CHAPTER 1 FINALLY REWRITTEN, ITS READABLE NOW
A wise man once said "someone needs to unironically make a racist Subaru fic that shit would go so hard. Someone HAS to do that". Another wise man that being me said "yeah ok buddy, I'll need to reread arc 1 though so I can copy the mannerisms of the characters, this'll take idk 2 days''
It took only 6 hours, I hope you're happy Killerman, if you ever read this
What I'm about to write is going to be the first fanfic I've ever written and it really is the dumbest shit I've ever written, however much I try to rewrite and make it better. Some obvious cringe ahead.
Subaru's personality will be different, he'll act like an asshole much more than the canon version, I'll try to keep the other character's personalities true to themselves.
The sound of muffled talking is coming from Subaru's room.
At a glance of his appearance his hair is black, and he's got mean looking eyes that are brown. Subaru is a seventeen year old man of Japanese descent who could seem like a kind and sweet kid to some people when you look at him for a quick second, but upon looking further into those eyes of his, you'll find he doesn't have any of those qualities.
Subaru, who is outfitted with a black-white-orange jersey, is currently browsing on 4Chan. Subaru, who frequents threads concerning /pol/ is visibly irritated by what he sees on the computer screen.
"You stupid half breed…"
"This dumbass, I swear." whispering under his breath.
"Why didn't you listen to….me"
"What more could I say, he doesn't know anything about the Imperial Army."
He keeps talking about those reactionary opinions of his in his unlit room. His parents who worry for his health try to help but it's clear he pushes those kinds of factors in his life away, instead spending most of his free hours on the internet.
"Why does see..ing you hurt...make me…feel…feel...so…awful?"
"Yeah we did that shit in Korea, who really cares though?" Subaru said those kinds of words with his average voice when it comes to snide remarks.
"Why does it hurt…..Satella?"
A shadowy hand reaching for Subaru appears from the thin air.
Subaru makes a noise indicating confusion at the sudden shift in tone that he's feeling.
"I guess that's what I get for dwelling in my room all day, guess my eyes are tired."
Subaru reopens his eyes and is met with unexpected spectacle beauty.
"Wha-"
Subaru remains speechless for a couple seconds unable to recognize where he is. It was really something else, the sounds of carts rolling against the ground, and the sounds of urban life taking place. People walking past him like nothing happened, like they didn't just see him suddenly teleport into this area. Subaru pondered for a moment if it was a dream but it couldn't have been, this was too detailed and other worldly for something like Subaru's mind to come up with. So this must be real.
"What just happened? I'd say I was dreaming but this is obviously really happening….it can't be fake."
Subaru quickly leaps from his office chair that was transported with him and looks at his surroundings when sudden realization hits him.
"Does this mean…I've been summoned across the universe to another world!?"
At the excitement of it all, Subaru yells at the top of his lungs which got him stares from a couple of passersby's, who wondered why this random boy was so happy. Subaru walked around the surroundings of this brand new, fantasy, medieval city he just found himself in and immersed himself in the beauty of it.
And he wondered–
"From the looks of things, I'd say this is some kind of European fantasy world with medieval style culture, a realm…who I've noticed are unfortunately filled with non-humans or by RPG terms 'demi-humans'. At least there should always be an adventure for me to always go on, my party would be all humans anyway. I wonder if there are any people who look like me here, all I've seen are those average looking Europeans and demi-humans."
"Hey watch out!"
Turning his head to that loud sound with natural human reaction, Subaru noticed that a random guard was yelling at a little girl dangerously close to an incoming carriage.
"Woah? A quick time event already!? I guess this is where I would show off my magic skills to the public!" Subaru turned into his otaku-like pose and made a yell, expecting magic to come out of his hand.
Though nothing happened from Subaru's weird mannerism, the random guard quickly rolled on the ground and caught the girl, saving her from certain death.
At the sight of his feat the guard cheered in victory, being able to save the girl from demise, soon the entire crowd began to cheer for him and Subaru, lying on the floor with his embarrassing pose, remained quiet and a little ashamed.
"Guess it's a little too early for me to use magic in this world" muttering to himself, Subaru became disappointed that things weren't going his way like he'd expected.
As Subaru walked the streets of the city, he noticed the fruit vendor and attempted to read the labels of the fruit.
"I can't read any of this jumbled garbage."
Ah, but it was to be that he is now illiterate in this world, as the writing system differed from that in his homeland. The green haired vendor named Kadomon noticed his analysis and thought he was a customer.
"Hey boy, those are some weird looking clothes. You're not from around here are ya?"
"So are these…"
Subaru wondered if they really were apples he was looking at and not some cheap simulation trick done by some video games.
"Appas, the freshest you'll find."
'They name those appas huh?' So it's one of those tricks instead, perhaps to look like a more quirky and distinct fantasy world.
"At least he can speak in Japanese."
A relief to Subaru for sure, had he not been able to even speak the same language as them this would've been much more difficult.
"Let's see if…" Subaru pulled out the currency from his homeland. Wondering if they could, on the off chance, accept it which would be very convenient for him.
"Huh? Where's that money from, you can't use that stuff out here in Lugunica and if that's all you got then you're flat broke! So don't waste my time freeloader, get out of here!" Grabbing Subaru by the shirt, Kadomon quickly grew irritated by how this broke customer was hogging up his attention away from others and tossed him away onto the streets.
Back to walking alone again since being rudely forced out of the shop, Subaru had grown into a bad mood.
"Well that guy definitely had something up his ass that made him ticked off at me. Guess I'll just have to stick to good old information gathering."
Subaru walks into a building believing it to be one of those shops that provide you with info of the city but instead he stumbled into a women's bathroom and proceeded to get slapped by the fearful occupants of the restroom.
"Heh…I really am being a dumbass here. Come on Subaru Natsuki, you can do better."
Walking into the saloon, at least this could be a good location for him to pick up on gossip and basic information from the other customers. But that's not what he gets. Opening that door reveals a burrow of reptile-human hybrids nested inside.
"This place is for demi-humans only!" That lizard who Subaru instantly met upon opening the door made sure to keep whatever rights they had left in this Kingdom in check.
Subaru, who didn't understand why he couldn't be accepted by them, contorted his face into anger, and made sure to tell them off before going on his way.
"Well you damn beasts, I didn't want to be near your kind anyway!"
To the surprise of the demi-humans, they hadn't expected a confrontation as rude as that to evolve into the boy insulting them. They couldn't do anything about it either, they lost. Humans were to be left unharmed, lest they get prosecuted and hung by the Lugunican Kingdom for their crime.
Not wishing this confrontation to go on any longer, a demi-human from outside the saloon who overheard his insult, pushed Subaru out of the shop with a rushed sense of carelessness, causing Subaru to get injured.
"Ah! My fucking eye!"
Fumbling backwards in his blindness, this day wasn't really going well.
"Can't…see..wo-!"
Then falling into a canal of water, getting everything on him wet. This day really wasn't going well.
Whilst twenty minutes went by, Subaru sat down in an alleyway while waiting for his clothes to dry.
"Is this how my adventure is supposed to be cause none of this shit makes sense!"
Disappointed was what Subaru most felt at this moment. Nothing was really going his way as he had expected.
"This is a different world's summons, right!? Where's my protagonist power and powerful party!?"
Subaru knew that he'd been in a parallel world, and upon realizing that it must've meant he'd become the protagonist of the story. After all, nobody here should be real. To Subaru, it's an escape from his problems in the real world, and he thought he would've gotten everything he wanted here. Pulling out the phone that he'd kept in his pocket just in case his parents called, maybe he could get something useful out of that.
"Looks like my cell phone still works…but there's no point in even having it now! And I don't even have any gear with me, if you're gonna send a special guy like me to your world you'd better overhaul your crappy welfare program! Start me off with a demon's blade or a magic cloak!"
Calming down from his outburst, Subaru put his arm from his knee to the bottom of his chin and needed to know if this world was anything like the parallel worlds he read or watched about.
"Besides, if I was transported all this way, why was I even chosen for this task? A person like me being taken here and not being provided any powers to accompany me doesn't make much sense."
Three men seemingly appear from the dim light of the alleyway and can be seen walking towards Subaru.
"Oh? Could you guys be the party I was looking for? It's been a rough first thirty minutes, so what took you so long?"
Then Subaru noticed their…unique appearances and decided to make up names for them.
"Let's see here…a midget, a gaywad, and a fattie."
"What are you going on and on about?" The midget's voice has a clear humor-like hostile tone to it, to which Subaru didn't notice at first.
"If you don't wanna get hurt, cough up whatever you've got!" The gaywad had yelled in a threatening manner. That's when Subaru realized he was getting mugged by these three individuals. Getting grabbed by the gaywad, Subaru would have to get out of this situation through any means.
"Get the hell off me, I don't have anything for you street urchins to take!"
A distant yell comes from the entrance of the alleyway, in enters a young blond girl with red
eyes who looks to be in her early teens, her name being Felt.
"She'd look much prettier with blue eyes."
Noticing that look of hers, she looked quite similar to that European archetype Subaru read about. /pol/ is a place where you can get many ideas, however wrong they'd be.
"Move it move it! Move it you guys, out of my way!"
Running by the four men, it was clear she was in the middle of some important business.
"Hey blondie, can you help me here!"
Subaru, still trapped by the hand of the gaywad, decided it'd be good if he got some help. Perhaps the interaction could propel them into something that would develop into a relationship, as he expected from those shows he watched.
"Hm? Sorry dude, but I'm really busy and got to move, now live strong okay?"
But Felt wasn't having it today. Of course she could help the guy but she didn't know who he was and what he did to get into a fight, and she was already hot on her tail by that half-elf so she'd have to abandon him. So Felt instantaneously kicks off the floor, jumping off the walls onto a roof and runs away.
"What!? You little bitch where do you think you're going? You can't just leave me here!"
Whilst Subaru yelled at her in his pleas, the three thugs stare in astonishment as the girl just left the helpless boy on his own and fled the scene without breaking a sweat.
"Hahah what a shame, seems like your little girlfriend left you all alone!"
A pleasant surprise for the fattie for sure. But there was something earlier that Subaru had said that especially infuriated the gaywad.
"Street urchins? So we're street urchins to you huh?"
"Well fuck."
Now he's gonna have to get out of this through violent means. Thinking to himself that "It seems like i'm gonna have to fight my way out of this one, if I just believe in myself enough I could surprise attack them and come out of this fight unscathed, you can do this!"
Snapping out of his thoughts, Subaru's gonna have to show them that even if he holes up in his room all day, barely doing any sort of exercise, his father is a wrestler who taught Subaru the basics back in his childhood, and that he could still keep up a fight.
"Yeah, that's right, you're just a pair of street urchiiiiiins!"
As Subaru exclaimed his warcry, he threw his fist at the biggest one, that punch of his lands hard and the fattie gets knocked down as a result. With quick thinking, Subaru quickly turns to throw his leg and the smallest one and manages to kick the midget into the wall, knocking him out too.
"Alright! I can do this, I can do this, just one more to go!"
This had been going surprisingly well for Subaru causing him to gain an unnecessary amount of confidence. He was now sure that he could absolutely do this.
"My adrenaline is surging, I can do anything!"
Said with a prideful voice full of zeal, Subaru charged at the last one remaining, the gaywad.
But then Subaru heard the sound of two daggers being pulled out and noticed that sound had come from the gaywad. It turned out the thug was armed.
"Fuck!"
Subaru now had no idea what he should do at the sudden change in advantages. One thought that comes to mind is settling down and surrendering but–
"Doing that is cowardice, absolutely not."
The thought of denial entering his mind, he's sure now that this will devolve into a fight for life or death, and Subaru would make sure he'll win this one however much at a disadvantage he is in now.
"You still got this Subaru, keep believing…"
Fake confidence. Desperate hope. Subaru was now thrown in for the reels, and he wants to get out alive.
The gaywad charged at him with his daggers and tried to slash Subaru in the
chest, to which Subaru barely managed to dodge.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" Yelling out in desperateness as he continually dodges the swings of the daggers.
"So you think you can play games with us? well we'll see how you think of us once I leave your cold dead body on this ground!"
An insult hurling at him in the midst of battle, Subaru was sure he could eventually tire out the thug and then go in for the final strike.
What Subaru didn't notice however, is that behind him were the two thugs that he had
beaten rose up to get back in the fight.
At the noticeable but faint sound of his arms being held in place, he breaths out an air of confusion wondering what just happened.
The fattie behind Subaru has just grabbed his arms in place and now waits for the gaywad to finish the job.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, this is not how I end, this is NOT how I am supposed to end, this is far too early, far too fucking early!"
Subaru thought to himself in a panic, his animalistic instincts soon kicking in with him desperately trying to struggle out of the thug's arms.
"Ohhoho that scared straight look on your face is all the more worth it."
The gaywad mocked Subaru as he began to raise his blade, ready to strike Subaru and end this brawl.
Continuing to struggle but to no use, a scary thought entered Subaru's head. That is it, this is how he was going to die, in an alleyway by three random thugs he thought he could win a fight against, what a fool, to throw his life away like that.
Subaru prepared for the worst, but the tragedy that was about to take place was interrupted by a third party.
"That's enough"
The voice belonging to a woman rang out from the entrance of the alleyway, there stood a young lady with silver hair and purple eyes, dressed in an expensive, noble looking, white and purple outfit.
At the sight of her beauty, time stopped for a few seconds to the eyes of Subaru. Oh…he just developed a crush on her.
"And just who in the hell are you!"
Despite the tone of voice she received, that lady remained steadfast. She was sure these were the people responsible for stealing that precious jewel of hers.
"Stop now and I'll forgive you, if you would be so kind as to give back what you stole."
To that confident voice of hers, Subaru felt a brush of relief hit him. This could be the moment where he gets the help he really needs. He could manage to evade death.
"Those features of hers…"
Thinking back into the information he saw on /pol/ threads, the sight of her beauty concerning the silver hair and snow pale skin she had was synonymous to what he knew as 'Hyperboreans', a theoretical people who lived in the cold northern edge of the world, usually referred to as the forefathers of the Germanic or sometimes even Slavic Europeans.
"You can't be serious."
The thugs had been so close to teaching the kid a lesson. Contrary to what Subaru believed, they didn't actually want to kill him but rather seriously injure him so that he could go crying out to some local healer and then remain too scared to report their faces if they come into contact anytime in the future.
"Please it's very important to me, I'll turn the other cheek concerning the other belongings but I can't let you have that, so hand it over."
"You mean you didn't come to save this prick?"
That would be another pleasant surprise for them, they guessed nobody really cared about this guy.
"What strange clothes he has, if you're asking me if I have any connection to him I have to say no."
Just perfect for the thugs, they can keep going out with their plan.
"Well then you've got no business with us little girl, if someone stole from you it was that brat who just ran by."
Reasoning with the lady, the fattie pointed at the direction the nimble blonde girl ran off to earlier.
"Yeah what he said, that way, she ran that way!"
The midget also made sure to join in, this day has been going well for them so far.
"Hm…those three don't appear to be lying so I need to go after her."
The lady followed the advice of the three thugs and began to run after the direction of the thief.
"You've got to be fucking kidding, just how harsh is this world."
Disappointment after disappointment, this was likely the worst day Subaru was ever having. Thankfully due to the appearance of the lady he could manage to catch the thugs off guard and escape from the alleyway without the woman's help.
"But regardless of that, I can't overlook what's going on here!"
Turning around, she made sure to state out her righteous intentions. Thank goodness for Subaru he didn't need to go through anymore of this bullshit. Someone finally decided to help him.
Three crystals of ice appear out of her hand, of which she launches them towards the direction of the three thugs and manages to hit all of them, causing them to get knocked down to the ground.
"Was that magic?"
An unexpected event for sure, if Subaru wasn't able to summon up magic himself he wondered why the lady could.
"Mess with us will you!? I don't care if you can use magic, I'm gonna kill you! You think you can win when it's two against one, do you!?"
Pointing his dagger at the lady, the gaywad was filled with rage that he'd been bested. He was so close to teaching Subaru a lesson but she just had to intervene.
"Indeed, two against one may be unfair."
Said with a voice filled with snarkiness, this was a laughable act for the lady to face.
"Alright, two against two should even things up!"
The voice which said that belonged to a male coming out of nowhere which catched Subaru and the thugs off guard.
A light shining bright from the green jewel on the woman's chest, what came out of it being a small cat who was the male voice from earlier.
"You use the spiritual arts?"
The thug's jaws gape open wide at the sight of that cat, this was bad news.
"Correct. Retreat now and I won't chase you, decide quickly I'm in a hurry."
The thugs were in no position to fight back anymore, nevertheless the gaywad still had his pride to keep intact.
"You bitch! Next time I see you I won't go easy on you!"
Raising his eyebrow at the comment, the cat named Puck gave an uncaring look to that thug. He knew the thug was no match for a fight against his daughter.
"Do anything to her and I'll haunt you and your kin forever, not that you'll have any kin if I take care of things now."
Said in that same humorous voice as his daughter voiced out from before, it was clear that the gaywad was playing charades with them.
The two thugs left standing tensed up upon hearing Puck's violent proposition and quickly ran off, with the gaywad picking up his unconscious comrade to get out of this situation that was quickly growing lethal.
Subaru stared at that pretty lady in awe, this day had certainly got better for him.
"You…really saved me. I thought you were just going to abandon me like the other girl."
Subaru was infinitely grateful that his life had not ended in this wretched alleyway, at least someone cared for him.
"Don't move!"
An unexpected shift in tone for Subaru, however nothing bad came out of it as the silver haired woman and black haired man only stared at each other for a few seconds before Subaru began avoiding her gaze so she wouldn't be able to see his blush.
"Aha! You avert your eyes due to your guilty conscience, looks like my judgment was spot on as always."
Striking into her triumphant pose, the lady crosses her arms at the sight of Subarru's blush.
"You sure? I think it was just an instinctive male reaction to avoid tension or rudeness, I didn't sense any malice at all."
"That's enough out of you Puck. Now listen, I want you to tell me who stole my insignia."
Staring into the eyes of his brown eyes, making sure to check if the truth came out of him.
"Yeah real sorry about that pretty girl, but I've got no clue where your insignia is."
Scratching the back of his head with a small sense of shame he couldn't help her when it counted. Subaru really didn't know.
"Wait…oh no it couldn't be! Did I really make a wrong turn or maybe come around the long way?"
Turning her head left and right, stuck in a pose like one getting wet in the rain.
"If I were you I'd hurry after her before she gets too far, I could help if you want."
In sight of this lady in a hurry, Subaru had already gotten charmed by her beauty and in a gambit to reach a friendship or perhaps even more later on Subaru could help her, which would lead to a string of events cementing their relationship. Subaru pointed back to the direction Felt had left earlier, and then offered his hand out to the lady.
"You were quite close to losing your life there so I don't believe it's necessary to have you in our search. What should we do Lia?"
Lia, that was her name then. Subaru taking in this information would make sure he'll help her.
"We'll just leave him as is, sorry but we don't need your help to find my insignia."
With a wave of her hand, Lia turns her back on Subaru to begin walking away.
"Really?"
Stopped in her tracks by her father, Puck. Puck really wanted to make sure if his daughter would be making the right decision by abandoning the boy.
"Yes really."
In opposition, Lia reaffirms her idea. She doesn't need Subaru for this, she's sure of it and even if she needed him it would be a bit embarrassing to rely on his help as well as prove a danger to him.
"You say that but I bet you'll still accept him!"
But Puck keeps holding out, and teases her into accepting.
"I will not!"
Though Lia denies it, she would appreciate some help. Even with her resistance to the idea igniting a quick argument between the two over whether to accept Subaru's offer or not, Subaru stares at them with that gullible smile.
"Man she's even super cute when she's mad, that's another world's fantasy for you."
To the mind of Subaru's, he found a nice looking woman to crush over. A total knockout for sure, Subaru would be sure to serve by her side because of that simple charm.
"Sorry Puck, but I only need some information from him."
She shouldn't risk entangling him in risky things, something that could even endanger his life. She needs to do this on her own, for the good of Subaru as well.
"Sorry but I refuse your offer to help, only Puck and I need to find our insignia."
He mustn't suffer because of her, because of her own clumsiness. That was just an incident caused by her own naivety which she knew she'd have to deal with.
"Now then, you have an idea as to who stole my insignia right?"
"What? Hold on, is your insignia one of those special badges that shows your social status?"
"A rather crude description but that's it more or less."
To Lia's surprise, the guy could actually prove a good source of help to her.
"It's about this big with a jewel in the center".
Making her hand in the shape of an O, she can now believe that counting on Subaru is a reasonable act for help. As Subaru noticed the shape her hand was making, he thought back to the woman that ran away from him. Whilst she left him for dead, Subaru paid attention to her features and clothes in case they ever bumped into each other. He'd for sure give her his piece of mind about what an awful decision that was.
"Well let's see here, that nimble blonde girl ran in here saying she was in a hurry and then soon after you came in here asking for your belongings to return, were you able to get a look at your thief before she snatched your insignia?"
So the thoughts about her clicked in Subaru's mind, and off the bat Subaru had correctly identified the thief.
"Only a quick glance of her back, she was short and did have blond hair, is she the woman you're talking about?"
Subaru was being a bigger help that Lia initially expected, and now she's beginning to think his proposition for coming along with her isn't such a bad idea.
"Yeah I believe so, that bitch saw me being mugged and refused to help me so I've also got a reason to help you find that thief girl, alright?"
Whilst Subaru leaned back against the wall, both Puck and Lia were caught off guard by Subaru's sudden foul language. They quickly understood that Subaru also had a bone to pick with her. So Lia decided to keep the feeling of being bothered by it inside her and instead breathed deeply before asking the next question.
"Well…I guess she's caused both of us a nuisance, do you know where she ran off to?"
"I only saw the direction she ran off to. From there? No, not at all."
"Thanks for the help, even if it wasn't enough to pinpoint her, I still did get more than enough information that I needed, I'll be off now."
Before she could make her first step back, she was met with Subaru's natural mixed sound of being confused and frustrated.
"Come on now, I saw her front too so I know what she really looks like! Plus I was about to be murdered right there until you showed up, so please let me help you."
Why Subaru wanted to help her so much remained a complete mystery for Lia. However Puck was slowly catching onto Subaru's ploy into starting a relationship with his daughter but decided to say nothing, he knew any actual help for Lia would be a good thing at this moment.
"Hmm, you're so strange, well anyway I won't be able to offer you any reward."
She tried to deny it again. Even though Subaru has been helpful so far, she really doesn't want this sweet guy to get entangled in the stupid mess she made.
"Just listen, I don't need one. I'm asking you because you saved my life and besides, I've got a little score to settle with her as well. That would be enough of a reward on its own."
Lia thinks to herself again for a few seconds whether to accept his help or not, such an enticing offer but it brushes against her morals as well. If what Subaru says is taken into consideration, even if she didn't accept his help, he'd likely chase after the thief himself. Puck noticed the confusion on his daughter's face and decided that it would be a good time to intervene on Subaru's behalf.
"I don't sense any malice here so I think you can just accept his offer, afterall the more shields between you and the ruffians the better."
Puck giving her the nod of his head was exactly what Subaru needed, but the words he used…to describe were less than favorable to Subaru. Subaru is sure there'd be a complicated relationship settled between the two if he ever got with Lia.
"A shield!? Is that what you think of me?!"
Voicing out his outrage in a half-real, half-playful tone. Subaru noticed the thugs from earlier were scared by the cat, so perhaps Puck was a powerful being. Subaru would have to get on his good side somehow if he was really serious about hitting off with Lia.
"Fine, I'm convinced. I accept your offer of help but as I said before I have no reward to give you."
This was to be it, Lia has decided to take on Subaru's offer. Through the spiral of events of what's supposed to come, Subaru is sure he could deal with the thief, win Lia's heart, and finally be the protagonist of this story that he always wanted.
"Fine by me, just leave the searching to me!"
Pointing his thumb to his chest, Subaru was sure this could be the deciding factor of turning this bad day into a great one.
So in pursuit of the thief, the trio then spend the next hour searching for the blonde haired girl all over the city. But it wasn't as easy as they expected it to be. Subaru had no idea where he actually was which caused Lia some problems as well as some stares. And for an unlucky fate, they found a girl who looked remarkably similar to the thief but that's that, she wasn't the one they were looking for.
And now they were resting on an elevated part of the city as their energy of the pursuit exhausted them for a short while. Subaru, who was laxed sitting on the floor, watched as Lia's hair flowed in the air whilst she sat down on a wall. This wasn't going exactly as planned to Subaru, but he took optimism to his heart, after all the reward for succeeding would be getting close to Lia so Subaru will settle down and continue helping her.
"I know what I told you before, but isn't this town too huge to find one little thing in?"
"This 'town' is the capital of Lugunica, how could you possibly not know that?"
Noticing how Subaru seemed to look lost whilst they were spending time in the search, Lia was starting to see more and more of how clueless Subaru actually was being in this kind of new environment. Though she didn't know he was from an entire other world which made his position something mockable. Subaru, noticing how dumb he must've sounded to her, decided to dodge the question and change the subject to something he hadn't realized they haven't done yet.
"Hey I just remembered! We haven't actually introduced ourselves in an actual way. Could we get to that now?"
Lia put her hand to her head in a sense of surprising realization whilst Puck chuckled as he got beaten to asking that question by just mere seconds.
"I totally forgot that too! We're just all too caught up in this insignia fiasco of mine, aren't we?"
With a small sense of relief rising in Subaru's chest, Subaru was glad that his subject change tactics worked brilliantly.
"Alright, alright. With me having been the one to ask first, I might as well go ahead and get the ball rolling first then."
As Subaru got off the floor he struck into his signature introduction pose that he always did to try to catch people's attention and show off an eccentric first impression with other people.
"My name is Subaru Natsuki! Even though I'm totally clueless and a broke loser, I'm the best guy to be around! Nice to meet you!"
And as always, that weird introduction from him landed eyes of bewilderment from Lia and Puck.
"If that's how you introduce yourself, you really do sound hopeless."
With her mouth slightly gaped open, Subaru immediately called himself an idiot in his mind for having made Lia cringe. Puck, deciding to be the MVP of the game, again intervened on the behalf of Subaru before Lia made any more comments towards his behavior by an indirect manner.
"Well Subaru, my name is Puck, and it's nice to meet you!"
Puck exclaims as he dashes into the hand of Subaru's, prompting Subaru to begin petting his soft fur. Lia was taken aback as she stared at Subaru interacting with Puck, it was such an unnatural occurrence to her. The background information she's gotten through her own observations of this boy was starting to become something she's mystified by.
"It's very unusual to see someone who can touch a spirit so casually like that, where are you from exactly?"
Upon hearing that question from her, Subaru made a small 'o' noise and immediately stopped petting Puck so he could face her. Think for a few seconds of what to say, maybe he could try to cheese it through RPG terms, but Subaru decided it would be better to make a bombshell by telling the truth.
"Well I'm glad you've asked. To tell the truth, I'm actually from the nation of Japan, the oldest and greatest country on Earth!"
Lia tilted her head at why Subaru mentioned that name 'Japan' with such zeal. But more importantly, she wanted to know what he was talking about.
"Japan? I've heard of no such place ever existing."
An answer Subaru had fully expected, this was a fantasy world obviously.
"Well of course you haven't, it isn't from this world."
Now Lia had become even more confused than before.
"What do you mean by 'isn't from this world'?"
Subaru almost laughed from hearing that question but managed to keep it in. This is gonna be so good.
"What I mean is that I come from another world."
In an instant Subaru could tell he got the reaction he was looking for as Lia had contorted her face into a mix of shock and awe. Bombshell dropped. Just like he wanted.
"Wait a minute…you mean to tell me you come from beyond the great waterfall!?"
Great Waterfall, a term Subaru wasn't familiar with. This would have to be what the fantasy world's term is for people who've been summoned here like him. A bummer, that must mean he isn't as special as he thought.
"Well I've only just gotten here so I don't really know much about the terms this world uses so just to make sure, does coming from beyond the great waterfall mean what I think it does?"
"It means people who've come to our world, who didn't originate here. Many people who claim to be from beyond the great waterfall are deceptive so you being an actual person from there would be suuuper rare! And it'd make much more sense about why you seem so lost!"
Subaru took a few steps back at the sudden outburst of Lia's emotion of excitement. He wasn't expecting it to actually make her fawn over him.
"If what you say is really true then that would mean you're in an even more precarious position than I am. You'd have no idea where you are, how to read, nor would there be anybody to help you."
"Well Lia, he actually isn't lying here much to my surprise. I've got a lot of questions to ask you, Natsuki Subaru…but right now we've got a thief on the run."
"Oh, curses! I got my excitement in our way."
Lia covers her face in embarrassment whilst Subaru laughs.
"But before we go, I still need to know your name as well!"
Snapping his fingers at Lia, Subaru made a sign of 'gimmie'.
"Oh, that's right. My name…"
Lia pauses to answer the question as the gusts of wind run though the sky.
"I originally planned on giving you a fake name…but seeing your predicament made doing such an action pointless. So my name, my real one, would be Emilia."
Subaru notices how she clutched her arm and could tell she felt shameful for conspiring to do such a thing. But that didn't matter to Subaru, he could tell from earlier she didn't really want him to be near so it's understandable.
"It's totally fine to me. At least you were honest."
Subaru noticed a faint smile appear on Emilia's face after saying that. Good, it's working. He's got a good shot at being with her.
"I don't have a family name so that's the way you may address me."
"Got it, ~Emilia."
Subaru giggled as she said her name for the first time, causing Emilia to pretend to be frustrated.
"Right, let's get back to finding that thief!"
Yelling in excitement as he points his finger in the air, Subau believes getting that insignia back should get easier from now on.
Contrary to Subaru's belief from earlier, the trio spend even more time searching the city to no avail. Another thirty minutes or so must've passed. Halting Subaru from searching any further, Emilia signifies to Subaru a present issue. Subaru, turning his head to where Emilia is staring, notices a small child looking for someone.
"Subaru, that child over there do you think she's lost?"
It was clear to Subaru that the child was lost, however he wondered which should take priority. Should he really waste precious time helping a child who'll forget their faces the next day or focus on getting back the insignia that Emilia confirmed would put her in much trouble if not found soon.
"Yeah but our number one priority should be finding that thief, right?"
"That's also important but if she's lost we have to do something!"
"Fine, but let's not take too much time with her."
Swallowing his impatience, Subaru agrees to help. Emilia nods in approval and attends to the child. Approaching the child and kneeling in front of her to take a position of motherhood.
"Looks like somethings the matter, maybe I could be of help. Did you come here on your own or with mommy and daddy?"
The little girl becomes clearly unnerved by the appearance of Emilia and begins crying. Emilia tried to comfort the child but it wouldn't work, her resemblance to the witch is too much for the child to bear. So instead, a coin appears in front of the child.
"What you see here before you is a rarity coming from the exotic nation of Japan, a jagged ten yen coin. Observe closely as I take this coin and clutch it tightly in my hand!"
Deciding to play a magic trick on the girl, Subaru saw this as an efficient way to comfort her.
"Now, where did it go?"
The little girl gave a stare indicating she was perplexed, at a total loss where the coin had just disappeared.
"Well take a look at this, I found where the coin was hiding."
With the swift motion of his hand brushing against the girl's ear, Subaru pulled off the trick flawlessly. His efforts managed to make the girl giggle.
"Here you go it's yours, like I said it's rare so take good care of it."
And in just a few seconds, Subaru saw that frown of hers turn into a smile. Emilia observed how Subaru managed to deal with an issue that she couldn't have done with a tinge of envy, but overall sighed in approval.
"Thank you sir!"
With the child now comforted, she was now able to be walked by Emilia and Subaru in search of her mother.
"Ah I see, you got separated from your mom. You don't need to worry, this girl and I will help you find her."
As they walked together, Subaru thought about their public appearance.
"Heh, look at us. We totally look like a married couple holding their kid right now. And as much as I'd like to do that, I unfortunately couldn't find the 'right girl' until now."
"Are you implying that I'm the 'right girl', Subaru?"
Oops, he'd made his mouth slip too much and now Emilia's got a clue. Blushing in a false sense of bewilderment, his face tried to deny it but his body language couldn't lie.
"I'm sorry if you see me that way…but I haven't comprehended how such things like that work yet. Besides, we've only just met."
Subaru, sighing with embarrassment of what should be considered a rejection, continued walking with a new found sense of shame for attempting to court a girl who doesn't even understand how love works.
"More like I couldn't bother pursuing a girl let alone talking to one. Man, I'm really lame with these excuses."
"Don't worry about it too much Subaru. Lia is also shy but look how far she's come."
Hearing those reassuring words from Puck, a tiny feeling of cringe delved deep into Subaru's heart. Considering his personality to be a sense of shyness, some could say that however Subaru wouldn't, it's a feeling worse than shyness.
The tug on Subaru's arm causing him to stop from going any further in those thoughts of his, Subaru realized that the girl already found her mother.
"Looks like she found her."
"Yes, I'm so relieved."
With the duo relaxing on a bridge to take another short break, trying to find that thief was starting to get on Subaru's nerves.
"I don't really get the way you think, helping that girl really just sapped our time and energy from finding the thief so I wonder what you got out of that."
Emilia crossing her arms in defiance, she was at a bit of a loss at how Subaru could think of abandoning a lost child on the streets. Clearly the two had a thinking process that couldn't coincide.
"That's easy to answer. Now we can continue our search for my insignia at ease knowing we did the right thing. You reaaally seem to care too much about finding that thief and for a much more petty reason than mine you know?"
Feeling like he got punched in the gut, Subaru thought about it and realized that maybe Emilia was right. That he's been taking this search effort too far. But a counter-argument soon summoned itself into Subaru's mind, remembering the reason why he cared to help her. Getting with Emilia. Confronting the girl who abandoned him to die.
"Hey, it's not petty! You saw how I was about to be murdered over there and she just ignored me!"
Pouting up a resistance to Emilia, she quickly realized how someone who's rational like Subaru could get furious over that. Shame on her for not understanding that at first. But that leaves a different question for her instead.
"If you were that much more interested in finding her then why did you choose to stay with me and help that lost girl instead of going off without me?"
Subaru didn't for a second believe Emilia was actually confused about that, she definitely had the capacity to put the two and two together from their earlier conversations, right? Deciding not to risk it either, he made an excuse to throw onto his already growing pile of excuses.
"Well, it doesn't hurt too much to take some time out of your day and help someone does it? You should know that by that display of yours in the alleyway."
A total lie, it definitely hurts a lot. Subaru knew that, and Emilia should already know that too with how he bickered when faced with helping that lost child. And now, even Emilia could understand the corner Subaru was putting himself into. Deciding not to bite at him any longer, Emilia instead made a statement that should encapsulate Subaru.
"If I were to guess, you're the type that nobody can seem to get along with."
Correct. It encapsulated him. She could notice by the sudden shift on Subaru's face into the feeling of dreadfulness.
"Seriously!? How did you know!? It's such a damn struggle getting friends when you act like me. Even I get annoyed by it, but to drop a bombshell on me like that!"
Slapping his forehead in disgrace, Subaru's character has been accurately written off by Emilia in one fell swoop. Emilia again noticed that face of Subaru's and took pity by trying to reassure him instead.
"But I will admit you haven't been much of a bad boy though."
But by saying 'bad boy' she could've sworn that Subaru almost teared up with dishonor but managed to hold it back, this was starting to get out of control for Emilia. Subaru hated the words she spoke to him, to have his character unintentionally shredded to bits whilst being treated like a child made him confused on whether he should be furious or lamenting at what she said.
"Why? Why do you act like I'm so much younger than you!? There shouldn't be that many differences between us, right!?"
Taken aback by Subaru's outburst of frustration, Emilia had to give up that information that would most likely break up their recently formed bond.
"Well you may think that I'm young like you but you'd be wrong…because…because I'm actually a half-elf."
The deal breaker for Subaru finally came and his frustration with her has completely boiled over the edge. Upon hearing that, Subaru's face contorted into something Emilia considered to be bleakness.
"Wait…did you just say half…elf?"
"I was really expecting a reaction like that, yes...I'm a half-elf."
Putting her hand to her other arm which showed Subaru how uncomfortable she felt at this moment, he could tell that it pained her to admit that. Almost like she knew that he wouldn't like her anymore.
"Then what's the other half?"
"Human."
At the recoil of having been interacting with someone who'd be considered a demi-human this whole time, Subaru mentally punched himself for being dumb enough to not notice the pointy ears she had, then he promptly attempted to go into denial.
"I really find her attractive…I really did, but she's a half breed. That makes her a demi-human like those stinking other ones that I've met…but should I make an exception? An exception for elves? Why do I not get along with half breeds...it's because their foreigner blood would dilute my children, right? Make their behavior worse, their performance worse…but she doesn't seem like that at all. Would someone like her make my future worse? That should be impossible…because she really seems like a nice woman."
If Emilia had a glow to Subaru's eyes, it would've faded away by now. Snapped out of his thoughts by her sudden voice, Subaru stared at her with a blank expression.
"My response caused you pain, didn't it?"
Subaru knew that even in denial, he will always know that such a girl named Emilia is a demi-human. Someone he'd have to put off limits for himself, he's had a nationalistic code inside him for sometime now and abandoning it at the first chance of getting with a girl would be a complete coward's move to Subaru.
"It really did…'half-breed'."
To take away her identity was Subaru's next plan of action for forgetting who Emilia is. Their bond could not last any longer, even if he tried. He was sure of it, that his heart was too black for it to be upkept.
"Half-breed…"
She knew what's to come now, she risked getting a negative reaction out of Subaru by telling the truth and she got exactly that.
"Now that you've told me your little heritage secret."
Even if he had the unsavory quality of discriminating people on the regular, It still pained Subaru to admit it, but–
"That's what my opinion of you has become, that you're just a half-breed."
Emilia tears up from hearing those words, to think she had been so close to being with a person who wouldn't hate her for her appearance, who didn't immediately look at her with disdain. She was wrong to think that. In light of it, Puck comes out of her crystal. His face wrought with visible disappointment.
"Acting cold now? You were a promising man, Subaru. I wouldn't normally blame you though since Lia's appearance is far too similar to the infamous witch…however you told us that you're not from this world, even I confirmed it. So tell us, why do you not like my daughter?"
"Why do I dislike her all of a sudden? I obviously don't understand why everybody is scared specifically of half-elves but I could tell you this. It's the fact that she's elvish, that is what I don't like."
Processing those words, Puck's emotion turned from disappointment to contempt.
"So you're one of those people."
Said with the absolute most disdain Subaru has ever heard in his life. Even in worlds not of your own, Puck realized people could not escape from the same issue.
"One of those?"
"It's like this world thinks there's not enough people that hold hatred towards demi-humans, let alone my daughter."
As Subaru notices Puck's voice turning more enraged, he begins to feel colder. Subaru realizes that he isn't just feeling himself getting colder, but that something like frost is actually being directed towards him from Puck's direction. Soon enough, as he violently begins to shiver, the tips of his finger begin to freeze. Emilia soon realizes Subaru's state and is horrified by what Puck is doing to him.
"Puck, stop it! That's enough!"
"And why should I, Lia!?"
If Emilia did not act fast enough, the growing amount of frost would cover the entirety of Subaru's body and kill him in broad daylight.
"Subaru is justified to hate me! So please, stop it!"
Puck's face could be seen showing an extensive amount of anguish, anguish over how his daughter just takes those insults, and has been conditioned to the point where she finds the hatred of herself to be even tolerable. This is the life that Emilia has been forced to live, and Puck despises that this is what's in store for his daughter's future. Constant fear or hatred from others.
"Fine, but do not ever get attached to vermin like him again, Lia."
With a memorable experience given to Subaru, Puck goes back inside Emilia's crystal. Subaru has forever ruined his chance to start a relationship with Emilia in any friendly capacity. Subaru pondered upon why Emilia cared to save him, even calling it justified to hate her.
"Was she conditioned for this? Has she faced this all her life? I must look like a real dick right now."
The thoughts of guilt concerning Subaru's mind, he knows he shouldn't act like this but he'd still rather do so rather than grow past his flaws.
"I'm really sorry about that Subaru, it's…it's fine if you don't like me for being a half elf, really. I understand."
Subaru feels the guilt creeping on his back, she must've surely faced many incidents like these to have been stigmatized. Subaru questioned whether he should be sorry or not for the treatment for Emilia, he certainly would've called it a betrayal.
"We should just get back on our search alright Subaru?"
But Emilia doesn't ask for an apology, she thinks that she doesn't need one nor deserves one. So Subaru decides not to be sorry, she doesn't want him to be either way. Gulping down the shame, he moves back onto the important objective that they worked for.
"We've haven't got a clue on where that insignia of yours is being held so we should probably stop walking around aimlessly and think of a plan first."
"What do you mean?"
"Like going back to the scene of the crime, where exactly was your insignia stolen?"
Swiftly arriving back at the fruit merchant's stand, Subaru began to question Kadomon.
"And then she told me it was right around here so I told her to leave everything to me."
"I thought I had a customer but you're that broke kid from earlier."
"Haven't you seen the new acquaintance I've got with me? If you help us answer some questions she might become a regular customer."
In an effort to bring out the answers, Subaru made an obvious lie in a playful tone.
"Subaru, I'm not sure what you expected of me but I don't have any money either."
"Look boy I don't have time to answer any questions for not one, but two broke customers so I'll tell you this again, get out of here!"
"Hey mister!"
The familiar voice of a small girl entering Subaru's ears, he turned his head to face it and saw the same girl who'd found her mother from earlier.
"Thanks for your help earlier."
The mother of the lost girl bowed to Subaru and Emilia in appreciation of their efforts.
"Why're you back here?"
"It's my husband's shop so we just wanted to stop by."
"Hey, there's my girl!"
The lost girl, now reunited with her father, jumps into Kadomon's arms with joy.
"Now wait a second, how do you know these two broke kids?"
"She got lost and these two helped bring her back to me."
"Thanks again lady, here."
As the child approaches Emilia, she offers her a flower as a gift.
"She was hoping we'd find you so please accept that token as a way of gratitude for what you've done."
"Thank you very much."
Pinning that flower onto her dress, at least some people looked past her appearance and still treated her with kindness.
"Sorry about that from before, I'd like to show you appreciation for helping my daughter so go ahead and ask me anything."
With the approval of Kadomon, Emilia's face turned bright with relief. She'd done something Subaru couldn't have accomplished.
"There you see, a little bit of time 'wasted' and some extra effort put in came back around and worked in our favor."
With her triumphant attitude putting Subaru in his place, he thought that maybe he was wrong to think the way he did. So a more important thought atop of that arises in his head, 'is Emilia a better person than me'? Thinking about it for a few more seconds, the answer was clear to Subaru. Yes.
Getting the information they needed from Kadomon, the duo walked into the slums district of the capital.
"This place really is a travesty, you're sure the thief who stole my insignia is out here?"
She rarely ever made visits to rundown areas like these, and it pained her to know all of these people lived in horrible conditions. Something she'd be sure to fix once she wins the royal selection.
"That vendor told me the thief's name is Felt and that she lives out here in the slums, hope he got the right person."
"Maybe someone will tell us if we ask."
"Or we could come back later, it's getting late."
"I'd ask Puck but I don't believe he's in a good mood right now. It is getting rather late so I'll just leave him to continue resting."
"So should we come back tomorrow?"
"No, we need to keep moving forward on this."
"So how are we gonna find Felt now?"
"I can contact the lesser spirits."
"Lesser spirits?"
"They're not full fledged spirits like Puck, they grow little by little overtime and when they grow enough strength and self awareness then they can become full fledged spirits."
Stopping in her tracks. Bright orbs surround Emilia as she contacts them for direction, and Subaru stares at her in astonishment. Even after learning about her unfavorable demi-human heritage, she's still an extreme beauty, possibly the most beautiful woman Subaru has laid his eyes on.
"Should I really make an exception for her? Should I even consider her to be someone lesser than me? Even if I do make an exception, It's no use now…I already jacked up the relationship with her father. No chance in hell I could recover from that if I wanted to."
Subaru wasn't sure if he should consider these thoughts of his to be questioning or regret.
Emilia continues on the path, telling Subaru that they need to keep going. So they keep going, and the sunsets on them, leaving them in the night.
"It's getting more desolate and quiet."
"Hard to believe she actually lives out here."
"I know, but the lesser spirits specifically said they saw someone who looks like Felt headed in this direction."
Noticing a passerby, this is Subaru's chance to finally track down that damn thief for good.
"Excuse me man, know where a girl named Felt would be?"
"Felt? There's nothing that way except Old Man Rom's loothouse, I guess she must have stolen something pretty important for you two to come out here. Well I wish you luck on bargaining to try and get it back. Live strong ok?"
With the passerby waving his hand goodbye to the duo, Subaru looks at him with unease. That same motto that Felt uses, it must be a slums slogan.
Finally tracking down the loothouse to its exact spot, a sense of relief washes over both Subaru and Emilia. Their long and strenuous efforts throughout the entire day have borne fruit.
"What was he talking about? Why do I have to pay money to get back something stolen from me?"
"Don't worry about it, I can handle the negotiations."
"Then I entrust you to handle this, even if you don't like me I wish you the best of luck Subaru."
"Sure, sure, but don't come in until I say so, Emilia."
Subaru turns his head back around one last time and notices her unresponsive state.
"What's the matter?"
"It's just that…after finishing all of this, this'll be our final time together, right? You told me you're from beyond the great waterfall…and I just want you to know that I truly wish you the best of luck on your way from here."
Sorry. Sorry is what Subaru felt for the time being. She, throughout the entire day, has shown nothing but respect and good intentions for Subaru. Even though Subaru practically spat in her face with contempt and was unrepentant about it. Sorry is what Subaru will feel for her, just this once. This, however, is not a sign of remorse. Subaru is still distasteful of her kind, for demi-humans.
Taking the words of Emilia into mind, Subaru opens the door and begins searching the loothouse for Felt and Old Man Rom. Hovering his lamp around the area, everything was covered in darkness from the night. Nothing had been lit and yet so many things just lay against the walls, with not a single noise being heard by Subaru except the cracks of the floorboards.
"So am I walking into a snake pit or a saw trap, there's all these stolen goods but it sounds like nobody is here to guard it."
Continuing to walk, Subaru stops at a slow halt when he notices the sounds of puddles his feet were pressing against. Looking down to see what he stepped onto, Subaru's face quickly turns heel into fear.
"Wait…is all of this…b-blood?"
Stammering out the words from his mouth, this was starting to get very unnerving. Furthermore, Subaru looks back up and notices the corpse of Rom who's appearance had been lit by Subaru's lamp, his mouth gushing out with blood onto his brutally mangled body.
"What the fuck, oh what the fuck, what the fuck."
Hyperventilating upon seeing a corpse in person for the first time, the state of the corpse he stared at was similar to those if not worse than what he'd seen on gore sites.
"Oh dear you found that?"
A new voice of a female coming out from the shadows put Subaru into a state of physical lockdown. Like a deer staring at the headlights of a car, Subaru, feeling unable to move out of fear, struggles to overcome the shock he feels to turn his head around and look behind him to find out who said that.
"Well I have no choice then, no choice at all."
Subaru's death sentence had been given by her voice. Unable to clearly identify any distinguishing parts of the woman, Subaru is only able to notice the glowing purple blood-hungry eyes of hers before he's slashed open from the shadows and began tumbling onto the floor.
"It…burns."
Staring back down at his abdomen, Subaru notices the gaping wound that's spouting out a pool of blood from his stomach.
"What the fuck is happening, what the fuck is happening, what the–agh–aha–ahh."
Incoherently stammering out words of fear until his neck is clogged with his own blood, Subaru turns to thinking out his words.
"This is bad, this is really bad, I'm really gonna die here."
"Subaru, What's wrong, are you ok?"
Emilia's voice coming from the outside as she gets into the loot house, if Subaru wanted to at least give her another chance at life he'd have to frantically plead to her to get out before it's too late.
"You idiot, don't come in here, you'll die!"
He wished he could shout that out to her, to at least save her from death. But something like that was only limited to his thoughts. Frantically coughing out the blood from his mouth, he had to do something for her, to return the favor.
"Stop…don't come in…get out…run…away."
Struggling to say the most basic of words, Emilia is unable to hear Subaru's pleas and continues walking into the loothouse until she herself gets cut down in the back by the shadowy woman and instantly drops dead on the floor next to Subaru.
"You stupid half breed…"
Regret. Regret. Regret. He couldn't save her. He couldn't do even an act of kindness for her.
"Why didn't you listen to….me."
Reaching out for her hand, Subaru wanted to feel warmth in the midst of the fleeting cold and numbness before dying.
"Why does see..ing you hurt...make my heart…feel…feel...so…awful?"
Holding and squeezing Emilia's hand in desperation, it was to be his last memory before death. So many things he could've done, so many things he didn't have enough time for.
"Why does it hurt…..Satella?"
Breathing out his final words, Subaru didn't have enough time to realize why he had spoken out a name he'd never heard before instead of Emilia. It was too late for those thoughts anyway. Because he was already dead.
At that moment, Subaru Natsuki had lost his life.
Author's note: I was originally set to write about this scenario until the end of arc 1, but decided that there should also be an aftermath or two afterwards. I still haven't fully thought through how it'll end but I know for certain it won't end like in the canon route. I didn't have a beta reader this time.