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“Oh, woe is me,” Rui lamented with a drawn-out, exaggerated sigh. “How loneliness plagues me. We have barely had any time to be together outside of our rehearsals, and I so, so strongly desire to spend more quality time with them.” He dramatically put a hand on his forehead, ignoring the way that passerby students raised an eyebrow at him as they walked by. “Oh, whatever shall I do…? I can feel my heart crumbling just as the seconds go by…” His expression was one of faux sadness as he let out another long sigh, topped off with a fake sniffle.
The three faces in front of him stared back in silence for a couple seconds: one with confusion and annoyance, the second with a somewhat blank—yet wide-eyed and somehow empathetic—look, and the third with narrowed, pondering eyes as they took in what was just said to them.
“Dude,” Akito deadpanned, the look of annoyed bewilderment on his face not changing. “When did we ever invite you to come sit with us?”
“Oh, I’m just so, so, in need of just a bit of quality time with them,” Rui went on, ignoring Akito’s query and the continued odd gazes from the other students at lunch. “It’s been so long since we’ve had even just a little bit of time together outside of our shows and practices…” He fake-sniffled, turning his ‘sad’ gaze towards the other two who were staring at him.
“I see…I’m quite sorry, Kamishiro. That sounds like quite an issue…” Toya said with pity in his voice, nodding sagely at the second-year who was lamenting to them.
An, meanwhile, just continued thinking to herself, nodding with quiet “mhm”s as she absentmindedly tapped her hands together. She appeared to be trying to think of a solution to Rui’s issue, but didn’t end up coming up with anything.
“Did any of you guys hear me...? Where did he even come from? Why—” Akito sighed in frustration as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “God, at least it’s just one Oddball this time and not the 1-2…” He grumbled to himself quietly.
Rui heard him anyway. He gave Akito a smug smile for a moment before going back to his fake desperation. It was clear Akito would rather be anywhere but here at the moment. Rui was completely aware of this.
“Oh, won’t you help me escape my plight? I couldn’t think of anyone else better fit to assist me…”
“Why, exactly, are you asking us for advice on your… pining? Isn’t there someone, I dunno, better fit for that kinda help?” Akito groaned, continuing to eat his lunch.
Rui felt the smallest bit of heat rise to his face. He was well aware that his…feelings for his troupemates were, for lack of a better term, obvious to other people. He didn’t really mind this, actually, but it was quite fascinating to him how it seemed to be evident or even blatant to almost everyone except the targets of said feelings.
The edges of his mouth curled up into his usual, smug catlike smile as he chuckled to himself, having expected to be asked this question. “Well, Shinonome, I couldn’t quite think of anyone else who would have such…experience with pining, yes?” Still looking right at Akito, he motioned to Toya, who just so happened to be holding hands with the other boy.
Akito nearly choked on his lunch, his face suddenly flushing red. Toya looked away, his face as usual a bit monotone-looking but with a small, sheepish smile and the lightest bit of pink dusting his face. An, meanwhile, broke out into wheezing laughter.
“Dude.” Akito pinched the bridge of his nose again, still red-faced, his eyes scrunched shut as he gritted his teeth. “We’re already dating.”
“Ah, but it was obvious even before then, yes?”
“Oh my god.”
An continued to laugh, even moreso as Akito looked up just to glare daggers at her. “Oh, he knows what you are…” She cackled, wiping away a tear from her eye.
“You too, Shiraishi.” Rui turned his gaze to her, his face still retaining that smug, feline smirk. “How is Azusawa doing, by the way? It has been a while since I’ve talked to her.”
An’s laughter abruptly cut off as her own face reddened slightly. “Hey. Hey, I wasn’t that obvious before—”
“Yes, you were.” Akito and Toya said in unison without even thinking. Rui blinked innocently at An as they did so, his smirk never wavering.
“That’s—” An glared daggers right back at them, reddening a bit more. She sighed, taking a deep breath. “Okay. Okay. Maybe…maybe I was.”
“Anyways— I don’t have any ‘advice’ for you or whatever.” Akito sighed and shook his head. He looked at the ground, scratching the back of his head as his voice got a bit sheepish. “...hell, the only reason I confessed is ‘cause I got a pep talk from Ken beforehand…” He mumbled.
(“Wait, you too?” An’s eyes widened.)
(“...that’s what motivated you?” Toya’s eyes widened as well with a bit of amusement entering his gaze, though his expression didn’t change.)
“Oh, I’m doomed…I’ll forever be cursed to wander the earth as a poor alchemist, forced to carry the burden of having no quality time with his friends…” Rui put on that dramatic, lamenting persona once again, putting his hand back on his forehead with yet another exaggerated sigh and whimper.
Akito blinked, completely and utterly dumbfounded. “What are you even—? Man, I dunno, just… invite ‘em to your house or something. Like for a…for a sleepover or whatever. I dunno…” He grumbled without thinking, rolling his eyes, clearly just throwing something out to try and shoo off this strange cat of a person by any means necessary.
…and Rui’s face immediately lit up, his woeful act dissolving instantly. “Ah, what a wonderful idea, Shinonome! I shall be forever grateful for your service and assistance.” He got up and bowed elegantly, attracting the gazes of more confused students.
Akito stared in complete silence for a moment. With that instant change in demeanor, anyone would’ve thought that Rui was smug and cheerful as usual the entire time at this point. “Jesus Christ…” Akito buried his head in his hands where he sat, letting himself bend over forwards to simply wallow in the momentary embarrassment that came to him just from being seen around Rui Kamishiro.
“...wait, why didn’t you just ask Akiyama?” Akito suddenly sat up, raising an eyebrow. “You’ve seen them pine over their music group, or whatever. Including my sister...” He groaned quietly, rolling his eyes at the thought.
“They weren’t here today,” Rui said simply, shrugging. “Plus, I believe they’re just as…what’s the right word? Pathetic? As I am. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must be on my way…” He bowed once again before turning to disappear off to who-knows-where, leaving the three VBS members where they were.
“...Akito, what was that about having Ken pep you up?” Toya asked, amused and curious, once Rui had left them.
“Nothing.”
clown car
🐱
today at 3:12 pm
everyone, i have a proposal to make for an activity after rehearsal concludes today.
emuemu_pxl
today at 3:14 pm
(°ロ°)?!?!?!? :O?!? WHAT IS IT what is it :D
STARPEGASUS88
today at 3:15 pm
WHAT
YES RUI WHAT IS IT
nk_robo
today at 3:16 pm
yea?
🐱
today at 3:19 pm
well, we haven’t really had much time with each other outside of rehearsals lately. how would you all feel about having a sleepover at my house later tonight?
nk_robo
today at 3:20 pm
wait like tonight
right after rehearsal
🐱
today at 3:20 pm
yes!
emuemu_pxl
today at 3:21 pm
:OOOOOOO
yesyes YEYSEYSES WONDAHOI SLEEPOVER
STARPEGASUS88
today at 3:21 pm
YES 👍 I WOULD LIKE THAT
[attachment: a selfie of tsukasa giving a thumbs up.]
nk_robo
today at 3:23 pm
jesus
but yea sure
are we gonna use ur actual room or the garage
🐱
today at 3:24 pm
but nene, the workshop is my actual room! you know this.
nk_robo
today at 3:25 pm
🧍
ok.
but im still down
🐱
today at 3:28 pm
wonderful! i’ll begin preparations right away. :3
After rehearsal, the troupe agreed to go home and get whatever things they needed before heading over to Rui’s house. Now, Rui was in his room, making sure things were fit for everyone to stay in comfortably.
He hadn’t made his room quite organized by any means, but he had moved a couple trinkets and projects to the side just to allow enough room for everyone to be cozy. He had placed a couple beanbags in there after realizing that there was a lack of room for people to sit besides his bed, worktable chair, and his…unique sofa. His room was something that was often commented on by the (few) visitors that have seen it; he did technically have an actual bedroom inside his house, but as a child, he had almost always spent his free time in this old garage—which used to be just a storage room—and his parents, keen on letting him be comfortable, were okay with it as he gradually began to move in there over time. Now, the garage was his own bedroom-workshop-combo, the greatest display of the vibrant and wondrous ideas that he always thought of being brought to life.
He couldn’t help but feel a fuzzy, warm excitement in his chest as he waited for his friends to arrive. Rui had admitted to himself some time ago that the feelings he had for the other members of WxS were different from those of normal friendship, and if anything, that made trying to work through those feelings even worse. His already existing difficulty with opening up to people was bad enough; he figured he might as well use opportunities like these to enjoy what time he has with these people that he cares about so much.
Rui was snapped out of his thoughts by a sudden knock on the door. Ah, it’s that time already.
He opened the door to see Nene, pillow slung over her shoulder, with a portable game console and two controllers in her hands. It’d make sense that she was the first to arrive, considering she was the one most familiar with Rui’s house.
Soon, Emu followed, and a couple minutes later, Tsukasa arrived, staggering and out of breath.
“Apologies!! I got lost!” He managed to wheeze out as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. Tsukasa, out of the three, was the least familiar with Rui’s house; he had been here before, but very briefly in comparison to Nene, who had been here since she was young, and Emu, who had come over a couple times for Rui to create little trinkets and games for her. He still had the buttons he made for her to find stowed away in his room for whenever he wanted to tinker with them or if Emu wanted to play that game again.
Nene sighed, sitting on a beanbag and giving a long side-glance to an inactive robot that was on the ground next to it. “Rui, is your workshop really the best place t—”
Nene was cut off by the sound of Emu gasping at a newer robot Rui had begun working on: a mini robot reconstruction of PXL’s Poochie character, about two feet tall, round and friendly in shape just like the real thing. “Rui!! I have to show this to Mr. Mascot when you’re done with it! Can I?” She turned to Rui, her eyes almost glowing at the thought of showing her good friend-slash-costumed-bodyguard the little contraption.
Rui glanced at Nene with his smug, catlike smile and a playful ‘gotcha’ look in his eyes. “Of course, Emu. See, Nene, we wouldn’t want to be in the other plain, boring bedroom, now, would we? Then I could never show off some of these wonderful things...”
Nene sighed and looked at Emu. Rui felt his smile grow; the way that Emu’s eyes were sparkling was obviously too much for Nene to resist, and he chuckled to himself as he saw her look away from Emu and blush. “...guess not. Whatever.” She mumbled, grumpily but with a tone of unmistakable affection.
Tsukasa, meanwhile, had been staring at everything in the room with wide eyes. “Rui. You’re telling me you do all your work in the same room that you sleep in?!” He gawked. “That’s...not organized at all!”
Rui just chuckled again. “Well, it’s quite convenient for me.”
“Convenient…hmph.” Tsukasa huffed and began to look around more. “The inconvenience of having to separate your own personal things and your robots and drones and PXL items vastly outweighs that, I’d sa—”
Tsukasa’s voice cut off as his gaze landed on a specific item sitting in the room.
“Rui.”
“Yes, Tsukasa?”
“What…is that?”
Tsukasa had a hand out, motioning to the couch that was up against the wall. The couch seemed perfectly normal, aside from the fact that its covering was made up of blue denim in varying shades, patched together in squares, covering the entire couch and its cushions. It even extended to the legs of the couch. It, quite literally, looked as if someone had a vast collection of jeans that they relegated to the job of being bound to a sofa.
“Ah! That’s just the jouch.” Rui replied simply as if this was the most normal thing in the world.
Tsukasa blinked a couple times, absolutely and totally befuddled by this. “The what?”
“The jouch.”
“Jouch? Like—”
“Jean couch! Jouch.”
Tsukasa stood there for a couple seconds, processing this information. Emu seemed completely unbothered by the odd furniture item; she was moreso intrigued by how Tsukasa was reacting to it. Nene, meanwhile, had a look on her face that wordlessly said she’s seen this thing before and she hates it.
“Why do you have this in your room???” Tsukasa yelled after that moment of processing, seemingly completely flabbergasted and offended by the presence of this strange furniture item.
“Oh, Tsukasa, you wouldn’t dare to insult my lovely, beautiful jouch, would you?” Rui fake-sniffled with the same faux-sad expression he donned earlier at school, gently patting the jouch as if it was a pet or something similar.
“Wha—” Tsukasa sighed, giving up, before facepalming. “Okay. You win. But I will be ignoring the…the jouch.” He huffed indignantly.
Despite Tsukasa’s reaction, Rui couldn’t help but let a fond look enter his eye, that familiar warmth returning to his chest simply due to feeling that familiarity of everyone being here together. That warmth grew as he watched Emu run over to tackle Nene into a hug on the beanbag, the latter's face lighting up in a blush as she yelped.
Rui chuckled, tapping his nails (which were decorated in colors of orange, green, and pink—the others had matching ones, except with the addition of purple in place of each of their "own" colors) together absentmindedly in front of him. “Alright. That aside…”
The group didn’t have any set routine for the night; they were all taking this time to just relax and enjoy each other's presence outside of the adrenaline of rehearsal and their shows. Not to say that was disliked by any means: quite the opposite, in fact. But everyone needs breaks. These four were no exception.
“Argh…” Tsukasa groaned as he once again lost a match to Nene, gripping the controller in his hands tightly.
The four were currently playing a fighting game on the console Nene brought, alternating in pairs since the game only supported two players (and Nene only brought two controllers). Rui and Emu were all cozied up together in a blanket, quietly cheering on the other two. Rui was silently hoping that the warmth in his face right now wasn’t visible. Or, at the least, that it would go unnoticed if it was.
“Hehe… this blanket’s so cozy, Rui!” As if right on cue, Emu giggled quietly, scooting a bit closer to him. “Like a warm, fluffy cloud...”
“Ah…I’m quite glad you like it…” Rui managed to murmur with his usual smile, knowing his face must’ve gotten even more red. Emu didn’t seem to notice it, to his relief.
“Gah!!” Tsukasa yelped again as he lost, gaping at the screen in front of them that had P1 WIN! on it in green text. “How?? I tried everything…hmph. It appears that I’ve been bested. I wholeheartedly congratulate you, Nene.” He puffed out his chest, giving a small bow to his opponent, as if he was a reigning champion that had just been beaten for the first time. Despite the fact that he hadn’t touched this game at all until today and hadn't won a single match yet.
“What even was there to best you at…?” Nene mumbled, rolling her eyes, nonetheless with affection in her gaze and a small smile on her face.
Rui smiled knowingly at her. As she caught his gaze, she glared at him, though the glare had no weight or malice. She had never admitted to Rui that she had a crush on Tsukasa (or Emu, for that matter), but it was obvious enough to Rui that he felt like he could give her teasing nudges about it. And judging by her reactions to said nudges, his suspicions were accurate. Almost like a mutual unspoken agreement between the two.
Rui hadn’t really considered the possibility that Nene might like him, despite his own crush on her. Applying to the other two as well, of course. Whenever it came to mind, he quickly brushed it off. His feelings were his alone, without a doubt.
“Hm…” Emu hummed beside him, shifting around a bit, before her eyes suddenly lit up and sparkled. “Let’s do something new for the next round…”
She gave a glance to Rui and grabbed his hand. He tried to hide his blush once again as he got up with her, watching to see what she’d do…
…and she moved to hug Tsukasa from the side, getting close and snug right at his side while making sure to not obscure his view of the game.
“There! Now our cheers will fire you up even more!! Like pow-pow-boom!” She giggled.
Rui couldn’t help but chuckle to himself as he watched Tsukasa yelp loudly, caught completely off guard by the Emu attack, with his face flushing red.
He looked down at Nene, who was also giggling as she watched the two hug. He was quiet, thinking for a moment, feeling a tug in his chest...
“Well, it’s only fair to you if I do the same, isn’t it?” Rui hadn’t even realized what he said (or that he even said it out loud) until he saw Nene’s eyes widen. Upon realizing what he blurted out, his own eyes widened as well and he darted his gaze to the wall, quickly running over ways in his mind to brush it off like it was a joke—
“Yeah. You’re right. It wouldn’t be fair otherwise.”
Rui felt something jump and flutter in his chest as he heard Nene’s reply. He moved his gaze back to her…and felt that jump again when he saw her looking away sheepishly, the lightest bit of a blush dusting her face.
…she's beautiful, he thought, and it took him a moment to snap out of an almost-daze before putting on his smirk again. “Then I shall.”
He got down and hugged Nene close from the side, trying to pay no mind to how red he must’ve been. He almost thought he could hear a small hum of surprise from her, as well.
This was…really cozy. Hell, he probably would’ve stayed like this forever if he could. Nene and Tsukasa began another round, the former still remaining mostly focused despite Rui’s hug. The same couldn’t be said for Tsukasa, who was clearly more unfocused and messy than he had been before, his moves more erratic and jumpy.
The four of them ended up spending most of the night doing this, rotating between who would be the fighters and who was hugging them. Rui found that he could barely play properly at all when he was being hugged, but he had simply excused that as a skill issue gamewise (he knew that he had played this game with Nene before, and that he was usually better during those times—and he hoped that she thought nothing of it or didn't notice).
Still, as soon as they had finished, he found himself wanting that closeness back almost immediately, as if it was a smoke slipping right through his fingers when he tried to hold on to it.
Following the group’s round of gaming, they spent the rest of the night lounging about, talking to each other about silly, mindless things, anecdotes, and stories. When he wasn’t talking, Rui resigned himself to simply enjoying the sound of his friends’ voices. It felt too quiet without the sound of those voices, he mused.
As had become a bit too familiar for him, Rui felt a small pang in his chest following that thought. He inwardly cursed his inability to let go of the worries that plagued him. However…now wasn’t the time to make himself feel worried or sad. He sighed quietly, tuning out the sound of talking until it became a distant yet familiar blur.
For the alchemist, the members of his traveling troupe, his three closest friends—the clown, the songstress, and the showman—were his most cherished treasures. And the alchemist’s dream was to hold on to those treasures, to be close to them for as long as possible, to cherish them more than any other sort of earthly item or riches that were in the kingdom. Although the alchemist felt a sad cloud in his chest every time he was reminded of how the dreams of his friends weren’t the same as his own, how each of those dreams veered off and took different paths…for now, the alchemist would fulfill his own dream in the present by keeping his treasured friends close while he could, enjoying each adventure they would have and each show they would perform together in the future to the fullest. For now, that would suffice…
“Rui?”
Rui jolted awake upon hearing the sound of Tsukasa’s voice, his blurry dream becoming only a faint memory. He blinked, his eyes adjusting to the light, and was greeted with the sight of his friends staring at him with curious, slightly concerned (yet caring, as always) gazes.
“Ah…apologies. I must have dozed off for a minute.” He chuckled, his smile returning naturally to his face. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, letting himself scruff up his hair a bit. Something about having his hair a bit more fluffed up made him feel nice, for whatever reason. “Were you saying something to me?”
“I said, we’re all getting pretty tired. I was going to ask if you were ready to sleep as well, but it seemed my assumption was already correct…” Tsukasa spoke in a proud tone of voice, adding a distinctly-Tsukasa “hmhm” to the end of his sentence.
Rui felt like he could never get tired of Tsukasa’s voice; despite many people saying otherwise, his loudness, arrogance, and pride…his positivity, confidence, and enthusiasm…they were comforting to Rui.
“Yes, I suppose I am ready to sleep, it seems...” He finally responded with a chuckle, letting his gaze move to each of the three. “You all have your own blankets and pillows, yes?”
They each nodded, but Emu’s eyebrows creased a bit. “Yeah, but I dunno if I can sleep…it’s kinda cold in here!” She jokingly whined with a small huff.
Nene nodded in agreement, while Tsukasa seemed to think for a second. Then, his eyes suddenly lit up as if he had just had the greatest epiphany of all time.
“We can share body heat! Then we won’t be cold!” He said proudly, striking a pose…before seeming to realize what he had just blurted out without thinking, as his face slowly turned a light shade of red.
Rui could see the same in the others as they processed what Tsukasa just said, and he was quite sure he looked the same as well. No one responded for a couple seconds, staying in a vaguely flustered silence, before a huge smile made its way onto Emu’s face. She nodded eagerly, beginning to bounce up and down.
“Yes!! Tsukasa, that’s perfect!!!” Emu squealed, moving to grab her pillows and blanket.
Nene, still flustered, still not having said anything, followed and grabbed her own pillows, though it was easy to pick out the warmth that shone in her gaze. Tsukasa seemed flabbergasted that the others actually agreed to that, stumbling clumsily to grab his own things, red-faced yet grinning.
Rui sighed happily, letting a chuckle escape his lips as he moved to pull the mattress off his bed and onto the floor for the four of them to get comfy on. He took a pillow with him, as well as a soft, stuffed plushie of a platypus—he’d had it since he was a child, and it stuck with him so much throughout the years. He had never had the heart to give it away, and still slept with it most nights. It was a bit embarrassing to him, but he knew that the others wouldn’t think anything of it.
After the lights are turned off, the group of four laid down together, whispering quiet “goodnight”s to each other.
When only a few minutes had passed, Rui felt something pulling him; opening his eyes blearily, he was greeted by the sight of the other three pulling him close into a cuddle. He felt a fuzziness bloom in his chest, a comforting fuzziness, and he moved into the cuddle, feeling the warmth of his greatest treasures before he drifted off into a slumber, letting himself be enveloped in familiar dreams.
The alchemist had spent the whole day together with his troupemates—no, his friends. His treasured friends. They had been putting on spectacular shows for the townsfolk so much together recently, but having a day where they all could simply enjoy the presence of one another brought a great warmth to the alchemist’s heart. They talked, danced, and created clouds of wondrous dreams to let into the air to bring happiness to the whole kingdom.
As the day was coming to a close, and the four began to prepare to slumber together, the alchemist felt wonderful. Having days like these where he could cherish what were his greatest treasures reminded him of how unique and wonderful they truly were. The alchemist bottled up his memories of that day and kept them safe on his shelf, so one day, after the traveling troupe had parted ways, he may look at it again and fondly reminisce. And so, the alchemist resigned himself to rest for the night with his friends close by him so that he could feel their warmth as he drifted off to venture into the land of dreams.
And the alchemist felt loved.
Rui woke with a start in the middle of the night, feeling his dream of kingdoms and wonders and shows dissipate until it was just a vague fog in the back of his mind.
He glanced around. Everyone else was still fast asleep, the only sound in the room being Tsukasa’s snoring. Rui knew that wasn’t what woke him up; the sound was oddly comforting to him.
As he stared at his friends, so peacefully asleep and likely having their own adventures in their dreams, he silently gave a word of thanks to Akito for that annoyed, spur-of-the-moment idea of having a sleepover. He smiled softly and gently squeezed the hands of all three of them—not enough to wake them, but hopefully just enough so that they could feel his affection even from within their slumbers. He then lay back down, closing his eyes as he felt them get heavy once again, feeling himself getting pulled back into rest by the soothing warmth of his friends surrounding him.
And, once again, Rui felt loved.