Mrs. Tenma. 

Rui waved goodbye to Nene, as she shut the front door of her house. He retreated back to the street, now walking to his own house. 

No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get what he had overheard earlier out of his mind. 

"Making sure your guests are happy always comes before your own well-being, you know this.

I expected better manners from you, love."

Yes, he had been eavesdropping, so what? He didn't want to interrupt the previous moment, but he had a question for Mrs. Tenma... So he waited behind the wall and listened in. 

But that doesn't matter now, what matters now is that Mrs. Tenma even let the words leave her mind!

What kind of mother says that to their son? Why would you want your kid to ever care for someone else more than themselves!?. 

And Tsukasa believed her! He called himself Selfish and a disgrace because he was catching up on some sleep!! She didn't even care that he called himself those things either! 

So to say Rui was angered was an understatement

What most confused him, however, is where that even came from?! Mrs. Tenma has always been amazing and such a supportive and caring mom every other time he'd met her! 

Mrs. Tenma and Tsukasa seem extremely close, and Tsukasa looks up to her greatly...and as far as he could tell, Tsukasa was used to it! 

They carried along normally and happily the whole breakfast time... Like nothing was ever said. 

As far as he knows, Mrs. Tenma could be at fault for how Tsukasa actually feels right now! 

Rui shut the door to his house, sliding off his shoes and leaning his head against the door. He let out a frustrated sigh as he thought. 

Could I just be the one exaggerating? He thought. Rui was on the luckier side with his parents, very carefree and chill. 

He knows many families have stricter parents, maybe that's just normal for many other families. He didn't even know anymore. 

"Uh-oh, was that an unhappy sigh I hear? " a voice called from the doorway of the living room. 

"Ma... " Rui said, turning around to face the voice, smiling. 

And there she was, leaning against the doorframe, with one hand on her hip. She had a pencil behind her ear, pushing her short messy hair out of her face. 

In one hand, she held a wrench, and her clothing was all messed up. She was way shorter than Rui, and there were heavy bags under her eyes, making it look like she hasn't slept in weeks. 

"So, what's wrong kid? Sad about leaving Tsukasa's? "

"... Something like that I guess. Have you slept? Or eaten anything? " Rui asked her, concerned. 

"Nevermind that for now, I have something amazing to show you! " She said, running over to Rui and grabbing his hand, before pulling him along to the room she emerged from originally. 

When they stopped, they were in her bedroom. It was much like Rui's, with different inventions all over the floor and a general mess from materials for creating them. 

She walked over to the table in the corner, picking up something excitedly. 

"My new invention! Automatic unfogging glasses! So glasses won't fog up anymore, y'know? "

Rui gently took them from her hands and activated them. He examined how it worked while Mrs. Kamishiro spoke to him. 

"I've been working on em this whole week, no time for sleep my boy! It took a lot of trial and error, but I did it! I finally did it! " Mrs. Kamishiro said as Rui handed the glasses back to her. 

"It looks great ma, but some of the screws for the main part of the glasses look a bit flimsy. There's also a bit of a moment lags with the button... All easy fixes. "

"Aw, really? I swore I looked them over! "

Rui took the glasses back and set them down on the table. He grabbed a few materials and started tightening the screws. He then tinkered with the button a bit, then set them down again. 

"There we go, all fixed. I also fixed the button so it's actually automatic, and it doesn't take an extra second," he said, as Mrs. Kamishiro looked at the glasses in awe. 

"You really are the best son, aren't you?" She said, standing on her tiptoes to ruffle Rui's hair. 

"How 'bout we watch a musical later now that it's done, I and you bud."

"What about Dad? " Rui asked, watching Mrs. Kamishiro run around the room putting things away. 

"Oh, yes! That's another thing I needed to tell you. Daddy's got a huge job opportunity! He's been offered to be a graphic designer for an upcoming huge game series, isn't that amazing!? " She said, jumping up and down a few times in excitement. 

"Really? That's awesome! Is he gonna be out of town for a bit? "

"Exactly, so he's not home tonight. But he's getting a lot of money from this opportunity, so that's good! With my new invention, we could also get a lot more money! " She said excitedly, moving back over to Rui. 

"I mean, we have enough money to last us- but more never hurts! " They both laughed at her comment, just enjoying each other's presence. 

"Let's go into the kitchen mom, I'll cook for you. " Rui said, walking down the stairs with her. 

Once they were in the kitchen, Rui started cooking lunch. Mrs. Kamishiro stood beside him, handing him ingredients when needed. They sat in comfortable silence, as Rui let his thoughts wander again. 

".. Hey ma? "

"Hm? "

Rui let out a shaky breath, wondering how to approach the topic. 

"What do you do... When you have a bad feeling about someone. They haven't really done anything wrong, and they seem sweet as can be... But something is just.. Off.. "

Mrs. Kamishiro looked up at him for a moment, looking into his eyes. After a few moments, she smiled and said

"This is about Mrs. Tenma, isn't it? "

"How did you-"

"Mother's instinct. I got that feeling when I met her too, if I'm being honest. Something was just... Off in her ideals and the way she spoke of Tsukasa, although it was all praise. "

"What do I do... I think she's emotionally hurting Tsukasa, if she knows it or not...and I certainly don't want to bring it up with Tsukasa... I don't want to hurt his feelings. " Rui put his head in his hands and gave a frustrated sigh. 

Mrs. Kamishiro put her on his back, comforting him. "Hey, go with your gut kid. If you think something is off, it probably is. Try to help him and support him, and stick up for him if anything's wrong. I'm always here for you if you need me. " she said, removing his hands from his face. 

"Thanks, ma. I love you. "

" I love you more honey, now let's eat and then watch that musical, eh? How about Heathers this time? "

"How did you even get access to that.. "

"Slime tutorials! " she winked at him grabbing the plates out of the cabinet. "They are very educational"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" Hey, Rui. "

"Well if it isn't Mx. Akiyama! What's up?"

Rui sat down on his bed after watching the musical, munching on some chips when they got a call from Mizuki. 

".. Hey Rui. "

Woah, okay something was up. 

"What's wrong? Did people call you names again? I swear if they did I'll find them and-"

"Woah, woah! Nothing like that! Calm yourself would you? " They said, not wanting Rui to even finish that thought. 

"Okay then, what's wrong then? You can tell me anything, you know. " He said, slightly calming down. He rolled onto his stomach and started kicking his legs up and down. 

"It's just... You know Akito, right? " They asked him. 

"Shinonome? Yeah, I do... Why? "

".. You know how I told you about our Sekai, right? Well... I and Ena were there yesterday and... Our Sekai apparently got a Kaito. "

"Well okay, that's good then. Everyone's there now, right? But what's this have to do with Akito? " He asked, now standing to pick out clothes for later. 

"That's the thing. He told us... He said that Akito was in the Sekai. "

With this said, Rui almost dropped his phone on the ground, taken by surprise. 

"But doesn't he already have Sekai?? And how does someone even randomly enter one?" To say he was full of questions was an understatement. 

"I don't even know! Ena's worried sick, she almost had a panic attack yesterday when we came home and Akito wasn't home..he didn't look too good when he came back either..

Not to mention, Kaito said there were two!! two new people in the Sekai he was watching over! "

Mizuki sounded stressed, probably pacing around their room if Rui knew them. 

"Well, who's the other!? "

"He didn't say, but their side of the fragment was like a theatre area, but darker and destroyed.. For a moment I thought it was..." They trailed off, leaving Rui to finish the thought. 

"Tsukasa.. " 

Rui sat down on the bed, nervously fidgeting with his hands. He didn't want to ever think about the possibility, but it sadly seemed likely here. 

"Yeah... Have you spoken to him recently? Made sure he was okay? " They asked Rui. 

"He's definitely not okay, even if that wasn't his fragment...I just wish there was something I could do to tell him it was all okay.." Rui replied, looking at himself in the mirror after getting changed. 

" Me as well. I feel bad about him feeling that down that he ended up in the empty sekai " Mizuki said.

"Also yes, just this morning I saw him. In fact, later we are going on a family outing trip to the-

.. Hey Mizu? "

"Yeah, Rui?"

"How do you feel about a shopping trip with the group?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And so Rui and Mizuki stepped into the house, looking around at all the people present. 

Mizuki had dressed up unnecessarily as usual, wearing a lacy white button-up dress shirt, tucked in under a pink striped shirt. They had white gloves on and a pink purse, and also a bow in their own hair. 

Rui, on the other hand, just dressed causally. He simply had a white shirt and a purple jacket, with black pants. 

Mizuki tried to convince him to dress up more, but he really didn't have anything better in his closet. 

Not to mention, that the main goal here was to help Tsukasa, not to get all dressed and pretty.. But he guessed both could work... 

Looking around, there were many people. Some were from the original breakfast group, like Honami, Saki, Toya, Nene, and Emu. 

The others in the room, where people he assumes Tsukasa is close with. He thinks that's... Shizuku and Minori..? And the rest of More More Jump? He honestly doesn't even know how Tsukasa gets these connections. 

But someone was missing, actually- a few people. Tsukasa, and the Tenma parents. 

"Woah, this house is massive! Are you sure they will be okay with me coming along? " Mizuki asked, walking around hesitantly. 

"Of course, they said the more the better earlier, so I'm assuming they wouldn't care if another of Tsukasa's friends tagged along. The problem is, we can't find Tsukasa. " Rui replied, looking around the room. 

"Well, he can't be that hard to find. I'm sure he'll turn up eventually, he's one of the main reasons this trip is happening after al-" Mizuki paused in the doorway of the dining room, and let out a small gasp. 

"What, did you find him?" Rui questioned, walking over to where Mizuki stood shocked. 

The Tenma parents and Tsukasa were in there, but they were joined by two other people.

Mrs. Tenma was talking to the girls by his side excitedly, moving around the room.

The girl on the left of Tsukasa had long, blue hair placed into a ponytail. She had a comforting smile and wore a blue frilly dress shirt and black pants. 

The girl on the right of Tsukasa had long purple hair and an unnerving smile... A fake one. Her hair was let down, and she had a light blue skirt on and a tan blouse. 

Tsukasa, obviously sat in the middle of the two, and he had another one of his overly enthusiastic smiles, that Rui started to question if they were fake or not. He had a dark blue shirt on, and black pants. He had a white jacket over his shirt, and a few accessories in his hair. 

"Ah, Rui! You made it... And you,? " Mr. Tenma said, smiling at both Mizuki and him. 

"Nice to meet you, sir, I'm Mizuki, a friend of Rui and Tsukasa. Rui told me it would be okay if I tagged along for the day... " Mizuki said, shaking Mr. And Mrs. Tenma's hands.

"Of course it's fine, it's lovely to meet you, darling! 

Oh- and this is Kanade and Mafuyu, Tsukasa's friends. I'm unsure if you've met them before because we just did! 

They will be coming with us today, isn't that fun!? "