Something to note is that I have not read the light novels or any of the IF stories. For the pendant mentioned... I honestly just looked at a picture from the Greed IF of Subaru wearing it and decided it'd be good plot device material.

"Subaru-kun? It's time to wake up," was the first thing Subaru heard as he reluctantly began to awaken.

"Not now, Ram. Five more minutes," he groaned out, not being able to initially register that the pink-haired maid would never refer to him in such a way.

"Hmph. Thinking I'm wound me Subaru-kun," was the next thing the voice said, in a faux-injured way.

Brow furrowed, Subaru slowly opened his eyes, and saw who it was that woke him. "Echidna?" he intoned, as her face and hair came to view.

"Do you not remember, Subaru-kun? How you came to me last night?" Came to her? What was she talking abo-

It was then that the memories came rushing back to him.

Subaru couldn't sleep.

He didn't know why he couldn't sleep. He just couldn't. Well, he did know, if he was being honest. It was, everything, really. Rem's coma, no-one remembering her, the Royal Selection and… Emilia. It wasn't the first time the idea that she'd never see him as anything more than a friend entered his mind. He doubted it'd be the last time either.

As he tossed and turned once more, his eyes caught a sudden glint on the desk next to his bed. A red crystal in a rectangular shape, attached to a necklace. He remembered how he acquired it. Echidna, the Witch of Greed, the dead Witch of Greed, had given it to him after their meeting in the Sanctuary. Said if he ever wanted to know something, or make a deal, he'd just have to put it on.

For an unknown amount of time, he just stared at it. Maybe… no, that was stupid. But… he couldn't talk to Emilia or Ram about it, and he didn't want to wake them up anyway. It's not like she needed to sleep, being dead and all. And, he could at least be assured she wouldn't tell anyone else about his problems.

'... Am I really doing this?' Subaru asked himself. Literally anyone would be telling him that using a crystal given to him by a Witch to go meet a Witch, not to make a deal, but because he couldn't sleep, and with no back up or anyone aware of it, was stupid at best, suicidal at worst. But… she'd seemed nice enough when he talked to her. And, she said she didn't get many visitors, so Echidna might even appreciate him stopping by just to talk.

"... Fuck it." He was going to talk to Echidna. He got up from the bed, walked over to the desk, and grabbed the necklace. For a few moments, he caressed the crimson crystal. Subaru briefly wondered how no one had noticed him bringing a crystal necklace back to the mansion and just leaving it on his desk. Echidna had probably used some sort of spell to make people ignore it.

Realizing he was just stalling, Subaru took a deep breath, and put the necklace on. His surroundings shifted from his bedroom in the Roswall Mansion, to the grass hills of the Sanctuary.

Echidna was sipping her tea… with a plushie of Subaru on the table. After finishing her sip, she playfully pressed an empty teacup against its mouth. "The tea is wonderful, Echidna-chan!" she cooed out of the side of her mouth in a voice close to Subarus.

"Why, thank you, Subaru-koi! I made it just for you!" she responded to the plushie, giggling with a blush at the end. Good thing he wasn't here right now, it would be so embarrassing if he caught her doing this. Right as that train of thought finished, she saw Subaru appear a few dozen feet away from the tea table. Echidna froze up for a split second, before grabbing the plushie and throwing it under the table.

Why was he here? Was there something he needed to know, a deal he wanted to make with her? She briefly toyed with the idea of him just wanting to spend some time with her, but that was too optimistic. She then noticed something. 'Is Subaru-koi… in his pajamas?' Upon looking again, she received confirmation, that yes, Subaru had come here for whatever he needed, in his pajamas.

He then turned around, and Echidna put her best "Greeting" face on. "I wasn't expecting you to return so soon, Subaru-ko-kun," she told him, barely correcting herself at the end. He probably wouldn't be very comfortable with her calling him Subaru-koi… yet. As he turned around to face her, she noticed slight bags underneath his eyes. Had he just Returned by Death? Is that why he was here?

"Hey, Echidna-san," Subaru-koi greeted her, a slightly tired tone to his voice.

"So, Subaru-kun, what knowledge do you seek? What secrets do you desire? What deals are you wanting to make?" the Witch of Greed inquired, curious as to what he wanted.

"I… couldn't sleep," he answered, trailing off to a whisper at the end.

"...Heh?" Echidna intoned, confused. "Come again?"

"I… I couldn't sleep," Subaru repeated, more audible this time. "There were just a lot of things on my mind, and I… didn't want to wake up Emilia or Ram," he elaborated. Echidna was for once glad that he was looking at the floor instead of her, that way he couldn't see the scowl on her face at the mention of the half-elf. "So, I was wondering if I could… talk to you about it?" Subaru continued.

Outwardly, Echidna appeared to be considering her answer to that. Her mind, however, was a different story. 'Subaru-koi wants to talk to me! We can spend time together, which is the predecessor to wondrous things! We can talk about our lives, our feelings,' she thought with joy. 'Maybe we can even… gaze into each other's eyes or... hold hands.' Echidna was barely able to keep her face from going red at the thought of the last thing and its sheer intimacy.

"Well, I can't really say no to that, Subaru-kun. My door, or, I guess portal would be a more appropriate term, is always open to you. And, by the way, feel free to call me Echidna-chan," Echidna told him, giving a smile at the end. Subaru gave a tired one back, not noticing the way his heart just about skipped a beat at the sight.

"Thanks, Echidna-san… er, Echidna-chan," Subaru responded as he made his way to the familiar table, having to correct himself. To his surprise, Echidna got up from her chair to move his seat out for him.

Seeing the questioning look on his face, Echidna answered the unspoken question. "What kind of hostess would I be if I didn't extend such basic courtesies?" she explained as Subaru sat down. Echidna continued as she pushed the chair back in. "I'm only being proper. Truthfully the only reason I didn't do this last time is because I wasn't sure if you were going to sit down," she said, briefly rubbing his shoulders before moving back to her own seat.

"Well, thanks anyway," Subaru said as he lifted a teacup, only to realize it was empty. As he stared down, Echidna laughed nervously.

"I wasn't expecting you to come over, so I didn't have any tea ready," she explained, blushing from embarrassment. "If you want, I can make some," the Witch offered, fully expecting him to decline given how he reacted the last time.

However, it appeared Subaru had made it his mission to surprise her today. "You know what? Sure. Some tea might do me some good," he told Echidna, rubbing his temples.

"Well, in that case, you might want to look away while I get it ready," she said as she got up. Subaru, remembering what she said it was made from, wisely decided to follow her suggestion. Of course, he could still hear her.

"Hnnggg, come on," drip, drip "Just a little more, aaannndddd there!" Echidna turned around to face him. "It's ready! You can look now, Subaru-kun!" Subaru looked back at her, and saw Echidna holding a full teacup, and a bit sweaty. "Here you go, fresh from Echidna-chan!"

Subaru took the teacup and sipped, figuring he'd make it last longer this time. His brow furrowed in slight confusion. "Something wrong?" Echidna asked, seeing his confusion.

"It… tastes better than last time," Subaru explained. "Like, a lot better."

"Oh. Well, that's… probably just because it's fresh!" she explained, slightly blushing from the compliment to her tea making skills. "So, what was keeping you up at night, Subaru-kun?"

"It's just… everything, really. There's the Royal Selection, the whole thing with Rem," seeing the confusion on Echidna's face at the mention of Rem, Subaru groaned. "Long story short, she's a girl in love with me who had her existence erased from everyone's memories but mine for some reason which I'm still trying to figure out," he explained.

"Oh. Well, what was she like?" Echidna asked, inwardly seething as she realized she had more competition besides those half-elf whores. No matter, she'd still beat them to Subaru-koi, no matter how much of a headstart they had! She had the power of tea with her!

"She's Ram's sister. She was polite, and she always believed in me, even when I didn't believe in myself. She would always stick with me, no matter what, and she had blue hair," Subaru told Echidna, a fond smile on his face. Echidna cursed in her mind as she realized the progress this 'Rem' had made on Subaru-koi. But then she noticed something. A slight look of hesitation on his face. As if there was something he'd left out. Something important.

"She sounds very nice, Subaru-kun. Though, I can't help but feel you left something out," she voiced, noticing him tense up at her last words, taking a sip of tea in an attempt to conceal it. Echidna briefly giggled, putting her hand to her mouth. "You can tell me, Subaru-kun! It's not like I can tattle," she assured him, greedily digging for what it was about Rem he didn't tell her, that it looked like he wanted to forget.

Seeing no way out of it, Subaru sighed in resignation. "Well, you know about Return by Death, right? And the loops?" he affirmed, Echidna nodding in answer. "Well, the first couple of loops involving Rem, we… didn't have the best relationship," he confessed.

"Oh, Subaru-kun. It couldn't have been that bad. It's not like she could smell Satella on you or something like… that," Echidna trailed off near the end, as she noticed Subaru wince. "...She could, couldn't she?" Echidna said, Subaru nodding as his hand, slightly shaking, raised itself for another sip. "Subaru-kun… did… did Rem?" Kill you? was the unsaid question.

Subaru, face beginning to go pale, breath quickening, uttered out a single word. "Yes." He then continued explaining, Echidna beginning to look… concerned for him. "Twice, actually. First time it was in my sleep. Second time, she obliterated half of my body before taking my head," as he finished his explanation, tears had begun forming at the corners of his eyes. Echidna had moved her chair next to him, in case he needed an… emergency lap pillow. She realized that was the right call as Subaru's body began to shake. She slowly moved her hands towards him.

"Subaru-kun," she said softly. "I'm going to touch you so I can get you onto my lap pillow. Okay?" Subaru nodded slowly. Echidna grabbed his head, and then began slowly moving it towards her lap. When he was laying down, Subaru stopped holding back. Tears began streaming down his face as the memories came flooding back to him. Rem's coldness, how she tortured him, no matter how many times he begged, no matter how much he said he knew nothing about the Witch Cult.

Echidna had begun doing her best to comfort him, softly petting his head. "It's okay to cry, Subaru-kun. Let it all out," she whispered to him. In her head, Echidna was already plotting revenge on the Oni wench for making Subaru-koi suffer like she did. It was really a testament to just how wonderful her Subaru-koi is that he was willing to even consider letting her near him after what she did.

She wouldn't be able to kill her, at least not yet. Subaru would realize who did it, and that'd make him hate her. But Echidna could make her suffer in other ways; mainly, getting Subaru-koi before she could. And as Rem was currently in no state to get closer to him, she already had an advantage. Then, something occurred to her.

"What about Ram? What did she do in those loops?" Echidna asked Subaru once he had calmed down a little, curious as to what the pinkette thought of her sister's actions.

"I-in the first one, I don't think she noticed anything. Neither in the second one. I don't think she was able to smell Satella on me, or not as well as Rem could," Subaru told Echidna. "Though, that's not it," he continued, to Echidna's confusion. He said Rem had killed him twice.

Then it hit her. Rem had killed him twice. How many times had she attacked him?

Subaru appeared to notice her epiphany, as he nodded in seeming confirmation. "The second loop Rem attacked me openly, Ram realized what was going on. When she reached me and Rem, she wasn't able to stop her. She cut my throat open before Rem could torture me. I heard Rem tell her off for being 'too kind,' so I think it was supposed to be a mercy kill," he explained, giving a hiccup every now and then, tears still flowing down his face.

Echidna considered his words, coming to the decision that she couldn't really expect Ram to just fight her sister. She would be spared, Echidna decided.

Oblivious to Echidna's musings of utterly destroying Rem and sparing ram, Subaru layed on her lap in silence, enjoying the softness as his skin regained color and his breath returned to normal. "E-echidna-chan?" he asked her, voice quivering.

"Hmm?" she responded, feeling a bit of hope at the idea of what she thought he was going to ask her.

"C-can I sleep here? On your lap, I mean?" he timidly asked her, fearing and even expecting rejection.

"Sure, Subaru-kun. You're welcome here, and on my lap, anytime. When do you want me to wake you up?" she answered happily and then asked.

"In a few yawn hours," Subaru answered, as physical and emotional exhaustion overwhelmed him.

"Okay then, Subaru-kun. I'll make sure to do that. You get your rest until then," she told him.

"Thank yawn you, Echidna-chan," said Subaru, as he began drifting off. "You know, you're a lot nicer than I generally thought a witch would be," were his last words before he began snoring, fast asleep.

As Subaru slumbered, Echidna began pondering on her discoveries this night. This Rem was an unexpected rival for Subaru-koi's heart, it appeared. Despite her fucking murdering him, the wench, it appeared he had largely forgiven her, if his seeming fondness was any indication. No matter, that wouldn't stop Echidna from destroying her. Ram was of no concern, she hadn't displayed any form of romantic feelings for him, and in the event she did… well, it wouldn't do any harm to get her and Subaru-koi a little pet.

A smile came to Echidna's lips at the thought. Yes, that could work. While she wanted Subaru to belong to her, it wouldn't be a problem if they shared a pet.

Noticing the look of realization on his face, Echidna smiled. "Do you remember now, Subaru-kun?" she rhetorically questioned him, answered by a nod.

"I… I shouldn't have told you the stuff about Rem," Subaru said.

"Eh? Why not, Subaru-kun? It's not like anyone else knows," Echidna asked inquisitively, tilting her head in slight confusion.

"It… it wasn't mine to tell people about," Subaru answered, guilt beginning to worm it's way into him, viewing what he had done as, in a cosmic sort of way, a betrayal of Rem's trust.

"Why?"

"W-why?" Subaru asked, brow furrowing. "What do you mean by 'why'?"

"Why isn't it yours to tell people about? You're the one she killed twice over, you're the person affected the most by what she did. Until last night, you were the only one who even knew it'd happened. If anything, I'd say you're the only one who has a right to tell people about what Rem did to you," Echidna asserted, nothing but earnest intent to reassure Subaru in her tone.

Subaru opened his mouth to retort… only for no response to come out. She… was right, he realized. He was the only person with a right to tell others about it, who could remember it. It was his decision to do that, and he had decided to tell Echidna about Rem's twice murder of him. It was… actually, somewhat liberating. He didn't have to live anymore, knowing he would be the only person to ever know of Rem's actions in those loops.

"You… you're right, Echidna-chan. Sorry, about the outburst. I… just hadn't looked at it like that before. T-thanks for listening to me ramble last night. I wouldn't mind doing this again," he apologized, before blushing as he realized just what he had said at the very end. Echidna blushed at his last sentence as well, as hope stirred up in her chest.

"R-really? Do… do you mean that, Subaru-kun?" she asked him, a glimmer of excitement in her eyes.

"...Yeah. Yeah, I do mean that. Every night, I'll come over here to talk to you," Subaru told her, a smile on his face. "I-if you're okay with that, I mean!" he added, not wanting Echidna to feel like he was forcing this on her.

"I-I'd really appreciate that, Subaru-kun. And, before you start panicking about someone realizing you're not in your room, it's a few minutes before you'd normally get up in the mansion. No-one will suspect a thing," Echidna reassured him.

"Thanks. I didn't think about that. Yeah, I wouldn't want anyone to know about me doing something like this. I'd be in big trouble," Subaru thanked her, getting up from her lap after he finished the sentence... and mustering the will to leave her soft embrace.

"Oh, and, one more thing Subaru-kun!"

"Yeah, Echidna-chan?"

"Can I," Echidna blushed, playing with her fingers "can I... have something to remember you by? To remind me of you, when you're not here?"

"Oh, uh," Subaru sputtered out, surprised, yet not necessarily displeased by her request. It was... actually rather flattering that she'd want that. "Um, sure, Echidna-chan. What do you want?"

"Not hair, it's only nice to feel when I'm stroking it on your head," she told him first, a contemplating look on her face. "Maybe, your sweat?" she questioned somewhat nervously, blush even more evident on her face.

"Uh, sure. Where do you want me to... you know," Subaru responded. He could see her logic, though it was still a somewhat odd request.

"Just work some up, and then get it on this handkerchief," she said, pulling said napkin out. As Subaru began to do his morning workout (how else would he work up a sweat?) he failed to notice Echidna gazing, staring, really, at his body, a dreamy gleam in her eyes. Especially when he bent over to toe touch, showing off his ass to her perverted eyes. Echidna bit her lip at the sight of Subaru's tight, round bottom popping out. As someone from his world might have said, Echidna thought Subaru had cake.

"Echidna-chan?" Subaru asked her, knocking Echidna out of her lustful fantasies. "I think I'm ready,"

'Oh, I know I'm ready,' "That's great, Subaru-kun. Just put it on here, and we'll be done," Echidna instructed, handing the handkerchief to him. Subaru rubbed his sweat onto it, unconsciously making sure to get as much of it as possible, before handing it back to Echidna. "Thanks, Subaru-kun."

"No problem, Echidna-chan. Well, I guess I have to go now. Don't want Ram or Emilia to see nobody in my room," Subaru responded.

"Remember, all you have to do is put the pendant on, and you'll be here," Echidna reminded him. "I… guess I'll see you tonight, Subaru-kun."

"I'll see you tonight, Echidna-chan," he responded, before he removed the pendant, reappearing in his bedroom. After setting the pendant down, Subaru began getting ready, feeling well-rested for the first time in days. As he was getting his tracksuit on, he was startled by a voice.

"You're usually not this awake, Barusu," Ram said, Subaru having turned around to face her, seeing a slightly questioning look in her eye.

"I guess I just slept well last night," he answered a smile on his face.

After Subaru left, Echidna gazed at the sweat-Subaru's sweat-soaked handkerchief for a moment, before putting it up to her nose, and giving a deep sniff. As she inhaled, a large blush came to her cheeks, and her nipples grew hard, now sticking out in her black dress.

"Hmph. Such a sniff... desirable scent," she moaned out, before seeking to stuff her nose as full of Subaru's scent as she could.

So, what did you think? And before any of you start talking about the Rem parts... to be completely honest, I'm not that big a fan of her. And, while I can believe Subaru putting her murder of him behind, I can't imagine that he'd be ok with it suddenly being brought up. He fucking died, it makes sense that bringing those memories up would trigger something.