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Yuma can't sleep.
It's only been a few hours, and it's still sinking in that Ray betrayed him and set him up. The friendship he thought he had with Ray, the whole Barian Police Force thing he had to keep a secret, the cards Ray entrusted him with...all of it was a trick by Vector so he could defeat Yuma and tear Yuma and Astral apart.
Yuma's not sure what hurts more: Ray's betrayal or the fact that Astral doesn't trust him anymore.
Astral's been silent since earlier this evening, and he's been in the key the whole night. Can Yuma really blame him, though? Why would Astral want to talk to him after everything that had happened? Sure, they were able to form the Zexal bond again earlier, but...as Caswell would say, in the end, Yuma had broken Astral's trust in him, and that was something Yuma couldn't take back.
Yuma still feels angry, mostly at Vector, but...in some ways, he feels angry with himself too. If he had just trusted his own judgement and told Astral the truth about Ray from the start, this whole thing wouldn't be happening. Astral wouldn't be avoiding him, and things would be fine. Well, not fine, because Ray's betrayal still would have hurt, but...it would be better.
Yuma grips the Emperor's Key around his neck.
"I know I said it before, Astral, but...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
Yuma's not sure if his words reach Astral.
-
The next day, Yuma's eating lunch alone on the roof when Astral comes out of the key. He's unusually silent, even when Yuma says hi to him.
"...Astral...can we talk about something?"
Astral doesn't respond. He looks over at Yuma, then stares into the distance, looking at the tower at the center of Heartland.
"Fine, if you don't want to talk, then I will. I just...wanted to apologize again. For keeping the Ray stuff a secret from you. I...I really thought that I was keeping you safe by keeping it a secret. I just...it was a mistake, and I'm sorry."
"I know."
"Huh?"
"I know you're sorry."
"But you don't forgive me?"
Astral hums a little. "I'm not sure. It's clear to me that you see your mistakes and are upset about them. It's also clear to me that you're sorry and want to fix things. However...I'm not sure if I forgive you yet."
"Right..." Yuma says, deciding to take another bite of his lunch. "...I'm not sure if I'd forgive me either."
"...Really? You seem like you'd forgive other people quite easily. I've seen you do it before."
"Yeah, but," Yuma says, waving his hand a bit, "those situations were different. If you're friends, you don't hold the little stuff against each other, but what I did wasn't little. It was a big deal, and..."
"And what?" Astral asks, looking at Yuma.
"Back when we were in that tower, before I hugged you and fell through the glass...you said some things that really bothered me."
"You mean when I had been consumed by the darkness and evil that had come from my doubts about you?"
"Yeah. You said something about...wanting more lying, more betrayal. And...it hurt because I never wanted to betray you in the first place, and I don't want to betray you again! I don't want to lie to you again! I only kept that secret before because Ray had said that I had to keep it a secret for your safety, but...I wanted to tell you! I didn't want to keep it a secret from you in the first place!"
"...I believe you."
"Do you? Really?"
"Yes. Even though I still have my doubts, there is a part of me that knows you're being sincere."
"W-Well good! I wouldn't lie about that, and I won't lie to you again. I promise."
"Hm," Astral says, looking back out at the horizon.
"...It really did bother me, though, that you said those things. I..."
The bell rings, indicating the end of the lunch period, and Yuma quickly finishes his food.
"...I'm going back to class."
"Yes. Good luck with the rest of your classes for today."
-
Yuma rebuilds his deck while Astral watches. Yuma had taken out the Barian cards the other night after everything that happened, but he hadn't readjusted his deck afterward, hence the deck rebuilding session. Usually Astral gives advice and points out Yuma's various questionable decisions regarding his deck, but tonight, Astral's just staring at the Barian cards that Ray had given Yuma while Yuma quietly builds his deck. Well, not quietly - Yuma's talking to himself as he works, trying to ignore the silence that Astral usually fills. Finally, Astral speaks up.
"...These cards that Ray gave you don't work with your deck that well. Outside of Rank Up Barians Force, which got transformed in the last battle, I don't see a situation where you'd use any of these."
"Yeah, I guess not. I just...Ray gave them to me, so I put them in my deck without really thinking about it."
"I suppose that's not surprising."
"Oh yeah? Well...!" Yuma says, then pauses, looking down at his deck again. "...yeah. I...really wasn't thinking things through, huh?"
There's a pause. Astral looks over at Yuma, who's still focused on the cards in front of him.
"You're being unusually self-depricating."
"Self what now?"
"You're making negative comments regarding your actions that you normally wouldn't make."
"Well, what did you expect? I messed up, and I don't know how to fix it!"
"What do you mean?"
"I've apologized to you, and I promised to do better, but you still haven't forgiven me, and I'm not sure what else I can do to make things right," Yuma says. "And I can't just tell you to forgive me, because you're still clearly a little upset about what I did, and I get that. I just...what do you want me to do?"
"You're asking for advice from me? That's even more unusual."
"Yeah, well...I don't know what else to do," Yuma says, laying back on the floor. "And...you normally know what to do in these situations."
"...I think you've been doing the right things. You've apologized, and I know you're sincere. I just...Yuma. Finding out that you had kept that secret from me hurt me deeply."
"...I know," Yuma says.
"It's one thing for you not to listen to my advice. I'm used to that. It's another thing entirely to have found out that you trusted someone who you knew was a Barian over me."
"..."
"I...suppose it makes sense, in a way. You trust people very easily, and you mentioned during that battle that Ray had told you that you had to keep that secret in order to keep me safe. But...it's still very painful."
"I'm sorry."
"Do you understand? Can you see why what you did hurt me? Why I can't trust you like I used to?"
"...I guess so. I just...like I said, I wasn't thinking -"
"You lied to me, Yuma. That required deliberate effort."
Yuma sits up and turns to face Astral. "And it was a mistake that I shouldn't have made! I know how big of a deal it was to you. You literally turned evil for a while because of what I did! I know! I messed up!"
"..."
"It hurts that you don't trust me anymore, and I know it's my fault. I just...I want my friend back. I want you back, Astral. And...I want to make up for what I did."
There's a moment of silence, then Astral looks away from Yuma.
"I just...need a little more time, I think."
"So I have to just wait for you to be ready to forgive me?"
"Yes."
"...but that means you want to forgive me, right?"
"Correct."
"That's good," Yuma says with a sigh. "Because to be honest..."
"Yes?"
"...Nevermind," Yuma says. To be honest, I don't know if I could take it if you never forgave me, Astral.
-
Over the next day or two, Yuma tries to make awkward conversation with Astral. Sometimes it works out, and sometimes they're left sitting in silence together. Yuma feels uncomfortable with the silence between them now. It's just another reminder of how things have changed.
It still bothers Yuma, what Astral had said in the tower. He wants to ask about Astral's comments, and he's afraid of how Astral will answer, but...he knows it'd be best to just ask.
Astral's watching TV in the attic as Yuma works on his homework when Yuma looks over at Astral.
"Astral...I have a question."
"About your homework?"
"No, no. I'm just still thinking about some of the things you said before in the tower."
"...I see."
"...I'm just gonna ask: do you really think I'm gonna betray you again?"
"I...I don't know."
"Whaddya mean you don't know?"
"I have to accept that it's a possibility. I want to believe you wouldn't make the same mistake again, but...."
"...but you're scared that something like what happened with Vector will happen again?"
"Not scared, no. Worried would be more accurate."
Yuma looks back at his homework.
"But...Yuma, I still have faith in you."
"Why? I lied to you, and I know I'm not the most reliable guy -"
Astral sighs. "I'm well aware of your flaws Yuma. Yes, you lied to me. Yes, you're unreliable, stubborn, a bad duelist, and sometimes a bad friend. And yet...I have faith in you. Maybe it's because of how you always manage to feel the flow and high five the sky. Maybe it's because despite everything, you care deeply about the people around you, including me. Maybe it's the hope you always hold in your heart. Regardless, even though I don't know if I can trust you, I have faith in you."
"So...does that mean we're still friends?" Yuma asks, facing Astral again.
"You were worried we weren't?"
Yuma scratches the back of his head a little. "Well, yeah. You've barely been talking to me for the past couple days, and...I was scared that you didn't want to be friends anymore."
Astral sighs again, this time with a smile on his face. "Of course we're still friends, Yuma. And here I thought you wanted me to go away."
"That was a long time ago!"
"I know."
The two of them smile and laugh at themselves.
-
Slowly, their conversations become the regular banter Yuma's used to. Astral seems to smile more. Yuma's not sure if Astral's forgiven him yet; Astral certainly hasn't directly stated anything. And yet...despite how things have changed between them, Yuma feels hopeful about their friendship. He knows that Astral will forgive him, even if it's not right now, and he knows that no matter what, him and Astral are still friends to the end, despite this setback.
And perhaps most importantly, Yuma knows that he'll never betray or lie to Astral again.