Chapter Text
"He must not be feeling well today... I'll stop by the check on him later." Rui explains, writing some miscellaneous notes on his classwork during lunch break.
"It's odd for him to miss this many days though... even when he's sick. It's been what, a week now?" Mizuki, Ruis middle school best friend, hums in thought. "It must be pretty serious."
"I'm sure he's alright. He would've told me if it was something like that." Rui remains optimistic as always. "I'll drop in after school to see how he's doing."
"Alright, well... good luck. I hope he feels better." Mizuki pats his shoulder.
"Thank you, Mizuki." The director chuckles as she waltzed back to her classroom.
After classes, he hums a calming melody as he makes his way to the Tenma residence, Tsukasas favorite snacks in hand.
When he arrives, there was no answer when he knocked.
Strange.
He decides to call Tsukasa instead to let him know that he was there.
It rings.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Voicemail.
"That's... odd. Maybe he's just sleeping." Rui lets out a nervous laugh and tries again, no response.
He knocks louder, hoping that maybe somebody else was home.
Nothing.
"Okay..." He was starting to get concerned. How sick could Tsukasa possibly be right now? Knowing his familys history with bad health, his mind was starting to spiral.
What if he collapsed?!
In a moment of panic, he remembers where the Tenmas spare key is. He digs through the yard for it and unlocks the door himself, stopping dead in his tracks when he enters the house.
He looks up to find Tsukasa hanging from his rooms balcony, his flag tied around his neck, his body completely still like some sort of Christmas stocking hung up for the holidays.
Rui instantly drops his bags and rushes up to Tsukasas room, doing his best to pull him back up and over the balcony.
"Kasa?! A-are you— wh-why?!" He shakes the star, desperate for any type of answer— but none comes.
His body was already cold, and his heart...
It was still.
Not an ounce of life to be found.
Rui wasn't sure what to do. He never saw any signs, so why did this happen?!
He bends down and hugs the stars lifeless body close to his, tears pouring like never before. After what felt like hours, he sits up and cups Tsukasas cold face in his hands.
"Why... why would you do this..?"
Shifting his eyes around the rest of the room, Rui finds Tsukasas journal lying open on the floor. Something in the back of his mind screams at him to read through it, so he crawls over and grabs it with trembling hands.
Written on the first page, a plea.
'If I could go back in time, maybe I'd fight back. I wouldn't have let that happen. Then maybe, just maybe, I could continue living happily. It seems like the stars just didn't give me that luxury this time.'
Staring at the journal in shock and confusion, Rui is unable to recall what the star was talking about. Tsukasa never mentioned anything that could have possibly lead to this outcome.
He blinks his tears away, only to open them on a bed. Next to him, a phone with an unread message from the very person he just saw hanging from his neck—
Kasa♡:
'Hey, I won't be coming to school today... sorry ♡'
"...what?" He sits up and gathers his surroundings.
He's in his room.
It's just after six in the morning.
He has a text from what looked to be an hour ago sitting unread.
Wasn't he just in Tsukasas room?
Isn't Tsukasa... dead?
He was even still crying.
Was it just a dream?
He looks over at his calendar, only to be left with more questions.
Monday, April thirteenth.
That's not right.
It's Friday— the seventeenth. He knows for a fact it is. Today was his deadline for a specific project that he turned in earlier that day.
Just to confirm, he grabs his phone.
Same date.
Not just that... he remembers this same text. It was the one Tsukasa sent before not showing up to school for a week straight.
He knows he's joked about building machines to go back in time before, but... is that what actually happened?!
But why?!
"Rui~! Are you up yet? You're going to be late!" His mother's voice breaks the silence.
"I— uh... y-yes..! Sorry..!" He responds the best he can.
The first thing he does is think of why he could be in this situation in the first place.
"Did something happen this week..?" He wonders. "Do i... have to stop him from doing that?"
He thought this was something only seen in movies, but here he was— living it. He's still extremely confused, but if that's what he needs to do, then he'll do it.
He cannot lose Tsukasa.
The first thing he decides to do is text him back.
🎈:
'Oh? Are you alright?'
He tries to sound as normal as he could.
Kasa♡:
'Yeah don't worry'
'Just not feeling too great today, that's all'
Clearly not, though.
🎈:
'You sure..?'
Kasa♡:
'Yep!'
'Don't worry about me, love'
'I'll be fine'
Rui sighs. This is how Tsukasa was going to act? Fine.
He'll just have to find another way to save him.
He has four days to save the star, and he will— even if it's the last thing he does.
With a troubled mind, he gets ready for school as his brain thinks of what he could've done differently the first time.
☆
"Rui..?"
"Hello? Are you even listening?"
"Rui!"
Rui jolts in his seat, eyes flying up to see Nene standing directly in front of him with concern in her eyes.
Right, it's lunch period.
"Y-yes? Sorry, I spaced out..." he lets out an embarrassed laugh.
"You said something about Tsukasa not feeling well?" She reminds. "Is he gonna be okay for our show, you think?"
'No.' Rui wanted to respond.
Tsukasa dies before the final rehearsal.
But he couldn't just tell Nene that, how would he be able to explain it? That would be a weird thing to say, even for him.
"Ah... maybe? I'll go over to his place after school to check up on him."
"Hm... m'kay. Just... make sure he's actually getting rest, you know him..."
"Right..." Rui slouches. "I'm sure he'll be alright. He's a future star, isn't he?"
Nene simply nods in agreement and returns to her classroom as the end of lunch bell rings.
"...a star that seems to have burned out." Rui whispers, resting his head on his arms atop his desk. "...why, Kasa? Why did you do this to yourself..?"
With a sigh, he remains still until class resumes.
The moment school ended, he rushes over to Tsukasas house.
He knocks on the door with the calmest energy he could muster, praying that Tsukasa opens the door.
Nearly five minutes later, just as he was turning away to leave, the door cracks open.
"...Rui? What are you doing here..?"
Rui snaps his head back to see Tsukasa peeking his head out of the doorframe.
"Kasa!" Rui runs back to the door. "H-hey! I... I just came to check up on you."
"Oh..." Tsukasa weakly smiles, clearly attempting to hide his blatant disappointment. "Thank you, but... you really should go. I'm... worried you'll get sick too, you know?"
Knitting his brows, Rui persists. "Can I at least make you some soup, or— or help you relax a bit?"
"I..." Tsukasa sighs. "I... guess that's fine." He backs away and opens the door, letting Rui in.
"Thank you, love." Rui smiles. "Let me make you some soup, okay?"
Tsukasa subtly nods, avoiding eye contact.
Rui was genuinely starting to feel sick, but not from a cold.
Tsukasa looked horrible.
It was almost painful just looking at him so... dull. He could barely even force a smile, couldn't act excited to see his boyfriend, he looked like a doll that's never been properly taken care of, he couldn't even stand without wobbling!
What happened to the Tsukasa everyone knew..?
Where did he go?
"I'm... gonna go to the bathroom." Tsukasa mutters, not even giving Rui a change to respond before shuffling to the restroom. He returns nearly ten minutes later looking even worse.
The soup had long gone cold, but he ate it anyway. Rui made it for him, it'd be rude to deny... right?
"Hey, Kasa..?" Rui mumbles from the kitchen, scrubbing the pot clean.
"Yeah?"
"...are you okay?"
"It's just a cold, I'll be—"
"No," Rui interrupts, "I mean... mentally. Like, did something happen over the weekend? I'm worried about you."
From the corner of his eye, Rui saw Tsukasa flinch ever so slightly at his question.
He's right.
"I... I don't know what you mean." Tsukasa whispers, eyes focused on his arm— a small detail Rui noticed immediately.
"Please, Kasa. I'm your boyfriend, you can tell me anything... you know that, right? If— if something is bothering you—"
"I'm fine, Rui." Tsukasa states, standing up. "I... just need some rest. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed." As he turns to head to his bedroom, Rui analyzes his every movement in silence.
From the way he was limping on his left leg to the occasional shake of the head as if to keep himself awake... he looked as though he should definitely be in the hospital, so why isn't he?
As the stars room door shuts, Rui sighs.
Knowing Tsukasa, he didn't tell another soul what happened— Rui included.
And by the looks of it, he was planning on taking it to the grave.
The grave that was now four days away.
At least, Rui thought it was.
☆
The next morning he gets a call from Saki, Tsukasas little sister.
She was frantic and in tears as she managed to slur out two words;
"Tsukasa's dead."
A sense of dread shot through his entire body.
He thought he had more time! What changed?!
Was he too pushy? Should he have waited to ask? But, would that have even changed anything?
For the second time in two days, his heart broke for the same reason.
He's not sure if he'll get another try this time, but he doesn't know if he'll even be able to go through this again if he fails.
At the same time... he needs Tsukasa.
Was that selfish?
To save his lover because he needs him?
Maybe.
But Rui's always been selfish, everyone knows that he only ever thinks about himself.
Shows, relationships, even simple conversations... it has to be about him, doesn't it?
Does Tsukasa even want to be saved?
He has to, right?
He has goals to reach, he can't just abandon them like that, can he?!
...it's his life, though.
He can do what he wants.
But, no. Rui was given the chance to go back for a reason. There's got to be something he's missing. Tsukasa has to live, he just has to.
It's not his time yet.
Rui just needs to find out... why.
Why did Tsukasa do this?
Why won't he tell Rui?
Why is the brightest star burning out in a matter of days?
Things like that don't just happen unless they are forced to happen.
Now... all Rui can do is hope he gets another chance.