Subaru looked at Rika's eyes as they calmed down.
They reminded him of his own as if she was himself but a different gender.
However, what he saw might have blown his sufferings out the window compared to what Rika had gone through.
Meanwhile, Rika herself was looking at the nasty eyed man with horror as like Subaru, she saw what the boy had went through and unlike herself, Subaru couldn't tell anyone his sufferings or what he had gone through.
She stepped forward, looking face-to-face at Subaru. "" he said quietly. " Every time you failed to save them, you had to reset the timeline and let yourself die to go back in time to try again, and again, and again and again and again and again and again – "
Her voice cracked as old memories flooded her mind, yet she forced herself to continue speaking.
"But it's never enough, is it? No matter how hard you try, you don't succeed, and you have no choice but to go back in time and try again. And the worst part... is that the entire time, they don't remember anything. The experiences you've had, the laughs you've shared and the tears you've cried, the friends you've made and the people you've lost... Nobody knows. Nobody remembers. Nobody understands. Only you and you alone bear the burden of carrying all those memories just like I have."
She clenched her eyes shut for a moment. "It's the worst pain in the world." She opened her eyes again. "So trust me," he said simply, "when I say that we need to stick together."
There was a long moment of silence.
"Y-You understand," Subaru whispered to her. "Y-You know what I've been going through. You know about R-Return by Death." His eyes widened further as he looked down at his chest. "I... I can say it..."
"Subaru" Rika started to pat Subaru's head.
"Let us try to be happy…. Nipah!"
For a moment, Subaru simply stared at her.
And then he sobbed, breaking down completely and utterly, wailing loudly as his tears flowed from overwhelming relief.