Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everything belongs to their proper owners. Including my own characters!
This update is a little late.
I apologize for that.
The upside is that this chapter is a little longer than my usual chapters…? Hopefully?
Anyway, the chapter is here now, so read!
Chapter 9: The Challenge
knock knock knock
Emil groaned as he turned over in his bed. He really did not feel like getting up today. He looked at the display of his alarm clock.
7:03am… just a tad too early for rational thinking.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
The knocking on the door only seemed to get louder as neither one of the boys refused to get out of their respective beds to answer the door. Richter growled in annoyance as he pulled the covers of his messy bed head a little tighter.
BAM BAM BAM!
Although reluctant, Emil got out of his warm blankets to answer the door with a small, "Hello?"
Standing at the door was none other than Aqua, fully dressed in her cute, casual clothing. She was wearing a skin-tight, dark blue tank top with a striped grey and white cardigan. Her white shorts cut off mid-thigh, her knee-high blue and white stockings going up far enough to only let a bit of skin show.
"As promised," she twittered in a tone that was way too cheerful, "We are going to go do some early bird shopping!" Emil, still fairly drowsy, was trying to comprehend why this girl was standing in front of his dorm room. "And get changed out of… whatever you're in," she said with mild amusement, scanning the white, frilly night gown draped over his shoulders. Although he did get new night clothes from Richter, he couldn't bring himself to wear them; he found the clothing a bit too constricting, since he moved a quite a bit in his sleep.
"Richter, baby~~~," she called out in a sickeningly sweet way, causing Emil to unconsciously cover his ears, "Get up now, darling! We are going to do some early bird shopping~! And if you don't get up, I'll have to give you a morning kiss~!" Richter made some sort of unintelligible noise as Aqua giggled, saying she would be waiting downstairs.
A morning k-k-kiss? Emil stuttered in his mind, suddenly wide awake and thoroughly embarrassed as the image of him and Richter popped up into his mind, his face reddening at the thought. Nononononono…bad Bad BAD! He scolded himself before promptly walking to Richter's bedside.
"Hey, Richter," Emil said over the cocooned Demon Lord and giving him a gentle shake, "Come on get up! Otherwise Aqua will really barge in here!" Suddenly an arm shot out from under the covers, grabbing the unsuspecting victim's wrist. Emil yelped in surprise as he was dragged into the bed on top of the half-asleep Richter.
"…don't wanna get up," he murmured before drawing his victim closer to his chest. Emil was a tomato-face by now. Although he had heard from Richter's previous roommate (a fellow drama student) that he had low blood pressure in the mornings, was often cranky, and acted on a whim during the mornings, this kind of situation never happened before. Never.
"R-richter!" Emil squeaked out, automatically pushing against his friend's chest, "L-let gooooo!" His efforts only served to make Richter hug him all the more tightly.
"Richter…," Emil whimpered out, almost giving up on escaping the Demon Lord's grasp until he finally cracked open an emerald eye to see where all the noise was coming from.
"I already said I didn't want…," Richter trailed off, finally noticing their precarious position. Richter practically shoved Emil away from him in surprise, jumping to the other side of the bed. Unfortunately, the little princess wasn't so lucky and landed on his rear end on the hard floor emitting a small sound of pain. Richter's calm was broken only for a moment before it turned into concern.
"Are you alright? ... Sorry for pushing you," Richter apologized softly before getting off his bed to help Emil to his feet.
"I-I'm okay," the little princess muttered out softly looking at his feet, his face blazing embarrassment, "just a bit startled…"
Richter's heart churned with regret as he announced that he was going to use the bathroom first. Emil nodded quickly the blush still visible on his cheeks.
\/O.O\/
Aqua immediately noticed the awkward tension between the two once they came down the stairs. It partially worried her, but she didn't pay any special attention to it and ushered them into the waiting taxi towards the mall, clinging to her precious Richter.
Emil, forcibly persuaded to sit in the front, didn't fight the swimmer's enthusiasm too much. He was still shaken up by this morning's sudden boldness from a certain someone. Deciding to break up the atmosphere, Aqua started to comment on their attire.
"Richter, baby, you look sooo handsome~ As usual~" she strung out, gluing herself to his arm in the back as Emil watched their actions through the rearview mirror. Richter wore a simple, semi-tight black t-shirt with a light zip-up jacket loosely hanging on his muscular shoulders; the jacket zipped up half-way. He wore simple blue jeans with grey sneakers to finish the very simple look. Although the outfit was simple, he still looked very attractive, his hair currently tied messily in a low ponytail; he was too lazy to comb through the mane this morning.
Emil was starting to stare through the mirror before his eyes met Richter's piercing green irises. Once again startled, Emil swiftly averted his gaze back down to his lap.
Aqua, her eyes catching the small interaction, decided to intervene and blurted out suddenly, "Cross-dresser, we are going to get you a new wardrobe, so be prepared for my wrath!"
Emil jumped a bit at her declaration before nervously smiling back at her devious grin. His outfit was not too horrible… for a girl. It seems that the majority of his clothing was either unisex or full-out feminine. Currently, he was wearing a pink t-shirt with a daisy printed smack-dab in the middle of his chest. He tried his best to cover the flower with a black jacket, but it didn't help much since the jacket had the letters LOVE printed out over the front in rainbow colors along with a huge heart framing it. His bottom half was a bit better; he wore regular colored jeans and white sneakers.
He sighed, poking at the rainbow hairclip Aqua insisted that he wear. She said it was to, "keep those annoying bangs out of your face." But the few strings of hair never really bothered him. He fiddled with it a bit more before Aqua told him to stop messing with it.
\/O.O\/
After a painful 30 minutes drowned in Aqua's senseless talking, they finally arrived at the city mall.
"The grocery store is just right across from the mall, so it's convenient for both of us!" Aqua piped out, still clinging onto Richter's arm for dear life.
"Can you let go of my arm now," Richter said sharply yanking his arm out of the girl's vice grip.
"Aw~ Richter, you don't have to be shy~," she whined before quickly jumping up to peck him on the cheek. There was a variety of reactions from the different parties. Richter, clearly enraged, chased after a happily squealing Aqua bursting of happiness about having finally given a kiss to her "boyfriend."
Emil just stood there a bit shocked. A range of emotions ran through him as the scene replayed itself in slow motion in his mind. First was anger. Then sadness. And then frustration and confusion.
"Seriously, that girl has some nerve…," Richter came back grumbling angrily to himself before noticing the shadow over Emil's eyes.
"Emil," Richter started, bringing the angel out of his trance, "Are you alright?"
No! his mind screamed, I'm not alright! How could you let that girl touch you! That thought came to the front of his mind immediately, but he held it in, only standing still, motionless to a very confused Richter.
"Please, talk to me Emil," the red head asked, a very small hint of fear running through his voice, "Did someone hurt you? Do you feel sick?"
Too many questions. Not enough answers.
Emil shook his head with such little movement, Richter almost missed it. The little princess was thoroughly confused; why did he feel this way? Why did he hate seeing others touch Richter so much? Why was he yearning for the taller man to just hold him close and tell him that he lo –
"Hey!" a familiar voice called out, interrupting Emil's train of thought, "What a coincidence to see you guys here! Mind if I join?" Both Emil and Richter turned their heads to be greeted with a man that wore their school's sports jacket, a pair of grey jeans, and tennis shoes. It was the man who has constantly tried to tear them apart ever since day one: Wolfe Sanders.
A moment of surprise was followed quickly by open hostility from the red headed man, Richter instinctively moving in front of his angel.
"What do you want, Wolfe?" Richter managed to say calmly, despite his rising anger at the suggestive glances Wolfe was giving to the ever-oblivious Emil, who looked at the two in nervous worry and fear.
"Why are you so suspicious of me?" Wolfe sighed, stepping closer to the pair, "I simply wanted to hang out with you guys, especially since I'm all alone on my own out here. Won't you take in this lost little puppy?"
Before Richter was able to harshly decline the annoying brat (who, for some reason, was a centimeter taller than him), Aqua burst out of the crowd. "You're so mean, Richter!" she complained loudly, giving a pouting face to the one mentioned, "You just left me in the crowd all by myself! I'm a girl! You should treat girls with more care than that!"
"Well, who is this little cutie," Wolfe said curiously, arching his eyebrows, "Is she your girlfriend?"
"She is not my –"
"Yes~ We are very happy together~" Aqua purred, attaching herself to Richter's arm again, as if the argument before had never existed.
Emil felt that rush of confusing emotions go through him as he remembered that little kiss the blue-haired girl had given Richter only a few minutes before. What exactly was this emotion? It confused him to no end, and the effects of this were clearly shown on his face. Wolfe, seeing this, smirked. He could use this girl to his advantage…
"Weren't you guys here to do some shopping?" the athlete reminded them, "If you don't hurry soon, all the early-bird specials will be gone."
Aqua gasped, looked at her cell phone clock, then promptly dragged the boys to follow her.
"It's already 8am! Hurry you slowpokes! We only have a couple of hours before the sales end!" she ranted, pulling the extremely reluctant Richter by the arm towards the entrance.
"Come on now," Wolfe said as he placed one hand on the small of Emil's back, pushing him forward, "We certainly can't keep the lady waiting." Emil nodded blankly, not noticing the hand snaking its way around his waist.
Richter turned just in time to see this action being done. Thankfully, he was freed from his temporary shackles, as the shackles just jumped into a hectic crowd of shoppers to get a good deal. He strode over to the pair and pulled Emil towards him, taking the angel out of the devil's grasp.
"Don't touch him," Richter growled, bringing the gradually reddening Emil away from the predatory Wolfe.
"Two can play that game," Wolfe whispered to himself as he followed them in close pursuit.
+O.O+
The rest of the shopping trip consisted of Aqua dragging Richter around, Richter dragging Emil around, and Wolfe following all of them around. The hours ticked by, and the sun began to set.
"Let's do karaoke!" Aqua exclaimed, pumping one fist into the air. The boys were forced to carry her many shopping bags. "I know the owner of a good place around here, so let's go!" She latched onto Richter's arm again and proceeded to drag him over to sing karaoke. Emil and Wolfe quietly followed, the fatigue starting to set in from hours of shopping.
One of the employees, seeing Aqua, a regular customer, greeted her happily and gave them a 50% discount to book a room.
They sat down on the plush benches against the walls, eager to rest their tired feet from standing, walking, and running around the mall for the majority of the day. It was actually Aqua who sang most of the songs, her glances clearly directed to Richter, who completely ignored her to guard Emil from any attacks from Wolfe.
Finally, even Aqua got tired of trying to impress the cold Richter and forced Emil, the most feminine and least intimidating male among the group to sing a song.
"Oh, it's okay," he said and he was forced to hold the microphone, "r-really!"
"It's just one song!" Aqua insisted as she flipped through the song catalogue. She suddenly smiled and showed the book to Emil, "Can you sing this one? I'm pretty sure everyone knows this song." Emil nodded hesitantly, but Aqua was already setting the machine to play the mechanical accompaniment.
"Wolfe," she called out to the athlete, bringing him out of his ogling to have a second microphone shoved into his hands.
"What…I can't sing," he said curtly, trying to give the microphone back to the overly energetic girl.
"You have to sing it!" she insisted, "It's a duet! C'mon!"
Then the lyrics appeared after a fairly long introduction. Wolfe, studying the words quickly, then smiled in pleasure. This was one song he was definitely singing with this pretty little princess.
The machine sang the first few lines of the song.
I can see what's happening. (What?)
And they don't have a clue! (Who?)
They'll fall in love and here's the bottom line:
Our trio's down to two! (Oh…)
Ze sweet caress of twilight,
There's magic everywhere.
And with all this romantic atmosphere,
Disaster's in the air…!
Emil began first quietly, but the microphone amplified his voice:
Can you feel the love tonight?
Richter froze where he sat, not bothering to pry the leech off his arm anymore. Was that really Emil's voice?
The peace the evening brings.
Even Wolfe was temporarily stunned by the blonde's angelic voice. Emil, looking around at surprised faces, almost stopped singing out of embarrassment, but was urged on by Aqua, also entranced at Emil's hidden talent.
The world, for once, in perfect harmony,
With all its living things…
Wolfe almost missed his cue, but caught on after the first few words slipped by.
So many things to tell her,
But what to make her see
The truth about my past?
Impossible…
She'd turn away from me…
Richter then realized the truth behind those words. He never really talked about his past to anyone. It was a dark life that he had decided to turn his back to long time ago. If he told Emil these things… would he run away?
Emil, gaining a bit more confidence, sang a bit louder.
He's holding back, he's hiding.
But what, I can't decide.
Why won't he be the king I know he is?
The king I see inside…
While singing these words, he unconsciously looked to Richter. What exactly was he hiding from him? Richter would always tell him it was none of his business whenever that Aqua girl came to pick him up. He would never explain why he got so angry with Wolfe. He always closed him off, not even explaining why he kept randomly holding him close today!
What are you hiding from me? Emil thought as the chorus came up both him and Wolfe singing together.
Can you feel the love tonight?
The peace the evening brings.
The world, for once, in perfect harmony
With all its living things…
The climax of the song approached, and Wolfe decided to make his move. He stood up, then dramatically knelt down in front of a steadily nervous Emil as the two of them continued to sing.
Can you feel the love tonight?
You needn't look too far…
Wolfe then took Emil's retreating hand and looked into his princess' eyes, boring into them, as if to tell a hidden message. Richter had started to become wary once the pretty boy had knelt down on one knee. He tensed up as the duo continued to sing.
Stealing through the night's uncertainties,
Love is where we are…
Wolfe had purposely changed that word from "they" to "we," the last line trailing off as the karaoke machine sang the last lines of the song.
And if he falls in love tonight,
It can be assumed…
His carefree days
With us are history…
In short our pal
Is doomed…
The song finished and a stunned silence filled the room before the karaoke fanfare declared a perfect score for that song, taking everyone by surprise.
"I'm going to go to the bathroom," Aqua said, breaking the silence as she exited, completely shocked that her "rival" was such a wonderful singer.
"Emil!" exclaimed Wolfe as he took a seat next to the slightly shaky blond, still racked by nerves even after the song, "Where on this planet did you learn to sing like that! Is your mom a mermaid or something?"
"N-no… I don't think so," Emil replied with a bit of sadness. Any talk of his parents would just…
Richter watched as Wolfe inched closer to the oblivious blond, his anger only burning hotter with every movement.
He had enough.
"Emil. Can you go outside for a minute? I need to speak with Wolfe," he said with such suppressed anger that Emil couldn't bring himself to question why. The little princess slowly made his way to the door, glancing nervously at the two figures left in the room.
Once Emil was gone, Richter was the one to make the first move. He grabbed Wolfe's sports jacket collar, smashing him into the wall. The taller man seemed unaffected by this repeated attack that Richter had used on him before behind the school.
"You had best watch yourself," he snarled in a dangerously low whisper, Wolfe's face showing nothing but amusement. This only proceeded to anger the red head further as he clenched his hand tighter around his neck, "I'm warning you, Wolfe Sanders."
The athlete only smiled, "Like I've said before, I'll keep that in mind." He pried Richter's hands away from the collar of his jacket almost effortlessly. The red head was almost surprised by his strength. Almost. The tennis player was bound to have strong arms and hands from gripping the tennis racket tightly and swinging it as well…
Richter glared at Wolfe as he walked away, his back turned to him. What he didn't expect was the following offer as the tennis player turned back to him, "Meet me behind the school at 10:00pm tonight. Perhaps then, with a little persuasion, I just might give your precious angel up."
"…I will see you there," Richter hesitantly replied. Wolfe grinned and walked out as if nothing had happened in that room. Richter stood in the room for a little bit, pondering his decision. He knew this was some sort of trap. No, with Wolfe Sanders, this was definitely a trap. He glared at the floor wondering what he should do, but only for a few seconds before he walked out of the empty, abandoned room, having the same composure as that dog.
He would not let that dog brat get close to Emil.
\OoO/
Richter, Emil, and Aqua went back to the dorms while Wolfe went his separate way to prepare who-knows-what for their secret meeting tonight.
By the time Richter and Emil returned, it was already 9pm. The dorm curfew was at 10pm, so Richter would have to be careful when going to the school grounds to not get caught by the security guards. Luckily, he had little homework, so he finished the weekend homework quickly. The only problem now was to get out of the room without Emil becoming suspicious. After days of staying up to finish procrastinated homework, it was highly unlikely that Emil would just fall asleep in a few minutes.
"I'm going to run an errand," Richter said before putting on a black hoodie, "If I go past the curfew, don't worry. I'll be back soon." With that curt message, he stepped out of their room and into the inky blackness of the common room outside.
"W-wait! Richter!" Emil exclaimed a bit too late. The door closed silently.
It's almost 10:00! The dorm head would certainly catch him! Emil fussed and worried in his head, getting up to pace the room. Also…, the blond thought to himself, pausing in his pacing about, What is Richter doing so late at night?
A sudden urge to follow his senior swept through him as he quickly dressed in his darkest attire: a black tank, black sports shorts, and the black LOVE jacket he had worn earlier today.
It was at that moment when he was about to rush out the door that the chime for 10pm ran throughout the dorm halls.
"Lights out!" called the dorm head as he made his rounds, knocking on every door to check if everyone returned safely. Emil panicked. He noticed that Richter had not returned, so he hastily stuffed anything he could find under the covers to make it look like his missing roommate was in bed already.
knock knock
"I'm coming in!" announced the head as he took a quick glance around the room. Emil sat dangerously close to the edge of his bed holding a book to hide his face. The head was silent for a few moments before chuckling out, "Be sure to turn out the lights soon, 'kay?" Emil nodded, trying not to look too frantic in this action, but this only caused the head to chuckle more, closing the door behind him.
Emil at first questioned why the head was laughing at him, but then he looked down at the book in his hands and impulsively threw the book against the opposite wall.
The book was upside down.
After a moment's worth of embarrassment, Emil composed himself and tried to formulate a plan to get out of the dorms without setting the alarms off.
The window!
He opened up the window and looked outside for guards. Thankfully, their room was next to a ladder that had become overgrown with vines gracefully winding their way up the side of the white-washed building. Emil carefully made his way down the ladder and hid in a nearby bush, the light of the flashlight almost hitting his shimmering blond hair.
Success, Emil thought to himself as he headed towards the school grounds. For some strange reason, he felt that Richter would be there.
What are you hiding from me, Richter?
/OoO\
Meanwhile, Richter had already reached the back of the school where the old oak tree stood as a witness to the events that were to happen. Not too long after, Wolfe appeared, his gleaming white teeth glowing like fangs in the moonlight.
"Well, well, well," he said carefully, clearly pronouncing every letter and stepping more into the light, "You really did show up."
Richter scoffed, "Of course I showed up. I keep my word."
Wolfe let out a laugh that sounded more like a bark, "You are really funny, you know that?"
"Let's just get this over with," Richter snapped, "What do you want from me?"
Wolfe frowned a bit, "Why isn't it obvious?"
"You can't have Emil!" Richter said in a controlled voice. He could not show weakness. Not to this manipulator. To his surprise, however, Wolfe frowned and shook his head.
"Wrong! That is not what I want."
Now Richter was extremely confused. Emil was not his target? Then why was he constantly flirting with him? Why was he constantly trying to put the moves on Emil?
"You're confused," Wolfe stated. It was not a question. An amused smile slowly graced his lips. The predator moved towards Richter, swaying ever so subtly. "Want to guess again?"
Richter remained silent, sharp emerald eyes keeping watch of this unpredictable person.
"No?" Wolfe asked in mock disappointment, "Fine. I'll tell you."
Before he knew it, Richter was pinned against the wall at breakneck speed and strength by Wolfe who glowered down at his prey.
"I want you."
OOOOHHHH! I bet you didn't see that coming~
I will try to squeeze Alice in there… somehow…
Anyway, first time I hit 12 pages in the Microsoft Word!
I'm so proud of myself~
AND it's still Monday, so DEADLINE ACHIEVED!
As usual, reviews are greatly appreciated~
And thanks for sticking with this story for so long! :D