Re:zero~peaceful days~

Odd Pairings

Subaru:[...So that's pretty much it. What do you think?]

Subaru said as he snapped his fingers with one eye close. Beatrice sighed.

Beatrice:[Betty can't even begin to imagine how you get these kind of ideas, I suppose.]

Otto:[Gotta hand it to you Natsuki-san, you have a talent for coming up with strange ideas.]

Otto replied smiling while scratching his head.

Subaru:[Don't call them strange! They are unique! Out of the world to be precise or rather literal.]

Otto:[How can it be literal? Nevermind, so, who is going to judge?]

Subaru:[Roswaal.]

Beatrice:[Then when shall we start, I suppose?]

Beatrice asked with eyes full of sparkles.

Too cute~
Subaru thought as he captured Beatrice's adorable face in his mind.

Subaru:[Someone sure is excited! How about tomorrow? We will decide the pairings after lunch.]

Subaru said while patting Beatrice's soft hair.

Otto:[Yeah let's do that. But for now, you should go see Roswaal-sama. He asked me to call you.]

Subaru:[Why the hell is that clown calling for me now? He even sent Otto instead of Ram for running his errand.]

Subaru was genuinely displeased.

The hell does he wants. Hope it's nothing too bothersome.

Otto:[Actually, he is calling for you because of a thing I told him about....]

Subaru:[So it's Otto's fault huh? Ok~ Let's go, Beako.]
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Subaru:[Yo Ros-chi! What has caused you to call for me? Maybe a compensation for making me continuously walk between life and death?]

Subaru swung open the door to Roswaal's office with Beatrice in his arms. Roswaal, as usual donning his clown outfit and makeup was sitting in his luxury chair while sipping on the tea that Ram made for him. At Subaru's sudden intrusion, he kept down the cup and smiled.

Roswaal:[Good afternoon, Subaru-kun. Sharp as alwaaays~, you guessed almoooost correctly. Although it's a reward, noooot a compensation, for aaaall your hard work.]

Roswaal spoke in his usual strange accent that caused Subaru to be annoyed a bit, but that wasn't the important thing.

Subaru:[A reward? Why this sudden genero-]

Subaru remembered Otto's words.

Ahh what's up with this sudden shower of care? Don't they have anything better to do than look after me? Well, this is one of the reasons that helps me keep going on after Rem was erased from this world's memories...
Rem... she never really got to be rewarded for all the things she did for me, for everyone. Heck, all of her efforts and all of her self are now forgotten, except by me.

Subaru couldn't help but dive into a sea of regrets whenever he thought about Rem.

Oh no no no no. Rem will be sad if I keep worrying about all the things I couldn't do. I swore to save her no matter what. So once she's awake, I'll return everything she has given me, a hundred fold.

Beatrice:[First, your face showed epiphany, then slowly turned sour with regret and finally you're grinning like an idiot, I suppose?]

Beatrice summarized Subaru's expressions as she sighed through her nose. Subaru smiled wryly.

Roswaal:[It was Otto-kuuuun's suggestion to give yooou a reward. So I thought why not? Then whaaaat is it that you waant, Subaru-kun?]

Subaru:[I don't really have anything I want... can you give me some time to think about it?]

After thinking for some time he gave up and answered.

Roswaal:[That is totaaaally fiiine. Take your time.]

Roswaal smiled and answered while pointing towards the sofa, suggesting them to sit. Subaru sat down with Beatrice on his lap while Otto sat right across them in another sofa.

Subaru:[Although I would like to postpone my reward, there's something I need your permission for.]

Ram:[Barusu, if you are going to seek permission to ask for Ram's hand for marriage, then Ram doesn't have a choice but shatter your dreams right now because Ram belongs to Roswaal-sama.]

Ram who had just entered the room spoke with pity towards Subaru.

Subaru:[Nee-sama, you do know that my heart belongs to Emilia-tan.
Anyway, I needed permission to conduct a small and fun creative art contest, that will help the camp to understand each other and get a chance to display their ideals in the form of art! Also, if you're wondering why I am suggesting this all of a sudden, then the reason would be that Beako was feeling lonely.]

Beatrice:[Don't make it sound like Betty is an attention-seeking brat, I suppose!]

At Subaru's rapid fire explanation, Beatrice shouted out her complaint regarding the reason.

Roswaal:[Why nooot? Sounds like a good idea. After all, there are sooome new members who haven't really recieeeved a proper welcome party, haaaaven't they?]

Subaru:[Whose fault do you think it is? All the new members joined spontaneously during the sanctuary incident. Since we were all in a life-threatening situation, who would have time to think about celebrating?]

Subaru scoffed at Roswaal as he frowned while remembering the threats they had to face due to Roswaal's obsession to his gospel. It was nothing short of a miracle for all of them to have come out safe.

Otto:[Well, now that all the threats have been cleared thanks to everyone's efforts, we can celebrate right?]

Otto smiled and casually stated this. Subaru's frown immediately changed to a gentle look.

Subaru:[Yeah. You're absolutely right. Ok, let's go have lunch for now! Then we'll decide the pairs in which we'll be divided for the contest.]
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After lunch, they all gathered in the hall. Subaru had prepared strips of papers marked with numbers. Everyone had taken one and were waiting for Subaru's explanation.

Subaru:[There are two strips with the same number. Find your partner. Mine is 3 by the way.]

Frederica:[Ah, I have number 3 on my strip as well.]

Subaru:[So me and Frederica, huh. Then I'll be in your care.]

Subaru gave a slight bow. Frederica smiled and reciprocated his gesture by bowing back.

Subaru:[Has everybody found their partner?]

Beatrice:[Yes, I suppose.]

Subaru looked over each pair and couldn't help but comment-

Subaru:[These are some interesting pairings...]

Beatrice was standing with Otto, who was sweating a bit. Garfiel stood next to Petra, who was sweating a bit too. And then there was the pair of Emilia and Ram. An angel and a devil, or rather an oni.

Emilia:[So I'm paired with Ram. Let's do our best!]

Ram:[Yes Emilia-sama. Ram shall do her best to achieve results higher than barusu's self-esteem.]

On one hand, Emilia, who couldn't hide her enthusiasm, on the other, Ram, who couldn't hide her usual habit of finding opportunities to mock Subaru.

Subaru:[What kind of disastrous things are going to happen?]

He couldn't help but shrug at this situation while scratching his head.