"Who are you?"

Those three words had shattered Subaru into a million pieces

All his efforts just like before had always been for nothing. An idiot. That's what he was.

Subaru was sat at the bedside of the sleeping woman.

A few months after returning from Vollachia, Subaru had made a decision to try and bring her back. Subaru had taken a trip with a few members of the Emilia Camp to Crusch's estate to speak with Felix. Felix had agreed to do his best to help her and had developed a medicine using the leftover Dragon Blood he had used for Pristella's victims.

He remembered to when he saw her

Subaru had been wandering around Crusch's manor, and came across the door to where she was being kept. He had been depressed the past few days since Felix had treated her and he...

CLANG!

Subaru was snapped out of his thoughts by something metal falling onto the ground. The noise came from Felix's lab. Subaru wanted to open the door to see what was inside, but he decided not to. Felix had said that she should be left alone for a day or two before disturbing her. So Subaru just decided to ignore...

SMASH!

Glass smashed onto the ground.

Subaru didn't care anymore. He opened the door and entered with a worried look on his face

Subaru: "Hey?! Is everyone alr-!"

Subaru froze. What he saw made his heart skip a beat.

The room's layout was rather simple. A table in the middle of the room, a desk and chair in the left corner, a bookshelf on the right wall, and a window at the centre where the light from the sunset shone through.

But that wasn't what made him freeze.

In the middle of the room, a woman was sitting on the table. She was around 5'7" and had long flowing brown hair which reached down to her waist. She was naked which made Subaru blush profusely, but thankfully she was using a blanket to cover herself. The woman was looking at him, her emerald irises were glued to him.

Subaru spoke the name of someone who he never thought he'd see again.

Subaru: "Shaula?"

The brown-haired woman flinched slightly at that word. Subaru remembered. The same flowing brown hair he saw when he first encountered her at the Watchtower, of course she didn't have her tied in her self-proclaimed 'scorpion tail' anymore it was loose, but he remembered her hair. Her emerald green eyes and beautiful face looking at him.

A sense of joy washed over Subaru, making him rush over to her and grabbed her by her shoulders. He was embarrassed because she was naked, but he was so overjoyed, he couldn't help himself.

Subaru: "Shaula, you're back! I'm so glad you're ok! I was so worried about you! I'm so sorry about what happened. It's all my fault! I-!"

Woman: "GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!"

To Subaru's surprise, Shaula pushed him off her and he fell onto his back.

The woman started backing away from Subaru as was getting back up.

Subaru: "Ow! Shaula, that really hurt!"

Woman: "SH-SHUT UP! W-WHY ARE YOU CALLING ME THAT?"

Subaru flinched at her tone. She sounded almost...frightened.

Subaru saw her backing away from him, until she had backed herself into the far right corner of the room. She'd accidentally bumped into the shelf near that corner, knocking a few books off.

Subaru felt confused as to why she was acting this way. But upon seeing her pushing him away, and backing in the corner of the room and using the blanket to cover her bare body. She then started shrinking into the corner, until she was sitting on the cold hard ground.

Subaru's couldn't believe what he saw. It didn't make sense

Her hands were trembling. Her lips were trembling. Small tears were starting to form in the corner of her eyes.

She was terrified

Subaru: "S-Shaula? What are you-?"

Shaula freaked out.

Woman: "Stay back! Wh-Who are you?"

Subaru stopped. Her words caused a sharp pain in his heart.

Subaru: "Wait what? Did you-"

Subaru was cut off by her screaming at him.

Woman: "I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE! I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING HERE! W-WHAT IS THIS PLACE?! W-WHY AM I HERE?! WH-WHO...AM I?"

The woman's trembling hands grasped at her head as she started breaking down, tears streaming down her face.

Woman:"What's happening? I don't know who I am."

Subaru looked at her sleeping form. She looked so peaceful. Her face, hair, eyes. It was definitely Shaula. She looked exactly the same as the girl he had encountered and the Pleiades Watchtower. She had lost her form and reverted to a small scorpion after the Watchtower incident and he had blamed himself for her condition ever since.

Subaru: "Shaula"

Subaru reached out and took her hand and squeezed it. His eyes were cast down.

Subaru: "I'm so sorry"

Subaru then looked up to look at her sleeping face. She looked so peaceful when she was sleeping.

Shaula then opened her eyes to reveal her green eyes. Her gaze then turned to the Subaru. She felt a strange way when she saw him, remembering what happened when she woke up in that strange room.

She instantly pulled her hand away, pulled the blanket over her body and backed into the corner.

Shaula: "Stay back"

Subaru saw the fear in her eyes returning again. He tried to calm her down so he could talk to her.

Subaru: "Hey, l-listen. I'm sorry I-"

Shaula: "Who are you?"

Shaula's words stung him just as much as they did the first time he heard her say them. He remembered when Meili and Beatrice came to see Shaula and even though they knew her very well, Shaula herself couldn't recall anything.

Subaru sighed. He knew what she was going through. He had gone through the same kind of thing when he had lost his memories, so Shaula was probably feeling a sense of distrust. And considering how he just went up to her when he first saw her, it made sense she'd be distrustful of him.

Subaru: "My name is Natsuki Subaru. I'm sorry for what happened earlier, Sha- I mean miss or whatever name you prefer to be called."

Shaula narrowed her eyes at him.

Shaula: "I...I don't know what my name is. What was that name you called me...Shallow was it?"

Subaru: "Uuh, Shaula actually. I'm sorry for calling you that. I can stop if you want"

Shaula: "It's fine. You can call me Shaula if you want. Having a name from someone else is better than having no name at all."

Shaula felt intense distrust towards the man sitting by her bedside and felt strange when she woke up to him holding her hand. She felt an odd sense of familiarity which she couldn't understand. She looked down beneath her blanket to see that she was wearing a black gown. She removed the blanket from her body looked at Subaru with suspicion.

Shaula: "Did you dress me?"

Subaru got startled a bit at Shaula's words but he reassured immediately.

Subaru: "No, no of course not! I would never to do something like that. It was my friend Meili who put those clothes on you."

Shaula: "Me...ili?"

Subaru: "Oh right. You passed out shortly after you woke up and the blue-haired girl put that gown on you to keep you warm. Then I carried you over to this room and let you rest."

The door opened which startled both Subaru and Shaula.

???: "Hey onii-san. Is naked onee-sa-?"

The blue-haired assassin opened the door to see the Subaru sat at the bedside, opposite the young woman curled up on her bed, holding a pillow close to her. She was looking right at her.