Re:Zero: Emilia Camp Short Stories - Chapter 1

Emilia’s First Date

The day of their promised date began with a morning blessed with a clear, cloudless sky.

“I feel like a braid definitely looks best on you these days, but it’s regrettable that I have to show it to Subaru. As for your clothes, I suppose it would be best to stick with the white theme. We’ll add a highlight with your hair accessories, and then, after that…”

Floating around in a hurry before the silver-haired girl sitting on the bed― Before Emilia was the cat spirit she had formed a contract with, Puck.

As she watched the gray furball stress himself out, Emilia placed a finger on her cheek.

“I don’t think you have to worry about it that much, it’d probably be fine if we just went with the usual…”

“No way! Forget about your partner, this is your first date. You absolutely have to be the cutest in the world!”

“Gosh, you’re making such a big deal of it.”

Puck’s fighting spirit seemed to be blazing for some reason, Emilia stealthily sighed so he wouldn’t see it.

Acting as her foster parent, the cat spirit who was essentially her family had been in this state since last night. At this rate, the preparations alone would exhaust her before she even took a step outside. ― Even though she was supposed to go on a ‘date’ with Subaru today.

“Listen closely, Lia. On today’s outing, Subaru might try to approach you to hold your hand or something of the sort, but you definitely must not allow that. Don’t get caught up in the flow of things, no matter what. The most important traits in a woman are modesty, shyness, and just a little bit of submissiveness. I’m always telling you this, so I’m sure you understand.”

“Okay, I get it already, jeez. If you’re that worried, you might as well come along.”

“I want to respect his courage as a man. There’s no way I could do something so tactless.”

“But then your words and actions are completely contradicting each other…”

“My feelings as a male wanting to support him and my feelings as a parent wanting to forbid this are battling it out within me… Hngh, Lia, you’d better go while I can still hold myself back…!”

“Right, right.”

Puck’s theatrics as he made his jokes were probably due to Subaru’s bad influence.

She certainly felt like he was already this way to begin with, but she also thought he had gotten even worse about it now.

Quickly finishing up her personal grooming, Emilia beckoned Puck over to her with her hand. Puck readily responded to her call and perched on her shoulder, after which he started massaging her cheek with his paws in a fancy manner.

“Alright then, Lia. I’ll be sleeping in my Yorishiro, but if Subaru tries to do anything that strays from the path of decency, be sure to call me out.”

“Come on, you don’t have to worry about that sort of thing. Alright, nighty night. Take it easy.”

As Puck saw a giggling Emilia off, his body dissolved into particles of light. The faint light was then absorbed into the crystal on her chest, and the noisy cat watching over her fell silent.

Therefore, Emilia flicked the crystal with her finger after which she jauntily walked out of the room.

Even Emilia understood that her heart somehow felt stimulated as if it was expecting something.

2

“Did I keep you waiting?”

“No, I’ve only just gotten here myself.”

Standing before the tree they had decided to meet at, Subaru responded like so to Emilia who had just linked up with him.

Emilia nodded at his response, and then turned back to the mansion as she continued,

“You said you wanted to meet outside the mansion, and say that stuff we just said… Can I ask if there was any particular meaning to that?”

“They both seem rather fitting for a date, don’t you think! Leaving the mansion together wouldn’t feel very much like a date, and when you meet outside the sort of conversation we just had is an absolute necessity.”

It seemed like he had arrived much earlier than her, and used a twig or something to draw several pictures of Puck in order to kill time under this tree.

Seeing this, it seemed to her that at the very least his statement that he had only just gotten here himself was a complete lie.

“Hmm, so that’s how it is. I really don’t know anything about this sort of thing.”

“By the way, I would still reply ‘I’ve only just gotten here myself’ even if you were super late, it’s a sign of my noble manly heart.”

“But wouldn’t that mean you were reeeeally late too….”

“There’s certain things you shouldn’t point out even if you notice, aren’t there?!”

This seemed to be an obligatory exchange. Subaru lectured her about its importance as she accompanied him, and when he was done he placed his hand on his jaw and started staring at her intently.

“Eh, what’s wrong? Do I look weird somehow?”

“The characters for weird and romance look quite similar, huh, but setting that aside, there’s only a tiny bit that’s weird about you, and that tiny bit is also charming in itself so it’s all good. More importantly, you’re looking extraordinarily cute today as well! … Have you dressed up a little more than usual today?”

Subaru, alert as he was, noticed the subtle changes in her hair, accessories, and so on. He accurately guessed where Puck had spent his efforts, surprising Emilia.

“You noticed? Puck was a lot more enthusiastic than usual today.”

“Ooh, great job! Not bad, Puck. And here I thought for sure that his feelings as a father would make him put up some resistance when it came to his daughter’s first date.”

“Yeah, he was reeeeally conflicted about it, but he’s sleeping in my crystal right now so you can relax.”

Emilia showed him the crystal on her chest with a faint smile, causing Subaru to don an expression of relief, “I see.” He then cleared his throat, and humbly bowed before her.

“Well then, I suppose this is the beginning of our first date. I consider it a great honor that you would allow me to escort you.”

His butler outfit was completely flawless from head to toe. Subaru didn’t really have much choice since he did not possess any other formal clothing, but to Emilia it truly seemed to fit this gesture.

Consequently, she obediently stood next to Subaru who was holding his elbow out to her, intending to link arms with her.

“Umm, is this okay?”

Her fingers grasped his cuff ever so slightly as she looked to him with upturned eyes and asked this. Puck had told her not to take his hand, so she was rather anxious wondering if this was okay. But in response, Subaru,

“This isn’t what I was hoping for, but that’s a performance beyond my expectations! Your loveliness truly is demonically inspired…”

Subaru covered his face with his palms and writhed around, it didn’t look like he was angry. Relieved by this, Emilia pulled on his cuff as she started walking.

“So, what exactly do you do on a ‘date’?”

“First of all, we’ll head to the village. After that, we’ll pay our respects to the dead… And then, how about going to see some flowers. Slowly, calmly, there’s no rush.”

Bathed in the warmth of his gaze, Emilia looked at his profile as he said this with a smile, after which she responded “That sounds nice” with a smile so lovely it was enchanting.

3

“Thank goodness the children seem alright. You seemed reeeeeally popular too, Subaru.”

“I wonder if that’s something to be so happy about, it’s actually pretty problematic in its own way, Emilia-tan.”

Subaru who muttered this with a grave expression was currently dusting off his butler outfit which was covered in dust and dirt.

When they first arrived in the village, the two set went to receive some flowers for their visit to the grave. Subaru had already asked the children to prepare a bouquet in advance.

There were no problems thus far, their troubles started after they had obtained the flowers.

Even the fact that he was on an important date had no meaning to these innocent children. Regrettably, Subaru ended up getting surrounded just like he usually did and was ultimately reduced to this wretched state that he always ended up in.

“Even with this, they were probably holding back because you were there. If it weren’t for that, I’d be going through something even more horrible right about now.”

“Come on, you’re exaggerating. Those kids just like you, isn’t that right.”

“If this were any other day, I would have snot spread all over my back right now. Fortunately, I was able to avoid that fate today.”

“That’s what usually happens?!”

Emilia suddenly started to gaze upon him with pity.

Forming a complicated expression in response to her sympathetic gaze, Subaru turned around somewhat exhausted and, “Ah.”

This caused Emilia to turn around as well, and there she found the children from the village who had been following them.

“Come on, you guys can’t tag along this time. I told you that Emilia and I were going to be having a thrilling, lascivious tryst, didn’t I? Get outta here, scram!”

“Ehh, what a tyrant.”

“Ehh, what a rude guy.”

“Ehh, what an unruly kid.”

“I’m no unruly brat. Also, we’re getting close to the barrier which if you remember you were forbidden from approaching. Unless you want to hear Muraosa’s long, boring, droning lectures, you’d better head back right now. Head back, and have fun playing that frozen demon game I taught you or something.”

[T/N: Frozen Demon = Freeze Tag]
Subaru waved his hand as if shooing away insects, causing the children to mutter complaints as they retreated.

Emilia watched this exchange as if she found it charming, but she suddenly realized that among the children, there was a cute girl staring directly at her.

She was a lovely girl with reddish brown hair and red cheeks like an appa. When her eyes met Emilia’s, she stuck her tongue out with a noise before she ran off.

“That Petra, what’s with that attitude of hers. I’ll be sure to give her a good talking to tomorrow. Are you alright, Emilia-tan? If the shock has rendered you unable to walk, I’m more than willing to princess carry you in my arms.”

“No, I’m used to it, so it’s fine. Something of that level isn’t anything worth making a fuss over.”

“Making a fuss, not something you hear very often these days… And I’m the one hurt by the statement that you’re used to this…”

“It’s fine. Come on, our ‘date’ isn’t over just yet. Let’s go.”

Emilia said this to Subaru whose face looked like he wasn’t telling her something, after which she immediately started walking. Subaru seemed a little troubled, but he ultimately ended up walking over to Emilia’s side without saying anything.

Emilia felt somewhat disgusted at herself for relying on his consideration like this

“―Alright, we’re here, we’re here.”.

After they walked a bit further, Subaru stopped and pointed at the trees.

At first glance they appeared to be a perfectly normal cluster of trees, but there were blue crystals embedded high up in their trunks, and the evenly spaced trees formed a barrier that responded to evil mana in the atmosphere ― Miasma.

The witchbeasts known as Ulgarm which had been inhabiting the forest were all wiped out, but it was very likely that a different type of witchbeast would soon take over the now empty territory. The barrier had not yet outlived its usefulness, and thus it was once again restored.

“We can’t enter, so sorry, but this is as far as we go.”

Standing right before the barrier, Subaru found a spot people weren’t likely to frequent and placed the bouquet there. Having done this, Subaru joined his hands and closed his eyes while still on his knees, and then lowered his head as if in prayer.

It was an unusual method of praying, it was her first time seeing such a thing. Perhaps it was a custom from his home town which he would not speak to her in detail about. Seeing this from the side, Emilia too placed her hand on her chest and prayed for them to rest in peace 

She had heard that all living things, even witchbeasts, would have their souls cleansed when they returned to the Od upon death. She hoped they could get along when they once again incarnated into this world in a new form.

That was a life lesson Emilia had picked up ― Someone had probably taught it to her.

“Sorry to make you play along with my self-satisfaction. It’s alright now, everything’s OK.”

Dusting off his knees, Subaru stood up and smiled at Emilia. Coming to her senses, Emilia confirmed that Subaru wasn’t forcing himself to smile after which she nodded, “Yeah.”

“So, what we’re doing next is… Visiting a field of flowers, is that right?”

Drawing up their ‘date’s’ itinerary in her mind, Emilia asked about their next destination. To confirm this, Subaru snapped his fingers in satisfaction,

“That’s right, a flower field. This is a pretty big deal in itself, you know?”

Saying this, he smiled with a playful expression that fanned the flames of her expectations even further.

4

Having left the forest, with her bangs dancing in the wind, Emilia could not suppress her voice of admiration.

“W-w… Wow!”

She advanced through the forest with Subaru leading her, and the greenery that had been blocking her view thus far cleared away in an instant. The vivid scenery filled her vision with endless, beautiful colors.

“How about it?! I was rather surprised myself when I first saw this, but… It really is pretty grand after all, isn’t it?”

She couldn’t even respond to Subaru who was boasting right beside her, her gaze was fixed on the scenery before her.

Red and yellow, white and blue, flowers were blooming all over the place, and none of them overwhelmed the others, the field of flowers was in complete harmony. The fact that a flower garden like this was formed naturally could only be called a miracle.

“This seems to be some sort of secret garden to those brats, I really had to work hard to get them to talk about it.”

“A wonderful place like this… How did you get them to tell you about it?”

“Hehe, it was all for my date with you. I suppose you could say it was a bit of compensation for letting them violate my rights as a human being for days on end.”

The conditions of this exchange probably resulted in Subaru getting covered in unfathomable amounts of dirt and snot.

While she certainly found this pitiable, she definitely could not forget about how deeply the scene before her eyes moved her.

Perhaps she was once again being spoiled by him. To have her chest filled with such pleasant emotions.

“― Also, this too is a present from me to you, Emilia-tan.”

And thus, Subaru said this to Emilia whose hand was against her chest as he extended his hands toward her. “Eh?”, Emilia was late to react as Subaru touched her silver hair,

“This is… An ornament, made of flowers?”

“It’s a crown of flowers, so to speak. Perhaps it’s not much compared to the real thing, but you could think of it as a rehearsal for when you one day ascend the throne? I definitely want to give you one adorned with the finest jewels by my own hand some day, but… For now, this is the best I can do.”

Subaru said this in a rather pompous tone as he winked at Emilia.

His actions caused Emilia to feel a slight throb in her chest. For some reason, her heart suddenly turned lively for a moment. She wondered what exactly that sensation was, strangely enough it did not occur again.

But she did know that it made her feel terribly warm, and it naturally brought a smile to her face.

“Thank you, Subaru.”

On that day, Emilia gave him her finest smile, and Subaru was so entranced he could not even speak.

Emilia felt immense gratitude toward Subaru and continued.

“If possible, I’d like to go on another ‘date’ with you sometime.”

This killer line of hers pierced his heart magnificently.