Honkai Star: Rail x Reader Oneshots

"Why didn't you answer any of my letters?" | Dr Veritas Ratio x Reader

Warnings: Angst, Miscommunication, Reconciliation, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Vulnerability, Second Chances, Slow Burn, "What letters, Dianne?! What letters?!" Trope, Unresolved Feelings, Mutual Pining, Reunited Lovers, Emotional distress, Themes of abandonment and self-doubt.

The study was cloaked in a soft dimness, shadows dancing between the towering shelves of books. You stood by the doorway, eyes locked on the figure pacing in front of the large window. Dr. Veritas Ratio-his violet hair falling across his left eye, the faint gleam of his alabaster mask resting on the table beside him-radiated tension. His broad shoulders were stiff, his hands balled into fists. His normally poised demeanor cracked at the edges, revealing a side of him you had never seen so exposed.

When he finally turned to face you, his reddish-pink eyes met yours, burning with something raw, something painful.

"Why didn't you answer any of my letters?"

The question rang out, sharp and aching. It was as if he'd been holding onto those words for years, the weight of them suffocating him, and now, they had finally broken free.

You blinked, taken aback. "What letters?"

His expression faltered, confusion flooding his gaze. You could see his jaw clench, muscles tensing even more as if your words had struck him like a physical blow. The silence that followed was suffocating, thick with misunderstanding and disbelief.

"What... what do you mean, 'what letters'?" Ratio's voice wavered, a mix of anger and hurt as he stared at you. "I sent you dozens. Over the years, I wrote to you endlessly. I waited for a response, anything to show me that you hadn't forgotten. That you still... cared."

You felt a sinking sensation in your chest. "I never got them," you whispered, your voice barely audible in the heavy atmosphere between you. "Ratio, I never received any of your letters. I thought-" Your breath hitched as you tried to piece together what had happened. "I thought you had moved on. That you had left me behind."

His laugh was sharp, bitter, the kind of sound that made your stomach twist in knots. "Left you behind?" he echoed, incredulous. "I poured my heart into those letters, hoping you'd respond. That you would tell me that I wasn't just another passing thought to you." His gaze darkened, his voice dipping lower. "I needed you. I needed to know that you still believed in me."

Your heart shattered at the vulnerability beneath his words. The brilliant, self-assured Dr. Veritas Ratio-always so composed, so sure of his intellect-now stood before you, wounded and angry. The silence between you stretched thin, fragile as glass.

"I didn't know," you breathed, stepping closer. "I never saw them. If I had..." You paused, feeling the weight of lost time, the misunderstanding that had gnawed away at both of you. "I would have written back. I never wanted to lose you. I thought you had given up on me."

He stood motionless, his chest rising and falling with shallow breaths as he processed your words. For so long, he had believed the silence was your choice, a deliberate rejection. His letters, his attempts to reach out, had been met with nothing but a void. And he had built walls around his heart to protect himself from the pain, walls that now felt meaningless.

"You didn't get them..." he repeated, his voice barely a whisper, as if trying to convince himself that it was true. His eyes softened, but the anger didn't dissipate entirely. "All those nights... I spent thinking that I wasn't enough. That you'd moved on without me."

The guilt weighed heavy on your heart. "Ratio, I'm so sorry. I never meant for this to happen. I would never-"

"I waited," he interrupted, his tone quieter now, tinged with that lingering bitterness. "I waited for you to reach out, to tell me that I still mattered. When you didn't, I thought everything we had-everything we built-was just..." His voice cracked, and he looked away, unable to finish the sentence.

"I didn't know..." you murmured, stepping even closer until you were right in front of him. Hesitantly, you reached out, your fingers brushing against his arm, feeling the tension still coiled there. "If I had known, I would have been there. I would have come to you."

He didn't pull away from your touch, but the weight of the years lost between you still hung in the air. Slowly, his eyes met yours again, softer now, though the pain still lingered behind them.

"So what now?" His voice was quiet, almost vulnerable in a way you weren't used to hearing from him. "Can we go back? Or is it too late?"

Your heart ached at the uncertainty in his gaze. This man, who had achieved so much, who was revered across the universe for his intelligence and wisdom, now stood before you-uncertain, raw, and waiting for your answer.

"I don't know," you admitted, swallowing the lump in your throat. "But I know that I don't want to lose you again. Not like this."

For a moment, neither of you spoke. The weight of everything that had been left unsaid-the letters that had never been read, the misunderstandings that had torn you apart-pressed down on both of you.

Finally, Ratio nodded, though the pain in his eyes didn't completely fade. "I don't want to lose you either."

Tentatively, you closed the remaining distance between you, wrapping your arms around him, feeling the tension slowly seep out of his body as he returned the embrace. It wasn't a resolution, not yet. There was still so much between you that needed to be mended, so many unanswered questions, so many feelings left to navigate.

But it was a start.