Brutal Truths

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

After a brief lesson on magic, you are sent out of Roswaal's room. You still feel uneasy about the events that transpired in there, so you take your mind off of it. Being a procrastinator, you are used to putting off issues until they got really bad.

You trudged slowly down the hallways, still feeling the strain on your muscles that mana depletion caused. You dragged your feet on the ground, and the rustling noise that they made caught somebody's attention.

"(Y/N), how are you feeling?" Hearing this voice, you look up, and quickly force a smile in your lips. 

In front of you was Emilia, who you haven't really had a decent conversation with since you first met her.

"I'm still a little sore, but other than that, I feel great!" You give her a thumbs up, but the slightly worried look on her face didn't go away. 

"I heard what happened to you... are you sure that you're fine?" As Emilia referenced you being eaten alive by monster dogs, both of you let out a pained expression.

"Well, saying that it hurt is an understatement, but I'm fine now thanks to my ability. Thanks for asking," you tell her.

You didn't intend to, but you had a habit of ending conversations, much like you almost did this one. Just because you were in another world didn't mean that you were any more sociable.

"O-oh, that's good." Emilia started glancing around the hallway. "If you want to, you can join me and Subaru when we go down to the village in about two hours. I'm sure that there will be people that appreciate what you did."

Emilia was about to scurry away, but Puck suddenly approached you, keeping her in place. "Hey (Y/N), I can tell that you're uneasy about something. Is there anything that you want to talk about? We can't help you if we don't know." 

Puck, usually cheerful, was actually earnest when he said this. He had a worried look on his face, as he could sense the uncertainty and confusion emanating from you.

Do I tell him about my favors to Roswaal? Well, he did suggest that I talk to Roswaal in the first place, so I should at least tell him about me learning magic.

"Well, I actually just finished having a discussion with Roswaal. He just explained and showed me how to cast a really simple spell. I can't cast it yet because of my poor control over my gate, but I understand how to do it." You smile again, hoping that your answer would satisfy him.

It seems like it did. "Oh, that's good to hear. To be honest, I didn't expect you to confront him so soon about it. You seem like the type of person that does everything as late as possible." He added the last bit playfully.

"Oof." You flinch from the comment. "You got me there." You straightened up, and wiped the smile from your face to reveal a more serious demeanor. "But seriously, I want to be able to help you and everybody else, so I'm not going to be slacking off anymore."

They smile at your sentiment. "That's good to hear, (Y/N). Now, we've got to get going. See you later!" Emilia waved you off, and she left along with Puck. 

As you watched their figures slowly get farther away, you sigh. "I say that, but it's not like I'm going to be useful when it comes to combat. On the other hand, I can be useful when it comes to information..."

Time skip

You're at Subaru's door. After debating with yourself on your way here, you have finally decided that it was time. You were finally going to tell Subaru something that you've been keeping secret ever since you found yourself in this world.

You knock gently on his door, not wanting to wake him up if he was asleep. "Come in," replied Subaru's unusually cheerful voice.

You walk in, and slowly close the door. When you turned around and made eye contact with Subaru. He quickly broke it, a sign that he felt guilty about his actions the day before.

"If you're here about that... I'm sorry. I didn't have a better plan..." Subaru looked down at the ground, regret apparent in his eyes.

You walk up to his bed, where he was lying down. You lift up your hand, and Subaru braces himself.

Instead of inflicting harm on Subaru, you put your hand on his shoulder. "No problem man. Sure, I was pretty angry in the moment, but I get it. We have these abilities, so we shouldn't waste them because we're afraid of pain." You pause, wondering if these are the right words to be saying right now. 

Actually, I should probably be teaching him that he shouldn't rely on his power. As of the first half of season 2 and the first few episodes of the second part, he's still learning that. If I can teach him that right now, maybe his mental state won't get screwed over.

"With that said," you crouch down so that you are eye level with Subaru. "With great power comes great responsibility. Don't abuse it."

This made Subaru grin. "Nice reference. Man Spider was always one of my favorites."

"Wait, you mean Spider Man, right?" You were all serious before, but Subaru's comment just threw you off.

"No. Man Spider. What kind of name is Spider Man? That just sounds wrong." He gave you the same look that you were giving him. "Wait a second... does this mean..." he gasped. "Are we from parallel worlds?!"

Oh crap. He figured it out. I guess that I should just play it off like I didn't know.

"You know what, that would explain whatever it is that just happened here." You scratch your head. "You know what, we probably shouldn't worry too much over that. Our worlds should be very similar, so we should just worry about this world." You could almost see the steam coming from Subaru's overworked mind. 

He looked up, and nodded. "Yeah. One world at a time..." He fell back into thought, his eyebrows scrunching together.

Now, it's time to get on with the real reason that I'm here. You clear your throat, getting Subaru's attention. 

"Subaru, there's something that I should tell you. I didn't want to tell you before because I can't explain how I know it." He looked very intrigued, so you continue. You take a deep breath and close your eyes. "Subaru... I know about the future." 

You slowly reopen your eyes, and see a bewildered Subaru. "WHAT?! If you know about the future, why haven't you told me?! I didn't have to die just to figure out what you already know! What the crap man?!" He grabbed a hold of your shoulders and started shaking you.

You slap his arms off of you. "Yeah, and how am I supposed to explain how I know? I don't want to tell anyone, but-"

"I don't care how you know. It doesn't matter. All that matters is that everybody lives. As long as you can tell the future, just tell me and I won't ask any questions." Subaru looked into your eyes, and you saw his determination. He was set on helping everybody survive with a motivation that dwarfed any that you had.

This left you speechless. Well, just for a second. "Actually, I only know future events up to a certain point, and I only have limited knowledge about those things."

Subaru rested his chin in his hands. He mumbled some nonsense before he spoke again. "Can you prove it? This might be one of those situations where I get manipulated by someone claiming that I need to prevent some false disaster from happening, or something like that." After another though hit him, he added, "It's not like I don't trust you, I just want proof."

"Hmmm..." Now it's your turn to think.

What can I say to him that someone can't possibly have already planned or said? I also can't say things that can be easily predicted...

"Well... Emilia won't want you to go with her to the Royal Selection."

Subaru nodded. "I definitely have no idea about what this Royal Selection is, so it must happen some time in the future. When will people begin discussing it?"

"Uh... Roswaal should bring it up today or tomorrow. As soon as he mentions bringing you, Emilia's going to object."

Subaru gasped as if this was absurd. "Why would Emilia-tan not want me to go with her?"

You shrug your shoulders. "To be honest, I don't understand either. Maybe eventually you'll understand her enough to know."

Subaru's face lit up as soon as you said this. "That reminds me, Emilia-tan and I are going on a date tomorrow!"

It takes a moment for this to settle in your mind. Subaru, the failure, just got a date with a hot girl, and he did it within a week of meeting her. 

That is just so wrong... But you know what? If Subaru can get a date, why can't I? You know, I think that it's about time that I took things into my own hands and get some things done. I'm going to ask Ram out on a date!

Well, I won't really call it a 'date', but just asking if she wants to do something to spend some time together should be fine. We can get to know each other, and besides, the worst she can say is no.

You break your thoughts to respond to Subaru. "Well, good job! Just promise that you won't forget about me." You chuckle, and lightly hit Subaru on the shoulder. "I'll see you later at the village."

"Yeah, see ya. Let's make some plans for the future later." He relaxed his body and slouched back into his pillows while you walked out of his room.

As you exited his room and proceeded to return to yours, you began formulating a plan. A plan to get Ram on a 'date' with you.

Ok, so what should I do? Should I just ask if she wants to go to the village with me? That works doesn't it? Yeah. As long as I don't seem too nervous or anything, she probably won't be too suspicious. 

Time Skip

You are now walking towards the garden, where Ram should be trimming the bushes. You would usually be picking weeds, but they apparently gave you a day off to recover.

Nervous thoughts racing through your mind, you can feel sweat begin to pour down all over your body. 

Sure enough, she was there. You clear your throat as you approach her, and take deep breaths. This will be the first time that you asked to do something with the opposite gender. Back in your world, you were pretty introverted, so you seldom went out with friends. Even when you went out, it was with guys.

This was going to be a new experience, so you weren't going to mess it up. "Hey Ram... do you have a second?"

She looked over at your direction, and lowered her arms, signaling that she was listening. 

"Well, I was wondering if you want to go to the uh, village with me. A-and Subaru. And Emilia. Yeah, I-we'll be leaving soon-I mean in half an hour." You nervously smile, and you know that you just slaughtered that.

Ram's face darkened. You braced yourself for an insult, but what you got was far different than you expected.

"Are you asking me to go with you to the village because you feel attracted to me?" With her tone, you took it as a hint that you should say no, but at the same time, you didn't want to lie to her.

Girls sure are scary. No matter what I say, I'm screwed.

You decide to go with the truth, because you were taught that people are less angry if you don't lie to them. As you are about to find out, this is utter bull crap. "Y-yes?"

Ram sneered at you. In a voice that wasn't raised, but full of annoyance, she asked, "How naïve are you to fall for me so easily? Can you not tell that I was trying to gain your favor?" Ram kept a straight face, but her tone was enough to carry her emotions to you.

You gulp, and your face is heating up. You fiddle with your fingers and hate yourself for getting into this situation. "Well, I uh, thought that you liked me-"

"Of course that's how it looked like! How dumb can you be to believe that act of mine without a care in the world? Is it not suspicious that I, an employee of Roswaal-sama, who also serves Emilia-sama, am trying to get close to you, a stranger that suddenly showed up one day? How can you not tell that something is wrong? Are you still a child that thinks that everything will go right because that is how the world works? Because you can't be further from the truth." 

This verbal assault shocked you. You move your lips and try to respond, but no words come out. This was the first time that somebody chastised you like this, and the bitter truth coming from Ram's lips was difficult to swallow.

She continued her lashing. "If anything, the fact that you were swayed by me so easily is an insult. You thought that I was easy, and I would fall for a loser like you. Why? Why would I love somebody more than I love Roswaal-sama? How could I fall for somebody that has obviously never accomplished a single worthy thing in their life? All you seem to know to do is simple chores. You are useless. Tell me, what part of you made you expect me to love you?"

You couldn't find any words. The only answer that you had was silence, accompanied by your failing attempt to hide your tears. You just received an answer way worse than 'no', and that rejection carried a huge wave of truth with it.

You are naïve. You are useless. You aren't worthy of anybody. 

She took a deep breath. "And yet, you want to get closer to me. Too close. Not only does this show your stupidity, but it also shows your ignorance! If you want what is best for all of us, please keep your distance. Not so much physically, but emotionally. Don't get involved in what you don't understand."

Your breath is now coming in short gasps, and your throat is beginning to feel hot. You didn't want to break down in front of Ram, but you were on the verge of doing just that.

This was very obvious, and Ram lightened her voice. "(Y/N), please don't take this the wrong way. I do not hate you. I just informed you of the truth. Do what you will with what I told you. Hate me if you will, but make sure that you don't forget about this."

With this said, she answered your question, the whole reason for this one-sided conversation. "If it wasn't obvious, no. I will not be going to the village with you. If you want to make it there on time, you should leave now." She picked her hedge cutters back up, and she continued her work from where she left off, completely ignoring you.

You wordlessly turn around and trudge away. Since Ram was no longer looking, you let your tears fall freely. 

How could I be so dumb? Of course there's no way that she would like me! Who would like me? Everything she said was true. I'm useless, and I've never done anything that has amounted to any value.

You clutch your chest, where you could almost feel your heart lurching out. 

Why does it hurt so much? I just fell for an act, so why do I feel so much pain when I was rejected? I've never felt like this. 

Why...?










I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter!

As you can see, (Y/N) will not be in a relationship with Ram. I'll let you know that there will in fact be a shipping, but it won't happen for a little while.

Now, as you can tell, I'm going to be releasing slightly longer chapters since I am planning on only updating once a week.

Well, see you next time!

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net