"My name is (Y/N) (L/N), and I currently work for Lady Emilia." As soon as you said this, many eyes returned to Emilia.

"So that witch has gathered even more allies..." mumbled one of the old men.

Hearing this, Subaru stepped out from his position in the crowd. "Hey you blue-eye browed freak, how dare you say that about Emilia? How dare you judge her by her looks? If people judged you by your looks, they wouldn't be able to take you seriously."

A general gasp escaped from everybody's lips. The bushy eye browed man in question stood, anger emanating from him. "And who do you think you are, boy? Who are you to be so condescending to us all? Unless you're some kind of god, you have no right to say what you just said. So, who are you?"

Subaru flippantly moved into an embarrassing pose. "I am Natsuki Subaru, and I come as this candidat- I mean, Emilia-tan's best knight!"

There was a moment of silence, and then a certain knight stepped forward. "I would be willing to forgive this interruption, but what exactly do you mean by 'knight'?"

Jilius Juukulius waited for Subaru's response, which was, "I think it's pretty self-explanatory." 

Julius rubbed his hands in his hair. "Are you not aware that you are claiming to be a knight in front of literally hundreds of knights? How dare you audaciously make this claim in front of the Knights of Lugnica!?" He stuck his arm out, and all of the knights brought out their swords in perfect unison.

"Wow. Did you practice that?" asked Subaru.

To be honest, this impressed you too, but you weren't going to let it show. What bothered you was the fact that Subaru had once again managed to steal all attention from you. How were you supposed to make a lasting impact on people if all they paid attention to was Subaru's antics? All they would remember was that you were with Subaru, so they wouldn't think any good of you.

"Of course we did. Us knights are prepared for anything," said Julius in response to Subaru. "Now, why do you claim that you are a knight? Do you have resolve that matches ours? Do you have strength that can prove helpful to others? What about you makes you a knight?"

"W-well, I want to make Emilia the next ruler. No, I will do it. I will do anything for her!" exclaimed Subaru. 

"But do you have the resolve to do it? Do you have the strength to do it?" jeered Julius. 

"I don't have anything as grand as resolve, and I'm well aware that I lack strength, but I will make Emilia the ruler of this land! I will make her wish come true!" 

During this exchange, you thought about what Julius said. 

Do I have resolve? Do I have strength?

I certainly don't have strength, but I can work on improving it. Now, what is my resolve? I know that I want to help Rem, but why am I staying with these other people? 

All that they will bring me is more suffering, so why am I helping them? I can just stay away from them and do whatever I want. I can finally live a happy life, so what am I doing here?

You blanked out as you questioned yourself, and only came back to reality when you noticed that everybody was staring at you.

Oh shoot. I hate it when somebody asks me something and I don't hear it.

Seeing that you didn't hear his question, Julius asked you once more. "Sir, do you see yourself as a knight? Do you see Subaru as a knight?"

You gulp. You saw Subaru's pleading gaze, but something inside of you snapped. "No. We are both virtually useless when compared to you knights. Why Subaru thinks that he is a knight, I have no idea. He is weak, and he wouldn't be able to accomplish anything if it weren't for the many people who constantly help him." Quietly, you added, "And the same goes for me."

At this point, Reinhard stepped  in. "Julius, that is enough. (Y/N)," he turned to you. "Do not be so harsh on Subaru and yourself. I have witnessed firsthand your capabilities, and I would say that you don't give yourselves enough credit."

You wanted to object, but Subaru's broken self decided to answer. "You're right, Reinhard. All of you underestimate me. You know what, all of you knights are the ones that should be looked down upon! You're just born into the job! Don't use your daddy's name to act like a big shot and chastise me! You're all just-"

"Natsuki Subaru, that is not a good look on you," interrupted Julius. 

This only served to anger Subaru even more. "WHY YO-"

"Subaru, that is enough." At this, he froze. 

Emilia was at his back, her eyes cast in shadow. "I am very sorry for this interruption. I will see him out." she addressed the council, and then began to drag Subaru away.

As she was taking Subaru away, one of the elders commented, "This has shown us that you are not one to be feared, Lady Emilia. You have a fine attendant."

She stopped in her tracks. "Thank you. However," she paused. "Subaru is not my attendant."

With this, the doors were opened, and Subaru was escorted out of the throne room.

"Now that order has returned, let's get back to where we left off," announced one of the wise men.

Seeing as you had no business staying there, you walked away from the front of the room and stood at the spot that Subaru had vacated.

The attendant next to you, Al, nodded his head as a greeting. 

You did the same, and then turned your attention to Felt, who had taken her position in front of everybody. 

"Like I was saying, I hate this kingdom! I wear tear it down, and create a better place where stupid rich people don't exist!"

This line reminds you of something that one of your favorite anime characters said: "I will destroy the world and create it anew."

While her intentions weren't exactly the same, Felt had something in common with a character that you respected. Maybe you could switch to her camp if you felt like it.

Time Skip

Once the meeting ended and the majority of the people had left, you went straight to Roswaal, just like the message instructed you to do.

"What do you want me to do now?" you impatiently ask him.

He smirked and said, "I suppose that you will leave with this knight."

"What knigh-"

"The knight Julius Juukulius and Mister Natsuki Subaru are dueling!" announced a knight that had just now thrown open the doors to the throne room.

Emilia gasped. "How can something like this happen?"

You can't restrain yourself, so you lash out. "What did you expect? Subaru won't shut up about you, so of course he got into a fight. He doesn't know how to quit, so he's just going to end up injured. Again."

"Why does he keep on doing all of these things for me? Why is it that every time that he gets hurt, it's because of me?"

"Why don't you aaask him?" suggested Roswaal.

Emilia nodded, then turned her attention to the other candidates. "We need to stop that fight."

"No, I don't think I will," replied Anastasia Hoshin, the candidate that Julius is serving under.

"Why not? Are you not worried about what might happen?" asked a confused Emilia.

"Like what? Having to pay for your boy's mental treatment after getting beat so harshly by my knight?"

You tried to hide it, but a small grin appeared on your face after that comment. This is definitely not something to laugh at, but you just couldn't help it.

Thankfully, Emilia didn't notice it. 

"I am also against stopping the fight. It has nothing to do with me, so let it be," added Priscilla.

"I agree. Let the two of them resolve their conflict through battle," said Crusch.

"Just let me know who wins," added Felt.

Angry, Emilia huffed. "Fine. If you refuse to stop the fight, I will do it myself."

Remembering that Roswaal told you to follow the knight, you say, "I will go as well. I need to talk some sense into that idiot."

Emilia thought about it, and accepted your reason. "Ok, now let's go! We need to stop it before Subaru gets too injured!"

You were too late. 

By the time that you and Emilia reached Subaru, he had already been beaten to a pulp. His face was swollen, and their was blood running down his chin.

There were several rips in Subaru's clothes, and they were covered in dirt as well.

"SUBARU!" shouted Emilia.

He noticed this, and did something even dumber. "Shamac!" Somehow, Subaru had managed to cast the spell, and the arena was lathered in darkness. 

Well, it was only momentarily. "Was this the ace up your sleeve?" Julius scoffed. "This just proves how low your skill level is." He swiped his sword, and the arena suddenly became clear once more.

After this, Julius went in for the final blow. You could tell that he whispered something to Subaru, but you couldn't hear it from where you were.

Subaru fell to the ground, unconscious. 

Time Skip

After the fight, you had approached Julius. 

"Thanks for trying to help him, but Subaru's pretty dense, so he's probably going to hate you from now on," you told him.

Julius smiled, pleasantly surprised. "You saw straight through me. If you will, please help your friend come to his senses. When you spoke back in the throne room, I could tell that you knew exactly how you stand in this world. It may not be pretty, but you are the one who has realized your position." 

After a thought, he added, "If you would like to, I can train you in the future. You may be weak now, but that can be fixed." He offered his hand to shake.

You take it, and shake hands. "Thank you for the offer. I intend to make use of it."

Julius then walked away, leaving you with Subaru's limp body.

You had to carry Subaru all the way back to the room where you were staying. Emilia 'helped' by holding his legs up, but you were left with most of the lifting.

Exhausted, you dropped Subaru in the bed once you got back to your room. 

"Welcome ba-" Rem's eyes widened when she saw Subaru. "What happened to him?!"

"He got into a fight with a knight because he kept going on and on about how he was Emilia's knight," you tell her.

Rem had no response to that. 

"Well, I think that I will leave you alone with Subaru," you say to Emilia. "Let me know when you've had a chance to talk to him, because there's a few things that I need to tell him."

She just nodded her head, and you motioned for Rem to come with you.

Once both of you were out of the building, you let out a sigh. You were exhausted, but it would be hours until you could finally sleep in that room.

"(Y/N), where are we going?" Rem asked you.

You shrug your shoulders. "I have no idea. I'm not familiar with this city, and it's going to get dark soon. I have no idea how long we have to stay out, and I don't have anything in particular that I want to do."

"Well, I think that Subaru-kun should wake up in about an hour. His wounds aren't as serious as before, so he should take less time to heal," said Rem.

"In that case, let's eat somewhere. I don't know about you, but I'm hungry." 

A little surprised, Rem agreed. 

"So, do you know any good places to eat?" you ask her.

Rem tapped her chin, and then replied, "Yes. I believe that you will find it very unique."

Time skip

After an hour of searching for a carriage to ride, you finally arrived at the restaurant. You couldn't read the sign, but you knew exactly what they were serving as soon as you walked in the door. 

You experienced something in-between nostalgia and PTSD. This place served fast food.

You stood in place in the doorway, and Rem had to tug on you arm to get you inside. "What is it (Y/N)? Do you not like this place?"

You shook your head to clear it up. "No, I was just remembering something that this reminded me of."

This seemed to intrigue Rem, but she refrained from asking anything until the two of you had taken a seat. "When you said that reminds you of something, what exactly does it remind you of?"

"Home," you said gently.

Before she could ask more questions, you were approached by a waitress. "Welcome to the Krusty Krab. What can I get you?"

You start coughing, trying to hide your laugh. 

I never expected to be able to eat at the Krusty Krab. Oh my goodness...! 

People are starting to turn and look at you, so you try to stop laughing/coughing. "Sorry about that, can I get a water to drink? Ooh, and I'll get a Krabby Patty."

"Okay sir. Miss, what would you like?"

It took all of your willpower to keep from laughing again. 

NO WAY! They actually serve Krabby Patties here! Whoever opened this place must have been from my world, or a world similar to it.

Once Rem placed her order, you asked the waitress, "Would you mind telling me who opened this fine establishment?"

"Yes sir. His name was Keiji Fujiwara, but he died earlier this year."

"Oh, I am sorry," you respond.

"No worries sir. Is there anything else I can help you with?" she asked.

"No, thank you!"

The waitress walked away, and Rem was very confused. "I thought that you said that you never ate here before," she commented.

"And I haven't," you tell her. Making up a lie, you explain, "Where I used to live, there was a little shop that was the exact same as this one. It turns out that I used to know the guy that opened this place up. He disappeared from my village, but I never expected to open a restaurant here."

Convinced by your lie, Rem nodded. "Well, I am sorry for your loss."

You smiled softly. "Thanks. Now, while we're here, do you want me to fill you in about what happened in the throne room?"

She nodded her head, so you spent the next half and hour recounting the day's events to her.

Time skip

After almost four hours, you and Rem returned to the place that you were staying. It was well past sunset, and the night was beginning to turn cold.  

"I wonder if Subaru's awake yet," you say.

Right after you say that, you could hear an argument coming from your room.

"I would say that he is," remarked Rem.

You give her a 'bruh' look, but don't say anything. Instead, you strain your ears and try to hear what was being said.

You were unsuccessful because Emilia immediately stormed out. When she saw that you and Rem were standing outside of the door, she didn't even bother to ask how long you had been there. Instead, she quietly asked, "Why won't Subaru listen to me? If he loves me, why doesn't he do what I ask him to do?"

Not wanting to see Emilia in this state for too long, you replied, "If Puck told you to break your contract with him right now, would you do it?"

Not actually expecting an answer, Emilia was caught off guard. "Of course not! I love hi-" She stopped as she realized something.

"Exactly. That's similar to how Subaru feels about you." You walk past Emilia, and into the room. 

Rem followed. "Rem, I would rather you not hear some of what I'm about to tell Subaru, but if you want to hear it, then I won't stop you."

She didn't have a response. All she did was nod her head.

Sighing, you walked into Subaru's room, and then sat by his bed. He was crying, and you know why.

"(Y/N), are you just going to insult me too? If you are, just leave me alone. Nobody understands my pain. Nobody-"

"Shut up Subaru." As this shut him up, you continue. "You say that nobody understands your pain, but do you understand anyone else's? You've been too focused on pitying yourself and trying to chase after Emilia that you've been blind to everything else."

"Wait, what?" he looked confused. "What do you mean, I've been blinded?"

You ball your fist, and lock your eyes with Subaru's. "Have you not noticed that something's wrong about me? Have you not noticed how Rem treats you? The answer is no. Like I said, you're too busy fawning over Emilia to care about anybody but the two of you."

"What do you mean that you-"

"You say that nobody understands your pain, but have you told them?"

"Yes, I have!" he exclaimed. "Emilia won't understand that I will do anything for her because I love h-"

"Will you shut up about love!? I hate it when you go on and on about loving Emilia. First off, she doesn't even understand love, so how do you expect her to accept your actions? Second, do you not notice that you hurt others when you say that you love Emilia?!"

"Wha-"

"Unlike you, some people have had to face reality, and have been brutally rejected by somebody that they liked. They have no luck when it comes to love, but here you are, constantly preaching about your love for Emilia. Not only that, but you're just taking more and more away from me!"

He looked even more confused. "Wait, you got rejected?"

"Did I stutter?" You take in a deep breath, and try to hold back tears that are beginning to form. This was the first time that you are telling anybody about the rejection, and it still hurts. "Yes! I was rejected by Ram, and I only fell for her because I was stupid and naïve! Unlike you, I keep on failing no matter what it is!"

"I call bull! Does it look like I'm having luck with Emilia? She hates me right now!"

Subaru's interjection got you even angrier. "There you go again, only focusing on Emilia! If you wouldn't have tunnel vision, you'd realize that you're a lot luckier than you let on!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but you're no better than me! Name one productive thing that you did that didn't involve other people!"

You stood up violently. "What do you mean!? You've also done nothing productive without other people helping you! Don't try to make yourself sound better than me, because you're not. Us losers are in the same boat!"

Subaru looked like he wanted to say something aggressive, but he changed his mind. With a calmer voice, he added, "(Y/N), if we're in similar situations, why are we arguing like this?"

His calmness only served to irritate you. "Why? It's because I've had to deal with this stupid world for way too long now, and nothing is going right for me! I have no strength! I can't use magic! I didn't get the girl! And while I've been suffering, you've just been an annoying burden that's made my life worse! Is this a joke to you?"

Subaru's voice lost it's calmness. "You're such a hypocrite! You claim that I'm too focused on myself, but you're no better! All that you just said was 'me' this and 'I' that. The reason that you find me annoying is because I actually have a reason to be doing all of this!"

You try to find words to counter that, but nothing came from your mouth. You sat back down, and the tears finally fell onto your cheeks. "You're right," you said in a shaky voice. "I don't even know what I'm doing here. I just went with the flow, and look where I am now. There's nobody for me to love and expect love in return, I have no goal in mind, and I'm just suffering more and more. I really am a failure."

Now that you began to criticize yourself, Subaru had to shift gears. "Well then, why don't the two of us failures work together? Maybe - just maybe -  we can figure out what we're going to do with our lives. We might even become strong. Who knows?" 

He reached his hand out, and you hesitated. This conversation was all over the place, but you actually felt relieved. You were finally able to release your anger and tell somebody about your troubles, and the result was this.

You wiped your face, and shook Subaru's hand. "Let's be there for each other, and if one of us needs a reality check, we'll make sure that he gets