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Kamishiro Rui was 17 years old when he had first fell for the brightest, most dazzling soul in the universe.
His thoughts came together to finally reveal and thank the one person responsible behind who he is today as human, the one person who he had been searching for ever since he was but a child.
All those years ago, his mother had promised him that fate would find him someone he could finally be himself with, just as how she met his father all those years ago. He thought that finding someone as ‘eccentric’ as people deemed him to be was borderline-impossible, and those words that fueled his tiny fire of hope that he would infact find someone meant for him quickly burnt out reaching middle school.
Although he still met someone, he just wished their bond was more than shared loneliness at the time. More than something that was purely meant to keep the other alive, and the smallest desire to live and continue breathing the next day.
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He didn’t know what prompted him him to follow the head of blonde into Phoenix Wonderland, although the smirk lingering on his face told Nene practically everything she needed to know as he trailed behind the shorter male who had yet to acknowledge their presence.
The rest was history.
Shortly after he had joined Wonderlands x Showtime, he inevitably ended up breaking ties with the same people he thought to be different. It never mattered how enthralling Tsukasa was at the time, it never really mattered when it came to anyone around him, none of them wanted to pursue a friendship, let alone anything more. And besides, it’s not like he’d ever wanted to be associated with someone as selfish and uncaring as Tenma Tsukasa, right?
The next thing he knew, the very same person who yelled at Nene, who he thought to be egoistical and shallow, had been kneeling down in front of him, hand extended as he waited for the taller boy to take it in his own. His mind raced in all the right ways, all he could do was fondly smile and think, “One last time.”
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At this point, the two were quite literally attached by the hip, and seeing one without the other is a rare sight indeed.
Rui loved that, infact, he quite frankly loved everything about Tsukasa, yet he never understood why. Human emotions were always complex and unpredictable, and his attachment to his star (As cheesy as at may sound, Rui absolutely adored calling the star his. If only the little Rui inside his head had the confidence to fully admit that out loud.) just came naturally. I mean, if the person who you fully trusted and cherished with your all makes you feel fuzzy and warm inside, what would you consider them?
Rui never had many experiences in friendships, so the conclusion he reached in that short amount of time was a strong need to be around his closest friend.
And so the more time the pair spent in eachother’s company, the more amusing their antics became. Whether it be setting off fireworks on the school’s rooftop to exploding a classroom during lunch period, Tsukasa always protested that he had “No such involvement in any of Rui’s experiments!” . The purple haired teenager knew that Tsukasa never truly thought of separating himself from the Oddball 1-2 name. It somewhat reminded him of those people who insisted that they disliked cats yet adopt one and treat it to the best quality food and toys while simultaneously saying they still dislike the cat when it’s all cuddled into their lap. Rui found that aspect of him endearing. In fact, one of the main reasons Rui loved playing and teasing with Tsukasa were for his endearing and over-the-top reactions. They couldn’t help but pull him in more.
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Back to the present time, and all Rui could think was: “how could I ever ask for more.” After a long day full of laughs and hardships, he found himself getting scolded by a teacher, resulting in being separated from his newly found friends. Tsukasa was beside him, brows furrowed, looking deep in thought with a blank sheet of paper in front of him. They were being forced to write apology letters after getting caught by a teacher making a ruckus for the second time during their school trip, Tsukasa not even being in his assigned room for the night. A twinge of happiness that they had only eachother as company in such a comforting atmosphere made itself known through his sincere smile. Although that moment didn’t last long before Tsukasa broke the silence.
“As class president and future star, I should be a role model for others, and yet here I am, two days in a row, getting so rowdy that I ended up getting scolded like this..! Such blunder!”
“Hehe. It’s true that we might’ve gone a bit overboard, but…”
“Somehow it was refreshing for me.”
Being given the opportunity to be surrounded by people who genuinely like him for who he is inside, even if they were just having anything as little as a pillow fight like today. Or maybe being able to go sightseeing with everyone, watching the parade..Although he sheepishly admits Tsukasa’s genuine and earnest laugh - not something you hear often, after him and Shizuku reconciled with Tsukasa, Airi and Mafuyu when they got lost amongst the crowd… that laugh was most certainly a highlight. It made him feel warm again.
The best way to describe that feeling was like the adrenaline you’d get from preparing for a show. A nervous, yet exciting feeling.
“All that excitement, all that fun with everyone, everything. It’s all thanks to you, Tsukasa.”
“Me?”
He had come to the realization of the warm sensation overtime after gradually spending more and more time with Tsukasa. He made him feel special, and thought of how his younger self yearned for something like this.
That’s when it hit him, a simple yet daunting phrase that Miyake had told him earlier that day. He’d heard similar things from others many times beforehand, and thought nothing of it, but replaying those words in his head felt different, like he was trying to dig something up in the back of his mind, not knowing what.
“Miyake told me that ever since I started hanging out with Tsukasa, I’ve begun to smile a lot more than I used to back then. And so little by little, he began wanting to talk to me.”
He was sure his face looked like complete mush with the fondness his expression carried towards the blonde next to him, but that didn’t stop him from continuing.
“…In fact, I think I’ve changed a lot.”
From fearing that his actor would abandon him like everyone else did when they got hurt, so much so that that he was willing to stop the things that he was passionate for, just for the sake of wanting to keep him safe. Comparing that to how far he’s come now.
Aside from the occasional doubt here and there, he knew that his actor would always give him his 12000%, while the director marvelled in the star’s beauty from the sidelines.
“I had always thought that I’d never be able to properly understand the people around me.”
That used to be nothing more than an equivalent to a fact. He’d always end up scaring people one way or another, that was, until..
“And as I started doing shows at the Wonder Stage with everyone, my way of thinking and feeling began to change.”
“Now I’m able to understand and connect with someone without relying on shows, and I’ve come to value the beauty of laughing alongside others.”
That’s right. He found people that he belonged with, he found ways to connect with others, pushed himself outside of his 2 dimensional box-like way of thinking, and the world finally opened his eyes as he spoke.
“That’s why, Tsukasa. Thank you for giving me the chance to change.”
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Kamishiro Rui was 17 years old when he had first fell for the brightest, most dazzling soul in the universe. And falling in love with a star had alas, been a gift to him from fate itself.