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The stars twinkle, A beautifal winter night. the school long cleared out after hours. A beautiful display is in the air, a quiet display of the universe and its absolute, undenied beauty.
…Untill..
“Idiot, can you get your hands off me now?” Nene grumbles as she's dragged through the door of the roof entrance.
Tsukasa chuckles “Nonsense! You would just run away.” He says with a smirk.
It is true.. she would probably just.. walk away. She's too tired to deal with his shenanigans.
After Tsukasa lets her go, She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms, deciding to just.. give in. Sure, she could leave, but he'd just end up pouting for days, and Rui would make it her problem.
“What are we doing here anyway?” Nene asks, tiredly
Tsukasa's smile doesn't falter, as he points towards the sky dramatically “To practice, My dear Songstress!”
She blinks. Once. Twice. Silence, just for a moment. Before:
“Why.” She deadpans flatly, and also slightly annoyed.
While Nene is used to his idiocracy, it can be annoying.. Especially at 1AM.
Tsukasa scoffs
“For our upcoming play of course!” He puffs his chest out dramatically, striking a pose that looks like.. well, it doesn't look like anything. He just looks dumb.
Nene almost snickers at his dumb pose, but manages to hold it in, clearing her throat
“...And pray tell, why is this necessary…?”
Tsukasa smirks and puts a hand to his chest
“Well, the script requires the main character to look up at the sky, No? But I have never gazed at the sky, so how am I supposed to act that out!?”
He rambles, loudly and dramatically.
Nene sighs, scratching the back of her head in defeat “...Cant you also just.. Improvise..? And why did you drag me along?” Her tone is tired, tired of his shit more so.
He scoffs, proclaiming loudly
“But where's the greatness in that!?”
He did not answer the other part of the question. Which confuses her.. But she digresses, and gestures dismissively with her hand, eyes narrowed
“Do what you want, just.. leave me alone.”
Tsukasa nods confidently, smirking at her approval
“For sure, Nene.”
Nene rolls her eyes, but doesn’t move.
As she takes a moment to glance around, The rooftop is still just a rooftop—concrete and fencing, nothing special.
But with him bouncing around like an idiot under the stars, it doesn’t feel quite so cold.
As Tsukasa continues star gazing badly, obviously completely uninformed on what constellations are in the sky. And even as he knows this, he still starts naming constellations completely incorrectly, confident in his words throughout.
“Would you look at that! The… Carnivorous Proximity!” He makes up on the spot, a weak yet confident smirk on his face.
Nene stares incredulously “...Thats.. Not a thing, moron.” She huffs in slight amusement, but also teasing him with her words
Tsukasa blushes slightly, flailing wildly
“H-HEY! I-I very well knew that, Ill have you know!” He says, quite loudly in his typical fashion
Nene chuckles
“...Im sure you did, Dummy.” She chuckles, finding
He spins again, arms wide like he’s on stage.
“And over there!” he exclaims, loudly and incorrectly, “The legendary... Battle Walrus!”
Nene doesn’t even look. “...You’re not even trying anymore.”
Tsukasa gasps, as though wounded.
“I am trying! You just lack vision!” he says, stepping backward with all the grace of a drunk flamingo.
And then..
He trips.
There’s a quick, choked yelp.
In a flurry of motion, he stumbles, flails, and immediately reaches out-grabbing the nearest thing to stabilize himself.
Which, unfortunately, is Nene’s wrist.
“What the—?!”
Before she can react, he yanks her right down with him, and they both go crashing to the rooftop in a heap of limbs, limbs, and regret.
There's a dull thud as Tsukasa lands flat on his back-with Nene half on top of him, caught in a tangle of sleeves and hair.
Silence.
Awkward. Heavy. Deafening.
Tsukasa doesn’t move. He just stares up at the sky, like if he pretends hard enough, this isn’t happening.
Nene, meanwhile, is frozen-half because she’s stunned, and half because she's trying to decide if it’s worth the effort to murder him.
“…Seriously?” she mutters eventually, voice muffled by his stupid blazer.
“I-uh- That was a creative choice,” he says, barely breathing, his voice going all high and dumb, an awkward smile on his stupid face
She lifts her head enough to glare at him from two inches away. “You dragged me down.”
“I saved you from... standing.” He weakly corrects
“You dragged me down into your idiocy.”
He makes a weak sound, somewhere between a squeak and a nervous laugh. “It was... a bonding exercise?”
She stares.
He looks like he wants to die.
“Get. Off.”
He scrambles up like a startled deer, arms flailing again as he gets to his feet, and Nene rolls over with a groan, pressing a hand to her forehead.
“Remind me why I haven’t killed you yet,” she mutters.
“Because I’m too beautiful to die?” he says hopefully, offering a hand.
She ignores it. “Because Rui would probably frame me for something worse.”
“…Fair.”
-
Nene stands up, dusts off her skirt, and looks up at the sky, trying very hard to act unaffected.
She is, of course, extremely affected.
That whole fall? Stupid. His face that close? Even stupider. Her heart is still doing backflips and she’s mad about it.
But no way in hell is she going to say anything about it.
She crosses her arms, breathing in slowly through her nose like that'll somehow reset her brain. The stars are still twinkling above, silent and smug. Her eyes trace random constellations,
if only to avoid looking at him again.
And for once…?
Tsukasa’s being oddly quiet.
That’s strange.
Too strange.
She doesn’t hear him flailing around, or naming made-up constellations, or tripping over absolutely nothing again. The rooftop is suddenly filled with nothing but the hum of distant traffic and the occasional breeze brushing past the fencing.
“…You didn’t hit your head, right?” she asks without looking at him, still facing the sky.
“No!” His voice comes out immediately, a little too fast. “No. Perfectly conscious. Perfectly aware. Very much alive and beautiful, thank you.”
“Uh-huh.” Nene raises an eyebrow, still not turning to face him. “So why are you quiet, then? That’s new. Do I need to check for brain damage?”
There’s a pause.
A long one.
“…I’m thinking,” he says eventually.
Nene blinks.
That’s worse.
“You’re what?” She turns and stares incredulously
“I can think!” Tsukasa insists, defensive.
“Debatable,” she mutters under her breath.
He doesn’t fire back right away, which only confirms her suspicions.
Now she turns to look at him, and sure enough, he’s standing weirdly stiff, hands shoved in his pockets, eyes tilted slightly downward like he's debating whether to jump off the roof or recite Shakespeare.
Yup. Suspicious.
“…What,” she says flatly.
“Nothing!” he chirps way too fast.
Even more suspicious.
Nene sighs, rubbing her temple like she’s got a migraine forming. “If you’re planning something dumb, just get it over with. I’m not emotionally prepared for another rooftop disaster.”
Tsukasa groans quietly, before standing up straight “Nene.. I-I have something to say.”
He mumbles, it's way too quiet for the usual Tsukasa.
Nene turns fully to face him, Body language tense, Arms crossed, Eyes narrowed “...Make it quick.”
Tsukasa looks up to the sky, looking flustered “T-The stars are.. Pretty are they not?”
She raises an eyebrow, “....Yeah..?” Nene says hesitantly. “You look like your about to scale the face and jump.”
Tsukasa scoffs “N-No!? Why would i!?”
“Would save me a million headaches for the rest of my life.” She mutters under her breath
Tsukasa looks like he was about to yell incredulously at her statement, before deflating.
He looks towards her “I-I brought you here.. Because.. The Stars!”
Nene blinks, shifting her weight to her hip “...Im aware.”
Tsukasa shakes his head “Y-Yes! I said this before b-but!” He's panicking. Not the Tsukasa she knows. Did the fall give him brain damage? She'd gladly slap him across the face to fix it.
Tsukasa sweats, and fidgets, growing increasingly restless. Now he's just squirming at this point.
Suddenly, he blurts out “Be-Becuase.. They're Pretty.. BUT NOT AS PRETTY AS YOU, NENE KUSANAGI!” He says, loudly, sweat dripping all over his face
The loud sound echoes throughout the rooftop. It rings throughout Nene's ears
Nene stands there, frozen. But a hint of blush appears on her face. Then more. Until she's a tomato.
She stammers before blurting out
“W-Wh.. Why the hell would you say that, Moron!?”
Tsukasa freezes, eyes wide, immediately realizing what he just said. “I-I mean! Not that you’re- Not that I think about that all the time, or- wait, no-”
Nene just stares at him. Her brain is under maintenance. There's heat crawling up her neck, down her arms- everywhere.
“You're such an idiot,” she mumbles, half hiding her face in her sleeve. “A really loud one..”
Nene groans into her hands. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“I panicked!” he yells. “I had a line prepared but it ran away! Like- like a scared deer!”
She looks up, cheeks still flushed.
“...You practiced confessing to me?”
Tsukasa looks like he’s going to explode. “NO I DIDNT!” he flails wildly, squirming under her gaze
Nene smirks “God.. Your such a moron.” She giggles, the sound almost melodic. She walks towards him “But i suppose.. I like that.”
His head jerks up, the blush spreading over his face like an uncontrolled wildfire “W-What?”
Without saying anything else, She pulls onto his scarf, yanking his head down just enough…
And kisses him.
It's soft, yet brief. But real.
When Nene pulls back, Tsukasa is frozen, staring down at her like she killed someone
She blushes and mumbles shyly “Get out of the way.. your blocking the stars.”
Love rarely enters with grace, sometimes, it trips, crashes, and still manages to land exactly where it should.
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