Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Bye, Tsukasa-kun!” Rui yelled, as he stepped inside his house.

He went upstairs to his room, working on his new inventions for wonderlands x showtime shows.

As he worked on the robots, his phone rang, and he picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Hi, is this Kamishiro Rui?”

“Y-yes, it is.” He replied.

“We got your tests back. Unfortunately, you have pancreatic cancer.”

His stomach dropped. He couldn’t breathe. He felt like shit all the time, but brushed it off until Nene forced him to get some tests done.

“I-its treatable, right?”

“Unfortunately, even if we started chemotherapy right now, it wouldn’t help at all.”

It’s terminal.

He couldn’t breathe again. He tried to say something, but nothing came out of his mouth.

When he looked down at his phone, he realized the call had ended.

I probably ended it on accident, he thought to himself.

With trembling hands, he texted Nene and Emu.

ruii :3
-Hey can you guys come over
-I need to tell you guys something

emumumu
-yeah sure!!!
-why is tsukasa not in this chat??

ruii :3
-I want to tell you guys first

Nene
-We’re coming over rn

———————————————————————————

Nene, knowing Rui since childhood, sensed the urgency in his tone. She quickly put a cardigan on and practically dragged Emu.

“WAHHH! Nene-chann! Stop dragging me!”

“Sorry, Emu. I’m just really worried for Rui. it’s weird enough he hasn’t told Tsukasa yet.”

“You’re right. Let’s go!” Emu yelled as she ran out the door.

“Emu, wait!” Nene called as she ran after her girlfriend.

As the two quickly arrived next door, the door swung opened almost immediately.

“Let’s go to my room,” He said.

When they got to his room, Nene sat next to Rui on his bed and Emu on the floor.

“Whats going on?” Nene asked.

Rui hesitated for a minute. “I have pancreatic cancer.”

Tears quickly tore through Nene’s eyes. Emu sat with her eyes wide and mouth open, like she was trying to say something but she couldn’t say the words

“It’s curable.. right??” Nene’s voice broke with each word.

Tears started trickling down Rui’s face, which was unusual, since he was the type of person to shed one or two tears in a year.

Nene and Emu immediately knew what that meant.

“That explains why you weren’t feeling great the past few months,” Emu managed to choke out.

Nene wanted to throw up. She wanted to scream, burn down her room, run away and start a life in New Zealand or somewhere else. She knew Rui felt like shit for the past few months now, but never imagined for it to be this bad.

“When will you tell Tsukasa?” She managed to sputter.

Rui’s stomach lurched at the thought. Tsukasa. How would he react? He loved him so much, but he didn’t want to hurt him with the news.

“I don’t want to worry him with the news.” He admitted.

Emu nods. “I understand how you feel. Are you going to tell him soon though?”

Rui gave it some thought. “I will tell him, just not now. I don’t want to distract him.”

As they sat in silence, they all got a notification from the Wonderlands x Showtime group chat.

WORLD FUTURE STARRR!!!
-GUYS
-I HAVE AN IDEA FOR THE NEXT SHOW
-LETS MEET AT THE WONDER STAGE TODAY AT 6

Nene
-jeez your still loud over text
-i’ll be there

WANDAHOIII
-I’LL BE THERE

Director!!
-Im coming!

“We should get going” Nene replied, after getting herself together.

“Ok!! Let’s GO GO GO!☆” yelled Emu.

“Emu! Wait!” Nene yelled, then turned to Rui.

“Hey, don’t push yourself too much this practice, ok?”

Rui smiled. “Thanks Nene, don’t push yourself too much too, ok?”

Nene smiled back. “We should go before we lose Emu.”

“Fufu~ we should.”

Chapter Text

As the two approached Phoenix Wonderland, they saw their friend, Tsukasa, talking with Emu, who ran ahead.

“THATS A WONDERFUL IDEA, EMU!! WE SHOULD DO THAT!!”

“THANKS, TSUKASA-KUN!!”

Nene sighed. “Ugh, how do they have so much energy after school? I can barely stay awake right now.”

“Fufu, maybe you should stop staying up playing video games, Nene.” Rui replied.

“Whatever,” Nene scoffed.

“RUUUIII!! YOU WANNA HEAR MY IDEA??” yelled Tsukasa

“Sure! What is it?” he replied

Tsukasa ran up to Rui, and then he stopped to look at him.

“Rui? Are you ok? You look a bit tired.”

The question made Rui almost spill his secret. He wanted to tell him so bad, but he didn’t want to distract him from his future.

“I’m fine, just a long day at school.”

Tsukasa raised an eyebrow. “If you say so. Just know i’m always here for you.”

Rui smiled. “Thank you, my star.”

Rui felt terrible. He hated lying to Tsukasa, and if he didn’t tell him, Tsukasa was going to figure out soon.

He wished this never happened.

He listened carefully as Tsukasa presented his idea. A heroic story of a hero and a villain, and how they both eventually become friends and save the planet together.

“-and so I was thinking that we could have some special effects, like lightning and explosions?”

Rui smiled. “Yeah, of course! I could do those, and where the part where the villain and the hero meet for the first time, the villain could have a robotic sidekick?”

Tsukasa beamed. “Yeah! And-“

“Hey, you two!” Emu yelled. “Its going to get dark soon, so let’s go to the Wonder Stage to write the script!”

“Coming!” Tsukasa yelled. “Let’s go, Rui!”

Rui followed along, and took in the view of the Wonder Stage. Hours of practicing, secrets, and laughter were all here. Where they did their first show, where they all cried, and talked about problems. And there was the theme park itself, Phoenix Wonderland, all the lights, the rides, and laughter.

He would miss it all.

When he got to the Wonder Stage, Tsukasa, Nene, and Emu were all laying on the floor of the Wonder Stage, writing the script.

“What do we have so far?” Rui asked, sitting down on the stage.

“So we’re assigning roles, because Tsukasa came up with the idea, he can play the Hero.” replied Emu.

“I think that Rui should play the villain.” Nene added.

“Me too! It would be so cool for Rui-kun to be the narrator and villain!” Emu replied.

Tsukasa smiled. “Then it’s settled. Rui’s the villain.”

“Thanks, guys.” Rui said. “So who should Emu-kun and Nene be?”

“We’re working on it. For now, we should start on the script.” Nene replied.

The four spent the next hour writing the script, and with the blink of the eye, fireworks started shooting up into the night sky.

“It’s eight already? Jeez, that was quick.” spoke Rui.

“We should get going now.” added Nene.

“Nene-chan, should I walk to your house with you?” asked Emu.

“Sure. Rui? Are you walking to Tsukasa’s?”

Rui nodded. “Yup. You two can go ahead.”

Nene smiled. “Alright. Emu, let’s go. Bye Rui, bye Tsukasa.”

“BYE RUI-KUNN!!! BYE TSUKASA-KUN!!” Yelled Emu.

“Bye, you two!” Called out Tsukasa.

As the two boys walked to Tsukasa’s house, it was hard for Rui to not tell Tsukasa. He wanted to tell him so bad, but he didn’t want to break his heart. He didn’t want to have him give up on his dream because of him.

“Rui! Earth to Rui!” Tsukasa called.

“O-oh, sorry, Tsukasa-kun.” Rui replied.

“It’s fine. Are you really ok though? You’ve been zoning out a lot today.”

The question made Rui tense up. He hated lying to Tsukasa, and wasn’t sure how long he could keep going.

“I’m fine, I promise.” he managed to say.

Tsukasa grabbed his hand and gave it a tight squeeze.

“If anyone or anything is bothering you, just tell me. I really don’t want you to have a repeat of junior high.”

Rui smiled. “Thanks, my star.”

As they approached Tsukasa’s house, they hugged and said goodbye. As Rui began his quiet walk home, he thought about junior high.

Wait. Mizuki.

He pulled out his phone to text Mizuki.

ruii :3
-Mizuki, I have something to tell you
-Can we talk tomorrow on the rooftop at school?

amiazuki
-yeah, of course!

Chapter Text

ruii :3
-Hey are you at school yet?

amiazuki
-im almost here

As Rui waited for Mizuki, his mind drifted to junior high, when Mizuki was outed for being trans, which was considered "weird," and he was outed for being insane with his crazy inventions. They both met on the rooftop when Rui was in his second year of junior high, and Mizuki in her first year. Now, they both met people who accepted them, and they are both doing much better.

Well, kind of.

As the door to the rooftop swung open, Rui saw Mizuki, his pink haired friend.

"Ruiii! I'm here!" She yelled

"Hi Mizuki," Rui greeted with a smile.

"So what is so important that you couldn't say over text?" Mizuki asked.

Rui fiddled with the sleeves on his sweater.

"It's easier to say in person over text, and I also need to tell you before Tsukasa-kun comes here." He admitted.

"Well, out with it." Mizuki replied.

"I have pancreatic cancer, and its terminal."

Mizuki's stomach dropped.

"O-oh.."

Mizuki couldn't breathe.

The person that stuck by them the entire time they were in junior high, is sick.

He supported them, even encouraged them to come out, even helped her when they started to think they weren't a real girl. He cried with them, spent hours on that rooftop, even continued to talk about their problems after he graduated.

They spent nights talking to each other over the phone, he watched all their MVs that they created, and said they were extremely talented.

He never thought they were weird for wanting to be a different gender.

But now he's going to be gone soon.

"I'm sorry, Mizuki."

"Don't be." Mizuki replied. "I'm just in shock, that's all."

Wait.

"You haven't told Tsukasa-senpai yet??" They yelled.

"Well, um, I really don't want to hurt him with the news and distract him with his dream of becoming a star." Rui admitted.

"I understand." Mizuki replied.

Suddenly, the door to the rooftop burst open again.

"Rui! There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you- Oh. Good morning, Akiyama."

"Good morning to you too, Tsukasa-senpai."

"Anyway, what are you and Rui doing here?" asked Tsukasa.

"Well, um, we-" Rui stammered.

"Rui's costume needs some adjustments, so we were talking about it! Right, Rui?" Mizuki yelled.

"Huh? Oh, yeah!" Rui replied.

Tsukasa raised an eyebrow. "Well, alright. Anyway, we need to get to class now, so let's go, Rui."

"Just a second," Rui replied.

thanks. mouthed Rui, to Mizuki.

Mizuki flashed a smile, meaning "Your welcome."

------------------------------------------------------------

As lunch break rolled around, Rui found himself on the rooftop with Tsukasa.

"Rui, are you ok? You seem to be zoning out more lately."

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, i'm ok. I'm just thinking about some stuff." Rui replied.

Then, for the third time today, the rooftop door banged open.

"RUI-KUNNN!!! TSUKASA-KUNN!!!" Emu yelled.

"Fufu~ hello, Emu-kun."

"Emu!" Yelled Nene. "Don't scream so loud! Someone could hear you!"

Nene took a seat next to Rui, and Emu plopped down next to Nene and started eating.

"How are you doing, Rui?" asked Nene.

"Good overall, just tired alot more now. I told Mizuki." He replied.

Nene smiled, and Rui returned the smile.

"Want to walk back home together?" Asked Rui.

"Sure, is it ok if Emu comes with us?" replied Nene.

"Of course, I might ask Tsukasa-kun if he wants to come."

"That's fine with us," replied Nene.

After a while, both Nene and Emu left, as Nene had to sneak Emu out and Emu needing to make it back to Miya Girls before class started, leaving Rui and Tsukasa by themselves again.

The two boys ate in comfortable silence, exchanging words here and there. Tsukasa held Rui's hand the entire time while Rui was lost in thought, figuring out when to tell Tsukasa. Would he have to tell him after telling others first? If he gets sick at school and gets hospitalized, Tsukasa would surely be angry and upset for him not telling him sooner.

Still, was his happiness worth more than the truth?

"Rui? Rui!!" Tsukasa yelled.

"Huh? Oh. Yes, my star?"

"Your phone has been buzzing for a while now, Rui." Tsukasa calmly spoke.

"Oh, alright. thanks." He replied.

Rui's phone buzzed again, and he snapped out of his daze and picked it up.

23 NEW NOTIFICATIONS

(22) messages: amiazuki, Nene

(1) Calendar: Reminder: doctors appointment at 7:30 today