A/N: interlude: the calm before the storm
we're out of the angst now for a bit! the next few chapters are going to be less angst and more plot
---
The school felt so empty.
Sure, Rui could go on about how it only felt empty to him because Tsukasa was nearly always near if not directly beside him, but it was just fact. Without Tsukasa, it just wasn't the same.
While Rui was the one with the matches, Tsukasa usually acted as the spark— you couldn't start a fire without one or the other, as strange as that metaphor was.
However... it seemed like Tsukasa wouldn't be any sort of spark anymore.
As he stared into Tsukasa's eyes, he felt shivers down his spine. It was just so uncanny, so... unnerving.
He sighed, fiddling with some sort of contraption in his hands during his recess. It helped take his mind off things. Stop thinking about the bad things and start thinking about the things he liked.
There were a few things Rui liked. Firstly, Tsukasa, but that was the thought he was trying to avoid. Secondly, robots. Thirdly, plants. Fourthly, Shinonome Akito, who he'd only really thought of as an experiment to poke for reactions until recently. He did that a lot with people he didn't know, he realized. Think of them more like science fair products than actual living beings with an interest in him.
Maybe I should start studying myself instead, huh, He thought, knowing damn well that was never going to happen.
"Oi, Rui-senpai!"
Speak of the devil.
Hearing his actual name come from Akito was a very recent development, and Rui certainly didn't mind. It was kind of cute how easily Akito had started to take comfort in him after that night in his room; and well, more recently, that period on the rooftop.
"Ah, if it isn't my favorite kouhai~" Rui said with a sly smile, and Akito only huffed, taking a seat beside him on the rooftop bench and opening his lunch. Rui eyed it curiously.
Akito noticed, and shot him a disappointed look back. "It has vegetables, don't even think about it."
At the mention of those horrifying, hellish food items, Rui's face scrunched up in disgust, and Akito snorted.
"Eat your own lunch, loser." He grinned, and Rui's smile morphed into something more gentle at how openly Akito expressed this side of his personality around him.
However, since the universe hates him, nice moments don't last. Can't he get one break, in this economy? One second to spend without being reminded of the troubles in his life?
"Where's Tenma-senpai, by the way?" Akito asked, in blissful ignorance of what Rui had presenced the day before. "Normally you two are attached at the hip, it's strange to see you without him."
YOU ARE READING
The World Hasn't Even Started Yet ( PROJECT SEKAI )
FanfictionThere is a lot going on. From his sister more frequently having to stay at home because of her illness, to Rui confessing his feelings, to him getting sick of his own voice and personality, to Mizuki and the rest of the cast becoming friends and see...
