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Heroes and villains were always fighting, to the news covering their stories and fights were the most important. But what about the civilians that suffered as a result of their meaningless conflicts?
Business owners suffered as well, even if they kept smiles plastered on their faces when finding out their lives were saved but they couldn’t reopen for a while.
A group of coworkers, definitely friends at this point, work to bring the dishes from various countries across Asia to their customers, although they focus on Chinese food more often than not. Among them is a young woman named Tsukasa who works as much as she can to bring smiles to satisfied customers but also for the paycheck to pay her ridiculously expensive debts.
And her problem wasn’t unique to her; all four of them lived on the floor above the restaurant to save rent since the owner, Mikuo, graciously allowed them to.
Recently there were quiet snides from all four of them, but now it’s because Akito didn’t want to wear some accessories.
“Customers are starting to get rowdy. Even if it is on theme with Mikuo’s vision, they are starting to assume this is the place to cause trouble because of stuff like this...” Akito grumbled.
Aside from that, Tsukasa had picked out Akito’s outfit, mixing whites and oranges and blues together, and adding a black long jacket with a blue inning with the hood always on her mess of ginger hair. Akito knew fashion as well, so when she didn’t object Tsukasa had rejoiced.
Akito mostly worked in the kitchen but she still heard passing conversations.
Compared to everyone else, Tsukasa believed she was the most stylish since her outfit balanced cute and cool perfectly. A sleeveless black shirt, a jacket with oranges and blacks and grays, a singular orange earling. She is the only one wearing a skirt so her tail is a bit bigger. It was supposed to be so it prevented the tail from falling off, but every now and then, it happened to fall off, which resulted in it being used as a football.
One time it knocked her green glasses off her head which banned anyone from using the tail as a football.
But that’s beside the point since now there was a fruitless argument. Tsukasa understood that the tension was not a result of not getting along but rather from the environment around them. No one was jumping to turn on the news nowadays, especially since the last time Mikuo had sat quietly for an hour even after they had turned the broadcast off.
For Mikuo, the cheerful catboy, to not find a positive in this developing situation meant the situation had to be dire and no one knew how to fix it.
It was a slow last hour at the end of their workday. The sun had set a few hours ago, the rush had died down, and clean up was being arranged. Tsukasa was reviewing the menu, making notes on what adjustments could be made based on the feedback she had heard, while Minori was practising his balancing act with his bamboo steamer.
Minori incorporated two outfits together with coral pink, white, and green swirls, a white apron to protect his shirt from accidental food spills. In contrast to the darker colors their last coworker wore. Mafuyu primarily wore black and a lighter purple top with long sleeves to contrast his hair, even further with the small turquoise bows.
“I think you are exaggerating” Mafuyu had simply said while folding the cloth napkins they had washed.
Everyone had little details as there is no set uniform requirement aside from the panda ears and tail, Mikuo was the only exception. So Tsukasa understood that due to how at times nothing seemed connected, their popularity grew.
She wonders if everyone showed their real personalities when serving if their popularity would tank or not. She and Minori were fine, it was the other two. She was delighted to work with them but they were being petty.
It was especially out of character for Mafuyu but maybe it was because he was bored. Boredom was an emotion that wasn’t seldom with him, hidden behind a smile. He didn’t even say much, so something had probably provoked her.
Mafuyu stood taller than everyone due to his converse boots, even if it was only by a few centimeters compared to Akito, this only served to piss Akito off and in retaliation pushed her glasses to fix them as if she were looking down on the purple-haired boy.
Tsukasa can sense the tension between someone usually so stoically happy and someone with a temper. In a way she knew Mafuyu held no opinion about whenever they used these accessories but obviously Akito had done something he didn’t like earlier.
Too bad Mikuo wasn’t here to mediate anything. Tsukasa would have to make an attempt to steer the attention off of each other. She thought she should send everyone to bed early tonight, especially since these two had to deal with a group of entitled customers today.
“I am more suited to be a pegasus than a panda! But you don’t see me complaining!” she announces confidently which makes Akito fire back with “Just like how you’re more suited to be a dork”.
“That’s it! Akito-chan is really cranking up her meanness level, a good dumpling outta cheer you right up!” Minori says while frowning, his hand moving faster than Tsukasa’s mind can comprehend.
When these squabbles happen, Minori is the hope that breaks their silliness apart, even if he fails at times.
“Mhmhhfrmhrgeb” Akito’s words are muffled by fluffy steamed goodness, except it wasn’t a dumpling.
”Good, now you can’t talk!” he says while smiling “And if Mafuyu-kun continues the argument, I’ll do the same to him!”.
Instead of arguing, Mafuyu bluntly states “Why did you have a bao bun in a bamboo steamer?”.
“Eh? That’s not what Mikuo-kun told me he put in there-“ Minori starts saying, clearly confused as he stops balancing the steamer to check its contents when—
A loud thud echoes down the street and a crash sounds from behind the building.
“Everyone!” Mafuyu commands “We have to secure the building. Akito-chan, Minori-kun, come with me”. This wasn’t something new; the city they resided in was prone to acts from villains thinking they should hold extreme power over civilians like them. There were heroes, yes, but the reaction time couldn’t always be perfect and if they wanted to ensure they could stay open they had to follow their protocols.
“Listen to Mafuyu” Tsukasa shouts, she was their leader after all, “I’ll go investigate the back, only worry if I am not back in ten minutes”.
Minori acknowledges her “Don’t do anything reckless if someone is out there” and Tsukasa laughs “I know how to fight! Do not fret!”.
Tsukasa moved fast, knowing that their restaurant was in safe hands as she pushed open the door that looked onto the alley behind the place.
She is greeted with the sight of someone moaning in pain on the floor. Tsukasa is immediately at their side, seeing that they are unconscious.
She notes the black suit with gold accents, black shirt tucked in, and firm gloves on her hands. A black fedora with a gold rose was near her head seemed familiar but the hair threw her off. The hair and the mask that signified this person’s place in society as a villain. Tsukasa doesn’t fully acknowledge this fact, more focused on the clothing.
If it were any other day she would have assumed a morgue assistant had ended up in an alleyway.
Tsukasa reacts almost immediately after hearing the person’s breathing even out, reaching for the mask covered in black bangs, when she takes it off the shadow aura disappears and purple hair with cyan streaks appears. This was the same hair as her regular customer and yet the mask suggested otherwise before being taken off. She had seen Rui take off the mask before, she just had trouble remembering what she looked like when she had it own, hence the slow reaction time.
The mask’s … powers… she didn’t know why it happened but she did understand that this was Rui and Rui was hurt so she had to act fast.
Tsukasa immediately pockets the mask so she can hide it from everyone else; she knew Rui was a villain, she had accidentally found out and despite not knowing what exactly she did she swore she wouldn’t tell. Rui had never hurt anyone, had never ended up on the news in some horrifying cover story.
She thinks it makes sense on which villain she was, Rui does hate vegetables and always requests for none in her plus her friends’ dishes even though the blonde says he doesn’t care.
She shakes her head, she has to act now and think later. She places the hat firmly on Rui’s head again before scoping her up in her arms.
A voice makes her hesitate for only a brief moment.
“Tsukasa-chan,” Mikuo is behind her “That’s Death Vegetable”.
“I know,” Tsukasa replies, stabilizing her grip and lifting her up “But right now she is Rui and she is hurt”. The moment she is in the air, Rui curls up against her, head resting on her chest and fingers curling around nothing. Once she stops groaning Tsukasa turns to face Mikuo “Please do not say anything but her true nature. She will not bring harm to anyone inside or to your business, this is a star’s promise”.
The two stare at each other, Tsukasa’s look turning into a more pleading one, before Mikuo retaliates and opens the door, holding it open for her. He looks at her with a semblance of fondness “Tsukasa-chan really is kind to everyone, isn’t she?”.
The boy’s cheery attitude returns right after, waiting for Tsukasa to pass through, “But Tsukasa-chan has to be the one to explain everything! Ha ha!”.
Her decisions were her own, she doesn’t think anything will happen but in the event something went wrong she’d take accountability. Rui was just a person in need at this moment.
She truthfully didn't like to see the person who always took interest in her, that she took interest in too, to look so sick.
-----------------------------------------
The morning after they can’t open because of the surrounding damage. There was no publicity so no one knows why there was even a rampage in the first place. Some speculate it to be a scuffle between villains, others say it’s a ploy to get heroes' attention, Akito says she doesn’t care since no innocent people got hurt.
With the system in place currently, Tsukasa can’t blame that attitude. Once upon a time, she had wanted to be a hero, like how she was already to her brother, but reality was harsher than she thought.
It was ironic that her brother had become a hero while they grew apart.
Although since Tsukasa brought in a stranger during that event there have been some concerns, even if Mikuo gave the okay. She supposed she was acting like a hero in some skewed way.
Mafuyu was being the real hero right now though since he was the only one that had a prior medical background. He was the one that went in to assess the situation from last night. Tsukasa on the other hand had gotten her intial injures cleaned and looked at and checked to see if any other health problems were at play. She had worked hard to knock down the sudden fever before she went to bed.
“Tsukasa-chan,” Minori says as he sips his tea “I think you did the right thing. She’s been a customer here for so long, maybe she was on the way here for a meal and those villains got in the way”. He smiles at her “They said that no one was hurt yesterday but she was and you acted like a hero and are determined to help her while being strangers!”.
Minori was the one that still held the most admiration for heroes. For the group her brother was a part of, Minori’s shining hero was Idol Heart.
Tsukasa keeps her mouth shut, she knows Rui to the point of being friends, conversations had happened outside of restaurant hours, but Minori doesn’t need to know that “Thank you Minori, I appreciate it”.
He laughs lightly and Tsukasa joins him. Akito’s own laughter, less light, joins theirs as she steps into the room.
Both of them stop as the ginger-haired woman joins them at the table “You guys wouldn’t believe the conversation I just overheard passing by our patient”.
Tsukasa gestures for her to continue “Mafuyu was trying to get her more comfortable after telling her the diagnosis, which I didn’t hear before you ask, and she was asking for the comfortable cushions she slept on. She was muttering about how soft they were”.
“Pfft- there were no pillows in the room” Akito barks out another laugh to the oblivious duo. When she doesn’t hear any reaction, she calms down, surprised no one has caught on.
“We never gave her a pillow so it must be when you carried her” she says while pointing at Tsukasa, pointing a finger slightly below her face.
“HUH?” Minori and Tsukasa say at the same time, the idea clicking for Minori but not for Tsukasa.
“Once you did a pose that articulated your chest, no one else at the table was staring except her. Hey, are you sure she was knocked out?” Akito was implying something.
“Yes I am sure, she was really pale and everything,” Tsukasa starts saying before the reality of what the topic had shifted to hit her “OH MY GOSH? WHICH POSE? #458 OR #127 OR–?”.
The soft object was her chest? Rui didn’t know that? She should be thinking about what Mafuyu diagnosed her with!
“How the hell am I supposed to know?” Akito fires back, clearly confused at the reaction, while Minori replies “Let’s calm down, it just means you’re attractive to her!”.
Tsukasa knew damn well she was attractive, she took care of herself after all, but this was not the time. She groans into her crossed arms on the table while Minori places a comforting hand on her back. Mikuo just seems confused.
Thankfully, Mafuyu coming back ceases the conversation from continuing, Mikuo beside him.
“I can only provide by best guess that It’s amnesia from the blow to the head she likely sustained behind the building” Mafuyu starts as they both join everyone at the table “She appears to be in a state from when she just started her new job, at least from what she tells me, but doesn’t offer anymore details since she can’t recall”.
He continues “I don’t know further than that, it could be temporary or we could be screwed because the accident happened on our property”.
Akito frowns “How do you know she isn’t just being a liar and will run off the second we aren’t looking, spreading lies about us since it happened behind shop?”.
Mafuyu thinks for a moment “She isn’t lying, I can tell. When I asked her why the white-haired boy always stares at me, she couldn’t recall anything. We can wait two days since it could be temporary; if not, we take her to the hospital. That or if she starts showing more concerning symptoms”.
“Yeah the recent crime in the area would suggest the worst and we’d get painted as the bad guys” Minori agrees with him.
“Temporary amnesia can last in some cases a few days but is more likely to last less than 24 hours” Mafuyu points out “The injury doesn’t appear to be severe, so it's most likely the latter”.
“I’ll stay with her until she regains her memory then!” Tsukasa suddenly says, “I’ll tell you guys immediately if something happens!”.
Tsukasa did have ulterior motives, of questioning Rui and keeping her villain identity hidden, and no one suspected it aside from Mikuo who sent her a knowing look. He does keep his word and instead instructs everyone on the job he had prepared.
“We have to welcome all our customers tomorrow with big smiles ☆” he announced as Tsukasa stood up from her seat and made her way upstairs. She does however stop by the kitchen first and whips up a bowl of congee.
As she boils the rice she recalls when she first found out Rui was a supposedly treacherous villain, a villain who had saved her from a theft nearly gone wrong, putting on an act that initially had Tsukasa think she was being whisked away somewhere for the sole purpose of being tortured.
Once they were alone Rui took off her mask, which only led Tsukasa to more confusion but a sudden feeling of security. This was Rui, Rui was Death Vegetable, and she wasn’t as vile as some of the stories made her out to be. They had a brief chat as Rui checked her over before leading her safely to the restaurant.
Her only condition was for Tsukasa to keep a secret and Tsukasa did so wholeheartedly. Before she had stepped in Rui had asked if she was misplacing her trust in her, Tsukasa confidently told her she wasn’t.
Rui had then kissed her hand as if she was a princess. She told her she was an interesting person and that she’d like to know more about her. That she’d like to spend more time alone.
Rui was quite forward.
And now they are here in this situation a few weeks later.
When she steps into the room, bowl in hand, the noise of the door wakes up the patient. Tsukasa moves to sit on the stool beside their makeshift bed as Rui opens her eyes. She doesn’t seem to be fully there, her eyes appear clouded over.
“Are you a hero?” is the first thing she asks Tsukasa, not about herself, not about the congee she had brought, but about if she was a hero.
Rui looks more meek, more cautious, but she seems to have visibly relaxed upon seeing Tsukasa. Her hair was flowing freely, her eyes had bags underneath them, and a bandage was fixed securely on the side of her head.
A villain asking if she was a hero seems ironic. Tsukasa shakes her head, celery wanting her to elaborate. Rui offers her that elaboration “Well, you saved me back there according to the boy that wouldn’t give me his name, therefore you are a hero, perhaps even my hero~”.
"Well don't starting calling me a hero as a subsuite for my name for I am the one, the only, glorious Tenma Tsukasa!" she declares while doing her best to ignore the teasing tone that was evident in that last part of Rui's sentence since Rui didn’t remember much “Regardless of that, here I bet you’re hungry Rui!’.
She places the bowl on Rui’s lap, knowing it was just hot enough to be able to eat and not burn her lap. She inspects it, dipping her spoon in and stirring around “Is there any vegetables in this?”.
It seems she can recall her distaste “Even if I had snuck them in you would have found them instantly”. This satisfies her and she begins to eat quickly, clearly more hungry than she realized.
In between bites it is surprisingly Rui that starts up a conversation, asking her general know-how questions as if Tsukasa were an answering machine. Truthfully Tsukasa doesn’t mind, happy to help out her crush.
Although she knows it is probably from her amnesic state, Rui seemed more childish yet at the same time seemed like the woman that sat at her restaurant table every week without exception.
“Are you alright?” Tsukasa asks after their small talk had gotten more familiar. She figured that Mafuyu wouldn’t have done a mentality check but she didn’t blame him, he wasn’t a licensed doctor and they would never expect the world from him like… some people did.
Rui seems to contemplate the question.
“I went to the bathroom earlier,” Rui finishes her last bite “I feel as if I am missing from my mirror’s reflection because I cannot recall the majority of my memories, therefore can I conclude that I am a fake that is being mistaken for someone else?”.
The spoon clatters in the bowl, the air suddenly feels thicker with uncertainty. Tsukasa can somewhat relate, her memory had never been the best and had faded over time but Rui’s had been forfeited in an instant.
What would she have been feeling if she forgot all her recipes? All the fond memories of hanging out with her friends in the present and her family in the past? Her recent escapades with a Rui that was slightly different? The regret of never helping people enough?
“How do you know my name? Is my name Rui? Am I really her?” Rui questions and she turns to face the window "Why do I remember weird minor details but not the majority of my life? Why a few random codenames and not my own name?".
“No you are Rui, you shouldn’t doubt that” she says while frowning. This got Rui to move her gaze off the window and back to Tsukasa “Fufu, maybe I am just a phony”.
“Maybe that doesn’t have to mean anything!” she replies, louder than she intended to.
Rui’s face remains stoic for a moment, making Tsukasa wonder if she raised her voice a tad till Rui starts laughing “You’re persistent, aren’t you?”.
Tsukasa smiles at the fact Rui has started looking cheerful again “Is that a bad thing?”. The villain shakes her head “I don’t believe so at all”.
She feels a gloved hand reach out toward her, tucking a blonde strand so delicately that it gives Tsukasa a rush of butterflies in her stomach “Hmm I believe that there is no flower in this world more beautiful than an artificial one, yet you are changing my way of thinking in this very moment”.
Tsukasa couldn’t help but laugh again, only this time to avoid her embarrassment “For someone with amnesia you didn’t forget how to be smooth”.
Rui smirks “So I wasn’t blind before I hit my head, good to know~”.
Any more questions no longer need to be said as Tsukasa and Rui make good conversation even if Rui gets lost at points. Tsukasa made sure not to overwhelm her and not to mention anything that could upset Rui.
She even learns the codenames of Rui’s comrades which she can somehow remember; perhaps it correlates with Rui remembering she was starting a new job.
Amnesia is confusing but then again only Mafuyu would know about the different cases.
“Rui, I hope you get better” Tsukasa can’t help but think “But for now, I am happy we're getting time together again”.
As the morning passes into late afternoon, Tsukasa ends up sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with Rui because even though a lot of her memories are gone, her eccentric personality has stayed intact. And like her personality, Tsukasa is staying too.
-----------------------------------------
Tsukasa goes to sleep knowing that they have to take Rui to the hospital tomorrow since it likely isn’t temporary amnesia anymore. She knew that they didn’t know who was at fault or if Rui had accidentally inflicted the injury on herself, but how was she going to explain the situation?
She spent as much time as she could with Rui on the second day but was gone for a few longer periods due to an influx of customers. People wanted to forget another incident with good food and a great atmosphere.
Right now, she was sleeping, trying to gather the energy needed for the new day.
“Good evening Tsukasa-chan” is what wakes Tsukasa up from her slumber. It startles her because her eyes don’t adjust to the darkness quickly.
“UWAH–” a gloved hand moves to cover her mouth before she can properly scream.
She starts blinking repeatedly, wondering if she should shove however was on top of her off but ultimately gives up when she finds that no harm was coming to her.
When her eyes finally adjust, her amber meets gold. Gold that holds a mischievous air.
A gold that was no longer clouded.
“Rui?” she whispers warily.
Rui shushes her “You wouldn’t want to blow my cover now, would you? Especially since you took care of me so lovingly when my memory was misplaced”.
“What time is it?” the blonde groggily asked now that she was calmer, still trying to process the fact there was another person straddling her right now.
“2 am” she says, carefree smile still in place, and Tsukasa groans, about to scold her, when she realizes that Rui seems a lot more coherent.
Rui remembers things, she doesn’t have amnesia anymore, and her sleepy mind says that now she can ask her whatever she wants instead of asking Rui if she was alright.
Tsukasa isn’t thinking when she speaks, clearly still waking up “If there’s a gift for not blowing your cover, tell me about your powers”. Rui’s face is blank for a moment before she smirks, “Whatever your heart desires”.
Rui begins to spill secrets about a power known as sekai, about how she and her comrades were gifted the masks by Picky, and all sorts of things that make her wake up. To think that such powers existed in this world and Rui was using those powers for good in the unknowing eyes of the public.
She was reshaping the world.
Rui then explains how she wound up in the alley. Even though Tsukasa didn’t ask, Tsukasa did want to know.
There was an ambush on her and her comrades; someone had tried to rat out their covers and they were tested. They couldn’t change out of their civilian outfits, they could only put on their masks and flee while the individual known as Instant Boss stayed behind to sort the situation with the ambush leader, partially because of his way with words, partially because of his lackluster physical ability.
“I do not like excessive violence, everyone else agrees, so we split and ran,” she recounts “But my assailant led me to the roofs of these buildings, he fell off one side and I fell off the other side which resulted in the blow to my head”.
Tsukasa stills upon the realization that while Rui fell into the restaurant's back alley, the other guy must have fallen into the construction site… where tons of concrete was being made.
“It’s not nice, but it’s a loose end that was tied up” Rui remarks, not sounding pleased at all, “The people I work with are against these violent and vile acts”.
“But you’re a villain” Tsukasa points out the obvious.
“That’s what the public brands me. And if my facade convinces people not to eat vegetables, then I consider it a win.” Her expression then becomes more serious: “I save people from the inside. I’ve never done what those in higher rank have bragged about to grieving families, never caused destruction if it can be avoided with discussion.”
Tsukasa silently questions her sudden need to leave, Rui indulges her with an answer “They are waiting for me outside, Picky knocked on my window but I told all of them not to come in. I don’t want to startle anyone else”.
“But you startled me out of my sleep, why not Mafuyu? He has the medical knowledge to ‘discharge’ you” Tsukasa questions and regrets it when Rui’s gaze turns colder, when guilt appears in her irises.
“Because even when you found out I was a villain, you treated me the same when I came in to eat. You don’t label me as an outcast and ridicule me,” a cold finger traces her collarbone “I am treated as a traitorous being, yet here you are, feeling safe with said villain so close”.
Tsukasa could only look up at her, barely holding back a shiver.
Rui laughs, taking away the darker atmosphere “I need to go back Tsukasa-chan, otherwise Instant Boss will get very angry with me for being out of commission for so long…”. She pulls an amused face “Just kidding! He’s very compassionate and along with Bread Eater they’re probably sick with worry, even though it’s only been just over a day”.
Rui finally sits up straight “Picky likely will hide his worry though”. She then gets off the blonde, moving to sit on the side of Tsukasa’s bed with her legs swinging “But before I go to them, I have a request of you”.
Tsukasa nods “Sure, if it is something I can do that isn’t as unreasonable as your running joke of putting me and my food into a cannon for fast delivery”.
This earned a chuckle from Rui, yet she didn’t turn around to face her when she spoke.
“If I one day lose this internal war, if I turn into a ruthless and cold hearted villain, failing my job” Tsukasa’s breath hitches “I want you to be the one to stop me, you with your heart of gold”.
Tsukasa gulps “I don’t have that power, make another request of me”. Rui hums in thought for a second. Tsukasa finally shook off her blanket and moved to sit at her side.
Rui turns over to look at her more clearly, slipping her hand in and out of her pocket. Whatever she pulled out isn’t visible.
Rui smiles “Then Tsukasa-chan, I’d like to make a request to your true self. Can you do that for me?~”.
Tsukasa smiles in return, hoping it wouldn’t be something like what she had just asked her “Of course!”.
“Then I’d like you to close your eyes” she says, but Tsukasa doesn’t get the chance to follow through when a cloth covers her eyes; a blindfold “Eh?”.
Her other senses are heightened and she can feel a warm breath on her lips “I notice you here and on the battlefield; don’t you feel a spark with me? Your actions from yesterday tell me to acknowledge my gut feeling to place my trust in you”.
The kiss shouldn’t shock her but it still does make her cheeks flush. She kisses back, a content sigh falling on connected lips. She feels like she had wanted this without knowing and she wants to know more about the woman that stayed behind just to talk to her, the woman that kept asking her out in a non-joking way even though she tried to play it off as humorous.
This kiss seemed like a promise of something more.
It feels like they stay like that for hours when it was only less than a minute, she lingers too much on the feeling shamelessly. Rui lets out a giggle at her eagerness before saying “Gradually, I might be able to use the same words as you, so therefore the same views. So wait till I return again because I heard I’ll be gone for a while, it was only a mere passing comment but I am no fool to the antipathy placed on my group”.
She wants to say something but hold her tongue, she will wait for Rui to tell her about her circumstances in her own words.
Tsukasa may be nuts for wanting to get involved with a villain but it has been established that some of her morals can be skewed at times.
“Fufu, I’ll be back hero~” she hears Rui say in a teasing tone.
“I am not a hero!” she yells back, taking off the cloth Rui had placed on her eyes. The cloth was part of the fabric Tsukasa had been using to fix up her skirt.
The purple-haired was gone and the window to her room was halfway shut, evidence that Rui had escaped through while Tsukasa’s vision was covered. She falls back into her sheets and sighs, Rui was still as confusing as ever. And Tsukasa hadn’t even realized she had feelings for her. Maybe talking to her as much as she did while visiting the restaurant meant more than she’d ever known.
She uses her fingers to trace over her lips, there is a ghost of a feeling left and if she was a little less awake, she’d think she was dreaming of taking care of a villain.
Her thought train is broken when she hears a resounding thud and an ‘omf’ sound from outside. She scrambled to get out from the tangled sheets and crept toward the window, peering outside to view the alleyway where the sounds came from.
Rui was rubbing her head and a shorter boy’s hand was above her in a chopped stance; it looked like she was apologizing to the three people that had gathered around her.
All the Fussy Eaters in one place. If Tsukasa saw this before she knew what their masks did, she wouldn’t have believed it was them.
She only knows Rui’s real first name. When they came to eat all four would lower their voices throughout the meal, only speaking up when giving their thanks or in Rui’s case when she spoke to her alone. Except now, due to Rui’s previous day statements, she can identify them by codenames.
This must be their civilian clothes since she saw them like this when visiting in the restaurant but noticed all of them were now clutching purple masks. Rui must haven taken her mask back from Tsukasa before waking up. She has to squint through the darkness to notice the details.
Bread Eater was a boy with slightly long black hair tied loosely, with flowing sleeves and blue fabric around him. He has a brimless hat with a blue rose. Picky was a blonde boy who wore black shorts with white tights and a black corset with golden strings accompanied by a rose. The boy with the short white hair with a black hair piece and lace gloves had to be Instant Boss.
She never noticed it, he did seem to have an aura of power over the other three but not in a malicious way. She wondered how she had never noticed it before.
“The power of sekai huh?...” Tsukasa thinks “Well for now, I’ll respect what Rui told me and keep quiet”.
Part of her felt sad that this may be the last time they see each other for a while, if Rui’s words spoke the truth. It makes her sad, especially since she recognized her feelings of wanting to move forward.
“Gradually, I might be able to use the same words as you, so therefore the same views” Rui’s voice rings in her head as golden eyes latch onto her through the window. Tsukasa could only stare back in curiosity.
Rui smiles at her before mouthing the words that make Tsukasa’s heart skip a beat.
“Wŏ ài nǐ”.
Rui was either really cunning or just a reckless flirt.