Chapter 4: Family

As much as he wanted to keep sleeping he had to wake up, He looked at the digital clock that was on his desk and noticed the time.

"7:22 P.M… we slept through the whole day" Subaru whispered to himself, maybe traveling from one world to another was more exhausting than what he expected. He rubbed his eyes helping them adapt to the darkness in his room. He got up from the futon and looked to his side where the sleeping Rem was or so he thought as Rem was not really sleeping rather he was looking at Subaru with a single eye, realizing that she got caught Rem quickly closed her eyes and pretended to be sleeping.

"Come on Rem I know you're awake." Rem turned around, keeping on the show that she was asleep. Subaru closed his eyes ever so slightly. Once he got closer to his bed he was able to hear whispering something.

"ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ"

"Are you really saying ZZZ out loud instead of actual snoring!?" Subaru's little outburst finally 'woke up' Rem"

"Oh, Good morning Subaru-kun" She opened her eyes and sat on the side of the bed.

"It's night."

"Oh, Rem didn't realize that, as Rem just woke up."

"I know you were awake, why didn't you get me up?" He asked as he walked away from the bed to flip the light switch on. "Close your eyes." He flicked it up to illuminate the room. Rem did as told and she closed her eyes to avoid any irritation.

"Rem was not looking at you while you're were sleeping, that's for sure."

"What" Rem spoke quietly making it hard for him to hear her.

"Rem was trying to not interrupt your sleep, Rem realized that Subaru must have been tired for sure" Subaru didn't buy her lie but decided to ignore this conversation in its entirety to avoid any awkwardness.

"I was expecting my dad to bust open my door and wrestle with me as soon as I had eight hours of sleep, but I bet mom stopped him from doing so because you were here" He sighed "Damn, and I wanted to take you out and show you a mall."

"That sounds exciting!" She smiled before asking. "What's a mall?"

"It's a surprise!"

Subaru opened his door and told Rem to follow him. "My mom should be making dinner right about now and I'm starving."

Subaru's parents were sitting on the couch watching TV and with the sound of a door opening, they quickly turned theirs heads to greet their son and their newfound guest.

"I gotta say that was an awfully long nap, feeling refreshed?" Kenichi asked.

"If that was a nap, I want to know what sleep is, but yea I feel great!" He said as a laudable *pop* came from his neck.

"Well, you two must be hungry after sleeping for a whole day, ready for dinner?" The head of the house of the household. also known as Naoko, asked.

"Yes! What's for dinner?" Subaru went around the couch and sat down to the right of his mother.

"You tell me" Kenichi threw something at Subaru who was able to catch it with one hand he looked down at the object also known as a smartphone, he looked at the contact's name that was already on the screen, in big bold letters it read. "Pizza" Subaru felt his heart be re-filled with nostalgia, he looked up to the T.V and noticed that what was playing on the T.V was the first Robocop movie. "Pizza and an 80's action film" Subaru felt a tear go down his cheek, he quickly wiped it out off with the back of his hand. "I thought that I would never have another movie night in my life, I'm glad that I was wrong"

Naoko noticed that Rem was still standing behind the couch staring at the T.V and decided to say something.

"Come and sit down with us Rem." Rem snapped out of focus and bowed politely, "Sorry about that Naoko-san, Rem was just fixated on that box" She said as she sat down on an armchair.

"No worries dear, but please drop the formalities, just call me Naoko from now on." Rem nodded

"Of course Naoko-san, Naoko, may Rem ask what that box is? " The oni pointed at the television.

Naoko tilted her head and with the tip of her finger, she poked her cheek. "Rem is there any chance that you know what a play is?"

Rem quickly answered, "Yes Rem knows what plays are, but Rem never really had a chance to see one as Rem stayed at the mansion to work most of the time."

"Well Rem, that box is called a T.V, it allows us to see plays from anywhere in the world, and all plays of the past" Naoko smiled to herself thinking that she gave a good explanation.

Rem's eyes shined with wonder "That sounds impossible, Subaru-kun are you sure this is not magic" Rem asked but got no answer she looked at Subaru and noticed that he had something on his ear and he was talking to it.

"Don't mind Subaru, he using this thing called a cellphone that allows people to talk to each other from long distances in an instant. Right now he's calling someone to bring us food.

Rem remembered hearing about Metia that did the same thing but it was known to be used by only the richest of people. If the Natsuki family was able to use it, it must mean that this machine was not that expensive and he is telling them to do what? "Why would they bring us food? Is Subaru-kun paying?"

"I should've expected delivery to not exist in your world. In this world, you can call a restaurant a place where you pay to eat food, and for an extra charge, they will bring the food to your home, hot and ready to eat" Subaru finally handed back the phone to his father.

"Can't believe the old man is giving us the food for free."

"Well, his favorite customer left for a whole year and was also presumed dead"

"Yea please don't remind about that" Subaru shook his head still not grasping the fact that he was gone for a whole year within the span of a month. He felt sick every time he thought about that, his parents lived through a flaming hell thinking that their only son was dead, which they weren't that far off as he had died on many occasions now, which reminded him that he needed to talk to Rem about Return by Death.

"Subaru-kun what did you 'order'?" His thoughts left his mind in a second and instantly answered. "I order two pizzas! I can't wait for you to try them!"

"Pizza is that the cheesy bread that you wanted Rem to try and make?" Subaru and Rem have had many conversations to try and re-create more recipes from Earth after the success of Mayo, and pizza was the second top priority.

"Yes! Exactly that one, I can't wait!" He shouted in excitement, everyone in the living room couldn't help but smile at the over-excited Subaru.

"Welp in the meantime how about we watch this movie from the beginning." Kenichi grabbed the control remote and re-started the movie. "Hey Rem, come sit on the couch with us! Let's all enjoy this together!" Kenichi moved a little bit to the side followed by his wife.

"I-I don't think that's a goo-" Subaru tried to speak out but he was cut of by his mother

"Nonsense, come sit with us Rem" Naoko forcefully made Subaru move by pulling his arm.

"I forgot how weirdly strong you are!"

Rem left the lonely armchair and she accommodated herself beside Subaru the closeness made her blush but it was barely noticeable with the current lighting.

"All right let us commence!"

And so they watched the movie, the Natsuki family could not have been any happier, after a long time they were finally together and they finally got a well deserved finally night with a special guest. They would pause the movie now and then to explaining to Rem what was happening, even though she didn't understand most of it she was a quick learner and was able to grasp most of the concepts of the movie including what a robot was and how this play or rather this movie was made a couple of decades ago as a way to explain why this movie looked outdated to the world outside. They also told her how this movie took place in another 'kingdom' far away from this one.

Around the 40-minute mark, there was a knock at the door, Kenichi stopped the movie and told Subaru to go get it. He stood up and Rem decided to follow him. Subaru looked through the peephole and saw a young teen pulling out pizzas from a delivery bag. Subaru opened the door and greeted the delivery guy.

"Hey, thanks for bringing us the pizza!" he pulled out his wallet to give him a tip

The delivery kid shook his head and politely denied the money. " I appreciated but the old man wanted this to be completely on the house so he gave me some extra cash for this delivery… so enjoy!" He handed the boxes to Subaru.

"Oh, well thanks, man! Have a good night!"

"You too!" With that Subaru said his goodbyes and closed the door. "And that's how deliveries work except that you usually pay him for the food, however, they gave us this for free!" He explained to Rem. Subaru went back to the living room and he put down the pizza boxes on the coffee table that was in front of the couch. He rubbed his hands with anticipation and finally, he opened them. On the left, you could find a regular cheese pizza and to the right, you could find a pizza filled with different types of meat and veggies.

Naoko and Kenichi brought some plates and a couple of sodas to comfortably enjoy their food.

"All-righty then, as our special guest of honor, Rem gets to enjoy the first two slices" Kenichi handed a plate to Rem.

"So how does Rem eat this?" She said as her mouth started to water as the smell of the pizza's slapped her nose

"Just pick it up with your hands and take a bite, first try the plain cheese pizza then try the other one" She did as she was told and grabbed the first slice and pulled it off, she saw how the melted cheese tried to stay together but failed when it was too far apart. She finally took a bite and was sent to paradise. The mixture of flavors was just perfect, the bread was warm and toasty but not burnt she could feel the tomatete sauce, or how Subaru calls it tomato, dance in her mouth with the cheese

"Soooo gooood~".

"Try the other one!" Subaru said with a grin.

Rem didn't need to be told twice as she grabbed a slice from the other pie, she took a bite and was once more sent to absolute bliss. With the inclusion of salty meats and vegetables, the flavors were raised to a level she had never experienced before.

"I guess she liked it huh?" Naoko watched as Rem devoured her food, everyone eventually got their own food and drink and the movie resumed. After a few more cans were open and slices were eaten the movie finally ended. Everyone felt tired and sleepy, Naoko was the first one to decide that it was time to hit the sack. Rem wanted to leave too but she wanted to wait for Subaru. However, Kenichi had other plans.

"Sorry if this sounds rude Rem, but may Subaru and I have a moment alone?" Rem did not deny his request and simply wished them goodnight. Kenichi asked Subaru to go outside and wait for him, he needed to get something really quick.

Subaru waited outside patiently until his father walked through the main door with two foldable shirts in one hand and drinks that definitely were not soda. He put down the beverages and opened the chairs. He sat down on one and motioned for Subaru to sit on the other.

"Dad, are those beers?" Kenichi grabbed two of them and opened them up with a bottle opener that was connected to his keychain.

"Yes, sir here you go!" He tried to give one to Subaru but he opted not to drink it.

"I'm not old enough yet!"

"I know" He took a sip. "Ever since you disappeared, I kept thinking, man there were so many things I wanted to enjoy with him, and one of them was to share a drink like my dad did when I became of age." Kenichi didn't bother to wipe the tears that came out. "I'm scared that you'll dis-a-dissa-dissa-ppear in a blink of an eye!" He tried to speak in between sobs, " So if you were to leave at any moment." He handed the bear to Subaru once more, this time he took it. "I wanted you to leave with a good memory of me"

Subaru covered in tears tapped his beer with his father's.

"Cheers"

Life really doesn't want me to write, Oh well, I'll do it out of spite.

Like always, thanks for reading and leaving comments, it always gives me a bit more strength.

Thank you so much for reading and have a good day night, or evening.

Hasta Luego