"So that's how it is — the story wraps up right here, huh."
Natsuki Subaru, dressed in his signature black-and-yellow tracksuit, murmured to himself with practiced indifference as he slid the manga back onto the shelf.
He looked up as he always did, his gaze drifting past his own reflection in the convenience store's glass door — and caught a glimpse of a couple strolling by on the empty street outside.
"Weird… shouldn't I be starting to see hallucinations about now?"
Subaru muttered quietly under his breath.
Then, with practiced ease, he turned and scooped up a few bags of snacks from the food aisle before heading toward the register.
"That'll be 363 yen —"
The cashier bagged the snacks while sneaking sideways glances at the high schooler in front of him.
Those slightly upturned, sharp eyes gave him a vaguely menacing look, made all the more intimidating by the well-trained muscle underneath. Combined with the suspiciously stuffed backpack slung over the guy's shoulders, it was hard not to wonder what exactly was in there.
Not that it was anything sinister, of course.
The cashier had gotten used to this particular weirdo by now. Every night, like a fixed NPC on a respawn timer, the guy would show up at the convenience store with that same backpack — browse a manga or two, buy a handful of snacks, and leave. It had become routine.
The cashier finished bagging the snacks and held them out.
"Have a good night."
Subaru gave a casual wave, paid, and walked straight out of the store.
He stood beneath a dim streetlight at the edge of the road, waiting for a gap in the traffic before crossing.
But then — a sudden, inexplicable impulse seized him. His body went rigid. His heart slammed hard in his chest, once.
"Hold on — did something just happen?"
"Is this it? Is that isekai trip from my memories finally coming? Right now, right here?"
Subaru blinked on reflex — and in that instant, everything before his eyes was overturned.
The surrounding world shifted from night to day.
He found himself standing in the middle of a bustling, traffic-filled street. Demi-humans of every variety walked openly among the crowd, their hair every color of the rainbow, most dressed in medieval-style clothing.
After his initial jolt of surprise, Subaru steadied himself remarkably fast.
Noticing the curious stares his tracksuit was drawing from the people around him, he instinctively shoved a hand into his pocket.
His fingers found a cold, solid grip — and he finally let out a breath.
"The day has finally come. Emilia, Rem, Ram, Beatrice — wait for me!"
Subaru took a deep breath and hitched the heavy backpack higher on his shoulders.
He was just about to take his first step when two warm, gentle silhouettes flashed through his mind — figures that had left a mark on him he couldn't quite shake.
Back during the Sanctuary Arc, his memories of his mom and dad had amounted to little more than a single image: the two of them watching him with tearful smiles beneath a cherry blossom tree.
But this time, he'd gotten his memories early. Did that mean he'd had a real reunion with them after all?
Yeah… it felt kind of like logging out of a game to rest at home for a while. It had patched over some of that lingering heartache from the Sanctuary trials, at least.
Because the mom and dad inside the Sanctuary trial had only ever been an illusion. What had become of the real ones — he didn't dare let himself think about it.
But this time.
Since he'd known the crossing was coming, he'd sat his parents down and told them everything. And because they weren't anything like ordinary parents — because they were the kind who actually listened to their son — they'd taken it seriously.
He'd said his goodbyes properly, too. Even if the farewell involved the three of them clinging to each other and ugly-crying like it was the end of the world, which, admittedly, was a little embarrassing.
But even that — even that had become a precious memory to him.
In the end, he'd made them a promise: he would clear this other world like a game, survive all the way to the final ending, and break free from the fate that was written for him.
And then come home — to take care of them in their old age, and repay everything they'd given him.
He would. He absolutely would.
This time, everything was going to be different.
And so, with his parents' blessing at his back —
He — Natsuki Subaru — set out on a journey whose destination was finding the way home.
Back to the present.
Subaru steadied his thoughts, locked onto his goal, and started walking toward the alley he'd mentally rehearsed a thousand times — the one from his memories.
As he walked, his mind drifted back to where it had all begun:
One night, about a year ago, he'd been pulling an all-nighter grinding a game when a splitting headache hit him without warning. An avalanche of foreign memories came crashing into his head all at once.
It was like a dream — but from a first-person perspective. He'd lived through his own isekai crossing. He'd been transported to another world: a place called the Kingdom of Lugnica.
He'd encountered beautiful girls like Emilia and Rem, wielded his unique ability — Return by Death — to rewrite the story's ending, and carved out a hero's tale with Natsuki Subaru as its protagonist.
Was it precognition? A second life? A New Game+ carried over from some cosmic save file?
Subaru couldn't say for certain. But the one thing he was sure of: there was no running from this crossing — and more than that, he didn't want to.
By accepting the future memories, he had already gained growth and strength through every death and loop before they ever happened.
"The First Encounter Arc, the Mansion Arc, the Royal Capital Arc, the Sanctuary Arc, the Water Gate City Arc…"
The future in his memories hadn't reached its ending yet.
But those precious fragments — they had become something uniquely his own: a walkthrough guide to the game of his life.
But that alone wasn't enough.
Since fate had handed him this gift, Natsuki Subaru was not about to waste it.
In the year before crossing over, he'd thrown himself into a training regimen of an intensity and discipline that left his old habits in the dust. Already no stranger to working out, after a full year of systematic conditioning his body had left behind its former scrawny frame — he was lean, well-built, and measurably faster and stronger than before.
He still couldn't hold a candle to someone like Reinhard or Elsa with their inhuman physiques.
But for a Subaru with Return by Death, even the smallest physical improvement could be the difference between catching a lifeline and missing it entirely in the split-second chaos of a life-or-death situation.
Beyond that, he hadn't neglected his gear either — insurance was insurance.
Subaru remembered that in his memory-self's version of events, he'd brought a bag of snacks, a phone, and a wallet into the other world. That meant the rules had room to bend — and he'd made the most of it.
Over the past year, he'd gathered all manner of compact, potentially useful items and packed them into his bag. Most crucially, he was wearing a high-end custom-made slash-resistant underlayer pressed directly against his skin — specifically to handle the gut-hunter he knew from memory he'd inevitably run into.
And there was one more item — one he'd stashed in his jacket pocket out of fear that the backpack might not make the crossing with him: a handgun.
Don't ask him how he'd gotten any of this. A "hero" who'd grown through a hundred deaths tends to find a way.
"Alright — should be the alley just up ahead."
Subaru scanned his surroundings as he walked, cross-referencing the landscape against his memories one detail at a time.
The alley was sandwiched between two residential buildings. Foot traffic near the entrance was sparse.
He vaguely remembered a flat stone slab on the steps — good for resting on.
He also remembered, very clearly, that this was the alley where three thugs had cornered and killed him. Multiple times.
But things were different now.
With a year of serious training behind him, he had the guts and the ability to take down three knife-wielding punks with his bare hands if it came to it.
A calm smile tugged at the corner of Subaru's mouth.
This wasn't the same Subaru as before. Armed with growth he'd earned ahead of schedule, he was going to write a brand-new chapter — one with no regrets.
No, not from zero this time. From… one.
And yet — the moment Subaru stepped into the alley, all those silent declarations of heroism died in his throat.
His gaze was snatched away, involuntarily and completely, by a figure ahead of him.
The back of a girl. A girl with silver hair like a flower frozen in ice.
"Wait — that person is…"
"Emilia?!"
Subaru's eyes went wide. Her name almost burst out of him before he managed, barely, to clamp down on it.
He tried to force himself to think clearly, but his thoughts were already in a tailspin.
What was Emilia doing here? Wasn't she supposed to be walking the streets right now — and have her badge stolen by Felt not long after?
"Is this the so-called 'butterfly effect'? Because I arrived at this alley early?"
As Subaru was still turning it over in his mind, his gaze drifted downward — and his pupils contracted sharply.
What filled his vision was a blinding, brutal red.
He saw, unmistakably, laid out on the steps:
Three bodies in clothes he recognized all too well, collapsed at the feet of Emilia — who stood there like a snow spirit undisturbed.
Warm blood was gurgling from puncture wounds in each corpse, pooling together into an ever-widening crimson stain.
They hadn't been dead long — perhaps killed only seconds before Subaru had stepped into the alley.
And the identity of those three bodies — they were the exact same thugs who, in the original timeline, had cornered him in this alley and taken his life again and again.
Subaru's mind went completely blank.
"What… what is going on here?"
"Are those three… asleep? Did they pass out?"
"No, no, no — with that much blood… they have to be… dead. And recently."
Subaru's instinct was to talk himself into some other explanation, but everything in front of him was quietly, stubbornly telling him the truth.
"So don't tell me… Emilia did this?"
"That Emilia? Pure, naive, wholesome Emilia-tan? That can't be right…"
From the other side of the alley, as if she'd sensed the newcomer's stare, Emilia slowly turned around. She spoke softly, almost to herself:
"Hm? Someone's here?"
"Strange — I was sure Subaru said the only obstacles before he met me were those three."
Emilia's voice was still melodic and clear as a bell. But what followed those words was a cold, flat statement that sent a chill down the spine.
"Well then. Might as well deal with this one the same way as those three thugs."
"After all — any factor that might get in the way of me meeting Subaru must be eliminated."
Subaru, who had heard every word of that with perfect clarity, felt his head threatening to cave in.
She said Subaru — she means me?
But we haven't even met yet!
What on earth is —
Subaru forced himself to stand still, bracing for composure he didn't feel, and watched as Emilia slowly turned to face him.
In appearance and build, she was identical to the Emilia-tan from his memories. Every detail matched.
That silky silver hair cascading like a waterfall. A young, heartbreakingly beautiful face. The signature snow-lotus ornament pinned to one side of her hair as always.
Those clear, pale violet eyes that made you want, instinctively, to hold their gaze.
All of it was so familiar.
And yet — why did everything about her right now, every word, every expression, feel so utterly alien to him?
If he had to say why… it was because the smile on Emilia's face as she turned toward him was horribly stiff.
Not a smile born from joy — just the corners of her mouth pulled into a technically perfect arc by sheer will alone.
Her exquisite violet pupils had lost their light. At a glance, they looked like the surface of a bottomless dark pool.
"Oh! It's Subaru — you're here~!"
A single look was all it took. Emilia recognized Natsuki Subaru instantly.
The coldness that had been written across her face dissolved at once, replaced in an instant by a warm, natural smile.
She immediately came pattering lightly down the steps, broke into a run toward Subaru, and spread her arms wide with open, unrestrained eagerness.
"Subaru — we're finally… meeting again!"
Emilia didn't slow down or hesitate for a second. She flung herself straight into Subaru's arms — he was still standing there in a daze — and nestled her head contentedly against his broad shoulder.
Taking advantage of the position, and of the fact that Subaru couldn't see her face from this angle —
Emilia's cheeks flushed deep red. Like a drowning person who had finally clawed their way back to the surface, she breathed in the scent of him — deep, silent, ravenous breaths, as if she wanted to etch it permanently into herself and quiet the fear buried at the bottom of her heart.
"Mou~ I was so lonely, Subaru!"
At last, Emilia drew back a little. She took one look at the bewildered, completely lost expression on Subaru's face — and immediately wilted, like a wet puppy left out in the rain.
"Because you left me behind and walked away just like that! So decisively. So completely."
But almost at once, her expression shifted again. She laughed — a light, breezy laugh, even as she said things that ought to have been heartbreaking.
"I knew it, didn't I? Subaru has lost interest in me. Maybe he's even started to find me annoying."
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have blurted that out. Saying I like you — "
"You'd probably rather I keep hating you forever, wouldn't you, Subaru?"
"But I just can't lie about it. These strange feelings inside me — it's like they're going to spill over!"
Emilia pressed both hands to her chest as she spoke.
"So I thought — wouldn't it be nice if we could go back to the very beginning~?"
"And then, that wish actually came true! So in that case —"
This time, Emilia broke into the gentle, familiar smile that Subaru recognized.
"Hey, Subaru — you won't abandon Lia again this time, will you?"
"Because look — I've already taken care of anyone who might have hurt you."
With those words hanging in the air, Emilia stared straight at Subaru, and something flickered in her violet irises — a dark blue flame dancing in the depths.
"…Doesn't that make Lia pretty useful?"
What existed in Emilia's eyes in that moment was a fragility and a madness seeping up from somewhere deep in her soul.
As though, at any second, she might be swallowed whole by the sheer force of her own emotions and shatter completely.
"Am I… trapped inside a nightmare?"
Subaru stared at Emilia's face in a kind of waking stupor, feeling as though an invisible hand had reached into his chest and was squeezing his heart without mercy.
Fear crept through him in silence. He opened his mouth — and found his throat had no voice to give.
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
Emilia tilted her head, puzzled — then, as though something clicked, she let out a soft, startled "oh."
Suddenly she raised her left hand high and brought it down hard — she slapped herself across the face without a moment's hesitation.
The force was enough to leave half her face red and swollen in an instant.
But Emilia didn't seem to notice or care. Only a flash of self-reproach passed through her eyes — the look of someone who'd realized they'd made a mistake.
She dropped her head and muttered rapidly to herself:
"Really now — why did I say that again!"
"No good, no good. I can't keep making trouble for Subaru. Or he'll abandon me again."
Something seemed to resolve itself in her mind. Emilia completely ignored the angry red swelling on her face and clapped her hands together with a bright smile.
"Oh right — I just remembered that Subaru doesn't know me yet!"
"Well then, allow me to introduce myself."
Emilia gracefully pinched the sides of her skirt and dipped into a slight bow:
"My name is Emilia. Just Emilia."
"As for my situation — I suppose you could say I'm a hostage currently being held captive by Subaru?"
Having said that, she seemed a little shy, and stole a peek at the subtle shift in Subaru's expression.
When she didn't get the reaction she'd been hoping for, she smiled and added quickly, waving it off:
"Just kidding! So then, Subaru — what should I call you?"
"…You already know my name perfectly well, don't you?"
Subaru felt thoroughly blindsided. The whole scene felt surreal to the point of absurdity.
But looking at Emilia's clear violet eyes — and at her cheek, swelling visibly and steadily, which she was pretending not to notice at all — he could tell she was being completely, utterly sincere.
Subaru had no idea what was happening. But right now, all he could do was play along and hope it led him toward some explanation for this bizarre situation.
"My name is Natsuki Subaru. And right now… I suppose I'm a traveler, for lack of a better word."
"Is that so, is that so! Then is there something you're hoping to do here, Subaru?"
Emilia's eyes lit up as she looked at him — bright with anticipation, as though she was waiting for him to say the exact answer she had in her heart.
Something I want to do? Does saving you count?
Subaru's expression turned a little complicated. Something about this version of Emilia was honestly kind of terrifying, and he wasn't entirely sure how to feel about it.
For that matter — given the current situation, did she even need saving?
"Why have you gone quiet, Subaru?"
Sensing something was off in the atmosphere, the excitement gradually faded from Emilia's face.
She pressed her lips together, her violet eyes trained intently on Subaru's face — unwilling to miss the tiniest flicker of expression.
"Ah — I understand."
And yet just as quickly, Emilia worked it out with a single moment's thought. She'd been too hasty. Of course she had.
"You've just arrived in this country, Subaru, so you must be pretty lost. How about I show you around the city?"
Emilia wore a smile on the surface as she made the suggestion. Internally, she was a mess.
Bad bad bad! Too eager — will Subaru think I'm weird?
But then again, she reconsidered — maybe it wasn't as bad as all that.
As if guided by some thread of fate, the moment she'd encountered Natsuki Subaru, fragments of memory had begun surfacing in her mind unbidden.
Memories utterly unlike anything she'd lived through — two separate flashes of meeting him, of coming to know him.
They were not false. She'd known at a glance: Natsuki Subaru carried the power to return to the past upon death.
No wonder… in the second memory of their meeting, Subaru had called her by the name "Satella."
Because that was the name she herself had told him.
No wonder — in that memory, Subaru had called out to her from behind on the street, and then stood there talking to himself in words she couldn't follow.
Thinking about it now, that scene was almost exactly like this one.
The current her and the Subaru from back then who'd been talking strangely — weren't they basically the same?
The thought made Emilia let out a little laugh she couldn't suppress. Without meaning to, tears slipped from her eyes — the kind that come from the relief of reunion.
She remembered now.
Back then, she'd been stopped by Subaru calling out to her — and he'd addressed her by that forbidden name, the name of the Envy Witch — and she'd been so angry she'd snapped back with some pretty awful things.
Subaru must have been so hurt. So sad.
But this time, the roles were reversed — and Subaru hadn't shown a single sign of disgust at her strange behavior.
Otherwise… otherwise she wasn't sure if she could have held herself together, or what she might have done next.
"Thank you, Subaru."
"Thank you… for saving me. Back then, and right now."
Emilia lifted her head. Her gaze — clear as ice crystal — met Subaru's, and she took in the sight of his furrowed brow, his tense and bewildered expression.
The two of them blinked at each other, their eyes locked.
Each searching the reflection of their own face in the other's pupils.
Just like the first time they'd met.
"Subaru… is really just like an angel, isn't he?"
…
…
After searching for a long time, I finally found a Re:Zero fanfic focused on 'IF' with an interesting theme 😁
SYNOPSIS:
Natsuki Subaru, still living in Japan, suddenly finds his mind flooded without warning by strange memories of himself in another world — the Royal Capital First Encounter Arc, the Mansion Arc, the Royal Selection Arc, the Sanctuary Arc, the Watergate City Arc...
At the same time, characters from IF timelines he never knew existed have also been reborn:
[IF Wrath] Emilia, who fell in love with the man who imprisoned her — after confessing to the "King of Purge" Subaru and being rejected, she convinced herself she had been abandoned, and shattered completely.
[IF Pride] Reinhard, who had every person he swore to protect destroyed by the "Sin Archbishop" Subaru — and for the first time in his life, learned what it means to truly hate.
[IF Lust ❤️] Crusch, Priscilla, and two other Royal Selection candidates are reborn carrying memories of having been "conquered" by Subaru.
Multiple world lines converge into one. Elsa the Bowel Hunter vows to fight for Subaru and no one else. Reinhard, upon recovering memories of the Capital's burning, is consumed by rage and sets out to kill Subaru. The Witch Factor within Emilia — born of the Wrath route — runs out of control, and she transforms into the [Witch of Envy], threatening to destroy the world.
Beneath a veil of ornate lies, the timelines of four hundred years past and four hundred years future curve and meet, forming an endless loop.
At the story's beginning, Emilia says: "Subaru, I… I wuv you!"
At the story's end, Subaru declares with unshakeable confidence: "You may call me — the [Great Sage] Flügel."