Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Another 'zip!' sound and finely cladded feet tapped on the floor as if they were dancing, accompanied by a low hum. After a turn here and another turn there, sunset eyes sparkled with pride and satisfaction as they met the citrine ones of his.

“How is this?” Tsukasa asked like he didn't know the answer, or he was simply fishing for compliments on his appearance. He placed one hand on his hips and lightly turned his torso to the side to look at him better. The golden hues of sunlight helped Tsukasa in his little fashion show; the little jewelry designs and fancy ornaments on his corset lighted up like sunflowers.

Luckily for Tsukasa, Rui was feeling nice today. “It certainly leaves an impression.”

“That's it?” Tsukasa scoffed. “Come now, you are not one to hold off on his praise and compliments.”

Rui nodded. “I'm not,” in two steps he was standing beside Tsukasa, who now had to lift his head up a little to meet his eyes again. He smiled inanely. “I wasn't aware of how enthusiastic you are about receiving them though.”

Tsukasa sighed. “Don't twist my words in that direction! I just want commentary, this is the third one I'm trying out and you've done nothing but stand there like a scarecrow for the entire time.” He off-mindedly put his other hand on his hips too while he complained to Rui, his body stood balanced and sturdy. Rui admired their side by side standing figures in the mirror; Tsukasa's lean but well-fit body complimented his own lanky limbs plus tall height, he thought. He really looked like a scarecrow while Tsukasa acted like an angry peacock, still spouting some words that Rui wasn't listening to. Hmm.

Rui decided to approach Tsukasa from behind, eyes locked in on his whole figure. It would be so very easy to absorb Tsukasa as if he was a tiny molecule with no way to escape from the tight embrace of his arms. His hands found their way to Tsukasa’s wrists, he held them with a strong grip and raised his arms so they could be parallel to the floor. Rui glanced at his shoulders and back, how the muscles there were surely tightened now. He decided to move them, and corrected their position to become something similar to wings. Tsukasa played along with him, always in sync. Chin high, his waist curved slightly as his chest flared up.

Rui watched him, captivated by the show he was directing privately. He watched how the sunlight now enhanced his face with his blonde hair, making him look like he was the embodiment of their beloved Earth's star. His pose only made him shine more, if Rui focused really hard he could imagine Tsukasa’s arms as real wings; born with fire in them. Rui could see himself falling into them so clearly, embracing Tsukasa's warmth as his mortal body burned itself away. It would be nice to see a real life phoenix, one such as Tsukasa himself, before he closed his eyes permanently.

“Don't waste your breath on me now, Tsukasa-kun. It is needed for our upcoming show that will start in..” His eyes flickered to the wall where a clock was located. “about twenty minutes.”

“Time flew by! And I can't help but feel excited for this one. How are my hands?” Tsukasa spoke, his hands quickly disturbing their magnificent position to hold Rui's own. Rui mourned a little of his loss, he wished he could at least have some time to take a picture of him.

Alas, the pads of his fingers massaged Tsukasa's knuckles gently. “Shaky.” Rui hummed. He was aware of it already but still being reminded of how pretty Tsukasa's hands were for several times tickled a certain part of his brain. Hands were the mirror of one's emotional state and Tsukasa’s hands always looked sturdy and pristine. From his wrists to down to his nails, every detail he had was simply fascinating to Rui. He especially liked to trace the maps inside his palms. “Are you nervous?”

“Not really.” Tsukasa answered quickly. He had an appreciative look on his face as Rui continued his impromptu massage. “However, this place is pretty fancy. All the whites and softer colors make me only anticipate our show more.”

“This is a building for holding weddings after all. It also has a grand garden in the back, which is where we will have to get to shortly.” Rui said. “If I didn't know you already, I'd think you are one of those people waiting in line here.” He blurted out.

He didn't really think about that last sentence, just went with his gut feeling. His heart thumped inside his chest as the words became clearer to him, he could feel the back of his neck burning slightly while his face protected its neutral expression.

“Eh? What do you–” Tsukasa's confused face glared at him for a few seconds before it lighted up with enlightenment. Then a certain soft shade of red dusted the apples of his cheeks. “Oh.”

Rui didn't say anything, he kept staring.

“We are still eighteen you know? Well, nearly nineteen now.” His blonde hair moved with him side to side as he shook his head with a little sigh. “Still! We are too young to think about that stuff. What brought it up inside that big brain of yours anyway?”

Rui sniffed pitifully. “Perhaps Tsukasa-kun's princely charm has started to blind my eyes..”

Simply distracted by Rui's compliment, Tsukasa boasted. “As expected of me! Let your eyes engrain this timeless beauty in them as much as your heart desires!” He was preening like a peacock once again. Rui chuckled fondly, what a nice thought.

“However, we must get going. The girls should be ready soon, let's pick them up.” Tsukasa took one look at himself in the mirror for the last time as he smiled confidently at his own image. Then he turned and patted Rui's shoulder lovingly, his sunset eyes left fires and explosions on whenever they gazed on Rui's body, most likely inspecting Rui's outfit to see if there was any error.

Rui felt himself burn to the crisps.

“Well,” Tsukasa's eyes met his own in their final moment inside this room of whites and other softer colors. He offered an arm for Rui to hold, how very gentlemanly of him. “Shall we?”

Chapter Text

Poof!

“I told you–!” His legs trashed fruitlessly against the fingers holding his body in place, trying to get them off. Those deft and playful fingers, Tsukasa cursed inside his head, never listened to him when it mattered! Or not! “to not touch my wings! Ever!”

A red fingertip, probably because of the cold, approached his scrunched up face and caressed his cheek softly. Tsukasa growled deep in his throat, nearly biting Rui's finger off before he took a hold of his chin and pushed his head back. “Rui! Stop!”

A hurtful look passed through Rui's pale golden eyes. Tsukasa grumbled, he knew Rui was going to take advantage of his gullible nature. He couldn't help it! Whenever someone or something gave him a sad expression, he got reminded of cute puppies. There were a lot of those puppies in the last garden he visited a few weeks ago, so he was especially feeling all soft and woozy now. Rui knew it.

His throat burned from screaming and yelling too much in such a short time, his legs weren't better either. It was another thing to fight his natural enemies, like bugs, however when it came to the things that were bigger in size, like Rui, he got tired very shortly. Rui was still holding him on the waist with his two fingers while he inspected his precious wings. For what reason, Tsukasa had no clue. He just came from a visit to Nene, the hummingbird that lived not too far in the north, and Rui was familiar with Nene! Even more so than him, given they were childhood friends.

Before their planned meeting, Nene asked him to collect little fruits for her nest. Tsukasa accepted on the spot, he loved Nene's singing and she always sang more prettily whenever she ate some berries and other things! And so, he did as he was asked. His journey through the forest and countless bushes left him a bit winded but there was no issue. Still…

“Are you sad that I didn't bring you any fruits?” He asked curiously. He felt Rui's touch on his wings stop, and Tsukasa blinked. He didn't even feel them moving, sometimes Rui's touch was too light for him to sense. However, knowing that he was making direct contact with his wings still made him jiggery.

“My kitchen is full of fruits, Tsukasa-kun. Dried and fresh.” Rui spoke, voice scratchy from disuse, so he cleared his throat silently. Tsukasa turned his head to look at him over his shoulder, he gave Rui a half-hearted look. “All of them are from you.”

“But I didn't bring any now.” Tsukasa shook his head disapprovingly. “And I came to your cabin impromptu too! I should've brought something with me. So improper… How unbecoming of me!” He wailed loudly. He was supposed to be the star example of fairies; always well-mannered and good-hearted. Just because he was close with Rui didn't mean that it was fine to not bring him any gift upon visiting!

Rui chuckled, the sound so warm in his tiny ears that Tsukasa thought he was listening to the sun sing again. But he winced slightly when something sharp was pulled out of his flesh quickly. “I don't mind, really. Tsukasa-kun's presence is a gift that I receive every day.” He sighed, breath hitting Tsukasa's hair. “Alas, he looks a little rough today. You ought to be careful, Tsukasa-kun.”

There, sitting on the center of Rui's wide palm, was a tiny piece of wood. Tsukasa blinked incredulously, head turning left and right to find any evidence of wounds but there was none to see. He lifted his head up just on time to come face to face with Rui's smirk. Without his big witch hat it was easy to see and observe his expressions. Tsukasa liked his hat (and napping inside of it) but Rui looked beautiful either way.

“All fixed up now, doll.” That saccharine voice told him. Tsukasa was sitting inside of his right hand's palm now, he tried to see and feel if anything hurt but nothing did. His surprised expression met Rui's fond gaze, he smiled. “I couldn't leave you battered up like that, could I?”

Tsukasa smiled too, big and grateful. “Thank you, Rui!”

“Of course.” Rui answered. He disposed of the tiny piece of wood with his magical purple flame and started to give pats to Tsukasa's head. “Now, I noticed some fairy dust falling off your wings. Would you mind if I collected–”

More wings touching? No, no! He was already at his limit. Tsukasa could feel his wings shiver up slightly. They were too sensitive for any direct contact! “I refuse!”

Chapter Text

Silence overtook the whole room as the four of them sat unmovingly around the dinner table with a clear goal that they shared collectively in mind: Do not disturb the table.

“Stop that,” Nene left a quick slap on Tsukasa's nape as she scolded him. He immediately balked, eyes widening like dinner plates. “You are shaking too much.”

Emu giggled loudly before closing her mouth with both of her hands. She stared at the table unblinkly like it could suddenly become alive and reprimand her for her giggle. Rui smiled and made a ‘down’ motion with his hand, causing Emu to relax slowly.

Meanwhile, Tsukasa defended himself strongly against Nene's underhanded attacks. “I'm just excited!” He said while moving to catch her left hand before she could pinch his shoulder. “And I have impeccable balance! No way this tower is going to fall off because of me!”

As if hearing his bold statement, the block tower shivered slightly.

Nene narrowed her lilac eyes at him. “Right.” She pulled her left hand out of Tsukasa's grip and sighed heavily. “It's Rui's turn now. Don't play any tricks.”

The blonde boy gasped, chest heaving up as he placed a hand over his heart in a dramatic position. Rui hummed in thought, this might be his fifty eighth pose. “I would never!”

“I wasn't talking to you.” Nene shrugged. She moved her chair a little bit behind to not accidentally hit the table while she got into a more comfortable position. She grumbled in annoyance when she found out there was no room to place her legs without causing them to get a cramp.

“Nene-chan,” Witnessing her dear friend's struggle, Emu leaned over to whisper. “you can put your legs on my lap, if you want. I don't mind!”

The sage green haired girl blushed lightly as she waved her hands around in rejection. “It's fine! Thank you, anyway.” She inhaled deeply. “I wish I agreed when you guys offered to play on the ground…”

“Do you regret it now?” Rui's voice chimed in. He smiled in a way that made him look like a cat who's up to no good. He interlaced his fingers under his chin and chuckled. “You leave your hand way too open, Tsukasa-kun.”

A crack. The chair Tsukasa was sitting on staggered when he stood up to his full height and pointed a finger towards Rui's direction. “Have you no shame!? It shouldn't be possible to always draw blocks from the middle! Surely, you are cheating!”

“My,” Rui gasped in faked incredulousness. “do you have any evidence?”

Tsukasa laughed. “Emu and Nene are here too! They saw what happened, right, guys?!” He quickly turned to them to see that both girls were watching their interaction with open mouths and confused stares.

Rui chuckled. “I assume they didn't.”

“Cease your speaking.” Tsukasa ordered. He sighed very heavily and loudly, arms moving to cross on his chest. Sunset eyes, always imploring and searching (or just casually looking at the air), burned Rui on the spot. “I won't let you gain this unjust victory!”

Now it was getting even more exciting. If playing UNO with Tsukasa was fun then playing Jenga with him was exhilarating. His reactions never got old. “And what will you do about that?”

“I will sit next to you.” The blonde boy moved to sit on the unoccupied chair beside Rui, not noticing his satisfied look in the slightest. He sat down as calm as he could to not disturb the table any longer. The girls kept watching their interaction as if it was a comedy skit playing in front of them, none of them said a word. “Always keep your enemy closer.”

Rui pouted a little. “You hurt me, Tsukasa-kun.”

“You can lick your wounds later.” With a nonchalant wave of his hand, Tsukasa dismissed him entirely. The purple haired boy gave him a fond look, just how easy it was to raise his spirits and pull his strings? “Now, move again.”

“Well,” Rui did as he was told. His hand deftly approached a random middle piece and pulled it out smoothly again. This time, his move made Tsukasa let out a shocked yell while the girls only snickered. “whatever makes you happy, Leader.”

Chapter Text

“Tenma,” The boy that sat across his seat turned over to call out his name, seemingly confused about something. Tsukasa straightened his back, all proper and open to listen to any of the student body's worries! As a class representative and a member of the disciplinary committee, it was his duty to do so! “Is that tie new?”

Much curious. Tsukasa tilted his head in question, “is there something wrong with it?”

The boy waved his hands around. “No, no. It's the normal school tie, right? But don't you think you got the..” He struggled to find the correct words as his eyebrows did a funny turn of going upside and down repeatedly. “Measurements mixed?”

Tsukasa looked at his classmate dead in the eyes and smiled. “I don't think so!”

“I see..” He gave him another quick glance, specifically to the tip of the mentioned tie that sneaked out of his sweater. Well, Tsukasa didn't seem to realize it or he simply did not care. Nothing could be done about it then. The boy snickered quietly. “That look is nice on you.”

Tsukasa's smile turned into a confused upturn of lips, he couldn't keep up with this boy who meant something then changed the topic to a different thing. He thought talking with Rui could add to his communication skills overall but it seemed not. Figures, since Rui had a completely puzzle-like pattern. Sometimes he directly told Tsukasa the essential idea in his head, alas, most of the time Tsukasa had to listen to him for over an hour before he got a glimpse of what was going inside Rui's ever so precious brain.

However, “thank you!” He answered the student. Hands placed on his hips, he proudly raised his chin and laughed heartily. “Someone within a great destination such as myself must look his best in everything he wears!”

“Sounds like a long journey before you reach that, huh.” Another student quipped. He smiled playfully to Tsukasa after making his impromptu comment.

Tsukasa didn't mind. He was already aware of this fact.

“That only means I will always keep looking fabulous until I'm where I'm meant to be!” He loudly declared. So pumped out that he stood up and placed one of his hands on top of his chest in a theatrical position. “And when that light shrouds all of me, it will make me brighter than the stars above!”

A long journey, hmm…

Tsukasa hadn't seen Rui since earlier this morning. They were supposed to go to the cafeteria in the third recess to stock up some of Rui's favorite candies there, since he complained that they were nearly out of stock whenever he went there during lunch. Tsukasa didn't encourage this behavior, he would've rather see Rui eat healthy to maintain his energy through the day but there were also some candies he liked personally, so he accepted Rui's offer.

Thoughts clouded his mind and they only disappeared, opening the way for his hearing as Shiraishi's voice echoed in the hallway. “Kamishiro-senpai! Please wear your tie before attending classes!”

—

“I can't believe this.” Nene's voice came out in a small murmur. Her tone was exasperated, much to Rui's confusion. “I thought I saw everything… but even socks? Really now?”

His eyes went past the waistline and down to his feet when he took notice of his new socks. He shrugged, eyebrows still drawn slightly in question. “What do you mean by that?”

If Nene had lasers like Nenerobo, then Rui would have two holes inside his skull. “These socks. They have this obnoxious star pattern on them with blue and yellow colors. It's neon yellow, even. And you don't know anything about it?”

Rui hummed. Was Nene spending too much time reading conspiracy theories about this one game's lore online that it affected her normal thinking too? “Sorry but I can't help you with what you are trying to get out of this conversation. I bought these socks last weekend, aren't they cute?”

Nene reeled back in shock. Rui chuckled, if only he could catch that moment with a camera… She looked funny with wide eyes and raised eyebrows. Her expression reminded him of a chipmunk. “It can't be… You find them cute? Isn't this supposed to be Tsukasa's thing?”

Huh. Now there was food for thought.

“Our tastes are mixing, I guess.” He smiled sweetly. Wasn't it a nice thing, finding physical pieces of himself in another person as a reminder that he influenced them a great amount, that they didn't mind carrying those pieces because they were also reminded of him too? It was mutual and an exciting thing to explore.

“Well, at least Tsukasa knows how to dress decently.” Nene seemed to give up. She slouched her back a bit but her eyes seemed to light up when they arrived on the street where their houses were located. She was most likely itching to continue her game. “Except for the socks. They look atrocitious, please don't do that again.”

He smiled again, aware that Nene was teasing with only some sprinkles of truth in her words. He looked down at his socks, they weren't too visible because of his pants but he liked them on his person. Neon stars or not, Nene was especially right when she said these were Tsukasa's thing.

Rui specifically liked it about them.

—

There were only scattered murmurs but mostly silence when they both arrived to class early in the morning, all thanks to Tsukasa himself.

If it weren't for him, he knew Rui would continue to drift inside his dreamland at home. He was all presentable (as much as he can be) and ready for the day now!

They left their bags in their own seats. There was still a little time until their homeroom teacher officially start the class going so if Rui wanted he could share–

“Good morning.” Miyake's voice echoed inside his head. He turned to the direction of the sound to see him waving his head with a smile on his face. All fitting for a nice morning!

“A good one indeed, Miyake!” Tsukasa spoke and heard some of his classmates in the back bang their heads on their seats with quiet groans. Not everyone seemed to be awake at this hour still, it seemed. “Oh, Hayashi is here as well. Good morning!”

“Hey,” Hayashi stopped only leaning into the classroom's door with his head visible and decided to come in. He stopped in the middle of his and Rui's seats, taking the sight of both of them.

“Tenma-kun, can I borrow your history notebook?” Miyake asked, albeit shy. “I forgot about mine at Taniyama's, hence why I'm asking.”

Tsukasa blinked. “Of course!” It was all in the name of learning, Miyake shouldn't have felt nervous about asking something like that! Tsukasa would always be glad to lend him such things.

While he was pulling out his notebook from his bag, his ears took in the conversation between Rui and Taniyama.

“Is Tenma-kun sick?” Taniyama wondered.

“Not at all. He wouldn't dare to come here if he was.” Rui answered, voice still low from just waking up (twenty minutes ago) and sounded like he was ready to go back to his dreamland again.

Tsukasa made a triumph noise when he finally took a hold of his history notebook and immediately handed it over to Miyake with a big smile. Miyake thanked him in return, he was mildly distracted while going through the pages.

“Is he feeling cold then?” Taniyama posed another question. “That cardigan on him is draped over his body like a blanket, that's why I'm asking.”

“Ohh.” Rui yawned. “So that's why.”

“I just said that. Well, do you know the answer?” Taniyama pressed, still very much curious.

A thud sound. Tsukasa quickly worked his hands to pull out the other things he was meant to before Miyake's sudden request. “I have no idea.”

“Rui!” When he was able to get the little container and a small carton of milk, he rushed to Rui's seat and placed those in front of his head. Inside the container, there were some berries and dried grapes. The small carton had milk that carried a higher percentage of protein than the average. They were perfect for Rui to have this morning since he was sleep deprived and hungry! He tapped on his shoulder. “Wake up!”

If he asked nicely, Tsukasa would buy him coffee later.

“But Tsukasa-kun–” Rui whined like a kid, his face smushed on his arms. “I'm cold.”

Tsukasa frowned. “Do you want your cardigan back?”

After his statement, the scattered murmurs became louder. Taniyama had a small, winning smile on his face as he nudged Miyake with his elbow and said, “I told you so.”

“No.” Rui replied with a tone like that question already had its answer. “You should sit next to me.”

Tsukasa didn't mind the noise around him much but couldn't they be less obvious about talking about them? “Our seating arrangement won't allow that.”

Rui sighed as if he had other big and burdened things to worry about. He peeked at him from his arms, purple bangs were slightly hiding his golden eyes. “I will hide you.”

“Don't murder Tsukasa and hide his body so early in the morning.” Another voice cut in with an exasperated sigh as a wrapped toast was placed on Rui's seat. “Your mother gave this to me to hand it over to you. I'm surprised you are already here.”

Tsukasa grinned and put his hands on his hips. But before he could take a word in, Rui's voice cracked around the edges as he spoke to Nene. “An early bird kidnapped me.”

“Kidnap you!?” Tsukasa reeled back. “Don't say such words around so casually! We planned to come to school together last night.”

Nene squinted at him. “Why are you wearing his cardigan when you have your jacket on you?”

Tsukasa hummed. He had been receiving too many comments about his clothes lately. “Rui forgot it at my house a few days ago. I washed it and meant to return it to him today but my bag didn't have space in it so I wore it instead. He hasn't taken it yet though.”

“It's okay.” Rui murmured.

Nene sighed again. She glanced at the other students watching the three of them like vultures, too deep into their conversation. The other two boys she had seen around Rui and Tsukasa were also watching them but they were trying to do it discreetly. They weren't successful on that.

“Save your courtship rituals for later.” She blurted out bluntly and had to take a step back when Tsukasa reeled again too close to her side. “You have to eat breakfast before the homeroom teacher comes.”

“I've been saying that.” Tsukasa grumbled and poked Rui's shoulder harder. Rui whined again, swatting his hand blindly towards Tsukasa to get him to stop.

Nene stared at them. “Well, my job here is done. Good luck.”

She left like how she arrived in the first place, all quiet and quick on her feet. Tsukasa waved after her before turning his attention back to Rui, who was in the middle of unwrapping his toast. Tsukasa also saw the opened milk carton.

He smiled when Rui's fingers got dirty with some of the melted cheese in the toast. Quickly pulling out his ever so helpful handkerchief, he offered it to Rui. “Here, help yourself.”

It was just another thing to share between them.

Chapter Text

Under the cold gaze of the moon and the constellations he could pick up if he focused on them hard enough, the lukewarm wind of this specific spring night told him about the directions a map couldn't. His feet lightly danced between long trees, not even the crunch of a dry leaf could be heard beneath his careful steps. He turned left and right, eyes searching for a living being other than himself.

He let a chuckle slip past his lips when he felt the dangerous edge of a sword, just shy away from digging itself into his exposed scapula. He neither moved nor turned around, only stood there like a shadow beneath the blade's mercy.

“We should stop meeting like this.” Behind him, the beholder of the sword spoke in a grumpy way. “State your business.”

Rui smiled placidly even if the other man couldn't see it. “Dinner.”

“Here?”

“As simple as that.”

“You cannot be serious.” The sharp edge of the sword dug into his scapula, if the man used any more force than this a wound would possibly be created. That wouldn't be very pretty, Rui thought. He didn't move. “You claim that you came here, into this dense forest at the dead of the night, to have dinner all by yourself? It can't be that simple.”

Rui turned his head to the side, his left eye making contact with the man's sunset gaze. It was interesting to have this fire dance in front of him when they had an infinite ballroom up above their heads. The constellations were twinkling when he took a glance at them seconds ago, were they excited for the unfolding show in front of them too?

“I don't take pleasure in sharing my food with my… friends.” He murmured lightly, head still turned towards the man. “I prefer to be left alone.”

“Depressing.” The knight gave Rui a deadpan expression that he also quickly changed into a thinking one when he started to speak again. “I assumed you would be done with your so-called ‘dinner’ two hours ago. Nevertheless, you are still trailing behind me like a pup. It's not as simple as you might think, so I urge you to reveal your true intentions before I have you locked up.”

Rui felt a shiver run straight down his spine, the tips of his fingers tingled with anticipation. Every inch of his body was begging him to turn towards the man fully and show him a great deal of what's going on in his brain. Would he like that? Or would he still think about throwing him into a dungeon? The risks were greater than the rewards but Rui tended to gamble on his life either way. Especially with a reward as alluring as this, he couldn't possibly stop now.

The knight should've been used to this by now.

His index finger trailed on his back until it reached the sharp point of the sword and moved it away slowly, a small dent opening in the middle of the sensitive skin from the blade. His body moved like a clockwork; he kept the sword away from himself with his finger as he approached the knight in two short steps. The blonde man, Tenma Tsukasa that he's come to know for the past few months, placed his free hand on his shoulder to stop him from getting too close for comfort. His hand was right on the exposed skin of his back, nails digging into the clear patch of skin.

Rui painfully became aware that the moon kept her distant gaze on them without shame, it made him self-conscious. He let out a sigh and when his cold breath made its way to the knight's otherwise warm body, Tsukasa trembled like a fresh leaf in the harsh wind. There should be better places around for this.

“...I suppose you are right.” His own eyes, golden with navy flicks and some red, stared at the knight's exposed neck with full attention. “We should stop meeting like this.”

Chapter Text

Silence.

That was what greeted Tsukasa when he entered the codes to open Rui's garage door. No clanky sounds of metals, no scratching of a pen on paper, no keyboard tapping and no mumbling to air. There was not a pip to be found here, as he expected before coming over. It was also why he was trying to not make a sound as he tiptoed around lightly with his sock cladded feet.

He gently placed the shopping bangs in his hands on the floor and turned around to check on the body laying on the couch. Rui was completely out of it with his head thrown back on the armrest of the couch as his feet were dangling down above the other end. Tsukasa couldn't help his wince while he kept staring at the uncomfortable position Rui was in, just how exactly was he sleeping in this condition?

Well, with Rui, no one really could ask for too much. Tsukasa was grateful that he wasn't laying like a dead fish on the floor instead.

He approached the boy, swept off his bangs and placed a hand to check his temperature. It wasn't nearly as bad as yesterday, he thought. Rui had to be taken to the hospital by his parents last night since he wasn't paying attention to his feverish state and ended up passing out momentarily on his desk. His mom told Tsukasa about all the details, which he listened intently. If Rui wasn't sick, he would've ended up whacking him. Was he a child? How did he not notice his high fever?

Those thoughts aside, Tsukasa booped Rui's nose and caused the other to scrunch up his face, he was relieved to know that Rui was taking his time to heal now. He wasn't staying in his bedroom, god knows why, but he was still resting. That counted for something in Tsukasa's book.

“Tsukasa-kun,” Rui's voice was husky from sleep and a little scratchy as well. Must be from throwing up so much last night. “Why must you disturb my peaceful slumber?”

On his couch and with that position? No way in hell Rui was peaceful like that. Tsukasa sighed. “You should wake up. I brought chicken soup, your mom told me that you've been sleeping all day. You have to eat something to replenish your energy!”

Rui peeked an eye open. “Did you cook it for me?”

“Obviously.” Tsukasa moved to get the stuff he brought with himself. There were containers that carried his homemade food and he also bought some vitamins and protein drinks for Rui. He sat back beside Rui with the container that had his chicken soup and opened the lid. A cloud of smoke let itself out with the smell of chicken, which made Rui open his other eye and sit up slowly.

Tsukasa held his elbow as Rui got into a more comfortable position for his spine. “Be careful, it's still a bit hot.” He said while handing over a spoon for Rui to take too. Rui didn't say anything for five seconds, only stared at him with big, imploring eyes.

Tsukasa raised an eyebrow.

“Won't Tsukasa-kun feed me?” Rui asked with a small voice. Tsukasa noticed that he was trying to stiffen his shoulders a little closer to his body to make himself look more pitiful. He looked ridiculous instead.

“Are your hands not functional?”

“I'm sick right now, shouldn't I get to have privileges?” Rui said with the most serious face he could muster up at that moment.

Now, he knew that rolling his eyes wouldn't suit him, Tsukasa wasn't childish like Rui. But he did so anyway because one cannot communicate correctly with Rui unless they follow his range of emotions. Tsukasa assumed Rui was feeling rather like a child today. “You skipped school for three days, I've been coming and going, also bringing you my homemade meals too. And I bought you some candies as well. Aren't you already spoiled enough?”

Rui shrugged. “I wouldn't say so since Tsukasa-kun isn't granting my only wish.” He let out a heavy exhale with much dramatism. “I'm still tired and my hands feel shaky, what if I accidentally spill hot soup on myself and burn my poor, helpless body?”

“Okay, okay! Gracious.” Tsukasa gave him a deadpan look before adjusting his hold on the spoon. He took a large amount of soup from the container and brought the spoon closer to Rui's mouth carefully, who happily leaned in and ate it. “You are being agonizing.”

“Affection increases recovery speed, you know?” Rui told him after gulping down another spoonful of soup. Tsukasa normally liked to cook this one with a lot of other healthy veggies inside but because of Rui's preferences, he avoided them. He watched as Rui's pale face lighted up with more soup coming his way from Tsukasa, a half-hearted but fond look on his own face.

“Is that so?” Tsukasa hummed, eyes glimmering with mischief. He came closer to Rui's face and placed a kiss on his right cheek before withdrawing away. Tsukasa chuckled as he met Rui's slightly widened eyes. The little details Tsukasa grew too used to notice whenever he showed Rui physical affection were very sweet. “Are you feeling rather well now then?”

“Peachy.” Rui murmured, hands moving to cup Tsukasa's cheeks. Tsukasa tutted and avoided his hold.

“Stop that, if I get sick I will end up isolating myself and you won't get anything from me until I recover.” And he was being serious too! His body was pretty tough in that regard and he quickly got back up on his feet after catching colds but he couldn't risk anyone else catching something from him. Especially Saki. He knew Saki was handling herself strongly, however Tsukasa would feel guilty if she had to miss a school day with her friends just because she got some random virus from her brother!

It sounded like a nightmare.

Rui smiled inanely. “In sickness and in health, Tsukasa-kun.”

Tsukasa looked him dead in the eyes. What was with those words, how could Rui not feel embarrassed while saying them out loud? Tsukasa could barely hold off his own blush! “No way.”

The other boy just chuckled, still smiling, and continued to let himself be spoonfed by his partner.

Chapter Text

“You are not fish.” A harsh splash sound and Tsukasa had to blink repeatedly when water drenched his hair, his face and a little bit of his upper body rudely. He trailed a hand through his sticky bangs to get them out of his face and glared at the creature in his kitchen. “What are you?”

Another splash, this time it was directly to his eyes. He quickly shielded himself with his left arm before he went blind again. Tsukasa made an effort to get his ladle to defend himself (somehow) when the water attack stopped for a second. He quickly grabbed the thin body of his ladle and put it between him and the creature.

The aforementioned creature seemed to not like the offensive object between them, it kept staring at the ladle like it killed its family. However, Tsukasa could sense another wave of water preparing to come his way, so he spoke hastily, “This is not a weapon! Stop flooding my kitchen!”

It chirped at him grumpily and moved in its place as if it was trying to get away. Tsukasa frowned, “you can understand my words, right?”

It stared at him with deadpan eyes and the next chirp the creature let out sounded very mean. Tsukasa bit his lower lip to keep himself from sticking his tongue out at the creature. He had a focus on cooking dinner right now, not dealing with whatever this was.

He put a hand on his hip and waved his ladle around in despair. He felt incredibly childish but he couldn't help it, Tsukasa was supposed to get fish from the river nearby, not this… thing! It couldn't even talk! “I don't think I can cook you. You look half-human for some reason… it would be creepy..”

The creature stared at him blankly. “I have venomous blood, you will die instantly if you even dare to bite into my flesh harshly.”

“So you can speak!”

“I would rather not.” It sounded like a male and its build represented one as well. A little too thin for his taste but it was not Tsukasa's issue. “Not only did you interrupt my lunch but you are boldly confessing about thinking about eating the poor old me too. I've never thought I'd become a prey in nature's hierarchy, yet alone a prey to something like… you.”

Tsukasa blinked several times again, this time it was in confusion and disbelief. Did he find a whole different species while hunting fish for dinner? How did he not realize it was a creature like this!? As far as he could remember, this creature didn't look like a human when he first hunted him down. But now he seemed to barely fit into his big fish tank.

With a fool's courage running along his veins, Tsukasa took a step closer to the fish tank to observe him carefully. To Tsukasa’s surprise-but-not-so, while he had a human-like upper body, the rest of him resembled that of a jellyfish with his thin tentacles. Tsukasa couldn't help his gasp this time, watching his tentacles glow faintly under water was mesmerizing. He always thought jellyfish were beautiful beings but he didn't think he would meet one as unique as this one.

“Please quit acting like a kid, my body parts aren't your entertainment. And could you stop getting closer to me? Your hideous looking limbs are making me nauseous.” He quit talking when he realized that Tsukasa was staring at him with big, full of sunny eyes. He felt shivers at his fingertips.

Tsukasa raised his eyebrows in question and immediately looked down at the mentioned limbs of his; legs. “You don't like my legs?”

The creature scoffed lightly. “What's there to like about them? They look heavy.”

“Maybe you are too light.” Tsukasa pointedly glared down at his thin build and tentacles.

Not expecting the quip, the creature smiled with full teeth. All fangs and deadpan eyes, Tsukasa noted. He couldn't blame him though, being stuck in a fish tank like that was surely an uncomfortable experience. “I can make you lighter with my water bombs.”

“Bombs?” He screeched in shock. “Bombs aren't allowed in my kitchen!”

“I don't have them with me right now anyway.” The creature murmured, eyes darting around. The word ‘kitchen’ seemed to catch his interest, so Tsukasa assumed he was hungry since as he said, Tsukasa interrupted his lunch before the incident happened.

“Tell you what, I will take you back to the river in the morning but I really have to get back to preparing dinner for now.” He sighed in apology but didn't let his regret show as he quickly replaced his frown with a big grin. “So! Let me compensate you. I will cook dinner for you too! Though, let me give you an appetizer first because the main course will take a bit of time.”

Legs moving around with fast steps, he let go of his ladle on the counter and got a hold of his stewpot. It was still warm, Tsukasa noted with a happy hum. He returned to the creature's side and handed it over.

“Here!” When his offering was accepted with a small frown but curious hands, Tsukasa's smile grew a little more. That surely counted as something, right? No bombs, at least. “I hope you enjoy it!”

The creature took the pan carefully and looked inside just to see a finely made vegetable stew. He felt his stomach churn with disgust, his eyes nearly watered as he kept glaring at the horrid colors in bewilderment.

He sighed despondently, thinking of ways to destroy this pan swiftly. “I really should carry my water bombs with me…”

“What!” Tsukasa yelled again. Great, now not only he still didn't know the name of his guest but he also started on the wrong foot for the second time today. “No bombs allowed!!”

Chapter Text

“May I have this dance?” Asked an unfamiliar voice with a hand offered directly in front of him to take. He was wearing a simple tuxedo in a ballroom that overflowed with magic and magical beings. The pose his hand made was delicate, almost gentle, as if he was trying to not scare him off. It almost seemed laughable for a person like him. Almost.

Despite not knowing how his voice sounded before, Tsukasa knew this face all too well. It sometimes visited him during his nightmares, lurking in shadows and reminding him of the things that he would rather not go through again.

And so, there was only one sensible option for him to take. “Apologies but I will have to decline.” Tsukasa answered him, giving a sheepish smile to make his rejection not sting too bad. A rejection with a cold face might have stirred some things up that he didn't want to deal with, especially on a night like this.

A memory shard from this afternoon appeared before his eyes. He could hear his own voice declaring that he would be a nice man dedicated to his craft this year! He wasn't about to make the same mistakes as his past self, he has learned his lesson.The future meant more opportunities for him to make amends for those mistakes and become a better version of himself! His sister's cheer and claps to motivate him were still ringing in his ears. It made him happy even in this situation.

The person that still stood with all of his 1.82 cm height pouted like a child, eyebrows drawn together to create the epitome of a sad puppy face. Bewildered as he was, Tsukasa was a changed man now! He wasn't going to fall for that witch's tricks again!

“Tsukasa-kun is being mean. I thought he would want to further deepen his relationship with me since I was chosen as the most powerful mage in this academy.” That vengeful cry! The fake hiccups that he made in between words! It was all too familiar.

See, Tsukasa had tried his very hardest to forget about this man. He actually used a memory spell on himself to forget his voice too! Perhaps some spells didn't work the best on certain traumas… He could feel a headache coming already.

“The most powerful m-mage..!? Have you no shame?” He exclaimed with annoyance. Turning around with a sharp move to face the person that triggered him with his words, he waved a finger around. “We are in the middle of one of the most important balls for this year's autumn! This is our last year's beginning at this academy! Not to mention we are surrounded by our professors and even older beings than them! How are you able to spout some nonsense so confidently!?”

“Because Tsukasa-kun said so.” Rui, his hazy memories whispered to him, stared at him with his pale golden eyes with navy flicks in them. He was smiling placidly, the hand that he offered for Tsukasa to take earlier was relaxed behind his waist now. “Remember? You told me that you love my magic and creations, therefore claimed yourself that I am the most powerful mage this academy has ever seen.”

Tsukasa didn't want to remember at all. He wouldn't have preferred to stay here and stand like an idiot while chatting with Rui too.

Alas.

Rui didn't seem to be offended by Tsukasa's lack of reaction or his semi confused expression. He kept smiling as if he was already aware of what Tsukasa put himself through during this summer break. “I took your words to heart, you see. I accept that I wasn't the most tactful last year, nor was I very wise. My actions nearly took as much from you as it did from me.”

Tsukasa blinked repeatedly. Was he apologizing? For what? He thought Rui somehow knew that he wiped his memories of him from the last two years out. Tsukasa could vividly remember his voice now, since they were in the middle of talking, but he didn't remember anything else necessarily. So while it was appreciated that Rui was apologizing for his misdeeds, it wasn't present-Tsukasa's place to forgive him as past-Tsukasa wasn't here to witness it and do it in his stead.

“So I put much more effort in my training during our break.” Rui took a little step toward him, which made Tsukasa hesitate to allow him to do that or not. For some reason Rui was able to sense or know a lot of things as he stopped before he made Tsukasa uncomfortable. “I haven't put much thought into the destructiveness of my nature before and frankly, there is not much for me to do about it anyway since I can't rewrite my destiny. But I treasure my best friend just as much.”

So why can't I have you both?, was probably Rui's question. Tsukasa was going from assumption here but Rui did sound sincere in his words.

However, was it really true? What if Rui was just a polished liar? How was he supposed to know and trust him?

Tsukasa, as in present-Tsukasa, didn't quite know what to do. He knew he could never forget Rui's face but hearing his voice again inflamed something inside him. Was it his past-self warning him? He wouldn't say it was a drastically displeasing feeling, it was more like Tsukasa was deeply confused. He didn't know Rui like he did before. And despite being aware of that, how did Rui still call him his best friend? Didn't he think Tsukasa disrespected him and their relationship with wiping out his memory of Rui?

He sighed silently. It was supposed to be the start of a new year for him. A start for new Tsukasa. But the Rui in front of him dared to say otherwise.

“I will protect you this time, Tsukasa-kun.” Rui’s eyes sparkled like the starry sky above them. The corners of his lips did an upturn. He was radiating a warm feeling, which made Tsukasa feel strangely safe. He couldn’t help the shiver that ran down his spine. Rui’s smile widened a little, he seemed pleased to finally evoke a different reaction out of Tsukasa. “Let's both do our best for this year too, shall we?”

Chapter Text

“This is the third package.”

Taking another bite from the delicious stick between his fingers, Rui sighed despondently. “Tsukasa-kun won't play pocky with me.”

Nene, his dear friend that he trusted with everything, believed she would get his back whenever he needed it, snickered in an evil manner that mostly suited the witches from ancient times. Needless to say, it wasn't very nice of her.

“You are being dramatic.” She said, instead of comforting him. Perhaps she could hand over other pocky packages that she was hiding inside one of her drawers. Even though he was sad about eating these desserts all by his lonely self, they were still sugary and left a sweet taste inside his mouth. The chocolate and biscuit helped him ignore the fact that his boyfriend was pretending like he didn't exist while being in the same room with him. He was playing one of Nene's console games with Emu and losing it very spectacularly.

Rui couldn't help but feel a sick satisfaction running through his chest when Tsukasa let out another wail because of his loss. The big screen of Nene's television lit up with red lighting, showing Tsukasa that his character indeed died a miserable death. He kept watching with those entertained thoughts in mind as Tsukasa swept off his bangs out of his forehead and held his head while kept wailing like a loser. His back was turned to Rui, so unfortunately he couldn't see Tsukasa's precious facial expressions but even this was enough to make him feel a little bit better about his circumstances.

“Nice match, Tsukasa-kun!” Emu exclaimed brightly, a big grin formed on her lips. She leaned back to Nene's legs, which were hanging off of the edge of the potato couch she was sitting on, and let her put a tiny piece of pocky between her lips. They didn't kiss, Nene wasn't fond of public displays of affection even though it was just them, however, the act was still intimate and full of love. Good for them.

He averted his eyes back to the source of his little frustration.

Tsukasa had stopped his wailing a few seconds ago. He sat like he had given up on everything, only glancing at the television screen here and there, and muttering to himself about his loss. “There won't be a next time this happens, Emu! Now, come back here to face me one last time. I won't be defeated very easily!”

Before Emu could answer, Nene fed him another pocky and spoke to Tsukasa in her stead. There was a strange glint in her eyes. “Why don't you bribe Rui to play for you?”

Tsukasa balked as if Nene told him that his dog ate his homework. “That counts as cheating!”

“Then Emu can bribe me too, so I will play for her.” Nene shot back.

“It's still cheating!”

They kept bickering back and forth as Rui narrowed his eyes for a second to think about Nene's proposal. And when the purpose of it dawned on him, he nearly teared up in gratitude. He looked down at Nene, who was in the middle of ignoring Tsukasa's loud remarks, and apologized to her in his head for calling her a witch.

Alas, he took the gamble. “Tsukasa-kun,” he called out the name of his partner as he waved the pocky package in the air.

Tsukasa turned his head to him. His hair was messed up a bit, his eyes were wide open and glaring, there was a layer of shimmer inside of those sunset irises of his. Upon hearing Rui's voice, his pout dissolved itself. The blonde boy blinked in curiosity. “Pocky?”

Rui nodded calmly, still waving the package. “Would you like to play?”

It was as if a lightbulb was lit on top of Tsukasa’s pretty little head and he crawled on his knees to get closer to Rui's laying figure on the big couch. When he stopped just in front of his face, Rui straightened up a little to face him better. He put the pocky package between them and looked back at Tsukasa's half exasperated face. “You know, I told you we shouldn't eat sweets before dinner.”

“He already finished three packages while mourning.” Nene muttered.

Rui ignored her politely. He smiled. “Only one can't hurt, right?”

“You've been too insistent.” Tsukasa sighed. He took out a biscuit stick covered in chocolate from the package and placed the tip of it between his lips. “All for a silly game. And this counts as my bribe method now?”

“Tsukasa-kun doesn't understand.” Rui said with a light voice. His heart was hammering inside his chest, he feared that it might crack open his ribs and jump out to leave him behind for Tsukasa. He wouldn't exactly blame a part of himself for that, especially his heart, since Tsukasa was warm and lovely. He only hoped that his prince charming had some sense of responsibility to take care of his fragile heart. “The reason I want to play this game is because I know that you will be waiting for me at the end of this stick. I will be sharing it with you, which makes everything sweeter.”

And after that, he didn't wait for some anticipation building with small bites, instead he took a large bite and sealed their lips in a loving embrace. He placed one of his hands on Tsukasa's nape, caressing the area momentarily with his fingertips. His other hand grasped Tsukasa's chin in a gentle manner, proceeding to make the other boy let out a small voice from the back of his throat. Rui smiled against the lips that he nearly swallowed with the large pocky bite he just took and let go shortly after leaving another peck on Tsukasa's bottom lip.

“Well,” He inhaled sharply for his poor lungs. He could feel a hazy feeling surrounding him, enveloping all of his senses and leaving him warm and fuzzy. Rui took in the sight of his partner that sat in front of him, his hair was messed up beyond fixing now and his lips as well as the rest of his face was cherry red. “I think I can take on any mob for you now.”

He pretended like he didn't hear Nene's disgusted cry in the background. All was well that ended well.

Chapter Text

Quick footsteps stomped through the hallway and down the stairs as they had been for the last three minutes. The P.E. teacher was a stubborn one, Rui would give him that, but he didn't particularly crave detention unlike what Tsukasa implied before.

See, Rui was just minding his own business in the chemistry lab. As the name suggested, it was a lab and it contained certain substances, so there were certain things bound to happen.

Alas, it was no use to linger in the past since what was done was already done. Thanks to that loud noise of explosion that he momentarily forgot to add to his calculations, one of the teachers was chasing his tail. Only a moment's mistake brought him to this situation of which he had to run faster because he was slowly realizing that the P.E. teacher was about to catch up to him.

“Here!” His accomplice, or how Tsukasa grumbled about being his ‘caretaker’ sometimes, pointed in a direction. Rui blinked and they took a sharp turn to the left after they jumped from some stair steps, leaving the teacher that was chasing them a little far behind.

“What are we going to do!?” Tsukasa exclaimed, he was doing his best to stay quiet. At least it was still recess time so there were students other than them surrounding inside the building. Rui couldn't allow himself to lose his momentum now. “Rui–”

They abruptly stopped in front of a door and Rui sharply knocked it before inviting himself in with Tsukasa closely following him behind.

“Sorry for the intrusion.” Rui apologized to the woman that stared at them in shock. They were both panting slightly inside the sterile room full of whites. “My friend here is very sick. Could you check on him?”

Tsukasa gasped silently but not silent enough for Rui to not hear him. “Sick!?” He said, pinching the back of Rui's hand. Rui grimaced inwards as he kept smiling apologetically to the nurse. Her gaze immediately turned to Tsukasa to assess him first, to which Tsukasa had to go along with the sudden change of plans and put his arms around his stomach.

“It hurts.” He whimpered. His face was scrunched up and his forehead was a little bit sweaty thanks to their earlier chase. Not to mention the reddening on his cheeks and down to his neck, he looked really sick.

The nurse stood up from her chair and approached them. “How long has this been going on?” She asked while giving out tissues for Tsukasa to wipe out his sweat. Rui took them instead.

“Since this morning, I might have eaten something bad last night. I'm not sure.” Tsukasa answered, voice low and pitiful enough to convince the nurse. Rui smiled in triumph inside his head and his left hand kept drying off Tsukasa's forehead. He pretended like he wasn't aware of the strange looks Tsukasa shot him.

“What did you eat today?”

The blonde boy hummed deep in his throat. “I'm still with only breakfast. It was a light one too, only containing eggs with some veggies and rice.”

“He couldn't focus in class and refused to have lunch so I brought him here.” Rui jumped in, making his own voice sound airy but sad for his little friend. He patted Tsukasa on the shoulder. “Is there anything you can do, Rumi-sensei?”

Rumi stared back at them, eyebrows slightly knitted together. Rui thought they must’ve created a funny image in front of her; Tsukasa slouching and hugging his stomach while Rui patted his shoulder and kept wiping off the non-existent sweat now. “I can't give a definite solution since there can be many reasons as to why your stomach is acting up right now. However, I will give you a painkiller and you can rest here until you feel better enough to join class. Are you allergic to any meds?”

Tsukasa blinked, he seemed surprised that she was eating up their acting. He shook his head after. “No.”

The nurse walked to one of the cabins to get what she needed. Rui exhaled slowly, relieved that there was no teacher or any other student coming after them and that the nurse was kind enough to not question their suspicious state with disheveled clothes and hairs. She went back to them shortly, handing over the painkiller to Tsukasa with a bottle of water.

“You can lie down on any bed.” She said as Tsukasa gulped down the pill with water. Then she sat down on her chair and grabbed a pen. “I will write a note for your teachers as an excuse for your absence.” She eyed Rui, who was rubbing Tsukasa's back. “I assume you both are in the same class, could you deliver the paper to your homeroom teacher?”

Rui stared hard at her hand as if the paper she was holding offended him personally before changing back to his worried friend attitude. He scratched his cheek with his index finger and smiled in apology. “I apologize but Tsukasa-kun gets nervous when he is left alone in spaces like this. Infirmaries, hospitals and whatnot, you see.”

Rumi raised an eyebrow at his excuse, she didn't seem to believe him and Rui understood why, she must've heard of them or their reputation. They didn't visit the infirmary often but he would say that they were quite popular around the area.

Tsukasa immediately intervened when he also realized that Rumi wasn't nearly as convinced as they assumed. He grasped Rui's sleeve tightly and nodded, a pained but determined expression on his face. “I would appreciate it if Rui can stay here with me.”

Pale golden eyes widening slightly just around the edges, Rui's gaze was fixed on where Tsukasa's fingers were holding onto his right sleeve for a few seconds. He strangely felt endeared by the action.

“Okay then, I will give it to one of the hall monitors.” The nurse sighed and waved them away. “Go and rest. Try to finish that bottle of water also, inform me when it's finished so I can give you a new one.”

“Thank you.” They both expressed their immense gratitude to her and left their spot to place themselves on the bed beside the windows.

Tsukasa sighed deeply and allowed himself to fall back on the back silently as Rui closed the white curtain around them. “Are we safe now?”

Rui nodded. His mind was still hazy. “We should be. Luckily the classes are close to end so we can leave quickly after.”

Throwing his head backwards and into the hard pillow, Tsukasa gave him a big smile. “Finally!”

Rui chuckled. “You performed very well there, Tsukasa-kun.” He praised him, just to lower the violence of the blow that he was sure to receive after they were done here. He knew that Tsukasa was going to scold him for getting them into trouble, just as usual. “And I got to be a nurse for the first time. How was I?”

Tsukasa narrowed his eyes and his lips drew a straight line. “Terrible.” He grumbled. “Which good nurse is the reason for their patient to go to the infirmary?” He leaned over and kicked Rui's shin lightly. Ouch. “I told you to stay away from the chemistry lab!”

Tsukasa's furious whispering reminded Rui of how hamsters would eat their food. He pouted. “You can't kill curiosity, Tsukasa-kun.”

“But curiosity can kill the cat, you know.” Tsukasa shot back. The flames inside his eyes were unwavering, promising to leave many more burns on Rui's skin.

“There is still so much time until that happens. Don't look at me like that.” Tsukasa may have kicked him brutally but Rui patted his chest lovingly. He smiled. “I still have nine lives.”

“I wouldn't be so sure of that.” Tsukasa murmured and just as Rui was about to answer him, to indulge himself even further in their banter, the door of the infirmary opened hastily, which made them both jump in slight terror. The opening of the door was similar to how Rui opened it a few minutes ago.

Perhaps in that panicked state, Tsukasa's hands found Rui's shoulders and pulled the boy's entire body on himself. Without knowing what to do, Rui immediately placed his hands beside Tsukasa's head to support himself and save Tsukasa from enduring his full weight.

They stared at each other, waiting.

“My apologies, Rumi-san.” The P.E. teacher's voice rang in. Rui cursed in a polite manner inside his head. “I'm searching for two boys, one is tall with purple hair and the other is shorter than the other with blonde hair. Did you see them?”

Rui could see the way Tsukasa's eyes widened and became like dinner plates as his irises shook in fear. Head turned towards the white curtain that was hiding them, he was biting his lower lip unconsciously. Rui inhaled slowly and brought one of his hands to Tsukasa's cheek to caress it lightly, just to distract him for a second. It worked splendidly.

Tsukasa directed his sunset gaze back to him with all of his might, fears and vise versa. A touch of red appeared on the apple of his cheeks. He tightened his hold on Rui's shoulders.

“I'm afraid not, Hirotsu-san.” Rumi answered with a nonchalant voice. “I would appreciate it if you can come in silently next time, there are sick students in here.”

Tsukasa gasped.

“You are right. Sorry again.” Hirotsu-sensei's voice wasn't as loud as before, he sounded regretful even. Rui pressed his lips together to not let his giggle sweep through. “I will be going then. Good day.”

What now?

Rui didn't know if he should believe his ears. The nurse didn't give them away and their P.E. teacher left shortly after questioning her. They were really safe now, he assumed. He didn't sense Rumi's footsteps coming here either, perhaps she was only ignoring them.

“What I gave you was only a vitamin, Tenma-kun.” Rumi called out to them. So Rui spoke too early. He held his breath. “I already sent the paper so please leave without commotion after the bells.”

“Huh?” Tsukasa muttered out unintelligently. Then he cleared his throat sharply, there was a certain glimmer in his eyes. “Thank you, Rumi-sensei!”

The nurse didn't answer and it was fine. Actually, it was more than fine. Rui was still in disbelief about how things ended up. He had never thought a school authority would defend them with no good reason. He wondered what pushed Rumi to do that but he knew not to look at a gift horse in the mouth.

“Rui.” Tsukasa's voice graced his ears. He sounded out of breath despite his unmoving body on the bed. “You are heavy.”

Rui blinked at him, still feeling out of here. Then he smiled, his smile blossoming into a grin in seconds. He felt his own eyes sparkle, bore into Tsukasa with some unidentified crazed feeling. He quickly leaned in and pressed a smooch on Tsukasa's left cheek, which the boy in question answered with a yelp and proceeded to push Rui back with his hold on Rui's shoulders. Rui chuckled.

“A get well soon kiss.” He said, feeling giddy while trying to seem serious. Tsukasa scrunched up his nose and started to scold him just as Rui predicted. It was a little early for their usual session but that was fine. Rui didn't feel particularly bitter about it.

He still had nine lives.

Chapter Text

“DonutHole, thank you for the raid. I appreciate it.” Rui spoke to his mic while sending a smile to his camera directly. On his big screen, he saw his chat erupt with frenzy, messages being spammed like they were a group of puppies excited about something. He heard another roll of his notification sound and saw that someone else also raided him just now. “Rabbit_Hole, thank you for your raid as well. Huh… These are some names, guys.”

It was a lazy night that he decided to start a late stream impulsively after having dinner. Fortunately none of his housemates were present, all of them were minding their own businesses outside. Somehow he felt a tiny bit lonely and instead of doing other things that he did while feeling like that, he thought streaming again today might distract him. He was about to open one of the games Nene had sent him through Steam anyway, so why not let other people join in on the fun?

He shot a quick glance at his second monitor, which was up and running, then turned back to his chat. “What are my plans for tonight? Hmm, if we play an otome game now, can I say that I have a hot date planned? No? Oh well. Then you guys are stuck with me while I play ‘No, I'm not a human’. That sounds more exciting, doesn't it?”

Rui started to boot up the game but didn't share his screen quite yet. He silently laughed at one of the comments, eyes darting up and down as he watched people talk to him about anything and everything. “Yes, it is a horror game. Please take caution before we start, there might be some elements in the game that you are not comfortable with.”

When he saw the loading screen, he moved his hand without looking at what he was clicking to share his screen. “I already played wordle today off stream, sorry. I will be sure to play it with you guys next time. Who is that on my screen? It's supposed to be– oh.”

“I can't believe you guys convinced me into playing this game, I don't even know what I'm doing. ‘Just choose the options you are comfortable with’ but there is none of them!! I want to leave, there is no option to leave!!!” Said the guy on his screen. His blonde hair was slightly puffy and he was wearing his glasses on the bridge of his nose, they most likely dropped when he was talking very passionately. His chat was calling him a loser for running away from the game. Rui blinked.

He accidentally shared the screen of his second monitor.

Rui quickly closed the screen and returned back to his own default one. His chat didn't seem to stop talking about his mistake, though. The comments were going on so fast that he was having a hard time following them. He sighed, how troublesome.

“‘Is that the Pega-Shin guy?’ You are correct, it's him. ‘Why did you share his stream?’ It was an accident, I didn't do it intentionally. ‘Are you watching his stream? Are you a fan too, Rui-san?’ I was only passing by, his content is fun.” Obviously he wouldn't have told them that he was watching the other streamer's stream for two hours now, exactly since the time he opened a late night stream. Hearing about this information would've made the puppies more… unhinged? He didn't know what to call this. They acted excited about seeing Tsukasa for some reason.

“‘I love his streams!’ That's nice to hear but you should be telling him that, not me. ‘So you do have a date for tonight’ everyone, please don't speculate about the relationship between real people, even as a joke. It might do more harm than be fun to them.” Rui sighed. At this rate, calming them down was impossible. Hmm. Perhaps it was just Tsukasa's effect on people, as expected of him. “'Sometimes I watch his stream alongside yours, especially when you play horror games. Pega-san screams so much, it distracts me from being scared in the first place.’ Very well said. ‘Your crazed mutterings while playing those games are scarier than the actual game. But I still enjoy your playthroughs!’ Oh? Am I supposed to say thank you to this?” He chuckled. “Thank you.”

The messages and comments were coming nonstop. Rui wondered if this was how his stream continued to be like for tonight before he caught a glimpse of a certain someone in his chat. “‘Greetings, Rui!!!’ Hello there, Tsukasa-kun. How are you faring on this fine night?”

He saw some people call him a ‘flirt’ but ignored them. Tsukasa's next message came in shortly. “‘Really bad! I just noticed your stream, so please save me from this miserable game!!’ Ah, you were playing an otome game again? When will you learn, Tsukasa-kun?”

He knew that Tsukasa's fans liked to poke fun at him by recommending him games that will surely make him scream. Rui felt bad for him sometimes, just a little.

“‘Can't you just help a friend out!?’ Hehe, of course I can!” Rui let a grin form in his lips. Well, his plans for tonight took a drastic turn but he knew some coop games that he could try with his dear companion. He felt his heart tingle at that, his fingertips were burning as if they were electroshocked. He remembered that Tsukasa wasn't fond of horror games, alas he was the one who let Rui decide his fate. So. “How about I show you, Tsukasa-kun?”

Chapter Text

Another productive day came to an end! Tsukasa thought to himself while smiling with the giddy feeling inside his chest. There were more customers visiting his bakery than usual and he even got some compliments on his baking skills as well as tips! Day by day he was getting closer to becoming a five star baker!

Humming a familiar tune, he put away his cleaning materials after he was done with cleaning the tables. He stepped around the counter and went to the back, where only the workers could enter. Then, as if the fates were playing a little prank on him for their own fun, he heard a clanking noise.

Tsukasa frowned. Last time he checked, Toya left early to meet with Akito somewhere. It was Minori's day off today and Saki was outside with her friends. There should've been only him in the bakery, unless…

He grabbed his whisk inside of his shaky grip and carefully walked towards the source of the noise. Tsukasa's body shuddered in enragement when he saw the stray pudding drops on the floor. He just finished cleaning around, mind you! “You!”

Following the trails of the drops, there stood a six feet tall man with a small spoon held by his metal clawed hand. His pale golden eyes stared down at him with a neutral expression on his face, almost innocent with the way he blinked slowly and the near ends of his mouth were cladded in pudding. That little pudding ravager! So it was him again! “Me?”

Tsukasa stood there as Rui, the mysterious being he came to know as a dessert robber, took another gallop of pudding inside his spoon and ate it while watching him. Tsukasa's left eye twitched.

Maybe he should've listened to Minori when she suggested using a crucifix, holy water or an ouija board. No one took him seriously when he told them what happened in the past three weeks but on a random Tuesday Saki barged into his room with a sweaty forehead and a pale face, then asked him if he knew something about explosive cupcakes.

Tsukasa did not know anything about explosive cupcakes. He wasn't aware that you could make cupcakes explode in the first place. Alas, there was someone who could achieve a deed like that close to them.

Needless to say, he became very curious about this individual shortly after.

Not caring about the stomping that his feet made on the floor, Tsukasa half-ran to Rui's side and forcefully pulled away the pudding and spoon. Rui stood there like Tsukasa just stabbed him through his chest countless times, his eyes drooped and there was a little pout forming on his lips. No way Tsukasa was going to fall for this trick again! “Have you had dinner yet?”

Rui looked back at him, gaze unmoving this time. He shook his head slowly and wrapped a hand around Tsukasa's forearm lightly. “No.”

Tsukasa took a step back and narrowed his eyes. “Well, no more dessert until you eat your dinner then! Come on up!”

He turned to the stairs that led up to his apartment, only to falter for a second when he felt fingers intertwine with his. He shot a quick glance to Rui but he looked unperturbed. Tsukasa let out a silent sigh and led them home.

What a big, supernatural baby he was dealing with.

Chapter Text

“Are we there yet?”

“Not really, there is still an hour long road ahead of us!”

“So we are close!?”

“Yes!” Tsukasa laughed heartily. He was checking the map for directions and traffic on Rui’s phone while Rin languidly hung out on his own phone. He gave the girl a smile, which she returned back with a bigger one. Truly, Rin was a joy to have around. “But you've been with us for a long time now, Rin. Shouldn't you be resting?”

Rin blinked. “When you say it like that… I do feel tired! It's fine though, I want to spend more time with you guys.”

Just as Rui was entering the gas station as planned, Tsukasa tutted at Rin. “That won't do! You need to get some rest first. We are always here anyway, you can join us whenever you want.”

“Truly?” Asked Rin, her big eyes were imploring and filled with happiness. When they shared the news of their impromptu road trip to the others in SEKAI, Rin was the most excited one out of everyone. She asked a bunch of questions as to where they were headed to, what they were planning to do et cetera. Tsukasa was more than glad to explain everything to her, however he was being serious when he said that Rin needed rest, just as much as they did.

The car stopped by the necessary petrol pump they needed. Rui closed off everything and turned to Rin, a small smile lingering on his face. “Of course. You can always join in on the fun, Rin-kun.”

Rin jumped a few times and giggled delightedly. “Thank you! Then I will be off to sleep for now!”

“We will see each other later.” Tsukasa told her and Rin was gone after flashing them another grin. Seriously, her easy-going and high-spirited nature always enchanted Tsukasa into being happier than he already was. It seemed to be the same for Rui too since his smile was still in place as he reached the door handle.

Tsukasa went outside with him to see if he could find some snacks and other things from the market nearby. He stretched his legs and arms, chest puffed up with the heavy breath he was pulling inside his lungs. Rui watched him get back to himself with slightly narrowed fond eyes. He noticed that Rui's tiny ponytail was a bit messed up so Tsukasa noted in his imaginary notepad to fix it when they were back to the car.

Rui hummed to himself while he walked towards Tsukasa, one of his hands was inside his pants pocket. “There are attendants here. You can go ahead if you want, I will be joining you in a minute.”

Tsukasa nodded. “Alright.”

Now that his legs felt so much better to stand on, he stepped on the road more relaxedly. The automatic door opened before him and he let the A/C air hit his face, soothing all of the sweat that was bricking along his nape and forehead. Neither the gas station nor the market near it was busy or crowded, there were only two more people with him inside this place. He sighed and looked around while thinking about what he could buy.

Catching a glimpse of some cookies and other not very healthy snacks as well as the healthy ones, he directed his attention to that aisle. He knew that Rin adored eating cookies, especially the chocolate chip ones, so he instinctively grabbed a packet of chocolate chip cookies. For Rui, well, he was fond of every unhealthy snack imaginable. Even as an adult, Rui hadn't learned how to properly take care of himself so it was Tsukasa's duty as his life long partner to get some vitamins inside his miserable body! He took a packet of dried fruits immediately after that thought.

If Rui wanted something else, he could choose it himself when he came here.

Tsukasa hummed a tune to himself and walked along the aisle. What could he buy for himself? Perhaps some packaged cold sandwiches with milk or juice?

“Are those cookies for you or the little ol’ me?” A familiar voice asked behind him. Tsukasa startled, he quickly turned to Rui and gave him a withering glance for scaring him. Rui smiled, both hands held up high in the air as if to say he was innocent.

“No.” Tsukasa answered, his eyes traveling to the aisle behind Rui. Huh, candies. “They are for Rin. It came to my attention that she likes them, so I thought we could visit SEKAI some time soon and deliver the cookies to her.”

Rui smiled, the golden of his eyes shone like the stars that Tsukasa adored so much. “Well thought, Tsukasa-kun.”

“Heh, as expected of me! Even the littlest details can't escape from my sharp eyes!” Tsukasa laughed, chest puffed out again a little. Then he was reminded of something that he couldn't just share with Rui because frankly, it was slightly embarrassing to have those kinds of thoughts. He averted his eyes when Rui raised an eyebrow at his suspiciously fast changed behavior. “Besides, having Rin with us for the most part of our time on the roads felt like we were having a… family trip. I know that she is only a virtual singer that lives in my head space, however the thought of having someone like her with us, as in a… kid, so to say… It's not an unwelcome idea.”

He waited for more than twenty seconds for Rui to say something and break through the wall of silence that surrounded them quite awkwardly, at least for Tsukasa. He clenched and unclenched his free hand, thinking that maybe he messed up with this, and grabbed a stray candy package to shove it to Rui's chest to distract him. He chuckled but the sound wasn't exactly coming from his heart. “Here, have this and forget that I said anything! I think I should have lunch soon…”

Tsukasa didn't know what to expect. The subject of kids wasn't an unfamiliar one, they had discussed it before and came to the conclusion that they would consider the idea again in the future when they both felt ready for it. Tsukasa always felt ready, he was itching to take care of someone with his beloved, but he agreed to that for Rui's sake. He was aware of the things clouding Rui's mind from time to time, his respect and want for his partner's well-being came before his own wishes.

Alas, Rui was never this silent whenever Tsukasa talked about this topic. So why was he now–

“Tsukasa-kun, don't you know the power of words?” Rui's breath hitched when he talked, his face had a neutral expression on it while being beet red. Tsukasa blinked repeatedly. “Especially your words, they hold a certain power that always makes me feel weak in the knees. You should be mindful of that.”

Tsukasa couldn't follow. “What? What are you saying?”

Rui stared at him for a moment before his lips broke into a smile that made Tsukasa's heart skip. He came closer to Tsukasa to wrap a hand around his waist and they resumed walking at their own pace. Rui was holding the candy package that he shoved into his chest earlier too.

“Hearing Tsukasa-kun say that he wants to add another member to our circle made me so happy.” Rui murmured, his face was close to Tsukasa's left ear. “I want to have a big family with you too.”

Tsukasa took a silent inhale and tried to stop his body from shuddering in delight. He grinned and looked back up to Rui's eyes, who was watching him with that fond and lovely expression of his.

A big family… It isn't a bad thought, not at all.

Chapter Text

Amidst the empty canvases that looked like white trees in the colorful art studio, there stood a figure of a man, trying his hardest to not move. One of his arms reached out to the clear skies elegantly, as if he was trying to cup the sun in the warmth of his palm. And the other was positioned behind the curve of his waist. At first glance, it was beautiful, he really did seem like a muse that everyone would want. However,

“One… two…” The blonde haired man said between deep breaths, his voice sounded stuck in his throat. “I'm going to… sneeze…”

One should never judge a book by its cover.

“Ah, Tenma-san!” Panicked by the man's statement, Ena immediately rushed into action. She came close to Tsukasa and placed her index finger underside of Tsukasa's nose, not quite touching it but still there. It surprisingly worked as Tsukasa blinked repeatedly after inhaling hard.

The dust in the studio must've triggered him. Rui heard a lot from Tsukasa about how one of the students these days should take up the duty and clean this place, alas he pretended like he didn't hear him. In all honesty, it was a hard thing to do since Tsukasa was a force of nature that no one could pass by without noticing. Sometimes Rui wondered if his voice could be heard in the storm.

Mind clouded with those mundane thoughts, he watched blankly as Tsukasa beamed at Ena with an expression that screamed his gratefulness. He saw Ena take a step back politely, there was a small smile on her face but she looked dumbfounded by the force of Tsukasa's… exaggerated expressions.

There was a moment in the past where he asked Tsukasa very bluntly if it was ever tiring for him to use his face muscles and body language so often. Tsukasa stared at him for a second before answering, ‘why would it be tiring to be myself?’

That struck something within Rui's chest. He couldn't ascertain what, he didn't feel sick. He ended up thinking about that moment so much that he gave himself a headache in the end, though.

“My thanks, Shinonome-san! You saved me from dispositioning so suddenly after promising Rui that I would be an immovable rock!” Tsukasa talked on and on, smiling big while he was doing so. Speaking of that promise, he was right, Tsukasa didn't move at all for the past hour. Rui was mildly impressed by the guy who seemed unstoppable rather than immovable.

“Don't mention it. What are you guys working on?” Ena asked timidly, her gaze moving between Tsukasa and him. No wonder, it was her first time seeing him with Tsukasa after all.

Rui turned his pen around his fingers, eyes set on Tsukasa. “Rocks don't talk, Tsukasa-kun. Please refrain from doing so unless you find a way to communicate without moving your mouth.”

Tsukasa raised an eyebrow before taking in his order grumpily and got back to his previous silence. Rui smiled, now he did look beautiful when he was silent like that with sun rays lighting up his sculpture-like figure.

“I have an upcoming project that I need Tsukasa-kun's help for.” He answered Ena.

“But aren't you a mechanical engineer guy?” Ena posed another question. Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. “And he is a theatre guy?”

Rui sighed. “A match made in heaven.” For a minute he looked down at the sketch he was scribbling and erasing. He did say he was working on a project but he was also in an environment that made him distracted half of the time. “I'm an artist too, Shinonome-san. How could you belittle me to only numbers?”

“I'm not doing that at all.” The brunette girl chuckled awkwardly. She moved her gaze to Tsukasa, despite Rui not sketching right now he still maintained his position without speaking. How awfully obedient he was. For some reason that thought left a bitter taste in Rui's mouth as well as it made him weirdly excited. “So, what is the details of this big project?”

“Not telling.” Rui hummed. “And it's not a big project, more of a personal one.”

He didn't stare back when Ena hit him with the gaze much telling that she could sense his bullshit. That was fine. He knew she was nice enough to not voice her thoughts in the presence of a third party.

“I see.” She settled on saying. She fiddled with the tip of her paint brush. “Then it's just between you guys and for your enjoyment? It's good to see you making friends, Kamishiro-san.”

Rui sent her a hurtful look. She smirked like the evil she was.

Unaware of what was going on in front of him, Tsukasa curiously watched the both of them play a different script from the one he was given. Rui kept his eyes on him after his light banter with Ena, there was a hidden curiosity inside his pale golden eyes too.

Friends.

Rui didn't know at what social length someone became your friend. He let people talk to him naturally and acted in the pretense of being friends when they got buddy-like with him, his own circle not included. However, seeing this person who talked too much and too loudly, who was an immovable object as well as an unstoppable force, approached him with a beaming smile and words that promised so much warmth that Rui felt like he might've melted away, it was a total blank page. A big question mark. There wasn't any preparation that Rui made to be ready for this kind of variable. He didn't hate it, not quite yet but he didn't love it either. He was only curious.

So maybe becoming friends with Tsukasa could prove to be useful after all.

Chapter Text

A clutter. Feet swaying on the carpeted floor, two shadows could be seen as moving around strangely as if they were forming together to complete a truth. Frankly, that was far from the truth.

Another plushie was thrown to his lap. This one was a dinosaur with a hat and a baton, it was winking as well. Tsukasa clamped his lips together to not laugh at the ridiculous looking toy. He was not a little child anymore, no one could distract him with these!

Rui begged to differ.

He watched as Tsukasa sighed in fake exasperation and put the dinosaur plushie beside himself in a sitting position. His hand moved around in the box that he placed on his lap and threw an onigiri plushie to Tsukasa this time.

Tsukasa caught it in the air. “A simple onigiri plushie? Were you used to nibbling on it when you were a baby?” He asked with raised eyebrows. Then he put the onigiri plushie on the dinosaur's lap.

“Not exactly. It has weed and I hate greens, so my mom would use it to scare me into eating vegetables. She thought I'd immediately fold if there was a flying and voiced onigiri haunting me around.” Rui answered, hands still busy inside the box.

Tsukasa hummed and chuckled, one of his hands was trying to cover his smile. Rui stared at him behind his long bangs, a deep satisfaction bursting and spreading in his body. It was a nice sight.

He wondered if he could make Tsukasa laugh out loud more freely and ease the tension apparent on his shoulders. Rui must admit, he wasn't the best at communication, especially in this age. He was aware of social clues but sometimes he came off as insensitive to people without meaning to. He didn't want to be another person to further sadden Tsukasa, he wanted him to have fun.

He looked off to the side and inspected the soft pillow beside him. Hmm.

It was certainly a decision to grab it quickly and throw it to Tsukasa's face dead on. Rui snickered when he noticed Tsukasa's shocked expression, eyes as wide as dinner plates and mouth gaping like a fish. Tsukasa frowned at Rui, like he was going to scold him about being too childish. That was nonsense, Rui thought. They were still kids and kids loved to play pillow fights, didn't they?

So with that in mind, Rui's resolve began to gain strength. A pillow fight it is, then.

He took a hold of another pillow and lightly slapped Tsukasa's legs with it. Since his room was located in his garage now and he had no bed but a couch, there were limited pillows. Rui had to be mindful to not let Tsukasa confiscate his pillows from him.

“Stop that.” A hit to his arm. “Rui, do you hear me?” A hit to his side. “Why are you acting like an unruly kid now!?” Rui dodged his attempt to restrain the hand that he held his pillow in. He playfully slapped Tsukasa's arm away and hit him with his pillow on the stomach.

He scrunched up his nose. “I am a kid and you are one as well.” Rui smiled, it looked more of a smirk, and approached Tsukasa like a villain. He kept approaching as Tsukasa stood up from his couch and started to move away from him with careful steps. Changing his plan on the spot, Rui threw his pillow with all his might to Tsukasa's abdomen and grabbed another pillow that was lying lazily on his couch. “You need to let go, Tsukasa-kun. There are no teachers to praise you for your ‘good boy’ act, you know.”

Tsukasa scoffed, he seemed annoyed but there was a certain glint in his eyes. “I am the one who is destined to be a star, which means I have to act like it! Alas, Rui, you leave me with no choice with your shenanigans.” Tsukasa held the pillow Rui had thrown at him a few seconds ago and took a fighter's position. Rui chuckled, he looked like one of the characters in Nene's games. “I will put an end to your scheme!”

“Be my guest.” Rui told him with a placid smile.

Minutes passed. Rui thought they were lucky their feet didn't step on a stray gadget of his or else the whole ordeal would end up being painful. But it wasn't, it was far from it. He watched Tsukasa become a helicopter with his pillow, trying to get a hit on Rui with everything he had. There was a moment where they had to roll on the floor because Rui decided to be sneaky and tripped Tsukasa, which also ended up making him fall with Tsukasa too because he was a petty little thing. Then Tsukasa slapped him with his pillow many, many times as if Rui was a potato sack for him to beat. To be honest, that hurted his pride a bit.

Now he watched his friend lie beside him on the floor. Tsukasa's chest was rising up and going down with his rapid breathing, there was sweat on his forehead and on the sides of his face. A cherry red was spread from his cheeks down to his neck, painting him in another color. However, there was only one thing that stood up the most for Rui; his big grin.

Tsukasa was grinning happily. He seemed tired and sleepy, given that their pillow fight took half an hour and it was already night time after a full school day. But he looked like he enjoyed himself and had lots of fun. With Rui.

A painful itch in his cheeks made Rui realize that he was smiling from ear to ear for a long while now too. He blinked.

Rui remembered when he told Tsukasa about the story behind his onigiri plushie and how he found the sight of Tsukasa chuckling by himself beautiful. He wondered if the sight of them smiling and grinning together was beautiful as well.

Chapter Text

Tenma Tsukasa was declared dead five minutes ago.

With the harsh pounding inside his skull, he could barely open his eyes and try to take a grasp of his surroundings. Fortunately though, he was able to listen to what was happening around him. There was a sound of bottles clashing, metal hitting to the ground and some soft, intangible murmurs.

It was hard to disintegrate the words as his hearing was also taking damage from his headache but he tried his best to listen carefully. “I didn't take you as the unfaithful lover type, Tsukasa-kun. You greeted me with a ‘good morning’ early today, now you are going without even saying a ‘goodbye’?”

If he could then he would've frowned at the words he was hearing. From what he could tell, the speaker's voice belonged to a man and it had his insides grow warmer with the feeling of familiarity. However, he couldn't understand the concept of what was being told to him. What did he do?

“You should've known better.” The man kept talking, his voice was low but airy somehow. “Didn't I tell you this in the beginning too?”

The beginning. He couldn't remember, he didn't know what was happening or what had happened. His body felt strange to his soul, his brain smacked against his skull as if it was trying to get out. He knew that he was wounded, he could feel the sneering pain from the certain parts of his body, but he didn't have the energy to react.

He was pretty sure that he died an hour ago.

When Tsukasa opened his blazing sunset eyes to the new world, his throat was dry and his movements were sluggish. He thought that was to be expected from someone who was supposed to be dead, except Tsukasa didn’t feel the dirt on his skin; he felt the softness of his comforter and the plushness of his pillow.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” A voice beside his bed called out to him gently. Even if he wanted to immediately turn towards the sound, he could only move at the pace of a tortoise. Their eyes met after a few seconds and the man in front of him gave him a placid smile. “How was your dream?”

Tsukasa blinked. “I have no idea.” He said with a scratchy voice. He heard the man moving and grabbing a water bottle that stood on the bedside drawer and poured it to a glass after opening the cap. “Did you sleep, Rui? Your eye bags look far worse than before.”

Rui, who was on a mission to deliver him a much appreciated glass of water, flickered his eyes back to him. “Not really. I had a long night.”

Somehow, Tsukasa didn't believe him. Or rather, he didn't want to believe him. It was a strange urge as he knew that Rui didn't tend to lie, he liked to play around with words but occasionally showed his straightforward side too. And if Rui was hiding something from him, there must've been a good reason for that.

“I assumed we were done with everything. I apologize for my shortsight, were you in trouble?” Tsukasa asked.

“Tsukasa-kun was luckier than me but he was also unlucky.” Rui said with a sigh. He kept smiling, Tsukasa could see the corners of his lips twitch sometimes. He wondered if Rui was feeling an emotion that was rather intense. “So I had to take care of the reason that made Tsukasa-kun unlucky. Aren't I nice?”

Rui wasn't waiting for ‘good job’ pats on the head or a reward from him. He was mocking him. Tsukasa frowned, thinking hard to come up with something. “I don't remember anything.”

Despite the glasses that were sitting on the bridge of Rui's nose, Tsukasa could feel his eyes burning a hole into him. Rui came closer to him from where he sat and delicately took a hold of his right arm. Tsukasa, not expecting the sudden touch, felt irked at another person's naked touch on his skin. He looked down to see Rui's index finger lightly skim on his bandaged arm.

“That's fine.” Rui answered, as if he was trying to calm down a child. It was weird to have someone comfort him like that since Tsukasa wasn't worried or feeling nervous. He was simply curious. “Those memories aren't worth remembering. Tsukasa-kun should focus on recovering first.”

He said that but even then, his gentle grip turned into a rather tight one. Rui's hold didn't hurt him, it would take more to cause him pain, and it was still a loving one. Tsukasa took in the sight of his hand and how it was placed on his arm, his fingers splayed like a spider's web.

“Rui,” Their gazes met again. Tsukasa narrowed his eyes, a lump forming inside of his throat. “What did you do?”

On his bed with his fancy comforter and soft pillow, the security he once felt turned into something that could be called ‘fear’. Which was stupid, he didn't fear Rui.

But when he focused on Rui's citrine eyes that glowed so much that they were looking like molting gold, he felt a shiver run down his spine.

Rui smiled again, his straight and pearl-like teeth showing. “I love you, Tsukasa-kun.” He caressed his bandaged arm once before slowly bringing his hand to his lips with a light hold on their intertwined fingers. “So be sure to love me as much, alright?”

Tenma Tsukasa's ‘killer’ experienced horrors beyond their comprehension before giving their last breath away to the moon two nights ago.

Chapter Text

Lately, the glorious king's ever so loyal butler has started to act rather… strange. Not in a good way. 

‘Here is your morning tea, Your Highness. Hm, it's too sugary, you say? Let me have a taste. Ah… It seems fine but perhaps you are in the mood for something else?’

No, Tsukasa screamed inside politely. He's never wanted anything other than his morning tea whenever he woke up to a new day's shiny rays! And his butler was so careful about his preferences before this specific incident too, did anything change suddenly without him realizing? 

‘Your meeting with the Southern Duke has been postponed for a later date, Your Highness. The reason? Lovers’ quarrel, I suppose. He had a quite colorful face while he explained his situation. Should I take a page out of his book, I wonder?’ 

Why would you! For all Tsukasa knew, his butler didn't have a significant other or anyone he fancied currently. Tsukasa couldn't even have the time to think about the duke's reasoning before his mind was overflowed with the thoughts of his butler's last sentence! 

‘Blue should be the color for this ball, no? Red would make you more striking, yes, however it would also look much… inviting on your person. We wouldn't want that, would we?’

And who is ‘we’, Rui!? He felt like pulling his air out in a not-so-kingly way. Tsukasa loved to magnetize people to himself so he would have more opportunities to establish new connections and build new friendships! That aside, he quite liked whenever he was the center of attention in a large event too. His well-deserved ego might have played a part in that but Rui had never tried to cut him off on his preening before either. He even thought that maybe… Rui indulged him the most. 

He felt flustered suddenly, such an out of character emotion too. With a clench of his jaw, he grumbled under his breath about how things were going so dire and out of order in general these days. 

What was he supposed to do in this situation? It was shameful to admit out loud but he relied on his butler so much that witnessing him act in… this particular way made Tsukasa jittery. How should he proceed? Would talking to Rui work? But there wasn't really anything ‘wrong’ here, was there? He couldn't just face his butler dead on and force him to explain everything that happened in the last two weeks. Frankly, Tsukasa didn't even realize it had been that long! 

“Tsukasa-kun, is something the matter? You are frowning.” The familiar lilt of an air-light voice brought him back to his current state. Right, he was waltzing with his butler on the dance floor with nearly all eyes of their quests’ on them, watching curiously and intently. How did he end up here again? 

“We are in public.” Tsukasa muttered out sharply. His right hand tightened on Rui's shoulder as Rui also carefully grasped his back in response. Well, that wasn't the reaction he meant to ignite. 

“You and I both know no one would dare to stand in such a close range to us.” Rui quipped, smiling inanely when he spun around to purposefully make Tsukasa let out a gasp of surprise. “And I have legal papers promising me a dance on this ball, signed by the King himself. Alas, I didn't expect to see a package of miserable expressions on his face on this lovely night. Care to share what's bothering you?” 

It was so frustrating! This man that held him so gently, looked after him and listened to him always so patiently, supported him and his ideas so thoroughly made Tsukasa inexplicably frustrated! How could he, with such audacity, stand in front of him and say with a cheeky but proud face that he had legal papers for a dance! And why did Tsukasa feel swooned by that! Adding Rui's suspicious talks recently too, Tsukasa was sure that if one more thing happened he would explode! 

“The flowers.” He blurted out because he didn't have anything else in his mind other than Rui. And he couldn't tell Rui about… Rui, right? “It's a shame that I forgot to bring my own as everyone else did. I must look like a sore thumb now.” His voice lowered at the end, the edges of his tone cracking slightly with regret. 

It wasn't a lie either. This event's theme was ‘flower’, his dear sister insisted on it for quite some time. And who was Tsukasa to refuse her wishes? So, he organized an event fit for Saki's dreams but ended up forgetting to grab a flower for himself. 

When he lifted his head to look at Rui, who was silently just moving with him whilst he talked, Tsukasa realized those pale golden eyes of his were bubbling with… adoration? He didn't quite know. This would be the first time he had seen Rui stare at him that sweetly, as if Tsukasa was talking about a dreamland beyond stars. His features softened to create a gentle image too, which made him look… 

No way. Tsukasa wasn't going to admit anything tonight! There wasn't a clear reason for him to do so. He was sure most ladies in this ballroom (and men, for whatever reason) would agree with him. Why wouldn't they? He was the King, after all. 

His face burned in shame. He wasn't a dictator that forced his own opinions and rules on his people. But right now, he needed some support other than Rui's arm on his back. 

Then, with a swift move of his hand, Rui took out his own pocket flower and reached for Tsukasa's dress jacket. His long fingers, cladded in his usual black gloves, placed the flowers in Tsukasa's chest pocket carefully and patted the area one, two times softly. Tsukasa watched all of this happen while he felt like he was an outsider, only witnessing whatever act Rui was pulling out as a side character. It felt surreal. It felt… strangely sensual. 

Oh no, Tsukasa thought. He almost wailed like a child inside his head. 

“Here.” Rui said, still looking proper and the epitome of a gentleman despite what damage he caused to Tsukasa. “Don't worry your pretty head over little things like that. And with this solved, we can enjoy our night to the fullest now, right?” He grasped Tsukasa's hand again, intertwined their fingers and tightened his hold on Tsukasa's waist. “Our contract says you are stuck with me for another two hours at least, Tsukasa-kun. Do let me know if you tire from dancing, though. There are some nice things that I think you would like to try on the buffet, you see.” 

Oh, no. Tsukasa helplessly thought of yet another passing minute, only to end up nodding to Rui's every whim in response. The list was growing longer while he spent more time with Rui and saw his strange behavior happen this closely. He could still feel the heat at the back of his neck and nearly down to his spine. Was Rui aware of what he was doing? Was he doing all of this on purpose? Did he really take a page out of the Southern Duke's book? And for what!? 

It would cause too much unwarranted attention on them if Tsukasa interrogated Rui right here and right now. Saki has waited for this ball for so long, he couldn't shatter her dream night with his own overgrowing problems. So for now, he relented silently. He danced with Rui, took his offer to try the buffet and chatted with him long into the night. 

Come tomorrow, he would think about a way to stop this from furthering. There just had to be some way to reveal Rui’s true intentions and Tsukasa was nothing if not forthright! 

(Or he hoped so). 

Chapter Text

Under the dim light of their living room and hiding behind all of the documents, papers and whatnot, Nakayama looked annoyed beyond logical thought. His fist clenched and unclenched every five seconds, he kept sighing out loud randomly and if someone eyed him carefully, they could see a prominent vein bulging on his forehead. It was quite a sad sight to witness at two in the morning, a scene that Shirafuji did not prepare himself to stumble on when he woke up to a cold bed and walked around the house mindlessly in search of his lover. 

Eyebrows furrowing, Shirafuji approached silently to the crime scene as to not disturb his lover but also gain an insight to see what was going on. “Hino,” Nakayama spoke of that name like it was a curse. “Hino, Hino, Hino. You evillious, scheming, little piece of–” 

“Good evening, Nakayama-kun.” He interrupted Nakayama from continuing to vax curses upon the mentioned man. The night was still long and nice in its own way, there was no need to blemish it like this. “May I ask why you are seated in our living room with your lonely self?” Instead of laying in bed with me, Shirafuji wanted to add petulantly. He did not have a clear and healthy sleep schedule for himself, so he didn't appreciate it much when Nakayama impromptu left their bed like this. It was harder to sleep without him. 

Nakayama raised his pretty blonde head up, Shirafuji's reading glasses hanging off on the bridge of his nose, and blinked several times as if to see if Shirafuji was really standing in front of him. “Good evening– Sorry! Did I make too much noise and wake you up?” 

He sounded and looked apologetic, eyes unfocused and eyebrows drooping. His hair was a mess, Shirafuji noted, not to mention his eyebags. A sigh would have left from him if he didn't know any better. “You are fine. I woke up to get water but was worried when I couldn't find you beside me.” 

Twirling his pen between his fingers, Nakayama was reminded of his current state once again. He whined, “it’s just work. I didn't notice Hino's mail in time, so I have to cover all of these documents and add them to the archive.” 

“Hmm.” Shirafuji quit standing aloof in the middle of the room and walked behind Nakayama to place his hands on his tense shoulders. He felt Nakayama quite literally melt under his touch, which spoke volumes of his exhaustion. He rubbed the place where his neck met with his shoulder softly. “Is it so urgent that you had to forgo sleep time?” 

“I'm just frustrated. I can finish these off later but I already have another load of work to do at the office. I told Hino to personally message me if he needed something.” Nakayama let out a pitiful noise born from his stress or rather, anger. Shirafuji knew how Nakayama worked so meticulously and always finished his work before deadlines. It wasn't often to see him stressed because of work but angry and annoyed because of a certain coworker of his? Shirafuji could write his own book about that. “It's not like he is my boss or superior. Both of us got assigned to the same archive job for the time being, he could have just messaged me!” 

Despite the circumstances, Shirafuji couldn't help but smile at his lover's adorably annoyed self. “Typical Hino-san, wouldn't you say?” 

Nakayama snickered mirthlessly. “Don't use honorifics on him, Shira. He doesn't deserve your respect.” 

Now he was being adorably funny too. Shirafuji chuckled, one of his hands flying upward to fix Nakayama's disheveled hair. In this state, it wouldn't be easy to really fix it but he just wanted to touch his hair. “Well, no deadline means you can come back to bed, right?” 

The blonde man looked up and their eyes met, only then Shirafuji realized that his reading glasses suited Nakayama well. The perks of being naturally attractive, he supposed. Shirafuji got called out looking like an old man while wearing those by an old friend of his for more times than one could imagine. “I wanted to be done with them soon, though…” 

“Nakayama-kun, tomorrow is sunday.”

“Hence why I want to finish these now and sleep off the day tomorrow.”

“How about we sleep now and I will help you with them tomorrow? Like a work date?” 

“You make a lot of sense for a sleep deprived man.” Nakayama took off the glasses and rubbed his eyes harshly for a second before he sighed yet another time. Shirafuji thumbed at the side of his neck, caressing his skin gently to calm him down. “Hino.” And yet another aggravated mention of his coworker. 

“It isn't polite to mutter another man's name while I'm trying to take you to bed, Nakayama-kun.” Shirafuji said with a playfully judging tone. 

His body reawakening sharply, Nakayama turned his torso around so fast that Shirafuji had to blink in surprise. “Don't phrase it like that!” He screeched, both dumbfounded and disgusted. 

Shirafuji patted his head. “There, there. I'm sorry. Can we go back to bed now?” 

“You are awfully insistent.” Nakayama's laugh graced his ears. He closed off his laptop and stood up slowly while stretching his poor muscles. Shirafuji took a note in his head to remind himself to give a massage to Nakayama later. He seemed like he needed it desperately. While Shirafuji was busy looking him down lovingly, Nakayama was already up and about. “Alright! Let's sleep.” 

“Finally. If you were to continue to work, I was going to get a blanket and kidnap you to our room.” Shirafuji hummed thoughtfully. “Burrito Nakayama-kun.” 

Nakayama gave him a dry look. “Do you think you are funny, especially two in the morning?” 

“I think we should cuddle.” Shirafuji told him with a serious tone. “All the time.”

“Damn right. I would pay to see Hino's reaction when he saw us canoodling in the office.” Nakayama snickered, an evil intention sparkling inside his sunset eyes. “He is going to die single.” 

While they were in the corridor, Shirafuji gave him a side glance before stopping and holding Nakayama's wrist to yank him closer to himself. Nakayama let out a short yelp at the sudden movement but he turned quiet when Shirafuji parted his bangs to press a light kiss on his forehead. He watched Nakayama's eyelashes flutter for a second and smiled placidly. “Let's leave the jokes to tomorrow, it's already so late.” 

He wrapped an arm around Nakayama's waist as they entered their room. Nakayama just nodded to his words, his tiredness weighing him down further when he caught the sight of their bed. Their socked feet didn't make any noise as they quickly approached their bed and tucked each other in. It felt like coming home for a second time, the night sky was covering them as a blanket despite having a roof over their heads. The silence was much appreciated as much as his lover's body beside his. 

Shirafuji leaned his forehead against Nakayama's nape and tightened his hold on his waist while Nakayama tangled their legs together. 

Everything was right now. 

Chapter Text

On a cold Friday night, the most perfect day of the week that let them welcome the weekend after busy school days, they all gathered around the big kotatsu in Tsukasa's house.

“Emu, for the love of–” Upon seeing the state of the pizza that he so carefully made, words died horribly in his throat. “Who took a bite out of a whole pizza!?”

“Whoopsy daisy.” The pink haired girl chuckled, not at all guilty. She had sauce on the corner of her lips too! The audacity! “Tsukasa-kun, why don't you become the private chef of the Otori household? This pizza is so yummy!”

Across from him, another voice chimed in. “The bite of ‘87.” Nene said, very much unhelpfully.

“What?”

A hand patted him on the head, specifically close to his forehead. Tsukasa squinted at Rui when his bangs came closer to his eyes because of his seemingly affectionate action. Rui only smiled inanely, “you are fine.”

“I'm going to stop trying to understand you for the rest of the night.” Tsukasa stated it as a rule for himself, to not think too much or else his brain would get eaten by worms. Kamishiro Rui shaped worms. He shivered at that thought, that would be horrifying.

With a pointed glare and his index finger directed towards the real culprit, Tsukasa ignored more fingers trailing down his back to tickle him. It was working but he couldn't just give in to the distraction now. “This is your first and final warning; never ever disgrace a pizza like that again.”

“I apologize, sir!” Emu gave him a salute while wiping off the sauce on her face with her free hand. Nene handed over a handkerchief to her politely, grimacing a little when Emu scrubbed her face with it too hard. So she took it from Emu's hand and got to work cleaning her mouth herself. “It won't happen for a second time! Pinky promise!”

Satisfied, Tsukasa leaned back and relaxed against the couch behind him. He felt Rui creeping closer to his body, their thighs touching ever so slightly as the other boy threw his arm over his shoulders. The motion made him realize that he was feeling warmer than usual, especially in his face but touching his cheeks to check it would be embarrassing, so he tried to refrain himself from doing that. Instead, he dropped his gaze to the crochet in his lap.

This magnificent work of his was only created from two distinct colored yarns! To be honest, he was quite proud of it. He liked sewing and making costumes but crocheting was something that he didn't necessarily think about until now. Doing this kind of work calmed his senses in a way that he couldn't explain, Saki even joked about him being a ‘grandma’ when she saw what he was busy with for two weeks straight. However, she quickly quieted down and even wept a bit after he gave him a handmade beret with flower ornaments!

Saki called it a ‘masterpiece’ but while Tsukasa wanted to agree, he begged to differ since he was only doing this for a month, there was a lot to improve! Sometimes she complained about how he was so quick to pick up on new things, which was incorrect! Tsukasa appreciated the compliment and thought he was a quick learner, thank you very much! But didn't she see how most of his fingers were cladded in bandaids?!

As if hearing his thoughts, Rui's fingers glazed his right hand, specifically his index and middle finger that were wounded, and caressed them lightly. Something inside Tsukasa's chest swelled up upon seeing that sight, he felt his face getting warmer and warmer. He nudged Rui with his forearm playfully and the other chuckled, retreating away but not so far off to the distance.

“Thank you again for the scarf, Tsukasa.” Nene spoke, she was holding a piece of pizza very carefully to not let the melted cheese dirty her fingers even more. “I was shocked when you said this started as a hobby since you are already doing it like a professional…”

“Tsukasa-kun is very talented, isn't he?” Emu giggled as she held her mittens (gifted to her by yours truly) close to her chest. There was a delightful smile on her face, Tsukasa was glad to see it shine bright right in front of him. “These are my favorite mittens from now on!”

He laughed heartily, and hearing all these nice things from his dear friends was boosting his ego, his chest was puffing up naturally. “Ha-ha-ha!! Don't think this is the end of it, your wardrobes will be full of my creations soon enough!”

“I feel neglected somehow.” A sudden voice interrupted him. Tsukasa turned towards Rui and nearly balked when he came face to face with his kicked puppy eyes. It was a brutal attack! “Tsukasa-kun didn't give me anything.”

“You've become too spoiled.” Nene muttered distastefully. She grabbed a french fry and threw it to Rui's face, which he dodged without even looking at her way. This made her scowl even more. Tsukasa shuddered, he didn't know how Rui was ignoring the unbearable force of Nene’s annoyance on his person.

He quickly regained his balance though. “I did, in fact, prepare something for you!” He didn't pay attention to how Rui's face took on a neutral expression after his words, he was already on his way to the cabinet near to the dinner table.

Contrary to Nene's opinion, Rui wasn't exactly spoiled but he had started to demand… more personal things from Tsukasa. Unlike before where he would only indulge himself with making Tsukasa his guinea pig, he was now actually talking with him; gently asking for his opinions, making his presence visible enough for Tsukasa to give him physical affection and of course, as someone who was excellent with his wordplay, Rui's honesty and support was a big, warm embrace for Tsukasa. So when Rui asked to be by his side, Tsukasa always tried his best to indulge him. In all honesty, he needed that too.

“Behold! Here it is,” hands clutching a bouquet of baby's breath made from yarns, he waited patiently for Rui's reaction. “a whole bouquet from me, to you.”

At first, he thought this type of gift would be embarrassing to give to someone, even if that someone was his romantic partner. He spent many days bashing his skull against a wall (not really) to come up with something worthy of Rui's care and attention. For his love. It sounded cheesy and again, embarrassing, so he decided to not think anymore by himself and asked for his ever so wise sister's opinion.

She recommended flowers. Fortunately for her, Rui loved flowers.

And he loved them even if they were made from yarns too, at least it was visible on his face that he felt happy to see them. Tsukasa bit his bottom lip as he watched Rui's expression change between various emotions; shock, confusion, happiness. He almost wanted to laugh because why was he taking so long to process that his lover had made handmade flowers for him? It wasn't that difficult of an idea, especially since the result was right in front of him.

Tsukasa heard Emu inhale sharply and dissolve into quiet giggles, Nene was holding her arm to stop her from moving too much. Rui stood up slowly and took two big steps to reach Tsukasa's side.

Then he kissed him.

Well, this was embarrassing! Tsukasa expected a hug, maybe a peck on the cheek or some pats on the back, not a full kiss on the lips that made him forget how to breathe afterwards! And that was what exactly happened too, much to his dismay. When Rui pulled back and his face erupted with a gentle, small smile, Tsukasa didn't know if it was possible for one person to feel this red.

He could still sense the ghost of Rui's lips against his. It was distracting. “So am I to assume you like them?”

“They are beautiful.” Rui murmured, his voice airy and full of something that Tsukasa couldn't dissect apart to understand at that moment. However, Rui's tone scratched a certain part of his brain that he couldn't ignore at all. He could feel his cheeks blushing even harder, if that was possible. “I love you.”

“Right. I mean, I'm glad, ha-ha!” He laughed. The bandaids on his fingers and his embarrassment were worth it in the end, Tsukasa supposed. “Love you too.”

Chapter Text

It wasn't fair. 

“Good morning, Tsukasa-kun.” A gentle kiss to his forehead, right in the middle where his bangs were creating a cozy mess. As if listening closely to his thoughts, calloused fingers threaded through his golden strands in an attempt to fix his bed hair. “Mochizuki-kun came in the early hours to drop off some of the freshly baked pastries she made as a thanks for your help in the cafe. I made tea ten minutes ago, but I can heat it up again. Would you like to come downstairs?” 

Hearing Rui's feather-like voice as the first thing he woke up in the morning, feeling his warm hands caressing his face, not to mention how his lips were creating a crescendo of his affection with that serene smile, all of it came down on Tsukasa's barely conscious mind like hot boiled water. It wasn't fair at all. 

Tsukasa liked to believe that he knew Rui the best, he was the closest to him and their bond was something special for both of them, even as friends. Before the kisses and romantic gestures started, they were best friends. He vividly remembered how their classmates in high school joked about them being joint at hips, how if you saw one of them then the other wasn't far away. 

Friendship was as easy as it went, throughout ups and downs they managed to stick together and now held hands as lovers. Tsukasa wouldn't deny his intimate feelings for Rui, he didn't tend to lie. But there was this certain bleak inside his chest, close to where his heart was located, that kept pouring out the ugliest shades of emotions. 

He knew better than to doubt and let negativity decide his actions, however, lost in the current circumstances as he was, how could he stop himself from feeling like a stranger next to his ever so familiar love that kept walking alongside him since his teenage years? 

How could Rui not realize that he was kissing a stranger in their room, was he unaware or was he pretending too? 

That was a dangerous thought. 

“Are you alright?” The main character of the murder scene inside his head chimed in softly, there was concern in the waves of his pale golden eyes. Tsukasa forcefully gulped down everything he wanted to ask, and smiled. 

“I am! Let's go to the kitchen, we wouldn't want Honami's delicious pastries to go cold, right?” He tried to put on a certain happy lilt in his tone to convince both himself and Rui that nothing was up. It was for their own good if he never spoke for now, before he could get a definitive answer from somewhere. 

Somewhere who knew everything, somewhere who talked to Rui about this, somewhere that could answer all of his questions. Someone. 

He took a little peek at the twin guitars sitting against their bedroom wall and took a deep breath. Rui kept watching him closely, like he was inspecting Tsukasa's behavior and was ready to pounce when he caught a weak spot. Tsukasa didn't let his smile slip off his face. 

It was only a small sacrifice he had to make. 

“I have a meeting with Hoshino-kun this afternoon, then I will be keeping my lonely self away in the studio.” Rui sighed and draped himself over Tsukasa's back as he drawled slowly. Thanks to the deities, Tsukasa kept up with his fitness club and exercised regularly, or else he knew he would be crouching like a shrimp because of Rui's heavier weight. Curse him for being so tall. He stood straight and acted as if Rui wasn't being a slug to him, showing off his back muscles in the process. Ha! 

“‘Your lonely self’? I thought Asahina-san is as much of a workaholic as you are.” He answered off handedly. His hands found two of the plates that were placed neatly on the counter and he carried them to the table after he heated up the tea again. 

“I guess she will be there too.” No matter how hard he tried though, it was impossible to ignore Rui's hot breath on the naked skin of his neck. It was messing with his thoughts a little. “And where will you be?” 

“Akiyama invited me to go shopping. I have no idea why but I can't refuse a lady's kind offer to hang out!” He also had an idea as to why Akiyama asked especially for him but he didn't tell anything about that to Rui. 

“See,” Purple hair covered half of his vision as Rui dangled his head over his shoulder and gave more of his weight to his back. Tsukasa yelped when his foot slipped shortly after the unexpected motion. He pinched Rui's shoulder in response. “Lonely.”

He didn't want to say anything. Something. 

Wouldn't hiding more things make you lonelier? 

Tsukasa laughed heartily. “Don't make such a big deal out of it! We will see each other again.”

He felt coldness creep up inside his bones after those words. It wasn't a lie, Tsukasa knew he would be seeing Rui when they both came home after a long day, why wouldn't he? 

Alas, when he looked back to think, he realized that perhaps Rui wasn't the greatest pretender there was, that they were dancing together. 

As far away from each other.