Chapter Text
Upon finding herself isekai’d, Natsuki Subaru should’ve expected this encounter. “Menu,” she hissed. “Appraise! Magic! Pause! Why isn’t anything happening?”
The smallest of the hooligans before her—a bona fide gnome—jeered, “Just what do you think you’re doing? Give us everything you have, and maybe we’ll let you go.”
‘Yeah, right,’ she thought. As if she was going to give anything up—her shitty, grocery-bag starting gear was going to stay with her.
Pitching her voice an octave, Subaru shrieked, “Guards! Knights! I need help! Please! These miscreants are trying to rob me, a tax-paying citizen!” If the last part was untrue, well, there was no one around to say she wasn’t.
The hooligans startled, clearly caught unawares—the exact response Subaru wanted. She turned on her heel. It was time for her timely departure.
<“Stop there, villains!” came a delicate voice. “I won’t let you get away!” Ice crystals whooshed by Subaru’s side, striking inches from a lean form, dashing across the roofs.
Well then, at least she knew magic was in this world.
“You called for me, my Lady? Please wait just a moment, I must help Emilia-sama.” A man appeared before Subaru, bowed, became naught but a flash of red and white, and returned, holding the girl on the roofs in his grip.
He was handsome, refreshingly so, the angular planes of his face catching the light—a halo of crimson-red hair crowning him.
This has to be the male lead! she thought.
He inclined his head to her, then asked, “Is she the one you were looking for, Emilia-sama?”
“Reinhard-san!” she exclaimed. “Yes, I was. I’m so sorry for the trouble.” She hurried toward him, adding, “She took something very precious to me.”
The girl bared her teeth. “The name’s Felt!”
“Best to give it back,” said Reinhard, smiling.
“I’m not giving anything back!” she yelled. “Let me go!”
Emilia’s silver brows knitted together. “Puck, can you retrieve it?”
A very small cat, unspooling from Emilia’s hair, nodded. “Sure can, Lia!”
Subaru would’ve already left. She hadn’t done anything wrong, and the hooligans were keeping to themselves, darting their eyes between the new figures. It was for Reinhard that she stayed.
One didn’t easily run from their future husband, you see. He was hers, and she was his, a done deal. He may as well propose—even if she couldn’t decide between a pear or oval-cut ring.
As the male lead, it was only natural.
Felt squirmed in Reinhard’s grip, bearing a stark resemblance to a wet pool noodle. “Leave me alone!” she cried.
The cat rummaged in her pockets, before holding up a golden insignia, a red jewel glinting in its center. “Found it!”
Emilia clapped her hands together, her relief evident. “I’m so glad! Thank you, Puck, and Reinhard-san, of course.”
“It was no problem, Emilia-sama.” He turned to Felt. “Now, if I let you go, you won’t do something like this again, right?”
Again with the Emilia-sama? Just who was she?
“No promises, but if you let me go now, you’ll never see me again.”
Reinhard sighed. “I think that’s the best I’m going to get.”
He released her, and with a smirk, she dashed away from them. “Later, suckers!”
Reinhard turned to Subaru, slightly smiling. “You needed my help?” He glanced behind her, to the trio of hooligans. “Were they your tormentors?”
Subaru didn’t blush, nor smile; instead, she scrutinized him. To the breadth of his shoulders, the ebony sheen of his gloves, and the length of his cape.
Reinhard’s smile didn’t falter. “Is there something you’d like to tell me?”
“What’s your blood type?” she asked. She was an O, so while she was generally considered compatible to everyone, it would still help in understanding him.
“Blood type? I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what you mean.” He bowed. “I am Reinhard van Astrea, forgive me for not introducing myself sooner.”
“Subaru van Astrea,” she murmured. She did like the sound of it.
“Subaru? Is that your name, my Lady?”
Subaru flushed. He was not supposed to hear that. “You can refer to me as Natsuki-chan,” she answered.
“Natsuki-chan, it’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance.”
Emilia, listening to their conversation, asked quietly, “Where are you from, Natsuki-san? I can’t help but notice your clothing, and black hair.”
Subaru glanced at her, silently taking in her billowing silver locks, amethyst eyes, and pointed ears. “I should be asking you that,” she said. “But to answer your question, you’ll have to be my friend and find out.”
Emilia’s eyes widened. “Oh.”
“If that will be all, Natsuki-chan.” Reinhard stood up. “It seems your tormentors left upon hearing my name.”
Did they? She looked behind her, and surely, they weren’t there.
“Emilia-sama,” he continued. “Please take care of yourself. The Royal Selection will begin soon.”
“Hai, Reinhard-san.”
“Before you leave, Reinhard-san, I want to find something out.” Subaru approached him, pointedly looking at his hand. “Can you take it off?”
“My glove?”
“Hai.”
Steadily, he removed it. Subaru wasted no time in locking hands with him. “It’s a perfect match,” she said, pleased. They were definitely soulmates.
Reinhard stared at their locked hands. “What are you doing, my Lady?”
“Laying claim on my property.” She smirked, and whispered in his ear, “We’ll meet again, I swear.” She kissed his cheek, and left for Emilia’s side. She grabbed her hand, rushing out of the alleyway.
“Let’s go sightseeing, Emilia-chan!”
“Hey!”
Silently, Reinhard flexed his hand, brushing the bare fingers across his cheek.
***
“Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!”
“Not again!”
“Yes! Victory!”
Emilia pouted. “How do you always win? You’re not cheating, are you?”
“Of course not, Emilia-chan,” Subaru replied. “I’m simply extremely talented.”
“I can’t tell if you really mean that or not.” She placed a delicate finger on her chin. “Can I nominate someone to represent me?”
“That’s a super formal way of saying it, but sure.”
Emilia turned to her spirit. “Then, Puck, please win.”
“It would be my pleasure, Lia.” Puck floated in front of Subaru, a large snowflake appearing before them. “I’ll use that to represent what I choose. Ready to get destroyed, Natsuki-kun?”
“Not in particular.”
Puck laughed. “Okay, go!”
The two of them shouted, “Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!”
The snowflake burst into a shimmering sheet of ice, wrapping around Subaru’s fist.
“You won,” Subaru said, slumping.
Puck smirked. “Of course, I did.”
Emilia clapped her hands together. “One point for the Emilia camp!”
Subaru shook her head, grinning. “Emilia-chan, question. How do you know Reinhard-san? When we met, you two seemed familiar with each other.”
“Well, he is the Sword Saint, Natsuki-chan,” she replied, before blushing. “Why did you kiss him?”
‘The Sword Saint, hmm. Sounds prestigious,’ she mused. ‘As expected of my future husband. But to answer her question…’
“It’s because he’s my future husband. Of course, I can kiss him, and stuff.”
Emilia’s eyes widened. “I didn’t know he was engaged.”
“Well, not yet at least. But don’t worry, I have a thirteen-step plan to win his heart, and make him obsess over me.”
“So basically, he has no idea who you are, but in your delusions, you’ve made him the victim of your schemes?” Puck crossed his arms together. “Lia, this one’s no good.”
Subaru scratched the back of her neck, a blush dusting the high bridge of her cheek. “When you put it like that, of course I sound bad.”
“Wait, I’m bewildered. Was that your first meeting in the alleyway?”
“Who even uses bewildered anymore? And, erm, yes?”
Emilia put her hand over her mouth. “And you did so many things with him. You’re scandalous, Natsuki-chan!”
“Scandalous? Maybe. If you didn’t sound so innocent, I’d be offended.” She sighed. “He’s just super handsome, and is it really so bad for me to want him? It still doesn’t feel real here.”
Emilia was about to respond, before Puck yelled, “Lia!!” A glassy shield appeared, blocking the black dagger hurtling at her. A slim figure dropped down from the roofs, carrying a young girl.
She launched another dagger, this one landing in the ground right in front of them. She stood there a moment longer, before dashing backwards.
Subaru’s heart raced in her chest. “What was that? Who is she?”
“She’s challenging Emilia,” Puck hissed. “She wants her to follow her, probably to try to save the girl she’s holding.”
“What?”
“Natsuki-chan,” Emilia said, a sense of resolve shining from her. “Thank you for spending the afternoon with me, your presence is like a breath of fresh air. I have to leave now, however. I refuse to let an innocent person die on my watch.”
She turned to leave, but Subaru grabbed the sleeve of her white robes. “I understand I’m only going to get in the way, but I can’t let you go by yourself. How about.. how about when you save the girl, you give her to me, so that you don’t have to worry about her in the fight.”
Emilia thought about it for a moment, her lips pressing together into a thin line. “Fine, I suppose. But you have to be careful!”
“I will,” she assured her. “I don’t want to die either.”
They shared a nod, and ran after the woman.
They ran for so long that Subaru feared they had lost her, and Puck, who was leading them, simply refused to say so. “Where is she,” Subaru hissed, her chest heaving.
The houses around them, once proud and warm, had become crumbling structures. Even the air tasted different. The area they were in had to be the slums, Subaru surmised.
She knew she shouldn’t be surprised, but it truly was like a different world.
“She stopped in front of that house,” Puck called.
A shack, a little ways off from the other houses, stood stark on a hill. “My, my,” came what had to be her voice. “It seems I have such eager victims for my blades.”
“Stop what you’re doing right this instant,” demanded Emilia. “Let go of the child, and perhaps we can still find a peaceful solution.”
They were close enough now that they could see her face, a beautiful thing, resplendent in the fading light. Subaru saw the girl against the shack, her head bowed, blood trailing down her cheek.
Subaru’s heart stopped. Did the woman kill her?
“Lia, we have to end this quickly,” Puck said. “I don’t have much time left.”
“Hai.”
Emilia brought her hands together into a triangle, a multitude of ice shards appearing in the air. “I’ll distract her. Subaru, get the girl.”
“Hai, Emilia-chan,” she replied shakily. Suddenly, this seemed much, much realer.
“I am Elsa Granhiert. Remember that name well, since she’ll be the one to kill you!” Elsa moved so fast Subaru couldn’t track her, bringing her knife to rip open Emilia’s gut—she would have succeeded, had a shield not blocked her in the nick of time.
“You’re not hurting my daughter,” hissed Puck.
Emilia released the ice shards, each one a blazing streak of blue. Elsa moved just as quickly, parrying most of them, dodging the ones she couldn’t.
‘Get the girl, Subaru. Get her, Natsuki Subaru. Run, run, run, run—and she started running to her.
“I’ll protect you, Natsuki-chan,” Emilia yelled. “Just don’t stop running. It’ll make you an easier target!”
“I’ll definitely keep that in mind, Emilia-chan!” Subaru hollered back. “Please don’t let her kill me!”
“I won’t!”
“I do believe that’s easier said than done,” Elsa said, hurtling a dagger at Subaru so hard, she swore it broke the sound barrier.
“Not so fast! Huma!” A giant crystal erupted from the ground, blocking the dagger mid-path.
“You’re the best magical girl there ever was, Emilia-chan!” Subaru shouted, and thankfully finished the rest of the run sans interruptions. She placed a grateful hand on the girl’s neck.
She was still breathing.
Subaru put her in her arms, and on a whim, decided to head inside the shack. It was probably unoccupied, or perhaps the owner had run. Emilia and Elsa weren’t exactly intent on being quiet.
She’d find a good place to store away the girl, and go back outside to help Emilia. Upon slipping in the front entrance, however, the scent of blood assaulted her. She gagged, bringing her jacket to cover her nose.
That could only mean one thing…
Unceremoniously, Subaru went back outside. Out of sight, out of mind.
“We have to end this now, Lia!” exhorted Puck. “I’ll use the rest of my mana for this attack. Distract her!”
“Hai!”
As Emilia shot crystals toward her, Puck summoned a spiraling mass of ice. It was large, larger even than the crystal Emilia had conjured to stop the dagger.
“El Huma!” he announced, before fading into sparkles.
Did Puck just die?
The massive crystal shot toward Elsa, who easily sidestepped it. “What a shame,” she said. “I was hoping to see the insides of a—“ She turned around, seemingly sensing something, but it was too late, and she was pierced head to toe with crystals.
“What just happened?” Subaru asked, gaping.
“The crystal Puck shot was a diversion. It was timed to split apart. Elsa was too slow to dodge.” Emilia approached her, looking at the girl in Subaru’s arms. “Is she still alive?”
“Yes, thankfully.”
“Oh, what a relief, Natsuki-chan.” She smiled, patting Subaru’s arm. “Good job. You’re a good girl.”
Subaru awkwardly smiled back. “You’re the best girl, Emilia-chan, even if you spent the first ten years of your life inside of a cave.”
“Pardon me?”
Subaru shook her head, her ebony locks following the movement. “Is there any sort of police around here? Like some guards or knights?”
“Yes, the guards. They’ll help us in finding her family, too.” As she spoke, she rubbed the girl's hair. “She’s so quiet. It’s scary.”
Subaru asked, unable to help herself, “Is Puck, like, okay?”
“Puck? Yes, why wouldn’t he be?”
“Didn’t you see him dissolving into glitter?”
“Glitter? Oh, you mean him going back into his spirit stone.” Emilia tapped the jewel on her chest. “Spirits don’t spend the entire day with their user, since it takes a tremendous amount of mana to appear. For Puck, he stays with me from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon.”
“So he isn't dead? Thank goodness.” Subaru found herself blushing, as she worked up the nerve to say what was on her mind next. “So, I kinda have no place to stay right now.”
“Then you should stay with me,” Emilia replied. “I live with Roswall L. Mathers, in the Mathers Domain. The manor is very big, so please don’t feel embarrassed in coming.”
Subaru giggled, her eyes curving into crescent moons. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear, Emilia-chan.”
Emilia’s lips parted, only to form a silent plea, her arms coming out to push Subaru. “Behind you!” She was a fraction too slow. The girl dropped from Subaru’s arms.
Elsa lifted Subaru up on her blade, licking her rosy lips. “This is not my preferred method of killing. I suspect you had such beautiful viscera as well.”
“Subaru!”
Elsa threw Subaru aside, rushing toward Emilia in a blur of black. Emilia’s shriek echoed in the still grounds.
Subaru wanted to run to them, to help them somehow, but her limbs were cold and unresponsive. Her entire body was cold. So cold. She had never felt this cold before. She raised her hand, staring in horror at the blood coating it.
There was so much. Too much. She was dying.
Subaru laid eyes on Emilia’s silken figure, as limp as hers. Elsa had gotten to her, too. She didn’t want to die. She wanted to live so badly it hurt.
She didn’t want to die. She didn’t want to die…
***
It came as a throb to the heart at first— subtle thudding he could almost ignore. Then, a tremble to his fingers, overwhelming lethargy. He collapsed where he stood, vomiting, this excruciating pain coursing through his body.
‘This has to be the work of a curse,’ he thought distantly. It was the only magic he didn’t bare some immunity to. He didn't touch many people, per his reservations. The only one who had insisted was Natsuki-chan.
But that couldn’t be right.
When Reinhard next opened his eyes, he found it was morning, the marketplace in full throttle, a vase of scarlet flowers to his left.