Chapter 23 - Rem

...

Waking up, I feel Rem snuggled into my chest. I look down and see her staring at me with a pleasant smile.

"Good morning Suburu."

I then throw her a smile before giving a quick peck onto her lips.

"Good morning Rem."

She returned the kiss and then put her head on my chest. Seeing her like this, I am brought to think about last night.

(Late at night)

Not being able to sleep, I decided to sit in front of the mirror and let my ideas flow out. Doing so usually puts me at peace and makes me tired enough to sleep.

But as I was going through some ideas on how to improve my mana capacity, I heard a knock on my door.

Putting my hands on my desk, I pushed myself up out my chair and went to answer. I then grabbed the door knob and swung the door open to see Rem standing there.

She was wearing nightwear and had a slight blush present on her face. Not seeing her in her maid attire also made me admire her looks more than usual.

Rem had noticed my staring and blushed brightly. "Y-You don't have to stare so hard Suburu, it's embarrassing."

Hearing her I blushed a bit before stepping to the side. Allowing her in, she walked to my bed before sitting on its side.

Her nightwear caught a little on the sheets and showed a bit of skin. But she quickly straightened it with a blush.

I made my way to my desk before grabbing my chair and putting in front of her. I then sat down and faced her. Might as well listen to what she has to say.

"Rem, why did you come to visit me so late?"

Rem's face then turned red before looking to the side and whispering something. Not hearing her, I leaned in nearer to her face.

"Rem, you have to be louder for me to hear you properly."

She reflexively moved her head back with red still present on her cheeks. And her eyes kept looked away from mine. I clearly could tell that she was nervous and whatever she had to say would be embarrassing to reveal.

"Rem, there's no need to be embarrassed, I'll understand." I told her with a smile. Hearing me Rem moved her gaze to me and gave a complicated look, it was almost as if she thought I was joking.

But her look then turned red for a few moments before she seemingly made a decision and looked back towards me. Seeing her ready to talk, I sat straight and looked into her eyes.

"S-Su-" She tried to begin but failed. She then slapped her cheeks softly before looking up at me with full seriousness.

"Suburu, do you think of me as a woman?"

My expression visibly froze in shock at her question. I then felt panic and embarrassment run through me as she looked up at me with her eyes full of question. She was serious about this!

I then saw her face visibly get sadder at my silence and went into panic. I don't feel like watching her cry! How would I sleep then!

I then suddenly leaned forward making her flench and grabbed her shoulders to make her look up at me.

"Rem, You are without a doubt a truly beautiful woman, Your personality and smile brightens up my day, You work harder than any woman I know."

"You have helped me immensely in these past few weeks and have made me view you as an important person in my life. And you be an amazing wife also, no doubt about it."

"You would brighten up any mans day just by welcoming them home with a smile after a hard day of work. You would raise your children to be wonderful hardworking people, just like their mom."

"So to answer your question, yes Rem, I view you not only as a woman, but as an amazing and beautiful companion. It would pain me dearly to see you suffer."

Rem hearing me just looks blown away. But then a bright and genuine smile slowly appears on her face. Her eyes then lock with mine before she gets up from the bed and grabs the hands present on her shoulders.

She then picks me up to my feet hand in hand before before looking up at me.

Confused at her actions, I question her. "Rem, what are you doing?"

She just smiles.

"Suburu, I love you."

Hearing her, my face stiffens up in sheer shock as I feel my ears heat up.

"What?"

Upon seeing my dumb expression, she just lets out a bright and beautiful laugh. She then let's go of my hands before slipping her arms around my lower back and putting her face into my stomach.

"I love you Suburu."

"B-But why?"

She then puts one of her hands on my chest before looking up at me. Her eyes look beautiful, the blue of her pupils shining brightly from the lit candle on my desk.

"Because you're Suburu, the selfish man who showed me how to live."

(After the demon beast attack)

Sitting up, I can't help but groan from my head going light. It seems I lost some blood from my arm, guess some bone tore through the skin and cut a vein or two.

Now that I think about it, how am I even alive? Oh yeah.... anime characters have an insane amount of blood. Guess that's another advantage I can put on the list now.

"Why?" A voice then calls from beside me. "Why did you push yourself with those injuries?"

Looking beside me, I expected to see Rem with her usual calm expression, but she was frowning with eyes full of negative emotion.

"What do you mean? I can't help you now?" Was I supposed to just let you go crazy and kill me? I needed to help you!

"It's because you almost died! You forced yourself too far and almost bled out!"

"Even now, the blood in your body is barely enough to make your heart function!"

Hearing her, I just sigh. If only that GuiltyLowe didn't show up. Guess that's what I get for creating a butterfly effect with Elsa's death.

I then look up towards the ceiling and smile. I'm alive though! Take that world! I then look towards Rem and answer her question with a smile.

"But I'm alive right? I'm still kicking, I'm still breathing, I can still think."

"And I even saved you in the process. That is the most valuable thing to me."

Rem then stared at me with disbelief before looking towards the ground with a complicated expression. "But I'm not valuable at all."

Hearing this, I got a bit angry. I just risked my life, and you return it with that?! No thanks? Not even a smile!

"Rem, you could at least say thank you."

Rem then raises her head before muttering. "Thank you."

I then raise an eyebrow. "Thank you for what?"

"Thank you for saving me."

You know, I could actually use this chance to tell her a story. I don't know what she will learn from it. But I'm too bored and upset to see the person I saved from madness be upset about it.

"Rem, would you like to hear a story?"

Rem just looked at me with visible confusion present on her face. Probably wondering why I want to do such a random thing.

"Um, sure why not. What's it's about?"

I then smile as I turn my head back towards the ceiling.

"It's about a boy who carried the weight of the world."

Hearing just a bold statement. Rem looks at my smiling face with interest. "That sounds interesting, what's his name?"

"Shinji Ikari, the boy who destroyed the world."

(Back to the previous time period)

Rem is brightly smiling up at me as she runs her hand over my cheek. She then keeps her hand still as she looks down with a slight frown.

"I was just as stupid as that boy, I also believed that the weight of the world was on my shoulders. I viewed myself as worthless replacement for my sister. I blamed everything on my self."

"I hated both myself and the world. I believed the world to be boring and only saw it in white and black. I was in such bad a state, that death seemed to be betrayal to my self proclaimed duty."

She then brought her hand from my cheek to behind my head and locked her gaze with mine.

"But that story helped me learn to give up that burden. And I smiled for once! I felt a genuine smile appear on my face after all this time."

"The weight that was crushing me down everyday was gone. And I finally started to see the world in color again."

"I cried in happiness when I saw the beautiful sunset. I had seen it so many times before. I usually viewed it as a new day of misery done. But I actually looked forward to a new day for once!"

She then slowly pulled my head towards her own before giving me a passionate kiss. Still shocked, I unconsciously returned it. And once our lips parted, she laughed at my dumbfounded face.

"That's why I love you Suburu."

My shock took a bit of time to calm down. I was honestly still processing the words that had been spoken to me. Even in my other life, I never got such a passionate and true confession.

But once I was calm, I saw Rem looking up at me with her beautiful smile that I had grown so used too. However, her eyes, her smile, the love present in her eyes, it all looks so enticing and beautifully new to me.

Seeing her like this, I decided to just go for it. I brought my lips onto hers to answer her feelings with my own. She happily dragged her hand through my hair as she passionately returned it with a kiss of her own.

She tripped and fell back onto the bed as we parted lips also pulling me with her. We then found ourselves face to face with me over her.

Oh no!

I nervously looked down at her. Her face was a bit flushed, but her eyes showed love instead of fear contrary to my expectations.

Seeing this, I decided to be a man for once and take the chance.

"Can I?" I asked her.

She then put her hand on her chest and showed and moved face to look away from me.

"O-Only if you s-say it."

Smiling softly at her adorable request, I lean in towards her ear and whisper softly.

"I love you Rem."

...