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“Hmm! Er, no… perhaps—!” A certain boy thought long and loud, despite only being asked the simplest question of all in a passing conversation while eating their lunch at school. He held a dramatic finger to his chin, sensing Nene’s unimpressed look radiating while she continued eating her lunch in silence. After thinking for what he deemed long enough, he puffed his chest proudly as if to say ‘I am done thinking, pay attention to me again!’
“Yes, I know! My favorite animal… the dog in my neighbourhood!” Tsukasa finished, striking a pose that would surely have star effects surrounding it were he in an animation.
However, with those words, Nene’s expression somehow turned more deadpan than before.
“Seriously? You sat here thinking for four entire minutes, just to say the dog in your neighbourhood..?” She asked, voice exasperated with her second-to-last bite lifted mid-air, the sole proof of time spent questionably.
“Yes, it is a matter worth thinking over properly! The dog is way bigger than anyone would ever expect one to be!” He said, reaching down for his own bento, still untouched.
“Absolutely ridiculous… I’m sure it’s just a regular dog. Actually, why didn’t you just say your favorite animals are dogs instead of making it hyper-specific..?” One lift of a brow appeared on Nene’s face.
Tsukasa thought for a second, his train of thoughts suddenly interrupted by the eager desire to know Nene’s favorite animal. “Because it’s my favorite of all dogs, of course! If you have so much to say about my favorite animal, tell me yours.”
He watched as Nene blushed in embarrassment while he kept an exaggerated pout on his face, internally awaiting her slightly flustered stutters whenever she talks about what she likes. Tsukasa found it incredibly admirable!
He watched as she took a breath before her mouth opened to speak. “Um.. w-well.. I must say—baby foxes are very adorable..” She admitted, trying to keep her voice loud enough to be audible rather than an unintelligable mutter.
“Baby foxes?!” Tsukasa yelled in turn, loud enough for the whole school to hear. Nene jumped from where she was seated in surprise. In his defense, it wasn’t intentional!
“Quiet down!” Nene hissed back as expected, albeit much less audible for the entire population of the school.
“I always thought you were more of a cat person!” Tsukasa remarked. “Your bad-mouthed jabs yet kindhearted nature simply feel so catlike!” He followed up, trying to quiet down. Nene’s face twisted in a mix of looking insulted and flustered.
“Really..? In that case, you’re like a cat too. A really obnoxious and annoying one.”
“Ha!! Now you’re only proving my point, Nene!”
Nene huffed with a smile, “you’re proving mine.” With her tone leaving no room for argument, Tsukasa simply sat, childishly crossing his arms. He peeked one of his eyes open and smiled seeing Nene giggle.
Though.. he really didn’t expect her to say baby foxes. She called his favorite animal specific, then goes and says baby foxes?!
‘There is a big difference between the dog in my neighbourhood and baby foxes,’ Tsukasa predicts Nene would’ve (rightfully) argued had the bickering continued.
However, it did get him thinking—maybe, if he..
“Oh god, what are you planning now..?” Tsukasa heard, taking him out of his intensive planning. Nene had her eyebrow raised once more, clearly noticing him thinking of mischevious plans!
So, he puffed out his chest and brought his food to his mouth to take a bite, “you shall see!” He said with his mouth full.
“Don’t speak with your mouth full, unmannered dumbass..” She smiled, but didn’t bother replying further. The only thing that followed was comfortable silence, sometimes interrupted by soft chewing whenever either of them took a bite of their lunch (though mostly Tsukasa, since Nene had been done for a while). The quiet eventually ended with the school bell ringing and the chatter in the hallways increasing by a tenfold.
They waved each other off, promising to see each other off after classes end, and Tsukasa spent the entirety of school too distracted on how he should execute his new master plan rather than taking notes.
—
Evidently, this current lack of care in his education extended to home. He ran to his room, barely remembering to greet Saki and tell her he’s home before overthrowing his entire bin containing the fabric he used majorly for his costumes.
The colors he was specifically in search for were orange, white and black. It didn’t take much searching to find plenty black and white fabric, even extremely soft and fluffy fabric, but the most necessary color to complete this project was not in his fabric bin.
Well, he thought, using fabric meant for clothing might not be fit for what I’m planning, anyway!
Thus, he set out on a journey to the nearest hobbyshop, with a shopping list featuring just two needs: soft, orange fabric and wool.
Hrmm.. he supposes a thicker fabric is more ideal, isn’t it? The kind that’s smoother on one side, but fluffier on the other—ah, perfect! Tsukasa took a closer look at the sample fabric, and came to the conclusion that it.. was lacking. Not in the kind of fabric, but more so the color.
When he looked up reference photos of baby foxes, he found that their pigmentation especially was still lacking just slightly from adult foxes—or they were simply always covered in dirt. Their fur was still clearly orange, just a lighter or browner shade..
Dyeing the fabric might be a bit hard to do, so he would have to put maximum effort into finding the perfect color!
Continuing his search for a better fitting orange fabric led him to the realization he would also need to find a soft yet not airy wool to fill it with. And the wool came to mind primarily because he had walked through the entire section of fabric samples and right into the section of wool. How was there not a single color that caught his eye..?!
Well, if he couldn’t find the right color yet, why not get the other need on his list first!
Unlike the previous section, this one had no samples, so it was hard to feel for a perfect type. However, he eventually found a bag that felt perfect, from squishyness to how thick it looked! It came on top after inspecting every detail of every bag, after all!
Then all that was left was going back to finding a perfect fabric..
“Hello, sir! Could I be of any assistance? You seem troubled.” A voice Tsukasa didn’t recognize came from next-to-behind him. He jumped up with a yelp at the sound, being pulled out of his mental decision-making.
“Agh—! I’m sorry for yelling! Though, auuhheeemmm.. I could use some help. I’m looking for an orange fabric, but not too bright orange…” Tsukasa said, trailing off in thought, his brows furrowed.
The worker smiled politely, “mind if I ask what you’re planning to use it for?”
“Oh! Yes of course! My idea is to make a plush of a baby fox! But their fur is less pigmented than adult foxes, and a thicker kind of fabric like—“ Tsukasa paused his speech to reach for the far too bright orange fabric that caught his attention first, “—this one. I just can’t seem to find the perfect combination of color and fabric thickness..!” He finished, having thrown the fabric into the worker’s arms to pull out his phone to show his search for baby fox images.
The worker seemed troubled as they looked between his phone and inspected the selection of cloth, clearly having no better idea than Tsukasa until their eyes latched onto somewhere, their smile returning, seeming more genuine than the prior one.
“It’s a little hidden, but this color seems to fit your description well, doesn’t it?” They said, reaching out toward a pile of small fabric rolls, their hand disappearing from sight while they reach in it for a second before pulling out a perfectly mixed brownish orange cloth in a texture far better than the one Tsukasa showed off as a reference.
His face brightened as he took it from the worker’s hands, inspecting the color and feel of the fabric. One side was the standard rough-smooth kind, perfect to actually sew together, but the other—the outside part of it—was fluffy, but not as fluffy as, say, a bunny plush would be. Considering the reference photos.. it’s perfect!
“Thank you very much! This is precisely what I was looking for!” Grinned Tsukasa.
“Glad I could help!” The worker smiled back and bowed slightly, turning around and moving to assist another struggling customer. Tsukasa cheerfully took his wool and fabric to the counter, where he saw a small bag of black beads—huh, did he have anything at home for the eyes…?
Oh well, he supposes he’ll take the beads home too, then! After all, it’s best to have too much than too little in cases such as this!
—
Luckily, he didn’t end up having a huge bin full of black eye beads; he made the right call picking some up. If he didn’t, he would’ve had to return to the store, which would take time away from actually crafting!
The last thing he needed before he could get to work was.. a tutorial!
…unfortunately, most turorials were for regular grownup foxes. So, Tsukasa would have to study the features between the two until he can dream of them! Still, starting with a regular body, just a little smaller, should be fine.
Oh! And.. study the school material! What was it.. he distantly remembered something in class about…
—
“Tsukasa-kun, have you studied well for the quiz today?”
That’s right, the quiz!
“I did, in fact! I spent extra time studying for it!” He exclaimed, earning a judgemental look from Nene and a knowing one from Rui.
“We can tell. You look like Rui when he takes three all-nighters in a row.” Nene quipped, smirking as Rui was unable to come up with a good enough comeback.
“I’m sure you’re exaggerating! One day of sleeping a few hours less surely didn’t mess up my appearance that much!” Tsukasa said confidently, yet grabbed his phone to look at his reflection within seconds.
“Don’t worry, it looks just fine. Nothing an early night can’t fix, mm?” Rui smiled, peeking at Tsukasa’s phone to see how much time they had before classes would begin.
“I say we go inside already. Nobody will care if you don’t look your utmost best for one day.” Nene rolled her eyes, her lips quirked upwards.
“I suppose, yes. A star can’t always look his best! Keeping my grades up is a necessity worth a sacrifice or two!”
—
It was so, so terrible.
He might have stayed up for far too long into the night, and only one hour of that might have been spent on actually studying. Still, he had more hope in himself than this.
This undoubtedly horrific quiz result (even though the quiz had only just ended, and their results wouldn’t be known until the next day at minimum) was.. due to a lack of effort. Really, Tsukasa! You can’t risk nearly failing again!
“Huuuhhhh?! Tsukasa-kun, what’s wrong!”
“Agh—!”
Tsukasa jumped, tripping over his own feet and flailing around until he’s sure to meet his fate on the cold, hard school flooring.
Well, would’ve, but his strong and reliable savior rescued him from this horrid fate!
“Huff..!” Nene puffed, her arms against his back. “If you don’t stand up immediately, I’m dropping you..!” She threatened, pushing Tsukasa up so her arms could be relieved of his full weight.
At that, he pulled himself upright shakily. “E-Emu! What are you doing here..?!” He asked, still startled.
“You’re acting like this is a rare occurence..” Nene’s voice moved from behind, finishing her sentence once she stood as a mediator between Tsukasa and Emu.
“My teacher let us go for lunch early, so I wanted to spend it here with everyone!” Emu cheered. “But you looked down, Tsukasa-kun!”
“You didn’t flunk the quiz you supposedly stayed up all night for, did you?” Nene interjected.
Tsukasa looked away pointedly.
“Hhhrrmmmmm…!!!!”
“Great, so that’s exactly what happened.”
“I didn’t stay up all night for it, anyway! I was… practicing my lines too, that’s right.” He lied, so utterly obviously.
The girls gave him exactly ten seconds of grace to recover from his terrible half-assed lie before continuing.
“What were you actually doing, Tsukasa-kun? Nene-chan is right, it doesn’t look like you got much sleep!” Emu called out, so kindly reminding him of the dreadful.
Tsukasa pretended to think hard for a little, stealing not-so-subtle peeks at Nene, thinking her presence might somehow help him out of this—even if she’s on the enemy side!
Though of course, while Nene stayed oblivious, Emu didn’t. He mentally begged her not to mention anything yet.
“I couldn’t sleep, so I spent some extra time studying, truly! It simply didn’t stick with me due to how late it was!” Okay, more believable. He mentally patted himself on his shoulder.
“Go sleep early tonight then, okay?! Right after practice!”
“I’ll have to eat dinner after practice!”
“After dinner then, idiot.”
“I should shower today as well!”
“After showering, go to sleep instantly! You’ll feel super duper wonderhoy when you wake up tomorrow!” Emu finished, leaving no more room for excuses. Not like Tsukasa would’ve wanted to continue, anyway.
“Okay, okay! Let’s just go eat lunch in the courtyard today..”
—
He hoped, truly wished, none of the others would notice the sudden—
“Tsukasa-kun? Mind explaining why there is a bandaid around your finger, one that wasn’t there this morning?”
Wonderful!
“A-Ahem.. I’ll let you know, Rui, I merely pricked myself with a needle while trying to sew a hole in one of Saki’s plushies shut!” He lied, the excuse prepared beforehand so it could sound more realistic than the mediocre excuses he used at school. Plus, they couldn’t possibly question Saki’s (nonexistent) wishes!
Gosh, surprises are difficult to keep a secret.
“Maybe it’s because Tsukasa-kun is too tired, so it happened recklessly!” Emu called from behind, succesfully startling Tsukasa once more. Agh.. he probably is too tired..!
“Will you be okay during practice?” Nene asked from next to Emu.
“Yes, don’t worry! I’ll simply make sure to sleep early tonight.”
“After your shower.” She reminded, causing Tsukasa to redden from shame.
“Yes, after my shower..”
“Well then. Let’s begin, shall we?” Rui smiled, then looked at Tsukasa a little more seriously. “If you get too tired, let us know.”
“I will!”
—
After his wonderfully soothing shower, he sat by his desk once more, glaring at the needle he’d pierced himself with earlier.
He had been trying his utmost best to analyze the key differences between a baby fox and a grownup fox’s appearances. The differences he had written down were:
1. Their ears, compared to the size of their heads, are a bit larger. Though adult foxes also have bigger ears than an average animal’s, so he would have to rely on the head size to make this detail clear.
2. Their tails are thinner. Or, well, the fur is yet to grow as long as an adult fox’s, so he could definitely work with that!
3. Their eyes look wider, just like babies of all species do. This is easily recreatable by not sewing too much fabric over the beads!
Then.. he’s already sewn a base for the body, since there aren’t too many differences other than size, he could now get started on the head! Perhaps plan the fabric so it could end up slightly smaller than the body.. but not too small, of course—
Ding!!
His phone! A new message from.. Nene..!
MY DIVA!: dont forget to go to sleep
MY DIVA!: our show is a few days away and youre playing the lead with me, so you cant fall behind now.
Right, right, the show! He hadn’t forgotten it, far from actually! He’s prepared to make it even greater!
Or rather, their last full rehearsal. It would be cruel to change the script in the show itself, Tsukasa feels it would have the complete opposite effect. The last thing he wants is to stress Nene on stage with an audience!
You: Thank you for reminding me, Nene! I appreciate you very much! I shall go to sleep right this instant!
MY DIVA!: only half of that was necessary, drama king…
Ha, he could see her fluster from through the screen! It’s always so cute to see, he felt his cheeks pull up in a smile. Their last rehearsal couldn’t be sooner..!
—
Tail.. check! It’s fluffy, but not as thick. Ears.. check! Theyre slightly disproportionate, but that should be fine considering the pointer notes he made. Eyes.. check! At least, they’re sewn in well. Perhaps he should’ve compared the size to the head before buying, but it should be fine. It looks just as.. proper as the ears, so it’s simply like a stylistic choice! Even if it wasn’t, it still looked more than presentable—he’s merely nitpicking.
Now all that’s left is figuring out how he’ll actually go through with it. It’s one more night before their last full rehearsal, so he has until the afternoon after a night of good rest to think it through.
What will he say? Where could he hide the plush until the right time came—ack, his costume, obviously. But.. would Nene even accept it..?!
No, Emu and Rui always tell him now much she talks about how ‘idiotic’ he is, among ‘other Tsukasa-centered topics’! That must count for something.
Perhaps.. he’ll go off script enough to make it as wonderful as he deems worthy, and continue on from the little tweaks! After all, the original climax is also a confession.
The prince, exclaiming his true, burning love to the princess who experiences such loneliness, she’s never felt the sun’s infleunce a day in her life. Eventually, the princess hears these words of pure love and finally experiences what it’s like to have your heart burst in flames with cheer!
Immediately after he had received the script and role, he knew how he could play this role perfectly! With his pre-existing love for Nene, there was no chance of messing up the role of an overwhelmingly lovesick prince, who lives with a scorching heart in pride.
All that was left was confirming that his brave and beautiful princess felt just as truly deep as he did!
—
“Rui, Emu! I need your help!”
Emu turned quickly, her eyes twinkling with excited curiosity. Agh—she’s acting like she already knows exactly what he wants to say..!
“Huuuh?! What does Tsukasa-kun need help with?” Really..? She’s just feigning confusion now, isn’t she…
“Is it about the show? I can make adjustments if—“ Rui started, clearly anticipating less than Emu seemed to.
“Not to worry! I am confident I’ve got this role down to a T! It’s about… er, Nene!” Tsukasa blurted, realizing his face must’ve reddened by a tenfold after seeing Emu grin mischeviously, matching Rui’s smug face.
“AAAAHEMM! Anyway! I’ve got an idea to make this final practice spectacular! I ask you two to leave the climax in my hands, since we’ve already played it perfectly in the previous practices.” Suggested Tsukasa, looking around to secure the secrecy of the proposal.
“Yes! It can’t hurt, right Rui-kun?” Emu turned in excitement. How is it that she looks more happy for the idea than Tsukasa himself…?!
“You’re right, Emu-kun. It should be fine.” Rui confirmed, sounding more threatening than encouraging.
“Thank you, Rui, Emu!”
“Give it your all, Tsukasa-kun~”
“I believe in you, Tsukasa-kun!!”
—
And… scene! Now then, the next scene would be the one he’s been anticipating! He ran off stage to quickly retrieve the plush. Nene would enter the stage on the other side before him, so he had some time to hide it under his costume.
“Oh, the breeze..” Came Nene’s soft voice from onstage. Soon, he would have to go on stage and break both of his legs! It was near impossible to keep the stupid grin off his face.
“There’s not even snow.. I wonder if this cold is truly the weather’s fault..” She sounds so kind, so magnificent..! Like a perfect princess…
“Tsukasa-kun, your cue!” Rui called, Emu pointing her head to the stage where Nene currently is, waiting for her prince!
Tsukasa nearly sprinted onstage, huffing dramatically, followed by a “princess..!”
Nene turned in a big motion. “Prince? What are you doing here, with this dreadfully icy air..?” She gasped, her voice so perfectly shaky, as if she was truly struck by a bullet of ice.
“Dear princess, this cold you speak of seems to be within yourself alone! To me, this air burns my skin like a fire.” Tsukasa delivered, speaking with no hint of pain at all, despite his line’s implications. His hands moved to cover his heart.
“But.. isn’t that much too constantly painful to bear? This chill I feel.. is something one can get used to after merely a few pricks of ice..!” Yelled the princess, the line delivery akin to a stab in the gut.
“No. Because, dear princess, the reason behind this fire is something that brings me happiness. Do you understand,” Tsukasa paused, shifting his voice to fit his own rather than the prince’s, “Nene?”
The girl, despite trying to stay in character, raised her brow in confusion.
“I-I don’t, prince! This cold.. I find it never brings me any form of joy!” She stuttered, losing the princess’s voice.
“It allows me to live in true bliss, because it is you my heart burns so fiercely for, Nene!” He grinned, Nene’s face twisting into fluster as she processes his words. Then, he turned his back to her to grab the plush unnoticed. “If you accept, princess, dear Nene, your heart is sure to let go of this lonely cold and experience the flame of love!”
Right after he finished his sentence, he turned back to face Nene, holding out the baby fox plush he’d worked so hard on while dropping to stand on one knee. Held out like a ring, standing as if it’s a proposal, he feels his face heat up like the prince’s would were he real.
“T-Tsukasa, this—“ Nene uttered, the complete sentence going discontinued.
“I love you, Nene! Would you allow me to stay by your side, and keep your heart full of warm bliss?” He spoke, his voice kept high enough for Nene to hear clearly, but likely low enough to force Rui and Emu to strain their ears in order to hear him well from behind the curtains.
“You— Tsukasa—“ Nene muttered, completely unable to reply anything proper in her fluster. Just like Tsukasa expected—it was worth failing one mere quiz for! “D-Did you make that..?” She settled on asking, pointing at his gift.
“Naturally! A star— or, well, a prince can not let his princess have anything but the best! A store bought plush would’ve been a regular fox rather than your favorite, a baby fox!” He exclaimed proudly, nearly falling over due to his extravagance.
Nene, realizing the distinctions between the two, stumbled to cover her face lazily. “You could’ve just said ‘I like you’ without all of this, you idiot..!”
“Nonsense!” He merely said, instead waiting for Nene’s official response. Watching as, when the silence stretched on, Nene peeked between her fingers for a long five seconds before letting her hands drop. Slowly, the princess made her way over to the awaiting prince. Hand extending forward, she grabbed the plush out of his hands.
Tsukasa followed the movements of Nene bringing the plush closer to herself. Eventually, a kind smile appeared next to the plush’s head as it was held beside her face.
“I-I love you too, of course…!” Nene replied, and Tsukasa heard his own heart beating in his ears.
“Truly?!”
“Yes..! Though, you’re still an idiot….!”
Tsukasa easily slipped back into their usual rhythm despite the stupidly sloppy grin plastered on his face. “W-Whaaaat..?! Oh Nene, how cruel!!!”
“A-Ahem… I must admit, prince,” Nene suddenly began, sliding back into the role of the princess, now showing off the baby fox with a funny grin of her own, “my heart already feels a little less cold.”