Revitalized | Rui Kamishiro x F!Reader

A Problematic Cycle

The next morning felt like any other to Rui. He got up and dressed, grabbed breakfast, and went out to your hou-

Oh. Wait. Last night... that had been a dream, right? It felt all too realistic.

Was he in denial? No, of course not. He was just avoiding admitting a somewhat obvious truth to himself, that was all. And who knows, maybe it had been a dream.

He reached your door and turned the knob. As he pushed, however, the door caught and refused to budge. Locked. You'd already left. Without him.

It hadn't been a dream. It hadn't been a dream.

He fought for a minute with the urge to crumble to the ground, right there at your doorstep. He'd made you cry. He'd made you hate him. You didn't love him. Of course, who would? His wishful thinking had gone way out of hand on this one.

You probably liked Tsukasa. Hell, you'd probably liked him more this whole time. That made Rui nauseous, but he couldn't say he was surprised.

His legs shakily walked him back home. He was much too sick to go to school today. He was much too guilty and resentful to face you. He just wanted to go back to sleep, to forget all this until later, because good lord did it hurt.

He felt hot tears in his eyes pooling more and more, and once he was left in the loneliness of his room, he finally broke down. He missed you. So so much. And now he'd never have you again.

°♡°

"Where's Rui?" Tsukasa sighed impatiently. "Role call is soon."

"Maybe he's not coming." Nene looked at her phone, but found no messages from her friend. She hoped he was okay.

Meanwhile, all you could feel was guilt. This whole situation could've been avoided if you hadn't led him on. Hadn't had him over at your house every night. Hadn't told him about that weird dream you had. You shouldn't have even kissed him on the ferris wheel, but at that point he already loved you.

"Y/n-san, are you okay? You look down."

"Fine. Let's go. I don't think he's coming."

Somehow, Nene was able to piece things together. He'd confessed, hadn't he? She wanted to facepalm herself. She was still trying to work things out. Why hadn't he waited?

You led the other two into the school and to their classes. Math had never felt so lonely. The halls had never felt so lonely. It was a nice day out. You wished Rui was there to eat with you outside again.

No, no, no, what were you thinking?! That's exactly how you'd gotten here. Spending so much alone time with him is exactly how you'd done this to him in the first place.

After school, walking home, the last thing you wanted to do was go to practice. Being so down was sure to effect your singing, and you didn't want to drag anyone else down with you, especially the man at the root of your guilt. So you texted Nene that you wouldn't be going and crawled into your all too cold bed for a nap. Even Lucky avoided you, for fear of drowning in the negativity surrounding you.

°♡°

"Y/n-san's late," Emu glanced at the time, frowning with worry.

"She told me she wasn't coming," Nene chimed in while Emu hoped you were alright. Rui paused what he was doing, hearing this. So you were avoiding him too, huh? With a sigh, he hoped things would get better. As he stood up to address everyone, Emu stopped him.

"Are you alright?"

"Just... must be coming down with something."

Nene already knew that wasn't what it was. Seems it was taking a toll on both of you. Though, in his defense, why hadn't you agreed?

The group went about their practice of the play, Miku filling in as you. Everyone was easily able to notice Rui's lackluster performance, but no one said anything until Tsukasa finally got fed-up.

"Rui!" He called from across the stage.

"Yeah?"

"Are you alright to perform?"

"Hm, yes? That's why I'm here."

"It's not showing."

Rui was taken aback for a moment, before his recent negative feelings about Tsukasa returned, full swing. He crossed his arms, glaring.

"And who are you to assess that? I've said I'm sick, of course I won't be preforming perfectly."

"It's not that you're less than perfect, it's that you're barely trying." He crossed over to Rui as Emu and Nene stepped out of the way, sensing the tension. "Considering that you are sick, I suggest you go home for the night."

Rui didn't want to go home. It'd be too quiet, too lonesome. At least here he felt a little less empty. "I'm well enough to be here, now let's stop wasting time."

"Rui, you're not, or you'd be doing better. And if you don't leave by yourself, then I'll just make you anyway. Unless you can do better."

Rui's jaw ticked, growing angrier by the minute. He'd lost something important to him and was mourning, and the one place that made him feel better about it, his friends didn't even want him there.

"Tsukasa, calm down, you're being harsh," Nene spoke sheepishly, scared Tsukasa would turn on her too, but Rui didn't deserve this.

To her surprise, he sighed, cooling off a little. Then met Rui's eyes again. "I'm not saying this because I don't want you here. I'm saying it because you shouldn't be performing in this state. Please, just go home."

Rui faltered at that, then stopped his opposition. As much as he didn't want to be home, as stupid as it was that he was acting like this over a rejection, he realized he should go home. He should cool off and come to terms with things, instead of taking it out on the others.

"I will."

"Good. C'mere." Tsukasa opened his arms for Rui, who hesitated a long moment, then returned the embrace. Tsukasa could feel how weak his friend's arms were around him, and he couldn't tell if it was from the sickness, or if he just didn't want to hug him.

"Feel better, please."

"And tell Y/n to feel better too if you see her!" Emu called, and Tsukasa was confused for a moment. When would he see you the rest of the day? And why?

"I'll definitely try," Rui spoke sadly, then softly bid farewell to everyone and left the park.