An unexpected proposal

A/N: Just to be clear, my self insert character appeared in the last part of the last chapter. It might be a bit confusing reading all that 'strange guy', 'this person', 'that person' stuff. Blame that on my incompetence. It has been a long while since I actively pursued creating and reading stories.

Anyways, leave some reviews and suggestions.

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Running towards the main street, he was clueless once again. He hoped to find 'Not Satella', but so far no luck. He had to think of something, like a plan or something of the sort to confront her and convince her that he was on her side, but he had to find her first for all that to come into action. Besides, he was also out of the alley where he had met her the first time, well probably… After all, he didn't know if the alley in his 1st round and the current round were the same or not. And his sense of direction wasn't out of the ordinary also.

But regardless, he decided to search for the alley on his 1st turn, which was the most feasible option which he had in his hands at the moment. "Things are not going to get themselves done!", he shook his head as he readied himself to go and complete the objective at hand and then dashed away again towards the alleys.

"Aww, man! I'm lost again", he slapped his forehead as he realised that he was lost again in the alleys. 'Tonchinkan' were dealt with so they won't be coming after him again. But that was not the problem, "I should have searched in the main street.", he was now getting pretty impatient and frustrated at himself with his incompetence and even his lack of making good decisions. "SERIOUSLY! HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO GET OUT OF HERE?!", his voice reverberated through the chain of alleys as he stomped his feet and let go of his inner thoughts at max sound level.

"Eek!-", he turned back reflexively at the sound of another guest in the lonesome alley.

"Oh—", he was left speechless once again as he got a flashback of his last time with her. "I am sorry…", he mumbled softly to himself. He was sorry for not being able to stay with her till the end. He knew what had happened after that even though he wasn't alive to witness the events after his failed fourth loop.

"Nice to meet you!", he beamed up with his most energetic tone. It wasn't the time to be acting all gloomy in front of the girl he wanted to be cool. "I am Natsuki Subaru! Pleased to meet you!" Subaru cleared his throat and then spun on the spot, striking a pose as he thrust his finger into the sky— his signature pose. And just the first time, it caused the girl to frown. Perhaps she thought that he was taking some stance for conjuring some spell? Either way, it didn't leave a favourable impression of him on her.

She turned around 180 degrees without an expression on her face and was ready to move about without asking anything. In short, she ignored him like thin air.

"Hey! That's so rude! Didn't you have something to ask in the first place!", he protested, in a polite tone however not wanting to yell at her. More like he couldn't.

She turned around at his provocation which seemed like - 'How dare you ignore me! Hmph!(with a pout) You know what I know? But I know what you know; so you know, turn around and talk to me!' that was how lame it sounded.

"That I did. But it's not something you might know of. At least, not considering your unusual interactions.", she stopped suddenly with a confused look. "Um… were you talking to me? I responded without thinking. Ah! I don't have time! I need to find her!", she started running out of the alley, the last part being drained away as she kept on moving further away from the place where Subaru stood dumbstruck. [If shit won't go the way I want. I'll breakthrough]

"I KNOW WHERE THE THIEF IS!", he yelled once again, unflinching from his spot, waiting for the half-elf to return. And soon enough she returned, still in a hurry, but now all her attention was directed at him.

"Give it back to me. It is something very important to me. You can have other things but please hand over the insignia to me.", she repeated her monologue. "Uh… you see, I don't have your 'Insignia', I just know where the thief is." Though her impression of him wasn't very favourable, he felt quite happy, no he was satisfied that all her attention was being directed at him.

"Please tell me where she is. The thing which she stole…"

"I get it, I get it…", he interjected, "I'll take you to her. Follow me."

Finally things were going the right way. He somehow met her thanks to the 'Goddess of Fate'. And now they would head to the loothouse ahead of time. They would have Puck to fight at that early hour. So it would be three on three(the three of them v/s the two assassins and the blue haired fellow) or three on five, given that Felt and Old man Rom were cooperating with them. Honestly, there was no reason to not cooperate when Elsa would go out of her way to slaughter everyone. There would also be…

"WAIT."

The familiar voice tore through the silent alleyway as the temperature dropped suddenly accompanied by cracking noises as the windows in the alley started cracking due to the sudden temperature drop. A strong menacing gaze was directed at Subaru and with such bloodlust that it froze him on his spot. He looked down to find feet frozen, making him almost stumble.

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That single thought filled up his mind as his emergency alarms went on high alert. He knew that it would be the end for him if he turned back now. He didn't know what was that or who was doing that to him, but he knew that they were serious. What about 'Not-Satella'? Was she alright? Was he so pathetic that he shriveled up in fear without caring for the ones important to him? Was he that selfish? Did the fear of death scare him so much that he'd abandon this girl when he had died for her repeatedly?

"H…Hey…", he struggled to get these words out of his mouth as he felt some invisible force pressing him down from all sides, threatening to squash him any moment. He gurgled blood and laboured to breathe, but that wouldn't stop him from taking a last look at her if that was the only thing his pathetic self could do. He turned his head around ignoring his senses and ignoring the fear to take a look at her.

She was standing still looking at him, worried as if she were trying to rationalise what was suddenly happening to the boy in front of her.

"Ar… u… alrait…", the energy left his body as he felt his vision darken. He dropped to the ground but he didn't get the feel of it, frostbit it must have been. The extreme cold must have numbed his senses.

"SUBARU!" was the last thing he heard. He knew whose sweet voice it was. Only one person could have that silver-belled voice which could make his heart flutter. He was sorry, he couldn't do anything. He was sorry for not being able to do anything except die pathetically in front of her, leaving her to her own fate–death. He hated himself for that. He hated Elsa for killing her. He hated the hooded assassin for tearing him away from her. They would all pay! That blue haired guy whose rash actions had left them vulnerable, the thugs who made him look pathetic in front of her. All of them…all of them would pay! Even if it took him a thousand tries, he would make them pay… he would…he…

His thoughts stopped as his consciousness faded with only vengeance and hatred the last thing on his mind. He had met another pathetic end and that too without any progress.

"I'll definitely save you… I'll…", the half-elf girl watched the boy mumble something in his slumber about 'being sorry', 'saving someone',...

Despite the fact that the insignia was the most important thing at the moment and that she didn't have even an ounce of time she'd would like to waste, she was still here– On a bench near a fountain in a wide opening, with the boy sleeping, with his head resting on her thighs as a make-shift pillow as he mumbled to himself frequently. She could see tears forming at the edge of his closed eyes, yet he seemed so peaceful when asleep–just like a baby, ignorant of the fact that he almost nearly died due to her Spirit's killing intent directed at him at its fullest. The spirit cat hadn't displayed that level of malice even towards the Horse on fire– 'Melakuera', the arbitrator. This made her super-duper pissed off at her spirit. So much that she forced him inside her locket for an indefinite time period, no longer wishing to see his face or hear his voice.

[Puck tried to kill this person. Even though he was just trying to help me… How do I apologise to him?, she fretted and looked upwards at the high sky, while resting her hand on the boy's head and massaging his scalp lightly and playing with his hair strands as it seemed to calm him down.

Unbeknownst to her, there were passersby and onlookers glancing at them, smiling mischievously at what they found to be an obviously cute young couple. While some of the depraved guys could only grind their teeth in jealousy wishing that they were in place of that black-haired weirdo. Little did they know of their situation and the things they were going through since the start of their day. However the world moved on, uncaring of their situation as it always had been…

She looked down at the boy on her lap once again to check how he was doing only to find him with his eyes wide open. Blinking hard as if to ascertain some harsh reality he faced. He then looked about turning his head left and right from her lap itself watching his surroundings and the people commuting as usual and then again fixating his gaze on her. He gulped while his chin twitched and his eyes became ever so watery, indicating the oncoming outburst which was to follow. He breathed heavily and then managed to calm his breathing down, now looking straight into her eyes and all the while without getting up from her lap.

"I am sorry."

"I wanted to save you so badly…so badly… that I ran and ran and… Yet I ended up letting you die once again, didn't I?", his breathing grew heavy again and he paused to try and calm himself down before continuing. The girl only looked at him confused but did not utter a word. Somehow, she felt that the boy would be ever so more miserable than before.

"You know, I didn't believe in 'Love at first sight' sort of stuff. But when it happened to me, I was left speechless. Thanks for coming to my life. I wanted to let you go on living, even if I died." he raised himself from her lap and sat straight up while the girl looked on at him speechless.

"Though I would have preferred to live together with you and get there to that point slowly where we could have a family and all…", he sighed, losing the tension from his voice. Everything was over after all, he would confess his feelings for her. After all, it didn't matter anymore.

"I fell in love with you at first sight, but I still don't know your name. Will you tell me?", he turned towards her now as he stood up and faced her, bending low enough to meet her eye level.

"Uno… I think you're mistaken about something…", she finally spoke up.

"Subaru, you are not dead."

"Huh?"

"...", she witnessed his face go under a transformation from acceptance to blank followed by shock and then realisation and then embarrassment as he finally held his face and covered it with his palms, like a maiden who had been suddenly proposed to by her 'Prince charming'. Except it was him who did the proposing to his Princess 'Snow white' or should I say 'Princess charming'?

Regardless, he calmed down after a while and after clearing his throat with a cough or two he said, "I am very grateful for your esteemed services. I'll be in your debt for the rest of my life!" he said quickly in a very formal tone and did a 90 degree bow to show his sincerity.

"I am not sure if I get you.", the girl responded. "If you want to blame me for bringing you near death, I'll apologise.", she said sincerely.

"But I still need your help in finding my insignia. I beg of you!"

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Please stop right there. I can't have a sweet lady like you 'beg' me! I already feel like a criminal, jeez! I was going to help you anyway, even if you decided against it.", he replied.

"And about what you heard ealier…", he lowered his voice

"?", she looked questioningly.

"Please keep it a secret. Ok? My heart is not strong enough to hear a response right now.", the look on his face was very sheepish as he turned red like a fresh 'appa'.

"Okay…", she didn't quite understand, but she felt complied to respond like that.

"So allow me to lead you to where that little rascal is!", he said in a grand manner as he faced in a direction to lead the way.

[Ah… The little girl whom she helped. I need to take a diversion for that…], he remembered the Appa seller's daughter whom 'Not-Satella' had helped in the all the loops regardless.

He turned about to take a peek at the girl who stole his heart, and burn that image in his mind. She however had stopped on her tracks looking down with a guilty look on her face.

"Subaru… I put you in danger, yet you are trying to help me without asking for anything in return…", she raised her face to meet his eyes. That image of hers was so breathtaking that he felt as if he forgot to breathe for a moment.

"You said that you fell in love with me at first glance. I don't know how to respond to your feelings but that made me very happy. I will repay your kindness someday. You can call me 'Satella'. Just that no surname." she smiled somewhat sadly.

"Ok! 'Not-Satella' you are then!", he replied with a poker face. "I can't call you that when it makes you so sad.", he said in a matter-of-fact voice.

His reply made her widen her eyes, in shock.

"You are anything but 'Satella'", he stated.

All her life she had been called a witch. She didn't know what she did wrong. But people were afraid of her. They despised her and called her 'The witch'. She didn't know what she did. But all the hatred from the people was so real that she felt inclined to believe that she had done something very wrong. She realized how dangerous she was when she killed people back in the Elior forest when she just wanted to chase them away. She got a reminder of that today again as this boy almost died trying to help him. Though it was Puck who did that. But it was still her fault for not keeping him in check. Yet, this person was so engrossed with her that he would not blame her, he would think of her even when he was in mortal danger and not 'her', he would… he would… refuse to call her a 'witch' despit all what she had done to him. She felt really horrible, guilty but she was glad, she was glad that there was at least someone who wouldn't hate her. He said he 'loved' her, didn't he? She was glad to have met him. Even if they started on a bad page she hoped, no wanted them to…she wanted them to…

"You alright? Your face seems all red…You are crying too! Ah I didn't mean to make you cry!", the boy panicked. "What do I do…What do I do?...", he kept on panicking and rambling in such a funny monologue that it made her giddy.

"Pfft…haha!...haha! Subaru, you're funny!", she laughed even without even realizing.

He stopped in his tracks and scratched his head in embarrassment. But the look on her face was way more precious for him to worry about his reputation. He would be whatever which made her happy. For a moment, he realized that he was falling deeper in love with her by the moment. He had no time to waste but he wanted to enjoy that smile on her face till it lasted.

"What?", she asked him, "Why are you staring at me with that look?"

"Well, you looked so pretty when you were laughing, I felt my heart skip a beat.", he said brazenly.

"Jeez, you are going to make me giddy again. Subaru you dunderhead!", she pouted.

"I am Emilia. Just Emilia. No surname.", she said after a while when the awkwardness between them subsided.

"Emilia…Emilia… It has a nice ring to it! That's the cutest name I heard!", well it was true for some shut-in NEET who never had much interaction with women after his mid-high.

"It's already getting late!", she said impatiently. It was more like she didn't want to continue with this uncomfortable conversation which made their next replies even more awkward by the moment.

"Alright!", he raised his fist high in the air, "here we come you little rascal!" He started to lead the way.

[Sorry Felt-chan, for cursing you. I need to act a little cool now.]

However before that they wandered a bit around until they found the lost child and delivered her to her parents.

"So are you ready?", Subaru asked Emilia.

"Yes. But you look unwell. Are you alright?", the nervous look on his face was very evident.

"Ah! Yes yes! I am alright. Totally alright! There's nothing wrong with me. I am ready to blow off some steam!", his awkward reply made her frown and he realised that he had said something very inappropriate. Now he was more worried that Emilia might've got the wrong idea. That was not what he meant to say.

"Well, I don't know what that means but let me know if something is wrong, Ok?"

"Emilia", he held her hand as they stood side to side in front of the loothouse ready to enter. "Keep your guards up inside, ok? And call Puck if a fight breaks out, alright?" he looked at her, meeting her gaze. His expression wasn't at its best which made her feel a bit uncomfortable too. Back in the day, she couldn't imagine anyone else other than Puck capable of affecting her mood. Wait, how did he know of Puck?

Probably guessing what she had to ask, he cut her off, "I'll tell you everything once this is over. Please don't die in there. Promise?"

She wanted to call him 'silly' for worrying so much but it was as if his fears had infected her. So he could only respond to him earnestly.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be alright. Promise.", she smiled trying to assure him.

Before stepping into the loothouse, Subaru took one last look around his surroundings and also at the Sun. It would be at least two hours before the sun went down.

He had managed to set things in the best direction they ever were and all he could do now was pray. Pray that all the cards would play out right and that this would be the last time he would have to reset.

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I changed Emilia's personality a tad bit so that it would be more rational. She is supposed to be 14 years old mentally after all. And if I were to compare her with myself, I had my first crush when I was 12 just 12! Damn it! And even if she had a stupid spirit as her parent, you can't suppress the human feeling of longing and stuff. In my opinion, it would rather grow stronger in a life of solitude.

Anyway share your opinions on the matter.

And I've decided to post reference arts of the iconic scenes of the chapters. Uh… yeah in the discord server itself. In case you haven't joined yet, here is the link:

/z4sMtj2u

Drop in your reviews and criticisms. Don't be so much of a lazy bum. Giving me reviews gives me points to improve on. So that's it. Ciao.