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“All right, what now?” Ritsuka sighed.
She was sitting on her bed, in her own room. She was still feeling the fatigue from the recent procedures, it has been a little while since she got shoved into ER, good thing there was the literal God of Medicine himself, alongside the legendary nurses and surgeons.
Sure, it was exhausting, understandably lots of people were worried. Even more exhausting when she had to hear the lengthy lecture from the God of Medicine. “At least try to catch some interesting diseases or something. It wasn’t even worth my time. And I can’t afford to let you die from a stupid reason like this.” She could almost recite what Asclepius said by heart.
At least she only had to bear with the God of Medicine this time, remembering the time when Head Nurse literally strapped her to the bed and forbid her to go anywhere for an entire day.
“I need to fix your thinking process. Your survival instinct is clearly defective.”
Without Da Vinci’s intervention, Ritsuka swore Nightingale was ready to cut her head open.
It was just a typical injury while they were clearing up a minuscule Singularity. She got several cuts, it was painful, but she was close enough to clearing all the enemies, it wasn’t worth retreating.
Just simple blood loss. And she managed to hold herself together until they returned to the base. She’s been through much worse. She never enjoyed the pain and greatly appreciated people worried about her. A number of other servants visited her as she was still recovering from anesthesia, gave her some encouragement, concerns, and more questionable things (which was again thankfully stopped by the Medical Team plus)
So, after they patched her up… all she had to do now was to have a good rest and she would be as good as new in a couple of days.
Supposedly.
She wasn’t expecting that there was another servant she had to worry about.
“Uhm… Oberon, could you please let me go?”
There was nothing wrong with her bedroom. Except that, right behind her was the fake Fae King, shamelessly sitting on her bed, his arms tightly clutched on her waist, his face buried in her right shoulder
“You know, this isn’t the first time I say this, but I can’t rest if you’re like this”
Oberon didn’t say anything, only his arms got tighter. She did notice him being less talkative around her compared to the others, but usually not at this level of quiet.
“Hey, uhm… I know you’re worried about me. I’m sorry, that was kind of reckless. I’m fine now, though. Just need to rest a bit for a full recovery”
“……”
“Hello, you there? I need you to at least let me move? Explain, please?”
“……”
He was a Servant, after all. Str D was still enough to keep her trapped there.
“Oberon?”
“……”
“You know, looks like the plushies gonna start a violent fit anytime. Mini-Cu, stop glaring at him. And Viy, don’t freeze anything. I don’t want either of you to get hurt.”
“……”
“…Oberon, I know you’ve been saving up the last slice of melon in the fridge. I will steal it if you don’t let me go.”
“……”
To be honest, it wasn’t that surprising when as soon as she emerged from ER (after the lecture, of course), the first thing she saw was Oberon, not even hiding his Vortigern form, on a verge of a tantrum.
“So, you are awake, so glad you didn’t die this time, my dear Master. Must be pitiful to know all of your servants couldn’t do something remotely decent enough.”
His voice was extra heavy with sarcasm. There were other servants in her rayshift team around, too, all look quite distressed.
Cleary he was throwing a fit towards all the other servants, which was not a good thing. No, it was horrible. As much as she could sense his intentions, she couldn’t bear having him hurting the morale.
Things could have been different if she was a better magus, at least enough to protect herself. Yet this happened, and the last thing she wanted was to make the other servants feel responsible.
“Oberon! Come with me!”
She grabbed his hand and headed to her room, hoping that would give some impression that she was well and sound enough to ease off other servants’ concern. Inner turmoil was the last thing she wanted. What she needed was a good lecture for the moron. And the rest was history.
“You hear me, Oberon?”
It’s always a challenge learning how to handle a new servant. Especially when it’s someone less “agreeable” as Oberon-Vortigern, the Destruction Device who’s only created for that sole purpose. Not that she cared less about him. No, especially after what happened between them.
Despite everything, she had to feel a tad relief that he trusted her enough to show this vulnerability. But still.
“You wanna hear a story? Not that I’m very good at that. But I'll try my best.”
Ritsuka felt a gentle scratch on her stomach. She took that as a yes.
“Once upon a time, there was a girl. She was from an island nation in the Far East, living her daily life just like anyone else. She had a father and a mother, nice and supportive and all. She had some close friends at school. She was part of the school volleyball team. She was quite proud of her English grades. They didn’t have the best English program in her hometown. So she had to learn a lot by herself. But she really enjoyed learning new languages and wanted to go study abroad after graduation. And she found a flyer. About a summer job in a foreign country. No surprise, she applied right away. And got the job. It was… the best day of her life.”
Ritsuka felt a faint tremble, warm breath hesitantly touching her shoulder where he was pressing his face. She placed her hands on his hands, still resting on her stomach. A soft human hand. A stiff, cold exoskeleton. Either way, those belonged to him.
“And she started working there. She met so many people, more than she’s ever dreamed of. In addition to English, she learned to speak French. And got quite good at it. Recently started learning Russian too. Although her job got busier nowadays, the progress is slower…
“Her workplace had the best chefs in the world. Whenever she had a bad day, they would spoil her with the best treats possible. And she got to travel a lot. So many things happened. So many beautiful sceneries… so many stories to tell.
“She… she was slowly forgetting how her friends and family looked like back home, even though she tried her best not to. She was too overwhelmed with everything to know what she was losing. Until one day, she realized everything was a blur. The life she used to live, the people that, used to be the whole world to her.
“…But she still remembers that they were really happy on the day of departure. They wished her good luck, see you after the summer. She was a bit nervous, a bit lonely, for it was the first time she was staying far away from home. She still remembers… how she anticipated meeting them again, showing off how much she grew, when the summer is over.”
She hesitated for a second.
“…Once, someone told me that they will never forgive me as long as they live. That, my weak, imperfect world needed to beat their world where only strength mattered.”
Oberon’s arms tightened even more. She rubbed his hands, hoping he would let loose a bit. It was getting harder to breathe. Thankfully he seemed to get the sign. His arms slightly relaxed. Instead, his face was pressed even deeper, and she felt a long, quiet sigh on the nape of her neck.
“People told me it wasn’t my fault, nothing else could be done. They told me no one would blame me if I wanted to run away. Someone else, smarter, stronger, more fit to my position, can always take my part. And I am grateful how much they care about me. Still… the reason why I was able to keep going, was because I knew I was responsible.”
“Fight hard, courageous young woman. You are human, but I know you have the strength you need to fulfill your duty…!”
“I will never forgive you, for as long as I live… Be proud, hold your head up high, and fight for your weak, little world.”
“As you have defeated us… you must cross the oceans of dead ice and flame, and the countless corpses of our hopes and dreams… and be your way.”
“Go on then, humanity’s next crisis awaits. Do not forget your responsibility—no matter how heavy the burden.”
“I’m sure you both wished there was a way these people could all live happily ever after from now on. But you both know you don’t have any right to say that when you’re taking their future away from them.”
“…Fly, Chaldea. Fly to somewhere different than this place.”
“…Oberon. I’m glad you’re here, and that you hate me. I hope you won’t forgive me, ever. It’s a curse that I will have to carry. And you need to make sure I won’t forget about it. That way I won’t forget about the pain and sorrow of those I couldn’t save.”
Because I don’t want to get used to the idea that I have to let someone die, Ritsuka added.
“That being said… I’m really sorry. I have to apologize to everyone, too. I can’t remember all of these if I die, right? So if you can…”
“…I hate you.”
It was a very faint whisper which she almost missed. Still, that made her smile.
“Thank you. I wanted to hear that.”
“I hate you.”
“Yeah”
“I hate you.”
“I know.”
“I really, really hate you.”
“Mm-hmm”
He repeated the word, and she answered every time.
“Oberon, you are a terrible liar sometimes.”
“Shut up. I hate you.”
“Yeah, for sure.”
It was the only way he could communicate with others. Somehow it made him endearing.
If he was made of Void, where neither love nor happiness could reach… the next best thing she could give was her trust in him.
“…!?”
Suddenly Ritsuka was violently pulled into the bed and saw Oberon’s deep blue eyes right in front of her face. He was looking, no rather, glaring at her.
“…Obe, ron?”
"You, idiot."
Before she could say anything back, he disappeared into a swarm of insects.
That made her confused, but strangely content. Seems like Oberon will be back to his usual self soon.
And tomorrow would be a day off. She wondered how she would spend time with everyone in Chaldea as she closed her eyes.