Hey y'all: Fanta here! Once again, I have created another story for all of you good folks in the Re: Zero Family Community~ I might be getting a bit ahead of myself but I have too many ideas that are flowing inside of my brain, and I wish to take advantage of all of 'em~ Heh. Thanks for listening to my nonsense! Anyhow, here's the next chapter for all of you good guys, gals, nonbinary pals: and of course, I'll talk more in Fantasinia Theater at the end~.

-Contra Spem Spero-

Chapter 1. Scorpio IF (Shaula Rank C - I Love You)

Or, in which Subaru's isekai adventure didn't spawn him in the capital but spawned him at The Pleiades Tower; things escalated from there.

"That scent, is this... Master...!? ... He's here! Finally! I got to find him, ASAP!"

Subaru Natsuki, a useless NEET teenager that you could find anywhere in Japan, always thought of being suddenly Isekai'd as a dream come true, where he could one day escape the shadow of his great father and establish himself as a person who is lovable, useful, and trusted by everyone, i.e., a person that is better than his useless self in every possible way.

He was wrong... Or at least, his summoning location was RNG-based and his luck just sucked.

"Oh my god, it is so hot!" Subaru spread his arms out and screamed with as much strength it could muster despite it being parched beyond belief. Sand, rocks, a tower in the distance, and the shining sun that was burning his skin were the only things in his line of sight; Subaru had no idea how he even got here, really... he just closed his eyes, and once he opened 'em, Subaru found himself in a desert. "Isn't an Isekai Summoning suppose to have the protagonist summoned in front of a cute girl or in a medieval city or something other than this!?"

He didn't buy any drinks on his trip to the convenience store; and he positively, and absolutely hates himself for it. Despite the fact that he would've to be a god of foresight to even consider buying drinks due to the fact that he might suddenly find himself in a desert.

'Gah... No use wasting time in thinking useless thoughts... Got to figure out a way to come out of this alive; and figure out why my sudden headaches are gone...' Those headaches were, in truth, sudden bright flashes as he was walking towards that tower in the distance in hopes of finding some form of civilization that then morphed into an instantaneous pain before Subaru swore he found himself back to where he started. 'Don't think about it too much, Subaru. I'm probably making great progress, but the desert is so vast that it is tricking my brain or something...'

He counted this happening, i.e., sudden episodes of experiencing a bright light accomplained by pain and finding himself losing progress by finding himself at where he swore, at least ten times; if only his environment was more vibrant and unique; Subaru might have picked up the temporal shenanigans that were happening to him, but with the desert and intense heat, Subaru, honestly, thought he was suffering from heat stroke and that the bland and monotonous environment around him was starting to get to his head.

He couldn't have known that the Guardian of the Watch Tower was an effective killing machine that sniped at spots that induce instantaneous death for most people that aren't cheating via Divine Blessing or Sin Authorities; which usually allowed Shaula to instantly kill Subaru with her Hell Snipe in one minute, twenty seconds, and 90 milliseconds after he had been summoned, about seventeen times, to be exact.

Much to a certain witch's anger.

He also couldn't have realized that the witch scent, after having been killed in such quick succession, had gotten so strong that Shaula's nose picked up a weak but ever so familiar scent that she missed so much, that caused her to leave her position and head towards the desert in hopes of finding the person who held the scent of her master.

Subaru, or this Subaru who had yet to experience a painful death that made him very familiar and fearful of death or become well-versed with this brand new world, could never hope to figure out anything.

The only thing he knew was that the sun was hot and that there is a tower in the distance; for the former, he'd chosen to cover his head with his tracksuit jacket, to shield him from the heat; for the latter, he'd chosen to walk towards that tower in hopes of finding some cover or an oasis of some kind.

"I have to keep hope! Surely, a cute girl is waiting for me at a nearby oasis! Or I'll get magically teleported somewhere safe! I know it! Protaginst Subaru Natsuki will have his amazing isekai adventure, one way or another!"

Scorpio IF START!

The context for this Support

In one world line, Subaru Natsuki would've manifested at the Captial through the will of something or someone, and find himself in a situation that causes him to die (x2) to save the life of an amethyst-eyed, silver-haired Half-Elf that he didn't even know the name of. But, in this world line, a Scorpion's hope was answered ahead of the predestined time, and the boy was summoned to the tower - sadly, the boy's luck caused him to spawn outside of the tower itself, and had him die quite a few times to the harsh desert and Mabeasts but this had the unintentional benefit of making Subaru sink of the Witch Miasma and attract the attention of the Scorpion.

An unimportant misadventure happened afterward.

Let it be known that the result of this misadventure had allowed Subaru Natsuki to convince Shaula to leave "his" tower and explore the outside world with him. A certain gluttonous girl and her siblings were never encountered, nor did Subaru Natsuki even attempt to pass the second trial, with Reid being the unbeatable roadblock that he is. Oh, also, Subaru didn't get a Spirit, if you are curious about that.

This story is about Subaru Natsuki, Shaula, and their relationship.

Let's start their Support, shall we?

Thighs.

The part of a humanoid's leg between the hip and the knee. Which are very important things for a lap pillow.

Lap Pillow.

A good way to show the physical intimacy and trust that a couple has is by having one rest their head on the other's lap.

Resting one's head on another person's lap... Yeah, truth be told, he, Subaru Natsuki, never expected to be graced with the possibility of even being offered a lap pillow: be it the fact that he has several issues regarding liking himself, being too much of a NEET to socially interact with people his age, and never finding a person that matches his fixation with girls with silver hair...

Well, anyways, Subaru had good reason to expect that he would never get a lap pillow, but even so...

"It's going to be okay, Master."

... Life has a funny way of subverting expectations.

In a desert, there was him and one person with him. Her name is Shaula; she has no last name, but would love to have Subaru's last name. Her hair is tied in a self-proclaimed Scorpion-tail and had huge boobs-... er... huge amounts of love in her chest. That's the only reason that could explain why she had Subaru's head on her head and had wrapped his body with her tattered black-and-orange cloak, which was of the same color pallet as Subaru's tracksuit for some reason, as a makeshift blanket to combat the coldness of the night.

On Subaru's end, he wasn't sure if his useless self deserved this kind of treatment and love from the girl, nor did he know what bought this on. And so his lips started to move. "Shaula, why did you do this...?" And he couldn't help but ask a stupid question. In Shaula's perspective, at least.

That was enough for the ever-obedient Shaula to lightly chop Subaru's forehead. Very lightly, though. To the point that it wasn't enough to even make Subaru feel the slightest pain, only a sudden shock at Shaula's action. "Because my master deserves all of the comforts in the world!" She replied in the next instant. Faster than any attempt at self-deprecation Subaru's mind can do.

But... It also opened a can of worms in Subaru's mind.

Is he even Shaula's master, or is she mistaken and only calling him Master because she is half-crazed from all of the loneliness of waiting in the tower. The latter is likely to Subaru, since, well... saying that he is her master because of his smell and that she can't recognize faces aren't good signs for sanity.

In another worldline, Subaru Natsuki wouldn't even consider the idea of being Shaula's master due to knowing that title belongs to a scumbag named Flugel: in this worldline; however, Subaru (sorta) thought otherwise since any other answer would be unacceptable. It would mean that he suffered, suffered, and suffered over and over, and was saved from a fate worse than death by Shaula due to a case of mistaken identity. Flugel, who is strong and smart according to Shaula, has to be him from a past life or something!

If he isn't, Shaula will leave him, and...

(mwah)

His mind was silenced by Shaula suddenly kissing him on the forehead. She didn't know what her master was thinking, but knew it wasn't anything good. So, she figured a confidence boost was needed for him. "Don't worry about a thing, Master, you'll always be my Master." She spoke with an amount of devotion that could only belong to a woman in love as she lovingly stroked Subaru's hair, "You already proven yourself, Master. Even if another person with the same qualities as Master, I would never accept them! Because I love you."

Subaru's brain short-circuited after hearing those words, he would have jumped away from Shaula's lap if the woman wasn't keeping a gentle but firm hold on his head so that it'd stay on her lap.

Let it be known Subaru wasn't the boy who earnestly loved a sliver-haired beauty, nor was he the hero whose fanatic nature caused him to obtain the love of an Oni. He couldn't accept Shaula's love because he hated himself so much that he didn't even think he was worthy of being loved by anyone as he was too useless and weak to be loved.

"Shaula! Even if it is just the two of us, don't say something so embarrassing-"

"Don't care!"

"C'mon, you know that I am not-"

"Master, even if you feel down, I'll keep on saying that I love you to make you feel better!"

"Anything I accomplished with you was done by me begging you!"

"I don't care, I love you!"

"I might not even be your master, you know!"

"I-L-O-V-E-Y-O-U!"

Subaru could feel his face turn red; he was feeling frustrated with Shaula and her love. Not because he disliked her or anything like that, but rather... He felt that she was projecting feelings for a version of himself, that he could never be, an image that he could fit the mold of, no matter how much time he throws or whatever he attempts. He could never be the one that she loves - Shaula's Master, Flugel. Subaru Natsuki is simply too much of a pathetic being of a human that could never fill the shoes that Flugel left behind.

Like how he could never fill the shoes of his father.

Another person greater than his useless self.

Even in another world, Subaru Natsuki cannot escape the self-hatred that haunted him in his homeworld, and it is made even worse here due to the fact that there is a man in existence who accomplished so much greatness despite his scummy behavior who also might be him in a past life, meaning, he might be the one who left Shaula behind in the first place.

Despite her quirks, Shaula truly is a reliable and loving existence but if he truly is her Master, and was the one who left her behind to rot alone in a tower in the middle of nowhere - Subaru Natsuki will not have the right to cherish anything if he was the one who left Shaula behind.

He would be an existence that would deserve to be hated by everyone, more or less.

"... Master." Shaula shook her head; she wasn't the brightest apple of the bunch, but she did have a general grasp of her Master. She could feel the self-hate that was starting to radiate out of him like it was a raging miasma, and she couldn't do anything but continue to stroke Subaru's hair. "I swear one day I'm going to save you... from yourself."

In one world, Subaru would've been the one to make a vow to save someone - in this world, somebody else is going to make the vow to save him. But this Subaru couldn't understand Shaula's reason for loving him. He couldn't. It made him feel like he was taking advantage of someone's love for him, and that made him feel like he was the worst person in the world.

But if he had to be honest, the sincerity in Shaula's words - of her desire to save him from himself - still made him feel loved, felt that he was worth somebody, and even his self-hate wasn't enough to stop him from feeling happy and the removal of an invisible weight off his shoulders.

"Thanks, Shaula, you make me feel like a million bucks!" The energy in his voice, even if it was dulled by tiredness, was still genuine in its own way, and the way that Subaru reached his arm out to touch Shaula's face made the girl feel like a million of her non-lewd dreams were coming true. They were both happy in their own ways. "If you ever stop calling me master, I might even consider giving you a kiss..."

"Never! Master will be Master to me, now and forever!"

"Hah, that should be expected, I suppose... Well, Shaula, Master is going to use your lap as a pillow and go back to sleep."

"That isn't a problem at all, Master! Good night, and don't let the bed bugs bite!"

"Night..."

Falling asleep in a woman's lap while under the cover of shining stars... Subaru could only think of a few ways to make things better: sleeping in a real bed is one, and being a man who could properly understand how he feels about Shaula and be worthy of her love is another. One day, he will surely have an answer that Shaula will be happy with.

Surely.

...

...

...

Zzzz...

"Master... One day, I'll be the number one in your heart. I waited four hundred years for your arrival, I can wait for another four hundred in order to win your heart."

Barring the advantages that Divine Protection has and the downright cheat codes that are Authorities, there is one force out there that drives people of all species and sizes to do the impossible and touch the untouchable; the power of love, or, that is what Shaula thinks. The power of a maiden's heart is a strong one, and it is a driving force for the girl. Her master will fall in love with her; she believes one day that her dream will come true one day.

Be it him taking her head in marriage; him choosing to love her above all else; or him allowing her to stand by his side no matter what. She swears by it.

"In the bottom of my heart, I'll always love you, Master."

[C-Rank: I Love You Completed]

[Item Get: Shaua's Cloak]

[Item Description: Proof that Subaru achieved a C-Rank Support with Shaula. Was personally gifted to Subaru by The Guardian of the Watch Tower. It is ravished by the effects of time, but is nonetheless lovingly maintained by the girl in order to remember the good ol' days where she spent her days with her Master, her Master's girlfriend (Satella), her Master's boyfriend (Reid), that dragon (Volcanica), and good ol' Geuse.]

Her Reasoning

On her end, Shaula doesn't know a thing about the true extent to her Master's suffering: the Witch of Envy would make sure that things would stay that way.

Shaula would never know that his sleep would force him to remember the sensation of sand invading his throat until he couldn't breathe and "drown" to death via sand, remember the taste of iron on his lips as he was mauled to death, remember the bright light that encompassed his vision that signaled his instant death, remember the sound of his mad ramblings as he went down the wrong way and enter a corridor that drove him to such an extreme madness that he killed himself, remember the scent of the burnt meat that was called his flesh as he was being burnt alive by flaming beasts.

She would only ever know of Subaru's pains, from the nervous shivers and distressed whimpers that came out of her master's puffy lips as he was sleeping were proof of this, which she only knows by her usually opting to stay up as long as possible so that she may experience the joy of watching her master sleep.

Only sleeping for an hour is a good trade all-in-all, in her opinion... Although, this could stem from her "alien" physiology compared to her master's body: she didn't require the things that her master needs to survive; for the most part: she still enjoys eating and drinking. But she would be content eating very little if it was for her Master's sake.

Shaula loved her master, after all.

She would do anything for him. Anything. She would lie, steal, and kill for his sake. She would sacrifice even herself if needs be. But... She also doesn't want her Master to think up bad things about himself in an effort to put himself down.

That's no good in Shaula's opinion.

After all, she holds the belief that her master must be happy, no matter what!

"Even if you can't see the good things about yourself, Master, I can see them loud and clear," the scorpion knew that her Master was the best Master in the world; he's the one that came out of nowhere and saved her from her loneliness. He's the one who reached his hand out towards her and asked her to come with him. Even if her Master is as weak as a child now, she feels she can believe in him by the power of his words and his love towards her alone; and that alone is enough for her. "I'll make sure that you'll never forget the good about yourself, Master."

Don't get Shaula wrong, though. She isn't attempting to raise her Master's self-confidence out of nothing but her kindness and the eternal love in her heart. She knows if he was moody all of the time, she would never get any time to spend with him. Or something like that. However... having Master lay his head on her lap was more than enough to satisfy her; for now, of course.

"Let's have a lot of adventures together, Master- oh, yeah... You're asleep. Silly me." Shaula bopped her head with a closed right hand, while her left hand played with her Master's hair. Secretly, Shaula felt it in her bones that her Master's sudden appearance wasn't only due to here prayer towards a higher power yesterday, in which she begged for whatever high power that existed for her master to come back to the tower... But due to the machinations of a Witch, like that Greedy witch, who wants everything, or that other witch, she is rather Envious of.

But they aren't here with him... Master is with her; he is hers, so to speak, she's the only one one that her Master can rely on; and that makes her feel like she's the best.

This time... The victor of Master's heart will be her, she swears it!

Effects of a Mistake

The one who loved Subaru Natsuki the most, and wanted to be the only one who had the greatness of Subaru Natsuki, couldn't wait until the appropriate time for him to come to her world.

Satella couldn't help it, the witch of envy gave a convincing argument, if she hadn't summoned her beloved, Subaru, now; they might lose him to another world in his world! That was unacceptable: they wouldn't allow a random commoner woman who didn't know a lick of magic or of the potential that her beloved held; the woman in her beloved's world weren't worthy of him, or at least, that is what they thought.

Thus, destiny changed as a result of Subaru Natsuki being summoned two years too early.

A blue oni suffered from a curse and died from it with nobody around to save her, as it was the will of the gospel of a clown; an entire village was wiped off the map due to a sudden influx of beast; a butterfly-eyed girl was granted the release from her duties that she craved by a guthunter who got paid to kill her, and only her; a Little King was told by his gospel to find a brand new wife and obtained a Half-Elf one in a frozen forest after instantly slaying the girl's father once he dared to oppose his right to have a new wife for his harem.

Rem, Petra, Beatrice, Emilia. The girls who could've taken Subaru's hearts were dealt with by the hands of fate; giving Shaula the chance to be the most important person in her master's heart by a simple process of elimination.

Yet, life won't let Shaula have such an easy victory - there are thrills, chills, and things she has to throw everything she has got up her non-existent sleeves in order to protect her master and prove that her love for him is the strongest in the world - the gluttonous boy that is waiting for her and her master's arrival due to the will of his gospel is her first challenge; so this will be a tough challenge.

But a maiden in love can never be beaten; she knows this is a fact, 'sides, her master is with her, so she knows that everything will be alright in the end. That's just how things were with Master four hundred years ago, and she knows that things are the same even now!

... She totally didn't make this fact up or anything. Tee hee.

[The End]

[Shaula's Support: C ✓ | C+ | B | B + | A | A + [Platonic End] | S [Romantic End]

[Next Support: Anastasina C Rank or Ryuzu Meyer C Rank]

Congrats on reaching the bottom, and entering what I have dubbed the Fantasina Zone! Here's a morse code thingy for all of you guys, gals, and nonbinary pals, for reaching the end of this story, on the day I uploaded this story, or in the future, for whom ever decided that the best way to spend their time was browsing old fanfic stories and thought this story was good enough for a read!

[-_-] - Fun Fact - I... don't actually know how to upload stories in Ao3; if I did, I would've probably posted my stories exclusively there when I first started making my stories; now, I like this site too much to leave it, tbh.

- -. . / - .- -. .-. ... / ... - .-. . / .. ... / .- -. - - ... . .-. .-. ... / -.. . ... .-. .- .. .-. .-.-.- / - ... . .-. . / .. ... / .- .-.. .- .- -.- ... / - -. . / .- ... - / ... .- -.-. .-. .. ..-. .. -.-. . ... / ... .. - ... . .-.. ..-. .-.-.- / - ..- .-. / -.. . . .-. . ... - / .- .. ... ... . ... / .- .-. . / .- .-.. .-.. / - ... . / ... .- - . .-.-.- / -.. - -. .-. - / .-.. - ... . / ... - .-. . .-.-.- / .- .-.. .- .- -.- ... / -.- . . .-. / ... - .-. . .-.-.-

[-_-] - Fun Fact: I have no drawing skills whatsoever, and do not plan to ever solve this issue in the slightest; now or in the future.

Kay, kay, let's get to the point. For any of my other readers, I apologize for not uploading on Wednesday. I, uh, well... was focusing a lot of effort into thinking up of scenarios that were then formed into outlines for me to follow in the future, and, IRL stuff in general; I am still new in making fanfiction in general, so it is a bit hard for me to follow an upload schedule. But... I think I am starting to get the hang of it. Might have to stop focus a bit on writing up rough drafts for stories in other fandoms to focus my writing on Re: Zero Stuff, but this is probs a me problem only.

Well, anyhow, dear past readers of mine, I might upload the Frederica chapter of Lacking on either this Sunday or on Monday. Look forward to that, I suppose.

Next Chapter: Either, the 21th of May or 28th of May

Until we meet again, I bid you all adieu.