On a sunny spring day in Kararagi's Second City Banan, an elderly man lay down on his deathbed as he prepared for the inevitable. All around him were the kind faces of friends, family members, and those who had considered him a pillar of Banan's community.

That man's name was Natsuki Subaru and he had lived a long and happy life in that city, together with his beloved wife Natsuki Rem who had passed just a week prior. Ironically, she was probably the one that Subaru would have most preferred to see moments before his death. At the same time, it had been Rem's wish to not have to see her beloved husband die before her and Subaru had always been a sucker for those kinds of feelings. So he'd basically forced himself to stay alive just a little bit longer in order to keep that unspoken promise to Rem.

Still, he couldn't really complain. Everyone else had gone out of their way to come and visit Subaru before his final moments. It seemed like even Great Spirit Zarestia, or 'Tia' as the Natsuki household affectionately called her, was making an effort to contain her bloodlust around so many humans in order to visit her old friend one last time.

Though, as a spirit detached from the reality of social life, Tia clearly didn't understand how her presence appeared to those looking to pay their respects to Old Man Subaru and the questions that would no doubt sprout in their minds as she leaned in close to him with a smile on her face. Who was this stunningly beautiful young white-haired woman who seemed so intimately familiar with him? Had the Natsuki family head really bounced back so quickly after the death of his beloved wife and found a replacement for his final days? Worse still, had their ideal of a family man been hiding an affair all this time? Had Rem known? Had she… been into that kind of thing?

Already, Subaru could hear frantic whispering all around him. If he didn't do something about it quickly, both his name and Rem's would be forever tarnished because of a bunch of ignorant gossips.

Gees, what a pain. Can't a guy just die a natural death in peace around here?

"No need to be concerned, everyone!" Subaru yelled, silencing the crowd. "This is just our old family friend, Tia." The blank looks on the faces around him demanded further explanation, prompting Subaru to grin mischievously. "Oh, right. You guys all probably know her better as 'Zarestia the Slasher' or something like that."

Tia, seemingly oblivious to the change in atmosphere caused by this reveal, smiled and waved.

"O-Oh! Well, then we should probably just leave ya to catch up! We wouldn't want to get in the way of a reunion with an old family friend, ya know! N-Nice to meet ya, M-M-Miss Tia!"

"Yeah, I just remembered I have some urgent matters to attend to. Thanks for all you've done for the community, Mr Natsuki!"

One after another, the gathered people made half-assed excuses before promptly leaving the Natsuki house, making sure not to make eye contact with the 'Slasher' on their way out. Tia, for her part, was greatly bemused by this sudden turn of events.

"…Was it something I said?"

"Nah nah. They just wanted to give us some privacy, don't worry about it."

"And after all that effort I made too…" Tia pouted.

"It was honestly kind of overwhelming having all those people here. I prefer for this Natsuki family moment to be a Natsuki only kinda thing. With godmother Tia here too, of course."

"Hmmmm… I suppose… Though I still can't believe you're leaving me, Su. And so soon after Rem too. It makes me feel real lonely…"

She stopped and started to contemplate, as if wondering if something was missing from her statement to Subaru.

"It makes me want to kill you." Tia proudly declared, crossing her arms with a smile.

Ah, there it is.

Subaru couldn't help but smile at Tia so casually exposing her bloodlust, a trait he was well used to by now. It was nice that Tia no longer needed to suppress that side of her after her presence had made the others flee. Even so, this was the one instance in which he'd prefer to make sure she didn't actually intend to follow through. Knowing Tia, she might even view it as doing him a favor.

"Ha ha, that's very kind of you to offer but I'd honestly rather you didn't. This is kind of a big moment for me. It might sound strange, but there was a time in my life when I thought that a peaceful death from old age would be far too much to ask for…"

Even all these years later, Subaru's thoughts of the life he'd left behind brought back those irrepressible memories. Memories of laceration, dismemberment, mangling, decapitation, frostbite. Memories of blood, guts, tears, fire, corpses. Memories of sadists, thugs, cultists, madmen, monsters. Memories of fear, agony, depression, anger, hatred. And finally, memories of running away. Of leaving that world of pain behind.

Remembering that he'd fled it made him feel relief. And yet, for some reason he couldn't understand, it also made him feel regret. It was strange to think about. After all, what good had come from that life other than his beloved Rem?

"…Su? Are you there? Did you die already?"

Subaru noticed that Tia was looking at him in confusion as he'd apparently trailed off and started staring into space with a blank look on his face. Given the circumstances, he couldn't blame her for assuming he'd kicked the bucket.

"…AND BESIDES…" Subaru yelled as if he'd been in the middle of talking the whole time. "…I don't remember you ever saying that to Rem on her deathbed. Gee, what's with the double standard here?"

Tia chuckled before responding "What a shameless weakling of a man! You really wish I'd talked about killing your cute wife instead? Truly, you're so terrible, Su."

"Father is simply the worst."

"Really the worst."

Two figures near Tia, the only ones who hadn't left following the reveal that she was 'Zarestia the Slasher', dutifully agreed with her assessment. One of those figures could only be described as a blue-haired Subaru and his tendency to insult his father at every opportunity was a long established tradition, but the other —

"Hey, Spica, why are you agreeing with this too?! Argh, I should have known letting Rigel spend all that time with you when you were younger was a mistake. Alas, my darling innocent daughter corrupted by her evil-eyed older siscon of a brother…"

"They're your eyes that I inherited, you asshole! And I'm not a goddamned siscon!" Natsuki Rigel shouted indignantly.

"Dad, I'm almost seventy years old now. I've been married for over forty of those. Hell, I'll even be a grandma soon. The 'darling innocent daughter' thing seriously lost its charm a while ago" Natsuki Spica rolled her pale blue eyes.

"Ah… You see, Rem? Our children plot to kill their loving father with heartbreak on his deathbed…"

"Leave Mom out of this and let her soul rest already!" Rigel pointed his finger angrily. "Or do you really want me to send you to hell early?!"

Spica glared at her older brother as she wordlessly picked up the ball and chain she'd inherited from her late mother. Her eyes were so cold that even the half-demon powerhouse Rigel was beginning to worry she'd taken his threat seriously.

"Wait, Spica, what's the deal with—"

"It's for protection" she asserted calmly.

"But that's—"

"It's for protection" she repeated with the exact same cadence.

The deadpan delivery was such a perfect impersonation of Rem that Subaru couldn't help but laugh.

"I guess it wouldn't be a Natsuki family gathering without some banter…" Subaru chuckled.

"Ha ha ha! I love you all the most when you're like this! It really makes me want to kill you!" Tia seemed to also appreciate the argument between Subaru and his children, no doubt reminding her of the good old days. Even her expression of the bloodlust burning deep within her seemed like nothing more than a light-hearted joke.

"Alright, that's enough now. I'm ready to sleep." Subaru said as he closed his eyes with a smile on his face.

"A-already?! But we didn't even get to say goodbye!" Spica sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

"Like hell I'm letting you get the last word, you… shitty father!" Even Rigel's usual disdain seemed to be cracking.

"Goodbye? Nah, that's not the Natsuki way. Can't have my last moments in life being an awkward cryfest, you know? It's… better… this… way…"

Well, Fate, looks like I win after all.

For the first time in over seventy years, Natsuki Subaru died once again.

She had sat there waiting.

Waiting for an eternity.

And she would have waited yet another eternity if that was what it took.

Because she knew that in the end she would see him again. That was the one advantage of being in love with a mortal man. Even if he ran away and forgot about her completely, she could always rely on the certainty of death to bring him back to her.

For most, the death of a loved one was a terrible thing that tore them apart and wracked them with grief, possibly even for the rest of their lives.

For her, it was salvation. Another opportunity to see him again, if only briefly.

Eternity came to an end and the fateful moment she had waited for arrived. He had returned to her world so that she could love him once again.

"—I love you." Her yearning voice momentarily broke the silence of the empty void. She had to say it, had to remind him, even if only once. Though she wanted to say it a thousand, a million, times. She desperately wished that she could spend an eternity with him just as she had spent an eternity without him and would spend yet another eternity waiting for his next return.

Alas, he would stay there for but a fleeting moment.

Ironically, the blessing that kept bringing him back to her for these brief lapses in eternity was also the very thing constantly snatching him away from her. Though that just made these moments all the more special. In those instants, all other thoughts would fall away and her mind could only process those three little words.

I love you.

Over and over again.

I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.

It was all that mattered.

Iloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyou.

But this eternity had felt far, far longer than all the others that had come before it. Her patience and tolerance during this eternity really was unbefitting of one labelled Envy.

Even still, she at least had to let him know. To know the pain he had caused by leaving her for so long. To know the emptiness that she had felt during his absence.

She wished he had a hand so she could hold it tightly. A heart so she could hear its beating. Ears so she could tell him how much he means to her. Lips so she could kiss them passionately. A body so she could embrace it and never let go.

Yet no, he was permitted none of these things in her world. Her prison. All those things would be granted to him once he was beyond her reach. All those things would yet again go to another. To anyone but her. Though she craved them the most.

And she would be Envy once more.

There was only one thing that she could say to convey all those feelings, all that longing, all that loneliness. One last resonance between her soul and his.

"—I missed you so much."