"Jeez… rough start to my great isekai adventure." The raven-haired, sharp-eyed boy grumbled as he trudged through the streets of Lugunica, furrowed brows and hands buried deep in his pockets.
Ever since being transported to this world, which, by his count, had been about ten minutes ago. Subaru had done nothing but get himself into trouble. In one hand, he clutched a plastic bag of groceries that had, for some reason, made the jump with him to this parallel world. In the other, his signature tracksuit, still damp from the river he'd embarrassingly fallen into after mistaking a bathhouse for a tavern.
From just this, Subaru knew it was going to be a looooong day for him.
The initial thrill of finding himself in a fantasy world was beginning to wear thin. The excitement that had once bubbled in his chest had dulled into a heavy exhaustion. Right now, more than anything, he just wanted a nap.
That wasn't at the bottom of the lake! Mind you.
Once his tracksuit was dry enough, he slipped it back on, restoring his natural look to it's genesis. still...
it didn't make him feel any less out of place.
"Agh! So much for my protagonist status…" Subaru groaned, raking a hand through his hair. "Why am I even here, anyway?"
Before he could spiral any further into self-pity, something made him stop. Out of the corner of his eye, down a narrow, unlit alley to his right, something caught his attention.
His brow knit, and he took a cautious step closer, peering into the gloom.
A figure.
Small. Still. Face-down against the ground, half-hidden in the heavy shadows.
From where he stood, it looked like… a girl.
A young one, to be exact, by the size of her frame.
Pale skin, striking against the filthy stone of the alley floor. Long, dark hair spilled out around her like ink on a page. To finish the look, a black ribbon sat neatly tied at the back of her head, undisturbed despite her awkward position.
She wore a simple black dress - clean, without a tear or stain to be seen.
That was all Subaru could make out from a distance, with the way she lay flat on her stomach and how the shadows clung to her.
He glanced left and right. Dozens of people passed by at the mouth of the street, not one sparing even a glance. No one else seemed to notice the unconscious girl lying there like discarded trash.
Barely able to contain an excited squeak, Subaru practically skipped toward the alley. Is this it? Is this where my story finally begins? A poor girl abandoned in a dark alley, waiting for a fated encounter… ooh, or maybe— maybe she's the one who summoned me! A beautiful, mysterious summoner in desperate need of a hero!
His mind raced with half a dozen over-the-top fantasies as he quickly set his bag of groceries down and dropped to one knee beside her. Without hesitation, he reached out and gave her shoulder a gentle shake.
"Hey, hey… hey! Lady, wake up! Miss Summoner! It's me, your hero, Natsuki Subaru!" he whispered or rather whisper-shouted - grinning like a fool. (well actually, not "like", considering his dumb ass is an actual fool.)
When she didn't stir, the shaking grew a little rougher, then turned to tapping, then a series of insistent pokes to her shoulder, her back, and finally the side of her head.
"Come on, don't leave me hanging here… hellooo…"
But nothing. Not a sound. Not a twitch.
Subaru's grin slowly faltered. Concern crept in, his fantasies grinding to a halt as a far less glamorous thought surfaced.
"H-Hey… um… you good? Don't mess with me like this… c-come on now…"
Still nothing.
A bead of cold sweat rolled down his temple. His stomach gave a queasy lurch.
She isn't dead, is she? I didn't just find a corpse, right? Right? Please don't tell me I was too late or something dramatic like that…
Before panic could fully set in, a sudden sound made him jolt.
"[Windows startup noises]"
Slowly, the girl raised her head, dark hair falling away from her face as she sat upright in one fluid motion, legs crossed beneath her.
Subaru stared, wide-eyed.
Her face was… wrong.
Two empty voids where her eyes should've been, glossy and pitch-black. Then, without warning, 2 yellow Xs flickered into place, shining like screens in the dark.
Subaru's heart nearly leapt out of his chest.
The Xs glitched, twisting and reshaping into a pair of small dots, pupils locking onto him.
"AAAAHH—WHAT THE HELL-!" Subaru yelped, scrambling back so fast he lost his footing, flailing wildly before his back hit the alley wall. His heel slipped on a loose stone, and he went down hard.
Thunk.
"OW-!"
Grimacing, he clutched the back of his head with both hands, groaning as the sharp throb of pain settled in.
"Wh-what was that?! What the actual hell was that?!" he hissed, peeking through his fingers at the girl. She sat calmly, tilting her head in a way that would normally be cute, if she weren't confusing the fuck out of him.
The yellow dots locked onto him, her mouth opening to say, "[Confused stare], who. are you?... who am I?"
Then, suddenly, her eyes went dark.
"Oh no," she exclaimed.
And oh no indeed, as if someone flipped a switch, she toppled over to the side.
Subaru just stared, utterly baffled.
"...No seriously… what on earth is going on?!"
A/N hope you enjoyed reading. goober is here. :3 :P :L