Re:Zero - Reincarnated on a Co-op Route

"Is it... Natsuki Subaru, why does he keep doing that ridiculous pose when he saw that nothing happened?" Kaoru whispered to himself.

So both of us have been transported into this fantasy world for some reason, and it just seems so surreal the more I think about it. Inside I am glad that at least someone from my former world is here.

Subaru is still in his pose, but when he realizes that nothing is happening, he laughs nervously and stops. The people look at him in confusion before simply walking away. I approach, still trying to figure out what's going on.

"Natsuki Subaru, what the hell are you doing here... and why are you posing like you're in a trashy anime?"

Subaru quickly turns to me, clearly confused.

"Huh? Have we met? Because, dude, if you're here to ask for my autograph, I'm not famous yet."

Subaru quickly processes Kaoru's words and looks at his clothes carefully, surprised that he was not the only one who was transported here.

"Do we know each other? is that how you know my name?" subaru replies.

I arch an eyebrow

"Are you serious?"

"I'm Kaoru Shimizu. Do you remember? We used to go to the same school... Until you decided to disappear a few months ago."

Subaru stares at him, trying to remember. His expression goes from confusion to recognition.

 *Subaru with a nervous smile*

"Ah, yes, Kaoru! Of course I remember...classmate, right?"

*Kaoru being sarcastic*

"Wow, what a memory, huh. I feel really special now."

Yes, I am definitely parasocial, this guy doesn't even remember my existence and I remember the days he missed school.

"Sorry, sorry. My brain's been a little distracted lately. It's just, you know, this whole magical world thing and finding the sexy goddess who summoned me has kept me a little busy," Subaru rubs the back of his neck and laughs a little.

*sigh*

"You are very optimistic subaru." I don't blame him, the first few minutes I was here I thought I was some kind of isekai protagonist, but the disappointment hit me pretty hard.

"I don't think we're the chosen ones or the protagonists of some stale isekai, subaru. i've been walking back and forth for several minutes and no sign of a goddess, OP magical powers or anything like tha..."

Subaru doesn't let me finish and grabs my shoulders with an excited expression.

"I think you're being too negative~, Kaoru-san. Look around you. This is a fantasy world!, and we've been transported here from nowhere. It's obvious that we're both isekai protagonists!!. Soon we'll awaken our powers. Surely we need a trigger or something."

I can't help but smile a little. I guess I should be a little more optimistic.

"You... delulu boy.." 

"Come on, Kaoru, don't be such a killjoy. Think about it: magic, adventure, cute girls! This place has everything an isekai fan could want - and the best part is, I'm not alone!" Subaru smiles more broadly.

In the end, Subaru's optimism won me over and I gave up.

"I guess we are a team now, right? let's find a way to survive in this place."

"Of course. Let's go that way! " Subaru starts running in a random direction.

I sigh and follow him.

The first place we go to is the Appa stand.

"Hey boys, those are some weird looking clothes that you're wearing. You're not from around here, are ya?"

"Hey! They speak the same language!" Subaru whispered to me, before replying, "So are these...?"

"These are Appas, the freshest you'll find."

Subaru, being the idiot that he is, tried paying with yen, but of course this world has different currency that ours.

"Oi Niichan what the fuck is that. we don't use those things here. if you both are broke don't waste my time and get out of my sight, MIRONS."

We then got chewed out by the vender, and we left, feeling down.

--[Time skip]--

The two of you are sitting down in an alleyway. You and Subaru have wandered all across the city, but nothing good has happened.

To be honest, I might have helped a little, but it was fun watching that cat girl slap subaru in the girls' bathroom. So all her pleasure was something you were willing to sacrifice for yours.

"What's wrong with my MC status? and what's wrong with yours Kaoru? aren't we supposed to be OP characters from the other world?" subaru turns to me. "Why don't you try throwing fire from your hands or using excalibur?"

"You said we might need a trigger to wake them up. And i honestly have no idea. We just have to keep trying to figure out our powers." 

Me and Subaru went through our stuff and figured out what to do next.

"I guess we could sell our cell phones at a good price. I don't think they are that technologically advanced in this world."

"Sounds a good idea."

Your thoughts were cut off when 3 thugs approached us.

Subaru, believing that it is the busty goddess who invoked him, gets up without even seeing who were the 3 subjects that were approaching them through the darkness of the alley.

"You finally arrived!, the sexy goddess who invoked me!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Says the middle one.

"If you don't want us to hurt you two, drop everything you have, right now." 

"Is this the kind of trigger you were talking about, Balse?" I stand up and take a good look at the 3 guys. One was quite short with a bowl cut, the one in the middle seemed to be the leader, he was about the size of Subaru or a little taller and had a rather eccentric appearance, and the last one was a big guy with pigtails. 

"What do we do, Kaoru?" asks Subaru, a bit worried.

The guy with the piercings and the tongue out grabs Subaru's shirt and lifts him up and the big guy does the same with me since I am taller than Subaru.

It's not enough that we're not the protagonists of Isekai, now we're being robbed.

"We're cooked, Balse"

If only we had a distraction, I could hit this big guy in the nuts and maybe have a chance against them. 

"Get out of my way!!", a little blonde girl ran towards us. 

"That's her!!! It's that pretty girl who called us, Kaoru!"

Sometimes I feel like punching this idiot

The girl stops suddenly. "Summon you? I have no idea what you're talking about, but I'm busy, have a good life!" 

Before any of us could react, the little blonde girl propelled herself toward a nearby wall, using her foot to gain height as she jumped to a ledge. With quick, precise movements, she jumped up another wall until she reached the ledge and took off running".

This should definitely not be possible in real life.

Ugh...

What the hell am I thinking, this is my reality now.

 This is my chance, it's now or never.

I seize the moment and step on the big man's foot, followed by a knee to the nuts, causing the man to groan in pain and stagger backwards. "How about that, asshole?"

At that moment, Subaru takes advantage of the distraction I created. He throws a punch at the big guy, knocking him to the ground, then spins around and delivers a roundhouse kick to the short guy with bowl-shaped hair, sending him rolling several meters until he crashes into a dumpster.

 I smile and high-five Subaru for our joint performance. "There's only that fool left, Balse, let's finish them off quickly."

Subaru gains momentum and I quickly follow. The pierced thug pulls out long blades in a swift spinning maneuver, and Subaru drops to his knees, begging for mercy. I, taking advantage of the ridiculousness of the situation, gain momentum and jump, spinning on myself to execute a 360 tornado kick directly at the pierced thug's head.

With the force of the twist, the kick drives into the thug's jaw, and his body is propelled backwards, losing all balance. He seems to be completely disoriented by the impact, as his face twists and his eyes go unfocused before he falls backwards, sliding across the ground until he crashes into another dumpster.

Kaoru turns around, looking at Subaru who is still kneeling, with a somewhat uncomfortable expression.

Kaoru raises an eyebrow, slightly surprised

"Really, you got down on your knees begging for mercy? Was that part of your grand plan, Balse? You were leaving it up to me to deliver the final blow?"

"Ughh... uh, yeah!. of course!. it was all calculated. my plan was to kneel down to create a distraction and for you to give him that surprise attack." Subaru smiles nervously and looks to the side, and I raise an eyebrow. 

"Psychological tactics, huh? I'd rather say you got scared and didn't want to get stabbed." i chuckle under my breath.

"No!!!.. But, ugh... yeah, maybe a little bit.... But it wasn't that big of a deal.... I can handle it!" Subaru blushes from the shame and embarrassment he gave at that moment. His aura points vanished in that act.

"I think you're awesome, Subaru. I really expected you to run away, but you helped me. Thank you."

"Tch, it's no big deal! Obviously I would! Don't you know I'm the MC of this world?! Sure, it's part of the job... but don't worry, I won't be running around! The Subaru you know always gives 100%, even if... well, sometimes I'm a little clumsy!" he laughs nervously, scratching the back of his neck.

Both of them, being absent-minded, lost time and did not notice that the thugs growled and slowly stood up, this time all of them drawing their daggers.

"Oh crap."

"You won't get out of here alive". The pierced guy spits angrily as the other two approach us.

"That's enough!"

A female voice is heard and we all turn to see who it was.