Chapter Two: Death
In the end the girl decided to stay and help the boy out, by using magic. She used it like it was just another Tuesday, she used it like she wasn't bending the laws of reality. I was honestly expecting to come across magic ever since I had come to terms with the fact that I am now in a world where giant lizards, talking cats and demi-humans exist, however that still didn't stop me from vocalizing my fascination with her magic.
"Amazing..."
The girl was kneeling beside the unconscious boy, a soft blue glow emitting from her palms which caused the visible wounds on the boy to close up and disappear like they weren't even there.
"That was amazing", I said in a clearly fascinated voice once she finished healing the boy up. She turned around and seemed to be surprised by my fascination and praise.
"It was just some simple healing magic. It's not that big of a deal", She deflected my praise, and yet I could tell she was pleased with herself. Could it be that she doesn't get many compliments?
Now that she finished healing my fellow earthling we stood in an awkward silence. We were still complete strangers who didn't even know the other person's name, I half expected her to just walk off now that she had no reason to stay but then again, I didn't expect her to actually heal the boy so who knows what she is up to.
"Well, this is awkward", said the floating cat with the same androgynous voice, thankfully I could use that as a chance to break the awkward atmosphere.
"Well, yeah. I mean this is a pretty weird situation"
"Then, in that case let's break the ice, my name is Puck.", Puck said in an excited voice, with a small grin on his face. I must admit his demeanor was rather fun to watch.
"Puck, huh? Well, my name is Igarashi Katsu. Nice to meet you Mr. Floating Cat", I had a similar grin on my face as I introduced myself, making connections was probably going to be the way to survive in this world, and who knows? Maybe I will even get a chance to learn magic, though that seemed more like a farfetched dream than anything.
"Ha! I like this guy. Nice to meet you too Mr. Weird Name.", So my name was unusual here huh? Why am I surprised this is literally a different world from mine.
I then turned to the silver haired girl, who was silently watching the exchange between me and Puck, "So... your turn?", I said in a slightly questioning voice, does she not want to share her name?
"Um, Yes, my name is...my name is Satella.", Her voice was just a touch above a whisper, and she spoke without even meeting my eyes.
Her attitude along with Puck's shocked face, simply told me that she was hiding something. Did she usually not tell people her name? Or maybe she just gave me a fake name? But the bigger question is why? Whatever it was there was defiantly something off about the whole thing. But I still decided to look past it and continue like it was nothing, cause for all I know it could have been really nothing of importance.
"Well, nice to meet you Satella-san. I am Igarashi Katsu." I extended my hand in a simple greeting gesture, with a smile on my face, despite everything she seems like a genuinely good person, so hopefully I can...befriend her? Nah that sounds stupid and hopeful, and I don't do hopeful. At best we will become acquainted enough to have a small conversation if we ever cross paths.
My attitude seemed to have caught her off guard as her face showed how surprised she was, eventually after some hesitation, she shook my hand.
"N-Nice to meet you too.", She was clearly nervous, maybe she also doesn't have friends? Yeah, no. A girl that pretty must have had hundreds of followers, though her attitude doesn't align with that thought.
"You have terrible taste." Puck said in a voice that didn't reach either Satella or Katsu.
It then accrued to me that my fellow earthling was still unconscious on the cold floor of the alley, "Um, so what do we now?" I said while pointing towards him.
"Hm? Ah! I already healed his wounds so now it's just a matter of waiting for him to wake up."
Right then a mischievous grin grew on Puck's face, which looked more terrifying than it had any right to be on his cute cat face.
"I have an idea", He said before turning to us.
So funnily enough Satella is a pretty sweet if naïve girl, which contradicted my noble woman image of her. I had talked with her and Puck a bit while waiting for the boy to wake up. Satella thought that he was my friend since we wore similar clothes, but I quickly corrected her by telling her that we were complete strangers, which surprisingly turned into a small lecture about my safety and not meddling in other people's affairs' since it could end up badly for me, which was quite ironic considering she pretty much did the same thing as me.
I then told them that I was from a very far land and that I was new to these parts. They were surprised by my extreme lack of knowledge, and tried asking questions about where I am from, which I managed to thankfully deflect though I am pretty sure Puck could tell that something was off.
Satella explained to me how the currency of this world works after I asked her about it along with a few tidbits about the country I am in.
I was in one of the Four Great Nations, The Dragon Kingdom of Lugunica, of course I already knew the name of the country, but now I knew that it was a great nation as well as the eastern most country of this world, also dragons exist here. That's bound to be fun.
After that we fell into silence, I wanted to ask more questions but thought that it might arouse even more suspicion, and I didn't know what else to say so I just stayed silent.
It looked like Satella was feeling awkward because of the silence as she sat beside Puck...damn it! Why can I never say anything in these situations!? Am I really so dumb that I can't think of a single thing to say!? I seriously suck at having casual conversations.
I snapped out of my self-deprecating thoughts when I noticed that the boy was finally stirring awake, I used the opportunity to focus on something other than my thoughts.
The boy opened his eyes and grimaced as his eyes adjusted to the sunlight.
"Holy-Is this someone's lap!?", Oh boy this was bound to be good.
"Ah, you're awake?", Said Satella who was somehow effortlessly keeping her composure in this hilarious situation.
"Don't try to move just yet. Your head was hurt, so it's not safe."
"I didn't know cute girls were this hairy...like hell that's right!", He immediately got up and faced Puck who was now in a giant form which was how he was able to give the boy a lap pillow.
"Glad to see you're up." Puck said in a ridiculous falsetto, which made holding in my laughter in even harder, man this cat knows how to make a man laugh!
"I decided to be considerate and offer you some comfort until you woke up."
"Quit doing that terrible falsetto! No sane guy would mistake a cat for the main heroine!"
Finally, I couldn't hold it anymore and just burst into laughter, Puck was grinning while the boy seemed flabbergasted.
"Hahaha! Oh man. You should have seen the look on your face! Man, I wish I recorded that!", I considered recording the whole bit for the shits and giggles, but I ultimately decided against it, because even though it would have been extremely funny, I couldn't afford to waste my precious phone's battery.
It seemed that my words triggered something in the boy because it seemed like he was now looking at me in a completely different light.
"Wait a minute...you're wearing a tracksuit!'
"Yeah, no shit sherlock"
He looked at me with shock and surprise in his eyes, "I thought I was the only one..."
He soon recovered from his shock and then spoke again, "Well, I guess we better stick together then! You know, what with us being birds of the same feather or something."
Huh, that was slightly unexpected but welcome nonetheless, our chance of going back home would increase if we worked together.
"Then I guess introductions are in order, I am Igarashi Katsu. The floating cat is Puck, and the silver haired girl is Satella." I said as I pointed at them, while also noting how Satella flinched when I said her name.
"Satella...huh...That's a beautiful name!", He beamed a smile at Satella as he complimented her name, which shocked both Satella and Puck.
"You two are ridiculous."
"Says the talking cat.", thankfully their shock didn't last for long, and we ended up moving on quicker than when she first introduced herself, guess the first shock must be the reason for that.
"Well, then I guess it's my turn...", The boy took on a ridiculous pose as he pointed his finger towards the sky and smiled, "My name is Natsuki Subaru! Not only am I clueless, but I am also broke beyond compare! Nice to meet you!"
Seriously? I mean I am in the same boat as Subaru, but you don't see me advertising the fact that I am broke and illiterate whenever I introduce myself, he is definitely screwed in the head.
"You sound very hopeless when that's how you introduce yourself.", I nodded my head in agreement with Puck.
Subaru seemed like he wasn't affected by our words however, simply keeping his goofy smile on his face and ignoring us.
Satella however was staring into Subaru's eyes which made him blush before eventually turning his head away.
"Aha! I knew it! You defiantly know something about the girl who stole my insignia!", She sounded like she had just uncovered a great mystery, however she was about to be very disappointed by the answer she was about to receive.
"An Insignia? Sorry. But I don't know a thing about it."
"Hmm, you're sure? It has a jewel in the center and is about this big.", she said while making a gesture with her fingers to signify the size of the insignia.
"Sorry, but no matter how many times you ask me, I still have no idea.", he said in a apologetic tone.
"I see. No helping that then. But you have given me the information that you know nothing, so I will take that as my payment for healing you."
Was this girl for real? She was in a hurry to find something that was stolen from her and yet she stopped to help two complete strangers when she could have simply walked away, and now she is making this lame excuse so she could justify staying here and healing Subaru? How the hell does a person like that exist!?
"Well, I am in a hurry, so I am going now. Your wounds should be better now but next time don't do something dangerous like wandering into a deserted alley alone. That goes for both of you.", She lectured us like she was a mother scolding her children for doing something stupid, this girl is a real piece of work...
"And just for your information I am not concerned, I am just warning you. If something like that happens again helping you too won't be of any benefit to me so don't count on me saving you again.", She began moving towards the exit of the alley as she finished up her lecture for us leaving both me and Subaru dumbfounded until Puck spoke up.
"Sorry about her. She's so insincere, don't think badly of her.", Insincere? The hell you mean insincere! This girl is the kindest person I have ever met! (Besides my mother of course).
"Insincere? I think that goes way beyond that.", Subaru seemed to be having the same thought process as me, however there was something in his eyes that I couldn't quite put my hands on.
"She was in such a hurry to find what was stolen from her, and yet she stopped to help us...and she even came up with that lame excuse so I wouldn't feel indebted to her."
"That girl is honestly too kind."
"Damn right she is...that way of living...", When he turned to me, I finally knew what it was that I saw in his eyes. I saw determination.
He quickly grabbed his jacket and plastic bag, and ran after her, which surprised the hell out of me.
"Come on Katsu! What are you lagging behind for?", I don't know why I ran after him at that point. Maybe it was because I felt indebted to Satella or maybe it was because someone finally told me to come with them. But the reason doesn't matter what matters is that I ran and joined up with Subaru and Satella.
"-but I remember her face at least! If I see her again, I will recognize her!", he seemed to almost be pleading with Satella to let him help her, and despite the scene being amusing, I should probably back him up.
"He has a good point; we both know how the thief looks like so we would immediately recognize her, besides if all three of us search for her we are bound to find her faster. Of course, that is if you accept our help.", I said the last part a bit faster than I should because of my anxiety, it seems I am not very good at offering people help, regardless Subaru still shot me a grateful look.
However, it seems our words were enough to make Satella consider our offer, finally after a moment of contemplation she spoke, "You two are very strange..."
She turned her face away from us, "Just so you know, I can't do anything to repay you."
"We don't need you to. We are doing this because we want to."
"Yes! Our objective is...let's see...yeah! One good deed per day!", That actually sounded like a good goal to have, maybe karma exists in parallel worlds?
Satella seemed even more perplexed after that and looked even more uncertain, "I think you should accept their help; I don't sense any malice from them." Puck interrupted her thinking when he joined us.
It still felt incredibly weird to think about the fact that this small cat in front of me can actually sense my emotions, it felt like an invasion of privacy, like someone was able to spy on me in my room.
"After all, the more shields between you and ruffians, the better." He added with a sly look on his face.
"That's what you want us around for!?" Subaru screamed in outrage, which was a bit of an overreaction, Puck was just joking. Probably.
"Just wanna say that I am a horrible meat shield."
"I mean it though; I can't do anything to thank you."
"No problem! Just leave it to us, right Katsu?", Subaru grinned as he placed his hand on his chest.
"Yup. Though I still want to emphasize that I am a bad meat shield."
"Don't get to hung up on it, Puck likes to say these types of things but doesn't mean anything by them.", Satella tried reassuring me that it was nothing but for some reason I couldn't shake off the idea that he would do it if it was the only choice presented...
"Alright then! Let's go!", Subaru smiled confidently as he started walking in a random direction, my man really needs to put his head into the game.
"And where exactly are you going?"
"To look for the thief of course!", He stopped and looked at me like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Yeah, I got that part...I meant where exactly are you going? You don't know this city or where to start looking. Were you just going to ask around if someone saw a little thief running around?", I raised an eyebrow at him, if he was actually thinking along those lines then...he is an idiot.
"W-Well, I was going to draw a-a picture then show it to the people around."
He...no I am not going down this line of thought. But I must ask one thing...why?
"Well...that could work but I feel like it would take too much time...just...let me think for a second.", That girl was wearing some pretty shabby clothes, which implies that she is poor which lead her to start stealing to survive and since this is a fantasy world...hmm
"I think I got it."
"That fast!?", Subaru was surprised that I had gotten it, but it wasn't that impressive if I am being honest. I just used my head and reasoning, that's all.
"Is there someplace around here like...a thief's guild? Actually, scratch that more like...a place where shady or poor people are known to be found?", I asked Satella, and immediately a look of understanding lit up around her.
"I can't believe it! It was so obvious and yet I missed it...the slums!"
"The slums?"
"Yeah! It's a place where...well where people who are...less fortunate live.", Her toned dimmed a pit when she explained what the slums were.
"Nice thinking on your part Katsu, unlike a certain meat shield.", Puck complimented me while also taking shot at Subaru.
"Hey! I could have totally figured that out if I wanted to!"
"Thanks Puck. Guess we can start our search there then?", I asked my two companions. Satella nodded her head, determined to get back her stolen Insignia, while Subaru was frustrated that he was ignored, well too bad for him, because that is going to be my go-to strategy when he does something stupid.
After a bit of walking, we finally managed to reach the slums, I tried memorizing the roads that we walked through but it proved to be a useless endeavor. The city was simply too big, it took at least 45 minutes to reach there whoever adding to that time the fact that we got distracted on the road since we stopped to help a lost child meant it took longer than that, though it ended up helping us in the end, since the little girl's father recognized the discerption of the thief when we asked him if he saw her. Apparently, her name was Felt, and he confirmed that she lived in the slums so that was a bonus.
It was nearing nightfall by now, so hopefully we can finish this whole thing before that and then...and then what? Truthfully, I haven't thought that far ahead, I guess I will just deal with it after we retrieve Satella's insignia.
"We reached the slums but..."
"None of the locales are willing to help us.", Subaru completed for me, "So much for your master plan huh?", Was he still bitter about earlier? Well to be fair I also would if I was in his place, so I won't hold it against him.
"Then, do you have any ideas?", I asked Subaru which seemed to surprise him.
"M-Me?"
"I am looking at you, aren't I?"
He went silent for a moment, a contemplative look on his face. At least he is trying to come up with a solution.
"I have an idea...wait here for me."
"Huh? Wait! Where are you going?"
He ran and rounded a corner of one of the rundown buildings that can be seen around the entirety of the slums.
"What was that...?"
"Should we go after him?", Satella looked like she was somewhere between concerned for Subaru and fed up with his antics, and to be honest I could sort of say the same for myself.
"No. Let's trust him on this one."
"I could have just talked to the lesser spirits you know."
"Say what now? Lesser spirits?"
"Lesser spirits are beings that haven't become spirits yet. Once they gain strength and self-awareness, they become full spirits like Puck. I could have asked them if they saw anyone by the same description as the girl who stole my insignia."
"Of course, they can never hope to match up to me."
"Huh...that's pretty neat, why didn't you start with that?", I asked Satella, completely ignoring Puck's self-complimenting.
"Well, I didn't want to interrupt Subaru since he seemed to be really thinking hard about a solution."
"You...never mind, let's just wait for Subaru."
Subaru Natsuki was a one-of-a-kind person. He does stuff that no one back home would ever do if they were stuck in this kind of situation, like he seriously tried hitting on Satella the entire journey here...by using jokes! Which were all based on modern things, so she understood none of them! And yet he kept going!
I have said it before, and I will keep saying it again. This guy is screwed in the head.
After waiting for a couple of minutes Subaru finally reappears from where he disappeared (heh).
He had a grin on his face as he made his way towards us, "I got our culprit."
"For real? Gotta say I am impressed. How did you do it?", I was genuinely impressed by this, none of the locales were even willing to talk to us so what could Subaru have done to get one of them to talk.
"A magician never reveals their secrets."
"Come on, now you're just a spoilsport."
"That is great new Subaru! What have you found out?", Satella stepped into Subaru's personal space as she spoke excitedly, fun fact about Satella apparently, she knows as much about social norms as a toddler does and she also has tendency to use...outdated words, at least by my world's standards. I shuddered as I imagined going through my daily life having people call me a dunderhead or a nincompoop.
"H-Heh? A-Ah yes. Apparently, the place we are looking for is a warehouse that belongs to some old man called Rom. All stolen good can be found there.", I tried finding a difference between the shade of red that Subaru has and that of tomatoes, sadly I couldn't find any.
"I am pretty sure they thought you were one of them since you look like a rat.", And of course Puck had to use the chance to dig at Subaru, however what he just said holds some weight.
"You know...that actually makes sense."
"Oh, come on! Not you too!"
"No no, I don't mean it as joke. I mean out of all of us you are the only one who looks like he fits around here. No wonder they helped."
"Arrgh...even though I feel frustrated because of you two...you are actually right, I noticed it earlier when some of the kids whispered in my ear that I should run from you guys."
"Run from us?"
"Can you blame them? They probably thought we were harassing one of the locales or something.", Huh, is that how we looked like to the kids here?
"Well, that's good and all but can we please get back to finding my insignia?", Satella then interrupted us, it seemed like we got sidetracked.
"Yeah, you're right. Alright lead the way Subaru."
"You got it!", Subaru said with a smile on his face, you know despite this guy's faults I can't help but admire the positivity that he always seems to be radiating.
After about 10 or 15 minutes of walking we finally reached the loot house, however by then another problem arose.
"I am out of time.", Puck said as he yawned. He looked like he was about to sleep.
"You're what? Out of time?", Subaru asked, not understanding what he meant.
"I may have a cute appearance, but I am a spirit. Staying in a physical form takes a lot of mana.", Puck yawned again before continuing.
"So, at night I return to the crystal I was summoned from and prepare for the emergence of the sun. On average my ideal staying time is from about 9 to 5.", 9 to 5? What is he? A government worker?
"9 to 5? You sound like a civil servant."
"My thoughts exactly."
"We will be fine without Puck. We have already arrived so it's just a matter of retrieving my insignia."
"Yeah...I am sorry...but I am at my limit.", Puck yawned as his body began disappearing, as in it literally became see through.
"It's almost like he is dying..."
"Don't say stuff like that man", Even though I only knew Puck for a couple of hours, the idea of someone I know dying made me feel uneasy.
"Sorry to work you so hard Puck. We will handle things from here so go get some rest."
Puck floated into Satella's palms and looked her straight in the eye. He was concerned for her.
"Don't do anything reckless. If it comes down to it use the Od to summon me again."
Satella softly nodded her head. Puck then turned to us.
"Alright. Take care of the rest you too.", He sounded sincere when he spoke. Guess I better live up to his expectations.
Finally, Puck glowed a soft blue before disintegrating into dozens of blue light orbs and then returning to the crystal around Satella's neck.
"Umm...so what now?", I asked awkwardly.
"Simple. We go in and take back my insignia."
Subaru and I shared a look, Satella may be strong and able to use magic however this is a place that has stolen good, meaning it must be well protected.
"I would rather avoid a conflict if I am being honest."
"Me too."
"I don't plan on hurting anybody. I will simply ask they return what they stole."
"You mean you're gonna go in without using any magic and ask for your insignia back?" I looked at her skeptically.
"I never said I wasn't going to use magic."
"If you use magic to threaten someone they're bound to respond back in kind!"
"Then how else am I going to get my insignia back?"
"Leave that part to me.", Subaru then interrupted. He held his flip phone up and grinned at us.
"We are going to negotiate for it."
"What? Why should I negotiate for an item that was stolen from me?", Her tone sounded more confused than mad which is a good sign. Honestly if I was in her position, I would do the same. However, we have to consider that neither me nor Subaru are fighters, which makes us easy targets in a confrontation.
"Come on! It's not like you are gonna lose anything you know?", Subaru tried convincing her.
"That's even worse! Why would you trade one of your possessions for me!?", And it had the opposite effect on her.
We spent a solid 10 minutes just arguing back and forth in front of the loot house, until finally we managed to convince Satella to agree to our plan.
"Finally! I don't know how no one noticed us yet. If we ever do something like this again remind me to discuss the plan of action befo-"
"Aagh!", I was interrupted by the sharp cry of pain that was emitted from Satella. I immediately turned to check on her and...and...what the fuck?
My brain understood the scene in front of me after a second of seeing it. Satella had a knife embedded in her.
"NO!", Subaru screamed in horror at the sight in front of us, I was frozen in my place as I watched Satella fall on the ground gasping for breath, she was dying in front of me.
"Oh dear. I hoped she would at least put up a better fight than the giant. Guess I got my hopes up for nothing.", I was snapped enough out of my daze to register the words being spoken, I looked up at the person who spoke them. It was a woman. No...it was Satella's killer.
"W-Who are y-you?", Subaru asked shakily.
"I am no one special dear."
"You...y-you just k-killed her!", Subaru's voice was beginning to lose some of its earlier fear and gain an edge of anger to it.
"I-I am going to save her!", He dashed towards the woman, whose revealing clothes were only now registered by my brain.
Subaru tried punching her in the face, however she easily sidestepped his punch.
"Save her? Looks like the fear has made you delusional dear.", The woman swung her knife and cut open Subaru's stomach. He screamed in pain and fell next to Satella's dying body.
"You are both already dead.", The woman knelt by Subaru's body.
"Ah! Such beautiful bowels!", She spoke with an incredible amount of glee as she inserted her hand into Subaru's stomach.
After she was done with Subaru the woman then turned to me, her eyes were full of glee and madness, and I immediately knew. It was my turn.
I regained enough control of my motor functions to at least attempt to run away, however as soon as I turned my back on the mad woman, I found myself face to face with her again.
"Sorry dear, but I can't leave any witness to what just happened now can I?", She walked slowly towards me, enjoying the fear that was displayed in my eyes.
I fell on my butt when I tried to step back, my brain briefly registered a wet sensation between my legs, however that was the least of my concerns.
I was scared. Scratch that I was fucking terrified. 'I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die. I want to be with my mom. I want to go back home. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I DON'T WANNA DIE!'
"AAGH!", I screamed as I felt the worst pain possible in my eyes. Hundreds of images flashed in front of me. I heard multiple voices but my brain wasn't able to register any of it, all that I could register was the burning pain in my eyes and skull splitting headache that was forming. I want this pain to end. Please end it. Please...
"Oh my. To think you would die just like that without me even touching you."
And at that moment, Igarashi Katsu lost his life.
And second chapter done! I also wanted to say thank you to everyone who expressed support to this story through their reviews or following or favoriting it. You guys are the best! As you can see the chapter ended in unexpected way. The cause of death of our beloved MC will be revealed in due time, all I can leave you with is this. Expect the average amount of suffering of Re:zero. Now, I hope you have a nice. Peace!
