His flip phone began ringing and playing a tune as Subaru groggily woke up before realizing what day it was: His date with Emilia!

"It's time to rise and shine on this beautiful world!" he expressed happily as he stood up on his bed, finger pointed to the ceiling as if declaring to the world that nothing wrong was going to happen. He got down from his bed and did a scent check, satisfied that he didn't smell rank, well, rank enough where he need a good heated shower or bath. Still, he decided to go to the baths and take a heated bath, scrubbing himself clean by himself with no interruptions. After drying himself off, he went back to his room and put on his butler uniform, the clothing feeling nice against his skin. "Rem-rin really did a good job sewing it," he noted to himself in front of his mirror, smoothing out his features with a bright grin, his hair still slightly damp.

He walked his way down to the kitchen, where Rem and Ram were already working on breakfast. He joined them in cooking, thankfully having an easy time as it was breakfast, it wasn't too complicated. He sizzled the bacon and toasted the bread on the stovetop, humming to himself delightfully.

"What's got you in such a good mood, Subaru-kun?" Rem asked, looking over to him.

Subaru raised an eyebrow at the honorific change before deciding to ignore it as he answered, "I'm going on a date with Emilia-tan today after all the chores are done!"

"'Date?'" Rem asked, looking to her sister for context, only to get a shrug from Ram.

"A date is when two people go somewhere together, see and experience the same things and stuff like that. And no, I didn't go on a date with Ram yesterday, that doesn't count!" he added hastily, seeing Ram sigh in relief.

"I won't pretend to understand your inane words, stupid Barusu, but don't forget that we have another lesson at eight tonight," she reminded, tending to the eggs.

Subaru flipped the bacon and now the sausage that he added just now, looking over all the food they were making and seeing some items missing. "I'm a little afraid to ask, but you guys do have french toast, right?" he asked.

"'French toast,' Subaru-kun?" Rem inquired.

Subaru faked gasped as he wordlessly got a bowl from one of the drawers and some of the milk from the old-fashioned refrigerator that used a big block of ice to freeze the perishables. He cracked four eggs into the bowl and poured some milk into the concoction, mixing it together until it became one. He got some bread and splashed it inside the batter, putting it on the stovetop and doing it several more times until the big pan was covered in french toast.

"That smells serviceable, Barusu," Ram said stoically, watching him make the food.

"We have syrup, right?"

"Of course we do, Subaru-kun," Rem answered, taking it out and placing it nearby him. She watched him flip the modified bread after it browned, then took them out and placed them on the plates, adding a tab of butter onto each of them. He then got condiment cups and poured a good serving of syrup into each one.

"Ready to deliver, Rem-rin and Ram-senpai!" Subaru made a mock salute before carrying the food out to the hungry residents of the mansion. He placed a plate of fried eggs, bacon, sausage, and french toast in front of Roswaal, who looked upon the last item with interest. The maids sat down with their plate of food, with Subaru sitting down last with his own plate.

"Suuuuuubaru-kun, you keep surprising us with these newwwwwwwwww food items! What is this one callllllllled?" Roswaal asked, taking off his right glove due to seeing the syrup, his hands as white as his powdered face.

"Yeah, what is this weird bread?" Puck asked, floating over to Emilia's plate to check it out.

"It's called french toast, and it's super tasty! Dip it into your syrup for a good time!" Subaru enthused, watching as Emilia, once again, ventured and tried the new food. She moaned in delight at the taste, quickly dipping her french toast back into the syrup and eating it completely. Roswaal copied her and tried it as well, humming in delight.

"Nee-sama, this is incredible! Subaru-kun has outdone himself again," Rem encouraged to her sister, who similarly took a bite.

Ram's eyes widened by a comical degree before she schooled her expression, saying, "It's alright."

"Don't be like that, Ram-senpai~" the young man teased, wiggling his eyebrows, "Just be honest with yourself and enjoy it!"

"Stop being ridiculous, stupid Barusu," Ram insulted before swiftly taking another syrup-infused bite of french toast, enjoying it immensely while not letting it show on her face.

It was quiet at the table as almost everyone was eating, even Puck who rarely ate and was stealing some food from his dear daughter. Once everyone was done or was full Emilia asked, "Subaru, what time should we do our 'date?'"

"More nonsensical words, I suppose," Beatrice commented, playing with her hair as she waited for Puck to come back to her.

"Once I'm done with all the chores I have to do we'll do it, Emilia-tan. So sometime around 12 to 1, I think," he guessed.

"Making plans without innnnnnnnnnnnnnvoling me, Subaru-kun and Emilia-sama?" Roswaal said with his usual drawl. "I jest, have funnnnnnnn you two. Don't do anything I wouldn't doooooooo."

Subaru nodded with a huge grin as he and Rem/Ram collected everyone's plates and brought it back to the kitchen to wash, the young man getting right to it to get it out of the way. He scrubbed with purpose, with zeal until it was finished and he was free from one more chore. "Rem-rin, what else is on the agenda today?"

"Subaru-kun, take the day off. Have fun on your date with Emilia-sama," Rem told him with a small smile, her sister sighing at the extra work they'd have to do to make up for the young teen.

"YES! Thank you, Rem-rin! What time is it?"

"A quarter to 8:00, Barusu."

"Sweet! That gives me time to scout out the landscape for my date!" he declared before racing to his room and putting on his cheap tracksuit that was one of the few items he had from his original world. Now donning his trademark tracksuit he practically ran to Arlam Village, wanting to make good on time.

He arrived with little fanfare, if you didn't count the children who rushed him. Like the snot-nosed brats they were, they picked on poor Subaru, pulling him in all directions and wiping their nose on him. One of them (Petra) even gave him a chaste peck on the cheek, grinning happily after she did so like she accomplished something major.

"Subaru-chan is back!"

"Yay, he's back!"

"But where's the silver-haired lady he was with?"

"What about the blue one?"

"Guys guys! Calm down, it's just me! I'm scouting for a date today," Subaru explained as he crouched to be eye-level with the kids before delving into the specifics of what a date actually was.

"Oooh, I want to go on a date with you, Subaru-chan!" Petra loud and proudly proclaimed, not seeing anything wrong with it.

"Maybe in another decade or so, Petra-chan," he suggested, patting her head fondly. "Now, I'm going on a date with the silver-haired lady, Emilia-tan, as a fusion. Don't worry, you'll know it when you see it. I need to know where all the breathtakingly good spots are, alright? So spill your secret, kids."

"Oh oh! There's a flower field in that direction!" one of the kids said excitedly while pointing to a direction in the forest.

Another kid said, "Oooh! If you go to old lady Palmer she has sweetrolls she makes for everyone around noon! She hands them out like crazy, no sharing required!"

"That sounds good! Never had a 'sweetroll' before but I'm welcome to try it as Virgo," Subaru noted, stroking his chin in thought.

"Who or what is Virgo?" Petra asked cutely.

"I have a superpower, check it out!" the dark-haired teen said before showing what was on his belly button. The kids "oohed" and "awwwed" at it, one of them going as far to touch and prod at it. "This rock, or is it a mineral? Whatever it is, it allows me to turn into one being with another person, or at least I think I can do it with someone else besides Emilia-tan."

"Woah, that's so cool!" Petra exclaimed happily. "Can you do it with me?!"

"Um, I don't know…it's kinda intimate. It's for big girls, sorry."

"Phooey."

"Alright, I spent enough time gathering intel from you guys. Thanks a lot, but I gotta go!" Subaru told them, getting up from his crouch to go back to the mansion, fully intent to make this day the best it could be.

"Subaru, are you ready?" Emilia asked with her bell-like voice, wearing her usual robes. The two of them were standing in the central foyer of Roswaal's mansion, both of them nervous for different reasons. Nearby was a pair of shoes fit for someone with much bigger feet than normal people and a rucksack that was full of sandwich-making supplies.

"One-hundred percent, Emilia-tan! Ready to dance?" he asked as he held out a hand like a gentleman.

"No music from your metia?" she asked as she took his hand, the two of them dancing slowly in the foyer. They swayed around the room, hands intertwined making the young man blush from the contact.

"I want to see if we can do it without it," Subaru fetched his idea as they continued dancing. After about thirty or so seconds a purple light engulfed them, leaving behind a "singular" being.

Virgo blinked open their eyes, testing their hands and their appendages as they breathed in and out slowly. Everything they felt was magnified by ten, it feels like. Simply breathing was a novel experience. They noticed their feet were bare, both pairs of shoes off to the side of where they were standing. The fusion walked over to the large pair of shoes and put them on, finding they fit like a glove. After stowing away their shoes into the rucksack they donned it as they made their way to the village, enjoying the walk.

"What do think so far, Emilia-tan?" Virgo asked themself.

"I think it's nice, so far at least," the fusion answered themself.

Their murky blue eyes scanned the environment like a hawk, noticing all the furry little creatures scurrying about. The clouds were white and puffy, with no chance of raining anytime soon. The path they traveled on was worn from use, making the trek manageable.

"I feel so…so real," Virgo breathed out. "Sometimes I don't feel like Subaru or Emilia, like I'm my own person, like right now," the fusion thought aloud as they reached the foothold of Arlam Village. They smelled a confectionery smell, reminding a part of Virgo of cinnamon buns from his original world. It smelled heavenly as the fusion followed their new sensitive nose over to an old lady handing out sweetrolls. She had white hair done up in a bun, with age evident on her face. She was at a stand with trays of sweetrolls ready to be handed out, sitting patiently for her friends/other villagers to arrive.

"Oh my, a new face around here, and a male half-elf at that! Why, back in my day I'd never seen a half-elf other than the Royal Candidate Emilia-sama," the old lady droned on and on. "But you don't want to hear me go on about that, do you? Here, have a sweetroll," Old Lady Palmer handed over two sweetrolls to the tall fusion. "Enjoy, dearie!"

"Sweet, two sweetrolls! One for me and one…for…uh, me," Virgo said as they took a bite out of one of them, confirming that yes, they were cinnamon buns, and they were made perfectly. Virgo moaned at the taste. The fusion paused in place as they looked down at the pair of sweetrolls in their hands, holding them side by side. "Are you okay? We can stop if—no no, it's good," Virgo answered themself. They began walking before they were suddenly surrounded by little kids, looking up to their tall stature in awe while blushing from their beauty.

"Is that Virgo?" one of the kids asked.

"It kinda looks like Subaru-chan and the silver-haired lady together!" another kid noted.

"Is this that superpower that Subaru-chan mentioned?!" Petra asked before rudely pulling up the tracksuit/robe from Virgo's stomach, revealing their gemstone. "It is Subaru-chan! With the silver-haired lady!"

"Hey, Petra-chan," Virgo greeted, deciding that since she was a little kid she had some leeway for being rude. "It's me and Emilia-chan, watch!" the fusion said before another light engulfed them, leaving behind Emilia and Subaru, both wearing one large shoe on their feet, the latter wearing the rucksack.

"Woah! That's so cool! Do it again!"

Emilia and Subaru began dancing, much to the kids' confusion before they fused again in 25 seconds, getting faster every time. They turned back into Virgo, getting a round of applause from the kids.

"Sorry, but we have to leave; we are on a date, afterall," Virgo told them before swiftly leaving for the flower field that one of the kids told Subaru about. They went in that direction, thankfully finding a dirt path to the location before they stumbled upon it.

A grassy green hill covered with flowers of different varieties, the sun high overhead shining down on them. Virgo discussed it with themselves before they unfused, Emilia taking out the plates from the rucksack and Subaru taking out the bread and ham, cheese, salami, and baloney, along with a small homemade bottle of mayo. The duo worked together to make the perfect sandwiches, eating them once they were created.

With bellies full Subaru remarked as he laid back on the grass, watching as Emilia did the same but facing the opposite direction, their heads so close that it made the boy blush. "The sky sure is pretty. What do you think of it, Emilia-tan?"

"I think that it's serene, that it's unmarred by the pollution from the city areas," Emilia answered, breathing deeply from the unpolluted air. "You can literally taste the difference between the two."

"I guess so," Subaru lamely argreed, folding his hands and resting it on his stomach.

"Subaru? Why are you so nice to me?" she suddenly asked without warning. "I mean, you've done so much for me and you've barely known me for a week and—"

"Because you've saved me before," he interrupted her gently, turning his head slightly to look her in her amethyst eyes. "A week or so ago, back in the capital, when you were searching for your insignia, you saved me when I was getting ganged up on by these three grunts. You didn't have any time to save me, you didn't have a good reason to help me, yet you helped anyways."

"Huh? I don't remember that. The first time we met was in the loot house," she corrected, a confused look on her face.

"I've been…keeping something from you, from all the mansion," Subaru began, taking a deep breath before confessing, "I've been going back in time every time I've died, having done so three times by now." Emilia was silent as he continued, "I call it Return by Death, and I have no idea if it has limitations or whatnot, but I know I have checkpoints, I think."

"Checkpoints?"

"Checkpoints are locations in a video game where a player character respawns after death. In my case it's where I return in time when I died."

"I don't…this is…" she tried and failed to articulate the words that conveyed what she was feeling/thinking. "Can you show me?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"As Virgo?" he questioned before saying, "It's not for the faint of heart, Emilia-tan. Dying isn't pleasant, trust me," he warned before sitting up, "You still want to see?"

"I'm positive, Subaru," she confirmed before the both of them stood up and began dancing without music. It was a slow waltz, their feet moving in between each other as they smiled at each other. Twenty or so seconds into the dance a bright light engulfed them, leaving behind one person: Virgo.

They were wearing Subaru's tracksuit jacket over the attire of Emilia's, however the sage-like clothing still shown through with it bleeding into the arms of the jacket, making them look quite stylish as a result. They were barefoot again as the fusion had a look of concentration on their face. "Okay, Emilia-tan, bear with me for a second," he told her through their shared mouth. After a couple of moments he managed to pull up the memory of being jumped by the three grunts.

Emilia saving him.

Him helping her.

Helping the little girl with the coin trick.

Getting his belly sliced in the loot house by Elsa, Emilia falling down soon after.

It went on and on like that, showing Emilia all of his memories up until the meeting in the loot house on the fourth loop where they finally beat Elsa with the help (and total domination) of Reinhard.

It all took over five minutes, but by the end Virgo was crying profusely, snot bubbles building up. "Subaru? You went through all that pain, all that heartache…for me? All because I saved you once?" Virgo asked themself.

"Yes, Emilia-tan. How could I not try to save you if I knew you were gonna die?" the fusion asked incredulously. "It was worth it though, every second of it."

"Subaru…you're too kind. How can you withstand dying like that and not go insane? Hell, I feel like I'll insane after we unfuse."

"Don't you dare, Emilia-tan! What I went through is what I went through, not you. You are still alive and okay, you've got to take each day one step at a time," Virgo lectured to themself.

"Can we unfuse?"

"Of course," Virgo answered themself as the fusion glowed brightly, turning into a purple silhouette of themself before splitting back into Emilia and Subaru, the both of them standing. Both of them were tearing up, though this was against Subaru's will as it was done by proxy. Emilia, as soon as she got control of her facilities, rushed him and hugged him tightly, a little too tightly.

"Ow ow!" he complained, trying to pry off his crush to no avail.

"You're okay, Subaru. I'll make sure you never get hurt again," she naively promised, making him smile.

"It feels good to get that off my back," he said, relief flooding his system. "Thanks for listening."

"Of course, Subaru. Do you think you should tell the others at the mansion?" she asked him, thankfully releasing him from the tight hug.

"Maybe? I say we should tell one person and then go from there."

"But who though?"

"Hmm…I've got it!" he snapped his fingers, grinning proudly at his clever thinking.

"Hey, Beako!" Subaru greeted as he breached the powerful magic Door Crossing like it was nothing, making game devs everywhere shudder in despair; he peeked his head in and didn't see the librarian immediately, making him worried as he ventured further into the library. "Beako?" he called out before hearing a slight "omph!" noise near the back as he navigated to the source of the commotion. He found Beatrice trying to reach for a book, jumping up a bit to try to bridge the gap to little success. Subaru helped her as he correctly grabbed the book and passed it to the small great spirit, who took it without saying even a single "thank you," which made the young man sigh in fondness at her behavior. "Why didn't you answer when I called for you?" he asked casually.

"I was hoping you'd leave when I didn't respond, I suppose."

"Typical tsundere loli trope," he quipped.

"I do not know nor like the words you use to define me! I find it offensive, I suppose!" Beatrice yelled as she walked over to her seat in the center of the library, facing the entrance to the room. "What do you need?" she sighed, knowing that if she catered to him then he'd leave faster and stop making her feel all weird inside herself.

"Emilia-tan and I agreed that I tell you this, seeing as you're all-knowing about magic," he began, steeling his resolve as his face grew serious. "Beatrice," he said firmly, getting the attention of the one he wanted by using her real name, "I can Retur—"

…

…

…

…time was stopped.

Nothing was moving, nothing was breathing. The air particles that were ever present in every room stopped moving as a purple and black hand emerged from thin air from an equally purple and black portal.

"What the hell? What's going on?" Subaru asked himself as the hand snaked its way over to him who was helpless to stop it as it passed through his body and tenderly stroked his heart. "It's acting…familiar?" he thought to himself. The purple/black hand did so for a couple of seconds before squeezing, giving him unimaginable pain as he felt like his heart was going to be crushed. It squeezed and squeezed until suddenly the pain disappeared, as if it was never there to begin with, and time resumed.

"Bleh! You stink worse than normal now, I suppose!" Beatrice claimed, closing her nose to not smell the witch on him, not knowing what happened in between.

Subaru panted audibly, trying to catch his breath as he shuddered fearfully. "That was scary!"

"What was scary, I suppose?"

"Nothing, nothing," he dismissed her question, wanting to see Emilia immediately and tell her of his findings. If he was correct, which let's face it he probably wasn't, he couldn't tell people about Return by Death if he hasn't fused with them.

That was eye-opening, at least.

"Subaru, what's wrong?" Emilia asked as soon as he entered, Puck floating off her shoulder to appraise him.

The young man was out of breath as if he had just run here, looking at the great spirit imploringly as he requested, "Puck, this is a private matter I need to discuss with Emilia-tan. Sorry!"

"Whatever you say to her can be said to me," Puck countered while crossing his arms. "What do you need to tell her?"

"Puck, if Subaru says he needs to talk to me privately then I'm sure it's a private thing. I trust him on that," Emilia told her father figure gently but firmly, a determined look on her face.

The Great Spirit of Fire sighed before giving in and saying, "Fine, I'll be with Beatrice for a while. Don't do anything with her or I'll know," he warned before floating out of the room, leaving the two young people alone.

"I can't tell Beako about Return by Death," Subaru blurted out when Emilia closed the door on Puck, her having a shocked look on her face at the news. "I have almost no idea why I can't, except maybe because I fused? I have no idea!" he freaked out, hyperventilating as he pulled on his hair.

"Calm down, Subaru," Emilia "expertly" tried, pulling him in for a hug that immediately made him melt in all the right ways. She somehow manage to reposition each other until they were sitting on the bed; or rather, Emilia was sitting with her lap exposed while Subaru laid his head on it.

"Is this…a lap pillow?" Subaru asked her as he craned his neck to look at her.

"Don't read too much into it! And no looking up here!" she hastily told him, turning his head back so it was facing a wall instead of her respectable bosom. "So you weren't able to tell Beatrice-sama about your death slash dying ability?"

"Return by Death, and no, I wasn't. Time stopped, literally; it stopped completely. I couldn't move or speak, but I could still see for some reason? I don't know. What I do know is that there was this weird purplish black hand thingie that came out of nowhere and caressed my heart before trying to squeeze it to death," he revealed, feeling good that he could tell someone about this, otherwise it'd be bottled up and he'd potentially self-harm to relieve the stress.

"That sounds bonkers," Emilia commented as she threaded her hand through his well-shampooed hair.

"Who says 'bonkers' anymore? That's an archaic word or something like that," he joked before he remembered the experience with Beatrice again. He shivered uncontrollably, which didn't go unnoticed by Emilia who shushed reassuringly to him like a baby.

"There there, it's okay. Are you tired?"

"No, I'm totally fine," he lied convincingly.

"I'm sure you're troubled," Emilia countered, a soft expression on her face.

"If you're this nice to me, I'm gonna fall in love with you…when you…I mean…like that…" he weakly joked, being pushed to his breaking point.

"It's been rough, hasn't it?" she whispered close into his right ear.

Subaru practically had an out-of-body experience when all the deaths and turmoil he had experienced in the span of two weeks, two weeks came crashing down on him and he began to tear up, his salty tears falling onto her knees. "It was rough. You saw it, but I didn't let you experience it, not like I did. It was so painful. I was so scared. I was so sad…it hurt so much that I thought I'd die!" he whispered heart-wrenchingly.

"Let it all out," Emilia encouraged.

"Trying to save you, even when I couldn't even read the language of this world, was hell! I never ever want to die again, it scares me! But it's one of the few powers I have besides some debuff magic and mana-enhancing my body! I'm not strong like Rem-rin or Reinhard; I'm not proficient in magic like you, Puck, or Beako; and I'm completely clueless in this world! The kids in Arlam Village know more about Lugnica than I do! They can read better than I can!" he lamented sadly, crying profusely into his lap pillow. "And I want to cry and complain about everything, but I can't without losing my cool and status…"

"Subaru, it's okay. Sure, maybe you're beyond the great waterfall and maybe you don't know much about the world, but Ram-san is teaching you every day, right?" He nodded his head. "You'll learn to read and write soon, and you can practice with me and Puck and maybe even Beatrice-sama on how to better utilize your gate and magic. Maybe even I can take Ram-san's place and help you out with the reading and writ—Subaru?" she asked, looking down at the sleeping teen in her lap. "Rest well, Subaru."

"Emilia-sama, dinner is…served?" Rem faltered in both step and speaking when she stumbled across the scene. The blue-haired maid was holding a tray of onion soup with crackers, waiting to be delivered to the Royal Candidate currently housed at Roswaal L. Mathers' mansion.

"Ssssh, Rem-san," Emilia whispered, stroking the sleeping boy's head. "He's doing better, if you want to know."

"That's good, but he smells slightly worse than usual. Just a bit, but noticeable," Rem noted, her nose moving cutely as she scrutinized the smell, placing the tray onto the desk. "Do you know why Subaru-kun smells more like the witch today? He wasn't like that earlier."

Emilia paused in her ministrations, debating whether to tell the maid and wondering if the consequences go for the silver-haired teen as well.

"No idea," she lied, continuing her massage of his scalp.

Rem and her talked for a bit before the maid left, leaving Emilia alone with her friend sleeping away on her lap.