Revitalized | Rui Kamishiro x F!Reader

Something Off

Nene was right. She was undoubtably right.

Tsukasa thought you were pretty, and your voice was pretty, and your dancing was pretty, and your outfits were-

But that was completely normal, he came to see. You were his idol, after all. Was it somehow not a normal thing to have a crush on your idol? It didn't help that he now felt like you were within his grasp. If he could just reach out to you...

That was when he decided he needed to get over how nervous he was. If he ever wanted you to feel the same way about him, he needed to talk to you. He needed to spend time with you, like Rui. He needed to befriend you, and walk you around the halls and to your classes in the morning, and take you to carnivals on two-seated bikes.

Ok, well, not the last one specifically, but y'know.

So, he wiped his face off, gave the mirror a determined look, and left the bathroom he'd been in for at least 10 minutes. If he ever wanted to make any progress with you, he had to stop shying away.

His eyes immediately fell on you when he reentered the theater, and yours seemed to draw to him too. It made his stomach flutter. Maybe you liked him too? No, no, that was stupid.

He walked back up to where he had been on the stage, until you beckoned him over. Emu patted him on the shoulder, and Nene gave him a mischievous look as he walked over, trying his hardest not to falter.

"We have a few changes to make to some of your moves, if that's alright with you."

His eyes couldn't help but catch on the plushie in your arms, just now taking the time to notice it. That had probably been Rui's work. Well played.

"Of course! Where do we begin?"

You were a bit thrown off by his change in behavior, but brought him over to an open spot in the stage.

"Okay, before we do anything, do you have any ideas on how to spice up some of your solo parts?"

Things continued as they had most of the practice thus far, aside from Tsukasa's sudden calmness. You were able to help fix the show a bit from the way it was at first. The group seemed overjoyed at the changes you made. Eventually, after having worked on it for an hour and a half, Rui decided it was time to transition.

"Well, since we've made so much progress on this, let's hope we can do the same for Ego Rock!"

The others cheered happily and Rin gave you a high five on her way to the seats. You were quick to follow, anticipating the next show. Len raced up onto the stage as the lights faded, and soon, all was eerily silent as you waited.

After a few moments, the lights flashed on, and revealed the bright blue backdrop and other colors. The singing began, as well as the dancing. Right off the bat, you could see this was more of a fixed choreo, and took note of it for after.

Overall, you came to love the pitch of the song, it's moves, it's meaning. Of course, Rui's voice in this one was no short of ethereal either, however, you really favored Len and Emu's parts.

Once the show had ended, everything went on similarly to before. You helped members with trips, misplacements, and other problems you saw. You noted how the dance went, and suggested a few minor changes to certain moves, bringing everything together a bit more.

Then, when you were down to the last hour of practice, Rui turned everyone over to song brainstorming. You were able to read over some of their half-written lyrics, requesting simple note changes that would sound better, but really nothing more. You can't critique a song in development too much.

Eventually, practice was over, and before anyone was able to say goodbye, you were stopped by Emu.

"Nene, Tsukasa and I were wondering if we could get your number, Y/n!"

You agreed, reading it off from your memory. After that, you were able to say goodbye to everyone, and found yourself back in Rui's room a few moments after.

"That was great!" You smiled, handing Rui the earbud you had been listening to.

"Right? We should do this so much more often."

"Yeah," apprehension laced your words, and Rui could sense it.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just... I'm afraid it'd feel too much like I've moved on and joined another Sekai, like Kazuni and Hina."

"And you wouldn't enjoy that?"

"No. Yuuki and I both vowed we never would. Both of us have been turning down Sekais ever since."

"Ah. That's a shame. To have someone like you in our Sekai would be lovely."

"I'm sure it would be," you sighed, getting up and stretching. "Well, as much as I don't wanna go home, I suppose it's about time I do."

"Why wouldn't you wanna go home?"

"Well, it just feels like the fun is wearing off too quickly," you laughed. Rui agreed warmly.

"Ah, yeah. I quite miss the company when I come back. Seems I'll miss it twice as much today."

"Yeah, we'll... we'll do this again though. Maybe just once or twice more."

"I'll be anticipating it, Y/n."

"Ah, before I go, could I get the name of the song that took us there? For as little as I actually heard, it was pretty nice."

"Oh, yeah, it's called 'The World Hasn't Even Started Yet'."

You were quick to find it on your phone and like it, planning on listening to it later.

"I'll be listening to a few of your songs," you spoke mischievously. "Better not have any you're embarrassed of!"

"Don't listen to King."

You both shared a quick laugh before you decided to go home, walking down the darkening street and seeing the sunset peaking over the rooftops. When you reached your still devoid-of-human-life house and got ready for bed, you set your phone on your nightstand and started playing the song.

You were quickly startled by the familiar sensation from earlier. Within seconds, you were in Phoenix Wonderland again, standing just a few feet away from a girl with the longest blue pigtails you've ever seen. You didn't recognize her as anyone you'd met before.

She turned to you, seeing you in your confused state. She walked over, a friendly smile on her face.

"I don't believe we've met. You must be new!" The girl's high voice welcomed you, though it wasn't enough to stave off the growing dark sensation in your stomach.

"I don't understand. I shouldn't be able to come here through the song by myself."

"But isn't that how being in a Sekai works?"

"But... I'm not a part of Wondershow..."

"It seems you are now!"