Chapter 5: What Gave You That Idea?

"Heika!" Wolfram's voice echoed down the hallway when he saw the dark haired king walking towards the great hall. The king stopped and turned to face the blond.

"Wolf!" He exclaimed happily.

"Lord Weller said that you were looking for me. What is it?" He asked, a bit too formally for Yuuri's liking.

"Oh, I was wondering if you would teach me to dance again…I seem to have forgotten most of the steps." Yuuri said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. Wolfram fought the urge to roll his eyes and bit back an insult, instead he nodded once and smiled too politely.

"As you wish. Are you ready now, or would you prefer to wait?" Wolfram said respectfully. The niceness was starting to get on Yuuri's nerves, but he let it go.

"Uhm, now is fine, if you are not too busy." Yuuri replied. Wolfram inclined his head and walked with him to the Great Hall.

As they entered the large ballroom, the maids cleaning inside bowed and exited. Wolfram took one of them aside and asked her to bring in a musician, once again too politely for his normal behavior. Yuuri began to wonder what was going on with the blond.

"Hey Wolfram." Yuuri questioned when the maid made her exit.

"Yes Heika?" Wolfram replied, turning to him.

"Why were you so nice to her?" Yuuri asked. Wolfram looked confused.

"I suppose I do not understand the question Heika. I merely asked her to fetch a musician."

"Exactly!" Yuuri said loudly. The blond wrinkled his eyebrow, clearly not understanding the significance. The king sighed and explained.

"Normally you just order people around. You never ask someone to do anything, you tell them to!"

"Are you telling me that I should be more rude to people?" Wolfram said incredulously.

"I'm telling you to go back to being yourself Wolfram! You haven't been...you in weeks." Yuuri said with frustration. Wolfram blinked as Yuuri continued.

"You are a pompous jerk, a loud noisy brat of a prince, and you always insert your thoughts into conversations that don't have anything to do with you." The demon king turned and started to pace with his insults. The blond just stared at the boy as he continued to throw abuse his way.

"You yell at people without cause, you throw a fit when things don't go your way, you insist on calling me a cheater without any evidence, you jump to conclusions on a regular basis, you-" Wolfram suddenly pushed Yuuri up against a wall with great force making the king gasp.

"I know what I was." The blond said quietly. "and I do not want to be that person any more….That person, only disappointed those he loved. Only pushed them farther away…No one liked him Heika" Wolfram looked defeated as he said the last few words. He let Yuuri go and turned his back to him in order to gather himself.

"I did." Yuuri said almost inaudibly. Wolfram shook his head slowly and took a deep breath before turning back to the king.

"I should go. We…can do this lesson some other time." Wolfram said quickly in order to maintain composure, and began to walk hurriedly out of the room. He is just playing with me. He does not mean he liked the old me, he only wants to keep me as a friend, nothing more. I need to stop kidding myself. Wolfram's thoughts raced.

"Stop Wolf." Yuuri said commandingly before the blond reached the doorway. Wolfram complied. Yuuri started to approach him.

"Don't keep running away from me. Turn around and talk to me face to face." The young king said with confidence, though it faltered slightly as he saw Wolfram's hands become fists at his side. Yuuri walked forward, hoping to annoy the prince back to himself if needed. The prince turned slowly to face Yuuri after a few seconds of fighting against his emotions.

"What do you want me to say?" Wolfram asked calmly. Yuuri gave him a blank look and stopped.

"Uhm…"

"Did you think this through, or were you asking me to stop just on impulse?" Wolfram asked in a somewhat sarcastic manner. Yuuri looked at the ground. He hadn't thought about what he actually wanted to say to the boy.

"Well…I want you to stop being depressed all the time. I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry. I didn't want to make you upset." Yuuri finished, Wolfram was baffled.

"You haven't got the slightest clue what I'm upset about?" Wolfram asked. Yuuri shook his head. Wolfram let out an incredulous breath.

"Then…I suppose it matters not. Meet me here tomorrow at noon for instructions in dance. Do not worry about me Heika, I am perfectly fine." Wolfram managed a smile that didn't reach his eyes, and Yuuri, though unconvinced, gave up. Wolfram bowed and left the room. Yuuri blinked a few times and then started pacing around the room.

"What did I do that is making him act this way…?"

"Anniue you know that it is because of him that I am acting this way!" Wolfram shouted at his eldest brother. The older man sighed and sat back in his chair.

"I know that this new…development…is not good for your relationship, but you are causing him to shirk in his duties. Apologize to him and call him Yuuri for a few more days. It will get him to stop thinking about unnecessary things." Gwendal said firmly. Wolfram scoffed and threw his hands up in the air.

"I will not act like everything's fine again when it is clearly anything but! In just a few days time, he will be with someone else and I will be stuck here alone again!" Wolfram exclaimed. Gwendal raised his hand to silence the boy.

"Wolfram, if what you say is true, and Yuuri is planning on annulling the engagement at the party, then enjoy the few days left you have with him. Don't go making everyone in this castle miserable just because you are upset with something you knew was bound to happen anyway." Gwendal stated simply. Wolfram's eyes flitted to the floor in a huffy manner.

"Fine, I will apologize. I will even call him Yuuri until the day of the party. I do this only for his sake, for I know this will only hurt me more in the end." Wolfram said seriously. Gwendal nodded.

"Sometimes we have to make sacrifices in order for those we care about to end up happy." Gwendal added before Wolfram inclined his head and left the room.

"I'm sorry Yuuri." Wolfram said as he grasped the other boy's hand in his. The double black looked surprised.

"Sorry for what Wolfram?" Yuuri asked as he began the dance.

"For acting strangely, for upsetting you, for anything else I have done this week. I have been rather...stressed this week and I am afraid that my pent up frustrations were taken out on you." Wolfram stated.

"Oh, that's ok. I was just worried that I did something that upset you." Yuuri correctly wondered.

"It is nothing. I simply was having a few personal problems. Nothing you need to concern yourself with." Wolfram said brushing it off. Yuuri nodded solemnly. Wolfram noticed this and rolled his eyes.

"What is wrong with you now?" He asked in a huffy tone. Yuuri looked back up at the blond with guilt shining in his eyes.

"Nothing it's just…you don't talk to me anymore." Yuuri said.

"I am talking with you now Yuuri." Wolfram replied.

"No, Not like this. Normally you end up telling me everything about your day and ranting about any problems you are going through. This is only small talk." Yuuri finished. Wolfram blinked.

"Since when do you actually care about what I tell you?" Wolfram asked.

"Since always." Yuuri answered honestly, no hint of sarcasm in his voice. Wolfram could think of nothing to say. Their feet had stopped moving and they stood awkwardly holding each other.

"Really?" Wolfram said after a few moments. Yuuri dropped his arms to his side and backed up a few steps.

"W…well yeah, I mean…You always say…interesting things?" Yuuri fumbled the words while rubbing the back of his head. Wolfram had turned a few shades of red. The blonde thought for a moment, a question eating at the back of his mind. He knew he should not ask, but curiosity got the better of him.

"Yuuri," Wolfram started, the young king looked up and smiled sheepishly.

"Are…are you planning on breaking our engagement during the ball?" The blond forced the question out. This time is was Yuuri who paused.

"What gave you that idea?"

Is it just me or does this chapter just rub you the wrong way? I just want to smack Yuuri upside the head.