Chapter Text
The third time Es awoke they found themselves standing in a white void, in contrast to the previous two times it happened.
This place looked nothing like MILGRAM , they thought as they reached their hand out to touch one of the floating triangles. It phased right through and they recoiled back instantly. It felt cold.
Where am I?
Es looked around, catching a glimpse of a girl looking to be their age, with flowy turquoise ponytails and an outfit that matched their own. As if sensing she’s being watched, she turned around, a smirk spreading across her face.
“Ah, Es-kun! I was wondering when you’d wake up.” She made her way towards them, her footsteps silent despite the heavy boots she was wearing.
“Where… Where am I? What is this place?” Is this how Trial 3 was supposed to go? They had no reference, it was their first time being a warden after all…
“Hm… This is the space between SEKAIs!! Your SEKAI crashed right before you were meant to wake up, probably after the deaths.” That certainly did not clarify anything for Es, maybe even made them more confused…
Wait, wait, backtrack. “Deaths? Who died?”
The look they received from the blue ponytail girl was a mix between pity and compassion.
“Ah, I forgot you don’t know... Hm, anyway, since your SEKAI crashed, all of the people were kicked out of it and transported to the one’s closest to their feelings, which means you’re all in this universe now. Don’t ask me about it, even I’m not sure how it works.” That… made even less sense. Is she trying to fry their brain on purpose? Give them some slack, they just woke up, for Jackalope’s sake!
The ponytail girl tilted their head to the side. “We don’t really have much time. Any second now you might be teleported to one of the SEKAIs, so allow me to explain your r- oh, nevermind!” Es’ vision faded to white out of nowhere. Suddenly panicking, they cried out their last question.
“Wait- What is your name?!”
The answer they received was so dulled they weren’t sure they heard it correctly.
“Hatsune Miku…”
[ 🌠 ]
Wow. Not even five minutes after waking up Es seemed to have teleported to another dimension. Now sure , they’ve heard Jackalope talk and the music extraction procedure, but this was getting ridiculous.
This time, they were in a school classroom, sitting at the teacher’s desk. In front of him stood yet another girl with dark blue pigtails (and pink accents), wearing some sort of a school uniform and a rather serious expression on their face.
“Es-kun, is this you?” She leaned forward, inspecting his looks.
“How do you know my name? And… who are you?” The girl smiled at their confused face. Sure, make fun of them for not knowing what’s going on, why don’t you…
“Hehe, Miku told me… the original Miku, the one you just met.” She clarified. “You see, in every SEKAI there’s at least one Miku, like me. We’re all kinda linked together, since we are parts of the same person.” This made a bit more sense. Es felt like they finally started to understand…
“So… you are a “Miku”, and we’re in a “SEKAI”, correct?”
Miku nodded, her serious demeanor melting away.
“You’re learning quickly! Your prisoners were put in five separate preexisting SEKAIs, to which you should have access on your phone.” Now that she mentioned it, they did have something heavy sitting in their back pocket… They reached out, only to have their fingers brush against unfamiliar fabric.
Only now did Es realize that they were not in their guard attire anymore, and instead wearing a button up, a gray sweater with red and dark blue accents, dark plaid pants and a red bow, everything put together looking like a school uniform similar to Miku’s. When did they even…?
“It sometimes happens when new members are introduced to the SEKAI.” It seemed like Miku could read their mind. Or maybe, just maybe, their confusion was so visible on their face she knew what was going inside of their head?
Es blinked a few times, and the girl brought her hand to her mouth, stifling a giggle.
“Don’t make fun of me, Hatsune Miku.” The use of her full name seemed to have the opposite effect, and instead of shutting up Miku started laughing louder, much to Es’ dismay. “I don’t look ridiculous, do I?”
“Ehehe– no, not at all, Es-kun.” She shook her head, gaining back some of her composure. “Ir’s just that look on your fa—”
They both froze in place when the door flew open, and a girl with blonde twintails fading into pink ran inside, screaming–
“Miku-chan! Hona-chan and Shiho-chan found a stranger in the SEKAI!!!” She doubled over, breathing heavily as she held onto the door frame for dear life. Miku’s smile crawled off her face as she observed her, and the ex-warden unconsciously sunk in their seat.
The twintails girl looked up, ready to continue, when she and Es locked eyes.
“H-Huuuuuhhh??!!! Miku-chan, who is that?!”