…nothing rash will come of it…really…
And now some informative footnotes!
I wanted to actually put the Kanji to Kawasaki in here, but I don't have a Japanese character option on my laptop and the only examples of the Kanji for it I found were pictures, which I don't think you can insert into your fan fictions successfully while putting them on . So you will have to look up the Kanji yourself. As to why Kimi wears this on her shirt…well logos are all the rage right? *cricket, cricket* yeah…
The only roller blades I ever saw or owned growing up were the ones that snap in place like clips instead of any lacing. Some roller blades still have laces, right? It's not just roller skates, is it?
Does anyone remember if Gisela heals people in a Medic ward or hall while in the castle? What's it generally referred to as? Can I just keep saying medic ward? It's been a while since I've seen any particular seen of her healing in action. Usually I see her in someone's room healing them. But all the fan fictions I read had her having a specific place people go to be treated.
This is of course a shout out to a fav story of mine, The Pit and the Pendulum, by Edgar Allen Poe. The Pendulum was a weight that suspended from a pivot, when given a blade it was used for torturous execution, as it would slowly lower as it swings, cutting deeper and deeper until the person either died from blood loss or being severed in two.
What is the name of Anissina's translator invention? Anyone know?
This is the call Wolfram uses in the second episode of the anime to summon his flames. It differs in the manga slightly.
Well, I guess some of those were more question footnotes than informative, huh? Ah well. Nobody's perfect. I have to tell you, getting back on my feet and writing this wasn't easy for me and I really appreciate all of you who have stuck with me. It was about as easy as it is to start flossing (which hardly anyone really does that often, come on. Stop fooling yourself, dentist). Never the less, I love writing, so it was hardly a burden once the creative juices were flowing. I'm serious, get a mop; I had some real hardcore creativity on my hands here. Creatively hauled up in my room…alone…by my lonesome…*Ahem* Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed reading this chapter just as much as I enjoyed writing it. *Hugs all around, folks*
R and R please.
~Shain-The-Otaku-of-Ireland