Chapter Text
rui is almost finished with his packing when tsukasa bursts through the door once more.
“rui,” tsukasa sings, waving the two cracklers from before. “look what i brought for us for our walk!” he raises an eyebrow, suddenly suspicious. “along kamo river, right? i don’t think we’re allowed to head out on our own this early,”
tsukasa takes a seat on the floor, elbow leaning against the wooden table. he shoots him a glare, awaiting his excuse. “my tsukasa-kun, i wouldn’t do something so indecent,” rui’s voice dips with feigned pity, shaking his head. “however, i did get permission ahead of time from the teachers in charge, so the class representative has nothing to worry about.”
satisfied with his response, tsukasa holds out the plastic to rui, a silent form of his approval. rui accepts the sparklers and hums. “thank you, tsukasa-kun.”
“of course! you’re welcome, rui.”
rui takes in a sharp breath. he wants to say something back to fill the sudden silence, something that would inevitably make tsukasa laugh, but his eyes are still on his hand while his own hand is burning with the memory of tsukasa’s palm pressed against rui’s wrist.
with no response, tsukasa hauls himself up. “come on rui, let’s go before the sun rises!”
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walking along kamo river, rui realises that he'd never used a sparkler before.
he knew what they sounded like, their resounding crackles of light as a distant sound of childhood nights where he'd stayed up too late watching television. their image, however, had only ever been seen in television screens or through others using them for celebratory occasions.
he continues to follow tsukasa, watching him practically buzz with excitement while waving his own around. it wasn't a surprise exactly, he thinks with the sparkler fizzing away in his hands.
tsukasa nudged rui’s arm with his elbow, already beaming. the wide grin that rui adored was on full display as he tilted his head toward the sky. “are you excited? we’ll be at the spot soon.”
“of course i am,” rui smiles in return.
the sounds of crackling soon took over, echoing through the riverside and rattling rui’s being, sparks showering the darkness in an orange fountain of light. it painted the dark morning alive, as if waiting for the sun to follow suit.
tsukasa turns to grin at him, something overly fond in the curve of his bottom lip. “it’s like you can feel the spark of youth! saki will be happy with photos of these!”
caught staring. rui laughs and turns his gaze to the side, a rare moment of being slightly embarrassed. “ah, i see why you were excited to visit this river.”
when tsukasa decides they’ve found the optimal spot, he dips down to crouch near the river, watching the gushing water pass by. rui follows suit, lowering himself next to tsukasa. as if pulled by the same string, both their heads tilt slightly upwards to watch the rising sun with only rhythmic breaths shared back and forth. the lull of silence between them feels comfortably warm.
“thank you for coming with me,” tsukasa says, voice lost of its usual power but replaced with innate joy. it’s softly whispered, as if the clouds will rush towards them if he speaks too loud.
“no need to thank me,” rui offers, voice just as calm.
tsukasa looks back to meet him head-on and rui is lost to the vivid sunrise before them. there’s something that seems to sparkle in his gaze — it’s no more than the warmth that his eyes harbour.
he tilts his head to the side, eyes softening. rui finds a different sunrise in them. “i’ve been wanting to visit with you for so long.”
rui pushes out what he wishes was a freeing laugh but he knows it sounds more like a cough. he looks down, feigning confidence. “kamo river?”
tsukasa smiles, fond and sweet. “indeed.”
rui chances a glance at that smile, reading something that he can’t quite put a finger on.
then, that warmth, impetuous but not carrying the edge of being impulsive, as tsukasa’s hand darts toward his so close their fingers brush. breath hitching, rui resists the urge to reach out his own hand close the distance, accompanied by the quick pulse of electricity that shoots through him. his hand, now with a mind of its own, moves anyways, and tsukasa grins at him so widely rui has to mentally stagger backwards to wonder how he even got this far.
tsukasa turns to look at the sky, something like awe taking over his face. he’s still smiling, softly again, softer than anything before, and the sun dips above the horizon. it feels warm, not burningly hot or in the way that presses against his skin, but warm when he presses his hand into tsukasa’s gently, no more than a light squeeze.
“rui, i’d like to show you something,” tsukasa suddenly says with full seriousness.
and so he pulls rui up, still holding onto his hand, and takes off.
the river water is warm as rui skims his fingers through it. it threads through like locks of hair against his skin, the water running along the stones that served as a crossing point. tsukasa has suddenly stopped in his impromptu dash, and now steps onto one of the stones. “follow me,” he says.
rui wordlessly follows without any hesitation, standing shakily on the stone closest to the ground as he surveys their surroundings. the sun is now up, glowing warm and golden beyond the river. it makes the water shimmer.
“look, there’s ducks in the river,” his tone lilts with fascination. “the one on our left.” tsukasa adds, the movement of him looking back to rui casting a gorgeous glint of gold in his eyes.
“ah, the spot-billed duck?” rui’s heart beats a little faster, and a smile crawls its way onto his face. they walk across the stone steps, the water passes by, and their sparkler’s light moves slowly along with it. rui hums, tsukasa listens, their hands still intertwined with one another’s.
the perfect time would be right now, he thinks. he would turn to tsukasa, like a moth drawn to the fire of his eyes, and smile at him with full sincerity, the rushing warmth to his face replacing the smile on his face, a dust of pink across his face.
“rui, we should skip stones as far as we can into the river.”
he pauses. “would you like to go first? i’m rather unfamiliar with the game.”
nodding, tsukasa furrows his eyebrows in full concentration, getting into his perfect stance, before swinging his arm and throwing a pebble into the water. it barely flies past the nearest stone, making two measly skips
“that’s a rather strange form, tsukasa-kun.”
“..it’s not strange—! this is how i do it but it always ends up sloppy!”
rui laughs, leaving tsukasa to huff as he passes him a pebble. “you try!”
“can you show me again how to skip stones?”
tsukasa’s expression is still a bit gloomy as he looks for flat stones, wordlessly agreeing to impart the skill. he comes back to rui and hands him a few black stones with a small smile, waiting for him to receive it. rui carefully analyses the pile and grabs a stone.
rui looks at him with rapt attention as tsukasa tosses a rock into the gentle waters. he hadn't caught on immediately, struggling initially with the different ways to tilt the stone. with a range of different sorts of stones to use, he eventually figured out the best ones were in the shape of ovals — not completely flat, but just enough to achieve the perfect skip on water.
he follows suit after, the stone from his throw skipping, leaving ripples of water wherever it bounced. the haphazard toss doesn’t fall far from their position.
“again, please.”
tsukasa complies and at the third try, a second stone accompanies his, both stones parallelling one another. they skip few times, before breaking the surface with a plop, and sinking below, the water clear enough for the both to see the rock float below as it joined the many others that surrounded it. rui’s stone sinks while tsukasa’s bounces two more times before disappearing into the water.
he grins. “i win!”
“hm, i can’t quite grasp the right technique yet,” rui muses aloud.
“here,” tsukasa’s hand suddenly makes its way onto his, attempting to guide his hand, all in order to let him throw the rock in just the right angle to have it bounce off the water. his hold changes into something a little more certain, a little more steady, that picked up speed and rui’s breath hitches, a silent prayer that he wouldn’t let go.
but it happens when tsukasa does pull away, rui’s hand still left to hold the air for a fraction of a second before dropping it and feeling his face go hot. the phenomena strikes; rui’s word stuck in place in his own throat. for a moment, a terrible, unmoving moment, he’s unable to focus on anything but tsukasa’s focused face. for a lingering moment, he does his best to mirror the angle, trying to appear unaffected, but,
—the stone sinks with a loud thud.
tsukasa lets go, frowning to himself. “maybe i’m not the best at skipping stones, but it should’ve worked!”
today morning though, something felt lighter between the two. rui tosses another stone with his full force now — five skips.
“you did it! look at how far it went!” he beams, the same smile betraying rui’s composure all over again. the lake continues to shimmer past them, rippling quietly underneath golden streaks of sunlight that spread past the water and onto the wide expanse of land beyond.
“hey rui, before we leave, you should make a wish with a stone.”
rui raises an eyebrow at him. “a wish?”
“you go first,” tsukasa smiles.
he turns his attention back to the neat pile of rocks now sitting between the two of them, shifts on his spot when his legs start to ache from crouching, letting out a sigh as tsukasa also stands up to stretch his own limbs.
what more could he ask for?
tsukasa walks behind him and picks up another stone, waiting for the stone to appear near the lake. rui sucks in a breath, quick and easily, before forgoing a wish and throwing the stone towards the azure. it takes flight and jumps. it sinks down during the sixth.
the star turns to him. “what was your wish about?”
rui shakes his head. tsukasa frowns at him.
“well, i’m not too sure on what to wish for.”
tsukasa leans in from behind to take a look at their rocks. “that’s okay! allow me to go first then.”
rui on his feet again and watches as tsukasa closes his eyes. the river grows quiet. he looks at tsukasa, at the stone beneath their feet, at the sky above their heads. he falters for a moment and lets his voice be carried by the wind, a small wish of more smiles for tsukasa, for his troupe, for the new friends he’s made. he closes his eyes as he does, a quiet declaration.
he opens his eyes, throws a stone, to turn back to tsukasa smiling back at him, quietly observing the way he’s made his wish. when the day comes for them to make a wish once again, rui will remember to whisper the same words into the wind.
“what’d you wish for?” tsukasa quips.
“ah, but it wouldn’t come true if i told you.”
“i suppose that’s true,” he smiles, reaching out his hand for rui and him to finish their walk across the river.
rui accepts it fondly. “because it already has.”