Title: The Trouble with Boyfriends
Pairings: Yuuri+Wolfram
Rating: R
Warnings: AU, Language, humor, sap/fluff, unbeta’d
Summary: Being a boyfriend becomes a hassle for Yuuri and so he comes to
a decision that might change things around...
Notes: Part 2 of 'Jagged Diamonds' one-shot universe.
Murata was having a perfectly good day. Ulrike, the temple priestess, had
finally allowed him to ask one of the girls out for a date…of sorts, and he was
looking forward to a weekend where he could pour on the charm and hopefully win
Akiko’s heart. No one could truly understand the sacrifices he had to make all
in the attempt to regain his memories as the Great Sage. For crying out loud,
spending countless hours in the presence of pretty women could take its toll on
a young handsome devil like himself.
He snickered at his private joke and stuffed some more fries into his mouth,
before allowing himself to come back to earth from his daydream. He stared at
his morose looking friend, whose chin rested on the table. His eyes were closed
(as if asleep), shoulders slumped and an all but visible cloud of doom over his
head. The boy hadn’t even touched his food. Murata thought it was a terrible
waste.
“What’s the problem now, Shibuya?” he asked, slurping noisily on his milkshake.
“You look like the world’s about to end any minute.”
For a moment, he thought he wasn’t going to be answered, until long lashes
opened slowly to reveal dark eyes that were full of weariness. “Huh?” came the
groggy reply.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t get any sleep last night,” Murata said, leaning
forward with eyes sparkling with mischief. “So you and Wolfram have finally
done it?”
Spots of color filled Yuuri’s cheeks and he sat up quickly while shaking his
head in denial. “That’s not it…”
“Then what is it? I thought you’d be over the moon at having Wolfram for a boyfriend
by now.”
“Well…that’s the problem,” Yuuri muttered, rubbing a hand over his eyes. His
shoulders slumped again and he lowered his gaze. “I don’t know if I can do this
boyfriend thing anymore.”
Murata, who had been ready to dig into his burger, gawked at this new piece of
information. He knew that Yuuri and Wolfram had been ‘together’ for about two
months now. He had assumed that Yuuri was satisfied in the relationship since
it seemed like Wolfram definitely was.
“You want to break up with him?” he finally asked slowly, placing down his
burger and watching Yuuri’s features carefully.
Yuuri looked uncomfortable at the direct question and shifted restlessly on his
seat. He fiddled with the saltshaker and did his best to look at anywhere but
Murata’s face. Perhaps knowing that his friend had been someone of high status
in his previous life made the situation all the more difficult. How could he
look Murata in the eye and tell him that it was his plan to do just that?
“I don’t…I mean, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be friends anymore but I just
don’t think that being too intimate…”
“What does this intimacy consist of?” Murata asked warily. “You guys haven’t
done anything more than kissing…mmphff!”
“Don’t talk so loud!” Yuuri hissed quickly, still having his hand over Murata’s
mouth. He darted a nervous glance around, hoping that no one else had caught
that. He met the bemused and yet slightly irritated look in his friend’s eyes
and removed his hand, sinking back into his seat with a heavy sigh. “Don’t look
at me like that.”
“Why shouldn’t I?” Murata asked, his voice now a little tight and almost cold.
Yuuri shivered. “You can’t just toy with his feelings you know. If you weren’t
interested in him that way, you should have said so from the beginning.”
“How was I to know?” Yuuri replied, now feeling a bit angry himself. What did
Murata know about anything anyway? He wasn’t the one having to question his
sexuality on a daily basis. It was true that he found himself attracted to
Wolfram but he just wasn’t ready for a committed relationship yet. He was only
seventeen for crying out loud! There were lots of other relationships he could
explore…mostly of the female persuasion and knowing that he was already tied
down with Wolfram seemed like a boulder attached to his shoulders.
“I’m not saying I hate him,” he added quickly, when all he received was a cool
glance from Murata. “I’m just saying that maybe we should take some time
apart…get to meet other people and stuff…”
“Hmph.”
Yuuri rolled his eyes. “Some help you are.” He rose to his feet and slammed the
baseball hat over his head to hide his eyes from view. “I’m leaving. I’ll see
you later.”
“Just don’t jump into rash decisions, Shibuya,” Murata said quietly. “I’d
suggest thinking about this a bit more.”
“Thanks, but I’ve given it more than enough thought,” Yuuri replied with a wan
smile. “I’ll just have to find a way to tell him without hurting his feelings.”
And both knew that it would be the most difficult part of all.
Conrad whistled in appreciation as he watched the ball take off for the
heavens. He smiled warmly at his younger brother and tipped his hat in
salutation, holding up a hand to accept the hi-five given to him.
“That was another good one, Wolfram,” he said, watching the blond tip his head
back to pour the bottle of cold water all over his hair and face. “Fifteen
homeruns in the space of an hour, not too bad.”
“Sixteen,” Wolfram corrected with a smirk as he sat up and stretched out his
arms. He could feel a dull cramp around his shoulders and had to stifle a yelp
of surprise as he felt Conrad’s strong hands upon them, massaging the aching
muscles gently. He gave his older brother a small smile of gratitude. Come to
think of it, the smiles were coming more often these days and both knew the
reason why.
Wolfram struggled to hide the flush he felt creeping up his neck and coughed
lightly. “Thanks for coming to practice with me today.”
“It’s no problem,” Conrad said, fingers working towards Wolfram’s neck. He
listened to the low moan of pleasure his brother gave and knew he was doing a
good job. “It’s just a pity Yuuri couldn’t come. What was his reason again?”
Wolfram’s jaw tightened a little as he remembered the conversation he had with
Yuuri earlier in the day.
“I just thought it would be a good idea for us to practice together. Gwendal
said it’s okay for us to use the training pen at the stadium. So…wanna come?”
“Uum…not today, Wolfram…”
“Why not?! You promised we’d practice together today!”
“Don’t raise your voice…I just can’t make it today, that’s all. I’ll do it some
other day, okay?”
“…is there something you’re not telling me, Yuuri?”
“Wh…what do you mean?”
“I mean, you’re acting as if you’re hiding something. If you don’t want to come
with me, just say so.”
“No, no! It’s not that, I’ve just got lots of school work to catch up with and
all…”
“Then let me come over and help you. We’ll be done in no time…”
“Don’t! I mean…it’s cool. I can do it on my own. You just go practice and have
fun, okay? I’ll come with you next time, I promise.”
“All right…I’ll let it go for now. I…Iloveyou.”
“…I know.”
“….won’t you say it back to me?”
“I…you know I do, so why do I have to say it?”
“But you always used to say it before. So why not now?!”
“Quit nagging like a girl, Wolfram! Damn…I’m…I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
“Good bye, Yuuri.”
Conrad must have felt the sudden change in his brother’s mood for his hands
slowed in their movement. “Is everything all right, Wolfram?”
Is everything all right? Even he had to wonder about that. The past few weeks
had been ‘odd’ with Yuuri, to say the least. Whenever he called, the
conversations were stilted and not very lively, despite Wolfram’s attempts to
draw Yuuri into them. Whenever he went to Yuuri’s school to wait for him afterwards,
so they could walk home together, he always got the news that Yuuri had already
left. Yuuri refused to have a cell phone, for reasons beyond Wolfram’s
comprehension, so calling him when he wasn’t home was out of the question.
Perhaps the novelty of being in love had worn off for the Maou. That had to be
the only logical explanation for why he was acting this coldly towards Wolfram.
“Conrad…” he began quietly, his gaze lowered to the grass beneath his feet.
“Have you ever…fallen out of love with someone before? I mean…does it wear out?
You just get tired of it all?”
“Hmm…well, I guess it does happen sometimes,” came the soft reply as he gazed
at the golden locks below him with a sad look in his eyes. He had the feeling
that things might not be going so well in the relationship with Yuuri. “I think
that couples…when they feel they’ve exhausted all possibilities, tend to break
apart over time. They might still be good friends, just not…in love anymore.”
“Ah…I see…”
Wolfram’s shoulders seemed to slump and Conrad thought quickly. “I wouldn’t
worry too much about it, Wolfram. You’ve got to understand that all of this is
a bit too sudden for Yuuri and maybe he just needs some time to really think
about it…”
“Hello?! It was sudden for me too!” Wolfram retorted. “You think I wanted to be
in love with him?!”
“Ah, perhaps not…”
“Shit. If I knew the idiot would be this weak-kneed, I would have found someone
else a long time ago.” He rose to his feet and turned to pin determined green
eyes on his brother. “I’m going to let him know that he can’t dump me first. If
anyone’s going to be dumping anyone, it’s me! Damn bastard thought he could
call me a girl too. I’ll show him. Give me your cell phone, please. I’ve got a
phone call to make.”
Yuuri chewed, or perhaps gnawed would have been a better word, at the pencil,
mind racing as he struggled to find the answer to the question before him. He
hadn’t been lying to Wolfram about having a lot of homework to catch up with.
However, it was just another excuse he had thought up to avoid being with the
blond today.
“Oh God,” he groaned and lay his head on the table. His vision was blurred for
a moment – thanks to staring at his math problem for almost five minutes
straight – before it settled on the picture stuck to one of his folders. It was
a small sticker photo of he and Wolfram taken in a photo booth a month ago.
They had laughed and made the most ridiculous faces then and on this particular
shot, Wolfram was kissing him on cheek and Yuuri could see how flushed and yet
happy he looked at the surprise act. It had turned out to be his favorite,
hence it’s position on his desk, where he could look at it anytime he wanted
to.
He wondered if he was being fair to Wolfram by acting this way. He hadn’t even
given the other guy a chance to hear his reason for being like this and he was
pushing Wolfram away with each passing day. He peeled off the photo and drew it
closer to him, a trembling finger caressing the blond’s features gently. He
could still smell the sweet almost honey-like scent that seemed to follow
Wolfram around. He could still feel the sensation of those full lips he had
kissed several times before against his skin and he flushed, his stomach
lurching into a nervous flip flop at the memory of their last real ‘make-out’.
It was after they had seen an action movie and Yuuri had bought some ice cream
for Wolfram afterwards. A smile came to his face as he remembered how Wolfram
had tried to…well…wolf down the sweet treat and had ended up having some all
around his mouth. Knowing it was definitely not the Maou in control that time,
Yuuri had leaned forward to lick it all away – gently, teasingly, his lips had
danced around his partner’s until Wolfram couldn’t take it anymore. Needless to
say, the kiss had been hot enough to melt the ice creams right off their cones
and if it wasn’t for a cop stopping them at the time, goodness knows that hands
would have been in pants within…
“Yuu-chan?!”
A loud knock on the door jerked him from his naughty thoughts and he sat up quickly,
pulling his oversized t-shirt over his now bulging erection. “Mom?”
“Phone call from Wolf-chan!” She grinned and thrust the cordless phone at him
which he accepted with a weak smile. Oh, crap. Now what?
Waiting until his mother was gone, he took a deep breath and began as normally
as he could. “Hello? Wolf…?”
“Just to let you know, Yuuri, I’ve decided to break up with you.”
The world spun for a moment and Yuuri had to sit down or he was sure he’d fall
to the floor in disbelief. “Wh…what?!”
“You heard me, you chicken! It’s over!”
“But…but why?! If you’re still upset over me calling you a girl…”
“Among other things. It’s clear you were never the one for me.”
“Wolfram?! What the hell are you talking about?!”
“Don’t play coy with me, Shibuya Yuuri. From today onward, don’t bother calling
me or asking about me because I won’t be here, got it? To me, you’re as good as
dead. Oh crap…I’ll have to see you during training…but all the same, do not
speak to me, understood?”
The world was definitely spinning out of control. “Wait…wait a minute…Wolfram
you can’t break up with me…I haven’t…!”
“Good bye Yuuri and I mean it this time.”
“Wolfram! Wait!”
But the monotonous sound of the dial tone was his only companion. “Goddamn it!”
he flung the phone away in frustration and without thinking twice about his
decision, he reached for his jacket and all but ran out of the house.
“Where’re you going to Yuu-chan?!” Jennifer asked in bewilderment. “It’s
raining and you’ll catch a cold! Aww…and I was going to serve my curried rice
tonight too.”
Break up with me? Break up with me?! What the hell is he talking about?! He
can’t do that! He just can’t!
Oh? And you can? Came the mocking voice within him as he ran through the
pouring rain towards the train station. You were planning to break up with
him, weren’t you? Hurts to think that you got dumped first, right? Now, you’re
getting a taste of your own medicine, Shibuya.
And what a bitter taste it was. He stopped running and slumped weakly against a
lamp post, ignoring his drenched clothes and the cold that was beginning to
seep into his body…into his heart. He moaned and fell to his haunches, covering
his face and hoping he could imagine the events of the evening hadn’t taken
place. Yes, he’d go back to his house, give Wolfram a call and straighten
things out with him. It wasn’t too late.
However,
“I’m sorry, Yuuri but Wolfram can’t come to the phone right now. I’ll give him
a message if you’d like.”
“No, you don’t understand, Conrad. I have to speak to him! He…he…” He
slammed a fist against the glass pane of the phone booth in frustration.
“Please just put him on the phone.”
“I’ll try, but I make no promises.”
It seemed like eternity went by and Yuuri was almost at his wits end when
Conrad returned. “Sorry, Yuuri. He’s being stubborn as usual. Is there a
message you’d like me to…”
“Yes, there is. Tell him, he’s not breaking up with me, alright?! Tell him it’s
not over between us!”
“But…you’ve been avoiding him, haven’t you? What’s he supposed to think,
Yuuri?”
“I…” He sighed heavily and leaned his head against the cool pane, staring
blindly at the streaks of rain that coated his haven for now. “I made a
mistake…I just…just let him give me a chance to apologize, that’s all. I was
just confused and I wanted some time to think and…”
“Pushing him away wasn’t the answer,” Conrad replied quietly. “Talk to him. I
know Wolfram can be pushy but you’re the first person he’s really cared for and
although he doesn’t show it, he’s always worried about making you happy. To think
you didn’t want him anymore…he took it a bit hard. So you’re going to have to
do something pretty drastic to get his attention again.”
“Something…drastic…”
Conrad chuckled. “Good luck.” And hung up the phone, leaving Yuuri lost in his
thoughts.
By Monday morning, Wolfram was beginning to think that his plan was going a bit
too well. He hadn’t heard from Yuuri all weekend. Of course he told himself
that he had expected it from the wimp after all, but it still didn’t lessen the
hurt. To think that Yuuri would only call him once and then forget all about
him…damn him!
He stared morosely at the sticker photo of him and Yuuri on the inner cover of
his binder, fingers reaching out to caress the picture gently. It was the
picture where Yuuri had kissed his cheek, in ‘retaliation’ at Wolfram’s earlier
surprise ‘attack’. He could still remember how they laughed and how much fun
they had on that day and how Yuuri had said…
“OY! WOLFRAM!!”
He sat up straight in his chair, eyes widening in confusion as the loud voice
filtered through the window again. He was sure he had been imagining it, but he
noticed that several classmates were beginning to look outside as well.
“WOLFRAM!” came the undeniable voice again. “I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE! COME OUT,
WOLFRAM!”
That…that…idiot!
He tried to slide down his chair, perhaps wishing he could be invisible but a
classmate nudged him with a laugh. “Looks like someone wants you, von
Bielefeld.”
“Oy!” Someone else said, “Looks like security’s about to cater him off.” By
now, all of his classmates were at the window and Wolfram couldn’t ignore it
any longer.
“WOLFRAM! OUCH! DON’T DRAG ME SO ROUGHLY! WOLFRAAM!! I’M NOT GIVING UP ON YOU!
YOU HEAR ME! HEY! STOP IT!”
Wolfram felt his heart skip a beat and a sudden rush of blood to his head. He
rose to his feet quickly and shoved the students out of the way, a smile coming
to his lips as he watched his partner being dragged away by two security
officers.
“WOLFRAAAM!” Yuuri bellowed again. They were almost to the gates now and
knowing this would be the only opportunity he’d have, Wolfram finally opened
his mouth to give his response.
Yuuri suffered the curious and amused glances that came his way, but stubbornly
he refused to budge from his perch outside the Private School’s gate. He knew
they were all whispering and talking about him, but he didn’t care. He would
wait until…
“Just what the hell’s wrong with you?”
He looked up as the shadow fell over him, a warm smile coming to his face as he
rose to his feet. “I wanted to wait for you.”
“Idi…you moron.” Wolfram snorted in mock derision and turned away, his
footsteps quickening as he tried not to show his flushed features. “I can’t
believe you did that today.”
“I can’t believe you called me a wimp in front of everyone.”
“Well, what did you want me to say?! You can’t just come barging into my school
like that.”
“I had to do something drastic.”
“What?”
“Conrad said I had to something drastic and that was all I could come up with.”
Wolfram stopped and stared at his sheepish looking companion with mixtures of
disbelief, amusement and warmth. “And coming to my school to scream like a
deranged man was the plan, huh?” He shook his head and began to walk away
again, when he was stopped by Yuuri’s firm hand upon his wrist.
“What is it?” he asked, his voice a bit breathless as he stared into the
darkened look in Yuuri’s eyes.
“I really meant what I said back there,” Yuuri replied thickly, raising
Wolfram’s hand slowly to place a tender kiss upon it. He seemed to ignore the
fact that they were still in public or that even more curious glances were
coming their way. Just looking into Wolfram’s reddened face was more than
enough for him. “I’ll try to be a better boyfriend. I promise.”
He smiled, a beautiful motion of lips that took Wolfram’s breath away. He
couldn’t even trust himself to speak for fear he’d sound like a stuttering
fool. Thankfully, it seemed as if he wouldn’t have to because…
“Well now! Isn’t this a cozy scene?!” Murata threw his arms around the two
boys’ shoulders and grinned happily at them.
“Murata! Where did you come from?” Yuuri asked, now flustered at being caught
in a rather intimate moment.
“What is he? Your shadow?” Wolfram growled, trying to shake off Murata’s arm.
“No, no, not his shadow,” came the amiable reply. “Just a caring friend. Now
then, curious and inquisitive minds want to know. When do you boys finally get
to go all the way, hmm?”
“MURATA!!” came the twin cries of embarrassment, as Murata danced away from the
glares he received, ducking neatly from getting clobbered by Wolfram’s book
bag.
“Your friend is impossible,” Wolfram muttered.
“Yeah…he’s all right. A bit on the perverted side but…”
They looked at each other – a brief but heated exchange as Murata’s teasing
words seemed to hang between them like an invisible thread – and turned away
quickly when the enormity of the situation sank in.
“I…I had better get going,” Wolfram sputtered, reaching for his bag, now unable
to meet Yuuri’s eyes anymore. “I’ll see you later.”
“Aa…o…okay…”
Yuuri remained rooted to the spot as he watched Wolfram run across the street.
His heartbeat was a wild staccato in his chest, and his stomach was now filled
with a million butterflies. He gripped the strap of his school bag tightly and
tried to gather moisture in his mouth, knowing now that it was only a matter of
time.
Someday Wolfram, he vowed silently. Someday, I’ll really have to make
you mine.