Chapter Text
It was raining.
Nene looked outside her classroom window and sighed; the rain was always such a pain, sticky and wet. What a pain... oh well. Looks like she'll have to deal with it.
Her mind went back to the lesson, her teacher rambling about the Sino-Japanese war or something. Honestly Nene couldn't care less but she knew she had to pay attention as she did have a grade to keep up. Oh, and...
A diva must also always try her best in lessons, Nene! After all, exuberance must be shown on and offstage!
Wait, why was she thinking of him now? Tsukasa was always worming his way into her thoughts one way or the other and it was starting to get annoying. How could she get him to stop doing that? Well, she can't really do that, but the temptation to just blurt it out to him is starting to grow.
...
No, that would be far too weird. Imagine just blurting out 'Stop appearing in my thoughts!' to him! She'd sound so stupid, she wouldn't be able to bear the humiliation, and Tsukasa's reaction. The arch of his brow, the disgust in those ever-shining golden eyes and the repulsed frown contorted his pretty face-
Okay, what the heck.
"Kusanagi?" Miyazaki-sensei asked Nene quietly. Nene jumps. When did the teacher come right next to her?
“A- Ah, yes sensei?”
“Are you alright? Everyone has left already, and you seem to be a bit upset...”
Eh? That can’t be right, can it?
Yet no one else was in the room except Nene and Miyazaki-sensei... how embarrassing! She was so lost in her thoughts about Tsukasa that everyone had left!
“Kusanagi?” Miyazaki-sensei asked softly once more. Nene flushes bright red and mumbled.
“I’m so sorry, sensei. I’ll be taking my leave now, please have a good rest of your day, goodbye!”
She jolts up, scrambling to pack her things before bowing to Miyazaki-sensei and charging out the door.
“Wait! Kusanagi! You-!” But Nene was gone, and she didn't hear Miyazaki-sensei sigh, “-forgot your umbrella... oh dear.”
The teacher looked outside of the classroom window and frowned in worry: the rain is getting worse by the minute.
“I hope she’s going to be alright with the rain...”
--- ---
Nene was running and running by the time she reached an empty classroom. She didn’t know why but it feels safe. It was also far away from Miyazaki-sensei's class, so it was therefore unlikely that she’d find her and ask what’s wrong. She was too embarrassed to even think about it! Nene heard some hall monitor chasing her, but she hopefully lost them. She also was sure she dropped something, but Nene couldn't care too much for that. She just sighed and sat down-
“Kusanagi-san? Are you alright?”
“Yeah, why the heck were you running so fast?”
Oh god.
“Good afternoon, Aoyagi-kun, Shinonome-kun. Sorry if I disturbed your lunch."
“No, it’s okay Kusanagi-san,” Aoyagi reassured. “We just wanted to ask you if everything was okay. You were running quite fast...”
“Well,” Shinonome scoffed. “Toya wanted to.”
“Akito!”
Nene shook her head, a touch amused. “No, it’s alright. I was just... a bit embarrassed?” Nene made the last bit sound like a question. Wow, Nene, very much like a future diva actress.
“... Okay, if you’re sure.” Nene watched Aoyagi think for a second, before getting an idea. “Hmm... Should I get Tsukasa-sen-”
“No!”
Aoyagi’s eyes widened in surprise and even Shinonome’s frown deepened.
Nene stuttered. “A- Ah, I’m sorry Aoyagi-kun. I didn’t mean to startle you. I just- uh- don't want to see Tsukasa now. Sorry."
“Get Kamishiro-senpai then. He’s your friend as well, right? Class 3-C? I’m sure you can handle him.”
.
.
.
What? Why are you gaping at me like that?”
Nene looked at Shinonome in surprise. She hadn’t expected him to give a considerate answer. After a moment, Nene mumbled.
“I guess it’s alright.”
Aoyagi simply looked fondly at him. “Good idea, Akito. Would you like to get him together?” He gave Shinonome a warm smile.
“S-Sure. Let's hope he doesn't have any explosives on him.” Shinonome grumbled with a blush on his face. Geez, Shinonome really liked Aoyagi, huh. Nene hopes that Shinonome confesses someday. Unless they’re already dating. At this point, Nene wouldn’t be surprised.
As the two left, Nene sat silently, fidgeting with her hair and suffocating under the embarrassment that just hit her. Thinking about Tsukasa out of nowhere?! Nene was… well, Nene didn’t even know what she felt other than overwhelmed at the aspect. It just- It just made no sense! Why on earth would Nene be thinking about that dork? Was she really that desperate to ignore Miyazaki-sensei’s lecture on that war? Well, she wasn’t trying to really ignore the lecture in the first place but it was more like he had just appeared in her head, like a leech or something. Nene sighed. Ah, this made no sense.
Just as Nene was about to reprimand herself some more, Aoyagi and Shinonome returned, this time accompanied by Rui. They were slower than expected (maybe half of their lunch had gone by now) but Rui is always being reprimanded by teachers, so it made sense to some degree.
“Kusanagi-san, we got Kamishiro-senpai for you”, Aoyagi said, walking in with an aura of concern.
“Hello, Nene~” Rui greeted. “Shinonome-kun and Aoyagi-kun told me you were feeling off so here I am! How may I be of assistance~?”
“Hush, Rui. We’ll talk in a sec.” Nene rolled her eyes at him. As Rui looked exaggeratedly offended, she turned to Aoyagi and Shinonome. “Thank you, Aoyagi-kun, Shinonome-kun.”
“Not a problem.” Aoyagi smiled, seemingly happy he was able to help. He nudged Shinonome slightly.
“Yeah, uh, don’t mention it. ” Shinonome mumbled, prompted by Aoyagi’s nudge. Lovesick fools, those two. “Seeya around.” As he said that, he made a beeline for the door. It was funny how awkward he was at that moment. Guess it happens to people like Shinonome.
“Ha.” Aoyagi smiled in Shinonome’s direction, soft and loving. “We’ll see you soon, Kusanagi-san, Kamishiro-senpai.” And with that, Aoyagi left to pursue Shinonome, closing the door on his way out.
The moment the door clicked shut, Rui turned to Nene with a curious look in his eyes. “So… those two told me you were running in the hallway and then came here. What happened?”
Nene spilled everything to him: about her conversation with Miyazaki-sensei and her distracting thoughts about Tsukasa.
“What’s this?” Rui’s eyes lit up with mischief. “You were thinking about Tsukasa-kun?”
“Ugh. Yes, I was and I don’t know why. His voice just came into my head as I was thinking. It was completely out of nowhere. God what a headache.”
“Ufufu~” Rui chuckled, “I see now.”
“Huh?”
What is he talking about?
“Nene, please think carefully. You have been thinking about him in unusual times, and you get flustered about him, I can tell. ”
“How-”
“You’re doing your fidgeting thing. I’m sure we both know you do that when you’re flustered.”
Nene hummed in embarrassment.
“Now, think about what this behavior would normally insinuate in a play, Nene.”
…
“Wait…” Nene’s eyes widened in revelation.
“Do you understand your feelings now, Nene?”
“I like Tsukasa… as in like-like… Tsukasa?”
Nene just couldn’t believe it. I mean, it would explain her behaviour recently, thinking about Tsukasa randomly. But, oh but, why him? Was the universe mocking her? Tsukasa was the most obnoxious person Nene knew: he went on and on about being a future world star, laughed the loudest laugh Nene had heard, and he and Nene were always arguing! But…
But…
When he talked about being a future world star, Nene’s chest felt lighter, as if her dreams could become true too. When he laughed, he laughed with his whole heart, and occasionally Nene could actually forget about all her worries when she heard it. When he and Nene fought, it was only half-heartedly, and Nene sometimes treasured that banter more than anything else.
When Nene thought about all of this, she realised.
“Oh.”
She went silent after that. Rui went silent too, realising there wasn’t anything he could say right now. The two friends sat quietly in the classroom, with nothing but the birdsong outside to harmonise the silence. After a few minutes, Rui spoke up, understanding he should say something now.
“So, Nene. What are you going to do about it?”
Nene blinked. What was she going to do about these feelings? Thinking about the prospect sounded weird in its own right. Nene thought for a moment.
“Well I can’t confess that’s for sure.” Nene said. “I just have to get over it, that’s all.” Nene thought this was the right plan to follow. If she told Tsukasa about her feelings then she could potentially ruin the chemistry between them, and that could damage their performances. And their relationship. Permanently.
“What?!” Rui exclaimed. “Why not? I mean, I understand if you’re shy-”
“Rui, what if I ruin our friendship?” Nene blurted out. “If I ruin that, then I may ruin our chemistry during performances, a- and if I ruin that I could ruin everything!” Tears pricked at the corners of Nene’s eye. Oh damn it.
Rui sighed. “Nene, I know you may be worried about Tsukasa’s opinion, but do you really think Tsukasa would judge you like that?”
Nene really thought about it. Tsukasa was a sweet person, with well intentions to all his troupe members. She tried to imagine Tsukasa, rejecting her with disgust, or a cold look. She couldn’t really believe the vision she had made. “No… But, our dynamic would still be tarnished.”
“Alright.” Rui smiled in an attempt to be comforting, somehow actually helping her. Nene always wondered how Rui can smoothly transition from snarky to consoling. It was like magic. “From what I’m hearing from you, I think you should tell him, but only when you’re ready, because this is a pretty serious thing, especially so for you, I can tell.”
“R- Right.” Nene muttered. A beat passed. “Thanks, Rui. I appreciate it.”
“No problem, Nene-kun! I’m just glad I could help~”
Nene let out a soft sigh. She really felt a lot better talking to Rui about her recent thoughts; it helped clear up quite a few things.
“Oh, by the way, you might want to hurry up with that lunch, Nene~”
“Eh? Why?” Nene was slightly puzzled now.
“Oh well,” Rui looks excitedly at Nene, a bad sign. “We have ten minutes left until next period.”
What.
“What?” Nene gaped. “You could have told me this earlier! Damn you Rui…” She trailed off, trying to cram all the food into her mouth. She should have eaten this whilst waiting for him.
“Ufufu~” Rui smirked. “Bye-bye, Nene~”
“Wait. you–”
But it was too late. Rui was gone.
Nene sighed, cramming all her food into her mouth, unaware of her eavesdropper…