Suffocating
The most fitting word to describe the current air engulfing the carriage.
After stopping Rem and Tanaka got in front of the carriage, a guy with a medieval looking helmet got out of the carriage, effectively Subaru was inside the carriage.
Naturally, the orange headed girl was furious at the fact that her carriage stopped no once but twice. She also refused to hand over Subaru, which led to the current.
Stare.
No—calling it a mere stare wouldn't do it justice.
The girl was glaring.
A glare so sharp, so cutting, that it might as well have been a blade, digging into Tanaka as if she could carve him into pieces through sheer intensity alone.
And yet—
Tanaka didn't flinch.
Their gazes clashed like two titanic forces. Hers, full of regal arrogance, the cold confidence of someone who had never been denied. His? Cold, unwavering, a stubborn challenge that refused to break under pressure.
Rem stood at his side, calm but vigilant, ready to move at a moment's notice. Subaru, still seated in the carriage, could only watch, exhaling quietly.
Tenacity.
That was the one thing Tanaka had in abundance. Good or bad, once he took a stance, he didn't back down.
And in this particular instance?
He was completely in the wrong.
Because, technically speaking—this was Subaru's fault.
Subaru was the one who got into the carriage. Subaru was the one who shouldn't have been here in the first place.
But stopping the carriage? Blocking its path? Refusing to move until he and Rem were allowed inside?
Yeah. That one was entirely on Tanaka.
This was one of those classic situations—an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object.
And the lady, with her haughty, condescending air, was definitely the unstoppable force.
Subaru had already spent enough time with her to figure that much out.
She was the kind of person who got entirely too absorbed in her own power—
"What an aggravating man."
Her voice cut through the silence like a sharpened blade, her crimson eyes narrowing with clear distaste.
Tanaka didn't so much as blink.
"I know," he replied, his voice casual. "So wouldn't it be better if you quickly got rid of me by just letting us all go?"
Before she could even react—
"Oi, brother."
The armored man beside her, Al, sighed in exasperation.
"Can you stop trying to commit suicide and just get off the carriage? It's not like we kidnapped bro over here."
A sharp glare from her cut him off, but before she could scold him, Subaru finally spoke.
"Hey, Tanaka," he said, his voice holding a mix of nervousness and awkward humor. "I know you're a little mad that I ran away, but don't you think you're being a bit… unreasonable?"
Tanaka's head snapped toward Subaru, his expression dark.
"Zip it."
Subaru instantly shut his mouth.
Priscilla turned her gaze back to Al, her dissatisfaction palpable.
"Hey, Al. Who gave you the authority to decide anything?" Her voice was sharp, edged with irritation. "I'm far past such merciful judgment."
Al scratched the back of his head. "Oi, oi... No need to be so cutthroat about it, Princess."
But Priscilla had already turned her attention back to Tanaka, her lips curling downward in clear disdain.
"And you?" she sneered. "You dare to speak without my permission while awaiting my judgment? You have some nerve. Very well, if your life means that little to you—"
Her words dripped with condescension, a sentence already forming in her mind. But before she could finish—
"Do you really think that would work out?"
Tanaka's voice was calm.
Too calm.
Priscilla narrowed her eyes.
"Today of all days?" he continued, tilting his head slightly. "Have you never heard of the term 'punishment befitting the crime'? Personally, I don't think having the image of a tyrant will benefit you."
The girl, despite the smoldering irritation in her crimson eyes, showed a similar hint of intrigue.
"Well, since Subaru mentioned that he met you yesterday in an alley…" He paused, letting the words sink in before glancing toward the carriage. "And considering the fact that you're heading to the castle right now, on the day of the Royal Selection…"
The air shifted.
Subaru and Rem's expressions stiffened as their minds pieced the information together.
Al, standing to the side, let out a short chuckle before nodding.
"This young lady right here," he gestured dramatically, "is one of the candidates to succeed the throne of Lugunica—Priscilla Barielle-Sama herself."
Subaru's jaw nearly hit the floor.
"For real?" he blurted out. "So why did you pick me up?"
"For no other reason than it seemed amusing, a mere lark. I thought taking you to the castle will make things interesting."
Tanaka's brows furrowed. "Yeah, well, sorry but we won't be your entertainment."
Her response came sharp and scornful, like the crack of a whip. "Once again, you speak without receiving my permission, commoner."
"It's presumptuous of you to assume I'm a commoner."
"Hey bro! Now that you know who she is, maybe drop the tough guy act. Lower your head, kneel, and beg for your life or something?"
Tanaka let out a small, humorless laugh. "And why should I? I've done nothing wrong."
Yes you did.
The moment the words left his mouth, an invisible pressure pressed down on the surroundings.
Priscilla's glare was like a physical weight, making the air feel thicker—suffocating, almost crushing.
No one dared to utter a word.
Yet Tanaka?
He kept running his mouth.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not about to play along with some rich girl lost in the delusion that the whole damn world revolves around her."
A sharp intake of breath came from Al.
"He's going to get us all killed."
Priscilla's face didn't twist in rage. It barely changed at all—but her presence did. Her aura became razor-sharp, brimming with something lethal.
"Beg for my life?" Tanaka continued, smirking. "Pft, please. As if she could do anything so horrendous that it would damage her campai—"
Then—
Time shattered.
No. Not time. His perception of it.
It wasn't the same as usual, the space didn't turn dark and get twisted. Reality catching up to the impossible speed of the incoming blade.
A massive, ornate crimson sword, glowing like molten sunfire, was cleaving through the cramped space, its edge alight with roaring flames.
The speed was overwhelming.
Rem tried to react and move to intercept the blow but it was too late.
The action was too sudden that it caught her off guard.
And as for him. There was no way he could react—
BANG!
A thunderous explosion erupted from the left side of the carriage, sending debris flying. The impact rocked the entire vehicle, shaking the ground beneath it.
The dragon pulling the carriage staggered, momentarily faltering before its young driver, Schult, managed to steady it.
"Wh-What's going on, Priscilla-Sama?!" the boy's voice cracked with panic.
Al's head poked out from the side of the carriage, completely unfazed. "Sorry, sorry, Schult-Kun," he called back with a casual laugh. "Just keep your eyes on the road, alright?"
As he turned back inside, Al's eyes widened slightly.
"...Minor spirits, huh?" he muttered.
They floated in the air—small, glowing fragments of blue light, cracked and trembling, but still holding. A fractured barrier hovered in front of Tanaka, its edges singed and glowing.
Rem immediately rushed to Subaru's side. "Subaru-Kun! Are you okay?"
Subaru was pale, his breath ragged, hands trembling as he stared at the smoking path where the blade had nearly fallen. His usual goofiness had drained from his face.
Rem turned toward Tanaka. "Tanaka-Kun!"
The attack was aimed at him. She knew extensively that the sword Priscilla used wasn't a regular sword. She summoned it from thin air and the flames that it was radiating were capable of wiping all three of them in one attack.
Just beside the destroyed barrier, his back against the carriage floor.
The smoke cleared, revealing his body sprawled out, one hand clutched against his chest as he heaved for breath. His eyes were wide, not with fear, but with sheer disbelief.
His voice came out hoarse.
"What the…."
FUCK.
He looked up at Rem and wheezed, "She tried to decapitate me?"
He then looked at Priscilla, raising his voice slightly, "You tried to decapitate me?"
Al, now standing, glanced over at Priscilla, who stood still—gazing at her sword with faint amusement.
The massive blade still glowed, but its fire had dimmed, its light flickering in a quiet retreat.
"Lowly spirits alone shouldn't have been able to block my attack," she murmured, her tone oddly curious.
Her crimson eyes flicked toward Tanaka again.
"To block the my attack is one thing," she continued, lifting the weapon and watching its flames vanish into thin air. "But to not be burned alive… now that is interesting."
The Yang Sword didn't merely cut—it incinerated.
It could burn even through water, summoning white flames that refused to die.
However, its wielder didn't always control its will.
She had assumed he was a nobody.
Just another arrogant fool.
And yet—here he was. Alive.[1]
But now?
She smiled.
The sword faded into embers and vanished.
"Interesting," she said softly, brushing back a lock of orange hair as she gracefully stepped back into the carriage.
"You've amused me. You're coming to the castle as well."
Tanaka blinked.
"Wait… what?"
Al looked at her, perplexed. "Wait seriously? This guy? Princess, I'm telling you, he's gonna be a pain in the ass."
"Silence."
The single word came like a whipcrack.
Al fell quiet instantly, sighing. But he still muttered under his breath, "Just saying…"
Priscilla's voice rang out again, cold and certain.
"It is unthinkable to question my decisions. Know your place, Al. This world permits only what is convenient for me. Thus, my judgment is flawless. Taking this fool with me will benefit me. That is simply how things are."
"Your confidence is honestly refreshing, Princess. Fine, I got it."
Al chuckled at her sheer arrogance, then turned to Tanaka, lightly nudging his shoulder.
"So yeah, brother, you're officially a prisoner now. Oh, and don't try to escape. I don't wanna do it, but if you make me, I'll cut you down."
"I have no idea what you mean by that, I am a very petty person and I am not forgetting what just happened."
Not by any means that what she just attempted to do was trivial, she literally tried to behead him. And now, she wants him to act as a jester?
Maybe Roswaal can volunteer.
"Hey! Can you people just chill for one second? I was certain this plane was going to crash!"
"Who's fault do you think this i....?"
"Hold on for a second. Hey, kid… what did you just say?"
Al's tone had shifted—no longer playful, but edged with something quieter and deeper. The sudden change made Tanaka frown.
He turned toward Subaru with a kind of measured weight. Even with the full black helmet covering his face, Subaru could feel the intensity of that stare—like someone peeling back layers, trying to see through him.
"I had a hunch when I saw you yesterday,"
He shifted slightly and glanced at Tanaka.
Tanaka blinked, confused.
Then Al spoke, voice steady, almost like reciting something sacred.
"When the wind blows—"
There was a beat.
"…Uh, the cooper prospers?"
"If you talk about next year—"
"The demons will laugh…!"
"Laughter brings—"
"—Good fortune!" Tanaka blurted, catching the tail end.
There was a pause.
A long one.
Rem, who had been observing quietly, tilted her head in surprise. "I've heard you say that before, Subaru-Kun…"
Al exhaled through his nose, turning his head slightly toward the princess. "Just as I thought. These guys are a problem."
"What's the point? You're the only one who's convinced. Explain it to me too. What's the point of this incomprehensible exchange?"
Before anyone could answer, Tanaka suddenly leapt to his feet with a gleam in his eye.
"Oh my god! That was a Japanese saying just now! Yes! Finally!"
He threw his hands up like someone who'd just solved a riddle after hours of frustration.
Subaru crossed his arms smugly.
"You're welcome. That was all thanks to me, by the way. Natsuki Subaru saving the day once again."
"Shouldn't you have caught on faster?" Al said with mock indignation. "Your ancestors are probably rolling in their graves right now."
"He's more like an overseas guy, y'know?"
"Now that you mention it, he does have that cocky foreigner vibe. Even talks like one."
A sharp tap of a heel brought the room's energy to a halt.
"Stacking insult upon insult… and you expect me to laugh it off?" Priscilla's voice was velvet over steel. "I am not so lenient. You'd best explain yourselves. What was that exchange about?"
Subaru straightened, the playful tone vanishing from his voice. "—If I had to say, it was more like confirming our hometowns."
Priscilla's crimson eyes narrowed.
"And what of it?"
Her voice was low now. Cold. Measured.
At first, she frowned, clearly displeased with the cryptic reply.
But then… something shifted.
Her gaze narrowed further—not in hostility, but realization. Like a key turning inside a lock. Like an equation she hadn't solved suddenly clicking into place.
"—Are you two from the same place? Al."
"Probably, yeah."
Once again, Al shrugged, affirming his master's question.
"By the way I'm from Tokyo, what about you guys?"
"I'm Tanaka, I'm from Tokyo as well!"
"I'm Natsuki Subaru, I'm from Shibuya."
With that, Al made a sound that, just from his tone, could be recognized as a laugh. He extended his free hand towards Tanaka to shake it.
Tanaka firmly grasped that hand in return and muttered his sense of relief at this unexpected surprise.
"Life really is unpredictable, huh?"
*********************************************************************************************************
"Amnesia?"
After the situation finally deescalated, Subaru blurted out the word in a dumbfounded voice.
The one nodding in response was Al, clad in his jet-black helmet.
With his single arm, he roughly scratched at the nape of his neck, where his helmet met his light armor.
"It's what you'd call episodic memory loss. I haven't lost my general knowledge, common sense, or the names of things. But anything related to myself has been completely wiped out. Pretty classic, right?"
Subaru smiled as he reaffirmed the reality he had just confirmed moments ago. In other words—
"Without a doubt, you're the same as us—someone summoned to this world."
"Well, at least according to the common sense I still have."
Al shrugged—probably a sign that he was smiling.
Compared to their interaction just a short while ago, his attitude had softened considerably. There was now a sense of familiarity, perhaps even deeper than their meeting yesterday.
Tanaka leaned forward slightly, his tone more animated.
"At first, it was just me and this guy," he said, jerking a thumb toward Subaru. "We arrived at nearly the same time. Honestly, I was starting to think we were the only ones."
Subaru nodded in agreement, eyes shifting toward Al with renewed curiosity.
"I hadn't really considered it much before… but do you know of anyone else? Anyone like us, Al-San?"
"Drop the 'San,' brother. Over here, I go by Al, so just call me that. As for others from our homeland…"
Adjusting his helmet awkwardly, Al lowered his gaze slightly.
"Sorry, but I don't know of anyone else. You're the first person from home I've ever met. Honestly, I even doubted whether I was just some lunatic."
There was a pause.
Then Priscilla, from her throne-like seat, broke the moment with a flick of her fan and a raised brow.
"Like Al, you two also claim to be from beyond the Great Waterfall?"
Tanaka looked over, then slowly shook his head.
"It's not exactly that simple. See, where we come from, we don't have anything called the Great Cascade—or maybe it exists under a different name. But our worl... Hometowns… Tokyo, Shibuya… they don't exist anywhere in this world. That much we're sure of."
"So if we had to put it into your terms," Subaru added, "then yeah. We're from 'beyond the Great Waterfall.' It's the only conclusion that fits."
That was when Rem, who had been quietly listening from the corner, finally leaned forward, her eyes wide with concern and confusion.
"Tanaka-Kun… Subaru-Kun… you're both from beyond the Great Cascade?" Her voice was gentle, but laced with disbelief. "Why didn't you ever mention it before?"
The question hung in the air like smoke.
Tanaka and Subaru exchanged a look—an eye conversation passed between them.
The two of them had a silent agreement about the Great cascade, and it was not to be bring it up. They weren't certain that anyone would believe them and especially with what happened with Rem in one of the loops.
Subaru's lips parted, but it was Al who answered in their place.*
"Can you really blame them, young lady?" he said, his tone suddenly heavier. "The odds of someone calling them crazy—or worse—are way higher than being believed. Even I started doubting myself after a while. Thought that the memories of my old world were just some hallucinations."
"I have memories of another world, but I don't have memories of myself. Who's to say that my sense of self isn't just a hallucination, a made-up backstory conjured by my own mind? Memories of another world? To me, that was nothing but a lonely kind of madness."
A heavy silence fell over the group, broken only by the gentle clatter of the carriage wheels.
Then—
"Occasionally," Priscilla said, her voice sharp yet composed, "fools appear, boasting that they came from beyond the Great Waterfall. Most are just vulgar showmen seeking attention… but Al is a bit different."
Her crimson eyes flicked to Al, gaze unreadable.
"But Al is different."
"And what exactly makes you think that?" Subaru asked, a tinge of defensiveness in his tone.
She didn't even blink.
"A hunch."
The simplicity of her reply crushed his resistance like a boot on glass. No explanations. No justifications. Just certainty.
Al let out a short exhale—somewhere between a scoff and a laugh. The tension in his shoulders lessened.
"I have my brothers now. Because of you guys, I'm saved. My memories were real. I'm not some deranged lunatic. Just knowing that… yeah, I'm saved."
There was a faint, almost tearful tremor in his voice.
The unbearable loneliness this man had endured.
There had been no one to confirm that his memories were real.
He carried memories of a world no one else knew, memories even he himself could not personally confirm.
Trapped in a sea of recollections that no one could understand, he had been drowning alone for years.
The sheer weight of that realization sent a chill down Subaru's spine, and he found himself speaking through trembling lips.
He turned his head, almost instinctively, to check on Tanaka.
The boy hadn't spoken in a while.
Subaru's eyes widened.
Tanaka was staring at Al, on the surface he appeared to be calm. However, his eyes were distant, haunted.
One of his knees was bouncing restlessly, his hand trembling slightly as it rested on his thigh.
There was something he had to know now. A question that had never occurred to him until this very moment. A question that terrified him more than the answer.
"Al… just how long have you been in this world?"
After a brief silence, Al finally answered.
"I can't say for sure, but… it should be around eighteen years."
"Eigh—what!?"
The number stunned Subaru into speechlessness.
Al nodded, affirming his shock.
"I don't know my real age since I don't have my memories… but I'd guess I'm close to forty now. I was probably around your age when I got summoned."
Resting his hand on his chin, he gave Subaru a scrutinizing look.
The weight of his earlier words sank in even deeper.
And then Subaru remembered—he couldn't afford to sit in shock forever. He tore his gaze away from Al and turned toward Tanaka.
He immediately regretted it.
Tanaka was quiet. Too quiet.
His expression wore the mask of calm, perfectly still—eerily still. So composed that it made Subaru's skin crawl.[2]
A calm so unnatural it frightened him more than any outburst could have.
Then, at last, Tanaka spoke. His voice was steady. Controlled. Too controlled.
"It must've been hellish…" he said, quietly. "Hey, Al… I know we've just met you, but I have to ask something."
Al gave a slight nod, metal clinking as he moved.
"Sure, brother. Go ahead."
Tanaka drew a breath. His next words came with more weight.
"I get it. You've been here for a long time. You've lost your memories. So, I can assume that you don't have the intention of going back."
His voice steady. "However, I want to go back...No, I have to go back."
The moment the words left his lips, the atmosphere shifted. Everyone in the carriage felt it—an invisible truth that had been sitting between the lines of Al and Subaru's conversation finally made itself known.
There was no need to say it out loud.
They all understood… except for Tanaka.
Rem, who had been quietly listening with a deepening concern in her eyes, gently placed a hand on Tanaka's shoulder, trying to offer comfort. But Al raised a hand to stop her.
"It's okay, young lady," he said gently. "Let me handle this."
He turned back toward Tanaka, and this time his voice carried a harder edge. A finality.
"Alright… then I think it's better to break it to you now."
"There's probably no way back."
The words were delivered not with cruelty, but with painful honesty.
Tanaka didn't flinch. His response was immediate.
"Cut the crap. That can't be true."
"You are expecting me to believe you were summoned to this world eighteen years ago. Eighteen years, and you didn't find any way back?"
Subaru tried to interject.
"Tanaka, hey, enough—"
"It's okay, kid," Al cut him off gently but firmly. "I got this."
He leaned forward, his elbow on his knees, speaking as if to an old friend rather than a stranger.
"Let me ask you something. Do you have any idea why you two were summoned?"
Tanaka didn't answer. His silence was telling.
"Alright then," Al pressed, "where were you teleported when you arrived?"
Subaru spoke up first. "I ended up here in the capital, also a month ago."
Tanaka followed. "I was teleported in front of the Roswaal mansion. One month ago."
Al leaned back, letting out a dry, humorless chuckle beneath his helmet. "Talk about fortune. I was summoned eighteen years ago... in the Vollachian Empire."
His voice darkened.
"A place called Gladiator Island. They beat us, trained us like dogs, made us fight every single day. I bled and clawed for five years until I earned my freedom. That's where I lost my arm—but that's not the point."
Tanaka's lips quivered. He muttered under his breath.
"Fortuitous… and random."
They were all summoned at a random places, with no apparent reason or purpose.
It hit them all at once: their arrivals had been scattered. No rhyme. No reason. No pattern. They were tossed into this world like dice on a table.
"Exactly," Al said grimly. "I don't know why I was brought here. And believe me, I asked that question every damn day."
His voice grew softer, bitter.
"Even after I left the island, even after I started traveling and meeting people, I never found an answer but yeah.... Everyone thought I was crazy."
Tanaka clenched his fists, voice rising again.
"Then what about the Great Waterfall? If there's no connection, where did the damn rumor of a world beyond it even come from?"
Al tilted his head, "Alec Hoshin."
The name was foreign. Alien. It meant nothing to Tanaka, but the way Al said it made it feel heavy.
"As I said earlier," Al continued, "you two are the only ones I've met who actually come from our hometown. I know that the two of you don't know him, but the princess and the lady of there must have heard of the name Alec Hoshin."
Rem gave a small nod, speaking softly but clearly.
"Alec Hoshin, better known to history as Hoshin of the Wilderness, was a man from the era of the Great Calamity. He's known for uniting dozens of scattered nations. he is considered a world-wide symbol of success for merchants and, as such, is a figure who is looked up to by any individual remotely associated with business."
"That man was said to hail from beyond the Great Waterfall is what you are trying to say Al. The culture he introduced—his manner of dress, his ideas—laid the foundation for what Kararagi is today."
Al nodded, confirming her words.
"Yeah. That's right. He lived here over four hundred years ago… but he knew things from our world. Stuff I couldn't explain—not then, not now. My memories are broken, so I couldn't confirm everything… but I remembered bits. Kimonos. Yukatas. Food like okonomiyaki—they ended up calling it daisukiyaki—and dorayaki. He also introduced the new world to Kansai dialect."
There was a brief pause. Then Al's voice darkened, the weight in it undeniable.
"I don't know if he ever meant to start the rumor… but it started with him. If you go to the edge of the world, you will find nothing, you are just going to get yourself killed."
Silence.
Then—
"No..." Tanaka's voice cracked. His fists clenched tightly at his sides. "You're lying. That can't be—"
"I'm not," Al interrupted, his tone steady, almost weary. "You just have to keep living brother, and honestly compared to me, you can consider yourself lucky. I know it must be hard for you, but..."
"You don't know shit!" Tanaka spat, his voice rising like a dam breaking. "Lucky? This? Screw that! This isn't my life! This isn't where I'm supposed to be—!"
He stopped. The next word caught in his throat like a blade.
Unfair.
Al raised his voice—not in anger, but in brutal, unflinching honesty.
"Hey—listen!" he barked. "I'm not saying this to crush your hope. I'm saying it because the sooner you face it, the better."
His tone grew sharper, cutting through Tanaka's growing rage.
"You want the truth? What would you prefer, huh? That I hit you over the head with a metal pipe and drop your memories like I did? Or should I just lie to you, tell you there's a way back, and watch you rot chasing ghosts like I did?"
He pointed at Subaru now.
"Because whatever you're feeling right now? It could be worse. At least you've got bro here. At least you're not alone."
There was a stillness in the air after that. Even the rattling of the carriage wheels seemed to quiet.
Al's words weren't just convincing. They were undeniable.
They weren't arguments—they were facts.
Tanaka was lucky. Subaru was lucky. They were together. They had faced every challenge at each other's side. They could cry. Fight. Fall apart. But not alone.
However—
Tanaka's voice broke the silence once more, quieter now… and far more fragile.
"So… that's it? That's what you're saying?"
His eyes were wide, shimmering faintly.
"That I'm never going back? That I'm never going to see my family again? That for them… I'm just missing? And they'll never even know if I'm dead or alive?"
Al didn't answer immediately. When he finally did, his voice had lost its edge.
It was softer. Almost… apologetic.
"I'm sorry, kid."
It wasn't the kind of sorry that asked for forgiveness—it was the kind that came from someone who knew the pain but couldn't stop it.
And that only made it worse.
Because Tanaka's pain wasn't born from fear. It was born from purpose—the purpose he'd clung to his entire life.
He never intended to move on without his family. Every decision—quitting school, working day and night, enduring every hardship—was a step forward, a way to earn a place he could proudly return from.
All that was for the sake of his dream.
His dream of walking back through the door one day and saying, "I did it." With his chin up. With pride. With love.
For the only 19 years of his life, that was the only thing he strived for, that was his life.
His mother didn't like it—but his father understood.
Everything he had done. Everything he had worked for.
Meaningless.
And in that moment, as the weight of truth dragged his heart into the abyss, Tanaka wished for one thing.
Just one.
That his family would stop searching.
That they would think of him not as missing…
…but dead.
*********************************************************************************************************
While writing this chapter, I realized just how stark the contrast is between Priscilla and Tanaka. They're practically polar opposites in terms of personality, mindset, with the exception of the trait of pride.
Priscilla:
Priscilla was an arrogant, proud, and absurd woman. She had a conviction that the world worked for her comfort, and according to her words, the events around her worked for her.
She loved when people attempted to reach for an objective outside of their capacities, and whether the person succeeds or fails in reaching their goal, she loved it regardless.
She was also not afraid to fight, because she knew exactly how to fight and defend herself.
Her biggest enemy was boredom, so the things she does were to avoid it.
Extraordinary Luck: Priscilla had unique luck, which she mentioned makes "the world in her own favor", granting her extremely high luck in her daily life and in fights.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tanaka:
Tanaka, on the other hand, is modest, proud in his own quiet way, and deeply logical. He sets clear goals—one at a time—and believes firmly in hard work as the only path to success.
He dislikes when people attempt to exceed their limits as they could get hurt and die in the process. He hates when a person tries to risk his life and prefers to be the one who puts his life on the line as he considers his life dispensable.
He tries to evade fights as much as he can, he doesn't know how to fight and unlike Subaru, he is afraid of killing. (Because of his wrath if trauma, he believed that if he gets used to killing, he will end up like the Subaru in the if wrath route).
Tanaka isn't adventurous by nature and prefers his days to be quiet and boring. Unlike Subaru, he doesn't strive to be a hero.
His greatest role model was his father back on Earth—a man he deeply respected. Everything Tanaka did, every step he took, was aimed at walking the same path his father did.
Tanaka is a Siscon (Has a sister complex):
He spoils her, goes along with whatever she wants, and she looks up to him a lot. She's impressionable, often mimicking his behavior. It was actually because of her that he made the decision to leave home—after quitting school, he couldn't bear the idea of her following in his footsteps, so he left Tokyo entirely.
Shit Luck: Be it in this world or the previous world, Tanaka often found himself in terrible situations. Even when things seem to get better at some point, they quickly deteriorate.
[1] Not plot armor I swear 😂 😂 😂 😂
[2] The five stages of grief:
denial.
anger.
bargaining.
depression.
acceptance.