Revitalized | Rui Kamishiro x F!Reader

Today's Milkyway

Walking through the carnival, you weren't quite sure where Rui was leading you. You carried some of his candy, looking through it. He said you could have whatever you want of it, but you wouldn't dare after he paid for your supper.

Well, aside from that one airhead you had. That one didn't count.

"Rui, where are we going."

"You'll see~" he spoke with that catlike smile you'd seen on him a few times.

You faltered a bit at that, slightly uneased. "Could I have a hint?"

"Hm... I'm hoping it'll be nostalgic for you. Is that a good enough hint?" He turned to you and plucked a lollipop from your hands, unwrapping it and popping it in his mouth.

You hummed, still disturbed, you'd admit. Nonetheless, you agreed.

A few moments later, you had left the town completely, and Rui turned to you, face a bit less happy.

"I'm just realizing, we're still not all that close. Have I been scaring you, taking you out this far?" He asked, concern evident. It warmed your heart a bit, melting the bits of fear away.

"Y-yeah, I guess you have. It's alright though. Sometimes I get ahead of myself too."

"Then, you don't mind if we keep going? We're nearly there."

"No, we can keep going. I'm curious now."

And so, you did. You soon found yourself at the top of a hill, next to a forest with a small clearing.

"Ah, are you allergic to any flowers or anything?"

"Not that I know of, no."

"Alright, then follow me, if you will."

He led you through a few of the trees to the clearing, and there you were wowed by the gorgeous view of the sunset. The sky had just grown it's beautiful magentas and scarlets, painting the clouds into cotton candy and the sky into the depths of wysteria.

You failed to see how such a thing would be nostalgic. Sure, you'd watched the sunset before, but never in a way that was meaningful. Nothing that you would reminisce over.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah," you sighed. "I just... I don't get the hint."

"You will."

He turned back to the sky, watching the clouds drift and the colors change. You too stared into it's depths, searching for some semblance of what he could mean. The both of you came to sit in the grass, listening to the soft rustle of leaves in the breeze and watching as the sky darkened.

It wasn't until you saw the first star that things finally seemed to make sense. There was one of your album covers, a sunset and a single star above the horizon. There was the nostalgia. And it slowly grew.

More stars appeared. The sun disappeared and left only navy blue in its wake the next few moments. There was the beautiful color of the Milkyway Showstage and its velvet curtains. As it darkened more, there were the constellations that had lived in the Starscape, running around like real animals.

Only moments later, you saw it. The brightest star if them all amongst the pitch black sky, where streaks of color lined the very galaxy you found yourself in. It was the very sky where you had tried to figure out who you were. The same sky where you had determined, 3 years after, that you were Y/n, not just another star that hadn't made it's way to the sky yet. The very same sky you had cried under so many times, wondering how a boy could be so cruel, or why your friends were growing apart. The very sky you'd been looking at when a song appeared on your phone, and changed you forever.

And soon, your tears streamed again. It was the same sky as the Starscape. Albeit, this one held less color. It was more realistic. But it still brought back the sorrow of loss. You'd never see that magenta-lined galaxy world again. You knew that when the group stopped performing. When they stopped coming to the Starscape and starting living their own lives. One day, the song didn't work anymore. You were stuck here, living in your memories.

As much as you didn't want to cry anymore, hell you'd cried enough since the separation, you found yourself hiccuping again, and lowering your head to let the warm tears fall from your face to your lap. Rui was quick to notice and move closer to you, a bit regretful of bringing you here. Maybe it wasn't the best idea.

"Hey, it's okay, it's okay." He whispered to you, running a hand down your arm.  He was a bit caught of guard when you came closer to him, and rested your head to his chest. He could feel your hesitation. After all, he was still something of a stranger to you. He just hoped you couldn't feel how his heart raced.

He unclipped the arms and legs of the plushie you had been wearing the whole time, setting it aside and running a hand down your back. As much reassurance as you may have needed, there was only so much he could do without overstepping, and the last thing he'd want was to take advantage of you like this, or give off that impression.

It was a few long moments later that your eyes finally started to run dry, and your breathing was stabilized. Once you had calmed down a bit, you leaned away from Rui and wiped your eyes, sniffling.

"Sorry..."

"No, no, it's fine. Maybe this wasn't the best idea after all. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, (sniff) you were just trying to do something fun. I probably would've enjoyed it more if- (sniff) if I didn't miss everything so much."

"Well, maybe we should go home. Or, at least somewhere a bit more fun, yeah?"

You nodded, standing and cleaning yourself up as best you could.

"If we see Hina and Kazuni again... do you think we could just... avoid them? I'd love to hang out some more, but I know the rest of their group is gonna be there..."

"Yeah, sure. C'mon, let's go find something to do."