Re:Zero FF Beatrice Heart Crossing

Chapter 22: Look to the Sky

A line of sunshine cut through the drapes as Subaru began to stir. He blinked several times to clear the sleep from his eyes and noticed that the bedroom he had woken up in many times seemed to be different. It was then, that the memories of last night started to come forward. After the fireworks display, he returned to the town square with Beatrice feeling refreshed. The couple rendezvoused with Adella and Niki to close up the stage before making one final pass of the festival. By the time that they made it to the cart to return to the castle, it was far too late and Kobe had insisted that the group stay with him at the lodge. And so, after using the bath, the four festival goers placed futons in the guest room before succumbing to their exhaustion. It was now morning and Subaru looked around the room and saw that Adella and Niki were nowhere to be found. This was normal as Adella was usually the first one up at the castle and he surmised that Niki must have left with the head maid to have a chance at getting an early breakfast. However, the part that was abnormal was the drooling spirit girl who was clinging to his midsection. Now that he was fully awake, Subaru became aware of the pair of hands clutching his night clothes from the side. Looking down, he saw that Beatrice had entwined her legs around his and was peacefully snoring away. With her hair down and her chest gently rising with quiet breaths, Subaru couldn't help but think that she was cute. Although he would not be able to declare such a thing without earning the small spirit's wrath, he basked in the opportunity to observe her like this. Feelings of happiness at the adorable scene quickly turned to worry as Subaru wondered just how much Adella and Niki had witnessed before they left. Just as the thought crossed his mind, the door to the room swung open and Adella came into the room with a hasty stride. Gently jostling Beatrice, Subaru sat halfway up before blurting out a defense for their current arrangement.

Subaru: "Adie! Please don't jump to any weird conclusions!"

Beatrice: "Ahn... What is it, I suppose... Betty is still resting, in fact..."

Emerging from the blankets and rubbing her eyes with closed fists, Beatrice sat alongside Subaru and shifted her gaze between him and Adella. After realizing the situation, her attention was drawn to her legs which were still wrapped around Subaru's. Her ears began to tremble as blush filled her cheeks.

Beatrice: "Err... Um... Thank goodness you are here, Adella, in fact! As you can see, I was at my wits end trying to satisfy this dog, in fact!"

Subaru: "WHAT! You are the one that-"

Beatrice: "N-nonsense! Betty is a lady, in fact. This is obviously your doing, I simply allowed it to happen, I suppose!"

Adella, who had stood quietly with a stern look since entering the room, tried to interject.

Adella: "Masters-"

Subaru: "Don't believe her, Adie! She was happily squeezing me in her sleep!"

Beatrice kicked her legs to extricate them from Subaru's before jumping to her feet. With clenched fists on each side and her brow furrowed, the indignant girl began to raise her voice.

Beatrice: "S-squeezing! I'll admit... I was close... to you... but I had no choice, I suppose! Betty was quite tired and the pillows were limited... you were simply a means to an end, in fact!"

Now it was Subaru's turn to leap to his feet with a twinge of heat filling spreading across his face as he angrily offered his rebuttal.

Subaru: "'A means to an end', is that really what you think? If I had to guess, I'd say you're a cuddling spirit since you do it so often!"

Unable to form a coherent thought, Subaru spat out the first words that came to his mind. While the insult was comedic at best, Beatrice's face turned crimson as she froze in response. The couple stared at each other with energized glares and began to prepare their next retorts. However, before either combatant could speak, Adella interrupted with her voice rising to a panicked yell.