Archive of Our Own

"..that's suspicious."

"that's weird!" 

"what are you two talking about." nene stared at them, the two pointing at the around the corner, so she sighed, reluctantly moving between them to peek around, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. "what?" 

"it's tsukasa!" emu whispered, pointing towards the entrance of the park, where tsukasa was in fact standing, talking to someone. "with a boy!" 

"..okay? and?" she looked up at the two of them, both of them squinting, hands at their chins, and she almost found it humorous, if not for the fact that she was completely confused. "what's the big deal?" 

and rui chuckled, pointing his finger in the air, which she knew meant he was about to say either the smartest thing she'd ever heard, or the absolute dumbest. and luck wasn't on her side today, apparently. "you see, nene, that boy is akito shininome, a first year at our school." 

"oh. yeah, i know him." she shuddered, remembering the single interaction she had had with him. he had simply asked where a classmate was, but was so uncharacteristicly polite, it freaked her out a bit. "what's so special about him that you two are being so weird?" 

"well, for starters, shininome appears to be alone. when he's shown up before, he's usually with either his friend or sister." why he knew this, she was afraid to ask. "so the fact that he's alone is suspicious in of itself. plus the fact that he met up with tsukasa at the entrance.." 

"..okay? maybe he wanted to come on his own and tsukasa saw him and decided to greet him?" she guessed, and he clicked his tongue, shaking his head slowly. 

"that is what we believed. however, from how i've seen them interact at school, i almost thought shinonome hated tsukasa. he is constantly teasing him, and usually hides from him otherwise." he continued on, pointing back at the two, and she watched, seeing tsukasa laughing about something, the other boy smiling just slightly. "..however, they seem to be getting along now. even more so than normal.." 

"and tsukasa isn't acting like himself, either!" emu added in, frowning a little. "he looks all jittery and nervous! and he's doing the thing where he moves his hands around a bunch, he only does that when he's flustered about something!"

she looked at them, then back at the suspicious duo, slowly putting the pieces together in her head of what they were implying. "oh. okay. i get it." 

"so we're on the same page." rui nodded, emu nodding along side him as he sighed, almost sounding disappointed. "then you know what needs to be done." 

she just stood there, once again confused. "what.. needs to be done?" 

"that boy has to be brainwashing tsukasa somehow, so we're gonna secretly spy on them and figure out how!!" emu stated, hands on her hips, leaving nene absolutely dumbfounded. "this isn't normal, so he must be doing something! we need to save tsukasa!" 

"i agree. it's too unusual a situation, there must be something behind it." rui sighed, and she really couldn't do anything but stare at them, having no clue how that even got that idea. emu she understood, but rui too..? 

"or.. they're just going on a date?" she suggested, and they both froze, looking at her, then at the two at the gate, then at each other, before shaking their heads in unison. 

"no, that doesn't make sense." 

she pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing. she was, frankly, already exhausted of them, and wanted nothing more than to just go home and get away from whatever this was. she loved her troupe members, she really did, but man, they were idiots sometimes. "okay, fine. you two can go spy on them, but don't interfere." 

"why not?! if tsukasa is being brainwashed, then we need to interfere!" emu yelped, frowning, and she wanted to just grab her shoulders and shake her around, just sighing and settling for holding her hands together, humming a little in thought. 

"what if interfering makes it worse? or, what if shinonome catches on, and brainwashes both of you, too?" she continued, emu squeaking, rui's eyes widening slightly, looking up in thought with a nod. "i'm going backstage to practice. don't ruin this." 

"bye, nene!" emu waved, turning back to rui, who was thinking hard about something. "so what's the plan?" 

"oh, don't worry, we're just gonna.. test shininome a bit, see what's really happening." he grinned mischeviously, and she smiled brightly, ready to go along with whatever crazy antics he had in mind. 

"i'm glad you could make it! you haven't been here a lot, right? i can give you a tour before it begins to get busy!" he grinned, akito just.. staring at him, slowly nodding, and he tilted his head curiously, the other boy blinking a few times, finally coming back to his senses. 

"sorry, i just.. expected you to be wearing something.. flashier." he shrugged, tsukasa looking down at his outfit, just a plain button up and jeans. something simple and easy to move around in before the actual show began, he didn't want his costume to get dirty after all! "you look nice." 

"of course! dressing nice is one of the many ways to successfully start an outing well!" he smiled brightly, holding his hand out and trying to ignore the blush slowly making its way up his face. "shall we?" 

"you're an idiot." he sighed, taking his hand all the same to begin being dragged around the park. he would be lying if he said he didn't know his way around the park, but it was nice being led around and getting to listen to the idiot he was with ramble on about anything and everything. especially if it involved hand-holding. that was just a bonus. 

"and here we have the phoenix stage, the heart of the park! the members working here are all incredibly talented, and any of their shows are a sight worth seeing!" he gestured to the stage, smiling triumphantly. "however, as amazing as they, wonderlands x showtime are also quiet incredible! we're even in second place for stage shows right now!" 

"aren't you just bragging?" he hummed, smiling when he made a noise of being caught, shaking his head and clearing his throat. 

"y-yes, i may be just a bit, but! it still stands that wonderlands x showtime, and every other stage, is incredibly talented, and has put much work and effort into their plays!" he continued, scratching the side of his head. "and seeing any of their shows is truly a sight to behold indeed!" 

they stood in silence for a moment, before akito just sighed, tilting his head and staring at nothing. "do you want me to go to your show?" 

he smiled brightly, clenching his fist to his chest with a nod. "it would be great if you could come support us!" 

"you just want me to watch you act." 

"th- that too, yes!" 

he shook his head, laughing just slightly, not seeing the way tsukasa tensed, cheeks turning a light shade of pink at the sound as he looked away. "alright, fine, i'll go. i might learn something listening to you guys sing anyways, it'll be beneficial for both of us." 

"perfect! i'll tell the others to save you a front row seat.." he nodded, letting go of his hand to pull out his phone, slowly coming to a stop, looking around for a moment. "speaking of them, i have not seen them in a while.." usually emu would've popped up by now, or he would've spotted one of rui's drones, but..

"is it weird for them to not be here?" he hummed, looking around the area, eyes lighting up at the sight of a small dessert stand, shoving his hands in his pockets to resist grabbing tsukasa and dragging him to it. "who knows, maybe they got the hint and decided to leave us alone?" 

"well, maybe, but.." he trailed off, glancing at akito, eyes widening just slightly as he watched him, clearly concentrated on something, but he.. looked really pretty (was it weird to call a guy pretty? he didn't care, that's the first word he could think of), and he felt his heart do a stupid little somersault in his chest, looking to find what he was staring at, tilting his head at the dessert bar. "are you hungry?" 

"huh?" he flinched, caught, flushing when tsukasa laughed, huffing to himself with a grumble of something unintelligible. 

"what was that?" and tsukasa moved closer, a little too close, only worsening his blush, making the other smile, his own face a light shade of pink. "well, as the one who invited you, it's only fair i pay for food, right? but i can't do that if i'm not aware if you're hungry!" 

"you're so annoying." he sighed, lightly shoving him, but nodding to himself anyways. "i'm a little hungry. and i can pay, don't worry." 

"no, i will pay! that is what a true star would do!" and he pulled out his wallet, grinning brightly, leaving akito to wonder what being a true star had to do with paying for dessert. but whatever, free food. he could pay for whatever they did next. 

so they walked up to the stand, looking for a menu, before the stand owner popped their head up, both of them freezing at the sight of them, a grin on their face, twirling their very obviously fake mustache between their fingers. "hello there, boys! what can i get for you?"

"..rui?" 

"hmm? who is this "rui" you speak off? i am but a humble dessert stand owner, here to share my treats with the wonderful guests of phoenix wonderland!" the.. not-rui stand owner declared, pointing his finger into the air. "well, you boys are lucky! we have a very special, limited time dessert only available today!" 

he leaned under the counter, some very suspicious mechanical noises coming from underneath, before popping back up, a bowl of super fancy ice cream in his hand, topped with fudge, caramel, whipped cream, sprinkles, cherries, you name it. and wouldn't you guess it, akito had never been more in love than at that moment, eyes widening nearly bigger than the bowl the ice cream was in. "we'll take two." 

"alas, that is the problem. this is the last one." he sighed guiltily, scooting the bowl away with a frown, watching their faces fall with dread, looking at each other. and internally, not-rui monologued to himself: 

how would akito react? clearly he wanted the ice cream, but would he take it? if he was hypnotizing tsukasa, then perhaps tsukasa would offer for him to take it. which, you may think tsukasa would offer it normally, but a normal person would offer it back, going back and forth. so if tsukasa was being hypnotized, akito would take it at the first offer, and in that case-

"we can split it!" and he nearly fell over at tsukasa's offer, said boy smiling brightly with a nod. "i can pay for this, but we can find some more food for an actual meal! eating just ice cream is unhealthy after all!" 

"oh. yeah, that works." akito nodded in agreement, humming a little as tsukasa paid for the ice cream. "can we even get a healthy meal at a theme park?" 

"of course we can! phoenix wonderland has an entire stand of healthy snacks, drinks, and more!" he explained, going on about how the park was meant to be fun for everyone, so they had a ton of different stand options just for that. 

and not-rui watched them go, squinting suspiciously, bringing a walkie talkie up to his mouth, holding down the button to speak. "we may need more confirmation, but tsukasa is definitely under a spell of some sort." 

"you've got it, rui!" emu's voice came from the other end, already putting her own plan into motion, sitting up in a tree with a pair of binoculars while a mascot worriedly urged her to get down. she ignored them, staring through her binoculars, watching the two walk through the crowd together, stopping at a few more stands to buy some more snacks, before sighing, standing up on the branch, getting leaves and twigs stuck in her hair. "onto phase two!" 

"a horror tent?" 

"yes! it's not the scariest thing, considering it's meant for young children, but it's still fun!" tsukasa explained, pointing to the massive tent, ominous noises and children screaming and laughing coming from inside. "your class did the haunted house for the school festival, correct? i did not get to participate in it, so this is the next best thing!" 

"oh. you remember that..?" he grimaced, slightly embarrassed by his class' idea. he had to wear that stupid shirt and those bandages around his head the whole time.. but he did get to go see tsukasa's class' play afterwards, which was, frankly, incredibly hilarious. he wouldn't admit that, though. so he sighed, just shaking his head with a grumble. "do you really want to go in there, though? what if there's a giant bug in there?" 

he jolted, clearly not had thought of that, clearing his throat. "w-well, i will just have to tough through it! besides, i doubt the park would do that! i'm guessing it's just things like zombies or ghosts in there! and.." he trailed off, looking away at nothing, the other boy tilting his head curiously. "if anything, you'll be in there with me, so it shouldn't be as scary." 

they both stood there for a moment, embarased, before akito just sighed, grabbing the other's arm to drag him in, humming a little. "have you heard about the misattribution of attraction?" 

"the what?" 

"nothing." 

they headed in, a not-suspicious-at-all pink haired girl following closely, hiding in the shadows of the tent, watching them closely for a minute before turning to a worker, whispering something to them as they nodded, before running off. she grinned, poking her head out to continue spying on them with a snicker. 

"this isn't that bad." akito hummed, glancing at tsukasa, ignoring the way he was shaking, obviously scared. just a little bit. "how far does this thing go?" 

"th-there are are five sections, we just finished the second one!" he stated, a lot quieter than normal. the first section had a few zombies jump out at them, and the second had ghosts flying and bumping into them. not super bad, but in the dark, it was a lot scarier than it should've been. "it shouldn't be m-much longer before we get out-" 

he froze, akito stopping with him, looking at what was causing him to halt, stiffening up just slightly. "there's a really creepy girl holding your shirt." 

"i'm aware." he was whispering, just standing there as some pale white girl with long black hair tugged at his shirt, making quiet groaning sounds, akito just sighing, grabbing his hand and tugging him out of her grasp. 

"come on, it's not that bad. you don't need to get so scared just because something grabs you-" he muttered, before stopping, eyesight suddenly going dark, hearing tsukasa squeak beside him, letting go of his hand, confusing him. so without really thinking, he brought his hands up, grabbing whatever was covering his eyes, pushing it out of the way, before freezing, a very realistic spider staring at him upside down, it's fuzzy arms starting to wrap around him, making him wonder how this was supposed to be meant for children. 

and a not-suspicious-at-all girl watched them from a column above them, smiling as she internally monologued: 

if tsukasa was being hypnotized, he would get over his fear of bugs and rescue shinonome from the spider! after all, he'd fainted at a bug being too close to him before, and even if this one was fake, it was giant, so normal tsukasa would either faint or run away. there was no way he would save him if he wasn't being hypnotized- 

and then tsukasa was yelling, running up and just punching the spider, making it fall over, releasing akito from it's grasp, both of them standing in silence as it went still. 

"i- i punched a spider-!" he was shaking again, furiously wiping his hand on akito's shirt, going on about how that was gross, he hated it, he never wanted to do that again, before stopping when akito laughed, bringing a hand to his mouth. 

"thanks. i guess you're the one saving me from bugs now, huh?" he was smiling, leaving tsukasa to freeze, flushing before muttering about how it was his job to save everyone, how this was nothing, akito just smiling at him, grabbing his hand to continue pulling him along. "come on, i'll buy you something as thanks." 

"y-you do not need to buy me anything! this was the least i could do after all!" he continued, trying to act proud and calm despite the shaking in his voice and his wobbly walk, too embarrassed and high on adrenalin to notice the rest of the sections, making it to the end without anymore issues.  "we made it..!" 

"it wasn't that scary." akito mumbled, tsukasa calling him a liar, and he shrugged, just clenching his hand tighter, before sighing, muttering under his breath. "if you won't let me buy you anything, let me thank you anyways." 

"hmm? you don't have to, i don't need anything!" tsukasa argued back, huffing and continuing about whatever came to his mind, the other just sighing, clearly given up. 

and a not-suspicious girl squinted, holding up her walkie-talkie, looking away as she spoke into it. "i can confirm, tsukasa is being hypnotized! he even punched a spider to save shinonome!" 

"wait, really? that's a big deal! we have a serious problem!" rui sounded worried, and she nodded, frowning. tsukasa was being hypnotized, this was awful..! "where are they now, what are they doing?" 

"oh! they're.." she looked back, before freezing, the two standing there, akito looking away at nothing while tsukasa was blushing more than ever, a hand on his cheek, and she stared, eyes wide, nearly falling from her spot. "emergency!! this is bad! we need to stop them as soon as possible!" 

"what happened?" 

"i dunno, i wasn't looking! but tsukasa is all red and stiff!! shinonome did something again!" she was worried, more than ever, climbing down from her spot as running around the tent, needing to find rui so they could discuss what to do next. 

and back at the haunted tent, the two stood, akito scratching the side of his head with his own blush, voice quiet. "there's your thanks."

and tsukasa just stood, staring at him, holding his hand to his cheek, turning to stare at the ground, both of them standing there awkwardly in silence. 

before tsukasa's phone rang, making them both jump, him pulling it out to answer. "nene? what's going on?" 

"nenerobo needs batteries. rui said he hid some spares in the storage room, can you grab some on your way back?" she asked, and he stopped, glancing at akito, who tilted his head curiously, before nodding. 

"yeah, i'll grab those really quick!" he replied, nene thanking him before hanging up, and he inhaled, letting go of akito's hand to clap his together. "it seems my friends need my help once again! i must go to the storage room!" he bit his lip, taking a few steps forward. "you can go explore the rest of the park while i go-" 

"aren't i going with you?" he tilted his head, tsukasa stopping, looking at him as he shrugged. "i don't mind helping grab stuff. it's for your play, right? then it's fine." he stepped forward, grabbing tsukasa's hand again, squeezing it. "you can just buy me more sweets afterwards. 

"oh- okay! that works for me!" he smiled, dragging the other along to run errands, unknowing about the rest of the troupe spying on them as they went. 

"why am i being dragged into this?" nene muttered, her fully charged nenerobo beside her. "she doesn't even use batteries." 

"because tsukasa is being hypnotized, he could be in danger!" emu puffed her cheeks out, watching them through her binoculars with a frown. "but how is he being hypnotized-? how can we stop it, rui?" 

"well, emu, from my knowledge, to stop them, shinonome simply needs to stop, or tsukasa needs to be snapped out of it. though.." he trailed off, smiling, emu waiting in anticipation, nene waiting in utter dread. "i've heard being in a life threatening situation can also cause it to wear off." 

"no." 

"don't worry, nene, it won't be severely life threatening. just a little scare is all!" he continued, rubbing his hands together mischeviously. "we have two hours until the performance, correct?" 

and she already knew that this would end horribly. 

"this is going to end horribly."

"it'll be fine!" tsukasa exclaimed, climbing up a shelf to grab a box of batteries at the top, said shelf creaking under him, wobbling just slightly as he took another step up. "you can just catch me if i fall!" 

"i'd rather not be crushed by a shelf." he hummed, smiling when the other pouted, turning to look for maybe a stool, or a much easier to reach box of batteries. "but if you fall and get crushed, i'll at least drag your body out of here." 

"aww, that's so sweet of you." he rolled his eyes, making it up and grabbing the box, lightly shaking it, squinting a little. it felt.. way too light, almost empty. he only needed like two or three batteries though, so- 

and he screamed, akito jumping, turning to watch tsukasa shake his hand furiously, the box falling, nothing but spiderwebs inside. seriously, what was up with him and bugs today?! 

"tsukasa, calm down, you'll-" he grit his teeth, panicking as the shelf creaked even more, stepping towards it, eyes widening when the other let go of the shelf to smack a spider on his hand, his foot slipping, yelping when he fell. 

thankfully, akito managed to step under him, hoping to catch him in a normal, safe way, but nope! just his luck, his foot slipped when tsukasa hit him, sending them both falling to the ground with a thud, groaning in pain. 

"ow.. geez, you couldn't climb down before opening the box? idiot.." he grumbled, moving himself up on his elbows to rub the back of his head, tsukasa muttering an apology, pushing himself up on his hands, both of them freezing when they noticed exactly what position they were in. the classic one on top of the other position. except a lot more awkward, because they had just fallen over. nothing like those dumb romance animes where they landed in some romantic, tension-filled position. this was just uncomfortable. and kinda painful. 

and they both realized this, jumping slightly, akito trying to stand up on reflex, but tsukasa was still on top of him, sending him sliding over with a yelp, grabbing akito's shirt for balance, making him fall over again, and it was just a big mess, both of them giving up and just laying there for a minute. 

"..you okay?" akito muttered, finally breaking the silence, tsukasa nodding, biting his lip as the other sighed, nodding back. "there's a spider in your hair." 

"huh?!" he yelped, raising up and running his hands through his hair, the other snorting, only laughing harder as tsukasa glared at him, smacking his chest with a huff. "jerk-!" 

"hey, i caught you. i think that means i'm not a jerk." he retorted, stretching his arms above his head with a wince. "and hurt my head in the process, thank you very much." 

"..yeah. thanks." he mumbled, akito tilting his head, the other sighing, clearing his throat. "however, you saving me is a great feat! so i shall make it up to you! whatever you wish for, i will give!" 

"whatever i wish for?" he repeated, watching him stiffen, clearly worried for whatever he would want, making him grin, just wanting to mess with him a little bit. "so if i asked you to put your hand in a bowl of centipedes?" 

"n.. no, maybe not that-" 

"a bowl of millipedes, then?" 

"n-no bugs!" he shook his head, gritting his teeth with a shudder. "anything but that.." 

and the other laughed, sitting up, making tsukasa scoot off of him, both of them sitting them as he hummed, leaning forward just slightly, smiling. "what if we just stayed in here until the play, then? nobody ever comes in here, right?"  

"well, yes, it's just seasonal storage, so nobody comes by." he explained, tilting his head curiously. "why would you want to stay in here, though? it's dark and dusty, and.. f-full of bugs.." he shivered, shaking his hand, just the thought of that spider on his hand making him worry. 

"i mean, we don't have to. but.. 's dark, and nobody will show up.." tsukasa really had to be an idiot, just staring at him, making him groan, leaning forward to press his head to his shoulder, feeling him stiffen. "damn it, you're an idiot." 

"hey!!" 

he sighed, just staying like that, pressed against him for a moment, the other akwardly shifting, leaning his head to rest against the other's. it wasn't exactly a comfortable position for either of them, but they didn't really wanna move. 

and akito just sighed again, shaking his head and leaning back, moving his hands, tsukasa flinching when he grabbed his face, squishing his cheeks and making him yelp. "tsukasa tenma, you are an idiot, so i am going to tell you straight forward. i want to kiss you in here while nobody's around. and then i want to kiss you again. and again, and again, until either somebody walks in, or the play is going to start. okay?" 

"oh." he blinked, still for a second, before blushing hard, almost as if steam was coming off of him, stuttering as tried his best to speak. "i- i mean, y-yes, er- no, we- you- i-" he stopped, shaking his head, akito letting go of his face as he inhaled quickly, lowering his head. "a s-star is supposed to save the best for last, correct? s- so if we get interrupted, the last will- never come, right? so- if we- st-start, i.. won't want to to stop.." 

they both went quiet for the millionth time, unsure how to respond to that. i mean, the offer was up, but- now it wasn't? technically? what were they supposed to do? how do you even respond to that?? like hey, i wanna make out, but i won't wanna stop if we do, so????? 

"damn it," akito groaned, tilting his head back and sliding his hand down his face, just closing his eyes with a sigh. "you're older than me, why are you making me decide everything?" 

"me being older doesn't have anything to do with this situation!" he huffed, crossing his arms, leaning back against the shelf he had failed at climbing earlier, both of them freezing when it creaked, leaning just slightly forward. "maybe we should go find batteries somewhere else." 

"good idea." he nodded in agreement, standing up, holding out his hand for tsukasa to take, pulling up with him, both of them stopping and turning when the door opened, a very tired looking rui standing there, emu behind him. 

"rui! emu! what're you two doing here?" tsukasa asked, stiffening and looking down when akito took his hand away, the other boy looking away akwardly, face pink. he just shook his head, turning to the other two. "what's going on?" 

"we thought you died-!" emu yelled, and he yelped when she ran forward and nearly tackled him, arms wrapped around him. "you didn't call or text us or anything, we were so worried!!" 

"huh? why would you be worried?" he tilted his head, patting her head as her arms only tightened, nearly crushing him, making him squeak in pain. 

"the door was locked, we thought one of you would message us about it." rui frowned, holding his hand to his chin, mumbling to himself. "i mean, even if you were being hypnotized, at least shinonome would want to escape.." 

"the door was locked?" akito asked, tilting his head, emu and rui suddenly stiffening, and he furrowed his brows, staring at them. "why would it be locked? it wasn't when we got here." 

"umm." they both went quiet, rui pulling emu off of tsukasa, letting him catch his breath, rui clearing his throat with an awkward smile. "oh well, the play starts soon, we should go set up! nene found some batteries already! shinonome, you can go explore the rest of the park in the meantime." 

"what?" 

"uh, rui, thanks, but- there were a few more things we wanted to do before the play." tsukasa sighed, moving his hands to his waist. "i'll be at the stage on time, don't worry! but first i must finish showing akito around!" 

"oh.." emu looked deflated, rui nodding, both of them looking at each other almost sadly, tsukasa grabbing akito's wrist and pulling him out of the building, escaping to the side so they could breathe, away from the two chaos makers. 

"sorry about them. they can be a handful." tsukasa stated, stretching his arms above his head as he continued. "there's still some more places in the park to visit, what do you want to see next?" he was quiet, looking back the way they had come from, tsukasa frowning, biting his lip and looking away. "you don't have to stay for the play." 

"huh?" that caught his attention, finally looking at him, confusion written all over his face. 

"i mean- it would be a shame to miss it, but if you don't feel well, or simply don't want to see it, i understand!" he continued, crossing his arms with a huff. "we have many plays, i can simply let you know when the next one is!" 

"tsukasa- i'm staying for the play. i told you, i wanna see it." he replied, the other's eyes widening, staring at him. "i want to. just.. i don't really wanna stay afterwards and deal with the rest of your troupe." 

and he perked right up, almost like an imaginary pair of ears and a tail appeared, smiling brightly and nodding furiously. "oh- okay! i'm glad! i mean- of course you want to stay, it is the best troupe's play after all!" 

"yeah, yeah, i know." he sighed, smiling as the other continued to brag, continuing on their walk together, onto the next section of the park. 

meanwhile the two who messed up were back at the stage, furiously thinking up their next plan. shininome was onto them now, meaning tsukasa would never confess to being under control. and they couldn't snap him out of it either! 

"what happened to the life threatening situation?" nene asked, incredibly worried for her friend and his probably-date's safety. 

"we locked the door to the storage room, but they didn't even notice!" emu pouted, drawing on a piece of paper with crayons, glaring at it before crumbling it and tossing it, another plan that wouldn't work. "they just went to get batteries, what's so interesting about a dark, empty storage room where nobody could go in to check on them?" 

and nene just stared at them both, pinching the bridge of her nose with a sigh. once again, she understood emu, but rui of all people not understanding, too? this was a nightmare, both for her and tsukasa and shininome. and speaking of them.. 

"i have arrived!" rui and emu jumped, tsukasa jumping up onto the stage, smiling brightly. "what have you three bene up to while i was away? is nenerobo functioning?" 

"she's working fine, thanks." nene muttered, patting said robot's head, turning back to him. "where's your d- er, shinonome?" 

"he's getting some snacks before the play! i already gave him directions, so he should be in the audience when the play begins!" he exclaimed, smiling brightly, and apparently nene was the only to notice the slight flush on his cheeks, because emu and rui were just staring at each other with matching frowns. seriously, nene didn't know how two people could be this dumb together. "is everything set?" 

"yep! everything's good to go!" emu smiled, giving him a thumbs up, and he nodded, going backstage to put his costume on, leaving the three of them alone, just a second of silence before rui and emu scrambled to each other, grabbing each other's arms and panicking. "what do we do?! any longer and tsukasa will never be able to come back!" 

"i know, calm down. i have a final plan before we lose all hope.." rui nodded, and that was enough for nene, sighing and standing up, walking backstage to get away from them, finding tsukasa rummaging through the costumes, noticing her quickly and smiling. 

"nene! i'm excited for tonight's play! your song especially, it'll really resonate with the audience!" he smiled brightly, pulling out his costume and removing the parts one by one so he could put it on, nene moving next to him to help. 

"is that.. the only reason you're excited?" she asked, and he stopped for a split second, looking at her curiously, so she sighed, just getting straight to the point. "it's because of shininome, isn't it?" 

"eh?" he dropped whatever he was holding, face turning red, and she tilted her head, watching him scramble to pick up the part, laughing nervously. "i should've known you'd notice.. i figured emu, and maybe rui wouldn't, but i guess i can't hide anything from the you!"

she nodded, looking away at nothing with a hum. "i think.. it's okay." she mumbled, and he stopped fully, now, listening to her continue. "i don't know much about him, but.. if you like him, then i guess he's okay in my book." 

they were quiet for a moment, before he smiled, nodding. "thanks, nene. i guess i should probably tell emu and rui-"

"after the play." she interrupted, and he tilted his head, watching her grimace. "if you tell them now.." they'll probably go attack shinonome on the spot. "they'll probably try to say something embarrassing about you in front of him beforehand." 

his eyes widened, grimacing with her, nodding. "fair point. i suppose it will wait until afterwards, then!" he went back to his costume, nene leaving him be, going back to the stage, deadpanning when she saw emu in a cardboard robot costume, rui looking over it, nodding. whatever happened tonight, she just hoped shinonome and tsukasa could escape before it happened. 

thankfully, the play went off without a hitch (apart from tsukasa getting slightly distracted when he first walked on stage. hmm i wonder why), resulting in cheers and clapping from the crowd, the four of them bowing together as the curtains fell. 

"we did it! you sounded amazing, nene!" emu squealed, wrapping her arms around said girl, who smiled, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand as she turned, tsukasa fidgeting behind the curtains, not hiding at all that he wanted to leave. 

"tsukasa, leave the cleaning to us for now." she stated, making him jump, turning to her as she smiled. "just come back when you're done, okay?" 

he smiled, nodding quickly. "thanks. i'll be back to finish cleaning, guys!" he waved, running off down the steps off the stage, rui and emu staring at him go, then at nene, distraught looks on their faces as she sighed, just hoping he could explain what was going on when he got back. 

"akito!" tsukasa yelled, said boy having just gotten up from his spot, watching him run up to him, stopping and smiling. "you're still here!" 

"the play just ended, of course i am." he tilted his head, smiling when the other flushed, because yeah, obviously. "it was good. the singing was amazing." 

"really..?" 

"you're a star, right? shouldn't you be bragging about how of course it was good?" he sighed, the other flushing again, before standing up straight, clearing his throat. 

"y-yes, of course it was good! our troupe is incredible, after all! we've been practicing for weeks, so naturally we did perfect!" he huffed, stopping when akito laughed, a genuine, soft thing, and he just listened, letting his heart do a few flips in his chest, smiling. "i'm glad you liked it. i'm glad you came today." 

he nodded, still smiling, his own heart doing stupid little twists and turns, though he'd never admit that. "me too. i had fun, believe it or not." 

"i believe it." he nodded, both of them looking at each other, then akwardly away, stealing glances every so often. "so.. w-would you want to come again sometime? i can get you a discount pass.." 

"nah, i don't think theme parks are really my thing." he shrugged, scratching the back of his head, watching the other pout slightly, trying not to laugh. "though, maybe we could do this again at a place you've never been? my group is having an event later this month-" 

"yes, i'd love to go!" he answered quickly, probably too quickly, stiffening when the other stared at him, before smiling, nodding. "though, don't be shocked if i steal the spotlight while i'm there!" 

"you don't need to steal anything else from me, give me a break." he groaned, shaking his head, and the other was about to ask what else he stole from him, before going stiff instead, akito stepping closer to him, moving his hand up to his face. "now, what was it you said you'd do to thank me?"

he didn't know how to talk all of a sudden, he couldn't, stepping back, akito just stepping with him, until his back was against the stage, making him jump, hands grabbing onto it and holding it tightly as the other stood in front of him, a hand still on his face, which was definitely covered in a blush. 

"tsukasaaaa.." he drawled, grinning when he just looked up at the sky, clearly more interested in that than anything else. "what happened to everything you said earlier? about not knowing when to stop? about saving the best for last? would a star really go back on his word just like that?" 

"n-no, a star wouldn't, but- still-" he huffed, finally looking at him, extremely close, almost too much, his eyes were doing the thing where it made everything blurry and smooshed, and it was pretty funny, he would've laughed if not for the fact that his heart was beating a million beats per second. 

and akito just sighed, letting go of his face, looking up for a second before humming. "there's a spider in your hair." 

"wh-" 

there wasn't a spider, obviously, he knew, but he normally still wanted to check. he wouldn't though, he couldn't care less if there actually was, because akito was kissing him, and it wiped every single spider-related thought out of his head, and every other thought too, leaving him to just stand there, hands clenched against the stage. his stupid heart was doing a thousand somersaults, backflips, front flips, you name it, he almost thought it'd explode if he didn't get it to stop. 

he wanted his heart to stop that, at least, not akito, but akito was leaning back, staring at him, and he just stared back, already missing him, despite him still being there in front of him. and he looked just as flustered as he felt, face red, eyes darting around, wondering what to do from there. thankfully, he didn't have to wonder, tsukasa was already on top of that, grabbing his face and pulling him back, nearly smashing their faces together, and okay, yeah, maybe he should've let akito take the lead because he kind of sucked at this. he seemed to get that, snorting against him and moving his hands on top of his and adjusting them so they were actually kissing again, just standing like that for a few minutes, pressed against the stage and lazily making out. and it was nice, just being like this together, and maybe akito had lied earlier when he thought that that giant ice cream bowl was the most he'd ever been in love. he would never admit that, though, tsukasa would never let him live it down. 

and as much as it devestated them, they couldn't exactly stay like that forever, so they pulled apart, just relaxing against each other as they caught their breaths. for something that just involved moving your lips, it was ridiculously tiring. seriously, how did that make sense? 

"..okay. well." akito was the first to speak, inhaling as he leaned back, clearing his throat. "thank you. i had fun. i do need to get home, though, it's late." 

"oh, y-yeah! umm.. thank you." okay he was embarrassing, he could barely even speak. but akito was smiling, so he couldn't have done that bad. "i'll, uh, see you at school?" 

"yeah. see you.." he trailed off, biting his lip before taking a step away, laughing when tsukasa grabbed his arm, pulling him back to kiss him again, just for a second this time, leaning back with a huff. "the best for last?" 

"the best for last!" he nodded, both of them laughing, akito shaking his head and stepping back, waving before actually leaving this time, leaving tsukasa to just sigh, smiling to himself like an idiot. which maybe he was. whatever. he didn't care. 

"tsukasa!" he froze, turning to the stage, nene trying to hold emu and rui back from probably tackling him, an exhausted look on her face. "tell them already-"

"is shinonome controlling you?!" emu yelled, breaking past the nene barrier to lean down at the edge of the stage, rui following behind closely. "are you being brainwashed?!" 

"is he hypnotizing you?!" he asked, tsukasa staring at them, both of them looking anxious and worried, and he looked away at where akito had left, thinking back on the day, scratching the side of his head. 

"i guess you could say that." he smiled, both of them staring at him, horrified, nene facepalming, mumbling about wanting to go home.