RuiKasa: A Star Melody

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝟤 ☆

Tsukasa's leg bounced up and down anxiously as he waited his turn to perform. For the last half hour or so, he'd been watching the other auditionees go in and out of the room, returning with either relieved sighs or panicking that they messed up. Time seemed to fly as he watched the other participants chat about their hopes for making the cut, and soon enough, Rui called him up for his turn. Tenma swallowed nervously as he stood up from his chair quickly, walking over to the doorframe where Rui stood, smiling as he gestured for the blonde to follow him.

"Hello Mr. Tenma" he greeted kindly as he led Tsukasa through the backstage hallway.

"Hi" he said awkwardly, feeling too pressured from the upcoming audition to think about any proper etiquette.

"This is your first audition I take it? Your tryout form says you just turned 17?" Rui asked as Tenma followed him through a door.

"Uh, yeah" he nodded "Yeah, this is my first"

Rui chuckles softly and nods.

"Well, I certainly hope you get to stick around, I've heard a lot of great things about you"

Tsukasa's cheeks flush a little from the sudden compliment, and he scratched at my forearm; an embarrassed habit. He didn't realize news had really spread about himself, if you could really call it "news". Sure, he did an occasional show for the school's theatre program, or sometimes he volunteered at small events, but it was nothing major, and it was honestly just background music.

"Thank you"

"Of course" Rui smiled as he led him backstage, where two other participants sat, awaiting their turn "Your wait here will be about 10 minutes, we just need these other two auditionees to have their turn, then we'll bring the piano out for you"

"Alright," he nodded as he took a seat, taking his hat off and running his shaky fingers along the rim of the visor "Is there anything else I need to know or do?"

"No, the only thing the judges ask is for you to keep your introduction short and simple, your talking portion should only about two minutes, they're time strict and they want to keep things moving, so I advise getting onto your song as quickly as possible, they don't mind how long that takes because they understand how long some pieces may be, but they just don't want to be chatting for too long." Rui smiles kindly as he pats his shoulder assuringly "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll do excellent"

A shaky sigh escapes Tenma's mouth as he turned his gaze to look at Rui, nodding as he briefly admired him. He looked...enchanting? There was something about the dim backstage lights that illuminated his face almost angelically, his yellow-gold eyes giving a seemingly affectionate or assuringly warm glow.

Tsukasa blinked a few times, catching himself staring a little and having to snap out of it.

"Uh- thank you, Rui" he grinned a little. "I appreciate the assurance"

"Of course" the taller boy hummed as he took his warm hand off Tsukasa's shoulder "I'll be walking around back here if you need anything, break a leg"

"Of course" he watched as Rui walks away, heading further backstage to complete whatever job he would need to do next.

As he continued to wait, he couldn't help but think about how easily he got captivated by Rui's eyes. It was probably just the lighting, but he could've sworn he saw hopeful sparks as he looked at me. Maybe it was because he wanted someone the same age as him to hang out with, maybe he just had high hopes from all the stories he heard about him, or maybe Tsukasa was overthinking it and that was just Rui's personality or just his job to motivate me.

Lost in thought, Tenma didn't hear as the current auditionee walked backstage, and the one sitting across him got up and walked out. There was only one person left and then he'd be going, but he was still so entranced by Rui's eyes that he didn't even think of mentally preparing himself for the challenge that was yet to come.