AN: Thanks to JDUBZ for his skills as a Beta Reader! I can use that now, it's a title according to Wikipedia.

"An alpha reader or beta reader, also pre-reader or critiquer, is a non-professional reader who reads a written work, generally fiction, with the intent of looking over the material to find and improve elements such as grammar and spelling, as well as suggestions to improve the story, its characters, or its setting." (Wikipedia)

Sentence example: JDUBZ is mah Beta Reader!

Edit: I just realized that my homepage for FF has a tab labeled 'Beta Reader' so I didn't have to look it up. I feel so stupid.



Chapter 8: Gone

Rem heard the knocking a second time and decided it must be a neighbor. It was strange that someone would come at this hour. Rem approached the door, and looked through the peephole. Nothing. Rem opened the door and stepped outside, looked around and saw nothing. Rem stepped back inside, looking over her shoulder once more before closing the door behind her.

Walking to the kitchen, Rem began to think of Subaru. Was Subaru really who he said he was? A lost boy away from home?

Rem grabbed a cup from one of the cabinets.

While Rem needed to think of how to handle Subaru there were other things to attend to. Rem wanted to visit the Roswaal Mansion or what was left of it. Rem didn't know if she could handle it. But Rem knew that in order for her to say her final goodbyes to Nee-sama, she had to see it for herself.

Rem filled up the cup with water. She was so lost in her own thoughts she didn't notice when the water rose over the rim and spilled onto her hand. Rem quickly sealed the faucet.

Rem put the cup down onto the table and turned to wipe her hand on a towel. Suddenly, Rem felt something hard and rounded under her foot. Shifting her foot, Rem saw the golden necklace Subaru had given to her just an hour ago.

Picking it up, Rem reread the words: To my fanatical little demon. Every day I live is a day I want to be with you. Love, Subaru-kun.

Rem clutched the necklace to her heart and started to choke up. She wanted the words on the necklace to be true. Rem wanted Subaru-kun to love her as much as she loved him. Why couldn't he just come up to her and tell her that he loved her with everything he had?

Rem put her back to the wall at a corner of the kitchen. Sliding down slowly to the floor Rem began to see Subaru in her head; giving her bits of his food, taking pictures of her, giving her flowers and gifts, kissing her, and complying with her wishes.

Rem could only count on one hand how many times Subaru was mean to her. But would need dozens of hands to count just how many times Subaru showed his appreciation for her, his love for her.

Perhaps, Subaru-kun was the one for her. She could forgive him, but she would never forget what he kept from her. It hurt her inside knowing the last time she saw Nee-sama was when she left to take care of Subaru-kun. She didn't even get to say a proper goodbye, she was so worried about Subaru.

Subaru-kun, she wanted to talk to him now. Rem wanted to know what he saw in her, what he planned for the future. She wasted to ask him if he really loved her. One of Rem's first thoughts when they moved in here here was to start a family with him someday in the future. It would be them against the world. They would live happily together and forever.

They. Subaru and Rem, they did everything together; moving to Kararagi, finding a house, shopping, sleeping, breathing, everything. The only times they weren't together was when they were at their jobs, but when they were together Subaru would give her unrelenting love.

Subaru made so many sacrifices for Rem, so many Rem wasn't sure if she could ever repay him. Once again, Rem began to have doubts of Subaru being part of the cult. What cult member would risk his life for children he just met? What cult member would run straight into a pack of Demon Beasts to save her? What person would cherish her forever no matter how crazy she got? Subaru would.

Rem went into the fetal position; her legs were tucked towards her chest, arms wrapped around them, and her head placed between her legs, face down. Tears formed in her eyes.

"Subaru-kun…..I'm sorry." Rem apologized to a nonexistent Subaru who she believed was out in the night.

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Rem awoke the next morning, still in the kitchen. Rem had cried till she fell asleep. Getting up, Rem went over to the sink and washed her face. Last night's tears were dried up on her skin, but as Rem washed her face they were removed.

With her head clear, Rem began to plan out her day. Rem called work to inform them she wasn't feeling well and would have to stay home. For a few hours after noon Rem began to wonder when Subaru would come back. Afterwards, Rem decided now was a good time to call Subaru and ask him to come back.

Rem pulled out her metia and opened it up. Scrolling through her contacts she stopped when she got to Subaru's.

Was she ready? Rem was ready to hear him out, hear his side of the story, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to see him. Rem was pretty sure that when Subaru showed up she would look into his eyes and see the eyes of a cult member. She didn't want to think about that anymore. Everything he did, everything he said, every way he acted resembled nothing of the Witch's Cult. She had to trust him and hope he was genuine.

Rem pressed Subaru's contact icon.

This metia is no longer available or in service.

"Wha-?" Rem stared at the words on her metia. They stayed there for a few seconds before disappearing. Rem pressed the button again.

This metia is no longer available or in service.

"No." Rem thought that this had to be false, the only way for a metia to be unresponsive is if it's internal content crystal was totally destroyed. What if Subaru-kun ran?

Rem was in shock, walking towards the front door she pocketed the metia. Rem opened the door, but before she walked out she grabbed the golden necklace from the counter.

The necklace reflected a little bit of golden light onto her skin as Rem put it on. Examining herself in the mirror she realized she was wasting time and went out the door, closing it behind her.

If Subaru ran, Rem would easily find him. All she had to do was follow the scent of the witch. It was a lightly bitter smell that she easily picked up with her advanced Oni nose.

Rem needed to hurry, if Subaru had started to run last night he would have gotten far by now. This meant she need to move fast if she wanted to find him more quickly. Turning to her right, Rem followed the smell south.

After a few blocks the scent started to move across the street. Rem waited until a safe point to cross and proceeded to follow. After running for 5 minutes Rem came to an open lot area where she recognized as The Portable Pub's nightly location. She knew this because she came here with Subaru before with Oki during one of their hangouts.

The smell of the witch was mixed with the smell of alcohol. Rem felt nauseous, she wasn't a fan of alcohol. She couldn't stand its smell. Rem would often get drunk off the smell alone when Subaru would return home from a night of drinking. Rem wasn't sure herself why she didn't grow more tolerable of the smell, but she never did.

The scent of the witch made a U-turn.

Maybe Subaru was trying to throw her off. Rem followed the scent for another few minutes until she stopped at where the scent ended; Subaru and Rem's house.

The scent was faint. Rem could sense that the smell at the door was at least 8 hours old. She would be able to tell if Subaru had come back when she opened the door. A look of confusion crosses her face.

Did Subaru-kun sneak in the house without Rem's knowing?

When inside the house Rem sniffed the air.

The scent's old. The age of the witch's smell was as old as the one Rem followed on the way TO the pub. Not back. That meant that that Subaru had made it to the door and just somehow masked his smell. But went where? Without the smell Rem had no way of finding Subaru-kun.

Rem leaned on the frame of the front door. A look of betrayal on her -kun's gone. He left Rem.

"No. I don't believe it." Rem's naive mind tried to think of a solution as to why Subaru's scent ended here and didn't continue.

"He must have gotten rid of the smell. Maybe, whatever possessed my Subaru-kun with the witch was gone now?" Rem began thinking that the real Subaru was possessed by the witch. That was what may have been causing the smell. Now that the smell was gone it meant Subaru was free, free of the witch's clutches.

Again, Rem was putting together pieces that didn't exist. Again, she came up with her own conclusion. One that she wanted to believe because in her mind it made sense and meant that Subaru was clean. Rem grinded her teeth together. Clenching her fist, Rem punched a hole into the wall.

But why leave then? Subaru obviously came back, but as soon as he was purified why would he just leave? Did he really not love her? He must had found out that he no longer smelled like the witch if he ran.

Rem cried into her arm leaning on the doorframe. Her sobs sounded throughout every corner of the house. If Subaru had been there he would have ran to Rem to comfort her.

Rem removed her hand from the wall. She had to find her Subaru-kun. She had grown to love him too much to let him go. Whether he was in an alliance with the witch or not did not matter to her. Rem's first priority was to find Subaru. How she deals with him then would have to wait.

Rem didn't know exactly where Subaru could have gone, but she did have an idea of where to go to first.

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Oki was serving his last customer of the afternoon. He glanced at his time crystal on the eating counter, a light shade of blue, it was about 4pm. Oki sat in a chair and rested. Not many people were usually at the plaza at this time, especially on a weekday.

Since Oki woke up in his house he had been trying to remember last night. He was at The Portable Pub drinking when Subaru called and asked to stay over. At the time he was slightly wasted, but had enough brain power to realize Subaru's distress and let him stay. After the call Oki didn't remember anything. All it took was one more beer and Oki was hammered. Red faced and causing a ruckus, or at least that's how Ken described him.

Ken told Oki that he had to get Oki's ID from his pockets to find out his address. When he found out, Ken put the opening of the carriage to the back of Oki's seat. Ken heaved Oki to fall back and into the back of the carriage. From there Ken took the carriage with Oki in it to Oki's home where Oki woke up and was functional to get in his house.

Ken also told Oki that Subaru had left to talk to his girlfriend. Oki hasn't gotten any calls from Subaru since last night so he assumed he did made amends with Rem. Whatever Oki's drunken self said to Subaru must have helped. Hahaha no.

Since he had free time Oki decided to call Subaru, ask him how the talk with Rem went. Oki opened his metia and found Subaru's contact. Oki clicked on it and was greeted to a message on the screen:

This metia is no longer available or in service.

"Huh." Subaru must have broken it somehow. Which seemed impossible since metias are supposedly able to withstand explosive magic, or so the ad claimed. Oki just brushed it aside as a consequence for Subaru's idiocy. Oki decided he would go to Subaru's house later on and ask him about Rem.

With nothing to do, Oki decided to clear up shop. His head still hurt from last night and he got enough business today. Oki cleared the register. After counting the money, he put it all in a pouch, and pocketed it. After finally finishing putting away his cooking utensils Oki heard a voice call out to him from above the counter.

"Oki? It's Rem."

Getting up, Oki looked down to see the blue haired girl looking up at him. She had a crazy look in her eyes that didn't scare Oki, but it didn't help either.

"You seem distressed, Rem. What's up?" Rem walked up to the counter until she had her hands on it. Rem never broke eye contact, the closer she got the higher she had to raise her head. By the time she reached the counter Rem's head was raised almost to a 90 degree angle.

"Where's Subaru-kun?" Rem continued to look at Oki, unblinking. "He never came home. Rem is worried he doesn't love her anymore." Rem then looked down at her hands on the counter. Wishing her worries weren't true.

Oki was baffled at the notion that Subaru, the person who seemed to have nothing else on his mind, but this girl, would stop loving her so suddenly. He immediately tried to reassure Rem.

"What? No no no, Subaru does love you, Rem. He's always talking about you around his friends, a bit too much if you ask me." Oki chuckled, but Rem did not return the smile.

Rem looked back up, hopeful that Subaru trusted his friends here enough to tell them his true feelings about Rem. Hearing this made her slightly more happy. Rem put on a more serious face.

"Subaru-kun's metia is not working. Oki was with Subaru-kun last night right?"

"Yeah, I was with Subaru. But to be honest Rem I don't even remember seeing Subaru there," This peaked Rem's interests, "I was too drunk to remember anything." Then her expectations fell. All hope was lost. "There is someone who may know though."

Rem needed answers and she needed them now. She grabbed Oki by the front of his shirt and, using her immense Oni strength, pulled his face down to her height, "Who, Oki?"

Rem's strength absolutely baffled Oki. How could a girl so small be so strong? Oki was now face to face with Rem. Her face was neutral, but her eyes told him she meant business.

"Um um Ken-Kenshi. He was with Subaru last night when I was drunk."

Rem didn't want to waste her time on someone else who was probably drunk last night too.

"Was he drunk too?"

Oki raised his hands to his sides, palms facing Rem, "No. Goodness no. He's was the owner, he can't drink with his customers."

Rem pulled him closer, she could smell the faint scent of booze on his breath, "Where is he?"

"I don't know." That answer didn't satisfy Rem. She squeezed Oki's shirt harder. Oki didn't like where this was going, "I..I..I..I have his metia contact though, that oughta' help!"

From his pocket, Oki pulled out his metia. It's circular shape and bronze color, shining in the sun like a beacon.

Rem finally let go of Oki. Oki gave Rem a look that said 'thank you.' Oki straightened his shirt with his hand. All the while his metia was set to call Ken.

After two buzzes Ken picked up.

"What is it, Oki? Need more beer in that fat belly of yours? Haha haha!" Oki looked down at his belly, in his opinion he wasn't that fat. Ok, maybe just a little.

Oki looked at the cruel man on the receiving end of the call, "Cut the crap! We need to talk."

Ken's monitor figure stroked his chin, "Fine, fine. We'll need to talk later though, I'm at City Hall, I'm having an important meeting to settle some things about my bar."

"No. Ken this is important! We need to talk now. Subaru's missing." Oki raised his voice. Ken was the last person to see Subaru so he was an important person to get information from about Subaru's possible whereabouts.

Ken looked at Oki with a worried face, "All I know is Subaru went home after he talked to me."

"Rem's saying he never came home. We need you right..now." Oki tried to sound threatening but failed to.

Ken looked apologetic, "I'm sorry, Oki. It's my father's business. I can't leave now. Meet me at the Time Tower in 30."

Oki clearly wasn't happy. But nonetheless he agreed, "Fine. 30. No more, no less. No wait, yes to less. If you can be there in less than 30 then be there."

"Fine."

A female's voice was heard off-screen, "Mr. Koori?"

Ken looked up and raised a hand, "Yes, that's me." Ken looked back down at Oki, said bye, and hung up. Before the screen turned dark Oki saw that Ken's eyes were filled with regret.

Oki put the metia back in his pocket and looked for Rem. Oki scanned to plaza but failed to see the recognizable blue haired girl. Just when Oki was going to contact Rem he heard something coming from the floor in front in front of the counter. There was a continuous light bumping noise. Oki went around the counter and out the kitchen to see what it was.

Oki found Rem sitting on the floor leaning against the counter. Hitting her head against the wall every few seconds. The unmistakeable streaks on her face were tears.

Rem's hopes for the future crumbled in one day. Her Subaru was missing, not to mention he may be working for the witch, and she had absolutely nothing at all to use as a lead as to where Subaru might be.

Oki didn't like what he was looking at and put a stop to it. Scooping up Rem, Oki saved her from anymore self harm. Rem was light when being carried in Oki's arms, almost like a feather.

Rem didn't hold back anymore, she bawled into Oki's shirt sleeve. Covering it in tears.

For now Rem felt she only had herself to blame. If only she had realized how good she had it with Subaru maybe things would have turned out differently. If Subaru never left the house would he have stayed? Would he still be here? Would he have been the one to comfort her when she was sad? Yes he would.

Rem didn't stop crying, she came to realize that the one person who gave her so much pain had also given her more happiness than she could ever ask for.

But now he was gone. Maybe forever.

AN: After fully reading the description of a Beta Reader I realized they could also be called an Alpha Reader. So I'm gonna call JDUBZ an Alpha Reader because it sounds cooler. Alpha Reader. Alpha Reader. Alpha Reader. Just rolls right off the tongue doesn't it?

See you guys/gals in the next chapter! :P