Re:zero to Echidna

The days bled together like watercolor left in the rain. Subaru sat by the window of his borrowed room in Roswaal's mansion, knees drawn to his chest, eyes fixed on the horizon where the eternal sunset smoldered. The glass was cold against his forehead, but he'd long since stopped feeling it. His breath fogged the pane in rhythmic bursts, a metronome for the emptiness gnawing his ribs.

*"You could make her bring you tea,"* Echidna murmured, her voice a filament of smoke curling from the shadows beneath his bed. *"Or books. Or poison. Wouldn't that be amusing?"*

He didn't answer. The garden below was pristine—manicured hedges, pebbled paths, roses that never wilted. A stage set for tragedies he'd memorized. Somewhere beyond the hedge maze, Rem patrolled. Or Ram. Or both. He'd stopped keeping track.

*"You're boring me, darling."* A hand materialized on his shoulder, weightless as spider silk. *"Shall we replay the loot house? Let Elsa gut you again? You always make the cutest noise when your liver spills."*

Subaru's fingers twitched. The first week here, he'd clawed at the windowsill until his nails split. The second, he'd screamed himself hoarse. Now, he just… existed. A fly preserved in Echidna's amber.

A knock shattered the silence.

Subaru didn't turn. The door creaked open anyway, revealing Ram's silhouette backlit by hallway candles. Her apron was pristine, her posture rigid, but the air around her *vibrated*.

*"Careful,"* Echidna crooned. *"Big sister's here to play."*

"Natsuki Subaru." Ram's voice was a scalpel. "You will explain why Rem collapsed in the eastern woods."

Ah. So the Mabeasts had finally finished their work. Subaru traced a finger through the condensation on the glass, drawing a crude smiley face. "Ask the bugs."

Wind shrieked.

The window exploded inward as a crescent blade of air sliced toward Subaru's throat—only to collide with a barrier of crystalline ice. Puck hovered in the doorway, his paw outstretched, furless face uncharacteristically grim. "Easy there, pinky. Can't have you redecorating with the kid's insides."

Ram's horn stump glowed faintly, her mana a visible storm. "He reeks of the Witch, Puck-sama! You protect a plague!"

Subaru finally turned. Ram stood trembling, her eyes bloodshot, her nails digging into her palms. Behind her, Emilia skidded into view, her chest heaving. "Ram, *stop*! Subaru saved me, he's—"

"A *liar*!" Ram spat. "Rem followed his stench to the Mabeast nest! She's *dead* because of him!"

Puck's shield flickered. Subaru watched dispassionately as hairline fractures spread through the ice. *Loop 103,432: Ram discovers Rem's corpse. Loop 103,433: Same. Loop 103,434: Same.*

"So that's it?" Subaru leaned back against the shattered windowsill, glass crunching beneath him. "The great Rem, felled by overgrown roaches? Fitting, really. Mindless beast killed by mindless beasts."

The temperature plummeted. Ram's mana flared crimson, the wind around her flickering to life in a grotesque mimicry of power. Blood trickled from her nostrils. "You *dare*—!"

*"Now, now,"* Echidna purred, her lips brushing Subaru's ear. *"She'll tear her own soul apart at this rate. How… delectable."*

Puck's ice thickened, but Ram's wind howled louder. Books flew from shelves, vases shattered, and Emilia's cry of "*Ram, please!*" dissolved into static. Subaru studied the maid's face—the way her veins bulged, the froth at her lips, the *rage* that had nowhere left to go.

"Puck-sama!" Ram screamed, blood now streaming from her eyes, ears, the corners of her mouth. "Why protect my sister's murderer?!"

The spirit's tail lashed. "I don't know him either, but Lia owes him a debt. So stand. *Down*."

Ram laughed—a raw, broken sound. The wind coalesced into a spear, its tip grinding against Puck's barrier. "Debt? For *this*? He's a *monster*!"

Subaru stood abruptly. The motion sent glass shards skittering across the floor. "Says the girl whose sister butchered me three times for *smelling funny*."

Silence.

Even the wind stilled. Emilia stared at him, her face ashen. "Subaru… what are you—"

"Loop one," he said, stepping forward. The ice shield parted for him like a curtain. "Rem bashed my skull in with a flail. Loop two, she crushed my ribs. Loop three, she let Elsa gut me first, *then* smashed my spine." He tilted his head, meeting Ram's widening eyes. "But hey, fourth time's the charm, right? Finally figured out how to dodge."

Ram's spear wavered. "Lies. Rem would never—"

"Rem *did*." Subaru smiled. It felt like cracking ice. "Over. And over. And *over*. But you wouldn't remember, would you? None of you ever do."

*"Except me,"* Echidna sighed, her arms encircling his waist. *"Poor, lonely thing. Let's kill her properly this time. I'll even let you pick the method."*

Puck's barrier shattered.

The wind spear struck Subaru square in the chest, lifting him off his feet, pinning him to the wall. Ribs snapped. Arteries burst. His vision swam red as the blade sawed through his sternum, but he didn't scream. Couldn't. Not when he'd practiced this moment a thousand times.

Ram collapsed, her body a ruined puppet as forbidden magic consumed her. "D…demon…" she choked.

Subaru looked down at the hole where his heart should've been. "Close enough."

Then he laughed.

***

He woke in the hallway.

Same time. Same place. Same cloying rose perfume. Rem rounded the corner, her blue hair swaying, her morning greeting already on her lips—until the Witch's stench hit her.

This time, she didn't just gag. She *vomited*—violently, messily—her body convulsing as if trying to expel her own organs. Subaru watched dispassionately.

"You… you're…" Rem collapsed to her knees, tears streaming down her face. "What… *are* you?"

*"Tell her,"* Echidna whispered, her fingers threading through his hair. *"Tell her how many times she's killed you. How her flail feels when it cracks your teeth."*

Subaru stepped over the puddle of bile. "A guest."

***

That night, he lay on his bed, staring at the moon. The scent of blood still clung to him—Ram's, Rem's, his own. Echidna lounged beside him, her head propped on one hand.

*"You could have stopped her, you know,"* she said. *"Told them about Return by Death. Played the martyr. They'd have loved you for it."*

Subaru closed his eyes. "And reset their hatred next loop? Pointless."

*"Ah, but the look on their faces when they realize you've suffered *for them*…"* She traced his jawline. *"Priceless."*

He rolled away. The sheets were stiff, starched, *foreign*. Like everything here.

*"You're slipping, darling,"* Echidna murmured. *"All those loops… they're making you *tired*. Let me take the reins. Just one loop. I'll make it *fun*."*

Outside, an owl screeched. Somewhere, a door slammed. Subaru counted his breaths until dawn.

Victory, he'd learned, tasted like ash.