Ruinene

Ruinene is the het ship between Rui Kamishiro and Nene Kusanagi from the Project SEKAI fandom.

Canon
Rui and Nene are childhood friends and neighbors, both apart of the theater troupe Wonderlands x Showtime. Nene describes her friends with a lot of negative adjectives, like "idiot" and "weird", but is still shown to deeply care about them. She sees Rui as nosy, but still worries about his mental wellbeing. Rui, on the other hand, wants to help her with her communication problems, creating Robo-Nene being one of the things he did for her. Rui is said to have a particular personality and a strange sense of humor, and that usually made people avoid him. It's stated that it's just a misunderstanding, but Nene does say that his strange behavior includes using people as test dummies for his ideas and waterboarding them in swimming pools. Though, that does not stop her from staying friends with him. Their personalities might not exactly match, but it doesn't stop them from being close friends. Often, Rui notices when Nene is off and always asks if she’s alright with performing acts in their shows, and both Rui and Nene have attempted to rekindle one another’s desire for theater throughout their friendship.

When first meeting as young children after Nene’s family moved into the neighborhood, Nene had been shy and anxious around Rui, the latter whom tried his best to make Nene comfortable. Their families attended a show together that sparked both Rui and Nene’s dedication to theater. The two grew estranged through middle school, though Nene attempted to converse with Rui and expressed her concern for his mental health. Later, they both become a part Wonderlands x Showtime, with Rui only joining with the agreement that Nene can join too.

Main Unit Story
In Chapter 6 of Wonderlands x Showtime's Main Story, Rui was invited by Tsukasa to join his and Emu's troupe. Though he had initially been uninterested, upon spotting Nene from afar, he decided to join under the condition that they let Nene join as well, to which Tsukasa accepted.

Due to an incident that had happened in the past, Nene had given up on performing. However, Rui had modified an old robot he made and created Robo-Nene, a robot that has a very similar appearance to Nene, that she could use to perform until she was ready to come back on stage again. Nene was initially skeptical that Tsukasa and Emu would accept a robot into their troupe, but to her surprise, they did. When Nene asked Rui why he had asked her to join when he knew she had quit, he then asked her why she came, to which she replied with calling him a terrible person. He laughed and said she was no better, then stating that he thought it would be better than staying at home playing video games all day.

In Chapter 11, Nene stays behind to practice her performance. Rui also stays and interrupts her by saying he knew she'd be here, making her embarrassed. He says that he wanted to make sure she isn't overexerting herself for the show, showing his care towards her. He offers to help her perform, which she accepts. After practicing, he tells her that everything is perfect, and that she shouldn't worry about anything, seemingly making her happy.

In Chapter 13, the show is ruined due to Robo-Nene's battery running out. Tsukasa becomes furious about this and claims that his show was ruined all because Nene forgot to charge the robot. Rui takes her defense, saying it's also his fault for not checking the batteries. When Tsukasa crosses the line, Rui coldly asks him to stop. After Nene runs away while crying, Rui tells Tsukasa he was wrong for telling her all that. He goes as far as to tell him that he doesn't have what it takes to be a star, because of how he treats team work. After those events, Rui catches up to Nene and says that he's sorry for making her join the troupe and forgetting to charge the robot. He then tells her he won't force her to perform again.

In Chapter 17, Nene reveals to Tsukasa and Emu that she and Rui are childhood friends, and that he tried to do shows with his classmates, but it never worked out in the end, so he made robots to perform alone with. Nene says, however, that she thinks he doesn't want to perform alone. When Tsukasa, Emu, and Nene find Rui performing alone, she tells Rui that she's decided to keep performing. Rui says he's glad to hear it. Nene then asks him if he really wants to perform with the others again, to which he doesn't respond. When Tsukasa tries to convince him to come back to the troupe, Rui says that although he's glad that they've given Nene another chance to perform, he doesn't see eye to eye with Tsukasa.

It is later revealed through card side stories that Nene no longer needs to hide behind Robo-Nene to perform, but still uses her to help practice. Rui noticed this and offered to add AI to Robo-Nene, which would allow her to move and speak freely. Nene agrees, under the condition that he doesn't add any weird features, to which he responds by laughing and saying that he wouldn't, and that his goal with the modifications is to make her and the audience happy. Throughout the stories, Robo-Nene gets more and more advanced as Rui continues to add more and more features.

Full Power! Wonder Halloween!
In Chapter 1, Nene tells Rui that he seems to be having more fun lately. She then compares him to his past self, saying that he used to look really bored, but now he has a "weird face". He goes onto say that he really is having a lot of fun and Nene says she's glad he is.

Mermaid Admiration
At the beginning of the story, Wonderlands x Showtime has been chosen as Phoenix Wonderland's ambassadors, and thus has been sent to perform at Phoenix Ocean Resort. Nene suggested doing The Little Mermaid after having nostalgia of when she watched a The Little Mermaid play when she was little, to which they all agreed upon, with a different plot than the original. Following the script, Nene performed the role of a mermaid while Rui was an evil alchemist. During the last night after two successful shows, Nenerobo was malfunctioned after getting kicked by some kids before a crucial part. Nene then decided to do an ad-lib by singing to buy time while Rui tried to fix Nenerobo. After a successful ad-lib to save the show, Rui thanked Nene and told her to be proud of what she did, to which she blushed and said it was nothing.

Near the end of the story, while on the beach, Rui notices Nene seeming glum and asks her what the matter is. Nene explains she’s pondering on the future of their theater troupe and worrying for what’s to come, and Rui is quick to assure her they’ll work through it together.

Revival my dream
In Chapter 3, which shows a flashback from Rui's childhood, his mother tells him that a new family has moved next door and how they have a daughter who's around the same age as him. She calls Nene over and they introduce themselves before Nene hides behind her mother out of shyness. Rui's mother then says they'll be attending the same school and asks him to look after her every now and then. Rui agrees with a smile. A bit later, the two hang out at Rui's house because their mothers have an errand to run. Rui asks what she'd like to play and he shows one of the robots he'd made, explaining he made it while referencing the way grasshoppers jump. Nene stutters that she wants to read a picture book and Rui asks if she wants to read it together, but she moves away saying she can read it on her own. He then sadly wonders if he had spooked her out before reminding himself that he is different from others. When Nene's mother comes to pick her up, she hides behind her again and apologizes for Nene being so shy, but Rui assures her it's okay and then bids Nene a farewell.

In Chapter 4, Rui's mother mentions that Nene's mother bought tickets for all of them to a play and invites him to come with them. Rui is initially hesitant, but his mother manages to convince him. Just before the play starts, which happens to be the Little Mermaid play, Rui and Nene share an awkward moment of silence after Rui's words, and then he thinks that since he knows the story already, he won't have high expectations. However, as the play goes on, he is surprised by the production quality and becomes fully immersed in it, also thinking how magical it is. After the play ends, Nene smiles and says she enjoyed it a lot and how hearing the mermaid's actress singing made her heart pound. Rui agrees and they start talking about their favorite scenes. After this, Nene started being more comfortable around Rui, and they started recreating the plays and musicals they saw at the park.

Card Side Stories
In Nene's "I Thought It Was Game Over" card's first side story, Rui became quite melancholic after Nene mentions they can't bring Robo-Nene to their trip to America as he had just installed a translation function into her. He then, in a panic, attempts to come up with a plan to control her remotely and have her flown over a different way.

In Rui's "Brand New Style" card's first side story, Rui and Nene met at the mall after Rui was done shopping at a bookstore and Nene going to her committee meeting. When Nene mentioned that she has been reading lately, Rui said that he felt emotional seeing Nene holding a difficult-looking book, considering she only read picture books when she was young. After that, they started looking back to when they were kids, reading books and creating shows together with just the two of them, and concluded that they have come a long way. Finally, Rui asked Nene for her continued support for their journey ahead, to which she agreed and replied "Let's continue to make our dreams come true together".

In Nene's "A Nervous Start?" card's first side story, when Nene was on the way to the meeting place, Rui caught up by running and said that he wanted to go with her. He then noticed that she wasn't getting much sleep by looking at her face, to which she revealed she couldn't sleep well last night due to being nervous by the thought of visiting a big theater company. After Nene said that even though she's nervous, she still hoped to get a hint for growth, Rui giggled and told her that she really has changed. He teased that the old Nene would say "I can't do it anymore" and go home, with Nene replying she would never say that no matter the age. After chatting for a while, they got texts from Tsukasa and Emu telling them they were late. They started running to the gathering point, and Rui commented that it feels refreshing to run together like this.

Fanon
Ruinene is one of the most appreciated and popular het ships in the Project SEKAI Western fandom, as well as one of Rui and Nene's most popular ships overall in the Eastern fandom. The ship is mainly rivaled by Ruiemu, Nenekasa, RuiKasa, and Emunene, but it's also not uncommon to see it included as part of Polyshow. Its popularity in the Eastern side of the fandom is such that the tag for it has nearly 5 times the amount of art as some of the other combinations such as Emunene. It's also common to see shippers enjoy this ship along with Emukasa. It is currently the het ship in the fandom with the most works on Pixiv (including both artworks and novels). In a het ship poll on Gaeyou, it also got first place with over 2,000 scores, indicating that Ruinene is very popular among Korean fans.

The ship is beloved for it following the childhood friends to lovers trope, which is usually appreciated in most fandom. Some people could also say that they follow the opposite attracts trope, due to Rui's carefree nature and Nene's more reserved one. Some other reasons the ship is liked by fans is because of Rui's undeniable fondness for Nene, such as creating Robo-Nene for her when she felt she could no longer be on stage due to her performance anxiety, and in return Nene's belief in Rui even when he was ostracized by his peers for his unorthodox ideas. They also make up the more reserved half of Wonderlands x Showtime in contrast to Emu and Tsukasa.

A Ruinene Week was held on July 1-7, 2023, under the. Prompts for the first day were be " or ", "Robo-Nene or arcade" for the second day, "sick day or " for the third day, "first meeting or middle school" for the fourth day, "arcade date or first kiss" for the fifth day, "musical or medieval AU" for the sixth day, and the seventh and final day was "free day or Tanabata".

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Trivia

 * Their Kizuna Rank titles include: "Neighbors", "Who I wanted To Be", and "Alchemist & the Little Mermaid".
 * Their Kizuna Stamp, achieved at Kizuna Rank 75, shows Nene telling Rui "I'll continue to rely on you".
 * They have a height difference of 24 cm, with Nene being 156 cm and Rui being 180 cm.
 * As of 3rd anniversary, Rui grows to 182 cm, increasing the height difference to 26cm.
 * Their middle birthday is on July 7, also known as the Tanabata festival, or the Star Festival in Japan.
 * They sing "Nijiiro Stories" together with MEIKO and KAITO, and also have an alternate duet vocal versions for the mentioned song, "Sekai wa Mada Hajimatte sura Inai" and "Goodbye Sengen".
 * They also both get alternate solo versions for "Tondemo Wonders", "At God's Mercy", "Dance Orchestra", and "1925".
 * In Rui's third focus song, "What Sort of Ending Are You Wishing For?", Rui only has duet lines with Miku and Nene; Nene is also the only one that doesn't sing "What sort of ending are you wishing for?".
 * Some of their Cheerful Carnival Team names are:
 * "Neighbor," "Weird Neighbor"
 * "High-altitude Training" ("What's On Your Mind? Exciting Picnic!" event)
 * "It all started with The Little Mermaid", "Rui invited someone to his house!?" ("Revival my dream" event)
 * They both got inspired to perform after seeing the same play The Little Mermaid.
 * In the initial "Wonderlands×Showtime Relationship Chart", Rui had said that he wanted Nene to "overcome her trauma" while the latter thought of him as "a noisy childhood friend".
 * In the second version, Rui said that "I'm glad you overcame your trauma" and Nene's changed to "I'm glad you found companions to do shows with".
 * As of the event Desperate Times?! Island Panic!, Rui's thought changed to "It's great that you finally found your dream".
 * As of 3rd anniversary, Rui now says "Let's chase our dreams together".
 * In an Area Conversation with KAITO, Nene mentions that she and Rui mostly used to watch musicals, play games and test drive Rui's robots when they were younger.
 * Rui has said to enhance Robo-Nene to please her and the audience, and thus has put various functions on it, such as the security buzzer, or how Robo-Nene can make grapefruit juice for Nene.
 * In Luka's "Mesmerized by Mermaids" card's side story, Rui and Nene were on the same volleyball team against Tsukasa and Emu.
 * When they were about to lose, Tsukasa taunted them, making Nene angry and asking Rui if they could cheat, to which he happily agreed.