Chapter 15: Simple Man

The room went silent as all eyes were on where Betty's finger was pointed. Subaru.

Rem stood with a grin on her face as she saw his dopey face amazed by the spirit's findings.

Subaru himself stared into Betty's butterfly eyes. He had been in this world for a little over four months and here Beatrice was telling him that not only had she found his home, but a way to go back. Now he just needed to prepare himself.

"Are you even listening to me?" The angry loli stood before him.

"I, uh, no. I'm sorry Betty. I was just lost in thought." Subaru kept his eyes open wide. "What did you say?"

"I asked when you planned to use my device to go home?"

That was indeed a good question. He hadn't seen his family in almost 5 months. With everything that had happened, and the amount of times he'd lived and died, he'd forgotten their voice. Subaru had no idea if he was mentally prepared for this.

"Maybe it would be best to give him time to think it over." Rem pointed out. Always there to save the day.

"Fine, I suppose." Betty closed her book with the page folded a bit as a marker and set it on the table.

Rem and Subaru exited the library and walked along the halls.

"Thank you, Rem." He tried to smile, but his mind was racing.

"I will always be there. Besides, I just said what I would do in that situation. Although I could not imagine being away from my sister for that long." She looked down at the floor, trying to imagine what he was feeling. She looked up when a hand rested on her shoulder.

Rem saw that Subaru was looking back at her smiling. "Rem, you don't ever have to worry about leaving Ram. Betty has that special dimensional gate now. We can come back here whenever. You won't be away forever."

"I know that. It's just that…"

"You're nervous about telling her?"

She sighed. "Yes."

"Don't worry. I'll be right there with you. Besides, I need to go explain all of this to Emilia."

"I will…" She started before he cut her off.

"No. I need to do this one myself Rem. I should probably go ahead and take care of it." He took a look out the window and noticed the sun was about at its peak. "It's also about time to start taking care of lunch I suppose."

Rem giggled. "Now you sound like Lady Beatrice." She then wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to a kiss. "Thank you, for choosing Rem." Afterwards, she dropped back down and skipped off.

Subaru was still trying to decide what he wanted to do. He gave Rem the answer he did so that it would seem like he made his choice without hesitation. In reality, he did it to psyche himself into it. He was still giving the idea great amounts of thought by the time the situation presented itself, and he figured that if he went ahead and gave an answer that he could go with it.

Was he regretting his decision?

Eventually, after a long and grueling walk, he found the room he was looking for. He knocked on the door.

"Coming." Emilia's voice came from inside. "Oh, hello Subaru." Her smiled was genuine and bright as always.

"Hi Emilia. Can I come in?"

"Sure." They both retreated to the bed and sat. "What is it? You seem nervous."

"Betty. She found a way for me to go home." His stare never left the floor.

Emilia was stunned, but happy. "That's great! Now you can be with your family again." It was at that moment another thought came to her. "Wait, does that mean you're not coming back?"

"No, I can return here. Betty was able to create a small door between the worlds. Like her library. One key is here and the other one is there." Subaru chuckled a bit. "Is it strange that I'm scared?"

She took her hand and placed it on his. "Why would you be scared?"

"Because it's been at least four months since I've been to that world. Emilia, I barely remember my parents' faces or voices." A small tear ran down his cheek. He kept all of this back when talking to Betty and Rem about it. That was another thing he'd have to explain. Rem.

Emilia could tell something was still bothering him. "Subaru?"

"I'm sorry Emilia. There is one more thing. Remember this morning when you told me to choose Rem?"

"Uh huh." She nodded.

"Well, I was still on the fence about it then Roswaal took me aside and basically told me the same thing you did. You have more important things to focus on that something like this. Hell, you can be the new queen if you work at it hard enough." He paused. "Emilia, I've decided to take Rem with me to my world."

It all came out so fast that Emilia almost didn't catch it all. "I see." Her thoughts ran rampant for a moment before she spoke again. "That's good."

"Huh?"

"You should always have a reminder of this world. Who better than Rem? She loves you so much. More than I do." She turned her gaze to the floor as she spoke the last part.

"Emilia? Are you sure you're okay with me picked Rem? I mean, I love her, but I love you too." He placed his hand on her shoulder. "I will always be here for you. And if you need me and I'm not in this world, you can always send Betty to get me."

"Thanks." Her breath was shaky. "Subaru? What I'm about to ask you is very selfish of me."

He just laughed. "Emilia. You're the most selfless person I know. You're entitled to a bit of selfishness every now and then."

Her eyes locked with his. "Stay with me tonight." Red flushed into her pale white cheeks.

That was a bit of a shock. Emilia was very… prude about things, and this was beyond that. Subaru had planned to leave tomorrow anyway. "Alright. I will stay with you tonight."

Emilia moved over and hugged him. "Thank you. It's not like I'm saying goodbye forever, but it still feels like it."

"Yeah I know." He then looked up at the clock. "Come on, it's about time for lunch."

Once again, they walked down to the dining room to find everyone there but Betty. Rem and Ram were standing behind Roswaal as normal and the food was on the table.

Both teens took their normal seats on Roswaal's right side and waited for the maids to sit as well. If there had been another guest, it would be considered rude for the maids to eat with the host. But since it was just the five of them, it was acceptable.

"So, Betty came by earlier and toooooollllld me that you haaaaavvveee a way home." The host chuckled, his voice dragging words again.

"Yea, she created a door once she found my home." Subaru smiled. To think, she did all this for a picture.

"And who did you decide to take with you?"

There it was. He felt it hot on his neck. A glare of anger and rage. Ram.

"I'd prefer not to discuss it right now if that's alright." He tried to dodge and hopefully cool Ram off but it didn't work. Well, cooling Ram off didn't work.

"That's okay. I'm sure you will make the right choice."

The rest of lunch was quiet except for the sound of silverware on plates. No one spoke. Half of the room knew the decision was made whilst Roswaal and Ram had no real idea. Subaru could feel Ram's cold hard stare on him from across the table.

Eventually, they had all finished and the twins stood to clean the room. Normally, now was the time that Emilia would pull Subaru off to play or whatever she wanted to do, but she knew he had business.

Subaru followed the twins into the kitchen quietly as to not alert them to his presence. As he rounded the corner, he found Rem and Ram arguing.

"Did he pick you or Emilia?" Ram almost yelled.

"Subaru picked me." Rem said sheepishly.

"Oh no, I'm not letting him take you away forever. Its an entirely different world." Ram stomped her foot down.

This was odd considering she had been so supportive of him being with Rem. Maybe she was only willing if she could supervise.

After deciding enough was enough, Subaru entered the room. "You know, we can come back here. I wouldn't dare separate Rem from her sister forever."

Ram spun on a heal and punched him in the gut. "Bastard! When were you going to tell ME you chose Rem?"

"Puah!" He doubled over on his knees. Even thought Ram had no horn, her strength was still inhuman. "We only… decided… earlier." Panting, he stood back up with Rem's help. "Betty has a door. We can come back."

"That's not the point!" She yelled again. This time Rem blocked her hit.

"Then what is!?"

The room was silent.

After a few deafening silent moments, Ram spoke. "I-I want her to be happy. If it's you she needs to be happy then so be it. But I don't want her to be ridiculed for what she is there. We had enough of that growing up." She looked down defeated.

"Ram." Subaru placed a hand on her shoulder. "My people are an advanced race that barely notice what's around them. Rem will blend right in. And if she gets insulted for being what she is, or at all, I will be right there to defend her."

The pink haired demon looked up with teary eyes. "Do you promise? To take care of my sister while your both there? To make sure she's happy in whatever she does?"

"That seems like a marriage vow Ram." He blushed. That was an idea he wasn't too sure about yet.

"It might as well be. If you two are going to live in your world, she needs somebody with her at all times. Not that Rem isn't too good for you anyway, she will just need guidance to live in a strange place." Ram's tone got back to her cocky self.

Rem puffed up her cheeks. "I'm not too good for Subaru. We are perfect for each other." She stepped forward and held his arm. "I-I'm nervous and excited."

Subaru laughed. "Better than I was when I got here. I had a panic attack."

The two demons laughed with him.

Rem was reminded of a phrase he once told her. "I guess in the end, Demons do laugh with you."

Subaru turned and wrapped his arms around both girls. "Those are simple words from a simple man."