A/N: sorry for the delay, christmas preparations were CRAZY and the motivation to just lay around and do nothing all day was high. i'll try to stay on schedule, trust

anyways, another chapter, and we're getting to see more of nene rn!!!! she's kinda off to write so i hope she isnt too ooc lol

sorz for short chpt again. next few will be better !!! 

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"What do you mean he's not with you, Akiyama-san, I swear to god—"

"Nene-chan, I'm serious! He's not here, I wouldn't lie about that— especially with what's going on with Tsukasa-senpai, too!" Mizuki waved frantically in front of her tablet camera in an attempt to calm down her rooftop friend's unofficial babysitter and neighbour. They had been casually working on an MV after pulling an all-nighter when— boom! Incoming call, Nene Kusanagi!

Mizuki couldn't tell if she was angry, desperate, worried or all three; they were, too, but they weren't nearly as panicked as Nene was, not in the slightest. "What if he just went out somewhere and didn't tell you?"

"It's been two days. Two! I gave him yesterday as an off, but I've sent messages upon messages— Nightcord, LINE, just regular text— nothing! It's like he vanished off to a whole other world entirely!" Nene didn't have her camera on, but Mizuki could imagine her rummaging through Rui's house— which she had said she was in. Mizuki's not sure if Nene has an extra key to his house or if she just broke in anytime she needed Rui for anything.

She assumed the former, but hey. You never know in Shibuya.

And especially, you never know with the SEKAI kids. I mean, meeting Hatsune Miku herself is already enough to alter anyone's brain chemistry forever, but also having your secrets be dug up and being the owner of an entire other dimension was pretty mind-altering too.

...now that they think about it...

"A whole other world?" Mizuki echoed. "Have you checked your SEKAI yet, Nene-chan?"

Nene made a little noise of shock, before remembering that Mizuki knew about their SEKAI and had been there already. Mizuki felt weird, too— it was strange talking to someone other than their group about SEKAI.

Nene cleared her throat before answering; "I haven't yet. That's... a good idea, actually. Do you reckon the Virtual Singers might know where he is?"

"Probably." Mizuki shrugged, twirling their digital pen in their hand. "They are technically part of him, right? Even if Tsukasa's the SEKAI's main creator. They're probably at least aware of how he's doing."

"You better be right, Mizuki, or, I swear I'm going to murder you after I'm done with him."

"Got it, Nene. Stay safe?"

"You too. Don't you dare go missing like all these idiots." [Call ended, 10:45 minutes].

Mizuki sighed, falling back onto their chair once they were sure the call was over and their camera had turned off.

"God, Rui, this all better be worth it."

—

Nene stepped into the SEKAI, stumbling slightly at the effect switching between here and the real world had on her— she had no clue how Tsukasa, Rui and Emu travelled in an out like it was nothing, but she guessed everyone's bodies reacted to the ambient of the SEKAI differently.

"Ngh—!" Her hands reached up to clutch her head at the sudden sting of pain that felt like it was piercing through her brain. "Ah—? What the hell...?"

Nene looked up.

That was her first mistake.

"...o-oh my god..." She breathed, taking in the sight.

The sky; grey, colourless. But the strangest part was that it was divided in rifts. Red rifts, flickering as if caused by some bug or glitch in a system, as if they were not meant to be there, cracking into the reality that was the Wonderland SEKAI.

Holy fuck. Holy fucking shit. Nene thought, gazing at this phenomenon with a mix of terror and awe, and yet—

Oh, for fuck's sake. I'm the group therapist. Damn it.

Nene groaned, trying to mentalize herself to get used to the pain. Of-fucking-course. This is what she gets for being— well, not nice, but, the complaint box, at least. The reluctant shoulder to cry on. And now that two out of four Wondershow members were having a huge emotional crisis, the SEKAI would affect her.

And then, she heard it.

Her body reacted before her mind did, turning towards the quiet sobs behind a bush she could see nearby.

Nene, no, she said to herself, but she was heading towards the sound already. Damn it, Nene.

Behind the small plant was one of the plushies; a dog plushie, if Nene was seeing it correctly. It was crying rivers worth of tears, and Nene mentally smacked herself for committing to this responsibility, but she was here already... too late. She kneeled down to meet the plush's height.

"Hey there." She mumbled, awkwardly, not exactly the best at interacting with children. "...what's wrong?"

Instead of answering, the dog blinked up at her.

And then it cried harder.

Nene winced at the loudness of it "Oh, geez... hey, don't cry— here, I'll— sing you a song?"

The dog's sobbing ceased slightly, looking at her expectantly. Nene sighed, took a deep breath, and then did what she did best— singing.

"♩—~" She kneeled down on the ground fully, opening her arms to invite the plushie into a hug. Reluctantly, it accepted, and it clung onto her chest, crying diminishing as Nene hummed a tune for it. A meaningless lullaby, really, but if it worked, it worked, and soon, Nene had but a sleeping lump of cotton in her hands, and she was relieved that she had managed to calm it down enough for that.

"Nene-chan?"

Nene flinched and turned to the source of the sound, finding herself looking at KAITO. Or atleast, the shell of what was KAITO. He looked distraught, tired eyes, messy hair, the whole bundle. It was... weird.

Hey, isn't KAITO the Virtual Singer that mainly takes on Rui's feelings?

"KAITO-nii?" She asked back, worry apparent. He simply sighed as Nene stood up and took the dog plush from her arms.

"Come on. I have a lot of things to tell you. And there's not much time to do so, I'm afraid."

Nene was left wondering what that possibly meant as KAITO turned on his heels and headed towards the main tent while she tried to keep up with him.

—