『The One Left Behind of The Dream Chasers』

Ootori Emu's POV

　　Time flies like nothing, everyone soon graduated from highschool. When Rui and Tsukasa graduated, Emu sneaked into their school once again to send them a bunch of bouquet that is made out of candies as their graduation gift. She smiled so brightly, with her chirpy voice congratulating them for having their graduation. Happy tears were hooked onto her eye lashes, as she giggled while Tsukasa ruffled her hair enthusiastically. Nene was standing beside them, softly smiling while watching them in tears.

Of course Emu felt happy for them. But why is there a sense of loss growing in her heart...?

...... Two years later

“Hmm hm hm~♪”

A girl was skipping into The Pheonix Wonderland, her pink hair flows in the air, the sunlight shimmered on her, she looked like she was shining. Emu is now one of the Pheonix Wonderland owner, also the owner of the Wonderstage. She genuinely enjoys every single day in the Wonderland, it doesn't feels like a job at all. The smiling faces on the children faces, the lovely couples came for a date, everything single little detail in there made her so satisfied with her job.

Walking around the long unbothered Wonderstage, it felt weird seeing it being empty. Everyday everytime, she would watch the silly duo doing experiments for the show, also admire the certain diva shakes her head in defeated.

But now they're not here anymore.

A heavy feeling in Emu's heart made her smile dropped a little, the stage felt so nostalgic, it seems unreal for it being this awfully quiet. She quickly noticed her feelings and shook her head, her palms were patting on her cheeks to get her distracted.

“No, no, I can't be sad! If I'm sad, then who's going to cheer up the children!”

Emu breathed in deeply, then let out a cheerful grin. Alright! Time to get to work! She walked away from the stage, then gone to check whether every facilities is in good condition.

The Pheonix Wonderland soon opened, Emu quickly got to work for entertaining the children, her smile was so bright, it's almost as if she's the *sun*.

......

“Ootori-nee chan!”

A child came running to her, Emu turned over to them and gave them a bear hug. She let out her signature giggle as she let go of the child, she crouched down to their height and gave them a piece of candy.

“Hehe, what's wrong?”
“Nothing! I thought you looked kinda lonely so I wanna give you a hug!”

She blinked in confusion for a few times before slightly tilting her head to the side.

“Lonely? No I'm not! Look, there's so many children around me! I felt welcomed with them!”
“is..that so? Ootori-nee chan, why don't you have your friends around you? I always had my friends accompanying me at my kindergarten!”

Oh. That's what they meant?

Emu laughed heartly, and patted their head.

“Noo, you got it wrong! My friends are busy and travelling aroundddd the world! They're so succeed on chasing their dreams so I'm happy for them!”

Emu swayed her arms in the air while having a proud expression on her face. The child innocently smiled upon Emu's words, they spotted their parents beside them, then left Emu with a wave. Emu cheerfully smiled while waving them goodbye, an idea popped out in her head.

Ooh! Maybe I should try asking them out! They're probably in Japan now so they should have time!p

She went to the girl's changing room and took out her phone from her locker, searching for the group labelled as "WONDERLAND X SHOWTIME!!". Her face lit up with a smile spotting the familiar name, quickly typing her message into the silent group chat.

______________

〖WONDERLAND X SHOWTIME!!〗

 

WONDAHOI!!!!: WONDAHOI EVERYONE! :DDDD [sent at 4.15pm]

 

WONDAHOI!!!!: DO YALL WANNA GO OUT????? ORRR MAYBE COMING TO PHEONIX WONDERLAND?????? [sent at 4.16pm]

 

diva♪: eh? now? i'm free today so i think i could consider it [sent at 4.19pm]

 

WONDAHOI!!!!: HmmMmMmm OO MAYBE TONIGHT??? THERR WOULDNT BE TOO MANY PEOPLE AROUND THAT TIMR!! [sent at 4.20pm]

 

WORLD FUTURE STAR★: Hm? Ohh are you guys planning to have a date tonight? [sent at 4.20pm]

 

diva♪: a what? Σ( ° △ °|||)︴[sent at 4.21pm]

 

WORLD FUTURE STAR★: A date? Is that weird? My sister would say it all the time [sent at 4.22pm]

 

diva♪: oh uhm nvm [sent at 4.22pm]

 

Edison 2.0: fufu, i smell sus in here [sent at 4.22pm]

 

WONDAHOI!!!!: RUI-KUN! DO YOU WANNA HAVE A DOKIDOKI WAKUWAKU WONDAHOI DATE TONIGHT!? [sent at 4.23pm]

 

Edison 2.0: i see what it is now. gladly be your date emu-kun ;) [sent at 4.24pm]

 

diva♪: what [sent at 4.24pm]

 

WORLD FUTURE STAR★: ?????? [sent at 4.25pm]

 

diva♪: anyways uh, emu, when are we meeting up? [sent at 4.25pm]

 

WONDAHOI!!!!: 6PM! >:DDDDD [sent at 4.26pm]

 

diva♪: okay noted [sent at 4.26pm]

 

WONDAHOI!!!!: TSUKASA-KUN R U COMING TOO?? [sent at 4.27pm]

 

WORLD FUTURE STAR★: Of course I would! I'll be meeting up with Nene first, we're in the same city right now! [sent at 4.28pm]

 

diva♪: fr? fine, just, don't embarrass me tho [sent at 4.28pm]

 

Edison 2.0: aw nene be nice to him for once :( [sent at 4.28pm]

 

diva♪: you talk as if you didn't just blast him 16ft high off ground last time [sent at 4.28pm]

 

Edison 2.0: :( [sent at 4.28pm]

 

WONDAHOI!!!!: :( [sent at 4.29pm]

 

WORLD FUTURE STAR★: :( [sent at 4.29pm]

 

diva♪: what is wrong with yall [sent at 4.29pm]

 

diva♪: tsukasa stop looking around, i'm literally over here across the street [sent at 4.30pm]

 

WORLD FUTURE STAR★: Oh [sent at 4.30pm]

 

Edison 2.0: fufu, seems like they had met up already, emu-kun i will be there in an hour okay? [sent at 4.31pm]

 

WONDAHOI!!!!: YIPPEE!! :DDDDDDDDDD [sent at 4.31pm]

_____________

Emu pressed on the power key, then let out an excited squeal. They're coming over!! She was overwhelmed with happiness, her feet kicked from her seat and jumped out of her seat to get ready.

By the time she got out, there weren't many people left, since it's close to closing now. There weren't any night shows today, maybe that's why. She walked around the theme park, her footsteps stopped at the Wonderstage once again. Emu took a deep breath, then step her foot onto the stage.

It was covered in dust, the stage was left ignored since the other members "left" the group and chase after their dreams. Even though Emu would like to clean it, but a part of her doesn't wanted to, she thought it might be better if she left it untouched, just like everything was still in the past, where they would have fun and performing fantastic shows on this stage. She wandered around the stage for a while, those memories floated up to her mind, a hint of sadness took over her heart. Emu walked over to the edge of the stage, patting the dusts away before she sat on it and stared at the sky.

She felt lost. Maybe, it is kinda lonely without them. She genuinely felt happy for them to chase after their dreams, and they achieved it! That should be something to be happy about. But, there's a part of her wishing that, they would be by her side, maybe making shows together again.

“That's horrible.. I shouldn't be stopping them from chasing their dreams”

Tears prickled at Emu's eyes, she tried blinking away them but they ended up flowing instead. She let out a quiet sob, still staring at the sky. There were birds soaring in the warm-coloured sky, freely chasing after the clouds and the sun, just like how they were chasing after their dreams.

“Hm? Emu-kun...?”

Emu silently yelped at the sudden voice not far away from her, her hands unconsciously wiped away her tears in reflex, then turned her head to the person. Seems like the famous director had arrived.

“Ahh! Rui-kun! Long time no see!”

She quickly adjusted her facial expression, but the redness under her eyes were visible to Rui, and that made him concerned. He walked towards her, pretending to not noticed it at first and waved delightfully to her.

“Fufu, I figured out you would be here”

He wiped the dusts away and sat beside Emu, taking a closer look at her face. Her eyes were visibly red, cheeks were also dusted with pink; In conclusion, she cried before he arrived. Rui furrowed his brows, he could felt his heart clenched upon knowing the cheerful girl could be having troubles without telling them.

“Emu-kun, if you don't mind me asking..., did you just cried?”

Emu's eyes slightly widen upon Rui's words, surprised at his sharp observation. What is she talking about, this is Rui Kamishiro we were talking about, of course he would noticed. She rapidly shook her head at him, holding up a smiling face, assuring him that she's fine.

“No no I'm not! Look, I'm happy you all were generous to use your time on our little date, I'm really happy about that, so don't worry Rui-kun! I'm fine!”

Rui was a little taken back on her reaction. He expected Emu to act like she's fine, but that's definitely wasn't the case. There's definitely something troubling her, and as a friend, he would like to share her problems together, but on the other hand, he doesn't want to press her onto confessing it either.

“Emu-kun, if you're troubled by something or anything, I'm always here for you to talk about it, alright?”

Rui's words made her heart felt warm, no, not again. His gentleness was making her felt like crying again. But, but she couldn't just cry in front of someone, even if they're her closest friend ever.

“Rui-kun..., thank you”

She smiled bitterly. If she talked about it, they would probably stop by for her. But that's not what they should be doing. They should be free instead of getting hold down by her. After all, friends are meant to support each other, instead of chaining them down by her little problem. Rui stared at her trying to hold her tears back desperately, although he wants to help, but there's nothing he could do if Emu kept it to herself.

“...Emu-kun-”
"EMU!RUI!”

The both of them turned their heads to the person who was shouting, and it turns out that Tsukasa and Nene arrived too. Nene shuts her ears down with her hands, her eyes averted from him in embarrassment.

“Why did I even agreed to walk with him...”

As they got closer to them, Emu quickly rubbed her tears with her sleeve and adjusted her emotions. But it seems she couldn't hold it back anymore. Everyone took their time just to gather with her once again, even if they're far from she was at. It's pleasant to see everyone gathering together once again since two years ago. Emu panicked at the realization of her tears weren't stopping, her long sleeves were getting soaked by her tears.

“Emu..?”

Nene instantly noticed Emu's abnormality, usually she would be at full spirit welcoming them, but she was really quiet right now. She took a few steps towards her, her eyes widen as soon she saw tears on Emu's cheeks. She quickened her footsteps and lowered her body to Emu's face.

“Emu, are you...um are you okay?”

Tsukasa followed behind her and soon noticed Emu too, he lost his nerves and hurriedly took out a pack of tissues from his bag, handing it over to Emu. He doesn't know what to say other than the thought of wanting to cheer her up, it reminds him of Saki staying in the hospital, crying on her bed about being a burden to her family. Rui patted on her back softly, silently comforting her from sobbing.

“S-Sorry haha, I'm just, really happy that you all came”

Her smile were bitter tasted. The tears were still rolling down her cheeks, her face were red from holding it back. Tsukasa sat on the other side beside her, habitually ruffled her hair, just like two years ago.

“Emu, I'm not sure why you cried but don't worry, we're here now! Friends should be supporting each other!”

Tsukasa let out a bright grin, trying to assure her that it'll be fine. Emu could felt her heart being melted, they were too gentle with her, she doesn't even know where to start from. After tons of rounds of struggling, she started to spill it all out.

“It, it had been a long time since we last met, and I saw you all grew closer to your dreams, so I thought, maybe you all didn't need me anymore...”

The three of them were shocked to hear that. Rui was the fastest to recover from that, because he knew exactly why she felt like that. Emu fiddled with her sleeves, it looks like she was hesitating to continue the topic.

“It's alright Emu-kun, you're doing great”

Rui soften his gaze on her, reassuring her that they'll listen to her, and they would help her no matter what. Emu looked at him, then Nene who was smiling softly, then Tsukasa with his confident grin. She took a deep breath, and confessed her feelings for the past few years.

......

Her tears couldn't be stopped. The more she spilled, her voice grew more and more trembling, her hands were doing random postures in front of her, resembling her anxious and fear. Nene hold one of her hands gently, her warmth comforted Emu a little.

By the time she stopped talking, Tsukasa hugged her instantly. He didn't know how Emu was living under the possibility that they would left her, and how the group would be splitted up. It was heart wrenching to see her like this. He couldn't resist the urge to hug her, so he did.

“Sorry Emu, I didn't knew that...”
“...Emu-kun, thank you for trusting us, I'm, really glad that you opened up to us”

Although Rui was rather insane and reckless at times, but at moments like these, he's really reliable for comforting someone. Rui patted her back constantly to smooth her down from crying hiccups, humming a song from one of their shows.

“Nene-chan, Tsukasa-kun, Rui-kun, thank you all, so much”

Emu wiped her tears with the tissue Tsukasa gave earlier, finally revealing a small smile. The others let out a relieved sigh, glad that their cheerful girl was back.

“...Everyone, should we have a sleepover tonight? It's getting kinda late”

Tsukasa broke the silence, noticing the stars glows brighter tonight in the pitch black sky.

“Mhm, I agree with Tsukasa-kun”
“I don't have anything on my schedule tomorrow, so uh sure ”

They all turned to Emu, them expecting for Emu's reaction. She smiled cheerfully.

“Hehe, alright! We should stay over at my house!”

End.