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Kadoc hates Chaldea life.
There is not one positive thing about being forced to work with his number one enemy— Ritsuka Fujimaru.
He hates the way she looks. He hates the way she makes friends with everyone. He hates the way she smiles at him. He hates the way she tries to befriend him.
Yeah. If he keeps saying that enough times, he’ll believe it.
Does he hate Chaldea or does he hate this one person? He doesn’t want to think of that either. Does he even hate either?
Not that he has a choice, anyways. He’s not a talented magus like Wodime, nor does he have any other special talents like Ophelia. He’s a third-rate mage with no purpose other than serving what remained of Team A. This may be his only chance to prove himself worthy, just as competent as any other high-ranking mage. And even if his most hated person was working with him, he still won’t live this opportunity down.
He feels sickened just thinking about Ritsuka. Not that she had even done anything against him, but he felt as if he was going to faint every time she talked to him, and that was enough to make him dislike her.
“Maybe if I don’t worry about her at all, these feelings will go away,” Kadoc had forced himself to believe as a way of comfort.
As if.
Today was not a good one, and the last thing he wanted to do was see her feeling like this. Knowing his shitty luck, he’ll probably be forced to converse with her at some point in the day. Clearly in an agitated mood, he rushed past the rest of the Chaldean staff, ignoring the people who greeted him as he stormed the hallways. All he wanted at this moment was to crawl under his bedsheets and blast some rock music, but Romani would probably come in and lecture him about volume management.
Mindlessly storming the halls, he found himself entering the cafeteria. As it was passing hours between the afternoon and the evening, it was completely empty. Usually, Kadoc would find at least one of Ritsuka’s servants hanging out in the kitchen, but it was surprisingly empty today.
He slumped down on the nearest table, groaning to himself as he hugged his head. Everything hurts, and his gut especially feels twisted. He can’t stop thinking about Ritsuka, and it only makes his weird condition worse.
Condition? No, I’m fucking falling in love.
Love. When he thinks about “it” like that, it makes him want to laugh. Who would even want to love a pathetic loser like him? He shouldn’t be falling in love with someone he’s supposed to hate, but at the same time— he only hates her because he’s in love.
Stop. I’m supposed to be pretending she doesn’t exist.
Easier said than done. Kadoc forces his eyes shut as if that would block out his thoughts, but it only makes it worse. He can only imagine Ritsuka when he tries to think of nothing, especially the way she—
“Mommy?”
What the hell? Who is—
Kadoc opens his eyes, and he’s face to face with a child. There stands a strange girl covered in dark rags, stitches running across her cheeks. She tilts her head in a playful manner.
That’s right, this is one of Ritsuka’s servants, isn’t it? Jack... Jack the Ripper.
“Go away, kid,” Kadoc groans, shooing her off with his hand. Jack stays, tilting her head to the left this time.
“We want to play with Mommy,” she insists, holding her head forward and placing her hands behind her back.
“Go,” he repeats. He definitely doesn’t want to deal with any kids at the moment, especially not one of Ritsuka’s servants. “I don’t like children.”
“We just want to spend time with Mommy,” she repeats once more, though her tone is a lot more stubborn.
Kadoc sighs. He can’t win against a servant, especially the Jack the Ripper. He reached into his pocket, pulling out the small lollipop he was saving for later.
“If you take this, will you leave me alone?” He grumbled, annoyed that he was giving out his snack to some lost child.
“Yay!!” Jack immediately snatches the candy from his hand, her eyes gleaming with excitement. “We love you, Mommy!”
“I’m not your Mom—“
“Jack!” Suddenly, Ritsuka bursts into the cafeteria, a distressed expression on her face. “There you are! You can’t just leave like that!”
“Mommy!” Jack immediately runs away from Kadoc, rushing to Ritsuka with open arms.
...Shit. I knew this was going to happen, damnit!
Kadoc feels his face turn red. He can’t look at Ritsuka. Trying to cover his face with his hands, he turns away, hoping she’d just ignore him and leave.
“Oh, Kadoc. What are you doing in the cafeteria?” And just as he hopes she’d ignore him, she calls him out. He mentally groans, hoping he doesn’t look like a complete mess right now. Jack is parading around Ritsuka’s legs, slicing open the lollipop wrapper.
“None of your business,” he immediately snaps, albeit more aggressively than he intended.
“Alright, if you say so,” she replies, looking a bit disappointed at his response. “I’m sorry if Jack gave you any trouble.”
Jack tilted her head innocently as she began nibbling on the lollipop.
“Yeah? Well, take better care of your Servants next time,” he growled.
“Will do~! Come now, Jack, Nursery Rhyme was looking for you.”
“Okay, Mommy!”
Jack ran ahead, while Ritsuka turned back to face Kadoc.
“You sure you’re alright? Your face is really red.”
“I am! Just...just go,” he snapped, turning away to hide his embarrassed expression.
She seemed to linger at the doorway for a bit, before smiling. “You don’t need to be so moody around me, Kadoc. I’m always here if you need anything.”
And she leaves. Kadoc buries his head in his arms. How did things end up like this...?!
If you need anything... yeah, and all I need is you.