Revitalized | Rui Kamishiro x F!Reader

Showtime All Over Again

"1, 2, 3 ochite yuku chanderia"

"issei ni hi o tomosu neon raito"

You watched, wide and starry-eyed at the stage's lights, music, and most of all: performers. They were gorgeous, despite the countless mistakes you saw. It was obvious this was a newer song. The choreo and voices were still new, and both tripped often.

Sometimes Nene would grow quiet when trying to remember the lyrics, Tsuakasa's voice was break from strain, Rin and Emu would trip over each other, or just plain air... but it was all amazing in your eyes.

And you couldn't help but curl in on yourself a little when Rui's voice rose to the lead, even if only for a line or two. Or how he danced when moments like those came up... you really just had your eyes on him 50% of the time. Who wouldn't? He was the only one you had a personal connection with.

You began to notice smaller things too. Like how Rui seemed to be avoiding his head by quite a bit anytime his hand would go up, or how some of the moves didn't quite match the people who were dancing them, from what you knew. It would've troubled you, had you not been in a trance with the music.

Something clicked in your mind as the song played. It felt like you belonged there, at the theme park, with the singers and the music. It was like the few puzzle pieces that had been dropped below the table, finally being found again.

You wanted to be up on that stage, singing and dancing your heart out again. You wanted to write another song and struggle for lyrics to fit the perfect melody. You wanted to paint backdrops, laugh with friends, wear pretty costumes, and get out all the feelings trapped deep in your chest. For once, it didn't matter if the people you were singing with were Super Nova. You just wanted to sing again.

When the show ended and the lights flicked back on, blinding you for a few moments, you stood and clapped happily, along with Len, who had come to sit a few rows behind you. A few of the group bowed playfully at your applause.

"Beautiful! I loved it!"

"Y/n-san!!"

Tsuakasa's voice was loud enough to fill the entire area, making you jump, and everything quickly go silent.

"Uh, yes, Tsuakasa...kun?" You weren't really sure how to respond to the honorifics, and since he seemed pretty adamant about it, you simply went with it.

"uhm..." he placed his hand on his chin, troubled for what to say next. "Do you have any advice for how we can do better?"

"Well, we still need some more practice. I mean, I was tripping left and right," Rin laughed.

"Yes, but I think I know why Tsukasa's asking. There may be some things that are better if we change them before perfecting something that doesn't work out," Rui explained, catching on to the question his friend had asked. "Y/n has done this much longer than us. I think we may benefit from a tip or two."

"Uh, right..." you murmured bashfully. When you looked at everyone uneasily, you watched as they began to beckon you up onto the stage with smiles. It made it a bit easier to leave your seat and join them.

"So, anything you saw that needs fixing?" Rui asked. Despite how open everyone was being about it, you still felt guilty critiquing their show. You pulled your stuffed animal a little closer, humming in uncertainty.

"Well... um..."

"It's okay, you're not gonna make us sad." Emu spoke reassuringly, putting her hands on your shoulders.

"Yeah. It's still a new song. It's kinda expected that it's not gonna look the best this early on," Nene agreed.

"Mhm. Just say what's on your mind."

"Okay, well... have you guys ever heard of free choreo?"

"That's where you come up with it yourself, right?" Rin asked. You shrugged.

"It's sorta like that. There's different ways that you can go about choreo. Most of these terms my friend Kazuni came up with, so pardon me if you've never heard them before." Tsukasa's eyes widened a bit at the mention of your former group mate. "She said that there were three types of choreography you could do for songs. Fixed, Free, and somewhere in between."

The others gathered around you, Len included, and listened to your lecture.

"Fixed is where you follow set instructions to a tee, and perfect the choreo without improv, or personal flare. It seemed a lot like what you all were doing just now. Uh, excluding the trips," you laughed, Rin and Emu chuckling quietly themselves. "Free is where almost the entire thing is improv, and you do what's in the moment. It requires zero planning, and if you wanna pull it off, a deep understanding of those around you. Ah, Tsukasa, have you seen my group's old performance of ME!ME!ME!?"

You turned to the blonde, who nodded vigorously. "That show started out as free choreo, until we found something we liked from it and perfected it. That's why all the shows of it are so different."

He seemed to glow where he stood, clearly ecstatic to be hearing some behind the scenes info about SN.

"Then, there's the mixture. Personally, I think that's the best kinda choreo any group could do. Ah, to a certain point, that is. Kazuni thought the same too. I think you all should try it out in your shows."

"So, what does that mean?" Len tilted his head. "Like... how would that effect the show?"

"I think it'd be a bit better to show you," you smiled. "Would you mind getting back into your starting positions? We'll take this all one step at a time."