(Canon) Conversations
Apr. 21st, 2017 01:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
togepi_writes- Conversations -
Characters: Yuma Tsukumo, Kotori Mizuki
Synopsis: After being dragged into a dark game, nearly being killed by the demon, Beelze, and gaining ZEXAL, Yuma talks to Kotori about what had been happening to him over the last few months.
Kotori had been glad there had been nobody standing on the front desk at the hotel she was staying in when she arrived with Yuma. She really didn't want to explain why she was taking what looked to be a badly injured guy back up to her room. She didn't exactly look the best herself either, she was also a little scuffed up, mostly from when she was taken by her captors, but nothing to the extent of the injuries Yuma had.
The two quickly moved into the elevator and Kotori pressed the button for her floor.
As the elevator went up, she glanced over at Yuma, who seemed to just be staring off into nothing. He'd been unusually quiet on the way back to the hotel, but after everything he'd just gone through, she really wasn't surprised.
Getting off on the sixth floor, Kotori lead Yuma to the door of her room. She swiped the key card and opened the door for them to enter.
The room was a fairly decent size. There was a large window at the back, a double bed located in the centre of the room, and a desk with a TV on it located just across from it.
"Just sit down on the bed. I'll be back in a moment."
Yuma watched as Kotori moved into the on-suite bathroom. He then moved slowly over to the bed and began taking off his coat and scarf, which was a harder task than he thought. His entire body was aching almost from head to toe. Looking at his coat, he could see how badly damaged from the duel it was. It was scuffed and ripped all over.
He placed the coat and scarf down, removed his shoes and slowly lifted his legs onto the bed, before sitting back against the headrest.
He felt awful.
Kotori soon returned to him, carrying a small first aid kit in her hand, as well as a damp cloth. She pulled up a chair to the side of the bed, then opened the first aid kit to see what she had that she could use.
"Yuma. You'll have to remove your pull-over for a moment. I need to see what injuries you have."
"A-ah... right."
Slowly and carefully, Yuma pulled the red hooded pullover he was wearing over his head and took it off. When Kotori looked over at him she gasped. Yuma was covered with severe bruising; Over his chest, arms and back.
"Yuma... are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital? That bruising..."
Yuma just nodded. "I'm sure. I don't think anything is broken."
How could he not have anything broken, Kotori wondered. The way he was slammed into the floor repeatedly like he was, he was lucky he was alive at all.
Kotori sat down in the chair at the side of the bed and placed the first aid kit in her lap. She leaned over and gently took Yuma's left arm in her hands. Feeling over it, it seemed he was right. There didn't feel anything odd or out of place and the arm could move freely, but she wasn't exactly a medical professional either. She then looked up to his shoulder which looked rather swollen, so she felt around that.
As she did, Yuma looked the opposite way. For some reason, this situation was making him feel a little awkward, but he didn't understand why. It's not like she hadn't looked him over for injuries before when they were younger. Every time he ran into something, or fell, or got into fist fights with Testuo, she was always the one to check him over.
"OW! Hey!"
He turned back to her suddenly when pain coursed through his left shoulder.
"Ah, sorry!" she apologized. "I guess that's where it hurts, huh."
"Well, I can't feel anything off there either, but it's really swollen. I can bandage it up for some support for now, but promise me you'll get it checked out at the academy when you can."
Yuma nodded in response. Kotori took a roll of bandage from the first aid kit and began wrapping it around Yuma's shoulder until it had formed a good enough support for it. After she had finished and checked over his other injuries, Yuma put his pullover back on as Kotori reached for the damp cloth. With this, she began cleaning the scrapes he had on his face. Yuma looked down and allowed her to do this as he stayed in complete silence.
After a while, she decided that it might be best to start asking some questions.
"Yuma. There's a lot of things going on that you haven't been telling me about, right?" Kotori watched as a slight pained look of guilt appeared on Yuma's face. "Will you tell me about it? What's been happening?"
This was the second time this week that Yuma had been caught out in not telling her things that had been going on. He really felt like a complete idiot.
He took a deep breath, then began to explain.
"Back when the school year started, Yuya and I began being targeted by other duelists on the island. It was stupid stuff. They'd send us threatening messages or trick us into dueling them. It wasn't anything we couldn't handle. I thought they were just mistaken over something and that it'd sort itself out.
Then, a few months ago I started getting this really weird repeating dream. I'd be stood in front of a door and it would say that whoever opened it would gain a great power, but that there were risks and hardships attached to it."
Kotori's eyes widened a little. "Is that what that was? That thing you did?"
Yuma nodded. "After that demon smashed me, the door came to me and I made the choice to take it up on it's offer. If I hadn't, we both would of been--"
Yuma trailed off and fell silent as his thoughts turned back to the duel. He began to play the events over and over again in his mind and the reality of it was starting to hit him. How dangerous the duel had been, how real the demon was, how real the attacks were, how he and Kotori could have died...
Kotori watched, as Yuma lowered his head and became tense. Trembling, tears began falling from his eyes.
"Yuma...?"
"I'm sorry, Kotori. I'm so sorry." Yuma began, his voice cracking with emotion. "I should of told you all this right from the beginning. You came here to have a good time and all I've shown you is that I've kept things from you! I just didn't want to worry you, but all this ended up getting you put into danger and I almost wasn't able to get you out of it...!"
Kotori frowned sadly at her friend who was breaking down in front of her. He was tired. He was hurt. And everything that had happened was now starting to weigh on him. Gently, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, making sure it wasn't too tight so not to hurt him while he was injured. Yuma paused momentarily, but then returned the gesture as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Yuma. You had no idea any of this was going to happen." Kotori told him. "Yes, you should of told me about this, but even if we'd known this was going to happen, I still would of come to visit you."
Yuma released his arms around her and Kotori sat back. He wiped the tears from his eyes, letting out a slight forced emotional laugh. "This is so stupid..."
As he went to rest his hand on his leg, Kotori placed her hand on top of it. Looking at him with tenderness, she shook her head. "It's not stupid. After everything that happened, it's okay to cry if you need to, Yuma. That way, you can accept what happened and move on."
Slowly she looked down, the smile disappearing from her face.
"...I honestly thought I was going to lose you." she continued, squeezing Yuma's hand, lightly. "That moment, after that demon attacked you and you weren't moving... I thought that was it. But no matter how scary that demon was... or the thought of being eaten was... the thought of losing you was much scarier." She looked up at him slowly, tears now in her own eyes, but she began to smile through them. "But I believed you'd get up and you did, with that power that ended up saving the both of us."
"I don't understand all that prophecy stuff that guy was going on about, but I don't believe that even you'd end the world on accident. But even if something bad did happen, I'll be right there to either stop you... or help you pick up the pieces afterwards.
Always."
Yuma's eyes widened as he looked over to her. He honestly felt that he'd really taken for granted at how much of an amazing person Kotori was to him, that she was willing to follow and support him, even if he went through hell and back. Slowly, he moved his hand so that it was returning her hold and his expression melted into an emotional, but soft smile. He really didn't know what to say to express how grateful he was for her and her support, so he gave her a nod, to tell her that he understood. The smile alone was all that Kotori needed.
The two, for that moment, remained silent, their gaze seemingly only fixed on each other.
After a while, Kotori came to her senses a little, and realized that the two of them were still holding hands. Blushing slightly, but with a calm smile, she gently let go of Yuma's hand and stood up.
"You should get some rest."
"Ah, yeah."
Yuma carefully laid down on the bed, resting his head on the pillow. He swore that this bed, at that moment, felt like the most comfiest thing in the world to him. As he got comfortable, Kotori began packing away the first aid kit, but she stopped briefly and looked back at him.
"And, Yuma..." He looked up at her with a sleepy gaze. "... your dueling really has gotten much better."
He gave her a tired, content smile. "Hah. Thank you."
"But don't think that because it has that you can slack of--"
Yuma watched as Kotori picked up the first aid kit and walked towards the bathroom, still talking to him as she did, but he could no longer even concentrate on her words. His eyes and entire body felt heavy. Eventually, Yuma's eyes closed and he fell silently to sleep.
"...Yuma...?"
Kotori looked back through the bathroom door when Yuma didn't respond to what she had said, to find him fast asleep. Sighing with a smile, she walked back to him and took a spare folded up blanket she had stored on a shelf. Gently, she covered it over Yuma, who stirred a little when she did, but he settled quickly afterwards.
"Sleep well, Yuma."
--------------------------------------------------------------
Yuma found himself stood in a dark area. He looked around and found that he seemed to be stood high up on a ledge. Across and below him, Kotori was tied up and hanging from another ledge, below her were the snapping jaws of a number of hungry looking demons. She was calling out to him, calling for him to help her.
"I'm coming, Kotori!!"
But Yuma couldn't find a way down to her. No matter where he looked.
The ledge across was too far to jump. There were no bridges or ladders he could take. Climbing down wouldn't work.
The rope holding Kotori suddenly began to snap. She screamed and then she fell.
"No!! Kotori!!"
Yuma was about ready to jump in after her, without care for his own safety, when he noticed a large shadow being cast over him from behind. He looked around and saw Beelzeus towering above him. In a flash, it raised and brought down one of the dragon head antennas upon him.
Waking with a start, Yuma yelled and sat up quickly in the bed where he'd fallen asleep. The sudden movement made pain course through his entire body. Cringing, Yuma sat still until the pain eventually faded.
It was just a dream, he thought. Just a dream.
Removing the blanket, Yuma sat on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands.
He sat silently for a moment, just trying to calm himself and collect his thoughts, but as he did, he realized the hotel room seemed unusually quiet.
"Kotori...?"
He raised his head and glanced around the room.
She didn't seem to be there.
"Kotori!!"
He stood to his feet in a momentary panic. Did something happen to her while he was sleeping? Where was she?
As he looked around, he spotted what seemed to be a note on the desk opposite the bed. He walked over to it and picked it up. It was from Kotori.
'Just in case you wake up before I'm back. I'm waiting in the hotel lobby for some food I've ordered for us! I'll be back soon. - Kotori'
He breathed a sigh of relief.
As he placed the note back down, the door to the room opened and Kotori entered, holding a bag. She smiled as she saw Yuma.
"Ah, you're awake! I was afraid I'd have to wake you up." She then reached into the bag and picked out a bowl, placing it in Yuma's hands with some chopsticks. "Here you go. It's noodles." She then held the bag up, before placing it onto the desk. "There's lots more stuff in here too."
As Kotori took her bowl and chopsticks out of the bag and sat down at the desk, Yuma also sat down at the end. He peeled back the lid on the bowl, the smell of the noodles making his mouth water, he really was starving.
He split the chopsticks and was about to dig in when he paused in thought.
Kotori was doing so much for him. Tending to his wounds, letting him rest in her hotel room, buying him food... how in the hell could he even make up for all of this, especially after everything that had happened.
Noticing that Yuma wasn't eating, Kotori looked over at him with concern. "Aren't you hungry, Yuma?"
Bringing him out of his thoughts, Yuma looked up at her. "A-ah, I'm starving, it's just--". He turned away from her a little awkwardly. "-- You're doing so much for me and I don't know how I'll even make all this up to you, especially after what happened today."
"Yuma. You don't have to make anything up to me." she replied.
"I know! But I want to at least try! Or, y'know, at least make sure your remaining time here is loads better."
Yuma paused again as he tried to think of a way to make this all up to her. There had to be a way, right?
Kotori raised an eyebrow as she watched Yuma's expression get more and more awkward and frustrated as he thought up a plan. He then looked up at her fairly quickly.
"S-so, pick a place to go next week! Anywhere you want! And if it takes duelist points, I'll pay for everything the entire day!!"
He seemed to blurt the entire sentence out in one quick breath, as if saying it before he could decide not to.
"Yuma, really, you don't have to do anything." She gave out a sigh though, and smiled. "But if it'll make you feel better, I'll think of a place. But ONLY if you're well enough to go. Don't push yourself."
Yuma nodded in agreement. He then turned back to the noodles in front of him, glad that he could use them as a distraction from how weirdly awkward he felt. "Ah~ I should eat these before they go cold!"
As Yuma began eating the noodles with vigour, Kotori laughed a little to herself. He'd been so quiet and subdued after the duel, she was happy to see him acting a bit more like himself, even if it was his incredibly bad table manners.
With that, she also began eating the noodles in front of her. As she did, her thoughts wandered.
At the beginning of the week, Yuma had seemed like the same clumsy, hyper-active and clueless guy she'd always known, but today, she was seeing a lot of things she'd not seen in him before.
Maybe he had matured a bit more than she'd originally thought.
Characters: Yuma Tsukumo, Kotori Mizuki
Synopsis: After being dragged into a dark game, nearly being killed by the demon, Beelze, and gaining ZEXAL, Yuma talks to Kotori about what had been happening to him over the last few months.
Kotori had been glad there had been nobody standing on the front desk at the hotel she was staying in when she arrived with Yuma. She really didn't want to explain why she was taking what looked to be a badly injured guy back up to her room. She didn't exactly look the best herself either, she was also a little scuffed up, mostly from when she was taken by her captors, but nothing to the extent of the injuries Yuma had.
The two quickly moved into the elevator and Kotori pressed the button for her floor.
As the elevator went up, she glanced over at Yuma, who seemed to just be staring off into nothing. He'd been unusually quiet on the way back to the hotel, but after everything he'd just gone through, she really wasn't surprised.
Getting off on the sixth floor, Kotori lead Yuma to the door of her room. She swiped the key card and opened the door for them to enter.
The room was a fairly decent size. There was a large window at the back, a double bed located in the centre of the room, and a desk with a TV on it located just across from it.
"Just sit down on the bed. I'll be back in a moment."
Yuma watched as Kotori moved into the on-suite bathroom. He then moved slowly over to the bed and began taking off his coat and scarf, which was a harder task than he thought. His entire body was aching almost from head to toe. Looking at his coat, he could see how badly damaged from the duel it was. It was scuffed and ripped all over.
He placed the coat and scarf down, removed his shoes and slowly lifted his legs onto the bed, before sitting back against the headrest.
He felt awful.
Kotori soon returned to him, carrying a small first aid kit in her hand, as well as a damp cloth. She pulled up a chair to the side of the bed, then opened the first aid kit to see what she had that she could use.
"Yuma. You'll have to remove your pull-over for a moment. I need to see what injuries you have."
"A-ah... right."
Slowly and carefully, Yuma pulled the red hooded pullover he was wearing over his head and took it off. When Kotori looked over at him she gasped. Yuma was covered with severe bruising; Over his chest, arms and back.
"Yuma... are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital? That bruising..."
Yuma just nodded. "I'm sure. I don't think anything is broken."
How could he not have anything broken, Kotori wondered. The way he was slammed into the floor repeatedly like he was, he was lucky he was alive at all.
Kotori sat down in the chair at the side of the bed and placed the first aid kit in her lap. She leaned over and gently took Yuma's left arm in her hands. Feeling over it, it seemed he was right. There didn't feel anything odd or out of place and the arm could move freely, but she wasn't exactly a medical professional either. She then looked up to his shoulder which looked rather swollen, so she felt around that.
As she did, Yuma looked the opposite way. For some reason, this situation was making him feel a little awkward, but he didn't understand why. It's not like she hadn't looked him over for injuries before when they were younger. Every time he ran into something, or fell, or got into fist fights with Testuo, she was always the one to check him over.
"OW! Hey!"
He turned back to her suddenly when pain coursed through his left shoulder.
"Ah, sorry!" she apologized. "I guess that's where it hurts, huh."
"Well, I can't feel anything off there either, but it's really swollen. I can bandage it up for some support for now, but promise me you'll get it checked out at the academy when you can."
Yuma nodded in response. Kotori took a roll of bandage from the first aid kit and began wrapping it around Yuma's shoulder until it had formed a good enough support for it. After she had finished and checked over his other injuries, Yuma put his pullover back on as Kotori reached for the damp cloth. With this, she began cleaning the scrapes he had on his face. Yuma looked down and allowed her to do this as he stayed in complete silence.
After a while, she decided that it might be best to start asking some questions.
"Yuma. There's a lot of things going on that you haven't been telling me about, right?" Kotori watched as a slight pained look of guilt appeared on Yuma's face. "Will you tell me about it? What's been happening?"
This was the second time this week that Yuma had been caught out in not telling her things that had been going on. He really felt like a complete idiot.
He took a deep breath, then began to explain.
"Back when the school year started, Yuya and I began being targeted by other duelists on the island. It was stupid stuff. They'd send us threatening messages or trick us into dueling them. It wasn't anything we couldn't handle. I thought they were just mistaken over something and that it'd sort itself out.
Then, a few months ago I started getting this really weird repeating dream. I'd be stood in front of a door and it would say that whoever opened it would gain a great power, but that there were risks and hardships attached to it."
Kotori's eyes widened a little. "Is that what that was? That thing you did?"
Yuma nodded. "After that demon smashed me, the door came to me and I made the choice to take it up on it's offer. If I hadn't, we both would of been--"
Yuma trailed off and fell silent as his thoughts turned back to the duel. He began to play the events over and over again in his mind and the reality of it was starting to hit him. How dangerous the duel had been, how real the demon was, how real the attacks were, how he and Kotori could have died...
Kotori watched, as Yuma lowered his head and became tense. Trembling, tears began falling from his eyes.
"Yuma...?"
"I'm sorry, Kotori. I'm so sorry." Yuma began, his voice cracking with emotion. "I should of told you all this right from the beginning. You came here to have a good time and all I've shown you is that I've kept things from you! I just didn't want to worry you, but all this ended up getting you put into danger and I almost wasn't able to get you out of it...!"
Kotori frowned sadly at her friend who was breaking down in front of her. He was tired. He was hurt. And everything that had happened was now starting to weigh on him. Gently, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, making sure it wasn't too tight so not to hurt him while he was injured. Yuma paused momentarily, but then returned the gesture as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Yuma. You had no idea any of this was going to happen." Kotori told him. "Yes, you should of told me about this, but even if we'd known this was going to happen, I still would of come to visit you."
Yuma released his arms around her and Kotori sat back. He wiped the tears from his eyes, letting out a slight forced emotional laugh. "This is so stupid..."
As he went to rest his hand on his leg, Kotori placed her hand on top of it. Looking at him with tenderness, she shook her head. "It's not stupid. After everything that happened, it's okay to cry if you need to, Yuma. That way, you can accept what happened and move on."
Slowly she looked down, the smile disappearing from her face.
"...I honestly thought I was going to lose you." she continued, squeezing Yuma's hand, lightly. "That moment, after that demon attacked you and you weren't moving... I thought that was it. But no matter how scary that demon was... or the thought of being eaten was... the thought of losing you was much scarier." She looked up at him slowly, tears now in her own eyes, but she began to smile through them. "But I believed you'd get up and you did, with that power that ended up saving the both of us."
"I don't understand all that prophecy stuff that guy was going on about, but I don't believe that even you'd end the world on accident. But even if something bad did happen, I'll be right there to either stop you... or help you pick up the pieces afterwards.
Always."
Yuma's eyes widened as he looked over to her. He honestly felt that he'd really taken for granted at how much of an amazing person Kotori was to him, that she was willing to follow and support him, even if he went through hell and back. Slowly, he moved his hand so that it was returning her hold and his expression melted into an emotional, but soft smile. He really didn't know what to say to express how grateful he was for her and her support, so he gave her a nod, to tell her that he understood. The smile alone was all that Kotori needed.
The two, for that moment, remained silent, their gaze seemingly only fixed on each other.
After a while, Kotori came to her senses a little, and realized that the two of them were still holding hands. Blushing slightly, but with a calm smile, she gently let go of Yuma's hand and stood up.
"You should get some rest."
"Ah, yeah."
Yuma carefully laid down on the bed, resting his head on the pillow. He swore that this bed, at that moment, felt like the most comfiest thing in the world to him. As he got comfortable, Kotori began packing away the first aid kit, but she stopped briefly and looked back at him.
"And, Yuma..." He looked up at her with a sleepy gaze. "... your dueling really has gotten much better."
He gave her a tired, content smile. "Hah. Thank you."
"But don't think that because it has that you can slack of--"
Yuma watched as Kotori picked up the first aid kit and walked towards the bathroom, still talking to him as she did, but he could no longer even concentrate on her words. His eyes and entire body felt heavy. Eventually, Yuma's eyes closed and he fell silently to sleep.
"...Yuma...?"
Kotori looked back through the bathroom door when Yuma didn't respond to what she had said, to find him fast asleep. Sighing with a smile, she walked back to him and took a spare folded up blanket she had stored on a shelf. Gently, she covered it over Yuma, who stirred a little when she did, but he settled quickly afterwards.
"Sleep well, Yuma."
--------------------------------------------------------------
Yuma found himself stood in a dark area. He looked around and found that he seemed to be stood high up on a ledge. Across and below him, Kotori was tied up and hanging from another ledge, below her were the snapping jaws of a number of hungry looking demons. She was calling out to him, calling for him to help her.
"I'm coming, Kotori!!"
But Yuma couldn't find a way down to her. No matter where he looked.
The ledge across was too far to jump. There were no bridges or ladders he could take. Climbing down wouldn't work.
The rope holding Kotori suddenly began to snap. She screamed and then she fell.
"No!! Kotori!!"
Yuma was about ready to jump in after her, without care for his own safety, when he noticed a large shadow being cast over him from behind. He looked around and saw Beelzeus towering above him. In a flash, it raised and brought down one of the dragon head antennas upon him.
Waking with a start, Yuma yelled and sat up quickly in the bed where he'd fallen asleep. The sudden movement made pain course through his entire body. Cringing, Yuma sat still until the pain eventually faded.
It was just a dream, he thought. Just a dream.
Removing the blanket, Yuma sat on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands.
He sat silently for a moment, just trying to calm himself and collect his thoughts, but as he did, he realized the hotel room seemed unusually quiet.
"Kotori...?"
He raised his head and glanced around the room.
She didn't seem to be there.
"Kotori!!"
He stood to his feet in a momentary panic. Did something happen to her while he was sleeping? Where was she?
As he looked around, he spotted what seemed to be a note on the desk opposite the bed. He walked over to it and picked it up. It was from Kotori.
'Just in case you wake up before I'm back. I'm waiting in the hotel lobby for some food I've ordered for us! I'll be back soon. - Kotori'
He breathed a sigh of relief.
As he placed the note back down, the door to the room opened and Kotori entered, holding a bag. She smiled as she saw Yuma.
"Ah, you're awake! I was afraid I'd have to wake you up." She then reached into the bag and picked out a bowl, placing it in Yuma's hands with some chopsticks. "Here you go. It's noodles." She then held the bag up, before placing it onto the desk. "There's lots more stuff in here too."
As Kotori took her bowl and chopsticks out of the bag and sat down at the desk, Yuma also sat down at the end. He peeled back the lid on the bowl, the smell of the noodles making his mouth water, he really was starving.
He split the chopsticks and was about to dig in when he paused in thought.
Kotori was doing so much for him. Tending to his wounds, letting him rest in her hotel room, buying him food... how in the hell could he even make up for all of this, especially after everything that had happened.
Noticing that Yuma wasn't eating, Kotori looked over at him with concern. "Aren't you hungry, Yuma?"
Bringing him out of his thoughts, Yuma looked up at her. "A-ah, I'm starving, it's just--". He turned away from her a little awkwardly. "-- You're doing so much for me and I don't know how I'll even make all this up to you, especially after what happened today."
"Yuma. You don't have to make anything up to me." she replied.
"I know! But I want to at least try! Or, y'know, at least make sure your remaining time here is loads better."
Yuma paused again as he tried to think of a way to make this all up to her. There had to be a way, right?
Kotori raised an eyebrow as she watched Yuma's expression get more and more awkward and frustrated as he thought up a plan. He then looked up at her fairly quickly.
"S-so, pick a place to go next week! Anywhere you want! And if it takes duelist points, I'll pay for everything the entire day!!"
He seemed to blurt the entire sentence out in one quick breath, as if saying it before he could decide not to.
"Yuma, really, you don't have to do anything." She gave out a sigh though, and smiled. "But if it'll make you feel better, I'll think of a place. But ONLY if you're well enough to go. Don't push yourself."
Yuma nodded in agreement. He then turned back to the noodles in front of him, glad that he could use them as a distraction from how weirdly awkward he felt. "Ah~ I should eat these before they go cold!"
As Yuma began eating the noodles with vigour, Kotori laughed a little to herself. He'd been so quiet and subdued after the duel, she was happy to see him acting a bit more like himself, even if it was his incredibly bad table manners.
With that, she also began eating the noodles in front of her. As she did, her thoughts wandered.
At the beginning of the week, Yuma had seemed like the same clumsy, hyper-active and clueless guy she'd always known, but today, she was seeing a lot of things she'd not seen in him before.
Maybe he had matured a bit more than she'd originally thought.
