Fictober 2023

No One More Than You

Prompt 5- "You're the smartest person I know."

A room was full of gadgets and screws. Bolts were strewn across the floor and oil stained the walls. The room was messy in a way that only the boy who sat in the middle of all of it could understand. To the average person, it seemed disorganized and lazy, but to Rui, it was warm and cozy and felt like home.

Next to him sat a short and fidgety girl with a mind just as chaotic as Rui's. Where Rui's chaos manifested as intense focus, Emu's just couldn't seem to let her sit still, mind jumping from topic to topic. She wanted to grab Rui's arms and fidget with his sleeves. To get a closer look at the item in Rui's careful hands and throw questions left and right, but she forced herself to hold her breath and sit still. She didn't dare to move a muscle, as if the tiniest squeak from her would cause the project to go up in flames.

Rui was able to work wonders with nothing but a few spare parts and a screwdriver, and to Emu, that's what made him so amazing.

"You're allowed to ask questions, Emu-kun."

Rui's voice cut through the silence, bringing her rapid thoughts to a halt.

"It's strange to see you so quiet. Is something the matter?"

Emu shook her head. "Mm mm! Everything's fine! I just didn't want to make you break your focus!"

Rui laughed at that. "Fufu! I don't mind, Emu-kun. I wouldn't have invited you to hang out if I was expecting silence. I want to hear what you have to say."

"Really?" Emu shook with excitement and immediately leaned in to get a closer look at what Rui was making.

"What's it for?"

"It's for a show I was hoping we could try. I wanted to make it so Tsukasa can jump really high. Almost like he's on the moon."

"WAHHHHHH! Are we going to do a space themed show?!"

"Fufu. Only if it's something you'd like to do, Emu-kun."

"Definitely! Definitely! 100%!"

Rui's eyes softened and his smile only grew wider and more mischievous. "Then we'll make sure to bring it up at our next meeting."

Emu watched Rui tinker with the shoes a little longer, before springing her next question on him.

"Do you think I can try them?"

"Right now? They aren't done yet, Emu-kun."

Emu shook her head. "No, no. When we use them for the play. Can I wear them?"

"Well, right now I'm creating them in Tsukasa's shoe size. I wouldn't want you to slip out of shoes too big for you, but if I manage to nail this I'll make sure to make a second pair in your size."

"You mean when you nail it. Rui-kun will make sure it happens! I'm sure!"

"You place a lot of faith in me, no?"

"Well of course!" Emu leaned in even closer, bending over Rui's shoulder to see how exactly he worked each part together. "Rui-kun is the smartest person I know!"

Rui froze. His tinkering ceased, steady hands stilling. Emu tore her eyes from the robot to look at Rui's face, confused why he had stopped. Rui's face was slightly pink and he was looking away from Emu.

Hm?

"Rui-kun?"

He cleared his throat. "Ah- uhm. Sorry. I- uhm," he paused, taking a deep breath. "Do you- do you really mean that?"

"Of course! Rui-kun is a genius! He manages to make all these cool machines that go WHOOP! and BLAM! and he never lets Tsukasa-kun test them if he isn't 100% sure it's safe! That's what makes you so special to me. You try so hard to keep our safety in mind. And I know you really care for us. Oh! And I love your play ideas! Rui-kun is so creative! That's part of being smart, isn't it? Rui-kun can come up with anything! And he understands me! When I tell Tsukasa-kun or Nene-chan that I want to make an idea more KAPOW! They look at me funny. But Rui-kun always knows what that means. That makes me so happy! It's like he can read my mind!" Emu gasped. "IS THAT IT? Rui-kun! Are you so smart because you can read minds? Why did you never tell me?!"

Rui's face was red all over at this point. His gloved hands coming up to his face in a poor attempt to hide his embarrassment.

Emu waited patiently for his reaction, slightly worried she may have accidentally upset him in some way. She didn't mean to go overboard. Did she mess up by forgetting to filter herself again?

Rui took a few deep breaths, seemingly trying to calm himself. Emu was worried that he may be angry. She didn't want him to be angry.

"Ah- wow, Emu-kun. I don't know what to say."

Oh. He was embarrassed! Ahhhhh! She didn't mean to embarrass him! How would she fix this???

"AHHHHH! IM SORRY RUI-KUN! I WENT ALL NO FILTER AGAIN! SORRYYYYYYYY!!!"

Rui stared at her with wide eyes, then broke into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, his ears just getting redder and redder. Emu couldn't help but join him, a high pitched shrill of laughter leaving her lips. Rui doubled over, rolling out of his chair and onto the floor, which only made them laugh even harder. They laughed and laughed until their sides hurt. For so long that they lost track. Emu loved the happy face Rui made when he was laughing so hard. He looked so natural with that look! His smile was enough to make anyone's day 1000x better.

Finally, their laughter cooled down, but still, Rui had that look on his face.

He sat up, wiping tears from his eyes. "Sorry, sorry. I must be smiling like an idiot right now."

Emu pouted. "Not an idiot! Rui-kun smiles like the smartest person I know!"

Emu didn't even know it was possible for Rui to smile harder than that, but she wasn't complaining at all.

"Ah, I'm glad you think of me that way, Emu-kun. It makes me feel nice."

Emu was about to burst from happiness. She made Rui feel nice!

"Ah, oh geez. I think I'm going to need a break before I continue working on these."

"Should we go visit Nene? Can we, can we!?"

"Fufu! I suppose we can. She may not be happy with us though, I'm afraid."

"Oh, come on! With that pretty smile on Rui-kun's face, anyone would be happy to see you!"

Rui covered his face in embarrassment again. "Ah, uhm- yeah. Let's go visit Nene then."

"Wonderhoy!"