Chapter 9
Standing in both shock and horror, faced with their attacker, Itsuki and Subaru both wondered
"Why?!"
"As long as you do not resist, I can make your deaths painless." Rem said.
"Why are you doing this?" Subaru asked.
"It's simply the rule of maids: if someone's suspicious, punish them." Rem said.
"Does Ram know, too?" Subaru asked.
"I intend to finish this before my sister sees anything." Rem said, approaching the duo.
"Is that... is that how little you trusted us?" Subaru asked.
"Yes."
"Damn. I am so pathetic. And here I thought we were getting along well."
Snapping out of his initial shock, Itsuki moved in front of Subaru, his emotions now being engulfed with rage. However, he still did not want to hurt Rem. Even if she had just admitted on planning to kill them.
"Subaru. You gotta run." Itsuki told him.
"What?"
With his knife held in a tight grip, Itsuki was going to use whatever he could muster to fend off Rem.
"I can buy you some time, so use it to get the fuck outta here." Itsuki told him.
"I can't just leave you behi-"
"You told me yourself you didn't want to die!" Itsuki shouted. "I don't blame you, either. You've experienced death more than I have." Itsuki brought his voice down so only Subaru could hear. "I haven't even died half the times you have. So, if you don't want to die, I don't blame you. But you're gonna have to run!"
"Itsuki, I-"
"Fuckin' go!" Itsuki shouted as he reached back and pushed Subaru. "I can buy you some time."
"If I get away, you won't come back."
Itsuki took a deep breath. "I know." Looking back at Subaru, it was then he realized Itsuki was actually crying. "What are friends for, huh?"
"Itsuki..."
"Get out of here, man." Itsuki said. "Don't look back."
After a moment passed, Subaru did as told and ran, leaving Itsuki alone with Rem.
"Now, if you don't resist, I will make your death painless." Rem said.
Wiping his eyes, Itsuki gave a soft chuckle. "I'm glad you still have enough heart to let us finish talking first."
"It doesn't matter." Rem said. "No matter how far he runs, the witches' scent that coats his body will lead me directly to him."
"Witches' scent?"
"It's what led me to the both of you in the first place." Rem said. "Since you're both coated in her scent, I was able to track you down."
Pulling her morningstar free from the cliff's wall, Rem stared at Itsuki.
"I say again: please, do not resist."
"I think we both know I can't do that." Itsuki said.
Rem slowly blinked her eyes. "Very well."
Launching her morningstar at Itsuki, he quickly ducked to evade the attack. However, with a flick of her arm, Rem launched the giant spiked ball at Itsuki once more. Leaping to the side, Itsuki managed to dodge the morningstar once again. Sliding across the ground on his side, Itsuki quickly got back up. As he stood, Rem used the opportunity to launch her morningstar into his chest, not only knocking the air out of his lungs but also piercing his chest with the spikes.
Hitting his back against the cliff wall, Itsuki slowly slid to the ground, blood seeping from his wounds and dampening his shirt.
As he tried to stand, Rem attacked once more, this time aiming for Itsuki's right leg. Crushing his leg, Itsuki screamed in pain.
"Now that you can't get away." Rem said as she approached Itsuki. Kneeling down, she held her hand out to his leg. "Mana of water: heal this damaged body." The pain in his missing leg quickly disappeared as if it were never there. "If I let you die too quickly then I won't get any information out of you."
"Information?" Itsuki said through clenched teeth. "What the hell are you-"
"Are you a faction member supporting one of miss Emilia's rivals for the throne?" Rem asked.
"What? No, I don't-"
Itsuki was cut off as Rem hit him with her weapon. As Itsuki let out a scream, Rem stood over him, unfazed.
"Who hired you and under what conditions?" Rem asked.
Looking up at her, Itsuki said his reply.
"No one... the only candidate for the throne I've met is Emili-" Rem hit him once again, splattering Itsuki's blood onto her face.
"Let's try again."
"Are you affiliated with the Witches' Cult?" Rem growled, showing a large amount of disdain towards the group.
"The...Witches' Cult..?" Itsuki repeated. "I don't kn-" Itsuki coughed as blood seeped it's way up his throat. Spitting the liquid onto the ground, he returned his gaze to Rem. "I don't know what that i-"
"Don't play dumb with me!" Rem shouted. "You can't lie when the foul stench of the Witch is coming off of you even as we speak! Everytime I saw you, I had to fight back the urge to attack you then and there! I felt I would go out of my mind with anger! Someone associated with the one who has caused my sister so much agony, having the audacity to boldy encroach on the place she and I belong! Even when I had to pretend to like and care for you, I still barely had the strength to keep myself from lashing out!"
At this point, Itsuki's eyes filled with tears.
"Is that all it was?" Itsuki said softly. "Every... moment we shared? Every smile you let me see? Everytime we talked..? Here I thought I managed to finally find the place I fit in myself... after every unfortunate thing that happened to me in this life... I finally thought I found the place I belong. I did find the place I belong."
"What are you going on about?"
"It doesn't... matter." Itsuki said between groans of pain. "If Subaru managed to get away... this is most likely it for me. This life will finally... be put to an end." Itsuki laid onto his back, accepting his fate. "Just end it..."
Raising her morningstar, Rem glared at Itsuki. "As you wish. Afterwards, I'll hunt down Subaru."
"We'll see."
With one quick motion, Rem slammed the morningstar into Itsuki's skull.
In the next moment, Itsuki was standing back in the foyer of the mansion. Looking around, he let out a sigh.
"Rem..." Itsuki thought. "Gotta find a way to get you to trust me. I don't want to die, but finding out how little you trust me, I'd be lying if I said I didn't lose some motivation."
"But not enough for me to give up just yet goddamnit!" Itsuki turned on his heel and began heading for the room Subaru was in.
Hearing his screams echo through the hall once again, Itsuki figured Rem did to Subaru what she did to himself. Incapacitate him, then interrogate him, then...kill him.
Approaching the door of the room, Ram and Rem were already gone. Now, Emilia was beside him.
Instead of barging in, Itsuki waited patiently outside until their talk was over. If there was one person Subaru would open up to, other than Itsuki, it would most likely be Emilia.
After a few minutes, Emilia walked out of the room and passed Itsuki.
"How is he?" Itsuki asked.
"I'm not entirely sure." Emilia replied. "He wouldn't open up. He even said he wanted me to forget about him."
"It's that bad, huh?"
"Maybe you could speak with him?" Emilia asked. "Maybe if he was speaking with another boy it'll help."
"Maybe."
As Emilia walked away, Itsuki headed into the room, only to see Subaru was still laying in bed, the blanket up to his chin.
"We need to talk, Subaru."
Looking at Itsuki, Subaru slowly averted his gaze.
"What is there to talk about?"
"You know what." Itsuki said, crossing his arms. "We now know who attacked us, so we need to figure out a way to-"
"It doesn't matter." Subaru cut Itsuki off. "Rem doesn't trust us. There's no way we're making it passed the fifth night."
Itsuki was taken aback by Subaru's words.
"Are you fuckin' joking right now?" Itsuki asked.
"Just... leave me alone. Please." Subaru rolled over.
Itsuki uncrossed his arms as he clenched his fists.
"You're giving up? Just like that?!" Itsuki growled. "The way forward is simple now! We have two tasks. Get Rem to trust us, and find out what cursed you. Now that we know it isn't some random person breaking in, we can spend the next four days trying to figure out how to get Rem to trust us. So get your ass into gear. Now!"
"We've spent countless days already talking and having fun with Rem. But she only sees us as the enemy. Every positive emotion she's shown us has been completely fake."
"Are you fuckin' serious?!"
"It's not just her." Subaru continued. "Ram was also pretending to be nice. Rem told me right before she..."
"So what?!" Itsuki shouted. "I thought you wanted to help Emilia."
"Itsuki. Leave me be."
Glaring at Subaru, Itsuki turned on his heel and headed for the door.
"You might've given up, but I haven't yet and never will!" Itsuki opened the door. "See you around, Barusu!"
Slamming the door behind him, Itsuki walked down the hall.
"Gotta figure this shit out by myself now..." Itsuki said to himself. "Right now, I have two objectives. Get Rem to trust me, and figure out who put the curse on Subaru. After I do that, this loop will end and we can finally move forward. And hopefully Subaru will snap back."
Two days later
After working harder than he thought possible, Itsuki could tell Ram and Rem didn't view him as much of threat. However, Itsuki was still uncertain.
"Subaru still refuses to help, and Rem and Ram are showing signs of trust." Itsuki thought. "I engaged a lot more into friendly conversation with the both of them this time. I can feel Rem staring at me from time to time, her gaze untrusting towards me. But it grew lesser as the days went by. I know when she's staring because I feel this pit in my stomach. However, today her gaze is a lot more gentle. This might finally be the end of this loop."
Walking along the path towards the village, Itsuki looked to Rem. Meeting his gaze, she gave a genuine smile.
"So, Rem," Itsuki walked in front of her, facing her as he continued to walk backwards. "I wanted to know if there was anything you wanted to do in the village today?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, along with picking up some supplies, maybe we could check out a few spots?" Itsuki said. "I don't exactly know the layout and was wondering if you'd take the time to maybe show me around a bit more thoroughly."
"I don't see why not." Rem said. "It wouldn't hurt to spend a bit more time here."
"Yes!" Itsuki cheered in his head. "I feel I've already built a pretty decent trust between us. Now that I guaranteed a bit of alone time with her, I now have the chance to cement that trust. I'm brilliant!"
"You're going to fall into that pit." Rem said suddenly.
"Huh?"
Taking another step back, Itsuki lost his footing and fell off the trail, landing sprawled out on his back. Seeing Itsuki laying on the grass, Rem couldn't help but give a soft chuckle.
"I tried to warn you."
A few minutes later
Arriving at the village, the two would usually head right for the store for the supplies. However this time, Rem led Itsuki to a few of the spots she was fond of.
As the two walked, Itsuki felt a sudden pain in his ankle. It wasn't enough to make him yelp, but instead let out a small wince. Looking down, a small brown dog stared up at Itsuki.
"Hm?"
Kneeling down, Itsuki picked the small pup up. Noticing this, Rem walked back over to Itsuki.
"Are you a dog person?" Rem asked.
"Not really." Itsuki replied. "I prefer cats. I mean, I like dogs, but I've always found myself having more of a bond with cats than canines."
"I see." Reaching out, Rem began to scratch the pup under its chin. As Rem pulled away, the dog nipped her finger hard enough to draw blood.
Without so much as a wince, Rem looked at her finger as the crimson liquid slowly rolled down her hand.
Putting the pup gently onto the ground, it ran off to a nearby group of kids.
"You okay?" Itsuki asked.
"It's nothing." Rem said. "I'm fine."
"So, what's next?" Itsuki asked.
"I saved my favorite spot to visit for last." Rem replied. "Follow me."
"Favorite?" Itsuki repeated in his head. In previous loops, Itsuki had to ask what her favorite things were. Now, she was going to show him her favorite spot to relax. "This is perfect!"
Approaching a large field of multicolored flowers, Itsuki was in awe at the sight. The small flowers blew in the wind as the two shared a moment of silence together, just enjoying the view.
Looking over at Rem, her hair blew in the wind, showing her right eye that was usually hidden behind her blue hair. This moment felt like something taken directly out of a clichè teen romance film.
Itsuki didn't care though. He just turned his gaze back to the flowers, a gentle smile on his face as the wind blew through his hair as well.
After a few seconds, Itsuki looked over to see Rem was staring at him. He was caught off guard, since before they left the mansion, Itsuki always knew when Rem's distrustful eyes were on him.
"You have a lovely smile." Rem told him.
Taken aback once more, Itsuki just stared as Rem turned around and began heading for the shop. After a moment, Itsuki quickly followed.
Purchasing what they needed, the duo carried the groceries back to the mansion. Helping Rem put the groceries away, she gave Itsuki another smile.
Walking down the hall together, Itsuki saw Rem stop at one of the doors. Glancing at her, Rem opened the door and stepped inside.
"Goodnight, Itsuki."
"Goodnight, Rem." Itsuki said.
Heading for his room, Itsuki stopped by Subaru's room to check on him. Knocking on the door, there was no reply.
"Hey, Subaru. We need to talk, man." Itsuki said as he turned the doorknob. "I wanted to-" he cut himself off as he saw Subaru was gone. "Subaru?"
Walking into the room, Itsuki looked around to see if he left a note or something. Coming up empty after a few minutes, Itsuki left the room and wandered down the hall to Emilia's. Knocking three times, Emilia opened the door.
"Itsuki? Hi!"
"Hey, Emi." Itsuki said. "You see Subaru around?"
Taking a second to think, Emilia shook her head.
"No. He's been missing for quite some time." Emilia said. "No one's seen him leave the mansion, though. I'm pretty sure he's still around."
"If you see him, could you tell him to come speak with me? It's important."
"Of course." Emilia smiled. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight." Itsuki said as Emilia shut the door.
Yawning, Itsuki decided to look for Subaru in the morning. After all, tonight was the night Rem usually killed them. However, Itsuki had felt he built a decent bond with Rem this time.
Entering his room, Itsuki changed into his sleepwear. However, instead of climbing into bed, Itsuki pulled out the chair at the desk and sat down. Even if Itsuki was sure he and Rem trusted each other this time, he wanted to make sure she wouldn't just slip into his room and kill him.
Hours later
Fighting the urge to sleep, Itsuki's eyelids were becoming more and more heavy by the second. Slowly closing his eyes, Itsuki was about to let himself fall asleep.
Just as his eyes closed, they suddenly shot open as a sharp pain rushed through his body. Standing up from the chair, Itsuki felt extremely light headed. Stumbling to the wall, Itsuki used it to balance himself.
"What's..?" Itsuki slowly walked over to the door. Turning the doorknob, he pushed it open and fell into the hall. Placing a hand over his mouth, Itsuki fought the urge to vomit as he got back onto his feet. "Someone..?"
Using the wall to keep himself upright, Itsuki began heading for the closest occupied room. With Subaru still possibly missing, Itsuki had two options: Emilia or Rem.
Stumbling over his own feet as he walked, Itsuki fell onto the ground. Pushing himself up, he suddenly lurched forward as he emptied his stomach's contents onto the floor of the mansion.
"Someone... help..."
Heading towards the closest door, Itsuki grabbed the doorknob, twisting it and pushing his body against the door to open it. Falling into the room, Itsuki looked to the bed, luminated in the moonlight. Crawling towards it, Itsuki pulled himself up to try and wake whoever it was.
At this moment, Itsuki was having trouble remembering what room he was in.
Reaching out to the sleeping figure, Itsuki saw it was Rem sleeping soundly in front of him. Gently shaking her shoulder, Rem didn't budge. She wasn't moving at all. In fact, she wasn't even breathing.
"Rem..?" Itsuki called her name. "Re...m..." he was losing strength by the second. "Re..." it was becoming impossible to even speak.
Resting his arm on the bed, Itsuki leaned his head against it, allowing his eyes to slowly close as breathing became more and more difficult. Slowly, Itsuki's chest rose and fell with each breath. As breathing became more and more difficult, Itsuki's chest made smaller and smaller movements.
Until his breathing ceased and his chest stopped moving.
End of chapter 9