[fic] I Walk With You
Title: I Walk With You
Fandom: Kyou Kara Maou
Pairing: ConradxYuuri
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: KKM belongs to wonderful people who are not me.
Notes: Post season 2. 4th in the Kingdom of Shy series, previous parts can be found here.
I Walk With You
Jozak settled himself down on the slope of a grassy hill overlooking Shin Makoku’s baseball field, unwrapping his lunch. Today was a peaceful day in the Blood Pledge Castle, and while peaceful did not equate to quiet or boring here, it usually meant that the Maou had a relatively lax day.
On days such as this, after the king finished his lunch he came to the field. Sometimes enough people joined in and a full-fledged game could be played, but more often than not only Conrad accompanied him, and the two would play catch.
Today, however, Yuuri wandered down from the castle alone. He had no gloves, bat, or baseballs with him. Jozak watched as the young king walked toward the pitchers mound, hands deep in his pockets. Once he’d reached that spot he sat down, staring toward home plate as he pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. From this distance Jozak couldn’t clearly see Yuuri’s expression, but it was clear from the slump of his shoulders that the Maou was far from his usual cheerful self.
Jozak had, of course, heard the rumors flying around Blood Pledge Castle - he'd be willing to bet everyone in the castle had heard by now - that Yuuri had broken his engagement to Wolfram. There were numerous whispered speculations as to why Yuuri had done it (a fight, an affair, Yuuri’s other world), but Jozak knew that the real answer was much simpler than that. Of course, seeing the two interacting firsthand on a regular basis gave him an advantage over most of the speculators.
His thoughts were interrupted by another figure trekking across the ball field. Yuuri straightened as Conrad neared him, uncurling from his ball-like position when the older man kneeled before him.
Yuuri never did like formalities where Conrad was concerned, Jozak reminded himself with a smile. While everyone save Wolfram tended to slip into the formalities of royalty, some more than others, Conrad was the only one that Yuuri had ever chastised for it, to Jozak’s recollection. The young king was currently gesturing in Conrad’s direction in obvious disapproval. Conrad stood, holding a hand out to help Yuuri to do the same. The Maou accepted, but as soon as he was upright he dropped the hand as if it had burned him and looked away.
It made Jozak wonder what had prompted this change between the two men. Where once there had been easy-going friendship, now there was uncertainty and awkwardness. Jozak knew that the engagement wouldn’t have lasted, but he thought that jeopardizing Yuuri’s closest friendship was an awfully high price for the king to pay for his freedom. “What made him do it?” he murmured aloud.
“From what I understand, Weller-kyou initiated it.”
Whipping around so fast that he felt a twinge in his neck, Jozak stared up at Murata. “Hi-Highness,” he stammered out, one hand reaching up to rub at the base of his skull. As the dark-haired boy sat down next to him, Jozak gathered his wits back to himself and replied, “What are you saying? That the captain... While bocchan was still engaged...?”
Murata shook his head. “You’ve misunderstood me. Nothing like that occurred. In fact, I doubt Weller-kyou has even confessed his feelings to Shibuya.” A small sigh revealed his impatience with the situation as he watched king and soldier speaking on the field below. “He did, however, kiss Shibuya. On this very ball field.”
Jozak gaped at Murata in disbelief. “He what?” He couldn’t believe that, that Conrad had finally given in to the feelings he’d been attempting to repress for so long that it seemed as much a part of him as his loyalty or his leadership abilities. It was just... inconceivable. “Do you have proof of this?”
Smiling at the obvious doubt in the question, Murata plucked a blade of grass from near his foot and held it between his thumbs, blowing on it to make a low whistling noise. Just as Jozak began to lose his patience and was about to repeat himself Murata let the grass flutter from his hand to the ground and answered, “I saw it.”
Try as he might, Jozak could find no words with which to reply. He knew Murata was telling the truth - why would he lie about such a thing? - but the situation seemed too unreal.
“I’d come to find Shibuya, because we'd decided a while back to return briefly to Earth around this time,” Murata continued, his voice somber now. Yozak glanced over at him and noticed a sad look in his eyes as he stared straight ahead. “Given what I happened upon, I backed away before I was noticed. I decided to wait a few days to give Shibuya time to deal with the repercussions, which apparently included breaking his engagement. But...” Standing up, Murata brushed himself off. “Unfortunately, we can't wait any longer.”
Jozak blinked up at Murata. “You’re taking him back to the other world? Now?” It was clear by looking down at Conrad and Yuuri that things were far from resolved between the two of them.
Shrugging one shoulder, Murata began walking down the grassy slope toward the infield. “It's not entirely up to me,” his voice carried back to the older man.
Rising to his feet as well, Jozak watched as the party of two grew to three, and for the first time he knew that Murata’s easy-going attitude was completely fake - a cover to keep his true feelings hidden. He watched as Murata slapped Yuuri on the back, a loud scream the only warning before both fell into a puddle leftover from the morning rain and disappeared. He watched as Conrad knelt beside the puddle and bowed his head.
Jozak was tired of watching.
He’d cleared half the distance between himself and Conrad before he became aware that he’d even moved. The realization nearly made him pause, but he pressed forward, stopping a few steps from where his best friend knelt. He said nothing, unwilling to break the silence that still hung heavy in the air.
“Jozak,” Conrad finally spoke, “have I made a mistake?”
“No,” he replied. “I don’t believe so.” When he thought about it, Jozak discovered that he truly found no fault with what Conrad had done. If he had confessed to Yuuri, it would have pressured the young king into reciprocating the gesture. Instead, Conrad had allowed Yuuri to make his own decision, and in the end Yuuri chose Conrad over Wolfram.
It kind of hurt, Jozak admitted to himself. He’d never had a claim on Conrad, he'd always known where the other man's heart truly belonged, but despite that he felt a hot, sharp sensation work its way up his chest to form a lump in his throat. Swallowing hard, Jozak choked back the feeling and whispered, barely audible, “You did the right thing.”
If Conrad found anything odd about the answer, he didn’t let it show. He got to his feet and nodded. “I’m going to inform Günter that they’ve gone back to Japan.”
As he watched his best friend walk away, Jozak bit his tongue to keep from calling after him. He found, in that moment, that he sympathized with Wolfram just a bit - letting go was a very hard thing to do.
Still, Conrad was his trusted captain and his best friend, and Jozak would not allow his personal feelings to complicate the already-awkward situation - in the end it would achieve nothing and bring more problems to the forefront. No, he vowed to remain silent and continue to be a source of support and advice for him no matter what problems lay ahead.
~ ~ ~
Notes:
It was both amusing and difficult to write this while listening to MorikawaXSakurai BL. ^_^
Jozak having unrequited feelings isn't exactly where I thought I'd end up here. Heh. How did that happen? But my more pressing issue now is, where the hell am I going from here? I couldn't be buggered to figure that out yet. Hopefully part 5 doesn't take as long as 4 did...
Translations:
Maou: Demon King
-kyou: as a suffix, roughly the eqivalent of the title "sir" or "lord"
bocchan: "young master", one of Josak's pet names for Yuuri
Fandom: Kyou Kara Maou
Pairing: ConradxYuuri
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: KKM belongs to wonderful people who are not me.
Notes: Post season 2. 4th in the Kingdom of Shy series, previous parts can be found here.
I Walk With You
Jozak settled himself down on the slope of a grassy hill overlooking Shin Makoku’s baseball field, unwrapping his lunch. Today was a peaceful day in the Blood Pledge Castle, and while peaceful did not equate to quiet or boring here, it usually meant that the Maou had a relatively lax day.
On days such as this, after the king finished his lunch he came to the field. Sometimes enough people joined in and a full-fledged game could be played, but more often than not only Conrad accompanied him, and the two would play catch.
Today, however, Yuuri wandered down from the castle alone. He had no gloves, bat, or baseballs with him. Jozak watched as the young king walked toward the pitchers mound, hands deep in his pockets. Once he’d reached that spot he sat down, staring toward home plate as he pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. From this distance Jozak couldn’t clearly see Yuuri’s expression, but it was clear from the slump of his shoulders that the Maou was far from his usual cheerful self.
Jozak had, of course, heard the rumors flying around Blood Pledge Castle - he'd be willing to bet everyone in the castle had heard by now - that Yuuri had broken his engagement to Wolfram. There were numerous whispered speculations as to why Yuuri had done it (a fight, an affair, Yuuri’s other world), but Jozak knew that the real answer was much simpler than that. Of course, seeing the two interacting firsthand on a regular basis gave him an advantage over most of the speculators.
His thoughts were interrupted by another figure trekking across the ball field. Yuuri straightened as Conrad neared him, uncurling from his ball-like position when the older man kneeled before him.
Yuuri never did like formalities where Conrad was concerned, Jozak reminded himself with a smile. While everyone save Wolfram tended to slip into the formalities of royalty, some more than others, Conrad was the only one that Yuuri had ever chastised for it, to Jozak’s recollection. The young king was currently gesturing in Conrad’s direction in obvious disapproval. Conrad stood, holding a hand out to help Yuuri to do the same. The Maou accepted, but as soon as he was upright he dropped the hand as if it had burned him and looked away.
It made Jozak wonder what had prompted this change between the two men. Where once there had been easy-going friendship, now there was uncertainty and awkwardness. Jozak knew that the engagement wouldn’t have lasted, but he thought that jeopardizing Yuuri’s closest friendship was an awfully high price for the king to pay for his freedom. “What made him do it?” he murmured aloud.
“From what I understand, Weller-kyou initiated it.”
Whipping around so fast that he felt a twinge in his neck, Jozak stared up at Murata. “Hi-Highness,” he stammered out, one hand reaching up to rub at the base of his skull. As the dark-haired boy sat down next to him, Jozak gathered his wits back to himself and replied, “What are you saying? That the captain... While bocchan was still engaged...?”
Murata shook his head. “You’ve misunderstood me. Nothing like that occurred. In fact, I doubt Weller-kyou has even confessed his feelings to Shibuya.” A small sigh revealed his impatience with the situation as he watched king and soldier speaking on the field below. “He did, however, kiss Shibuya. On this very ball field.”
Jozak gaped at Murata in disbelief. “He what?” He couldn’t believe that, that Conrad had finally given in to the feelings he’d been attempting to repress for so long that it seemed as much a part of him as his loyalty or his leadership abilities. It was just... inconceivable. “Do you have proof of this?”
Smiling at the obvious doubt in the question, Murata plucked a blade of grass from near his foot and held it between his thumbs, blowing on it to make a low whistling noise. Just as Jozak began to lose his patience and was about to repeat himself Murata let the grass flutter from his hand to the ground and answered, “I saw it.”
Try as he might, Jozak could find no words with which to reply. He knew Murata was telling the truth - why would he lie about such a thing? - but the situation seemed too unreal.
“I’d come to find Shibuya, because we'd decided a while back to return briefly to Earth around this time,” Murata continued, his voice somber now. Yozak glanced over at him and noticed a sad look in his eyes as he stared straight ahead. “Given what I happened upon, I backed away before I was noticed. I decided to wait a few days to give Shibuya time to deal with the repercussions, which apparently included breaking his engagement. But...” Standing up, Murata brushed himself off. “Unfortunately, we can't wait any longer.”
Jozak blinked up at Murata. “You’re taking him back to the other world? Now?” It was clear by looking down at Conrad and Yuuri that things were far from resolved between the two of them.
Shrugging one shoulder, Murata began walking down the grassy slope toward the infield. “It's not entirely up to me,” his voice carried back to the older man.
Rising to his feet as well, Jozak watched as the party of two grew to three, and for the first time he knew that Murata’s easy-going attitude was completely fake - a cover to keep his true feelings hidden. He watched as Murata slapped Yuuri on the back, a loud scream the only warning before both fell into a puddle leftover from the morning rain and disappeared. He watched as Conrad knelt beside the puddle and bowed his head.
Jozak was tired of watching.
He’d cleared half the distance between himself and Conrad before he became aware that he’d even moved. The realization nearly made him pause, but he pressed forward, stopping a few steps from where his best friend knelt. He said nothing, unwilling to break the silence that still hung heavy in the air.
“Jozak,” Conrad finally spoke, “have I made a mistake?”
“No,” he replied. “I don’t believe so.” When he thought about it, Jozak discovered that he truly found no fault with what Conrad had done. If he had confessed to Yuuri, it would have pressured the young king into reciprocating the gesture. Instead, Conrad had allowed Yuuri to make his own decision, and in the end Yuuri chose Conrad over Wolfram.
It kind of hurt, Jozak admitted to himself. He’d never had a claim on Conrad, he'd always known where the other man's heart truly belonged, but despite that he felt a hot, sharp sensation work its way up his chest to form a lump in his throat. Swallowing hard, Jozak choked back the feeling and whispered, barely audible, “You did the right thing.”
If Conrad found anything odd about the answer, he didn’t let it show. He got to his feet and nodded. “I’m going to inform Günter that they’ve gone back to Japan.”
As he watched his best friend walk away, Jozak bit his tongue to keep from calling after him. He found, in that moment, that he sympathized with Wolfram just a bit - letting go was a very hard thing to do.
Still, Conrad was his trusted captain and his best friend, and Jozak would not allow his personal feelings to complicate the already-awkward situation - in the end it would achieve nothing and bring more problems to the forefront. No, he vowed to remain silent and continue to be a source of support and advice for him no matter what problems lay ahead.
~ ~ ~
Notes:
It was both amusing and difficult to write this while listening to MorikawaXSakurai BL. ^_^
Jozak having unrequited feelings isn't exactly where I thought I'd end up here. Heh. How did that happen? But my more pressing issue now is, where the hell am I going from here? I couldn't be buggered to figure that out yet. Hopefully part 5 doesn't take as long as 4 did...
Translations:
Maou: Demon King
-kyou: as a suffix, roughly the eqivalent of the title "sir" or "lord"
bocchan: "young master", one of Josak's pet names for Yuuri