(Rem x Reader) Re:Reader - Starting YOUR New Life in Another World

Chapter 166: Nothing Compares To You

A/N: This chapter features some very special artwork made by tatararashi on twitter I commissioned! Please check them out!

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Chapter 166: Nothing Compares To You

Under the dim wash of a twilight sky, YN pulled the hood of his cloak low over his head, dulling his silhouette and keeping his presence inconspicuous as he navigated the half-flooded streets. Step by step, he pressed onward, careful not to draw attention, until at last the looming structure of City Hall rose before him.

Crossing through the destroyed front door's threshold, YN immediately sensed the difference. The shattered entrance and splintered frame still reeked of violence, but the tension within felt... altered.

This place no longer carried the oppressive weight of hostile occupation. The air was tense, still thick with exhaustion and lingering fear, but it wasn't the suffocating atmosphere of a stronghold under enemy control. Out of every location he'd passed since the city's descent into chaos, City Hall was the first that felt undeniably liberated.

And yet, that relief came paired with a subtle unease.

However, the fact that he could just waltz in through the front door was a tad worrying. While there were people in the lobby area, —city guards with dulled armor, the injured slumped against walls, and civilians gathered in tense clusters seeking shelter, no one had been posted on direct guard duty, and not a single person approached YN as he entered inside. Most barely even looked up, their faces pale and worn, as if they no longer had the energy to question what else might walk through those doors.

Something tells me anyone who can fight has moved on...

The longer the siege dragged on, the more detrimental it became to everyone's safety, and the slimmer the chances of securing a clean victory. In the end, City Hall had been left behind, garrisoned by little more than a skeleton crew while the capable fighters were forced onward to wherever the next crisis had erupted.

As he reached to lower his hood though, a very familiar voice called out to him from across the room.

Algol: Aniki!

Rushing up to him, the small, pink-haired elf that was his contracted spirit approached with haste, weaving past the scattered bodies and clusters of weary survivors. The sound of her hurried footsteps cut through the low murmur of the lobby, and the moment YN saw her, it was like a weight he hadn't noticed he was carrying loosened in his chest.

Although her hands were still buried in her jacket pockets, YN briefly thought she might leap at him, desperate for a hug, —like how Petra might throw herself at Subaru, or how Subaru himself might scoop up Beatrice without hesitation.

Yet her boots chirped against the polished marble as she came to a stop right in front of him, hesitating at the last second as if unsure what to do with the relief on her face. She stood there, shoulders subtly tense, eyes fixed on him with a quiet intensity, as though she'd been holding in that worry for far longer than she wanted to admit.

Essentially, neither of them had a true "norm" they could default to in this kind of moment. Despite knowing each other for nearly as long as Subaru and Beatrice had been on good terms, their relationship hadn't evolved into something nearly as outwardly expressive as theirs, even if the contract and care between them was just as genuine.

Whereas Subaru wasn't afraid to imply, or even outright state, that Beatrice was his "daughter" or "baby" at times, —even going so far as to drag Emilia into the role of "mother," things were starkly different between YN and Algol. From the earliest interactions of her conscious self, Algol had seen him as her superior, —almost like an owner, though that rigid perception had quickly softened during their car ride from Sanctuary to the Miload Mansion into something gentler and more reserved, choosing instead to regard him with a stoic reverence more fitting of a well-thought-of older brother.