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Then.
Life was amazing then. Nene had an amazing boyfriend– that being her annoying childhood friend, Rui Kamishiro, and the troupe had been able to save the Wonder Stage.
Although Rui did get on her nerves a lot, she always held the boy in her heart. There was just… something about him that brought him ever so close to her ever since the two had known each other.
She had taken down her walls just for him and had fallen in love thereafter. The two loved each other so much, it was heaven.
When they announced this to their theater troupe, the other two members were ecstatic about this, extremely happy for the two lovebirds.
Nene and Rui, that was what was. The two of them, inseparable, as one. Together.
But that was only then.
Something happened that changed their world forevermore.
And nobody wants to speak about it.
Now. (NENE)
Nothing ever stays the same, Nene knew that. But God, a break-up was a little harder to get over than she thought it would be.
It seemed easy in theory, all of those shows, movies, and musicals made it seem so dramatic sometimes, but Nene thought it was too overexaggerated. But, there was a lot more mental gymnastics involved that they don’t usually show besides overplayed performances.
As the two were neighbors, Nene was constantly reminded of him whenever she went outside or looked out her window. Somehow, without fail, she'd see him outside, and sometimes he would look back without saying anything or expressing any emotions. After, he'd just walk away as if Nene didn’t even exist.
And it was all because of that one night. Neither of them wants to talk about it or let alone remember it, but still, that very night would forever be etched into the two’s minds.
With a sigh, Nene closed her curtain, she had enough of staring out her window as usual. She didn’t want to see him again. All of their happy memories feel like nothing now. Nene wanted the purple boy back, but neither is willing to talk to the other.
God, what a dilemma that could’ve been solved so easily, but they both just had to be so stubborn about it. It was a matter of pride and ego at this point.
How was this ever going to end?
Now. (RUI)
Rui wasn’t that much of a fan of confrontation. So of course, he backs out yet again.
Although the two were always able to keep their break-up hidden from the rest of their troupe– though, not as well as they both think, as Tsukasa and Emu could definitely tell something was up between the two childhood friends– they both were rather apparent with refusing to work with the other. In ways such as denying roles where the two would have to be romantic with each other or not wanting to be alone with the other in an enclosed space.
The walls that had been taken down before were now put back up once again. Their usual bickering became a little more personal, and there was just… some kind of aura between the two of them whenever they were together.
All because of one night neither wants to acknowledge.
Trying to get his mind off of everything, Rui continued to work on another random machine. But even doing what he loves would remind him of that green girl, as he would start wondering if Nene-Robo is working just fine, and then he went back to sulking even thinking of those four letters.
Everything always somehow draws parallels with that damn girl. It was such a terrible cycle of pain.
The purple boy sighed as he dropped the machine to the table, too mentally drained to continue.
He had another thing coming for him later, dreading every second before it came.
A neighbor was having a formal birthday, and the two had to attend.
Rui knew that he was going to have to face that girl, once again.
He had to make sure not to back out again this time. That was the very least he could do.
Party
Nene stared at her reflected self in awe, the mirror shining along with her.
She never really had an occasion to use such a flashy dress such as this, but she had to follow the dress code for the party.
But there were no complaints from her, as she thought she looked so stunning in the sparkly purple dress she had donned on, a dress that her mother bought for her one time that she never found any reason to use until now.
The dress matched her similarly sparkly purple eyes, making her ever so gorgeous than ever. She loved it.
With her hair straightened and down, and makeup done, it was time for her to leave the house and head to the place where the party would be held.
…But she knew that he would very much be there as well. But this time, she wasn’t going to back down like she usually did. She was stronger now, she could do it.
She had to.
***
The ballroom was crowded, but it was maneuverable at the very least. The lights were dimmed and a disco ball lit up the area with shines, reflecting light all around the area.
It was absolutely enchanting.
But, Nene was quickly beginning to get overwhelmed. Her parents left her to talk to more family friends she didn’t know, she kept looking for somebody to talk to, but there was no one.
She stood alone in the crowded room in her sparkly dress, on the verge of leaving. That was, until she landed eyes on that very purple boy, wearing a black tuxedo that made him look ever so charming as she knew him to be.
The two stared at each other, people passed by them, but they never broke eye contact.
Seeing him like this made her only miss him more. The same would go for him, as seeing her in that dress just made his heart break a little more. They both wanted to tell the other that they missed them, but neither knew how to do so.
How could such a simple miscommunication lead to such dire fallout? The two were very much longing for the other, but… how were they supposed to even begin with apologies? The other continuously wondered if the other felt the same way they do. If they hurt as much as they do right now.
Nene was just dying to be held by him again, she began pulling a little at the side of her dress in anxiety as the other snapped out of his thoughts and looked away as if he didn’t see Nene there in the first place. The silence between them was deafening.
The two kept acting like they didn’t care, but in actuality, they did. A little too much.
As they kept pretending to go along about their night, the lights dimmed even more as the music stopped and the DJ spoke into the mic.
“Alright, ladies and gents. It’s that time of the night…Like in Western culture, we shall be having the slow dance.”
The music instantly changed to something more classical, relying on violins more than the other instruments.
Suddenly, the crowd around begins to push the two around, moving them in all directions so easily.
When the pushing stopped, that’s when the broken-up couple was face to face. Practically everybody around had found themselves a partner to dance with, and in the distance, the two could see their parents dancing with each other as well.
It was sort of putting some kind of pressure on them in a way. Which gave Rui the greatest of all opportunities. He extended his hand out to the past-green girl and gave one of his signature smirks. “So, would you like to dance?”
Nene grumbled under her breath and begrudgingly took his hand in hers. He pulled her closer to him, both of their chests against each other as the girl looked up at the taller boy. “Are we… going to talk about it?”
The two began to slow dance, both of their hands locked in the other’s. They were both red to the point of exploding, but they tried to hold it in. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to, of course.” He said reassuringly, smiling at the girl who flushed red even more, which in turn made him redder too.
“Then… can we not? I want to focus on the dance right now.” She held the boy a little closer.
“If that’s what you want.”
Although stumbling a bit at first, they both quickly found their rhythm and began to dance properly, their feet and bodies moving in sync as they looked into each other's eyes with the love they held before their breakup.
The two shuffled around, as Rui decides to twirl Nene around and catch her in his arms, stealing the show as a spotlight was placed onto them.
A little awkward, but they retained their composure as they both continued to dance.
This was it. This was the moment.
“I’m sorry.” They both said at the same time, causing the two to laugh a little.
“…I forgive you,” Rui said as he kept holding onto Nene.
“Me too… it’s impossible not to stay mad at you, no matter how many times you annoy me.” She smiled at him, moving her face a little closer to his.
“Then… I guess we should talk about it later. It’s best to have a conversation about such a thing.”
“Later.”
The dance came to a close, the music ending along with the two. Rui placed his finger under Nene’s chin and lifted it to make her look up at him. “I love you.” He said with a smug grin.
Without any warning, Rui pulled Nene into a kiss as the spotlight was kept on them.
Shocked at first, Nene slowly leaned into the kiss, her body releasing her tension as all her walls crumbled down. She closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him close to her.
After the kiss ended, the two pulled away from each other and smiled.
“So… does this mean we’re back together again?” Nene looked at the boy, awaiting his answer.
“Hm… Yes. We are.” He said, causing the mossy-haired girl to pull him into one last kiss.
The End.
EPILOGUE
At the Wonder Stage, A pink-haired girl was setting up a banner backstage, the words written haphazardly as if whoever was writing it was doing so blindfolded. The words read as; RUI AND NENE GET ALONG INTERVENTION!
The troupe’s blonde leader looked up at the girl, holding onto the ladder she was on. “Haha! With this plan, Nene and Rui are sure to be friends once again!” He said proudly, putting his hand to his heart, nearly shaking the ladder and the girl on it.
“Careful, Tsukasa-kun! I might fall if you keep moving like that!” Emu said, still focusing on fixing the banner to the wall.
“That’s fine! I’ll just catch you in my arms, my princess!” Tsukasa said assuringly.
“Aww~ My hero!”
Then, they could hear footsteps approaching the stage. Emu quickly got down from the ladder and took Tsukasa’s hand in hers as they waited for the two to enter.
Rui opened the backstage door first, entering with Nene holding his hand behind him.
“Guys!!!” Emu screamed, trying to look intimidating at the green and purple pair. “We’ve been noticing something wrong between the two of you, so we decided to create an intervention for the two of you-”
“We’re dating again,” Nene said like it was nothing, shrugging a little.
Tsukasa and Emu slumped a little, disappointed that they couldn’t go on with the plan they had worked on for a while, but happy once again that the two had made up.
“That’s amazing!” Tsukasa pulled the two in a hug, receiving a chuckle from Rui and a groan from Nene, Emu quickly joined in the group hug.
While in the hug, Nene and Rui looked at each other and smiled.
And with that, everything was all well in Wonderlands x Showtime once again.