Disclaimer: I do not own Re:Zero or Oregairu

Hachiman could not feel his limbs, the pain was gone but it was like they were not even connected, like some foreign entity.

"Its because they are being healed."

A very handsome man was sitting in front of him.

"Twisting damage is harder to deal with than cuts. Healing uses blood as a medium so damaged joints need to be set right first before using magic."

"Uhm, thank you ..."

'Wait! Green hair. Shit!'

"Are you the son of Betelguese!"

"... I am Betelguese."

"..."

The mood turned awkward. He had to say something to fix this.

"You've aged well."

"... Its a mental projection. Its how I view myself, how I would have been. Besides, I am a spirit, earth elemental one. My outward appearance is but a reflection of my mental state. But that's a moot point. I can communicate with you like this only because I am still possessing you."

His heart tuned cold. It looked like the torture wasn't over yet.

"So why are you not making me play twister?"

"What's twist... , no that is not important. I have regained my sanity but it may be temporary. You should find someone to purify me from you. I don't know how to end my possession anymore than how to separate myself from the witch factor. The only solutions I know are for one of us to die."

"By witch factor, do you mean those invisible hands?"

"They are called unseen hands, the sloth witch factor. It was entrusted to me to keep it safe along with the elves. However I ended up using it after being cornered, despite the fact that I had neither the knowledge, nor the compatibility to use it. This is a just punishment for my sin of betraying that trust."

"Huh, I don't know what is going on but how about you come over so that we can figure out how to keep your sanity?"

"No! I cannot be in presence of Emilia-sama. Not only am I too ashamed to face her but I can only see her as an enemy despite her being my most precious person. Blinding myself allowed me to somewhat beat the illusion but its still too dangerous for me to be anywhere near her."

"That's right! You blinded yourself didn't you! Are you going to be alright?"

"Its not a problem. I can regenerate my eyes but I won't. I can sense anything that is touching earth perfectly without eyes. It is a problem against airborne targets like the whale but my hands would have been useless against it anyway. I mean they are numerous and flexible but they are just hands in the end."

Whale? In the sky? He immediately wondered if there was some sharknedo thing going on but there were more pressing issues.

"I see. I assume you are connected to Emilia in someway? She seemed to know you but also not."

"So she doesn't. I do not know if that is good or bad. No! Its bad! Its fine for me but she has to remember her mother. But she is her mother, wait, no she is not ... Ugh. That's a witch, no, that is a different witch. No, no, no, My memories are all jumbled up, so don't trust anything I am saying."

So someone was using the common term witch to pass off their actions on others? He was reluctantly impressed. It was something he would consider doing.

"I won't. I will keep these things in mind but take them with a grain of salt. So tell me everything you know. Who did this to you, all of you?"

"I can't talk about her, there is some kind of taboo, I think. Just know that her servant, Regulus Corneas is the archbishop of greed and is much stronger than me."

"... That's scary. Its better then to be low profile for now, I guess?"

"Its pointless. The moment Emilia-sama was publicly revealed as a candidate, the wheel started turning. That is why the whale and I were mobilized, there is no going back from this. I would suggest going after archbishop of gluttony instead. If you can defeat him, you may be able to avoid dealing with whale, rabbit and snake. They are just animals driven by instinct and directed by witch factor, they are not smart enough to be inherently evil."

"If you say so."

"I will go into hiding. Hopefully I can be of use to Emilia-sama with my death. I can now relax knowing that she has someone like you by her side."

Was this the good old parental shipping cringe thing? Hachiman wanted to say that he hadn't yet decided whether to join her camp or not. He kept his mouth shut knowing that provoking someone at the edge of sanity would not be a wise course of action. Additionally when the person was suicidal.

"... About that, I have a suggestion. How about you remove the sama and just call her Emilia? From what I have seen from her, she would prefer that. More so if you are someone close to her. Wouldn't it be a much greater sacrifice to overcome your madness and live so that she may get to know you again?"

Betelguese looked at him in confusion, probably wondering why say it with this timing.

This was important for Hachiman as it reminded him of how he used to put Yukinoshita on a pedestal. There were times when she deserved it and times when she didn't, but it never did her any favors.

"Remember that its easy to twist admiration and worship into admonition and hate. Love towards innocent children is much harder to twist into anything, particularly if you have no expectations of them. If you can see her as just Emilia and not whoever you are projecting onto her, then the spell placed on you might break?"

Betelguese stood with a gaping mouth, as if the secrets of the universe had been unveiled before him.

One regret he always had was staying away from her for so long before tragedy had come knocking with the name of Pandora. If Emilia had not been an adventurous child, he might have never even gotten to see her.

If they had allowed her to live as a normal child and played with her, then she may have never become interested in the seal. He could have had years with her if only he saw her for who she was rather than seeing her as his salvation.

"Thank you. I will try but it will not be easy. The shadow of those people is too great in my heart ... but perhaps it is time for me to stop living in the past and look towards the future. Well then, take care ... of Emilia ... sama."

Hachiman slowly opened his eyes and blinked a few times to shake off the blurriness.

Emilia was nowhere to be seen which was expected for him given how busy she must be, but there were twin maids standing at the foot of his bed. Did this Roswaal have a twin fetish? He decided he did not want to know or his thoughts would spiral into R-rated content.

The blue-haired one was looking at him coldly with a guarded face, while the pink-haired one looked smug for some reason. Before either of them could say anything, he heard the words of an irritated child coming from his bedside.

"You are finally awake, I suppose. After wasting so much of Betty's time in healing you, I hope your next injury happens too far from here to be brought to us. Betty will go back to her peaceful secluded library, I suppose."

There was a blonde drill loli sitting by his bedside.