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"A headache?"
"Yes." Reinhard solemnly lowered his head.
The knights huddled around him in some pseudo semi-circle all exchanged looks. Ferris shrugged with faux nonchalance while Julius raised a skeptical eyebrow, Subaru looked the most befuddled out of them all.
"I didn't know you got those." Subaru interjects, blinking.
"Even i am subject to trivialities such as headaches i'm afraid. The misconception that i'm not is an over exaggeration of my prowess." Reinhard sighs and shakes his head with clear discomfort written all over his face.
Subaru childishly pouts, falling into his seat and crossing his arms. "Heard that before, was so ready to call you the luckiest man in Lugunica."
"He still is?" Julius helpfully inputs.
"Not what i meant! And anyway- Don't you guys just have ibuprofen?" He made a vague hand gesture as he plucked his glass from the table. "Iboo-pro-fin?" Ferris echoes, bemused.
"Little white pill. Makes your headaches go away?"
"Subaru is back in fantasy-land." Julius snorts, sipping from his own beverage.
He flails around the establishment. "I literally am! That is so ironic it's so sad you wont ever understand it!" He groans in outrage at the perfectly set-up joke just sitting right there, taunting him. If only Al was here, he'd probably chuckle. But he's stuck with these three actual fantasy-land-dwellers who sit there dumbfoundedly looking at him like he's grown another head.
"You're so weird Subaru." Reinhard smiles.
"That's not a compliment! It's a compliment when Emilia-Tan says it, but not you."
"If we're saying the same thing, then the meaning should be the same, no?"
"There's this thing called interpersonal relationships."
The waiter politely interrupts their discussion by placing down their plated orders and a complementary bread basket down the middle of the table, silverware clinks disrupting whatever else Reinhard had wanted to say in retaliation as he winced and tried to play off the mild discomfort present on his face, probably curtesy of his headache flaring up.
Subaru all but unceremoniously shovels food into his mouth like a malnourished dog finally being fed after years of starvation- Earning him a few disturbed looks from the knights adjacent as they prettily displayed inhuman elegance with their table manners. Sans Ferris, she used her hands to pluck a few fries off her basket and pop them into their mouth.
"I haven't eaten anything today!" Subaru bemoans with his mouth full- Instead of chewing he just shoves another fork-full of steamed potatoes into his mouth much to the chagrin of the other two knights that had some semblance of composure to not ravage their plates.
"You'll choke Subaru." Reinhard tuts with concern as he dices up his own food. "Don't think he hears you over the sound of scraping silverware and chewing." Julius' eye twitches.
"Yeah i don't- mmf- so-!" He drawls as he shoves more food into his mouth, cheeks puffing out like a chipmunk. "Suuhhhsshh." Julius makes a vague sound of disgust.
Ferris smiles wryly as he nabs a potato wedge from Subaru's plate. "If you eat with nyer' mouth full, we won't understyand ya'." He hums, chewing on the wedge.
"That's the point." Subaru bristles, cocking his head to gesture at Julius angrily. "Ay!" He exclaims once he realizes that the little thief had managed to sneak a potato wedge under his nose.
There's a chorus of snickering as Ferris and Reinhard both laugh at Subaru's misfortune.
"You-!" Subaru tries to restrain himself from leaping over the table but a singular bite of food accidently slips down the wrong pipe and he's bent over hacking and coughing with Reinhard and Ferris patting his back with good natured concern and Julius watching with self satisfied humor in his gaze.
He wipes his mouth and hangs his head in defeat, plate already decimated. "I suppose this is what you call the consequences of my actions." He coughs out, voice raspy, downing his glass of water to soothe the sore throat.
"No, i believe this is an iteration of, 'i told you so'?" Julius smarmily adds.
"Let me punch him."
"Subaru..." Reinhard holds the knight back with a firm grasp on his shoulder. "Just one- One little cuff over the head. I promise i wont break his nose."
"Surprised nyou haven't broken it already." Ferris snaps up another potato wedge from his plate. Subaru tries not to seethe.
"I doubt i'll feel anything." Julius comments, helpfully.
Both Reinhard and Ferris look at him with a deadpan sort of disappointment. "Nyou engaging and encouraging this scuffle is nyaking me doubt nyer competence Juli, Nya." To this, Julius shrugs full of smug.
Subaru gears up to verbally castrate Julius again- Until Reinhard winces at the sound of his fork scraping against the plate and suddenly all the fire to argue and be petty has been completely sucked out of him. Instead he slumps in his seat and finishes his plate with enough precision not to make any more senseless noise.
His act doesn't go unnoticed. Reinhard sends him a grateful look.
"You should've just stayed home and rested if your headache was that bad." Julius peers at Reinhard with palpable concern, index tracing lines across the glass he's holding in his hand absentmindedly.
"I- Perhaps... I just wanted to spend some time with you all. It is rare after all, that we have days where we are all free to converse." Reinhard threads his hands together, looking nervous.
The three knights share a silent look.
"I see." Julius' concern melts with a small smile. "Well, it surely is nice to see you all gathered in one place."
"I attest, nya." Ferris pipes up.
"Sure, would be better if Julius didn't show, but beggars can't be choosers." Subaru includes.
Reinhard's smile slowly grows wider with each of their input- A warm feeling spreading through his chest like an ice cube being dunked into a vat of warm water, slowly thawing, slowly melting. But headaches don't leave with simple feelings of happiness, so it intrudes and makes his smile waver for a moment. He hides it by taking a sip of water.
His headache rings in his head, his vision clouds for a moment before something shifts. Something feels terribly, terribly wrong.
Subaru only sees a glimpse, a glimpse of Reinhard's eyes widening just a fraction before he rises and opens his mouth to shout something,-
A gust of superheated air briefly has his vision flickering out and as he comes to, the only thing he feels is sickeningly warm and numb. He's laying sideways, glass shards strewn across the floor, nausea kindling in his chest. He doesn't understand.
The air is bending with the heat- It's so warm. One look farther down and he sees what remains of his arm, charred and sickly black.
And yelling- Yelling- So much yelling. Blurs of color, a head of purple in his vision looming above him saying something. There's desperation in that voice.
He's too tired to hold onto that yelling.
Subaru's glass topples over, Julius hisses and Ferris yelps. Silverware clinking is what fills his auditory senses- Not screaming, yelling, crying, but Julius' shout of displeasure and the sound of Ferris leaning over the table trying to mop up the mess Subaru had made.
He looks up to face Reinhard who's fumbling with the napkins. The static in his head pierces his skull and worms into his thoughts, melting his train of thought, melting coherency.
"Subaru?" Julius squawks and the static recedes for a moment. The room is awfully stuffy.
"Nyer shaking." Ferris observes.
He is. His hands are trembling so violently he can barely keep them from knocking into the table. He wants to laugh, only a little bit. Who turned the heating on?
There's a hand on his shoulder that stifles that urge to giggle. "Sorry-" He wets his lips and looks away, all that previous mirth suddenly drained from the knights. "Sorry, sorry." He repeats shakily.
"Are you alright?" Reinhard asks.
Subaru tosses a look over at the patrons inside the restaurant. "No." He replies on autopilot.
"Nyer as pale as a sheet!" Ferris scooches closer and splays out her hands. "I can get you something to drink." Julius rises from his seat.
"No- No." Subaru swallows thickly, shaking his head with violent fervor. There's too much clamor around him to think properly- He looks at Reinhard almost instinctively. The only pillar of composure here.
"Tha- There- There's an explosion." He swallows the lingering taste of charred flesh and ashes. "Here- Right here-"
Waving his hands nonsensically and babbling incoherently did little to put any faith on his case but he didn't need that when he had concrete trust. Reinhard didn't question him. He never does, like ol' faithful.
He rises from his seat and looks down at Subaru firmly. "When?"
Subaru looks around with unfocused, jittery eyes. "Now?"
There's a flicker of shocked realization in Reinhard's gaze and suddenly he'd being violently pulled over the booth behind the lumbering knight- His last fluttering thought is spent worrying if Ferris and Julius would be alright in the mayhem.
A familiar hurricane of heat crashes into them, this time sizzling and burning up the oxygen but leaving himself intact and breathing. As the explosion dies it ignites that familiar bout of screaming and wailing from patrons who where still clinging onto the remaining embers of life.
As to answer his previous concerns- Julius had grabbed Ferris and pressed them against his chest as his spirits had easily forged a makeshift shield, keeping both of them relatively uncharred apart from the hems of their uniforms.
Subaru nearly collapsed into Reinhard's arms but was acutely brought back by the sound of the knight's harrowed and ragged breathing. Reinhard's eyes had blown wide at the carnage displayed by a single horrific explosion, the crater originating from over the bar at it's epicenter.
"Is everyone alright?" Julius called from where he stood protectively over Ferris.
Reinhard pauses for a moment, a crease forming between his brows no doubt from the headache singing in his head. "Yes." He answers gruffly.
"We need to find the perpetrator." Julius hissed as Ferris detached themselves from his arms, hurriedly running over towards a gathering of mangled bodies and screaming victims pinned underneath rubble.
"I got you, i got you." She mumbles, dropping her inflection entirely out of panic.
"We need to focus on the victims." Reinhard shook his head.
Something glimmered in Julius' eyes as he nodded in agreement.
A loud inhuman hiss permeates the air, catching all of their attention in the faltering heatwave. A tiny, metallic, cylinder rolls out into the open hissing like a whistle as it spews yellowish jaundiced smoke.
Subaru paused.
A burning unlike heat- "Gas!" He yelped, grabbing hold of his tracksuit collar to makeshift a filter. A poor filter. The singular verb thrown in the air set of a chain reaction of people panicking and fumbling to cover their mouths from the gaseous plumes of smoke filling the crumbling remains of the restaurant.
A chorus of coughing and hacking rang out inside the decimated establishment as incapacitated victims could only face the horror- His own tracksuit collar barely helped. He could feel the burning singing sour gas easily phase through the fabric of his collar forcing him down to his knees, spluttering and coughing.
His eyes hurt, blinking did little to mitigate the burning sensation, and any exposed skin felt like it was on fire.
One particularly bad cough had him coughing blood speckles into his palm before a hand was firmly thrown over his mouth and nose- A napkin of sorts covered half his face.
"Can't- See-" He splutters while trying to rub the burning from his eyes.
"Stay calm." Reinhard's composed voice made it just a little easier to breathe through the tightness in his chest.
"Don't panic, just breathe." He instructed grimly. Following those instructions proved a lot harder, each time he inhaled it would get cut off by a violent coughing fit that left him feeling dizzier than the last. "Stop panicking, Subaru-"
"I can't see!" He tries to pry Reinhard's hand from his face out of a primal fear- a sense of claustrophobia overcoming him as two of his senses went kaput. The burning itching did little to help him from squirming and panicking. It didn't take much really, with the mounting stress and physical ailment his knees easily buckled. Before he could hit the ground, Reinhard had stopped his descent and gently helped him to the floor.
Another tangible voice peaks over the crackling dying embers and screaming. "We need to evacuate the building." Julius heaves out with a ragged cough. "It's like the gas is meant to finish us off."
There's a shift in rubble as Reinhard moves his hands to properly support Subaru. "What do we do?" He sounds lost, distraught. "Can you keep him stable? I can haul a good portion of the victims out."
"My spirits are doing all they can." Subaru can practically hear the grimace in his voice. He could even see it too if he wasn't too busy hacking his lungs out and trying not to go completely blind.
There must've been some inaudible exchange because suddenly Julius and Reinhard trade places. Julius puts more pressure on him to keep breathing as steadily as possible- he wishes he was as strong as the rest of them.
Maybe then he'd be able to actually save a few people. But he couldn't even save a handful. No, not even one.
It's pathetic, really.
His vision blurs as he slumps into Julius' hold, exhaustion eating through any will to keep going. He's aware he's being picked up and taken somewhere- Where exactly? He's not so sure.
He hears snippets of conversation above him as he tries to weaky cough, it's fruitless. "Almost there. C'mon, don't do this to us." His entire body feels too numb to respond.
"Subaru-" Something crackling, breaking, "We're almost there."
There's a melancholic sort of loss as he drifts.
This time he springs up coughing and clawing at his throat as if he's been possessed, immediately latching onto his glass of water and dunking it down his throat to subdue the burning singing pain. The multitude of hands on his back force him to be aware of the fact that he's surrounded by a few worried knights privy to his spectacle.
"Subaru?" Chimes Julius.
"Nya-! Subaru slow down!" Ferris yowls.
"Subaru-?" Reinhard perks up, reaching over to try to help in some ambiguous way.
To all of their advances, Subaru wheezes out- "Front desk." And dropping the empty glass with a thunk.
The knights all share a look. One thought ran as a constant, never to doubt Subaru's omnipotent intuition.
It was Ferris who stood first, tail flicking with uneasiness as she wordlessly departed from their booth and made her way towards the front desk. Subaru shakily rose up from his own seat, tailing behind Ferris nervously followed by two tense knights.
Julius opened his mouth as if he wanted to protest something, but went silent as Subaru swiftly passed the barrier separating the front desk and the rest of the restaurant. He'd expected more pushback honestly, but the workers only shuffled out of his path in respect.
He kneeled down against the floor and felt around for a moment.
One of Julius' spirits, the red one, hovered above a certain spot dashing around in circles as if desperately trying to gain his attention. Julius himself perked up at the display and leaned over the counter to watch in curious silence as Subaru worms his fingers under the slightly shifted wood panel. "La?"
It pops off with a click and Subaru can't help but feel a foreboding sense of Deja-vu. A sack of firestones sit neatly in a dug-out crevice, enough to properly blow the restaurant to smithereens. One of the workers standing close by inhales sharply and quickly absconds to warn the other staff as Subaru plucks the firestone sack out of the hole.
All of their collective gazes widen at the firestones pulsing with a dangerous heated glow in Subaru's hand.
"How did you-" Ferris bristles with shock- Before any of them can say a word Reinhard had already pried the firestones from Subaru's grip and thrown himself out of the establishment, leaving only a blur of color left on the sidewalk. "I guess he took care of that then." Julius deadpanned.
"Not done." Subaru shook his head, the gas was purposeful, as if someone had tossed it out into the open with clear objective. He threw a look around the huddled up staff nervously watching him for any further moves.
"The perpetrator must still be inside." He surmises.
"You think?" Julius echoes curiously. "We can lyock up the dyoors to prevent thyem from escaping." Ferris nods in agreement, slinking over to the front doors.
"Three knights. Like a hen in a fox den, the guy must realize that, right?" Subaru kneels down and traces his fingers over the exposed wood panel.
"Then it must be a targeted attack." Julius tacks on, his spirits dashing around madly trying to uncover who the mysterious person could be cloaking themselves in the darkest corners of the restaurant.
"But who would target four knights? Especially one as famous as Reinhard?"
"Alyot of people, nya." Ferris adds with an indifferent shrug. "Nyou'd be surprised."
Subaru casts Ferris a doubtful look. "I'm very surprised, isn't that a death sentence?"
"Coynsidering his kyind and generous nyature, nyot really."
Subaru chews on the inside of his cheek, ready to sling back another rebuttal but he's swiftly quieted by Julius. "Found our guy i believe." Grunting and vaulting over the counter, Julius sends Ferris a firm look.
"Stay here in case something goes wrong Ferris, Subaru you're with me. We're chasing this guy down." He doesn't get any time to object, groaning and tailing behind Julius' billowing cape angrily.
He was not interested in chasing criminals today. But sometimes desperate times did call for equally just as desperate measures, like agreeing to collaborate with Julius. He watches said knight shoulder his way through the back door, tailing behind a cloaked figure high tailing it down the nearest alleyway.
It's not like Julius was particularly slow- That could be attributed to Subaru of all people, but the mysterious enigmatic figure was just that small bit swifter, that tiniest bit more used to their surroundings.
"Stop right there!" Julius bellows as the hem of the figure's cape disappears past the lip of the alleyway.
"Shit." It's a rare occasion that he hears Julius genuinely swear. The knight is huffing, a bit winded, and angry at losing their possible perpetrators' trail so easily. The alleyway forks into two winding paths, giving them equal chance to hit or miss.
Subaru pants and sweats at the idea of having to venture on his own. But it's- It's what he has to do, right? It's what a knight does.
"Take left, i'll take right." Without even a glance down at Subaru, Julius bolts down the left alleyway like a bullet, his command ringing in the air even in his absence.
It's what a knight does. He steels his resolve and jogs down the alleyway opposite of Julius, still winded and panting his speed rarely matches any of the others, maybe except Ferris.
His agility might be subpar, but his tolerance to keep going sure isn't.
It's just walls and cobble as far as the eye can see, the glare of the sun and bustling central at the end signifying that the forked alleyway was about to come to an end. He paused, the cloaked guy hadn't really ran out into public traffic right? That would be counterintuitive, wouldn't it?
Subaru skids to a stop and backtracks. Just cobble and tall walls- Thankfully the guy must've taken the left path then.
He supposes he'll leave it up to Julius then, Julius was always better at fighting anyway.
"The weakest one tails me? How lucky i am."
A raspy voice calls from beyond the darkness of a shadowed corner. Subaru startles and backpedals quickly, readying himself into a sharp battle-ready stance. "Some nerve you have, targeting four knights." His false bravado is shaky.
"More like three. Could barely call you one, what will you do? Kick dust in my eyes?" Laughter bubbles from the stranger's throat. "You wont give me a fight worth remembering, that i am sure of."
"Mind giving me a chance?" Subaru glances around. Nothing. He hadn't even had the bright idea of arming himself. It's not like he expected to be ambushed while having a fun get-together.
"I think that would be a bad choice for you." The man stalks forwards into the meek light, he's wearing a large cloak with the hood pulled over his face and brandishing a dagger in his hand that glints in the meager amount of sunlight, Subaru shivers.
He really did not like daggers.
"I don't have much of a choice here." Raising his fists, Subaru huffs.
The man pauses, mulling over his thoughtful words for a single breathless moment, before speaking with a clear smile in his tone. "You're right about that."
Then he charges.
Subaru wouldn't call himself adept in fighting, especially once paired against someone of Julius' or Wilhelm's caliber, but this stranger seemed uneasy on his feet, enough for Subaru to be able to hit a solid kick and dodge a swipe of his dagger aimed for his throat.
The stranger grunted in frustration as his swipe didn't hit true, instead switching tactics and weaving around a wobbly jab Subaru tries to hit on him. There's a hiss of metal and his blade nicks Subaru's cheek, drawing a line of blood.
As the blade retreats, Subaru leans into the aggressiveness of a fight and tackles into the dagger-wielding stranger with as much force as he can muster, sending them both tumbling to the floor and the stranger groaning.
"Really? So easily? You talk a lot for someone who can't even defend against one of the weakest knights." Subaru proudly boasts as he grabs ahold of the wrist wielding the dagger and pinning it to the ground.
"Don't get ahead of yourself pipsqueak."
Something warm spreads across his abdomen.
Looking down he see's the hilt of another dagger, another blade stuck inside of his own side. He whimpers and his grip on the stranger's wrist slackens enough for him to get quickly overpowered and thrown onto his back.
"Your worst fault is your overconfidence." The stranger spits, rubbing a scuff mark off his cheek.
Then he grins sharp and deadly. "Boasting before checking over your opponent for weapons? Those are things even a novice learns to do." Continuing on his own monologue the stranger pats down Subaru's pockets.
Tears prickle his eyes as the warmth and numbness recedes enough for the stinging pain to explode over his midsection, blood pours from between his fingers as he tries to stop it from leaking and blotching over his tracksuit. The stranger doesn't spare him any sympathy as he picks at his pockets like a crow.
"Nothing. Shit, really expected you to have something... Now i'll have to answer to boss' for messin' it up." The stranger sighs, faded and blurry. "Right right, go softly into the good night why dont'cha."
"Wh-Wait-" Subaru tries to mumble out through bloodstained teeth but the stranger doesn't even regard him with any sense of acknowledgement as he plunges the knife right underneath his ribs inciting a sharp shaky gasp.
He throws his head to the side and coughs weakly as blood pools below him and down his chin. The stranger stands and Subaru can only watch blankly as he disappears into the crowds while the cold numbing chill eats through his limbs.
It's warm and cold at the same time. He can feel the strength leaking from every twitch, every movement, it's fruitless.
Someone finds him he thinks, boots hitting the cobble reach his ears as a familiar white uniform comes into view. There's pressure on his chest he thinks, but he doesn't react to it. He can't really think properly anymore, he feels to delirious to think.
"Subaru-!" The voice fades in and out of recognition as he sluggishly blinks up at the head of red above him. The panic in those eyes. Desperation. "Please hold on- Don't close your-"
Everything blurs and he falls asleep.
His knee hits the table with a loud bang and he steadies his breathing before the subsequent freakout could occur. A hand hovers over his side protectively, he presses it against the phantom wound still stinging.
Julius gives him a look, a look that conveys sharply that he knows Subaru's put off by something but unwilling to be vocal about it. So instead of saying anything, he rises out of his seat and marches over towards the front desk to the sounds of his friends calling his name out of confusion.
He replays the same events over in his mind like a broken record player- Should he go fourth with repeating the same thing? Should he change his approach? Either way, he needs to minimize the causalities.
Without the other knights by his side, one of the employees actually protests this time as he shoulders past and kneels down on the floor feeling around where La had warned him previously.
Firestones.
It goes similarly to last time, Reinhard pushes forwards and grabs the firestones before shooting off somewhere where the explosion wouldn't prove fatal to a large population of people. He gets skeptical glances from Ferris and Julius who try to talk- But Subaru needs to find the culprit slinking around the establishment like a snake so he barks an order that is hesitantly fulfilled.
Of course nothing is easy.
Not for him at least.
The culprit flees, stumbling over cobble with Subaru and Julius hot on his heels. This time he pours more effort into chasing the guy, it doesn't work.
Julius pants and looks between the two alleys. "I'll take right, you-" He's abruptly cut off as Subaru grabs his arm and drags him unceremoniously into the left alleyway without saying a word.
"Subaru-! What are you doing?" He tries to shake the other knight off his arm but Subaru is latched on and uncaring of Julius' squirming.
"Subaru!" He tries to worm his hand out of Subaru's grip. It doesn't work as Subaru just changes tactics and begins latching onto his cape instead as if he's pulling the knight along on some leash.
Julius opens his mouth to loudly object being pushed and pulled around but one of his spirits swarm his face, flickering and flying about, clearly panicked.
It all goes so fast from there, Julius dodges to the side and the dagger nicks his cape, ripping a hole in the fabric and causing Subaru to flail backwards, watching the dagger imbed itself into the ground.
"Haah, should've guessed." The cloaked figure groans.
Julius' attitude immediately drains as he positions himself in front of Subaru protectively. "Spirit knight, of course. No use sneaking up on you." The man shakes his head.
"At least the Sword Saint didn't tag along." He continues to drawl.
"I'll have to detain you for suspicions of plotting mass murder and attempted murder of a knight. Resist and i'll have to use appropriate force." Julius bellows out grimly, readying his sword from it's sheath.
The stranger prances backwards and holds up two hands in a placating gesture. "Woah, woah. Don't wanna get bloody now, do we? Maybe we can clear up this misunderstanding." He waves his hands. "I'm unarmed now."
Julius kicks the dagger farther away with the sole of his boot without tearing his eyes away from the man. "He's got another." Subaru helpfully whispers.
The man doesn't falter as Julius gestures for him to reveal the second blade, slowly flourishing it from the innards of his cloak as if he's preforming a magic trick.
"Wha-hey! Maybe i underestimated your intuition little man." The stranger barks out a laugh, tossing the blade onto the ground playfully.
"Are you surrendering?" Julius' grip on the handle of his sword tightens, one hand resting on the pommel while the other lower down to prepare for an arching swing. The stranger hums musically, clearly not taking the situation seriously. "Maybe, ask your little friend."
"He wont surrender." Subaru inputs as his hand ghosts over the lingering phantoms of wounds he'd been afflicted with last go-around.
"Intuition? Or just reading the room?" A glint of metal. "I guess we'll never know."
He's never doubted Julius' capabilities in a fight. So he doesn't doubt them now. Julius easily blocks the third dagger aimed his way and dances around the barrage of sloppy swings and thrusts as if he's just playing on a whole different league. It's like watching a cat play around with a beaten mouse before devouring it, it's barely a contest.
The stranger stumbles forward and Julius takes the chance to ram the pommel of his sword into the man's chest, knocking the air out of the guy and tossing him to the floor like a ragdoll. Subaru watches disturbed as the man writhes, winded, trying to regain his composure while Julius looms over him like some sort of grimdark executioner.
"Do you have anything to tie him up with?" Julius calls over his shoulder at Subaru.
"No? I don't exactly carry handcuffs around with me." He shrugs.
"Hm. Your... Suit? Will do." He extends his hand expectantly.
Subaru blanks. He blinks once, twice, before shaking his head in firm disagreement. "My tracksuit?"
"I can tie his hands with your 'tracksuit', yes."
"Why not your fucked up cape? Why my tracksuit?" He cries in outrage, the man underneath Julius' boot coughs a few shaky insults.
"Does it matter?" Julius raises a single perfectly sculpted brow. "Yes! Favoritism!"
"Favoritism of clothes? My Od Subaru-" He's quickly shut up as Subaru tosses the jacket right in his face out of anger. "Thank you." He deadpans as he kneels down to tie the stranger up.
"It wont matter. You caught me here- But that means nothing." The stranger coughs and spits out, venom present in his voice. Julius doesn't spare him any attention as he yanks the hood off.
It's... Not who Subaru expected. Some scruffy middle aged man with a barely visible five o'clock shadow and wild eyes, unruly hair and a mean looking scar down the middle of his face twisted into a scowl.
"Od you're a sorry sight. Maybe the hood was cosmetic after all." Subaru shrugs teasingly. "Fuck you." The man bites out in retaliation.
"Who are you with?" Julius demands, pressing the heel of his boot into the man's sternum. The guy squirms and hisses, "Your mother!"
Subaru slaps his hands over his mouth to try and stifle the laugh that threatens to bubble up. He'd rather not get kicked in the face by Julius again.
"Are there more?" He continues the interrogation, putting more pressure by digging his heel sharply into the man's ribs. Julius frowns as the man doesn't say anything coherent, only mumbling insults.
"I'll take him in for questioning, let's reconvene with Reinhard and Ferris." The knight shakes his head in disappointment as he hauls the criminal up to his feet.
"Wait a second." He saddles up to the criminal and begins to pat him down, clearly searching for something. Julius watches him with silent intrigue as Subaru pulls out a familiar metallic cylinder from the inside of the man's cloak, breathing out a sigh of pure relief.
"What's that?" Julius inquires but before Subaru can answer, the man detained in Julius' grip gives a shaky manic laugh.
"Open the canister, it's maaagic." He drawls.
"It's gas." Subaru answers plainly.
"Yes. And i'll let you in on a little secret." The man swings his head to face Subaru, manic glee glimmering in his eyes as he regards Subaru with morbid curiosity. "That one is empty."
There's... No way? Right?
Subaru raises a hand to unscrew the canister but stops- This could just be a trick. But if it's not- And the canister is actually empty, then where is the real canister? Had they been chasing the wrong guy? The wrong lead? Was it a fake out?
"Oh, did your intuition not tell you that?" Static fills his ears as he hesitates on opening the canister.
"It's quite the formula, just simple exposure blisters your skin, burns your eyes, sizzles your lungs. I wonder how many people in that little cafe know how to avoid gas? Do you wonder that too, finest of knights?"
"Subaru?" Julius' breath hitches at the thought.
He licks his lips and pockets the canister. "We need to go back. Now."
"Surmised that much." Julius grimaces and they begin rushing back towards the restaurant they had left, the man in Julius' hand digging his heels into the ground preventing Julius from going any faster.
After a few vain attempts at dragging the man forwards Julius casts a desperate look at Subaru. "Just go- I'll catch up."
That's all the encouragement he needs. Subaru bolts down the alleyway back towards the restaurant with his heart pounding in his ears, doom prickling at his fingertips. He'd fail again, and again, and again, and again.
Because he wasn't quick enough, smart enough, strong enough.
Because he didn't think.
The screaming is what he hears when he nears. The deafening screaming, the sound of yelling, the smell of burning.
He takes a trembling step closer from the sidewalk towards the crumbling remains still alive and ablaze. "I thought- I thought we removed...-"
Shaking his head he steels his determined resolve and pushes past the throngs of people standing idly by gawking at the scene- He pushes past and throws his hand up to shield his face from the jumping embers as he ducks into the burning building filled with screaming.
The outside was chilly, the sidewalk was warm, but nothing compared to the blazing inferno of heat that was the inside of the building. Sweat pooled above his brow as he heaved out labored breaths.
It doesn't take long to find Ferris limping towards the exit with an unconscious man over their shoulder, wobbling with every step at the weight difference. Subaru pushes forwards through the fire and winds the stranger's other arm around his shoulder to help Ferris- He gets a grateful look in return.
With their combined effort they manage to pull an unconscious man to safety. Once the heat dissipates all three of them collapse onto the sidewalk and Ferris begins healing the man still breathing shallowly.
"Thank you." Ferris mumbles, detached.
Subaru shakes his head and blinks the burning from his eyes before standing up again, intending on going back in. He's stopped as Ferris grabs his pant leg.
"Don't go back in there." She whispers hoarsely, face full of scuff and ash marks, shining with sweat from lugging around a cumbersome weight on her back.
"I have to." Subaru pleads.
"No you don't." Ferris fires back. It's not enough of a reason, not wanting to couldn't compare to the needs. He needs to save the people he's failed to his own inept nature.
He doesn't grace them with another word, simply trudging back into the burning building listening to the hissing commands Ferris barks after his departure.
There has to be someone he can save, something he could do.
A young child is laying sideways next to the counter, her arm pinned underneath a wooden beam as she sobs and wails in anguish. Subaru shakes the dizziness from his head and pulls his body closer.
"Hey- Hey. I'm here..." He murmurs as softly as he can over the roaring fire. The little girl shakes her head, face coated in snot soot and tears.
"Let's get this thing off ya', yeah." Subaru wraps his arms around the beam, trying to lift it with all his might and silently cheering in victory once it lifts from the ground even just a meager amount.
He pants and strains his legs, pulling as hard as he can. "Pull your arm out!" The little girl wails louder and her arm twitches, bloody bruised and broken she manages to slowly painstakingly pull it to herself from underneath the beam.
After she finally retracts her arm he lets the beam go as a spike of pain shoots up his back. It falls with a thud loosening more ash and cinder from the ceiling that sparks. "It's okay-..." He heaves out, chest struggling to expand with the ash and strain. He falls onto his shaking knees and retches.
"Okay... Okay... We gotta get out, you'know?" He deliriously monologues, trembling arms trying to drag himself closer to the injured girl curled in on herself against the counter. "C'mon... The exit is right there."
He rips the hem of his shirt apart and helps the little girl hold it to her mouth so she wouldn't be breathing in the smoke. Blinking the soot from his eyes he stands on shaking legs and hoists the little girl onto his back before trekking back towards the exit. Flames licked his face with every step deeper into the blaze.
"Almost there." He wheezes out a ragged cough.
The exit is right there- Right there- A blazing beam falls in front of him knocking him back and away from the exit, it sparks and crackles as fire eats the floor in front of his shoes.
"No-! No-No-" The girl on his back screams and sobs from being jostled around, her eyes screwed tightly shut.
"It'll be alright-" Subaru slips her off his back trying to be as careful as possible with her very bloody and broken arm.
Looking around, nothing but fire.
"Okay. Okay." His chest tightens and he winds his arms around the girl, pulling her closer and shielding her from the spitting embers.
He's have to try again. And again. However many tries it took.
However many attempts.
Because that was his job, to die and try again, to find every avenue, every path, to map out the least amount of casualties.
"You'll be alright." Something cracks behind him and there's a hand on his shoulder, it moves and he realizes he's being picked up.
"Reinhard-?" His shaky voice chokes out, smog and soot coating his throat.
"Yes Subaru, you did well." The familiar calming voice calls out, gently raising him and moving out of the building with clear precision. "Just hang on for a bit." The mere wave of his hand snuffs the flames out instantly.
"I tried-" His chest stutters with the vain attempt in breathing as he feels Reinhard gently lower him down somewhere. "Don't worry, just focus on breathing alright?"
Warmth unlike the blazing inferno of the building floods his chest like a warm bath and he immediately knows this is the telltale feeling of Ferris' healing. It mends the scarring in his throat and lungs and breathes life into his exhausted body.
Opening his eyes he's met with Ferris' face twisted up into a tight grimace, his eyes shine with clear disappointment and a bone deep worry as she continues healing him.
"I told you not to go back in." She says plainly, ears pinned as Subaru sluggishly sits up.
"I had to." He blinks, coughing away the remnants of soot from his throat.
"Od! That was too close." Julius heaves out standing beside Reinhard, dusting his uniform from the smoke clinging to the hems.
Subaru looks around blearily, people laying still or sobbing on the sidewalk. "What about the-" He mumbles out as his gaze falls onto the little girl wailing into her mother's side, broken arm cradled between them.
"I was evacuating civillians when I found you curled up protecting her." Reinhard reveals slowly as if he's consoling a lost animal. "As admirable as that is- Subaru, you shouldn't be that quick to cast your own life away."
Reinhard's uniform makes a shuffling sound as he kneels beside him against the sidewalk. "I understand as a knight you might have a duty to the populace but if you kept looking you would've found a way out, I am sure. The situation wasn't hopeless, not hopeless enough to warrant putting your life on the line."
"It was a rash decision. Stupid, I know." He bites out a bit too harshly than he intended it. A flash of indescribable hurt flashes on Reinhard's ever stoic face before he steels it. "Sorry, Ill keep that in mind yeah?"
The apology brings a brittle smile out of Reinhard that's accompanied by Subaru coughing his lungs out from the remaining soot still in his system impairing his ability to speak for long. He places a hand on Subaru's back.
"The- The-" Subaru covers his mouth with every shaky cough, Julius perks up as if he already knows the question about to be posed to him. "The culprit? Turns out there where two."
His eyes widen. "I went back to check on the other alleyway and I found another suspicious cloaked figure loitering about. They panicked, babbled something, then I detained them. "
"They also had one of these." Julius reveals another canister from his pocket.
"What a joke. That means all my toiling was for naught, I should've just spent that time staying alive then."
That gets a good natured chuckle out of Julius. "Your toiling was greatly appreciated. And I believe many can agree with that statement." He gestures to the crowd flanking them.
Indeed, a bunch of the victims including staff where keeping a close eye on the four knights, the little girl especially. Her eyes shone with wonder and gratitude as she buried her face into her mother's shoulder seeking comfort.
"Id rather not that statement come from you to be fair." Subaru bemoans, unable to not feel at least a little happy over how well it had played out. Rocky, but well in the end.
"But then, the second set of firestones? " He wonders aloud, broken by Reinhard clearing his throat. "While I was evacuating I noticed the epicenter of the blast was in the break room. Perhaps a last resort?"
"I guess these losers where really hellbent on killing us. I mean, two sets of firestones? Seems overkill."
Reinhard hides a grimace. "I tried to interrogate them, the guy we captured seems to be up for a few humorous quips. The other one? Went dead silent." Julius supplies with an exhausted sigh.
Subaru looks over at the carnage left behind.
"It was supposed to be our day off."
Ferris mewls dejectedly.