rosenongrata - Tumblr blog

rosenongrata · 4 days

Text

solitary solidarity - v

Summary: A selection of writings that explore the early days of the odd relationship between Doctor Veritas Ratio and Missus Kagome Ikeda.

A/N: ouhhh i love this chapter so much. it was so fun to write !!

c.w/s: varies on what part, but i'll make sure to mark each addition with the proper tags in the a/n. OC-insert. c.ws for chapter: new character introduction. SOFT PAPA RATIO (i mean what). child (Ena) has schizophrenia, so there's going to depictions of that. depictions of malnourishment. minor blood mention. a singular fainting spell. his students are bitches (they gossip). Ratio throws a piece of chalk at someone.

w.c: 1.6k

It’s been a while since Kagome has attended work in-person – all of it has been online instead this past week. No one has seen even a glance of her since that awkward debacle between her and her intrusive husband – Shoto Watanabe. Not even Dr. Ratio has caught a glimpse of her – her office gone dark. But it’s not as if he has her cellphone number at this time…and he’s not about to go ask for it.

However,

He hoped he would’ve gotten some information out of her before her disappearance – he’s not too sure if she’s avoiding him and the rest of the Guild or if something did truly come up since then. As much as his heart wants to say she’s evading him again – he suspects otherwise.

And then this morning in his office he was met with a rather big surprise in the form of a small girl – one that looked rather malnourished with how scrawny she is, her limbs eerily thin and her skin pale as snow.

“…Since when did you have a daughter?” Dr. Ratio blurts out – for once he’s the one asking the stupid question.

He can’t help but feel stupefied by Kagome’s reappearance with a little black-haired girl following close behind her. If it were not for their lookalike silver eyes – he would’ve assumed her daughter was someone else’s. Or perhaps he’s not quite adept at seeing similarities in offspring and their parents.

“About 11 years ago,” Kagome sighs, her hand briefly squeezing the girl’s much smaller hand, “…I’d love to elaborate how she was found recently, but… I’d rather not discuss it while she’s here.”

“Hmph,” He scoffs, crossing his arms and leaning back in his office chair, “I will let that slide for now.” He glances at the girl for a split moment, but when she hides further behind her mother, he looks back to his peer. “What’s her name?” He didn’t care all that much to know, but he suspects Kagome has something up her sleeve.

“Ena. The very same name I gave her when she was born…” Her smile is bittersweet – even a glimmer of relief shining in her otherwise lifeless eyes.

“And let me guess…” He sighs, “You need me to…babysit her?” He deadpans, half-glaring at his coworker.

“Precisely, but it wouldn’t be terribly often.” She murmurs, “She’s very quiet and…nonintrusive from what I’ve seen from her so far. It was also mentioned to me that she’s quite the music prodigy.” Her usually neutral expression shatters to form a little smile, and then she sighs, her face dropping, “…Among other things that are less…joyful.”

“…Such as?”

“Well…” She looks down at her little girl, who looks back at her. Kagome crouches down with her knees close together, she pulls Ena in for a small hug, “Pediatric Schizophrenia is one – and perhaps the biggest issue she will face for the rest of her life.” Ena tries to pull away from Kagome, pushing her little hands against her shoulder – Kagome releases her.

“Something that severe at such a young age is quite uncommon…” He muses.

“Doctor, I will continue to answer any questions you have about Tetra…as long as you look after Ena sometimes – only when I’ve got my hands tied with work, really. I…trust you enough right now.” She looks over at him once more, her eyebrows slightly knitted – she’s desperate.

“Fine, then. If she’s truly as unobtrusive as you claim, she can tag along. I will not isolate her in my office, either.”

“Thank you so much…” She sighs in relief, “You hear that, Ena? The nice doctor will look after you for me sometimes. He’s a good man, so don’t worry about him hurting you.”

(…Me, of all people…) He sighs softly, barely audible.

“Okay…” Ena murmurs, her eyes glued to the floor as if it’s infinitely more interesting than whatever conversation is occurring.

“Mama has to go now… She’s got a meeting and a lot of paperwork to catch up on. But Doctor Veritas Ratio is here, okay? Don’t be afraid to speak up – he appreciates honesty.”

“That’d be correct – honesty and knowledge go hand in hand.” He nods, his voice only a smidgen softer than before. He’s trying, at least.

Kagome straightens her legs, briefly rubbing Ena’s head while offering her a soft smile, “I’ll see you later, Ena. You too, Doctor.” She nods to them both before departing from the office.

“Farewell, Kagome.” He replies, watching her leave before his dual-toned eyes dart to Ena – her eyes are about as lifeless as her mother’s. For a split moment, he wonders if it runs in the family somehow – unlikely, but the thought entertains him for about 0.2 seconds.

Ena looks elsewhere – anywhere that isn’t his face – around the room, his clothes, his desk… Her hands are held to her chest, fiddling with her fingers and picking at her skin. And then she hisses when she pulls a bit of skin off too far – causing her to bleed.

“…Alright. Come here.” He gestures to her with one hand to walk up to him as he scours his desk for a band aid, “You should not pick at your skin like that…” He scolds half-heartedly.

When she nervously arrives in front of him, he cleans the small wound and wraps the bandage around her bloody index finger. He double checks it to make sure it's tight enough. Satisfied with his work he releases her hand, which immediately retracts to her chest.

“There.” He mutters, “I must teach a class soon, so you’ll have to come with me. But, you may sit at my desk there.”

“Okay, Mr. Doctor.” She nods sheepishly.

(Mr. Doctor… It’s going to be a long day.) He sighs inwardly.

Arriving late to class – due to having to hunt down the wandering, distracted Ena a couple of times – his students immediately break out into chattering gossip when he enters the room with the little girl right behind him. Yet all he has to do is throw a single glare at the disciples scattered about the room and they’ve all fallen silent.

Except for one.

“Hey, uh… Dr. Ratio, what’s with the kid…?” A student squeaks.

“…Do not get any wise ideas,” He sighs underneath his headpiece, “I am…babysitting her for a colleague that said she only trusts me for now.”

“A colleague? That trusts you? Who in their right mind would do that?”

“It’s better that she trusts me than you.” He snaps, “Now, you have five seconds to leave my classroom.”

“What if I don’t—”

A piece of chalk smacks the student right in the forehead, enough force behind it to tumble them out of their seat. And once they’re escorted out and Ena takes her seat at his desk, the professor begins his class. Although, the previous argument hardly stops the muttering between students.

Ena grows more nervous by the second – the whispering among the adults sounds all too much like the muttering noise in her head that she puts up with each and every day. Her legs swing back and forth – they’re not quite long enough to touch the floor yet – and she picks at her hands, except for the already bandaged one.

When the professor finally turns his back to her for a moment too long, she storms out of the classroom. He’s far more perceptive than she expects, though,

“Ena!” He shouts, and his voice faintly shakes from panic. He drops the new piece of chalk he was using and charges after her, “You all stay right in your places!” He yells to the students right as he leaves through the doors.

He’s right on her trail – so close yet a little too far to catch her. He’s a bit amazed at how someone with such tiny legs is outrunning him right now – especially how she’s also malnourished. It must be adrenaline fueling her right now, he concludes, but also knows she’ll run out of that fuel sooner rather than later—

And then she crashes to the floor in an empty hallway, already sobbing – tears waterfalling down her slightly sunken, pale cheeks. He sighs, slowing down from his run and approaching her with cautious steps, yet loud enough that she isn’t further frightened by his appearance.

“Ena…” He arrives at her side, swiftly bending to one knee and taking mental notes while he carefully observes her condition, “I will talk to my students later, but right now I need to—” He notices she’s fainted the second her sobs become abruptly silent, “Ugh… Alright.” He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose momentarily before slipping his arms under her lithe body and plucking her from the ground while he straightens his legs.

He tells himself he’ll send out a class dismissal for the day, but also informs his students Ena’s current condition is largely their own fault. Regardless of how young many of the students are, they should know better than the gossip among themselves about a little girl – let alone in his lecture hall.

But, for now, he’s already on his way back to his doctor's office. Soon laying her down on the sofa, also resting her head on a pillow and lifting her feet on the armrest to help assure a safe recovery from her fainting spell. She wakes up before a minute passes, thankfully, so he can’t help but sigh with relief. Her consciousness only exists long enough for her to drink a cup of water, and then she’s out like a light.

…He then decides to conjure up a daily meal plan for her – Kagome can thank him later.

#mine #oc #original character #honkai star rail #hsr #hsr oc #honkai star rail oc #oc: kagome ikeda #oc: ena ikeda #fic: solitary solidarity #hsr dr ratio #dr ratio #ship: kagtio

8 notes · View notes