Stellar Evolution/credits to "orphan_account?" on ao3

Part 18

miku notices somethings up with tsukasa, tsukasa reflects on his life, and rui and saki bond over the loss of their beloved star! hi i'm ao3 user Ru1Kam1sh1r0 enjoy your 1,500 something words of angst
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text
"I want to close SEKAI off from everyone else."

"...Are you sure? Tsukasa, you could still—"

"Just disable it already."

Miku had been staring at him from behind the curtain of the stage. Tsukasa sat in one of the front rows, by himself. He'd been so different . She'd tried, she'd tried too many times to get him to change his mind. She didn't mind having him here, sure, but...is this really what he wanted? He seemed so happy with his friends, performing onstage with him. As far as she could remember, everything was fine.

Until she remembered one day seeing him appearing in SEKAI, falling to his knees and sobbing. That was the day he'd disappeared from their world.

The first few weeks after he started permanently staying there, he'd acted just how he normally had. He was playing his part of the Tsukasa they recognized better. But after that, he grew quieter. He'd spend most of the day by himself, confined to some other part of SEKAI.

Miku didn't understand. It didn't feel right. He'd created so many memories and feelings in the real world. Why'd he give that up? It was at his request that SEKAI became private to only him, so maybe these really were his true feelings.

...No. that couldn't be true. He'd lost those feelings the minute The World Hasn't Even Started Yet returned to Untitled.

She stepped out from behind the curtain and jumped off the stage, sitting next to Tsukasa in the auditorium.

"Tsukasa?"

He didn't answer. He was staring miserably at the ground. The bunny plush, normally floating by a string of balloons, was held firmly in his hands.

"Is it not a good time?" Miku asks.

"I don't care," he answered. "There's nothing much of a good or bad time anymore, anyway."

"You need to stop saying things like that," Miku added, hesitantly.

" Hm ?"

"You need to...Tsukasa, what's wrong with you?"

"...Excuse me?"

"Not like that! You're just really upset all the time now. I hate seeing you like this."

Tsukasa didn't answer.

"I know this is what you said you wanted, but...is it really?"

"I thought I told you already. I don't want to go back." Tsukasa replied.

Miku sighed and placed her hands on the bunny plush, on top of this.

"If this is what you feel like...then you need to tell me how to make it better!"

"...What?"

"I know you're not happy with this, Tsukasa! But if you want to stay, I can't have you feeling like this. I'm not gonna let it happen. I wanna see you smile again! So—please? Let me try to help!"

"...I appreciate it," Tsukasa comments, standing up from his seat. "Maybe another time."

"Wait, don't-"

He'd already vanished to somewhere else again.

The fragment of SEKAI which had once terrified him had become Tsukasa's new favorite location. He'd spend most of his days here—or what he thought were days, anyway. SEKAI's system of time was odd to him, it didn't seem to have an end or start at all. Just one continuous loop.