Chapter Text
Tsukasa Tenma was conflicted.
Thanks to the latest play Wonderlands x Showtime performed, multiple families were able to go home with a smile on their face. It filled Tsukasa up with motivation to keep pursuing his life-time goal.
He wanted to keep honing his skills until they reached absolute perfection. Tsukasa wouldn’t be satisfied until he’s done so; it was difficult to please himself. No matter how many compliments he’s heard about his talents, they never sufficed.
Tsukasa had been slacking off his duties as a star, in which his skills had to suffer the consequence.
But today was different.
He was going to—
“WAAAHH!! I’m so excited for our next show!! My heart was pounding like BADUMP BADUMP!” Emu waved her hands in the air as she lunged over to Nene, attacking her with an embrace.
Nene stumbled backwards, bringing down Emu with her.
Only a loud THUD was heard as the two fell onto the backstage floor.
Nene grumbled to herself.
“ Fufu ~ I’m glad you’re excited Emu. But please be careful with your energy. We wouldn’t want anyone getting hurt, do we?” Rui chimed in as he returned from the storage room, holding a large rectangular-shaped machine with an ice cube sticker on the lid.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Rui has a point! Being in top shape is our main priority! If an accident happened, it would be horrible for our schedule!” Tsukasa lightly scolded the energetic girl once he helped the two ladies up.
This earned a light chuckle from Rui.
Seriously..? What was so funny about that?
“OH NO YOU’RE RIGHT! NENE ARE YOU OKAY??” A few tears built up in Emu’s eyes at the thought of accidentally hurting Nene. She snatched her hands and checked if they had any sort of injury.
“I’m fine.. I’m just thirsty. Please tell me we got a new cooler.” Nene pulled her arms away and shot Emu an awkward smile.
“Well~ you’re in luck! Recently I made an invention that could assist with our warm water dilema! Everyone, I would like you to meet The MicroFreeze!” Rui placed the metallic machine onto the floor. He opened his newly made invention. Water bottles were chilling inside.
“WONDAHOII MICROFREEZE!! I am Emu Otori! These are my friends Nene and Tsukasa!!” Emu sprinted to her new friend: Rui’s invention.
“So.. what makes it different from a normal cooler? You know, the ones you buy from the store?” Nene hesitantly asks, not sounding so impressed with Rui’s shenanigan.
Rui handed everybody a cold bottle of water, “I’m so glad you asked! Its purpose is the same, making sure what’s inside is cold. But the way it does it is different. My inspiration behind this invention would be a microwave! If a microwave could heat up any substance inside within seconds, then why not have it completely freeze it the same way?”
“That’s the dumbes—“
“COOLEST IDEA EVER ♡!!”
“How noble of you, Rui! You saw an issue and found a solution! Now we can fully hydrate with no complaints!” Tsukasa twisted the bottle’s cap off and drank until there was nothing left.
Tsukasa appreciated Rui’s fidelity to making sure every one was enjoying themselves.
To him, it seemed Rui was dripping with creativity. Even from a young age, Rui was always building something marvelous; or at least that’s what he’s heard from Nene. Rui cared about the safety of others. When Tsukasa got hurt from a technical difficulty, Rui made sure he wasn’t risking anyone’s life anymore. As a result, the director held himself back. It took a while for Tsukasa to reassure Rui everything was fine. After that everything else was history.
Rui was a prodigious man, yet he squandered his gift on an ordinary stage with a mediocre actor such as Tsukasa himself.
But despite everything, Rui was content with how things were for now.
Tsukasa couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy.
…
’What?’
Why was he—
“Earth to Tsukasa!!” Emu rapidly waved her right hand in front of his face. A concerned expression replaced her usual cheerful one.
“AHHH!!” Tsukasa flinched at the sudden interruption, finally snapping back into reality. “A-Apologies! I zoned out for a bit.. What were you saying?” He cleared his throat and raised it to be loud as his usual tone.
Tsukasa’s thoughts were oddly puzzling today.
“No worries!! I was just saying how we should all eat at this new restaurant!! It would be so super duper♡!!”
“Hmmmm.. unfortunately I can’t right now. I have important business to attend!” That part wasn’t a lie. Tsukasa was planning to visit the virtual singers for advice on how to enhance his acting.
“That’s alright. If it’s important then you mustn’t be late. What kind of star would you be if you didn’t arrive on time?” Rui ‘worried’ with a teasing tone. Despite trying to be understanding, the director couldn’t help but mischievously smile.
“Aw that’s okay, Tsukasa! I promise to send you lots and lots of photos so you can feel like you’re right with us!”
“We better start changing out of our costumes quickly. I don’t want to be waiting an hour just to get seats.” Nene signaled Emu to follow her to the changing rooms. The two girls walked— well, more like Nene walked. Emu was merrily skipping.
Tsukasa walked as well, gesturing Rui to do the same.
The Wonder Stage’s changing rooms were quite small. To put it into detail, it more like a hallway with four changing rooms inside, just like the one’s you see at malls. One had to be careful to not accidentally hit themself against the wall.
Everyone had their assigned room with a nameplate screwed onto the door.
CREAK
Tsukasa hated how loud his door was.
He’s been wanting to complain to Rui about the annoyance of having a noisy door, but didn’t want to bother Rui with something unimportant.
Yet, it was better than nothing.
Tsukasa let out a sigh as he closed his door.
He ambled to a black bag sitting on top of a wooden bench and tugged the zipper. Inside laid his casual clothing, waiting to be put on again.
Right now, Tsukasa was wearing a gorgeous king outfit with an exquisite crown resting on his head. A silky crimson cape was hung from his neck, unraveling down his back until it reached his knees. The outfit was certainly one of the best costumes Tsukasa’s ever worn. Not to mention, it was noticeable the sewing was handled with care. He stared at himself in the mirror. Minutes passed by like seconds as he admired the design.
Mizuki never failed to impress him with their costume-making skills. Tsukasa knew that if Mizuki wanted to go far with their designs, they would achieve that dream easily.
…
Again, his heart ached with an odd feeling.
’Huh?’
Why did he feel this way?
How come whenever he acknowledges someone else’s strengths, a sense of discomfort invades his heart?
Was it—
“TSUKASAAA!!! Are you almost done??” Emu shouted as she impatiently tapped her foot against the wooden floor.
Ah, they were waiting for him. Was he too occupied with his thoughts to even change out of his attire?
Tsukasa didn’t know how to respond, his mind too focused on the uncharacteristic envy bleeding through his thoughts. In the heat of the moment, he yelled back a pathetic lie, “I’m almost finished but feel free to head off without me!”
“Can we go now? I told you he’d take forever..” Nene muttered to Emu, who stood beside her.
“But we’d be leaving him alone backstage! What if Tsukasa gets scared being by himself?”
Something about what Emu said left him speechless for a minute.
“..I wouldn’t fear anything so silly! I am Tsukasa Temma, a world future star HAHAHAH! Only bugs bring me terror!” He struck out a courageous pose to demonstrate his bravery; his right palm pressed against his chest, left arm in the air, and a smug look of confidence plastered onto his face. Unfortunately the changing room’s door shielded the trio’s eyes from the glorious sight.
“As much as I’d love to wait for him, we need to be heading off now. Besides, we wouldn’t want to rush him. As Tsukasa usually says, ‘A star must look his best!’” Rui jested, lifting the unexplainable nerves Tsukasa had.
He bets Rui even had that stupid cat-like grin on his face.
“Alright let’s go. Bye Tsukasa,” Nene yanked Emu away; which resulted the pink haired girl to let out a squeak. Rui must’ve followed them, as a trio of footsteps could be heard rushing away.
He hurried with his changing process. The only bad thing about costumes was that they were time consuming to put on/take off. Somehow he managed to do it under 4 minutes: a personal best!
Tsukasa nicely placed his regalia inside the black bag. Usually he would take his costumes home to show Saki, but this time he’d return it to Mizuki so they’d be able to reuse the fabric.
After making sure he was entirely alone, he pulled out his phone, getting ready enter the SEKAI.
Tsukasa felt himself get absorbed by the bright lights that shone out of his screen as a playful symphony rung in his ear.
☆ ☆ ☆
It was suspiciously quiet in the SEKAI.
Normally whenever Tsukasa came to visit, he’d be accompanied by a barrage of questions about their shows from Miku, or at least overhear Kaito resolving a problem between the stuffed animals. Yet, the two were no where to be found. He attentively searched for any sort of noise, such as Luka’s tranquil snores, Meiko’s high-spirited laughter, or even simple banter between the Kagamines.
There was no sign of the virtual singers.
Tsukasa vexedly sighed, “Out of all days they picked this one?”
He couldn’t help but feel shame for his exasperation. It’s been a while since he’s visited the SEKAI, perhaps the virtual singers felt forlorn because of his absence? “If it’s a silly game of Hide-and-Seek they want, then I shall deliver!”
He got in running position and sprinted off to attractions that were close to his current location.
The Carousel was empty.
The merry-go-round was empty.
The Ferris Wheel was empty.
Even the flying train was empty!
Tsukasa harshly dropped himself on a nearby bench. Parts of his bangs clung onto his forehead; his throat burned for refreshment as he gasped for air.
Since when was Tsukasa so psychically weak?
‘Emu would’ve been able to run around the amusement park 3 times and still have energy left!’
Well, Emu was capable of leaping off buildings with ease. Tsukasa wished he had at least a portion of the girl’s energy. It would have been beneficial to be able to sprint across the SEKAI without an inch of exhaustion.
But did it really matter? In the end the result was futile. Tsukasa wasn’t able to find any trace of someone being with him. He pulled out his phone, trying to ignore the bitter feeling tainting his soul.
EMU THE SMILEY! ☆ has sent 8 messages.
He let out a quiet laugh, remembering that he let Emu change her contact name. She noticed how plain Tsukasa made Rui and Nene’s contact and asked to rename them as well, Tsukasa couldn’t say no to those sparkly eyes of hers.
He tapped the messages.
EMU THE SMILEY! ☆
WE MISS YOU!!
they sell parfaits with stars! ( ˃ ᵕ ˂ )
look! it’s so cute! （〜 ^∇^ ) 〜
Sent one attachment
nene said it tastes weird ( ⋟ ﹏ ⋞ )
but me and rui like it cuz it reminds us of you!
BRB gonna ask waitress to take photo of us 3 to show you ( > ▽ < )
Sent one attachment
Tsukasa wished he was with his friends, but he simply couldn’t neglect his responsibilities just to have fun.
He typed back a reply.
TSUKASA TENMA ☆
THAT PARFAIT LOOKS DELICIOUS AND THE STARS MAKE IT LOOK BETTER!
I’ll order it when we can all hang out again.
Please tell everyone the future star says HELLO!
Tsukasa decided it was time to call it a day. He got ready to play the SEKAI’s song. He took another glance around before—
And that’s when he noticed something.
A pathway Tsukasa’s never seen before.
‘Was that always there? Maybe that’s where Miku or the others are hiding?’
He sanguinely arose from his seat and swiftly made his way down the newly-found path.
…
Tsukasa Tenma should have turned back when he had the chance.