Ruinene but they’re both autistic and Nene has higher sensory needs

Nene wants to scream. She wants to scream so fucking loud that it drowns out absolutely everything around her. Yet she can’t form a word, let alone a blood curdling scream that stops everyone in their tracks. 

So she settles for the next best option, clapping her hands over her ears and shoving her head into her knees. Look, not the best solution but it was good enough for her. She focuses on the sound of her breathing, the pop of air passing through clogs in her nostrils pulling her further into overload.

She’s not a mouth breather, mouth breathing is gross, so she has to cope. Coping is surprisingly hard when you’re already entering a meltdown, but oh well! Can’t do much when you’re already nonfunctional! She can’t speak, can’t solve her own problems, and can’t sort her thoughts.

She so wants to shove any words out of her mouth, but they just don't come. So she purses her lips together and looks up, flinching at the brightness of the stage lights and the pops of bright, sunny colors on the backdrop. She simply hums in a distressed tone, glaring at Rui’s back. Lucky for her, Rui notices. Ever vigilant Rui looks over at her as she stares at him, point blank.

She sees him say something to Tsukasa before he turns back her way, pulling out his phone. As he finally greets her with a soft smile, he hands her his banged up device. He took the liberty of turning his brightness down which she greatly appreciates. The dim orange accents of her favorite app greeted her as she went to finally say something.

Two words were written out in a bold arial font, “too loud.” She hit the return key, typing another message, “too much in general,” then shoved the phone in her savior's face.

Rui, always so caring, immediately nodded and went off to fix her problem. He first turned off those god awful lights, then shut the stage curtains with a screech of metal on metal. She winced, and he shot her an apologetic look.

Lights taken care of, he walks over to Emu and Tsukasa, mumbling something or another at them before pacing away. He jogs to the speakers and turns those off completely. He then makes his way to Robo-Nene, telling her something Nene’s brain is far too murky to process. 

Tsukasa and Emu appear again, though she hadn’t really noticed their departure. They both give Rui a nod and he runs back to Nene, as quiet as possible so as to not make her feel worse. He crouches down and looks at her, whispering something she doesn’t understand. She just stares at him with a blatantly confused look.

Rui picks up his phone that was so kindly discarded by Nene and turns it on. She’s confronted by a dim screen, “do u wanna come with me ?” She grips and un-grips her hand in Rui’s direction and he hands her the phone. “where?” She hands the phone back. “backstage” 

The phone angled at her must’ve read her mind because her costume is absolutely suffocating. The fabric is itchy, the collar hangs around her neck slightly too loose, and the shoes are far too tight. The hand outstretched for hers was far too inviting to ignore, so she grabs it and is pulled along by Rui. 

The creak of the floorboards is deafening, the shake of the ground below her is unsettling. So the relief she feels when a door opens in front of her is indescribable. Rui leads her into the paradise, the couch seeming less musty than the last time she checked. 

“You have good clothes on the coffee table, do you want me to leave or just turn around,” Rui’s voice is so gentle and quiet, it wraps around her like a hug. She twirls her finger around in a circle and he turns around as instructed.

She takes off the cloth prison and kicks the unworthy shoes off her undeserving feet. She sighs when the cool, soft fabric of her favorite shirt brushes her skin, and is very relieved when the shorts are loosely fitting. Nene melts into the old couch and breathes out, kicking her legs over the back of her new throne.

Rui takes that as a sign that he can sit on the couch as well, sitting pressed against the arm to give Nene more room. He hands her a pair of headphones that have proven useful many times and grins his goofy ass smile. She can’t help but smile back and flop over him.

Becoming nothing more than a Nene sized rag doll, she rests on Rui. She’s glad that she has someone who understands, she’s also glad that that certain someone makes an excellent mattress.