Chapter 3: The Statue

The plaza was located near the town square. There were two entrances/exits, one across from the other. Each was an alleyway that consisted of shops, the end of each opened up into a large, circular space. The place was bustling with people and full of smells that fought for dominance over Subaru's nose.

The plaza was lined with markets all of which had merchants trying to sell their goods to anyone passing by. The loud merchants each yelled their stock at no one in particular. A short fellow in a brown coat was selling fruits, a white haired woman was selling flowers and other flower essentials, and a boy Subaru's age with gray hair and a green hat was trying desperately to sell oil. Many others yelled but none of their products stuck to his ears. All he had on his mind was the thought of food….a-and Rem. Rem was also on his mind too, but mainly the food.

The rest of the plaza was a spread of tables and chairs for people to sit, eat, and talk. In the center of the plaza stood a great fountain with a statue of a man on top.

"Where do you want to eat, Rem?" Subaru looked at Rem who stayed right by his side ever since they left the house.

"I don't know, Subaru-kun. I'm not very hungry. You choose for Rem." Rem puts forth a cute face that Subaru can't help but smile at.

Subaru puts his foot onto the nearest lamppost, raises a fist and declared his decision, "Well then daisukiyaki it is!"

In this world daisukiyaki was basically okonomiyaki in Subaru's world. A pancake shaped food option that consisted of pork and seafood. What made it better was the option to douse it in mayonnaise.

Subaru marched across the plaza to the the little restaurant built into the side of a wall. It consisted of a small kitchen and a counter long enough to go from one end of the kitchen to the other while leaving enough room for the lone chef to work his magic. Subaru walked up to the end of the counter where one orders their food and rung a bell on the counter, signaling his arrival.

The chef, who was previously having a conversation with a customer about the raise in price on shrimp, heard the bell and saw the tracksuit wearing son of a gun.

"What'll it be, Subaru?" The large man lumbered over to Subaru and Rem. This friendly demeanor he had was only reserved for friends of his. It wasn't easy getting on his good side which explained why he refused to work with other random people. So he opened up his own restaurant where he was his only boss.

"Depends. Got enough mayo for me, Oki?" Subaru clearly had done this before.

"Ah Subaru you know I'll always have enough here for you!" Oki reached under the counter and fiddled for a bit before bringing up a large squeeze bottle filled with a white substance one can only classify as mayonnaise. On the bottle, in bold lettering, was written the name "Subaru".

Now Oki didn't always have mayonnaise in his shop. He had Subaru to thank for that.

After inventing mayonnaise in the mansion months ago, Subaru and Rem began to make it again in their own house. Like before Subaru worshipped the taste of mayonnaise and when it came to daisukiyaki Subaru couldn't stop himself from adding the mayonnaise that it desperately needed. Since daisukiyaki was basically okonomiyaki then it did traditionally need mayonnaise on top of it.

A few months ago after coming to Oki's little restaurant for the third time Subaru finally brought his own bottle of mayonnaise. Oki was curious as it caught his attention. Like a good restaurant owner, Oki would on occasion strike up a conversation with his customers. Oki asked of the purpose of the substance to which Subaru replied that it was the condiment of all condiments. Interested Oki tried the mayonnaise and was amazed at how well it went with the daisukiyaki.

In time Subaru and Oki struck a deal; Subaru gives Oki the mayonnaise recipe while Oki allows Subaru to enjoy as much mayonnaise as Oki would have in stock for no extra charge. In their eyes it was a win-win, Oki gets more customers to enjoy the new condiment and Subaru gets free mayonnaise. From that point on Subaru and Oki have been good friends, on occasion they would go to a late night bar and drink to their hearts content. Well, Oki would drink to his heart's content. Subaru would drink only some because he knew he had to be sober enough to take Oki home.

"The usual then, Subaru?" Oki put both of his massive arms onto the counter. He was easily 2 feet taller than Subaru and muscular so it was normal when Oki bent down jokingly to take his order.

"No. Just one order of daisukiyaki. Rem isn't hungry but I'll still share some with her." Keeping quiet the whole time Rem was clinging to Subaru's arm as if Oki might randomly kidnap Subaru and take him away forever.

Oki waved a hand at Rem who replies with a wave. "Well isn't that just cute. I'll get working on your food." Oki then retreated back to his kitchen and began cooking.

Rem and Subaru waited patiently looking around the plaza. Kids commonly played in this area when they run out of things to do at the park nearby. Seeing the children reminded Subaru of the kids in the village with Petra. He quickly shook these thoughts out of his head. They were unnecessary, such thoughts would only distract him from the real world. All that was in the past now, there was nothing he could do about it.

"What does Subaru-kun think of children?" Rem's voice penetrates Subaru's thoughts, bringing his attention to the question he was just asked. "Does Subaru-kun wish he could have kids of his own someday?"

These questions which were normal-ish questions people would usually ask each other when around kids brought a nervous expression to his face. Secretly he himself found himself dreaming of the future with Rem where they had kids and lived in a better neighborhood.

Subaru, however, was not ready to be a father, thinking he wasn't just ready to handle such a great responsibility.

At Rem's question Subaru blushed rubbed the back of his head and looked at the sky, away from Rem's gaze. "Y-yeah, someday for sure. I love kids and they seem to like me too. So having a kid of my own would be totally fine by me just maybe in a few years, you know?" Subaru didn't exactly imply who he wanted to have kids with but his answer still brought a smile to Rem's beautiful face.

Subaru's face was burning while Rem's cheeks were pink. Rem whispered to herself, "Rem is patient enough to wait for Subaru-kun."

"Hmmm?" Subaru thought he heard Rem say something, but he didn't know what. He looked at Rem who turned to face Subaru, waving her hands in front of her in a defensive stance.

"Nothing! Nothing! Rem said nothing!"

Subaru looked at Rem with a puzzled look and rested his chin in between his thumb and index finger.

"When you say it like that it makes me think you did say something."

Rem didn't know what to say. She was caught in the act of daydreaming about her fantasies. Now it was her face's turn to start burning. Luckily, before she could come up with an excuse for her actions Oki unknowingly came to her rescue.

"HEY! SUBARU YOUR CAKE IS READY!" Oki's voice broke the awkwardness that was felt moments before. What didn't help though was the fact that Oki was only 10 feet away behind the counter.

"HEY OKI! YOU DON'T HAVE TO YELL! I'M LITERALLY RIGHT HERE!" Subaru yelled back at the top of his lungs. "Come on Rem I'll let you put the mayo on your part." Rubbing Rem's head, Subaru went to get the daisukiyaki.

When Subaru approached Oki Oki had a plate the size of his hand with the daisukiyaki on it. For Subaru it took both of his hands to handle it. Oki leaned on the counter and asked Subaru a question:

"Subaru, during the last festival I got a lot business. So I've got a lot of money to blow and wanna go out drinking tonight to celebrate, you in? I'll treat ya'." Oki knew that Subaru didn't drink much to begin with so he wouldn't be spending much on his friend. But it wouldn't stop him from taking Subaru out to have some fun.

Before answering, Subaru looked over his shoulder at Rem giving her his best puppy dog eyes. Rem nodded to Subaru. Subaru smiled and turned back to Oki who observed the silent conversation.

"Sounds like a plan. Where to?"

"How about The Portable Pub?"

The Portable Pub was a dragon carriage pulled mini bar. In the carriage there were barrels upon barrels of different alcoholic beverages kept cold by the bartenders/owners ice magic. The pub was simple; walk up to the back of the carriage, order your alcohol, get it, and sit at the various tables that the owner would previously set up. Oki got along with the owner for they both shared the passion of independently owning their own businesses. It was popular among those that wanted a good drink at a cheap price.

"That sounds great. I hear they have more wine in stock at this time. I think I'll clear 'em out."

Subaru paid Oki the required amount for the food and said his farewell when the ring of a bell summoned Oki to another customer.

Subaru and Rem couldn't find any tables to sit at so they settled for sitting next to the fountain. The statue of the man on top of the fountain was one Subaru saw and looked at every time he came to the plaza.

The statue was completely made out of marble. The man up top was shown to look like a great hero with wisdom no one else had. When Subaru first saw the statue he was amazed at its glory. With a foot triumphantly placed on a stone and what can only be blueprints tucked under his arm the man truly looked great. Even his hair had great detail, frozen in time it seemed it's messy state was caught in the wind. But then as he studied the statue more Subaru began to notice some details that only affected his thoughts of the man; he came from his world.

A bronze plaque underneath the fountain explained the importance of the man:

Hoshin Okabe

Founder of Kararagi and inventor of the metia and many other advanced inventions. A hero and father to all that appreciate all that he has given us.

What really caught Subaru's attention though was how they displayed Okabe. Okabe was wearing a lab coat. Subaru has almost been here for a year and has yet to see anyone wearing or selling lab coats so he can only assume that it doesn't exist in this world. Okabe was also wearing jeans, another clothing item that Subaru was sure didn't exist here. Just like his tracksuit. No one knew what it was or where it came from.

This man, this Hoshin Okabe. He was just like Subaru. Okabe must have been transported here as well. If so, then where was he? Surely Okabe would want to meet him. However, when Subaru went to Oki, after they first met, to ask him about Okabe Oki told him that Okabe was nowhere to be found.

Apparently Okabe disappeared a mere 5 years after being summoned into this world. Subaru took note of this. If he were to ever go back to his old world he would want to find a way to take Rem with him or come back here if he is unable to take her. If Okabe made a difference in this world maybe Subaru can too. He can take off from where Okabe left. Perhaps he can recreate something from his world and sell it here. But what?

Subaru just left these thoughts for at a later time. He had 5 years to think of something to change this world that he grew accustomed to already.

In the present time Subaru had no such thoughts on his mind. The only thing that mattered to him currently was keeping Rem safe and happy. To give her the life she deserved was his goal in a world that was too cruel a for an angel like her...or an oni like her.

Rem was currently occupied with swirling the water in the fountain with her fingers, watching a small vortex form from her movements. When Subaru urged a bit of the mayo covered daisukiyaki towards her Rem allowed him to feed it to her. Smiling, she chewed and swallowed.

Rem wasn't too fond of mayonnaise she just ate it since Subaru and everyone else at the Roswaal Mansion loved it. Every time Subaru would feed her she would smile and giggle acting as if Subaru was her butler. In the end Rem leaned toward Subaru and kissed him on the cheek. Immediately after taking the empty plate Rem went to discard it, leaving Subaru in her wake who had a goofy smile on his face.

AN: Now that I've finally entered in my OC we can get this show on the road in the next chapter. And I'm not sure if anyone noticed but Hoshin Okabe is a mix of Rintaro Okabe from Steins;Gate and Hoshin of the Wilderness from Re:Zero. I wanted Hoshin to have a real name(so I took Rintaro's last name) and a body(so I took Rintaro's body. Comment are always appreciated because they help me know what I should look for as a writer. Thanks! :D