Love Far Beyond the Ashes

Bird Bath

Subaru pov:I quickly ran into the bathroom and rinsed all the blood off of me and my clothes before drawing a bath for myself. I lunged in and immediately began to scrub my body with soap.

"How are you doing?" Ayame-dono asked as she entered the room.

"Good for someone who was drenched in blood..." I told her

"That was my bad." I'm sorry," Ayame-dono said.

"In the moment, we were all yelling, but I'm not mad." I sighed

"I should have sheathed my blade!" Ayame said to me

"It's not your fault your sword stabbed into Aqua's stomach," I said to her.

Ayame felt really bad. even though we healed Aqua and saved her life. Ayame-dono still feels terrible, which is fair despite the fact that it isn't her fault.

Ayame-dono handed me a brush, and I lathered it in soap before scrubbing my body with it.

"So gross..." I groaned

"Look, in my culture, being soaked in a friend's blood is an honor." Ayame-dono said

"You're an Oni. I'm a duck," I told her.

"Subaru, you say that, but I've never seen you transform into a duck before." Ayame-dono said

I sighed and quickly flashed my transformation into her becoming a duck before turning back.

"Wait, why don't you wash yourself as a duck? It'd be faster." Ayame-dono said

I looked at the water and sighed once again, knowing that she was right; it would be faster just to transform into my duck form and wash the blood off, but at the same time, I didn't want to be seen like that.

Ayame stripped down and stepped into the tub with me. "That feels good," she said.

"I just noticed how big this tub is," I commented.

"Yeah, it fits like four people," Ayame-dono stated.

My mama knocked on the door and walked in seconds later.

"I'm not going to question this, but I just wanted to see if you were okay," my mom asked.

"Yes, I am Mama!" I said happily.

"That's good, your friend." Shion has been quickly cleaning; your other friend Aqua is passed up, and Choco-sensei is cuddling Mel on the couch," my mama said.

"Choco-sensei is so cute, isn't she?" I asked

Ayame-dono gave me an odd look, but I gave her a look, trying to tell her my plan. I don't know if she figured it out, though.

My mama nodded in response to my question. "She is cute," she said.

"You are in love with her!" I shouted

"No, I'm not. You don't seem to understand if Choco-sensei successfully flirts with you and makes you fall for her at least once. You can't escape; she just charms you forever and ever. This is me being perpetually in love with her," my mama said.

"Is that a bad thing?" I asked with worry.

"Not really. I guess it depends on the person. It could be cool or cute. We shall see."

From her description, I began to realize that I'm charmed; everything about her is adorable.

Choco-sensei may not be trying to do this on purpose, but even so, maybe she needs to learn how to control her charms. This made me have a thought.

Why isn't Botan charmed by Choco-sensei?

It doesn't matter if you are dating everyone; her charms pierce deep, but Botan-chan isn't affected at all; it's as if she either shut it down for her or Botan is actually immune. The same is true with Luna-tan; she isn't affected.

Maybe that is because Luna-hime only sees her as a sister figure. I have no clue, to be honest.

Inconsistencies like that within her power make no sense to me. What is the line that she can't cross, and why do I want to know? But honestly, without her charms, I may feel empty inside.

This feeling of abandonment has to be part of the charms I need to snap out of it.

My mama sighed and got my attention once again.

"It's okay to stay charmed by her; honestly, all you have to do is make sure you have self-restraint; for example, you have Ayame to help you," my mama said.

I looked at Ayame-dono and smiled. She is willing to always help me, and I am grateful for that.

"I'm done cleaning..." Shion groaned as she stumbled into the room.

My mama grabbed the shower head and sprayed Shion down. "Get in the tub," she said.

"With my clothes on!" She yelled

"No..." my mama said.

Shion looked at the two of us and realized she had to strip. She laughed a little bit before ripping off her clothes and jumping into the tub next to us.

"Okay, I'll go see if I can wake up Aqua or if Choco-sensei wants to get in for a bit," my mama said.

The three of us looked at one another and then looked away. To be honest, I don't think the three of us have had an extended conversation.

Ayame-dono and I have met in the past, not that I remember, but she feels warm to me. Sion, on the other hand, still feels fairly new to me, and at the same time, Ayame and Shion seem moderately close.

It confuses me: how close are we all supposed to be? Why does it feel like some of us never talk?

I am overthinking everything; it's as if everything is just flashing into my mind. I really don't understand it. Why is it that all of a sudden all of these memories and thoughts are flooding into my head? Why now of all times?

This actually made me realize this happens to everyone. They suddenly gain all these thoughts, mostly negative, but it makes no sense as to why it happens. There is one constant in all of this, and it is very clear.

Why do you always think negatively in the bathroom?

I tried to rack my brain around some of these memories because maybe my partial amnesia would go away.