Chapter 10

"Huh?"

Itsuki let out a gasp as he looked around, standing back in the foyer of the mansion.

"No..." he said softly as he looked around. "No." Itsuki quickly came to realize that he had looped once more. "No no n- goddamnit!" Itsuki dropped the broom he was holding and ran his hands through his hair. "Everything was going perfectly! God...DAMMIT! Fuck!"

As he began to pace back and forth, Itsuki realized that he LOOPED once more.

"Subaru!"

Running to Subaru's room, Itsuki slid to a halt in the doorway.

"Oh. Hello, Itsuki." Emilia greeted him as Itsuki scanned the room. In the center stood Subaru, the twins and Emilia, each looking as though they just finished talking. "Is there something you need?"

Looking to Subaru, Itsuki narrowed his eyes only slightly.

"How are you feeling, Subaru?" Ituski asked.

"Fine." Subaru replied with a shrug. "I'm ready to go!" He said while making a fist.

"Hm." Itsuki crossed his arms. "Glad to see you've fully recovered. Was beginning to worry you'd stay in bed and have me run around doing everything for you." Itsuki said, carefully choosing his words.

"Nah. I was just a bit out of it. But I'm good now. Sorry for worrying you."

"Sure." Itsuki said before turning around. "I'm gonna get back to work."

Leaving the four of them behind, Itsuki couldn't help but feel a tad bit upset with Subaru. Having given up the previous loop and leaving everything on Itsuki, how else was he supposed to feel?

However, that's a discussion for another time. Right now, Itsuki needed to fill Subaru in on what happened to him and Rem in the previous loop. Rem died exactly as Subaru did the first time they looped in the mansion, having passed in her sleep. As for Itsuki, his body felt as though it was breaking down before he eventually died as well.

Now, more than ever, Itsuki and Subaru needed to combine their knowledge and get passed this loop. This was it. Itsuki refused to loop again. He already knew how to get Rem and Ram to trust him; just do what he did previously should work. At least in theory.

As for the curse, Itsuki would leave that to Subaru since he knew more.

Right now, Itsuki was just going to focus on his work, making sure Rem and Ram would see how hard he was working and slowly begin to trust him.

A few hours later

Sweeping the main staircase, Itsuki was humming to himself once again. As he was about to finish the last step, a sudden explosion echoed from outside of the mansion. Startled, Itsuki rushed up the stairs and looked out the window to see a giant mushroom cloud of black smoke in the courtyard.

Figuring it wasn't anything good, Itsuki dropped the broom and rushed out the door. Running up to the source of the smoke, Itsuki began to slow down to a light jog, then to walking speed as he saw Emilia kneeling over an incapacitated Subaru.

"I think you may want to wait a bit before doing that again." Emilia said.

Approaching the two, along with Puck, Itsuki stopped just a few feet away.

"What was that?"

Puck, using his tail, pointed at Subaru.

"A failed attempt at using magic." Puck answered. "Subaru doesn't have much control over his gate, which caused that massive cloud when he tried to use Shamak."

"Gate..? Shamak..? What're you talking about?"

"Y'know." Puck said, flying over to Itsuki. "A gate! Mana passes through a gate that's in your body. You draw mana in as well as expell it out through that gate. If you want, I can see what your magic attribute is."

"Uh...sure..?" Itsuki said, rubbing his neck.

"Okie dokie!" Puck said as he flew up to Itsuki's head. Pressing the tip of his tail gently in the center of Itsuki's forehead, a sound began to ring out that sounded like something you'd expect to hear when charging up a spell in a game. After a few seconds, Puck flew back. "Wow! I gotta say, I'm impressed."

"What is it?" Itsuki asked.

"You seem to be one lucky individual, Itsuki. You have two attributes: fire and water." Puck said. "With enough training, I'm sure you'd become an excellent magic user."

Itsuki slowly nodded his head.

"So... how exactly do I cast spells?"

"That part's simple." Puck said before glancing at Subaru. "Unless you're him."

"I...heard...that..." Subaru grunted, showing he was out of strength.

"Alright..." Itsuki said as he turned his gaze from Subaru back to Puck. "Care to teach me the basics real quick?"

"Of course!" Puck flew up and landed on top of Itsuki's head. "Alright. Let me explain the different magic you can conjure first. As a fire user, you can summon blazes to incinerate your opponents as well as ice weapons, sorta like what Lia did back in the Lute house."

"Okay..."

"More so, water and fire share most spells, such as Huma, which creates a barrier to protect yourself from projectiles." Puck continued. "However, like every spell, the basic can grow in power. For example: the weakest version of Huma, is just that. However, the second form would be El Huma, then Ul Huma, then Al Huma, with Al Huma being the strongest version. The same goes for any spell you wish to cast. Such as Goa, the basic fire spell. The one after that would be El Goa, then Ul Goa and so on. As for water, it is mainly used for healing, which makes you a rather important person if you ever find yourself in combat. People will rely on you to heal them."

Itsuki remembered how, two loops ago, Rem healed his injured leg with a type of water magic.

"So, what spell can I cast now to train a bit?" Itsuki asked.

"Let's start with Huma. It isn't a destructive spell, and we can test how well you cast it by having Emilia launch a low powered projectile at you." Puck said.

"What?"

"Don't worry. If you get hurt, it'll be another opportunity to test your healing magic." Puck said. "Trust me, Emilia is a good shot, so she'll most likely hit your leg."

"Right..."

"Okay!" Puck said. "Now, let's begin. Visualize the flow of mana through your body. Then expell a part of it out of your body through your gate. Got it?"

"Alright..."

"Lia!" Puck shouted, getting her attention. Looking over, Itsuki saw Emilia had moved Subaru under one of the small structures. "When I say, would you mind launching a low powered spell at Itsuki here?"

"Huh? Now why would I do that?" Emilia asked as she approached.

"To test his magic." Puck replied. "Don't worry about hurting him. If you do, I'll teach him how to use healing magic."

"Okay..." Emilia said, unsure.

"Alright, Itsuki. Try to use Huma."

Closing his eyes, Itsuki did as told and visualized the flow of mana. After a few seconds, Itsuki raised his left hand, opening his eyes as he looked at Emilia.

"Now!" Puck shouted.

"Huma!"

Just as Itsuki said that, a light blue force field surrounded him. Once it did, Emilia held her hand out and an icicle launched towards Itsuki. Upon contact with the force field, the magic spell Itsuki used shattered like glass as the icicle broke through and pierced his right shoulder.

Gritting his teeth, Itsuki stumbled back, losing his balance and falling onto his side as blood seeped from the freshly made wound. As Itsuki looked to the icicle, it slowly melted, giving him the relief of not having to pull it out of his shoulder.

"Itsuki!" Emilia rushed over, kneeling beside him. "Are you okay?!"

"He'll be alright." Puck said. "If he can't muster the mana to heal himself, we can heal him."

Slowly sitting up, Itsuki held his left hand to his shoulder. "Damn..."

"Itsuki, I'm-!"

Closing his eyes, Itsuki didn't hear what else Emilia said as he began to visualize the mana in his body. "Mana of water: heal... this damaged body." He said as he winced.

A blue orb formed in Itsuki's palm as he successfully cast his healing magic. Within seconds, his wound closed as if it were never there.

"Wow, Itsuki. I'm impressed!" Puck said. "I didn't even have to tell you what spell to use."

Itsuki's eyes shot open as he realized his mistake. "It sort of just came to me." He lied. "Like a voice whispering in my ear."

"Fascinating!" Puck said softly. "Well, I doubt you have much mana left over after that. You should take a break from practicing for today. If you try to force spells while out of mana, you'll most likely end up killing yourself."

Itsuki was taken slightly aback by this.

"I'll...keep that in mind."

A few hours later

Working alongside Rem, Itsuki could once again feel her untrusting gaze fixed on his back. It was a feeling he had hoped to never feel again. And yet, because of the same cure that killed Subaru, here he was, starting over from scratch yet again.

"You are quite the hard worker." Rem said. Itsuki could feel her eyes narrow in distrust. "What made you want to work here again?"

"Because I had nowhere else to go." Itsuki replied honestly. "When Emilia found me, I was homeless and broke. She offered me this job."

Itsuki felt Rem's gaze soften slightly. "It was miss Emilia who approached you?" She asked. "Not the other way around?"

Itsuki nodded his head in reply. "You can even ask her yourself."

"I see." Rem said softly.

This interaction was completely different than before. Rem had never asked Itsuki how he met Emilia.

As the two got back to work, Itsuki's mind began to wander. Thinking about a multitude of things, Itsuki began to think about what magic he may be able to cast once skilled enough. Puck introduced him to magic, but Itsuki would need a teacher to become better. One who had the same magic attributes as himself. If someone in this mansion had the same magic attribute as himself, then maybe Itsuki could knock out two birds with one stone. He could get someone to trust him while strengthening his own magic capabilities.

But who would that-

Itsuki's head suddenly shot up as he realized the perfect person for this. Glancing back at Rem, Itsuki now had another good reason to spend more time with one of the twins. All he had to do was play his cards right.

"Hey, Rem?" Itsuki said softly.

"Yes?"

"So, today in the courtyard, Puck introduced me to magic." Itsuki said. Rem stopped working and looked back at Itsuki over her shoulder. "He told me my attributes and taught me how to control my mana and gate. However, I'll still need to hone my spells. You wouldn't happen to know anyone with water or fire attributes, would you?"

"Water or fire?" Rem repeated. "Well, Lord Roswaal would be the go to person, but he is quite busy at the moment. However, I can teach you water based spells."

"You have the water attribute?" Itsuki asked.

"Yes. If you want, I can begin to teach you tomorrow." Rem offered. "After all of your work is done first."

"Are you sure?" Itsuki asked. "I wouldn't want to be a burden."

"It won't be a problem." Rem said as she continued to work.

Smiling to himself, Itsuki could hardly contain his own emotions. Once again, everything was going smoothly. He was getting good at this.

Some time later

With his work caught up for the day, Itsuki waited outside of Subaru's room for him to return. After just a few short minutes of waiting, Subaru showed up.

"Itsuki. I've been looking for y-"

"We need to talk." Itsuki said as he grabbed Subaru's arm and pulled him into the room.

Stumbling to a stop in the center of the room, Subaru turned around. "What-" he was immediately cut off as Itsuki threw a punch, connecting with Subaru's nose. Holding his face, Subaru winced. "The hell was that for?!"

"You didn't do shit last loop!" Itsuki shouted. "I had to find a way to do everything!" Even though he was yelling, Itsuki made sure to keep his voice low enough so no one outside of the room could hear. "I finally got the twins to trust me, then I fucking died alongside Rem! All because you didn't help! That could've been the last loop but I didn't have my 'partner' there to back me up, you fuckin' selfish fuck!"

"I'm sorry, Itsuki." Subaru said as he continued to rub his nose. "But after getting killed by Rem, I temporarily lost hope. But it's fine now."

"Like hell!" Itsuki shouted. "I sacrificed myself for you, and yet you fuckin' shut down when I'm still working on this shit?! Then, to top it off, in the previous loop, I thought I was gonna stay dead because I assumed you weren't going to get off your ass! So, no! Everything is not fuckin' fine until you look me dead in the eye and promise not to pull that shit again while I'm still fighting!"

Subaru realized how much Itsuki felt betrayed. He hadn't taken the time to think it over from his perspective. In fact, if their roles were switched, Subaru would've probably been just as pissed.

"I promise not to give up hope." Subaru said. "As long as one of us is still fighting, we'll continue forward."

Taking a deep breath, Itsuki calmed himself. "Good." Placing a hand on his hip, Itsuki changed to the situation at hand. "Find anything else out today about the curse?"

"No. But I'll ask Beako tomorrow." Subaru replied. "After using Shamak, I'm pretty much drained." He added with a yawn. "What about you? Any progress with the twins?"

"I've confirmed some time with Rem." Itsuki said. "With our magic attributes being the same, I managed to convince her to help me practice my spells. While she helps, I can strengthen her trust towards us."

"Alright." Subaru nodded. "That'll give me time to focus on Ram while asking Beako about the Shaman."

"Shaman?"

"Did I never tell you?" Subaru asked. Itsuki shook his head in reply. "Beako said it was a Shaman who cursed me. At first, I thought it was Rem. But after seeing you and her both dead by the same curse, that was thrown out the window."

"Any ideas who it might be then?" Itsuki asked.

"No clue. Which is why I'm going to Beako with this tomorrow." Subaru said. "She knows quite a bit and will most likely help lead me to the answer."

"Hm." Itsuki placed a finger and thumb against his chin. "Hey, a bit off topic, but how did you die last loop?"

"Oh... uh..." Subaru rubbed his neck. "After seeing her sister dead, Ram sort of lost it. She began accusing me of killing Rem and lashed out. I had to run into the forest to lose her. I came to a cliffside and thought about jumping but couldn't do it, so I ended up passing out until dusk. After waking up, Beako found me and we talked for a bit. Then Ram found me. I made a contract with Beako to keep me safe until the fifth day, so she was forced to protect me from Ram. But, after thinking it over for a bit, I got the motivation to save everyone, not just Emilia but Rem and you as well. So, I took a running jump off the cliff and fell to my death."

"Hold up." Itsuki said. "I mean, thanks for not letting me stay dead, but you seriously made a contract with the little blonde girl to keep yourself safe?"

"Not my proudest moment but yeah..."

"Dude..." Itsuki stared at Subaru. "You confirmed your own safety while allowing the possibility of me dying? Dick move."

"I know, I kn-"

"Dick. Move." Itsuki crossed his arms. "Whatever. I'm gonna get some sleep. Lemme know what Beatrice comes up with."

"Will do."

With that, Itsuki returned to his own room.

Changing into his sleepwear and crawling under the covers, Itsuki closed his eyes and drifted off.

A few hours later

Tossing and turning in bed, Itsuki was having a nightmare.

Standing in a vale of darkness, Itsuki was surrounded by black smoke. From the smoke approached Rem and Elsa on opposite sides of Itsuki, each one holding their preferred weapon.

Itsuki tried to run but was held in place by the purple arms. Two held his arms while another two held his legs.

Watching the two women approach, Itsuki tried to speak but nothing escaped his lips other than an exhale of breath.

Just as the two reached him, they, along with the arms and smoke, vanished as the song Itsuki usually hummed echoed throughout the vale. The darkness of the vale vanished, replaced by an endless sea of comforting light. The ground beneath Itsuki's feet was replaced by ankle high water.

Everything about this new place was comforting to Itsuki.

As Itsuki looked around, the song was still playing softly, echoing through the vale. Listening more closely to it, Itsuki could tell it wasn't his voice humming but instead that of a woman's.

Outside of his dreams, sitting next to Itsuki's sleeping figure, was Rem. She was gently stroking strands of Itsuki's hair while humming the song Itsuki favored to calm his nightmare. Once he was calm, Rem stood up and quietly left the room.

The next day

Running into Subaru while walking the halls, Itsuki stopped him.

"You talk to Beatrice yet?" Itsuki asked.

"Sure did." Subaru nodded. "She told me that there is one condition to placing a curse on someone."

"Yeah? And what would that be?"

"Physical contact." Subaru answered.

"Physical contact..?" Itsuki repeated as he grabbed his chin with his thumb and index finger. "I don't recall shaking anyone's hand, or touching anyone when me and Rem were cursed."

"You must have been touched by something." Subaru said. "Think. What did you and Rem both touch?"

"Well..." thinking back, Itsuki came up empty. He hadn't been around any of the villagers, and he wasn't even the one who paid for the supplies, Rem was. "No one." Itsuki said. "No one came into physical contact with me."

"Think harder. There might've been something you missed."

"Well..." Itsuki closed his eyes as he thought about that day. "I went to the village with Rem, made plans to look around the village, was bitten by a puppy, bought suppl..." Itsuki trailed off. "The puppy... Rem and I were both bitten by the same dog."

Subaru raised an eyebrow. "You think it's the adorable little pup?"

"It bit you as well, didn't it?"

"Well, sure. But it can't be the dog. I mean, it's a dog." Subaru said.

"Only one way to be sure then." Itsuki said. "One of us will have to get bit."

Hours later

Walking into the kitchen, Subaru stopped. "Is there anything we need from the village?" He asked the twins. "Any supplies we need?"

Ram turned to face Subaru. "What makes you ask so suddenly?"

"I was just thinking we could stock up today." Subaru said. "Rem and I could run in and be back quick."

"Uh..." Rem glanced around.

"I don't see why not." Ram said.

"Huh?"

"Since the work today is finished, you and Subaru can make a quick supply run." Ram said.

"Yes!" Subaru cheered.

"Also, since mine and Itsuki's work is done as well, we will be coming along too." Ram added. "The two of you will each have a beautiful flower on your arms."

Subaru's attitude suddenly changed a bit. He wasn't as nearly as excited as a few moments ago.

"I'm fine with that." Itsuki said.

"Yeah... let's just hope those flowers aren't... poisonous."

End of chapter 10