Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Have you reached a decision?"

The question seemed uncanny

"Yes..." Rui said with a fake certainty

"After we spoke that day I thoroughly weighed my options... To stay at Phoenix Wonderland as a member of Wonderlands×Showtime or to work alongside you ,Asahi at Arcland."

"And I thought quite a lot about each option in terms of making my dreams come true." Rui continued

"I see..." Asahi locked eyes with Rui crossing his fingers behind his back.

"To be completely frank if I want to make my dream come true I should accept your offer Asahi."

Rui noticed that Asahi's eyes had a hopeful glint in them.

"The practices we held together for our performance showed me just how skilled and passionate the members of Arcland are. It's a simple fact that no other place in Japan has such a group at its disposal. Not only that but Arcland provides the perfect working environment for directors, I wouldn't have to make any of my own props..."

"So..." He took a deep breath "as a director, moving to Arcland is what I want to do."

"Does that mean you'll join us?" Asahi gasped a little louder than Rui would have liked.

Rui nodded. His expression was melancholic like the one he once wore a long time ago, he felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes but Rui was an actor he reigned his expression back to a smile much like the one he always had after shows with Wonderlands×Showtime except this smile was eerily empty. Like the jewel of happiness meant to be displayed had been stolen, and all that was left was the case it was once been displayed in.

"Are you ok Rui-kun your eyes seem a little watery." Asahi remarked, pulling Rui from his daze.

"Ah it must be my allergies." Rui replied blinking a couple of times to clear the not yet formed tears.

"I didn't know you had allergies." Asahi said surprised.

Rui did not have allergies.

"Ah,I do have a request Asahi-kun."
"What is it?" Asahi turned to face him with a smile.

" If you wouldn't mind I'd like to tell my friends myself." He ventured looking into the distance.

"Of course my lips are sealed." Asahi made a zipper movement across his mouth.

Rui let out a hum of amusement as they walked back to the group.

"Hey guys!" Asahi shouted, waving to the other performers.

"Nene-chan, Rui-kun still looks sad." Emu whispered in her ear. "I know Emu will have to talk as a group later."
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"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT" Emu and Tsukasa yelled in unison. Nene was just as shocked but she didn't like yelling.

"Oh my gosh Rui that's amazing!" Tsukasa's smile shone with its usual brightness yet it still sent a chill down Emu's spine. Only she noticed the slight emptiness behind those words, no one else would though not even Tsukasa. Instead she continued like nothing had happened.

"Yeah that's super wonderhoy Rui-kun."

"Mm I agree with these two." Nene added in a much quieter voice "that's an amazing opportunity Rui, you must be pleased."

"I am." He smiled

"Ah but if Rui-kun leaves he won't be able to do shows with us anymore." Emu voiced the words no one wanted to hear.

Rui dipped his head, staring at his coffee as if looking for an answer. "Yes that is true between school and my part-time job at Arcland, I would no longer be able to be the director for Wonderlands×Showtime..."

Tsukasa interrupted the newly formed silence "That's okay Rui". In that moment Tsukasa's (almost) tearful smile shone brighter than all the stars in the sky. Oh how Rui would miss making that star shine. " We knew it wouldn't last forever, I'm glad you get to chase your dream Rui."

"Me too" Nene added "You're going to do great things Rui".

Emu was chilled to the bone by the ghostliness of the two voices. She got it now, she knew the two were exceptional actors but this was a different level ,Emu doubted either knew they were acting. She knew why though. If they told Rui how they really felt then there's a good chance he would turn down the offer and miss the opportunity to chase his dreams, that's the kind of person Rui was. They couldn't do that to him. Deep down Emu felt the same, so she joined them in the act.

" Me too me too you're going to have such a Wonderhoy time" she said smile spread across her face.

If lying would help Rui achieve his dreams, then Emu was all in.
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Rui let out a sigh of relief as he left the cafe. He was so glad his friends supported his decision, though the faint uneasiness he had felt from that day was not gone it had subsided. He started to whistle a tune as he made his way home.

Chapter Text

Why was he feeling like this he shouldn't be feeling like this.

It started raining on the way home and Tsukasa's hair was dripping on the floor behind him he managed to get to his room before he collapsed on the floor.

"I shouldn't feel like this,I shouldn't feel like this,I shouldn't feel like this."

Why couldn't he just be happy for his friend. Instead those feelings where are placed with regret and anger. Regret that he didn't do better and convince Rory to stay with Wxs and anger at himself and not doing so.

Rui was going to leave and it was Tsukasa's fault, maybe if he had been a better actor Rui wouldn't have left. Now Emu and Nene were stuck with no direct to all thanks to him.

The tears didn't seem to stop no matter how hard he tried to hide them. There was now a wet patch on his carpet a mix of rain and tears.

He should probably clean that so Saki doesn't notice.

Like magic a jingle of keys sounds at the door, it's probably saki back from practice. Judging by the voices all of Leo/need must have come over. How lucky his sister was to have friends that wouldn't leave her.

"No!" Why can't he just stop having thoughts like this. He banged his head on the floor hoping that he could dispel whatever demon had made a home in his brain.

I thought crossed his mind, what would Saki and her friends say if he was found like this. He grabbed a pen and paper scribbled some nonsense about going out taped it to his door and shut it is carefully as he could. The voices were downstairs already, he needed to hide.
Grabbing his phone he quickly clicked on untitled and was transported to Wonderland Sekai.

He let out a sigh of relief. He should look for Miku and the others, he thought looking around.

Tsukasa Made his way towards the ring masters tent, face still covered in tear marks. As he entered he was met by the worried face of the vocaloids.

"Tsukasa-kuuunnnn" Miku reached out to pat his head gently. That was all it took for the water works to start up again. He started sobbing as the vocaloids look to each other knowingly bringing him to a pile of pillows where they sat down and tried to console him.

But the tears wouldn't stop, God why was he so stupid he couldn't control his crying how was he ever supposed to become a star if he couldn't do this one simple thing.

His thoughts began to spiral as he curled further in on himself.

Was he not doing enough as an actor?
Is that why he couldn't control his emotions? Was that why Rui left? Because he didn't shine bright enough what about the others, they hadn't done anything wrong? It was all Tsukasa's fault.

Chapter Text

: GAME OVER :

"Dammit" Nene threw the controller across the room.

Lately Nene hadn't been able to focus not even on her video games. She sighed leaning back on the sofa and glaring at the ceiling like it owed her money.

What on earth were they going to do now?

Nene knew that this was the best decision for Rui and she fully supported him but... She shook her head trying to dispel her thoughts.

It would be a lot different performing with just the three of them, sure they would have robonene help out but still it would be a lot more work on the rest of them.

Deep down Nene was upset that Rui had left and annoyed at him for doing so but she wouldn't admit that not even to herself.

Sighing Nene pulled out her phone, her eyes wandered to untitled.

"I suppose I should go there shouldn't I"

With a click the bright light of the screen surrounded her before she found herself in the Wonderland that was Sekai. The sky was dark and clouded over Nene had never seen weather like this in Sekai before, perhaps she would ask Miku if she came across her.

After looking around a bit Nene hadn't been able to find any of the vocaloids so she headed to the ring masters tent. As she was about to enter her ears were met with the sound of crying, her eyes widened as she realised it was Tsukasa. Nene had never seen or heard Tsukasa cry before, she didn't know if he had cried in front of any of WxS before.

She hesitated for a moment before pushing open the curtains and there he was, Tsukasa was on what seemed to be a pile of soft pillows the vocaloids had gathered. His cries had turned to sniffles as he curled up next to Luka who's gentle singing could now be heard. The song ended and Luka looked up locking eyes with Nene.

"Ah, hello there Nene-chan" Luka said her voice lacked its usual drowsiness.

Pindrop silence.

Nene could see Tsukasa stiffen, like a child who had been found doing something they shouldn't.

The vocaloids stopped what they were doing and also turned towards Nene.

Luckily for Nene this didn't last long as the twins rushed towards her tripping over each other's words.

"Calm down you two or I can't listen to what you're saying." Nene said looking at them both.

The two looked at each other with concern on their faces and nodded.

"Nene-chan do you know why Tsukasa-kun is crying?" Rin said sounding anxious.

"He hasn't told us and we're very worried." Len added.

"I'm afraid I do." Nene replied she could feel tears formed her eyes, crap she promised herself she wouldn't cry over this...but "But" maybe it was ok "I'll have to tell you after I finished crying myself."

With that Nene walked over to the pile of cushions Tsukasa was on and flopped down near enough to him and Luka.

Her face was already wet with a few tears. She looked up at the fairy lights strung up across the ceiling of the tent, she'd always thought that Sekai was an odd place and that Wonderlands×Showtime was an odd group of people but she's grown fond of both. Sekai was still here but the troop of oddities Wonderlands×Showtime was no longer. Sure the name wouldn't change and she, Emu and Tsukasa would still be there but Wonderlands×Showtime was a 4-person troop without Rui it was incomplete.

Neither Tsukasa nor Nene made an effort to reach out to each other. Nene wasn't a big fan of physical affection which Tsukasa knew besides he was already curled up next to Luka leaning on her a little bit but the two shared knowing look.

The tent was quite quiet for a while but the silence was broken by Luka's soft voice.

"Turning on the street corners, people passing by is a single person, is a story like no other, I'm sure I wanted to be like that too".

The other vocaloids started to join.

"The golden moon, the stars nestled together and flowers wet with the morning dew".

Their voices blended together.

"I locked my timid heart that it would never reach me".

Nene started to realise how much she and everyone else were going to miss Rui.

"Tears on my face a little rainbow that fell and popped the crown that reflected a hand that picks me up".

"I wasn't alone."

Chapter Text

Emu was really worried.

When she got back from the cafe she had called Tsukasa and Nene to talk about what was going to happen with Wxs but neither had picked up. She had put it down to them being busy, but they hadn't returned her calls nor had they picked up when Emu called later.

She was pacing around her room in circles thinking about what to do. Did something happen to them? Should she go to their houses to look for them? Maybe they were still upset about Rui, no they definitely were. Truth be told Emu was sad herself but she was too worried about Nene and Tsukasa to think about it. Maybe she should talk to Miku that always helped her when she was worried, perhaps Tsukasa and Nene were there and that's why they went answering Emu's calls.

Yes she should go to Sekai.

With a bright swoosh Emu appeared in the centre of Sekai.

Dark clouds hung above and the overall mood felt... Lonely, she shook her head if
Sekai was this less sparkly then something must be going on. Emu headed towards the ring masters tent outside felt so empty so they must be inside.
As Emu approached the tent she could hear the vocaloids singing.

"I'm sure that right, that's how it is."

"It's ok if you crave those dreams and hopes."

Emu what's right outside now she could hear it was Miku.

"I've been waiting for it-there it is."

She pulled up the curtain door,

"I rush up towards those 88 stars!"

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"Miku why did you stop singing?"
Nene's voice came from a pile of cushions on which she, Tsukasa and all the others were sat (or in Nene and Tsukasa's case laid down) on.

"It appears we have another visitor."

Nene and Tsukasa froze simultaneously.

"Perhaps you can answer some questions Emu?" Luka said smiling at the fellow pink haired girl.

Nene and Tsukasa relaxed, as carefree is the vocaloids were they were sharp.

Rin and Len shared a look of concern, Miku's expression remains much the same but the realisation with evident.

Kaito and Meiko looked at each other in understanding then to Luka who remained smiling, hand still stroking Tsukasa's hair.

Her voice filled the tent again,
"I see no wonder these two are so upset."

Emu had wondered forward and was now stood at the edge of the pile of pillows.

"So Emu," Luka's voice was gentle like a lullaby "What on earth did rui do?"

Chapter Text

Emu felt stiff, she herself felt a lot like crying right now. But that couldn't happen now that Rui had left she had to be stronger, they all did, maybe that way they could fill the void Rui had left or at least make it seem less empty.

"He didn't do anything wrong." Emu managed to say.

Luka chuckled "I have no doubt about that, but he must have done something."

"Yeah he did." Emu said, she suddenly felt very small.

Luka noticed and patted the empty spot next to her left, between her and Nene, Emu climbed up and sat between them.

She reached for Nene's hand as she seemed awfully sad, her face had some tear streaks which Emu wiped away.

Although Nene was not a big fan of physical touch or affection Emu was an exception.

After wiping away Nene's tears Emu turned towards Luka and started to tell the story Rui had told them in the cafe.

"... And so Rui is going to leave WonderlandsxShowtime." She finished.

The second of shock Luka had expressed had long since left. The other vocaloids also seemed shocked and concerned, Emu couldn't quite tell.

When had her eyes filled with tears? She couldn't remember.

"Oh Emu you've done so well." Luka said patting her on the head.

Emu started crying and once again the ring masters was filled with the sounds of crying as well as gentle singing.
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Emu and Nene needed to leave. Emu had to get back before her family called her for dinner, and Nene needed to leave before her family came home from work. That just left Tsukasa, Emu felt really bad for leaving him behind so she gave him and extra big hug which Nene managed to be pulled into.

"Bye bye everyone!" She waved energetically as she was transported from Sekai back to her room. She let out a sigh after visiting Sekai she felt a bit better than earlier.

Wxs would still need to plan how they would handle things from now on but Emu had faith things would be okay.

A knock on the door pulled Emu from her thoughts "Emu it's dinnertime." Her sister's voice was slightly muffled through the door.

"Coming!" Emu yelled in response. Hinata had been the first one she told about Rui leaving. Her brothers found out when Rui formally left, of course they had come straight to Emu bombarding her with questions. Emu knew they meant well but that didn't stop her yelling at them and storming off to her room.

God dinner was going to be awkward.

And it was, the whole meal was eaten in almost silence the only sound that could be heard was the scrape of knives and forks along with the occasional cough.

This was the worst, Emu thought everyone was so tense and stressed and the atmosphere was overall uncomfortable. She really hoped dinner's weren't like this from now on.

*Cough cough* Shousuke , who sat across from Emu, tried to get everyone's attention "Emu I think we owe you and apology." He started looking down at the empty plate infront of him.

"Yes I agree with Shousuke," Keisuke added "we didn't consider how you might feel about the matter."

"Especially since it only happened earlier today." Shousuke interrupted before being met by a slap to the side of the head from Keisuke.

"However," Keisuke continued glaring at Shousuke, who rolled his eyes back "it is important to know what you as the remaining members of Wxs will do moving forward."

Emu took a deep breath "thank you for the apology I appreciate it and I'm very sorry for yelling earlier."

"I haven't had a chance to talk to Nene-chan and Tsukasa-kun yet."

"Are they still not answering your calls?"
Hinata asked.

Emu nodded "I think it would be best if we talked in person anyway."

"I'm sorry your friend is leaving Emu, we know how much your troupe meant to you." Hinata said.

"It's fine."

It wasn't .

"We new this would happen eventually, I guess I just wasn't expecting it to happen so soon."

"Yes and after your ambassadorial performances ended as well, I'm sorry, maybe if the opportunities here were better he would have stayed." Keisuke said.

"It's such a shame as well he was a good director, it would have been great to keep him here a while longer." Shousuke added.

Ah they were starting to talk business again.

Surely it would be ok if Emu zoned out for a minute or two...right...

Chapter Text

Tsukasa was so tired.
He'd stayed with the vocaloids until the early hours of the morning. He had to make sure Saki and the others (Leo/need, who had decided to have a sleepover, just Tsukasa's luck.) had fallen asleep before he re entered his room. Unfortunately the girls had a habit of staying up late when they had sleepovers and since they had an inset day tomorrow they hadn't needed to worry. Luckily for Tsukasa none of them had noticed his prolonged absence however that didn't change the fact that he still had school today.

Makeup really was magical he thought to himself as he saw his reflection in a passing window as he made his way down the corridor, the dark eye bags he'd had this morning had all but vanished.

Makeup... That was something Rui had taught him. Tsukasa smiled as he recounted all the time he and Rui had spent messing around with makeup, but tears threatened to spill and he shook his head trying to clear his thoughts.

Up until recently he hadn't noticed how much he thought about the purple head boy, it seemed as though whatever he thought about his mind wandered back to Rui.

The bell rang, Tsukasa sat in his seat and pulled out his notebook as he desperately tried to focus on what the teacher was saying.

Finally it was lunch time and Tsukasa headed up to the roof where he was meant to meet up with Nene to discuss show ideas. Before it would have been him and Rui... Nope he was not giving him anymore thought.

Nene already up there talking to the very same person Tsukasa had been trying to stop thinking about. That person turned around with a smile to greet him.

"Ah hello there Tsukasa-kun"

"Hello Rui"

The words were warm yet they left Tsukasa with a dull ache. He was happy for Rui but... No! Tsukasa almost shouted.
He was not going down that trail of thought again, not right now.

He was not going to ruin what little time he had with Rui with thoughts like that.

He looked too Nene for a distraction
"Shall we get started then?"

Nene nodded and moved to sit down, Tsukasa followed. Rui sat down as well a little further away from them.

The two started going through Nene's notebook looking at and discussing the different ideas eventually deciding on one, Rui remained quiet the whole time.

About halfway through lunch the purple head boy stood up mumbling something about needing to find Mizuki and left.

As he did the atmosphere changed both Nene and Tsukasa's smiles dropped.

Since the incident there was a new found trust between the two.

"I'm so tired." Tsukasa half mumbled.

"Yeah I'm not surprised." Nene retorted. "How come you don't have like the worst eye bags right now?"

"The wonders of makeup," Tsukasa said yawning "I'm gonna sleep for a bit, wake me up once lunch is over will you."

Nene rolled her eyes "I will I will."

Tsukasa didn't even finish lying down before he fell asleep.
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What was up with Rui today!

Ever since he made the decision to leave Wondershow there had been this twisting feeling in his chest like something was gnawing on him from the inside.

Even after a full 7 hours of sleep it hadn't left. He'd tried to just ignore it but, it just wouldn't go away.

It was bad when he was talking to Nene but it got worse when Tsukasa had joined them, all he had managed to say was hello and then a pathetic excuse about needing to find Mizuki before he left.

God he probably seemed like such an asshole.

Was he upset, sad that he wasn't part of Wondershow anymore? No he had made the decision to follow his dreams and work with Arcland... He took a few deep breaths and the twisting feeling subsided leaving a dull ache.

Rui just wandered around the halls until the bell signaling the start of class rang. Surely everything would figure itself out.

Chapter Text

At the Wonder stage...

The three remaining members had been stood in silence waiting... Waiting for someone to say something.

"We need to talk." Emu said finally interrupting the silence.

"Yeah we do." Nene sighed.

Tsukasa stayed silent.

"So what's going to happen to WonderlandsxShowtime?" She continued.

"I think we should keep going." Tsukasa said in an uncharacteristically quiet voice.

The girls nodded in agreement.

"Yeah we need to keep going." Emu said, Nene let out a hum of acknowledgement.

"Well then," Emu announced putting her hands on her hips "let's get started."
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The three were lying on that backs panting heavily.

"That...was...so... difficult." Nene managed to regain enough breath to form a sentence.

"Yeah... We might need to change that a bit." Tsukasa said wiping sweat from his forehead.

Emu set up stretching a little " I didn't realise how difficult it is to direct." Nene and Tsukasa let out a huff of the agreement.

Nene joined Emu sitting up leaning on her a bit, "If Rui was still here this would be staged better by now" she said.

"Yeah...but he's not." The girls looked towards Tsukasa who was looking up at the Wonder stage's roof.

He sat up joining the two, "We'll just have to learn ourselves I'm sure we'll get used to it eventually." He turned to smile.

Emu and Nene pulled him into a hug (more Emu than Nene). "Yeah you're right." Nene replied "We can't give up yet."

"Yup" Emu agreed "now from the top!"

Nene let out a sigh and the three got back to work.

Chapter Text

It was the day of the first show since Rui had left and Emu had woken up earlier than usual to start heading over to Phoenix-Wonderland. The usual excitement she felt had been replaced by a mild anxiety. This show felt different from the ones they had done with Rui, less sparkly and happy than the other shows.

Emu shook her head and headed backstage to check the props in the few minutes before the others arrived and they started makeup plus a read-through.

They had decided to do a show based on Luka since it was around her anniversary. Emu really wanted this show to go well especially because it was a tribute to their friend.

She said she finished patching up some paint on one of the props.

The show was about a mother (Luka)
-played by Emu- looking for her children -played by Nene and RoboNene- and it was about all the challenges she had to face while doing so -played by Tsukasa-.

"Emu" she heard Nene call her name.

"Here!" She replied.

"Are you ready to start makeup?" Nene asked. "Oh is Tsukasa not here yet?" She said looking around.

"Not yet :(" Emu frowned.

"Maybe he's running a bit late it's not unheard of." Nene shrugged it off.

" I hope he's okay." Emu said worriedly.

"He'll be here soon I'm sure." Nene said. "Now come here and let me do your makeup."

The two girls sat in silence in front of the vanity as Emu had her makeup applied by Nene. Emu was good at special effects makeup, but wasn't the best at usual or subtle makeup. So when a role she was playing didn't require anything fancy Nene tended to do it for her.

"All done." Nene took a step back to appreciate her work.

"Thank you Nene :3" Emu said beaming up at her.

Nene turned trying to hide the light blush that how to spread across her cheeks.

"...No problem."

Emu looked at the clock. "Hmmm Tsukasa-kun should be here by now."

As if by magic there was a knock on the backstage door.

"Speak of the devil." Nene sighed.

The door swung shut behind Tsukasa as he entered the backstage area.

"Sorry I'm late" he said sheepishly.

"Yeah yeah whatever, go get ready." Nene said.

"Don't worry Tsukasa-kun," Emu smiled brightly "we're all late sometimes."

"Yeah I guess so." He replied as he stepped into his (and Rui's) dressing room.
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Tsukasa and Nene were stood back stage listening to Emu introduce the story. This was usually Rui's job, but of course he wasn't here.

Nene let out a deep breath "Ready?"

Tsukasa nodded "let's put on the best show we can."
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"That was WonderlandsxShowtime. Thank you for coming to see us and..."
Emu announced loudly, "please come again." They all said in unison, while taking their final bow.

There was a light round of applause before the actors left the stage.

As soon as they made it out of sight of the audience they all collapsed onto the floor. Even Emu's inexhaustible energy had been exhausted.

"Why was that harder than usual?" Nene said out of breath.

"Because" Tsukasa panted "it was the work of 4 people for 3."

Nene groaned rolling over "let's make next show easier."

"But we need to do our best in order to make people all happy and smiley." Emu said.

"Emu's right." Tsukasa said "I'm sure we'll get used to it we just need to give it more, this was only our first show afterall."

"I guess." Nene replied.

The three lay in silence, trying to catch their breath and then a little more. Something felt wrong. usual joy and fulfillment they felt after a show wasn't there. It didn't feel like they were any closer to chasing their dreams.

After saying their goodbyes everyone set off home in different directions, they all had a long day of school tomorrow.

Chapter Text

The curtain fell as Rui and the rest of the cast of Arcland took a final bow. A roar of applause could be heard from the other side of the curtain. The actors headed off stage chatting quietly so they could not be heard over the music that was played as the audience left the theatre.

"Haha great job everyone!" Asahi said loudly. "That's all go out to celebrate a show well done." Sounds of agreement came from the rest of the cast.

"And you mister director." Asahi said putting an arm around Rui's shoulder.

Rui let out a little laugh "I should really go home."

"Awww come on." Asahi pouted.

"Leave him alone Asahi he's got a test tomorrow, right." Another member said.

"Yeah I do." Rui scratch the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Ah well, Another time then." Asahi sighed.

"See ya." The other cast member called out and all the others waved to Rui as they walked away.

He waved back, the faint smile he wore slowly disappeared. Rui turned around and started to head home, it had been around a month since Rui started working with Arcland and it was great.
He got to use new and amazing special effects massive props and he had grown exponentially as a director yet..., he clutched his chest, there was this twisting sensation he couldn't get rid of.
It felt like something was eating away at him.

It had mostly subsided for the (almost) month but popped up every now and then. He realised it wasn't physical pain but emotional pain, the kind that blocks your throat while crying. After he realised that he had ignored it, but today he felt like shit and didn't feel like socializing much.

Rui has found that lots of little things kept reminding him of the troupe, which didn't help with the pain of course. The one he thought about the most was the star, scattered around his room were trinkets in little gifts from that person. Rui didn't realise just how much of his time was spent on the star until he lost him.
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It was the next day and Rui was late for school, it had started to become a common occurrence ever since he stopped walking to school with Nene.

Ever since he had left WxS he hadn't spent as much time with Emu, Nene and Tsukasa. Whenever they were free he was busy and when he was free they were busy. He would be lying if he said he didn't miss them.

Rui side is the approach the gates, he was going to be so late he thought as he had the bell ring.

"Not that I care that much."

Odd when had he started thinking like that?

Chapter Text

"Thank you for coming to see us please come again." The members of WonderlandsxShowtime said in synchronisation as they waved to the audience.

The few people in the audience clapped before getting up to leave chatting idly.

Tsukasa didn't know how long he could keep doing this, putting on mediocre shows to which no one truly smiled. Lying to his friends and family telling them he was fine and making progress.

The only people who knew he was struggling was Emu and Nene they were struggling just as much as him if not more.

He didn't want to burden Saki or Toya with any of this, especially since they had both been really busy recently unlike himself who couldn't even put on a show with watching. He could talk to the vocaloids but he felt bad about how much they had to hear about his problems. He couldn't tell Rui, he didn't want the purple head boy to feel guilty over regret his decision or even worse stop working with Arcland and come back.

Though a little part of Tsukasa really wanted Rui to come back... No he was not allowed to think that. Speaking of Rui it had been a while since Tsukasa had seen him outside of school. He missed him a lot, Tsukasa missed the crazy experimentation, shooting confetti cannons on the school roof and going to detention for it afterwards and even (dare he admit it) the teasing.

He shook his head, as much as he missed the mad director if Tsukasa became the reason Rui didn't chase his dreams he would never forgive himself.

Still he didn't know how many more shows... No he couldn't think like that Emu and Nene still needed him so he would keep trying. At this point most (if not all) of Tsukasa's time was spent on shows. Whether that was making costumes, looking over scripts, trying to understand characters, memorising choreography but it wasn't enough and Tsukasa didn't know what more he could do.

"I'm heading home." Tsukasa called before starting to walk away from the Wonder stage.

"Bye" Nene and Emu in 2 very different tones.
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The sun was beginning to set as Tsukasa followed his usual route home, lost and thought.

"Tsukasa-kun" hauntingly familiar noise called his name breaking him from his trance.

"Hello Rui" Tsukasa turn to face the very boy he had been thinking about. " Funny seeing you here."

Rui's citrus eyes stared into his. "Yeah, what a coincidence."
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It was not in fact a coincidence Rui had been lingering around a certain spot that was on Tsukasa's route home.

He didn't even know why he was there but he had been on a walk, zoned out and ended up here. It really was quite strange.

The two talked for a bit before reaching Tsukasa's house.

"Well this is my stop, see you at school tomorrow I guess." The star smiled a little awkwardly.

"Yeah I guess." Rui replied.

"Bye"

"Bye"

He waved too Tsukasa one last time before heading home.

Something was off with his smile the moment was a little awkward and all fairness but...

When was the last time he had seen the star smile properly?

Rui couldn't remember.

Chapter Text

"What..." This could not be happening, Emu had tried so hard to prevent this and it was all for nothing.

"I said the demolition of the Wonder stage is scheduled for Wednesday next week." Keisuke stated blankly.

No she had tried so hard she's found an amazing troupe and they had all acted and been happy and everything was okay.

"Look Emu, we know that this must be hard to hear but you need to understand that the Wonder stage just isn't as it needs or used to be." Shousuke sighed "even you must have noticed by now that the Wonder stage's audience has drastically reduced since kamishiro left."

"But..." They were right since Rui left the three hadn't been able to do what Rui did for every show. None of them could direct like he did and they'd unconsciously agreed that they wouldn't replace him with anyone, they couldn't.

Emu's shoulders slumped. She couldn't argue with her brother's because deep down she knew they were right.

Still... It hurt.

She got up from the table and went to her room without another word.

Emu had tried, she had tried so hard time and time again and for what.

Emu looked around her room at her walls the ones she'd painted with her family she hadn't changed her room much since she was little. The bright colours and random things she had collected over the years had always comforted her.

Test started to form in her eyes, trickling down her face and slowly dripping onto the floor.

WxS how to a meeting in Sekai today, Emu thought sniffling. She would have to tell the others. The clock on the wall ticked away reminding Emu of it's presense. She turned to face it, realising it was seven already Emu reached saw her phone and transported herself to Wonderland Sekai.
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.
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Emu was later than usual Tsukasa thought swinging his legs, he was sat at the edge of the stage in the ring masters tent. Miku and Nene was sat in the audience chatting and playing with the plushies. Kaito had gone to look for Luka who had undoubtedly fallen asleep somewhere: Meiko had joined him in his search. And Tsukasa knew the twins were off messing around somewhere judging by the number of balloons he saw them with earlier.

Tsukasa side and began fiddling with a strange thing he had found in Sekai. It was small and star-shaped with a small glow within, the little star was cool to the touch and felt glass like.

As Tsukasa gazed at the curious object he couldn't help but be reminded of Rui and his insatiable curiosity of Sekai, he side as he recounted the many times they had to stop Rui from dismantling anything and everything to find out how it worked. The star chuckled to himself, despite the crazy ventures of the director his earnest to desire to learn more about sakai and its contents was endearing.

...

It had been a while since Tsukasa had seen Rui in Sekai, he doubted that the director ever visited anymore as none of the vocaloids had seen him either... Perhaps he had gotten bored.

Maybe Sekai like Tsukasa wasn't enough anymore. If only he could just stay in Sekai and put on shows forever... When had he started thinking like that? He shook his head he couldn't leave Saki on her own and what about his troupe, he couldn't leave them either.

Well Saki wasn't alone was she, she had Leo/need and all her friends didn't she? A little voice spread in the back of Tsukasa's head.

The star scrunched his eyes shut in rubbed his face trying to erase his thoughts.

A sudden movement of the curtains drew everyone's attention, the occupants of the tent turned to face the disturbance. A tearful Emu entered followed by a very concerned looking Kaito Meiko and Luka.

"Ehhhh what's wrong Emu you look so sad." Miku set approaching the quartet with Nene in tow.

"The Wonder stage." Emu sniffed.

"It's being torn down."

Chapter Text

“It’s being torn down.” …

Tsukasa could feel waves crashing over him whether they were made from relief or hopelessness he couldn’t tell.

He sat silently on the stage listening to the others.

“What?” Nene had finally reached the group and pulled Emu who was still sniffling into a tight hug. “You can’t be serious right?”

But everyone knew she was, Emu’s reaction was too real and she wouldn’t joke about something like this in the first place. While Nene and the vocaloids comforted the very upset Emu, a horrible thought came to Tsukasa. This was perfect. No stage meant no responsibility to do shows, troupe or no troupe. He couldn’t just stay in sekai forever now.

Wow…

He was incredibly selfish…but maybe it was okay to be selfish just this once.

One of the plushies had crawled to sit on Tsukasa’s lap, the plushie felt heavier than usual, like it was weighing him down trying to stop him from leaving.

Yeah,maybe he should just stay here.

From across the room Miku turned to face him, they locked eyes.

Right the vocaloids were linked to sekai , the sekai made of his emotions.

She knew.

Tsukasa could tell from the look in her eyes one that was made of concern and acceptance.

The star smiled to himself, it felt like all the stress head been under lately had magically lifted from his shoulders, like the curtains being Let down at the end of a show.

.

.

.

It was decided that WxS next show would be put on hold and they would discuss what would happen to the troupe at a later date.

Nene and Emu said their goodbyes, Emu was still quite tearful and Nene was visibly shaken by the news.

That just left Tsukasa.

The star ,who was still sat on the stage swinging his legs, showed no signs of leaving.

“So where would you like to sleep?” Kaito asked casually. At this point, all of the vocaloids had sensed Tsukasa’s feelings, even Rin and Len who weren’t at the ringmasters tent would know by now.

“ I don’t wanna go to bed yet.” Tsukasa fake pouted.

“Yes but Tsukasa-kun is very tired like sleepy lions, ooh maybe we can play that to get you to fall asleep!” Miku said excitedly, clapping her hands with childlike joy.

“Oh I know a great spot to play sleeping lions.” Luka added, she was slightly drowsy as she had been awake for almost a whole hour.

The star laughed childishly. “Lead the way then.”

And with that he was lead out of the tent by a drowsy woman with silky pink hair followed by Miku, Kaito, Meiko and a parade of plushies.

.

.

.

That night Tsukasa Tenma did not return home. His absence went unnoticed, Saki was at a friends’s house, his parents were out as usual and none of his friends tried to contact him.
So the boy with sunset coloured hair slept surrounded by the vocaloids and plushies having fallen asleep after a game of sleeping lions.

His absence would continue to go unnoticed until the next morning at school when he was not in class. This was very unlike Tsukasa after all he had almost perfect attendance and had only ever been absent because of one Rui Kamashiro but those absences had stopped happening recently and Tsukasa’s attend attendance had reached an all-time high.

But everyone gets sick sometimes, surely that’s why they usually avid student wasn’t in school today.

The teacher sent an email to the star’s parents as was protocol, however they had long since passed the time they would expect a reply.

Meanwhile said star was in a Wonderland created by his emotions and surrounded by the vocaloids (who may as well be family) singing peacefully.

Chapter Text

The next day when Tsukasa didn't show up again, no one paid any attention it wasn't unusual to take a day or two off every now and then.

But Nene knew otherwise, Tsukasa how to not answered any of her calls nor responded to any texts. Even if Tsukasa was unwell he would have let Nene know.
He hadn't reached out to Emu either as far as Nene knew, although Emu wasn't doing great either, according to Ichika she hadn't been to school yesterday. At least Emu was still answering her messages.

Nene zoned back in right as the bell signaling the end of class rung.

Looking down at her paper Nene realised that she hadn't taken any notes.
Damn it, she'd have to ask one of her classmates for their notes later. She groaned internally thinking about the social interaction.

As Nene ate her lunch, her thoughts wondered to her dream. A songstress, that dreams seemed so far away now. If only she could hide away somewhere where she could ignore everyone and sing to her heart's content.

Nene side and took another bite of her sandwich. Yeah right, like she could just teleport to some magical world and forget her worries. Speaking of magical world she should check on Sekai, maybe the vocaloids had seen Tsukasa since he wasn't answering his phone.

Nene took another bite of her sandwich.
Man, life was stressful.
.
*Later at home*
.
Nene side looking at her half finished homework, she would honestly rather do anything else.

While procrastinating her work Nene's eyes drifted to her phone. Since WxS had gone on a break, after the demolition of the Wonderstage was announced. She had spent her free time playing games or scrolling on her phone since she had nothing else to do but these were starting to get boring as well.

She should visit Sekai, that's what she always did when she was struggling.

Clicking play, Nene was transported to Sekai in a flash of magenta yellow and cyan triangles. Opening her eyes the lights of Sekai twinkled around her, it felt different than usual more detached and carefree.

Nene headed over to the ringmasters tent which seemed brighter, especially considering the night sky above was darker than usual.

Peking into the tent, Nene could see it was completely empty.

That was somewhat concerning.

The ring masters tent was the usual 'sleeping' place for the vocaloids.

Maybe they were sleeping somewhere else today, it wasn't too unusual for the vocaloids to sleep somewhere else or even not be asleep yet.

Nene when did around sakai before she ended up at one of the train stations for the flying train. While walking around Nene had seen kaito's dark blue hair on the train so she had gone to the train station.

As the train pulled into the station Nene could start to hear the mixed talking of the vocaloids as well as one other.

"Wow really tell us more" the twins asked.

"Ok so after that we had to hide in the lockers but then another explosion, which Rui had planned, went off."

The door to the train opened and Nene stepped inside.

"Of course I didn't know about this one so I fell out the locker I was hiding in, luck laser teachers had already passed by but I still shouted at Rui after that."

The door to the carriage opened and Nene stepped into it.

The only people awake were Rin, Len, Tsukasa and a few plushies.

"Hello Nene." Tsukasa smiled at her.

"Hello" she responded, walking over and sitting across from him.

"You know what I'm going to ask." Nene set avoiding eye contact. "Why won't you in school yesterday or today?"

...

"Because, I'm tired... Nene, I just want to make shows that make people smile and I... I can do that here."

"What about..." Nene trailed off she couldn't think of a what about, she couldn't even think of a reason for her to go back at this point.

She sighed.

"Well then" Nene said leaning back on her hands, "I guess I'm staying here as well."

To casa looked a bit shocked but snapped out of it quickly and smiled warmly at her.

"We were telling stories about Rui, do you have any good ones?" Len asked.

"Oh so many." Nene laughed.

"So this one time..."

Chapter Text

Everything felt so dull...

Emu was laid on her bed, staring at the glow in the dark stars stuck on her ceiling.

She really didn't know what to do.

She hadn't been to school the last two days and she didn't plan on going today either.

Since their meeting in Sekai Emu hadn't left her room. The bright colours and fun scenes filled with smiles painted on her walls somehow seemed less joyful than usual.

Somehow Emu couldn't bear to leave her room and face the world, if only she could forget about all her problems and just make people smile.

She sighed, even in her room Emu felt trapped like she would rather be anywhere else.

A thought popped into her head and impulsively she grabbed her phone clicking on untitled.

Why didn't she think of this sooner? She would just stay in Sekai. A place where she could ignore her problems and put on shows to her hearts content.

Emu let out a small laugh as she materialized in Sekai.

"Woooah!" Emu looked around at Sekai nothing had changed but the atmosphere felt brighter than usual.

"Everything so colourful!" She said to herself, gazing up at the pastel pink and yellow clouds.

A second passed and Emu looked away from the clouds above her. "I should look for Miku and Kaito." She thought aloud.

Nene mentioned that Tsukasa hadn't been answering her messages on their last call, maybe she would find him here.

She skipped off towards the ferris wheel to start searching.
.
.
.
It felt like they were on top of the world. Tsukasa looked over the side of the pod they were in. He, Nene, Miku and Len we're riding the ferris wheel attempting to make a map of the sekai, it was quite vast but eventually dropped off into clouds.

Tsukasa used to be scared of heights but after several attempts (by certain director) to send him into outer space he had stopped being scared.

Is face started to warm up and he shook his head trying to get rid of his thoughts.
Every time he thought of Rui strange things kept happening.

He said at the ground trying to clear his head when he spotted a bright pink dot making its way towards the ferris wheel.

"Emu?" He questioned aloud.

The other occupants of the pod looked at him before also looking over the side which caused the pod to swing a little.

"Oh it is." Nene said matter of factly, she poked Tsukasa in the side "yell and get her attention."

"Ow, fine" He replied.

"EMMMUUUU!"
.
.
.
"EMMMUUUU!"

Emu heard a familiar deafening voice calling her from above.

Looking up she could see four heads peaking over the ride waving at her.

"HELLO!" She shouted back though she struggled to reach Tsukasa's volume.

She ran over to the bottom of the ferris wheel and waited for the others to finish the ride and step out.

As soon as they did Emu was bombarded by hugs (yes even Nene), which was odd because usually it was Emu who did the bombarding.

After they calmed down the five of them sat in a circle talking about nothing in particular.

The chatter died down and they sat in silence for a second before Emu started to speak.

"Nene, Tsukasa, Miku, Len." They turned to face Emu who was a lot quieter than usual. "I've been thinking and... I want to stay in Sekai for the foreseeable future."

After a pause Tsukasa started laughing, Nene rolled her eyes and Miku and Len smiled at eachother.

After he had finished laughing the star simply said "Welcome to the club," and smiled as bright as ever.

Emu's eyes widened, Oh.

She turned to face Nene, "you as well?"

Nene let out a somewhat defeated sigh and nodded.

Emu gas before also laughing out loud this was perfect they could all...be...together.

I love to die down and she looked down.

"Emu?" Nene asked maneuvering herself so she could see the pink head girls face. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine" Emu sniffed "Just, I was thinking about how we could all be together but... We can't really, not without Rui."

...

"Yes but the rest of us can be." Tsukasa's smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "But that's fine, I have no doubt that Rui's doing amazing things right now and I would hate if I stopped him from doing that."

"Yeah" Nene sighed "You're right"

"And when Rui comes to Sekai we can put shows on for him." Emu set excitedly, even though none of them were sure if Rui would return at all.

"Well then." Tsukasa stood up dusting himself off "We've got to work to do."

The others followed him and they all trailed off to start a new venture.

Chapter Text

"Shit."

Shit Shit Shit Shit.

This was not good.

Rui rolled over burying his face in his pillows, attempting to undo his train of thought.

"Chat I might be cooked." He said to himself [And you, yes you! Because you too can be a part of this fanfiction. Fourth wall who? Now back to the story.]

"aaaggh". He was trying so hard to deny it but is efforts were futile.

"I'm in love with Tsukasa." Now that he vocalised it he was sure.

How did this even happen?

I mean sure Tsukasa was funny and caring and made everyone around him (especially Rui) smile and... Ok well that's probably how.

"Ughh, I'm such an idiot." Why hadn't he realised sooner. He thought about Tsukasa all the time whether he was with him or not. Rui supposes he didn't notice because he was inseparable from Tsukasa, so he hadn't noticed how much he thought about him.

And now...

Rui groaned in frustration, turning to face his cluttered room.

The mess had grown since the lack of a certain star who would constantly remind him to clean up.

It wasn't just his room, it felt as though life was piling up and he had no time to recharge, the way things were going he was going to burn out.

Ever since he met Tsukasa Rui had had an almost constant stream of motivation even if it was just to get out of bed. Tsukasa was quite literally the light of his life.

But he had lost that light and it was all his fault.

The feeling was back the one that twisted his insides. Hey at least Rui knew what the feeling was now!.. That was a lie, Rui had no clue, but he figured it must be something to do with leaving WonderlandsxShowtime.

He sighed turning to face his ceiling. It wasn't just Tsukasa, he missed the rest of WxS as well, he missed Emu's impulsive stunts, Nene's snide remarks (and pretty much everything about Tsukasa). He missed working together to put on shows, he missed the silly moments when they went out to celebrate a successfull show. He missed their company.

Rui rolled over once again, at this point he may as well be a kebab.

Staring blankly at the wall, Rui went over all the tasks he had yet to do.

• History assignment, Due: Monday Complete: 40%
• Learn lines, Due: tomorrow probably Complete: ?%
• Eat, Due: Whenever Complete: Last thing he ate was soda candy yesterday, so that was probably in the negatives.

Was it possible for percentages to go into the negatives?

He really needed to get up, to move, do anything.

His stomach growled, he needed to eat.

But his lines and...

He really needed to...

He really...really... Couldn't do it.

His body felt heavy and his eyelids began to droop.

He was so tired.
.

.

.
It was one of those naps where you can't tell how long you've been asleep.

Rui was still waking up groggily when a knock sounded at the door. Vision still blurry, Rui made his way to the door. His parents weren't home yet so he had to answer. As he approached the door he noticed the orange tinted sunlight spilling through the windows and checked his watch, 7:00 he had slept for most of the afternoon.

He opened the door still half asleep.

"Hello are you Kamishiro Rui?"

Rui didn't recognise them.

"Yes that's me."

"We're how to ask about some missing people."

Hm? Private investigators perhaps.

"Could you please tell us when the last time you saw Kusunagi Nene, Ootori Emu and or Tenma Tsukasa."

"Huh?"

Oh
Oh no

Rui was awake now.

Chapter Text

"What?"

Rui was in shock.

Missing? "Did you say they were missing."

The alarm was evident in Rui's eyes.

"Tch, what did I say about scaring people." The other said knocking the back of the first guys head.

"Apologies for my partner," the second investigator said turning to Rui. "You can call me Yuri and this one" pointing to the other man "is Akai."

" We are part of G.I.G.G.S Private investigation and are here to ask some questions."

So he didn't miss hear, they were missing.

" I have no doubt that you also have some questions for us, so if it's not inconvenient may we come in?"

Rui nodded and stepped back leading the two inside. The Kamishiro household was always very cluttered a result of him and his parents hate for cleaning. Luckily enough the cleaning service is parents hired had been recently so it was better than usual.

Rui let the two to the front room where he then went to the kitchen to make tea more so for himself than the investigators but it would be rude to not make tea for them.

It reminded him of when he would visit the Tenma household and Tsukasa would make tea, he always looked so calm when drinking tea. After a while Rui started to make tea when people came over.

And now Tsukasa was missing, all of WxS was missing well except for... himself.

Rui looked back down at the three mugs of tea: his hands were shaking terribly.

He took the tea back to the front room and set it down.

Akai looks like he was about to say something (probably about the unprompted tea)but was quickly cut off by Yuri elbowing him.

He sat down, took a mug from the table and stared down at it. Rui had never been great at maintaining eye contact: fortunately the detectives didn't seem to mind.

"How long have they been missing?" He asked.

"Originally we were hired to investigate the disappearance of Otori who hasn't been seen since yesterday." Akai responded.

Rui nodded, that made sense the Otori's had the kind of money for that and wouldn't hesitate to hire a private investigator the moment they realised Emu was missing.

"During our investigation we discovered that both Kusunagi and Tenma I've been missing for over 24 hours." He finished.

Yuri side and kept talking "seeing as the two are Otori's friends and are also employed by Phoenix Wonderland the Otori's I've asked us to investigate them as well especially because the cases are most likely connected."

"And you've come to me because I used to be in a troop with the three of them?" Rui inquiried.

Akai's eyes widened.

"Yes that would be the case." Yuri answered.

"Admittedly I haven't seen them much recently," he looked back at the tea. "After transferring troupes I haven't seen the much. The last time I saw them both was Wednesday at school. I was out on Thursday and they weren't in on Friday I assumed they were sick."

"Mmmm, yeah that adds up." Yuri sighed.

"Why were you out on the Thursday?" Akai asked.

"My new troupe was having an extra rehearsal that day and I needed to finish a prop so that's why." Rui recounted, stirring his tea.

"I see." Akai responded.

"Well I believe it's time for us to leave thank you for answering the questions and the tea." Yuri got up stretching.

"No problem." He looked to where Yuri and Akai were now stood. "If you don't mind could you tell me how long Nene and Tsukasa have been missing for." Rui questioned. Before they could answer he kept talking, "even though I haven't seen them as much recently they're still my friends and I care about them."

Yuri smiled, "of course."

"Tenma was last scene on Wednesday when you saw him at school and Kusunagi was last seen walking home on Thursday."

2 and 3 days.

Rui knew that Nene's parents were on holiday and I had just come back today, also Nene wasn't exactly very sociable so he wasn't too surprised her going missing wasn't noticed for two days, but Tsukasa?

Tsukasa was loud and energetic his presence filled the room how did no one notice he was missing for three days? How did Rui not notice he was missing for 3 days?

He was a horrible friend.

"Will show ourselves out." Yuri said interrupting Rui's train of thought.

"Ah yes, sorry"

"It's fine, this must be quite a shock you've got a lot to think about." Yuri acknowledged.

"Yeah... I do."

Rui heard the door shut behind the two private detectives as they left. The door was self locking so rui didn't have to worry about it.

"3 days" and no one had noticed. He hadn't noticed.

Rui gold and on himself, he really didn't know what to do.

"I hope you're safe wherever you are, my Star."

Chapter Text

Something weird was happening to Sekai. Emu had only been here a day but she could tell that something was off.

The sky was stuck in a twilight like state, purples oranges and pinks swept across the sky but no sun, moon or stars were visible. The colours seemed more saturated, twisting and dancing around eachother.

It wasn't just Sekai it's inhabitants were behaving strangely as well.

From the vocaloids to the rides themselves, all of Sekai had seemed off since she arrived. Maybe she should investigate and try to find out what was wrong.

"Hmmmmm" but where to start.

Ah that's right a partner. All good detectives had partners to help them solve cases, like Sherlock Homeless and John Wartsome.

But who could she ask? She couldn't ask the vocaloids as they were part of Sekai and Emu suspected that whatever was wrong with Sekai was affecting Tsukasa as well.

That just left...

"Nene-chan!!!" Emu barrelled into the singer.

"Ah Emu, you almost knocked me over." Nene said regaining her balance.

"Heehee~."

"What do you want?" She sighed

Emu wrapped her arm around Nene's shoulders and planted a kiss on her nose. "I need some help."

"With?"

"Investigating =)"

"Investigating?" Nene raised her eyebrow, "What do you need help investigating?"

Emu looked around and dragged Nene into one of the smaller tents. "Have you noticed Sekai behaving strangely?" She asked.

Nene furrowed her brow. "Like what?"

"The plushies seem more agitated than usual the vocaloids have been acting differently and the whole Sekai just seems off." Emu listed some observations she had made.

Nene nodded along. "Now that you mention it Sekai does seem different than usual."

"Right." Emu nodded enthusiastically, "so..."

"We should probably investigate." Nene mumbled. "But where should we start?"

"Well first," Emu announced with a grin "we need somewhere to document our findings and I have just the tool for the job."

She produced the most colourful fluffy notebook Nene had ever seen. (Almost as colourful as a certain stage.)

"That is..." Nene really didn't know what to say, " that's great Emu."

"Anyway we have to remember this is top secret we can't let anyone know."

Nene just nodded along, mind still bamboozled by Emu's notebook. Eventually she spoke up again "we should also take notes on Sekai itself as well as it's inhabitants."

"Good thinking Nene!" Emu determinedly patted her shoulder.

A rustle came from outside the tent.
"Nene, Emu are you guys in there?" A voice called.

"Coming!!!" Emu shouted, tucking away the notebook and dragging Nene behind her.

Chapter Text

Ah... What could he do? What should he do?

Tsukasa had assumed that once he disappeared to Sekai he would be free from the pressures of life.

He had been sorely mistaken.

While the general stress was less he still felt like he was acting in front of Nene and Emu, on top of that something had been up with Sekai and for the life of him he couldn't figure out the problem.

He also kept worrying about the people outside of Sekai, he knew they didn't need him but that didn't stop him from worrying.

And most annoyingly Ru... Kamishiro. Tsukasa didn't really deserve to call him by his first name anymore.

But whatever he called him wouldn't matter, the director was almost constantly on his mind despite his best attempts to distract himself. It was odd usually thoughts of Rui (no Kamishiro, he really needed to remember things like this more) brought him nothing but joy and occasional concern but lately they had started to cause a strange twisting sensation in his stomach. Tsukasa was starting to think that Kamishiro had cast a spell on him somehow.

He opened his eyes and stared at Sekai's sky. It was a dreamy purple and the pink cloud curled together like rotten candy.

Sekai's sky was always purple when he thought about Rui.

It had been purple a lot lately.

Kamishiro aside he should really try to figure out what was happening with Sekai he wouldn't want something to happen to Nene, Emu or any of Sekai's residents.

His fingertips felt numb like they weren't really his.

Recently there had been times where Tsukasa felt he wasn't awake and instead circled in his own thoughts.
Right now was definitely one of those times.

"Tsukasa!!!"

He was quickly snapped out of his sleep like trance by Rin who was yelling at him while barreling down the grassy slope he had been lying on. It wasn't long before she had run into him and started dragging the star up the hill.

"Ow,ow,ow what?" He said trying to free himself from her grasp.

" I'm bored and I can't find Nene or Emu." She said regaining her grasp on Tsukasa before continuing to drag him despite not making much progress with this method.

"I can walk you know" he said standing up and walking alongside the very grumpy vocaloid.

"Weren't you just with them? Maybe they just need a break." Tsukasa sighed, Rin had been a lot more irritable lately and only seemed to spend time with Nene, Emu and the plushies.

"The plushies are fighting again." She spoke ignoring Tsukasa's question. "I need Nene and Emu to decide on a show idea so that the plushies will stop arguing since you can't pick one."

"Again, really!" He exclaimed, Rin nodded. He didn't refute the statement that he couldn't decide because it was true. Both plays had him in similar roles, that of the brave male protagonist. And if he was entirely honest he didn't want to do either. But one had to be picked so he had left the decision up to the plushies.

"You should just say you don't want to do either." Rin said looking up at the ferris wheel as they were walking past. "They would understand."

Tsukasa shook his head "I can't, they're nice enough to keep us company the least I can do is help the shows they make to life."

"I guess so." Rin responded "Are those voices?"

The two turned towards the tent where they were coming from.

"Sounds like Nene and Emu, I can't make out what they're saying though." She continued.

"Hey weren't you looking for... them."

He turned to face Rin but was met with a strange look of concern and anger.

"Riiiin? Are you ok?"

And just like that the expression vanished.

"Yeah why?"

He must have imagined it.

"Nene, Emu are you guys in there." Rin called out voice as chirpy as ever.

"Coming!!!" Emu shouted bursting out of the tent with Nene in tow.

"Hello Tsukasa" Nene greeted the star,

"Hello to you too Nene." He smiled brightly.

No matter what he tried, Tsukasa just hadn't been able to drop whatever mask he was putting on. It's not like he wanted to act in front of Nene and Emu, quite the contrary, but he just didn't know how to stop.

It's not like the mask he put on was entirely fake. Sometimes it was how he genuinely felt just not all the time but it was a lot easier to act than bother the others.

Really he wanted to be honest with them but it felt like he was stuck behind the ruse of world future star. If only someone could find him and pull him from his facade, but at the same time he was scared. Scared that they would find out.

"Hey Tsukasa-kun are you listening" Emu said flicking him.

"Oh. No sorry, what were you talking about?"

"Honestly what are we going to do with you?" Nene sighed.

"Heyyyyy." He grumbled, rubbing the spot Emu had flicked.

"We're going with the instrument maker idea." Rin said enthusiastically. Tsukasa had noticed the she acted differently around Nene and Emu as well.

Huh.

"That was your idea right Nene?" He said turning to her.

"Yup, better act your best."

"Will do" he replied "we should probably tell the plushies."

"Can you guys do that? We need to find Miku." Emu said.

"No problem" Rin smiled "I'll help you find her, Tsukasa can go tell the plushies."

"Fine" the star rolled his eyes dramatically, turning to leave.

"Gooooodbyyyyyeeee" and with that he left the scene to look for the hopefully not still angry plushies.

Chapter Text

It was Monday, 2 days since WxS had been reported missing. And 5 days since Tsukasa had disappeared.

He'd spent sunday ignoring any and all messages and calls. But he hadn't been able to skip school so here he was. He was early which was unusual for him, he was never this early unless the gardening committee was meeting.

"Kamishiro Senpai."

He turned to face Toya who had called him and was now walking over.

"Hey Aoyagi" he greeted the junior.

"Wow you look, awful." Akito butted in.

Despite the fact that they didn't talk much Akito still acted somewhat casual towards him.

"Are my eyebags that bad?" Rui raised an eyebrow in response.

"Yeah it looks like you haven't slept in a week." He added.

"Thanks."
He must look worse than he thought.

"It wasn't a compliment."

"Akito." Toya chided and the ginger crossed his arms shutting up.

Toya turned back to Rui, "Have you?"

"Yeah I know." He sighed avoiding eye contact.

"Saki asked me to ask you if you knew anything, she's been really worried."

Rui shook his head. "Sorry I don't know anything more than what you've probably already heard."

"I see." Toya sighed, he looked tired like he also hadn't slept much. ...

"Bye weirdo" Akito said turning to leave.

"Good bye Kamishiro" Toya waved following Akito into the school.

Rui waved back. He turned to face the dreaded building, mentally preparing for the day to come.
.
.
.
*At the Tenma household*
.
.
.

Saki sat on her bed staring out the window at the grey sky.

"I wonder if it's going to rain."

Sitting looking out the window like this reminded her of when she was sick. A shudder ran down her spine despite the fact she wasn't cold, if it was up to her she wouldn't be here. She'd rather be out looking for her brother, that's what she would be doing if her parents hadn't insisted that she stay home, afraid she would catch a cold.

Leo/needs practice had been cancelled but Saki felt as though a trip to Sekai would be good.

A whirlwind of triangles surrounded her and she was transported to the almost empty school.

No one was in the classroom practice was usually held in, so Saki started to make her way up to the roof.

She arrived to find the roof of the school deserted as well, she sat down and looked up at the stars wondering what to do.

"Hello Saki-chan"

"gahhh" the voice of the pink haired vocaloid had startled her but realising who it was she calmed down. "Oh it's just you Luka, sorry you startled me."

Luka let out a little laugh. "It's fine, you were so deep in thought is something bothering you?"

"I can't hide anything from you can I?" Saki said half jokingly.

"It seems so," Luka smiled "would you like to talk about it?"

"Yeah I would."

The two of them sat on the roof while Saki explained everything that had happened. Emu being reported missing, finding out that Nene and Tsukasa were missing, how worried she was and how she wasn't allowed to go out and look for her brother.

Luka listened patiently, occasionally letting out a humm of agreement. Once Saki had finished she leant back against the wire mesh wall of the roof and looked up at the stars. If only they could give her an answer.

...

The silence was broken by Luke's voice "Well why don't you make missing person posters?"

"Huh?"

"Since you aren't allowed to look for him you could make missing person posters that way if anyone sees or finds him they can call you."

Saki's eyes brightened "That's a great idea. Thank you Luka."

"No problem, and remember that Sekai's here whenever you need it."

Saki nodded. "Alright I'm off now!" She said disappearing in a blizzard of triangles.

It turns out the stars did have an answer for her after all.

Chapter Text

It was raining, heavy. It had been raining on and off since they arrived in Sekai but when the rain had started yesterday it hadn't stopped.

Emu, Nene and Luka were sheltered in a balloon storage tent, drying off from the mad dash there.

Originally everyone had been situated in the the ringmasters tent, putting on shows and waiting for the rain to stop.

But the plushies had started fighting and Rin and Meiko had joined them.

Luka had managed to calm everyone down and suggest that a few of them go out to get balloons for a show. Nene and Emu ,who hadn't had a chance to go over their notes, had offered to go, Luka had gone with them.

And so, they were sat on the floor of the balloon storage tent slightly damp from the rain.

Luka had fallen asleep the moment they arrived, Nene and Emu decided it was best to let her sleep so they could look over their notes.

The two girls started to look through the fluffy notebook while Luka snored in the background.

Each vocaloid along with the plushies and the Sekai had a page.
_____________________________________
-------------------------------------
⁠☆Miku⁠☆

Observations:

● Less sparkly than usual
● Seems lost
● Keeps forgetting where she was going (so we have to find her)
● Foggy
● Gets confused when we talk to her sometimes

Possible causes: Me, Emu and (mainly)
Tsukasa don't seem to know what we're doing.

-------------------------------------
⁠✯Kaito⁠✯

Observations:

● Jumpier than usual
● Scared easier
● Anxious
● Fidgity
● Less confident

Possible causes: Tsukasa is also jumpier than usual and according to Emu more anxious

-------------------------------------
✿Rin✿

Observations:

● Gets 'bored' easily
● Grumpier than usual
● More irritable
● Has joined the plushies fights instead of getting kaito (who hasn't been great at stopping them)

Possible causes: Maybe more tired because we're here all the time? But that seems unlikely she could just be having a bad week I really don't know

-------------–-----------------------
✧Len⁠✧

Observations:

● Misses Rui a lot (probably the most out of all the vocaloids
● Sader recently (but maybe a bad week too?
● Often find him sat alone
● Gloomy :(

Possible causes: I think we all miss Rui Tsukasa especially even though he tries to hide it more.

-------------------------------------
♥Meiko♥

Observations:

● Bored easily (similar to Rin)
● Keeps getting distracted
● Seems as though somethings on her mind but she won't tell us
● Project hopping
● Trying to distract herself?

Possible causes: seems to be the same as Rin but less grumpy? Emu says she's got something on her mind and she does seem more distracted than usual.

-------------------------------------
★Luka★
Observations:
● Most like herself
● Less sleepy than usual

Possible causes: not much change and I've got no clue what the cause could be.

-------------------------------------
♦Plushies♦
Observations:
● Frustrated about something
● Keep fighting eachother not getting along
● Some plushies don't want to be in the same room as eachother
● Don't like mirrors?

Possible causes: Again no idea but Emu said it could have something to do with Tsukasa's feelings which would make sense because plushies are part of Sekai.

-------------------------------------
♪Sekai♪
Observations:
● Super bright and colourful
● Rides run by themselves more than usual
● Lights are sparklier
● Always evening/twilight
● Rains a lot like a whole bunch

Possible causes: perhaps a side affect from us staying in Sekai for longer than usual.

-------------------------------------
_____________________________________

Emu had been in charge of observations and Nene had written the possible causes.

They looked over all the notes they had made but couldn't really find a connection other than everything was just off.

"Maybe..." Nene started but she couldn't think of anything to say.

Emu sighed flicking through the fluffy notebook both she and Nene knew they couldn't decode whatever was wrong with Sekai.

"We should talk to Rui." Emu said shutting the book.

"Emu..." Nene was cut off by Luka yawning and waking up.

Still rubbing her eyes Luka started to talk "She's right you know" ,her voice didn't sound sleepy in the slightest.

"You heard us?" Nene asked even though she already knew the answer.

Luka let out a small half hearted laugh. "I haven't been sleeping as well recently."

"Something's wrong with Sekai isn't there?" Emu said looking down.

"I don't know." Luka responded truthfully.
"But I do know that you two need to go back."

"Why!" Nene asked "What.."
"Find Rui" Luka interrupted "and explain everything."

Lightning crackled outside.

"WAS THAT LIGHTNING!!" Nene jumped up "We can't leave right now lightning just struck Sekai."

Luka cursed under her breath. "I'm sorry" she said "we've run out of time."

"Remember find Rui, explain."

Before they could respond they were surrounded by triangles and the Sekai disappeared from around them.

They were standing on a pavement as the night sky poured onto them.

It felt a little weird being in the real world after the time spent in Sekai even if it was only a few days.

They stood in silence for a while before Nene finally broke the silence.

"This is my road, come on."

Emu nodded and silently began to follow Nene as they walked down the road.