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The day was unlike any other as Nene came waltzing into classroom 3-C, where Tsukasa was, getting ready for lunch as the lunch bell had just rung. Moments before, Rui had bid Tsukasa farewell for the time being.
“Tsukasa-kun, I have a special surprise for you. Meet me up on the rooftop in five minutes~” Rui said before bolting out of the classroom.
“Tsukasa, we need to talk. Alone.” Nene marched towards the boy in question, making it clear with the intensity of her steps that she meant business.
Her shadow loomed over Tsukasa, himself letting go of his bento, just looking up at her, somewhat dumbfounded.
“Hm? Nene, what’s up,” Tsukasa asked, tilting his head. “I hope this isn’t about Rui again. I swear I don’t know what he’s planning, ask him yourself!”
Nene looked to the side, as if making sure the coast was clear. “Well, you’re right about one thing, but not that I was wondering what Rui’s up to, as your goldfish brain often assumes.”
“Hey! I will have you know that my brain is a perfectly normal size, in fact-”
“Oh, whatever. Anyways, about Rui…”
“So this is about him?” Tsukasa averted his gaze, and was he blushing?
Seriously, at a time like this? Tsukasa sighed internally.
Nene rolled her eyes, her arms now crossed. She looked at him with an irritated gaze, as if his presence were ruining the mood. However, her eyes had a slight lilt to them.
“I couldn’t help but notice that you’ve been glancing at Rui all too often recently…” she eventually said, drawing out a long sigh that filled the heavy silence.
“WELL, HE’S MY- NO, OUR BELOVED DIRECTOR, AFTER ALL! S-SO WHY WOULDN’T I LOOK AT HIM? THAT’S A COMPLETELY NORMAL THING TO DO; YOU DO IT TOO!”
“Yeah, but I don’t look at him the same way you do.”
Tsukasa slumped down in his chair, crossing his arms while pouting. “You’re gonna have to elaborate on that.”
“God, the pure density of this man…” Nene muttered under her breath. “Sigh, whenever you look at him, your eyes light up with this… joy? Like, honestly… could you make it any more obvious that you’re staring?” She lolled her head tiredly. “And no, Tsukasa, it’s not the way that someone would look at their ‘beloved director’- far from it.”
“Where is this even coming from?” Tsukasa grumbled, turning his head away slightly in embarrassment.
“Let me rephrase what I’m trying to say; what do you like about Rui?”
Tsukasa paused for a moment.
“What do I like about him? Hmm, well… for one, he’s an amazing director, he makes me shine as I deserve, of course! And… he’s super smart, always making some sort of new contraption, and… I guess… he doesn’t look all that bad…” he slumped down even further in his seat, the blush on his face now a deeper red than before, as he stared longingly at nothing in particular.
“Tsukasa… how did you even pass math, let alone science? Your critical thinking skills are terrible.” Nene lowered her head slightly, almost as if showing pity for the blonde’s apparent lack of self-reflection.
“Well, Rui helped me- wait no, did you just come here to insult me?!”
“No, but you deserve it.” She cleared her throat. “Anyway… I’ve come here to say that I, for one, know you like Rui, and that he likes you back, so you two need to stop beating around the bush, and talk about it.”
“YOU- I- HE- W-WHAT???!!!”
Nene just looked down upon him some more, her silence a perfectly good response due to her undoubtedly royal demeanor.
“But I don’t even like him- I don’t even like guys! Nene, whatever you think you’re onto, it’s- you- y-you’re wrong!”
“Tsukasa, you’re in denial, but not like the river in Egypt.”
He huffed. “I AM NOT IN ANY SORT OF DENIAL! LIKE I SAID, YOU’RE WRONG; I LITERALLY JUST SAID THAT I DON’T LIKE GUYS, AND GUESS WHAT RUI IS? A GUY.”
“But, you basically just admitted to thinking that he’s pretty.”
“I said that he looks- um- acceptable at best!”
“Why’d you stutter, hm?”
“Nene, I swear…” Tsukasa sighed, grabbing his bag before heading off to the rooftop.
Or so he was…
…but the ideas Nene put into his head…
Tsukasa stopped in his tracks, groaning as he buried his face in his hands. When he got back to the classroom however, Nene was sitting on the desk left of Tsukasa’s, clearly expecting him to return.
“Just as I thought.” Nene said, getting off the desk.
“You know what, Nene? Fine. Maybe I do like him… though, only a little bit…”
“Keep telling yourself that.” She mocked as she walked out of the classroom, leaving Tsukasa to sulk at his desk alone.
Just as Nene left, however, a flash came from the window. Tsukasa looked up in surprise, though only momentarily. An ominous chuckle rang through the hallway, and Tsukasa’s heart dropped.
“Tsukasa-kun~~”
Oh no, no no NO. Rui could NOT be here right now. Tsukasa’s blood went cold.
“I finished the surprise, you can- oya?” Rui paused a moment, not before smirking. “Why is Tsukasa-kun blushing so hard?”
“Nene just came in and said some embarrassing stuff…” Tsukasa muttered under his breath.
“Must’ve been really embarrassing, I’ve never seen your face so red~” Rui watched as Tsukasa pancaked his face flat onto his desk, “Fufu, what could Nene have said that could’ve been so… provoking?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know… a-anyway, don’t worry about it!” Tsukasa stammered, his voice slightly muffled by the desk.
Just as Tsukasa was finishing, Rui planted his palms onto the edge of the desk, slowly putting more and more pressure onto it.
“What if I told you I know exactly what you two were talking about?” he said, leaning in closer.
Tsukasa swiftly lifted his head at that, mortified. “YOU’RE JUST SAYING THAT TO TRY AND GET ME TO REVEAL THE TOPIC OF OUR-!” he shouted, proceeding to cut himself off right when he realized just how close Rui’s face was to his.
“Oh, but, am I?” Rui said relaxedly, pulling off his signature smirk.
“Probably!” Tsukasa hissed out.
“Hm, figures you’d say that,” Rui cupped Tsukasa’s chin with his right hand. “Nene may or may not have told me over text that she was planning to talk with you about your little crush on me?”
“Are you really that confident in your… attractiveness?”
“Oh, but what if I am?”
“Then you’re a cocky bastard.” Tsukasa huffed.
“Ah, then what if I were to kiss you; right here, right now?” Rui said, tilting Tsukasa’s chin downwards, grazing his bottom lip with his thumb.
Tsukasa’s eyes widened further, himself unable to utter a word.
“Tsukasa-kun? That’s not an answer~” Rui teased, without any shame, or so it seemed.
The nerve of this guy…! Tsukasa thought, and yet he didn’t pull away.
Though dazed, he quickly closed his eyes shut, and finally answered, “Well, what about you?! What would you do if I were to kiss you instead?!”
Rui scoffed lightly, “Hmm, I believe I asked first. Answer the question, Tsukasa-kun.”
Tsukasa, in response, furrowed his eyebrows, though now slowly opening his eyes. “I guess I… wouldn’t… mind.” He managed to squeak out.
“Fufu, I’m sure you’ve just been dying to kiss me from the way I catch you staring sometimes~”
“That’s NO-” Tsukasa attempted to get out, before he was interrupted by Rui pressing their lips together, unable to hold back any longer.
So Tsukasa wasn’t the only one at the end of his fuse.
He slowly reached his hand up, peppering Rui’s cheek with the slight of his fingertips. In response, Rui removed the hand holding up Tsukasa’s chin, and caught said boy’s hand, pressing it firmer against his face.
After a few moments passed, Rui pulled away gingerly, gently releasing Tsukasa’s hand from his grasp, their eyes meeting with a tenderness nothing else could replicate. Having blinked a few times, Tsukasa cleared his throat and immediately looked away, his initial blush slowly returning, as if realizing what he’d just done.
I don’t even like guys, or so he had told Nene, but really, it was just him lying to himself.
“I can’t believe I just did that…” Tsukasa mouthed.
This time, Rui was the one kept wide eyed, though his face quickly turned sweet.
“Tsukasa,” he called, taking a deep breath. “Will you be my boyfriend?”
The boy in question turned back to Rui, face still flushed, and took a deep breath as well.
“Rui, I… OF COURSE I WILL!!!”
Both of them smiled with a bittersweet complexion, and hugged.
“Aaaaaaaaand… CUT!” was heard from outside the classroom, a girl with pink hair tucked into a ponytail on the side emerging from under the inside-windowsill. The apparent audience raised also, and began to give the new partners a round of applause, but teachers quickly caught wind of the situation and shooed many of them off. Except for Mizuki, of course.
“Enanan, did you get all that?!”
“I think the whole school did from the looks of it.”
“I’m so glad I decided to come to school today.”