Chapter Text
Rui has been feeling strange lately.
He has always felt a sense of closeness around his friend, Tsukasa. That is not anything new. However, lately, it seems his familiar feeling of happiness around Tsukasa has developed into something... more. From the start, he just thought that it was enough to have a friend he could be considered so close to. That's all he wanted, he was okay with that.
But they've grown, they've been friends for over a year now. And, to be friends for that long.. Of course Rui would want to be something more, right?
Maybe he wants to become Tsukasa's 'best' friend? His closest friend? All he knows for a fact is, he wants to continue to learn more about his special friend. He wants to know everything about him.
Is that all it is, though? No matter how hard Rui thinks about how amazing it would be to become the person closest to Tsukasa, it still doesn't feel like enough to him. What more could he want?
Rui has been thinking too much.
He shakes his head, attempting to clear his head from these strange feelings concerning his dear friend. It isn't something he has to figure out right away, he can think about this later.
He looked at the clock up on the wall in his workshop, reading 2am. Had Rui really been kept from his sleep for that long due to his unsure thoughts about his friend? He has school in the morning, he needs to tuck in immediately and rest.
That was hard to do, though. He couldn't sleep. He only had one thought on his mind- 'How do I really feel about Tsukasa?'
All the thinking he did eventually exhausted him, thankfully. He hadn't realised he'd ended up passing out, and was soon woken up to the familiar sound of his deafening alarm sound.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rui walked through the school gates, his ears becoming immediately overtaken by the sound of chatter. He couldn't pick up just one conversation, especially more due to his tiredness. He made his way up to his classroom, sliding the door open.
"Ah, Rui!" There it was. The familiar loud, but comforting voice of his friend. "You're later than you usually are today. Did something happen?"
Rui shook his head at Tsukasa, giving him a half-hearted smile. "No, I just didn't get a very good night's sleep. It took so long for me to finally pass out- and before I knew it, I was woken up by an alarm, is all."
"Did your mum wake you back up?"
"Mm." Rui couldn't think of anything more to say to his friend. After all the thinking he did about him last night, the last thing he wanted at the moment was to think about him even more.
He didn't have to talk to Tsukasa anymore at this time, though, as their teacher had walked in and taken the class's attention.
-------------------------------------
"Ahhhh, that was tiring! Nearly fell asleep because of how boring that lecture was!" Tsukasa ranted to Rui, as they walked outside the classroom and made their way up to the school rooftop. They stopped at a vending machine on the way up, buying a drink each. "Were you paying attention, Rui?"
"No, I already have enough knowledge about that topic," he answered, poking his straw into his drink and taking a sip.
Tsukasa puffed, " Smarty-pants ," he started rushing to the top of the stairs, seemingly faking being mad.
Rui shook his head, continuing to walk up at a normal pace. He reached the top, seeing Tsukasa already sitting down and furrowing his eyebrows. "You could've at least tried to keep up with me."
"There's no way I could ever keep up with a star like you, Tsukasa-kun," Rui chuckled, sitting on the hard floor of the roof.
Tsukasa gasped, "Don't underestimate yourself!" He screamed. "You'll achieve great things, Rui! Like me!" Hearing the way that Tsukasa believed in Rui more than Rui believed in himself- he could've sworn he felt butterflies in his stomach right there and then.
"R-right, thank you, Tsukasa-kun." Rui thought for a few moments, before deciding to continue speaking. "You know, I've been thinking lately..."
Tsukasa looked at Rui, expectant and curious look in his eyes. "We've been friends for a while now, right?"
"Yeah."
"And we only consider ourselves normal friends." Rui turned his head away from Tsukasa after saying that, and was now looking to the floor instead.
"Do we?"
"Yeah, we do. So I wanted to ask if you wanted to be- like- my best friend , or something. Nothing that important," Rui finished off, now finding the way he talked about this topic to be a bit more embarrassing than he had originally hoped. He thought he sounded like a kindergartener with the way he asked.
Tsukasa said nothing for a while. Was he okay? Did he not hear Rui? Rui looked at Tsukasa once again, and they locked eyes. "Ah," Tsukasa started. "Sorry, I was under the impression that we already were? I mean, we're basically always together..." Tsukasa was blushing slightly at his cheeks and tip of his ears.
" Oh... " Rui sounded, also starting to blush. "My, how embarrassing of me. I thought becoming best friends required something like- mutual agreement on both sides."
Tsukasa chuckled, "What, is this how you also became Nene and Mizuki's best friend? You asked them?" He giggled a little bit more, then started coughing.
Rui shook his head. "No, I..." He looked away from Tsukasa again. "I never really thought about it with them. If I just threw that title around to everyone I consider important to me, I'd have like 10 best friends. Then it'd lose its meaning."
"So I'm the only one, is what you're saying." Tsukasa nodded, seemingly touched by Rui's words.
"Well, yeah."
Tsukasa hummed in approval, before speaking again. "I consider a lot of people to be my best friend, though! Anyone I love is my best friend!" Tsukasa beamed with pride in saying this.
"Haha, so we have entirely different views on the statement, I see," Rui commented, feeling a sting of pain in his chest. "But, I also want to become Tsukasa-kun's closest person."
"Oh...! Well, then, we can be the bestest of friends ever!" Tsukasa jumped up, grinning stupidly wide.
Rui nodded, staring up at the now-standing Tsukasa. That wasn't ideally what Rui had in mind, but it'll work, for now. As long as Tsukasa considered him one of the closest people to him, right?
"Gah! Look at the time, the bell is about to ring! We need to head back to class, Rui!" Tsukasa suddenly pulled on the rim of Rui's sleeve, forcing him up off the floor and pulling him towards the door that leads to the staircase down to their shared classroom. Rui shook his head at this- Tsukasa was, of course, never one to be late to class. It wouldn't hurt to be late- or just skip- every once in a while, right?
------------------------------------------
Another set of classes had ended. Rui had at least learnt something in this class, unlike in the morning. Not in comparison to Tsukasa, though. He says he gets extremely bored to the point of nearly falling asleep, yet he over-decorizes his pages and such with stickers and colourful markers. And all that just for a few notes? Maybe Tsukasa needs a new hobby.
"Tsukasa-kun-"
"Tenma-kun!" Rui heard from a few feet away. "Woah, your notes are so gorgeous! Do you always do them like that?" Some girl from their class that Rui had never particularly spoken to before had noticed how Tsukasa likes to decorate his notes.
Tsukasa grinned wide. "Of course! Only the most dazzling set of notes for a star such as me!" He exclaims with pride.
Rui didn't have any sort of negative or positive feelings towards this girl. None at all- he had never spoken to her before, so how could he be able to form such an opinion about someone he didn't even know?
In those moments, though, Rui felt a range of different emotions for her. Upset, frustrated, confused, mad, jealous-
Jealous?
...Jealous? For what reason?
Sure, he and Tsukasa were now, quote-on-quote, the 'bestest' friends. Other people were allowed to talk to him, become friends with him- become best friends with him.
He was never ever jealous whenever anyone else talked to Tsukasa. Ever. However, watching how he and the girl chatted like they've known each-other for years... It caused a stir in his chest. But still, why should he be jealous over something like that? It makes absolutely zero sense-
Oh...
He's figured it out. Now it all makes sense.
Rui doesn't want to be Tsukasa's 'bestest' friend. He doesn't want to be his closest friend, either.
He wants to be with Tsukasa. Not as his friend, but as his partner. The person he could truly be closest to.
He was in love with Tsukasa Tenma.
Rui having now just realised something so obvious- he was embarrassed, and it showed. As Tsukasa realised whilst he was conversing with the girl. he turned to Rui with a concerned expression on his face.
"Rui, you're making a face I've never seen before. And you're really red- are you sick?" Tsukasa put one hand on Rui's forehead and his other on his own. "Hmm... your temperature does seem a bit higher-"
Rui turned his head to the side, causing Tsukasa to pull his hand away from Rui's face. "Oh, sorry. You startled me."
Tsukasa stared at Rui for a few moments, dumbfounded, then chuckled lightly. "If you're able to react like that, maybe you're not sick after all."
The way Tsukasa laughed... Rui thought that was the cutest and most comforting sound he has ever heard in his entire life. He wanted to cherish that beautiful voice of Tsukasa's forever.
.... But that wasn't possible, was it? Rui realised relatively quickly, but this was a romance that he couldn't pursue. There were obvious factors- both of them were men, which was the utmost obvious. Second he could think of was the fact that they were... best friends, as if that hasn't been mentioned 20 times already.
There was one more factor he could easily distinguish, and it was one he did not like.
Tsukasa Tenma would never fall in love with Rui. It hurts to think about, but it's the truth.
Rui figured he would have to try to let go of his feelings just as quickly as he realised them.
==================================================
Rui has been acting weird today.
'But, he is always acting weird, in one way or another?? ' Tsukasa thought to himself. That is true! But today, it's not the same type of weirdness that he usually sees.
It was strange from the moment he spoke to Tsukasa in the morning. Didn't get a good night's sleep? What a lame excuse! He probably spent the whole night working on another weird invention again!
But after class was even weirder- he had zero reaction to Tsukasa's snarky side-comment? He'd usually give out at least a chuckle at something like that. And why was it from then that Rui started making zero sense?
Asking to be my best friend? Asking???? As if he wasn't already? Tsukasa wasn't sure if it was Rui's intention to embarrass him like that, but it worked. Tsukasa thought it was even painfully obvious that Tsukasa considered him one of the closest- he had thought the question was meant to be some sort of mockery towards him.
But then he surprisingly opened up. Tsukasa found out he had never had someone he considered to be his best friend. 'That's crazy! ' Is what Tsukasa thought at that exact moment. And then the follow up- it had Tsukasa questioning himself. Does he really throw the phrase 'best friend' around too much? Does it hold no more meaning if it is used too much? Is it truly too much?
And then- the audacity he had! To embarrass him even further! To tell him he wanted to be Tsukasa's closest person just out of the blue like that- Tsukasa thought his heart was going to burst!
Of course, Tsukasa is a star, though. He kept his cool. He didn't show his embarrassment to Rui- that would've been unbefitting of a star like him.
... And of course, back in the classroom, Rui still was acting weird. Tsukasa was feeling extra proud of the way he had styled his notes today, he bought new stickers just for this! He loved arts and crafts!
He thought Rui was about to call out to him, but then he was interrupted by another girl in their class.
She was a very sweet girl! She gave a lot of compliments to Tsukasa’s notes, which he was very proud of. But why was it that Tsukasa could feel that Rui was glaring daggers at both him and the girl throughout their conversation?
Tsukasa had turned to look at Rui just as he and the girl's conversation about his hobby seemed to come to an end. He stared at him for a few moments, just trying to figure out what kind of expression Rui was trying to show on his face. Disgust? Anger? Hatred?
No, none of those. That bitter expression quickly shifted to one of shock, and Rui's face turned a bright red. Oh... this was new. Tsukasa had never seen such an expression on Rui before. He looked... kind of cute?
WHAT!!!!
No, what are you thinking Tsukasa- think about anything else! That's right! Maybe the real reason he couldn't sleep last night was because he was sick! Was what Tsukasa had decided himself, trying to steer his thoughts away from whatever preposterous thoughts he was thinking about his dear friend.
He put his hand on his forehead to take his temperature- and then when Rui pulled away from his touch, he felt like his chest had been pinched ever so slightly.
He wasn't going to acknowledge that, though. His body was just trying to play tricks on him.
He made a joke of the situation, desperately trying to ignore whatever type of feelings he had been feeling for Rui today.
Wait, why did he feel like he was the weird one all of a sudden?!