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nene looks around uncomfortably, clutching onto her phone like it was her only lifeline. she rarely came up to the rooftop, much less alone, so if tsukasa could hurry up and find her soon, this could all be settled and she could return to her classroom for the rest of lunch!
“nene,” his voice calls out to her, unusually quiet. nene snaps her head up, making sure if it was really tsukasa in the first place from how strange this voice sounded.
yes, definitely still tsukasa. she motions for him to sit down next to her.
when he does, it only goes downhill. “so,” he fiddles with his hands. that appeared sweaty, now that nene looks at them closely. “how was your day?” nene scrunches up her nose in confusion, but answers anyway. “uh, it was alright.” he was uncharacteristically sweaty today, fidgeting weirdly especially more when he sat down next to her. she found it even more unusual that tsukasa hasn’t made eye contact with her since he arrived. she would appreciate it if he stopped beating around the bush, really.
“..well, how are your studies?”
nene stops dead in her thoughts. her.. her studies? had he really run out of small talk ideas to start a conversation with that he needed to bring up her studies? what was he, an awkward uncle at a family gathering?
“..please cut to the chase.”
tsukasa looks even more panicked, visible sweat on his forehead as he struggles to get the words out of him.
“..i-is rui single?”
even nene couldn’t contain her expression of disgust. “what the hell..”
“d-don’t give me that look! i’m asking a genuine question!”
nene nods, half-convinced. was rui single? ..was he being serious?
anyway, didn’t he spend all his time with rui, enough time to know if rui was single? and why was he even asking? don’t tell her.. he had a thing for him! the idea of.. those two people getting together in the first place made her nauseous. forbid them to even kiss, them holding hands alone made her want to claw her eyes out!
not only that, the insane amount of time the both spent together, how they would interact in public caused strange rumours of if they were dating to spread around the school like wildfire. though the both of them swear it wasn’t true, a classmate had stumbled upon rui under tsukasa’s desk in the middle of class, talking to him as if it was the most normal friend activity to do in the world. they had earned the nicknames weirdo one and two for a reason.
however, how pathetic tsukasa looked just from asking a simple question made her want to both burst out in laughter and take pity on him.
“yes, he is single.”
the moment those four words hit, all the nervousness that plagued tsukasa seconds ago seemed to disappear, the star going back to his usual self, moving on to a completely different topic now. he even seemed happy, relieved, and it made the pit of disgust in nene’s stomach increase. but it made her happy to see tsukasa feeling better.
then, he is quick to catch himself, hiding his relief immediately. “oh, i’m, well uh, i’m asking for a friend, obviously.” he didn’t even seemed convinced, though the words coming from him himself.
“a friend,” nene echoes drily with little to no interest.
“yes, a friend!” tsukasa repeats with a little more certainty. “he was just curious, i’m—, no! him, he is sure that since rui is very good-looking, he might have suitors for him.”
rui? suitors?
“sure,” nene nods half-heartedly. “good luck to your, uh, friend.”
“thank you!” tsukasa exclaims. “i mean, they say thank you. no, i mean, they will say thank you! when i tell them.”
nene plasters on a smile, one corner of her mouth twitching.
this was so painful.
“so, you will keep this conversation between us, won’t you?” tsukasa continues, the look of uncertainty creeping back onto his now less-sweaty face. nene wants to tell him he should leave before he digs himself deeper into this six-feet hole.
“yes,” nene reassures, bursting into tears internally. “you have my word.”
“well, thank you, nene!” he guffaws, getting up and walking off as if nothing had ever happened between them minutes before. nene stares at his diminishing figure doubtfully, wondering what he would do with this information. and how she desperately wanted to erase this interaction from her memory.
——
the next rooftop encounter was between nene and rui, as lunch comes to an end and they make their way back to class.
she catches rui humming to himself, especially smiley and happy today. she recalls this same smile when he talks about show ideas, except this time, it seemed like he was glowing.
“rui, are you thinking about tsukasa?”
“ah, how did you know?” rui asks, eyes wide with surprise.
you’re smiling unnaturally wide, nene thinks but doesn’t say. “you just seemed like you were,” she mumbles as casually as she could.
rui blinks, but doesn’t inquire further. “i haven’t seem him in a long time,” he sighs pitifully instead. “really?” she questions, knowing full-well it was only minutes before when tsukasa had left their lunch session early to rush back to class, in preparation for a test.
rui nods, and quickly returns to his thinking, the corners of his lips lifting further upwards. it makes nene sick. however, nene’s thoughts were abruptly cut short when rui’s smile turns into a frown. what was he thinking about now?
“you see.. i’ve already asked emu-kun, but,” rui starts once more. “uh, is tsukasa-kun..”
rui is unable to get the words out, and there is an awkward pause between them. nene feels her knees go weak.
“well, is.. is tsukasa..”
she couldn’t take it anymore. any longer and she might feel the biggest headache of the century hit her. “rui, what are you asking, exactly?” she speaks louder, trying to pry the words out of him.
“uh,” rui tries again. feeling a strange sense of déjà vu, nene braces herself for more painful silence. “do you.. do you know if tsukasa-kun is.. available?”
“excuse me?” nene asks with a smile on her face, certain she’s misheard him.
rui rubs the back of his neck, looking almost.. embarrassed, face going slightly pink. “tsukasa-kun,” he says, looking at the ground and not daring to look nene in the eye. “is he seeing anyone?”
nene stares at him in disbelief, horror. she could not believe she was having the same conversation twice, much less in the same premise.
“i’m asking if he has a lover, nene.”
“obviously, i know,” nene hisses, finally able to get the words out of her system. but what she really wants to ask is why, why the hell was he asking her, when he was the one who spent hours with him on a daily! yes, she did spend quite a bit of her time with him, but only for show practice, unlike this stuttering fool before her.
not to mention, there are a number of perfectly reasonable reasons for nene’s irritation.
firstly, she has, on numerous occasions, seen tsukasa smile at rui. tsukasa, the man who smiled the brightest smiles she knows, could manage to smile an even brighter smile when rui would give him the simplest of praise. she knew deep down that tsukasa could breathe, and rui would clap appreciatively. speaking of rui, kamishiro rui himself, without fail, always smiles back at him.
at times like this, they will both be blushing, even in the slightest, with rui blushing even harder. even if they’re on stage, in front of children. literal children, watching a children’s play, where two of her best friends are giving each other smiles that only held homosexual intent.
secondly, she’s heard from emu multiple times that tsukasa strokes rui’s back all the time before a show. though it only started out because rui felt anxious before these shows, it had obviously subsided, replaced with the thrill and excitement of bringing wonder to people’s eyes over time. but he still goes to tsukasa like a sad cat before shows, crawling into his arms and letting tsukasa hush him into serenity, rain or shine.
thirdly and lastly, they share a bed when the either of them stay over. even though tsukasa has a guest room. nene knows this firsthand because she’d once made the mistake of bursting into rui’s home early in the morning to get back her pencil she left while staying over, using her set of keys that rui had so kindly given her.
only, she wished she hadn’t. and so, she had been greeted by tsukasa and rui snuggling each other side by side, with barely any distance between them, if any. when she lets out a piercing shriek, she finds tsukasa sitting up drowsily, bringing a finger to his lips while coaxing a fumbling rui back to bed with more cuddles. a horrific sight to behold, seeing your childhood friend get coaxed back to sleep by another close friend in broad daylight. she’s not sure she ever wanted to know this about either of them, but she can’t undo it now.
so nene had obviously come to her own conclusions, accepting them as a couple in her head. in fact, she found comfort in rui and tsukasa’s strange relationship, happy that rui could find another person just as weird as him to fuel all his desires.
she also never got her pencil back.
so really, all this coming from the two of them, asking the same, stupid question made her want to tear her hair out. especially when rui keeps looking at nene expectantly. all she can do is answer truthfully.
“no,” she finally says. “i suppose he’s single.”
“ah,” rui says, and even he couldn’t hide the relief and pleasure on his face, unbeknownst to himself. “that is great to hear.”
nene laughs awkwardly, suddenly wondering why this walk to their classes felt like walking a whole mile. when they finally each her classroom, she promptly flees, sprint-walking to her desk so she could forget this whole conversation never happened. rui is left oblivious the entire time, mind too busy being occupied by the dashing star in his thoughts. for once, nene is grateful for that.
——
their next interaction, more of her patience thins.
usually, rui and tsukasa would invite the entire troupe to have lunch together, but with their difference in timetables, emu and nene only joined in occasionally. this left the common occurrence to be only two of them having lunch together. today was no different, neither of them expecting nene to join in halfway.
today’s lunchtime, rui was exceptionally sleepy. sure, tsukasa knew he would often stay up late to work on his robots, much to his annoyance, but he would end up just fine the next day. but, he was especially drowsy today.
this would end up in rui’s head on tsukasa’s shoulder, while tsukasa persuaded him to eat his lunch.
“rui! eat your lunch!” tsukasa would yell, but rui would only make a few sad noises of protest. not that he was too tired to get anything down his system, he just didn’t like the way small pieces of lettuce would stick out of the ends of his sandwich! they looked too gross for consumption.
tsukasa sighs, knowing he caved in way too easily. “lie down,” he motions towards his lap, but rui doesn’t need to open his eyes to be able to lie down instinctively. tsukasa can even smell the faint scent of soda gummies as rui rests his head on his lap, while rui murmurs soft thank you’s to him. his hearts thumps wildly against his chest just at the sight, and it doesn’t take long for rui to look up at him expectantly. tsukasa knows just what he wants.
and that is how nene ended up stumbling upon tsukasa stroking rui’s hair with his head on his lap, making her lose all traces of her appetite and abandon both the rooftop and her food. her class had ended early, so she figured she’d join the two oddballs for lunch, only to find the same oddballs.. doing whatever they were doing, in broad daylight, in public, at school.
“huh,” she mumbles for no one in particular.
she hadn’t known they were already dating. no way in hell could tsukasa stroke his best friend’s hair with such loving adoration in his eyes while still being just his best friend. congratulations to them, she thinks, but she finds mild offence in the fact that neither of them bothered to tell her they were already dating.
upon closer inspection, she hears.. purring? soft, deep purrs that seemed to be coming from.. oh, don’t tell her.
kamishiro rui himself, purring in the arms of his boyfriend, or whatever they were. she hadn’t even known he was capable of producing such noises, much less at the hands of tsukasa. while she would turn her heel and flee, tsukasa had already seen her and had started waving her down like she was a cab driver.
“nene!” he whisper-yells, beckoning her over as if any of this was normal. it really wasn’t. nene holds her lunch tighter in her hands, unsure of whether to sit or make a lousy excuse. she decides on the former.
“i didn’t know you would join us today,” he states casually, while still keeping his fingers glued to the man underneath them. rui makes a small guttural noise, acknowledging her presence. nene scrunches up her nose.
“yeah,” she shrugs, trying to maintain a calm expression without expressing the repulse she felt. she would rather be caught dead than be seen in a situation like this! “well, let’s eat lunch!” tsukasa exclaims softly, opening his own lunchbox.
..to the best of his abilities, with only one hand available. nene even helps him out of pity.
tsukasa chuckles awkwardly. “thank you, nene.” from the corner of her eye, she spots rui shift, nudging his nose against tsukasa slightly. tsukasa notices too, except he smiles one of those softer smiles, looks down at rui and pats his head, whispering something about how he was still there.
she wanted to leave so badly.
they spend lunch like that, chatting as per normal, with rui shifting around every few minutes to what nene figured out was a way to make sure tsukasa didn’t forget him, even though he’s literally lying on his lap. tsukasa would pause mid-conversation, peer down at him to softly reassure him that he was still there, that he didn’t forget him. rui would make a happy trill in response.
..yes, they were definitely already dating, they had to be!
they were doing this all whilst nene was there, right in front of them, trying to consume her lunch!
wait till emu heard about this.
——
on the fourth conversation, nene learns that they aren’t actually dating.
today was a special occasion. the whole troupe’s timetables aligned, and they were able to have lunch together!
..more bickering.
“rui! stop ripping the vegetables out of your sandwich!” tsukasa yells, swatting at rui’s hand lightly. rui only frowns miserably, pretending to sob a little too.
“isn’t that a vegetable sandwich?” emu asks innocently, then proceeding to take a bite out of her own. nene sighs softly. this was truly a normal lunch for their troupe.
after more back and forth from rui and tsukasa, tsukasa stops arguing all together, instead going radio silent with a finger to his chin. nene relishes in the sweet peace, listening to emu talk about her day.
but when tsukasa shuffles a little closer to rui, tension in the air thickens. “there,” he mutters softly, pulling out his own sandwich to trade with rui’s, pork sandwich to vegetable. “will you have lunch how?”
even emu’s is shocked beyond words!
followed by weighted silence.
more silence follows, even when tsukasa forcefully feeds his pork sandwich to rui, who seemed to be enjoying this a little too much.
“yikes,” nene couldn’t help but mutter under her breath.
emu gapes, rather confused by their intimacy. “how long have you two been dating?”
..more silence. rui’s the first to turn red.
“emu-kun.. we aren’t exactly, well, together.”
both emu and nene are gaping now, astounding silence taking over the usually bustling rooftop. it’s completely silent, the only sound being tsukasa dropping the pork sandwich seconds ago.
nene’s quiet yell comes out as more of a statement than a question, the frustration that had been building up finally showing itself through the deep frown etched on her face. “why can’t you airheads see that the other is completely smitten with you!”
tsukasa and rui both raise their heads to look at her. tsukasa looks horrified, but nene continues, unable to swallow it down any longer.
“the both of you have been trying to figure out how to, how to court the other, asking the same stupid question!” nene glares at tsukasa. “nobody lets their best friend sleep on their lap and whispers reassurances to them!”
“tsukasa-kun,” rui breathes shakily. “is this true?”
tsukasa looks unbelievably flustered, embarrassed, face redder than nene has ever seen. for a split second, she feels a little bad, perhaps even more than a little for blurting her feelings out. tsukasa shamefully nods, if nene could even consider that a nod. rui picks up on it anyway.
rui exhales and turns to nene. “nene,” he starts, giving her a small smile, “could you give us a moment?”
“thank goodness,” nene mutters under her breath and leaves quickly, taking emu along with her. she almost takes emu straight to her own class, but finds herself a little worried.
she shouldn’t have blurted everything out, especially after telling tsukasa she wouldn’t tell anybody, so she sits down on the stairs to the rooftop instead, hoping the two could sort this out properly.
nene hears nothing but silence for a brief moment, the panic in her gut worsening as time went on. emu rubs little circles onto her palm.
“are you mad at me?” tsukasa asks quietly, breaking the silence. his voice is nothing more than a small whisper.
“no, definitely not,” rui sighs, and nene hears the rustling of clothing. they were definitely facing each other now, though she couldn’t crane her neck well enough to see the two of them clearly.
“i’ve loved you,” rui finally declares with no hesitation. “i’ve loved you for the longest time.”
from nene’s view, tsukasa’s head was just a red ball, his darker streaks blending in well with the blood rushing to hid face. “..i love you too, and i’m sorry.”
he’s sorry? nene tilts her head to the left. sorry for what?
rui must have had the same thought. “you’re sorry? ..for?”
“for not telling you sooner. and kissing you without your consent.”
“y-you what? you, we, we haven’t even—”
rui’s lips are suddenly sealed by a tip-toeing tsukasa, recklessly crashing his lips onto his in order to cut his words off. neither nene or emu have to try too hard to guess why, even if their view was slightly blurred and small from how far they were.
nene was fairly sure that it’s her cue to leave, burning pit of anxiety turning into disgust. their gross public display of affection was definitely not going to cease after the kiss they were in.
but even their kiss looked magical. even from afar, it was like she could feel a whirlwind of emotions. tsukasa’s hands were firmly rooted on rui’s face, cupping them delicately while rui’s found their way to his waist. it was especially gross to see rui deepening their kiss, putting tsukasa back on his feet as he leaned down so he wouldn’t strain the other’s feet. she could see how red both of their faces were, which was a rare occasion, seeing how the both of them rarely blushed when they were without the other.
their kiss seemed to sweet, so gentle in those split seconds, how they embraced each other to how flustered they were. she hears emu gasp softly behind her.
she’s even a little ashamed to catch herself smiling, smiling at the revelation that the two could bring out so many sides of each other she hadn’t even known about. it was strange to see tsukasa holding rui’s face in his hands as if it was the most precious thing in the world.
when they do pull apart from each other, nene beckons emu to follow her, leaving the two to their moment rui had requested for.
the rooftop has seen so many things.