A/N: Welcome to my first fanfic. Hope everyone will enjoy the short event Subaru will have to overcome.
"Subaru." Rem nudges Subaru's arm. "Subaru needs to wake up before sister gets mad at you."
"Morning, Rem." Subaru rubs his eyes. Despite being woken up late, he managed to secure a good night's rest with a good dream for once. The date with Emilia yesterday calmed his nerves and made him feel peaceful. "Sorry, how long did I slept? I rarely stay asleep for this long." Subaru gets off from his bed and stretches.
"Well, Subaru, it has been about ten minutes past the time Subaru is supposed to show up. However, judging from Subaru's sleeping face, Rem has to assume Subaru had a pleasant dream that prevented him from waking up." Rem giggles softly.
Subaru chuckled a little. "Well, Rem, I guess it was somewhat true. Did not a good night's rest for the past few weeks. Tell Ram that I will be there soon."
"Rem will see Subaru later," said Rem as she left Subaru's room.
Subaru quickly prepared for his morning duties and rushed towards the kitchen since he was supposed to help Rem and Ram prepare breakfast. As Subaru entered the kitchen, he was met with a displeased Ram waiting at the door with Rem finishing the last touches on one of the breakfast dishes. Judging from her facial expression, Subaru quickly went into an apologizing state. "Sorry Ram, I-."
"Barusu." Ram quickly cuts off Subaru's apology. "Thanks to Barusu's lateness, sister and I almost finish making breakfast. Take the plates to the dining room. Also, Barusu is only getting steamed potatoes for breakfast as punishment."
Subaru was surprised by Ram's weaker stance of belittlement and punishment against himself. The only thing that changed today was getting good rest for once. Rem might have influenced Ram slightly. "Not again, Ram. I'm on it." Subaru took the plates and headed to the door. Right before heading out, Ram called out to him.
"Also, Barusu, we are running low on some ingredients, so, with my permission, you can take my beloved sister with you to the village."
"Ram can definitely count on me!" exclaimed Subaru.
Ram gave Subaru a concerned look as she started to clean up the kitchen. "With that tone, I worry if Barusu will defile sister by being next to her."
"Hey!" said Subaru with an annoyed look. Any influence Rem left on Ram for sure dried up. However, Subaru became used to Ram's antics as it never became old.
"Sister, Subaru isn't that bad," giggled Rem. "Same time, Subaru?"
"Same time, as usual, Rem," said Subaru as he left the kitchen.
The designated time was two hours after lunch that both Subaru and Rem agreed on. The time was decided due to the frequent visits the two and occasionally disguised Emilia made to make room in their day. All of their work would mostly be completed for a few hours before duties for dinner.
Hurrying outside the mansion, Subaru found Rem waiting for him and walked towards her.
"Sorry, Rem, did you wait long? Ram gave me an earful right before I left." Subaru made a nervous chuckle and rubbed the back of his head. "It the usual work-related mess up."
Rem smiled back in amusement. "Just on time, Subaru. Rem ensures that sister did it for a good cause. Let's go, Subaru," said Rem as she turned around towards the village. Subaru walked along with Rem on their walk towards the mansion. "Subaru, Rem knows this might be a bit too soon to ask, but how was your date with Emilia?"
Subaru expressed some shock from Rem's question, but his pride in getting a date with Emilia overtook his emotions. The date was a topic he would gladly boast out for everyone to hear if he had friends to show off. Ever since Subaru came to this world, the date was one of the best payouts from his Return from Death experiences, so he was happy to explain it in detail.
"I took Emilia to a secret area the kids at the village told me about," said Subaru as he begins to express his happy memory. "The secret spot was a grand field of beautiful flowers. The sight was extremely breathtaking that I might revisit the area to relax." Subaru's grin grew wider as he gave the details. "Emilia and I held a picnic there and had a great time getting to know each other better a bit more."
"The date sounded wonderful, Subaru. Emilia would have a great time with Subaru," said Rem as she smiled back. "Also, Subaru, Rem might be imposing on the significance of Subaru's date with Emila, but Rem is interested in seeing the beauty of the secret venue. Would Subaru be willing to take Rem there one day?" asked Rem with a flustered face. "Rem meant tagging along if Subaru decides to revisit the area to relax."
Rem's question stumped Subaru about the significance of the secret field. Back in Japan, there were many areas that couples, friends, or family visit regardless of others, so Subaru considered heading there together to relax and take in the scenery. "No worries, Rem. It's a public area in the first place," Subaru chuckled, "Once we get a day off, I'll bring you there. It's a promise."
Rem's face begins to brighten as Subaru accepts the idea. "Thank you, Subaru. Rem will look forward to it." Rem paused for a few seconds and turned fully to face Subaru. "Be sure to remind Rem when that day comes as Rem will prepare lunch for the trip. Rem wants to thank Subaru for allowing Rem to come along," said Rem as she gave Subaru a big smile. "It's a promise as well."
Subaru pondered about his promise Rem due to being similar to his date with Emilia. However, the purpose of the next visit with Rem compared to Emila held different purposes. Regardless, he enjoys Rem's cooking.
The two continued having small talk consisting of work in the mansion or Rem teaching Subaru a few things about this world until they reached the village. They greeted the villagers and split off. Rem would buy the ingredients while Subaru played with the kids. After a hard day of work in the mansion, playing with the kids was essential to unwind until Rem calls him back. The kids being very attached to Subaru and Rem knowing prices better than Subaru were the two main reasons for the temporary split from each other.
"Subaru! Rem has finished buying the ingredients," called Rem ten minutes later.
"I'm coming over soon, Rem." Subaru faced the kids and said his goodbyes to them, and in turn, the kids waved goodbye. Subaru went over toward Rem to help carry what he could while Rem handled the rest. Compared to Rem, Subaru held a lot less but understood the difference in strength between the two, especially in combat powers. However, given some time and training, Subaru believed he would be decent in combat. The mabeast incident and his weakened gate stung his pride of being useful.
Both Rem and Subaru headed towards the trail to the mansion. For Subaru, he felt at ease with how peaceful the day has passed as it became late in the afternoon.
"Subaru, what happened that made dear sister mad at Subaru before our trip to the village?" Rem asked on their way to the mansion as she made a few giggling noises. "Rem hope Subaru didn't do anything serious."
Thinking back, Subaru messed up pruning the plants, so Ram gave him an earful. "I managed to mess up pruning a plant," Subaru sheepishly replied. "Honesty, I need more practice judging from what Ram said, so Rem, could I get some lessons from you when we get back?" Subaru admitted that he still has much to learn from Rem and Ram in becoming a butler.
"After sister and Rem finish teaching you about cooking, Rem would help," said Rem as she tried not to laugh. "Rem does not want Subaru to become overworked like the first week."
Confidently, Subaru will not let that happen again. "Don't wor-."
Suddenly, Subaru felt a sharp blade connect on his neck. In an instant, pain flared around his neck, and the cut was so clean that Subaru registered his beheading late. Subaru's head flung off from his body and landed hard on the ground. At the same time, Subaru saw Rem's face changed from happiness to distraught.
"SUBARU!" screamed Rem with wide eyes as she whipped out her morning star.
The last thought he ran through his mind was regret. It was the regret of the peaceful days ending, the wasted progress, and the promise with Rem. Everything snatched away from him again in his continued hell.