Chapter 6:

Subaru's eyes shot open as he collapsed to his knees, fear overpowered all his other emotions. He calmed his racing heart by taking deep breaths. He rose to his shaking legs. Every second counted, he couldn't just wait here like this.

But... what was that thing?

The shadowy hand that had squeezed his heart. It seemed similar to Shamak, but it was just different somehow that made Subaru feel that it was some other thing. Whatever it was, it was something that had stopped him from saying that he had Return by Death. Subaru shook his head, deciding to think about it later.

He started walking, he really had no clue how to get out of this situation.

"Ah."

He turned around and ran back towards the alley where his respawn point was. He stepped to the side of the road, right where he had waited for Hans in his first loop when he had realized his power.

Subaru had remembered the three people who had died protecting him while he was blind from Shamak. Specifically, he was focused on the yellow-haired man who he had seen just before Hans attacked. That man had armor on and he had a sheathed sword.

"It's worth a try."

And so, he waited.

After some time, he checked his phone. He only had a few minutes left. He anxiously looked around for any of the three.

Then, he laid his eyes on a man, with yellow hair and wearing light armor. He was one of the three.

Subaru ran over towards the man, saying, "Hey, how's it going? It's been a while."

The man turned around and eyed the man black-haired man before him. He asked, "Huh? Who're you?"

"Eh? You don't remember me?"

"Haven't ever seen you."

"Mhm… well…"

"If that's all, I'll be going."

"Ah- Hold on."

"What is it?'

It was then that Subaru heard quiet footsteps behind him. He jumped to the side. His acting had kept the man here for long enough.

The yellow-haired man drew his sword and leapt forward, yelling, "Hans!"

Hans jumped away from the man, squinting his eyes and asking, "Who are you?"

"My name is Youra Alphe, and you're the monster that murdered my wife!"

The yellow-haired man jumped forward again, swinging his sword.

Hans deflected it with his dagger and then jabbed it forward. Youra twisted his body and avoided it. He jutted his knee towards Hans. His knee hit the murderer in the abdomen, knocking him back.

Subaru stood off to the side, knowing that the yellow-haired man known as Youra would probably still die at this rate.

He bit his lip as he watched the two men fight.

Hans took a moment to recover from the hit but sprang back towards the man. Youra countered Hans' slash, and smashed his head against Hans'.

Hans grunted and immediately stabbed his dagger into Youra, who jumped back before Hans could pull it out. Youra groaned when he landed. People around only then began to truly notice the fight.

The yellow-haired Youra yelled and started attacking again. He swung his sword swiftly, Hans ducked under it and pulled out his second knife. He leapt at Youra, who dodged but still got a long cut across his chest. Youra expected at least a short break, but Hans immediately followed him, he slashed again, this time cutting the man's face as he stumbled away from Hans.

Youra paused for a moment, before swinging his sword again, Hans easily dodged it, before going in for that attack again. However, Youra swung his leg at Hans and hit him again. He combined this into another swing. Hans ducked to the side, before jumping up and over Youra. He came down and stabbed his dagger into the man's back. Or at least he should have.

While he was mid-air, an arrow pierced Hans, causing them to fall flat on his face and roll away from the man. The arrow had hit his arm.

Subaru, who had been standing off to the side looked around and found a woman perched up on a roof. She was one of the three who had protected him in the loop where he found his power.

The yellow-haired Youra turned around and ran over to Hans, raising his sword in preparation to cut Hans in two. However, Hans managed to throw one of his daggers into the man's abdomen. Youra stumbled, and Hans jumped to his feet, ripping the arrow out of his arm and using it to stab Youra in his throat. Hans then kicked the man down. Most people on the street were running away now.

Hans quickly retrieved his knives from the man and dodged another arrow. The black-haired Subaru who had been watching gulped and ran towards the dying yellow-haired Youra. He picked up his sword and ran towards Hans, who had his back turned as he observed the archer. The young man swung the sword as hard as he could at Hans.

The next thing that he knew was that he was on the ground. He didn't feel any pain immediately, other than a dull pain on his elbow that he had probably fallen on. Subaru slowly rose to his feet and looked around. Hans and a boy, probably just a teenager, were engaged in an intense fight. Both were using two daggers and were quickly slashing and parrying one another. The man looked around for the archer but only found her corpse, lying on the street near where she had been perched. Her head was nowhere to be found.

Disgust filled Subaru as his eyes landed on the woman's corpse.

Meanwhile, Hans managed to get the boy to drop one of his daggers with a strong hit on it. The boy managed to keep pace with Hans' pace even with only one dagger. It was then that a dull pain resounded in Subaru's skull. He stumbled over to a nearby wall and leaned against it.

Hans swiped a dagger towards the boy's throat while blocking the boy's slash with his other dagger. The boy stopped it with his arm, but the dagger cut deep into it. The boy jumped back, but Hans kept with him, refusing to let the boy breathe.

Subaru began to lose focus on the fight. He could tell that this wasn't normal. His vision was spinning and the pain in his head was getting worse. He could feel a warm liquid running down the back of his neck.

He focused on breathing for now.

Then, the teenage boy took a short breath and ducked down. He rolled away from Hans and jumped back up. Hans leaped over towards him. The boy screamed and jumped at Hans in one last dire attack. Both moved faster than Subaru could see with his blurry vision from the intense pain within his head. The young man was beginning to feel the symptoms of death falling upon himself.

The boy stood with his dagger deep inside Hans' throat. He was breathing wildly, his eyes wide in shock. Hans stood with his arms at his sides. He drops his daggers. Hans smiled at the boy, before pushing him away. Blood poured out of the man's throat.

Subaru was in shock. He whispered weakly. "I...Is that… it?"

Subaru stumbled, struggling to stay standing even as he leaned against the wall. The teenage boy clutched his internal organs as they spilled out of him from Hans' discrete final slash.

The black-haired Subaru slumped to the ground, the warm liquid pouring down the back of his neck. He gasped for air and desperately struggled to stay alive. He noticed a pool of blood from where he had been laying when he recovered from what Hans had done.

Ah… I didn't... notice that.

Warm tears ran down his cheeks. I'm… so close to living! If only I hadn't jumped in…

Subaru closed his eyes as he accepted his death, warm tears slipping between his eyelids and running down his face.

He hadn't asked for any of this. He should be at home right now, in his room, probably playing a video game, or maybe arguing online. He shouldn't be dying on the side of this street.

He felt absolutely hopeless, seeing this victory snatched away from him.

His last memory of his mother shouldn't be of him ignoring her. He should have seen her again when he returned from that convenience store. They shouldn't have to worry about him when they notice that he's missing.

Once again hatred bubbled up inside him for Hans, the monster who was the cause of his pain. Why? I'm just a normal person. Why does he hate me so much? It just doesn't make sense.

Soon after, the black-haired man felt death embrace him yet again, as he drifted off and returned once again to a shadowy world.

School's started back up for me again, so chapters will probably be updated around 4 PM CST from now on.

Anyway, Thank you all for the support you've shown this story. I hope you keep enjoying it.