[Story] Feelings in Fall

[dark_rebellion]

[Story] Feelings in Fall

With the arrival of October, the weather had begun to get much cooler as autumn slowly set in. The leaves on the trees were turning golden and falling off, littering the streets and people had started to wear light jackets while out and about.
Wishing to enjoy some time outside in the autumnal evening, Yuya and Yuto had decided to go out to Maiami Park for a walk, taking with them En, the family corgi and Bolt, Yuto's Ancient Gear Beast that was in it's disguise as a regular dog, albeit with one mechanical leg.

Once finding a nice area in the park with some open grass, Yuya began throwing a ball for the dogs to chase and catch. Bolt was the one that managed to catch it most of the time, as En's little corgi legs weren't really able to match Bolt's speed, but it didn't stop En trying to get the ball each time.

"Hey, Yuto! You want to throw the ball next?"

After getting no response, Yuya looked towards his brother, who was smiling and looking down at his D-Pad that was in his hands, seemingly oblivious to Yuya's question.
Walking over, Yuya waved his hand in front of Yuto's face to get his attention.

"Heey! Earth to Yuto!"

This brought Yuto's attention off the D-Pad as he glanced up at Yuya.

"Oh. Sorry. Ruri just sent me a picture of some birds she fed today."

Yuto showed Yuya the screen of his D-Pad, which displayed a photo Ruri had taken earlier that day of the most cutest, smallest, roundest pair of birds that were eating seed from her hand.

"Actually, maybe we should send a picture in response." Yuto pondered out loud. "Yuya, pick up En for a moment."

Yuya did as Yuto said and scooped up the corgi in his arms, he then followed Yuto's direction as he ushered them, himself and Bolt into position for a selfie, something he'd never even seen Yuto do before.
He wasn't really a 'taking selfies' kind of person usually.

Once he'd taken the photo, he sent it over to Ruri with the message 'Out with Yuya and the dogs". He smiled at it for a moment, even more so when Ruri replied with a heart emoji.
He was looking at the messages fondly for a while before he sensed someone watching him. Glancing up, he saw that Yuya was looking at him with a huge smug smile on his face.

"...what?"

"You know... you and Ruri have gotten a lot closer since the stuff that happened last year."

"Ah... well..." he stuttered as he tried to come up with a response. "I promised her back then that I wouldn't close off from people again, so we've just been talking more since."

"A LOT more, if you ask me."

"Yuya..."
The warning tone was clear in Yuto's voice that he didn't want to be teased about it, which Yuya picked up on.

"I'm not even teasing you, I'm being serious! You're sending cute pictures to each other, you just took a selfie with me that you never do and you're smiling like crazy.
Just ask her out!"

"Yuya! It's not...!"

He was going to argue back, but he stopped and realized there was no point in denying anything. Giving up, he gave out a sigh and sat down on a nearby bench.

"...I've been thinking about it."

Yuya moved over and sat down on the bench beside his brother, allowing En to jump down to the floor. The smaller dog was quick to approach Bolt and the two began play chasing each other nearby.

"So... why haven't you?"

"Ah... well..." Yuto stumbled over his words a little. "... at first it was because of Shun. I didn't want to overstep any boundaries while he was being overprotective of her, though, he's thankfully a little less so now.
But, then my mental health hadn't been great, especially after my breakdown last year... and then I got Bolt and I just wanted to see how things panned out with that. I just...
... I just wanted to make sure I was in a good place."

"And...?"

"And, well..." Yuto glanced over to where En and Bolt were playing with each other, chasing each other around. "... things were rocky with Bolt for a while. I was scared to be around him and having him around really triggered me, but I realized recently that... I'm not scared of him anymore. I feel comfortable and safe around him and I've even found him to be a comfort on bad days."

Yuya smiled at his brother. "So, you feel like you're in a better place mentally now?"

Yuto nodded. "Yeah. Things with Bolt are working out and I've been feeling a lot better recently. I just...
... I just don't know how to go about things."

Yuya gave his brother a lop-sided smile as he watched him rub his head a little in frustration. It reminded him a little on when he was confused about his own feelings for Yuzu years ago and how, at first, he wasn't sure how to approach it.

"Well, let's start simple!" Yuya suggested. "I want you to tell me what you like about her."

"What I like? Well... she's warm and kind and despite what we went through in that previous life, I always remember how she held onto that belief that dueling should be fun. I admired her greatly for that.
And she just...
It's like she lights up whatever darkness I might be in the moment she's around."

As he listened to Yuto's words, Yuya noticed a change in his brother's demeanour. Always one to keep most feelings to himself, carrying that stoic attitude where ever he went, this had melted away momentarily, to give way to a genuine, warm smile as he awkwardly talked about Ruri and how she made him feel.

"Then tell her that!"

Yuto gave out a sigh and eventually nodded in agreement that he really needed to tell her something about how he felt.

"I've been thinking of talking to Shun first. Just to let him know about my feelings for Ruri and that I intend to ask her out. I just hope he'll be okay with it."

Yuya felt a little bewildered and somewhat amused that Yuto seemed to think that Shun still had no clue about his crush on Ruri, when it had been so obvious to everyone else.
With that, Yuya placed a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"I know he can over-react a little when it comes to Ruri, but I'm sure it'll be fine! After all, he's okay with you spending time with just her now and then, right? He's your friend and he trusts you with her."

Yuto felt reassured with his brother's words to him, giving him a grateful smile.

"Thanks, Yuya."

Smiling back, Yuya gave Yuto a light, playful punch to his arm.

"No problem."

As they looked up and over at the dogs, they laughed a little when they saw that, somehow, they'd found a sizeable tree branch which they were now happily, and awkwardly, trying to carry together.

Somehow, they were going to have to convince them to drop it before they got home.