Welp, long time no see you guys. This is the fic I've created for the ReZero exchange event Pidgie created. I've got to say that the idea is a breath of fresh air and something that, I, have not seen before in another fanfic community, so congratulations to Pidgie and her entire team, you have done a great job.
Now my partner in crime for this event was Oteycri000. He is the person to whom this fic is dedicated. I hope you enjoy this.
Hot.
It was the only thing a heated Natsuki Subaru thought. He is lying on the floor of his room in just his pants. He took his precious tracksuit off because no matter how much he loved it, it was just too damn hot to wear that.
Rolling on the ground every time it stopped being "chilled".
It was summer in this new world that he now inhabited. Here they called it the season of the Red-Sun, but it was the same for him. A heated season.
Lugunica had weather similar to where he used to live before. Mild autumns with lots of rain and wind. A winter characterized by snow and cold. Springs, like Autumn, are mild but with less rain. And finally, hot and agonizing Summers.
Subaru yelled in despair, "AC, why did you abandon me!" As he rolled on the ground, the heat soon swamped him again. His body, sweaty, stuck to the wooden floor "At this point, I'll even be content with a hand fan." Fanning himself with his hand made him feel even more exhausted.
The weather this week has been particularly hot. The Lugunique summer had been heated by an eastward heatwave from the desert, but he didn't care much about the cause. He was hot and he didn't want to be.
Hearing the sound of his bedroom door opening brought an abrupt halt to his thoughts.
"Subaru, you plan to... WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! PUT SOME CLOTHES ON RIGHT NOW, I SUPPOSE!"
"Oh, Beako, it's you!" Subaru turned his head to see a little blonde standing in the doorway of his room, completely red.
She wore a pink dress with white trimmings. Her legs were visible due to the exposed front of the dress. The legs that were covered by her tights were pink and purple. Also, the dress is adorned with a large pink ribbon at the left side of the waist.
"Do not tell Betty, 'Oh Beako it's you', in fact! Why are you only wearing underwear?" As she closed the door behind her, the girl shouted to him. The sight of him made her face as red as a tomato.
"Well... It's hot and I thought it might be a good idea to just lay on the floor doing nothing all day, but that isn't helping" He sighed tiredly.
At first, doing nothing seems like a great idea. Time passed, but he only felt hotter and hotter. That didn't help him feel cold.
As Subaru stood up, he began to dress. The only difference was he did not put on his normal clothing. Taking his long-sleeved black shirt and his tailored shorts, he wasn't wearing his hot tracksuit on this hot day.
"In addition, Emilia-tan left today and won't return until the evening" Subaru grumbled as he put on his clothes.
"Emilia-tan this, Emilia-tan that. You never think of Betty, I suppose." Beatrice muttered to herself, going completely unnoticed by Subaru.
Along with Roswaal and Ram, Emilia planned a meeting with a nearby nobleman to support the half-elf's candidacy.
Subaru did insist on going as her knight, but the nobleman, apparently, didn't like the black-haired knight and Roswaal thought it best not to take him.
As a result, Subaru is in the current situation he is in. Despite having a day off, the heat burned any desire to do anything
"Well... what brought you here Beako?" Subaru asked the little spirit. He didn't expect her so early in the afternoon "I thought you would be in the library until evening or so."
Beatrice, now that Subaru had dressed, was somewhat calmer and had lost the redness in her face "Yes, indeed, that was my plan. But after a few hours, it was too hot in there"
Subaru understood and nodded. Although the library was a large place, it had many windows that allowed sunlight into the room, making the place much hotter. "Would it be that difficult to change your clothes to something cooler?"
In Subaru's opinion, Beatrice's dress wasn't a great choice for a day like this.
She sighed and stared at him blankly. "Subaru, my contractor, when did we do our contract?" She asked deadpan.
"Ten months, three weeks, four days, fourteen hours, twenty minutes and seventeen seconds, eighteen, nineteen ..." Subaru answered seriously.
"Indeed, that much... Wait?! What?! Have you been counting it, I suppose?
"Obviously not. I can't count like that"
"Aghhhh! You are irritating, in fact!" Beatrice kicked the ground hard as Subaru laughed. Little moments like these made his life happier.
"Hahahahaha! You are terribly adorable Beatrice."
I considered using my day with you, but you laughed at me, I suppose. I happen to have the worst contractor in the history of mankind." She turned her back on him as she crossed her arms. Sulking "I thought we could go for a walk together because the half-elf girl isn't here. I thought you could feel lonely, in fact."
"I'm sorry about that, Beako" Subaru pulled the young girl closer and hugged her "What did you want to say?"
"You're lucky I'm still interested in talking to you" She replied while burying herself deeper into his embrace. Despite being so close, the heat did not bother them.
"And I know I'm very lucky to have someone like you with me, Beatrice, and for that, I thank you" Subaru stroked the spirit's head gently. "Please accept my sincere thanks and gratitude, Beatrice."
"It's no problem at all, Subaru." The great spirit responded softly. "And in answer to your question of my clothes, these are made from my mana, which means they are not the same as yours."
"I understand..." Subaru nodded, but then he thought of something "Wait... Does that mean you go naked all the time?"
"WHAT?! HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT?! I'm not naked, Idiot Contractor." Beatrice yelled into Subaru's ear, disgusted by the stupid idea. Her being naked was just stupid. Beatrice's death glare could kill even Reinhard or so Subaru thought. "I'm covered in mana, so obviously I'm not going naked. You better keep that in mind if you don't want something to happen to you."
Okay, I understand you're not naked. I won't bring it up again."
"Now that you understand, let's make our way out of here." Beatrice directed, kicking Subaru away. "Staying in this room all day isn't good for me and neither is for you" She gestured towards the mansion's corridors.
"Yes ma'am!" Subaru saluted her and despite the severe heat they started to walk towards the outside.
"It's so hot." Subaru staggered down the hall, trying to keep in the shade.
"It's quite a bit hotter than it should be." Beatrice commented nonchalantly "These heat waves are rare in occurrence but nothing worrisome. They usually occur every few years."
The year I'm here is this hot." Subaru grumbled with indignation "Otherworldly fantasy." Subaru chuckled incredulously.
Following a walk through the mansion's empty hallways, the spirit and contractor couple made their way to one of the mansion's living rooms.
It was not the mansion's main living room. A small room near the mansion's entrance, this room was convenient for receiving guests. There were pictures and intricate embroidery on the walls with the family and kingdom emblems.
In the middle of this room, they found Garfiel. Between some of the chairs, he was sprawled on the floor wearing his usual vest and pants.
The living room desk was covered in a mountain of papers as Otto sat at it. In the heat of the day, the ex-merchant had changed from warm clothes to something cooler. His clothes are a simple short-sleeved green shirt and long pants. However, his trusty cap was still firmly on his head like it was the first day.
"Yoo Garfiel, Otto!" When they entered the living room, Subaru greeted them enthusiastically,
In a moment Otto lifted his head from his work; he had black bags under his eyes from not getting enough sleep the night before. As a result of the heat and exertion, sweat ran down his face.
In Subaru's honest opinion, Garfiel did look pretty good. There were no obvious signs of fatigue on his face or body. As sweaty as everyone else.
'Sup' Cap'n. Oh? The Drill spirit 's here too'' Garfiel salutes from his ground position
"Who are you calling Drill spirit, beast boy?" Angry, Beatrice replied. "I have to remind you that I'm a great spirit, I suppose?"
"Oh ... Natsuki-san, good morning" Otto greeted wearily, ignoring the two blondes, and turned his attention back to the papers he was completing "There is so much to do, I have to finish this by the weekend" Sighing heavily, the ex-merchant returned to work.
"Good morning? It's already afternoon, don't you know?" Subaru asked, looking out the window. "Otto, you need to take a break. You can't go on like this."
"Is it already afternoon?" Otto looked out the window in disbelief. "Oh no, I'm going to die young."
"He's been like this since yesterday," Garfiel said, getting up from the floor, ignoring an angry Beatrice staring at him, "He told me to wake him up 'f he fell asleep, but Aniki has'n impressive work rate" As he pointed to a stack of papers on one side of the room.
"Since yesterday? That's impressive, in fact! But I think you should take a break! Working so hard for so long is not good, Betty's Subaru will worry if you don't rest and that will make Betty worry as well, I suppose"
"Yup, Otto. You should rest a bit, so much work in this heat is not good for you" Subaru matched his spirit. The boy would pass out at this rate
"But I still have to finish this by next..."
"Garfiel, take him, we're leaving"
"I'll take him Cap'n!"
Before Otto could do anything, Garfiel lifted him from his chair and carried him on his shoulders like a sack
"Ah! Hey Garfiel! Get me down!" Otto resists "I have to finish that" More and more, Otto watches as he is dragged out of the room.
"I don't think you'll make it out of this so easily, merchant boy"
"Sorry Aniki, Cap'n's orders" Garfiel shrugged as he didn't let the grey-haired man move. "So... what do we do now Cap'n? Climbin'? Runnin' fer a few hours? Hand-to-hand combat? "
Garfiel seemed to get more and more excited with each idea. The heat must have gotten to him. Otto grew louder at hearing the blonde's ideas, praying he wouldn't do any of them.
Subaru sighed at Garfiel's hyperactivity "With this heat? Garf I know your thing is to be a shonen manga protagonist and all that, but who trains in this heat? Do you want us to die?"
"Soh-nein?" Garfiel tried to repeat the strange word, failing.
"It's another Subarism, just leave it, I suppose" Beatrice, who understood his words, said to the beast boy.
"But what can we do, hmm..."
"This was supposed to be my time with Subaru alone, in fact," Beatrice murmured before sighing. "Maybe we should go to the library, Subaru." The great spirit suggested.
"That sounds good, but... what do you have to say, guys? Subaru asked his two other companions.
Otto, whom Garfiel had already left on the ground, sighed "You have dragged me here and we don't have a plan? Ahhh..." Otto turned his gaze to the outside of the mansion, looking at the horizon "I hope it refreshes tonight because I don't think I can sleep in this heat"
"Grrowl ~" A stomach growled just then. Three heads turned to see a little embarrassed Garfiel rubbing his stomach "Sorry 'bout that, but I'm hungry hahaha!"
"There is still a while for dinner, so you will have to wait Garf"
"I can't believe you're hungry this early in the afternoon, I suppose. How long has it been since you ate, in fact?"
"Hahaha, so Garfiel is one of those people who eats all the time just because" Subaru laughed at the situation "I would eat too but with this heat, I just want something cold ..."
Subaru fell silent after saying that. Thinking.
"Hmmm, something cold… cold... "
"Something wrong Natsuki-san?"
"Subaru is everything okay?"
"What 's up Cap'n?"
"I got it!" Subaru said suddenly, quite happy "Why did I forget this? I know what we are going to do"
Otto raised an eyebrow and asked, "Is it another of your ideas, Natsuki-san?". What could have happened in his friend's mind to make him so happy?.
"Yes, the truth is that I forgot about it because I made it a few months ago for a date with Emilia… but I haven't had the opportunity to do it and end up forgetting about it," Subaru said as he started walking "It's something that will also help us fight this heat"
Otto was intrigued by the idea.
"It's something you've never seen before"
Beatrice was the one who got excited this time.
"And it's something we can eat as well"
"What are we waiting for then! Let's go!" Garfiel began to walk behind Subaru, quite excited.
"To the kitchen then!" Subaru exclaimed excitedly. Despite having completely forgotten about this, he was sure they would enjoy this.
Their journey to the kitchen didn't take long.
"Excuse me!" Subaru opened the kitchen door without hesitation. "Uhm, there doesn't seem to be anyone here" Subaru commented.
"It's still early, so nobody is working here yet," Otto said as he glanced around.
"I can feel the beast girl and the little maid in the outer courtyard," Beatrice said lightly. "In any case, what are we doing here Subaru?"
"I'm going to show you something from my homeland that will absolutely amaze you." Subaru walked over to the kitchen pantry and took out a large box.
It was a completely black box. On top of the lid was a magic stone.
"Isn't this just a cooler?" Said Otto looking at the box. A small part of Subaru cringed. It had been over a year now that he had been in this world and there were some things he would never get used to.
"What're ya goin' to do with this Cap'n?
Subaru opened the box and the contents inside of it were revealed to be small ice cubes of three different colours. Some were pink, others were completely white, and others were yellowish.
"Ice?" Garfiel said without understanding, looking at the small blocks of ice "n' why's it colour'd?"
"What are we going to do with this ice Natsuki-san?"
"Eat it"
"Explain, I suppose" Beatrice just rolled her eyes at her contractor's ideas.
" Do I really have to explain this?" Subaru pointed at the ice blocks and only got three nods. "Ahhh... Well, this is a recipe where I come from, they are called ice lollies."
"Ice lollies? I've never heard anything like it, in fact" Beatrice muttered to herself.
"Anyway, as the name says they are candy lollies but they are made of ice" Subaru took a lolly of each colour "This one is made of leman, this one of strawburry and this one of molk" While pointing to the yellow lollies, the pink lollies and white lollies. "I swear I'll die one of these days just from the cringe. Who comes up with these names?"
"Ohhh ~ n'... 're they tasty, cap'n?" Garfiel looked at the poles quite curious now that he knew what they were made of.
"Obvious! Take one each and try them" Subaru approached them with the box "You have to take them from the handle, although in this case, they are spoons. Anyway, your hands will get sticky if you don't do that. They have suger after all"
Beatrice took a strawburry one, Otto took a molk one and Garfiel took a leman one.
"So... how do we eat this, I suppose?" Beatrice was looking at the lolly curiously.
"You have to eat it quickly, in this heat, it will melt soon," Subaru said, also taking a lemon lolly "You have to lick it or bite it whatever you prefer, it is ice after all"
Beatrice licked the lolly without hesitation and was surprised by the taste "It's... quite sweet and indeed it has that strawberry flavour despite being ice, how do you do it, I suppose?" Beatrice continued to lick the pole with enthusiasm. She could get used to these things.
When Garfiel and Otto saw the spirit lick without hesitation, they decided to taste the cold food in his hands.
Otto licked the lolly "Oh! It tastes more like molk than I expected" Certainly Otto would repeat this ice lolly "I'm interested in-"
"Ahh! My head!"
Otto and Beatrice turned to see a crouching Garfiel clutching his head, his ice lolly gone. There were some traces of it in his mouth, indicating that he had already eaten it.
"Garf! Are you okay?" A concerned Otto approached the sore blond "What's wrong?"
"My amazin' self 've eaten this n' now my head hurts" Garfiel stood up with Otto's help and they both turned to see, a not very concerned, Subaru, who was trying to hold back his laughter.
"Are you- pfff! okay, Garf? Hahahha" Subaru couldn't contain his laughter seeing what had happened to Garfiel "I imagined it could happen to you, Garfiel. Don't worry much about it, it will end in a moment" Subaru assured the blonde.
Beatrice, still licking her ice cream calmly, asked curiously, "What was that?". There didn't seem to be anything in the lollies that would cause that reaction. There was nothing toxic or poisonous in it.
"Natsuki-san, is this food dangerous?
"What happened to Garfiel is called 'brain freeze', so don't worry much."
"Brain freeze?" Otto repeated, terrified, it sounded very dangerous for Subaru to be treating it that way.
"Yes. It's something that happens a lot when you eat ice lollies or something that is frozen in general, very fast" Subaru explained "If I remember correctly, it happened because of something of an artery that goes to the brain or something like that, but it is nothing worrisome, right, Garfiel?"
" 'S still a bit irritatin', but it ain't as much as at first," Garfiel said, already still and no longer holding his head "But you could have said that before Cap'n" Recriminate the blonde jokingly, he could have saved himself from the headache.
"Yeah... I guess so... sorry about that Garf" Subaru apologized for his joke. Garfiel and Otto didn't notice Beatrice's glance at him.
"Don't worry, Cap'n" Garfiel replied with a smile and took another leman lolly. "By the way, this is great!" Garfiel was eating his ice cream again, calmer now.
"I told you"
I guess Betty's Subaru is quite happy now, I suppose" Said the little spirit with a tiny smile on her lips. Her voice sounded more cheerful than the flat tone she usually used. Subaru returned the smile and head patted the spirit.
"Yes I do, spending time with you guys is something I won't forget" He mumbled, his comment only being heard by the spirit at his side
"Natsuki-san, have you ever considered selling this?" Otto asked after finishing his ice lolly. "I'm sure it would sell well, and it's also easy to eat and easy to transport should you move. It would be very popular with children. This allows them to play and eat at the same time." Otto looked at the advantages that a producer like this could bring, even after he had stopped working as a merchant "It's a very good idea, I mean it"
"Thanks, Otto, but I hadn't thought of that," Subaru replied, grabbing another lolly "It's something I had planned for Emilia, but I just remembered it now because it's hot and Garfiel was hungry."
"We can sell it in the village and see how it goes." Otto's mercantile mind was fully activated. "If it succeeds, and I'm convinced it will, we can take it to the capital. We'll be rich!"
"Hey Otto, calm down, I'm not going to sell it" Despite Subaru's attempts not to sell the ice lollies, Otto continued.
In the process, he even convinced Betty and Garfiel about the idea of selling the ice lollies. Ice lollies that, little by little, were coming to an end.
"He presents solid points Subaru, we might have to consider his idea, I suppose"
"My amazin' self didn't understand half of it but if I get more of this ya can count me on board"
"Now, Natsuki-san, I don't think there is much more to say about this but-"
PAM!
Suddenly, the kitchen door flew open.
"Subaru-sama and Beatrice-sama. Oh! There are also Garfiel-san and Ototototo-san" Petra Leyte had just entered the kitchen. As usual, she is wearing her maid outfit and her red bow.
"Why only me!"
Otto's cry did not deter her as she walked toward them joyfully.
"Yo Petra! How is my cute little maid today?" Subaru greeted the little girl.
The girl seemed happy at the compliment "Ehehe! Thank you, Subaru. What are you doing?" The little girl approached the table and looked at the ice lollies with curiosity "Ohh! It's cold, what's this?" she said, noticing the freezing breeze that came from the ice lollies.
"Mini-maid, this 's 'n invention that came from cap'n's amazin' head," Garfiel said proudly "Its name 's Ais Loyie"
"Ice lolly, beast boy" Beatrice corrected calmly, licking her lolly
"What I've said" He smirked proudly.
"Betty's Subaru has done something amazing, in fact," Beatrice nodded smugly. Licking her ice lolly, Beatrice handed one to Petra. Who followed her example licked it.
"Ohhhh! This is very good! And very sweet! Subaru, this is amazing!" After the first lick on the ice lolly, many more followed as she praised the black-haired man.
"Thanks, Petra" Subaru accepted the compliment "By the way, what are you doing here?" It was quite soon for her to be here. Didn't Beatrice say something about them being in the courtyard?
"I came to prepare dinner, Fredrica-nee-sama must be about to arrive," Petra commented as she strove to get another ice lolly. "Oh... Over already, I wanted to try more."
"Uh ?!" Subaru turned his gaze to the ice lollies box, which was indeed empty. Then he turned his gaze outside and realized that night had fallen on them without their noticing.
"It's night already…," Garfiel replied, shocked. "How long have we been here?"
"A few hours, in fact," Beatrice said in surprise, not even she had noticed the passage of time "The merchant boy has had us listening to him for a few hours, I suppose"
"Oh my gosh, I didn't realize it had been that long" Otto, flustered, apologized fervently, "I'm really sorry."
"Don't worry about that Otto," Subaru replied, "I haven't seen you this excited for a long time, so I think that's okay. I suppose everyone has these moments." He said while fake crying
"As Cap'n says, don't worry Aniki. We know that, from time to time, y've yer problems" Garfiel, who understood what Subaru was doing, mirrored him.
"Oi! I have no problems" Otto yelled indignantly. "And what are you even crying for?!"
Garfiel and Subaru each put a hand on one of Otto's shoulders "Don't worry, we'll help you with whatever we can" Their timing was perfect. Each one of them gave him a thumbs up.
"Youuuu twooooo!" As Otto was two to one outmatched, he screamed in frustration.
Petra and Beatrice watched the situation from a distance with different reactions. Beatrice sighed and shook her head as Petra smiled.
"Otototo-san has it tough, poor guy."
"Subaru can be insufferable when he wants to be and the beast boy likes to imitate him too much, in fact"
"I guess so," Petra laughed when she saw the three friends yelling at one another.
"Why am I always the one who is bullied?!" Otto yelled at the other two. "Garf take my side and let's bully Natsuki-san!"
Subaru and Garfiel looked at each other and shrugged.
"You are an easy target"
"Cap'n 's right, sorry Aniki"
That was the last straw. The last push Otto needed.
"If you keep acting like this, my revenge will be terrible, Mwahahahaha!" Otto laughed maniacally. There are already a lot of ideas going through his head about how he will get revenge.
"Hadn't you got that much to do?" Subaru interjected mercilessly. His desk was piled high with papers, the mere thought made Otto shiver. He forgot about it. His head lost all thought of revenge in an instant.
"I've t' train t'morrow," Garfiel said, due to today's heat and spending the afternoon in the kitchen he hadn't done his daily training.
"So... then..." Otto tried to think of something quickly "Oh yeah, I know, I'll get Emilia-sama and Frederica-san to help me with my work"
"Otto bastard, you wouldn't dare ..."
"Aniki, ya don't do that..."
"Oh! It's Emilia-sama's carriage" Petra said, looking out the window.
Otto ran out of the kitchen.
"Otto, that's a false start!" Subaru ran after him, closely followed by Garfiel
"Aniki, c'me here!"
"YOU WON'T CATCH ME ALIVE!"
"OTTO COME HERE!" Garfiel and Subaru's voices echoed throughout the mansion.
That was the last thing Petra and Beatrice heard before they could no longer hear the voices of the three boys running through the hallways of the mansion.
Beatrice looked out the window and, to her surprise, there was no carriage approaching the mansion. "You are a little devil, don't you know?"
"It's fun to see them act like this sometimes," Petra commented, and soon Beatrice joined her.
"Certainly... It's fun to see them act like this." Beatrice answered "And I hope that they stay like this for a long time"
Now that I've finished writting this I hope you all enjoyed reading this. It was a funny ride when I was writting this. At first I thought very hard about what to do, and suddleny a heat wave hit my town and I was dying on my seat with an ice lolly in my hand... You can imagine the rest after that. It was fun writting Otto, Garfiel and Subaru all together in the same scene, I really like their relationship. And adding Betty was funny because she just rolls with everything the trio do.
As a side note, the last chapter of Re Union might take a while to see the light, right now I'm helping with a second exchange fic and I got an idea for a very long One Shot I really want to do and I think it might suit the tastes of many here.
Anyhow, hope you liked this. Ewent out