Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Usada Pekora takes a light step forward, then quickly takes another.

As can be gleaned from her confident expression, she seems to be on a mission of utmost importance.

'i appear to have over-worked my self, and i need snacks'

as such, it is of utmost importance that she complete her mission, lest she collapse.

MISSION : ACQUIRE SUSTENANCE

still walking, still descending, she finally reaches the ground floor

"almost there.." she whispers to herself.

hoping that the end result would be equal to her efforts,

she takes the last few steps, and props her arm forward, grabbing a handle

“there it is, finally” states the warchild,

as she opens the door of what is definitely an old, but still working fridge.

With her right arm now occupied, her left pokes around her pockets, looking for a flashli-

her phone, which she promptly finds and raises up,

then facing it towards the fridge while turning it's torch on, in a single movement,

she looks through the fridge,

she starts to feel her face pucker up.

because, there were no snacks to be found, anywhere at all.

Releasing the pouts before she reached critical mass, she carefully shuts the fridge door.

'she just went to sleep, it'll be bad if i wake her up now'

with both heavy steps and thoughts, she decides to take a look around

the walls around her were all pink, aside from the ceiling, which was for reasons stark white.

behind her was the stairway where she just descended from, and to her right the ridiculously empty fridge,

with a portrait of her mother and her hung upon it.

lastly, in front of her, a door that lead to..

'the outside'

pointing her imaginary fans towards the door that leads out,

"i could go out and get something, but.." trailing off, as she realizes

that would mean meeting people, something that still somewhat terrifies her.

'so it's still like this, huh,'

now waving a hand to herself, like that would clear her thoughts,

she turns back around.

'why.. still like this..'

looking at the portrait, framed on her fridge

she contemplates her thoughts

‘outside would be scary’

“but.. I" desperately "need snacks”

With her mission objective finally in sight, she obviously does a quick status check

‘Idol outfit, check’

'carrots in my hair, check'

‘Wallet with way too much cash, check’

Mentally going over the rest of her checklist, she turns towards the door and pushes it ope-

“huh.”

The door would not budge.

still reciting her checklist she goes over the possible reasons, standing in the dim room

as she hits the realization, she also does a mental facepalm,

while the illusionary fans comment up a storm.                                                  "check the handle"

                                                                                         "the handle?"                                                     "really?"                                                        

‘right, the handle’

With her hands now raised, and her possessions in pockets, she turns the door handle, and.

the door opens.

'that simple, was it.'

resisting the urge to face her palm again, she dashes out, looking exceptionally exhausted.

‘the moon is way too bright’

was her first thought, as she walked towards the nearest mini-stop.

while propping her hands over her eyes, like mini-parasols.

considering the amount of people on the road, at this point in night, bright moonlight was not her biggest source of confusion.

because it seemed like the municipalities had severely altered the sidewalks, for whatever reason.

'the bricks had gotte-'

the thought was not finished.

because, she was falling,

"WHAA"

involuntarily leaking out a high pitch yelp

she came down, face first on the hard and weirdly hot ground.

Chapter Text

shadows prevail her very soul

?? "-ou okay"

her head hurts, but why?

'after all, i must've only tripped right?'

?? "-Mam?"

'that voice again'

straining her ears, she attempts to hear it out

?? "Are. You. Okay. Miss.?"

mentally going over her body parts,

like a rpg status check, she finds that she did trip, but-

it seems she also hit her head somehow

'at least i think i did, considering the headache'

if she did hit her head, that means she passed out,

and since she was basically walking in the middle of a road

'then it's probably the guard or a policeman'

which means she should answer..

right?

finally gathering the courage, she opens her eyes to see a red haired man staring at her.

'ah, it's a bishounen'

?? "Ah, You are finally Awake, Miss-"

straining her vocal chords, she tries to speak, but what actually came out were whispers

"pe- pekora"

even so, the red haired man clearly hears it and repeats it to himself, as if trying to recall something.

then quickly dons a poker face smile, hiding a brief look of disappointment.

"Miss Pekora, It seems that you somehow lost consciousness in the middle of the street"

even though she still listened to the red haired- 'wait hold on'

red hair?, blue eyes?, dressed in a fancy suit that resembles ones a knight would wear in a fantasy land?

was she losing it, or did she walk in on a hardcore-otaku cosplayer?

looking around her, she could see many people dressed as beastmen walking, among other more 'normal' cosplayers

the weirdest part was-

'Did I sleep through the night on a road?'

worse, 'mom would definitely misunderstand'

"Don't worry Miss Pekora, You were not out for much more than thirty minutes." said the otaku-knight-cosplayer, seemingly concerned at my thoughtful expression

'oh right, i just said that out loud.'

"ahm- Knight guy was it? Sorry I didn't catch your name.. but i assure you im totally fine."

says the sleepy girl lying on a bench, almost too quickly.

"Is that so? then ill be on my way." saying this, the knight-guy turns and begins walking away

' sigh..'

right at the edge of sleep, she decides to muster up some will because-

'not really the best idea to fall asleep when in an unknown area.'

as if on queue, Usada rustles through her two pockets, while staring at the almost unrealistic blue sky

'even so the only thing i have on me is my wallet..'

another thought lingers on her mind.

'have i been iseka- nope not going there.'

"It's official, I've gone crazy" she declares, in a whisper.

now becoming quite bored of herself acting crazy,

Usada finally decides to look outside her personal bubble of ignorance,

in front of her she could see an almost empty street with a few individuals walking through

and to her right.. a whole lot of deserted shops.

she could also hear some weird animals growl but

'i don't know what they could mean'

since she couldn't see any.

looking back at the individuals, there was a small girl with blue hair walking merrily

and the three weird frien- 'wait, where did they go?'

'maybe they went into an alley?'

beside the bench she was half-lying on, there was a narrow route that lead, to somewhere she couldn't see.

'that's probably it'

while shifting herself so she could stand up,

she was suddenly stopped by a thick hand on her shoulder

"We don't care what you were doing here' said a shrill voice 'probably a kid' she thought

ignoring whatever the voice was demanding, she lazily swiveled her head towards the 'kid'

just to right of where she was sitting, she could she two- no three people staring at her, almost menacingly

not quite knowing she would see such a sight, she yelps and dives off the bench

usually, she would have gained quite the scratches, but-

"Years of playing Dark Souls has prepared me for this moment"

so while falling, she tucks herself in-

and promptly dive-rolls towards the road

"Just give us all your ca--"   'a deep voice, probably a adult'

"and we'l-"               'and the last, probably a creepy guy'

"-"

"what"

still quite ignoring the three's surprised expressions,

she boldly stands up and stares at her newest victi- threats

and mutters to herself.

'that 45 hour stream was the biggest mistake of my life'

Chapter Text

as far she could tell, those three were the only visible people in the entire street

starting from the right, a burly purple haired man stood, with his eyes in a calculating haze looking at- her

he wasn't saying anything, but his lips were quivering like he was deliberating on it.

and to his left, the slender-as-a-lizard guy stood, looking exactly how she thought a delinquent would look like,

with chains on his shoulders and handcuffs on his wrists. he remained staring at her, with narrowed eyes

but the weirdest part to Usada was not how he was sticking his weirdly long tongue out, it was-

he was trying to hide it, but she could tell that he was reaching for his own back, which was utterly suspicious, if anything.

'he's a robber, of course he's probably carrying something to scare people off'

even with that easily found conclusion

'i can't really discount the others not being armed, and on that note

The last guy was a boy with short brown hair, who wore a dark red cape,

and he was trying his best at doing what looked like an angry stare.

'he looks harmless..'

'but still, this probably is not japan anymore, so not expecting guns would also be a bad idea'

with this, she took off her analysis cap and made a decision- or she would

"What was that even? Don't worry Onee- chan just give us all your valuables, and we might just let you go--"

interjecting into Usada's thoughts was that conniving burly man, who spoke for the others, while they nodded almost too excitingly

while he made a face she would expect a door-to-door salesman to have.

she had gotten surer that these people were dangerous.

so, she would run away, with a distraction of course

so, instantly, her eyes began to glow, but the goons did not react

'perhaps they think i am bluffing'

looking around for a place to aim, she decides that a show of force should be enough

"PEKO---BEEAM" was what she shouted, as red hot beams of plasma shot out in front of her eyes

immediately the ground between them and her turned glowing hot.

without even looking back or acknowledging the loud shimmering noises,

she begun to run along the street, then changed direction and ran through an alleyway she just found-

even if it was almost an empty alley, devoid of people, or things strewn about,

she could see that it actually was not too long

and opened up more and more as she ran forward

her speed-running skills were an inherent ability of her species,

but they had certain trade-offs when used

like one minor one was-

'shit, i can't stop'

not being able to normally stop or slow down, unless you crash.

'i might have just normally walked at this point'

in any case, she couldn't hear any footsteps behind her

still running at the same speed, since she couldn't even slow down,

she reached the alley's end, which connected to a narrow bridge

which as she could see overlooked a roaring river, flowing faster than she could run.

even so-

" HEY, DID You Also get Isekaied?"

stating this as a question was a lone kid wearing familiar clothes -not medieval clothes, but a tracksuit

'but- stopping safely comes first.'

"Get Out of the way, I can't Stop"

"what's wrong, is someone chasing you? don't worry, Natsuki Subaru Is here to-"

instead of getting away, the boy made a weird pose and started to make his own conclusions

unfortunately for the bo- subaru, Usada was currently moving faster than most Olympic cyclists

without any time to react, she- slipped?

'what? why?'

if that wasn't enough, she skidded clear right of the boy, who stumbled and fell backwards on a box.

but due to her momentum,

she had ran off the bridge.

if she and her rapidly screaming heart could speak right now, this is what they would say

'this is not my day'

Chapter Text

A boy lay fallen on the crates that should've held his wet jacket, he was-

'what the hell, i was just gonna make such a perfect speech, in my honor as a protagonist, and she just ran by me-'

"hah?"

suddenly standing up, he cautiously looked around him

after all-

a loud splash was heard, almost behind where he was.

'that sound was too close, could this be?'

forcing his mind to run a million miles a minute, he kept his scary eyes trained on the water,

"did someone just fall in the water?" he asked, to no one in particular

'but no one else was here right, other than-'

suddenly reaching a conclusion, he abruptly shouted.
"NO WAY? did that girl just do such a stunt, to just fall in the water?"

'well, i guess i found my main quest..'

with such a thought process, he decided to dive into the water.
since he could now spot the bubbles, rising up the surface.
at least- until they abruptly stopped.

"shit, i should probably hurry"

with such a declaration, he ran forward and jumped.

.
.
.
.
.
"hey, am i not taking too much time to fall here?"
.
.
??" I would advise you to not jump in water, without a relevant divine protection, even if you are trying to save someone"

hearing this unknown voice, the isekaied neet craned his neck, almost backward to see who was preventing him from his heroic deeds.

standing on the bridge, he could clearly see a red haired figure holding him up by his t-shirt,
'so this is why i was not falling, more importantly'

"Let me go, you. you- idiot"

retorting quite inelegantly, he pointed to where the air bubble's were- should have been

'they are still gone? t-that can't be right?'
with almost a desperate look on his face, he turned again to the red haired guy, who looked like he was thinking till now,

"My apologies if that's what you were doing, But i already got her out of the river just ten seconds ago"
without warning, the red haired guy started to pull him up,
and the neet did not resist.

now that the black haired neet was back on the bridge,
as he could now the see the red haired guy, he asked a simple question

"where is she?"
"Reinhard van Astrea-"

he and the red haired gu- reinhard ended up speaking over each other.

silently confirming with each other, that they would take turns introducing themselves..

"My name is Natsuki Subaru, I am utterly broke, and am lost beyond compare.."
with those words he extended his hand
"Nice to Meet You, Reinhard"