Chapter Text
I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you
The voice of the Witch echoed through the inky blackness of the shadow that had engulfed him, unrelenting in its obsessive declaration of love.
So long did it echo, in fact, that past a certain point it felt as if the echo were no longer coming from around him. Rather, it had begun to reverberate through the confines of his skull.
He would have clutched his head, ears covered in an attempt to silence the voice, were it not for the fact that he had no head to clutch nor hands with which to clutch it.
When the shadow claimed him from the tower, his form had disintegrated into the void. Consciousness alone remained, though even that had begun to fade.
Just as his formless mind began to close its entirely proverbial eyes and succumb to the maddening call of the Witch's love, there was a shift.
A cerulean light appeared, small yet impossible to miss given the emptiness by which it was surrounded. Like a crack upon the shell of the abyss. Even without eyes, he could see it clearly.
To further it's resemblance to a crack in a shell, the light began to expand. Jagged lines formed, carving their way through the darkness which mere moments ago had been nothing short of all-encompassing. And with every new line that appeared, the intensity of the Witch's declarations grew.
IloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyou
Eventually, something gave. In the last moment before her hungry shadow was fully replaced by that bright and peaceful blueness, which he had now come to recognize as the sky, a wail of equal parts anger and anquish reached into his soul, attempting to pull him back.
Just as the Witch's voice was silenced, another began to echo in his head.
"There you are. I've finally found you." It was the voice of a woman, though not one he recognized. Her tone was soft, and he could feel a sense of trust radiating from it.
Curious about the origin of this mysterious new voice, he attempted to turn his head to look around himself. Yet he couldn't, as he still possessed no head to turn.
"I'm sorry." The voice returned a moment later. "I cannot afford to speak with you much longer, at least not right now. While I've managed to push that creature away for the time being, her influence still remains. She's doing everything in her power to resist me."
While he couldn't see the mysterious woman's face, he could imagine what sort of expression she must be wearing based on her tone alone, which was best described as bittersweet.
"Before we part, I will leave you with some advice. Remember these words: We thirst for the seven wailings. We bear the koan of Jericho."
The voice and the light disappeared, and his consciousness was soon to follow.
When Subaru awoke, he had expected there to be many things accompanying the experience. Panic. Confusion. Pain, whether as little as a headache or as great as a hot knife twisted into his gut.
Yet none of that happened. Because despite his prior expectations, the reason for his sudden loss of consciousness had not been Return by Death, and thus the various sensations which usually came with his sudden revival were nowhere to be found.
Though that's not to say that he was completely devoid of any sort of feeling as his eyes slowly fluttered open, blinking in the unexpectedly bright light of his surroundings.
Noticing he was laying down, he instinctively pushed himself up into a kneeling position before examining the location he now found himself in. A location which was, to say the least, surprising.
"Is this...a conference hall?" He thought aloud to himself as he took in the sight of the unfamiliar room. Rows of seats stood on either side of the aisle where he had been laying, facing toward a large wooden desk, behind which sat another chair. "Or a classroom, maybe?"
Upon further examination, the wall behind the chair at the front of the room appeared to not be a wall at all, but rather a window which had been covered with a shutter.
Just as he fully climbed to his feet, a door to the left of the desk opened and through it came a woman, who he immediately turned to look at.
The first thing he noticed was her glasses, which sat firmly upon her face. A face which would have immediately called to mind images of a certain red haired maid, were it not for another detail he noticed at the same time: a pair of pointed ears, positioned around that tired expression.
It was a strange juxtaposition, the traits of two women he'd come to trust in vastly different ways shared by one he could only consider a complete stranger.
Below that face, the woman's figure was clothed in a sleek outfit of white and blue in possession of it's own unique combo platter of design choices. It was something which seemed like it could be worn by a military general just as easily as an office secretary.
Providing further fuel to the latter image was the sizeable bust contained therein.
Yet most interesting of all was what he could see positioned over the top of her head, floating in the air with no sign of connection other than the way it had followed her into the room.
A circle made up of blues both light and dark, with three pointed lines cutting through it on one side, almost reminiscent of tally marks. It was the most noteable feature by far of the woman's appearance, which was quite distinctive overall.
It was only a moment later, when the woman in question began to speak, that he realized he had been staring.
"Hello, Sensei." Her business-like voice was a perfect match for her bespectacled face, as she stepped further into the room. A few moments of silence passed between them as he processed her words. Then...
"HUH?!?" The woman took a step back, the slightest twinge of surprise appearing through a momentary gap in her stoic manner as his sudden outcry echoed through the chamber around them.
Recollecting herself, she held the clipboard in her hand just a little bit tighter than before.
"You are Sensei, yes? The one we were told would be arriving soon?" Her tone, while still mostly calm, betrayed a hint of suspicion. One that he was quick to pick up on.
Though still unsure of her question and the reasoning behind it, the realization that it would perhaps be best not to reveal such a fact was quick to arrive. Thus, taking a deep breath to steady himself, he replied.
"Sorry, who are you?"
Again there was silence, this bout noticeably more tense than the last. Though he'd hoped to save himself the trouble by concealing his confusion, his instincts had evidently chosen another path to follow.
Just as it reached a point where the quiet between them was so thick he was beginning to feel as though it could pop at any moment, it was interrupted by the woman.
With an exhausted sigh, she removed her glasses and stepped toward the chair behind the desk, placing them on the surface in front of her as she sat down. Another few seconds passed uninterrupted, and then she finally spoke once more.
"I apologize." She leaned forward, rubbing her temples as she rested her arms upon the desk. "I was under the impression that you had been informed of the role you were meant to fill, but it seems those who sent you could not even be bothered to perform a task such as that."
"My name is Nanagami Rin. You can call me Rin, should it please you." She raised her gaze slightly, locking eyes with him. "And you are...?"
"Natsuki Subaru." He replied, seeing no point in being dishonest under the circumstances.
The woman, Rin, smiled slightly in response to his introduction. "Understood. It's a pleasure to meet you, Natsuki Sensei."
Before he could ask what she meant by once again referring to him with the title of 'Sensei', the woman rose from her seat and put her glasses back on her face, using a single finger to gently push them up the bridge of her nose.
Then, she turned the hand with which she had grasped them in his direction and made a motion to summon him forward. Heeding the gesture, he slowly began walking in her direction...only to stop in his tracks as a lump formed in his throat.
Turning her head slightly to face him, the woman noticed his gaze and followed it to what had drawn his attention.
"Ah." She made a short sound of recognition. "Yes, I suppose this might be a bit of a surprise to you, as someone not from Kivotos." She reached down to unholster the pistol from her waist, then gently placed it on the desk. "Don't worry, I have no intent to harm you. It would not be to my benefit."
Swallowing his nerves, he responded to her reassurances with a curt nod and then continued forward until he was standing right beside her, both of them facing the shuttered window.
He watched as the woman, Rin, turned back toward the desk and reached underneath, as though searching for something. She found it, and with a sudden click the metallic shutters blocking their view began to rise.
Subaru inhaled sharply, stumbling back a bit as he at last saw what lay outside the window.
It was a city. No, not merely a city. To call it that would be an understatement so egregious it would offend even the most good humored of witnesses.
Rather, it was a metropolis. An urban sprawl, stretching for so many miles it almost seemed as though a world beyond might not even exist. As if the city itself were all that there was, an entire world all to itself.
Catching himself on the desk behind him, he managed to stay upright. Noticing the questioning look aimed at him by Rin, he swiftly recollected himself and then, with a breath so deep it reached into his core, he stepped toward the window.
Looking closer, he quickly came to recognize that not only was this city vast, it was also quite colorful.
Though the architecture of their immediate surroundings was more reminiscent of the typical minimalist style one might expect from a modern urban environment, they were high up enough that he was afforded a view of areas far beyond that.
It was clear that the city was divided, perhaps into districts or, given that its size was so grand one would hardly hesitate to call it a city state, perhaps those areas could be considered cities of their own.
Regardless, from design alone he could already manage to set some places apart from others, the very beginnings of a mental map starting to form in his brain.
In one direction, a series of sleek skyscrapers, their surfaces almost seeming to glow as they reflected the blue of the sky above them. What's more, they were some of the few structures he could see that stood at a height equal to the building he was in, at least if he assumed that the room he now occupied was its highest point.
And a bit closer than that, though still in the same direction, there stood a network of smaller yet no less eyecatching buildings, their architectural style distinctively western. He suppressed a shudder as the memory of a certain mansion was brought forth by their appearance.
Directly opposite to them, across a river so vast one could be forgiven for mistaking it for a sea, there sat a maze of buildings which also called to mind western sentiments, though of a different nature from the previous.
Rather than a refined, noble sort of beauty, this smattering of structures projected an aura of dominance, of pride in one's nature and of supreme confidence in the belief that such hubris is entirely justified.
Floating above it all was a concentric series of rings, somewhat reminiscent of the one that hung over the woman's head and suspended in the air just as inexplicably. At their center stood a building that dwarfed all others he could see, even the far off skyscrapers he had made note of before.
A beam of light emerged from the roof of this building, as mystical as the rings which surrounded it. It's pale glow somewhat reminded him of the world-breaking slashes he'd come to associate with the Astrea family, though it was far too stationary to be such a thing.
In addition to the rings, the sky was also home to an assortment of vehicles. Though not nearly as many as there were on the ground hundreds of feet below them.
Finally, he pulled away from the view and turned to face Rin, who had been waiting patiently beside him.
"What is this place...?" He could already sense that any attempt to conceal his bafflement was doomed to failure, so he opted not to make any such attempt in the first place.
Though he could tell that she was holding back another sigh at the sheer magnitude of his ignorance, to her credit, the woman managed to reduce the expression of such frustrations to a subtle adjustment of her glasses.
"This is Kivotos, the Academy City. It is a city made up of students, governed by the various schools which they attend." As though she could hear the "And?" before it even left his mouth, she continued. "Your role, as Sensei, is to help assist us with it's maintenance, in the absence of the General Student Council President."
Again, he had to force down the tension rising in his chest. "Assist?"
The woman nodded, breaking eye contact to look out the window, her gaze sweeping across the city. The emotions on her face were far too complex for him to get a proper read of what she must be thinking.
"Yes. Shortly before her disappearance, the President formed a club known as Schale with extrajudicial authority that would allow it to intervene in any crisis the city may face without many of the usual hang ups resulting from affiliation with a singular party." Again, her weariness was evident.
Taking a single step closer to the window, she directed her gaze toward the large building which the unusual floating rings seemed to be centered around. "We had been notified that an individual - a Sensei, they were to be called - would soon arrive to take over leadership of Schale, and help guide the city in the place of its missing President."
Finally, she turned her focus back to him. "Given the timing of your arrival, and the fact that you are evidently not from Kivotos, I believe you were the one being referred to."
Processing all of the information he had been given, he stood in silence for quite some time.
Kivotos...the Academy City, huh? I've never been here before, so what's with this feeling of familiarity? And that Sensei stuff. Me? Really? I just got here! Not to mention that I'm only 18! There's no way I'm qualified to be a teacher!
He briefly glanced at Rin's face, then turned again to look out the window.
What's with those rings? A Metia, maybe? Though it's not like I know enough to say. Beatrice might know, but I can't ask her right now. This is so frustrating, dammit! And how did I even get here? What was with that voice before? Seven Wailings? Koan of Jericho? The Hell does that even mean? This whole thing is a mess! What about the others? Emilia? Julius? Are they okay? What about Patrasche? Or Ram and R-
His eyes widened as he suddenly recalled a crucial detail of the mystery surrounding his transportation.
"Agh, dammit!" He clutched the sides of his head in frustration, the sudden outburst causing Rin to jump back slightly. "Idiot...! I'm an idiot!"
"Is...is something the matter?" Yet again she managed to maintain her cool, even as Subaru had completely lost his.
Witnessing her impressive composure reminded him of a certain Royal Knight who's whereabouts were currently unknown, which thankfully served to help him regain some of his own, though not entirely.
"A girl...no, two! Two girls! There should've been two girls with me when I got here!" He explained somewhat frantically, hoping that perhaps Rin might know something, anything. The silence in response was deafening.
Still, he persisted. "One of them has light blue hair! Covers one eye! You can't miss it!" The mention of her hair caused Rin to visibly perk up for a moment, only to deflate a second later as he continued his description. "And she's wearing a headband, with little white buds on it! And a cloak! A pink cloak!"
Again, Rin was silent, shaking her head solemnly in response to his desperate explanation.
"Okay...okay..." There was still one left for him to ask about. "What about a little girl? I mean really little. Kinda cute if she weren't...well...oh, and she's blonde! She has long blonde hair!"
Just like she had with Rem, Rin visibly perked up in response to the description of Louis's hair, and this time she finally spoke up. Or she would've, if it weren't for something else that happened at that very same moment.
From behind them, the doors to the room burst open. Spinning to face the sudden noise, Subaru was quickly knocked to the floor by something hitting his chest.
The reason for his loss of balance wasn't because the thing which hit him was heavy. She was actually quite light. Rather, it was the sheer unexpectedness of the flying tackle hug that knocked him off his feet.
"Beako?!?" He shouted with surprise at the sudden appearance of his contracted spirit. She was nearly inconsolable, sobbing into his torso with her tiny fists grabbing handfuls of his shirt. Her distraught appearance felt like a knife in his heart.
In one swift movement, he sat up and pulled her into a hug. Showing her that he was there, that he was okay, and that he wouldn't abandon her, all without uttering a word.
"Betty...could sense her contractor's presence...the moment you awoke...but they wouldn't let her go to you...I suppose," she choked out the words between sobs, her face still buried in his chest. Looking over her shoulder, he could see who "they" were.
A group of four girls, wearing expressions indicative of a wide range of emotions, stood in the now-open doorway. Evidently they had persued Beatrice during her mad dash to reach Subaru, and having caught up with her were unsure of what to do next.
Before he could finish preparing himself for the verbal beating he was about to dish out, however, something else attracted his attention.
Suspended above Beatrice's head, in a manner not dissimilar to the one he had previously seen connected to Rin and those which he had just noticed were possessed by the quartet of girls standing awkwardly in the doorway, was a bizarre circular shape.
The closest comparison he could think of was an open parasol. It was a layered design of bright pink, with each layer separated by a line of a slightly darker hue and several similarly colored lines running in all directions extending from the very center of the shape to the edge of the outermost layer.
"Beako..." He loosened his grasp on her slightly, beginning to stand.
"Beako, you're an angel!" Without warning, he grabbed the spirit girl under her arms and lifted her effortlessly into the air, spinning her around as she let out a rather unflattering sound indicating her surprise. "BMT!"
Flustered by the sudden display of affection, Beatrice began flailing her arms in an attempt to break free, to minimal effect. "Put Betty down right this instant, I suppose!"
After continuing to spin her through the air for another few moments, he was suddenly interrupted by the unexpected sound of laughter coming from behind.
Stopping in his tracks, he turned to face the source of the noise and was surprised to see the previously stonefaced Rin succumbing to a fit of giggles, apparently so amused by their antics that she had been unable to hold back any longer.
Apparently he wasn't the only one caught off guard by the sheer mirth on display, as both Beatrice and the group of girls who had chased her wore equally stunned looks upon their faces.
As her laughter gradually subsided and she began returning to her senses, Rin's cheeks turned a deep shade of crimson.
Making simultaneous adjustments to the positioning of both her glasses and her clipboard, she cleared her throat.
"Ah, I apologize," a slight smile danced across her lips, "I'm glad to see that the two of you are in good spirits, Sensei and his..." her voice trailed off, unsure of what term would be best to describe the nature of their relationship.
Beatrice, on the other hand, knew exactly what to call their connection.
"Subaru is Betty's contractor, I suppose." She placed her hands on her hips, puffing out her small chest with a huff of pride. A gesture made somewhat awkward by the fact that she was still being held in Subaru's arms. "His one and only, in fact. And you would do well to remember that, I suppose."
"Your...contractor?" Not anticipating such a strong-willed response, Rin was yet again caught with her proverbial pants down.
Before she could say anything in her defense, one of the four girls who had been standing in the entrance to the room this entire time finally stepped forward.
Clearing her throat to grab the attention of those present, she called into question the currently unfolding events. "Pardon me for interrupting, but what exactly is going on here? And who are these two supposed to be?" She gestured toward Subaru and Beatrice, indicating that the latter question was in reference to them.
Again, Rin was cut off before she could offer a response, as Subaru opted to speak for himself.
"My name is Natsuki Subaru," he narrowed his eyes at her, not appreciating the tone with which she spoke, "and this is Beatrice. Who the Hell are you?"
Crossing her arms over her chest, she answered haughtily. "Hayase Yuuka. From Seminar." She met his narrowed eyes with a glare of her own.
"Hayase Yuuka..." Breaking eye contact, he gave her a once over as he sounded out the name she had provided.
Flowing hair, a shade of blue far darker than Rem's, tied up into two bundles on the sides. The ornament hanging over her head was the most simplistic he'd seen so far, just a plain black ring with a smaller blue line inside. Though its existence alone was still quite mystifying.
The color of her eyes matched her hair, and she had a rather symmetrical appearance overall. Her figure leaned slightly toward the petite side, though noticeably a bit wider in the thighs and with some protrusion in the chest area, albeit not on the same level as Rin.
Concealing said figure was a black and white woman's blazer with a light blue tie, accompanied by a black skirt that was actually quite short upon further examination, and a white jacket with blue inner lining hanging off of her arms, just below the shoulders.
To summarize, her appearance was almost as though somebody had taken the word "average" and carved it into the shape of a person.
Based on this he concluded that while her attitude appeared confrontational at a glance, it was far from intended as such.
She was simply being cautious, and understandably so. Though the air of professionalism that surrounded her still seemed a bit more aggressive than the one he'd felt from Rin.
With a sigh, his expression softened. "It's nice to meet you, Yuuka." He smiled in a way that he hoped would come across as reassuring.
With her arms still crossed and the expression on her face morphing into something resembling a pout in response to his nonchalant response, the prior impression she had made quickly transformed into something rather unbecoming.
"And who the heck are you, Mr. Natsuki Subaru?" She continued following the same line of inquiry.
Seeing the opportunity, Rin stepped forward to once more take ownership of the conversation. "He is Sensei. The one that the President told us would soon be arriving to take charge of Schale." She glanced in his direction. "Isn't that right, Natsuki Sensei?"
"Dammit!" He cursed under his breath. Though he hadn't had the chance to decide whether or not to accept the title before Beatrice's sudden arrival, with Rin's words it now became clear that he would have no choice but to do so.
Gritting his teeth, he replied. "Yes, that's right." The faces of not only Yuuka but also the three other girls still standing behind her turned to him, mouths slightly ajar. "But please, just call me Subaru. Seriously, that 'Natsuki Sensei' crap makes my skin itch."
Rin revealed another subtle smile in response to the last part of his statement. "Well, though I believe it would be unfitting for us to not refer to you as Sensei in some capacity, how does Subaru Sensei sound? Better?"
"Ah, dammit." He sighed, waving a hand dismissively as a sign of acceptance. "Okay. Fine. Sure. I guess that's better."
"Well, now that that's been cleared up," not pausing for any longer than needed, Rin quickly continued moving the conversation forward, "I suppose I should introduce you to these four young ladies, now that they're here."
"This, as you've already been made well aware, is Hayase Yuuka." The now visibly flustered Yuuka was clutching the base of her skirt tightly enough that if she weren't wearing gloves he would no doubt be able to see her knuckles turning white.
"As you've also been informed, she is a member of Seminar," Rin continued her explanation unflinchingly, "they are the leadership of Millenium, one of the larger schools in Kivotos."
He gave a small nod, confirming that he'd understood.
"And next, we ha-" before she could call forward the next girl to be introduced, she was interrupted by one of them stepping up entirely of her own accord. Narrowing her eyes slightly at the action, she sighed. "You must be the one from Trinity's Vigilante Club, I assume?"
Vigilante? They have a club for that? Subaru internally questioned the new information. What the Hell kind of city is this?
"Yes, ma'am. Morizuki Suzumi, from the Trinity Vigilante Crew." She introduced herself without missing a beat.
"Crew?" This time he opted to make his confusion known. "So are you a Club or are you a Crew?"
"Both." Suzumi responded matter-of-factly. "Our club's official name is the Trinity Vigilante Crew. Though I suppose just calling us the Vigilante Club wouldn't be inaccurate."
"Uh huh. Gotcha." He placed his hand on his chin and examined the girl from head to toe, just as he had done with Yuuka following her initial introduction.
While he had thought of Yuuka as somewhat petite, Suzumi was undeniably moreso. She didn't have much going on in the chest department. As a matter of fact, she appeared to be almost completely flat, with no visible protrusion in that area of her outfit.
The outfit in question was somewhat similar to Rin's, in the sense that it gave the wearer an appearance that was somehow both militant and civilian at once. Though instead of the secretary vibes he had gotten from Rin, the civilian side of Suzumi's outfit gave her more of a dolllike appearance.
A gray sailor dress, with the edges of both the sleeves and the rather frilly skirt marked by two black stripes surrounding a thinner white stripe. Over this she wore a black corset and a short cape the same color as the dress itself, with a red ribbon about her neck and some sort of badge or insignia clipped to one of the sleeves. And to complete the ensemble, a pair of black stockings which extended to just above her knees.
Yet despite the thinness of her figure and the obvious femininity of her clothing, her bearing was a far cry from fragile.
He got the impression that her lack of bust was in actuality the result of an incredibly athletic lifestyle, particularly the sort where her mobility and stamina would be the main areas of improvement.
Looking up, he found a face as pretty as it was uncompromising, home to a pair of sharp red eyes and framed by long silver hair, the sight of which momentarily caused his heart to ache.
Atop it all sat a pair of two rings, connected by the four arrows that jutted out in different directions from their center.
After finishing his assessment, he nodded once in approval, before deciding to ask the question that had been forming in his mind. "Do you do parkour?"
She replied with a nod of her own, causing a slight smile to appear on his face.
"Nice!" He gave a quick thumbs up. "Maybe we can have a competition at some point in the future."
"I'd like that." Though her face remained unchanging, she nodded once more, before turning on her heel and walking back to where she had been standing previously.
Rin, on the other hand, appeared quite flustered as a result of yet another interaction that had been facilitated entirely without her input.
Shaking her head, she called forth the next girl in the lineup, who came forward with a somewhat sympathetic expression on her face.
"Chinatsu." "Rin." The two exchanged respectful nods as they faced one another, before turning their attention to Subaru.
"This is Hinomiya Chinatsu," Rin began the introduction just as she had done with Yuuka, "she is a member of the Prefect Team, at Gehenna. Another of the larger schools, comparable in size to both Millenium and Trinity."
"Yes, that's right. The Head Prefect had originally wanted to visit herself, but I and her other advisers managed to convince her to let one of us go in her place." She sighed and pushed her glasses back on her face, in a manner nearly identical to the habit Rin had displayed quite a few times already.
"Ah. So it's one of those kind of things, huh? The leader can't lead from the front, cause then she might be at risk. Is that it?" He nodded in understand.
"Actually, it's the opposite way around." Chinatsu corrected his assumption. "The Head Prefect is quite strong, a fact many students are well aware of. Given her reputation, if she were to make a personal appearance at the GSC headquarters, especially during such a troubling period, it could create some...misunderstandings."
Subaru blinked, surprised at the incorrectness of his initial conclusion. "Quite strong, huh?" He mumbled to himself, thinking over what had been said.
I wonder if she's anything like Reinhard. Though none of the others could tell what he was thinking, Beatrice, who could read him like an open book as a result of their contract, nudged his chin with the top of her head.
Looking down at her for a moment, he smiled and mouthed the words "thank you" which she responded to with a suitably adorable noise of satisfaction.
Returning his attention to Chinatsu, he examined her appearance in the same way he had already done with Yuuka and Suzumi.
The first thing his eyes had been drawn to (or so he would like to say) were her glasses, which differed from Rin's in that they were square shaped, with little roundness to the lenses. Beneath them, her eyes were a shade of yellow that reminded him of amber.
Another similarity was the pointed ears both she and Rin possessed, though again there was also a small contrast between them. Namely, Chinatsu's ears had a bit of an upward tilt to them, whereas Rin's went straight out to the sides.
Her hair was a strawberry blonde sort of color, with pigtails held in place by small red bands and a black headband just above her bangs.
Lowering his gaze a bit, he couldn't help but take notice of the fact that she was quite well-endowed, yet another trait she had in common with Rin.
For her outfit, she wore a collared white blouse with a thin red string tying it together, and below that a black skirt which he recognized as being quite a bit longer (and thus more suited for protecting her modesty) than those worn by both Yuuka and Suzumi.
The dark red color of the string on her blouse was a heavily recurring color, as she wore both gloves and stockings of the exact same shade, along with a black and red armband.
Lastly, the shape that floated above her head was quite similar to Suzumi's, albeit with some slight distinctions.
The colors were different, for one, with Chinatsu's being the same shade of red that featured so heavily in her attire, whilst Suzumi's had been a light purple. In addition, the crosshair was formed from only a single ring, with the arrows that ran through it not meeting in the middle.
"Are you done?" Having just finished his analysis, he was suddenly called back to his surroundings by Chinatsu's voice. Looking back up at her face, he felt his cheeks heat up a little in response to her firm yet patient gaze.
"Ah, yeah. Yeah, I'm done. Sorry about that." He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, only to receive another thump on the chin from Beako, this one a bit rougher than the last. Looking down, he saw her staring up at him knowingly.
With that, Chinatsu turned back toward Rin, exchanging another nod of mutual respect before returning to her previous position.
Finally, the last of the four girls was called forward to be introduced.
"This is Hanekawa Hasumi," Rin proceeded just as she has done twice before, "second in command of Trinity's Justice Task Force."
"My apologies," the woman, Hasumi, bowed her head as she turned to face him, a bit of an awkward gesture on account of several obvious factors, "the chairwoman herself was originally supposed to visit today, but we decided it would be best if I went in her place due to a variety of...personal reasons."
Upon receiving her apology, Subaru found himself struck by a sense of deja vu.
"Huh..." He rested his chin atop Beatrice's head. "So is the Justice Task Force a bit like an equivalent to the Prefect Team?"
In response to his words, the room instantly grew quiet. Looking around in confusion, he saw that both Rin and the Millenium representative, Yuuka, appeared to be holding their breath.
Directing his attention back to Hasumi, a chill ran up his spine as he saw the expression on her face.
The air in the room had grown so tense it felt as if one could cut it with a knife. Or, as would soon be revealed, a Beako.
"It seems like a reasonable assumption to make, I suppose." She addressed Hasumi in her usual tone, completely unphased by the change in atmosphere. "Betty does not see why you would take offense to such a thing, in fact."
With that, all of the tension in the room vanished as quickly as it appeared. Hasumi's expression was replaced with a look of great shame, no doubt the result of being called out in such a way by someone who appeared to be much younger than her.
"You're right. My apologies." She bowed her head once more, looking just as peculiar as it had the first time she'd done so. "I shouldn't have allowed myself to behave in such a way, especially not in front of Subaru Sensei."
Seemingly placated by the apology, Beatrice gave a curt nod as if to say "that's right" and settled back into her contractor's arms.
As she did so, Subaru finally took the chance to look over Hasumi's appearance, just as he had done with the others.
The first and most notable thing, which he had noticed from the very moment she stepped forward, was her size.
Hasumi was big.
In terms of height, she completely dwarfed everyone else in the room, even surpassing Subaru himself by at least a couple of inches.
The rest of her was equally imposing, with her bust being by far the largest out of the girls, and a waistline which he knew better than to comment on.
Another aspect of her appearance that stood out just as much was what he could see growing out of her back: a pair of massive black wings, their span as absurdly large as the rest of her. Grand as they were, however, he still very much doubted that they could provide enough force to carry her more than a few inches off the ground.
Her outfit was by far the most salacious of those worn by the four girls, though he suspected that this was less the result of her actual tastes in fashion and more due to being unable to find clothing which could provide sufficient coverage.
Above her long, jet black hair and matching eyes was another of those bizarre floating shapes. It consisted of a single circle surrounded by four dagger-like points, centered around the shape of a star.
Smiling calmly as she saw his observations coming to a close, she gave one last bow before sauntering back to the entrance without another word.
At last, the introductions were finished. Turning herself fully in his direction, Rin spoke in a cool, calm tone of voice. "Well, now that's done. Is there anything else you'd like to know?"
"Just one." He raised his right hand, the index finger pointing upwards.
Rin nodded, and he moved his hand, pointing at the space just above her head. "What are those things?"