Chapter 3: Plans are made and carried out. Shori plays with fire. Wolfram realizes too late that Yuuri's brother is a total creep. (Tsk tsk, Shori. You know Wolfy isn't that easy.)

A/N: Conqueror now has a cracky spin-off, An Infectious Disease Called Love. It's ConYuu and takes place after this story…and this story isn't even done ^^; I got a request that there be no ConYuu, but I wrote that before I got the review, sorry! Just to clear things up, the main story will probably only have tiny hints of future ConYuu if you squint and look at it diagonally. Side-stories may focus more on that pairing because I'm a horrible ConYuu fangirl like that.

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They were having curry for dinner. It was delicious as always, but as Wolfram dug in, he felt a slight twinge of remorse that he probably didn't have the right to call her Mama anymore.

Although Wolfram didn't feel much like eating, he forced himself to finish his plate. With a grimace, he noticed that Yuuri was not having the same dilemma. Instead, the young king was asking for a second helping already! Miffed, Wolfram occupied himself with trying to appear as normal as possible.

When dinner was finished, Yuuri quietly asked his parents to sit down with them in the living room. Shori, sensing something important, tagged along as well. The tension was thick in the air. Wolfram could feel its cloying presence and he couldn't take it anymore. He didn't have the patience to beat around the bush and was about to speak when Yuuri beat him to it.

"Um…Mom, Dad, we – that is, Wolfram and I are no longer engaged."

Yuuri's proclamation was met with a stiff silence. His parents were understandably confused by the whole situation. Truthfully, Yuuri was still a bit confused by the entire engagement fiasco as well. It was an accident, then it was something more, and then…it was gone. Yuuri half expected Shori to burst out with something along the lines of, "Good, because you aren't getting married until you're 50!" but his older brother merely adjusted his glasses in a way that made it impossible to guess what he was thinking. Unexpectedly, it was his father who spoke first.

"Well, as long as you're both happy, so are we. Isn't that right, dear?"

"Of course!" Jennifer beamed, then wilted. "But… Does that mean I won't get to see Wolf-chan in a wedding dress?"

Yuuri chuckled weakly. Just as expected from his mother. He glanced over at Wolfram, fully intent on teasing him about his frilly nightwear, when he saw the Wolfram's eyes were shining with barely suppressed emotion.

Wolfram, meanwhile, was extremely moved. He reached out to clasp Jennifer's hand. "I promise. You will definitely see me in a wedding dress!"

"Oh, Wolf! You make Mama so happy!"

At this, Wolfram bit his lip worriedly. He tightened the hold on her hand. "Can I…still call you Mama?"

"Oh, Wolf!"

The two of them floated off together in what seemed like a shower of shojo manga sparkles and flowers. So…so dramatic! Yuuri twitched a bit. He was beginning to understand Gwendal more and more each day.

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Wolfram passed the next few days alternately spending time with Yuuri before their inevitable parting, and preparing for his new life with Shori. He explained his mission to them and asked Shori to be put in contact with Earth's Maou, only to be told that the current Maou was much closer to stepping down than he'd previously suspected.

When Wolfram expressed his concern over arriving in the middle of an important power shift, Shori brushed aside his anxiety with a cryptic response. "Don't worry. I'll help you settle in. After all, I'm sure I'll have a use for someone like you."

Several tearful goodbyes and a whole new wardrobe later, courtesy of Jennifer, Wolfram found himself dressed in an immaculately pressed suit as he and Shori boarded the plane together. He found his seat and glanced out the window, hoping to catch sight of his surrogate family. They were looking out of the large airport windows and seemed so far away. Wolfram doubted they could see him, but he managed to spot Yuuri's gentle, somewhat sad smile. He hadn't even left, and already he was homesick for Japan, not to mention Shin Makoku.

Wolfram snapped out of his reverie when he felt a nudge against his arm. It was Shori, handing over a small stack of paper bags. "I asked the stewardess for extra air-sickness bags," he said.

The blonde Mazoku blushed at the consideration and mumbled a thank you as the flying metal death-trap jiggled and lurched into the sky like an inebriated mechanical pelican. He further expressed his gratitude by not covering the other man in vomit.

Halfway through the flight, Wolfram's stomach had completely emptied itself and he was left staring dazedly ahead with a pounding headache and the occasional dry heaving. His opinion of Shori was gradually changing for the better, though. Wolfram hadn't often been in contact with him in the past, and his thoughts more or less ran along the lines of Shori being Yuuri's strangely overprotective older brother. The older sibling's obsession with Yuuri was understandable, since everyone was obsessed with Yuuri, but Wolfram admitted that it had been borderline inappropriate in some cases.

Now, however, Wolfram felt that he had underestimated his traveling companion. Gone was the shameless naked man dashing from the bathroom. In his place was the perfect gentleman. The soukoku sat next to him with his portable computer-thing open, quietly typing away. Occasionally, he would turn to Wolfram and softly ask if there was anything he could get for the Mazoku. He even helped Wolfram lean back and carefully covered him with the thin blanket found in the overhead compartment. This was how Wolfram spent the rest of the flight, being embarrassingly tended to by the new Maou.

"Ah, thank you for the hard work," Shori spoke into the phone. He snapped the machine closed and turned to Wolfram. "Rooms have been prepared for us in the corporate building. Luckily, certain quarters were built to accommodate residential living. Unless you have any objections, I thought we could stay there for the time being and save the trouble of having to commute each morning."

"No, not at all." Wolfram struggled to sit upright as the plane prepared to land. "Thank you for preparing everything, and for…for taking care of me, Shori Heika."

"Please, just Shori will do." He gave Wolfram a sparkling, confident smile.

The beautiful Mazoku was still blushing as they stepped out of the ninth circle of hell and back into the stable, unmoving world.

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Almost as soon as they arrived in Switzerland, Shori was called away to business meeting over the weekend. Their only glimpse of Bob had been when the older man approached them on the first day wearing an obnoxiously loud Hawaiian shirt instead of his usual suit, claiming to be taking the advice of the 26th Maou of Shin Makoku and going off on a carefree cruise, though perhaps minus the quest for love.

They barely had time to settle into their new surroundings when the call came from some of Bob's old business partners in the area, wanting to meet the successor. Shori assured Wolfram that this was just a standard meeting with humans, so Wolfram did not need to be present. In fact, it was better if he stayed within their headquarters for a while and continue to study the various human cultures of Earth.

Left to his own devices, Wolfram made a few excursions to the neighboring town where he was bombarded with shocked gasps, nosebleeds, and people fainting dead away from his beauty. All par for the course, really. His destination was usually the public library, where he had signed up for a membership using his new fake ID and would quickly grab a stack of books and return to his chambers in the large office building. After all, he couldn't read Earth languages yet, and he didn't want to use one of Anissina's strange devices in front of so many humans.

Wolfram was glad he had Anissina's Evil-Demon-Tongue-Shin-Makoku-to-Eight-Major-Earth-Languages-Pocket-Dictionary-kun. It looked like a handheld electronic dictionary, or possibly a really large and outdated cell phone, but in addition to manually looking up words, it could actually translate written text that was waved in front of it. The downfall was that the output came in the form of Anissina's scary voice blaring out the newly translated information.

Shori returned from his meeting and was finally able to relax and unpack all of his personal belongings. Wolfram looked on approvingly at the Maou's conduct. While the circumstances were different between the two worlds, the elder Shibuya brother willingly took on the responsibilities of his position without having to rely so heavily on his retainers. So far, he was doing his job admirably well.

They met to discuss their current situation and future plans, but toward the end of the conversation, Shori switched topics.

"I heard a strange rumor about a certain blonde beauty who has been seen going to the library every day this past weekend."

Wolfram coughed, then stuck his nose in the air and affected his most pompous tone. "Ahem! I am merely doing my duty. There is nothing strange about it."

"Have you by chance encountered the tale of 'Beauty and the Beast'?"

"No. Why?" Wolfram narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He didn't have the patience for beating around the bush. Shori's grin widened.

"You should look it up. They're calling you 'Belle' after the female protagonist."

"Perhaps I will."

Wolfram arrogantly sniffed, and Shori leaned in closer to him, invading his personal space until their breaths mingled. "I wonder…Who is your Beast?" The insufferable Maou suddenly let off with a wink, leaving Wolfram in a state of shock once again.

This surprising turn of events shook Wolfram. Were they…flirting, possibly? He knew very well that he and Yuuri were over, but his heart was on the mend and it was too soon to consider a relationship with anyone else, much less with the brother of his ex-fiancé. Inappropriate didn't even begin to cover it.

But Wolfram felt the pull of this Maou's charisma as well. No one could resist Yuuri for long because he was just so damn cute, and although Shori didn't have his younger brother's natural charm, they shared an inner strength that Wolfram found very attractive. It didn't help that he was feeling a slow physical burn in the pit of his stomach whenever they came in close contact. This was something he'd never experienced with Yuuri, who was too innocent to be thought of in such a sensual way.

Wolfram was determined to confront Shori about stopping their unsuitable interactions. As they settled into a comfortable routine, however, he found himself putting it off, thinking that the problem would resolve itself. A few weeks later, the noble was further horrified to find himself responding to the flirtatious advances. This had to stop, for both their sakes.

It was with this thought in mind that Wolfram approached the Maou's rooms after they had retired for the evening. He paused before the simple wooden door, nervous about the upcoming confrontation. He knocked.

"Come in," came the muffled response.

Wolfram twisted the doorknob and slowly pushed open the barrier between them. He was greeted with the sight of a dimly lit room, fairly clean and organized, and with nothing out of the ordinary. The man he had come to see, however, was hunched over a bright screen, engrossed in some sort of game. Wolfram's curiosity got the better of him and he approached, quietly leaning over the other man's shoulder at the scene that had captured all of his attention.

"W-w-what is this?! Why is there a picture of me in this…this com-pu-ta thing? More importantly, why am I portrayed as a woman of loose morals?!"

"Ah, yes. That would be Love Hospital's spirited Nurse Ookami, who treats her patients with ancient sexual healing arts." Shori didn't bat an eye. How could he say such things with that serious face? Wolfram blanched. It was then that he noticed the desk was piled with game cases, each showing a disturbingly familiar seductive woman.

"And…that one?" he pointed to another Wolfram doppelganger in a skimpy pink swimsuit.

"That would be Bikini Paradise 3."

"There…there are three of them."

"Four. I haven't had time to pick up a copy of the latest one."

Wolfram gulped, and his fingers and eyebrows started twitching like mad. If he wasn't careful, Shori's aggravating behavior would give him wrinkles like Gwendal's. "And the girl?"

"She's really my type, you know." Shori's glasses gleamed menacingly and Wolfram was suddenly wary of the new Maou's knowing smirk, which was much too much like Daikenja's when he was scheming. Wolfram did not like it when Daikenja was scheming, because Daikenja's schemes were Shinou's schemes, and Shinou's schemes tended to end in Wolfram literally losing his heart. He narrowed his eyes and said nothing.

"Sakura-chan is very strong, aggressive, tomboyish, and very, very sexy." The young Maou's voice dropped to a deep purr as he leaned in from behind Wolfram. "In fact, she rather reminds me of…you!"

He pounced.

Wolfram screamed.

It was a manly scream, of course. It definitely did not sound at all like, "Eeeeeeee!!!" as Shori's large hands wrapped around his torso, skimming possessively over his chest while the man's lips brushed lightly over his neck and under his ear. The caresses also definitely did not feel good, and were not arousing in the slightest.

Wolfram was suddenly aware that he was squeaking and whimpering in an embarrassing fashion and his temper flared. "Raaaargh! Get off me, you brute!"

Like the well-trained soldier he was, Wolfram twisted to escape his attacker. His elbows collided with Shori's stomach and chin, respectively. The other man doubled over in pain with a muffled "Oof!" then fell over and curled up on his side, gasping. Wolfram got up and glared down at him.

"Hmph!" he smirked and flipped his hair.

"You're very…ah, ow…vivacious. I…like that in a man. Oh, shit that hurt!"

Let it be known that Shibuya Shori, ruthless businessman, Demon King, was not very frightening when he had just had his ass handed to him by a blonde bombshell and was curled up on the floor, clutching his stomach like he had a bad case of the runs.