Chest Pains

[Thegoldenboy58]

Subaru watched as the silver-haired girl moved toward him and three punks who were in the process of beating him to the point of feeling like he would die.

Her soft yet hard, innocent yet erotic appearance, simple yet regal clothing, cold and fiery eyes, and majestic aura clashed with the world around Subaru. At this moment, she was the center of attention, like a purposely shot photo so that one's eyes would inevitably be entranced by a certain subject, making the viewer forget about anything else in the photo.

He forgot about the dirty alley he lay in, the feet of the men pressing down on him, and even the hazardous situation he was in slipped from his mind as though washed away by the sight of the girl.

The girl had reached him and the punks. She was so close that if he wanted to, he could reach out and touch her soft-looking legs. Yet, a world away from him, his senses rejected the idea of her being close to him.

And walked past them with nary a glance, completely focused on chasing the thief who had already gone past the alley with superhuman speed.

Even as the reality that he was being abandoned was set into his mind, Subaru didn't feel any anger at the girl for not helping him. Perhaps there was a slight bit of disappointment, but he held no hatred in his heart for the girl who looked like she jumped right out of a manga he would read.

Rather, he felt disappointed in himself that he couldn't do more to help the silver-haired girl. She had come into the alley, asking for the return of a stolen object. He easily made the connection between the blonde snaggle-toothed girl who had jumped over him previously and the stolen object.

Unnoticed by nearly everyone in the world, however, one of the three men kicking Subaru started lifting his arm.

In his hand was a long blade, a dagger covered in reddish-brown rust, dirt, and whatever other filth it had collected over its time.

Who knows why he did what he did at that moment?

Perhaps the tense atmosphere had caused him to give in to his instincts.

Perhaps he saw the clothes the girl had and thought she would've been an easy mark.

Whatever the case was, the sun's reflection off the blade hit Subaru in the eye, and the momentary blindness dispelled his enchantment with the silver-haired girl.

Seeing the white-haired man whom he decided to name "Chin" in his head raising the blade, Subaru thought.

'Ah, so this is where I die.'

Shock kept Subaru from feeling fear in the moment, so instead he just felt a sense of disappointment, he lived 17 years with no achievements to his name outside of video game lobbies and leaderboards, and the moment he gets what every NEET dream desires, to travel to another world, he dies in an alleyway, stabbed to death while a cute girl walks beside him and ignores it.

It was as these thoughts ran through his head that he realized the way "Chin" held the blade was weird. If he intended to stab Subaru, why would he hold it horizontally instead of downward?

Subaru realized a little too late who the true recipient of the "Chin's" next stab would be.

It was as though time had slowed down. Despite the fast pace at which the girl had been moving, to Subaru, she was barely three paces in front of them, her back turned to the threat.

Subaru tried to muster his voice at that moment; however, his lungs, having been furiously beaten by the thugs, demanded more oxygen, and his voice came out as a tinny, tiny thing.

"Look out-!"

"Huh-ghrk!"

Subaru managed to get the words out, enough that the girl turned to face his direction. But that only made things worse. Having stopped in the alleyway to look at Subaru, who was at her side, she had no view of her back and the danger that lurked behind her.

In a single quick motion, as though rejecting the previous idea that time had slowed, "Chin's" dagger embedded itself into the left side of her chest, the tip protruding out from beneath her breast.

Red flowed down like a stream upon snow. Red like the skin of an apple, but he could not see any white beneath it, only more red.

The girl still stood, eyes widened in shock; her mind, body, and world itself seemed to register what had just happened.

Was this the same feeling Adam and Eve had when they bit into the Fruit Of Knowledge, as though the world itself was holding its breath? Simply waiting in agony for the consequences of their actions?

After what seemed to be the longest half-second in history, the illusion broke, the bewitching, enchanting, majestic aura the girl held fell along with her body, like an Angel falling from Heaven, wings turning to ash and blood.

The girl landed on her side, the dagger still embedded in her chest, whether it was because "Chin" decided to leave the blade in or because he simply hadn't had a good grip on it would not be known.

Still conscious, Subaru watched as her body made itself smaller, legs tucking in as she instinctively curled up in a ball to protect herself, hands over the area she was stabbed to try and stem the bleeding and pain as much as possible.

Her quick, cute breaths became loud and throaty coughs as blood poured out of her mouth the moment she tried to breathe.

The voice that had sounded like silver bells from heaven ringing beautifully in his ears had become ghastly and sick, he wanted nothing more than to run by the girl's side and help, but his body, stuck between the sensations of pain and shock, couldn't comprehend his mind.

The three thugs stood in complete shock; even the perpetrator, "Chin" didn't seem to realize what he had just done.

His expression was of fear, doubt, and anger, with the third being the smallest, but staring down the girl's prone form his face started twisting into a fearful grin.

"Haah-hah, guess you were-" weren't shit to be scared of, was "Chin's" next line, however, he was interrupted as a chill enveloped the alley.

Cold wind smacked all four men in the alley as the temperature suddenly dropped down 20-30 degrees, a localized winter in an alleyway at springtime noon.

"How dare you."

A voice spoke, it was high-pitched and genderless. To Subaru, it sounded like the voice of someone who should usually be a mascot for comedy relief, but even though it sounded childlike, he could not deny the anger and bloodlust that was clear in its tone.

The three thugs gasped in shock and backed away from the girl, looking around the alleyway to see where the voice and chill came from.

Small motes of light rose off the girl's chest; the motes of light came together to form a small shape, soon taking a solid, visible form.

The speaker was revealed, and it was the strangest thing Subaru had seen since he came into this world.

It was a cat or a facsimile of one, it was tiny, looking as though it could fit in the palm of a hand, with a tail the same length as its body, floppy ears, and a gold ring piercing on its left ear, yet despite its cat-like appearance, its arms seemed to move like that of a human, and it stood straight on two legs rather than on fours like a normal cat.

No, stood wasn't the right word; rather, it floated above the girl's body with some unseen power.

In all honesty, even with the rageful expression on its face, Subaru couldn't find the tiny cat to be threatening.

The three, thugs on the other hand-

"Shi-shit a spirit!"

"She's a spirit mage?!"

Ton, Chin, and Kan backed away further from the small floating cat, even more fearful of it than they were of the girl.

"You'll pay for the sin of hurting my daughter." The floating cat repeated itself, its voice a rigid, cold calm, raising its hand., The temperature dropped again, and the wind rose in a cold tornado as four incredibly sharp icicles hung in the air, appearing out of nowhere, and pointing threateningly at them.

There didn't seem to be any wires or such that were suspending the icicles, and there was no scientific explanation for how icicles could suddenly form in the spring, so Subaru had but one conclusion.

'Magic.'

The icicles, and the cat by extension were magic, perhaps had this been a less stress-inducing situation, he'd been able to process the new information with more detail, but looking straight ahead, he found one of the icicles pointing right between his eyes, like a loaded gun aimed at his head.

'Ah, the cat thinks I'm with TonChinKan.'

Subaru felt slightly insulted that the floating cat had put him in the same grouping as the three thugs that had been beating him, but he didn't dare speak out of fear for his life.

The three thugs on the other hand were frozen with fear, stuck between fight or flight.

The cat's arms were raised high up above its head, as though it was performing the Warrior pose out of Ashtanga yoga, Subaru knew from the many, many manga and comics that used this trope, that the moment the cat's arms fell, the icicles would be released and he and the thugs would die.

Like a man waiting in anticipation for the executioner to finally give the order. There was nothing more to do than wait in tremendous agony till the end, fear mounting all the way through.

Breaking that noxious atmosphere was a girl's voice, small, tired, and sick, interspersed with coughs.

"Puck cough-cough don't… cough-kill them."

More blood poured out of the girl's mouth, while all of them had been shocked still, waiting for their deaths in fear, the girl had been fighting her own fight, fighting for her life against the dagger in her chest.

Even though it was probably taking all her might to just breathe, although these men were responsible for hurting her and nearly killing her, she still forced herself to speak to their executioner and stave off their death sentence.

"Tch."

The cat was annoyed at the fact that he wasn't able to dole out a true punishment against those who hurt his master.

But still, he complied, three of the icicles disappeared, while the one that stayed changed form, the pointy spike became blunted.

Before any of them could move, with a speed that'd make a professional baseball pitcher green with envy, the blunt icicle zoomed from the position it was affixed in the air into "Chin's" forehead.

The white-haired man's body fell to its knees and then backward on the back of his head, blood flowing out his temple.

'Geez, I hope humans here have better durability or healing.' Subaru thought. Being both terminally online and having a dad who did wrestling for a bit meant he knew a few things about head trauma, it seemed that despite the girl's words the magic cat still wasn't willing to pull any punches or didn't seem to care if he died later instead of now.

"I'll allow you to take your friend's body, all of you will leave now and never return, if I ever see you near Lia again, I'll freeze you from the inside, slowly." The magic floating cat said, emphasizing the last word.

Despite all the pain, the three thugs put him through, Subaru's heart still bled a shred of sympathy for the thugs as Ton and Kin grabbed each arm of the laid-out "Chin" and dragged his body out as fast as possible toward the main street, unable to retort against the cat.

The moment they left the alley, the cat's threatening posture sagged and he immediately rushed towards the girl.

"Lia! Hang in there, I'll heal you!"

"Hnng…Puck-" The girl tried to say something but she was cut off as more blood exited her mouth and nose, tears in her eyes, pouring down her face along with the blood.

"Lia! Don't try to speak right now, just conserve energy!"

From Puck's hands, a greenish-pale white light appeared, and the girl started coughing more blood.

'So that's healing magic huh?' Was Subaru's thoughts, he expected it, based on his knowledge of Japanese isekai tropes, if the world had magic, there should be many different types of magic, he didn't expect everyone here to be slinging crystals of ice, and one of the most common forms of magic in these kinda worlds was healing magic.

However, what he was seeing was kinda a letdown, from everything he had seen in isekai media healing magic was an amazing magic that could make bruises disappear instantly, bones realign themselves, and even heal entire limbs, yet right now the cat's healing magic wasn't even closing the wound.

"Hrmh-grrrh."

With multiple unneeded sound effects that only served to waste his breath and energy. Subaru forced himself on his feet, feeling the cramps and bruises that now marred his body light up his nerves.

His head spun and he felt dizzy, putting a hand on the wall to help support him. If it wasn't for the happenings before him motivating him he probably would've fallen unconscious then and there.

Fortunately, he didn't fall unconscious, unfortunately, his movements caught the attention of a pissed-off floating magic cat.

The cat turned to him, watching Subaru catch his breath against the wall, there was no sympathy or understanding in its eyes, only an intense rage being held back by a string.

"I thought I told you to leave." the cat-Puck, Subaru thought, that's what the girl called it, right? Said in an ice-cold tone, the way it spoke felt as though it was brandishing a knife against his ears, knowing the magic it probably was.

"No, you told TonChinKan to leave." After all the overwhelming things that had happened, Subaru's mouth went to its default setting, sarcasm.

Puck didn't seem to like his smart-ass comment as with a "shwing" sound effect an icicle appeared in the air towards Subaru's face, and it didn't seem he cared about his master's words to "don't kill them" because the icicle ended in a needle-sharp point.

"Eeep!"

Subaru just as quickly raised his arms above his head in fright, his normal sarcastic personality surrendering instantly.

"Lo-Look, I'm not with those three thugs okay! I'm just an unlucky bastard who was walking down this alleyway when the Mission: Defeat The Three Thugs started…Which I failed!"

The ice-cold glare Puck gave him didn't abate, nor did the threatening icicle disappear but the cat's lips puckered from confusion at Subaru's words.

Inwardly, Subaru cringed at himself for speaking in video game terms, it wasn't like a fantasy world that seemed to be in the Middle Ages would have any clue what he meant after all.

"I-I just want to help okay?" Subaru pleaded.

Puck's face twisted in ways that wouldn't be possible if he were an actual cat, the anger and confusion in his heart wore themselves on his face.

However, the two were interrupted by a slight moan from the girl, Lia.

"Help? What can you do to help?" Puck said, the icicle disappearing, and he focused his attention on Lia. Subaru took this to mean that Puck didn't see him as a threat anymore, but that still didn't mean that he was willing to take his help, distrust clear in his voice.

"Right now you're nothing more than a distraction."

Subaru let the hurtful comment slide off of him, filling himself with empty confidence. He stood as straight as he could, arching his back, smiled, and pointed a thumb to his face, trying to look as confident as possible.

"I'll have you know that I took multiple first-aid classes in middle school! I even performed stitches, so I have a bit of knowledge when it comes to closing wounds." He kept out the part where he stitched up a bloodless dummy rather than a live human.

"I have healing magic, so there's no need for stitches." However, Puck's response flew out as a perfect rebuttal to Subaru's offer.

'If that's the case, why hasn't he healed her yet?' Subaru thought, figuring out the conundrum quickly.

"You still need to remove the knife right? If she's coughing up blood that means that it hit her lungs, and while I don't know the specifics about healing magic, unless it has disinfecting properties, even if you remove the knife, you still have to clean it so it doesn't get infected right?" Subaru argued back in a rapid-fire manner.

While the reality was that barely a minute had passed between Lia getting stabbed and this conversation, Subaru already couldn't bear seeing the girl twitching in pain any longer.

Puck didn't have a retort this time, looking at his master with a pained expression, Subaru heard a "don" resonate throughout the empty alleyway sound effect as the floating cat came to a decision.

"I don't sense any malice or ill-intent in his thoughts, it really seems like this guy wants to help." Puck muttered to Lia, "It should be fine."

"Wai-wait-cough" the injured girl forced herself to speak, and with her left arm against the ground lifted her head as far as she could off the ground, staring right at Subaru.

"A-ah! Lia! Don't move! If you do-!" Puck fretted.

Blood started flowing again from the knife wound and her mouth. Puck had been using healing magic to stop the wound from bleeding and to keep her lungs from filling with blood and collapsing, but her movements had caused more blood to flow upward into her chest.

Subaru, who had been waiting for express permission to help was stunned silent by Emilia's eyes, staring straight into them.

Her violet eyes had unnatural blue pupils, tears ran down from them and her cheeks, mixing with her own blood, but what had stunned Subaru was the intense amount of distrust reflected in them, towards him.

"Why? Do you-cough" Lia spoke even as Puck warned her to stop, blood filling her mouth and chest.

"Wa-want to help me?" She forced the words out of her mouth, each one stabbed into Subaru's head, filling him up with confusion and indecision.

"Wha-why? Because you're hurt! Isn't it obvious for someone to help someone else in need?"

Subaru instantly realized how empty the statement was the moment it flew out of his mouth, after all, on Earth bystander syndrome was a big problem, where people would rather ignore issues and hope for someone else to deal with it, made bigger by the advent of the internet where people who'd rather record on their phones for views and fame than help.

He was a victim of this as well. Hiding behind a computer screen, he acted as though pity and compassion were stupid back in Japan, thinking that he didn't care all that much.

But now, even though he didn't know this girl and her cat at all, seeing her in front of him like this made his heart bleed those so-called stupid emotions. He hoped that the words, even though he didn't believe in them, would work.

But the girl's eyes still showed distrust, and a clear grimace on her face showed that she didn't believe a single word he said.

"It isn't… at all." The words came out gravelly and wet, but clear; a strong tone was imbued within her voice, and she didn't cough up any blood as she spoke, or rather she forced herself to not cough, swallowing blood from her airways back down.

Subaru felt like a hand was crushing his heart. Still staring into her eyes, he saw her avert her gaze, a deep sadness born from bad experiences reflected in them.

It was through her words that Subaru realized something he had missed, something he had been missing since the three thugs left: how empty the alleyway was.

'That's right, the main street is right behind me, someone has to have noticed by now!'

Even if the girl, Lia, doesn't accept Natsuki Subaru's help, he may be able to find someone who may have experience with wounds or perhaps a knight who would be willing to help, remembering the incident with the knight saving a little girl from a lizard nearly running her over.

He craned his head back, looking out of the alley at the main road, taking a breath, his voice ready to yell, but he felt that same breath still and be stolen away by what he saw.

It was entirely normal, people were just walking across the streets, going about their normal lives.

Subaru felt like he had been transported into another world again. Despite the distance between the main street and the alley being only a few feet, it was as though nothing that happened in the alley would affect the main street, and nothing in the main street could notice whatever happened in the alley.

No.

No, that wasn't right, either.

Subaru watched as some people glanced within the alley, Subaru met eyes with a man who had stopped and looked in at Subaru and the girl bleeding out on the ground.

And kept walking.

Just how much could his heart take in such little time?

Subaru knew that people could be self-absorbed, but to ignore someone dying just because it would inconvenience you? That was a level of heartlessness that he had never seen, even in his old world. He felt this new world's societal barriers close in on him.

He turned back his head to the girl on the ground and Puck, who silently watched his reactions.

"...See?" Her voice had become small again, dejected, the life taken out of it, too tired to put up a strong front.

"I don't…cough-have an-any way to com-kah-pensate… you, I'll be fine."

"Lia…"

She coughed up more blood into her fist, breathing heavily as she put her hands on the wound, Puck doing his hardest to keep her from bleeding out and the wound from becoming worse.

'Shit, damn it.'

Subaru's gaze reached his feet, staring at his worn-down sneakers. His body trembled, hands clenching into fists.

'Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.'

He hated this.

He hated this feeling of helplessness and defeat that had entered the hearts of everyone within the alley.

He hated the fact that he couldn't do anything, even though every isekai he'd seen had shown him that he was supposed to have some sort of cheat ability. As far as he knew, he had no healing ability.

He looked at the girl again. Gone was that strong, commanding figure that was so majestic that his world revolved around her, the one he had seen fearlessly confront three thugs. She had been reduced to nothing more than a weak, young girl, ignored by the world around her.

Subaru didn't know anything; he knew nothing about her, nor did they owe each other anything.

Yet, despite that.

'Someone so beautiful shouldn't be lying here, damn it!'

She should be standing tall, with a smile and confident eyes.

Subaru lifted his head with an animated growl and wiped his eyes from any tears that could've possibly formed.

Gathering his resolve.

"He-Hey! Keep helping her as best as you can Puck! I'll go find one of those knights in shining armor to help!"

Subaru felt like he'd just swallowed a sour plum. His current action not only demeaned his pride but also threw away any possibility of holding onto the only connection he could make in this world.

That's how much seeing this girl hurt him, despite the fact it may mean he will never see her again, he decided to find someone who could deliver better help than he could even if it meant he would never see her again.

Yet, "Wai-Wait! Don't-Blaaargh." At the mention of bringing a knight, the girl suddenly raised her voice louder than she ever did before. Doing so had bad consequences on her body, as she immediately vomited a mixture of blood and food on the ground.

"Holy Shit!"

"Lia!"

Subaru exclaimed in fright from the amount of blood he saw on the ground, it looked like a crime scene in a tv show, which he rationalized it as to keep himself from freaking out, it was the most blood he had ever seen in his life.

The glow in Puck's hands increased as he pooled more healing magic into her body, but that didn't change the fact that as long as Chin's" knife was stuck in her body, Puck couldn't close the wound.

"No… guards…" Lia managed to croak out despite her failing body and senses.

Subaru was now stumped; he hadn't been expecting a reaction like this.

Puck started explaining to him, "Lia doesn't want help from the guards, it'll only make things complicated."

It seemed that the girl was unwilling to cooperate with anybody but her spirit even as her life hung in the balance.

Since she didn't want help from the guards, and since no one else wanted to help her.

In other words, 'the only person she could rely on was Natsuki Subaru', the boy thought.

"Then let me help! I can pull out the knife for you and get some alcohol to clean up the wound!" Subaru yelled back.

Puck also vouched for Subaru, floating down and leaning into her ear, whispering, "Come on Lia, it'll be faster if he helps, Like I said, he doesn't have any bad intentions, he wants to help you."

However, weak she was, the girl still seemed to stubbornly refuse to change her mind, out of her mouth only came a single word.

"Why-"

Whatever else she was going to say failed to come out, and she was only able to keep taking exhausted breaths.

"Ermh…"

Subaru racked his mind, choosing the right words was critical here, this was a moment where he either raised his relationship meter with Lia to 100 or failed horribly.

Going over his previous conversation with Lia, he thought.

'She said she didn't want my help because she couldn't compensate me so…'

Subaru opened his mouth and said, "because it's my fault."

He saw Puck looking at him dumbfounded, and though he couldn't see Emilia's face, he thought she probably had the same expression, regardless he continued.

"I saw the guy had a knife and tried to warn you but I only distracted you, so it's my fault you got stabbed, and then it's only right for me to help," Subaru said.

It was a hilariously bad excuse, the action had happened so fast that his warning didn't have time to reach her, and she would've been stabbed even if his warning did reach her.

Subaru had all the reason to run away from the girl and the cat with the thugs when Puck threatened them.

Hell, one could make the argument that'd it be deserved, from an outside perspective the girl had seen Subaru getting beaten up by the three thugs, but then decided to walk right past him rather than help him.

Yet Subaru still stood there and offered his help, he wouldn't lie if someone asked him if it was because he found the girl beautiful, but also because he couldn't bear the guilt in his heart if he didn't help.

Puck smiled at Subaru's words before leaning into Lia's ear and whispering again "Hear that, Lia, he's using the same twisted logic you do, huh?" His face softened and his tone became less comedic. "Please Lia, I can't bear to see you like this, please accept the help." he pleaded.

Lia's eyes met Puck's, right now she was so weak that all she could was breathe and move her eyes.

Some tears rolled down her cheeks, and though she couldn't speak, her eyes spoke of sorrow for Puck, apologizing for making him worry like this.

Puck looked back at Subaru and nodded, finally permitting him to help.

He slid behind the girl, kneeling on the ground.

"Ghh." He exclaimed, feeling the viscous, wet, and sticky blood puddling on the ground, and the intense smell of iron made his nose tingle.

His palms became sweaty as he realized the enormity of what he'd be doing.

'I read somewhere that there are around 8 to 10 pints of blood in the human body, which comes up to around 80% of a human's body weight. People usually fall unconscious from blood loss when 30% of their blood is lost.' The fun little tidbit he had probably learned from a random Google search just popped into his head at the moment, perhaps it's his brain's way of coping with the idea of having to pull out a knife from a girl's body while a cat with the ability to kill him instantly watched.

He looked down at the puddle of blood that had formed around the girl, it looked as though she had already spilled over 3 pints of the much-needed fluid, which spoke to how strong-willed the girl must've been to stay conscious.

"Shouldn't we get some alcohol first? To clean out the wound?" Subaru posited.

"We could do that later, I don't want that knife stuck in my Lia any longer," Puck said, the cat leveled a slight glare of suspicion towards Subaru, believing that he was trying to avoid helping now.

"You freaking out now? Don't try running off." Puck said, somehow sensing Subaru's uneasiness.

"H-hey, I already promised to help, I won't run off." Subaru cursed himself for stuttering, if it wasn't for Puck's killer glare he probably would've said something a lot more insulting.

Slipping his jacket off, he folded the sleeves together and put them toward the girl's face. It was then he noticed that the girl's ears were pointed. Something he had never seen before.

'Could she not be human then? An Elf?' Subaru thought before putting it out of his mind, in any other scenario he'd be giddy at meeting an angelic silver-haired elf, but right now, said angel was currently stabbed in front of him, he could ask after he dealt with the problem.

"Here, sorry it's a bit dirty, but you can bite on the sleeve while I pull the knife out," Subaru told her.

"Mhm." Lia held the sleeves in her hands, placing them between her jaws and biting down on them.

Subaru emptied the contents of his plastic bag, making sure his natto and corn potage chip didn't touch the puddle of blood. He wore the plastic bag like a glove. He placed his hand upon the knife, summoning his resolve and gripping it.

"On three alright," Subaru said.

Both Puck and Lia nodded, readying themselves. Puck's healing magic glowed more intensely while Lia closed her eyes and bit the sleeves of his jacket tightly.

"Alright, 1… 2…" Subaru's hands jerked backward right after he said the number 2.

"MMMMMMMMmmmmmpgh!" Lia's scream tore through her throat, and even the jacket she was biting into her, her legs kicked as her body reflexively moved in pain, more blood leaking through her chest and mouth.

"Did you get it out!?" Puck yelled seeing that the tip of the knife that was impaled through her chest wasn't poking out anymore.

However.

"No…uh, there's a problem," Subaru said with an uneasy grin. Subaru had managed to pull out the blade by a few inches but for some reason had stopped, or rather he couldn't pull it out any further.

"The blade's stuck, it must've caught on one of her ribs." He explained. he looked down and noticed his hand, still holding the knife, was shaking, and he heard Lia's short, pained pants, realizing that his shivering was causing Lia pain.

Putting his hand on top of the other, he clenched it, forcing it to stop shivering.

Puck didn't react kindly to Subaru's words, already distrusting of Subaru and high-strung as is, he was barely clinging to reason.

"Damn it, you're useless!" The spirit yelled.

"Hey, I'm the one who's doing the hard part here!" Subaru yelled back, he didn't gain any courage, rather the rampant stress of the situation and the vitriol Puck spewed had caused Subaru's inner feelings to air out of his heart without any shame.

"You-!?" Murderous intent filled the alleyway as the temperature dropped, Puck was ready to kill Subaru for the third time.

'Shit.' Was Subaru's next thought.

Just before Puck could finally end Subaru's smart-mouthing life, Lia forced herself to speak again, blazing through the pain, heat, and exhaustion.

"-Stop…just pull it…out already!" She said through her teeth, her eyes weren't sad, pained, or lonely, this time, they sparked with anger and disbelief at the two who decided to start arguing while she was still lying in pain.

"...Right sorry," Subaru muttered an apology for losing his temper, while Puck didn't, a look of regret painted the spirit's face blue.

"...I could try expanding the wound, to pull out the knife, you can stop the bleeding right?" Subaru proposed.

"Not really, stopping blood is much more precise than it seems, you have to feel out all the veins and blood vessels, and any slight movements can mess it up. I don't want Lia to lose any more blood." Puck explained.

"Then maybe you can freeze the wound?" Subaru asked.

But Puck shook his head in rejection of that idea too. "If it was just skin level I could do it, but through the body, freezing all those blood vessels and veins could cause unhealable damage to them."

"Tch." Subaru grimaced in annoyance at the lack of options given to him. Once again, he asked the God of this world where the superpowers that he should've gotten were. But he couldn't have his head in the clouds forever, so Subaru adjusted his grip, gaining the shape of an idea.

He met eyes with Puck and then looked at Lia, "So, I got an idea…".

"Well?" Puck asked for clarification.

"Well…it'll probably hurt a lot and bleed a bit, and I don't want to get stabbed by an icicle so…" Subaru said sheepishly. "Please don't stab me for this?" He put his hands in a prayer position and lowered his head in a show of pleading for mercy.

"Stop joking around and just do it." Puck coldly cut through his show, having no patience for it.

Subaru turned to Lia, who nodded her head.

"Alright, Puck, get your healing magic ready! Lia, grit your teeth!" Subaru yelled.

Holding the blade with both hands Subaru used his full grip strength, rather than pull it, Subaru then pushed the blade back onto the other side, pushing it back through her body, the wound became flushed with blood, and then with that same strength Subaru pulled the blade back, the push forward had expanded the wound just enough that with a nasty shlick! The rusty blade finally popped free from the wound.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHRRR!" Lia screamed so loud that the people on the main street jumped in fright from the intense pain of the motion, her body convulsing so much that Subaru had to dodge a kick that nearly took his head off.

"Lia!" Puck touched the wound with his paws, pulsing magic through her body as he recalculated the formula of healing magic and where the blood needed to be stemmed.

"Ahahahah." Subaru breathed heavily in cold sweat as he dropped the bloody knife onto the ground, gasping.

Subaru had hoped that this was over now, that he'd pulled out the knife, but he knew that he had only finished part one. Part 2: Get some alcohol started now.

He looked at the duo of spirit and girl, the girl's convulsing movements calming down once Puck's healing magic did its work.

'Wonder how it feels?' Subaru thought as he stared at Puck's work. Did healing magic have anesthetic effects?

"Will both of you be alright now?".

"As long as Lia doesn't move too much I can keep the wound from bleeding, we should be okay."

"What about possible infection? The blade's super dirty."

"I can keep the blood from flowing into that wound, so any particulates shouldn't spread from there, but it's best you get that alcohol now."

"Right."

Subaru turned around and patted down his pants. Feeling something wet, he noticed that some of the girl's blood had soaked into his pants, only noticing it now.

'Ick.' Subaru put the thoughts of disgust out of his mind just as quickly as they came.

As he walked out of the alley he called, "I should be back in a minute, you won't even have time to miss me!"

And Puck replied, in a somewhat sweeter tone that Subaru hadn't heard from the spirit before "I hope so! Or else I'll curse your entire bloodline!"

"Eeeep!" With that, Subaru broke out in a run the moment he entered the main street, now he had more reason to get that alcohol as quickly as he could, it wasn't just the girl, now his entire bloodline counted on him!

His run became a sprint, summoning his experience as a middle school athlete, in a minute, he reached a place that he quite distinctly remembered.

However.

"Ho…Ah..Oh…Ah…Oh." Subaru stood in front of the building, panting like a dog with his hands on his knees, people stared at his peculiar appearance for a moment, mostly due to the blood that covered his leggings, before dismissing him.

Even with his cardio exercises and father-son wrestling matches, it turns out that not being active for 3 months and eating only high-calorie snacks had a big impact on his athleticism, who knew?

While Subaru lamented how his primary school self could leave him in the dust, he caught his breath, and while he did a sudden feeling of soreness and cramping struck him.

It wasn't just his inactive lifestyle that was at fault, but also the bruises and blows he had taken from the three thugs that he had managed to ignore coming back to bite him in the ass.

But he had a job to do, someone was relying on him. So Subaru took a deep breath, wiped the blood on his hands off onto his shirt, before grimacing at the feel of his now stained black shirt, and passed through the doors of the bar he found.

Subaru had hoped that he'd be able to pass through the tables and crowd of people without notice but immediately after he had entered he felt a few eyes on him.

He glanced around, he saw a few people noticing him, followed by a shocked widening of eyes or a disinterested gaze back to their drinks. Yet despite the lack of change Subaru's intrusion made, felt his walk slow and become more timid, from the gazes that landed on him, and the dreary atmosphere of the bar.

Subaru continued walking forward towards the bar, forcing himself through that awkward atmosphere.

"He-ey everyone, nice day for a drink huh?"

His mouth moved on its own in a desperate attempt to try and shake the weight of the gazes on him but…

Two men stood in Subaru's path to the bar, blocking him, they stood a foot over him, meaning that Subaru had to strain his head to look up at them.

One of the men's snouts was close enough to Subaru's face that he could feel the air coming from his nostrils.

Yes, snout, while the man standing before him looked like a human, with the two pairs of legs arms, and upright posture that homo sapiens were known for, his skin was not covered with hair, rather lizard scales covered his entire body, and his face wasn't human, rather he had the face similar in structure to a monitor lizard.

Everyone in the bar was a mix of animal and human traits, some looked human with only a single animal trait, like a second pair of animal ears, while others like the man before him looked like full-on hybrids.

However, the sight of these animal-humans didn't surprise or unsettle Subaru. As a kid who grew up watching isekai and other fantasy anime, the trope of human beings mixed with animals was very common, so he was already conditioned to it. What was causing this heavy atmosphere was…

"Hey, you're that kid from before!? I already told you this place is for demi-humans only!"

That.

In truth this wasn't Subaru's first time entering this bar, when he had been exploring the city that he had been transported to earlier he had decided to step into the bar out of curiosity. Fantasy tropes taught him that bars were a place of loose lips where information was given up easily, he had hoped to enter the bar and gain some information about the world and perhaps have some fun and taste his first drink. However, though the people of this world spoke the same language as him, the writing system was different, so he couldn't understand the sign outside that said this bar was "demi-human only" and thus, coldly kicked out without conversation.

And now it seems that the same thing is gonna happen.

Not!

'I'm not dumb enough to come back here without a plan! Let's go and make "Natsuki Subaru's bartering" attempt number one a success!'

"And what you're doing here covered in blood?" The lizardman's arms reached toward Subaru to throw him out, however, Subaru acted before that.

Putting his strong foot forward his worn-out sneakers stomped down on the old and loose floorboards, kicking up dust that collected at the seams, and he raised his hand out toward the lizardman's face in front of him, surprising him and putting space between them.

"Wait a minute! Before you kick me out, I would just like to show you one thing." In Subaru's outstretched hand was an unfamiliar object to anyone in this world, a small block of plastic, rubber, and metal, it was Subaru's flip phone.

If Subaru's intrusion hadn't already drawn the attention of everyone in the bar, his current act was turning those bored and lazy eyes towards him, they were all wondering what he was going to do, just as he planned.

"Let's go! Nine-shots per second continuous shooting!" Subaru flipped his phone open and adjusted his grip, spamming the camera button.

"Hah!"

"The hell-"

The bartender and the two other demi-humans shouted as they covered and rubbed their sensitive eyes, the sudden flashing light blinding them.

Around Subaru, the drinkers gasped in shock at the sudden barrage of light, wondering if it was some sort of attack.

"The hell was that kid, you tryna blind me or something?!" The lizardman yelled after rubbing his eyes, the man's hands latched onto Subaru's jacket quicker than he could back away and lifted the boy by his collar uncomfortably close to the man's face.

Subaru totally did not squeal like a little girl when the man brought him close enough that he could count the teeth in his mouth, totally.

"No-Nothing of that sort, s-sir I just wanted to give you a demonstration. So could you please put those rows of sharp teeth away?" Subaru's voice went down multiple octaves as he took a tone he'd use when speaking with his teachers or counselors, he'd thought he'd forgotten to speak like this, but the sudden danger he'd put himself in seemed to have made him remember.

"Look here," Subaru reversed his grip on the phone once again, pointing the screen towards the lizardman.

"Gghh-" The lizardman's throat caught in his mouth as he reflexively turned his head away from it, expecting a blinding beam of light.

"Oi, oi, if you don't look at the screen I can't show you the picture," Subaru said with an annoyed tone.

"Picture…?" The lizardman muttered the unfamiliar term before glancing at the phone Subaru kept pushing into his face.

"Hah! Wait, that's us!"

"Woah! Seriously!?"

The two demi-humans that approached Subaru with the intent of throwing him out were now thoroughly enraptured by the display of his phone's power.

"Is it a mirror?"

"No way, it's not a reflection, it's more like a painting."

"If you put me down I'll explain how it works."

The lizardman's expression became sheepish, and he lightly dropped Subaru back onto his feet.

Subaru smiled; his plan of getting the room's attention had been more successful than anticipated. For someone who had no experience in talking with strangers, he had done well if you forget the part where he nearly had his head chomped off.

However, it wasn't the time to start doing victory laps, he'd only just sent out the reel, and now was the time to start attracting the fish so to say.

Subaru unruffled his collar and took a deep breath, purposely trying to pass himself off as nonchalant.

And channeling his inner salesman, Subaru lifted his phone into the air with a smile.

"Alright, everyone! This here is a magic item called a "flip phone", it can cut out a piece of time and freeze it, so you can see it over and over again!" He didn't just speak to the two demi-humans but yelled to the entire room.

"That's not all of its features though! It can also tell time, and you can play games on it!" Subaru had to suppress his desire to shout "If you call now, you can buy one and get one free!".

With this, the boy had completely flipped the bored and dreary atmosphere in the bar into excitement and shock over the magic item he held in his hand.

""Cut out a piece of time" It doesn't shorten your lifespan does it?"

"So those superstitions still exist even in another world huh?"

"Hey, hey, could you show me my face?"

"Hm? Sure."

Immediately after his speech, the entire room badgered him with questions and requests, and Subaru obliged, taking a picture of a woman with a short, foxy face.

"Aaah, I look so pretty!" the fox woman complimented herself as she saw her own through the phone's screen.

"Anyway." Subaru pulled his phone back and closed it, changing the subject of the conversation.

"This "flip phone" can be yours, just get me the purest alcohol in this bar." Subaru pointed toward the bar and the one of the people who he hadn't managed to amuse with his salesman skills.

The bartender wore a face of annoyance and anger at Subaru's antics, "The hell ya tryna do brat, ya tryna start a riot in here?! I won't let ya take ma alcohol!" he yelled backing up from the table putting his hands over the bottles on the shelves protectively.

"Huh…eh?" The bartender's reaction prompted Subaru to look at the people around him. Their faces had taken on filthy looks, towards the bartender and himself. Subaru gulped at the looks he was being given bordering on the same looks from the three thugs.

Tightening his hold on his phone, but still trying to give off a nonchalant aura "Don't worry, I won't give it to anybody who tries to steal the alcohol, I'll make them pay." Subaru said with a shrug, trying to reassure the bartender and himself.

The entire room had become a powder keg, its gunpowder was hunger and greed, all because of the boy who entered the bar a second time.

And there would be no answer or response, only an audible pause as the residents of the room were stuck deciding what they wanted to do.

Until "Why do you need alcohol so badly?" someone in the room asked Subaru.

Subaru turned to the man, the second who ignored Subaru's salesman pitch, his cheeks were red and he looked half-drunk already, slurring his speech and such.

"Heh, a pint-sized kid like you, with blood on your pants like ya went through your period, looks like ya couldn't even handle a light drink, now what you asking for the hardest the man got? " the drunk said in a rich, accented voice.

"Ah! Too explicit! There are things you don't say in public, ya old man!" Subaru interrupted the man covering his ears in mock disgust over the joke, he was a fan of raunchy jokes himself and imagined saying a few of them, but they were things topics he knew not to bring up.

"Also, this isn't my blood." Subaru added plainly, dropping his hands. He didn't notice it, but the manner and choice of words he said it had caused quite a few people to be taken aback, sizing him up with renewed interest.

The half-drunk demihuman's eyes widened before he belted out in laughter at Subaru's performance.

"And with that magic item, you could probably buy this whole bar, what you doing giving it up for a bottle?" It seems despite his drunken status, the man's eyes and mind stayed sharp.

Once again the attention was put on Subaru, this time in a manner he hadn't liked.

He stayed silent as he debated his options, just like with Lia, the right choice of words was everything, choosing wrong would mean the negotiation burning up in smoke, if this was a video game, his only option would be to quit and start again if such a thing happened.

And so.

'Well, they do say honesty is the best policy.'

"I'm not buying it for myself." Subaru said, "or to drink, there's a girl who needs it right now really badly."

Subaru's words had once again caused a change in the atmosphere of the room. They were shocked, shocked at the idea of someone giving up such an item all for a girl.

"A girl, eh…" The drunk smiled like he was sharing a secret joke.

"I don't know what you're thinking, but it's nothing like that, I've only just met her," Subaru responded to the man's teasing grin.

"But she must be pretty if you're already fighting and buying drinks for her. Hahahaha!" The man replied, before bursting into a random fit of laughter.

Although Subaru knew he shouldn't waste time, he couldn't help but open up to the drunk man's easygoing attitude, and so he said "Hm, hm, she's more than pretty! If you saw her, you would realize she's an angel in the flesh! With those pretty purple eyes and silver hair."

"...Silver hair?"

The drunk's voice had taken a cutting tone, it felt as though a cold knife had just been put at Subaru's neck.

"Huh?" Subaru looked at the drunk, and then into the eyes of everyone else in the room, their greed and hunger were gone, replaced with apprehension and fear towards him, some wide-eyed gazers even stepped back when his sight fell upon them.

'What's going on?-' He'd made a big mistake, letting slip about silver hair had caused the room of drinkers that were wrapped around his finger thanks to his offer to now start shunning him.

'-They're all against me now!?' He thought.

"Wait-"

"Get out."

"Grk."

The bartender's harsh glare and voice pierced Subaru, shutting him up, he felt his heart skip a beat as the demi-human looked as though he would leap at Subaru at any second. And there was no one around to protect him.

"Get out right now." The bartender repeated, pointing towards the door behind him.

"Wait, wait, wait, my offer's still!-"

"GET OUT!" The bartender screamed, and the two demi-humans that had kicked him out the first time bodily lifted him.

Subaru screamed as he was lifted carelessly off the ground, and thrown over a rough and scaly shoulder scratching his stomach.

No one came to help him. No one seemed to be attracted by the promise of his cellphone anymore, it was like the words "silver hair" had acted upon some sort of Pavlovian response that acted as a trigger to reject him.

The men carried the boy out of the bar and dropped him right on the steps. Subaru screamed and groaned from the drop, feeling the steps' edges dig into his back and exacerbate the wounds he already had.

"We don't want your damn metia… witch lover." The lizardman spat at him, the two last words feeling like a curse, before kicking Subaru in the side, all the air in his chest left him and he rolled down the steps.

"Ah, gh." Groaning, Subaru forced himself up again, his clothes and body were even dirtier than before, covered in dirt, blood, and now more dirt.

Subaru held his side, unluckily, the lizardman had kicked in the same place TonChinKan did. Thankfully, while he had no wish to look under his shirt and see how bruised his side was, he didn't think anything broke. Not that he knew how a broken bone would feel.

The inhabitants of the city once again, stopped and looked at the weird-looking boy, but that's all they did, they made no move or inclination to help him, watching him much like an animal in a cage.

The bitter taste of spite fell upon his tongue and he lashed out.

"What are you looking at?"

He didn't yell but his voice reached them, and they hurriedly started walking away without looking back.

Subaru stumbled himself over to the other side of the street where he overlooked the calm blue lake below. Watching the water flow into the tunnels under the street.

As Subaru looked at the water he thought 'How did I fuck up?'

Subaru was never confident in his public speaking, having been withdrawn since elementary school, and he was embarrassed by the way he littered his speech with video game references and English phrases.

Yet, 'I had it! I had their attention and they were biting at the bit to take my offer!' Subaru cried in his head. It was till he brought up silver hair and purple eyes that they were all wrapped around his finger.

That thought made him remember the lizardman's last words to him, 'witch lover.'

Could it be? He remembered how the people on Main Street ignored the girl's plight, and her eyes darkened by distrust.

'Discrimination…' he thought.

It would make the reactions of all the people he's seen at this point make sense. And it put the girl's actions to light. For whatever reason, silver hair and purple eyes were considered evil traits in this world.

'She probably didn't want help from the guards because they'd discriminate against her.' Subaru concluded, then he proceeded to curse whatever God, gods, or angels would allow such a beauty to be unfairly treated.

Once he used up the rest of his energy swinging his fist in the air and silently yelling in public he leaned against the railing.

"Hah, what do I do now?" He sighed with a defeated tone.

It probably had been a bit more than five minutes since he left the girl and her cat in the alleyway. Usually, 5 minutes was the kind of time that didn't matter much in life and could be wasted. But now wasn't one of those times.

'I can't go back empty handed, that cat will definitely skewer me.' He thought feeling a chill run up his spine at the idea of facing the pointy end of an icicle again.

He couldn't go back empty-handed but at the same time…

Subaru had no idea where he was. Outside of the small bit of exploration he had done when he had found this bar he didn't know any other bars or places with alcohol.

He considered asking the people on the street, but his mind was clouded with the now numerous bad experiences he had with them, brushed off, ignored, and kicked out, Subaru spitefully didn't want to ask for help from people he saw as heartless.

But he didn't really have a choice. He had wasted enough time as is, and the more minutes spent moping was more minutes where a girl was lying hurt in an alley.

The thought of just leaving her and running away entered his ear for a fraction of a second, and was thrown out the other ear just as fast, for one, doing so would mean never being able to show his face to her again, lest he be frozen to death or worse. The second reason was much simpler, how could he call himself a man, a Natsuki, if he went back on his word?

Subaru sighed again, one of resignation, and lifted himself off the brick-paved fence and thought to himself 'why couldn't I get the power to save and load checkpoints? If I had that I could go back and ignore the drunk guy's flag.' he asked nobody.

He turned around ready to confront a stranger for help when he heard someone cry "Yo kid!"

"Huh?" Subaru blinked and rubbed his eyes. Coming down from the steps was the half-drunk man that had just thought of.

And in his hands was a glass bottle filled with a light brown fluid labeled in the unfamiliar language of this world.

"Catch!" with his arm flexed and the bottle flew into the air.

"Holy-!" Subaru reacted instantly, leaping forward and managing to catch the heavy bottle before it could smash onto the ground.

He cradled it in his arms like it was the most precious object in the world, in this sense, it was.

"Holy hell you really care about that alcohol! Or is it the girl? Hahahahaha!" The drunk laughed hard, doubling over on his knees, laughing a bit too hard.

"You're the one who threw the alcohol! Why the hell would you…" Subaru trailed off as he looked at the man, his mind finally recognizing him.

Subaru looked at the bottle then the man, and asked "Wa-Why?" His surprise was warranted. It was this man that had caused Subaru to lose the interest of everyone in the bar, and get him kicked out. Yet now he was here giving him the bottle of the alcohol he so needed?

The drunk simply barked a laugh again and said: "Haha, I guess seeing a young pup like you smitten with love awakened some old memories in me, though I can't say I'm only doing this out of the kindness in my heart, that bottle cost a lot y'know?"

"Ah." Subaru realized what he was talking about as the drunk demihuman approached him with his hand out.

"Is that offer still open?" He asked. Subaru debated on just running and keeping his phone as he already had the bottle in his hands, but he simply felt bad for going back on a deal and so on.

"Here you go! One magical item!" Subaru placed his phone into the man's hand. "Pleasure doing business with you!"

The drunk whistled and opened the phone as Subaru demonstrated in the bar, walking away from his back, "You too! Hope you and that girl you like are happy getting drunk as shit!" The man yelled back crassly, pushing random buttons on the device.

"I told you it wasn't like that!"

'Damn it, where is that child?', it had been around five minutes since the weird black-haired, scary-eyed kid had left the alley. Most of the time, five minutes would be the time he'd take to snooze off a bit, and it didn't matter much, but now five minutes was far too long.

The kid left with the promise of bringing back alcohol to clean out Emilia's wound, he had accepted the argument as the kid had a point, he didn't want to close the wound if there was a chance of his Lia getting an infection from whatever was on that damn blade.

But waiting too long would mean leaving an open wound to fester, which was worse.

He had read the kid's mind while he helped and before he left. His surface thoughts were filled with guilt and a desire to save Emilia, surely he wouldn't back out right after leaving would he?

Then again, his mind-reading failed just before hadn't it?

A strange noise filled the alleyway, like a steel knife drawn across a sheet of ice, Puck's fangs grit and grind against each other as fresh waves of anger spread across his brain, nerves, skin, and fur.

Puck blamed the thug, who must've been so filled with fear that he instinctively stabbed Emilia without thought, bypassing his mind-reading.

He blamed the boy whose cry distracted his daughter and him from noticing the threat. He blamed the pink-haired Maid who purposely allowed Emilia to slip off from her view instead of following her, he blamed Roswaal for making Emilia come to the capital.

And he blamed himself, for lapsing in his duty, for letting his daughter get hurt.

The intense anger burned inside of him, only his daughter's existence and words were keeping him from freezing the world.

"Father..." His daughter's words came out so tiny and weak he couldn't even call them words, more like a breath.

"Lia! Don't speak. Don't worry. The kid will probably be back soon! And if he doesn't, I'll curse him." He intended the last part to sound like a joke, but the words came out hard and serious, and his inner feelings leaked out.

He hated the fact that Lia got hurt while he was supposed to be protecting her, the idea of relying on someone else, of being unable to protect his daughter, and he hated the look she now wore.

It wasn't just physical weakness that painted her face.

"...Please don't." the silver-haired girl rebuked the spirit with only two words. Even though the boy had seemingly run away after promising to help her, she had mercifully protected him from her guardian spirit's rage.

"Grk." Puck choked on his own emotions, and his daughter's. Thanks to his mind reading he could feel them, within her heart sat a deep sense of disappointment and acceptance.

In her mind, it was only a matter of time till the boy ran away from her, just like everyone else she had met. He shouldn't have gotten mixed in her problems anyway was what she thought. That's why she curbed the sense of disappointment in her, the small, meager idea that she finally met someone who wasn't scared of her.

The pain in her chest had been numbed away by the ice, but an intense weight still lay on her, her limbs were heavy and sore.

And yet, she started moving, palm down against the soaked red ground, she tried to force herself up.

"Lia! Stop! What are you doing!?" Puck worried for her, only a few minutes ago was she too weak to even stand.

"I'm guh-alright now-hah." She said as she forced herself into a sitting position, leaning her back against the alleyway wall, breathing heavily.

The cap of ice held despite her movements, no blood passed into her lungs or out her mouth.

Her hand landed back on the ground, except instead of bloody mud, her hand landed on something strange, it was strangely soft and smooth, cool to the touch.

She looked down and spotted the boy's jacket, which he had given to her to muffle her screams. She had tried to best to keep her blood off it and keep it as clean as possible, unfortunately, the sleeves were covered in her bloody saliva from where she bit down, and a corner had touched the puddle of blood that had formed beneath her.

She stared at it morosely and picked it up trying to pat out the dirt and blood that soaked it, before folding it.

Her actions were enough to shock Puck silent, as he stared at his daughter's hands.

They trembled, shivering with weakness, and they fumbled over the slick material despite how menial the task she put herself to was.

She hadn't recovered at all, 5 minutes wasn't enough to restore the amount of blood she had lost. Her mind felt foggy and clouded by a haze of pain that spiked every time she took in a breath, and she was barely clinging to consciousness.

Despite that, she didn't think about herself. Or rather, she was so kind of a person, she could only think of how she'd been an inconvenience to others.

Folding the jacket of the boy who offered it to help someone like her even if only halfway was the least she could do. An act of thank you and apology.

She couldn't help but focus on the feeling beneath her fingertips, her brain subconsciously looking for some kind of stimulus to ignore the pain. The material of the jacket was strange. It didn't look like it was woven by fibers, and the feeling of its sleeves wasn't fabric or silk. It was smooth and crumpled like paper beneath her fingers. However the cuffs and inner material of the jacket were thick cotton. The two materials were intertwined with no visible stitches, and there was a strange symbol stitched on the left side of the jacket, over the heart.

'A family sigil?' She thought.

Clothing like this, made of multiple materials and colors wasn't something anybody could buy, and the weird design made her think it was custom-made, his appearance and uncalloused hands, she deduced he must've been some sort of noble, though she didn't recognize the sigil.

The revelation made the emotional weight bearing on her heart pang. Although his clothes were probably very expensive, he still offered the jacket to her with no hesitation.

She finished folding the article of clothing, holding it in her hands she wondered what she should do now.

Her wound wasn't healed, but thanks to Puck and the boy the wound wouldn't bleed, and while infection was a risk, the fact that it was frozen could stave it off. Perhaps the lesser spirits could heal her. She also still needed to find the thief who stole her insignia, if she couldn't get it back, her reason for joining this election would become unattainable.

However, these reasons were only dressing on the true reason she wanted to leave, she really didn't want to hamper the boy any longer.

She already owed a great debt to the boy for saving her life, and she felt bad for not having the slightest clue on how to compensate him. More than that, she had seen discrimination for most of her life, due to her looks, and knew what happened to those who sided with the discriminated.

She would only be a problem to the boy who seemed so full of heart if she continued to stay with him. Unwanting to see the boy get hurt for helping her, or see him eventually reject her for being a "witch" she decided to end it here and push him away first.

She placed the jacket neatly on the steps in front of her that she had nearly fallen on, having done her best to clean and fold it. A small part of her worried that it could get stolen, however, she hadn't seen the three hooligans since they ran off, Puck's presence was more than enough of a deterrent to scare them out of the alleys for the day.

And tried to stand up, but just like her arms, they were nearly immobile, lethargy had incapacitated them.

Puck, flew around her head, buzzing like a hummingbird shouting warnings in worry, however, even the words of her father figure wouldn't sway her decision.

"Alright, I got it! It hasn't been more than 10 minutes right!? I mean I could see it being 7 minutes or 8 minutes but definitely not 10 right!?"

Emilia turned her head in shock at the entrance of the alleyway, her limbs fell and her body collapsed on the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

Unkempt, raven black hair and scary eyes that somehow felt comforting blocked the sun behind him and shone in the brilliant orange rays.

"Woah! Hey! What happened are you alright!?"

The boy raced to her side, in his hand was a glass bottle filled with alcohol. His worry equaled that of her father, who zoomed even closer to her.

The boy put her hand behind her head, cradling her as if they were close, even though he had only just met her.

She simply stared in disbelief at his face, not registering what they were saying.

In an instant, what she thought she had built up as iron shattered like ice.

The boy's sudden and overbearing presence was enough to collapse whatever resolve she had to leave the alley.

Her vision blurred and her head felt heavy, her ears were corked.

Above her, she saw her father and the boy getting into another spat, probably over how long it took him to get the bottle.

Even so, she saw them quickly gather themselves, for her sake. She knew her father would do anything to help her but this random boy she did nothing for?

Confusion once again filled her thoughts, she really didn't understand this boy at all.

He looked down at her with those scary eyes, hazel innocently brimming, she couldn't recall anyone looking at her with such kindness but her father.

"W-why?"

She couldn't help but ask again.

The boy's soft face made an expression of fake exasperation.

"Like I told you before, its simply because I want to help you!" A wide grin broke out on his face.

Beside her, Puck sighed "He's annoying but his feelings are pure."

"But... I'm a silver-haired half-elf..." She could feel her heart beating inside her chest, something warm was growing in there.

The boy's grin exploded into a beautiful smile, shining on par with the sun behind.

"Ah! That's why you're so beautiful!" The boy let out his opinion without any filters or second thoughts, letting out what he felt without shame.

Emilia felt all the blood rush to her head. The warm feeling expanded throughout her entire body, the elation dashed any disappointment she had.

"You're...such a dunderhead." She said out of embarrassment, trying to hide her elation.

"Eh? Who says dunderhead anymore?" The boy replied.

Her head started tipping back as all the energy her body managed to restore started fleeting, with her resolve gone her mind slowed down and her body started going to sleep.

Her eyelids become heavy. In her swimming vision, she saw Subaru and Puck looking down at her worriedly.

'Ah maybe... maybe this boy could... become my first friend.'

And with that, the girl slipped into a world of black.

"Mhm-mmh."

A cute breath escaped from the girl's lips as she returned to consciousness. Her mind floating above a world of black beneath her eyelids.

She did not dream, or if she did she didn't recall it. The soft pillow beneath her fit her head perfectly, sharing a sense of comfort that even the expensive pillows in Roswaal's mansion couldn't match.

She couldn't help but want to indulge herself in the comfort a bit more, only a bit, as she turned to her side and let out a soft moan of pleasure.

"Guwah! That moan was way too erotic!" A voice suddenly shouted above.

Eh? She didn't recognize that voice.

She opened her eyes, only to see the afternoon Sun in the sky and the ground of an alleyway instead of the morning Sun shining through her window blinds.

What? Where was she? She turned her above her towards the sky but instead of the blue of the sky, she saw a frankly nice face with exotic features.

Raven-black hair that she had never seen before, cheeks as red as a babe, and hazel eyes with dilated irises that gave them a scary look, yet it felt comforting at the same time.

And familiar. He had helped her when she got...

"Ah!"

She immediately shot up from the soft "pillow" nearly clipping Subaru in the face if he didn't dodge just in time.

And looked down at her chest, lifting her left breast up to look underneath it without care for who was watching.

Subaru stammered wordlessly behind her, his face becoming even redder before Puck zipped in and pressed his tiny paw into Subaru's cheek, turning Subaru's face away from Emilia.

The tiny cat sighed again remorsefully saying, "Aaaah, this daughter of mine, after all I did to raise her to be a proper lady."

Before turning to Subaru, "Welp guess it's on her father to care of the perverts!"

"O-Oi! I looked away!" Subaru's rebuttal fell on deaf ears as Puck playfully zoomed around Subaru's head and "attacked" Subaru, zero damage punches and kicks combined with sound effects, while Subaru caught Puck out of the air with cries of success and rubbed his fur.

Their antics didn't reach Emilia's ears who was too preoccupied checking herself. Her clothes were clean, and so was the blood on the ground, the soaked red fabric was replaced with clean, dry white, and there was almost no evidence that she was stabbed except for a small rip in the fabric of her dress that couldn't be restored, the one thing that remained that proved what happened.

Emilia tentatively touched the skin under the rip where she was stabbed. She only gave it a glancing touch but the just-healed patch of skin burst with sensation. She couldn't call it pain, or heat, it was more like nerves.

'It's healed...' Her face scrunched. The intense pain, the sensation of her blood flowing out of her body, none of it left her, all of it was still fresh in her mind, including the embarrassment and shame of being caught in such a scenario.

She turned to thank the boy who helped her only to finally see them goofing around.

"What are you idiots doing?"

And.

"Ah! Sorry, that wasn't nice." Emilia apologized immediately realizing her gaff.

Yet.

"Hahahaha! The way she tries to hide her true feelings but then apologizes when she realizes how mean she comes off is so cute, like a tsun-kuu fusion!"

"I have no clue what two of those words mean but I do have to agree!"

The boy took her pushy attitude with grace, simply laughing it off while rubbing Puck's back.

"Mouuuu, I reaaaaaally don't like how both are making fun of me!" The girl pouted, unfortunately, her immature outburst only caused more laughter between the two.

"Thank you for helping me." Emilia stood in front of the boy, bowing to him.

The boy also stood in front of her, at his feet was the bottle he used to clean her wound, now half empty.

"Hm, hm, that's right! I'm the mysterious lone wanderer who found you injured and nursed you back to health, right!?"

...That wasn't really what happened at all, rather it was she who came across the boy being beaten.

"Um, ye-yes?" The girl stuttered over how forthcoming Subaru suddenly was, and the weird poses he made while he spoke in a strange tone, unable to keep up.

"Then that means I deserve an award right?" the boy said with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Uhm, yes, that's right." Emilia wondered if her impression of the boy being good was really true seeing his attitude now.

But she didn't expect anyone to help without receiving compensation, that's simply how this world worked, and she wanted to repay the boy for all he did.

So she took a breath to gather herself and said "You helped save my life, so tell me what you want, if its within my power I shall do anything. No, let me do anything! That's how much I want to repay you for your help!"

The boy suddenly faltered, seemingly not expecting these words from her.

"Wo-woah." He exclaimed.

"Please. Tell me your wish." Emilia insisted.

"Then...tell me your name."

"Eh?" Emilia's brain crashed.

"Hm, is something wrong?" The boy said, oblivious to the atmosphere he created.

"That-that's just too small! How is that supposed to repay you for saving my life?!"

"Well, I'm an easy-going guy who does what he wants at times. Right now the name of the silver-haired angel in front of me is enough of a reward as is." The boy explained.

The sudden compliment didn't feel backhanded or an insult, rather it was the boy's true feelings about her.

"I'll go first!" The boy raised his left arm into the sky into another weird pose and said.

"My name is Natsuki Subaru! I'm clueless! Broke beyond compare! And the guy who saved you! Nice to meetcha!"

The girl blinked as she took in the introduction, the weird pose, the way he spoke, and his unnatural appearance.

Subaru felt his smile twitch as he saw the girl in front of him show no reaction to his introduction.

'Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! Please don't tell me I messed up after all this!'

"Ahahahaha!"

The girl laughed. It wasn't a mocking laugh or an evil laugh at derided him. But an innocent, fun laugh, that sounded like silver bells to his ears, made Subaru feel like he was rising above the clouds.

"You're strange Subaru." The girl said, but her tone was only mirth, there was no bite to it.

"Then, I'm Emilia, just Emilia."

'Aaaaah.'

Subaru stood, eyes reflected off of Emilia's at her beautiful smile, like that of an angel, Subaru thought to himself.

'That smile was totally worth everything I went through.'

"Emilia huh? Like Lia is it, Cat-san?" Subaru teased, turning to the floating cat.

"Hm, hm, my nickname is cute isn't it, father only privileges though."

"I'm surprised. Both of you are getting along reaaaally well even after Puck threatened you so much."

"Well, I had some time to strengthen my bond with your "spirit" while you were out, he was only looking out after you after all, plus! His fur is too soft to hate!" Subaru had learned of what Puck was while Emilia had been restoring her lost blood.

As if to accentuate his point Subaru rubbed Puck's back brushing his fur.

"Mew, mew, mew, mew." Puck cutely emoted.

"I'll apologize for my behavior, but I don't regret it at all."

"Eh, Seriously? Oh well, as long you let me touch your fur all I want I'll forgive you!"

"No ill will at all huh?" Puck said, reading his surface thoughts, Puck was surprised at just how easily Subaru moved on from his threats to getting along with them.

Emilia looked on with surprise, other than her no one had treated Puck in such a close and playful manner, being a spirit, most people feared him despite his tiny size. Something she had recent knowledge of and those who didn't fear him still treated him with regard.

Yet Subaru showed no fear or respect to Puck, instead treating him like a friend. It was simply another trait that fueled the air of mystery around him.

"Anyway, Lia, I recall we still have something to resolve." Puck turned to her, floating to her side.

Subaru, curious about their conversation, sneaked close to them and listened in.

"Hm?... Ah?... Eh?... Uh?..."

Emilia raised a finger to her chin while letting out strangely erotic moans as she thought. Even tilting her head cutely. She exuded a gap-moe of eroticism and airheadedness.

'Something to resolve? What was I supposed to do?...'

"Ah!" Emilia exclaimed beautifully and immediately checked her pocket.

"My insignia!" She realized. Remembering the reason she came into the alleyway in the first place before the thug stabbed her.

'Insignia? Like a badge?' Subaru thought, watching Emilia with hardly contained interest.

'I need to get it back!' That insignia was what proved her position as a royal candidate. If she couldn't get it back then...

Her thoughts trailed off as visions of an eternally frozen forest and statues of ice filled her head.

But she shook her head sending the bad thoughts out and strengthened her resolve. She was gonna find the thief that took her insignia and get it back.

But she couldn't ask anyone for help, it wasn't just a matter of her race, but if it got out that one of the royal candidates got their insignia stolen it would be a huge scandal, one that would ruin her chances of winning the election.

"Puck, how long was I out?" She muttered towards her father figure in a rushed breath, cupping her hands to hold Puck in them.

Puck sat on them, flicking his ear and said "Not as long as you think, its been around 30 minutes or so."

Emilia sighed in relief as she felt the large burden on her heart disperse, she'd be up a creek without a paddle if she had to do this without Puck.

Subaru listened in attentively, trying to piece together what they were talking about. Though with not much success.

Emilia then turned to Subaru, who immediately wilted at her gaze, jumping backward.

"I uhm, totally wasn't listening in yeah! I didn't hear the word insignia at all!" He made the perfect excuse, only to cover his mouth at the realization that he spilled everything.

But then, "Is something wrong?" Subaru asked, rubbing the back of his head as Emilia's gaze continued.

Emilia thought to herself, she was originally going to interrogate Subaru if he knew the thief after saving him from the thugs. However, the fact that he helped her, and that Puck stayed with him for 30 minutes and didn't find any information about her insignia proved his innocence.

He was just a nice, clueless boy. That's why she wasn't going to ask any more from him. She couldn't ask more from him, she already owed an incredible debt that couldn't be paid.

She turned around, saying "It's nothing, I'll be going then, those guys were probably scared off by Puck and won't come around, but you shouldn't wander into deserted alleys. I won't be there to help you after all." She said in a kind manner, a strong tone returned to her voice.

"I should be more worried about you, you were the one who got stabbed after all."

"I have Puck to help me, you don't have anybody." She rebutted back Subaru's words.

The sharpness of her retort surprised him.

"Yeah..." His voice trailed off and his smile strained as he watched her back move farther. Was he really just gonna leave this girl like this?

Nobody in this world was kind to him except for this girl and the drunk. He had no knowledge of the world, its currency, its politics, and no idea where to get a job.

Was he really going to let the one connection he made in this world slip out of his hand?

Before Subaru knew it, he stepped forward and touched Emilia's shoulder causing her to turn back to him in surprise. Just before she slipped out of the alleyway and disappeared forever.

"I just remembered, this all started with you coming into this alley saying someone stole something important from you, its the "insignia" you mentioned isn't it?"

Subaru watched as his deductive reasoning skills were rewarded with Emilia looking at him with a cute "O" shaped expression and grinned, his ability to guess the correct answer on the first try was truly OP.

She then raised her hand and placed it on Subaru's who blushed at the intimate contact.

'Ah, my hand! She's touching my hand! It's so soft and warm.' He thought as he held in the urge to rub it. The last time he held hands with a girl other than his mother was in Kindergarten. Which was really pathetic now that he thought about it.

Taking his hand, she peeled it off his shoulder.

"Yes, but it doesn't have anything to do with you, I can... no, I need to do this on my own. We already repaid our debts to each other, and I don't have anything else to compensate you with, I'm broke you see."

With those words, Emilia shut down Subaru's olive branch but even so, he wouldn't back down.

"Oh come on! Like I said before, isn't it obvious to help someone in need?" Subaru tried to use his excuse from before, but it fell on deaf ears.

He could see the emotion in her eyes slowly turn to annoyance as he held her up from her search. So he quickly gathered up all he knew and threw together another excuse the best he could with his level 1 communication skills.

"Well I'm doing this for my own sake too, my motto is "One good deed a day!""

"You already saved me, there, your good deed for the day is done."

"Hrk, I completely passed over that." He wasn't really getting anywhere, was he?

"Well... I want to get an entire weeks worth of done today so I can laze about the rest of the week!" So please let me help stay unsaid.

Yet.

"But you don't even know what we're looking for..." Emilia said.

And.

'Aha!' Subaru thought confidently.

Subaru snapped his fingers to look cool and said. "Indeed, I don't know what you're insignia looks like, but I caught a glimpse of the thief while she was running by, I don't know her name, background, or fetishes but I do know how she looks! A pretty girl with a snaggletooth and striking blonde hair, looks younger and flatter than you, like two or three years younger, she's pretty dirty but would definitely look nice if she took a shower and wore some nice clothes!"

Subaru proceeded to cringe at himself for sounding so much like a virgin NEET as he realized he had run on and on without care.

"If you're going to describe her that thoroughly... I don't think I'd need your help finding her now." Emilia replied, showing that she had processed that entire rant.

"Grrrh!" Subaru growled in frustration.

'Damn, my level 1 communication skills!' He screamed at himself.

Like some sort of providence, Puck appeared again from underneath Emilia's hair.

"I think you should take him up on his offer Lia, he already helped you once and you have an entire city to cover without any leads."

'Thank you Puck!' Subaru thought, flashing a smile and thumbs up to the floating spirit cat.

"Plus, its good to have more bodies in front of you! Nya!" Puck suddenly said in a teasing sacharrine tone.

"Huh! Don't tell me you want me only as meatshield you shrewd cat!?" Subaru yelled back, immediately entering a comedy routine.

Said cat simply stuck out his tongue as a response.

Even with Puck's encouragement, "But..." The girl's stubbornness was something to behold.

"Your stubbornness is definitely cute, but it'd be foolish to lose sight of your objective because of it. I don't want to think of my own daughter as a fool." Puck said, provoking a raised eyebrow from her.

A silence rested upon them as Emilia debated within her head until...

"I really, don't have anything to pay you back with you know..."

"It's fine, like I said, I'm doing this for my own sake too," Subaru replied.

"Now! Let's get going! To adventure Emilia-tan! Operation: Find the Blonde-haired Thief start!"

"Eh? What was that you added to the end of my name there?"

Subaru pointedly ignored her as he raced out of the alley invigorated by the girl behind him.

"What does "tan" mean? Ah? Wait!" She cried, chasing after the clueless and broke boy.

---

Note: I'm a beginner who wants to get better at writing, and I had a dream after consuming Arc 1, so I wrote this. I'd like to thank Priestess, the Reactionists discord, and the Collab discord for their help on this.