Chapter Text
English winter is a different breed, Rui thought to himself as he snuggled deeper into his duvet.
He didn’t want to get up.
Maybe he could just stay in bed forever….Rui was promptly attacked by the sharp ring of his alarm. By the Seaside obviously, he’s not *that* much of a psychopath.
He groaned and rubbed his eyes, turning over and fumbling for the button on his phone that lay next to his pillow. He hit it a bit too hard and it slid off his bed with a thud. Ughhhhhhhhh. The alarm was still blaring. He would have to get out of bed to turn it off.
Fuck my life.
He pulled himself up and rolled out of bed, smacking his face on the cold wood of the floor. Ow. That was gonna leave a mark later. He lay there for a bit then waved his arm about, feeling for his phone, and dragged it towards him, hitting the *stop* button with a satisfying tap.
Silence.
Rui stayed on the floor for another ten minutes until his cheek felt like it was burning from the cold and the arm he was lying on started to feel numb. Not having pins and needles was motivation enough. He slid his arm out from under him and hauled himself up with one hand into a sitting position and stared at the wall for another five minutes. Eventually adjusted to the temperature and wanting to wear something other than his now freezing pajamas, he finally stood up and walked towards his shelves.
Rui pulled open one of the compartments and pulled out his wrinkled uniform. No one really irons these days and he doesn’t exactly give a shit.
After fumbling with his tie for a bit, he finally got dressed and looked at his phone. Oh fuck. If he didn’t leave in fifteen minutes he wouldn’t have time to get Emu sweets from the corner shop. She could be dangerous without her incredibly healthy daily sugar intake. Pulling on a grey cardigan, he shoved a piece of dry toast in his mouth and brushed his teeth so quickly that it probably didn’t even count.
Oh well. He could probably steal some gum from Mizuki later if it was an issue.
Rui ran out the door with his backpack, trying to fish out some cash so he wouldn’t have to take ages fumbling for it at the counter, and smacked into a lamppost. He heard a snort behind him.
Oh, Nene!
Rui watched as his childhood friend quickly slipped her phone into the pocket of her blazer then reached a hand towards him. She pulled him up from the ground and began to walk to the shops just ahead of him.
She probably filmed the whole thing for blackmail material.
The shop was almost empty apart from Akito and Toya who seemed to be arguing about whether Maltesers or Werther’s originals were better. Ha! Fools, Rui thought. Gummy snakes were far superior. He almost did a double take. Tsukasa’s way of speaking must be rubbing off on him, which Nene would hate. She could barely stand one of them without stabbing someone with a compass eventually.
Rui felt Nene put a few coins in his hand as well as a giant packet of cola bottle gummies and some chocolate, then went back to the game she was playing on her phone. Blockblast? That’s a new one.
He grabbed some gummy bears off a nearby shelf for Emu and walked up to the counter, picking up some chocolate stars and a crunchie for Tsukasa on the way. He payed quickly without looking the cashier in the eye. He was glad he wasn’t paying with a card or he might’ve had to deal with the awkwardness of it declining.
Shuffling past Akito who was blaring Blur from his mini portable speaker (where did he even get that?), Rui made his way outside where Nene was waiting. She immediately ripped open the bag of cola bottles and shoved ten into her mouth, gesturing for Rui to take some. ‘Let’s save some for the others.’ Rui smiled as Nene nodded in agreement.
They ate the whole bag on the way.
Rui tossed the empty packet into a nearby already-overflowing bin covered in peeling rainbow stickers Emu had ‘decorated’ it with a few weeks ago as they walked towards the school gates, Akito leaning against them and bopping his head up and down, his speaker now blasting some niche indie alt music that sounded like screaming, a few keyboard smashes littered in there somewhere.
Probably Ena’s playlist.
Rui was near knocked to the ground for the third time that morning as he felt the full weight of a teenager crash into him. ‘Hello Emu.’ He managed to wheeze as he attempted to pry away her arms tightly wrapped around his waist.
‘HI RUI.’ She screamed, immediately jumping onto Nene as soon as Rui was free. He straightened his back (kind of. He’ll admit his posture isn’t always the *best*), and looked up to see a blonde boy steadily approaching.
‘Ah, hello Tsukasa!’
Tsukasa’s proud expression suddenly morphed into one of panic and some very valid fear for his life as Emu began sprinting head first towards him.
‘I’LL FIND YOU IN CLASS!’ He shrieked, waving quickly and began bolting away from the short pink human bulldozer pelting after him.
Rui stood there next to Nene, trying to process what exactly just happened.
Woah. Rui thought with a bit of surprise. That was an unusually chill morning!