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Tsukasa Tenma was in a dilemma.
His birthday was rapidly approaching, and while he normally would be in the middle of preparing a show to display his appreciation to everyone in his life, this time was a bit different.
He was finally entering adulthood, and he felt that nothing he was writing truly displayed what he felt for the people who helped him get this far.
Furrowing his brows, he erased another line.
He was about to enter another stage of his life, and so much was about to change. He needed a way to express that properly.
“Things are going to be changing… huh…” Tsukasa muttered to himself, tapping his pencil on his desk.
He let out a sigh before he was interrupted by a knock at his door.
“Tsukasa?”
Tsukasa looked up from the script in his hands and leaned back in his chair. “Come in!” he exclaimed.
Saki peeked her head through the door before stepping into her brother’s room. “There you are! You were being oddly quiet, so I wasn’t sure if you were sleeping!”
Tsukasa shook his head. “Nope! Just writing a script!” he said, waving the booklet around in his hands.
Saki stayed silent, her eyes narrowing as she scrutinized Tsukasa. “Are you alright?” she asked.
Tsukasa sighed and mentally berated himself for allowing Saki to see him in his moment of distress. Well… he felt bad lying to her…
“Just thinking about my birthday…” he settled on.
“Right, you’ll be 18 soon! How are you feeling about that?” She asked, talking further into the room and taking a seat on Tsukasa’s bed.
“Just thinking about how different life will be when I’m an adult…”Tsukasa started, before flashing her a smile and placing a hand on his chest. “But it’s nothing a star such as myself can’t handle!” he finished with a laugh.
Saki let out a laugh of her own before giving Tsukasa a soft smile. “But remember, if you’re ever worried about anything, you can talk to me, Touya, or any of your troupe mates! We’re all happy to help!” she said.
At that, Tsukasa smiled faltered, but he nodded nonetheless. “Right of course!” he exclaimed.
Eager to change the subject, Tsukasa put down his script. “So, did you need something?” he asked.
Saki pursed her lips before perking up. “Right! I was going to ask if you had any plans tomorrow morning! Mom wanted to start looking at birthday cakes for you!”
“Ah, I’m free tomorrow night! I’m going out with my troupe in the morning and then eating lunch…” Tsukasa said with a smile.
“Okay, I’ll let her know! I’ll leave you to your script,” she said, standing up, making sure to ruffle Tsukasa’s hair on her way out.
“Saki! It’s the older sibling’s job to mess with the younger sibling’s hair, not the other way around!” Tsukasa exclaimed. Saki laughed, but by the time he was out of his chair, the younger Tenma was already out of the room.
Tsukasa let out an exasperated sigh, but smiled nonetheless.
How much longer will I be able to have moments like this?
Tsukasa blinked at the thought. Right.
18 meant adulthood, moving out, seeing his family and friends less and less…
Tsukasa shook his head and ran his hand through his hair.
“Nope! Not thinking about that!” he exclaimed, opening his script in an attempt to take his mind off his increasingly worried thoughts.
“I can always visit them whenever I want! But if my plan of being an actor works out and I have to go overseas…” Tsukasa trailed off, now staring down at his script.
Brows furrowing, Tsukasa felt his heart get tight. “Ugh!” he exclaimed, throwing his head back in frustration.
Looking at his script would work him up, and not looking would allow his mind the chance to wander.
Letting out a sigh, Tsukasa opted to set down his script. He really couldn’t win in this situation.
Tsukasa checked the time on his phone. It was already getting late, and he was meeting up with the rest of his troupe tomorrow morning…
“I suppose I’ll just call it a night,” he said, getting up with a stretch.
“Perhaps a night of good rest will help clear my mood and spark some ideas!” Tsukasa said to himself, slipping under his covers.
Normally, he could fall asleep without trouble, but tonight, he stared at his ceiling for longer than he should’ve before drifting off to a dreamless sleep.
-
“Huh?!”
The surprise of the four teenagers rang throughout the Sekai as they crowded around the… child?
“He just appeared here last night… none of us know what happened,” Kaito said, nervously rubbing at the back of his head.
“Woah! You look like me!” the child exclaimed, pointing at Tsukasa.
“Woah! A baby Tsukasa in the Sekai!” Emu gasped, looking between the two Tsukasa’s, the older of whom looked considerably shocked.
“Wha- How is this possible?! I’m right here!” he exclaimed, pointing at himself, then down at his mini doppelgänger.
“We think it has something to do with you and your feelings, Tsukasa…” Kaito said, watching as Miku bent down to poke the child Tsukasa in the cheek.
“Of course it is… it always is…” Tsukasa muttered to himself.
“Cut it out!” Mini Tsukasa pouted, swatting Miku’s hand away.
“Eurgh… This is exactly how I was when I was a child…” Tsukasa said, furrowing his brow.
Rui let out a chuckle, and Tsukasa turnt to face him. “Well, I have to say, Tsukasa, you were quite cute as a child,” he said.
Tsukasa scrunched his nose before shaking his head.
“Two Tsukasas…” he heard Nene mutter
“So, Tsukasa, do you mind telling us how you got here?” Rui asked, kneeling to be at the younger’s eye level.
“I was practicing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for my younger sister! Then… I think I fell asleep… and woke up here!” Mini Tsukasa said, before laughing to himself. “I thought I was dreaming!”
“And how old are you?” Rui asked.
“7 years old!”
Rui stood back up to his full height, brushing his hands against each other. “So, Tsukasa, any ideas?”
The rest of the troupe turnt to look at Tsukasa curiously as his eyes widened.
“Bwah?! Why are you all looking at me? I’m just as lost as everybody else!”
“Think really hard, Tsukasa! When you were 7, did you end up coming to the Sekai? Wait… Would that just create a timeloop…” Emu trailed off, tilting her head and looking towards Rui’s direction.
Rui let out a chuckle and shook his head. “It doesn’t work like that, Emu,” he said, looking to make sure Little Tsukasa was preoccupied before motioning for the other WxS members to come closer before continuing.
“I don’t think that’s actually Tsukasa from the past, it very well may be a manifestation of our Tsukasa’s memories and feelings,” Rui explained.
“… So the same way my feelings made the new Port, they made a… mini me?” Tsukasa asked.
“I suppose so,” Rui said.
Nene’s brow furrowed, and she looked up at Tsukasa. “But do you know why?”
Tsukasa let out a sigh and looked to the side. “No clue. Even if I did know, I don’t see how that couldn’t have brought him he-“
“Tsukasa!!”
Tsukasa paused and turned to face Miku, only to see she was talking to his younger self.
“We should probably call little you something else,” Nene commented, watching as the younger Tsukasa and Miku ran up to them.
“You guys can call me Kasa! That’s what my Mom calls me! She also calls me TsuTsu, so you can use that too!” the newly dubbed Kasa exclaimed.
“Oh really now, TsuTsu?” Nene said, sending him a grin.
“Kasa is fine!” Tsukasa exclaimed, face beginning to turn red. He ran a hand through his hair as he grumbled something about Nene having new ammo to use against him.
Nene let out a sigh and turned to Kasa. “Well, I guess we gotta start working on a way to get you home,” she said.
Kasa frowned, but nodded. There was a pause before his eyes lit up with an idea.
“Alright… but can I stay for a little bit? This place looks just as awesome as PhennyLand!” he exclaimed, eyes wide.
Tsukasa watched as Rui looked at the rest of the troupe for approval, before finally landing on Tsukasa.
The blond responded with a shrug of approval, and Rui smiled, glancing back down at Kasa.
“Well, it appears that everyone is alright with it,” Rui said.
“Yay! What should we go on first?” Kasa exclaimed, eyes bright as he looked around. Tsukasa couldn’t help but smile at his younger self.
“We’ve been on the rides here a ton! Why don’t we try the train first? That’s super wonderhoy!” Emu exclaimed, kneeling to Kasa’s level.
“Wonder…hoy?” the child echoed in confusion.
Emu’s eyes widened in realization. “Right! Small Tsukasa doesn’t know what wonderhoy means!”
“Sometimes I forget wonderhoy isn’t a real word with how much we use it…” Nene said with a small smile.
As the rest of his troupe surrounded Kasa in an attempt to teach him how to wonderhoy correctly.
(“More energy! You really gotta move your arms!”
“More energy is something I thought I’d never hear in reference to Tsukasa…”
“Well, I suppose it takes a certain number of years to build up the energy that the Tsukasa we know today has.”)
Tsukasa stood back and watched with amusement. His friends really knew how to jump into any situation without hesitation. Even a younger version of himself couldn’t make them falter.
“Wah! I missed seeing Tsukasa when he was this little! It’s been so long!” Miku exclaimed, suddenly appearing beside him.
Tsukasa, eyes still trained on the scene in front of him, nodded absentmindedly, before what was said fully registered.
“Huh? Missed?” he said, his eyes meeting Miku’s as he tilted his head.
“Hehe, yup! Miku and Kaito have been with you for a looong time! We got worried you’d never find us, but you did!” Miku said.
“Waah! I’m so glad you found us, Tsukasa!” Miku exclaimed, jumping on the blond to hug him.
“Argh- Too tight!” Tsukasa said, to which Miku loosened the hug, but he returned the gesture nonetheless.
“Wonderhoy!”
The two turned their attention to Kasa, who had just properly mastered the art of wonderhoy.
“I did it!” he exclaimed, a proud smile on his face.
“Good job!” Emu exclaimed, giving Kasa a high-five.
Tsukasa smiled at the sight, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kaito’s gaze on him.
Turning to face the Vocaloid, Tsukasa tilted his head.
“You all can go ahead. Miku and I were in the middle of rehearsing a show with the others. You all are welcome to watch when we’re done,” he explained, putting a hand on Tsukasa’s shoulder.
“We’d love to!” Tsukasa exclaimed, his answer echoed by the rest of the troupe.
“Alright!~ We’ll see you guys later then!” Miku exclaimed before skipping off with Kaito.
There was a moment of silence before Emu exclaimed, “Okay, train time!” as she grabbed Kasa’s hand and ran towards the direction of the train station.
“Hey! Wait for us!” Tsukasa exclaimed, running after them.
—
“Woah! This is awesome!” Kasa exclaimed, face pressed against the window of the train. “A flying train in real life!” he said.
Rui let out a chuckle. “It really is something, isn’t it?” he said, smiling as he watched Kasa.
“Saki would love this!” he exclaimed, turning to the group. “But I think Touya would be scared,” he laughed, looking back outside the window.
“Aoyagi is afraid of heights?” Nene asked.
Tsukasa nodded. “If anything, I think his fear has only worsened with age…” he said with a slight laugh. His gaze softened as he watched his younger self. His chest got tight with a feeling he couldn’t quite place.
He could see Rui staring at him, and turned to face him. “Why don’t we go down
“Ah, that sounds like a great idea,” Rui smiled, expression back to normal.
“I still think it’s weird that there’s no conductor,” Nene pointed out while they made their way to the front of the train.
Kasa turned to look at her, eyes wide. “No conductor?!” he exclaimed, before running ahead.
Nene let out a slight groan before turning to face Tsukasa. “Why does he keep doing that?” she asked.
“Why are you looking at me?!” he questioned, before turning ahead. “No Emu-! Not you too! Guys, no running!”
Exploring the rest of the park was… an experience.
Tsukasa sometimes found himself forgetting how impressive the Sekai really was, with how much they’d gotten used to it.
“Woah! A floating plushie!” Kasa exclaimed, pointing off into the distance.
“It’s Usa-chan! Hi!” Emu exclaimed, waving the bunny over.
“Usa-chan… isn’t that Saki’s?” Kasa said, pursing his lips.
“Baby Tsukasa?” Usa-chan said, confusion lacing her tone.
“Yeah, it’s a whole thing,” Tsukasa said instead of a real explanation, running a hand through his hair.
“She can talk?!” Kasa exclaimed, jumping back.
“Oh, I guess we haven’t run into any of the other plushies today,” Rui said, watching with amusement as Kasa slowly started to approach Usa-chan.
“Valid reaction,” Nene commented. “The first time a plushie spoke to me, I nearly had a heart attack,” she said, placing a hand on her chest.
“Meanwhile, Rui just wanted to dissect them!” Emu giggled, to which Rui simply shrugged.
“Can you blame me for being curious? This Sekai is still so interesting. Never would you imagine seeing a sight like this,” he said, gesturing towards the scene in front of them.
Tsukasa’s eyes followed his gesture. Yeah, if you really did think about it, the sight of a 7-year-old Tsukasa with a talking, floating, bunny plush from his childhood was a strange sight.
“It really is you!” Kasa exclaimed, looking at the embroidery on the bottom of Usa-chan’s foot.
He turned to the rest of the troupe. “I use her to put on shows for Saki and Touya all the time!” he said, eager to explain.
“Really? Why don’t you tell us about some of them?” Rui asked.
While Kasa went on about a show he remembers putting on, he was suddenly embraced by Emu.
“Emu?” he asked, returning the hug with a confused expression.
“I just felt like giving you one!” she said, shooting him a smile.
“Ah, okay. Thank you!” Tsukasa said, returning the smile.
In front of the fountain, there was a multi colored piano. Tsukasa wasn’t exactly sure when it appeared, but if he had to guess, it was around the end of Torpe the Pianist.
Tsukasa sometimes liked to sit at his, not even playing anything, because it reminded him of the rest of his troupe.
Clearly, it also was able to catch the interest of his youngest self, as Kasa spotted it while they were passing by.
“Ooh! A piano? Can I play something?” Kasa asked, although he didn’t wait for a response before sitting down.
“This is the song I was practicing before I went to sleep and woke up here!” Kasa explained, eyes on the keys as he began to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
Tsukasa couldn’t help but smile as he noticed the concentration in his eyes. At this point, he knew the song like the back of his hand, but that was because of years of practice.
It was nice to be reminded that he started somewhere.
Tsukasa felt a nudge at his side and turned to see Nene staring at him.
“Yes?” Tsukasa said, tilting his head.
“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head.
He wanted to say more, but was cut off by the end of the song. He turned his attention back to Kasa and clapped.
“That was so wonderhoy!” Emu exclaimed, her applause the loudest of them all.
Swinging around to face them, Kasa had a proud smile on his face. “Thank you! I’m trying to make it perfect so I can teach it to Saki when she gets back from the hospital!” he explained, before looking back at the piano with a sheepish smile.
“But I do have a recital coming up that I should probably practice for…” he said.
“Well, we can listen to that as well,” Nene said with a small smile.
“Really? Thank you!” Kasa exclaimed, turning back around and placing his hands on the keys once more.
—
The group wandered around, and they were about to take Kasa to the Port before they heard a voice calling out to them.
“There you guys are!” Kaito said, approaching them with a smile.
“Our show is finally ready!” Miku exclaimed.
“Yay! Showtime!” Emu exclaimed.
And while Kasa didn’t voice his thoughts, anyone could tell by his expression that he was wildly interested.
Miku caught on to this and reached out a hand towards Kasa. “Come on! You all get front row seats!”
The group made their way to the theater, and as promised, they were seated up at the front. There was quite an audience, as different plushies filled up the seats behind them.
After a while, the lights dimmed, the chatter died down, and the show began.
The performance featured the rest of the Vocaloids, and it was about a young boy, played by Len, preparing to set out into the real world, meeting a bunch of different people on his journey.
A plot that struck too well (for better or for worse) with Tsukasa at this current moment.
His eyes drifted from the stage, before moving to his friends sitting in the audience with wide smiles.
His smile dimmed as he looked down.
What if… one day I don’t have any of this anymore…?
Tsukasa couldn’t help the thought from popping up in his head. The way things are right now with his troupe… he didn’t want any of that to change. He swallowed thickly before looking back up at the stage.
I can’t think about that right now! I’m spending time with them now, and I need to enjoy it.
When the show ended, the troupe exited the theatre, leaving Kaito and Miku to catch up with some of the plushies that came to watch the show.
“That was so fun! My favorite part was when Miku went flying into the air!” Emu exclaimed, mimicking the action.
“Meiko definitely helped her do that,” Nene commented with a smile. “But this show was really fun.”
“I agree. Tsukasa, what did you think?” Rui said, and suddenly all the attention was on the aforementioned blond.
“I really enjoyed it!” Tsukasa said. He could tell his smile wasn’t a bright as it should have been, but his heart still ached thinking about the rest of his troupe.
All of us enjoying shows like this…
Rui frowned and opened his mouth before he was cut off by Kasa getting up and running off.
“Ack! I’m sorry, guys! I’ll go get him!” Tsukasa exclaimed, quickly running after his younger self.
“Little me… Er- Kasa!” Tsukasa called out, turning a corner. Seriously, what had gotten into him?
Kasa stopped just outside the train station and sat down on the floor.
“Are you okay?!” Tsukasa asked, brows furrowed. For him to suddenly run off like that…
But Tsukasa certainly wasn’t expecting the answer that followed.
“No! I don’t want to grow up to be a liar!” Kasa exclaimed.
There was a pause.
“Wha- Liar? Are you saying I’m a liar?” Tsukasa asked incredulously.
“Yes! You told the other you really enjoyed it when you didn’t!” Kasa said, crossing his arms.
“What are you talking about?” Tsukasa asked. He really did enjoy the show, so he couldn’t get where Kasa was getting the impression that he didn’t.
“We were watching the show, but you weren’t smiling!” Kasa said with a frown.
Tsukasa blinked.
“Oh… that’s because…”
Tsukasa trailed off, unable to come up with a suitable lie. Well, there was no point in lying to a younger version of himself literally made from his feelings.
He took a deep breath before speaking.
“I suppose I’m a little…” Tsukasa paused. It felt different admitting it out loud… There was no harm in doing so. “Nervous… about turning 18. It’s been on my mind a lot lately how I don’t know how things will go once I leave high school and what the future of the troupe is-”
“I know I’m a world future star… so I’ve always been looking to the future! But…” Tsukasa trailed off. Finally looking up to Kasa.
He felt kind of embarrassed having dumped that all on a child, even if said child was his self.
Kasa studied Tsukasa, brows slightly furrowed. It looked like he was attempting to solve a difficult puzzle.
Tsukasa shifted under his gaze, and was about to change the topic before Kasa finally spoke up.
“Did I do good on that math test? The one about times tables?”
“Uh,” Tsukasa’s brows furrowed. “I don’t remember failing any tests back then…” he mumbled.
Kasa’s eyes widened, and he grinned to himself. “Yes! I passed all my tests!” he muttered to himself, before turning back to Tsukasa.
“Oh! And that piano recital! The one where I’m supposed to play Clair de Lune, did I do good at that?” Kasa asked.
Tsukasa tilted his head. He could vaguely remember performing at that recital. He even got third place, the trophy still sitting in his room.
“Yes, but-“ Tsukasa started, before he was cut off by a tiny hand over his mouth.
“And is Touya smiling more?”
“Of course!” Tsukasa exclaimed, not even thinking about his response.
He remembers being quite worried about Touya back then, but now…
Oh.
Tsukasa’s eyes widened in realization.
Kasa flashed a large smile, and Tsukasa recognized it as one he would often direct towards Saki.
“Did Saki ever end up getting better?”
Tsukasa nodded. “She did,” he said, voice dropping with a small smile.
Kasa smiled. “See, things worked out! I know I would be scared Saki wouldn’t get better… but if you’re me, grown up, and she’s better, things ended up good!”
Tsukasa slowly nodded, beginning to understand the point his younger self was trying to make.
“So you don’t need to be scared,” Kasa finished, grabbing Tsukasa’s hand in his own. “No matter what happens, you’ll always have Mom, Dad, Saki, Touya, and these friends we make! We ended up in an awesome troupe! Clearly, we can make all our dreams come true!”
Tsukasa stared at his younger self before letting out a laugh.
“Yeah, I do have a lot of amazing people backing me,” he said. “Who knew the advice I needed the most came from myself,” he said absentmindedly.
At that moment, a bright light began to envelope Kasa, similar to the one that would shine when they entered or exited the Sekai.
“Oh, I think I have to go now! Thanks for showing me around!” Kasa said, giving one final hug to his older self.
Tsukasa returned the gesture. “Until you get to this wonderful future, take care of everyone for me!” he exclaimed, pulling away to look Kasa in his eyes.
Kasa gave him a bright smile in response, and just like that, he was gone.
Tsukasa sat in silence for a few seconds, a small smile on his face.
Things were going to change, yes. But despite all his worries of the past, things had worked out in the end. He even met his wonderful friends because of all the choices he’d made in the past.
Tsukasa laughed to himself. “I don’t even know what I was worried about.”
Getting up from the ground and brushing his hands against his pants, he turned around when he heard the sound of footsteps.
Emu came running around the corner, Rui and Nene following shortly after.
“There you are!” Emu exclaimed, and she paused before looking around. “Huh? Where’s Kasa?!”
“Well?” Rui asked, raising a brow.
“Well, what?”
“What’s the reason he was here? Did you figure it out?” Nene said flatly, crossing her arms.
Tsukasa opened his mouth before turning away. “Well, yes…! But it’s honestly kind of embarrassing,” he started.
He looked back to face his troupe, and when he met with their hopeful eyes, he smiled.
“But it’s alright, I’m okay now!” Tsukasa exclaimed, placing a hand on his chest.
The group watched him with wide eyes before Rui and Emu laughed, and Nene let out an exasperated sigh.
“Wha-?”
“Well, it looks like you’re back to normal,” Rui said, to which Tsukasa tilted his head.
“You’re really easy to read. We could all tell something was on your mind,” Nene said, but there was a small smile on her face nonetheless.
Tsukasa was about to respond before he was cut off by Emu jumping on him, wrapping him in a hug.
“I’m so glad you’re feeling better, Tsukasa!” she exclaimed.
“Ack-! What is up with you guys and giving tight hugs?!” Tsukasa said
“I have to go! Being here has filled me with inspiration for my birthday show this year!” Tsukasa exclaimed, already pulling out his phone to exit Sekai
“Hehe, I’m glad you’re so eager, Tsukasa, but did you forget about our lunch plans?” Rui said with an amused smile.
“Ah, right. Lunch and then my show script!”
“You’re really all over the place today, huh?” Nene commented.
“Ooh! Can we get dessert too!” Emu exclaimed, eyes bright.
“Yes! And you know what, it’s on me today!” Tsukasa said, placing a hand on his chest with a wide smile.
No matter where the future led him, no matter what occurred, he’d always have the people he loves by his side.
He had to show his love for them somehow, and today he decided his way of expressing that was a meal on him.