Summary:

Something has happened, Subaru can feel it. He just doesn't know what.

Authors Notes:

You guys might have forgotten but in Reactionist's fic, Emilia's camp was abducted when they were on their way to meet Ana in Pristella, there is a mention of it in the chapter so I'm telling you beforehand so that you guys won't feel clueless. You guys are Bakas after all.

So, before anyone starts throwing facts like Earth has 195 countries not 193, I only included the members of UN. Or that it has more than 7.5 billion people rather than just 7 billion, well I just have some kind of OCD and 7 felt more elegant [fufu] to me than 7.5.

Hehe, no smut for you horny readers (if any) this chapter either. So, enjoy your cockblock.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Subaru is dreaming. He is asleep. This is what he likes to think when he sees his people sitting in a dark hall with seats arranged in an oddly familiar pattern. He likes to think this is a dream when he sees them watching his life in the form of an anime. He likes to think, the fact that they watch his every death is a dream. But the dream is strange. It's not a lucid dream, the type he had read about in light novels or seen in anime. It's like seeing reality, but he can't move, he can only see from one place. It's as if they are all real and he is the only one unreal.

He can't hear what they are saying. He sees them cry, sees her cry, every time he dies. She's saying something, he can't hear what, but it feels oddly satisfying. As if, that's what he's always wanted to hear her say.

The dream continues. It's fast, it's quick, until it reaches the point where he cannot look at it. The Rabbit. He can't seecan't seecan't see, he doesn't want to see. He sees. All of it. How it bites his wrist off his arm, how they seem infinite around him, surrounding him. He sees his past self's dirty, disgusting, terrified, crazy, stupid, trembling, trembling, trembling expression. He meets a horrible realisation then, he could see Rem die, he could see Ram die, he could see Betty die, he could see Petra die, he could see her die, he could see everyone die, but when he sees himself and the rabbit, he can't can't can't can't see it, to think he is so so so selfish. So pathetic. So disgusting. A creature who's so lost in self-pity that he sees himself as the greatest, thinking his suffering is the greatest, pretending to be a tragic hero, who saves everyone even when suffering. So self-absorbed that he cannot see anyone suffering but not himself. Selfish. He closes his eyes, trying not to see. He sees, for he can't not see, he sees it all, feels his innards crawling, paranoia possesses him, making him shiver, tremble, tremble, he moves his hands, beside him, behind him, above him, below him, around him, to check if it's inside him, crawling, writhing, squirming. He can't, he doesn't have hands, does not have body, nothing, nothingnothing, it's taken, it's eaten, nothing's left, nothing. But he's relieved, relieved that if he doesn't have anything, they won't eat him. Won't devour him, won't gnaw his flesh, won't grind his bones, won't puncture his innards, he won't feel pain.

He feels it, cool, cool, cold, it's cold. He feels goosebumps starting from his toes, never ending as he shivers and keeps shivering even when dream. He can't not see because he doesn't have eyes, he cannot close what he does not have. He tries to cover himself, hide, to not see, to not feel, to not shiver. He sees, he sees them all, crying, writhing, sobbing, he sees her sobbing. 'Please end this' he prays to whoever it is there, that's making him see this nightmare. He's relieved it ended when it becomes dark. In his relief he doesn't realise that it(dream) has become faster again, become slower again, until he sees those white, little, cute, gluttonous silhouettes again. They take the clown first, then it's his turn. It's agony again. He sees, he sees himself die again, devoured again. With haste, with swiftness, soon, it ends, it's dark again. But he can't unsee their suffering, the ones sitting there. Their pain, their sorrows, when they see him die, suffer, cry. Her agony, pain, cries. Then it settles, he feels better when he sees her again, her. 'Haven't you realised that you should be among the people you want to save? Believe that people you love, love you as well.' He's happy when he kisses her. For the first time he sees himself as more than worthless when he sees her eyes full of determination. He's happy, platinum happy when he hears it again, himself saying those words, 'Choose me. Choose me, Beatrice. There is no forever. But still, let's be together.' For the first time he feels proud of himself. That he's able to save himself, his little sister.

He smiles, relieved, happy, when he sees it again, knowing he'll end it for-ever this time. He makes it disappear, forever, with Beakoo, with her. He's happy. He feels himself smiling when he sees her stupidly embarrassed again, misunderstanding in her innocence and ignorance, but he's sure if they really had a child, he'd probably be the happiest. He feels it, relief. He's relieved. To think someone like him would feel something like 'relief' too. But he's happy. As long as they all are happy, he'll be happy.

.

He's dancing, dancing, not alone, with her. Even though it's childishly awkward and ungraceful, he's still happy, he feels that 'As long as it is with her, for her I can do anything'. He suddenly has it all, his arms, his legs, his head, his knees, his bones, his flesh, his belly, his face, his eyes, his ears, hi— EARS! He hears it, something, something like a soft humming, something a mother would sing to her child to keep the nightmares away. He can feel a soft, supple warmth against his left cheek, a fuzzing in his hair. He opens his eyes and sees white, all white, he closes them, opens them, again, again and again, they feel wet. He sees it the same, white, but it's clearer. It's curled, it's soft, it's warm, it's touching him. He feels a softness on his shoulder. He moves a bit, it goes away when he shifts, he's sad that it went away, he looks up to see what it is, was, it's her, her. He tries to speak but she puts a finger on his lips before he can.

"Ohayooooooo, Dannna-sama." She coos, with a soft, beautiful, pure, cute, gentle smile. It always sounds so good when she coos like this. She's fair, white, but not pale, she's white like snow but full of life. He's blanched, not because of her appearance, but words. But he can see she is nervous too, her pointy ears are red. He reaches his hand up, towards her, the action probably makes her more feely, as she moves her face towards his palm. When he touches her cheek, she presses against it softly.

"Emilia-tan." he utters, his brown eyes lost in her amethyst.

ーーー

"So, anything else you might want to know Emilia-sama?" Al has explained Emilia basic things about their world, like there being no magic but super advanced technology(relatively), 193 countries, small and big together, a huge population of 7 billion, overshadowing the population of Od Laguna like an elephant staring at an ant. He had explained her the diversity in his world with people's language, body, foods, etc., his own and Subaru's origins being from Japan and a bit about the language they spoke and general terms like 'good morning', 'good night', 'farewell' and 'bye' etc.

"Um, Al-san, I'm very thankful for everything you have told me. Now I don't have much to ask. I just wan– want to know what the women, women in Japan call their husband, b-because I have decided that– that I'll marry Subaru in the future, so I want to call him as such whenever I'm with him, sopleasehelpmewiththislastthingAl-san" Emilia had beads of sweat on her face which was bent looking down, but her rosy ears showed that it was nothing short of crimson.

Al tried not to chuckle at the Half Elf's distress, but it was hard not to, had it not been for the fact that he's become nothing short of a master at controlling his emotions because of serving his lady for years, he would have failed.

He cleared his throat lightly to gather the Half Elf's attention and began explaining the three most commonly used words and their literal meaning with also how they are used in present and how they were used in the past.

ーーー

Emilia finally opens the door to her temporary room which she was given when they all were brought to this place. It was a small room, with no windows. It had not-too-bright lighting, which illuminated the presence of a bed large enough to fit two people easily, a table by the side of the bed and a cuboidal thing attached to the wall, which supposedly 'kept the air in the room fresh and regulated temperature', or so has the warden explained them it's functions to be.

Emilia walks up to the bed, where Subaru was laying, head on one of the two pillows. She sat at the edge of the bed for a minute or two staring at him, having had enough of her insecurities, she steels her resolve, takes a deep breath and moves up the bed, to sit on her knees and pat his head.

'He looks so peaceful when sleeping.' Emilia thinks as she stares at her beloved Knight. Looking at him makes her remember everything she's seen, of how much he has suffered for her, from Elsa to the Whale, from Geuse to Garfiel, from The Rabbit to the icy cold weather. She doesn't like the fact that he had suffered so much for her, but deep inside her she felt a tiny joy, which she never wanted to admit having ever felt whenever she thought of her Knight going through all the suffering for her. She hates the fact that she would feel even tiniest bit of delight from her Knight's suffering even if he would want her to be happy. So, she's glad to know that, that delight is almost non-existent, and it will never grow, and if he suffered any more, it will only diminish, because her desire to see him happy, to not see him suffer, to see him smile, to see herself with him, happy forever, was exponentially greater than any tiny bit of delight she might ever feel seeing him suffering for her. She doesn't want him to ever be worthy of being called what the 'Warden' said people in his world will call him if they saw his suffering. 'Suffaru' was a word Emilia never wanted to be associated with her Knight. She will do anything to not let him suffer, she will become stronger, and if anyone forced her hand, she would freeze everything again even if it kills her this time. She would have not stopped her brainstorming had it not been for a groan she heard from her Knight right in front of her.

She looked at him to find him frowning with his eyes closed. His lips are moving, he's mumbling something. His voice is so tiny that she can't make sense of what he is saying. She moves forward towards his head and lifts it up to put it on her thighs.

"Subaru, are you having a bad dream?" She remembered Beatrice telling her that Subaru occasionally had nightmares whenever he fell asleep. She doesn't want him to have nightmares, she lifts him a bit to make his position more comfortable in her lap, turning his face towards her belly, pressing left side of his face on her thighs. She put her hands in his hair and starts humming a song her Mother Fortuna sang for her whenever she sent her to bed to keep the bad dreams away, or so she used to say. She starts patting his hair the same way Mama did. She wants Subaru to not feel alone in his dream, so she moves her head towards his, nuzzling her nose on his cheek, her chest pressing against his shoulder. "Wake up soon, Subaru. I don't want to see you feel sad anymore." She said with mournful voice. She can feel a warm moisture on his cheek, she blows at his eyes to make the tears fly far away. She tries not to let her own tears fall. A few minutes later she lifts her head again, this time he was more relaxed. She feels relief looking at his relaxed face and lets a smile reach her lips when she sees his eyelids flutter. She's nervous but glad that he is going to wake up. Her beloved Knight is finally going to wake up.

He opens his eyes, only to close them again, again and again and again. 'He probably needs some time to adapt' Emilia thinks. He turns towards her when she thinks he had adapted himself to the light and the wetness he must have felt in his eyes when he first opened them. She says the words she'd wanted to say to him from the moment she'd learnt them from Al-san.

"Ohayooooooo, Danna-sama" she says looking in his eyes with a gentle smile, her amethyst lost in his brown. Emilia's smile is brightened by a shade when she sees his shocked expression which she believes even he doesn't realise he has. She's not sure if he's shocked because of her words or the position he is in.

"Emilia-tan" Emilia feels like she can die at this moment and never feel any regret when she hears those familiar, wanted and loved words from his mouth which she'd wanted to listen to for she-can't-even-remember how long. They feel like the most exquisite music to her ears. In that moment, she feels like if she were given a choice to listen only a particular set of words for the rest of her life, then she will choose these. When he reaches his hand towards her, she gladly bends her head down to feel his touch. His touch makes her heart jump and start racing like a ground dragon and her body feel warm. She wishes can always feel this warmth, in summer, in winter, in autumn, in spring, day and night, today, tomorrow, the-day-after-tomorrow, the-day-after-the-day-after-tomorrow, the-day-after-the-day-after-the-day-after-tomorrow and forever.

"Subaru" Emilia mutters as she moves her hand over his one her cheek, she has tears in corners of her eyes as she mumbles with a pout "I'm glad you woke up, I reaaaaally missed you so much this whole time. Why did you have to sleep for so long, sleepy head Dannaaaaa-sama?"

Seeing Subaru's obviously blanched face at her words makes her giggle, to think he'd be so shocked at her knowledge of something she should not possess, him looking at her with such a cute expression makes her unable to control herself, she bends down and kisses him on the forehead, and she gets what she wanted to see, an embarrassed blushing Subaru, which makes her giggle even more.

Subaru must have realised that she was teasing him, so he tries to get back at her with "Who says 'sleepyhead' and 'Danna-sama' in this day and age, Emilia-tan?" but she already had a lesson from Al-san earlier and she already has the words prepared to counter him "But is that not what you actually wanted goshujin-sama? What else do you want, goshujin-sama? Do you want dinner, a bath, o-o-or m-me?" even though Emilia had practiced the words alone many times already, saying them to him still makes her so embarrassed that she cannot look at him, especially now when she knows exactly what those words actually mean.

.

Emilia does not dare to look at her Knight after she said those words. All the courage she had went down the drain at that moment because those words were just too much. It was Beako who suggested her the particular 'phrase' saying that it was one of Subaru's fantasies in which he wanted her to say them to him, so she tried her best to do it, but she does not have the courage to look at her Knight's face. She was not sure what she expected to see but when tries to look at his face, 'flabbergasted' is what she will define it as and makes her feel the most satisfaction from everything she's ever done till this day, maybe excluding the day when she fought the Rabbit and kept everyone safe.

"Emilia-tan, w-where did you learn t-that from?" Subaru asks, looking at her as if he's seeing her for the first time.

"Ara ara, fufufu, you are such a curious one, are you not little Subaru-kun? To think you will ask Onee-chan about her source of knowledge so directly?" This time Emilia is truly trying her best to not start laughing, because she knows that if she started, she won't be able to stop, but the keyword here is 'trying'. Emilia can't hold herself for much longer, she starts laughing, and she grows louder, wilder like she has not laughed for hundreds of years, she collapses on top of him, pulling him in her arms and trying to stifle her laughter in his neck, yet being unable to, making them both quiver.

"E-Emilia-tan, since when did you become such a teaser?" mumbles Subaru in embarrassment, though he still lifts his arms, covers her with them, pushing her against himself. He feels a warm fuzzy feeling, he's always wanted to embrace her like this. He takes a deep breath, trying to make his brain work and to think of her teasing later. Taking in their surroundings, he realises that they are in an unfamiliar room. There is a chance that they might be in Anastasia's mansion in Pristella but that cuboidal box glaring at him from the wall, which looks oddly like a more modern version of an Air Conditioner makes him think otherwise. Subaru is brought out of his thoughts when he feels Emilia's shaking not stop but become tiny vibrations. He felt some wet warmth on his neck, which suddenly throws his mind for a ricochet and flip. He was sure now, the fact that they were in a modern looking room, his dream of his people being in a theatre and watching his life, Emilia being so different from when he fell asleep and then Emilia knowing things she should have no method to know of meant something has happened, whether it was bad or not, he didn't know, but something had happened.

"Emilia-tan, something has happened. What happened? " He tries not to sound anxious, though he's sure his anxiety still leaks.

From all the answers he had expected, like 'the witch's cult attacked or 'Roswaal's new scheme' he had not expected it to be this—

"S-Subaru no B-baka, baka, baka,bakayarou."

Author Notes:

The real Boink Boink in next chapter with Doki-Doki talk too.

For those who didn't understand
Goshujin- Master/Owner in most literal sense.
Danna-sama- Specifically used in households of Lords by women during feudal days to address their husband. Literally means master/lord.
Baka- You are an idiot if you don't know this, bakayarou.

Please address errors (grammatical and typos) in comments, though I've proofread this a lot already, but I'll check more.

Criticize without death threats.

~me out~

Final Notes

Third chapter contains scenes not appropriate for curious 14-17 y/o.

This is not the first thing I've written, but it is the first Re:Zero thing I've written. So please —

Comment your thoughts and Criticize without death threats.

And don't expect next part for a week, at least.

WarlockOfVainglory- That sounds like a good idea. Might try implementing it.

MaximumRhapsody- No idea. I'm walking on a thin line rn. Exams are coming around.

OnePunchPlayer- Oh, they are in the temporary room now.

angel xd- the next for ya

BigSmokeYeet- How? Did I bang your Waifu? — Subaru (probably)

OtakuCruz- Oh Yes?

Thanks to my friend SkyRider13 for cross posting this, tell me your thoughts in the reviews. I'll read them.