Re:Circuit (Redux)
Chapter 10: Piercing despair with the blade in my hands
Actualizing a pseudo possession where the heroic spirit's power over writes my body, but not the mind.
According to the voice, this is a safer way to use him, however the pain will feel far more intense.
I needed a weapon, the broken sword and the blade are not good enough.
"Trace… on"
Pain shot trough my entire body, like electricity.
I stifled my desire to scream, I gritted my teeth as I swallowed the pain.
Pain = life, me being alive means I can still fight.
In my hands now lay a pair of swords.
A white one and a black one with red hexagonal patterns.
They felt familiar, as if they were extensions of my own body.
I threw one of them at the hoard of beasts.
The white blade flew with high speeds rotating as fast as a circlesaw.
It cut threw 6 of them and kept going, however then it made a turn, the damn thing had an auto honing function of sorts?
No, it was being drawn to the black one!
The married swords, Kanshou and Bakuya!
The hell?! Legendary weapons right from the get go?!
Not gonna complain about that! Let's kick ass!
Rushing I used the black blade I slashed left and right, careful about my position, keeping my body as low as possible to avoid overhead attacks.
6 mabeasts rushed from my blindspots.
Only it wasn't truly a blind spot, I purposely left it open and used the reflective qualities of the black blade, and made the white blade fly black and struck at a few of them, moving my body to slash 2 more and using that to move out of the way, while delivering a roundhouse kick to one that tried to sneak attack me, a sickening but delightful crunch could be heard as my steel toed boots caved in its cranium.
These blades cut through these beasts like a hot knife through butter.
An upper slash there and a vertical one there, I cut one more, using that movement I did a follow through and did a horizontal slash to slice at another beast.
They're too many to keep in melee.
A powerful howl!
There was magic in it, enhancing the other beasts and attempting to lower my defences by actualising fear.
The swords however enhanced my resistance to magic.
The boss of them came, it was the small puppy, only it truly was not a puppy. Its body bloated and changed into an exact replica of the others, however many MANY times bigger.
"I always wondered, where did the extra mass comes from?"
I threw both blades with all my might, they buzzed trought the night.
These were not the only ones I could have…
I once again turned my already stressed circuits and actualized magecraft and a new set were freshly made. I threw them as well.
The swords began to change directions, creating a treacherous trap for the beasts as they would fly and be attracted and repulsed by their copies and polar opposites.
Jumping further back I concentrated in a memory of the power I was now emulating.
A black bow.
And the ammo it shot.
However the attack would be too much, I had to hide this power… but how?
The beast had no magical protection, only its body which was further enhanced by it.
Grendel Grendel… can you see?
A sword… a sword used to slay beasts such as this.
A sword used by a hero of Herot, who later became a king.
A weapon who becomes stronger and its hits grow more surer as it draws the blood of the enemy.
Actualization of the miracle.
For that smile…
To stop those tears…
For the sake of Emilia-tan.
For all the villagers.
"Let's dance in the world of shadows, let's enjoy the banquet hall of night… SHAAAMACK!" I yelled as to make myself look cool, but then inwardly cringing at how chunibyo that sounded.
Actualizing the magic I covered it all with a dark blanket of smoke.
I could not see, I could not hear, all I could sense was the ground beneath my feet.
Yet the sword knew the way.
I hacked and slashed my way threw the hoards of monsters… then the blade begun to shine a dark deep red that could be seen even throught this magic.
The Hound of the Red Plains
Chasing after the targets with unerring accuracy.
However I had to be quick, my body felt like it would break away any minute. With shamack active I was burning fumes. My circuits were now on fire, my body feeling like it was burning from the inside, like a furnace.
I received many attacks that managed to get me either by luck or by their innate instinct as beasts but I was now riddled with puncture wounds and slashed skin. A few particular lucky hits managed to get quite deep even when I had reinforced my clothes and body.
The beasts continued their relentless attacks, many wounds now reflected on my body as I continued to pile wound over wound. They felt anxious, fear even...maybe.
The sword was shining with a dark red light, it was fully charged.
"Lets go Hrunting… towards the big one...is time for you to shine in this new world so all these beasts know to fear you!" I yelled.
I coughed blood, my body trembling from pain, tears flowed freely but I could not, WOULD NOT stop.
Shamack ran out.
The huge mabeast was shivering in primal fear, understanding that in front of him was a weapon that was a bane to creatures such as itself.
Even if it understood that the person using said weapon could be killed effortlessly, the image of the man holding the sword superimposed on the kid made it step back.
I walked with a slow gait, my body covered in a lot of blood and covered with a myriad of wounds.
"Grendel Grendel, can't you see? Go and hunt into the red bloody plains… SIC IM... HRÜNTING"
My body was enveloped in an aura that increased my power and speed, I appeared in the blink of the eye in front of the beast.
"HAAAAAAAAAA!" I yelled as I pierced its througt.
The attack went through completely eviscerating the head from the body.
I gracefully landed as the monster began to spew its blood like a fountain, bathing me in its blood.
The sword, and the copies of Kanshou and Bakuya began to break down into motes of lights.
"Myyy, my, myyy, who would have thooought that a mere Shamak, used chiefly for smokescreens, could be employed with this much impaaact?"
The man floated down from the sky, a flippant smile on his face.
His long indigo hair swayed in the wind. His eyes were oddly colored: one blue, one yellow. He wore a bizarre outfit over his tall, slender body. The clownish lord, mightiest magic user in all the kingdom, Roswaal, had arrived.
Upon landing, Roswaal brushed off his pant legs and swept his long hair behind him as he looked down at me.
"Ohhhh, you look rather teeerrible, I must saaay."
"You're super late to the party, Rozchi. How many times do you think I thought I was gonna die there?" I said as the actualization of a quasi pseudo servant ritual concluded once the enemies had been slayed.
It was definitely more than a handful.
After flinging abuse, I lost my strength; I fell down then and there, not even strong enough to get up on my knees. I was tired physically and magically.
"You sure figured out where I was, though." I said from the floor.
"Ah, that is because of what Lady Emilia pounded iiinto me at the viiillage. She said, 'Even if it's crazy and reckless, if he's backed into a corner he'll probably use magic, so don't you dare miss it from the sky.'"
"Damn it, Beako…you let Emilia figure it out real quick."
Apparently Beatrice had not been up to the task. Perhaps it was for the better, given how Roswaal had miraculously entered the fray at the last moment.
I thought over the circumstances when a voice sounded in my ears.
"Master Roswaal—!"
I saw Ram, who'd taken a detour around the now ruined forest area, cutting through some thickets. Rem was leaning on her shoulder as Ram's expression melted in Roswaal's presence.
"I am sorry to have caused you so much trouble."
"Oh no, that is quite fiiine. Indeed, you have done veeery well in my absence."
Blushing hard at the words of praise, Ram pressed a hand to her chest as she made a solemn nod.
Watching the exchange between them, I let out a deep sigh of relief.
"—Subaru!"
Rem suddenly rushed over and embraced Subaru, drawing a sharp cry from his throat.
"Guh!"
Before my eyes, blue hair swayed right next to his face. The soft sensations in so many places made me understand the circumstances. In any other context, I'd be overjoyed, but right now I was paying for using that trump card.
"Rem, my body's banged up all over the… Ah, my mind's kinda…"
Maybe she couldn't control her feelings, but she was hugging him with all her might. Every wound on my body began to cry out as I desperately tried to pat Rem's back to appeal to her. But—"You're alive. You're still alive. Subaru, Subaru…Subaru!"
Rem was too overcome with emotion to notice how I was reacting.
I felt her press her face against my chest and her warm teardrops flowing down her cheek. A wide range of ticklish sensations struck me, well beyond the capacity of my brain to deal with at the moment.
In other words—
"Oh man…not this…again…"
As I spoke, my head slowly tilted forward, my neck no longer able to support itself.
My mind grew distant. The voices grew faint. Finally…
"Go ahead and sleep. When you awaken, I must thank you in all earnestly. At the very least, rest assured I shall eliminate that which threatens you."
…someone's voice sounded in his ears, serious and devoid of clownish affect.
Feeling a deeper sense of security, I gently let go of lucidity.
Until the moment I fell asleep, I reveled in the warmth of the embrace and the relief of finally receiving it.
My consciousness sank into a river of unconsciousness.
"You did quite well, but you need to improve much more, after all, this is just the prelude of things to come" the voice warned."rest easily… you will get more arduos training once you recovered"
Inside Subaru
I dreamt… I dream of fire and blades, of blood and tears. Of lies and deceit. Of love and heartbreak.
A war fought for a wish.
A free far all no holds barred death fight.
7 servants, 7 masters
The death and glory for a single wish granting device.
Only… said device had been corrupted.
It could only grant wishes via destruction.
To wish for world peace would be granted by completely annihilating any intelligent life on earth, as an example.
The voice was a servant, yet also a participant at the same time.
2 persons from different timelines, a possibility.
That branch kept diving itself further.
I saw the shadow of a small girl with Kanshou and Bakuya, a tall man with a similar outfit to what I used before, another with an altered uniform but the same hairstyle as the one before, and then one who had glowing golden lines in his body and a buzz cut, in his hands he had 2 guns.
All of them different, all of them the same…
From the root of it all.
A young boy with red hair, and the paths that reached different results.
Except the girl, for some reason it was a branch, or rather like it was implanted, like not a real part of him, yet intrinsically one as well.
A path to glory/ruin
A path to salvation/death
I reached out to those figures, with a heartfelt plea.
"Please… help me protect them"
And a torrent of light entered my body.
"Make sure you dont regret it… onii-chan" a cute girlish voice said.
1 week later
My arm twitched… I felt like I hit my head with a wall many many times, I felt an electric tingling sensation all over my body.
"Since it hurts so much… I must be alive… right?" I thought to myself.
"That would be true, however even if the case is as such, any competent magus could keep you in a suspended loop between life and death, making you feel but not being able to do anything, congratulations are in order for being able to use my power for ten minutes, you have much to learn to be fully able to use my power and abilities, but being able to do so for that amount of time, it is encouraging, obviously your returning skill makes it that you can get more skilled and be able to learn your limit and grow, you are able to survive lethal mistakes, so you might just make it" the voice said.
"That sounds more like you expect me to keep dying before I make any real headway" I said to the voice annoyed at his flippant attitude.
"Well. that is what I think, so I will not comment any further on that"
"You just did you bastard"
I felt the voice smile.
"Anyways, you at least deserve to know the class that I am" the voice said.
I listened expectantly "servant of the bow… Archer class, that is what I am" he said.
Wait…
Magical swords, ability to spam them.
HOW THE HELL IS HE AN ARCHER?!
"The archer class is NOT solely made of archers, as I, and others servants have proven, you dont become a hero by being predictable… anyways that's as much as you earned, let's see if you will be able to earn my True Name" he said with a smirk as he vanished.
I woke up, a dainty hand was holding mine a face by my lap.
Rem, apaprnelry had been comming to my room ever since I passed out, even Ram cane by from time to time as well as Beatrice and Emilia-tan, to check my condition.
Even Roswaal came from time to time, unable to forget the magical pressure of that attack, even if he was not able to see it, be sure felt it.
I noticed a few spells designed to keep track of my magic level and where I am at any time.
Due to the sheer quantity of power used in this, I would be unable to flush it out, as I had to have a power equal to or just as great as the spell afflicting me, also while it sounded bad, it just made sure the one seeing me was aware of my magical levels and location, intrusive? Hell yes! But lethal? Not really.
Most of my wounds, at least the most lethal ones had healed, just needed to have a good healing mage to fix my dislocated ankle, shoulder and fix a few cracked ribs and I would be right as rain… not! I still have to recover from the internal bleeding as well!
While I would LOVE to say "hey, blood is supposed to be inside, right?" It would be both in bad taste and really stupid.
I pushed myself up blinking so my eyes adjusted to the light, it was my room in the mansion.
Arms, check, legs, check...nothing missing.
"Uhh… to see you awake like this after such a long time, your resilience sure is surprising" voice said.
"Ah, Puck! It's good to see you" I said smiling sincerely.
He floated in front of me looking at me.
"Uhmm… how odd, I was sending a great power of an Ancient Class spirit that could surpass even myself, but everytime I sensed it it faded, it felt like a game of hide and seek this whole time, I was trying to see if it was a malignant thing or not, thankfully it was not, yet… how is a power so great related to you?" He asked.
"Man, even if you ask, I really have no clue what you are talking about, wait… power? What power?" I asked.
"So it's true, you don't know anything, well that just reassures me that you are indeed a good person, thank you for your deeds, by protecting the villagers it also increased Lia's reputation favorably, once more I am in your debt" Puck said with a light bow.
I placed my finger on his forehead and lightly poked it.
"Why would you thank me? Aren't you, Emilai-tan, Rem, Ram, the villagers and Roswaal my friends? Why wouldn't I try to do what I can?" I said.
Puck blinked, then smiled "honestly… I wished more humans were like you are Subaru… them maybe Lia wouldn't… well that's enough of that, little Rem kept comming every time she had free time to take care of you, it really freaked us out when golden light came from your most lethal wounds you had, it seems it healed you, but on some parts where the damage was soo deep even muscle was cut and thorn, however you had freaking BLADES forming muscles out of themselves… BLADES! I never seen any healing that is so suicidal and work… you either a very lucky person or just plain stupid to heal those things that way" Puck said as Rem begun to stir awake.
"I did WHAT?! First if all I have 0 ability with healing magic my element is darkness remember? I am a debuff 'specialist' and I say that with air quotes cause the only spell I know is shamack." I said.
"Yet you did quite a fine job with that huge Ulgram, I saw the cut, very precise and fast, so much that even the cells were cut rather than split… how did you do that?" Puck asked.
I was conflicted, should I tell him?
The voice was silent, as to say, "this is all up to you"
"Well, it would be in poor taste to pry secrets from you after what you did, but a word if advice, train harder, if this power you have did this… it's much better you enhance the capacity of your body as to be able to handle it, I will tell you where you should go if you require specialized help with the training as it is not my forte, I was born strong, but as someone who had a long life you learn things and I will tell you were you can go to help your growth be faster"
"Seriously? I would like to do that when I can, but I can't even do housework like this for at least two more weeks."
"That is true… which is why we shall be going to the capital, oh? It seems Rem-chan is awake… I will talk to you later… bye bye" he said as he vanished.
The bed stirred as Rem who finally woke up began to cry and hugged me once more, while still in pain as my nerves felt tender, I endured it.
"Sorry to have worry you… Rem" I said.
It was only as he spoke that he realized his right shoulder, the same side as the hand Rem was holding, was in its socket. Even when he put weight on it, there was no ache. He felt no malaise from the scars all over his body where fangs had punctured his flesh. This world's healing magic can do anything, thought Subaru.
"Subaru, I am sorry."
In spite of my optimistic judgment, Rem bent forward at the waist and bowed her head before him.
"Hey, hey," I said with a wave of his hand, not able to grasp why Rem would be apologizing to him.
"Lift your head up, Rem. My body's fine; there's nothing bad about it. I'm in perfect condition."
"That is…not true whatsoever. Certainly the visible wounds have been healed, and fortunately, you need not be concerned about aftereffects hindering normal, everyday life. But…"As her words broke off, a bitter shadow came over Rem's face.
"The scars remain…not only on the body but the heart as well. Also, due to repeated healing, your body's mana is on the verge of running dry."
"Ahh, that's why my body's a little sluggish… But that's not a big problem, is it? Scars on the body are a man's medals as long as they're not on the back. And I'm pretty tough when it comes to mental scars."
I pointed my thumb at myself as I smiled to drive away Rem's pangs of guilt.
I wasn't making it up. If my heart had been naive enough to have been broken beyond repair, I'd never have made it to that morning to have Rem holding my hand like that.
After all, I'd undergone wounds to my spirit that could very well have made me unable to look Rem in the eye again.
I gazed at Rem intently.
She had short blue hair. Her face was more the "lovely" than "pretty" type. At first, I thought she showed little emotion on her face, but she was coming around on that bit by bit. I wasn't afraid of her. I wasn't afraid of her at all.
There was a Rem who had made me loop more than once, but here was a Rem happy from the bottom of her heart that I had come back alive. It was all by chance.
There was the Rem who ran amok for her sister's sake, the Rem who acted rashly to protect me, the Rem who ran off before switching to Berserker Mode so that she wouldn't cause friendly fire—
"You may look like you have it all together, but you really aren't the calm type at all, are you, Rem?"
In everyday life at the mansion, Rem had exceptionally sound, rational decision-making ability. But in a fast-moving crisis, Rem's thoughts also moved quickly, making her hasty and rash.
I wasn't really one to talk about snap judgments, but in Rem's case, it was scary how she held a hammer only to see every problem as a nail. I had experienced that firsthand.
When I pointed that out, Rem froze for a moment before making a listless, low bow.
"I…understand."
Her murmur seemed like the first drop to break the dam of feelings she held inside her.
"I am powerless, talentless, and a reject of the demon race. That is why I could never live up to Sister. I was so slow-footed compared to Sister, and I could not think of any way to catch up beyond running faster."
Rem covered her face with her free hand, continuing her confession as if squeezing it out of herself.
"Sister did everything better. Sister never blundered. Sister never wavered. Sister was right about everything. Sister… If it was Sister, she…"
Rem's words trailed off as she meekly looked up at me.
What rested in her eyes were not tears but hollow resignation and despair.
"I was always Sister's…substitute. I've always, always been inferior. Truly, I am a good-for-nothing. I could not catch up to Sister no matter how much I chased after her."
—Faint tears abruptly welled up in her eyes.
"Why was I the one to keep my horn? Why wasn't it Sister? Why was Sister born with only one? Why…? Why were Sister and I twins?"
Rem's lips trembled as she sought meaning for her very existence.
The tears welling in her eyes rolled onto her cheeks, making Rem's pale flesh glimmer in sorrow.
I held his silence. Rem seemed unable to bear the quiet, hastily wiping the tears off her cheek. She spoke rapid-fire, trying to take back her preceding statements.
"I…I am sorry. I said some very odd things. Please forget them. This is the first time I have said such strange things to anyo—"
"Hey, Rem."
I called her name, cutting her words off midway.
Rem was afraid of what I would say now that I had broken my silence but lifted her face nonetheless.
And so, I said to her…
"From everything I've heard from you, you're a pretty big idiot."
"—Eh?"
"I can think of three stupid things about you. Can you guess what they are?"
Rem's eyes quivered, unable to grasp the meaning behind my words. I smiled at her reaction and raised a finger in front of Rem.
"Can't be helped, then. The first stupid thing is…you're going overboard given the fact that I was actually, you know, saved. You see me waving right before your eyes, right? I have both legs on and everything, not only that but I also broke the curses they gave me, you did not have to go, however I still appreciate the gesture, albeit I am a bit miffed it turned this way"
Rem realized that Subaru was speaking in regards to her confession but meekly shook her head even so.
"That is…justifying after the fact…"
"A wise man once said, 'All's well that ends well.' To be honest, I think my version is a lot more on target than trying to grade every part along the way. That leads me to the second stupid thing, which is you trying to carry everything on your shoulders by yourself."
With a wink, I raised a second finger.
"Now, I'm super happy you flew off the handle like that for my sake, but everything has a time and a place. To begin with, if you'd talked to other people about it, we'd probably have come up with a better way, also it was needless as you should you waited for me to wake up you saw me break the curses, so why wouldn't I be able to break mine as well?"
Where hunting the demon beasts was concerned, it was crystal clear that I had a point. Rem, unable to refute me, lowered her eyes as if ashamed of her own impulsiveness. Of course, my criticism was something that could be said only in hindsight. But Rem did not realize that even the tiniest bit, nor did she realize I was sticking out his tongue just a little.
"As for the third… You know what it is, Rem?"
"I…do not understand at all. I am always insufficient; I can never reach as far as—"
"Yes, that. That's the third stupid thing."
I pointed at Rem and how she never missed a chance to put herself down.
Then I raised a third finger and waved the three about.
"Rem, just because she's your older sister, you build her up and put yourself down to where it almost kills you… I don't think Ram's always in a stronger position than you, okay? Her stamina's worse than yours, her cooking's lousy, she slacks off work, she makes snide comments… I suppose she thinks a little too much, too?"
In my mind, Ram's specs were a long way from the pillar of perfection Rem spoke of. She was an older sister with talents behind her younger sister in every area. Surely the sisters themselves were well aware of this. That was what I supposed, but Rem shook her head, rejecting his suggestions.
"N-no…you are wrong. Sister is truly… If she had her horn, you would never judge her so—"
"But Ram doesn't have her horn. So I don't know a Ram like that."
I, cutting off Rem's attempt to firmly deny herself, continued.
"The Ram I know is just like I described. She can't hold a candle to you or even me in cooking, sewing, cleaning, politeness, or the way she talks—well, I don't think that last part is a bad thing, really, I do enjoy our verbal spars, but that's besides the point..."
It wasn't bad to butt heads with her over her haughty manner of speaking from time to time. To me, the distance between him and Ram was more comfortable as we spoke more like friends or even normal coworkers at worst.
"It's probably only you who's worked up about whether she has a horn or not. Comparing someone else's good points and your own bad points just gets you bent out of shape."
"—"
"Whatever she doesn't have, you have. So accept it already… You're gentle, a hard worker, always doing your best, and your breasts are bigger than Ram's, too—"
"—!"
"Ow! Hey, don't smack me with tears in your eyes like that!" I said chuckling a bit and wincing inwardly in pain.
I recalled his brief conversation with Ram in the forest. There, he had learned that Ram wasn't particularly hung up any longer on what she had lost as a demon, to the point where I believed Ram wanted Rem to get over it, too.
—I was not arrogant enough to think that was a problem that I was capable of fixing. In the end, I was just a mouthy young man lacking the length or depth of life experience to handle the job and thus had to get help from the voice to do the more specialized housework chores. A lecture from someone like me wasn't going to get me anywhere.
I put no pressure on myself. I imagined no gravitas in my words. It was simply something in me that refused to compromise: the idea that, in the end, you didn't get the answer from someone else—you had to just roll up your sleeves and do it yourself.
So I was simply conveying to Rem his exceptionally simple feelings about the matter.
"If it wasn't for you, I'd be dead and dog food right now. I'm safe and sound because you were there. I'm alive now thanks to you. That's your doing, not your sister's."
"…Truly, Sister could have done it better."
I poured cold water on her weak rebuttal as I brought my left hand over my right, which still held Rem's hand.
"Maybe she could have…but you were the one there for me."
When Rem gasped and lifted her face, I put enough gratitude into his voice to make myself blush.
"I'm glad you were there for me, Rem. Thank you."
"—!"
A choked sob escaped Rem's throat at his words. After that, Rem turned her face aside so that I would not see the look on it.
"I…I have always been a substitute for Sister…"
"Stop defining yourself with lonely words like that, all right? You and Ram are different genres. I mean, she's the older sister and you're the younger sister—sometimes you're gonna clash."
There would always be differences between the two. Each had their unique good points.
Whether Rem understood what he was saying or not, my encouragement made Rem squeeze her eyes shut.
"Well, I haven't really asked why she lost her horn, and since I didn't ask I don't know. I don't know, so I don't want to talk like I do, so…"
I put my left hand on the upper part of his own forehead—patting it right where Rem's horn grew out of hers.
"Ram doesn't have her horn, and you have yours, so you can just do whatever she would need a horn for. You can just be two demons getting along great. There's nothing stronger than love between beautiful sisters, right?"
"…Ah…"
"So I mean, you said you were a substitute, but Ram has no substitute for you, does she? I mean, if you weren't there for her, can you imagine the state she'd be in?"
Rem, aghast, didn't know this, but I had seen such a future. I had seen Ram, despairing at the death of her younger sister, go mad and use all her remaining strength for the sake of vengeance at the unfairness of the world. Crying on my shoulder, thankful for my effort of attempting to save her sister.
"…But…"
Yet even so, Rem did not simply nod in agreement.
"I get it. So, how about we do this? You have an idealized Ram inside you that you can never compare to no matter what you do. Let's take that ideal Ram you have on a pedestal and send her packing."
"That is…easier said than done. I have always compared myself to—"
"That's why I want you to listen to how I rate her. My rating's based on reality, not the ideal. Just so you know…I don't have any talent for reading the mood at all, so I just call 'em like I see 'em, no flattery or mercy. What you see is what you get." I smiled at Rem, grinning as I stroked her blue hair. It tickled her, but she merely narrowed her eyes, drawing a small sigh out of me.
"Where I come from, they say, 'Talking about the future makes a demon laugh,' so…"
Rem said nothing and merely tilted her head a bit as I continued caressing her head and speaking.
"Laugh, Rem. Don't make a glum face. Laugh. Let's laugh and talk about the future. Let's make up for all that living in the past you've been doing and talk about what's to come. I mean, even if we start with tomorrow."
"…Tomorrow?"
"Yes, tomorrow. Anything's good, all right? Like, whether it'll be Japanese or Western food for breakfast tomorrow, or even if you're going to put on your right shoe or your left shoe first. It doesn't matter how trivial, there'll be a tomorrow, so we can talk about it. How about it?"
I spread my arms, prodding Rem for an answer.
Rem hesitated to reply for a while before lowering her brows with a conflicted look.
"I am…very weak…so I will most likely lean on you a great deal."
"What's wrong with that? I'm weak, too. I'm not very smart, I'm not good-looking, and I can't read the mood, which gets me down even when I'm the one saying it, but I still get by because the people around me help me. We just have to lean on one another and move forward."
She had been unable to see a path for her to walk because she insisted on putting anything and everything onto her own shoulders. The least I could do was offer my two empty hands and make the walk forward that much easier.
If you couldn't see ahead by yourself, you just needed someone to share the burden with as you moved forward. That's how he felt, anyway.
"So let's laugh, hug each other, and talk about tomorrow. I've always dreamed of laughing with a demon and talking about the future, anyway."
"…You truly are possessed by a demon."
"You bet." And something else as well...
I closed one eye with the corner of his lips curled up. Rem apparently couldn't resist making a small smile herself.
She laughed, and as she laughed, tears poured out of the corners of her eyes. The seemingly endless tears poured out, flowing and flowing, but Rem continued to laugh even so.
Rem laughed, Rem cried, Rem buried her face in a pillow to suppress her laughing, sobbing voice. Even so, her mirthful, tearful voice quietly filled the room.
I gently caressed Rem's hair the whole while, my right hand grasping hers.
Softly, softly, he stroked her hair.
Over imposed on her was a young girl with long flowing hair of the color purple, a gentle smile…
"Sakura… I see… so that too was my own failure at not noticing her…"
She smiled at the voice and gave him a wink and then vanished… as if it was just an illusion.
"Help him...sempai"
The voice felt distraught as he felt something shift in his spirit graph… a new data had been uploaded into him.
"Even now, you are so kind… I never deserved having meet you"
In his hands lay nothing more than all her knowledge of the 6th imaginary element.
Subaru would have a LOT to learn and train once he got better.
Chapter end