Practice

Part 1

"A heat cycle?"

The voice that rang out came from a teenage boy sitting in the middle of an office. His uniquely black hair and eyes earned him the nickname of "double-black" and his appearance signified him as the ruling king of The Great Demon Kingdom. His name was Yuuri Shibuya, the half-human half-demon who'd taken on the role as king for a little over a year.

The question was directed towards his tutor and adviser, Gunther. He was a beautiful demon with long silver hair and thin-rimmed spectacles. He was a sincere—if overenthusiastic and off-kilter—instructor to the young king.

Situated in the same room were three other male demons; half-brothers. Lord Gwendal von Voltaire, who had a stern personality (that would fit right at home with the Love Theme from The Godfather) and an earnest love for all things cute. Sir Conrart Weller, a warm and mature half-human half-demon who had indirectly given Yuuri his name. And Wolfram von Bielefeld, a boy who had the youthful appearance of a beautiful angel and the personality of an angry devil. Due to a misunderstanding of customs, he had unwittingly become the fiancé of Yuuri during their first meeting.

Incidentally, it was of Wolfram to whom the conversation pertained.

"Y-You're saying that because next month Wolf will turn 1000 months old, he's going to have a heat cycle? "

"Yes, that is correct," Gunther said.

"What is  that?" 

"To put it simply it is a period of time that typically lasts about a week, when a demon will feel intense urges and desires to mate." Yuuri gaped. Wolfram stared daggers at Gunther, who pointedly ignored him and continued on. "Due to our long lifespans, demons have evolved to develop these cycles in order for procreation to continue taking place. The first cycle starts at the age of 1000 months, and the next won't be for a long time. Therefore, I think it would be unwise for Wolfram to continue staying in your room—"

Hands slammed down on the table. "I can control myself!" Wolfram yelled, red-faced from humiliation. He couldn't believe they were even having a conversation about this.

"We know that Wolfram," Conrart patiently told his younger brother. "But it might be better to fall on the side of caution."

Wolfram scowled. "It seems unnecessary. You agree with me, right Yuuri?" he paused, realizing that the king wasn't listening. Yuuri was staring off into space, clearly lost in thought.

"Does this mean..." Yuuri's voice wavered a little as he spoke. "Does this mean that I'm also going to have heat cycles in the future?"

Everyone in the room froze.

"Half-demons do experience the cycles," Gunther said carefully, glancing at Conrart. He was out of his element here.

"Because half-demons develop at a faster pace, the heat cycles begin at a different age. Since Your Majesty turned seventeen not that long ago..." Conrart took out a piece of paper and began writing down some calculations. Yuuri absently told Conrart to call him by his given name. "Yuuri, your heat cycle would start on the first week of next month."

The crease between Gwendal's brows furrowed deeply. "They would be experiencing their heat cycles at the same time?"

"Yes," Conrart said slowly as the realization hit them all. "I suppose that makes sense, given that Yuuri and Wolfram are in a similar place developmentally."

Yuuri's head began to spin.

"Ahahaha Wolfram's right, we can handle ourselves! I mean, it's not like we're suddenly going to lose all of our reasoning and sensibility! Really, why don't we all just act like nothing's going to be different, okay?" He wasn't quite sure where he was going with this, but Yuuri had a strong need to pretend like the impending heat cycles were Not Going To Happen. Nope, no siree.