Chapter Text
Tsukasa was incredibly grateful that he didn't have any exams today. He'd had at least one every day for the past week or two, and he was certain that if he had had one today he wouldn't be able to focus on it.
How could he have? He was about to tell his troupemates one of the biggest secrets he's ever had, making that all he could think about for the whole day.
Even though Miku and KAITO had showed him that he shouldn't be ashamed of his age regression, he still felt a bit of the same pain he had felt before, though it was no longer near-paralyzing like it had been. Even if it was nothing to feel guilty over, and it was an important part of who he was, it was still a bit embarrassing to admit, with the thought of saying these things to the others being enough to send a slight chill up his spine.
Not only was Wonderlands x Showtime her troupe, one of the greatest sets of performers she'd had the pleasure of seeing, let alone being a part of, but they were also her best friends, so the thought of the fate of their bond being in the hands of this pathetic little problem...
Even though he loved being with them more than anything, he was secretly somewhat glad that none of them had invited him to eat lunch together today. Usually Rui did, but he assumed he was off somewhere doing who knows what (was he simply doing something for his club, or was he working on his next machine that could blow Tsukasa up? Who knows!), Nene joined sometimes, but she usually ate alone, and Emu was at a different school, though that hardly ever stopped her.
Normally she loved being with them, they were her best friends after all, but today she just didn't think she'd be able to look them in the eye or talk to them normally until she had gotten this all off of her chest. Plus, knowing her troupe, they'd probably try to prod her "announcement" out of her early, and she couldn't allow that! She hadn't fully decided on what she wanted to say, and even though she was decently good at improv, she couldn't let something like this be announced without a proper level of rehearsal!
Thus, after eating his lunch as quickly as he could, Tsukasa spent the rest of his break hiding in the bathroom and practicing what he wanted to say. What kind of star would he be if he were to say something this important without being prepared? He wouldn't be able to secure his fellow performers' respect if he were a stuttering, blushing mess! He had to be confident! The fact he was confessing something to utterly embarrassing and shameful would be slightly less so if he were able to stand up tall and look those he were talking in the eye, right?
As his lunch break ended and he continued to dwell on this during his afternoon classes, though, he began to feel a strange feeling in his chest and stomach. As if he were heating up from within, and someone was squeezing his heart and making it difficult to breathe. This feeling was incredibly foreign to him, and it took him quite a while to put his finger on what it was.
It was nervousness, of course, but he almost never got nervous! Before a major performance or something, his emotions would usually be a medley of excitement, confidence, and pride, so this fear inside of him was something incredibly rare for him. He could only ever remember feeling like this whenever he was worried about Saki's health or something, so why was he feeling this now? He was certain his troupe wouldn't treat him too badly once they knew his secret, he knew KAITO and Miku were probably right, and yet...
He was pulled out of his thoughts by the final bell ringing. Had he really been spaced out for most of the school day? He knew that he had worked on assignments at some point, but what they were and what he wrote down on them was a complete and utter blur.
Packing her things, Tsukasa couldn't help but sigh. This was it, about half an hour from now, it would be known that Wonderlands x Showtime's great leader was an age regressor, that the world's next star could be so infantile mentally. Would she even still be these things once she told had the others, or would she be shunned from the performing world for good? She knew she was only telling three people, not the whole world, but sometimes it felt like these three were her world!
What was he doing, getting cold feet before a performance? He always stepped onto stage for each show with confidence and pride, how come he felt like he couldn't for this? He'd practiced what he wanted to say for a decent amount of time, and he repeated it over and over and his head, he should feel prepared! He knew he couldn't back out of this, he told the others he'd tell them today, so why did he still feel so terrifi-
<"You can do it, Tsukasa-kun!">
Tsukasa jumped when he heard a familiar high-pitched voice from his blazer pocket, pulling out his phone to reveal her small hologram smiling at him.
"Miku, you can't come out like this, I'm in public!" he shushed, speaking in a loud whisper. Thank goodness the classroom was empty right now, since if it wasn't...
<"Maybe, but you seemed all spooky-scared and stressy-stressed, so I came to cheer you on!"> Miku explained, almost completely ignoring what Tsukasa had said to her. <"It's all gonna be okay Tsukasa-kun! Emu-chan and Nene-chan and Rui-kun are such amazing people, I know they'll be supportive! They were all okay-okay with it when they didn't know what it was, why would they not be when they do? That's silly!">
Tsukasa blinked, before nodding. The singing virtual catgirl was right...
"Thank you, Miku."
<"Of course! Hehe, I'll leave it to you, Private Tenma! Get the victory for the boys back home!">
"If it's so okay, why are you acting like I'm going off to war?!" Tsukasa asked, annoyed, before realizing this was a fight he wouldn't be able to win as Miku's hologram retreated back into his phone.
At least he knew he had one person on his side. She was a screaming squeaky-voiced anime girl, but a person nonetheless.
-
Tsukasa knew that a good show required suspense. An audience wouldn't be interested in a story if they knew that the good guy was going to win, so why not make it look like they were going to lose before they did? Any good story needed these kinds of things to keep the audience at the edge of their seats.
Although, the fear suspense could bring was normally reserved for the viewers, so why was the actor, Tsukasa, the one feeling it this time?! She'd rehearsed what she was going to say over and over at this point?
And yet, as she walked through Phoenix Wonderland to get to the Wonder Stage, she was reminded of something Nene had told her once before, about how nerve-wracking it could be walking to a dungeon for a final boss fight. Tsukasa knew pretty much nothing about video games, but she thought this was what she was talking about. The nerve-wracking feeling of not knowing what's coming up, but knowing that it will be much more intense and impactful than what you had been through before. That seemed pretty close, albeit without the carnival music and people selling cotton candy.
(Maybe that was in some kind of game, she knew that they could be weird sometimes. If they could make ones about combining arcades and murder, surely they could have monsters in a theme park.)
He walked down the path to the stage, noticing that the rest of his troupe was already there, and probably had been for a while. Nene and Rui were already in their practice outfits, while Emu was still wearing her school uniform, likely due to her school being further away from the theme park. This was it...
"Oh oh oh, Tsukasa-kun!" Emu excitedly pointed out as she saw him.
"You're late," Nene immediately added, not looking up from whatever game she was playing on her phone.
"Ah, my apologies! Miku had wanted me to talk to her!" Tsukasa explained, trying his hardest to maintain his bombasticness in spite of his anxiety.
"They always talk about what the cat dragged in, but it seems our feline friend dragged you out," Rui mused, smirk on his face.
"Didn't you have an announcement or something?" Nene asked, putting her phone away and looking up at Tsukasa.
"Y-Yes, I do!" The boy in question spat out, working to maintain his composure.
"Fufu, a special message from our dear leader, I wonder what this shall entail?..." Rui nodded.
"Oh oh, what if Tsukasa-kun's secretly a robot?!" Emu excitedly asked. "'Beep boop, I am Tsukasa-kun-robo,' hehe!"
"I'm not a robot!" Tsukasa let out a sigh after his reprimand. "It's...actually about what happened yesterday..."
She could feel the eyes of his troupemates burning into her after she said this, as if she were a prisoner awaiting judgment.
"Apparently, what happened was some thing called...age regression...my- this is stupid...my mind went back to that of a child, that's why I was being so clingy and- and stupid..."
He couldn't look up at the others right now, he simply couldn't. Just knowing they were looking at him right now felt like daggers, he could feel his breathing becoming ragged, tears pricking at his eyes. His rehearsals were becoming useless, as fear tore down the showman's script into one of pure emotion.
"It's some stress response thing from what I know, I don't know if it'll happen again, I'll try not to let it..." a sigh escaped Tsukasa's lips as she spoke. "I know that this probably ruins my chances of becoming a star, and I wouldn't blame you for wanting me to leave our troupe. I mean, who could want to put on shows with someone so weird and childish and-"
"Do you really think anything could make us think you're weirder than you already are?"
Tsukasa froze as he was cut off by a certain green-haired songstress.
"You're still you, this doesn't change anything, stupid..."
"P-Perhaps, but-"
"Nene's right, Tsukasa-kun," Rui chimed in, putting a hand onto his shoulder. "You're still our star, this doesn't change that. In fact, I'm glad that you've found something that might help you with stress. We can't have you feeling bad now, can we?"
"That may be true, but I could do something other than this!" Tsukasa refuted in frustration. "When this happened yesterday, I put rehearsal on hold, and had to leave, and everything! No good star could do something like that, plus you all had to take care of me while I was acting like that..."
"Tsukasa-kun, an important part of being a star is knowing your limits. You can't just go on and on and on without stopping, or you'll fall apart." Rui looked Tsukasa in the eyes as they spoke, an unusual seriousness about them. "Any troupe that's worth anything knows and respects each other's limits, and accommodates for them. Wouldn't you say that we fit into that definition?"
Tsukasa was left silent at Rui's words, a look of shock on his face.
"Plus, we liked taking care of you Tsukasa-kun!" Emu added. "When Tsukasa-bo was all sad cuz he fell down, I was happy we could make you smile again!"
"'Tsukasa-bo'?" Nene quietly asked.
"Yeah, cuz she's a littler Tsukasa-kun!"
"...I guess that's fair..." Nene sighed.
"We love you, Tsukasa-kun! We could never kick you out!" Emu continued, pulling Tsukasa into a hug. "You make our shows so wonderhoy!"
"Wonderlands x Showtime couldn't exist without you..." Nene added under her breath.
"This...this really isn't a bother to you all?..." Tsukasa quietly asked. "I'm not...less of a star?..."
"Of course not, Tsukasa-kun! That's what we've been trying to tell you!" Emu happily answered, hopping in place.
"You're our dear troupe leader, you know," Rui explained. "Nothing could ever change that, you're still our amazing shining star."
Tsukasa blinked, silent as she took in all of this, before breaking into dramatic sobs.
"WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE SUCH AMAZING FRIENDS?!" he cried, a soft smile on his face despite his tears. "You truly are...you truly are greatest troupemates a star could ask for!..."
Rui chuckled slightly at this display. "Fufu, there's our Tsukasa-kun~..."
"I don't remember him being such a crybaby though..." Nene sighed. "I shouldn't say that, at least he's happy..."
Tsukasa eventually pulled herself together, wiping away any stray tears with a confident smile on her face. "Well then, I've gone on and on about myself being a star, nothing left to do but prove it! Come now, let's keep working on yet another fabulous show from the greatest troupe in the world!"
"Let's go, Tsukasa-kun!" Emu cheered, as the two of them went to get ready for practice.
Thus, another rehearsal for Wonderlands x Showtime began, preparing to put on what some could consider some of the greatest shows in the world.
-
Tsukasa came back to his bedroom after practice, a content smile still on his face. He truly was so grateful to his troupe...
His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed a certain teddy bear laying on the floor, seemingly forgotten.
"Ah, Sir Tinothy, I am so terribly sorry to have left you here like this!" she apologized to the small toy, picking him up off of the ground. "I guess I had been too exhausted to put you away once I returned from the SEKAI, all I could do was fall asleep right away! A star needs her beauty sleep after all!"
Tsukasa locked eyes with the small toy and smiled. "Although, you definitely deserve some kind of compensation for having been left on the cold hard floor! Hmm, how about I let you sit on my bed? I'm sure that that is a great honor for you, my dear plushie friend!"
Tsukasa placed Tiny onto her bed, next to the few other stuffed animals she let herself sleep with, such as a unicorn Toya had gotten her long ago.
He gave the little teddy bear a pat on the head. "There you go, a comfortable little spot fit for someone as noble as yourself, Tinothy! You deserve it after helping me with our little adventure last night!"
Tsukasa thought back to the events of the previous day, and how much KAITO and Miku had helped him with everything. Since their advice had led to him telling the others, and gaining their acceptance, he should probably go thank them...
Picking up his phone and pulling up his Untitled song, he gave one last look over at Tiny. "I'll be back, my ursidae companion, I must return to our great digital wonderland!"
Pressing play, he wondered for a moment why he had been talking to the teddy bear so much, but he didn't care, he was just happy everything seemed to have worked out.
-
It was a bit weird for Tsukasa to be back in the SEKAI during "daylight", when he had just spent so much time in it during the night, but he knew he had to find the two VIRTUAL SINGERs that had helped him so much.
As he walked through the SEKAI looking for them, there didn't seem to be a trace of them. Where could they be? He knew KAITO was usually in the theater, so maybe-
"Tsukasa-kun! Psst, Tsukasa-kun!"
Tsukasa looked down to see Miku looking up at her, hiding behind a bush.
"Miku? What are you doing?-"
"Shhh! I'm playing hide and seek with the twins, if you're too loud they'll find me!" Miku explained, playful smile on her face. "Did you need something?"
"Uhh, I just wanted to come here to thank you and KAITO..." Tsukasa said, in a slightly quieter voice than usual.
"Oh! Did everything go okay with the others?!" Miku excitedly asked, seemingly forgetting her precious desire to stay quiet.
"Yes, I'd say so!" Tsukasa happily answered, smiling confidently. "Of course a star such as myself would be able to maintain his position as an icon of the acting world, in spite of this sort of situation!"
"Really? But yesterday you were really scared about losing everything because of this," Miku bluntly replied.
"I, I may have, but still! A great future star such as Tsukasa Tenma wouldn't go down that easily! Ha ha ha!" he proudly replied, laughing and striking another pose.
Watching the creator of the SEKAI's display, Miku's ears suddenly perked up when she heard a certain voice from far away.
"Miku-chan! I see you!"
"Oh no, Rin-chan's spotted me! We've gotta hide, Tsukasa-kun!" Miku shouted, grabbing his hand and dragging him off with her as she ran.
"Wait, we?! I wasn't even playing!" Tsukasa shouted, as Miku pulled him into the theater, where KAITO was working on set pieces for the VIRTUAL SINGERs' next show.
"KAITO-kun, you've gotta help us hide!" Miku shouted.
"W-What?! What happened?" KAITO asked, a slight look of fear in his eyes.
"She..." Tsukasa sighed. "She dragged me into playing hide and seek with her. I just wanted to come talk to you..."
"Oh dear, did something happen? Are you alright?"
"No, no, nothing bad! I just wanted to thank you both for helping me last night," Tsukasa smiled. "I told the others about everything today, and I'd say that it went quite well!"
"Ah, that's terrific, Tsukasa-kun," KAITO replied, relieved. "I'm glad that you were able to get the support I knew you would."
"Everyone's just so nice and cool and sparkly!" Miku exclaimed. "The bestest friends Tsukasa-kun could ever have, I love them all so much!"
"I...I do too, Miku," Tsukasa softly replied. "I do too..."
-
The rest of the night had been relatively ordinary for Tsukasa. Spending some time with Saki, messaging his troupe a bit, working on homework and things for their next show, it was quite calm for once.
However, as the night went on, she found herself becoming a lot more tired than usual. She shouldn't have been surprised, it had been a day full of anxiety and other strong emotions, which she knew now could very easily knock her out, if what had happened to her before meant anything.
But he told himself he'd get this next costume done before bed! It was only about ten o'clock anyways, he shouldn't be that tired!
Although, the longer he stayed up, as keeping his eyes open and his head held up became harder and harder, he also noticed his thoughts becoming more simplistic, with more complex ideas being harder to put together...
Tsukasa had an idea as to what this was, and a part of him really wanted to deny it and shove this away, but he was too tired to care about any sort of pride at this point, which, when combined with the support his friends had given him earlier...
"Mm...sleepy..."
The now little star slowly picked himself up off of the floor, and began to put away the things he had out while he was working, trying to be extra brave while putting away things like sewing needles and scissors (sharp objects were scary, but he could do it!)
Putting on his pajamas and getting ready for bed, he noticed a certain stuffed animal still sat on his bed. Grabbing the toy and getting himself under the covers, he looked over at the couple of plushies he had on his bed.
"Ni-night Yume...ni-night Hoshi...ni-night Tiny..."
Tsukasa fell asleep with a content smile on his face. He was small, but he was cozy, and he knew he was a star that was incredibly loved.