Subaru couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat at
Her surprisingly active outfit was a fresh and pleasant surprise, but what made him even happier was simply having her here.
After being subjected to one terrible ordeal after another at the hands of strangers—especially that first one—she, who had been the first person to show him kindness after being summoned to this other world, held a special place in his heart.
"This feeling's basically imprinting at this point. I never wanna be apart from you for another second, Mama!"
"I heard you were tricked by
"Being a morning grouch is just how I was born! And, like, hearing stuff is kinda scary sometimes…"
To Emilia's skeptical look, Subaru pressed his two index fingers together and timidly looked up at her.
"So, um… do you actually remember who I am?"
"That gesture is super creepy. And what a weird question. Someone as memorable as you isn't exactly easy to forget, Subaru."
She gave a small smile and called his name, and Subaru's shoulders sagged with relief. On top of that, the fact that a girl was calling him by his first name had Subaru blushing harder than he had in a long while. He was practically red to the ears.
Setting aside Subaru's somewhat innocent reaction for the moment, the twins who had been chasing after Emilia hurried to her side. The two of them circled behind Emilia, peeking out from either side to gauge Subaru.
"Please listen, Lady Emilia. That man inflicted a terrible humiliation upon me, the elder sister."
"Please listen, Lady Emilia. That man imprisoned and ravaged me,
"I'm sure you two are just joking around… Subaru might be the type, but there's no way he could actually do that.
"Yes, Lady Emilia. The elder sister is reflecting as well."
"Yes, Lady Emilia. Rem believes she has reflected too."
Having their names called, Ram and Rem declared their reflection with absolutely zero sign of genuine remorse. Whether used to their attitude or not, Emilia paid it no mind and looked back at Subaru.
"So, how are you feeling? Anything weird anywhere?"
"Hmm, oh yeah—before I fell asleep, my whole body felt like it was burned and I thought I was gonna die, but I don't feel any of that now. If anything, I overslept and feel a little sluggish."
"You have. It's been almost a day since you met me, and you've spent more than half of it asleep."
"No way—" he started to protest, recalling everything that had happened, but then Subaru froze mid-word.
By his own perception, the total time it had taken to get through yesterday likely exceeded twenty-four hours—a contradiction.
For her, the time since meeting Subaru couldn't have been more than a short while. The number of words they'd exchanged couldn't exactly be called plentiful, either.
This was no time to be patting himself on the back for getting a good night's sleep. He needed to have the conversation with her that he should've been having all along.
"Being sluggish from oversleeping does seem like a problem… Plus, being up in the morning is basically unheard of for me."
"What kind of lifestyle do you have to lead for that to happen…?"
"Well, you know, there's less noise at night, so I make way more progress on games, right? Honestly, if I'm holed up, my daytime hours are completely devoted to sleep."
"With every sentence, my impression of you somehow gets worse, Subaru."
Emilia let out a sigh of exasperation, making it clear she'd understood the essence of what he'd said even though she probably hadn't grasped most of the meaning.
Taking a small measure of enjoyment from each of her reactions, Subaru casually shifted the topic to her outfit.
"Oh yeah, you look totally different today. What were you up to?"
"Aah, let's not talk about the clothes. It wasn't by my choice either. …As for what I was doing, I was about to head out for my morning routine."
Emilia pressed her forehead and mumbled evasively. Her unclear attitude was a bit worrying, but Subaru didn't press her on that—instead: "Morning routine?"
"I borrow the garden at the mansion and spend the mornings talking a little with the spirits. It's one of my vows, you could say."
"Talking with spirits—now that's pretty fantastical. The vow part I'm not so sure about, though…"
When he heard the word "spirits," the first image that came to mind was, naturally, the grey-furred cat.
In this world, their paths hadn't really crossed, but Subaru realized he was looking forward to seeing him again—mainly for the fluff supply.
Without thinking, Subaru's hands started moving around in a petting motion. Emilia was already shifting toward ignoring this particular quirk.
"Well, it's good that you're full of energy, but there are still lots of people asleep at this hour, so don't be too loud. …I know it's mean to tell you to stay quiet after you've been sleeping the whole time, but—"
"Yeah, fair enough. Oh wait—if it's a garden, does that mean it's kinda spacious?"
"Well, calling it a garden is generous. It's more like a garden proper. Why?"
"No reason. Just wondering if Emilia-tan would mind if I hung out in a corner doing my own thing while you chatted with the spirits…"
"As long as you're not shouting your head off or anything, I don't mind… Wait, what did you just say?"
"Yes! I'm in. I'm coming too."
"Hey, what did you just say? What's 'tan'? Where did that come from?"
Subaru dodged Emilia's barrage of panicked questions. As payback for earlier, he put on a smug expression and turned to Ram and Rem with a big swing of his body: "Hey, maid sisters. You wouldn't happen to know where my clothes are? I'm in what looks like hospital pajamas now, and I'm pretty sure you guys have them here."
He hadn't mentioned it until now, but Subaru's current outfit was a rough, brownish, thin-fabric samue—like work clothes. The material was a bit coarse for hospital wear, but it was surprisingly cool and comfortable, more so than it looked.
"But when it comes to actually moving around, nothing beats track pants. So the question is—do you guys have a pair? They might be ruined with blood, though."
"Do you know, Sister? Perhaps those filthy grey rags?"
"I know, Rem. Probably those blood-stained, dirty grey scraps of cloth."
"You two are pretty harsh, you know… Those filthy, dirty rags. If they're in one piece, bring them to me."
The twins looked to Emilia for confirmation. When she gave them a resigned look, the two nodded and trotted out of the room.
"Are you really feeling fine? From what I could see, those weren't shallow injuries."
"But they've healed up perfectly fine. And I don't want to let my body get lazy. I've already skipped a day of weight training—gonna take three to make that up… Oh, right, that reminds me."
As if remembering something, Subaru straightened up, tidied himself, and turned back to face Emilia. She looked puzzled by his sudden change in demeanor, and Subaru bowed his head to her.
"You're the one who healed my injuries, right, Emilia-tan? Thank you. You really saved me. Dying really is scary when it comes down to it. Once is plenty."
"I'd hope you'd only have to go through it once… No, that's not it."
After delivering her standard retort, Emilia shook her head slightly.
Then, with a serious gaze—those violet-blue eyes looked straight at Subaru. He couldn't help but be captivated by that light, and fell silent.
"I should be the one thanking you. You risked your life to save me—a total stranger—back there. Healing a few injuries is the least I could do."
Being met with such sincere, straightforward gratitude, all Subaru could manage was a feeble "Uhh…"
He resented himself for not being able to give a single honest response at a time like this. He couldn't face her without playing it off with jokes and deflection.
If he could just say "That's not true" in response to her words about saving him, how easy everything would be. The one who'd saved him first was Emilia—but the remnants of that world now existed only inside Subaru.
"Well then, let's call it even—plus and minus cancel out, yeah?"
"Plus and minus…?"
"No debts between us! So let's get along, buddy!"
If this were someone from the slums, he could've casually slung an arm around their shoulder here, but all Subaru could manage was masking his embarrassment with sheer bravado.
Emilia let out a small laugh at his bluff.
"I don't think I need a weird little brother like you."
"That's a pretty harsh comment!?"
On top of that, the disappointment of being treated as her junior so casually. Since he hadn't shown a single redeeming quality, he could only accept the evaluation.
"I've brought them, milady."
"I've broughted them, milady."
While all this had been going on, the twins returned with the track pants. A pink jacket, blue pants. Fortunately, it seemed they'd been washed—the traces of blood were gone.
Subaru felt relieved at the sight of his unchanged track pants. Just then, the two who'd hurried over began fussily trying to strip his clothes off.
"Hey, hey! It's fine, I can do it myself! …Though I'm kinda happy about it."
"My, my—there it is, the honest truth: pleasure outweighing humiliation, Sister."
"Oh my, to think happiness outweighs humiliation from the depths of one's heart—what a pervert, Rem."
"You know, the pink-haired one is actually meaner! I'm gonna change, so H-A-N-D-O-F-F!"
Subaru shook off the twins' grasping hands and reclaimed his tracksuit.
He was about to change when a certain fact suddenly occurred to him.
"Come to think of it… who changed me into these clothes?"
"That would be me. Ram and Rem were out, and I was the only one left to tend to your wounds and change you. Oh, and I did wipe your body down a bit too."
Emilia said all this without a shred of embarrassment.
Subaru quietly peeked inside the undershirt he was wearing and confirmed the fact that even his underwear had been replaced. He collapsed on the spot, covering his face with his hands.
"I can't become a bride now…"
"If our genders were reversed, that'd make more sense… We don't have time, so if you're going, go now."
With an almost masculine bluntness, Emilia patted Subaru on the shoulder.
She was so nonchalant about it that Subaru decided pursuing the matter any further would just be digging his own grave.
A beautiful girl had changed his clothes and seen everything. Hey, in a way, this could be considered a reward, right? Positive thinking.
Wiping away his mental tears, Subaru rose to his feet.
When he held up the clothes and made eye contact, the women in the room promptly sensed his intention to change and filed out.
The twins left first, and Emilia's silver hair was the last to pass through the doorway. Just before her figure disappeared beyond the door, she paused and glanced back over her white profile.
"Don't worry. —It was impressive."
With that, the door clicked shut, leaving only those words behind.
Alone in the room, Subaru changed clothes. The samue-like garment had a confusing structure that gave him some trouble, but he eventually managed to get it off.
He folded the work clothes neatly and set them on the bed. Then, after feeling the familiar touch of his track pants on his arms for the first time in hours, he stretched with an "Nnn" and finished getting ready.
"All right…"
He swung his hips wide, cracking his joints, and looked toward the window.
Pulling the curtains aside, he could see the morning sun beginning its ascent, still blessing the early world outside. Squinting in the warmth of that sunlight, Subaru then walked back toward the bed and flopped down onto it.
"I can't become a bride now."
He pressed his face into the pillow, and this time Subaru really did cry like the boy he was.
That final remark had cut the deepest. He thought he might die. He'd half-wished he could just die and start over.
But while his heart ached enough to die, it didn't actually kill him, and so Subaru spent a little while crying in a distinctly boyish kind of sorrow.