Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“You know, Tsukasa… it’s kind of funny how little we know about SEKAI.” Rui giggled to himself, fiddling with the screwdriver in his pocket.

Tsukasa was a little confused by his statement, and could only respond with, “What do you mean?”

”Oh, you know… like, how far does it go for? Will we ever explore it all? What would happen to this SEKAI if you died?” He was sitting up straight now, eyes closed. Tsukasa knew this meant he was seriously thinking about those questions.

”Uh… I mean, those are good questions… have you tried asking KAITO? He probably knows more about this than I do…” Tsukasa nervously laughed.

”Yeah, I could ask KAITO… but why should I ask when I can just… find out?”

”Huh?”

Tsukasa sat up to see Rui standing over him with his hand extended. That smug smile meant “I’m about to do something stupid, wanna come?” and Tsukasa both loved it and hated it.

”Are you suggesting we go on some huge journey, exploring every nook and cranny inside this place?” Tsukasa whined, hesitantly taking Rui’s hand, the latter helping him up.

”Emu and Nene are putting on a show with Rin and Len, so why not? Besides…” Rui turned around and gave Tsukasa a menacing wink. “This is a whole world based on Tsukasa’s mind! I want to know what’s inside!” Rui then ran off, leaving Tsukasa behind. Tsukasa screamed in protest, but Rui didn’t stop. Eventually, Tsukasa was left running after him.

—

“How… *huff* how are you… so fast…” Tsukasa wheezed, taking a seat on a bench, before jumping off said bench when it began to fly away.

”Aw, come on Tsukasa! You’ve got to keep up with me if you wish to become a star!” Rui teased, gently pushing Tsukasa.

”Y-yeah… well, in my defense, I don’t build robots!” 

“Me building robots has nothing to do with this! You’re simply out of shape!”

”W-why you-!” 

Tsukasa aggresively swiped at Rui, but he just kept toying with Tsukasa, turning what Tsukasa hoped would be a fight into some kind of ballroom dance. Man… he was good. Rui continued this dance-fight-flirt session until Tsukasa got distracted by one of the plushies flying through the air, which also caught his eye. The boys soon identified it to be a bat, casually gliding through the air without a care in the world. Rui, knowing exactly what he was doing, jumped on top of Tsukasa and grabbed the plushie from the air, causing Tsukasa to lose his balance and fall, leading to both boys tumbling down the side of a hill and ending up in a field. Through this all, Rui didn’t let go of the plushie, much to Tsukasa’s dismay.

”What the heck was that?! I could’ve gotten hurt!” Tsukasa yelped, brushing off the grass from his shirt.

”But you didn’t! And look-“ Rui held out the writing plushie in his hand, and Tsukasa felt sorry for it. “-a new plushie we’ve never seen before! Aren’t you slightly curious!?” Rui’s strained voice meant he was getting excited, so Tsukasa had to end this quickly.

”No! Put it down!” Tsukasa demanded, smacking Rui’s hand in just the right spot so he let it go. The bat lazily flew away, and Rui tried his best to make Tsukasa feel guilty.

”Oooh, Tsukasa! You heartless MONSTER! Didn’t you notice how that plushie looked different than the others?! What if it was DEADLY, and in releasing it, you just doomed the entirety of SEKAI!” Rui whined, making dramatic hand motions while doing so.

”Okay, that’s not going to work on me… but you do have a point when you say it looked different. Why that one in particular?” Tsukasa quietly pondering, mimicking Rui’s thinking pose, which made Rui giggle.

”You know, it reminded me of a vampire… are you one of THOSE kids, Tsukasa?” Rui teased, slowly moving closer to Tsukasa.

”Wh-what?! Why did you say it like that?!” Tsukasa squeaked, Rui’s question taking him off-guard.

”Oh, you know…” Rui slyly smiled which sent a shiver down Tsukasa’s spine. “Those kids who read a~ll those weird stories about the supernatural and have their fanta-“

”STOP! STOP! I AM NOT LIKE THAT!” Tsukasa screamed, which startled Rui at his sudden defensiveness.

”Ah, Tsukasa… why the sudden defensiveness? Have I found out a little secret about our dear troupe leader?”

”WH-?! NO!! DROP THE TOPIC, DROP THE TOPIC!!” 

Rui chuckled and helped Tsukasa up from his pathetic fall on the ground, and Tsukasa just kept grumbling at Rui’s teasing. The two decided to keep exploring the SEKAI, curious about the strange appearance of the new plushie. Rui was fueled by curiosity, while Tsukasa was fueled by that same curiosity and also the urge to hide the embarrassing fact that he enjoys supernatural stories. Rui finding out was a problem as is, but if Nene found out? His life would be over. Rui was taking this opportunity to tease Tsukasa every step of the way, which Tsukasa despised. But it also made him wonder what he would do without Rui’s constant bullying… which suddenly switched Tsukasa’s view on the “game” in Rui’s eyes. Their search was fairly fruitless, as of Rui’s current thoughts. Tsukasa thought all the flying theme park rides were quite interesting. 

“Tsukasa! LOOK!” Rui delightfully cheered, pulling Tsukasa towards him by the shirt collar and pointing towards a group of plushies.

”Uh, yeah… just a group of plushies…” Tsukasa sighed, not sure at Rui’s sudden excitement.

”Do you really not see it? Look further…” 

Tsukasa shook Rui’s grip off. Now he was definitely sure Rui was finally losing it. But, after looking at the group of plushies a few more times…

He did notice another one of the odd plushies in the center.

”Oh, I see… yeah, that definitely looks like one…” He whispered, ducking behind a rock.

”Uh, what’re you doing? This isn’t a stealth mission…” Rui laughed, jokingly following Tsukasa behind the rock.

”Rui, the bat was alone! Don’t you want to know how these… weirdo-“

”We don’t use that word here, Tsukasa.”

”Ah. Right. How these… unique plushies… interact?”

”Much better.”

Tsukasa rolled his eyes with a small chuckle, squinting further at the plushie. Upon closer inspection, it looked almost exactly like the other dog plushies in SEKAI, just slightly bigger. Tsukasa, without a second thought, got up and began walking towards the group.

”Tsukasa!? Tsukasa! Hey! Get back here!” Rui whisper-shouted, angrily pointing to where Tsukasa was. Usually, he was the one who walked blindly into unexplored areas, and he wanted to keep it that way.

”Rui, I’m pretty much a god here! I think they want to see me!” Tsukasa gloated, puffing out his chest as he continued to weakly approach the confused plushies. Rui, sighing in disapproval, got up and followed after Tsukasa.

”Hello, plushies! I am TSUKASA TENM-“ 

“We know who you are! You’re the one who made this place!” One of the plushies said excitedly, cutting off Tsukasa’s introduction.

”But I… I didn’t get to do my introduction…” Tsukasa whined, kicking a stray rock with his foot.

”Why should you? We know who you are!” Said a plushie that looked like a neon-colored rabbit.

”My introduction is incredible! You may know me, but you want to hear it! Take Rui, for example. He knows me, but he LOVES it when I do my introduction, right Rui?” 

“I do not.” Rui smirked.

”RUI! You were supposed to say yes!” 

“But that’d be lying, Tsukasa… I can’t lie!”

”But-but-!”

”Tsukasa, will you play with us? MEIKO was playing with us, but she left…” One of the plushies asked, acting like they were on the verge of tears.

”Fine! Fine! I’ll play with you… Rui, you’re coming with me!” Tsukasa pointed to Rui, then to his side. For some reason, he expected Rui to follow the command. 

“Sheesh, you act like I don’t want to come! I’m not a terrible person, Tsukasa!”

”JUST HELP ME!”

The plushies took Tsukasa’s hand and dragged him away, with a laughing Rui simply encouraging them all. But what kept Tsukasa going was seeing the weird plushie also join in, which also piqued Rui’s interest. As they both wanted to see how it interacted, they continued to play with the plushies. 

After going through a total of six short stories, three plays, fourteen displays of balloon art, and one huge game of tag, Rui and Tsukasa had finally found themselves passed out on the grass. Both were laughing while also wheezing, and the plushies kept trying to get the boys to stand up, as they didn’t want to stop playing. 

“Come on, Tsukasa! We wanna keep doing shows!” One of the plushies whined, tugging on Tsukasa’s sleeve.

”I’m afraid I’m too tired to do more shows… go bother Rui.” Tsukasa groaned, shaking the plushies off.

”Rui! Do more balloon art!” The plushie demanded, this time going for Rui’s shoe. Rui didn’t care less, so he just silently told his shoe goodbye as the plushies took it off and acted like it was a boat.

”No… I’m tired. Go bother Tsukasa…” 

“Tsukasa said to bother you!”

“Tsukasa is a- SWEET SHIT!” Rui shot upwards, startling everyone around him.

”Hey! Rin said that KAITO can’t say stuff like that, so you can’t either!” One of the plushies shouted angrily.

”Rui?! Are you alright?!” Tsukasa was concerned, as Rui had promised to watch his language in SEKAI, and he only cussed that aggressively when he was royally pissed.

”Yeah… I’m fine… this plushie bit me, and I wasn’t expecting it!” Rui lifted the strange dog plushie up by the neck fluff, revealing the bite on his arm. For a living stuffed animal made of fabric, it was a decent mark.

”Well, Tsukasa said you get you to wake up! And, you’re awake now, so it worked!” The dog plushie said, still dangling from Rui’s hand.

”I didn’t mean to bite him! That’s not a good thing to do…” Tsukasa sighed, taking the plushie from Rui.

”Oh… sorry Tsukasa…”

”Apologize to Rui as well!”

”Sorry, Rui…”

”No big deal… I never told you about the time where I almost went to the ER because I cut one of the tendons in my arm with-“

”Rui… that’s all well and good, but I don’t want to know.”

”Figured…”

Tsukasa let the plushie go, and it ran back to the group of other plushies. Well, they were definitely awake now, so Tsukasa applauded them in his mind. 

“Oh, Nene and Emu are probably done with their show, so we ought to head back.” Rui said, pulling out his phone and pointing to the time.

”Right! Plushies! We’ll be going now, please… don’t bite anyone else.” Tsukasa sighed, turning his back to leave. The plushies waved goodbye, and Rui and Tsukasa headed back towards the main show tent.

”Luckily, I managed to get my shoe back… honestly, this is the seventh time those plushies have taken it! Why do they have a fascination with my shoes in particular? They’ve even roped Len in on their nonsense!” Rui ranted, hopping around to put his shoe back on.

“So, we’re going to ignore how one of those plushies just bit you?” Tsukasa pursed his lips and crossed his arms, trying his best to out-sass Rui, something that no mere mortal can do.

”Tsukasa, it’s no big deal… it barely bled, and it’s already beginning to look better. Like I said, I’ve had worse…” Rui smiled, almost falling over several times, but Tsukasa caught him every time.

”But I-“

”Tsukasa, I’m fine! You know how much I worry about safety and all that, and I’m not worried. That should be enough evidence to show I’m fine! And, yeah, I know about Saki, I know about being a big brother, but I’m pretty much Nene’s older brother, so bam. I’m fine.” 

Dang… he had a point. Rui, despite his crazy ideas, was very much a stickler for safety. In times where Tsukasa wasn’t worried, Rui would be, and he’d modify his robot so many times that Tsukasa was sure his brain ran entirely on energy drinks and soda candy, no sleep required. And yeah, he was definitely like an older brother to Nene… but he didn’t have a little frail little sister, so he couldn’t complain! Tsukasa went to go express his concern, but was immediately shot down with that stupid smug smile and “I’m fine, Tsukasa!” every time he tried. 

“That’s the worst part about Rui,” He thought “He’ll never admit anything’s wrong if it’s about him…” Tsukasa sighed, and decided to drop the topic to avoid being strangled by Rui.

—

“TSUKASA! RUI! WONDAHOOOI!” Emu seemingly came from nowhere, giving Tsukasa and Rui their daily hugs before bouncing over to Nene.

”I can tell from that spark in Rui’s eyes and Tsukasa’s twitching eyebrow that you two did something.” Nene deadpanned, eyeing the boys.

”Aw, Nene! I know I can cause trouble sometimes, but you don’t have to assume that every time I’m left alone, something dangerous happens!” Rui walked over to Nene and began fiddling with a strand of her hair, but she shook him away.

”We just found some plushies to play with. That’s all!” Tsukasa nervously tugged on his shirt collar, proof he was lying.

”Rui? What’s wrong with your arm?” Emu asked, rolling his sleeve up to reveal the small bite mark on his arm.

”Oh, one of the plushies got mad at me, is all. It doesn’t hurt! I’ll fix it when I get home.” Rui smiled, patting Emu on the head.

”Why did the plushie get mad at you, let alone bite you? Usually they don’t do that.” Nene cautiously eyed Rui, not buying his excuse. 

“No, he’s telling the truth… we were playing with the plushies, we got tired, and I told the plushies to get Rui to wake up, and one of them ended up biting him… sorry!” Tsukasa laughed, nervously rubbing the back of his head. Rui gave him a small glance, as if to say “Oh, dear Tsukasa, thank you! What would I do without you?” (This is an exaggeration, as Rui just meant “thanks man.”)

”Ah, so it’s Tsukasa’s fault. I wonder how I missed that…” Nene teased, and Tsukasa sighed in relief. Yeah, he hated the fact his troupe members didn’t respect him, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. Well, he would, but you get the idea.

”Oh! KAITO said he wanted you two to help set up the next show, Tsukasa!” Emu cheerfully exclaimed, bouncing around Rui and Tsukasa.

”Oh, alright! I’ll head over there now. Tsukasa, wanna come with me? Rui asked, looking to Tsukasa.

”Sure! Nene, Emu, we’ll help with the show and head home. Our next practice is tomorrow! I’ll bring food, don’t be late!” Tsukasa struck a pose for the girls, but Nene just shook her head and waved goodbye as Emu clapped and followed after Nene.

—

“Thanks again for helping me, you two. Rui, you just can’t be beat when it comes to stuff like this!” KAITO cheered, praising Rui for his knowledge of stage mechanisms. Tsukasa looked over to Rui, who was happily accepting KAITO’s compliment. Tsukasa chuckled, and went back to handing Miku the new stage decorations.

”Mm, Tsukasa! What did you do today?” She purred, her sparkly eyes lighting up.

”Oh, nothing much! Just played with some plushies, is all!” He replied back, causing her eyes to sparkle even more.

”I bet the plushies loved that! Did you go all SWOOSH! BOING-BOING-BAM!?” Miku excitedly asked, using the little paper stars she made for the decorations as props for her own mini-show.

”Ah, I’m afraid we didn’t. We just did some little shows, is all!” Rui chimed in. Tsukasa never quite understood how Rui managed to translate Emu’s and Miku’s strange language, as he wanted to be in on this secret onomatopoeia club.

”Man, I wish I was there! I bet those shows were super-duper-mega wonderhoy! ♪“ She sang, waving her arms around, until she eventually returned to her assigned job of hanging up the decorations.

”Indeed. I bet those plushies had so much fun with you two!” KAITO added, helping Rui add the finishing touches on his new mechanism.

”Yeah…” Tsukasa lazily cheered, going back to the plushies. He had fun, but he kept thinking about those strange plushies…

And how one of them bit Rui…

Tsukasa just silently prayed to himself that his guilty pleasure of supernatural romance stories hadn’t leaked into SEKAI. Because that… that would be bad.

Chapter Text

“I’m a goner.” Tsukasa thought, face blank. “The moment Nene finds out about what’s in my SEKAI… oh dear god.” He tapped his pencil against his notes. He was glad he had a good poker face, since it could hide the absolute cries for help within his brain. Yeah, he noticed it. He noticed it, alright. It took five minutes to get to his class because Rui wouldn’t leave him alone. Whenever Tsukasa finally broke free, he definitely heard a whine. Tsukasa darkly thought back to those weird plushies, mentally yelling at himself for reading all those stories as a kid. But, how would he know that when he entered high school, he’d get this world inside his phone with Hatsune Miku and KAITO, and when he takes his friend there, lo and behold his guilty pleasure ends up leaking into said phone world and his friend gets screwed over because of it. Tsukasa ran his fingers through his hair, trying not to show his stress. He wasn’t worried about Rui, Tsukasa knew he’d be fine. He was worried about Nene, because if Nene knew that his SEKAI could do that, she would bomb the whole thing. Tsukasa shivered at the sight of seeing a mad Nene. 

“It’s okay, I don’t think she knows. Heck, I don’t even think Rui knows. I’ll be fine.” Tsukasa sighed in relief, applauding his brain for coming up with such an incredible reason to relax.

”Rui doesn’t know.”

And Tsukasa’s relief vanished in a flash. Rui, the reason behind his worries, has no idea what Tsukasa just threw him into. This is what broke Tsukasa’s poker face, causing him to get a few glances around class. Nothing a cute look and a smile can’t fix.

Now that he had his defenses repaired, he went back to worrying. Okay, how could he say this?

”Hey, Rui! So, yeah, I like supernatural stories with vampires and stuff. Oops! Looks like it leaked into my SEKAI and that weirdo plushie that bit you… yeah. Sorry~!”

Tsukasa shivered once more when he imagined Rui’s face. For someone with such a unique thought process, he didn’t believe in Bigfoot, which always surprised Tsukasa. “Such an abomination is not able to survive in nature, because blah blah blah blah…” Yeah, Tsukasa never payed attention when Rui disproved anything supernatural with science. Killjoy. But, how could he disprove this?

”The human bone structu-“

Nope. Nope. Stop. Tsukasa ended that mental confrontation as quickly as he could to avoid punching his mental Rui. That mental Rui has been through enough… let’s not give him anymore trauma.

”Here’s what I’ll do, I’ll make him come to me! When he realizes that something’s wrong, then I’ll give my thoughts… yeah, bold of me to assume Rui’s actually going to talk about his problems.” Tsukasa set his pencil down on his notebook with a huff, pinching the bridge of his nose.

”I can ask KAITO… the guy lives there (at least, Tsukasa thinks he does), SURELY he knows what to do. And, I shouldn’t have to worry about him thinking I’m weird, because KAITO is a good friend, unlike the rest of my troupe members!… sorry guys, that was mean… I do care, really!” Tsukasa said to himself, preparing for the terrible conversation that was about to come.

When the lunch bell rang, Tsukasa counted to three…

”Tsukasa? Are you coming?” Rui asked, poking his head inside of Tsukasa’s classroom.

”There he is…” Tsukasa thought.

”Yeah, hang on…” Tsukasa said, packing his bag up and grabbing his lunch.

”Took you long enough. I thought you forgot about me!” Rui laughed, leaning against the doorframe.

”I was gone for one class period, and the bell just rang… I was going to look for you!” 

“One class period can be agonizing when I’ve got good stage mechanism ideas!”

”…We’ll talk about it over lunch.”

Rui shrugged and stepped out of the doorframe, leaning against the wall across from Tsukasa’s classroom.

”Of course, they just had to give him separation anxiety. What fun…” Tsukasa began resenting the thought of Rui following him around everywhere, and then Tsukasa would feel bad whenever he left him alone. That is the exact reason of why Tsukasa never wanted a dog, yet here he is. 

“Tsukasa?” Rui asked once more.

”Rui, it’s been two minutes…” Tsukasa groaned, finally stepping out of his classroom and into the hallway.

”I’m sorry for being bored!” Rui dramatically cried, with Tsukasa giving him zero sympathy. Tsukasa just kept walking along, listening to Rui’s ramblings about how he perfected one of Emu’s ideas, and turned it into “his best work, possibly ever.” His words. Soon, they arrived in the courtyard, where Tsukasa and Rui found their usual spot under a tree.

”You aren’t eating on the roof today? With Mizuki?” Tsukasa asked, laying his full three course meal out on the ground in front of him.

”Eh, today I wanted to eat here. Maybe, tomorrow, we can eat in SEKAI.” Rui replied, still holding his notebook with his ideas in it.

”Mhm… sure.” Tsukasa replied, too busy admiring his lovely feast to listen to whatever Rui was saying, which made him mad.

”Tsukasa.”

”I’m listening…”

”Tsukasa.”

”Rui, I said I’m listening!”

”No you’re not.”

”I am, I am…”

”Okay… so, first I- Tsukasa.”

”RUI, I’M LISTENING TO YOU!”

Rui huffed and rolled his blueprint back up, and shoved it inside his bag. “I see how it is. You don’t like my ideas.” He cried.

”You’re being so dramatic… when have I ever not liked your ideas?” Tsukasa tried to sound light-hearted, mentally noting that Rui was much more petty now.

”Do you want the short list or the full version?” Rui asked, raising an eyebrow.

”Fine! Fine! You win… happy?” Tsukasa threw his hands in the air, admitting defeat.

”Very. Now, if you’ll LISTEN TO ME, for once…” Rui got his blueprint back out and continued explaining it, something that Tsukasa knew he couldn’t get out of.

—

It was almost the end of lunch, as they had about ten minutes left. Rui ate between explaining the different sections of this mechanism and how it worked, and Tsukasa just pretended to understand. Rui always told the rest of the group how they worked, but Emu was usually the only one who understood. Clown to clown communication, Tsukasa noted.

“Uh, Tsukasa…” Tsukasa jumped when he felt a tap on his shoulder, but relaxed when he just saw Toya.

”Oh, hey Toya! What’s up?” Tsukasa cheerfully replied, acting like his heart didn’t just skip several beats.

”Well, I was wondering if after school, you could…” Toya began explaining what he needed, and Tsukasa was listening, but he felt oddly terrified while doing so. He quickly glanced over to Rui, and saw him INCREDIBLY pissed, which made Tsukasa scared for his life.

”Why is he so mad?! Is it because he can’t talk about his mechanisms anymore?! Is this where I die?!” Tsukasa’s mind was running a mile a minute, Toya was still talking, and Rui was about to snap some bones.

”Anyway, I’ll text you later. Thanks.” Toya smiled and walked off, and luckily Tsukasa managed to catch most of his request. Thankfully, Toya is a guy who settles for most, so he doesn’t have to worry about that. And, as Toya was walking off, Tsukasa definitely heard Rui growling. Well… that’s not good.

”Oh dear god. Not only can he not be left alone, he gets jealous… this is why I’m not a dog person.” Tsukasa sighed, leaning forward slightly.

”I don’t appreciate it when you get mad when I’m just talking…” Tsukasa sneered, slightly looking down on Rui. If his plan worked, he could get some useful information.

”But… but you were talking to me…” Rui weakly replied. Bingo. The answer Tsukasa wanted. This proves that Rui has, at the very least, some idea of what he’s doing.

”I know, but I can’t give all my attention to you! I’ve got other friends, you know!” Tsukasa said with a frustrated sigh.

”But you were talking to me. I was talking to you. Didn’t Toya notice that?” Rui explained, trying to get Tsukasa to understand his logic.

”I know that, but I can’t always pay attention to you!” 

“That’s what friends do, right? Aren’t you my friend, Tsukasa?” Rui’s pitiful whining barely struck anything inside Tsukasa, which made him feel unnaturally guilty. And that’s another reason why Tsukasa did not like dogs: you can’t stay mad at them. Tsukasa sighed once more, this time with more force. He was really regretting all those books now.

”What if Nene or Emu started talking to me? What if it was Mizuki?” Tsukasa perked up, wondering how Rui would respond to this genius (or so he thought) question.

”I mean…” Rui set his head on his fist and looked towards the sky. “I’d still be mad, but not as mad…” He said, finally coming to that conclusion.

”And why is that?” Tsukasa made sure to note every little piece of this conversation mentally, hoping it can help him in the long run.

”Eh… I dunno. They probably have a good reason to speak to you.” 

“And Toya didn’t?”

”Probably.”

Tsukasa pursed his lips as he watched Rui nervously pack up his bag, sliding all the blueprints back inside. “So, he knows. He definitely knows what he’s doing, he just doesn’t know why… or, maybe he has an idea, and is just in denial about it. Honestly, can’t really blame him.” Tsukasa read his mental notebook entry in his mind, quite proud of his findings. Rui was just eyeing Tsukasa as he made those strange facial expressions again… moving his eyebrows up and down, a random smile, and then back to his confused face. Rui was too terrified to ask what was going on inside the mind of Tsukasa Tenma.

”Okay, Rui, listen up… I’ll be leaving now… I’ll just be in my classroom, I am in the school, you can always find me…” Tsukasa bit his lip after saying that, partially from cringe and partially from hope that Rui would finally leave him alone.

”Uh, I know that… what do you take me for, some kind of toddler?” Rui laughed, flicking Tsukasa’s bangs.

”Well, I- just… this morning, you-“ Tsukasa struggled to find his words. He didn’t understand it! This morning, Rui was so attached to Tsukasa and would barely let him out of his sight, and now he couldn’t care less? Ugh, another thing to check off the list of why Tsukasa did not like dogs: they change their mood so easily. Tsukasa said bye to Rui, and went back to his classroom. Man, the regret for all those books was at an all-time high.

—

“Alright… let’s run that scene one more time!” Rui shouted, giving a thumbs-up from the sound booth.

”You got it! Rui, start the track!” Tsukasa proudly replied back, giving his own thumbs up. Rui ducked back into his little hole of technology and machinery, with Nene, Emu, and some of the plushies watching in the audience. The song they were currently rehearsing was Tsukasa’s biggest song of the show, and he wanted to make sure it was perfect.

Tsukasa began his solo, doing Rui’s rough draft of the choreography while he was at it. Mostly just blocking and stage positions, but this number wasn’t really a dance-y kind of song, if that was a word. Whatever, it was a word now, Tsukasa decided. He was going to make dancey a real word. He continued with his solo, until Rui suddenly stopped the music.

”Uh, Tsukasa… sing that part again, please.” He asked, poking his head out once more. Tsukasa shrugged and sang the part again, and Rui’s expression terrified him.

”You’re low by a half step.” Rui calmly stated.

”It sounds fine to me…” Nene sighed, looking back towards Rui.

”No, no… look.” Rui took his phone out and headed towards Tsukasa, pulling up his pitch-pipe app. “You need to be in the key of E… this key right here. You’re in E flat, which is lower by a half step. Hear the difference? I can play the track again if you need to hear.” He said, brushing off the stare Tsukasa was giving him.

“How the- pardon my language- SHIT did he catch that?! Not even Nene noticed it..” Tsukasa thought to himself, just looking Rui up and down as he returned to his spot in the sound booth. Rui ran the track again, and Tsukasa kept thinking to himself to sing a little higher, and it surprisingly sounded a lot better.

”Excellent, Tsukasa! That sounded incredible!” Rui cheered, running up to the stage.

”How did you catch that? It was hardly noticeable.” Nene furrowed her brow as she watched Rui help Tsukasa down from the stage.

”I mean, it was pretty noticeable, no offense. Upon first glance, you’d assume nothing was wrong, but hearing it for an extended period of time with the track will eventually let the audience know of your mistake.” Rui explained.

”I’m just… wow. That’s impressive.” Tsukasa gasped, sitting next to Nene in a seat. Rui went on rambling about something, but Tsukasa was returning to his mind palace, where he met that very, very, very, very, very, (note the very) small version of himself that kept screaming “Tsukasa. Let’s keep him.” That Tsukasa is lame. Tsukasa does not like that Tsukasa, and did not appreciate his sudden volume increase at finding out about Rui’s enhanced hearing.

But, keeping him was not an option. Rui was probably miserable, Nene would kill Tsukasa when she found out, and-

“Yeah, but he can hear stuff.” The annoying Tsukasa said in the back of his mind.

Tsukasa bit his lip. “My friend is quite possibly losing everything that makes him a human, and I’m thinking about not helping him because he can hear stuff?… man, I’m a theater kid.”

Chapter Text

For Tsukasa, school was simply a stepping-stone on his path to stardom. While many stars had about as many brain cells as a rock, Tsukasa decided he’d be one of the few intelligent stars, which would be his selling point. Granted, Tsukasa was just slightly above average when it came to scores, but it’s better than being an idiot, he tells himself. Rui always had him beat in every subject, but Tsukasa decided a long time ago that if Rui ever became famous, he’d probably do something incredibly stupid and end up arrested, so Tsukasa never worried about competition. Well, he was worried about Nene, but he was always worried about Nene. And Saki. And those guys at school who bully him. And everything else. Tsukasa worries a lot, and he will not apologize. Well, he will, but act like he won’t so he sounds cooler.

So, sitting in the most boring class of the day was something Tsukasa managed to tolerate, but that was it. He hated his classmates, since they always whispered about him behind his back. Like, he gets it, he’s awesome. If you have something to say, say it to his face! He hated his teacher, because he was a star in his own way. A star at being boring. His monotone voice made Tsukasa want to rip his ears off and burn them. He also hated his seat right in the back corner, which was next to a window. A bird would fly into the window every now and then, and Tsukasa would always jump, which made his classmates laugh. He was glad he was entertaining them, but it was embarrassing.

Finally, the period had ended. Nobody ever wasted time when leaving that class, as people always packed their bags beforehand and never lingered. Tsukasa was one of those. He headed for the door and was about to round the corner, when he heard someone mention his name.

”Oh, look… there goes the World Future Star. I guess we oughtta bow down to him!” A boy mocked, and all his friends laughed. Tsukasa lowered his head and just kept walking on.

”Don’t ignore me. I’m talkin’ to you! Or… maybe I’m not. You are the World Future Star, right?” The boy snickered, pinning Tsukasa against a wall. He tried to fight his way out of the situation, but the boy held him there.

”Just leave me alone! I did nothing wrong!” Tsukasa hissed, pushing the boy away from him. All of the boy’s friends began deviously smiling when he did so.

”You’re a weirdo, you know that! Weirdos like you don’t belong here.” The boy sneered, raising his head to create the illusion of looking down on Tsukasa.

”I said leave me alone.” Tsukasa said sternly, looking the boy in the eyes.

”Ooh, look, he’s got some bite. I’ve got some bite, too, y’kno-“ The boy went for a punch on Tsukasa, and Tsukasa closed his eyes and pushed himself against the wall…

But was surprised when he never felt the punch hit his face. Tsukasa slowly opened his eyes to see Rui standing in front of him, holding the boy’s fist in his hand.

”Well, look what we’ve got here… the Weirdo Wombo Combo, in the flesh!” The boy mocked, pointing at Rui and Tsukasa. Tsukasa was still trembling against the wall, while Rui seemed unnaturally calm.

”Well… they messed up.” Tsukasa thought to himself, hiding his smile.

”You know, I don’t appreciate you hurting my friends like that.” Rui said, never once losing his cool.

”I don’t appreciate you intrudin’ on my fights like that! If this guy’s gonna be famous, he’s gotta learn to defend himself!”

”Self-defense? So, you were planning on starting a fight, despite Tsukasa doing nothing wrong?”

Rui began circling around the boy, while the boy’s friends simply backed into the crowd of onlookers.

”But-but he… he’s just a weirdo!” The boy spat, pointing at Tsukasa.

”Oh my… he’s a weirdo! How dare he have his own personality, unlike you!” Rui teased.

”Ugh, you keep your mouth shut, Kamishiro! I’m not afraid to beat you to a pulp! Height means nothing to me!”

”Ooh, kinky.”

”WHAT?!”

Rui just laughed to himself as the boy began panicking. The crowd began laughing too, and Tsukasa could see the boy getting upset.

”You… you stay out of this, you fuckin’ homo!” The boy yelled, trying to look threatening.

“You’ll have to specify which homo you mean. Homosexual, homosapien, or homicidal. Depending on the day of the week, I’m all three!” Rui excitedly yelled, meaning he was having fun.

”Ugh, you’re so weird!” The boy shouted, going in for a punch. He swung his fist for Rui, and managed to get him on the side of his face. Tsukasa shivered, hearing Rui back up closer to him. This entire time, Tsukasa could swear he heard a small growl from Rui, and now he swears it’s getting louder. 

“I mean… there’s another reason we could keep him…” The annoying Tsukasa proudly stated in the back of Tsukasa’s mind. He tried to ignore that thought, but it was a good point…

”Oh, not so big now, are you? One punch and you’re out?” The boy gloated, puffing his chest out. Rui stood up, took a deep breath, and in an instant the boy was almost on the floor. His nose was scraping the ground, with Rui dangling him by his shirt collar.

“I’ll say this one last time…” Rui dropped the boy, leaving him to land on his face. “Leave my friends alone.” Rui growled, towering over the boy. Everyone was dead silent. People were already scared of Rui, but Tsukasa could only imagine what the reactions would be now. Rui turned around and walked towards Tsukasa, grabbing his wrist and leading him out of the crowd. Everyone instantly stepped aside to let them through. Well, Tsukasa could definitely get used to this.

—

“YOU GOT INTO A FIGHT?!” Mizuki and Nene yelled at the same time, both having different reactions. Mizuki was excited, if not happy, while Nene’s question was pure concern.

”I did indeed.” Rui proudly said, donning a smug smile. Tsukasa just rolled his eyes and held back a laugh.

”I think I heard about it! People said you were really mad… what all happened?” Mizuki tilted their head, curious to hear about the drama of the day. 

“Eh, just a guy making fun of Tsukasa. I just put him in his place.” Rui responded, taking a bite of his lunch. Nene was eating too, but her wide eyes never once left Rui.

”You… you got into a fight… what are you going to do when your dad hears about this?” Nene gasped, still in denial.

”I’ll tell him why. The worst thing they’ve ever done to me is lock my garage… which was terrible.” Rui’s eyes got wide the instant he said that. “They’re probably going to lock my garage.”

”Yeah, no crap they are! You never get into fights!” Nene shouted, throwing her hands up. Rui was still shaking from his realization.

”I can’t believe that’s the punishment you’re scared of. For me, my parents take away my computer and my phone. I can’t talk to anyone or look at trends!” Mizuki whined.

”But, Rui… I was fine, you know. I could’ve gotten out of that.” Tsukasa said nervously. He wasn’t sure why he was nervous, though.

”But… but what if you weren’t…” Rui cried, legitimately sounding on the verge of tears. Suddenly, any anger Tsukasa had at Rui vanished. Tsukasa yelled at himself for being sympathetic towards dogs.

”I appreciate it-“ Tsukasa was trying to say his thoughts, but was caught off-guard when he noticed Rui smiling at the first part. 

“So, you are glad I showed up.” Rui said smugly.

”Well… I am-“

”That’s all I needed to hear.” Rui tilted his head and gave that dumb smile again, and Tsukasa felt like punching him. But, after today, if there’s anything Tsukasa learned, it’s don’t punch Rui. Period.

”Honestly Tsukasa, how can you act so ungrateful when Rui literally got into a fight for you?” Mizuki giggled, trying to stir the pot. Nene threw their fork at them, which caused both Tsukasa and Rui to laugh.

”But… you never get into fights. I don’t care if someone was making fun of Tsukasa, even when people make fun of you, you still never got into a full-blown fight…” Nene mumbled, eyeing Rui.

”Nene, you sound like a broken record. I know I never get into fights, but this time was different.” Rui shrugged.

”Different how? What compelled you to do that?”

”I… I don’t know…” 

“You don’t know?”

”I don’t… something just kept telling me that I needed to help Tsukasa, that he needed my help.” 

Nene and Mizuki exchanged confused looks, and Rui also looked somewhat confused. Tsukasa was just fidgeting nervously.

”Oops… that may be my fault…” He thought, playing with a string on his uniform. 

“I mean, get it… I guess. Just don’t get into anymore fights! I’ll yell at you too!” Mizuki snapped, trying to intimidate Rui.

”Oh no… I’ll be sure to remember that.” He responded, giving Mizuki a quick tap on their nose, causing them to recoil in confusion and embarrassment. Tsukasa stifled a laugh when he noticed Mizuki blushing.

The four left the roof, and went back to their classes. Tsukasa could feel Nene’s cold stare burning the back of his neck, and he just begged that she wasn’t on to him. 

Tsukasa mentally noted that he now had his own unofficial bodyguard, slightly smiling to himself at that realization.

Chapter Text

Tsukasa rolled out of bed, completely zapped of all energy. Thank god it was the weekend… Tsukasa was about to punch something if he had to spend another day at school with Rui. At first, Tsukasa was mildly annoyed with the fact Rui always had to be by Tsukasa’s side or he’d throw a fit, but after a week of it… it’s tiring. Tsukasa had no idea how Nene managed to survive as Rui’s only friend for so long. 

And he was also beginning to get concerned. Nene and Emu are onto Rui’s different behavior, with Nene noticing his attachment issues and Emu just saying “Rui’s like a dog now!”, which mildly offended Rui. Tsukasa decided now was the time he finally approached KAITO about what, exactly, the SEKAI did to Rui, and if there’s any way they can get rid of it. The sooner, the better, Tsukasa thought. He quickly threw an outfit together, and headed for his SEKAI.

—

“KAITOOOO? KAAAAIIITOOOO?!” Tsukasa called out, expecting him to appear from one of the many passages. One time, Tsukasa found him in a trash can, hiding from Len. KAITO explained that Rui had just taught Len how to build grenades (because of course he did), and KAITO was absolutely terrified, so he hid in a trash can. Tsukasa still wondered why he let Rui have access to his SEKAI.

”Oh, Tsukasa! Hello!” KAITO said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Tsukasa looked around to find KAITO dangling from a tree.

”Do I want to know?” Tsukasa laughed, helping his mentor down.

”Ahaha… you know, hide and seek with Miku gets intense. It’s been four hours, Tsukasa. I was in that tree… for four hours.”

”Sounds about right!”

KAITO and Tsukasa laughed for a second, before KAITO fixed his posture and got straight to the point.

”So, is there anything you need?” He asked, and Tsukasa could hear a little bit of apprehension.

”Uh… well, it’s kind of a weird question…” Tsukasa laughed.

”Haha, in what way? Can’t be weirder than any of the questions Emu has asked me…”

”Well, uh… do you know anything about supernatural stuff? Like, uh… werewolves?”

”I mean, yeah… isn’t that common knowledge?”

”C-common knowledge?”

”Well, yeah… you know about the subject, so therefore we do.”

Tsukasa’s face went blank, and KAITO just looked at Tsukasa with pure concern. Tsukasa realized that the Virtual Singers probably knew almost everything about him… which both terrified him and made him feel seen at the same time. 

“Well, uh… I guess that makes things easier…” Tsukasa shyly laughed, ignoring his red face from embarrassment.

”Why? Are you here to talk about the subject…?” KAITO asked, quietly praying that’s why Tsukasa was here, as he needed and excuse to leave the hide and seek game.

”Uh, I guess…? In a way… yes.” Tsukasa stuttered, before eventually settling on his answer.

”Well, have a seat!” KAITO led Tsukasa over to a bench, and sat him down with quite an amount of force, Tsukasa noted. KAITO soon took his seat next to Tsukasa, leaning on the back of the bench.

”Okay… so… have you seen these… unique plushes around…?” Tsukasa asked.

”Unique… how? Personally, I think this whole SEKAI is unique.” KAITO replied.

”Like… strange. Just… this different vibe, y’know?”

”Oh… yeah, I think I may get it… these are the ones connected to your love for the genre, right?”

”Yes! Those! Anyway… Rui and I got into a little issue involving one…”

”What happened…”

”Ruigotbitbyoneandnowhe’sactingweirdandIthinkit’smyfault.”

Tsukasa was slightly panting after saying that so fast, and KAITO just looked even more concerned now.

”You’re lucky I’m used to hearing Miku talk, so I understood all of that… but weird how? Friendly reminder that Rui isn’t exactly a normal guy…” KAITO laughed, remembering all of the dangerous stunt ideas Len got from Rui.

”One word, KAITO. One word: dog.” 

“Oh. Oh dear.”

”Yeah…”

Tsukasa and KAITO both donned a thinking pose, kicking away any plushies that tried to intrude on their very important business. KAITO was both concerned and excited at this new discovery, wondering what would happen to him. Tsukasa was downright terrified. 

“Well, maybe it’s just a mental thing? Like… just messed his brain up?” KAITO said, trying to come up with an explanation that could be explained by normal logic. But, given how this whole SEKAI runs on pure imagination, everyone threw logic away a long time ago.

”You say that like his brain wasn’t already messed up.”

”TSUKASA!”

Tsukasa let out a quick snort as KAITO gave him a quick- yet firm- pop on the back of his head.

”Well, I’d say just keep a closer eye on him. If anything else happens… then I think we’ve got a problem. But, unfortunately, now I’m interested, so I’ll also be watching him.” KAITO laughed.

”Thanks, KAITO… what would I do without you? Oh, also… let’s keep this between us. I don’t want Nene to know for my own safety, I don’t want Emu to know for Rui’s safety, and I don’t want Miku to know for everyone’s safety.” Tsukasa imagined what would happen if Miku discovered these strange plushies. He imagined her with an army of them, shouting commands while they ripped the SEKAI limb from limb in some kind of dramatic play. Well, Tsukasa was definitely going to have nightmares. 

—

“Hey, Tsukasa! Do you think we can practice in SEKAI today? I wanna hang out with Miku!” Emu demanded, proudly pumping her fist in the air.

”I don’t see why not! Nene, Rui, what do you think?” Tsukasa turned to face the two, who were currently playing one of Nene’s fighting games. Judging by the posture… Nene was winning.

”Hm? Are you talking to me?” Nene teased, not even bothering to look at Tsukasa.

”Yes, yes I am! I’m bringing up very important matters regarding our JOBS, Nene! So, do me a favor, and turn that-“ Tsukasa reached for the power button, but immediately pulled his hand away when he felt Nene grasp his wrist and give him a death stare. And Rui’s growling, albeit quietly, made Tsukasa even more terrified. He didn’t want to know what he was mad at, either Nene beating him or Tsukasa trying to turn the game off.

”You… you can bring the game…” Tsukasa trembled, backing up next to Emu.

”Doesn’t matter. I already won.” Nene snickered.

”FUCK!” Rui almost slammed his controller down, but immediately corrected himself when Nene grabbed his arm to both prevent him from damaging her beloved game controllers and to scold him for his language.

”No cussing. If I can’t cuss, you can’t cuss.” She sternly reminded him as he reluctantly handed the controller over.

”You’re no fun… anyway, Tsukasa. About your question… sure, why not? I’m fine with heading to SEKAI.” Rui said, fixing his shirt and moving over to Tsukasa.

”Yaay! SEKAI day, SEKAI day!” Emu chanted, dancing around her friends. Nene packed her bags, and soon they all headed to the Wonderland SEKAI.

—

Emu immediately ran off towards the show tent, with Nene following after her. Rui laughed and followed Nene, leaving Tsukasa to go with the crowd, and head to the show tent, where they found Rin and MEIKO performing a show.

”Oh, I think we may be interrupting…” Rui whispered to Nene, pointing to the stage.

”They won’t mind. Let’s just go find some seats and wait for it to end.” Nene brushed him aside, moving down the aisle and taking a seat next to an elephant plushie. Emu cheerfully followed after her, and Rui went next. Tsukasa felt like he was being dragged everywhere.

After about… eh, twenty minutes, the show was over. Rin greeted everyone, leading them backstage to show off her own show design (Len helped, he made sure everyone knew that) and MEIKO proudly showed off her costume designs. Luka came from the dressing room, a little upset she missed the show, but quickly changed her mood when MEIKO said she’ll put on her own show for Luka later. Emu and Nene offered to help, leaving the boys to do their own thing.

”Oh, Rui! Do you think you can fix this for me? Len offered to do it, but he’s an idiot!” Rin happily said, catching Tsukasa off guard and causing him to laugh a little.

”Of course. I should have it done by MEIKO’s show, too…” Rui smiled at Tsukasa, and gestured to him to help. 

“You’re going to rope me into this, aren’t you?” He sighed, grabbing Rui’s toolbox from Rin.

”Of course! Nobody can test my mechanisms like you, Tsukasa!” 

“That’s a weird way of calling me a lab rat!”

MEIKO led Emu and Nene to their practice room, and a curious Rin followed. Tsukasa was now stuck with Rui, who was busy with his work. Tsukasa just handed Rui whatever he needed from his toolbox, using process of elimination and trial and error.

”Allen wrench.” Rui ordered, holding his hand out. 

“What the heck is an allen wrench…” Tsukasa thought to himself, digging through Rui’s many potential murder weapons. After three tries, Tsukasa finally got it, giving himself a mental high five.

”You know, Tsukasa, a real star would know the difference between everyday work tools~” Rui looked up at Tsukasa and fiddled with a nail in his hand.

”No, a serial killer knows that!” Tsukasa yelled in defense, pointing to the many sharp objects inside of the toolbox.

”Exactly! Serial killers are stars at killing!”

”Don’t make jokes about serial killers!”

”I’ll stop when you learn how to identify what the heck a screwdriver is!”

Tsukasa laughed, and went to throw a joking punch at Rui, but almost pissed himself when he felt Rui catch his fist and just… sit there. He made zero noise, zero movements, zero… anything. He just sat there and stared at Tsukasa. Tsukasa noticed any sudden movement he made caused Rui to flinch and tense up, and it took a minute for Tsukasa to realize, but eventually…

”Oh god… oh no, this isn’t good… crap, dogs like to play-fight! I’ve seen what big dogs can do, and I don’t want to see what Rui can do… dang, how do I escape this?!” Tsukasa panicked, trying to escape this game. Eventually, he gave in.

Tsukasa pushed his fist further, causing Rui to push it back and thus push Tsukasa onto the floor, startling Tsukasa. Rui snickered, and Tsukasa just attempted to kick him off, causing Rui to pin Tsukasa to the ground by his shoulders. Tsukasa struggled for a minute, until he managed to get out of Rui’s grip and get behind him, pushing him to the ground instead. Rui sat there for a second, most likely stunned, before kicking Tsukasa off and pinning him to the ground a final time. Tsukasa was surprised when he found himself… laughing. Rui was laughing and smiling as well. They were both… having fun, something Tsukasa didn’t expect.

”That made him happy… and it made me happy… it was kinda fun…” Tsukasa said to himself, shaking Rui loose.

The two soon went back to their work, and Tsukasa decided he was going to ignore what just happened. He was going to ignore the little growls Rui made, he was going to ignore the fact that one wrong move would have probably resulted in a serious risk to Tsukasa’s safety.

Oh, he was also going to ignore the fact Rui’s teeth definitely looked a little sharper. Tsukasa was just glad Rui liked him.

Chapter Text

“Come on Tsukasa, you can do it!” Rui shouted at the top of his lungs, with Tsukasa just looking at him like he was crazy.

”No, no, I’ve done many of your crazy ideas, but this is downright MURDER!” The victim shouted back. Rui had finally finished building his cannon, and his dream of sending Tsukasa to the moon would be fulfilled today. If, of course, Tsukasa wasn’t such a coward!

”It’s fine! It doesn’t have enough horsepower to send you into orbit! And besides, this is SEKAI, what’s the worst that can happen?” Rui said reassuringly, which just made Tsukasa even more worried. For someone who seemingly needed Tsukasa with him at all times, Tsukasa was surprised at how willing he was to shoot him into OUTER SPACE.

”UH, I’LL DIE?! HOW WOULD THAT MAKE YOU FEEL?!” Tsukasa yelped, just staring down the barrel of the cannon, which Miku just finished painting. She did a good job, which Rui felt quite proud of her for.

”Well, sad, of course! But you’re not going to die, which is why I’m making you do-“

”AAAACTUALLY, LET’S NOT DO THIS, OKAY?! OKAY, GREAT, TSUKASA, YOU CAN COME DOWN NOW!”

Tsukasa sighed in relief as KAITO pushed Rui aside and luckily stopped him before things got out of hand. Rui pouted for a second, then helped KAITO in getting a trembling Tsukasa down from the platform.

”Tsukasa, you know I was joking, right? I didn’t actually want to shoot you from that cannon!” Rui tried his best to cry, but nobody bought it.

”Oh, don’t you even TRY with me! I know DAMN well you meant it!” Tsukasa snapped, pointing a menacing finger at Rui’s neck. Rui just laughed, gently pushing Tsukasa’s hand aside.

”Oooh, Tsukasa’s getting fiesty! I see you’re resorting to profanity to get your point across?”

”YOU WERE ABOUT TO SHOOT ME FROM A FUCKING CANNON, OF COURSE I’M GONNA CUSS!”

”How come you don’t allow me to cuss here, if you can cuss? Reeks of hypocrisy, if you ask me.”

”Rui, you better shut your damn mouth before I shoot you from that cannon instead!”

”Oh, you never told me you can operate cannons! Is that why you were so scared? Did I do something wrong?”

”You… you just shut the fuck up. I can’t with you right now.”

Tsukasa pushed Rui out of his face, causing the latter to almost fall over, yet still bother Tsukasa. No matter how many times Tsukasa shoved Rui, he still came back and did exactly what Tsukasa didn’t want him to do.

”Ahaha… Rui, you’re awfully persistent today…” KAITO laughed, pulling Rui away from Tsukasa for the last time.

”Persistent? I mean, I wouldn’t say that…” Rui said, sounding partially unsure of himself.

”You keep bothering me, even though I tell you to stop! Yeah, that sounds persistent to me!” Tsukasa shouted, turning around to face Rui.

”Oh… I thought you liked it…” Rui sighed. KAITO and Tsukasa were taken aback by how genuine he sounded.

”Okay, I get what you mean…” KAITO whispered, leaning over to Tsukasa. “He definitely seems… different.” 

“Glad I’m not going insane…“ Tsukasa laughed. 

KAITO and Tsukasa just talked amongst themselves, with Rui finally understanding social cues and giving them their distance, but looking pitiful the whole way, which just made KAITO and Tsukasa feel terrible. The two managed to push through, though, and eventually ended up at the Sky☆Train (Emu named it) where Nene and Emu were waiting for them.

Nene chuckled when she saw the two boys walk up to them, dejectedly. “Sheesh, you two didn’t have another argument, did you?”

”Huh? No, Tsukasa and KAITO were just talking about something, so I left them to it.” Rui responded, immediately perking up once Nene joined their conversation.

”Well, you two look depressed. What’s your explanation?” Nene circled the other two, and they both began nervously sweating.

”N-nothing! Just, uh, show talk!” KAITO stammered, trying to get Nene to stop worrying. KAITO was awfully afraid of Nene, despite being older, taller, and in a larger position of power.

”Show talk?” Nene raised an eyebrow, now approaching Tsukasa.

”UGH, NENE! Leave Tsukasa alone! Let’s go ride the train!” Emu saved Tsukasa, grabbing Nene’s arm and pulling her closer to the train, where Rui was already patiently waiting on the edge. Tsukasa laughed and sat next to Rui, with KAITO waving goodbye. Nene entered last, and the train seemingly knew all it’s passengers were on board, and it took off.

”Isn’t it so cool how this whole place is like… a magical dream world?” Emu sighed, resting her head on Tsukasa’s shoulder, her hair gently blowing in the wind.

”Yeah… it’s really amazing, isn’t it?” Rui replied, admiring the sea of lights beneath them.

”It is pretty cool, I’ll give you that… and it’s even cooler that it all came from Tsukasa.” Nene smiled, looking over to her troupe leader.

”Well, not all of it… s-some of it came from you guys…” He responded, rather nervously. Everyone took a deep breath in, and just enjoyed the calm air. Tsukasa smiled when he noticed all of his troupe members were resting their heads on him. He wouldn’t ask for anything else… just, the train, the breeze… and his friends.

Once the train landed, everyone began talking about what to do next. In times like these where everyone just liked to enjoy the theme park aspect of SEKAI, Emu mostly led the group. This time, she decided to take everyone to her personal favorite ride, but using a new route. Tsukasa noticed this one had a river that ran next to it.

”Huh, we don’t see water that often…” Tsukasa bent down next to the crystal clear, almost perfect water. “Man, it looks amazing…” He ran his hand through the stream, noting how silky it felt. Nene bent down next to him, looking at her reflection. Tsukasa saw Rui step him behind him, and this time… it was Tsukasa’s turn for that evil smile that meant no good. He stood up, got behind Rui… and pushed him into the river.

”TSUKASA!” Rui gasped, gaining his footing. It didn’t appear that deep when Rui was standing in it.

”Haha! That’s my revenge for today!” Tsukasa laughed, holding his hand out for Rui. Nene tried to hold back her laughter, but her red face gave it away. Emu’s current emotion was that feeling you feel when your friend falls down and you know they’re alright, but you still laugh anyway and you’re also concerned. For a brief second, right before Rui lifted himself from the river, one thought entered the mind of WonderlandsxShowtime:

He looks like a fucking wet dog.

Emu and Tsukasa giggled at this realization, while Rui was busy wringing the water from his shirt. Nene didn’t want to laugh, so she attempted to hide her laughter by turning away from the whole event, but it was just all the more obvious she was laughing. 

“Tsukasa… I did not find that funny…” Rui groaned, trying his best to get the water out of his socks now.

”Yeah, but I did.” Tsukasa replied, leading Rui to throw his spare shoe at him, hitting Tsukasa with a terrible, terrible sound that caused everyone to immediately recoil.

”What was that for, anyway? What caused you to push me into a RIVER?! WHAT IF I DIED?!”

”HOW DOES IT FEEL, HUH?”

”…You asshole!”

Tsukasa picked up Rui’s shoe and ran, leaving Rui with two options: get the shoe back with one shoe on, or get the shoe back with no shoes on. Of course, he had to get his shoe back. He just needed to get it back, that’s all. So, Rui didn’t want to think anymore, and just bolted after Tsukasa with one shoe on.

”Run, Tsukasa, run! Get him, Rui!” Emu cheered, jumping up and down as the boys just had their own fun. Tsukasa was having the time of his life bullying Rui, and Rui just wanted his shoe back. Nene found herself cheering them on as well, turning this into a full-blown event. Every time Rui went to reach for Tsukasa, he’d find a way to escape and end up behind Rui, which made Rui incredibly mad. Eventually, everyone was laughing when Rui managed to pin Tsukasa and, finally, reunite with his shoe.

”I swear, if I lose my shoe again… someone is going to pay.” He teased, keeping Tsukasa against the soft grass by an arm across his chest as he put his shoe back on.

”Then don’t lose your shoe! It’s easy!” Tsukasa tried to push Rui off of him, but he wouldn’t budge. Eventually, Nene managed to drag Rui away somewhere else, leaving Tsukasa with Emu.

”Oh gosh, Emu… man, I’m tired!” Tsukasa yawned, falling down on the grass.

”Yeah… I had lots of fun today, though!” Emu sang, laying down next to Tsukasa.

”I’m glad… I’ve been so stressed recently, it’s been hard to have fun…”

”Stressed? About what? Did something happen to Saki?”

”N-no! No, she’s fine! Just, uh… something else.”

“Something else?”

”Just, forget it. Let’s enjoy this moment while we can, alright?”

Emu smiled, and moved in closer to Tsukasa. Rui and Nene had reconvened now, and now they were all laying on the grass. Tsukasa noticed how everyone seemed- somewhat- asleep, and took the time to appreciate how calm Rui seemed, despite Tsukasa’s teasing. Tsukasa smiled, and finally let the soothing sounds of SEKAI lull him to sleep.

This is where Tsukasa wanted to be.

Chapter Text

Well, shit.

Nene was the first one to wake up, with the realization they had all fallen asleep in SEKAI. She checked her phone… yeah, pretty early in the morning. She had a few texts from her mom, and Rui’s mom asking where he was. She looked to her side, seeing Emu, Tsukasa, and Rui all asleep in some kind of… idiot pile, with Emu having her head on Tsukasa’s chest while Tsukasa had his head on Rui’s arm. Nene quietly laughed to herself, telling her mom she was just at a friend’s house. She left Rui’s mother on read. That’s his problem. She leaned back, ending up in on Tsukasa’s arm, moving in closer to her friends. They may be crazy. That’s it. They’re crazy.

Then, Rui woke up, finding himself in the worst possible place to be, with him being underneath everyone in a way. 

“Eh, fuck it.” He thought, “I’ll just check my phone later.” 

So, Rui just gave in, and went right back to sleep.

And then, Tsukasa woke up from his phone buzzing in his pocket. He managed to get a hand free from underneath Nene, and take his phone out. Carefully stepping over everyone as not to wake them up, he moved underneath a nearby tree. He yawned as he checked the many texts from Saki, prompting texts from Toya, both concerned as to where he was. Tsukasa even laughed a little bit when he noticed one text from Akito simply reading: “Toya made me text you because he wants to know where you are. So, uh, if you’re kidnapped, just call for help, I guess.” Tsukasa just shook his head with a chuckle, wondering how the heck he would call for help if he ever got kidnapped. Besides, Nene always told him that someone would immediately give him back due to how annoying he was. Tsukasa never viewed himself as annoying, but for Nene to say someone would give him back? Just let a star like him go? He, at least, wanted a ransom. Oh, he knew no one would pay it, but he just wanted to feel like he was actually worth something. 

Through all of this, Emu never woke up. How? Honestly, nobody knows. She just kept laughing and giggling in her sleep, Nene hearing something about a camel? Tsukasa set his phone down, wondering if he should wake the others up. He was surprised Rui wasn’t already awake, given how he usually wakes up early. Tsukasa just lightly tapped on his leg, looking up to the sky. He didn’t know how SEKAI had a day/night cycle, and at this point, he was too afraid to ask. 

“How long have you been up?”

Tsukasa looked around, but relaxed when he just saw Rui yawning and making his way over to Tsukasa’s spot under the tree.

”Heh, not long. What about you? You were literally just asleep!” He replied, moving to the side to make room for the new addition.

”The girls finally gave me an opening, so I took it. I was in that terrible half-asleep, half-awake state.” Rui sighed, noting how everyone seemed to gravitate towards him. Tsukasa looked at Rui, and admired the way his eyes seems to sparkle under the stars. 

“Oh, by the way, Tsukasa…” Rui turned towards Tsukasa, looking him in the eyes. “I’m sorry if I’ve been… clingy, lately. You’ve been giving me the feeling like I’ve been doing something wrong.”

”O-oh…!” Is all Tsukasa could respond with, at that moment.

”He knows he’s been clingy… does he know anything else?” Tsukasa questioned, still looking at Rui.

”I-it’s not a problem, really… just, sometimes it gets annoying…” Tsukasa answered, turning away from Rui. Eye contact was difficult in this situation, and neither could explain why.

”Well, I’m sorry for caring about you.” Rui grabbed Tsukasa’s face and turned it towards his, so Rui could finally look Tsukasa in the eyes. Rui smiled, and Tsukasa smiled back, but got distracted by a sudden realization.

”Uh, have your teeth always been like this?” Tsukasa asked, pushing Rui to the ground, finally getting a better look at his sharper canines. Rui flailed around as he tried to push Tsukasa off, and Tsukasa wasn’t going to give up anytime soon. Now was his chance.

Once Rui managed to get Tsukasa off, he had a lot to say. “Tsukasa, don’t do that! And what do you mean they’re sharper? That’s not physically possible.”

”Look! They’re definitely sharper!” Tsukasa held his phone out for Rui, hoping he’d notice his reflection. Rui ran his tongue across his top row of teeth, pausing on the stranger ones.

“Well- yeah, I see that, but-“ Fuck. Rui would never admit it, but Tsukasa got him. Tsukasa could tell by the way his eyebrow twitched that he had won, so he smiled to himself, accepting this victory.

”Hear me out, like, actually… that weird plushie.” 

“Tsukasa, I think you’re losing it.”

”KAITO thought I was perfectly justified.”

”You brought KAITO into this?!”

Rui had a miniature panic attack, now knowing that KAITO was roped into whatever delusion Tsukasa had this time.

”Rui. You know I respect you, right?” Tsukasa opened with this, to hopefully avoid any repercussions this way cause.

”Do I want to know?” Rui narrowed his eyes on Tsukasa, terrified as to what would follow Tsukasa’s flawless opening statement.

”…But you’ve been acting weird. Like, really weird.” Tsukasa smiled, backing up against the tree.

”Uh, yeah…? That’s… kind of my whole thing.” Rui laughed.

”W-well, uh… w-weirder than usual…” Tsukasa stammered, trying to word his sentences correctly. Calling Rui a weirdo was risky as is, but in this subject? God, they both hated it.

”How? Listen, Tsukasa, if you’re trying to say that now we’re all basically inside of some horror movie, stuff like that doesn’t happen in real life.” Rui sat up straight, puffing out his chest to seem bigger than Tsukasa, a tactic that Rui had mastered.

”Yeah… but it happens in Wonderland.” Tsukasa snapped, applauding himself for the witty comeback.

”No, Tsukasa, I’m done. Listen, I know you have a crazy imagination, I do too! But just because some weirdo stuffed animal bit me doesn’t mean anything. This is all in that thick head of yours!” Rui lightly tapped on Tsukasa’s forehead, which lead to Tsukasa laughing and pushing Rui off.

”Yeah… yeah, maybe it is. It’s just- you’ve been acting so strange, it’s hard to not notice.”

”Tsukasa, I’m only going to say this once, so listen closely.”

Rui took a deep breath, and Tsukasa scooted closer, wondering if Rui was about to unload on Tsukasa, for once.

”All my life, people have told me I act a certain way because I’m smart or I do this because I’m weird. However, I noticed that people never say I act the way I do because that’s who I am. They always try to justify my strange ways with another part of me, and I hate it. I’m not going to let you do that to me, simply because you’re my friend. Don’t try and justify my actions with a lame excuse, just tell yourself it’s who I am. Because if you don’t like who I am, I’ll show you the exit.” Rui looked down to the ground, and Tsukasa was left speechless. I mean, what could he say? Rui… had a point. He’d convinced himself that something crazy was happening, and never once took a moment to consider if he was just living in his imagination again. Well, I mean, he was pretty sure this was all real, considering there were physical changes, but Tsukasa still felt bad. He felt slightly called out, as well… to say he’d never once told himself that Rui only did those things because he was a weirdo was a lie. He’d gotten better at it… but, still, it’s something you’d never know you were guilty of until someone said something.

”I… I’m sorry, Rui. I didn’t mean it like that…” Tsukasa gained the courage to look at Rui, who was still avoiding eye contact. “But, uh… you… you do act like a dog.” He slightly snorted on purpose at the end, hoping Rui would catch the fact he was joking.

And, luckily, Rui caught it. “A dog, you say? Nene always said I remind her of a cat… isn’t that interesting?”

”Cat? Eh, no… cats are WAAY too rude.” 

“I’m honored that you assume I’m not rude.”

”A-assume?”

”Fufu, looks like the girls are waking up!”

Tsukasa looked over at a drowsy Nene and still energetic Emu slowly walking over to where Rui and Tsukasa were. Rui smiled and made room for the girls. Emu laughed when she pointed out how the tree seemed to move so everyone could have their own spot of shade. It was a pleasant morning- everyone opening with a sleepy greeting, laughing at all the concerned texts (Tsukasa won for the most, and Rui won for the least), and just having a great time. Rui laid down, putting his head on Tsukasa’s lap, with Emu putting her head on Rui’s leg, and Nene finishing the chain with her head on Emu’s arm. 

“Last time we did this, we fell asleep… so, if anything happens, tree! Drop something on us, but not me!” Tsukasa commanded, giving a thumbs up to the tree. The tree seemingly nodded in understanding.

”God, talking to trees… something I never thought I’d do.” Nene joked, admiring the many other strange aspects of SEKAI. 

—

It took a while, but everyone managed to get home safely. Tsukasa said goodbye to Rui last, but he could still feel… something. What was it…?

Guilt. That’s what it was. From their talk. Tsukasa still felt that same guilt from when Rui told him to stop giving excuses for his actions. Tsukasa felt guilty as charged, but sometimes it needed to be done! As ridiculous, cringe, and overall strange as it sounds, Tsukasa KNEW something was up with Rui! He let KAITO know, who just nodded, before saying that he’ll watch Rui. Tsukasa turned around, but quickly turned back when he noticed KAITO happily whispering to himself, the same way Rui does.

”Maybe he’s the little me that wants to keep him…” Tsukasa smiled, pulling out his phone to leave SEKAI.

Once he arrived at home, he was greeted by a terrified Saki.

”TSUKASA! WHERE DID YOU GO?! You’re lucky Mom and Dad aren’t here- they’d have your head!” She stressed, checking Tsukasa all over for any signs of injury.

”Saki, I told you… I was at Nene’s house.” He sighed, giving her a pat on the head.

”Uh, no you weren’t. I asked Nene, and she said she was at Rui’s house! THEN WHO’S HOUSE WERE YOU AT, HUH?”

”HOW DID YOU GET NENE’S NUMBER?!”

”WHO’S HOUSE WERE YOU AT?!”

”UH- UH… RUI’S HOUSE!”

Saki stared Tsukasa down, who used his impeccable acting skills to not break his character. His current role was a cool brother who just lied to his sister and couldn’t care less. 

“Listen, I don’t care if you were making out, just tell me where you go next time, okay?” Saki teased, lightly tugging on Tsukasa’s shirt.

”WE- WE WEREN’T MAKING OUT!” Tsukasa felt his face turn bright red, which just made Saki laugh even more.

”You totally were!”

”AAAAARGH!”

Chapter Text

“Rui…?”

Tsukasa knocked on Rui’s door, hoping he’d respond. He hadn’t texted back, and Tsukasa was worried that he’d actually hurt Rui from their conversation in SEKAI. So, he came up with a plan. He went to Nene’s house, “borrowed” her keys to Rui’s house in case he didn’t open the door, and decided he’d spend the rest of his day with Rui. 

Ugh, he still wasn’t responding. Granted, Tsukasa had only been knocking for barely a minute, and he was just impatient. Tsukasa nervously tapped his foot on the floor-

“Coming! Give me a second…” He could hear Rui shout from the other side of the door. Tsukasa sighed in relief.

”Oh thank god he’s not pissed at me… or, he may be… is this a death trap? Did I just sentence myself to an early grave?” Tsukasa laughed at his train of thought, ignoring all of his concerns, never once acknowledging them as genuine. He could hear Rui fidgeting with the lock on the door, and he eventually got it open.

”Whew! You think I’d know how to open my own door by now…” He joked, stepping out of the way for Tsukasa.

”Do you really need that many locks? Like… it’s a decent house, but there are far better ones.” Tsukasa replied, looking at all the dangerous things in Rui’s garage.

”Oh- be careful not to step on anything. You didn’t give me much time to clean up… but I’ve got actual beds inside!” Rui laughed, opening the door that led to the real inside of his house.

“Pretty nice… where are your parents?” Tsukasa admired the difference in the garage to the inside. He assumed that his mom usually cleaned the house, because Rui took over the garage.

”Off on a business trip. That’s why we have so many locks, because they leave me home alone often.”

”That seems irresponsible!”

”Oh, it is!”

Rui and Tsukasa laughed as Tsukasa set his bag down at his feet. Rui just tossed it inside the garage, making sure that Tsukasa understood that the best stuff was inside the garage, and pushed him back out. Tsukasa laughed, and he assumed Rui didn’t want Tsukasa going through his house due to the pictures of a younger Rui hanging up.

”So, this is where all the magic happens?” Tsukasa said, carefully stepping over stray parts and blueprints.

”A majority. I do most of my building, planning, and brainstorming in here.” Rui replied, and Tsukasa noted the small amount of pride when he answered.

”Ugh, this place is a mess! How do you get any-“ Tsukasa reached for Rui’s desk, but was stopped by Rui’s constrictive grasp around his wrist.

”Do not touch my desk.” He gave Tsukasa a menacing side-eye, and Tsukasa immediately understood. He pulled his hand away, surprised at the red mark around his wrist.

”Why did he get so aggressive all of a sudden? He’s let me around his desk before… why is he so defensive now?” Tsukasa huffed, and began picking up all of the other clutter in Rui’s garage, but was stopped when Rui yelled at him, just saying to not touch it. He dropped it all where he was standing, which seemed to somewhat satisfy Rui.

”I prefer having everything in a spot where I can immediately find it. It’s my own form of organization.” He smugly explained, leaning back in his chair to mock Tsukasa.

”If you don’t trip over it before then…” Tsukasa mumbled.

”What was that?”

”Nothing!”

Rui leaned back in his seat and curiously looked over to Tsukasa, who was currently nervously navigating a field of mines. Or, at least, that’s what it looked like. He giggled anytime Tsukasa got close to stepping on something, because Rui knew it was just innocent. The most dangerous thing in the garage was Rui, because he knew how to use everything. 

Every now and then, Tsukasa would come across a small part to… something… and kick it out of his way to continue exploring Rui’s torture chamber. It took him a while to notice, but when he glanced over to Rui while he was kicking a small screw to the side, he noticed Rui tensing up and watching the screw, then Tsukasa, then the screw, then Tsukasa, back and forth. Tsukasa wondering if he was mad at him for kicking around “valuable materials”, as he called them, but Tsukasa recognized his posture… it was from when they got into that play-fight at SEKAI.

”No way… that’s fucking adorable…” Tsukasa could feel his face turn bright red when he stared at Rui, and immediately looked away. Tsukasa realized he wasn’t mad… no, this was much worse.

He was in a playful mood.

Tsukasa bent down and picked up the screw, his face still bright red. The adorable little sparkle in Rui’s eye did not help, as it just made things worse…

”You want this?” Tsukasa teased, taunting Rui with the screw. Rui didn’t respond, and just kept staring at the screw. Tsukasa tossed it towards Rui, who took it midair and set it on his desk. Anticlimactic, if you asked Tsukasa. He was so excited about a tiny piece of metal, and he just… caught it? Granted, dogs didn’t usually have the massive advantage Rui had, but Tsukasa probably could’ve thrown it better. Tsukasa walked slowly towards Rui’s desk, with the latter eyeing him all the way. Tsukasa pulled up a chair and sat next to Rui.

”Can I… help you?” Rui asked, partially pissed and partially confused. That… that was his space… and Tsukasa just ever so casually pulled up a chair and sat down…

”Are you going to sit at this pity party the whole time, or are you going to actually enjoy my company?” Tsukasa huffed, returning the side-eye to Rui.

”I am enjoying your company! I love having you here!”

”You’re just sitting at your desk, not even bothering with me… if anything, it looks like you’re annoyed.”

”B-but I’m not annoyed! I love having you here! With me!”

”You don’t look like it.”

“Fine. You want to be petty, be petty. What do you want to do?”

Rui spun around in his chair so that he was fully facing Tsukasa, crossed arms and a judgmental glare were his weapon of choice. Tsukasa got up from his chair, and pointed to Rui’s TV screen.

”I would like to watch your favorite shows!” He exclaimed. Rui winced at his volume, but laughed it off. Tsukasa noticed, and made sure he kept quiet from now on.

“Fufu… you want to watch my idea of a perfect show? Well then, you’re in for quite the treat!” Rui excitedly got up from his chair, dug around in his desk drawer, and pulled out the remote for the TV. Tsukasa threw himself on a bean bag in the corner, leaving Rui with the couch or the… futon… thing. Honestly, Tsukasa didn’t know what half the things in this room were, but he liked them all. It seemed so… Rui, which made Tsukasa smile. Everything in this room seemed just like him. Soon, Rui had all of his favorites pulled up, and gave Tsukasa the option of which one. He’d heard of a few of these, but recognized Potato Ghosts, so he wanted to start with that one. Rui cheerfully put it on, and then moved the couch closer to Tsukasa, before laying down on it. He was too tall for it, causing his legs to dangle over the other end, but neither cared. A couch is a couch, even if said couch is a jouch. Tsukasa noted how the show on the screen was a lot like the show they did, even in set pieces. They did change a few things, but he did enjoy how true they stayed to the theme. For a show about zombies, usually in the horror genre, Tsukasa was decently surprised at how incredible the comedy was. Rui still laughed at the jokes, despite having seen this who knows how many times.

”Do you watch these shows often?” Tsukasa asked, trying to move around on the bean bag to see Rui better. Yeah, it wasn’t working.

”I watched them the most when I was younger. Most of those shows are Nene’s favorites that I just so happened to also enjoy, so I watch them the most when she comes over.” Rui replied, playing with a stray string on the couch.

”Oh, so these are Nene’s favorites?”

”A majority. I want to say… three are mine. But I like Nene’s shows as well, so I really don’t care!” 

Tsukasa quietly laughed and returned to watching the show. It was pretty good, he’d have to add this one to his list of good shows. They’re better than the ones Emu tells him to watch… no offense to her, but she seems to forget he’s seventeen, let alone a guy. He shivered from past trauma with those shows. Well, at least Saki enjoyed them. Once that one ended, Tsukasa picked another, and they watched that one. He wasn’t paying attention to the title, nor what it was about… this one started slowly. Something about some guy from America…

Tsukasa was too busy noticing how restless Rui seemed. Yeah, he was sitting on the couch, watching the show… but he kept moving around, looking around, just overall seeming unhappy.

”Rui? Are you alright?” Tsukasa asked, sitting up slightly.

”Hm? Oh… yeah, I’m fine.” He responded, not even looking at Tsukasa. Yeah, something was clearly wrong.

”Move over. I’m sitting here now.” Tsukasa pushed Rui into one corner of the couch, with Tsukasa taking the other corner. Rui just looked at Tsukasa in confusion.

”The fuck is he doing… this is my couch, I was here first…” He thought, just watching as Tsukasa moved the couch (with Rui still on it) to have a better view of the TV.

”I assumed you’d be happier if I sat here too, but I guess you’re just so unhappy that not even my presence can please you…” Tsukasa sighed, trying out Rui’s guilt trip tactics.

”I didn’t mean it like that! Y-you can sit here!” Rui stammered, pushing himself all the way into the corner to ensure Tsukasa had room. Tsukasa laughed and sat down on the free corner, making sure to let Rui know that he could use all the room he wanted, as Tsukasa was perfectly fine being squished. Heck, family movie night at the Tenma’s basically required Tsukasa be smothered by pillows. Once they were both settled down, Tsukasa chucked when he noticed Rui slowly leaning in toward’s Tsukasa, until his head was completely on Tsukasa’s chest. Thank god Rui basically ate nothing, because Tsukasa would probably be crushed due to Rui being taller. Rui made the mistake of closing his eyes… and thus fell asleep on top of Tsukasa. Tsukasa laughed, and brushed a stray hair out of Rui’s face when he noticed it bothering him. They sat there for a minute…

Until Tsukasa noticed he was kind of hungry. What was he going to do? Rui was indirectly pinning Tsukasa to the couch, and standing up could risk waking him up, something Tsukasa didn’t want to do. He was tempted to just stay there when he noticed Rui’s cute little huffs, causing some of his hair to move in response. Does he really need to eat? Is self-care necessary when you’ve got a your friend, who’s basically a dog at this point, sleeping on top of you? Well, Tsukasa thought of Saki, and how he promised to take care of himself. He lifted up Rui’s head, and slowly slid his lower half from underneath the taller boy, and in one swift motion, got up from the couch. He stood there for a second, ready to fist-fight god in case he woke up, but it seemed like he was going to be okay. He slowly opened the door to the rest of Rui’s house, and discovered…

He doesn’t know where the kitchen is.

He frantically looked around for any clues, but he saw nothing. The garage door didn’t even open to the kitchen, which Tsukasa dubbed as criminal. He felt bad walking around in someone else’s house, but he did what had to be done. Rui liked him, his parents probably liked him, so what’s the worst that can happen?

”Lost?”

Tsukasa jumped when he noticed Rui standing behind him, and Rui just laughed.

”RUI! Don’t… don’t do that! I almost had a heart attack!” Tsukasa panted, gripping his chest.

”I simply asked if you were lost! It’s your fault for getting scared!” 

“ASSHOLE!”

Tsukasa turned his back to Rui, who just moved around until he was in front of Tsukasa.

”Come on, I’ll show you where it is.” Rui laughed, grabbing Tsukasa’s hand. He led him around the house, and it wasn’t even long until they were at the kitchen. Had Tsukasa just walked around, he would’ve found it… 

“I can order something for lunch if you don’t see anything you like.” Rui said, sitting down at the kitchen table. Tsukasa was too busy digging through his pantry to care. Rui stood up, reached over Tsukasa, and grabbed a box of cereal from the top shelf.

Tsukasa intercepted the box, putting it back in the pantry. “Uh, no, I don’t think so. You need to eat something with nutritional value!”, he explained.

“It has sugar, which boosts energy!” Rui pushed Tsukasa out of the way, and got the box back.

”Energy for what?!” Tsukasa grabbed the box back from Rui.

”STUFF!” Rui ended up getting it from Tsukasa’s hands, so he did what any tall person would do when battling a short person: hold the item above their head. Tsukasa angrily huffed, and jumped up and down to get the box from Rui, but he eventually admitted defeat and just let Rui have what he wanted. Rui hummed to himself as he went off with the box, and Tsukasa ended up making himself a sandwich.

After they were finished, Rui immediately escorted Tsukasa back to the garage, insisting that “nothing interesting is in here!”… yeah, Tsukasa was now completely convinced it was all the embarrassing photos of a younger Rui. With a laugh, Tsukasa gave in and let Rui lead him back to the garage, where he just threw the poor blonde onto the couch.

”My, awfully aggressive, are we now?” Tsukasa joked, leaning forward on the couch. Rui just turned around and eyed Tsukasa, before returning back to the TV, resuming the show they were watching.

”D-did I… did I do something?” Tsukasa weakly asked, standing up behind Rui.

”No.”

”You… you don’t seem happy…”

”I’m fine.”

”No, you’re no-“

”I SAID I’M FINE!”

Tsukasa felt Rui push him away, almost full force. Tsukasa had just tried to reach for Rui’s shoulder, to convince him to turn around… why was he being so aggressive, and, dare he say, a bitch?

”Rui, stop that! Just a few minutes ago, we were happily eating lunch! Before that, we were SLEEPING TOGETHER on the COUCH! Tell me what I did to piss you off so badly in the span of hardly an hour?!” Tsukasa yelled, using his stage voice. It wasn’t often he yelled like this, but he felt like this was the one situation where yelling was necessary.

”I said YOU’RE FINE! I’M FINE! I’m not pissed! Tsukasa, nothing is wrong!” Rui growled in return, reminding Tsukasa of who was the larger boy. He towered over Tsukasa, with the shorter boy looking up at him.

”DON’T GIVE ME THAT SHIT!” Tsukasa pointed a finger at Rui, causing him to back down slightly. “Something is wrong, and I’m DONE! We were having a great time, and now you’re mad at me. Tell me what I did wrong! Oh- wait- YOU CAN’T. BECAUSE I DID NOTHING WRONG! You’re just being PETTY!” 

“Petty? PETTY? Tsukasa, don’t think I don’t know why you came over! You didn’t want to spend time with me, you wanted to make sure I didn’t hate you! You know DAMN well I don’t hate you, and I probably never will! Just because you act delusional and ask me a few questions doesn’t mean I hate you, idiot! Maybe if you used a few of those braincells on anything other than YOURSELF, you’d have understood that!” Rui shouted, causing Tsukasa to back into a corner. 

“We are not going back to this. We WILL NOT go back to this. You want to bring up my past mistakes, fine. You do that. I won’t do it for you, because you’re sooo innocent. I’ve been telling myself this whole time that you’ve only been acting this way because of that weird plushie-“

”SHUT THE FUCK UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP! Stop trying to bring your STUPID FANTASIES into the REAL WORLD! This is REAL LIFE, TSUKASA! You can’t just ride on rainbow unicorns into a cotton candy cloud world, you have to accept the HARD TRUTH. I understand, Tsukasa! Really, I do! I had an imagination almost as active as yours, and I’d retreat to my ideal world whenever things went beyond my control. But I’m older now, and I know the difference between what’s real and what isn’t. You need to understand that you can’t solve every problem with these excuses. One day, you need to face the world, Tsukasa. You need to GROW UP.”

Stalemate.

Neither wanted to give up their ground.

Tsukasa felt like a piece of shit. He had been so concerned that something unexplainable was going on, but he knows what he saw! Something was definitely going on, but how could he tell Rui? Trying to push further would result in an argument, or worse. Tsukasa just furrowed his eyebrow, and stood, stick still, where he was.

Rui was pissed. Just like he said, Tsukasa kept trying to bring all his fantastical dreams into the world. He didn’t think that having SEKAI helped at all, because he, in a way, could. Why was he so adamant about something happening to him because of the weird plushie? He felt fine, he looked fine, and nothing had happened. He was fine, and Rui wanted- no, needed- Tsukasa to realize that.

“Tsukasa, think about what you were going to say, and then say it in a way that doesn’t make you sound crazy.” Rui said, keeping as still as Tsukasa.

”W-well…” He stuttered, wondering how the fuck he was going to explain this.

”If you can’t say anything, then are we done?”

“Y-yeah… I guess… I guess we’re done.”

Rui went to sit on the couch, and Tsukasa tried to sit with him, but headed for the bean bag instead when he heard a low growl from Rui. 

“I’ve fucked up somehow. But… but what did I do? I got so aggressive back there…” Tsukasa stressed, throwing himself on the bean bag with a huff.

”Rui… I’m sorry I yelled at you like that.” Tsukasa sighed, sounding as genuine as he could. He meant this apology, but he needed to get it across.

”It’s nothing… I’m just to blame for it, since I also yelled.” Rui replied, and Tsukasa swore he heard a laugh in the middle of it.

”So… we’re all good now?”

”Yeah… we’re all good.”

”…Can I sit on the couch?”

”Absolutely not.”

”Worth a shot!”

—

Tsukasa and Rui were content now, both happy they got over their argument. They signed the silent contract to never speak of it again, and simply go about their day. Luckily, they made up from arguments easily, and Rui (usually) doesn’t hold grudges. They continued with their day as normal, with Tsukasa losing to Rui in multiple video games, meaning he had to pay for the food they planned on getting delivered. Unfortunately, it seemed Rui learned from the best, which meant Tsukasa had little to no chance at beating him. At least Rui let him pick what restaurant he wanted… because he’s “so generous and thoughtful”, as he said. Tsukasa just rolled his eyes.

After dinner, they returned to the garage (go figure) and finished up watching all the shows Rui had. Tsukasa quite enjoyed this part of the day, but his favorite part had to be helping Rui finish up some of his mechanisms. He learned a lot in such a short span of time, such as the fact that Rui is probably smarter than Tsukasa. Probably, though, because Tsukasa would never admit it. Currently, they were looking at all of Rui’s scrapped ideas he either simply couldn’t build or he didn’t feel like building. Tsukasa felt his phone buzzing, and he excused himself to pick it up. Rui, surprisingly, offered to him to go to the inside of the house to answer it. Tsukasa opened the door from the garage to the house, ending up… somewhere. He found the living room, and answered the phone, surprised to see it was Shizuku calling him.

”Shizuku? It’s not often you call me! What’s up?” 

“Tsukasa! So, I’ve got my friend Haruka Kiritani here, you know… the idol?”

”Yes, I know who Haruka Kiritani is…”

”Alright, so, we were brainstorming ideas for our next stream, and we planned on doing one themed after Broadway! Haruka knows a little bit, but I wanted to ask you for extra accuracy.”

”Oh? A broadway-themed stream? That seems interesting… do you want to theme it after broadway in general, or the shows?”

”The shows! Like, make our stream look like a Broadway show.”

”Ah, yes… of course! I can do that! I’ll send you a few videos of my favorite shows, hang on…”

Tsukasa went to go find some shows off the internet, but got distracted when he heard… wait, what was that? It… it sounded like banging… from the garage… eh, Rui must be doing something.

”Okay, these should work. These are the ones my troupe and I all agree are the best! And I apologize for the noise, I’m at a friend’s house and he’s probably doing something stupid.”

”Oh, no worries… huh, these are amazing!”

”I know, right? The actors, the stage, the orchestra… it’s all perfect! People from-“

Tsukasa paused when he heard a soft click… did Rui just…

Did he just lock the door? From the garage?

”Tsukasa? Are you alright?”

”Yeah… yeah, I’m fine. My friend is just… doing things.”

”Aah, I see. Well, thank you! Maybe, your troupe can guest star on one of our streams, sometime! You know, for publicity!”

”Haha, I’d love that, Shizuku! Anyway, see you later!”

”Byebye, Tsuk-“

“How characteristic of her, to call me at ten at night and then hang up in the middle of saying goodbye.” He laughed to himself, leaning back on the couch in Rui’s living room. Rui was still rustling around in the garage.

”Hey, Rui? You alright?” Tsukasa wanted to avoid unlocking the door, because it wasn’t his house, and he also understood the need to lock the door sometimes. But, he never locked it when he had a friend over…

No response.

”Rui? Open this door yourself, or I will.”

Just heavy breathing. Both Tsukasa’s and Rui’s.

Tsukasa undid the lock on the door and turned the handle, making as much noise as he could to say that he was opening the door.

The garage was a mess.

Everything, everywhere. It gave Tsukasa chills to see such discord. 

And Tsukasa couldn’t find Rui.

Chapter Text

The garage was dark. It was quiet.

Too quiet.

Luckily, natural light streamed from the windows above the garage, giving Tsukasa a partially illuminated path. He carefully stepped over the chaos on the floor, terrified at how it went from bad to worse. Any possible exits didn’t seem to be used, which made Tsukasa even more concerned. Where could Rui have gone?

And then Tsukasa heard it.

The panting, coming from inside the garage.

Tsukasa looked around in panic to see if he could identify where, exactly, it was coming from. He narrowed his options down to a general location, but his only option was the darkest corner in the garage, which didn’t give him much hope.

”Rui? If this is a joke, I’m not laughing.” Tsukasa whispered, slowly approaching the corner. He noticed how the shadow seemed to move when he spoke…

”Rui…?”

It continued to uncomfortably shift, still staying in the protective darkness of the dimly lit corner.

”I’ll say this again: I’m not laughing…” 

Tsukasa slowly got closer and closer to the corner, that he could hear the panting loud and clear. He just couldn’t identify where it was coming from. 

“R-Rui… are you there…?”

Tsukasa reached his hand into the darkness, and jumped back when he felt… whatever it was, dash behind him. He couldn’t tell where it went or what it was, but he did get an idea:

It did not like Tsukasa.

It seemed to be avoiding him, trying to stay out of sight. Tsukasa continued to call out, playing a game of cat and mouse with whatever was in the garage. He darted his eyes back and forth, trying to catch a glimpse of this thing, but it was good at hiding. 

“This isn’t funny!” He called out, looking for any reaction. Rui was devoted to whatever joke he was trying to play, so as of right now, his plan was to try and lure the creature out to where he could see it. It still lurked in the shadowy corners, and Tsukasa could feel it’s eyesight burning the back of his neck. He had a few ideas of what was in the garage, but he wanted none of them to be true. He just wanted this to all be a joke. Soon, it would be over, and he could go back to sleep without any worries.

”Come on…” He whispered, pushing himself against Rui’s bookcase. Maybe… maybe he could hide. Maybe he could act like he had gone, and bait it out that way. The bookshelf wasn’t that thick, but Tsukasa was thin, so he tried his best. He held his breath, and waited.

He still couldn’t see anything. Both kept their cards close to their chest, not wanting to give one party the advantage. Tsukasa took a deep breath, and decided on his final plan of action. He walked out from where he was behind the bookshelf, stood right in the natural spotlight coming from the window above the garage, and sat down. What happens, happens, and he accepted that. He needed to confirm his suspicions. In order to do so, he had to surrender himself first. He could hear something moving around him. Tsukasa silently prayed that his deduction was correct, because now that seemed like the best possible scenario. And it didn’t take long until the other party soon surrendered as well.

A large dog-like creature stepped into a slightly more visible part of the room, allowing Tsukasa to get a good look at it. And he sighed in relief when he realized that the dog probably wasn’t hostile, as it just stared at Tsukasa from the slightly brighter corner it was still in. Tsukasa tried to not show his panic, but he was DEFINITELY panicking. One wrong move, and he would probably wind up dead! So… that’s not good…

”Uh… uh…” Tsukasa stuttered, the silence making him uncomfortable. He wanted to say something, but there’s always the chance it wouldn’t understand him… but, then again, there’s the chance it would…

”Hi… uh, my name is Tsukasa Tenma…” He nervously laughed, moving his hands around to help convey his emotions. The dog just narrowed it’s eyes at him, and backed further into the corner.

”I’m… not going to hurt you…” He whispered, moving closer towards the dog. It initially backed away from him, so Tsukasa slowed down, but, after a minute… it came out from its hiding spot.

”I don’t really know what to say, so… how are you…?” He smiled, breaking out his nervous laugh again. This was… awkward. Incredibly fucking awkward. 

Tsukasa held his breath and tried to stop his heart from racing so fast when the dog moved out of the corner and closer to Tsukasa. Now, it was fully exposed, and boy, he was panicking to the max. It could do some serious damage to him if he did anything wrong. It paced around him a few times, and Tsukasa was scared to say anything… but he had to break the silence. Those fucking yellow eyes… they bore into his soul. Yeah, he had his answer, and he had to face the facts.

”Rui…?” Tsukasa trembled. He was slightly less concerned when… the dog’s ears perked up.

”Rui…?” He repeated, and now he was stuck in awkward eye contact. Well… either he fucked up, and he just pissed this thing off, or…

He fucked up, and this was Rui.

God, how he wanted the former… he’d much rather just accept his fate then have to explain this all to Rui tomorrow morning…

”Uh, you good…? I’m not going to die, right? Haha… right??” He laughed, holding his hand out. He was about… 93.6% sure this was Rui. His friend mysteriously vanishes, but he hasn’t left the garage, this oversized chihuahua shows up and somehow knows Rui’s name, and can’t forget Tsukasa’s massive oopsie daisy!… yeah, that’s… that’s kind of important. The other… he didn’t want to do math, but he figured it was probably 6.4%, was coming from the fact that a feral dog could have just waltzed into Rui’s garage, mauled the director alive, and was now coming for Tsukasa’s blood!

…wait, that doesn’t sound good…

Due to a lack of a better way to say his deepest, darkest fears, Tsukasa will simply not say them! That solves everything!

Well, it still doesn’t solve the problem currently staring Tsukasa in the eyes, but he’s going to get to that later. Right now? He needed to prove to himself that this dog was indeed Rui, because if it was? God, he was in for it in the morning, so he needed an explanation.

“Morning, Rui? Sleep well? No?…oh, that doesn’t sound good? What do you mean I was there? Strange dream you had, haha… nope, definitely a dream! Not real at all! Don’t worry one bit!”

…Yeah, as if Rui’d buy that. But, still, Tsukasa would calm down if he could prove this thing was Rui, but how… asking it would be a problem, since he figured it can’t talk… no thumbs, so it probably can’t build… but it can…!

Tsukasa ran around Rui’s garage, digging through his many piles of miscellaneous crap. Eventually… yes! He found it! He remembered Emu giving Rui a few plushies a while ago, but most notably, a platypus. If any hint of Rui was in that animal, it’d choose the platypus, no doubt. Just to make sure the results could be as accurate as possible, Tsukasa threw in every plushie he could find. Eventually, he set them all in a corner. He stepped to the side as the dog moved over to the pile, and began sniffing through it. Tsukasa watched eagerly as it tossed plushie after plushie to the side… until it was left with two options.

The platypus, or the first plushie Tsukasa gave Rui. It sniffed the platypus for a second, until turning to Tsukasa’s plushie and putting it’s nose in it. Eventually, it rolled over onto it’s side, pulled both plushies close, and just… sat there. Tsukasa smiled, knowing he had his answer.

That dog is definitely Rui Kamishiro.

Which eased Tsukasa’s worries in more ways than one. First, he didn’t have to worry as to where Rui went. Second, he didn’t have to worry about his safety. And third, Rui could still think for himself, so he wasn’t at full panic yet. Tsukasa walked over to Rui, who didn’t even acknowledge Tsukasa, and just began growling. He nervously backed away, panic mode setting in.

“D-did I do something? Did I mess up? It can’t be a coincidence he likes those two… what did I do wrong?” His mind raced, heart besting faster and faster. Until, one though hit him: what if Rui doesn’t recognize him? So, he began brainstorming: how to prove to someone you haven’t been bodysnatched. He remembered going through this plan with Saki in middle school, so it helped now. He thought it mildly strange that his anti-bodysnatch measures came in handy in this situation, but then again, life itself is mildly strange. So, he did exactly what Saki told him to do:

“Tsukasa! If I ever think you’ve been, like, swapped with an alien and you aren’t, just strike a ton of poses only Tsukasa Tenma could strike! That way, I’ll know it’s you!”

And then, he remembered his dad’s teachings about handling a wild bear:

“Tsukasa, if you ever find yourself face-to-face with a wild bear, or any wild animal, no sudden movements, okay? This may frighten the animal into attacking, and you’ll be in more danger than you were before. Just… stay calm, and try not to show you’re afraid.”

So, was he going to use the wise advice of his father, or the wacky plan of his beloved sister?

…

He could handle regular Rui in a fight, so what’s the worst that can happen?

Tsukasa stood up, slightly trembling from fear as Rui watched him the entire way, and he began striking the most elegant, most star-worthy poses one has ever seen! From one mimicking a phoenix rising from the ashes, to another one he had just thought of on the spot, but decided to make it after ‘trying to not get murdered by your best friend who’s a murder furry and it’s probably your fault’. Another genius idea from Tsukasa Tenma. He held them for a little bit, before moving on to the next one, and then the next one, and so on. He combined both plans: prove to Rui this was Tsukasa, but also show he wasn’t afraid. He didn’t know if dogs could smell fear or not, but he didn’t want to risk his chances, so he kept proudly striking pose after pose, until Rui got up and casually strolled over to him. Tsukasa stopped moving, and held his ground mid-pose. Rui just kept sniffing him. One thought was going through Tsukasa’s mind:

fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck

Oh boy, the panic was real now! This was the deciding moment: was Tsukasa going to die here, or did he get to live another day? Honestly, both seemed terrible. Of course, he was worried that something may happen to him in the garage, but he hadn’t forgotten Nene! Rui’s fucking neighbor! If she just gets curious and decides to take a look inside this garage, Tsukasa’s life is over. Donezo. Gone. Game Over, as Nene would say. Great, another thing to worry about, and now his panic was showing on his face. Rui had made-at least-seven circles around Tsukasa, and counting. But what was worse is he had pushed Tsukasa to the ground, and was currently… chewing on his sleeve…

”Hey! Stop that!” He scolded, yanking his arm away. Those golden eyes that Tsukasa both hated and adored donned a new sparkle this time… a sparkle that seemed to say…

“Excuse me sir, what the fuck.”

Which, to Tsukasa, meant Rui had finally realized this was Tsukasa. He reached a hand over, and set it on Rui’s head, feeling the soft fur in between his fingers. To his surprise, Rui went with it, and leaned closer into Tsukasa’s touch.

”So… we’re good now?” Tsukasa laughed, falling onto his back. Rui rolled over beside him, and tried to get his sleeve again, but Tsukasa swatted him away. To Tsukasa, his eyes said yeah… we’re good.

—

When Tsukasa woke up, the garage was in the same disarray it was in before, but this time, the sunlight made it look worse. He can’t remember what the shit they did last night, and he doesn’t want to know. He had fallen asleep on the floor, and looked over to Rui, asleep on the couch, thankfully normal again. Tsukasa groaned as he did his morning stretches, attempting to clean the garage, but giving up after… three seconds. Yeah, no, it’s Rui’s house, he can do it himself. He threw himself on the bean bag, and tried to fall asleep again, but his heart skipped several beats when he heard a groggy  “Tsukasa…?” from Rui’s direction.

”Oh! M-morning!” Tsukasa stammered, gracefully falling flat on his flat from trying to get up off of the beanbag. Rui took one look around the garage, and simply said…

”What the fuck did we do?”

Chapter Text

HI GUYS SOOOO

IM GONNA BE HONEST I KINDA FORGOT THIS THING EXISTED BUT

I’M GONNA TRY AND BRING IT BACK!!

IT IS NOT JOEVER GUYS I WILL RETURN WITH MORE CONTENT FOR THE THREE OF US THAT LIKE WEREWOLF RUI/TSUKASA

Chapter Text

And now, I present to you: 

What was possibly the awkwardest moment in the life of Tsukasa Tenma.

“What do I do. Dear christ. What the heck am I supposed to do.” Tsukasa kept worrying, though he just kept making awkward eye contact with Rui.

“What the heck is he doing. Why do I feel threatened. I’m going to open my door and run. Yeah. I’m gonna do that.” Rui did his own worrying as he also kept the awkward eye contact with Tsukasa.

They both knew something went down last night, but only Tsukasa knew exactly. Tsukasa was considering just… leaving and letting Rui find out for himself, because he got zero sleep last night, and he is not in the mood for this.

“…So…” Tsukasa tried to think of a good follow-up sentence, but his mind went blank.

“Yeah…” Rui awkwardly responded. 

“Are we communicating?” They both had that thought that the exact same time, so at least they shared at least one braincell.

“Uh… how are you…?” Tsukasa slowly asked. He never once broke the intense eye contact.

“I’m… good… what about you?” Rui nervously responded, as if he thought Tsukasa had his funeral planned or something.

“Screw it, I’m just gonna come clean. Rui, we’re living in gay Twilight right now.” Tsukasa sighed, not wanting to hold it in any longer.

“Pardon? Where did this come from?!” A shocked Rui responded, unsure what to make of that.

“Gay Twilight. We are living in gay Twilight.” 

“I heard you the first time, but I still need an explanation!” 

“Twilight, but no Edward. Just Jacob.”

“If there’s no Edward, then it’s not Twilight! It’s just… Dimness!” 

Tsukasa really couldn’t argue with that, but then a thought occurred to him.

“How do you know who Jacob is in the Twilight plot?” Tsukasa interrogated.

“…Everyone knows who Jacob is.” Rui replied, trembling from Tsukasa’s sudden force.

They shared one more round of awkward eye contact, before Tsukasa continued with his point.

“Do you remember anything from last night?” 

“No, and judging by this mess, I’m glad I didn’t.”

Tsukasa was heavily considering just leaving him in the dark. They were teenage boys, bam! There’s his explanation! He can just say that gay Twilight was a dream, and Tsukasa forgot he was awake! He can just go on about his life without worrying about having that awkward moment with Rui again!

…But he’d also have to tell him eventually… and then tell Nene… and his parents… and probably everyone else who knows him… and then Tsukasa would probably have to explain the situation to Saki because he wouldn’t want her to worry about him…

But, how are you supposed to do this?! This isn’t something that happens every day!

Grabs ukulele.

Hello, audience. My name is Tsukasa Tenma. I’m sure you’re all aware of the mistake I’ve made… and I’m not quite sure how to respond to it. Yes… it happened, but it’s not my fault. You know… in fact, there’s a whole song about it not being my fault. Datte datte. Yeah.

So… I’m sorry. That’s all I can say. I did not intend to turn my friend into a realistic Halloween decoration. I hope you’ll forgive me.

…Yeah, that probably wouldn’t work. Rui knows better than that. 

Oh well… just gotta rip the band-aid off. 

“Rui. You’re one of my favorite people in the whole wide world. You know that, right?” Tsukasa opened with this, somewhat proud of himself.

“Yeah…” Rui nodded. He knew that when Tsukasa opened with that, then something bad was about to happen.

“And, because of that, I’d care for you no matter what, right?”

“Yeah…”

“And you’d do the same for me, right?”

“Of course. Why?”

“Great! So, you’re not ever going to murder me, correct?”

“Just cut to the point, Tsukasa. I’d never murder you.”

“Wonderful! You’re a murder dog now! Yaaay!”

Silence.

Awkward, agonizing silence.

Tsukasa trembled. Rui didn’t know how to respond.

“…Excuse me?” That’s all Rui could come up with.

“Uh… murder dog! Oversized chihuahua! Realistic Halloween decoration!” Tsukasa began listing off everything he had silently called Rui, waiting for him to put the pieces together.

“I’m still lost.” Rui shook his head, which just made the situation better for Tsukasa. Yep. This was going wonderfully. (It was not.)

“Werewolf, Rui! Murder dog! Halloween decoration! Gay wolf!” Tsukasa yelled, pulling at his hair to cope with the pain of the awkwardness.

“Tsukasa, the human bone struct-“

“FUCK ANATOMY! Anatomy is gone! Science left! Biology ran for it’s life! Logic got abducted!” Tsukasa was full-on panicking now.

“TSUKASA, I’M JUST AS CONFUSED AS YOU ARE!” Rui shouted in response, though they kept it somewhat quiet, as not to wake Nene.

“WHEN I WAS A KID, I WANTED TO LIVE IN ONE OF THE TWILIGHT STORIES! AND HERE I AM!”

“AND YOU BROUGHT ME INTO THIS?!”

“NOT WILLINGLY!”

“AND WHAT THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO ABOUT IT?!”

“I DON’T KNOW, I WAS EIGHT!”

“WHY WERE YOU READING THOSE STORIES AT EIGHT?!”

“I DON’T KNOW!”

They were both tired from shouting, and their panic-argument was just adding to their confusion. Well, Tsukasa was fucked. At least Rui had an idea of what Tsukasa indirectly did. He was blaming himself, since those were technically his thoughts and/or dreams, though he didn’t mean for it to happen.

Or, what if, those plushies they met were purposefully attacking and biting people so that Tsukasa would get what he wanted when he was a kid.

Oh no. But, then again, they didn’t attack on sight, so they were probably just… there. But they didn’t need to be there. Tsukasa was planning on relocating them after he was done panicking about this. He’d probably need to wear a hazmat suit, though… and what about Rui? Was he safe? Could he just… pick them up? Would he still be at risk, or is he protected? Tsukasa didn’t want to test it out, so Rui would also be wearing a hazmat suit. 

“Okay. So. Have you calmed down now?” Tsukasa asked Rui.

“Somewhat. This still doesn’t mean you’re forgiven.”

“Understandable.”

More awkward silence… Tsukasa’s whole morning was probably going to be awkward silence. The good news is that Rui seemed less confused; he almost seemed to be… strangely excited. Tsukasa knew him just enough to differentiate between the different sparkles in Rui’s eyes, and he knew that this sparkle was one of curiosity and genius. Tsukasa could understand that, if he were to be honest. He probably knew what Rui was thinking, and he kind of shared the same idea. 

“…Okay, I think I get it. But, we do have an even bigger problem on our hands.” Rui said, finally sitting up.

“I think I know what that might be…”

Their problem was one of the most difficult challenges in life. This challenge was almost to surpass… and, if you did win, you’d earn endless respect. But when it came to this subject, the challenge was a suicide mission. And that challenge…

Is Nene Kusanagi.

“She’d never believe us…” Tsukasa pondered.

“You’d be dead if we showed her…” Rui thought.

“…Just say it’s a robot! Say that it’s an incredibly futuristic robot and it’s controlled remotely!” 

“Possibly… how likely is that to work?”

“Very unlikely!”

They sighed in defeat, knowing this was useless. Nene had seen some of the most ridiculous things in their SEKAI… but this was just another level of ridiculous.

“What if we made it far less awkward by getting one of them to bite you or something.” Rui suggested.

“No. That is out of the question. This is an us problem, and let’s not make it more complicated.”

“But it’d be cool.”

“No, no it would not be cool.”

“You could use it for shows.”

“No. We are not using it for shows.”

“Please?”

“No.”

Rui finally admitted defeat. At least their arguments weren’t as serious as some of the ones they had earlier. Tsukasa felt slightly better that he finally got it off of his chest, but now they had the problem of making sure that nobody else knew. 

“I have an idea. One the count of three, let’s both say what we should do with me to make sure Nene doesn’t find out!” Rui perked up.

Tsukasa nodded, and began to brainstorm.

“Ready?”

Rui began to count down from three…

Tsukasa finally had his idea, so now he was ready.

“One!”

“Tranquilizer dart!”

“Lock you in a basement!”

…

Rui was sure his idea would work. Tsukasa was shocked he’d even consider that. Tsukasa had a nice storm shelter, he could probably fit Rui in there.

“Where are you even going to get a tranc?” Tsukasa was genuinely concerned, since Rui would only suggest that if he knew what he was doing.

“I have my ways. But, I mean, it’d work.” 

Tsukasa couldn’t argue with that logic. And he hated that.

“Y’know what’d be funny?” Rui chimed, and Tsukasa was both confused and scared at the sudden change of subject.

“I do not… and do I even want to know?”

“What if. What if we brought Shinonome into this. And you got your Edward.”

“NO. NO. WE ARE NOT DOING THAT. Love triangle stories aren’t that good either. Let’s keep this a love-straight line.”

“Tsukasa, we aren’t straight.”

“Let’s keep this a love-gay line.”

Okay. Tsukasa felt better now.

That went about as smooth as it possibly could. And Tsukasa wasn’t going to die today, so that’s good. Well, as long as Nene didn’t find out.

Which was the next part…

Making sure that Nene didn’t find out.