Chapter Text
"Finally!" Tsukasa says as he flops onto the hotel bed after their ten hour flight. "I missed solid ground!!"
Rui laughs and sets down his bags. "It was quite cute to see you so scared of the plane turbulence, Tsukasa-kun."
"I don't get how you were so calm during that!"
"Turbulence is a mere matter of physics—"
"No!" Tsukasa stops him right there with a finger raised in the air. "We've graduated now so no physics talk! I barely passed that, and I don't want to talk about it!"
Rui chuckles and sits next to him. "Alright, what's on your agenda first?"
"Oh, right!" Tsukasa springs up onto his legs. "I'm bringing you to a secret location!"
"Hm? Ah, the surprise you were mentioning. You've been excited about this for a while, Tsukasa-kun!"
"Only because I know you're gonna love it!"
They venture out into the wild world of South California. Despite it being Tsukasa’s surprise, Rui is the one asking for directions considering he's the one with serviceable English skills.
"Tsukasa-kun's taking me to the zoo, huh? I might be the one talking your ear off with animal facts." Rui smiles.
"That's what I signed up for." Tsukasa takes him through the entrance of the San Diego Zoo. He stops to look at the map and struggles to read it.
"You know I can help, Tsukasa-kun—" His eyes are covered by Tsukasa’s hand.
"No! It would ruin the surprise!"
After Tsukasa struggles to read a bit more, he finally finds what he's looking for and leads him to their final destination.
"I wonder what Tsukasa wanted me to— wh— huh..?" The words die on his mouth as his eyes read the English letters spelling out: platypus.
His eyes dart to the dark aquatic exhibit and, lo and behold, his favorite animal is swimming about.
Rui gasps and runs right up towards the glass, nearly slamming himself against it. The air in his lungs is sucked out from the sheer excitement of seeing a platypus swim around.
In his periphery, he can see Tsukasa smiling. "Do you like it?"
"I didn’t know there were platypus exhibits outside of Australia!!!" Rui hops in place energetically.
"This is the only place that has them! I had to bring you here when you talked about going to America!" Tsukasa says, proud about his planning skills.
Rui is practically vibrating in excitement as another platypus moves into the water. "Tsukasa-kun!! Look! He looked at me!"
His nose is stuck on the glass as he tries his hardest to reach out and touch them to fulfill his childhood dreams.
Tsukasa stifles a lot of chuckles on his side while taking photos.
Five minutes later, Rui shows no signs of moving from the exhibit glass, happily content to stay here for eternity.
"Aren't they the coolest, Tsukasa-kun?!" Rui clings onto his arm, jostling him a bit. "I've wanted to see one in person so bad!"
Later, they both sit down to watch the two platypuses in the exhibit swim and walk around. Rui rocks back and forth while sitting cross-legged, head flicking from the two animals.
Tsukasa notices the occasional look from another visitor, wondering why they're sitting on the ground, gawking at the platypuses. He doesn't mind though as does Rui.
They have no idea how long they spent just sitting there on the ground. Maybe an hour later, Rui stands back up. Tsukasa follows suit. "Are you ready to go?"
"I think so…"
The two make a round trip around the zoo. Rui makes sure to spill all the fun facts he knows about them and to softly tease Tsukasa for being so shocked.
"Should we stop by the hotel real quick before we keep going?"
"Sure, Tsukasa-kun."
A weirdly quiet trip back to their hotel later, Tsukasa goes to grab some of their stuff but is distracted by Rui hugging him from behind.
He jolts before relaxing. "Is there something you need, Rui?"
Rui shakes his head. He sticks his nose in his blonde hair, smelling his fragrant shampoo. "Thank you, Tsukasa-kun…"
"I know it's silly, but it's… platypuses mean a lot to me, and when you do things like this— I don't know; I get emotional."
Tsukasa turns and stands on his toes to kiss the corner of his lips. "It's only natural when I'm here! It's my job to make your the happiest boy in the world!"
Rui giggles, the sound reverberating Tsukasa’s body. "You're doing a very good job, Tsukasa-kun."
"And I intend to keep it up!" Tsukasa smiles brightly. "Now, get your stuff!"
They collect their bags and other essentials. Including Rui's platypus plushies that Tsukasa made for him.
"When did you bring them here??"
"I snuck them into my carry-on bags."
Tsukasa sighs and nods along to Rui's amusement. "I wish I got a few pictures of the platypus exhibit… I was too distracted to remember."
"Don't worry about that! I took some photos and videos since you were preoccupied."
Rui doesn't say anything, but the wet shimmer in his eyes say enough for Tsukasa to know what he's feeling inside.
"No crying on our retreat! Come on — I still have more planned of us and you!"