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Sometimes, Rui wishes he could see his future.
Honestly, after the day he and Nene had at the Wonder Stage. After his disagreement with Tsukasa, he really can't help but get hung up on the idea of knowing what is to come. He really let himself think things would look up for him and Nene both. They had been able to reconnect with each other and even seemed to have found people to connect with over their love of theatre. For a moment, he thought this was going to be a place for him to fit in with others, to belong. Now, he knows that he was fooling himself. After all, why would Tsukasa Tenma be different from the others he's encountered over the years? Things do not change for Kamishiro Rui, not now, not ever.
In the darkness of his garage, he looks up at the ceiling. A feeling of defeat runs through him, casting himself in the moonlight that makes its way into his space through the windows of the garage he can't help but wonder, is this really where it ends? He looks to the side, a hanger holding his performance outfit to the bookshelves behind it. He had only worn it a few hours ago, back when he was with the others. Mizuki had made it so proudly for him to use in his solo shows, but now that it's seen the space of a shared rehearsal with him and Wonderlands x Showtime with him, can they really just go back to performing alone?
He looks at Robo-Nene, he had brought it home so that he could try to make her a new battery, so that if Nene were to ever need it, it would be available to her. The robot version of his childhood friend is his only witness at this moment, but she could also be considered part of the cause of his problems. He’s set her alone in the corner of the garage, with some other projects of his. She looks as alone as he feels, even among them. Running his hand through his hair, he closes his eyes to stop looking at her. He doesn’t want to, but he can’t help but recall what happened earlier.
...
“You will never become a star.”
...
Right... so now what can he do?
He reopens his eyes, frowning upon the memory of his departure from the Wonder Stage earlier that night. Not because of what he said (Tsukasa deserved to hear that), but because of the metaphorical doors he closed by saying it and leaving them the way he did. Great shows cannot be made alone, Rui knows it better than most, but on that same note Rui knows that there is nobody left that is willing to make shows with him.
He stands from the stepladder he was sitting on, moving himself over to a clear spot on his floor near Robo-Nene as if a change of setting in the room would give him the answer on what to do. He looks to the half-finished projects he was going to pitch to Wonderlands x Showtime for future shows, half-heartedly pushing them away to make room for Nene-Robo once he's able to bring her forward to him from where he is. He may as well start the battery now, its better than just thinking idly.
As he works, he keeps thinking it over. Honestly, the idea of forgiving Tsukasa for how he treated Nene tonight is unplausible. What would anybody actually gain from it? People like that don’t change, it would only open the group up to more issues along the line somewhere. He pulls one of the half-baked prototypes towards him as well now, picking up his screwdriver so he can open it up and steal his battery for Robo-Nene.
How could he really forgive someone who uses Rui and the girl's passion for shows to push forward his own gains? Rui would never forgive himself for becoming a stepstool for somebody's fame like that. It would be to betray himself if he went down that path. He could also never forgive someone who hurt Nene like that, not at all.
Thinking of Nene, he really does owe her this as an apology for pulling her into the troupe in the first place. He looks at his hands once he pulls the homemade battery from his prototype, shutting the machine closed and pushing it back with the rest. As he builds up the battery in his hands to make it more suitable for Robo-Nene. Maybe a real apology from him with it could stop him from losing her again too. Their relationship had strained enough before this all happened; he doesn’t want to lose Nene again now that he’s gained a new chance.
From that point on, Rui works with nothing but his thoughts as it gets later into the night. He wants to finish this battery so he can drop Rono-Nene off with a verbal apology to Nene before they walk to school together. To test the battery once he's finished, Rui grabs an old project of his to plug into the battery and smiles once he sees it power on quickly. Would it stay on all tomorrow if he left it?
As he thinks of ways he could test the battery's effectiveness, he accidentally touches it and reels back once he registers how hot it’s getting. Once he catches theres an issue, he quickly moves to unplug the battery from his darling and-
BOOM
Everything around him lights up and then fades into black.
Ruis head feels like it's splitting into two as he wakes up on the floor of his garage. As he sits up, he presses his hands to his head and curls into himself as if he can hold himself together through the initial pains that come from sleeping on the floor. He keeps his eyes closed and fumbles around with his left hand to try to reach for the battery. Once he realizes it's not there at all, he opens his eyes to look for it and sees nothing.
He stands up now, his room feels messier than it was last time he saw it last night. Maybe it's just because his headache is making him more prone to tripping, he catches himself thinking he should probably clean up when he gets home. Unrealistically though, he could swear his room wasn’t this cluttered when he passed out last night. He almost can't even find places to step without landing on blueprints and scattered parts on the ground. No wonder he can’t find the battery.
He walks over to where he keeps all his clothes instead of looking for it, but it just leads to a new dilemma.
Where is his cardigan?
It has to be nearby; he wears it to school basically every day. He really doesn’t want to have to wear the blazer to school instead of what he normally has on.
After digging around in his clothes for a bit, he finally finds it. It was at the bottom of the space; underneath some shirts and sweaters he doesn't really recognize. His mom must have gotten them for him; is the reason he lands on as to why they are even here. Once he puts it on, he finishes the rest of his morning routine in the bathroom in the house and leaves through the front door with his bag for school.
Once he steps out, he doesn’t find Nene there waiting for him like she did while they had gotten used to being real friends again. He will have to give Nene the battery with Robo-Nene a different day. Even though it's a bit disappointing, he's not surprised with the idea that she may not want to see him. He would probably be the same way in her shoes, being put in an uncomfortable spot like that would make him want to see his friends a little less too. As he walks to school alone, he considers if she would even want an apology from him at all.
When he finally arrives at Kamiyama High, he spots Nene near the edge of the courtyard, sitting on a bench while playing on her phone. He takes his time walking over to her, hoping she will end her round and look up before he gets there. She doesn’t though, so once he reaches her, he just wants to see her win.
Once she looks up at him, she squints and then leans to look past and behind him as if she is expecting to see something else. Then, she puts her phone down fully and crosses her arms as she looks up at him. “Where’s the other one?”
Rui raises his eyebrows at the question, tilting his head as he puts a hand on his hip. Briefly, he has to wonder: is he missing something?
He decides he isn’t and instead asks her, “The other what?”
“Tsukasa? Where is he?” She raises an eyebrow at him as he steps back and looks over his shoulder to see if Tsukasa has somehow decided to come see them now of all times. She snaps her fingers to get his attention back after a moment of silence. “Don’t act like that about it, he's basically your other half. It's uncanny seeing you without him. Usually, you like to terrorize me together.” She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms again.
Rui feels floored by this train of thought. He and Tsukasa? Two halves of a whole? He’s almost offended that she would lump them together. It must mean he really is in trouble with her then, he thinks.
Seeing the confusion on Ruis face, the green haired girl leans back with her own growing confused expression. She drops her arms as the confusion morphs into concern. “Did something happen? Rui...”
He doesn’t really get why she's so worried about him; if anything, it should be the other way around. He shakes his head at her and smiles at her a little to get her to worry less about him. “Nene, I actually came to apologize to you. Last night-”
“You really told him last night? You had a whole plan to do it today at lunch and you did it last night?” She makes an exasperated face, looking away from him with it before she stares him in the eyes. “Honestly, maybe you should be sorry.”
He squints at her, is this a joke? He shakes his head as he responds, “Nene, I really don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Then what are you apologizing for?” She sighs, “Rui, if nothing happened between you and Tsukasa last night that I don’t know about and it’s not related to your plans to talk to him today, you have nothing to be apologizing for.”
Rui hums, if this is what she wants from him then, he won’t push the topic anymore. He puts a hand to his chin and smiles at her, “Very well then, I’ll take my leave now and let you go back to your game. Have fun then Nene!” He waves her a quick goodbye as she smiles at him in return, and then he drops the happy expression onces hes away from her and walking into the school.
What was that?? She knows what happened last night, addressed it, and then told him not to apologize for how he acted? And why would Tsukasa be addressed as his other half if she remembers the fight? He and Tsukasa never hung out enough to be considered that way in the first place, so it doesn’t make any sense that she would say that to him now unless she was trying to make him laugh with a bad joke, which is also strange from her. Rui is done with Tsukasa, but maybe he apologized to her if she's addressing it so casually to him now. The idea makes him smile, at least she's stitched the wound closed for herself then.
On that note, if Tsukasa apologizes to him? He thinks the blond has done enough, Rui doesn’t have to forgive him or give him a chance to change. Truth be told, a change for the guy could probably do more harm than good.
He mulls it over more as he makes his way up the stairs of the building, he doesn’t feel like attending class today. What's the harm in skipping it out on the roof? It's been a while since hes done that anyways. As he reaches the rooftop, he runs into another familiar face.
“Hey, Rui!” Mizuki meets him halfway between the fence and the door hes coming from. She smiles at him, practically skipping over. “I see you’re switching it up for the occasion, I haven't seen you wear your grey cardigan since Tsukasa made you your blue one! It’s smart though, reminiscent of when you met and all...” She hums, wiggling a teasing finger at him with that last part. “Speaking of oddball one, where is he?”
Rui has no idea what she is talking about to him. He raises an eyebrow down at her and crosses his arms confusedly, “What are you talking about? Why would I wear something he made, or better yet... why does everyone keep asking me about him?” He frowns, shifting away from her as she leans forward as he speaks.
“Huuuuh? Is it opposite day?” She pauses, then lights up. “Oh! You’re trying to get in the zone, aren’t you? Either that or a prank... ahah, good luck with that!” She grins at him, giving him back his space. “It's kind of funny seeing you disregard him so easily, I’ll keep a count on how long it lasts for ya!”
Maybe Rui just isn't in the mood to be playing around, he puts on a smile and pushes away the confusion around the topic as he leans into the atmosphere she's making. He puts his left hand on his hip as he responds, “Oh? What if I'm not playing though?”
Mizuki’s expression suddenly turns serious at that, “Then you’re being ridiculous. You can’t hide or push him away now when you are so close to the finish line! I know it's scary not knowing what's coming for you here, but everything is going to be okay!!” She smiles, hands on her hips as he looks up at him, expecting a specific answer now: “Right?”
He sighs, dropping his arms in defeat. “Right. Of course.”
She puts a finger to her chin, thinking as she playfully mumbles to him, “Plus... if you run away... hes only going to chase after you, you know?”
He figures she's probably right about that, if Tsukasa has already apologized to Nene, it's only a matter of time before the self-proclaimed future star reaches him too. He stands straight again, looking to the fence as he really thinks it through. “Yeah... I’ll figure it out though.”
Mizuki beams at that, laughing as she lightheartedly punches his arm, “Yeah! Atta boy Rui!”
The bell rings not even a moment after, and Mizuki stays a moment with him longer until she really has to leave. As she departs, she gives him a thumbs up through the windows in the doors to the stairs. Once she's fully out of his sight and the rooftop is quiet, he moves to sit by the fence where she must have been before his arrival. The clouds are coming in on the area, and it won't be too hot, so today the roof makes a perfect place to think about how his friends are acting. Like how comfortable Mizuki and Nene both seemed to be talking to him and even for Mizuki alone, how comfortable she was seeming to try to give him advice on his non-friendship with Tsukasa. He spends a lot of time on that, just wondering what happened to make her so comfortable about that all the sudden.
After enough time up there, the bell for lunch rings and he watches students pour back into the courtyard and outdoor areas of the school. Nobody really comes up to the rooftop, up here it stays quiet. He doesn’t know why he’s expecting to see anybody, only weirdos and loners come up to the rooftop; and he’s both. He looks over his right shoulder through the fence, half expecting to see Tsukasa out in the afternoon sun with students from his class. He used to spend his time out there before he started eating with Rui anyways. Rui can’t spot him though, so where-
“WHATTTTTTTTTTT——!!!”
He winces at the sudden loudness from the boy who’s appeared at the entrance to the rooftop. He didn’t even hear the door open. Rui closes his eyes, putting his head down a little as he waits for some sort of other sound from Tsukasa. Is he waiting for his apology? Kind of… but he won’t accept it in the end. When no sound outside of what sounds like shocked uhs and ums reach him, Rui opens his eyes and turns his body back to the roof. What he sees is Tsukasa and-
“Oh?” Tsukasa is turned to the side, halfway between pointing between Rui and… himself? Just a step behind Tsukasa is a less surprised version of himself. Purple hair and posture the exact same, two centimeters taller, and in a blue cardigan instead of the gray one he knows himself to usually opt for. The copy of himself raises a hand to his chin and tilts his head in thought.
The motion from the second Rui snaps Tsukasa out of his surprise as he turns fully over his left towards the taller Rui. He puts his hands on his hips with a huff and an unimpressed look. “I’m going to assume you planned this? For someone seeing his own double, you are less surprised than you should be!”
The Rui hums, looking at Tsukasa. He puts his palms up and shrugs, shaking his head. “It’s not that I planned this… I just vaguely remember it happening to me before.” He puts his hands down, bringing them together as he makes a pouting face. “Does Tsukasa-kun really doubt me so much as to think I would pull a stunt like this and not tell him? Didn’t I tell you this happened to me?”
Tsukasa furrows his eyebrows, “Yes!! And, no, you did not tell me about this!!”
The doppelgänger Rui watches Tsukasa closely as he’s spoken to. He smiles at Tsukasa as the blond quiets down, deflating into a pose of defeat.
All Rui can do is watch the scene. They are strangely entertaining. He looks away once Tsukasa turns to face him again, suddenly feeling a wave of irritation at having the boys attention.
He sighs, loud enough to grab the other Ruis attention as well. Tsukasa opens his mouth to probably address him but Rui puts his hand up to get him to wait. Which surprisingly, he does.
He looks Tsukasa in the eyes, narrowing them at him as he puts his hands on his hips. “Logically, I have to assume that this is some kind of dream. The last thing I did was work on a battery for Nene before I passed out.” He blinks as he looks down to the ground and then back up, the Rui and Tsukasa in front of him exchange a glance, the Rui covers his mouth with his hand as his shoulders shake a little. He averts his eyes from his double and looks back at Tsukasa, who’s still listening intently, straightening more as Rui looks back. “So, with that in mind, why are you here?”
The older Rui snaps to pay attention faster than Tsukasa himself can even flinch at the tone of voice he is receiving.
Tsukasa steps back forward, closer to the younger Rui, who steps back in turn. “What do you mean?”
When Rui moves to respond, the his other self cuts him off. “I’m sorry,” He matches the bothered look Rui has been giving Tsukasa this whole time as he steps forward and crosses his arms. “Who are you to be taking up that tone of voice with him?”
Rui hesitates in response. Why is he defending that guy? Now he’s convinced this is a dream for real. “I’m his ex-director. I can’t really say I have much reason to play friends with that.”
“Well, ex-director, I’m his current director.” He narrows his eyes, stepping forward again to now match Tsuaksas distance from him. “And this isn’t a dream. I’d call it more divine intervention, because clearly, you need it.” He sighs, looking to the side. “I don’t remember the course of events from when I went through it, but I can clarify to you that this is your future.” Then, he flips his head to the other side to look at his friend. “Tsu-”
Tsukasa snaps his head up, he’s been muttering to himself for a few seconds now. Hung up on the ex-director thing. “I’m listening! I just…” He quiets again, looking down and putting his hand to his chin. “Hm…”
A few seconds pass before he suddenly moves forward again. The younger Rui steps back, surprised.
“Kamishiro!! How do you know me? Why are you my ex-director?!” Worry breaks into his expression as he asks, eyebrows furrowing with a slight frown as he looks at the young director. It almost makes Rui laugh, but he raises an eyebrow instead.
“You don’t remember?” Dropping the brow, he gets more serious. “I could never work with an actor that so clearly lacks genuine love for his craft. You only do this for the jazz of headlines and having a big name, -all of it is for fame to you!” Tsukasa straightens at the accusation, expression tightening at the edges as he listens. The Rui behind him opens his mouth to speak, but seems to decide not to as the younger beats him to the punch. “I could never work with someone as selfish as that. Acting is about the people you do it for, not for yourself. It’s a lesson you need to learn before I could ever consider working with you again. It’s my bad, really. I don’t know why I even thought the person who introduced himself to me as the Pegasus soaring across heavens would understand that.”
Tsukasa stands there for a moment longer. He’s completely silent, looking down at the ground as if he was a kicked puppy.
“To be honest with you, I don’t understand how you and your Rui are so comfortable with each other either.” Rui adds on. “It makes no sense that you two can even comfortably stand so close. If it was me, I wouldn’t be able to do it at all.”
The other Rui opens his mouth again, but Tsukasa is the one to speak now instead. “Ah, I think I know where you are coming from now...” He looks up, smiling gently at Kamishiro. Its a look hes never seen on the others face before, he didn’t think Tsukasa had such a kind smile outside of the show at all. Tsukasa continues before Rui can dwell on that too long. “I’ll never be a star, right?” He sighs, its a distant memory to him now, but to the younger Rui its still less than 24 hours old. “You were right, great shows can’t be made the way our first had. What I did back then was wrong, I needed you guys to correct me. Mistakes happen all the time and for me to have placed the blame on Nene the way I did... its not okay. It was selfish of me,” He places a hand on his chest, where his heart is as he looks Rui in the eyes with what seems to be a hopeful expression. “I’m sorry Rui.”
Rui waits a few moments to see if he will keep going, but it seems like Tsukasa is done. These words don't mean anything here, not from someone who has already gotten far past what happened after the show at the Wonder Stage.
He hums, crossing his arms as he exhales a breath he didn’t realize he was holding in during the apology. “Sorry, but I don’t think that means anything from you. It doesn’t matter to me if you are sorry or not.”
The other Rui sends a glare to his past self, shaking his head at the disregard of Tsukasa's genuine apology. He steps behind his friend, basically draping himself over the other boys shoulders.
“Rui...!”
“It means something to me Tsukasa-kun!” He chirps, smiling down at Tsukasa. He doesn’t spare another glace to his past self in front of them. D “I can’t believe I was ever this mean to you...” He laughs, continuing to lean into the blond. “Forgive me...”
Tsukasa squirms under him, trying to roll the larger off his shoulders to no avail. “Now is no time to play around! I mean- I'm glad it matters to you and of course I forgive you for things that happened a year ago! I understand completely why you were upset with me!” He pushes away, finally freeing himself as he whirls around to face his friend, pointing at him from a distance. “We need to figure out what to do with him though!”
The older Rui pouts, crying crocodile tears that he wipes with a finger. “So cruel... pushing me away...” He stands fully, moving back close to Tsukasa’s left side. “Let’s eat our lunch though, we can talk at the same time.”
Once all three of them settle down (with the invading Rui an extra foot away from the future pair) the two from the future open their lunches. As soon as he sees what his mom packed him, Rui whips his head to look at Tsukasa. Tsukasa looks up from his home-made lunch and frowns, meeting his friend's hopeful eyes with a stare.
“Tsukasa-kun...” Future Rui whines, a pitiful look on his face again. The younger Rui watches him; he can only imagine the veggie sandwich he probably ended up with. He pities the poor guy, but Tsukasa does not look impressed.
“No.” Tsukasa says before he even looks over at the others lunch.
“Tsukasa-kuuuuun...”
“At lease eat some of your own food!”
The future Rui gasps, clutching his pearls. “You know I can’t eat these! Its poison!”
“Then why should I trade you for mine?!”
Rui lights up instantly; an imaginary lightbulb basically pops over his head as he leans forward and steals a bite of Tsukasa's lunch with his own utensils. His expression suddenly turning serious, he hums: “You’re right, we must share your lunch so that neither of us are poisoned.” He nods to himself as he speaks, as though he fully beleives what he is saying.
“What? No!!”
In the end, Rui watches them both eat the same lunch.
Future Rui seems a little mopey, but when Tsuaksa asks him about it he just shrugs and says that he had important plans today that he can't go through with anymore. He brushes it off as no big deal, but Tsukasa just gives him a disappointed look before letting it go.
Soon after that, the bell rings for the two boys to leave. Before they go, they tell the youngest of them all to stay on the rooftop until they are able to come back for him.
During the following class time, Rui’s thoughts get interrupted halfway through the afternoon by a loud booming from the courtyard that's followed by a shout of “RUIIIII!!” He whips his head around to look through the fence; he only makes it in time to see Rui run and grab Tsukasa’s hand and pull him along as he books it away from the courtyard. Soon after, a teacher arrives on the scene and follows inside.
Rui catches himself smiling at it as he turns back to the roof, he looks up and closes his eyes at the same time. Huffing a laugh, he thinks to himself. It may not be so bad for his future self if he is really able to still have fun like that. Even if it's with Tsukasa Tenma.
At the end of the day, it takes a lot of extra time for the duo to return to the roof. Rui decides they must have been caught, and once they arrive, they confirm that suspicion.
The walk home is quiet; Tsukasa comes with the two Ruis back to the garage. It's noted that Future Rui has an extra bag on him the whole way. The younger assumes that explains why they only met at lunch instead of at home. Once they get inside and settle into the garage. Tsukasa speaks first from the couch. Both Ruis look up at him from the floor as he starts.
“Okay, do either of you have any ideas to get him home?” He looks at his Rui specifically, leaning forward a little. “Do you remember how it went for you?”
“Nope.” Future Rui hums with a shrug, smiling apologetically. “But... maybe we can figure something out for it? With two of my brain here, it should be more than possible.”
“Never phrase it that way again...” Tsukasa shivers, leaning back before moving forwards again almost instantly. “But yes! I agree with that! You two can handle it while I make something for us all to eat, I don’t want to get in the way or make Kamishiro uncomfortable. Plus, you both need the food if you want to run at full brain power!! Ha ha ha !!” He jumps to his feet, striking a pose with his left hand over his heart and his right hand extended to them as if he is already bestowing them with the food. Then, he turns on his heel and leaves them before anybody can let out another word.
The elder of the two Ruis slumps as soon as his friend is gone. He slowly turns to grab a screwdriver off the ground near him before he stands up and walks over to a large box shape that's covered with a tarp. As he pulls it off, he instructs the younger on what he needs.
“The battery is under the couch, if we want to turn this trick box into something useable to attempt to take you home, I need to use it as a replacement for its charger.”
The younger immediately leans down to grab it from down there, it's pretty deep into the space underneath the couch so it takes him a minute to get it into his hands. Once he pulls it out, he looks down at it and inspects it carefully. “You never gave it to Nene?”
“After all this? I could never.” Future Rui has already reached the box by the time the younger looks up at him. The box itself looks like an old blueprint he drew back in middle school for the disappearing man magic trick. It's not a complicated thing by any means, so it makes sense why the box could be usable now. It can fit a person inside and uses a charge for its special effects. “Plus, I had to keep it because I figured that I would eventually become the version of myself I saw in the future. Maybe you still don’t believe it yourself, but I know I ended up believing in the end.”
“So, you just accepted you and Tsukasa were...”
“We shouldn’t talk about your future or my life too much. I don’t want to accidentally change my own life by spoiling you of what's to come.” Rui sends him a look, almost like he really believes he could mess up what he already has now. If this is an intervention, maybe it becomes a test later. He would probably think so, if he ended up getting a better life all of a sudden, the way this Rui did.
Soon after they get the battery into the machine and have it running, Tsukasa returns with the food. He sets it down somewhere safe before joining them at the machine. He stands closer to his Ruis side than to anything else, like a magnet always drawn to the right side of its match. “Is it time already?”
Rui nods at his friend, “Yeah, he should be able to get into the machine now. Actually...”
Rui brings his past self to the machine, making sure the inside is decent to stand in. Once the younger Rui is inside, he feels his shoulders get grabbed by the older, who is blocking the door out. He looks serious as he says one last thing.
“I know I said I wouldn’t spoil you, but I want to leave you with one thing. Things will work out for you if you let them. Don’t be so cynical when you try things, people make mistakes, even you. Try to consider that when you see your Tsukasa again.”
Theres a sadness that leaks into his voice as he speaks, he does know his past better than anybody, but for the younger to hear that is still a little jarring. All he can do is nod in return. Then, his future self steps back and closes the door. Some muffled words come from outside for a while before an enthusiastic shout rings from the other side as a part of what sounds like a goodbye. Soon after, an electric sound and a white light engulf him.
Rui wakes up back on his floor, the battery at his side as he sits up. He sighs, tossing it under the couch so that he can just isolate the parts of the day in his mind. It still sounds like a dream, but it felt so real he doesn’t know if he can believe it when he tries to tell himself it was. His garage was full in the dream, his friends were happy, he was happy too. And Tsukasa... he was there. If that really is a plausible future for him, shouldn’t he heed the parting words he got from his future self? Tsukasa won’t just get a green light, he would still have to really prove he can fit into the vision of the future Rui got, but wouldn’t it be worth a shot?
It can’t be as bad as it seemed before, right?