Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He needed to clear his head, is all. Just a short walk. Or so he thought. What was supposed to be 20 minutes max ended up as an hour and then two. Had he gone in circles? Tsukasa hadn't been paying attention, his mind wandering. His parents both had conferences a few cities away, and had left him and his sister alone in the house for the weekend. They were both old enough where they didn't need to be supervised, although that never stopped their parents before. The blond didn't particularly like being alone in that big house because of that. Unfortunately for him, Saki had already made plans with her band mates for that weekend, not that he resented her or anything. He loved his sister dearly and was happy she was well enough to be a normal teenage girl.

His eyes flicked upwards off the ground and he let out a soft gasp, noticing there were a lot more trees and less buildings around him. Where did he end up walking to while he wasn't paying attention? Something really bad could've happened to him, like getting hit by a car. It was late, the sun had already set. He should really be getting back... Home...

As soon as he pulled out his phone to check the GPS, a bright flash illuminated the sky. Tsukasa let out another soft gasp. A shooting star? He quickly clasped his hands together and closed his eyes.

'I wish I wasn't so lonely anymore.' He squeezed his eyes shut tighter, scrunching his face as he focused. It was wishful thinking, but hey, he was a dreamer.

There was a loud sound, breaking him out of his focus. The blond cracked one eye open to peak, before both shot open in surprise. That wasn't a shooting star. Actually he wasn't sure what that was. But, whatever it was it was hurtling towards the ground, surrounded by fire and smoke.

The mysterious object soared past him, nearly knocking him over from the air rushing past. It flew into the woods before a thunderous crash was heard, trees snapping from the impact and nearby birds flying away and squawking. 

Tsukasa blinked. What. Just happened. Was that a plane? He didn't even hesitate before he started sprinting in the general direction of the crash site. What if someone was hurt? He could never forgive himself if he just stood by and did nothing. It wasn't hard to find, just follow the downed trees and the smoke. The blondes legs and chest were burning as he ran. He hadn't ran this much like, ever, so he was struggling.

As he approached the clearing the mysterious object made, he started to slow down, before leaning against a tree and gasping for breath. How was a future star out of breath from merely running? Talk about embarrassing. After making a mental note to do more stamina training, he started to approach the clearing again. Upon getting a closer look, the blonde could clearly see that this wasn't a plane, but a more rounded type of aircraft. Spacecraft? Now the thought wouldn't leave his mind and he didn't want to get too close. What if there was an alien? No, nonsense. Aliens weren't real... Right? Tsukasa hesitated, trying to get a clear view of the cockpit without getting too close.

"Oya? Never seen anything like it before?"

The blonde let out a scream that was definitely very manly, jumping back in alarm. His eyes wide like saucers as he now faced. Someone. They were tall, like really tall... What the hell was this guy like 6'5? His eyes went up from their chest to their face, their piercing yellow eyes gluing him into place. 

"It's rude to stare, y'know!" The taller huffed, crossing his arms as his antenna wiggled impatiently. Wait. Antenna? 

"I- Wh- Huh?!" Tsukasa started, not very well clearly, "You? Spaceship? Space?" He is no longer fluent in Japanese, apparently. 

This got him an amused chuckle out of the other, a small smile on his face as his features softened slightly. 

"Yes, that's my spaceship, and yes, I came from outer space." The purple haired alien stuck out his hand for the other. "Kamishiro Rui. This is how you humans greet each other, yes?" His antennae twitched slightly from amusement.

Well, that answered some questions and created way more. Well, if he was the first human to make contact with aliens, then he might as well make a good first impression! Tsukasa cleared his throat before striking a dramatic pose.

"Tenma written as a Pegasus soaring through the sky, Tsukasa written as ruler of the world!" He did another pose, pointing his finger into the air as he exclaimed, "Tenma Tsukasa! The soaring pegasus born to rule the showbiz world!" The blonde then took the other's hand and shook it eagerly.

Rui let out a genuine laugh, not to mock or belittle the other. He was becoming genuinely enthralled by the blonde boy and his enthusiasm was contagious.

"Ruler, huh? This saves me the trouble of searching for the earthlings leader! He came to me!" He grinned, showing off his sharp teeth. The extraterrestrial was not being serious, he wasn't even supposed to be on this planet. Might as well have some fun while they were here though.

"Woah, hey now! It just means ruler, I'm not in charge of anything! I'm still in high school!" Tsukasa immediately backpeddled, waving his hands frantically. "Ugh, don't tell me all those alien tropes are true!"

"Firstly, do I look like a little gray string bean?" Rui was back to being annoyed, his antennae drooping down. It was kind of like a bunny. Tsukasa found it kind of cute, though he'd never admit that out loud. He coughed, a faint pink tint on his cheeks.

"N-No?"

"And secondly, isn't alien a derogatory term you humans use?" Rui decided to up his act, stomping his foot on the ground with a huff as he turned his head to the side. He shut his eyes and furrowed his brows, trying to seem more annoyed than he actually was. It was hard holding in his laughter as they heard the blond stutter and stammer his way through an explanation.

"U-Um... What about..." Tsukasa did NOT want to be the reason an intergalactic war broke out because he accidentally offended them.

"Is extraterrestrial okay...?" He asked hesitantly, pushing his two pointer fingers together as he stared up at the other. Well, staring up at Rui was the only thing he could do considering there was a foot height difference between them.

The extraterrestrial peeked an eye open, looking down at the nervous blond. 'Cute.' He thought as a smug smile spread across his features.

"I suppose it is efficient enough for a word in your language." Their antennas wiggled again showing that they were quite pleased despite his tone of voice.

"My language? Ah actually, how are you speaking Japanese so fluently..." Tsukasa's head tilted to the side slightly as he spoke, fidgeting with his fingers. He didn't want to offend the other, but it's not every day this happens, after all.

Rui's eyes lit up at the question, his previous demeanor changing like a lightswitch getting flipped. It was like he was a whole other person all of a sudden. They got closer to the human, bending down as they pointed to a collar around their neck.

"Synethesia Beacon!" His antennae wiggled happily as he spoke. "I helped develop the technology and everything." There was a faint purring noise coming from the extraterrestrial. Tsukasa thought he was going to die from cuteness overload. 

"That's... Really cool actually! How does it work?" The blond's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.

"Okay so, basically, it's a database of languages that detects what I'm saying via the vibrations from my vocal cords and outputs the different vibrations that mimic the intended language." The extraterrestrial had a smug grin on their face as they spoke. Yadda yadda nerd stuff. "Theres also a neural implant that gets secured to your central nervous system. It's really only required if you wanted to hear and understand unfamiliar languages."

Most of that went over Tsukasa's head, but that's fine. He was not a science guy. Or a math guy. Actually not much of a school guy, he was pretty average. Ignoring that train of thought, he still had more questions he wanted to ask.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, what does your original language sound like?"

Rui didn't waste any time before pressing a button on the side of the collar to deactivate it. Whatever he said now would sound like chirps and trills to the human.

[You're pretty cute, fufu~]

They winked, pressing the button to activate the Synethesia Beacon again. Rui then reached forward and ruffled the blonde's hair, causing the other to squeak in response.

"W-What was that for?" Tsukasa stop stammering dammit! You have no reason to be nervous! The extraterrestrial hummed in response, sticking their tongue out playfully.

"Just cause~"

The blond sighed, letting the other play with his hair. It did feel nice, he had to admit. When was the last time someone touched him like this? Probably not since he was little, it was hard to remember. He glanced back at the wreckage of Rui's spaceship before looking back up at the other.

"Kamishiro... You're stranded here for now, yeah?" Tsukasa started, his confidence faltering slightly as the extraterrestrial paused his movements. "I mean um, do you need somewhere to stay... For a few days... No pressure or anything! My parents are out of town... and my sister is with her friends..."

Rui paused as he pretended to think it over. They were convinced as soon as Tsukasa said the words, but making the blond squirm was too fun. "Hmm... We've only just met, Tenma-kun! How forward!" They winked at the shorter boy, causing said boy to verbally keysmash.

"Bwuh-???? H-Huh???" What. What. What.

They continued like they didn't just say that, "But if you can help me get tools and materials to repair my ship with then I don't see why not."

The blond immediately regained his confidence striking his third stupid awe-inspiring pose of the evening. "Ha ha ha! Of course! It shall be no issue for the world's brightest future star! And please, just Tsukasa is fine."

'Were all humans this eccentric...' Rui found themselves wondering. It didn't bother him, in fact it felt comforting that he wasn't the only oddball out there.

"Alright Tsukasa-kun, then it's only fair if you call me Rui. Just give me a moment to grab some of my things from the wreckage... or what I can salvage anyhow." The extraterrestrial let out a sigh as their antennae drooped again. He got a 2 finger salute from the human before he walked over to the wreckage. The fires had gone out at least, but those were caused by entry to this planet's atmosphere and not any mechanical issues as far as they were aware (and Rui wanted to remain unaware, he did not want to acknowledge that his own invention had failed him). After rummaging through broken bits of metal and machine parts for what seemed like forever, they could only recover a couple of items. His sketchbook slash journal, a busted communicator, a multitool (that he built!), and what looked like a few days of rations. Everything else was practically unsalvageable. It was sad, to see everything he had built here be rendered unusable, but there wasn't much to do but go forward. Hopefully human tools would work just fine on the equipment. They stood up, hugging the items to their chest, before making their way back to the blond. Tsukasa had pulled his phone out of his pocket and was messing with something on it. When he heard footsteps approaching, the blond looked up with a grin, trying to reassure any doubts the extraterrestrial may have.

"Ready?" He held out his hand for the other to take.

Rui shifted the items to one side, holding them with only one arm as he used his now free hand to grasp the blond's.

"Let's go."

~~~

The walk back was mostly uneventful, aside from Rui getting smacked in the face by a couple of tree branches. Don't worry about it. They didn't have any free hands to deal with the leaves in their hair and he would rather die than let go of the cute blond boy's hand. It did make the extraterrestrial face tint pink a bit at the fact that the human willingly held their hand the whole way here. Not like they'd admit that or anything. 

"We've arrived!" Tsukasa exclaimed in his usual confident bravado, looking up at the other with a grin before seeing all the leaves in their hair. He let out a gasp, motioning for Rui to bend down so he could take care of it.

"I'm so sorry for not noticing your predicament!" His brows furrowed as he plucked leaves and twigs out of the extraterrestrial's hair.

"Mmm... I think this makes it worth it~" Rui's eyes fluttered shut as they made a low purring noise again. It was oddly relaxing, having the blonde run his fingers through their hair.

Tsukasa felt his face grow warm at the blissed out face the other was making. While he would love to keep petting the extraterrestrial on his front porch, he didn't want someone to see said extraterrestrial. The blond reluctantly retracted his hand. "Let's go inside, yeah?" He mumbled, fishing his keys out of his pocket and fumbling to unlock the door. Smooth one!

Rui tried to not let out a whine of disappointment at the loss of contact, his eyes opening again just in time to see the blond fuck up unlocking his own door. He decided not to comment on it.

Once inside, Tsukasa flipped on the lightswitch and stepped to the side to let the other pass him. Rui had to duck to walk through the door, but was able to stand upright once inside.

"So I'll show you to my room, where you'll be sleeping." Tsukasa took Rui's hand again, leading the other up the stairs towards his room.

"If I didn't know any better I'd think you had bad intentions, fufu~" The extraterrestrial giggled as they went upstairs. They had to duck slightly as the pair went up, and they had to duck as they went through Tsukasa's bedroom door.

"Ugh, get your mind out of the gutter..." The blond grumbled, dropping their hand with a huff. Rui's antenna immediately drooped like a sad pathetic wet cat. "Noooo..." He whined at the loss of contact.

Tsukasa had walked over to his dresser, digging through it to try and find some clothes that would fit the other. It was a tall (hehe) order considering how large the other was, but he had to have something, right? While the human was rummaging, Rui had set his belongings down on the desk nearby before moving over to the bed and sitting down on it. He sighed dramatically, pretending to be bored out of his mind so the other would start giving them attention again.

He eventually found. Something, alright. A t-shirt that was gifted to him by a relative that was horribly gaudy and way too big. His relatives definitely didn't know much about him because they got him a shirt that said "Eat Sleep Fortnite Repeat" in English. Like, Okay. He doesn't even play video games that often? And he had some sweatpants he never really wore so Tsukasa hoped they would fit the other. He walked over, handing the extraterrestrial the clothes without a word.

Rui blinked, held up the shirt, and started laughing. 

"What?! Don't tell me that translated..." Tsukasa groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Okay, I won't!" They had shit-eating grin on their face. "Do you have somewhere I can change? Orrrr is it perfectly acceptable to get naked around each other on this planet?" 

Tsukasa waved his hands frantically, backing up. "NO! DO NOT!?!?" He quickly pointed towards the door they walked through, "Right out there, F-First door on the left." 

The extraterrestrial walked out of the room without another word, ducking through the doorframe as per usual. Tsukasa groaned, rubbing the side of his face with his hand. Okay so, he hadn't really put much thought into it but there was currently an alie- extraterrestrial in his house. And there was maybe a maximum of two days he could have them here? It was only Friday evening, well more like night at this point, so maybe with Rui's advanced space-y science knowledge he could get them back off the planet within that timeframe! Why did that make him sad! Tsukasa frowned as his brows furrowed. There wasn't much time to ponder, the extraterrestrial making their way back into Tsukasa's bedroom. He had folded his own clothes up and set them on the desk alongside their belongings from the wreckage. 

The clothes did not fit well. At all. The epic gamer shirt barely covered his middle, and the pants didn't even go halfway down Rui's shins. The blond was surprised to see gill-like structures on the sides of the other's torso, barely peeking out from under the shirt. It really drove the fact home that this wasn't another human. Tsukasa was not so subtly staring.

"Hmm, So... If I'm taking your bed, where would you sleep?" Rui asked with a tilt of their head, walking back over to the blond. They were pretending that they weren't being stared at, it was a bit flattering if he was honest!

Ah. He hadn't thought of that. Tsukasa chewed his lip as he thought. "Mmm... I can sleep on the floor, it's fine." He walked back over to his dresser and pulled out a spare pillow and blanket, getting ready to toss them onto the rug in the middle of the floor.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his wrist, stopping him. Tsukasa's eyes widened as he looked up at the other.

"We can just share...?" Rui had a lazy grin spread across his face, his antennae flicking slightly as the only sign of his nerves. The blond's eyes dropped to the space between them, the only sound was the pair's breathing. Rui started to retract their hand, letting out a nervous chuckle.

"Ah I'm sorry-"

"We can-"

The pair both spoke at the same time, causing them both to laugh softly at the coincidence.

"You sure it's okay? I don't mean to overstep..." Rui continued his train of thought, his antennae twitching again. Tsukasa gently held the extraterrestrial's hands in his, a soft smile on his face.

"Yeah, it's okay. Just two... Friends? Friends. Sharing a bed. Perfectly normal."

Rui's heart fluttered. Friends. He didn't have many of those. Tsukasa didn't either, not that he'd admit that out loud. They couldn't stop their antennae from fluttering.

"Perfectly normal." The extraterrestrial parroted, walking backwards slowly to guide the blonde over to the bed. Rui laid down first, curling up slightly so their legs didn't hang off the bed. He made grabby hands at the human, pouting slightly. Tsukasa took the hint and climbed into the bed, slotting himself into the other's arms. His face heated up at the proximity.

As soon as he had him in his arms, Rui held on tight, tangling their limbs together. They nuzzled their face into the top of the blond's head, smiling slightly into his hair. Soon, a gentle purring began. Seemingly louder now that the extraterrestrial's gills were uncovered.

Tsukasa was practically red as a tomato from how affectionate the other was being, not like they could see it anyway, with his face buried into their chest. He took a deep breath to try and steady his nerves. Perfectly normal! Everything was fine! Maybe this was just how Rui's species did things. Of course, who was he to assume this meant anything! 

"Goodnight, my star." 

"W-WHA- HUH-?!"

This was going to be a long night for Tsukasa.

Chapter Text

And a long night it was!

Tsukasa couldn't fall asleep after the cuteness overload the other had been giving him the entire evening. On top of the fact they called him their star?!? Maybe it didn't mean anything... His cheeks gained a faint pink tint at the thought. It's not like his new... friend? Friend. Was... Unattractive. Subjectively speaking he was very pleasing to look at!

Tsukasa started to wonder if he was affected by the teasing because he found Rui attractive nice to look at. The blond tried to push down any thoughts... Just clear his mind and sleep. He really did. But he kept getting jolted awake by having another presence in his bed— something he was admittedly, not used to in the slightest.

The grip that the extraterrestrial had on him had relaxed through the night, although he was still held close to them, limbs getting tangled. After getting jolted awake for what felt like the millionth time, he accepted the fact he was not going to stay asleep and let out a soft sigh. The exhale caused one of Rui's antennae to twitch slightly but otherwise he got no reaction out of the other.

Tsukasa used this opportunity to get a better look at the extraterrestrial. On the surface, he looked just like an ordinary human, just with extra appendages sticking out of his unruly mop of purple hair. And the gill like structures on their sides. He supposed that was how Rui breathed, so he didn't want to mess with them while they were asleep. The antennae on the other hand, looked... squishy... He was curious. Maybe it's because he hadn't gotten any sleep, but he felt bold. The blond had slowly, cautiously reached up a hand between the pair and up to the top of the extraterrestrial's head. Before he could second guess himself, he gently brushed the antenna with a featherlight touch.

Rui jolted awake with gasp, his eyes shooting open and darting around confused before landing on the blonde's expression, half surprised and half guilty.

"T-They're sensitive..." Was all they muttered before Tsukasa quickly yanked his hand away like it burned him.

"Agh! I'm sorry for waking you- I couldn't sleep- I didn't know what I was thinking-" Tsukasa spoke in a panic, scooting back on the bed to give the extraterrestrial space. He hugged his arms to himself, his mind immediately going to the worse case scenario. 'I clearly made them uncomfortable and now they don't want to be friends anymore and I'm going to be alone again-'

"Hey," The other spoke, breaking the blond out of his self induced panic. His sunset eyes flicked upwards, meeting shining gold. Rui gave him a soft smile, reaching a hand out and gently placing it on the panicking boy's shoulder. "You didn't know, it's okay..." They spoke in a low, soft tone, trying to comfort him.

Tsukasa let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Let's just go back to sleep..."

Rui hummed in agreement before pulling the shorter boy back into his chest. They wrapped their arms around him, locking the blond into place.

"I'll make sure you sleep this time." Rui muttered before nuzzling his face in Tsukasa's hair again.

Tsukasa was exhausted, so he didn't argue about getting treated like a giant teddy bear. He buried his face in the other's chest and closed his eyes. As he was slowly drifting, he could've sworn he heard Rui humming something.

The next thing he was conscious for was the door being slammed open.

BANG!

"ONII-CHANNNNN I'M HOMEEEEE!" Saki has opened the front door a little too forcefully, causing it to bang against the wall. She decided it was a good time to make an attempt at being her older brother's alarm clock.

Tsukasa, the poor boy, jolted awake, flailing and screaming in the process.

"WhuH- SAKI-?!"

He fell back off the bed, landing on the ground, and unintentionally dragging the poor fool who was peacefully sleeping with him moments ago.

Tsukasa landed on his back with a groan.

Rui landed on top of him with an omph.

Tsukasa screamed again, for a different reason. His face flushed red from the close proximity.

"ONII-CHAN? ARE YOU OKAY?!" Saki's voice boomed from the living room, worry evident in her tone.

"EVERYTHING'S FINE!!!! DON'T COME UPSTAIRS!!!" Why did he say that, that's so suspicious.

"...THAT'S VERY SUSPICIOUS! I'M COMING UP!" Ok, well.

Rui stared down at him, an amused cat-like grin spread over his features. "What's your plan, my star?" They were not being very helpful.

Tsukasa had no time to unpack whatever was going on between them right now and how this position was making him feel. He had to at least act like Rui was just a human person in his house. The blond quickly and forcefully shoved Rui off of him, and rolled out from beneath him. Rui decided to be dramatic and act like a rag doll, splayed out on the ground on his back without a care in the world. They still had that cat-like grin on their face, perfectly content with whatever was going on.

Tsukasa scrambled to his dresser, ripping it open and grabbing the first hat he could find. A beanie with cat ears. Why does he have so many cringe pieces of clothing! Nevermind that! He practically sprinted back over to the extraterrestrial, practically plopping down in his lap.

Saki's footsteps reverberated as she made her way up the stairs.

"Onii-chan? I'm coming in now!" Saki announced at a more reasonable volume. Tsukasa had managed to wrangle the beanie onto Rui's head as his sister came into view. It took him a second to even realize the position the pair was in. Rui on the ground with Tsukasa straddling his waist, with the extraterrestrial's hands on his hips. Oh he did not want to subject Saki to this.

"Is everything oka- TSUKASA WHY IS THERE A BOY HERE-!?" She never called him by his actual name, so Tsukasa didn't know if she was horrified or not. He scrambled off Rui's lap, scooting backwards until his back hit the side of his bed.

Tsukasa opened and closed his mouth a few times as he struggled to come up with something, his brain short-circuiting.

"I-I- Uh- We- Um-"

"I owe Icchan 2,000 yen now!" Saki let out a dramatic sigh, a pout forming as she looked at the pair. "Onii-chan why didn't you tell me...?"

"You said we'd have the house to ourselves..." Rui moved to a proper sitting position, grumbling barely audible, rubbing the back of his head. Were they... Upset? Tsukasa did not want to think about the implications.

"TELL YOU WHAT? WHY ARE YOU HOME EARLY-" Tsukasa's eyes widened as he finally understood what was happening. First, his sister thinks he's gay and now Rui's going along with it? It would be easier to go along with what she already had made up in her mind than making something up from scratch. He was an actor, a little improv wouldn't kill him! He could fake being gay (sure man). But more importantly...

"YOU MADE BETS ON MY SEXUALITY?!" Tsukasa jumped up, going over to his sister and grabbing her by the shoulders.

"First off, rude! Secondly... Was it that... obvious...." He let out a sigh. Wow, the floor in his bedroom sure was interesting! Rui had chuckled somewhere behind him.

"Um, not really? Well..." Saki was trying to soften the blow. She fidgeted with a long strand of hair. "Usually... Theater kids..."

"Of course that's your reasoning!"

"Well! Am I wrong?!"

"That's not important." Tsukasa groaned, bringing a hand up to his face to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Are you going to introduce me?" Rui had wrapped an arm around his middle, pulling the blond towards him. When did they stand up?! Tsukasa's cheeks tinted pink at the proximity, internally screaming. Just because they were faking being gay didn't mean they had to be so touchy! But that didn't explain all the cuddling last night- Not important right now.

"R-Right! Saki, this is Kamishiro Rui! And Rui, this is my dear sister, Tenma Saki!" He grinned as the two shook hands in front of him. They didn't hate each other, this was good!

"A pleasure to meet you, Saki-san." Rui spoke with a curt nod, tightening his hold around Tsukasa's middle ever so slightly.

"Ah, nice to meet you too!" Saki flashed a smile up at the taller of the pair before looking back at her brother, who looked to be two seconds away from imploding.

"How about this, I'll start some breakfast for the three of us and let you two finish... Whatever it is you were doing! And then you guys can meet me downstairs, sound good?" She gave her tomato of a sibling a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"S-Sounds good!" Tsukasa attempted to do one of his signature poses to try and reassure his sister that everything was normal. Well, more like he was trying to convince himself. He almost smacked Rui in the face.

" 'Kay! Don't take too long!" The younger blonde called out as she exited the room, her blonde pigtails disappearing as she descended down the stairs.

As soon as Saki was out of earshot, Tsukasa nearly collapsed against Rui, forcing the extraterrestrial to support his weight.

"Oh my god..." He groaned, having no energy to deal with the rest of the morning. "We need a plan."

"A plan?" They responded with a hum.

"... Well we can't tell her you're from space..." Tsukasa looked up at the other, chewing his lip as he thought over some ideas.

"We could just say it was one of those... What do you call them... 'Hook ups'?"

Tsukasa's face immediately turned bright red, his eyes widening in horror. He started smacking the other's chest nonforcefully to emphasize his point.

"We!" smack "Are!" smack "Not!" smack "Doing!" smack "That!" His little sister did NOT need to know about his nonexistent sex life. "Let's just...! Say you're a transfer student!"

"That's doesn't explain how I got into your bed, fufu~"

"SHE DOESN'T NEED TO KNOW THE DETAILS?!?!"

"You're the future star, aren't you? I'll just follow your lead." Rui winked and stuck his tongue out at the blond. This was the first time he noticed that the inside of their mouth was blue. He subconsciously wondered how it would taste before he started beating his subconscious mind with a hammer. Not now! The pink tint was still present on the blond's cheeks as he cleared his throat.

"Very well. More improvisation is required from the both of us then..."

----

The pair come downstairs not long after. Tsukasa would've preferred to have had some time to shower, since he didn't last night. But he didn't want to keep Saki waiting any longer! The blond had just quickly freshened up and changed clothes in the bathroom while Rui did god knows what in his bedroom. When he came back, the extraterrestrial was still in the clothes he had lent him— that stupid cat ear beanie and ‘Eat Sleep Fortnite Repeat’ shirt, not like there was much else for them to wear at the moment.

By the time the pair made their way down to the kitchen, Saki had almost finished the breakfast she wanted to put together. It was nothing fancy, each plate just getting a few pieces of toast and assorted fruits that they had in the house. The younger blonde was working on scrambling some eggs in a skillet. She was humming a song to herself as she texted on her phone with one hand, using her other hand to mix and fold the eggs so they'd remain light and fluffy. When she heard footsteps approaching, she set her phone down on the counter.

"I'm almost done!" Saki called out over her shoulder, not stopping the mixing motions. "Onii-chan, can you get the jams out of the fridge?"

"Of course, dear sister!" Tsukasa called out with his usual bravado before he moved over to the fridge. He opened it and dug through it for a moment before pulling out two jars. The blond bumped his hip against the fridge door and closed it with a thunk.

Rui had made his way over to the table and sat down at one of the seats with a plate in front of it. Tsukasa joined him at the table a moment later, sitting in the seat next to him. The extraterrestrial looked down at the food already on the plate, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"Is this some sort of depression meal you eat when you're sad?"

Tsukasa stared at him, mirroring the confused head tilt. "...What?"

Rui then chuckled softly, leaning back slightly in the chair. "Ah nevermind, you wouldn't get it."

Must be an extraterrestrial thing...

Saki pretended like she didn't hear that exchange and came over with the skillet, portioning out the perfectly fluffy scrambled eggs onto everyone's plates. She set the pan down back on the stove to cool off before sitting down at the table across from the pair.

"So... Rui-san..." Saki started, causing the aforementioned creature to pause nibbling on their toast.

"Hm?"

"How did you two meet?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Ah, we met at school yesterday!" Tsukasa interjected before the other got a chance to speak. He was clearly nervous about their lack of a cover story and wanted to steer the conversation.

"Onii-chan! I was asking Rui-san!" Saki scolded with a frown.

Tsukasa's eyes widened slightly as he panicked. "Apologies, Saki! I was just excited!"

Rui let out a soft chuckle, leaning his elbows on the table as he leaned forwards. "He's excited, don't mind him~" They winked at the older blond, causing Tsukasa.exe to stop working.

"Buutttt," They started playing with the strand of cyan hair framing the side of their face, "Yeah, I'm a new transfer student, and Tsukasa-kun... Wanted to show me around town..."

Saki nodded with a hum. "Where are you from originally then?"

Both of them spoke up.

"NEW JERSEY!" "America-"

They stared at Tsukasa, and the blond stared back. What.

"AMERICA!" "New Jersey?"

Dude.

"AMERICA NEW JERSEY!" Tsukasa stood up and slammed his hands on the table, startling both his sister and the extraterrestrial in the process. It took a moment for him to realize what he had done before sinking back into his chair like a deflated balloon, a faint blush on his cheeks from the embarrassment.

Rui coughed. "My parents are from Japan, I was born in... New Jersey... And lived there most of my life..." Why... New Jersey... Could he not think of literally any other state. "And, I wanted to experience more of my culture so I'm in Shibuya for the time being."

Saki nodded while munching on her toast. "How old are you then? Are you a third year like Onii-chan?"

"I'm 18...? Earth... years…?" Rui trailed off, once he noticed Tsukasa staring with his jaw dropped. 'Earth?' He mouthed.

"He's the same age as you-!" Saki made a realization and gasped, cutting herself off. "Oh I'm sorry, what are your pronouns?"

Rui blanked, looking over at Tsukasa with an expression that seemingly said 'help me Tsukasa-kun!', with wide eyes and a slight pout. Tsukasa was flabbergasted, his jaw dropped in disbelief. He just tried to shrug as subtly as he could. Which for Tsukasa, was not very subtle. The extraterrestrial cringed and turned back towards Saki. "My gender is incomprehensible for humans." They said with a shrug.

Saki nodded, pursing her lips slightly. "Just like Shii-chan..." She muttered.

The rest of the meal was uneventful, Saki making small talk with the both of them. Tsukasa couldn't keep his focus on the conversation at all. His heart kept racing from the sheer stress of getting found out. The blond hadn't even noticed where he was staring until a hand waved in his field of view.

"Oya? Earth to Tsukasa-kun?" The voice snapped him back into reality. He blinked a few times before realizing he was staring right at Rui's face. A blush creeped up onto his features once again. Rui gave him a soft smile.

"Ah, I'm so sorry, I lost my focus!" Tsukasa jumped up, grabbing his half eaten plate. "How about I do the dishes?" He offered, reaching over to grab the two empty ones.

Saki gave her brother a warm smile. "Thank you Onii-chan!" Her phone buzzed on the counter and she jumped up to read the message.

Rui leaned back in his seat, observing the siblings. They mostly ended up watching the taller blond, how his shoulders shook as he laughed at something his sister said. Or how he would strike a silly pose to try and get a laugh out of his sister, the boy unintentionally splashing dishwater around. It was obvious the siblings cared for each other a lot. His laugh was pleasant to listen to as well. Rui didn't realize he was staring so intently until Tsukasa turned to look over his shoulder. The blond raised his fingers in a slight wave. The extraterrestrial raised his hand and mirrored the motion, causing the human to blush. Cute.

"I should head back out soon, Onii-chan. I gotta get back to the girls..." Saki resumed tapping away on her phone once Tsukasa was distracted again, presumably texting the aforementioned girls. "I did say I'd have to go home for a just for little bit... I had to grab something from my room."

Tsukasa looked up from the pan he was scrubbing before setting it down, quickly wiping off his hands and making his way over to his sister. "Don't worry Saki!" The siblings wrapped each other in a tight embrace before parting again.

Saki gave her brother a wide grin. "I'll text you! See ya, Onii-chan!" She grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder as she made her way towards the front door. The younger blonde paused in front of the door. "Oh and Rui? You hurt my brother and I'll have Hona-chan run you over with her car." And with that, Saki exited the house.

Rui's jaw dropped from the shock.

It was silent for a moment before Tsukasa spoke up. He grinned at the other, his eyes golden sparkling. "I think she believed us! That must've been my best performance yet!"

The extraterrestrial couldn't help but let a fond smile spread over his features at the blond's definition of a 'successful performance' was. Rui stood up and slipped onto Tsukasa's personal space while he was distracted with his gloating.

"Tsukasa-kun." They said, suddenly serious.

Tsukasa, now realizing how close they were to each other, nearly jumped back from the shock. He looked up at the other, a blush forming on his cheeks. The blond could see the gentle and fond expression that the other had. "Y-Yeah?" He cleared his throat. "Yes, Rui?"

Rui gently placed a hand on Tsukasa's cheek, his other resting on the blond's hip. He leaned in slightly. Tsukasa was freaking out internally. Was Rui going to kiss him?! What were they doing? His sister wasn't here anymore so they didn't need to pretend anymore... Well, he didn't find himself minding, exactly... The extraterrestrial leaned in closer, and the blond felt like his heart was about to burst out of his chest. Tsukasa squeezed his eyes shut, trying to will himself from chickening out.

But instead of lips making contact. Rui spoke up.

"Can I dismantle your toaster? I need parts for my communicator."

--------

One dismantled toaster later, He couldn't procrastinate on it anymore. He had to fix his communicator. Tsukasa promised to let the extraterrestrial focus and lent them his desk space. The blond started busying himself with what seemed to be homework, sitting cross legged on his bed as he worked silently. It was peaceful aside from the occasional sounds of a pencil scratching paper and the sound of metal on metal. Rui brushed the bangs out of his face before he tightened another screw. Their focus fully locked on making repairs on the device in their hands.

Time went by, the sun going from high in the sky to just tucked under the horizon. At some point Tsukasa had brought them food, although not much of it was touched. He did try some but turns out Rui wasn't super fond of the bits called 'vegetables'. Nasty things. Tasted like poison. After hours of work, he set his multitool down, pressing a few buttons to test if they sprung back up correctly. Everything seemed to be working. All they had to do was press on the power button and-

Bzz! Bzz!

[RUI?!?]

Chapter Text

[RUI?!]

A shrill voice sounds over their communicator, mostly sounding shocked and relieved. Rui looked over his shoulder at the blond, who was still sitting cross legged on his bed, before switching off his Synesthesia Beacon.

[Emu-kun?]

A gasp sounded over the device.

[WAAAHH! It is you! Nene-chan! I got a hold of Rui-kun!]

A faint voice could be heard in the background before joining.

[Rui?! We've been trying to get in contact with you for hours! What are your coordinates?!] Nene tried to mask her concern but ultimately failed. [Are you in danger?]

[I'm... Safe. I can ping you my coordinates now but you won't like them.] Rui had begun to tug the cat eared beanie off his head, trying to give his antenna some room. They didn't even realize how long they had the hat on. Once the appendages were free they wiggled them slightly.

[Hm... Got them... Let's see...] It was silent for a moment. He supposed their computer was loading the data from a distant starmap.

[Wh- EARTH?!?!] Emu gasped, genuinely shocked. [That's a bad vibes planet! They're gonna zipzap wham BLAMMO you to smithereens! Nene-chan, start operation 'Rescue Rui-kun!']

[On it!] The second voice chimed.

[N-Now wait just a minute!] Rui panicked, waving his hands frantically even though his friends couldn't see him. It's not like they could fix the projection aspect with the primitive technology from a toaster. [That won't be necessary!]

[...And why not?] Nene spoke like she was 3 seconds away from deploying her own ship down to Earth just to smack some sense into Rui.

[I-I don't think all Earthlings are... bad.] They spoke hesitantly. At some point, Tsukasa had gotten off the bed and stood behind him, his brows furrowed. The blond couldn't understand anything the extraterrestrials were saying with their beacons turned off, but it seemed like he was trying.

"Rui... What's going on?" Tsukasa muttered. "You sound... Panicked." 

[Are you not alone?] Nene gasped.

Emu switched on her Synesthesia Beacon.

"Wonderhoy, human☆!"

Tsukasa stepped back and let out a surprised scream. "HUH?"

Rui switched his beacon back on to try and mitigate things. "Don't worry, Tsukasa-kun! My friends were just worried about me!" He gestured for the blond boy to come closer.

"Friends? Greetings, other extraterrestrials! I am Tenma as in-!" Tsukasa started before he was cut off.

"Why is this one so loud?" It picked up Nene's groan over the communicator.

"I WAS NOT BEING LOUD???" Tsukasa somehow got louder.

Rui, who was unfortunately right next to the star, winced from the sudden loud volume. They reached up to shield their antennae from his voice. "Agh-! I told you they were sensitive!" The extraterrestrial scolded with a frown.

"AGH- Sorry-!" Tsukasa jumped back to create space between them. "Wait... Do you not have ears…?" 

Rui lowered their hands after a moment, his antennae flicking in irritation. "Not ears like yours, no. Our antenna do a lot... Now isn't the time for a biology lesson." He sighed, looking back over to the device seated on the desk.

"Don't tell the human our secrets!" Nene hissed from over the speaker. 

Rui let out an exasperated sigh, "Nene, Tsukasa-kun isn't dangerous." They propped up their elbows on the desk and leaned forwards. "And besides... I think I want to stay here for a bit." The extraterrestrial looked over his shoulder at the blond and winked. 

Tsukasa's face turned beet red at the implications. "Ehh??? I-I thought you wanted to fix your ship??" He fidgeted with the end of his sleeve. 

"I've become quite fond of you, Tsukasa-kun. It'd be a shame to leave so soon..." Rui pouted, "Sob sob.... Tsukasa-kun wants me gone~!" 

"Can you stop being a homosexual for like, five seconds?" Nene groaned. Even though the girl wasn't visible, they could imagine her rolling her eyes.

"Rui-kun! Rui-kun!" Emu's voice suddenly spoke up. "I wanna go down to Earth and meet your new friend! He sounds super duper wonderhoy!!!"

"Emu, it's not safe there! Am I the only one with half a brain left??? If Rui wants to play house with his new human friend then we should just support him from up here. We do not need to risk all three of us being caught!" A thud sounded over the speaker as Nene slammed her hands down on her terminal.

"I'll keep them safe, you have my promise." Tsukasa had stepped back over to the desk with a serious look in his eyes. "For however long Rui wants to be on this planet. You have my word as the world's future brightest star!"

Rui stared up at the blond, his eyes widening slightly. They didn't expect that amount of resolve from the shorter boy but he was pleasantly surprised. "Awh, Tsukasa-kun does care~!" The extraterrestrial wrapped his arms around Tsukasa's middle, practically pulling the boy into his lap. Rui started nuzzling their cheeks together in an affectionate gesture, letting out a soft purring noise.

Tsukssa let out a definitely very manly yelp as he was pulled into Rui's lap. "WAH- SOME WARNING WOULD BE NICE-!" He couldn't suppress the smile that was forming as he returned the gesture, albeit with less vigor. The pair sat there nuzzling each other, causing the volume of Rui's purring to increase.

"Emu, you deal with them. I need some air." Nene groaned for the umpteenth time before she disappeared. The sound of a metal door sliding open and closing was heard over the communicator.

"Wah! Tsukasa-kun talks so boom boom KAPOW!" Emu giggled.

"Eh? Aren't you guys using translators? What are they saying?" Tsukasa had paused the unprompted snuggle time, his attention focused back on the communicator.

"She said you're loud." Rui hummed, his antenna wiggling happily. They continued to snuggle against the boy in their lap before Tsukasa pulled away with a huff, causing Rui to pout again. 

"Nevermind that!" Tsukasa slid off Rui's lap, much to their disappointment. Their purring ceased. "We need to figure out a plan of how we're going to hide your identity!" He brought his hand up to his face, his fingers resting below his chin as he thought it over.

"We can't leave you alone in my room, my parents would ask questions... I know! What if you come to school with me?" A wide grin was spread across his features as he placed his hands on his hips. "It'll be foolproof!"

"High school! Uwaaa!!! It'll be just like the movies!!!" Emu was more excited about this than anyone else.

"Eh? What movies?"

"High School Musical!!!! Rui-kun showed me that one!!!" Emu was bouncing in place.

"THAT'S AMERICAN HIGHSCHOOLS! AND WE DONT BURST OUT INTO SONG AND DANCE!"

"You said I was from 'America New Jersey' so we can just say America is like that." Rui stared up at Tsukasa with his autism eyes, pouting. "Pleeeasseee Tsukasa-kun, I want to be from High School Musical!"

"HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT IS?!?!??!?" 

The sound of a door sliding open could be heard over the speaker.

"I can hear you from down the hall!" Nene really wanted to strangle Tsukasa. "Rui's going to Earth school now? I'll work on getting him documents. Shouldn't take me that long, but it is night in Japan so you should get some rest with the human. I'll contact you in around... 14 system hours." 

"Bye bye Rui-kun, Tsukasa-kun!" Emu popped up before the call was cut, ending their communication for the time being.

Rui rested his elbow against the desk, propping his head up with a wide smile on his face. He stared up at the blond as his antenna wiggled happily. "Can we cuddle some more?" 

Tsukasa was caught off guard by their forwardness, his brain short circuiting for what seems like the umpteenth time in the past day. "I-I need some questions answered first! How does your antenna work?! Are there any other weird things I should know about you?!" He pointed his finger at the other accusingly.

Rui chuckled, straightening his posture. "Ah, so direct, Tsukasa-kun~ Why do you need to know that? Do you have some ulterior motives?" They spoke in a low, sultry tone— fluttering his eyelashes.

"N-NO!? NOTHING LIKE THAT?!?" Tsukasa raised his hands up in surrender, his face flushed beet red. He noted how the extraterrestrial recoiled at his volume and immediately cranked the dial back down. "I just want to prevent any more misunderstandings! I have no intention of... W-What you're implying..." 

He was met with a soft snicker before it erupted into full blown laughter. Rui covered their mouth with his hand as he tried to contain his giggles, but to no avail. "Pfft- T-Tsuka- haha-! I was messing–" A snicker, "With you... Fufu~ I apologize, but your reaction was worth it~"

Tsukasa crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. Even if they weren't being serious, the extraterrestrial was putting thoughts into his head. Very un-star-like thoughts! Being intimate... Kissing... Scandalous. "I don't appreciate the insult to my character..." 

"I apologize, Tsukasa-kun... Let me make it up to you, then. I'll tell you what you want to know." Rui gestured for the blond to come closer to him. Tsukasa's expression softened from mild annoyance to something fonder as he obeyed the silent command.

"You wanted to know about... ahem, my biology, yes? Well..." The extraterrestrial's cheeks were tinted a faint hue. "Our antenna function similarly to your ears, I suppose. They can pick up sound waves through air and water-"

"Wait, water?" Tsukasa interrupted with a gasp.

"Yes..? Tsukasa-kun I have gills, my species is semi-aquatic." Rui's head tilted slightly. Their gills were barely covered by the fabric of the shirt they were wearing. "You hadn't noticed...?"

"I did- I-I mean! I didn't want to assume anything..." Tsukasa waved his hands frantically as he tried to defend himself. Man, he sucked at this.

"Tsukasa-kun, calm down." The extraterrestrial reached up and grabbed the panicking blond's hands with his own, keeping a firm yet light grip on them. They rubbed circles into his skin with his thumbs to try and reassure the blond. "You're not going to accidentally offend me, I know you're trying."

"Right... Sorry." Tsukasa offered a weak smile. "Feel free to continue!"

Rui offered a small smile in return before continuing where he left off, "Now where was I... Hmm... They're very expressive, much like the ears on some other Earth species. They act pretty subconsciously but you can tell when we're happy, sad, annoyed... They're also very sensitive, like I told you. Don't touch them unless you're aiming to..." He looked off to the side, seemingly embarrassed. "Ahem, be intimate with someone, let's put it like that." 

Tsukasa felt his blood run cold at the implications before his face felt hot. That put last night into perspective... Although it wasn't his intention, he started wondering what intimacy would be like— What was wrong with him? This was absolutely un-star-like! He felt the grip on his hands tighten at the silence. The blond really wanted to change the subject for Rui's sake.  "...Do you want to go to bed?"

Rui's eyes lit up at the offer. "Only if you keep your hands to yourself~" They teased, squeezing the star's hands once more before dropping them. 

Tsukasa huffed with a blush before moving over to his dresser, not humoring the extraterrestrial with a response. He started rummaging through it for clothes for the both of them. "We should really go out and get you some clothes that'll fit you... Hmm... I'm not sure I have any other shirts that size." He leaned back with a sigh with a couple pieces of clothing hugged to his chest.

"I could just sleep shirtless." Rui offered with a shrug.

Tsukasa's poor little gay heart could not handle sleeping in such close proximity to Rui while they were shirtless. And then he started wondering something anyone in their right mind would have when faced with a being from outer space.

'Does... He have nipples...?'

Surely... Right?

Tsukasa didn't have the courage to ask.

"Only if you're comfortable." The blond eventually settled for, in lieu of an actual answer.

The extraterrestrial hummed in response. "I'll take the clothes, then." They scooted the chair back as they stood up before making their way from the desk to the dresser. Tsukasa handed them the clothes he pulled out.

"Let's get changed and cuddle like you wanted." 

Tsukasa had left Rui unsupervised for maybe 15 minutes max. Coming back to his room, he found the extraterrestrial messing with his iPad. Not thinking much of it, the blond made his way over to the bed.

"Tsukasa-kun... What is... 6 7?"

The yell he let out could be heard throughout the entire street, startling birds and small animals alike.

----

"T-Tsukasa-kun, slow down!" Rui struggled to keep up with the blond as they went from store to store in search of clothes for the extraterrestrial. His hand was firmly gripped by the other boys as he was practically dragged into the next shop. "How many outfits do I really need-?!" 

The current outfit he was wearing, and the first one the pair picked out, was possibly the tackiest sweater Tsukasa had ever seen, blue with beige sleeves and a funky pattern printed on it— but Rui fell in love with it almost immediately. Plus, the material of the fabric wasn't too suffocating which was important for his gills. And it was soft.

'It reminds me of Tsukasa-kun~' Rui purred as they rubbed their face against the material of the sweater. That is the only explanation Tsukasa got on the clothing, which caused his cheeks to tint pink.

"Well, if you're staying on this-" He looked around the shop to see if anyone would overhear the conversation. There was just someone behind the register, scrolling on their phone and barely giving the duo a second glance. "-Planet for a while, you can't just wear one thing. Plus we have to get you a Kamiyama uniform still."

Rui stared at the other boy with wide eyes and a tremble in their lip. "But I like this sweater…sob sob." He pouted, bringing their free hand up to their eye to wipe away the fake tears. 

"We aren't getting rid of it, Rui. We're giving you options!" Tsukasa gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. That snapped the extraterrestrial out of their fake moping. 

"Oya... Fine..." Rui let out a sigh, their eyes scanning the racks in front of them. They kept a grip on the blond's hand as the pair made their way through the store, looking at potential purchases they could make. Rui had only grabbed a pair of pants and a cardigan while Tsukasa went more overboard. The blond had grabbed a bit of anything and everything for his friend to try on. He had so much that he had to drop the extraterrestrial's hand just to carry everything. Rui mourned the loss of contact.

"I think that might be everything... You sure grabbed a lot-" Rui started, looking down at the shorter boy. Suddenly in his peripheral vision he spotted something. It wasn't anything fancy, just a knee length pleated dark navy skirt. But it caught his interest. Without saying anything, Rui moved over to the skirts, feeling the fabric and looking for his size.

"Ooh? You found something?" Tsukasa gave the other a soft smile, no hint of judgement in his voice.

"Mhm..." Rui acknowledged as they hung the skirt over his forearm over the other clothes he picked out. "Might be easier than finding pants that'll fit." They were pretty tall by human standards. 

Tsukasa had no problem with Rui wearing a skirt. In fact, if you asked him he would say the extraterrestrial would look cute in it (He would also say Rui looked cute in everything). But he was worried about his classmates' reaction. It wasn't like Tsukasa needed everyone's approval. He just didn't want his new friend to feel ostracized and get picked on. 

"Did you want to see about getting the girls uniform, too?" Tsukasa found himself saying instead of voicing his concerns. It'll be fine. He won't let anything happen to Rui.

The extraterrestrial perked up at the suggestion. "Oh, maybe!" They tugged on Tsukasa's sleeve, directing him towards the changing rooms. "Let me try some of this stuff on, then."

Queue about 20 minutes of Rui trying on various outfits. A dark gray suit with a fedora. Pass, too suffocating. The hat was a maybe. A frilly sleeve coated with a large top hat covered in black lilies— what's with all the hats?! Pass, again. Something that seemed like a mage's robe and a monocle... Where did Tsukasa find these things? Pass, yet again. A purple jumpsuit. The most reasonable outfit so far, yet the material was too restricting for them to breathe through. Pass.

"Tsukasa-kun... T-These outfits are a little much, don't you think?" Rui had a strained smile on his face after trying on the umpteenth outfit of the afternoon. This time, he was wearing a royal purple jacket with a cloak over his shoulders and white slacks. A crown haphazardly placed over the beanie he was currently wearing. "I-I feel like a dress up doll." 

Tsukasa was in the middle of refolding the shirt on one of the rejected outfits, his eyes darting over to his extraterrestrial companion. "It's important to figure out your style!"

Rui tugged on the bottom of his shirt, freeing the bottom from his waistline. They held out the fabric as far as it could go from their body, taking a deep breath of air. "Sorry it's just kinda hard to breathe and its overwhelming and Ijustwantto–" Rui was basically gasping for air at this point. Their hands shook as they fumbled with the buttons. "O-Off–"

Before either of them could blink, Tsukasa hurried and pulled the extraterrestrial back into the changing room. He wasted no time before unbuttoning their shirt and pushing the fabric off their shoulders. The shirt, jacket, and cape fell to the ground with a soft thud. Rui stood there like a fish out of water, his gills gasping for air now that they were free from their confines. The blond gently held their hand with both of his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. 

"It's okay... You're okay..." Tsukasa said softly as Rui's breathing started slowing down to a normal rhythm. They let out a deep breath, blinking a few times as if reorientating himself. 

"Let's stick to sweaters." The extraterrestrial said softly, giving the blond's hand a squeeze. 

"Yeah... I'll let you change..." Tsukasa slipped out of the changing room without another word. 

But despite everything, he got an answer to his question from last night. 

Rui does not have nipples.

Rui emerged from the changing room sporting the blue and beige sweater from earlier plus the dark navy skirt he was looking at before. The skirt stopped just above his knees. They did a happy little twirl, feeling the air swoosh around them. "This is so much better than the stuffy outfits from before." Tsukasa couldn't see it, but he just knew their antennae were wiggling happily under their hat. This was probably the cutest sight he will ever see.

"Let's buy whatever you liked and then we can head back and talk to your friends again." Tsukasa offered, trying to not die from cuteness overload. Rui nodded and gathered up the few pieces of clothes they actually liked (and his old pants) before the pair made their way to the register. Naturally, Tsukasa purchased everything because it was his suggestion to go clothes shopping in the first place... And the extraterrestrial didn't have any usable currency on him. But that's besides the point. He would've insisted on paying regardless— seeing how his new friend lit up made it all worth it. Tsukasa was honestly a little overwhelmed, he really wanted to pinch Rui's cheeks and squish his face. What was that called? Cuteness Aggression? Saki told him about that once.

Rui flashed Tsukasa a smile that could rival the sun and suddenly he forgot how to act. Without a word, the blond dropped his shopping bag and reached up to grab the extraterrestrial’s cheeks, squishing them and making a cooing noise all the while.

“Ah-! Tsukasa-kun-!” Rui laughed as he got caught off guard, their hands flying up to meet the ones on his face, shopping bags forgotten in the process. “Fufu, what’s this about?” Their antenna fluttered happily from underneath the beanie as a soft purring noise was produced by them.

“Too cute…!” He squished Rui’s cheeks together to make them purse their lips. Tsukasa’s eyes fell towards their lips. Huh… They were kind of close. And they look so kissable- No! Not now, gay thoughts! Tsukasa, regrettably, pulled away.

“HA HA! LET’S HEAD BACK NOW!” Very smooth, Tenma.

—----------

“I got you an autism diagnosis.” Nene’s voice chimed through the communicator first.

“Another one?” Rui asked with a head tilt.

“One that you can use at Kamiyama, dumbass.” She groaned. “Along with your student registration and transfer forms.”

“Nene-chan is the ultimate bzzt fwoosh kapow tech wizard!! Uwaaa doki doki!!!” Emu squealed.

“E-Emu!” Nene sounded flustered.

“Seriously, what is she saying?” Tsukasa pinched the bridge of his nose as he groaned in frustration. He supposed it was a weird bug with the translators, but little did he know Emu was just like that.

“Fufu~ They said ‘Nene is the best hacker, she impresses Emu a lot’.” Rui let out a soft chuckle, leaning into Tsukasa’s side. “Kasaaaa-kun~ Why don’t you talk about me like that?” They said with a pout.

“E-Ehh?” Now it was the blond’s turn to get flustered. “R-Rui, focus…”

“Back to the task at hand,” Nene cleared her throat, getting the group’s attention back on her. “Rui, you will attend Kamiyama High School alongside Tsukasa. I flubbed some credentials so you should be in the same classes with him all day… Hopefully. And then I put it so you can wear hats indoors without getting in trouble… That should cover everything.”

“I could always just get some scissors and cut ‘em off.” Rui said as nonchalantly as someone would talk about the weather. They raised their hand next to one of their antennae and did a snipping motion with their fingers.

Tsukasa’s eyes widened in horror. “EXCUSE ME?” All three extraterrestrials flinched from the volume. “You are NOT self-mutilating!”

Rui put their hands up defensively, their antenna flopping down. “They grow back! We can regenerate parts of our bodies-”

“Promise me you won't." Tsukasa grabbed his hands, staring into their eyes with determined ones. 

Rui felt vulnerable under his gaze, their eyes darting to the side to avoid eye contact. They cleared their throat before speaking up, trying to change the subject. “Everything is all set, so don't worry about it.” The extraterrestrial slipped his hands out of the blond's grasp and reached over to end the call on the communicator.

If they insist it'll be fine, then Tsukasa supposes he has nothing to worry about. I mean, what could go wrong?

—---

When local authorities first caught wind of the crash site, they called for reinforcements with the defense force lest a civilian get wrapped up in whatever this was. Police tape quarantined off a section of the woods. The pile of debris aka the unidentified flying object (or landed object now) was no longer smoking and smoldering. 

“No visible lifeforms detected, from Earth or otherwise.” An agent spoke into their earpiece. They approached the wreckage with ease, the armed guards letting them pass through. The ship wasn't very large, really just enough for one individual— It had been crumpled up like a soda can upon impact.

Researchers were working on dismantling what they could from the ship and salvaging anything usable from the wreckage when suddenly– A glint from one of the piles of rubble. They kneeled down and rolled their sleeves up, pushing the debris aside until they found it– A picture frame. It featured a trio of three humanoid figures all with extra appendages on their heads– one with pink hair, one with sage green hair, and one with lavender and cyan streaks.

They had a lead.