TimeJumper AU
TAGS
Project Sekai
Kamishiro Rui/Tenma Tsukasa, Otori Emu/Kusanagi Nene, angst, a bit of fluff here and there, like a speck of fluff, major character death, blood, swearing, a lot of guilt, like a lot, basically rui not having a wonderhoy time, crushes, engineering for some reason, au, au travelling, btw this is, time jumper au, read the og thread by @zeisorr on twitter, it gives a lot more worldbuilding, it has spoilers though, wonderhoyn't, not beta read, not even alpha read, zei why are you making me do this again, rui went, if i can't have my tsukasa i will steal your tsukasa, damn the sun isn't happy, graveyards, saki is sad, she isn't even mad, actually she is, but will she say something, no, oh god tsukasa likes rui too, rui is going insane, OOC, i think?, i mean the 2nd chapter was pretty weird, if you haven't read it, it feels like it's missing smth like god damn, updated after 300 years damn, slow updating, it seems, but like snail slow, gay people, damn rui might be sad just a hunch tho, not many new tags this time, holy shit i updated
Keep in mind these tags will be updated as the story goes on.
CHAPTERS
A Day I Want To Forget
The seats were flooded with people in mere seconds. Some were talking, some were quiet, but the entire theater was filled with excitement. Anticipation.
That didn't help the nervous troupe behind the curtains. This is their biggest show yet - how are they supposed to be perfectly fine?
The past few months they've been preparing - practicing almost every single day, tweaking, creating.
Nene was fumbling with her hair. " Woah... That's way more people than I expected..."
" We are going to do amazing today!! The entire audience will be in such a wonderhoy mood!!!" Emu jumped around in excitement. Seriously, she looked like she was all over the place. " The play is so interesting this time!!"
As the two chatted excitedly, Rui stared at Tsukasa. Something seemed to click in Rui's mind, as he pulled Tsukasa away.
"Hey! What's the meaning of this?" Tsukasa protested, but he couldn't fight back. What's this weird feeling?..
" Look, Tsu Tsu," Rui waved his hands around a bit, trying to find the right words. "I'm not sure you should be on stage today."
Tsukasa's eyes widened. " What do you mean?! We practiced so hard?! Where is this coming from?!"
" My star, calm down... You seem to be tired and something just doesn't feel right.. I don't think this is a good idea." His eyebrows drew together. He deeply cared for the boy. His gut twisted and twisted in fear. Rui had a bad feeling about this. " With how many stunts it has and all.." He added quietly.
" I'll be fine, I'm not that tired. " Tsukasa walks closer to him, holding his hands. " I promise I'll be fine." Tsukasa knew exactly what to do to make the director shut up. Even though he did feel tired, there was no point in fighting it. Plus he didn't like to see his director look so worried. Tsukasa had a bad feeling about this.
Oh wow. Rui felt his heart beat quicken, staring into Tsukasa's beautiful amber eyes, searching for his gaze.
In the end, he needed to get away before he said something.
" Uh. Yeah, okay if you say so.." Rui looked away, blush forming quickly. " But please be careful... Fatigue is not easy to deal with if it gets too much."
" I know, I know. I promise I'll be fine. " Tsukasa's gaze softened as Rui looked back at him again. Maybe he was right. He shouldn't have thought about it that much.
Eventually, the two boys went back to Emu and Nene.
" Where were you two off to?" Nene had a knowing look on her face. Oh, how Rui wanted to tell Emu about the many times Nene ranted to him about her.
" It was nothing!! Rui had to tell me something about the stunts, that's all!" Tsukasa struck a pose.
" Yeah, yeah of course. " Nene sighed. " The curtains will be raised in 10 minutes prepare yourselves.
" 10 MINUTES?!" Tsukasa scrambled to change his outfit.
The first half went amazing. Tsukasa felt very little fatigue and it was overall very fun! They took a little break, which helped Tsukasa prepare at least a little bit for the stunts that are about to come.
The audience seemed to enjoy everything - clapping their hands to the songs and all.
But we come to the last stunt in the ending.
The prince has to swing on a snake to get to the princess in the castle, as to save her from the evil within.
Tsukasa was sweating bullets at this point, and he felt... sick? He couldn't describe it exactly, but who would he need to describe it to anyway. Maybe Rui? Maybe he could walk home with him. Saki said that today's his best chance at it... Oh well.
As the stunt grew nearer and nearer, Tsukasa's fatigue only multiplied. At first he was able to normally ignore it, but it kept getting worse and worse. When he finally reached the stunt, he could barely walk.
" The show must go on. " was the only thought in his head. He didn't train for nothing. He didn't spend countless nights, sewing, repeating moves, singing until his throat hurt for him to chicken out.
Rui watched with interest from near the stage. His gut twisted sickly as Tsukasa held onto the snake, making him wonder if this is safe enough.
But he doesn't have time to think, since Tsukasa already held onto the snake, latching onto the handles on each side of the snake.
And then he jumped.
He was holding onto the snake, but Rui could see his grip weaken, more and more. He thought he was seeing things - maybe he should've taken a proper rest too, but
all of a sudden -
Tsukasa lets go.
In that split moment of panic, everything felt wrong.
From Tsukasa's peaceful face,
to the fear in Emu's face,
to the gasp of the audience.
Sadly, the moment didn't last forever as Tsukasa hit the ground.
Everyone was quiet.
Silence encompassed the entire theater.
The curtains closed.
Rui ran to him.
Blood was pooling.
It felt...
Disgusting.
The blood that had pooled. The red substance now covering his knees as he kneeled next to his presumed lover.
Or what was left of him.
It all seemed so wrong.
This shouldn't have happened.
This is just a dream, right?
He's having a nightmare.
He heard footsteps and someone screamed.
A ringing noise pierced his eardrums.
He doesn't remember what happened next.
(930 words)
The Cruel Sun
Rui woke up in a cold sweat.
It was.. a dream?
It wasn't real.
Yeah, that would never happen.
Not under his directions.
He checked his phone, only to see it being 5:45 AM. Did he fall asleep early?
He squinted his eyes, trying to look around the dark room. As he shuffled a bit, Rui realised he hadn't changed before going to bed. He was all sticky and sweaty. Gross.
He stood up, only to promptly feel his vision fade into the dark. Rui quickly leaned onto the drawer next to him. A black suit caught his attention. He stood up and carefully took it, he had to change into something anyway.
Rui carefully tredged through the mess that was his floor, before going to the bathroom. He felt.. weird.
As soon as he turned on the light in the bathroom, he flinched and closed his eyes.
It took him a few minutes to adjust, but it was quite quick. Rui closed the lid on the toilet and carefully put the suit there.
But when he looked down, his heart stopped.
There was something on his knees.
.
He couldn't keep his gaze focused.
What the fuck.
What... the fuck?
His knees - they were covered in..
Rui held a shaky hand in front of his mouth, before collapsing on his knees.
And then it all hit him.
" I know, I know. I promise I'll be fine. "
Tsukasa's soft gaze.
An unfulfilled promise.
The way Rui could've stepped in at any time, but he chose to just watch.
The way Tsukasa so graciously fell.
The way Nene and Emu shook, as Tsukasa was taken.
The way Nene shouted at him, accused him.
Rui shook like a leaf.
He..
He killed his crush.
What the fuck has he done.
What the fuck.......
Rui spiraled and spiraled.
Until a sharp ring pierced the silence.
The world stood still for a moment.
Tsukasa is...
Dead.
Tsukasa is gone.
He'll never see him again.
The boy he loves - he's gone.
The tears continued spilling as whatever it was continued to ring.
Once Rui was able to move, he changed his clothes.
He took the bloodied pants, not daring to wash them. The blood of... He didn't want to even think about it. So he just threw the pants in a corner. He'll clean them eventually.
The ringing stopped for a second. That only made Rui panic even more, as he scrambled to leave the bathroom. The ringing started again, but this time Rui was able to catch a glance of his phone, vibrating on the ground.
He couldn't read what was on the screen, but he sure as hell recognized the picture.
His childhood friend - Nene Kusanagi, was calling him. What if she wants to yell at him more? Rui shuddered at the thought. Yet he knew it was inevitable, so he tredged through his room yet again, carefully kneeling down and picking up his phone.
Yes, it was Nene.
With shaking hands, Rui picked up the phone. His finger hovered over the answer button in hesitation, but he answered anyway.
" Rui!" His childhood friend's voice was laced with a layer of tiredness. " What's taking you so long?! Didn't we agree to walk together there?!"
" What..." Rui's voice was too quiet, so he tried again. " What do you mean? Walk where?"
" ... " Nene was quiet for a second, probably processing the information. " Just put on your suit and come out. " And with that Nene hung up.
The walk was quiet.
Rui doesn't remember much of what happened.
First he and Nene entered a... church?
And now he is standing over a grave.
He couldn't make sense of this.
Rui was the most observant out of WxS, or that's what he was told.
He always knew when someone changed, he always knew when someone was acting different.
Maybe that's why he saw how tired Tsukasa was.
From their many practices he could see Tsukasa get only worse and worse. The first time it was barely noticable to him, the last one was blaringly obvious.
The blazing sun celebrated, as if it was waiting for this to happen.
It felt cruel.
Why would the sun celebrate when it just lost one of the brightest stars?
It was as if it celebrated the falling of it's competitor, who shined brighter than it.
Fucking dipsh-
" You know, Kamishiro-san. "
Rui jumped out of his thoughts.
" Big brother loved you. " Saki was next to him, looking down at the grave. " He would talk about you endlessly. It was kind of funny honestly. "
Rui's eyes softened.
" I just wanted you to know. " Saki left his side.
And he was all alone.
He couldn't seem to continue his train of thought anymore, opting to just stare.
No.
This can't be the end of Tsukasa Tenma.
He won't let this be the end of Tsukasa Tenma.
This isn't how a star should die.
There should be somewhere....
somewhere, where his fate isn't as tragic.
As cogs turned in his mind, Rui had to keep himself from screaming from glee.
He found the solution!
Rui ran back home immediately.
872 words
Notes:
fuck you end notes bc i'm fucking lazy and im copying ao3 bc if it is up to my standards i'll post it there,,, anyways there is a lot of scrapped content from this chapter so if it feels unnatural - now you know why! i wrote this while i was sick sorry for the big pause. i at least already have ideas for chapter 3, so it shouldn't take as long if the demons of motivation don't take me away.. you'll see me again next chapter (i love angst)
Reminisce
Looking at the machine, Rui was filled with...
Disappointment.
He doesn't normally leave his machines to get to this stage of disrepair.
But it was nostalgic to look at.
Oh what a fun time it was... He and Tsukasa were brainstorming ideas of how to make 2 of Tsukasa, so he made a time machine! How did they even escape a paradox..
Rui sighed, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding onto.
Oh... What he will do to see him again...
Back to the machine, he could scrap some parts and try to make a portable one.
Yeah.
But in what shape...
Frustrated, Rui took out his sketchbook from one of the drawers near him, opening it and ripping out a page, before sticking it onto the wall with some tape.
An old sketch of Tsukasa stares back at him.
Rui feels more calm, now that his goal is right in front of him
Now to think of how exactly he will do this....
It felt like he was in a haze, working without a single break.
His goal was reached.
He'll see Tsukasa again.
But he felt like he should take a moment away from work.
He layed down on the bed.
It seemed like forever since he last rested.
He opted to check his phone.
Scrolling through a sea of worried messages...
Nene, Emu...
Mizuki..
But..
A message made his entire body freeze
"The wonderstage is getting destroyed."
"Your stuff and Tsukasa's are in the SEKAI."
Huh?..
It's probably for the best.
But it made his heart ache just thinking about it.
The stage...
Emu wouldn't be happy.
Hell, he isn't happy.
How dare they..
How dare they destroy it?!
Can't they leave it be?!
Tsukasa would absolutely hate this.
His plans...
He'll see it again.
Soon.
Now that he got himself thinking, the SEKAI sounds like a good idea.
A last time to reminisce.
The last drops of Tsukasa in this world.
He found himself going into the SEKAI, engulfed by the familiar bright light.
There was no one in sight.
A statue caught his attention.
Rotting away.
That's no way to treat a star.
He walked on the stage to reminisce one last time.
Rui looked at the imaginary audience, and started dancing. A familiar dance he used to do with Tsukasa and Tsukasa only.
When he met Tsukasa, everything felt like a dream.
A confident boy, coming to him to ask him to join a troupe.
It was as if God listened to his deepest wishes, it was as if God knew what Rui wanted.
If God gave you something, you must deserve it right?
Once he joined, his mind was blown away.
The fact that Tsukasa was so happy doing those stunts that others hated Rui for, made him feel.. special.
That's when he thinks he started to have feelings for him.
Then the fight happened.
Tsukasa was being irrational, he forgot himself.
Rui... didn't think that the words he said would impact Tsukasa that much.
He thought he'll forget Rui and move on.
But he came back.
He showed him his true feelings, he apologized.
The wonderstage was saved and all was right in the end.
And then Tsukasa showed his caring nature once again.
During the halloween show practice... Rui didn't mean to make Tsukasa hurt.
He felt like utter shit for it.
But Tsukasa showed him that mistakes do happen.
Tsukasa showed him that it's okay to make mistakes.
And all was right in the end.
Images of the wonderstage flashed in front of his mind, reminding him that, here there won't be any more of what they had.
Images of his troupe members flashed in front of his mind.
Emu, Nene - what will they do without them both?
He hoped they would accept it and move on.
But the only thing he can truly focus on
is Tsukasa.
He's realised how hopelessly in love with him he is.
His world doesn't turn without Tsukasa.
His world doesn't start without Tsukasa.
And it won't end without Tsukasa.
He bowed.
Silence encompassed the wide room, as Rui ran to the backstage. It didn't matter anymore. This SEKAI doesn't matter to him anymore. This SEKAI shouldn't matter to him anymore.
As he took out his phone, he found himself pressing pause on the song, now reverted back to Untitled. Tsukasa's feelings are gone here, so is the star himself.
Rui was back in his room again.
He tiredly fell on the bed, recovering from the sudden rush of feelings.
He wanted to scrape the feelings off of the side of his heart, free of this curse. Free from loving someone.
But he has to be with him again. He can't get rid of them. So what he'll do, is find his love again. He'll love him all over again. He'll love him again. He will confess this time.
This time will be perfect.
Rui soon dozed off, excitement bubbling up.
-
"I'm sorry, Tsu Tsu... " The alien sighed into the gadget's microphone. " I really don't think I'll be able to perform for a while, I don't feel well.."
" Oh, Rui don't worry about it!! As a star, I will make sure the show next week goes well! You can count on me!! You can watch it with your drone if you'd like!" The alien "Tsukasa" beamed. You could hear his smile. " But seriously, if you need anything don't be afraid to call me!! Don't overwork yourself.."
" Fufu~ what would I do without you, my star." Alien "Rui"'s smile could be heard too. " I'll tell you if something happens, my star."
" Alright rest well, my director. Good night! " "Tsukasa" added, his voice like honey to "Rui".
" Good night, Tsukasa."
words: 968
-End Notes-
after like a week of radio silence i'm back!! i have no idea how to write the next chapter and i have school too, so don't expect it to be quick!! i tried to compensate for the long wait with a longer chapter. anyway onto writing chapter 4!! see you next time! this chapter had a lot of stuff cut out too, the word count was like 1487 before i checked it :(
Before the begining
" Rui...! Don't do this! Get over it, please just don't do this..." Tsukasa pleaded, clenching his director's sleeves. Said director seemed confused, a painful look of disbelief evident on his face.
" But, Tsukasa-kun-"
" NO! I'm not going to let you do this to yourself, please... please just destroy that machine. It's nothing good. Please, please I'm begging you to accept it and move on. Whatever you are doing" Tsukasa inhaled sharply, his body shaking. " it's not worth it. The price you will have to pay isn't worth it!"
" Everything is worth it for you, Tsukasa-kun." Rui's expression seemed to be more serious - more determined. It was as if the questioning thoughts in his head seemed to die down, becoming more and more easy to handle. " They won't know what I'm doing. It won't hurt them."
A choked sob resounded the vast empty white space. Tsukasa was full-blown sobbing at this point. " I love you Rui, but please, please don't do this. Trust me it's-" He inhaled sharply again, body shaking. "it's not your fault!.. Please just stay here - don't use that machine and just be there for everyone. Help them, I don't want them to be in pain! Rui, stay in this re-"
Rui sprang up from his bed.
It felt as if he had ran a maraton, trying to get any sort of air into his lungs.
'Tsukasa...' His mind echoed. His eyes were wide open, a stream of tears making its way down his face. It took him a while to calm down, it felt as if his entire system turned against him. His mind was plagued with questions, but one seemed to stand out.
'Should I destroy the machine as he said?' The image of Tsukasa looking down, clenching his sleeves, sobbing, seemed to burn into Rui's mind, making him feel like the worst person on Earth. Making Tsukasa cry was something he turns out to hate. And even though this was the first time he had seen him do something like that, and even though it was just his brain playing tricks on him, Rui couldn't help but feel undeniable guilt over the whole thing. 'Don't forget your goal.' Rui looked over at the drawing he put on the wall a couple of days ago, staring at him, happy smile making Rui feel... nothing. Rui put his head in his hands in defeat. 'What have I done?'
Rui soon came to his senses. He stood up, careful to lean on the shelf next to him, as to not fall this time. His eyes were blurry, tired from all the things they've had to witness the past month- month?
Shut off that train of thought and get back to work.
Opening the closet doors, a mountain of clothes falling. Yet Rui didn't seem to care. Why should he care? This place doesn't matter anymore. It just doesn't matter anymore! Angrily, he was ready to close the closet, opting to just go in his pjs or something, but something caught his eye.
A beautiful hand-stitched outfit he layed his eyes on, cogs and wheels, clocks and feathers standing out immediately. A brief memory flashes in front of his vision, but he blinked it away, focused on the outfit in front of him.
He gripped it and took it out immediately, changing into it.
He put on the hat at last and opted to check himself out in the bathroom mirror, the only non smashed one left. (he hates how tired he looks. he doesn't want to see himself ever again, but he'd rather lose the rest of his positive mindset, just so he can see tsukasa's work be put to use.)
He looked...
weird.
Honestly, he doesn't remember how he looked before so he can't be sure that there's something wrong.
Tsukasa's stitching was immaculate - it seemed to fit Rui perfectly, even though it seemed quite old. (did rui forget something? why would something so old fit him now? is it even old?)
Something in the corner of the bathroom caught his attention. Something that looked... kind of brown? Red? He's not sure.
Rui carefully got closer to the "thing", only to feel the stench of old dried blood hit his nostrils, making him back away from whatever the fuck that is.
And then it hit him.
Tsukasa's blood.
That's the smell of...
Rui practically jumped towards the toilet, and started puking.
He just smelled Tsukasa's blood, he just saw Tsukasa's blood, he ju-
His eyes wide open, tears forming at the corners.
The stench of old blood and whatever the fuck he was puking.
The shock factor was over, and Rui stood on the opposite corner of the room, staring at the the bloodied cloth.
'I really just did that.' He thought. 'How will I handle whatever the fuck may be in those places?'
Rui checked his suit carefully. Thankfully, no blood got on it, so he somehow must've protected it. He finally stood up and flushed the toilet, telling himself that it would be better not to look in there, or towards the cloth anymore.
Not that this place matters anymore, of course.
He left the bathroom and carefully made his way to his desk.
Rui picked up the small machine and braced himself for what's to come.
He clicked the button, and colours obscured his vision.
words: 901
-end notes-
holy fucking shit that was a long break
i for some reason had no brainrot over this for a while but it's back now. no guarantee when ill post the next chapter
anyways im very tired and i have school tomorrow even though im kinda sick so good luck to me!! december starts tomorrow sigh or technicaly today yay december
anyways see you next chapter