Here we are with another great chapter to read. Enjoy!

Yugioh 5D's: Bruno's Beginnings

Chapter 14- True Feelings

Bruno, in his "Johnny" attire, looked up at the night sky from a lookout spot in the park outside the city, feeling a sense of peace within him. Earlier that day he had defeated and humiliated the person who killed his parents and tried to kill him not once, but twice. Suddenly he found himself to be a man greatly admired for his skills and bravery.

He even got an autograph from a young boy with green eyes and long dark red hair with one bang hanging above his left eye. Yes, Bruno felt better knowing he brought justice to his family. Of course, Diego was still out there. Until he's been caught, Bruno would have to remain vigilant; he was sure Diego would want payback for having his champion beaten.

Bruno heard another D-Wheel pulling over behind him, and turned to see it was Ali. "Hey Ali." Bruno said, smiling. "Hey. Max told me you'd be out here." she said as she walked up next to him. They both looked at the full moon.

"It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" Ali asked. Bruno nodded. "It sure is." As they continued their moon gazing, Ali thought about whether or not she should tell him. She thought back to her talk with Max before meeting up with Bruno.

Flashback

Max and Ali were cleaning up their D-Wheels in Max's garage. When Ali finished, she wiped the sweat off her head with a dry cloth. "I think that did it. It looks nice and shiny now." she said marveling how much better her vehicle looked.

"Same with mine." said Max as he looked over his D-Wheel. Ali looked at her watch and saw it was getting late. "It's been a while since Bruno left. You think he's alright?" Max shrugged. "Sure he is. He probably went to find a good spot to stare at the stars. He likes that." Ali nodded in agreement.

Without warning, Max asked her a question that made her really uneasy. "Do you plan on telling Bruno how you feel about him tonight?" Ali dropped her cloth in surprise and stared wide-eyed at him. "Max! That is none of your business!" she said, cheeks turning red. Max shrugged.

"If you have something you need to tell someone, don't keep it bottled up inside forever or you'll be miserable. That's what my mom always says." Ali sighed. "We've been over this. I can't tell Bruno I love him without putting our friendship on the line." "That's unavoidable." Max said. "Exactly, which is why…I'll never tell him." Ali said, looking a little sad. Max patted her shoulder.

"Look Ali, you really don't know if Bruno will reject you. You need to give him a chance to show how he feels. Who knows? He probably feels the same way about you." "You don't know that." Ali pointed out. "Neither do you." Max countered. Ali didn't say anything else before she left.

End Flashback

Ali turned from the moon to Bruno. Even though he was wearing the sunglasses, she knew what his eyes looked like…and she loved them. She loved everything about Bruno. She wished she wasn't so scared to tell him how she really feels.

"Ali? You alright?" Bruno asked as he looked at her, noticing her staring at him. She quickly turned back to the sky and shook her head. "Oh, I'm fine. No worries." It didn't occur to Bruno that Ali really was fine. "You sure?" he asked. "Yes. Everything's fine Bruno." Ali said. Bruno could sense some forcefulness in her voice, and she sounded a little awkward.

A sudden thought had come to him that could explain it. "Ali, after our last duel…you were about to tell me something before Max showed up." Ali went a little rigid, but didn't look at Bruno. "You never told me what it was." His friend started blushing and sweated a little. "It…was nothing." But Bruno pressed on.

"And before that, you called me "your man". A girl only says that if that "man" was her boyfriend." Ali looked down at her feet. "Ali, were you going to tell me…that you're in love with me?" Ali turned her back completely to Bruno now. She didn't dare look at him now that he had asked the million dollar question.

Ali's lips quivered, afraid to say the wrong thing. "Bruno…what do you want me to say?" she asked quietly after a minute or two. "I want you to tell me the truth." he answered. Ali had shut her eyes and tightened her fists.

What could she say? What should she say? She didn't want her friendship with Bruno to be damaged, but she also wanted so badly to tell him what she wanted to for years. She didn't know what to do.

"I…I…" But before anything else could be spoken, a gunshot was fired…and a scream pierced the night. Ali fell on her back, her left shoulder bleeding from the wound. "Ali!" Bruno cried as he picked her up gently. "Can you hear me?" he asked tenderly. Ali nodded. "I'm still here." "Not for long, your not." said a most despicable voice.

Bruno and Ali looked up to see none other than Calvin. He pointed at them with the gun he just fired. "Didn't think you'd see me again so soon Ali?" he asked. Ali spat at him. "Why can't you just leave us alone?" she shouted in pain.

Calvin snickered. "I never let go of grudges…no matter how trivial they are." Bruno was angered more than ever. "How dare you?" Bruno shouted. Calvin grunted. "Johnny, right? I saw you take down Dracono, or rather, Mona." He then looked at Ali.

"I gotta say, I was downright shocked to see that it was the same person who saved you and Max the other night and nearly got me arrested. If she weren't behind bars, I'd put a bullet in her head." Bruno stood between Calvin and Mona.

"Leave her alone." Bruno said. Calvin aimed his weapon at Bruno's head. "I suppose I should shoot you too for keeping Mona out of my reach." "What the hell is with you? Do you go around shooting every person who's ever pissed you off?" Calvin sneered.

"Something like that. And by the way…" Calvin tilted his head at Ali. "Why are you here with him anyway? Got a thing for hot shot duelists?" "None of your beeswax!" Ali said as she held her shoulder, which continued to bleed. "Please, she needs medical attention now! Let her go!" Bruno pleaded. Calvin shook his head.

"No one's going anywhere except six feet under." Calvin then prepared to take another shot when he got hit hard by an oncoming D-Wheel that just pulled up. Calvin lay on his stomach, unconscious. Bruno and Ali immediately knew who the D-Wheeler was. "Max!" Max grinned as he took off his helmet and gave a thumbs up.

His grin dropped when he saw Ali's injury. "Oh my god! He shot her?" Bruno nodded. "Get Ali to the hospital now. Hurry!" "Don't need to tell me twice." Max then helped Ali on his D-Wheel. "What about you?" Ali asked Bruno. "Calvin's not going anywhere…not this time. Now get moving."

"Bruno…" Ali started to talk, but Bruno shushed her. "I'll be alright. What's important is your recovery. Go!" Max and Ali rode away. Now that his friends were out of harm's way, he can handle Calvin without worrying about anyone else.

Bruno kicked the gun out of Calvin's reach as he started to get back up. "The hell?" He looked around but there was no sign of Ali or the whoever it was that him. The only other person was "Johnny". "Where did she go? Who blindsided me just now?" Bruno punched him in the jaw, which knocked him back down.

"No one's here except you and me Calvin." Bruno said. Wiping his jaw, Calvin set his eyes on his next victim. "I hate it when people disrupt my plans! And you…you've made a big mistake by getting in my way!" He then charged at Bruno with the intent of killing him.

Bruno nimbly dodged him, but then Calvin fell over the fence and grabbed on the guard rails to keep from falling. "Help! Help me!" Bruno walked over with a look of disgust. "You kidnapped two innocent people and shot one of them. And you did it just because they kicked you out of school for carrying a weapon. Why should I help someone like you?"

"Come on man! You're really going to let someone die like this?" Calvin pleaded. Bruno sighed as he grabbed Calvin's wrists and pulled him back onto the ground. "Unlike you, I don't take lives…nor let anyone die." "That's good to know…"

He then sucker punched Bruno in the stomach, which caused him to gasp for air. Calvin then punched him in the face, knocking him down on his side and causing his sunglasses to fall off.

"Now I got you Johnny." When Calvin picked up Bruno by the collar, he was thunderstruck. "Bruno? Aren't you supposed to be dead?" Bruno answered by giving Calvin a head butt (which really hurt). Both of them rubbed their foreheads for a moment. Then Calvin smiled widely.

"This explains why Ali was hanging with you. Oh this is too perfect! The guy I hated most of all is alive and kicking, and is right in front of me!" He then took out a long, sharp knife from his jacket. Bruno wiped the blood from his nose. "Your hatred has caused enough trouble Calvin. Let's settle this now!" "I couldn't have agreed more!"

With that, Calvin charged Bruno again, but this time Bruno didn't get out of the way. Still recovering from Calvin's underhanded attack, Bruno was knocked on his back and tried with all his might to keep the knife from stabbing into his heart. Calvin was strong, but Bruno was persistent.

"After I kill you, I'm going after your two buddies. And I'll make sure that it will be slow and painful…" Angered by Calvin's threat, Bruno found the strength to push the knife away and kicked him off. He then rolled over to his sunglasses just Calvin got up again and threw the knife at him.

Desperate, Bruno knocked the spinning knife away with his sunglasses. They were stronger than he expected; the handles caused the knife to reverse it's course. Calvin was to slow to react as his own knife came back and struck his heart. Wide eyed with shock, Calvin clutched the knife handle and coughed up blood. Within seconds, Calvin fell on his back…but this time, he didn't get back up.

Bruno was stunned as well. As much as he hated Calvin for wanting to kill him and his friends, he never intended to take his life. He didn't know that the knife would be rebounded towards it's owner. He was numb for a while, but he soon realized that he was only protecting himself; it was self defense.

Which was what he would have to tell Security as they arrived on the scene. He quickly put his sunglasses back on before they got close enough to see him.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

After arriving at Neo Domino Hospital, Bruno went up to Ali's room. Max was still with her when he walked in. "Hey." they both said as he closed the door behind him. "Hey. How's your shoulder Ali?" Her left arm was in a sling and she flinched a little when she tried to move it.

"They got the bullet out. Luckily there won't be any permanent damage. But unfortunately, I got to wear this for a while. Which means no riding my D-Wheel for a little over a month." she smiled. "I'm glad you'll be okay." "So am I. What happened to Calvin?" Bruno told of them of their fight, his unintentional death, and the arrival of Security. To Bruno's surprise, they took it well.

"Well, I'm not sorry he's dead. He deserved it." Ali said strongly. "Me neither. That guy has been a real pain in the ass." Max said. "Yeah, but I never wanted that to happen. I didn't want to see him die." Bruno said. Max gave his friend a sympathetic look.

"We know." Bruno then smirked. "I guess you were the one that called Security?" Max nodded. "I followed Ali to make sure she would be alright, and good thing I did. About halfway to the park, Calvin popped up. I immediately gave Security a call to tell them where they will find him."

"I'm glad you did Max. Thanks." Ali said. "Sure. Listen, I'm going to one of the vending machines. You guys want anything?" "I'm good, thanks." Ali said. "Me too." Bruno replied. "Okay. Be back in a jiffy." Max then left the room, but not before giving a quick wink at Ali. She looked away, realizing what that meant.

Alone again, Bruno sat next to Ali. "So, how long will you have to stay here?" he asked. "Just for the night. I'll be free to go in the morning." "Good." Bruno and Ali looked away from one another, not knowing what to say next.

After a moment, Ali broke the silence. "Bruno." "Yeah?" he asked as he looked back at her. "Thanks for protecting me from Calvin." she said kindly. Bruno smiled. "It was nothing. You can always count on me to be there for you." Ali felt very reassured.

"Bruno…I love you." she finally said, without warning. Bruno was speechless. "You do?" Ali nodded. "Yes, now more than ever." Ali then did something Bruno was not prepared for: She leaned over and kissed him. At first he was surprised, but then he closed his eyes and returned the favor. It was passionate and felt completely right…for both of them.

After a few minutes, they broke it to catch their breath. "Wow." they both said breathlessly. "I guess this means you love me too?" Ali asked. Bruno smiled sheepishly and messed with his hair. "I sure do." At that moment, Bruno and Ali had become more than just best friends. As they cuddled, Max watched from the doorway, also smiling for the new couple.

To be continued.