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rui presses a button and watches the garage door open, then strolls out into the night without much thought. cicadas hum and despite the late hour, while hot air from daytime still lingered in the summer air. his shoes hit the pavement with a soft thump, and he shuts the garage door behind him so nothing would look out of place to anyone who might pass by.
with that out of the way, he takes in a deep breath, having been unable to sleep. where was he headed now?
he winds up outside the tenma residence.
in all honesty, he hadn’t meant to, but in a fit of sleep-deprivation and aimless walking, he had managed to walk all the way to tsukasa’s house from muscle memory alone. he didn’t exactly have a clue as to why, but he was still outside his house regardless. blinking to himself, he recalls a convenience store that would still be open not too far away. and since it wouldn’t hurt to bring tsukasa along..
but before he can even give tsukasa a call, a stern voice hisses at him from above.
“hold it! what on earth do you think you’re doing—?!”
rui jumps, almost dropping his phone while his shoulders shoot upward. he has his explanation ready in his head, all about not being able to sleep and that he ended up outside his house without thinking, that he isn’t truly doing this on purpose, but he then realises an oddity. the voice from above sounded like it did not belong to someone who had been woken up, but rather from someone who was still wide awake. someone just as wide awake as he was.
he looks up, rather puzzled by his discovery. tsukasa’s hair seemed to glow, his displeased face illuminated by the lights outside, and rui cannot take his eyes off of the sight. tsukasa glares at him from the window. “why are you here?! we have school tomorrow, you know! look at the time!”
scolded awake from his daze, rui breathes out a sigh. “well, it is a shame that tsukasa-kun seems to be just as awake as i am at this late hour.”
tsukasa crosses his arms, unamused by his antics. “i woke up and needed some fresh air, that’s all. hey, why aren’t you in bed?”
“i had the misfortune of being unable to sleep,” rui shuts his eyes for dramatic effect. tsukasa grumbles something incoherent in response, not very much expecting to see his best friend standing outside his window at nearly two in the morning.
“that makes the two of us,” tsukasa finally agrees, but suddenly pauses afterward. “..wait, you walked all the way here wearing pajamas?”
rui looks down. he knew he shouldn’t have wandered around the streets wearing nothing but a platypus shirt and shorts that reached his knees.
“ah..”
“rui!”
“there’s a twenty-four-hour convenience store not too far from here,” rui answers. no point in continuing this part of the conversation, he thinks as he adjusts a wrinkle on his shirt. “i was going to ask if we could head there together, especially since it appears the both of us are unable to sleep.”
“that’s ridiculous,” tsukasa sticks his head out of the window, trying to get a better look at rui’s apparel. “besides, i need my sleep! i’m not the one who can't fall asleep.”
“i’d argue that there’s no point in tossing and turning around in bed,” rui smiles.
even with his poor eyesight, rui can see the image of tsukasa’s eyebrows furrowing in a mix of frustration and exasperation. however, a break of uncomfortably long silence tells rui it’s time to make his escape, unfortunately alone, so he nods understandably and makes a slow, drawn out turn, away from tsukasa’s porch.
“hey!” tsukasa calls after him, now more exasperated than frustrated. “rui, don’t you dare stay up even later! head home right now!”
“i’ll only be thirty minutes,” rui assures him with his back turned. tsukasa can practically see the nonsensical grin he wore when making such claims.
“—and if tsukasa-kun were to be that worried about my sleep, someone could always join me.”
tsukasa falls silent, outraged by his schemes, so rui begins to make his slow-motioned way out of the vicinity, dragging out each step. by the time tsukasa doesn’t say a word on his third step, rui assumes that’s the end of the conversation. he’d be mad at him for a day or two, but ultimately, his anger would melt away without getting rui in trouble, usually more worried for him than annoyed. this isn’t the first time tsukasa has caught him doing something he isn’t supposed to be doing either, though rui making secret trips to the convenience store was a first for him.
“..fine,” tsukasa grumbles.
rui almost trips on his fourth step. he turns back around for the second time. “oh?”
tsukasa is already at the door, also in his pajamas, adjusting the back of his shoe. “i’m coming with you. but don’t think it’s because i want to sneak out, it would just be safer if i accompanied you.”
rui tries his hardest not to break into a smile. just for a second, he entertains a vision of tsukasa courageously fighting a cursed spirit to protect him, like a beautiful knight in shining armor. and once the spirit has been defeated, tsukasa would rush over to rui, and pull him into a hug, and anxiously make sure that he wasn’t injured with careful, gentle hands and—
“hey, are you even listening?!”
“i’d be delighted to have you join me,” rui blurts out, feigning nonchalance from being rudely interrupted from his thoughts. “let’s go.”
turning around so tsukasa wouldn’t see, he victoriously breaks into a smile, like he’s won a battle that he didn’t really mean to start. and eventually, tsukasa silently closes the door and catches up to him.
ㆍ┈┈ㆍ┈┈ㆍ┈┈ㆍ┈┈ㆍ
the bright lights outside the convenience store are momentarily blinding when the pair finally approach its vicinity, blaring lights of the sign ‘open 24/7’ enough to catch the eye of anyone who passes by. tsukasa enters behind rui, grumbling under his breath about having to get up early as he brushes nonexistent dirt from his pants. the cashier welcomes rui in, with him returning the greeting, much to tsukasa’s horror.
rui takes a deep breath, turning to tsukasa, then sets off towards the candy aisle without any warning.
“don’t wander off as you please!” tsukasa whispers harshly under his breath, practically running behind him in order to catch up, all while rui scans the shelves, eyes twinkling with excitement. he carefully selects a bag of soda-flavoured gummies and turns to tsukasa, now satisfied. “would you like anything?”
“you are not buying me candy during an illegal outing,” he grumbles.
“it’s not illegal if we’re just spending time together,” rui frowns, saddened by his response. he gives tsukasa a last look before turning back to the candy. “tsukasa-kun likes this brand of chocolate, right?”
without waiting for an answer, rui picks up the chocolate bar and presents it to tsukasa, smiling. from his expression alone, he doesn’t need further clarification to know his memory hasn’t failed him.
tsukasa freezes. “i didn’t even say anything! and anyway, how did you—”
“it’ll be on me,” rui smiles, now striding down the aisle. “don’t worry, no one would ask where you got it from.”
protests are quick to come. “saki’s going to ask!”
he turns to see that tsukasa’s cheeks are flushed. probably out of frustration, rui apologetically thinks, but turns away before he can be caught staring and grabs several more packs of the same soda candy, then heads toward the cooler with the cold drinks.
behind him, tsukasa sighs deeply.
“you know, it’s unhealthy to drink sweet drinks before you go back to sleep,” he begins to nag as rui picks out two cans of juice. “and look at the amount of candy you’ve bought! i hope you’re not eating that all at once.”
“look tsukasa-kun, i picked the one with a cat on it for you.”
he closes the cooler. the drinks are cold against his fingertips, a cooling sensation against rui’s burning palms. tsukasa shakes his head, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, and rui is lucky enough to have turned around in time. he doesn’t want to ever think about leaving just yet, but tsukasa is still quick to remind him. “listen, you said thirty minutes!”
“..ah, has it really been thirty minutes?” rui mumbles. he’s still staring, a more rational part of him warns his thumping heart. he can’t get himself to look away. he never should have chanced hanging around tsukasa alone in the middle of the night, too exhausted to think anything through properly. all of the thoughts and actions he’d never carry out, at least not without mentally hitting himself, are now starting to sound like wonderful ideas when he was this sleep-deprived.
“it has! this is exactly why i came to keep an eye on you.”
“i can assure you i would’ve been fine on my own.”
“i guess so,” tsukasa looks away, sighing. “but is it so wrong for me to worry?”
rui looks away too, his face now set ablaze as his heart threatens to beat out of his chest. “i suppose not,” he manages to respond, his voice soft enough to go unnoticed, but not for tsukasa.
still avoiding tsukasa’s eyes, rui opens the cooler again, desperate to use the cold air to cool his face down, although there’s really nothing else he needed to buy.
as soon as tsukasa’s figure is out of sight, rui breathes out a silent sigh of relief. he blinks, trying to knock himself out of whatever weird state he’s involuntarily ended up in. if he’s lucky enough, his horrendous slip-up at two in the morning won’t condemn the rest of his thoughts, for the entirety next week.
“..there’s nothing else it seems i need to get,” rui eventually musters up enough courage to say, then makes his way up to the register.
a moment later, tsukasa joins him. rui places their snacks on the counter, and the cashier scans all of it with ease and a raised eyebrow that goes unanswered. rui pays, even when tsukasa half-heartedly tries to argue that he should at least cover the cost of the chocolate bar and the juice.
“it’s on me,” rui says, still unable to make eye contact. “think of it as compensation for me dragging you out here,”
tsukasa scowls, but he gives in with no further argument. “but really, i chose to come with you out of my own good will!”
they take their bags and exit the store, the pavement well-lit by the lights outside.
tsukasa eyes a figure walking in the distance. “hey, if we get caught, i’m throwing you under the bus.”
“how hurtful,” rui looks down. “the convenience store bag doesn’t give you away at all.”
tsukasa flounders for a moment, then shoves his bag of snacks into rui’s hands and crosses his arms. “i’m not getting into trouble because of you!”
rui beams. “well, nights where i can’t fall asleep aren’t nearly as eventful.”
tsukasa’s annoyance seems to melt away instantly, and her shoulders drop in resignation. “..i enjoyed this too,” he admits, suddenly bashful. “i admit it wasn’t as bad as i thought it would be.”
rui’s heart practically leaps into his throat. he unsuccessfully attempts to shove it back down. “..really?”
earnestly, tsukasa nods. “indeed.”
he takes one of the bags back. tsukasa’s fingers brush against rui’s as he does so, warmth against the cold from the cooler. his heart feels like it’s in his mouth as his gaze travels downward, all the way down to their hands. it’s hard to see much past the light from the convenience store sign, which may be for the best, because even the vague outline of their hands so close has his stomach doing somersaults.
rui wants to grab hold and never let go, but he refrains. he values his friendship with tsukasa too much to do anything that might put it in jeopardy.
“thank you, tsukasa-kun,” he whispers. but it’s not enough, it doesn’t even scratch the surface of the words that threaten to spill out of him if he makes the wrong move. but it is all that he can bring himself to say.
“thank you too,” tsukasa replies, a voice usually so bold and loud now turned quiet and gentle. warmth floods rui’s chest, despite the cold from the convenience store still lingering on his fingertips.
ㆍ┈┈ㆍ┈┈ㆍ┈┈ㆍ┈┈ㆍ
“don’t you dare do this again,” tsukasa chides as rui pries open the lock to tsukasa’s house, all with a self-made lockpick crafted from hand. “we were lucky we didn’t get caught!”
rui glances over his shoulder, already smiling the same mischievous grin tsukasa had grown to secretly dislike less and less. “tsukasa-kun, my new gadget worked.”
“rui—!”
“now you may enter without making any noise,” he steps back to reveal an open door, proud of his handiwork. “and if i do go out again, you’re welcome to join me.”
“you wish! absolutely not.”
rui deflates. “leaving me all alone, in the darkness of the night..”
tsukasa rolls his eyes. he has the second grocery bag still hanging from his wrist, and he fidgets with the handle for a moment, the silence replaced by plastic crinkling as if he had something to say. rui waits.
“you know,” tsukasa starts slowly, “i wouldn’t mind having you here when you can’t fall asleep. i have tea that can send us both to sleep. or if you ever need company during a trip to the store, but only when the sun’s still up.”
rui’s heart pounds away in his chest, in a manner that is too loud, too out of control that he’s afraid tsukasa might hear it. the adrenaline in his body is enough to keep him awake for the rest of the week. “..like if i were to sleep over?”
tsukasa plays with his fingers. “only if you’d like to.”
rui’s face twists into an expression of barely concealed excitement. it takes every muscle in him not to grin, the tremendous effect turning his knuckles on the plastic bag white. “in the event i’m unable to fall asleep again, then yes.”
“good.”
tsukasa hesitates for a moment before taking a step closer to rui. his movements are stiff, hesitant, until he’s able to look rui in the eye. however, he must find something there that reassures him, because after a quick pause, his lips are pressed to rui’s cheek.
the kiss is over just as quickly as tsukasa came, but the electrifying warmth lingers. the scent of citrus lingers.
“don’t do anything stupid in the meantime,” is all tsukasa says before he turns on his heel and disappears into his home.
as the door closes with a soft click, rui lifts his hand, brushing his fingers against the graced spot, stunned into silence. he stands there for longer than he’s willing to admit, replaying the conversation in his mind, a grin he’s certain looks ridiculous growing wider and wider with each passing second.
now, he’s definitely not sleeping for the rest of the night, he thinks to himself.
after a minute, and another passes, rui finally gathers enough control of himself to walk all the way back home, staring at the plastic bag, his body thrumming with adrenaline. when he reaches his garage, he even has the capacity to remember to shut its door behind him before collapsing onto his sofa. he lies on his back, staring up at the ceiling with a hand in his hair.
rui’s cheeks ache from how long he’s been smiling for.