Ritsuka Fujimaru sometimes liked to think that she was a normal person, an ordinary girl.
She was 17 years old and a few months away from her birthday. It was only a few months before she could move out of her home.
She was part of the kendo club and the star of the martial arts club since she was in a young age once she entered in high school. Another talent that others could call "exceptional" was her high potential in the archery classes, which she rejected for personal reasons.
His appearance could be considered exotic, in fact it was, more when it was considered that she was half Irish on his mother's side and Japanese on his father's side. She had orange hair, golden eyes, and a shapely face, but after all, she was quite normal.
Her body was not toned despite being in a club where this was everything for years, yet small well defined muscles could be seen. She thought it was because she was a bit athlete since she was little.
Unfortunately, she had a few bad habits with gacha games, although she was doing much better than some of his friends
She had a small circle of friends, some whom she had known since childhood and are still in relationships. She used to hang out with them when she had free time from her work and sometimes they all got into trouble together. They brought her joy, they were still those children of many years ago.
In her own way of seeing the world, it was nice to have normal people around her. She wouldn't know how to feel around eccentric people, she had enough with her father
She had good grades, they weren't so impressive but she could keep up with the smartest people of the class, she used to be comfortable with nothing less than an average score.
And that was basically all about her.
Blinking tiredness, Ritsuka turned her sleepy gaze towards to the open window and then she saw the shining light of the morning outside, her brain was trying to process what to do.
Maybe wearing some clothes, sleeping naked would cause great confusion.
Her gaze fell to his brown student uniform and the books in her library, she remembered that school had ended a few days ago and she was taking the opportunity to relax after escaping from hell. It would only last time to rest, since she had to start looking for a summer job.
Everything seemed normal, just as she had left it when she had gone to bed the night before.
She had woke up only a moments before, and now she would have to go back to her daily routine ... yeah
Still, she has no choice.
Slowly sitting up, the orange haired girl shuddered when the cold air of the morning passed through her body, staying a few minutes in her bed at a slight distance from her closet.
After several seconds, Ritsuka finally reached the closet and took her casual clothes.
- Another day. - She rustle in boredom, before deciding to just ignore her mood and start her daily activities, she needs her brain to work right now.
She went to the bathroom and washed her face, before looking in the mirror. Same old situation, getting up, going to the bathroom, and tying some of his hair in a side ponytail.
- I wonder if Haku will be available. - She thought now more awake about her friend.
They had bought a video game a few weeks ago, so they were hoping to get together for a sleepover with her inner circle. But with summer already present, plans could get complicated.
She was looking forward to that day, she had told herself that it was an RPG style game, one of the favorite genres of teenagers and hers.
She couldn't wait to play it and see what kind of adventure it would be.
But she first she had to organize her household chores before that.
What she should do now?
Maybe a quick round of exercises.
Ritsuka deposited the from her bed in the basket, before taking a pair of gray cotton pants and a red t-shirt with an inverted cross.
Cracking her neck and knuckles, she began to do exercises for a few minutes. She had a daily routine to maintain a good health, as a member of the martial arts club, she had to keep fit at all times.
She continue with her training for a few minutes until it was completely finished, she quickly took a shower to clean herself of the accumulated dirt.
Leaving her room carefully and stopped in front of another door that was next to her bedroom, knocking it with her knuckles in calm. After about ten seconds, she couldn't hear anything, not even a sign that someone was inside her.
Ritsuka groaned in response, taking that as a signal to get away, she took one last look at her sister's room, she should have known from the start that she was already gone.
She tended to be like that.
Ritsuka went downstairs, to face her greatest enemy ...
The breakfast.
When she went down the stairs, she was able to find the same sight of every day; only she was at home now.
On rare occasions she used to find her grandmother drinking a cup of tea while she read one of her treasured books. Or her grandfather, who was usually drinking coffee while watching TV news without disturbing anyone.
She once wished she could shout "good morning" with everyone present and receive her, even with a nod or smile, for her it would be a very nice gesture so she wouldn't be alone.
Ritsuka finally regained the control over her thoughts and headed for the kitchen, she flailing her arms to make sure to mitigate the little pain in her muscles after her routine. She let out a sigh of relief, before looking at the food on the table.
Her grandmother would have prepared it before going with her grandfather and sister to the hospital as usual. On second thought, it was better to have the food prepared since the kitchen was not her thing, the last time she had tried to cook she managed to set the water on fire ... How the hell do you set the water on fire?
The food looked perfect, as if it were made out by the hand of a chef. The vibrant colors mixing various tonalities, and although cold, it smelled amazing. It was certainly better than anything that she had cooked before, his treacherous palate melting at the creamy texture of the food, enjoying every moment.
When she saw it she thought how far behind she had failed in her culinary skills, she used to cook for herself but she had always ended up making all kinds of liquid form disasters. She was trying to practice during her free time, but it was not something she will success or show any advancement in.
Ritsuka kept staring at the breakfast deeply thinking for herself, before lifting her knife with a smile and starting to taste it again.
...
Breakfast was a peaceful event, her grandparents or her sister were not present, making it a relatively quiet morning.
Ritsuka couldn't lie, her grandmother was much better than her in this topic, even her little sister managed to create more "normal" dish.
She began cleaning the dishes in the sink, while inside she was planning what she should do, maybe start looking for a temporal job to start saving for college and internal issues.
Suddenly, the sound of her doorbell caught her attention.
Did someone come? Weird, no one had said anything to her. Maybe her friend Haku or some other of her friends came to met her? Unlikely, considering that most of them had gone on holidays.
Putting the dishes aside very carefully, Ritsuka went to the front door and opened it.
She expected to come face to face with an acquaintance or even a street vendor, the cardiac arrest that she almost gave her when she observed that, at her gate, there were two strangers dressed in black suits and a metal briefcase. They looked like those secret agents that she normally saw in action movies, the most noticeable of them was the briefcase with the word "C" and an olive branch running through the outside of it.
- Sorry for the inconvenience, are you Ritsuka Fujimaru? - Asked the person on the left, a slim woman of Asian descent.
- Ehhhh ... Yes, it's me. Is there anything you need from me? - She answered politely, though inside she was confused.
The person on the right, a burly middle aged man, took off his black glasses and looked at her with steel gray eyes. There was calm in them, which made her relax a bit.
- Yes, we are members of the Chaldea Security Organization. We would like to take a little of your time to discuss a consent issue with you. -
There was a moment of silence, her mind trying to process the information to give an imminent response. Ritsuka had been flustered once the word "security organization" was mentioned.
Ritsuka tried her best to not sigh, before smiling awkwardly at the two people, she was visibly worried that she had committed something serious. It seems that she would not save herself from falling into the "curse" that her family's reputation represented.
Now that she thought about it, "Chaldea Security Organization"? She recalled that she had donated blood at an event a few days ago in exchange for a little money.
But what did they want from her now? Was something wrong with her blood? Did she commit a criminal act? Did they saw her financial history and find out about her compulsive gambling addiction?
She hoped that no one else besides her sister would find out about that.
...
Ritsuka was furious, even more so than that the moments when she didn't bring out a character she liked in the games. Earlier that day, she had been enjoying her breakfast and doing her routine, and now ...
- How the hell did we get to this?! - Ritsuka yelled at the uniformed persons in front of her.
She was on a private jet heading into a unknown place, apparently, now she is an employed of an organization that she didn't even know about.
This organization "Chaldea" had orchestrated a "meeting" to make her a job proposal abroad. She would be lying if she said that she was sure of what she had done to get attention, she realized that they were desperate to make her accept the deal, this due to her actions and arguing something about "Rayshift" and " Master Compatibility ".
She evidently rejected him at first. She had her reasons to distrust this supposed "Chaldea", they mentioned that they were collaborating with the governments of other countries. But she was currently searching the networks on her cell phone and couldn't find anything about them, which further increased her mistrust.
A hefty offer was offered if she succeeded in joining the organization, but not only her suspicion grew, but her concern as well. She apparently had to leave Japan to get to the "work offices". She was not afraid to go to another country, several of her jobs in consideration of her resided in other parts of the world, however, the fact of working for an unknown foundation made her worry about her family.
It was definitely not worth in her eyes. It was a good deal, but it would only affect her education and her family circle. It wasn't logical to accept such risky proposal.
Nevertheless, when she brought up the subject of salary ... what she would receive without taxes upon accepting the job ... his eyes on her almost popped out of her sockets.
One hundred thousand euros ...
Every..
Month...
Ritsuka was not someone who cared much about earning large amounts of money, even to her it was a lot of money ...
And she was reeling from her addiction...
A thought ran through her head as she saw the individuals again this time more incredulous, what kind of work was this? Some kind of lab mouse or secret agent?
She did indeed ask for proof to confirm the veracity of her words, and once a sudden large sum of money was added to her bank account she realized that it was legitimate.
She did not know if she would reject the offer or not, her gambling instincts told her that if she did, she could use that money for her personal use and for her family, even so she didn't feel safe. She began to explain the reasons why she didn't know if she should join or not.
The man with gray eyes laughed at her insecurity and her partner showed her the final terms of the contract.
It had to be a dream. How was it possible that she not only had enough money to cover a salary of that magnitude, but also that she would open the doors of any university at the national level?
Her eyes focused on the people sitting on the sofa in the living room. Did they really work with other countries?
She was not sure to accept, she still needed the approval of her grandparents, since she was still younger. It is true that she was practically an adult and she could decide the actions of her life, but she would not forgive herself if this could affect negatively those close to her.
Waiting for her didn't take long, she just called her grandmother, it didn't take more than a minute for them to respond. She expressed her doubts to her authority figure, who were not much disturbed by what was said.
Great was her surprise when she replied that they were already aware of the proposal from the people in suits. When her grandfather took control of the call she gave him one of her typical sermons, claiming that it was her life and that she made her own decisions.
Turning to face the duo expectantly for an answer, she had the approval of her family and everything was in her hands now, even so, she couldn't help but wonder.
Why she?
She wasn't the most talented person and was pretty sure there were better qualified people for the job. She guessed that the reason why she was being sought out was about those two things that she had mentioned as soon as the "interview" began.
She had no evidence to say so, and at the moment she was too cautious. She was first asked to leave her native country to go to an unknown place, of which she didn't even know what she was or her position. The fact that she could earn college points would give her the opportunity to study her desired career.
After much time, Ritsuka accepted the offer. The woman and the man in front of him sighed and relaxed her muscles, a burden had been lifted from them.
She was given a signed employment contract and for her to meet them at the city airport in a few hours.
A few hours later she left her home for the meeting point.
Not knowing that she would feel a twinge in her neck, the last thing she could see before falling unconscious was the two figures she had met that morning.
When she woke up, she found herself in the current situation. Tied in a seat and wanting to cut the throats of the two people in front of her.
Those two individuals were reading a file on the family of the young woman known as Fujimaru Ritsuka. They had read it before coming to Japan, but the information it contained would help them deal with it.
The Fujimaru family was a normally respectable group of people, despite the outgoing personalities of some of its members at least. In fact, they were quite surprised at how docile the girl was right now in contrast to her incessant homicidal craving, but they attributed it to previously been sedated with morphine.
A few hours had passed since takeoff and the "escort" of her, the girl seemed to have calmed down from her sudden outburst, although that didn't prevent her from burning them with her eyes. If looks could kill, they would have died more than twenty times.
Frequently asked questions from a rookie flooded the young Fujimaru's mind. Actually, this was her first true and legal job outside her country, if her didn't count the community one. Her thoughts faded as she was released from her prision by the Asian woman, who handed her the suitcase with her belongings before nodding and leaving.
- We have reached the main headquarters of Chaldea. - The voice of the pilot echoed from the cockpit throughout the plane.
The companion of the Asian woman gave the young woman a reassuring smile so that she wouldn't be disturbed on her first day of work. He then pointed to her briefcase to give her some advice.
- Inside the briefcase is your uniform and it also contains an access card that has your name and the number of the room. -
He saw at her and did a little pat on her back as a sign of good luck, the girl gave the man an indifferent look and he left some information before leaving.
- You can rest assured, you will be given a tour of the installation and later the instructions for your new job. -
Having said that, he leave the room before the girl could thank him for her kindness.
She carefully opened her briefcase and found her identification card first. She remembered the photo of her as one that she had taken a year ago at a party with her friends.
Normally it wouldn't be bad, if she didn't tell herself the fact that she was drunk in the picture. What a shame, surely she couldn't avoid the jokes of her fellow teammates when they saw her identification.
Ritsuka quickly discarded the card and carefully pulled out the uniform of "Chaldea". A simple black shirt with a white coat and long pantyhose with a black skirt along with white boots. When putting it on and looking in the mirror she couldn't help but make an uncomfortable face, she looked like one of the typical anime characters with that outfit, but with the strange symbol on her neck.
A few minutes later, Ritsuka found herself in front of what would be the "gate" of the complex that had hired her. Ritsuka blinked and looked from side to side, seeing nothing but snow in all directions.
Where had she come to?