A/N: I wrote this years ago. Hope you like it :)

Summary: Kotori and Yuma have a moment and maybe with a little bit of help from Akari they can finally be more than best friends. Kotori/Yuma

It had been a normal school day, but that was exactly the problem for Kotori. Yuma and her had kissed yesterday and she had hoped that something would changed between them because of it. The more the school day had progressed the more that hope had vanished.

After she had denied Yuma's offer to walk home with her, she was now heading for the park. The only thing that she wanted at the moment was to be alone and think about how she should handle this situation.

An hour went by with her sitting on a bench and watching the ducks in the nearby pond. If not for someone calling her name, she would have been sitting there even longer.

Looking around she saw Yuma's sister approaching her.

"Akari, what are you doing here?"

"I was doing some research for my new article when I saw you sitting here all alone. Is something wrong?" The older girl asked with concern and sat down next to Kotori.

Kotori smiled reassuringly at her and shook her head. However it did little to convince Akari and with the knowledge she had, she knew immediately what was bothering Kotori. Not one for holding back, Akari voiced her suspicion.

"Sure that it has nothing to do with the kiss between you and my brother?"

"W-What? How do you-?" Kotori blushed deeply and her voice gave out.

"I went by his room last night and he said things like 'I can't explain why my face turned red when mine and Kotori's lips touched' and 'No I don't want to talk about how it felt like'. It wasn't that hard to figure it out." Despite her embarrassment Kotori realized that Yuma must have been talking to Astral about their kiss. However that was the last thing on her mind when Akari continued. "I'm assuming that it was your first kiss and that you have feelings for my brother. So what is on your mind?"

At first Kotori was hesitant to share her thoughts, but then decided to tell Akari. Maybe her being Yuma's older sister could help her understand why he acted like nothing had happened between them.

"Yesterday we kissed and today he treats me like a normal friend again. I don't understand him at all." Kotori felt her self-consciousness intensify, so she decided to get everything off her chest. "Since he got so good at dueling he has lot of girls admiring him. He can do better than me and maybe he realized that."

Kotori bit her lip and didn't meet Akari's eyes after her confession. Her heart felt a little bit lighter now that she had gotten her thoughts out in the open, but Yuma's behavior and her own thoughts about not being good enough still hurt.

Akari sighed deeply. It was just like her brother to react like this. Gently she lay a hand on Kotori's shoulder to make her look at her.

"I think it's time that I explain a few things. My brother is scared and reacts like this because of it."

"Yuma is scared?" Kotori asked surprised. She couldn't imagine that her always confident and self-assured friend could be scared of anything.

"I know that he never acts like he is scared, but this situation is different. He has no experience with romantic love and he knows nothing about how to react to affectionate gestures. Our parents disappeared before they could talk to him about it and I wasn't the best example either. The only time I ever showed him something like a relationship was with Charlie.." She stopped for a moment. After she had seen him again her feelings were closer to the surface, but she pushed them away. This wasn't about her, it was about her brother and Kotori. "And our grandma doesn't think that it's necessary to explain it to him yet, so it isn't like he knows what to do."

Kotori had listened carefully and was nodding slowly. Now that she thought about it, she remembered that throughout the day Yuma had looked shyly at her when he had been sure that she hadn't been looking. After what she had heard it made sense. He had wanted to show how much he cared, but he hadn't known how.

"It isn't easy for him to show affection so openly, so please don't take it too hard. I know for sure that he doesn't care about the girls who admire him. There is only you for him in that aspect. He talks about you all the time and that you're beautiful isn't lost on him either." Akari winked at Kotori, which made the younger girl blush deeply. "What do you say to dinner at our place? It's getting late and I'm sure that you haven't eaten yet."

"I would like that and thank you, Akari."

Smiling at each other the two stood up and made their way to the Tsukumo house.

"Grandma, Yuma, I'm home and I brought someone with me." Akari announced their arrival when they entered the house.

"That's great. Wash your hands and come to the table." Came the answer from the older woman.

"Hey Kotori." Yuma smiled at her when she entered the room along with his sister.

When she returned his smile, she could see a small blush on his cheeks.

"Don't you want to greet your sister too?" Akari teased Yuma.

"I see you every day. Why do you need an extra greeting?" Yuma argued back.

The two began bickering after that while Kotori helped Yuma's grandma with serving their dinner. When the siblings finally settled down, Yuma almost shyly offered Kotori the seat next to him and she realized that he had reserved it just for her. Akari was right, he was really trying in his own way.

"Say Kotori, would you like to watch a movie on the TV with me after dinner?" He asked shyly, his eyes not meeting hers.

Kotori felt Akari and the sibling's grandma share a smile at his attempt, but then she focused back on Yuma.

"Sure."

After dinner the two went into the living room and sat down on the couch to watch the movie. Half an hour into the movie, Kotori had seen Yuma already looking at her several times from the corner of his eyes and his arm had switched more than once as if he wanted to move. It seemed that he needed a little encouragement to make the next move and Kotori was more than willing to help him.

"You know, it's okay. I don't mind." She smiled reassuringly at him.

Yuma looked caught for a moment before he hesitantly lay an arm around her. In return Kotori moved closer to him and lay her head on his shoulder. She felt him stiffen for a moment before he relaxed again and tightened his arm around her. Kotori sighed contentedly, this was what she had hoped for.

When the movie ended Yuma brought Kotori home and when they stood together on her porch, Kotori smiled brightly at him.

"I had a great time this evening."

"Me too." Yuma shifted his feet nervously before speaking up again. "Would you like to hang out with me after school tomorrow? Just you and me?" The last part was almost a whisper, but Kotori could still hear it.

"I would like that." The moment these words left her mouth, she saw Yuma look up at her with a deep blush.

"Thanks, Kotori." He embraced her for longer than normal and then turned to leave.

Kotori watched him disappear into the night with a smile. The pace they were going now was right for them. They were both inexperienced when it came to love and they had time. There was no need to rush into anything. What they shared was too precious to do that.

A/N: I have two other stories I wrote years ago about Kotori and Yuma. Let me know if you would like me to post them. Thanks for reading and please review and tell me what you think :)