※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※

ARC 2

Roswaal mansion ┃ Guest room ┃ Morning ┃ Day 1

♪ ToAru ost : Kyuuketsu Koroshi [Movie] ♪

Morning daylight was seeping through the closed curtains that belonged to the manor's guest room. The room itself is described as fancy yet old fashioned.

Within this dark room was one person.

Nobody in this world truly knew him, but in Academy City, he was known as the second ranked level five esper classified as Dark Matter; Kakine Teitoku.

Kakine was sitting still on the bed while leaning against its back rest.

The esper wasn't sleeping, although a part of him wishes he was as he had the idea that if he were to partake in the act, he would somehow end up back in his old world and this whole situation was just some strange dream.

Kakine: (And yet I'm still here...)

He had a sudden thought. This feeling of loneliness unintentionally caused him to remember his ties to his old world.

The first one that came to his mind was a girl named Gokusai Kaibi.

While Kakine mostly had her around due to her esper ability, it turned out that she and him work surprisingly well together.

Unlike the others in his dark side organization, she was the only one with backbone and was smart enough to know when to act right. Although she can be a bit of an airhead sometimes.

Kakine: (Idiot... I wonder how she's doing...)

Somehow, remembering the girl in the dress comforted the #2.

She was the closest thing to a "connection" in his old life within the dark side of Academy City, but he still considers his relationship with her as neutral.

Kakine: (Alright, that's enough of that. Let's recap my situation once more.)

The #2 didn't want to go through remembering his minuscule amount of connections.

Kakine: (This isn't a dream.)

The #2 thought. He came to this realization a few hours ago. Once he made this realization, he ran a self-checkup.

Kakine: (Further more, my body is entirely made up of my Dark Matter. Probably an unconscious response that came about by sheer force of will since my original body was destroyed by the #1.)

Kakine: (Due to my body's new composition, I don't have the biological limitations that my human body possessed.)

Kakine: (During my fight with Elsa and even that scuffle in the narrow passageway, I was able to reform and shrug off fatal injuries...)

Despite all of this, he still lacks motivation.

He still hasn't gained any strong ambition to do anything. If this were to continue, he would become a good for nothing sloth. But was he wrong for thinking this way?

After his death at the hands of the #1, Kakine began questioning his path. What was all that effort for? In the end, it amounted to nothing.

If he were to restart from zero, would things be different? He wouldn't know because It was over. He never thought that he would get to this point. And now?

Kakine: (I don't know what to do...)

Before Kakine could even think of an answer, his thoughts were interrupted by the opening of a door, and the two who entered his room was the pink-haired maid Ram and someone who looks exactly like her.

The only difference was her hair was blue and that her bang was covering her other eye.

Rem: "Ah, he has awakened, sister."
Ram: "Oh, he is awake, Rem."

Kakine: (What...? There's two of them?)

Rem: "Sister, do you see that? He appears to be brooding in a dark room. How unappealing."
Ram: "Yes, I do see that, Rem. Accompanied by his scary looking eyes. How unflattering."

The #2 simply looked at these two with a blank expression. He then placed his feet on the floor and got up to open the curtains to let some light in.

Kakine: "What? Is this how you treat all your guests? Talk about lowbred..."

Rem: "Lowbred?"
Ram: "Lowbred?"

Rem: "Sister, what does lowbred mean? I have never heard of such a word."
Ram: "Neither have I, Rem. It appears that he made that word up."

Kakine: "It means rude, you brats."

The esper clicked his tongue in annoyance and sighed.

He was now accepting the reality that this place is not some figment of his imagination.

He took one glance back at the two twin maids and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in confusion.

Kakine: (They look like they're going to some cosplay contest...)

Rem: "Oh no. I'm being indecently humiliated in the mind of our dear guest, sister."
Ram: "Oh no. I'm being indecently violated right now in our dear guest's mind, Rem."

Kakine: "What the hell are you two talking about..."

The #2 looked at them with a deadpan stare. If this annoyance continues on, things will get unpleasant.

♪ Re:ZERO ost : Timbre of the Beginning ♪

The half-elf knocked on the door prior before entering the room. She simply laid her eyes upon the three from the doorway.

Emilia: "Ah, Kakine. You're here and awake. Good morning. I hope you were well rested."

From Kakine's perspective, Emilia was wearing a pink robed outfit with knee socks that reached up to the top of her thighs.

Kakine: "I was until these two came barging in..."

Emilia herself was concealing the fact that she was a little happy to see him.

After hearing Reinhardt imply that she would never see him again after that night did cause her to think of the possibility that he would be gone by morning. Something that caused a bit of uneasiness to stir within her. 

Rem: "Please listen, Miss Emilia. My sister has been humiliated by our dear guest."
Ram: "Please listen, Miss Emilia. Rem has been violated by our dear guest and has held me captive."

Emilia: "That's enough you two, don't tease him so much."

Rem: "Understood, Miss Emilia. My sister is sorry for what she has done."
Ram: "Understood, Miss Emilia. Rem is also sorry for what she has done."

Ram and Rem declared their remorse without a shred of remorse.

Kakine: (Freaks.)

Emilia: "I've come to check up on how you were feeling. Are you hungry?"

Kakine: "No thanks. If anything, I'm still trying to get accustomed to my surroundings."

Emilia: "Well I'm sure that either Ram or Rem could give you directions on where to go."

After hearing Emilia's words, the two maids bowed their heads in acknowledgement at the possibility. Unbeknownst to Emilia, Kakine was referring to this new world.

Emilia: "By the way, would you like to accompany me for my morning routine?"

Kakine: "Morning routine?"

Emilia: "I'm borrowing the garden so I can talk to the spirits for a bit. It's part of the pact I made with various spirits."

The esper remembers Puck mentioning some sort of contract but he still raised an eyebrow. Why would she invite him for that?

After giving it some thought; he figured that this could be a learning experience. He also didn't want to stay in this room all day so he shrugged nonchalantly. After all, with his old objective stripped away from him due to his death, he had nothing else to do.

Kakine: "Fine... I'll go with you."

Roswaal mansion ┃ Garden ┃ Morning

The garden was akin to that of an open park with flat grassy fields and scattered trees.

Kakine and Emilia are walking side by side but unlike yesterday, he was the one following her. Once outside, the esper turned his eyes to his right and noticed the manor.

Emilia herself was actually curious about Kakine and wanted to question him in private shortly before her morning routine.

Emilia: "Kakine, may I see both of your hands please?"

After hearing this, he turned his head towards the half-elf. It was a strange request but he abided by it.

Kakine raised his hands, which caused Emilia to grab them. Shortly after, the girl heartily fiddled with them. He compared this to the act of palm reading, although he wasn't sure what the point of this was.

Emilia: (How strange. Aside from the fact that these hands are different from that of a working commoner, his skin is also void of color...)

Emilia: (And those eyes... I've never seen anything like it.)

For Emilia, Kakine was giving off a subtle ethereal sensation. A feeling that she couldn't quite describe.

Despite not knowing what the term means, she wonders if this is what it feels like to be within the presence of an angel.

However, the #2 looked at her with a bit of confusion.

Kakine: "What? You're staring at me."

Emilia: "I'm just going to come out and say it. Where did you come from, Kakine?"

Kakine: "Haven't I already answered this."

The esper replied bluntly and looked at her with suspicion.

In response, Emilia looked at him with a serious expression. Perhaps she should've elaborated on that question.

Emilia: "I'm referring to where angels come from."

Angel.

It was a term familiar to Kakine but unfamiliar to Emilia. However, Kakine's definition is possibly different to the one present in this foreign world.

Kakine: (Elsa said "myth" so I guess the existence of angels here are just that.)

Kakine: "I can't answer that."

Because of this, Kakine refuses to answer Emilia's question. However due to seeing Elsa's reaction to his wings, he hypothesises that the visual aspect associated with angels is shared between this world and his old one.

In response to his words, Emilia was disappointed, but at least he was being straightforward. Due to this, she ceased the act of prying into his origin. But Emilia still had questions for him.

Emilia: "Very well. But can I ask... What is Dark Matter?"

Kakine: ". . ."

He had a feeling she was going to ask this as he remembers mentioning his ability briefly in his fight against Elsa. However he was skeptical about telling her.

Kakine: "Do you even know what regular 'matter' is?"

Emilia: "Uhm..."

Kakine: "Typical. If you don't even know what that is, then telling you what Dark Matter is, is ultimately useless."

The esper internally questions if this foreign world is behind in its knowledge of physics.

Puck: "Then what is regular 'matter', Mister Kakine?"

The green crystal that was attached to Emilia's blouse began to emit a light & formed a small outline. And a few seconds later, a small bipedal cat appeared in Emilia's palm.

It was the spirit cat, Puck.

Kakine: "Ah...? I don't recall giving you my name."

Puck: "Oh, I heard it from Lia."

Emilia: "If it makes you feel any better, I only told Puck about the finer details about what happened yesterday."

Puck: "Anyways, good morning you two. It's a nice day today isn't it?"

Emilia: "Good morning to you, Puck. I'm sorry I put you through all that last night."

The spirit cat simply shook his head in refusal.

Puck: "No. I'm the one who should be sorry. I almost lost you. If anything, I should be thanking him for keeping you safe."

The small bipedal feline then turned to look at the angelic esper.

Puck: "So, thank you. If there's something you want me to do for you, just let me know."

Kakine: "I'll keep that in mind..."

Emilia: "I still would like to know and understand what this... 'matter' is. But I have to cut this conversation short as I have to go talk to the spirits now. So, we'll continue this at a later time."

The half-elf was mildly intrigued at Kakine's words and felt adamant to learn more about him. But she needed to attend something that is much more important.

Emilia: "I'm sorry to leave you like this Kakine, considering that you're still adjusting to the environment but feel free to quietly explore the area."

♪ ToAru ost : Beef! ♪

About 15 minutes passed and Emilia was still conversing with the spirits. She was sitting on the green grass and was surrounded by multi-colored lights that are floating around her.

Kakine was casually sitting at the outdoor concrete gazebo that was a fair distance away from where Emilia was. However, he wasn't looking at her as his eyes are focused on the manor.

Kakine: (What a pretty cushy place. Although it seems pretty big for just Emilia and the two maids.)

Kakine: "Hm?"

In a mere moment, he saw someone staring at him from the window. Once he made eye-contact, the person left. This caused Kakine to squint and look at the mansion with suspicion.

Kakine: (The hell was that...)

He wasn't able to get a good look but he thought he saw a