Chapter Text
Sitting in the Shadow Garden, a witch was busy conjuring her magic. The desire to bring out her beloved was rising, and the more that piece of shit tried to keep her at bay, the more the Witch of Envy was determined to summon him to her world.
“Please don’t do that to my beloved. He can’t handle that world, he would be hurt in it.”
“...”
Ignoring that woman’s voice, she continued the ritual, it’s close, just a few moments later and she will be able to bring him here, so that she can meet him, to surround him with boundless love, to make him remember.
“I won’t let you! That body is mine, not yours!”
A slight distortion, but it had destabilized the spell. Her other selves just wouldn’t shut up, would they? No matter, she wouldn’t let it happen again; however, the world right now was already over, she would discard it and move to another one to summon him.
A large earthquake mixed between both the flow of time and space, but the Witch of Envy paid it no heed.
No matter what, her beloved would be there, and he would soon understand the endless love she had for him…
Let’s try again, there’s no use for this world anymore.
“Subaru, wake up! You don’t want to be late for the entrance ceremony, do you?”
A loud voice called from the outside, waking the young boy from his slumber. He turned his head, trying to force himself to wake up; it’s been a while since he had to get up this early.
Trying to fight the temptation to bury his face into the blanket, he tried to pull himself up by rolling toward the edge of the bed, just to accidentally fall off and slam his body onto the floor.
“Ah! Gosh, that hurt like hell…”
“Oi my dear son! Why are you sleeping on the floor like that, is that actually comfortable?”
A man barged into the room with no sense of decency or privacy for his own son, boasting his voice loud and clear as he asked the boy who was squirming in pain on the floor.
“...No it’s not, help me get up you damn geezer, stop watching!”
Following his son’s words, he pulled the boy's arm up as he quickly rose back to the bed, while Subaru was sighing in drowsiness, his father suddenly had a great idea.
Before Subaru could even tell what was going on, Kenichi picked the boy up and let him ride on his back, loudly proclaiming and dragging him out of the room as energetically as possible.
“C’mon son! This is a rare day for us all. Your first day of school ever since you started dropping out! Can’t miss it, don’t ya?”
The mention of what he did made Subaru bitter for himself just for a moment. A lot of stuff happened…and he decided to stop going to school entirely. After a while, his father convinced him to try again, just one last time.
But he couldn’t really bear the feelings of going to his old school anymore, everyone knew and remembered his fumble, and if any impression of him was left, only the mention of his father would remain—not him, not Subaru.
That’s why he decided to accept his father's offer, with a simple request: to let him study in a new school, far away from everyone that used to know him, to start his relationships again from re:zero. Maybe then, he could actually find something meaningful in the place they called school.
Meeting new people was terrifying, yes. But at least no one knew or recalled what he did before, he always tried to be the center of attention, thinking and doing all the eccentric things with the hope of not being ignored, yet the more he tried, the less they cared; and eventually…pushing everyone away from him, it was nothing short of stupidity, although Subaru himself was the one who came up with the idea.
He just wanted to be seen, to be viewed as someone other than the great “Kenichi’s son” title. He was tired of it, he’s never been like his dad to begin with.
So the first day of going to the new school for him was more than just a new place to start his relationships, it was a new beginning for Natsuki Subaru himself. And as thoughtful as his parents were…they might be doing a little too much, to the point of getting him into a new school far away from Chiba—his hometown. They even rented an apartment in Tokyo near his school, which is where he’s currently living right now. His parents would stay with him just this week to see if anything happened, and if Subaru decided to give up, then his family would let him return the next month…although making his family consider that option worsened the guilt in Subaru even more.
“Fine, fine just bring me to the bathroom, tell mom I’ll be there in just a bit.”
As his father placed him down, Subaru waved before closing the bathroom door, preparing himself for a new day.
“Where’s the mayo bottle Subaru? I remembered buying a whole box for you this year.”
“Who the hell keeps a reserve of mayo for a year?! That is supposed to be only for essentials!”
“Well, you can consider mayo an essential in the Natsuki household too.”
Naoko, his mother who was preparing breakfast for the family, was looking for the box of mayo she hid somewhere in a random closet, and right before Subaru decided to finish the food before it got cold or he missed school, she finally found it.
“There we go, mayo for everyone. This is for my lovely Subaru, and this is for my dear husband, and—”
“Wait, wait! This is too much, I’m supposed to have a light breakfast here, now the fish is just covered with mayo!”
Pointing at the grilled fish, now smothered with the white sauce, Subaru complained, but all Naoko replied with was a huge smile and a thumbs up.
“Urgh…whatever, if I end up getting a stomach ache on the first day of school then it’s your fault.”
“Just calm down, it’s not like skipping a few days would hurt…all you need is to enjoy yourself, no need to feel pressured.”
Mixed in with the thoughtless sentence were unexpected words of encouragement, Naoko smiled softly at him, all she wanted was to see him at his best, and for Subaru to be confident enough in himself, that’s why she instantly agreed to her husband's proposal of enrolling in this school after all.
Lugunican Highschool, a rather unique academic institution lying at the edge of the bustling city they called Tokyo—was famous for taking in a lot of intricate students, along with three other schools nearby. Naoko deemed it an appropriate place to send Subaru, for the uniqueness of the students perhaps could let him find his own value, instead of haunting himself over his father.
However, what came next would entirely depend on him, and Naoko believed that Subaru could finally find someone he could truly call a friend.
“Let me wash my own cup, I’m the one who drank from it after all.”
“Awww, did my Subaru finally grow up? Has he learned how to do dishes after all?”
“Just for that, I don’t think I’ll do it anymore, mom.”
As she giggled, handing him the glass and his plate, Subaru did a quick clean of the two before leaving them to dry in the basket. He looked at the watch on his hand—something that his dad gave him on his 16th birthday just a few days earlier, and started taking up his backpack.
Standing at the door, he turned his head toward his family one last time; Kenichi’s smile, Naoko’s wave, all seemed to encourage him to take a step forward, toward the journey to find those who appreciated Subaru, just Natsuki Subaru.
“I’ll be home soon, see ya!”
“Take care Subaru!”
“Look out for traffic and ladies, son!”
And the door shut, leaving behind the wife and husband by themselves, the atmosphere went silent once again.
“I hope it goes well for him…”
Kenichi placed a hand onto the table, as he lazily played with his food, showing off his disinterest in everything, except Subaru.
“You can at least trust him once in a while. I believe that Subaru can do anything if he tries to put his mind to it.”
“I know…It's just that seeing the kid like that made me feel…I don’t know.”
His mind drifted back to a certain knight, during a rare conversation between him and his son, those words he told him, those feelings his son held for himself…Kenichi should have realized it sooner, yet he never did. At least, things could still be changed, he might be a little too late, but…he wished that Subaru could still be happy, somewhere else, when his parents finally understood what their child had been bottling up all alone.
“You should take a breather for once. How about a trip around Tokyo for today? If we find somewhere cool, we can go with Subaru for the weekend.”
“I’ll wait for today, both of us need to be with him today…if he ever gives up, if he tries to come back.”
Rejecting her offer, Kenichi shook his head, he’s not sure if it was the right thing to do. But he couldn’t imagine what Subaru would feel if he decided to abandon it, and when he returned…no one was there for him, he couldn't risk it.
“For today…just for today.”
“Train 3A is soon arriving on platform 1. Please stand behind the yellow lines.”
Walking toward the station, amidst the busy crowd of people stood Subaru, who was waiting for his train to arrive. Walking past him were many kinds of people, those with unique body features, from long tails, animal ears, and even hair colors so diverse that his black hair stood out in the train station.
Years ago, during a huge earthquake that shook the entire world, a new genetic mutation was discovered. As if it was straight out of a fantasy world, newborns started to possess abnormal features that might or might not resemble a type of animal, having hair colors completely different from what nature could give, or a specific modifier to their body. There’s a good chunk of history that could be dedicated to this topic; however, as of now almost everyone had grown to accept this type of thing, and the once widespread discrimination had technically been long gone.
The world was now a big melting pot, and those who had this specific type of appearance were called “mythfolk” courtesy of a popular title used in a certain comic book in the 90s. Mythfolk soon became recognized and started integrating themselves into society, albeit their progress was still quite slow.
Even in somewhere as developed as Japan, the discrimination still hadn't faded, but at least it would never resort to violence. Still, the mythfolk tried to defend themselves, by opening schools that were only for mythfolk, or those who wished to live in harmony with them. Lugunica High School was one example. Along with Kararagi Private High School, Gusteko High School, and a rather controversial choice…Vollachia Public School, due to a rather interesting drama that happened in the past.
“Train 3B is soon arriving on platform 1. Please stand behind the yellow lines.”
“Oh! It’s my train.”
As the vehicle departed, Subaru marveled at the sight of the city, although Chiba was indeed a beautiful place, the scenery in Tokyo was simply surreal, with dozens of skyscrapers so high it felt like they were piercing the clouds above. Of course, Subaru wouldn’t study in such a crowded place like this to begin with, the school was somewhere near the edge of Tokyo, with fewer people around.
Subaru wondered what the school would be like and what the students would look like. He met a few mythfolk before, some of them were even his ‘friends”; but he knew they were just pretending to, like or dislike…Subaru never formed a real relationship with people, and he soon realized this and thus leading him to start distance himself toward others.
He tried boasting, doing anything for attention, to prove that he could be someone as awesome as his father, but the more he tried…the more he understood that nothing was left in Natsuki Subaru, all that remained and what he tried to keep was just a cheap imitation of his father.
Maybe…in a new school full of mythfolk, those who held unique value for themselves; he could find a new reason for his life, and find someone he could genuinely call a friend. If he wasn’t special, then he should just be himself.
“Train 3B is soon arriving on platform 8. Please stand behind the yellow lines.”
Stepping out of the train, Subaru walked toward the designated place that he visited a few weeks earlier, a huge school stood in front of him, and a sense of intimidation swept through the boy.
Those days were lonely, there wasn’t a huge meltdown or a big fight, not at all. It was just the moment secondary school ended, no one bothered to talk with him, and everyone saw him as just an old acquaintance. It seemed like everyone just tolerated his existence, and let it all pass by the moment the school years ended. Subaru didn’t want that to happen again, and that’s why he made such a ruckus during his first time of moving into another secondary school; going to class as a girl, just to be embarrassingly exposed a few days after, it’s not really a fond memory.
And now, standing at the school gates, seeing many people wearing smiles as they passed by, entering the entrance with confidence, Subaru started growing anxious again.
“Oh, sorry.”
A man with purple hair bumped into Subaru as he was walking while looking at his phone. After giving his apology, he swiftly entered Lugunica High School as well. The more people who walked past Subaru—who was standing right in front of the gates, the more afraid he became. His forehead started to sweat, and his hands ever so slightly shook in response.
Father must have spent a lot of money getting him to move into this apartment, yet he himself knew that Subaru couldn’t do much, or at least…he thought so. Many of his luggage hadn’t been moved into the new apartment yet, and rightfully so; they also only paid a month for renting the apartment, not a whole year for a cheaper price. His dad already expected Subaru to give up from the start, so he doesn't need to feel guilty, right?
“I can’t do this.”
And finally, Subaru made his choice, walking away from the school, into a random alleyway as he lamented to himself.
All the bragging, all those nights that he promised himself that he would change, those words he said to his father during his most vulnerable moment, yet he just discarded it away, too afraid to confront what he once feared.
He can’t really change, can he?
“Oi! Why are ya looking like ya was going through a break up? Need a shoulder to lean on?”
Suddenly, an irritating voice started booming at the end of the alleyway, there stood three delinquents, a skinny one, a fat one, and a short one, overall not a really good first impression.
“You’re wearing the Lugunica High School uniform? Figure ya would have a few bucks in ya wallet.”
“So better cough up all ya got!”
The fat one and the short one chimed in, threatening Subaru by brandishing their fists and clicking the heels of their shoes. He was in no mood for any of this bullshit, and so, with frustration overtaking him, Subaru clapped back.
“Shut it up, dumb, dumber and dumbest! I’m not in a good mood to just cough up my damn coins for ya without a fight!”
Taking off the school blazer, he started cracking his fists, readying his stance to take on the three of them. The short one sneered at his gesture, signaling the other two to stand back and watch.
“Not even three. Just me alone is enough to give ya a beating—”
As the short one was about to dash toward Subaru, he took the initiative and delivered a hook kick straight to his face, slamming the delinquent’s body toward the wall. The fat one immediately followed up with a roar, just to be met with a disengage and an uppercut the next instant.
“Hah…at least this lets me blow off some steam.”
“You sure, you fucking bastard?!”
The moment he turned his head toward the skinny delinquent, they pulled out a knife and pointed it toward his face. Subaru was no martial artist, and he definitely had no idea how to disarm a weapon.
He stood still, and was met with a kick to the stomach by the skinny thief, with their hand still holding the knife tightly.
“Rachins! Teach that piece of shit a lesson!” The fat thief grunted in anger, encouraged his friend to further give the boy a beating.
“On it!”
Another knee blow knocked the boy down to the ground, followed by several stomps as Subaru curled himself up, enduring the blows as he gritted his teeth in irritation. This might be on the list of worst days in his life, not only did he just flee from what he was supposed to do, in fear of rejection, now he was getting beat up by some random thugs in a god-knows-where alleyway, and probably had to walk home too, if they took his damn wallet as well.
“That’s enough, stop right there.”
Another voice chimed in, and stopped Rachins’s beating as both looked toward the source of the sound. In front of them was a silver-haired girl, who was dressed in the same uniform as Subaru. The more he observed, the more entranced Subaru became; sharp ears and amethyst eyes, it was the fantasy race that Subaru had been admiring ever since he was a kid, it was a mythfolk carrying the appearance of an elf, a half-elf to be exact.
“I don’t know what happened, but hearing the commotion brought me here. The…person below is from my school as well, please let him go.”
The woman asked sincerely, but the thief paid no mind to her words; instead, he pointed the knife at her, aiming for another target.
“Now lady, I’m not really down for handing him over for free, how about you cough up a few bucks and I’ll give him back, sound good?”
“Erm, sorry. I actually dropped my wallet on the train, so I can’t.”
“So damn honest!”
As the lady rejected the offer, Subaru could do nothing but wince at her honesty. Maybe it’s better to say the truth, but to reply with absolute certainty like that was a first for him, she didn’t have any filter at all.
“Oi! What the fuck does that mean? Then it’s not your damn business. This kid wrecked two of my boys to tatters already, so I suggest you go back to that cute little school of yours already, you mythfolk.”
Hissing through his teeth, he stepped closer to the lady, the weapon in his hand lingering as it stood between the two. Tension stretched.
“You—!”
Grabbing Rachins’s leg as he pulled, Subaru used his body as a foothold to step on; before the thief could even fight back, Emilia kicked the knife out of his hand, before pulling Subaru out of the scene.
“Woah—”
“Just follow me, run!”
As they ran into the public spaces, with several students quickly catching sight of the two as they escaped the alleyway, Rachins was peeking from the end, before finally giving up as he headed back, trying to retrieve his two friends.
“Damn it. I didn’t expect thugs in Tokyo all of a sudden. This feels like I’m in a movie…” As he dusted his clothes off, Subaru quickly realized that he had left his blazer behind, and started to panic.
“Shit! My…”
“Here, I grabbed your blazer the moment we ran. Are you alright? You look hurt.”
As she handed him the clothes, Subaru took them while giving his thanks. The moment he looked up, their eyes met, and his mind for the life of him couldn’t take his gaze off her. The amethyst eyes shone like jewels, yet her expression carried that of surprise and…delight? He couldn’t be sure. But the lady was stunned for a mere moment, before murmuring to herself.
“U-uhm…thanks, uh…your name please?” As he asked for her name, the lady seemed disappointed, but quickly hid it away with a smile, as she replied.
“My name is Elior Emilia, you can call me Emilia for short.”
To say he was caught off guard by her would be an understatement, Emilia was just someone that he first met and she requested him to call her by her first name already? Was she actually that friendly or did she know him before? Subaru had no idea…
However, getting saved by a girl was not a really good look, so he just needed to redeem himself by acting cool, and before that stupid thought couldn’t even register in his brain, Subaru had already struck a pose and pointed his finger at the sky.
“My name is Natsuki Subaru, nice to meet you!”
“...”
An awkward air of silence surrounded the two, and Subaru started to regret what he just did. Was he doing too much? He'd been doing this for so long to not notice that people might cringe from it, did Emilia think the same? He should have just given his name normally, all this verbosity and flailing around would just make him look even more like an idiot—
“Ahhaha! Subaru right? Can I call you that?”
However, her smile instantly washed his insecurities away, filling his heart with warmth as she giggled into her palm. Maybe it’s not so bad in this school after all—although he hadn't even taken a step inside yet.
“But wait, are you calling me by my first name already? Isn’t it a bit too soon?”
“Hmm? I don’t see the problem with that, calling you Natsuki would feel weird.”
“Uhmmmmm, fine. It’s not like I dislike it anyway.”
Fisting her hands in excitement like she had just won something, Emilia once again wore her delighted smile, as she pulled on his sleeve and walked him toward a direction.
“That’s the spirit, you’re in Lugunica too right? We are wearing the same uniform as well.”
Nodding his head, Subaru followed through her guidance with slight hesitation, he was just fleeing from the school a moment ago, could he really go back? But before Subaru could even make some excuse, Emilia placed a hand on top of his forehead, giving him a sly smile.
“I’m guessing we are in the same grade, grade ten right? Now let’s play a game, once I count to three, we will both say our class name alright?”
“Oh…uh sure?”
“Alright! On my count…1,2,3!”
“Class 10-E.”
“10-E!”
Emilia’s face could be the equivalent of jumping with joy, while Subaru, albeit confused, also did feel relieved to know that someone as pretty as her would be studying in the same class as him…still, why was she acting like she knew him?
Trying to not let such confusion pass, Subaru was about to reach out to her, giving it a try to ask that question.
“Emilia, have you met me—”
“Alright! Then I’ll wait for you in class, see you later!”
“Uh, wait!”
Perhaps she might have heard his sentence, Emilia quickly excused herself and dashed through the school with incredible speed, now he only noticed how fast she was. Well, that aside, maybe he should just get into class now, no point waiting around here.
“Now that I noticed it…”
He darted his eyes around the place, where dozens of people with animal features, unique hair colors and body characteristics passed by each other without a single look back, it must have become something so normal for everyone here.
“Isn’t this place super cool?! Look at all these hair colors…I feel like I’m entering a new isekai world.”
As his otaku tendencies started acting up, so did his excitement, the fear from earlier had slowly been dispelled by the lady who just saved him, and now that he entered Lugunican High School, his fervor quickly rose.
“Let’s see how this Natsuki Subaru will change! Let’s go!”
He couldn’t even talk to anyone.
Well, such a thing was normal for a new student entering a new school, the only problem was that he overheard Lugunica Highschool had their own secondary school as well, so most of his classmates already knew each other, leaving him alone like this.
He thought about Emilia, who was sitting in front of him, and was caught off guard by the fact that she was sitting alone too. Wasn’t conversing one of her good points? Subaru was greatly impressed by her confidence the first time they met after all. Should he approached her? Although he’s not too sure what to start the conversation with
Leaning against his chair, Subaru let his head rest on the wall, for his seat was at the corner of the classroom. He would usually pick the window seat to feel like he was some main character in a highschool manga, but he was already late enough from the previous incident, there was no way there would still be a place for him.
Glancing over at the table next to him, Subaru noticed a backpack had already been placed there, showing that there was already another person.
“I wonder what the person sitting next to me is like.”
As if the world wished to answer him itself, a young boy with white hair dressed himself with a weary expression, seemingly exhausted before the class even started.
“Ah. Nice to meet you, I hope we will get along.”
“This guy is so formal!”
Contrary to the first impression of the student here, which was Emilia with her overconfidence and friendliness, the boy appeared polite and discreet.
“Why do I feel like you’re having some bad thoughts about me…whatever, name’s Otto Suwen, and yours?”
“Oh, I’m Subaru, Natsuki Subaru, hope we will get along.”
Despite the courtesy in the conversation, Subaru felt…strangely comfortable around him, he would usually be weirded out if someone talked to him like this, but Otto's words were sincere, he was just awkward in the way he delivered them.
“Alright Natsuki-san, I reckon you’re a new student too, right? Never saw your face in Lugunica Secondary School before.”
“Wait…that means—”
“Yeah! I can give Natsuki-san some ideas about how the school works, from the events to the intricacies of course.”
Never thought he would meet such a reliable guy, Subaru was still quite confused about a lot of things in this place, even down to how to talk to and treat mythfolk properly. Although he had met some in the past, he never grew close enough to them to know about any of these things.
“But…that means some of your old friends are here too, right? Can I talk to them?”
Placing his hand on the table as he smiled excitedly, Subaru asked, but all Otto replied with was silence.
“Can we not talk about this…Natsuki-san.”
“Ep! Sorry, sorry about that, can you just forget it?”
“I don’t really think so…”
Like adding salt to the wound, Otto's expression turned bitter. The truth was, despite studying in that school for years, Otto didn't really have a close friend to begin with, most of them were already busy talking to others. That’s why he had given up and decided to come back to his class, a tragic tale, really.
“Ahem, coming back to the topic, I assumed Natsuki-san came to this school to know more about the mythfolk, right?”
“W-well, yeah. If that’s what you think.”
To be frank, Subaru didn't care about them all that much, he did feel admiration toward a few types of mythfolk around, but generally wasn’t that interested in such topics, but he decided that the best choice was just to move along for now. His motive for coming here wasn’t all that grandstanding.
“Well, although they don’t actually classify it officially, the school usually divides mythfolk into two categories. One is semisfolk and the other is mythfolk.”
“That’s a weird name, what is semisfolk even about?”
Coughing lightly into his palm, Otto snapped his fingers as he continued.
“I’m glad you asked, semisfolk are basically me. Just ordinary humans with special hair colors, the Suwen family always has gray hair since birth. Unlike mythfolk, who possess a fantasy-level appearance, you must have come across people with cat ears or fox tails at some point right? That’s basically it.”
“Ahh, I see. The system actually makes sense, because calling some random dude who thinks blue would be a cool hair color to dye himself with a mythfolk sounds kinda stupid I guess. Although does that really change anything? The only difference is still appearance, right?”
“It’s not that easy. Although the government is trying their best to end the discrimination, those who are actually mythfolk suffer more due to their much more abnormal looks, semisfolk don’t have this problem; they can simply dye it black or just leave it there, for no one actually bothers. You would have a much easier time not being a mythfolk at all.”
He never realized it, although it made sense; humans tend to reject the abnormal, mainly as a way to protect themselves from danger, but they are not trying to prove a point, it was simply the option of taking the path of least resistance. Subaru believed that if they discovered that the thing they had been scared of the entire time turned out to be a good thing, they would accept it with open arms, that’s all rejection boils down to after all.
He started to wonder, did Emilia go through the same thing as a child? He didn’t exactly know much about her; however, Subaru did wish to be someone that she could talk to, for a certain reason…
“Hmm, Subaru are you looking at me?”
“Ehhh! Since when did you turn back?”
Jumping out of his chair, Subaru flinched in surprise at Emilia’s question, he had been losing focus thinking about her twice now, what was going on with him?
“Well, when…Otto right? Started talking about the school, I guess. Continue on please? I’m actually new to this school as well.”
“W-well, if you say so. The school usually doesn't really change whether you’re a mythfolk or semisfolk however. What’s the bread and butter is that they host a special event for the entire year between each class in a grade. They would compete with each other through various things and the winner would be held as the honored class for that year, it was the most anticipated event in the school. Some say it feels like an event between Royal Houses competing to be the King or whatever.”
As the two nodded along to his words, the sudden sound of the door opening gathered all the attention in the class, including the trio who were talking. Walking in was a tall man with a handsome face, carrying an imposing and eccentric aura, with a tone that made people grind their gears, he spoke.
“Ohhhhhh, so many lovely faces here. My name is Roswaal Matthers, I welcome you all…”
Placing his notes down, the heterochromatic pupils became clearer as his gaze wandered around all the students.
“To Lugunica High School~”