A/N: emu is sad, tsukasa is even sadder, nene suffers (but its emu so its fine), rui has a crisis. standard stuff

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No one dared to say anything.

Something was just so fundamentally off about today's practice that neither Rui, Nene or Emu dared to tell Tsukasa about what had happened, despite the original plan being exactly that. The rain didn't help the mood, clearly.

"Tsukasa-kun, do you have an umbrella?" Rui asked, watching as he picked up his things to leave as soon as he could. Strange, again. Tsukasa was never that eager, usually being the type of person to say they were going to leave then stay for a whole other half-hour.

"Ye- No." Tsukasa seemed to reply nearly on instinct, before quickly realizing he did not, infact, have an umbrella. "It's fine! The rain won't stop a star such as myself!"

"It will bother you once you get a cold and your poor little sister will have to deal with it." Nene scoffed. "You can have mine. I'm going home with Rui."

An unreadable expression flashed through Tsukasa's eyes at the mention of his sister, but it was gone quickly. He stared at her, silent, before finally answering. "Okay."

"Here."

The atmosphere was so tense it was suffocating, and Rui felt like he was going to die if he stayed here much longer. Emu (and didn't she look anxious?) was trying to hold some sort of conversation with Tsukasa as Nene quickly instructed him on how to open her strange, fancy umbrella. Rui remembered getting that for her. That certainly was a long time ago.

Slowly, he stood up and walked towards them.

"Tsukasa?" Rui said, and all three of his troupemates turned to him. He resisted the urge to make a 'I didn't know you two were named Tsukasa' joke.

"Yes?" The blond himself answered, tilting his head. "What's up, Kamishiro-san?"

Kamishiro-san?

"Kamishiro-san?" Nene repeated out loud, seemingly in disbelief. Tsukasa seemed to realize what he had said, covering it up with a laugh.

"Sorry, Rui. I've been dealing with adults all day. What is it?" He smiled apologetically, and Emu seemed almost pained, hiding behind Nene.

"Asahina-senpai... Even when she's smiling, she has this feel that isn't all miwa-miwa, you know?" Emu had said, wearing a dejected expression.

Oh.

Emu's highly sensitive to feelings, almost scarily so. She can tell when a smile is genuine, like a superpower. Of course, Rui had noticed something off- he knew Tsukasa too well to not realize as much- but Emu could feel it. So if Emu said something was wrong, or different than it seemed, something was very wrong.

And, worst of all, Tsukasa is an actor. A really good one, at that; the best actor a director could ever hope for, like a marionette filled with joy to do its job. And Rui loved that about him, how Tsukasa was so determined to bring every dream he had to life. Rui was the alchemist, and Tsukasa was the subject he experimented on.

Ah, I'm so stupid.

He should've known it wouldn't last.

It's normal. Or well, atleast, by now it is. An alchemist would be hunted and killed for witchcraft, in the olden times, so of course the people would hate their kind; outcasts to society, simply because others could not comprehend what their art meant.

Even an alchemist's test doll grows worn out and tired over time. Erosion, was it? The strongest powers were nothing against the inevitable fate of nonexistent eternity. And he tried pushing those limits everyday. Every week. For all the time they've been together.

A doll would never dare disobey its owner. So if it had any complaints with the treatment, it would shut up and take it. Because it's its job. Because it's what it was meant to do. It would simply suffocate, drown in its own fear and hatred until it broke.

Please forgive me.

"Nevermind. You should go home before it starts raining harder."

-

"Okay, what the hell was that?" Nene said, once Tsukasa was gone, dropping the hand that she had been waving back to her side. "I'm not the only one who felt something really wrong, right?"

"Most definitely not. I can see that the situation is more dire than we could have ever imagined." Rui responded, arms crossed, however, it was clear to her his mind was elsewhere. "The negative energy practically radiates from him. What do you think, Emu-kun?"

Emu was quiet, uncharacteristically so.

"Emu?" Nene repeated.

"Rui-kun..." Emu's voice trembled- actually, scratch that, all of her trembled, and the tone of her voice broke Nene's heart. "Rui-kun..."

Worry quickly took over Rui's expression. "Emu, what's wrong?"

"Nene-chan, Rui-kun- Tsukasa, he-" And then she broke down sobbing, Nene rushing over to support her so she didn't fall from the way her knees suddenly buckled. Emu clung on tightly to her, sobbing into her shoulder, much to Nene's dismay. However, she put up with it, for Emu's sake.

Nene's never seen her cry before.

Or well, at least, not like this. Emu's crying was usually pretty tame, tears of joy running down her cheeks. However, this is the first time Nene had seen her do what she would describe as 'ugly crying', her chest heaving as she let out choked noises of sadness.

What would Tsukasa say, if he saw her like this? What would he do to comfort her?

Nene felt goosebumps, the feeling of being watched suddenly crawling on her skin. She looked around, trying not to move too much (Emu was still crying her heart out onto her shoulder) and got a glimpse of blond hair, gone when she blinked.

She must have been seeing things. Ugh, this is all messing with her brain. Any more and she'll be sent to a mental hospital.

It's her imagination. Nothing more.

Probably.

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