Rainy Letters- Ruikasa 🎈🌟

Chapter 4- First Meeting

Tsukasa POV

Class was finally over. I could barely contain my excitement to get to the rooftop, even if only weirdos and couples go up there. I don't think Balloon is a weirdo though, but he says the rest of the school thinks so.

He told me he had bright purple hair, so I searched for a guy who matched that description. And I found someone. I screamed. "BALLOON!"

The guy with purple hair looked up, a slightly horrified expression on his face. He probably wasn't expecting me to be that loud. Everyone else around just looked confused, so I knew I had found the right guy.

I walked up to him. He was sitting on a bench, and he looked up at me. I couldn't help but think about how soft his hair looked. I stared in his eyes for a moment, noticing the red eyeliner around them. It suited him nicely.

"So, you're Balloon?" I asked.

"That's me. You're Star?" He replied.

"Not just any star. A world future star!" I declared.

"Hehe, yeah. You're definitely Star."

I sat down beside him, and our shoulders brushed together. Then I asked him a question. "What's your real name? Mine's Tsukasa Tenma."

"Rui Kamishiro." He answered me.

"Rui... I've heard about you. Everyone says you're crazy."

"Yeah, I told you I'm not so cool in person."

"What do you mean? Of course you are. You're the same person I've been writing to all these years. You're the coolest person I know." I told him, meaning every word. It didn't matter what the rest of the school thought. I know him better than they do. Rui's eyes widened a bit.

"Thanks." He replied quietly, letting out a small smile. I liked his smile.

Rui POV

I blushed at his words. I wasn't used to being complimented like that.

"What's your phone number? I'll put it in my phone, that way we won't have to use email anymore." Tsukasa said.

Even though I'll miss writing those letters, I have to admit, texting is a lot easier. I gave him my number, and I didn't even hesitate to do it. Maybe it's because he's one of the only few people to not immediately think I'm insane.

"Hey, I'm not much of a gamer, but do you want to go to the arcade?" Tsukasa asked me.

"The arcade? Why?"

"Just for fun."

Well, I couldn't say no to that. "Alright. Let's do it."

We made it to the arcade, and Tsukasa immediately dragged me to a claw machine. "Rui, look at that plushie."

"You mean the bear? There's no way the claw can hold its weight." I told him.

"Let me try it." Tsukasa insisted. I watched him fail four times in a row. I noticed he always aimed the claw too far to the right or left.

"Giving up yet?" I asked him.

"What?! No! A star never gives up!"

"Then at least let me help you aim it in the middle." I moved next to him, expecting him to take his hand off the joystick. When he didn't, I hesitantly placed my hand on top of his, and he didn't seem bothered by it. I thought it felt oddly romantic, but I tried to not think about that because it wasn't meant to be romantic at all.

I used the joystick to move the claw in what I thought would be the right spot. Then I let go of Tsukasa's hand. The claw lowered itself down, aimed much better this time, and it grabbed the bear. It held it for a few seconds, but it fell from its grip. Well, it was still a better attempt than Tsukasa's four other tries.

"No! You were so close." Tsukasa said.

"Do you want me to get that for you?" A guy behind us said.

Tsukasa jumped at the sudden voice. "Toya! You'd do that for me?"

"Of course I would. I don't normally see you at the arcade though. What's the occasion?" Toya asked.

"I'm here to get to know my best friend! His name's Rui Kamishiro."

"Oh, nice to meet you, Kamishiro." Toya looked surprised. Probably because "getting to know my best friend" isn't something you normally say. Usually, if you have a best friend, you already know them.

But our case is a bit different. I was kind of surprised that he so confidently said I was his best friend, but I was happy at the same time.

As Toya took the controls of the claw machine, I spotted Nene playing a shooter game. Her game ended, and she must have felt someone staring at her because she turned around to look at me. I saw her eyes dart back and forth between me, Tsukasa, and Toya.

She walked over to me. "What are you doing here? You don't play games."

"Um, it's a long story. I'll text you more about it later. But basically, I made a new friend and we're here at the arcade having some fun." I explained.

"Right. So it's an arcade date." Nene said.

I felt my face heating up. "It's not a date."

"Whatever you say."

"It's not." I insisted. "We're-"

I was cut off by the sound of Tsukasa celebrating. Toya had gotten the bear plushie for him. "Hahahaha! Toya, you're amazing!"

"It was nothing." Toya responded.

Tsukasa looked over to Nene, so I introduced her. "She's my friend, Nene Kusanagi."

"Nice to meet you!" Tsukasa said rather loudly. She politely smiled back at him.

"Come on, Rui! Let's play some other games. Do you want to join us?" Tsukasa asked Nene.

"Uh, I have to be home for dinner, sorry." Nene said. I knew she was lying. I suspected she didn't want to be around someone as loud as Tsukasa.

"Toya?" Tsukasa turned to Toya.

"I have to be home soon. You know how my dad is." Toya replied.

"Alright, see you guys later! Let's go, Rui!" Tsukasa already started walking in a different direction, his eyes on a racing game.

"Is he always that loud?" Nene asked me.

"I think so." I answered. "I'll text you later."

"Okay."

I caught up to Tsukasa, and he looked like he really wanted to play that racing game with me. We ended up playing all sorts of games for the next couple hours. It was honestly the most fun I'd had in forever.