Never Without You │ BOTW modern AU fanfic

ルト

Link's POV

"Miya-kun?" I hear someone say.

There's only one person who ever called me that. I look to my left. I knew who it was but I'm still surprised when I see her.

Her smile is big. She looks all grown up, how long has it been?

"It's Ruto," she says in Japanese. I almost bow to her but she opens her arms and gives me a hug. I hug her back, unsure how to react. I remember her name, I was just at a loss for words.

I break the hug to take a better look at her. She looks pretty in the yukata. Then I notice her hair. It's different, she cut it.

"Do you like it?" She asks. Shit, was I staring?

"Yeah," I don't know what else to say. "How have you been? I haven't seen you since graduation."

"How have I been? How have you been!? You had to go to the hospital?"

"You saw the news, huh?"

"All of Japan was talking about you. You were on TV, the papers, the radio! Everyone was worried about you."

They all hate me. "Wasn't a big deal," I brush it off with a shrug. "I'm fine now."

"Are you going to play sports again?" She asks excited.

"Yeah, maybe. Not sure yet. Enough about me though, how are you?"

"I'm doing great. I just started an internship at a good company."

"Here?" I ask surprised.

"No, silly, in Kyoto."

"Then what are you doing in Fukuoka?"

"Same as you: enjoying the festival!"

"Are you alone?" I ask and take a look around to see if I recognize anyone else from high school.

"I'm not alone anymore," she winks at me. "Joke aside, I came here with some friends. Don't tell my father, okay?"

Wow, I haven't heard that one in a while. It feels like forever since we last saw each other. Has it really only been two years? Feels more like seven.

Someone nudges me. "Link?" It's Zelda, holding our food.

Shoot, she must be so confused, she can't even understand us when we talk Japanese.

I take the food from her and introduce them to each other. "This is Ruto," I say in English but Ruto is distracted by Aryll. She's talking to her and patting her head. Aryll is excited to see her too. She was too young to understand why Ruto suddenly stopped showing up at our house.

"Ruto, this is Zelda," I now say in Japanese. Ruto jumps up as soon as she hears Zelda's name.

"You're the girl from TV!" Ruto says in Japanese and bows to Zelda. Zelda does the same, then she gives me a confused look. Before I can translate anything, Ruto says, "It's nice to meet you!"

Zelda actually understands that phrase now and tries to say it back. I don't think Ruto speaks much English, probably as much as Zelda speaks Japanese. This whole thing is a bit uncomfortable and I don't know how to carry the conversation in two languages.

How does Ruto feel about any of this? She doesn't seem mad anymore. She's smiling and seems genuinely excited to meet Zelda. But does she know that we're a couple? And has she been in touch with Mipha at all? I still feel like a dick for the way I handled everything back then.

"So you're back for good then?" Ruto asks me with a smile.

"No, just visiting for the summer."

"How long are you staying?"