Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

[EMPTY SEKAI: 1]


The Empty SEKAI had become predictable to Miku by now. Beneath its chipped pillars and still rivers, it wasn’t all that tiring to figure out. And that is why her current situation was so… odd.

Given that everything seemed alright within the SEKAI, and the Nightcord members were occupied with their various schoolwork, Miku had decided she’d nap with Rin and Len for a couple of hours. One second, she was sleeping peacefully alongside the pair of them. The next…

“Oi! Rin! Give me my tie back!”

“Aww, come on, Len! I think it looks great on me!” Rin responded, twirling around in place. The closer Miku looked, the more she could see a blue and white necktie draped around the other’s neck. Len didn’t respond, simply choosing to deliver a swift kick to Rin’s shins.

At this, Miku’s eyes widened. Kagamine Len, the same Kagamine Len who wouldn’t so much as let out a sound unless Miku was within a ten-meter radius, had just kicked someone. And it seemed like Rin wasn’t going down without a fight either, grabbing some kind of leather belt loop and using it to push Len to the ground.

“Now, now… come on, everyone…” Another voice called from the distance. KAITO emerged, smiling and dressed head-to-toe in a white suit, “Let’s not bicker over nothing now, hm? I’m sure we can find something else to do…”

At this, the twins appeared to go docile. And that just left Miku with a whole entourage of other questions. How had KAITO shut the pair down so quickly? Where had he acquired that bizarre suit? And most importantly, why in Mafuyu’s name was he being so nice?!

“Fufu… you seem to be confused too…”

Miku turned her head, only to be greeted by another pair of both familiar and unfamiliar virtual singers. A Luka wearing a long shimmery white dress with blue accents, and a MEIKO donning some kind of over-accessorized school attire. The former chuckled again, sitting down and proceeding to grab Miku’s cheeks in a squishing motion.

“Our Miku always smiles when we do this… c’mon… give us a smile…”

Miku blinked a bit, ignoring how weird the sensation in her cheeks felt as her mind was racing at a thousand miles an hour. But before she could get even more of her questions out, a familiar twinkling sound resounded throughout the SEKAI.

“Hey, Rin!” Ena’s voice called, the sound of footsteps gently drawing closer, “I finally finished the piece for my midterm! Come and take a look- WHAT THE FUCK?!”

Miku turned around, feeling a sense of comfort as Ena stood before her, looking as shell-shocked as everyone else about the situation. 

“Ah… apologies for the language, Miku… BUT WHO THE FUCK ARE ALL OF YOU?!” Ena repeated, gesturing to the assorted crowd of vocaloids before her. At this, MEIKO giggled, tilting her head a bit.

“Is everything okay over there? You’re looking a little pale…”

“I… WH… WHAT?!”

“Oi, Enanan… keep it down…” Another voice called out, this one clearly belonging to Mizuki. She was approaching everyone else, with Kanade and Mafuyu slowly trailing behind. “We can hear your foul mouth from the other end, you kn-”

Mizuki cut themself off, looking a little taken aback herself, blinking manically. Kanade just chuckled, giving the group an awkward smile.

“Ah… good evening…”

“Ah, is everyone here?” KAITO asked, giving everyone another gentle smile. “Then… ah… we don’t exactly have a show to start here, do we?”

"…"

"..."

"..."

“...what?” Mafuyu asked.

[WONDERLAND SEKAI: 1]

“TSUKASA-KUN! TSUKASA-KUN!”

“Shh- Miku, I’m on welcome duty! I can’t check my phone right now!” Tsukasa hissed, “I’ll speak to you later, just stay in my pocket for now..”

“But Tsukasa-kun!” Miku whined, looking up at the other with wide, sparkling eyes. “It’s an emergency! Kaito’s lost all of his BANG POW!”

“All… of his what?” Tsukasa mumbled, biting his lip. Even after all these years, he still didn’t fully get what Rui had dubbed as ‘Emu speak.’ “I’m sorry, Miku, but I really can’t help right now… the teachers will get annoyed with me if I disappear.”

“Awww… alright! I’m gonna go and check with Emu!” Miku responded, a newfound sparkle in her eyes before her hologram vanished. Tsukasa blinked a bit, sighing before putting his phone back in his pocket.

“KAITO’S LOST HIS WHAT?!” Emu shouted, practically vibrating from confusion outside the gates of Miya Girls.

“Yeah! All his BANG POW! All his WHOOSH WOOSH! He’s so… different! You’ve gotta come to SEKAI right away!”

“Roger that!” Emu replied, giving Miku a little salute. If any of the plushes ever lost their spark, Emu’d just give them a little super secret Wandahoi magic and they were right back to normal within 5 minutes, so surely the same thing would work with KAITO!

…was what Emu would’ve said. Until she came face-to-face with something so terrifying, that it made Mafuyu’s faux smile look like a fluffy kitten in comparison.

“Stop staring.” KAITO sighed, clicking his tongue a bit, “You look ridiculous.”

“Is he always like this…?” A voice piped up from behind Emu, who spun around in its direction.

“Rin-chan, you know that KAITO is usually much more Wandahoi than this- WOAH!!! Rin-chan, your new clothes are SO CUTE! Your patches are so Wandahoi! Is this a new costume? Did you get inspired when we watched Saki-chan and the others perform?”

“Ehh? No, this isn’t a costume!” The Rin responded indignantly, “This is what I always wear!”

“Well, if the girl thinks it’s a costume…”

“Shush, Len! At least I look cuter than you do!”

And just like that, the pair began bickering back and forth- chuckling and shoving each other playfully, much to the dismay of KAITO, who was pinching his nose and sighing through gritted teeth.

“...I need a Xanax.”

“Oh! Hang on, I might have something in my pocket-”

“Jesus Christ, do you ever stop talking? And here I thought my SEKAI’s Luka was a pain in the ass.”

“I’m just being nice! And I’d rather be a pain in the ass than have a stick six inches up it!”

“Wh- what the fuck is that about?!”

“Alright, alright, pack it up, you two…” Another voice came from behind them as a gracefully dressed MEIKO appeared from behind a pillar, ‘I’m all for some good-natured teasing, but let’s try not to kill each other, ‘kay?”

At this point, Emu felt like her brain was about to BANG BOOM straight out of her head. Looking over to an equally confused Miku, she knew there was only one thing she could do. Grabbing her phone back out of her pocket, she threw a desperate message into the WXS group chat.

“COME TO SEKAI ASAP! WE HAVE A SUPER SECRET INVESTIGATION TO DO!”

Time passed by fairly quickly, and soon enough, Emu’s phone pinged thrice with three separate messages.

[NENE-CHAN! ❤]: ‘Alright, alright… I’m coming…’

[RUI-KUN! 𝅘𝅥𝅮]: ‘Interesting… I’ll be right over…’

[TSUKASA-KUN! ★]: “Oh god…”

[STREET SEKAI: 1]

“MEIKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Miku was running around the streets of the SEKAI, searching up and down for the mother figure she was so used to having just a couple of rooms away in the case of disaster.

Because, frankly, she was experiencing a disaster at this very moment.

Weirdly enough, it wasn’t all that uncommon to wake up to something burning in Crass Cafe. Be it KAITO completely forgetting to take something off the stove before wandering off, or Len turning the oven up far too high, a mess to sort was never too far away. So when Miku woke up to the scent of burnt food crossing under her bedroom door, she didn’t think much about it. What caught her attention was the distinct voice of MEIKO, who was far too excited considering what seemed to be happening downstairs.

Scrambling downstairs to the cafe revealed what Miku believed to be imposters of both Luka and MEIKO, standing in the middle of what she could only describe as a crime scene. Miku blinked and rubbed her eyes, only to confirm that, yes, this was actually fucking happening right now. And it seemed like she wasn’t the only one in a state of disbelief, as an unfamiliar KAITO was sat in a fetal position in a corner of the room.

So, after realizing that there was no way in hell that Miku could sort out this nightmare on her own, she realized she had to find MEIKO, and fast. But she was quickly losing hope. The streets were dead- aside from Rin and Len in much flashier outfits than anything else present in either’s wardrobe. 

“Well… no harm done, eh…?” Miku muttered, walking back to Crase Cafe dejected, “I’ll just send MEIKO a text message, tell her what the hell’s happening, and try and clean all this up myself! The kids aren’t gonna come over until later, after all”

“WHO THE FUCK GOT MURDERED IN HERE?!”

“...fucking fantastic,” Miku muttered, running over to the cafe, her eyes being met with the sight of a highly concerned An in the doorway. The latter turned to the Virtual Singer, her face encased in horror.

“Hey… Miku…”

“I wish I could tell ya what all this is, An, but I’ve got no clue. I just woke up to this.”

“Gotcha…” An chuckled weakly, unable to completely rip her gaze off the horror unfolding in front of her. “Uh… do you need any help here?”

“Yeah… probably,” Miku admitted, snatching the broom off of the wall. Her sweeping only lasted for a couple of minutes, though, before a discontented whine rang in her ears.

“Aw, are we wrapping up the fun so soon?” Luka sighed, crossing her arms in discontent. “What a shame. I had fun seeing your mind at work, MEIKO.”

“Hehe, I’ll be happy to have you as an assistant anytime, Luka! Hmm… come to think of it, I might have a couple of things we can test outside instead?”

“Oh, that’d be just wonderful, my friend…”

“Things? What things? Weirdo MEIKO, I swear to god, do NOT set any explosives off outside!”

“Oh, don’t worry! They’re not explosives!”

“...phew.”

“Just a couple of drones, some fairy lights… some paintballs…”

“PAINTBALLS?!”

“I think Miku needs a little demonstration, eh, MEIKO?”

“WAIT, NO-!”

“I’m… gonna have to let the others know about this…” An chuckled slowly, reaching for her phone.

[STAGE SEKAI: 1]

“Hey… Luka?”

“Mm? Is something up, Miku?”

“KAITO’s… uh… well, KAITO’s missing. Again.”

“Ah… really?” Luka asked, trying to hold back a smile, “Alright, I’ll go and look for him no-”

Luka’s words barely had the chance to leave her mouth before the backstage door slammed open, two fingers standing in the doorway. MEIKO, completely straight-faced, and KAITO, being held by the other by the scruff of his jacket.

“I found him. He was fast asleep.” MEIKO sighed, “He was using a box of penguin-themed merchandise as a pillow. For your sake, I hope nothing in the box is damaged.”

“Heh, I wasn’t using it as a pillow! Are you kidding me? That’d be far too uncomfortable! But it did make a pretty good teddy bear…”

“...”

“Heyyy… MEIKO… why are you giving me such a scary loo- ACK—!”

Before the bluenette could get another word in, his captor loosened her grip, causing him to hit the floor with a thud, to the concern of the other two.

“Don’t be stupid.” MEIKO tutted. “I clearly can’t speak for you, but the rest of us are here to rehearse.”

“Hey, hey, I wanna rehearse with you all! I’m great at rehearsing! I just… need… a minute… dizzy…”

“...is he high?” 

“Guys, guys… let’s not bicker…” Luka chuckled awkwardly, waving her arms in an attempt to get attention back on her, “Let’s just… get it together, alright? We need to find Rin and Len, and then we can all get started-”

“HEY! You can’t just keep running up and down the aisles, you know! You’re going to end up tripping over something!”

“Goodness… they’re so full of energy. It’s just like Shii-chan and her friends way back when…”

“Airi-chan? Shizuku-chan?” Miku shouted, spotting the faintest hints of pink and teal hair surrounded by a whirlwind of orange and yellow. The girls waved in response, before inevitably chasing said orange and yellow blurs onto the stage in an attempt to get them to behave. All four stood in front of the rest of the Vocaloids, with the twins looking much more sheepish now they’d been herded up like this.

“Ack- since when did Rin and Len get so rowdy?!” Airi muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Or so cute~?” Shizuku chuckled, staring down at the pair with a cocked head. “Those outfits are quite amazing, you two! Where did you get them from?”

“KAITO-san made them!” Rin chirped, twirling around to show her skirt in full. “Aren’t they amazing?”

Shizuku clapped her hands as the yellow-haired girl continued to showcase every little aspect of her stage costume, while Airi just chuckled in response.

“Yeah, it sounds like something our KAITO would do, too,” she responded, before looking at the floor with a slightly concerned expression. “Uh… meanwhile…”

“Don’t ask.” MEIKO piped up, folding her arms. 

“Yeah… you know what? I’m not going to.” Airi chuckled.

“It’s all so interesting, no~?” Shizuku chimed in, her eyes bright, “Let’s call Minori-chan and Haruka-chan… this could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance~!”

[SCHOOL SEKAI: 1]

“So… if you just put that finger on this part… and this one a little lower… that’s how you play a G-Cord!”

“So… G… A… G… got it. Miku, you’re a pretty great teacher, you know?”

“I don’t think it’s just me affecting this… you’re a quick learner, MEIKO! What’s your secret?”

“I wonder if all the recipe memorizing has anything to do with it—”

“Miku-san, Miku-san!” A voice echoed through the corridor outside the classroom, accompanied by the sound of gradually increasing footsteps, “We finished our newest poster! Hona-chan’s artwork is getting soooo much better! Come and loo- woahhhh? ♪”

The figure of Saki rushed into the classroom, eyes bright as she looked MEIKO up and down.

“MEIKO-san, your new outfit is sooooo cool! That jacket suits you so well! Where did you find something like that in here?”

“Aha… uh…” Miku jumped in, looking between MEIKO and Saki slightly sheepishly, “Well… this isn’t exactly our MEIKO.”

“It’s not WHAT?!” 

“Shhh…” Another voice chimed in from behind them as Honami’s head became visible from behind the door. “Ah… sorry everyone, but could you keep it down a little…? Luka’s asleep next door… and I don’t want to disturb her…”

“Aww, Hona-chan beat me here…” Saki pouted, “Also, wait. Luka? Asleep?!”

“Well… it’s… how about I just show you, hm?”

Saki nodded eagerly, following Honami into the next classroom over and peering into the window. Sure enough, the unmistakable figure of Luka- though also in an unfamiliar outfit, was fast asleep under a blanket on the front row desk.

“It seems the other MEIKO’s guitar playing put her to sleep…” Honami whispered, smiling a bit, “Though, even before then, she seemed a little on the tired side…”

“She’s sooooo cute! She’s like a little plushie…” Saki grinned, before tilting her head, “But… why is she even here? What’s going on?”

“Maybe it’s something happening with the SEKAI…?” Honami replied, eyes fixed on the sleeping figure behind the wall. After some time just watching with Saki by her side, she became aware of something tugging on her arm.

“Ah… Miss Honami…?”

“Oh, Len, Rin! You’re back?”

“Yes.” Rin replied, “The music sheets were very interesting.”

“Ah… they’re just like the music that Kanade makes–”

“ Len. ”

“Kanade…? As in Yoisaki-san…?” Honami responded. Len nodded, and Rin seemed to give up on trying to keep the act up.

“Wait, so… does that mean that Yoisaki has a SEKAI?” Saki asked, “Or has access to one?”

“It seems so…”

“Wow!! So this means that anyone we know could have a SEKAI just like this one! That’s amazing! Aah, it’s just like the plot of a manga I read the other day... ♪”

“And if these two came from Yoisaki-san’s SEKAI, then that means that everyone else here right now, aside from Miku, could be from different SEKAIs…”

“Haha, that’s correct…”

“A-ah! Oh… KAITO… you scared me…”

As the man gave an apologetic bow, Saki’s mind seemed to go through several realizations simultaneously, turning to Honami in surprise.

“Wait, I know that outfit! It’s the same as MO-”

“WHAT THE FUCK?!”

The group’s attention snapped towards the classroom Miku and MEIKO were in, turning to each other as if to confirm what they heard. Soon after, MEIKO ran out, eyes widened in both shock and frustration.

“...hehe, sorry, everyone. I just… need a second…”

With that, MEIKO held her phone to her ear, before darting around a corner to seemingly take a call. 

“Miku?! What the hell is going on?!”

[TO BE CONTINUED]

Chapter Text

[STREET SEKAI: 2]

“Um...KAITO?” Kohane piped up, gently shaking the bluenette's shoulders.

“Ah… huh?”

“C’mon, stand up. The world isn’t ending now." An chuckled, "Let’s try and figure out what’s goin’ on in here, yeah?”

Blinking a bit, KAITO finally uncurled his body, being greeted by both a lot less mess and a lot more people. Luka smirked, patting the empty spot next to him, which the latter hesitantly took. Miku, who was perching on the cafe counter, grinned after seeing everyone assemble.

“Welp, we still have the street to sort, but hopefully we’re not going to end up murdered by MEIKO for the cafe, at least.”

“I am still struggling to figure out how the cafe got as bad as it did.” Toya muttered, “From the pictures that Shiraishi sent, it looked like some kind of natural disaster had managed to occur in SEKAI.”

“He’s right. It looked like a bomb hit it.” Akito chuckled, “It sure as hell doesn’t look like the work of just two women.”

The group all turned to Luka and MEIKO, who was playing Cat’s Cradle and fiddling around with a little trinket respectively, seemingly feigning ignorance to the other’s more chastising comments. 

“Now, now, you act like we didn’t lend a hand at all … now, that’s just rude.” Luka pouted, mock-folding her arms. “I was able to contribute, and MEIKO even more so…”

“Yeah, to be fair… you’re right. MEIKO especially. You’re going to have to share those blueprints with our MEIKO so we can have them for the cafe.

“Yeah, Miku’s right!” Kohane chimed in, eyes wide, “Those gadgets were incredible, MEIKO! How did you even make them?”

“It seems I’ve got a bit of a fan club starting here!” MEIKO grinned. “Though I’m sorry to disappoint, I might not be able to just give out my instructions. The only person I’ve shared my blueprints with is Rui-kun…”

“Wait–” An cut in. “Rui…? As in… Kamishiro?”

“Oh, great,” Akito muttered. “So you’re with those weirdos. That suddenly explains a lot.”

“It does.” Toya agreed, his own eyes now shining, “It only makes sense that a troupe as amazing as Tsukasa’s would have access to such technology…”

“Wh- Toya, that’s not what I meant!”

“W-wait! Before we start arguing, I have a question!” Kohane yelped, waving her hands to get everyone’s attention, “If you’re with Wonderlands x Showtime, does that mean that they all have a SEKAI too…?”

At Kohane’s words, the rest of Vivid BAD SQUAD immediately snapped to attention, looking amongst themselves as the statement sank in. 

“Hehe, we all come from different SEKAIs!” The Rin chirped up, smiling widely. “It’s cool, right?”

“So, you’re telling me that there’s something in the SEKAI that caused you all to get here?!” Akito responded, seemingly baffled, “What the hell happened?! I thought SEKAI was completely airtight?!”

“Shinonome-kun! Please calm down!”

“Shinonome, huh~?” Luka muttered, tilting her head a bit, “Now that’s interesting…”

“Gh- what the hell does THAT mean?!”

“Now, now, let’s calm down…” Miku jumped in, tapping a wooden spoon against the end of the counter, “We can figure out what the hell we need to do soon. But let’s take advantage of having us all here, yeah? I wanna see how our newbies do on stage.”

“A-ah… I can play an instrument just fine, but I’m not really a performer… ”

“Aw, come on, KAITO! Don’t look so scared! Performing is easy!” Len assured, tugging one of his arms while Rin grabbed the other, “Come on!”

“Ah- hang on! Wait–!”

“Well, it seems everyone else is all hyped up! We can’t lose to this!” An declared, standing up with a grin. “Come on, everyone!”

“But… oh, what the hell, why not?” Akito responded with a shrug, “Let’s do this.”

"I... please, you guys..." KAITO spluttered, trying to shake out of the twins' grip, "I... um... I can't sing!"

"Fufufu... poor, innocent, little KAITO... you're a Vocaloid! All you do is sing!"

Luka chuckled, grabbing a microphone, humming a note into it to confirm it worked.

"Ah, perfect. Hit it, Miku~"

[WONDERLAND SEKAI: 2]

“Wh- let me go, you little brats!”

“No can do~!” Rin giggled, tilting her head a bit, “No play is complete without its villain! So we’ve gotta have you take part!”

“Yeah, come on, KAITO! Don’t spoil the mood, now~!”

“...shut the fuck up, Luka.”

“Oi, language! There are kids present here, yanno?”

And kids there were, indeed. However, they were a set of rather confused and concerned kids.

When Emu (and Tsukasa, though he still retold the conversation he’d had with Emu earlier that day as if it were some kind of annoyance) had frantically contacted the other Wonderlands x Showtime members about an emergency, the rest of the group had no idea what they were in for. Though none of their predictions involved the plushies cowering in fear, the stage decorated for an unplanned show, and an unfamiliar pair of Kagamines tying an equally unfamiliar KAITO to the stage after dragging him up there in a headlock.

“SEE?” Emu explained, pointing frantically.  “KAITO-san’s lost all his BANG POW!”

“...how could things get any weirder here?” Nene said, her voice stuck between a sigh and a chuckle. Meanwhile, Rui was observing the whole situation with a cocked head and a glint in his eye.

“It’s fascinating, no? It’s like something within SEKAI itself has shifted, causing all sorts of strange behavioral changes…”

With a small grin, the purplenette turned to Tsukasa, the glint in his eye only growing by the second. 

“Oi, oi, oi… poor, lost little Tsukasa-kun… he must be suffering from something truly dreadful to turn our most beloved motherlike KAITO into that dreadfully temperamental creature…”

“Wh- HEY, RUI! Drop that voice this instant! You don’t get to talk about  me as if I was some lost puppy, you know?”

“Awww… poor Tsukasa-kun…”

“MIKU! NOT YOU TOO!”

“Guys… shut up…” Nene muttered under her breath, “SEKAI can’t just break like that… at least, I hope it can’t. There has to be some kind of reason behind this.”

“Well, I’m sure it’ll get sorted soon~!”

“GAH! Oh, it’s just you, MEIKO…” Tsukasa replied, “How long have you just been sitting behind us like that?”

“Only for a couple of minutes, don’t worry. ♪” 

The Vocaloid swung around on her seat, facing the rest of the group with a smile. 

“I have to find a way to get back soon for my rehearsal…”

“Ah, so you hail from a different SEKAI, MEIKO?” Rui asked. “And you’re a performer there too?”

“Mhm!”

“Rin and I are too!” The voice of Len piped up, passing by the group with a box in his hands. Rin trailed behind him, smiling. 

“Yeah! And we’ve gotta get back soon, too! We have a concert coming up, and Sakki and the others are gonna be worried if we’re missing! ♪”

“S-SAKI?” Tsukasa exclaimed.

“Yeah~! Wait, hang on, you look so familiar… oh my gosh, are you Tsukasa? It’s so cool to finally meet you~!” 

“I… I…!”

“Wooaahhh, so Saki-chan has a SEKAI too?” Emu gasped, “That’s so wandahoi! ☆”

“My dearest younger sister had a SEKAI all this time, and yet she never informed me? I must’ve upset her somehow! What on earth caused me to not be able to be a confidant for her? I must find out at once!”

“Calm down, Tsukasa…” Nene replied, awkwardly patting his back, “I’m sure she had a reason–”

“How could I not realize this sooner? What would’ve caused the SEKAI’s formation? Is she upset? ”

“Shut the fuck up and CALM DOWN,” KAITO shouted, still restrained on stage. Tsukasa shot him a slightly indignant look in return. 

“I don’t think you understand just how fucking dire a situation this could be, other KAITO!” The blonde shouted back.

“And I don’t think you understand HOW FUCKING LOUD YOU’RE BEING!”

At this, Tsukasa seemed to snap back out of his paranoia, his anxious expression being replaced with a wide grin.

"HAHAHA! You think THIS is my loudest! Clearly, you misunderstand the acting prowess of Tsukasa Tenma! WORLD! FUTURE! STAR!"

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

“Well…” Rui mumbled, trying to hide his laughter, “I’m sure their stays here are going to be welcome ones…”

“I’m going to need ibuprofen soon.” Nene sighed.

[SCHOOL SEKAI: 2]

“So, Luka-san?” Honami began, tapping her fingers on the ridge of her drum, “Here are your drumsticks, and here’s the pattern you need to follow… why don’t you try?”

“Ah…~? That looks so fun… let me give it a go… zzzzz…”

“Wahh, Luka-san!” Saki yelped, “Don’t fall asleep right now! Those drums can’t be comfortable!”

“She’s quite the heavy sleeper, huh…” Miku chuckled, “Maybe some influence from you girls crept in?”

“Now you mention it… Saki-chan could be quite the heavy sleeper back in Middle School herself…”

“Hona-chan?! That’s so embarrassing… they don’t need to know that…”

“Saki, calm down. We can hear you from out here, you know…”

“Shiho-chan! Ichi-chan!”

“Saki… come on, not so tig- hm…?”

“Are these the other two girls you were talking about, Miku?” MEIKO piped up from the corner of the room, “So we can get started now, yeah?”

“Ah…?”

“We’ve had a few guests in SEKAI, it seems.” Miku clarified, “So, I thought I could teach them all how to play. MEIKO’s picked up guitar well, Luka’s… well… tried, and it seems that Rin and Len are sticking with something more basic for now.”

Sure enough, another glance confirmed that both Rin and Len had a triangle from the seldom-touched spare instrument closet, with both twins creating a beat together while waiting. However, both turned to the group when they heard their names get addressed.

“Yeah… we couldn’t figure out the keyboard-”

“ Len couldn’t figure out the keyboard.” Rin cut in, clearly looking embarrassed, “I just… took up the same instrument as him so he didn’t get upset.”

A quick glance and a shook head from Miku confirmed to Ichika that the truth likely wasn’t as cut and dry as that. However, Ichika continued to play along, turning her focus to the only Vocaloid left unaccounted for. 

“What about you, KAITO? Is there an instrument you’re taking?”

“Ah… I think I’ll just end up conducting.” KAITO responded with a small smile, “I’m much more suited to the manager role. Guiding the idols back home is where most of my talent lies–”

“I KNEW IT!” Saki cut in, slamming her hands on the desk beneath her, “Hona-chan, I was trying to tell you! This KAITO works with Airi-chan and the rest of MORE MORE JUMP!”

“Ah, that’s–”

KAITO attempted to sheepishly fumble through a possible excuse, but it seemed to be much too late. Ichika was looking at him in intrigue, while Shiho seemed to be awkwardly slinking away. Saki’s gaze turned triumphant at being indirectly proven right, while Honami merely nodded awkwardly, given the earlier confirmation of other SEKAIs that they’d had from the Kagamines.

“We’re all sooooooooo much more connected here!” Saki giggled, rushing over to grab the (clearly hiding) Shiho, “Hey, Shiho-chan! This guy knows your sister! Isn’t that sooooo cool?”

“ Shut up , Saki…”

“So this is ‘Shii-chan’... well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, if I do say so myself.”

“Goddammit.”

“So this means there are other SEKAIs apart from this one?” Ichika asked.

“Yeah… the twins over there know Yoisaki-san… and it seems MEIKO over there works with a group of street performers-”

“So YOU know Toya-nii?!” Saki cut in, turning between the pair of brunettes in confusion, “Hona-chan, you knew this?! And you didn’t tell me?”

“Guess the cat’s out of the bag, huh…” MEIKO chuckled. “Yeah… I work with Vivid BAD SQUAD. But I can’t speak for old Sleeping Beauty over there…”

All eyes turned to Luka, who was still fast asleep at the drum set. A few exchanged glances confirmed that no one had the heart to wake her up. However, after a couple of minutes observing, Shiho seemed to come up with a deduction. 

“...that’s a Phenny Keychain.”

“ONII-CHAN?”

[STAGE SEKAI: 2]

“IT WHAT?! ”

True to their dedication and experience respectively, Minori and Haruka arrived at SEKAI quickly after they were summoned. What was less quick was explaining what in god’s name had happened in their absence. 

“It’s so interesting isn’t it, Minori-chan~?” Shizuku responded, her usual air-headed grin plastered across her face. Airi gave a slight nod, a sheepish smile on her face.

“We’ll explain everything later, but we called you both here because we’ve been given a pretty unique opportunity! We have five brand-new faces here for who knows how long, so we’ve gotta get some practice in before they go, yeah?”

At Airi’s justification, Haruka gave an understanding nod. Meanwhile, Minori looked like she was about to internally implode at any given moment, panic washing over her face in waves.

“So, where are the others?! Are they lost? Are they hurt? How long are they going to be gone for? Is SEKAI permanently broken now? Are we going to be safe? IS HARUKA-CHAN GOING TO BE SAFE?!”

“Minori… calm down… you can let go of me, I’m not going to evaporate…”

With a quiet, yet noticeable whine, Minori let go of Haruka, though her gaze didn’t leave her or either of her idol seniors, much to the concern of poor Miku. She walked over, patting Minori on the shoulder in an attempt to calm her heart rate down.   

“Minori-chan, you heard what Airi-chan said, right? Since we have these brand-new people here, how about we try and perform for them, yeah?”

“Perform… y-yeah!”

The young girl seemed to perk up at properly processing this information, a visible light appearing in her eyes. 

“Alright, everyone! Together with Miku-chan, we can treat you all to a performance that’ll give you More More Hope!”

“Hehe, that’s our Minori…” Shizuku replied with a smile, “Alright, let’s do this!”

“You heard them all. Everyone, sit down. We can have a chance to join in later.” MEIKO declared. “Go into the seats. … KAITO. ”

“H-huh~?”

“Are you seriously falling asleep again?”

“...mn? ACK?!”

Before he could (yet again) get out a response, KAITO was practically shoved off stage and into the only set of front-row seats. The idol girls, who were either not present or otherwise occupied during the last occurrence of this, watched on in a combination of confusion and horror. Minori was the first to speak- her previously calmed heart rate immediately increased again.

“Wh… I know our MEIKO is strong, but… BUT…!”

“Was this what that ‘don’t ask’ was about earlier…?” Airi asked.

“My, she’s so stern… yet so graceful…” Shizuku commented, her eyes shining curiously, “In part, she reminds me of Asahina-san…”

The comparison seemed to somewhat catch MEIKO’s attention, though she quickly (and obviously) tried to cover this up. This didn’t slip past the idols, though, with all four tilting their heads in awe.

“Y-YOU KNOW OF ASAHINA-SENPAI?” Minori spluttered, “ASAHINA-SENPAI HAS A SEKAI?!”

“So you all come from different SEKAIs…” Haruka mumbled, her mouth in a small ‘o.’ The other Vocaloids nodded along at her word. “Can any of you dance?”

“Me and Rin do shows!” Len declared, “Sometimes the choreography we have to do can be as complicated as dancing!”

“Aha… I’m afraid my skills are in guitar…” Luka chuckled.

“I’m a DJ!” KAITO piped up, a grin visible on his face.

“And you spend all your time napping behind the keyboard, clearly…”

“Wh- hey, MEIKO! I do move , too! I do street choreography!”

“Well, I for one wanna see what you’ve got!” Airi announced, her face all lit up, “Up on stage, KAITO! It’s time for us all to start!”

“Wh… WHA?”

Before KAITO could process the statement, he was dragged up onto the stage by Minori. Airi’s smile grew just a tad mischievous. 

“Minori? Have you got a song in mind?”

“Hmmm… how about ‘Tenshi no Clover?’”

“Oh, dear…” Haruka chuckled, watching as the slight horror on KAITO’s face doubled. Miku grabbed a small stereo, producing a CD and letting the energetic beat blast through the stage’s speakers. The girls began dancing. KAITO followed, though not without constant stumbling and tripping. Luka watched awkwardly. MEIKO smirked, and Rin and Len exploded into laughter. 

As the track cut off, the girls all gave graceful bows, while KAITO ended up collapsing head-first onto the stage. Miku gave a slow clap, a small smile on her face.

This was going to go well.

[EMPTY SEKAI: 2]

“It’s time for us all to start…” Kanade said, tapping one of the beams to call everyone to attention. “Welcome to today’s Nightcord at 25:00 session- this time held in SEKAI itself. Because we have guests, I thought today we could spend some time going over our individual roles in Nightcord and show our latest work.” 

“It’s good to have you all!” Mizuki grinned.

“...yes.” Mafuyu agreed.

“I’m… still pretty damn confused, but yeah! It’s nice to have a bit of a change in here.” Ena replied, “This place is… well… empty as all hell, so changes like this are pretty cool! It gives me something new to draw…”

“Oh, you’re an artist?” 

“Yeah, Luka! I do all the illustrations for Nightcord’s work! I also do a lot of artistic things outside of Nightcord… I take classes… oh, and I’ve taught a few people!”

“Interesting, interesting-”

“Who’s the worst person you’ve taught, Ena?”

“Rin!” Len hushed, “You can’t just ask that!” 

“Aha… well… there was one girl, but she’s improved a lot since then!” Ena responded, “She was mostly nervous… and all her drawings came out looking a bit terrifying… but she was able to really improve by the end of the session…”

“Sounds a bit like someone I know…” MEIKO chuckled, “Though, her graphical artistic skills do seem to be coming together a lot more now. I wonder how good she’d be now if she was taught by someone like you…”

“Well… art isn’t easy. But I’m glad she’s improving! And I hope she can do even better moving forward…”

“Well, now I’m interested,” KAITO said with a smile, “Could we see some of your work, Ena?”

Ena nodded eagerly, grabbing her laptop and bringing up one of her recently completed thumbnails. Rin and Len’s eyes widened, grabbing the laptop from Ena and zooming in on the image in awe.

“Haha, this is amazing!” Len praised. Rin nodded, her eyes going even wider.

“Yeah, Len’s right! The colors are sooooo pretty, too!”

“Ah… thank you, you two!”

“Hey, calm down a bit, you two.” Mizuki chuckled, “Any more and the praise is gonna go to Ena’s head.”

“I- HEY!”

“Mizuki’s right. Though, at least that praise can help heal her crumbling self-esteem.”

“MAFUYU? NOT YOU TOO!”

“Hey, that sounds a little like Akito!” Rin replied, laughing. The horror on Ena’s face only multiplied at the comparison, while Mizuki’s eyebrows raised at the blonde girls’s comment.

“You mean Akito Shinonome , Rin?”

“Yeah! Do you know him, Mizuki?”

“Oh, god… kill me now…”

“Wait. That means Ena’s little brother has a SEKAI?”

Kanade tilted her head, turning back to MEIKO.

“MEIKO. I have a question. The girl you were talking about earlier. Was her name Hona-”

 Before she could finish her question, a blinding light flooded across SEKAI, wrapping all the Vocaloids but Miku in its glow. The others watched on confused, before Miku finally piped up.

“They’re going home…”

“Aw, already?” Mizuki grumbled, “But we’d just gotten settled! Enanan hogged all our sharing time!”

“It’s not MY fault?!”

“I’m sure we’ll be able to return here someday…” KAITO assured with a smile, “I for one would love to stay longer. But we’re all needed elsewhere, I’m afraid…”

“I’m with KAITO. If we’re able to find a way to get back here one day, let’s pick up from where we left off, yeah?” MEIKO asked.

“Of course,” Kanade agreed, waving to the light, “Have a safe journey back, everyone…”

“Hehe… see you soon!” Luka bid. Rin and Len waved frantically, before the light cleared and everyone faded from view. Miku looked around, spotting the faint glow of another light beginning to raise.

“The others will be back soon…”

“Well, that was strange.”

“Aw, don’t be like that, Mafuyu! I think it was a lot of fun! Right, Enanan?”

Ena was still staring at the floor, her brain working overtime while the lingering hints of realization washed over her. 

“She… compared me… to Akito…”

“There, there…” Kanade chuckled, patting her back a bit. 

While the sound of playful banter spread across SEKAI, Miku watched on for a while, before shifting her attention back to the space above. What was all that? Who were all these people both the girls and the Vocaloids mentioned? Would they ever be able to return?

Though, she answered all of these silently with a smile. Only time would tell, and hopefully, time was on their side.