Remnants of fractured code. (Murder Drones x Re:zero)

Subaru stayed like that for a while, sitting against the cold wall, legs stretched out, arms crossed, occasionally shooting the unconscious girl a side-eye.

Minutes passed.

The noise of the street beyond the alley faded into a dull, distant hum. Somewhere nearby, a bell chimed. Subaru let his eyelids droop.

Just for a second.

Just a second.

"Not sleeping," he muttered to himself, head dipping slightly. "Just… tactical resting. Yeah."

A few quiet moments went by.

Then, something made his eyes snap open.

At first, nothing seemed different. Same alley. Same stone walls. Same lifeless maybe-cyborg lying next to him.

Except-

A twitch.

Subaru's gaze zeroed in on her hand. A single finger gave the tiniest jerk. Then another.

He stiffened.

Slowly, she began to sit up, her movements stiff, awkward — like someone trying to pilot a body they weren't used to. Subaru watched, a strange mix of fascination and disbelief crawling up his spine.

She tried to stand.

Wobbled.

And fell.

Stood again.

Fell again.

Stood. Fell.

Stood. Fell.

Stood… wobbled… fell.

It went on, an unsteady, clumsy rhythm of balance and collapse. Yet every time, she got a little better. A little steadier.

And honestly… it was weirdly cute.

Despite the fact that, judging by earlier, she probably weighed as much as a freight train and could one-punch a building, there was something unintentionally adorable about the whole spectacle.

Especially with the soft, quiet narration she muttered under her breath, like someone fumbling through a video game tutorial.

"Standing… falling… standing… falling… standing… falling…"

Subaru felt a grin tug at his lips, the tight knot of tension in his chest starting to unravel.

She's kinda cute, huh.

After several more failed attempts, she rose one last time, teetered… then fell forward with a perfect, deadpan faceplant.

Thunk.

She lay there, facedown, limbs sprawled, like her entire body had just given up on life.

"Annoyed grumble," she mumbled into the stone, voice muffled but somehow still expressive. "Why is this so hard…?"

Subaru stifled a laugh. If she weren't face-down, he was sure she'd be making the most exaggerated, droopy sad-face imaginable.

He scratched the back of his head.

Should… should I help? Can I even help an amnesiac cyborg girl relearn how to walk? …Yeah, no, probably not. I'll, uh… leave it to her.

Subaru gave a small shrug and leaned back against the wall again, arms folding as he watched the bizarre little struggle play out like some awkward, glitchy tutorial sequence.

Eventually, she finally managed to stay upright. Her arms shot out for balance. She teetered once… twice… Then steadied.

A tiny, awkward smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she exclaimed, "Yippe!"

Subaru snorted.

But then she turned around. Slowly. Unsteady, but moving. Her large yellow eyes landed on him.

She stared.

He blinked.

There was a long, silent moment where neither moved.

Then she gave the most awkward little shuffle in place. Hands fidgeting at her sides, eyes nervously darting.

"Nervous shuffle, U-um…" she muttered, almost reciting it like a script. Then, a bit more naturally, her voice softened. "W-who are you? …Do you know who I am…?"

Subaru stared at her for a second. Then a grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Nope. Not a clue," he said brightly, tapping a finger against his chest. "But I think I've already figured out the important parts."

He straightened up, clearing his throat with a dramatic little cough.

"Ahem. Allow me to introduce myself properly!"

He threw a hand out to the side, and in the air with all the confidence of a man who absolutely didn't have his life together.

"The name's Natsuki Subaru! Totally broke, absolutely clueless, absolutely zero special powers to my knowledge, and dragged into this world by circumstances beyond my control. Nice to meet you!" he declared with a grin, sticking out his hand.

The girl blinked, her yellow eyes flickering in their sockets. "Nervous giggle… uhm… n-nice to meet you, Mr. Natsuki," she mumbled, taking a few small, unsteady steps toward him.

She reached out, hesitating for a second, then carefully took his hand. The handshake was… awkward. Like she was still figuring out how her fingers were supposed to move. Subaru noticed then, she only had four. It looked natural, like it was supposed to be that way, flesh and all. Not a clean cut or anything, just… biologically correct.

Huh. Neat.

After a second, she let her hand drop back to her side, shuffling her feet nervously again. "Shuffle, shuffle… my name is…" she started, trailing off. Her eyes unfocused, staring into space like she was digging through a very empty hard drive.

"I… don't re- no, I do!" she corrected herself "I am Cy-y-y-yn… tessa? Cyn." Her voice steadied a little. "Cyn."

She gave a tiny, proud nod, as if locking it in for herself. "Resolute nod," she added softly.

Subaru snorted, shaking his head with a crooked grin. "Okay then, Cyn-san. Nice to meet you."

Cyn fidgeted with the hem of her dress, her eyes flickering faintly as she glanced up at him.

"Um…" she hesitated, shifting her weight from foot to foot. "W-would you happen to… um… know me, Mr. Natsuki? Because… I… I can't remember anything about myself."

Subaru's expression softened. He reached up, rubbing the back of his neck, a small chuckle escaping him.

"First off, drop the 'Mr. Natsuki' stuff. Call me Subaru, yeah?"

Cyn blinked, her yellow pupils flickering faintly. "Nervous side glance. O-oh… okay. Subaru."

"Better," he grinned, giving a satisfied nod before gesturing vaguely at the alley around them. "And as for whether I know you? Nope. Not even a little. Never seen you before in my life."

Her shoulders drooped a bit, the flicker in her eyes dimming.

"But," Subaru quickly added, pointing a finger at her with a cocky smirk, "I've got a theory."

Cyn tilted her head, curiosity sparking in her expression. "Head tilt… a theory?"

"Yep. See, I think you're like me," Subaru said, leaning in a bit, lowering his voice like he was about to spill a grand secret. "Dragged into this world from somewhere else. But unlike me, you're probably from way, way, waaaay in the future. from the place I was from, atleast. I mean, you look like a cyborg, so I guess that's what you are." he gives a shrug, "And that's what led us here, to this conversation. In this new medieval world of magic!"

Subaru flashed her a grin. "Sooo… what do you think?"

Cyn's lips twitched, the barest hint of a shy, uncertain smile forming. "O-oh… okay… I… I guess that makes sense? So I am a future… person… cyborg… thing? I don't know how to feel about that. But… if you say so, Subaru… then I will believe you. Nervous giggle."

Subaru's heart gave a little flip. So cute.

"You're welcome, Cyn-tan," he chuckled, giving her a playful wink. "Happy to be of service."

"Confused expression. Tan?" Cyn repeated, tilting her head with a puzzled blink.

Subaru winced. "Ah, right, right. Uh, okay, quick lesson. It's a little nickname thing. Where I'm from, people add stuff to names sometimes, like 'san' for being polite, 'kun' for buddies, 'chan' for cute girls or kids… and 'tan' is kinda like… an extra cute version of 'chan.'"

Cyn blinked again. "So… you called me extra… cute?"

Subaru's face turned a shade redder than he meant it to. "N-not that I meant it weirdly or anything! Just y'know, kinda suits you!"

Cyn's expression dimmed, eyes flickering uncertainly. "Confused look… w-was I not supposed to?"

Subaru blinked, immediately waving his hands in front of him. "No, no, no! It's fine! It's totally fine, Cyn-tan. It's just—uh, caught me off guard, is all."

Cyn's face brightened again. "Relieved smile. Ok! subaru-kun!"

Subaru sighed, smiling helplessly. "Man… you're dangerous, y'know that?"

"Confused head tilt. Dangerous?" she asked, her voice small, and though she didn't quite understand why, a strange flicker of unease tugged at the back of her mind. A faint, hollow ache. 

"Yeah. You're gonna give me a heart attack at this rate."

Cyn stiffened, eyes widening in alarm. "Oh no! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to- I-I wasn't trying to-!" she blurted, her words tumbling out in a frantic rush as she waved her hands in a panic.

Subaru burst out laughing, cutting her off mid-flail. "Whoa, whoa, easy, Cyn-tan! It's just an expression! A figure of speech!"

Cyn froze. "…Figure of… what now?"

"It just means you're surprising as hell, and it's kinda messing with me. Not that you're literally gonna kill me or anything, just that you're really good at it," he grinned, waving a dismissive hand. "So relax."

A long pause. Then, "Relieved sigh. Okay… thank you for explaining, Subaru-kun."

Subaru gave her a lopsided grin. "Anytime."

Cyn gave a tiny, almost shy smile in return.

Subaru stretched his arms above his head, letting out a yawn. "Well… now that we've sorted everything out. What do you say we get outta this alley?"

Cyn perked up a little. "Nervous nod. Yes! Leaving… sounds good."

Just as they turned to leave, Subaru's eyes caught movement ahead.

Three shadowy figures were approaching through the fading light.

Instinctively, Subaru shot a finger toward them, prompting Cyn to slowly pivot, her steps still a bit unsteady but far steadier than before.

A cold unease settled over Subaru's chest. Something unpleasant was about to happen.

A/N, hope you enjoyed.