PREFACE: WARNING GENDERBEND AHEAD. Don't like then, don't read.
As the morning sun shined through the windows, one familiar knight of a silver-haired half-elf sat up groggily. From his bed Subaru could hear the soft morning chorus of Lugnican birds. Outside it was shaping up to be a perfect day for his date with Emilia-tan later.
Yet, Subaru himself couldn't help, but feel that something was off. He was more tired than usual and felt as if his balance was thrown. Shaking off feelings of a world tilted on an axis, he slowly slipped out of bed while making sure not to wake the resting Beatrice who had fallen asleep clinging onto her contractor.
Stepping into a pair of orange slippers, he lightly stretched his limbs as he walked into his private bathroom. Opening the door, enchanted Yang mana crystals came to life lighting up the room. Subaru was forever grateful towards the inventor of mana crystals. While this world lacked the technological expertise of his previous world, mana crystals went a long way to make up for lost ground providing luxuries he never thought he would experience ever again. He sighed in bliss as he let the warm water in the sink flow over his hands, no doubt sourced from a water crystal and heated by a fire crystal. It was nice to appreciate the small things. After the harrowing experiences Subaru had been through since coming to Lugnica, he truly loved moments like this.
Unfortunately for Subaru, the peace of the moment would not last. For as he looked in the mirror, he saw not Subaru Natsuki, knight of Emilia, but a beautiful woman who had bastardized his features.
With hair that was spiked in the way that his own was done yet wavy in the back. A face with gentler yet more aristocratic characteristics. As if a sculptor had molded his face to portray its absolute best. A feminine body that showed her every curve. But perhaps the most striking features was the curvaceous hourglass figure he now held.
In a daze he looked down to see that indeed his body had received the changes he had witnessed. Subaru's anxiety, which had been vindicated time and time again during the past year, kicked into overdrive. He'd learn to fear and detest and surprises and so his mind began to show him images of death, torture, and worse. Hyperventilating he felt faint and collapsed onto the bathroom floor.
As Subaru's consciousness returned to him he heard muffled voices above.
"She...like...when Betty...found her...suppose," the familiar voice of his contracted spirit graced his ears.
"You're sure...never...before. You...no idea...she..." The scathing voice of a familiar pink-haired Oni replied.
"I er well- no this is the first time Betty has ever seen her, I suppose but Betty knows who she is...but that fact would simply be impossible," Beatrice answered although very unsure.
"Well which is it," Ram demanded, her patience wearing thin.
"The answer is right in front of you," the Spirit said, forgoing further explanation.
"She has the same features of that useless Barusu. Although it is hard to digest the idea that his nasty felon-esque face could ever be attractive. Truly this girl's face has been blessed by the gods while Barusu's was cursed by demons. Perhaps a relative. She could easily be a twin sister."
"Impossible, in fact.. Subaru already told Betty that he has no siblings," Beatrice denied.
Having given into her frustration as well as the Great Spirit's unhelpful attitude Ram shouted. "Then what is it? Are you telling me a girl that looks just like idiot Barusu showed up out of nowhere just to-."
Ram's ranting was suddenly cut off as they heard a muffled groan from the girl in question. "Ugh. Why am I on the ground?" Rubbing her eyes she looked up at their pensive stares. "Hey Beako, hey Ram. I'm feeling a little out of it right now, but do you guys know what happened just now?"
"That's what we would like to ask or perhaps the better question is who are you," Ram said, eyeing him suspiciously.
A look of pure horror passed through Subaru's face before he squashed it down. Replying weakly, "Haha let's not joke about things like that. You almost made me think Gluttony snuck into my room last night and ate my name or something. I'm the one and only Natsuki Subaru."
The maid nearly growled. With a furious expression she began, "I remember perfectly who Barusu is. Which is why I know he can't be you." Grabbing his chest harshly causing Subaru to gasp in pain. "For one Barusu does not have these outrageous things on his chest. Now answer the question seriously or we can try this the hard way."
However, despite the threat, the mysterious girl had stopped paying any attention to the Oni's words. Instead she appeared to be utterly baffled by what seemed to be her own body. Muttering incomprehensibly it looked as if she was trying to grasp an entirely new concept for the first time.
Realizing that Ram was on the verge of escalating the situation Beatrice stepped in. "She's not lying, in fact."
Ram swiftly turned and gave her an incredulous look. "I tire of your cryptic nonsense Great Spirit who contracted with trash. Say what you mean or bless me with your silence."
"You're fortunate, I suppose. If it weren't for the fact that it would've made Betty's contractor sad Betty would've already tossed you into another dimension. Perhaps you would like to meet up with the Great Hare," Beatrice threatened with venom in her voice. She already had a distaste for the maid, but she held herself back for Subaru's sake. But to mock the sacred contract between Spirit and Contractor was intolerable to anyone who understands the depth of such a connection. "It's rather simple so even you should be able to understand. Betty's Od is connected to Subaru's Od, mind, and soul. I can feel that same connection to her."
"How can you be sure it's not some kind of trick," the maid asked, still skeptical.
"Betty does not know what weak connection you have with the blue haired one, but the connection between a Spirit and Contractor is engraved into the Od Laguna itself. It cannot be faked or tampered with by anyone, in fact."
Ram let out a deep sigh as she contemplated if there was a way she could get away with strangling Barusu in this perverted form he had taken. "Get up," she said as she pulled the catatonic girl up by her collar. "If you really are Barusu then you have a lot of explaining to do and I refuse to spend any more time in this dirty bathroom."
The trio had relocated to the bedroom. The maid leaned on the door next to the wall while a still rather shell-shocked girl explained the events of the morning. Beatrice sat next to her contractor, hugging Subaru by the abdomen to show her support. It definitely didn't have anything to do with her contractor's new soft body, in fact.
"So as usual, you know nothing," Ram deadpanned once Subaru had finished with her explanation. "Even though I expected this sort of response from you and even though your existence is on the level of an insect I still find ways to be disappointed. Must our every conversation be an unrelenting attack on my sanity."
Subaru wanted to retort that the Oni had it the wrong way around, but held it in as he figured he was on thin ice at the moment. Interacting with Ram had always been a gamble for Subaru. Her reactions had always been impossible to gauge throughout his many loops and he held no desire for the enigmatic figure to turn on him now.
Beatrice reached up to tug on his sleeves, drawing his attention. "How do you plan to tell her about this?"
Subaru didn't need to ask to know who she meant by "her." Neither did Ram. "I don't plan on doing that at all, Beako." Ignoring the disappointed stare the boy-turned girl continued, "Nobody outside of this room can know that Emilia-tan's knight was turned into a girl. If this ever leaks out they'll probably think she cursed me or something. Even if they don't, it still wouldn't be a good idea to add a scandal onto our campaign platform considering her participation is controversial as is."
"Betty agrees, it would be best to keep this under wraps from the common masses, but Betty does not like that you are choosing to hide this from Emilia," Beatrice lectured. It truly was like her contractor to try to carry this burden on his own.
"I can't bother her with this. She's busy working hard for the Royal Selection and she doesn't need to be worrying about me more than she alrea-".
"Do you think so little of Emilia-sama," Ram interjected. "Does our knight have so little faith in his liege?"
"What no that's not what-," Subaru sputtered, waving his hands about before being interrupted once more.
"Then what does it mean, Barusu? You promised to make Emilia Queen. What kind of Ruler do you plan to put on the throne who's too frail of mind to handle her own knight?"
"The maid is right, I suppose. Was it not Betty's Subaru who placed his trust in Emilia to complete the Trials at Sanctuary?" Beatrice added.
"I er- well…ok fine. Fetch me a cloak and maybe a mask as well. I'll try to explain this to everyone during breakfast," Subaru said in resignation.
"The name's Natsuki Subaru, and I might just be the manliest knight in the world," the cloaked figure proclaimed into a mirror. "Well what do you think, Beako? Did I get the pitch low enough that time?"
"You sound constipated, I suppose," his spirit replied. "It's only marginally better than your twenty other attempts."
"Then it will have to do. C'mon Beako, let's get this over with," Subaru stated trying to hide his nervousness. Beatrice hopped off of bed and rushed over to her contractor to hold his hand. Hand-in-hand the two left the bedroom together and began the short walk to the dining area.
In no time at all the two arrived before the double doors of the dining hall. Subaru hesitated as he gazed blankly at the engraved wood. It was humorous that he'd faced off against a giant whale 400 meters in the sky, but he froze up at the thought of telling the truth to his friends. How would they feel? Disappointed that he was now the source of yet another problem on their plates? Disgusted at his perverted transformation? Would they be angry if he told them he still wants to be Emilia's knight? The reaction he dreaded the most was Emilia's. He'd put in so much effort to create the persona of a reliable and independent, if weak, Knight. Would it all be undone when she learned that her right hand man was now a young maiden? Could she ever see him as a man again? Ever love him as a man?
Noticing Subaru was lost in his gloomy thoughts Beatrice began, "As Betty's Subaru you should already know this, but Betty will reiterate. It doesn't matter what form you take, Betty will always stay by your side. Even if your friends abandon you, even if the world despises you, Betty will always be next to you. Forever and always."
Behind the mask Subaru's eyes watered at the heartfelt words. One of the few things Subaru could take pride in was becoming Beatrice's contractor. Even if it was just him selfishly using Beatrice's magic. He could never repay all that she's done for him.
Taking a deep breath he felt her support flowing into him. "Thanks for that, Beako." She said nothing, but she squeezed his hand on her own. Without delay he kicked open the doors with a yell, "Good Morning everyone, Natsuki Subaru has arri-."
Subaru's words were cut off as the force of the doors swung open to their widest extent just barely managing to clip an antique vase. Frederica, ever the dutiful maid, noticed the vase immediately. With a very unmaid-like dash and a slide she just barely caught the vase in her hands before it shattered upon the floor.
In a purposeful motion, Subaru crossed his arms above his head yelling "Safe!"
"Tsk I know Betty's words energized you, but did you really have to kick the doors open," the Spirit reprimanded.
"Oh Beako, a drill-haired loli like you will never understand," Subaru replied seriously. "An ordinary guy like me needs to do anything he can to stand out or I'll end up boring and forgotten like Otto."
"Hey," Otto exclaimed from his seat at the table. "I'll have you know that as the Minister of Internal Affairs tons of people know me."
"Eh we had a Minister of Internal Affairs," asked Ram looking genuinely surprised, much to Otto's despair.
"If Betty knows one thing then it's that you're anything, but an ordinary guy, in fact."
Emilia watched the group's antics from her place at the head of the table. With an amused expression she hid a giggle behind her hand. "That's enough Subaru. Please be more careful not to drop any more vases."
"If my Emilia-tan wishes it then so it shall be! In fact, it'll be Emilia-tan's very first decree as Queen. Any one who drops a vase is punishable by…beheading!" Subaru proclaimed as he and Beatrice took their seat next to the Royal Candidate.
Petra audibly gasped before gripping onto Frederica's arm as she thought back to a similar incident.
The demihuman maid smiled softly down at the younger girl. "I'm sure Subaru-sama is just joking of course," she reassured.
"Doesn't that seem a little harsh just for breaking a vase," Emilia asked, a little unsettled by Subaru's morbid humor. "What if you ended up breaking one again?"
"They can try to behead me all they want. But they couldn't keep me down long enough for me to stop being your knight," Subaru answered with perhaps a bit more weight than he had intended. He then turned his attention to eating. He found the best way to eat with a mask was to pull it up to just about his nose while keeping his head turned downwards.
"Oh…" Emilia muttered blushing at Subaru's proclamation of his devotion. Her heart fluttered, a common occurrence whenever she spent time with her knight. Is this what it means to love someone? To feel pain at the fact that they were so close yet not close enough? She resolved to answer his feelings soon.
Ram stopped raising her fork for a second to scoff at the baseless proclamation. Meanwhile Garfiel had stars in his eyes while looking at his captain.
"Man, that's so manly. As expected of Cap'n. I still have a long way to go before I can catch up," Garfiel said mid bite.
Otto sighed internally. He was glad for his friend, yet sometimes Subaru and Emilia could truly grate on his chest. The two lovebird's obvious affection for each other only served to remind Otto of his own loneliness.
"Y'know Cap'n I've been meaning t'ask. There's something off about you today. Like what's with the getup?" Garfiel asked.
Stopping mid-bite Subaru pondered how to respond. "I was thinking of trying out a new look as Emilia's Knight in public." He pointedly ignored Ram's muttering which sounded suspiciously like "Just get it over with already, two weeks old trash."
"Wouldn't you say that cloak along with that creepy mask give off an aura of a suspicious villain rather than a knight, Natsuki-san," Otto questioned, feeling a little disturbed at the sight of the demonic mask.
Emilia looked uncertainly at her cloaked knight before adding, "Do you need to wear it now though? I reeeeeally would like to see your face Subaru, at least during meals."
"It's a work in progress. And no can do Emilia-tan, I gotta practice if I wanna pull this off," Subaru replied hurriedly. The knight tried to hide his nervousness by promptly shoving food into his mouth.
Emilia gave off a dejected vibe at the rejection. An act that did not escape the notice of a certain pink-haired maid. She aimed a kick at the foolish knight.
Subaru gasped in pain and he began rubbing his tender shin. Choosing to glare through his mask at a smug Ram who appeared to be feigning ignorance.
To Subaru's dismay, Garfiel wasn't yet done with his questioning. "It's not just that though. Yer voice sounds different and you even smell off," the demihuman questioned.
"I er...well...I" Subaru stuttered, lacking the resolve to reveal the truth, but unable to continue the charade either.
Noticing her contractor's distress the Great Spirit leaned in whispering, "Stop worrying so much. Remember Betty's always here."
"Is something the problem," Emilia asks. Her knight's strange actions had set off alarm bells. She knew from experience that Subaru was the type of person to hold onto a lot of secrets. Also the kind that was all too willing to carry other's burdens while simultaneously shutting down others from helping with his. "Please if something is troubling you Subaru, you can tell me. I know there's nothing we can't face together."
With those words of encouragement Subaru finally relented. "Ugh! Okay fine. Let me explain...actually I have no idea how to explain this so I'm just going to go ahead and do it." Standing up and grabbing the hem of his cloak he threw it to the side along with the mask.
A round of gasps erupted from the table. They were shocked by their friend's sudden transformation. Where they expected a young man with a handsome but mean-looking face, instead stood a pretty young lady with rather striking features. She had long, jet black hair that came down below her shoulders. Her face held many of Subaru's original features, but they appeared to have been refined and modified. Where Subaru's stare had once been considered nasty, the one this lady had was more along the lines of piercing. She wore a simple tan button up shirt with a few buttons coming undone at the chest area along with a black pair of pants. The tightness of clothes meant for a male only proved to accentuate her curves.
Bewildered, Otto began, "Uwahh Natsuki-san are those...boo-."
"What the heck happened Cap'n," Garfiel shouted, cutting off Otto. "Yer lookin totally girly. And not the manly girly like Big Sis. But the girly girly like the Princess."
Without warning Frederica appeared behind her young brother, promptly shoving his face into his own food. Afterwards she apologized and started washing a dazed Garfiel.
"How did this happen to you, Subaru-sama? I don't know of any magic or racial ability that can do this," Frederica said as she picked out bits of food from Garfiel's hair.
"Wow Subaru, you became so pretty. I'm kind of jealous," Petra said in awe.
"Truly disgusting, Barusu. I care not for your perversions, but please keep us out of it," Ram commented with a look of utter disdain.
Sputtering Subaru yelled, "But I already told you it wasn't like that!"
A meek voice suddenly cut off the exchange. "Subaru," the half-elf said seriously.
"Yes, Emilia-tan," Subaru said as he got on one knee before his liege. Inadvertently this gave the half-elf a clear view of the cleavage of his now female body.
"Are...are you really, Subaru," she asked.
"I er- yes. Always."
"How?"
"I'm sorry Emilia-tan. I wish I knew how, but I really don't know. I was like this when I woke up today," Subaru winced while explaining knowing how unsatisfactory of an answer it was.
"Why?"
"..."
"Why?"
Confused, Subaru repeated himself. "I don't know why Emilia-tan."
"Liar. Why did you break your promise?" Emilia stated with steel in her voice. The rest of the Emilia camp watched in shock at the tone the normally gentle girl was using against her own knight.
I broke a promise? But how? "I didn't break any promise nor do I intend to," Subaru asserted, although with a hint of panic in his voice.
"How can you say that?" Emilia shouted. "You said you would wait for me. How could you betray my feelings like this?" The girl was shaking in her seat.
"No! I would never betray you, Emilia-tan," Subaru desperately claimed, now fully panicking.
"It's too late. You already have," Emilia stated. Her words cut into Subaru's heart like daggers.
An idea came to Subaru in his mind. "Wait, Emilia-tan. We can just figure out how to undo this. Then we can put this whole thing behind us."
"Do you really mean that," Emilia asked hesitantly.
"Yes. And until then I will be as always, Natsuki Subaru, your knight," Subaru promised. He hoped this would mend at least some of the lost trust between the two.
"I believe you, but please don't make that claim until whatever this is, is dealt with," Emilia responded firmly.
Subaru tried to hide the hurt he felt at her statement. She had essentially told him that she didn't want him to be her knight. "Yes, of course, Emilia-tan," Subaru replied, feeling as if a hole had opened in his chest.
The group then resumed breakfast although a sour mood had fallen over them. Garfiel and Otto attempted to crack some jokes about Subaru's new body, but he had only half-heartedly participated. Pretty soon both Subaru and Emilia excused themselves from breakfast, leaving most of their food uneaten, before going their separate ways.
As Subaru trudged back down the corridor he heard a muffled voice come from his Spirit. "Did you say something, Beako," Subaru asked, although most of his attention was lost in his thoughts.
Suddenly, Beatrice broke out into cries and hugged his legs. "What's wrong, Beako? Don't cry. Was it something I said?" With his attention now fully on Beatrice, he picked her up and carried her in his arms.
Through her cries Beatrice managed to calm herself. "I'm sorry, please forgive me," she begged.
Perplexed, Subaru asked, "Whatever for? You've done nothing you need forgiveness for."
"Earlier I asked you to put your trust in your friends. And yet that half-elf brat…she...she went and hurt you like that, in fact."
He smiled at her kind words. "Thanks for caring about me, Beako. But you're wrong. I was the one who hurt Emilia-tan. I only got what I deserved."
"That's wrong too, I suppose," Beatrice stated firmly. Continuing before he could respond, "Betty's Subaru had no hand in what happened to his body. Then that means he doesn't need to seek forgiveness anymore than Betty does."
Without responding Subaru merely hummed before pulling her closer to himself. It didn't occur to him that he was practically pushing her head into his chest. He was just happy he could rely on someone like Beatrice. He knew he would need to rely on her a lot more if he was ever going to get his old body back.
AN: This is my first story so let me know what you guys think. Before anyone asks I don't know why I've fixated on this genderbend idea. Guess it's just what I wanted to do. It's not really supposed to be some political commentary or a deep examination of the problems transgender and gender fluid people face. I don't know enough to write about such topics. Anyway I've planned to have this story begin just barely before the events of Arc 5 and Priestella. Although there will be a few chapters between now and the point at which the Emilia camp arrives at Priestella. Don't expect the story to closely follow the events of Arc 5 as they were in the WN. I really wasn't a fan of how things played out and I have some ideas to change things up a bit.
