Chapter 10:

The nearly deafening sound of glass shattering filled the house. Subaru, who was in the midst of speaking, snapped his head to the side and froze in shock when his eyes landed on a familiar man. He wore a black cloak with gray edges. His red eyes were one of the only things Subaru could see under the man's hood. It was Zei. He was here on the first day.

Subaru gasped, freezing in fear. Why-

Zei darted towards him, his hand unsheathing his sword.

"Hk-" Subaru leapt to the side, grabbing Clement and pulling him along. Zei slashed through thin air. As soon as Subaru's foot hit the ground he let go of Clement and spun around. He locked eyes with Zei for a moment, before quickly scanning the room.

Clement and he were up against the fireplace, a window to their left. The window Zei had jumped through was across the room, blocked by Zei.

Subaru's eyes landed back on Zei. Subaru felt that he was about to attack again.

Subaru tensed his body, preparing himself to dodge again.

Zei leapt towards them. Subaru reacted in a split second, grabbing Clement and jumping away. Clement gasped. Subaru ran away from Zei, holding onto Clement's arm tightly. He ran across the room towards the window Zei had jumped through. He let go of Clement, glancing back towards Zei.

Zei was already facing them again, his sword held in his hands, red colored its point.

Subaru's brow furrowed at the color, but he forced it out of his mind, instead turning back towards the window. He placed his hands on the bottom of the wooden frame, ignoring the bits of glass left on it cutting into his palms, and sucked in a little air. He pushed himself forward with a leg and jumped out of the window. Cold air surrounded him as he soared through the night.

He hit the ground and quickly stepped away from the house, waiting for Clement. A moment later Clement pushed himself out of the window.

Clement hit the ground hard, a short yelp escaping his lips as his legs gave out and he fell face down. Subaru ran over towards him and asked, "What's wrong-" He froze in horror as Clement rolled over, revealing a deep stab through his abdomen, his shirt was being painted red as blood soaked into it. It was why Zei's sword had blood on it.

"I'm... ghk... fine. We have to get... away." Clement said that between deep breaths.

He was right. If they didn't start moving now, then Zei would only come and kill them.

Subaru helped Clement to his feet, and put the injured man's arm around his neck. The two began running away as fast as they could.

They ran and ran, doing their best to get away from Zei.

Just as Subaru had led them into an alley, Clement groaned and said, "I... think, we lost him for now."

Subaru glanced behind them. He couldn't see Zei, but it was dark and Zei was wearing black.

"We should keep going..."

Clement weakly dragged his arm off of Subaru's shoulders and stumbled over towards the wall of the alley. "Sorry," he whispered, "But I need... to rest."

He slowly lowered himself to the ground.

Subaru bit his lip and silently agreed. He looked back and forth between both ends of the alley, keeping watch of Zei.

A minute or so passed.

Before Clement said, "Hey... Subaru... hk..."

"Yeah?"

"Just... leave me behind."

Subaru's eyes widened, "No... I can't just... leave you here..."

"Go... save yourself."

Subaru walked over towards Clement. He kneeled down before his friend and grabbed his hand.

He whispered, "Clement..."

"I'm glad... I could be your friend."

"N... no. You'll live... you... have to."

"Thank you..."

"I... need your help... it's the only way..."

Clement stared into Subaru's eyes.

"I... am sorry. I can't... help anymore. Just... leave me."

Clement lightly pushed Subaru away and whispered, "Please."

"Clement... I'm sorry..."

"Goodbye... Subaru..."

Subaru slowly stood up, tears in his eyes. "G-...good...bye."

He took one last look at Clement, who still wore a smile, before turning and running away, tears streaming down his face.

Clement relaxed his neck, letting the back of his head hit the cold wall behind him. Subaru's footsteps faded away as he ran.

Cold air surrounded him in the dark alley. A pool of warm blood surrounded him.

Clement's smile broke as he let go of the composure he had been faking in front of Subaru.

The pain was intense, but the worst thing was the unbelievable fear of death that clouded his mind.

He slowly bled out in the cold alley.

"Ghkk..."

Warm tears ran down his face. He couldn't move his arms or legs anymore.

He let out an agony-filled groan.

It... hurts...

"S...-rry..."

He thought of his family.

Sorry... sorry...

The family he had killed. Did they go through this same fear as they died?

I... want to... live...

I want to apologize.

I want... to...

...to...

The light left his eyes before he could finish his thought.

Subaru felt numb as he walked. Clement was dead. Again. It was because of him again. If he hadn't talked to Youra earlier then he might not have sent Zei. Or...

...He should just reset. It had only been a day. It would barely be a loss if he went back only a day.

Subaru let out a broken sigh and whispered Clement's name.

Zei ran through alleyways and streets, following a sporadic trail of blood from that man close to Subaru. He walked into yet another alley and found the end of the trail.

He walked down the alley, ignoring the dead man lying in about the middle of it. Hopefully, he had suffered, though it was a shame that he hadn't been able to see it.

"Ah."

Zei paused, and walked towards the corpse. He inspected it.

Dying from just a stab like that had to have been painful. Or at least it was a prolonged death. Both of which were enough to satisfy Zei's sadistic tendencies. A grin formed on his face.

Then, Zei shot to his feet as he heard a pair of footsteps hit the ground across the alley.

A woman stood there, her hair was black and her eyes were purple. A bow held in her hands, an arrow readied to fire and pointed at him. Aura.

Zei stiffened as she spoke, "Did you kill him?"

"I got his friend, but he got away."

She audibly sighed, "Useless."

Then, she released the arrow, which shot through the air and shot straight through Zei's chest. "Gh-"

He fell down, his heart having been destroyed by the shot, and died.

Aura walked past him and retrieved her arrow, which was in fine condition, though it was soaked with blood.

She groaned at the blood, sighed, and continued walking. Leaving behind the alley filled with death.

Subaru sat in an alley, his back against a cold wall, a shard of glass he had found nearby in his hand. He stared down at it, his eyes wide and terrified.

"Clement..."

He clutched the shard tighter and it cut deeper into his already cut hands, blood dripped off of them and down onto the ground.

He had to do it. He had to kill himself. It'd be better than getting killed by Zei again, and he could see Clement again if he did. Clement would be alive again. He would be happy again.

The image of Clement smiling appeared in Subaru's mind.

"...hk."

So why, why couldn't he lift his arm and do it? It was easy, all he had to do was stab it into his throat. Blood would stop flowing up to his brain and he would die. Sure there would be a lot of pain, but it was worth it to bring Clement back... right?

Subaru's grip on the shard tightened, and it cut deeper into his hands, blood continued to drip out of his hands and onto the floor.

He slowly raised his shaking hand up, moving the sharp shard towards his throat, lifting his head up and staring up at the dark sky.

He breathed heavily as he held the shard up to his throat. The pain of death would come back if he just moved it a few inches. Tears dripped out of his eyes and down his face.

He pressed the shard into his throat just a little, cutting just a tiny bit into his throat. Blood dropped out of the wound and trailed down his neck.

His breathing got heavier. He was shaking all over. It was easy. Just a little farther and Clement would be back. He would be back.

Fear was flowing through his body. All the pain of dying would return if he did it. The only person he could blame for his death would be himself.

But Clement would be alive. Clement's death would be erased, no one could blame Subaru for it. After all, Subaru was the one who had let Clement get hurt.

He stayed still for a few moments.

"Clement..."

I need your help.

Subaru took a short breath and thrust his hand forward.

The shard cut through his throat, ripping through the skin and plunging deep into him. Subaru's eyes widened and tears fell down his face as pain exploded within him.

His grip on the shard was slick from his bleeding hands, yet he managed to rip the shard out of his throat, fully opening the wound.

"Ghg-" Warm blood poured out of his neck. It fell onto his chest, staining his clothes red, and continued down his body and began pooling on the floor around him. Blood also poured down his throat, filling it with blood.

The pain was mind-melting. Subaru's vision turned red with pain and he slumped to the side, hitting his head against the ground with a thump.

His mind began to go hazy from the loss of blood. He tried to breathe, yet the gaping hole in his neck along with the blood prevented him from doing so.

Blood. So much blood.

Subaru felt that his life was rapidly ending. He wanted the pain to end. Why wasn't he dead yet? Why does death take so long? Why does the pain go on for so long?

Subaru's body began shutting down as his brain began dying from the lack of oxygen and blood.

Yet, moments before it all stopped, he felt confusion from somewhere close by. Then, a voice entered his mind. It was soft yet terrified. [What...? Why?]

Ceres.

Subaru had forgotten about her. He was about to leave her all alone.

Ceres—

It all stopped.

"Subaru."

Light flooded his eyes. He took a step back upon returning, a pained noise left his mouth, his legs felt weak from the disgust of death.

A moment later Subaru's eyes widened as he took in where he was. He stood in the living room, Clement stood in front of him, looking confused.

"Wha...?"

This was...

Subaru felt sick as he realized what had happened.

His savepoint had updated.

"Why...?"

Clement took a step towards the confused man. "What's wrong, Subaru."

Subaru's blood ran cold as he realized what was about to happen, his eyes flicked towards the window Zei had jumped through last time.

He had so little time—

Subaru swallowed hard and ran towards Clement, grabbing his arm and pulling him down the hallway towards his bedroom. "H-hey! What's wrong?!"

The deafening sound of glass shattering filled the house, striking fear into Subaru's heart.

Subaru threw open the door to his room and entered, dragging Clement along with him.

He slammed the door shut and turned to Clement.

Subaru's heart hurt as he remembered the two deaths Clement had experienced in his loops.

Subaru said, "I... won't let you die, Clement."

"Eh?"

"I swear, we'll get out of this unscathed."

"Hey, what's happening?"

Clement looked to the ground. "Is it... something like Hans?"

Subaru slowly nodded.

"An assassin, we can't win against him."

Subaru walked over towards the window in his room and opened it. It had no screen, so it was easy to climb out of.

"You go first."

Clement nodded and walked towards the window, which he quickly jumped out of, landing on his feet on the stone outside.

Subaru leapt out a moment later.

Subaru and Clement locked eyes for a moment before Subaru nodded and began to run with Clement following him.

Zei walked up to the open window and stared out at the night beyond it.

He grinned.

He always enjoyed chasing his victims. It built up a lot of fear within them.

"If it's a chase you want..."

He jumped out of the window.

"It's a chase you'll get."