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It was no secret that Tsukasa liked Nene, and that Nene liked Tsukasa.
So why? Why did it hurt when they told the troupe about their new relationship?
_
This was never supposed to happen.
Rui was never supposed to gain feelings for Tsukasa. But how could he not when the star got on one knee and extended his hand out towards him to join their troupe again? How could he not when Tsukasa looked perfect under the stage lighting right after a show, smiling without a care in the world?
This was bad. Really bad.
He knew that Nene liked Tsukasa. He heard him say it herself.
He would never want to take her happiness away.
So he burried his feelings deep inside his heart, but those feelings would dig themselves out everytime Tsukasa sent a smile his way, and Rui's cheeks would turn a beautiful pink no matter how hard he tried to stop blushing.
_
He knew that Emu liked Nene, and Emu knew that Nene would never like her back, because she had her eyes on their wonderful troupe leader, Tsukasa.
So Emu made the decision to not confess to Nene, she would never want to wipe that smile off of Nene's face, Emu thought that Nene's smile was really pretty, she wished that she'd be able to make her smile like that one day, but she knew that only their troupe leader could do that.
_
It's been a few weeks since Nene and Tsukasa told Emu and Rui about their relationship, Tsukasa has noticed that Rui has been acting weird, he'd been leaving practice earlier, zoning out more than usual and losing focus, which was weird because Rui never did this, not when there wasn't a reason, so Tsukasa decided to ask rui about this.
_
Rui was just sitting on a bench while sketching some new ideas for their shows when he felt a shadow loom over him, he thought it was Emu trying to get a peek at his ideas so he continued working on his sketches.
And then he felt a hand on his shoulder.
He flinched and looked up, just to see tsukasa with a worried expression on his face, and that worry was directed towards Rui.
After a while of staring, Rui decided to speak.
"Tsukasa-kun..? Did one of the props break? What happened?" Rui said while closing his sketchbook and placing it beside him.
Tsukasa firmly shook his head.
"Nope! The props are fine, but are you fine though? You've been acting weird these days."
Oh.
"Ah, don't worry Tsukasa-kun, I promise this won't affect our shows, hehe~"
Tsukasa removed the hand he placed on Rui's shoulder and sat beside him.
"I know it won't affect our shows but it's affecting you, and I'm worried, you know you can talk to me right? Or anyone in the troupe, we're here for you!" he said with a comforting smile on face, his voice laced with concern.
Rui plastered his signature cat-like smile onto his face to not worry Tsukasa any further.
"Thank you Tsukasa-kun, I'll keep that in mind."
Emu suddenly pounced on Tsukasa out of nowhere.
Tsukasa screamed.
"E-EMU!?!? WHERE DID YOU EVEN COME FROM!?!?" Tsukasa yelled in surprise while trying to get Emu off of him.
Rui let out a small laugh.
"BREAK IS OVER!!!!" Emu exclaimed.
"OKAY, OKAY, GET OFF OF ME FIRST SO WE CAN PRACTICE" Tsukasa screamed
And practice continued as normal.
Except for Rui.
_
Rui went up to the rooftop, he sat on the ground clutching his knees close to his chest and started sobbing uncontrollably. He wasn't feeling well. The pain in his chest was unbearable. Why Nene? Why not him?
But the answer was obvious. Nene was better than him, in every single way. Sure, he may be smart, but what else? That's right, nothing.
Nene was prettier, Nene wasn't weird like him.
Her pretty violet eyes, her soft greyish-green hair that swayed in the wind, her beautiful voice, everything about her was perfect, even her flaws. And Rui? He was flawed in every single aspect, so it was no surprise that Tsukasa chose her.
He tried to tone down his sobs, taking shaky breaths and trying to compose himself.
And the rooftop door clicked open.
He froze. He didn't want anyone to see him like this, especially Tsukasa.
He glanced at the door.
And there he was, Tsukasa.
And he was staring right at Rui. Running towards him.
"Rui!? Are you okay!?" He said, kneeling beside Rui and placing a hand on his back.
"T-Tsukasa-kun..? Shouldn't you be in class right now..?" He said, voice cracking.
"That doesn't matter! You're literally crying alone on the rooftop!" Tsukasa exclaimed, voice filled with immense sadness.
...
Rui didn't want to see Tsukasa right now, he didn't want tsukasa to see him so vulnerable, so he did what he was good at, he ran, he dashed out of the rooftop door and out of the school building.
Tsukasa was in shock, trying to process what just happened.
Tsukasa chased after rui, screaming his name.
_
Rui ran to his house, quickly opening the door and slamming it behind him, and breaking down into tears once again.
_
Everytime Rui saw Tsukasa and Nene kissing or just simply being together, there was a sharp pain in his chest, one that wouldn't go away no matter how hard he tried. He wanted to be invisible so that no one would see him cry, so that no one would see him vulnerable once again.
_
By the time Rui was done crying, it was quite late, so he quickly washed up and flopped onto his couch, his eyes were still watery and bloodshot, he kept sniffling and sobbing, trying to make himself stop crying, so he grabbed his phone just to be flashed with atleast 10 messages from Tsukasa asking where he was and if he was okay.
Rui immidiately closed his phone and went to sleep, not focusing on anything except the soft couch beneath him.