An Unheard Voice - Chapter 39: Chapter 39

"Tsukasa-kun. Can we talk?" Rui sets the box of materials down and looks down at Tsukasa, who seems to be taken back.
Tsukasa turns to him, but quickly recovers.
"Did something happen? What's wrong, Rui?" He gets up and walks up to Rui, who seems nervous and hesitant to speak.
"It's about Kutabare.. listen, I'm just going to say it-- I don't like the idea of him being around Aoyagi."
"What? Rui, I'm confused."
"Then let me explain! I just have a feeling his intentions of being Aoyagi's friend aren't so innocent." Rui sighs, staring at the ground.
"Kutabare is my friend.. you know that. If he did something to hurt Toya, I would know and I would tell him something. Let's talk about something else, if that's all." Tsukasa begins to frown, turning his back on Rui and sets up the desk for the four of them to work on their Halloween show poster.
But Rui felt stubborn about this, he just wanted Toya to be safe. He knew he seemed to be on the edge lately, so if his guess was correct, this could really destroy him.
"You also know what kind of person he was before." Rui protests, stepping closer to him.
"People can change, Rui. You just need to give them a chance!" That seemed to anger Tsukasa.
"I know that! I know that.. all too well." He scoffs, starting to feel guilty.
Was he seriously accusing Kutabare of doing something so horrible..? Even if there is that small chance Kutabare was innocent, it was unlikely to Rui. He could tell.
"But I don't think Kutabare has. Have you seen the people he's hanging out with? Imagine what example those people are setting for Toya!"
"What's wrong with you, Rui?! Judt drop it! Please don't speak about other people like that, okay? You know I hate it when you do." He snaps, but regrets his choice of words soon after when he sees the look on Rui's face.
That made Rui's heart drop. Persistent and growing pissed, he couldn't hod himself back any longer.
"You hate it when I try to look out for others? There's something going on, and I'm trying to warn you in my own way. Tsukasa-kun, whenever this happens, it feels like most of the time you don't even listen!" He complains, running his fingers through his hair as he sighs deeply. And on a completely unrelated note, he takes a turn in the argument..
"And if I'm being honest now, I hate it whenever you bring up your past relationship with Emu." Rui hisses, pointing a finger at him. He tends to not think twice before speaking when he's riled up like this.
"If this is about the wedding photoshoot invitations, I had nothing to do with that. I was just telling you about it! If you're mad about Emu and I being invited, go talk to Mizuki about that!" Tsukasa brushes it off, which only makes Rui's blood boil even more.
"Tsukasa-kun, I'm talking to you about it because you wouldn't stop joking about it. Ever since her and Nene became a couple, it's.. like you got jealous! I feel like you can't get over the fact you two broke up, is that it?" He scowls. Tsukasa gets ready to reply, but remains silent. He then sharply inhales, taking a moment before picking up his bag.
"I'm going home.. if you're getting angry because of me mentioning Emu, you're being selfish. You three can work on the poster by yourselves. I'm not in the mood for this right now."
"What's wrong with you today? I'm trying to protect Aoyagi, I thought he meant a lot to you, too." He regains his composure, but still pretty pissed.
"Rui. I don't know if you forgot, but something like this has happened before. Remember? I thought we both learned something from that day, but clearly only one of us has. Kutabare changed because I gave him the chance to--" He turns around, staring Rui dead in the eye. It sends a chill down Rui's spine. He's never seen Tsukasa angry like that before.
"--just like you. You 'stick up for your friends' to the point you accuse and point fingers. If there's someone who hasn't changed, it's you. You never do."
"Just talk to me again when you're done being mad." He sighs before exiting and closing the door behind him, leaving Rui there stunned and speechless.
He stands there for a few moments before raising his hand to his face.
".. Is.. Is this how you felt when I told you that you didn't have what it takes to be a star, Tsukasa-kun?"
"I-It's okay.. I forgive you." I try to convince him, but he continues to sob in my shirt. He has never cried this much, I don't think... At least not in front of me.
He continues to apologize over and over, and I simply just ruffle his hair.
"I'm sorry! I should have listened to you, so now it's my fault that Toya isn't--"
"Listen to me. From now on, I want you to stop blaming yourself. You didn't know.. My star, you are perfect in my eyes."
"But you wear glasses--"
"You're running the moment. It's not your fault. But we both know whose it is by now, don't we?" I raise an eyebrow, and he nods, sitting up while wiping his eyes.
"If we find him, I'll let you set off a bomb just this once." He sobs one last time before taking his hands off his eyes, revealing his puffy eyes. He's so adorable!
"I love you, Tsukasa-kun." I wrap my arms around him, kissing his cheek.
"I love you too."
We stay silent for a minute before pulling away from each other. They're not coming for us, are they? In that case...
"Do you want to make ou--"
"Rui."
°•°•°
"Rui-kun, big brother! We found the key! Are you oka--" Saki shouts, kicking the door open just for us to interrupt them. They turn to us, their faces completely flushed and messy hair.
"You two owe me so much fucking help." I hiss, walking up to them and separating them. What would have happened if we didn't come right now..?
"What do you mean?" Kamishiro asks, fas they both fix their clothes. These two--!
"Does this mean you two made up?!" Emu squeals, charging at Tenma. He screams, trying to escape but is too late, so she stomps on him.
Did she just kill him?
"We're going to have to wait until the weekend to do any planning. I've been helping more at the cafè now..." An sighs, crossing her arms.
"By the way, what's the update on you and Kohane? I mean, I saw her at our show today--" Nene asks, and An grabs her shoulders aggressively.
"She was here?!"
"Huh? Yeah, she attends all of ours shows, but you weren't on stage and she left right after." Nene says, causing An to groan and fall to her knees.
"Of course she did.. why wouldn't she..?" An whines, staying on the floor.
"You guys can go. I'll stay here with this loser."
"Shut up!"
They nod, leaving the room and make sure to leave the door open.
"What happened to you two?" I ask, but she ignores me.
"What did you fight about?"
She stays silent. I'm starting to get pissed.
"Oh, so you can get into my business but when you two fight it's like an FBI investigation, okay." I glare at her, grabbing her hair and lifting her head.
"Ouch!! Why are you so sassy?! Fine, I'll tell you, damn!" She snaps, grabbing my hair and yanking on it. I throw her away from me then walk up to her laying down on the ground again and sit next to her.
"Look, so-- listen. In middle school, you were a total loser who just lost all of your friends." She sits up, wincing in pain as she rubs her back. I'll apologize when I feel like it.
"What friends?" I smirk, and she just rolls her eyes.
"Shut up, you loner. Anyway, you were right trying to change yourself to everyone's liking-- well, your stepmother and your 'friends'.." She does a gesture. Is she narrating her life right now..?
"But then as if it were fate, you meet someone. Even for the slightest second, it's like.. she made you be who you really wanted to be. Or, in your case, a guy.. more as in Toya--"
"Can you get to the damn point?!" I yell at her, and she punches me.
"You're so impatient! I was staring into space trying to process that my friends left me for good, but then a girl ran into me, dropped her pencil and left. But before she did we looked at each other for what felt like an eternity, and I just..." An groans, putting her hands up to her eyes.
"She apologized, and went away without her pencil. I didn't see her again until a year later. She was so cute..."
Is it really okay for her to be talking about this girl like this when she's dating Kohane? And if it's in the first year of middle school, she was dating Haruka.
"I was desperately searching for her because her pencil was too cute. Of course, even though I was with Haruka, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get my mind off of her..."
"What does this have to do with Kohane?" I frown, wanting her to get to the point already.
"That girl was Kohane, stupid!" She shouts, throwing a random ball at me. I don't get it!
"Okay, so?! You fell in love at first sigh and now you're together with the girl of your dreams, why is that relevant now? You made it sound like someone else."
"Maybe that's why she was mad! I was planning on giving the pencil back to her and making this like some romantic manga scene, but when I was describing her she probably thought I was describing someone else! She didn't let me finish!" An gasps so loudly, grabbing my sleeve and tugging on it.
"Nerd. Wait, so you were trying to propose with the pen?" I scoff, taking her hand off.
"Quiet, you! I get it now! Thanks for the help Akito, I owe you one!" She hugs me, getting back up on her feet and running off. She's so stupid..-
"I better see pancakes at the end of the day tomorrow!" I yell, but she seems too far away to hear me.
Even though I don't show it, I support those two all the way. A little less for An, but-
"Akito? What are you doing on the floor?" I hear a familiar voice ask, and turn around. Mrs. Aoyagi--!
"Wait, are you supposed to be here?" I immediately stand up, getting embarrassed because she saw me on the floor. She doesn't seem like the type to go into haunted houses...
Actually, she does
"Of course, Tsukasa and Saki are performing, remember?"
Oh, yeah.. I still can't look at her, it's basically kind of my fault for not being able to prevent this. She looks so worn out...
"Look, I.. I didn't get to say this earlier. I'm sorr--"
"Your birthday was coming up, right? Do you want me to take you to a cafè?" She smiles, taking me by surprise. Huh..? It's in like a week or so, but why..?
"Sure..? I-If that's okay with you. But you don't.. have to." Bashful, I try to decline.
"Please, it's the least I can do! I'll be busy for a while." She says, and I stare at her in shock. What is that supposed to mean?
"O-Oh, it's nothing big. I just have to tidy up the place.. you know, without Toya around I.. um." She nervously says, looking away. Can Mrs. Aoyagi seriously not take care of herself without him around..?
"Then.. sure. Did you have a place in mind? Maybe we could use this as an opportunity to catch up. I've been busy with work, so I haven't seen you for almost a month." I give her a friendly smile, removing my hat.
"Of course! Also, since this on such short notice, it'll be on me!" She squeals, taking my hand and dragging me to the 'panic exit'. Wait, am I going in this?!
"I won't be able to make it to your birthday party, unfortunately."
"That's okay. Ena said we were just going to where she goes with her friends after the upload a song.. it's not going to be anything big, like Toya's birthday was..." I reassure her, texting Ena at the same time to let her know where I am.
"Oh, yeah! Remember when An slammed his face into the cake? He was so scared that the cake went to waste!" She laughs, looking behind. That's right.. and that was the day I did something embarrassing.
"Yeah." I reply, chuckling.
I want to see Toya's face again.