Chapter Text
Nene knew there were more eyes on her than usual.
Rumors and whispers floated about the hallways, telling tales of how she, and a certain dorky, odd, grape-colored boy had been constantly spotted together, stealing more touches from each other than average friends would, glancing at each other across the hallway with awkward smiles…
…And for once, these passing high school rumors were true. She had begun dating Rui, her childhood best friend and now troupe director, for about a month. Gradually, word started spreading. Though it wasn’t really a big thing — more of an open secret. After all, they kept a relatively low profile, and weren’t the biggest fan of open PDA.
(Nene found it repulsive, and Rui wasn’t the type to express so openly either. But of course, he’d begun teasing her with it more and more as he got more comfortable in their relationship.)
Nene found these whispers quite irritating. Of course, she expected some people to make a big deal out of it. And even though Rui’s reputation had significantly improved over the course of the past year, he was still known as a bit of a weirdo.
Yes, he had helped out as the director for the cheerleading performance last year, which got great reviews, and even made new friends during his Kyoto trip, but he was still Rui. And being Rui meant he was setting off confetti cannons in the hallways, getting in trouble with teachers for bringing weird stuff into school (They couldn’t really get mad at him though, since his grades were still bafflingly good), and just looking devious overall. He definitely still attracted quite a bit of attention, whether positive or negative.
But the new attention towards Nene was a bit unsettling. Especially when she’d lived most of her life as a wallflower who didn’t talk that much in class.
And especially since the two girls behind her were talking about just that. Right behind her, as if she couldn't hear everything they were gossiping about.
“Hey… you know that girl in front of us? Kusanagi, right? Apparently, she’s dating one of our senpais… Didn’t expect that from someone like her. Like, what does she even do?…” half-whispered the taller one.
“For real. I legit didn’t even know her name until this tea got spilled. That Kamishiro guy, right? The creep?”
The final school bell had rung a while ago, and it was only her and the two of them in their classroom. Everyone else had already left.
Nene sighed annoyedly as she straightened her worksheets out, before shoving them back in her folder. “Can they not…” She usually preferred her papers without wrinkles, but the amount of force and impatience she was using to shove them in her bag certainly didn’t allow for that.
“…Doesn’t he spy on people with his drones or something? I bet he sells people’s nudes on the black market. He looks like he would do that…”
The one on the left laughed. “Exactly what I was thinking! Oh my god, that weird-ass smirk… I’ve only ever seen him from a distance, but there is just something so off with his vibe!”
The more Nene listened, the more she wanted to just turn around and slap them. A scorching fire licked and scratched at her insides. “The hell? They don’t even know him… And selling other people’s nudes?? How'd they even come up with that?” She continued shoving papers into her folder, picking up the pace.
“Isn’t he also, like a massive genius or something? He’s on stage every year getting awards for being at the top of his class. You know those confetti cannons he sets off once in a while? Apparently, he makes all of them himself!”
“Yeah! How does someone even do that?”
“Ugh, so much talent… Out of all the people in this world, why does this guy get to be gifted? It’s just not fair!”
“Real. A real mad scientist. Don’t he and that other blonde guy do weird stuff too? What’s his name… Whatever, it doesn’t matter. The only thing I remember about him is that damn voice! He’s so loud I literally can’t. It would be really funny if I just walked up to him, and just shoved my fist in his face. Watch him try to scream and cry then!”
“You guys are really loud too, you know…” Nene thought. Normally, she’d be inclined to agree with them on the fact that Tsukasa was too loud for his own good. But the way they described it made her stomach churn with disgust. Her friend didn’t deserve that treatment. “I really need to get out of here before I accidentally smash one of their cakey faces..”
She kept on forcefully shoving papers into her folder, speed still increasing as she went. But the sound of their piercing mockery was like a mosquito whizzing and buzzing around her ears, not leaving her alone until it had feasted on every inch of her tender skin, and sucked her blood dry. Her hands kept stopping involuntarily as they spoke, to swat their diabolical comments out of her headspace.
“And he just won’t stop yapping! I remember him saying, like, something about becoming the ‘world's future star’. Like, how old is he? Nine? Looks like he hasn't given up on his little pipe dreams yet.”
“Ughh.. for real. That guy is all talk and no walk. Oh yeah, back to the weird stuff they were doing. Apparently Kamishiro uses him for his experiments, like some kind of lab rat! Every other time the blonde guy screams about something, it's related to Kamishiro. I don't like that guy at all, but I feel sooo bad for him… Being used as some mad scientist’s guinea pig…”
“I bet that’s why Kusanagi likes that guy. Being used as an experiment guinea pig… Is she like a masochist or something?”
They both burst out laughing, cackling like witches, weaving their own little story that they tried to gossip into reality.
“Huhhhhh???” Nene stopped in her tracks. She swished her head back to look at them, but they were too busy giggling at their jokes to notice. This was entering uncomfortable territory, and it just wasn’t okay.
“I say we have some fun. Kusanagi doesn’t look like the type to fight back much. We reeeally wanna know why she likes him, right?”
“Yep. Only one way to find out…” they giggled.
A million alarms blared in Nene's head. “Crap.” Nene didn't expect them to actually try talking to her. Her hands began to tremble slightly. Verbal warfare with mean girls was definitely not on her to-do list today. In the mess, her folder decided to kindly betray her, dramatically slipping out of her hands and plopping itself on the ground. Luckily, nothing slipped out of place. She quickly knelt down on the floor, thinking of picking up her stuff, springing up, and getting the hell out of that classroom. Thank God her seat was near the door.
But when she looked up, two pairs of beady eyes had already intercepted her, looking down at their next unwilling prey.
Nene gulped. She knew there was no getting out of this.
“Heyy~” sneered the one on the left.
A lump formed in Nene’s throat. Considering the amount of boundaries they were crossing earlier, she definitely would’ve cussed them out a minute ago, to defend her own dignity and the name of her dear Rui. But now, when both of them were actually facing her, staring her down while she was on the floor like a pathetic stray cat, what could she do? Momentarily, she devolved into that same shy girl again, who lacked even the courage to talk, clinging to her mother’s dress like there was no tomorrow. Regressing back in time, all her hard work, all her friends’ help, all her successful performances— it all disappeared into dust.
She broke eye contact with them, staring off to the side.
“Uh.. hi…” she was able to murmur.
“Hii~ So you’re dating that Kamishiro-senpai, right? So like, we just wanna know… why do you like him? He’s just so… charming!” They chuckled to themselves once again. They were having the time of their lives, surely.
Her heart hammered away in her chest. Their cold, mocking eyes stared down. They were awaiting a response. She did not have it. She knew exactly why she liked Rui— he was always there for her, his endearing nerdiness, that stupid smirk that always made her heart flutter… But what could she actually say to them? What answer would make them leave her alone? Their gazes kept on ticking at her, and her heart only continued to tick faster as more time slipped by.
“Uh… he’s… a nice person… I guess…” A smidge soft, but still audible.
They ignored her. “Awww~ Even she doesn’t know why she’s with him! Poor, poor thing. Just another victim of his crazy shit,” the one on the right said to the other, mock empathy lacing her words.
The one on the left looked back down at Nene. She put a hand on Nene’s shoulder. She spoke again, voice insidiously sweet, “Is he grooming you or something? We can help save you from him, you know.”
Nene stared at them in absolute disgust as they tried to hold back their giggles, but failed. A witching laughter tore out of their throats, as they cackled to themselves.
The scorching fire within Nene grew even more, sparks chipping at her core from the inside. Just who were they talking about? The Rui she knew, would never, ever do something like that. Even suggesting that was straight up disrespectful to him, her, and everyone who was actually going through that horrific thing.
Besides, their claim was entirely illogical. Although Rui was older than her, it was only by a year. And she’d confessed first, after a few months of blossoming uncertainty from the both of them.
They didn’t know who he was at all. And that made her so incredibly frustrated. Blinded by their thirst for drama, they would always ignore the real Rui — the Rui that took care of her when she was sick, calmed her down during anxiety attacks, and invited her back onto the shining stage she’d abandoned — in their reality twisted for laughs and mockery.
She knew he was a kind person. That fact was made apparent to her, from the start.
If she faltered under their mirage of an evil Rui even for a split second, to remind herself of the truth, her mind would drift off to that moment from 9 years ago, a while after they’d first met…