Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The royal palace was silent, completely consumed by the darkness of the night. At this hour, the frantic energy of the day had disappeared, and even the most dedicated servants had already retreated to their quarters. The only soul stirring within the vast stone walls was Emilia, the Dragon Maiden and Queen of Lugunica. She was headed towards her quarters, happy in the fact that tomorrow would mark the first anniversary of her coronation.

If she were being completely honest with herself, the moment she was announced as the victor of the selection, happiness had indeed bloomed in her chest—how could it not, after achieving the very goal she and her camp had bled for? Yet, eclipsing that joy was the suffocating anxiety she felt, as if the weight of the world was suddenly deposited on her shoulders.

Even with her diligent studying, and despite the tireless exercises her camp had subjected her to, nothing could have truly prepared her for the crushing weight of the crown. There were endless audiences with the Council of Sages, where every word she spoke was scrutinized for weakness; the mediation of petty squabbles between noble houses that still viewed her with veiled prejudice; the drafting of complex demi-human integration laws to undo centuries of prejudice; and many more grueling and boring duties.

Emília would have surely collapsed under the pressure if not for her friends. Otto, with his effective paperwork management; Crusch, offering stern but fair guidance; Anastasia, teaching her the subtleties of negotiation; and many others who helped in their own way. It was a grueling process, forcing her to mature rapidly, but it was a path Emilia considered worth walking.

Yet, above all others, there was one special person—the one who had been her true pillar. Her King, Natsuki Subaru. Just thinking his name sent a flurry of butterflies through her stomach. Not satisfied with simply securing her the throne, he had taken it upon himself to handle the public relations and the more "unorthodox" headaches, just so Emilia could breathe a little easier. He was truly the best partner she could ask for.

So with all the support of so many people, Emilia could feel that now, after all this time, she was a good ruler. A queen who did everything she could to make her country better, together with all the people who believed in her.

Even if right now all Emilia wanted was to reach her chambers, collapse into their plush bed, and sleep for a full day. Even so, a selfish part of her hoped he was still awake, just so she could hear his voice. Maybe she could even wake him up, just for a moment… surely he wouldn’t mind? He was always so soft with her.

While she was lost in her thoughts, Emilia’s foot caught on something. Panic flared as gravity took hold. She pitched forward, her hands instinctively flying out to break her fall. She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the harsh impact, but instead of the smooth softness of carpet, her palms slammed into something cold, jagged, and unforgivingly hard. If her boots hadn't been protecting her knees, she might have badly scraped them against the rough stone.

When she forced her eyes open, a blinding, aggressive light stabbed at her vision. She winced, shielding her face. The contrast between the soft, dim glow of the palace mana-crystals and this searing, midday glare made her eyes water and sting.

“Lia? What happened?”

That voice was a sound she hadn’t heard in so long. One that to this day brought a complicated mix of nostalgia, confusion and anger to her heart.

This must be a dream, of course, it’s only there that she would meet this person again after all. But even in her dreams, she wasn't ready to face this part of her past. She would sort her feelings later; she couldn’t possibly deal with this right now. To break the spell, she pinched her arm, her fingers sinking into her own skin, since she didn't control her grip. It hurt. It hurt a lot.

Why didn’t she wake up?

“Lia, why did you do that?”

With her mind slowly stabilizing, Emilia finally lifted her head. To see the blinding sun, stone buildings, and small wooden stalls. People were walking, haggling, and shouting about their wares. She wasn't in the palace hallway, but in the Capital, specifically, one of the bustling market streets she had visited countless times. It was a perfectly normal day in the Royal Capital.

Day? But it was just midnight a moment ago. And if this wasn't a dream, then—

A cat, small enough he could stand on her palms, floated in front of her, completely obscuring her field of vision so she could see only him.

“Lia, you’re scaring me. Please tell me what’s going on.”

It was Puck, she who had spent so much time with him could never mistake him for another. But seeing him now only made her confusion even greater. How could this not be a dream if Puck truly was here?

She clutched herself, wrapping her arms around her shoulders as if protecting her very soul. Her hands squeezed her arms, but Emilia felt something amiss. Her arms were weird, thinner than she expected, lacking in both muscle and fat. In fact, her whole body felt light, fragile, and weak, as if she were inhabiting that of another.

She looked down and saw an old garment of hers, one she hadn’t worn since long ago. She had outgrown these clothes both socially and physically.Emilia would only wear clothes that befit her station now, at least, in public. So even if this clothing might have been saved in the back of her wardrobe, it wouldn't make any sense for her to wear it.

Without hesitation, she used her magic, quickly creating a small sheet of ice close to the ground and holding her head above it so she could see herself. It was her face; she was undoubtedly Emilia, and for a brief second, she sighed in relief. But it was short-lived. The face she was looking at was surely her own, but like everything else, it felt weird. Like the feeling of looking at an old painting from someone you know, the feeling of surely knowing it’s them, and still also recognizing…the differences.

“Lia, did you just use magic? And why are you looking at yourself?”

The sudden change in the time of day, the differences in her body, and most importantly, Puck's presence. Maybe Emilia wouldn’t have been able to make the connection if it weren’t for her previous knowledge of how something just like this happened to someone she knew. An idea, small at first, suddenly bloomed in Emilia’s mind. It explained every impossible phenomenon, but that same explanation terrified her to her very core.

Seeking the final proof, she looked at the floating spirit.

“Puck, what is the date of today?” Her voice was calm, holding back the dam of emotions that was threatening to spill out.

“Lia, what type of question is that? You have been acting all weird. What is going on?”

“Please, just tell me the date.”

“No, this is serious! You can’t just start pinching yourself and—”

“Puck.”

The voice that tore from Emilia’s throat was not that of a confused girl, but of the Queen of Lugunica. It was the tone she disliked using, cold, commanding, and leaving no argument—but it was a necessity she had learned to accept. When people disrespected her, doubted her, or went against her authority, Emilia, as queen, would have to stand her ground and show others why her position should be respected.

So she would try to remove all the niceness from her expression and voice, and truly command others as a true monarch should. Emilia’s mimicry of authority, based on those of others much more commanding than herself, still hadn’t matured enough. But for stupid folk, the only ones who would dare insult a queen to her face, it was enough, and now for Puck who never in his dreams had expected Emilia to talk like that, it would be enough as well.

“Answer my question. Right. Now.”

Puck’s small eyes widened. He floated back a few inches, looking from side to side as if searching for an escape route from this stranger wearing his daughter’s face. He had never, ever, expected to hear Emilia speak with such authority. Forced by the pressure, the answer slipped from his lips.

“It’s the month of Tammuz… the day is the fourteenth.”

“Year”

“397! 397 A.C!”

It was the wrong year, the wrong month, even the wrong day. Nothing was as it was supposed to be. But she also didn’t believe Puck was lying to her, judging from the surprised look on his face. So Emilia's theory grew to become a certainty, and that banished the queen and left in her place only a girl.

This was the past, just right before the start of the selection. All of the evidence she saw until now left no room for doubt, only a myriad of questions.

Why was this happening? How could it even happen? Why her? Did she do something wrong? Something that merited her losing everything like this? Losing everything she fought for? Losing the people she cared about? The people she loved. Losing her…Subaru.

Subaru… Was this what he always experienced? This hollowness. This profound sense of loss, mourning a future that no longer existed for anyone but herself. The isolation of carrying memories that were now nothing but delusions to the rest of the world. Subaru was so strong… How did he endure this agony time and time again without breaking? She wanted to tell him that. She wanted to praise him, to hug him, to tell him she understood now. But she would never get the chance.

She felt tears prick the corners of her eyes. She was just a frail girl again, standing in the middle of a street, ready to cry over the injustice of this world that seemed to always takewho always took everything from her. Even when she thought she was safe, fate seemed to mock her and take everything from her once again.

Emilia and Puck stood there for a long time, neither of them daring to move, Emilia too stuck in her emotions, and Puck still unsure of what to do after his daughter's actions.

That is, until Emilia felt something touch her. A light touch, as fleeting as a gust of wind, brushed against her hip.

“Lia!” Puck shouted.

She sniffled, wiping her eyes. “What is it?”

“A girl just ran past you! I think she might have stolen something from you!”

Emilia froze. The fog in her brain cleared instantly. “Was she... a little blonde girl? With red eyes?”

Puck tilted his head. “Yes, it was. How were you able to tell that? You were staring at the floor the whole time.”

Of course, Emilia had been so distracted by the discrepancy between the dates that she had completely forgotten to think about which day this actually was. It was the day Felt stole her insignia, one of the most important days of her life.

Today was the day she met him, the day she met her Subaru. Subaru wasn’t lost forever; he was here in the capital somewhere, she just needed to find him. It hurt Emilia to think that their precious memories were now only hers.

But Subaru had experienced this before. He told her that her first meeting with him wasn’t the same as hers. How many other times during their lives together had he been forced to carry memories alone, memories that certainly weighed on him. So it would only be fair for Emilia to do the same now, to carry the burdens just like he did, right? Emilia couldn’t give anything less than the same level of devotion he gave to her.

So with her resolve strengthened, she got up and ran. Puck opened his mouth to speak, but before he could utter a syllable, Emilia banished him back into his crystal. She couldn’t deal with his question at the moment.

Where would Subaru be right now? She could try to follow Felt to the loot house and wait for him to appear just like he did in her memories. But she knew for a fact that that wasn’t their first meeting, Subaru had already looped by then, and Emilia didn't want to even entertain the idea of letting him die if she could help it.

Emilia needed to find the place of their actual first meeting, but the problem was that Subaru, dunderhead that he was, never went into details about it. All that she knows is that she somehow saved him from something, but Subaru never specified what.

Emilia was out of leads; she could try to just look without clues, but the Capital was massive, and it would take too much time. Proceeding alone at all was a bad idea; she would need some help to at least find her bearings.

Unfortunately, Emilia right now had no one who could help her; she had no idea where Ram was, Roswaal had already returned to the mansion, her candidate friends weren't her friends at all yet, and so wouldn’t help her without something in exchange.

Still, Emilia needed anyone who could help her, preferably a person she knew, someone who might know Subaru too.

That was it.

She spun on her heel and sprinted back the way she came. Her legs were weaker, her stamina lower, but she ran with the desperation of a woman chasing her lifeline.

She skidded to a halt in front of the familiar fruit stand. The man operating it—Kadomon Risch—looked exactly as she remembered: a stern face marked by a distinctive white scar running down his cheek, a green apron tied over his broad, muscular frame, and his nostalgic look of disdain.

“Hello mis-”

“Kadomon!” Emilia gasped, bracing her hands on her knees. “Have you seen Subaru recently?”

The merchant frowned, crossing his arms. “Who the hell even is that?”

“He is a man with short black hair, about this height! He’s wearing very strange clothes, and he has these really pretty, intense dark eyes.” Emilia stood upright, describing him with her hands to the best of her abilities.

Kadomon raised an eyebrow. “Miss, you’re not even buying anything, and you’re asking all these questions?”

Emilia flinched and reached into her pocket, only to remember she had no money at all; her old self didn’t walk with any.

“I… I’m sorry. I have no coins with me right now. But please, I must find him. I promise, on my name, I will reward you for this. Just please, help me.”

Kadomon studied her face with a hand on his chin. “He seems to be really important to you, huh?”

“He is,” Emilia breathed. “More than anything.”

“Damn, I must be getting soft,” Kadomon sighed, scratching the back of his neck. “A guy matching that weird description passed by not too long ago. He was completely broke, but he had these really nasty eyes. Like he wanted to stab me or something. Didn't look like a prize catch to me.”

“That’s him! That’s Subaru without a doubt!” Emilia beamed. “Which way did he go?”

“He went over there,” Kamodon pointed to one of the streets that connected to this one.

“Thank you! Thank you so much! I will compensate you, I swear!”

“You better,” Kadomon grunted. “And next time, bring the lucky guy back here too so I can give him a piece of my mind for making his girl worry so much.”

“Mhm, I’ll bring him for sure.”

Emilia ran in the direction he pointed, looking everywhere she could for any sign of him. Luckily for her, Subaru wasn’t physically capable of getting that far in so little time, so odds were that if she kept looking, she would find him in a jiffy.

Then she heard his voice; it was certainly his voice, and to her it sounded like the sweetest melody in the world. But the sound he made, like a grunt of pain, made her stomach drop.

Emilia immediately turned to where the sound came from, a small alley, one of the many that resided in the capital. She ran to it, and as she rounded the corner, there he was.

Subaru was on the ground, and three thugs were looming over him, their feet raised to kick.

Emilia closed the distance in a blur and jumped, her boot connecting with the tallest thug's chest, sending him crashing into the stone wall. Before the second could react, she delivered a sharp punch to his jaw and shoved him backward toward the street. The smallest one she simply grabbed by the collar, hoisted off the ground, and tossed into his groaning friends.

Maybe Emilia could have been more delicate, but making sure Subaru was safe was her priority above anything else right now.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're—" the tallest started, but he stopped dead when he saw her. The silver hair, the violet eyes, and the sheer, frigid aura of authority she projected made them cower.

Emilia didn't say a word. She raised her hand, and three jagged spikes of ice materialized in the air. They flew forward, whistling through the air, and slammed into the ground inches from the thugs' feet.

"LEAVE," she hissed. "Before I lose my patience."

The three men, realizing the fight they had picked, scrambled over each other in a desperate bid to escape, disappearing into the street.

Emilia turned, slowly. Subaru was lying on the dirty stone, unconscious.

She fell to her knees beside him, her hands hovering over his face. He was a mess. Bruises were blooming on his jaw, a cut on his cheek, and his tracksuit was dusted with dirt.

“Subaru…” she whispered, her voice cracking.

She carefully maneuvered him, lifting his head and placing it gently on her lap—his favorite place in the world. It was a self-indulgent act, grounded more in her need to feel him than his need for comfort, but she didn't care.

A soft light emitted from her hands as she began to cast healing magic. She traced the wounds on his face, knitting the skin back together, soothing the bruises. She poured her mana into him, checking for internal injuries, healing every scratch, every ache.

He was wounded. He was weak. And when he woke up, he would look at her with the eyes of a stranger. He wouldn't know the life they had built, the love they shared.

But as she felt the steady thrum of his heartbeat against her legs, Emilia wept silent tears of relief.

Nothing else mattered right now. He was here. He was alive.

She had her Subaru again, and this time, she wouldn't let him go no matter what.

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Today had been the worst day of Subaru’s life. It had started fine enough; he woke up and had breakfast with his parents, then closed himself off in his room to play video games all day. When he had finally tired of being a disgusting parasite, he went outside to buy something to eat with the last money he had, all while ignoring his poor mother.

However, when he was just exiting the store, something happened. Subaru felt the change in scenery and found himself in the middle of a medieval town, but not any old town, one that had magical races walking around as if it was normal. Subaru saw people with animal ears, some that had their whole body covered in fur and thankfully some humans. He would be really unlucky to end up in a place in which humans were discriminated against or something.

But still all of this could only mean one thing. He had been isekaied, just like he always dreamed of. He would now have amazing adventures, learn magic, defeat the demon king. There would also probably be a pretty girl for him to romance. It all was a dream come true.

His good mood lasted for about 10 minutes, until he learned how mean this world could be. Firstly, he couldn’t use any magic. That wasn’t too much of a problem, however, he would probably need to find a master to teach him or something. He even tried to find some kind of magical school or guild, only to realize he couldn’t read a thing and asking random people to help him also didn’t produce good results. All he managed to earn was being ignored once or twice, some “I don’t have time” and even one “Go fuck yourself” for good measure.

This inability to read of course also led him to commit other mistakes like entering the women’s bathroom and a non-human bar, which did in fact bring in some suspicion that maybe this place had some social and racial problems, but at that point Subaru was too exhausted to even think about it, both with the amount of walking under the heavy sun and also because he hadn't slept for a long time, courtesy of being transported in the middle of the night to a world where it was midday.

He even tried to use what little money he had to maybe buy some food, but of course the money used here was different, so all he got was getting screamed at by an apple vendor.

What was the person who summoned him here thinking? To not give him any guidance, no magic weapon, no secret power, at this point he would have taken some money and been happy about it, to just throw him in the middle of a city with basically nothing was way too mean.

But of course it couldn’t have ended there, when he had taken some time in an alley to think and complain about his situation, three muggers tried to rob him. However, Subaru wasn’t in the mood to give all the little that he owned, his precious memories of home, to anyone. So he decided to fight, a decision that maybe like many others he took that day, wasn’t a good one in retrospect. While he started the fight with some advantage, he quickly lost it when one of the thugs pulled out a knife. His reward for his efforts of course was getting beaten to an inch of his life until he passed out on the ground, a cold feeling of dread washing over his body, his last thought was a pathetic apology to the parents he’d never see again.

When Subaru's consciousness returned, the first thing he noticed was the lack of pain his body was in, considerably different from the sensation that he felt before everything went black. The second thing was the amazing sensation under his head, it was warm, soft and very cozy, honestly the best pillow he had experienced in his life.

Then he opened his eyes and saw someone looking down at him. It made his breathing stop. It was a girl, one who seemed to be around his age, but at the same time too perfect to be real. Her features were the most beautiful he had ever seen by a mile, with the only thing you could even call an imperfection being her cheeks that seemed to be a bit pudgy, but that was fine with Subaru; it would probably only make her even cuter when she pouted, it would be the kind of image that could carry a man through hell.

Her face wasn’t only what made her beautiful of course, Subaru wasn’t such a simple man. Her long flowing silver hair that seemed to reflect moonlight even during the day, her kind purple eyes that looked at him as if he was the most precious thing in the world, her smile that could melt the ice of even the cruelest of hearts, all of it contributed to her ethereal beauty. She was a perfection incarnate, the kind of woman who Subaru would immediately confess to, only to get rejected right after. Someone so above his league that Subaru would be embarrassed to even admit he found her attractive.

“Subaru, how are you feeling? Are you Okie?” Her bell-like voice seemed to fill his whole being while her slender fingers moved with agonizing gentleness to stroke his hair.

My god, why was her voice so cute, too? What even is this girl? But more importantly, why was such a perfect woman looking at him like that? Why was she treating him with such care and affection?. He was being beaten just a second ago, and now—

Then he realized that he was probably dead. It made sense; all his pain was suddenly gone, and his last memories were of getting beaten up, the thugs must have ended up breaking his neck or something, and this is the afterlife. The girl must be an angel.  A girl this beautiful could never exist in reality, and even if she did, she would never give someone like him the time of day.

While Subaru hated the thought of dying, since it had been painless and he got to have a girl like her pampering him like this, maybe it wasn’t so bad? With how pathetic he was, it’s expected that his afterlife would be way worse than this, so maybe he should count himself lucky, really.

"I guess the afterlife is better than I thought," Subaru croaked, instinctively nuzzling closer into the soft warmth of her lap.

This prompted the girl’s smile to vanish and be replaced with a pout, but before Subaru could even think of how adorable it looked, she reached down and pinched his cheek, giving it a firm tug.

"Don’t talk about dying, you dunderhead!" she scolded, her voice rising in a way that felt strangely familiar, even though he’d never heard it before. She wobbled his cheek back and forth, and the sharp sting of reality flooded back.

"Ouch! I'm sorry! Mercy, Angel-tan! Have mercy!" Subaru yelped, his arms flailing.

"Humph!" She let go, crossing her arms.

"You’re so cute when you're mad,"  Subaru blurted out, his mouth moving faster than his brain.

"Don’t think flattery will save you, mister," she huffed, though a faint pink showed in her cheeks.

"It’s not flattery,” Subaru replied, then froze for a second as he parsed his words. “I mean, it is, but I'm being honest. It’s like looking at a mountain, you know? You have to acknowledge how tall it is. Denying your cuteness would be lying to the world."

"That’s silly," she giggled. The sound went straight to Subaru’s heart, making him feel like he’d won a prize just by hearing it.

“What can I say? I’m a silly guy.”

“That you are.”

"So, Angel-tan," Subaru cleared his throat, calming his emotions the best he could. "What kind of afterlife is this? How does the system work? Are you my guardian spirit?"

"I already told you to stop being silly," Her finger tapped his forehead lightly. "This isn’t the afterlife. It’s Lugunica just like it always is."

Subaru's blood ran cold.

Freeing himself from her enchanting face, he slowly moved his head to the side, taking in the view of the same alley from before. He could see his grocery store bag on the ground, with the same items he had bought inside. His head returned to its original position, the girl still smiling at him, not seeming to mind the situation they were in.

His face heated up, his smile disappeared, and his ears turned crimson. "So... you're real? A real person? And I've been... I've been saying all that embarrassing stuff to a stranger while using her legs as a pillow?"

"Of course I'm real! Honestly, did you hit your head that hard?"

Subaru tried to escape, to lift his head from her lap, but in response she put a single finger on his forehead and forcefully moved it back down. Why was she so strong? Subaru was a shut-in sure, but he still took care of himself, no way he would lose to just a finger.

"Don’t move. You were hurt very badly. I used my magic to heal you, but you need to rest. It’s for your own good, you know?"

"I see the logic, but couldn't I rest on the ground? Or a bench?"

"Why?" She tilted her head to the side. "Is my lap uncomfortable?"

“No” He affirmed immediately, even if maybe he should have lied. "It's the highest quality cushioning I've ever experienced!”

As if rewarding him for the answer, her hand resumed stroking his hair. “Then what’s the issue?”

“I mean, are you really going to let a stranger rest on your lap like this?”

"Of course not," Her voice dropped to a tone so tender it made Subaru’s throat tighten. "You’re the only one I would let do this."

Subaru swallowed hard, his heart hammering against his ribs, he wasn’t able to handle this at all.

"Miss, I think you've got the wrong guy. I’m just a broke wanderer who got his butt kicked by the three stooges."

"Emilia," She said as she looked directly into his eyes. "That’s my name. Please call me by it."

“Of course… E-e-emilia.”

“Good, now you just rest for a bit.”

“I-okay.”

Subaru could find no way to get himself out of this situation, not that he disliked it, very much the opposite. But still springing a scene like this on shut-in without any prior warning or anything was proving too much for him. He would have expected to at least have a conversation with a girl before putting his head on her lap, there were some steps for things like that.

And why would a random girl, especially one that looked like that, act like this without even knowing him? Actually she did talk like she knows him, Subaru was pretty sure Emilia even mentioned his name without him having to tell her. It also didn’t make any sense for her to know him through someone else, this wasn’t his world after all. Unless she was that person.

“Hey Emilia. Are you by any chance the person who summoned me to this world?"

“You mean the person who brought you from beyond the Great Waterfall?”

“I don’t know what that is.”

"At the edges of the lands, there is what we call the Great Waterfall," Emilia moved her hands, as to illustrate something falling off an edge.  "It’s a massive drop of water with nothing beyond it. It is the end of the world."

“So the world has a physical edge? How is that possible? How can a globe have an edge?"

"The world isn’t a globe, silly. It’s a flat plane." She uttered the insane words as if it was as known as the sky being blue.

"The world is flat?! I guess I owe some apologies to some conspiracy theorists back on the internet.” A half-laugh, half-sigh escaped his lips. “But wait. If it's flat, how does gravity work? And the sun—" He shook his head. "Never mind. I'm getting sidetracked. So, did you summon me?"

"No," The word exited her mouth with none of the enthusiasm she had a moment before. "I didn't summon you. But... I am glad you're here."

He couldn’t understand why, but he at least felt happy that his presence had at least made her a little bit more content. Even if a ton of questions still bothered him to no end.

“But why am I even here then? If there isn’t some world for me to save, adventures to be had or-”

Subaru heard a hitting sound and felt a small pain on his forehead, looking for the source he found Emilia’s hand near the scene of the crime, preparing another flick.

“Subaru, are you a dunderhead?”

"Maybe? I don't know what that is, but it sounds accurate."

For that answer he got rewarded with another flick.

"Don’t you realize," Emilia’s tone rose. "that if I hadn't found you, those three would have taken everything you had? Or even killed you? How can you joke like this, talking about some big adventure, when you... when you were almost..."

Emilia trailed off, the sadness she was feeling being obvious even for an idiot like him. He had already managed to hurt someone else with his stupid jokes.

"I’m sorry." He muttered an overdue apology.

"No," Emilia shook her head. "I... I lost control of my emotions. I shouldn't have yelled."

"Still, you’re not wrong," His playfulness vanished, leaving his heart bare. "It’s just that this is something I always thought about, you know? Being taken to a place far away, having amazing adventures, making friends, all that stuff. While not even considering all that I would leave behind. Maybe thinking that I was brought here for a reason made it a bit easier? I don’t know how to explain it better.”

"I..."

"Welp! No use crying over spilled milk!" Subaru declared loudly, his mask returning. This time Emilia made a small sound of protest, but didn't pin him down.

Subaru, after being freed from the lap prison, arched his back and extended his arms. Once he felt his muscles working properly again he grabbed his convenience store bag from the ground and turned to face Emilia. She had already gotten up too and was tapping her clothing, probably to get rid of any dirt that Subaru’s beaten body had left on her.

“So, since apparently you saving me was incidental,” He winked at her, before throwing out the best line that came to mind “What was a place like you doing in a girl like this?”

As soon as the words left his lip he realized the mistake, but at that point it would be better to just roll with it, even if the only response he got was Emilia putting her finger to her lips and looking up.

"I was here in the capital for an event thingy. But... a blonde girl stole my insignia! It's reaaaaaaly important!"

Subaru frowned. "Wait. If you were chasing a thief and in a hurry, why did you stop to heal a random nobody like me?"

"Do you want another one, mister?" Emilia raised her hand holding her middle finger with flicking intent.

"No! I yield!" Subaru used his hands to protect himself from her offensive, but then he realized a way to actually be useful for once. "Actually, you know what? As repayment for healing me, and for the lap pillow. I will help you find your insignia. How does that sound?"

Faster than Subaru could blink, Emilia grabbed his hands, her face beaming with a radiant, overpowering smile. Almost like she had been waiting for him to say that.

"Yes! Thank you very much, Subaru! I would really, really appreciate the help!"

"O-Of course... E-Emilia" Subaru stammered, the return of the physical contact taking his small confidence away once again. "So, uh, do you have any leads? Where do we start looking?"

“Uh hum. Let’s go there right now.”

Emilia turned around and started walking out of the alley, confidently heading somewhere. Before Subaru could ready himself he felt his hand get pulled forward, she still hadn’t let go of it. Subaru considered pointing this out, even if he was personally enjoying it, but he suspected she wouldn’t listen anyway.

That was how he ended up being dragged around town, but at least this time he was able to get some use out of it. He learned to read a few words, and even the names of some things that were different from those in Japan. Subaru would never get accustomed to calling it “Appa”, even if it felt like he would spend the rest of his life here.

“Subaru, look over there!”

Emilia’s urgent and soft voice brought Subaru back to reality. He looked to see her pointing her finger to the other side of the capital street they were searching in.

Following her gaze, Subaru spotted a small child, standing alone amidst the sea of moving legs of indifferent strangers. She had hair cut in a green bowl shape and large, trembling eyes filled with tears. Her head whipped frantically from side to side, looking for something or someone.

“From the looks of it, she is probably lost.”

“We should help her” There was no hesitation at all in her voice.

Subaru did think to remind Emilia that she had an insignia to find, but he suspected that would only lead to him getting flicked again, and it would make him a hypocrite seeing as she did the same thing for him.

“Sure, I’m all for it,” Subaru sighed, scratching the back of his head. “But how should we go about this? I feel like any kid would burst into tears the second they saw a guy with a face as villainous as mine approaching them.”

Emilia’s hand flew to her mouth, and a bell-like laughter escaped her lips. It was a bright, genuine sound that seemed out of place. Was his self-deprecating joke really that funny? Or does she just have a really weird sense of humor? Subaru blinked, feeling the heat rise in his cheeks.

“Subaru, trust me, you will do just fine,” she assured him, wiping a small tear from her eye.

“I have several questions about your taste in comedy, but not enough desire to ask them right now. So, what’s the plan, Emilia?”

“You can just go over there and do like… ummmm… a trick! Yes, a trick. That will surely make her trust you.”

“A trick, huh? Well, as it happens, I do have one in mind.” Subaru grinned, shifting into performance mode. He plunged a hand into his tracksuit pocket and produced a coin from between his fingers. “This here is a one-grooved edge coin.” He moved the coin through his fingers, presenting it to his audience of one. “And if I hold it, really, really, REALLY tightly…” Subaru grinned, pressing the coin between his palms with exaggerated effort, his arms shaking.

“It-”

“Exactly like that one!” she interrupted, clapping her hands together and nodding enthusiastically, completely missing the punchline of the illusion. “Now go over there and do it in front of her.”

Subaru just stared at her face for a moment, his showmanship deflating. Why did she laugh so hard at a stupid joke about his face, but show absolutely no interest in the actual magic trick? Her tastes must be really unique.

Still, he couldn't deny her request. While pondering Emilia’s eccentricities, Subaru started walking in the direction of the sobbing girl. He was halfway there when the sensation of emptiness beside him made him pause and turn around. Emilia was still standing in the exact same spot, her feet planted on the ground. Subaru promptly doubled back, jogging until he was in front of her again.

“Emilia? What are you doing standing all the way back here?”

She didn't meet his eyes and her shoulders fell. “I was waiting for you to talk to her.”

“I was under the impression we would be doing this together, you know? Team effort? You’re not planning on abandoning me with a kid like a deadbeat dad, are you?”

“I don’t know what you’re saying, but… it’s not that.” Her whole person shrunk into herself even more. “It’s just that, I think it would be easier if she didn’t see me.”

“Why? Do you know her or something?”

“No, it’s just that…” She trailed off, her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her skirt.

Subaru looked at her—really looked at her. It was obvious that she did want to help the girl, she was the one who suggested it in the first place after all. But something was preventing her, something that also bothered her greatly. Subaru thought better not to ask.

“No, no, no, you don’t have to say anything,” Subaru said, cutting off her explanation before she could force herself to vocalize anything. “If it’s really that hard for you, I’ll handle it. Leave it to me.”

“Thank you, Subaru.” She finally looked at his eyes, and showed him a smile. But this one was completely different from the one she gave him earlier. That one filled him with determination and pride, while this one seemed to suck out all the happiness from his soul.

Subaru took one last look at that heartbreaking expression, searing it into his memory as fuel for his mission, before turning back and walking to the little girl.

Just as he suspected, the child’s first reaction to his approach wasn’t good, her eyes widening in terror at his naturally sharp, intimidating gaze. However, Natsuki Subaru was nothing if not adaptable. He immediately dropped to his knees to be on her eye level and deployed the coin trick.

It worked wonders. The simple sleight of hand shattered the barrier of fear, replacing tears with wonder. Within moments, the girl seemed to feel comfortable around him.

“So, what’s your name, little one?” he asked gently.

“It’s… Plum.”

“Plum? That’s a super cute name. Mine is Natsuki Subaru. Nice to meet you.” He reached out and patted her head with the softest touch he could manage. “So, you can’t find your mommy and daddy, right?”

“Yesh…” she sniffled, rubbing her eyes.

“Can you tell me what they look like? Maybe I’ve seen them.”

“My daddy is… is really big,” she stammered, using her hands to indicate size. “He has green hair… and he has a big scary scar over his face, and he—”

Subaru froze. The description was strikingly familiar. Big guy? Green hair? Scar?

“He wouldn’t happen to run an appa stand, would he?”

Plum blinked, hope sparking in her eyes. “You know him?”

“I guess you could say that.” Subaru stood up straight, offering his hand to Plum. “Come on.” Subaru hoped the guy won't be angry at him again.

Subaru looked back towards Emilia, only to see her expression even darker than the one from before. Subaru tilted his head slightly to the side, signaling his intention to walk back the way they came and Emilia seemed to understand the message. He should use this time to think of a way to brighten her mood, even if only a little.

But before Subaru could take a step, he felt a tug. His right hand, the one Plum was holding, was pulled back. He looked down to see that she was hiding behind his leg, peeking out with wide, fearful eyes directed squarely at Emilia.

“What is it, Plum?”

“It’s that lady…” Plum whispered, her voice trembling.

“You mean the one with the silver hair? Are you scared of her? Why?”

“Because…” Plum tightened her grip on Subaru’s leg. “She is an elf. With silver hair.”

Subaru once again looked at Emilia, and surely enough the tip of her ears were pointy. Maybe Subaru should have noticed this earlier, but he was too distracted by everything else about her to notice a small detail like that. But this did explain her ethereal beauty and that otherworldly feeling she gave off, so that was one mystery down at least.

What’s more, Subaru’s previous conjecture seemed to be correct. There definitely were racial tensions here, for a kid this small to not only be looking at the ears of someone so far away, but too scared of a random person, it must be considerably bad.

This was probably why Emilia didn’t want to come with him to talk to Plum. She expected a reaction like this in the first place, and that’s why she looked so sad when he asked about it. Even now, across the street, she was smiling at him, but it was a hollow imitation of joy. She was happy for the child, yes, but she was hurting.

How can she smile like that? How can she be so used to this?

Subaru felt a flare of indignation in his chest. Not at the child—she didn't know any better—but at the world that made Emilia look like that. He couldn’t fix society in a day, but he refused to let this moment end with Emilia standing alone.

“Hey, Plum,” Subaru said, crouching down again. “That silver-haired lady? Her name is Emilia.” Plum shivered again. “I promise you, she is a good person. Probably nicer than me actually. Would you at least be open to talking to her a bit?”

Plum looked from side to side, clearly torn between her ingrained fear and her new found trust in the funny coin man. It looked like Subaru would need to use his secret weapon- bribery.

“How about this?” Subaru lowered his voice. “If you come with me and talk to her for a bit, I’ll teach you exactly how to do that magic coin trick. Just for a little bit, if you feel uncomfortable we can just walk to your dad. Does that sound fair?”

Plum seemed lost in thought for a moment, likely weighing the terror of a silver-haired elf against the ultimate power of making a coin disappear.

“I’ll talk to her then. But you better keep your promise.”

“I will, I will. A Natsuki never goes back on his word.”

He gently offered his hand, and together they walked towards Emilia. As they approached, Emilia’s expression shifted from relief to confusion. When she realized they were coming straight for her, she started waving her hands frantically, mouthing at him to stop.

“Subaruuuu!” she hissed as they got close. “Why did you bring her here?”

“Whaaat?” Subaru feigned ignorance, giving Plum a cheeky wink. “Little Plum just wanted to talk to the pretty lady for a bit, right?”

“Hummm… yes… I… wanted to…” Plum stammered, shrinking back slightly now that she was in the presence of the 'pretty lady'.

“See Subaru, you made her nervous, what now?”

“Me? I think she’s nervous because of how you look, Emilia.”

Emilia flinched, looking down. “I know…”

“Yeah,” Subaru continued seamlessly, “She’s nervous because of how cute you are. It’s intimidating.”

“Hmph! Youuuu!” Emilia’s face flushed red, and she reached out and pinched his ear.

“Ouch, ouch! I’m sorry! I’ll pay for my sins, just mercy—!”

A small, high-pitched sound interrupted them, their gazes lowering to find Plum giggling. She had her hands over her mouth, laughing at the goofy scene. Then, realizing both adults were staring at her, she froze, her face turning as red as an appa.

Emilia’s expression softened instantly. She crouched down, bringing herself to eye level with the child.

“I’m sorry if he brought you here when you didn’t want to. He can be a big idiot sometimes. I’ll tell him to take you to your parents right away, okay?”

Plum stared at Emilia “I…”

“She is not scary at all, right Plum?” Subaru prompted from behind Emilia.

“No… she is not.” Plum stared at her shoes, overcome with a sudden wave of guilt. “I’m sorry, Emilia-san. For being scared of you earlier.”

Emilia’s eyes widened slightly “Don’t worry about it. I understand your reasons. It’s okay.”

“But… even if you understood, weren’t you sad?”

Emilia paused. “I was,” she admitted softly. “But also… thank you. For being so open-minded. You are a very brave girl, Plum.”

Emilia patted Plum’s head, who seemed to enjoy it.

Meanwhile Subaru, who was about to let his own embarrassing emotions show, clapped his hands together to reset the moment.

“Alright! I think it’s time to take Plum back to her parents before they get even more worried. The scary appa man might actually peel me if we delay.”

“Right, right,” Emilia stood up, her genuine smile finally returning. Proof of Subaru’s victory.

Subaru extended his hand to Plum. She took it quickly, but then, to both Subaru and Emilia’s surprise, she reached out with her other hand and grabbed Emilia’s own. She walked between them, swinging their arms slightly, possibly emulating the way she walked with her own parents. This made Subaru’s heart skip several beats.

“If we walk like this, it will probably look like we are her parents, right? Hahaha!” The nervous joke tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop it.

“Yeah, we do,” Emilia agreed easily, looking down at Plum with a smile. “I’m sure our kids will look just as cute as Plum. Maybe even cuter.”

Subaru stopped walking. He stared at Emilia, searching her face for a trace of a joke, a hint of teasing, anything. There was nothing. Just pure, innocent affection. He opened his mouth like a fish out of water.

“What is it, Subaru?”

“Oh, nothing! Nothing at all! Just… probably misheard something due to the wind! Definitely the wind!”

Plum, seemingly feeling the awkward atmosphere, but not understanding the reason, then asked “Are you two a mommy and daddy too?”

Subaru gagged on air, coughing violently as he pounded his own chest to force oxygen back into his lungs. His face burned with the heat of a thousand suns.

“No, no, Plum,” Emilia worriedly said, obviously correcting the misunderstanding. “We aren’t. Not yet.”

…

Emilia looked at him with genuine concern. “...Subaru, are you okie? Your face looks really weird. Are you sick?”

“I’m fine! I’m in peak physical condition! Just… don’t look at me right now!”

The three of them continued down the street, Emilia and Plum chatting happily about something, while Subaru walked beside them, unable to look Emilia in the eyes, his heart hammering a frantic rhythm against his ribs.

“Papa!”

After who knows how long, Plum suddenly let go of their hands and ran forward, Subaru followed her with his eyes and saw the appa seller he knew. As Plum collided with his legs, the large man crumbled. The gruff, intimidating mask he wore shattered instantly. He dropped to his knees, and scooped his daughter up into his arms. He buried his face in the crook of her small neck, his broad shoulders trembling slightly as he squeezed her tight.

“Plum… oh, thank Od. Me and your mother were worried sick, I was just about to close up shop to go looking for you.”

“I’m fine, Papa, really,” Plum chirped. She pointed back towards her escorts. “These two knew you! They found me and brought me back.”

The appa seller’s gaze shifted over his daughter’s shoulder. The moment his eyes locked onto Subaru, the tender father vanished, replaced instantly by the merchant with a stare cold enough to freeze hell over.

Subaru stiffened, his survival instincts screaming.

“Yo,” he managed to squeak out, raising a hand in a stiff wave. He had tried for 'cool and collected,' but it came out sounding more like 'guilty and terrified.'

The man’s eyes narrowed further. “So… you did manage to find him after all.”

Subaru blinked, confused, but Emilia stepped forward, offering a graceful, apologetic bow. “Yes, we were fortunate. And thanks to your help, we were able to find each other."

“Wait,” Subaru interjected, looking between the two. “Do you know each other? Like, actually know each other?”

The man let out a sharp huff, shifting Plum to his shoulder as he eyed Subaru with a mix of emotions he couldn’t decipher. “Not too long after you left my stand, penniless and broke, she appeared asking around for a guy matching your weird description—‘nasty eyes, strange clothes, looks like he’s got no money.’ Guess she wasn’t lying about repaying me for the info.”

Emilia smiled, though she clasped her hands behind her back and blushed a little. “I still plan to buy some appas in the future, as promised.”

“Don’t worry, finding my daughter was more than…”

While the two talked, Subaru remained silent. He hadn't left Emilia’s side since their fortunate meeting in the alley, so how could she have asked for directions from him without Subaru noticing? The only way it made sense was if it happened before the alley, but how could she have known of his existence by then?

He had gotten so distracted by their search he completely forgot he still didn't truly know anything about her. Should he just straight up ask? She didn’t seem to mind his dumb questions earlier, but she also did-

“Hey, broke kid.”

Subaru flinched, snapping back to reality. “W-What’s up?”

Kadomon sighed, shaking his head. “What kind of pathetic answer is that? Look, I just… I wanted to say, don’t make the girl worry so much. When she came to my stall asking for you, the poor thing looked like she was gonna have a heart attack.”

“I mean… there wasn’t much… I… could… have… done?” Subaru’s words dragged, losing momentum as he saw Kadomon’s expression darken. The merchant looked ready to throw an appa at his head. Clearly, that wasn’t the answer he wanted.

“Right, yeah, you’re right,” Subaru corrected quickly, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “I shouldn’t make my… friends worry like that. Wait—” He paused, glancing at Emilia. “Are we even friends?”

“With the way she looks at you?” Kadomon scoffed, a smirk tugging his scarred lip. “I don't think that word fits.”

“Yeah, that makes sense, since we met not so long ago… wait, what do you mean by that?”

“Are you dumb?”

After that question silence filled the scene for one or two seconds, until Emilia came to rescue him.

“So, since little Plum is safe and sound, we can go back to our search, right Subaru?”

“Oh, yeah! Absolutely. Well, it was a pleasure talking to you again, Kadomon. Hope that when we meet again I’ll be able to buy at least one apple—I mean, appa.”

“Mister?” Plum piped up. “Weren’t you gonna teach me the coin thingy? You promised!”

“Oh right, right! Wouldn’t want to break a promise to a cute lady, after all.” He fished the coin out of his pocket, flashing a grin that felt a little more genuine this time, that is until he glanced at Emilia. “Why are you pouting?”

Emilia puffed out her cheeks slightly—a gesture so devastatingly cute it nearly knocked the wind out of him. “I am not pouting. I am simply… waiting. Go on.”

“Okay! I guess. So, Plum, look closely. The first part of the trick is all in the fingers…”

Subaru redid the trick a couple more times. Plum watched with wide, sparkling eyes, mimicking his movements. It was surprisingly easy to teach her; she had nimble hands.

As she successfully vanished the coin and made it reappear, she squealed in delight, and Subaru felt a swell of pride. At least his useless well of parlor tricks and otaku knowledge served some purpose in this fantasy world.

“There you go! Use that to impress your friends, okay?” Subaru said, giving her a last head pat for good measure.

“You better not make the girl worry so much, you hear.” Kadomon said once again, seemingly wanting to make sure Subaru didn’t forget it.

“I won’t, I won't.”

With his promise kept, Subaru and Emilia said their final goodbyes to the reunited family. Subaru once again followed Emilia, expecting her to continue their search, but she turned around and looked at him in the eyes.

“Subaru, why did you make that promise to Plum?”

“Oh, that? I just did it so she would calm down. You know how kids are, they get worked up and—”

“You’re lying.” Her accusation was soft, devoid of malice, but it stopped Subaru in his tracks.

“How can you know?”

“I can always know when you’re lying.” Emilia took a step closer, a teasing smile on her face.

There was no point in hiding it. “I did it so she wouldn’t be so scared to meet you. Not in a bad way! I mean, I just wanted to lower the hurdle a bit. I wanted her to be open to the idea of knowing you before… well, before the prejudice kicked in.”

“Subaru, I understand,” Emilia said softly.

“I’m sorry,” Subaru blurted out, the frustration leaking. “I’m sorry about how people must treat you. I’m sorry that I had to use a trick like that just to get a kid to talk to you normally.”

Emilia shook her head slowly. “Don’t worry. It’s just like that.”

“I don’t think that’s a good thing,” Subaru’s teeth clenched.

“Maybe not,” Emilia’s gaze drifted up. “But… as long as the people I care about see me for who I am, I'm happy.”

“You’re strong.”

“Thank you,” she replied, turning back to him with a curious glint in her eyes. “So… what is your opinion about elves?”

Subaru blinked, thrown off by the sudden pivot. “Huh? Oh, I have nothing against them, don't worry. I’m an equal opportunity guy.”

“But that’s not what I asked,” Emilia pressed, stepping a little closer, invading his personal space. “What do you think of them?”

“They are... fine,” he managed to squeak out under her gaze.

“Subaru…”

“Okay, okay! I like them!” Subaru threw his hands up in surrender.

“Why?”

“Why?!” Subaru felt the heat rising to his cheeks. “Because they’ve got this ethereal and beautiful appearance! And their pointy ears? They are cute! Like, unreasonably cute!”

“I’ll let up for now,” Emilia giggled, but contrary to her words, she didn't pull away. Instead, she closed the remaining distance and wrapped her arms around Subaru’s left, hugging it tightly against her chest.

Subaru stiffened, his entire body turning into a statue. He could feel the warmth of her body through his tracksuit, the softness of her pressing against him. His brain went blank.

“Hummm... Emilia?” he squeaked.

Emilia looked up at him, her chin resting on his shoulder, her eyes sparkling. “Do you dislike it?”

“No!” The answer came out in an instant. “Absolutely not! Not in a million years!”

“Then you have no reason to complain,” she stated simply, resting her head against his shoulder again as they resumed walking.

They walked in comfortable silence for a while.

“You know,” Emilia said thoughtfully, her voice vibrating slightly against his arm. “Now that I think about it, I should have gone to meet Plum with you right from the start.”

Subaru glanced down at the top of her silver head. “Why didn’t you, if I may ask? I mean, I told you it was fine, but…”

“I guess I forgot for a moment,” Emilia admitted, squeezing his arm slightly. “I forgot how amazing you are.”

Subaru felt his face burn. “I barely did anything,” he deflected, the praise making him squirm. “I just talked a bit. Anyone could have done it.”

“Take the compliment, dunderhead,” Emilia scolded, though her tone was dripping with affection.

“I’ll think about it.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“So this is the place, huh?” Subaru muttered as he looked over a dilapidated building, the place where the thief they were searching for traded her loot.

Subaru still wasn’t sure how exactly Emilia knew so perfectly where an apparently random thief resided, but even with this short time he already started to accept that Emilia had some weirdness to her. Maybe she was just really smart even if she didn’t look like it? It does make perfect sense that a thief would live in the slums and trade her things at a loot house. Yeah, Emilia is just really smart, that explains everything, surely.

Emilia nodded. “Yup, Felt should be inside right now. It’s just a shame we couldn’t find Ram or Reinhard.”

“Who?”

“Oh, Reinhard is a friend of ou-mine. He is really strong. I was hoping to get his help for this.”

So Emilia had been looking for someone during their walks in the Capital. It had struck him as strange that they spent so much time walking around when Emilia already knew where this Felt was, but at least their time wasn’t wasted since they managed to help Plum. Still, the necessity for this Reinhard left him with a bad feeling, especially considering how Subaru’s last fight in this world went.

“Will we need to fight against this Felt?”

“No, no, no,” Emilia frantically waved her hands. “Felt is a really good girl, honestly! I’m sure we will be able to convince her if we just talk to her for a bit.”

Subaru’s eyes narrowed. “Aren’t you being too lenient on someone who stole a precious item from you?”

“She did it for her own reasons. She is just trying to survive, Subaru.”

Subaru opened his mouth to argue, but closed it just as quickly. He shouldn’t complain when Emilia had helped a useless dumbass like him for no personal gain, but wasn’t her kindness a bit too much? Forgiving someone who hurt you like it was nothing, that must take either real strength or supreme idiocy. Subaru wondered in which of these categories Emilia would better fit.

Even so, he couldn't deny her point. The slums were a nightmare. Buildings made of splintered planks; roofs patched with moldy tarps; a constant smell of rot that clung to the back of his throat. Compared with the pristine stone buildings and clean air from earlier, one would think that these places were two completely different cities, maybe even countries.

“Guess the social difference here is bigger than back home. It makes sense that people would need to do what they need to survive, even if I don't like to admit it.”

“Yes,” Emilia whispered, as her eyes looked at the various buildings around them.” It’s really sad to see it like this again. I’ll just have to make it even better this time to compensate."

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

Subaru raised an eyebrow, but decided to follow her advice and file it under the list of weird Emilia comments that seemed to grow without end.

“But why do we need this Reinhard guy then?”

Emilia's eyes seemed to lose all their brightness as soon as she heard the question. “There is this woman in black named Elsa in the area, the one who contracted Felt to steal the insignia. She... she will try to kill us if she finds us. We might have to fight her.”

A chill ran down Subaru’s spine. “Hum, not to bring down the mood, but are you sure I should be here? I already got beat up today, don’t think it is a good idea to bring me near even more danger.”

“I considered leaving you with Ram, so you two could stay together while I dealt with this. But since we didn’t find her, I still think it’s safer for you to be with me.”

“Can’t argue with that, since my luck is garbage. What if I bump into those three stooges again? They might just outright kill me this... time.”

Subaru felt a cold seep into his being. He looked at Emilia and froze. Her face was devoid of any smile, staring at him with an intensity that felt like she was looking through his very soul.

“Sorry for the joke,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “Poor taste.”

Emilia made sure to let out a huff of annoyance before proceeding.

“We just need to get the insignia and Felt as soon as we can. And since it’s really early, I doubt Elsa is already here. I'll do most of the talking, but don’t hesitate to speak up if you feel the need to.”

“Don’t know if I’ll be much help, but sure.”

“You just need to try your best,” Emilia said with innocent, crushing sincerity.

With that, she approached the door and knocked gently.

“Felt, Rom. Open the door. I need to talk to you. You two are in danger!”

There was no response.

“Felt, Rom. Open the door already. It’s important!”

Still no response.

“Guess criminals aren't big on opening doors to random people.”

“I reaaaaly didn’t want to do this,” Emilia sighed, her expression shifting to one of adorable determination. “I hope they'll forgive me.”

Before Subaru could even open his mouth to question the suspicious wording, Emilia lifted her leg and kicked the door. It swung open, hitting the wall and making a creaking sound as the wood split. The difference in strength between him and Emilia was staggering, she didn’t seem to have used that much force, and still the result was a thousand times greater than what Subaru could do. But more important than that.

“Emilia! Why did you kick it?! Are you a barbarian?!”

“I just thought it would be a good way to open it,” she said, looking entirely too proud of herself.

“You could have at least tried to unlock it in a more subtle way before just-”

Before Subaru could finish his complaint, a feminine voice from the inside of the room interrupted him.

“Hey, breaking the door when y-guh!”

The inside of the building was filled with piles of junk: rusty swords, tarnished objects, and broken furniture, with the only other itens that caught his attention being a long bar table and the small wooden benches in front of it.

Standing in the center of the room was a small, little girl with wild blonde hair and piercing red eyes. Beside her stood a mountain of a man, his skin dark, his hair grey, his muscles thick enough to snap a log like a twig.

“Felt, is that?” The giant spoke, confirming the girl was indeed the thief.

“The person I pinched the insignia from? Yeah, it is,” Felt hissed, reaching for a knife at her belt.

“Felt, you don't need to worry,” Emilia said, stepping into the room. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“That would sound way more convincing if you hadn’t kicked my door off its hinges!”

Subaru stepped forward, waving his hands in a 'peace' gesture. “We’re sorry about that! She... she kind of acts without thinking sometimes. We just want the insignia back.”

“And who are you?” Felt asked, squinting at him.

“Just some guy,” Subaru replied with a thumbs-up.

“Well, sorry SomeGuy and SomeGirl, but I can't just give it back. That’s not how things work.”

Emilia took a step towards Felt. “Are you saying that because you were contracted to steal it?”

Felt’s eyes widened. “...How do you know?”

“She plans to kill you after you give her the insignia.” Emilia said, ignoring Felt’s question.

Felt scoffed. “Hey, it’s not like people never tried to swindle me before, that’s why I have Old Man Rom with me. I doubt she could beat him.”

“I’m sorry, but... the woman who contracted you... was the Bowel Hunter.”

Subaru froze and slowly looked at Emilia. What kind of evil title was that? How do you even get it? Actually it’s pretty obvious how, but it certainly painted a much clearer picture of who Elsa was in Subaru’s mind.

“Th-the fuck is that?” Felt exclaimed, she seemed to have had similar thoughts.

“Felt,” Rom’s voice was lower now. “Could you describe her to me?”

“Huh? She was something like a head taller than me... black hair and eyes. Wearing a low-cut black dress. She had this weird curved sword too.”

“That matches the rumors,” Rom grunted. “This lass might be telling the truth, Felt.”

Felt bit her lip, looking between Rom and Emilia. “Fine. What do you want, SomeGirl?”

“My name is actually Emilia, Na-just Emilia actually, no family name.”

“Okay JustEmilia, so what do you actually want if you don’t plan to take the insignia by force?”

“I want you to give me back the insignia, but I want to help you too.”

“Help me?”

“Yes. You want to get you and Rom out of the slums, right? I can help you with that.”

“How do you know we want out?”

Emilia paused for a second before continuing. “That is what anyone in the slums would want, right? I hate seeing people suffer like this.”

“I’m not convinced,” Felt muttered.

“Felt,” Rom interjected, his gaze fixed on Emilia. “I don’t think the girl is lying. The job did seem too good to be true. And she doesn’t look…like the type to lie about stuff like that.”

“Ugh, fine!” Felt huffed. “But what do you mean, 'help me'? You gonna pay me or something?”

“Not exactly. Can you hold the insignia in your palm?”

Felt grabbed the insignia from her pocket and held out so everyone in the room could see. The gemstone at the center of the jewelry was glowing a faint red. It must have been a magic item of some kind.

“That’s a touchstone,” Emilia said with a strange calmness. “It’s used to find candidates for the throne. That glow means you are one of them. Just like me.”

Subaru’s jaw hit the floor. A candidate? This girl was running for Queen? It explained why the item was so important, but it also made the fact that she’d lost it even more insane. She's a royal candidate, and she's hanging out with a guy who can't even read the signs for the bathroom?

“What? That’s dumb!” Felt shouted. “There’s no way I’d want to be queen. Those snotty nobles can go fuck themselves!”

“But Felt,” Emilia stepped closer, her eyes bright. “Don’t you see? If you win, you can remake the country. You can kick those nobles to the streets!”

Felt paused. “I... do like the sound of that.”

“The nobles who take all the cash while the slums rot,” Emilia continued, her voice gaining momentum. “Don’t you think it would be nice to give them a taste of their own medicine?”

“Hell yeah it would!”

“And imagine their faces! Someone from the slums they ignored... becoming their queen.”

“They would be so mad,” Felt grinned.

“We can even make them shave those stupid eyebrows of theirs! It would be amazing!”

Felt blinked. “Yeah... right.”

“Also, also…”

As the two girls seemed to get more and more involved in their anti-government ideas, Subaru moved away from them so as to not disturb them. Meanwhile he approached Rom who had also been observing their interaction for a while.

“So, big man,” Subaru whispered. “What do you make of all this?”

“What are you talking about, boy?”

“It’s just that, you seem to be surprisingly fine with all of this. I thought you would have a stronger opinion of your child taking such a turn in life plans.”

Rom looked down at him, he seemed surprisingly calm.“I suspected something like this could happen. It’s natural.”

“Could you please not be ominous and actually explain what you mean?”

“I don’t feel the need to.”

Subaru groaned. “God, why can’t anyone in this world give a straight answer?”

“I’m curious, boy,” Rom said. “What is your relationship to the girl?”

“Name’s Subaru. And like I said, I'm just some guy she picked up.”

“Doesn’t seem like it to me,” Rom rumbled. “You two seem close.”

Subaru looked at Emilia, who was currently laughing with Felt. “I guess we kind of do.”

Emilia did seem to respond very well to Subaru’s stupid jokes and comments. Better than anyone ever did in fact. Was that because of the weird knowledge she seemed to possess about him? Subaru wasn’t even sure how that was possible, she had confirmed she hadn’t summoned him, then how?

Suddenly, Subaru felt a shiver go down his spine. Behind Rom, in a dark corner of the loohouse, he saw a glint of something. He couldn’t identify what it was, but the feeling it gave him was familiar, the same one he felt moments before he passed out on the alley. Like death itself was there.

He opened his mouth to let out a scream, both to express the fear in his gut and warn everyone else in the room about the danger.

But before any air could come out, a dark curved blade approached Rom’s head. He slowly turned, but in that position the only thing it accomplished was putting his face on the line of the attack.

Before they could collide, an icicle flew between the sword and Rom’s head, the hit that was meant for him struck the ice and stuck on it. However, that wasn’t enough to stop the attacker, and the now blunt ice-covered blade struck Rom’s head.

His gigantic body jerked as the stool he was sitting on flew to the side, two loud thuds being heard as his head hit the table and and his body hit the floor.

Now, standing on top of the table, mere centimeters from him was a person. She was beautiful in a way that felt like a predator—long black hair, a low-cut dress, and eyes that froze his soul.

But Elsa vanished as quickly as she appeared. A massive ice hammer slammed into her side, sending her flying across the room.

Replacing the woman’s silhouette was one familiar to him, Emilia had replaced her at his front. In her hand the hammer that had hit the woman moments ago, Emilia had saved him again.

“Subaru, are you hurt?”

Subaru shook his head to reassure, then immediately looked at Rom. Besides a small bump that had formed on his head and bleeding cut to his lip. He didn’t seem to exhibit any other injuries, at least none that Subaru’s untrained eyes could identify.

“Very smart of you to dull my blade so the giant wouldn't die,” a seductive voice purred from the other side of the building. The Bowel Hunter, Elsa, stood up, not a scratch on her.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” Felt screamed.

“You failed in your job, have you not? The owner of the insignia is here, so I will need to take it by force.”

Emilia leaped from the table, moving in a straight line towards the woman. The hammer she was holding morphed itself, the handle shortening and the block of ice turning it into a sharp blade. But before it could hit Elsa's head, the curved blade surged from her cloak, stopping the attacks in its tracks.

“You’re ruthless, aren’t you?” Elsa laughed. “Not even a name before trying to kill me.”

Emilia's sword disintegrated, allowing her to fall out of Elsa's guard, but just as fast as it disappeared the blade grew again, the tip approaching Elsa's stomach. Elsa jumped back, the blade just missing her belly, but even so the distance between her belly and the ice didn't grow, the sword kept reaching for her just as fast as she escaped.

As a last attempt to prevent the sword now turning into a makeshift spear from hitting her belly, Elsa blocked it with her cloak. The moment the ice weapon hit it it disintegrated, slowly turning into little blue dots that floated up into the air. Emilia, surprised at this, jumped back, ending her relentless attack on Elsa.

The two women stared at each other, waiting for the other one to make a move and restart their fight. This brief moment of respite was enough to let Subaru’s mind adapt to the new situation, and his brain started thinking of his options.

He certainly wouldn’t be of much help in a fight, and if he tried to somehow escape to bring reinforcements odds are he would fail and even get killed in the attempt. He had no power nor the intelligence to come up with any plans with the little resources he had, so his best contribution to the fight would be not to hinder Emilia, who seemed to be at least an even match to the assassin. And so he couldn’t let others hinder her either.

Felt had still been standing a few feet away, her mind in the same state Subaru’s was moments ago, working on the sudden change of situation. In her position she could end up being a target for Elsa, it would be better if the three dead weights remained together so at least Emilia’s worries would be centered on one stop.

“Felt,” Subaru half-whispered, controlling his voice so hopefully only Felt would hear it. A slight move of her head was enough confirmation that she had heard him. “Slowly walk back.” He finished.

Felt, after a second in which she probably considered some of the same things Subaru had moments ago, walked back trusting his words, not daring to move her head and bring Elsa’s attention down upon her.

However, that didn’t work, as the moment Felt’s body moved Elsa ran in her direction, only to be met by another one of Emilia’s ice weapons, once again starting another dance between them.

Felt using the distraction ran as fast as she could in their direction. She immediately crouched besides Rom, inspecting his head for any serious damage. Though much like Subaru before her, Felt didn’t seem to have any idea of what she was doing.

“I think he is fine, the only thing I noticed was the bump on his head and a cut on his lips. While I'm not a healer I doubt that would be lethal, at least not so quickly.” Subaru

Felt looked at Subaru, her eyes quivering, but without anything else to believe in besides his words, she was forced to let the man rest.

“Do you think Big Sis can win against her?”

Subaru, who had no idea how to fight besides his brief experience with the thugs, was completely out of his depth. Even then, the fight was more similar to something one would see in an anime or TV show, the level of strength was too high for someone like Subaru to fully comprehend.

“From my inexperienced opinion they seem to be at least evenly matched. Do you have a more informed one?”

“I never saw anything even close to that.”

“Figured, let’s just not bring any attention to ourselves and hope Emilia can handle it.”

“And if she can’t?”

“We die.” Subaru said in the most confident tone he had used that day. “I don't think either of us has the strength to do anything else.”

As a response Felt could only bite her lip. Powerless people like them could do nothing more than bet their fates on people who could actually do something.

This was what Subaru had been doing since he arrived in this world after all. If Emilia hadn’t found him he either would have died to those thugs or been robbed and left to rot in the streets.

It was even a mistake to compare Felt to him, she at least had her abilities as a thief to rely on. Subaru in contrast truly had nothing

He had no isekai cheat power or hidden talent. All that was left was his body, which in comparison to someone like Emilia or Elsa was the equivalent of tissue paper, and his mind, which wasn’t able to come up with anything to help his situation.

The most he could do was observe the fight happening in front of him, every blade strike dodged one that would kill Subaru in one hit, every strike something his body wasn’t able to do, every-

Interrupting his thoughts he felt the shiver again, just as Elsa for but a moment looked away from Emilia, staring at him and Felt. Would she attack them again? If so, who would she even go for? Considering Subaru had no actual involvement in the situation, it could only be.

As if Subaru had predicted the future, Elsa threw her blade at Emilia, for her it was as simple as creating a small ice wall to intercept it. But it was just enough of an opportunity for Elsa to escape her vicinity, sprinting directly in their direction while reaching for something at her waist, certainly another blade.

It would have been impossible for Subaru to manage to move before she reached them, that is if he hadn’t moved before she even threw the blade. He couldn’t even understand why or how, but before he realized his body was in front of Felt as he held the girl’s head to his chest. The only thing he could see was Felt’s golden hair and startled expression.

But the strike to his back never arrived. Subaru slowly moved his head to see Elsa standing a few centimeters behind him, her arm moments before the swing. But piercing her forearm was another ice blade, she hadn’t been able to swing because of the wound.

“So that won’t work either,” was everything Elsa could mutter before her arm was suddenly pulled, violently taking the rest of Elsa's whole body with it.

Emilia swung the lance that had been thrown at Elsa, once again creating distance between Elsa and them.

Elsa hit one of the walls of the loothouse, her forearm still bleeding, while Emilia stood in front of them protecting the two once more.

Meanwhile, Elsa stood up again, not seeming to mind the wound in her arm or the weapon stuck on it.

But from the ice, the rest of her arm started getting frozen. For the first time ever since Subaru laid eyes on her, the expression on her face wasn’t a smile, she seemed genuinely worried for a second.

Then, without a moment's hesitation, she used her blade to cut off her own frozen arm. The limb hit the floor with a sound like stone.

“So that’s what it was, I wondered why you weren’t aiming for anywhere in specific. You want to freeze me, don’t you?”

Emilia didn’t give her the benefit of an answer.

“This turned into a more dangerous job than I expected.” Elsa seemed thoughtful for a moment. “Unfortunately, it seems I will need to come back for your bowels another day, take care of them until then.”

With these final words, Elsa sprinted towards the broken door. Emilia fired an ice spike at her, but Elsa dodged it as naturally as she ran, and soon, she was out of their sights.

It took a few seconds until the three of them could truly believe she was gone. Though the expected surge of relief didn't come; instead, his chest was preoccupied with the sensation of a small, surprisingly strong pair of arms shoving against him.

“You can let go now, Big Bro. Seriously, you’re squishing me!”

Felt’s voice jolted him back to his senses. Subaru blinked, looking down at the blonde girl he’d been shielding.

“Oh—sorry! I completely forgot you were there for a second,” Subaru blurted out, his voice still cracking with the leftover adrenaline.

The response he got was a swift, albeit weak, punch to the gut. It wasn't enough to wind him, but the shock made him stumble back, finally releasing her.

“Hey! That was totally uncalled for!” he yelped, clutching his stomach dramatically. “I just saved your life, you know? Where's the thank you?”

Felt snorted, crossing her arms over her chest and looking up at him with annoyance. “That’ll teach you to hold your tongue, dumbass.”

“I didn’t mean it as an insult, it’s just that-”

His defense was cut short by a sudden, blurring impact. A weight slammed into his chest with enough force to send him sprawling backward onto the dusty floorboards. Before he could even register the fall, he felt a pair of slender arms wrapping around his neck, and a face buried itself into the crook of his shoulder.

“You’re safe… you’re actually safe,” Emilia whispered, her voice trembling and her eyes moist. “You didn’t get hurt this time… I was so scared, Subaru. So, so scared.”

Subaru froze. His hands hovered awkwardly in the air for a moment before he clumsily reciprocated the hug, his fingers sinking into the soft fabric of her dress. He wanted to squeeze her back, to give her the biggest, most reassuring bear hug he could muster, but a cold, nagging doubt had already taken root in his mind.

The way she said 'this time'... the sheer, desperate intensity of her grip... it didn't track. He was a stranger she’d met a few hours ago while she was chasing a thief. Why did she care this much? Why did her touch feel like she was mourning someone she had already lost a thousand times over? It didn't make sense.

When Emilia seemed to have stolen enough of his body heat to steady her heart, she pulled away, her nose stuffy. She stood up quickly, still trembling with emotion, and hurried over to where Old Man Rom lay.

A soft, pale blue light began to emanate from her palms as she hovered them over the giant’s wounds. After a few moments, the light faded, and she let out a long, weary breath.

“He was only mildly injured,” she announced, her voice regaining some of its usual clarity. “I’ve closed the worst of it. We just need to let him rest for a bit and he should be fine.”

Felt let out a sigh that seemed to deflate her entire body. “Thank you, Crazy Big Sis.”

Subaru felt a giggle bubble up in his throat. He clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle it, but his shoulders shook with the effort.

“Geez, Felt, that’s a reaaaaally mean nickname, you know?” Emilia huffed, putting her hands on her hips and pouting.

“But it fits you perfectly, doesn't it?” Felt countered, a mischievous glint returning to her eyes.

“It really does,” Subaru added, his grin breaking through his hand.

“Not you too!” Emilia cried, her cheeks turning a deeper shade of pink.

Subaru and Felt looked at each other and shared a quick, genuine laugh. With this the tension of the fight totally lifted.

Felt turned her attention back to Emilia, her expression turning serious. “So… are you really gonna take me to that Reinhard guy you told me about? The Sword Saint?”

Emilia nodded. “I can tell him to come here if you want, so you can stay and take care of Rom. I don’t think leaving him alone right now would be very nice.”

“Yeah… thanks. Also, here. Take this back, and don’t let anyone else steal it.”

She reached into her pocket and held out the stolen insignia. Emilia took it with a hand that trembled slightly, tucking it safely away in her pocket.

“Come on, Subaru,” Emilia said softly, turning toward the door. “We should go.”

“Right…Goodbye, Felt,” Subaru’s tone dropped, having to say goodbye was affecting him more strongly than he would have expected. Life or death situations have a way of making people closer.

Emilia, probably feeling Subaru’s sadness, comforted him. “Don’t worry, we’ll see each other again.”

“Yeah, you can count on that,” Felt said confidently, maybe it was a good idea to trust them on this then.

Subaru and Emilia stepped out of the loot house and walked in a heavy, stifling silence. The only sound was of their feet hitting the ground and the distant, rhythmic chirping of insects. Subaru kept his eyes glued to the dirt, his mind deciding if it was worth it to bring this up at all.

“Now we just need to find Reinhard and we are done,” Emilia said, her voice soft but steady, cutting through the gloom. “This ended up going very well. You didn’t get hurt and—”

He couldn’t hold it in anymore, he needed to get this off his chest. Right Now.

Subaru stopped dead in his tracks. “Why?” The word felt like it had been wrenched from his throat.

Emilia turned to face him, her head tilting slightly to the side.

“Why do you care about me so much?” Subaru asked, staring at the ground as if to bore a hole in it.

“What do you mean, Subaru?”

“You know, at first I attributed most of it to you just being weirdly kind and wanting to help me,” he said, his voice gaining speed, the words tumbling out as if he were afraid that if he stopped, he’d never be able to start again. “You helped Plum and Felt too. But it’s different with me. Even an idiot can notice it. You didn’t hug Felt while talking about how scared you were that she would get hurt. You didn’t make Plum rest on your lap until she felt better.”

Emilia remained silent, her expression unreadable as she listened to his frantic ramblings. Her stillness only made him more desperate to bridge the gap between them.

“How do you even know about me? Did you really not summon me here?” He looked up finally, his eyes searching hers with raw, bleeding desperation. “Is there some kind of prophecy or something that I'm involved with? Can you see the future? At least give me an answer so I can accept this already.”

Emilia took a slow breath, her gaze never wavering. “Subaru. I don’t think any answer from me, true or false, would help you right now.”

“Why?”

“Because that is not what you want to know, is it?” She stepped closer, her presence calming. “Please ask the question you actually want the answer to.”

Subaru’s shoulders slumped, any control he had over his voice disappearing. “Why do you care about me? I said I would help you find your insignia, but I really just have been a dead weight this whole time. I didn’t help at all.”

“Didn’t you help me with Plum?” Emilia countered immediately, her voice rising with a touch of indignation. “Didn’t you help me when talking to Felt? Didn’t you use your own body to protect Felt from Elsa?”

“All of those didn’t change a thing!” Subaru snapped, his hands curling into fists at his sides. “You yourself said you could have gone up to Plum anyway. The negotiations certainly would have been fine without that little involvement, seeing as how close you and Felt got. And I didn't protect Felt from anything—if I had done nothing, odds are me and her wouldn't have been cut open anyway!”

“And why does that matter?”

“OF COURSE IT FUCKING MATTERS!” Subaru screamed, not caring about anything else, but getting his message across. “I have just been a waste of space, exactly like I was before I arrived here. And for some reason you still care for me, just like they did, when I have done absolutely nothing to deserve any of it. Just relying on others so I don't die like the parasite-”

“That’s stupid!” Emilia’s words were sharp, and louder than he ever heard her be, they cut his thought process immediately. She closed the distance until their faces were inches apart.

“So you think you need to somehow earn the care of others, is that it?” Her eyes were fierce, burning with a passion that made Subaru want to shrink away and lean in all at once. “That you only deserve to be loved once you’ve proved yourself? Or when you’ve accomplished something? Or maybe that you are just unlovable based on some other stupid notion?”

Subaru remained silent, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird.

“Subaru, I care for you because of who you are,” she said, her voice turning into a tender whisper that made his throat tighten. “Someone who wouldn’t care about my heritage, and would connect me to people. Someone who would try to help me for no gain of his own. Someone who protects others even at the expense of himself. And for so many more reasons. Your actions show who you are.”

Subaru looked at her, truly looked at her, and felt a profound sense of loss he couldn’t explain. But there was also affection, pure and honest. “I still don’t understand.”

“You don’t need to rush,” Emilia said, her fingers reaching out to gently brush a stray hair from his forehead. Then pulling his face onto her neck while she wrapped her arms around his head, making sure he would stay there. “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay with you until you do.”

Subaru still couldn't understand Emilia, her weird knowledge, her quirks, her infatuation with him. But he could tell that it was genuine. Emilia cared for him without expecting anything back, like his parents did. It was scary, confusing, terrifying, and yet Subaru couldn't help but feel like it saved him. He could let his walls down, that even someone like him would be accepted by Emilia.

He wrapped his arms around her, tightening the hug, so as to not let anything tear them apart. Emilia didn't pull away, and that simple gesture made him the happiest he had been the whole day.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you, I lost control.” His voice was small and quiet, it had been a while since he had truly faced his shame like this. But he couldn’t let Emilia’s sincere emotions go to waste by being a coward.

“I forgive you.”

Yet her forgiveness came without difficulty, as if it was the natural response. Emilia truly was too kind to him and Subaru was too pathetic to not indulge in it.

“You know, if you keep being this nice. I might fall in love with you.” That was a lie, even in the short time they had spent together, Subaru’s heart had already been moved. But he couldn’t admit that yet, maybe never.

“Then I’ll just have to be even nicer from here on.” Emilia said while giggling.

As the sun set, they both stayed in each other's arms, neither of them having the desire to ever let go.

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