Hey, all! Here's my first go at a Yuma x Kotori fanfic. Enjoy!
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"Kotori, will you go to the dance with me? Um, or…how about…hey, Kotori, do you like to dance? Oh, that's no good! Maybe…Kotori! Dances are fun, right? Oh, I don't know!"
13 year old Yuma Tsukumo stood in front of the bathroom mirror rehearsing how he would ask his best friend Kotori to the school dance. Normally, Yuma wouldn't bother to attend such an event, but he felt it would be a good starting point to tell Kotori how he really felt about her. Like, that she was kind. And sweet. And helpful. And…pretty? Yes, she was very pretty. Sometimes Yuma would admire her from afar; he loved her soft green hair with that delicate pink ribbon, her beautiful hazel eyes. She gave him butterflies, and for while he didn't understand why. But he did now.
Yuma turn away from the mirror and sighed in defeat. He was just too stubborn and nervous!
"What is a 'dance'?" Astral suddenly asked. Yuma jumped upon hearing his voice. He was not aware the blue ghost had been standing there.
"It's when all the kids at school get together and, you know, dance!" Yuma explained matter-of-factly.
"But what does it mean to 'dance'?" Astral asked.
Yuma groaned in frustration. "It's when you move your body to the beat of a song."
"Ah," Astral said. "Like that time in your room when you started jumping around while playing that device you called a 'radio'?"
"Yes. And you thought I was having a seizure." Yuma frowned.
Astral chuckled lightly and nodded. "I remember. But what does Kotori have to do with this 'school dance'?"
Yuma began to walk back to his room, Astral floating along behind him as the two continued to talk.
"Well, usually when you go to school dance you have a 'date', which means you go with another person so that you can dance with them. It's supposed to be really special. That's why I want to go with Kotori."
Astral smiled to himself.
"Kotori is special to you?" He asked. Yuma noticed the playful tone in his voice.
"Yeah, she is." He responded defensively. "We've been friends, like, forever."
"Just friends?"
"Oh, shut up, Astral!" Yuma cried, slamming the door to his room and forgetting that Astral could merely walk right through it. Yuma grabbed his books and stuffed them into his bag, scurrying to put on his shoes as he made his way downstairs and off to school.
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"Good morning, Yuma!"
Yuma looked over as he heard Kotori's gentle voice calling for him. She was waving her arm to get his attention. He strode over to her and cleared his throat.
"Good morning to you, too, Kotori."
Kotori smiled and cocked her head.
"I was worried you were going to be late again! I didn't want you to get in trouble."
Yuma smiled and blushed. She was always thinking about him. "Don't worry, I was just…arguing with Astral." He shot a look to the spirit floating behind him.
"That's not true, Yuma. You were debating on whether or not to ask Kotori to the dance."
Yuma blushed madly and thanked the high heavens that Kotori couldn't hear Astral. She merely giggled as she only witnessed one side of the argument, Yuma shouting and shaking his fist at the seemingly invisible spirit. He was interrupted by the sound of the bell ringing.
"Shoot! Now we're going to be late! Sorry, Kotori." Yuma said sincerely.
Kotori shrugged. "Don't worry about it."Yuma cleared his throat again and took a deep breath.
"Can I, um, walk you to class?"
Kotori giggled. "We walk to class together everyday!"
Yuma chuckled sheepishly. "No, no. I mean…" He reached out to her, offering her his arm. Kotori's eyes widened a bit and she smiled, interlocking her left arm with his right. They began the long walk to their first class.
"Yuma, where is this coming from? You're not normally such a gentleman." Kotori said with a laugh.
Yuma once again heaved in a deep breath. He didn't want to ask Kotori to the dance in front of other people, so he knew it was now or never.
"Hey, about the dance this Friday. Are you going?" He asked.
Kotori turned to him. "I think so. Why, are you? I didn't think you were into that kind of stuff."
"I-I'm not, really, I just figured if you were going than maybe I could…I don't know, go with you, or something?"
"Like…be my date?" Kotori questioned jokingly.
"…Yeah," Yuma responded. "If that's okay."
Kotori pulled him to a stop. "Of course it's okay! I would love to go with you."
Yuma sighed with relief and grinned wildly. "Really? Okay, um, I'll come by your house around 6 o'clock on Friday and we'll walk there together."Kotori smiled and laughed lightly. "Okay! I can't wait!"
The two continued their walk to class. Yuma noticed that her grip on his arm became a little tighter. He finally felt ready to tell Kotori how he felt.
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Yuma struggled with the cuffs of his blue dress shirt. He hated dressing up, but it was mandatory for the dance. The black pants he wore were a smidge too long and overlapped his shiny black shoes.
"Ugh. I bet Kotori will run the other way when she sees me. I don't clean up too well, do I?"
Astral crossed his arms. "I see nothing wrong with your attire. Kotori is your friend; she will not care about what clothes you are wearing."
Yuma smiled. "You're right. Well, I better get moving so I can pick up Kotori. Are you staying or going, Astral?"
Astral tipped his head in thought. "I am curious to watch other humans 'dance'. I certainly hope their interpretations are nothing like yours."
Yuma stuck his tongue out at his friend. "Whatever! Come on, let's get going."
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Yuma nervously rung the doorbell to Kotori's house. He was able to get another deep breath in before Kotori's mother answered the door.
"Good evening, Mrs. Mizuki!" Yuma said politely.
"Yuma, dear! How are you, sweetheart? Kotori is just about ready. Would you like to come in?"
"No thank you, we're already running a little behind as it is."
Mrs. Mizuki smiled down at him, then quickly turned around as she heard her daughter approaching.
"Ah! Here she is now, Yuma."
Yuma gulped as Mrs. Mizuki moved aside so he could see Kotori. A flowing white dress hung to her knees, its thick straps draping her delicate shoulders. Little silver heels covered her feet and her toenails had been painted a dark red. The pink ribbon in her hair had been replaced with a white one to match her dress.
Yuma was awestruck by her beauty; she looked like an angel. Or at least what Yuma imagined an angel would look like. Kotori's mother wished the two of them a good time as she hugged her daughter. Kotori joined Yuma on the porch and stood in front of him with her hands behind her back, smiling. Yuma waited for Mrs. Mizuki to close the door before he spoke.
"Kotori…" He began, a bit breathless. "You look…so…beautiful." He spoke the last word as if it were the first time he had ever said it.
Kotori's eyes lit up and she laughed nervously. "Oh, you're just saying that!"
"No, no, really. You are." Yuma did not know what else to say. A part of him didn't even want to go to the dance anymore; he would be just as happy standing like this with Kotori all night.
Kotori moved her hands from behind her back to rest against her middle, her fingers still laced together shyly. "You look very handsome. I don't believe I've ever seen you like this!" She complimented.
Yuma chuckled. "I don't think I've ever seen myself like this!"
The two laughed together before realizing they were running late for the dance. Yuma once again offered her his arm and two began to walk towards the school.
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Once inside the auditorium, Kotori and Yuma met up with their friends. They chatted briefly until the music began to play. In the beginning, they were mainly dance songs, so all of the kids were jumping around and having a great time letting out some energy. Astral floated amongst them, observing a group of boys closely. They soon formed a circle and began what Yuma called 'break dancing'. In fear for his life, Astral scampered away and floated to the top of the ceiling where he felt safer.
"Observation Number 23: Dancing is very dangerous."
Near the end of the night, the first slow song began to play. Yuma knew it was bound to happen eventually. He had no problem dancing to the fast songs with Kotori, but the slow songs were different. They would have to be very close. They would have to touch each other. This made Yuma very, very nervous.
"Yuma?" Kotori's sweet voice snapped him out of his daze. "Aren't you going to ask me to dance?" She giggled.
"Heh, sorry Kotori!" She said nervously, taking Kotori's hand and leading her back out onto the dance floor. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he cautiously wrapped his arms around her waist.
Kotori sensed his apprehensiveness. "It's alright, Yuma. I don't mind."
Yuma smiled at her and nodded, tightening his grip a bit on her hips. They swayed lightly to the music. After a minute or so, Yuma began to relax. He felt like he and Kotori were in their own little world and this brought him a sense of comfort. She gazed into his eyes and smiled brightly and suddenly began lightly stroking his neck. Yuma smiled back at her and knew it was now or never.
"Kotori," He whispered. "Can I tell you something?"
She nodded and smiled. "What is it?" She whispered back.
Yuma swallowed the lump in his throat. "I like you. A lot. Like, really, a lot. And…I was really nervous about telling you before but I'm not anymore. You're the nicest, prettiest, most loyal and wonderful girl in the whole world. It's okay if you don't like me that way back. I just really wanted to tell you but I wasn't-
"Yuma…" Kotori interrupted his rambling. "That is the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me." Her gentle fingers began stroking the black spikes in his hair.
Yuma smiled down at her. "It's true."
"I like you, too." She said suddenly.
Yuma stopped their swaying motions. "Really? Or are you just saying that?"
Kotori released her hands from around his neck and rested them on his shoulders.
"I mean it. I was too nervous to tell you, too. I could always tell that you liked me, I was just waiting for you to say it first."
Yuma sighed with joy and relief. "Well, gee, I wish I'd said something sooner!"
Kotori laughed lightly. "It's okay."
The couple began to move again, this time scooting even closer to each other. Kotori wrapped her arms back around Yuma's neck and leaned forward to rest her head against his shoulder, a move which surprised Yuma, but he slowly relaxed and leaned down to rest his head on top of hers, hugging her waist tightly and closing his eyes.
When the song ended, the dance was over. All of the kids retreated outside and began to head home. Yuma and Kotori exited the building together, waving goodbye to their friends as they too prepared to head home.
"I'll walk you back home, okay?" Yuma whispered to Kotori.
She nodded. "I'd like that." They began to head down the sidewalk until Yuma suddenly stopped.
"Is it alright if I hold your hand?" Yuma asked politely.
Kotori giggled and nodded, lacing their fingers together.
"Yuma Tsukumo, you are just too much!" She joked.
From afar, Astral admired them. He had been too distracted by the terror of the other dancers to notice Yuma and Kotori's newfound love for one another.
"Observation Number 24: Love is a beautiful thing…but dancing is still very dangerous!"
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Phew! I think that's my longest story yet! Well, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it!