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She sighed, the door to the changing room shutting behind her as she situated her bag on her shoulder. The sun was setting before her eyes, a moment that felt solemn, signifying another day's end. That’s right…when she got home, she should probably study. She shuffled over to the benches in front of the wonder stage, glancing over them and the reflection on the cool metal. She then remembered the various ideas she had been meaning to share with Rui, hesitating to reach into her bag when footsteps approached her.
“Nene, I hope you weren’t waiting long,” that familiar voice called out to her, peeking over her shoulder.
“Shall we head home?”
She jolted slightly, glancing over and sighing promptly.
“...I wasn’t,” she reassured, moving her hand to secure it around the strap of her bag, watching as he stepped beside her.
“Have you said your goodbyes?”
“Yes, I have…”
“Then we should be good to go,” he smiled, walking ahead, turning to make sure she was keeping up with him. She sped up just a bit until she stood next to him, trying to build up the courage to ask him to look over her papers. She looked up at him, watching the way his eyes stayed focused on the path ahead. Of course, with the passing of time, Nene had gotten much better at many things. Her acting had improved, she was able to talk to her classmates with more confidence, and she had found a place where she belonged, full of people she loved. Though maybe the anxiety that came over her as of late had more to do with the fact that she loved a certain one of them more than she should have. She had always felt attached to Rui, since around the first time they met. They had been through so much together, and the time they were separated had taken quite a toll on her. Not too long ago, she would’ve thought it impossible to ever be that close with him again. She was grateful for the bond they shared, but she wasn’t sure how long she could keep up this facade. Even the way her heart raced around him made her sure that he’d hear it eventually.
“What were you looking for earlier?” he asked, breaking the silence between them. Nene jolted slightly, his question bringing her back to her senses. That was right- she wanted to talk about a scene she thought might be good in their newest show. She stopped in her tracks, bringing her bag a bit forward to rummage through it, pulling out a solid-colored folder, a few papers kept inside. She pulled out the paper sitting in the very front, ahead of all her school work and such. She held it out to him, not saying much. Still, he accepted it, glancing over it. As he did, Nene slipped the folder back into her bag. Normally, she wasn’t one to do stuff like this, especially taking time during school for ideas, but questions about certain scenes led to her mind drifting off to the overall story…and then to some parts, Rui left out.
“Is this us?” he asked, a cat-like smile dawning on his complexion as he pointed to the cutesy doodles on the side of her notes. She was surprised, immediately reaching out to take back the paper. However, when it came to height advantage, Rui easily outdid her.
“Rui, that’s not what I- give it back!” she demanded, and he lowered his arm. She grabbed hold of it, but his grip didn’t falter.
“This must be from when we all lit fireworks…correct?” he asked, her face scrunching up. Drawing wasn’t really a hobby or anything of the sort for her, but whenever class seemed to be just a bit too boring, she enjoyed it. She nodded slightly, gazing down at the drawings.
“And this one here- it’s from when I used to tag along with you after practice, and you’d play the claw machines,” he smiled, recalling that short period of time when Nene was interested in perfecting those skills. When her other games had gotten just a bit too repetitive.
“I didn’t think you were one to be so sentimental,” he commented, his grip finally letting go of the paper. She stared down at what she had originally been so troubled over, almost wishing that Rui would see the underlying meaning. It was already annoying enough having him on her mind constantly, being more nervous at practices than she had been in a long time, and on top of that, working so very hard to keep things between them the same. As they had always been. She could keep telling herself that it was passing infatuation- after all, what other boys did she talk to around her age that were so kind to her…the list may have gotten longer as of late, but Rui had been there from the beginning. She hadn’t drawn these merely out of boredom, she hadn’t waited for him after practice every day just to be nice, she had done it all because of these stupid all-consuming feelings of infatuation. Maybe in the past, it had all been normal acts of kindness, but now…
“Of course, I am…” she muttered, slipping the paper into her bag without bothering to dig back out the folder it belonged in. That had gotten her thinking, what if Rui knew how she felt? Would she be freed of all these feelings?
“Rui, I-”
“Nene, could we stop real quick?” he asked, her gaze meeting the vending machines off to the side in the park they were passing. She nodded, walking over with him. She watched him fish his wallet out of his school bag, fiddling with the zipper before glancing back up at the machine, He hit the same button twice, kneeling down to pick up the drinks. She suddenly felt the cold can of starry hit her forehead, wincing as an automatic reaction before hearing his chuckle once more. Watching him like this, it made her…
“Here,” he offered her the drink, placing it in her hands gently.
“Has something been on your mind?” he asked, he was genuinely worried for her after all. That was just the kind of person he was. She paused, staring up at him. Her hands fell to her sides, one gripping the hem of her skirt, the other gripping the can of starry just a bit tighter. He had asked to stop here out of his own compassion. Ever giving, but never taking.
“You’re always so kind to me,” she spoke barely above a whisper, too scared to meet his gaze as she tried to think of what to say next.
“But- that’s why!” she blurted out, her face slightly flushed as she continued staring down at the ground. She was horrified by what kind of expression he might be making, maybe he could already hear her heart racing.
“Please…tell me that you’re only nice to me because we’re friends…and nothing more,” she mumbled, her eyes starting to burn a bit as the lump in her throat grew hard to ignore. She had forgotten how cowardly she was. She couldn’t really decide if she was hoping he’d say something or nothing.
“Is that really what you want?” he finally spoke up, breaking the nerve-wreaking silence. She could hear footsteps, only stopping when his shoes were fully in her vision. She slowly looked up at him.
“I’m sorry to disappoint you Nene, but admittedly…that isn’t the only reason,” he spoke, his smile soft and apologetic. Maybe it was alright to get her hopes up now…wait- hopes up for what?!-
“Do you want to guess what the other is?” he asked cheekily, leaning down slightly. Her face flushed slightly more, her nose scrunching up.
“T-that isn’t fair!” she mumbled, almost challenging him. He laughed, standing upright once again.
“You’re right- I’m sorry. Then, is now a good time to say it?”
“...Say what?”
“That I like you Nene, of course,”