Chapter Text
Rui Kamishiro. 22 year old college student. An infamous name, but also not well-known.
He put his head on top of his arm to take a short break from studying with an exasperated sigh. His finals were coming up, and it was stressful. And to make it worse? He had found SEKAI and decided to visit, just to find very lonely VIRTUAL SINGERS and came out with nothing on his mind other than Tsukasa, Emu, and Nene.
But, agh.. As much as Rui loved them, even throughout all this time that they’d been drifting apart like he and Nene had during middle school, they had to get out of his head while he studied.
But again, Rui still loved them. Which was exactly why they didn’t leave his thoughts to be in peace.
He tapped his pencil rhythmically to the desk that supported both his notebook and arms.
Rui’s phone lit up with a message. A certain contact name of an old friend of which he hadn’t seen in a while.
“…Nene?” Rui muttered, his eyes lighting up at the text displayed on his screen.
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Nene : how have you been?
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His eyes visibly widened. Not like anyone could see, though. Nene. Kusanagi Nene. She was checking up on him after all of those years? It took Rui a few minutes of zoning out and processing that to respond.
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Rui: Fine, thank you
Rui : Why are you asking so suddenly?
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He typed out his exact thoughts. Nene started to reply shortly after.
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Nene: curious
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That didn’t sound like Nene. One, she didn’t like small talk. Two, the lengthy reply she was typing implied Nene had more to say.
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Nene : ive been missing you, emu, and even tsukasa a lot lately. i dont know why, but for some reason i cant stop wishing that wonderlandsxshowtime was still a theatre troupe. i think about it at work, during my freetime, and it keeps me up at night. i just wish we could still be in high school and i wish i was still sixteen performing for pxl. im sorry for dumping this on you all of a sudden, but i just wanted to say all this so i could ask if you’ve ever considered a reunion.
——
There was the truth. Quite honestly, Rui couldn’t blame her. So did he, after all. Still, it took Rui a few minutes to process that anyways.
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Rui: For a while.
Rui: Maybe we could get Emu and Tsukasa on board
Rui: It’s sudden, of course, but I have no problem with it
Nene: thank you. i have to get to sleep, so maybe another time, we can discuss this, then.
Rui: Agreed
——
Rui sighed and put his phone down on his desk, next to his work. Finally, his mind was at rest and he could focus solely on his studying. Thank goodness for Nene’s text.
Rui picked up his pencil and wrote and solved and read. For an hour this went on, which, luckily for Rui, was enough to get a third of his schoolwork done. Until the thoughts of Wonderlands x Showtime intruded his thoughts once more, leaving him distracted from what mattered currently.
He pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind. It worked, but it slowed his progress on schoolwork. At least he could somewhat do it now, ten to twenty minutes doing one little thing or not. Rui kept zoning out while trying to focus on solving and writing and reading.
Rui got to study enough for the day eventually, and found himself in his bed. Where he was supposed to be sleeping. But he stayed up. Maybe it was Tsukasa, Emu, and Nene—maybe it was the fact that he was already an insomniac in the first place. Who knows? Either way, he got maybe a singular blink of sleep that night.
——
Nene texted him saying to expect a call.
Rui got a call from a certain Tenma the same five seconds. Did Tsukasa feel the same way he and Nene did? Did Nene send Tsukasa to him? It didn’t matter, at least he was calling, even if it was for something entirely unrelated to what Rui hoped so badly it would be.
“Tsukasa-kun! You’re on cue, just like any star!~” Rui giggled.
(i am TOO lazy to rewrite the last idk 100 words of chapter 3 so just refer to that ig)
“Well…” Rui began,
“…me and Nene have been reminiscing on the past a bit, and we found that we shared the feeling of missing you and Emu. Now, for maybe a week or so, me and Nene have been wanting to set up or plan a reunion of some sort…something like a high school reunion, perhaps.”
Rui heard an inhale from Tsukasa’s side of the call. “I’d love to!!! Is Emu interested as well? I wouldn’t be surprised!!!”
“…Well, we’re working on reaching out to Emu. Maybe…you could help, Tsukasa-kun? I’m sure it wouldn’t be a problem for the blinding world star!~” Rui smirked, and it sure was audible in his voice.
“You flatter me, Rui!!! Of course!!!” Tsukasa’s grin was also audible—and contagious.
Rui smiled. “Alright, then, Tsukasa-kun…tell me what you get from her, alright?”
“Deal! Bye, Rui!”
“Bye.”
Rui sighed as he put down the phone. The light was still on, and it was seeping out of the desk and wasn’t silenced enough by it to be left unnoticed by him.
Tsukasa…despite being popular, having fame, all that one could ask for…wanted to meet up with Rui? An infamous college student? Obviously, Emu and Nene too, but that’s besides the point.
It made Rui happy to think about, that others would care about him. It was a feeling he hadn’t felt since high school.
When was the last time he’d felt this thrill? Quite honestly, with all of the studying, Rui can’t remember. But, it’s not so hard to realize for him now that Tsukasa, Emu, and Nene wouldn’t simply forget him. Despite what he’s thought, they wouldn’t.
Rui takes this as a chance to finally give himself a break, now able to sleep with his head on his desk with a soft smile on his face, something he hasn’t done in a while.