Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Weird things happen while they're in the SEKAI.

And it's not just the floating carousels or talking plushies or the fact that Hatsune freaking Miku is here (seriously, what the–). Tsukasa finds himself full of energy lately when he's there. If the peculiar place has the ability to reflect his moods, then it's probably because things have been going pretty well in the real world lately. Wonderlands x Showtime's shows have been hit after hit, with each new script attracting a whole new, extremely receptive audience. Saki is chipper every day and spends more time out with her bandmates than cooped up inside if she can help it, shining like the little sister of the world's greatest future star ought to. School is… well, same old, same old, but he's glad that he can keep an eye on Touya and his new friends while he's there. So it's no wonder that something about the SEKAI seems to make Tsukasa exceptionally giddy when he presses play on that song and enters this strange fantasy realm.

He's talked about it with Rui–who, despite all his eccentricities, is probably the most logically-minded of the four of them and tends to spend more time than the others thinking about the actual logistics of the Miku dimension–and it seems that they've all sort of experienced that bizarre phenomenon in a way. As long as the four of them are doing alright, they thrive in the wonderland SEKAI. And not only that, but they all seem to know things that they don't really know in the real world. One of the strangest things is that they memorize and perform songs they've barely, if ever, heard before, and it comes out so naturally you'd swear they'd performed hundreds of times before. It all started with The World Hasn't Even Started Yet, and after that, whenever unfamiliar music would come on, they all knew exactly what to do. Rui's never been one to master complex choreography for their shows, but it seems to come as naturally as breathing to him in the SEKAI. Emu sings flawlessly even without Nene's coaching and feedback, and Nene, whose stamina can be a bit of a limitation at times, seems to never run out or fall behind. Miku and KAITO are delighted every time.

Of course, Tsukasa is delighted too. He's the leader of the best theater troupe–no, the best group of performers–in the world, after all! So that, plus the elevated emotions that come to him just by being in the SEKAI, must be why he watches with a flush on his face when Nene and Emu perform their little song with Miku while he, Rui, and some of the other virtual singers watch from the audience seats. He almost lets himself zone out, allowing the plushies' cheering and bickering to fade into static while he keeps his eyes on the two of them.

Two? Sorry, he meant three. Of course he was looking at Miku, too, he's the troupe leader! But he knows Miku can do it, she's literally made to do it, so that's why he's looking mostly at Nene and Emu. Of course, for feedback. Naturally. Dance Robot Dance has a simple choreography on the surface, but the little hand motions can be hard to get down completely, and if you're not on-beat, you'll fall behind quickly. He takes mental notes of the kinds of high-energy moves he can incorporate into a show. He has to pay close attention to every move they make; he's that kind of leader, after all.

Nene does a little kick. It fluffs up her costume's skirt in a way that contrasts with her reserved expression, and Tsukasa's heart skips a beat. Wait, what?

Emu holds her hands above her head and flashes one of her signature, very wonderhoi smiles, and Tsukasa just wants to grab her and never let her go. Hold on, just one second–

The song's over. Okay, the song's done. They're in that silly robot pose and they allow the lights to dim before standing straight up and giggling with Miku, who can't sit still for even a moment after such an upbeat song. Faintly, Tsukasa hears Rui clapping next to him, with KAITO telling them it was their best robot dance yet, Len lamenting about how he wants to go next, and the plushies crowding Rui asking him to praise them too.

Tsukasa raises a hand to his chin, finding something very interesting to stare at on the floor as he tries to will away the redness in his face.

"... -kun?" A robotic voice sounds far away. Or maybe it's underwater.

It must be the SEKAI making him feel more excited seeing his friends do so well on stage. Maybe it's part of the memory of that first show he ever went to, the very same one that inspired this world, that's welling up inside him.

"What's his problem?" Nene's gentle but annoyed voice.

"I think our song was just super, duuuuper wonderhoi! Don'tcha think so too?"

Nene and Emu are very cute. It's only natural to feel that way, and of course the SEKAI would amplify that blatant and objective fact. He probably just needs to go do a song of his own up there, and the audience would feel the exact same way he feels right now. Maybe they could get Len involved, just the guys, and it'd blow away all these strange, recent happenings in his brain. Girls are cute, obviously, so a song with all guys like Buriki no Dance wouldn't make him feel that way.

"Tsukasa-kun?" Tsukasa snaps his head upwards and to the side in a way that may give him whiplash, and he's looking right at Rui, whose expression gives absolutely nothing away, as usual. Suddenly, he's hyper-aware of the warmth between them. Their arms are sitting on the same armrest, and it's never been a problem before, but now–

He thinks he probably lets out an odd noise when he jerks away as a plushie wiggles past him suddenly, hops right over his feet, and struggles to climb up Rui's pant leg to sit in his lap. Rui places a gentle hand on it absentmindedly, with his eyes still focused on Tsukasa.

"Ruiiii," one of the plushies whines, "pet me next!" They sure do love Rui. Of course they do, he's stopped openly trying to dissect them a long time ago. Now he only wonders about their anatomy in the real world, where they can't hear and get nervous about it.

"Aha, sorry, guys," Rui breathes, exasperated, "I only have two hands, you know."

"Our turn, our turn!" Len exclaims with reckless abandon from behind them as he vaults over rows of seats to make a beeline for the stage. "Hurry up, you two, we can't let them do an amazing performance like that and not follow up with our own!"

"... what?" Tsukasa weakly manages.

Rui gives Tsukasa a curious glance, a new kind of unreadable expression, before picking up the plushies in a big bundle and setting them in the seat beside him, much to their disappointment. "I think he means he wants us to sing up there with him next. The girls did splendidly, and I presume a star such as yourself can't wait to show them up."

Rui stands to offer Tsukasa a hand, and he swears he gets dizzy.

Rui's not a bad-looking guy. He's tall, with unique features that make him hard to miss in a crowd. The outfit he wears to Phoenix Wonderland suits him, with its vivid colors and form-fitting shape. Like this, Tsukasa can see how broad his shoulders are, and how narrow his waist is. It's no wonder you could open his shoe locker around February to find piles of pink-wrapped chocolates from anonymous donors.

"We can try out that drone setup I made that will surely make mid-air flips a cake walk. What do you say?" Rui's face contorts into that signature look of mischief that's equal parts ridiculously endearing and terrifying, and Tsukasa's head fills with sand.

"Ah-"

"Ah?" He thinks three different people repeat it back to him.

"AaaaaaAAAAHHH I gotta go!"

"Tsukasa-kun?" Miku's concerned voice gets quieter as she calls out to him, and he bolts out of the stadium and into the main part of the SEKAI theme park before stopping the song on his phone and closing his eyes so reality can come back to him. When he opens his eyes again, he's back at the Wonder Stage, his phone falling out of his limp hand right onto the ground below. He doesn't even wince at the impact. The sun is already hitting the horizon, and it makes Tsukasa realize how quickly time goes by in that place.

His heart is racing a mile a minute, still, for some reason. He can't stop thinking about it; about Emu's dazzling smile, Nene's reserved beauty, and Rui's mischievous charm, and he wants to yell one more time. This was supposed to end when he got back to reality, wasn't it?

He sends one quick message to each of them letting him know that he forgot to shop for dinner and had to run back home quickly so Saki could have something to eat after practice with Leo/need. Surely Nene will chastise him for forgetting such a simple task, but he can take the small hit to his ego for the sake of getting the hell out of there.

On his way home, he's tempted to go back. He wants to confront Miku and ask her some questions about that place, finally, but he suspects she wouldn't be much help. Maybe KAITO, or even MEIKO, would offer more assistance, or at least sympathize with him a little bit. He takes out his phone and examines the song. He even allows his finger to hover over the play button before shoving it back in his pocket.

When Tsukasa gets home, it's not even close to dinnertime, so Saki isn't even there yet. Truthfully, he did the shopping the night before, like a great older brother like himself naturally would. Based on the time, Saki won't be home for another hour at least, and the other three have probably left the SEKAI to go home by now. He considers his options–and considers how much of a blabbermouth the virtual singers can be–and wonders if it's worth it to go back and ask them what was up with all that. At that moment, his phone lights up, and he sees a concerned-looking Miku pop up on his phone.

"Miku?!" He nearly squeals. "What are you doing here?"

She shuffles in place for a moment, spending more time considering her next words than Tsukasa thinks he's ever seen before. "Well, once Emu-chan and the others went home, we got so lonely here, and we got to thinking about how you left so suddenly, and Len says you looked lost in thought, and–"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Tsukasa interrupts. He wants to let her finish, but he also doesn't want to be here all day. "So, do you want to hang out here while I make dinner then?"

"Mhm!" Miku nods enthusiastically.

So at least one of them noticed Tsukasa's behavior. He doesn't want them gossiping about him and it getting back to Emu. He sets out stuff to prep and busies himself with menial tasks, allowing the repetition of rinsing and peeling produce to keep his hands busy while he works on sorting out a Rubix cube of emotions in his brain.

"Hey, Miku," Tsukasa begins, waiting for her noise of affirmation before continuing. "What exactly goes on in that SEKAI of yours?"

Miku tilts her head. "What do you mean?"

Planning his next words carefully, as if they're part of some sort of war strategy, Tsukasa continues slowly. "Well, we can do all sorts of incredible things there, right? Like singing songs we've never heard and flying around on carousel horses and the like. I just don't understand how it's possible, no matter how much I think about it."

Miku giggles. "Well, it's your SEKAI, after all! You tell me! What are you making there?"

Tsukasa looks down at the food he's prepping. "Miso pork. Probably with some vegetables and rice. How can I possibly know the answer? I asked you for a reason."

"I know as much as you do, Tsukasa-kun! It's a place born from your own experiences and emotions. Nobody should know better than you why the things that happen here happen!" Cryptic as usual, and not in the least bit helpful. Tsukasa lets out a heavy sigh.

"I knew I should've asked KAITO."

"Asked me what?"

"Ah! KAITO!" Miku squeaks. She moves to the side as KAITO's holographic form also emerges from the phone screen. It's beginning to get a little crowded.

Tsukasa grumbles for a bit, wondering again how to proceed with caution.

"Hey, KAITO, does the SEKAI control the kind of person I become? And the things I feel?"

KAITO lets out a nervous chuckle. "That's a heavy question, there."

"So you don't know either," Tsukasa deadpans.

"Well, I know that we don't mind-control people, if that's what you're wondering," KAITO gives him a smile. "It's the other way around, truly. Everything you experience shapes the SEKAI. The answers you found while looking for the real reason you aim to become a star were always inside of you, after all. We just helped you remember. Emu and the others, as well, of course."

What a picturesque answer, and exactly as unhelpful as Miku's, if only in a slightly different way.

"Then, is it possible that the SEKAI can make me feel things more intensely than I otherwise would?" He's getting a little too close to home at this point, but he hopes he's vague enough to keep things ambiguous.

KAITO hums and offers an apologetic smile that's truly indicative of a troupe leader. "That, I can't say for certain. I wish I could be more helpful."

This time, Tsukasa stills, and he hears Miku prattle on to KAITO about something silly as they end up inevitably changing the subject.

He realizes, as he runs the water to douse the carrots, that he has to accept the fact that the SEKAI probably didn't do anything weird to his brain to make him magically fall in love with his friends overnight. Or rather, it didn't give him any feelings that weren't already there, at least a little bit. It's natural to feel affection for people you see for several hours every day, especially when you work to make something really special together. They all see the best and worst of each other. If the SEKAI amplified that somehow, he just has to deal with it now.

Glancing at the time, he notes that Saki will probably be home any minute now. He interrupts the mundane conversation KAITO and Miku are having. "Hey, I hate to break up that riveting topic, but you guys ought to go back now, or else I'll have some very weird explaining to do to my sister."

"Roger!" Miku salutes before fading away with a giggle. KAITO looks back up at him with concerned eyes but an ever-present smile.

"Tsukasa-kun, you should come see us if you come to an answer, or if you have anything else you need. That's what we're here for," he offers. Tsukasa gives him a quick, curt nod as he dissolves into pixels and his phone screen returns to black.

He carefully examines his warped reflection in the paring knife while it makes quick work of a potato skin. He may or may not have come to terms with the fact that he had a small (small, insignificant, tiny!!) thing for Nene a while ago. Their Christmas show opened his eyes to all the potential she had as a performer, and how far she's come since she couldn't even show her face, and that pride he has in her definitely manifested itself into various other feelings. But Emu? Of course he never thought of her like that before–or at least, he thought he didn't. Well, he was a bit flattered when she first approached him begging him to perform with her, but a crush? Her determination to put on the greatest shows possible to fill the crowd with smiles was admirable, and it pulled him out of a very bad place with a potentially disastrous future. Her goals and ambitions parallel his perfectly, and he can't imagine a future without her in it. Seeing her upset on that Ferris wheel–he never wanted to see that sight again. Did that really mean he had feelings for her?

And Rui. Tsukasa doesn't think all the time in the world would give him what he needs to unpack that. Rui's passion for what he does is ridiculously endearing, anyone would think so, but his tendency to go too far would surely make anyone question their attraction to him. But Tenma Tsukasa always takes what's thrown at him–actively encourages it, even. He can tell Rui appreciates it, so even in his most mad-science moments, something in his eyes simply glows when Tsukasa meets his expectations with his usual boisterous, if a little terrified, demeanor. He'd do anything for his stage director, and he'd never accept a stage director that isn't Rui, so naturally that implies certain things. And sure, maybe it's not too out of the question for Tsukasa to like him in that way, gender aside. He's already crossed that bridge and taken it for what it is.

But all three of them? All at once? Really? Is that even possible?

The more he thinks about it, the more unhinged he feels himself becoming. So much so that he doesn't even notice the younger Tenma approach the kitchen, gently grab the paring knife and less gently grab whatever vegetable he was holding in shock, and shoo him out of the way.

"Oi, Saki…" He begins, finally, with a dry mouth and eyes that are staring at nothing in particular, "is there something wrong with me?"

"Eh?" Saki raises a brow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Tsukasa shakes his head. There's nobody else he can talk to about this, so he has to go about it delicately. He looks at her book bag that she left leaning against a chair, and sees a familiar sight in the form of a thick book with a colorful cover. Bingo.

"What's that, Saki? A manga?" A perfect plan. He should really pursue improv sometime. Nearly every manga has some kind of complicated love triangle subplot wherein the heroine has feelings for at least two wildly different guys. It might not be quite the same thing, but hearing about a fictional conclusion might give him something to work with. Ever-observant, Saki follows his gaze to her bag.

"Ah! That one there? I loaned it to Icchan, and she finally finished it. It's a super realistic coming of age story about a lonely girl whose life has been full of tragedy finally making a home for herself with her high school's home ec club!" Saki's eyes glimmer with the excitement to tell someone else about this story.

It's adorable, but it's not exactly what Tsukasa's looking for. "Ah, that sounds interesting…"

"It is! It gets even better when the aliens come in!"

"The what?" He's going to have to know about that later. But now's not the time! "A-anyways, Saki, are there any other good things in that story? Anything… relevant to a high schooler's daily life?"

Saki takes a moment to think, her hands continuing to move prepping dinner even as her face scrunches up a little bit with concentration. "They made an apple pie in one chapter, I guess. And they took a trip to a theme park in that one mini-arc."

He nearly slaps a hand against his face. With Saki, it should be indirect, but not too indirect, apparently. "Okay. Anything a little more interesting?"

She gives him a weird look before a look of surprise, then an unexpected smugness replaces the confusion.

"Please don't look at me like that."

"Onii-chan, is this…?" She holds a hand up to her face as she squints at him.

"We're writing a new show, Saki! A play!" Damage control, but it's convincing enough. Wow, their next show really should be improv, he's getting better and better at this. "And there's… a love triangle! I've written a few characters for potential love interests, but, uh," a quick stutter as he considers his next words carefully, "I'm not sure who the heroine should end up falling for in the end."

That expression leaves Saki as she takes what Tsukasa says at face value. He just adores her. "Oh! Well in that case, use your best judgment. Pair her up with your favorite."

Favorite? There's no way. It's him examining what he likes so much about all of them that got him in this predicament in the first place.

"Any writer worth his salt would never be able to pick a favorite! And that goes even more so for a writer-slash-future star!" Tsukasa guides. "Besides, it has to be genuine. I can't just pair her up with the person I choose, or some audience members might not think it's realistic. How do the heroines in stories go about picking the one?"

Saki raises a brow. "I never knew realism was high on your priority list."

He's almost offended. Was Romeo: The Battle Royale not a reflection of the most intimate moments of society? He supposes some aspects of the sci-fi were a little far-fetched, but with the stuff Rui throws in their shows like it's nothing, it can't be that far off from what humanity's already achieved! He bites his tongue. "We're going for a, ah, bit of a different approach this time around. We absolutely can't lose to the Phoenix Stage, after all, so we need to keep things fresh."

"That's true! Well, a lot of times in love triangles the heroine will go on dates with her love interests and realize things that she likes about each of them. Sometimes she backtracks, or gets too caught up in certain things, but that kind of structure could make for an interesting play–"

That's it!

"That's it!" Saki startles a bit at his outburst. "S-sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off! You've hit me with a well of inspiration, Saki! Thank you. I'm going to brainstorm. I'll come back down in a bit to help you set up the table!"

"Ah–" he faintly hears her begin, but he's already out of the dining area and headed to his room.

The answer was so obvious. He almost has to laugh at how ridiculous he was being. If he just hangs out with each of them, one-on-one, he'll come to a quick and easy conclusion as to who he truly has feelings for. Then, he can make the appropriate decision when the time is right. Of course, these things can be easier said than done, but Tsukasa believes in his ability to thoroughly and efficiently evaluate his feelings from the logical real world.

It's easy, getting Emu to hang out with him. And she's the type where he doesn't have to think too hard about what kind of things they can do together–she's the most content to just exist alongside Tsukasa, chatting about whatever comes to that mind of hers with topics changing in such rapid succession that it makes his head spin. So he opts to take her to lunch one Sunday afternoon, when both their schools are closed and they take the day off of practice. The thing is, he wants to make this as authentically date-like as possible, without actually doing anything romantic. Much like a role he was born to play, he has to immerse himself in the idea of dating Emu, but he also can't come on too strong right off the bat.

She makes that very simple for him.

When they meet up at Scramble Crossing, she immediately clings to his arm, talking about how excited she is to hang out like this.

"So, so, where are we going? Ooh," Emu almost squawks, "that place has the seasonal cinnamon apple-flavored crepes that Honami-chan was talking about! Tsukasa-kun, let's go there!"

"Eh?" Tsukasa croaks out. This was definitely not part of his plan. "Isn't it a little early for something sweet like that?"

"They have savory ones too! C'mon, c'mon!" She begins to pull him with her iron grip on his arm, and while she's certainly not the strongest of the four of them, when she sees something she wants, nothing can stop her. Not even Tsukasa's carefully laid-out itinerary for today.

"Aaaah, Tsukasa-kun, you should get this one!" She points to the chalk menu board that's propped up outside of the restaurant, and he pauses to read the colorful, bubbly katakana.

"Morning star… crepe?" It's a breakfast crepe, with eggs and ham and other things. Not exactly appropriate for a lunch at 1 in the afternoon, but…

"Star! It's a crepe for you!" Emu beams at him, and Tsukasa struggles to keep his heart from pumping any more blood into his face. He hopes Emu doesn't notice the redness.

After a brief cough, he lets out a hearty, signature laugh. "Of course, it's only fitting! How kind of them to make a whole menu item just for me!" Emu mimics his laugh, and they get some brief glances from passersby. Letting a quick moment pass, he rereads the board. "I'll ask them to hold the peppers, though." Emu giggles before grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him inside.

When they sit down with their food, Tsukasa immediately notices Emu beginning to make a mess. The soft crepe doesn't lend itself well to the rough way Emu handles it, and she struggles to hold it while it flops around and spills its filling onto her plate. She takes a particularly big bite and smears sticky sweet caramelized apple goo all over her cheeks, and it's like she doesn't even notice with the way she goes in for another bite.

"Emu, don't you want to try landing some of that in your mouth?" Tsukasa deadpans while Emu hums to herself, kicks her feet under the table in happiness.

"Hm?" She responds, unable to get much more out while chewing. And it's like the world hits pause for a moment.

This is it! The golden opportunity. Tsukasa shakes his head, dampening a paper towel with his water glass and leaning over the table with it. It's a little stereotypical, but a good friend, troupe leader, and boyfriend can't let his friend-slash-unitmate-slash-maybe girlfriend make a mess like that. He puts on his most gallant expression as he begins to wipe the sugar off the side of her face.

Rather, he tries to wipe it, but sugar is one hell of an adhesive. Emu simply lets him attempt his cleanup while she looks at him with her big, empty eyes. One wipe doesn't take care of it, so he goes in for another, and then another, and soon he's scrubbing and he's forgotten about the flirting entirely.

"Chukasha-kun," Emu manages, still working on a big bite of crepe. "You're shcrubbin' choo hard."

He freezes.

Emu finally swallows, and flashes him another smile. "Don't worry! I'll go clean up in the bathroom when I'm done!" Another big, messy bite later, and any progress Tsukasa managed to make is out the window. Emu's back to kicking her feet and enjoying her food, and somehow, Tsukasa feels like he's lost this battle.

Okay, what's next? First it was lunch, which played out a bit differently than planned, but he could still get things back on track.

He's agreed to meet Emu outside the shop after she washes up. He takes this time to think. His next plan was a trip to main street for some shopping, where they'd head to the mall afterwards and watch a movie. And as he thought, it's still a picture-perfect plan.

Emu finally greets him, sans face mess, talking about how the crepes were super, duper wonderhoi!

"Now, Emu, it's time to go to our next destination for the day!" Tsukasa begins with a booming voice, and Emu claps her hands together.

"Ooh, my turn, my turn!" She cheers, and Tsukasa deflates.

"Your turn to do what?"

"Pick where we go, of course!"

"You just picked!"

Emu laughs. "But I thought of the most incredible wonderhoi idea while I was washing my face! Don't worry, Tsukasa-kun, you can pick where we go next time." With her hands on her hips, it really seems like she has no intention of hearing him out any further.

Next time? He doesn't have time to think about Emu's munity of their date when he imagines going on another one, and Emu takes the opportunity to grab him again and whisk him away. This time, she grasps his hand, and holds it tightly in both of her own. Her hands are still a little wet and cold from washing them, and they're soft, with no calluses or roughness. When she starts swinging their interlocked hands back and forth between them, Tsukasa doesn't really care about his plans anymore.

"Here?"

"Here!"

"Emu… this isn't exactly innovative."

Tsukasa finds himself standing in front of the gates of Phoenix Wonderland. He feels like he should be wearing a show costume, or his practice sweats. He feels like he should go clock in.

"But it's so fun here! I think it's a perfectly wonderhoi followup to those yummy crepes."

"We work here. We come here all the time," Tsukasa says dejectedly as he looks up at the big, bright, colorful sign to the theme park. Inside, he can see a Phenny mascot handing balloons to children.

"Yeah, as employees," Emu rolls her eyes. "But when was the last time you came here to go on the rides or play games?"

She sort of has a point. With how busy they've all been with show planning, it probably has been a little while since he came here just to enjoy the park as it is.

He's still not sure how he feels about spending his day off at work, but he can't exactly say no when they're already here. And that's why he ends up following her in and listening to her excited cries at every little detail of the park that she knows like the back of her hand.

She marvels at a game stand that was recently repainted, and tells Tsukasa all about the history of certain rides and how long it took for things to be built. There's all sorts of things she knows, like about how the guy who installed that roof over there ended up knocking over a huge bucket of paint and dousing another worker in bright cherry red. She tells the stories in such a distinctly non-Emu way that he assumes she's just quoting her grandfather verbatim. But her excited tone and occasional interjections of her various Emu-isms keep Tsukasa invested, and her eyes get so soft when she talks about her grandfather, so much so that he doesn't notice that he's still holding her hand.

He tries to win her a plushie that she gawks at. After a few attempts, the vendor either takes pity on him or recognizes Emu (or maybe it's some combination of the two), and gives him the huge bunny anyways as a consolation prize. Emu is over the moon. When they go on one of the rollercoasters, she raises their joined hands high in the air as they go down a drop.

Tsukasa almost forgets he works here. It's funny how the park can make him feel that way time after time.

That is, until the sun starts to make its daily trip downward and Emu takes him one last place; the Wonder Stage.

Well, he planned on taking her to a movie theater, so maybe this is close enough. He watches her bounce around the seating area chattering on and on about all the little details, right down to the woodstain used to paint the seats and all the little nicks and dents in their surfaces.

"Grandpa said he once saw a kid fall and chip his tooth here! It must've hurt so bad, but once the performers started, it was so wonderhoi that he completely forgot about the pain!" Emu recalls, and Tsukasa winces at the thought.

"The ground here is pretty uneven. I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often," he kicks at a wobbly brick that is definitely a safety hazard, and Emu can't help but laugh. "Hey, don't laugh, no show is wonderhoi enough to prevent a lawsuit." She giggles harder, which gets a reluctant smile out of Tsukasa.

Once her laughter subsides, Emu takes a seat next to her giant prize rabbit and not-so-subtly motions for Tsukasa to plant himself next to her. Of course, he obliges. "Y'know, I'm suuuuper happy we came here today!"

Letting out a huff, Tsukasa replies, "You're suuuuper happy to come here every day."

"Mhm!" Emu nods. "But it feels like every time is a little different. Lately, if I'm not here for practice or a show, I try my hardest to look around and remember all the things my grandpa told me, and I try to find the appeal of every single part of this place so we can save it from rebranding."

As hard as he tried to avoid bringing it up, it was probably unavoidable that they'd have to talk about it eventually. Talking about her family's plan for the park always gives Emu a sad, distant look on her face. Everyone knows not to bring it up too often, or to try to reframe the conversation to be more hopeful, despite the lofty goal they've set for themselves. Tsukasa never wants her to feel that sad or helpless again.

"But y'know!" Emu perks up, and it's probably the quickest Tsukasa's seen her bounce back from that state. "Today, I didn't think about those things at all!"

Surprised, Tsukasa gives her a look. "Yeah? Then what did you think about?"

She closes her eyes with a big, dopey grin on her face. She kicks her legs back and forth underneath the bench and holds on tight to her plushie's paw with one hand, and Tsukasa's own hand with the other. "Hmmm, I dunno! Probably how much fun it is to come here with you! Thank you for taking me here today, Tsukasa-kun! Let's keep coming here together forever!"

All thoughts of, uh, you were the one who took me here today, Emu, disappear from his mind. In fact, all thoughts of anything disappear from his mind. Her hand is warm where it joins with his, and her subtle movements like her legs kicking and the vibrations of her speaking fade into the background. He could swear his ears started ringing, and there is certainly no way to hide the intense blush that must be on his face. He can't even really bring himself to care, because her cheeks are dusted with a bit redness as well.

Okay, one down, two to go. He feels a little strange diving back into this plan of his after such an eventful day with Emu. In fact, he puts off inviting his next target on an outing-slash-date while he considers his options.

It'd be really easy to simply ask Emu out and do his best to forget about the other two. He had a lot of fun with her, and based on her actions, he'd say she felt similarly. He wouldn't have to question things about himself or bring up uncomfortable topics to anyone if he just dated her. And he almost submits to that conclusion, until Rui approaches him one evening after the girls had already gone home from rehearsal.

Tsukasa had assumed Rui went home along with them, but he gets a surprise when Rui sing-songs, "Tsukasa-kun," to him when he thought he was alone.

He does not jump, and he definitely doesn't let out a small shriek. So he has no idea why Rui laughs.

"Sorry, Tsukasa-kun. I thought you knew I was still here," Rui apologizes, with no hint of remorse in his face. Tsukasa glares at him.

"A-anyway, do you need something?" Tsukasa manages, coughing into his fist.

Rui's expression settles into that unreadable quirked smile that Tsukasa can't decipher. "Mm, not necessarily, but I really liked that idea you mentioned earlier, and the more I think about it, the more I'd like to incorporate it into our show somehow. Care to discuss?"

Ah, show talk. He can do show talk no problem. Tsukasa takes note of the setting sun, and how the soft orange glow highlights Rui's soft-looking hair and face. He has to look away.

"Yeah? Well it's late, so we can hash it out a bit more next week, since we're not meeting up tomorrow," Tsukasa says as he shoves his progressing script full of notes and scribbles into his bag.

"About that," Rui begins, and if Tsukasa didn't know any better, he'd say Rui sounded a bit hesitant. Rui maneuvers and settles himself next to Tsukasa, right in Tsukasa's peripherals. "Since the four of us aren't meeting up tomorrow, I wanted to meet up with just you so we could run some errands."

Tsukasa sputters. "Just me? Why?" If that came out in an un-cool way, there was no way he could've avoided it.

"Nene's family is celebrating a birthday, and Emu-kun has plans with a classmate," Rui puts it simply. "If we're going to make this feature happen in the show, I'll need some extra parts that I don't currently have. So come by my house tomorrow, alright?" He gives Tsukasa that sly smile. It's not the first time Rui's invited him over, but with all these complicated, weird feelings, something about it feels different. Tsukasa can't say no, especially when it's for the show.

"Alright, I'll be there at noon," he concedes, which seems to satisfy Rui.

"Then, it's a date!" Rui announces as he gets up and slinks away, as if he didn't just drop a bomb on Tsukasa with four words. "See you tomorrow."

The sound of Rui's voice saying "date" echoes in Tsukasa's head the entire way home.

He wears the exact same outfit he wore to his outing with Emu, so as to keep things as normal as possible, but he starts to wonder if it's appropriate. Rui called it a date, which Emu never did, but that's just a saying. But if Rui does think of it as a date and wears something a little nicer than usual, Tsukasa is going to look like an idiot. But all they're doing is shopping for hardware, it'll probably just be Rui staring at the various nuts and bolts in one aisle of a department store for an hour. But on the other hand–

"Thanks for waiting, Tsukasa-kun!" Rui calls to him from his front door, which knocks Tsukasa firmly out of his own mind. When he whips around to see Rui, he's relieved to find he's wearing nothing extravagant. Come to think of it, he's not sure if Rui even owns anything more formal than a school uniform, which he already wears a bit loose anyways.

He can't help but take in the sight of Rui anyways and, yep, he's a good-looking guy. Tall and lanky with that messy-on-purpose kind of look, and his laid-back way of holding himself could really fool you into not knowing how terrifying he can really be when he gets carried away.

"Where exactly are we going today? Besides, I'm shocked you don't already have all the supplies you need in that room of yours," Tsukasa says.

Rui shrugs. "I'm as shocked as you are. I could probably disassemble some of the less-used props we have and make do, but I think I'd rather have a bit extra just in case," he explains. "Are you hungry? Let's get something to eat first."

Perfect, Tsukasa thinks. It'll be just like his original plan with Emu, before she Emu-fied it. A nice lunch, a shopping trip, and ending with something eventful. He's not sure if there's any movies out right now that'll keep Rui's attention, but he can think of something for them to do along the way. Come to think of it, that restaurant he wanted to take Emu to might have an opening right about now–

"I'm in the mood for something specific, so let's get going," Rui leads.

"Ah," Tsukasa snaps out of his thoughts, already seeing Rui take off in the direction of the station. Another mistake. He can't keep letting the others besmirch his careful planning with their whims! He follows after Rui, already scripting his next move in his mind so he'll be more prepared next time.

A greasy chain fast dining spot isn't… exactly what Tsukasa had in mind, but that's exactly where he ends up after following Rui's long strides from the train station. He forgot what an extraordinarily picky eater Rui really is. Hell, he probably wouldn't have even liked anything at that other restaurant without adding twenty different modifications to their menu. Maybe this was the best possible outcome.

They at least sit outside to eat, and it's not a bad day out. A few clouds dot the sky, but otherwise it's bright and warm with a slightly cool breeze. After distributing their meals from the cheap paper bag, they get down to business with Rui's list of necessary materials and where exactly they can find all of them.

"We'll have to go to a couple different places depending on what they have in stock. This hardware store is pretty close to here, though, and they have a big selection, so I bet we'll find most of this stuff there," Rui explains, munching down on some fries between words.

Tsukasa nods at the itinerary. As he gets to asking Rui about all the different parts and their uses, he basically forgets his intentions for this outing when they fall into their normal routine. A couple times, he almost regrets asking Rui about certain things, because some of these ideas he has sound downright terrifying, but he's quickly reassured by the following parts that are supposedly safety features and failsafes put in place to keep him safe… or at least alive.

"Don't worry about all those moving parts, Tsukasa-kun, I've already put measures in place to prevent accidents. I won't let anything happen to you," Rui states, and while his usual joking tone is present, it's undercut by something more genuine. It's a subtle note in the way he speaks about their stunts ever since the zombie incident, and the almost tender nature of it makes Tsukasa's heart do something bizarre. The mix of both fear and complete and utter trust is already a confusing enough combination of emotions that he feels around Rui basically all the time, but adding on other things on top of that almost make him dizzy again. He sips his soft drink in silence and internally uses the sugary sweet beverage as an excuse for the pounding of his heart.

"Of course! I'm not worried about it anyways. I have no doubt in my mind that I can keep all your wildest inventions under control. There's nothing you'll throw at me that I can't handle," Tsukasa exclaims. It's partly true, of course, but he's also just trying to calm his own nerves.

Rui smiles devilishly. "That's what I like to hear."

It isn't long before Tsukasa finds himself on the train heading back, standing side-by-side with Rui and the both of them holding on to the handrails above their heads. The several bags of equipment that Rui bought are sprawled out on the seats right beside them. The shopping trip was as uneventful as it was predictable. He was never able to make time for something else for them to do, and before he knew it, the sun was on its way to the horizon, and with school tomorrow neither of them wanted to be out too late.

Tsukasa almost considers letting out a sigh, thinking about how dumb he probably should feel right now. This outing was nothing more than a several hours-long shopping trip for parts and a quick, greasy lunch, and he's not sure why he expected anything different. He's not even sure if Rui likes guys–hell, Tsukasa's not even sure if he himself likes guys. So of course it wasn't going to be nearly as ambiguously romantic and thoughtful as his time with Emu. He takes a glance at his phone for the time, and realizes it's his turn to cook again tonight.

"What's got you down all of a sudden, Tsukasa-kun?" Rui asks with a quirk of his head, and his usual chipper voice is barely betrayed by the slight curve of his brows that suggest genuine concern.

"I don't know why you think anything's wrong," Tsukasa replies curtly. He looks away from Rui and towards the door that connects their coach to the next one. He's disappointed in the fact that his disappointment is obviously showing on his face, making him doubly disappointed. He knows it's not fair of him to pout over this not being anything more than two unit-mates shopping for props. They're not alone in this train car, but the only other person is a student with a big book they've got their nose buried in, sitting on the opposite, far side of them. Despite the big empty cabin, he feels cramped up against Rui's side. And he hates that he doesn't want to step away.

Rui hums at that, and shrugs his shoulders. "I suppose I don't know either. You've just been so quiet today. I figured maybe you were thinking about that test coming up."

"Well I wasn't until just now." Tsukasa shudders and turns to face him so they can converse easier. Rui lets out his quiet, airy chuckle at that.

"I guess I got carried away with all this shopping. Maybe I should've set aside some time today for a study date too," Rui says, which makes Tsukasa stiffen up. There it is, again. "I'm not feeling too confident, myself."

It's just like Rui, to bring it up and then move right along without giving Tsukasa any time to process it. The train takes a sharp turn while Tsukasa's busy hyper-analyzing everything that's happened today to see if he missed anything, and his body collides with Rui's, with his nose awkwardly jamming into Rui's sharp shoulder painfully. Though Rui had brought his free hand up to grab Tsukasa's shoulder in an effort to steady the both of them, it didn't really do much, and the way it lingered past the point of the train's roughness had Tsukasa confused.

Leaning back and rubbing his nose in pain, Tsukasa glances up at Rui to apologize, but pauses when he sees Rui's face; lightly flushed cheeks, tightly-drawn eyebrows, and his eyes looking anywhere but at Tsukasa.

Is Rui… embarrassed? Tsukasa just gapes at him, not finding the words he was so easily going to say before. It's something that keeps happening today, and he wonders if Rui is finally lost for words as well. It wasn't exactly the most picturesque romantic scene, and Tsukasa's nose definitely still hurts, but the way they're close enough to hear each others' breathing is definitely abnormal, to say the least.

"Maybe we should have a seat?" Rui suggests after several beats with a nonchalant smile, obviously trying to compose himself to no avail. Tsukasa just nods and sits down, followed shortly by Rui. The shopping bags sit between the two of them, rusting with the subtle movements of the train and creating a thin, short wall that feels nigh insurmountable.

When they reach the point where their paths home diverge, Tsukasa hands off the bags he'd been carrying to Rui. They'd spent most of the walk to this point in silence, with Tsukasa spending an awful amount of time admiring the way the shifting colors of the sky frame Rui's silhouette.

"Are you sure you can take all this stuff by yourself?" Tsukasa asks, handing them off to Rui anyways. "I don't mind the extra walk to your house."

Rui shakes his head. "That's not necessary, Tsukasa-kun. We have school tomorrow, so we should both get home as soon as possible."

Tsukasa gives him a look. "Even though you'll probably be up working on all that stuff until dawn?"

"Fufu, don't tell Nene, or she'll give me a lecture," Rui laughs out, holding a finger to his lips. "Well then," he begins, adjusting the heavy bags in his grip, "I'll be off now. Get home safely, Tsukasa-kun."

"Later," Tsukasa waves him off, waiting until he rounds a curve and disappears from view to head in the direction of his own home. Then, he just stands there dumbly. With no idea what to think, he just turns around to go home, as if it's the same old same old. And it might just be, Tsukasa distantly thinks, if not for the butterflies he feels in his stomach the entire way home.

Chapter Text

He knows it's not going to be easy to invite Nene out. Although they obviously respect and admire each other despite all their differences–that much goes unsaid these days–getting her to hang out solo on a day off is going to be quite the feat. He's just glad it's not getting into his head enough to affect his performance, and honestly, he's been killing it today despite everything on his mind.

His chemistry with Emu has been on-point, and they manage to bounce off of each other during practice even better than before. A couple of times, Emu ad-libs something, and Tsukasa downright sprints to add it to the script, sometimes before she can even complete the scene. They share ideas without even speaking, like eye contact and facial expressions are enough. It's the same sort of feeling he gets in the SEKAI, really, like something else is taking over his body and taking it into overdrive.

The gizmo that Rui finished in record speed is working exactly as intended, and it's not even that scary! Sure, it shoots out water hard and fast enough to cut cardstock clean in half, but its sensors that detect when a person is in line of fire have prevented it from causing any bodily harm. Rui's delighted face makes Emu squeal with joy, and makes Tsukasa and Nene shudder.

"Rui-kun, it's soooo cool, it's perfect!" Emu jumps around him, reaching for the remote control with eager hands. He hands it off to her with a chuckle, and Nene takes the opportunity to scuttle away, clearly not wanting to be anywhere in the area with Emu in control.

"Why thank you, Emu-kun. With this, we'll be able to mimic quick sword slashes with frightening realism," Rui boasts. "Although it may render some of our other props unsalvageable. Is it how you imagined it?"

Emu nods her head furiously. "Of course! Things will get even more wonderhoi with this, just like I thought!"

At that, Tsukasa hops off the stage and walks in on their conversation. "Hm? This was Emu's idea as well?"

"That's right," Rui confirms. "She brought it up to me some time ago, and when you brought it up again in our practice last week, I figured it was worth a shot to try it out. It's given me even more ideas for how to incorporate these sorts of things into other devices. Nene, let me borrow Nenerobo later, alright? I'll return her at school tomorrow."

Nene squints at him, holding Nenerobo close to her own body. "We'll just see how you use it for now, and then I'll decide if that's even legal."

Emu pulls on Tsukasa's sweater to get his attention. "Rui-kun makes aaaall my dreams come true! It's like, I bring something up in passing, and then the next day, boom! There's flowers all over the Wonder Stage, or wa-BAM! Robots that shoot out super fast water!" She exclaims, eyes sparkling.

Tsukasa glances over to Rui, and his eyes widen at Rui's lightly pink face. It's subtle enough to miss, and it's certainly not embarrassment or bashfulness, but something else entirely. "It's what I do," Rui says nonchalantly, as if Emu didn't just admit to him being the guy of her dreams. "If I'm going to have such wonderful actors, I need to constantly raise the bar for myself as a director as well."

Something pangs in Tsukasa's heart, seeing Rui's gentler-than-usual face. He doesn't get too much time to consider it before Nene reintroduces herself to the conversation. "Just don't raise the bar so high that I get convicted of a crime because of Nenerobo," she grumbles, Rui reassures her, Emu laughs, and it's business as usual.

Is this jealousy? He has to wonder. But, then, who is he even jealous of?

Practice comes and goes, and Emu and Rui scamper off when the sun is beginning to set over the Wonder Stage yet again. Nene lingers, as Tsukasa had somewhat discreetly asked her to earlier. They both wordlessly wait for the other two's conversation to get quieter and quieter, until they can't hear anything at all.

"So," Nene begins, dusting the debris of the day off of Nenerobo's head, "what's the reason you wanted me to stay even later than we already had to today?" If she's annoyed, her voice somehow doesn't show it (for once). Or maybe her default tone is annoyed, and it's just starting to sound more and more neutral to Tsukasa. She holds herself tightly drawn-in, with the resting irritated face she usually wears that Tsukasa's pretty sure is just how she looks most of the time.

He wants to choose his words carefully, wants to tread with caution and go about this the same way he did with Emu and Rui. But honestly, he's feeling a little tired of this by now. Saki made this sound way easier than it actually was. As if he needed any more of a reminder that his life is decidedly not a light novel or manga.

"Nene, we should go on a date," he says plainly, not even looking at her, and awaiting the reckoning. She says nothing, so he turns around to see her face scrunched up, her eyebrows drawn taut and her mouth in a grimace the likes of which he's never seen before.

"Yeah, figured," he grumbles.

"Didn't you just go on a date with Rui? What happened to that?" She accuses, and Tsukasa's entire body whips around.

"What?!" He exclaims, probably at a frequency that'd break glass. It echoes, and Nene winces.

"So loud…" She covers her ears for emphasis. "That's just what he told me. If you want to get mad, go yell at him."

"I'm not mad! It wasn't a date!"

She gives him a look. "Well he thought it was. Maybe you should clear that up to him so he doesn't get the wrong idea."

Tsukasa huffs. "He definitely doesn't think we're dating, that's for sure."

Nene tilts her head. "What makes you so sure about that?"

This is starting to feel like an interrogation. But Nene and Rui are close, really close, both figuratively and literally, and this might offer some insight into what goes on in that mind of his. If he spins the conversation around, he might be able to be the one doing the interrogating. "Well, does he even… I mean…"

She squints, as if trying to decipher what he's saying, before clearly coming to a realization. "Who knows? I don't care enough to ask him things like that." She sounds like she's purposely trying to come across as aloof, uncaring, and it's so typically Nene. She probably knows more than she lets on–they've known each other for years, after all–but Tsukasa lets that particular topic drop. It probably isn't something they should gossip about without Rui present, anyways, and knowing him, he'd probably be completely open to sharing that information if any of them just bothered to ask.

"I'm pretty sure his fascination with me is just motivated by how much he can throw at me," Tsukasa reasons, partially to himself. "Going back to the point! I want to take you on a date, so will you accept?"

No, is what he expects, plain and simple and to-the-point and very, very Nene. He doesn't think she's mad or upset or grossed out, because as much hell as she gives him, there's no genuine malice there anymore. While he can't imagine anybody in their right mind declining someone as dazzling as himself, they didn't exactly get off on the right foot at the beginning, and first impressions mean a lot. He isn't sure what he'll do after the inevitable rejection, but he supposes her outright rejecting him would make this whole situation that much easier.

Instead, he watches as her face flushes and she finds a brick on the ground particularly interesting, too interesting to look away from. "You're ridiculous," she mutters.

"... huh?"

Though they agreed to meet at the station to board a 3:30 train, Tsukasa may or may not have severely misjudged the time. Between making breakfast for Saki, doing a bit of shopping for household items they needed along with costume supplies, and picking his outfit, it wasn't long before he was running behind and calling Nene ready to beg for forgiveness.

"I said I was sorry," Tsukasa pleads over the phone. "There's more trains, right? We'll take the next one, it shouldn't be too long after."

Nene's staticky voice comes through, and though it's a bit warped, she sounds as annoyed as ever. "This is the worst date I've ever been on."

"I know, I'm sorry! Just bear with me, I'll be there shortly. A star doesn't make others wait long! Wait–how many dates have you been on? Nene? Don't hang up on me!"

When he finally arrives, it's 3:37, and he's out of breath. Nene shows him no sympathy, but she does offer him a cold canned drink, likely purchased from one of the nearby vending machines. "So, what's on your agenda for this flawless, star-worthy date you were so insistent on?" She asks, and though she tries to act aloof, her cheeks do redden at the word "date." Tsukasa recovers nearly instantly, standing up straight with his hands on his hips.

"I thought you'd never ask!" Since he's able to be more straightforward with Nene than he was with Rui and Emu, he honestly had a bit of trouble picking one set thing to do. He knows she'd never go for a hike, bike ride, or any other physically-demanding activity. Even shopping with her for long periods of time would probably just lead to her collapsing in fatigue. "I have everything all planned out, so you simply need to follow my lead and–"

"Let's go to the arcade."

"Yes of course, we can absolutely–wait what?"

"They put in a new game and it's been super popular. The crowd has been insufferable, but I want to try it out now that the hype's died down a little bit," Nene elaborates.

"Well, that wasn't exactly what I…" He begins, but pauses. The restaurant he booked for dinner is in the area, and it's not like he wants to force Nene to go to some place she has no interest in. "You know what? That's not a bad idea. I can finally see you in action. You play a lot of games, right?"

Nene smirks. "Yeah. Arcade games aren't my go-to, but I'm pretty confident in my skills. You want to play 1v1?"

He lets out a hearty laugh. "Of course! But be sure not to underestimate me! A star is prepared for any challenge thrown his way, and games are no exception! I'll certainly get it in no time and be a worthy opponent."

He definitely was not a worthy opponent. He got close to beating her a couple of times, but he had no idea it'd be a fighting game, and picking the flashiest character with the most eye-catching design isn't exactly a great strategy. Neither is button mashing, apparently, as she so thoroughly explains to him while she's mid-combo and colors are flashing all over the screen that make Tsukasa's eyes vibrate.

After a few rounds, Nene stands up straight and stretches, shaking out her wrists and hands, which definitely make quite a few concerning clicking noises. She points towards the restrooms. "I'll be right back."

Tsukasa nods, and uses this time that she's away to think about his next move. He has to find some way to impress her, and his eyes quickly land on the UFO machines. He's watched Touya play them dozens, if not hundreds, of times, and he's won quite a few himself just by observing the strategy. He's not sure which character-based item she'd like, but his eyes land on a bundle of little keychains tucked into a back corner, all color-coded with different facial expressions but clearly part of the same set.

He thinks, without even considering the implications, that Emu would love to have one. And though they're not exactly fans of cutesy accessories, Rui and Nene couldn't say no if they all had matching ones. Nodding resolutely, he vows to end this arcade trip out with a victory for himself, even if Nene is leagues ahead of him.

She returns to his side silently, and looks at his lost-in-thought face with a confused expression.

"Nene, you may have bested me here today, but I don't think you can beat me in that," he gestures to the UFO catcher, and her eyes follow his motions. She shakes her head.

"It's not exactly my type of game. You play those often?"

He doesn't really, no, but he can't let her know that. "There's a lot more strategy to it than you might think. I'll teach you! Come here."

They make their way over to the machine, and Tsukasa points to the keychains he wants in the back. She squints. "Those ones way over there?"

"With the right mindset, it's possible! And I'll grab all four of them."

He puts his yen in and prays that Touya's spirit is there beside him as he goes in for the first one. He manages to nab it for a bit, but the swinging motion quickly flings it off of the arms of the catcher. Nene raises a brow.

"It's about determination! The star's spirit of never giving up!"

Somehow, miraculously, he manages to land it in his second try. Nene's face is genuinely surprised, and maybe a little impressed, but she shakes it off.

"Let's see you do that a second time," she says while she swipes the keychain out of the slot. She holds it up, a little yellow bird with angry eyebrows, and admires it for a second before putting it safely in her pocket.

His second attempt to grab the purple bird with a bored face goes a similar way, but in the end he does manage to get it in the drop slot. Nene pulls it out.

"You might not be so bad at this, after all," she praises, and Tsukasa's head fills with hot air.

"Here, do you want to try?" He offers, and she makes an uneasy face. Then, an idea hits his brain like a train would. "I'll help. You might even understand the strategy if you give it a shot." He puts another coin in and steps away to allow her to take his place, grabbing the joystick with one hand and hovering her finger on her other hand over the release button. He stands closely beside her, but wraps one arm across her back and lands both of his hands directly on top of hers. She startles a bit before settling into it.

"What do you think you're doing?" She nearly whispers, and he can feel the heat radiating off of her face.

"Just trust the process," he assures her, and guides her joystick hand to the area that the next target is. "This is a tricky spot, but it's not impossible. The goal for now is to get it in a more accessible area."

They press the button together, and the claw drops down to grip the chain on the little green bird's head. Shockingly, the aftershock of the claw rising doesn't immediately fling it off, and it miraculously makes it to the drop chute with no issues. Tsukasa steps away so Nene can claim her prize.

"I can't believe that actually worked," she gawks, and pulls the other two out to compare. "They're sort of cute, when they're all together like this. But we still need one more, right?"

"Naturally! Think you can do it on your own?"

"Absolutely not," Nene says, shaking her head furiously. "The last one is the most important."

Tsukasa thinks he agrees, so he takes charge. It takes a surprising four tries to get it to finally drop in the right spot, and he thinks he will blame that on the beating of his heart and the shaking of his hands. Still, once the little mascots are all together in Nene's grasp, she cradles them like they're precious jewels.

"I thought we could give the others to Rui and Emu," Tsukasa explains, and Nene rolls her eyes.

"I figured as much." She takes another look into the machine, and spots a few more items. "... hey, do you have any more yen coins?"

Tsukasa fishes around in his pocket and manages to pull a few more out. "I have these. Why?"

Nene shuffles in place for a second, looking so small. "I thought we could win some for Miku and those guys as well. Since they're always helping us out so much."

Tsukasa absolutely loves that idea.

The arcade was much more lucrative than he had ever thought it would be. Some ridiculous amount of yen and upwards of an hour later, they finally procured enough mascot keychains to give to all the virtual singers. It was a combined effort, and Tsukasa definitely won more than Nene did, but still, when she lost, she didn't give up until her targeted keychains were delivered safely, and it made Tsukasa's heart swell.

Suddenly, he realizes he made another fatal error on this date. "Ah! Quick, what time is it?"

Nene, a little panicked, glances at her phone. "Um… it's 6:05. Why?"

He nearly lets out a scream, but remembers they're in public in the nick of time. "Dinner! I have a reservation in twenty minutes! We need to go."

It's the same restaurant he'd tried to take Emu to, and then Rui, and he'll be damned if he isn't able to take Nene either. He has to have some control here.

They end up barely making it in time, and by the time they get seated they're both panting a little from the last mad dash they took to get there.

"I can't believe you forgot about the train and dinner," Nene says.

"I didn't forget about the train! I just lost track of time," Tsukasa tries to defend himself.

"And you lost track of time here too."

"But we made it, didn't we?"

"You're ridiculous," she says with a shake of her head, and it feels a little like déjà vu. She decides to drop it, and looks at the menu. "So, what do you like from here?"

The arcade was a success, dinner actually happened this time and wasn't half bad (if a little overrated), and now all Tsukasa has to do is walk her back to her home. Though she insisted she could make it back just fine from the station, Tsukasa wasn't having it.

It's a little awkward, since the train back to the neighborhood is mostly silent. Tsukasa thinks about what he'd like to say, what he can't possibly say, and he wants to tell her about his date with Emu and his apparent date with Rui but his tongue gets twisted up every time he even considers it. Nene holds a bag full of the virtual singers' keychains close to her, and makes herself as small as possible, which is quite usual for her in public spaces like this. The train isn't too crowded, but they sit close together regardless. Eventually, she speaks.

"You know, I really hate noisy places. And people," she says, and Tsukasa thinks that's more than obvious by now. "The arcade is fun, but it can be difficult for me to go there and have as much fun as everyone else. Nice restaurants like that attract a lot of people, so I don't go. Not to mention, I don't get dolled up like I think a lot of people would for that."

Tsukasa rubs the back of his neck. "I didn't really tell you we were going there tonight. I guess I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Still…" she fiddles with the plastic loops of the bag. "Even though I hate those things, I had fun today."

Tsukasa feels as though he physically brightens up at that. He feels like he could float to the moon. "Naturally! A date with me is never a waste of time!" He laughs, but not too loudly.

When they make it back to Nene's neighborhood, she turns around to say her goodbyes. "You really did not have to walk all the way back here. Isn't it super out of the way?"

"I can't let my troupe member fall into harm's way. Many things can happen to someone walking home alone at night, you know," Tsukasa explains, probably going a bit too far into big brother mode.

Nene rolls her eyes for probably the fiftieth time that day. "Yeah, yeah. Well… thanks, anyways. It was fun. We'll have to remember to give this to those guys when we go to that place next."

Tsukasa nods enthusiastically. Still, Nene makes no move to go into her house, so he looks at her quizzically.

Without warning, she places a hand on his upper arm and moves close, pressing her lips quickly, daintily, against the corner of his mouth. He stands there silently, mouth agape, after she pulls away. She doesn't even try to make eye contact.

"I had fun," she repeats, this time a bit more unsure, and her eyes keep flickering over to the house next door. Rui's house. "Rui said he had fun, too."

Tsukasa is dazed, but that snaps him back to reality. "... Rui?"

"I don't care about your personal life or the stuff the two of you get up to, but… I do care about the both of you. So… you need to talk about it. You like him, don't you?"

"That's–!" Tsukasa begins, ready to deny it. He's ready to put everything else he's tried this month in the past, especially if Nene feels the same way he does. But he can't bring himself to lie to her. "... I don't, really, I mean… it's a lot."

Nene sighs. "I get it. Probably more than you think I do. But you'd better figure it out, or it'll be a pain for all four of us. Emu, included." It feels like he's getting scolded.

"Emu, too, huh?"

"Goodnight, Tsukasa." Nene turns around and walks towards her house's front entrance. "Don't stay up all night, or else practice tomorrow will be awful."

Soon enough, she's gone, and Tsukasa is left with a little yellow keychain, the phantom feelings of a hand on his arms and lips on his face, and an overwhelming sense of guilt.

Practice tomorrow? He can't even fathom how out of it he'll be. He'd be better off skipping. He flashes his phone on briefly to check the time, and notices his music app open. The World Hasn't Even Started Yet.

As if being struck by lightning, Tsukasa is struck with one more great idea.

"Everyone!" Tsukasa shouts when he materializes in the SEKAI, but nobody appears to be in the central area of the park. He looks around, scratching his head and wondering where they all wandered off to. The SEKAI is big, but if he's going to find them anywhere, it'll probably be the stage.

"Ah, Tsukasa-kun," Luka greets him with her hazy smile right at the entrance in that slow, honey-drip cadence of hers. "What brings you here?"

"I need to talk to KAITO, do you know where I can find him?" Tsukasa explains, and Luka, being Luka, takes a moment to process the question before pointing at the stage. Far off, he can see KAITO on the stage along with Len. The two of them are holding swords, and when KAITO strikes a pose, Len mimics it.

"What are they doing?" He asks, squinting at their far away forms.

"We're putting on a show later. Len was having difficulty with his role, so KAITO is showing him the ropes," she explains. "Oh! I know, you should join us, Tsukasa-kun. We have the perfect role for you."

Tsukasa perks up at that. "Oh, do you now? Well, who am I to decline an invitation for a role I was casted for–wait, no! I can't get distracted." He shakes his head. "I hate to interrupt, but…"

"Go ahead," Luka sing-songs, already looking like she'll be dozing off any second now. Tsukasa takes this as his cue to approach the stage. KAITO notices him and waves.

"It's nice to see you again, Tsukasa-kun. What brings you here by yourself?" He greets, putting down his wobbly prop sword while Len struggles to maintain a gallant pose. "Len, elbows higher."

"R-roger!"

"Listen KAITO, I know you guys are busy preparing for a show, but I could really use your help!" Tsukasa hollers, listening to his own voice bounce off of the huge stage setup.

KAITO, as observant as he is, seems to take in the situation quickly. "Is this related to our conversation we had last?"

"Yes!"

KAITO seems proud. "Did you come to your answer?"

"No!" Tsukasa booms, and KAITO visibly deflates at that. "But I think I know how I can now."

"Ah, I see," he chuckles. "Well, I'll be glad to lend my assistance if it can help you in any way. We can put on our show another time. It seems Len still needs to work out the specifics of his role, anyways."

"I, I think I'm getting it!" Len pipes in, giving a quick slash with his sword and promptly launching it across the audience seats. It flies past Miku and Rin, who give an "ooh" and clap. Immediately, Miku jumps off of her seat and bounces to the stage.

"I want to help too!" She cheers.

Tsukasa puffs up his chest. "Naturally, everyone will be able to have a role in this! A good troupe leader leaves nobody behind!"

All the virtual singers, except for the snoring Luka, immediately head to the stage with anticipation, crowding around Tsukasa.

"So, here's what I had in mind…"

"I can't wait to see Miku-chan and play around with everyone again!" Emu exclaims, looking like she's about ready for takeoff with how much she's bouncing while she skips. She's holding Nene's hand tightly, swinging it back and forth between them, and while Nene appears disgruntled about it, she makes absolutely no move to pull away.

"When Tsukasa-kun mentioned he wanted to spend the first portion of practice here, I was a little surprised. He said some of the virtual singers had some advice for us for our next show," Rui adds, "but I wonder what it could be."

Nene sighs. "If it's anything to do with the weird way he's been acting lately, I just hope we can finally go back to normal after this. It's exhausting."

"That's all part of being in a troupe, you know," Rui says, but he looks down at her sympathetically anyways.

When they enter the stage, it's uncharacteristically dark. There's only small illuminating lights on the floor to mark where the seats are. The three of them glance at each other, shrug, and move to take their seats in the front row, with Emu in the middle. Other than a few whispering plushies, there's seemingly nobody else around.

"This is exciting," Emu whispers–well, whispers as much as she can–as she leans over to Rui. "I wonder what's going to happen!"

"I've got a feeling this is going to be nothing but a headache," Nene grumbles and sinks lower into her seat.

Suddenly, the telltale sound of a flood light turning on catches their attention, and it shines down on Len, his head down, waiting for his cue. He looks up at the audience before speaking.

"Once upon a time, there was a strange kingdom full of bizarre inhabitants. But none more bizarre than the crown princess, whose eccentricities gave those around her a great deal of strife at one point," Len narrates, when another flood light turns on to bring Miku into the scene. She's all made up with her hair curled perfectly, makeup accentuating her doll-like features, and wearing a very regal-looking gown.

"Whoaaa!" Emu cheers. "It's a show!"

"What on earth does Tsukasa think he's doing?" Nene squints while her eyes adjust to the now much brighter scene.

Rui quietly laughs. "How interesting."

"Ahhh, what should I do," Miku's character muses. "I've given the people what they want, and not a single person in the kingdom wears a frown on their face. And yet, I'm so lonely."

"The princess had a lot of friends from neighboring kingdoms. She saw a few of them quite often, and they had all grown quite close with each other. One day, the princess decided seemingly out of the blue that…" Len begins.

"I will simply have to get married! Then I'll never be lonely again!" Miku declares. "Oh, but who should I send my proposal to?"

"At first, the princess thought it would be easy to decide who she was in love with. She began with the Candy Queen," Len introduces, and out pops Luka suddenly. She emerges from a trap door below the stage, hands on her hips and full of an uncharacteristic energy.

"The Candy Queen…?" Nene snickers. "What is this?"

"Wahaha! It's so much fun every day at the Candy Kingdom! Just like you, princess, we do everything we can to make people smile," Luka says, taking Miku's hand in proposal.

Emu's eyes sparkle with delight. "Candy Kingdom? That sounds sooo fun! Rui-kun, we should try something like that at our next show!"

Rui hums, placing a hand on his chin. "I think I agree. We could have some kind of cannon that shoots out candy for the audience. I'll have to look into it."

"Yay! Yay!" Emu cheers, grabbing Rui's arm and hugging it to herself.

Miku continues with her lines. "We have so much in common, so it makes sense that I'd be the happiest with her. But then, there's also…"

From offstage, a small explosion plays over a speaker. A puff of smoke appears, and out walks KAITO, nonchalantly, and with slow and long strides he meets with the rest of the cast at center stage. He takes Miku's other hand as well.

"The alchemist from the next kingdom over," Miku explains, her expression uncertain. "He seems to be dangerous and unpredictable, so people tried to avoid him in the past." Rui visibly freezes, holding his breath waiting for the next line.

"Princess, I know I can bring your kingdom to new heights if you'll trust me with this important task," KAITO offers. "I will always protect you."

"But once you get to know him and provide him with trust and support, you'll understand that he's not all that dangerous after all!"

Rui lets out his breath, allowing himself a small smile. "This is quite the display."

"Oh brother," Nene mumbles. She grabs the sides of her hair and uses it to cover as much of her face as possible.

"Ahhh, I can't possibly choose! Not when there's also…" Miku says, trailing off. On cue, MEIKO appears from offstage, her arms crossed.

She points an accusatory finger at Miku. "You need to hurry up and choose a spouse!"

"The Siren Queen," Miku explains, which definitely accounts for the blue wavy attire MEIKO is wearing and the scale-like makeup on her face. "We used to not get along, that's for sure. But lately, it feels like her criticisms of me come from a place of love."

"Hmph," MEIKO harrumphs. "Everyone here likes you and thinks you're important, so at the end of the day it doesn't matter who you choose to marry. If you don't hurry up and pick someone, this bothersome situation will never end."

His first line in a while, Len interjects. "With this lineup of unique people, any one of them could help the princess achieve her goals and become happy. So, even though it seemed like she could pick any of them at random, she began to overthink it, and in the end, she could never come to a real conclusion. That is, until…"

Rui, Nene, and Emu all wait for the next line, and they wait a bit longer than what seems appropriate. Without warning, all the lights in the stage fade on anticlimactically, and Tsukasa approaches them from some seats behind. He holds a rolled-up script in his hand, and slumps down in a seat beside Nene.

"That's it. That's all I got," he admits. "I was hoping to have it finished in time, but in the end, even I couldn't find a satisfactory conclusion to the story this time."

"Tsukasa, that was…" Nene side-eyes him.

"Certainly an experience," Rui finishes, laughing nervously. Both of them wear blushes on their faces, but Emu cuts all of their thoughts off by clapping.

"Wow! Even though it's not done yet, I was really invested!" She compliments, motioning to ask for the script from Tsukasa. He obliges, and hands it over to her. She skims it, but quickly skips to the end, where it is clearly unfinished.

"You were?" Tsukasa raises an eyebrow, and he's not surprised that the meaning of the play went completely over her head.

"Yeah! I mean, I related to the heroine so much!"

"What?" Tsukasa and Nene ask in unison. Rui just looks at her blankly.

"Well, I have no idea what I'd do in that situation! I love all three of you guys soooo much, there's no way to choose!" Emu admits, and even with her usual boldness, a bit of pink does graze her cheeks.

There's silence, and even the virtual singers just stare slack-jawed at Emu. Without a word, KAITO comes to, looks around, and signals for all of them to take their exits. Soon enough, they're all gone, and the stage is completely empty, with props and backdrops left behind for a half-finished story.

"Aha, forward as ever," Rui chuckles, even as his nervous expression betrays his breezy voice and he runs a hand through his hair to compose himself. "That's what I think we all love about you, Emu-kun."

Emu gasps. "Really? Well, I love how you never settle for anything when you do shows with us! You always give a hundred percent!" She grabs his hand enthusiastically. "And Nene-chan, I just loooove your singing! And how nice you are when you teach me things, even if you don't want to admit it." She reaches over and grabs her hand too.

"Emu, you can't just–"

"And Tsukasa-kun! I love how you go along with everything, and how much you care about Phoenix Wonderland and making everyone smile with me! I always thought you were just the best! You've taught me sooo much about how to make people smile, including myself, and I'm so happy every day with all of you guys." She seems at a loss for what to do in order to hold Tsukasa's hand as well, and, unable to sprout a third arm, she lets go of both Rui and Nene to hold one of his hands in both of hers. She's awkwardly leaning over Nene's seat and Rui is leaning and twisting forward uncomfortably in an effort to even see what's happening, but it's all too much for Tsukasa to even notice the hiccups at this point. His mind is racing a mile a minute, and if he doesn't get the blood to stop rushing to his face he might just pass out.

Quickly, she lets go of him and claps her hands together loudly. "Ooooh, I think I got it! Tsukasa-kun, I know how your show should end! Miku-chan should just marry KAITO onii-san, MEIKO-chan, and Luka-chan."

"Emu, I don't think that's an option," Tsukasa begins, shaking his head.

"But why not? I mean, they all want to help Miku-chan make her kingdom smile, and I bet if they talked enough, they'd all get along with each other as much as we all get along," Emu suggests.

Rui laughs. "A simple solution to a complex problem, isn't it? I like that idea the best as well. I can't imagine poor princess Miku having to choose." Emu nods vigorously, and it looks like her head is going to pop clean off her neck. She hands Tsukasa back his script.

"And once Tsukasa-kun is done writing his play, we can all go on a date too! I mean, they're supposed to be us, right?" Tsukasa nearly chokes on absolutely nothing, staring at her incredulously. Every time he thinks he has her figured out, she throws him another curveball.

Nene gives Emu a look, her face beet red at the suggestion. "And here I thought you didn't get it."

"To be fair, once I got the script to Rin, she said, 'this won't do at all!' and re-wrote a bunch of stuff," Tsukasa explains, bringing his voice to a falsetto to try and imitate Rin. "She insisted she be in charge of the characterization. I absolutely did not write anything about a Candy Kingdom."

"That was my favorite part!" Emu interjects.

"But what was the big idea with the casting? Was Miku supposed to be you?" Nene asks, looking at Tsukasa accusingly.

"Rin also decided on the casting. She and KAITO wanted to take this opportunity to get everyone out of their comfort zones. I don't think I'd cast Luka as Emu in a million years," Tsukasa answers. It's unusually easy to fall into their usual routine, he thinks, and all of a sudden he wonders what he was ever so stressed out about. "She didn't do a bad job, though."

"I quite liked your play, Tsukasa-kun. Even though you didn't finish it, it was touching. What's this about KAITO the alchemist?" Rui smiles gently at Tsukasa, whose limbs promptly turn to jelly. "If you really trust me that much, I'll be sure to amp up the stunts even more in the future. Not to take advantage of it, but this is a rare opportunity." The smile turns sinister without delay, and Tsukasa gets a chill up his spine.

Nene taps on Tsukasa's hand to get his attention. He looks at her and her grumpy face. "If you're late to this date, I'll never forgive you."

"Yeah, yeah," Tsukasa agrees, tucking the script into his sweater pocket, trying to will the blush away from his face. "The sun is probably still up in the real world, so why don't we head back and get to practice?"

Emu beams and jumps right up out of her seat. "Mhm! The more we get done today, the more fun we can have on our date, right?"

All things considered, he's not a hundred percent sure what comes next, or even what all of them even agreed upon. But he's never really been on the same wavelength as the others, as much as he's tried, and he's come to accept that. As they all walk down the walkway to exit the arena, Emu chatters away in front of them about all the wonderhoi things they can do on their quadruple date, meanwhile Nene and Rui each grab and hold on to Tsukasa's hands. He nearly jumps in the air at that.

"You know, you really should be more honest," Nene says to him and Tsukasa scoffs. "It's not bad to be straightforward sometimes."

"That's rich coming from you."

She holds their joined hands up and gives him a death glare. "Is this not straightforward?"

"I thought I was pretty clear with my intentions," Rui chimes in, and Tsukasa gives him a glare now.

"You definitely weren't!"

"Oh, I wasn't?" Rui says, feigning an innocent look. "I guess I'll have to be even more clear in the future."

"I don't think I can take that," Tsukasa admits. Nene stops in her tracks, and the other three do as well, looking at her curiously.

"These," Nene reaches into her pocket and pulls out a handful of colorful objects. She hands Rui a purple one and Emu a pink one, and stuffs the rest back in her pocket. Emu positively squeals.

"Whoaaa, are all these for us? Are we matching? Do Tsukasa-kun and Nene-chan have them too?" She rambles, and they pull out theirs to show her. "This is so fun! We're matching!"

"Here, Emu," Nene says, taking Emu's hands in her own. She pulls out the rest of the keychains and dumps a couple of them into Emu's palms, smiling softly at her. "Let's go give these to Miku and everyone before we forget, okay?"

Emu nods like her life depends on it and takes off running, with Nene following her at a much less breakneck pace.

"She never changes," Tsukasa sighs.

Rui scoots closer to him. "So, are you going to tell me what you've been up to these past few weekends?"

"It's a long, long story."

"It could make for an interesting play, no?"

"I'm more interested in what you've been up to. You told Nene about our…" Tsukasa trails off, not really sure how to finish that.

"Date? Yes. Well, at least that was how I interpreted it." He almost looks shy, for a second, before putting on that poker face again.

"You could've told me!"

"Tsukasa-kun, I'm just as susceptible to emotions and embarrassment as you are," Rui says, almost scoldingly. "Besides, when Emu-kun called me and told me about all the wonderhoi things you two did together, I wasn't sure what to think. But it seems we were all on the same page, in a way."

"So, the entire time, you…" Rui nods. "And Nene…" Another nod. "And Emu, too?!"

After the last nod, Tsukasa nearly slaps a hand against his face. Rui lets out a laugh. "Don't worry, Tsukasa-kun. We have a while to figure it out. There's no need to feel embarrassed that you were the last to know."

"That I was–?! Geez, none of you guys ever change!"

He watches as Nene and Emu, having delivered their gifts, make their way back at a much more brisk pace. Emu is holding Nene's hand tightly, and prattling on about practice and school and their date and how great Rui is and how fun Tsukasa is and how pretty Nene is, and, for the first time in a while, Tsukasa doesn't feel like he has to overthink things anymore.

"Ahhh, Nene-chan, you're so cute!" Emu gawks, glancing Nene up and down and admiring her outfit. It's a bit more frilly than what she'd normally choose to wear, with style overtaking comfort a small amount this time around. "I'm sooo excited, I can't wait! Let's go get Rui-kun!"

"Please promise this will go better than our last date," Nene sneers as she locks her front door. "At least we all checked the weather this time."

Tsukasa nods and holds a hand to his chin. "We really could've planned that out better, the rain made it impossible to do anything and we had to take shelter at the Wonder Stage."

"But it was fun! And when it let up we had lots of yummy hot chocolate at Rui-kun's house," Emu chimes in and grabs Tsukasa's hand to guide him out of Nene's front lawn.

They've already made their way over to Rui's house, but he definitely heard the commotion as they approached, because he's out the door before they even knock. He greets them all by pressing a kiss to Emu's forehead, and she giggles gleefully. Then, to Nene's temple, where her face crinkles up a bit. Finally, one pressed to Tsukasa's cheek. He's still not used to it, and at this point he's not sure if the butterflies will ever really go away when he sees the three of them. "That should do it. Now, where are we headed? Emu-kun wouldn't tell me a thing."

Tsukasa nearly says something, but Emu shushes him. "It's a surprise! But I promise it'll be super, duper wonderhoi!"

Tsukasa just nods. "I agree, and I'll respect Emu's dedication to the surprise. But rest assured, this star settles for nothing less!" And another big laugh.

Emu claps, Nene rolls her eyes, and Rui smiles with anticipation. Then, heading down the sidewalk towards the train station, Tsukasa leads the way, as he always does.