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"I want to meet you in every place I ever loved."
Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone, This Is How You Lose the Time War
“That was…A secret fairy spell. To make sure you keep your promise. If you don’t-you’ll get 10 years of bad luck.”
“Then I’ll have to make sure I don’t break it.”
Tsukasa kept his leaf umbrella with him as he jumped into the crack of the sewage pipe. He positioned the leaf under him as he sled down the pipe and back into the house. He could hear the raindrops hitting the wood above him and Tsukasa grimaced as a droplet of rain leaked through a plank and soaked him even further. He climbed and maneuvered through the walls to arrive back home and found his mother in the kitchen. She put down a steamed blueberry and gasp when she noticed her son’s soaked appearance, “Oh my!”
“Pass me a towel?” Tsukasa opened his arms and caught the towel that his mother had sewn from collections of loose string in the past. He dried his hair with the towel and tried to wring out some of the water from his clothes before putting down his bag and taking out the things he had manage to scavenge that day: a pinecone (that could serve as a clothes rack), a blueberry that Tsukasa had already smushed into a jam and filled into a spare glass jar, and a spare button. The button came from Rui’s pajamas that the boy had worn practically every day during his stay. Tsukasa wished he would stop finding traces of Rui even months after he had left. They always brought back memories Tsukasa had shared with Rui during their short time together, and those memories only grew more and more bitter with time.
“Tsukasa, dinner is ready!”
Tsukasa looked up and smiled, “Coming!”
Tsukasa’s life had fallen back into normalcy after Rui’s departure. Without Snowball’s threat to his life, Tsukasa was able to return to his regular scavenges and explorations of the grandma’s house and backyard. Tsukasa never thought it was possible, but he believed that he had finally managed to explore every part of the house he resided in, along with the flower garden and entire backyard outside. It felt like a good accomplishment. However, every night Tsukasa would find himself back in the room that Rui stayed in in the past. It was left vacant and the elderly woman would come every so often to dust off the room and open the window to let sunlight in. Tsukasa tried not to let it get to him-just how long it was taking for Rui to return.
Tsukasa sat on the bed that felt much too large and held the spare button in his arms while gazing at the moon outside.
“…I hope he gets 20 years,” Tsukasa mumbled while pouting and hugging the button tighter against his chest.
Tsukasa began noticing a change in the kind old woman. She started waking up later during the day and spent a while getting out of bed. Tsukasa watched from his hiding place in the bookshelf as the grandma slowly tried sitting up on her own. She let out soft groans of pain before managing to shift her body enough to swing her legs over the edge of the bed. Standing up also took a while and Tsukasa flinched whenever he saw her stagger or threaten to lose her balance.
He spoke his worries to his mother one day during breakfast. “The poor grandma…Her health might be declining due to her age, I hope there’s someone coming to help her out soon,” Tsukasa’s mother sighed as she rested her cheek in one hand. Tsukasa wiped the blueberry jam from his cheek and looked outside their window. In truth, the two of them tried to help the grandma out whenever they could: closing her bedroom window at night so she didn’t catch a cold, tending to the flower garden she had completely forgotten about due to her dementia, and so on. But Tsukasa knew they still had to be careful. If the grandma was to ever see them, the shock from such a sight might just trigger a heart attack.
Now that Tsukasa thought about it…There was someone who could help!
He just had to bring Rui back!
The only thing that dampened Tsukasa’s resolve was his concern for his mother if he were to leave her on her own. But she surprised him with what she said the day of his departure,
“You’re just like your father.”
Tsukasa would have taken that negatively if it wasn’t for the smile on his mothers’ face when she said that, “You mean…I’m reckless?”
She shook her head, “Reckless…Daring…Always hungry for the next adventure-I could see the same look in your eyes before you went off on your scavenges. I knew that I could only tie you down for so long, before your greater love whisked you away.”
There was a hint of sadness in his mother’s tone which was what prompted him to embrace her tightly, “I promise to return to you. Once I’ve found him, I’ll come back to here. This is still my home, after all.” His mother laughed, “Him? This person you’re referring to…Is he also like a treasure to you?” Tsukasa never thought of it that way but it made sense once he realized it. He could only respond with a blush as he pulled back and hurried to finish loading up the rest of the necessities in his bag.
Tsukasa’s mother saw him off as he left early that morning. “Don’t worry, I will watch over grandma during your absence. Keep safe, my son,” she spoke seriously and Tsukasa nodded before they exchanged one last hug. And then, he was off.
Finding his way to the city turned out to be easier than Tsukasa initially anticipated. He asked for directions from smaller animals that had no desire to eat him, and they all directed him on the towards the city. Tsukasa felt like years passed by and by then he was beginning to grow fatigued from the journey. He had eaten the last bit of food he had stored for the trip and the sun was starting to fall but seemed determined to take him out with it in a blaze of fire. Tsukasa wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked down at the map he had drawn for himself on how to get to the city. It was the simplified version of a large map that Tsukasa had seen from a pamphlet sent to the mailbox back at the cottage.
“It should be close…Maybe,” Tsukasa felt a horrible sense of unease as he began doubting himself and wondered if he shot for the stars without being properly prepared. Just then, a large gust of wind nearly knocked Tsukasa into the air and he fell to the ground, dropping the map that fluttered up with the wind. “Wait-no-!” Tsukasa tried to run after it while jumping up and down, but the wind made a mockery of him by gusting the map higher and higher into the air before it disappeared within the orange clouds. No food, no map…Was Tsukasa’s journey over before it even started?
“Squeak!”
Tsukasa jumped up in surprise and whirled around to see a mouse. Wait, this mouse looked familiar. “You’re from the garden!” Tsukasa exclaimed and the mouse gave a happy squeak of affirmation. “You followed me all the way here? Why?” Tsukasa watched the mouse lower itself close to the ground and gaze up at him with large, doe like eyes. “…Are you going to help me?” Tsukasa whispered. The mouse gave quick nods and Tsukasa’s eyes widened. He hesitated before climbing onto the mouse’s back and holding onto his large, round ears.
“Okay but how are-“ Tsukasa’s words choked in his throat when the mouse suddenly took off in a sprint, going fast enough that Tsukasa thought he was going to fall off. The wind whipped against his face and Tsukasa babbled nonsensically as they touched dirt, grass, and finally cement. In a matter of minutes, the mouse delivered Tsukasa to the outskirts of the city. Tsukasa was still fighting to catch his breath when he was let off and he glanced between the mouse and the distance behind them that was covered in an instant. “T-Thank you,” Tsukasa wheezed and the mouse gave a squeak of acknowledgment. Tsukasa turned his attention back to the high rises and weird, winding roads that awaited them, “Well…Here we are. Let’s go find him,” Tsukasa swallowed and ventured deeper into the city alongside his new companion.
Tsukasa had underestimated how big the world was. That was his first thought when he stepped foot into the city and was welcomed with blinding lights, violently fast vehicles, loud music and noises from unknown sources, and many, so many people. Tsukasa wondered if the entire population of Earth was clustered in this one city, because that’s certainly what it felt like. Tsukasa was dodging long legs and large shoes and boots at every turn before him and mouse retreated to the empty sidelines, away from the traffic flow of people. Despite the fact that the skies were dark with midnight, everything was so brightly lit Tsukasa nearly mistook that morning had come already. He felt like his eyes were going to bulge out from his head and he let out an exasperated sigh before leaning against the wall, “Rui lived in a place like this? How did he not go crazy?!”
Suddenly, the idea of finding Rui in a city of this size seemed laughable with acquired hindsight. Tsukasa wished he had detailed his plan more thoroughly back at home. The mouse squeaked to get Tsukasa’s attention again and the boy sighed before smiling, “You’re right. We won’t know until we try, right?” He decided to climb back onto the mouse’s back to traverse easier through the city, and take in all the new sights at the same time. The buildings here seemed to stretch all the way to the clouds and Tsukasa wondered if they could even reach heaven. Their investigation was interrupted by a little girl who was walking hand in hand with her mother. Her eyes lit up upon seeing the mouse and lowered her body, “Mousey!” She giggled and her mother glanced down before her expression paled. Tsukasa was worried that his identity had been exposed but it seems his worries were misplaced as the woman pulled her daughter back forcefully and screamed, “A mouse!” It was like a domino effect as all the tall humans around them suddenly looked down and only focused on Tsukasa’s transporter, screaming as their feet and legs flew out to either avoid the rodent or kick it away. This sent the mouse into a frenzy as it took off and Tsukasa screamed as he held onto the fur on his friend’s back to keep from falling off and getting squashed by pounding feet. Their surrounding became a blur as the mouse dodged and weaved through the bodies and only skidded to a stop when two pairs of legs blocked their path.
A girl with jade green hair held a large popcorn bucket in her arms while her other arm was interlocked with a girl with pink bobbed hair. The pink-haired girl looked down and beamed as she scooped the mouse up without thinking twice, “Hello there! You’re so cute-hm?” Her attention shifted to Tsukasa who looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Just then, the girl beside her exclaimed and pushed her wrist, causing the shorter girl to drop the mouse who landed safely on the floor. At the same time, Tsukasa had ejected himself off the mouse’s back and landed straight into the popcorn bucket.
Thankfully, the mouse landed safely on the ground and scurried off into a nearby alley. “Emu! You don’t know where that thing’s been!” The green haired girl scolded Emu who pouted back at her, “You didn’t have to hit it, you could have hurt the baby, Nene!” The taller girl, Nene’s expression softened, “You’re right, I’m sorry, I hope it’s alright.” Emu nods quickly and from the smile on her face it seemed like she forgave her. Tsukasa was surrounded by the smell of butter and he tried to pull himself out from the popcorn pile but before he could get an arm free, he saw Nene reach her hand into the bucket and picked him up without looking, “Shall we start heading back home?” Nene asked as she brought Tsukasa closer to her lips. Tsukasa struggled against her firm hold and finally screamed out, “DON’T EAT ME!”
Nene let out a surprise squeal and dropped Tsukasa back into the popcorn bucket before holding it with two hands and looking down at him with wide eyes. “What is it?” Emu leaned over her shoulder to look down and let out a loud gasp before her face lit up, “Oh my God, he’s so adorable!” Tsukasa’s heart was still racing from the earlier shock of almost becoming food but he swallowed and gathered his nerves enough to stand up on the uneven floor of popcorn, “Uhm-please-can any of you help me?!”
“He talks…”
“He talks!”
Tsukasa quickly noticed the differences in the girls’ demeanors. His shoulders fell as he already began resigning himself to the rejection-
“What do you need help with?”
Tsukasa lit up like a star and he couldn’t resist smiling, “You’ll help me?”
“Emu,” Nene whispered to Emu with an uneasy expression, “I’m not sure about this.”
“Come on!” Emu pointed to Tsukasa, “Look at his widdle face! How could you refuse?” Nene glanced down at Tsukasa who pouted back up at her and tried to make his eyes appear extra big.
“…Okay! Okay, fine.”
Emu and Nene continued walking down the street while carrying Tsukasa in the popcorn bucket. “So what do you need help with?” Nene repeated the question.
“Oh, right! I’m trying to find someone, there’s someone who means a lot to me and he’s the only one who can help them,” Tsukasa said while sitting down and nibbling on a piece of popcorn, “his name is Rui.”
Suddenly, Emu and Nene stopped walking.
“Wait, Rui? As in Rui Kamishiro?” Nene spoke slowly and Tsukasa nodded. There was a short pause before Nene let out a breathy laugh, “And here I thought we were taking on an impossible task.”
As Nene and Emu took Tsukasa to find Rui, they explained more about their relationship with him.
“At first, we were worried when he was pulled out of classes and we didn’t see him for months!” Emu said, gesturing wildly as she spoke, “But once he came back, it was like he made a miraculous recovery and suddenly he started standing out in the school-he joined the theatre club and started putting on plays and going BABAM! WHOOSH-across the stage!”
“I almost couldn’t believe it. Not to mention how insufferable his personality became after,” Nene said while rolling her eyes, although Tsukasa sensed an endearment in her tone.
The way they described Rui was such a sharp contrast from the Rui that Tsukasa knew-it nearly gave him whiplash. He almost wondered if they were even talking about the same person. If that was the case… Tsukasa shook the negativity from his mind and decided to change the topic, inquiring more about Nene and Emu. He learned that they both went to the same school as Rui and were one of his first friends before he left and came back different. And it wasn’t as if he suddenly turned popular overnight. In fact, it was more the opposite-he became even more of a recluse. Focusing on his shows and making weird and outlandish props that he would often test on unsuspecting classmates. His antics had earned him a rather infamous status in the school, while most just considered him to be a weirdo.
“Anyways, how did you and Rui meet? Don’t tell me he tried to dissect you out of curiosity,” Nene inquired while taking a popcorn and feeding it to Emu who accepted it with a bounce in her step. Tsukasa laughed nervously and played with the edge of his red cloak in his hands, “No he was…Reserved, and a mystery. I couldn’t figure him out at first, since he was so quiet.”
“Rui? Quiet?” Emu talked with a mouthful of popcorn, “I can’t believe it!”
“Yeah, I mean,” Tsukasa shrugged, “It was understandable since he was still sick back then. I still feel kind of guilty in how I treated him when we first met.” He wondered if Rui would still look upon him with the same tenderness in those large eyes the color of melting honey. Tsukasa then went on to talking about the short time they spent together and Tsukasa emphasized his appreciation for Rui’s non-judgmental attitude towards him and his mother. Nene gazed at Tsukasa with a thoughtful expression as they continued down the streets of the city. They managed to exit out from the busy streets and come to the residential areas where it was much quieter and peaceful.
Tsukasa was able to relax more once he was no longer overstimulated and peeked out from the edge of the bucket to look at the rows of houses along the street. The world really was so much bigger than Tsukasa thought.
“I feel like I should thank you, Tsukasa.” Nene said above him.
Tsukasa looked up in surprise, “Huh? Why?”
“For helping Rui-for being there for him when no one else could. The type of person he was before he took that break from school was…Painfully lonely. And I was too cowardly to approach him.”
“Me too!” Emu piped up with a large frown, “I kept holding back because I didn’t want to bother him or make him feel like I was doing it all out of pity, but I regretted it all when he stopped coming all of a sudden.”
Tsukasa felt like he needed to say something to reassure the two of them but stopped himself when Nene smiled down at him, “You changed him, Tsukasa. You helped him to come out of his shell and show everyone the fun parts of himself. All this time I thought it was a miracle of some sort, and now I see that it was just fairy magic,” she poked Tsukasa in the cheek with her finger and he gripped it while laughing. Nene’s words helped to quell some of the anxiety that had been brewing inside him all this time. There was no way Rui forgot about him and the time they spent together. Not when Tsukasa still remembered it so vividly.
“Here we are,” Nene announced.
They had reached the end of the popcorn bucket by that time so Nene held Tsukasa in her palms as the three of them stood in front of the door to Rui’s home. Tsukasa gazed up at the structure of the building that was much bigger than their little cottage back at home, and he briefly considered the possibility of another fairy living inside the walls of the house. But the thought only served to disgruntle Tsukasa so he quickly discarded it.
Emu rang the doorbell and they waited as the sound of footsteps came from behind the door. A tall woman with soft purple hair, whom Tsukasa immediately linked to being Rui’s mother, answered the door with a kind smile, “Oh, hello girls. Did you both come here by yourselves?” Nene had covered her hand over Tsukasa to conceal him so he could barely make out their muffled conversation.
“I’m sorry to disturb you like this, we just wanted to bring something for Rui,” Nene spoke politely, a contrast from the blunt tone she had used with Tsukasa and Emu.
“Oh, did Rui forget something at school again?”
“…You could say that.”
Tsukasa heard the mother call Rui’s name and welcomed the girls inside before closing the door and going to prepare them some drinks. Nene allowed her other hand to drop when she left and Tsukasa perked up at the sound of light footsteps coming down the stairs. Rui was dressed in his school uniform and his hair had grown longer-all the way to the bottom of his neck where half of it was tied loosely around a pen. He looked so different. But Tsukasa’s heart recognized him immediately.
“What are you guys doing he…” Rui’s words died out when his eyes focused on what Nene was holding in her hand. Or more like, who she was holding.
“…Tsukasa?”
“Rui, Wonderhoy!” Emu greeted him with the energy of a sun.
Nene walked over and handed the fairy to Rui who took him while staggering back. “This little guy went to great lengths to find you,” Nene stated and smiled at Rui with a knowing look, “See you at school tomorrow, Rui.”
“Aww, we’re leaving already?” Emu pouted as Nene interlaced their arms.
“Yes darling, it seems like we’re no longer needed here,” Nene said while smiling at Emu. Tsukasa stumbled forward on Rui’s palm and held onto one of his fingers for stability, “Uhm! Thank you!” He called. Nene glanced back at them one last time before meeting Tsukasa’s eyes and flashing him a thumbs up before they exited through the door.
Rui glanced back at the kitchen where his mother was still preparing snacks and decided to go back upstairs to his room. On the way there Tsukasa couldn’t shake the anxious feeling that he didn’t anticipate during their reunion. He felt like he should say something to Rui, something that would link them back to their past, but his throat was tight and Tsukasa was suffocated with a sudden feeling that he didn’t belong here.
Rui’s room was almost as clustered as Tsukasa’s own room. But instead of souvenirs and makeshifts from scavenges, Rui’s room was filled with gadgets and gizmos Tsukasa had never seen in his life. Rui set Tsukasa down on his study desk that was littered with pages and pamphlets that looked to be covered in scripts and costume sketches. Was this what Rui had been up to all this time? Tsukasa felt a growing excitement as he rested on his hands and knees and gazed at all the interesting sketches on the paper.
“Tsukasa,”
The blond looked up and his heart stuttered when he saw the way Rui was looking at him. Was he not happy to see him? Had he made a mistake in coming here?
“I’m so-“
“Thank goodness,” Rui cut off Tsukasa’s apology as a small smile spread across his face, “I was beginning to think I would never see you again.”
Tsukasa found himself smiling as well and stood up on the table with his hands on his hips, “Of course! You still remember our promise, don’t you?” He looked up at Rui expectantly. Rui’s eyes softened, “I do,” he said. Tsukasa’s heart leapt in his chest and he looked away to play with his cloak. He knew it would be rude to ask Rui when he was coming back to the cottage but just as he opened his mouth, the door to the bedroom swung open as Rui’s mother entered with a tray of drinks. Rui quickly hid Tsukasa in his sleeve and whirled to face his mother who looked around in confusion, “Oh, did they leave already?” She asked. “Y-Yeah, they came to return something to me, that’s all,” Rui said with a shrug. His mother looked disappointed but decided to leave a glass of juice with Rui and return the rest back to the kitchen. Rui and Tsukasa both sighed in relief when the door closed and Tsukasa crawled up onto Rui’s palm. The boy’s skin was different as well: there were callouses and grease stains etched into the lines along Rui’s palm. The boy’s skin was no longer as sickly pale as when they had first met. Rui was practically glowing and yet Tsukasa didn’t know why he wasn’t as happy as he should be.
Once the two of them were alone again, they spent the remainder of the night just catching up on the things that happened during the months they spent apart from each other. Rui went back to the hospital after returning from the cottage and the doctor had given him good news: his health had improved to the point where he could resume his normal life again, although he still had to be careful not to get sick or injured since his body was still weak. The newfound results gave Rui the courage to pursue things he had always had interest in but never mustered the confidence to try out: theater, acting, and stage development. Tsukasa listened to Rui talk about all the amazing shows he helped put on in the amusement park (although Rui had to explain the very concept to him first) and he couldn’t help growing excited as he listened to Rui go on about the various stage sets he helped to build. Oh, how he wished he could see them in person!
“And just recently, a well known troupe director offered me a spot on his team. They want me to join them in their shows-this means I could get the chance to help put on shows all over the world!” Rui tried not to raise his voice too much in case his mother came back up to investigate again. Tsukasa’s smile faltered, “What? All over the world?” The gears in his head turned as Tsukasa grappled with the meaning of those words, “But, aren’t you coming back to the cottage?”
Rui’s expression fell as well and he glanced aside. He held one of the scripts in his hand and bent it while fidgeting, “I…I can’t. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. If I were to reject him…”
“What about your grandmother?” Tsukasa piped up in an almost desperate tone, “Her health has been declining, I came to tell you that-she needs your help!”
Rui’s face paled and he rubbed his chin, “Grandma…I still plan on visiting, and my mother can help take care of her as well.”
Visiting? He wasn’t going to stay?
“What about us?” Tsukasa said in a small voice, “What about our promise?” How did things become this way? They were only separated for a few months, but a rift had grown between them to a size that Tsukasa couldn’t jump over.
“When I came out of the hospital,” Rui spoke while also looking down, “I was terrified. Terrified of not being able to catch up with a world that had long left me behind. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to do everything I wanted to do-what if I fell sick again? What if those doors close in my face because I was too late? I didn’t want that to happen. And now, this door…This opportunity has opened itself up to me, and if I don’t take it, I might never get another chance. I was only able to build the confidence to take my life by the reins after…After I met you, Tsukasa.”
Rui only had the courage to accept this proposal because of his influence? Tsukasa felt like he was going to be sick. If he knew that such a future awaited them, he would have rather not met Rui at all.
Tsukasa glanced at the script Rui gripped tightly in his hands. It seemed like Rui was already holding everything he would ever want. There was no room for Tsukasa in those large, warm hands. Perhaps there never was.
Tsukasa stood up and brushed off his pants, “I’m sorry to have wasted your time, then.” He hated seeing Rui’s crestfallen look and it only caused his anger to boil harder, “I’ll sleep over for one night and be gone before you wake up, so just ignore me.” He went to find a secluded corner of the room to sleep in.
“Tsukasa-wait-I’m sorry,” Rui tried to ease the pain but the damage had already been done.
“Don’t, okay? It’s fine. I guess we’re just on two different paths,” Tsukasa’s voice cracked near the end and he blinked back tears, turning his anger onto himself for allowing his vulnerability to slip. He didn’t mention that Rui had become his path-his goal, his ambition. He didn’t mention how his feelings for the other ran deeper than mere companionship or even friendship.
Tsukasa swallowed his feelings like the lump in his throat and jumped up to the windowsill. “Don’t blame me if granny’s health grows even worse,” Tsukasa said as a final jab. He could tell it was a low blow from the way Rui flinched from his words, but Tsukasa wanted that. He wanted it to hurt. Then maybe Rui would feel a fraction of the pain he was feeling from the betrayal.
Thankfully, his rodent friend had followed him all this time and came out of the shadows to snuggle up beside Tsukasa. Tsukasa placed his backpack against the glass and curled up against his mouse friend. However, not even the warmth and softness of the fur could lull Tsukasa to sleep. His chest was in too much pain the entire night.
Tsukasa ended up leaving before the sun even awoke. He slung his backpack on and hopped down, making a stop on Rui’s bed where the boy was still sleeping. “Goodbye, Rui,” Tsukasa spoke in a quiet voice as he took in and memorized the other’s features: the curve of his nose and the length of his eyelashes. “I hate you,” he said even though he didn’t mean it. He knew there was no way he could. Tsukasa rubbed the tears away from his eyes before leaning down to place a sprinkle of a kiss on Rui’s cheek and then disappear on the back of his mouse friend.
He knew that it wasn’t hatred that moved him to do what he did. He knew that this was what Rui wanted. It was something that brought him happiness. And how could Tsukasa fault him for that? How could he tell Rui to stop doing the thing he loved the most? If Rui had told him to stop scavenging forever, that would only deepen the rift in their relationship. And Tsukasa was scared of making Rui hate him even more.
So Tsukasa swallowed his sobs and buried his face in the mouse’s fur as they ran down the streets of the city that was barely waking up.
Rui waited until he could no longer hear the sound of tiny footsteps before opening his eyes and sitting up on the bed. He rubbed his palms over his sore and tired face. He knew that he had made a mistake in letting Tsukasa go. But it was too late. He knew there was no way for them to go back to how things were.
Just then, his phone vibrated on the table beside his bed. Rui answered in a raspy voice, “Hello-“
“Rui! What in the world are you doing?!” Nene’s usual quiet voice was unexpectedly loud on the other end of the line, “I just saw Tsukasa in the streets earlier and you weren’t with him.”
Rui sighed and pushed back his messy bangs, “Nene, we got into a fight. He probably doesn’t want to see me ever again.”
“Are you kidding?” Nene sounded pissed, “He traveled all the way here for you. To an entirely new place. Risking his own life. Just to see you again. And you think that he hates you?”
“But it’s already too late-“
“It’s never too late. Rui, I know you’re scared of time slipping from you but I can assure you, you still have so much time,” Nene spoke softer then, “do you want to regret this decision for the rest of your life?”
The rest of his life…
Rui was scared of confronting the future, sometimes the mere thought of what his life would be like in a few years was enough to send him into a panic. But he tried to think about it, and when he did…He realized that he would be able to achieve everything he wanted. But would he be happy? Without Tsukasa?
No.
“Go after him,” Nene said but by then, Rui was already dressed and out the door. He rushed out of the house and down the streets into the city, eyes glued to the floor in a desperate search for the runaway fairy.
Tsukasa was riding the back of his mouse friend when the mouse let out a loud squeak as someone accidentally stepped on his tail. The shock caused the mouse to buck Tsukasa off his back and scurry off for a place to hide. Tsukasa exclaimed as he fell in a heap and groaned as he rolled onto his side and tried to push himself back up. He gazed up and his eyes widened when he saw a woman’s heel coming down on him.
“Rui!” Tsukasa cried the first name that came to his mind and suddenly the woman stumbled to the side as a figure slid across the floor in front of her and captured Tsukasa in his hands.
Tsukasa blinked away the dust and his eyes widened when he saw Rui coughing and wheezing on the pavement while struggling to push himself up on his arms. “R-Rui! Why are you-don’t move!” Tsukasa rushed to place his hands on Rui’s elbow in an attempt for the boy to stay down and catch his breath. Tsukasa noticed the bruises and cuts along Rui’s arm from the fall and his eyes welled up with tears as the courage he had been mustering just fell apart.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry I caused you to get hurt,” Tsukasa wailed as large tears fell down his face, “Don’t die, Rui! I love you-please don’t die!”
“I love you too,” Rui whispered as he scooped a crying fairy into his palms and smiled with tears in his eyes, “and I’m not dying.”
Tsukasa looked up in shock with large, unblinking eyes before breaking down from relief this time. He stood up and placed his hands on Rui’s forehead as they pressed their heads together, “I’m so glad! I’m so glad you’re okay and you’re not hurt and you love-you…You…” Tsukasa finally registered Rui’s words, “You love me?”
Rui nodded, “Before I met you, I was a recluse that had already given up. I hated having people pity me, and truly believed that everyone would be better off if I was gone. I never thought that someone so small would become someone so important to me…Someone who empowered me, inspired me, encouraged me to dream again.”
“But I’m holding you back from that dream,” Tsukasa protested despite how Rui’s words caused his heart to flutter higher than the clouds.
Rui shook his head, “I can have you, and my dream. It will be hard and I will struggle, but I want to do it together with you.”
“This sounds like a marriage proposal,” Tsukasa made an attempt at a joke despite the way his nose was running and his cheeks were blotchy with tears.
Rui paused as a tear slid down his chin and he let out a shaky laugh, “I guess it does.”
Amidst the crowd of people hurrying to their next location and not even looking away from their phones and watches, Rui shared a kiss with his most important treasure.