Subaru nods and gestures for Rem to lead the way. Together, they leave his room and head down the corridor, making their way to Rem's room. Subaru walks slightly behind her, a mix of curiosity and anticipation as they walk, as he's almost never seen it before.
Rem then slows herself to a walk beside Subaru down the hallway, her footsteps making soft and almost inaudible sounds in contrast to his as they move towards Rem's room.
"So, do you think you'll have any useful supplies in your room?"
"It's possible. Rem usually keeps a few materials and tools for sewing and handicrafts in her room, so we might find something useful in there."
Subaru nods, his curiosity piqued at the mention of "handicrafts" in Rem's room. He raises an eyebrow slightly, a hint of playfulness in his voice.
"So, you're into handicrafts, eh? And here I thought you were just a professional maid. I guess latte art isn't your only hobby then,"
Rem chuckles softly at Subaru's response, appreciating his playful tone, feeling his slight curiosity about my involvement in handicrafts.
"Indeed, Rem has a passion for other hobbies beyond being a professional maid."
She pauses for a moment, winking with a playful, mischievous, starry-eyed twinkle in eyes.
"Perhaps I'll have to show you some of my other hidden talents when we get to my room."
.
.
.
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…!
Subaru's mind suddenly goes blank for a moment as Rem's words sink in. What did she mean by 'other talents'? A million scenarios run through his head, ranging from something completely innocent like handicrafts, to...less innocent activities. His jaw drops slightly, a look of surprise and shock on his face as he turns to Rem, his mind racing.
"Uhhhhh..I..I...Huh..???!!!"
He stutters out, unable to form coherent words in his flustered state. They reach Rem's room, it's far cleaner and more organised than Subaru's room, yet more barren. Greeted by the light shone through by the 2 open purple curtains, one detail Subaru immediately noticed was the lack of a wardrobe, since Rem only ever wears either her Summer or Winter form maid outfits. The second thing that struck him was the blue chair and coffee table that wasn't there in the 'Who's Rem' loop, where Rem was temporarily erased from existence. There was only a table drawer. Subaru's eyes lingered on the blue chair and table for a few seconds, a mix of miserable yet monumental memories and emotions swirling inside him. He lets out a small sigh, pushing away the painful memories as he turns his attention back to Rem and the task at hand.
"Well, then, should we start looking for the supplies?" He asks, trying to keep his tone as casual as possible. She paused for a second, tilting her head slightly in confusion, before giving him a reassuring smile.
"Yes, let's get to it. Rem's materials for sewing and handicrafts should be in the bottom drawer of that table."
"The bottom drawer, got it," he says, as his eyes remain fixed on the drawer. He takes a step closer, ready to open it and search for the materials.
Subaru rummages through the drawer, moving aside various items as he searches for materials. Inside, he finds some black and white fabrics, along with a few extra threads and needles.
His eyes light up as he glances at the materials.
"Hey, I think we hit the jackpot here." He exclaims, holding up the black and white fabrics, a victorious smile on his face, waving them in the air like a Certain Underpowered Yet Overpowered Comedy Isekai Parody MC With An Affinity For Stealing Certain Items Of Clothing. Despite his merriment, they are still missing some essential materials, As expressed by Rem, wearing a slightly disappointed look.
"Uh... you okie?"
"Don't worry, Subaru-kun. We're already making good progress. Let's just hope Frederica-san has what we need. It shouldn't take too long to check her room."
Subaru nods at Rem's words, feeling a sense of reassurance.
"You're right. We're making progress, and Frederica is a pretty organised person. It shouldn't be too difficult to find what we need in her room."
He manages a small smile, his disappointment fading slightly as he looks at Rem.
"Hey, I think we hit the jackpot here." He exclaims, holding up the black and white fabrics, a victorious smile on his face, waving them in the air like a Certain Underpowered Yet Overpowered Comedy Isekai Parody MC With An Affinity For Stealing Certain Items Of Clothing. Despite his merriment, they are still missing some essential materials, As expressed by Rem, wearing a slightly disappointed look.
"Uh... you okie?"
He exits with Rem in tow, a mix of hope and anticipation in the air, despite the possibility that they may encounter unexpected challenges. As they leave Rem's room and enter into the hallway, the atmosphere is filled with a mixture of hope and anticipation. Both Subaru and Rem are hopeful that they'll find what they need in Frederica's room, yet they can't help but feel a sense of uncertainty about the outcome. Subaru occasionally glances at Rem as they walk, his mind racing with thoughts about what they might encounter in Frederica's room.
"Subaru-kun, is there something on your mind? You seem a bit unsettled."
Subaru is snapped out of his thoughts by Rem's question. He turns to her, a slightly conflicted look on his face. He hesitates for a moment, unsure if he should voice his thoughts.
"Oh...it's nothing. It's just..." he trails off, pausing for a moment.
He chews his lower lip, then finally decides to speak up.
"I was just thinking about what we'll find in Frederica's room. I mean, what if we don't find what we need? What are we going to do then?"
"Hey, don't worry about it too much, Subaru-kun. We'll figure it out one way or another. Even if we don't find what we need in Frederica-san's room, we'll find a solution. We always do."
Rem reaches up to place her hand on his shoulder, offering him physical reassurance. The feeling of Rem's small, lingering yet comforting hand on his shoulder brings a small measure of comfort to Subaru. Her reassuring words and the physical reassurance help to ease his mind slightly. He nods, appreciating her support.
"I guess you're right. We've always managed to find a way through tough situations before, haven't we?" He says, a hint of a smile forming on his face, as he Reminisces all the challenges they've been through together. The mabeast incident, the visit to the capital, the subjugation of the white whale and the fight against Petelgeuse…
"Indeed, we have. We've been through a lot together, Subaru-kun. But we've always come out stronger on the other side. I have no doubt that we'll find a way no matter what obstacles we encounter. We're a team, after all, we're all a team…." She seemed to trail off at the end, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze to go along with her words, her expression resolute, as they arrived at Frederica's room, the door slightly ajar. As they stand outside Frederica's room, Subaru gazes at the slightly-ajar door, his expression a mixture of curiosity and uncertainty. The sight of the door being slightly open only serves to amplify his curiosity about what lies within. He glances at Rem, who stands beside him, her expression resolute. Her reassuring words echoing in his mind, he takes a deep breath and pushes open the door, bracing himself for whatever lay in wait inside. The room was covered in shelves upon shelves, draws upon draws, of handicrafts materials, a veritable treasure trove of fabrics, leathers, canvas, rubber, paint sets, pastel sets, stitchings, laces, glue, feathers, scissors, smalland to Subaru's amusement, they even had pipe cleaner like things. It was almost as if her bed and living space was secondary!
"Woah, Frederica has a lot of stuff, huh?"
As he spoke, Rem glanced around the room, noticing several wooden crates tucked away in the corner. She briskly walked over to them to give them a closer inspection, before turning to Subaru, excitement evident in her voice. Subaru's gaze follows Rem's footsteps as she walks over to the wooden crates, his eyes light up upon seeing them as well.
"Oh, look here, Subaru-kun! We've got some wooden crates to carry the materials! These should make transporting everything back to the hall much easier and less messy."
"You're right! These crates are perfect. It'll save us a lot of time carrying things back and forth."
He moves closer to Rem, examining the crates closely.
"Let's see here...there's quite a few of them. We should be able to fit everything we need in these."
Rem seemed to switch gears, entering into her maid mode as Subaru watches in mild amusement. She begins listing off the items of their shopping list, her voice authoritative, yet calm.
"Alright, Subaru-kun. Let's start with the leather, rubber, and laces. We'll need leather for the shoes, rubber for the soles, and laces for the shoes. As for the colours, we'll need laces in orange, white, blue, pink, yellow, purple, pink, black and golden."
"Right, leather for the shoes, rubber for the soles, and laces in various colours," he repeats, committing the materials to memory. "We need laces in orange, white, blue, pink, yellow, purple, pink, black, and golden - got it," he parrots, as Subaru begins to search around the room. Satisfied with Subaru's response, Rem gives a small nod of approval and continues the list, my voice still methodical and authoritative.
"Next, we need fabrics of every colour. We'll need fabrics and canvas for the uniform itself, as well as for the various trims and details. There should be a wide range of colours available, so we should be able to find what we need here in Frederica-san's room."
"Right, we need fabrics and canvas in various colours for the uniforms, as well as trimming and detailing. There should be a wide range of colours available in Frederica's room," he repeated again, glancing around the room, eyeing the various shelves and drawers. With the list of materials firmly in mind, Subaru and Rem begin their search for the necessary items. They move together through the room, carefully examining the various things that line the shelves and fill the drawers.
Subaru, with his keen eye for detail, scans the items in each drawer and shelf, searching for the specific colours of fabric Rem mentioned. He pulls out different coloured pieces of fabric and passes them over to Rem for inspection.
She then takes each piece of fabric from Subaru, carefully examining them for quality and colour, before setting them aside to be used later. Due to their seamless teamwork, they effortlessly navigate the room, quickly amassing a large pile of cloth. Having completed their search for all the required fabrics, Subaru and Rem move on to the next items on the list: canvas of every colour, laces of every colour, leather, and rubber.
Following their established pattern, Subaru begins searching through the shelves and drawers, carefully sifting through the items to find the correct materials. Rem, who is now holding the various pieces of fabric, keeps an eye on Subaru, ready to assist him if needed.
As they continue their search for the rest of the materials, Subaru and Rem work together in perfect unison. With each item they find, they double-check it against the list to ensure it's correct. Slowly but surely, the pile of materials continues to grow. Finally, Subaru reaches into the bottom drawer of a shelf, his fingers brushing against some leather and rubber.
"Looks like we have the leather and rubber too," he says, glancing at Rem. "With this, we have everything we need."
"You're right, Subaru-kun. With the leather and rubber, we have all the materials we need. Thank you for your hard work. We make quite the efficient team, don't you think?"
Subaru chuckled, a sense of pride in their teamwork evident in his voice. "Yeah, we do pretty well together. Couldn't have done it without your help, Rem."
He looks around, admiring the pile of materials they've managed to amass. "Looks like we have a lot of work ahead of us now, huh?" He says, a mixture of anticipation and trepidation in his tone.
"Frederica, I have a question."
"Of course, Ram. What is your question?"
Subaru's heart sinks as he hears the familiar voices of Ram and Frederica entering the mansion. He and Rem exchange a panicked look, the sudden realisation of their time running out sinking in. In a frantic frenzy, they shoved everything they had collected, some useful and even some other random items such as buckets of paint into 3 of the wooden crates haphazardly before Rem stacked two of them, Subaru lifting the heaviest one, as they prepared to break away, their hearts racing with adrenaline, Subaru especially couldn't help but feel a rush of deviance, excitement, anticipation, and a hint of dread. The thought of being caught by Ram and Frederica sent a shiver down his spine given the fact that he's sure to face plenty of heat, considering the thrown together instructions he handed to them.
"Quick, Subaru-kun, we need to go, now!"
Rem hurried Subaru out of Frederica's room, the urgency in her voice clear as her head snapped back warily. The sounds of Ram, Beatrice and Frederica's voices grew louder as they approached, heightening the necessity to make their escape before they were discovered loitering in Frederica's room. Subaru stumbled slightly as Rem pushed him rapidly out of Frederica's room, her own sense of urgency evident in her voice. He glanced back anxiously, his heart pounding in his chest as they heard the voices of Ram, Beatrice and Frederica growing closer.
"Right, let's go, let's go," he replied hastily, trying to balance the weight of the wooden crate in his arms as he moved as quickly and quietly as possible. Their hearts still pounding from the adrenaline rush, Subaru and Rem sprinted down the corridor, turning a corner to make their way towards the main hall. They could still hear the voices of the girls in the distance, but with each step they took further away, the sounds gradually faded away. Finally, they arrived at the main hall, their breathing slightly laboured from exertion. Subaru let out a sigh of relief, glad to have escaped detection. They Awaiting them at the main hall, the sight of Emilia and Petra.