Smile for the Camera!

Chapter 1

     Tsukasa dreaded getting out of bed today. It's a Thursday, and he has to wake up early to make sure his costume is ready for today's rehearsal. He sighed, "Great, I actually have to be in the same troupe as that freak. Ah, don't worry Tsukasa! You're a star, you can overcome anything! Even being in the same troupe as that weird kid!" He was, once again, talking to himself, "But it's kind of strange... he's so quiet, why is he in a theater troupe? Must be that Nene girl that convinced him." He continued his one-sided conversation while packing his shit for school. Saki opened her room door, "Onii-Chan! Stop talking to yourself so loudly please, the neighbors might still be sleeping." Tsukasa lowered his voice a bit, "Oh, sorry Saki." 

"It's ok onii-chan, I just don't want another noise complaint. So who's that weird kid you were yelling about a few seconds ago?"

Tsukasa sighed, "There's this kid in my class named Rui, I absolutely hate him. Although, now he's in my theater troupe, and I HAVE to put up with him for Emu." Saki was keeping count, she saw her brother roll his eyes 4 times, and he had only said 2 sentences. "Onii-chan, you might want to get to know him before saying you hate him." Tsukasa rolled his eyes again, "Yeah, I've tried to. He keeps brushing me off anytime I try to talk to him, and he always looks at me weirdly. Every time I speak, he rolls his eyes or makes a snide remark under his breath, it's annoying!" Saki had never seen her brother get so pissed just talking about one person, whatever he did must've been bad to get THIS reaction out of Tsukasa. "I better go now, Saki. You should get ready too, school is starting in a bit." Saki's brain lagged for a second, she had completely forgotten about that. "OH WAIT, I COMPLETELY FORGOT TODAY WAS A SCHOOL DAY! BYE ONII-CHAN!!" She slammed her door closed. Tsukasa chuckled, "Oh my goodness Saki..." His sister could probably forget her head if it wasn't attached to her. He went to the laundry room and took his costume off the drying rack. He then neatly folded it and put the outfit in his shoulder bag; in a pocket that was farther away from his books and pencils. He can't risk his costume getting dirty after he just washed it.

The school day went by quickly. This would normally be a good thing for Tsukasa, because it meant he could go home and do whatever. However, that's not the case today. Because today... is the first day of rehearsals. With 'literally the WORST PERSON EVER', Rui. Hey, Tsukasa said it, not me. He was silently hoping he could skip the meeting and say he forgot, until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head around to see a very menacing Rui, peering right into his soul. He felt like Rui was going to murder him at any second. "Ah, where do you think you're going, Tenma? Like I checked, Phoenix Wonderland was this way." He flipped Tsukasa around to the right, oh shit he's screwed. "Well, to make sure you don't attempt to bail out again, how about we walk there, hm?" Tsukasa gulped, "Uhhh... yeah..." He was horrified. The whole time they walk there, he could feel Rui's eyes burning into the back of his skull. Why the hell was this guy who HATED him suddenly so addiment on him showing up? It's almost like Rui read his mine, "I'm just doing this for Nene, don't get the wrong idea. I would bury you 6 feet under, but Nene needs us." Tsukasa scowled, "Tsk, I feel the same about you, asshole. And if you touch me again I will kick you so hard in the nuts that your birth certificate will automatically update to female." Rui could slowly feel his patience melting again, "Oh really? I'd like to see you try that, dipshit. Even then I would still have bigger balls than you, coward."

"What did you fucking say about me?"

"You heard me, you're a coward and a pussy."

"Take that shit back Rui, I'm not playing these games."

"Suck my dick."

"Sure, but just a warning I do bite."

"Fuck you, Tsukasa."

"Fuck you too, Rui."

"Shut the hell up you're literally a blond."

"Make me, at least my hair doesn't look like I made a wig out of hair extensions from Claire's."

The two immediately stopped arguing when they heard a very specific bubbly voice, "Nene look! They're here they're here!!"

Rui changed his face from anger to a wide smile, "Hey you two! I found Tsukasa on the way, so we decided to walk together. We're in the same class, after all." Tsukasa also quickly cleaned up his act, putting on a wide and bright smile, "Yeah! Quite convenient, isn't it?" The two laughed together, trying to make it sound as sincere as possible. Nene smiled, "Ah, it's good to see you two getting along. I was worried for nothing, haha." Tsukasa and Rui both nodded and smiled, but both knew they were flaming liars. It was no wonder they were actors, they're rather good at this. Emu jumped up and down, "Yay! Having everybody be so friendly is going to be so great for our shows!! Yay!! Speaking of which, let's get started! Nene and I have already made a script ahead of time, take a look over it!" She handed the two their own scripts and they both read it... it was a fucking love story. 'Are you kidding me? A love story?? With Rui??? Oh hell nah...' Rui was not very amused either, 'This is so stupid... there's no way I'm doing this with TSUKASA of all people. I would rather make out with Akito then do a love story with Tsukasa.' But of course, fake it until you make it, so the two acted like it wasn't literally the worst idea ever. Tsukasa was a little put off by something, though, "Why are there three girl roles? There's only two girls in the cast." Emu smirked mischievously, in all his years of knowing Emu, he knew that this was a bad sign. "Well, Tsukasa-kun!! That's where you come in, hehehe!" Tsukasa got nervous, "Uh... what? Please don't tell me it's what I think it is..." Emu grinned, "Mhm! Don't worry, we have a wig for you, and Nene is really good at makeup!!" Tsukasa was right, it was exactly what he thought it was, "Emu that's not exactly what I was worried about..." Well, it was no use. Rui chuckled, "Good luck blondie, I'll make sure to get plenty of photos." For blackmail reasons, of course. Tsukasa fake laughed, trying his hardest to no explode on him, "Haha, please don't..."

Emu clapped, "Yay! They didn't object to the script! Rui you know you're the director, right?" Rui smiled, "Yeah, Nene told me yesterday." 

"Yay! Thank you Nene!! You're so helpful!!!! This is why I love you!!" Emu hugged Nene tightly. The green-haired girl laughed, "Of course, sweetie." Jealous? Me? Never. Ok maybe. Tsukasa and Rui both took in the cringe of this situation. Yeah, they know they're single, don't need to rub it in. Emu let go of Nene and looked over to the others, "Well Mr Director, what's our first plan of action???"

"Hm, well I suppose we shall start with a read through."