Chapter Text
When Tsukasa wakes up, he slowly comes to the realization that he feels hot. His blanket feels unusually heavy on him, and it’s rather difficult to move the right side of his body.
Wait. Someone is in his bed, holding him. His eyes shoot open, and his ability to breathe momentarily leaves him as he finds his best friend curled into his side, fast asleep. Rui’s arms are loosely wrapped around him, and Tsukasa’s face gets even warmer when it hits him that their legs are tangled together. In his bed.
Why is Rui in my bed?? Tsukasa thinks, finally gasping in a breath. He sits up, eyes drawn to Rui’s face. Despite being jostled, Rui remains peacefully asleep. He looks…comfortable. There’s something about his appearance that feels different, but Tsukasa can’t quite put his finger on what it is.
His back tenses as he takes in his room — no, not his room. Not his bed. Where is he? Beside the king-sized bed is a nightstand with a simple lamp and a charging phone that isn’t his. The bedroom is connected to a bathroom, a closet, and what he assumes is the rest of the apartment, although the door is closed. The curtains are drawn, only allowing a sliver of light through the gap between them. Somehow, it doesn’t wake Rui up despite the faint glow perfectly framing his face.
Tsukasa pinches his own cheeks and frowns when the dream doesn’t vanish like it’s supposed to. “Ow,” he mutters, letting his hands fall. He really should get up and figure out what’s going on. Maybe the SEKAI would be a good place to start? If he’d somehow ended up there during the night, he could have fallen into another Fragmented SEKAI or whatever. But then wouldn’t he be unable to play Untitled to get out? He turns his head to look for his phone and instead gets caught in place by Rui’s eyes, open and staring at him. His eyes look surprisingly alert as he blinks up at Tsukasa, but his voice still carries traces of sleep.
“Good morning, Tsukasa. Your cheeks are red.”
“Yes! I had to check something! After a weird dream!” Tsukasa laughs, and he sounds so strange even to himself that he has to wince. “I, uh, have to go to the bathroom. Where’s my phone?”
He pretends not to see Rui’s concerned expression as he grabs the phone that Rui gestures to, the one on the nightstand, and scrambles out of bed. Closing the bathroom door behind him, Tsukasa unlocks his phone with the same code he has always used, even though this isn’t his phone. The date stares back at him: his birthday. But…
Huh? For a second, he wonders if Rui hacked into his phone to change the year as a prank. There’s absolutely no reason for him to do that, though, so why does the date read ten years ahead of what it’s supposed to be? Pursing his lips, Tsukasa turns on his location and opens the map application.
This has to be a dream. He had gone to sleep in his bed, in the apartment that he shares with Rui, looking forward to an exciting birthday celebration with his loved ones. Surely he can’t actually have woken up in New York. That would make no sense!
His confusion piling higher and higher, Tsukasa finds Untitled on his phone and goes to the most nonsensical place he knows.
The familiarity of the Wonderland SEKAI brings him an immense sense of relief. It is as vibrant as usual, with the sky above him streaked with brilliant auroras and cotton candy clouds. Tsukasa takes a few steps forward, only to stop in his tracks when a voice calls out to him.
“Tsukasa-kun~! Happy birthday~!”
Even with just mere seconds to prepare, he braces himself for impact and manages to hold his ground when Miku tackles him from behind. He can’t pinpoint exactly when he got used to Miku and Emu doing this kind of thing, but nowadays he can mostly take it in stride. Six out of ten times, he won’t even yell in surprise!
“Thank you, Miku!” he says, patting her head once she lets go of him. He waves at KAITO, who had been following behind her.
“Happy birthday, Tsukasa-kun. I’m surprised that you’re here this early. Our birthday show for you isn’t until later today.” His gentle tone reminds Tsukasa that KAITO had helped him figure out plenty of issues in the past and could surely do so again. While he is still confused that he was able to arrive in the SEKAI despite everything else around him being off, he might as well confide in Miku and KAITO about what’s been going on.
“Where is everyone else?” Tsukasa asks, suddenly worried that the bizarre happenings have affected this place too. He knows that the Wonderland SEKAI is huge, but he can’t help but be concerned when most of the Virtual Singers are nowhere to be seen. Normally, at least a couple more would come to greet him — especially on his birthday.
Miku pokes his shoulder. “As KAITO said, you’re super duper early!! The others are still practicing and getting stuff ready for a sparkling happy show, so don’t worry!”
“Ah, right.” Somehow, the reassurance doesn’t make him any less stressed. Tsukasa clears his throat. “Actually, there is a reason I came here, other than for birthday greetings.” Before he can continue, a shimmer of light appears nearby, taking shape as Rui enters the SEKAI. Tsukasa feels guilt churning in his stomach when he sees Rui’s furrowed brows and downturned lips. Regardless of the strange situation Tsukasa has found himself in, he would never want to be the cause of such an expression on Rui’s face.
“Tsukasa. If you wanted to go to the SEKAI, you could have simply told me instead of hiding in the bathroom. Is everything all right?”
“Sorry, Rui. It’s just… I don’t know how to explain this.” He looks at Rui as he steps closer to Tsukasa, and he suddenly recognizes what the difference is that he hadn’t been able to name earlier.
Rui looks older. It’s not a dramatic change, but he looks like how Tsukasa would imagine Rui would look in about ten years. Tsukasa frowns, internally cursing himself for not looking in the mirror when he was in the bathroom. “Do I look older?” he asks without thinking.
Rui looks taken aback, which is a rare sight. “Tsukasa, just because you’ve hit your 30th birthday doesn’t mean you suddenly change in appearance. Is that what’s been bothering you?”
“No! Obviously I know that, and it wouldn’t bother me anyway.” Hold on. “Did you say 30th birthday?” he asks, his voice rising in pitch and volume. What the hell is going on?!
The confusion is palpable in the air between him, Rui, KAITO, and Miku. All of their eyes are on him, and Tsukasa wills himself to calm down. Okay, what has he learned so far? He is now thirty years old. The Wonderland SEKAI seems to be the same as the one he knows. He is still living with Rui, but in this weird future world he’s apparently been dropped into, they share a bed and moved to America. He and Rui are close enough to hold each other while sleeping. Are they…dating? Tsukasa looks over at Rui, as if he can figure out what Rui’s feelings for him are if he stares at him long enough.
His gaze falls on the ring on Rui’s left hand, and all other thoughts leave Tsukasa’s head.