O3/FFN/Twitter:Son Kokun
Exchange Fic made for SonKokun, hope you like it, buddy.
A Date in Capital
Almost a year has passed since Natsuki Subaru, a former self-proclaimed knight, became the knight of the one he loved. Although it came at a heavy price of death countless times, sliced, frozen, munched and so on.
This was a price that would forever be known only to the black-haired boy, no matter how much he would want to shield those close to him from its burden.
With the title of a knight came also the responsibilities of a knight: protecting, serving and representing his liege…
"Damn it!"
...the former two he was currently failing at.
"This is just my luck!"
He was running late.
"I even left the mansion sooner! Why am I such a failure?" The black-haired knight cursed himself for running late on a task entrusted to him by Emilia. His self-loathing consumed him once more.
"This wouldn't have happened if I went with Otto! I know it!" Although he knew that the luck of the green merchant was almost as bad as his, he knew that as a merchant, he had a better sense of direction and wouldn't get lost in the streets of Lugunica's Capital.
As Subaru was riding Patrasche through the crowded streets, trying to figure out which way to go, his mind wandered to what Otto said before he left.
"I'm sorry Natsuki-san but I have too much paperwork that needs to be finished. As much as it worries me how you'll look in front of the nobles of the Karash family, I can't go with you."
"Aaah, don't you worry, it will be fine, I'll just take Patrasche instead of the wagon and I'll be there in no time, I'll even wear the damn uniform ok?" Subaru said confidently.
Otto silently stood there with his arms crossed and raised his eyebrow, he didn't look convinced.
"Come on, trust me a little, Emilia-tan trust me with this too! I'll just use my charm!" Subaru tried to reassure the camp's internal affairs minister.
"Emilia-sama trusts you because she has a soft spot for you..." Otto said offhandedly.
"Wait...wha-" but before the nasty eyed knight could finish questioning what Otto meant, he was interrupted.
"...and using your charm is exactly what I'm worried about! You will go there on Emilia-sama's behalf so the last thing we need is your 'charm', even your clout won't save you then!"
"[Sigh] I promise I will be on good behaviour, I will even depart sooner so I won't be late," Subaru said in a monotone voice.
"I can already imagine him tearing me a new one for this, damn it! I hate when he's right!" Subaru gritted his teeth in frustration, not looking forward to another lecture from Otto about representing the camp and Emilia in front of important people and hearing from Ram how useless he is even if she's right, but most importantly he didn't want to let Emilia down once more.
'Why would she love me if all I do is let her down?' as the dark thoughts returned to him. He passed through the gate that separates one part of the city from another, the guards stationed there seeing his knight uniform and the fact that he was in a hurry didn't stop him.
When Subaru snapped out of his thoughts he looked around he saw large houses and mansions, some even had gardens separating their properties with either fences with elaborate designs or decorated walls, when he turned around he saw part of the city and city wall below him on the horizon. The knight realised he was already in the noble district.
"You found it, Patrasche! I know why you are the best girl!" the black-haired knight complimented his ground dragon to which the black dragon responded with a groan that he assumed meant "Of course I am!".
As he went by several houses some nobles and knights called their homes he saw the manor he was looking for.
It was an L shaped manor half the size of the previous Roswaal mansion with a large garden and a pond in front of its entrance. It was built out of white marble and had a sharp, green tiled roof unlike the houses of other nobles around who preferred either blue or red from what Subaru saw.
After they passed the gate of the manor and were getting nearer and nearer to the front entrance. A young woman with purple hair and a long elegant maid uniform went out to greet him.
"Hello the-er [Cough] I mean, greetings my name is Subaru Natsuki, I am a knight serving royal candidate Emilia. I have come to meet Nikov-sama on behalf of my liege," Subaru quickly corrected himself and introduced himself as etiquette dictates.
"Welcome esteemed guest but my apologies Sir Natsuki, Lord Nikov and the rest of the Karash family left for urgent business two hours ago," informed the purple-haired maid as she bowed down to the esteemed guest. She reminded Subaru of Frederica in her elegance and demeanour giving him the impression that she was more than capable of being a maid.
"May I ask when they'll be back?" his left eyebrow began to twitch as his voice cracked with a hint of doubt filling it, hoping that he could salvage his situation if they would not be gone for long.
"Lord Karash Nikov said they should be back tomorrow, Sir Natsuki," the maid said with a hint of remorse and pity in her voice, sensing that the inexperienced knight in front of her might be in trouble.
"Tomorrow huh...Thank you. I'll take my leave now," sadness filled his voice as he found out that he most likely failed thanks to his uselessness.
As the maid held the sides of her skirt and bowed down Subaru turned around and left, dejected knowing that he screwed up.
"If it was any other day the noble would have stayed home but of course, he has to 'leave on urgent business with the whole family' when I'm late for the meeting. I swear this damn world must hate me!" the black-haired boy lamented his situation as he walked on the streets of the large city, leading his ground dragon by her reins instead of riding her.
Subarus day wasn't going well. Before he departed from the mansion he was looking forward to coming back the most out of the whole day. He was excited coming back to Emilia-tan with the good news and hearing her praise him for doing such a good job.
However, now the opposite was the truth. This is probably why he was still in the Capital instead of going back home. Subaru can already imagine their reactions to the bad news.
Ram is going to berate him on how useless he is...and she will be right.
Otto is going to throw a fit, scold him and blame him for adding yet another pile of work to him...and he is going to right to blame him.
But most importantly, Emilia is going to be disappointed in him and won't probably trust him with anything important again...and she will be right to do so.
He is such a failure, why would she ever fall for someone like him if all he does is fail and disappoint her?
'Looks like I have two options: either go back to the mansion, admit I got here late and come back later or stay here in the Capital and go see them tomorrow...' As he was walking on the side of the road and leading Patrasche he was contemplating what to do, he already knew he was a failure of a knight, he didn't want to be ridiculed by the others back in the mansion.
As he was walking, he turned to a quiet alleyway to think.
"It's decided, I'm staying here and meet them tomorrow, I just hope they won't panic back in the mansion that I didn't show up," as the black-haired knight decided, he looked around and realised that he didn't end up in just some random alleyway, but the one where it all began.
Subaru chuckled to himself, that memory was precious to him and to randomly end up here of all places was impressive.
"Ah well, I should have enough money to afford a place with stables for the night…"
"Or I could just ask Felt or Rein if I can stay over. I'm sure they won't mind."
As Subaru was thinking about what he, Felt and Rein would do, someone approached him. He didn't need to turn around to know who it was.
"H-hello, Subaru-kun," he heard a voice like silver bells behind him, a voice that was almost the same as the voice of the one he loves. This voice, however, sounded tired and broken yet relieved and full of love...
...There was only one person to whom this voice could belong and it was not Emilia. Cold sweat ran down his neck. He could feel his hands completely cold and his head warm. He needed to get away but his legs did not respond.
Time seemingly stopped for Subaru as he braced himself for the pain given to him by the hand of shadows squeezing his heart. He could already feel the cold and bitter touch of it in his chest...
However…
The pain never came and as he refocused his vision his eyes began to wander around. He saw people: humans and demi-humans going about their day, dragon drawn carriages moving on the road, birds in the sky flying around...
...It meant only one thing...
Time did not stop.
Fear began to overtake him, why is she here? Was it like back in the sanctuary? Has he broken the taboo at some point? But if that were the case, surely she would have given him a warning.
...Will he need to die again?...
"P-please don't be a-afraid my beloved!" she stuttered with a shaky voice as she slowly approached him.
He was too shanking in fear too afraid to move or to turn around and accept she was there, and confirm his fear.
The black-haired boy was about to have a panic attack, he felt a gentle nudge on his shoulder. When he looked at what it was, he saw Patrasche.
"Rrrrrrr," the black ground dragon let out a concerned groan while she nudged her master with her head again.
"Patrasche?" Subaru said softly to his trusted companion when he realised that she was trying to calm him down.
"You're... calm? So you think we're not in danger… do you?" he muttered under his breath while directing his gaze at the source of the voice that put so much fear in him.
"I'm s-sorry, I didn't mean to startle y-you," stuttered the silver-haired girl in a reassuring tone, all while slowly walking closer to the boy and the black dragon.
When she walked closer she reached out with her hand towards the ground dragon. The proud dragon looked at her hand and sniffed it after which the black dragon relaxed into her hand signalling that Patrasche allowed herself to be caressed by the Satella.
"How are you here? Is the seal really just a gimmick?" Subaru raised his eyebrow, looking perplexed while he asked.
"N-no, I'm not re-really here you see, I-I'm still inside my seal," Satella chirped as if she was saying the obvious.
"So you're just some kind of hallucination or vision...great I'm going crazy," he realised as he slightly hunched over and held the side of his head with his hand.
"No, you're not," the witch said as she shook her head.
"..."
There was a moment of silence as Subaru waited for Satella to explain, who was just standing there quietly looking at her beloved with a smile on her face.
"Satella," Subaru tried to give the woman in black hint to continue.
"Subaru," she replied with a smile, unaware of the hint.
"..."
"Sooo how are you standing in front of me if you're still in the seal?" Subaru
"I created this body out of mana and I'm controlling it from within the seal," Satella
"Huh, that's smart," the black-haired boy complimented the silver-haired girl which made her look away with a blush on her face.
'It doesn't sound like it was too difficult for her to do it...then why didn't she do it earlier?' he thought as he looked inquisitively at the girl in front of him.
"Can I ask how this spell works exactly?"
"Well, l-like I said: it creates a b-body identical to yours out of mana, for how long it depends on the caster's mana pool since it's a really taxing spell. W-while the spell is active, the one who cast it can see and feel everything his duplicate body can. I-it's like playing a video game as you would call it since I'm pretty much in two places at once."
"Wow, that honestly sounds amazing, you must have seen the whole world by now!" Subaru gushed in excitement, seemingly forgetting his fear of the witch.
"Not really, this is the first time I used it," Satella said matter-of-factly.
"Why?" Subaru asked as he raised his eyebrow.
Satella averted her eyes, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment, poking both of her index fingers together in front of her chest and answered "W-well I-I didn't have a reason to."
It was confirmed, Satella was a bigger shut-in than him.
"So you used it only now, for the first time in 400 years because you wanted to see me?" Subaru deadpanned.
"N-no! Yo-you, see I-I-I decided to go for a walk! Yes! For a walk in the Capital and when I saw you I decided to say hi!"
"So let me get this straight: after 400 years you suddenly decided to go out for a walk, coincidentally in the same place, on the same day as me and to top it all of you just randomly ran into me in this big city in some side alleyway," he said sarcastically.
"Yes! Exactly! You are so smart my beloved! I knew you would get it!" the silver-haired witch responded with enthusiasm, oblivious to the sarcasm.
Bruh_2.
Subaru was wrong, she wasn't just a bigger shut-in than him, she was the goddess of all shut-ins.
"Satella, when was the last time you talked to someone?"
"I-I'm talking to-to you right now."
"You haven't talked to anyone in 400 years have you?"
"N-No! I mean yes I have!... Occasionally…like wi-with you back in the sanctuary!"
"Really?" he asked with a hint of doubt in his voice.
"...Yes!" she answered, trying to sound persuasive.
'That explains the stuttering, it's a miracle it isn't worse for the poor girl.' He thought, feeling sorry for her.
"So what will you do today Satella? Do you have anything in mind?" Subaru asked looking around making sure he was out of earshot when he said her name, the memory of the time when he called Emilia with the name of the witch flashing in his mind.
The silver-haired girl smirked at Subaru and turned around.
"L-like I said, I'm going for a walk, you can join me if you want," she said with confidence in her voice.
'It seems like she does not intend to harm anyone, but I should probably join her to keep an eye on her.'
"O-okay Sa…" he stopped himself from saying her name and thought for a moment.
"...Tella, you wouldn't mind if I called you that…would you…?"
Satella's cheeks and pointy ears reddened with a smile finding its way on her face
"A-a nickname? Yes! I would like that!" she gushed in excitement.
Subaru took Patrasche by her reins and ran up to Satella, trying to catch up to her as she playfully skipped to the entrance of the alleyway.
After walking for a bit next to each other in silence the black-haired boy tried to break the awkward silence.
"So what would you like to do Subaru?" she asked with a high pitched voice in excitement.
"You're asking what I want to do?! You're the one being a total shut-in for the last 400 years! Surely there must be something you want to do!" Subaru shouted in a hushed yell.
"Well…there is something I would… like-to-do," she said with a husky voice at first but ended up stuttering in embarrassment.
"N-NO! Something other than…that." the nasty eyed boy squeaked his face reddening like never before.
The silver-haired girl looked up and touched her chin contemplating what to do before she answered "Hmmm, it has b-been a while since I ate something, I-I think I always liked fruits so I w-would like to taste some."
"A fruit, huh. I was actually planning on visiting Kadomon later today to buy some appas like I usually do when I'm in the Capital."
"Apple sounds nice."
Subaru looked at her with raised eyebrows and mouth slightly agape.
"'Apple?' Now that I think about it, you also mentioned video games earlier. How do you know these words?" he asked curiously.
The girl smiled fondly and answered, "From you my beloved."
"Oh, right."
Subaru had no memory of ever talking with her for an extended period, let alone about his world. He didn't doubt that she was telling the truth.
'I should ask her about that…'
His train of thought came to a stop when he heard a familiar voice calling out for them, "Subaru, Emilia-sama, it's pleasant seeing you here."
The duo came to a sudden stop as they noticed Reinhard approaching them, a smile engraved on his face.
"Reinhard! Nice seeing you again!" Subaru beamed cheerfully.
"Yes, it has been some time Subaru." the red flame said, happy seeing the person that sees him as Reinhard first and Sword-Saint second again.
"How have you been? I was actually planning to visit you and Felt believe it or not."
"I'm good, Felt-sama would be happy to see you as well, I hope you and …Emilia-sama are doing fine," he started saying cheerfully however, his smile faded after looking at the silver-haired candidate next to Subaru, his divine protections giving him pings that something about her seemed off to him.
Subarus heart skipped a beat and sweat flowed down his forehead when he realised who was standing in front of him, the Sword-Saint, he knew that if anyone could realise that the girl next to him was the Witch of Envy known as Satella, it was Reinhard.
"Pardon me Emilia-sama, but something about you seems…off," he said cautiously, his left hand subconsciously stroking the pommel of the dragon sword.
"What do you mean?" she tilted her head while asking with confusion in her voice, as if not being aware of what it could mean if he found out she is the witch of envy.
"Several of my divine protection are acting up." the sword-saint answered, still contemplating if the silver-haired girl is a threat.
"Is one of them a divine protection that detects magic?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Aaaah, I see it's probably because I'm testing out a spell I never used before Reinhard. I promise, you have nothing to worry about," she exclaimed, her voice displaying her being unaware of the potential danger.
The eyes of the sword-saint darted towards the black-haired knight, he didn't need his divine protections to realise how nervous he was, and he knew that he was the reason why his friend felt that way. Divine protections were giving him a ping that something was off, but they were also telling him that the girl in front of him was not lying and that her intentions were not malicious.
'I really am nothing but a monster,' he thought, realising that he was threatening his friend's beloved lady.
"I see, my apologies for bothering you. I should have realised it sooner," the re-flame said while bowing.
"It's okay Reinhard, you're just looking out for People, no harm no foul," chirped the silver-haired girl.
"..."
"Anyway…um, it was nice seeing you again Rein, but you see I…I'm on a date with eeerm- this lovely girl so… we should go. Bye! " Subaru stuttered out with a shaky voice while he grabbed Satellas hand and quickly left before the Sword Saint could ask any more questions.
After walking through the streets for a bit he felt his hand being squeezed.
"So where are we going Subaru-kun?" Satella asked with excitement in her voice.
Subaru in his panic to get as far away from Reinhard forgot he took the silver-haired girl by the hand.
"I wanted to put some distance between us and Reinhard, but that I'm looking around. I think I know where we are," the black-haired knight explained while he looked around.
"Hey, kid! It has been some time!" they heard a buffed green-haired merchant call out to them from one of the market stands.
"Oh, I'm sorry my beloved," she apologized after she recognized the place.
"H-hey! There's nothing to be sorry about! I also have nice memories about this place!" Subaru started reassuring Satella, even if he was still unsure about her, he didn't like seeing her sad.
"I hope you came to buy more appas and not waste my time!" Kadomon said with a mock insult.
"Of course! I promised I'll buy more appas from you didn't I?"
"I appreciate the reputation you're giving me for shopping at my humble stand but you didn't need to drag your date here too."
"W-well, I wanted an appa and Subaru most likely wanted to make s-sure I get best there is! Subaru is just amazing like that!" the silver-haired girl said as if stating the obvious, causing the black-haired knight to blush from the praise he received.
"Best there is?! Ha! You took her to the right place then kid!" the fruit merchant said as he rummaged through the apples on display.
"Here take this one lady! It's almost as red as your date over there! Haha!" he added, teasing the embarrassed hero.
"T-thank you! It is as good as my beloved!" she said, joining in on the fun.
"Beloved huh?" the green-haired merchant said with a mischievous smile.
"Who knows? Maybe it will be as sweet as your beloved as well!" he added.
"Y-you guys really want to kill me don't you?" the red-faced knight couldn't take it anymore, he wasn't used to being teased like this.
This caused both the merchant and the witch to laugh, with Satella subconsciously leaning into Subaru as she chuckled.
'Maybe I can relax a little around her,' the black-haired knight thought as he couldn't help but smile when he heard her laugh and felt her head resting on his shoulder.
After they said their goodbye to Kadomon the duo alongside Patrasche went sightseeing around the city, talking and laughing.
They were in a park when Subaru realised it's so late that they could see the stars in the sky.
"Say Subaru, I really like stars. Would you please go stargazing with me?" she asked while making puppy eyes at Subaru.
"Ghaaa! How can I say no when you make a face like that Tella?!"
Subaru would have been lying if he said he didn't like the idea of stargazing, he occasionally did it back in the mansion. It was always really late for Emilia to go with him and he didn't want to needlessly keep her awake, knowing that she needs to study and work hard for when she becomes a queen, Rem was still in her beauty sleep and he doubted that Otto or Garf would go along with it without it ending in some kind of shenanigans. Beatrice sometimes joined him but he was mostly on his own.
"...Yes…I would like that…" he added quietly under his breath.
This didn't however escape the ears of the half-elven girl, it made her sad hearing it but it only made her more determined to make this moment special for her beloved.
It was then when she noticed they were in a small clearing with a clear view of the sky.
"This looks like a nice place to lay down and admire the stars, don't you think?"
"Hmm, I guess we won't find a better one…" the boy said while he looked around when he noticed something.
"...Huh, looks like no one's around, we are completely alone here," he added.
"W-why is that i-i-important? A-a-are you per-perhaps planing so-something?" and just like that the red, stuttering mess was back.
Subarus eyes widened in horror as he realised what he might have implied.
"N-NO! T-That is not what I meant!" he shouted while he held his head with both of his hands.
"Grrrr" Patrasche let out a groan that sounded like a chuckle.
"This is not funny Patrasche!" the black-haired knight argued.
The black-scaled dragon just rolled her eyes and left, not wanting to be dragged into her master's shenanigans.
"H-Hey! Where are you going?! I'm not-" the black-haired boy yelled but was interrupted…
"Hahahaha! I can't! Please! Hahaha!" the silver-haired witch of wheezing was wheezing, barely managing to catch her breath in between her fits of laughter.
Subaru realising how stupid this whole scene must have looked started to laugh as well.
After a while, both of them managed to get a hold of themselves and stop laughing with smiles still etched on their faces. They laid down on the grass, looking at the stars above them.
"How much do you know about stars Tella?"
"I know a thing or two," she answered.
"Then maybe you can tell me about the stars of this world."
"Oh, they are not the same as the ones from your homeland, are they?"
"No," he replied, a hint of sadness evident in his voice.
"When I got to this world I was lost and alone, but I hoped that whenever I looked at the stars, I could recognize them and realise that I'm not as lost and alone as I feared…"
"...Because I knew that no matter where I am, my parents would look at the same stars as I do and…Aaah, forget it…" the boy stopped himself and forced a smile on his face when he realised he is ruining such a wonderful day with his uselessness.
Satella could only look at Subaru with a sad frown, realising just how lost Subaru felt in this unfair and unfamiliar world and now forcing himself yet again to bottle up those emotions.
It was then that she got an idea, how to cheer her beloved up, "Y-you knows Subaru, not much is known about stars in this world. I don't even think they do have any names like back in your homeland…"
"Aaah, that explains why I couldn't find any books about them," the black-haired boy sighed as he realised it wouldn't be that easy to continue his hobby.
"...so I got an idea: why don't we give them names?" she beamed with excitement.
"What?" he asked, being caught off guard.
"As I said, they probably don't have names yet so why don't we give them some. Look!" she explained after she pointed to a cluster of stars.
"That's most likely Lyra! And if not, it is now!" the silver-haired half-elf stated.
"Well… I can see it looking like a falling eagle," the knight admitted.
"A-and right there! That's definitely Shaula and Orion…" she said but lost her confidence as she took a better look.
"I don't thin-"
"If Shaula was bigger than Orion…" she whispered in embarrassment.
"Heh, that could work," he chuckled.
"B-but that one! That's cleary Subaru!" she squeaked with excitement as she pointed towards a group of the brightest stars.
"Why would that be the Pleiades?"
"The brightest and the most beautiful ones stars are obviously Subaru!" she stated as matter-of-factly.
"W-well, in that case, the ones next to it are now called Satella-tan!" he chuckled after which he noticed that Satella went quiet.
"Is something wrong Tella?"
"Tan?" she asked.
"Oh-I it's an honorific from…"
"I know, you don't need to explain it," she said with a smile on her face.
"Subaru, I'm almost out of time, do you mind if I hugged you?" the half-elven girl pleaded.
"Of course not."
As the two of them hugged under the stars Subaru decided to give her a goodbye gift as a thank you.
"Eeeeeeq!" Satella squealed after Subaru kissed her cheek.
"Thank you for this wonderful day Tella-tan."
"T-thank you too my beloved!" the girl stuttered out before her body started to glow and then disappeared.
And with that, Subaru stood up left to find Patrasche and the nearest inn to get some sleep, a smile still present on his face and new memory he will forever cherish in his mind.