Murder?? At the wonderstage

Part 1 - The Incident.

The aura around the wonderstage in Phoenix Wonderland was beaming as usual. WonderlandsXShowtime had just finished their first show of the day and were beginning to prepare for their second. It hadn't been long since WonderlandsXShowtime began their system of morning, midday and night shows that all connected to reveal a whole story throughout the day. Rui had suggested the idea so as to "give our shows more suspense and encourage guests to come back to see the ending." Not to mention how it took the stress off of WonderlandsXShowtime's shoulders, as longer breaks allowed them to properly prepare themselves, rather than rushing to have everything there at the one time.

 The first show had ran smoothly, they were preforming a story of a cursed prince, played by Tsukasa, who was trying to find a cure for his curse while also facing the challenges of a forbidden love. "Haha! That show went amazingly! You really engineered the backdrop pulley system perfectly, Rui!" Tsukasa exclaimed. "Thank you, Tsukasa, but it obviously couldn't have been done without our star~" Rui winked at him, causing Tsukasa's cheeks to turn a light pink. A sigh could be heard from the other side of the stage. "Hey! Will you two stop flirting and start helping me and Emu?", It was Nene, who was carrying a heavy box of props to the shed behind the wonderstage. She was still trying to get used to the fact that Rui and Tsukasa were now dating, even though it had been over two months since they confessed to eachother, it still felt weird to her. "Sorry Nene!". The two boys ran over to where the rest of the boxes were and began moving them to the stage aswell.

The time passed quicker than expected and now WonderlandsXShowtime were getting ready to head on stage for their second show. "Everyone ready?" Rui asked as they all formed a circle and layered their hands in the middle. Emu began the countdown. "Alright you guys! 3... 2... 1..." "Wonderhoy!!" They all said in unison. "Let's do this, everyone!" Tsukasa cheered, and with that, the show had started, the curtain was raised, revealing one of WonderlandsXShowtime's biggest audiences, lots of smiley little kids joined by their families to see the show. Rui, who was the shows narrator, stepped out to greet the audience and continued narrating from where the first show ended. "The prince sat hopefully in his home, cut off from the rest of the palace, awaiting the time when he could see his beloved princess again". As Rui spoke, Tsukasa stepped out and began to act out exactly what Rui was saying. The show went on, detailing the storyline as they had practiced. All leading up to the much awaited cliffhanger ending.. just like how it was planned.. was planned...

"No! I won't let my curse restrain my love for you!"
Tsukasa dramatically cried to Nene, the princess.
"My love.. my father won't allow it.. I've begged him but nothing is working.. I'm sorry.." Nene managed to form some fake tears in her eyes before she ran backstage to create the effect that the princess had ran far away. "Nooooo!! My love.. come back!!!!" Tsukasa shouted, his hand stretched outwards. Rui then made himself visible to the audience, joining his boyfriend on stage. "And so, our prince was left alone in his thoughts.". Once again, Tsukasa began acting out Rui's depictions. "He had to think of a quick way to convince the King, but how? I guess we'll have to-" He was cut off by three sounds.
One.. screaming.. panicked screaming..
Two.. a gunshot.. its sound was loud and unmissable.. but where did it come from?
And last but definitely not least.. a body hitting the ground.. not any body, however.. it was the body of the love of his life.. his star..
Tsukasa Tenma..

"Nene! Emu! Curtain!" Rui shouted over to the two girls who had witnessed the whole thing from the wing of the stage. They both tugged on the rope that lowered the curtain across the stage as Rui knelt at Tsukasa's side and held him in his arms. Tsukasa's neat white shirt was now stained a deep red and a pool of blood was forming beneath his body. "E-Emu, go get your brothers, please.. and Nene, can you call for help and evacuate the audience? I-I'll stay here with Tsukasa.." Rui asked, his voice trembling. "On it!"
Emu suddenly bolted away. "We've got this Rui, don't worry" Nene reassured him before manoeuvring to the other side of the curtain without letting anyone get a glimpse of the two boys. Rui thought to himself for a minute.. why did Nene tell him not to worry? His boyfriend is bleeding out in his arms and you tell him not to worry? Of course he was going to worry.. How stupid..

His mind was a mess, he wanted to kill whoever did this, but he also wanted to scream and cry. Waves of tears began rolling down his cheek. He could hear Nene's muffled talking from the other side of the velvet red curtain that stood between her and the two boys. Much to his surprise, Rui suddenly heard a strained voice calling him back into focus. "Rui..?". Rui's eyes widened with a sense of hopeful joy. "Tsukasa!.. oh my.. everything's going to be ok.. so don't worry.. but please don't close your eyes.. please.." His voice kept cracking, he sounded more panicked than reassuring. He then realised how stupid he probably sounded, considering how angry he was at Nene for saying that to him not long before. "Rui.. where was I shot..?". The question made Rui's heart hurt, he was speechless, but he had to say something.. "I-uh.. don't worry about it, ok? Just try to relax.."

Now he'd done it. What was he saying? He just told someone who is most likely to be dead in a few minutes to relax! His mind was not helping him at all in this, everything he did, he criticised and blamed himself. Deep down, he knew that not telling Tsukasa the truth was a good idea, but these thoughts.. he had to ignore them.. for Tsukasa's sake. Rui smiled through his tears, trying to convince Tsukasa that everything was ok when it wasn't. Tsukasa's wound was a very big problem, because he was shot in the chest, it was hard to tell whereabouts, but he was still getting weaker by the second. The sound of Nene's voice had been gone for over a minute, which meant help was coming. "If it's nothing to worry about, then why are you crying?" He asked, his voice quieter.. weaker.. Rui didn't know how to respond. "Oh well because you got shot in the chest and are probably going to be dead before any help gets here! Not to mention the fact that I've loved you since forever and want to spend my whole life with you, no biggee tho!" Is what he wanted to say, but instead he just came out with "I love you, Kasa". "That doesn't answ-" Tsukasa suddenly broke into a coughing fit and started breathing a lot heavier. He had coughed up a tiny bit of blood, which wasn't that bad because it was only a bit, but Rui started to panic even more, remembering how much blood Tsukasa had already lost.

Five minutes. The girls had been gone for five minutes, which in reality doesn't seem that long, but when someone is at risk of dying every second he stays awake, it turns into the longest 5 minutes ever, and unfortunately the last few just got progressively worse. Barely even a minute later, 6 minutes now and Tsukasa looked like a ghost, his hands were cold against Rui's. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of Tsukasa's painfully deep breaths. He hadn't spoken since he had the coughing fit a few minutes before that, and Rui didn't think he would. Rui noticed he took a deeper breath than the one before, "Rui.." He spoke cautiously, his words were mere whispers at this point. "I.. can't.. ah.. it.. hurts.."He took more breaths between each word. "..so.. much.. ah..". Rui carefully listened to every word, grateful to hear his boyfriend's voice once more, but any hope he had left faded as he heard him. "I know but please try and hang on for a bit longer- you've done so well please-.." He rushed. Where were the girls? Why wasn't anyone there yet?
"I.. can't.. it.. ah.. hurts to.. ah.. breathe..". Rui held Tsukasa closer and begged. "Please Tsukasa, help will be here soon, I promise, you can do this please.." Rui noticed tears forming in Tsukasa's eyes, he was.. crying? "I.. ha.. love you, Rui.."These words felt as though they could have single-handedly ripped Rui's heart from his chest, but the impact was much bigger than just that. Rui felt the zombie-like body in his arms become fully motionless. "Tsukasa..? TSUKASA?! Wake up, please, don't leave me!! Wake up.. Nene, Emu.. where are you guys?!" He screamed as his flow of tears grew rapid, but no amount of tears could wake his prince. Rui felt as though he could choke over his tears, he couldn't handle all of this. The worst part was that he couldn't even tell if Tsukasa was alive or dead, his heartbeat was unreadable, almost like it disappeared, and it was impossible to tell if he was breathing too, his body barely moved, and even at that Rui wasn't sure if the movements were made by him just accidentally touching off Tsukasa's body, still in his arms, or not? By some miracle, some paramedics ran onto the stage around 2 minutes later, followed by Nene, Emu and Emu's brothers.

Nene ran up and opened the curtain, making Rui notice how dark it had gotten when it was just the two of them behind the curtain. One of the paramedics got down on his knees beside Rui and Tsukasa and asked "How long has he been like this?". Rui stammered over his words. "H-He was awake until around 2 or 3 minutes ago.. is he..?". The paramedic looked at him with a serious yet somewhat comforting look. "He's not dead, but he's bearly alive, whatever way you held him was acting as a temporary seal on his wound, it's a miracle he lasted as long as he did."
He explained while he and the other paramedics began to lift Tsukasa's lifeless body onto a stretcher. Rui could only sit and watch as the scene continued to unfold, he felt useless, and before anyone could say anything, Tsukasa was rushed out of the park, leaving an overpowering sense of sadness. Rui shakily stepped off the stage and walked over to Nene, Emu and Emu's brothers. "Rui..? Oh my- your outfit.." Nene noticed the amount of blood on Rui's whole outfit, the bright colours stained red with the blood of his lover. "I- couldn't let go.. I couldn't leave him..". The three teenagers were all crying, unsure of what was going to happen. Emu's oldest brother, Keisuke, then spoke up, "We know that this is a very overwhelming situation for yo-"
"He'll be ok, right?" Emu interrupted, being the only one who felt able to say anything. "We can only hope, but for now.. we need to tell his family, does anyone have any contacts or know his phone code?" He asked. "I don't know his code.. or his moms number.. but.." Rui sniffled. "Rui.. no we can't.." Nene pulled on his arm. "Nene.. as much as I agree, we don't really have a choice?!" Emu cried. "I guess you're right.."

"Good job, you guys, we're nearly ready for the next live show" Shiho said happily as Leo/need finished practicing their new song that they had been working on. "Yay!!" Saki exclaimed as she threw her arms around her girlfriend, Ichika. "I'm really happy, but Shiho, any tips?" Ichika asked. "Only a few, first off, Honam-" She was interrupted by a buzzing sound coming from a phone sitting on the table beside the door. "Sorry! That's mine!" Saki said and answered the call. "Hello? Oh hi Rui! What's up?" The three other girls watched as Saki's cheerful expression quickly turned to one of horror as silent tears rolled down her face. "O-oh u-uh.. I'm o-on my w-way.. t-thanks, bye.." She hung up the call and was as still as a statue until Ichika cupped Saki's face with her hands, wiped her continuous tears, and asked, "Saki.. what happened? What's going on?". Saki began to cry harder.
"T-Tsukasa's been.. shot.."