Beginning to Feel Again
Subaru stared at his phone, watching as yet another one of his calls wasn't answered. He had tried to reach Emilia ever since the small misunderstanding. Guilt wracked him, it was his fault for not waiting for Emilia. He had kissed Priscilla that night, and he had allowed her to stay over. He needed to fix this with Emilia as soon as possible. He was sure she had wanted to tell him that she was ready, but he had ruined it.
*Ring* *Ring* "Hello, you have reached the voicemail of Emilia, sorry I can't answer the phone right now, but I'll give you a call back when I can. Please leave your message after the beep." *Beep*
"Emilia, please, it's me, Subaru. I'm sorry about Saturday Morning. Please just call me back so I can explain everything. It's not what you thought it was, I promise."
He ended the voicemail and looked at the time on his phone, 12:30 pm. He began to pace back and forth, waiting for a response to come through. He glanced at his phone after a bit, the screen reading 12:34 pm now. He continued to pace, worry filling him. If she didn't call here soon, he would try again. He had to make this right. If he could go back in time someway, anyway, he would and fix this, but he could only try and explain it to her.
Subaru hastily put his phone up to his ear and answered the call without checking the number.
"Emilia, I'm so glad you- "Subaru was cut off before he could get out another word.
"Ah, Subaru! Sorry that you have confused me for Emilia, but I have decided to try one of these phones everyone else has. Julius helped me get it set up. This should allow us to keep in touch better, I know you have missed a few of our weekly golf games. If it's because you always lose, I can let you win some." Came a familiar redhead's voice through the phone.
Subaru dropped the phone in surprise. It went sliding across his kitchen counter, bouncing into a foreign leather object he didn't remember owning, before coming to a halt. Subaru could still hear a muffled Rein coming through the phone.
"Subaru? Subaru? Are you still there? I heard a thud, did you fall? Do you need me to come over and perform medical aid?" Rein asked, his voice still somewhat distant as Subaru picked up the phone.
Putting it to his ear, Subaru replied, "No, I'm fine. You surprised me, I didn't think you would be the one calling me. Wait, how did you get my number? Never mind, I'm kinda busy Rein, so I'm gonna have to cut this short. Sorry, but maybe we can do golf another time?"
"Of course, Subaru. But if you ever need help, I am always here. I shall see you at golf." Rein said before the call ended leaving Subaru with the strange object that the phone had hit on its journey.
Examining it, the leather object appeared to be a purse, but no one had been over in days. The last time someone had been over was Saturday, which was when Emilia found him with Pris. Sighing, he began to bring his hand forward to open the purse.
"Just take a look for some sort of ID on the inside, that way I can take this back to who it belongs to. I'm sure they'll be ok with me opening it if it means they get their purse back, right?" Subaru muttered to himself, as he began to look into the purse.
Rummaging through, he tried to ignore anything that wouldn't help him identify who this belonged to. Eventually, after passing by some items he dared not to take a closer look at for fear of invading someone's privacy, he came across what seemed to be a large pouch, which he heard coins rattling inside.
"This might be it. I honestly have no clue how a purse works." Subaru muttered under his breath as he unzipped it, inside was a wad of bills and some spare change. By the sheer amount of cash, Subaru was shocked. Quickly shaking himself to his senses, he zipped it closed and put it back. After more searching, he finally found what he was looking for.
"You have to be kidding me, it's her's," Subaru said, staring at the ID. The Purse belonged to none other than the woman who he had kicked out four days ago. Priscilla Barielle. He didn't want to speak to her, in case something happened again, even if she did help him. But he couldn't just keep her purse. Lucky for him, it seemed she had kept her phone on her, and not in her purse.
Subaru began to press the numbers into his phone, ringing up Otto. "Hey man, can you do me a favor?"
"Mr. Natsuki? What is this about? You know I'm at work right now" His childhood best friend responded.
"Look, yes I know you are at work, but I need you to reach out to your contacts and see if you can't get ahold of Priscilla Barielle? I have a message for her, I need to meet her in the Flowering Gardens at 3:00 pm today, I have her purse." Subaru stated, pressing in the importance of it with his tone.
"Miss Barielle? Why would you have her purse? What have you been leaving out?" Otto asked, confused.
"Look, I just need you to do this for me, ok? I'll give you and Garf an explanation at Kadomon's Bar, what do you say?" Subaru pleaded, trying to get Otto to accept.
"Very well, but only if your buying!" Otto responded.
Subaru smiled at this, "Of course, Garf wouldn't let me hear the end of it if I dragged you guys out there and forced you to pay. Look, I'll see you guys later tonight, just make sure to get that message to Priscilla ok?"
"Don't worry Mr. Natsuki, you can count on me." And with that, the conversation was over.
Subaru began to prepare to head to the Flowering Gardens, all thoughts of Emilia currently out of his mind. He was focused on one thing, getting Pris' purse back to her. He began to get himself looking tidy and neat for heading out in public for the first time in weeks.
"Most people will still be at work around 3 on a Tuesday, meaning that the trains shouldn't be too packed, only really those who have just gotten out of school will be out. If I leave quick enough, I can walk to the station, and have time to get to the Gardens early to get some lunch and take in the sights before Pris arrives." Subaru mused to himself, sliding into his tracksuit.
Subaru stepped in front of his door, purse in one hand, and he began to reach to the door. He noticed his hand was trembling slightly. While he had opened the door to let people in, he had never opened it to leave since all those weeks ago, since the day his heart cracked slightly. He forced his hand to stop shaking and gripped the doorknob. Twisting it, he opened the door and began to take his first steps out into the world since he chose to coup himself up, and in the back of his mind, there was a bit of irony that he felt.
I'm not even doing this for Emilia, instead, I'm doing this for Pris, the girl I ended up not waiting for Emilia with. That was what he thought, but he pushed that ironic thought away, and instead just began to make his way to the train station, enjoying the natural light he had missed for the duration of his self-isolation.
As Subaru walked along the empty streets, he clutched the purse, making sure not to accidentally drop it. "Hopefully nobody sees me with this purse, they might get the wrong idea. Damnit, I should have chosen a less public spot to meet Pris!" Subaru bemoaned, realizing how people might view him if they saw him carrying such an item.
It mattered little in the end, as he made it to the train station without any issues. It wasn't until he got onto the train that he ran into someone. Quite literally. He was so nervous about heading to such a public place again, that he wasn't paying attention, and ended up bumping into a woman.
"I'm so sorry Miss! Please forgive me!" Subaru quickly apologized, but he stopped when the so-called lady turned around. "Ferris?" Subaru hadn't seen the Crossdresser in a while.
"Hello there Subaru, Nyan, how are you doing?" Subaru noted the glint in his eyes that always seemed to be there when he only talked to him.
"I'm fine. Sorry for running into you like that, I was lost in thought." Subaru explained, bringing the hand up that was holding the purse to try and shake his, forgetting he was still holding it.
"Nyan? What's this, are you getting into the hobby too?" Felix asked, examining the purse.
Subaru quickly shook his head, "No, no! It's nothing like that, I'm just taking this back to its owner, I swear!"
"It's ok Subaru, your secret is safe with me, Nyan!" Felix said, the glint in his eyes becoming sharper.
"Look, let's just pretend we never saw each other, ok? I need to get to the Flowering Gardens as soon as possible." Subaru stated, hoping that he could get out of this embarrassing situation.
"The Flowering Gardens, Nyan?" Why Miss Crusch wanted me to run errands in that area. Why don't I tag along?" Felix exclaimed, grabbing Subaru's arm. "I can help you 'return' that. Nyan, what do you say?"
"Fine, but we make no mention of this, ok?" Subaru agreed, "Also please let go of my arm."
Felix complied, and began to question him some more, "So who does, Nyan, this purse belong to then?"
"Priscilla Barielle." Subaru didn't go into any more details.
"Wha!? The Miss Priscilla Barielle? Nyan, how did you come across this? Did you steal it and your guilty conscience forced you to return it?" The crossdresser kept digging, looking for more information. "Will I need to call Reinhard and Julius on you?" He said teasingly, but his eyes were telling a different story.
"No, I didn't steal it. She accidentally left it at my place." Subaru replied. Their conversation was interrupted as the train slid open, and they were at their destination. Subaru quickly checked the time on his phone, 2:03 pm. He had some time to kill till it was 3:00 pm, and he still hadn't eaten.
"Alrighty, I'm gonna go grab something to eat, if you still want to tag along," Subaru said, as he began to walk away from the platform.
"Nyan, Wait for me!" Felix cried out as Subaru started to leave him behind.
They eventually arrived at the Three Muggers Diner. As they took their seats what appeared to be a child came up to their seats.
"Hello, my name is Kan, what would you like to drink today?" Kan said, seemingly tired.
"Nyan? They have child labor here?" Felix said confused. This seemed to upset Kan.
"Who you callin a child punk? I'm a grown-ass adult!" Kan began to growl, dropping his waiter demeanor until someone called out from behind him,
"Kan, knock it off. These are paying customers, give them some respect." Yelled a voice from the back of the restaurant.
"Sorry, Chin! Won't happen again!" Kan called back. He turned back to Subaru and Felix, "Sorry about that, now what would you like?"
"Uh, I'll have the Ton's Tuna with a glass of milk please." Stated Felix a bit nervous.
"And I'll have the Chin's Chimichangas with a side of White Rice and a glass of water please," Subaru said, full of confidence.
As Kan took their menus, Subaru turned to Felix, "Kan's sized surprised me my first time here too, but he's an adult. Don't let his temper ruin your impressions of him."
Felix just remained silent until their orders arrived, and they continued to eat in awkward silence. It wasn't until they were almost finished that Felix finally spoke.
"Subaru, why was Priscilla at your house in the first place to leave her purse behind?" He asked, finishing his glass of milk.
"Uh, no real reason. I don't want to talk about it." Subaru stated as he pulled out his wallet to pay for the bill.
Felix tilted his head at Subaru, "What, do you not trust me?"
Subaru didn't like the glint in his eyes again, "Not that, it's just a personal issue that I don't want to be speaking about right now." He didn't feel comfortable right now. He didn't think that Felix was a bad guy, just that he didn't need to know about it.
"Come on Subaru, you can trust me," Felix said, staring at Subaru. Before Subaru could say anything, his phone buzzed.
*Hey, You Good for meeting at the Bar around 4:30? Garf can make it* - Otto
When Subaru checked the message, he noticed the time, 2:46 pm. "Shit, we have to go Ferris. It's almost 3:00 pm and it's a 10-minute walk to the Gardens from here." Subaru exclaimed, jumping from his chair with the bill in hand.
As they left the restaurant, with a seemingly silent and disappointed Felix, Subaru clutched the purse tightly. This should all be over soon, and Pris would have her purse back, and he will be able to get some advice from his old friends. As they made their way to the Flowering Gardens, Subaru couldn't help but take in their beauty.
Flowers were blooming everywhere, and Cherry Blossoms were also in bloom. The whole place looked like something out of an anime scene. As he made his way through the mostly empty gardens, he saw her, standing out in the open. Her orange hair was blowing in the slight breeze.
"Pris! Over here!" Subaru called out. Waving to her. She saw him and smiled slightly, before making her way over to him.
"I see you have my purse, of course you would bring it back to me," Pris said, a smirk upon her face.
Subaru handed it back to her, "Here you go. Also, I'm kinda sorry how I just kicked you out. That was rude, and I wasn't in a good mindset. I hope this helps make up for it. I know it's not a lot, and if you need me to do more, I'll do anything."
Pris hummed a bit, "It almost does."
"Almost?" Subaru stated confused? "What do you mean almost?"
"How about I give you something, just like you so dutifully gave me back my purse." She replied, "That will surely make up for it. Then it will be fully made up for."
Subaru nodded, "If that makes you forgive me, very well. What are you going to give me?"
"Close your eyes and lean in," Priscilla said, which Subaru did, only to feel her warm lips upon his, causing him to open his eyes in surprise.
He noticed that the wind picked up a bit, and a few of the petals from the Cherry Blossoms began to float around them, making him feel like he was in some sort of anime. But that illusion was soon shattered, as he heard a gasp.
"Su-Subaru?" Came a voice to his left.
Pulling away from Pris, he looked over to see Emilia standing there, "Emilia-Tan! I swear, it isn't what it looks like, again!"
Before either could respond, Pris butted in, "Oh it's nothing big, I'm just rewarding my boyfriend for helping me, something you don't ever seem to do."
This seemed to snap the Silver-haired girl out of her daze, "Hey! I reward him for being a good friend! We do radio calisthenics together! And what do you mean by boyfriend?!"
"Radio Calisthenics? That's how you reward him? By playing a dumb game? You truly are hopeless, no wonder no one else has wanted you." Pris remarked while laughing. "Besides, you two have what, only kissed once? We've kissed twice now, that makes me and him closer, doesn't it?"
Emilia was stunned, before snapping back "Well, well, at least Subaru has a nickname for me!"
"He does for me too," Pris said, her smirk growing ever larger.
"Can you both please calm down?" Subaru pleaded, only to get snapped at.
"Stay out of it." Both of them said in unison, before going back to arguing.
Subaru turned to get help from Felix, but he seemed to have disappeared. His phone buzzed, and he looked to see that both Garf and Otto wanted to know if he was still coming. He looked at the two girls, who almost seemed to be at each other's throats.
"If you two don't stop, I'm leaving." He declared, hoping it would end. It didn't, as they ignored him.
So, Subaru left, and he sent Otto a quick message saying he was on his way, and that he has a lot to talk about. What Subaru didn't realize by leaving is that he wouldn't be able to even attempt to counter some of what the two girls were saying to each other. What he was more focused on was letting them cool off and get some advice from Garf and Otto on how to handle this, and maybe even from Kadomon if the man was in the mood. Subaru could only curse his luck that he ended up getting himself into his situation as he began to trek to Kadomon's Bar.
AN: Chapter 2 came quickly. This was a joy to write, even though I don't fully support Pris x Subaru. Let me know if I did anything wrong. I'll try to update as frequent as possible. Also major shoutout to AirDevo, Heretic Slayer, Shitpost, and Otey on the Reactionist's Discord for Beta Reading this chapter.