Chapter Text
Another night, another one of Rui’s restless nights. Rui always had problems with his sleep schedule, but this past week it has only gotten worse. No matter what position he tried to rest in, it wouldn’t work. All he could do was twist and turn on the old couch in his parents’ garage staring at all his creations. One in specific removed all his focus from all his other problems, Robo-Nene, the robot he created many years ago for his dear friend Nene. After staring at the mechanical being for longer than he intended, he started to ponder; ‘I haven’t checked up on Nene in a while, I talk to her every day, but I haven’t had a moment of privacy to talk to her. I should text her…No, she’s probably sleeping, I don’t want to disturb her beauty sleep…’ thought the very exhausted purple haired boy. ‘You know what, it wouldn’t hurt trying’. He slowly picked up his phone, scrolling through the unread messages in the Wonderland X Showtime group chat. ’Those three are most likely sound asleep… Lucky them’ Rui adjusted himself on the couch for the millionth time. As he was scrolling through the messages, his phone lit up with a notification. He knew that sound all too well; him and Nene had set special text and call notifications for each other as soon as they first got a phone. After being blinded by his phone, he opened Nene’s text message, reading it with squinted eyes.
“Hey Rui, want to meet up at the park? I want to talk to you about something.”
“Sure” Rui responded, staring at her contact photo. He swiftly got up off the couch and put on a heavy coat. As he walked out of the garage, he half-expected her to come out at the same time as him, but after a couple of minutes of staring at her house; he assumed that she must have already been at the park. He walked to the park slowly, enjoying the scenery of the moonlit streets. Even though he has seen and walked through this place countless times, it never got old; especially when he walks through the neighborhood with her. Rui was so focused on other things that he forgot the purpose of going to the park, completely walking past the bench Nene was sitting on. Suddenly his phone it up with a message, snapping him back to reality.
“Over here dummy” Nene sent, intently staring at Rui, waiting for him to notice her presence. Rui looked at the message; realizing he completely forgot about meeting up with Nene. He looked around, searching for his childhood friend. That was when he saw her sitting on the park bench. Her messy green hair, her bright purple eyes, and her cute pajamas she wore specifically on Friday’s. That sensation in his chest was coming back; he knew it all too well. The feeling he thought was fully suppressed. He’s always done somewhat of a decent job hiding his feelings for her, but he knew that eventually he couldn’t keep it a secret forever. That feeling of whenever she got close to him, that feeling whenever she made a pouty face at him, that feeling whenever he sees her smiling and singing on stage; glowing like the songstress she is, that feeling of his heart thumping heavily in his chest.
‘He’s been staring at me for a while now. I wonder what he’s thinking about…’ she too felt her heart racing at his intense gaze over her. Usually, she finds it weird whenever he stares at her, mostly because when he does stares at her, he uses his signature mischievous smile. But this time it felt different, it felt as if he were giving a loving gaze. She loved whenever he looked at her like that, even though he rarely does it. “Um… are you ok?” She stuttered a bit, hoping he didn’t notice her nervousness.
“Oh- yeah…” Nene’s words startled him. He slowly approached, sitting a noticeable distance away from Nene.
‘Maybe he doesn’t like me...’ Nene thought to herself. ‘… wait, why do I care if he likes me or not. It doesn’t matter, I’m here to see if things are alright and make sure that his depression doesn’t get as bad as it was in middle school. Nene gripped her pajama pants while looking down at her lap; hoping he doesn’t notice her face being completely red. ‘But why am I concerned about him… I know we’re friends but why do I worry about him this much.’ Thinking about it only made her redder than she already was. She looked like a tomato, and he looked like ketchup, equally red.
‘When did things get so awkward between us’ they both thought. ‘She genuinely looks concerned for me… I feel bad that she has to worry about me like this. I should be the one worried about her, not the other way around….’ Rui turned to look at Nene one more time before speaking. “You know we aren’t little kids anymore; you don’t have to worry about me like this.” Rui kept eye contact with her.
“I could say the same for you.” They both chuckled. They knew that they both cared for each other deeply. Honestly, they both wondered why they’ve been so awkward with each other in the beginning. They started chatting away with their problems, all the ice in between them started to melt. Whenever they talked with each other, it seemed as if they forget about everything else. Like they’re in their own little world where it’s only them and the comfort of each other. Suddenly the topic of Rui’s sleep schedule came up.
“I haven’t slept a wink since our last performance.” Rui said, leaning back on the bench.
“Oh… Well, you could’ve refused to come to the park and slept instead.” Nene murmured.
“Well, I came because I couldn’t sleep… and I wanted to check up on you.” Rui yawned, stretching his arms and leaning towards Nene. “Now that I know your alright, I think I can sleep now…” He then fell promptly on Nene’s lap, resting peacefully.
“Yeah whatever…” Her face flushed a light red seeing the purple haired boy sleeping on her lap. “…Did he even think about how he was gonna get home?” she muttered to herself. “I’m surely not gonna carry him home… oh right, RoboNene can cary him.”