Yuma decided to take a different route home from school that day. Kotori had to stay after school to retake a science test, so Yuma was left to himself that day.
Well… And Astral.
Yuma placed himself on the path leading home past the park, a bit of a diversion from the normal path he took with Kotori.
Astral appeared within a few minutes of Yuma leaving school. He was quiet for a minute, hovering alongside Yuma while the boy walked as if waiting for Yuma to say something first. When Yuma was silent, however Astral piped up.
"Your last class didn't leave you very happy, Yuma."
Yuma shook his head. "I didn't do well on my math test. It doesn't really surprise me, though."
Yuma hit the button on the traffic light and waited for its signal to enter the crosswalk.
Astral eyed him for a moment and then looked away. "I'm sorry, Yuma."
The words brought a small smile to Yuma's face. Astral used to annoy him to death. Earlier in their relationship, he had been too stubborn to accept Astral's help in duels, too unaffectionate to thank him or warm up to him in later times, and too wary of talking to Astral in public for fear of what others would think. All that has faded now. He loved Astral like a brother. They quarreled, they ignored each other sometimes, but they would do anything for each other.
Astral had quickly grown on him, and his caring toward him had only increased over time. Astral had kept his core personality while picking up several of Yuma's good traits, and Yuma could admit that the same happened vice versa as well. While they still complemented each other with their differing personalities, they were capable of understanding each other a lot more now.
"It's okay. Thanks, Astral." Yuma smiled at him. Astral had always been very perceptive, and now that he knew more about human emotion and had developed it himself, he could always sense distress and give Yuma a few meaningful words of comfort.
With his school being set away from the busiest section of Heartland, it didn't take Yuma long to near the park. He followed the sidewalk as it rounded to the left to continue on his way.
This sidewalk was across a street from the park. Maple leaves fluttered in the wind, which carried cherry blossom petals from the scattered sakura trees with it.
To Yuma's left, the length of the sidewalk was stationed beside various small, independent stores. A secondhand clothing store, a pet salon, a beauty salon, an arts and craft store, a bookstore… There was even an open stand between two buildings displaying fresh fruit and vegetables. The assortment of tiny shops gave this sidewalk a whimsical downtown feel, and Yuma liked it. It wasn't crowded with shoppers, but business was steady enough, and there was a pleasant bustle and light whirr of broken conversations.
Astral trailed behind Yuma and rushed ahead of him, looking in each of the store's display windows with bright eyes. Yuma found himself smiling as he watched him, his disappointment from school forgotten. He had never walked this particular stretch with Astral's company. He liked the aura it put off, and it made him even happier to see Astral enjoying it also.
Astral had gone ahead of Yuma and frozen at a particular store window, staring inside. Yuma chuckled. It was the first time Astral had been still since they entered the shopping area. He glanced up at the store sign to see what Astral was so drawn to.
Lyn's Creamery and Frozen Yogurt. Yuma smiled. I bet they still have that Butterfingers Chunks ice cream, he thought, remembering how good it always was.
Yuma caught up to Astral and looked in the store window. A mother and young girl stood at the counter, waiting on their ice cream. When they turned around, the girl was smiling and eyeing her double scoop serving of ice cream. The lower mound was rocky road-flavored, specked with white marshmallows, and the top scoop was a vibrant pink with strawberries buried inside.
Yuma observed Astral's face. His different-colored eyes reflected the decorative neon string lights lacing the ceiling of the store, and they were full of wonder and longing. Astral's lips were parted in an expression of curiosity. Yuma was smiling again. Astral looked so cute when he was in awe of something like this.
Yuma blushed. Wait… Cute? What am I thinking?
Fortunately, Astral spoke and gave Yuma a distraction from his confused thoughts.
"Yuma, what does ice cream taste like?"
Yuma remembered a specific time when he and Astral had been in their Zexal form and Yuma had started eating a rice ball in a duel. Astral had been able to taste it also and feel what eating was like, and he had loved it. It didn't surprise Yuma that Astral had a heightened interest toward food.
"Well, it's frozen and sweet. There are tons of different flavors. It has a thick consistency, but it melts in your mouth. It's one of my favorite desserts."
Astral's bright eyes dulled a bit, and his tone was wistful as he said, "I wish I could try it."
Yuma's heart sank, and his smile fell. There were so many things he took for granted that Astral didn't have—the ability to touch, to feel, to eat.
Yuma watched the girl and her mother exit the store and walk away, laughing and chatting.
Maybe he could try it. An idea formed in Yuma's mind. It was odd, and several months ago, he would have quickly shaken it away for fear of what people around him might think. But he had grown to be so comfortable with Astral and so caring toward him that other people's thoughts had taken a backseat. Yuma had started talking freely with Astral in public and not cared about the questioning looks he received from other Heartland citizens. This idea would definitely get him a strange look, but it was to make Astral happy. So it was okay.
"Hey, Astral. I have an idea. Follow me." Yuma brushed by him and walked to the closest alleyway, ducking inside.
Astral looked after him curiously and followed Yuma into the alleyway. "What is it, Yuma?" The boy had taken off his backpack and laid it beside him on the ground.
Yuma was beaming. "I want you to overlay with me."
Astral looked confused. "Why?"
"Just trust me."
"We aren't in a duel. Do you think that will work?"
"I don't know. Let's just…try." Yuma lifted his left arm and held out his hand, still optimistic. Astral hesitated. Even Astral knew how odd it would look. They were in public, and a boy with spiky blond hair, a tight-fitting white jumpsuit, and red armor would certainly look out-of-place.
But Yuma's eyes were confident, and he was still smiling.
Astral reached out to Yuma with his own hand, closing his eyes. He imagined their bodies turning into red and blue streams of light that intertwined to form Yuma's body with alterations that clearly portrayed his own presence in Yuma's body as well. They'd done it many times before, but not yet outside a duel. Could this really work? Astral wondered.
He touched his transparent hand to Yuma's and gasped as he actually felt a connection between them, like his hand was as solid as Yuma's. Yuma must have been willing himself into their Zexal form as well, as they started glowing their respective colors just like it worked during a duel. Astral felt himself turn into nothing but light, and he shot toward the sky for a bit before bolting back down and hitting the ground, creating the same vortex that XYZ monsters rose from.
A moment passed, and then he felt the warmth of his own light and Yuma's light forming a physical figure the same height as Yuma's regular figure. Astral opened his eyes as the light dimmed. No, Yuma opened his eyes—Astral simply saw everything through them as if they were his own. Yuma glanced down at himself. They had fused into their Zexal form, just like they did in duels. They looked exactly the same, only without the Duel Disk on their right arm or the D-Gazer over their eye.
"Wow, it actually worked…" Yuma held up their shared right arm, inspecting it. "Sweet." He bent down and picked up his backpack, slinging it over one shoulder.
"Alright, Astral, I'll do the talking." Yuma took a deep breath, steadying himself as he walked forward to exit the alleyway.
He knew that the few people around him were giving him those looks, but he didn't care. None of them mattered to him. Astral did, and that's why he was willing to do this.
Yuma approached the ice cream parlor, glancing sideways at his reflection on the glass as he passed the window. He had never been able to closely look at what he and Astral looked like in their Zexal form, and he hadn't had the chance to see their face. He had just known, somehow, likely because Astral would sometimes peel away from his body in a ghost form and look at him. Their minds were connected when they fused, so he had simply known what their face had looked like. Regardless, it was still interesting to get a glimpse of what he looked like in the mirror, with his eyes being the colors of Astral's different-colored eyes, the turquoise markings underneath them, and their combined hair shapes.
Yuma pushed open the door and walked inside. The woman at the counter, perhaps "Lyn" herself, turned to smile at them, but a look of surprise and scrutiny came over her instead. "H-hello," she stammered, her tone torn between friendly and confused. "What can I do for you?"
"I'm going to get some ice cream," Yuma stated, which shouldn't have been necessary except for the woman not seeming to comprehend that that's what he came for. He stepped closer to the counter and looked down into the glass, making note of the numerous bins of ice cream and all the different flavors. What flavors should I have Astral try?
Astral willed himself to separate from Yuma, and he glided out of Yuma's body in his spirit state. He was able to be apart from Yuma in their Zexal form and see things through his own eyes, but still feel everything Yuma did and touch his thoughts. He switched between experiencing duels in Yuma's body and experiencing them in his own form. It was easier to be within Yuma than apart from him due to the higher amount of energy it took to peel away from him, but seeing things through Yuma's eyes for too long felt unnerving as the body he was in acted mostly on Yuma's command.
Astral looked at Yuma and smiled. He noticed the woman's unbelieving expression and guessed she was wondering if Yuma was in costume or if he really looked like that. Astral's gaze shifted to all the ice cream options before them. He couldn't believe Yuma was doing this for him. He was touched by it, and excited. He knew Yuma had remembered the rice ball they had once shared in this form, and he knew that memory had sparked this idea. I really will be able to try ice cream, Astral thought.
After half a minute of pondering, Yuma spoke up. "I'll have three scoops. One rocky road, one vanilla bean, and one strawberry." Chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. The three classic flavors for Astral to try.
She snapped out of her thoughts and reached for her ice cream scooper, curling the mounds of ice cream from their tubs and into a large bowl for her customer. She set the bowl on top of the counter between them and stated the price. Yuma moved the backpack of his shoulder to find his wallet, handing her the amount and leaving some extra in the tip jar. He wasn't even fazed by the price. Astral was worth it and so much more to him.
Yuma thanked the lady and turned away with his ice cream to walk out the door, turning his head to meet Astral's gaze and smile at him. Astral was still smiling back.
"Yuma, thank you." Yuma noticed the excitement in Astral's expression and words, thinking that he looked like a child who had just opened a Christmas present. "You didn't need to do that."
"I wanted to, Astral." Yuma approached a crosswalk at the street, waiting for a car to stop for him and then hurrying across the asphalt with a small wave in their direction. "Besides," he continued after crossing, "I benefit from this too!"
Yuma entered the park, scanning his surroundings and locating a nearby park bench underneath a large red maple. He made his way toward it and plopped down, dropping his backpack beside him. "Okay, Astral, are you ready?"
Astral nodded, still spilling over with anticipation. He then disappeared, melting back into Yuma's skin and their shared body.
Yuma dug into the scoop of rocky road first and took a bite. He savored it slowly, knowing Astral would want to. It filled him with joy. Helping Astral understand things and making his companion smile always made Yuma happy. Astral was his best friend, so it was only natural that Yuma wanted to see him happy.
Yuma continued with a bite of vanilla, then strawberry. After that, he collected a bit of each flavor on his plastic spoon and let the combination melt across his tongue.
Astral briefly appeared beside him to let Yuma his smile and his wide, happy eyes. "This is better than rice balls," he decided. "It's so good. Thank you so much, Yuma."
Yuma met his eyes and laughed, which ended in yet another smile toward Astral before he disappeared again. He didn't know why he had laughed, but the happiness was bursting out of him. Yuma still didn't care about anyone but himself and Astral in this moment. He didn't care about the strange glances he got from passerby strolling through the park. He didn't care that he had spent his money. He was just grateful that he and Astral were able to go into Zexal and share this experience together. Yuma took another bite of strawberry ice cream. The ice cream was cold, but apart from his mouth Yuma felt only warmth. It was sweet, but knowing that he was making Astral so happy was even sweeter—just in a different kind of way.