Chapter Text
12:00 AM. Hour 0.
Rui’s alarm to go to bed goes off. He glances up at it disappointedly from his seat at his desk, working on his newest invention. Can you blame him, the dead of night is a prime time to create new ideas and bring older ones to life.
He really should be going to bed. Even if tomorrow, or more accurately today in the morning, their group doesn’t have work, Wonderlands x Showtime still plans on meeting, just to hang out. And he and Emu have quite the interesting April Fool’s day shenanigans ready for their favorite victims: Tsukasa and Nene.
Rui nearly buzzes with excitement over the fact, a day with nearly zero restrictions on what he can do! It makes him more determined to finish this drone now instead of in the morning, it’s vital for his grandest plan of all.
He flips his phone over, previously face down on the edge of his desk, and shuts the alarm off. He can still go a few hours and be rested enough to properly function tomorrow. Ah, Tsukasa would hate to hear him going to bed so late.
Curiously, he peers out a window of his workroom, also known as the garage. Nene’s room lights are off, she must have gone to bed already. Or the girl is playing a game in the dark on her phone, but Rui doesn’t expect that this late at night.
The clock on his phone shifts to 00:01, before a bright light completely replaces the screen.
“KAITO?” Rui asks. The virtual singer appears as a hologram on his phone, arms crossed with a downcast gaze. “Is everything alright? You never contact me this late?”
Rui’s always assumed SEKAI goes into a sort of sleep mode when Tsukasa is asleep, after all. He’s been to SEKAI knowing Tsukasa’s asleep, and it is very still. The attractions are dimmed, the plushies go to bed in their little homes, and the only ones that give the SEKAI some movement and life are the virtual singers, who quietly talk in the dead of night. As such, the Vocaloids tend to avoid calling their attention when Tsukasa is asleep, or even just late in the evening. This must be extremely urgent then.
“It’s April 1st, Rui-kun,” KAITO explains. Rui nods along, he knows that. Days progress in order, that’s how time works. “April 1st is April Fool’s, and… Hm… Rui-kun, do you know what happened last April Fool’s?”
Last April Fool’s? Well, Rui recalls Emu got one of the highest grades in her year on a test, although no one believed her. That’s certainly not what KAITO is looking for though… Did something happen in SEKAI, last year? Rui can’t recall anything at all, considering he couldn’t enter the SEKAI—Oh.
“SEKAI was inaccessible last year?” Rui asks. KAITO brings a hand to his chin, solemnly shaking his head.
“I’m not surprised you don’t know. Well, the short story is that SEKAI can be affected by dates, especially when those dates have meaning to its creator. In this case, Tsukasa-kun.” Rui nods along, that makes sense. As much as Tsukasa is adamant that SEKAI is shared by the four of them, it really is solely Tsukasa’s in the end.
“Following this, Tsukasa-kun’s birthday had fireworks all night, in response to his feelings. So, because April Fool’s is the day of disorder and chaos, SEKAI gets… Messy. Last time, it affected us virtual singers, hence why you couldn’t access SEKAI then. This time… It seems to have affected Tsukasa-kun. I know you would be awake at this time, so I came to ask for help,” KAITO finishes.
Rui shrugs on a sweatshirt in a hurry, “Is Tsukasa-kun okay? He’s not hurt, is he?” A panic seeps into his voice, Rui has always been one to fret about Tsukasa. He doesn’t think SEKAI would hurt Tsukasa, but you never know what a subconscious can create…
“Tsukasa-kun is fine, but…” KAITO trails off, “It’s better if you see for yourself, Rui-kun.” Okay, Rui can work with this.
Hopefully.
KAITO disappears from his phone and Rui quickly switches to his music app and selects The World Hasn’t Even Started Yet. He closes his eyes as white and neon triangles encase his vision.
Dear Miku, that is bright. Rui doesn’t think he will ever get used to it. Opening his eyes, Rui is surprised to see SEKAI resemble what it looks like during the day. The sun shines above, rather than the moon he was expecting.
KAITO stands a few paces away, worriedly staring at the main circus tent where the virtual singers perform their shows. Rui rushes over, gaining the troupe leader’s attention.
“Oh great! You came rather quickly, Rui-kun. This is going to be difficult to explain, but I feel you’ll understand quickly,” whatever KAITO is about to say next is interrupted by a scream.
Tsukasa’s scream, to be exact. Coming from the circus tent. Is he alright?! Rui is about to run to the entrance when a figure bursts out of the entrance flaps, coat flying wildly behind him.
The figure dashes towards the two of them, Rui bracing for an impact that… never came. He feels the wind rush by, and the back of his sweatshirt feels as though someone has grabbed it.
Turning his head, yes, that is certainly Tsukasa. Rui can recognize his signature hair and eyes anywhere, although the outfit is a surprise. Isn’t that the outfit Tsukasa designed for certain parts of their Torpe the Pianist play?
Tsukasa meets his eyes, gently shaking his shoulders. “Director, you need to help me! Please?! Please please please, I’m sorry, I need your help!” Tsukasa’s voice is shaky, eyes tearing up in fear. He’s so quiet, despite the panic and urgency clearly present in his voice. What happened to Tsukasa?!
“Tsukasa-kun, what happened? You’re dressed as Torpe—“ Rui is cut off by Tsukasa enthusiastically nodding.
“Torpe, yes yes, that is my name, now please just, oh, hide me! He’s coming!” Tsukasa, no, Torpe interrupts? Is the SEKAI making Tsukasa assume he’s playing a role?
Wait, “What do you mean, ‘He’s coming!’? Tsu—Torpe, what does that mean?!” Torpe says nothing, tugging down his newsboy hat to hide his face, pulling his coat further onto himself. He’s hiding himself behind Rui, his rationality chimes.
Rui turns back to the circus tent, hearing laughter approach the entrance. Hiding Tsukasa-slash-Torpe by standing up straighter, all Rui gets from KAITO is an apologetic look.
“Oh pianist, where did you go?! I want to show you a trick I so graciously developed on my own,” taunts… Tsukasa?! He’s wearing a vastly different outfit, looking like a jester. Dark blues and reds, a face marking that looks like a star and teardrop, a classic jester hat is even there! There’s a dark grin on his face, one of his hands twirling a pocket knife as another raises to block out the sun.
His smile sharpens upon noticing Rui. Uh oh. That doesn’t seem good. KAITO still stands by, shifting his weight from foot to foot but otherwise seems perfectly normal. Rui does not recall KAITO ever looking so nervous.
“Ah, ringmaster! Hello! You haven’t happened to see little Torpe around here, have you?” Tsukasa #2 questions. The condescending attitude radiates off of him as he looks at Rui with smug eyes.
He feels Torpe, to his surprise, rise up to meet other Tsukasa’s eyes over his shoulder. “Leave director out of this! Why can’t you ever bother someone else?!” Torpe shouts. Does it count as shouting if it’s a normal speaking level, compared to the whisper Rui’s been hearing?
Jester Tsukasa frowns, but the intense gleam in his eyes doesn't falter. The frown seems more like an act, than anything else. “Oh, but dear Torpe, your reactions are always the most entertaining! You’re much more receptive than King is, after all!” King? Without the article, the jester almost makes it sound like a name rather than a title.
“Go bother Len! He loves your shows, wouldn’t you want advice on how to improve so you can really, uh…” Torpe’s demeanor falters, immediately shying away when he loses track of his words. Lowering himself out of view behind Rui again, oh, Rui didn’t notice before, but Torpe seems shorter than Tsukasa typically should be.
Rui swoops in, “So you can surely impress this ‘King’ with your next show?” He hopes he’s getting this ‘King’ person’s personality right, Rui is sorely in the dark of this entire situation.
“Mhm, listen to director, Pierrot!” Pierrot? Rui must assume that’s the jester’s name, taking into account what the role Pierrot represents in old theatre.
Pierrot idly plays with the pocket knife, doing tricks in his hand as he contemplates the suggestion. Letting them simmer in the uncomfortable silence. Rui feels the opposite of safe, watching the blade nimbly twirl around his fingers, the sharp edge narrowly missing skin with every twist.
The blade stops in an instant as Pierrot grabs the hilt, jerking Rui’s gaze back to his face. “I suppose I have no choice, if you're going to hide behind dear old Rui-kun this entire time. Hah, maybe Kirin can give advice too, but knowing that dumb lizard he’s probably drunk to high-heaven.” Rui stores the new name and description in his head as Pierrot saunters away, leaving the circus tent behind in search of Len. What a character, hopefully Len can succeed in his accidental mission.
‘Drunk to high-heaven’? Rui wonders if this whole phenomenon affects Tsukasa’s age too, similar to how Torpe seems shorter than Tsukasa should be.
Rui turns fully to Torpe, who gives a sigh of relief when Pierrot gets a decent distance away. Tugging on the brim of his hat nervously, he mutters out a thanks.
“Don’t mention it, Torpe,” Rui waves him off. He thinks he has a decent idea of what’s going on, but he still wants to ask KAITO for information. Looking at the virtual singer, KAITO is staring into the distance where Pierrot left in the direction of.
KAITO turns back to them. Giving Torpe a soft smile, “Why don’t you head back to the tent? I’m sure Lily is concerned about you running off.” Okay, new name then. Torpe nods, embarrassed, walking back to the tent after giving Rui one last thanks.
KAITO sighs, prompting Rui to raise an eyebrow. “I suppose it’s best to explain this now, isn’t it?“ Rui nods.
“Last year, us virtual singers manifested in the real world, which then let us interact with versions of ourselves from other SEKAI.” KAITO pauses, probably awaiting a question. Other SEKAI? Truth be told, Rui isn’t surprised. If SEKAI is meant to help people understand their true feelings, it would be selfish to assume Tsukasa is the only person that received such help. No, other SEKAIs seem certainly plausible.
He shakes his head, promoting KAITO to continue. “Because we are all from different SEKAI, and all serve different roles, despite being the same Vocaloid originally, we all have unique attributes and personalities.” Unique attributes and personalities…
“Is that what happened to Tsukasa-kun this time, then?” Rui confirms.
KAITO nods, “You catch on quickly. Different roles Tsukasa-kun has played have now manifested into their own persons. You’ve just met Torpe and Pierrot, and I’m sure even without meeting the others you understand why I need your help.”
Right. If Torpe and Pierrot needed that much intervention just to have a safe conversation, all of them probably need some sort of intervention to not fight with each other. Although, that begs the question.
“KAITO, how long will this last?”
“Until April Fool’s is over with, I assume, so when we hit midnight again.”
Oh dear god.
“Yes?” someone asks from behind him. Rui whips around, meeting another Tsukasa. He really shouldn’t be surprised at this point. This Tsukasa snickers at his startled reaction, lazy eyes and a flush on his cheeks.
Along with the ponytail and fancy clothing, of course. It’s reminiscent of what Tsukasa wore during New Year’s. And… And the horns, can’t forget the horns. Recalling what Pierrot mentioned, it’s likely this is Kirin. Especially considering Rui can see, quite clearly mind you, that this Tsukasa is definitely drunk.
“Kirin, hello,” KAITO greets, “Pierrot was just looking for you.” Kirin takes a second to look over at KAITO, clearly far too drunk to function properly. Rui wonders if this counts as underage drinking. Hopefully not, Nene would kill them.
Ah, Nene, she won’t be up for another 8 hours at the least. Rui sorely wishes the girl was an early bird, but you can’t have everything. At least Emu should be up at 6, that’s 2 hours of him not being on his own.
“Oh, well if the clown wants to find me so badly, he knows exactly what to say!” Kirin chuckles, his words slurring to a certain extent. Extremely drunk. Is there even alcohol in the SEKAI? Rui must be imagining the scream in the distance, because he is not planning on investigating it.
Kirin glances at Rui. “Well well, if it isn’t one of my favorite humans!” he smirks, stepping closer. Oh wow, Kirin is taller than him. Definitely taller. A lot taller, actually. He places a finger under Rui’s chin to lift his head to make eye contact. Rui, get yourself together! “Dear human, would you like a drink?”
KAITO slaps Kirin in the back, “Don’t offer Rui-kun alcohol! He’s 17, well under the legal age!” The dragon drops Rui’s head, oh thank god–
“Yes? Oh, I was going to respond to KAITO. I’ll say it here, you are the definition of boring, KAITO! Let the kid have some fun!” Kirin shakes a bottle of liquor, where did that come from?! Oh dear,,, wait. Rui probably shouldn’t be thinking about the word god.
“No, you shouldn’t, little human. Oh don’t act so scared, it’s not like I can read your mind.” Fuck.
Well Kirin didn’t react to that, so presumably can only hear it if Rui thinks of the g-word. Okay, he can work with that. Thinking about it, that’s probably why the dragon suddenly appeared behind him in the first place.
“Stop offering minors alcohol. If you want a drinking buddy so badly, get an adult.” KAITO sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. Kirin huffs in return, calling KAITO ‘The opposite of fun!’ before slinking off to who-knows-where.
KAITO gives Rui another apologetic look. “I’m sorry I’m bringing you into this, Rui-kun, but as you can see…”
“It’s fine, KAITO. Ah, I’ll take it as a learning experience! It will certainly help for ideas of new shows, at the very least.” Rui needs to spin this into a positive manner before he goes insane. Or even more insane than usual.
KAITO nods, “Well if that’s settled, I believe I’m needed elsewhere. Just… Good luck, alright Rui-kun?” Rui hums an agreement and watches KAITO speed walk away.
Nice to know the virtual singer he thought he could trust has just thrown him out to the wolves. Or the Tsukasas, he supposes. Well, there’s only one thing to really do from here.
12:15 AM. Hour 0.
Rui walks into the circus tent with mild apprehension. Can you blame him? Rui’s put together what he knows so far, and it’s not much.
Torpe seems to well, greatly resemble Torpe the Pianist. No surprise there, Rui can easily assume that Tsukasa will most likely act how Torpe does in the play.
Pierrot is… more complicated. He seems to be an agent of chaos, and rather childish at that. Rui should be wary of him, until he knows more at least.
Kirin is by far the most neutral iteration Rui has met. He doesn’t know much about him at all, except for his dubious morals in offering underaged people alcohol and his draconic nature.
And lastly, Rui has heard of, but not met, King and Lily. King is… fairly obvious, just by his name. Rui can already assume what he looks like, and from what Pierrot comments he’s probably serious enough that he can help Rui manage this.
He hears some shouting come from center stage, so he quickens his walking speed with a sigh. He is certainly not prepared for what he sees, though.
Torpe is curled up on the ground, shaking a ball (Globe? Fortune Telling Crystal? Rui can only see that it’s blue from where he is) as he cries. A different Tsukasa with white clothing and flowers–Well that’s the mystery of who Lily is solved, is crouched down and gently rubbing his shoulder.
King, (How can it not be King he has a whole royal outfit on plus a crown), is currently trying to call someone on his phone. Wait. They have phones? What?
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN KNIGHT IS DEAD?!” Torpe wails, shaking the ball harder. It glows a bit, points and lines appearing as a sort of hologram in front of it. “DON’T GIVE ME THE CANCER SIGN, ARE YOU TELLING ME KNIGHT IS DEAD?!”
“Torpe, calm down! Knight isn’t dead, King’s calling him right now, see? Knight is fine, knowing him he probably got lost or something.” Lily reassures. It doesn't work, seeing as Torpe is still crying and King gives them progressively more worried side looks.
“YOU THINK KNIGHT CAN USE A PHONE?!” Lily startles, staring at Torpe. The pianist throws the ball away, only for it to float up and levitate by his side. Definitely some sort of magic crystal ball.
Lily mutters, mostly to himself, “Oh god, Knight can be dead right now.” King frustratingly redials a number on his phone, Torpe muffling his cries with his hat.
Didn’t Lily just say go-
King yells something over the phone. Where is Kirin, don’t tell me he only shows up when Rui says the word?
Rui has zero clue who Knight is. Is he an actual knight? Or is this a play on words and it’s night, not knight, because for whatever reason all their names so far have been in English.
“Aha!” King shouts, gaining all three other people’s attention to him. “I couldn’t get Knight to answer the phone, for obvious reasons, so I called Pierrot!”
Lily sighs, “Why on earth would you do that?” King tsks, waving him off with a hand motion.
“Let me finish, Lily! And so Pierrot laughed in my face, I am going to chop his head off next time I see him, ahem, apologies, so I contacted Kirin instead! He’s tracking Knight down as we speak!” Ah, that’s where he went.
Torpe sniffles, rubbing his eyes, “So Knight isn’t dead?” King nods proudly, hands on his hips in a confident pose. King is definitely the most like normal Tsukasa, he even has Tsukasa’s incredibly loud booming voice.
Should Rui be concerned at the beheading threat? There’s a very likely possibility it’s an empty threat, but what if it isn’t? Rui feels bad, he isn’t being very helpful at all at managing this mess.
“Oh, director!” Torpe calls out to him. Rui jerks at the sudden attention on him, confusedly waving. Lily gives a small wave with a smile, as King makes a grand gesture, beckoning him onstage.
No use in defying him. Rui pushes himself onstage, ignoring the steps on the side completely.
“Hello, Rui! I’m glad to see Pierrot hasn’t gotten to you yet,” Lily says with a genuine smile. Is Rui severely underestimating Pierrot’s abilities, everyone else seems to treat him like… the Joker, from Batman. Rui cannot think of a better comparison at this point in time.
“Rui! You seem to be doing just fine! I shall introduce myself, I am King! For obvious reasons, a ha ha! And this is Lily, our peacekeeper!” King introduces with sweeping hand gestures, he really fits the bill on royalty.
“As peaceful as I can keep it with King and Pierrot interacting all the time, how has your evening been?” Lily asks, ignoring King’s offended stuttering in the background. Oh, Lily has a different hairstyle too, a small rat tail that rests over his left shoulder.
“Uneventful, until, well… this.” Rui makes a sort of ‘look around’ motion, which makes Lily laugh.
“Yes, this is the predicament, isn’t it? I’m happy you’ll be here to help, even if it’s only a little bit. Every little thing matters, you understand?” Rui nods, at least Lily seems amicable to keeping things quiet. If King’s comment about being a peacekeeper is true, perhaps Rui is not alone in this endeavor.
An explosion goes off in the distance, grabbing Rui’s attention instantly. What happened? Is someone hurt? That sounded really loud, even for Rui’s own endeavors in explosives.
Lily sighs next to him, “Pierrot, always causing trouble… Hopefully he knows better than to try and hunt down Knight for sport.”
What.
12:25 AM. Hour 0.
Kirin floats through the door, an exhausted looking Tsukasa trailing behind him. “I’ve found the knight! Kneel before my graciousness!”
“No.” King simply retorts, walking over. “Are you alright, Knight? You have a cut on your cheek.”
Knight stares blankly at King. He points to his left ear. King mutters a curse, approaching Knight’s other side and repeating his question. Kirin disappears, quite literally, into thin air, leaving the royals to themselves. Does Lily count as royalty?
“Oh, I’m fine, your highness. Pierrot blew up one of the attractions and some of the shrapnel got to me.” Rui chokes on air, Lily consolingly rubbing his back.
“That evil jester, one day he’s going to actually manage to kill you!” Knight waves off King’s concerns, brightening and waving to the rest of them.
“Ah, Lily and Torpe! Rui is here too, how delightful! Has Kirin run off already? I haven’t managed to thank him yet,” Knight pouts, looking around the stage area for any sign of the dragon.
“Just get him a bottle of vodka later, or whiskey, lord knows he likes his alcohol strong. Say, let’s get you bandaged up, is the attraction unfixable?” King rambles on, leading Knight backstage. Lily gives an apology to Rui, rushing after the two. Rui sighs and collapses into one of the audience seats.
The seat next to him is filled by Torpe, who gives Rui a concerned look. The director feels exhausted, even though he’s hardly done anything but make conversation.
“Director, perhaps you should go to bed? It’s already 12:30, you must be exhausted,” Torpe says.
“Yes yes! It’s important for humans to get adequate rest, and from personal experience, sleeping in the sun is a great way of relaxing!” Kirin chimes in, leaning on the backrests of the seat Rui is placed on. Rui gives him a shocked look, he needs to stop appearing out of thin air before Rui has a heart attack!
“Oh, King mentioned whiskey and I very much feel like a few nice shots of it! And I’m fully aware of who has a few bottles~” Kirin croons. Torpe rolls his eyes, surprisingly, getting a bottle from his coat, somewhere. Rui is just going to attribute all of this magically appearing alcohol to SEKAI nonsense. “Thanks!” he chirps, and Kirin is gone as if he was never there.
“As much as Kirin is an… Eccentric character, he’s right. You should get some rest, Rui. The SEKAI isn’t going to collapse on itself.”
Rui nods, eyes already closing on him. The exhaustion hasn’t hit until now, but he’s already slipping away. Hopefully he’ll…
He’ll hear if something happens…
And he’ll… nnn… wake up…
mhmm…
…
Torpe breathes out a sigh of relief. Oh thank goodness Rui is asleep, this can go south very quickly. Especially if Pierrot gets tired of being calm.
Walking backstage, Torpe opens the dressing room door that presumably leads to everyone.
“How are you, Knight?” Torpe asks. Lily repeats the question, bless him, so Knight can hear it.
“I’m doing good! The cuts aren’t that deep, anyways.” Torpe nods, taking a seat next to Kirin, gently pushing away the offered bottle of whiskey. That’s his, anyways, that dragon should be thankful he gave it up.
“What ride did Pierrot end up destroying, is it going to cost us a lot to fix?” King asks. Lily adjusts the final bandages on Knight’s cheek and moves back to give him some breathing room.
“Money exists here?” Knight asks, confused. “Well, he ended up crashing one of the cars on the flying train, apparently he was testing something with Len. And, well, boom! I don’t think replacing it will be a problem, though I’m not the best at math.”
Kirin rolls his eyes with heavy exaggeration, “You can’t do math at all, Knight! Aha, just let King do it, I bet!”
“Stop trying to throw every responsibility onto me! Why can’t you ever do anything, well?”
“You’re the king, you know, a king’s duty is to take care of things, no? Besides, what good could I accomplish? I’m too inhibited to see straight!”
“And who’s fault is that! Yours! You drunken alcoholic, do you ever do anything other than drink and sleep?!”
“My my, have you forgotten who saved Knight from that horrible clown already? Is our dear Tsukasa’s memory rubbing off on you?” Kirin leers, leaning forward in his seat to glare at King. King glares back with much more intensity, as because of his sobriety.
Torpe and Lily give each other looks, this might end badly. Lily cuts in, “Now Kirin, maybe give King a break? I’ll be happy to count the expenses, although considering this is SEKAI I believe the flying train is already fixed.” Knight looks terribly confused. Ah, he can most likely only hear half of the conversation.
Kirin sighs, tipping the bottle up and downing the rest with a few gulps. There goes Torpe’s alcohol, he could really use some himself at this point.
No, he shouldn’t, that would make a terrible impression on Rui.
King stands up, brushing off nonexistent dust off his clothing. “I suppose that settles it. Knight, care to help me find Pierrot? I don’t want him causing any more trouble with none of us around.” Knight nods, standing up as well.
Oh, he has his sword back. Torpe was sure he lost it, but it’s good he has it now. Knight turns to him, “How’s Rui doing, you aren’t with him right now?”
“Sleeping. He’s understandably tired, I should go back to watch him, to tell the truth.” Perhaps Torpe can find Luka, she’s always sleeping. He’s sure she would like a napping buddy, even if that means he has to carry Rui somehow. The pains of being short.
Actually…
“Kirin, I’ll give you another bottle if you help me find Luka and bring Rui to her.” Torpe mutters.
“Say no more, little pianist!” Kirin rushes out the door, Torpe blankly staring. Knight chuckles a little before King pokes his side, both of them ushering out to track down Pierrot before he inevitably causes some irreversible damage.
Tsukasa will probably be mad at them if they let Pierrot wreck SEKAI. Would it be immediately resolved when today is over? It’s probably better if they don’t find out either way.
“I’ll check up on the other Vocaloids then, be safe Torpe!” Lily says, leaving Torpe alone in the dressing room.
So much has gone on and it hasn’t even been an hour yet. He checks his pocket watch: 12:41 AM.
Torpe finally gets up, heading outside the circus tent. Kirin will come to him to claim his reward eventually, no one can stop him if he has his eyes set on the best treasure of all, irresistible to any dragon in SEKAI. Alcohol, of course.
Torpe wonders if Tsukasa, despite being 17, might have an alcohol problem. He doesn’t think so, maybe it’s just his desire to be unrestrained and free for once manifesting as Kirin.
Are the plushies awake? Torpe wouldn’t mind playing a song for them, he needs to practice anyway.
I want to practice so I can teach Saki when she recovers!
He needs to practice because he’s the pianist, of course. What kind of pianist can’t play piano? Torpe personally does not quite hold a relationship with Saki. Of course he knows of her, but he doesn’t represent Tsukasa’s sibling relations. That’s left to Lily, or even Heaven. Where is Heaven, anyways?
Torpe wonders if it’s normal to know people exist and your relationships with them before you’ve even met them. In any other situation, most likely. This is a unique circumstance though, and he won’t exist as himself in 24 hours anyways.
How morbid.
“Oh, here’s the piano!” he cheers, settling himself up. A curious plushie waddles up next to him, and Torpe gives it a little pat on the head as he prepares to play a song.
“Any requests, little one?” he asks, the little rabbit plushie looking at him in awe.
“Tsukasa-chan never plays piano for us…” the little rabbit whines, heaving itself up onto the piano bench. “Can you play a nice song, Mr. Pianist?”
Torpe smiles gently, “Of course I can! How about this one, I can play it quite well if I do so declare.” Tsukasa should play piano more, if the plushies are this excited over it. Oh well, Torpe will just pick up the slack then!
“Kitto dokoka de, kizuiteta nda~”
12:45 AM. Hour 0.
“Everything is fine, everything is just perfectly fine…” King mutters to himself as a reassurance. Knight looks worriedly at him, surely King isn’t that paranoid over Pierrot, is he?
Len should be watching the jester anyways, it’s not like he’s gallivanting off on his own and blowing up the Candyland area of SEKAI while no one was there. Actually, perhaps Baker would get a kick off of that part of SEKAI.
She’s probably already there, if Knight hasn’t seen her yet.
“King, I’m positive Pierrot couldn’t have done that much. Len is watching over him, no?” King looks up from his mutterings directed to the floor.
“You are right, I just can’t help but worry. That jester is always up to no good, and a full 40 minutes without him bothering me is a cause for concern, surely.” He isn’t wrong, per say, there’s nothing Pierrot enjoys more than being an absolute nuisance to King.
For the three of them representing a royal court, they sure have trouble getting along.
“Is that Rin I see?” Knight wonders aloud. King looks in the direction, and yes, judging by the bouncy yellow and oranges, that is definitely Rin. And she is definitely standing next to the wreckage of the train car that injured Knight in the first place.
“Ohhh, hello Tsukasa-kun 1 and 2! Hehe, just like the Oddball 1 2 duo, no?” Rin giggles at her own joke.
“Hello, Rin. You can call me King, and this is Knight. Do you know what happened here?” King regally gestures to the scrap metal. If it doesn’t go away, maybe Rui can use it for his inventions, or something of the like. It feels like a waste, leaving this metal here.
Oh wait, it’s on fire. Okay, maybe putting that out should be a priority? Knight returns back to King, who’s eagerly discussing with Rin what has been going on for the past hour.
Up until Rin startles, screams an apology and rushes off, “In search of my stupid brother!!” There’s even a trail of dust slowly expanding after her.
“I only asked her if she knows where the jester is, considering how he and Len were together…” King complains, watching the girl speed off into a different section of SEKAI.
Knight voices his thoughts aloud, “If Len was with him, wouldn’t Rin say she’s looking for them both? Why’d she run off anyways, it’s like she saw a ghost and it’s not like Hallow is here–”
“ AH?!” King screams.
“Your majesty, is everything okay?!” Knight draws his sword, whipping around to see what’s gotten King so frazzled. King screams unintelligibly at a part of the wreckage, so Knight shifts in front of him on high alert.
“Aww, cat got your tongue, King? Or should I say, strings got your crown?” Pierrot cackles from atop a metal piece, King’s crown being held in one of his hands. He has the audacity to smirk at them, the little-!
“That doesn’t even roll off the tongue nicely, use a different phrase!” King snarks back, hand placed on his head where his symbol of royalty should be. Pierrot frowns at this, spinning the crown around his finger. The puppeteer strings that hang off his hands at all times are limp now, dastardly purpose being served.
“You really are attached to this thing, aren’t you? Well, you aren’t attached anymore, aha! Wonder what it’ll be like if I was king for a day,” Pierrot muses. He’s too far up for Knight to reach, dammit! And he just got his sword back, no way he’d toss it like a spear just to get Pierrot down!
“Don’t. You. Dare.” King snarls, “Knight, can’t you do anything?!” There is one thing he has up his sleeve, quite literally at that…
Knight pulls a crossbow out and aims it towards Pierrot, honor of swordsmanship abandoned. “I have a very good aim, you know?” It is not like Pierrot uses a sword himself, knowing him, he’d eat a sword as a trick, but lord forbid he use one for its intended purpose.
Pierrot says something he doesn’t catch, screw his bad hearing, but Knight can clearly see him pull out a set of throwing knives.
It is on.
12:57 AM. Hour 0.
Rui blinks awake, sitting up as a blanket falls off of him and Luka, who naps quietly by his side. Snoring comes from his right, and he’s unsurprised to see Kirin passed out next to them, bathing in the midnight sun.
The flower field they rest in would make the entire thing seem peaceful, if it isn’t for the crawling sense of dread making its way through Rui’s head.
Something must have happened.
Oh god.
“Wha..?” Kirin slurs from next to him, blinking up tiredly. “Oh, human, doesn't the pianist owe me some alcohol, I’ve been-” Kirin yawns, “-responsible with you, haven’t I?”
Rui rushes off, leaving Kirin and Luka alone in the flower field.
“Is he that excited to repay his debt to me?” Kirin tiredly mutters to himself. Luka hums in her sleep next to him, lulling him back to sleep too. The human will return with a nice drink later then, Kirin doesn’t mind. He’s very happy and tired now, he doesn’t mind if his reward comes a bit later.
12:59 AM. Hour 0.
Character Details (As observed by Kamishiro Rui)
Torpe
-Obviously based on Torpe from Torpe the Pianist, even has the outfit
-Generally shy and caring, only gets loud when he’s startled, as when he’s with Pierrot.
-Likes to play piano, as attributed to his role as Torpe
-Shorter than Tsukasa, but not as short as Nene, he can’t easily hide behind me like she can. I’d place him at around 5’5? 5’6? He looks young, but considering his possession of alcohol is likely in his 20’s or of the like.
-Refers to me as “Director”, probably inspired by the character I played in Torpe the Pianist, Dancho
-Not enough observation to understand his relationships with the others, but he seems to be amicable with everyone except for Pierrot
–I don’t think anyone gets along with Pierrot, honestly
-If all the iterations of Tsukasa represent something, and not just roles he’s played in shows, I’d theorize Torpe represents his anxieties, and his love of piano.
—Would that mean if he ran to me when we first met, Tsukasa trusts me with things he’s scared of?
-... More observations should be made before I conclude any hypotheses.
Ending note: Knight and King have just returned with Pierrot. I will be back!