“Do not expect you will get a chance to have me heal your wounds ever again.”
“You’re that angry?!”
“I have been this angry since earlier from your bad-mouthing Sister behind her back.”
“I do that a lot lately!”
The look Rem shot at Subaru grew sharper still thanks to that last comment.
Fearful, Subaru gave up on apologizing, closing his mouth and gazing at the sky. Evening was slowly giving way to night. That was when he felt his limbs stiffen.
—After all, it was his second time in that world reaching the fourth day.
“So the challenge is to get to tomorrow morning safely—but before that…”
…Before that came another important challenge: making sure that he actually had a promise with Emilia for a date to begin with.
7
For the second time, Subaru Natsuki was approaching his greatest crisis during his first week at Roswaal Manor.
With things having gone so much against his experiences during the first loop, he couldn’t really call it smooth sailing, but the greatest danger was indeed that moment.
And so, with a slight blush, Emilia said to him…
“So, since Ram and Rem both said they weren’t going to show their faces here tonight, I’ve come to supervise your studying in their place. Not that I can do much to help…”
…and cutely stuck out her tongue.
With Subaru sitting facing the desk, having Emilia sitting on the bed, watching him like a hawk, was ferociously whittling down his endurance.
—Here was a cute girl in the room of a teenage boy, just the two of them, late at night like this… Surely no one could blame Subaru for losing his concentration as he struggled against his baser instincts?
“Hmm. You’re taking studying more seriously than I expected, Subaru.”
Subaru was desperately chanting innocent inside his head, unable to feel innocent at all, when Emilia got up and voiced her admiration. Apparently she’d bathed just earlier; the faint hint of warmth hovering around Emilia, mixed with her own scent, were two more sharp blows to Subaru’s state of mind.
Subaru fumbled with his notebook as he opened it to show Emilia where he’d gotten in his studying.
“R-right now I’m learning basic I-characters by writing them. My current goal is to read this picture book for kids, since it’s mostly written in I-script.”
“Hmm, the goal is a picture book… Ah!”
“What, it’s got an interesting story or something?”
Emilia lightly shook her head at Subaru as her hand stopped midway through browsing the picture book he was using for reference.
“Well, nothing big, but yes, a little. When you can read this, too… Yeah.”
Audibly closing the book, Emilia sat on the bed once more and got comfortable. Subaru was unable to conceal how Emilia’s refined but unguarded nature left his mind all jumbled.
“Normally I wouldn’t be doing this for someone I met only a few days ago, but I’m giving you special treatment…to thank you for your hard work.”
“Sheesh, that’s not a whole lot of thanks, Emilia. If you want to show your thanks, how about a massage? Something to melt away and heal all the aches and pains of a hard day’s work, geh-heh-heh.”
Emilia clapped her hands as she scolded him.
“That sounds perverted somehow, so no. And don’t change the subject. Keep going, will you?”
Subaru turned back toward the desk as he fought his worldly desires.
Subaru chanted innocent, innocent in his head as he wrote the characters onto the notebook, driving out idle thoughts as he focused his head on one thing at a time.
“Goodness, you can do it just fine if you don’t let yourself get distracted.”
“That’s because I lose track of everything around me once I’m into something. That’s why I’m straight-like-an-arrow aimed at the person I like!”
“Hmm, is that so? It’d be nice if the person you like notices that sooner rather than later.”
Certainly, Subaru’s statement had been very frivolous, but Emilia brushed it off like it had nothing to do with her. The fact that she clearly didn’t see herself as the target of Subaru’s affections gave him no route to follow up.
“Hey, Subaru… Why don’t you take work as seriously as you do studying?”
“My motto is to be diligently un-diligent…is what I would say, but this isn’t the right mood for that. Uh?”
“It’s a serious matter—Ram was complaining about it a little, too. From time to time it feels like you’re holding back.”
Naturally, Emilia’s words and expression both held distaste at having to convey such a message. Hearing this, Subaru could make only a pained grimace, for she had hit the mark.
Ram was correct in her assessment that Subaru was holding back from work, for the truth was that Subaru wasn’t taking the work seriously.
More precisely, he was deliberately trying to produce the same outcome as the last time. Compared to last time, when he hadn’t learned the first thing about being a servant, Subaru was at least a little bit better. His slight adjustments hadn’t escaped the veteran maid’s attention.
“…So you do feel guilty about it. It feels like you’re honest to a fault in some odd places, Subaru. You’re not slacking off studying, after all.”
“Well, there’s some little circum… I guess that’s not an excuse. I’ll put everything into it starting tomorrow, so please forgive me, Your Highness!”
“Mnn, I have no objections… Ah, was that a little off?”
Emilia cutely tilted her head, perhaps wondering if she’d been a little too haughty.
Subaru, relieved at seeing Emilia’s stance softening, firmly resolved to honor the pledge to Emilia he’d just given.
At the very least, there’d be no need to copy the last time after that night was done.
He’d work very hard to repay the debts he owed to Ram and Rem from over those four days.
…Not that he thought easing up on the brakes would turn everything around overnight…
“Feelings are real important here. I want my renewed hard work to completely provoke those two sisters!”
“And there, another splendid moment completely wasted… Are you finished studying?”
“I managed to get today’s part done! Hey, Emilia, would you listen to a little request of mine? I’d like a reward for working hard from tomorrow on, so…?”
“A reward? Just so you know, I don’t have a lot of money I can spare.”
“Wow, you sure were brought up strict. Now, now, just hear me out. I’ll work seriously starting tomorrow, so…let’s go on a date!”
Subaru posed with a full smile and a thumbs-up as he made his proposal to Emilia.
Faced with the greatest smiling face in Subaru’s arsenal, Emilia’s big eyes blinked slowly.
“Um, what’s a date?”
“Heh. A date is when a guy and a girl go out all by themselves. What happens between them, only the Goddess of Love knows!”
“Then you went on a date with Rem today, Subaru?”
“Nooo, an unexpected counterattack?! Please, that didn’t count, that didn’t count!!”
Certainly that counted as going out with a beautiful girl, but Subaru was hoping for something a little more mutually involved than buying groceries for the household.
“I understand you want to go out with me, but where?”
“Actually, there’s this village close to the mansion with this super lovely mutt. It has flower gardens, too. I wanna use my metia to record for all eternity you standing among the blooming flowers.”
Subaru went to a corner of his bedroom, where his shopping bag with his few, precious possessions from his original world were stored. The cell phone and cup of ramen were still in there, having survived the ferocious combat at the fence’s shop.
“If the battery holds up, I wanna fill the whole memory card with pictures of Emilia…”
“Ah…the village, huh?”
In front of the person who wanted to drag her out from her daily routine, Emilia put her hand to her cheek, deep in thought. Subaru recalled that she’d hesitated considerably before the last date invitation, too.
Somehow he’d gotten her to say yes the last time. Subaru made his teeth shine to recreate that memory.
“The dog’s super cute. Let’s go!”
“But it might cause you quite a bit of trouble, Subaru. The villagers….”
“The kids there are completely innocent, totally a bunch of angels. Let’s go!”
“…All right already. It can’t be helped. I’ll just have to go with you.”
“The flower gardens are magical and wonderful and… Wait, seriously?”
He was struck senseless at how Emilia seemed less resistant to the idea than last time.
Subaru was still thrown off as Emilia tapered her lips and drew in her delicate shoulders.
“If that’ll make you work hard from tomorrow on, I’ll go with you. So don’t go drifting off anywhere, okay…?”
“Nope, nope, will do no such thing! My soul’s already burning with determination to finish all my work perfectly!”
“Your soul’s burning for something like that?!”
Emilia’s shocked face at Subaru’s burning drive sent them both into laugher.
After laughing like that for a while, Emilia nodded a bit and got up from the bed. She passed by Subaru’s side and looked out the window, making a faint, charming smile up at the sky.
“Mm, the stars are so pretty tonight. It’ll probably be clear tomorrow, too.”
“—Yeah. It’ll be a day I’ll never forget.”
“There you go again, Subaru…”
Emilia turned around and leaned against the windowsill as she began to admonish Subaru for his frivolity. But her tongue stopped moving when she saw the expression on Subaru’s face.
—No doubt it was because, when she hadn’t been looking, Subaru’s expression had become uncharacteristically serious.
“If you stay here too long, I’m gonna end up falling asleep and mistaking you for a squeeze pillow till morning…”
“Just now… Ahh, it’s nothing.”
“You know, if you suddenly stop talking like that, it really makes guys nervous…?”
Emilia, perhaps set off by his probing the deeper meaning of her actions, remarked, “It’s nothing!” as she left the window and cutely strode past Subaru. She went straight to the doorknob before looking back.
“Now then, Butler Subaru. Work hard come tomorrow. Rewards come only to children who work hard for them.”
She made a light wave of her hand to bid him good night, followed by a smile and a toss of her hair. Without waiting for Subaru’s reply, the silver silhouette vanished past the doorway.
He could stretch out his hand, but it could not reach. All that remained in his room of the lovely girl was the faint scent of her perfume in the air.
But—
“Hold on, hold on, seriously? Geez, I’m getting real popular here. Seriously.”
The promise had been made once more. Now, Subaru could challenge the night again.
It was six hours to get through the fourth night. Six hours before the promised morning of the fifth day.
“Now, Mr. Fate, let’s do this—”
8
Subaru was sitting on the floor with his back against the bed, anxiously passing each moment as he waited for daybreak.
The coldness of the floor hadn’t really registered in the two-plus hours he’d spent sitting there. But Subaru’s body was extremely, almost excessively aware of the cold. The reason was simple.
“Who could sleep with his heart pounding like this anyway?!”
His heartbeat was fast and loud, making large thumps that he could swear were ringing in his eardrums. His senses were keen to the point of feeling his blood coursing through his whole body; his fingers throbbed nonstop like they were numb.
“Here’s what I get for looking forward to the promise with Emilia. Geez, I haven’t had this much trouble sleeping since before that picnic in first grade…and I ended up oversleeping for the school trip. Really takes me back…”
His reminiscing distracting him somewhat, Subaru glared at the sky he’d been looking up at for hours on end.
—Still a long time, he belatedly thought.
It was about four hours until morning. He didn’t feel sleepy whatsoever, but remaining on guard for whatever might occur had frayed his nerves. Thinking of the possibility of an attack made it impossible for him to focus on anything else to kill time.
Besides, continuing to think was the only thing Subaru could do.
He’d redone the last four days, as in, four days for the second time.
There were numerous differences in discord with prior events. They had heavily affected the path he’d taken to reach that night. But Subaru had surely checked off the majority of the events in his memory.
However, what nagged at him was that he still didn’t have a clue how to avoid causing a new loop.
Relations with Emilia were good. He felt like relations with Ram and Rem were getting better, but…
He hadn’t encountered Beatrice since that night.
The last time, it wasn’t for long, but Subaru had been in contact with Beatrice. Setting that aside, he had barely seen Beatrice this time around. Strict time management had prevented him from exchanging more than a few words with her.
“Just like before, she gave me a good tongue-lashing just from seeing my face, sheesh…”
He didn’t recall having much discussion with her, but it was most certainly Beatrice’s being there that had saved Subaru’s mind from shattering when confronted with facing his “second” first day.
It was the sheer normality of how she blew him off that made Subaru feel calm enough to find himself.
“I should’ve thanked her for that somehow.”
Not that Beatrice would appreciate what he was thanking her for, and no doubt she’d make quite a sour face if he did, but Subaru still wanted to share his thoughts with her.
With a smile, he thought back on the thorny conversations the two had instead engaged in.
If he made it to the next morning, there would be lots and lots more that he could accomplish.
He had things he wanted to say, not just to Beatrice but to Ram, Rem, and even Roswaal. Of course, he wanted that to be after first exhausting ten thousand words on Emilia.
Looking back on it, he had to smile. Putting last time and that time together, it was eight days all told.
Maybe it was the mushy feeling inside him that made his eyelids seem a bit heavier, though there were still three whole hours until morning.
“This isn’t an MMO. It’s no joke if I fall asleep here…”
He rubbed his eyelids as the sudden sleepiness faded away. But the sleepiness had come with a chill; he made a bitter smile as his body began shivering out of the blue. He cradled both shoulders, trying to raise his body temperature. But the chill wouldn’t leave him no matter what he did. Still, the sleepiness gradually got worse.
—Subaru, so gripped with optimism, realized that the situation had changed.
Looking closer, he saw that the skin under the sleeves of his track jacket had goose bumps all over. Chilled to the bone, he couldn’t stop shaking. It wasn’t normal. The season of this other world was like late springtime in his own world. The days were almost too warm for long-sleeve shirts. So why were his teeth chattering like this?
“This is bad; don’t tell me this is…?!”
Feeling a chill that came not from cold but from fear, Subaru nervously put his hands on the floor. But with the shaking already spreading through his whole body, his arms could not support him. When he got up, his knees felt creaky enough to break apart; Subaru was aghast at how sluggish and nauseated he felt.
“S-somebody…”
Subaru’s heart rate, so strong
just earlier, had weakened, and his breathing was hard as he left the room. He wanted to call for help, but his raspy voice caught in his throat. His legs were cramping as if his lungs weren’t accepting oxygen from the dry air that hovered in the dark corridor.
This is bad, was the thought that dominated the back of Subaru’s mind. He didn’t have any tangible understanding of what was happening to his body. The one thing he did know was that his life was in danger.
Subaru sluggishly walked forward, groaning as he made his way toward the stairway going up.
Each step through the familiar passageway was labored enough that it seemed to shave off another piece of his soul.
“Haa…haa…”
Reaching the stairs, he climbed up one step at a time on hands and feet. He wondered how long it would take him to reach the top. Just thinking about it deflated Subaru as he crawled deeper into the hallway.
The insides of his body seemed to be melting; he felt like everything was turning into some kind of soup. The vomit that welled up dripped from the corner of Subaru’s mouth onto the corridor; his face was stained with tears.
Subaru, crawling so pathetically, had only one thing, one person, in the back of his mind.
—Emilia. Emilia. Emilia. I have to get to Emilia.
Responsibility, or perhaps duty—Subaru was driven by an emotion he couldn’t put into words.
In that moment, Subaru had none of the self-preservation instinct common to all species.
Subaru, crawling his way to Emilia’s room, was already barely breathing. His arms too weak to bear the weight of his body, he leaned against the wall and slid his way forward. Anyone watching would have felt less pity than disgust at his having lost the dignity of walking upright like a man.
“—”
His whole body was sluggish. His breaths were ragged as his ears continued their high-pitched ringing.
So it was pure happenstance, one might even say dumb luck, that Subaru noticed the strange sound.
—The sound he noticed was like the clank of a chain.
Getting a bad feeling, he stopped moving. His shoulder slid down the wall; he pressed his head against the floor.
“—Uh?”
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Vol. 2 Page 13