Chapter 14: Stakeout

Waking up to the feeling of sunlight on her eyes, Lyra finally arose. It was the dawn of the second day.

Lyra headed downstairs to eat breakfast. She had also made conversation with some of the mansion's fellow residents.

Lyra had asked Beatrice how her library was organized (to no avail, unfortunately), complimented Rem's cooking, asked Ram why she was considered the older sister despite being twins, and as she was finishing up, had been asked again by Emilia how her gate was and if she still hadn't noticed anything odd.

Returning to her room, Lyra self-studied to minimal advancement.

You know, Subaru himself said I could ask for help if I needed and I just can NOT, for the life of me, remember how to write these glyphs when used in this context..so...guess it's time to go ask for help now!

Getting up, Lyra went to Subaru's room and knocked on the door.

Lyra: Subaru? Are you in there? It's Lyra.

Subaru: Oh, hey, Lyra! Need something?

Lyra: Yeah. I do. Could you please show me how to write the glyphs for…

After being let inside Subaru's room, Lyra had noticed that all the books that Subaru had grabbed last night had appeared to have already been read through.

Lyra: You sure got through those books pretty quickly.

Subaru: You know why?

Lyra: Yeah. It's...

Lyra Subaru: ...because there's nothing else to do.

Subaru: Exactly. I'm getting burnt out on this already. It's like I'm hitting a wall in terms of improvement.

Lyra: That means you should probably take a break. Speaking of, wasn't the goal of this perma-guest siesta supposed to be dedicated to looking for clues and investigating?

Subaru: It was, at least in theory, but I've searched the entire mansion and found nothing. I'm at a dead end when it comes to both studying, AND figuring out a solution to our fourth-day-problem...

Lyra: Maybe you really SHOULD take a break and regroup your thoughts. Wanna go for a walk around the garden area?

Subaru: If you think it'll help, I'll give it a go.

After walking down the stairs and down the back steps of the mansion,and before walking out into the back garden area of the mansion, the two stopped to see Rem beginning to trim the lawn.

The thing that had caught Lyra's eye was the height that she had set the blades of the lawn cutter at compared to the actual height of the grass that was currently being trimmed.

Normally Lyra had to take two passes over an area, taking about half the height she wished to take from the grass each time. Setting it that low right off the bat would have been a monster for Lyra to push, requiring lots of strength, so surely for Rem it would be—

Lyra: How is she doing that?!

Subaru: What? What do you mean?

Not responding to Subaru, Lyra waited as Rem brought the lawn cutter back towards Lyra and Subaru's current direction and waved to get her attention.

As Rem made her way over, Lyra called out to her.

Lyra: Good afternoon Rem. How's the lawn doing?

Slightly perplexed by Lyra's casual form of address, Rem stopped to see what Lyra had to say.

Rem: Good afternoon. The work is going steadily, but we have a lot to do today. Are you two out for a stroll in the nice weather?

Lyra: Yeah, actually. Can't stay cooped up inside all day! But... uhh...Rem?

Tilting her head in question, Lyra continued.

Lyra: I really don't mean to tell you how to do your job but... aren't you kinda doing that the hard way? You've got it set pretty low for your first pass.

Rem: — — ? Rem has always cut the grass this way. It's the height Roswaal-sama requires the grass to be for optimal scenery.

Lyra: Right, but... isn't that hard to push?

Bringing a hand to her chest and shaking her head, Rem replied.

Rem: No, not particularly.

Almost as if stepping aside to let Lyra try, Rem allowed Lyra to try to give the trimmer a push.

It was definitely more than she'd be willing to push, but how was Rem managing this so easily and without strain or struggle?

How can she push it so easily? Is it the angle she uses or something?

Lyra: *exhausted sigh* Well, kudos to you for being willing to do it in one pass. Normally I'd take something this high in at least two more shallow passes.

Subaru: But wouldn't that be twice the work for Rem?

Lyra: Not if I'm right about something here... Rem, do you normally rake the lawn after you're done cutting it?

Rem: Yes, Rem must collect the lawn trimmings and dispose of them or the work will look sloppy.

Lyra: Right. Because with it set this low, the trimmings are so long they sit on top of the grass.

Bending down and rubbing her hand on the grass, Lyra continued.

Lyra: But if you do two more shallow passes, the trimmings aren't nearly as long, and will fall below the top of the cut grass, meaning—

Rem: Rem would not need to rake the lawn clippings after trimming.

Giving her a finger gun after standing back up, Lyra praised Rem.

Lyra: Bingo. It's quicker to trim twice than trimming only once and then having to rake afterwards. Plus, you're letting the trimmings go back into the soil to help replenish it. You'll get a lawn with a much more even color and growth.

Rem held her hand to her chin in thought before smiling.

Rem: Rem sees. That would save quite a considerable amount of time and give a more pleasant appearamce to the lawn .

Lyra: Well there you go, then. You learn something new everyday!

Rem bowed and thanked Lyra. Following her advice, she continued trimming the grass while Lyra and Subaru continued their walk.

Subaru: What are you? Some middle-aged old-ass man who's trying to have the best lawn in the whole damn neighborhood? How'd you know all that?

Subaru:'s eyes lit up slightly in amazement.

Subaru: Are you psychic? Do you just have good intuition? Or what? What is it? Damn, you sure are smart as hell, either way...

Scratching the back of her head, somewhat embarrassed about the assumptions that Subaru made of her niche knowledge on such a seemingly random topic, Lyra explained.

Lyra: Well, on our first time here, Ram asked me if I'd ever trimmed a lawn before, and like an idiot I said "Yep. Sure have." She just showed me where that old trimmer was and told me to cut the lawn.

Subaru: And?

Lyra: Remember that educational app on my phone that I showed you? I used it's encyclopedia function to look up old yard trimmers and it briefly explained how to use them. I got the"'shorter passes" trick from finding a tidbit on lawn care in this section on biology.

Subaru: That's... resourceful.

Lyra: *sigh* I feel like that's probably the only time it's really going to come in handy. So much stuff here is just "Boom! Magic!" that it makes any knowledge here worthless because it's just not applicable.

With that out of the way, the conversation dwindled into lesser, small talk.

With their walk mostly through, Subaru had finally remembered to bring up his plan to Lyra.

Subaru: —so I'm saying we should leave the mansion the day after tomorrow, in the afternoon, we'll act like we're moving on.

Lyra: ...So that we can observe the mansion from afar and see exactly what happens?

Subaru: Exactly.

Lyra: Considering we have zero other leads, I'll take you up on that plan. Alright then, count me in.

Subaru: Good. Have your stuff packed after breakfast that day, we'll leave just after lunchtime.

And with that, a plan was set in motion.

After returning into the mansion, with a deadline and some more energy, Subaru set out to study what he could before tomorrow, leaving Lyra to her own devices. After studying to no effect, Lyra retired for the night.

Waking up late on the third day, Lyra had slept in considerably. While normally one of the twins surely would have knocked, they hadn't.

Sitting up in bed and scratching her head, Lyra yawned and grabbed her phone off the window charger. Without access to the internet, Lyra's enjoyment out of using her phone was brief at best.

I'm sure I've missed breakfast at this point, I'll just have to wait till lunch I guess...

Getting herself out of bed, Lyra got dressed and walked to Subaru's room. Knocking on the door and getting no reply, Lyra entered to find her fellow guest also still fast asleep.

Hearing Lyra enter, Subaru woke up as well, also surprised at how late he had slept in. After some light banter, the two decided the least they could do to burn time was try to study together.

As the two studied, lunch time had soon come and went without either one of the maids coming to inform them that the meal was ready.

Subaru: Do you think Rem and Ram got so busy that they forgot to make lunch?

Lyra: They ARE always incredibly busy on the third day, come to think of it...

Almost as if on cue, a knock was heard on the door, followed by it being opened by Ram. Ram carried one large platter with simple snack items and finger food in one hand, and a small tea set on its own platter in the other hand.

Ram: Please forgive Ram and her sister for failing to prepare lunch on time. Please take these to tide yourselves over until supper time.

Getting up and nearly grabbing the platter from Ram, Subaru began to wolf down bites of food into his hungry mouth.

Subaru (mouth full): Oh dheses arw so gwood. Rem made dese, yeah?

Ram: Yes, Rem made them after Emilia-sama had mentioned that both of you had missed breakfast.

Lyra: We should thank Rem the next time we see her.

With Subaru too busy stuffing his face to hear Lyra's suggestion, Ram sighed before responding.

Ram: That's if you even WILL have the chance to today. Both Rem and I are very busy today, and dinner is also likely to be delayed as well. Now, if you'll excuse Ram—

Lyra: W-wait! Maybe we can help? I'd really like to—

Stopping Lyra with a single raised palm to her, Ram denied her.

Ram: That is quite alright. Rem and I will make do as we always have.

Taking her leave, Ram bowed before departing., leaving Lyra and Subaru to their own devices. With nothing else to occupy their time, studying continued.

At what seemed to be supper time, Lyra made her way to an empty dining hall.

The twins really are overloaded with tasks today... Just how late is dinner going to be ?

Somewhat concerned, Lyra walked to the kitchen to see if either of them had at least gotten to the prepping point of cooking.

Approaching the kitchen's door, Lyra distinctly heard what sounded like a chopping noise. Someone was definitely cutting ingredients for sure. Opening the door, Lyra was given a scene of Rem frantically running around the kitchen. From the cutting table to the stove to the pantry to the spice rack back to the cutting table and every other combination.

Seeing the look of stress on her face, she could tell Rem hadn't even noticed her enter.

Lyra: Hey, Rem—

Stopping mid-step to her next station, Rem put what food items she held in her hands behind her back and bowed, apologizing.

Rem: Rem is terribly sorry, but dinner is going to be later than usual this evening. If Lyra needs something, then please look for Nee-sama. She should be able to help,as Rem needs to attend to as much as she can here.

Spewing her words out as fast as she could before returning to run around the kitchen, Rem explained her situation to Lyra.

Lyra: I was just going to ask, do you need any help? I've worked in a kitchen like this before…

She thought back to the times that she had assisted in cooking meals before in the mansion's kitchen in previous loops.

Not taking her eyes off of what she was doing, Rem responded.

Rem: Rem will be honest, Lyra will only slow things down. Only Nee-sama would have the skill to work at a pace that would be assistive.

Lyra: Oh... I see. I'll just get out of your hair, then...

Without even a goodbye from Rem, Lyra somberly returned to the hallway and went in search of Ram.

Now, around this time, where would Ram even be?

Taking a first guess, she decided to check the washroom, as in the last loop, that was the last task Rem had to do before starting dinner.

Opening the door to the washroom, Lyra was immediately greeted by Ram, bowing while holding the scrubbing broom.

Ram: Lyra-sama. Please excuse the mess, but the washroom is currently being facilitated. If you had wanted to pass the time with a soak before dinner, I'm afraid you might need to find something else to do, but rest assured, Rem is working as hard as she can to get dinner ready.

Walking further into the washroom, Lyra replied to Ram.

Lyra: Yeah that's why I'm here, Rem's really struggling and I offered to help her but she said I'd probably only get in the way—

Ram: Most definitely.

Even while having to fulfill the task of being a courteous maid, Ram could still manage to sneak in small bursts of snide comments.

Pretending to not notice her comment, Lyra went on.

Lyra: I thought the next best thing to do to try to help her is to help you.

Stopping to tilt her head, Ram took a moment to think about what Lyra meant by that.

Ram: What do you mean?

Lyra: What I mean is... I know you'd rather be helping Rem than doing this.. so, go on. I can take over here.

With almost an expression of relief, it seemed like Ram almost easily agreed, but as soon as she did, she stopped herself, and issued her protest.

Ram: I could not allow a guest to dirty their hands like this, I'm sorry.

Sighing and turning to a sadder expression, Ram went on.

Ram: Rem will just have to make do… — ?!

While Ram was going on, Lyra had removed her shoes. Cutting her off by stepping down into the drained bath, Lyra picked up what had to have been Rem's scrubbing broom and got to work as she had done before.

Lyra: Like this, right?

Watching almost as in disbelief, Ram watched Lyra perform the task as if she'd done it before.

Lyra: Do I meet the grade? You should take off and go help Rem, I've got things covered here.

Shooting a smile to her, Ram sighed and stopped her own scrubbing again to address Lyra, shaking her head.

Ram: It would be entirely unprofessional of me to allow a guest of the house to take over my duties as a maid.

Lyra: Then, at least let me help you make things go by quicker.

Without ever expressing a hint of decline to her offer, Ram went back to scrubbing her half of the drained bath while Lyra scrubbed her half.

After a few minutes of scrubbing in silence, Lyra noticed that the look Ram had on her face was different from the one that she normally had when she was working on chores.

Lyra: Ram, I can tell you're just itching to say something.

Not stopping her work or even looking over, Ram replied in the most forced formal tone she could muster.

Ram: I have no idea what you're implying.

Lyra: C'mon Ram. You can probably guess that I don't care if you speak your mind, and I would prefer you do, I can tell it tires you out having to keep all that bottled up.

Stopping her scrubbing now, Ram's vision remained where it had for a moment until she turned to face Lyra, who was still on the opposite side of the drained bath, scrubbing.

Ram: *sigh* Fine. Do you really want to know what Ram wants to say?

Simply nodding at Ram, Lyra gave her go-head.

Ram: Why?

Confused by her question, Lyra furrowed her brow.

Ram: Barusu was intent on just staying cooped up in his room reading and being a freeloader. You on the other hand... you chose to be a guest and yet still act as if you are a member of this mansion's staff on occasion. Why did you ask to be a guest when you clearly find it to be dull?

Stopping her scrubbing, Lyra paused and looked upwards at the ceiling, gathering her thoughts.

Lyra: Like Subaru, I'm not the best at reading and writing, except I'm even worse off than he is. He might have the drive to power through it, but I get discouraged when I'm having to self-teach myself and end up having to find something else to do, which brings me here.

Ram: So then, you helping is just a distraction for yourself? Or perhaps it's an excuse to help quell feelings of guilt from being a freeloader yourself.

Laying her hands on top of the broomstick and resting her chin on top of that, Lyra directly conveyed her words to Ram.

Lyra: I wouldn't say that. It's more... I really like it here. It's comfy. And to Subaru, he really likes everyone here, and maybe that just kinda rubbed off on me. I help because I want to help. Who doesn't like to help their friends? You two honestly ARE running at capacity for taking care of everything here.

Directing her vision upward to the ceiling to focus more on what she wanted to say next, Lyra continued.

Lyra: If Rem wasn't so demonically inspired to perform house work so well, I don't know how you two would manage, to be honest

Taking her answer with a blank stare before returning to her own scrubbing, Ram finally responded.

Ram: That saying... Barusu said something similar earlier.

Turning to Ram after she had replied with something so off -topic, Lyra asked why.

Lyra: Huh? You mean about being 'how are you two able to manage?'

Ram: No, about being "demonically inspired." He referenced her being similar to a demon.

Lyra: I don't think he meant anything by it. It does somewhat accurately describe Rem's work ethic though, in a good way, of course

Ram: Barusu described them oddly, with some stupid story about how one wished to be friends with the people of a village, at the cost of defaming their sibling... Do you have the same opinion as he does?

Shaking her head, Lyra answered the pink-haired maid.

Lyra: While I'm not familiar with the story that he might have told, I think me and him would have different view-points here.

Ram: …So you don't like demons?

Lyra shook her head again, and went on.

Lyra: That really doesn't enter into it here correctly. To Subaru, where he grew up or comes from, demons are what he would try to describe as 'ogres' to me. Which, where I'm from, aren't demonic in nature.

Stopping her own scrubbing again, Lyra once again looked up at the ornate tile ceiling of the washroom to gather the thoughts in her head to best organize them to what she wanted to say.

Lyra: But, what Subaru is describing as "ogres," where I came from and understand, are what would be called "oni", which are different from ogres.

Ram: Oni...

She hadn't noticed it, but as Ram had spoken softly, she tightened her grip on the scrubbing broom.

Lyra: Yeah. Which again, I would say aren't inherently demonic. In the stories I'm used to, ogres, or as I think you would call them too, oni, aren't always evil.

Ram: So it would be correct to say that Barusu views them all in a negative light, which isn't in line with where he comes from?

Lyra: I would say again, not quite. "Demons" or "demonic" things don't carry the same weight as they would where I'm from and understand. Those kinds of things would be spectral evil incarnate, not a race of beings, like oni or ogres.

Stopping her scrubbing again, almost surprised at where her long-winded answer was leading, Ram asked another question to Lyra.

Ram: Then, you actually do like ogres, or oni rather?

Lyra: Yeah. You could say that. One of my favorite movies— err, stories, is about a good ogre. It's pretty popular too. Almost everyone where I'm from likes it.

Tilting her head, Ram was actually intrigued on the matter.

Ram: Just... What happens in this story?

Lyra: Well, it's a long one, but it starts with a green ogre who lives in a swamp...

Around the same time Lyra had finished explaining the plot and the themes within it, they had gotten close to finishing.

Lyra: Well, that just about wraps it up then. What do you think?

Ram was silent for a moment before responding.

Ram: Your skill in cleaning is satisfactory for having helped Ram finish quicker.

Having a small laugh to herself, Lyra replied.

Lyra: Ha, not quite. I meant the story. You seemed pretty into it.

Shrugging and closing her eyes, Ram answered.

Ram: It was an odd story, my interest could be summed up as disbelief that such a tale would be so well-received.

After Lyra explained the rough plot,Ram was astonished to learn that such a story of judgment of appearance could be claimed to be so well-liked, especially about an entity that's known to her to be so normally loathed.

Opening her eyes back up, she went on.

Ram: However, I will say it wasn't terrible.

Lyra: Hmm... Well, it's also good to know that I can be of some help to you, too.

Ram:… Then perhaps you should have asked Roswaal-sama for a staff position here instead of being a guest…

With the two of them going back to finishing up, Lyra had heard Ram reply, but she had done so quietly, as if unsure to herself if she wished to be heard or not.

A pang of guilt ran through Lyra. She felt as if her current position in the mansion was incorrect, that he was supposed to be a staff member.

Letting the feeling stew in her, Lyra continued her share of the scrubbing till the drained bath was sufficiently cleaned.

Ram: I do believe that's everything.

Wiping her forehead, Lyra stepped up out of the drained bath.

Lyra: Alright then. Here, let me take care of putting the cleaning stuff away while you go help Rem.

Ram: Why are you so worried about Rem? What do you gain from all this?

Taking the bucket of cleaning supplies from Ram, and walking them to their storage location, Lyra replied.

Lyra: I just hate having to see Rem—, no...both of you...I hate seeing the two of you struggle with the mountain of tasks that you have to do each day just because there's two guests that you have to worry about now.

Without a response, Ram turned to leave the room and headed to assist Rem in the kitchen.

But just as she was leaving the door frame, Ram stopped, turning her head over her shoulder to speak to Lyra, who was still putting the supplies away.

Ram: For what it's worth, Ram thinks you would have made a fine addition to the staff here had you asked for that instead.

Turing to see Ram, as her statement had not been nearly at all what she expected, Lyra just missed her exit.

What had her expression been while saying that? Lyra wondered.

An overwhelming amount of guilt had surged through Lyra from Ram's statement. Sighing, she stood back up, forcing himself to shake it off.

Despite everything feeling wrong, she had to march forward. It was the only direction she could.

Early the next morning, Lyra woke up in her room after another night of self-study, her progress towards literacy in this new world still suffering from stagnation.

The night before, dinner had come later in the evening as it did every loop for the day. However during this specific dinner, Emilia had chosen to sit next to Lyra.

Dinner had gone normally other than that, and not wishing to be rude, Lyra entertained Emilia's attempts to converse. She had asked her how her gate was feeling and how she was liking her stay at the mansion now.

As the meal was drawing to an end, Emilia had asked Lyra again if she had noticed anything with her gate. After replying that she hadn't, Emilia had gone further, almost as if trying to coax an answer out of him.

Emilia: Are you sure? Nothing new has shown up?

Wiping the sleepiness from her eyes, the question still was kicking around in her thoughts.

I don't get what she's implying every time she asks that... It's almost like she knows something but won't tell me...

Getting out of bed, she got herself ready for breakfast.

Lyra took her seat at the table. Emilia had decided yet again to take a seat next to her. It appeared that Emilia intended to ask the same questions as before to Lyra, but to her relief, she was cut off by what Subaru had to say.

Taking the opportunity whilst everyone in the mansion was present in one place, Subaru announced that he and Lyra had made plans to depart the mansion later that day.

With an almost dejected expression, Emilia turned to Lyra, her amethyst eyes filled with emotion.

Whilst the other table members were discussing the details of it all with Subaru, Roswaal offering a care package, Ram offering directions, and Rem heading off to prepare said care package, Emilia had gotten Lyra's attention, wishing to understand the reasoning for her and Subaru's departure.

Emilia: Why? Wasn't your intention the same as Subaru's? To get better at reading and writing? Why leave now? Why leave at all?

With an almost panic-like sound on her voice, Lyra was slightly stunned by the reaction that the news had gotten out of Emilia.

Not knowing how to respond, Emilia leaned in closer, as if begging for an answer, forcing Lyra to croak out an answer.

Lyra: It's uhh, like Subaru said, w-we've gotta get a move on. Y-you know?

Sitting back more squarely in her chair, Emilia cast her eyes downward, and looked away, back to in front of her.

Emilia: I see. I should have known that you would— er, you two would probably not stay around for long...

Partly relieved that she wouldn't have to play twenty questions with Emilia, it was overpowered by the fact that she now felt guilty once again.

It's like Subaru said, this is all for the sake of the people in this mansion along with ourselves. We have to find out who's going to attack the mansion.

With breakfast finished up, Lyra and Subaru collected their things and headed the main foyer.

Roswaal and the twins were there to see the two of them off, offering a care package for the both of them that included food, water, and what Roswaal had said was "a gift to commemorate their time together", which Subaru had simply realized was hush money.

Rem Ram: Good day to you both, and have a safe journey.

Roswaal: Yeeees, do be sure to stay on the roads and avooooooid traveling at night.

Subaru: We'll do well to remember that. Thanks for having me Ros-chi. And you two.

Turning to the twins, Subaru went on.

Subaru: Thanks for all the hard work you guys do.

With both of them bowing again, Lyra chimed in.

Lyra: Our send -off seems to be missing a few people. Where's Emilia and Puck?

Ram: Emilia-sama wasn't feeling well after breakfast, so she retired to her room.

Subaru: *sigh* I was hoping to see my Emilia-tan one last time before leaving, too...

Standing back up straight and holding the bag on his back by it's straps, Subaru recomposed himself.

Subaru: Well, then... we should be off.

With that, Subaru turned and opened the door, and was the first to step out. Letting Subaru take the lead, Lyra also stepped out the door.

Just before leaving though, Lyra looked back before closing the door.

With the twins standing aft of Roswaal, Ram was still bowing, eyes shut, just as Rem had been, Lyra had caught for only the slightest of seconds before the door fully shut.

Rem wasn't there anymore.

Was she hiding? Or did she move? Or...

Maybe she just didn't care to stick around long enough, this time...

Without getting one last look at Rem, Lyra caught back up with Subaru, and made their way down the road just as they'd planned.

With the mansion now growing smaller behind them, Subaru decided this was far enough for them to not be spotted, but close enough to cover the mansion visually from their lookout.

Making their way directly off the path and into the woods, they walked until they could see the beginning of a rise, up towards a cliff off to their left, and to the right, the trees cleared up to a small opening at the base of this cliff.

Catching their breaths, Subaru and Lyra stopped at this divide before them.

Subaru: I think we should split up, but not be too far away from each other. I'll head up to the top of that cliff, and maybe you could stand watch at the bottom.

Lyra: Don't you think more eyes on the mansion would be more useful?

Shaking his head, Subaru explained.

Subaru: You won't be able to see it, but you should still be able to listen in on the road from down there. You should hopefully be able to hear if any carriages come up the road.

Lyra: Okay, I can manage that..but what about in the case we get approached? You've got no route of escape from up on that butte.

Setting his bag down off his back and reaching into it—

Subaru: That's why I've got this rope. If anything comes at me, I'll have this tied around myself and a tree, and I can jump down to you.

Not entirely impressed with his plan, Lyra couldn't find real fault in it given the circumstances, so she decided to go along with it.

Lyra: *sigh* Alright. You take the high road, and I'll take the low road.

Subaru: Cool. If you hear or see anything, chuck a rock up at me, I'll come look over.

With that, the two separated, each heading to their station of observation.

Reaching the bottom of the cliff right below where Subaru was going to have his visual of the mansion, Lyra found a rock that she could sit down on.

With the sun still high in the air, it would be awhile until the hour of the attack would come, but that didn't mean they wouldn't hear or see anything before then.

Keeping an ear up, Lyra hunkered in for the wait.

It was starting to get late, rays of pink and purple now crossed the sky as the amber sun began to set on the mansion.

Not once did Lyra hear any traffic, and never once did Subaru signal to inform him of anything she saw. Craning her neck to see if he could see Subaru taking a more active observation given the waning light, a slight wind picked up.

Still not being able to see Subaru, and not wanting to alert him, Lyra sat back down on her rock and peered out into the forest, which was now rustling with the wind.

With the branches swaying, Lyra could see ways though the forest that she couldn't before.

She saw nothing more spectacular than a few newly-exposed trees the split-second that a branch was swayed by the wind.

Lyra took in the scene for a moment longer before a gust kicked up, blowing the wind harder for a brief second. The strong wind caused the branches to sway even more than they had before.

But that's when Lyra saw it.

A flash of pink, much like how the sky was at the moment.

Was that the skyline I just saw through there? That would be odd, it's so low in the tree line... but I have no idea how this hilly part curves, so it could be...

A few more moments went on before the wind eventually went back to how it was before.

Pondering how it was possible that she hadn't noticed the sky being visible through the treeline before, Lyra focused her vision very hard at the spot where she'd seen what she believed to be the sky.

She could hear another gust of wind coming through the trees, causing the branches to rustle strongly once again. Perhaps this was her chance to understand where the strong and sudden breezes were coming from if she paid proper attention.

This was the level of boredom Lyra was at.

Anticipating the reveal again, Lyra locked her vision to where the pink had been. The branches parted again with the gust of wind, and for almost a second, Lyra could see the pink once more.

She could see much more pink that time.

Had the wind blown harder that time? No... It's just closer than I thought, and that's definitely not the sky either. It too looked as if it was moving in the wind.

Standing up, Lyra craned her vision as directly forward as she could without moving position.

Hearing another gust in the horizon, Lyra was determined to figure out just what exactly she'd seen.

Really focusing now on the location, the next breeze blew through the forest, moving branches and revealing the entity once more.

Still the pink color remained, but ever so closer yet again. Or was it her imagination?

What out here could be pink? Flowers? A shrine, maybe?

Thoroughly confused, Lyra anticipated the next breeze, and to her luck, she got one.

Taking a step forward for a better view, Lyra knew the next breeze was to hit in the next half second. She figured that this was going to be a large one from what she'd heard in the distance with the sound of leaves swaying.

Seeing the branches part yet again, the pink color was bigger now, but not only did she see pink, but also the very stark colors of black and white.

With the breeze dying down, the pink remained visible this time. No longer needing the gusts, Lyra could observe the pink color uninterrupted.

Making out more details, she could see that the pink was also flowing in the wind now. Almost like—

Lyra: Hair...

Lyra spoke quietly to herself. Slowly, the gears in her head began to turn, and almost as soon as they did...

The "woosh" of another gust blew through, fully unshrouding the pink object in question.

Lyra gulped.

Lyra: Why is... why?

Finally recognizable to Lyra, the pink object came into picture. Rubbing her eyes, she did not believe them. How could she?

From the moment that she had shut them to the moment she opened them back up, her eyes were given sight to the pink object being much closer than just before. Just a step or two from entering the clearing of trees at the base of the cliff.

Shocked silent and still, Lyra watched her take her first steps into the clearing, out from the forest and in full view of Lyra.

Giving her a blank stare, she said not a word.

Lyra: W-w...

Lyra: Why...? How...?

Lyra: Ram... What are you doing here?

A/N: If you've made it this far, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING!! Both myself and _kaip0 wrote most of our own versions (reminder: HIS is the original Male Reader version while MINE is a Female OC version that I got permission to create) this fic on a notes app on our phones. _Kaip0 transferred his original text on LibreOffice, while I have simply just been copy-pasting my drafts onto Google Docs and having someone help with proofreading (Shoutout to Thanette on Discord for this!!)

Also a big shout-out to Goddess Rem/Goddussy/GodOfThe1v1!! She streams as Rem on TikTok and is very sweet and adorable both in and out of her streams!! Please feel free to check her out if you so wish!!