Chapter Text
There was a murmuring among the students as everyone anticipated Mr. Ragnvindr to come back into class and introduce the new student. Just as the gossip was about to pick up about what kind of person they would be like, Diluc stepped into the door and walked over to the front of the chalkboard.
“Everyone, Please settle down. I would like to introduce our new transfer student. Why don’t you come in and introduce yourself.” Diluc held out a hand, gesturing for the boy to come in.
An ashy haired boy with emerald green eyes walked into the classroom and took a bow facing his classmates. He rose back up and flashed them with an infectious smile warm enough to melt any heart.
“Morning Everyone! My name is Bennett! I hope we can all enjoy this new school year adventure together.” He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. Some of the class greeted Bennett while others clapped encouragingly.
Just as the class was about to begin, before Diluc could even point Bennett to his seat the chalkboard fell from the wall and onto Bennett.
“Gyah!” Bennett cried, collapsing to the ground.
“Bennett!” Diluc rushed to the boy’s side. “Are you alright? That chalkboard should have been bolted down. Maintenance just came in yesterday.”
Bennett shook his head and looked up at Mr. Ragnvindr with a cheeky smile.
“No worries Mr. Diluc! I’m alright! Just a scratch.” He grinned while blood started to slowly trickle down from his head. The class screamed while some of them rushed to get him bandages.
“My my Ozvaldo. It would seem that the year of our eleventh crossing holds a most interesting new vessel cursed with unknowing karma.” A girl named fischl said, speaking to her familiar, Oz.
“An interesting one indeed, mein Fräulein.”
“A new lupical. Friend name, Benny.” Razor, Fischl’s desk neighbor, agreed as he nodded at Bennett.
—--
“It is with great pleasure that I greet you all here today. Let’s start off our school year right and welcome our principal, Cyrus, to the stage!” Vice Principal Jean announced as the auditorium echoed with applause. The man named Cyrus, Dressed in a full green suit, stepped up to the podium excusing Jean to her seat. Everyone quite loved their principal as he was a clumsy goof who always had the student’s best interests at heart, despite being unable to understand the youths of today.
“I see some new faces out there! Very niiiiice, and not just Freshman either.” The man bellowed with a laugh. “It is my honor, as your principal, to welcome you all back for another great school year. As you all know, you received an email asking all of the student body to elect the student council based on your experiences last year. As a result, it was a unanimous vote to continue with the same students who held the seats last year. Please give a big hand to briefly welcome the student body council, so that you all may become acquainted and comfortable to ask them for anything at all. But don’t forget about your teachers and faculty too!” Cyrus laughed. “We are all here for you as well.”
The students then walked up to introduce themselves to all the people attending their school, Adventurer’s Guild High.
“Hello everyone!” Lumine piped up cheerily. “I am your treasurer, Lumine, this year. I will be collecting all donations for fundraisers, school events, and anything we might hold here at the school.” She then passed the mic to the boy with a red streak in his hair.
“Good Morning. My name is Kazuha. I will be the advisor for this school year. If you need help with anything at all please seek out myself or Ms. Keqing as it is our duty to steer our students and staff in the right direction.” Kazuha handed the mic to the boy with black braids in his hair next.
“Yoohoo! My name is Venti” He said, striking a peace sign pose over his eyes and sticking his tongue out, “and I will be your chairman! I keep all these airheads in line and will be here to point you to anything you might need.” The council rolled their eyes while some of the audience giggled. The preppy girl took the mic next and shyly dusted off her skirt before looking up at everyone.
“A-ahem. Hello everyone. I am Noelle and I will be your Vice President this year. I’ll do my best to satisfy your every need. Please do not hesitate to ask me for help with anything at all.” Lastly, the long, blond haired male took the mic and looked on to the crowd.
“Good Day, everyone. You may call me Aether. I am your Student Body President and it is my absolute pleasure to be here with all of you today. Let’s do our best to make this a great year full of cherished memories!”
The auditorium cheered and applauded with glee as the student council bowed and started to leave the stage. Bennett fixated his eyes most on aether, the president, who looked so cool to him. President. What did it take to be in a position like that? Bennett wanted to be a leader with confidence like that too. If only some of Aether’s charm could rub off on him.
“Aether senpai…”
—--
“All right. That about wraps up this meeting. You’re all free to go home.” Aether announced as he gathered some papers together and stuck them in a labeled folder.
All the council members were grabbing their bags and packing up for the day except aether, who still had to check up on all the clubs before leaving.
“Are you sure you don’t want any help with club logging, Aether?” Noelle asked once more to be absolutely sure that Aether didn’t want her to lend a hand.
“Really it’s fine, Noelle.” Aether insisted. “You’ve already cleaned the room twice and organized all our files. I think this is the least I can do.”
“Just leave him, Noelle.” Lumine said waving her over, “He’s a stubborn little clown, he’ll be fine.”
Aether rolled his eyes at his sister’s remark but nodded in agreement to Noelle.
“Well if you’re sure,” She said bowing. “Then I’ll be taking my leave now.”
“Don’t forget, It’s your turnt to make dinner tonight.” Lumine stuck her tongue out. “I want shrimp!” She yelled as she left.
“See you buddy!” Venti piped in. “Got a date with a certain recluse and I don’t want to be late.” The happy go lucky bard slipped out the room and ran off to, what Aether assumed, probably the rooftop.
“Take care.” Kazuha waved as they all exited the room.
“Phew,” Aether sighed, relieved he could finally be alone. “Now let’s check-in on all these clubs.” Aether said to himself as he hoisted his bag over his shoulder.
His first stop was to see Mona from the Astrology club. If her wasn’t mistaken, she should be in Ms. Yae’s classroom. Aether opened the door to see the girl in question practicing hydromancy on a tank of crystal clear water, specifically provided for her workings.
“Oh, Aether. Do come in. You’re quite early, you know.” Mona greeted with a smile. “The stars have told me that you’ve honored me with your first meeting. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“If I’m to be honest, your club is the easiest because you’re the only member.” Aether smirked, to which Mona scoffed and folded her arms.
“How rude! And I did all this work to look into you and your sister’s constellations.”
“Oh? Did you finally see something about the mysterious students?” Aether teased.
“Ugh.” Mona scoffed and looked away from him. “All I could gather was that your fates have been intertwined with another person at this school. However, I don’t think it’s a freshman. In particular, the stars seem to point to you more than your sister. Will that suffice in exchange to stop teasing me?”
Aether nodded, pondering on what she said for a moment. The twins already were acquainted and friends with so many people. All of different backgrounds and characters. What could this new person hold?
As he was about to leave the room, Aether turned and yelled “Thanks for the info, Meg!” and scurried out the room.
“Oh you! I knew I shouldn’t have told you that! Curse that old crone for giving me such an ugly nickname.”
Next on Aether’s List was Debate club. They should be in Mr. Diluc’s room. It was also another club Aether wanted to get out of the way. He gulped as the sounds of conversation were already audible outside the door. Aether sighed and opened the door to the chaos going on in front of him.
“I simply have to disagree with you, kokomi. Section eight clearly states that the law prohibits use of violence to senior citizens above a certain age.” Yanfei was in the middle of a scrum debate with her equal, kokomi. They were, by far, the two smartest students in the entire school. Their scores excelled above everyone else last year.
“But, if you look at the revision of section eight dash B, it clearly states that any act of violence, no matter the age, is allowed as long as it classifies as self defense.” Kokomi stated, with fiery determination in her eyes.
“Dash C’s revision also states that it can be amenable upon a case by case basis. The one in question clearly falls under that rule.”
“What about Section 4 dash E? Any party has a right to claim self defense as long as there is concrete evidence to prove it. The facts do not lie upon further inspection.”
“Ahah! That’s where you’re wrong! Article twelve has…”
Aether could feel their voices trail off as he started to dissociate. He noticed Diluc sitting at his desk, listening intently. Diluc noticed Aether standing in the door and gave a thumbs up to signal the club was all good. Aether signaled a ‘thank you’ to Mr. Diluc and left as quick as he came.
Next up was the Literature club. Aether actually quite liked the literature club, it was just that he tended to get caught up in lengthy conversations when he visited Fischl. He opened the door to see Fischl, Ayaka, and Xingqiu reciting original poems. Ayaka currently has the stage.
“And like the sakura blossoms leaving the trees to return again in the coming spring, I, too, shall become anew each season. Growing and changing like the petals in the wind.”
“Bravo, Ayaka.” Xingqiu clapped. “Truly a beautiful work of art in the form of words. It was as if I could see the scenery you painted for me.”
“You’re too kind, xingqiu.” Ayaka quirtseed, appreciating the compliment.
“It is most deserved, Queen of ice. The exquisite words of one such as the have touched mine own heart, sending me into the state of my own delight and basking in your glory. Hark unto me, truly your words are that of utmost interest.”
“She means to say your poem was very good.” Oz translated.
“I see you guys are lively as ever.” Aether clapped, greeting everyone.
“Tis the one who holds a fate similar to mine own. Destined to walk this mortal coil with mere humans unlike you and I. To what do we owe the immaculate grace of your presence on this sunset.”
“Thanks, Fischl. It’s nice to see you too.” Aether greeted. “I’m just here to check on everyone and make sure the clubs are running well. Are there any complications? Need a teacher rep?”
“All is good, thank you Aether.” Ayaka assured him.
“Thanks for stopping by though. Perhaps next time I could read you a poem I made about your exploits as of late.” Xingqiu offered.
“We’ll have to see, but I’m glad everything checks out.” He said as he was about to leave.
“Stop your exit for but a moment and listen to mine query” Fischl shouted out. “Is it by chance that you might venture to a new realm of meeting this day?”
“A new club? I think there was one on this list somewhere.” Aether answered, fiddling with his checklist.
“Do be of caution, as fate would have it, calamity could strike at any moment.”
“She means to say that the new club president tends to have a knack for getting bruises.
“I’ll… keep that in mind.” Aether said as he continued to walk out.
“Have a nice evening, Aether!” Ayaka shouted before they continued their meeting.
Aether next made his way to the Chemistry club. It would be nice to see his good friend Albedo. Over the summer, they did some studying for the entrance exams that would be coming up soon then got some ice cream with Venti, Amber, and Eula after. As he was walking down the corridor he heard a loud boom and rushed down to the Chem lab.
“Alright, was it Timaeus or Yoimiya this time?” Aether sighed as he opened the door.
“Oh, hi Mr. Aether. I regret to inform you it was both.” Sucrose stepped aside to reveal the two coughing up smoke.
“It would seem they were attempting to make a new type of firework.” Albedo informed as he grabbed some cleaning supplies.
“We just need to tweak the recipe a tiny bit and it’ll be perfect!” Yoimiya enthused, Aether slightly doubting her words.
“I was so sure it would have been the chemical we used first. My bad guys.” Timaeus apologized deflated as he wiped off his face.
“You can mark everything as good, Aether.” Albedo smirked. “I’m here after all. I wouldn’t let them use anything that could burn the whole school down.”
“Thanks buddy.” Aether grinned and gave a salute before walking out.
Next on the agenda was the Choir. That would be a walk in the park. Aether thought to himself. He opened the door to the chorus room to see Barbara, Xinyan, Yunjin, and the rest of the choir practicing their vocal warmups.
“That was great everyone! Should we start practicing our new song for the recital?” Barbara asked. Even though they had a choir instructor, Barbara was mostly the one to lead during practices.
“I think that’s a lovely idea.” Yunjin chimed in. “Might we be able to decide who gets the solos for this one?”
“Nah, it’s still too early for that junk.” Xinyan declared as she was strumming on her guitar. “I reckon we got a few more practice sessions before we see who really has the can-do spirit and desire to step on stage and belt their heart out!”
“Xinyan is right,” Barbara agreed. “Let’s give it our all. I promise from the bottom of my heart that the selections will be fair.”
Everyone talked amongst themselves cheerily as they were motivated by Barbara’s words. The school Idol always seemed to know just what to say. The choir members gathered their sheets for the new song they were to perform and did some warm ups while they waited to rehearse. Barbara noticed Aether standing in the door and waved to him, giving the okay. Aether waved back and gave another check on his list. On to the culinary club.
Culinary club always seemed easy. Shenhe always volunteered to be the rep as she didn’t see chongyun, her nephew, much outside of club meetings. Mostly, the students just liked to make food and try out new recipes. Sometimes they would even do fundraisers and sell what they made.
“Hello, Aether.” Chongyun greeted with a smile. “What brings you here today?”
“Just checking in. Anything I can do?” Aether offered, looking around at all the students. Most were browsing cook books while others were taking stock of ingredients and materials.
“You can try the new dish me and gouba made” Xiangling said, coming over with gouba to present her dish. It looked like a regular grilled fish but Aether was still cautious.
“There’s not slime condensate on here is there?” He grimaced.
“No no.” Xiangling reassured. “It’s a new spicy fish dish I’m trying out. Dad said he’d appreciate more spicy foods he can add to his restaurant.”
“Bwei Bwei~” Gouba seemed to agree.
“I can’t eat spicy foods so unfortunately I can’t help her out.” Chongyun explained.”
“It’s no problem. I’d be happy to try it out.” Aether agreed, taking a bite with the fork xiangling offered. He swallowed it down and felt immediate heat surging in his stomach. “Ahem. It’s a little too spicy for my tastes, but it doesn’t burn. In a way, I like it.”
“That’s perfect.” Xiangling cheered. “We have a lot of spice tolerant people come to the restaurant, so making new dishes for them to try is always a top priority. Thanks for the help!” Xiangling smiled, skipping back to her stove with gouba.
“Aether.” Shenhe walked over with a serious look on her face.
“Afternoon miss. Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Have you seen Xingqiu?” She questioned. Aether looked at Chongyun who had just gone back to looking up new popsicle flavors. Plain worked best, but he was curious if other flavors might have the same effect.
“N-no. I mean yes! He’s at Literature club at the moment.” He said smiling nervously.
“Good.” Shenhe said with a stone cold face then sighed. “As long as he’s not causing trouble.” She went back to her seat and Aether slipped out before he could be further questioned.
Aether was on his way to the gym but suddenly had his papers flipped out of his hands when he turned the corner.
“Hey comrade!” Childe grinned. Wanna go sparring at the boxing arena this weekend?” He was leaning against the wall with an amused look.
“I don’t have time to talk right now. I have to get this done then go home to make dinner. MAYBE i’ll think about it later, Ajax. Only if you’re good.”
Childe shivered at the mention of “Ajax.” He only let Aether and Lumine use it since the three of them were close.
“No fair!” Childe protested like a kid having a tantrum. “Don’t use my real name, you cheapskate.” He protested, puffing his cheeks.
“If you get to be cheap, then I can too.” Aether grinned while childe rolled his eyes. He followed the blonde to chat with a little before waving goodbye to head home.
The gym was lively with a bunch of athletes exercising and warming up for their training regimen. Aether didn’t have domain over the sports teams, but in a room on the side was the gymnastics club. The room had a number of beams, poles, hoops, and padding to help with landings or falls.
“Hiya Aether.” Amber greeted as she ran over. She was sweating from a hard day of flexing and stretching, and seemingly proud of it. “As you can see we’re in tip top shape.” Amber grinned, putting her hands to her hips.
“And if you don’t agree, you shall rue the day you crossed us. That is a promise.” Eula walked up to him too, arms crossed and staring daggers at Aether.
“No worries, I have no intention of thinking things look bad he- OOF!” Aether was headbutted in the back by a certain brunet with white streaks, dog ears, and a tail.
“Hey, Aether! Good to see you!” Gorou greeted as Aether grimaced as he held his stomach. “Want to walk home together with us?” He asked, unable to hide his wagging tail.
“Y-yeah, I’d love to.” Aether smiled, giving Gorou a pat on the head, causing Gorou’s tail to go into overdrive. Aether took a mental note to not keep his back to Gorou. Otherwise a hug would become a headbutt.
“Great!” Amber grinned. “Are you free soon? We were just about to head to the locker rooms.”
“I’ll be finished soon. I just have one more club to check on.” ‘The new one,’ he thought to himself.
“Alright, Do not dare to think about being late, or I shall have vengeance!” Eula declared.
Aether waved to the three then made his way back to the classrooms. From what the paper said, it seemed that the new club was in Hu Tao’s room. He opened the door to see Razor, a couple other students, and a boy he hadn’t seen before. Razor looked up from the ash haired boy’s speech and noticed Aether in the door.
“Lupical.” He held up a hand.
The boy turned around and his face instantly lit up. He ran towards Aether and started shaking his hand.
“Senpai! It’s an honor to meet you! You were so cool in the assembly today and I just want to say I have a lot to learn from you if I want to be a leader of my own someday! You see I-”
Aether was finding it hard to focus on the words coming from the boy’s mouth. He could only see the excited eyes and all he could hear was the rapid thump of his heart. He had never been admired in such a way as this.
“Uh-m..”
“Oh sorry! I got carried away.” Bennett apologized, scratching the back of his head. “My name’s Bennett! I’m new to this school, and I’m the leader of The Adventure Club! Working title.” He grinned rubbing his nose.
“Oh! So you’re the one who started the new club.” Aether said, fumbling through his notes.
“That’s right. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Aether Senpai.” Bennett smiled sweetly. Aether could feel a small burn in his stomach he thought was from the fish earlier.
“The pleasure is all mine.” Aether smiled back.
Bennett’s eyes widened excitedly like he wanted to jump for joy. He thought about singing Aether’s praises, a boy he barely even knew. But just before he could, Bennett Got hit by a ceiling tile.
“Ow…” He muttered as the rest got up to help him. Some giggled as this wasn’t the first time to happen during the meeting. Aether knelt down and offered a bandage he pulled out from his bag before noticing the boy already had several on him, some looking as if they were from today. “Thank you, senpai.” Bennett grinned accepting the bandage.
“No problem.” Aether smiled, still feeling the burning in his stomach. He helped Bennett back up and gave a wave to Bennett and a pat on the head to Razor before leaving. Just before Aether turned the corner, he heard another crash from the same room. Perhaps that’s the ‘calamity’ Fischl spoke about. He smiled to himself as he walked to meet up with everyone at the exit.
Walking down the hall Aether happened to bump into Mona who was dusting herself off. She noticed Aether and gave a slight wave, slightly still peeved at him from early.
“I’m surprised you haven’t left yet. I thought my astrology would have taken longer.”
“Student council stuff, you know. What happened to you?” Aether asked, pointing out the dust.
“That ignorant moran, Itto, ran into me as he was being chased by Professor Kujo Sara. I wish I could say it slowed him down, but somehow he was still ahead of her by a mile.” Mona huffed, folding her arms. “I just picked out this uniform yesterday too. Now I'll have to hand wash it and hang it to dry..” She complained. Still no washer it seemed.
As the two walked, Aether noticed Bennett with his group up ahead. He could make out the boy saying ‘see you guys in two days!’ It would seem that Bennett’s club was a success then.
“Hey, Mona…”
“Yes?” She questioned raising a brow.
“What do you know about Bennett?”
“Bennett?” She asked in an exaggerated tone as she followed Aether’s gaze to the new transfer student.
“Oh, him. I would steer clear of that boy if I were you. I happened to see his constellation today. Rota Calamitas, or in laymans terms, the wheel of misfortune. If you were to look at a tarot card and see the ‘wheel of fortune,’ drawing the card upside down would be his constellation, meaning misfortune a.k.a. bad luck. However, In this rare case, his wheel isn’t even complete. I sense nothing but disaster from that one. If you ever find yourself around him, keep your eyes sharp and be on guard.”
“Hmm…” Aether couldn’t imagine how someone so cheerful and positive could possess such a horrible fate. Surely it had to be a mistake. Afterall, Mona can’t see the twin’s constellations.
“Aaaeeeeeetheeer!” Amber was yelling and waving as the three from gymnastics rounded the corner. “Glad to see you’re done.”
“You’re lucky we happened upon you before reaching the door.” Eula claimed as her form of greeting.
“Hello everyone.” Mona greeted. “I trust you’re doing well.”
“Yup!” Gorou answered. “Ready to walk home, Aether?” he questioned with a few wags as Aether chuckled and nodded.
“Yeah. Let’s head out.”
The group started conversing about what senior year would be like and their plans for the coming semester. Aether happened to look up to see Bennett staring from the door. The boy winced at being caught and offered a wave and grin. Aether waved back with a smile and felt the burning sensation again. There’s no way such a person could be a ‘calamity.’ Aether couldn’t explain it, but he felt a number of things when he looked at Bennett earlier. Fuzziness, positivity, an infectious smile, and most curious of all, sunshine.
Aether’s stomach made another grumble as he thought about Bennett. Lumine is going to have to pass on shrimp tonight.