Away from the crowd, Subaru and Blake quickly exited the building. From what Subaru is seeing and also by logic, they are heading towards somewhere much more secluded and private. The light of the moon illuminating their travel as Subaru began to ponder, why does Blake want both of them to talk privately in the first place?

He thought about it for a moment, the fact that both Ruby and Blake noticed something from him, it seems that they both noticed that moment where he attempted to self-harm, and sob on Beatrice's chest. It was embarrassing for him, but there's another thing that makes him worried about what's going to happen. He decided that it is best to ask, specifically about where they are heading if it's so important.

"Blake, where are we going here!?" He questioned, panicking in his tone of voice.

"Be quiet," She replied before turning forward "You'll see when we get there."

His question was quickly shot down, so that was certainly a no-go. But before he could ask again, he soon noticed the object beside him as they went past it. It is a sign telling the obvious location they are in now.

"Beacon's Garden? What are we going to do here?" He quietly said to himself. Blake's bow, however, twitched as he said that. He already knew that she is a Faunus just by the looks. No one should have eyes so sharp both in looks and how it acts. But he was surprised that she could hear him whispering.

They then stop at the center of the garden, a fountain being present decorating the entire scenery with its water show. The moonlit sky illuminated both of them as Blake released her hand from him and tucked it behind her back. She then immediately looked towards her right, her bow perking upwards, Subaru wonders why she acted like that.

"Sit there" She pointed towards the direction, which he took a look at. A bench can be seen there, so Subaru decided to follow her command and sat down, with Blake suddenly being next to him shortly after that.

The two of them looked at the fountain before them. It's water sparkling under the shining moon above. Blake then proceeded to speak first, gaining his attention, "So, Subaru. Can you promise me for a moment?"

Subaru was confused for a moment, "what kind of promise?" He asked.

"Promise me that you will tell your secrets, and I will tell mine. No lies" She replied with a smile.

Subaru wondered why she said that but nodded after knowing what may happen. He offered his pinky finger towards her, to which she responded with the same.

"Alright, now let me ask you this," she began to reposition herself to face him, her legs inching closer so she can take a better look at the young man "what were you doing on that night?" She said.

Subaru acted confused but understood what she meant, as he already guessed this, but again, he is not sure if he can tell her. He tilted his head while asking "What night?"

"Let me guess then. You're trying to self-harm, do you?" Her expression became more serious, her eyes sharpened while also a bit saddened with a hint of worry.

His eyes widened, both pleasantly and terrifyingly surprised that she knew. Then, with a fake smile and with a desperate voice to sound convincing, he said, "Y-you got it all wrong! I was just looking at my battle scars that's all! Beako told you and your team that I was a hero back in my world, and prided herself for contracting me right!? I was just looking at my battle scars! That's all! Really!"

"Subaru…." She tilted her head with a small smile.

"They were hard-fought battles, okay!? I was wounded several times, heck, I even have scars from my fight against the ulgarms on my abdomen! Scratches on my arm are nothing, really, nothing!"

"Subaru!"

"What!?"

Blake slammed her hand onto the bench, her eyes almost tearing up while holding a serious face "Tell me what's wrong! Don't try to deflect!"

His fake smile easily shattered a few moments after her demand, his tired face began to show, shocking her a little. "You want to know?"

She nodded, "Yes, tell me what's wrong, I can help you. We! Can help you, just ask," She said, a small smile showing "you just need to tell me, if you don't want others to know, I'll keep it a secret"

"Why do you even care about helping me with this!? It kinda came out of nowhere you know?"

"That….I'm trying to atone for my crimes in the past, I want to change it by helping as many people as I can" She sighed before looking towards him again "But that can be for later, right now, you need to talk about it and let me and others help you"

"What if I can't tell you? What if I have a curse that prevents me from doing it?"

"Then we'll find another way," She smiled "just tell me"

"L-let me think for a moment," He said as he swayed his head away from her, placing his right hand on his chin, and began thinking of a way to talk about it.

One thing to note would be that Blake is serious in trying to help him, that's a given, the other would be that he needs to find a way to make it possible to talk about it. He cannot reveal his deaths, nor the fact that he can redo, or it would just make no sense at all or it will take too long to explain.

Now speaking of Return by Death, does the taboo still work on Remnant, or not? Or even, does it still work? He concluded that he should not test it out, it may be too big of a reveal and it would be too risky to do.

He pondered again, another possibility is that he can say to Blake that she should keep his knowledge as a secret, even towards Beatrice, and tell her about his worst experiences. He thinks that this is the best way, he can explain that Beatrice never really contracted or even knew him until much later and that before she contracted with him, Subaru had experienced these things first hand.

He'll just need to gamble on that fact alone, and as he said inside his mind, 'I just have to wing it huh?' He looked towards her once again, a face full of confidence and anxiety at the same time, "Blake, promise me this, do not tell anyone, not even Beako"

"Why?" She asked.

"I...just don't want her to be sad and depressed knowing what I've been through, I can't see her being sad over me like that. So promise me, alright?"

She nodded, "I'll try"

With a certain and confident answer coming from her, Subaru smiled a bit in response. He took a deep breath and calmed his rush of thoughts. Subaru then proceeds to speak out his mind, "So, you know how I often had nightmares even in these past few weeks if I don't have Beatrice by my side?"

"I notice you always fidgeting and mumbling, yeah.."

"Right, those nightmares are…..my worst experiences regarding the first world I have been summoned to"

Her eyes widened in surprise, "What!? So Remnant is your second time!?"

"Yup, this is my second time," He said with a smile, before finally removing his facade, revealing a deeply tired and exhausted person that is Natsuki Subaru.

Blake noticed his tired face almost immediately, his smile immediately wavering, but still, she let him continue his talk.

He then continued, "I have a curse that forces me to experience these...visions, yet I can't reveal it to others, as if it's a taboo, so me making this vaguely understandable is pretty much the only way I can talk my problem to you for now. It makes me feel isolated and depressed, but then again, that very same curse helped me to become what I am. Beatrice must've told you what I had achieved, right?"

Blake nodded before gesturing to him to continue.

"Those experiences, it felt like I was almost about to die, multiple times. I always feel random panic attacks because of this curse! I was beaten, tortured, captured, frozen, eaten alive, it's like visions of a nightmarish future that I could physically feel! Seeing my friends and comrades dead again and again! It did it all over again constantly, just so I know what can and is about to happen, just so I don't die. It puts a mental strain on me, I almost went insane if it were not for a girl that I liked, that I loved back then. But fate does not allow me to even live happily, the world forgot about her very existence, literally, only I was able to remember her. It makes me feel lonely and pathetic, I just can't seem to stop it, I just can't stop those nightmares from happening!"

Hearing Subaru screams his heart out about these visions, shook her down to her spine. Her bow perked up in shock, as if on guard. His mysterious power tortured him to go through those lucid nightmares, again and again, it must've been why he decided to self-harm.

But a few seconds later even before Blake could fully process the information, he continued on with a calmer tone. His breathing stabilized and his voice less hoarse.

"That's why I self-harm….it's the only way I can ease my pain. I'm keeping it away from them because I don't want to see others suffer because of me, I just want them to be happy, to let me take their burden. Now that you and Ruby knew about this, I just don't know what to do anymore. I'm just tired, can't get any good night sleep without at least some nightmare haunting me and berating-"

His depressing ramble was immediately shut down with a slap, and an angry but worried Blake. Her teary eyes glaring at him, but not with the hatred for him, but for the fact that-

"Are you an idiot!? I've been listening and trying to understand you, thinking that your problem might be too complex for us to handle. But it's not! You're just an idiot. A dense, hopeless, and hero-complex of a mess idiot!"

"B-Blake…"

"Don't you see!? We, your friends, are worried about you! For these past several days we already know your secret that you are only wearing a mask! But only Ruby and I decided to act on it! The others were too stupid, too dense to see it! Even Beatrice ignored it, even if it's for a good reason! And even Ruby, who noticed it before me, is doing the best she can to try and hide it and not speak to you directly about it by focusing on your exterior instead! You're just a broken man, we know that. We know that you are going through something, and now I understand, but you're just too dumb to see it"

"To see what, Blake? What don't I see and know about myself!?"

"That people care about you! That you should love yourself more! Ask us to help! Don't take the burden by yourself, do not be greedy for what is justified as cruel and wrong, even if we don't know it! Are you that dumb to not understand!? Are you that dense to not see it!? Too lazy, too slow!?"

Subaru only responded with silence, a shock on his face as Blake drove her face closer to him just to shove that absolute fact into his very soul. He understood that he should love himself more, many people had told him that. But the last thing that she had said, was fully true. He had been taking his time in truly acting that he should learn to love himself, he was too slow to ask for help, even with the friends he made along the way.

He looked down, his eyes anxious, sighing in defeat as he had concluded that she was right. Blake, who had closed her distance, backed down, her expression now softening as she waited for an answer from him, waiting for his eventual surrender and asking for help.

That answer came right away as he looked up into her eyes, a small genuine smile can be seen on his face.

"You're right, I am too slow huh?"

Her sad eyes now turned into a more cheerful one, "you're stubborn and hopeless, but persistent too"

"I know that, it had been shoved down to my ears many times"

She smiled, "just remember to ask for help, okay? I don't want to scream at you again!"

"I know I know, your words had been retold many times in the past. I'll try, seriously! I'll try to stop what I have been doing and ask for help! Heck, I may consider telling my story to Beatrice too!"

"Didn't you warn me that she would be sad after hearing it?"

"Well, that is true, and I doubt that she won't cry when I told her myself. But, at least I'm a better rambler than you-OOF"

Blake punched his shoulder, giving off a giggle towards him. Soon enough as he recovered from that hit, he began to laugh as well before continuing, "So, how about that story on why you must atone for your sins? Is it a religious tradition or something?"

"Oh that? I was a former member of The White Fang, and I escaped because of seeing what they've been actually doing behind my back all this time"

Subaru blinked a few times before responding, "Can you elaborate?"

Blake only smiled and nodded "When I was little, my parents, specifically my dad, were the first leaders of the Faunus equality organization called The White Fang, and I joined the movement too, naive and innocent, but good-hearted. They were a peaceful organization, formed after The Faunus War decades ago even before I was born. Long story short, he stepped down after finding Sienna Khan suitable as the ruler"

"I see…" Subaru pondered about it for a moment. It's a story of betrayal for a good reason. He had seen it many times in anime. Classic discrimination between two or more factions, same for the humans and demi-humans back at Lugunica. "Continue"

"Adam, my…..ex-boyfriend and I got close at that time, I escaped and left the White Fang because they and he had killed innocent people behind my back. I was just fortunate enough to see it. I severed my connection to them and hid the fact that I'm a Faunus with a little help from this bow," her eyes looked up, her bow wiggling, Subaru nodded as he stared at it "I hide it for the simple reason so people see me as who I am, not what I am, so I can atone for my crimes during my time at the White Fang without them insulting me. You understand, right?"

"Well, that's a classic story."

"Pardon?"

"You're trying to atone for the crimes of what is now essentially ISIS, which is a terrorist organization back in my homeworld, still not sure if they're dead yet though. I would say that you shouldn't atone for their sins, in fact, I would suggest not doing it at all, their sins are theirs, yours and yours. What I would recommend though, is to change their views. Your dad still influenced this...Sienna Khan, right?"

"Y-yeah...why?"

"Tell him that he should investigate further on this Adam guy, I think I have an idea why he may be doing these things, wanna hear about it?"

With wide eyes shining with a glimmer of hope, she excitedly nodded, "Yes!"

The pair have now returned to their party, both with a satisfied smile on their faces. But Subaru's smile was quickly erased after seeing one thing that disgusted his crossdress-loving soul. A blond man, wearing a white gown, legs still hairy and not shaved, hair not being covered with a wig, and no fucking make-up. It scared him more than even the great rabbit, but that fear turned into determination, as he was now set on what to do after this event.

But before he could do that, he should ask first, "Who is that terribly crossdressed and scraggly blond man?"

"Crossdressed?" Blake looked towards the direction he was looking at, "Oh! That's Jaune!"

"So that's the boy with no combat experience whatsoever huh….I should teach him a lesson or two about being a woman!"

A voice then suddenly called out to him before Blake could interrupt, "Subaru!"

"Huh? Oh! Rub-OOF"

Suddenly, a force from behind made his unprepared body stumble backward, "Subaru! Save me, I suppose!" Beatrice suddenly called out as Subaru looked behind him, awkwardly smiling before-

"OOF!"

Ruby suddenly hugged him from the front as he was caught off guard with Beako, who was not being dragged away by an overly-excited Yang. Her sudden charge made him fall backward, dragging the struggling Beatrice forwards freeing her from Yang's grasp. But before she could exhale a sigh of relief, she instead exhaled a panicked yelp as Subaru fell onto her while Ruby was on top.

Luckily, it was cut short by a blushing Ruby who immediately stood up at lightning speed, 'How fast is this girl!?' Subaru thought.

"We were about to search for you and Blake! What took you guys so long!?"

"You're not even sorry!?" He screamed

"Both of you should apologize to Betty, I suppose!" Beatrice interrupted as she stood up dusting her clothes, then she noticed that a blondie was behind her "But first please help Betty, in fact!"

"You're not getting away for long you blond loli!" Yang declared as she once again caught Beatrice in her arms. The rest of the group began to stare at them as Yang ran off into the distance, carrying a clearly crying Beatrice on her arms with her hair drills flailing about screaming "Save me, I suppose!"

They then focused on something else entirely. Subaru was a bit worried about how Yang is treating his Beako here like a barbie doll, but Ruby had reassured him many times that she was just playing with her hair. It calmed him down a bit.

Soon enough, Weiss entered the scene bringing drinks on a tray, "So...where's Yang?"

"Playing with Beatrice's hair," Ruby replied.

"Makes sense." Weiss responded, putting the tray of drinks on a nearby table, "also, Natsuki Subaru, a moment please."

Soon Weiss took his hand and began dragging him away from the two girls, and into somewhere more private while still inside the building. Subaru looked towards the little rose. A blush was clearly present on her face as she looked at him too as he was dragged away. 'This might be more than a childish crush…' He thought.

Weiss then stopped and stood before him, "So, what were you guys talking about?"

"The recent one or with Blake?"

"Of course the latter you dolt!"

"Right right, it's about my past and….my self-harming experie-" his reply was quickly silenced by her hand closing his mouth.

"Don't talk about that while we're trying to enjoy the moment. Blake had consoled you right? So that can be ignored for now," she whispered as she released her hand from him, "anything else?"

He was a bit surprised by her quick wits but nodded, "Blake's past and about The White Fang"

She nodded, before dragging him away again back to Ruby and Blake. Subaru wondered a bit if the rest of the team knew about his self-harm after he discovered that Ruby and Blake knew about it. But after hearing and seeing Weiss' response, he guessed not.

"So, Subaru…" Ruby approached, "you heard m-my offer, right?"

Subaru thought about it for a moment, "The dance?"

"Yup!" She replied with a smile, "do you want to….dance with me?"

Weiss and Blake were watching in the distance like proud moms, "You talked to Subaru about the dance offer too didn't you?" the ice queen whispered, Blake, nodded in response.

Meanwhile, Subaru was thinking about it for a moment. There'll be nothing that could go wrong with a little dance right? He then looked at her again, Ruby was still blushing, a bit nervous even. It made him pity her, trying so hard to get a dance from a man like him. A man that she actually cares about.

Subaru smiled and nodded, "I shall accept my lady" He bowed, placing his right hand over his chest and onto his left shoulder.

Ruby was bewildered, over-excited even with her eyes glimmering with happiness. But after listening to Weiss' lessons on lady-like manners, she managed to compose herself. She lifted her skirt before bowing to him in response, her legs showing signs of her being an amateur in the art of high-class dancing which Subaru had practiced a lot after his knighting.

They looked at each other, him offering his hand which she grasped gently. Both smiling at each other as they walk to the dance floor-

"Let's get this rave started! Woooooo!"

Before being interrupted by the sudden trap music, fitting its genre as it surprised both of them. The two of them laughed at each other, as they dropped their graceful stances and ran towards the dance floor. Hand in hand full of both excitement and anxiety. The two began to spin around, twisting, and enjoying themselves as they lived in one of the happiest moments of their lives. Ruby finally got the man that she wanted to have fun with. Subaru now understands the meaning of self-love and enjoyment. Both now celebrating their efforts with a dance to the raving trap music.