KKM project no.8 Party

*Cross-posted to my FF.net account


My gift to you

The cold autumn wind blew through the leaf-less trees in Shin Makoku and the 27th Maou shivered due to lack of proper clothing. Yuuri Shibuya had just come back from a long vacation on Earth, only to find that the seasons had progressed without his knowledge. The double-black teenager stood statue-like, in knee-deep water and silently wished he had thought of bringing a warm pullover from his home on Earth. Then again, it was still summer in Japan and there was no need for such attire.

Yuuri sighed with relief when he saw Günter running towards him, blanket in hand, with a worried expression on his face. The royal advisor swiftly covered the boy’s shaking shoulders with the warm, thick, what seemed like hand-knitted, blanket. The purple-headed man mumbled something about ‘not wanting the Maou to catch a cold’ and hushed Yuuri into the warmth of the temple. Murata soon followed suit, as he appeared mere moments after the Maou had.

Once inside, Yuuri was greeted by all those oh-so common faces, and happily bounced towards his ‘Demon World’ friends. Conrad greeted him first, his head bowed and sporting a large smile. Then, Wolfram, who was obviously unhappy with Yuuri’s long absence from Shin Makoku, proceeded to giving his fiancé a piece of his mind, but still managed to remain soft-hearted towards his King.

Greta pulled out from behind of Gwendal and ran straight into her father’s arms, nuzzling her small face against his neck. The Maou gathered the small girl in his arms and happily followed his retainers into the main chamber of the temple, where the shrine maidens gave him an exchange of clothes. After both Yuuri and the Sage had dressed in proper wintery clothing, he finally made his way towards his own castle, a little ways further down the hill.

“Heika, you came back just at the right time.” Started Günter as he walked directly behind the young King.

“Ah? Why is that Günter?” Answered Yuuri as he looked over his shoulder towards the older man.

“Well, Heika, you’re just in time for the ceremony of the winter solstice.” Replied the advisor, a small bounce evident in his speech.

“Ceremony?”

“Wimp! You’re the King and you don’t know this?” Replied Wolfram as he maintained his pace next to Yuuri. “Every year, when the winter solstice comes around, we celebrate the venue of the new season. Therefore, there’s a big celebration in the castle and all the townsfolk prepare something to offer to the Maou, for the new season to come.”

“Really?” Replied Yuuri bewildered.

“Yes Heika, Wolfram is right. It’s an important event of the year where the people of Shin Makoku thank the Maou for his services and, in return, get their winter blessings.” Answered Conrad, who currently walked next to Günter.

“Oh? Shibuya! Looks like you’ve got work to do!” Said Murata from Yuuri’s left side.

Yuuri smiled diligently at his Earthly friend, wishing he had more control over his smarty remarks. The royal procession reached the massive doors of the castle where Günter hurriedly made his way through the halls, screaming out various commands to anyone who was listening. Yuuri waved at the maids as he walked by them towards Gwendal’s office. Obviously, the work of a Maou was never done and so, he had lots of paperwork to fill out. Yuuri walked into the office, followed closely by Wolfram and Gwendal, and seated himself at the desk. Yuuri was getting used to the drill and so, quill in hand, extended his other arm in a waiting position and questioned Gwendal.

“So? Where’s the current load of paperwork to sign? Should I start with the tax refunds or maybe the animal-care?”

Conrad suppressed a small chuckle as he walked into the office. He came to halt before the King and crossed his arms on his chest. “Heika, there’s nothing to do for now.”

Yuuri stared back clueless. “What do you mean there’s nothing to do? There’s always something to do!” He replied, confusion evident on his face.

“Ahh, you’re so hopeless Yuuri!” Replied his fiancé as he circled the desk to come and stand next to him. “All the work has been taken care of. All you have to do is get ready for the party!”

Yuuri smiled happily at the three brothers and bounced up from his seat. “Really? I can go?” He answered excitedly.

Gwendal smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand as a long sigh escaped his lips. How in the world could Shin Makoku still be standing with such a clueless leader at its head, was still a mystery to the eldest brother. Conrad smiled gently and nodded to the young King, whose own grin grew even more. He grabbed Wolfram by the hand and pulled his fiancé out of the office at top speed, almost running towards their shared quarters.

Once into their room, the door tightly shut, Yuuri released Wolfram and flopped down onto his own bed. The Prince, who hadn’t been expecting this reaction, regained his composure and sat on the edge of the bed, his eyes full of questions.

“What’s going on Yuuri? You’re never this happy to be free of work!” inquired Wolfram, suspiciously.

“Eh? Ah well, I’m just glad I’ve got more time with you!” He replied innocently.

Wolfram blushed at the Maou’s last remark and rose from his seating area. Yuuri was acting strange today and the Prince suspected something was in the air. He walked over to the closet, which they shared, and pulled out a black attire for his fiancé. The dark trousers where lined with a fine golden trim along the length of the leg and at the bottom too. The jacket, matching the trousers in colour, was also trimmed in gold and the interior lining was of red satin. Wolfram walked back to the bed and offered the formal wear to Yuuri, who instantly took it without a comment or remark. He jumped off the bed and proceeded to replacing his current clothing with the soft, silky dark ensemble.

“What about you Wolf? What are you wearing?” asked the Maou as he fiddled with the buttons on his jacket.

“Me? I’m not going.” Simply replied the Prince.

Yuuri stared at his fiancé and immediately stopped what he was doing. “What do you mean you’re not going?” Asked the Maou, clear disappointment in his tone.

“I have to take care of certain things Yuuri. While you’re out at the party, someone has got to take care of the rest.”

Yuuri knew that Wolfram had some duties to perform even so, he was hurt by the cold-attitude that his fiancé was currently displaying. The young King hung his head, letting his dark bangs cover his eyes, and spoke ever so softly that Wolfram had to strain his ears to understand.

“Fine then. Be like that. I hope you have fun with your things.” He said coldly as he briskly walked out of the room, leaving his fiancé with a hurt look etched on his beautiful face.

                                                          ***
The party had started a long time ago and the Maou was starting to get bored. Seriously, all the formalities were annoying and he wished he could just escape the whole thing. Of course, the ‘gifts’ from the villagers had been beautiful: a whole wardrobe of new attires for the King for when he left on his adventures. Gwendal had given him a hand-knitted blanket, for those cold nights, Conrad had gotten him a new Pro baseball bat and even Greta had thanked him with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

Even so, Yuuri felt as though something was missing and that, he knew, was his best friend and fiancé. He regretted having had that fight earlier however, he had felt sad at the fact that his favourite soldier wouldn’t be at the party. ‘Ah’ he thought inwardly, ‘I wish Wolfram were here too’. At that moment, the Maou decided to leave the party and to try to find his betrothed.

He walked down the empty halls, dark shadows looming everywhere around him, and kicked himself mentally for having left his flashlight in his room. At the end of the hall, Yuuri caught glimpse of a shadow, moving swiftly into his room. The Maou jumped nervously and cleared his throat before calling out to the intruder.

“W-Who goes?”

“Yuuri?” Replied the familiar voice.

“Wolf?!?” Answered the King as he moved closer to the shrouded figure.

“Yuuri! What are you doing out here? You’re supposed to be at the party!” Replied the surprised voice.

Yuuri extended his arms in front of him and walked blindly towards the source of the comforting voice. He was relieved when Wolfram took hold of his shaking hand and pulled him closer to him.

“Wimp! Don’t walk around at night without any guards! It’s dangerous!” Said the Prince as he pushed Yuuri against his chest.

“Wolf! I-I just wanted to see you ... I’m sorry I got angry earlier.” Replied Yuuri in the Mazoku’s strong chest.

“Well, I guess you have good timing. I was just about to come and whisk you away.” Replied the Prince with a wink, currently invisible to Yuuri.

Wolfram tugged on Yuuri’s hand and started to walk towards what seemed like the exit to the courtyard. Once outside, Yuuri’s eyes accustomed themselves to the dark and he stared at Wolfram’s blond bob from behind. The soldier was clad in his ceremonial uniform and had his waist-length cloak over his shoulders. Yuuri secretly wondered why Wolfram was wearing such attire, seeing has he had refused to go to the party. The snow was starting to fall from the heavily clouded sky and Yuuri shivered slightly at the cool air that blew through his hair.

“Are you cold Yuuri?” Asked the alerted Prince.

“No, it’s okay. It’s just a little bit chilly tonight, that’s all.” Replied the Maou.

“Well, it won’t be long, I promise.” Answered Wolfram as he tightened his hold on Yuuri.

Wolfram led his fiancé deep into the grounds and stopped in the middle of a small forest. There, he let go of Yuuri’s hand and stood directly in front of him. He pulled out a dark material from his inner pocket and covered the Maou’s eyes with it. Yuuri remained unmoved and let the Mazoku tie the scarf behind his head. Wolfram walked away from Yuuri, until his footsteps could be heard no more.

“W-Wolf?” He asked tentively.

“It’s okay Yuuri! Don’t look until I tell you to, okay?”

Yuuri nodded in the dark and heard Wolfram muttering his usual fire-summoning spell. Soon enough, the Maou felt warmth spreading through the nightly air and even saw an orange tinge through his blindfold. Wolfram walked back to Yuuri and pulled off the cloth which currently obstructed his vision.

“You can look now.” Whispered the Prince has he moved aside to let the Maou see clearly what he meant.

Yuuri’s mouth dropped open as the scene settled into his eyes. Right there, in front of him, stood the most magnificent Cherry Tree he had ever seen. All around its foot stood at least twenty small bonfires, which gave off a soft glow to the blossoming tree. Yuuri looked to his side at Wolfram and stared in awe at the Prince, his eyes sparkling wildly.

“This is my gift to you, Yuuri, for being a great King and a great fiancé.” Announced the Prince to the glowing Maou.

“Wolfram ... it’s so beautiful.” Responded Yuuri, still in awe. “It’s a late blooming tree isn’t it? They are very rare! Usually, the Cherry Blossoms are all ‘asleep’ this time of the year.”

“Yes, well, it’s the only one of its kind here. It has been in bloom for the past two weeks but, because you weren’t home yet, I was afraid it would stop blooming before you got a chance to see its beauty. So, every night, I lit some bonfires around it, to give it heat and to trick it into thinking it’s still summer.” Replied Wolfram, a gentle look on his face.

“Wolfram ... you’re a genius! Thank you so much, this is the best gift ever!” Replied the Maou as he swung his arms around his fiancé’s neck.

Wolfram encircled Yuuri with his arms and smiled happily at the positive reaction. It had been worth all those sleepless nights to see Yuuri’s beaming face. The Maou looked over the Prince’s shoulder and stared at the beautiful tree, a soft expression painted on his face.

“Wolfram ....?”

“Um? What is it?”

“Can this be our spot? I mean our own, little, secret spot?” Asked Yuuri into Wolfram’s shoulder.

“Of course Yuuri, this will be our spot for as long as you want it to be.” He replied as he leaned his head against his King.

The royal couple remained in that position until the cold had seeped into them and the snow had travelled through their clothes. Then, slowly, they both walked back, hand-in-hand, towards the guest-filled castle. There were still lots of entertaining to be done.

The End!