Work Text:
A dim light illuminated a desk made of oak. Tsukasa had been sitting there for hours, absentmindedly looking at the notebook in front of him. He was tasked with writing the script of the new episode of "Pegasus Odyssey", the show that Wonderland × Showtime regularly performed. The main plot points hadn't changed, but they wanted to spice things up by adding new scenes in the play.
And that was where the problem lay. Tsukasa and Nene's acts were mostly done, but he couldn't say the same about the main antagonist, the role Rui, his fellow director, was playing. Everything he tried to write just didn't feel right.
That's not how the Demon King would act! Tsukasa kept thinking.
The floor was full of scraps of paper he had previously thrown away. His room was in a mess, which in return made his thoughts a mess too. He absolutely needed to clean it but now it was not the time, completing the script came first.
Why was he having so much trouble writing the Final Boss lines, Tsukasa wondered.
Was it because there was a disconnection between the actor and the character?
"Ummm…" He murmured.
If that was the reason, then instead of the Demon King, maybe it was better to focus on someone else. Thus he started asking himself: who was Rui to him?
Their first encounter was at Phoenix Wonderland, when the violet-haired boy was illegally performing with his robot crew. The use of robots was definitely eccentric, but it was not the only thing that caught Tsukasa's attention. Through the well-paced story, his skillful gestures, Rui was able to make the audience empathize with the robots so easily.
He wanted such a director by his side! That's why he was pleased when he joined their troupe and even more so when Rui decided to not give up on this troupe even though he almost ruined everything.
Since then, their friendship had become more tight-knit, so much so that the whole school knew the two of them as "Weirdo Wombo Combo". Not that he was happy about that nickname, it was pretty troublesome after all. If anything happened in school the teachers would immediately suspect Rui and Tsukasa and rightfully so, unfortunately. Rui had a passion to try his invention on school grounds, inventions that would ultimately explode.
Maybe he is doing it on purpose!
Weren't they just being chased down by the teachers the other day? Tsukasa clearly remembered how sneakily Rui vanished, without even waiting for him, leaving him to run for his life all alone.
What a traitor!
Even so, Tsukasa had no choice but to be dragged along the other's antics. Because it concerned one of his friends, he wanted to be involved. He might complain, but he couldn't deny how much fun he was having.
I just wish he could tone down with all of those explosions…
Being an oddball was not Rui's only characteristic though. With time, he learned more about the other boy and how caring he could be. For example, during the Halloween practice show, he got so worried about Tsukasa's injuries that he started unconsciously holding back.
You can be considerate to a fault…
Luckily, they were able to quickly resolve their argument, and Rui returned back to his usual self. Still, whenever an accident happened the taller boy would make a concerned face.
Urgh… What kind of star would make his friends worry this much? I need to train more! Tsukasa pumped himself up, ignoring his original problem.
Wait, this was not the time to get distracted!
"Uhhh…" He took a deep breath to sort his thoughts.
All this thinking about Rui made him remember an issue that recently came up: he felt something had changed in the way the other boy looked at Tsukasa.
"Tsukasa-kun."
He recalled the way Rui would casually say his name. He made it sound so soft and gentle, yes… it was almost sensual…
NOOOOOO!! This is a very dangerous line of thought!!
Tsukasa grabbed his head with both of his hands and started shaking it left and right until exhausted, he fell on his desk with a loud *Thud*.
"Waaa…!" An acute voice yelped.
From his tablet, a hologram of a pretty famous twin-tailed girl wearing a performer outfit could be seen. She was the Vocal Singer Hatsune Miku.
"Ah sorry, did I startle you?" Tsukasa had almost forgotten that Miku had been there all this time.
"No, it's fine!" She reassured.
Miku liked watching Tsukasa while he worked on his play, she found it relaxing and inspirational, that's why she would from time to time pop out of his tablet's screen and enjoy Tsukasa's company.
"Are you having some problems?" She asked worriedly.
"I just can't finish this script…" He confessed in frustration.
"Ummm…"
"In a situation like this, you can ask for help!" Miku suggested.
"You are right, maybe I should ask KAITO?"
KAITO's advice had always been on point, helping them when the group was in a pinch. Tsukasa pondered if it was a good idea to ask the other Virtual Singer.
"No, I think there is someone else I could ask."
He reached out to his tablet where Miku appeared and started typing. It was an important message so he had to choose his words carefully.
"And sent! Hopefully, I will receive an affirmative response."
"I'm sure of it!" Miku cheered.
"Let's call it a day then. You should probably return too, KAITO and the others might get worried."
"Sure! Bye-bye Tsukasa ☆!" Miku energetically waved, disappearing from the boy's tablet.
After bidding his farewell to the Virtual Singer, Tsukasa got up, his legs were sore due to all the hours he spent seated. He stretched for a few minutes to shake off his fatigue. Feeling much better, it was time now to throw all these papers in a proper trash can and then get a much-deserved sleep.
~~~~
The next day, as soon as the bell rang, Tsukasa left his classroom in a hurry. He was directed to a not-so-well-known location behind his school building. After the rooftop, this spot was one of the best places where to chat without bothering anyone. The only problem was that occasionally his kouhai Akito would use this spot to sleep for the entire duration of the lunch break. Today though, no one was there.
Seems like I arrived first.
He sat down on the only bench found there and waited. Not even 10 minutes later, a petite girl appeared: it was Nene.
"Welcome Nene, thank you for joining me during lunch." He greeted.
One of his hands was placed on his chest while the other extended toward the girl. Nene remained unimpressed, used to the ridiculous poses the boy would usually make.
"Always so loud… I think I'm going back." She already regretted coming there.
"What! No! I can even offer you part of my lunch!"
"I'm not interested in your lunch!" She retorted, swinging her own lunchbox in the air.
"Wait, I do need your help." Tsukasa cried out.
"Fine, fine. I was just joking anyway."
Nene moved closer to the boy, sitting next to him.
"So, why did you call me here?" She questioned.
The day before she received an ominous message written in Shakespearian sonnets. It looked like one of those coded messages one needed to decipher to move forward in a game. Needless to say, she accepted the challenge and in the end, she figured out that the boy just wanted to meet her during lunch.
"It better be important, I'm skipping my daily grinding for this." She added.
"Hey look, some fresh air is good for you!" Tsukasa scolded.
"Tsk..." Nene clicked her tongue.
"Don't tsk at me! I'm just saying you should be more careful about your health!"
"I don't need another mom, just tell me why you called."
"Fine! Can you tell me more about Rui?"
Nene was surprised, of all the things that he could have called her out it was to talk about Rui.
"Why?"
"You are his childhood friend, so you ought to know more about him than I do."
"I guess, but why do you want to know more about him?"
"As you know I am in charge of the script for the next episode of "Pegasus Odyssey", but I'm having trouble finishing the script."
"A writer's block uh?" Nene guessed.
"I hate to admit it, but yes. Especially with the Demon King, the role Rui is playing. That's why, I need your help." He begged.
He seems really troubled, Nene thought.
"I understand. I don't know how much help I can be though."
"Anything is fine!"
"Uhm, let's see." She pondered, "Well, in a few words, he is a show idiot. Since we were little children that's the only thing he would talk about."
"He looked so happy. From time to time I would also join his plays." She chuckled.
The role of the mermaid she played back then was still dear in her heart.
"Sadly, other children didn't want to get involved with him." Nene continued.
"In the past, there were times I thought he had trouble accepting himself."
Nene remembered the look Rui had on his face when she tried to convince him to join her old troupe. At that time he really resembled the lonely alchemist of his stories.
I wish I could have done more for him…
"People easily misunderstood him after all." Tsukasa clenched his fists, seemingly upset.
"But you know…" The girl looked up at the clear sky.
"I don't think that's a problem anymore. I'm sure he is having the time of his life right now."
"That's great! I prefer Rui when he can express himself freely." The blonde boy admitted nodding happily.
Nene stared at their self-proclaimed troupe leader suspiciously. She agreed obviously, she was glad Rui finally found a place to belong, however, she thought there was something more behind that statement.
"Tsukasa, do you perhaps like him?"
"Obviously!" He replied practically beaming, as it was the most obvious question.
Nene was left bewildered, she didn't expect such an honest response. Even if that emotion was not directed toward her, she still got awfully flustered.
Does he understand what he just said? Is this a confession?
It was strange. Not that his childhood friend would be a bad partner, far from it; sure he might have been a bit of a weirdo, but there were plenty of things to like about him. Actually, Rui had always been quite popular. In fact, when Valentine's day rolled around, he would receive tons of chocolate from secret admirers. However, given their current relationship, she couldn't help but think…
"Are you a masochist?" She looked at the blonde with pity in her eyes.
This was the only possible conclusion she could reach.
"WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT?" Tsukasa shouted, baffled by that question.
"Urgh… so noisy!" Nene quickly covered her ears.
The boy was so loud she believed that even Emu, who was attending another school at that moment, could probably have heard him.
"I'm sorry, but you just asked me something weird!" The troupe leader was still yelling in confusion.
"It was you who said you like him! The very person who wouldn't bat an eye while launching you in the sky!"
"WAIT!"
Only now it started to click to him that he had just apparently confessed.
"I didn't mean anything strange by that! Don't you and Emu like him too!?" Tsukasa asked in a panic, trying to find validation. His face, up to his ear, was red in embarrassment.
"Well yes, he is still my childhood friend, but.."
I don't think my like and yours are quite the same though.
Then again, it's not like she was a romance expert. Maybe she was misunderstanding and Tsukasa didn't mean anything by that. At the same time, Nene believed that what Tsukasa felt was beyond their current friendship.
Maybe he just hadn't realized it yet?
While she was a bit curious about this matter, it was not in her nature to pry. Whatever type of like the boy meant was for him to discover.
"Let's go back to our topic, shall we?"
"You are right…" Tsukasa sighed in disbelief at the conversation that had just taken place.
"Were you able to come up with something?" The shorter girl asked.
"Umm… I'm not too sure…"
"Let's approach the problem in another way." Nene proposed.
"Instead of talking about Rui, let's change perspective. What do you seek from your relationship with him?"
"What do I seek…?"
Tsukasa started thinking. Just what did he want from him?
"I…"
Only one answer popped in his head.
"I want to become an actor worthy of his plays." He declared full of confidence.
You don't have what it takes to become a star.
Even though time had passed, those words still were fresh in his mind. They were full of resentment, but no matter how much they hurt his feelings it was undeniably the truth. Back then Tsukasa had forgotten what his real dream was and selfishly tried to reach stardom, ignoring the rest of his troupe members, and even lashing out at them. Thinking back about what he had done made him feel disgusted.
I was a failure, how could I be so selfish? But this time…
This time I won't screw up!
He promised to himself. He wanted to show his newfound resolve, to show how much he had changed.
"Ehh, how serious." Nene teased.
Nonetheless, she shared the same feeling. Since she was a child, Rui's production had captivated her heart. She too wanted to perform to the best of her ability to make all the different worlds portrayed in their play a reality.
"Then, why don't you incorporate this sentiment into the play?" She suggested.
"I see, umm…"
"Ummm…. UMMMM…" the ummm-ing intensified.
That's it!
Tsukasa took out his little notebook from his pocket and started writing.
"Then what if…" He mumbled.
The boy was already lost in thoughts. Finally, an idea came up in his mind.
"It seems like you found inspiration." Nene was glad she could help.
"I will go back to class, so you can concentrate better."
She stood up, ready to head back to class, but was suddenly stopped by a sudden powerful voice.
"Nene, thank you."
His words were filled with gratitude.
"You are welcome."
She left with a smiling face.
Rui, you are very fortunate, finally, you found companions that share your same views.
~~~
That evening, Tsukasa was once again seated at his desk, but this time he couldn't stop writing. Scenarios were swirling in his head.
By his side, Miku was observing the boy's hard work.
"Eheh, I'm glad you were able to solve your problem ☆." she whispered, not wanting to bother Tsukasa.
It was already late at night when the boy finally put his pen down.
"IT'S DONE!" Tsukasa shouted.
"YAY☆!!" Miku followed suit.
"I… I'm exhausted…" He leaned over his chair, almost falling from it.
"Waa… Tsukasa, be careful!"
"OHH… That was close!" He tightly gripped the desk.
Shocked by his almost fall, he felt a bit less sleepy.
"I completely modified the initial script. Is this even good anymore?" He wondered.
"I'm sure it's a wonderful story!" the Virtual Singer encouraged.
"Thank you, Miku."
"But I need to confront Rui about this. His role was the thing that changed the most."
He checked the hour from his tablet: it was 2:38. Definitely late, but Rui might still be awake.
Should I leave a message ?
No, he wanted to face him directly, with this script full of his feelings.
"Let's go to sleep for now." He ultimately decided.
"Goodnight Tsukasa! Sweet Dream☆!" Miku logged off too.
Soon after, Tsukasa crashed on his bed, immediately falling asleep.
When he woke up, it was already late for school. He forgot to set his alarm, and even Saki's angelic voice was of no use, she couldn't wake him up that morning, no matter how much she tried.
Was I that tired?
"No matter, I need to hurry now!"
He hastily gathered his school uniform and ran to school at full speed, making it barely in time.
He vehemently slammed the door of his classroom.
Good, the homeroom teacher didn't arrive yet.
"Urgh…. Puff… Puff…"
He looked so messy like he just fought a dragon. How careless of him to show his sloppy side in front of his classmate. Then again, it was this or skipping the first period of school.
"Tsukasa you are unusually late this morning, did something happen?" One of his classmates asked.
"I pulled an all-nighter yesterday…" he explained.
"Oh? Are you planning a new show?"
"Yes, you better come watch it!"
"Sure, man!"
Tsukasa continued to chit-chat with his classmates until class started.
During the lessons, he had the time to reread with a clearer mindset what he had written the night before. A new emotion suddenly took over, and nervousness started to kick in.
Am I really going to show such a script to Rui?
Usually, he had a lot of confidence in his writing, but this time he felt unsure.
Was what he had just written really interesting?
Throughout the day, the insecurity only increased. Would he think anything strange about it? What if it was a bit too personal?
All the worst scenarios played in his head.
*DIN DON*
The bell rang, it was already time for lunch. The timer had just run out. Tsukasa could always show his script another time, but that would be too cowardly, he still worked on it till exhaustion.
No time for doubts!
He slapped his cheeks and stormed out of his classroom and rushed toward Rui's.
"OHI! RUI!" He called out to him.
IT'S SHOWTIME! he thought.