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"Thank you, everyone who tuned in to watch the stream! Remember, Rui-kun loves you!"
Rui waved at the camera, and turned it off. His smile fell immediately. He leaned back in his couch, rubbing his face. "That was so long..."
The room of the house was cold and empty. His management team had made it perfectly for his live streams. Not a single spot out of place. Perfectly clean.
He stood up, and went into his room. Rui laid down on the bed, not bothering to change. He was much too exhausted for anything else.
He turned on the TV, switching it to his favorite show, "Static".
The colorful theme song began to play. And the main character appeared on the screen.
"Hello everyone!" The cartoon waved. "I'm Tsukasa Tenma! Who's the brightest thing you see?"
"It's you," Rui said as he pulled the blankets over him. Rui. The world famous idol. Watching old reruns of a kids cartoon.
"It's me!" Tsukasa pointed at himself. "Now everyone, time to dance! Clap your feet to the beat!"
Rui didn't tap his feet, but he tapped his finger on his thigh. A small smile crept its way up to the idol's face. "Tsukasa...you're the only good thing in my life left."
He drifted off to sleep a few minutes later.
The moment Tsukasa noticed Rui was asleep, he paused his singing. He knew no one else watched his show anymore. Rui gave him attention.
"Rui..." Tsukasa wanted to go out of the screen. To tell Rui that he was here for him. How he would see past the idol persona.
But alas, he was a cartoon character, even if he had gained awareness of his situation. Tsukasa sat down, knees pressing to his chest.
It was lonely. The show barely had other characters, and it was the same interactions over and over and over again. They weren't real. Neither was he.
But he knew he wasn't real. They didn't.
"I just want Rui to hold me..." Tsukasa stared out of the screen. Rui was snuggling with his plushie of Tsukasa he had hand-sewn. He looked away again.
Rui woke up at the sound of lighting outside. His grip on his plushie tightened ever so slightly. "...Just lighting."
He looked at the TV, and saw Tsukasa acting like he had never seen before. Which was weird, he had seen every episode of his show. And it was canceled years ago, when Rui was still a kid. There was no way a new episode would be released.
He slowly walked over to the TV, placing a hand on the screen. "Tsukasa...?"
Tsukasa's head shot up. "H-huh!?" He stood up, looking quite shocked. "Can you hear me? Please say you can hear me."
Rui nodded. "I hear you, Tsukasa." His hand didn't move. "Are you...alive in there?"
"You shouldn't see me like this." Tsukasa hesitated for a moment, and then took a step back.
"Tsukasa!" Rui hugged the TV. "You're alive! I love you do much! Every single night I watch your reruns and it helps me forget about how terrible my life is!"
Tsukasa gasped, but didn't go back further. "...Really?"
Rui pulled away slightly, to look at Tsukasa. "You're the only good thing in my life."
"Wow..." A bright smile appeared on Tsukasa's face, even as tears appeared in his eyes. "I love you too. You're the only person who watches my show anymore. But I was scared that you wouldn't want to watch it anymore if I-"
"I don't care!" Rui held the Tsukasa plushie up to the screen. "It must be so lonely in there. Right?"
Tsukasa nodded. "Yeah."
"I'm lonely too. No one really knows anything about me...they just know the idol." Rui stared directly at Tsukasa. "But you don't care. You're nice."
"Can you not turn off the TV? Please." Tsukasa said abruptly. "It turns everything into static, and it gets really loud. And scary."
"I won't turn the TV off ever again, in that case." Rui stood up. "I really do love you, Tsukasa."
"I love you as well."
"You'll still be on in the morning, right?"
"Of course."
"Promise?"
"I promise." Tsukasa reached out a hand, even though he couldn't hold Rui's. "And I'll stay until you can truly feel happy with yourself."
Rui placed his hand by Tsukasa's. "If I could just go through the screen I would."
"I would too."
With that, Rui went back to his bed. He had never slept better in his life. Because he knew Tsukasa was with him.