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“Tsukasa! Can we chat?” Saki called up, standing at the bottom of the stairs to his room.
“Give me one second!” he responded, shuffling his homework into place before climbing down the steep stairs. His sister was dressed for the day, playing with the sleeves of one of her pink sweaters. She was gently swaying back and forth, humming a tune he wasn’t familiar with. He was sure one of her friends had lent her a CD once more--Ichika and Shiho had gotten into the habit.
“What’s up?” Tsukasa asked.
“So,” she said, drawing out the vowel. For a moment, she looked nervous, but then a surge of confidence jumped across the features of her face. She smiled wide. “I wanted to tell you officially, but I’m going on a date .”
“With your friends?” Tsukasa had fallen for that wording more than once. Saki was a popular girl, and she was quick to call going out with her friends a “shopping date” or something similar. “Have fun, make sure to get back before Mom because we’re--”
“ Kinda .” She held onto the word again. His sister clapped her hands together. “Icchan, Shiho, and Hona asked me out on a date! Like a hand-holding kind of date… I was going to tell you sooner… but I started getting nervous how you would react and--”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Tsukasa held up his hand, his eyes widening. “All three of them?”
“Well, yes,” Saki said, tilting her head. “We figured that it was something that we wanted to try. Choosing one of them--it felt silly. I love them all.”
Tsukasa hesitated, thinking about her friends. They were all glued at the hip--that was for sure--and all of them had been making his sister the happiest she had been in years . He sighed. The only downside he could think of was, well, the possibility of three heartbreaks at once. Tsukasa couldn’t fathom letting his sister go through that.
“Thank you for telling me,” he said, gaining strength behind his words. Any hesitation was his to bear, his sister deserved nothing but support in the moment. “Saki! Have fun--just don’t go too overboard! And make sure to call me if you need help, and get home before--”
“Before Mom does!” Saki said with a laugh, nodding. “Thank you. Wow--I don’t know why I was getting so worked up. With you already in a polycule with your troupe, I really don’t know what got into me.”
“With me in a--” the sound of a doorbell cut Tsukasa off in his confusion, Saki already running towards it “--Saki!”
“Time to go, that’s them!” Saki cheered. She spun suddenly, tackling him into a hug. “Thank you, Tsukasa.”
“Have fun,” he whispered into her hair.
Tsukasa let out a sigh after the door closed behind her, leaning into the wall.
“Wait. Wait . Because I’m already in a what ?!”
Tsukasa managed to dodge Miku when he entered the Sekai, finding a non-floating bench in the corner of the park. He had done his best to order his feelings so they could make some sense in the real world, before realizing maybe he needed the absurdity of talking stuffed animals and singing robots.
He flipped through his phone.
Polycule: a connected network of people in non-monogamous relationships.
Polyamorous: characterized by or involved in the practice of engaging in multiple romantic relationships, with the consent of all the people involved.
What had Saki so convinced that he was--
“Tsukasa.”
“WaaaAAARGH,” Tsukasa yelled, nearly tossing his phone straight into the clouds. “K-kaito!”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” Kaito said with a grin. Meiko stood on the other side of him, clearly trying not to laugh. “We were wondering if you could lend a hand with the plushies--Miku said she saw you sneaking in here.”
“I wasn’t sneaking.” He put his hands on his hips. “I was trying to get some work done.”
“Work?” Meiko inquired, but if she knew anything she didn’t say anything.
“What’s wrong with the plushies?” Tsukasa asked. He tucked his phone away safely in his pocket, where no one could look at his tragic, panicked search history. “I’m sure they can solve their own--”
“It would be nice if you could help,” Kaito said with a pressing smile. Tsukasa knew better than to argue, so he followed closely behind the two. They made their way through the Sekai, past the colorful paths and to the show stage. A small group of the plushies were center stage, but they appeared to be arguing with one another under the bright spotlight.
“Tsukasa!” One of the bunnies called out and he sighed, climbing the steps to the stage.
Tsukasa could hardly gather the story from all the plushies talking over each other, making sad noises and whining about their newest show. Apparently they were to split into pairs for a show, leading to various arguments breaking out. Everyone wanted to be with someone else, or was upset that another plushie was chosen over them. It was enough for Tsukasa’s head to spin.
“Guys, guys!” Miku appeared, pushing through the curtains and tumbling onto the stage. “Tsukasa! I brought more help!”
“Why is everyone sad?” Emu stepped more gracefully from behind the curtain. She was wearing a casual cardigan, her hair pulled up into pigtails. Tsukasa thought about what Saki had said, pictured the definitions on his phone, and then he looked away. “Tsukasa, you have to stop them from fighting.”
Tsukasa could hear her puppy-dog eyes from her woeful tone. “What do you think I’m trying to do?!”
“Tsukasa, you're upsetting the plushies,” Meiko pointed to a few of them that had hung their heads at the outburst.
Emu gasped, squatting down and asking, “What’s a matter, Mr. Kitty? Is everything okie-dokie?”
“They had to break away into partners, and some of them are upset about being paired off with different people.”
“Oh! I understand,” Emu said, sitting down and letting some of the crying plushies tumble into her lap. Tsukasa looked up at her, drawn to her all the same. “I go to school without Tsukasa and Rui and Nene--and sometimes it’s really lonely. But I have other friends at school that I like to see… and then when I’m at Wonderland Stage I get to play with all my friends! I still love them when I’m not hanging out with them, you know?”
The blush flooded his cheeks quickly, and in one fluid moment, Tsukasa freed himself from the Sekai.
“Nene,” Tsukasa said once quietly, then louder, “Nene.”
“I’m not asking Rui to take the stunts out of the show, ask him yourself,” Nene deadpanned, fiddling with something on the vanity. “And I don’t think it’s something you can change five minutes before call.”
Nene turned towards him, carefully lifting onto her toes to fix his collar. After the incident with Emu, Tsukasa wasn’t sure if he could get through the show, but he realized his best chance of getting to the bottom of the problem would be asking the most pragmatic and brutally honest of his troupe. Nene’s fingers were on the back of his collar, and she had her eyes squinted in concentration.
“So, Nene. My sister told me that she was going on a date with three ot--mmMMMM,” Tsukasa’s words were cut off by Nene clamping her hand over his mouth. He tried to break away, but she continued to press as he flailed, throwing all her weight against him. They nearly toppled backwards, but Tsukasa held onto her. It was a strange hug, that was for sure.
“Ahem, ladies and gentlemen, please remember to keep your phones off during the performance,” Rui’s voice came over the loudspeaker in response to… well, the live mic that had just been clipped onto his collar.
Nene’s eyes widened and Tsukasa could only assume his were just as wide. She tugged him down whispering, “Not now .”
He kept his head bowed as Nene finished clipping the wires properly onto his costume, the embarrassment keeping him silent. The warm near-summer air drifted past as they waited shoulder to shoulder for their cue. Thankfully they weren’t expecting any of the bigshots for this performance, but Tsukasa was cursing himself for nearly airing his sister’s love life to the show stage. Emu was stationed on the other side, questioningly tilting her head at Nene, who had her arms crossed tightly across her chest.
Even with her brows furrowed, the second she was beckoned onto stage, her face relaxed into a bright look, her body movement sure and deliberate. Tsukasa watched from backstage for a moment, grateful for her growth, before joining, delivering his lines as knightly as he could. By the time both Emu and Rui had joined them, he had forgotten all about his mistakes, focusing on performing with the three in front of the small (but slowly growing) crowd.
Emu’s words echoed in his head, about loving them. She said it so casually--which was very Emu-like, and at least it was something that he was able to distinguish as words . As the pink-haired girl went through the crowd reactions, casually dragging Nene around with her or prompting Rui, he could see that she did have more than enough love to give. She wanted to make people smile and Rui was certainly smiling as he got into character, Nene’s “stage smile” ringing true in her eyes.
At the end of the performance they took their bows, thanking the crowd for sticking around for the show and Emu giving an advertisement for their future showtimes throughout the park day.
Once backstage, Rui fiddled with his mess of wires before turning to the group, “Amazing show, wasn’t it? Tsukasa, now that the mics are off , was there something you wanted to say?”
“I--” Tsukasa choked, unable to meet Nene’s eyes when she gave him a biting glare. In his peripheral sight, he saw her gaze soften. He straightened. “It was quite the amazing show--hahaha haha .”
Emu took up the same pose and laughed along, garnering a long sigh from Nene, who flopped back into a chair, her skirt layers forming a pillow.
“Get it together,” Nene grumbled. “Don’t be such an idiot.”
Tsukasa let himself laugh off the questions, because they could surely wait for after the weekend of shows.
After Nene, Rui seemed like his best source of information.
(He needed better sources.)
Tsukasa ducked around the stage, looking for Rui. The park was closing and the night lights had been on for a while at that point. Emu was watching sadly as the lines of crowds filed out of the park while Nene was trying to push a fresh cup of water into her hands, urging her to stay hydrated.
“Rui,” Tsukasa called out, quiet enough that the girls wouldn’t overhear. In the dark backstage, he found his friend collecting wires, bundling them to bring home to his garage.
“Tsukasa,” he said with a wide grin. “You are jumpier than usual this fine evening.”
“Haha,” Tsukasa responded sarcastically. He crossed his arms. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Your stunts for tomorrow are perfectly safe. Robo Nene will be at the base of the jump with an air mattress in case you fall too far.”
“ In case? No- no , I have a real question,” Tsukasa struggled. Rui was looking at him strangely now, without the glint in his eyes that usually signaled a crazy idea. He made a motion with his hand as if to say “go on,” so Tsukasa did as such. “My sister went out on a date with three of her friends.”
“Isn’t that always what she’s doing?” Rui asked. “Her and the other first years always come to the park.”
“But like… a romantic date,” he clarified. He was getting nervous, fiddling with the sleeves of his jacket. Rui was barely even looking at him, but Tsukasa felt like the spotlight had been aimed directly in his eyes.
“Isn’t that always what she’s doing?” Rui repeated. “Tsukasa--are you looking for brotherly advice? I think you’re the most well-suited out of all of us.”
“No! I think it’s…” Tsukasa stopped to think for a moment. There truly wasn’t a moment that there was anything but happiness in his sister’s eyes when she talked about her band. Frankly, he was glad that she had found the courage to shift that relationship into something more. “It’s about what she said to me when she… came out, I guess. That I was also--”
“Well, well, we could see that from a mile away,” Rui said with a smile.
“You aren’t listening!” Tsukasa yelled, the outburst drawing Nene and Emu’s curiosity. He looked towards them, then back at Rui. “Forget it.”
“Hey, Tsukasa,” Rui said before he could walk away. His arms were crossed, finally giving him his full attention. “Whatever it is, you don’t have to hide it behind questions.”
“See you tomorrow,” Tsukasa responded. Maybe he was being hard on Rui--he was just trying to make light of the situation, but the frustration grew until he felt like he could grab it if he just reached out.
He walked past Nene and Emu, speeding up so neither of them could say anything more than “good work” and “good night.” The warm air clung to him, his jacket was stifling, but he didn’t want to stop to free himself from it. Most of the amusement park’s rides had gone dark, their skeletons bleak against the night sky. The lamps on the path were still on, allowing for easy navigation. The park was always curious right after closing, when all the employees were still finishing up, but no guests remained. It was always too quiet. The lanterns were jaring against otherwise dark stones.
Maybe Saki was just mistaken . Tsukasa wasn’t sure what the others even thought of him. Rui was fascinated by him (his words, not Tsukasa’s), but it was more in a science experiment way. And Nene was always visibly annoyed with him. And (allegedly) Emu loved him, but the way she said it made it seem like she was talking about puppies at the pet store.
Yes, they were a show troupe and they promised to stick around and save Emu’s beloved stage, but at the end of the day maybe that’s all that they were. It didn’t matter how much Rui’s willingness to make his dreams a reality made him want to cry, or that it was addicting to see if he could get Nene to laugh at one of his jokes, or that Emu’s optimism helped him rediscover his reason to want to be on the stage in the first place. All of it was just because they were--
“Wonderhoy!”
“WaaaAAAGH!!” Tsukasa nearly fell over into a bush, catching himself on the pavement before he could fall. “Emu! You can’t just--”
“Did it help?” Emu asked, her hands still positioned over her head in greeting. “You were sad today--and you ran away in the Sekai like fastfastfast.”
“I did not.”
“You did! It was like BOING and you were gone!”
“I don’t know what that means,” Tsukasa said, regaining his composure after being more-or-less jumped.
“You were asking everyone a question, how about you ask it to me?”
Tsukasa just sighed. “I don’t think you quite understand what’s happening, Emu--” he was once again confronted by her pitiful frown “--fine. What you said in the Sekai, did you mean it?”
“What did I say? That the plushies should try to get along?” Emu tilted her head, her pink hair falling to the side. She skipped in order to keep up with Tsukasa, taking long strides.
“No… why did you say that you loved us? The troupe--I mean.” Tsukasa kept his voice down.
“Because I do love you three!” Emu did not keep her voice down.
“No, I mean like really love. Like--the romantic kind of love. Wanting to… go on dates and hold hands and be committed.”
“Yeah! I love you all!”
Tsukasa stopped, Emu taking three steps ahead before turning to face him. Behind her, the lights of the entrance gate illuminated her costume. She smiled wide. He could feel his heart beating out of control, but this time because of Emu’s words. It was easy to chalk them up to a simple misunderstanding before, but she continued to agree again and again as he asked for clarification.
“Tsukasa…?” Her voice gave away her hesitation, her eyes searching for his response.
“I have to go home. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Tsukasa bowed his head, practically running out of the front gates of the park. If Emu called out after him, he didn’t hear it.
“It’s gotten worse,” Luka said through a muttered breath when Tsukasa entered the Sekai. She was supposedly in charge of waiting for him, but as per usual she was half-asleep by the time the message was being delivered. “The plushies… they won’t…”
“Luka?” Tsukasa gently poked her, the vocaloid picking her head up. “How about you take a nap on the bench and I’ll go deal with the plushies.”
He barely got a response before heading towards the main stage. If anything, the scene in the spotlight was strikingly similar to the one in his heart: an absolute mess. The plushies seemed to be in an uproar, noises of dejection and arguing reaching his ears all the way from the entrance. Tsukasa stared at the scene before trying to yell over the chaos, only adding to the noise.
“Okay, okay,” Tsukasa said. He didn’t need such ridiculous and over the top drama, not when his own head had been spinning since he got up in the morning. He looked over at a group of four plushies that were fighting over who would pair off, none of them saying who they wanted to work with, only who they didn’t want to work with. “Have you tried just being honest?”
None of the plushies listened to him, so he just raised his voice. Tsukasa attempted to project across the stage instead of just yelling. It wouldn’t help if he just fed into the panicked and angry arguments.
“Everyone, listen up!” He finally got a few heads to turn. “Conversations are hard, okay! Sometimes it seems easier to just argue and fight… but you need to be open about your feelings. Just because you have to work with someone else this one time doesn’t mean that the person--er, plushie--doesn’t want to play with you again some other time! You need to just… talk it over, let your feelings be known.”
It was that simple, wasn’t it? Why all the arguing and guessing other’s feelings?
“I think Tsukasa has made a wonderful point.” Suddenly Kaito was next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t you believe so?”
Kaito’s smile was enough that Tsukasa believed his own words even more.
Tsukasa met his three friends at the front of the park, in various states of awakeness. They would have a long day of shows ahead, but Tsukasa knew that he wouldn’t be able to last the entire day without a proper conversation.
Emu was the first to arrive, already bouncing and skipping and dancing her way to the gate, greeting the brand new day. Tsukasa was afraid to ask how much sugar she usually downed first thing in the morning.
Rui and Nene arrived together, Robo Nene trailing behind after some nightly maintenance. Rui’s hair wasn’t quite brushed and he was wearing a terribly wrinkled shirt. Similarly, Nene hadn’t even done her hair yet, instead styling it into a bun that threatened to topple from her head at any moment.
“Half an hour early,” she practically growled, but was interrupted by a yawn. “What could it possibly be, Tsukasa?”
“Follow me!” He adopted his usual stage cadence, likening the honest conversation to a show of sorts. Tsukasa had practiced it enough times in his room that it might as well have been a script. The plushies had inspired him to fix the problem once and for all. His troupe followed him through the park until they arrived at the ferris wheel, the magnificent structure rising above them.
“So early for the ferris wheel?” Rui asked. “We missed the sunrise, if that was your plan.”
Tsukasa winded them through the queue, giving the ride operator that he had asked very kindly first thing in the morning if it was okay if they could ride before the park opened a thumbs up.
They left Robo Nene on the metal of the boarding area, Tsukasa holding the gate open for the girls and Rui to climb in and take their seats. Emu and Rui sat with one another, Nene slouching on the plastic bench next to him.
After the door was locked, the capsule rose into the air, slowly climbing to the top in the cool morning breeze.
“The park looks so exciting , doesn’t it?” Emu asked.
“There’s no one here yet,” Nene was quick to respond.
“ But! There’s about to be so many people!” She leaned forward, gazing out at her grandfather’s park in amazement. Even after all these years, she was thrilled to gaze out at all the rides and show stands.
“What did you want to talk to us about?” Rui asked, and suddenly all three pairs of eyes were on Tsukasa.
He took a deep breath.
“Well, first I wanted to apologize for being a little harsh with Rui and Emu,” he said, honestly. “I was stressed out, but not willing to receive the help that you were giving me.”
“You were harsh?” Emu asked.
“And I should have taken you more seriously,” Rui said with a nod, tapping his foot with his own.
“Sorry that I got mad about the microphone,” Nene also chimed in, still half asleep.
“I talked to Kaito and he helped me realize that I wasn’t being open with communication. So I thought it would be nice if we could all just have a moment alone to… well, talk.” Tsukasa gazed out over the park. They stopped at the very top, giving them a view of the city.
“Well, it came about because of my sister, but,” he cleared his throat, hesitating, “I learned about polyamory? It’s when you have more than one romantic partner, but everyone consents to the relationship and there’s different levels of communication and--I’m getting off track.”
“You’re doing fine,” Nene said, surprising him with a poke to his knee. It wasn’t much, but Nene wasn’t one for physical affection.
“I guess, I was curious if maybe--” Tsukasa felt like the words were fighting against him, his own hopes and fears closing in “--we could try something like that out? I mean, I know that we’re just a show troupe , but with all the things in the Sekai, and seeing each other everyday, and getting to know each other, and--”
“Oh!” Emu exclaimed. “We can all hold hands! While we’re performing!”
“Ahah, something like that?” Tsukasa tried not to sound dismissive. Rui was sitting across from him, looking him up and down carefully with squinted eyes. Nene had turned away, refusing to look at the other three in the capsule.
“Oh, Tsukasa,” Rui finally said with a sigh. “So, what’s your grand idea? That we all become romantic partners?”
“Yes,” Tsukasa said softly, and then once more loud enough that the ride operator could hear them, “Yes! Because I’m open to trying more things with you--all three of you. And if I wasn’t honest about it… well, none of my feelings would feel authentic.”
He tapped into the monologue he had prepared at home, clearing his throat once more. “We have our ups and downs, but I think we can fly to new heights if we take a chance like--”
“I will try,” Rui said.
“--because with you three by my side, I feel unstoppable. As if we could take over the entire world--”
“ Tsukasa ,” Rui hushed him, taking both of his hands into his from the bench across from him, “I said yes . I want to be your boyfriend.”
“And I can be your partner!” Emu cheered, before hanging onto Rui. “And Rui’s? And Nene’s?”
“If that’s how we want to go about it,” Tsukasa said, feeling his elation rise higher than the peak of the ride.
“Hm? All three of you…” Rui trailed off, looking specifically at Emu as she hung onto him, shaking the capsule. He smiled, a genuine one. Tsukasa’s heart was doing somersaults looking at the two of them together. Although he would have been okay if they decided to date separately, something called to him about the four of them forging through it together. “Sounds like a plan.”
“W-wait!” Nene spoke up, turning to the three of them with a wild blush on her cheeks. It was rare to see her this animated over anything. “Tsukasa, you’re missing steps--you can’t just…” She was losing her ability to form a complete thought. “We haven’t even gone on a date! You need to get people flowers, you can’t just…”
“Date! We can do a date!” Emu insisted. “Oh, it will be absolutely air taking.”
“Breathtaking?” Rui provided.
“Something like that!”
“If I got you flowers,” Tsukasa said, ignoring the other two and focusing on Nene, “then would you agree?”
“I didn’t mean it like that!” Nene looked pretty when she was embarrassed. “But… I…”
“It’s okay if you don’t want to,” Tsukasa said, honestly. “You don’t have to agree just because everyone else is in. You’re welcome to think about it or just straight up reject me.”
Nene paused for a long moment, before almost whispering, “I would like to date you. I just…” she pressed her lips together “...have not told you about Ichika quite yet.”
“Ichika?” Tsukasa tilted his head. “Saki’s friend… I thought you were keen on calling her Hoshino--” the realization dawned on him. “ No way. ”
“Ichika?” Emu asked.
“Huh, who would have thought…” Rui said, letting go of Tsukasa’s hands. “Perhaps it’s best if you asked your girlfriend about us first?”
“Girlfriend?” Emu gasped, hopping to her feet despite the rules of the ride. “Nene has a girlfriend!”
“This is exactly why I put this off,” Nene said, but despite her red face, she looked like she was enjoying the moment. She leaned into Tsukasa’s shoulder, attempting to hide her face. “We’ve already talked about these things… so, yes. I would like it if we all dated.”
Tsukasa beamed at the three of them, the ride setting back into motion to do another rotation. Okay, maybe Nene had a point about flowers and dates, but this was the only proper start for them. And if they weren’t doing things out of order and embracing the chaos, they wouldn’t be themselves.