Chapter 16 - Limbo
The wind blew as the scent of cherry blossoms announced the arrival of Sakura season. As
Subaru walked down the park with Satella, he felt a pleasant warmth in his
chest—something he never thought he would experience ever in his life. "No, no, no. What
am I even thinking about? Urgh….. I hate myself," he said to himself, blushing. "She is just in
need of help. It's not like she is interested in me or anything."
"Who would even wish to date a Shut-in neet, Who just plays video games"
"Wait?," " Shut-in?" "Neet?"
"When was I?" As he dwelled in his thoughts a huge gust of wind blew past him blowing the
sakura petals with it. Satella saw this beautiful opportunity and while she at first hesitated,
her face grew red as he was constantly shifting her gaze between Subaru and her hands
that she used to clench her heart tightly. She didn't wanna miss this opportunity. She made
up her mind and stood up on her front foot, closing in with a kiss on Subaru's cheeks.
Time stopped for both of them. The spring season was already warm but they were sweating
as if it was suddenly summer all over again. As the warmth of the kiss slowly spread
throughout his face Subaru was starstruck, the world was out of sight for him as his whole
consciousness was solely focused on her warm soft lips as she delivered a kiss to his cheek.
The kiss lasted for only 3 seconds as the Sakura petals blew around them, But for Subaru, it
lasted for longer than that. Satella's amethyst eyes were shining like a priceless jewel, As
she stood back both of them were silent for the time being processing what just happened.
Satella held her hands around her mouth as he then removed her other hand to cool herself
off of the sudden rise in body temperature. As Subaru gently touched his cheek trying to feel
it, His mind couldn't grasp what was so special in that sensation, What made him lose
himself for 3 seconds. Satella noticed it getting awkward she tried to break the silence "Um
you see, I was nervous but having you beside me calms me down"
"Ahhhh…Please don't take it weirdly, I just wanted to thank you and I know boys like this
stuff and…and…" As she kept on speaking, she swung her arms in a failing attempt to
gesture honesty in her words. A single tear was shed from Subaru's eyes. Satella noticed
this "Ahhhhh…"
"Sorry, was it that bad?" She asked him with a frown.
Subaru was struggling to get over the shock of a beautiful girl kissing him, Who he just met,
he couldn't understand why…He is so starstruck by this sudden gesture of hers.
"Sorry, Sorry" She kept repeating like a parrot trained only 1 word to speak.
"Pffttt"
"HAHA…HAHA," Subaru let out a hearty laugh, As Satella drew a confused expression on
her face. "EH?" Satella confused at his series of displays of emotion quickly touched her
forehead "You don't have a fever do you?"
"HAHAHA..HAHA…" Subaru kept laughing at her confusion until she started pouting.
"Sorry..sorry..haha"
"These are tears of happiness, I never felt this happy" He spoke to her in an attempt to
disperse the misunderstanding between them.
"Are you telling the truth?" Satella casually questioned him.
"Yes, Absolutely"
"Thank you, Satella-tan" Subaru replied.
As blush covered Satella's face she turned around in an attempt to hide her expression.
"Urghhh….Subaru you idiot" She added as they continued to walk towards the school.
They kept walking as they soon reached the school gate. "That was fast?"
"Was the way to my school always this short?" Subaru thought with confusion lingering in
his mind, the conflicting information in his brain, was making him think "Am I dreaming?".
As they walked in together Subaru looked around, The campus was empty. It was nice and
peaceful, But the silence was noticeable as no teacher or students were present at the
campus nor were the guards, Who are usually present to keep a lookout for late students.
"Maybe they are busy today," Subaru thought as he moved ahead with her, as he kept
scanning the area he noticed a rabbit hutch in the schoolyard. "Hmm?"
"I don't remember the school having rabbits?"
"Damn did the donations increase this year," He thought to himself as he walked closer to
them.
"No wonder, We are getting international students like Satella-Tan"
As he walked closer to the rabbits, He kept staring at them. He kept staring…
And staring…as his eyes went dry he blinked.
As he reopened his eyes he was in shock, "Did the rabbits grow horns?" He rubbed his eyes
multiple times to somehow make sense of it. He didn't believe what he was witnessing, for
him this was like a scene directly stripped out of a fantasy anime. As he rushed in closer
ignoring his sense of sight and instead tried to confirm it with his sense of touch. When He
moved in close his face was splashed with liquid, he was confused as he cleaned his face
with a handkerchief.
RED ! RED? RED
BLOOD! RED?
"Who's?"
BLOOD! "Mine? How!"
WHY! WHY? WHY?
His mind came to a halt as he was able to process what he was witnessing, His hands
trembled and his knees felt weak. He shrugged his worries aside as he touched his face all
over trying to look for cuts or injuries but he couldn't find any. As he again looked up at the
rabbits out of confusion, They were just normal rabbits. He blinked again as the rabbits
increased in number… "Huh?" They kept on increasing ultimately he was surrounded by a
swarm of them.
He frantically looked everywhere for a way to escape as they clutched onto his pants
nibbling parts of them, He was cautious not to step on them as he moved slowly yet scared
to him this was still something unbelievable, As the number of them kept increasing some
piecered their tiny teeth into his left heel.
"ARGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHGHHHHHHHHHH"
He screamed in Pain, As he flung his left foot frantically to disperse them and somehow
scare them away he closed his eyes in pain, when he reopened them he saw a possible
opening where the swarm was least concentrated, he managed to Jump from the swarm in
desperation to get away, No longer was he cautious about stepping on them as he Jumped
again and again. In an attempt to flee.
As he jumped after every landing his legs went numb….He felt uncomfortable but his brain
was set for flight as he ignored and ignored until he made another jump…..
*THUD*
He fell face first on the ground successfully escaping the swarm, He let out a sigh of relief as
he finally felt a slow sting on his legs slowly growing and growing…..
And growing….. As the adrenaline levels were falling.
"ah…Urghh" He groaned in pain as his fall was slightly less painful due to the grassy patch
being slightly muddy at parts, behind the school building which was unmaintained as people
avoided the place making it a perfect spot for students to hide when skipping classes.
He tried to stand up but he couldn't "Huh!" he imagined it being fatigue catching up to him,
but he was sure in his mind that he wasn't this weak as he concentrated the last bit of
strength on the plan of his hand stiffening up his forearms and plunging himself up.
*THUD*
He fell again on his back this time, Confused he laid on his back as he wiped his face clean
with his jacket sleeves looking at the mud he got them until he looked close, His arm sleeves
were riddled with blood that scared him to the point he sat straight up with the sting pain still
growing around his legs. His brain finally decided to concentrate on the pain as he shifted his
gaze below, "ARHGHHHHHHHHHH"
His legs were riddled with holes and scars covered in blood almost mutilated, His nerves
were torn off, and he had no sensation but he screamed from the phantom pain. He kept
screaming…
"SUBARU?"
He kept screaming as his brain ignored Satella's call, She ran towards him seeing him
frantically screaming. "...MY…MY LEGSS!"
"Calm down, Subaru"
"no, my legs…urgh" He ignored it as he was scared, and he closed his eyes until all he
heard was silence.
"Su…."
"Subaru…."
"Subaru-kun!"
He opened his eyes in a jolt as he remembered a familiar voice but couldn't grasp his mind
as to who the voice belonged to.
"Subaru!" As Satella called him holding his arms tight. "Breath, Slow"
"...Breath, In and out….."
He calmed down as his heartbeat slowed down to a normal pace, He looked at her face in
astonishment as he looked back his legs, "Huh!" His legs were soaked in dirt and mud he
was choked as he looked back at her "Rabbits!" "They had horns"
"They.."
"My legs…, They bit them off," He said frantically switching his sight to look at her face as
well as his legs.
"Subaru, Calm down"
"It's ok, I love you" Satella's tried her best to calm him down with any means possible but her
itinerary was lacking, as the most she was able to do was to help him get up as she reached
her hand to him "Take my hand now, get up nice and slow". As he slowly got up he rubbed
his face and looked at his hands, He kept repeating this process until he was able to
convince his mind that he was out of danger, As he still was shocked about what he just
witnessed.
"Subaru" Satella looked at him in worry as she held his hand on her shoulder Bringing him
close to her was something she liked a lot but the idea of taking advantage of such a
situation made her frown as she helped him to walk back they passed the hutch again.
Subaru flinched as he moved in sticking close to Satella. She flustered as her face went red
including the tip of her ears.
Satella held Subaru's waist tight, indicating that she was there to help him if anything
happened. Subaru wasn't mentally weak but the initial shock was too much for him to
process.
"We can skip for today, I guess" Satella assured him with a smile.
"But, it's your first day right?" Subaru asked in worry, He felt bad that maybe due to him she
missed her first day even after she was able to build up the courage to face the new
environment not only and different school but a whole different nation.
"But you feel unwell"
"And you are my first friend here, Isn't this how friends are?" Satella cheerfully doubled down
on her decision as he spoke.
"I am sorry for today" Subaru replies as they both walk back out. "What was all that, Rabbits,
With horns"
"Have I finally lost touch with reality while I skipped school for all those years"
"WAIT?"
"WHEN DID I EVEN SKIP SCHOOL"
"I DON'T KNOW, I CAN'T RECALL?"
He shrugged her hands off of him as he ran.
"Subaru!" Satella called from behind as he was too fast to catch up, He ran.
As he reached back home. He ran upstairs as fast as possible to his room, His face was
determined as if he was looking for answers. He made sure that whatever it was he needed
to know, something he feels is missing must be from his old memories that he couldn't recall.
Subaru rushed into his room slamming the door shut as it made a loud bang of a noise,
possibly damaging parts of the door frame. He in a hurry shuffled through his shelf filled with
books, Some were manga or light novels and some books had just blank hardcovers without
any specific indication of what its title was arranged in an unorderly fashion. His eyes
scavenged through the pile of books arranged in an orderly manner.
As he reached his hand out to count through the 11 volumes of "Absolute Duo" and the 3
volumes of "The Asterisk War", his hands stopped on a hard-covered blue book with a label
on its front, The label had the words "YearBook" Clearly printed on it describing its
appearance. He flipped the pages recalling the faces of people he thought maybe a glimpse
of their faces would help him recall some parts of his memories, he flipped and flipped as his
eyes scanned through every picture, every face the yearbook had to display but to his
disappointment he recalled none. His face displayed a horrid look, and his mind ran the
absurd idea "Was I isekai'd to some whole different world and just came back or what?"
"Who am I even kidding, that's not even possible" He quickly shrugged off the idea as he
focused hard to understand this whole situation his eyes looked at a certain figurine
displayed in his room at the start he was completely spacing out until it caught his attention.
He moved back to his shelf as he examined the figure carefully. "Hmmmmmmm," He thought
as he scratched his chin.
"I recall this type of silver hair somewhere" he spoke as if he was physically present to
witness someone with the long silver, But his mind was filled with doubts he never had a trip
abroad neither he had any friends who cosplayed and he just met Satella today.
"Come to think of it!" He spoke as his mind clicked on to a conclusion his expression was
something similar to as if he was pleased as he further added. "Satella-tan knew my name
as well, I don't recall offering her an introduction" As he nodded, in his mind the case was
closed all he needed was to meet with Satella again and ask her more about how she knew
him As if they met somewhere before "She acts way too familiar, Maybe it's a European
culture of some sort" as he made the picture in his head another question popped up to him.
"Where is Satella-tan from?"
"I forgot to exchange contacts, ahhhhh I am such an idiot" he held his head in denial
mocking his actions "For the first time in my life a girl other than mother, Showed likeness
towards me and I just went ahead and ruined it for her big time" he jumped onto his bed
hugging his pillow as he cried in denial over how stupid he acted in front of the girl who
kissed him and held his so dear even if it was their first ever interaction.
As Naoko came back from her grocery shopping her eyes caught sight of the brown school
shoes, Her face shifted to a frown to imagine what might have broken her precious son's
motivation for the day he was so bright this morning as she crouched down to arrange his
shoes in an orderly manner and walked over the kitchen unpacking the groceries, She held
the mayo bottle in her hand as her mind thought of a weird comparison "If I have to choose
the world or mayo. I would definitely choose Mayo"
"I am sure Subaru will choose the same, he is our son after all" Realising this her mind came
to a calm she was confident. Her son was not a kid anymore, even if for her he would always
be her sweet baby boy "But as his mother, I needed to believe in him and let him fight his
own battles." In her mind, this was more like an excuse to give him some space and let him
come and talk to her before she decided to force it upon him.
She was proud of the fact that whatever her son chose in the end it would be his decision in
life. Her sweet smile prevailed as she thought more and more about both Mayo and Subaru.
After all today Subaru's smile was the most precious she held the emotion to her heart as
she made sure to make that smile her motivation to do her best as a mother.
"Time to prepare dinner" she happily hummed and moved on with the day's chores.
It was past midnight at the Natsuki household as Subaru dozed off for the day, he made a
mental note to "Make sure to ask Satella-Tan if we know each other from before"
He was fast asleep as he dreamed, He walked in an empty world a path that led to nowhere,
as he turned back nothing came into his line of sight, A gust of wind blew him forward as if
something was stopping him from looking back. His body subconsciously moved forward as
he walked…
And walked…
*CRYING*
He heard a faint voice that felt similar to someone crying. He walked closer as there was
nowhere else to look or go. His vision was limited to just straight ahead as if everything was
engulfed by a shadow no light no signs of life. It creeped him but he had no choice, He had
to move forward he thought as he kept walking.
*CRYING*
The crying got clearer as he was able to clearly hear someone, His cries weren't like wailing
or literally a waterfall of tears but the sounds of cries felt like a symphony a melody of sorrow
and broken morale, Hearing the cries Subaru felt disgusted he fell into a melancholic state,
such was the power of the simple cry.
As he walked closer he saw a boy who looked of similar age as him but was naked he sat
alone in the dark with no one by his side nor did he look healthy as he was skinny with the
most prominent being his white hair that had the same style as Subaru.
Finding the only possible person other than himself in the dark and unknown was like a
Hopeful reunion to him he was able to finally able to meet someone of his age but his mind
soon changed as he ran closer to him realizing his situation.
He came closer to the crying boy as he reached out his hand. "Hey!"
"What is your name?" Subaru asked.
No answer was received as the white-haired boy kept crying, Subaru gave a broken smile as
if somehow trying to hide his failure in catching the boy's attention.
"How do we get out from here?" Subaru asked while scratching his head. Until suddenly.
"There's no way to get out"
"I dug my own grave, with my pride being the judge for it"
"And this is a coffin where I lie eternally" The white-haired boy spoke. Subaru felt scared as
he took a step back almost as if his body was ready to make the flight in response to how
eerie the atmosphere around him had become. Until the white-haired boy followed with his
dialogue.
"NATSUKI SUBARU"
"YOU KILLED ME"
"AND NOW ITS YOUR TURN"
"REMEMBER YOU MUST DIE"
As Subaru broke a sweat and took a step back he was confused. Until the ground beneath
him started shaking the white-haired boy was unbothered by the chaos that threatened to
engulf both of them whole. Subaru concentrated all his might into a huge leap as he made a
run for it, he turned back and just ran and ran.
He was out of breath, and he held his throat as it burned due to him running non-stop, he
was athletic but breaking his limits was not something he was expecting to do today.
Especially when he was confronted with what could only be described as a ghost of some
sort. As he looked back to measure the distance he covered trying to somehow manage his
balance while the whole ground shook.
But when he stood witness to the horrid appearance of the white-haired boy. he felt helpless
and shocked, his complete mind shut off as he spaced out not due to being lost in thought
but the lack of knowledge and power against what we could only define as an eldritch horror
of sorts. Subaru's eyes met a white-haired boy who stood at the same spot looking at him
with only one of his eyes as the right eye was pitch black almost as if it was carved out of its
socket completely. His lips dry like the desert opened as whispered.
"
メメントモリ
"
Subaru read the lips but couldn't make anything out of it his mind stopped thinking his heart
pounding as if it would burst out of his chest, and his hands trembled as his breathing hiked
abnormally high. He tried to speak but no voice came out of his end as felt like something or
someone was choking him.
He could see his reflection in the dilated eyes of the white-haired boy as the overarching
shadow surrounding that sneaked towards him finally engulfed him whole.
Beside his bed the shadow lingered forming the shape of a hand that held the grunt Raven
haired boy as the asleep boy was uncomfortably moving around his bed his expression
seemed as if he was in pain the shadow hands gripped his hand tight as if it was pulling him
away, Subaru jolted awake, His breath and heart still sky high as his pajamas were soaked
in sweat, "That was a dream" He spoke as he held his head looking at the small ray of light
leaking from the window that let the sunlight enter his room as this small visual calmed him
down he moved out of his bed still holding his head as he decided to get changed out of his
pajamas soaked in sweat.
After he changed he moved downstairs to grab a drink for his dry throat, he was the first to
wake up in the household as naturally, it was still too early as he went to wash his face
before his sleep caught up to him. He filled the sink with hot water, in his mind he thought of
going back to sleep for 10 minutes more before he could get ready for school and hesitated
to use cold water that would wear off the sleep of his body.
He bowed down leaning towards the sink as he splashed his face with some hot water letting
his skin soak the water vapors off the steam. He looked up with his eyes half open as he
grabbed the towel and while cleaning his face saw the mirror in front of him, his reflection
was clouded due to the steam, He was curious all of a sudden as he used his hand to clean
part of it.
With one swipe it revealed his appearance as he panicked and jolted by his back hitting the
washroom shelf that was fixed on the wall over him, he knocked over the brush and
toothpaste from the sink and crushed the toilet paper rolls that fell when he knocked the
shelf over.
He was horrified as the mirror displayed his appearance with the same white hair one of his
eyes gauged out of its socket and lips wrinkled dry, As Subaru stuttered to make a scream
his legs felt powerless. The man inside the mirror raised his arm slowly as Subaru witnessed
the monstrosity it was, His fingers were cut off and were dripping blood as he used it as a
substitute for the ink used for penning letters, With the blood dripping from his freshly cut
finger wounds, He wrote on the glass.
"
メメントモリ
"
At that moment Subaru closed his eyes "Don't come close" he screamed.
"SUBARU" X2
Both Naoko and Keniichi came running as the Subaru scream woke them up from their
sleep.
As Subaru heard his parent his mind echoed a voice in the tone of a man of of breath.
"You and I make the same expression when met with the unknown"
"Your posture and shoulders are the same as mine"
"NO"
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD" Subaru screamed as he held his head slamming it repeatedly on
the wall, until his father held him down to stop his outburst.
"SUBARU! CALM DOWN"
"WHAT HAPPENED SUBARU" His father asked in a stern voice as he held his worries back,
his first priority was to stop him from hurting himself.
Naoko froze at the sight of Subaru hurting himself she was shocked and was about to break
into tears over the state of her little baby boy. But she thought to herself "I can't be this weak
as his mother"
After somehow managing to calm down Subaru eyes shrinked as if he was met with death
itself. Naoko was unable to wait anymore as her motherly nature took over her as she asked
"Subaru, would you like to talk to your mother about what happened" As she looked
topwards the bandaged Subaru sitting with a pale expression on his face.
"He said that I make expressions like him" Subaru broke the silence as he murmured to her.
He gave a broken smile as he spoke. A little clearer this time.
"It feels like I am being chased by a ghost"
"I don't feel well today, I Should just rest"
"Mom, Sorry for troubling you" Subaru added bringing his mother to a sad frown that was out
of concern for him.
"Subaru!" She whispered as she clenched her apron, Her baby boy will never be a trouble to
her after all he is the most precious thing to her. She looked at him walking back to his room
in a posture that resembled defeat.
Subaru walked upstairs as he entered his room, he looked at his computer running.
"Did I turn it on before I went downstairs?"
As a sudden thought sparked his mind, he ran towards the computer in a hurry and wrote
down the exact words in search of an answer.
"
メメントモリ
"
"me..men..to?" Subaru was confused as he searched until he stumbled upon the meaning
that made his heart sink, he realized his visions were not a dream and someone or
something was after him.
The computer screen displayed "Memento Mori = Remember you must die"
Subaru was now determined to chase for the truth as he was ready to face whatever it was
that was chasing after him, He would confront it before it got to him and uncover the mystery.
He bit his lips almost drawing blood from them in an attempt to distract himself from the fear
of the unknown lingering around him.
"