Yeah. This is really really really late. I decided to write a new year's piece after an idea occurred to me, but I just could not think of how to write it. It took me until now to finally realize what I wanted to portray. I do not know if Japan has the same style of New Year's celebrations as New York or anything, but for this story's sake let's pretend it does. I do not own Kyou Kara Maoh but wouldn't it be great if I did? I hope you all like this and albeit quite late, had a very happy new year!

Before They Reach Zero

"Yuuri, you really should invite him you know." Jennifer stated one evening while the family was sitting lazily on their couch watching television. An ad was airing about the huge New Year's celebration that was to be happening soon. Yuuri rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Mom, I told you, Wolfram doesn't like crowds or even people really. He would just spend the whole night hating everything." Yuuri retorted, envisioning the doom that would unfold if the blond was invited to one of the largest parties of the year. It would be so different from anything in Shin Makoku. The young king was unsure of how well his fiancé would act in such a large public scene.

"But it's New Years Yuuri! So many lights and colors! The people will be filling the streets! Music will flood out of the arena and everyone will be dancing!" Jennifer swayed back and forth with the rhythmic timing of her voice. She sounded far off in one of her dreamy states. Yuuri stared at his knees in horror.

"He would definitely hate it. People don't dance like that in Shin Makoku…he would probably try to waltz with me." Yuuri shook his head seeing the haughty prince looking down at all of the raunchy dancers on the streets.

"Trust me mom, it's a bad idea." Yuuri said pointedly.

"I think it is a fine idea." Wolfram said with finesse. Yuuri had just told the blond jokingly about his mother's crazy plan; he had been hoping that Wolfram would have sided with him. He should have known better.

"You do?" Yuuri asked incredulously.

"Yes, I do. We hardly spend time together as it is. Taking a mere two days off will cause no trouble here, and I would not mind getting to see your parents again." Wolfram was smiling now to himself. He had wanted to return to Earth since it had been nearly a year in Shin Makoku since he had.

"But Wolf, there will be literally thousands of people stuffed together like anchovies in a street screaming and yelling and dancing while loud music is blaring through the speakers." Yuuri whined. He had not really wanted to attend the New Year's celebrations on Earth anyways, but was now seeing that his attendance might be mandatory unless he convinced Wolfram otherwise.

"Dancing?" Wolfram inquired. "We will have to get you lessons again." The prince was already calculating what types of dance he would have to instruct Yuuri in. The young king's eyes widened.

"Uh Wolf. It's not the kind of dancing that you are used to. There aren't really couples, or structure, or anything like that." Yuuri stated. Wolfram looked confused, as he did about most Earthly things.

"Then, what is it like Yuuri?" Wolfram asked him, his interest now peeked. Yuuri sighed, his plans of not attending now fully thrown out. The double black thought for a moment, then a few moments more.

"Uhm…Earth dancing…" Yuuri thought a bit longer. Finally he arrived at what he thought might be a good description.

"It's like, flailing your arms, legs, and body around wildly while rolling your head back and forth." Yuuri finished. Wolfram blinked a few times, and then started laughing.

"Then what, foam at the mouth? Yuuri you just described a seizure." Wolfram continued laughing, and Yuuri punched him in the arm.

"I don't know how else to describe it." Yuuri said with a small laugh. Wolfram stifled his laughter and leaned back against the headboard of their bed.

"I suppose I shall see it when we go then." Wolfram concluded. Yuuri nodded with defeat. Although the young king was still not sure why, he really did not want to go to the party. It was as if he knew that something would go array. Not that it would particularly surprise him.

The boys arrived on Earth in the early afternoon so that they could spend some time with Yuuri's family before they stayed out that night. They were greeted by an ecstatic Jennifer and an embrace like a death grip. Yuuri struggled to get free, but Wolfram hugged the older woman back.

"Oh Wolf-chan! You haven't changed a bit!" Yuuri's mother smiled as she pulled the boy back to a shoulder width away, she pushed a small strand of hair behind the boy's ears, and then looked over to Yuuri, who was leaning against the wall near the kitchen.

"He is so handsome Yuuri, don't you think?" Jennifer asked him with a smile, Yuuri rolled his eyes.

"Of course mom." Yuuri replied to appease her. Wolfram blushed a few shades of red, then backed away from the older Woman, who was now headed towards Yuuri and inspecting him.

"You have grown again Yuuri!" She said sadly. Not wanting her little boy to grow up.

"Mom, you saw me yesterday, I don't think I have grown that much." Yuuri said with a chuckle. Jennifer nodded a bit, and then brightened the room with one of her happiest looks.

"I suppose I should start making dinner then shouldn't I? Why don't you two go out and enjoy the nice weather? It's surprisingly warm for a day in December. Just be back by seven alright?" The brunette woman walked into the kitchen leaving the boys alone.

Yuuri nodded and walked over to the coat rack on the wall, choosing one for himself, and giving his mother's to Wolfram since his father's and Shori's would not have fit the blonds' slender frame. Wolfram accepted it and slung it around his shoulders walked through the door that Yuuri was holding open for him. They walked down the road in silence for a while. The wind blew softly, but it was not a cold wind. The sun shone brightly down at the sidewalks and trees hung overhead without leaves. Cars were parked along the roadside and Wolfram would stop now and then to inspect one of them. Yuuri would then explain what its different features were and how they worked. Wolfram understood nothing about hydraulics, engines, or mechanics in general, so he just nodded most of his replies.

"Why is it blue?" Wolfram asked. Yuuri blinked, he had never really thought of it before.

"Because the person who owns it likes blue I guess." Yuuri replied, Wolfram nodded.

"What are the large columns sticking out from the path? They hold nothing up." Wolfram asked Yuuri, still fascinated with all of the things Earth had to offer.

"Light poles, they light the streets so that cars can drive at night."

"…and these?" Wolfram inquired while pointing at a parking meter. Yuuri had a hard time explaining that one since Wolfram thought it was a stupid concept, and that people should be able to park wherever they wanted without being charged. Yuuri laughed, but agreed as well.

They went on that way for quite a while, Wolfram asking about the mundane things that Yuuri had never really thought worth noticing before, and Yuuri explaining what their purposes were. After a while they fell into silence again. The double black was surprised at how quiet his counterpart could be when just hanging out. The blond looked at everything like it was a new wonder to him. Yuuri couldn't help but admit he was having fun window shopping with Wolfram since the blond seemed so fascinated by the smallest things.

They stopped in a toy store on Wolfram's request when he had seen the colorful objects in the windows.

"Yuuri, I recognize these! We have similar things in The Great Demon Kingdom." Wolfram said excitedly as he picked up a small wooden block in the shape of a triangle.

"I used to build castles with them when I was a child." Wolfram said with wonder, as if remembering a distant event. Yuuri smiled.

"I did too, but Shori used to 'trip' over them all of the time to make me cry." Wolfram laughed at the thought, then moved on to look at other things. Yuuri picked up a Yo-Yo and started playing with it while Wolfram was inspecting some play dough nearby. They ended up buying a bouncy ball, a kaleidoscope, the Yo-yo since Yuuri tangled the knot, and a finger trap because somehow they both had gotten one end stuck to their pointer fingers, and Yuuri forgot how they worked.

"How are we supposed to walk like this you wimp?" Wolfram said in a slightly agitated voice. They pulled and yanked on the trap, but it only tightened further. They boys had both put their right pointer finger into the trap, so walking side by side was quite a task. Yuuri had yet to figure out how to get it off and had long since given up. Wolfram was walking normally, while Yuuri was twisted awkwardly to face the same as the blond so he was not walking backwards. He was clumsy enough as it was.

"I'm sorry Wolf, I thought I remembered how to get them off. My mom should be able to help."

"If I had my sword I would just cut the damn contraption off." Wolfram spat. Yuuri quickly extinguished that idea.

"No! If you cut it off, the two halves of the trap will still stay on the fingers and we can never get them off!" Wolfram's eyes widened.

"Never? Damn it all! I will not be stuck to you like this forever Yuuri!" Wolfram said angrily. Yuuri raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you wanted to be stuck with me forever." Yuuri taunted playfully. Wolfram rolled his eyes.

"I do Yuuri, but not like this. Perhaps it would be less unbearable if it was on my left hand and we could walk side by side, but this is ridiculous." Wolfram said seriously. To make his point, he pulled on the trap and had the double black almost tripping over his own feet. Yuuri pouted to himself. He had wanted to get a better reaction out of the blond.

"Y'know? It is extremely hard to tease you when you never react." Yuuri stated. Wolfram rolled his eyes, but made a mental note to pay more attention to the tone of Yuuri's voice so as not to miss another opportunity. They arrived at the Shibuya house and Jennifer seemed to find their situation quite amusing.

"Mom do you know how to remove these?" Yuuri asked while removing his jacket from one shoulder and then realizing it was useless since his other was still attached to Wolfram, he put it back on. Jennifer blinked, and then laughed loudly.

"I can't help you guys; it is something you have to figure out on your own." She said mysteriously. Wolfram began to contemplate, and Yuuri groaned.

"Mom! Please do not make this into some life lesson. I just want my finger back!" Yuuri complained.

"Wait Yuuri. Perhaps it is like the story of the quarrelling brothers." Wolfram said, as if a light bulb had just sprung to life above his head.

"The what?" Yuuri said doubtfully.

"The quarrelling brothers." Wolfram reiterated, then continued. "The brothers fought for years against a spell that made them unable to face each other." Yuuri looked confused, Jennifer bounced up excitedly.

"Oh! Wolf-chan tell us the story!" She cried out. Wolfram nodded and sat down on the couch with Yuuri perched awkwardly next to him.

"Once there were two brothers who never could agree. After the death of their father the king they began to hate everything about each other for some reason unknown. Since both men suspected the other of treachery against the kingdom they never let their backs be turned for fear the other would kill them. When they grew older, and their hate grew stronger, they began to separate the kingdom and war with each other.

For years the meaningless battles dragged on destroying the lands. An elder spirit watched them from afar for quite some time until he decided to intervene. The two men were forced back to back and could not turn to face each other. They continued in their arguments for months until one day they realized they had nothing more to argue about. Both were innocent in their father's death, and they actually had quite a bit in common. They began to work together in order to solve their problems, both learning to make compromises and learning about each other along the way.

Eventually the boys longed to see each other, so they simply turned around. After that the curse was broken, and they embraced. The fighting stopped, and the wars ended. The brothers lived the rest of their lives in peace along with their kingdom." Wolfram concluded. Jennifer wiped teary eyes and muttered something about how beautiful the story was. Yuuri blinked a few times.

"I don't get it." He stated. Wolfram laughed lightly.

"Don't you see Yuuri? We have been trying so hard to pull apart, when all we needed to do…" Wolfram grabbed Yuuri's hand and pulled it towards his own, the trap loosened, and Wolfram removed his finger from the trap. Then he looked back up at Yuuri.

"…was get closer." Yuuri nodded in comprehension, but could not help but think that this story was meant to do a little more than just free their hands. There was a slightly awkward silence before Yuuri's mother sprung up and announced that dinner would be ready soon.

After eating the delicious, albeit redundant, meal of homemade curry they all decided it was time to get ready for the festivities. Yuuri got out a black T-Shirt and Jeans for himself, but he knew that Wolfram would want something a bit more fanciful. He gave the boy one of his blue T's with a black plaid over shirt along with a pair of dark blue jeans. The blond seemed satisfied and they both changed accordingly. Jennifer was dressed in a Kimono, and Wolfram seemed mystified by the outfit.

Shori and Yuuri's father got home later that evening. Shori was going to go with some girl he had met earlier that week, and the older man was excited to spend some time with his wife. Yuuri perked up inwardly when he realized that it would be just he and Wolfram together for this event.

They arrived in the middle of the chaos around 10 o'clock that night and Yuuri couldn't help but chuckle at the fearful look Wolfram had adorned at the sight of the crowd. Wolfram was nearly clinging to Yuuri's arm as the amount of people around them became more dense.

"There are so many people." Wolfram commented warily. Yuuri nodded.

"Just don't get lost. It would take hours to find you again in this crowd." Yuuri stated. Wolfram huffed.

"As if I would get lost, I'm just sure that you will use this crowd as a chance to ditch me and run of with some girl." Yuuri laughed at that. The way the blond boy's voice had sounded so angry, but with a hint of indecision that led him to believe that he might really be worried about Yuuri leaving him.

"I wouldn't do that. Although, it is tradition to kiss the first person you see on New Years to celebrate…Maybe I should ditch you." Yuuri said playfully. Wolfram's eyes widened and he looked to the ground in a dejected way. The double black had continued walking a few feet, then blinked when he heard no sarcastic response.

"Wolf?" Yuuri called as he turned around to see where he had gone. He blinked a few times when he realized that he could no longer see the other boy.

"Wolf!"

"Yuuri…That was mean to say. I know you did not mean it, but still. Ditching me in a place like this, where I have no experience with the people is not something to joke about." The blond said before looking up to see Yuuri nowhere in sight.

"Yuuri?" Wolfram said in a panicky voice while his eyes darted quickly around him.

"Shit! I lost him!" Yuuri said aloud as he walked back towards where he thought he had come from.

"Now he is going to think I really tried to ditch him. He is going to kill me!" Yuuri fought his way through the crowd looking for any sight of the young blond boy.

"This is Japan! You would think that finding someone blond would be easy!" Yuuri said in a frustrated tone as he collapsed on a bench near the street after about an hour of searching. Floods of people passed him by all looking jovial and excited about the celebration. The double black sighed when he caught sight of a couple walking hand in hand.

"Why didn't I just hang on to him? Or make a meeting point…or something?" Yuuri said reflecting on this stupidity. Wolfram was probably wandering around the city in desperate search for him. Suddenly a thought donned on him.

"Maybe he thought I was serious when I said I was going to ditch him and he got mad and ran away!" He figured that this could easily be the case since the boy had a nasty habit of jumping to the wrong conclusions. Yuuri then remembered that Wolfram could not tell when he was teasing him or not.

"Crap! This is all my fault. I should have just been nice to him like my mom said." Yuuri stood up and climbed up onto the bench looking for the blond amongst the thousands of people who were beginning to gather in the square for the final hour to count down. Yuuri sighed and walked in that direction as well still hoping to find the other boy before the people reached zero.

"Damn him! How dare he leave me like this!" Wolfram fumed as he forced his way through the dancing people around him. It was surprisingly like what Yuuri had described and the blond decided that he did not like Earth dancing. One man grabbed Wolfram's hips and began to push the boy close to him thinking he had just grabbed a girl. The blonds' eyes shot wide and he whirled around to face the other person, who blinked when he realized he had just grabbed a guy.

"Woah! Sorry man, I thought you were a chick." The man claimed, but the rage of Wolfram was already set ablaze.

"That gives you no right to touch me in that manner! Nor anyone for that matter you insolent cod!" Wolfram's haughty tone caused the other man to ball his fists.

"You wanna go shortie?" The man challenged. Wolfram narrowed his eyes and he reached for his nonexistent blade.

Damn…earth allows for no weapons huh? Look at this guy's smirk, has he no idea that I am the strongest magic wielder ever seen in the demon kingdom? Wolfram stood up proudly and raised his hands to waist hight before shouting out.

"Hear me all particles that dwell in flame! Come and obey this Mazoku warrior that controls you!" The blond thrust his hands into the air and a sudden silence came over the crowd. Wolfram blinked and looked up at the fire-less air above him.

"What a freak!" The dark haired man laughed. Others around him also began to laugh, and Wolfram turned a dark shade of red. Oh yeah…Magic does not work here either. The boy was humiliated, so he walked away towards the edge of the crowd and sat down on a bench in the middle of the park in the center of the city. People were gathering all around him, but still he caught no sight of his king.

"Where are you Yuuri?" He asked the air in a defeated way. All around him people had begun to count backwards. They were all staring above them at a large screen that displayed the Earth symbols as they repeated them. Wolfram stood and looked towards the screen and sighed. He could not help but think that Yuuri should be here next to him for this moment. He looked up when he saw a symbol he realized as ten. He knew this because Yuuri had taught him to count to this number in the Earthen language. It was almost the new year, and he was still alone.

Yuuri pushed through the crowd at an extremely determined rate. He had seen who he thought might be Wolfram walking towards the center of the city when he was looking out over another bench on the side of the road. He forced his way rudely though the crowd as they began counting from twenty and were quickly approaching zero. The double black knew he had to get to Wolfram and fast. The crowd was more thick as he continued on, but let none stop him although many people shouted at him as he pushed past.

10

Yuuri spotted Wolfram again staring up at the screen. He thought he should probably scream at him for wandering off.

9

He shouted the boy's name, but it was drowned out by the voices chanting around him. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

8

The double black bolted forwards pushing past a couple who was kissing a bit too early. Wolfram was looking up at the screen, a tear shining brightly with the colors of the flashing numbers.

7

"Damn it, I'm not going to make it in time!" Yuuri thought as he continued on.

6

Yuuri tripped, and landed hard on his hands scraping the palms a bit. He almost gave up right there had it not been for the sudden panic he felt when he looked back up at the blond who was now looking like was going to run away.

5

The king realized that Wolfram was probably thinking that Yuuri was off with some girl right about now. He pulled himself back up to his feet and continued on finally realizing what he had to do to let the blond know that he was never going to ditch him again..

4

The feelings were pushing up all around him as he looked at the blond who was staring sadly at the ground.

3

Yuuri slowed down as he stood behind the boy who until now he had never been so happy to see in his life.

2

He walked up behind the blond quietly and hovered his hands over the blonds' shoulders. Waiting for the right moment.

1

He yanked the boy back into a slight dip. The blond gasped and was about to fight his attacker off when he recognized the face.

"Yuu-"

0

The king leaned down and kissed the blond, who was startled at first, but wrapped his arms around the other's neck and pulled himself up to kiss him properly.

"Happy New Year!" Everyone around them shouted, but everything was silent for Yuuri and Wolfram. Yuuri never thought that in ten seconds, his life would take such a completely different route. He pulled away from the blond slightly, leaving his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"I thought you were not going to come." Wolfram said quietly. Yuuri rolled his eyes and pulled the blond in for an embrace.

"When are you going to learn to take a joke? I would never leave you." Yuuri said into the boy's ear. Wolfram smiled and laced his arms around the double black's back. For once in their lives, everything seemed to be going right.

Thank you all for reading! I hope you liked this story, because I know I had a great time writing it! Please leave me your thoughts, complaints, whines, life stories, excited comments, feelings, favorite colors, and anything else you might want to tell me in a review! I would love to hear anything!

LexieCasey