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Tsukasa looks back at the purple haired boy happily picking through Tsukasa’s own lunch and trading his vegetables for whatever he seems fit. The blond almost opens his mouth to call him out, but Rui’s mischievous smile is nowhere to be found.
Tsukasa’s cheeks flush a shade of pink as he watches Rui grin and dig through his lunchbox. He shouldn’t be as endearing as he is, but Tsukasa’s long had to accept the fact he is helplessly enthralled by the odd boy.
Tsukasa smiles. He’s known Rui for roughly half a year now, and he enjoys all these moments. He’s forever grateful for that fateful day he burst through the rooftop door and found Rui.
☆彡
Tsukasa bounces one leg energetically as he rambles on about his most recent Yokai discoveries to Toya, and Akito, too. His tanuki and kitsune companions have been getting along so well recently, he has to update them on his progress.
“You’re right, Tsukasa-senpai, that is rather extraordinary.” Toya nods, actively engaging with the conversation, while Akito picks at his food.
Tsukasa laughs boisterously, opening his mouth to respond before quickly bringing his hand up to cover his mouth; a sudden wave of nausea hits him. He squeezes his eyes shut and shoots up from his seat, clenching his teeth to avoid throwing up.
“Pardon me,” he rushes to say stiffly before booking it out of Toya’s classroom. He doesn’t turn back when the younger boy calls out to him.
He pushes past groups of students who all perfectly stand right in his way, hoping that the next time he opens his mouth to apologize he doesn’t lose his lunch.
He finally takes a gasp of relief when he reaches the bathroom, stumbling in and catching himself on the sink. He takes his glasses off and cleans the lens with his shirt before plopping them back on his face.
He takes deep breaths and keeps himself leaning up against the sink for support. The pressure in his forehead finally dissolves, and the air around him feels less intense, less heavy.
What was that?!
Once he can finally think straight, he finds his heart beating a mile a minute. What on earth could possibly harness such a strong energy to cause him to react like that? Even the strongest of ghosts he’s had to seal away hadn’t caused a reaction this intense, and that’s including the fact all the spiritual energy he feels is multiplied!
When he returns back to Toya and Akito he tries to ignore the looming dread as he worries just what supernatural force has entered his school.
—
Naturally, being a star student meant that teachers would rely on your abilities whenever they had their hands full! It is something Tsukasa prances around about with like a badge of honor. His classmates don’t seem to understand the pride he holds.
“Tenma, can you carry these papers to 2-b?” His teachers asks him, gesturing to a thick stack of papers sitting on the edge of their desk.
Tsukasa nods so fast his neck hurts as he picks up the pile. It’s pretty heavy, but nothing he can’t manage, he hasn’t been training for nothing, after all, a measly stack of paper can’t take him out. Next to nothing can thwart Tsukasa!
“Of course!” He boasts, already walking towards the classroom. His content hums fill up the otherwise empty hallway, save for the light tapping of his steps echoing off the barren walls and rattling through empty lockers.
He shuffles all the weight to one arm and manages to throw the door open, causing the class in question to go silent and stare at him. Tsukasa walks forward and places down the stack, but before he can get any words out that same sinking feeling overcomes him. Slowly like a snake wrapping his brain, squeezing until Tsukasa feels queasy. He brings a hand up to his forehead to try and fight back against the throbbing of his headache.
He looks around the classroom and doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Oh-! He does spot that new transfer student that he hadn’t yet had the chance to introduce himself to, if only he were in any state to talk right now. That just makes the anticipation all the more, so when the two can finally talk it’ll be far more grand than initially planned, yes! Tsukasa smirks to himself at his own reasoning.
When the teacher thanks him he just weakly laughs and returns on his merry way.
He slides the door back open slowly and takes lethargic steps. He looks back inside the classroom through the windows and spots the new kid making intense eye contact. His cold, sharp yellow eyes piercing right through Tsukasa’s very being, shifting hues like a rich bar of the finest gold. The blond shivers and scrambles back to class; noting, in the back of his mind, that the headache subdues more the further he gets from that room. He’ll have to tell Saki about this new strange phenomenon when he gets home!
—
For at least (at least!!) a month now, Tsukasa, without fail, has had a splitting headache at school. And he’s spent so many lunch breaks searching every inch of the school to try and find the cause. Any yokai he finds lounging around to try and prank some students are never nearly powerful enough to warrant him feeling this affected by spiritual energy; not even his trickster companions can produce that much energy to mess with him.
He does, however, notice that the pain flares up if he happens to pass 2-b. But he keeps that in the back of his mind.
He’s talked to Saki and she had helped some, of course she had! But he had tried all of her ideas when it came to places where yokai could be lurking, and he always had to regretfully report back with no advancements.
So when Saki suggests the obvious answer of, “Just track it!” She exclaimed with an obvious roll of her wrist, “If going in one direction makes it hurt more, keep following it and you’ll probably find the cause.”
Tsukasa then promptly showered his sister in compliments and thanked her eternally for her help. She just giggled and bounced back to the living room.
..
So that is how Tsukasa finds himself here, standing at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the roof (which is actually off limits to everyone except those with special clearance). He’s trying hard to blink back tears of pain as he opens the heavy metal door, its loud creaks have him fearful. He imagines he hears footsteps and quickly jumps to hide behind the door, sighing in relief when it’s actually nothing.
He finally closes the door with a soft click. As he stares up the flight of stairs he sighs, shoulders slumping. He starts the treacherous journey to the supposed root of his problem.
Every step he takes is heavy and the higher he gets the woozier he grows. He grabs onto the metal bar for support, pushing his weight up to the final obstacle between him and whatever is causing him pain. He gasps and turns the knob, using all of his weight to force the door open. He nearly stumbles and falls, but catches himself on the wall.
He looks up, prepared to see something that maybe didn’t want to be seen, but when he glances around, all he sees is the boy with purple hair sitting on the ground. Unopened lunchbox to his right, a bunch of metal parts scattered around him, he’s using a screw driver to put something into place on a small circular robot.
“Huh..?” Tsukasa deadpans.
The boy looks up and his eyebrows rise.
“Hello?” He sets the tools in his hand down next to him.
“You..” Tsukasa raises a finger and jabs it in the slouched boy’s general direction, “You are the one causing my headaches?” he yells, befuddled.
The boy sits up straight and points his finger at his own chest, “Me?” His eyebrows are raised almost comically.
“Yes, you!” Tsukasa grumbles, “For weeks now I’ve had these awful headaches at school, and they apparently happen when you’re near!” He covers his eyes with the heels of his hands and groans.
The boy hums, “Are you sensitive to spiritual energy, by chance?”
The star’s hands fall and it’s his turn to shift his brows, he furrows them deeply, taking offense to the other’s brash question, “So what if I am?” He grumbles, crossing his arms and giving an unforgiving glare to the mysterious boy.
The purple haired boy raises his hands up to show he means no harm, “I have a gashadokuro companion, that’s why I was wondering.” He shrugs noncommittally and Tsukasa nods.
“Aha! I see, I see- Wait... You have a gashadokuro as your companion?” The blond practically yells, running up to Rui and meeting wide eye to wide eye.
“That is what I said.” The gashadokuro tamer deadpans, “yes.” He adds on after a short pause, an extra bit of clarification.
Tsukasa shoots upright and brings a hand to his chin and mumbles as he tries to reason all the possibilities a human boy would have possibly needed to and furthermore have been able to have a gashadokuro companion.
“Hm, well, if that’s the case and you are sensitive.. I suppose I’ll do a better job at masking his presence. I always keep him at arms reach, in case of emergencies, you know~?”
Now, it is Tsukasa’s turn to deadpan, “No. I really don’t. Not in school, anyway.” He mutters before shaking his head, “Anyways, not that I need your help, but that would be greatly appreciated..!”
Rui stared at him for a beat before the boy mumbles, a little starstruck, “Rui Kamishiro,” he smiles gently, a smile unlike the previous devious ones he’d given Tsukasa.
“Then, it would be greatly appreciated, Rui!”
Rui gasps and keeps staring up at Tsukasa with a rather fond expression, Tsukasa isn’t sure why he’s so amazed, but as a star he shall bask in any praise offered!
“Fufu~ of course,” Rui pauses to wait for Tsukasa to fill in the blank.
“Tsukasa Tenma, and don’t forget it Rui! Now, I’ll see you around!” The blond raises one hand before promptly rushing back down the rooftop’s stairs, back to where he came from.
Rui waves, still dumbfounded, suddenly the air feels a little warmer. Hopefully gashadokuro will understand why Rui is doing what he’s doing.
☆彡
“Ah, say, Tsukasa-kun.. what if I fed gashadokuro all of your disgusting veggies? Or perhaps to the tanuki and kitsune?” Rui ponders sweetly, his voice not carrying its usual mischievous lilt for once, shoving a piece of pork into his mouth.
“Rui!” Tsukasa groans, “You ruined our moment!!” The blond cries, poking Rui’s sides to get a reaction out of him, “and you better put that thing away before I get a headache! And stop referring to my companions as yours!”
Rui chuckles, his guard down, his laughter free, “Oh~? We were having a moment?” He purrs, chopsticks still rummaging even as his eyes stay locked onto Tsukasa’s playful scowl.
“You’re impossible.” Tsukasa shakes his head, bottom lip jutting out, as he jerks his head away from the annoying boy.
Said annoying boy whines and sprawls his legs out, hitting Tsukasa’s thigh, “I thought you liked impossible..” he sulks.
Tsukasa’s eyes fly open and his face grows warm, “RUI-!!” He screeches, bringing a hand up to the bridge of his nose and pinching. His shoulders flatten when he lets out a sigh.
Rui’s mischievous smile is enough to make him like impossible.
Tsukasa bumps their shoulders together and groans, milking the bit even more, “I guess I don’t mind it, but please, start being just a little bit more possible.”
Rui’s happier smile does wonders to his beating heart, “Maybe for you.”