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It had only been somewhere around a month after Wonderlands X Showtime was able to save the Wonder Stage, but that day when Emu had announced to them that they did felt like it was only yesterday.
After that, the troupe continued to do shows with each other on that very stage, attracting audiences again and again with their wonder(hoy)-filled and spectacular performances.
Now in the present, the troupe was now in the back of the Wonder Stage, changed out of their costumes, all tired and exhausted after their performance.
“Agh… I’m beat.” Tsukasa said with a sigh, dropping himself onto a stool.
“Great work today, everyone,” Rui said, smiling as he sipped on a bottle of water.
Nene handed the rest of the troupe plastic water bottles, holding onto her own. “Says the guy who only had to remember only three lines…” She snarked at the purple boy.
“Hey, now. The merchant is a very important role!” He said with as much sarcasm as his childhood friend spat at him. “Regardless, I believe we should heading home as of now, right, Nene?”
“Oh… Right.” She looked at both Emu and Tsukasa. “Yeah, we have to get going now, we’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
“Huh??? You guys are going already?” Emu looked sadly at the two childhood friends, looking like she didn’t want them to go just yet.
“You guys can handle yourselves, right, Tsukasa?” Rui said, snapping the leader out of his thoughts.
“Ah! Yes! We can!” He gave a smile, quickly chugging down the entire bottle of water.
“See. You two will be just fine. Bye…” Nene walked out first, not bothering to wait for Rui.
“Haha. She’s in a mood today because I nearly exploded her house… again.” Rui quickly rushed out to catch up with Nene.
The remaining two troupe members looked at each other, then looked away. There was… a weird feeling in the air between the two, a feeling that had been there for a while now. A feeling the two didn’t want to think about, but now that the two of them were backstage– there was really no denying it now.
The usually upbeat and energetic Emu was fidgeting her fingers, sitting on an empty table while Tsukasa was distracting himself by reading the water bottle’s label.
But, the thing is– Emu was the one who told both Nene and Rui to leave earlier than usual. She had something to tell Tsukasa, and she needed all of her courage for it, but all of that courage quickly went away when she was actually alone with Tsukasa.
She didn’t have a plan, she was practically winging it as she always did. But, she had the opportunity! And she couldn’t waste it!
“…Tsukasa?” Emu said under her breath but could still reach the blonde's ears.
“Hm?” He looked at the pink hair, wondering what she had to say now.
“Ahah! Nothing!” Nope, she couldn’t do it. She looked away again, trying to brush it off like she was just pulling a joke on him again.
She couldn’t bring back her courage, she couldn't even look him in the eye. The boisterous boy she first saw at his audition, the boy who she begged to join her troupe, the boy who helped save the Wonder Stage– And most importantly, the boy she fell in love with.
“Emu! Something is wrong, and I know what it is!” Tsukasa shot up from his seat, hand clutched around his heart.
“Eh?! You know I like-like you?!” Emu put both her hands on her face in shock, she thought that she had kept it secret all along! Was she really this obvious?
“Huh? No! Wait- What? You do?” Tsukasa didn’t expect this outcome at all! That was actually the last thing on his mind– despite her crush being obvious to both Nene and Rui. He was practically as shocked as Emu was.
“Whaaaaaattt???” Emu blushed furiously.
Busted…
Emu kept stuttering as Tsukasa just stood there, his mind broken as much as hers. “Aghh!” Emu ran out of the exit door.
“E-Emu?! Wait up!” Tsukasa quickly ran after the pink-haired girl, worried she might just get hurt.
When he got past the backstage door, Emu wasn’t able to be found anywhere.
It looked like Tsukasa was going to have to go on a hunt…
***
The sun was starting to set, and Tsukasa was starting to lose hope. Maybe he could just send her a message…? No! He had to find her and confront her, it was the right thing to do as a leader! He has to make sure all of his members were alright!
He passed by ride after ride, game after game, and was nearly on the brink of passing out when he saw at the corner of his eye, a pink blotch of color at the top of the Ferris wheel. The very same Ferris wheel that he and Emu went on after he lashed out at his members when the play didn’t go as planned.
The Ferris wheel where Emu had shown her vulnerability to him, telling him about her grandfather, about making people smile, about how she was going to give up on the Wonder Stage.
Only then did Tsukasa realize his feelings as well. Getting to lead a theater troupe with such excentric members who soon turned into his closest friends, to get to create and play in shows to bring smiles to the audience, was all because of Emu.
If she never approached him in the first place, this never would’ve happened, his true feelings would have been lost to his narcissism. Emu… was there ever since the beginning, the ever-annoying, yet eccentric and gleeful girl that had turned his world upside down, was the one he wanted to be with.
And so he stood there, waiting for the Ferris wheel to slowly bring her to him. Once the capsule reached the bottom, the doors opened and Tsukasa stepped in, scaring Emu just a little. “T-Tsukasa?”
Even if she wanted to leave, the doors had already closed and they were already a little above ground.
“Emu! I am here to talk with you!” He shouted in the same tone he always used.
“Ehhh? There is nothing to talk about! I-” Tsukasa cut her off before she could speak any further.
“I… I like-like you as well, Emu!” He put his hand to his heart again, channeling his emotions from the very same heart he was clutching onto. “After our first ride on the Ferris wheel, I just can’t deny it anymore! We… We share the same goal, we both want to make others smile! And… The way you smile, the way you make others smile, and… just everything about you! I love you!”
Emu was practically stunned, and slowly, tears developed in her eyes. “W-What’s wrong? Was I too much?!” Tsukasa was practically panicking, wondering if this was even the right move in the first place.
“N-No! Everything’s fine! I just… I’m so glad!” She smiled and wrapped the blonde boy in a tight hug. “You're so amazing, Tsukasa! Your resolve, your energy, and how you always aim for your goal…! It makes me feel so wonderhoy whenever I hear you talk about our next shows and how you always make sure to take care of your members!” She said as she buried her face in his chest.
Tsukasa smiled and hugged the girl back, giving her a quick kiss on her forehead. He stared out the window of the capsule, the orange hue of the skies reminding him of that very first Ferris wheel ride.
He was so lucky to be here right now. If he gave up after their first shoddy performance, what would’ve happened? Tsukasa didn’t want to think about it, he wanted to be in the present, the path that did become.
The path where Emu and he had fallen in love.
***
“Do you think Emu already confessed yet?” Rui says as he tinkered with another contraption he was working on on his desk.
Nene shrugs, continuing to play her video game on her Switch. “Probably.”
Rui stopped working for a moment and joined Nene on the couch in his room. “Well, while they do their thing, shall we do ours?~”
Nene paused her game and sighed, placing her Switch down. “Fine…”
Rui smiled and gave Nene a quick head pat and placed a kiss on her forehead, sending shivers down the green-hair’s spine. “H-Hey, give me some kind of warning first…!” She pouted at him.
“Haha, sorry, sorry.” He picked up her Switch and handed it back to her, Nene immediately went back to playing her game without another word.
“…Love you.” She blushed as she kept her focus on the screen.
“Love you too~”