Scandinavia Peperoncino
I feel myself frown as I gaze around Chaldea's command room, and it really takes all I've got not to sigh outright. The blue light of Chaldeas, the vast "Model" of Earth created by Marisbury Animusphere, shines on my face as I stare at it, and I can already feel my poor skin complaining from it. That "other world" isn't the direct reason for my annoyance, though - that role goes to the flock of disgusting familiars that Hieda-no-Are has left to patrol the area.
Finally, I shrug, and leave the command room behind, heading to my room. It's not like I was lying about retrieving my makeup, I just wanted to check the situation with Chaldeas first.
In the usual way, I glide into my room, feeling that sigh I withheld earlier leave my lips as I see the small coating of dust my poor tables have acquired. "I guess it has been a couple months."
Is dust beautiful in its own right? A buddha might be able to think that, but I killed the me who became one a little bit ago. I'm a little too human to appreciate the dust, and so as I approach my bedside mirror, I wipe it away.
"Backing off was the right call," says Daybit, reflected in its surface. "The root of your existence is a figment of the Wooden Halo, so direct conflict with Hieda-no-Are is bad."
He's probably on to me, though. I can't think of another reason he'd keep that room so guarded.
"His perspective is a little like mine, though he's limited to humanity in scope," Daybit says. "He probably knew right from the start, or as good as that. It's not a problem if he doesn't move."
There's that charming Daybit decisiveness! Still, that leaves us stuck playing along for now…
"There's nothing wrong with that. We need the Watchtower to collapse, even if it doesn't really matter whether the Chaldea staff are saved or not."
Right. After all, the important part is getting the other four members of the A Team to pass through Tezcatlipoca's underworld.
Daybit closes his eyes thoughtfully for a few moments. "If I was in your place, I'd collapse the Tower without clearing the trials, but for you it's probably better to clear them. Just get ready for things to get messy afterwards." He is me, though. In a manner of speaking.
"As for Subaru, I've got his clairvoyance worked out to two or three possibilities, but the answer to all of them is the same. What you should do is-"
***
Arima Miyako
I'm underwater, for a moment. Somewhere dark, and unbearably cold. I thrash in cold, dark waters, kicking my feet, and finally I breach the surface, gasping for breath - and tumble out onto a carpeted floor.
"Wha-!?" I yelp as I'm shunted out completely, the solid surface behind me closing as I fall out of - is that a flatscreen TV?
A sound of compacting ice has me instinctively shoot to my feet, where I see crystals of ice floating in the air, about to fly at me with a single gesture from-
"Rem-san?" I blurt. I'm not sure how I expected to exit the underworld, but being dumped out in front of this girl I've barely spoken with wasn't anywhere near my list of expectations. Couldn't it have been Su-kun…?
The silver-haired beauty blinks, lowering her hand as her spell dissipates. Incidentally, her eyes look a little puffed up, and her face is red. "Miyako-chan? Why…?" Ah, I guess I should probably explain the whole underworld situation- "...Why are your clothes missing?"
…Wow, I'm suddenly glad it wasn't Su-kun.
"I'll tear that brat to pieces," I mutter reflexively as I cover myself.
***
"...Based on that, it seems like my clothes got destroyed when I was killed," I conclude as I tug on the chest area of the sweater Rem pulled out of one of a few wardrobes in this… bedroom/tearoom combo I've emerged in. "Or at least, they're probably a bloody mess. This sweater is way too big, by the way." The tank top and pajama shorts she had me wear under it fit well enough, though.
"Miyako-chan's nonchalance is a bit…" Su-kun's apparent not-girlfriend (no, seriously, a girl this pretty? Is that guy crazy?) says as she wraps a ribbon around me briefly, then dives back into the closet to root around in it.
"Well… It was scary, but it seems like it's all worked out, for now?" I say. I'm not really sure if I mean that, to be honest - my nerves are still a little frayed. Maybe that's why I'm babbling so much.
"Is it that simple for you?" She asks as she pulls out a light blue blouse, and folds the sides in a practiced manner before pulling a needle and thread from somewhere. " ...No, Subaru-kun's sensitivity to danger is also very weak. Is that your culture in your home country, or…?"
"Historically, maybe?" There's such a thing as the Japanese Spirit, after all. "Su-kun's pretty stand-out, though," I reply, blinking a few times as I see her start hemming the shirt. "Um, I don't think light colors look very good on me…"
"Miyako-chan is a very pretty girl, so Rem believes just about any color will look good on her." She suddenly comes out swinging!?
"O-oh…" I mumble. "Um, still, these clothes - is it really okay-?"
"Nobody has ever worn those clothes, so it's fine," Rem says with a strange vindictiveness. "Rem isn't sure why Manaka-san owns anything formal, let alone that scandalous underwear in the lower drawer, considering all that she ever wears is baggy T-shirts and sweatpants."
-Hang on! "Wait, why can't I just borrow those…?"
"Miyako-chan…" She looks back at me - what's with that look of deep sorrow!? "Even though Rem is setting her pride as a maid on the line to prepare a proper outfit by hand, you'd prefer to dress like that unmarried woman in her late thirties who spends all day playing Otome games and complaining that princes aren't real?"
"When you say it like that, no." Why is someone like that even here at Chaldea, though!?
"Mm! Then please wait just a moment. It won't be more than ten minutes," She says with a smile.
Ten minutes, huh. "In that case… will you tell me about your adventures with Su-kun? He dodged the question before."
"Ah…" She pauses her sewing for a moment, glancing at me. "Miyako-chan… are you also a rival for Subaru-kun, then?"
"Eh!?" My heart skips a beat. No, no, don't imagine the happiness of seeing him show up in the underworld earlier! "Th-that enemy of women? Of course not!" I remember the childhood marriage promise incident! There's no way I'd fall into the trap of having feelings for that guy at this point! "The one I love is-" I cut myself off before I can say it. "Is…"
I see a stern frown cross the silver-haired girl's face. No! No, that's not what I mean, it's just embarrassing! I know who I like, it's always been the same person! It's just embarrassing to admit. B-but, I don't want Rem-san to hate me! And so, and so…!
"I- I love Onii-chan!" I finally blurt out. The words somehow feel wrong as they leave my lips. Something spoken, that I can't take back, and so this long-hidden love is somehow polluted. And yet, more words escape my mouth, unbidden. "W-what's wrong with that? You heard Recorder, we're not even blood related, so it's fine! I-it's fine, right? There's a bit of an age gap, but… but you're from a medieval world so that shouldn't matter to you, so-!"
Her eyes are wide. Not in horror, or accusation, just normal surprise. And yet, I can't help but feel condemned.
It's wrong. I know it's wrong. It's something perverse, and every word I speak further perverts it, somehow. This love - even calling it love is wrong - it was something that was meant to slowly die and be forgotten. But I grew up wrong. I learned how to be a person wrong, and now only those things I can cling to from childhood still remain.
"I… I…" I mumble, wrapping one of the room's many blankets tighter around me. I remember that distorted man, apparently my Onii-chan's other half. I remember that Onii-chan abandoned me, not because he was forced, but out of some strange compulsion to kill a Vampire named Yumizuka. "I do… love Onii-chan. Those feelings, that I held all this time… they're love, right?"
"Miyako-chan…" Rem-san says, and then she dips her head into an apologetic bow. "I'm sorry. I should have been more sensitive."
"N-no, it's…" It's not fine. Nothing is fine. Six years of heartbreak are finally crashing down on me, the dam finally cracking open by a single admission. "It's…!"
Rem-san closes her eyes, seeming to steady herself - then she speaks, her tone making it clear that she is quoting someone else. "'This is the place where girls in trouble need not hide what is in their hearts. This is a sanctuary. This is the [Chaldea Spurned Women Support Group]. It's not a coincidence you came here.' - is what Manaka-san would say, right now. So, Miyako-chan, it's okay to cry here."
Finally, the dam bursts, and I cry. "It's not fair..!"
A silver-haired girl pulls me into a comforting hug, as I let tears long overdue roll down my cheeks.
***
Natsuki Subaru
"Seriously, if it turns out that there was some kind of problem with getting her out of the underworld, I'm gonna beat the crap out of you," I mumble as Recorder and I return to the dining hall.
"Leave the boorish intrusiveness to my Master and my Records," Recorder retorts. "Arima Miyako emerged close to Rem's location; they will likely rejoin us a short time after Romani arrives."
I open the cafeteria door-
"Masteeeeeer!"
-and launch into my best dodge roll to avoid [Hell's Snipe (Stupid)]. It's futile, though, and Shaula falls upon me with pinpoint accuracy. "Get off, stupid! Hey, Recorder, give me a hand here!"
He, of course, just steps past me and claims a seat at the table. This freaking guy, man…
Several more minutes of futile struggle to break free of Shaula's deadly grip(full-body hug) pass, during which Romani, Gogh, and Pepe all arrive, and all fail to give me any assistance whatsoever.
"By the way, Subaru-kun, where did those clothes come from…?" Romani asks. "For that matter, why are you wearing them instead of your Mystic Code."
"These are Master's normal clothes, though?" Shaula says. "Well, mostly normal. I still gotta ruuuub my scent all over 'em, then they'll be juuuust right!"
"You really don't!" I groan, continuing my futile effort to pry her off. "Come on, Romani, give me a hand here!"
Eventually she gets bored and releases me, and it's as I'm rising to my now-asleep feet that Rem enters hand in hand with Miyako, who seems like she went through another costume change to a ponytail, blouse, and skirt combo.
"...Is that going to be okay? You do a lot of high kicks, Micchan," I ask.
"I'm wearing shorts too, obviously," she replies with a frown.
…Rem probably isn't, I realize suddenly, and my eyes involuntarily flick towards the short skirt of the Chaldea uniform she's wearing. Ah, this is really bad for my heart.
By the way, when did those two hit it off so well? I guess Rem must have helped with the fitting for that new outfit, unless Wallachia came back to life specifically to drop new clothes on them too.
"I see no reason to hunt down Yu Mei Ren or Xiang Yu at this point, and so that marks the whole of our combat force present and accounted for," Recorder interrupts my thought. "Let us discuss the plan going forward."
Intermission: End