"Who're you?"
With short blonde hair and expensive clothes, the boy who'd shaken him awake could be his brother. But Tatsuki didn't have siblings.
"You don't know me?"
This voice wasn't like the one he'd always imagined. And as much as he always wished it, his favourite toy was a stuffed rabbit, not a boy. But something about those words…
"Con-chan? You're–"
There was just enough light spilling into his bedroom to make out the boy's gentle smile. "This is what I really look like, Tatsuki. You've always known that, haven't you?"
"I didn't think it was real," he murmured, rubbing his eyes with the sleeve of his pyjamas. "I just pretended."
"'Course it's real," Con-chan said, perching on the edge of the bed. "I wanted to show you. You don't have to be so lonely, you know."
Tatsuki pulled his blankets to his chin, trying to hide his frown. "But I do. All I have are toys... there's no one to dance with me."
"I'm here." Con-chan's voice was kind, and he offered Tatsuki his hand. "Let's dance."
Really?
Con-chan's hand was warm, and he didn't let go until they reached the playroom. There, Tatsuki halted in the doorway as Con-chan entered. His toys (ballerinas, clowns, a marching band, waiters… anything he'd ever said he wanted) were all in their rightful place around the perimeter of the room, but they felt different somehow.
As he watched, Con-chan approached them. One touch from the boy and his toys were moving. Stiffly, as if they'd woken from a long sleep, the waiters helped Con-chan move the table and chairs to the corner of the room while the ballerinas stretched. Tatsuki blinked, shook his head. When he looked again, they were all still there.
"Dance with us, Tatsuki!"
He ran to Con-chan, in the now-empty middle of the room, as his favourite song started playing. How was this happening? For the first time, he didn't have to think about the moves at all, flying around the room in time with Con-chan, his toys, the music. For the first time, he was perfect.
They danced like that for hours, Con-chan and the toys seeming to know what he was thinking before he did, always falling into step. But eventually, his feet slowed and Con-chan led the dance more and more. Tatsuki paused as the music quieted and stopped. "I'm tired… can I go back to bed?"
"Of course." Con-chan again offered his hand and led him from the room.
In the doorway, Tatsuki pulled back. "Wait." He turned to his toys, still alive but moving towards their rightful places, and bowed deeply. "Thank you."
Con-chan chuckled, but waited for him to straighten before he moved. "Come on. By the way," he added as Tatsuki climbed into bed, "tomorrow, can I show you something?"
"Mmhm," he answered through a yawn. He curled up under his blankets to the sound of Con-chan's laughter.
"Goodnight, Tatsuki."
"Senpai?"
Nnh? Tatsuki tried to turn away as the voice started up again. "Tatsuki-senpai? Are you sleeping?"
He groaned and opened his eyes. "Sou-kun…"
Izumi frowned at him for a moment before bending to retrieve his water bottle. "We're supposed to be planning routines, you know."
Tatsuki flushed, scrambling to straighten in his chair. "I'm coming!"
Sou-kun never smiled, but his expression seemed softer than usual. "Gigantic is difficult, isn't it? I always want to sleep afterwards, too."
Tatsuki nodded, watching the other boy walk away. He glanced at the pink rabbit on the chair next to him, then back to Ars, crouched around a notebook in the middle of the dance-club floor. Can I show you something? Izumi, kneeling and listening intently to Akira; Sensei and Bak messing around with props and the sound system, barely paying attention; Akira grinning at their jokes, but trying to keep everyone focused.
"Is that what you meant?"
Could he really be a member of ArsMagna? Would these people stick with him, be his friends? Be people he could dance with?
"Tatsukikku! What do you think of this?"
He smiled, rose from his chair, and went to see what Akira had written. Maybe they could.