Chapter Text
“And that’s a wrap!” Tsukasa shouted with a grin, looking towards his exhausted troupe members. He watched as the tension left their shoulders in a sort-of ripple effect, starting with Nene sinking to sit on the floor of the Wonder Stage. Emu groaned dramatically, flopping onto her back next to Nene. Rui just sighed, his shoulders drooping down into a slouch. Tsukasa laughed at the theatrics of his friends, he could still go for another couple hours!
“We practiced so long! I’m all whooshed out.” Emu groaned, rolling around the stage. The group had been rehearsing lines for an upcoming show, and with the deadline approaching fast, Tsukasa wanted to make sure they all had their roles down. That eventually turned into a full eight hour rehearsal, courtesy of Tsukasa’s perfectionist nature.
“Now, now Emu! We’re done for the day, and we don’t have rehearsal tomorrow! You can rest as much as you need to!” Tsukasa grinned, leaning down to pat her shoulder as she sulked. Almost immediately she lit up, thrilled by the idea of resting.
“Well, I know I’ll probably be getting some rest. See you all tomorrow, probably.” Rui said, stretching his hands over his head, his shirt riding up to reveal a little window of skin that Tsukasa definitively did not stare at.
…
Okay who is he kidding? He was definitely staring at his stomach. It’s not Tsukasa’s fault that Rui is pretty! So what if he had a crush on his director? It’s not the first crush he’s had, and probably won’t be the last.
“Uhh yeah! See you, Rui! Be safe getting home!” Tsukasa stumbled over his words, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. Nene looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but ultimately just said bye to Rui as well.
“Bye Rui! Don’t get eaten by aliens! Or raccoons!” Emu shouted, waving aggressively at Rui. He grinned, waving back before grabbing his things and walking away.
“Ooo! Tsukasa has a crush!!“ Emu sing-songed once Rui was out of hearing range, a teasing smile on her face. Tsukasa’s face burned hotter, the two girl’s attention now on him.
“No I do not! Rui’s just my friend and star director!” Tsukasa denied pitifully, knowing the own pointlessness of his words.
“No one ever said anything about Rui.” Nene commented, looking at Tsukasa with a look that just screamed ‘You’re guilty and we know it, so admit it.’
“Well-!” Tsukasa tried to think of a perfect excuse to get the two of them off his tail, but ultimately came up empty handed. “Okay, maybe I do have a tiny crush on Rui. But it’s fine! And don’t tell him, please!” Tsukasa pleaded with the two girls who practically held his life in the palms of their hands.
“Don’t worry, we won’t tell him.” Nene sighed, slowly picking herself up from her spot sitting on the stage and walking to grab her stuff. Emu followed her, much less gracefully, before grabbing her hand and dragging her along the pathway.
“Bye Tsukasa!! We’ll see you later!! Have a wonderhoy night!!” Emu giggled, waving dramatically at Tsukasa, similar to how she did to Rui. Tsukasa laughed, waving at the pair as they left the stage.
Tsukasa looked around, and after noticing the darkening sky, he gathered his belongings, made sure everything was put away correctly, and left the Wonder Stage for the night.
_ _ _
“Ah, thank you for joining us, Tsukasa-nii.” Toya greeted Tsukasa with a kind smile, contrasting his boyfriend's aggressive snarl. Tsukasa ignored Akito’s less than stellar greeting, eagerly electing to reply to his pseudo-little brother.
“Aha! Thank you for inviting me to such an elegant luncheon, Toya! You know I can’t say no to spending time with my favourite kouhai!” Tsukasa ruffled Toya’s hair, eliciting a small, shy smile from the boy, as well as an angry glare from Akito. He sat down in front of Toya, looking at the cáfe’s menu. He briefly remembers Toya mentioning this place was run by one of his group members' father.
“So how are things with school? Still doing good?” Tsukasa asked, eyeing a fancy looking pastry on the menu.
“Ah, yes, I’m still doing well in school.” Toya replied, not looking at his menu. Tsukasa reasoned he probably had his order memorized by now.
Tsukasa smiled. “Good job Toya, I’m so proud of you for keeping your grades up!” Tsukasa always made sure to praise Toya for his achievements, since a certain someone decided to not treat his son with the love and respect he deserves.
Toya’s cheek flush slightly, looking down at his lap with another small smile. “I was also able to help someone find a book they really enjoyed.” Toya continued, looking back up at Tsukasa.
“ Yeah , no, she was totally just hitting on you.” Akito piped up from next to Toya, leaning his face on his fist. Toya raised an eyebrow, a silent invitation to continue. Tsukasa leaned forward, eager to hear about this new information regarding his kouhais personal life.
“Well she was all red in the face and shit, and said yes to the first book you recommended, not to mention she asked for your number.” Akito grumbled, jealousy rolling off of him in waves. Tsukasa looked at Toya, surprised by the information given to him. He knows Toya is a catch, not only is he adorable, he’s also really kind once you get to know him! It’s just that people don’t tend to take the time to get to know him.
“This is true? A girl really asked for your number?” Tsukasa asked, looking towards his kouhai with a fox-like grin.
Toyas face was slightly red, and he was looking off at something in the distance. “…was she actually into me, Akito?” Toya mumbled, embarrassed by his own lack of ability to read most situations.
“Yeah, she definitely was.” Akito sighed, before noticing someone coming towards their table.
“Hey Akito! Hey Aoyagi! Hey Aoyagi’s bro!” An greeted, wearing her waitress uniform and holding a small notepad. “The usual?” She asked, already writing in her notepad.
“Yeah.” Akito messed with one of the forks at the table, while Toya just nodded. “And for you?” An asked, looking towards Tsukasa, pen ready to write.
“Ah! Can I get this please? And a glass of lemon water?” He asked, pointing to the pastry he saw earlier. An grinned, quickly writing down the order. “Nice choice! One of Kohane’s favourites, actually.” She commented, before walking off.
“Anyways, about this book girl, did you end up giving her your number, Toya?” Tsukasa asked, going back to their previous topic.
“Well, yes I did. Should I not have?” Toya asked, looking between Akito and Tsukasa. Tsukasa laughed, reaching over to pat his shoulder.
“I think you made a good call, Toya! And if she tries coming onto you again, just send her to the dogs.” Tsukasa joked, pointing towards Akito.
The ginger bristled, glaring at Tsukasa once more. “Don’t call me that, airhead!” Akito grumbled, crossing his arms. Tsukasa sighed, internally rolling his eyes at him. Drama queen.
“Mm, well on the topic, how are things with you and Kamishiro?” Toya asked, causing Tsukasa’s face to grow hot. He stammered a little helplessly, before An came back with a tray piled with drinks and pastries.
“Hey guys, sorry for the wait!” An placed a white mug filled with dark, black coffee and a croissant in front of Toya, and a slice of strawberry cheesecake and mug of hot chocolate in front of Akito.
She paused before handing Tsukasa his food, “Woah, what’s up with you? You’re as red as a tomato!” An commented, placing the pastry and lemon water in front of the strawberry blonde.
“Guys got it bad for one of his group members, and Toya brought him up.” Akito replied before Tsukasa could, causing An to snort.
“Just like you did for Aoyagi?” She teased, punching his shoulder. Akito’s cheeks went red as well, shoving her away.
“Shut up, An! You still got it bad for Kohane!” Akito retaliated, causing An to sputter uselessly before stomping off once more.
“Ugh, she’s insufferable.” Akito complained, leaning too far into Toya’s personal space for it to be accidental. “But anyways, have you talked to the weirdo about it yet?” Akito asked, taking a large bite of his cheesecake.
Tsukasa sighed, opening up a straw and shoving it rather aggressively into his lemon water. “ No, I haven't talked to Rui about it. It’s just, god he doesn’t like me back and I know it!” Tsukasa whined, picking up his fork before cutting off a small corner of his sweet.
Toya hummed thoughtfully over the rim of his coffee mug, before setting it down to speak. “That’s what I said about Akito.” Toya accentuated his point by resting his head against the shorter boy’s shoulder.
Tsukasa opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He huffed, taking an obnoxious sip from his water. Akito huffed, and Tsukasa chose to ignore the protective arm sneaking around Toya’s waist.
“It’s…different with Rui.” Tsukasa eventually settled on, looking away from the younger couple.
“Like hell it is. Just get over yourself and ask him out already, dipshit.” Akito complained while silently offering Toya a bite of his cheesecake by holding a forkful in front of his face. Toya greedily accepted the offer, before nodding in agreement to Akito’s statement
Tsukasa scoffed through a mouthful of pastry. “Like you would know, you emotionally constipated dog. Besides, why should I take relationship advice from people who are younger than me, huh?” Tsukasa asked, justifying the idea that Rui definitely didn’t like him, and the two boys in front of him are just lunatics.
“You don’t have to. I just thought we could help.” Toya stated simply, finishing off his croissant before drinking the last of his coffee. Akito, noticing that Toya was wrapping things up, chugged the rest of his hot chocolate, before putting his mug on the already empty cheesecake plate.
Toya threw his bag over his shoulder before placing enough money on the table to cover for the three of them. “We'll be leaving now, Tsukasa-nii. Have a good day.” Toya bid Tsukasa farewell, while Akito just flipped him the bird. Jerk.
“Farewell, Toya! Good luck on your endeavors with that oversized man-child who calls himself your father!” Tsukasa grinned, getting a small laugh from Toya.
The two boys left, leaving Tsukasa alone with his thoughts and half-finished lemon water. He really had it down bad for Rui, huh.
_ _ _
2:07. Rui glared, bleary-eyed, at his phone screen, unable to sleep even after laying in bed so long. He sighed before turning his phone off again, rolling over onto his side. He couldn’t help his thoughts from drifting to the day prior, the first Tsukasa-free day he’s had in a while. It was boring, with hours spent hunched over an invention that had less than promising results.
He didn’t like not seeing Tsukasa all day. It’s not like he didn’t have the option, at any time he could’ve texted or hell, even called Tsukasa, but no. His brain decided to convince him that the offer to ‘call whenever you want to! I love talking to you’ that Tsukasa made a few weeks ago was only given as a pleasantry, and he didn’t actually mean it.
It’s not his fault that Tsukasas opinion means more to him than most peoples, and the thought of annoying him is enough to send Rui into a fucking spiral. Rui flipped over again, groaning loudly into a pillow.
Stupid Tsukasa, with his stupid obnoxious voice, obnoxious ideas, obnoxious pretty hair, obnoxious kind smile…
Rui abruptly sat up. He didn’t think about Tsukasa like that , did he?
Rui dismissed the thought, instead opting to try and go back to sleep. Better to sleep it off, he thought. Just sleep it off.