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What was once usually to be considered forgettable background noise in the natsuki household has become the main source of everyday noise for them. It has been 2 years since Natsuki Subaru disappeared suddenly , his parents, Natsuki Kenchi and natsuki Naoko have been constantly searching since then only for any results to come up with nothing to note, as time went on , they began to lose hope. Naoko went from being a cheerful housewife to one that simply stared at the wall and cried everyday, each day getting less and less as she felt less hopeful for Subaru to return home and her mind retreating back into happy times that Subaru was still there at home. Kenchi was not doing well himself , he had to shoulder losing subaru , his wife getting slowly losing herself and still needing to pay the bills for the house, he managed to keep up a strong front but back at home , he was slowly getting depress , 2 years was a long time and he felt he wanted to give up on the search and just try to help his wife to recover as much as he could.

He glanced at his phone and saw the date , April 1st. He closed his phone and took a deep breath and sighed and walked towards a cake shop , buying one small cake before returning home.

"I am back…"

He called out softly, but silence permeated the air as per usual , only the sounds of water dripping from the tap and the clock ticking could be heard , he walked into the living room and spotted his wife sitting on the couch holding a picture of young Subaru smiling. He furrowed his eyebrow , pain rising to his chest , he wanted to call out to his wife but something got stuck in his throat , unable to say anything. He sat beside his wife and took out a small cake , lit a small candle and put it on the table.

Naoko looked up , eyes that lost life were looking at her husband , wondering what he was doing, but he said nothing but put a hand on her shoulder and gave a weak smile.

"Dear…it's Subaru's birthday today…"

Naoko widened her eyes and some light returned into her eyes, she burrowed her head onto her husband shoulder and let out a light cry and then cried out

"Happy..birthday my son"

And as these words were let out , the world around them suddenly changed. The couple blink.

The light from the sun blinded them , the once quiet house they were in was now replaced with bustling sounds of people walking , talking and laughing. Behind them , the sound of water was trickling . They looked around in shock , confused on what was happening , the once soft couch was replaced with a stone seat . Kenichi turned around and saw a fountain behind them .

"What….?"

Kenichi mumbled , he couldn't understand what was happening, one moment he was at his home , the next he was brought here with his wife to a random location , he looked around and saw sights he would never think he would. Humans with colorful hair , animal ears , tails and weird out of place outfits that would not fit in with the modern times , if anything they look like they would fit into one of his son's many fantasy anime or manga that he delved into regularly while he was at home.

Just the simple thought of his son enjoying something was something he could no longer see and his chest bump louder and it started to hurt , he shake his head , this was not the time to think of the past , he had to take care of his wife , who was in the same shock as him , he turn to his wife , focusing on her face , she had this blank look on her , as if till now she could not register anything that happen.

He shook her shoulders , trying to get her out of her stillness

"Dear, dear, please look at me!"

He called out to her , hoping to get her attention and at least make her focus on him so she wouldn't be overwhelmed.

It worked, she turned her head to her husband , her facial expression was one of fear and confusion , she held onto his arms and grip it hard.

"Is ... .is this for real…? Ar… …?"

She asked softly , her voice shaking.

Kenichi took a deep breath , he had to stay strong for her , he did not know what has happened , he only knew that he had his wife with him and he had to be strong for the both of them for now , he nodded his head and gave a weak smile to her. He took her hands and held it tightly , giving her the warmth that she needed to calm down.

Nakano took a deep breath and smiled back. She has no idea what was happening or what happened to the both of them , but she realized that her husband was feeling the same as she did , she knew he was scared as well , despite him smiling , his eyes showed fear but he was acting strong just for her , she had to be strong as well , for him , she will not allow him to bear all of the burden , as long as she had him , she would be fine for now , she had to focus on what was in front of her.

"Dear…do you think..?"

"Yea…as much as i don't want to admit it..we got teleported..to somewhere we do not know…this feels like alot of….the stories he…..enjoyed..read.."

Kenichi replied back , he really did not want to bring up his son as he knew his wife would be sensitive to this topic but he had to , he did not know his current location and from what he saw , it just seems too familiar like in the books that Subaru liked to read.

"...i see….it's…those isekai stories isnt it…"

Nakao's heart ached , but she knew that this was not the time to wallow in despair , she and her husband are in a situation that could be dangerous , something could happen and they would be none the wiser. They needed to act soon , they needed information to make sure that they could be safe.

"Kenichi we need to move…we cannot afford to just stay here.."

"...i agree but where do we go , i have a feeling that staying here would be better…how about you relax here and i will go ask around ?"

Nakao shook her head , going alone in a place where they did know anything was dangerous , they needed to stay together

"We are in this together , for better or worst"

She smiled at Kenichi and Kenichi smiled back , although they were sent to a parallel world with nothing on them , this conversation felt like the old times before Subaru disappeared , it was weird that it took them this to be able to converse to this level again.

"Well then…lets star-"

Before kenichi could continue , he heard static noise coming from somewhere , it sounded like it was coming from speakers , which surprised him, as he did not expect to hear anything like that from what he knew of this place so far.

"Ahh…good day to my fellow citizens of Priestella , there is an announcement all of you need to hear , but first let me congratulate everyone, it has been 2 years since the witch cult attacked and decimated our beautiful city , but rebuilding has been going well and our city shall become as good as new in a few months time , so please carry on the good work. Now, as for the announcement….Emilia-sama , one of the royal candidates has asked Anastasia-sama for a favor to book the best kararagi style inn and they wanted to stay a few days. Why is this being announced you would wonder ? Emilia-sama told Anatasia-sama that this should be kept a secret but Anatasia-sama decided to tell all of you due to this one fact."

Silence

Everyone was confused , wondering why was this even being announced as if it was important , it felt like hearing gossip and useless facts and it didn't help that the announcer went silent for a moment and then , everyone's feelings changed after the announced next speech.

"This trip to Priestella is to celebrate his birthday , our hero who saved this city and us from the witch cult , and it is Anatasia wish to hopefully make this trip and memorable one as she is also grateful to him for various of reasons , she wishes to ask all of you to help make it memorable for him when he arrives , the rest of the emilia camps are here but only him for now , as this is a surprise , they are going through Priestella to find shops and dinner for him to explore and buy stuff for him on that day , so if you see them , please do help them with what they want , it is the least we , the city could do to help to repay him for whatever he has done for us"

Once again silence, however this time , within the next few seconds , people started to get excited to the confusion of kenichi and naoko

"After 2 years now he is coming back ? AHAHA it really took a long time for him to come to our city eh ?-"

"-sama likes kararagi style ? Can we learn any quick food recipes to- ?"

"-Ru-sama is finally free eh , after all the problem he went through he finally has free time to re-"

"Su-sama birthday ? we need to ask emilia sama what he likes !"

"Do you think Emilia-sama will allow us to see him ? i want to thank him !-"

"Can we finally thank- ba- help he has done ?"

Kenichi and Naoko could only look around in confusion as the people around them started talking to each other , he could hear words and names but because there were so many people talking at once , he couldn't hear clear names, the excitement coming from the crowd was insane , it felt like the popularity and excitement of a people knowing their favorite idol was coming to their town.

The couple could only stay silent as their plans of asking for information was ruined as this whatever "hero" was arriving for his birthday was on everyone's mind , they also felt they stood out as they were the only ones who were not reacting to anything.

They were dazed , they didn't know what to do and could only stare at each other bitterly , they had to wait for things to cooldown but they didn't know if they could wait that long , they did not know what time it was or if they had place to sleep for the night and in a place they literally knew nothing about , they had to act soon but with the situation on hand , it was quite difficult to even do anything about it with the current situation.

While the feeling of hopelessness started to settle in , a young calm man's voice called out to the both of them.

"Good afternoon sir and madam , I am sorry for disturbing the both of you , but may I ask , are the two of you alright ?"

The couple turned to the source of the voice and there stood a young man ,

He had bright violet hair and yellow eyes that seem to stare into them , he had a scar directly under his left eye, his outfit looks mainly white , white cape and pants , with his shirt being black in color , a sword hung on the left side of his waist , he looked at the couple who , unlike the others who were celebrating and were generally happy, had this look of acceptance of sadness and depression.

Kenichi swallowed his saliva as he was taken aback by the young man standing in front of him , he had this aura that Kenichi couldn't go against, Naoko just grab her husband arms in fear , she really didn't want to say anything even though the knight had asked if she is ok , he just felt…overwhelming to them.

SLAP

The man's head was smacked from behind much to the surprise of the couple

"Julius nyawn ~ dont scare people like that nyawn ! your knightly aura is abit too much nyawn !"

The person that smacked his head walked up to them , it was a lightly browned hair female with cat ears wearing a dress

The man called julius rubbed his head and stared at the cat girl , he then smirk and closed his eyes

"...you are right, sorry ferris"

He turned to the couple and then bowed deeply to the both of them.

"My apologies , sir , madam , i am sorry for scaring the both of you , it was not my intention at all "

Kenichi stood up , hurriedly grabbed Julius' shoulder and pulled him straight.

"No..no its ok its just that we were surprised , me and my wife are…new here and we are clueless about anything…and regarding your first question…as much as i do not like to admit it , we are..not ok"

Kenichi really did not want to rely on a stranger so readily , but given the situation , he didn't have a choice.

Naoko , understanding what her husband was saying , stood up and bowed to 2 people in front of them.

"Please…help us..we need some help."

Julius nodded.

"understood , please explain your situation and i will do my best to help you , as a knight , it is my duty to do whatever i can"

Ferris smacked julius back and chipped in

"Ferris chan will help also nyawn ! whatever julius cant handle ferris chan can do help nyawn ~ !"

The couple smiled, the atmosphere that felt oppressive to them was now gone after looking at the two people that were interacting and offering their help to them , they sat down and then explained their situation to the both of them.

"..."

Julius put a hand on this chin and looked at the couple

"...you really..do not know where you are or how you came here ?"

"That is right julius-kun….i wished i was joking but i am not , we were suddenly send here from our home"

Julius looked at ferris

"Could it be….?"

"Yin-magic nyawn..? But that level of magic is unheard of…ferris chan can ask beatrice sama when she arrives , i think he wouldn't mind us asking her about this nyawn"

"...its his birthday yet we are asking for his help..as much as i prefer not to it seems we do not have much of a choice"

"Nyahahah , ferris chan doubts he would mind , afterall , he is always trying to show off anyway , he would probably treat this as a way to get a favor out from you nyahaha"

Ferris laughed happily while Julius smiled while shaking his head.

"Sir , ma'am , it is a bit late…but let me introduce myself , my name is julius Juukulius , a member of the royal guards and a knight of the royal candidate of Anatasia-sama , i hope to help the two of as much as i can"

"Nyawn ferris-chan is ferris nyawn ! knight of the beautiful royal candidate Crusch-sama and friend of this stoic looking scary man nyawn , it's a pleasure to meet the both of you nyawn !"

Ferris snickered while holding onto both of julius shoulder while julius just smile in acceptance

"Ahhh…its good to meet the both of you….my name is Natsuki Kenichi and this is my wife , Natsuki Naoko."

"Nat…."

"Suki…nyawn..?"

The 2 knights turned serious and stared at the couple

"...? is..there something wrong…?"

Naoko asked , wondering why their surname turned them serious.

"I may be mistaken but…may i ask if you know the name of someone named…natsuki subaru ?"

Then , the couple's world broke , their heart started beating faster , blood rushing to their head, their breathing getting heavier. Naoko stood up immediately and grabbed Julius' shoulder strongly while Kenichi just stared at the both of them.

"...subaru..? Yo-you know my baby ? Where is he ? WHERE IS MY SON ? PLEASE BRING HIM TO ME I NEED TO SEE HIM"

Naoko shouted at julius desperately, her nails digging into his shoulders and tears were running down her face , but despite all of these , it was apparent to julius that is was an extreme rush of emotion , he put a hand on ferris shoulder , signaling him that everything was alright , he studies Naoko , noticing that she was shivering , shaking , her legs look like they could give out on any moment.

"Ma'am please calm down , i understand that you want to see him b-"

"DONT TELL ME TO BE CALM , ITS BEEN 2 YEARS SINCE I SAW HIM , PLEASE JUST TELL ME WHERE IS HE SO I CAN GO FIND HIM"

Naoko shouted in frustration , while she knew that the young man was not in fault in anyway , she was desperate to hear her son's name come up , him being alive , everything else didnt matter , she didnt care if she offended anyone , she just wanted answers.

"..i understand ma'am but really please , calm down , i will answer and help you but first , please relax"

Julius said kindly , softing his voice as much as possible to try to relax the wife , but she wasn't having it , it just seems she was getting angrier and angrier until Kenichi put a hand on her shoulder.

"Dear….please…he cannot answer you if you keep rushing him like that…please..let him talk"

Kenichi begged , he wanted to do the same thing as his wife is doing , to get an answer , to get angry , but seeing her act managed to calm him down to be more rational , although it feels like he could lose it at any moment .

Naoko looked back at her husband , multiple emotions running through her mind but in the end , she knew her husband was as desperate for an answer as she was. He was just as angry as she is , but he's doing all that he can to get the answer the..correct way. She took a deep breath,relaxed her shoulders and released her arms and sat down on the stone seats. She then looked up at Julius desperately.

"I…i am sorry for the way i acted…but..please…tell me…is my son alright…?."

Julius narrowed his eyes , if what he was hearing was correct , subaru parents haven't seen him in 2 years or heard from him , but that was impossible, his name was well known , he is the hero of Priestella , the slayer of sloth , greed , gluttony , rabbit and the whale. The conqueror of the Pleiades watcher and one of the few people that Vincent respected and wished to be his general. He would always downplay his achievement, saying it was the people around him that deserve it and them being kind to shower him with their achievement instead. It was certainly frustrating for his friend to act like that but he knew he wasn't the one to break that bad mindset of his and it will take time for him to get out it, however, this was not the point at the moment, if he took what the couple said about them suddenly…coming here and subaru disappearance.

A thought went through his head , he had to confirm a few stuff first before explaining his theory to the couple.

"Yes , Natsuki Subaru is doing fine…he is well in health if that is what you are asking , may i ask , what happened to "

This was something Julius needed to confirm , Ferris seemed to have some thoughts on the subject , but decided to leave it to Julius and not interfere for now.

Hearing Subaru was doing fine made Naoko and Kenichi broke into tears , a huge wave of relief and happiness and they held hands and smiled , Kenichi turned to Julius and explained what happened , how subaru suddenly disappear and nothing came up , within these 2 years , there was 0 clue and lead on anything.

The theory that Julius had seem to solidify , it seems that subaru , like his parents disappeared from wherever they were from , though it did make sense to a certain extend , if he , like he said, was from beyond the great waterfall , it makes sense that so would his parents.

"...can you help us..? We wish to see our son as fast as possible , we…want to know…we want to see him…please.."

Naoko begged , looking at Julius with tears in her eyes. In return , Julius smiled.

"Understood, you do not have to worry about seeing him..because he will be coming here a in few days time"

The couples eyes widened

"If you truly do not know about subaru within these past 2 years then it stands you would not know…that the announcement about the hero of Priestella is referring to him"

"Eh…?"

"Our son…a hero..? Sorry but..can you explain…how..?...its hard to believe…"

"Nyahahah , unbelievable right ? that , that man is a hero nyahahah , do not worry , ferris-chan can guarantee that it really subaru-nyawn , after all…i was there when he became the hero of this city "

Ferris smiled , reminiscing about what the black hair man has done for the country , giving hope and being the main tactician of the operation that saved this city.

"...what did Subaru do..? To be a hero..? It really doesn't sound like our son…actually…can you tell us whatever u know about Subaru ? we want to know what has he done to earn that title and whatever he has done in these past 2 years."

Naoko truly was baffled about what she was hearing about, the son she knew was an amazing person yes but…not this subaru that she knew about , it seems so far-fetched to know that he was a hero of a huge city.

"I would gladly tell you the exploits of what Subaru has done , but I need to know , do you have any place to stay tonight ?"

The couple shook their heads and Julius nodded , it was an inkling that he had and was just something he needed to confirm , he knew what his next plan was.

"I see , please follow me , i will find an inn for you to stay while waiting for subaru to arrive , we can talk more at the inn"

"Eh ? Are you sure of helping us like this, Julius kun ?"

"Think nothing of it , if anything , this is but a small favor that I can repay to subaru. I owe him a great debt that I can never repay."

The couple look at each other , firstly his son was a hero and now this..young man who said he was part of the "royal" guards owe him a great debt ? What kind of stuff did their son do in these 2 years ?

The natsuki couple and the 2 knights walked with Julius leading the way , Ferris was chatting with them happily , telling them what subaru has done while the couple could look listen in disbelief , whatever they heard about subaru felt like a dream , or an isekai hero , it was one of things that they knew he liked , but for him to be one of the person that he always read…feels weird for them.

All thoughts about Subaru stopped when the couple saw what kind of inn Julius brought them to, it looked like a huge Japanese style high class inn, one that looked too good even for their world standard. The couple looked awkward , even though they did accept help , this looked too good for the both of them.

"Julius kun..are you sure this is the inn ?"

"Hm ? yes i am , please do not worry about the cost , this inn belongs to Anatasia sama , it will be alright"

He opened the door and walked in , the natsukis were reluctant to follow , but had no choice since Felix was gently pushing the both of them inside the inn. The inn inside was more impressive , every piece of furniture looked expensive and every single one looked like it was custom made for this place , workers walked by , doing their daily job wearing yukata while doing so.

The couple were hit with a wave of comfort , even though this was a world they knew nothing about, it was comfortable seeing stuff that they knew. Their shoulders were extremely tense , relaxed unconsciously. Julius, noticing this , thought to himself that this was the correct idea , it seems like their son , they seem to be familiar with kararagi culture and seem to be comfortable with it.

"Julius sama ? it is good to see you again and so soon as well. How may I help you ?"

The receptionist asked , tilting her head to the side when Julius walked up to her.

"Please give the couple the spare room that is beside subaru's room when he is coming"

The receptionist raised an eyebrow , she looked at the couple, while dressed weirdly, wasn't not a problem , the problem was how tired they looked and extremely ragged. She wanted to ask more questions but since it was Julius , she decided not to.

"I understand... .May I have their names ?"

Julius smirked.

"Their names are..Natsuki Kenichi and Naoko"

The Receptionist froze , unsure of what she had heard , she looked to the couple who nodded then back at Julius whose smile was still there.

She took a deep breath and then showed an extremely huge smile that showed off how happy she was.

"Subaru Sama parents, I understand , please wait for awhile dear guest , I Will ask someone to show u your room , prepare the outdoor bath as well as new set of clothing "

"Ah..it's ok , if you point us the wa-"

"No..I insist, it is the least we could do after all that Subaru Sama has done for us , please leave everything to us"

She bowed and left soon after , leaving the couple speechless again. They felt like a celebrity that didn't deserve to be one and it was all thanks to their son, who was apparently the one who they looked up and respected.

Ferris gestured to them to sit down while he stood up , Julius looked at Ferris and asked him for a favor.

"Ferris , can you get Emilia Sama to come here ? She should be the one to greet them first , we can get Crusch Sama and Anastasia Sama to come after Emilia Sama. I think..Emilia Sama would want their blessing first."

"Hoooo , Emilia sama first ehh ? ok ok , i can see what you are thinking julius "

Both Julius and Ferris had this mischievous look on their face when Ferris saluted and walked out happily. The couple could only keep to themselves as they felt overwhelmed with everything they were hearing , seeing and feeling.

"Natsuki kenichi Sama , Natsuki Naoko Sama , please follow us"

Their thoughts were interrupted by a woman wearing a Yukata, bowing to them.

They both stood up and followed her inside the inn. They reached a huge room where inside looked even more expensive than the otherwise , there was a golden statue of a dragon and various other scrolls giving it the impression of olden japanese style design.

They both looked around nervously and sat down on the floor. The woman bowed and left the room , leaving them and Julius alone.

Julius sat opposite of them and looked them both in the eye.

"Do you wish to wait for Emilia sama before we talk or would you like to discuss about subaru first ?"

"..may we know who this Emilia is ? we heard about her for quite awhile ago , is she someone special ?"

"Special…is a way to put , like Anatasia sama , she is a royal candidate for the kingdom and…she is the one who , your son serves with all of his heart and soul"

"Eh.. ? subaru..is serving her ?"

"Correct , your son is her one and only knight , although it seems that he wished to be more than just a knight to her"

Julius shook his head smiling , seemingly in peaceful thoughts whenever he spoke of subaru fondly.

"..."

The couple couldn't say anything , it seems from what Julius said , this emilia seems to be someone who Subaru is in love with…? They couldn't really say for now , but this seems to be what Julius wanted to say and it just hurt their head more, their son was chasing someone of high importance , was a knight of said person and was a hero and slayer of so many things.

"...please give us time to discuss and digest this information"

"Understood Kenichi sama , i will be standing out the room , if there is anything, please call me and i will enter"

"Thank you Julius kun , you really have helped us so much"

"Please , as I stated before , this is the least I could do for what Subaru has done for all of us."

Saying that , Julius stood up and walked out of the room.

"..."

There was silence for a few seconds then Naoko opened her mouth and asked the same question that was on Kenichi's mind.

"..do you think Subaru….is better off here without us…here..?"