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one enemy remains! nene swipes her finger across her screen, desperate to emerge victorious. surveying her game’s surroundings, she spots an enemy climb onto a building roof, then aiming their gun at her last teammate. engrossed, she watches it unfold.
the teammate falls, and the notification that she is the last enemy remaining flash across the screen, how boring. not batting an eyelid, she aims her weapon at the rooftop and finishes the player off, securing her victory while the opposing team loses. it was a typical lunchtime for her, unless her troupe mates barge in to drag her away. the words “victory!” appear, but something else catches her attention instead.
annoyingly loud footsteps shuffled outside her classroom, and she spots a lock of orange hair from the corner of her eye. two-faced persona guy. happy with something to keep her entertained, she watches it unfold.
“tsukasa-senpai.”
tsukasa turns his head to find akito, who was looking oddly dishevelled.
“i need help,” akito starts, scratching his neck awkwardly. raising an eyebrow, tsukasa is not amused. “..i want to ask toya out before new year’s.”
..aoyagi toya, as in her classmate? and this guy, together? as in a couple? no wonder he always came to her to ask where he was. yikes.
nene had expected the troupe leader to flat-out reject him, or ignore his plea for help even, but she didn’t expect for tsukasa to burst into uncontrollable laughter. akito’s face flushes into a bright red.
“—you!”
“you’re asking me, the best brother ever, for help to ask toya out?”
“..you think i wanted to resort to this? you’re one of closest people around him!” akito grumbles defensively, getting more and more irritated by the second. tsukasa cackles smugly, making nene’s expression morph into an unamused one. while he already knew how much toya admired the guy, he liked the power he held over him. in turn, akito is unable to face him.
expectant silence takes over, and akito loses the last of his dwindling dignity.
“..please?”
“since you asked so sincerely, you have this star’s approval and assistance!” tsukasa announces, striking a pose. “you better be grateful for my generosity!”
nene’s eyes widen. tsukasa and akito teaming up?
with the evil gears starting to turn in her head, this would be interesting for her, if not entertaining, even.
——
“rui, what are you going to do about tsukasa?”
the only sounds between nene and her neighbour transition to awkward silence and desperate key jangling coming from rui, trying terribly hard to open his door and disappear into his room.
“rui..”
rui doesn’t move, frozen in his position. he had established his growing crush on tsukasa a long time ago, and there was simply nothing to do. the star had taken his life by storm the moment he stepped into his life, and he had almost fell head over heels for him within the few months they had spent together. tenma tsukasa, the shining star he had fallen in love with.
but no, he wasn’t going to risk losing him to such selfish feelings, tsukasa was never obligated to return them. besides, he was too precious, too valuable to disappear from his life. rui planned to stay by his side for as long as he could, serving him to the best of his abilities, as long as tsukasa could flourish happily. ignoring the ache in his heart, simply watching was enough. he just couldn’t lose him.
his expression turns cold.
“i don’t know what you’re talking about, nene. there is nothing to do.”
he watches nene frown, but it was not an unusual reaction.
“you should give it a shot, rui. not everything goes as horribly wrong as you think it does,” an even colder reply, with nene not even watching his expression as she usually does. rui nods, silently wishing her words would actually change how he felt.
“if you never try, you’re going to live in the regret that you never did.”
rui’s eyes flicker towards nene’s direction, and he is unable to hold in what he blurts out next.
“nene, explain—“
she turns her wrist, her door unlocks, leaving rui alone, outside his home, alone with his racing thoughts. but he is focused on her last sentence, not her attitude towards his plans. now, something’s started to stir within him.
..what was this, telling him to break out of his shell all of a sudden?
——
“rui-kun, where’s tsukasa-kun? we’ve practiced for so long!“ emu groans, flopping onto the seat beside nene sleepily. rui doesn’t even hear her question, too busy looking at the theme park’s entrance to wait for the star to appear. tsukasa had started showing up later and later to practices, always talking about how busy he has been, but never what busy meant, brushing it off as a secret plan whenever rui tried to pry.
“he’ll come soon,” he mumbles absentmindedly, doubting his own words.
while he respected tsukasa’s privacy, he was really starting to get worried. in the background, nene comforts emu, telling her they could get some snacks from the theme park before resuming practice.
rui pushes these icky feelings away, he was only meant to be on the sidelines, so tsukasa being interested in someone else didn’t matter. it shouldn’t.
although he still didn’t know what nene was trying to imply, but something clearly had changed.
——
when lunchtime hit, rui was relieved to finally have some appreciated alone time with tsukasa, and he could also finally ask tsukasa where he actually had been, and he—
“tenma-senpai, thank goodness i found you!”
goddamnit.
the pair swung their heads around to find a younger, blonde-haired student staring up at them, shuffling from foot to foot anxiously.
“hello, dear fan! how can i help you?”
the student nods gratefully, happy to have finally caught his attention.
“are you, uh, possibly dating akito-kun?”
..what?
“it’s just that, i’ve been meaning to ask him out, but i always see you with him in the library after school, and he’s always saying something about meeting you, so i thought—“
as rui starts to tune out, the rest of her words start to fade away too. so that’s where tsukasa has been? something strange, strange in a bad way had started to pool in his stomach, eating at his gut. his teeth subconsciously clash together.
“wh— no, i’m not dating akito!” tsukasa exclaims incredulously, waving his arms around to emphasise his point. the student heaves a sigh of relief. “thank goodness! i had thought—“
“..i wouldn’t suggest for you to ask him out though,” his expression grows serious. “akito isn’t.. exactly available.”
the wave of relief turns into despair. “i.. i see,” she mumbles, back to feeling confused again. the junior backs away before scampering into the halls, and rui is left to question what he meant. he turns to tsukasa for answers, but he was back to rambling about what happened in his classes like what he previously said had meant nothing.
did he.. mean that he was interested in shinonome-kun, perhaps?
the idea of tsukasa liking shinonome-kun.. the horrid feeling started to swirl in his stomach again, and it burned like acid. worst of all, he didn’t even know what it was, and how to get rid of it in the first place.
——
and so, nene watched. as the days went by, rumours about tsukasa and akito dating spread like wildfire, and rui hated every second of it. not that nene didn’t try to warn rui, if he didn’t heed her advice, she would just watch the world burn before her eyes.
today, it was the same. rui had appeared outside her classroom after one of her classes, and he looked angry, a passive kind of angry. he seemed to be looking for someone in her class. just as he was about to step in, a student from another class stops him.
“uh..” she looks at the writing on her hand. “kamishiro-san!”
rui’s neutral expression flickers to one of passive aggressiveness.
“he’s not dating tsukasa-kun,” he mutters through gritted teeth.
if he had to listen to one more student running up to him to ask whether if it was true, he might just snap. he simply couldn’t do with watching things unfold anymore. relaxed as ever, nene watches as rui knocks on the classroom door in a rushed manner, not even caring to hide the fact he was panicking anymore. her legs even swing idly in the chair, curious as to what unfolds next.
“aoyagi-san.”
his voice was serious, and his grave expression made him seriously intimidating. his height didn’t help matters either, with his eyes seeming to glow with anger, much like a cat.
toya shifts uncomfortably, silence in the classroom quite stifling. the last group of students shuffle out as quietly as possible, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire. this left the three in the room, alone.
“where has shinonome-kun been?”
he pauses, starting to think. “he’s been busy lately, he hasn’t explained where he’s been either, but he’s been training—“
rui’s expression changes into something colder, and he delivers the ultimate question with little to no hesitation.
“do you have feelings for shinonome-kun?”
more silence. toya looks towards nene awkwardly, rather embarrassed she’s been watching the whole conversation flow. she shrugs dismissively.
“..i told you, i don’t know where he’s been,” he says steadily, hoping to avoid answering his senior’s question. it doesn’t work, rui walking closer and closer to toya with a look that meant nothing pleasant. rui abandons his question, he already knew the answer, and his voice is down to a whisper. nene sits up, eyes widening. should she intervene? guess the rumours had really gotten to rui’s head.
“don’t you know he’s been spending time with tsukasa-kun? rumours of them being together are going around.”
nene nods, rui finally dropped the bomb on him. toya’s expression morphs into something staler. “he.. he has?”
more annoyed than ever, rui is done with conversation, trying his best to keep the expressionless facade he has on. toya’s movements and answers had clearly shown him the rumours might actually be true.
“for someone who’s interested in shinonome-kun, you’re sure unbothered, aoyagi-san.”
the other doesn’t respond, only staring down at his shoes, unable to continue the conversation. the foreign, burning feeling in the pit of rui’s stomach continued to manifest, spreading throughout his entire body. it clawed at him, and had one goal : get out of his body. and rui couldn’t let that happen.
——
“nene, i know you saw. you don’t think the rumours are true, do you?
nene shrugs nonchalantly, completely unnerved. clacking away at her computer game, whatever she was doing. irritation crept up rui’s face as he begun to speak again, remaining bits of his composure fading away. he didn’t have the energy to keep it up for the whole day anymore.
“it’s uncomfortable, why has he been spending so much time with that shinono—“
nene turns from her computer, and the clacking noises disappear, leaving only silence between the pair.
“have you ever considered that you might be jealous?”
..so that was what it was. jealousy. rui quickly changed his expression when he noticed he was scowling. he felt ridiculous. losing his composure and sleep over his own self-induced feelings towards his troupe leader. what was wrong with him? what happened to just watching? it shouldn’t matter if he started dating shi—
no, he wouldn’t finish that thought. he didn’t want to see that happening, ever. burning anger continued to eat at him, consuming his rational thoughts whole. he didn’t even realise nene turning away from her computer, softly giggling at the predicament he was in.
“you know, if you’re that jealous, you should just talk to him,” she suggests calmly, patting rui on the back. “i’m not jealous,” he hisses back agitatedly. “he shouldn’t be missing practice, that’s all.” yes, that’s it! a star shouldn’t miss important, troupe practice for a.. gross love interest. how convincing it was to nene. a soft snicker erupted from the other once again, fortunately going unheard.
but he should, should find tsukasa-kun and clear all of this up. surely, he wouldn’t have fallen for shinonome-kun?
——
rui paces through the halls cautiously, looking for the star’s classroom. he’s walking faster than usual, hoping to see tsukasa as soon as he could. but not for the usual reason.
“there akito, this will be the best date ever! i am a master at planning!”
rui immediately presses his back against the wall, praying he hadn’t been seen. ..a date?
“ugh.. could you write all that down again?”
“you’re so annoying! i just told you my important date plans, and you aren’t even on your knees and thanking me!”
he places a hand over his chest, trying to smother the abrupt anger clawing desperately through his ribcage like an animal. he wanted to pick up the nearest table and throw it across the hallway, anything to stop the two from discussing whatever they were discussing. it felt disgusting, it felt unfair. he knew tsukasa better, he spent more time with tsukasa, so why was it akito he had chose to fall for?
he immediately shakes those thoughts away. no, tsukasa should be able to talk to whoever he wanted, he knew that, so who was he to feel like this? since when had he lost all ability to think rationally? he doesn’t even notice his teeth gritting against one another roughly, too preoccupied in battling the tears that threatened to spill.
forget it, he’d find tsukasa another time.
——
outside the tenma residences, rui knocks on the door sleepily, eyes threatening to close on him whenever. the things he heard had started to haunt him, and the lack of sleep was seriously getting to him.
but someone else answers instead.
“kamishiro-san!” saki greets happily through the intercom, opening the door to let the guest in. but, she is quickly crestfallen. “oh.. i’m sorry, big brother is at shinonome-kun’s, he’s been pretty busy at his house lately. but i could leave him a message if you wa—“
that’s all he needed to hear. the now common rage fuelled his entire body, and before rui knew it, he was running through the cold weather on nothing but adrenaline. commanding his exhausted body to run towards wherever tsukasa was. he needed answers, and he needed them desperately.
——
tsukasa slams his pencil onto the table.
“wahaha! i’m sure with my plans, toya would fall in love with you on the spot!” tsukasa boasts, pointing to step twenty six of his plan. akito stares at him blankly, possibly going insane from having to memorise fifty steps within a single night. unfortunately tsukasa notices his student’s lack of energy. “wake up, lazy student! do you want my help or not?”
he groans, rubbing his tired eyes. “i need water, i’ll be back.”
“what? you aren’t allowed to walk away!“ tsukasa’s voice trails off as akito shuffles out of the room. grumbling to himself, tsukasa’s attention turns back to the planning sheet, reviewing his fifty-stepped, foolproof plan again.
until there’s a knock, a specific knock pattern he specially created with rui. getting excited, tsukasa’s heart races at the prospect of seeing him. he immediately dashes towards the door to answer, only to find..
it was rui, no doubt, but he looked.. tired. devastatingly tired. his hair was messy, his clothes were put barely together with any care, and his eye bags were darker than usual, emphasising his exhaustion. and it hurt tsukasa to see.
“rui?”
newly sparked tension in the air was thick.
rui doesn’t say a word, pulling tsukasa into a warm hug. he’s so exhausted, body spent after running all the way here with the little energy he has left. the few words he speaks next are barely audible, voice even cracking as he does so.
“where have you been?”
confused, tsukasa frowns, unsure of why rui seemed so sad. he doesn’t know what to say, raising a hand to stroke through rui’s hair apologetically. rui doesn’t budge, body still stiff and on high alert. when he does speak again, it does not come out the way he wanted it to, coming out squeakily and softly.
“are you dating shinonome-kun?”
oh, so this was what this was all about. even the way he had asked the question made his heart ache uncontrollably. had he been neglecting rui for akito? surely, he had been way too engrossed in making sure akito had a date before new year’s, and it made rui.. jealous? he was jealous that he was spending more time with akito over him? oh, this was bad, he wasn’t even interested in akito!
“i’ve only been spending time with my junior because i’m helping him ask toya—“
rui cuts him off. “answer my question,” he hisses, gathering the remaining strength he has to pull himself away from the hug, not without the slightest hesitation. his limited patience was running thin. “do you have feelings for him?”
tsukasa looks down to see rui looking back up at him, gaze piercing yet soft at the same time. he looked more.. worried, than mad at him, and he couldn’t help but smile.
“..are you jealous?”
this time, tsukasa’s doesn’t get a response, but rui pulls him in again, holding tsukasa closer to him, as if he would lose tsukasa the moment he let go of him. tsukasa’s fingers immediately halted, his face morphing into one of wry amusement. so he was indeed, jealous that he was spending more time with akito. trying to ignore the growing guilt that was seeping in, he grumbles something about only doing this for toya to himself.
“rui, i have feelings for someone else,” he sighs softly, looking away in embarrassment before speaking again. “..it’s you that i love.”
..what?
rui doesn’t know whether he had started hallucinating from the lack of sleep, but he looks up in disbelief, pupils blown wide in the relief and shock that tsukasa really did return his feelings. the shining star himself, whom he had been pining for, for what felt like the longest time. turning red, rui settles on relaxing into his arms, too tired to move.
tsukasa runs his thumb in circles on rui’s back soothingly, trying his very best to push away the guilt bubbling within him. as bad as he felt, he couldn’t help but find rui so adorable, especially sleepy and in his arms. rui nuzzles into his neck, letting himself sink completely into his embrace, humming contentedly to himself as he does so too. finally, the tension between the pair fizzles away.
as tsukasa felt rui relax in his arms, he couldn’t help but think he was really in love with him.
“kamishiro..—?” his voice fades away from shock into irritation. “..in my own home? really?”
oh right, tsukasa was still at the shinonome residence.
however, rather than feeling guilty, the grand rush of victory ran through his veins. “i got rui to date me before you got toya to date you! i win!” he exclaims, pressing a kiss onto rui’s forehead smugly. “oh rui, we aren’t dating yet though, we’re not doing that outside of this guy’s house.” rui purrs gently, too tired to care or listen. tsukasa continues to run his fingers through the other’s hair affectionately. now it was akito’s turn to be surprised, this time in a bad way.
“—what? that was never a thing! stop being so gross in my own home! what if ena comes home to see you both on my porch?”
tsukasa sticks his tongue out. “since you have all that energy to bark, you can go memorise those fifty steps! come on rui, let’s go to my place.” feeling better than ever, he pushes a protesting rui away, ignoring the brash yelling from his junior in the background.
and as tsukasa coaxes the sleepy director, he realises he wouldn’t trade spending time with him for the world.