Re: Starting Life In Another World From Twelve
Chapter 1 - A typical day in the Roswaal Manor
(Notes at the end)
It sounded as if someone screamed, as if they had seen something weird, something unbelievable.
[Subaru: "Mmmhh…"]
As the boy got up, rubbing his eyes, he had a strange feeling inside.
[Subaru: Is it morning already? What was that voice just now?]
Rubbing his eyes, he felt something really different about himself.
[Subaru: "Why do my clothes feel so loose today…? Am I not eating enough?"]
Another odd feeling lingered.
[Subaru: "My voice… It sounds unusual for some reason… Did I catch a cold?"]
[?: "Su... Su... Subaru-kun…"]
[Subaru: "Hmmm.."]
Still rubbing his eyes, as he turned his head around, he saw a certain maid with azure blue hair standing near the gate. Not expecting the guest, he let out a shriek.
[Subaru: "Waaaaah! What is it Rem!?What are you doing in my room this early in the morning?"]
He expected an answer, but the maid looked too surprised to give a reply to anything asked at the moment.
[Subaru: "Wh-what happened? Is something wrong?"]
[Rem: "…"]
The maid glared at him.
[Rem: "Y... Your... face and… body…, it actually worked…"]
The boy grabbed his cheeks with his hands and rubbed them around.
[Subaru: "Is something wrong with my face?"]
Rem just kept staring. Closely, sternly.
.
.
.
[Subaru: "Hey Rem, you are seriously scaring me right now."]
She came close to him. Slowly…
And embraced him in her arms.
[Rem: "Aww, young Subaru-kun is soooo cute."]
[Subaru: "Wh…Wait! Stop! What are you doing? Stop! Let me go. Uuuuuuuh."]
With much effort, he got away from her grip and ran out.
.
.
[Subaru: "Haah… haah…"]
[Subaru: "Huh!"]
As he ran out, his eyes fell upon the window glass. And when he saw his reflection…
[Subaru: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…."]
It was just another typical day at the Roswaal manor.
Sitting in the library which was supposed to be guarded by her, the little girl was reading a book. She wore a pink dress and had golden hair with round twirls, which made her look immensely cute. They swayed around a bit, as if someone was trying to touch them. It was a bad omen for her.
[?: "Why does Betty feel like some annoying problem is about to arrive?"]
[?: "Well, if it is a problem, then it could only be one person I suppose."]
As the girl sat on her chair encircled by numerous bookshelves with books full of forbidden knowledge, she heard the sound of the doorknob turning.
Clink
[Subaru: "Beakooooo… Look what happened to me…"]
As she had expected, a bug had entered the room.
[Beatrice: "What is wrong with you, entering Betty's place without permission. You need to be taught manners I suppose."]
[Subaru: "Hey! Can you focus at the absurdity of the situation for once? Can't you see what has happened to me?"]
Beatrice observed the boy from head to toe. After all he was not wrong. The tall but short legged 17-year-old looked like a 12-year-old, no greater in size than her.
.
.
Still…
[Beatrice: "Is there really any problem I suppose? As far as Betty's eyes can see, there is no problem with you in fact."]
[Subaru: "Wait really… Was all that a dream then?"]
He looked at his tiny palms. No way it could be a dream.
[Subaru: "Come on, there is something wrong with me, can't you see, I look like a small child of your age."]
[Beatrice: "Ghk.."]
Subaru felt as if he heard something snap.
[Beatrice: "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY 'a small child of Betty's age'? Do you think betty is some child I suppose? You irritate me to no end."]
The little spirit raised her hand. Subaru knew what this meant.
[Subaru: "Hey, hey, wait! Don't brush me off like this. I woke up this morning just to find myself in the body of my younger self. And I don't know how this happened. I can't go in front of anyone else like this. Please, I can only rely on your help right now."]
Hearing his plea, Beatrice stopped her magic. She will throw him out later for sure.
[Beatrice: "Huff.."]
Subaru looked at her intently, seeking an answer.
[Beatrice: "Listen, whatever has happened to you has nothing to do with Betty."]
The boy tensed up. He expected that Beatrice had some hand in this, trying to take revenge on him for his daily mischiefs. But if she was not responsible for his current state, then-
[Subaru: "Then how can this happen to me? This must be someone's trick probably."]
He was pissed. It must be someone who did not like the feat that he achieved by defeating the Ulgarms. Therefore, the person must have transformed him to tick him off.
.
.
The girl was a bit confused as how to explain it without getting herself involved. She didn't know how to say it, but she tried.
[Beatrice: "As far as Betty's knowledge is concerned, only one person could have done this I suppose. A certain clown in fact."]
Subaru eyes went wide. He understood what that statement meant. 'A certain clown' can be no one other than the owner of the mansion.
[Subaru: Damn that Roswaal! What is he trying to do this time?]
He turned towards Beatrice.
[Subaru: "Come with me, we need to find out from him what did he do to me."]
[Beatrice: "Why should Betty go with you? Has Betty not told you that she cannot leave the forbidden library I suppose? And then again, Betty has no interest in meeting that clown in fact."]
[Subaru: "…. Come on! You can't leave me in the dark like this. You have to help me out of this problem. It's not like you have never gone out of the library before. You have lunch and dinner with us every day in the dining hall, and you were also present in the village to help me during the mabeast incident"]
[Beatrice: "Betty still does not get how that makes her indebted to help you I suppose. Betty goes out of her library to eat because she wants to and helped you out because Bubby insisted in fact."]
[Subaru: "…."]
[Beatrice: "You heard what Betty had to say. Now you can go away I suppose. Betty can't tolerate bugs in the library anymore. Shoo Shoo."]
Beatrice held her hand out and waved it forward and backwards as if indicating Subaru to get lost.
Tired of trying to convince her, Subaru went out of the room.
[Subaru: Huh, looks like I will have figure something out myself.]
Suddenly, he realized something.
[Subaru: Wait a second…]
.
.
When the door closed in front of her, the spirit let out a sigh of relief. She was sure that she will not be dragged into this any further and can relax now. Yes, no one will be coming back again to bother her again.
.
.
That's when the door opened once again.
[Beatrice: "Ghhhhhh…! WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH YOU I SUPPOSE?! Did Betty not ask you to leave?"]
Stare…
[Beatrice: "What are you trying to do?"]
Stare…
[Beatrice: "Do…Do you think you can intimidate Betty like that? Such puny tricks have no effect on Betty in fact."]
[Subaru: "Beatrice… I want to ask you something before leaving."]
[Beatrice: "What is it?"]
[Subaru: "How did you figure out that the person responsible from my current state is Roswaal so easily. Also isn't it a bit weird that even after seeing what has happened to me, you showed almost no sign of shock. It was almost as if-"]
[Beatrice: *Gulp*]
He got her figured out. Now he will demand help from her, she was sure of it.
[Beatrice: Why, why must Betty get involved in all of this I suppose.]
[Subaru: "-Almost as if you were anticipating something like this to happen to me."]
No, she will not yield so easily.
[Beatrice: "Huh, what are you talking about I suppose? How can you blame all that on Betty without any proof?"]
[Subaru: "Shut up! I know now that you had an idea of this happening to me. Now you will have to help me out of this."]
[Beatrice: "Hmph, even if Betty had an idea about it, she is not obliged to help you."]
Subaru knew this would be coming. And for such a situation, only one old trick would work.
[Subaru: "Yeah, you're right, you are not at all obliged to help me at all."]
With a grin on his face, he turned back and walked towards the door, while continuing his talk.
[Subaru: "Which is why I am going to ask assistance from Puck. I am sure he will help me. Oh, how disappointed he will be with you, when he realizes that you could have saved me from all this trouble by warning me beforehand, but chose not to."]
As soon as he put his hand on the doorknob-
.
.
[Beatrice: "F-Fine…, Betty will help you… I suppose. Just don't tell Bubby…"]
Subaru had a devilish simile on his face.
[Subaru: Hehe, just as planned. Now let's see what Roswaal is upto.]
With this he opened the door.
A calm breeze blew over the lush green garden of the Roswaal manor. The garden was so vast that it was capable of accommodating all the villagers of the nearby village. As the wind blew, the silver hair of a certain half-elf girl swayed in it, as if being caressed by the wind. The girl, with a smile so sweet that could melt the harshest of hearts, was laughing and talking with her small glowing friends. Her amethyst eyes, which looked like beautiful pools of lavender, sparkled with joy. Talking with her spirit friends was a thing she waited for every day.
Not too far away from her was a little cat, who floated in the air playing around, while also keeping an eye on the girl. Puck, or the Beast of End as the legends called him, was relaxing and enjoying the sunlight when-
[?: "Umm…"]
He turned around to see a blue haired maid standing in front of him, with her head bent down as if trying to apologize for something.
[Rem: "Pardon my intrusion, Great Spirit-sama. I apologize for disturbing you during your leisure hours but there is something really important that Rem needs to know."]
[Puck: Of all my years of stay in this mansion, this is the first time this maid has come to talk with me, isn't it? Is something wrong? Hmmm.]
[Puck: "Hey there, your name was Rem….right? Is there any problem?"]
[Rem: "Yes, you are right. That is my name. Rem is honored that her name is known to a great spirit like you, but right now I came here for a little help. I wanted to ask something from Emilia-sama, but seeing that she is busy with her morning routine I thought it would be rude to interrupt her, so I decided I would rather ask you as you are always around her."]
[Puck: "Sure, go on."]
[Rem: "Once again, pardon me, but have you seen a little kid walking around this area?"]
[Puck: "A little kid?"]
[Rem: "Yes, he should be around the age of… ummm… twelve, yes that's right, a twelve-year-old, and his face is quite similar to Subaru-kun."]
[Puck: "A twelve-year-old who looks like Subaru huh… I don't think I have seen someone like that."]
[Rem: "Oh…"]
She looked disappointed.
[Puck: "Aaah, but if you want, I can go around and check for him once Lia is done with her morning activities. Won't take me much long to find him if he is within the mansion's premises."]
[Rem: "No, it's fine if you don't know, you don't have to trouble yourself with it. I'll find him myself."]
Saying that, Rem hurried inside the mansion, her eyes still searching for the kid.
[Puck: Hmmm…., now this is interesting, I actually want to know what's going on.]
He turns towards Emilia.
[Puck: But I can't leave Lia alone, so I'll wait for her to wrap up.]
[?: "Beatrice-sama, although Ram knows that you live inside the library alone, you should not bring poor kids from the village inside the mansion without Roswaal-sama's permission."]
As soon as Subaru walked out of the library with Beatrice, he saw a certain maid standing in front of them. The maid looked similar to Rem, the only difference being her pink hair and her flat chest. After all, both of them were twin sisters.
She didn't recognize Subaru, and was inspecting him, trying to understand why would Beatrice bring such a filthy looking kid inside the mansion.
[Ram: "Where did you even bring him from? He smells as if he is from a Foster Home."]
[Subaru: "Wait, what do you mean by 'smells like he is from a Foster Home'? What do Foster Homes smell like?"]
Ram glared down upon him.
[Ram: "Disappointment."]
Subaru backed up a bit. Whatever his age or form is, Ram is probably never going to go easy on him.
[Subaru: She does not know it's me? Well, I can use this as an advan-]
Ram caught hold of his hand and started to take him away even though Subaru resisted.
[Subaru: "Hey, hey wait! Where are you taking me?"]
[Ram: "Listen kid, Ram does not know how you got inside the mansion, but you will have to go back. Ram has no time to babysit you, after all, she has to go and look for a certain dog who has gone into hiding while trying to escape from his daily duties."]
[Subaru: Th-That's me, I am Subaru]
[Ram: Huh…]
She glared at him.
[Ram: "Listen, it's okay, alright. Life can be hard sometimes, Ram knows that. Although you don't look any better, you should still not try to compare yourself with filth. Now go back. There might be people looking for you."]
[Subaru: "Hey, I am serious Ram, it's me. Look at my eyes."]
[Beatrice: "He is telling the truth in fact. He is the troublesome kid; Betty can confirm that."]
[Ram: "Then how will you explain his state."]
[Subaru: "Leave my hand first, I'll tell you what happened."]
After escaping her clutches, Subaru explained everything that happened since early morning to Ram. How he woke up in a younger body, and how Roswaal has some hand in it.
It took a while to convince her, but she understood his situation.
.
.
[Ram: "Hmmm, that explains why looking at you reminded Ram of garbage, even though she had not seen Barusu today, because you are Barusu."]
[Subaru: "Yes, I am Subaru, and you are going too harsh on me with those words."]
Ignoring the latter part, Ram continued.
[Ram: "Well, if it is Roswaal-sama's doing then you should cooperate, even if he turns you into real garbage, because that would actually be an improvement."]
Subaru understood Ram was not going to stop.
[Beatrice: "Can you stop wasting time and find him already, I suppose? Betty has to return to the library you know."]
[Subaru: "Right-right, so Ram, where is Roswaal anyway?"]
[Ram: "Consider yourself lucky that Roswaal-sama has completed all his work for the day, so you can go and meet with him right now. He will be in his office."]
[Subaru: "Alright, got it, will you be coming too?"]
[Ram: "No, looking at your current situation, you will probably be useless until you return back to your normal self, although that form is not of any use either. So, Ram will have to attend to more chores today. But remember that you will have to work double the amount you usually do once you turn back normal."]
Subaru didn't expect such help from Ram.
[Subaru: "Okay, I'll remember that, thanks for understanding my situation."]
[Ram: "No problem, but if you want to return the gratitude to Ram, then at least request Roswaal- sama to turn you into a trash can later so that she can put garbage in you."]
With this, she went downstairs.
.
.
Subaru turned towards Beatrice.
[Subaru: "Let's go."]
But Beatrice didn't follow him, as Roswaal's office was too far from that location.
[Beatrice: "Did you really expected Betty to walk such a large distance for no reason I suppose?"]
Saying that, she put her hand on the doorknob of the nearest door. Her hand glowed as she focused on it. Then she opened the door and entered inside followed by Subaru. They were inside Roswaal's office room.
[Subaru: She probably used her door crossing. I didn't expect that it could be used in tha-]
[?: "My Myyyyyyy, I didn't expect you to come so early you knoooooooow"]
.
.
With this Subaru looked ahead to see a certain clown in front of him which looked bigger and scarier now, due to his relatively small size.
Notes:
Hey guys, this is the TheAppaMan. I held a discussion on reddit about a month ago, regarding the kind of fanfictions people would like to read. And out of all the suggestions, I liked this one the best (Smolbaru for the win). I had already uploaded this on ao3 a few weeks ago, and the third chapter has been quite... delayed. But it will be dropping in a couple of days from now. Since this is my first time writing a fic, please tell me how you feel about this fic. Well that's it, chapter 2 will be uploaded along with chapter 1. I hope you all like it :)
