Kyou Kara Maou Fan Fiction ❯ Working out the Paradox ❯ Part 10 ( Chapter 10 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Kyou Kara Maou! I'm not making any money.

Warnings: Yaoi (male x male), Yuuri x Wolfram.

Summary: Ehhh… I think the title should speak for itself. The main goal of this fic is to make a completely straight guy fall in love with a boy… Will I reach that goal? - I think I have already reached.

 

A/N 1: I hate Greta; she is nonexistent in this story, and Yuuri has never adopted her.

A/N 2: beta-read by punkin02. Check out her gallery on y!Gallery: http://yaoi.y-gallery.net/user/punkin02/

 

Working out the Paradox

 

by chayron (lttomb@yahoo.com)

 

Part 10

 

Wolfram went to have a bath. He was relieved not to find Kyota there. The other boy must have still been relating their journey to his family.

 

The bath was smaller than that at his home, but this one was also nicely decorated: four accurately carved stone phoenix statues at each corner of the pool, the phoenix being a part of Docharo's family's coat of arms. Though, Wolfram found it a little funny that they had put the phoenix even in the bath.

 

There were also five big stained glasses, the light that was coming from the torches on the walls playing with the colors, stealing them from the glass, mingling them with the water in the pool, swirling to make various patterns then the softly waving water swashing them about in the pool.

 

Several hutches were placed at the walls, the top shelves filled with varicolored bottles of shampoo and different smelling soaps. Wolfram was sure that behind the small doors there were towels and sponges.

 

Wolfram walked over to the pool and hung his clothes on the cloak rack that stood near the pool at the wall. After arranging his toiletries next to the brim of the pool he edged into it.

 

The prince heaved a long, relaxed sigh after submerging into the pleasantly warm water. Five days unwashed. He had gone longer unwashed and he knew that most folk went unwashed even longer. Wolfram remembered Yuuri commenting on that once and comparing that to his world. Actually Yuuri used to make many comparisons.

 

Wolfram reached out for the sponge he had been given earlier and took the bar of soap from the edge of the pool. He had been scared out of his wits at Yuuri's world. It wasn't that bad when Yuuri, his brothers or at least Yuuri's parents were together with him, but there was one time when he was left alone in the house. That half an hour was the longest in his life. The phone, the fridge, the TV, the microwave, the thing that Yuuri called a computer and from it wafting bouncing and beating music. He thought he'd go insane.

 

He had been jumpy for several days after that. After Yuuri had asked what was wrong with him, and he had told him, Yuuri had laughed at him, so he had never brought the subject up, especially not after Yuuri had purposely brought his CD player to Shin Makoku to scare him. Oh, he had been scared, almost to death, and Yuuri had laughed so hard he rolled on the floor.

 

Wolfram finished washing himself with the sponge and submersed back into the water. He hated Yuuri's world, and Yuuri was the one to have induced that hate.

 

Wolfram leaned forward, and his hand reached farther on the floor for the shampoo. But there also were some nice things in Yuuri's world. Why instead of bringing that shampoo that smelled like some kind of fruit in Yuuri's house he had loved, had Yuuri brought that horrible noisy abomination from hell?

 

Wolfram rubbed the shampoo into his hair then dunked his head under the water to wash it off.

 

He knew the answer, anyway.

 

When Wolfram was already going back to his room, the heavy door to the bath opened and Kyota entered.

 

“Finished already?” the longhaired man asked Wolfram who was now dressed in a bathrobe and holding his clothes in his arms against him. Kyota threw the change of his clothes onto the same coat rack Wolfram had just taken his clothes off.

 

Wolfram nodded. Actually he was tired and wanted nothing more than to go to the room he had been given and to sleep.

 

“Maybe you want to have a snack before going to sleep?” Kyota asked. “Fine then,” he nodded after Wolfram shook his head in denial. “See you in the morning,” Kyota said before starting to unbutton his shirt.

 

XXXXX

 

The rest of the noisy evening in the celebrating tavern, Yuuri spent silent. Separate, unrelated words reached him from the three conversing men he sat with at the table but he was completely out of it. Yozak sent several worried glances to his side but he just shook his head, indicating that he was fine.

 

He had been surprised at his outburst when Armano said those things about Wolfram. Well, not directly about Wolfram but meaning that about whoever was his fiancé. But to tell the truth it was rather not surprise at his outburst he was contemplating on, but the realization as to exactly why the words had set him off, the particular words.

 

It was after three hours when the tavern finally started calming down, the drunk men drifting home or simply slumping down under the tables and starting to snore. It was a miracle that the men didn't start fighting amongst themselves or that there were no bigger incidents.

 

After one hour more, Yozak wished his friends goodnight (they were staying in the same tavern), and he and Yuuri went to their room. And it was then when Yuuri realized that it was only one bed, and small at that. From the doorway, he turned to glare at Yozak.

 

“What?” Yozak asked. He walked over to the table that was stationed at now completely dark window and put the candlestick on it.

 

“There's only one bed.”

 

“I noticed that the first time,” Yozak chuckled. “It's the only room they had.”

 

“You sleep on the carpet,” Yuuri pointed at the worn-out carpet next to the door then crossed his arms over his chest.

 

“I'm your guard, not your dog,” Yozak snickered, walking over to the bed and starting taking his clothes off.

 

Yuuri only sighed. To tell the truth, he hadn't even expected Yozak to contemplate the thought at least for a moment. What was that about servants sleeping on a mat at the door in movies about in old times?! That was such an obvious lie!

 

“Oh, c'mon, it's not like I'm gonna molest you or anything,” bare-chested, Yozak turned around to glare at Yuuri. “Have some trust in me!” He took his trousers off.

 

“I have no trust in drunken men!”

 

“Suit yourself,” Yozak shrugged, climbing under the covers. After a second a soft snoring followed.

 

Yuuri rolled his eyes. Now Yozak would boast that he had slept with the king… Bastard.

 

Yuuri walked over to the table and took his lenses out then started undressing. Then he walked over to the table again and blew the candlestick out. Groping around himself in the darkness, he found the bed and snuck under the covers. Yozak was warm. Sure as hell he was, having that much ale in his system would make anyone warm. Yuuri wondered how many times he'd be woken up by Yozak going to empty his bladder. Although, Yozak didn't kick in his sleep or steal his covers like Wolfram used to, at least not in the times the two of them slept in the tent. And still, he'd have preferred Wolfram at his side.

 

XXXXX

 

Yuuri woke up panting. In the total darkness, he shot up in the bed, the images of the battlefield still flowing against his wide with agitation eyes.

 

“You okay, Your Majesty?” Yozak asked, yawning and turning to Yuuri from the other side of the bed.

 

Yuuri nodded quickly. “I'm okay,” he said after realizing that Yozak couldn't see him nodding in that darkness. He brushed with his hands over his sweaty forehead. He could still see Wolfram sitting on his horse, farther up the hill, his sword drawn, a fireball ready in his left hand. And he could still see Wolfram's smoldering emerald eyes gazing back at him.

 

It was not the first time he had this dream. It wasn't a nightmare, but there was something…there was something so very disturbing and eerie about it that Yuuri would wake up in the middle of the night, shaken up, feeling that gaze following him even during day.

 

Yuuri lay back in the bed, pulling the covers on himself. He could hear the heavy rain beating against the walls of the tavern. He hoped the wind wouldn't change the direction or the rain would start beating against the window, not letting them sleep. Though, Yozak could probably sleep anytime and everywhere.

 

Yozak's breathing soon turned slow and deep, the man falling back into slumber.

 

Yuuri would also dream about the battle, how he killed those men, dreamt about the stench of burning flesh, and the horror screams of the dying men, and that was a real nightmare, and he'd wake up shouting his head off, kicking and flouncing about until Yozak would calm him down.

 

The other day he had also dreamt Wolfram, but it was a bit different dream. The blonde…no…the blond had been standing on their bed, in the castle, in that his silly pink nightie that had been falling off his shoulder. Wolfram had been standing in a fighting pose, his head inclined a bit, his sword ready to strike, to cut through anything that approached. There had been a bright fireball in his left palm that had been emanating enough light to lighten the surroundings. From the bed, the blond had been looking down at him, his striking emerald eyes unreadable, but the gaze so intense that it had awakened Yuuri up from his sleep. After some startled breathing, Yuuri had remembered that it really had happened - the time Wolfram had dreamt about him, and he had hit him with the pillow over his head.

 

Yuuri had a pretty clear idea why he was dreaming that. That eerie feeling had been disturbing from the very time his mind captured Wolfram like that first, and it only became clearer and more disturbing after the battle. He had a pretty clear idea why he was dreaming that, and it freaked him out, made him sick with himself.

 

And he could see Wolfram's burning nightie flying high in the air, on a stick until pink turned into crisp… And the firebrands were being carried high above his head by the winds, and it seemed he could hear someone laughing above him. And how he defended Wolfram against “fragile”… It appeared there was one thing he had been missing out - Wolfram was anything but feminine.

 

XXXXX

 

“Good morning,” Wolfram nodded after entering the dining-room where the family was already eating. “I'm sorry I have overslept,” he smiled sheepishly. He heard Katarina chuckle.

 

“Don't worry,” Kyota's stepfather, Edohi Mordana, stood up to greet Wolfram. Katarina, as the heir of the Docharo house and its property, didn't take her current husband's surname, and neither did Kyota. Several years ago, before Katarina inherited the title and the property she had the surname of her first husband, as did Kyota have his father's surname. After Katarina's brother died, and she took over the Docharo's house, she changed her surname back, and so Kyota's was changed, too. Although, Arisu, being a second born and not having the right to succeed to Docharo's family, had his father's, Mordana's, surname. That by no means bothered Edohi or Arisu - Mordana's family was almost as well-known and wealthy as Docharo's, and Arisu was the firstborn to Edohi who, due his father, an old grumpy lecher, being very old and sick (very likely had caught several venereal diseases) was soon to become the successor to his family.

 

Edohi was a well-built man already with a tinge of gray in his bluish hair. Because of the same bluish hair Edohi had, not knowing, people would never think that Kyota and Arisu were children of different fathers - even if they shared only the mother, they looked very alike, only the younger boy's hair being shorter and a bit lighter than Kyota's.

 

“The journey was long. Besides Kyota mentioned that you've been running a slight fever,” Edohi showed Wolfram to his seat and motioned for the maids to serve Wolfram.

 

“Not really,” Wolfram shrugged. “The fever went away two days ago. Kyota is always exaggerating.” He turned to Kyota who only smiled.

 

“Sure he is,” Edohi patted Kyota's head, chuckling. He grinned when his stepson swatted his hand away frowning at the open affection. “He's oversensitive to everything which concerns you…”

 

“Edohi…” Kyota glared at him.

 

“Yes, yes,” Arisu quipped after swallowing half of the pie he was having for dessert. “He's babbling about you nonstop. He never shuts up and…”

 

“Shut up, Arisu,” red-faced, Kyota muttered and reached for a glass with wine, thinking that it hadn't been that good an idea to bring Wolfram here.

 

“Really?” Wolfram dug in his breakfast. “And what does he say?” He grinned when Kyota's pleading look concentrated on him. Wolfram found the situation amusing and was happy to let Kyota taste his own medicine.

 

“Various things!” Arisu chirped happy to be allowed to speak. As there were not that many boys of his age around, he could rarely associate, except with his family and the servants who rather liked the hyperactive kid, but Arisu could drive anyone crazy in ten minutes, and now he was happy with the opportunity to give his piece of mind. “But mostly he is always claiming that he'd get you to marry him! And he also says that the king is a wimp and that he…”

 

“Arisu!” Katarina squeaked, giving a bit frightened look to Wolfram. “The king is Wolfram's fiancé…”

 

“Not to worry,” Wolfram chuckled. “Besides the engagement will be broken soon, so who knows, maybe your brother will have a chance…” He didn't even dare raise his head after his declaration and look at Kyota. And he did it in front of Kyota's family. Wolfram wondered if he really had a fever. No, there was simply something wrong with his brain.

 

Edohi gave a searching look to his quite shocked stepson then his gaze came back to Wolfram who still hadn't raised his eyes from his plate and was eating silently. It was an open invitation, and Edohi was sure that Kyota would be interested, but there was one problem, and he hoped his stepson wasn't too foolish.

 

XXXXX

 

Wolfram grunted as Kyota's wooden sword clashed against his with a force that had numbed his hands. He was a better swordsman than Kyota, but Kyota was stronger of the two, and he knew he had to watch out for direct sword clashes.

 

Wolfram managed to finally push Kyota away, and the two of them stood against each other panting, trying to use the short break. In those almost two hours of training, Kyota had “died” seventeen times and Wolfram two. Now the two of them were waiting who would be the first to die twenty times - it was an old agreement to finish the spar at the count of twenty “deaths” of one of them. Although, Wolfram had never been the one to “die” first.

 

“Your skills are getting better,” Kyota panted out, brushing his ponytail back over his shoulder.

 

“Thank you,” Wolfram inclined his head. “Conrad is the best swordsman in the kingdom, after all…”

 

“Indeed, your workout is clearly seen. I wish I had someone like him to train with… Well, at least someone half-decent… Edohi is the worst swordsman I have ever seen,” Kyota snickered.

 

“But he's the best economist in the whole country…You ought to be proud of your stepfather…” Wolfram grinned, circling the other boy and looking for an opening.

 

“Oh, nobody is gainsaying that he isn't,” Kyota rolled his sapphire eyes. His and his stepfather's relationship was quite warm, and Kyota knew that Wolfram was only teasing him. “But as a swordsman he's nothing worth.”

 

“Hey, c'mon! Stop stalling you two!” Arisu, who had been sitting on the grass and watching them from the very beginning, shouted. “Wolfram, you've promised you'd spar with me, too!”

 

“I'll will,” Wolfram shouted back. “Arisu hasn't changed a bit… You know, he's not that much younger than us…” he said after turning back to Kyota. “I had been expecting that by this time he'd already have started acting a bit more…”

 

“…Mature?” Kyota snickered, catching up where Wolfram trailed off. “Yeah, he should… But then…I suppose there's no need for that…” he shrugged. “Can't wait until he finds someone; his attention can be too much sometimes.” He coughed as Wolfram's blond brow arched at him, an amused smile appearing on the prince's full lips. But before Kyota could say anything, Wolfram suddenly grabbed the sword from Kyota's hands and turned away to Arisu. Kyota cursed himself for being caught off guard.

 

“Hey, Arisu!” Wolfram threw the sword over to the younger boy who easily caught it by the handle and swished the sword around expertly. “I think your brother and I are finished here.”

 

From the soft grass, in exactly the same place where his brother sat several minutes ago, Kyota watched the two boys spar. He untied his long hair he had tied earlier not to get in the way during the spar, leaned on the grass on his elbows and got ready for the show. He wanted to watch how Wolfram moved without himself being concerned getting his ass whipped by Wolfram for losing his concentration during the spar.

 

Arisu was good. The kid still lacked training and experience but he was much better than he had been at that age. A year more and Arisu would be a worthy opponent. But for now, Wolfram was the one to admire. Of course, if compared to his brother, Conrad, Wolfram still had quite a way to go, but Wolfram's skillful dance with the sword was something to look at. The blonde was swift and agile, his lithe, well-trained body quick to react, easily going over from offence to defense and the opposite.

 

Wolfram ducked, and Arisu's sword swept over his head. He did enjoy sparing with the kid. The same as with Kyota, he and Arisu used to spar when the two still lived at Blood Pledge Castle. Arisu had improved greatly. Arisu had said that he was being taught by one of his father's guards.

 

To tell the truth, the guard was more than enough for Kyota, but the thing was that the problem was Kyota himself and not the lack of sufficient spar partners. Kyota didn't have enough of talent. It was about all Kyota was able to learn. It didn't really matter how much Kyota would train, it was his limit. And Wolfram knew that Kyota knew that perfectly well. Kyota only didn't realize that everybody else knew the same. It was obvious to a more trained eye.

 

But there were things Kyota did better than others - there were no equals to Kyota when he wielded his fire element. If Wolfram was able to best Kyota in sword-fighting without bigger problems, Kyota had bested Wolfram with his fire element not once. Wolfram supposed that he could work on his own fire element and train more, but he knew that it was rather futile - some people were able to feel their element better and use it more efficiently, just as Kyota was able to.

 

XXXXX

 

There was a loud knock on the door. Wolfram's head shot up in unexpectedness. He was already in bed, under the covers, with his new and warm pajamas he had brought over for the rainy season.

 

Wolfram had excused himself from the dining-room where the family was gathered and discussed various events and simply chitchatting. He didn't think anyone would come up to his room.

 

“It's open,” Wolfram said.

 

“Kyota…” Wolfram put the book he had been reading aside after his friend entered his room.

 

Kyota glanced at the book that was lit up by a kerosene lamp that was standing on the nearby bedside cabinet. He had expected Wolfram to be going to sleep or to be already asleep, but… It was the same book Wolfram had been reading from time to time while they had been traveling by the carriage.

 

“Are you bored?” Kyota asked. He walked over to the bed and stood at Wolfram's side.

 

Wolfram's eyes followed Kyota's gaze and settled on the book, too. “No,” he shook his head, a little discomforted. “For some reason… I just felt as if it were too stuffy in the dining-room.”

 

“Well, if you wanted to be alone, you could have just said so…” Kyota's sapphire eyes rose from the book to Wolfram who was still looking at the book. Kyota turned to the door.

 

“Don't go…”

 

Surprised, Kyota looked at Wolfram's hand that now was holding the creased end of Kyota's shirt. Wolfram let go of the fabric.

 

“I don't really want to be alone…” Wolfram muttered, a little embarrassed by how suddenly he had grabbed Kyota by his shirt. He raised his head to look at the blue-haired boy. Kyota was watching him with those unreadable sapphire eyes of his.

 

Kyota sighed. He sat down on the bed next to Wolfram. “So what do you want to do?”

 

“Just…” Wolfram fell silent, realizing that he had no idea. “I… I just don't want to be alone…” he finished lamely.

 

“Come here,” Kyota reached out for Wolfram. He threaded his fingers through Wolfram's hair as the blonde leaned against his chest and exhaled deeply. The soft locks felt wonderful against his skin. Wolfram's scent was slowly engulfing his senses. Wolfram sometimes got like that - simply wanted affection. It was no wonder that Wolfram needed that, especially now.

 

“Kyota…?” Wolfram muttered after several minutes of calmness that had seeped through Kyota's tender caresses.

 

“Umm?”

 

“I… I have given you an open invitation. Why didn't you…?” Wolfram exhaled deeply on Kyota's shirt. He felt the blue-haired boy shiver. All day Kyota…not ignored him, but there was some unusual reluctance in the older boy's actions towards him.

 

Kyota's hold on Wolfram tightened. “Oh, Wolfram…” Kyota sighed, putting his chin on Wolfram's head. “It would be okay if that were true, but… All you think about is Yuuri, isn't it? It would be okay if it were only a title - “fiancé” - but you…”

 

In exasperation, Wolfram nuzzled his face against Kyota's shirt. “Shut up! I don't want to hear his name anymore!”

 

Kyota stroked Wolfram's hair to calm the agitated prince down. “See? You don't act reasonably… I don't want to take advantage of you…”

 

“It's me, who is taking the advantage!” Wolfram snickered.

 

Kyota chuckled. “You think so?” His blue eyes darkened. His fingers still buried in the blonde's hair, he tugged at those strands to raise Wolfram's head. Kyota was met by two quite surprised emerald orbs. “You can take all advantage of me you wish,” he said to them seriously. The eyes widened, and Wolfram's face flushed with heat as Kyota leaned even closer to him. The green eyes closed at the contact on the lips.

 

He couldn't restrain himself anymore, not then when Wolfram started answering the kiss. It was… He had dreamt of that for a very long time, and now…

 

Wolfram grunted as instead of sitting position he suddenly found himself recumbent, his back against the mattress, Kyota's weight pressing him down. He didn't mind that. Kyota's fervent kisses and the heat from his body that was soaking right through his pajamas and into his skin was making him giddy.

 

Kyota pushed the annoying covers out of his way. Wolfram let a soft moan slip past his lips and into Kyota's mouth as the blue-haired boy's hand slid under the top of his pajamas to play with his left nipple. Hungrily, Kyota swallowed the moan and rolled the nub between his fingers again. The distraction let him slip his tongue past Wolfram's and into the blonde's mouth again.

 

Like always, Wolfram was a good kisser, only this time Wolfram seemed to be a bit more flustered and affected than usual, letting him gain more control. Wolfram wasn't exactly the submissive type. The blonde used to be the one to overwhelm his senses. He couldn't exactly say why he loved Wolfram, it simply was like that, but mostly he felt that he wanted Wolfram because Wolfram matched him well, because the two of them were the sides of the same coin, neither of them yielding to another, but perfectly supplementing each other. It hurt that Wolfram thought that exactly because of this fact he couldn't love him.

 

Their kisses grew more intense and passionate, wet smacking sounds echoing in the room, the buttons of Wolfram's pajamas now open, the cloth pushed aside.

 

Wolfram broke the kiss and turned his head to the side to catch his breath. Kyota purred, shifting lower to suck on the blonde's neck. In wonderment, he listened to the soft noises Wolfram was making in the back of his throat. Oh how Wolfram had been wrong… That flower he had left behind when he went to Delam didn't wither away, quite the opposite - in that time he was absent, it had blossomed, and the ripe fruit was ready to be plucked off.

 

Kyota felt Wolfram's fingers dig into his shoulders, Wolfram's other hand buried in his long hair, gripping on it, pulling him closer, silently asking for more. He released the prince's nipple to take a look at Wolfram's flushed face. Wolfram's eyes opened to give him a cloudy look then the blonde leaned to him to kiss him again.

 

Wolfram started tugging at Kyota's shirt, and he let the wide cloth be pushed off his shoulders. Wolfram leaned to him, and Kyota moaned when Wolfram's mouth and then tongue washed over the skin of his chest. Wolfram's initiative was approved, and Kyota's hands slid down over Wolfram's shoulders and to the small of his back to press them together.

 

Something in between approving moans and grunts were leaving Wolfram's mouth while he was sucking on the blonde's throat and neck. Wolfram's pale skin tasted wonderful, clean and young and charged with pheromones, and his mouth was watering with desire to bite and graze. He knew he was going to leave marks on Wolfram, but at the moment he didn't even care if Wolfram was going to be angry with him.

 

His breaths coming in short quick puffs, Kyota pressed Wolfram back to the mattress. His nails scrapping Wolfram's left side, he dragged his hand down Wolfram's waist until it met the resistance of the waistband.

 

“Wolfram…” he moaned, his hips rubbing against the bulge in Wolfram's pajamas. Kyota's hand slid down into the trousers as Wolfram raised his hips. He leaned a little back and, with a little difficulty, pushed them down Wolfram's thighs. Wolfram wasn't wearing the underwear under his pajamas.

 

Kyota had seen Wolfram naked before, but this was a completely different situation, and his mouth watered at the sight of Wolfram's arousal springing up. Wolfram jerked underneath Kyota as he took him in his hand. Gently, Kyota's fingers ran up over the length, his eyes fixated on the blonde to outwatch Wolfram's reactions and not to miss anything. Kyota absorbed the gasps and moans hungrily, his excitement growing and mounting up when Wolfram's fingers started to fidget with his trousers impatiently. He leaned a little away to help Wolfram out.

 

Eagerly, Wolfram unbuckled Kyota's trousers. His eyelids fluttered shut when Kyota came back to kissing him, their bodies moving and groins grinding against each other impatiently. It all was so… The hot body against his, between his legs, the passion… It was so familiar… So… Why couldn't Yuuri love him so much? Why was it…?

 

Wolfram's eyes shot open. What…what the hell was he doing?!

 

He pushed Kyota way and sat down abruptly. Panting, he pushed his shirt close to cover his chest and groin and held onto it with his hands that trembled so much that it seemed he was going to rip his pajamas. Fearfully, he raised his head up to look at Kyota's face. Kyota wasn't mad at him, it didn't appear so. The older boy was just watching him with those blue inscrutable eyes of his.

 

“I'm… I'm sorry, I…” Wolfram muttered, panicking. “Kyota, I…” He didn't know what he wanted to say, his head still in that aroused state but now restless in his anxiety. “I'm so sorry. I don't…” He fell silent as there a soft but sad smile that appeared on Kyota's face. And then he suddenly realized that Kyota had known that it…

 

Kyota shifted himself in his trousers to get more comfortable. He looked at Wolfram's panicking face and sighed, “See what I meant..? If it were that easy to simply throw oneself in the other's arms and forget the one you really love, I'd have forgotten you long ago… You are deluding yourself, Wolfram. You can take all the advantage of me you wish, but until you yourself are ready…” he just shrugged, not finishing. “Ah damn, Wolfram, you are so cute…” He reached out to take Wolfram's chin and raise his face to his. “Don't cry,” he started kissing the blonde's tears away, “he's not worth that…”

 

“It's not…that…” Wolfram hiccupped even louder then just clung to Kyota, crying. “I hate him! I hate him so much!”

 

Kyota stroked Wolfram's hair. “No, you love him,” he said.

 

XXXXX

 

Still half asleep, Yuuri, together with Yozak, climbed downstairs to have their breakfast. Yuuri wrapped himself tighter in his coat - it was cold. It had been raining the whole night long, the winds howling outside, tearing at the building. It was still drizzling, the weather gloomy and chilly.

 

They sat down at the free table they managed to find in the very corner of the tavern. Yuuri had expected the tavern to be half-empty after the yesterday's guests and celebrators disbanded each to his house, but it was still full. Although, Yuuri noticed that for some reason he couldn't see the same faces between the guests.

 

Yuuri groaned mentally as, just after Yozak had come back with their food, someone shouted Yozak's name, and, after raising his head and squinting forward, he saw Armano and Kadira take their plates and come to their table. He had already had enough of Yozak's friends earlier.

 

“Hey,” Armano plopped down next to Yozak, Kadira taking the seat next to Yuuri again.

 

“Hey,” Yozak yawned. “Changed your mind? I think you said you were going away early…”

 

Armano raised his surprised eyes to look at his friend. “Haven't you heard?”

 

“Heard what?” Alarmed, Yozak raised his head to look at Armano.

 

“The bridge to Goran is gone. Was just swept away by the rising river and storm this night. Until it's fixed, there's no way to cross the river. Unless you want to travel an additional thirty miles in such weather.”

 

Yuuri's appetite was gone in a second. “So you mean we are stuck here?”

 

“Yep,” Yozak nodded, digging in his fried eggs.

 

TBC