Hello and Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you are making the most of your time by spending time with friends and or family! As you can probably guess, this new chapter is my gift to you! Sorry about my inconsistent uploads, I had to focus on my finals. So without further ado and as always, I hope you enjoy! :)

Chapter 5: Rem..

"...to give up? Is there no other way to save…"

"... All, I suppose, you can do as you like with him now."

Hearing two familiar voices, he tries to blink several times to make out who the two mysterious figures were through his blurry vision. Not able to gather the strength to speak nor stay conscious, his vision and hearing slowly fades as he once more passes out

"I swear.."

…

….

….

…..

…

"I'll save you!"

…..

…..

….

"Wai- nnnngghh!?"

Reeling in pain from his sudden outburst, Subaru lays back in bed to soothe the aching pain.

"You shouldn't get up so suddenly, healing your entire body was no easy task." A soft voice said.

Lifting his head up, he sees a familiar cat spirit hovering over his chest.

"Puck…" Subaru weakly called out.

"Hello Subaru. Oh boy, when the maid brought you in, Lia was horrified. She was a total nervous wreck when we were restoring you." The cat spirit notified the boy as he now sat in his chest and looked towards the passed out girl sleeping against a pillar.

Turning his gaze towards where the spirit was looking at, he sighed,

"I made her worried yet again.. I'll have to apologize at another time, but right now…"

Sensing that he was going to stand up, the cat spirit tries to push the wounded boy back down with his itty bitty strength.

"You really shouldn't stand up, you haven't fully recovered!" Puck groaned as Subaru was overpowering him easily.

"Sorry Puck, but there's someone I have to find..!" He finally stood up, pushing through the agonizing pain as he slowly observed all the bandage wrapping he had around his torso and arms.

Giving up on trying to lay him back down, he sighed,

"So there's nothing I could do to get you back in bed?"

"Nothing" The teenager simply answered, grabbing his iconic tracksuit and black shirt.

Shaking his head, he floats towards the sleeping half-elf.

"Well, whatever you do, be careful out there. If you worry my daughter again, I'll give YOU something to worry about!" He warned, sticking his tongue out as he fades away into nothingness.

"I don't doubt it.." Subaru nervously chuckled.

Putting his shirt and tracksuit on, he gives one last check on Emilia before leaving the house entirely.

*Irlam Village*

Upon walking outside, he sees Ram handing out tatoes to the villager. Feeling his gaze towards her, she faces him.

"Can you please not look at me in such a lustful way, Barusu." Ram said in a monotone voice.

"Why are you trying to make me seem like an enemy to women!?" The boy complained.

"Cause you are, aren't you? The fact that you are denying it is deplorable. Disgusting, go die, Barusu." She feigned disgust.

"That last comment was unnecessarily cruel Onee-sama…" Subaru reeled in discomfort.

Not wanting to hear the boy ramble on anymore, she tries to shove a piping hot tato in his mouth only to be caught by the wrist. Carefully grabbing the tato out of the maid's hand, he lets go of her wrist.

"Hmmm, for someone who is always doing nothing, you're unusually quick." Ram noted.

"I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult.." Subaru vacillated.

Seeing a familiar small red figure walking towards him in his peripheral vision, he pretends not to see it.

"You, boy." a child-like voice called out.

Looking around him, he pretends not to see the small figure below him.

"Why you…! Down here, I suppose!" An angry loli spirit shouted.

Finally looking down, he chuckles and couldn't help but joke,

"Oh, sorry beako! I couldn't see you from up here!"

"You annoying little….!" Stretching her small hand towards him signaling that she'll take him mana, Subaru jumps back.

"Sorry! I didn't mean it!" He quickly apologizes.

"If you didn't mean it you wouldn't have said it, I suppose!" Beatrice huffed, crossing her small arms.

Not wanting to anger the great spirit anymore, he clears his throat.

"I'm guessing that you want to speak with me?" Subaru asked.

Simply nodding, she adds,

"In private, I suppose."

Looking at Ram, she nods and goes back to handing tatos to the residents of Irlam village. (Last chapter I called it Arlam village, that was a my bad)

"Talk to you later Onee-sama." He quickly excuses himself as he follows the spirit child.

Finding a spot away from the crowd, he looks at the loli spirit.

"I'm guessing you brought me all the way here to notify me that I'll die in half a day?"

A little surprise that he took the news well more than she expected, Beatrice queried,

"Strange... I thought you'd scream and cry, I suppose."

"Seeing as many times I got bitten, it's obvious that the mabeast curse hasn't lifted." Subaru imparted, crossing his arms.

"Correct, when the mabeast attacked you in the forest, they placed another curse deep inside of you, I suppose." She explained, putting a hand in her chest.

"The reason you couldn't get rid of it is because the curses stacked, making it more complex and I only get to live half a day because mabeasts replenish mana by activating the spell, right?" Subaru speculated, putting his hand in his chin in a thinking gesture.

"For someone who claims to be a foreigner, you're quite knowledgeable." Beatrice noted, nodding at Subaru's speculation.

Looking around him, he gulped. He asked a question that he dreaded not for it to be real. There's no way that she'd do the same thing twice, not for someone like him… Sure he may have heard the same conversation with the two when he was semi unconscious from his previous life but he had a sliver of hope that she did not do what he thinks she did.

"...Where's Rem..?" He whispered audibly, placing a hand on his forehead.

"In her position, what would you do, I suppose?" She answered.

Putting both of his hands on his head, his question had been answered.

'So no matter what I did.. she still would've tried to help me..? Someone like m-'

"I can't ignore what you just said." Ram interrupted Subaru's thoughts.

"Ram…" The teenager uttered.

"Lady Beatrice, Rem didn't go to the forest alone, did she?" She almost demanded.

Not responding to the elder sister, The maid wastes no time as she springs towards the forest only to be stopped when Subaru grabbed her arm.

"H-hold on! Ram wait!" Subaru cried.

"Let go of me, Barusu! I'm not calm enough to be kind!" Ram commanded.

"If you want to save Rem, and if you even consider me as an ally at all then let me help! With your clairvoyance and my scent tracking, we can find her faster!" The teenager pleaded.

Giving little thought of it, she swipes her hand away.

"Fine, but do not slow me down." She acknowledged.

"Oh, I'm bound to slow you down!" He jabbed a finger at himself smiling, "are you even the type of maid that fights?"

He knew the answer, but he might as well ask again.. he needed time to course correctly since everything was going way too fast after all, he technically did leave as soon as he woke up... I mean sure, the quicker the better but he couldn't risk something suddenly going bad, it's better to be safe than sorry.

"If you expect me to fight like Rem does in her demon form, I can't. Unlike her, I'm hornless" Ram revealed, looking away almost ashamed.

Changing almost rather quickly, she looked back at the teenager.

"I can only use a rather extreme bit of wind magic" she demonstrated by swiping her hand to the ground, causing a wind repulse.

Through the small gust of sand flying outwards, calmly walks Beatrice.

"Going to retrieve the younger sister would mean giving up your own life. You do understand that, I suppose?" The loli spirit asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I know that better than anyone, but let me correct you.." He acknowledged.

"Forming the habit of giving up because your to used to dying is pretty dumb. Life is way too precious and you only get one! When you guys went through so much to save mine, I've realized that. So if you don't mind, I'm going to struggle with all I've got." He said, taking a step forward. "Let's make a comeback! I've bounced back from the terrible state I was in. I'm as greedy as they come so I want to see the continuation of this story with me in it. Now, let's get moving to our last big showdown!" transforming both of his arms, he slams his fist to his palm, unleashing a small gust of wind. "Bring it on, Fate-sama!" Subaru declared.

"Mabeast Forest*

Walking by a path, she suddenly turns around.

"You made a pretty heroic speech back there, but when I see you close to becoming nothing but baggage, it makes it harder to hide my disappointment." Ram told the boy who was holding a nearby tree for support.

"Cut me some slack Nee-sama. I'm still recovering, so I'm pretty low on energy and blood at the moment… and I didn't even get to hear Emilia-tan say "see you soon!". Subaru tried imitating Emilia's voice in his last sentence.

"You do realize that "I'm home," last night's "see you soon" is still in effect." Ram remarked

"Is that so?" Subaru queries, pushing himself off the tree.

"Besides, didn't you get something other than Ms. Emilia?" Ram pointed out to his hip.

"Yup" The teenager smiled, unsheathing the sword from it's hilt as he remembered him being gifted what was considered the village's sharpest sword and the children surrounding him and stuffing things in his pocket. Putting the sword back on it's hilt, he checks on said pockets.

"Please don't tell m-' YUP THAT WAS A BUG! Damn brats, I'll lecture them later!" Subaru threw the bug away as he wiped whatever slime the bug produced in his shirt.

"It's just proof that they admire you. Just what do they see in a deplorable man like you? Ram asked looking at him, a bit annoyed.

"In a child's pure eyes, my true, manly nature shines…" Subaru said smugly.

"Besides" he continued, "I'm not the only one they like, you could tell too, right?"

Turning her gaze away from him, she reminisced when the children suddenly turned their attention from Subaru to her, making her promise to bring Rem back.

Faintly smiling at the recollection she changes.

"Barusu, I'm going to use clairvoyance, wait a moment." Ram notifies him as she closes her eyes to activate said clairvoyance.

Upon activating, her vision changes to the sight of a hawk who is looking below at the trees. Not seeing her sister anywhere, she changes two more times until she reaches one that is stalking the two.

"Barusu, something is watching us right now." Ram warned while her eyes were still shut.

"From where?" Subaru asked as he got ready to unsheathe the sword.

"Up there" she turns around and points out, eyes no longer shut.

Upon pointing, the mabeast propels towards the boy. Quickly facing the ambushing mabeast and unsheathing the sword in reverse grip, he slices the wolgarm's head clean off and jumps back on reflex. Not that it mattered since the body was cut in two from a sudden gust of wind. Blood spilled all over the ground, painting the grass in red.

"Get ready, more are coming!" Ram warns.

Sure enough, another launches itself off the tree towards the maid only for it to be cut in two and another cleaved in half.

Not commenting on the maid's rather gruesome display, he sheathed his sword back on its hilt and followed the pink haired maid who was already far ahead. After he caught up, the maid comments,

"Why is it that every individual who is with you always ends up losing their head?"

…

...

…..

"Is it because of your lack of intelligence?" Ram concluded after a long awkward silence.

"After all that hesitation that's what you come up with!?" Subaru facepalmed.

Not wanting to walk with awkward silence, he decides to test the waters, maybe it'll be different this time…

"Do you mind if I ask what that hornless thing was about?"

"Why?" She asked, looking back at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Guess I should've not asked huh? I don't really know much of what you call the "oni" race, but I assume being hornless is a pretty serious problem. I just thought asking about it might have been insensitive of me." Subaru said a bit guiltily.

Noticing his expression she faces back on the trail with a neutral look.

"Back then was one thing, but now things have calmed down. There are things that I lost and gained from being hornless. I'm sure Rem doesn't feel the same way, though." Ram told the boy who struggled to walk uphill.

"Originally, demons are born with 2 horns meanwhile twins are born with one each, that's why twins are detested. It's customary to dispose of twins but Rem and I were allowed to live.. A demon's horn allows it to devour mana, heightining combat ability. But if reckless, it will leave one battered. I don't want to see Rem like that.." The pink hair maid explained.

"You really care about Rem, huh?" Subaru smiled.

"Of course I do, but that's no reason not to worry about her." Ram said, hopping on rocks to avoid falling on the creak.

Following suite and finally standing behind her, She turns towards him.

"No matter what we're told to do, she does it far better. But I am her older sister and I won't ever waver from that position."

Smiling and closing his eyes, he says,

"I see, welp. I guess it's about time I contributed." Opening his eyes, he assures her, "don't worry, we're going to find Rem!"

A bit puzzled, she tilts her head in confusion.

Taking a deep breath, he tries to tell her the truth,

"You see Ram, I can return by de-"

An unseen hand appears and clutches his chest to silence him. Birds immediately flew out of their trees and everything around them seemed to have become a lot louder.

"What did you do, Barusu? The wind is erratic and I smell approaching mabeasts. A lot of them… and we haven't found Rem yet!" Ram asked in a bit of a panic.

"Don't you worry about that." Subaru reassured her as held his chest in pain, "we'll be crossing paths soon."

"What makes you so sure?" Ram inquired, getting ready in a stance.

"Because of the witchers lingering scent!" Subaru revealed, shakily pulling the sword off it's hilt and grabbing it with two hands in a standard sword stance.

"Rem's goal is to hunt all the mabeast down. The mabeast will be drawn to the witchest scent, and come right at me! Then Rem will have no choice but to follow them towards me!" The teenager briefly explained while the two watched their backs.

Not too long afterwards, packs of mabeast emerged from the brush and rush towards the two.

"I'm not about to let you hog all the fun but just know that I'm the type to rely on others a lot more!" He yelled, cutting a mabeast's head off and impaling another that tried to pounce on him.

"Now isn't the time to debate but when this is all over, I want you to objectively look at what you just said until you wish you were dead! Ram reprimanded as she shot devastating wind magic to an approaching mabeast.

Removing the carcass off the sword, he chops a beast in half and throws his sword that tried to ambush the pink haired maid from behind. Returning the favor, she slaughters 3 wolgarms that tried to overpower him with numbers via wind slicing. Transforming both his arms now that he had no weapon to defend himself with, he grabs a mabeast that had jumped on him from the brush by the throat. An approaching wolgarms that the boy didn't notice behind him pounces and sinks its teeth in his shoulder. Shrieking in pain, he grabs the attacking wolgarm by the scruff; spins and throws it to a tree, successfully impaling it on a branch as it laid there twitching.

Crushing the other one's throat, he hears a *thud* besides him. Seeing the maid lay on the ground unconscious, he drops the wolgarm in his hand and hurries to protect her from mabeasts that try to take advantage. Wolgarms intimidatingly walked towards the two, their focus mainly on the unconscious maid. Seeing as there was no end to this and the pink hair maid's life was notably in danger, Subaru's only thought was,

'Run!'

Scooping the maid up like she was a football, he runs past the wolgarms that give chase.

"D-damn it!" He huffed, running away from the packs of wolgarms while carrying the maid.

"If you stop running we'll both be in trouble.." Ram commented weakly.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Onee-sama!" Subaru replied sarcastically.

Jumping over the brush laid a steep cliff.

"CRAP!" The teenagered exclaimed.

Sliding down the hill fast, he reaches to where the sword should've been.

'I forgot it!?' Subaru thought in despair.

Having little to no choice, he digs his claws deep into the ground.

"Damn it all!" He screamed, still sliding downhill until his hand hooked into a hanging root.

"If we both fall we're doomed.. Barusu, do you think you can lift us up?" The pink haired maid asked, regaining little of her strength.

"I'd really loved to but the mabeasts that are waiting on the other side is a big pro-!?"

The root rips under the weight of the two and they both fall to their imminent doom.

"NOO!" Subaru screamed as the ground got closer.

"El Fula!" Ram chanted as Subaru bounced from the force and safely in the ground meanwhile she was thrown up.

Turning around, he leaps up in the air and catches the falling maid bridal style.

"That was way to close...again! Seriously she had timing like Buddha…" slowly turning to check on ram on his arms, he notices her bleeding from her nose.

"God dammit!" Subaru shouted as packs of wolgarms slowly drew in closer.

"Just… Fuck!" He cursed, Holding the unconscious maid closer, he gets ready to fully transform in case he needs to escape.

*Crash!*

Something landed causing fog of debri to puff out. As the smoke cleared out, it revealed the counterpart of what Subaru was holding.

"Rem!" Subaru shouted almost in relief.

Hearing her name be called, she turns around to find the source of the sound and smiles at him. Noticing the horn protruding out of her head, he instinctively ducked down as a morning star was swung at him, causing devastating damage behind him.

"Hey, Rem! It's me, Natsuki Subaru! A completely useless bodyguard! The Roswaal mansion's most promising servant! I've always caused problems for you and Ram, but we've been friends at times, and we've fought at times-!" Interrupted by a morningstar that was aimed directly at him, he narrowly manages to dodge it.

"She's completely lost it.." Subaru concluded.

Killing a mabeasts that pounced on her from behind, The blue haired maid seemingly danced as she slaughtered one wolgarm after another. A wolgarm that was left unchecked jumps towards the maid and sinks its teeth into the maid's arm. Flipping the wolgarm by her injured arm into the floor, she beat the wolgarm to a bloody pulp. Not seeing the other dog through her blind rage, she gets bashed from the side, her strength seemed to give out. Watching with horrified eyes as the never ending pack of mabeasts were overpowering the oni, he looked down at the still unconscious maid.

'This should be the part where she wakes up, so why hasn't she woken up yet!?' He internally panicked.

Looking back up and noticing all the wolgarm's focusing on her, he takes advantage. Putting all his strength on his legs, he jumps and lands ungracefully on top of a nearby cliff on his knee. Not paying much mind, he sets the maid down and jumps back down towards all the devastation.

"Ok I can do this… I can do this… just hit her horn and everything will be fine.." He took a couple of breaths to calm himself.

"Sorry, but this for your own good, Rem!" Subaru shouted.

Hunching slightly over, his body grew bigger as skin slowly protruded a jet black fur. The boy's hands became longer and bigger as his claws became more razor-sharp, his legs horrifically cracked and popped back into place; his face elongated and a snout instead of a human nose appeared at the end of his face. Wolf ears appeared on top of his head and his eyes changed from his usual brown to a orange glowing hue, his neck grew a small mane and human teeth were replaced with sharp canines.

Finally completing his transformation he gathers as much air as he can muster and unleashes a deafening roar. The fighting stopped as all eyes were directed at this new challenger. Seeing as this new creature was a foe, they all, including Rem roared back and chaos ensued. Jumping in the fight, The black beast's main priority was

'Rem, I swear I'll save you..!"

Sprinting up close with incredible speed, The black monster tries to swipe at the oni's horn; the oni ducks entirely avoiding the attack. Grabbing the wolf's arm, the maid shoulders throws him to the ground, crushing and killing the unfortunate wolgarm that was behind the two under the heavy werewolf's weight. Lifting her foot to stomp on the monster's head, it rolls out of the way just barely avoiding having it's head crushed. Taking the opportunity, the werewolf gets back up on all fours, pounces on her to the ground and tries to hit her horn once more. Moving her head out of the way to not get hit, The wolf's attack hits just besides her head in the ground. The oni then rolls and uses both her legs to throw the beast away, sending it flying to a tree.

Coughing the air out of his lungs from the harsh impact, the werewolf jumps out of the way as a morning star that was headed for him grazed his cheek. An unnoticed wolgarm pounces on the wolf's back and ravages the same spot on the beast's wounded shoulder. Howling in pain, the werewolf sinks his claws in the wolgarm's eyes and throws it towards the morning star that was swung at them, tearing it in half. Ducking under the morningstar, three more mabeasts appeared and jumped at Rem from the front and the sides. Killing the one on her left by stomping it, the two wolgarms headbutted and sent her crashing to the ground.

Jumping towards the two wolgarms, he lands on the one in front, killing it with its weight and grabbing the other in the back of the neck. Squeezing the mabeast's neck, there was a gut-churning *Crack!*. The wolgarm fell limp, It's eyes losing whatever life it had in them. Hearing the sounds of chains clanking, The black beast turns to meet a morning star aimed at its face. Stretching his hands forwards the werewolf catches it and growls in pain as the spikes sunk into his palms, skidding backwards from the extreme force.

"Rem!" The now conscious Ram called out.

Surprised to hear her well alive sister calling out for her, she turns her attention towards her.

'This is my chance!'

"Smile Rem!" Subaru's distorted voice came out.

Grabbing the morningstar's chain, he pulls with all his strength sending the oni flying towards him.

"Because right now, I'm even more demonically inspired..!"

Without missing a beat, The werewolf forcefully grabbed her face.

"Than a real demon!" Subaru's distorted voice shouted as he slammed her head towards the ground, causing an explosion of debri and a small crater. Silence around the whole forest ensued as the smoke caused from the werewolf's immense strength cleared out and revealed an unconscious blue haired maid, her horn slowly dissipating away.

Panting and sighing in relief, Subaru reverts back into human form.

"About time you woke up!" Subaru complained, picking up the maid off the ground.

"Now isn't the time for pleasantries, we still have the wolgarms to deal with." Ram reminded the boy.

Sure enough, more mabeasts emerged from the brush, snarling as they drew nearer closer.

"Ram we've got to go! Just follow me!" Subaru ordered as he ran past her.

Having no choice but to obey, she follows suite, slicing a nearby wolgarm behind them.

Hearing the sounds of running footsteps, the blue haired maid slowly opened her eyes. Blinking several times to see better through her blurry vision, she noticed the ground move relatively fast. Why was she running? Looking up at the sky, it had already gone dark. It's already night time, what was she doing out here at this hour?

[I swear… I'll save you!]

Recalling her memory, she tries to move her tired and battered body.

"Woah, stop! If you move so much I'll accidently drop you!" A breathless familiar voice said.

"Subaru-kun…? Huh..?" Rem whispered confused, in a daze.

"Thank goodness you're awake, you really are a handful." Ram faintly smiled in relief.

A wolgarm cuts them off up ahead and tries to pounce on the defenseless maid.

"Fu-!" Ram's chant was cut off as Subaru leaped on it's back, kicking downwards and with both feet, he stomped on the wolgarm's back effectively paralyzing it.

Jumping over the body, The pink haired maid follows behind. Now taking the lead, Subaru jumps inside the brush where they can have a moment to regain energy. Setting the now conscious younger sister safely besides him, He double checks If any wolgarms followed the two.

"Why…?" A defeated voice called out besides him.

"Why didn't you just leave me alone? For you and sister to show up makes it all pointless. I have to do it myself.. so that nobody needs to get hurt anymore…." Rem shakily said, on the verge of tears.

"Sorry, but it's already too late for that. Ram I and got torn to shreds back there hell, probably even more than you." Subaru smiled, trying to put a front.

"It's… it's my fault.. So I have to take responsibility. If I don't, I cannot do anything for sister or you..." She blubbered, still not looking at him.

Quietly listening to her "sins", she continues,

"I haven't changed at all. I committed the same sin as I did back then..." Ram wept" her bangs covering her facial features as a tear escaped out of her eye and onto the ground, "Because I hesitated to extend my hand my hand to save you, you nearly died.."

Waiting patiently to let her hear his thoughts, he voices them out,

"So to atone for what you did, you got mad and decided to do everything on your own? Rem…" Subaru softly called her name.

"Y-yes..?" Rem shakily answered, lifting her head to face him as her bangs finally revealed a guilt ridden maid.

Flicking her forehead with his index finger, she gasps and reels back, grabbing her forehead.

"You're dumb aren't you? Listen, from where I come from, Three heads are better than one. Three heads thinking together is harder to break than one arrow! It means you should rely on those around you rather than carrying this burden alone!" Subaru raised a fist, reprimanding the blue haired maid.

"Subaru-kun…" Rem called out to him softly, bewildered.

Hearing the rustling increase and a cry from a wolgarm, her eyes widened.

"Tch" Subaru looked at the oncoming herd of mabeasts.

"Ram, I have a plan. I need you to carry Rem while I buy the two of you time. I'll get to you when I know you're safe." Subaru told the two as he got ready to reveal himself to the herd.

"No! If you do that, there's no way you'll survive. Please don't! If you do that, I'll…" Rem lowered her face in guilt.

Lifting her chin up with his hand to face him, he smiles and jabs at himself.

"Don't you worry about little ol me! I've got a brilliant plan that you don't know of to round up these wolgarms."

"Why..? Subaru-kun, why would you do all of this?" She pleaded.

"Heh.." Turning around to face her, he lifts rem up to place her on Ram's back as he posed for the two and smiled

"You were my first partner on my very first date" putting his hand on top of her head, he smiles warmly, "I wouldn't be so heartless to desert you"

Staring at the boy in awe, he smirks and turns towards the mabeasts.

"All right, please take care of Rem for me Ones-sama!" Subaru ran to face the dogs.

"I'll be praying for our safe reunion, Barusu." She ran with Rem in the opposite direction.

Running towards where the shaman is, he smirks.

"Just you and me now!" Subaru confronted the mabeast as he transformed along with shaman.

Snarling in response, the small puppy was no longer so small as it grew as tall as the trees and more wolgarm like. What faced him was a giant wolgarm beast king, sharp teeth at the ready as ulgarms surrounded this lone creature. Looking back and watching the boy's standoff with the creature with horrified eyes she fretted

"Sister! Subaru-kun is… Subaru-kun is..!"

"Don't look back, Rem. Don't let Barusu's sacrifice be for nothing." She huffed, slowly getting closer to the village.

Not wanting to stand by and watch this innocent boy get eaten alive, she cried,

"No sissy please!"

Shocked to hear her call out to her in that manner, she falls over. Quickly facing towards the werewolf as the monster towered over him and mabeast drew closer with hungry eyes.

"Subaru-kun!" Rem shouts his name in terror and sadness as she tries to reach for him.

Four ulgarms approached first, trying to attack on each side. Black appendages that the black monster was only able to see slapped one away, crushed the other with a balled fist, threw one away to a tree, and squeezed the life out of the other.

Roaring in displeasure, The shaman swipes at the wolf. Ducking under the attack, it pounces on the king's neck putting his hands on the top and bottom jaw, forcing it's mouth to open unnaturally wide. Shaking side to side to dismount the pest, The jet black beast's hand slipped from the bottom jaw. No longer feeling any restrictions from closing its jaws, it bites down on the wolf's hand, almost severing it in half. Howling in pain, with the werewolf's free hand it pierces through the mabeast's eye gouging it right off its socket. Opening its mouth to roar in pain, the werewolf summons two unseen hands to substitute opening the king's mouth. Jumping on the shaman's rear end, He grabs it's tail and mustering all his strength, the wolf separates the tail off from the host's body.

Leaping back towards the shaman's neck with it's tail in hand, it forcibly shoves the tail down it's throat causing it to choke. Due to nerves, the tail waves and spirals around erratically causing it to shred the king's throat from the inside due to it's mace-like tail. Putting its hands back to the mabeast's mouth and with the unseen hands amplifying his strength, the king's jaws open even more unnaturally.

"RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAGHHHGGHHH" *CRACK!*

The sound of its mouth dislocating reverberated throughout the forest as it's body crashed down, causing a fog of dust and debri. Within that fog of dust were glowing orange eyes, as the dust cleared up, The werewolf put a foot on the fallen king's head and unleashed a roar of triumph and dominance, it's figure illuminated under the waning crescent moon. Whimpering and slowly backing away from the creature, some mabeast fled with their tails tucked between their legs and others stood their ground to fight for the throne as the next mabeast king. Huffing and puffing in fatigue, the jet black monster gets in a predatory stance.

"Ul Goa!" A familiar voice chanted as fire reigned down on the mabeast.

Already knowing who it was, Subaru reverts back to himself, the same disgusting procedure of bones breaking to fit a human body.

"It would se~em like you've already taken care of the problem!" Roswaal cheerfully said

"You're way too late for the party…. Again…." Subaru whispered the last part.

Roswaal chuckled, "Emilia-sama drove it in quite thoroughly in the village."

The magic user intertwined his fingers and clenched his cheeks.

"Even if it's rash or wreckless, he'll do something dangerous if he's cornered, so don't lose sight of him from above! So she sa~id" Roswaal said in a mocking Emilia voice.

"Roswaal-sama" Ram shouted as she limped with her sister towards the lord

"I'm sorry sorry to cause so much trouble for you." She bowed while holding her sister.

"Oh, not at all. In fact, you both did fine work in my absence. I will certainly show my gratitude for what you have done for me. Y~ou have my word." The clown smiled gratefully at the bodyguard.

"Subaru-kun!" She called out to the boy as she jumped on top of him causing the both to tumble to the ground.

"Hey, Rem that hurts! I'm kinda hurt all over!" Subaru wheezed out as he was getting crushed under the weight of the maid.

"You're alive… you stayed alive… Subaru-kun! Subaru-kun! Subaru-kun!" Rem whined and cried to his chest, hugging him desperately.

"Not this… again…" Subaru managed to say as his tired eyes rolled in the back of his head…..

Darkness…

*The Mansion*

Slowly waking up, he was wearing robes instead of his iconic tracksuit, biting his lips, he almost fell into despair.

'Did I… did I fai-'

"Are you awake?" A female voice interrupted the teenager's thoughts.

Turning towards the source of the voice, he finds a blue haired maid sitting besides him holding his hand.

"Did I do this? Like, just grabbed on and never let go?" Subaru nervously chuckled as he lifted both their hands.

"No… I umm… well.. it was me…. You looked like you were in pain while you slept so I-"

"So you held my hand?" Subaru interjected

"I don't know what to do at times like these so I do what would make me the happiest if I were in your place…" She looked away.

"So umm… were all my curses removed?" Subaru asked.

"Yes, Roswaal-sama took care of all the mabeast so there is no chance that the curse will activate." Rem replied.

Sighing in relief that his life was no longer in danger, the maid bows at him.

"I'm sorry, Subaru." Rem apologizes.

"Hey, come on now… lift your head, Rem. There's nothing wrong with me." Subaru tries to reassure her.

She didn't raise her hair once, letting Subaru to just stare at her with a smile.

"Despite looking so calm and collected, you aren't exactly both of those things huh?" The teenager chuckled.

"I do realize that I am a powerless and incompetent demon clan dropout. So no matter what I do, I can never, ever match my sister. I'm only her replacement, and one far inferior to her. Good for nothing.." she berated herself, tearing up as she stared at the floor.

"Why was I the one to keep my horn? Why couldn't sister be the one to keep her horn? Why was she born with only one horn? Why did we have to be twins?" Rem sniffled and gasped from the sadness.

"I'm sorry.. That was a strange thing for me to say. Please forget it." She wiped her tears away while looking away from the boy.

"Why do you put Ram on such a high pedestal? I don't think Ram's situation would be any better if she were in your position. Ram is weaker than you, she can't cook, she slacks off on the job in front of us, she says mean things…"

"Y-You're wrong! Sister's true self is more… if she had her horn, you wouldn't say…" Rem interjected, trying to defend her sister's honor.

"But I don't know that Ram, Rem. You're probably the only one that cares whether she has a horn or not. What Ram doesn't have, you do. And you have to accept that." Subaru interjected back as he explained himself.

"You're kind, you're hardworking, you always do your best, and your chest is way bigger than hers!" Subaru complemented her, earning a cute pout from the last comment.

"If you hadn't saved me from those packs of dogs, I wouldn't be here talking to you. Can't you see, Rem? I was saved because YOU were there. And as you can see I'm alive. Not only because of your sister, but because of you." Subaru stood up out of his bed and held Rem's hand while smiling at her.

"My true sister could have done much more..." Rem looked away.

"Maybe that could have been the case, But the one who was there for me was you." He faintly smiled.

Rem's eyes widened as she stared up at him while he held her hand with both of his.

"I'm glad you were there. From the bottoms of my heart, thank you, Rem." He faintly formed a toothy smile.

"I… I told you that I'm only my sister's replacement… " She kept undermining herself.

"Please don't define yourself that way, It's too sad. Of course, I haven't heard the details of how exactly she lost her horn, and I won't ask, so I guess i'll just never know. And since I don't know, I get to talk as if I know all about it." He gave Rem's hand a soft squeeze.

Subaru tapped his forehead with his finger and smiled at the standing maid.

"All you have to do is be the horn Ram doesn't have. You two can be a demon together."

'C'mon just a bit more… I'll show you how truly awesome you really are, Rem!'

Rem looked down in sadness.

"Also, you call yourself a replacement, but no one could ever truly replace you."

"B-but" Her voice was weak, Rem tried to argue.

"Where I come from, there's a saying, 'Demons laugh when you talk about next year.' So… Laugh, Rem." Subaru encouraged her, "Wipe off the sad face and laugh. Laugh while we can still talk about the future! Let's talk while looking forward to make up for all the time you've wasted looking back. We can start off by talking about tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow.?" She asked.

"Yep, tomorrow! You can say anything, like… umm.. Whether you'll make a Japanese- or Western-style breakfast tomorrow, or whether you'll put on your right or left shoe first. It can be something silly like that. No matter how silly it is, you can talk about a tomorrow because YOU have a tomorrow. How about it, Rem?"

"I am… very weak. So I'm sure I'll end up leaning on you." Rem looked at him in guilt.

"And what's so wrong with that?" Subaru asked, surprising the maid.

"Despite the show I displayed earlier, I'm still weak, stupid, scary-looking, and dense. But I still live my life expecting others to take care of things for me." He rubbed the back of his head as he smiled sheepishly.

"We can lean on each other as we move forward towards the future. Let's laugh and talk about tomorrow with our arms around each other's shoulders. Heh, It's always been my dream to talk about next year with a demon while we bAoth laugh!" Subaru smiled charmingly.

The wind blew around them as Rem's smile widened beautifully and tears of happiness came out of her eyes.

"You really are demonically inspired." Rem chuckled through her happy tears.

"Aren't I always?" Subaru joked as he charmingly smiled, winking.

Surprising the maid with a hug, she nestles in the boy's neck, soaking her tears in the boy's robes.

'I finally got you back… and this time… I won't lose you again..!' Subaru determinedly thought as the tears he held back finally broke loose.

Chapter 5 is finally done and that concludes the second Arc! What are your thoughts? Did you like it? Hate it? Voice your thoughts on the reviews! If you have any questions for me, just ask and I'll answer them on my next chapter so until then… see ya!