Chapter Text
"Traditional Japanese setting. Yukata. A talk with a grizzled but kind-hearted old man in the moonlight. Man, I really am living a childhood dream, huh!"
Subaru pounded his chest with an excited huff. Walking through the moonlit halls of the Kararagi-style inn after a chat with the Sword Demon.
"Though, it did get kinda heavy at the end there… I really hope Wilhelm actually talks with Reinhard. The poor guy looked so out of it when they met," the boy could help but feel his heart ache for the man who saved him when he first arrived in this world.
Though, his forlorn look aside, it really was great getting to see him and Felt again. Honestly, today felt great, getting to meet almost everyone he's met since coming to this world, from the aforementioned sword saint the the Iron Fangs and Crusch's camp. Even seeing Julius wasn't the most unpleasant thing, not that he'd ever admit it.
And on top of the friends, the place they found themselves in was great as well, "It really is a wonder how much like home this place is. It could be a coincidence, but maybe someone from my world came here years ago and made an influence on architecture and culture," he looked around as he slowly walked through the inn. Taking in the elevated flooring to the exact tiling on the roof and even the kind of open floor plan of the whole place. It felt way too close to home to be a coincidence. "Yeah, definitely has to be the latter."
"Whatcha talkin' about-" Subaru nearly jumped out of his skin as his rambling was interrupted by an unexpected voice behind him.
He spun around and stood on guard only to immediately drop it at the familiar sight of his current host.
Anastasia Hoshin, the mauve-haired merchant and rival royal candidate to his Emilia. She stood before him in a yukata of blue and yellow that really stood out compared to the navy blue ones everyone had been giving. Cementing her status and Merchant Queen.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare ya so badly."
"I-it's fine… Just didn't think I'd run into anyone else tonight," he stared at her, taking in the sight of her in something other than her usual white dress, "Why are you up anyways, it's pretty late?"
"I could ask ya the same thing, but I'll give. I was havin' a bit of trouble sleepin', so I decided to take a walk around. Since we're both up, care ta walk together?" She took a step closer, the moonlight hitting her in just the right way for Subaru to see the blue really shine in her usually green-toned eyes.
"Uh…yeah, I suppose I could do that," He scratched the back of his head awkwardly as he yanked his gaze away from her.
"Perfect!" she took the first step, leading their walk.
Subaru followed, finding it hard to keep his gaze from gluing itself to her back, watching her hair swayed from side to side with each step, her trademark fox scarf covering her back so it was the only part of her he could properly see from behind.
"So, I heard ya giving this inn high praise. Said it was like home, are ya from Kararagi as well?"
"Uuh, kinda sorta. I'm not from Kararagi, but a lot of what I've seen here is like my old home."
"And where is this 'old home' of yer's?"
"I could tell you the honest truth, but I know you won't believe me."
"Try me," Anastasia's response was immediate.
He sighed, "I'm from an island nation far far to the east, beyond Lugunica, a place by the name of Japan."
"But there is no nation further east than Lugunica."
"Yeah, I've heard that exact sentence a lot at this point. Don't really know what else to say."
She stopped and turned just enough for Subaru to see her lift a finger to her chin in thought, "If what ya say is true, then ya must truly be from beyond the Great Waterfall. Which would make ya a madman who's swindlin' the Emilia camp for all they got!" She spun on her heels and pointed at him, making a show of her accusation.
"Absolutely incorrect!" He threw his arms up to make an large 'X' shape.
She shrugged in response to his rebuttal, "Well, if ya are or aren't, it doesn't really matter either way. That band of fools trusts ya with their lives, so it ain't worth the fuss."
"If that's the case, why insult me like that!?"
"Cuz Julius told me yer reactions are funny," she said with a mischievous grin.
"Tch" Stupid Julius. Next time I see him, I'm gonna-
"Aaaand I wanted to get a feel for the kinda guy ya are, Natsuki-san."
Subaru simply stared at her, "Get a feel for… that doesn't make sense. If you wanted to get to know me, wouldn't it make more sense to ask me my favorite food or time of year?"
She gave him the same smile she usually wore. One that's starting to put him slightly on edge the more he sees it.
"I suppose that woulda sufficed if I wanted to get to know ya personally. But I said I wanted a to know what kinda guy ya are. And so far I can tell that yer a brash, rude, naive, and yer kind but ya don't think very far ahead."
"Hold on! Now you're just insulting me!"
"Yup!" her smiled opened up as she let herself giggle at his response, "But I don't mean it to be mean, ya know? To the average person, they're bad traits, but ya find a way to turn those negative traits in yer favor. And for that, you get my applause." She gave him a small clap, getting him to blush and look away.
"Aw shucks…" he couldn't help but look away, hating he was blushing at what are still apt reads of his worst traits.
Anastasia smile grew a little more at his bashfulness, resuming the walk in hopes that he'll follow. To which he does. "If I can be honest, I didn't think much of ya when I first saw ya. Yer 'grand entrance' at the beginning of the Royal Selection was one thing. But to follow that up almost immediately with convincin' Crusch and I to work together and defeat the White Whale, that was impressive. Though, I still thought it was dumb luck. Ya just happened to have the right cards and the right determination after getting yer ego knocked down."
"…"
"But then even after all that, ya go off back to the Mathers domain just for me to hear word that ya accomplish fighting off the Great Rabbit and even killin' the Bowel Hunter. Then ya make a contract with a great spirit. Dumb luck is one thing, but luck doesn't account for one man bein' at the epicenter of all these events in one month. So either yer some tactical genius in disguise or ya manipulated all these events to occur."
"…"
"I'm deciding to believe the latter, Natsuki-san. Ya've truly made a good name for yerself."
The boy didn't really know what to say to this read of his character. It wasn't untrue, all that she said, but he really couldn't help but feel the need to refute her claims. To say he really didn't do anything. All of what happened was thanks to others. To Wilhelm, the Iron Fang, the Garfiel and Emilia.
But on the other hand, he couldn't actually deny that a lot of what happened was his hard work. Though, he failed so many time. The severity of his failures, the amount of times he died to just squeeze out the victories he had to his name, it genuinely felt like luck. But how could he say that. He can't. He can't say the truth of the matter or even hint at it. Not in front of this woman he knew would take advantage of him if he gave her even an inch.
Because of the taboo.
How on earth do I respond to all that?
He kept silent as they walked, simply watching how her mauve hair caught the moonlight. Staring at her back as she guided their little walk into a small garden.
"Subaru…"
"Hm?"
"Could you call me Subaru. I can't handle being referred to formally very well…"
She stood still for a moment, keeping her back to him. Quiet tension building between the two until it burst with a laugh coming from the merchant. She grabbed at her stomach for dear life as a genuine smile spread across her face, "pffft haha!! That's all you have to say? 'Call me Subaru.' Hahaha!"
Once more, Subaru found himself blushing like mad.
"H-hey, come on. I'm being serious here!"
She straightened her back and puffed out her chest, speaking with a deep, mocking tone, "'Call me Subaru.' Od, you really are that simple, huh? I see why everyone likes you so much."
"Okay, hey now, that's uncalled for! And where did your Kansai dialect go!?" He was stomping his feet in indignation now. All care for if anyone was sleeping gone as he yelled at her.
"My what dialect. Subaru, I don't know what you-" her eyes widen as a blush spread across her face. Her gaze shooting to him with complete seriousness as she realized what he meant, "Ya didn't hear that, ya hear?"
"There it is! You stopped using it and now you're using it again. Oh my god, is it fake!?"
"It ain't fake! Don't go spreadin' lies about this gal."
"Oh my god, it's fake. it's so totally fake! Hahaha!"
Now it was Anastasia's turn to throw a temper tantrum, "Subaru Natsuki, don't you dare tell anyone. Or I swear I'm gonna find a way to put you in so much debt you'd come begging me to forgive you!" But even through her rage, she couldn't stop her own laughter.
"Hahah, sorry to break to you, I came to this land broke as can be and if I go broke again, I'll just end up right here again!" He wiped tears from his eyes as she growled at him.
"Then I'll make you my wage slave, then you'll really be sorry."
"Oh, so I'll be like Otto then!" Subaru rolled with the punches of this impromptu comedy skit.
"But seriously, don't worry. I won't tell anyone. This will be a secret I take to my grave, promise," he made a cross shape over his heart then motioned his fingers over his mouth like he was zipping it closed.
"Good," she let out a sigh, calming down from her faux anger, though her flushed face persisted some. "Now do you mind telling me what a 'kan-sigh' is? Because I speak with a Kararagi accent. Is this something from where your home."
The two resumed walking a little bit further until they reached a small garden, where Subaru promptly took a seat on the bench that was there. "Yeah, there's a region backin Japan called Kansai. The people there are known for speaking like how you do. Using words like 'ya' and 'yer'. It's considered a bumpkin thing though. It seems like people here consider it a merchant dialect."
"You'd be correct on that part," she smoothed out her yukata as she sat next to him on the bench. "Any respectable merchant in Kararagi speaks like that. And you not knowing that does lend credence to your story of being from some nation no one has heard of."
"Yeah…that's how these stories tend to go. An adventurer ends up in a land of mystery where no one's heard of where he's from and there's no way home. So he just rolls with the punches and soldiers on."
She stared at him for a moment as he spoke, her gaze sharp on him like she was interrogating every word he spoke. "No way home? Is that true for you too?"
"Yeah, at least as far as I can tell. No one's heard of Japan and from the sound of it, there's seriously no where else but the four great nations. But Kararagi sounds pretty close, at least aesthetically. No strong merchant culture though"
"…do you miss it. Your home." Her tone felt soft and honest, like if she didn't treat the question with care, it would fall apart.
The boy shrugged, "Of course I do. But there's not really much to do about it, so I'm just taking it day by day. Besides, I've got people here I care about and wanna protect. So I'll worry about them first."
"…"
"…what, cat got your tongue?"
"Another strange phrase," she mumbled to herself. "Regardless, you don't really care about yourself, do you, Subaru?"
The sudden accusation was sharp.
"What, of course I do! Natsuki Subaru is a downright selfish man who only thinks of himself." He slammed his hand against his chest with all too much force, like he had something to prove by doing so.
"Your actions prove otherwise, lover-boy. Everyone sees how you'll bend over backwards for Emilia. Sounds very selfless to me."
"W-well, that's cuz helping her helps me! I'm only helping her out cuz I'm so madly in love with her. I wanna make her all mine. That's super selfish!"
"And what about what your maid? You're going out of your way to save her."
"Because she means so much to me, I don't need any more reason than that!"
"Alright alright, Subaru Natsuki is a downright, no good, selfish man who will do anything to achieve his goals. The world be damned," she spoke in a faux sing-song voice, barely holding in a giggle.
"Damn straight."
"And that makes you truly selfless."
"…huh? Now how in the world-"
"Because all you did was talk about some surface level things about how your actions benefit you while avoiding how they actually benefit those you claim you're taking advantage of." She heard him start to wind up another rebuttal, but she quickly cut him off with more to say, "Selfish people wouldn't have stuck their neck out for someone to the extent you did for Emilia and the people of Arlam. Most anyone else in your shoes a year ago would have hightailed it away from the mess you were in instead of charging headlong into a fight with the White Whale and the Witch Cult."
"I don't think you're entirely altruistic either. But you never talk about yourself, always about Emilia or Rem. The focus is never Natsuki Subaru."
"Okay, how is this becoming a therapy session all of a sudden?" he blurted out.
She let out a giggle at his remark, "No no, it's not like that… Okay, maybe a little. It's sort of all preamble to what I really wanted to bring up. A proposition I want to give you."
"Ah… I probably should have seen that coming," he let his mind wander to his first interaction with the woman named Anastasia Hoshin, back when he was full of anger and fear, desperate for a solution to come to him and she arrived like an angel. Only to have the entire moment feel like he was being tricked by the devil himself. But in hindsight, he can acknowledge how his emotional state clouded his perspective of what was a mutually beneficial trade.
Even now, in a timeline where that event never occurred and he has his wits about him better, she speaks the exact same way, like her default mode of conversation is to barter. Give praise, receive kind words, always coaxing information out of each interaction. It made sense given she is called The Great Businesswoman.
It was silly of Subaru to think any part of this conversation was truly genuine. It put a familiar pit in his stomach that he wanted to ignore. He wanted to be the fool and enjoy the moment.
"Ah, so you were picking up my intentions. Good on you, Subaru!"
He waves his hand dismissively, "Look, I may be dumb, but I do have some experience with these types of things. Learned something a while back that stuck with me forever."
She leaned in close, laying on her natural charm, "Oh, sounds like a story." He looked down at her, her eyes wide with curiosity. Faux interest or not, he had to admit she was quite beautiful in the moonlight.
Nope, can't be having thoughts like that right now!
He mentally shook that thought away before responding, "It is, but not one I can readily share. You gotta hit friendship level 3 with me to hear the details."
She pouted, "Whatever that means." She pulled her gaze back, subtly trying to scoot closer to him on the bench, "But I get it, I have my fair share of cards I keep close to the chest."
Silence followed as Subaru took note of the new closeness, begging his mind to ignore it. Instead, opting to gaze up at the sky, looking for new constellations that could never have existed in his world. Meanwhile, Anastasia let her mind wander. Her gaze resting on the face of the boy beside her, watching as he tried to desperately ignore whatever was happening between them right now.
"So Na- Subaru, about that proposition."
"…Right… what is it?"
"I know it ain't proper to ask this sort of thing directly, but I can tell dancing around my point is useless with you, so I'll be blunt." Anastasia turned her whole body to face him, wearing her most earnest expression. "I want you by my side as a partner. Whatever arrangement I have to make to have you consider it, I'll do it. I think you have a lot going for you and I want to seize that for myself."
Subaru's jaw hung open a moment, his face burning hot as he processed what he just heard. "Look, Ana… I'm honored, but I already have my heart set on someone else."
Her face lit up so fast, it was like watching a traffic light turn red, "What, no! That's not what I'm getting at at all! I meant as a business partner. Why in the world- why would you- How could you think I meant something like that!?"
"You're the one who walked me out to a garden on a moonlit night as asked me to be by your side. How am I not supposed to view that as romantic!?"
"You're the one who always has romance on their mind. 'Oh, Emilia-tan, you're so great! That's why I love you so much!'" she deepened her voice to mock the poor boy, her flush flaring up with a mix of embarrassment and anger.
"Look, my Emilia-tan means the world to me. Don't go diminishing my feelings for her to some some mindless lovestruck ravings!" Subaru was equally indignant.
"Oh? Is that not what all that is?"
"Of course not!"
"Then why does she mean so much to you? From what I've heard, you've poured your heart out for the girl and she hasn't returned your feelings once."
"That's… it's…" His frustration soured as he looked away, "It's complicated."
Her expression softened in turn, "then tell me. I'm curious what got you to hitch your dragon to the carriage of a woman everyone calls a half-devil?"
Subaru took a deep breath, sorting his thoughts out, wanting to find the correct order of words to convey how he felt. How she's been his shining beacon in the constant turmoil that has been his life since coming here. The first person to show him kindness.
"She saved me. She saved me in a way I can't really express properly. So I'm paying her back with everything I do and everything I have. I've gone through a lot of things since coming to Lugunica, but through all of that, she was always there and she was always willing to listen to me. And she would berate me when I needed it. Even when she was going through so much herself, she would put up a strong front for me and those around her. How can I not fall in love with a woman like that?"
Anastasia sat there, silently listening to his explanation, her gaze still locked on him, "Not to downplay your feelings. But you sound more like you're indebted to her than you're in love."
"That's-" not entirely wrong. He did feel like he owed her, but it was more than that. He didn't like how she simplified it.
"How long can you keep going like this without a response? Year? Decades?"
"I said I'd wait as long at it takes for her to respond," as many days, months, years it would take. He won't give up on her.
"Subaru, you're an idiot," her words carried off with the wind as if she didn't even mean to say it. It was simply a thought that escaped like a breath. "You can't reasonably wait that long. Love is an exchange of feelings, one person's love for the other's, but no deal be held out without conditions."
She finally broke her gaze away from him to look out at the sky, "I'm not much for romance myself, I don't think the idea of waiting your entire life for one person say say they love you or not is fair to you. You need to respect yourself more."
"I respect myself plent-"
"No you don't!" She stomped her foot down, her face angry, but it didn't feel like it was pointed at him. "You sit there and take in whatever is happening around and you capitalize on it! You speak platitudes about how you feel without actually addressing what you stand to benefit personally. Always pushing the acclaim onto someone else. It's annoying!"
She huffed, his expression frazzled, like she was more disconcerted with her sudden outburst than Subaru was.
Meanwhile, Subaru was conflicted. He was pissed. Pissed that she was making assumptions about him talking over whatever he had to say like she knew him better than he did. She didn't know the first thing about and he wanted to chew her out for it.
It made him sick and reminded him of that damn witch from the Sanctuary. Which he knew wasn't right. It wasn't fair to think this woman was anything like that narcissist.
This woman actually being considerate despite her anger. Sure, everything she said made him feel like he was being weighed and measured, but it didn't feel like she was trying to take advantage of him. In her own way, she was being-
"Anastasia, why do you care?"
"Someone has to," she spat at him. Her eyes widening as she realized her tone. "Sorry, I-"
Subaru waved his hand, dismissing her apology and the mood that hung over them, "It's fine. I get it. I'm an annoying guy. Thanks for snapping at me like that."
She was quiet. Likely unsure how to continue after trampling on what ground she had in this conversation. She seemed the kind of woman who was always in control, so going completely mask off with a stranger but be quite the shock to her. Even Subaru could understand that.
"I honestly don't know how long I can wait," Subaru finally stood up from the bench, lifting his arms above his head and stretching his whole body skyward. "I've waited a whole year and she's still between her duties as a royal candidate and sorting her feelings. It feels rude to rush her."
"I won't deny that it feels awful having to be so patient. I want to have an answer so badly, it feels like my whole insides are knotted up…"
She sat in silence, staring at his back, as he looked like he was reaching toward the moon. His open palm nearly grasping it fully before relaxing and slowly falling to his side. "But at the end of the day, I'm fine with it. I made a promise to wait for her response, positive or negative. Whatever she wants to say to me, I'll happily accept it."
"Subaru…"
"I'm not totally ignoring my feelings," he turned around with a 10,000 gigawatt smile, "I get to be truly myself for the first time in a long time."
She sat silently, staring up as the moonlight silhouetted his frame. His whole visage cast in shadow, and yet that goofy smile of his was wide and clear as could be.
But before she could finally find her words, a tiny yawn was heard as little footsteps drew tiredly closer, "What is Betty's Subaru doing up so late talking with this woman?"
Subaru was more than happy to lean down, pick Beatrice up, and hold her in his arms, "Oh, just couldn't sleep, so I took a walk. Ana was feeling the same, so we had a chat. Sorry for leaving you for a bit"
"It looks like it was for more than 'a bit', I suppoooose," her signature catch phrase was drawn out with another yawn.
To which the boy responded with his own, "Yeah, you're probably right. Let's get on back to bed." he pat her head, nudging her to lay it against his shoulder as he started to make way for his room. Though, before fully leaving he turned to Anastasia once more, "It was nice talking with you…we should talk like that more often. I feel like I got to know you better."
She nodded, "Yes, thank ya for the conversation. Have a good night."
With that, the boy waved as he took the tired spirit away to resume their sleep for the night. Leaving the Royal Candidate along, petting her scarf as she ruminated on their whole conversation.
"You never gave me an answer to my proposition…"
"Why was Betty's Subaru talking with that woman in the dead of night," Beatrice asked as she was laid down in her futon. "You had better not have been having a tryst with her, I suppose."
His face went red as a tometo, "Beako! Of course not!"
He scooted himself under the sheets of his own futon, keeping his face turned away from her as he laid his head down. Even in the dead of night, he was a little afraid of her seeing the kind of expression he was making.
She sighed, "You truly are helpless…but I would haven't any other way." She smiled as she watch him go from indignant to fast asleep pretty quickly. "Good night, Subaru."