Tsukasa stared at the ceiling.

Ever since he left Rui's house, he felt worse.

He felt tired again. He had gotten around 12 hours of sleep, but maybe too much sleep was not as nice as others say it is.

Tsukasa was laying on his bed. Just staring at the ceiling.

"Tsukasa!" Saki yelled from below, "Tsukasa, the food is ready!"

Tsukasa didn't move his body, only his eyes, to see the light from downstairs. It was about 4 pm so his mom made lunch.

He wasn't hungry, at all, but not eating might worry Saki. Tsukasa didn't want to worry Saki at all. She already worries about her sickness sometimes so why give her more to stress about?

Tsukasa got up and walked down the stairs.

His mom had made omelets.

"Thank you for the food," Tsukasa said, then he started to eat. Forcing the food down with each bite.

"Tsukasa? Are you okay?" Saki asked as Tsukasa put another spoonful of food in his mouth.

"Hm?"

"Nothing, sorry." Saki got up and left the table. "Oh, my friends are coming over for the night."

"Great!" Tsukasa shouted.

After a minute, Tsukasa's mom left to her own room, leaving Tsukasa alone.

He felt sick after forcing himself to eat almost all of the food. Tsukasa got up and put the rest in the fridge.

He then went to his room. It was 5:30 and he had nothing to do. He could practice, or maybe he could rewatch plays he used to love. Or there are books or he could draw. Tsukasa sat on his desk.

He picked up his phone and opened his messages.

The Stars 😈

Tsukasa:
Do we have practice today?

Or is it canceled because of
the rain?

Rui:
It's canceled

Then do you guys want to go somewhere?

Maybe a restaurant?

Nene:
No. I'm busy.

Emu:
Sorry Tsukasa but I can't
either

Rui:
I can't either

That's fine

Maybe we could all practice
the play at my house

Nene:
I said I'm busy.

Rui:
Yea, maybe another time

But

Nene:
Tsukasa.

We can't and we're sorry.

But you can wait for a few
days to see us.

Stop being so annoying.
.
.
.
.
.

Tsukasa turned his phone off.

They don't really care, do they?

Tsukasa stared at his desk.

No, they are my friends. They wouldn't do that. They are probably just a little upset because it's raining and we can't all practice. Maybe they're a little stressed because the show is tomorrow.

Drops of water fell onto the desk, wetting the papers.

Am I crying?

Again?

Why am I crying?

There's nothing wrong.

Tsukasa wiped the tears with his sleeve.

They are busy.

I'm just being... annoying.

Tsukasa kept wiping his tears away, but they showed no signs of stopping.

This is unfair.

"Hey Tsukasa, I- Are you crying?"

Tsukasa turned his head in shock.

"O-oh, hey Saki-"

"What's wrong! Did something happen?" She asked nervously.

Tsukasa didn't want to worry her, so he lied. "I just saw a bug," he laughed, managing to get the tears to stop.

It was hard to cry in front of Saki. Maybe that was why it stopped so quickly when he saw her.

"A bug? Really?" she sighed, "The 'World's greatest future star' is crying over a bug?"

Tsukasa put on a smile and moved his arms to do a little pose. "That's right a star like me is afraid of bugs."

Saki laughed, "Whatever."

She then went downstairs to the door to open it right before her friends knocked.

Tsukasa could hear her from his room.

"HIIII!! Come in!" Saki yelled.

She took them past his room to her own room.

Thank god they didn't see him.

It's embarrassing enough that he was caught crying by Saki.

He took a deep breath, and he continued working on his sketch to keep his mind away from everything.

Suddenly, he felt a slight pain in his stomach.

Was it the food he ate?

Maybe it was from forcing food into his body.

Whatever it was, it made his stomach ache worse.

He ran to the bathroom, closed the door, and leaned over the toilet.

The revolting, sickening, disgusting feeling of puke came from his mouth plopping into the toilet.

Just looking at the chunky orange thing in the toilet made Tsukasa want to throw up again.

He gagged as he threw up again.

The chunky liquid went up his throat before it escaped from his mouth.

He stopped throwing up after a minute. Tsukasa flushed the toilet and washed his hands and face. He also brushed his teeth.

He opened the door and walked out.

"I don't know, but Tsukasa's been acting weird lately."

Tsukasa stopped.

Is that Saki?

He snook over to her door, which was slightly cracked, and listened in.

"Really? He seemed normal earlier." Ichika said.

"Well, he looked unhappy when eating earlier, and he hasn't been smiling at all!" Saki sighed, "I just hope he's okay."

"That is kinda weird, but maybe he's tired today," Honami said, trying to cheer Saki up.

"Yeah, he'll probably be back to normal tomorrow," Shiho added.

"I hope so," Saki smiled.

The group continued talking about other things, so Tsukasa went back to his room quietly.

He felt guilty for making Saki worry and for eavesdropping on her and her friends.

Sitting on his bed, he thought about what Saki had said.

Have I really not been smiling?

How could I not smile? I'm a star!

I'm a star, yet I'm making others worried and upset...

My friends hate me because I'm obnoxious.

I can't even make anyone smile anymore.

. . .

No.

I'm not a star.

I'm a failure.

Hey, we can all agree that Tsukasa is not a star. ❌️⭐️

Anyways, the next chapter will be next week!

See you then!