The Journey To Karagi

"I am happy," Emilia began. "I am so happy. I never imagined I'd see the day someone told me they loved me…What should I do? You have told me so much of your feelings, but I don't know what to do."

"You don't have to stress over it," Subaru said, smiling, with his palm placed on Emilia's soft cheeks. "I am not demanding an answer right away…"

He thought he could keep up with that promise, but it had been two months already after that day; the day he defeated the Sin Archbishop of Sloth. But instead of getting closer to Emilia, Subaru had got more distant from her instead. Although they lived in the same mansion, Emilia had to go out more often than not, as her ally Subaru had gifted her with two major accomplishments: the former one above, and defeating the White Whale. Subaru was deemed a hero for a time. Still, he managed to pass day by day, patiently waiting for those few moments when he could talk to Emilia for a few moments, and make her laugh a few times. Still, in his heart, he knew this was going nowhere. His shenanigans could only get him a laugh or two from her. Despite this, he still passed his days…

"But I can still walk!" Rem yelled, to which Subaru replied by patting her head. "No, you need to rest, Rem-rin. However desperately my heart yells to journey with you, I have to blind it with shadows of my brain because you are ill."

Rem blushed when he said 'my Rem', and succumbed to his concern.

"Besides, who would want to go with Ram? I think she will probably throw me off the carriage down some cliff and then cry, "Subaru was kidnapped!" or something."

"Shit! Barusu, how come you knew of my plans?!" A familiar voice came from behind.

Subaru froze, and slowly turned in fear to see a cute maid with medium length pink hair and a cold demonic expression.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Rem! Saveeee meeee…" Subaru cried as Ram pulled him away from there with a strong grasp on his left ear.

Patrasche was running at her full strength as Subaru sat gloomily with Ram, who was looking at a list of things they had to purchase at Karagi. Subaru would look at her every now and then, but tried to avoid direct contact with her eyes. It's not like he hated her. Ram was an egotistical girl, who saw herself second only to Roswaal. But still, Subaru felt just like the former Rem, Ram's true nature must be frozen deep inside her, bound by some dark past. Although Ram had way more strength than him, she still was weak, compared to the average magic users around. He knew how she lost her horn, and the consequences she had to deal with after that. Appearance-wise, she was a charming one too, as she had a cute face which looked cool when she showed her cold, yet demure expression. Her pink eyes which reflected bitter sweetness when looked into them, then her breasts…Well, they weren't as big as Ram's or Emilia's, but their shape and size still formed a great figure in any sort of clothes.

"Barusu, could you please stop looking at me in such a perverted way?" She said, still looking at the paper, without making eye contact with him.

Subaru thought, 'Fuck! How did she notice?!'

"I am more mature than Rem and Emilia-sama. You could ogle at them the whole day and they wouldn't mind thinking you are looking at them 'cause they are pretty. But I am different."

'Besides Clairvoyance, did she had the divine protection of reading minds too?'

"Nope," she said, "It's just that you are too easy to read."

"Really? If that's the case, pray tell me what I am thinking now." He closed his eyes in deep concentration, willing himself to erect as thick a mental barrier as possible, freezing his face in place so as to prevent her from reading him like just now.

'If only she had been less mean…I would have seriously fallen for her like I fell for Emilia or Rem,' Subaru thought.

"Bygone with your curses!"

"I wasn't-"

"There's no way you would complement me!"

"But I truly did. I thought if only she had been less mean…I would have seriously fallen for her-"

And then he grabbed his mouth. 'F-Fuck! What was I blurting out?!'

- Thwack!

Her wand hit him on his head.

"Stop blabbering some nonsense."

Subaru stayed quiet for the rest of the journey, with a face full of embarrassment at what he had just blurted out. There's no way he would fall for this prude; he has Emilia… or he had Emilia, to be more precise.

'N-No way… he meant those things? But could he have really…? Shit, what I am brooding for?! He is just a wimp, a masochist, a really immature moron. But his eyes… I could see in them, he didn't lie. Umph! These are all just side-effects of Rem talking about him day and night!'

Thinking thus, Ram too kept quiet for the rest of the journey.