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“When will they be back already?” Rui mumbled into his Uno cards.
“Dude, it’s been just TWENTY MINUTES since you came” Tsukasa put a hand to his forehead, trying to soothe the upcoming headache.
Rui stared blankly at Tsukasa before sighing for the umpteenth time he arrived at Tsukasa’s place, then sluggishly taking a card and tossing it into the matching pile.
Right, Rui was only here because he couldn’t be with Nene, even though he managed to spend the entirety of summer vacation with Nene right by his side, somehow having her absent on the last day got Rui acting like a child who got their favorite plushie taken away.
Honestly, he completely forgot Nene was supposed to be hanging out with Emu today, he even arrived at her door as he always did, summer vacation or not, only to be left dumbfounded by the change of routine.
“If Nene going out bothers you this much, you should’ve just told her before she went” Tsukasa crossed his arms at his taller friend.
Rui’s eyes widened as if Tsukasa suggested murder or something, “No, no, no. If that’s something she wants to do, she should do it.”
“Then why are you sulking now??” Tsukasa picked out a card and placed it down.
Rui kept quiet, looking around and making faces as he seemed to think very, very hard about his answer.
“Well…” Rui stalls, leaning backwards and looking at the ceiling.
“Well??”
“Well, I miss her I suppose…”
. . .
“Really? Really?? That’s it ?” Can Tsukasa just throw him out? Actually why did he even let him in here in the first place?? “You’re throwing a tantrum because you miss your girlfriend, oh my God…” Tsukasa had to hold his head from aching again.
“A tantrum is an exaggeration, Tsukasa-kun, I never have tantrums” Rui tossed another card to the pile, keeping a solemn but hurt expression
Tsukasa HEAVILY doubts that statement, he has to have been this sulky before, he doesn’t even have to know Rui for as long as Nene has to smell the bullshit.
“Honestly, as if you don’t miss Emu right now too“ Rui said it so matter-of-factly.
“I barely have a moment to when I’m dealing with the pain in the neck that is you” Tsukasa glared, taking a card and placing it down with a little more force than he intended.
“Oh.”
Tsukasa groaned, though being told that by Rui, he did have to admit he also felt iffy without Emu around, he of course didn't spend as much time with her, compared to Rui and Nene who were attached like magnets morning to evening, even if Nene would never admit it.
But still, being with Emu felt… Complete, like the satisfaction of a puzzle piece being put together right in place.
“Tsukasa-kun, you’re smiling to yourself” Rui pointed out with a cat-like smile.
“Huh?” Without thinking he wiped his mouth, as if trying to hide or remove it, Rui would chuckle, it doesn’t take a genius to guess what was going on in his mind in those few seconds, Tsukasa just rolls his eyes.
“Oh and Uno” Rui throws his second last card over,
“What?! Again?!” Tsukasa grumbled, placing a normal green 4 down, with Rui immediately after playing the last card, Tsukasa groans again,
“Why are you so good at this?”
“Or maybe it’s that you just suck at this”
“Why you–”
Tsukasa was then interrupted by a short ring, to which Rui responded by zooming across the floor to reach for his set aside phone, only to then glare at the screen.
“What is it?”
“Nothing important, just spam mail” Rui dramatically sighed again.
“Did you think it was Nene?” Tsukasa would collect all the piles of cards into a single deck again, shuffling them.
“Mmhm” He absent-mindedly tapped at his phone, somehow bringing up his chat history with Nene and scrolling through their conversations, ranging from silly bickering to just wondershow discussion, then to their more precious moments.
“Just send her a text for goodness sake”
“Isn’t that just being clingy?”
“Oh trust me you’re plenty clingy to her already, you can’t possibly go over the bar“
If that was supposed to be some assurance, it didn’t work, Rui just felt mildly offended, but he couldn’t come up with a good comeback either. He ended up staring at the phone, fingers hovering over the keyboard. What should he even say? Options flew by his head but he just groaned, hitting his phone with his forehead, none of them sound great right now.
“Forget it, I’m not doing it”
“Marvelous, I want them to come back as soon as possible now too, just so I can have a break from whatever sad kitten you’ve turned into.”
“Why kitten?”
“Uh… Because your face looks like a cat?”
“That’s pretty dumb reasoning”
“Oh, shut up! What works, works!” Lord give Tsukasa patience to last through this. What can lift Rui’s spirits in this situation?
“Was there something you wanted to do with Nene today? Is that another reason why you’re upset?”
Rui hummed, “Yes and no. I had something in mind but it’s still not so big that we can’t do it any other day”
“Oh, what was it?”
“I saw there was a new movie out, one that seemed like something Nene would like, so I wanted to go with her to see it, we always liked to watch musicals together and such.”
“That’s something you guys did even before you started dating?”
Rui nodded, unable to keep a smile from arising as he remembered all those times they would go together to some place, or even go to the other’s house to watch from home.
“Thinking back now, it feels like we were always having movie dates without thinking much about it. Well, I didn’t think Nene thought much about it at least, but… Maybe I can entertain the thought that she did”
Tsukasa hummed, not knowing how to add on to the conversation now, but luckily he didn’t have to.
“You picked an interesting topic, applauds to you.” Rui clapped with his usual cat-like smile, “It’s your turn to talk about you and
your
girlfriend”
“Uhh err…” Tsukasa stuttered, suddenly finding the wall very interesting to look at, “What am I even supposed to say…?”
“Well, I spent most of my time with Nene if not at the wonder stage with everyone, so I don’t know what you two have been doing”
Tsukasa would deadpan at the purple headed male, who returned with a tilt of confusion,
“What’s that look for?”
“Doesn’t Emu talk all about everything that happens to her in the group chat?”
Rui’s mouth shaped an ‘O’ as he clapped his hands once, “Righttt… I don’t think I read all of it… I always tell myself I’ll read later but then forget, whoopsie”
Tsukasa rolled his eyes, “Amazing treatment to your friends, ten stars”
Rui would laugh at the sarcasm, “Well at least this lets you talk about something recent without having to worry about me knowing about it”
“Right, right. Let’s see… Well for the most part, I don’t think we ever were… Really alone when we went out…”
“That sounds ominous…” Rui wondered if Tsukasa was trying out some horror story, “What do you mean?”
“You know the mascots?”
He nodded,
“Yeah, those, I swear I keep seeing them around the corner of everywhere. I get that they’re Emu’s bodyguards but… Ughhh, can’t they trust me by now?? I’m going to see one of them in my closet one of these days– Wait no- Forget it I can’t jinx it!” The blond boy shivered, murmuring ‘never ever ever EVER’
Rui laughed, “They can’t follow you everywhere, surely?”
“That’s what I thought but NO ! We go to a cafe, they’re at the furthest table, still in their costumes, STARING at us. We go to an arcade, they’re right behind us behind a corner WATCHING YET AGAIN ! Even at a small, hole-in-the-wall candy store, THEY’RE RIGHT OUTSIDE THE WINDOW! ”
Tsukasa would make dramatic gestures as he ranted, which only made this more humorous for Rui.
“Thank God me and Nene don’t have anything like that”
“You have such a way with comforting words, Rui, you know that?” Tsukasa sarcastically commented and then buried his face into his hands.
“Ahaha, well it just means they care a great deal about Emu-kun, I think… If they didn’t really trust you, then they would’ve forbidden her from dating you, maybe even banned you from Phoenix Wonderland if they were taking precautions“
Rui rocked back and forth, thinking of that alternative timeline, “So them just following Emu-kun around is them being over-protective of the ‘stubborn princess’, in your words, or watching for some other problem, not you“
“Hmm… Well that does make sense.” He frowned at even the thought of the possibility that they would’ve kicked him out for liking Emu, makes him grateful for how things turned out fortunately…
Once again another familiar ring interrupts his train of thought, Rui glances at his phone and oh God he absolutely lit up in every way possible, “It’s Nene!”
“Calm down before you explode–”
But he doesn't think Rui could hear him anymore because now he was tapping away on the phone, smiling so much it reached to his eyes.
“She said they’re done now, she’s going home and Emu wants to show you something.”
“Wait, do they know we’re here together?”
“Hmm, no?”
“Well tell them!”
“Okay– Okay–”
More texting, Nene said Emu was happy to get to walk with Nene and chat longer, thankfully Emu knew the way too. Now it’s just a little bit more of the waiting game. Rui wouldn’t– No, couldn’t sit still, he paced around the room, throwing glances at the phone constantly, while Tsukasa just busied himself with putting away the cards.
“Rui, you are honestly a lost case” The blondie crossed his arms as he watched his friend, but said friend would ignore him, and Tsukasa didn’t attempt to start conversation when he was like this. Soon thankfully, another ring signaling a text came, Rui swiftly read it then didn’t bother to answer, just zoomed straight outside.
Right outside, Nene with her phone still in hand was immediately engulfed in a hug, “R-Rui!” she squealed, he was so quick she barely registered him before already being squeezed against his towering figure, where on earth did he get that speed from??
“Neneee” Rui would nuzzle his face in her hair and tightly hold her as if it has been months when they last saw each other, when really it was just yesterday night. “I missed youuu”
Tsukasa would finally come out too, “He can’t say it over text but he can in person?” He mused to himself, but seconds later he gets his own share and is tackled to the ground by the hyperactive pink girl “TSUKASA~KUN~!”
“GWAHK!” Oh God his back is going to be dying tomorrow, but he can’t be mad at her, not when her eyes sparkle with joy just to see him again.
“Aha.. Ahaha, hi Emu..” In place of waving, he patted her back, he couldn’t wave when she was lying on top of him with a bright grin,
“Tsukasa-kun, Tsukasa-kun! You know it was sooo fun today!” They both sat up, Emu on his lap though both still on the floor as she started rambling about how the hangout went, Tsukasa listened and absent-mindedly fixed her hair.
Rui however still hadn’t let Nene go, and though he couldn’t see it, she was flushed from his words, slowly she wrapped her arms around his waist, mumbling into his shirt.
“Hmm?” He couldn’t quite catch it, and turned his head to hear her better.
Nene hesitated, “Mmm… I missed you too, I saw a lot of things that I thought you would’ve also liked to see…”
Oh Lord he might actually explode now, to contain himself he squeezed her more, to which she made a muffled noise of protest, “Rui! You’re suffocating me!”
Of course he didn’t mean for that, so he loosens and instead cups her warm cheeks, “Sorry, you’re just too adorable, my dear” Now she could see how his cheeks were also dusted with red, but he still grinned and looked at her like she was the most precious thing in the world.
“Hey, you know if you enjoyed that, let’s also go there next time and you can show me around, hm?”
“Mmm,” she nodded and smiled, “Yeah, I’d like that.”