TSUKASA THE SKRUNKLE and the other characters ig

uh shuffle rtsk I suppose

(Mostly rui pov)

This was it. Their debut concert. The first time ever that they'll perform together on a big stage with a big crowd. Rui was nervous. Nene slapped his shoulder from where he sat. "Hey, it's usually me that's nervous." she joked. "We're gonna do great! We're a team, after all. We catch each other, didn't you say that the other day?"

She was right, but it's not the performance he was worried about, he was worried about a specific someone in the crowd, someone he met at the rooftop last week.

A particular "future star", or so he recently realized was a mere ruse. Someone who always hides behind a smile he came to realize.

Someone a little similar, yet so different, to Nene.

He peaked outside the curtain, and there he was. He wasn't expecting him to come and watch, he said he had too many club activities when Rui personally invited him, but there he was. 'Mizuki you madman you actually convinced him.' he mentally thanked his friend.

Alright. Enough pondering. There was a show to be made.

.
.
.

"Thanks for agreeing to come, Akito and Tsukasa!" Mizuki punched their friends shoulder. "I only agreed cause you wouldn't stop spamming me on Nightcord." Akito grumbled. "Not talking to you anymore!" Mizuki huffed.

"Are idol concerts always this crowded?" Tsukasa asked, "Someone's soda might spill on my hair." he joked. "Yes, unfortunately." Haruka giggled.

In truth, he wanted to get this over with, he only came because his siblings wanted to, and also because Mizuki was nice enough to buy him and Akito extra tickets. And besides, this might be a learning experience for him.

...

The concert soon started. It started off with solo introductions of each member. There was Momoi Airi, an idol from a different company who quit. Kusanagi Nene, one of Toya's classmates who he interacted with from time to time. Azusawa Kohane, one of Saki's friends who he met on occassion. And Kamishiro Rui, someone he considers a friend and eerily seems to be able to see through his ruse.

He didn't really have much of a reaction to them. Their voices were amazing, don't get him wrong, and the songs were insanely catchy that he couldn't help but sway along, but inside? Nothing.

That was until they started singing together. More specifically, when their voices backed each other up. It gave a harmony that he can only wish to achieve, a sense of hope, of love.

That was the sound he was looking for. That was what he was missing in his songs.

And then Rui opened his mouth. His solo earlier was niche compared to how angelic his voice sounded with the backing of his groupmates.

'What is this feeling in my chest?' he thought as a smile creeps up on his face.

He wants to experience that feeling again. He wants their audience to experience that warm sensation he had when he listened to their song.

But he knows he'll never achieve such a sound he can only describe as a smile represented through sound.

Little does he know, that just as he was focused on Rui, the idol's eyes were also on him.

>>>>>Several days later, Kamiyama Highschool

That smile again.

That fake smile.

Rui stares at Tsukasa in school as he greets his teachers and classmates with a grin. 'Stop smiling like that' he mentally told Tsukasa, as if the boy could hear him.

"Kamishiro-senpai? A word if I may?" he turns and sees Aoyagi Toya, a classmate of Nene. He likes to think that he and Aoyagi are great friends. He goes to talk to him

...

"I've seen the way you and Tsukasa-nii interact, and when you sang last night, that was the first time in years I saw him smile like that." Toya told him, his face serious. "I won't disclose his past, that's his bussiness. But just know that you and your group were probably the first people in years to bring out the genuine Tenma Tsukasa. Whatever you did last night that made him smile like that, continue it."

Toya paused, and then laughed lightly. "He's like a brother to me, y'know. And I heard the music he makes, it's concerning that someone as bright and bubbly as him could make such dark songs. So if your songs could make even him feel something, continue making songs like that. Because I know him more than anything, he'd want everyone else to feel hopeful." he pats Rui's shoulder. "Take care of him."

Rui stared as Toya goes to his classes.

What he said was so... powerful. He looked back at Tsukasa who was talking to a classmate, then to Nene who was on a call with Airi.

Rui thought, if he could rekindle Nene's interest in the stage, what was stopping him from doing the same to Tsukasa?