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The rooftop of Kamiyama High was all-too familiar to Rui at this point. In a sense, it was comforting. It carried memories that brought warmth to his heart; several conversations with Mizuki, their smile as he had showed them the mini-Tsukasa he had built, mingling with his friends during the school festival, among others. At the same time, the air up here was almost… bittersweet. Though it wasn’t the same place, it still carried memories of being on the rooftop during middle school, with Rui trying and failing to ignore that gaping hole of loneliness that had resided in his chest. Looking back on that and then looking here, from rooftop to rooftop, was almost wistful with the knowledge that he’s grown since then. Knowing that the hole has been filled. For now, at least.
On this day, in the evening, far after anyone (save for possibly a few night students) was on campus, Rui… couldn’t quite answer the question of what brought him here. The sky was beginning to light up in a painting of orange, red and pink as the sun started to set. The only sound at this time was the breeze, gently moving against Rui’s sweatshirt and rustling his hair. He puts his hands (with nails painted orange, pink, and green, yet worn down from biting) in his pocket as the wind picks up.
Again, he couldn’t really answer what had brought him here. During the school day, he tended to eat up here if he wasn’t already with Tsukasa or Nene, mostly due to the simple familiarity of the place. That, and it was quite easy to think to yourself here.
Wonderlands x Showtime had already finished their rehearsal, and there weren’t any night shows planned for that night. After bidding farewell to his troupemates, Rui had found his steps guiding him back towards here.
Might as well reminisce a bit while he’s here, he supposed.
As usual, he found his thoughts drifting to his troupe. They truly were on his mind more than he would admit without getting embarrassed. Which often extended to conversations. An explanation of a new contraption or effect he had been working on (or any conversation topic for that matter, with that just being what Rui talked about most often) would, some way or another, lead into an anecdote about one or more of his troupemates or a relation of them to the current subject at hand or something of the like. Mizuki teased him about it once, and it was brief, yet their words echoed in Rui’s head. He sighed fondly.
As Rui expected, his thoughts began to wander over to more negative prospects the more he thought. It wasn’t very significant; it was easy for him to get caught up in anxious thoughts the more he reminisced in general. He thinks, and worries, about the future more than he’d like to admit, and though he’d been trying to get himself to focus more on the present and enjoy what he has (especially following his near-departure to join Arcland), it was… difficult, sometimes, to not get caught up in a cloud of worry.
Rui sighed again, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. He turned his attention to the sunset. Beautiful tonight. He closed his eyes, letting himself be absorbed in the quiet ambience of the evening. Still, his only companion was the wind.
…
The sound of a door slamming open rang out behind him, and Rui barely had any time to turn or react before he was nearly bowled over by a pink whirlwind yelling “ Ruiiiiii!!” with pure excitement.
Wrapped in a hug by someone almost a foot shorter than him, Rui chuckled, a fond look entering his gaze as he looks down at the culprit, despite already knowing who it was the moment he heard them.
“Ah…greetings, Emu,” Rui hummed, moving one arm out of the hug to ruffle his troupemate’s hair gently.
Said troupemate in question was staring right back at him with sparkling eyes that’d probably glow if they were any brighter, and a grin of equal energy. Her hair was noticeably a bit more messy than it was at rehearsal; Rui assumed it was a combination of him ruffling her hair just now and, perhaps, her running to find him. Either way, it brought a familiar, fuzzy warmth to his chest.
But… something occurred to him.
“Emu, how did you know I was here?” Rui blinked, tilting his head.
“Heh-heh!” Emu released Rui from the hug, putting her hands on her hips with a jokingly mischievous grin. “I just knew you’d come here! I could sense it! Like magic!”
“Eh? Really, now?” Rui put a hand on his chin. Emu did the same. Rui noticed how the light of the setting sun glowed off her own nails, painted orange, green, and purple.
“Just kidding!” Emu giggled, beaming. Rui took note of how she, as well, seemed to glow in the sunlight.
“After rehearsal I saw you going a different way than usual! And I was curious, because you never do that, so I followed you! And I saw you coming here, so I wondered, why’s Rui at school?? and went to follow you again! But you went in the school before I did so I didn’t know where you were and had to go zoom-zoom everywhere and couldn’t find you but I had to be stealthy because I didn’t wanna be caught but then I remembered the rooftop so I zoom-zoomed all the way up here and I found you here which is super wonderhoi! ” Emu said all of that in one breath, making several motions with her hands as she did so.
“But…” Her expression shifted to one of curiosity and perhaps slight concern. “Why are you here, Rui? You’re not feeling not-wonderhoi, are you?” She blinked.
Rui sighed fondly and moved to sit on one of the benches, patting the spot next to him. Emu immediately sat, swinging her legs a bit yet not taking her intent gaze off of her friend.
“I…was just thinking. Enjoying the setting, I suppose. Quite tranquil, isn’t it? Hehe.” Rui looked at the sky once again. The pink hues that lit it reminded him of Emu.
“Mmh…” Emu hummed, looking at the sky as well. Rui heard a sigh from beside him.
“The sunset…” Emu mumbled quietly, appearing lost in thought for a second.
“Ah—right. You don’t really like the sunset, do you?” Rui turned his head back again to look at Emu. She hadn’t taken her gaze off of the sky. Her expression was unreadable. The wind ruffled her hair slightly. The light of the sunset was reflected in her eyes.
She was beautiful.
“Mm…” Emu hummed again. “I used to really not like the sunset because it made me sad that the day was ending…” She paused, turning to look at Rui in the eyes.
“But…I think I might like them a bit more! Because…we do shows at night! So even if the sun sets, the fun things of the day don’t go poof-gone! And, and,” She said, her usual smile returning, “it just means that… a new day will come soon! And we can do more wonderhoi things together! Things with you and Nene and Tsukasa!”
Rui found his own fondness reflected right at him in Emu’s eyes as she mentioned the troupe members. Excitement mixed with a fondness just like his own…
“...I see. Hehe.” Rui sighed fondly. “That is quite a nice way of looking at it.”
“I think looking forward to being with you all is like a gift that I receive every day,” Rui heard himself speak. As he realized what he said, he looked away from Emu, feeling a slight bit of heat creeping up his neck. “Ah…that is…”
“Rui…”
He felt a warm touch on his hand. Turning, he sees Emu, her hand on his own, with a gaze sparkling with that same fondness he saw earlier.
“Hehehe…me too.” Emu grins sheepishly, scratching the back of her head with her other hand. It was rare for her to be this sheepish—and as Rui thought that, he noticed the very lightest blush on her face.
He felt that fuzzy warmth return to his chest once again, greater than it was before. Ah…there it was again. That strange feeling that was coming to him quite frequently in recent times around his troupemates. He won’t dwell on it or think about it yet. Later. Later, he’ll come to terms with it.
For now, he gently squeezed Emu’s hand. She giggled quietly, shifting to lean on his shoulder.
“...Rui?”
“Yes, Emu?”
“I wanna perform with you guys and put on the most wonderhoi shows and stuff as long as we can, okay?” Her voice was soft. Soothing.
Rui felt a small pang in his chest, but dispelled it, taking a small breath.
As long as we can.
“Yes, Emu, of course. I do too.” He let the worries of the future be pushed to the back of his mind, focusing on the warmth and tranquility of the moment. Focusing on the fuzzy feeling in his chest. The feeling that may or may not be love.
The Kamiyama rooftop was, as usual, all-too familiar to Rui. And it now seemed that there would be another good memory that would attach itself here.
Rui sighed, content, looking at Emu with…yes, it was love, in his gaze. He wouldn’t admit it out loud yet, but…he knew. He knew that was what he felt.
He smiled, finding it amusing that it’s only now that he can finally…admit that, if only to himself. But this wasn’t the time to focus on that.
He closed his eyes, letting himself quietly drift off with Emu by his side.
For now, Rui can just relax.