Chapter Text
Rui wishes he could say that as night rolled around, he had gone to bed and dreamed about the love of his life. Maybe he would've dreamed that he had tested another project for his shows —which may or may not have included a canon and an immeasurable number of balloons— that would inevitably have gotten Tsukasa annoyed. But maybe, in Rui's (highly unrealistic) dreams, Tsukasa would have felt something more. Something stronger than anger.
But Rui can't say that. Because that's not what happened. As Rui closed the door once he was sure Tsukasa was completely out of sight, he sighed and finally untensed his body. That boy would surely be the death of him if Rui didn't do something soon. But what could he do? Tsukasa was as oblivious as they come. Just then, Rui remembered his real life.
'Shit, I have to go pick up my mom!' Rui made the executive decision to stop thinking about the blond, and head to where his mom was working for the day. Or was at least supposed to be working for the day, though she was usually forced to work overtime. Now, if there's one thing Rui hates, it would be vegetables. However, a close second is driving his family's backup car. He rarely drives it, and the only times he does are when his mom or dad work too late and miss the commuter train. And to make it worse, when one of his parents work overtime, the other usually does too. Luckily, Rui's father is on a business trip, so Rui only needs to worry about getting his mother today. It takes him a bit to find the keys, what with them barely being used and also covered by a heap of Rui's powered-down robots, but he manages.
Once he finally makes it outside and to his car, he unlocks it and climbs inside. It's a bit unnatural for him to sit in, but he figures it out and puts the car in reverse. When he makes it on the road, his mind begins to wander once again. He daydreams (or rather, night-dreams) about Tsukasa, seeing Rui and actually seeing him. He thought about how cute Tsukasa would look in a nightgown, which he already liked to think Tsukasa wore. He thought about his smile, and his powerful laugh that seemed to come out whenever they were together. It might seem silly, and even Rui thought so, but he just couldn't get him out of his head. Unfortunately, Rui managed to zone out and lose control of the wheel for just long enough to make the whole car swerve and send his brain into a triggered replay of his life.
"Jesus.." Rui blinked back into reality, gripping his steering wheel tight enough to choke it. That was the last time he would ever zone out while driving. Despite that, Rui did finally manage to make it to his mom's work. He found a coin meter spot and reluctantly paid the fee. When he stepped out of the car, his eyes traveled up and down the large-scale building.
'Those guys have to have some serious guts to work every day at a height like that.' He thought as he walked, taking a short pause to admire the young man passing out balloons to nearby kids and tourists. When Rui made it into the building, he nodded to the middle-aged, tired-looking men who passed him before making it to the elevator. He pressed the floor and apprehensively held onto the handrails. Another thing Rui hated was elevators. Not only were they extremely confining, but they could stop or even drop at any time. Nevertheless, Rui managed to make it to the level that his mom would be. He relievedly stepped out of the elevator and scanned the room for his mother. He eventually did find her, scrambling to photocopy a large stack of documents. Rui rushed over, quickly taking the pile of papers from his mom.
"Ah, Rui! You surprised me! I'm sorry, I never expected to stay this late, but you know how things go sometimes..." Rui's mom heaved a sigh, relieved from the weight of 1,000 pages of freshly printed ink in her arms. Rui smiled softly, his eyes crumpling slightly at the sight of his tired mother, with a pencil pinning her hair in a bun, eye bags so heavy that Rui began to wonder if bad sleep was genetic, and her soft hands, now thin but used tirelessly. His heart panged with sympathy. It hurt seeing his mother so worn out. But her job paid well, and she was good at it. So she stays.
“Hi mom. I understand, don’t apologize. Take as much time as you need, I’m in no rush to leave.” Rui nods at his mom, who has already basically rushed back to her seat, although not sitting completely down, as if she won’t be there for long. Rui, walking to the nearest bench, hitches his breath suddenly.
You have 1 new message from Tsukasa<3
Rui basically went into a state of shock. As if this day couldn’t get any more centered on him. As he pulls his phone out, he silently prays that it isn’t some random question about the script again. Luckily, it wasn’t. It was something much worse.
Rui almost choked on his own breath, as he let out a small gasp —and a few broken words— before silently erupting in blush. As his phone gets jammed back into his pocket, his twitchy and unsure smile desperately tries to stay concealed on his face. Just as he can finally think straight again, his mom tiredly walks back over to him, a massive shoulder bag slung over her.
“Sorry about that, you caught me in the middle of an email! Let’s head out.” His mom, taking his hand, guides him out of her surprisingly large office. "So! How was your day? Anything fun happen while I was at work?"
Rui wanted to respond, really, he did! He wanted to talk (in the least suspicious way possible) about how much fun he had with Tsukasa, and how he wishes he could spend the rest of his life with him. But all Rui could mutter was,
"Nothing much."
Rui's mom sighed with a knowing tone, but decided to change the subject anyway.
"Well, your father mentioned you were building something new last night?" Rui's eyes lit up at this, finally, a distraction that could take his mind off of...well, yeah.
"Yeah! It's going to be a robot to help with our next show! Emu-kun asked me if I was able to create one that could shoot glitter and then clean it up after our show, since it's usually her who has to deal with that. Although I wouldn't say she's amazing at her job..." Rui lets out an awkward laugh, realizing he's been rambling only after a rude disturbance of tripping over a piece of concrete. His mom however, just smiles and nods, seemingly more concerned at how he managed to trip over a piece of gravel the size of a pea than bored at how long he's been talking.
As Rui and his mom step into the car, his mother taking the wheel this time, Rui takes the opportunity to slowly pull his phone back out. As he quietly enters his password, careful his mom can't see, he squints with apprehension. He places a finger on the message app, leaving it there for longer than normal, before the app inevitably opens. Rui chokes on his spit.
"Rui?! Are you okay?" His mom says, blissfully unaware of what Rui has just laid his eyes on. Rui looks up, still coughing. He smiles wearily and nods, quickly going back to his phone.
Rui studies every inch of the photo Tsukasa just sent, unknowingly biting his lip until it bled. 'Holy shit.'
The photo shows Tsukasa, clearly being handled just so he'll stay in frame. He's dressed in a nurse costume of which must've been at least two sizes too small for him, proven by the fact that he grasps the hem of the dress just so it'll cover him completely. He's looking at the camera from an upward angle from where he sits on —what Rui assumes is— his bed. His face is fixed into a scowl, with a hint of pleading.
When Rui zooms out of the photo, he quickly downloads it before who he can only guess is Tsukasa, deletes it.
—
Tsukasa<3 : You didn't see that, right?
—
Rui stares dumbly at his phone, mentally praising himself for having read off. He decides not to respond right away, and instead turns his phone off and hides it under his thigh. His mom doesn't seem to notice the whole situation, and if she had, she didn't show it.
The rest of the ride was silent, but not the awkward kind. Rui averted his eyes from his mother’s figure in the car, the window next to him which reflected his flustered mess of a face, and most importantly, down where his phone sat idly beneath his leg. He was sure that if he looked for too long, his eyes would gain X-ray vision, and the photo would come back into sight. Whether or not he wanted that, he decided he would keep to himself.
o4Once his mom pulled into the driveway, Rui headed into his house at an uncharacteristically fast pace. Once he makes it to his room, Rui practically cannonballs into his bed and slams his face into his pillow. After a few minutes of processing his decisions, he opens his phone back up slowly and clicks on Tsukasa's text chain. As the light of his phone illuminates the dimly lit room, the layer of blush has the same effect on Rui's face. He taps the case of his phone, pondering on what to respond with. If he says he did, he would risk embarrassing Tsukasa —which he does admit is very amusing—, but if he tells him he didn't, he would be lying. And Rui would never want to lie to Tsukasa. However, after thorough consideration, he decided that some lies are worth telling to save someone the trouble. Plus, the more Rui thought about it, telling him he'd seen it would be worse for Tsukasa than himself. Yeah, that's it!
—
Rui : Sorry, just opened messages.
Rui : See what?
—
A few minutes pass, as Rui stares intensely at his phone through the excruciating wait. Then, a response.
—
Tsukasa<3 : Oh thank God.
Tsukasa<3 : It's nothing, just a stupid photo Saki took.
—
Rui noticed acutely the fact that Tsukasa failed to mention the subject of Saki's photo, but refrained from pressing on the matter. Instead, he replied tamely.
—
Rui : I see. Well, good night Tsukasa.
Tsukasa<3 : Night Rui!!!
—
Wow. That was embarrassingly harder than Rui wanted to admit. As he sets down his phone, he decides that he needs a proper distraction. He stands up with a heave, and walks slowly over to his desk. Sitting down, he cracks his knuckles and pulls out the robot Emu had been bugging him about. Honestly, Rui was surprised at her ability to come up with such an idea, but he knew better than to question her. Rui fiddles with the toy, unscrewing its back frame and inserting the confetti holder in place. He gives it fresh batteries and attaches its arms that would hold the sweeper. Once its final touches were done, he took a while to simply admire what he had created. He held it up to the light with both hands, examining the grooves in its face, which gave it a personified head. Then a ring from his phone, causing Rui to jump with surprise, nearly taking the robot out. Walking at a slightly fast pace, he walks over to where he had set his device. As the caller ID comes into view, his eyes widen in shock and utter disbelief. Tsukasa's name shines up at him, nearly blinding his darkness-adjusted eyes. Turning the volume of his phone down, he slowly swipes the 'answer call' button. He is then met with Tsukasa's face, which is quick to disappear as he turns his camera off.
"Hey, Rui. Glad you're still awake."
'Breathe. Breathe, Rui.'
"Hello Tsukasa-kun. Why are you calling me?" Rui squints at the screen, desperately attempting to catch a glimpse of Tsukasa's face again.
"I just... couldn't fall asleep with all the noise from Saki's room. I was just wondering if we could talk for a bit until I get tired? That probably sounds super weird, sorry. Your voice is just easy to listen to."
"Ah. Is that so?..." Rui is unsure if he's dead or dreaming.
"Yes, I suppose it's just the calmness of it that makes it so... I don't know? Nice?"
"I'm fine talking with you, and I'll only hang up after you've fallen asleep. Ok?"
"...Ok."
Rui clenches his pillow, trying not to verbally squeak at Tsukasa's vulnerability. He keeps his phone pressed against his neck as he walks back to his desk to start the paint job on his robot, before he sets it down next to him with the speaker on. There is a moment of silence, where neither of the two boys know what to say. Rui's mouth opens and closes several times, and he can hear Tsukasa take a few starting breaths, cutting just short of the actual question. Then,
"I hope Saki isn't driving you too crazy."
Tsukasa's camera comes on at this question, showing his face, shiny with glitter, and his mouth fixed into a frown. The smudge of lipstick from his mouth hasn't been washed off all the way, and Rui begins to think of what it would taste like to…anyways.
"I'll let you decide..."
Tsukasa motions to his face and slightly ruffled hair, the lingering blush of embarrassment from his face not fading.
"Well, I'm sorry about that. But hey, I bet you would've looked very handsome with eyeshadow!" Rui states, teasingly, as he paints around the face of his robot.
Tsukasa remains quiet for an awkward amount of time, but continues as if nothing happened.
"Very funny Rui...soooo funny." Tsukasa lets out a small yawn, audibly getting more sleepy by the minute. Rui chuckles to himself.
"Sounds like you don't have much time left."
No response.
"Tsukasa-kun?..."
"...Tsukasa?"
Nothing. Rui smiles, beginning to understand Tsukasa's abrupt pause. He finishes up his painting, and sets it on his shelf to dry. As he's about to hit the 'hang up' button, he begins to hear faint breathing. Rui's body goes stiff.
'Is that...Tsukasa's breathing? Oh Lord."
Rui changes his plan, quietly picking up his phone with one faint grab, before heading to his bed. He quickly changes into his pajamas, gets under his blankets, and presses his phone up against his ear again. Although he does feel a slight shame of some sort, he decides that that is a problem for another day. Right now, he just wanted to fall asleep with him.
Lying down, it was pretty easy for Rui to imagine Tsukasa sleeping beside him, their legs tangled together and their heads facing each other. But again, he was just imagining.
‘Tomorrow…’
Tomorrow, he would talk to him. He would ask him what he’s been wanting to ask for…well forever. Oh, no, not to be his boyfriend. One of his many other fantasies.
On a date.
But, for now he would have to live through the night with Tsukasa. It became increasingly hard to focus on his thoughts as Rui listened to him, sound asleep. Slipping deeper into a sleep, he could not have noticed the fact that his breath synchronized with Tsukasa’s. Rui smiles.
The next morning, Rui wakes up to a fully drained phone. He lets out a sigh, but sits up anyway and rubs his eyes. Monday makes him sleepy. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find that energy today. He was actually very much the opposite, adjusting to the morning and beginning to freak out. He forgot to hang up. Well, it’s not like he wanted to hang up, but he still planned on it. Praying that his phone died before Tsukasa realized, he gets out of bed and clips up his unkempt bangs into a palm tree on the top of his head. He grabs his phone and plugs it into the wall, heading to the bathroom. As he starts his skincare, he studies his face. There was a slight indent on his cheek where he had left his phone, but he figures it will probably go away after he washes it. When the cold water hits his face, he feels his chest loosen from its tenseness, and his eyebrows relax. The embarrassing and quite romantic feeling of last night washes away with the soap. He dries his face and lingers in the bathroom, staring at his reflection in the mirror. When he exits the room, he sets his playlist up —careful not to choose the untitled song and send himself to Wonderland Sekai in his boxers— and begins to get dressed and ready for the school day ahead.
Once fully dressed, Rui packs his bag, grabs a quick breakfast, and heads off to school. He meets Nene on the way there in their normal spot, before continuing the rest of the way.
“I just don’t understand Rui!” Nene flings her arms up, exasperated —once again— at Rui. “I can’t see why you won’t just tell him! It’s insanely obvious and nobody, not even tsukasa, can be that dense!”
Rui rolls his eyes,
‘You’d be surprised…’
Nene rubs her eyes and lets out a sigh. Rui knew where this was going. Nene started her speech. “Listen Rui. Emu is as friend-zoning as it gets. I still asked her out! And do you know what she said?”
“Yeah, I know Nene… but with Tsukasa-kun, it’s…different?” He really wasn’t in the mood to keep having these discussions, but he was the one who brought it up this time.
“He wanted to call you! That’s saying something! Sometimes I wonder which of you is the oblivious one…”
“Him.” Rui practically barks.
Nene shrugs it off, and ends the conversation at that. They eventually meet with Emu who walks the same way. She would walk with Tsukasa, but he likes to leave the house 30 minutes to help out with the student council. Rui doesn't usually feel exceptionally happy about that fact, but he can’t help but sigh with relief today. Nene, Emu and Rui talk for a bit longer before Emu splits off to head her own way. It sure was a pain for her to go to a different school, —and apparently even harder for her to stay there— but she managed in her own…ways. Rui didn’t really mind that Emu came to visit them at lunch though, since it gave them more time to discuss rehearsal times, and of course because he liked spending time with her.
Rui sneaks a peak at Nene’s face, her expression fixed into a thoughtful and slightly entranced display. He figures that it’s to do with Emu, so he doesn’t press. He does however not choose to ignore the possibility of Nene’s thoughts being to do with valentines day. He lets out a chuckle and looks forward once more, taking in the sight of their giant school in which he should probably be blacklisted from. Even if he does think of his ‘experiments’ fondly, the school board —especially Tsukasa—, does not.
Once he and Nene make it to the school gates, passing through the dress code officers with ease, they spot Tsukasa running toward them. Tsukasa immediately scales Rui up and down, standing in his signature stance with his hands at his hips. After a quick inspection, and a deadly suspense on Rui’s part, Tsukasa moves.
He starts with a slow hand, bringing it up to Rui’s collarbone, before grasping for his tie with both and getting to work on re-tieing it. Rui’s face heats up as his head desperately cranes out of Tsukasa’s potential reach. Once the tie is adjusted to his liking, Tsukasa moves his hands to Rui’s waist and begins to tuck in his unkempt polo shirt. Rui begins to think of the genuine possibility of passing out, but just as quickly as he started he was done. He dusted Rui’s shoulders off and returned to his previous position in front of him. After a second, he nods and ensues his normal daily talk with Nene, leaving Rui to his own…situation.
‘Holy fucking shit.’
Luckily for Rui, he didn't have much time to process this encounter, as he was interrupted from his thoughts by Nene and Tsukasa’s bickering. Well, it was more like Tsukasa’s annoyance and Nene being the center of it now that Rui was back in the real world. He perked an eyebrow, deciding to join in again on the conversation.
“How am I gonna explain this to Emu?! You can’t just spring something like this on me so fast!!” The blond pouts, rubbing his temples. Rui feels a light blush, but it quickly fades as the attention begins to focus on him.
“Do you really think it’s that big of a deal Rui?” Nene sighs, clearly done with Tsukasa’s constant state of worry.
Rui’s eyes widen, his face fixing into a sort of smile as he looks back and forth between the two.
“Well, it isn’t.” Nene responds to herself, saving Rui the trouble of picking between them.
Rui laughs awkwardly as the bell rings, signalling that class was starting in five minutes. Nene waves them away, as the two boys finally head to their homeroom. Conversation fails to spark on the way there, as much as Rui tried. He meant to ask him about the date.
‘Later.’
As they walk into the classroom, they exchange a small nod and head to their respective seats. Rui stares at the back of Tsukasa’s head with a newfound longing. His face is stoic, as his eyes travel down his back and lingers on his perfectly ironed shirt.
What to do? Rui was unsure, but he knew one thing. It would have to be later.