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“Tsukasa, are you gonna go to the school festival next Saturday?” Rui asked the troupe leader as they were painting the flats for their next performance: a parody of a 60’s children's show. It was Nene’s proposal, and everyone— especially Emu, was on board. The problem was that they didn't have a single prop to match the aesthetic; so Rui’s theatre tech expertise came in handy.
Tsukasa had to admit it, Rui Kamishiro was an extremely capable leader in this situation! It was truly admirable, he noted. Maybe a little too admirable, as he was caught staring at Rui by Nene, Emu, and by Rui Kamishiro himself…
Like now. “Tsukasa, you're staring again.” Rui snapped his fingers in front of his face until Tsukasa jolted and coughed meekly. His face turned red from embarrassment and started to paint faster to distract himself.
“Sorry!! What did you ask again? School festival?! Yeah, I'll be there!!” He blurted, not noticing the paint flying onto his face and clothes from the aggression of his brush stroke. This was the fifth time this week he had been caught. Tsukasa doesn't know what's causing this, truly. Just a few weeks ago he saw Rui Kamishiro normally— Eccentric, smart, and a good friend. Now Tsukasa can't see him as anything but charming, weird, intelligent, and a great friend. Rui didn't seem to notice the effect he had on Tsukasa, as far as he knew. But then again, he's smart! He probably has the answer to this fiasco already, but won't bring it up!
“You’re going? That's great!” Rui stopped painting for a moment to turn his full attention to Tsukasa. He went into thinking mode, which prompted him scratching his chin with his finger— A finger coated with orange paint from god-knows-where. Before his paint beard got worse, Tsukasa impulsively dropped the paintbrush and grabbed the arm and guided it away from his face (which was incidentally closer to himself, Tsukasa noted).
Noticing the confusion on the genius’s face, the troupe leader tried to voice the issue, but no words came out. Tsukasa sighed, but persevered through the disturbance and pointed to his paint-coated finger and then to his chin. Except the finger got too close, so he ended up tapping Rui's chin instead of a simple gesture. The performer quickly withdrew his hand, nodding vigorously when he saw that the stage director understood.
“Oh, so that's the concern. Not to worry, it's only temporary!” Rui assured him. It obviously wasn't very reassuring when Tsukasa huffed and took out a wet wipe and shoved it into the hand he didn't realise he was still clasping onto until that moment. How can I be so absentminded?! He thought to himself in frustration, ripping his hand away from his companion. At this point, he couldn't care less if Rui was royally confused with his puzzling actions. “Tsukasa, I don't know where specifically the paint was applied. A little help?” Rui tilted his head as he held the wet wipe in his hand.
The troupe leader scoffed. “If this is your way of indirectly asking me to clean it for you, so be it.” He didn't say no, Rui noted. Tsukasa definitely didn't mean no when he started softly rubbing the wet wipe on his chin, thoroughly cleaning the paint off. He got lost into the stage director’s eyes, but only for half a minute. He quickly snapped back into reality, but then noticed that Rui was examining him— his eyes scanning the performer’s clothes, and then his face (for a longer duration than the examination of his clothes, Tsukasa noted). “It’s all clean, you're welcome!!” He spat out, turning away and throwing the wet wipe into the trash can they kept nearby.
Completely ignoring the unresolved tension, they went to continue painting the flats, only then noticing they were all completely painted. Even the other props were done— the backdrop, the television, everything the two of them were tasked with constructing and painting. Emu and Nene worked on the costumes, soundboard and script. How long have we been here for?! Tsukasa thought, blinking rapidly. That would not go unanswered for long as he looked out the window: the sun was already going down. “We should go home soon. If I stay out too long, Saki’ll send a search party out for me.” Rui seconded that. They gathered the supplies and put them in the designated spots, Tsukasa crossing out the tasks on the shared clipboard they kept backstage.
“Today was very productive, and I couldn't have done it without you, Tsukasa.” Rui spoke warmly, making direct eye contact for a split second, before focusing his gaze on Tsukasa’s freckles instead. Tsukasa hummed in agreement, turning his attention from Rui to his paint-splattered clothing instead. He sighed in frustration. It may be old clothing, but seeing clothes dirty was a punch to the gut to him, old or new. The technical genius seemed to have noticed.
“If you'd like, I could lend you one of my old costumes to wear home, and I can wash yours alongside my painty clothes..” Rui suggested, motioning towards the costume rack. Tsukasa was flattered, but clearly had his doubts. “If that's the case, couldn't I just wear one of my costumes?”
“Tsukasa, you make it a point to keep yours at home. Something about cleaning yours in a specific way that gives it more shine!” Rui alludes, already grabbing one of his own costumes. The troupe leader was about to bite back, but realised he did have a point. No sense fighting it… He thought, taking the costume from Rui, beelining straight to the dressing room. As he was changing, he immediately noticed the costume was a bit big on himself. At least the bottoms were shorts, so he didn't have to fear tripping on the pant-legs.
“Thanks for doing this… I'll return it tomorrow ASAP!!” Tsukasa declared, handing his dirty outfit to Rui, albeit a little hesitant but nevertheless the exchange was complete. “It's no trouble—” The director started, but after noticing his leader’s attire, he paused, making an O shape with his mouth.
“Rui? Everything okay?”
…
“I’veee… gotta go now.”
Tsukasa left the stage, but couldn't get his director's admiring eyes out of his head. When he turned back to get one last look, Rui was walking the opposite way. Of course. His house was on the other side of the city, which made it inconvenient for Tsukasa and Emu to travel by foot.
In moments like this, Tsukasa believes that no matter how close they are, Rui is just out of reach.
Or so he thinks.