A/N: Hiiiiii, here's the second chapter in an update!!! I hope these chapters can make up for the long wait!!! Please enjoy!!!!
The next morning, Subaru woke up really early. "What's the time..." He muttered as his eyes moved slowly from the ceiling to the clock hanging on the wall. "Damn... it's only five forty? Why the hell am I waking up so early? Man I feel like an old man..." He mumbled and decided to get up and go for a walk before breakfast. As he walked passed the girls' room, he tiptoed to the door and pressed his ear against it, hoping that he didn't wake them up while he was doing his routine and getting changed.
"Good, they're all still asleep." He thought and nodded to himself. Subaru left the apartment and started strolling down the street, feeling the slightly chilly morning breeze brushing against his face. He decided to have a look at the restaurant Matsushita sensei recommended to him yesterday, so he headed toward the gourmet street. It was not far away from his place, and it only took him about ten minutes to walk there.
"Ah, it's here." Subaru thought as he stopped in front of the small restaurant. It was located in an alley just at the end of the gourmet street, and the storefront emitted a modest yet elegant kind of feeling. "It seems to be a really nice restaurant." Subaru said, and he approached the small restaurant for a closer look. The menu was displayed on a small black board embedded on the brick wall outside the restaurant, and on the black board were also other information such as the business hours.
"Ehhh~~~?? It's closed on Mondays??" Subaru heaved a sigh, feeling slightly disappointed that they had to wait for another day to eat at this place. "Ma, iika. I have work to do today anyways." He thought, looked at this Italian restaurant again and headed back home. As he got back home, he saw Emilia walking out the bedroom, yawning behind her hand.
"Ohayou, Emilia-tan!" Subaru said, and she gave a little jolt at his voice. "S-Subaru?? You're already up??" She asked, a bit surprised and slightly embarrassed that he saw her yawning rather widely. "Well I somehow just woke up, you know." He said, shrugging. "Anyways, I'm gonna bake some bacon pancakes. Do you want anything else?" Subaru asked. "Um, maybe some poached eggs?" Emilia suggested. "Roger that." Subaru said and went to the kitchen.
"Need any help?" Emilia asked, lifting up the curtains hanging at the door to the kitchen. "Nah, I'm fine here. But you can help me wake up the others when breakfast is ready. I figure that if I go wake any of them up I'll have slaps and punches for breakfast." Subaru said and chuckled. "Alright, then. Thank you, Subaru." Emilia said and withdrew herself back to the living room.
She sat down on the sofa and turned on the TV and started watching the morning news. Though she'd long been away from the political campaign, Emilia still tried to absorb as much knowledge that could help her to become a better candidate for the ruler of Lugnica, and she found the news a great source for her to learn not only about what was going on in Subaru's world but also the world's politics.
The news was reporting about the mysterious wormhole discovery again. "Hm, I wonder if this some kind of huge discovery..." Emilia thought as she continue to watch the news. A few minutes later, Subaru's voice came from the kitchen. "Breakfast ready." He said and walked out the kitchen with trays in his hands. Emilia replied with a smile and nod and went to the room. Just as she was about to open the door, it opened itself and the twins came out in their nightgowns, followed by a still sleepy looking Beatrice.
"Oh, I was about to wake you." Emilia giggled and let the girls to proceed to their morning routines. "Ohayou, minna!!" Subaru said energetically with his hands on his hips. "Shut it, Barusu. Your loud voice is already annoying and it sounds especially sinister today." Ram growled at him with shadows covering her face. Beatrice was also glaring at him as if she wanted to strangle him with her death glare. "Ma ma, Nee-sama, Beatrice-sama, let's go brush our teeth and comb our hairs." Rem said softly and gave a small push on each of their back, and the two obliged but still with frowns on their faces.
Emilia laughed a little bit and turned to Subaru. "How come you're up so early today?" Emilia asked as she helped set the table. He scratched his face and laughed awkwardly. "Ehehe, I don't really know... for some reason I just woke up... My mom always say that it's a sign of becoming an old man..." Subaru said, laughing, and Emilia giggled as well. "I'm guessing that Subaru's just overflowing with energy again." She said, covering her mouth and laughing out loud. A few moments later, the rest of the girls came to the table and sat down.
As they ate, Rem remembered something that she'd heard at school which she was slightly confused about. "Ne Subaru-kun," Rem said, and Subaru 'umed' and looked up at her, his mouth stuffed with eggs and bread. "Rem heard Shiori-san saying something called the cultural festival. She tells us that this event will be taking place soon in the school. But Rem isn't quite sure about what it is about." Rem said. Subaru stared at her for about ten seconds, gulped down his mouthful of eggs, and punched himself across the face.
"EHH?!?! Subaru-kun?!?!" Rem exclaimed as Subaru's face swell up instantly. "I'M SO SORRY!!!! I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT THE CULTURAL FESTIVAL AND THE OTHER IMPORTANT THINGS THAT YOU SHOULD KNOW!!!" He shouted and clapped his hands over his head in apology. "I've focused too much on the school systems and neglected those events!!" Subaru shouted again. The girls looked slightly confusedly at him while Subaru's glance traveled to the clock hanging on the wall. "Oh damn, it's about time. We should probably leave. I'll tell you about the cultural festival on our way there." Subaru said, and the other nodded. A few minutes later, they left the department and set off for school.
"Oh, before I start telling you about the cultural festival, there's something I need to say first. Remember that I said we're going to the restaurant Matsushita sensei recommended to us? We're going there tomorrow since it's closed on Mondays and I have work to do tonight, so maybe we can have dinner at Ossan's??" Subaru said. He worked every Monday, Thursday, and Sunday at the noddle shop, which was owned by the benevolent old man who always listened to his problems and offered advice that Subaru found helpful, in the gourmet street. "Oh, no problem, let's go tomorrow then." Emilia said, nodding. "And we can have ramen for dinner today." Rem said happily, thinking that she could have more meals made by Subaru.
"Alright, now, cultural festival. This event is like a school fair, and on this one or two days, yeah the cultural festival sometimes could last for two days depending on the school and the Student Association's decision." Subaru said as he saw the girls' eyes widened when they heard that this seemingly joyful event could last two days.
"During the event, every class will have to come up with a theme. For example, the most frequently done ones are maid's cafes, haunted houses, and, uh, oh, art work exhibitions. Apart from those, there'd be some other more innovative themes. What's more, there might be contests such as the beauty contest, which I think you girls have high chances of winning, and singing contest. These are individual contest, which you enter individually, and then the other ones are entered as a class. Every class, beside from the theme of their classroom, will need to come up with a performance, like drama, dance, concert, or standup comedy." Subaru finished, and the girls' eyes were even wider and twinkling with excitement.
"Asai-san's your class leader and a member of the Student Association, right? If she's starts to talk about it, I can almost be certain that the cultural festival will happen within a few weeks. She'll probably start a vote on the classroom theme during your class meeting today." Subaru said, counting down his fingers as if he was doing some calculation. "Really????" Rem asked, jumping up and down slightly in excitement. "Yeah, according to past experiences, it should be about time." Subaru said, giving her a reassuring smile.
"Oh, I forgot one part!" Subaru suddenly said after about three minutes of silence. "What is it?" Asked Emilia eagerly. "There's probably gonna be dancing as the last part of the cultural festival, and we gotta dance in pairs." Subaru said, and for some reason, his mind seemed quite absent, judging by a rather amusing and blank look on his face. "You mean... we need to find dance partners??" Emilia exclaimed as the tip of her ears grew slightly red.
"Ehehe, Lia, feeling excited??" Puck's voice sounded in her head. "N-No! Puck! What're you saying..." She replied in her mind, flustered on the inside. "Yare yare, Lia. Still the same, aren't you? An appearance of an eighteen but with a mind and heart of a fourteen." Puck sighed to himself, half amused, half defeated. "However, that only happens if the Student Association decides to hold it. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. It's one of the few events that doesn't happen on a regular basis, at least in our school, that is." Subaru said.
Just as the girls were about to ask more about the dancing part, they heard voices calling from behind. "Ohayou!! Rem-san!! Ram-san!! Emilia-san!! Beatrice-san!!" A familiar and energetic voice came from behind and the girls turned and saw Shiori running toward them, waving and smiling brightly. "Ohayou, Shiori-san!" The girls replied with the same cheerful voice. "Ohayougozaimasu, Natuski senpai!" She added to Subaru, who was standing a bit ahead of the girl. Subaru had been addressed 'Natuski senpai' by the girls' classmates and the lower graders in the club for quite some time now, but he still wasn't used to it and responded with a small nod and turned away, uncertain about how to react.
"I-I'll get going and let you chat. Hinata might be waiting for me!" He said without turning back and hurried off. "Heh, such an idiot." Ram said, snickering. A few seconds, more of their classmates caught up to them, greeting them warmly and smiling happily. "Wow, how come we suddenly got so many companions on our way to school??" Emilia asked, obviously surprised and flattered.
"As soon as we located the approximate area where you live, we decided to come and walk with you!" Nico said, smiling. "It's a lot more fun like this." She said. "And another recent incident left us the impression that it is better that we walk to school with you." Kotaha said, opening a bag of M&Ms and started flicking the colorful sweets up, each of which flying up in a perfect perpendicular projectile and landing in her mouth. "Oi, Kotoha, don't eat while walking! And haven't you just had breakfast?" Shiori said with slight contempt in her tone.
"I've got two stomaches. One for meals and one for sweets." She replied simply. "Yeah, right." Shiori said defeatedly. "Back to what Kotoha was saying, you girls need to be more careful." Rem tilted her head in confusion as Emilia and the two other girls turned to Shiori with an inquiring look. "What do you mean we need to be more careful?" Ram asked with her arms folded. Shiori frowned slightly, apparently struggling on how to reveal what concerned her to them. "Well, let's put it this way. You girls get way too popular in the school." She said with a small sigh. "Hai??" The four girls asked in unison.
Meanwhile, Subaru was already at the gate and saw Hinata, Aki, and Haruka walking toward him from the opposite direction. "Osu, Subaru." Hinata said, waving and smile. "Ohayou." Subaru said as he approached them. The four walked through the gate toward their classroom, and on their way there, Subaru couldn't help but notice something a bit odd going on about.
"What's going on here now? Why're they gathering around the gate?" Subaru asked as he stared at the people flocking around the gate as if they were anticipating some superstars. "What the...??" Subaru squinted at them and saw that they all seemed to be wearing some sort of badges on their chests. "Eh?? I thought you already know??" Hinata said in surprise. "What're you on about??" Subaru asked, though he already guessed what was coming and had an ominous feeling about it. He then suddenly remembered the thing Ossan showed him about three days ago. "Shit, don't tell me..." Subaru cursed in his mind.
"Dude, the four girls that you keep around got all the guys in this school head over hills. Frankly, even I think it's getting out of control." Aki commented, scratching his head. "Yeah, this is kinda sick, honestly." Haruka agreed with a disgusted look on her face. Subaru mouth fell open as he saw the guys' reaction at the girls arrived at the gate. The guys all stood together in two lines extending to the school building, forming a path with students admiring the girls on both sides.
Emilia, Rem, Ram, and Beatrice, all stood rigid at the gate, not knowing how on earth they were to react to such a bizarre scene. "You get what we tried to say earlier?" Kotaha asked as she finished the last bit of the M&Ms in a gulp. "Why doesn't the principal do something about this??" Shiori shouted indignantly, stomping her foot. "Perhaps it's because he's one of these perverts." Nico said with a defeated laugh, pointing at somewhere a bit behind the lines of guys. The four girls all sweat-dropped, feeling yet most bewildered and speechless for the first time since they'd been dropped to this world.
"So... shall we get in through the gate or find somewhere else to get inside?" Emilia asked uncertainly. "Rem doesn't want to go through here! She can't pretend that she's not feeling uneasy about this!" Rem said, frowning and looking around to find a way in to avoid such overflowing attention. "If they don't get lost in thirty seconds Ram thinks she might lose it and slice their legs off..." Ram said, her face darkening with every passing of a second. "Damn it it's all our fault!! We should've told you not to come here!! We did expect something crazy going on ever since that weird religion stuff started going on but none of us had ever thought that this could happen!! Any why now?! Is it because the Cultural Festival is coming?? Damn it damn it this's beyond unacceptable!!" Shiori shouted angrily, shooting death glares at each of the guys in front of them.
"Rem wishes Subaru-kun is here..." Rem muttered. Her mixed feelings of uneasiness and anxiety at this ridiculous situation almost made her demon instinct kick in, but suddenly, someone fought an opening out in the line of guys on the right side, and a few of the guys standing there got sent flying to the opposite line. Through the opening, Subaru came charging down the line with his nostrils flaring and teeth gritted, followed closely behind by Hinata, Aki, and Haruka.
"S-Subaru-kun/Subaru?!?!" Rem and Emilia exclaimed in shock, but Subaru didn't slow down. "PLEASE EXCUSE US!! GIRLS!!" Subaru shouted wildly, and in a split second, he, Aki, Hinata, and Haruka surrounded the girls. Wasting no time, Haruka pulled out a speaker out of nowhere and shouted through it. "ALL OF YOU PERVES YOU'RE DEAD!! THE HEAD OF DSA JUST SENT A MESSAGE THAT ALL OF YOU ARE GIVEN A MONTH WORTH OF DETENTIONS!! INCLUDING THE PRINCIPAL!!!" She put the speaker away, and while the students standing in lines were still confused, the three guys circled their arms around the girls' waists and hoisted them onto their shoulders.
"SHAMAK!!!" Subaru screamed, hoping against hope that the magic still worked. Expecting the familiar darkness that only he could navigate through to appear again, Subaru braced himself, however, such darkness did not came. Instead, he felt something bursting out of him. It wasn't painful, but he felt as if something inside him left, leaving him a somehow hollow sensation. Everything Subaru experienced happened in a mere fraction of a second, and at the same moment, from an outsider's point of view, a large smokescreen burst out and engulfed everyone in temporary darkness, and from the perspectives of those who got engulfed in the smoke, the smoke got so dense that it seemed that their five senses suddenly became useless. When the smoke was cleared and everyone's senses started working again, they found that the four girls were gone along with their classmates and the four seniors who came out to rescue them. They all stared at the spot where the small group of people was standing at, and to their horror, they found that the Head of the Department of Student Affairs, a woman wearing square spectacles with a stern look on her face, the person whom everyone, including the principal, feared from the deepest of their hearts, was standing there, arms folded.
"You all heard what I let Tsuyumi-san tell you, right?" She asked, and a terrible chill ran down all of the students' spines. "Mr. Principal, I trust that you are aware of the consequences ?" She addressed the principal, who was a small, chubby, bolding man. He pushed his glasses and nodded curtly. "Good. I shall assemble you at noon during lunch break today. Please do come, or you'll be given even harsher punishments, which I do not wish to do." She said, and after looking around at each of them once, she nodded and turned away. "You're dismissed. Please kindly go to your classrooms now." She finished, whirled around, and strolled back to the school building.
Meanwhile, at the 10-G classroom, Subaru, Hinata, and Aki were leaning against the doorframe and panting slightly. "G-Got you outta that mess... mission complete...!!!" Subaru panted, giving the girls a thumbs-up. Rem whimpered and threw herself into Subaru's arms. "Rem was so scared!!!" She whined, looking up at him with watery eyes. "Yoshi yoshi, we're safe now. No harm done." Subaru said as he patted her head gently, calming her down.
"Goddamn it go get a room, will ya??" Aki growled as she kicked Subaru in the shins, who buckled and dropped to his knees. He got back up with a growl as the two plunged themselves into one of their usual friendly fist-throwing sessions. "You girls alright?" Haruka asked softly to the rest of the girls. "Y-Yeah... we're fine. Just a bit shocked, that's all." Emilia said, shaking her head. "Man, how did things just suddenly get so out of hand?? We sure noticed some disturbances when the girls transferred here, but none of those were such chaotic." Hinata chimed in, frowning and holding his chin.
"Yeah, this's what's been bothering me since last Friday. I did hear about something like those guys are setting up something called the RMT Association or EMT For Life. I mean, I am pretty sure this's got something to do with all that but what the freak do they even mean???" Shiori shouted frustratedly again. Subaru, just finishing the fight with Aki, deliberately looked away from any of them at this moment.
"Anyway, since things are now taken control of, I think we can head back to class." Aki said, looking over his shoulder at the hallway, from which the students were flooding in. "Yeah, class's about to start. We'll see you around if everything's alright." Hinata said and waved at the girls, who nodded their thanks in return. "Subaru-kun, we'll go find you if anything else happens, alright??" Rem asked, her voice quivering slightly. "Of course! I'll protect all of you! I promise!" Subaru said encouragingly and was about to walk off, but Beatrice held him back.
"What now?? Our first period is math and Kishitsuji sensei will kill us if we're late--"
"Shut it, wait for Betty when you go to the roof during lunch time, in fact. Betty needs to speak to you, she supposes." She said with a tone, Subaru noticed, slightly different from her usual tone. He nodded and left with his classmates.
"Hey, I've been meaning to ask. How did you make that smokescreen??" Hinata asked on their way back to their classroom. "What?" He responded blankly. "That smokescreen earlier." Aki said. "Oh, uh, that, well..." Subaru hesitated. At that moment, the only thing that occupied his mind was how to get the girls out the trouble, and he hadn't given a single thought about what to say when people ask about what he'd done.
"Well... I made a few smokescreen bombs..." He lied, looking away from Hinata. "What for?" Aki asked. "Uh..."
"Please tell me it's not another plan to get away from Hihara Yuuto." Haruka said with a sigh. "Yeah yeah it is!" Subaru said in relief. "Thanks! Haruka!" Subaru shouted in his mind. "Oh cool! You gonna teach us how to make those cool things??" Hinata asked with his eyes twinkling. "Nope. That's top secret." Subaru said flatly, leaving Hinata tugging his shirt and pleading him. "Oh, speaking of Hihara Yuuto, I just remembered something." Hinata said and let go of Subaru's shirt. "What about him?" Subaru muttered, hoping against hope that there was nothing more horrible coming toward him.
"I don't know, but, well, last Friday when I was leaving school, I saw him with a crowd of guys. Apparently he was speaking to them and I wasn't really interested, so I didn't pay much attention to them, but I think I caught a few phrases about you and the girls... probably he's got something to do with all those commotions earlier." Hinata said, looking more serious than usual. "You need to look after yourself and the girls, alright?" He said. Subaru moaned and buried his face in his hands. "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck." He groaned behind his hands. "That's a long fuck." Aki commented, and Haruka kicked him. "Don't worry too much. Just focus on keeping them out of trouble. That's all you need to do." Hinata said, patting Subaru on the shoulder. Subaru sighed. "Guess you're right." He said and forced a small smile.
Soon, they arrived at their classroom, and right after they stepped their feet through the door, the bell rang, and precisely at the same moment, Kishitsuji sensei slid open the other door. He started off the lesson by condemning those who were down at the gate troubling the girls, and after he was finished, he addressed Subaru. "Natuski-kun," Subaru sprang to his feet when his name was called. "H-Hai!!" He shouted nervously, wondering if he was going to get yelled at for using a 'smokescreen bomb.' "I'm impressed again by your actions. Nice job. You three as well." He said simply, nodding his heads toward Hinata, Aki, and Haruka's directions, and started teaching. Subaru sat down and sighed in relief. "Damn, what's going on this morning?? The first lesson only started for ten minutes and it feels like I've already been through a whole day of troubles..." He muttered in his head.
The rest of the day, compared to the morning, was pretty uneventful. Nothing else had happened and the girls got nothing more troubling them. The only thing that concerned Subaru slightly was the conversation he had with Beatrice on the roof during lunch time.
"Your Gate is already damaged back there, and now you forced the magic out again. Betty can't be sure what's going to happen to you afterward, Betty supposes. But Betty can be certain that if you use any form of magic again, you're body will collapse, in fact. But still, this is all Betty's guess. After all, we aren't in our own world, and Betty isn't an expert in healing such damages either, Betty supposes. But Betty is an expert in sensing one's Gate's function and it's clear to Betty that if you ever use magic again, it might be the end of you, Betty supposes. Bear that in mind, in fact." Her words reverberated in his mind again and again, but Subaru wasn't as worried as he heard it a few hours ago. "It doesn't really matter I guess. My priority is to protect the girls, like Hinata said, and I take whatever happens to me willingly." He thought firmly.
School soon ended and the students all either left the school in groups or stayed for self-study or club activities. "Hey, sorry I'm a bit late!" Subaru waved as he approached the four girls. "It's fine, Subaru. We just got here a few moments ago anyways." Emilia said, smiling. Rem reached for his arm immediately and wrapped hers around it. "Rem was hoping to stick with Subaru-kun all day today." She said, her voice sounding calmer since the girls were with him now. "Gomen, Rem. What happened today was just too out of expectation." He replied with a small frown, patting her shoulder gently.
"Men are all filthy beasts...!!" Ram muttered darkly as the five walked off, apparently still angry because of the incident in the morning. Subaru laughed awkwardly, scratching his head. He really didn't know what to respond to this anymore. "Anyways, let's go have dinner." Subaru said, trying to cheer the girls up. "I'll tell Ossan to charge you cheaper!" He said. The girls gave a small weak smile and headed for the noodle shop.
"Irasshaimase!! Oh, Subaru-kun, just on time!" Ossan greeted the group as they entered the shop. "I'll go get changed. You girls make your orders, alright?" Subaru said as he hurried to the staff room. The girls nodded and sat down in a row at the table. "Gochuumon wa??" Ossan asked the girls kindly as they read through the menu. But before any of them could reply, the door was slid open and students from their school filed in, and within seconds, all the seats were occupied. Ossan looked over to them in shock, and as his glance traveled to the door, he saw that there was a line of people waiting outside.
"Wow, since when have my noodles become this famous??" He asked jokingly, and Subaru came out of the staff room. His jaw dropped to the floor as he saw all the people in the shop. "Damn it... these jerks..." He cursed under his breath. He immediately knew why they were all here. Apparently Ossan knew as well since he sidled to Subaru and said, "If you bring any of the girls every time you work I'll pay you three times your salary." He said, and when Subaru looked at him with an indignant and frustrated look, he laughed out loud and patted him hard on the back. "Just kidding, just kidding. I did tell you to protect them, didn't I??" He said with a smile and returned to the counter. "We've got plenty of work to do tonight!" Ossan said energetically.
The girls went home after they finished dinner, and just before they left, Shiori, Kotoha, Nico, Yui, and Aya, the four girls' close friends, turned up at the shopfront and said that they were planning to take the girls over to Shiori's place first, which Subaru gladly agreed since he didn't think that it was good to let the students follow the girls all the way back to their apartment.
"They're really something, aren't they??" Ossan asked as he was frying some dumplings. "No, they're just four ordinary and wonderful girls who just want a normal school life." Subaru said bitterly. The students had almost all left, and the shop became quiet again. Ossan chuckled and handed the plate of dumpling to his last customers of now. "Sure they are." He said, and after returning to Subaru, he wiped his hand and handed him a glass of water. "You've been brave, I can tell." He said. Subaru stared at the glass for a while and took it, looking slightly encouraged. "Thanks, Ossan." He took a sip and wiped his forehead.
"Well, I think you should head home for today." Ossan said. "Eh? But my shift doesn't end till nine." Subaru said, looking at the clock which showed it was seven thirty now. "I know, but I'm kind of feeling concerned about the girls too, you know? Judging by what happened earlier, something huge at your school must've happened to them, am I right?" Ossan said kindly. Subaru nodded gratefully at him. "Can I really??" He asked, feeling a warmth surging through his body. "Yeah, I think it's better that you go home now." Ossan said, smiling. Subaru grinned and bowed at him. "Thanks! Ossan! You never fail to encourage me!" Subaru shouted his appreciation, went to change back to his uniform, and left.
"Tadaima!!!!" Subaru shouted as he almost smashed the door to his apartment down when he opened it. "Keep it down, Barusu, or Ram would need to sew your lips up!" Ram's annoyed voice shouted back from the living room. Subaru hurried in and saw the girls all sitting in the living room. "Hey," He said, panting slightly. "How did it go afterwards?" He asked worriedly. "Shiori-san brought us to her place, and she suggests that we should go to our classmates' houses before we head back. She said that way we can at least shake off some of those who're devoted to stalk us." Emilia said. "Oh, okay, that's a good idea." Subaru commented, feeling thankful for the helpfulness of Shiori and her fellow classmates.
"Well, sorry about all the trouble today..." Subaru muttered apologetically at the girls. "Don't be, Subaru-kun. Subaru-kun is already doing his best to help us, and we're really grateful for it." Rem said with a smile. "Thanks, Rem." He grinned at her. "So, when did you get home?" Subaru asked, looking at the clock. It was almost eight now, and the girls left at around five from the shop. "We got back around seven, and during the time we were waiting for you, Beatrice-sama was trying to summon the portal she saw last night." Emilia said, her tone becoming slightly more serious.
Subaru sensed the changed in the tone and figured that something must've happened before he got back. "Betty failed, in fact." Beatrice said suddenly. "Eh?" Subaru asked blankly. Beatrice sighed and plunged into the explanation. "Betty supposes that you still remember how the portal works theoretically?" She said, and Subaru nodded slowly. "Yeah, what about it?" He asked. "Ever since we're dropped here, the one who has been using magic the most is Betty, so the world's frequency was gradually being tuned to something similar to Betty's magic's frequency, and that was why Betty was able to sense the portal, Betty supposes. This is her theory about it, in fact." She said, her tone unchanged.
"However, this morning, you used magic too, and since your Gate is already damaged and unable to stabilize the flow of mana, it all burst out like a bomb, and the frequency that's been continuously tuned into Betty's was disturbed, in fact." Beatrice said, and she stopped at this point. "Up to this point, Betty supposes you know what Betty is saying, right?" Beatrice inquired, and Subaru gulped, her fingers trembling slightly. "D-Do you mean to say that... I blasted away your only chance to go back...?" He asked, his voice quivering. He felt his insides had been hollowed and couldn't quite feel his limbs. They were cold and numb and shaking slightly.
"What've I done...??" Subaru muttered. "What've I done..." He repeated again, his head drooping and his eyes widened in shock and scare. "Betty can no longer tune into the portal," Beatrice stood up and walked toward him. Subaru closed his eyes and waited for the invisible punches to hit him, but they never came. Instead, he felt two small and soft hands closing around his cheeks and pulling his head up.
"But Betty isn't angry at you, in fact. None of us is, Betty supposes." Beatrice said in an unusually soft voice. "You might've lost us our chance to go back, but you did that to help us. Betty is aware of that, in fact. She knows you've been pushing yourself for us ever since we're here, Betty supposes." She said, and Subaru still quite couldn't get his mind straight.
"Betty might not be able to open that portal again, but she still has her life here along with the others, Betty supposes. Plus, as time passes on, we might be able to discover other ways of creating the connection between our worlds." She said, her colorful eyes fixed on his black ones. "Cheer up, in fact." She said, though her expression was the same all the time, Subaru could sense some happiness behind that unchanging expression. "There will always be a way back. Roswaal will do his best on the other side too, Betty supposes. Don't worry, in fact." She said, smiling slightly.
"Barusu is pretty idiotic most of the time, but Beatrice-sama is right. We couldn't have got out of that mess without much trouble if it hadn't been for you." Ram said with her arms folded, her eyes closed. "What happened today might've scared you, Subaru, but we're prepared to face the trouble. You can trust us as much as we trust you." Emilia beamed, and Puck zoomed out from nowhere and landed on Subaru's head. "Ma, if you really get into big trouble, I'm always here to help. I'm the most magical and powerful after all." Puck said, his tail whipping left and right vigorously.
"Thanks, Puck." Subaru laughed, reaching up to pat the cute little cat. "Subaru-kun, you know we are strong. We've been through so much already, mere fanboys can't harm any of us!!" Rem said encouragingly and took Subaru's hands, holding them between hers. Subaru looked down at the soft hands, smiling through a frown. "I'm too weak, getting defeated just because the crazy kids at school and messing up a parallel universe connecting portal..." He said, chuckling. "Normally that is something pretty serious to mess up though..." Subaru said in his mind, but he looked around the girls surrounding him. A pair of Oni twins, a powerful half-elf, an even more powerful artificial spirit, and a small gray cat spirit, the most magical and powerful of them all.
"I've been dumb this whole day." Subaru laughed, scratching his head. "Sometimes my old school time just got my mind blown, can't help. Sorry." He said and stood up, his fists clenched firmly. "VICTOOOOOOOOOORYYYYYYYYY!!!!!" He punched his fists to the air and shouted loudly, so loud that Ram and Beatrice covered their ears and started yelling at him in unison. "Ahahahaha, this's how it's supposed to be like!!! Natsuki Subaru, beautifully returns from depression!!" He shouted again, laughing, but got cut off shortly after by two slaps on each side of his cheek.
"Iikagen ni shinasai/surunoyo!!!!" The two girls shouted at him together while Subaru fell back to the sofa, his cheeks glowing red and swelling. "S-Subaru, you're fine, right?" Asked Emilia, forcing back a giggle. Subaru raised a shaking hand and gave her a thumb-up. "Subaru-kun is always the same." Rem covered her mouth and laughed. She approached him and pulled him up, his hand held tightly in hers. "Let us just enjoy our life here at the moment, Subaru-kun." Subaru looked down at the bright smile on her face and grinned as well.
"Definitely, Rem!! You're gonna get sooooo busy with the school events!! Cultural festival, sports day, Christmas, New Year's Eve, and the most important of all, SCHOOL TRIP!!!!" Subaru shouted in delight again. "Wow, that's a lot of events, isn't it?" Emilia said, surprised by the upcoming events in the following school year. "And you haven't motioned any of those to us in the past few months but stuffed our brains with boring things like algebra and old poems." Ram said, heaving a small sigh. "Such an idiot..." Beatrice muttered under her breath, folding her arms.
"Well, now we're all cheered up, let's face tomorrow with this attitude and deal with those freaks at school!! And we're going to that restaurant Matsushita sensei recommended to us!! That's decided!!" Subaru said excitedly, and the girls smiled.
"Alright, as you wish." The girls all said in unison, smiling and feeling that even though it might take weeks, months, even years to find another way to connect to their world, they wouldn't be frustrated or disappointed. After all, they were now having such a wonderful life, and the real fun was just going to begin.
A/N: YOOOOOOO!!!! Two chapters in a row!!!! Sorry for this late update!!!! You know how busy one can get when he takes three AP courses XDDD Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapters and I'll continue to do my best to write more chapters!!! Thanks for reading and remember to vote and comment and follow me!!!!