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“That was sooooo good!”
Emu’s squeals could be heard from a mile away.
“You know? When I went all, whoosh, down from the stage roof and the cannons went fuwaah, I could see so many smiles! And when Nene-chan’s character collapsed on the floor, I could hear the little kids cheering her on! You heard it, right, Nene-chan? And then when Rui-kun went all kazaam and Tsukasa was like, boom!!! I got suuuuper crazy goosebumps from that! It was sooooooo cool!"
"Yeah.” The corners of Nene’s lips curved upwards into a small, timid smile. “That was great.”
“Our best show yet, if I may say so myself!” Tsukasa boasted proudly. “I must say we did far better than during rehearsal. Although that little moment of improv took me aback.” He glances at Rui, stars in his eyes as he flashes him a warm smile. With a gentle pink dusted over his cheeks, Rui smirked, a teasing lilt to his voice.
“To think that a tad bit of improvisation could challenge my dear star… My, how disappointing. However will you achieve stardom?” He sighed dramatically as he collapsed onto a park bench.
(Tsukasa ignores the way his heart skips a beat at the term of endearment.) “There’s nothing that could challenge a star like me!” He huffed, placing his hands on his hips. “I could host an improv show! And nobody would even notice it wasn’t scripted!”
“Oh? I wouldn’t be against that idea. I could write a starter prompt, and then-”
“Hell no. The story will deteriorate into some kind of complicated tragedy.” Nene butts in.
"It'll be fine! Because all of Rui-kun's shows are amazing!" Emu laughs, clearly giddy, as she skips over to Rui and gives him a big hug from behind, her arms somehow flinging around his neck despite him being her height even whilst seated.
Ah.
A sharp pain stings Tsukasa's heart, like a shot of poison, as he watches Emu rub her face against Rui's shoulder, jumping up and down excitedly like a child and tightening her hold on him. It makes him sick. His chest tightens and a bitter, crawling taste finds its way to his tongue as it's rendered useless. He can't find the words, he can't find a response. All he can do is watch hopelessly as his friend butters up to his boyfriend, getting touchier every second.
Calm down, Tsukasa. It's just Emu. It's just the way she is. She's not at fault here.
But yet, his skin feels like it's slowly being stabbed by fifty needles tipped with poison, a poison that slithers all over his body and eventually seeps into his heart. It feels like cardiac arrest, the way it stops beating, but it resumes with a fervent so intense he could hear the solid thumps echo in his ears.
He shouldn’t feel this way.
He doesn't have much time to think before he catches Emu pat Rui's head gently. His breath hitches, and his whole body feels like it's following the beat of a drum. The thumping of his heart doesn't stop, but his head begins to throb along with the tempo, and soon his breathing came in quiet pants too.
Get.
Off.
Get off.
"...asa."
Get off of him.
"...kasa"
Get off of him.
"...sukasa."
Get OFF-
"TSUKASA!" Nene shouts in his ear.
"...of him."
"What?"
"Huh? Oh, I, uh..."
"What did you say just now?"
"Um, I, uh..." Tsukasa stammered furiously, his face burning up. "I-I said, I admire the hard work that came out of him! Out of his scripts! And directing! Yes."
Nene frowned, clearly unconvinced.
"What was that, Tsukasa-kun?" Rui's soft voice wafted through the air as he gazed over at him
"I..." He swallowed. " I was just praising your directing, Rui! We couldn't have done any of this without you, after all."
Rui laughed. It was melodious, light, almost teasing in a way; Tsukasa loved it, cherished it, and wanted to keep it all for himself-
Fuck, he has to stop.
"Thank you." His yellow eyes twinkled in the ambience of the summer night. "But I couldn't have done it without you too, Tsukasa-kun. After all, what is a director without his dearest star actor?"
It was inevitable that a blush would find it's way from Tsukasa's neck all the way up to the tip of his ears.
"You... you're my dearest director too." He manages to stutter out.
"Really?"
"...Really."
"Then would you pretty please do an underwater show-"
"NO!"
"Why not, Tsukasa-kun?" Rui feigned dramatic hurt, enclosing his hands around his heart with emphasis.
"It's simply not practical, Rui!"
"And here I thought I was your dearest director, your closest friend...!"
“Closest friend…!”
“Am I not?” Rui gives his best puppy dog eyes up at the blonde.
“…Fine, you are. A very important friend… to me…”
“My, so I’m just Tsukasa-kun’s friend?” He sighed disappointedly and exaggeratedly, wiping imaginary tears from his eyes. “I thought you loved me!”
“Cut it out, Rui! I do, okay? Calm down!”
Oh my God, Tsukasa was absolutely certain he was a bright tomato red right now. His cheeks felt singed and so did his ears. If this was a cartoon, he’d have steam bursting from his head as he melted into a puddle of mushy, sticky, disgustingly sweet goo.
Emu's arms unravelled themselves from Rui's neck. She ran to Nene, hugging her instead.
"Nene-chan...! I'm third-wheeling!" She wailed.
“I think I’m gonna throw up.” The diva agreed.
As Tsukasa glanced over, he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding when he saw that the pink had left the purple. His heartstrings subtly untangled themselves.
“Nene-chan and I are going to go on rollercoasters! And have lots of fun!” Emu announced, bouncing excitedly as she encased Nene’s hand in her’s.
“Huh? W- Wait a minute, I have school tommorow-“ Nene protested.
“It’s fiiiiiineeeee!!” Emu pulled the girl towards the main areas of the amusement park. “Unless you’d rather third wheel." She pouted.
“That I wouldn’t enjoy.”
“Wha- Nene won’t be third wheeling!” Tsukasa argued, his ears tinged pink.
“Yes she will! Because Tsukasa-kun and Rui-kun are too busy being all doki doki!” She stuck her tongue out playfully at the blonde before turning back to Nene.
“Nene-chan! Let’s go!” She whispered with a big cheesy smile plastered on her face.
“…Fine.” Nene couldn’t resist smiling back.
As Tsukasa watched the pair walk away, he let out a small chuckle.
Seems like they were growing closer and closer by the day. Good for them.
“Tsukasa-kun?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I say something?”
“Okay.”
“You had quite the sour look when Emu-kun was hugging me.”
“…!”
Tsukasa whipped his head around to gape, embarrassed, back at Rui. “What?!”
Rui giggled. “Forgive me, but it was… very amusing to see your face all scrunched up like that. What prompted you to make that expression?”
“I- That’s just my resting face!”
“That was not your resting face.”
“Yes it was!”
“Your resting face is much, much cuter.” Rui stood up suddenly, walking over until he was right in front of the star.
“Don’t…” Tsukasa trailed off.
Okay, just what is going on? This was just uncalled for, absolutely unnecessary, completed unprompted-
“It’s not very nice to lie, Tsukasa-kun.” Rui gently lifted Tsukasa’s chin up with his fingers to meet his gaze.
Like a fool, Tsukasa let his breath hitch and his muscles tense. His cheeks already red and warm past the point of no return he mumbled,
“I didn’t lie.”
Rui smiled.
“Tsukasa.” He’d dropped the honorific.
He leaned closer and repeated,
“Why were you so sour when Emu-kun hugged me?”
“I-“ Tsukasa lowered his head, hiding his boiling face and refusing to meet his gaze.
Rui smirked. “It made my heart twist in all sorts of ways, you know. Partially because I didn’t like you being sad and partially because the way you pout when you’re jealous is so cute.”
…
Jealous?
Tsukasa Tenma is never jealous! What kind of star would he be if he acted selfishly like that? A star is supposed to spread smiles and laughter, not to keep them for himself!
But maybe, just maybe….
Rui’s voice softens as he lifts his hand to cup Tsujasa’s warm cheek, his thumb caressing the well-kept skin as he murmured,
“Tsukasa-kun, you’re irreplaceable.”
And as if he’d just found the key to his whole world, Tsukasa looks up and finally finds Rui’s eyes. They were indescribably gentle, laced with love, affection, and a clar message: I’m not going anywhere. His heart skips a beat for the nth time- really, he should be seeing a doctor at this point.
“Emu-kun is Emu-kun. And Tsukasa-kun is my Tsukasa-kun. And I am and forever will be yours.” Rui continued rubbing his thumb over Tsukasa’s cheek, the tips of his other fingers gently grazing the nape of his neck.
A moment of silence passes, but not an awkward one. Tsukasa reprimands himself for leaning into the touch before whispering,
“…Really?”
“Really.” Rui says firmly as he raises other hand to Tsukasa’s other cheek. “I can tell Emu-kun to keep a distance if you want.”
“No, no, it’s just… it's not her fault anyways.” Tsukasa mumbles quietly. “It’s my fault for being… selfish, just because…”
“Because?”
Tsukasa buries his head into Rui’s chest, nuzzling against it as he whispers, trembling,
“Just because I want you all to myself. Just because I want you to be my Rui, and not anyone else’s.”
He lets out a shaky laugh.
“Selfish, right? And completely unfitting of a star. What kind of star even am I, when I only take and don’t give?” Despite his words, his arms find a way around Rui’s waist to pull himself closer.
His stomach lurches as Rui’s stage outfit gets stained with tears.
Great.
Now he’s crying over nothing, spiralling out of control.
“…Tsukasa-kun?” Rui tries.
“...Sorry.“
“Tsukasa-kun.”
“I’m so sorry.“
“Tsukasa.”
“I’m so, so-“
He doesn’t get the chance to finish his sentence before Rui pulls him away from his chest and leans down to capture his lips in a light peck.
It was quick, scuffed, and gentle, but undeniably effective. Tsukasa stood still, taken aback.
“Tsukasa. Will you listen to me?” Rui brushed those blonde strands away from his eyes with his calloused fingers. “Please?”
Tsukasa slowly nodded.
“You are not selfish in any way. The Tsukasa-kun I know prioritizes caring for his friends and his family over everything else in the world. I’ve seen you make sacrifices for those around you, I’ve seen you overwork yourself almost to death just to perfect a role to make the audience smile, I’ve seen you bring people together with your radiance, and so much more. It hurts me to hear you call yourself selfish, because I know that you are anything but that. I love you so much, and I want you to be able to understand why. I want you to recognise every reason. You have changed me, in so many ways more than one, for so many reasons more than one, and if you think a little bit of jealousy can change who you are and what you have done for others, you’re just downright wrong.”
Rui clutches Tsukasa’s pristine hands in his own scarred ones, and smiles at him with utmost sincerity,
“Every little gesture of affection that you feel jealous about, you have the right to do it tenfold. Because you’re my actor, my star, and my boyfriend. And I’d like to do nothing more than reciprocate.”
Tsukasa can’t stop the tears from flowing down again, this time not out of guilt and shame, but out of pure love, endearment, and joy.
“…Gladly.” Tsukasa smiled.
It was a beautiful moment, seeing Rui bathed in moonlight, feeling the warm touch of his hands against his own, hearing those stirring words flow out of his mouth as if it were natural, as if it were fact.
And if Rui were to crash his lips against Tsukasa’s right there and then,
there was nobody there to stop them.
And if Tsukasa were to kiss Rui back with tenfold intensity fueled by his jealousy,
as Rui’s actor, Rui’s star, and Rui’s boyfriend, there was absolutely nothing selfish about that.