could we become intertwined sometime

by nons7llyguy

Summary:

Rui is a lot of things. He is a director in pursuit of his ongoing dream, a man fixated on robotics for his projects, and a single father. He adopted Shiori, the best daughter he could have ever hoped for. He would do anything for her, to protect her and her happiness.

He meets Tsukasa when he enrolls Shiori in a new daycare and for some reason Rui can’t figure out why he wants to know more about him, even after such a weird first impression.

Maybe it has something to do with his smile.

Chapter 1: the start of something new

Notes:

Every time I don’t write ruikasa yuri I pause but I worked on this au in my head for a month and then started writing a week before the worldlink. I am nervous as hell posting this^ I am locked out of co-op right now help me.

Moving was not something Rui liked, especially with everything that made him have to move in the first place. People, he had come to now understand, sometimes couldn’t bear to let any opportunity for fame pass by even if it was at the expense of others.

But he wasn’t moving for himself, he was moving for someone else. He did have a special person in his life; his 5-year-old daughter Shiori. 

A lighter shade of purple for her hair, a pair of grey eyes. She liked magical girls and platypuses, she liked when Rui tried to give her different hairstyles and she liked tying up Rui’s own hair, and she really liked shows. She said she wanted to be a director like him one day and she loved it when he explained what he was working on to her.

Circling back, Rui was moving because of the daycare he had enrolled her in. To keep it short, because Rui didn’t even like to think about it, his address got leaked by a fame-hungry employee and Shiori got put in a tight spot. He did not appreciate someone going as far as to come to the center to ask her personal questions about him. He did take legal action and the worker got fired but he was still going to move.

He could be quite intimidating when defending someone he cares about.

Shiori was his priority.

The first time he brought her home he was by himself and he went to sit in the living room with his child who was only 2 years old. “What’s your name? ” he had asked. Those gray curious eyes stared back at him “Kamishiro Shiori! ”. Her pronunciation wasn’t the best but he still heard it so clearly.

Shiori was his daughter and Rui was her dad. And he swore to protect her, much like he is doing now.

He hadn’t renamed her first name but was dead set on giving her his last name so hearing her say it with such glee in her eyes caused him to start crying softly. Shiori didn’t know what was happening but she laughed regardless.

His parents also loved her but they didn’t live in the same city, they had said if he did move to where they lived they’d be happy to take care of her while Rui worked but he had declined. His parents had their own lives still with their careers and adding his five-year-old daughter on top of their work hours would be unfair.

Also, he suspects that his dad would gleefully tie his daughter to a rocket in the name of science and that Shiori would be more than happy to accept.

They still had visited her grandparents before they properly moved and with this visit bought them spoiling her. Which made Rui’s heart break when he told her their visit was over.

“You can’t keep Shio-chan away from me forever. You love your grandma Sumire, don’t you my darling?” his mother had said while hugging Shiori goodbye “No Dad can’t keep me away!”. During that exchange his father hugged him and told him how proud he was of Rui, his mother had then brought Shiori and herself to join him and his dad.

His daughter was loved and cared for, what more could he ask for?

Perhaps he could ask for a daycare that wouldn’t try to use his name for publicity and invade his and his daughter’s private lives.

Rui worked a lot on his projects and workshops due to his high demand of being a renowned director and he also spent as much time as possible with his daughter but he needs a daycare during moments when he can’t do both.

Shiori would be in elementary school once the summer ended and when the time came he would see what he had to do. Summer holidays hadn’t even started yet and when they did start he’d have to also start planning for her birthday.

Plus if he had to say Shiori must be one of the kindest and smartest kids on this planet so she wasn’t the issue, it was finding a daycare that would be the issue. Except lady luck was on his side this time thanks to an old friend.

Akiyama Mizuki; working in the fashion industry by day and the music scene at night, mischievous prankster even at her age, wife to Kanade and mother of one child. Right now she was his saving grace since he had moved to where she resided with her family.

The daycare he was on his way to now was the one she and Kanade used for their son and she had recommended it for Shiori. Their boy is the reason why Mizuki knew the daycare since she and Kanade had relied on the center when they got really busy.

Rui, of course, did his own research but ultimately decided to give the daycare a shot. So he came to this city, not only to be closer to Mizuki and her recommendation but also because of the schools he could send Shiori to and the job opportunities he could get from living closer by.

He was still a bit nervous but he didn’t let it show, keeping his hands steady as he held one of Shiori’s. The girl was trying to skip alongside the road as she rambled about an episode of her magical girl anime she watched recently.

Mizuki was walking with them and was engaging as best as she could before Shiori got distracted by the cars passing by.

This caused Mizuki to laugh before looking at Rui “She’s still got her big curiosity, straight from her dad!”. Rui smiled in return “Fufu it’s a good thing and I would say Kana-kun has got the same quality”.

On her hip, despite the boy’s insistence that he could walk on his own, was a little five-year-old boy named Akiyama Kanato. 

Much to Mizuki's joy, he was the spitting image of Kanade, from his white hair to his soft-spoken nature. His hair was styled with his bangs cut above his eyes and let loose just above his shoulders which was usually tied.

The one thing that was undoubtedly from Mizuki was his light pink eyes and the pink eyelash–

–and the adhesion to hot foods he supposes as well. Kanato already had an incident where he tried Kanade’s cup noodles while both his parents were distracted. Mizuki had already cut Kanade’s dependence on cup noodles so now she doesn’t have these rare occurrences at all when Kanato is awake.

Before he knows it they are walking into the daycare and Shiori is holding tighter onto his hand. Mizuki puts Kanato down and he automatically goes to take off his shoes. Shiori looks up at Rui expectantly and he smiles at her “I told you to put on the slip-on shoes, Shio-chan”. She pouts “But I wanted to make a good first impression!”.

As he helps Shiori take off her shoes, he hears a loud and cheerful voice “Ah, Akiyama, welcome back!”. Mizuki replies, “Hey hey Tenma-kun!”.

A daycare worker came out to greet Mizuki and Rui became a bit dumbstruck. He was a man with blonde hair with a peach fade, tied into a low ponytail that hung off his shoulder. His eyes were amber with a bright gleam to them, his smile was beaming and he emitted a friendly aura that he could see was working since Kanato looked at ease.

He even saw a few pins on his aprons; stars and suns. He looked down at Shiori real quick and saw that she too looked interested in him.

Rui nearly lets out a sigh of relief, she doesn’t feel scared.

Mizuki crouches down to her son “Hehe go on Kanato, Mom will pick you up later, k’ay?”. He lets out a small smile before hugging her tightly, arms reaching around her neck “Bye Mama”.

After a few beats, he reluctantly lets go before taking the blonde man’s hand– Tenma, he thinks is his name– and heads to a playroom.

Rui looks on with interest as he watches the two interact, as well as take in his surroundings, and briefly thinks that this is the right place. He doesn’t notice Mizuki standing up until she slaps him on the shoulder to grab his attention “I’m off! Be sure not to stress about leaving Shio-chan here; Tenma-kun and Hinomori-chan are great caretakers”.

She sends him a smile before saying farewell to Shiori and going back to head to her daytime job. He last heard it was going to rake in a bigger paycheck and she was planning to buy Kanade a new version of her keyboard.

Although now with Mizuki gone it seems that the reality that Rui is going to leave her here is sinking in for Shiori, Rui can’t have that. “You’re going to be okay, I know my treasure is going to make friends and have fun” he says smiling at her as they wait for anyone to come back to the front. The worker from before comes back and stares at him for a good few seconds.

Rui grows worried that he may have done something wrong, like forgetting to register his own kid, when he feels his personal space being invaded.

“Ah now that I’ve gotten a better look it really is true, you’re the Kamishiro Rui!” he beams and he is way too close to comfort “I’ve always wanted to meet you, the genius behind numerous shows in person!”.

Tenma keeps talking and suddenly the incident is blaring loudly in the back of his mind.

“Tenma” he cuts him off sternly, so much it shocks Tenma but he quickly regains his composure and focuses his attention on his daughter.

“Ahem, you must be Shiori, welcome! I am here to make sure you have the most fun-filled days! Full of magic and adventure!” Shiori practically has stars in her eyes as he speaks, striking a pose that seems to be in his nature, and yet Rui hesitantly lets go of her hand.

Before his daughter goes into the center he crouches down and places his hands on her shoulders. She’s smiling, she doesn’t look nervous anymore, eyes only holding excitement, “Goodbye Dad!”.

“Goodbye Shio-chan, have a great day okay? If anything happens the center has my number so you can ask them to call me” Rui kisses her forehead before letting her go follow Tenma.

Tenma offers him a wave as he leaves. Rui doesn’t wave back.

He wishes he could stay and observe secretly, but he knows there is no way to do that. Plus he is pretty sure it would not only violate a privacy law, which he would be a hypocrite to break, but he’d also appear incredibly overprotective.

He needs to calm down, he needs to trust Tenma and the rest of the daycare workers, he needs to not assume the worst.

Rui still had to go to work but the whole time he was directing actors and consulting his coworkers Rui couldn’t help but worry the incident would happen again. He was a chronic overthinker at times but his passion helped distract him.

Time passes by quickly and before he knows it he is leaving the building after hearing the alarm he set to pick her up.

On the train to pick up his daughter, it came back to the front of his mind. What if he failed her yet again? Despite being able to move closer to people she considered family, he knew that she missed where they used to live, she missed her old friends even though there were not many.

Shiori didn’t even know the emotion initially, she didn’t understand loneliness and it broke Rui’s heart when he had to console her. This is why he was determined to make sure everything was in order this time, Shiori had settled and he wasn’t going to let anything drop her smile again if he could help it.

He gets off the train with this renewed resolve. 

As he walks down the street he notices white hair in the dark and it can really only be Kanade. Her hair was also really long in length but allegedly was longer when Kanade was in highschool, but that’s beside the point.

He greets her “Good evening Kanade-kun, Kana-kun”. She smiles back “Good evening Rui-kun, how is everything going with Shiori-chan?”.

He feels his smile strain “She’s doing well, I am just wary of the daycare”. Kanade’s eyes widened slightly “Really? Kanato loves it there, did you receive a call during the day?”.

Rui looks at Kanade before telling her some of his worries. When he is done she thinks for a moment “I don’t think you have to worry about the same incident happening again. Tenma-kun is just someone that emits excitement naturally which causes him to be quite… loud. He means no harm and at the end of the day as long as Shiori-chan is happy and safe, isn’t that what matters most?”.

Kanade was a kind and caring person. She was still working on and did not put others before herself, so when she spoke, Rui’s worries seemed less profound. Maybe he judged Tenma too quickly and it was only for one part of their first meeting this morning.

As soon as he thanks her for her kind words he hears Kanato stifle a yawn.

“Well I won’t keep you here longer” he leans down slightly “Good night, Kana-kun, you too Kanade-kun” and to this Kanade helps the boy wave back before the two part ways.

He quickly opens the entrance door, a few minutes before 7. It seems he really is the last one, as evident by only his daughter’s shoes being on the rack, and the sleepy look on Tenma’s face.

At least he wouldn’t have to pay a late fee.

Before Rui can even say a word Tenma is already in front of him, he looks straight into his eyes and Rui can barely think for a moment about how beautiful they are, for some unknown reason, since Tenma bows down in front of him “Kamishiro!”

This startles him even more but he stands his ground “Tenma-kun”.

“Forgive me for my imprudence this morning, I really am just a huge fan of your work! Not that I am using that as an excuse” Tenma starts speaking, still bowing down “My interests, and my admiration for your work, should and will never come before my job. I can assure you, so please do not let my reckless excitement be the reason you feel uncomfortable”.

“You admire my work?” he questions and Tenma nods as he stands up straight “Your directing must be the best I have ever seen! I promise not to talk your ear off but I always wanted to be a star actor and when I get to see your plays in person it is almost like I can understand your vision”.

He sheepishly rubs the back of his neck before fixing his posture “I almost want to jump on stage and deliver your directions myself… but that is not the point. I apologize if I overstepped a boundary this morning and I can guarantee 12,000% that this will not happen again in the future”.

Rui waits a second before responding, taking a moment to study Tenma’s face. He doesn’t see anything malicious, only sincerity. He supposes that he does seem to take his job seriously and he had made the effort to apologize so perhaps he was being too harsh on him.

“I forgive you Tenma-kun,” Rui says, not missing the way Tenma seems to relax at his words, “But I have to make this clear. You won’t tell anyone I take my daughter here. I am putting a lot of trust in this daycare and I really don’t want anyone to leak out information again or harass her”. He doesn’t provide any further context on the previous incident.

“We treat everyone here the same! Both parents and kids! Shiori is safe here, that I can guarantee” he says, reassuring Rui with a slightly more serious tone, before putting his hand out.

Rui reaches out to take it.

They shake hands as Tenma beams a smile, a smile Rui for some reason cannot look away from. Should he comment on it?

It is after he lets go that he notices a kid peeking her head out from the corner, along with teal-haired daycare worker ushering her forward. But it isn’t just any kid.

Shiori comes running at him full speed before he can think about greeting her. She hugs his leg “Dad! Dad!”.

“Fufu hello my little treasure, did you have fun today?” he asks her, looking down to see her excited expression. Her hair was a little messier despite keeping its braid and she had a wide grin on her face.

“I had so much fun! Me and Kanato-chan even got to play together!” she lets go of his leg “Wait, can we stay here? I want to perform with you and Tsukasa-sensei! You can make him shine!”.

Rui tilts his head “Hmmm, what do you mean?”.

“I put on a show for the kids today” Tenma says at the same time as Shiori pouts “You’ll find out if we stay!”. Her cheeks are puffed out and it is clear to Rui that she had made up her mind. It’s a bit surprising to him since his daughter had only known Tenma for a day, she was usually a big judge of character and even struggled with getting like this with the daycare workers from before. It had taken at least a week and even then she preferred the kids more.

So how was he supposed to crush her hope of staying after hours? He knows that such an option isn’t possible but how would he break it to her–

“Shiori I bet your dad is really tired and wants to go home. You have to take care of him and can come back tomorrow all refreshed. Then you can take the world by storm” Tenma starts speaking “You’re a bright girl and I promise tomorrow we can continue where we left off!”.

Shiori remains silent for a moment, contemplating Tenma’s words.

“Okay!” she replies before hugging Tenma’s leg as well. Tenma laughs before asking Rui “She’s a hugger, isn’t she?”. Rui replies “It’s something she is quite fond of doing with people she likes, do you need me to tell her to stop?”.

Tenma only laughs before ruffling the top of his daughter’s hair “No way! Any and all hugs are welcome”.

Rui thinks there and then that maybe first impressions don’t tell you everything about a person’s personality.

-----------------------------------------

A week after the Kamishiros had joined their daycare, Shiori didn’t show up for two days.

This devastated Tsukasa, not only because he had managed to get past the awkward first encounter and actually talk a little about shows with the director, but also because he really liked Shiori and she seemed to be thriving in the daycare environment. 

He got this gut-wrenching feeling that maybe he was the reason Shiori got pulled out, all because he couldn’t contain his racing mind at the fact that he could meet his favorite director the first time they had come here.

Tsukasa needed to get a grip, he needed to learn from his mistakes and accept whatever consequences came with them even if he had apologized.

Kamishiro intrigued him and he had followed him for most of his career. The first time Tsukasa had noticed him he was in college, hearing about how a director was taking the world by storm after being rejected by numerous companies.

Tsukasa had been amazed when he heard an interview later on in the year; Kamishiro wanted to make the audience smile, he wanted to give the world unforgettable experiences. Tsukasa admired that and it reminded him of his dreams.

Dreams that were now out of reach but he holds no restatement, he is happy where he is in life now. Plus he got to perform with a theatre group when he was off the clock even if their performances happened seldomly.

Although he wouldn’t deny he liked the small talk he and the director started to share.

Then on Wednesday Kamishiro had arrived with his daughter wearing a face mask and it suddenly clicked; Shiori must have been sick. The cough he hears confirms it and now that he properly thinks about it a lot of kids had not been coming because of the same reason.

“Hello Tenma-kun” Kamishiro offers him a smile as Shiori goes away to take off her shoes “Shio-chan here has been a bit sick but should be fully better by tomorrow. I checked the daycare rules and she isn’t running a fever anymore so I believe everything should be fine as long as she keeps the face mask on”.

As Tsukasa tries to tell him that he is following the rules correctly he notices Kamishiro leaning closer to him. He has to will himself not to blush right then and there but it was a challenge when Kamishiro was just so naturally handsome.

“KEEP IT TOGETHER TSUKASA! THIS IS NOT THE TIME!” he wasn’t some rabid fan but he knew a reason Kamishiro was popular was his looks. From his striking golden eyes to his shoulder length purple hair he kept loose around his shoulders. It looked fluffy and not combed but no one cared.

“I wish I could keep her home until she is in top shape but I have a meeting today that I can’t push back again” Kamishiro whispers to him “She doesn’t need to know I told you this but Shiori tends to be less energetic when she is like this so could I request you keep a closer eye on her today? She isn’t contagious but it never hurts to be careful”.

Tsukasa nodded before whispering back, presumably so Shiori couldn’t hear them, “You have my word, I have more knowledge dealing with sickly children than you think”.

Kamishiro leans back, returning to his original position when Shiori joins him at his side again “Have a great day my treasure. Remember not to get too touchy with other objects or friends”.

Shiori huffs “Okay… if it makes the mean sickness go away”. Kamishiro pats her head “And make sure you listen to if Tenma-kun says you can’t do something, we don’t want the mean sickness to target anyone else so keep your mask on”.

She nods as she watches her dad say goodbye and leave. She looks expectantly at Tsukasa and he leads her to where everyone else is, Shizuku, his coworker, comes to say hello and to wish her well.

Shiori thanks her, acting uncharacteristically shy but she gets past that quickly.

Tsukasa was in charge of catching her up on the work they teach the kids every day and he noticed that she seemed a bit more gloomy. She completed the little work she had but he noticed a lack of enthusiasm even as he finishes and tells her she can go play or sleep.

Tsukasa knew she wasn’t in top shape but he couldn’t help but worry. He did that with all the kids placed under his care but he had to continue doing his job.

“Tsukasa-kun,” Shizuku comes to him after a while when he is tidying up an area the kids were playing in earlier “I can take over your duties until Shiori gets picked up, I think she needs more attention today”.

This surprises him “Are you sure? Fewer people are working here today”. Shizuku gently pushes him “And there are fewer kids to take care of, Tsukasa-kun I know what I am doing and I am sure Ayaka-chan doesn’t mind either”.

Tsukasa nods in understanding before making his way over to Shiori. She is sitting on a pillow with dozens of crayons, looking hard at work. When Tsukasa sees the picture she is working on he feels his heart break a little.

It’s not a work of art he knows this but she is only a kid. It’s a picture of Kamishiro and her, he sees her plushie poorly drawn on one side and what looks like a chicken on the other. At the top is shakily written hiragana saying thank you.

She can write although Tsukasa isn’t surprised, he knew from a passing comment that Kamishiro had begun teaching her at home things she was interested in. He knew that whenever she showed interest in something her dad went above and beyond to indulge her and make lessons out of it.

Only one kid could go from talking about the made-up adventures she went on with her toys to a specific robotic mechanic.

“Shiori, can I sit next to you?” he asks, crouching down to meet her eye level. Shiori nods and Tsukasa plops down on the pillow next to her. Wordlessly she hands Tsukasa a yellow crayon “Can you draw a sun for me please Tsukasa-sensei?”.

“Of course!” he replies as he does his best to draw one without disrupting Shiori. He doesn’t try to start a conversation after that, waiting for the purple-haired girl to do so herself. She hadn’t been talking as much but he wasn’t sure if it was because she had a sore throat or not.

He can hear the other kids around them, hearing the kids begin playing a role-playing game. He thinks he hears the word ‘inn’ being thrown around. He places his crayon down as he finishes the sun, a smiling face placed in the circle.

“Tsukasa-sensei, are you and my dad friends?” Shiori asks suddenly, which breaks the silence.

Tsukasa doesn’t know if they are friends but he knows that they probably can’t be because of his job, they are parent and coworker. But he doesn’t say what he is thinking “Yes, I am sure we are friends!”.

“Friends look after each other and you are one of the nicest people I know with Shizuku-sensei and my aunts” she states as a matter of factly “So I need you to make a promise; promise me that you will help him and make sure he is not so sad anymore”.

“What makes you think he feels sad?” he asks as she nervously shifts “I was not feeling well and that made him sad because of my mean sickness…”.

She feels guilty, that much is evident from her making Kamishiro a thank you picture and from asking him to look after her dad for her.

“We were supposed to go see Nene-nee but I couldn’t leave my bed. Dad told me I always come first but I felt really bad. Him and Nene-nee are really great friends, they smile so much around each other but we haven’t seen her in a while… and T.V. shows don't count!” she sighs as she continues to color.

“You really love your dad’s smile, huh?” Tsukasa says as he picks up one of the markers. Shiori nods “Of course I do! My dad wants to create shows that make everyone smile”. She then pauses before looking at him properly “But he needs to be able to smile himself before doing other things and I made him sad…”.

“Shiori being sick is never your fault” the girl remains silent as she starts to sniffle a bit.

“I know someone who got sick all the time as a little girl and she felt like she was ruining everything. But she wasn’t at fault at all” Tsukasa says “Kids like you get sick and there is nothing wrong with that, when people who love you take care of you there is nothing wrong with that either”.

He watches her think for a moment “... The little girl, is she better now?”.

Tsukasa thinks fondly of his sister “She’s thriving! She is in a band with all her friends and they even dyed parts of their hair to match each other, something she had wanted to do when she was really sick, they love her for who she is not what she has. And her family loves her too”.

He knows that Shiori’s sickness is no where near what Saki went through but the way she was feeling reminded Tsukasa of who guilty she looked when his family spent birthdays or holiday celebrations in her hospital room instead of at home.

Shiori puts down her final crayon, looking at her completed picture “I am happy for her”. She looks as if she doesn’t know how to continue the conversation.

“Your dad will love you no matter what, even when you’re sick or not at your best” Tsukasa packs away the crayons that had fallen onto the floor as he speaks.

She tilts her head “How do you know?” and he reassures her “Ha ha don’t you see the stars in his eyes when he looks at you? You’re his entire world and a reason he is able to smile. He could never look at you in a bad light!”.

Shiori’s sniffs stop “He only looks bad when I eat vegetables because he hates them”.

“He doesn’t like vegetables?” Tsukasa questions “Any of them?”.

Shiori giggles to herself “Dad says they are the worst thing in the world but he tells me I have to eat them. He’s dumb because they are so good!”.

Tsukasa can’t help but laugh as well “That’s good then, you’ll eat your vegetables to become a big and strong girl!”.

Unbeknownst to both of them Kamishiro was watching from the sidelines, ready to pick his daughter up early to go to lunch with the friend they were supposed to meet up with as a surprise. The actress had come in from Osaka on her off day and was more than happy to spend time with Shiori at their home since a restaurant was too risky.

However, Kamishiro decided not to announce his presence when he walked in on Tsukasa reassuring his daughter, content to just watch how caring Tsukasa was being, how he knew Shiori was smiling from the way her eyes displayed laughter lines.

Saitou, a part-timer and the daycare worker that allowed Kamishiro to come pick up his daughter, doesn’t say anything to disrupt the moment.

(To Rui, it felt special and he had never felt like this with other daycare workers. Was it because his daughter seemed to like him so much or was it because of something else?).

-----------------------------------------

“I am glad Shiori looks happier today” Shizuku says, referring to how two days before she had been sick. Tsukasa can’t help but agree “Mhm! Seeing any of the kids down is unacceptable here”.

Right now the two coworkers were taking a breather while still being able to see the kids at all times. The two had briefly talked when arriving at work, with Tsukasa complementing her newly cut hair going from a long length to a shorter bob, and made eye contact when she saw him waving goodbye to Kamishiro but aside from that they hadn’t been able to catch up for the day.

Naturally, the conversation turns to their jobs.

“All the newer kids feel especially comfortable with you Tsukasa-kun” she says, watching them play. Tsukasa feels a swell of pride rise in his chest “You give me too much credit! You work equally as hard here for the kids and coworkers alike!”.

Shizuku continues “Ara but Tsukasa-kun you’re quick wits and cheerful personality really help the kids feel at ease”. Tsukasa offers her a sheepish smile “Hey hey Shizuku you don’t need to go that far”.

She doesn’t listen “Your patience and your honesty are such strong virtues”. He grumbles in response causing her to smile a bit slyly.

“Fufu you still get so easily flustered, I wonder if anyone else will exploit this~” she teasingly adds and this confirms to him that Shizuku was definitely thinking of someone as she said that. “Just because I am clumsy doesn’t mean I don’t notice when someone takes interest in you” she adds after that.

All his mind thinks of is Kamishiro and if Shizuku was insinuating what he thinks she's insinuating then…

“Tsukasa-kun?” she asks and he admits his defeat. “I think Kamishiro flirted with me once” he finally says.

“Did you like it?” she asks after a beat and now Tsukasa can feel his cheeks gaining color “I don’t think this is an appropriate talk for the workplace!”.

With their conversation coming to a quick halt, the two stand until a kid comes over to ask something.

A girl with short black hair and a dress adorned with balloons is tugging on Shizuku’s apron. She’s also a new addition, coming in two weeks before Shiori did, and her name is Yukina.

“Shizuku-sensei can you pass me Phenny? I finished my lunch, so did Shio-chan and Kana-kun” she asks and Shizuku smiles back “My my you three eat fast, here you go Yukina-chan”.

The black-haired girl smiles as she is given her pink Phenny plush, thanks Shizuku, and walks away.

The teal-haired woman returns her attention back to him but he sighs “ I’ve known his work for years, I can’t help but want to know more about him as a person too”.

“So you like his flirting?” she innocently questions again and he shakes his head “I really don’t think it was flirting…”.

“But he definitely seems interested, maybe it isn’t wrong to wish something could happen?” Shizuku remarks “I have been slightly worried about you recently, it seems you don’t really interact much with others outside of your work and practice groups”.

“I never asked before” Yukina’s gasp brings his focus back to their group, all sitting on one of the mats “Shio-chan! Let’s have them be best friends~”.

Shiori laughs before making her plushie pose “Fufu Sailor Venus will be best friends with anyone, including Phenny!”.

He noticed that Kanato looked sad, missing his purple plush. Neither of them had seen the plushie with him today so they couldn’t help with that. Regardless it seems Shiori has an answer “Kanato-chan! Our plushies are already the bestest of friends, now he’ll have another one!”.

“My plush too can be friends?” Kanato looked at his empty hands “Mom told me that he’ll be clean tomorrow… so can they all play together tomorrow?”.

“Yes tomorrow they’ll play play play all day long ☆ ! Yippee ☆ !” Yukina throws her arms in the air “But for now all three of us will play instead”. He watches as she grabs Shiori’s hand in her left and Kanato’s hand in her right.

“Tsukasa-kun~” he hears Shizuku say, pulling his cheek lightly as if he were in trouble “You’re getting distracted from our conversation, should I text you about it later?”.

Internally Tsukasa screams the loudest yes he can muster.

“Just make sure not to text me so late at night and drag it out this time, especially for something not so big as this” he says out loud, emphasizing the last part, causing her to frown slightly “But you keep replying when I text you so I think you want to talk more”.

He lets out a hearty laugh “I love talking to you but at that time I must insist a star needs his beauty sleep!”.

Their banter gets stopped when Yukina comes over and stares at them. “Is Tsukasa-sensei in trouble?” she asks and Shizuku giggles “He isn’t in a time-out corner so no he isn’t. But he is going to go do his work now”.

“This implication of flirting seems cliche, like something straight out of one of Saki’s mangas…” he thinks to himself as he goes to check on the kids who have been napping for a while.

-----------------------------------------

“I am sorry Tenma-kun” Rui starts off with, pinching the bridge of his nose out of pure frustration.

Rui loves his job and he takes pride in the actors he works with which is why safety is such a high priority for him. Finding out what was happening behind his back explained how the lead actor had gotten to spraining his wrist and ankles.

Thankfully Rui and his directions hadn’t been blamed but he still felt like he should be held responsible just like the actors that messed with the device were being held. It’s like they were acting like children with their petty grudges and now he had to not only reinforce new rules but also fix the mechanics that had broken since he had made them himself.

This only causes more trouble because there is no way he’ll be able to pick up Shiori at 7 and he knows that daycares aren’t supposed to handle kids that late at night. With the way things were going and adding to the train schedule, he knew he could arrive only at 9 at the earliest.

He felt like a terrible dad which is why he was seeing if he could leave her there for longer since he had no one to pick her up for him. Mizuki and her family were out of town visiting her older sister and he didn’t trust anyone else with the safety of his child in their area.

“Kamishiro, you care a lot about the people you work with and I know you also care a lot about Shiori. She’s in great hands, if I do say so myself, and we will be waiting as long as it takes to resolve your issue at work” Tenma reassures him and Rui lets out a sigh of relief “Thank you Tenma-kun. Fufu you’d think people would be less childish with stunts involved”.

“Ha ha I bet I could pull off a stunt from you without endangering anybody” he hears Tenma remark and for a moment he wonders what he would look like on stage. Is Tenma all bark and no bite? Or could his knowledge of shows and acting extend wonderfully on stage? He had briefly heard him mention he did stunt work once upon a time.

“How would you feel about being launched out of a cannon Tenma-kun~” he teases and Tenma immediately declines “I think you should get someone more experienced on stage for that Kamishiro. Anyway, do you have any further inquiries?”.

“...How much is the late fee?” Rui asks and nearly lets the grimace show in his voice once he hears the price “I’ll have it ready with me, apologies once again Tenma-kun”.

Rui recalls the phone call as he hurries his steps down the street, the issue finally being resolved.

He’d make it up to Shiori tomorrow, he knows that she is being taken care of and she is having fun but he never wants her to feel like she isn’t his top priority. Working late shouldn’t make her feel bad, especially since he learned that she feels guilty when she is sick. He never wanted Shiori to doubt herself or her place with him, he knew the feeling well enough from the start of his career and his days throughout junior high plus high school.

Shiori was too good for him, she was the best daughter he could ask for and he’d give her the moon if she asked him.

When he opens the door he half expects her to be waiting at the desk but instead is greeted by Tenma working at the front desk. His hair is loose and it seems that his nails had been painted with a bright blue.

The door opening brings his attention to Rui, getting up to meet the last parent of the night.

“Welcome back Kamishiro! You’re looking as tired as ever” Tenma welcomes him, still loud despite the time. “Good evening Tenma-kun, thanks once again. Shio-chan didn’t give you too much trouble, did she?”.

“Shiori was no trouble at all, although she was asking questions about what was holding you back” Tenma trails off so he replies “Was she asking or do you want to know? I never took you to be the person to act so cunningly to get what he wants”.

Tenma smirks “She actually was so you’ll have to tell her later… but if you want you can tell me. No ulterior motives, I swear on the Tenma name!”. Rui laughs “There is no need to go that far, basically what happened was–”.

Rui wonders why he has no reservations when talking to Tenma, maybe it was because he understood his point of view, maybe it was because he could bounce back ideas. Rui had worked with a lot of people, directors and actors alike, but he felt a special kind of connection with Tenma.

He was understanding, he was someone Rui never wanted to stop talking to as it was evident from their conversations stretching longer at pick-up since he was usually last. He once apologized for taking so long but both Tenma and Shiori told him they were glad he was enjoying himself.

“Ah before I forget,” he says before giving Tenma the yen for the late fee but he frowns at Rui “Is something wrong? I am pretty sure I got the amount correct”.

The blonde shakes his head.

“I might get in trouble for this but I don’t care” Tenma hands him back the money “ You called in advance and really that fee policy was only put in place because of a parent who was abusing the fact we wouldn’t leave a child on their own after hours. She was coming to pick up her daughter at like 10 pm!”.

“I offered to stay with her and nobody else is around right now by my insistence that I could handle it” he continues “So if there is anything needed it will have to go through me first but that’s okay because I already got payment”.

“Did someone else pay you?” Rui questions, not knowing who would do so in this situation.

“Your brilliant daughter did with her wonderful smile! No money could ever rival that” as Tenma says this he is smiling as well, brightly and warmly, “Perhaps it’s because of the environment but she seems to be coming out of her shell even more, you raised her well Kamishiro. One late pickup isn’t going to change that”.

He asks once again “Is it really okay?”

All Tenma does is nod as he poses proudly.

Rui then does something he doesn’t think he’d do with someone he hasn’t known for long, it had been a month but he just didn’t care. Rui hugs Tenma, arms wrapping around his waist and fully expecting the blonde to push back. Instead Tenma wraps his arms around Rui in return.

Maybe Rui was feeling more tired than usual. Maybe Rui found comfort in someone he was getting to know. Maybe Rui didn’t need a reason because Tenma didn’t pull back.

“Thank you” he says.

“I haven’t done much, just what is expected of a star” Tenma says back.

Tenma is warm and comforting. He fully understands why Shiori likes him so much. But he lets go before it gets awkward, he is here for his daughter, not the daycare worker.

“Alrighty then!” Tenma ushers him to take his shoes off “Come with me”. Rui followed him, scared for a second that something had happened to Shiori, but Tenma didn’t sound worried. He saw that his daughter had fallen asleep against a beanbag, holding her plushie.

He goes over to her and strokes her cheek “Shio-chan, I am here”. “Dad…” she blinks away her sleep, slightly dazed, and leans into him. Shiori murmurs a good morning as Rui laughs “You can go back to sleep my treasure, I’ll carry you home”.

Rui feels her shake her head against his arm before she pushes herself to stand up “I have to do something first with Tsukasa-sensei…”. She yawns as she finishes the sentence.

Rui stands up as well “Shio-chan it’s late, you could show me tomorrow or at home”.

“It’s quick!” Shiori in turn pulls a face and suddenly looks a lot more awake. Her hands are on her hips, plush now sitting on the ground, and Rui wants to tell her how cute she looks while trying to show her anger.

Tenma looks at the purple-haired girl “Let's not waste any more time with meaningless arguing. Should we show him Shiori? You’ve been waiting all this time”. Shiori moves away from her dad, not before handing him her plushie friend from the ground, and eagerly stands next to Tenma.

Tenma clears his throat and strikes a pose, hands on his hips “Ahem! Tsukasa, written as ruler of the world! Tenma, written as soaring pegasus! The grandest name, Tenma Tsukasa!”.

He looks expectantly at Shiori and his daughter giggles before mimicking his pose “Yes! Shiori, written as a blessing! Kamishiro, written to show the ancient age of the gods! The bestest name ever, Kamishiro Shiori!”.

“Ah so it really was something quick,” the director thinks “I thought it’d be something like a full-blown show since I saw her drafting something at home the other day ”.

Rui claps his hands “Amazing, both of you, but Shio-chan, ‘bestest’ isn’t grammatically correct”.

“I know” she beams as Tenma laughs “Well even if it isn’t ‘correct,’ I still think you have the bestest name”.

She laughs “Thank you Tsukasa-sensei! That’s why you're the bestest magical boy ever”. She then turns to Rui “See Dad? Tsukasa-sensei gave me a magical girl opening for battle!”. Shiori does a twirl before excitedly jumping to Tenma.

Tenma says “While your introduction is fit for being a magical girl, mine is meant to be the introduction of a world future star!”. Shiori pouts “You can be a magical world future star!”.

Rui simply stood there, fondly watching his daughter and Tenma act so happy together, a warm smile on his face.

“Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if I asked him out on a date,” he thinks before he mentally slaps himself, not that the two in front of them would ever know. Why was he thinking of such a thing, did he like Tenma like that?

“Shio-chan,” he starts, causing his daughter to stop jumping, “Please go put on your shoes”. She nods before waving goodbye to Tenma, running off to the shoe rack at the front as the two adults trail behind her.

He then looks at Tenma “I’d appreciate it if you'd tell me if you’d like the money for the late fee any time in the future. I know you said you didn’t need it but I want to give it to you because you make my daughter so happy and then in turn makes me smile”.

Tenma lights up “Thank you for your kind words Kamishiro! I’ll keep it in mind but I highly doubt I’d ever ask for it. Unless those above me disagree”.

“And for the record, I also adore your smile, especially when we talk about shows” the blonde adds on, albeit a bit bashfully.

“I like talking about shows with you too” and that's the last thing Rui says before Shiori joins him at his side “Let’s go home then Shio-chan. Goodbye Tenma-kun”.

“Goodbye Kamishiro, but please call me Tsukasa!” he smiles as he waves and Rui can’t help but wave back “Alright then Tsukasa-kun, feel free to call me Rui”.

Why did he agree to call each other by their first names?

As he turns around to open the door for his daughter, he swears he sees a blush adorned on Tsukasa’s cheeks “Good night Rui!”.

Walking back home lets Rui dwell on his emotions while he holds onto Shiori’s hand, his daughter swinging their arms to her own beat. It’s only at the crossroads that Rui realizes how his thoughts about Tsukasa were increasing and how he didn’t know what to make of it.

Rui really doesn’t know what to do, Tsukasa is even letting him call him by his first name. Mizuki wasn’t even calling him Tsukasa despite knowing him for longer. And Rui returned the sentient to the blonde, now he can’t wrap his head around it.

Does this mean Tsukasa is showing interest? Does Rui want him to show him interest?

Shiori looks at Rui cheekily as they wait for the light to change “Dad like likes Tsukasa-sensei fufu~”.

Rui sighs in defeat, maybe his daughter is right but he can’t think about what that would imply now. It probably was nothing and just a simple attraction based on appearance.

Notes:

Adoptive dad Rui^^^ Shiori came back, if you read one of my other fics I know she was made for a ruikasa au variation but in my eyes no matter the au Rui’s daughter (and Tsukasa’s) will always be Shiori^^

This is an au so things aren’t meant to be taken too seriously, I did try to research as much as I could so it would be accurate enough. But I do know I suck at writing developing relationships, how does one engage in conversation I don't understand at all.

Small ramble: If you didn’t know I chose the name for Shiori as 祉栞 as it has meanings for “blessing” and “bookmark”, for Rui his daughter is his blessing 100%. Much like choosing the name for Shiori, for Kanato I went with the kanji 奏和 as it has meanings of “play music” and “harmony” which I thought fit his parents. And for Yukina as 倖夏 since it means happiness. Guess whose kid she is, she is adopted.

I like names that can mean things, unlike my own which has some ‘edgy’ meaning and has a different spelling, so many misspellings^

Chapter 2: it's shaky at best

If someone had told Rui when he was in high school that he’d be lying on the floor, contemplating his feelings for another person, while waiting for his daughter to finish her preparations to show him a work-in-progress performance; he would have told you that such a lie wasn’t funny.

The giggles he heard around him and the pit-pattering of socks on the floor of his apartment proved to him that his future was happening, a future that initially seemed out of reach.

His apartment was messy, he had to admit, but it was a combination of his and his daughter’s personalities. From the balloons lingering on the ceiling to the furniture that didn’t quite go together to the drawings and show notes scattered on their table.

They had a carpet too, a fluffy one bought due to Shiori’s insistence. One that she would fall asleep to have a nap or roll around in for the sake of it. Rui didn’t discourage it even if he didn’t know why she did it.

And since he had said so in the first place there were now also the unwanted thoughts of a certain daycare worker, one with a princely aura that emitted a natural kindness. He couldn't groan into the floor because he was lying on his back.

Rui was screwed.

He eventually feels tiny hands begin poking his sides “Dad, Dad!”. Rui takes a breath before making himself sit up, pushing his glasses back up from sliding down his nose “Yes Shio-chan? Are you ready?”.

She frowns “I need help, it doesn’t look right”.

A drawing was next to her folded knees and she had various items around her. He notices the few platypus plushies around her too. He forgot how many she had but wasn’t the one who bought them and one of them looked a bit too new.

The majority were gifts he got from his parents and friends when he first brought Shiori home, saying they were baby gifts for his daughter. Nene had told him it’d be dumb to get a stuffed bear for her when he was the father.

The one Nene gave had a purple ribbon around its neck, Shiori’s chosen favorite.

Trying to look closer he figures out she must want to do a show with these platypuses and wants to make a scene in their habitat.

She brings the drawing and puts it in his lap “I want to make their home but I can’t imagine it with all my ‘props’”. Rui laughs at her pouting face “Do you need my help, Shio-chan?”.

She scrambles to her feet and brings over a blue blanket and a few blue fabrics she had found around the house “Can you make the river? This is where the fight will happen”.

“Fight?” he questions and she nods “Yeah but then they’ll make up to fight the enemy with their magical power– HEY! No spoilers!”.

The little shove on his side doesn’t even move him but he laughs at her anyway “Dad focus!”.

Rui gives a non-serious apology and studies her drawing again. When he looks up he sees his daughter standing over her first attempt. He watches her stick her tongue out in concentration, thumbs in front of her face like a camera as she chooses the best area to start placing various things surrounding the river.

Rui adored moments like these, just him and Shiori.

“Would she need anyone else with her? Someone else to depend on like me?” the thought catches him off guard. He actually feels his cheeks grow hot when he thinks about a particular someone.

Gosh, he hadn’t even gotten the courage to actually ask Tsukasa on a date yet here he was imagining things. Although he knew more than anyone that he needed to think about Shiori if he was planning to date anyone.

“What do you think of your 'Tsukasa-sensei'?” he asks as he uses the blue fabric Shiori had found to make the river she wanted.

“He’s amazing,” she says without an ounce of hesitation “You think so too, right?”.

“I do” Rui is glad Shiori never asks him to elaborate further on his seemingly random questions.

“Sometimes,” Shiori starts, “I tell Tsukasa-sensei about your shows that you tell me about. So you have someone to talk to about it when you take me home”.

“I can talk to you about it” he refutes “And I can talk to other directors I work with, you know this”.

Shiori doesn’t reply right away, instead picking up one of the platypus plush and holding it in the air. She stares at its beady eyes for a moment before placing it back down.

“Tsukasa-sensei’s eyes have sparkles, your eyes have sparkles. You both have sparkles when you guys talk about your work” she smiles as she fidgets with plush’s webbed feet “So I go to Tsukasa-sensei and say “Do you want to hear about Dad’s work?” and he gets happy”.

Suddenly it makes sense why Tsukasa seems to always know about what he was working on, a bit more than he lets on. He didn’t find it creepy since he was happy to talk about the more technical aspects with someone who actually gets it, someone he didn’t work with, but at least he now knew how.

He brings her in for a hug, much to her delight, “Shio-chan, you don’t need to worry about me”. Shiori brings her dad in closer “Okay… now say thank you”.

Rui huffs out a laugh “Fufu thank you”.

When she backs out of the hug and gets back to her ‘work’ he does so as well. This wasn’t anything fancy but Rui was never going to stop her from letting her creativity shine.

If Rui had to guess, she had the potential to be a scriptwriter or storyteller. Her name certainly suggested it but this was just mere speculation, he’d support her no matter the career she decides on later in life.

For now he was just going to enjoy spending time with her, not worrying about anything that wasn’t happening in their apartment.

But at least he knew Shiori’s opinion on Tsukasa more solidly now.

After a few more minutes, she finally deems the stage set perfect, but she says that he needs to help her move her actors around. Rui agrees as she tells him her ‘cues’, even if Shiori will just be whispering loudly at him.

“Are you ready?” Rui asks again and Shiori nods.

“Then Shio-chan,” he spreads his arms out “It’s showtime!”. His daughter beams with joy “SHOWTIME!!!”.

In Rui’s humble opinion, the peak of her performance was when Shiori gave the lead plush a wand and a crown. The crown kept on falling off, and Shiori put on voices for each character that really didn’t sound any different, but to Rui, it was a perfect show.

-----------------------------------------

One may think that because Shizuku and Tsukasa see each other nearly every day they wouldn’t try to see each other off the clock. Those people are wrong, it was hard to get rid of a bond between childhood friends turned coworkers.

“It’s nice to just walk around after eating stall food” Tsukasa says to engage in conversation, finally getting over the content feeling of being full. They had grabbed dinner not too long ago for what he deemed a fair price, still having yen left over.

Shizuku hums, remembering the way the meat from the food she had bought melted on her tongue. “And with you, this way I don’t get hit on either, but spending time together is more important” she quips.

Tsukasa nods, he doesn’t understand the full extent of it since he had never been a teen idol like she had but he didn’t need to. Shizuku was more than just the ex-star of Cheerful*Days, she was just a woman trying to enjoy her life.

Plus he won’t deny that Shizuku was beautiful, especially in the lights the city offered. It is a reason he suggested they explore here and away from the busier districts, the showcase they put on every week was always pretty, the fee was worth it.

The neon lights illuminated both the streets and the faces of those who came to see it with family and friends.

“I’ll have to ask you to send me this location Tsukasa-kun, I think once her schedule frees up I’ll take Shii-chan and my parents here as a trip” Shizuku says thoughtfully and Tsukasa lights up at her plan “I might do the same, I am sure my father and Saki would love to see the illumination events again”.

“I am sure our mothers are still in touch thanks to our sisters, perhaps the Tenmas and Hinomoris could get together sometime in the future!” he adds on and Shizuku replies “Yes yes, their bond is almost as strong as Saki-chan and Shii-chan’s”.

After walking for a while the two see a small stage set up, really no bigger than 3 spaces, and on top a man shouting at the top of his lungs to accept his challenge. Of course, most people were ignoring him, not even sure what the purpose of what he was doing, which only left Tsukasa intrigued about what was happening the closer they got to walking past.

“Fufu he may be yelling but he isn’t yelling half as loud as you could Tsukasa-kun!” Shizuku says almost teasingly, causing Tsukasa to snap his face toward her “Shizuku…”.

The man onstage points to him “You sir! Will you dare take up this acting challenge?”. He sees the desperation in his voice, probably from the lack of participants, and who was Tsukasa to deny a challenge “Bring it on!”.

Shizuku watches as he confidently gets on the stage, confused momentarily about what is happening, but he doesn’t have time to explain what was happening “Hit this star with your best shot!”.

The rules were simple: pick three prompts, derive a monologue from the ideas, and perform on the stage. If he gets a round of applause he wins but he doesn’t win any prize. The lack of prize is probably why people were reluctant to potentially embarrass themselves for no gain.

People started stopping since he had accepted, perhaps wanting entertainment in any form, and Tsukasa graciously picked up three pieces of paper.

Astronaut, Soba, Space Gun.

Not the worst prompts he could have received since two of them fit together.

Tsukasa first figures out the who, what, and where, he’d become a madman full of wacky ramblings. A comedic monologue wasn’t meant to make a continuous stream of big laughs but instead create an impact.

The adults look skeptical when he starts monologuing but the few kids present with their parents eat it up. He supposes his screams and cartoonish sound effects he expresses is what is drawing them in.

He only flatters for one moment throughout the performance, a moment that was practically unnoticeable to the audience that had gathered. Within the crowd he notices a shades of purple he was all too familiar with.

A lighter shade of purple for Shiori, a darker shade of purple for Rui even if his hair is mostly hidden.

His mind screams “Watch me!” and even he is fully unaware as to why when he sees Rui staring at him.

When he finishes with a bow, he sees Shizuku standing next to Rui, clapping along with the two Kamishiros. 

Tsukasa thanks everyone who clapped for him and he barely registers the man announcing he had won since he had begun inviting more eager participants on stage.

As he got off the stage he was greeted by an excited Shiori running up to him “Tsukasa-sensei you’re amazing! The best! Even if you lost your space weapon in your soba from Mars!”. He laughs wholeheartedly “I am honored you got to see a star on stage!”.

For a moment Tsukasa sees a shine in her eyes that reminded him of when he was younger, when he saw his favorite showman on stage. He knows he is nowhere on the same level but he hasn’t seen such an innocent expression of joy toward his acting for a long time.

Tsukasa watches her look around before he asks her “What are you and your dad doing here, Shiori?”. “Dad said Mizu-chan suggested we come here, I didn’t hear the whole conversation” she hums “I don’t care about that, I get to spend time walking with Dad!”.

“So that’s why Rui was wearing a light disguise,” he thought “He wants their time to not get interrupted, but at the same time, this area doesn’t get too busy. Akiyama’s suggestion was perfect for a night like this.”

“Tsukasa-sensei, do you know what Shizuku-sensei is talking about with Dad? I didn’t do anything wrong, I swear, I was not the one who ate all the pink pencils!” Shiori brings Tsukasa out of his thoughts, causing him to see how Shizuku was leaning a bit close to Rui. The two were standing away from other people, he thinks she is whispering something in his ear but she pulls away by the time Tsukasa starts walking toward them.

“Hello Tsukasa-kun” Rui greets him as he and Shiori come up to the other two. Now that he was closer he could see that it definitely is Rui, his hair was tied up and his teal strands were hidden by the cap. He also could see Rui was wearing glasses and it fit him really well. He didn’t even know Rui wore contacts in the first place, not that it was entirely relevant in this situation to question such a thing.

“What were you two whispering about?” Tsukasa asks as the purple-haired girl returns to her father’s side, naturally grabbing his father’s hand and quickly saying “You look really pretty today Shizuku-sensei!”.

“Me and Kamishiro-san were just talking about something small, nothing to worry about,” Shizuku says, waving her hand dismissively before looking at the little girl “And thank you Shiori! You’re dressed lovely as well”

Under his questioning gaze Rui says “Mhm, it was just about your performance. I dare say that monologue was filled with the correct emotions to showcase the comedy of the situation. And on such short notice is impressive”.

He has no idea what Shizuku said but he notices that Rui’s face looks a little red now. It was probably just sunburn he hadn’t noticed or something.

Rui offers him a sincere smile “It was lovely Tsukasa-kun, your acting is reminiscent of a star, just like you claim”. 

Tsukasa has to still his beating heart “Really…?”. Rui’s still smiling “I have no reason to lie and I would love to see you perform again. Perhaps as a lead role in a longer performance”.

His heart is sent into overdrive. Rui’s smile, the way his red eyeliner brought out his eyes, literally everything–

He then realizes his mouth is gaping so he immediately shuts it and poses instead. Shizuku hides a laugh.

His saving grace is Shiori who suddenly begins to yank her Dad’s hand “DAD! DAD! LOOK AT THE SCREEN!”. Rui turns over and seems to understand she wants to see what is previewing on the screen in the distance.

He turns to the two friends “It was lovely seeing you Tsukasa-kun, Hinomori-kun, but I am afraid we have to go now otherwise later somebody will never want to go to bed. Enjoy the rest of your evening”. Shiori smiles widely as she says goodbye to both of them before continuing trying to drag her dad away.

The two wish him a good evening as well and then they are off, Tsukasa keeping an eye on the father-daughter duo as they disappear into the crowd.

-----------------------------------------

Rui and Shiori visit the Akiyama apartment on a day all three adults are more or less free, the exception being Mizuki who was finishing up with a client and would join the two as soon as she could.

No one minds because this visit allows Kanato and Shiori to play together, the two kids surely creating either a song or a performance of some kind in the young boy’s room that they’ll want to show their parents later.

When Rui tells Shiori they are going to someone else’s home she makes Rui do her hair in different styles. Today he braids part of it and lets the rest flow freely. 

The few notes that slip into the living room are enough proof. Their children were both creative, something Rui knew both women took pride in like he did.

At the table sits Rui and Kanade, taking a brief break from light conversation as Kanade handed him a cup of coffee and placed a tray on the table, after moving aside a stack of papers holding thousands of musical notes.

The apartment wasn’t sparkling clean nor was it messy, but it held a homey charm that he knew both of them wanted to have. Mizuki wanted to recreate what she experienced at home when her sister was around and Kanade wanted to recreate the atmosphere of when her mother was alive.

The white-haired woman hums a tune to fill the quiet room.

Rui tended to only put a little sugar in his since he relied on the caffeine to keep him up on projects, that preference leaking into when he just drank it for no reason.

Kanade is drinking a mocha, courtesy of one of those tablets. Before, her choice would have been plain coffee mixed with an energy drink she liked. Rui recalled it to be under the name Super Monster, but Mizuki would catch her many times, claiming she couldn’t resort to how she was back in high school.

Plus, it's easy to catch her. She dislikes the carbonation, so the wait time was Kanade’s downfall.

As he stirred the spoon in his own cup, Kanade spoke “Rui-kun, is something wrong? I may not be Mizuki, but I can listen to your worries”.

Rui thinks for a second “I don’t want to make this visit all about me. I am fine Kanade-kun”.

Truth be told he wasn’t fine but it wasn’t over something life-threatening. He also can’t get the brief talk he had with Hinomori when he met her and Tsukasa in town. He had no dating experience, he supposes social exclusion makes that reality possible for people like him.

He found it funny, no romance in his life yet he still wanted a kid. He got what he wanted yet now he wanted more.

Kanade frowns at his insistence “Rui-kun…”. Rui jolts in his seat at the tone of a disappointed mother and looks away from her concerned eyes “It’s childish Kanade-kun, I fear even if I tell you nothing will come out of it”.

The silence is to be expected as Kanade sticks with her decision to wait and this time Rui can’t think of a topic to sway her away from this conversation.

“I want to pursue Tsukasa-kun… romantically, but I am scared to,” he says without looking at her “It’s like a show idea I haven’t pitched that introduces something new, something that the cast members may not be too open to. There is trust, and I am sometimes afraid to accidentally breach a boundary. It may be fantastical to me, but I could hurt others around me”.

Kanade tilts her head in confusion as if silently asking him why he is scared. He answers, “Shiori is why. It's not that she is stopping me from dating, but I just—she’s always going to be my number one priority. How do you explain that to a boyfriend who’ll likely want to be number one instead? What if it takes a long time to get to that point?”.

He hears himself rambling even more, throwing out more rhetorical questions, before stopping to take a sip of his coffee “I’ve been told I am undesirable and it’s true. I have no idea what I am doing. Don’t they say not to go after single parents in the first place? That the single parent will make their parent co-parent one date in? Not that I’d ever force any role or perspective on Tsukasa-kun, I am not expecting him to do that”.

He thinks of his daughter “What if she doesn’t want to get closer to someone else like that, someone I may one day love romantically? She’s young and impressionable and I don’t want to risk her feeling like she has to sacrifice her happiness because I want to go out with Tsukasa-kun. She already likes him but…”.

Taking something she knew and suddenly changing it seemed all too familiar to him. Friends that came and went in a month, the social exclusion that would follow if he voiced out an opinion that wasn’t what the majority wanted.

Rui wasn’t afraid to acknowledge his school life, but he lived with the fear that Shiori would one day live through what he had experienced.

“I am not good with these thoughts fufu but I can’t get them out of my head” Rui finally looks her in the eyes and doesn’t see any judgment.

Kanade simply asks “Do you like him, Rui-kun? Would you want to go on a date with him?”.

“Yes” is all he says, clearly indicating that the answer was the same for both questions.

She smiles before saying, “Then from my experience… I would say go for it since nothing is holding you back. If Tenma-kun makes you feel warm, why deprive yourself of that? I know how much effort you have to put in to chase that feeling, to refuse to let it go, but doesn’t the end result make it all worth it?”.

It’s clear to him that Kanade is reminiscing on a song she had made for Asahina, but he doesn’t know all the details. It wasn’t his place to pry.

Kanade continues “You didn’t rush headfirst into this situation once you realized you wanted something like that and you clearly have thought about Shiori’s feelings, not disregarding her potential perspective. You told me you first weren’t sure about Tenma-kun yet you didn’t stubbornly stick to your first impression of him. I know how dangerous that can be firsthand”.

She offers him a smile “You shouldn’t doubt yourself, Rui-kun”.

Rui pauses, unsure what to say but thankfully he doesn’t need to when a pink-haired woman makes her appearance. “Heyo, sorry I am late! A client was being too picky about his already tacky outfit, not that I’d say it to his face” Mizuki announces her presence before leaning in to kiss Kanade on the cheek and sitting down next to her “What are you guys talking about?”.

Kanade answers bluntly, “Rui-kun’s love life”. Mizuki instantly perks up, eyes holding a cat-like gleam to them “Oh, it’s Tenma-kun, right? So, were you discussing how you stay a little longer each morning and night to chat with him? How you look so happy to talk about your projects, past or present, with someone who gets it?”.

“Hmm, I didn’t know about that,” Kanade hummed as she poured herself another cup “But if you’d like, we can talk about that”.

Rui stutters “I didn’t know this was a team effort to embarrass me”.

Mizuki’s smirk stays ever so present “We are in this fo’ life Rui!”.

Eventually, their conversation is interrupted by familiar giggling Rui adores “Shio-chan, you can come out”. Shiori peeked her head out from the corner and moved to where he sat at the table, Kanato following with his purple-furred plushie in his hands.

He smiles at his kid “What do you find so funny, my treasure?”. She’s still giggling “I told you! You like like Tsukasa-sensei~”. 

She points at him “He finds you handsome, I know I asked him”. Rui has to resist letting his jaw drop to the floor “You asked him? Shiori you can’t do that”. She grins “Tsukasa-sensei said the same thing” and he groans.

Kanato stares blankly at Rui before looking at Shiori “You and Tsukasa-sensei…kiss?”. Shiori claps her hands excitedly “Yes Kanato-chan, yes!”.

Three voices speak at the same time: “Kanatooooo–”, “Ah Kanato you can’t say that!” and “Shiori! Don’t encourage him”.

Shiori pouts at her father “You know what he said is true, you wanna kiss Tsukasa-sensei!”. Rui groans “Shio-chan, my treasure, you’ll understand when you’re older that you cannot say things like that”.

The purple-haired girl tilts her head “But why? Is it like a secret?”. Rui perks up at this and goes to take her hand “Yes a secret, Shio-chan you have to promise me you’ll keep it, the same goes for you Kana-kun”

“I get to keep it too?” the white haired boy smiled at the prospect of being included and Rui can’t help but ruffle his hair “Yes now, if I hear that either of you told the secret to anyone outside this room, including your Tsukasa-sensei, there will be punishment fufu”.

Shiori shrieks and lets go of Rui’s hand “Oh no Kanato-chan, the mad doctor is here!”. She reaches over to shield her friend.

Rui points to Shiori and says, “No Sailor Moon or experiments for a week,” and then to Kanato, “And no french fries for a week for you. I’ll make sure both your moms know that.” The two kids gasp dramatically at the sight of Rui’s ‘mad doctor’ look—or so Shiori claims—before promising to keep it a secret.

The two run off back to Kanato’s room, Shiori yelling that she’ll never take the mad doctor’s punishment.

“Mad doctor?” Kanade questions and Rui shrugs it off “I wouldn’t worry about it, she claims I look like one when we do our experiments together”. Kanade doesn’t quite follow but nods nonetheless “Like how mad Ena gets when Mizuki misses a deadline she didn’t tell any of us about”.

Mizuki smirks, ignoring her wife’s comment to focus on Rui, “You didn’t make me promise to keep it a secret; what’s stopping me from telling Tenma-kun?”. Rui thinks for a moment before the white-haired woman answers for him “No french fries or kisses for a month”.

This gets Mizuki to keep her mouth shut and proceed to steal Kanade’s cup. She takes a sip before pulling back “Bweh still so hot~”.

Kanade sends her a knowing look as Mizuki defends herself “I can’t help it! I am still a helpless kitty cat~”.

Kanade shakes her head before looking at Rui “Regardless, Rui-kun, I believe you have nothing to worry about. No matter what you always put Shiori-chan first and it is… hard to imagine that you’d ever think otherwise. And you’ve already assessed the situation. Shiori-chan seems happy with Tenma-kun and you also seem happy with Tenma-kun”.

“You’re an amazing father who loves your family, so please don’t worry” she smiles at him softly as Mizuki’s gaze grows fond at her wife.

Rui looks at the two and then at his mug of coffee “Then I’ll see where it goes”. The mug still feels warm in his hands, much like Tsukasa’s smile made him feel.

“Although Rui, my good friend, I have one piece of advice for you when you finally ask him out and go on a date,” Mizuki pauses dramatically “Shave your beard, it's thin and it’s coming back already. What guy wants a kiss from someone with a stubby face?”.

Rui stares at her, a bit flabbergasted, while Kanade laughs and takes Mizuki’s hand in hers “Mizuki… no wonder Kanato is becoming like that, he picks it up from you”.

Rui wipes the look off his face and replaces it with a smile “I agree with you Kanade-kun; Mizuki is still as mischievous as ever”.

Kanade replies, her voice laced with a teasing tone, "But that's what makes her charming… I suppose”.

“You suppose? Oh my oh my… K I am heartbroken,” Mizuki giggles as Kanade looks at her fondly and Rui can’t help but think about how they’ve rubbed off on each other.

-----------------------------------------

Rui shaves his face the day he plans on asking Tsukasa out, something that Mizuki would have definitely noticed and promptly made fun of, just so he can at least look a little more presentable. He ties the back of his hair and frowns at the fact he can do nothing about his eyebags.

When he looks in the mirror he thinks “Surely this is a nice face to see when said person is asking you out, right?”. Rui could only reference what he has directed and he knows that asking someone out in real life isn't equivalent to a fantasy setting or a crappy rom-com.

As he makes his way to the daycare he wonders how he could word it.

Should he be forward and get straight to the point? Or is that approach unimpressive for someone like Tsukasa? Would Tsukasa want him to fight a bunch of other Ruis and win his heart that way because Rui could totally do that and he had heard about a performance like that with a bunch of Romeos fighting for Juliet…

At this point he should have asked people he knew how they got together, he had a feeling if he asked Shiori she would make him watch a wedding episode again of any TV show she watched.

It’s not the same but she looks so happy at the concept of love.

Seeing the center come up he feels something similar to the jitters before the curtain rises. It was nothing coming from nervousness, at least not fully, but at the prospect of something wondrous happening.

Presenting a path to a kind of ending he’d want.

Then Rui stops walking.

Through the glass he sees a woman with pink hair reaching past her shoulders standing awfully close to Tsukasa. Only when he notices the Phenny bag on her hip and the peep in her movements does he realize that this is Ootori Emu, one of the main people who runs Phoenix Wonderland.

He didn’t know her too well but he had met and worked with her during a job at the Phoenix Stage a while ago.

She is an amazing woman with a sharp business sense and a childlike wonder. It's why they were able to get along so well even though they hadn’t met much outside of one drink.

A loud, drunk Ootori yelling “Wonderhoy ☆ !” at the top of her lungs was certainly an experience.

He knew she also had an adopted daughter like him, their daughters had even met at one of the showings of the play, he just didn’t know she took her to the same daycare Shiori went too.

But his relationship with her wasn’t relevant right now because right now he is frozen to the spot.

They are standing next to each other, chattering about who knows what, their sides bumping against each other. Rui swears he can see a light gleaming in those amber eyes of his.

Was it his imagination or did these two seem to be in sync with each other? He silently questions how long they have known each other. He was a director, he knew that body language could communicate more than words could.

Tsukasa says something that causes Ootori to laugh and hug her sides as her shoulders shake.

“...” he wonders how many kids are left since Tsukasa isn’t actively looking for parents, he wonders if the talks they have when he picks up Shiori don’t mean anything to him like they mean to Rui.

He wonders if he is the only one who wants to get to know the other more, to get to talk to him longer.

Ootori can talk about shows with Tsukasa like he could, Ootori is more social than him and probably more charming, Ootori has the energy to match Tsukasa’s. It seems that they were showing interest in each other.

Were these two interested in each other or was Rui jumping to conclusions?

“I didn’t even show up with anything and assumed everything would go my way” it feels wrong to just look but Rui was half expecting something like this to happen. He never thought he’d ever have a romantic partner or, in this case, ask anyone out.

“I guess everyone was wrong, huh” he thinks, remembering Hinomori’s nudge and the encouragement from both Mizuki and Kanade. But he maybe should have realized that getting his hopes up was wrong.

How foolish he was but maybe he should have seen it coming.

Tsukasa was a star, who was Rui to try and come closer to him? He knew many people adored Tsukasa, who wouldn’t? Tsukasa was the epitome of vitality.

Additionally the lingering worry that Tsukasa may only say yes due to pressure. He was a parent to a kid that went to the place he worked, what if he was afraid of what Rui could say if he said no?

Not that Rui would ever try to pull anything if Tsukasa rejected him, he was not that type of person.

Maybe the doubts he was having now was a wake up call but he knows that if he was not feeling fully confident on a decision that will impact his life then he shouldn’t follow through with it.

Mizuki was going to call him a coward but he has made up his mind. Asking Tsukasa on a date must have just been an impulsive thought that he decided to think about.

Nothing more, nothing less. He could come back and ask Tsukasa when he was alone but that idea seemed out of reach.

He takes a deep breath before straightening his coat. He thinks it's okay to be a bit disappointed, perhaps a bit upset, but he had no right to let it show. A smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes appeared on his face but it was barely noticeable, he did know how to act even if he was rarely the one on stage.

His life was already so wonderful, why would he need anything more? Why should he be selfish?

Rui opens the door, the sound alerting both Ootori and Tsukasa. Tsukasa's face lights up when he sees him “Good evening Rui! I didn’t see you this morning but I am glad you’re here now, I was wondering why Akiyama didn’t pick up Shiori”.

Ootori smiles at him as well “Ah Kamishiro-kun ☆ ! I didn’t know you came here too, it makes sense why the Shiori Yuki-chan talked about seemed so familiar”.

His heart selfishly lets a crack appear, unbeknownst to anyone but him “Fufu hello Tsukasa-kun, Ootori-kun”.

He could deal with this on his own, just like he normally did. He had to accept that even in this life Tsukasa wouldn't be his lead actor.

Notes:

Rui: *doubting jumpscare*
Shiori: what if I give a platypus a magical wand

I am so happy people are giving love to Shiori, she did get it before and now she has more! It’s one reason I was so eager to update in less than a week^^ the other reason was because I wanted to write the Kanade and Rui scene.

Also, this isn’t related to the fic but I wanted to say thank you to all the friend requests I got during the worldlink even if I can’t accept all of them/forget to. Seeing people send that they like my fics or know one of the horror games on my profile really makes my day^ I even got one about Shiori!

Now little notes about the fic:
- Mizuki and Shizuku are in cahoots with each other.
- The platypus plushie Nene gave is the one seen in Rui's 2023 birthday card.
- I think it was obvious Yukina is Emu’s kid ദ്ദി •⩊• ), the balloon patterned dress was a reference to the smile of a dreamer’s outfits.
- The Kamishiros are definitely neurodivergent. Is this necessarily needed to know for the fic? No, but I give little implications here and I am neurodivergent so I can say so.
- Since I struggle to write it I imagine Rui with his bloomfes hair, Tsukasa with his lily hair, Emu with her WD hair, Shizuku with her pandemonium hair, Mizuki with her that flower once more hair (Ena5), and Kanade with her 3rd anni hair^^

Chapter 3: moving to the promise of something more

Summary:

This might be a bit more fillery. I like the mizukana few moments here.

Mizuki is actually awake just before 8 am on a day she doesn’t have to wake up early, which is a feat in itself. She doesn’t have to worry about Kanato since he sleeps like a rock until someone wakes him up and she can let Kanade sleep till 8-ish because she only has to be out closer to 8:45 am.

She only blinks the sleep away at the sound of her phone pinging, scrambling to grab it and turn it on silent mode, lest she wakes up her family with the noise. She has to rub her eyes and push her messy bed hair back further with her headband in order to read the messages, catching the message ID as the name she saved for Rui.

He’s asking her if she can take Shiori for the day since something came up, a pushed forward deadline, and how he’d promise to make it up to her, saying something that she thinks is also talking about a visitor. She isn’t too concerned about that part and would love it if Shiori came over, she’s great with Kanato and that allows him to be himself around more people that weren’t his parents,

That will always be important to Mizuki.

⤷ Mizuki: I want the fancy french fries, like poutine or whatever else I can get my hands on. And you’ll be paying of course~

⤷ Rui: Name a time and place, your wish is my command /ᐠ - ˕ -マ Ⳋ

She makes a mental note that Rui is dropping her off at around 9 am.

She sets her phone down, takes off her headband and hair rollers, stretches similarly to a cat, then leans over to face her sleeping partner.

“K~” she whispers “Time to wake up!”. Kanade groans and sleepily mumbles “You all tell me to sleep more…”. Mizuki laughs “Yep! Yet you listen at the wrong times. C’mon up! Or you’ll be late to meet Ena today”.

She opens her eyes to reveal their striking blue hue, Mizuki could get lost in them, “I am… up”. With that the pink-haired woman springs into action. She helps in this area more because Mizuki is only slightly better in the mornings than Kanade and that little detail makes a difference.

In no time she’s finished helping Kanato wake up and get ready for the day, concluding by kissing Kanade on her cheek as she leaves their apartment in an outfit she picked out for her.

She packs the dishes as she waits for the clock to hit 9 and she idly thinks to herself about what she can do today to entertain the kids. She wanted it to be something entertaining and preferably not too draining for Kanato but then again it might be better to leave them to their own devices and see what they can come up with.

Since her older sister Yuuki didn’t have any kids nor did Kanade have any siblings, she was going to be the best aunt to her dear friend’s daughter. Yuuki got to spoil her nephew so why couldn’t Mizuki do the same?

The buzzer rings before she can think any further, was it really time already? She better think of a lunch idea fast.

She goes to buzz up the purple haired duo and waits for the doorbell to ring.

She opens the door immediately upon hearing the familiar sound “Hey hey!”. Shiori smiles at the sight of Mizuki and repeats what she said “Hey hey!”. She’s beaming, no doubt excited to spend a day with her and Kanato, hands gripping her backpack straps as she bounces on her heels.

When she looks back up at Rui she sees him holding out a bag to her “I knew you’d forget since this breaks your routine. The fried rice should be cold enough for you and Kanato-kun by the time lunch hits but please let Shio-chan heat up her portion since she can handle the heat”.

How did he know?!

“Awe double edged sword! But seriously you’re a lifesaver Rui…” she accepts the bag of food, albeit with an exaggerated defeated look “But I do have a treat for her in my fridge~”.

“As expected” he hums “I have to get going now but I can say hello to Kanade-kun if she is here as well?“.

Mizuki shakes her head “Nope she’s out for the day so Shio-chan has only little ol’ me to take care of her. Not that it’s a problem, plus Kanato’s been wanting to show her something he refuses to bring outside”.

“Mhm, well I’ll leave Shio-chan in your capable hands” he says before crouching down “Have fun, okay? I’ll come back to pick you up at around 4 to 5pm”. Shiori smiles before hugging Rui “You too, bye dad!”.

Rui laughs and he stands up as Shiori runs past her into their apartment.

As soon as closes the front door and leads Shiori inside, she hears footsteps running to the kitchen “Shiori!”. Kanato practically speeds walks till he is in front of her “Kana-chan~ “.

She sees her son blush a little before grabbing her little hand “Come with me… I finished it for you”. She sees stars in Shiori’s eyes and the two retreat back to his bedroom.

Mizuki doesn’t chase after them immediately because she already knows what Kanato has made, she had to help him after all since he struggled with the needle. However she can’t stop her curiosity about seeing her reaction and also possibly asking Shiori a question about Rui; she quickly packs away the food then goes to peek into her son’s room.

Her heart swells with affection when she sees Kanato sat crossed legged staring fondly at Shiori in front of him. The cape he had made fits her perfectly, even with the clashing color compared to her hair, one hand pumping the air and the other placed on her hip. She’s laughing triumphantly and Mizuki can’t help but clap her hands “Bravo!”

“Mama!” Kanato says upon noticing her, clearly embarrassed, but Mizuki pays no mind “Oh Kanato, can I not see how Shio-chan reacts to her present from you?”.

“Mizu-chan!” Shiori basically jumps toward her “I am a mighty knight! I will protect the prince with the cape he made for me!”.

“Ah it must be a show concept, she’s always coming up with small ideas” she thinks before she extends her hand out to Shiori “Well dear knight, may I join you in your battle to aid the prince?”.

She works alongside Shiori for the next few minutes, building a fort around Kanato in order to stop the ‘dragon princess’ from stealing him away. Kanato informs her that usually Yukina is the dragon princess and that they have a bunch of drawings showing the developing story.

They may be young but it seems that those two are following Shiori’s lead and Shiori is picking up habits from Rui.

Speaking of Rui “Oh humble knight captain, can your subordinate ask a humble question in exchange for helping you protect prince Kanato?”. Shiori giggles “Of course! You may get one question!”.

“Your dad,” she starts off, twirling one of the strands of hair that frame her face “has he seen happier recently?”.

When she asks what Mizuki means she clarifies if he was blushy in the morning or mentioned going out with anyone since that would mean Shiori would have to have some watch after her.

She taps her head, thinking hard, before her shoulders slump in defeat “I am sorry Mizu-chan, I don’t know anything…”.

Mizuki immediately reassures her that she did nothing wrong and gives her hair a good ruffle, causing her to snicker. She can see Kanato pouting at the attention being given to her so she does the same to his hair “Awe prince I love you too!”.

After a few more minutes of banter she is then asked politely by Shiori if Mizuki can leave so she can avoid ‘spoilers’. She obliges before lazily telling them to behave nicely, they’d do so anyway.

She might as well go grab her laptop and work on the video assignment she got last night since she doesn’t think the kids would appreciate her monitoring them 24/7. She knew they wouldn’t do anything reckless so she stopped leaning on the door frame and left.

Mizuki also knows it wouldn’t do any good to pester Shiori about something she clearly didn’t know happened or not.

She goes on with her work as planned then gets lunch ready for the kids, even if it's not that hard. Once she’s dished up acceptable portions and laid out the utensils she calls the kids. While eating Mizuki has to resist laughing when Kanato swears he can eat the rice piping hot, Shiori gladly lets him steal some of hers and Kanato unfortunately burns the tip of his tongue.

Having to console him reminds Mizuki when she used to make a big deal out of hot drinks like tea or hot foods when going to nightcord’s after parties.

Nothing out of the ordinary happens after lunch and she manages to wrap up her editing closer to the time when Rui said he’d pick Shiori up. She cracks her knuckles before making her way back to check on the two showrunners.

Stepping foot in the room she sees that it is a lot messier than before and Kanato looks a lot sleepier “Yahoo, what’s happening you guys?”.

“We are making the greatest show idea ever! It’s going to make people smile all over the world!” Shiori announces ambitiously and Kanato nods aside her “It’s gonna have music too Mama and Yukina-chan will help”.

“Well you’ll have to keep me a ticket!” she smiles “But Shiori you need to pack up now, your dad is going to be here soon so listen well for the buzzer! I am leaving the door open wider”. Shiori gives a dejected “okay” in response, clearly upset at the thought of leaving.

Mizuki hears the front door unlock as she leaves her son’s room, happily going to greet — “Kanade! Welcome home!”. The white haired woman smiles before leaning up to return the cheek kiss Mizuki had given her in the morning “I am home”.

She watches Kanade yawn before asking about her day, leaning on her shoulder. There isn’t much to report aside from what she said they had planned to do, only that Akito had tagged along at Ena’s insistence and was only happy when Kanade bought him a fluffy pancake snack.

“Mmm although Ena’s ginger roots are coming back in and she can’t find the right brown hair dye. Shinonome-kun found it hilarious when I pointed them out” she adds onto her story, savoring how comfortably warm Mizuki is, like the steam coming from a cup noodle cup…

“Lil’bro must have gotten a kick out of seeing his big sister squawk~” Mizuki giggles as she detaches herself from her wife “Also Shio-chan is still here because Rui is taking his time”.

“It’s no problem, Shiori-chan is a sweet kid” Kanade replies “If she is still here when I am done I’ll make a snack for her and Kanato. Honami gave me a new recipe I’d like to try”. Mizuki feels her lips on her cheek one extra time before retreating to their room.

Just that simple action makes Mizuki smile, Kanade didn’t give showy gestures but liked to give small acts of affection.

It works out because as soon as Kanade leaves the room, having answered the buzz up as she walked past, Mizuki has to go answer the door.

When she opens the door she is fully expecting Rui, only to be met with someone that resembled Rui, or rather it was Rui that resembled her “Sumire-san?”.

A woman with lavender hair and feline eyes smiles at her “Good afternoon, I am here to pick up Shio-chan on behalf of Rui”. She sighs resting an open hand on her cheek “He’s finishing up a project and I threw a wrench in his plan by coming earlier in the day”.

Shiori pops her head around the door, probably from hearing someone that wasn’t Kanato’s parents, and immediately tackles her legs, eagerly greeting her grandmother.

They engage in some small talk before Sumire says “Well, I wouldn’t want to keep you here longer. Plus I have to keep an eye on Rui, I have a feeling he is throwing himself into his work as a distraction”.

She briefly wonders how she could know this, aside from if Rui was keeping her updated way more often than she did with her own parents.

“Call it a mother’s instinct” she says, as if reading Mizuki’s mind, “In the meantime while he tides his mess I’ll be teaching Shio-chan here some card games~”.

“Oh, like Go Fish?” but at this Sumire shakes her head “Hmm Old Maid maybe”.

Mizuki blankly stares at her “Sumire-san, she’s only 5” but she only receives a laugh in return and a wave of her hand “She’s never too young. Now, take care!”. Shiori is already set to go and bids a friendly goodbye to Mizuki.

She wondered what wonderhoy meant. 

This encounter only leaves Mizuki more confused but she supposes this is what Rui was referring to when he mentioned his previous plans for the day. 

After checking the front door is locked, she peeks into Kanato’s room to find the boy asleep on the beanbag. Mizuki doesn’t have the heart to wake him up, obviously tired from playing for hours, and instead returns to the kitchen to double check her project.

It takes her mind off the few questions she had. But it’s not like she ponders on them long enough when she hears Kanade come back into the kitchen.

Kanade smiles at her once she steps foot in the kitchen before looking around curiously “Where’s Kanato?”.

Mizuki chuckles to herself “He fell asleep last time I checked but I’ll wake him up in five minutes otherwise he’ll still be awake when we meet with the rest of nightcord”. Kanade joins her, remembering the time their son had a sugar high and nearly deleted an entire project a few minutes past midnight. Mafuyu had politely, or well as politely as she could, asked them to get better at parenting since he was 4 and staying up way too late.

As her wife begins to rummage through their cupboards she asks “Is Shiori-chan still here?”.

“No she isn’t… but Sumire-san picked her up” Mizuki says, still confused about one part about what the older woman had said but she puts it into the back of her mind. Kanade tells her not to worry about it and starts putting pots out on their stove, so Mizuki doesn’t worry—

—-Until the following week when she goes to pick up her son.

Her friend is at the desk when she walks in and she is slightly surprised it isn’t Tenma.

“Welcome, welcome Mizuki-chan” Shizuku greets her “How are you doing today?”.

“I’m looking super duper cute today so I am doing great” Mizuki grins and Kanato comes up to her from behind Shizuku “Welcome back”.

“Kanato-kun, you’re leaving, it’s not welcome back” Shizuku gently reminds him but he takes no heed to it and instead runs over to the shoe rack.

This gives Mizuki the perfect chance to snoop and find out what was happening in her good ol’ friend Rui’s love life.

Mizuki turns expectantly to Shizuku after making sure she doesn’t have to focus her attention elsewhere at the moment. “So~” she starts “I know it may not be appropriate to talk about your co-worker's love life but as your friend I’d love for you to spell the dets Tenma-kun told you~”.

She doesn’t have to worry about Rui dropping in since his mom is still staying with him so he is taking time off, so Shiori wasn’t in today. She also didn’t see Tenma coming to the front.

However when she looks back at Shizuku she is only met with the teal-woman’s signature confused face “Huh? Mizuki-chan, didn’t Kamishiro-san say anything to you?”.

“Eh? No?” Mizuki shakes her head which causes Shizuku to frown, resting her chin on a closed fist, “I haven’t heard anything but I thought Tsukasa-kun was just being shy, he tends to get like that. I thought since you and Kamishiro-san are also close he would have said something to you”.

Mizuki thinks hard, using her ‘one’ brain cell (Ena’s words not hers), “So neither of them mentioned anything about a date at all…”.

Both of them ultimately come to the conclusion that Rui didn’t ask Tenma out or even attempted to do such a thing.

Shizuku sighs “And Tsukasa-kun can’t ask him out either since Kamishiro-san uses our services, it’s against the rules for an employee to ask a service user something like that…”.

Mizuki whines alongside her “I have to knock some sense into him at this point. I thought we gave good hints that are into each other”.

Shizuku nods “I will try to be more forward too, I might have to ask someone like Minori-chan on how to do it though…”. Mizuki can only wonder what Shizuku would tell Rui, what would Hanasato tell her?

Kanato is finished putting on his shoes and joins them at his mother’s side, not understanding the ‘predicament’ happening between the two women.

“Just give me a moment” Mizuki hums as she fishes her phone out her skirt pocket “I gotta send something to Rui”. She clicks on Rui’s contact and beings typing quickly;

⤷ Mizuki: Rui you didn’t ask him out? He doesn’t have a partner!

⤷ Mizuki: You dumbass coward.

As she clicks send she immediately pockets her phone and grabs Kanato’s hand “Let’s go~ Say goodbye to Shizuku-chan, Kanato”. The white-haired boy waves goodbye and then the two are out the door.

“Mom” Kanato asks after a minute of walking “Can we stop by the store, I want to get that ice-cream”, Mizuki stops walking to look at her son and hums “Which ice cream?”.

Kanato looks to the side, unable to make eye contact with his mom “The one that looks like a polar bear…”.

Mizuki can’t help but think “ Ah my son is so cute!!! ” and then holds her chin as if she was thinking long and hard about the decision to take him to the store. 

Fun fact: she wasn’t.

Ice cream before dinner was a rare occasion and Mizuki could also go for a nice sweet and cold treat.

“As long as you don’t tell your mom~” she grins and Kanato smiles, dimples appearing on his cheeks “I won’t!”.

When she thinks back to the text, and lack of notification that followed, she can’t help but question herself. Was it mean? Sure but Rui was thick headed when he wanted to be. And more than anything Mizuki just wanted Rui to stop hesitating when he saw something he wanted.

She wanted him to be happy and if she happened to send a harsher word in text to get him to realize it then she’d do it.

-----------------------------------------

It had been nearly over a week since Rui failed to ask out Tsukasa, more like given up, but failed regardless. In that time he has noticed his feelings a lot more clearly and unfortunately their talks and banter still make his heart race, still make him want to know even more.

So he does something he is good at, slowly distancing himself to the point where it is unnoticeable. He knows Tsukasa may be observant in his acting studies but he hopes this doesn’t translate to his real life.

It’s better if people forget about what he felt but it’d be harder for him to. He shouldn’t even be focusing on this, he should be focusing on picking up Shiori.

When he walks in he doesn’t find Tsukasa at the desk but rather Hinomori who was saying goodbye to Saitou, who he assumes must be leaving.

She remarks “Kamishiro-san you keep cutting it so close, we’ll have to start charging you a nearly late fee to get you to change”.

Then it's just him and Hinomori, he greets her and she does the same back, not mentioning the time like her coworker.

“How is your life going, Kamishiro-san?” Shizuku asks and Rui answers while slightly tilting his head in confusion “It’s good”.

“Mmm that’s nice, Tsukasa-kun’s life is going good too” she continues, leaving Rui to wonder why Tsukasa was being brought up, “Although from what I hear, he hasn’t been on any dates recently…”.

“Respectfully Hinomori-kun, I do not think it is in good conscience if we discuss Tsukasa-kun’s dating life” he replies but inside he is sulking “So Tsukasa-kun does go on dates, he really is popular”. 

Shizuku laughs behind her hand “I just figured you’d like to know since it can concern you”. “He’s going to rip off the bandaid Kamishiro-san~” she adds, her voice still airy and light, all he thinks is “What does that even mean? ”.

Rui feels uneasy, realistically he knows Hinomori means no harm but at the same time he knows she is friends with Mizuki. He didn’t know how much Hinomori had been told, if anything, but he supposes as long as Tsukasa isn’t aware it’s fine.

Maybe he should ask Mizuki what Hinomori might be implying.

“Fufu but enough about you” Hinomori brings him a little bit inside, he hasn’t even taken off his shoes, just to see his daughter. She’s running around and clearly the only kid left because Tsukasa got his full attention on her.

He’s glad, recalling the few unfortunate times in the last daycare where he cut it close and arrived only to see the worker doing something at their laptop, Shiori sitting next to whoever, waiting for Rui.

It only happened a few times but seeing the treatment here made him realize it shouldn’t have happened at all, Shiori must have been lonely when that happened too.

He watches Shiori finally catch up to Tsukasa, taping him on his arm before retreating back immediately “I got you Tsukasa-sensei!”.

“No! I let my guard down” Tsukasa dramatically says as Shiori laughs “Fufu now you get to be it!”.

“They must be playing tag” he thinks as he sees Shiori getting ready to run again, but Tsukasa stops her.

“Wait Shiori” he hears a masked tired tone in his voice “Isn’t keeping up this game of two-person tag tiring? We’ll run ourselves ragged, let’s take a break because I am sure your dad will be here soon!”.

He sees Shiori think for a moment before flopping down to sit on the floor “...My feet are sore”. Tsukasa sits next to her “Why didn’t you say anything?”.

She doesn’t make eye contact with him “I am really sorry Tsukasa-sensei but I was having so much fun I didn’t want to stop”.

Rui sees the smile he has come to think about more often than not “Let’s make a rule together to make the tag more fair then!”.

Shiori responds enthusiastically and Rui, despite being the outsider, can’t help the fond look that appears on his face.

Rui can’t be feeling like this, playing with his daughter was part of Tsukasa’s job description. But it wasn’t just his job and how kind he was, it was a bunch of other things that he wanted to know about, he wanted to know Tsukasa as a whole, not continue with the little glimpses.

Looking one last time he moves away, Hinomori following him and not making their presence known to the other two. He pointedly makes a show of looking at his watch and politely smiles at her “Forgive me Hinomori-kun but I need to get going, me and Shio-chan have something urgent to attend to. I am afraid I have underestimated how much time we have left”.

She looks confused for a second before she calls Tsukasa. He hears Tsukasa tell her not to run as she comes into sight, something he had been telling her for a while now.

Shiori hasn’t listened to that warning once and Rui can only hope it doesn’t backfire on her.

“I won a sticker today!” Shiori’s smiling, showing the star sticker on her shirt. Rui smiles back “Fufu it suits you. But we have to go now so say goodbye”. Shiori, bless her, doesn’t notice anything wrong and continues like normal.

Tsukasa looks like he wants to say something but Rui is already waving to the two daycare workers and leaving before any words can be exchanged.

He doesn’t look back, only forward as he walks with Shiori. They have to go to a convenience store before taking the next train, if they can catch it on time. If they can't, Rui will probably let them eat out so Shiori doesn’t keep quiet about being hungry.

Rui wonders what she is craving tonight.

This isn’t urgent, he doesn’t actually have something urgent but the atmosphere he had found himself in made him uncomfortable. The signals he was getting from more than one person made his head hurt, it made him want to pull away to avoid the hassle.

Yet he gets the feeling Hinomori saw right through his lie.

-----------------------------------------

Rui is sitting on his work bench, checking the time once again, it reads 10:30pm. His home screen, a picture of Shiori with messy hair and inky hands holding Rui’s modified chicken robot, looks back at him before turning off.

He’d go to sleep but he has to wait till midnight for an online shop to open so he could purchase a toolbox from overseas. It was in high demand so he couldn’t wait until he was up at an appropriate time in danger of it selling out

His phone ringing snaps his attention away from his work.

Prior to the ringing he had been working on a blueprint for an upcoming project in order to spice up the retelling of the play they chose to do. He was more into original work but at the moment he needed a little bit of extra cash quickly due to a present he had in mind for his daughter’s birthday… and his toolbox but that item was needed for work.

Rui stares at the caller ID, seeing it was Nene, before he wipes his glasses clean and answers the call “Good evening Nene, how can I help you?”.

Nene hums absentmindedly “I dunno, maybe I just wanted to talk to my favourite shownut about his life”.

He produces a fake sniffle “I am your favorite? Yoyoyo I am touched Nene” and continues talking over Nene’s remark that she was taking it back “Fufu but yes I can talk, Shio-chan’s in bed already too”.

They go back and forth until Nene tells him to stop “Is something on your mind Rui? You don’t seem to be fully in the conversation” she pauses before earnestly saying “You can talk to me”.

“There are too many uncertain variables, I am afraid. Plus you’re single nor a lone parent so you can’t help me out here” he chuckles at the end.

He can already imagine the eye twitch she has “I see, it’s an issue with the daycare worker… um Tenma was it? That’s what’s got Mizuki hollering at me to ‘get your head on straight’? Not that it matters, I had a feeling I needed to check on you”

Of course Mizuki got Nene to do something like this, she was a lot more blunt and level-headed. Plus it was in Nene’s nature to be caring.

“Right on the money” Rui admits “But seriously we don’t need to talk about my problems, I am sure you are busy with your new role”.

Nene’s silence speaks volumes and Rui ultimately gives in.

“Do you know the family that runs Phoenix Wonderland?” when Nene makes a noise of affirmation he continues “Well I saw one of their daughters, Ootori Emu, talking with Tsukasa-kun”.

“So?” she questions, clearly unsure of where Rui was going with this.

“You sound so uncertain of what I am saying” he bitterly smiles to himself “It means that I have no chance, there are clearly better options than me for someone like Tsukasa-kun”.

Rui fiddles with the pen in his hand “I am not saying those two are together or anything like that but it made me think; am I really an option for someone as great as Tsukasa-kun? Wouldn’t he be happier with someone not like me? If you catch my drift and it doesn’t have to be Ootori-kun. But even then Ootori-kun… she seems like a better match”.

“It doesn’t even matter about my feelings, if I really couldn’t take it anymore I’d just have to deal with it until I send Shio-chan to elementary school and then… you know…” he finishes off.

“I don’t really understand people's chemistry as much as you do but I am sure you’re looking too much into it based on how you sound” Nene says “And, well, I am sure that with Ootori-chan you don’t need to worry about it”.

The more familiar honorific catches him off guard “Care to explain?”.

He hears her grumble, almost as if she were flustered, before speaking “She uh… pursued me in highschool, she constantly broke into my school to visit me during lunch breaks and I had to hide her from the teachers… she’d say really loud declarations like ‘YOU’RE CUTE’ and hug me a lot. I never heard an outright confession but I think she liked me”.

Nene remincises for a moment, of a time filled with loud laughter and stolen bento with the pink haired girl, before moving on “When I graduated I never saw her again… but the point is if Ootori-chan was showing interest she’d probably be a lot more energetic and forward, not casually chatting, even if she is older now”.

“Pursued you? I didn’t know you were so popular, Nene” Rui teases, mentally taking note of what Nene said about Ootori’s apparent tells of showing interest. He hears a huff “Like I said she went to a different school Rui, she was breaking both our schools rules with her actions. It’s not something to praise”.

She clears her throat “I guess I kind of miss her cheerful nature, but I digress, focus on my statement on her behaviour”. Rui thinks for a moment before asking “Oya, why didn't you tell me this sooner? It surely sounds like she was pretty present in your highschool life”.

Nene stammers “I didn’t think it was important! And we only reconnected when you fell through your window into my yard! You were in college and I was in my gap year Rui, we weren’t highschoolers anymore”.

That wasn’t wrong but he finds himself once again doubting another one of his decisions, even if it wasn’t a recent one. How much time had he missed with Nene just because of his stubborn beliefs?

He was in his late 20s yet he still hasn’t gotten rid of old habits except now new people in his life were dealing with it.

“So are you going to drag out this silence or are you going to keep talking to me?” Nene begins after another moment “I am sure it can’t get worse, hit me with your worries”.

“My my so assertive Nene” he chuckles at her attempt at showing a carefree attitude  “There is one thing I am stuck on but I’ve been so sleep deprived lately I am sure I misheard”.

Rui sets his pen down next to his unfinished blueprint, the blueprint he had been working on for the past half hour to no avail.

His mind was too jumbled.

“I was leaving 2 days ago, avoiding Hinomori-kun, when Tsukasa-kun bid me farewell” Rui starts explaining “But when I was halfway out the door he said something as I was trying to catch up to Shio-chan–”.

— It's so small, almost like a whisper, that Rui barely hears it.

“I think I like you…”.

It’s clearly blurted out, perhaps by accident, but it happens so fast that Rui can only come to one conclusion: it’s his imagination.

Still, almost foolishly, he turned slightly around to look at Tsukasa one last time, noticing the rosy hue on his cheeks and the clenched fists in the corner of his eye. Tsukasa didn’t notice him looking back.

Then Rui left.

As soon as he finishes his recall the line remains silent. After a beat he hears Nene let out a huge sigh “Oh my gosh Rui , it got worse. Your love life is as bad as a cliche otome game. And Tenma has picked you as the love interest, unluckily”.

“What do you mean unluckily?” he questions and she immediately shoots back “Think back on what you have done the past week, then you tell me. I am not even there but listening to you ramble after lunch while Shiori napped last time has given me enough information”.

Tsukasa didn’t greet him today, letting other workers help him with Shiori.

They had made eye contact for a brief moment but he couldn’t quite figure out the emotion being shown. Did he really say these words? Did he really show interest?

He was a huge jerk. Shiori would call him a mean person. This seemed to become a bigger deal for no reason.

Rui tentatively asks “… You’re saying it wasn’t my imagination? That Tsukasa-kun avoided me today for a reason?”.

He can imagine Nene nodding “I am saying that, also that you’re stupid and I hope Shiori doesn’t pick up that stupidity”.

“Shiku shiku Nene is so mean to me~” he fake sobs but in his mind he knows that he needs to fix this misunderstanding.

Maybe he should also thank Mizuki, alongside Nene, for calling him a ‘dumbass coward’.

When had he fallen for Tsukasa? In the span of 2 months he had fallen slowly, then suddenly all at once.

Notes:

I am trying to make Rui’s doubts realistic since dating someone isn’t a decision that affects him only, so I think that him feeling a bit insecure here isn’t irrational. I might have done it slightly better before. I also felt like I had to clarify that Emu is an innocent bystander, she isn't interested in Tsukasa. I realized how badly I communicated that at the end of chapter 2^

I can’t prolong Rui’s suffering here since Rui5 is dead in a ditch right now thanks to Emu6 ( ;´ - `;) clpl make Rui5 a hakolim with miku and tsukasa to make up for it^ But I am still excited for another wxs focus, go live your best life Emu^

I have small notes again cause I like details:
- I like to imagine Kanade is a good cook with the meals Honami taught her to make. Her speciality is, of course, noodles. It’s Kanato's favorite food.
- The show idea Shiori has becomes more concrete later in her life but it’ll ultimately be her wanting to create shows with musical elements to spread smiles worldwide, Kanato and Yukina join her.
- I gave Rui’s mom the name Sumire in a previous fic because when I first thought of what she looked like I imagined her hair like Akane Sumire’s, lol the bloomfes cameo happened after but here I still gave her purple hair here.
- I think it's funnier to imagine both Shinonomes are ginger and that Ena dyes her hair brown, but she tells people it's the other way around and that Akito dyes his whole head not just the blond strand.

Chapter 4: with small steps

Shiori knows she is a lot of things; she’s her dad’s daughter, she loves vegetables, she was smart for her age, and that she was possibly a secret magical girl waiting for her powers to be awakened.

The last part isn’t as solid, but the main takeaway was that she is smart. She knows some stuff already that a lot of kids only learn in elementary school and she can disassemble a robot without it blowing up.

So when her dad tries to hide his feelings and starts fake-smiling at a person who made him smile so brightly before, she notices. She also knows that he won’t talk to her about it.

Shiori wants to be relied on even though his problems aren’t affecting her life.

She just… didn’t know how to fix the problem. She tried asking her plushie friends at home, the council of platypuses, but she received no response, only hearing her stomach growl and her dad calling her for dinner.

Shiori promptly forgot her worries as she munched her oyakodon, asking her dad for seconds almost immediately as she ate the last bite of her first portion. She knows she can’t be this greedy at other people’s houses but at her home it doesn’t count!

“My my Shio-chan, you’re hungrier than usual~” her dad says as she continues eating. She quickly swallows and replies “I need the brain power!”. This gets him curious “Hmm, what for? Do you need help setting up the new stage again?”.

Shiori thinks for a moment “Not for that! But I don’t remember why…”.

And that’s how she went on to sleep and only remembered the next day while she was with her friends waiting for their parents. It hits her fast and she nearly drops the anpan she’s eating. Her dad packed it for her since she complained she got a bit hungry while waiting.

She did not like the look of regret he had on his face when he told her that he’d try to sort something at his work so she wouldn't have to wait as long anymore. That wasn’t fair! He spent a lot of time with her so she shouldn’t have complained. She eats the last bit with a new resolve.

Which is why she was upset that he didn’t have someone to lift him up besides her, someone just for her dad. She thought Tsukasa could be that person but she is worried he forgot his promise. She could see they were not talking so they had to be fighting.

She noticed it but she couldn’t think of the words to say when their long talks, talks even when she wanted to go home fast, stopped in a blink of an eye.

But just like how Sailor Moon never gave up in the face of a hard battle, she will do the same! If she can’t make her dad smile, she can kiss her worldwide dream goodbye!

“Kana-chan,” she starts “How do your moms make up?”.

“Huh?” the white-haired boy opens his eyes and lifts his head off of Yukina’s shoulder “Why?”. Yukina grins alongside his response “Oh oh, ask me Shio-chan!”.

“Eh but Yuki-chan only has one mom not two” she points out but it is clear that neither of her friends know what she is getting at. Shiori knows that Yukina only has her mom and she only has her dad so they don't know how issues got resolved like Kanato does.

“Why my moms?” Kanato asks again, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes to keep them open.

She looks around the room to make sure none of the adults were paying attention to their conversation before scooching closer “Because my dad and Tsukasa-sensei are not talking… I can tell it’s making Dad sad. So I need to know what two people who like each other do when they are fighting!”.

She nods to herself, thinking she is making complete sense “And your moms are married so–”

Yukina gasps “TSUKASA-SENSEI IS MARRIED TO HIM?!”. Kanato shakes his head at her “I don’t think so… are they married?”, the last part is directed at Shiori.

Shiori crosses her arms as a big cross “No they aren’t! But your parents are the best thing I can compare them to!”.

When she was at a loss she tended to compare the situation to others around here, learning how other people handled situations made her more confident on how to do the same herself.

Kanato thinks, then yawns, and answers her “When Mama messes up, she and Mom talk about it. Mama usually brings her something to drink first though. Something Mom likes”.

“I don’t know anything else… they do it when I am sleeping or send me out of the room. I can’t remember the last time it happened” he says but he is dozing off again. She thinks it’s because he stays up to watch his moms sometimes, so it must have happened yesterday.

“Sailor Venus is watching over them, of course they won’t have many fights” she says triumphantly, patting the plushie’s blond hair in the process.

“Eh? But isn’t she just a plush friend?” Yukina asks, shifting on her legs as Kanato begins to sleep on her shoulder again.

“No Yuki-chan! The real Sailor Venus! She’s the guardian of love and I’ve talked to her. I just need to talk to her about my dad now! Friends count for love and hope to!” she declares before briefly thinking “Maybe more, my dad looks at Tsukasa-sensei like Sailor Uranus when she sees Sailor Neptune”.

“No you haven’t Shiori” Kanato mumbles which causes Shiori to retaliate, “Dreams count Kana-chan! You just have none!”.

He only groans in response “Nuh uh”.

Before she can reply a gentle voice interrupts them “Kanato-kun, it’s time to go home”.

Shizuku helps him stand and the two of them say goodbye to their friend. Except this time as Shiori watches Kanato go to the front with their caretaker Yukina grabs her hand “Wanna act out?”.

Shiori questions her but Yukina just giggles. The two follow behind them for no particular reason, quiet as mice, at least in their minds. She sees Shizuku talking to Mizuki as Kanade instructs Kanato to put on his shoes.

His parents looked a bit more dressed up than casual, which explains Kanato’s clothes.

“I’ve never seen Kanato-kun’s parents before” Yukina whispers as she tugs her cardigan sleeve and Shiori realizes this must be why she wanted to sneak to the front.

Shiori watches Kanade look at her son before looking back to Kanato’s mother “You did choose the right clothes, he looks really cute Mizuki”.

Mizuki smiles “Ooh a compliment, I have to go brag about it when I have time!”. Kanato returns to his parents side, he doesn’t have a clue about what is happening but Shiori guesses they are going out somewhere.

“I am sorry Kana-chan, it seems you won’t be going to bed early to make up for last night”.

“Mizuki, we have to be careful here” she hears Kanade say before grabbing both Mizuki and Kanato’s hands “We don’t want to be late so no pit stops”.

She sees the pink-haired woman nod “Mhm right! We have to stay focused and not get lost this time”.

Shiori doesn’t hear the rest of their conversation but does wave at Kanato when he looks at her through the glass door.

Yukina is still by her side “We have to go back before Shizuku-sensei notices us”. Shiori lets herself be dragged back but her mind isn’t fully present. She wants her dad to get the same happiness she witnessed.

The two girls keep a tight hold on their linked hands, trying to sneak back to where they were supposed to be. Yukina was leading them and she was not looking forward because she led them to bump right into Tsukasa.

“Where were you two?” he asks them, arms folding as he looks down at them. He didn’t seem angry but Shiori needed to get him distracted so he can ask him a question, this was her last opportunity for the day. She whispers something into Yukina’s ear quickly and watches as she smirks.

“Tsukasa-sensei, are you married?” the black-haired girl asks so bluntly that Tsukasa’s face lights up in a new shade of red.

“Ah Tsukasa-sensei is embarrassed” Shiori thinks as their teacher shakes his head “I am not married. And you should not ask someone a question like that out of the blue Yukina!”.

Yukina pouts “Don’t tell my mom…”.

With him dazed she uses this to her advantage, telling him she needed something urgently. She gets Tsukasa to duck down and leans in closer to whisper “Tsukasa-sensei, what’s your favorite drink?”.

He whispers back “Is this a secret?”. She nods “Yes! Now tell me”.

“Thank you Tsukasa-sensei! I am going to tell Dad and he will have to apologize!”.

-----------------------------------------

Today was the day Rui was going to right his wrongs. He made himself look presentable, arranged for Mizuki to pick up Shiori for him, and rehearsed the key points he wanted to say to Tsukasa in his head.

And if Tsukasa lets him take him on a date, he’ll make up for the unfair treatment ten times over. This is what he thinks as he makes his way to the daycare, knowing that he could use the element of surprise.

Now that he thinks about it, if he approached Tsukasa wrong he could get the police called on him, especially if Tsukasa doesn’t see it’s him in the night.

As the building gets closer, he recalls a conversation he had this morning with Shiori.

“Dad, can you make a stop before you come pick me up today?” she asks, fixing her bag straps. She fumbled a bit so Rui helps her “Can I ask why?”.

“You need to bring Tsukasa-sensei his favorite drink!” Shiori declares “I can tell you where and what it is! But I can only point it out on the way to the train”.

Rui pauses and recognizes that this is something Mizuki would do for Kanade whether they argued, his friend did it as the start of a peace offering before they talked it out. She had joked before that if he ever got a partner, then he’d be welcome to use her tactic.

He doubts Mizuki told her so it must have been Kanato, it seems his treasure was playing the role of a detective.

Did Shiori think that they were fighting? Even after all he did to hide it? It really doesn’t concern her and Rui knows he is being selfish right now.

So all he had to do was give her reassurance everything will be fine, even if she doesn’t know the problem.

“My treasure, you don’t need to worry about me. I have everything under control; it’s really nothing” he says, gently petting her head. She relaxes into the comforting gesture.

“I hate liars” is what she replies with and Rui quickly reassures her “I am not being one”.

When he reaches the front, he sees Tsukasa through the doors and decides he shouldn’t just walk in like he ‘owned the place’. So he decides to wait for him outside by the few cars in the small parking lot. He can see the doors but he decides to keep out of sight.

The last time he tried to go in with this intention he got doubts, he wanted to get them alone long enough so Tsukasa at least knows why he is here.

He was finally going to do this, he was finally going to see if he was too late. He’d respect Tsukasa no matter how he reacted and even if it was rejection, even if it was anger, he knew neither of them would let it affect Shiori’s place in the daycare.

“Goodnight Shizuku! Goodnight Saitou!” he hears, and Rui shakes off any nervousness he has. If he was going to get Tsukasa to listen to him, he needed to show no fear, be sincere, and want this.

“GAH!” Tsukasa screams clearly not expecting Rui to be standing next to his car. However, and remarkably, he regains his composure “Sorry Rui but I am off the clock! And I am sure you know Akiyama picked up Shiori today with your permission. If you have any inquires I’ll have to direct you to Shizuku inside”.

Rui shakes his head, trying to maintain eye contact but failing to do so; it probably made him look guilty, “I came to talk to you. I heard you the other day”.

Tsukasa’s face paled “You… did?”.

He shakily laughs “It’s okay! You can just ignore what I said, clearly I did something to make you uncomfortable even before that”. He looks like he wants to say something more but stops himself.

Tsukasa turns, likely trying to fish his keys out of his pocket and leave but Rui was going to let that happen.

“I like you” Rui starts off with, effectively capturing his attention “But I have no idea what to do. I am a single parent and someone who hasn’t dated anyone, ever. I come with responsibilities that I don’t know how to communicate with someone I like. I like you Tsukasa-kun”.

Tsukasa now turns around, blush adorned on his cheeks and a surprised look in his eyes. The thing Rui takes away from his expression is that he isn’t being apprehensive; he isn’t looking at him with disgust.

“I want to date you for you, not for who you are to me, not for who you are to other parents or to Shiori, but for yourself. I want to learn to laugh even more freely with you and I am anxious if I can make you happy in the future but I want to make this commitment” he announces “I may be coming on strong but I have never done this before but I can tell I want you in my life and I was an asshole for trying to pull away from you. I can understand how you are probably feeling to some extent but I want you to understand that I am not the esteemed director Kamishiro Rui right now, I am just Rui. I make mistakes”.

“You know me from my work, you know me from my daughter, and I want you to know me for me. Even though I may not live up to expectations” he finishes.

“Do you accept my feelings?” Rui tentatively asks, lifting his head higher to properly look at Tsukasa. His face has an array of emotions on it and ultimately he makes the decision to come up right in Rui’s face and angrily pull at his cheek as far as he could. 

“You have some nerve!” unlike his actions, his words hold no anger in them.

Rui accepts it without resistance and laughs, was this his response to a confession?

Tsukasa lets go and stands up straight “You know Rui, you don’t trust yourself for at least minute each day but that doesn’t mean you should jump to conclusions so fast. So learn to trust in me! If you are unsure about something, tell me! Seriously, you are as thick headed as some of the kids I take care of”.

He can take Tsukasa seriously but also admit how cute he looked while lecturing him face red.

“And although this is sudden and I was slightly mad at you for a while… maybe I still wanted to be asked out by someone as charming as you” Tsukasa says while scratching his cheek.

Rui focuses on one particular word from that sentence “Charming?”.

“Yes charming, a bunch of articles on you can back me up” Tsukasa answers “But also because there’s a rule about asking out the parents which was a result of one of the old part-timers… otherwise I would have straight up asked you out too!”.

This earns another chuckle out of Rui before the two go silent again, unsure of how to proceed- Rui from embarrassment and Tsukasa from realizing another thing.

“What about Shiori?” he asks. Rui thinks for a moment “When Shiori finds out she is going to be ecstatic you are considering this. She really likes you Tsukasa-kun”.

Tsukasa looks skeptical at how little time he took to think “How would you know her reaction to something like this? I highly doubt you’d tell her right away, especially if this doesn’t work out…”.

He thinks of a devious, impulsive thought, something he wouldn’t actually do “Well if I kiss you in front of her–”.

He feels two hands shoved right on his mouth, an action done deliberately to get him to stop talking. Somebody must be thinking about sharing a kiss and the spoiler is that it is both of them.

“NO, YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING” Tsukasa yells and Rui winces from the volume since they are so close, he quickly recovers “Why not? She said she asked if you thought I was handsome and apparently you said yes”.

Tsukasa pauses as he struggles to maintain eye contact “She did?”. Rui’s shoulders shake with his repressed laughter but soon enough both of them are laughing.

How strange they must look to other people, two men laughing in an empty parking lot but who knows what.

“Listen I want to take this slow, you are clearly unsure about some things and it’d be better if we talked more” Tsukasa says after they calmed down, Rui nods “I agree”.

“So let’s not jump to conclusions!” he continues “When I deem you worthy you shall take me out on a date!”.

“When you deem me worthy?” Rui parrots and Tsukasa strikes a pose like it is the simplest thing in the world “It’s a more exaggerated way to put it, let’s establish an even better connection Rui!”.

Tsukasa holds a closed first over his heart “I want to get to learn about you more than your abilities as a director and role as a father”.

“I want to learn about what makes you Rui. So I accept your feelings!” he declares it so confidently that the purple-haired man can feel is heartbeat pick up almost instantly.

Rui smiles as genuinely as he can muster “I agree to your terms Tsukasa-kun, let’s exchange numbers if you’d like”.

Tsukasa offers him a smile back before Rui feels a pair of hands find their place against his back, blonde strands tickling his chin as he feels a content sigh against his chest “Eh?”.

Tsukasa doesn’t let go “You hugged me once before and I have found myself looking for an excuse to do it again”. Ah, he must get the affection he needs through physical touch, even with someone like him.

Could they just be considered boyfriends at this point? Clearly they like each other more than they realize.

Tsukasa is warm, it could be from the summer air around them but Rui thinks that it is the natural warmth Tsukasa emits with his presence “You don’t need an excuse from now on”.

Both are reluctant to let go so they keep their comfortable position while Tsukasa leans his head back to properly look Rui in the face. Rui notices how beautiful his eyes are up close, holding an unusual sparkle to them, underneath them were a few faded freckles and Rui can tell how well Tsukasa must take care of his skin.

So he tells him just that, placing a hand on his cheek “You’re beautiful, Tsukasa-kun”. Tsukasa flushes and doesn’t respond.

They get interrupted.

“Tsukasa-kun I noticed your car hadn’t left and Saitou-chan doesn't know so I wanted to ask, Yukina-chan is still here should I call– oh” a voice calls out suddenly, which snaps both Rui’s and Tsukasa’s attention away from each other. Hinomori stands there with Yukina; the teal-haired woman’s hand is covering the kid’s eyes.

“I am so sorry I thought all the kids were gone” Rui says as he can’t help but blush, he thought no one else was here since Shiori was picked up earlier by Mizuki and his daughter is usually, and unfortunately, the last one.

Hinomori smiles as she shields Yukina’s eyes “Fufu~”. He later learns that Yukina had insisted on following Hinomori even though she wasn't allowed tp.

The girl asks, placing her small hands on Shizuku’s “Why are you covering my eyes, Shizuku-sensei? Is there something wonderhoy happening out there?”.

Hinomori sighs, “Perhaps Yukina-chan, perhaps”.

Tsukasa grumbles into Rui’s chest as he laughs.

He hears the blonde mumble “She better not tell Emu if she saw anything… She’d have a field day”.

-----------------------------------------

Rui was lying on a mattress he had purchased recently. The previous one had burned down, by accident, and Rui wasn’t going to go into further detail especially since it happened while his mom was staying over.

He surely was not the model kid his mom could talk about without judgement, yet she still loves him anyway. But that incident  was in the past and he could move past it. He’ll never operate on a device right before he is about to fall asleep ever again, even if the idea couldn’t wait.

Although he’d never say his bed was his, he’d say it’s Shiori’s. There was no blanket, only two pillows, and a five-year-old clinging onto his side with her plushie on the floor.

Her sleeping place was perfectly fine, fluffiness surrounding her, yet she kept crawling back to him ever since it was delivered. The first time was because she had a nightmare, the second time she offered no reason and crawled into bed next to him.

He knows this is still happening tonight because he can see her reflected with his phone screen since he’s been texting for some time. He didn’t care if he was in pitch darkness, it didn’t matter right now.

Today’s conversation has lasted a while now.

⤷ Tsukasa: Wait, so you decided to add that stage direction at the last minute?!

⤷ Rui: It made it much more interesting, no? 

⤷ Rui: Plus, the two actors were on board and it turned out to be one of the more memorable scenes.

⤷ Tsukasa: That slap really resonated with their emotions, and finding out that he was only in it for the money was a big deal.

⤷ Tsukasa: She truly loved him! 

Rui hasn’t stopped smiling ever since Tsukasa asked to discuss the behind the scenes of his most recent play he directed. Tsukasa had gone and watched it yet hadn’t had time to ask Rui anything about it. Rui had finished wrapping it up this week so he was more surprised at how eager Tsukasa was.

Ever since they had exchanged numbers, they had more time.

If Rui could, he would have invited Tsukasa backstage had he known the star showed up to watch. He didn’t even care if it was too forward and that he wasn’t sure if he was the right fit for him at the time.

He wanted Tsukasa to experience the life of the stage, on a stage of dazzling lights. Even if his acting skills were not up to par, Rui found himself wanting to direct him. Tsukasa, at the very least, had the technical knowledge.

⤷ Tsukasa: It truly feels like your directing range has expanded once again!

⤷ Tsukasa: I know you probably get this a lot, but seriously! I feel like I’ve fallen in love with it.

Rui had misread that sentence and nearly felt his heart jump out of his chest “It’s my directing, not me, we haven’t even gotten far yet”. He felt the need to fire something back.

⤷ Rui: If I heard it before I can assure you it means more coming from you.

Tsukasa proceeds to send him a pegasus sticker with a heart. Rui sends a cat with sunglasses staring at the sun in return before the two continue talking. Moving on to things Rui wouldn’t casually tell the audience.

⤷ Rui: So the conversation between the two was ad-libbed on the mother’s side. It was supposed to be the fiancée but she forgot her lines.

⤷ Tsukasa: In the first act or the second act?

⤷ Rui: The second but it turns out the improv added missing context. The main scriptwriter was horrified he missed such a detail.

Then Tsukasa starts talking about his own interpretation of the story, but before Rui can comment on it his phone gets slapped out of his hand “Eh?”. The next moment he feels smaller hands covered in bandages against his face, pushing his glasses awkwardly off his nose.

The phone screen light wasn’t even shining on her; Rui made sure of that.

“Dadddd,” Shiori whines “Off…”. Rui laughs “Shio-chan…”. She shushes him “Sleep!”. He can only look at her fondly. He kisses the top of her forehead and moves her into a more comfortable position.

As he moved her, he knew she had drifted off to dreamland again. Perhaps she was fighting alongside platypuses with magical wands. Once he thinks this he leans over and grabs his daughter’s plushie.

He doesn’t mention that if she didn’t climb into his bed, she wouldn’t have had her sleep disturbed. Yet he cherishes these moments, dreading the day she gets embarrassed by such things.

Shiori unconsciously grabs her friend when Rui places her in her arms. He smiles at the sight. It didn’t matter how she acted, Rui was always going to think of her as his blessing, someone to cherish in his life.

Although now that he checks his phone again he has seen that he’s left Tsukasa on read for the past five minutes, he must be moving slower than he imagined.

⤷ Tsukasa: Rui?

Maybe it was time to sleep.

⤷ Rui: Sorry Tsukasa-kun, my treasure is getting angry that I am texting on my phone at such an hour.

⤷ Rui: She just knocked my phone out of my hands and promptly feel back asleep.

The typing icon pops up immediately.

⤷ Tsukasa: IT’S PAST 11??! My sleep schedule will be ruined….

⤷ Tsukasa: WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME EARLIER!

⤷ Rui: Shiku, shiku, Tsukasa-kun doesn’t want to talk to me anymore…

⤷ Tsukasa: That’s not what I mean and you damn well know it!

He finds himself holding back a laugh at such a Tsukasa-esque response. As if the two haven’t been spending the last week texting till 10 like a couple of high schoolers, even worse because they still saw each other when he dropped off and picked up Shiori.

They send a few more back-and-forth messages before deciding to turn in for the night for real this time.

⤷ Tsukasa: Goodnight Rui! Sweet dreams ☆!

⤷Rui: Goodnight :3

This time, he actually puts his phone down, takes his glasses off , and places them securely beside his mattress. He unties the back of his hair, stifling a yawn as he runs his fingers through the previously tied strands, thankful he got ready for bed before his texting session.

When he plops back down and shifts to lay on his side he is met with Shiori in a similar position, curled around Sailor Venus.

He spots a bit of drool and coos at the sight, even in the dark.

Rui falls asleep by the sound of his daughter’s energetic snores and he wakes up to her hair in his face, still snoring. He doesn’t have the heart to move and wake her, they only had plans later in the day so he can stay for a while.

Perhaps he can think of where to take Tsukasa out when the star finally ‘declares him worthy’ in the meantime.

Notes:

Sorry this took longer. I couldn’t get the idea for this chapter right and quite a few other things happened but I delivered Rui finally asking out Tsukasa! Stupid purple cat. I have a feeling that Tsukasa would want to be asked out, it’s just how I’ve always seen it. Next chapter will be ruikasa date^ Give me a week^

Funfact: The play Rui and Tsukasa were texting about is based on the script I wrote and performed for my e-portfolio. It was a mix of sentimental drama and realistic drama lol.

Also I wanted to show the designs I made for the fankids as teens in the 2 star pjsk art style but when I thought about tweeting them I found my account has a label on it for inauthentic behavior, I have no idea why so I am not doing anything on twitter right now. Worst case scenario I might make a separate chapter and post images here if people are interested.

Chapter 5: long awaited date

Notes:

The only couple that appears in this chapter is ruikasa!

Rui never thought stage fright could manifest outside of a stage but right now being nervous didn’t describe his feelings accurately enough.

He keeps glancing at the clock as he straightens out his clothes, a stylish choice that would surely impress a certain someone and wouldn’t make him feel so hot in the summer heat.

He is so lost in the circles he’s running in his head that he nearly misses when the doorbell rings.

The open door reveals Nene. She is still shorter than Rui and her mint green hair is braided in an updo and pinned to the back of her head. He is sure she had this hairstyle when she performed in a big event called Color Festival.

She looks like an accomplished young woman, and she is. 

He steps aside to let her in “Hello Nene! Thank you for coming on such short notice”.

“Sorry I am late, Rui. Traffic stopped because the police made an arrest right in front of the turn off” she apologizes as she steps in, taking off her shoes. Rui waves her off “Don’t worry, I have around 5 minutes before I need to be out the door and just need to fix my hair”.

Usually, Nene wouldn’t be available for this kind of favor since she and Rui didn’t live in the same city, but circumstances for today were kind.

She had gotten a temporary place in the city because of a new role she was cast for. A role in a new and shorter play that Rui was asked to come direct for.

Truthfully, he was excited for such an opportunity; the last time they had worked together on a show they had been kids in a run-down playground. Nene wasn’t afraid of him and Rui was patient with her. He still remembers how both of them had been so immersed in the Little Mermaid show their parents had taken them to see.

Perhaps they could recreate that moment for other kids now that they were older. He doesn’t dwell on the fact had they reconciled earlier, maybe they could have done so in high school, when Nene had started putting herself out in the scene again.

And now here she was doing him a favor by looking after his kid for the night. 

Why tonight? Well, Tsukasa had finally agreed to go on a date with him. Talking for a week was worth it, although he suspects Tsukasa was also impatient on wanting to go out with him too.

A giddy smile hasn’t left his face all day, especially since today coincided with a showing of a play the two wanted to watch. Tsukasa had shown him a video of the promotion, ecstatically telling him that they were bringing an overseas production to Japan. It was exclusive and Tsukasa had mourned the fact he couldn’t go see it, citing that Rui could probably use it as a great reference.

He did have to pull some strings to get them tickets so close to the showing but the director in charge of the local reproduction owed him a favor after Rui had saved his hell of a production a few years back.

He wonders what kind of face Tsukasa will have when he shows him the tickets, maybe he’ll jump into his arms. He’s getting lost in his thoughts as he looks at himself in a haphazardly placed mirror in his living room.

“You’re hopeless” Nene simply says and Rui replies while finishing tying up his hair “That’s funny, Mizuki said the same thing when she called me earlier”.

Honestly, it was embarrassing having his friends know about how non-existent his love life because they were excited he landed a date.

“Whose hopeless?” Shiori comes into the living room, curiously looking at her dad and dropping a quick hello to ‘Nene-nee’ before asking “Why are you fancy?”.

Nene stifles a laugh “This is fancy for you Rui? Don’t you at least own a suit?”.

“I do own a suit,” Rui retorts “She means fancy because I don’t look so tired and am properly tying up my hair”. He leaves out the fact that she says he is fancy every time he needs to book a haircut soon. It’s just another chance for her to mess with his hair and make it extremely knotted in the process.

He’s already intercepting her grabby hands, crouching down to stop her “Shio-chan, we talked about this”. She pouts in response “You’re already going out without me, let me do your hair to make it fancier!”.

He has to resist her pleading eyes “My treasure, you can do it tomorrow”.

“Even when you’re sleeping?” she pleads, Rui gives in “Even when I am asleep”.

“I want something now” Shiori decides, forcing Rui into a hug. She doesn’t like it when he leaves her home, even when it is with someone she knows like Nene. She did know she was staying with her, she just never got an answer to why.

“You’ll be late Rui” Nene chides in as Shiori tries to keep him trapped in a hug. She didn’t even know where he was going, yet he couldn’t help but wonder what she would think if he told her he was going on a date.

She’d probably compare it to a Sailor Moon couple, like she did with Kanade and Mizuki sometimes.

He gently pries Shiori’s arms off his neck “I’ll be back Shio-chan, have fun with Nene”.

“Okay…” his daughter finally lets him stand. She goes over to stand by Nene as Rui checks he has the tickets and other necessities.

Then Rui is out the door.

-----------------------------------------

Tsukasa never thought he’d have a desire to go on a date with anyone but like the director did during his shows, Rui gave him an expected surprise. In a good way, although he was navigating through the dark here, only having stuff he’s heard about his siblings’ dating life and screenplays he’s read.

But that won’t deter him! He was getting ready to go out with someone who would hopefully become his boyfriend!

“Hmph, shining me reflected in the shining mirror... so bright that he won’t be able to even keep his eyes open, am I right!?” Tsukasa could only stand in the mirror for so long before his sister told him to get moving.

Saki was the one who decided to come over to help me get ready after finding out he had a date for the first time ever.

It was nice to have his sister’s support, especially when she gushed over the fact that he and Rui of all people, someone she knows he admires, were going out.

“What are you guys doing?” she questions, fixing his hair for him despite his insistence that he could do it himself. A Tenma never takes no for an answer and she smiles as she ties his low ponytail with a star hairtie.

Tsukasa hums thoughtfully “He said it was a surprise but texted me an address. It’s in front of a theatre building but I know for a fact the recent showings all had to be pre-booked a month in advance”.

Saki nods “It really is a surprise then!”.

With that she wishes him luck and before he knows it he is waiting in front of a lamp post, mindlessly scrolling through his phone and getting a random butt dial from Shizuku.

A hand on his phone screen stops his movements and when he looks up to question whoever had done it, he is met face-to-face with Rui.

Rui was really pretty; his eyeliner seemed more articulated than usual, and he was dressed better too. Yes, he was wearing a hat and a mask, but he had assured Tsukasa he would take it off via text earlier on.

“Yahoo, Tsukasa-kun” Rui greets. Tsukasa immediately greets him back “Hello Rui! You look dashing!”.

He sees Rui’s eyes turn up “I must say you do look pretty too”.

Before Tsukasa can get in any other words, Rui is pulling him to the theatre “Sorry to cut our chat short but if we don’t leave now we’ll miss when the curtains rise”.

He then pulls out two tickets “NO WAY RUI”. Tsukasa moves closer to him to inspect the two tickets, the name and date shocking him. That’s the play he wanted to see! The one from overseas! “Why? How?”.

“You said that this show could be a useful reference for me and you wanted to see it, no?” Rui says so casually as if he wasn’t handing Tsukasa gold “So why not use this occasion to its fullest? I want to see it in its entirety after all”.

The fact that Rui remembers him mentioning the play nearly a month ago, and remembering what he said, makes him feel special. Tsukasa holds his ticket delicately.

He was going to be a world star someday; he should be used to receiving attention, but never had he felt attention like this.

With golden eyes only trained on him.

“I’ll return your date tenfold!” he announces, which causes Rui to let out a laugh “It’s not my date, it’s our date~”.

“HOW ARE YOU SO SMOOTH KAMISHIRO RUI! YOU COULD BARELY KEEP EYE CONTACT WITH ME FOR THE PAST WEEK ” he yells in his mind as Rui links their pinkies together and leads him inside.

Such a small touch gets him nervous as if he was the one going on stage.

Before he knew it, he was seated in the seat next to Rui’s, watching as the lights went off around them, a lone spotlight shining in the middle of the stage. Rui took off his disguise.

Tsukasa’s eyes remain on stage as the show begins. He gets immersed in the world the actors create, everything else is blocked out. The actors don’t stumble, they strive with all they have on stage, and Tsukasa was entranced. He and Rui still whisper things to each other, especially when they say a word in English that Tsukasa doesn’t understand and has Rui translate for him.

Overseas work was no joke and he remembered why he wanted to travel the world when he was younger, why he wanted to be a world future star.

In the midst of the show Tsukasa leans his head on Rui’s shoulder, their height difference making it easy, and he suppresses a chuckle when Rui stiffens for a moment “Taking advice from Saki’s manga really did help”.

He walks out at the end of the show feeling inspired and refreshed, he would have to report his findings to his theatre group at their next meeting.

Rui picks up on his attitude too “My my Tsukasa-kun is looking refreshed”.

He laughs “HA HA! I had such a fun time, I feel like I can perform that entire performance right now, right here!”.

Tsukasa reaches out to clasp Rui’s hands in his “Rui! Do you want to talk about the performance with me?”. Rui nods quickly “I was planning on asking you the same thing, come, I know a cafe that stays open late that we can go to”.

It seems Rui had planned this but Tsukasa also had a plan of his own… that he needed to hype himself up for.

Dates ended on a high note, and Tsukasa was determined to kiss Rui to get that. He also just wanted to kiss him, which he thinks isn’t wrong. He had watched a few dramas and taken notes when Rui’s name was actually in the credits, which allowed him to recognize how to set up a scene. He was a method actor, this is how he worked.

If he thought of it as setting up a scene, it was easier to not get flustered, he wanted to appear cool to Rui as much as he could.

“Tsukasa-kun?” is what snaps him back to reality. Embarrassed, Tsukasa apologizes “Sorry Rui, I’ll have this”, he points to a vanilla milkshake.

Rui grins “A sweet treat at night?” and he ignores the obvious light jab “It’s basically dessert and it’s interesting. You’re being boring just getting tea”.

“And you are anything but boring like me” he sighs before leaning forward slightly “Say Tsukasa-kun, can you tell me about your theatre work? Unless a boring old man can’t understand it”.

“Don’t twist my words, I am older than you” Tsukasa deadpans before the light returns to his eyes “But I’ll gladly tell you about my escapades!”.

It wasn’t as grand but Tsukasa enjoyed it when he could perform with like-minded people, especially when Emu joined them if she had the time. It was seldom but he cherished it, he could improve each time even if none of them were professional by any standards.

Even if the stage is not as grand as the ones Rui directed on, a stage is a stage, no matter how small or dilapidated, no matter how many people show up, an audience is still an audience.

“I’d love to see a finished performance sometime” Rui smiles and Tsukasa can’t tell him how much it meant to him because the waitress came over to deliver their drinks. They thank her and she leaves them alone.

Rui blows on his cup as Tsukasa uses the straw to get the whipped cream from the top of the glass. Rui watches him curiously before telling him Shiori does the same, implying Tsukasa was being a little childish.

He doesn’t sense Rui is being mean when he says it.

“Moving on; from your experience, how was the play?” Rui asks and the two quickly fall into a comfortable discussion.

Tsukasa’s focus was on the acting, on the facial expressions, on the voice projection, and various other small things. Rui’s focus wasn’t misplaced either, telling Tsukasa about how certain stage directions for the actor’s body movement could be improved. He also doesn’t let up about the stage effects.

“The use in opening certainly threw me off, but the rest of time certainly set the stage” he remarks, tracing his cup’s rim, “Perhaps I should try to incorporate it in the new show I was asked to do”.

“And would you use it in the opening act better?” Tsukasa questions, already trying to think about what Rui could have been asked to direct.

“Fufu no I wouldn’t, it’s a thrust stage, there are better ways to get the impact in the first scene with different effects” he says, taking a sip afterwards, “But then again you don’t want the opening act to be the only memorable part the audience takes away”.

It wasn’t a musical but they both agreed a song here and there would have completely disregarded the doomed narrative that was trying to be set up.

“Say Tsukasa-kun, what role would you play?” Rui asks, his cup still half full while Tsukasa’s was finished. He thinks for a moment before countering “Maybe the lead prince or something, I am not sure yet. What role would you play?”.

He asks that because he honestly can’t decide. The main characters were up to par with their performance, utilizing their space and their voices to the fullest, to draw these emotion driven reactions. But at the same time, the side characters performed well, not outshining their leads but still played their part to immerse the audience into the show.

Tsukasa was used to not being the lead, but in a scenario where he was the best actor, he’d take any opportunity to shine.

Rui laughs before leaning his cheek on his closed hand “So you’re a prince right? Well, I may not be suited for that role but I can make a pretty good alchemist”.

He doesn’t comment on how no one had played an alchemist tonight.

“Or maybe a knight? I haven’t played the role before–” he traces his own lip before sending him a wink “– but I can adapt to the role accordingly for you”. 

That move was exactly what they had seen in the show. Tsukasa had been focused on the acting and he knew Rui must have been focusing on the stage directions plus effects, but he would have never imagined Rui would remember such a small gesture.

Rui dismissed Tsukasa's silence, smiling coyly “Sorry, was that too much? You seemed drawn to the lead actor acting like that when he was with the heroine, I could even kiss your hand if you’d like”.

“The heroine kicked his butt at the end, should I fit her role too?” Tsukasa challenges him back and Rui raises his arms in defense “Such a brash way to put her defiance, to think a caretaker could commit such violence”.

It only took a few seconds before they looked at each other and both started laughing, Rui quieter than Tsukasa but both holding the same joy they felt.

Rui finishes his tea, half in an attempt to stop laughing, before he sighs happily “Sorry if it’s sudden but I can’t help but feel like our ambitions align”.

Tsukasa, who has calmed down now, can only tilt his head in confusion, hands unconsciously holding his cup in a tighter grip.

Rui elaborates “It’s my dream to work with someone so determined, do you understand me?”.

The word dream is not lost to him, he is friends with Emu after all. Dreams usually translate to ambition, something you desire to find in life.

And here Rui was telling Tsukasa that he could be a part of his dream, and Tsukasa was eager to return the sentiment.

“I do!” Tsukasa says happily.

“Let's go out there and make our stage dreams come true, yours and mine!” he announces, fully expecting a laugh and a small comment to keep dreaming.

Rui instead smiles sincerely and says “I’d be honored to help make your dream a reality, future star”.

Tsukasa was stunned before letting out a hefty laugh. A waitress comes over afterward to tell him to keep the volume down. He apologizes repeatedly and asks for the check.

Rui beats him and pays much to Tsukasa’s displeasure.

-----------------------------------------

Rui acts a bit entitled when he and Tsukasa decide it’s time to go home; he hugs Tsukasa tightly despite his protests of getting sweat from the summer heat. They had just been in an air-conditioned cafe, so there were no worries.

Tsukasa does give in after he looks around “You’re a hugger like Shiori”. Rui doesn’t reply and lingers for a moment longer “I don’t want this date to end even if we didn’t do anything extravagant”.

Tsukasa returns the sentiment “Me too…I don’t want it to end but come on Rui, we have to go catch the train”.

Tsukasa’s hand latches onto Rui’s as they walk to the nearest station and barely make it on time to the train. Rui makes a joke about adding rocket boosters to the speeding train and Tsukasa questions where he could even incorporate a rocket boosted train into a show.

Rui feels childish making such claims but not embarrassed, he doesn’t feel ashamed when standing next to Tsukasa but it is scary how comfortable he feels by simply being next to him.

There was an awkward moment when they tried to say goodbye; they both left the train at the same stop and they found out that they both lived in the same neighborhood.

“Fufu, maybe if we get to your place first, I can find ways to sneak in on an unsuspecting Tsukasa-kun~”.

“...You really know how to sweet talk a guy”.

They’re making small talk as they walk and he can even find amusement in how Tsukasa holds back a laugh when he tells him Mizuki is planning to get Shiori multiple coloring books with vegetable pictures for her birthday in a few days.

“Are you walking me to my place?” Rui asks when he notices Tsukasa hesitate for a moment while looking at a different turn. They still have to walk a few minutes to his apartment block but it’s clear Tsukasa’s place isn’t on the same route as his anymore.

“I am” he replies, leaving no room for argument, keeping his hand grip tight, moving closer to him as they walk alongside one another. He noticed that no one else had been around for a while and Tsukasa didn’t seem like the person to not be socially conscious in public.

The evening was warm but they didn't let go of their linked hands. Tsukasa’s thumb rubs Rui’s knuckles for a moment.

Rui wants to see if he can test the limits to that but he knows the night has to end sooner rather than later. He did always think curtain calls were bittersweet, but then again, they did lead to more marvelous shows in the future.

Rui is glad he has reached a stage in his life where he can confidently say he looks forward to what the future holds. His younger self would probably look at him in disdain if Rui told him such a thing.

The summer air is comforting in a way as the two enjoy each other’s company. It just makes Rui want to hold onto Tsukasa for longer, he intrigues him to no end. This is even more evident when Tsukasa doesn’t bid farewell to him outside his building but sticks with him until he reaches his front door.

Tsukasa doesn’t say anything to indicate why but he does seem to be hyping himself up for something. Rui figured he could at least invite him inside and wait for him to tell. Shiori had to be asleep by now, so there should be no problems.

He’ll still have to knock on the door for Nene to let him in since he only has one set of keys and left them behind in case there was an emergency. 

“You direct romance shows, don’t you? Have you ever written a romance route?” Tsukasa suddenly questions, stopping Rui from knocking on his own door. Rui feels like he is trapped in one place because the sudden shift in Tsukasa’s demeanor throws him off guard.

“I can answer that for you Rui, I know you haven’t. I know what you like to write about for your own shows and romance isn’t typically a theme” Tsukasa’s hands are gentle as he leads Rui’s arms to snake around his waist, making Rui feel weak in the knees as he steps closer, then pushes himself on his toes.

“First dates usually end with a bang, so I’ll ask you this once. Do you want a kiss?” he asked, eyes trained on Rui’s lips. The director doesn’t say anything, just nods like a lovestruck fool. Tsukasa’s hand traces one of Rui’s arms as his eyebrows furrow at the lack of an answer “I need a yes or a no Rui”.

“Yes” he says almost immediately and it amuses the blonde. Rui is drawn to his sudden boost in confidence and charisma.

Tsukasa leans closer, letting Rui rest one of his hands on the small of his back while he felt a warm hand reach for the base of his neck.

He feels a warm breath fan over his lips before his front door swings open. Tsukasa immediately pushes him back a little as Shiori stares at the two of them wide-eyed “DAD? TSUKASA-SENSEI?”.

Rui’s hand is still on Tsukasa’s waist, their faces still closer than normal, and he swears he sees a light bulb appear over her head “Kiss…?”.

Before either of them can say anything, she runs off. Rui gives Tsukasa a sheepish look “I didn’t tell her I was going on a date tonight… I thought she’d be asleep by now”.

The situation sinks in after that; his daughter just nearly saw him kiss his date who turned out to be her daycare caretaker. He couldn’t gauge if her reaction had been negative or not but he makes sure this worry doesn’t transmit to Tsukasa, he didn’t want to mortify him further.

Tsukasa doesn’t speak, his eyes still blown wide.

The door opens before Rui can say anything to the panicking Tsukasa. In the doorway stands an unamused Nene “Seriously, in the hallway Rui? What if one of your neighbors saw?”.

“SHIORI SAW!” Tsukasa shouts back, not lost in his own world anymore, making Rui move his hands away because of the scowl Nene gives.

Nene drags them both in before Tsukasa can make more of a commotion from embarrassment “Shiori just ran away giggling; I am sure she is the least of your worries”.

“Ah, sorry,” Nene suddenly backpedals “I am Kusanagi Nene, I was looking after Shiori tonight for Rui”. Tsukasa greets her back, finally not outwardly panicking “I am the extraordinary Tenma Tsukasa!”.

“Yeah yeah, I know, you’re Rui’s boyfriend who he won’t shut up about” she responds, almost in a matter-of-fact tone, which causes both Rui and Tsukasa to grow flustered. It seems Nene isn’t anxious at all tonight.

They hadn’t made anything official, but goodness, Rui wanted to.

He and Nene make some more small talk, with her lightly scolding him, before she says she’ll give the two the space to say goodbye. She walks back to check on Shiori.

While Nene caught Rui up, Tsukasa looked around his apartment. He did feel it was messy but then again a near 6-year-old lived here and liked to wreak havoc when hyper. This lets Rui know that Shiori had fun with Nene while he was out. But Tsukasa doesn’t look bothered by it, in fact, he was eyeing his notes on the table.

“I am sorry Tsukasa-kun” Rui says, grabbing hold of Tsukasa’s hand. Tsukasa allows him to “No no, it was an honor to meet such a renowned actress, and have her meet me, and to hear about how you don’t shut up about me”.

A small stroke to Tsukasa’s ego fed by Nene unknowingly. Nene hadn’t even shown a smudge of being shy or anxious meeting him too.

“Well I think it’s an honor that you deemed me worthy to take you on a date” he replies before letting go of his hand “Say before you’re on your way would you like a glass of water? Even if it is only for a moment, you’re a guest in my house right now”.

Rui tries to move to the kitchen but Tsukasa tugs his shirt “There is no need! I am fine”. Rui looks at him as if waiting for another answer, Tsukasa reluctantly gives it to him “Well, the only thing I would like is to have our moment back before Shiori opened the door”.

Rui doesn’t think he is used to such a shy Tsukasa but he wants to see it more; he wants to see all of Tsukasa.

He turns Tsukasa’s face toward him with a touch to his cheek. He directs him closer once again.

It’s a quick peck without any of the build-up Tsukasa had set up before. Rui had leaned down and pressed his lips against the blonde’s for a few seconds as he savoured the taste of his cherry-flavoured lip balm before pulling back and offering him a smile.

“There, now we actually kissed,” he says, “And I quite enjoyed it”.

Tsukasa brings a finger to his bottom lip before effectively feeling his entire face heat up. He turns to make better eye contact with Rui and stammers “You’re incorrigible, stealing my first kiss like that! I studied to set it up to charm you and you just go and…!”.

“Tsukasa-kun studied dramas to set up a first kiss so bold? ”.

Rui seems stunned for a second “It was my first kiss as well”. Tsukasa grows skeptical, face still on fire “You’re lying”. Rui has to hold back a laugh “I wasn’t lying when I said I’ve never dated anyone before, let alone had my first kiss”.

Rui is the one that pulls his cheek this time “You’re special Tsukasa-kun, so next time I’d like to be the one to walk you home”.

“Next time?” Tsukasa parrots “Aren’t you bold to assume I’d let you take me on a second date?”.

Tsukasa is teasing him as he says this because Rui can tell by the look in his eyes that he isn’t opposed to it.

When Tsukasa leaves just a bit later, Nene comes back out with an excited Shiori. His daughter runs up and tackles him, causing him to stagger back a bit. He didn’t even have time to question why she had stayed up.

“Dad!” Shiori says, making Rui lean down more to look at her, “You’re smiling!”.

Rui smiles wider “I am”.

Notes:

Ruikasa date! Except I made it slightly too fluffy for a first date. I wrote it as awkward because I think they are both losers who don’t know how to act on a date and are falling in love with each other. They only know about the concept of romance from shows they’ve seen and use it as a reference, so they are clingy.

Plus the vegetable book thing is something I saw in real life twice this week and I pulled a disgusted face so bad that it was noticeable to the person I was grocery shopping with.

Also I’d like to say I have the end for this fic planned! This fic was actually originally going to be a oneshot but I am happy I got to build the au a bit, I hope you guys will be happy with what I have planned^

Chapter 6: start of looking foward

Notes:

I’ll explain better in the end notes but I messed up the school start time; it’d be April not August. I tweaked things for this fanfic.

The neighborhood where Mizuki and Kanade’s apartment was was pretty secluded, so Rui didn’t have to worry about being recognized. He knew he wasn’t insanely popular, but he supposed he was never not going to be careless. He wanted Shiori to spend her childhood not with a spotlight constantly shining on her. It nearly happened once, he refused for that to happen again.

So here he was on a free afternoon, not a single worry present, while Shiori played with Kanato on the playground. It was a bit cooler but the shade on the bench was welcome. Kanade was closer to the two, making sure they didn’t hurt themselves.

With how fast Shiori was going on the fox spring rider, he is thankful she was right there. Kanato was next to her, going considerably slower but sending a glare at the rabbit-themed one.

Apparently, since the first time they came, Kanato had frowned when he saw the rabbit spring rider saying “It's not cute…”. The rabbit looked too serious to both Kanato and Mizuki, the latter saying that it looked just like the one from the park she used to play at as a kid.

Speaking of Mizuki, she’s sitting next to him on the bench talking about different sewing techniques she’s going to use for her next outfit. She’s throwing ideas left and right, and Rui’s trying his best to respond with commentary that adds on to what she’s telling him. She does make fun of him for not knowing what different hems on clothes are called. It seemed their hobbies only properly collided when it came to stage outfits.

Mizuki got lucky being able to make and adjust the clothes she wanted as a day job and working as an editor as a night job, all while helping raise a bright boy.

Rui recalls how happy Kanato was at the birthday party they threw for his sixth birthday party recently. He could happily lick the ice cream cake he got and spend the day being exposed to all kinds of beautiful melodies, including the song Kanade had written for him.

Rui is getting off track and so is the time he is living in.

“Having a fashion designer for a sister and being sewing buddies with Shizuku-chan really pays off ya know~” Mizuki says after gushing about a design she needed to get materials for, this time focusing on what her son likes, “I also wanted to see if I could get anything for Mafuyu since she got a raise recently, it’s just an excuse to get her a gift!”.

He had briefly heard about Mizuki doing the same with her sister when she was younger, she had talked about it fondly when they were on the rooftop all those years ago. Kanato wasn’t the same as her when she was younger, but he still enjoyed spending as much time as possible with her.

Kanato lights up when Mizuki talks about dressing him up and he’s seen Kanade take photos whenever she gets the chance, even if she can only sometimes keep it focused.

“Change is happening to everyone around us,” Rui remarks. “Do you think Kanato’ll be upset that he won’t go to the daycare as often? Since you said Kanade is adjusting her work so she can be at home more and he’s going to school” he wonders if Shiori will also be upset, but she hasn’t been there as long as Kanato has.

She hums, “I think he’ll be okay since he will still see Yuki-chan and Shio-chan”.

“We mostly started sending him because while he is where he needs to be academically, we wanted him to socialize,” Mizuki says “I don’t want him to become isolated like I was, I want him to be able to feel like he can be himself with no worries around other kids”.

She laughs “One day he might turn out like us, trying to stay indoors all day online. We want him to fully experience life outside of a screen too”.

“Your attendance in real life for high school suggests–” Rui adds and Mizuki gives a fake offended look “Eh? But I am different now! You are too!”.

“I think Kana-kun will be fine, he has Shio-chan after all and us. He may be considered weird by his peers now and in the future but that doesn’t mean being weird is bad” Rui says, not teasing her anymore.

She smiles, looking at her son playing “I know that. I am not scared about what people say about me anymore, but Kanato… Kanato is still my baby. I don’t want him to get hurt”.

Rui remembers when Mizuki just didn’t care about people, content with being lonely, he had been too. Together, they had found a lonesome friend in each other while skipping classes, back when he found inspiration from conversations around him and rarely engaged in them himself. Had she cared about getting hurt back then?

“Shio-chan’s an extrovert, so she’ll hopefully make connections quicker than I did but I get the same feeling you do. I won’t always be there to protect her, no matter how much I wish it were possible,” Rui says after a moment “She’s caring and although she can be slow socially, I am sure she’ll be fine just like how I am sure the same with be for Kanato”.

“You know, Shio-chan would make a great big sister” are the next words that come from Mizuki, which throw Rui off guard. Perhaps it was because he listed off good qualities, maybe its from how she was interacting with Kanato.

Or maybe it was just to redirect the conversation from getting heavier. A sudden itch to get a reaction out of him will do that to her “Hey, that is the same as me telling you that Kana-kun would make a great big brother. I am one parent, you guys are two”.

She shakes her head “Hell no, the next living thing that lives with us is a cat, not another kid”.

He chuckles, “Just don’t get a black or white cat, my treasure will think it’s from her show”. He thinks that Mizuki will say something back since he knows she knows more about it, instead she circles back, “You might not be one parent forever with how head over heels you are for Tenma-kun!”.

Rui clamps his mouth shut and doesn’t respond. Mizuki pokes his side “Neh neh Rui, don’t want to talk anymore?”.

“It’s too early” Rui thinks. He can think about the future later when they establish their relationship more. They only became exclusive a few days ago and he knew Tsukasa had new leverage because he had called him his boyfriend so enthusiastically which ultimately made Rui did a hundred backflips in his mind.

Mizuki’s teasing ceases when her son runs up to her. She looks down to make better eye contact “Oh Kanato, are you tired?”. Behind her Kanade and Shiori follow, although Kanade looks more tired than usual.

All the boy does is look at his tired mother who goes behind to rest on Mizuki’s back, as if she was using her wife to block the sun despite all of them being in the shade “Mizuki… switch”.

“Ha ha, is the sun finally getting to you?” she asks while laughing as the white-haired woman only groans in response “Let me under the shade now”.

Shiori brings his attention away from the Akiyamas “Dad, we need more protection”. He’s already reaching for the bottle “Oh, you need more sunscreen?”.

When Shiori renames something, she sticks to it no matter how many times she gets corrected.

“PROTECTION! AGAINST THE SPIRITS OF THE SUMMER!” she yells back.

“Protection!” Kanato mimics, although not as loudly as Shiori. Instantly, Rui knows that this talk is inspired by Kanato since his daughter’s friend has taken a liking to hearing myths about yokai. Then again, now he had a fear of ladies who wore masks due to Mizuki telling him something too scary for a six-year-old.

Once he finishes reapplying the ‘protection’ to her face, he beckons Kanato over and does the same for him while Mizuki uses her hand to fan air over Kanade.

-----------------------------------------

Tsukasa had to inform his place of work that he was dating one of the parents and had to go through many hurdles to prove that no he wasn’t the one who initiated, no he wasn’t being blackmailed or pressured or doing that to the parent, among various other things.

He did get a reduction in his pay for three months, but it was worth it because he didn't get fired.

What wasn’t worth it was Shizuku teasing him, well it wasn’t really teasing and more so her bubbly personality making it impossible for her to know she was flustering him. But Tsukasa knew she was just happy for him. He had just mentioned Rui asking him on a date, nothing about if he actually went. She didn't know about his news to the management.

He was going to do the same thing if she ever got back in the dating pool again. He vaguely remembered her mentioning someone by name that she was interested in, but she was sure it wasn’t reciprocated. Was it Asano? Or was it Asahina? Something along those lines, the latter sounds more familiar.

Tsukasa wants Shizuku to feel how he felt with Rui, whether platonic or romantic. Although he knows she gives a lot of affection to her sister, and by extension her nephew plus her sister-in-law.

But the other person on his mind because of his relationship was Shiori. It seemed she hadn’t figured anything out yet and Tsukasa had held his breath when Rui brought her in after the whole fiasco in front of the door.

She had come up to him as usual, grabbed his hand as he led her inside, before she started enthusiastically telling him about her birthday presents. A mini-Shiori robot was not something he expected, but he wasn’t surprised by it. Apparently it played songs she liked to dance to.

She got a few new outfits, a cosplay and a light-up wand, plus a few other things. Tsukasa had completed the one she was currently wearing and she got really happy. She didn’t say anything about him and Rui being at the door, didn’t say anything but Tsukasa standing a bit closer than just a friend.

He just wanted to let Shiori know, when Rui was ready to tell her about their relationship officially in a few months, hopefully, he would be the best partner to Rui.

Maybe he should ask for someone else’s opinion, someone who knew him and not Rui “Shizuku, can I tell you something?”.

Shizuku looks up from the box of toys and books she was packing away, since she and Tsukasa were on cleanup duty tonight, “Did you leave the sprinkler on the entire day? It’s okay, your secret is safe with me! I forget sometimes too”.

Tsukasa makes a mental note to check the back before leaving “No no, it’s something to do with uh… Rui”. She drops the box she was holding, “SHIZUKU?”.

“Tsukasa-kun…!” she tearfully says and walks over to hold his shoulder “I am so happy for you!”.

“I didn’t even say what it was,” he laughs “But it seems you’ve guessed already; Rui and I are romantically involved! Which is why I need your help”.

As he finishes his closing duties he relays what happened, she nearly laughs when he tells her about what happened when he tried to kiss Rui. She doesn’t make any sound but the hand in front of her mouth says more than words could.

After she stops her near laughing fit before she starts to console him. Shizuku says that he looks happier compared to the time he was afraid that Rui had rejected him. She says she doesn't fully understand their relationship since it’s their own but she sees how it affects him and, in turn understands why he is worried about Shiori.

“Shiori-chan hasn’t acted differently around you or has said anything about you to me, so just trust what’s happening around you. Tsukasa-kun is a good person so only good things can happen in his future” Shizuku’s smile makes him feel at ease.

He should probably not worry anymore. “I won’t let this bother me at work anymore” Tsukasa pumps his fist in the air.

“While we are at the workplace, we must continue to deliver smiles and hopes to all the kids! HA HA HA!” he announces as Shizuku claps along happily.

Tsukasa leaves the daycare that night feeling a lot lighter thanks to his dear friend, even if she didn’t give him much advice. Listening had been enough.

-----------------------------------------

Shiori’s first day of elementary school comes faster than Rui had anticipated. Before he knows it he is getting his photo taken with his daughter in front of the welcome sign, getting a suggestion from Mizuki to stay on Shiori’s level because he is “so damn tall compared to Shio-chan!”.

Shiori had been waiting all week for this, excited to learn more alongside her trio of friends and meet more people. She had mentioned that she saw on TV that some schools do plays with all the students and how she wanted to do that.

She’s going to be really upset when either he or Kanato tells her that neither he nor Yukina are in her class. She hadn’t even thought of this happening, too busy trying not to hop on the way to her new school.

But right now he focuses on keeping the camera steady as Mizuki stands next to Kanato, arguably the most fashionably dressed parent with their kid, as she tells him to stand up straight against the size of his backpack.

Rui takes the photo as they are both laughing. Kanato had been more nervous about today than Shiori had, according to Kanade, so he is sure both moms will appreciate the photo. He is right because when Mizuki comes over to check the photo she audibly coos “Aw my Kanato is so cute! They grow up so fast~”.

Kanato pouts at that “I am not that cute…”. Shiori disagrees with him before dragging him away from their parents toward something beside the welcome sign. They aren’t far enough away that neither parent cannot see them, but additionally Rui can still hear them.

As he watches Shiori whine to Kanato about how they aren’t in the same class he looks over and sees the bittersweet smile Mizuki has “I didn’t want to ask right in front of the kids but where is Kanade?”.

He’s right on the money as to why she looked a bit sad. “She’s physically fine but today’s date just coincided with a…” she trails off “It’s not my place to tell, I get it. Kanade wanted to be here but she just…”.

Rui places a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from talking to say “If you need me to help with Kanato-kun for the week, let me know. I can even pick him up today”.

She smiles at him gratefully “I’d appreciate it, I’ll text you the details for today”.

She then shakes her head, returning to her happy-go-lucky smile “But let’s focus on the now!”.

And focus she did because the next moment her son was nearly knocked over by a very excited Yukina “KANATO-KUN WE ARE IN THE SAME CLASS!!!!”. Emu comes jogging behind her, making her way to the two parents “Konnichiwonderhoy ☆ everyone! I was wondering where the welcome sign was”.

“Nice to see you Ootori-chan!” Mizuki greets her while Rui politely nods in acknowledgment “Do you want me to take a photo of you two?”. Emu nods “That’d be a big help. Yuki-chan, come to mommy!”. Yukina complies, letting go of her friend, bouncing over to her mom who guides her to the welcome sign. Emu had given her pigtails so they bounce up and down with her.

She seemed to be even more energetic than Shiori is.

“Peace!” the two Ootoris say as they throw up peace signs, one of Emu’s arms is around her daughter since she chose to crouch instead of stand. As soon as the photo is taken, Yukina is already gone. Emu comes over to marvel at the photo.

“I have a spectacular ☆ idea! Can we get all three of them together?” Emu suggests after looking at the photos Mizuki took on her phone.

“If Shio-chan can stand still on the first try” Rui, regardless, gets his phone ready.

“Oi you three!” Mizuki gets all of their attention and successfully stops Yukina from poking Kanato even more “Squeeze together so we can take a photo!”.

Shiori moves to squeeze herself in between Yukina and Kanato, arm around each of their shoulders. Kanato looks a bit surprised while Yukina is giving this toothy smile, accidentally digging her backpack into Shiori, said girl doesn’t notice and smiles widely alongside her.

Rui takes the photo when Kanato’s small smile appears at the sight of his friends.

After that, their kids are guided to their classrooms and all the parents are shoved into the gym. He can practically feel everyone judging each other for no apparent reason, aside from Emu, who remains completely oblivious to her surroundings even when there is a whisper of “Isn’t that an Ootori?”.

Rui stifles a laugh before whispering to Emu “You better watch out for the vultures trying to get free Phoneiland tickets by being friends with Yukina-kun”. Emu smirks “Yuki-chan will know who to be friends with, she’s a force to be reckoned with ☆”.

After the ceremony ended at just about the end of the morning, Emu and Mizuki made conversation with each other, Rui joined in before announcing he was going to go. The women both bid him farewell. 

Rui silently thanked that this school just let the kids be and didn’t force the parents to stay for the entire day but also cursed the school for the amount of stuff they said she needed. He wondered why they had combined both the first day and the ceremony on the same day but at the same time he didn’t question it.

He would do anything to avoid sitting through another speech he only half-listened to; he had graduated a long time ago. Now, the kids could get a better orientation and actually could socialize without helicopter parents or their younger siblings causing mayhem.

Rui walks further before realizing he could be easily spotted and probably looks like a fool wandering around so aimlessly. So he finds somewhere to stay for a while. He’s sitting in a diner, by himself, just eating something small he ordered. He should be finalizing stage directions he was asked to revise but he doesn’t have the energy to.

Said energy returns when he sees a familiar face walk through the diner’s doors, he doesn’t even need to call Tsukasa before the blonde notices him, waves, and comes over to ask if he can join him.

It’s a weekday so after greeting him Rui asks what he’s doing here, not that he isn’t happy that he’s here.

“It’s my day off, I am visiting my family later. I’ll have to deal with aunts and uncles asking me why I am not married yet,” he laughs at the last part of his sentence before joining Rui at his table “But if I can also spend time cheering up my boyfriend today, I don’t mind at all!”.

The word boyfriend still makes Rui’s heart flutter; to other people they must look embarrassing, he doesn’t care. Tsukasa could tell from a glance he looked trouble and now here he was trying to help Rui.

“It’s Shiori’s first day at elementary school,” Rui says, showing the pictures he took on his phone. Tsukasa smiles at the photo, seeing the way the two Kamishiros were so happy. Shiroi’s trying to stand tall and Rui looks so proud.

He puts down his phone “It seems childish, you know? She’s only going to school but it seems so different”.

“You must have heard how hard it was when I first started my career,” he starts off “But the same thing happened again and again since I was her age too”.

“I don’t want her to be ostracized like I was at such a young age. She’s special, perhaps gifted, she finds her own way to understand things in our world that seem atypical. She tries to understand why people react the way they do but she, despite hiding it, struggles to put herself in their shoes” he continues, still being able to hold his head high, “You ask her why she likes a certain thing and instead of talking just about her feelings she’ll start explaining technical aspects with words she can’t pronounce. Sometimes I wonder if I accidentally led her to becoming just like me”.

Tsukasa thinks for a moment before placing a steady hand on Rui’s “You guys aren’t exactly the same, she has her own interests. Sometimes, I agree, she tends to forget about those around her when she makes her own shows but she’ll learn”.

“She does,” he agrees, trying not to get distracted by the warmth of Tsukasa’s hand. “This is just silly fear, Shiori will be fine, she is tough”.

Tsukasa says “Even if the worst case scenario happens, which I highly doubt will happen, Shiori will come to you. She trusts you completely”. Rui perks up at his words.

“You know it’s a reason I admire you; you’re the type of person who’d make everyone smile with an eccentric show, rather than make up excuses or talk in a way that confuses people” he adds on, looking at Rui as if he were magical.

Tsukasa just had this caring nature to him, not just because of his job, but because of his character. Tsukasa had to be the kindest person on this earth “It’s almost like his acting in his big brother mode; his siblings are lucky”.

Rui starts handing him the menu left on the table “You came in here for some food, right? Order something, it’s on me as a thanks for listening to me”.

“Stop paying for me Rui! I’ll always lend you an ear no matter what” he says, picking up the menu and beginning to skim the options “But I would be a fool to say no to free food”.

Tsukasa is the reason he will be able to smile sincerely when he picks up Shiori and Kanato later today, not worrying too much about her during the day.

And in case anyone wants to know, Kanade is the one who picks up her son who hugs her tightly when she makes her way into Rui's apartment.

-----------------------------------------

Shiori’s first day of elementary school was in August and now it is nearly the end of the year. It terrified Rui how fast time had passed but at the same time he wasn’t completely opposed to it.

Shiori had thrived in her school environment even though she was put into a different class than her friends, plus he supposes the extra stuff he taught her before she had applied helped her too.

He has a very talkative and hyper six-year-old.

He can attest to this right now since she was dancing around their living room, plushie in hand. He didn’t recognize the melody, but it’s upbea,t and he briefly wonders if he’ll get a noise complaint from his downstairs neighbor.

He’ll deal with that hurdle when he gets there. Right now he’ll only focus on her happy little giggles as he sits on the floor, legs stretched out under the table. She had tried to get him to join her but Rui had declined. Shiori had pouted but then forgot all about when the next song began. He let her have this free time since she had done all her chores and had done her homework.

She was just lost in her own imagination.

The reason Rui told her no was that he was getting his thoughts in order. Tsukasa was coming over today and he couldn't stop fidgeting in place, which at his age was embarrassing.

He and Tsukasa were boyfriends, they had been dating for six months now.

Tsukasa had hung out with the two when Rui invited him over and Shiori hadn’t asked them any questions yet, she just sent knowing looks, although he highly doubts she knows what face she’s pulling. Aside from the near kiss she witnessed on their first time going out, he supposed she had no reason to suspect them.

He supposes he was lucky since Shiori already got along with Tsukasa. Plus he and Tsukasa were solid and he could see a future with him, he wasn’t telling Shiori he wanted to build something with someone temporary. So Rui didn’t need to worry about Shiori meeting someone new.

He’ll still give her space if she needs to process it and encourage her to ask questions. He had already talked about it with Tsukasa but they decided to talk to her together.

Rui was just happy that the two clicked outside of their established dynamic at the daycare. Shiori doesn’t act entitled or request special treatment when she attends the daycare. Sometimes he thinks she acts older than she is but she still held such childlike innocence so he wasn’t too worried.

Nothing could break his and Shiori’s bond, which is why he thought it was time to be honest. A small misunderstanding could break trust so by that logic honesty would strengthen it. He wasn’t doing much to hide it from her in the first place.

The doorbell rings, startling Shiori in the process since she didn’t know anyone was coming over. She rushes over to his phone, turning off the song, before looking at her dad curiously “Can I answer?”.

Rui nods “Go ahead~”. He already knew who was at the door, it was Tsukasa. He got the confirmation when he heard a happy “Tsukasa-san!”.

When he started hanging out with them outside of his work he told Shiori he didn’t have to call him ‘sensei’. She was still polite to him since he wasn’t a family friend and Rui didn’t say anything aside from letting out a chuckle when Tsukasa asked if he was that old to her.

Only he would think about Tsukasa so much, even if the man himself was taking off his shoes and packing them away. Shiori’s run comes up to him, hands both down on the table, “Tsukasa-san is here! Dad!”. Rui pushes himself up “Fufu, I know my treasure, I invited him”.

Tsukasa proudly walks in looking as beautiful as ever. His hair was let loose and he looked super comfortable to hug, something that Shiori had probably done at the entrance. He sends him a knowing look.

Rui places a hand on his daughter’s head “Shio-chan, can you go to your room until I call you?”.

She frowns, clearly feeling left out, but goes to her room regardless. When she's left, Tsukasa grabs his hand reassuringly “It’s okay to be nervous Rui, I am too”.

Rui lightly laughs “Hello Tsukasa-kun. Is it that obvious?”.

They had talked about what to say before, how to handle certain responses, but Rui was terrified of what she would have to say. The important thing was that he wanted both of them in his future, so this was a step in the right direction.

Tsukasa looks at him with determination “Communication is key, even for a kid. It’s like we talked about, we encourage her to ask questions or voice any confusion. Maybe she won’t have questions now but she might have later”.

Tsukasa never had any doubts about things like this and Rui can’t help but admire him for it.

“I do have to say something though,” Rui says, stopping Tsukasa from getting Shiori “Last time I checked, Shio-chan thought if I ever dated someone it’d be a woman, someone like a princess. She drew me as a prince and everything”.

Thankfully, she’s never questioned or expressed feeling like something was missing by Rui being a single parent but she probably did hold an expectation based on the families around them.

“HUH? HOW OLD–” Tsukasa stops himself from yelling “Ahem! How old was she?”.

“She was four” Rui confirms “But she hasn’t commented on anything since, I don’t know what she’d think about it”.

He hears a mutter of “I can pull off any role, including a princess”.

“It’s okay, it’s fine,” Tsukasa smiles before leaning up to kiss Rui’s cheek “Let’s not stall since I heard the door open while we were talking”.

Sure enough he sees a head of purple hair peeking around the corner, thankfully she hadn’t seen the kiss, “Shio-chan, you can come out now”.

Tsukasa sits in the one armchair they own while he sits Shiori on the couch next to him. She first asks if she is in trouble, which Rui tells her she isn’t, before saying that he wants to speak to her with Tsukasa.

Shiori sits there patiently as she hears Rui try not to stumble over his words before Tsukasa puts in a few of his own, probably still wondering how he fits into all of this.

“You know how there are love stories between princes and princesses, just like how you thought a story like that would happen to your dad” she nods as Tsukasa speaks “Well, sometimes there is a knight and the prince wants to choose him instead”.

“I am the prince and Tsukasa-kun is the knight” Rui finally says “We are dating”. He properly turns to her, as if it was only them right now. He needs her to know that this change was scary and he says as much.

He takes one of her small hands in his “Shiori, you’re always my number one. Just because I am dating Tsukasa-kun doesn’t mean I am going to forget you. You’re my treasure, my everything, you know that right?”.

“I know” she says, giving their hands a tighter grip. Rui smiles, pushing back her bangs to leave a kiss on her forehead, “If you ever have any questions or problems about this you can talk to me anytime about it”.

“Are you guys like the two Sailor Scouts?” is her first question and shamefully Rui can’t recall who she is talking about since she usually watches while he is working or napping “If that’s what you want to think Shio-chan”.

She nods before giggling “Then I have no questions! I knew you two looked lovey dovey with each other! I can be the princess then and get my own prince!”.

It honestly concerns Rui a bit that her first and only question for now was if he was like a TV show character but at the same time he knows this is how Shiori is making sense of the situation.

She then turns her attention to Tsukasa, something the blonde doesn’t miss.

“Do you have anything you’d like to tell me? I’ll answer any questions just like your dad will!” Tsukasa is still talking to her gently but not in a way that sounds like he is ridiculing her.

She doesn’t say anything for a while, instead just observing both him and Tsukasa. “She must be processing it” Rui thinks “Should I have maybe done this alone? Does she feel pressured?”.

Then Shiori smiles widely “You kept your promise!”.

Rui looks confused but Tsukasa laughs lightly in response “Of course I did! Forgive me for taking so long”.

He can’t even get the time to question what promise Shiori had asked Tsukasa to keep before he answers for him.

“I’ll always try to make your dad happy, Shiori. I’ll protect your smiles for as long as you two will have me” Tsukasa looks at Rui, the way the sun will look at the moon, “I don’t care if we fight or miscommunicate again, I don’t care if people say we are rushing into things because we aren’t in our early twenties anymore. I just want the best”.

“Is that okay, Shiori?” she doesn’t reply, only squealing happily. She properly doesn’t understand the full situation, only that he and Tsukasa were dating, but that doesn’t matter. She’s young, she believes in all sorts of fantasies and extravagant fairytales with princesses and princes, and if she had any questions he’d answer them to his best ability.

But Rui isn’t fully paying attention to his daughter right now, which sounds bad, but Tsukasa just made him more aware

“Don’t stand on the couch–” Tsukasa chastises her, wondering when Rui will tell her off despite it being their home.

Instead he watches in pure shock as he hears Rui hit the record button on his phone that he seemingly pulled out of nowhere “Please say that one more time so I can record it and keep it!”.

Tsukasa swats him on the shoulder “When did you get so shameless?!”. He puts emphasis on the word shameless and Rui only laughs in return.

Eventually Tsukasa and Shiori join in. Rui just feels so loved.

He doesn’t care if it’s too early in the relationship to think this, maybe it is partial because he clicked so fast with Tsukasa, but he wants them to stay together. All three of them.

He’d never pressure Tsukasa, he’d never tell him so soon, but he gets the feeling Tsukasa also wants to commit to the two of them. His words clearly meant it.

It’s funny to think this all started because Rui enrolled Shiori into the daycare he worked at, which evolved from conversations had when he picked Shiori up. He fumbled and nearly lost Tsukasa’s interest yet he still got to express his feelings.

He expects there to be bumps in the road but he feels like they’ll be able to overcome them.

“Tsukasa-kun,” he starts, looking into his eyes “Thank you for being with me”.

Tsukasa blinks before smiling “You don’t need to thank me, after all it was you who let me in”.

“DAD!” Shiori suddenly says, stumbling onto his lap properly and grabbing his face in her hands “Don’t ignore me! You too, Tsukasa-san!”.

He wants to see where his life will take him, he didn’t know that having to move because of a fame hungry employee would lead to something so bright.

But maybe he should focus on how Shiori behaves when guests are over before all of that.

Notes:

I like to reference mysekai dialogue I see, fufu.

Note: I wrongfully assumed when school years started, partially due the fact pjsk started their school year (the 3rd anni update) in September. The only loophole is if they went to an international school otherwise all three would start the following year. For the sake of the fanfic it's a detail to ignore since I set the timeline around months in previous chapters, plus otherwise it’s too many time skips in the progression I show here. I should have checked. Shiori isn’t even going to pre-school since some don’t do that so^

Anyway hi^ originally my plan was to end it at this but I decided to have two bonus chapters; basically two proper timeskips in this au because I can’t stop thinking about it. I plan to upload the chapters all in one day so I stop clogging up relationship tags for this fic. I am grateful for the support here so I hope it suffices as a good thing to look forward to since this fic is super messy.

Chapter 7: first look into the future: meeting the tenmas

Notes:

Again this chapter only has the ships ruikasa and another which isn’t tagged due to only appearing for this bonus^

Shiori still liked going out when Rui did errands, even as a recently turned eight-year-old. Rui tended to get these things done while she was at school, but sometimes his work schedule got the better of him. Shiori had at least gotten better at behaving in public. She hadn’t been obnoxious before, it was more of having her learn to control her excitement and pick up on social cues she may have missed.

She also had increased her fidgeting habits, struggling to keep her hands still. Rui doesn’t judge her for that since he did the same thing as a child. It only made Rui more sure that she needed to be assessed. It's not his fault it's normal for him.

So, just as a bonus, he’ll add a little reward for Shiori during certain errands. If she comes and helps him with grocery shopping, she can pick out a small snack, or if she doesn’t cause a major disturbance to those around them during days when areas were more crowded, she could watch one extra episode on the TV that day.

Today he is grocery shopping to stock up on items in the house, mostly for meals, although he wasn’t sure about what to do for tonight.

One night ago, he ordered takeout, so that was a no-go, but two nights ago, Tsukasa came over and he cooked for them. Rui genuinely thinks that ginger-fried pork is becoming one of Shiori’s favorite dishes.

Tsukasa had stayed for as long as he could since he had work the next day, despite Rui’s insistence that he could stay the night.

“Just imagine Tsukasa-kun. Us waking up to each other, living in the same space, in the same room, and using the same things. This can be a test run, like we’re newlyweds~ just with a little girl running around” he had teased when Tsukasa had mentioned that he should get going, not actually pushing Tsukasa to stay over if he wasn’t fully comfortable. They had been dating for just over two years now, so he didn’t think it was too out of place.

That earned him a small punch to the shoulder and a “Rui, you can’t say such embarrassing things so casually!”.

But it didn’t end there, Rui could see the way Tsukasa’s blush had even reached the tip of his ears “It’s improper to live together before we’re engaged… perhaps in the future I’ll consider it”.

Rui hadn’t said anything at the time, which caused Tsukasa to get more embarrassed. Tsukasa had used his hand to push against Rui’s chest but they had still huddled close together, Tsukasa didn’t move his hand.

He wished he could eat Tsukasa’s cooking more often, but wishing wasn’t going to get him a meal on the table tonight. He decides to just make something simple tonight: a miso soup and rolled omelets on the side. Unless Shiori has any other ideas she hasn’t told him yet, he’ll ask her once she comes back.

Which is why he faces the disgust he still gets every time he steps into the vegetable aisle. He didn’t care how much he hated vegetables, he would ignore his repulsiveness toward them to make sure Shiori grew up as healthy as she could.

“Hey Dad! This nice lady looks like Tsukasa! She wanted to know where the leeks were, so she came with me” his daughter's cheerful voice interrupts when he is picking up the vegetables, reluctantly touching them. It was still the same as ever. He had sent her to get the fruit snacks she liked and here she was helping people out instead.

She had dropped the honorific since she had gotten fully comfortable with Tsukasa, the blonde himself actually encouraged it to both her and to Rui. Rui doesn’t think he’ll ever stop calling him “Tsukasa-kun”.

He figured since the stranger only asked Shiori where something was in the store, he didn’t need to reprimand her for responding to strangers asking for help within the store, but he grew confused at the part where she said she looked like Tsukasa, until he looked up.

The woman greets him “You must be Kamishiro Rui-san, right? And this here is your lovely daughter Kamishiro Shiori-chan”.

Rui blinks, slowly looking up and down. An older woman with light blonde hair is smiling kindly at his daughter, marigold eyes showcasing a warmth that reminds him of Tsukasa.

It dawns on him that she must have recognized Shiori or seen him across the store. With the latter it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary since there are photos of him online, even a photo with Tsukasa on his boyfriend’s private social media page.

Shiori is back at his side the next moment, letting out a curious “Dad?” when he doesn’t say anything in response.

When it hits him that this is Tsukasa’s mother, he quickly bows, giving a little nudge for Shiori to do the same “Good afternoon, it’s wonderful to meet you”.

She giggles, hand in front of her mouth, “My my so formal”.

Rui straightens back up, Shiori following suit, confused, “Tenma-san, I-”.

“Kokomi,” she immediately corrects him, a cold air suddenly surrounding her “Tenma-san makes me feel old. Feel free to call my husband that, he won’t mind~”.

Rui has always been taught that when he meets his partner’s parents, he has to be as polite as possible, so such a suggestion seemed beyond him. He knows everyone’s parents are different, so he wasn’t sure what would not drive Tsukasa’s parents away.

If she found out that Rui had successfully coerced her son into being a test dummy for a few new stage mechanics, even if he had the correct safety protocols in place, would she demand they end the relationship? Additionally, he had no idea how much … Kokomi knew about him.

He knew that Tsukasa’s parents had planned more than his own, so they were older by the time Tsukasa came around. He really can’t say much, though, since he adopted Shiori only three years older than when his parents had him. At least he wasn’t the only one with a desire for kids since Kanade and Mizuki also had a kid around the same age as his parents. The logistics didn’t matter right now though.

Still, he was amazed by the careers his parents built while raising a kid after only one year of marriage and with voiced disapproval from his paternal grandparents but he knew that resilience and perseverance were strong characteristics of the Kamishiros, the same characteristics applying to the Tenmas as well.

He had seen clips of Tsukasa’s mom online,  teaching her students and having them genuinely enjoy creating music to her own complicated performances. One thing he did notice now that he was closer was that Kokomi looked as young as Tsukasa; she had few wrinkles and still spouted a baby-like face, she looked like a carbon copy of Tsukasa, minus the peach tips in his hair.

Rui figures he should return the sentiment about the name “If you feel comfortable, you may use my first name as well, Kokomi-san”. He nearly calls her by her last name again. Shiori smiles “You can call me Shiori, Miss!”.

Kokomi coos at the girl “You’re even cuter in person compared to the photos Kasa-kun showed me. So bright, so full of life”.

“Kasa-kun?” Shiori questions and Kokomi answers her “That’s my nickname for Tsukasa. I am his mother, that’s why we look alike Shiori”.

“Rui-san, how about you and Shiori-chan join my family for dinner this Sunday?” she suddenly asks “It’ll just be my immediate family”.

Rui almost felt as terrified as the time some actor disregarded his safety protocol for a stunt and nearly landed himself with two other staff members in the emergency room. Except this wasn’t a situation where he could physically harm himself in.

He knew that first impressions meant everything; middle school had taught him that well. What it also taught him was to read people. Kokomi didn’t seem to be two-faced, as much as he hated the thought someone related to the literal sun could be like that, and she seemed receptive to Shiori. He knew that there could be slight concern over her son dating someone with a kid already.

“Shiori-chan, what foods do you like?” the blonde leans down a bit and waits for Shiori’s answer “I love all types of vegetables! And I love ginger fried pork and shrimp”. Kokomi nods “I’ll make something really tasty that suits what you like for Sunday then”.

His daughter continues smiling happily “Tsukasa makes yummy food as well! Better than my Dad sometimes!”. Rui playfully scoffs “Don’t get too cocky Shio-chan”. She sheepishly nods in acknowledgment before asking “Can we go over to the nice lady’s house? I want to meet Tsukasa’s family”.

Rui looks warmly at Shiori before replying to Kokomi “We’ll gladly join you. I’d love to officially meet your family. Tsukasa-kun already talks of you all so fondly”.

“He does the same for you too, I can see it in his expression when he shows me photos” she nods to herself “Plus I am jealous he got to meet your father before you got to meet us”.

That instance was when Tsukasa coincidentally was at the same bank as his dad, neither of them knew who the other was until Rui’s dad had properly adjusted his glasses. Afterward, Rui found out because Tsukasa had phoned him and profusely apologized.

“It was by pure accident,” Rui assures her “They didn’t get much time to converse either”. Kokomi nods in understanding and with what seems to be a hint of relief.

“Well, now since that’s settled, let’s talk details about dinner” she says, clasping her hands together as if she were about to eat.

Rui sends his daughter off to scavenge any aisle near him for something she wants for dinner as the two adults exchange details in preparation for Sunday.

“There is also another reason why I want this,” she says after she gives Rui her house address “Tsukasa has voiced a want for us to meet but it seems he hasn’t gotten the courage to ask you about it”.

“He’s as serious as you are,” she smiles at him, a hint of protectiveness behind it “From what I’ve heard and read, you aren’t one to goof around about things you find important”.

“Now for the reason I came here,” Kokomi reaches for a leek behind Rui before she looks up at him again “Oh and Rui-san, don’t be nervous. You don’t have to dress so formally either, just treat it like a normal meal. Don’t treat it like a formal meeting between you and us. I want to meet the version of you that my son has fallen in love with”.

“Is this a trap? How badly will I be tested based on what I dress like?” he can only helplessly think as she bids them farewell and leaves “But I’ll adhere to her wish”.

Rui kind of just stands there for a while before Shiori tugs on his coat sleeve “Dad, can we get eggplants? I want oyaki”. She had come back from her look around.

Since the eggplant is just the filling, he could make a substitute dumpling for himself. But he doesn’t answer fast enough, clearly too out of it, because she is already placing two eggplants into the basket “You’re going to eat the oyaki with the eggplant. I am going to make you!”.

Rui isn’t too concerned about having vegetables for dinner as much anymore, instead it properly dawns on him that he’s going to meet Tsukasa’s parents officially.

“Oh shit”.

Later he did phone the only person he knew that he was super close with on how she met her wife's partner. Mizuki’s only response was “Rui, my official meeting with Kanade’s dad does not apply to you going to Tenma-kun’s house to do your official meeting”.

He supposed it was different with the fact that Tsukasa’s mother asked for Shiori to come with him.

-----------------------------------------

When Sunday arrives, Rui makes a quick errand and comes back with a box of eclairs. He couldn’t wrap food so he had made sure the box looked fancy enough. He went with this as a gift due to how Tsukasa mentioned before he’d get the eclairs that related to the season for them, like cherry blossom ones. It’s the middle of August so he just went with fall-like ones.

Furthermore, Rui had asked Tsukasa a few not-so-subtle questions about what his parents might like; thankfully, it seems they have similar tastes and didn’t have food allergies. He thanked the stars that Tsukasa hadn’t picked up on his intentions, he thinks Tsukasa’s mother wants his presence to be a surprise and he wasn’t going to risk upsetting her.

Rui is more worried about his proper first impression than changing his behavior. He knows he will be himself but he also doesn’t know what he’ll do if Tsukasa’s family doesn’t properly approve of him.

Maybe he’d run away with Tsukasa, Shiori coming along with them, explosions left in their wake as they announced their love for the audience of the world to hear.

Now was not the time to daydream since he had arrived in front of Tsukasa’s childhood home, his parents' house.

He recalls any information his own parents might have given him about meeting his boyfriend’s parents but he only thinks of a conversation of when his mom was teasing his dad.

“--And to test her or his loyalty to our dear Rui~ We’ll tie his partner to a rocket and see how willing they are to be launched into the stratosphere! We’ll be different from other parents, isn’t that exciting?!”.

“Sumire, you’ll scare them off…”.

“Fufu, why don’t we have you test my latest rocket model then instead?”.

Before he rings the doorbell he takes one last look at Shiori, she’s fidgeting with her jacket and her dress, only slightly picking up on Rui’s nervousness. Her hair is let loose and a pristine white bow was tied to the back of her head.

He managed to get a selfie from Tsukasa tonight, under the pretense of ‘wanting to see him’, so he was able to assess what would be overboard.

Then he rings the doorbell, face adorned with a relaxed smile.

A woman he hasn’t met before, but he’s seen in photos next to Tsukasa, opens the door. She has hair cut above her shoulders, bangs swept to the side, with pink faded tips. She pauses for a second before breaking out into a smile “Welcome! You must be Rui-san”.

There are only 2 years between them, and there are other Tenmas in the house, so he deems first names as appropriate “Good evening Saki-san, thanks for having us over”.

She nods happily before turning her attention to his daughter “And you must be Shiori-chan! I like your hair bow!”. Shiori beams at this, no anxiety present, “Thanks! Mizu-chan picked it out for me fufu”.

Saki and Rui engage in small talk as they remove their shoes and all make way into the living room. While Saki seemingly looks around for something, Rui notices someone else.

A man bearing more resemblance to Saki with peach-pink hair and pink eyes. He wore glasses like his own father and seemed a bit more formally dressed than everyone else. He gets up from his spot on the couch and makes his way over, offering his hand.

Rui shakes it firmly.

“Hello Tenma-san, thank you for having us” Rui greets Tsukasa’s father and Shiori also thanks him for having them over.

The man nods “It’s a pleasure, Kamishiro. You came at a good time, Kokomi is nearly done with dinner”.

“Thank you for looking after my son,” he says “Even if he acts spoiled at times. You should have seen him when he found out I tested Saki’s ginger fried pork before he did”. Saki giggles “That's the first thing you tell him Dad?”.

Rui wants to see a spoiled Tsukasa.

He looks like he wants to say more but his phone rings and he excuses himself to the other room, leaving the two Kamishiros with Saki.

Now that he looks around their house, he can definitely conclude that it is cozy and welcoming just based on the warm colors alone. He saw framed pictures of the siblings when they were young, a few solo photos of Tsukasa winning awards or performing and photos of Tsukasa’s mother dressing up Saki in dazzling clothing.

Although they weren’t the same, he got the same feeling of belonging standing here like he was standing in his own childhood home.

Saki brings his attention back to her “Onii-chan has been happier lately. He has finally gotten to work towards his actor dreams with someone that fully understands him. Yet even so we are only meeting you now”. Tsukasa was still a daycare worker but he now was striving forward to become an acting star.

Rui knows more about her than she probably thinks since Tsukasa loved to talk about her achievements and growth in the music industry. But in the same sense, she must know more than a surface level about him since he had done interviews and behind-the-scenes looks online.

Saki waves her hands absentmindedly “It’s now my turn to assess his partner, not in a serious way though but you should have seen the way his jaw dropped when I brought my girlfriend, now wife, for dinner. I hope you’re ready, Rui-san!”.

“Especially since my brother scored someone as handsome as you,” she teasingly adds “I gotta see if there are any ulterior motives”.

Rui coughs into his fist, being caught off guard. He knows there is no underlying meaning to it but “Tsukasa-kun is just as handsome and I consider myself the lucky one when it comes to standing by his side”.

“Right right, although I don’t want to leave Shiori-chan all bored” Saki says, ignoring the odd look Shiori sends her before yelling “ONII-CHAN! STOP KEEPING YOUR NIECE HOSTAGE AND SEND HER TO THE LIVING ROOM”.

All the Tenmas seem to have a strong pair of lungs on them.

“EMIRI WAS HELPING” Tsukasa’s charming voice yells back. Rui notices that the Tenmas’ dad in the other room seems completely unbothered, as if he were used to the noise. Rui could attest that you can get used to it since he had grown used to Tsukasa’s and now Shiori’s.

The little ‘ompf’ sound and the sight of the blonde staggering gives Rui the push to look down at the figure behind Saki’s legs.

Saki smiles before moving to the side to reveal her child, her daughter “This is my little flower, say hi Emirin!”.

A small girl with navy blue-black hair with pink tips and vibrant pink eyes was standing close to her mom. Rui had seen her before in photos Tsukasa had shown him, citing how she had always been rather timid even for a four-year-old.

“Hello Emiri-kun,” Rui says gently, as if he were consoling a kid who had gotten lost by his stage, “My name is Rui and this is my daughter Shio-chan. I hope you two can become friends”.

The two looked at each other with curiosity, Emiri looking a little more nervous. Shiori looked as if she wanted to talk to her but seemed unsure how to approach her. Rui gave her a little nudge.

It’s quiet for a moment and then Tsukasa comes into the living room.

“RUI?!”.

-----------------------------------------

Tsukasa gets over his shock quickly, greeting both Rui and Shiori “I didn’t know you’d be joining us”. Tsukasa is more receptive to giving Shiori a hug than Rui because either of his parents could walk in at any time.

Shiori then goes to try and properly greet Emiri.

Rui smiles at him, seemingly wanting to hug him just as much, “Your mother invited us over when we ran into each other earlier this week. Fufu, it was a surprise to see a lady so similar to Tsukasa-kun”.

Tsukasa huffs “You still could have told me you were coming for dinner, I would have loved to accompany you and Shiori”.

Rui smirks “Oh my, what a gentleman”. Tsukasa remains unamused “Dinner will be ready soon, even if it is later than we usually eat, I have to go help finish it up with my Mom, so be on your best behaviour!”.

Rui had reassured him he would and went to talk to Saki as Tsukasa went back to the kitchen, joining his mother at the stove “So you invited Rui over?”.

She nods “He’s a nice young man, exactly how you described him”. She is still stirring the broth, back to Tsukasa, as she speaks “I am happy you found a home with someone else, someone who you love with all your heart”.

The familiar sentence makes Tsukasa's heart ache. He remembers his mom sitting him down and expressing regret over some of the decisions she had made when Tsukasa was younger, despite his insistence that he didn’t feel any resentment over it. Saki had needed more attention due to her illness regardless.

“I hate how the independence you gained might have cost you your childhood, may have cost you the stardom you have always wanted”. His mom had taken his hand in hers, rubbing the back softly “I want you to feel the love in a home, not a house that is left with one boy waiting for a phone call. I can spend an eternity making it up to you but I would be overjoyed if you found even more happiness elsewhere too, with someone you love fully”.

“It’s not your fault, you don’t need to make up for anything” he had assured her. He was nearly an adult now, he wasn’t going to say his parents messed up for no reason. He was grateful to them, showing him how loving a family can be when together. Some may say that they should have used their wealth as a replacement for when they couldn’t be there but Tsukasa would argue that wasn’t what was important here.

They had talked more after that but he remembered that part of the conversation the most vividly.

Now he sits around a table sharing a meal with his loved ones. Rui had answered the questions that he had been bombarded with and Shiori chimed in with her own commentary.

His mother seemed super interested when Shiori said she had seen them nearly kiss in front of Rui’s door and his father even raised an eyebrow. Rui had swore up and down it was a misunderstanding, Saki had even joined in “So even Onii-chan can be so reckless, like a teen romance manga”.

This warm atmosphere was something Tsukasa wished for more of when he was a child, knowing full well why it wasn’t possible at the time, but grateful the future was kinder to them. Especially kinder to Saki.

Although he suddenly hears a few small scraps against his plate that weren’t his doing, almost like it was supposed to be undetected. When he looked down, he saw a few vegetables he definitely didn’t dish up and when he looked to the side, he saw Rui’s arm moving away from his plate.

He grips Rui’s sleeve as Rui’s eyes actively look away from him “What do you think you’re doing?”. He’s whispering, grateful his parents’ attention is currently focused on Saki and Emiri. Saki’s talking about how Leo/Need was finally ready to release their first song in English, how the translating part reminded her of when the band was in high school and how Ichika had been reading as many translation books as she could which inadvertently increased her English score. Emiri contributes by babbling different words in English.

“We’re adults who’ve already grown Tsukasa-kun,” Rui says “I don’t need to get any taller by eating them”, it shocks Tsukasa even more to feel Rui’s arm actually shaking.

He can only wonder how Shiori had such a love for vegetables when this man was her dad.

“This is why you have weak bones, you are missing out on lots of fibers and vitamins” Tsukasa quickly puts their arms under the table and shoots Rui a death glare, earning him a quiet “Yoyoyo”.

The attention is brought back on them when he sees Shiori trying to suppress a laugh and Emiri staring directly at his plate “We can give the vegetables we don’t want to you…?”.

Saki brings her attention away from their parents to her brother and her daughter “Emirin, not all vegetables taste like carrots, you know this”. Tsukasa had heard recently from his sister how Emiri had tried a cooked carrot slice by itself and hated the taste so bad that she was refusing any veggies. He also heard that this made Ichika sad because the yakisoba buns she likes do have carrots in them.

Additionally, Tsukasa is horrified to learn that his parents had been watching his exchange with Rui the entire time.

“I’ll just make it my mission for you to enjoy the vegetables I cook!“ he declares before looking at his niece “And Emiri, don’t listen to Rui! Eat the veggies Saki tells you to!”.

“Such a bold declaration, it seems Tsukasa-kun hasn’t witnessed my true resilience to avoid them” Rui smiles at him without really smiling. Tsukasa tries not to pull a face “Please don’t sound like a supervillain dedicated to eradicating vegetables at the dinner table”.

“I am just acting like myself” Rui simply says and in the corner of Tsukasa’s eye he sees his dad’s nod of approval, even though Tsukasa knows it is probably taking everything in him not to speak his mind loudly and proudly.

He did inherit his dad’s strong vocal cords, he knows his dad is acting on his best behaviour. Tsukasa had seen the waterworks come out when he had found out Saki was getting married, Tsukasa did join him too but that’s not the point.

Tsukasa does still pass the vegetables back to Rui who still tries to put it on his plate after that.

But despite being childish about his dislike, Rui is still one of the kindest people and the fact he is comfortable with not putting up a front with his family, not getting fake nice or anything along this line, makes Tsukasa feel even deeper in love with him.

At the end of their meal, he offers to help clean the table. When Tsukasa tells him that he doesn’t need to, Rui tries to say he’ll help with the dishes but Tsukasa swats his hands away “Kamishiro Rui, you will not lift a finger!”.

His mother surely knows that this is because Rui is a guest but he swears he hears a hushed whisper of “He already sounds like a nagging househusband~”.

Tsukasa just thinks he was raised well.

-----------------------------------------

After dinner, since it happened later in the evening than she was used to, Shiori had dozed off next to Rui on the couch they sat on. She was clutching a blue star pillow that had Tsukasa’s name stitched on it. None of the Tenmas minded and additionally it gave Kokomi a chance to talk with Rui one-on-one. 

Rui should have felt more nervous, like when he first ran into her, but she was easy to get along with.

They talked about the workshops Rui was able to recommend for Tsukasa and how Tsukasa had also helped him with some of his work recently. She seemed genuinely happy that Rui was giving him more opportunities to shine outside of his small theatre group. The best part being that Rui wasn’t handing him freebies, instead taking the time to work with him and give him feedback.

He also got to hear more about Tsukasa from her perspective, which Rui listened to intently.

She’s finishing talking about a play Tsukasa had performed when he was little to Saki when she says “He was always true to himself ever since he was a kid and I am glad he found comfort with someone also true to themselves like you are, Rui-san”.

“Having an initial impression from the internet isn’t always the best thing so I’d like to imagine it was actually the first time Kasa-kun talked about you when you started dating” she looks over at Shiori too who is drooling while sleeping on Rui’s side “There are things you can’t find on the internet, like how much you care for your daughter and how much you strive to protect her from the cruelty of this world. He did talk about the miscommunication before you dated but it is clear to me you made up for it in strides”.

“He always talked about having his own family, like all boys do, but declared one day that he didn't believe love was in his cards anymore. He loved shows more than anything, he still does, so I guess you were lucky to have coincided with his beloved shows” she looks at a photo of Tsukasa with a warm gaze “Even if you weren’t a famous director, I still believe you’d be making shows and wishing to make shows together with my son”.

“Rui-san forgive me for being imprudent but we would be happy if you and Kasa-kun got married” she says, not masking the joy in her words, “You’re the perfect partner for him. It makes me believe that there are soulmates for everyone and you guys were lucky enough to find each other. You both aren’t getting any younger either”.

Rui couldn’t find the words to say, only helplessly whispering out his gratitude. She smiles, almost as if she predicted such a reaction “I also figured you’d be thinking about popping the question soon enough, we’ll gladly welcome you and Shiori-chan into our family”.

Rui can’t stop reeling from the fact that he went from receiving praise from his mom’s boyfriend to her voicing out that she and her husband want him to pursue marriage with her son.

And Rui definitely wasn’t opposed.

“Speaking of family and getting married, I’d be happy to have another grandkid or two from that” Kokomi sounds so sure of herself, almost eerily to Tsukasa when he was dead set on getting something he wanted, that it throws him off guard “Two?”. “Mhm, Shiori-chan and maybe another~” she adds slyly.

Rui coughs into his hand before looking over to his sleeping daughter, recalling the time Mizuki told him about how Shiori would make a good big sister.

Thankfully, Saki comes back to stop any further pestering  from Kokomi. She had gone to put Emiri to sleep in her old bedroom since sudden loud noises, such as anyone from her family, could wake her up and her sleep schedule was already off from tonight’s meal.

“Onii-chan and Dad wouldn’t let me help clean up in the kitchen when I came to help,” Saki pouts as she sits down on the couch again “But Emirin is asleep for now, she’ll definitely wake up when I pick her up to take her home later”.

She takes a look at the sleeping Shiori, at her mother faining an innocent look, and at Rui whose cheeks are slightly red.

“It would be sad for me to lose the Tenma name on one of my kids, but at least my dear Saki kept the name” Kokomi sighs, making a joke out of their conversation before Saki came back.

Rui thinks that Emiri must be a Tenma then, although he doesn’t know her last name nor Saki’s wife’s last name either. “Ichi and I kept our own last names because of our careers but we decided for Emirin to be a Tenma!” Saki quickly explains before a light bulb goes off “Wait… you’re becoming intertwined with Onii-chan like that?”.

Rui doesn’t fully understand, or rather simply doesn’t pick up on, the implication that the mother and daughter duo are trying to tell him.

“I’d never make him change if he didn’t want to” he assures both women, but to this Kokomi shakes her head playfully. “You and Shiori are both Kamishiros, correct? That’s reason enough” she points out casually but it appears she has another unspoken reason on her mind.

Saki snickers, dropping her hand from her mouth and revealing a shit-eating grin “Rui-san, it’s obvious why he'd change his name”.

“Kamishiro Tsukasa!” her voice pitch drops as she imitates her brother, posing confidently with a closed fist over her heart, “Meaning ruler on behalf of the divine gods!”

Her Tsukasa impression is on point that it really makes Rui believe he would do something like that. Saki continues “He'd be asking people to refer to him by his full name, especially once he creates a name for himself on stage”.

Rui allows himself only a moment to get lost in that fantasy but ultimately wills himself not to blush, it should be easy for him. It’s not. He hadn’t thought too hard about the next steps yet it seems like everyone in this house had questions about it.

“Kamishiro Tsukasa…” Rui trusts that his and Tsukasa’s relationship was strong enough for marriage. He looks down to his side, seeing his daughter dozing on his arm. “Shiori would like it if Tsukasa officially became her dad, too, huh?”

“I’ll do my best” he finally says, appeasing both Tenma women.

Tsukasa frowns when he comes in with a plate of what Rui bought, alongside his dad, placing it on the table before quizzically looking at his mom then at his snickering sister then at a flustered Rui “... Can I ask what you guys were talking about?”.

Tsukasa doesn’t get an answer from any of the three.

It’s forgotten once Shiori wakes up and starts staring at the plate Tsukasa had brought in with hopeful eyes.

Rui first waits for approval before letting Shiori take one, immediately munching on it.

It’s silent for a moment, aside from a unanimous thanks, when Tsukasa’s dad asks Rui if he wants to see Tsukasa’s baby photos.

The book is already in Rui’s lap, courtesy of Tsukasa’s father, before Tsukasa can protest “KEEP YOUR PHONE IN YOUR POCKET AT LEAST!”. Rui doesn’t listen, instead staring at a photo of baby Tsukasa sucking on his thumb.

If he and Tsukasa had a biological kid together or if he adopted another kid, if Tsukasa even wanted a future with that in it, he hoped that kid would look as cute as Tsukasa did as a baby.

-----------------------------------------

Rui lies in bed that night thinking about a way to propose to Tsukasa, maybe during their engagement they can move in together. He had been having thoughts of this future for a while but it seems that Tsukasa’s mother is the one who has given him the push he needs.

And Saki too but it was more so her trying to see if he could record the proposal so she could witness ‘Tsukasa’s waterworks on camera!’.

“What if it was a show? ” Rui was a director, he knew how to plan.

Then again he would have to first formally introduce Tsukasa to his parents. He groans into the arm he’s thrown over his face, unusually fostered by his own thoughts “If Tsukasa-kun saw my face right now he’d be able to get back at me for all the times I’ve made him blush hard”.

The only thing he does that night is search up ring shops nearby him. He probably won’t be going for something ostentatious; he wasn’t that surface level, but he’ll go for something fit for his star.

Tsukasa will get mad if he holds back after all, whether it is on a show or in his life.

Notes:

I apologize if any of the parents' personalities are out of character. I think Tenmadad has a canon name but I couldn’t find it so I didn’t give him a name here. I also know this isn’t typically how you meet your partner’s parents, I had a different idea but then the new ruikasa card came out. For this bonus it focuses on what I wanted to explore with this fic: how Rui navigates a love life with a kid and having zero dating experience, it isn’t simple, it's awkward. I find it fun to imagine scenarios. There is also a small “wouldn’t it be funny if Rui got a crush on the daycare worker who helps with his daughter but then it turns out they want to find each other in every universe” there too.

Anyway for names. I chose Emiri as 咲璃 which can mean ‘to flourish’ like a flower. I also looked for a name that Saki could make a cute-sounding nickname out of since that’s something she enjoys. Speaking of names, originally Shiori’s name, before I decided I wanted to focus on a literary type name, was going to be Kokomi. Can you tell I really like looking for names?

I’ve been up for 24 hours so the next bonus chapter will be uploaded tomorrow not today sorry^ I am going to watch happy hills homicide 2 now instead of sleeping.

Chapter 8: second look into the future: what you looked forward to

Notes:

This chapter isn’t super focused on ships, there are moments, but ultimately it’s just me adding onto the fankids while answering little questions that may have appeared throughout the main fic. I had fun writing this bonus. If you're not interested, please at least read the end notes^ Thank you^

Then again this started with daycare attendant tsukasa so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Rui struggled to imagine a future for himself before he adopted Shiori, even after that he never imagined things changing for the two of them.

Yet Tenma Tsukasa, or should he say Kamishiro Tsukasa, was a force of nature that couldn’t be stopped and since he was in Rui’s life, he never planned on leaving.

He was supposed to just be a daycare attendant, someone that had screwed up a bit the first time they met but then made up for it. It went so much further and Rui now believed that people find love in the most unlikely places.

Tsukasa was his first and he instantly knew he wanted him to be his last.

Also, for the record, he did tell Tsukasa he could keep his last name if he wanted but he chose to change it for the same reasons his family said he would. Rui could have changed his but with his career and his surname being Shiori's too it would have been harder.

They decided to have a smaller ceremony, a private event between their families and a few close friends, in favor of saving for their future. Tsukasa had burst into happy tears when Rui had walked down the aisle hand in hand with Shiori. She wore a beautiful dress that was a gift from Kanade and Mizuki.

Kids aren’t really allowed at these events but he would be damned if he didn’t let his own daughter witness him get married, also their wedding didn't follow everything to a T. The way she had said that he had found someone who made him smile the best to Kanato and Yukina only proved this.

Additionally, she had made Tsukasa wear a veil.

After a few lengthy conversations they were on the same page; they wanted a house and one more kid, they talked about where Rui was going with his work and where Tsukasa wanted to go with his own. That’s why they went with something smaller, they didn’t need to showcase their love to the whole world when they could promise the best performance for the rest of their lives with their loved ones surrounding them.

Tsukasa responded with all his might in the shows and Rui responded just as enthusiastically.

They had gotten their house and expanded their family. Now Rui can do things like wake up next to loud snores. He sits up for a moment, yawning quite loudly before checking his phone. He and Tsukasa were off for the same day, neither of them needed for any projects.

The only message he takes note of on his phone is a photo Mizuki had sent him of her pointing to an advertisement with Tsukasa’s face on it.

⤷ Mizuki: Make sure Tsukasa sees this and tell him to get me front row tickets!

Speaking of his husband—

—Tsukasa glares at him, still half asleep, as he tugs his arm to pull him back down. A body taller than Tsukasa's wraps around him before either of them says anything. Wordlessly, their legs entwine again.

“Good morning, Rui”.

Tsukasa is warm while Rui is cold. He tells the purple-haired man to put on a shirt while he sleeps because of this but Rui never listens.

“Good morning, Tsukasa-kun”.

He wonders if one day he is going to wake up and it turns out this future was just a dream, that it is just him and Shiori, still without the other two.

Rui allows himself to snuggle into his husband’s chest, head resting under his chin, as Tsukasa returns the sentiment and brings him closer as well, clearly not having seen the time.

Being pampered was something both of them wanted. And when Tsukasa looked at him like that, he was done for because he was weak to those brilliant eyes.

It was just the two of them right now, surrounded by their sea of sheets and morning voices.

Moments like these in the mornings is when the only talk in whispers about whatever comes to mind. Usually it’s something to do with their kids, other times it's about what Tsukasa wanted to cook for dinner or what machine Rui wanted to design. Somehow it turns to what they’d do once their kids started dating.

It’s probably because it’s their wedding anniversary soon. They’re both theatre kids, so it seems natural that they’d get lost in their memories.

“You are not the model guy either,” Tsukasa grumbles “You got together with me after staring at me for weeks and only got the courage to ask me out after Mizuki called you a coward. I was looking after Shiori while you wanted to date me too”.

Tsukasa wasn’t a daycare worker anymore now that he was able to support himself in the industry he had always longed for. He wasn’t as successful as Rui but no one cared about that, seeing Tsukasa stand on stage was the best reward he could ever receive.

“You wanted to ask me out too, Tsukasa-kun” Rui fires back but both of them aren’t being serious.  Rui’s arms tighten around Tsukasa’s waist “I don’t even want to think about Shiori dating anyone since she’s old enough to, I just want to think about you”.

Tsukasa’s hand starts petting Rui’s hair, trying to fix his messy bed hair, “You only think about me, I am your star”. Rui does have stars in his eyes when he looks at the literal sun itself.

So he does what comes naturally to him, shuffling upwards and pushing his head off of Tsukasa’s chest so he can face his husband properly.

He leans in to kiss him but two hands immediately block him.

“You haven’t eaten or brushed your teeth” Tsukasa frowns but drops his hands when Rui licks her palms. “Tsukasa-kun… shiku shiku my husband won’t kiss me”. The blonde’s frown stays on his face as he reluctantly presses a kiss to Rui’s cheek “That’s all you’re getting you incorrigible director”.

That word is thrown around lightly, Tsukasa would never want Rui to change any part of his personality or his life.

They both snap out of their world when their bedroom door creaks open. The person was peering through the gap in the door but what tells the two that who is there is his grumbling stomach.

A boy with big amber eyes, nearly identical to Tsukasa’s which Rui adores, and light purple hair. He loved having a matching hair color to his sister and he also liked sneaking up on people.

His name was Kamishiro Reki.

Rui merely watches Tsukasa when he turns over and looks at the clock “RUI! IT’S 7:30!”. “It’s the weekend” he mumbles before sitting up and gesturing over to his son “Reki-kun come over here”.

Reki runs over and jumps onto the bed, scrambling into Rui’s arms. He’s wearing pyjamas with a platypus pattern because it seems he exposes his kids to his fascination with the animal way too easily. Much like Shiori when she was younger, Reki clung to him whenever he got the chance. Despite this, he is still talking to Tsukasa as Rui watches.

Reki is chatting away about how he wanted pancakes for breakfast, with Tsukasa telling him he could have salmon instead. Now his son was trying to get Tsukasa to let him make a pancake sandwich with the fish in the middle. He even got closer to Tsukasa, tugging on the blanket around him.

Tsukasa tells him he’ll consider it once he gets to the kitchen.

“I’ll make a breakfast worthy of such a bright boy!” Tsukasa smiles and Reki giggles back “I shine bright like a jewel! HA HA!”.

Reki’s name was chosen with the meanings of a shining jewel and radiance. Tsukasa had said he wanted a name that would reflect on what they hoped for his future.

If someone had told Rui he was going to fall in love with one his daughter’s daycare workers, marry him, and build a bigger family with him, he would have politely asked you to stop joking while he sorted out where they were going to move too.

Seeing Tsukasa play with their son just brought the biggest smile to his face.

Reki eventually gets off their bed and yells that he’ll meet them in the kitchen. 

Tsukasa stretches properly “That boy never worries about anything, does he?”.

“I think the only worry on Reki-kun’s mind is how people were asking his friends why he wiggles around so much when reading aloud in his Japanese class” Rui slightly laughs before laughing harder when Tsukasa replies “… I did that in my high school classes”.

-----------------------------------------

An alarm blares as Shiori is getting ready in the bathroom and she groans, slapping her phone with more aggression than needed. Shiori hates mornings because she hates having a set time to get ready. She wants to sleep forever surrounded by fluffy pillows and blankets, imagining herself fighting the evil forces of the universe.

She stares at the mirror another time, making sure her red eyeliner was in place, before ultimately deciding not to bother tying her hair. She fluffs out the ends, straightens her grey sweater that she doesn’t button.

A good look allowed her a good start to the day. When she combs her hair she thinks about many things surrounding her life like her family or her friends or some new media that she was excited about.

Her friends. She was happy to find the best companions and be able to head straight toward her dream even if it wasn’t fully fleshed out yet. She wanted to do what she loved and share that love with the people who supported her.

Shows are a way she could communicate her feelings, musicals even more so. She wants to spread the joy she gets by witnessing the magic, by being engrossed as a member of the audience.

Without them she’d probably be fixated on small negative remarks, not remembering the words of encouragement her dad has given her even since she was little. Her rationalization of the world was to be celebrated not shunned. She wants to be appreciated, she wants her directing and scriptwriting skills to help people or encourage them. 

Without Kanato and Yukina… no she is dependent on them like that are dependent on her that taking away that scares her. If they got hurt because of her she’d never forgive herself.

Her self-worth was something, wasn’t it? That doesn’t matter; she wants to stay with them till the very end, even if others deem it as illogical and childish.

Shiori shakes her head, wishing away the deeper thoughts before grinning to herself in the mirror “Aw hell yeah”. She leaves the room and closes her bedroom door. A Sailor Venus plush sits snugly on her bed next to a platypus with a purple ribbon.

“Good morning, Shiori! Did you sleep well?” her dad asks, already busy in the kitchen. His hair is tied up in a high ponytail and the morning sun makes the peach tips glow. She makes a noise of affirmation before taking her seat at the table.

“Thank you for the food,” Shiori smiles before digging in. It’s not a big breakfast, but she would swear that he was a chef in his past life. She eats so fast that she is told to slow down. She ate later than her brother in favor of sleeping in more in the morning.

She does get a message from Yukina while enjoying her meal, a link to another compilation she found that usually held no relevance to what they had been discussing prior. Once it had been a 10-hour loop of the Nyan Cat video.

⤷ Kanato: What the hell.

⤷ Shiori: How do you keep finding these videos???

⤷ Kanato: Why is the audio so soft? They are screaming into their microphones.

⤷ Shiori: How much time do you have? Teach me your ways…

⤷ Yukina: That’s because I do my school work on time~ (￣ε￣＠)

⤷ Shiori: YOU. ME. AFTER SCHOOL BRAWL.

⤷ Kanato: Let’s not get so drastic all of a sudden.

⤷ Yukina: BET (＃￣0￣)

The chat proceeds to dissolve into sticker spamming. This chat is hardly used for anything serious unless they have to make plans.

Once she notices the time she stacks her dishes together, gets up from the table, wipes her mouth, before leaning in to give her dad a kiss on the cheek, something she’s never grown out of “I am heading off! Don’t worry about me and Reki while we're gone”. Her dad smiles “I never get to not worry about you two rowdy kids”.

He’s seven and she’s seventeen so Shiori’s allowed to help drop him off.

She’s tapping her foot at the door, shoes on, bag over her shoulder, starting to get impatient, “Reki! WE’RE GOING TO BE LATE!”.

A flurry of footsteps comes speeding to the front door in the form of her brother “ONEE-CHAN!!! DON’T LEAVE ME!”.

“YOU TWO STOP YELLING” she hears their dad yell, even louder than they had been. All three of them had managed to get a noise complaint from their neighbors so he tried to get them to stop, but for them to hear him he had to go louder.

It defeats the purpose.

They had once gotten him a certificate: Kamishiro Tsukasa - The Loudest Man on Earth.

“Shiku shiku my ears are bleeding” her other dad makes his appearance, barely put together appearance “Rui, you aren’t even dressed!”.

“I only have meetings scheduled for the afternoon and I am wearing a full set of nightwear” he mumbles into the blonde’s shoulder, having almost intuitively wrapped his arms around his husband while said husband tried to set down his own breakfast “RUI! I’ll make you eat vegetables for a week straight!”.

It was funny. Rui and Reki hated vegetables while Shiori and Tsukasa loved them.

Her parents typically showed little displays of affection in front of them, since her dad loved her other dad a bit too much. Shiori knows since she witnessed him stress about asking him out in real time when she was younger, witnessed their wedding, witnessed a night she wasn’t supposed to when her dad was crying white the other just stroked his blonde hair and told him he was there for him no matter what.

They made each other smile the brightest, gave each other a reason to, and she just thought it was wonderful, even though she knew only a handful of people would think of their parents’ relationship like that. But it didn't matter because when she sees where they are now, she knows he kept his promise.

Her brother wasn’t like her, but that isn’t a bad thing to be different.

Reki, who had finished putting on his shoes, grimaces “Ew, they’re being gross”. Shiori instantly tells him off, flicking him on the forehead “Love isn’t gross Reki! Now let’s go before you miss your role call”.

He rubs the sore spot but still follows her. They both say their goodbyes before hiding out.

When they walk to school Reki still holds Shiori’s hand on the way, only letting go when he sees the gate. He gets flustered if someone makes fun of him for hanging out with his sister; kids are just mean.

She’s heard all sorts of things about Reki and her, random speculations.

Shiori doesn’t care if they aren’t biologically related, that has never been an issue with their parents.

“Do you want a brother or sister?” was really the only thing a nine-year-old Shiori focused on in the beginning, storing the other parts of the conversation in the back of her mind. There was more with her being told that she was just as important as any biological child they had or adopted child. “I am going to be a big sister” she had happily exclaimed, reaching up to hug both of them. They both also had the same hair color, miraculously, and when she was younger she thought it was magic.

Shiori lets Reki swing their hands as they walk over the crossing.

Someone’s treasure and someone’s jewel, they link together.

She doesn’t give a damn about what anyone says because she is the best big sister! She will always protect him and they love each other. So she never thinks too hard about it.

She wants to share the joy of shows with him and she does, Reki likes taking on the role of an adventurer or a pirate. It allows Shiori to think of more fantasy ideas, he claims that he can make her stories better and she doesn’t say he can’t.

They do other things together but their family are just show nerds, it’s how they share their passions. They do stuff like movie nights even if Reki and ‘blonde dad’ (as Reki calls him) fall asleep during the shows half the time.

Reki is talking to her about his favorite tokusatsu show again, ranting about the cool special effects he had seen in the last episode. He thought explosions were the coolest thing ever and would constantly repeat the lines the heroes would shout out in battle.

He talks until he runs out of steam or in this case when they reach his school “Alright Reki have a fun day at school! We can even try recreating that stunt when I come home”.

The stars in his eyes when she suggests that give her the all-clear to start planning.

Reki looks to the sides before hugging Shiori tightly “Bye Onee-chan”. Then he runs off to see his friends. Shiori laughs to herself, he did the same thing each time she dropped him off.

Shiori walks away from the school to head to Kamiyama since Kanato would have her head if she was late. She wants to be the sister her brother brags about but half the time he yells that she’s embarrassing.

It’s times like these that she is glad she started living in the moment, living for herself. She has always been told she cared too much about others before herself. She felt a bit freer now that she was older. Shiori knew she still had a lot to learn though since in the eyes of most she is just a childish teenager, well she was going to make the best musical ever once she had the experience she needed!

“Fufu” she smiles to herself, striking a pose that is practically second nature to her, before repeating words she used to hype herself up.

“You did not just say that with a serious face” is what makes her immediately stop posing to whip her head around “KANATO? YUKINA?”.

Kanato uses his fist to hold back a laugh “I didn’t know Magical Girl Shio-chan was making a return” while Yukina teases her “You’re endearing Shio-chan~”. 

Shiori grumbles into her hands, she forgot that their routes all lined up with hers.

"I TAKE PRIDE YOU KNOW!".

-----------------------------------------

A girl with black hair that reached her shoulders, a signature oversized jacket over her school uniform, various pins of different icons she liked, like a poptart cat, small red earrings on her ears that matched her nails. If she could she’d dress like a decora girl all the time but there was unfortunately a thing called the school dress code.

Yukina, despite her almost wispy nature, thought a lot more and was a lot smarter than people gave her credit for if they didn’t know her.

She was raised by a businesswoman with a heart of gold. She was a proud Ootori.

She just didn’t grow up like other kids, she grew up in another country. She was nine when she woke up after being put to sleep; she was thirsty and she needed water.

“Keisuke-nii, Shousuke-nii, I would never pass up this opportunity without good reason! IBut i’s not just across the country, it’s in Germany!” is what stops her in her tracks. She forgets about getting the glass of water to instead spy on the conversation.

“I don’t want…. Yukina…. Sudden change might be too much…” she can’t make it out now since her mom’s voice wasn’t yelling and she didn’t want to go out any further in case they heard footsteps–

—She hears a small sob.

“I am a big girl Mom!” Yukina yelled, rushing in. Her mom and uncles were just staring at her, confused as to why she was up. Her mom had then gotten to her eye level and started explaining what opportunity she had been given in language a nine-year-old could properly understand.

But the finer details didn’t fully concern her because in her mind, she could only think about how much she loves her mom.

“Are you sure?” her mom whispered, needing her confirmation. Yukina jumped to hug her “Let’s bring smiles to the world!”. She had hugged her daughter tight as she cried happy tears “Let’s do that… Yuki-chan”.

And that’s how she spent the rest of her elementary school and junior high years in Germany. She was a second culture kid and she had classes with a few other kids like her.

She now knows German almost fluently alongside English, while her Japanese has suffered a bit. She got to learn about many cultures thanks to the school she enrolled in, but she struggled to make friends.

She was deemed a weirdo, but she didn’t let that stop her, and she never dared to tell her mom when she felt really lonely, missing her friends from back home. She hated feeling like that, she was terrified she was going to end up alone.

But she wasn’t ashamed of who she was. Social exclusion just sucked, but she did make a few friends with the other weirdos. If people failed to understand her, that was okay because even she didn’t fully understand herself, even at 17.

She kept one thing to herself, words she heard one of the nights before they left, when everyone thought she was asleep.

“Emu wanted to be closer to you than she was with us growing up, well, except for Hinata” her uncle, she thinks it was Shousuke, had once told her “... you would have loved your great-grandpa, just like Emu did”.

She did know about him, her mom kept his memory alive with her work in their locations and her projects. Yukina saw through her creative eyes, learning about the precious ideals that shaped her mother’s world.

She encouraged Yukina to be whatever she wanted to be as long as she sought out happiness and creativity when she ventured into the world every day.

Now here she was, attending a school back in Japan, still trying to find her footing in life. Her mom had also been dating her girlfriend for a while now, looking happier than ever. Her mom was also always happy to chat away an afternoon and Yukina cherished her smile the most in this world.

Maybe she should try and contact her old friends sometime too, just a thought as she tried to focus on the class again.

The bell rings, signalling another period passing by while her head was in the clouds.

But enough thinking on the past, she’s getting ready to think of the future. Once she confirms her lunch is secure and her bag is in her next class’s room, she begins to make her way to escape.

Yukina remembers how at the beginning of her second year, she had complained that she wanted to have lunch with her friends.

Finding out her mom used to break into Nene’s school just to see her also made her realize how far they went back; despite the years that they weren’t in contact, they still found each other. Her mom had then cheerfully told her the route she used, how much time she could spend depending on when she got there, and a few hiding spots.

It was hilarious hearing her mom give steps to help her while wearing a fancy business suit and drinking a cup of super-sweetened coffee.

Yukina now knew why she had spent a bit more time exploring the campus when they first applied to the school.

Upon hearing this, the black-haired girl had told Shiori almost immediately when she had found out, asking if she could use it to develop one of her many show ideas. Unknowingly, this was her first time appearing during lunch when she was supposed to be at Miyamasuzaka.

Shiori had reacted more to the fact that Nene and her mom were together, immediately interrogating her for more details. When Kanato came to join Shiori for lunch, he reacted more to the fact that Yukina was even on the Kamiyama grounds.

She still remembers the earfuls he gave her, yet he never goes out of his way to report her.

“Ootori” a curt voice comes out from behind her as she makes her way to the fence opening, she wasn’t even out of the building yet. Still, she freezes in her tracks and slowly turns around to be greeted with a ginger-haired girl “Hey hey Shinonome-chan!”.

Despite one of her eyes being covered by her hair, her glare remained headstrong, she usually was the one catching Yukina. She never told on her either, but she usually asked for something in exchange.

She still tries to slink away but Shinonome grabs Yukina’s hand tighter, slightly pulling on her red jacket sleeve “Join my practice full time”.

“Nope!” she replies cheerfully, causing her to frown “I could have sworn it would work this time, I’ll break you down someday, Ootori”.

Shinonome was a singer, aspiring to have her name remembered as a legend separate from the legacy her father and his group had created. She was more into classical music but had been putting herself out there with other genres ever since she got the push she needed.

From seeing a performance.

Yukina still can recall the day she had seen Shinonome staring at her as she ended their gig with a song, despite the fact that Kanato had nearly tripped during it. They had just been dumb 1st years who got hired to perform for a small event for free but Shinonome had heard a strong voice that day.

Queue the persistence requests to form a duo, Yukina sometimes joined her but told her since it wasn’t her dream, she wasn’t going to get her hopes up.

Regardless, she loved spending time with her, despite Shinonome being a bit more reserved during class. That's why Yukina partnered with her on projects as much as she could. Also, it was great that she was into football like Yukina was, she even supported her favorite team from Germany.

“Don’t snitch on me, okay Shinonome~?” Yukina winks at her “Then I’ll join you for your next competition”.

The fire in Shinonome’s eyes was enough of an answer for her, but she had one more thing to ask. “I covered for you for months, I want something else too,” Shinonome says “You’re friends with Kamishiro, right?”.

“I want you to get her dad to sign that play he worked on with that Tenma guy, it was called Starlight Adventures. I can give you the poster my mo– AHEM– Kohane has to him and have both of them sign it” she says and Yukina pretends not to hear her correction.

Everyone had a different homelife. It also seems she is unaware ‘that Tenma guy’ was married and they were Shiori’s dads.

“She’s a really big fan, please” Shinonome pleads and while Yukina pretends to think when in actuality she’s staring at her pretty red eye, even though she had to look up a bit.

“You must have been thinking about this for a while, but fear not! The great Ootori Yukina will fulfil both your wishes. I’ll sing with you till your heart's content!” she uses this as a chance to finally shake off her hand “See you for fifth period!”.

The next moment, she’s looking down the unfamiliar halls, dodging teachers, and reaching the rooftop. Shiori is already up there, surrounded by papers written in both Japanese and English. One about their upcoming show, the other for her test, which she asked Yukina to help with.

Shiori looks up and lights up “Yukina!”. She returns the sentiment “Shiori!”.

They engage in light talk as they begin to eat, Shiori catching her up on small adjustments she had made for their competition entry. Since the three couldn’t land a job due to their lack of industry experience, they had to resort to joining events or competitions to spread their message and gain feedback on how to improve.

Shiori skims her paper a bit more intently as Yukina continues eating. “You want to practice now? Not after school?” her mouth was full of her fruit sandwich. The purple-haired girl’s silence is enough of an answer as she finishes her rice quickly.

Shiori stares hard at what she wrote before taking a deep breath and placing the paper down. Yukina smiles and asks her the question in English “ What plans do you have for today? ”.

“ I do have plans! I’ll be… eh rehnshuing after school, ” she answers “ THE SHOW! ”. She keeps going “ I plan to have fun with… uh friends! HA HA! ”. She mumbles her next sentences.

Shiori deflates “I keep forgetting the adjectives and other words. I know I am in the lowest class but I am so screwed for the speaking segment”.

She then pauses before trying to recite her thoughts in English, mixing in words in Japanese.

Yukina pats her on the back “You’re getting better! You just need to rely less on memorizing and more on free flow”. While Yukina doesn’t get the struggle with English, she does get the struggle because her writing in Japanese is atrocious. She also had a few problems with her accent, sometimes automatically switching or sounding German simply because she got used to it.

“I shouldn’t even need to focus on the test tomorrow, it’s only a practice oral assessment! I should focus on the competition” Shiori whines, stopping herself from falling back dramatically.

“Mhm, so we can win” Yukina says, finally finishing off her last sandwich.

“So we can get feedback and recommendations! It doesn’t matter if we win” she sighs, slumping forward “Yukina we haven’t even gone past script reading and last revisions, we are so screwed. I can’t even speak English properly, how are we ever going to reach anyone outside of Japan”.

“I’ll smile about it to myself fufu” she finishes saying in a creepy tone.

As Yukina consoles her, the door to the roof opens. She doesn’t try to hide because no one ever came up to the rooftop except for two people.

This is because most people are doing club activities and whatnot in addition to attending their committees in the afternoon. Their trio doesn’t do clubs, but Kanato and Shiori are on committees.

“Yukina” Kanato says, almost disappointingly.

Shiori butts in “She’s helping me with my test and then we are doing the show! Leave her be!”.

“Kanato!” Yukina enthusiastically replies “Aren’t you super duper happy to see little ol’me?!”.

“How is your exhibition going?” he asks both of them, sitting down and setting his lunch box to the side, effectively ignoring Yukina’s question.

“It’s not theory of knowledge, it’s theory of uselessness,” Shiori mumbles condescendingly “I am going to focus on the competition first, exhibition second. My draft already got insanely good feedback, so I am fine”.

Translation: She hasn’t touched the work since the draft deadline.

Kanato’s gaze suddenly turns a lot more commanding “Your test is tomorrow, Shiori, and the deadline for the exhibition is the same for both schools. We can focus on the show, which happens after the deadline, later. If we fail school, we won’t get anywhere”.

“I finished my final work already, Kanato! So I’ll help with the competition preparations!” Yukina proudly announces.

“Yeah, back at your own school” he counters but Yukina has done this song and dance before “Eh? But the disciplinary committee hasn’t reported me yet and I interact with a member each time I come here. C’mon Mister Downer, put a smile on that face!”.

“Yeah Mister Downer~” Shiori joins in but Kanato doesn’t give her a verbal answer, instead beginning to grill her with questions about her assignment since this can determine if she passes or not.

He doesn’t direct anything to Yukina since she’s told him she’s finished.

Little things like that makes her really happy, it also makes her happy she was able to find her way back to their little group.

The social exclusion she faced from a lot of people, simply because of her ideas and a few other things, seemed to be permanently in the past, even if a few people looked at her funny here too.

She knows about the importance of standing by her ideas, her dreams, and finding a proper balance between those things and reality. No matter how unconventional it seems, she’ll stand by it.

When she saw Shiori for the first time, it was like she had never been out of the country. She had never questioned her quirks or her way of thinking, encouraging her to be herself. She wasn’t hurtful and condescending.

It was like they were kids again.

Shiori had invited her to come help with her aspirations if she needed something to keep her steady until she could find what she wanted. Yukina did have a few things she was doing like singing and language activities, as well as acrobatics, but she wanted to be at Shiori’s side along with Kanato.

Kanato had also never judged her for things other than stuff like breaking into their school. If he didn’t get something, he’d ask her to explain, he’d tell her straight up if she was acting irrational. She wanted him to still rely on her like when they were kids and he needed to use her shoulder to take a nap.

Now she felt like she relied on them too much, so she’ll have to make it up to them by supporting them at their lowest.

“Shiori, Kanato…”

They make her so happy, they accept her. Her heart was full even in mundane situations like these.

She smiles to herself.

“I wouldn’t be looking so smug, Pucca” is what drags Yukina out of her thoughts “Hey, don’t call me that!”. The red jacket and her black hair probably make him think that, and the fact that people claim they don’t even know her eye color.

Kanato sighs before finally opening his own lunch box “I am trying to get you to go back earlier at least. 3 minutes before the bell rings is cutting it too close”.

Yukina’s response is to repeat what he said in a mocking tone.

Kanato puts down his lid, not even bothering to touch the food “Let’s see, I heard about this street late at night, right here in Shibuya where the ladies wielding scissors are making their return in grues-".

“KANATO YOU KNOW I HATE SPIRITS!” she says, shivering as she tries to effectively cut him off, but it fails as he begins to recount the tale of her alleged newest victim.

She knows he is joking but in the corner of her eye, she sees Shiori laughing. She had told them before that it was hilarious that a ‘yokai fanatic’ and a ‘ghost scaredy cat’ were even friends.

Yukina was glad they were friends, even with all her quirks and misgivings.

“I am going to give my all to your dream, Shiori! So let me continue being a part of your journey with Kanato”.

‘What don’t we call a truce and all go out this weekend to that noodle shop you like?” Yukina eventually suggests before whispering to herself, “And I’ll get extra mushrooms for Kanato ehe”.

He hates mushrooms.

"I can understand what you are saying, dumbass. Give me a mushroom and you're dead".

Yukina curses at herself forgetting that fact.

-----------------------------------------

Kanade had tonight off and she wished she could use it to fall asleep in the arms of the woman she loved. Mizuki was an excellent throw pillow and the taller woman would agree with her. But it couldn’t happen because her wife was out of town.

Their online meeting was cancelled due to Mafuyu and Mizuki being occupied with their ‘day jobs’, so she was supposed to be using the time to catch up on some more sleep. Yet something compelled her to go to the kitchen, maybe she was thirsty?

It turns out it was just a mother’s instinct because sitting on one of the bar chairs was Kanato, hands crossed on the counter, eyes staring into nothing. His hair was loose and hanging down his back less put together, his posture was even worse than hers.

Something likely had come up, but if he hadn’t approached her about it, then she wasn’t about to pry it out of him. She knew he could come to her to talk about anything, so there was no need to push.

She just moves past him and puts a saucepan on the stove, taking the milk from the fridge and setting it to a medium heat.

Sometimes she is afraid she passed on things she can’t control. Despite having it under control in her present life, she knew more than anyone how the past can creep up on her. When Mafuyu had lived with her, this became even more evident. Overworking herself to feel like she was worthy of something, like she was working harder and faster to save her dear friend. When she passed out and worried so many people, it was like a mini wake-up call for her.

She never wants her own son to feel as if pleasing others or helping others, herself falling in the latter, was a top priority compared to self-care. They had never put pressure on Kanato when exploring his hobbies, yet something had gone wrong due to peer pressure when he pursued music in school.

Wordlessly, she mixes in cocoa powder, conveniently placed in the cupboard above her, and sugar into the milk.

She still remembers the night when he was younger, only 14, crying in her arms about how he was talentless compared to the two of them, how he struggled to see himself as a person. He wanted his music to serve a purpose, but he couldn’t yet figure out what he wanted it to do.

Mizuki was always better with these kinds of talks, but Kanade still did her best. Mizuki had bounced back a bit quicker than she had in their years of high school but when Kanade had been at her lowest Mizuki, Mafuyu, and Ena had been there to help her up.

So Kanade took it upon herself to remind him he never had to ‘redeem himself’ with his talents. There was no thing as being talented or being talentless when it came to making music. She took it upon herself to always check through the gap in his door before going to bed, occasionally gently reminding him he had school the next day.

Sometimes the two just sat together, under the premise of watching a new show, when really they were more focused on the OST being used and when it was being used during different scenes.

Kanato appreciated the quiet moments, even now, he was just more introverted than his friends.

Kanato finally notices her in the kitchen when she does the last step, seeing that the liquid is now warm. Her last touch is a few chocolate chips; she never added any before she moved in with Mizuki, but the pink-haired woman had insisted they make it taste sweeter. Mizuki had a clear sweet tooth, such small things that made her more endearing.

This was something she knew how to make since junior high, on rainy days when she was still facing being alone in her apartment. The cocoa in the drink made her sleepy and happy, forgetting everything she was worrying about for mere moments.

It’s raining tonight and Kanato hadn’t been doing anything at 25:00, so she was here to help him. With that, she sets the cup in his hands, making sure his grip is strong enough before taking the seat next to him.

“Not coffee or super monster?” he questions, hands snug and warm around the cup. Kanade laughs “I still want you to go to sleep, Kanato”.

“Mizuki would say the same thing if she was here” she says as she takes the first sip.

“Mama would probably come in and say something about how– wait,” Kanato clears his throat “Oya? Are you two having some secret meeting without me? And with something sweet? Do you guys not love me anymore ueueue”.

She’s laughing “You sound exactly like her”.

“I can act like her too” he replies, starting to blow on his cup.

Kanato may look a lot like her, but Kanade was grateful he got Mizuki’s eyes. It’s something they talked about before he was born, Mizuki had said she wanted him to have Kanade’s hair while Kanade said she wanted him to have Mizuki's eyes.

It was a silly thought but sometimes when she looked at herself in the mirror, she wished she had more characteristics from her dad, not just her mom. She was proof of her parents' love and wishes for the future, just like how Kanato was for her and Mizuki.

It’s funny though because Kanato’s eyes still are different from hers because of the eyebags he doesn’t cover up with makeup. He at least took care of his skin.

“Nyan~ This hot chocolate is still too hot, I am going to burn my tongue, I am like a helpless kitty cat” he continues, putting his hand like a cat’s paw, and she actually snorts.

Despite this teasing, she knows that Kanato also can’t handle hot foods. His eyes droop once he finishes blowing on the sweet liquid.

Her family may be mostly quiet but they were dedicated to their craft. Mizuki was living her careers out to the fullest and Kanato had grown into a son she was proud of.

Even while finishing his drink he nearly fell asleep at the table and Kanade had to put her hand out to stop his head from hitting the counter, “Kanato, I’ll pack your cup away but I can’t carry you back to your room if you fall asleep in the kitchen”.

“I miss when you used to do that” he mumbled and Kanade brushes his hair out of his face, messy and long like hers used to be, “You’re still my little boy”.

Kanade is already proud of him but she can’t help but be hopeful for what he will achieve in the future. She doesn’t believe in relying on potential but she is positive that Kanato can use his.

-----------------------------------------

Kanato didn’t understand why his head was always dragging him back to his past blunders.

The high school version of Kanato is different from when he was in junior high. For a simple thing, his hair now was kept in a manageable ponytail tied in a black ribbon, while before he had kept it short despite what he wanted. People made fun of his appearance so he didn't bother.

He hated the way he felt things sometimes, he wondered what it would be like to just be emotionless instead. Or should he have been born as tenacious?

He started making and posting music without anyone knowing he did, completely anonymous, waiting for someone to just simply criticize him since he knew he wasn’t perfect. Instead, he received harsh words and nothing else. It was strange considering his upbringing but he also refused to take any help from his parents; he wanted to make his own way, be his own producer.

Someone took it too far. Then what was he expecting, he struggled with making lyrics too so he just stopped.

Then he started wondering if he needed talent for it, all when he was talentless. If he was talentless how was he supposed to help anyone? How did he inquire about talent in the first place? How much more did he need to practice?

All this also added on to if he could even help Shiori with her dream or if he could even find a dream of his own. So he distanced himself until he could make something worthy.

He was just some stupid kid making mistakes, it’s funny how Shiori was having none of that and cornered him as soon as he started trying to pull away. They were both stubborn like that.

It’s only recently that he has been feeling like this again, struggling to see himself as a person.

Is he terrible at the one thing he is good at? He wants his music to mean something, like the beautiful and meaningful music his mother makes, the music his other mother presents with grace. He wants his melody to make people smile, to make people feel like it is reaching their hearts.

Kanato didn’t want to get left behind just because he was trying to be himself.

He runs a hand through his bangs, a quiet frustrated sigh leaves his mouth.

He barely registers the teacher’s dismissal, the bell ringing, and his more eager classmates rushing out of the class. They push and shove each other.

“Look, Kamishiro is right on time. It makes sense since Akiyama is so pretty for a guy, of course she is chasing after him” and “Poor Akiyama-kun, Kamishiro-chan is going to land him in detention again“ helps Kanato notice a certain girl’s presence.

Shiori ignores all of them and slams her hands on the table. Most of 2-B ignores her since she always comes in when it’s a break and when school finishes. She’s holding a piece of paper and he knows exactly what it is: the results from this year’s physical test.

It’s something she is strangely competitive about.

“Fufu I am now 165cm. I’ve grown a whole 2 cm since last year. I am catching up to you, soon you’ll have to look up at me” she’s grinning, quite possibly imagining herself being taller. Perhaps it’s because her father is a beanstalk.

Kanato smirks and Shiori’s smile falls off her face as he says “I grew 2 cm as well, I am now 170 cm”.

Shiori, startled, replies “No way! That’s 10 cm taller than Yukina! How do you fit in a bed?”.

He just blankly stares at her, not giving the reaction she wants. It’s just sometimes he doesn’t know how to respond or doesn’t want to give her fuel. It’s been like this since Kanato realized how fast his social battery drains.

It’s funny because in junior high when they weren’t talking as much, she started doing the same to get his attention, practically waving around a banner saying “Don’t ignore me”.

Shiori continues talking. It goes to the show they were going to take notes and references from after school. Kanato is more interested in how the music was setting up the scenes, notebook ready in hand to decipher the instruments, while Shiori will want to focus on the narrative and emotions that stem from the actions of the characters. Yukina focuses on the show as a whole so her perspective allows them to not be so hyper-focused on singular parts.

Kanato wished he could create the music Shiori wanted, dreamed about. His music was a bit unconventional, not his words, but he had been reassured that it could be utilized. That's why when Shiori and/or Yukina made him watch shows he’d always make sure to note and reference.

“Get a room!” makes the two stop talking. It’s a small rumor that they were dating, which they weren’t, but some people still acted like middle schoolers even in high school. It was a guy in Shiori’s class who had been passing by his and had seen Shiori trying to get a reaction out of them.

Shiori already knows how to handle it, pointing at the black-haired boy “Kinda ironic, Hinomori-kun! I’ve seen the way you look at Shinonome-chan and she doesn’t even go to our school!”.

The ‘oohhs’ of students around him make him leave faster.

“Does he actually?” he questions and she snickers “Yukina noticed, she isn’t happy about it but won’t stop him from liking her. She was even considering learning an instrument like he is because she wondered if that was his strong point”.

“Isn’t it like that romance show I drafted once?” Shiori sighs dreamily “The best ideas can be driven from what you see when watching others, guessing who they are and if you already know then guessing what they are feeling”. 

“Oi, head out of the clouds Kamishiro” Kanato reminds her. Shiori never takes it seriously if he dares use her last name “So mean Akiyama”

Shiori laughs a little, using her head to cover her mouth before reaching out her other one. She’s standing up straight now.

“Now let’s go, Kanato!” she smiles, grabbing his hand like it is the most natural thing in the world. The way their hands fit together seemed natural too and Kanato didn’t want to let go.

If Shiori left him behind he wouldn’t know what to do.

“Talent or talentless doesn’t matter! I want you by my side regardless Kanato!”.

Shiori was warm, she made him feel warm. He understood why he had always been drawn to her, to her dedication, to her devotion to her craft. He knows that she is just afraid of losing the people she cares for, that understand her, just as much as he is.

Just like when they were younger, Kanato would keep his promise of staying by both Yukina and Shiori’s sides. Suddenly the weight he had felt during class had significantly lessened.

Kanato didn’t always recognize it but no one had given up on him, not his parents or his best friends.

He couldn’t feel any eyes on them and soon enough they were out the school gate. He lets go of their joined hands, ignoring Shiori’s pout, and looks around for their friend. He eventually spots Yukina once they turn a corner but she looks incredibly bored, leaning against a wall and a hand slipping off her bag strap.

“YUKINA!” Shiori happily yells, catching the black-haired girl off guard. It's strange, usually she'd be hiding in a bush or sneaking up behind them to catch them by surprise, usually it ended up with Kanato on the floor.

When Kanato reaches them he notices Yukina not looking bored like he initially thought “Yukina, what time did you go to sleep?”.

She tries to turn her head away from her friends but Shiori doesn’t let it happen.

“... FC Bayern was playing at midnight our time” Yukina yawns “So I stayed up, it will not affect the notes I can take”.

That actually gives him a reason why Yukina didn’t run across the district to see them during lunch today.

“If you fall asleep we will immediately watch the next showing!” Shiori declares but Kanato squashes that idea right away “Nuh uh my mother is coming back tonight. I am eating with them and my mom is making tons of french fries. I am not missing that”.

Trying to stifle another yawn Yukina quips in “You’re the biggest mama’s boy I know”.

“I have two moms, it would be weird if I wasn’t” he deadpans and she waves him off “Not my point”.

Suddenly Yukina slaps her cheeks and rubs her hands together “Anyway I am up, energized, aiming to seize the day, and I am ready to run to the theatre if we have to!”.

Kanato quickly grabs her jacket’s hood “Run too fast and you’ll miss the traffic light again”. Shiori then smiles and prepares to do the same thing when he grabs the back of her grey sweater “Seriously…”.

They eventually calm down and the three make their way to the show. He knew how hard it was for Shiori to obtain tickets, having to debate with someone online for the release time so she could get there first. She was a star debater and could be really convincing when she wanted to be. That’s why Yukina and Kanato appointed her as the leader.

And if she didn’t get the tickets she probably would have been lameting this fact to them for a week straight, especially since she found out one of her favorite actresses played a part.

Although she was an easily distracted leader because she stops while they are walking, shakily points to a poster on one of the shop’s windows, before actually jumping. Kanato realizes the overreaction is because of magical girl memorabilia.

“I’LL BE RIGHT BACK. WE STILL HAVE TIME TO GET THERE!” Shiori goes into the shop quickly, leaving him alone with Yukina.

Yukina looks at him for a moment and he just sighs “It is a limited edition figure that came out last week and she tried ordering it when it dropped, but the time was during P.E. class. She got her phone confiscated. When class ended, she grabbed mine and saw it was out of stock”.

“I was planning to cut class because the teacher wouldn’t let me wear my long-sleeved undershirt under the uniform. I told him I didn’t have sunscreen but Hinomori-kun pulled out an entire tube to screw me over” he continues, watching as Yukina starts struggling to stay in place.

Shiori was taking longer than the two thought she would considering she would spend the money she earned from her part-time job in a heartbeat for something like this.

“Hey hey Kanato” Yukina suddenly asks “What do you really think of Shiori? And no hiding it under sarcasm!”.

It's unprompted yet something compels Kanato to just respond with what he thinks.

“She’s an impulsive shownut but I think she understands me when no one else does” he says honestly “No offense”.

“I get it, she was there for you when I wasn’t here in the country” she’s still bouncing on her feet a little “She accepts me even with all my quirks, just like you do, but she showcases that warmth that I don’t want to let go”.

“I don’t know why but I have just been thinking recently, Shiori really did save us” Yukina smiles at him and he can’t help but think she also showcases the same warmth she claimed Shiori did.

Kanato was really blessed to have such good friends, it feels like he’s experiencing what his mother experienced with her friend group. Like no matter what he did to grow, he would be accepted.

Shiori comes back out whining about their stock only being taken out the next day and she got threatened with being kicked out when she asked why not today and why they put the sign up without a start date.

She reached out a hand to them when they were both lost.

“She really did” Kanato answers Yukina as Shiori is mid-ramble.

Notes:

It’s a bittersweet thing for me, finishing this fic, but I won't drag it on^ I am grateful for all the support you guys have given me. And for the love you’ve given Shiori, Kanato, and Yukina since I know fankids aren’t always well received. These bonus chapters were just me going off my original plot points of Rui trying to ask Tsukasa on a date. But then again, I wanted to work on world-building and trying to create an accurate setting, hence this fic. It was also really nice writing adoptive dad Rui again, it’s funny to think Shiori was originally just from a nakashira oneshot. Overall, I hope my writing improved in this one because I am not fully satisfied with how this turned out lol, I’d love to see any comment about the fic as a whole :)

Oh just in case people wanted to know: the Hinomori in this chapter is the adopted son of Shiho and Minori and the Shinonome is Akito’s (biological dad) and Kohane’s (adopted mom). They both have been developed in my mind. In this au VBS, L/N, and N25 all formed but not MMJ or WXS.
Edit 5/12/2025: I just remember about Bakuno Reki in pjsk, I didn't even remember him (shame on me) when choosing the second ruikasa child's name. I also though Reki in pjsk was spelt "Reiki" so man.

Till next time I post^ I plan to write a oneshot just for mizukana and finish a longer oneshot for a take on what a rui focus could be like (kinda?). Femruikasa will return at the end of the month^

And I may have overhyped myself about this fic a little so I am forgoing the other bonus chapter since I know people are here to read on this website and/or for the ship part of this fic. But if you want to see the teenage designs for the fankids I made mixing 2star cards: Shiori , Yukina (Just know Yukina’s eyes are like Tsukimiya’s from A Destructive God Sits Next To Me) , and Kanato (by the way I think some of the music tracks Kanato makes are like Cristobal Tapia de Veer’s. If you know the TV show Utopia (the original/uk) he made the tracks for it (holy crap I love that show)).