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“SO! You are prob~ably wondering why I called you here…”
“Emu, I did not call you here. You BROKE IN.”
“Untrue… Saki-chan let me in~!”
Tsukasa pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. Being friends with the Emu Otori came with many different upsides. Her tendency to just… manifest into wherever the blonde was at any given time wasn’t one of them.
And today was one of those times. One minute, Tsukasa was hard at work rehearsing his lines for an upcoming show into the mirror. The next, he caught a reflection of pink hair in his mirror, leading him to wonder just how long Emu had been standing behind him. “That’s… anyway. What do you want?”
“I~ have~ an~ idea… 𝆕” The younger girl hummed, tilting her head a bit, “So, yanno how we have that one big ol’ wandahoi job coming up?”
“With Morinomiya Revue?” Tsukasa’s eyes showed a brief hint of confusion, before he let out one of his signature laughs, “Ah, dear Emu! Of course I remember! What kind of World Future Star would forget their own job?!”
“Hehe~ of course Tsukasa-kun remembers! BUT! Back on topic!”
Emu reached into a bag dangling off her arm, producing a thick piece of rolled up paper from inside. Looking Tsukasa dead in the eyes with one of her usual glints, she let the whole thing unravel in front of them.
And in true Emu fashion… This ‘plan’ of Emu’s almost reached the other end of the room. Once Tsukasa took a moment to stop and realize that no- he really shouldn’t be shocked by this, he turned to look at the very eager Emu. “I expect that you’ve completely rehearsed this front-to-back?”
“Yessir!” Emu giggled, “So, listen up~!”
- - -
A day had passed since Emu came to Tsukasa with her plan. With how they were progressing as actors, Wonderlands x Showtime had to ensure they could become as much of a jack-of-all-trades as they possibly could. That included training themselves to be available to rehearse any time for any amount of time.
So, Emu had come up with one simple solution. Over the next few months, the unit would have a set of semi-regular all-nighters so they could get used to being up and functional at a variety of times. Bonus, it’d help them beat the dreaded jetlag whenever they were next abroad. Bonus bonus, they’d be able to spend so much time in each other’s company.
Admittedly, Emu had to play a little dirty to get her unit leader to agree. Say what you liked about Tsukasa, but that boy was organized. Hyper-organized, even. He had his schedules and routines and god forbid something happen to change them. A star had to get his optimal 9 hours of beauty sleep, after all. At least, that’s what Tsukasa said.
However, there was one thing that gave Emu the upper hand in this situation. In the eyes of the rest of WXS, denying Emu something (especially something that involved her being able to have fun with her friends) was on the same level of immorality as kicking a puppy. And if Tsukasa showed any disagreement with the idea, he’d risk being guilted twice more by Nene and Rui.
In other words, Tsukasa was in an unwinnable situation. But ultimately, a little less rest was a small price to pay in order to not be treated like the spawn of satan.
So that was the biggest obstacle cleared for Emu. Next step, getting Nene and Rui on board. And given it was currently a Friday Lunchtime… that left Emu with only one choice.
After hovering around the Miya Girls courtyard for a bit (and catching the eye of one Mafuyu Asahina, who was more than used to Emu’s shenanigans by now), Emu was off to Kamiyama High.
After getting into the grounds, Emu was overjoyed (and thankful) to see Tsukasa on disciplinary committee duty. With one quick grasp of the blonde’s arm (and a LOT of bewildered noises from said blonde), Emu was off to find Nene and Rui. And thankfully, they weren’t too far away- taking up a spare corner of Kamiyama High’s courtyard while Rui was testing a new bird robot he’d programmed.
“Ah, speak of the devils,” Rui muttered, spotting that the other two were in earshot, “Tsukasa-kun, Emu-kun, what do you think? I still need to install the voice mechanism, but we should have a perfect little flock of songbirds at our disposal in due time~”
“Hehe~ they’re sooooo cute!”
Emu hummed in place for a bit, before jolting to attention. She was here for a reason, dang it! “Nene-chan! Rui-kun! Are you busy right now?”
“Not really,” Nene nodded, “We were gonna go over our scripts, but that can wait until tonight. What’s up?”
“From the fantabulously wandahoi mind of Emu Otori…” Emu mimed out a mock drumroll with her hands before producing the paper from her bag once again, “Presenting: a plan!”
Emu unravelled the paper, and the songstress/inventor duo got to work skimreading the long piece of paper for a few minutes. Nene was the first to reach the bottom, turning to Emu with a slightly confused look, “An all-nighter?”
“Yup~!” Emu nodded, “Yanno, to get us used to working at any time?”
“Surely there’s not a troupe out there that’d expect us to work in the middle of the night…”
“You’d be surprised, dear Nene. The industry is a cruel mistress,”
Rui had just about reached the end, turning to his friend with far less skepticism than his comrades. “I think it’s a wonderful idea, Emu-kun. Do you have a date in mind?”
“Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…”
Emu walked in a circle for a minute or two, seemingly putting serious thought into this question, “How about tomorrow~?”
“E-eh?!” Nene spluttered, “That soon…?!”
“They do say there’s no time like the present…” Rui nodded, “We have a couple of weeks until our next performance, too. It seems like the most logical time.”
“True…” Nene responded with a sigh, “Alright… tomorrow it is. Tsukasa? Are you game?”
“What sort of leader would I be if I wasn’t?”
“Woohoo~!!” Emu cheered, “In which case, let’s all make a pact to wake up at 8am tomorrow! We can work super duper hard rehearsing in the morning and afternoon… thennn… afterwards, we go to my house and camp out together! Sounds good?”
“Yeah, that works.”
“Perfect~”
“Then it’s a date!” Tsukasa smiled, “I shall see you all at 8am tomorrow! And as for you, Emu… GET YOURSELF BACK TO MIYA GIRLS!!”
“Awwww…” Emu pouted, staring at the floor, “But I brought my lunch here and everything…”
“B-but—”
“Tsukasa, I didn’t think you wanted to lock your friend out of seeing us… how heartless…”
“Rui, don’t ENCOURAGE IT!”
“Don’t encourage her to do what? Be happy and have fun with us?”
“Nen– fine, Emu can stay! Just lay low, got it?”
“Gotcha~!”
- - -
HOUR 1
“IT STARTS NOW!!! I can’t wait to have fun with everyone!! (☆▽☆)”
“Nene-chan and Rui-kun have brought so many fun things to do too… hehehe… everyone’s really come through!!”
“Are you writing everything down, Emu?”
“Yeah!!” Emu hummed, closing the small, colorful notebook on her lap, “That way we can see what worked… what didn’t… yanno?”
“You’re really serious about this whole ‘research’ thing, huh…”
“Mhm~! Anything to help Nene-chan be her super sparkly self always~"
“Eh–? What do you—”
“OKAY, EVERYONE!”
A loud, familiar shout brought the girls to attention, “Before it gets too late for us to do any proper rehearsal, shall we go over scene 8 again?”
“Good idea,” Nene nodded, “We don’t want to disturb the rest of Emu’s family later. Especially given someone doesn’t know the concept of an inside voice…”
“HUH? WHAT DID YOU SAY?”
“My point exactly.”
“Now, now… let’s keep the bickering to a minimum,” Rui giggled, flicking through his director’s script, “Let’s see… if we pretend the plushie pile in that corner is the audience… Nene, stand beside Emu’s bed. Tsukasa-kun, go to that corner by the wardrobe. Emu-kun… you can take center stage.”
“Okie-dokie!”
- - -
HOUR 2
“We FINALLY perfected Scene 8! That suggestion Rui-kun made earlier really paid off… ヽ(>∀<☆)ノ”
“We’re going to try Scene 12 next… then we’ll do a run-through!”
“But what if I don’t know what the path ahead looks like?”
“Do not worry, my child. Together, we can find a way to progress forward…”
“Aaaaand CUT!” Emu giggled, miming out a movie clapper motion with her hands, “Hehehe~ you guys did sooo sparkly ka-pow!”
“Yes, wonderful work from the pair of you!” Tsukasa nodded, “Right, shall we go from the—”
Tsukasa’s sentence was cut off by a knock on the door, capturing the group’s attention. “ENTER!!”
The door opened, revealing one Hinata Otori standing on the other side- a shopping bag in one hand and a plate of crown-shaped cookies in the other, “I hope I’m not interrupting anything?”
“Onee-chan!!” Emu smiled widely, “Oh- you got the snacks for us! Sooo wandahoi~! 𝆕”
“Hehe, I told you I would, didn’t I?”
Hinata placed the bag and plate on the table in Emu’s room, “I hope I chose a good selection for you all! Oh- and Emu? Just a reminder from Dad to keep the noise down after 11pm, okay?
“Gotcha! Seeya later, Onee-chan!”
Hinata responded with a smile, before slipping out of the room. Emu wasted no time diving into the bag, pulling out the variety of treats inside, “I gave Onee-chan a very specific list! There’s something here for ev~ery~one~”
“I can already spot a couple bottles of ramune candy,” Rui smiled, “Ah, and there’s grapefruit chews for Nene.”
“What about me?!”
“Tsukasa-kun’s candy is riiiiight there~!” Emu pointed to a packet of konpeitō in the center of the table, “They’re little stars! Just like him!!”
The indirect compliment appeared to catch Tsukasa off guard. He mumbled a thank you, slipping a few of the candies into his mouth.
“Your sister said no noise after 11, right?” Nene asked, “If we wanna do a full runthrough, let’s start now.”
“Good idea, Nene,” Rui nodded, “Starting positions, everyone!”
- - -
HOUR 4
“And we DID IT! One full runthrough! Soooo wandahoi!”
“Now time for us to have fun~!! (✧ω✧)”
“And for the last time, you promise not to start shouting if you lose, Tsukasa?”
“Nene, Nene! What on earth led you to think I was a sore loser?”
Clearly unconvinced, Nene slipped her copy of Mario Party into Emu’s Nintendo Switch, “What character is everyone going to go for?”
“Ooh- ooh! I wanna go for the little black blob guy!”
“Ninji?” Nene asked, “Huh. Not what I was expecting…”
“Who did Nene-chan think I was gonna pick?”
“Toadette?”
“Ohh, the cute pink mushroom girl! Aghh, now I don’t know! Rui-kun, Tsukasa-kun, what do you think?”
“Nene’s right, Toadette feels like she’d suit you best, Emu-kun. As for me… I think I’ll be picking Rosalina.”
“The Space Princess?” Tsukasa asked.
“She’s elegant… mysterious… what a character. You should play the game she’s originally from, Tsukasa-kun.”
“You think Tsukasa would be able to finish it?”
“Ouch.” Tsukasa grumbled, “And as for me, I’ll be picking Mario!”
“Basic.”
“Could you get OFF MY BACK?!”
- - -
HOUR 6
“A three hour game of Mario Party miiiight have been my best idea yet.. seeing Tsukasa-kun’s reactions is soooo wandahoi! (ᗒ⩊ᗕ)”
“FREAKING. CHANCE TIME? AGAIN?”
“Fufu… something wrong, Tsukasa-kun?”
“This is the fourth time this game, Rui!” Tsukasa huffed, “Are you sure you’re not landing there on purpose?”
“Sweet Tsukasa-kun, how on earth would I do that without a custom dice block?” Rui chuckled. “And hey, you may not be the victim! Nene was it last time…”
“I’m getting that one special dual glove and getting that damned star back from you, mark my words.” Nene chuckled, “Come on, then. Let’s see who it is.”
Rui’s gaze narrowed, focusing on the blocks on the screen.
He hit the center one. Swap Stars.
He hit the left one. Mario. The blonde’s eyes lit up. Finally, things were looking up!
…for about five seconds. Toadette was the right block’s pick. And due to a ruthless star steal from Rui three turns ago; Emu was, in fact, two stars behind Tsukasa.
“Oh, you have GOT TO BE FUC—”
Tsukasa quickly felt himself get smothered by a pillow. “Shhhhh! We gotta stay quiet!”
“Let’s just finish going through this game before Tsukasa has a heart attack, yeah, Rui?”
“Mhm… let’s.”
- - -
HOUR 7
“Rui-kun won Mario Party… but I BEAT NENE-CHAN!!! Through bonus stars, but I BEAT HER!”
“And we’re officially halfway through the night!! But Tsukasa-kun’s already looking tired… so we’re gonna have to change that… (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧”
“...mmmn.”
“He’s yawning again!!” Emu whispered, grabbing the pillow from earlier and smacking Tsukasa on the head with it, “Tsukasa-kun, stay with us, Tsukasa-kun!”
“Aghh- I’m not gonna be able to stay awake if you try and concuss me, Emu!” Tsukasa grumbled, “B-besides! I can’t be the only one who’s tired, right? RIGHT?”
Tsukasa glanced over to Nene and Rui, who merely shrugged in response. Rui was tinkering with some kind of speaker box, while Nene was playing a game on her Switch.
“Tsukasa, I mean it now more than ever when I say you’re practically an old man trapped in a teenager’s body.”
“You WHAT?”
“Now, now… let’s not rag on Tsukasa-kun too hard. He’s not used to this lifestyle yet.”
Rui pushed the half-eaten bag of konpeitō in the blonde’s direction. “Here. Maybe the sugar will keep you alert.”
“Mmnn… but my skin…”
“I’m sure you can make an exception this once. It’ll help you ease into it.”
After a little more mumbling, Tsukasa agreed, taking a handful of the candy and eating it piece by piece. To Rui’s credit, the sugar did help him come to his senses a bit.
“What’s the time right now, Emu?”
“2:26am!!”
“So we’ve been awake for 18 and a half hours… my goodness.”
“Fufu, it does feel a little strange when you say it out loud, no?”
“You can say that again…” Nene replied, before a small jingle caught her attention, “...oh. Akiyama-san has just fallen for Shinonome-san.”
“THEY HAVE?!” Tsukasa sputtered, “W-well, good for them! I’m sure they’ll be a wonderful couple together! In fact… from conversations I have had with Akiyama before, this isn’t a complete surprise…”
“I meant in the game, dumbass.” Nene snorted.
“...ah. That makes sense.”
“Ooh- is that the game where you make loads of little characters and put them on an island together?” Emu asked.
“Yep, that’s the one.”
“I didn’t know it was already out! Lemme get it right away! I wanna make all of us!!”
“If you make yourself first, I can send you the miis I’ve made of Rui, Tsukasa and I via Local Play.”
“Hehe, Nene-chan’s the best!! 𝆕”
- - -
HOUR 10
“Mmmm… this is getting harder than I thought it’d be… (－ω－) zzZ”
“But I gotta stay focused!! We! Can! Do! THIS!!!!!"
“And then Shiraishi-san told him ‘I don’t care if it fits in your pocket! You can’t have a firecracker on school grounds!”
“Heheh, your school sounds soooo wandahoi, Nene-chan…” Emu sighed, “I wish I could spend all day ev~ery day there… but then I’d be leaving everyone at Miya Girls alone! Can’t we all just be one big school instead?!”
“That… would be nice…”
“I agree, being able to have the likes of Hinomori-san or Asahina-san as classmates sounds rather pleasant,” Rui piped up, “We really ought to spend more time with them, now I think about it.”
“That would be so wandahoi too!!” Emu giggled, “What do you think, Tsukasa-kun?”
Silence. “Tsukasa-kun? Hellloooo, Tsukasa-kun?”
After a few more minutes of silence, a loud snoring caught the attention of everyone else in the room. Sure enough, curled up on a pile of pillows, Tsukasa had been taken by sleep. Emu seemed a tad deflated by the realization, though Nene couldn’t help but let out a slight giggle.
“Rui, you owe me 2000 yen.”
“God damn it.”
“Is this the end, then?” Emu mumbled, giving a few pokes to the sleeping Tsukasa’s back, “Should we just… sleep now?”
“I think that would be wise,” Rui replied, giving the pink-haired girl a reassuring smile, “We did well for our first attempt, Emu-kun. It’s 5:41am. Next time, we shall be able to push the full way through.”
“Yeah… yeah! We did a super duper wandahoi job tonight!” Emu responded, mood instantly back to its usual upbeat self, “Welp, goodnight!”
“Good- ACK!”
Before Nene could finish her bid, Emu pulled her friend into a tackle hug, causing them to land to the right of Tsukasa. Seeing what the girl was trying to attempt, Rui grabbed a variety of blankets from Emu’s bed and sprawled them across everyone before slotting in beside Nene.
“Thank you for a wonderfully eventful night, Emu,” Rui said, leaning up so he could catch the pinknette's eye, “As always, your ideas never fail to disappoint.”
“Hehe~✩ it’s all thanks to you guys that it went so wandahoi!” Emu whispered in response, “When do you think we’ll do it again?”
“Very soon, I’m sure. How about we discuss it in the morning? Granted we’re not too tired in the morning, that is.”
“I have a feeling Tsukasa will be completely out of it.” Nene cut in, chucking softly. “But… this was fun. I’d want to do it again, even if it isn’t to make us better actors.”
“You would…?”
“But of course,” Rui agreed, “Anything to spend more time with you three.”
“You guyssssss…”
Emu felt the tips of her cheeks go the color of her hair as the compliments made her feel all ‘blam blam fuzzy’ inside. Though, even with that aside, Nene and Rui had a point. It didn’t matter if this sort of thing actually helped them or their acting skills in the long term.
If it meant Emu could spend every second with her friends, then it was more than worth it to her.