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Yuri was waiting. He had been walking around, no particular destination in mind, until he saw a glimpse of the familiar blue hair walk inside the school. Byleth was strange; He never treated Yuri as an outsider no matter how much he probably should have. Yuri stands up just a little taller as he enters the building, eyes scanning for the man, who he found almost instantly. Byleth’s back was turned to him, a stack of papers in his hands which he almost dropped when Yuri tapped him on his shoulder.
“Oh! Hi, Yuri. You scared me.”
“I can tell. Was it my frightening good looks? Or maybe it was my strength that took you by surprise?” Yuri asks, leaning his shoulder against the wall. Byleth tried suppressing a smile, but it failed. Yuri laughed. “It was both, wasn’t it! I can’t believe they still shock you to this day.”
“I just can’t get used to them,” Byleth replies, shaking his head. That’s what Yuri liked about him - he could joke around with him better than anyone else. “Did you need something?”
But he was always business as usual. Yuri shrugs, biting the side of his cheek. He could see the look of concern on Byleth’s face, but he tried to ignore it. Sure, he was busier than normal now, and yeah, he was trying to deal with Aelfric and the Ashen Wolves and still stay true to himself, but that didn’t mean anyone should be concerned about him.
“Yeah, I did actually. Let’s not deny there’s a connection between us,” Yuri felt bad for using both Byleth’s affection towards him and his own as a way to change the subject, but it had to be done. To protect them both. “How about you and me have ourselves a little date?”
“A-a date? What are you talking about?” Byleth questions, his eyes wide. “Are you serious?”
“Of course I am. How about we meet in the mausoleum tonight after midnight?”
“After midnight...Uhm, I guess I could do that. You aren’t trying to play a joke on me, are you? Because if you are, I am going to kick your ass.”
Yuri laughs, shaking his head, and just for a moment he feels at peace. If he could stand here talking with Byleth for the rest of his life, he would. But he couldn't. Because the world wasn’t kind to people like him. The world had plans filled with pain and struggle, and they had hired Aelfric to make sure it happened. “Yes, Byleth. I’m serious. I’ll meet you there, Professor.”
Yuri walks off, pausing only to throw a wink over his shoulder at the man whose face was burning red. As soon as Yuri leaves the building, the smile is wiped off of his face. He had business to attend to, and he could see the black and red robes of Aelfric disappear behind a stone wall in the direction of the tunnels. He takes a step to follow the man, knowing that is what he has to do not only for himself, but for Rhea, but he hesitates.
He had lied to Byleth about something he wanted. Byleth would go to the mausoleum at midnight, his hair and robes perfect, to be met with darkness and silence. Yuri would be busy helping Aelfric prepare for the Rite of Rising. Byleth would be hurt but would pretend that nothing was wrong, as if he hadn’t gone to the mausoleum at all. And Yuri would pretend that he hadn’t run back up the tunnels to the mausoleum after Aelfric let him go only to be hours too late. Their friendship would never be the same.
He shakes his head, dispelling the thoughts. He had no time for this. He quickly goes down the stoney path, following the familiar twists and turns to the tunnels. The walk is uneventful, Aelfric being long gone by the time he had decided to follow him. The tunnels under the mausoleum were a different story. Aelfric was waiting below, his face set in a frown. His eyebrows knit together once he sees Yuri.
“I’m glad you finally decided to join me. You didn’t forget what we were supposed to do tonight, did you?”
“Of course I didn’t.” He had. Tonight was the night Aelfric wanted to complete the Rite. ‘I have everything I need,’ he had told Yuri. ‘Why waste time?’ Yuri attempts to walk past him further down the tunnel but Aelfric grabs a hold of his upper arm tightly. Yuri lets out a wince, staring at Aelfric. His face seems to morph into pure anger and then back to his normal, stoney expression within a second, but it was just long enough for Yuri to get scared.
“I saw you talking with Byleth. You didn’t tell him anything, did you? Because if you did, it would be a shame if something were to happen to him.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“It’s not a threat if you haven’t done anything wrong, Yuri. I care for you, and Byleth, but if we want the Rite to work, we have to cover all of our bases. Now, let’s go. Midnight is coming soon, and we need to be ready. The four are already in the mausoleum. We don’t have much to prepare now.”
The rest of the walk was done in silence. Yuri was sweating, whether that be from nerves or the closeness of the other man in the small tunnel, he couldn’t tell you. Rhea knew about the plans, but he hoped she would get there in time to stop him.
Aelfric stepped out of the tunnel first, taking a second to look around the building before fully going inside, making way for Yuri. The three Ashen Wolves were tied up in the back of the building, clearly having been there for a bit. They each gave Yuri a look of contempt which he tried hard to ignore. He had to help Aelfric kidnap them. It was the only way to gain his trust.
Balthus, Constance, and Hapi had their hands tied behind their backs, as well as their ankles tied together.
“You won't get away with this,” Balthus spits at Aelfric, choosing to ignore the younger man. Aelfric doesn't acknowledge anyone around him. He walks over to Sitri’s body, which looks as if the woman was asleep. Yuri shivers. Byleths mom had died in childbirth, nearly 21 years ago. Yet here she was. Yuri stayed put in his spot. He had to stop him. But how?
“Alright, then. The Chalice is behind the pillar. Grab it for me, Yuri,” Aelfric demands, not turning his attention away from Sitri. Yuri walks the few feet and grabs the Chalice, surprised at just how heavy it was. He holds it out to Aelfric who stands, turning around to face Yuri. Before Yuri can protest, Aelfric has taken a hold of his arm, grabbed a knife from his robe, and cut a long line into his flesh. Yuri cried out in pain and struggled against his grip to no avail. Aelfric put his knife back in the pocket it had been held in and held the Chalice under the blood which was beginning to flow quickly.
“What are you doing?” Yuri asks, yanking his arm away after Aelfric had loosened his grip. Aelfric didn’t answer him. He simply walked over to Balthus, who was beginning to yell obscenities at him, and repeated the process. Yuri watched as he did the same to both Constance and Hapi, who put up more of a fight than the rest of them had. Still, Aelfric had the upper hand, and he filled the Chalice with their blood.
“We are one step closer, Yuri. I will finally see her again.” He places the cup into Sitris' hand.
“Not if we have anything to say about it, Aelfric. Step away from the Chalice.” Yuri’s head turns towards the mausoleum doors to see Byleth, followed closely by Dimitri, Claude, and Edelgard. Byleth sees Yuri, his face full of anger. Yuri knew that some of that was for him. For lying. For helping Aelfric try and resurrect the mother he had never met. To Byleth, it didn’t matter that Yuri had been working closely with Rhea, who had just burst into the mausoleum and had begun talking to Aelfric, desperately trying to talk him down. It was a betrayal nonetheless.
After a lengthy battle with Aelfric, who had completed the ritual and had fused with Sitri due to the Chalice, and a swift punch in the face from Balthus for lying to them all, the group had won. Yuri had explained himself and apologized, coming close to begging for forgiveness; he hadn’t expected the group to forgive him as quickly as they had. Everyone except Byleth, that is. Yuri ran after him, calling his name. Byleth continued to walk, only stopping when Yuri had caught up and ran in front of him.
“Byleth, I’m so-”
“Don’t, Yuri. You lied to me. You could have told me what was happening with Aelfric and you could have saved me the embarrassment.”
“It wasn’t a lie. I do want to go on a date with you. Really,” Byleth looks at him, not fully convinced. Yuri couldn’t blame him. “I know you hate me for this, and I understand, I do. But it had to happen this way. Trust me, if I could have told you everything from the start I would have, but I couldn’t. I had to lie to you. But my feelings for you? Those weren’t lies. I couldn’t lie about that, not to you.”
“Fine. I forgive you, I guess. But you owe me an actual date, you understand? Thursday, noon, here. Got it?” Byleth raises an eyebrow at Yuri, who nods. He closes his eyes, taking a deep breath, before wrapping his arms around him. “I’m glad you’re okay.” Just as quickly as he had hugged Yuri, he pulled away, walking off into the night, surely going to finish the assignments he had to grade.
The days leading up to the date were ones of anxiety. The Ashen Wolves, now without Aelfric to help, had begun to take up more and more of Yuri's time. He and Byleth talked in passing, or on the very rare occasion that they had lunch at the same time, but it wasn’t enough for Yuri. Each moment he was away from Byleth, he was thinking about the date. About what they would talk about, what they would do, about how it would end.
Thursday morning came quickly, and Yuri found himself anxiously waiting for noon to come. All he wanted to do was go to the mausoleum and see Byleth and have a date. A date; Yuri still couldn't believe he was ACTUALLY going on a date with him! 11:30 rolls around and he begins his walk to the mausoleum, nervously drumming his fingers on his thigh. Just before he enters the doors to the mausoleum, he gets stopped by Rhea. There was a monster in one of the other buildings, and they needed all hands on deck. Byleth was there, alreading fighting, when Yuri arrived, and they shot each other an apologetic look.
After the monster was defeated, Yuri and Byleth agreed to meet tomorrow. And after that date was interrupted by another mission given to Yuri from Rhea, the next day. And the next, and the next. Six separate dates had been cancelled by both Yuri and Byleth due to a new mission, or papers that needed grading, or just a bad time for one of them.
Yuri sat in bed, his eyes closed, half asleep, when he heard a knock at his door. He stands up slowly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, expecting to see Claude at his door with a new problem. What he didn’t expect to see, however, was Byleth standing there with a bottle of wine in his hand, a picnic basket in the other.
“What the hell? Byleth, what are you doing here?”
“Well, since our last six dates have been cancelled, I figured we just needed to stop planning them and just do them. So, here I am. Are you hungry?” Yuri laughed, nodding his head. He stepped to the side, opening the door a bit more for him to come inside. He was beginning to regret not cleaning his room up the night before like he had planned, but Byleth ignored it, going into the sitting room and placing the basket and wine on the ground.
“You know, this is probably the stupidest yet more romantic date I’ve ever been on.” Yuri says, sitting down opposite of Byleth, who tilts his head as he opens the basket, pulling out two glasses.
“I’ll take that as a compliment. Yuri, I really am glad to be doing this with you. When you asked me to meet you at the mausoleum that night, I was… I was hoping it wasn't a joke. When I found out from Rhea that you needed help with Aelfric, I felt wronged. Like you had lied to me, or tricked me somehow, but deep down, I knew you hadn’t. I have a hard time talking about my feelings; you of all people should know that, but you make the idea a little more bearable.”
Yuri watches Byleth pour the wine into the bottle as he talks, a smile on his lips. Everything he did was elegant, thoughtful. He had purpose behind every movement, something he didn’t see much of anymore. The two talked for hours, eating the sandwiches that Byleth had made, and nearly finishing the wine between the two of them.
Yuri grabs a hold of Byleth’s hand mid sentence, causing him to stop. They looked into each other's eyes, and Yuri decided he had to start moving with purpose, too. So he did. He leaned in, connecting his lips with Byleth’s gently, waiting for him to do something, anything. He was half expecting Byleth to pull back angrily, or slap him, or even call him names. But none of that happened. He simply kissed back.
After a few moments like that, Yuri pulled away, his face bright red. Byleth stared at him, a large smile plastered on his face. He tried to scowl, to stop the excitement he felt from bubbling up, but he failed.
“So…”
“So...What do we do from here?” Yuri asks, looking down at his hands nervously. He was normally so confident - he could flirt circles around anyone, but now it was serious. He wanted something to come from his flirting, and if it didn't, he wasn’t sure he would be able to handle it.
“I think we should start figuring out our next date.” The two of them smile at each other, and they stayed where they were on the floor the rest of the night, Yuri’s head in the crook of Byleths shoulder, Byleth’s arm wrapped around Yuri's small frame. In the morning, they both agreed; that was the most peaceful night they had in a very long time.