[AN: This is Subaru's life before being sent to Re:Zero to make it clear. It's a short chapter but pays close attention to some details as they will become essential later. I hope you enjoy this different origin Subaru could've had. :)
Subaru Natsuki was around ten years old when his life changed forever in a single day.
"Mom, Dad?" Subaru cried out, seeing the unresponsive bodies of his parents. He couldn't accept they were dead.
Subaru heard loud banging noise, like a hammer banging onto metal.
What is going on? What is happening?
Subaru looked at his parents again, blood flowing from their bodies, and understood they were dead. The person who killed him was most likely the source of the banging noise.
I must stop this. Why did this have to happen?
Subaru grabbed a kitchen knife and strolled toward where he heard the banging sound. He spotted a man much more significant than him with a hammer, attempting to break into a safe.
Why? Why did he have to kill my parents? WHY
Subaru slowly crept behind the man as the loud hammer banging made it easy for the young boy to sneak behind him.
You will pay for what you did to my parents.
You evil scum.
Subaru swung the kitchen knife with force toward the masked man's neck. The man figured out what had happened, but it was too late. He died moments after the wound was inflicted.
Subaru looked around him, the man's blood dripping on the floor. He was the only one left alive. Subaru quickly grabbed his parent's phone and called the police. When they arrived, they were horrified at the scene. Robberies were very rare in Japan, let alone three deaths. Subaru was informed of one thing, the name of the person who took the lives of his parents. Kenzo Nakamura.
After that, Subaru was placed in foster care. His foster parents were absent. They did not abuse or mistreat Subaru but neglected him. Subaru quickly learned survival and had instincts no child his age should have. Instincts born from despair.
Five years pass. Subaru was now fifteen years of age. Five years have passed since the event that changed him forever transpired. Subaru was not interested in going to school and hated his new foster parents. They forced him to change his last name, his new foster parent's family we're an established Japanese family, and they refused Subaru's pleas to let him keep the name his late parents gave him. His new name was Subaru Tanaka.
Subaru didn't have it all bad, however. He was doing fine in school and had friends and even a girlfriend. Many of his friends and his girlfriend partied and encouraged Subaru to join them. Due to Subaru's trauma, he formed multiple personalities, was able to navigate social interactions like playing a game of chess, and due to this, was well-liked by everyone he met. To Subaru, however, this was all an act, an act he didn't understand why he was doing.
One day Subaru finally decided to see why his friends enjoyed partying. He went to a small house party and quickly realized what was happening. He knew that drinking was a regular activity while partying, but what his friends and, more importantly, his girlfriend were doing looked more like cocaine. Subaru now attends a more high-end wealthy school that his foster parents enrolled him in, so he was surprised to see such a harsh drug being used.
Subaru watched as his friends and girlfriend, the only person keeping him sane after he went through, used straws to snort the cocaine.
This just seems repulsive. Not to mention stupid.
His girlfriend was the first to start acting strange, however. Subaru knew what cocaine was and its effects on a person, but he watched as Sara began to show the impact of…
No, it can't be.
Subaru paid close attention to the other and noticed the effects. This way, not any stimulant, which more than likely meant.
This cocaine is laced. The question is, what is it laced with? If I called the cops and the cocaine was laced with a non-lethal substance, they would get arrested. But if I don't, then…
Subaru continued to watch how his friends would act. If he felt their lives were in danger, he would call for help only then.
His girlfriend walked up to him, blood dripping down her nose, "Are you sure you don't want some?" she asked, holding the bag of cocaine.
Weird how I never noticed this side to any of them.
Subaru frowned, "I'm good."
The party continued, and Subaru relaxed, realizing that if it was laced with a lethal substance, he already would've seen the effects. Subaru decided to leave, hating seeing the people he thought to be his friends and girlfriend behave so… weakly.
The following morning police were outside Subaru's foster parent's door.
What the hell? Did something happen last night?
He could hear a voice asking, "We need to speak with Subaru now. We have questions he needs to answer."
Subaru later discovered that his two friends and the girl he loved died that night. His only guess was that they took a higher dose when he left. He was the only one to blame. He told the police that it was his fault and that the deaths wouldn't have occurred if he had stayed to monitor them. The police, however, thought Subaru was the one that sold them the drugs and took Subaru's statement as an admission of guilt.
Subaru was put into jail and sentenced to ten-years for manslaughter.
I am a living curse. Everything I care about dies, and I can never do anything to prevent it. This world rejects me, and I leave it.
Subaru spent the majority of his time in jail getting more brilliant. He learned to fight and used his social skills to befriend many who typically use a boy his age as a punching bag. He also spent his time getting more potent. Working out and talking with his fellow inmates was the only thing he could do.
This may be where I belong. A jail filled with nothing but despair.
My parents are dead due to my failure to protect them.
My friends and girlfriend died due to me being a fool.
Everybody I've ever cared about is dead. And I only have myself to blame.
Subaru met one man within the cell, a member of Yamaguchi-Gumi. The most powerful gang in Japan. The man knew he would never get out of his cell. But he saw the potential within Subaru and taught him everything he could. Subaru learned how to fight and what to do when you are against an opponent you cannot beat. The man also taught him how to use his understanding of people and his ability to manipulate social interaction to his benefit to either find out information or to use people to do his bidding. Subaru didn't like the prospect of his mentor's goals teaching him this knowledge but also knew it would be helpful to understand regardless of how he may use it when he got out of that jail.
But even if I get out, nothing will change.
Subaru never spoke about his real feelings to anybody, but he decided today to ask the man who was his mentor, yet still has not told him his name, what he should do about his situation.
He approached his mentor, "I need you to teach me something."
The man laughed, "That's a first. You've never asked me to teach you anything, specific boy. What do you want to know?"
Subaru gulped, "All throughout my life, everybody I cared about died due to my weakness or foolishness. I don't know how to continue if that never stops happening."
The man looked angry at the boy for a moment before responding, "This world is cruel, but blaming yourself for everything only makes you a coward. Afraid of the truth of the nature of humanity and the world. If you are afraid that those you care for will die, become a man who won't allow such things to occur. If you think you are cursed, you are nothing more than a stupid brat trying to escape reality."
Subaru nodded.
He's right. All I have been doing is trying to escape reality. I have eight more years in this jail until I'm free. I'll be twenty-five years old. I will not waste the remaining of my life by then.
While Subaru thought he suddenly felt a bit tired, he didn't know why as he wasn't tired early. He couldn't stop himself from closing his eyes, and when he woke up, he saw what he couldn't comprehend.
Where am I?
Feel free to leave any comments or feedback. Any critiques or compliments are welcomed.