The Consummate Oath
part threeWhen Shibuya Shoma came home from work, most of the occupants of his home were finished with their meal. The topic of conversation around the table had gone from the weather to baseball to Greta’s schooling to Christmas; Miko demanded Greta celebrate the holiday in Japan with her as she planned out matching costumes for a party over a month away. Yuri remained mostly silent through the meal. His attention piqued as he saw his father enter the home, though. He pushed his chair back from the table so he could rise if needed as the older mazoku looked at his family in surprise.
“Yu-chan, you’re home.”
Yuri nodded, his anxiousness coming across in the jerkiness of his actions. “I just got back a little while ago. You remember Wolfram.” He gestured to the seat beside him where his blonde lover inclined his head.
Shoma nodded in greeting to his guest. “I take it you won’t be staying long, then, if you’ve brought your friends with you.”
“Uma-chan, this is Greta-chan! She’s Yu-chan’s daughter!” Miko exclaimed in joy, voice rising in pitch. “Isn’t she adorable?”
Shoma blinked at the young girl, his face paling considerably. “Yu-chan...you....”
“Adopted,” Yuri added, frowning slightly. First Shori and now his father. Perhaps Wolfram had spoken a little too often of him being a cheater. It seemed his own family was more than willing to accept him as a man of loose morals. “But my daughter none the less; Shibuya Greta.”
Greta blushed and bowed her head respectfully to the older man. “I’m very pleased to meet you, grandfather.”
Shoma smiled a little and patted her head affectionately. “A very adorable young girl indeed.” He sat down at the table as his wife served him his dinner.
His own meal done, Shori left the table and proceeded back to his room. Wolfram followed him with his eyes a moment, trying to gauge if the time was right.
“Ah! Mama-san, that was delicious!” Murata chimed, pushing back from the table as well. “I wish my mom was as good a cook as you are.”
Miko put her hands to her cheeks, tossing her head from side to side with embarrassment. “Aw, thank you, Ken-chan! You’re such a sweet boy! You must come over and visit me more.”
“Yes, I promise I will.” Murata stood up, clearing his spot at the table before crossing to the door. “Shibuya, you’re taking Greta sight seeing tomorrow, right?”
Yuri blinked out of a daze and looked over at him. “Oh. Yeah, probably, if the weather’s nicer.”
“I’m sure Mama-san would love to pick out a cute raincoat and matching boots for her. Don’t let the weather hold you back.”
There was no need for the king to respond. Miko was instantly on her feet, her hand holding Greta’s. “Blue!” she exclaimed. “Oh, but maybe green? Or pink? We have to hurry before the shops close! Come, Greta-chan!”
“Honey?” Shoma could only watch as hallucinations of his day’s wages trailed behind his excited wife as she gathered umbrellas and rushed out with Greta in hand.
“Make sure you hold her hand in the stores! And look both ways at cross wal--ouch!” Yuri jumped in his seat as his thigh was pinched and looked pitifully at his fiancé.
“You’re doing it again,” Wolfram said simply.
Yuri sighed but understood as the door closed behind Murata and the two happy girls. He turned to his father, who seemed occupied with his food. Too much so, which could only mean one thing to Yuri. “Ah...Wolfram? Would you mind leaving me and my dad alone for a while?”
“Not at all.” Wolfram stood, pleased to find a moment to deal with his own business on Earth. “I’ll be in your room if you need me.”
Yuri nodded, smiling thankfully as he watched him retreat. With him went his security, though. He took a deep breath, trying to puts things in order in his mind once more before trying to speak.
“You’re very young to have a daughter,” His father said, breaking the ice. “I know you’re the Maou and all, but being a father is an entirely different responsibility. Not only do you have to provide for her financially but you have to make time to be there with her.”
“I know, dad. I think I do pretty well, though. And she’s old enough to understand why I’m not there sometimes.” He was pleased his father had been the first to speak. The topic was easy for him to go on about. “She knows I have an important job and she is very supportive of me. I couldn't ask for a better child than her.”
Shoma nodded slowly, drinking from his soup. “It’s just her and Wolfram this time, is it?”
“Yeah. Conrad, and well some others I’m sure too, they would have liked to have come along, but I asked for it to be a private matter. I don’t need our best government minds accompanying me home,” Yuri explained, the nervousness creeping up on him again.
“Just Wolfram.”
“He’s my fiancé. He wouldn’t stay behind if I begged. “ The king tried to find some humor to get past the situation, to make his father smile off handedly and make the conversation less weighty. “I wanted him to come, though. Him and Greta.”
“Still your fiancé, is he?”
“Officially.” Yuri nodded.
Shoma’s smile was broad and proud. “I thought as much when I saw the two of you sitting there. Is that what the thing on your arm is supposed to signify?”
Yuri placed his hand over the leather lacing. “It just happened to be what was in my pocket when I formally proposed. I wish it was something more dignified and elaborate looking, but he won’t accept anything but what I offered him on my knees.” He blushed slightly, embarrassed by his own sentimentality. “There’s no date set or anything, though. I guess it sounds sort of...selfish, but we’ve sort of settled on waiting till there’s some sort of crisis in Shin Makoku to actually marry.”
“Crisis?” His father looked at him with concern. “Is everything alright?”
“Oh, no, everything’s fine!” Yuri waved his arms exaggeratedly. “We’ve got some flooding problems right now, but nothing on a grand scale. I meant, since Wolfram and I are comfortable being as we are outside of marriage, we’d only actually marry to sort of give the country something to celebrate, something to take their minds off whatever was troubling us. We’re heading towards a golden age of prosperity, Gunter says. A royal wedding right now would be a nice thing for everyone to talk and think about but it’d be better for the kingdom as a whole if news like that came at a darker time.”
Shoma nodded a little though his frown still remained. “It makes sense but it just doesn’t seem right.”
“It was Gwendel’s idea and neither Wolfram nor myself doubt him when it comes to the welfare of the kingdom. Like I said, we’re secure in our relationship. We don’t personally need the wedding to feel any more like a family.” Yuri smiled at his father, trying to make him more confident in his decision. “I know maybe it’s not the most romantic wedding plan, but I don’t think that will make it any less wonderful when the time comes.”
His father nodded again, downing the rest of his soup. “I suppose being king, there are a lot of things you have to work around between your personal life and duty.”
Yuri tensed and paused before giving an affirmative gesture. “Yeah. That’s...actually something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Oh?” Shoma put down his bowl and looked curiously at his son, whose head was bowed slightly, bangs clouding his eyes.
“You see, dad....” Yuri swallowed. “I have a daughter. And I’m going to be someone’s husband. And on top of that even I’m a king. I have all these responsibilities now and....”
“And you want some fatherly advice.”
“No.” He shook his head, unable to look up. “That’s not it. See, everything I have, I have in Shin Makoku. And as a father, husband and king, I have a responsibility to the people of Shin Makoku. But until now, I’ve been trying to live two separate lives and be the Maou only when I have to and just Shibuya Yuri when I’m here. I’m not going to be summoned back here anymore, though. It’s up to me to make the decisions on when I can and can’t come back to Earth.”
The room was quiet. Yuri continued.
“My job is that of the Maou, so it doesn’t make sense for me to worry about going to school here so I can get a good paying career as a salary man. I have lectures from Gunter about the history of my new world and I have to learn to read and write in that language still. If my job isn’t on Earth, though, where I settle with my family can’t be either. And if my career and my family are all in Shin Makoku, that’s where I need to spend most of my time too.” He took a deep breath. “I brought Greta this time because I wanted you both to see with your own eyes that I’ve got roots in Shin Makoku now. She deserves to spend time with her father. I wanted you both to just meet her, too, because she’s a part of this family even if you aren’t with her as much as Wolfram’s side is. You all deserved to meet each other finally.”
Shoma nodded, a grim expression on his face. “In other words, you’re not coming back anymore.”
Yuri shook his head. “Not often. I wouldn’t be much of a man if I fell back on my duties just to visit my old home and parents.”
His father leaned back in his chair, stretching slightly. “Your mother’s going to be very unhappy, Yu-chan.”
“I can’t tell her....” He bit his lip, trying not to picture his mother’s tears. “I don’t want to make her sad, but you both can’t come live in Shin Makoku and leave Shori here. Besides...you’d have to worry about the ageing differences in my world. That’s not fair to either of you.” He shook his head. “I’m sixteen now. I’m an adult. All adults move away from home eventually. I’m just moving a lot further away than most.”
“You talk like a man, at least,” Shoma noted. “I’ll be there when you tell her, but I won’t do it for you.”
Yuri bowed his head. “Thank you.”
His father nodded, pushing away from the table. “I’m proud of you, Yuri. If it were me, I don’t know what kind of decisions I would have been able to make given the circumstances. I can see why they made you their king.”
Yuri smiled a little, but the stress still remained. “Thanks, Dad. I’ll tell mom tomorrow when you’re home from work.”
“I guess I should remember to bring home flowers for her to soften the blow.” Shoma looked at his son for a moment then placed a hand on his head. “She was right, I guess. I spent so much time at the office, I missed out on my sons.”
Yuri winced, the weight on his shoulders growing as his father’s hand left his head and the older man retreated to his room to change.
Yuri sat at the empty table for a minute, face in his hands, before trudging up the stairs to his room.