Chapter 14:

"Subaru."

Subaru simply looked down at the ground. He shakily said, "Cle...ment. I can't do this…"

"Eh?"

"It's too much…"

"H-hey, Subaru…?"

Subaru backed away from Clement, his shaking legs barely moving properly. "I can't… I can't…"

"I-I'm not strong enough."

"What… are you talking about?"

Subaru collapsed to his knees as tears welled up in his eyes.

"I'm… talking about everything… I can't do it. I c-can't…"

His tears overflowed out of his eyes and ran down his face.

Clement looked down at Subaru, confused as to what change had taken place. Just a moment ago Subaru had been going on about how he would protect him and how Clement didn't have to get hurt.

However, Clement's train of thought broke as the deafening sound of shattering glass filled the room. Glass from one of the windows scattered across the floor as a man jumped through it.

Zei had arrived.

Clement spun around and faced the man.

"Who… are you?"

Zei's eyes locked onto Subaru. He unsheathed his sword and lept towards the crying and defenseless man. However, Zei's jump was cut short as Clement threw himself onto him, knocking him to the ground.

Clement, who was on top of Zei, grabbed Zei's arm, the same one he held his sword in, and pushed it to the ground.

Clement pinned down the arm Zei held his sword in and yelled, "Who are you?!"

Zei let out a pent-up breath.

"I am Zei. I was sent here to kill that other man."

Clement hesitated for a moment, but asked, "Why? Who sent you?"

"It doesn't matter to you."

Zei pushed against Clement, trying to get his arms off of the floor, but Clement was a lot stronger than he looked.

Clement asked again, his words lined with anger, "Who sent you?"

"Youra… Alphe."

"Eh…? Youra Alphe? Isn't that the same guy who helped us…?"

Zei pushed against Clement's hold again and managed to get the arm he wasn't holding his sword in off of the ground.

He threw his arm to the side, breaking it free from Clement's grasp. He swung it up at Clement, landing a strong hit against his cheek.

"Hk-"

Zei threw his weight to the side, knocking Clement off of him. Zei sprung to his feet and looked down at Clement, who looked up at him, fear obvious in his eyes.

"Oh… that look in your eyes… It's perfect."

"However…"

Zei threw his leg forward and kicked Clement in his chest, knocking him over with a crack from his ribs.

Clement yelled in pain as Zei walked over towards Subaru, who was still on his knees, his body curled up with his forehead against the ground with tears running down his face.

Zei rotated his sword in his hand a few times, looking down at the pitiful man before him.

Zei crouched down next to him. He whispered, "How disgusting. If you had just moved earlier and helped your friend he might not be on the floor in pain right now. But no, you just stayed here and cried."

Subaru stayed quiet.

Zei sighed. "Really… I wonder what Youra saw in you that made him like you so much."

Zei grabbed Subaru by his hair and forced his head up.

Subaru's face was a mess, tears and snot ran down his face, his eyes were red and just looked tired.

"Tch. I was hoping you would at least show me some of your fear." Zei looked into Subaru's eyes. "It's as if you're just asking me to kill you already."

Zei lifted his sword and held the cold blade up against Subaru's neck.

"Disgusting."

He moved his blade slightly, preparing himself to cut into the man's neck.

Pain exploded in the side of Zei's neck.

"Eh?!"

He dropped the man and jumped away, turning around when he landed. He looked around. His eyes landed on Clement, standing nearby where he had just been.

Zei opened his mouth to say, "You," but froze when he found that he could only spit out blood.

He moved his free hand towards where he had felt that pain in his neck, and touched it. It was warm and slick with blood.

His eyes widened. He noticed that Clement held a bloody knife.

He pressed his free hand against his neck and ran over towards the window he had broken just minutes ago, lunging out of it and running away in a desperate attempt to find someone who could heal him.

Clement sighed, and fell to his knees, dropping the knife. His chest burned in pain from his broken ribs.

Clement took long shaky breaths, from both his pain and from his nervousness.

He slowly opened his mouth and spoke. "Hey… Subaru? Are you… okay?"

Subaru was in shock. He was still alive.

The past minutes since he had Returned by Death had all been a blur, from his fear, grief, and hopelessness, but he was still alive.

He blinked away the last of his tears and slowly raised his head.

He looked around, and only found Clement in front of him, a bloody knife on the ground next to him.

Subaru blinked a few more times and slowly asked, "How… am I... are we… not dead?"

"To be honest… I'm not... entirely sure either… it's all a blur of pain and… adrenaline…"

"Are… are you okay?"

"I… think my… ribs are broken…"

Subaru slowly nodded.

Zei pushed himself to keep walking, the cold air seeping away his dwindling warmth.

Blood leaked between the fingers of one of his hands, which was pressed against his neck as he desperately tried to keep blood from flowing out of him.

"Ghuh…"

He had to find someone. Someone.

His mind, foggy from the burning pain and blood loss, couldn't remember where the clinic was. He even found it hard to remember why he was here, or how he had gotten his wound.

All he knew was that he had to get help. He had to live.

He had sustained this wound from someone weak. He had been careless. That he also knew. Dying from an attack from someone so much weaker than him would be pathetic.

He coughed out more blood and drew in a ragged breath. It was getting harder and harder to breathe as more and more blood filled his throat.

He coughed even more blood out and continued walking. His vision was spinning and completely unfocused.

Zei stumbled and fell, his hand slipping off of his wound and letting blood freely pour out of his neck.

His vision was going dark.

He was going to die from a wound inflicted by such a weak person.

Pathetic.

He didn't want to die from something like that.

He refused to. He reached out and dragged himself forward a few centimeters.

He wouldn't die from something like this.

He wouldn't.

Zei's eyes closed as blood continued to pour out of his neck.

He wouldn't.

"Oh my-"

He barely heard a woman's voice.

He heard some rustling, before a sensation he was familiar with filled his weak body: healing magic.

A few minutes passed, however, his pain was completely gone by the end.

He opened his eyes and slowly rolled over to look up at the person who had healed him.

A woman was kneeling down next to him, her hair was blonde and reached to her shoulders.

A warm smile was on her face.

She opened her mouth and said in a calm tone, "Do you feel better now?"

Zei quietly said, "Yes… I do."

His ego had still been damaged. He had very nearly been killed by a random man.

The two were surrounded by silence for a few moments before the woman asked. "I'm looking for my sister right now… she ran away from me a few hours ago and I still haven't found her. I was wondering if you would mind helping me look for her."

Zei contemplated his options for a moment. He wanted to go and get revenge on those two right away, but at the same time, this woman had saved his life, and it would be incredibly disrespectful not to help her.

"Yeah. I'll help you."

The woman smiled.

"Let's walk to my house first, I need to change out of these blood-stained clothes."

The woman nodded.

Subaru and Clement were surrounded in silence.

Subaru was terrified to move, in fear of messing up the tranquility of their current situation.

Clement, however, was in too much pain to properly move.

Subaru was still in total shock that he was even alive.

"Hey… Subaru…"

"Y-yeah?"

"Shouldn't… we get to the clinic? To heal… my ribs?"

"We should…"

But they were still in danger. Aura was still nearby and there was still that girl.

"But… there's a problem…"

"Eh…?"

"There are still two more people after us… an archer… and a strong mage."

Clement let out a shaky sigh.

"That… isn't very good."

Their chances of running into that terrifying girl were slim, but it was pretty much a guaranteed death. There was a good chance of running into Aura, and the only way to get away from her is to run and get out of her sight. That wasn't much of an option considering Clement's current condition.

However…

"They're… only after me… though."

At least he knew Aura was only after him. The girl hadn't ever gotten near their house though, so he figured it was safe enough here.

"So… I'll go myself. I'll go and get Amai to help us. He should be able to deal with the two remaining people."

"...You… really are reckless… huh?"

"But… I'd probably just slow you down…" Clement let out a slow shaky breath. "Fine… go… but promise me… that you'll stay safe."

Subaru nodded. "I'll do my best."

"Stay safe, Clement."

"You too, Subaru."

Subaru rose to his feet, full of hope, fear, and anxiety.

He walked over to the door, took one last look at Clement, and left the house.

A short girl cheerfully walked down a cold desolate street, her short blonde hair swaying in the cold gentle night breeze.

She hummed a tune as she walked, cheerfully swinging her arms back and forth.

She could tell tonight was going to be interesting. She wasn't sure of how it would be, but she just knew it would be.

Her troublesome sister was probably looking for her already.

She shook her head. Her sister just couldn't understand her.

If she could, she would just run far away and never go back home, but she would feel just a little bad about leaving Mel behind.

The girl continued to happily walk down the quiet street.

Subaru ran down an empty street, the cold night air bit whatever skin was exposed to it.

His eyes scanned the rooftops above while his ears listened for any footsteps or other noises.

Sweat ran down his face.

This loop was going really well. Subaru felt as if he could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Zei could be dead, and if he was then one of the three obstacles he had to overcome was already gone.

Aura was tricky to anticipate, but if he could get Amai onto their side then she hopefully wouldn't be much of a problem.

The issue was that strange girl.

She was strong, but he chose to trust in Amai's strength and believed that he could beat her.

He had to, or else this loop would probably fail.

Subaru shook his head and focused on not getting ambushed while he ran.

He was nearing Amai's tower. It towered above the buildings surrounding him. Just a little farther and he could get Amai's help.

He continued to scan the rooftops for Aura.

A minute or so later, he was in front of Amai's tower. He took deep shaky breaths from running for so long.

Subaru raised his hand and knocked on the door in front of him.

He waited for a response.

The night air continued to bite at his exposed skin. Subaru glanced behind himself and made sure there wasn't anyone dangerous tailing him.

Then, the door creaked as it opened, and Amai's wrinkled face peered out from behind it.

"What is it you need by coming to my tower at this time of night?"

"I need your help."

"With what? If it's wisdom you need then I have plenty."

Subaru repeated the words he had spoken many times before, "No, I need your help… I need your strength. There are two or maybe three people hunting me down."

"I'm long past my peak. I'm afraid that I stopped fighting years ago."

Subaru swallowed hard.

"My friend is also injured... P-Please, help us. We have plenty of money."

Amai sighed. "Bring me to your friend. I'll heal him. We'll discuss whether I'll help you or not afterward."

Subaru nodded. "...Alright. Thank you."

A moment later the two walked away from the old man's tower and back the way Subaru came.