Chapter Text
Before Tsukasa could say another word Rui grabbed what remained of his arm and ran. He called out, panicked and crying, asking what was happening to him.
"Rui! Rui, what's happening? What's happening to me?"
Rui didn't dare look back. The one time he did he could see the rainbow tears falling from Tsukasa's eyes stain the stone streets and almost lost control of his own tears. He just pulled and dragged Tsukasa this way and that until they made it back to his studio. Bursting through the door, he stormed over to the canvas where a pegasus waited patiently for its rider.
"Rui," Tsukasa tried again to grab his attention. He'd been reduced to his chest and head with some of his arm remaining where Rui still held onto him. "Why is this happening? Why am I disappearing? Rui, I don't want to disappear."
Time was passing both far too quickly and slowly as Rui thought hard about how to save his friend. A thought occurred to him, as did a memory, that Tsukasa may be able to restore his body if he returned to his painting, but would it work?
"Tsukasa."
The teary prince whimpered.
Rui let go of his sleeve – it vanished the moment he did – and cupped his cheeks. Like the streets they ran through, Rui's hands became stained in his rainbow tears. "You said before you could freely go between here and the painting."
"Um..."
"I don't know if this is going to work, but we don't have any other choice." He grabbed Tsukasa's shoulders and guided him to stand in front of the canvas. "You need to go back. Even if you're not fully restored I can still repaint the parts missing from you."
"But, Rui!!"
"There's no time!"
With a forceful push powered by his need to save Tsukasa, Rui watched as the remaining parts of Tsukasa stumbled through the air before crashing into the canvas. Time seemed to slow down then and he hoped and hoped this would work, momentarily losing it when he watched the easel sway. But his eyes widen when a bright blue light illuminated from the painting and Tsukasa, crying and trying to bring himself back to Rui, fell into it. Enveloped in light, Tsukasa was completely hidden and Rui blocked his eyes at the sudden brightness. Only when it went away did Rui rush to see the results.
"Tsukasa!!"
He couldn't be happier or more relieved. Tsukasa had become whole again, clutching the neck of the pegasus who had caught him, and looked at his surroundings in shock. Then, rather despondently, he gazed back at Rui.
"It worked, Tsukasa, it worked!" He gripped either side of the easel and his smile trembled from overwhelming relief. "You're okay," he added softly.
Still Tsukasa looked at him sadly. In a quieter voice he said, "But I can't go back to you."
"What do you mean?" He almost scoffed but realised how serious Tsukasa had become. No, he knew he was being serious before but didn't want to believe it. "You said you could step in and out easily."
"I..." Now it was Tsukasa's whole body trembling as if he had done something wrong. "I only said that to make you happy. It seemed like you really wanted to see me step out from the painting, so I said that I could show you to make you happy. But..."
"But what?"
The prince shook his head. "I can't. Even now," he held up his hand to Rui and made a face as if he were struggling to push, "I can't do anything. I can't... move!"
Rui placed his hand flat over Tsukasa's and only felt the layers of paint that made up his picture. His heart quickened. Tsukasa smiled sadly at him, not moving his hand away from his. "So... that was it?" He let out a short, incredulous laugh. "We spend less than a day together and that's it?"
Thoughts of all the things he wanted to show Tsukasa raced through his mind. Emotions welled up inside him and he cursed how short-lived Tsukasa's moments as a human was. It was inevitable, he thinks. Inevitable and incredible to think that a painting come to life would survive more than a day, dare he say forever.
"It may have been half a day," Tsukasa calmly spoke, "but it was the most fun I've ever had."
"That's only because you've never experienced any other day," he replied almost dismissively. "Yesterday and today were your first days... alive."
That's right, he was alive. When Rui took him all over the city he could see all the signs of Tsukasa being alive.
Tsukasa tilted his head. "I don't know what you mean. I have memories before today and yesterday too."
Rui blinked. "You do?"
"Mhm. I always thought watching you work on this painting was the most fun. I could never see further than where you sat. That was probably because I wasn't complete."
Intrigued, Rui dragged his seat to sit directly in front of Tsukasa and measured the distance between them. It wasn't much. "So you've had a conscious this whole time? How long ago?"
Tsukasa shrugged. "I don't know. Oh! But I remember something like a voice talking to me."
"You could hear too?"
"It was different from yours. It was higher and asked me to keep a promise."
Rui tried to remember too. Aside from him, almost nobody ever came to his studio and the few that did didn't have a higher pitched voice. "If it's alright with you, may I know what the promise was?"
As if nothing bad had ever happened today, Tsukasa smiled brightly at him. "I promised to make you happy!"
"Make me happy?" No doubt he was surprised. He began to think really hard but no one came to mind that would make that kind of request. But looking at Tsukasa and knowing him, he wasn't lying.
"I don't know everything," Tsukasa began, "and I don't understand a lot of things either. But I'll endeavour to fulfill this promise!" He beat his chest as he spoke. "I will make you happy, Rui. I will be the beacon of light in your life!"
Seeing how serious he was, Rui couldn't help but smile. And seeing this, Tsukasa frowned.
"Rui."
"Mm?"
"I meant it when I said I'd make you happy."
"Yes, and?"
"If you're truly happy about this, then shouldn't your smile be more genuine than it is?"
"Is it not genuine?"
"No," he said flatly. "I can see that you're doing it just to be courteous."
Rui laughed. "Ah, I can't help it. It's the first time... No, maybe it's the second time someone has promised to make me happy. I didn't mean to disparage you."
Tsukasa nodded. "That's okay. When you laughed, I could see more of your smile. So... who was the first?"
"'The first'?"
"The first person to promise to make you happy. Who was it?"
"Ah, that was my mother. She would always try her best to make me smile, much like you."
Tsukasa thought for a bit, his hand naturally going to stroke the mane of his pegasus. At the end of his thoughts, he asked, "I wonder if she was the one who made me make that promise..."
Rui put both hands up as he shrugged. "I doubt it. She's in another country and I didn't start working on your painting until after I moved here."
"Oh." Still pondering, Tsukasa tried to recall the night he came to life.
The first thing he had sensed was the sound of something scratching. His eyes hadn't opened yet but he could hear the pencil Rui – who, at the time, he didn't know the name of – was using to draw the initial sketch of the painting.
*Scritch, scratch. Scratch. Scratch.*
A slight "whoosh" went by and the bleak darkness he was used to gradually became brighter until he saw the vague outline of a person in front of him. Compared to his current blank white canvas, what he saw was utter darkness and the lines he saw were a faded white. Eventually, as Rui worked more and more on him, he would be able to see colour and texture too. But for the moment, all he saw was a dark canvas with white lines.
With an exception. Something colourful – blue, he recalls – was hovering beside Rui, guiding his hand and sending a blue mist down and into the canvas towards him. He watched it settle onto him and he could hear the same "whoosh" sounds as it spread.
It felt cool, Tsukasa realising at some point he gained his sense of touch, and watched the painter sketch his features. He watched for what he assumed was hours until the painter stretched, yawned, then stood up to go to bed. He couldn't follow further than the border of the canvas, but the mysterious mist that was beside Rui remained. Then it moved closer.
"Hello!"
(Hello!)
"How are you feeling?"
(Great! I think that's the word for this feeling.)
"Wonderful! In that case, may I ask a huge favour from you?
"The person you saw before you, he's a very nice boy. He's come a long way from where he used to live. As a result of that, he's rather lonely and not many people understand him. That's where you're needed."
Tsukasa took it all in. He wasn't sure what he could do for the boy, but if he's needed then he knew he could do something.
"I'm going to give you a chance at life," the mist continued. "When the time is right, you'll be able to step out into this world and be the friend this boy needs. But," they warn, "you only have a limited amount of time to be in this world. You'll have 12 hours before you must return and wait for the new moon."
(Why a new moon?)
"Think of it as your time to truly bond~! Take your time to get to know him and when you're able to step into this world, enjoy everything together!" The mist started to dissipate. As a final act of encouragement, the mist joyously exclaimed, "I'll be rooting for the both of you!"
When the mist had completely dispersed, Tsukasa's world had plunged back into darkness until the next morning came. Since then, Tsukasa watched Rui go about his daily life and learned more about him day by day with each stroke of the pencil and brush. Everyday he'd remind himself of his promise and patiently waited for the moment when he could join Rui in his world.
Rui reclined in his chair as he listened to Tsukasa's story. He distantly remembers feeling the same sensations Tsukasa had described while he worked on his painting, but he had no clue what the mist was or who it could be if it was a person or spirit. But what caught his attention the most was the condition he was given.
"It's strange they only gave you 12 hours before waiting for the new moon."
"I don't understand it either. But it's okay, isn't it?" Tsukasa didn't fail to smile. "It's better than only being able to do it once or not being able to do it at all!"
Rui hummed in agreement and counted the hours on his hands. "Since you came out while I was asleep, that explains why we couldn't spend most of the day together."
At that, Tsukasa shyly scratched his cheek. "Yeah, sorry. I was so excited to finally meet you beyond the painting that I had to confirm it for myself! And," Tsukasa looked away briefly, becoming more shy on the cusp of embarrassment, "you spoke adamantly about all of this being a dream that I began to believe it too."
Rui hid his smile behind his hand. "You thought you were dreaming too? Even though you had been awake the whole time?"
"Y-You were very convincing!! I mean, imagine if this really was all a dream. I... I know I was meant to make you happy, but I think I've been chasing after my own happiness ever since I gained my senses."
There was a soft, almost inaudible, sorry that followed his confession. Rui's lips curved upwards and he held a hand in front of Tsukasa who also held his hand up. For Rui, he could feel the brush strokes and layered paint in Tsukasa's palm; for Tsukasa, he could feel his warmth. It was strange for both boys and a sore reminder for Rui that life in his world with Tsukasa was restricted to a small timeframe every month. Tsukasa didn't seem to mind however much he yearned for a life beyond the painting. Still, if 12 hours a month was all they were given, then they would make the most of those precious hours.