Chapter Text
And, in the blink of an eye, there was no longer a stage, colourful lights or music playing. Instead, it was damp, cold, and foggy.
When the last note hit, nothing more could be heard. No applause, no screaming. Everything was replaced with a cobblestone street and some lampposts.
“Guys…” Tsukasa started, voice shaking a little, “I believe this is not, definitely not, our Sekai.”
“Indeed… No trace of digital construct. Everything seems way more… Grey…” Rui said as he slid his hand through the pebbles on the floor. “We crossed to a completely different place. Possibly an entirely different dimension!”
“What do you mean ‘different dimension’?! We couldn’t have possibly-” Emu looked up as a double-decker bus drove past, splashing water onto her dress. “Okay, we’re not in Shibuya.”
“You just noticed it now?” Nene muttered.
After a short moment of thinking, her eyes started shining and a smile grew on her face, “WOOW! A brand-new stage for us!” she clapped her hands. “It’s soo old-fashioned! I love this.”
“Ahem-” Tsukasa cleared his throat, regaining composure, “It doesn’t matter where we are, we shall have to bring brilliance and–”
“You’re in the middle of the street.” Said a deep voice with a strong British accent. Well, now one question is answered: they’re probably in England.
All the eyes landed on a tall man with a coat and scarf. Dark hair falling over his face. Hands, both in pockets and head turned down, looking at the four colourful figures. Two other people accompanied him, a shorter man, and a woman.
“Interesting.” The tall man murmured, voice exposing curiosity. “No luggage, unfamiliar accent… judging by your clothes, you are performers. Judging by your expressions, you have no clue of what is going on.”
“Performers, yes! We’re Wonderland x Showtime!” Tsukasa stated.
“Japan’s most excentric performing troupe.” Rui introduced their group, “Well, the stage seems to have expanded beyond Japan.”
“Japan, yes. Well, this explains… absolutely nothing. I’m Dr. John Watson.” The shorter one introduced himself. “And who might you be…?”
“Tsukasa Tenma!” He almost screamed. “The star of–”
“Star of whatever this is.” Nene interrupted.
The tall man showed a little smile. “I like you. I’m Sherlock Holmes.”
“And this is Mariana Ame… Mariana Ametza…” John Watson struggled to miserably pronounce the curly-haired girl’s name.
“Mariana Ametxazurra, nice to meet you!” She waved.
“Hello! Emu Otori— and I love your hair!”
“Aww! Thank you, Emu. I also like yours. It’s so fun!” Mariana Ametxwhatever said, twirling a lock of Emu’s pink hair. “You guys look cold… Let’s go inside.”
“I am not cold!” Tsukasa protested.
“We are going inside.” Nene was already up and walking on the trio’s direction. “I just hope they don’t kidnap us…”
—
The flat smelled like tea, dust and a really sharp odour of chemicals.
“I love this place! It’s like a little backstage changing room!” Emu gasped, excited.
“Sweet, mate, thank you.” John was clearly offended, but, well, their flat was indeed a total mess. He had already turned on his mic to record everything about this strange meeting, just like a good podcaster would do.
Rui walked towards a table filled with tubes and weird looking liquids, he raised his hand in interest, almost touching the research, but was interrupted by Sherlock with a warning look.
“I see you experiment often, huh?” Rui asked.
“Always, you?”
“Anytime.”
“Great. Now there’s two, ” John sighed, “God help us.”
The group sat on the sofa, everyone had tea, obviously, they’re in England now, drinking a nice cuppa is almost mandatory. Tsukasa’s and Sherlock’s even had marshmallows in them, because why not?
“So,” John begun, “here we have Tsukasa Tenma, Emu Otori, Nene Kusanagi, and… Rui Cashmere?” He was trying to organize all the names in his head.
“Kamishiro. Not Kashimiro, or… ‘Cashmere’...” Rui corrected, “You’re not great with names, are you?” He teased.
Mariana laughed, “Tell me about it…”
Nene was tapping her finger on her cup, “Can someone explain how are we supposed to go home? I don’t think we can just take a bus…”
“The good thing is: you guys landed right in front of the best detective agency in London!” John said, pride overflowing his voice.
“YOU GUYS ARE DETECTIVES?! THAT’S SO COOL!” Emu was practically jumping in her seat, “Just like Mr. … Mr. … oh, I can’t remember… the guy from the books! Something with an S… “
Sherlock shifted on his seat, half-closed eyes, brain working. “Well, first we need to know how four Japanese singers materialized in London.”
“Our… our Sekai might’ve glitched…” Tsukasa suggested.
“Excuse me, your Sekai? Like… your world?” Mariana asked, gesticulating something unintelligible with her hands.
Rui nodded, “Imagine that emotions— specifically the way we feel about music— can create an entire world. When someone’s desire to express themselves turns strong enough, the feelings take their own form. That world is called a Sekai.”
“So, delusions?” Sherlock seemed unconvinced.
“No, not at all. It’s very real. Each Sekai mirrors its creator, how they fell about music. Ours is a joyful place, made for the art of performing.”
“Wow. Just– wow.” John approached the microphone to his mouth, “You guys hear this? Oh-ho-ho, I see this adventure is going to be so–”
“A place entirely made of emotions…” Mari cut John mid-sentence.
“Precisely! But… lately, our Sekai has been unstable… Some complications were creating dissonance. We were wrapping our latest melody, and when we hit the final note, everything just vanished, and we found ourselves here, something… connected.”
“A melody…” Sherlock touched his chin in thought.
“Like the one we’ve been hearing all week,” John added, “the one that appears in crime scenes and no one else seems to notice.” He lifted his head to look at his friend.
“Wait, what? You’ve been hearing our song here?” Tsukasa tilted his head, confused.
“We don’t know if it’s yours but… Sometimes, we just start hearing it, specially when we arrive in crime scenes. Wait a sec— Is this the emotions thing?!” John gasped.
Sherlock’s mouth opened, but nothing came out. Realization hit his mind.
“It is the same melody! The resonance crossed dimensions!” Rui concluded, eyes wide.
A smile crossed Sherlock’s face, like he just discovered the biggest thing in the universe. Well, they just found out that travelling through dimensions is real, it is a big deal. “Two emotional frequencies… one from London, one from you Sekai. When the melody aligned…”
“…they ripped open time and space!” Rui finished the sentence as if he was reading Sherlock’s mind.
“FRIENDSHIP MELODY!” Emu spitted out with joy.
“Well, that’s a way to put it.” Sherlock said dryly.
“The best way, I think” Mariana giggled.
“Well then, how do we sew back time and space so we can go home?” Nene asked and took a sip of her drink.
“I think I know just where to start,” John looked around, staring at every face in the room, “Japan, here we go!”