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Natsuki Subaru was weird. Black hair, a mean stare, a habit of spouting nonsense, and he could never get food names right.
He hailed from a place that taught him all sorts of peculiar skills—like reading the stars and writing in some bizarre alphabet. When Ram first saw those squiggles, she thought Barusu had just made them up himself. But maybe she'd been wrong. Maybe he came from some secret village, too.
Actually, Natsuki Subaru wasn't even human. It was pretty obvious and explained a lot of stuff. Like, for example, that creeping feeling you got if you stared at his face too long, as if something was wrong in a way you couldn't understand.
Or why he was hairy in places people usually aren't, and why he had nipples despite being a guy. Rem thought both were very cute, though. Not that Subaru-kun agreed—when she mentioned it, he turned completely red, mumbled something about "perfect anime people," and, sadly, banned her from ever peeking on him again.
It didn't explain why his gates were pathetically weak, though. Well, maybe he was just unlucky.
He also was a museum of medical anomalies. The list was long and weird: unerupted extra teeth, a couple of completely useless muscles, a pointless little pouch off his intestines, a laryngeal nerve that took a scenic detour down into his chest before looping back up (why?!), and a lower spine that looked suspiciously like the start of a tail. And it wasn't even all!
When Ferris treated him after the duel, his eyebrows just kept rising higher and higher. He had never seen anything like it.
But Subaru was strange not only inside but outside, too.
Little bumps popped up all over his skin in the chill, some of his teeth looked a little too sharp, and his danger sense was full of holes—though you could let that last one slide due to plain lack of experience or general recklessness.
————
Lately, Subaru was on edge. One day Anastasia had dropped by the mansion for a "friendly visit," along with Julius, of all people. Ever since, everyone had been acting weird. And the worst part? They were trying to hide it. Trying was the key word.
Strange but casually asked questions, "secret" looks traded between Emilia and Garfiel, Otto facepalming when he thought no one was looking, Ram watching it all with a smirk, Petra and Frederica holding straight faces but clearly involved too… and of course, Anastasia and Julius, whose arrival had started the whole mess.
And no, it wasn't paranoia if something was indeed wrong. For example, last night, on a trip to the bathroom, he'd spotted Otto sneaking down the hall. Naturally, as a good friend, Subaru tailed him on the tips of his toes—still deciding whether it was for a prank or to stop possible overwork. But then Otto passed right past his office and slipped into some random room. Subaru didn't follow—nature's call was too urgent—but that room stuck in his mind for some reason.
The next morning, curiosity got the better of him. He headed for the mystery room, only for Frederica to materialize out of nowhere, telling him Lady Beatrice needed him right now. True enough—Beatrice was in urgent need of cuddles.
He tried again later. The door was locked. Ram caught him hypnotizing the handle and accused him of trying to crack the lock—unfair, he hadn't even touched it yet!
Third attempt. Roswaal found him lurking and cheerfully asked why he was so fascinated by the storage room for his custom boots, which he, of course, wouldn't be showing off.
Oh, something was up, all right. Roswaal's grin was a dead giveaway. A huge, flashing, neon sign of a giveaway.
"Hey, what's happening, Ros-chi?" Subaru pressed seriously. Sure, Roswaal wasn't an active threat anymore, but he was still Roswaal.
The clown mage just smiled wider and winked.
"Why not find out for yourseeelf~?"
Fourth try. Petra reminded him he was late for training with Clind.
"You lack focus. A reprimand." Clind adjusted his monocle, utterly unruffled by Subaru's distraction.
They usually trained with Beatrice, but Clind had recently declared their combo moves "sufficiently polished," while their individual skills—read: Subaru's—needed "serious work." Beatrice, being a Great Spirit, got a pass. Though they both wanted to argue they'd always fight together… But they weren't idiots. On a real battlefield, anything could happen.
"Ugh, I know, I'm distracted today, sorry… You're not gonna tell me anything either, are you?"
"I have no notion of what you mean. Perplexity."
"C'mon, I can see the fuss! I don't like being the only one excluded! Especially when Roswaal is involved!"
"You are exhibiting signs of paranoia. Concern."
Subaru sighed, shoulders slumping. Clind, quirks aside, was the perfect butler. If he was told to keep a secret, it stayed secret.
It didn't stop Subaru, of course.
He didn't meet anyone after finishing the training. It was as if everyone had forgotten to track time and was still busy with their secret things.
Perfect.
He stood under the windows of The Room. They were made of some fancy dark glass with stained patterns—impossible to see through without pressing right against it.
The window was high, but Subaru hadn't been training for nothing. A precise whip-crack, a hook on the ornate wall molding—thank you, Roswaal, for the flashy architecture—and he had a rope. He climbed up, gymnast-style, grabbed the ledge, and strained to listen. Nothing. Soundproofed, maybe?
He hauled himself up to peek inside.
What he saw could only be described as a silent, furious debate. The kind that only avoids devolving into chair-throwing due to everyone's good enough manners.
Almost everyone from Emilia's camp was there, plus Anastasia and Julius, all gesturing intensely. But thanks to Roswaal's magic, Subaru couldn't hear a word. Oh right, he remembered now—the "soundproof conference room." Of course, damn it.
They'd gathered like this days ago, Emilia calling the meeting. And they still hadn't cracked the mystery of Natsuki Subaru.
Subaru rarely spoke of home, and when he did, it was with a strange, wistful smile. Sometimes Emilia saw an expression on his face that mirrored her own when she thought of Elior—not just the loneliness and cold, but also the sunlight through leaves and smiles.
Subaru was always there for her. She wanted to be there for him, too.
She wanted to give her knight something from his homeland—like making a familiar meal or celebrate one of his holidays… Asking him directly would've been easy, but she wanted it to be a surprise.
But the more she thought about it, the more impossible it seemed.
She had no idea what Subaru's home was. She didn't even know what he was, to try to start from that.
Since the Witch Cult attack, Emilia had been writing to Anastasia. Once, while the merchant talked about the difficulty of hiding birthday party preparations from the triplets, Emilia mentioned her own problem…
Needless to say, Anastasia was also very interested in a person who had no records of existing before the Royal Selection, was generally odd, and capable in his own way to the point of defeating historical-level threats.
Subaru stared, stunned, at an entire wall covered in a conspiracy board. Right in the center was… him? Yep, that was definitely him, drawn in Emilia-tan's hand.
So cute! I should frame that and put it on the fridge—well, fantasy magic type of fridge! No, wait, Subaru, focus!
He pressed his face and hands against the glass, trying to make out the board.
From his clumsy but adorable portrait sprawled a web of colored strings, connecting countless notes, sketches, and diagrams—text too small to read from here.
He leaned in so close his breath fogged the glass. With all his weight pressed against it, he really shouldn't have been surprised by the ominous creak.
As if in slow motion, the window swung inward, and Subaru tumbled into the room like a ball.
Silence.
He looked up from the floor at the gathered crowd. They looked down at him.
Subaru's eyes darted to the board. Oh. There was a whole list of things he'd mentioned like once. And they, apparently, weren't normal if you were born in this world. Geez, who knew wisdom teeth could cause trouble before they even erupted?
"Ah."
So that was it. They were trying to figure him out. Subaru squinted, getting to his feet and scanning the theories about his "mysterious nature."
Sentient monkey—ah, that's Ram's handwriting. Wow, she has no idea how right she is. He spotted a few other gems in the paper clutter. Genetic mutation… Hoshin… Life-creation experiment… Oh, Dragon in a human form! Garf, I'm not that cool! Wait, and this one…
"…A fallen star?" He tilted his head at a note in an obscenely neat, looping script.
"…They say spirits can become stars sometimes. So, if you can become a star… maybe a star can become someone too. Probably," Julius said quietly, voicing an idea that came up after the more sane ones were thrown out.
Subaru glanced at Julius in his stupid glasses, then stared at the ceiling and burst out laughing.
"Ahahahaha! And here I was so worried!" He clutched his stomach, laughing harder. "AHAHA, I thought we had some huge problem or something, pffft, but here's… A star!" He laughed until tears streamed down his face, wiping them away.
He'd worried for nothing. No one was in danger. That clown didn't plan anything sinister. The bastard was just fucking with him and having fun!
"I'm sorry, Subaru—" Emilia bowed her head, about to say more, but Subaru cut her off, waving his hands.
"It's fine, Emilia-tan! You'll ruin your beautiful face frowning like that!" He turned back to the board. "I get why, but wow. Am I really that interesting?"
He'd meant it as a joke, but the faces looking back were dead serious.
"Guys?"
"…Captain," Garf stepped forward, starting the talk that had been brewing. "We get that hidin' stuff's probably a habit for ya… but… I just wanna say, you can trust us." Garf clapped his fists together with his familiar confident grin. "None can lift the Quain Stone alone!"
"Yes, Natsuki-san, please remember you're not alone anymore," Otto added, though he'd look more convincing without the dark circles and messy hair.
"Ya needn't speak in my presence, though I would be honored by such trust, Natsuki-kun," Anastasia paused briefly. "If ya do share, it won't leave this room. Ya have my word." Coming from Anastasia Hoshin, that meant a lot. Subaru knew that promise would be kept, no matter what.
"Don't worry about your fragile ego, Barusu. No one would be surprised if you turned out to be a sentient mold colony," Ram said with her usual sharpness, arms crossed, but Subaru could tell—in her own Ram way—she was trying to be supportive.
Beatrice took his hand. He hadn't even noticed her approach. He squeezed back, of course.
Emilia—his beautiful angel—gave him an encouraging smile. So did, ugh, Julius.
…He was so lucky to have met them all.
"Ah… now I almost feel bad for letting you all down… I'm just a human, you know?" Before anyone could object, he continued. "But I'm a human from beyond the Great Waterfall, so I guess I really am a bit of a weirdo."
Subaru had never seen so many jaws drop at once.
"…WHAT?!" The mansion shook from the chorus of voices. And in his cabinet, Roswaal—who hadn't been allowed to join—smirked.