Chapter Text
“TSUKAASAAAAA-KUNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!”
The blond yelped out in surprise, whipping his head around to look at his phone. There, Hatsune Miku herself was projected on his screen, waving frantically at him with an awkward smile. “Happy birthday, Tsukasa-kun~!!”
“Oh!” Tsukasa laughed, grinning. “Why thank you very much, Miku!!”
Miku chuckled nervously, nodding awkwardly. “Ahaha.. Y-yeah..! Um- Miku needs to show you something!” She cried out, waving her hands around. “Come, come, go to SEKAI!!!”
Tsukasa hummed, folding his arms. “Oh? Have you and the others prepared your own gifts for me?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Umm..” Miku looked around. “Yyyes! Yes, that’s right, that’s what happened! Come on, let’s go!!”
“Okay, okay!” Tsukasa chuckled, picking up his phone and pressing play on The World Hasn’t Even Started Yet.
He wondered what Miku and the others had got him..
The blond closed his eyes as the familiar bright light engulfed him, triangular particles flying around him as he was transported to the very world created from his own feelings, his SEKAI. He always knew when to open his eyes- it was when the music from the many speakers around the Wonderland began to blare in his ears. However, this time, it wasn’t just the music or the singing flowers-
There was also.. Very loud bickering.
Very, very loud bickering.
“What the-“ Tsukasa raised an eyebrow, walking towards the source of the noise. “Miku? Who is-“
…
“ WHAAATTTTTTTT???!!!??!? ”
Tsukasa cried out, stammering awkwardly as he stared, shocked, at the group standing just a few feet away with him.
All of them looked extremely similar to one another. Blond hair, fading to a peachy reddish-pink, bright amber eyes- and although all of their outfits looked completely different, he could still sense the similarities. Not to mention they all shared the same loud, boastful voice.
They didn’t just look similar to one another.
They looked extremely similar to him. To TSUKASA.
When the blond yelled out, the group went quiet, everyone slowly turning to look at him.
It was silent for a few more seconds, before one of the blond.. Tsukasa doppelgänger- imposter copy thingies- spoke up.
“THERE’S ANOTHER ONE???”
ANOTHER ONE??!!!!!
HOW MANY TSUKASA’S WERE THERE?!
Tsukasa (original) whipped his head over to Miku, who was standing awkwardly nearby. “MIKU???” He asked desperately.
Miku giggled nervously, doing a little jazz hand motion. “Hhhaappppyyyy.. birthday???”
And somehow, every single one of the copy thing peoples simultaneously chimed, “Thank you??”
WHAT THE FUCK
Tsukasa looked back at his many doppelgängers, for once at a loss for words and jaw on the floor.
How did this happen? WHY did this happen??
“Wh- who-” Tsukasa sputtered, pointing from the.. Other Tsukasa’s (??), to himself, then back. “MIKU, WHAT IS THIS?!!!”
Miku shrugged. “Uuu.. I don’t know..!! They just appeared!”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY JUST APPEARED?!” Tsukasa cried. “THAT’S NOT POSSIBLE!!”
“NUH UH!!” Miku argued, flailing her arms around. “They just- poof! They just appeared!”
Tsukasa looked from Miku, to the group of Tsukasa’s, then back to Miku, then back to-
“What do we call him, then?”
“Huh-?”
One of the blond’s spoke up. He pointed towards Tsukasa, an eyebrow raised. “He doesn’t look like anything special..”
Tsukasa let out an offended gasp. How could this be?! How dare someone that looked like Tsukasa himself say such a thing?! Not anything special- how absurd! Tsukasa was a STAR, not.. NOT ANYTHING SPECIAL!!
“ I am TSUKASA TENMA!” Tsukasa huffed, hands on his hips. “I am a STAR!!”
“We’re all Tsukasa Tenma.”
“I’m not..”
“Shut up, Torpe.”
“Hey-!”
“Stop bullying Torpe, jester.” One of the Tsukasa’s (apparently) chastised, narrowing his eyes at the Tsukasa in the red and blue jester hat. “Besides, Nakayama is here too.”
Another Tsukasa spoke up, his eyebrows raised as he shook his head. His outfit was mostly grey, with the occasional gold or dark blue accent, and he had a single glowing earring. “No, I agree. Torpe should shut up.”
“NAKAYAMA!”
“Heh, nice.” The Tsukasa in a jester outfit (Jester??) snickered. He raised his hand, which the earring Tsukasa (Nakayama?) gladly high-fived.
Original Tsukasa stared at them, eyes narrowed.
..What the hell was going on..
“Okay, calm down, you guys.”
One of the other Tsukasa’s- his outfit was extremely.. magnificent, fit for a ruler, actually- “We should probably explain the situation to the newbie.”
“The NEWBIE?! ” Tsukasa cried out.
Ignoring Tsukasa, the other Tsukasa continued speaking. “You’ve probably realised it, but yes, all of us are all Tsukasa- or.. variants.. of.. Tsukasa? Some of our names aren’t actually Tsukasa Tenma, but I suppose we’re all the same person nonetheless if all of us are gathered here. Since you apparently know this girl,” He gestured over to Miku, “I assume you don’t need an explanation for this place.”
Tsukasa nodded, folding his arms. “Uh- yeah.. this is my SEKAI- I made it myself, actually- but more importantly..”
“HOW DID ALL OF YOU GET HERE?!”
“We’re getting there,”
The king-looking Tsukasa raised his hand, as if to tell Tsukasa to pause.
“Well, actually.. we all entered through a door.” He explained, “Apparently, we all share the same story of discovering a door in the middle of our locations in our own worlds, and upon entering it, we found ourselves here. Since I’m suspecting this is your world, I assume that isn’t how you got here, correct? Ms. Hatsune here explained something about.. phones. And a song.”
Miku pouted, “Call me Miku! Ms. Hatsune doesn’t sound nice.. Miku is better! Miku, Miku, mi~!”
“Miku, then,” Kingkasa corrected. “She mentioned there being a song.”
Tsukasa nodded slowly. “There is.”
This was still so weird. He didn’t. Know how to feel about this situation.
“So uh..”
Tsukasa looked around at everyone. “Are there- nniicckknames..? For everyone here?” He asked.
“Why, yes there is!”
One of the other Tsukasa’s- he had… VERY long hair, actually- and horns. And a tail- he spoke up. “We’ve already appointed everyone nicknames, so fret not! You can call me Qilin, or.. dragon, whichever one floats your boat!”
Tsukasa blinked. “…Which one are you?”
“What, do you want a foot reveal?”
“EXCUSE ME?!”
Tsukasa sputtered, stepping back. “N.. NO! NO, I DO NOT!”
Qilin shrugged. “Just checking.”
“Wh.. whatever,” Tsukasa muttered, “What about everyone else?”
One by one, all the other Tsukasa’s began to introduce themselves. The second one that spoke was the same one that had explained the situation to him.
“I’m the king in my world, so you can call me Kingkasa. Or just king.” He reached out a hand, smiling. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Tsukasa’s eyes widened, “A king…? That’s so cool!”
Kingkasa nodded, chuckling. “Yes I suppose it is.”
Next to speak up was the one who’d gotten bullied earlier. “I’m Torpe, I’m a pianist..”
He was bullied after he said that.
“Loser”
“Basic”
“STOP IT, YOU TWO.” Kingkasa hissed, narrowing his eyes.
Torpe stared awkwardly at Tsukasa, waiting for a reply.
Tsukasa’s eyes were wide in shock.
“Torpe-“ He repeated, “Torpe- THE PIANIST? Like, from the storybook?”
“…Huh?”
“There’s a story about you in my world!!” Tsukasa exclaimed. “We performed it, my troupe and myself!”
"My world.." Torpe mumbled, "My world is a story?"
Tsukasa nodded once more, "Yeah! You're the main character and everything!" He exclaimed.
"That's.. kind of cool.. who played me, then?"
“I did!” Tsukasa huffed, proud.
“Really?”
“Mmmmhm!”
“Anyways-“ The next Tsukasa to introduce himself coughed politely, outstretching his hand to shake his own. “You can call me Lily. I’m a prince!”
“A PRINCE?!”
Tsukasa’s jaw dropped. There was a world where he was a prince. And a king- what was next-?! Would there be a world where Tsukasa was a knight-
He slowly turned to face one of the other Tsukasa’s- one with a large blue scarf, and a large sword sheathed inside his belt.
Holy shit.
He was certain that his jaw was dropped to the floor at this moment in time.
The other hims were so- so COOL!!
There was a dragon him! A pianist him! A king, a prince, and even a KNIGHT?! That’s like a triple whammy!
The knight Tsukasa grinned, waving. “Name’s Knightkasa, nice to meet you.”
“Y- wh- y- YEAH!??” Tsukasa flailed his arms around, looking at everyone else. What other occupations did all the other Tsukasa’s have, then?!
The next one to speak up was a Tsukasa with a little pegasus plushie on his shoulders. “Call me Hina,” He introduced himself. His voice was softer and more gentle, Tsukasa noticed. “Nice to meet you, sir.”
Tsukasa nodded, “Same to you..”
He seemed sweet. Hina had a little hat atop his head as well, and Tsukasa could notice a few cracks running across his hands and face. He seemed to notice Tsukasa looking at him, so he chuckled, shaking his head with a smile. “Oh, don’t worry about the cracks. They don’t hurt, although I do have to be careful to ensure I don’t.. Well, break.”
“Break?” Tsukasa repeated curiously, “What does that mean?”
“Well-”
“Shut up, my turn.”
“Ow- hey!”
Earring Tsukasa pushed past Hina, smirking. “I’m Nakayama, as you’ve heard.”
He did not seem sweet.
He seemed like a menace. Though.. not nearly as much of a menace as the jester version of Tsukasa did.
Speaking of-
“And I’m Jester,” The Tsukasa in a jester outfit piped up, raising his hand.
Tsukasa blinked, nodding. “Nice to meet you two..!”
Jesterkasa narrowed his eyes, staring at him judgingly. “...Sure.”
What was that supposed to mean..?
Tsukasa looked away from him, slightly sifting away.
Jesterkasa did not seem trustworthy.
There were a few more Tsukasa’s, though. One of them was.. Noticeably a bit shorter. Not only that, but there was a little fox beside him, and.. Was that a Tanuki?
Wait, then that wasn’t a fox, that was a Kitsune-!
SPIRITS?? MYSTICAL BEINGS TSUKASA???
Things just kept getting more and more amazing..! Tsukasa wondered what Rui would do when he saw this..
“Yokaikasa.” The boy said. Another thing Tsukasa realised, was that not only was he shorter, but he was also wearing a middle school Gakuran, and he had glasses.
Well, that explained the height. But was Tsukasa seriously that short in junior high…?
“Oh-”
Yokai gestured to the Kitsune and Tanuki at his side, “These are Kitsu and Nuki.”
Tsukasa nodded slowly. “Hm. Well, it’s nice to meet the three of you!!”
The next Tsukasa to introduce himself wore a white suit with flower motifs on it. “And I’m Timekeeperkasa! Or.. just Timekeeper, if that’s too much of a mouthful!”
“Timekeeper?” Tsukasa asked, raising an eyebrow curiously. “What do you do?”
Timekeeper shrugged, “I just keep track of any anomalies in time, make sure they don’t mess with anything!” He explained, “It’s.. kind of lonely, but I gotta do what I have to in order to protect the fate of the universe!”
..Oh!
Tsukasa nodded, “That.. okay!”
The last Tsukasa wore a green jacket, with a magnifying glass attached to the left. “Detectivekasa,” He greeted, “It’s pretty obvious what I am.”
Uh huh. He was a detective.
“And that’s it!” Miku explained, suddenly butting into the conversation with a large grin. She stood beside Tsukasa, rocking her heels back and forth, back and forth. “Unless any other Tsukasa’s are hiding around, hehe!”
Tsukasa slowly turned to look at Miku.
“..Are there?”
“Not as far as Miku knows!” The VIRTUAL SINGER chirped.
“How.. comforting.” Tsukasa muttered, turning back to the myriad of doppelgängers.
“So, what do we call you?” Hina piped up.
Tsukasa placed a hand to his chest. “..Tsukasa.”
Tsukasa original. Original Tsukasa. Him.
“How creative!”
“Well, if he’s the Tsukasa from this world, I suppose it makes sense.” Knightkasa pointed out. “Anyways.. What do we do now?”
Then, there was silence for a few moments.
“You said this was just a little pocket dimension thing, didn’t you, Miku?” Qilin asked, a devious little smirk spreading onto his face.
Miku nodded. “Mhm!! Miku did say that~! Why?”
Qilin turned to face Tsukasa.
“Can we go outside?” He asked.
…
Oh.
Oh, oh boy.
“Uh-” Tsukasa laughed nervously, “Is that the best idea..?”
Nakayama and Jester exchanged similar glances with one another. That, paired with Qilin’s grin, did not seem to imply anything good. In fact, from the looks of it, they seemed as if they wanted to cause chaos.
“Uuu.. Miku thinks that would cause problems..!!” Miku spoke up nervously. “Maybe it would be best if everyone stayed here..?”
“Aww..” Jester pouted, “Come on! Wouldn’t it be fun to let us out? I wanna meet the other people in this world!”
Qilin nodded in agreement. “Yeah! Pleeaasseeeee??????”
Oh god, this would NOT end well..
And then, all three Tsukasa’s turned to stare at the original, all with pleading eyes. “Pleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeee????????????????????”
Tsukasa grimaced, leaning back. “Like Miku said, that’s probably not-”
“We promise to behave!” Qilin cried out, “We won’t kill people!!”
“Excuse me?” Tsukasa blinked in horror. “Does that imply you have? ”
“I have.” Jester, Nakayama, Qilin, Knight, Yokai, Timekeeper, and King all chimed in unison.
Tsukasa was rightfully horrified at this new set of knowledge he was gifted. He did not need to know this, and now he realised just how dangerous some of these counterparts were.
And it only fueled him more to not let them out of SEKAI.
“No exiting SEKAI, all of you,” Tsukasa demanded, “I am NOT letting any of you out. If you want to see other people that badly, then you can find the other VIRTUAL SINGERs. And my friends can come here, too.”
“Aw,” Qilin pouted. “Okay.. I guess that’s fine, too.”
“Can you call your friends over now?” Timekeeper chimed. “I wanna meet them!!”
Tsukasa looked over to Miku, or.. Where Miku was. Because she was already sprinting away, yelling out something like “I’ll go find them~!” as she ran away into the distance.
With a sigh, he turned to face the group of Tsukasa’s (that was still so weird to say), crossing his arms. “Fine. I’ll call my troupe. But you guys NEED to promise me you won’t hurt anybody in any way. At all.”
“We promise,” Detectivekasa nodded, shooting a glance at Nakayama and Jester. “Right?”
Jester shrugged. “Eh. We’ll see about that.”
Detectivekasa glared at him.
“Okay, okay, fine! We won’t kill anybody!”
“Or hurt them.”
“Or anything of the sort?”
“Yeah, yeah..”
Detectivekasa sighed. He turned to face Tsukasa, “Someone can watch over these two, it’ll be fine. You can go call them.”
Tsukasa hesitated for a moment, nodding. “..Okay.. uh, yeah, let me just text them.”
He took out his phone, sending a quick text to the Wonderlands x Showtime group chat before looking back at the group. Some of the Tsukasa’s were chatting amongst one another, while others (mainly Torpe, Tsukasa noticed) were just standing there awkwardly.
It looked like they had integrated into their little groups already. The royalty trio, consisting of King, Lily, and Knight were all conversing calmly, while Nakayama and Jester were boasting to one another about.. Pranks?
Those two were.. probably people he should stay away from. Far, far away from.
Tsukasa mostly just also stood around awkwardly while waiting for his troupemates to arrive. He would talk to the other Kasa’s, but it also felt very strange to talk to the other Kasa’s.
Eventually, Tsukasa heard someone call out from behind him. It was Rui, waving with a calm smile on his face.
Until he saw everyone behind him. And his jaw dropped.
“...Tsukasa???”
Tsukasa turned around, laughing nervously. “Uh, hello, Rui..!”
“Huh?”
Some of the Tsukasa’s also turned to face him. Knightkasa had narrowed his eyes, instinctively reaching for his sword, and Timekeeper just tilted his head to the side curiously.
“Is that Rui?” Hina asked, smiling politely. “Oh, he’s.. Still tall.”
What did that mean..?
“Uh.. Tsukasa-kun?” Rui put a hand on Tsukasa’s shoulder, confused. “Why are there.. several alternate versions of you?”
“Uhh..” Tsukasa coughed. “I.. surprise..???”
“What is he doing here?” Knightkasa spat out, pointing to Rui.
Torpe looked up at Knight, “..You guys aren’t.. Friends?”
“Friends? Never,” Knightkasa huffed bitterly. “We’re enemies.”
Qilin raised an eyebrow, humming. “Enemies, huh?”
Tsukasa glanced back at the others before facing Rui once more. “So uh. Yeah, this happened.”
..Oh god why did Rui look like that please not that look.
Tsukasa took a step back from the director. “..Rui what are you plotting.”
“Hm?”
“Don’t play dumb, I know what that face implies.”
Rui chuckled, “I have no idea what you mean, Tsukasa.”
Tsukasa narrowed his eyes, “YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!”
“Hm.” Jesterkasa raised an eyebrow, smirking. “He seems close enough to my Rui. He still looks like a little shrimp, too. Look at that posture..”
Rui looked over to Jesterkasa, “..Pardon?”
The jester grinned, laughing. In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of Rui, his hand stretched out and waiting to be shaken. “Absolutely wonderful to meet you, sir~!”
“I’m.. flattered?” Rui muttered awkwardly.
Rui slowly took his hand, giving it a quick shake. “..My, don’t you have quite the strong grip.”
“Thank you!”
Jesterkasa snickered, “I believe it’s one of my more positive qualities! You can call me Jesterkasa!”
“Jester.. Huh?”
Rui’s eyes widened. “I see.. So, you’re a variant of Tsukasa, then?”
“You found out quicker than the man himself,” Jesterkasa piped up, smirking. “Smarter than I thought.”
“..I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Rui tugged his hand away (with some difficulty), turning to the rest of the Tsukasa’s. “And the rest of you?”
One by one, all the other Tsukasa’s introduced himself. Knightkasa seemed a bit reluctant, with Lily having to convince him to take his hand off his sword lest somebody gets stabbed.
“Alternate universes, huh..” Rui hummed, a cat-like smile on his face. “How intriguing.. I never knew those existed. This is a pleasant surprise, isn’t it?”
He turned to look at an exasperated Tsukasa. “Sure..”
Rui simply laughed.
Hina took a deep breath, putting his hands on his hips. “Is it alright if I explore this place for a bit?” He asked politely, looking over to Tsukasa. “I’d like to see what else this place has, if that’s alright.”
Qilin nodded, gasping with a large smile, “Yeah, can we?!”
“Well..”
Tsukasa sighed. Was it really the best idea to let several doppelgängers roam free in a very large place where they could get lost easily?
…
Well, there were the other VIRTUAL SINGERs too, so.. he was sure they could help them if they got lost.
“Alright, fine, go ahead.”
And in the blink of an eye- almost all the Tsukasa’s had run off.
The blond sighed.
This was not going to end well..
————
Hina had somehow gotten dragged along with Jester instead of Nakayama. So that was going to end well, surely. Pair the most calm Tsukasa with the one who would fistfight god.
The two had stumbled upon a little pastel tent, about the size of a small house. It was much smaller than the other tents they had seen, anyway.
Jester grabbed Hina’s sleeve, immediately dragging him inside with a wide grin full of curiosity and.. whatever he was feeling. “Let’s go inside!”
“Oh-!” Hina yelped, stumbling as he was dragged. “Alright..!”
Jester opened the flap of the tent, looking around.
And the two were immediately met with a chorus of shrieks.
“Huh?!”
“UWAHHH!!!”
Hina cried out in surprise, staring at all the plushies inside the tent.
The plushies that were moving. And speaking.
Jesterkasa gasped, immediately picking one up and tossing them into the air. “Aww, look at these little guys!” He exclaimed, “They’re so cute~!”
“PUT ME DOWN-!!!” The plushie squealed, flailing their little arms in the air.
All the other plushies started lightly hitting Jester’s legs, calling out for him to put their friend down. Hina sighed, taking the plushie from him and setting him back down on the floor.
“Sorry about that,” He apologised, looking up at his otherworldly counterpart. “Jester, you say sorry too.”
Jester scoffed, shaking his head. “Nah, he had fun! Right, little guy?”
The plushie pouted, “I’m a girl.”
“Oh shit my bad.” Jester immediately replied with wide eyes, somehow sounding the most genuine he had this entire time since Hina met him today.
“Who are you two?” One of the other plushies, a little birdie, asked. “You look like Tsukasa-kun!”
Hina smiled gently, patting the little bird on the head. “Well, that’s because we are!” He chirped, “We’re Tsukasa, too- but from different worlds!”
“Ehhh?!!!”
The plushies started calling out and yelling in surprise once more, excitedly climbing onto the two and asking them questions.
“Why do you look like that?”
“What’s that tattoo for?”
“Can I touch your hat?”
“Can I wear your hat?”
“Is that pegasus alive?”
“Ahaha..” Hina chuckled nervously, “Calm down, all of you..!”
The plushies did not calm down. They were too excited with these new Tsukasa’s to calm down.
At least they were soft?
“These guys are feisty,” Jester scoffed, his eyebrows raised with a playful smirk. He looked down at Hina. “What’s with that look?”
“Oh..”
Hina looked up at Jester, laughing softly as he patted one of the plushies on their head. “They just remind me of some of my friends back home. They’re dolls, too.”
“Huh,” Jester hummed. “Is your Rui a doll too?”
“No,” Hina shook his head. “He’s a librarian. We just live in the library with him. I don’t think he knows we exist, actually. To him, we’re just antique dolls, new and old.”
Jester stretched, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. “That’s weird. I work with my Rui. Do you want to know him?”
“Mine or yours?” Hina asked.
“Yours. How come you’re here and not.. a doll?”
“I’m the spirit inside the doll,” Hina corrected. “I’ve never shown myself to my Rui, but I’ve seen the relationships he has with his other customers. I think it would be nice to be friends with him.”
Jesterkasa raised an eyebrow curiously. “Why haven’t you shown yourself?”
Hina shrugged. “I’m not sure how he’d react. After all, I think most people would be quite afraid if their doll started speaking to them.”
“I guess,” Jester muttered. “But you never know, he might be chill with it.”
Hina smiled, “I suppose I can try when I get back. Thank you, Jester.”
Jester paused, staring at Hina for a moment before grinning back. “Yeah, no problem.”
Huh.
Maybe Jesterkasa wasn’t as bad as Hina thought.
————
Lily had chosen to drag Knightkasa around, so that he wouldn’t stab anybody with his sword!
Knightkasa went with Lily because Lily was a prince. And knights were supposed to protect the royal family.
He would have liked to go with King, too- however, Kingkasa had decided to go with Timekeeper.
“This place is so colourful,” Lily had muttered to himself, “I can’t believe someone’s own feelings made a place like this!”
Knightkasa hummed, nodding in agreement. “It is very impressive.. I wonder what it would look like if I had one of my own.”
Lily looked over to Knight, smiling. “Well, what stuff do you like? Or.. what did Miku say it was.. Your- ‘true feelings?’”
Knightkasa paused, thinking for a moment. “Well, out of everything, I suppose what I wish to do more than anything is.. To protect those close to me.” He put a hand to his chest, looking down with a calm smile, full of determination.
“To protect..”
Lily nodded, sending Knightkasa a thumbs up. “That’s an admirable goal!”
“Thank you.” Knightkasa nodded back. “What about you, may I ask?”
Lily hummed. “Well, I think I want to be able to rule over my kingdom well! Make sure everybody is happy and healthy!” He smiled. “And I want to connect with our neighbouring kingdom!”
“Neighbouring kingdom?” Knightkasa repeated curiously. “May I ask who rules that kingdom?”
“Well actually-“ Lily chuckled nervously, “I don’t.. know?”
“..What?”
“We’re not actually allowed to interact with them-“ Lily explained. “My parents don’t let me. Said they’re dangerous, but I don’t believe it. After all, they’re people, like us! So I want to make an alliance when I take the throne!”
Knight nodded, “That’s interesting.. And it’s a nice goal as well. I admire you for that.”
Lily huffed proudly, placing a hand on his hips. “Why, thank you! I promise to be the best king I can be! And my coronation is actually coming soon, in about a year or so.”
“Is it?”
“Mhm!!”
Knight nodded. “I hope it goes well for you, then.”
“Thank you!” Lily grinned. The two continued to walk around, exploring the different contents of SEKAI. In fact, they even met some plushies wandering around, discovering that they were somehow sentient beings in this strange world.
At one point, Knightkasa sighed in relief, his tense shoulders loosening. It seemed this place wasn’t dangerous in the slightest after all. The only possible danger that existed here was just Jesterkasa and Nakayama.
And that damned sorcerer.
————
Timekeeper was, to say the very least, extremely excited to be here. He was skipping around, jumping, looking at everything-
It was a nice change after being lonely for.. well, forever! At least there were people here! He liked people. He talked a lot. He hoped it didn’t bother anyone.
Thankfully, the king seemed to take a liking to his constant yapping. He even replied sometimes, sprouting a conversation about anything, really.
Eventually, their topic shifted to food, after the two stumbled upon a cart of cotton candy. King wasn’t sure if it was safe to eat, but Timekeeper wanted to try it!
Or.. see if he could! He was a Timekeeper, an immortal being. He didn’t need to eat or sleep to survive. But he’s slept a few times anyway.. And he’s never had food before.
Ever.
Timekeeper had never eaten a single thing before in his entire life. And he had existed since the start of time.
..Well, that was what his Miku told him.
He didn’t really remember it. Most people don’t remember when they were born, but was he even born if he was always there?
He didn’t have a birthday. He’d always wanted to have a birthday, but he wasn’t born.
He told King about this. He told King everything that came into his mind, he just talked.
King consoled him, telling him that it was alright. He stepped towards the cotton candy stall, examining it carefully.
It didn’t seem bad..
He’d had cotton candy before, when he was a prince. But that was a long time ago.
The king looked over to Timekeeper. “Do you.. Want to try it?”
Timekeeper gasped and grinned, immediately nodding. “Yes, yeah, yes please!!”
King nodded for him to come over, plucking a stick from the cart and handing it over to Timekeeper. “Here you are, then.”
“Thank you!!”
Timekeeper snatched the stick from King, grinning widely as he sniffed the cotton candy curiously. “It smells so good..”
He paused, looking over to King. “How do I eat this?” He asked, “Do I just.. Put it in my mouth like all the humans do..?”
King blinked rapidly, opening his mouth before pausing. He wasn’t sure how to answer that question, actually.
“You, uh..”
Timekeeper nodded, a wide smile on his face as he waited patiently for King’s response.
“…Yes?” King replied hesitantly. He didn’t.. know if that was the right answer, but he also didn’t know any other way to eat something. Perhaps he could just.. absorb it though his skin.
…
The mouth was probably their best bet.
Timekeeper nodded, taking a deep a breath before opening his mouth. “Okay, here I go-!”
…
He tried to shove all of it into his mouth. The entire fucking cotton candy- he tried shoving all of it into his mouth, even the stick.
“W-wait, not like that!” King cried out, shaking his head. “Not all of it, you’ll choke!”
“Hhmrfff-?” Timekeeper took the cotton candy out of his mouth with a little ‘bleh’ sound, looking curiously at King. “So.. how do I eat it?”
“Slowly, little pieces at a time,” King explained. “Just.. bite parts off.”
“Ohh…”
Timekeeper nodded, trying it once again, this time in a smaller piece. He bit the cotton candy, his eyes widening at how soft the food was.
“MMPH??!!”
The Timekeeper gasped, his eyes sparkling in excitement as he pointed to his mouth. “ISSHH GOOF!!!!” He yelled out, voice muffled as he took another bite. How had he not tried this before?!
King chuckled, smiling softly. “Is it?”
Timekeeper nodded, grinning from ear to ear as he continued to devour the dessert.
“Fhhank you!!” Timekeeper squealed, wrapping his arms around King. He quickly let go, though, so he could finish the cotton candy. In fact, he almost ate the stick too, before the King hastily stopped him from doing so.
“Did you like it?” King asked, throwing Timekeeper’s stick in the trash for him.
“Mhmm!” Timekeeper nodded giddily, “Thank you so much, King~!”
“Well, I didn’t make it, but..” King smiled. “You’re welcome. I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
Timekeeper hummed to himself, “What other things can we do here?” He asked, looking around. He looked at the sky, gasping when he noticed the flying train.
“Look, King!” He pointed to the train, nudging his counterpart. “How do we get up there?”
King’s eyes widened, “You want to go on that thing..?!”
Timekeeper nodded. “Sure! It looks fun, doesn’t it?”
King stared at the train.
How would they.. how did you get on it? And if you managed to get on, how did you get back down?
“U-um..”
Well.. he couldn’t just let him down. After all, Timekeeper had never done anything remotely human before. For some reason, King wanted to give him these experiences.
He was a king, his job was to guide and care for the people in his kingdom, no matter who. And even then, he was a KING! He couldn’t be scared of.. Heights or whatever!
And admittedly, he was also curious to see how the view would be from somewhere up there..
Kingkasa sighed. “Alright, fine. Let’s be careful though, don’t get hurt.”
“Yay!” Timekeeper grabbed Kingkasa’s wrist, dragging him towards the train. “Let’s go! And don’t worry, I can’t even get hurt! One time I was bored so I started climbing one of the hourglasses cause Miku challenged me to, but it was a really big one and I think I fell like, halfway? And then I just fell to the ground but I didn’t feel anything, I just landed there, and then Miku did it too and I caught her..”
…Kingkasa chuckled nervously, nodding.
Concerning.
————
Somehow, Torpe had ended up with Yokai. And Yokai’s buddies.
They were quiet. And creepy. And they didn’t say anything.
Torpe didn’t say anything, either, but the silence was rather.. Uncomfortable.
He wasn’t sure what to say. There was this.. He wasn’t sure if ‘aura’ was the right word to use, but the air around them felt tense, and Yokaikasa just looked really intimidating despite being.. Short.
Yokai, in the meantime, wasn’t exactly sure what to think of Torpe. He seemed like a nice guy, he could tell, but.. He wasn’t sure how to start a conversation with him. Yokai was more of a quiet person as well, not because he didn’t exactly know how to talk to people- but because he preferred not to.
So maybe pairing an anxious introvert that can’t talk with an antisocial who won’t talk wasn’t exactly the best idea.
Torpe cleared his throat. “So.. what do you do in.. your world..?”
Yokai turned to look at Torpe. “Well.. I exorcise evil spirits. These guys don’t count, they’re just my buddies.”
“That’s.. Nice,” Torpe nodded, unsure of what else to say.
They were quiet for a few more moments. Kitsu was trotting in between the two Tsukasa’s, and occasionally, their fur brushed against Torpe’s leg.
Fluffy. He kind of wanted to touch him.
He shouldn’t, though. He didn’t know if he was okay with that. Also it might be weird, and he didn’t want to make things weird. So he should just.. stay. Stiff. And not touching anything.
“I think Kitsu likes you.”
Torpe’s eyes widened at the sudden comment from Yokai. “E-eh..?”
“He wouldn’t have walked beside you if he didn’t.”
“Oh..”
Torpe smiled awkwardly. “That’s.. Nice.”
“Do you want to pet him?” Yokai asked, his tone low and without emotion.
The pianist’s eyes widened in surprise. “W-wait, I can..?”
Yokai shrugged. “Do you want to?”
..How blunt. Did he not feel at least a little bit awkward?
It didn’t.. seem like it..
Strange. Though.. he supposed most people did not feel awkward around people. So maybe it made sense, but it was just strange to him.
“Well..” Torpe gulped, “Yes, but- are you sure I can-?”
“I asked, didn’t I?” Yokai pointed out.
“Right.. pardon me, then.”
Torpe awkwardly bent down, giving the little fox a pat on the head.
Its fur was soft. Very soft, just like how he’d imagined it would be. He liked it a lot.
Torpe smiled, returning to his stiff posture. “Thank you very much..”
Yokai nodded. He looked to his shoulder, where his Tanuki was watching curiously, the leaf on his head gently blowing in the wind. “Yeah, no problem.”
The two continued walking in complete silence, until they found a little tent. It was a nice shade of blue, with yellow and white accents. When the two entered, both boys were surprised to see a piano in the middle of the stage.
“Huh,” Yokai raised his eyebrows, “Didn’t expect something like this here.”
Torpe awkwardly nodded in agreement. If he was just a role that this world’s Tsukasa played, then that meant he likely knew how to play the piano. That probably explained why the piano was here, but he didn’t expect there to be a whole stage dedicated to it. Even more so, it was just that piano. No other instruments, there was just a giant grand piano sitting in the middle of the stage- there was even a spotlight illuminating it, as if to even further point out, “Hey! There’s a giant piano here and nothing else at all! Just this piano, folks!”
Yokai looked over to Torpe. He wasn’t all that interested in this piano, but Torpe seemed as if he wanted to play it. Admittedly, he felt a little bad for causing him to feel nervous around him, although it wasn’t his fault at all that he didn’t like talking to people. He didn’t understand how so many of the other Tsukasa’s had such loud personalities, compared to him. And Torpe, actually. Despite their clear differences, it did seem as if they still shared some similarities anyway.
“You said you were a pianist, right?” Yokai pointed out, “Do you want to play something?”
“Huh?” Torpe looked over to his younger counterpart. “You want me to play something?”
Yokai shrugged. “I asked if you wanted to,” He corrected, “You looked like you wanted to, anyway.”
Torpe looked back at the piano. “Uh, right.. Any song suggestions, or can I just play whatever?”
Yokai led the pianist to the front of the stage, sitting down in the seat closest to the middle whilst beckoning for him to go onto the stage. Kitsu hopped onto the seat beside him, curling up as their tails swished back and forth, while Nuki decided to sit on Yokai’s lap. The blond hummed, patting their head. “Nah. Go ahead.”
Torpe nodded, walking up the stairs to the stage and sitting himself down on the seat in front of the piano. He could feel his heart beating in his chest- he was nervous. Even if he had just a bit more confidence in playing in front of a crowd, he still got nervous right before he was about to perform.
He took a deep breath. It’s okay, this was a nice break from performing for an audience over 100, sometimes even the whole village. This time, he was just playing for one person, and a few animals. He’d played for animals before, everything would be okay.
Torpe just wanted to play. Just play, play the piano.
He put his hand over the keys, and began to press down, his fingers dancing elegantly across the 88 black and white keys to create a calm, gentle melody that echoed across the tent. Yokai watched quietly, nodding along to the tune.
Torpe was completely zoned out as he played. He just.. he didn’t even know what song he was playing, he was just making something up.
Whatever sounded nice together. Wherever his fingers went.
But it was nice. It was fun.
After Torpe finished, he blinked once, twice, before looking over to Yokai. The boy in the audience seat clapped politely, nodding firmly.
“That was good,” He commented, “I liked it a lot. Thank you.”
“Oh..” Torpe chuckled nervously, smiling. “Thank you.”
Yokai nodded. “You’re welcome.”
The pianist hopped down from the stage, and the two walked back outside the tent. It was less awkward, now, even though it was still quiet.
It was more of a comfortable silence.
It was nice.
————
“Little bitch.”
“Fucking whore.”
“Little bitch.. fucking- whore.”
“That’s enough, you two.”
Detective sighed, running a hand over his face. How did he end up with these two? And why were they fighting, they seemed to get along so well earlier.
But no. No, now they were bickering. And it was annoying.
“Nakayama started it!” Qilin whined, sending an accusatory finger at him.
“Bitch no I didn’t,” Nakayama narrowed his eyes. “You called me a fucking eagle.”
“That’s because you LOOK LIKE ONE!”
“ HOW?!!! ” Nakayama yelled out.
“That’s ENOUGH! ”
Detective pushed the two away from one another. “God, could you two just stop fucking bickering?! It’s so annoying!”
Qilin huffed. “Well, my bad for defending my case,”
“This isn’t a courtroom, Qilin.” Detective hissed, “Don’t test me.”
“Don’t test ME, I’m GOD!”
“How’s the almighty God going to kill a simple little shadow?” Nakayama teased, raising his arms in the air with a smirk.
Qilin scoffed, sending him a shit-eating grin in return. “How’s a simple little shadow going to kill God? ”
Nakayama inhaled sharply.
“Well shit, ya got me there.”
“Wonderful, can you two stop now?” Detective snapped. “Because it looks like you’re done.”
“No we’re not.”
“What gave you that idea?”
The God and the Shadow glared at each other.
Detective sighed, “Why did I decide to follow you two..”
“Not our fault,” Qilin shrugged. He looked around, “Hey, is there any food here? I’m getting hungry.”
“We can look around, then.” Detective offered, purposely putting himself between the two. “It’s been a while since I ate something, too.”
“Man, I wish I could eat.” Nakayama complained, pouting. “I suppose this will be the only thing I can actually eat for a long time.”
“What do you mean?” Qilin asked. “Why can’t you eat?”
“I’m a shadow.” Nakayama deadpanned. “Not right now, of course- but I may or may not have been cursed back in my world.”
“Ohh,” Qilin hummed, “So you can’t eat?”
“Nope. I’m just there, watching from the wall.”
“…”
Qilin snorted. “Sucks to be you.”
“I am going to FUCKING KILL YOU”
“STOP IT.”
Nakayama scoffed, folding his arms. “Look at me, trying to have a dramatic moment and all you do is bully me.”
Qilin raised an eyebrow. “What, do you want me to share a sob story now?” He asked, folding his arms. “Cause guess what, I got none!”
Both Detective and Nakayama shared a knowing look. That was clearly a lie. Qilin didn’t look like a good liar, anyway.
“..What’s with that look.” The dragon asked.
“You’re a bad liar.”
“I'm not even a detective and I know you’re a bad liar.” Nakayama added.
Qilin’s lips thinned out into a straight line. “Goddamn, I forgot there was a detective here.”
“What is that supposed to entail?”
Ignoring Detective’s comment, Qilin sighed, continuing. “Welp, I guess all I have is, uh- being immortal. It kinda really fucking sucks, with everyone you get close to having to.. die and all.”
“Oh.”
Nakayama pressed his lips together. “Yeah, I guess that does suck.”
“You’re in the same boat, aren’t you?” Detective asked. “I don’t think shadows can die.”
Nakayama laughed monotonously. “Haha.. yeah, I guess so. Whoever cursed me is still alive and well, unfortunately. One day, I’m gonna find a way to kill that bitch.”
“People try to kill me!” Qilin added suddenly, as if it was no big deal.
Detective looked over at Qilin in confusion. “Huh? I thought you were God or whatever.”
Qilin chuckled nervously, a sheepish grin on his face as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I- I mean, yeah, I am, but I kind of.. Fucked up? And everyone hates me now..??”
The other two Tsukasa variants both blinked.
“What?”
“How did you fuck up so bad that everyone has decided to try and kill God ?” Nakayama questioned. “What, did you bring a famine to the land or something? Did you smite people with lighting??”
Qilin paused for a moment before speaking up again. “I destroyed an entire kingdom.”
…
Silence.
“You what? ”
“I didn’t mean to!” Qilin cried. “It was an accident, really, it was-! Just.. no one believes that.”
“How do you fuck up that bad..” Nakayama muttered to himself, shaking his head. “Okay, whatever. Can’t you just kill them back?”
“And make everyone hate me more??”
“Right..”
“..You can’t die, so.. does it hurt?”
“Does what hurt?”
“If the people like, stab you and stuff. Does it still hurt?”
“I mean, of course it does!” Qilin exclaimed, “I uh, can’t die but it doesn’t mean I’m immune to pain. I guess that’s not actually a good thing in the end because like, if someone kidnaps me and just tortures me for eternity it’ll hurt like a bitch.”
Detective hummed. “But you could probably just use your powers in that situation, couldn’t you?”
“Yeah, that’s right.” Qilin snapped his fingers, nodding. “But I’ll just use it to escape, I’d rather not use my overpowered abilities to kill people. Again. They go overboard most of the time, I don’t have the best control over it.”
“You’re a God and you don’t know how to properly use your powers?!” Nakayama yelled out.
“Nnnnooo.”
“…” Nakayama groaned, face palming. “Jesus fucking Christ..”
“What have you been doing for eternity if not honing your powers?” Detective asked, curious.
“Uhh..”
Qilin laughed nervously, “Sooo, uh what about you, Detective? What’s your story?”
Detective stared directly at Qilin, pondering if he should let the conversation change course or continue prying. It wasn’t like they were interrogating Qilin or anything, these questions were just formed from curiosity. There wasn’t really any mystery to solve, either than Qilin’s mysterious dark past of being a God that not only doesn’t know how to properly use his powers, but, from what Detective gathered and could assume, accidentally used these powers to destroy an entire kingdom, likely killing hundreds, if not thousands, of people.
He’d like to know more about this. It was in his nature, he was curious. Of course, it didn’t seem like Qilin was willing to share any more about the situation.
Perhaps, if he wouldn’t learn anything verbally, he could try to pick up on small social cues when they spoke about something else, occasionally bringing up something that could remind Qilin of his past or his world in an attempt to see his reaction to it.
It was a bit cruel, but that was just what he did as a detective. Well, either way, he supposed he could find a way while talking about himself.
“I’m a detective,” Detective replied plainly. How creative. “We’re working on trying to catch the Phantom Thief at this moment in time.”
“Who?”
“We don’t know their name yet,” Detective explained. “But they have pink hair, usually in a side ponytail.”
“Akiyama?” Qilin asked. “Reminds me of someone I know.”
“Do they?” Detective hummed. “Well.. if we’re in parallel universes, then the people are probably the same. After all, we’re all Tsukasa. So perhaps..” He thought for a moment. “What did you say their name was, again?”
“Akiyama. Mizuki Akiyama. Why?”
“You might’ve just solved the case.”
“Eh? I did?” Qilin asked, his eyes widening in surprise.
Detective nodded, grinning. “Uh huh. Thanks for the help, Qilin.”
“Oh..” Qilin blinked, grinning. “Sweet! But that means you owe me something in return, now that I’ve helped you!” He exclaimed, placing his hands on his hips with pride.
“Well, what do you want?”
“Dango.” Qilin replied immediately, “Give me dango. I fucking love dango.”
While the two Tsukasa’s were now actively talking with one another, Nakayama simply watched, just as he’s always done. It’s helped him learn how to read people a lot better, and from the looks of it, Qilin still seemed to be hiding a lot of things. He wasn’t faking anything, but Nakayama could tell there were many missing pieces to his story.
Though, he was curious about one thing.
“Who the fuck is Akiyama Mizuki?”
————
Soon enough (read: absolutely not soon after they left), the Tsukasa variants had finished exploring SEKAI, or at least what parts of SEKAI they wanted to, and had been rounded up by the VIRTUAL SINGERs.
“So, what do we do now?” Tsukasa asked, looking over to KAITO and practically begging him to do something about this through his expression alone. Hina and Yokai were trying to stop Kitsu and Nuki from mauling Usa-chan to the ground and ripping out her stuffing, while Jester was.. Talking to Torpe about something. Detective was asking around about Mizuki, for some reason, and Knight..
He was glaring angrily at KAITO and Rui. None of them knew why and it kind of scared them. Somehow, Emu and Nene hadn’t arrived yet, either. Only Rui had read the text he had sent. Maybe the two girls were just busy with something, then.
“Well.. I’ve never seen anything like this happen before, nor have I ever even heard of it,” KAITO muttered, “I suppose the best thing we can do is wait until they get sent back, however they can be sent back.”
Tsukasa’s jaw dropped in horror. “I have to WAIT??”
KAITO nodded, chuckling nervously. “..Happy birthday?”
Tsukasa blinked. “Excuse me for a moment.”
He turned around, walking off in another direction for a bit.
“..What is he-“
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”
Rui blinked. “..Oh.”
He could understand why it was stressful for him. But at the same time, Rui felt as though Tsukasa should be more excited! He knew he was, despite one of the Tsukasa’s staring him down as if he had destroyed his entire home and killed his family. This was a once in a lifetime experience! The proven existence of alternative universes! How could Rui not be excited?
Tsukasa cleared his throat, walking back to the group. “My apologies.”
“Are you okay?”
“Perfectly fine! Why?”
Rui nodded, “O..kay. If you need anything, I’m always here.”
Tsukasa sighed, placing his hand on his director’s shoulder. “Thank you, Rui.”
“KAITO-kun!! The emo one is bullying me!” The blond heard Len cry from a distance. Oh, so now they were targeting the other VIRTUAL SINGERs, too? How lovely.
Tsukasa just wanted to sleep now. How did this even end up happening..?
“Uu.. Tsukasa-kun?”
“Huh-?” Tsukasa turned around, looking at the Vocaloid tapping his shoulder. “Yes, Miku?”
“There are.. more of them.”
Tsukasa’s face fell. “..What-”
“-THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU??!!”
A familiar yell echoed across the SEKAI. Surprisingly, the voice was from..
Nene?
And..
Oh.
Oh god.
Oh, god, no, please.
“There’s MORE???????”