Theater Of Despair (Old WHDAAA) :)

by Reactionist

This is the old version of Watching Him Die Again and Again. Chapters 1-14 before the rewrites looked like this. Have fun comparing how much I've changed between the old one and the new one. I also used the old name for Watching Him Die Again and Again. It used to be called Theater of Despair hence why the art says that name. Had fun using it again! Enjoy guys.

5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Ep 4 Director's Cut

"We can't keep dancing around like this." Otto yelled out as the rest sat in silence.

Every one was grateful for the much needed break. They all wiped their tears and rested a bit before moving to freshen up in the bathrooms. The snacks and water-bottles were all consumed in pure silence as no one knew what to say after that scene.

They couldn't look Subaru, in the eye again after this.

How can someone die such a horrible death be able to smile so carefree?

"He's a monster." Felix whispered as his patience was broken the moment Subaru named the power.

"Big bro… how does he live through this pain?" Felt looked seriously dismayed as she thought of everything Subaru had been through.

Sure, a couple of deaths from knife wounds and a death when he was asleep were really scary but that…

dying all alone in a hallway with your arm cut off. Then having your head blown to bits…

It was just…

"The kid is not normal." Julius spoke in a calm collected manner.

No one disagreed.

"The important question here is who was it that killed Sir Natsuki in such a manner." The silent old man sitting beside Crusch finally voiced his thoughts.

It wasn't a surprise that all the other camps looked at the Emilia crowed.

They were the mansion's residents. "You must know something, since he had already saved you from it." Anastasia pointed out in a tired and stern voice. She had lost all her cheer at this camp's incompetence. They have a powerful individual on their side that had knowledge and abilities to change Lugunica for eons to come.

They have their own Hoshin and they do nothing but get him killed over and over.

The Emilia crowed simply stayed silent.

They were divided.

Otto and Garfiel waited patiently with hardened looks as they no longer wanted to joke around.

Their brother's death was brutal and unfair. Their blood boiled.

Petra continued to stick close by to Frederica and looked at the manor's residents with hesitance in her eyes. She knew that the clown had something to do with this. But her deal with Subaru forced her to stay quiet.

The little girl could not believe that her hero, the young man that she looked up too so much, had gone through such a horrible situation and kept smiling.

How was he so amazing? Petra clenched her chest in pain. Pain for the boy she loved.

Frederica was holding the girl and hugging her… but her eyes were elsewhere.

She was a maid in that mansion for most of her life…

She knew exactly who the owner of those chains was.

And she was looking at her… with a glare.

Beatrice looked forlorn into space. The little girl never left her contractor's side. Sticking close to him to feel his heart beat while staring into space. Silent.

"How couldn't I protect him? I was the grand spirit of this mansion… H-How did my Subaru die?" Beatrice trembled as the memory played once again. She failed. She failed her mother and failed her own contractor. She let him die. She let him die.

She never saved him.

As the spirit couldn't believe her failures someone else was lamenting on the same thread line.

Some one that was hugging Subaru's side so tightly and so obsessively, she might as well break him in half.

A lone silver haired half-elf, kept her head on his chest. Hearing her knight's heart beating. Staring off into space with catatonic eyes.

She was the one who killed Subaru.

She was the one that hurt him so much.

"I shouldn't have brought him with me."

Emilia whispered as her hollow eyes stared into space.

She brought him into that mansion and he died because of it. Because of her.

The twins were the last and they were… silent.

Rem was in a worse state then her sister as she had tear stains and a torn dress while she stared at the screen before her.

Ram just stayed at her sister's side, glaring at anyone thinking about looking in their direction.

Roswaal was just musing to himself… smiling and silent.

He was amazed by something.

"Hey! Didn't you hear the question of our lady? Who was it that killed big bro?!" Mimi, pissed off at how her friend died wanted revenge and wanted an answer.

"Emilia-sama…"

Emilia looked up at the person who called her name.

Crusch looked down at her with a grim expression but one showing that she needed to stay strong.

"We need to know how Subaru dealt with this threat. Did he tell you of an attacker in the mansion?"

Emilia shook her head. "S-Subaru never told me about anyone attacking the mansion. He only knew about the Mabeasts invading the village below the estate. H-He never told me about this." Emilia looked at her knight in pure sadness.

Why didn't he ask her for-

Emilia remembered something.

He was in anguish that night. The night he cried on her lap. He was so broken.

So he was asking for help… "But why couldn't you tell me? Why aren't you saying anything about this?" Emilia whispered as she watched Subaru sleeping innocently.

Oh how she felt about this boy. How she horrible it is for her to watch him go through this on his own.

"Maybe the boy didn't speak about the attacker because it was someone that already knew him."

All eyes turned to look up at the princess that was fanning her self.

"What do you mean?" Emilia asked, hollow and cold.

Priscilla simply looked at Roswaal and pointed at him with an unimpressed look.

"It's simple… he killed the boy."

…

…

…

"I swear to f'king God!" Garfiel stood up and set his sights at the clown.

Everyone was looking at Roswaal with anxious looks.

The clown was smiling throw all of this as if nothing was happening around him.

"Nooooow, why would you say that, Barielle-sama?" amused and unaffected by Garfiel's growl, Roswaal slowly turned to face the orange haired princess, who looked at him with a disgusted look.

"It's obvious that you thought of him as a spy and decided to get rid of him."

"Whaaaat a big accusation you're throwing towards mine self. I will have you know that I was merely content to watching the boy as he lived inside my domaaaaain. I had no intention of killing our dear Subaru-kun at aaaaall."

"Y're a lying hefty Piece 'f shit!" Garfiel was about to jump the clown when a stern commanding voice sounded.

"He is telling the truth." Everyone looked at Crusch as she stood up and glared at Garfiel.

The blonde was having none of it. "Th' fuck would you know?!"

"Crusch-sama has the divine protection of wind reading. She can tell if a person is lying or not."

"I can tell his saying the truth as well." Everyone looked at Reinhard as he spoke for the first time in a while.

"He had no intention to kill Subaru."

Seeing the Sword Saint and Crusch back him up, Roswaal smiled wide and clapped.

"Are you satisfied, Barielle-sama?"

The princess snorted at the clown. But she didn't conceit. Priscilla looked down at the crowed below her and pointed at a certain girl clinging to a black haired boy.

"You there, Great spirit."

Beatrice slowly looked up with an unimpressed expression. "Yes, I suppose."

"Can you tell if an intruder slipped through the domain?"

Beatrice's eyes widened as she understood what Priscilla was implying.

The princess smirked behind her fan as she saw her meaning get across to the spirit. "Smart girl." she whispered.

"Betty can't tell if foreign hostiles entered L. Mathers domain. But she can since everyone's mana in the manor grounds, infact."

"What does that mean?" Felix asked, confused why Beatrice looked so surprised.

"It means that Beatrice-sama would have been able to since if there was a hostile entity in the manor." Frederica explained.

"And if she sensed an intruder inside the mansion, she would have more than likely intervened." Julius quickly caught on.

"That means… someone from inside the manor, someone Beatrice-san trusted and didn't feel they were a threat were the ones that killed Natsuki-san." Otto quickly continued the train of thought.

"B-But… that only leaves…" Emilia slowly and coldly turned to the twins.

Rem looked down in fear. Ram glared right back at the elf.

"Rem… did you…" Emilia's tone was so cold and so stern it sent a chill down everyone's spine.

Roswaal was watching with a wild smile on his face.

I think that is enough for now.

Everyone looked at the screen and listened to the voice as it spoke.

"Who are you? Why are you making us see this?" Felix shouted in anger.

"Why are you letting Subaru-kun die?" Petra asked with an angry scowl on her face.

Don't get me involved into your mess. I'm showing this to you so you could learn of his broken sanity. Not to punish you.

I want you to help Subaru.

Not to fear him.

Everyone stared at the screen in confusion. Emilia kept her eyes on the twins and was about to do something she knew that Subaru wouldn't approve of.

Suddenly, the screen began playing once again.

Emilia could only sit down and hug her knight tightly as she promised vengeance for her Subaru.

But for now… she would watch and learn of his pains and trials.

She brought him into this mess… she will see it through to the end to understand him.

Everyone else stopped the investigation and watched with baited breaths and dreading hearts. What's more cruel than the last death?

There was no way that this boy could go through something more brutal than the last one.

….

….

….

Season 1 Episode 4 Director's Cut

Begin.

Darkness…

Blurry image… Faint voice…. Memories flashing in a purple glow…

The screen showed Subaru, back in his robes on the same bed… He Returned by Death.

The boy was sleeping soundly when suddenly he began screaming loudly while holding his arm as if it was cut off. He screamed and sat upright. His eyes wide open with panic and fear. He was breathing heavily as if horrified.

"My left arm!" Subaru looked at his arm with a heavy breath.

"I still have it right?"

Looking at his hand and opening his palm as if to make sure that it was really there.

"I went back again… No, maybe I should say I made it back… "

"It's really amazing that such a power exists." Anastasia mused.

Many nodded with her as they knew for a fact that without this power, Subaru wouldn't be with them.

"But who gave it to him though?" Felt asked, more calm now.

No one answered.

Subaru noticed something standing infront of him in the room. He looked up from his hand to find the maid twins hugging each other while looking at him with scared looks.

Realizing he startled them, Subaru put an uneasy smile on his face.

"Oh, sorry. Good morning."

The twins looked at him with fear in their eyes making him sigh.

"Right, I guess you don't remember me… "

"What a cruel experience to live through." Otto winced.

"Yeah, working so hard to establish a relationship with someone and then waking up to them never knowing you just because you died… that sucks."

Al nodded with Ricardo as both men watched with solemn looks.

Subaru smiled and threw the cover on his bed away as he stood up with a his favorite pose, pointing a finger at the sky with his ass clenched.

With a wide smile, he yelled out.

"Sorry for the trouble I've caused! Natsuki Subaru will now start over!"

The twins looked at each other in confusion.

"By the way, what day and time is it?" Subaru asked with a smile.

"How is he able to laugh after that?" Felix looked away in disgust.

"I think it's impressive." Reinhard quietly shared his opinion.

"I think it's disingenuous." Julius grunted and looked away from the screen.

Reinhard looked at him with a look of pity.

Opening Theme 1: Redo.

Seeing the chance to talk while the music began playing, Crusch tapped Emilia's shoulder, gaining the half-elf's attention.

"Don't think this is some trick to jeopardize your camp's standing, but I've got something to tell you about your sponsor."

Emilia looked at Roswaal and then at Crusch. Her violet eyes cold but filled with curiosity.

Emilia nodded her head at the green haired maiden.

"Roswaal was the one that ordered Elsa to steal your insignia."

Emilia's eyes widened but quickly turned stern. "Please explain, Crusch-sama."

Crusch smiled at the expected change in attitude. Of course Emilia will turn stern as soon as she finds out someone hurt her friends. Especially her knight.

"You remember when that blonde boy asked if he was behind the attack?"

"Garfiel-kun? Yeah, Roswaal said that he wasn't resp-" Emilia quickly stopped talking as she understood.

"He was lying?"

Crusch nodded her head.

Emilia clenched one of her hands into a fist and began ruffling the sleeping boy's hair with the other to vent her frustration.

"Why didn't you say anything? You must have seen the wind of untruth blowing from him." Emilia looked at Crusch with a skeptical look.

Crusch didn't look intimidated which told Emilia that she had a good reason. "Think about what I was supposed to say. I was about to call out the sponsor of one of the candidates to the throne, which I'm also fighting to obtain, for lying about sending a contracted killer to steal and potentially kill that same candidate which he is sponsoring."

Emilia nodded her head at the logic. Yeah she would have thought that Crusch was lying as well… if she hadn't seen Roswaal's truth at the Sanctuary but Crusch didn't know about that so she was inclined to keep to her self.

"What about Reinhard? He has the same blessing, why hadn't he spoken up?" Emilia looked at the hero as he watched the screen with a grim face as Subaru was killed once again in the song.

Crusch shook her head. "I asked him… he had the same reason as I did… and he's kind of feeling guilty about letting the killer get away."

Emilia sighed and shook her head at the hero's conviction to blame everything on himself.

"He's kind of like Subaru…" Muttered the half-elf as she ruffled the black hair of the man that protected her for so long.

"Thank you so much, Crusch-sama. I'll be sure to repay you in kind."

"Think nothing of it. We are in an alliance after all."

Crusch turned her eyes at Subaru and reached to ruffle the boy's head between her gloved fingers.

Emilia noticed the soft smile on Crusch's face as she looked down at Subaru.

"An alliance he fought so hard to create." Crusch smiled softly at Emilia.

Emilia smiled back.

Theme end.

Scene change to Subaru walking around with his eyes closed as he began lamenting on his last loop.

It's my third first day in the Roswaal mansion.

That chill I felt… Does that mean I died in my sleep the first time due to physical weakness?

"He's starting to piece it together, I suppose." Beatrice nodded slowly, her eyes filled with grief and sadness.

Why did she fail to protect him?

The flashing memory of his second loop played showing him as he got killed morbidly in the hallway.

But the second time, there was an attacker.

So if I was killed, does that mean the others in the mansion were targets, too?

The memory to he time he was fighting Elsa played.

Because we're involved in Emilia's royal selection, like at the loot house?

But even if I know that, I have no proof to explain it or any way to avoid it. Worse yet, I didn't see the attacker's face, or the victim.

My death was totally in vain.

"How can he say such a thing?" Petra had a look of horror to see someone she loved so much, say such morbid words.

"It's the nature of his power. He needs to make every death count otherwise… "

"He will die again." Otto finished for Julius.

His tone was cold and emotionless as he stared at the screen. He was shocked to the core by the last death. He couldn't careless if he was jaded or broken by the end of this.

He needed to see what Subaru went through.

"Y'er not alone ya dumbass." *SMACK *

"Owe!"

Garfiel crossed his arms and sat beside his friend. He wanted to see what his undeniably awesome cap'n went through, but he will not let anyone get used to this.

"Ya said it y'rself. Be angry… d'nt let anything inside or else you get used ta it."

Otto rubbed his head and looked at his brother in surprise.

Garfiel smiled.

"You're irritating me to death. Either stop it or get blown away."

Subaru stops walking around Beatrice in circles and smiles at her.

"Oh, sorry. But somehow, walking around in circles makes the gears in my head turn. Cut me some slack, huh? We're tight, aren't we?"

"Exactly what sort of relationship do you think we have, I suppose? We've only met twice." Beatrice played with her drill as she looked at a book with disinterest.

"I wish I was there." Beatrice softly whispered and held his hand, trying to tell him that he could trust her and tell her about everything he's been through.

What good was she if her own contractor didn't trust in her?

Beatrice's tired eyes teared up at the thought.

Subaru smiled…

"Well, I won't make trouble for you. Just serve some tea or something and let me relax."

"As if I'll serve you anything, I suppose."

Subaru leans down and reads the book she has open on her lap.

"Ugh, you're irritating me!"

"What's that book you're reading?"

"It tells how to get rid of bugs that have gotten into my room, I suppose."

"You've got bugs in the library? That sucks. What kind of bugs?"

"I kind of like their interactions." Tivey voiced out with a small tired smile.

The others let out grunts of agreement and small smiles of their own.

They were just happy that something normal was on screen.

Beatrice glared at him in annoyance. "It's time for you to leave! Your hands have stopped shaking. So you can disguise your fear now I suppose."

Subaru looked at her with a surprised face.

"You could tell?"

"You were trying to hide it, I suppose. It's quite vexing to be treated as a mere convenience."

Oh, how she wished to be treated as such for him now. She wanted to be the one he runs to when there was trouble, the one he cries to when he was sad, the one he needed to hug when he was scared.

"Betty is so sorry."

Emilia looked at the small teary eyed girl in sympathy.

"Poor beako-chan…"

Emilia slowly got up and gave the girl a hug.

Beatrice just accepted it. The hug wasn't as warm as Subaru's, but it was comforting.

"You're not nice at all… Thanks for the help, though. I'll be counting on you again." Subaru waved at her with a nervous smile.

"I don't even want to be counted on I suppose. So don't come here again."

Subaru stopped at the door and looked back at the girl. Beatrice made a motion with her hand cutely.

"Shoo, shoo."

"Shoo, shoo?" Subaru looked up as the truth was revealed before him. "Wait, when you said bugs, did you mean me?!" he glared at the loli.

Beatrice scowled and raised her hand in his direction. "Just get out of here this instant!"

Before Subaru knew it… he was thrown out of the room and out of the hallway… and out of an open window. Falling into a flower bed beneath the windows.

Otto and Garfiel gave a small snort each. They were both getting back to their original selves although more realistic than before.

"I-If not for this flower bed, that would've been instant death… " Subaru stood up revealing his entire form to be filled with mud and dirt. He looked up at the windows…

"Um… Can I ask if you're all right?"

Subaru looked behind him to find Emilia leaning down and smiling at him.

He smiled stupidly. "Emilia-tan, your kindness is the one thing that can heal me."

"You know, Rem just spread manure in that flower bed yesterday."

Okay, they couldn't stop the chuckles and giggles from coming out as each kid plus Otto and Garfiel found the situation Subaru was in funny.

"Augh!" Subaru quickly jumped out of the flower bed and began dusting himself to get rid of the disgusting substance.

"Three-second rule! That didn't count! that didn't count, right?!"

Emilia smiled sympathetically. "You know, they say this kind of thing is actually lucky."

Subaru seemed to gloom over this. "Emilia-tan is already shifting into consolation mode…"

Emilia gave a small smile. She was happy to see moments like these. Where it was just her and her silly knight.

Emilia giggled and touched the green crystal. "Puck, wake up."

The crystal shined and out manifested Puck, yawning and stretching. "Morning, Lia."

"Morning, Puck. Sorry to ask after you just woke up, but could you wash Subaru off?"

"Subaru? Uh, okay I'll wash you off." Puck smiled and quickly shot a water tornado at the boy, making him spin in it as he screamed.

Puck laughed and stopped the torrent. "There, all clean!"

"I CAN'T STOP!"

All the kids were laughing at Subaru, already forgetting the horror and focusing on the funny ways Subaru got picked on by those around him.

Otto and Garfiel were happy to laugh their frustrations off even if for a little.

Beatrice smiled as she watched Puck joke around with Subaru.

She missed her brother.

The water current dissipated and left a clean wet Subaru on the ground with a haunted look on his face.

The scene changed to Subaru and Emilia sitting on the lawn with Subaru glaring at a certain floating cat.

"I thought I was a goner. Wasn't there some way else to do it? You enjoyed that, didn't you?"

"That's not true at all. Hmph." Puck denied and looked away.

Subaru flicked him on the forehead making the cat grip his head in pain.

Subaru smiled but then was punched by boxer Puck. "Push-backs!"

"Now you've done it!" Subaru smirked and grabbed the cat to start tickling him.

"You like that? It's my lethal move, Make the Cat cry Ha-Ha!"

"Cut it out!" Puck jumped out of his grasp and slapped him with his tail. "Tail punch!"

"You-"

"And I'll finish you with my paw-pad grind!"

Subaru growled and began fighting Puck.

Suddenly, the sound of female giggling stopped the two in place.

"Oh… gosh… sorry… I can't. What are you two doing? Oh, my stomach… I'm dying… " Emilia continued to laugh out loud.

Emilia was laughing and holding her midsection much like her counter part.

"I miss you so much, Puck." Emilia smiled warmly at her father.

Subaru and Puck smiled at each other.

"Well, now I've bounced back from my initial bad impression. Thanks for your assistance, Father!" Subaru bowed to Puck, who was more than happy to play along.

"Who are you calling Father? I won't give you my daughter that easily!"

Emilia snorted at this.

"Please stop… You're both too funny… "

"Nothing beats your smile, Lia." Puck flew down to sit on her shoulder.

"You agree don't you Subaru?"

"Yeah I totally do." Subaru stood up and did his pose. Which sucks by the way :(

"To me, Emilia-tan's smile is the first shining star in the night sky!"

"Not you, too, Subaru… Also, what does Tan mean? Where'd it come from?"

"It's what they call a pet name. Just like when Puck calls you Lia. It's an expression of affection that shows two people's closeness."

Emilia looked confused at this. "I don't remember getting that close to you… "

"Ouch!" Mimi flinched in sympathy at the rejection.

Subaru held his hand to his chest in pain. "That somewhat hurts, but I won't lose heart! Think of it as an advance on our relationship. It means I want us to get close enough to call each other by pet names. Okay?"

Emilia slowly blushes and looks away. "All right, I'll accept that."

Subaru is taking aback by the way she was blushing.

"No… don't look at me!" Emilia smiled and waved him off.

"I expected her to cringe, but I got a positive response."

"You need more friends big sis!" Felt yelled out in frustration, making Emilia blush.

Subaru turned to the floating cat. "What could this mean commentator Puck-san?"

"She doesn't have many friends, so she craves things like nicknames. She's easy to please."

The camera turns to show Subaru with a perverted look in his eyes and a blush. "My main heroine is easy to please, huh?!"

"Hmph! Stupid Subaru." Emilia pouted and turned away from her Subaru as Crusch and Anastasia laughed at her expense.

"Sister, sister. It's only been a short time, and now our guest looks like a drowned rat."

"Rem, Rem. In just a short time, our guest has turned into a dirty old washrag."

"I know I'm a rat. You don't have to tell me." Subaru looked at the two maids.

They bowed and spoke in sync. "Our lord, Roswaal-sama, has returned."

Subaru inhaled slowly. "Here we go… "

He was determined…

My first meeting with the lord of this mansion… All I know for certain is that someone will attack on the fourth night.

It'd be ideal if I could let them know, but I can't explain where I got the information, so they might think I'm working with the assassin.

If I knew even just the attacker's physique, it might me a different story.

So this time, I'll use these next four days to gather information and find out who the attacker is.

And to do that…

"He's not planning to live through this one." Felix looked angry at Subaru.

"It seems he's gotten used to it." Wilhelm shook his head in disappointment.

"You may have any reward you request… just name your desire." Roswaal extended his arms wide.

"He's going to be a butler again. Hmph! What a waste of ti-"

"In that case, Let me live here as a house guest, and eat and sleep all I want!" Subaru declared as the table fell silent.

"…"

"…"

"Fuck this boy!" "Anastasia-sama!"

Crusch, Emilia, Felt and even Priscilla giggled at the frustrated looking Anastasia.

While Julius looked at her with an offended expression.

"This is Subaru's fault." He growled. No way his mistress would say such crude things! No way!

Ram yawned.

Everyone looked at her.

Scene change.. Subaru was walking down a hallway in thought.

"How am I supposed to gather information, though? I guess I'll start with some indirect questioning."

"What he's doing isn't wrong though. Gathering information always was he's best weapon." Ricardo nodded his head at Subaru's plan.

Subaru stopped and looked out of a window to see Rem fixing the flower bed he fell into.

"That's where I fell… " Subaru quickly rushed out and stepped behind Rem.

"Sorry for the trouble." Subaru apologized to the kneeling maid.

Rem got up and bowed to him. "Of course. If you'll excuse me, sir." Rem walked away.

"Wait… I didn't even get to say anything."

Ram looked at her sister and hugged her tight.

"I killed him nee-sama."

"Shhhh, we don't want them hearing that! They have forgotten about us for now."

"But I killed him! I killed the man I love most in this world. I-Is that why he didn't choose to love me? Have I really hurt him that much?"

Rem whispered and cried into her sister's chest as Ram held her.

"Barusu has already died so he'll get over it. I would like to have a very lengthy conversation about your taste in mates, especially men, but if Barusu didn't love you, do you think that he would have worked so hard to save you and make everyone remember who you are? If you were so cruel to him and if you had killed him, do you think he would have helped you while you were unconscious when even your nee-sama forgot about you?"

Rem hugged her sister tight and prayed to what ever entity out there that had the power… please don't make her hurt her Subaru-kun even more.

Subaru starts looking all over the mansion. "I don't see anything out of the ordinary… "

Subaru heard the sound of chains behind him. Scared for his life, the boy quickly turned and found a certain clown standing behind him.

"They didn't sound like the chains of the killer calm down Garf." Otto pushed his friend back in his seat once Garfiel stood up to punch the clown in the face.

"Chains 'r not, he deserves it." Garfiel grumbled and sat back down.

"Whaaat do you not see?" Roswaal asked with a smile.

"Rose-chi… Don't scare me like that. It's misleading."

Scene change… Subaru is writing on his notebook…

Magic-died of weakness in sleeping

Sound of chains

Roswaal's chains X Misleading!

Subaru scratched his hair in frustration as he thought about the evidence he had.

A knock sounded making him look at the door with a smile.

"Come in!"

Ram came in with some tea for the guest. "Here you go, sir."

"Oh, thanks. Want to drink it with me?"

Ram bowed her head. "No, thank you, Sir."

"Hey, you can be a little friendlier to me if you want… " Subaru watched Ram leave with an uneasy look.

The maid just gave him a look and closed the door behind her.

"Emilia-san don't scowl at the maids like that. Nothing has been confirmed." Otto warned the angry half-elf.

"That IS a bit suspicious…" Al mused.

"Or maybe they don't like big bro in this one because they see him as a freeloader." Mimi gave her opinion.

Many were conflicted about this.

Were the twins really the killers, or are they just mad at Subaru for freeloading in this reality.

They could have asked the twins if they had hostile intentions towards the boy and see if they're telling the truth via Crusch or Reinhard.

But everyone was focused on the screen and how Subaru will deal with this.

They all knew… whom ever it may be… the killer well be revealed.

They just had to watch.

"Well, it's my first day. I guess that's expected."

Scene change… Subaru entered the Forbidden Library and was smiling at an annoyed Beatrice…

"Yo!"

"You come in here every day without even knocking. You truly have no manners whatsoever. It would be in your best interest to leave before you get blown away, I suppose." Beatrice slowly raised her hand and pointed at Subaru.

Said boy started panicking and waving his hands. "Whoa! Wait, wait! I just wanted to ask something!"

Beatrice's interest stopped her from blowing him out.

"Is there any magic that weakens someone and kills them as if putting them to sleep?"

"If I must answer then yes there is."

"There is?"

"But it's not so much magic as it is a curse I suppose."

Beatrice began reading from a book, while Subaru read behind her.

"There are many such things among the spells that shamans specialize in."

"Shamans?" Subaru leaned down as Beatrice held a book with roughly drawn art forms on it.

"Magicians. However, shamans are a subclass of magic and spirit arts users that originate in the northern nation of Gusteco, I suppose. They're all quite useless, and not to be taken seriously. But there is an easier method than a curse, I suppose." Beatrice turned from the book to Subaru.

"Easier?"

Beatrice's cute face contorted into an evil smirk.

"I believe you've already experienced it."

"Beatrice-chan is so mean!" Petra glared at the screen.

Beatrice couldn't help but agree with the little maid.

Subaru looked at the girl with confusion until she placed her hand on his chest, making him realize what she was talking about.

"Wait, you mean… That mana drain you did against my will could actually kill me?!"

"Little sis is so mean!" Felt joined Petra in glaring at the screen.

Beatrice didn't say anything.

Subaru remembered the time he first met the girl and how she knocked him out cold.

"Mana is also one's very life force. If you continually suck it out by force, one could die of weakness, I suppose."

"Wait… You're not the one who killed me, are you?"

Beatrice was reaching for a book that was too high for her.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm busy. I couldn't even spare the effort to kill you."

"Maaan, She's so harsh!" Mimi joined the loli clan and glared at the Beatrice on the screen.

Beatrice simply glared as she watched. They were kids. She had to ignore them.

Subaru quickly helped her reach the book and went back on topic.

"So, uh… oh, yeah! Can anyone do that mana-sucking thing?"

"That's an absolutely terrible way to put it, I suppose. In this mansion, only Bubby and I can. Even Roswaal can't."

"Oh… It's actually a pretty rare skill, then. Don't suck up that stuff too much. Especially from me. I'm really short on blood right now, so I'd die in a heartbeat."

"Yes, all your organs were restored, but your blood wasn't replaced, I suppose. Well, I have no obligation to do that, anyway."

"My organs." Subaru looked down at the place where he was once cut open from and looked back at the spirit girl that was reading her book.

"The way you said that makes it sound like you were the one who healed my wounds. Trying to take the credit from Emilia-tan makes you look bad!"

"What an ungrateful idiot." Felix snorted. Julius and Ricardo nodded at the comment.

"That silly girl doesn't have the power to heal fatal wounds yet, I suppose."

"Beakooooo…"

"Owe! What are you doing, I suppose?!"

Emilia pouted and began pulling on Beatrice's cheeks to punish her.

"I'm not silly!"

"Okay! Okay! I suppose!" Beatrice rubbed her cheeks and pouted with tears in her eyes, giving a small scowl to the smug looking Emilia.

"Huh?"

"She and Bubby stabilized you, and I healed your wounds."

"Huh? F-For real? You're kidding, right?" Subaru, unable to believe such a horrendous blasphemy. "Of course… It's a lie. It was a lie! It's not nice to lie! No lying!"

"I think he needs to listen to his friends more." Even Reinhard found Subaru's behavior a little offending to the great spirit.

"Shut up I suppose! You're too averse to the truth. Someone not worth saving should disappear, I suppose!" Beatrice raised her arm towards the boy.

All he could do was give her a horrified look before she sent him flying out the door and out the window, making him land on the same flower bed.

"She's so mean!" Ricardo laughed at the screen.

"That's it inface!" Beatrice quickly jumped and threw a water bottle at the dogman, drenching him and making him look like a sad puppy.

She sat down and humped.

At least, this time Emilia wasn't there to see hi-

"Um… once again, are you alright?"

Subaru groaned as Emilia smiled sympathetically.

"Bro has some really bad luck." Felt winced at giggled a bit at the situation.

Scene change… Subaru is sitting on his desk late at night, staring at his notes.

So, in the end, the key words are curse and chains.

I don't know anything else.

If the conditions for Return by Death are the same, I died three times at the capital and survived the fourth time.

But that doesn't mean I intend to treat this as a throwaway life. That's why I asked Puck to keep an eye on Emilia for me.

Flash back to Subaru and Puck talking to one another while Emilia is fucking around in the back ground.

"This is all really vague, but I can tell you're asking out of concern for Lia." Puck smiled at him.

"Hmm, it seems he's not as used to it as you thought, Wilhelm-dono." Crusch mused as she watched with rapid interest how this boy deals with this situation.

The scene shifts out of the flashback and to Subaru as he lamented in his room.

On the morning of the fourth day, I'll leave here and-

A knock sounded and in entered the pink haired maid.

"Pardon my intrusion, sir."

"What does he mean by leave?" Anastasia inquired.

"It seems like Subaru made a plan to gather information." Reinhard smiled and watched with rapid interest. This was getting exciting.

Subaru quickly hid his notes with some papers and smiled at Ram as she brought a tray of tea and biscuits to him.

"I see you really are studying, sir."

"That's super rude! I am a guest here, you know."

"You're a freeloader calling yourself a guest. That's how I perceive it, sir." Ram gave him a cup.

"Thanks. Ugh, it's still nasty." Subaru looked at the disgusting tea cup.

Ram glared at the comment but couldn't allow herself to speak about it. She opted to stay quite for the rest of this 'hearing' and keep her crying sister protected.

She didn't want to anger them any further.

Ram sat down on his bed and sipped from her own cup.

"You're going to incur the wrath of the finest tea leaves in the mansion."

"Slacking off right in front of your guest? I have no words for that nerve of yours."

"You were the one who told me to be more friendly toward you. I only responded to your demand." Ram dangled her legs.

"So? How is your studying coming along?"

"Not bad. I can read simple fairy tales like these now." He opened a book and shifted through it. "It's interesting how the morals differ just slightly from what I know. It's like true cross-cultural communication. Maybe I should import a few fairy tales from my homeland. Like The Red Ogre Who Cried."

Subaru smiled at Ram as he said this. The maid appeared to be interested at this.

Ram found herself interested along with her counter part.

"Hmm." Priscilla muttered as her eyes lit up with interest.

"The Red Ogre Who Cried?"

Smiling at her gaze, Subaru nodded his head. "All right, your attention please."

"Once upon a time, there lived a red ogre and a blue ogre. "

Subaru picks up a spoon with a red jewel in one hand and a quill that had a blue jewel on it. He held the two together.

"The two were very good friends. The red ogre wanted to be friends with the people of the village. But the people were too scared to get close to him. The blue ogre couldn't bear to watch, so he devised a plan to help his friend."

Subaru began shaking the quill that represented the blue ogre.

"I'll make a rukus in the village, so you come and stop me. Then the villagers will be sure to trust you."

"The plan worked and the red ogre befriended the humans. But as time began passing by, something began to worry him. His friend, the blue ogre, no longer came to visit him."

Ram's hand twitched at this.

"One day, the red ogre went to the blue ogre's house. The door was tightly shut, and a letter was affixed to it. The letter said…

Red Ogre-kun, please have fun with your human friends. If I continue to hang around you, they might think you're a bad ogre, too. So I've decided to go on a journey, but I will never forget you. Goodbye. Please take care of yourself. Your friend forever… Blue Ogre."

"The red ogre read the letter in silence over and over again. Tears fell as he began to cry.

The end."

Petra, Mimi and Felt sniffled at the story.

… why was Ricardo sniffling too?

"What a courageous ogre." Ricardo said while wiping a few tears.

Ram slowly sat up and looked out of a window. "That's a sad story."

"Yeah it is. But I think it's a sweet story too."

"I think all the characters in it are just stupid. The red ogre, blue ogre and the villagers, too."

"That's kind of a harsh critique. I mean, I'm not denying it, but… That's why I both love and hate that story."

Subaru smiled and looked at the quill. "The blue ogre's self-sacrifice is really appealing, but it's stupid because he gets nothing out of it. I'm the type that wants to be rewarded for the effort I put in."

Anastasia huffed and muttered under her breath. "Yeah! You like shit rewards apparently."

Crusch heard her and had to hold back a snort.

Julius gripped where his sword was supposed to be and tried to contain himself… he was a knight… knights don't hit sleeping boys on their heads… don't do it Julius.

"Is that what you think of the blue ogre? But it's the red ogre that I think is beyond help. He dragged the blue ogre to his desires and as a result, he lost nothing."

"Then what do you think the two ogres should have done?"

"If the red ogre truly wanted to befriend the humans, he should have broken off his horns and gone to them. He should have done that before the blue ogre couldn't bear watch anymore." Ram stared out the window with a forlorn look.

"That's a pretty extreme opinion, too… "

Ram put the cup down and walked closer to Subaru. "Is it? Which of the two ogres would you rather be friends with?"

"Which of the two?"

Ram raised both hands and held a finger up with each one before the boy.

"The red ogre, who can only wish to be taken care of by others, or the stupid blue ogre, who basks in his own self-sacrifice?"

Ram looked down at Subaru expectantly.

Rem looked up at her sister with confusion and pity lacing her face.

Ram just glared at the screen.

She didn't like that story one bit.

Subaru looked between the two hands, he reached for one and picked…

"Huh?" Ram looked confused.

Subaru… chose both of them. He had each of her hands in one of his.

Subaru looked up at Ram.

"What a foolish answer. If you want to befriend both, you must be indecisive, adulterous type. You'll regret it one day." Ram pulls back and stares at him.

"Subaru always says that he's selfish because he wants to safe everyone without sacrifice." Otto recalled and smiled warmly.

The others in the Emilia camp and even in some other camps like Ricardo, Wilhelm and Reinhard smiled too.

"He does seem naive…" Anastasia voiced.

"But he has a good heart." Crusch smirked at the merchant girl.

"Good… heart?" Priscilla whispered softly and glared at the sleeping boy.

Was that why he was so interesting to her?

What a foolish notion!

"Foolish…" Priscilla muttered to herself… but she looked uncertain.

Roswaal just frowned deeply as he heard their words.

"Selfish… " The clown muttered and glared at the sleeping boy.

"I don't recall it being that kind of story!"

"Putting aside your homeland's fairy tales, did any of these stories leave an impression on you?" Ram pointed at one of the books.

"You guys think we should get him to tell us a few of these stories." Felt asked in excitement

"Stories from another world?" Felix asked in apprehension.

"That does sound exciting." Otto muttered to which Garfiel nodded his head with an excited smirk.

"Hmph! You're all so pathetic infact! Subaru has been telling Betty all of his world's most exciting fairy-tales and fictional stories, I suppose." A very smug Beatrice smirked and received the glares of a few girls with pride.

Subaru was her contractor not theirs.

"Well, the ones that interested me most were the one in the middle, about the dragon, and the one at the end about the witch."

"I finally know where the name Dragon's Kingdom of Lugunica came from."

"Oh?"

"It said the royal family signed a covenant with a dragon, so it's more a folks tale than a fairy tale, right?"

"Yes, since it's true. The noble dragon still protects this nation from far away, beyond a great waterfall. It will do so until its contract with the royal family is fulfilled."

"What's on your mind?" Julius looked at his lady and shook his head.

"I was thinking that maybe Subaru's world is beyond a great waterfall."

"That's actually quite interesting… " Reinhard thought about the idea with excitement running through him. He couldn't get out of Lugunica's borders since he was a national threat to every other country so he loves to learn about the outside world in anyway he can.

"Wait, didn't the royal family that signed the contract recently die out?"

"Yes, quite abruptly. No one knows what the dragon wants. In the nations current situation, only the gods know… No, only the dragon knows what the dragon will do, sir."

Crusch glared a bit and remained calm as she remembered what her wish was to advocate the throne.

Breaking the damned covenant… Gluttony may have taken her purpose and memory but the deep hatred she had for the dragon was still implanted in her heart.

"oh, by the way, about this witch story… " Subaru was flipping through the book but was suddenly cut off.

"I don't want to discuss that. I've stayed here too long. I'll come again to notify you when dinner is ready sir." Ram quickly turns around and picks up the tray, bowed to him and left.

"O-Okay." Subaru watched her as she stopped at the doorway.

"That story you told me about the ogres… don't tell it to Rem. I'm certain she wouldn't like it." With that, Ram closed the door behind her.

Rem looked at her sister with worried eyes.

"Nee-sama-"

"You should worry about someone else now, Rem." Ram cut her off coldly which broke the little sister's heart in two.

Subaru laid down on his bed and stared at the book in his hand.

"A scary witch… a terrifying witch. To even speak her name was terrifying. Everyone called her the Witch of Envy."

Many shivered at the sheer ominous look of the drawing.

Roswaal slowly tapped his chin in thought.

The screen stopped at the image of the Witch's drawn face.

Scene changes to show Subaru standing at the front door of the mansion, Emilia, Roswaal, and the twin maids are standing before him.

"Are you sure about this? We could call a dragon-drawn carriage to take you to the capital… " Emilia looked at Subaru with a worried look.

"What is he going to do now?" Emilia asked in confusion.

"It seems he's leaving the mansion." Anastasia mused.

"How well he catch the killer then?" Petra asked.

"We just have to see." Frederica answered and ruffled the little maid's head.

"I'll be fine. One day when I'm the kind of strong, smart, rich man who's worthy of you, I'll come on a white horse to take you away." Subaru pulled his thumps up and smiled charmingly…

only to be ignored by a worried Emilia as she looked him up and down.

"Do you have a handkerchief? And water, and lagumite ore, and, and… well you be able to sleep by yourself?"

"Do you think you're my mom?!"

The knightly trio snorted while Otto, Ricardo, Garfiel and Al all laughed at Subaru's failed attempted.

"Yet another failed attempt!" Ricardo laughed out loud.

"I feel bad for this boy!" Al called from where he sat.

Before Emilia could show her affection to her son, Roswaal cut in and extended his hand.

"Well, then, Subaru-kun, be well. And doooon't lose the gift I gave you. I added a little soooomething equivalent to our three days' woooorth of memories together."

Subaru looked at his bag and shook it a bit, a jingle sounded and Subaru smiled.

"Hush money, right? Don't worry, I get it. I won't say anything I shouldn't. I swear to the dragon."

"He's quick to pick up things, I suppose." Priscilla mused, impressed a little by his uncovering of Roswaal's plan.

"Talking with you makes any evil scheme seem to lose its purpose. And in this nation, swearing to the dragon is the highest form of promise. Make sure you don't forget it." Roswaal smiled at him.

"Got it!" Subaru looked from the master to the two maids that served him. "You two helped me out a ton. Especially you, Rem-rin. Thanks for all the great food."

He looked away and struggled to think of something. "And Ram-chi… yeah! You're good at cleaning toilets, right?"

"Hmph! What a pathetic compliment from an equally pathetic man." Ram couldn't help but open her mouth as she felt angry at the wish he seemed to want to insult her honor and pride.

Even though he only teased her…

Both Rem and Ram turned to each other and began showing this boy how it's done.

"Sister, sister. Our guest is hopelessly bad at flattery."

"Rem, Rem. Our guest has a fatal lack of skill in flattery."

"Oh, shut up! I seriously couldn't think of anything!"

Subaru smiled at the two brightly. "Thanks though."

Both twins smiled. "Yes, sir."

Otto looked at the twins and then looked at Emilia. "I don't think… they did it."

Julius sighed and shook his head. "You can't judge a book by it's cover. They haven't said a thing since they've been accused."

"They didn't even defend themselves!" Mimi pointed at them in anger.

"B-But Ram-sama wouldn't kill someone so dear to us! She looks so nice and happy now so maybe it was something else?" Petra tried to defend her nee-sama, not wanting to believe that the older maid had killed Subaru.

Emilia just stared coldly towards the two.

Rem avoided her gaze and teared up.

Emilia looked away and hugged Subaru tight.

How could she have been so blind?

Subaru was walking out the gate with a serious glare on his face.

"Subaru!"

The boy looked behind him with surprise. Emilia was standing behind him with a smile on her face.

"Thank you for everything. If you need anything, come visit anytime."

Subaru smiled. "Sure!"

Emilia waved him off as he walked away from the mansion.

"Thanks, Emilia-tan!"

It was obvious he was planing something, so how could she have been so blind to see it? Why hadn't she intervened and helped him through it?

Subaru began walking away. Walking and walking. He stopped midway on the road and looked around.

"Hmmm, why does he look suspicious?" Felix asked curious.

"I think he plans to sneak into the mansion and watch if a killer really did enter." Frederica answered.

"That's a great plan to catch the monster who killed him!" Petra cheered, still in disbelief that the twins were the ones who murdered Subaru.

He changed course and ran through the dense forest at the side of the road.

"What's big bro doing? The mansion is over there!" Felt asked in frustration.

Emilia watched with a cold unchanging expression.

Why doesn't he tell her about these things? She would have believed him! So…

"So why didn't you try to tell me, Subaru?" Emilia asked with dismay filling her being.

Subaru stopped at a ledge that over looked the entire L. Mathers grounds.

"Alright, this is it. I can see Emilia's room especially well from here. Now all that's left is to wait for something to happen… "

Subaru opened his bag and picked up a knife.

"… and stop it."

"What?!" Felix shouted in outrage as he couldn't believe the stupidity of the plan.

"This will not end well." Julius facepalmed at the stupid plan.

"I don't understand… it sounds like a good plan." Felt slowly asked the knights.

"It's because he seems more suspicious that way." Otto answered Felt's question.

"And if the twins found him sitting on a ledge watching the manor with a knife in hand…" Ricardo quickly caught on.

"They well haaaaave to interveeeeeeene!" Roswaal kept smiling morbidly, disturbing the crowd around him.

"Does this seem funny to you, I suppose?" Beatrice couldn't handle the way he smiled and spoke as if it was the normal thing to do.

"Noooot at aaaall! But you have to keep in mind that Subaru-kuuuuun is the one that looks most suspicious in that world. So he brought this on himseeeeeelf."

Everyone stayed silent and watched with baited breaths.

He remembered this same knife as the one he used to cut vegetables and fruits from previous loops. His only regret… using it to cut his fingers more than the fruits.

"She'd probably get mad at me for using it this way… "

Subaru smiled back at the mansion. He looked down in sadness. "I hope she does… I don't want to die."

Emilia held his hand and watched. Her eyes remained cold and indifferent. She was ready. Ready to live through Subaru's pain and agony no matter what horrible deeds she had committed.

If they brought the slightest ounce of pain on her knight then she will memorize and work to make it up to him.

Clenching his fingers between hers tight.

Her knight.

Hers.

He looked up and remembered all of his previous loops. He remembered Emilia's smile.

"I don't want them to die." He remembered Beatrice and Roswaal.

I couldn't protect him.

I couldn't protect him.

I couldn't protect him.

Beatrice held his hand and stared at the screen with a heart broken look while repeating the same sentence over and over again.

Gritting his teeth to keep the emotion in. "What did I tell you, Natsuki Subaru? Even if no one remembers what happened when everything repeats," Subaru stared at his reflection in the blade. "… You remember it."

"Man is handling a lot by himself." Al observed.

The others looked on in sympathy at the boy's struggle.

Rem just hugged her knees and began letting the tears slip as she saw how terrified and dismayed her hero was because of her.

Scene change to Subaru watching the sunset while the sky began turning orange.

"Now that I think about it, I didn't go shopping for Rem this time. Just because the food meant for me was leftover?"

Subaru suddenly looks startled at something.

It'll be a while before it gets dark.

Subaru shook his head. Focus! Focus!

"I mean… maybe they won't find him on the ledge?" Ricardo sounded out making some of them nod in agreement.

"t's a very far'way ledge." Garfiel muttered as he observed.

Suddenly… something started heading towards him. Subaru looked up quickly…

Everyone stared at the edge of their seats.

"Nevermined!" Al shouted as he leaned closer to watch.

A certain metal mace was heading straight at him.

Barely able to miss it, he jumped out of the way making it crush the entire ledge where he stood. It was so close to hitting him that it grazed his cheek and made him bleed even when he jumped away. Subaru fell down from the mountain ledge while glaring up at the mace…

His body was suddenly stopped from hitting the ground by a rope he fixed around a tree.

"Emergency escape!" Subaru used the knife and cut the ropes. Once he was on the ground, he began running away.

"That was smart of him." Anastasia mused and watched with an excited expression as the boy managed to live the attack off.

Julius and Reinhard nodded and watched with grim expressions as their friends attempts fell in vain. They knew he was dead. They just had to watch and see how he dies.

"I saw it! Yes, I saw it! I saw where the sound of chains came from!"

Rem slowly stopped her crying and looked up with various sniffles coming out of her.

Subaru looked back while he ran. "But is it coming this way now?"

She had to watch. He suffered this, she owed it to him.

Subaru stopped running and looked up at a giant ledge that stood in his way.

If the man that owned her heart couldn't love her because of this, then she would watch and despair over her anger and stupidity.

It was a dead end.

"Oh no!" Petra hugged Frederica and shook from the fear.

Her fear for Subaru.

Her fear of the hero she liked getting killed before her once again.

Does this mean I played right into the attacker's hands?

"Fool!" Felix shouted and glared at the Subaru on screen.

How many times well he die and fail? How many times will this boy's weakness bring suffering and pain to everyone watching?

Felix watched with his heart filled with pity and hatred for the man that resembled him most.

A weak man.

A useless man.

Natsuki Subaru and Felix Argyle were the same.

And that's why…

"That's why I hate you, Natsuki Subaru." Felix muttered under his breath as he watched.

Subaru closed his eyes and turned around to face the killer with conviction. He pulled his tracksuit jacket off and used it as a shield infront of him.

If you're coming then come!

* Sounds of Chains* Filled the dense forest around him.

The mace was shown thrown flying towards him.

"Do you have the nerve?!" Subaru screamed and propelled the Mace by his jacket to change its direction instead of hitting his chest and killing him, it hit the huge mountain behind him.

"Won't be enough, but a nice trick." Priscilla snorted and watched with an indifferent expression.

Rem was horrified by the attack. Her morning star… almost killed him.

"It might kill him…" Rem corrected herself as she watched with her guilt growing and fueling her misery.

Everyone watched in silence, some nervous about what's going to happen to Subaru. Some where curious to see what he will do to get out of this place.

Felix, Roswaal and Priscilla wanted to see how Subaru dies in this one.

Subaru quickly took hold of the chain on the mace and pulled on it. "All right, show yourself, damn it! I've gone through all kind of hell trying to see your face!"

"He is brave. A normal boy like him would run away." Reinhard spoke in a soft tone as he worried for his friend.

"He's already tasted death more the once. He doesn't need to be afraid." Julius glared as he thought about the disgusting power Subaru held.

Subaru tried pulling the chain but it was not moving like it was chained to something immobile. Subaru glared at the attacker's dark figure. He felt the chain in his hand relent and wiggle weakly as who ever it was holding it from the other end, began walking towards Subaru. Slowly they walked up to him.

Slowly, the darkness left their figure.

Slowly… Slowly…

"Then I have no choice." they said as they stood in the light before Subaru.

"No…" Petra closed her eyes and clenched her fists as her fears were confirmed.

"Why…" Crusch narrowed her eyes and watched with undivided attention. She had watched the maid's loyalty to Subaru. Why was she killing him in these loops.

Subaru looked at the one who killed him with shock filling his core. Confusion. Disbelief.

Rem's eyes teared up at her heroes face. He looked so hurt. So betrayed.

"I'm sorry." she just hoped that she kills him mercifully.

"The ideal scenario would have been to finish this without anyone noticing." Rem spoke in a curtly tone.

"So you planned to kill him behind everyone's back?" Anastasia coldly looked at the crying maid.

Emilia and Beatrice just watched with wide open eyes as they thought about all the times they had let Rem near Subaru.

How many times did he die because of their incompetence?

"How many times did he die because of me?" Emilia asked the same question on her mind since the very first death. Broken. Too tired to cry.

Subaru looked at the chain in his hand in disbelief. Why was Rem holding the other end?

"You're joking… " Why was Rem standing inplace of the killer?

"Right, Rem?" Subaru shook as he realized.

His killer… was the blue haired Oni of the Roswaal Estate.

Title screen:

The sounds of Chains

"If you do not resist, I can make your death painless." Rem spoke as she stared him down.

Petra held her hands to her mouth as she stared with wide open eyes.

Frederica held the girl close and watched with a wide eyed expression.

She never saw Rem this cruel.

"Was this what you do to anyone that seems suspicious in the manor?" Frederica asked in heartbreak as she wondered how many of the guests she had served were killed by her colleagues.

"Why are you doing this? That's such a cliché, but do you mind my asking?" Subaru struggled to stay calm as he looked at the one who once murdered him.

Everyone leaned in and watched in silence.

"The question of the day." Otto asked with complex emotions running through him and not allowing him to look away from the screen to glare at his brother's killers.

"If someone seems suspicious, punish them. This is the rule of maids."

"What the fuck?" Ricardo muttered with a disbelieving look.

"That's not fair!" Felt yelled at the two maids.

"That's such a stupid reason to kill someone!" Petra screamed a heartbroken scream of anger and frustration.

"Does Ram know?" The sweating Subaru asked while gazing at his attacker.

"I intend to finish this before my sister sees anything." Rem quickly picked the chain with hands.

"Hmm, so the pink one wasn't involved?" Priscilla mused with surprise.

Many looked at Ram in surprise.

"Roswaal-sama ordered us to just watch Barusu when he first came to the mansion. He explicitly told us to not to take matters into our own hands when dealing with him." Ram coldly stated while shielding her sister from anyone glaring at her.

"So why did the blue maid not obey?" Anastasia asked sternly.

"It seems that her plan is to take care of Subaru quickly and quietly without anyone knowing or noticing." Julius answered for his mistress.

"Including her employer and her own colleagues as well as the remaining residents." Crusch continued the thought.

"But that still doesn't answer why she's doing all this." Al asked.

Beatrice and Emilia remained silent.

"Is that how little you trusted me?" Subaru looked so broken as he asked this.

Rem felt her heart shatter at his tone.

Rem started walking to him with an indifferent expression on her face.

"Yes."

"Ya was smiling with him until he left! He was thank'ng ya with a smile!" Garfiel finally spoke up yelling at the twins. The blonde boy was going insane as he watched the situation unfold. He never expected the girl he crushed on to be so cruel as to KILL someone for such a stupid reason as being suspicious.

They smiled to his face before he left!

"And now ya kill him?!"

Rem couldn't argue with the blonde boy.

Subaru suddenly smiled and looked at his feet as the despair filled his being. "Damn, I'm pathetic. I was so sure we were getting along well… " Subaru's hands fell limp as he stared at the ground.

"Subaru… " Emilia's heart shattered as she thought about being in his place.

"Doing everything you can to help the friends you made in a new world. Trying to save them from a horrible fate, going as far as dying many times for them." Reinhard lamented in sadness.

"Only to find out they were the ones killing you for no reason at all." Wilhelm solemnly continued his grandson's thoughts.

Rem stopped before him. "My siste-"

"I don't wanna hear it!" Subaru shouted and suddenly took out his phone, pointing straight into her face and taking continuous photos with it, flashing the light into her eyes, blinding her in place.

"Take this!" Subaru quickly pushed Rem out of the way and ran.

"He didn't stab her." Anastasia mused while watching intently.

"Of course he won't. He doesn't want to hurt his friends. Even when they try to kill him." Otto growled at his brother's stupidity.

Garfiel nodded his head. He saw just how noble Subaru was back in the sanctuary.

Subaru was running… running with a scared expression of a child on his nasty eyed face.

"He looks so scared." Petra said in a sad tone.

"Of course he is! He's going to die alone by someone he thought was his friend." Felt yelled out in frustration as she watched her big bro running from a murderer alone.

Breathing heavily, inhaling and exhaling. His legs never stopping as he ran through the forest underneath the orange sky.

Beatrice and Emilia both watched with their hearts breaking.

Rem just stared at the screen.

Silent.

Something flashed behind him and some wind flew towards him, before he knew it… Subaru fell and began tumbling across the forest floor. He didn't know what was happening, he screamed and fell down to a stop.

"What was that?" Petra asked in confusion.

"That was wind magic." Mimi answered for her. Her tone lost all of her cheer.

Opening his eyes, he saw something before him that was too shocking for him to believe he was seeing it. There was no way. No way that was his…

and then the pain hit him through the adrenaline.

"Shit!" Garfiel exclaimed in shock.

"Oh, No!" Petra screamed in horror as tears ran down her face.

"Subaru!" Beatrice yelled out, losing all of her elegance as her failure to help her contractor was displayed yet again.

Emilia watched in silence. Her hand crushing Subaru's. Her eyes emotionless.

She was just staring at the screen.

Screaming and shrieking in pure agony, the boy from another world slowly looked back at his body and found that his leg has indeed been cut off.

"W-Why?" Felt wanted to ask but she couldn't keep the tears from coming down.

"This is too cruel! Even for how suspicious he was acting!" Crusch spoke out to the maids.

Rem just stared wide eyed at what happened to her love.

"Barusu's stupidity put him in this situation. We were ordered to keep the mansion safe and he was spying on it." Ram said coldly.

"You have no right to put him through such pain." Julius spoke up in anger.

"Don't go acting on impulse now, Julius-kuyon. It was there master's domain and they had every right to treat a potential threat however they saw fit." Felix spoke in an oddly hateful voice laced with sarcasm. He didn't care that Subaru was dying again. To Felix, Subaru has become the most disgusting human in the world.

Julius glared at Felix and grunted as he saw good logic behind his cat friend's words.

"But you still didn't have any right to kill him the hallway. And Roswaal has already ordered you both to keep watch and stand down, infact!" Beatrice stood up to speak on behalf of her contractor. How dare this maid defend such cruel treatment?! Betty will show her.

Ram snorted coldly. "It's obvious that Roswaal -sama ordered this to happen."

"No, Roswaal didn't order it. Rem just said that she was doing this to get rid of Subaru of her own will and against both of the wishes of the domain's lord and you as well." Otto growled and interrupted angrily.

Ram just stayed silent and glared at the merchant.

Her sister just stared at the screen, trembling in place.

"Aahhhhhh! My leg!" Subaru screamed as the grass turned red from his bleeding stump.

His whole body was paralyzed from the pain of losing his limb, he couldn't move or crawl as his blood sputtered out of his open gushing wound.

Suddenly, a hand reached out above the bleeding spot where his limb used to be.

"Mana of water, heal this damaged body."

"Oh this well be bad." Frederica quickly covered Petra's eyes.

"Keep them closed little one. This will be rough to watch." Wilhelm advised the struggling Petra in a somber tone.

"Don't even think about it." Felt glared at Reinhard as he tried to cover her eyes. The little blonde was crying and glaring at the screen with hatred. She will avenge him.

"What a disgusting way to use the power of healing." Felix snorted. Sure, he didn't care that it was happening to Subaru but he still didn't like a power similar to his own being used like this.

Subaru stopped screaming and felt some relief as Rem began healing him. He looked back with confusion in his eyes.

"If you die this easily, I can't get any information out of you."

"You're torturing him!" Mimi quickly picked up on the meaning.

"What's the meaning of this, I suppose?! You were trying to kill him for some unknown reason against you dear master's orders! Why would you want information now?!"

As Beatrice screamed with fury, Rem could only look at the screen with a doll like expression.

Emilia kept her eyes stuck on the screen. Cold and silent. Expressionless. Emotionless.

She ruffled Subaru's hair a bit. She appeared calm.

"He didn't trust me. He share anything with me." Emilia's thoughts began drifting into the darkness… along with her sanity, as she watched her knight live through another nightmarish scenario… without her.

His relief turned to horror as he understood why she healed him.

Rem stopped the spell and walked towards the fallen knife. "If you had stabbed me with this, You could have fled a bit farther." She picked it up and began stepping closer to the boy with an indifferent expression.

"What are you doing?!" Frederica shook with anger as she held Petra and watched Rem step closer to Subaru with the knife.

This wasn't the way of the maid she had been taught. Frederica was deeply angered by this display of cruelty her colleague displayed.

She through the knife behind her and looked down at the boy. "I ask you this… Are you a member of a faction supporting one of Emilia-sama's rivals for the throne?"

"You have no reason to believe that!"

"You're killing him just because there was a chance for that?"

Crusch and Anastasia glared coldly at the shocked maid.

Subaru grunted in pain and managed to smile up at the maid. "My heart belongs to Emilia-tan forever-"

"Liar…" Emilia pulled on his hair and glared at the screen.

'If I did own your heart then I would have helped you. But you don't trust me.'

Rem quickly sent her mace flying into him, filling his nerves with unbearable pain, making him scream loud as he can.

Petra flinched and hugged Frederica closer as her heroes screams sounded out.

"Please stop." Rem begged as her wide blue eyes couldn't believe such a sight.

Her? Torturing the one she loved most in this world after her sister?

Why did he save her back then? Why did he show her the world?

Undeterred by his screams, Rem continued to look down with an expressionless face.

"Who hired you, and under what conditions?" Cold and emotionless, Rem asked the withering boy.

"You could've questioned him with Bubby present, he could've read Subaru's mind! Infact!" Beatrice screamed with tears of self loathing as Subaru's screams filled the room.

Subaru gasped through the pain and smiled some more… "Emilia-tan's smile, and it was priceless-"

"Always alone always leaving me behind… idiot!" Emilia whispered and hugged Subaru close with her eyes finally showing an emotion.

Guilt.

Rem raise her hand again and stabbed him with her mace once again, making his blood fly around some even hitting her face.

"This is too much." Otto screamed as he too teared up at the sight of someone he cherished like Subaru going through such trauma.

Slowly, the maid wiped the blood from her cheek and stared down with a steeled look at the screaming boy as he cried from the torture.

"Are you affiliated with the Witch's Cult?" Cold and indifferent once again, she asked.

Subaru was withering as the grass all around him turned red from his bleeding form. The boy managed to look up at the monster.

"What?" Crucsh asked as she, and nearly all of the fighters and politicians in the room tensed at the name.

"T-The Witch's Cult? I don't know what that is. My family has been secular for generations-"

"Don't play dumb!"

"Why would you imply that?" Anastasia asked, now very suspicious.

Subaru leaned back from fear as the blue haired Oni finally showed emotion for the first time since the beginning of his torture session.

Rem glared down at the boy with gritted teeth while her eyes shined with rage.

"Your bald-faced lies can only take you so far when the witch's scent lies so thickly upon you!" Rem yelled out with hatred as she glared down at him.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Big bro has the Witch's Scent!"

Julius and Reinhard quickly understood the implication of that.

"So it did have something to do with the Witch after all."

"Do you think that the Witch of Envy was the one who sent him into our world?" Reinhard asked in alarm.

"I don't know why she would. Subaru has been causing her clan of degenerates trouble since he came into Lugunica." Julius mused.

"If he has the scent, doesn't mean he's a cultist?" Tivey asked with a scared expression, only to be hit in the head by his sister.

"Why would he be one when they tried to kill him? I was there. You should stop being an idiot!"

"So that's why you tried to kill him?! Betty has already told you that the scent doesn't mean anything if he didn't have the gospel on him, that is why Betty zapped his mana dry, I suppose! To make sure he wouldn't use magic. He wasn't a threat."

Beatrice glared at Rem.

Rem just looked at the screen while crying.

Subaru looked at her with a confused expression. Unable to say anything, afraid of the monster above him as she spoke with poison laced in her tone.

"When I watched you conversing with my sister, I felt as if I would go mad with anger and unrest. Someone associated with the one who has caused my sister so much agony, boldly encroaching on the place in which she and I belong… "

"So you blamed him for what happened that night?" Ram asked her sister in a soft yet disappointed tone.

Rem just cried at her horrid looking self.

Subaru's face was filled with terror as Rem's entire form shook in anger.

"What a poor kid." Al spoke in a soft sympathetic tone.

"He's just a boy coming from far away. Knows nothing and wants nothing. Just trying to live." Ricardo counted as he watched Subaru scream.

"I can't bear it any longer. Even if I know my sister only acts friendly with you, and only pretends to care for you!" Rem shouted down at him.

Subaru's heart broke in two. His terror shaking him from the toes to his very eyes as they began leaking streams of betrayed tears.

"You were only pretending." Otto and Garfiel looked at Rem and Ram in shock and disgust.

Friendship was important to these two, so watching these twins use it in such a manner…

"Ya're disgusting." Garfiel growled.

The boy slowly laid down his back on the blood soaked grass floor.

His shaking hand was raised to the sky as he spoke in a broken haunted tone.

"I don't cut my hands when I peel vegetables anymore. I can read and write now, even if it's just the simple stuff. I kept my word and studied. I was able to read those fairy tales." Subaru's broken voice began filling with anger and rage. His eyes streamed lines of tears that mixed with his bloodied cheek.

"He's breaking." Julius grimaced at the sight of his friend.

"Thanks to you two… "

"What are you talking about?"

Smiling, manic and despaired… crying and betrayed… Subaru turned his head to look at her with his mad smile.

"I'm talking about the things you guys gave me."

Rem's face changed into disgusted confusion. "I have no memory of any of that." she coldly stated.

"This power of his is really disgusting." Al growled.

Subaru's forehead trembled as he scowled deeply while his eyes leaked tears of frustration.

"Why don't you remember?!" Subaru screamed and gasped in pain as he slowly sat up, his body bleeding more and shocking his nerves with unparalleled agony.

"He's so alone." Otto finally realized why he had to punch Subaru that day in the forest. No one was that persistent to fight everything alone.

"Why do you all keep leaving me behind? What did I do to you?!"

"His power is making him feel isolated." Anastasia spoke with pity filling her tone.

"B-But why?! He could just tell us!" Felt asked, her voice broken by the breakdown Subaru was having.

Subaru glared hatefully at Rem with his tears flowing all over his face. "What am I supposed to do?!"

Beatrice couldn't look at the sight and sniffled while holding her contractor close.

"Forgive Betty, I suppose… please."

His head shook as the pain intensified, further fueling his anger and tears.

"What did I do wrong?!"

Rem's tears ran down her cheeks as she watched the pain he was in because of her.

"S-Subaru-kun…" Ram slowly hugged her little sister.

"I'm… s-so sorry."

He screamed to the sky for an answer to this pain. This unjust, undeserved pain.

"Why do guys hate me so much?!"

"Man this is hard to watch." Ricardo looked away with a stern frown on his face.

He respected this man. He doesn't want to see him so broken.

Broken and nauseous, Rem slowly looked up to watch some more.

Subaru cried and cried as he closed his eyes and looked down at himself.

"Even when you said you'd cut my hair… "

The nasty eyed boy slowly looked up at the cold looking Rem with a pleading crying face. "All that time, I… "

Rem glared and urged him to finish, unimpressed by his facade.

"I…" She urged.

"I really liked both of y-" *SPLASH *

Natsuki Subaru couldn't finish as a sudden wind attack cut his throat open. The boy slowly fell down as blood gushed out and into his air pipes. As the boy fell before her,

Rem only looked down with an expression of cold disgust. "My sister is too kind."

Natsuki Subaru was killed… by Ram's mercy.

Darkness….

"You killed him just because he had the smell of the witch on him?" Frederica asked as she let Petra out of her grasp. The beast woman was wearing a scowl so deep it showed her fangs.

"Damn, how is he still able to smile after that?" Al asked softly.

"There's more to it than that. I have seen how much he cares about Rem-san. Even if she killed him in such a cruel manner, it seemed like he forgave her." Crusch gave her thoughts, a little afraid that Subaru might have actually gone insane from such an experience.

"Why would Subaru not want revenge on them for killing him?" Mimi asked as she glared at the maids.

"Maybe he realized that there was more to it than them killing him for the heck of it?" Al tried to answer.

Priscilla snorted at this. "The two maids did what they were supposed to do."

Yells and shouts were thrown at the princess while she met them with a simple bored look.

"Why would ya say that?! How can they be right to kill Cap'n like that?" Garfiel glared at the royal.

"I agree with Barielle. Subaru couldn't have known that this would be his ending but he could've at least realized how suspicious he looked in that situation." Crusch nodded as she understood why the maids did what they did now.

"Nayot to mention that he has the smell of the filthy Witch on him. Which makes him even more suspicious." Felix, cheerfully gave his own opinion.

"Hmm, I suppose he did go about it wrong. But these two still took it a tiny bit too far, I mean you had a cat that could read peoples thoughts. Could've used him." Anastasia mused coldly as the sight of Subaru's death was stuck in her mind.

"It's more than just Subaru appearing suspicious, Anastasia-sama." Julius cut in as he inspected the girls. "These two seem to have history with the Witch's Cult."

Everyone who's heard about the cult or even witnessed them knew what that phrase meant.

"Rem did appear really angry at the cult rather than at Subaru. The scent of the Witch and how suspicious he was acting must have encouraged the idea in her mind. And it looked like Ram killed him at the end because she knew that he was innocent but it was far to late to save him." Otto slowly came to the realization. He was angry for Subaru but he couldn't deny the circumstances were fit for him to die no matter what Subaru did.

"'t was a mercy kill?" Garfiel slowly backed down and looked at the ground in confusion.

On one hand, he wanted to avenge his Cap'n. On the other, he kind of understood that the twins were angry and scared of someone they preceived as a monster coming to hurt them once again.

"Preposterous, infact!" Beatrice stood up and pointed at the maid twins. "This worthless swan is a murderer that tortured and killed an innocent boy for nothing but the miasma he can't control coming off of him! She should be put down where she stands, less she kills him again!"

"YOU'RE WRONG!"

Everyone looked on in shock as Rem stood up with her red puffy eyes glaring at the angry Beatrice.

"I would never hurt my hero like that. I would do anything to make my Subaru-kun feel loved and cherished because that's what he makes me feel. That man saved me and sacrificed so much to save the rest of us and I want to make it up to him. I want to see his smile and hear his laugh. I want to watch as he plays with our kids and makes them act as goofy as he does. I want to show him how much I love him."

Rem, former head maid of L. Mathers house glared at Beatrice with a broken haunted yet determined look of conviction and anger.

Her tears running down, her mouth quivering, her hands trembling at her sides.

Yet her head remained high. Her eyes remained glaring.

"Let me ask you this Rem… "

Everyone including the Oni looked at the calm and collected half-elf. Emilia simply looked at Rem with a stern look.

"Have you ever thought about hurting Subaru in our… loop? As he calls it." Emilia surprised everyone by how calm she was and she looked at Rem not by a look of anger. But by one of patience and support.

Rem quickly took the opportunity to defend herself. Shaking her head and looking at the boy with her entire body shaking.

"I-I never thought about hurting him. That night…"

Rem slowly looked at the ground with tears of guilt and shame coming down.

"… when I s-saw his innocent face, asleep and at peace. I knew that he wasn't at all like the dark cult. He was a good person."

Rem clenched her hands on her skirt tightly and refused to meet Emilia's eyes.

"I love him…" She whispered while crying in guilt for what she had caused her hero to go through.

Everyone watched the scene with silent pity and sympathy for the girl. Sure, it was horrific what she did.

But she wasn't the one that did those horrible crimes. This Rem had no idea about these crimes she would have committed… and seeing herself do that to the one she loved…

It was heartbreaking to watch.

"She's telling the truth Emilia-sama." Crusch nodded as she never once read the wind of untruth around the maid.

Slowly, Rem stopped her crying a bit and kept her head down. She could never ever look at Subaru the same way again.

Rem found a pale white hand reached and grab hers.

The maid looked up in confusion.

Why was Emilia smiling at her?

The half-elf simply stood there smiling at Rem while holding her hand.

Emilia slowly pulled Rem closer towards the boy. The maid was led to stand at the seat behind Subaru's sleeping form. Where she first sat when this viewing had started.

Rem looked at the silver haired lady that led her behind her beloved.

"You know what he told me? When we found you on the ground as a sleeping beauty? When no one remembered who you were and when no one believed him about remembering you. Do you know what he said?"

Rem slowly shook her head and stared at Emilia's smiling face, broken and tired.

"He said that he cares about you as much as he does me." Emilia softly and encouragingly revealed.

Rem's eyes widened and her chest tightened as she learned of something she thought would never happen after today.

Her Subaru-kun loved her. He wanted to save her.

"Subaru-kun doesn't hate me?"

Emilia shook her head softly and patted the boy's head.

"He loves you. Loves us." Emilia corrected and slowly moved Rem closer to hug Subaru.

Rem slowly hugged the boy and sniffled. She would be there a while.

Emilia sat down beside her knight and slowly grabbed his hand. "If you cared about her, then I'll make sure she'll know it Subaru… you idiot."

Emilia softly smiled. "It makes us happy when you tell us that… so why don't you say it somemore, yeah?"

Subaru remained silent. Sleeping.

"Weeeell, that went better than I expected." Roswaal cheerfully spoke.

"I wonder how the boy gets through this?" Al question.

It seemed like Rem's breakdown and Emilia's words calmed everybody and made them all think about Julius and Crusch's explanations.

They decided that Rem wasn't guilty.

Beatrice slowly sat down and looked at the sniffling Rem as she hugged Subaru.

The spirit was surprised to find herself sympathizing with the girl…

Maybe since she failed Subaru too…

It didn't matter. Because everyone wanted to forget the death and get on with the rest of the story.

And the screen lit up.

A blurry image, a faint sound.

Subaru, wearing his robes and laying on his bed, opened his trembling, sweaty eyelids.

The stunned boy slowly looked at the window… the sun was shining. It was morning. He had Returned by Death.

A voice sounded out…

"Sir, have you awakened?"

Subaru's blood ran cold and slowly turned his head to the front of his bed.

"Sir, are you awake?" another voice sounded.

Slowly… he turned his head, not being able to stop the terror and fear from filling him as his mouth emitted grunts and gasps of fear and pain.

Natsuki Subaru screamed for his life. For before him, were the same twin maids that tortured and killed him.

"That must have been nightmarish for him." Ricardo mused in pity.

"Waking up to the face of your killer is really troubling." Reinhard spoke in guilt.

"I shouldn't have let him go with Emilia-sama." he whispered to himself.

"You're damn right." Felt growled under her breath.

Scene change… Emilia is sitting beside Subaru's bed with a worried look on her face.

"Subaru, Ram and Rem were really worried. They were unusually despondent, wondering if they'd been impolite… " Emilia looked at him with concerned eyes.

"Nothing happened between them and me." Subaru spoke in an emotionless voice.

Emilia frowned deeply, "Why does he keep insisting on doing this alone?" Otto asked the question she was inquiring in her mind.

"Does he really think he's some hero?" Felix asked in anger.

"Subaru, are you all right? If something's wrong you're welcome to talk to me."

"Come on! Talk to 'er Cap'n!" Garfiel yelled out as he too began feeling tired from Subaru's stubbornness to deal with things by himself.

Subaru slowly looked down while clenching his covers. His eyes trembled.

If I could tell Emilia that it's no use, that I can't take any more…

"Come on, tell me." Emilia urged, not caring if this was another reality.

"That's right… " Subaru's eyes lit up with hope as he turned to the worried half-elf girl.

All this time, I've been struggling to change things alone, but…

Seeing him stare at her in silence, Emilia asked once more. "Subaru, are you sure you're all right?"

Subaru steeled his nerves.

"Emilia. There's something I want you to know."

"This is it!"

Everyone waited to see if he actually tells her about his ability.

Emilia couldn't shake the feeling of something going wrong.

Emilia was taken aback by his sudden sternness. "Okay." She readied herself.

Because if he had told this Emilia in this reality, then why didn't he tell her again in hers?

"Emilia… Several times up until now,

I've died and-"

…

"What?"

…

"Da f'ck?"

…

"Why did big bro stop?"

…

"The wind stopped too!"

…

The world stopped.

It just stopped.

The wind that had entered the room through the window, that began blowing Emilia's hair before he began his sentence had vanished. Emilia's hair remained in the air. Unmoving.

The silent world around Subaru was filled with a cloud of black fog. The fog over toke Emilia and the entire room. Subaru's eyes trembled from the fear and confusion. He couldn't move, speak or look around.

Only looking at the darkness as it manifested before him in the shape of a clawed dark hand with sharp claws.

Whoa… wait…

The slender hand slowly moved and climbed over his frozen form.

This is seriously no joke…

Subaru could only feel the pain as the hand finally reached his heart and crushed it. The boy grunted in pain, frozen and incapable of moving in the world of darkness of this black hand.

"Subaru!"

His eye opened, he can feel his heart free from the hand's mercy, he could feel his nerves no longer frozen to the dark world.

"Ah, ugh! Ahhhh! Uh…" Subaru grunted and gasped as he clenched his chest from the pain. Emilia looked at him with extreme alarm.

"Subaru! What happened all of a sudden?" Emilia stood by his side confused and afraid for him.

Subaru clenched his chest.

My voice works. My heart doesn't hurt. But…

The fear is engraved in me…

Seeing him shudder and tremble in place with a haunted expression as he held his chest, Emilia's worry increased.

"Wh-What's wrong? Subaru, if something's going on-"

"I have a favor to ask." Subaru interrupted her.

"Okay?"

Subaru looked down with a shock drizzled face as he spoke in a whimpering tone. "Have nothing to do with me."

Emilia was dumbfounded and a little hurt at this.

Subaru laid down on his side and faced Emilia with his back.

That was the end of this scene.

"Th-That's so cruel!" Otto shouted with eyes wide.

"Who was th't?! How did they stop the world?" Garfiel looked manic as he watched his brother and Cap'n get hurt again by some unknown entity.

"That could have been either a witch cultist…" Julius calculated.

"Or it could have been the Witch of Envy…" Everyone froze at Rienhard's words.

"T-The Witch? No!" Petra hugged Frederica afraid out of her wits.

Everyone looked scared and shaken by the revelation. Even the candidates and Roswaal seemed taken aback.

"S-So if Subaru spoke about the power, The Witch will kill him by crushing his heart?" Emilia's eyes were wide as she yet again had her life shattered by Satella.

"That explains why he didn't tell anyone about this. It's because he couldn't." Otto growled at Subaru's unfair situation.

"But why would she do all of this? Helping him get to this world? Cursing him with that power? Force him to keep quiet?" Anastasia listed the important questions.

"I think all will be revealed to us if we watch." Wilhelm sounded out, his voice still calm but his expression grim at the revelation.

"One thing I want to make sure of. Everyone still believes that Subaru-sama is innocent of the Witch and her cult, right?" Crusch looked around to make sure.

"I have seen him bring down their whale so I believe he's a good guy." Ricardo nodded his head.

Garfiel looked quite interested in that aspect of the story. "Man I want to see that battle." He said to himself in excitement.

"I can confirm that he's an ally. We wouldn't have a chance against Sloth without his valuable information and tactics." Julius admitted and smiled at the boy as he remembered those fine moments.

Reinhard smiled wide. "He saved my lady so of course I see him as my ally. Infact, he's someone I like to call my friend."

Priscilla snorted and kept to herself. Her silence was the only thing positive she would say about the boy so Crusch smirked at her.

"It seems everyone is trusting of our dearest kniiiiight." Roswaal exclaimed in amusement.

We return to Subaru's room to find him sitting upright on his bed facing Roswaal.

I can't tell anyone about Return by Death.

I've died in this mansion three times.

I didn't experience a fourth time in the capital. If I die again, I might not comeback.

Roswaal was shown speaking some gay words before leaving the tired and beaten Subaru to his thoughts.

As the boy stared at the window with dismay all over his face, a voice rang out through the room.

"That's quite a cowardly look on your face, I suppose."

Subaru slowly looked moved his head and noticed an impressed Beatrice standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing here?"

"The brat and Bubby told me to come and check on you."

"Puck and Emilia?"

"Since you were acting strangely, they suspect I did something to you when you first woke up, I suppose. Talk about rude!" Beatrice turned away from him in upset.

"I get it. I'm okay now. You came to apologize. That's enough."

"Why should I apologize to you, I suppose?! I can't leave until I correct that notion." Beatrice glared at him and stepped closer.

She stopped once her nose caught the smell of…

"Not only do you look gloomy, but the scent is much heavier now, too." Beatrice held her nose in disgust.

"huh?"

"The scent of the witch, I feel like it's bending my nose, I suppose." Beatrice explained.

"So you can smell it too Beatrice-sama?" Rem asked in a hoarse tone.

The spirit just nodded and looked at the screen. She wasn't ready to face someone she had yelled at just yet.

"Witch… You mean the Witch of Envy?"

"What else in this world would someone mean when they bring up a witch?"

"Why do you smell her on me?"

Beatrice shrugged. "Who knows? Regardless, as someone who receives special treatment from her, you're a burden." Beatrice turned away from him.

Subaru looked down. "It's not too comforting to hear I'm getting special treatment from someone whose name and face I don't know."

"That's another question, Why did she pick Subaru-kun from his world? And why him?" Anastasia asked in frustration.

"We just need to watch." Crusch retorted with her own butler's words.

"If you have nothing to say, I'm leaving. I'll tell Bubby what you told me I suppose."

"Wait a minute! You feel sorry for what you did to me, right?"

"I do not." Beatrice ignored him and continued walking towards the door.

"I'm telling Puck!" he uttered stopping her in place.

Beatrice growled and scowled deeply at him.

"Well, I might feel just a tiny bit sorry, I suppose."

"He does know his loli~" Ricardo laughed at Al's joke and made a few of the others giggle as well.

Beatrice flushed in embarrassment.

"If you regret what you did and want my forgiveness, do me one favor that I ask."

"Let's hear it." Beatrice looked at him with a bored expression.

"On the fifth morning, the day after tomorrow… would you keep me safe until then?" Subaru pleaded.

"So he went to Beatrice-sama for help since he couldn't get Emilia's?" Frederica asked surprised that he could make a good plan so quickly.

"Wow I guess Beatrice-sama was really connected with Subaru-kun." Petra smiled and kept her jealousy in.

Emilia however… she couldn't keep it in.

Ignoring the pouting half-elf, Beatrice looked up at the screen in sadness.

"This is where I fail you yet again, I suppose." the spirit whispered brokenly. She knew that Beatrice would be too stubborn to make a contract with him.

"I don't want you bringing dissension into this mansion, I suppose. This place is vitally important to me."

"I have no intention of doing anything. I just want to stop any sparks from flying."

"What an admirable motive for one who leaves even that in the hands of others." Beatrice responded mockingly.

"She's so mean!" Otto whined out and laughed with Garfiel at the glare she shot him.

Subaru looked down again. "For once, I have no response to that."

Beatrice stared at the defeated boy and sighed tiredly.

"Hold out your hand." she ordered, surprising Subaru.

Beatrice's eyes widened in shock. "What?…"

"Hmm, it seems as that Betty-chan had already contraaaaacted with our knight befooooore." Roswaal spoke in an interested tone.

"Could be that you chose him to be 'that person' from the very beginning?"

Beatrice didn't answer the clown.

If Subaru asked her for help in this reality, and she agreed for some reason…

"Then why well he die?" Beatrice's heart shattered as she realized something.

She had failed him once again.

This Betty wouldn't be able to save him from death.

Slowly, she intertwined their fingers together and closed her eyes.

"I shall grant your wish. I, Beatrice, on my honor, am henceforth bound by this contract. Temporary or not, a contract is a contract. I'll grant your nonsense favor." Her face shining in the sunlight, Subaru couldn't help but for once feel like there was hope.

"Seriously? I'm gonna cry because of a little girl… "

"It is a most optimal solution." Anastasia mused to herself.

"Yes, having a great spirit protect you from the killer that lives with you in the same mansion is a good plan." Frederica smiled at the boy's constant efforts as she noticed.

"He doesn't want to leave them." she whispered while smiling sincerely at the boy.

Having no sympathy for the rude crying bitch before her, Beatrice growled. "Don't call me a little girl! And if you tell Bubby, you'll regret it, I suppose! Hmph!"

"Is it that important to you?" Subaru smiled through his tears. "That desperation of yours is demonically inspired."

Rem pouted a little at her phrase being taken away. But she understood that she had no say in this situation since he's asking Beako for help to protect himself from Rem.

The maid just hugged the boy as hard as she could.

Beatrice just pouted cutely.

Scene change… The screen is showing Subaru as he struggled to sleep at night, his head was filled with nightmares.

Memories of the time he died in the hallway.

Memories of the blood that gushed out of his neck when he was killed by Rem and Ram in the woods.

Subaru ran through the woods. The black gray woods. The white distorted woods. The ever changing yet still negative inspired woods.

He stopped when a blue haired maid stood before him with her mace beside her at the ready.

Glaring, the blood covered Rem shook her chains and sent the mace at the scared Subaru.

"Stop!"

As the mace was about to hit him, he closed his eyes and a memory began to play. A memory that showed his sleeping form before he woke up.

As he trembled in his sleep… two soft pale hands were tightly grabbing his from each side.

Those two hands that held his own. Brought him comfort. Brought him to safety from that demented forest.

Subaru was able to sleep without any nightmares.

Darkness…

"Who was that?" Otto asked in a relieved voice. He was happy that someone comforted his friend while he was having that terrible nightmare.

"It seems whoever it was, they were able to bring him comfort." Ram finally spoke.

a voice…

"You can't keep sleeping forever, I suppose."

Subaru's eyes slowly opened up to reveal an oncoming foot.

Beatrice kicked him in the face, waking him up and forcing him to drop on his back in the forbidden library.

"Goddamn! She is mean!" Al laughed out loud while some chuckled at Subaru and Beatrice's dynamic.

Beatrice pouted. Everyone was picking on her! This wasn't what Subaru told her would happen when she left the library!

"Bombardier!" Subaru shook from the frighting wake up while Beatrice looked down at him with an unimpressed elegant look.

"I came against my will because it's the designated time, yet you seem awfully unconcerned."

Subaru realized just what happened and slowly got up with his eyes wide open in understanding. "Falling asleep on the fourth day… what kind of reckless idiot am I?"

"Quit your grumbling, I suppose. Just sit wherever you want." Beatrice sat on her stool reading her book.

Subaru looked around. "The forbidden archive? Did you carry me in here while I was asleep?"

"I'd rather not stay in that room filled with your stench, I suppose. The forbidden library is the only place for me. You need to observe proper manners, I suppose."

"Beatrice, I'm sure I'm wrong, but you didn't hold my hand while I was asleep, did you?"

"You're wrong, indeed. Even if Bubby asked me I would refuse, I suppose."

Beatrice held his hand and leaned to hug her contractor close.

"I was wrong, I suppose." she softly whispered.

"Flat-out denial, huh? I'm not sure what you mean by proper manners… " Subaru began looking around the many books in the library. "So, hey, are you-"

"Ugh!" Subaru quickly caught and flying book, aimed for his face.

"You're annoying me with all your questions! Just be quiet, I suppose."

Subaru sighed and looked at the book she threw at him.

Subaru began reading while sitting down beside Beatrice. In silence the two sat for a period of time, enjoying the books they were reading.

"What happens now?" Mimi asked in boredom at the events.

"We see if someone attacks them in the library." Crusch softly spoke, very well aware of Rem's flinch.

Suddenly…

"Calling… "

"Huh?" Subaru looked up at the alarmed Beatrice as she looked at the door to the library.

"I've been summoned, I suppose." Beatrice quickly stood up and began activating her door crossing ability.

"What?" Otto asked in confusion.

"Is it because they couldn't find Subaru-kun?" Anastasia asked interested.

"The only one with the power to summon Betty would be the lord of the manor I suppose." Beatrice stink eyed the clown.

"Don't loooook at meee. I would never hurt Subaru-kun."

"You're lying." Reinhard glared at the clown.

Roswaal smiled undeterred by every one else glaring at him.

Subaru gasped in pain making Beatrice look at him in disinterest. "Oh, right, you're here. I forgot, I suppose." Beatrice began walking out the door while ignoring Subaru.

"W-Wait! If you go out there now…"

"I don't care if you want to stay here. You'll be safe here, I suppose." Beatrice closed the door behind her and left the boy alone in the library.

Subaru slowly moved his hands to the door and tried to open it but he found himself shaking with fear. Closing his eyes as he tried to get his nerves under control.

"Damn it! What the hell is this?"

Subaru slowly opened the door and waited for the pain of dying to come.

Only light hit his face as he was faced with a window in a hallway of the many in the manor.

"Did I… make it through the fourth night?" Subaru stared at the window in shock and surprise.

Disbelief. He laughed in disbelief.

"And I thought it was so far away. It was that easy… " Subaru slowly fell on his knees and smiled in relief at the long awaited sunrise of the fifth day.

"I'm kinda happy for him…" Al sounded as he emphasized with Subaru on the screen.

Otto and Garfiel looked down in sadness at the state their brother was in.

Subaru laughed in relief and closed his eyes in the middle of the hallway.

"Subaru?"

Emilia was standing right beside him with a worried look on her face.

"Emilia?"

"Subaru, where have you been?"

"Oh, I was just… "

"You know… No never mind. Come with me." Emilia quickly took his hand and started walking while pulling him along.

Her face was shadowed by her hair as she refused to look up.

"W-Where are we going? Emilia-tan, Why are you making that face? Everything will be fine now. Right? I'm alive and you're… oh, I know! Let's go to the village! There's so much I want to do and tell you! So much has happened!"

Emilia stopped walking.

"Subaru… " Emilia turned around with a betrayed look on her face as she looked at Subaru.

"Something is wrong." Anastasia concluded by the look on Emilia's face.

Emilia herself didn't know what was going on as she grabbed her knight's hand and watched with fear filling her.

How well he die in this one?

"Emilia?" Subaru wanted to ask what was wrong? What happened to make her look at him like that?

But then… a scream of despair sounded out across the manor.

"Sister?" Rem looked at Ram with surprise.

The pink haired maid's eyes hardened as she knew only one thing that would make her scream in such a way.

Subaru rushed towards the voice, finding an open door, he stared into the room…

It was Ram.

The pink haired Oni was crying on her knees over her sister. Rem was laying unconscious in her bed.

"What….?!" Mimi shouted in confusion.

"Why is Rem-chan dead?" Petra looked on with horror.

Roswaal and Beatrice were standing to the side with heavy expressions of pity for the twins.

"How?…" Subaru was shocked as he looked into the room. "Why is Rem dead?"

Slowly, he moved to touched her but his hand was slapped away by the crying Ram.

"Don't touch her! Don't touch Rem… Don't touch my little sister!"

Rem looked horrified at the prospect of her own death. But seeing her sister in such a state because of her death made her so angry with herself.

"I'm such a failure." Rem whispered angrily.

Subaru slowly looked down in guilt and began walking away as Emilia entered the room.

"She died of weakness. It was as if she just fell asleep."

Subaru stopped walking as he heard what Roswaal said.

"The method was more of a curse than a spell."

Subaru slowly looked back at Rem's dead body.

I though it was Rem who used that curse. So she wasn't the shaman?

"So it was the mabeast?" Frederica asked.

"We forgot about that!" Otto realized.

"We were so caught up in finding the killer's identity that we forgot what the threat Subaru truly faced was." Julius mused.

"The mabeast invasion and Rem's assassination attempts were two different threats that Subaru needed to deal with on his own." Reinhard spoke in a stern voice.

Roswaal noted the look on Subaru's face and narrowed his eyes. "My dear guest, have you any idea what might have haaaappened? After this happened to a dear member of my staaaff, I seem to be a tiny bit angry."

"Subaru." Emilia held Subaru's arm and looked at him with a pleading look.

"If you know anything, tell us." Emilia stared at him sternly.

Subaru looked away in guilt and frustration.

I just want to spill it all and get it off my chest.

The horror of the black hand crushing his heart came back and made him gasp in place. He couldn't tell them.

"Man this kid has rough!" Ricardo grimaced at the situation before him.

Many nodded as they wouldn't want to be in Subaru's shoes right now.

* WHOOOOSH *

"UGH!"

Subaru suddenly felt a force of wind pass by his cheek, cutting it and making him bleed, even the lamp on the hallway's wall was destroyed.

This same force… was the same one that had slit his throat and killed him.

"If you know something, spill it all!"

Subaru slowly looked at the pink haired maid as she glared hatefully at him.

"Wait, Ram! That's …"

The maid only growled and shot another force of wind towards him.

Subaru closed his eyes and prepared for death.

But it never came.

"I keep my promises." Subaru opened his eyes to find Beatrice standing between him and Ram with a force field of sorts shielding him.

"GO Beatrice-sama!" Petra and Felt cheered while Beatrice watched the screen with a forlorn look.

How is he going to die in this one? She thought to herself.

"As long as he remains in this mansion, I am contracted to protect him, I suppose."

"Beatrice-sama?" Ram asked shocked and angry.

Beatrice looked at Roswaal with a bland expression. "Roswaal, he spent last night in the forbidden library, I suppose. So he surely had nothing to do with-"

"There is no further need to emphasize the situation at hand."

The greatest magic user to have ever lived suddenly had eight colored orbs of mastered magical arts at the ready as he towered over the spirit girl.

"However, to guard him with your life, you must have taken quite a liking to him."

Beatrice didn't back down from the menacing sight of Roswaal powered and at the ready. She stood in his way with an unimpressed look.

"Save the jokes for your makeup and weird fetishes, I suppose."

As the two stared down one another, Ram cried and yelled out her frustration.

"None of that even matters!" she stood up and glared hatefully. "Get out of the way!"

"Let me through."

"I must avenge Rem. If you anything, tell me. Help me."

Ram cried and pleaded with Subaru. "Help Rem!"

Subaru looked down with a frustrated face.

"Cap'n…" Garfiel growled in frustration for his captain's situation. He wouldn't know what he would've done in a situation like this.

One thing was for sure in the blonde's mind. He was right to follow this guy out of the Sanctuary.

Ram glared and extended her hand at him.

But then Emilia stood in her way. "I'm sorry, Ram. Despite all this, I choose to trust Subaru. Subaru, please."

Emilia looked behind her at the surprised boy. "If you can save Ram… if you can save Rem… please do."

"Emilia-sama is always trusting of her knight."

Emilia frowned at the maid's words.

She trusts him… but he doesn't.

Subaru looked away from the pleading Emilia. "I'm sorry."

Emilia and Subaru stared down one another, Emilia looked betrayed while Subaru struggle to turn around and face her with his back.

Slowly.

Subaru ran out the room.

Roswaal shot his magical arts.

Ram shot her wind blades.

Beatrice stopped both of them with her own magic.

Subaru ran out… and a magical battle began in the room he just left.

"Subaru!" Emilia ran after him.

"I'm going to kill you!" Subaru close his eyes and ears as he ran away from the enraged Ram.

"Natsuki… " Julius looked at the boy with pity in his golden hued eyes. Even for a knight, such a situation can be hard to navigate through.

I ran.

I ran away.

I ran away from them.

I can't go back there again.

"What choice did I have?! What could I…

and I was… having so much fun!"

Petra held her heart as she sensed the pain Subaru was going through.

Emilia frowned deeply as her knight cried alone in the woods.

Beatrice felt guilty that she was going to let him killed after all of this.

And Rem…

She just hugged her hero and ignored the screen.

She was guilty of so much. She was sorry for so much.

Subaru yelled in frustration and gasped some air into his overworked lungs. He ran from the mansion all the way to the dense forest where he was tortured.

Subaru ran into the forest with the memories of his last death playing as Rem brutally hit him and stabbed him with her mace.

This looks like the place where I died.

"Where I died?"

Subaru stopped right at the spot where his life was ended.

"What is he thinking nayow?" Felix glared at the screen.

If I die.

"Oh my…!" Frederica gasped in shock as the others began understanding what the boy was thinking.

Will I be saved from this whole situation?

"Holy shit!"

"He's going to kill himself!"

Al and Ricardo couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Suicide is the most cowardly way to go in a warrior's eyes but this kid was planning to actively harm himself to control a power that thrives upon death.

"Of course… if I die, everything will change."

Emilia's eyes were wide open as she truly saw how broken Subaru was.

If I struggled and fought so much only to end up here,

then what's the point?

"No!" Felt shouted as she saw the ledge on the screen.

Subaru looked up with a look so broken I can't make a joke about how he looks like he just saw a penis…. Specifically, his dad's.

Subaru looked ahead and noticed a cliff.

He slowly walked towards it and stopped just at the edge. Looking down,

It was high… really high. With spikes and rocks at the bottom.

He wouldn't survive this fall.

"ghk!….."

"What is it Julius-kun?" Anastasia demanded of her knight as the scene began getting on her nerves.

Everyone looked at the knight in expectancy.

Julius looked down with a deep scowl of frustration on his face.

"I understand now… why he said those words."

"What is it Julius-san?" Emilia pleaded as she had never seen the look of pure helplessness on the elegant royal knight before.

"When we fought sloth… it was at the bottom of that ledge… when Sloth was led there by Natsuki Subaru, he asked why the boy led him to a place such as this… Subaru told him that it was a place were his time once ended."

The sheer gravity of the words made everyone's hearts drop.

"Subaru-kun…" Rem looked at the boy with a horrified look.

If I close my eyes and take one step, it'll all be over.

Wilhelm looked down with a sad frown. He didn't want to see this boy take his own life.

Subaru closed his eyes in agony and looked up in frustration.

What will happen to me if I die again?

Emilia hugged her knight tightly.

This boy began trembling, struggling to place his foot forward and take the step.

"Sir Natsuki… " Crucsh had a few tears in her eyes at the scene. A confused kid in another world, taking his own life like this.

It was inhumane of her to not shed tears at the sight.

Especially for the man she-

Slowly… his foot backed away and he fell on his behind away from the ledge. His body rejected the attempt. He didn't want to die.

"It's just one more step… I can't even… I can't even do something so simple… " The boy's tears fell as he rejected Suicide.

"So he didn't do it?" Ram asked softly as the whole scene brought conflicting feelings in her heart.

"But then how will he die?" Felt asked tiredly and in sadness.

"It's just so morbid, to talk about his death." Reinhard closed his eyes and sighed tiredly.

This scene has been playing with all of their emotions.

Scene change…

darkness….

"I finally found you."

Subaru opened his eyes and looked up.

The sky turned orange as the sun began setting.

He had slept on the ledge.

"Why… "

"What, I suppose?"

"Why did you come for me? I… "

"The contract I entered into was to protect you."

"I thought you were only supposed to be my bodyguard until this morning."

"You must be mistaken, I suppose. I don't recall discussing a time limit."

Subaru looked up at the empathetic Beatrice. "Clinging to faint hope only serves your own convenience, I suppose."

Subaru's eyes widened as Beatrice glared at him.

"What was lost can't be reclaimed. You'll have no more chances to explain yourself to the older sister. You threw that away. No matter which is lost, those sisters will never be complete again, I suppose."

Subaru looked down.

"But I cared about those two, and I wanted to protect them… "

"Even after they killed him?" Anastasia asked in surprise.

"This guy is an idiot!" Felt shouted in outrage,

"Natsuki-san…" Otto just smiled a sad tired smile at his brother's big heart.

"What do you know about them, I suppose? No matter which is lost, they'll never be restored to what they were. They can't be."

"So in the end. I was just making a selfish, disgraceful fuss without knowing anything?"

Beatrice held her hand out to him. "At the very least, you need to die where I can't see you, or I'll have bad dreams, I suppose. So I'll help you escape this domain."

Subaru slowly touched Beatrice's hand…

and then he remembered that dream…

that feeling of safety brought by someone holding his hands…

Subaru stared at his hand, unsettled…

"Come to think of it… back then… someone was holding both my hands…"

Credits song playing with the scene:

Song name: Myth & Roid: Straight Bet

The image of both twin maids standing by his sides,

holding his hands.

"Ram… Rem…"

If they couldn't bear to see me suffer, and held both my hands…

if that's the kind of people they are,

how can I leave them?

"This boy fascinates me." Priscilla watched the scene with wide eyes and an excited smile.

His good heart… it was so amazing to her.

"I'm going to kill you!"

I heard a voice filled with hatred. But more than that…

Subaru closed his eyes and thought back to her haunting scream as she held her dead sister.

Her cries won't leave my mind. I've always been the type to drift toward whichever path was easiest.

Hey Subaru, you're thinking of something pretty stupid here.

The image of Rem's smiling face during his second loop played in his mind.

"And after I managed to save this life… "

Subaru remembered the twins teasing him in the kitchen. He smirked…

"That's right. I saved my life so…"

What's wrong with taking the path that's easiest, that will let me live longer?

I'll decide… how I use my life!

"This guy is…" Felix gritted his teeth at the selfish boy.

"He's gonna do it… " Anastasia uttered in disbelief as Rienhard and Julius smiled sadly.

"… To save the sisters that were torn apart." Crusch smirked and shook her head tiredly.

Beatrice looked behind him. "You were too slow."

Subaru looked back…

he was met with an enraged Ram, completely powered up and ready to use her wind blades to cut him limp from limp.

"I finally found you. I won't let you get away." Ram slowly stepped towards him with her wind blowing dangerously.

"Stay back, I suppose. So long as my contract exists, I won't hold back, not even against you." Beatrice warned as she stood infront of Subaru.

"And you, Beatrice-sama, seem to forget that we're not in the mansion now. We're away from the forbidden library, in the forest. Are you certain you can protect him from me?"

Ram and Beatrice stood, facing one another.

The moment was serious.

The moment was about to turn into an epic fight.

Until this wonderful dumbass stepped closer and took hold of both drills on Beako's head.

"Boing!" Beatrice shrieked as our wonderful dumbass let her drills jump up and down.

"Oh, that feels good!"

"Wh-Wh-Wh-What are doing?! D-Do you want to die?!" Beatrice turned around and yelled at Subaru while he looked down at her with a 'Duh' expression.

Even through the grim situation and the hopeless atmosphere. Subaru managed to make everyone chuckle and smile.

"Don't be dumb. I don't want to die in the slightest. I'm fine with dying just once at the end of a long life. That's how I really feel." he smiled at the girl.

Ram watched as Subaru stepped infront of her. "You've got guts. So you've finally accepted your fate?"

"I wouldn't call it that. If anything, I'd say I've made up my mind."

Subaru bowed before Ram.

"Sorry. I caused a lot of grief for you guys by being such a loser."

"Barsus…" Ram softly said as she looked down.

"Save my sister. Please." the pink Oni was crying.

"So you do know something about Rem?!"

"No, sorry, but I honestly don't know a thing. Frankly, there's too much I don't know. But… "

Subaru looked at Ram with a brave face.

"I decided to learn more about the things I don't know."

"How can you say that now? Rem is already dead! What can you do by learning anything now?!" Ram shouted enraged.

"I won't make any cool statements about what I'll be able to do. This is what happened when I couldn't do anything, after all. I know better than anyone that my words aren't convincing in the least. But I do remember. I know parts of you two that you've forgotten!"

"What do you know about Rem and me?!"

(It's Rem and I, actually. Uncultured maid bitch.)

"You're right. I don't know anything that's really important. But you don't know either, do you?!"

"Know what?" Ram growled confused and angry.

Subaru took a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"That I love you guys!"

Ram stared at the boy in shock.

Subaru turned around and ran towards the ledge.

"Wait!" Beatrice called out in shock.

The memory of them greeting him in his room.

The memory of when Rem bandaged his cut finger.

The memory of him and Ram studying together.

The memory of Emilia doing warm ups with him.

The memory of him helping Beatrice with her books.

Subaru's mind played these, solidifying his conviction. He ran faster, barefoot, towards the ledge and jumped.

"This is something only I can do!"

As he fell med air, the memories of the twins broken apart by death played.

It was followed by a memory of Ram shouting.

"I'm going to kill you!"

with that last memory on his mind… Subaru plummeted towards the spikes and rocks at high speeds.

"I'm going to save you!"

Closer…

Closer…

The spikes came closer.

*CRUNCH *

Natsuki Subaru… died.

Title card:

Natsuki Subaru's Restart

Credits song: Styx Helix

Episode 4 Director's Cut End.

"H-Holy shit…"

"Subaru…"

Everyone was staring at the screen with surprised expressions and wide open mouths.

Rem cried as she nestled her face into his hair.

He killed himself… to save her.

"My hero…" she whispered with her heart filled with warmth and guilt.

Emilia and Beako just stared at the dark screen with shocked faces. Shocked because of the boy's sheer will.

Ram… she was crying… and smiling.

She was happy that her sister was going to be alright.

"Thank you… Barusu."

The screen lit up again.

Episode 5… Arc 2's continuation…

Start.

Heyyyyyy

Sorry for the delay, I had some family stuff to take care of and I needed a bit of time to make good reactions since this episode has so many good scenes in it.

Now let me address some stuff on here:

First off I want to thank you all for the continued support as well as the criticisms you've given me. I read all your comments and reviews and I take everything you say to heart.

Second, You can find this story on Ao3 as well if you wish to comment better than on .

Third, I realized that a lot of you don't like it when I add author comments in my story so I'll stop that, which leads me to make another announcement. When I get the time, I'll rewrite the early chapters in this story and remove all my cringe jokes as well as fix some spelling mistakes as well as some lore inconsistencies.

Fourth, I want you all to understand something because this has confused me and others when reading your reviews. You guys seem to think that I write my own comments in the reaction part of this story as if I'm giving my own opinion on a seen.

That's not what I intended to do… what I was doing by making my comments (the ones that are not in brackets like these) is that I'm trying to explain what the character is thinking and feeling. Their thoughts are the ones I'm telling you about in my comments without brackets.

Its tough to explain this without visually explaining it so please think more about the reactions and the author's comments being the same thing.

Because I'm not giving my opinion on anything in this chapter.

Last but not least, thank you again so much for this support. Please, please tell me if I got something wrong in this chapter and I will gladly fix it.

Oh, one more thing…

Yes, I will add cut content to the episodes. Yes, Subaru will wake up but at the end of the first season. Yes, What if chapters and OVA's well be done as well.

Thanks for reading the longest chapter I have written in my life. (21,100 words)

Now...please wait for me…. As I finish the fifth episode.

Joseff was fired by the way, he's been stealing my pillows.