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Another day, another successful practice session at the Wonder Stage in Phoenix Wonderland.
The members of Wonderlands x Showtime walked (or in Emu’s case, skipped) backstage, excitement for their upcoming performance hanging in the air. This had to be their biggest production yet so saying it was just another show would be an understatement.
Emu was quick to leave their beloved stage when one of the park’s mascots arrived to request her presence at the weekly Otori family meeting. Nene guided Robo-Nene to a corner where the robot’s charger was located. Rui smiled softly as he watched Tsukasa, who kept babbling about the practice, sit down on a wooden crate filled with stage props. The self-proclaimed world future star didn’t scoot over when the director seated himself on the other side of the crate, making them sit closer to each other than regular friends would.
Rui was only half-listening to what Tsukasa was saying. He mainly focused on his friend’s animated movements, shining blonde hair and sunrise-colored eyes. Not to mention his proud smiles and never-ending enthusiasm, which were very contagious. Rui quietly giggled to himself. How could he be so lucky? It wasn’t that long ago when he was Kamiyama High’s lone weirdo no one wanted to hang out or make shows with. He will never forget the day Tsukasa found him on the school’s rooftop after a little scavenger hunt to offer him the position of stage director in his new troupe. Rui hesitated at first, afraid to get pushed away again, but Tsukasa managed to convince him nonetheless. The rest is history.
Together with Tsukasa and the girls, Rui already had quite the journey of being stage rookies to becoming the park’s chosen ambassadors. Not a lot of people believed the fact that the four of them had a very rocky start when their group was first formed. Which is understandable. The quality of their shows is top-notch and the bond they all shared seemingly unbreakable. But leave it to Tsukasa to patch things up whenever it goes south. That’s a leader’s duty, right?
Rui snickered softly, which his friend didn’t notice, as he reminisced about the time Tsukasa convinced him to join his troupe again in their own SEKAI. You thought the prodigy and director of Wonderlands x Showtime could do magic with his robots and drones? Tsukasa has built an entire alternate dimension inhabited by Virtual Singers and flying plushies from his feelings. A place that was accessible to him, Emu, Nene and Rui by playing a specific (and special) song on their phone. The average person would say you hit your head or have weird dreams but Rui knew everything was real.
It was a true blessing to be part of a community where he finally feels accepted for the way he is. Rui could bring every idea to life on the Wonder Stage and make hundreds of people smile. And it was all thanks to the one and only Tsukasa Tenma.
''They went above and beyond with the marketing for this performance so I’m sure our audience will be bigger than ever before.'' the person in question rambled on. ''I mean, even Saki and her friends are coming to see us! I don’t want to let them and my dearest sister down!''
Rui wasn’t alone anymore. Sure, Nene was his neighbor since childhood and he could talk to Mizuki whenever they showed up at school but only the other half of Kamiyama High’s notorious Weirdo Wombo Combo sincerely liked and wanted to spend their breaks together, coming up with (and sometimes testing) new ideas for shows or just talk about whatever else occupied their minds. It doesn’t always seem like it, but they truly trusted each other.
There was something Rui liked to do often, with Tsukasa being one of his main targets. And what is that exactly? Teasing, of course. The future star’s reactions never ceased to be great but Rui wondered how he would react to something that’s…flirty. Right now was the perfect moment to try it out.
''Tsukasa-kun. The English alphabet consists of twenty-one letters, correct?'' Rui asked his fellow troupe member. Unsurprisingly, the blonde whipped around and looked at him as if he was insane.
''You…you’re joking, right?'' Tsukasa questioned. ''Out of everyone I know, you’re the best at English and we had our subject test only a week ago!''
In a bit of a dramatic manner, Rui placed his right hand on his forehead. ''Ah, how awfully foolish of me! I keep forgetting the same five letters!''
Tsukasa looked skeptical but curious as the alchemist sulkily moved his hand back to his lap. ''And what are those?''
Rui flashed his cat-like smirk, enjoying the way his friend’s cheeks turned pink and match the tips of his hair. Bingo. Not losing the eye contact, he replied ''U, R, A, Q, T.''
After their trip to Riley’s theme park, Tsukasa was determined to further improve his English so he must know what Rui was getting at. Still, the radiant boy asked ''Could you…repeat that?''
''Gladly, my star! Listen well. U, R, A, Q, T.'' Rui triumphantly watched the color of Tsukasa’s face go from rosy to scarlet.
''O-Okay, first of all,'' Tsukasa spluttered, ''That was uncalled for! Second of all, I’m NOT cute!''
With his heart beating a mile a minute, Rui tried not to flat out laugh at the person who was doing an awful job at proving what he just stated. ''Fufufu~ I beg to differ. Do you really think I’d make this joke for nothing?''
Nene, who was still in the corner and cleaning Robo-Nene with a handkerchief, looked up from her work when she heard the sound of a frustrated groan followed by a series of amused giggles. She stared at her male co-workers with a deadpan expression, eventually letting out a sigh when Tsukasa covered his face with his hands and Rui reached up to ruffle his hair. The timid songstress was about to comment on the situation but someone else beat her to it.
''Look at those gay idiots.'' her robot companion said with her artificial voice, standing completely still.
''Robo-Nene?! Since when did he program you to speak like that?'' Nene exclaimed, feeling astonished. ''Never mind…I agree.''