Subaru: *yawn*]
Taking off his blankets as he yawned, he lifted his body up, swivelling his feet down off of the bed. He roughly scratched his head as he looked around the room he was in. It was a room he had become used to seeing―― it was luxuriously furnished, and included a canopy bed in the room in which he entered from. But, where Subaru had woken up was not the canopy bed, but rather a sofa placed further within the room. He passed the nights as of late there, wrapped up in a futon, curled up into a ball.
――Actually, no, this had been a bedtime habit of Natsuki Subaru's in these years.
Be as it may, there wasn't any big reason for him not to sleep in his bed. It was just that he'd end up labouring to try and prepare the environment so that it'd be as comfortable to sleep in as possible. As a result of trial and error, he had learnt that he felt more comfortable by lying down and sleeping on the sofa than sleeping in a bed. And ever since, he'd kept doing that. That's all there was to it.
[Subaru: …]
Rubbing his eyes, Subaru got off from the sofa that he had made into a bed and went to the bathroom so he could get dressed. As he washed his face in the bathroom that was adjacent to his bedroom, he deliberately looked at his soaked face reflected in the mirror. His face looked tired, and gave the impression that he was about to collapse. His face looked frayed with dejection. These three things sapped at his morale.
In an attempt to stiffen that expression, Subaru clapped his face with both hands using all of his strength. A dry sound accompanied the tears that welled up; in order to wash away them, Subaru poured cold water onto his face. Once again, he looked at his wet face in the mirror. And whilst carefully kneading his face, eyes and cheeks, he said,
[Subaru: Smile…you gotta smile, if you can't, then… die.]
Chanting this incantation, Subaru bent his mouth into a terrible, crooked smile. He flashed his white teeth, his smile narrowing his eyes so the whites weren't visible all around anymore. His own countenance was like that of a villain's he had been friends with for a bit more than 18 years. He could camouflage his eyes, his facial expression, and his countenance with no issues.
[Subaru: Oookay, okay. Keep it like this.]
After checking his smile, Subaru dried his face with a towel and hurriedly changed into his clothes. When he spent time at the Mansion, Subaru's appearance was not garbed in a servant's uniform… rather, he wore the formal attire of a noble. Even if he took off his jacket, he would keep snug in a casual white shirt with its sleeves rolled up. However, such appearances were now naturally required. They were quite stuffy, but he really couldn't do anything about it. He was obligated to have an appearance appropriate to his position, because it was the position Subaru himself wanted.
[Subaru: Soon it'll be the usual time.]
Straight after he had changed into his clothes, he looked up to the Magic Hour Crystal that had been furnished above the room's door. It had a dark green hue, signifying that it was morning. It showed that his time for getting out of bed was soon. In some way, it seemed like this morning he had spent just a little bit too much time in practising his smile. In a few minutes, a punctual girl would knock on his door as scheduled. Before that, he needed to finish everything he hadn't done yet.
[Subaru: …]
Shifting his attention, Subaru unbuttoned his shirt down. There, attached by a thin chain was a pendant fastened to the "Black Crystal" which he never removed, even when sleeping. A mysterious, sparkling black crystal. Squeezing it in the palm of his hand, Subaru closed his eyes. The crystal stone was cold and hard to the touch―― when it tucked into the palm of Subaru's hand, its presence grew stronger as if firing up; it started to pulse as if it was a living thing.
Naturally, he started to unconsciously count its strange beat's rhythm and frequency as it rested in his palm.
With a stronger beat as it reached its full power, the crystal stone's beat grew stronger, and faster. Without even realising it, its pulse perfectly overlapped with the pulse of Subaru's own heartbeat, until the beat of his heart and the beat of the crystal jewel became equal. When his mind realised that, Subaru's consciousness was released from the yoke of his body and was invited to another area which could not by any means be real.
And in that moment, there were no sounds or signs from the world; instead, a dazzling light enveloped his consciousness.