Morning, defined as the earliest part of the day, situated between sunrise and noon. Mornings, the first thing one experiences when they arise from sleep; the time when the body's processes restart and consciousness re-establishes itself. Mornings were a time for preparation, breakfast, and the celebration of new day.
To Subaru Natsuki, mornings also meant something else: cuddles. The simplistic expression of affection, which if he was honest, he always wanted courtesy of its portrayal in the manga, anime, and other media of his homeland. When he at last found himself in this position of cuddle-dom, he wholeheartedly considered it to be all it was talked up to be. He quickly learned that there was something wonderfully sweet about the small act of being held by someone you loved.
Afterall, what could be better than waking up in the arms of a lovely lady? What could possibly counter being used as an oversized body pillow? Well, Subaru could think of a few counterpoints involving thighs or kissing, but he still thoroughly enjoyed starting his day with Theresia's angelic face nuzzling into side of his neck and her arms tightly secured around his chest, even though such enjoyment came at the expense of his manly pride. Then again, she was his Sword Goddess, so his masculinity could make a few exceptions for her and her alone.
"Subaru…" he heard Theresia murmur directly into his ear, feeling her breath whisper across his skin, sending shivers directly down his spine. For the umpteenth time, the nasty-eyed teenager was speechless, made even more so when he felt her readjust herself, stretching out her arms and legs before rolling onto him, thus bringing them face to face and leaving little space between their interconnected bodies. Even though clothing still separated them, he could feel her, all of her, every little piece of her perfections.
Words continued to fail Subaru; Theresia's dazzling smile didn't make matters any better.
"Morning." She said, clearly enjoying the reactions she was invoking within her bedmate. As she learned, he could be easy to tease in such intimate moments, but behind such embarrassment was a natural sweetness she savored more than any candy or sweet the world was ever to produce.
"Hi," was the single, monosyllabic response Subaru's brain was able to produce. Theresia's grin promptly grew at his more or less self-induced idiocy. To counter, she gently flicked his head in an effort to get his brain back to maximum functioning capacity.
It seemed to work, though the rouge on his cheeks failed to leave.
"How'd you sleep, Theresia-tan?"
"Wonderfully, you?"
"I think you already know the answer."
His smile proved to be an answer in of itself, to which he followed up on by wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing her further into him. He was content to simply lie there in her embrace, but today was not their day off and their little cuddle session had to come to an end. Silently, he pulled himself out of bed, unfortunately leaving behind the warmth of the covers and Theresia to begin his day.
Since their arrival in Outou, getting settled had brought about a surprising amount of difficulties to the couple, being faced with an almost complete absence of money, forms of identification, or any plan as of what to do.
But this was Outou, a city of Karagai, where money was affluent and if one truly wanted to restart their life, they need only look in the right places. Perfectly befitting this country of self-made capitalists, there was a sizeable underbelly of a very much decidedly… illegal nature. They could provide anything one was seeking, from employment to pleasure to false documents.
Subaru had already seen how utterly badass his lover could be, but it was in those early days that he discovered the extent to which Theresia's badassery extended.
===Flashback 2 month ago===
Theresia and Subaru made the journey down to the outskirts of Outou silently, hand in hand and well-armed. Like all cities, Outou had its own form of slums, and though they proved to be less depressing and ramshackle than those of Lugnicia, they still carried that air of poverty that easily identified the lower end of the economic spectrum.
They were there by necessity not choice. Even though this world was rather primitive compared to Subaru's home, it still carried some similarities, for starters and most importantly, identification. One could not thrive in this city, or any city in Karagai for that matter without some form of ID. The nation's form of this type of paper was rather rudimentary, being a simple yellow sheet carrying one's basic, important information, a seal of the government and city, and a small section marked out for criminal record.
As the two quickly came to learn, if one did not have their papers, one did not get a job. The fact of the matter was, if the two wanted to live a good life, to work and actually thrive, to restart, they needed papers first before anything else.
And so, they found themselves in the slums, or as Theresia had learned through her scouting and information gathering abilities, the criminal underworld. If it were under any other circumstance, the former Sword Saint would have quickly brought the proverbial hammer down on these fiends of organized crime, but they were a necessary evil.
Of course, whether or not she would return later to bring them to justice was up in the air. For now, though, she would give them a temporary pass, emphasis on the temporary.
Notice her tense aura, Subaru gave her hand a gentle, re-assuring squeeze.
"We'll be fine, I think. Besides…" Subaru casually lifted one of the flaps on his cloak to reveal his whip attached to his belt, as well as flexing his hand in light arc to represent his Invisible Providence. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you."
Theresia couldn't help but chuckle at that.
"I'm more worried about your safety, Subaru, than I am my own, but I appreciate the gesture."
"Oh, my pride had been damaged beyond repair!" Subaru exclaimed, dramatically flailing his arms before falling to his knees with lavish oddity.
He quickly gained a few odd stares from locals passing by.
"Subaru! You're attracting attention!"
"Only a kiss from Theresia-tan can cure me and restore my strength!"
More stares followed.
Theresia shook her head at his antics as she brought him to his feet in a single sweep. Now, with a single hand lightly stroking is chin, the Sword goddess placed her lips upon his momentarily, before separating, an exasperated smile gracing her features.
"All better now?"
"Of course! I feel stronger already!" Subaru responded, quickly giving her a thumb's up and one of his signature "Subaru poses."
Theresia could only sigh. There was no curing his extravagances.
"Alright, come on, let's get this done with," Theresia took his hand, practically yanking him out of his idiocy and leading him back towards their destination. They didn't have travel for much longer, for directly ahead lay the place of which they were to meet the mob of Outou.
Subaru thought it would be a much shadier building than it was, maybe a decrepit shack or some form of housing that practically screamed, "this is where the Mafia lives, go the fuck away!" Unfortunately, all his expectations were quickly brought crumbling down when he faced reality, the place of the arranged meeting was an inconspicuous pub, nothing more. One could hardly tell that this bar was any different than the others in the land; its blandness was to such a degree that Subaru would more than likely forget where the meeting was the moment he left.
But that didn't matter, he just wanted this to be over, so he could begin his quiet life with Theresia. In the end, that was all that mattered, so he kept his silence and soundlessly followed his lover into the establishment.
That was when he got his first look at "The Big Man."
"The Big Man," as the head of the mob of the East Side of Outou was called, proved to be an accurate name for the criminal leader. He was in all senses, a big man—his head was practically touching the ceiling, and his stomach's girth was of such a size that it spilled onto the table when he pulled in his chair. Subaru had to actively restrain himself from vomiting. Even his mannerisms seemed to reflect his fatness, his hands cramming food into his mouth as Theresia and he took their seats at his table.
"So, ya be da two who want da identifications, eh?" the Big Man asks shortly after they sat down.
Theresia nodded.
"Well, wha do I get out of dis? Ah you know, I don't do nading fa nading. Papers ah hard ta get, da feds been crackin down on ma operations."
"We'll be willing to pay you back with interest just as soon as we get on our feet."
"Sarry, dat won't do. Ya cashes is useless ta me, I gat more dan enough. I need somethin more, something more usable."
The Big Man eyed Theresia, his eyes running over her as a perverse grin grew on his face. Subaru nearly lost it, only being restrained by his lover's hand quickly squeezing his thigh as her head shook.
"Don't worry, I got this Subaru."
He watched as Theresia's eyes darkened and practically felt coldness emanate from her.
Silently, she walked over to the Big Man, standing on her tippytoesand grabbing the man by one of his fat cheeks in order to bring his ear closer to her mouth. Almost instantly, the Big Man's once smug grin fell and fear quickly spread across his face as he heard what she had to say. Subaru could only guess what was going on, but from the look on the Big Man's face and his lover's cold expression, it was not good.
Once finished, Theresia immediately took her seat beside Subaru, immediately taking his hand in hers. Back with the mob leader, the Big Man tried and failed to regain his composure and sense of authority.
"Aight, Aight, I w…will make ah exception f…fa ya. Just go t…ta meet ma man down ahn second street. H…He'll git ya the goods. Y…y..ya don't have ta pay me back, uhm, call it a sign of ma good will to ya."
"Thank you, we'll be taking our leave now," and with that said, Theresia and Subaru left, the former leading the severely confuse latter out of the pub without so much as a single glance backwards. In moments, they were back in the open air of the street, and almost as soon as the sunlight hit his face, Theresia was on him.
Her lips smashed against his, as her hands quickly forced his face and body closer to hers. She was in a frenzy, assaulting his mouth with lip and tongue alike, easily dispelling Subaru's ability to think, let alone breath. He melted in her hot embrace, just letting the sensation overload his senses as pleasure exploded in him. All to soon she separated from him, panting hard, while a thin string of saliva still connected them to one another.
"Nobody gets to look at me like that, only you."
Subaru nodded dumbly. He was still too winded to actually form sentence patterns.
Suffice it to say, the fake ID's were easily acquired later that day without any difficulty, and two days after their meeting, the Big Man was arrested on multiple accounts of perjury, forgery, murder, evasion of the law, and tax evasion.
Subaru and Theresia never heard from him or his gang again.
===end flashback===
The nasty-eyed teenager grinned to himself as he prepared breakfast, happily remembered the aftermath of the meeting with the Big Man and the impromptu make-out session that followed. If he ever needed a reason to fear pissing Theresia off, he had one, as well as another to add to add to the ever-growing list behind his devotion to her happiness.
Thankfully, things only got better after that day, much due to their current possession of ID's. The first reason behind such increased circumstances being that they were now listed as Subaru and Theresia Natsuki, husband and wife extraordinaire (despite the fact he had yet to actually propose, but let it be said Subaru had been thinking over the idea for some time). The second being that they now had a job together, one which though they were wary of at the start, they soon came to thoroughly enjoy. Building upon their previous experiences in combat, as well as offering a decent share of money as payment, the lovers took on the roles of City Guards for the great city of Outou.
Was it the best job they could have taken, no, there were probably better paying professions, but it was the first one they found where they could work together, as well as use some of their skills. Not to mention, they would be helping keep the city safe, and that definitely was a requirement for Theresia.
Besides, for Subaru, the uniforms were pretty cool, like a dark blue and black version of the Royal Knights' attire, with a stylish, Assassin's Creed reminiscent hood to achieve maximum drip; not that that was a selling point or anything for Subaru. No, of course not. He was above such things…most of the time. Then again, he was still a teenager, only 19, and such concepts of cool still had a small effect on him.
"Alright, Theresia-tan, breakfast is ready!" Subaru announced, watching as Theresia, now in her City Guard attire, took her seat at their apartment's table. Subaru's eyes remained glued to her even after she sat down; he never got enough of her in uniform. To him, it was the perfect cross between cool and sexy, and dear God did it make it hard for him to not look. With wonderful tailoring, it remained snugly fastened to her body, slightly accentuating the gentle curve of her hips and the shape of her breasts. It took all of his will to keep the perverse thoughts from claiming his attention.
Unsurprisingly, Theresia knew exactly what she could do to Subaru, and it did not stop her from teasing him time to time, not that he was against it though. He loved her, after all, he was always willing to give, even if that meant his pride once again suffering.
"Subaru?"
Subaru's trance promptly ceased.
"Right, breakfast. For today's meal, I present to you the American delicacy known as…Pancakes!"
With that said, he presented the dish to her, placing the plate down before her as well as taking his own to his side of the table. Once settled, he brought forth the maple syrup and breakfast began. Showing her large sweet tooth, Theresia practically drenched her pancakes in maple syrup, giving them a firm, almost gelatinous amber sheen, which she happily dug into.
The smiles returned again, reveling in knowing his work as chef was appreciated. On a less innocent note, he also realized the next time they kissed he would taste the aforementioned syrup upon her lips, mixed the ever-present strawberry that was natural to her.
"What?" Theresia asked, looking up from her massacred plate, which her fork was still sunk into.
"I'm…I'm just really happy, you know. For the longest time, I didn't think this was…possible for me, but now with you, I've never felt better, never felt so much joy over simple stuff like this."
Theresia blushed as her fork dropped. She was well aware that Subaru always had a way with words, and always found new ways of expressing how much he loved her. That morning was another such instance.
"Hey Theresia-tan, you got some syrup on you."
The Sword Goddess's hands quickly travelled the expanse of her cheeks and chin.
"Where? I don't feel any…"
Her words were never finished as Subaru had leaned over the table, capturing her lips with his own, effectively silencing her with a kiss.
"I think I got it."
His grin grew smug as her face continued to darken. For the first time that morning, Theresia Natsuki was the one at a loss for words.
===later===
"Alright kids! Say it with me! V for victory!" Subaru shouted to the crowd of children before him, raising his arms to the sky in the shape of V as they followed his lead.
"V for victory!" the choir of kids shouted back with enough enthusiasm to match his own.
"One more time, come on! V for Victory!"
"V for victory!"
After their final answer, the weekly radio calisthenics came to an end, the children of the School of Outou leaving their exercising lines, taking a brief moment of their time to all personally thank Subaru for deciding to visit them during their lunch break, before disappearing within their schoolhouse to resume their learning. Subaru could only smile and wave as they left, taking this time to also wrap his arm around Theresia, who had joined him today in leading the exercises.
For the past month since their indoctrination to the City Guard, Subaru and Theresia had been tasked with overseeing the market district of Outou, making sure the streets stayed safe and that commerce continued fairly and unhindered. Strangely enough, the only schools within all of Outou were located within this sector of the city. Then again, this was Karagai, and money was practically a language here, so it should not have been much of a surprise to Subaru when he saw a schoolhouse located within a marketplace. Of course, as was Subaru's nature and his inhuman will to spread his tradition of exercise, it didn't take long to convince the principal of the Outou Elementary School to allow him to help keep the kids, and even a few teachers, in shape, and hence there he was, just finished with the weekly radio calisthenics.
"Those kids really love you, don't they Subaru?" Theresia said, as they left the schoolyard, returning to their rounds in the district.
"You bet, Theresia-tan. They all understand the divine practice of the calisthenic. One day, you will to, I promise you that."
The former Sword Saint chuckled, leaning her head against Subaru's shoulder as they continued to patrol.
"You're something else, aren't you?"
"And that's why you love me," he responded, kissing the top of her head as he rubbed his hand along the length of her arm.
The rest of the day followed much in the same, the two staying interlinked as they strolled through their designated district, doing their job to the best of their ability. It was simple work, as well as fulfilling work. Though the day was quiet, with no criminals to catch or lost children to escort to their parents, it still remained a fulfilling day. Just because they were doing their job, didn't mean they couldn't enjoy their time together, which is exactly what they did.
Life was good, and both Subaru and Theresia hoped it would stay that way.
===Lugnicia, Capital City===
The day was an utter mess. The entirety of the Royal Selection was in upheaval in the aftermath of the defeat of Gluttony. After so long, everyone's memories had returned, and what initially started out as a happy celebration turned to ash as the brutal truth revealed itself.
Someone was missing
Someone so important to all the camps in one way or another was gone.
It had all started off so nice. All the Royal Candidates had been dining together in the Royal Palace, enjoying the sweet fruits of their labor after finally defeating Gluttony. The dinner was of the finest quality, undoubtedly nothing but the best for these heroes of the country and those who had had their memories restored.
Lady Crusch finally remembered herself, her achievements, her status, she was finally whole again. The entirety of the Emilia camp, barring those not present before the events of the Sanctuary, at long last understood who Rem was. The sisters were reunited once more.
But despite all the good, everyone knew something was missing.
Maybe someone.
It wasn't until a crazed Rem appeared that they all realized why everything was off.
"WHERE IS HE! REM NEEDS TO SEE HER SUBARU!"
In that moment, reality hurt more than any weapon ever could.
And we have a wrap on chapter 2. Not as long as the first, seeing as in the last I needed to set everything up, but sometimes quality matters more than quantity, and I feel satisfied with what I have created. We got some wholesome moments for everyone's favorite couple, and we got the bombshell of truth dumped on the main cast, so in my mind, we have achieved success. A-fucking-men!
Now, before I shut up and finish the chapter I have one thing to say: if you don't have anything nice to say, then just shut the fuck up. I get it, you don't like the pairing, its technically NTR, I'm a scumbag for writing this, yatta, yatta, yatta. Point is I don't care, I'm still gonna keep writing, so you know, fuck you too.
Let it be noted, I welcome critiques on what to do better or if I screwed anything up grammatically or maybe story wise, but there is a fine line between flaming and critiquing, so I reiterate, if you're gonna hate on me, you can join me in hell asshat.
Now, for those of you cultured people out there who still have a soul, thanks for reading and any feedback you have. I had fun writing and can't wait to present to you the next chapter.
Anyways, until next time, peace out.