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"A quarter cup of cocoa powder..."
"Right here!"
"Two tablespoons of honey..."
"Two tablespoons of honey!♪"
"One, two... alright. Next, an ounce of chopped almonds!"
"Almonds!☆"
"Now, we stir, stir, stir..."
"Looking pretty good, Tenma-kun!" Airi complimented.
He tilted the bowl to pour the mixture into silicone moulds and looked up at her. "You think so?"
It was the day before Valentine's Day. Airi, Emu and Saki were at the Tenma residence helping a certain star prepare surprise treats for his director. Initially, it started out with Tsukasa asking Saki to help him figure out what to give. But his sister started snickering and, next thing he knew, Airi and Emu were standing outside their doorstep. Now, all of them were a part of the Second Secret Valentine's Day Alliance! featuring Tsukasa, helping the star bake treats to impress his Valentine.
"It looks sooo yummy already!☆" said Emu, reaching for the leftover mixture. They had a lot of leftovers since Tsukasa was making a whole assortment of desserts: cakes, cookies, cupcakes and chocolate. If Rui didn't fancy his baking, Tsukasa had prepared some simple store-bought ramune candy. If Rui didn't fancy any of Tsukasa's gifts, then...
"Rui's going to love these, I'm sure of it!" Saki supplied as if reading his thoughts.
"I hope so...!" Tsukasa said, transferring the silicone moulds into the fridge. "Are you sure I'm not going overboard?"
"I think it fits if Tsukasa-kun is making a whole feast as a grand gesture for Rui♪ Right?" Emu said.
"Hmm..." Cue one of Tsukasa's amazing poses here. "Haha! You're right! It's only natural that a star would make a gift worthy enough for the director! I'm just... a little nervous, is all," he said. "Rui’s the well-known director of our troupe, as well as my dearest friend. Not only that, but I'm sure he'll be receiving many other gifts and confessions at school." It pained him to even think about it, but... "What if he doesn't accept mine? How will that affect our relationship and future shows?"
Even with his friends and juniors hyping him up and reassuring him, he still had his doubts. He's played thousands of different scenarios in his mind. Thought of all the ways he would confess to Rui and simulate how the other would react. Not all of them were positive. But no matter what, Tsukasa wouldn't allow those thoughts to make him hesitate.
Airi nodded empathetically. "I get how you feel. But you won't know until you try, right?"
"That's right," he agreed. "If worse comes to worse, then... I hope he at least likes the treats I made."
When Tsukasa went to bed that night, his mind started racing with thoughts about the next day. After an hour of tossing and turning, Tsukasa gave up on trying to sleep and instead watched recordings of past shows he did with his troupe.
"...I must set off with my trusty sword to slay the dastardly demon lord♪..."
"...Stop! I'm the director! You cannot treat me like this! Stop... No... NOOO!..."
"...I'm no burglar...! I'm Santa Claus! I'm about to fall. Can you please help me up?!..."
He smiled drowsily. Their earliest performances were some of the ones that Tsukasa remembered the most fondly.
“...The stars... They're so beautiful..."
"...What happened? Where is the Professor? Please, explain to me what is going on... Where is he? Is he safe?..."
Gradually, Tsukasa's eyes began to droop as he slowly drifted off to dreamland.
"...Ah, such a heavenly light...! This must be a treasure of immeasurable wealth!..."
"...Well then, I suppose you, the sun, shined light upon my moon..."
...Huh, that was funny. Tsukasa doesn't remember that line from any of the shows he did.
"...Get up, dear knight. It won’t do us any good if you decide to perish before seeing..."
”...Whatever shall I do, oh mighty dragon? Surely you wouldn’t kick me off the mountains just for...”
"...Sol, Is that you? I..."
...
♡
Tsukasa knocks on the door to the Black Lily House, shifting nervously on his feet.
The door opens to a purple-haired person clad in black clothing fitting the royal house. Though similar in their likeness, they weren't who the White Lily was looking for.
"Tsukasa?" Mafuyu answers.
"Greetings, Mafuyu! Is Rui there with you?"
"Oh," she says. "You just missed him. He set off for the White Lily Chateau to go see you."
"What?! Oh dear..."
A voice rings from inside the house. "Mafuyu, who's at the door?"
Uh oh.
"Well now, I think I should get going now! I can't afford to miss Rui any longer! Mafuyu, please send Lady Luka my regards, and have a happy Valentine's Day!" With that, he scuttles off before the founder of the Black Lily House can see him.
Today was indeed Valentine's Day. Tsukasa had prepared a gift for a dear friend of his. He spent the night before making treats in the kitchen and hiding them so that the Kagamines wouldn't find them. In the end, the fruits of Tsukasa's labour and love came in the form of ramune candy he made while following a recipe from a book he found in the kitchen cabinets. Hopefully, the Black Lily likes it.
As Tsukasa trots through the streets of the SEKAI Kingdom, he recounts all the memories that occurred on each corner. Over there was the sweets store, where he and Rui ate the giant cake with Emu and formed their search party. Over yonder was Vivid Street, where he and Rui watched their siblings perform street music. Just up ahead was where one of Miku's royal carts ran over Mr Cabbage Man's cabbage cart…
Good times, those were. Tsukasa has gone on many exciting adventures ever since meeting Rui, most of them happening outside the kingdom. Tsukasa has learned and seen many new things. And now, he was content with living a peaceful life in his now peaceful kingdom with his beloved, as long as he was too.
Nearing the chateau, the White Lily finds him talking to one of his siblings by the door.
"Good day, Minori. Is Tsukasa available?"
"Oh, Rui, I'm afraid you just missed him! He went out the door just a moment ago!" She says. "I think... he went out to go look for you!"
"Is that so? Oh dear..."
"There you are, my dear!" Tsukasa exclaims while quickening his pace to approach them. "I've been searching all over for you!"
"Ah...? Ah! My star! What a coincidence, I was also searching for you!"
"Oh, my? What for, I wonder?" He says coyly.
Minori smiles. "Well, it seems like this matter has settled itself! I'll leave you two be, is that alright?"
"Yes, indeed," Rui says. "Apologies for bothering you, Minori. I wish you a Happy Valentine's Day."
The girl bids them farewell and leaves with the door to the chateau still open.
Tsukasa looks at Rui and feigns ignorance. "It's Valentine's Day?" It was always easier if one lets the other make a move first.
"Oh dear, did nobody tell you?"
"Not a soul! It seems like I have been left in the dark."
"What a shame. So I suppose you aren't expecting any gifts from today's occasion?" He asks, then lifts his hat to reveal an entire cupcake hidden underneath. "I'm assuming you also have not received any gifts yet, which I am delighted to be your first."
Tsukasa gasps. "My good sir, how did it stay intact under your hat all this time?"
"It is a pilot that controls me like a mecha -- Do not question it," he adds when Tsukasa chuckles at his funny little words. "And it has led me to the White Lily Chateau to deliver itself to a man named Tsukasa Tenma. I do hope you'll enjoy it; the mecha worked hard to create its pilot," he says as he passes the cupcake to Tsukasa's hands.
"What an interesting story. I'll tell you what -- Mysteriously, I seem to have a bag of homemade sweets on my person. It is addressed to a Rui Kamishiro, though I do not know who that is. I was hoping you would know."
"Why, that happens to be me!"
"Oh, what joy!" Tsukasa does a twirl while smiling. "We've both gotten each other a gift on this splendid day!"
Rui laughs, grabbing Tsukasa by the waist, twirling them again and kissing his forehead. "Enough with this nonsense, now. Happy Valentine's Day, my love."
Tsukasa beams. "Did you make this yourself? It looks great despite the harsh storage environment it was placed in!"
He smiles sheepishly. "With help from my family. Luka is very good at making desserts."
The White Lily pulls away to take a big bite out of the cupcake as a response and moans appreciatively. “It's good!”
"Oh, we're taste-testing already?" Rui looks at his gift curiously. "You said you made this yourself too? You know, I've been searching for a ramune candy recipe my entire life now. I can't believe you managed to find one. You must share it with me later!”
Tsukasa grins. "Do you like it?"
He plops a candy in his mouth and smiles. "You know I love anything you make, my star. And this is no different."
…
♡
“Who on God’s Earth would be foolish enough to try and find the mad sorcerer on this perfectly normal and otherwise lovely day? I, apparently.”
“Is this a stupid idea? Certainly. Undeniably.”
“Perhaps this wouldn’t have been such a problem if I was making transportation of some kind; I could have made an excuse, something along the lines of potion material delivery. But no, I just had to fall for him.”
“Now I’m marching through the castle trying to find this… this scoundrel with a rose in my hand and my heart upon my sleeves.”
“The worst part of this is that I can’t even find him! Damn it all, where has that sorcerer gone?!”
A year has passed since Sir Tenma along with his brothers and sisters in arms last stood on a battlefield. With help from the empire, they managed to push back the fight and win the war. If it weren’t for the king allying with the imperial knights, they would not have been able to hold on for much longer.
Thank God for that!... is what Tsukasa would have said, were it not for the conditions of the new alliance. For whatever reason, now that his duties on the battlefield were over, his new duties at the castle were to babysit the imperial knight’s mad sorcerer, Rui Kamishiro. The man who blew up palace walls every other week for the fun of it, and the same man who infuriatingly saved Tsukasa’s life on the front lines.
He would have cursed God instead, but that would be a desecration to the Lord.
“You think Tenma is doing alright, Shino-bro?” Asks the pink knight, watching Tsukasa stomp through the castle halls.
“Absolutely not, Akiyama,” the orange knight drolls. “He’s gone completely mad.”
“Have I gone mad? Perhaps so. I suppose that bastard has finally rubbed off on me,” Tsukasa mutters.
“You’d think he was on his way to the front lines with that aura of urgency,” the orange knight remarks once more.
“Silence your observations! What are you two even loitering around here for?”
“On duty.”
“Searching for entertainment.” The pink knight titters when Tsukasa rolls his eyes at them, unamused.
“The both of you look so relaxed, yet I cannot say the same for myself. My life at this very moment is at stake. If I don’t find Rui before the day ends, there will be grave consequences,” he warns ominously.
“Like a broken heart?”
Begrudgingly, he agrees with the pink knight. “Mayhaps a broken heart.”
“You know,” the orange knight pipes in. “I saw Kamishiro somewhere around. Saw him wandering around the gardens, though he looked shorter than usual.”
“An understatement, that is!” The pink knight exclaims. “Rui has grown madly short! He’s become shorter than you, Tenma! Shorter than I, as well!”
Tsukasa startles at their words. “Has Rui developed some sort of major ailment?! I must see to him immediately!” And he hurries off to the castle gardens while the two knights cackle behind him.
“Rui, you big lummox! Where have you gone off to? If you perish alone before I can tend to your maladies, I shan't ever forgive you!”
A mewl answers his calls.
Tsukasa looks down and sees a cat by his feet.
“Ah, pardon me, Sir Cat. Have I intruded onto your domain?”
It circles his legs to deny that inquiry. It then paws at his legs, demanding elevation.
Tsukasa picks it up and raises it to his eye level. “Have you seen any mad sorcerers around here? Specifically, the kind that dabbles in despicable tendencies and heart thievery?”
The cat blinks slowly at him.
“I believe I’m able to be frank with you, Sir Cat, if you do not mind.” He sits on the grass with the cat in his lap, stroking its fur as he continues. “So it begins with a man named Rui Kamishiro, a dastardly man who has stolen my heart. I have come to the gardens to find him and exact my vengeance, but I have just received word from my comrades that he has developed an ailment that makes you shorter! Sir Cat, If I do not find him soon, he’ll shrink to the size of a mouse, and I’ll never be able to give him this!” He produces the rose he brought and shows it to the cat. The cat, cute cat that it was, sniffs at the rose.
He sighs. “If you see him anywhere, please let me know immediately. Despite it all, I worry for his wellbeing.”
The cat rubs itself on Tsukasa where they sit, then stands on its hind legs to paw at his face. It bumps its nose with his, and, with a slight shift in their positions, a cloud of smoke puffs up and invades Tsukasa’s senses. He swats the clouds away only to reveal the mad sorcerer perched on his lap.
“Greetings, my dear knight~”
The knight, taken aback by what just transpired, musters up an appropriate response. “...R-Rui? What...”
“Thank you for the rose,” he says, bringing it up to smell again, this time as a human. “It’s a lovely rose. I shall have to procure a vase in my tower to place this in.”
“You are… most welcome?” Tsukasa replies. “No, wh… what. What?”
“I must congratulate you on breaking that daunting curse I’ve set upon myself! Only a true love’s kiss could have freed me from it~!”
“Oh, my God. Oh, dear God, please forgive me for my profanity…” he says. “Kiss my ass, Rui!” And he throws the sorcerer off his lap.
“Yoyoyo…!”
…
♡
"Hmm..."
“I know you’re there, dragon,” the general says without taking his eyes off the scrolls and maps sprawled on the table.
“Grk…!”
“No need to hide yourself anymore. Come out of that tree you’re in.”
The dragon huffs and floats over to the general, sitting across the table from him.
“You must get better at hiding,” Rui teases. “Or else nobody will be fooled by your incredible stealth, O’ mighty dragon.”
He wordlessly glares at the general.
The general stares back.
“...Surely you aren’t upset by the fact that I managed to see you through the leaves?”
The dragon huffs again. “No, nothing of the sort,” Tsukasa replies.
“What bothers you, dragon?” asks Rui. “It must be a troubling matter if one such as yourself has to step out of the hallowed grounds of your mountains.”
Tsukasa crosses his arms to try and look imposing. “Matters of the heart, general. Something you mortals love to indulge in.”
“Oh my, has the dragon found a love?”
He sputters. “The audacity you have to come to such a conclusion…!”
A smirk appears on Rui’s face. “Why else would you be here, then? Surely you aren’t concerned at where my love lies?”
“...I suppose you would be correct in that as well,” Tsukasa mutters, looking off to the side.
The general tilts his head curiously.
After a few bouts of silence, the dragon grumbles again. “I do not understand humans.” He points an accusatory finger at the general. “And I do not understand you.”
Rui nods and waits for him to continue.
“Humans… offer each other gifts all the time. That, I understand. They give these little offerings as a sign of affection,” he states. “However! I’ve offered you fortune, wealth, power, any and all you could possibly desire... and yet you do not accept any of my gifts! Most humans would not hesitate to receive a blessing from a divine beast such as myself!” Tsukasa flails his arms in a questioning gesture. “Why are you so different? I offer these blessings to you freely a countless number of times, asking nothing in return, and yet you do not accept. Do you not desire my affection, general?”
“Ah…” Rui looks surprised for a moment, but then he laughs. Laughs! “I hadn’t the slightest idea that the lord of the mountains was trying to pamper me.”
“Pamper? Pamper?!” The dragon roars. “I do no such thing!”
“Hush, dragon. I was not trying to make a mockery out of you,” Rui says. “You out of all should know already that I am not the materialistic sort. I do not wish for any fame or fortune, power or influence.”
“A general having no desire for influence is foolish. You are asking for a death wish.”
The general laughs.
“I am only a general on the battlefield. The warriors listen to my commands with every fibre of their attention and commitment. The influence I have on them is sufficient. But now that there are no battles to be fought, that attention can be quite troublesome at times. I enjoy peace and quietness, you understand,” he says. ”To come back to the matter at hand: I am quite satisfied with what I have currently. I have no wants.”
“That is absurd! Surely there must be something that you wish for,” the dragon demands. “Humans always have their needs. Even the most tranquil of beings have small desires deep in their hearts. Name something you wish for, general. Something I can give to you. Anything.”
“Anything, you say?” the general questions.
Tsukasa does not answer immediately.
“Anything to win your attention and affection,” he eventually says, looking him dead in the eyes.
Rui smiles. “And if I merely wish for your company?”
…
♡
As Sol walks through the vast hallway of timepieces, he ponders a life beyond time and space, speaking softly to no one and any who were able to listen.
“Maybe in another life, we could be two princes from different kingdoms, courting quietly in a garden. What do you think of that?”
The sands that fall gently into the bottom half of the hourglasses answer him.
“Or perhaps we could be two musicians instead, playing inside run-down bars and eventually on a stage where the whole world can hear our music,” he says to them as he continues walking.
“Or we could be rivals. Enemies, on a battlefield. I could hate your guts yet still love you.”
“...No, that wouldn’t be. I could never hate you, Luna.”
He ponders in silence for a moment.
“Fishermen? What if we were fishermen? That would be amusing. Or you would be the fish, and I the man. What a romance that would be.”
The clocks hanging above him, ticking continuously, answer him.
“What if we grew up together, sharing our secrets and sorrows and hiding places with ourselves?” he suggests while passing them by.
“Or we don’t meet until later as adults, and we work our busy jobs until we can spend time afterwards lounging and watching entertainment shows together?”
“Or… what if we grew old together and lived in our cosy home, tucked under blankets and reading books together with our twenty cats?”
Sol’s quiet laugh answers himself, but he stops at the occurrence of a thought.
“What if we never find each other in these lives?” he demurs.
“What if… I loved you, but you did not love me back?”
“...What if you were already perfectly happy without me?”
Silence answers him.
He continues walking.
As Sol walks further through the hallway, the walls start to crack and break away. They float statically and disintegrate into nothing, revealing a bright void. There in the void lies a sundial. Sol stops his pace in front of it, placing a gentle hand on its surface.
“Well, I wouldn’t blame you… I'll never shine as brilliantly as you do,” he says to the void. “It’s only fair that I should be the one to chase your light until you look my way.”
“You may not realise it Luna, but you are my shining light, my guiding star. The one who lets me thrive in this world and cast my light unto others. You show me the beauty and importance of this world just with your reflection. Without you, I would be incomplete. Time would be stuck. These worlds would cease to continue without us both.”
“Though I cannot see you from behind the curtains, know that my love for you extends beyond the fabrics of the universe. You mean the most to me, and I cannot possibly express that enough.”
He smiles sadly to himself.
“When all of these universes end and time eventually stops before we can grasp ahold of it… When the show is over, and we both are no longer needed, I hope to see you again at the curtain call.”
As Sol walks away from the sundial, a faint twinkling from the void answers him.
…
♡
Tsukasa stood frozen in the school entrance as he stared at Rui with a look of abject horror.
The moment he woke up on Valentine's Day, Tsukasa contemplated his entire life and the other lives he just experienced in his dreams, but soon realised he was running late for school. So he ran out the front door with the chocolates and ramune candy in his hands, met Rui at the shoe lockers and yelled:
“Rui, these are for you! Happy Valentine’s Day! And also, I like you!”
In his defence, he had received an intense bout of confidence from watching himself in multiple scenarios confess his love or gift his loved one a present, adding to the fact that the loved one in every scenario always happened to be Rui. Always, Rui. Perhaps that dream was the universe trying to send him a message, or maybe it was just messing with him. Either way, the job had been done, and now Tsukasa and Rui were going to go frolic in the fields after school and live a happy life together, just like his other selves.
…If only Rui responded to his confession a minute ago.
This was where Tsukasa currently stood in the predicament. Since they were standing at the school entrance right before class started, every student was there and looking at them both. Perhaps in other circumstances, Tsukasa would’ve liked the attention. However, right now he was debating whether to run away or laugh it all off and make a fool out of himself in front of Rui and the crowd.
There goes the field frolicking and happy life…! Tsukasa silently cursed the universe for messing up his confession like this.
But while the star was contemplating his escape method, Rui gave a little chuckle.
“Ah… how interesting,“ he said. “It seems like you’ve beaten me to it, Tsukasa-kun.”
Tsukasa snapped out of his rumination. “...Eh?”
Rui pulled a purple cat-like drone carrying a box of chocolates out of his bag. “You see, I had prepared a little contraption last night and was going to bring it to the rooftops during lunch time… I was hoping to confess to you first.”
“Oh… Oh!... OH???” He couldn't find the appropriate response to this revelation, so he opted to gape like a fish and hope Rui understood his words.
Thankfully, Rui smiled. “Yes, Tsukasa-kun. I like you too.”
And the whole school erupted in cheers. Tsukasa thanked the universe for saving his confession. Later, they would go back to Tsukasa's house to eat the star's cakes and cookies and cupcakes and then go field frolicking and have a happy life together.