Chapter Text
“And this here is Kaeya. The usual tour guide is currently unavailable, so he’ll be your guide around school and show you to your classes. The Academy has made… arrangements with his father. He is our student helper as a service to the school to prove that he cares about studying here, and should not be expelled. Please direct any questions about this Academy his way. Once again, it’s great to have you, Miss Minci.”
“Thank you,” she replied, turning to the boy beside her. He wore the school uniform, but his hair and glowing skin showed Lisa that he was meticulous about how he looked. The white dress shirt under his blazer was unbuttoned far more than Lisa thought was allowed, exposing a toned chest. His good eye flicked down and back up her body, and he shot her a smile. Lisa narrowed her eyes but smiled back.
“Let’s get going, shall we?” he said, gesturing out of the principal’s office. Lisa nodded and followed him closely down the long hallway. “That old secretary always has to tell everyone my business. I heard she’s retiring soon, but I know she’ll find a way to gossip about me anyway.”
“I’ll try not to repeat what I’ve heard to anyone else, then.”
“No, it’s fine. Everyone already knows I’m only here because my father pays them not to expel me before I can graduate.”
“Have you considered causing less trouble and stress for your father and the staff?” Lisa didn’t know if she should be sassing the only person her age that she’s spoken to in months, but she had always been helpless to stop her sarcasm from spilling out. It would have been easier to firmly grip a bar of soap with wet hands.
“I actually have considered that, thank you. I hardly think I’m to blame for protecting my friends through some light harassment of people who suck. It’s not my fault people are too sensitive and can’t handle some teasing. But I’m getting off track. The nurse’s office is over there,” he pointed to the right, where a glass door with a red first-aid symbol was engraved on the door. “And this is the gym. Play any sports?”
Lisa peered into the large room, the size of a Cathedral, and watched as a group of boys aggressively shoved each other in a game of basketball, their sneakers squeaking against the waxed floorboards.
“No, I am not really built for athleticism.”
“Hm. Well, this is the library. Maybe more in your area?”
Lisa craned her neck to see through the windows of the next room, and she was too late to stop the gasp from escaping. There were rows and rows of perfect shelves of books in a library that seemed somehow bigger than the gymnasium she had just seen. The library had a peaked glass ceiling, an impossibly clean blue carpet, and more books than she had ever seen packed into one room. Students sat on soft chairs scattered across the ground, deeply engrossed in all types of novels and biographies. Other students sat hunched over desks, alternating their focus between their notebooks and textbooks and chewing the ends of their pencils.
“Yes, I think I’ll spend quite a bit of time here.”
“You heard the principal. There’s a place for everyone here ,” Kaeya repeated in a breathy, mocking voice. Lisa chuckled.
“It’s a bit of a cliché saying, but it’s still cute,” she replied.
“We’re nearing the classrooms.” He brought his finger to his lips as they rounded a corner and proceeded further down the hall. The doors of each classroom were glass, and bored students watched the pair walk by with vacant interest.
“Cafeteria is upstairs. I’ll show you the way later. This is your Calculus class.” He gestured to a glass door labeled 314, where rows of students had their attention fixated on a blackboard at the front of the classroom.
“So, should I just… walk in?” Lisa asked. She wasn’t exactly shy, but she didn’t particularly revel in the feeling of interrupting class and having every student watch her scan the room for an empty seat.
“This is also my class, so we’ll walk in together,” Kaeya answered, pulling the door open for Lisa to walk through.
“And when you take the derivative of this function, you can- Oh, hello there. You must be the new student.”
Just as Lisa predicted, all eyes turned to her when the professor interrupted himself to greet her.
“Yes.”
“Please, introduce yourself to the class.”
Kaeya slinked behind her towards one of two empty seats in the room, giving her a thumbs up as he sat.
“My name is Lisa Minci. My family just moved here from Sumeru.”
“Do you like Calculus, Lisa Minci?” the professor asked. Lisa flicked her eyes to the equation on the board, where all letters and symbols and no numbers were to be found.
“Sure, when I understand it.” A ripple of laughter echoed across the room, and Lisa beamed with pride. The professor nodded in agreement, waiting for the class to get quiet again.
“Excellent answer. Thank you, Lisa. You may sit in that empty desk beside Jean. Jean? Could you wave so Lisa knows who you are?”
Lisa turned her head towards the class, and time skidded to a halt when she locked eyes with the blonde girl sitting in the middle of the front row, as close to the board as possible.
She had her hand partially raised, but Lisa had hardly noticed when all her mind could focus on was the girl’s stunning blue eyes, her sharp cheekbones, her angled jaw… the slope of her neck… the strange, distant expression in her eyes…
Lisa had completely forgotten that she was instructed to sit next to the girl, stuck in the trance of that closed-off blue stare. It was only when the professor cleared his throat and Jean lowered her hand that Lisa had the good sense to move her feet, tearing her eyes away from the girl. The professor resumed his lesson before Lisa had even sat, his chalk clicking sharply against the board.
As she lowered herself into the chair, Lisa set her bag down in between her and the blonde girl, who had brought her attention back to the board. Trying to make as little noise as possible, Lisa slid open the zipper of her bag and fished out her notebook and pen. She brought her arm to the table to begin writing, but accidentally bumped her elbow against the girl next to her.
“Sorry,” the blonde and Lisa muttered simultaneously, and the girl drew her arm away. No, it’s my fault, Lisa wanted to say, but she didn’t think the girl would appreciate more distraction from the lesson. There was a lot scribbled on the board that she had to take in, considering that there were only ten minutes left of class, but Lisa began copying down what she could anyway. She cursed her parents for dropping her off in the middle of the school day instead of letting her wait until the next morning. A few times she found herself scratching her head wondering how the professor got the answer to the equation, but she decided she would work it out later, once she was home. It didn’t help that half of her brain was focused on her peripheral vision, at the blonde that silently solved the equations in her notebook before the professor had even finished explaining the first step.
Before Lisa could finish copying down the entire board, the loud bell interrupted the professor’s sentence.
“Alright class, see you in a few days! Don’t forget to do problems eleven through forty-five in your textbook for homework!” Students all around her began shuffling their books into their bags and exiting the room, the girl to Lisa’s right being one of the first ones out. Lisa watched her go, memorizing her brisk walk that radiated confidence and purpose.
“What are you smiling at?” a voice behind her asked, causing Lisa to jump in her seat. She turned and came face to face with Kaeya, but his attention was torn away as quickly as it landed on her. “Hey, asshat. I’m driving the car today,” he told a boy with bright red hair tied back into an elegant high ponytail, who completely ignored Kaeya’s existence and shoved past him.
“Friend of yours?” Lisa asked.
Kaeya wrinkled his nose. “My brother.”
“He doesn’t look like you.”
“Really? I thought it was like looking in a mirror, if I was stupid and always angry and only good for swinging around heavy objects.”
Lisa had to laugh. “What’s his name?” she asked as they exited the classroom together.
“Assface.”
The cafeteria was, somehow, the largest room Lisa had seen so far. Rows and endless rows of tables lined perfectly, each crowded to its limit with students in the same teal uniforms. If Lisa squinted, it almost looked like the sea.
“I’m going to assume you didn’t make friends in the four seconds you were away from me, so you’ll be sitting with me today, just because I think you're cool. I’ll introduce you to everyone. And consider yourself incredibly lucky, because the entire student population would commit heinous crimes to sit with us.” Lisa only nodded, tailing Kaeya as they walked to table at the far end of the cafeteria. Some students looked Lisa’s way, their eyes flicking between her and Kaeya. She smiled back whenever she met someone’s eyes, but they quickly looked away. What a strange bunch of students.
Finally, Kaeya came to a stop at a table where Lisa instantly spotted the red-haired student from earlier, who was busy devouring his sandwich like he had never eaten one in his life. Lisa continued scanning the table as she lowered herself into the seat between Kaeya and the red guy, and her heart staggered in her chest when she noticed the blonde girl from Calculus sitting diagonal from her, just across Kaeya. She had her back to Lisa, engaged in a conversation with two girls beside her: one with light blue hair and a black lace headband, the other with brown bangs cropped just above her eyes. It seemed they were discussing homework for another class, judging from how they were hunched over a pile of papers.
The blonde nodded along to whatever the girl with bangs was saying, her attentive eyes not letting a single word or gesture go unseen. She did not turn her head away until Bangs was done talking, handling the information she had received with care as she wrote quick notes on her papers. Everything about her radiated respect and consideration.
Lisa was seized by the realization that she wanted the blonde’s attention- and the blonde clearly had a lot of it to offer- on her.
“Everyone! This is Lisa. She just moved here from Sumeru, and she’ll be sitting with us for the foreseeable future. Lisa, this is Amber. She was fed too much caffeine as a child and now she can’t sit still.” He pointed to the girl with brown bangs who gave Lisa a bright smile and wave. Lisa did the same.
“I wasn’t actually given caffeine, for the record,” Amber said.
“That’s Eula. If you can get her to smile, I will give you my father’s entire inheritance.” The girl with blue hair gave her one curt nod. Lisa returned it, suppressing her excitement to be properly introduced to the next girl.
“Kaeya’s just kidding, Eula is really sweet!” Amber chimed in. “And she gives amazing hugs,” she said, playfully nudging Eula’s arm with her body. Lisa watched as Eula turned further away from Amber, fully giving her a view of Eula’s back. Lisa was about to feel bad for Amber when she noticed why Eula had turned away. Leaning closer to the papers in front of Jean, a red blush spread across Eula’s face, presumably one she wanted to hide from the possibly caffeinated girl behind her. Lisa turned back to Amber and gave her a wink. Kaeya pointed at the blonde, and Lisa felt her heart skip a beat.
“This is Jean. Everyone and their mother is in love with her, but no one has even gotten close to grabbing her attention. She’ll probably marry whoever her mother tells her to anyway. And you’ll never see her outside of school hours, because she lives in a prison.” Lisa couldn’t stop herself from tilting her head to the side in confusion, but Jean only shook her head at Lisa and looked back down at the papers.
That’s it? That was all she got?
“This guy doesn’t matter,” Kaeya continued, waving off his brother. “Rosaria is most likely smoking behind the gym, and Albedo isn’t here right now. He’s probably eating spiders in the chemistry room again, so it’s for the best. I think that sums up everyone in this group.” Kaeya lowered his voice, and everyone went back to what they were doing. “You’ll notice if you walk anywhere with us that people kind of… part ways for us to walk uninterrupted, and they’re, well, unusually nice. That’s because these three,” he gestured towards Eula, Jean, and his brother, “are the elites of this school. They’re inheriting their clans once they graduate, and they’ll rule over Mondstadt and all that. Not me though. As the adopted child of the richest nobleman, I get all the benefits of the luxury life without sharing the burdens.” His brother glared at Kaeya, who just smiled. “So everyone’s trying to get in good graces with the three of them now, before they rise to power. Especially Jean, who’s set to be the next Grand Master once the current one retires.”
Lisa stared at the blonde, who was not listening to Kaeya at all, deeply engrossed in her paperwork.
“The next Grand Master?”
“Yeah, she’s been training for it since she was born.” Something in Lisa’s stomach twisted.
“Does she want to be Grand Master?” Lisa asked, not taking her eyes off the blonde, watching the way her jaw grew sharper when she tilted her head to write.
“Well, she doesn’t have much of a choice. If you ask her, though, I’m sure she’d say yes.”
“Is that what you meant by her living in a prison? Is her life the prison?”
“Well, yes and no. I was more referring to how her mother doesn’t let her hang out with us, or anyone. Any sword training or tutoring or anything like that happens inside her house. No one has ever seen her outside the Gunnhildr estate when she’s not in school.”
Finally feeling Lisa’s eyes on her, Jean lifted her head from the paper and turned towards the new student. Lisa had meant to smile, but her face- and body- were completely, uselessly paralyzed by Jean’s vacant, calculating stare. Still, something inexplicable drew her in, and Lisa decided at that moment that she would speak to Jean privately, no matter what it took.
“Hey, I recognize that look,” Kaeya said, leaning in so only Lisa could hear. “Don’t put yourself on the list of everyone trying to get Jean’s attention, because trust me, the waitlist is longer than any book in that library you saw earlier. You’ll get your turn when you’re seventy.”
Lisa broke the stare to face him. “I can wait until then.”
Kaeya rolled his eye. “Another lost cause already. What is it about her? She barely talks to anyone and she’s only seen for a few hours a day.”
“Not everything has an explanation,” Lisa replied, taking a bite out of her apple.
“Alright class, we have a new student with us today. Miss? Would you mind standing up and introducing yourself?”
Once again, all eyes turned to Lisa as she rose from her seat beside Kaeya. In this class, you can pick your own seats. No one sits to my left, so it’s yours.
“Hello, my name is Lisa Minci. I moved here from Sumeru.” She instinctively searched the room, and her heart leapt when she saw the blonde- Jean - staring at her from the front row.
“Thank you, Lisa. Do not hesitate to ask me any questions. You may be seated.”
Lisa sunk back into her chair and leaned into Kaeya.
“Is Jean in all your classes?”
Kaeya stared at her. “Yes. So is Eula, Amber, Rosaria, Albedo… the whole gang has every class together, but clearly your eyes don’t work when it’s anyone else.”
“Clearly,” Lisa agreed, watching the blonde tighten her ponytail across the classroom. Lisa knew she wouldn’t have to pay as much attention in this class anyway. Literature had always been her strongest subject.
A few minutes had passed before Lisa opened her notebook and scribbled into it.
Which one is Rosaria?
She slid it to Kaeya. He took the notebook and her pen and began scribbling back. Lisa noticed his hand wasn’t moving across the page, but rather drawing long strokes in the same spot. He finally slid the notebook back, and Lisa had to hold back laughter at the most poorly drawn portrait of what looked like a small boy with spiky hair and terrifyingly disproportionate eyes.
???
Kaeya jutted his thumb towards the back of the room, and Lisa had to clamp her hand over her mouth when she saw the one Kaeya must have been talking about. Rather than a disfigured little boy, there was an older student, probably Lisa’s age, with short-cropped red hair and a piercing red gaze that was facing the window. Lisa turned back to the notebook.
You must have failed art. Albedo?
Kaeya shook his head and took the pen from her again. This time, he actually wrote something.
Art is subjective. Albedo is in the chemistry lab.
Lisa nodded, and directed her attention back to the lecture. They were covering a book Lisa had read a thousand times before, and the upcoming paper that made the other students roll their eyes and groan in agony was one Lisa looked forward to. She had been waiting for a chance to analyze the story, and now she could earn a good grade for it.
“And,” the teacher continued after announcing the essay. “This will be a collaborative assignment. You will have one partner to work on this with you, but the grade will be split evenly between the two of you. So don’t allow yourself to do all the work and let someone earn a grade that wasn’t theirs to earn. I’ll post the partner assignments to the board after class.”
“A split essay grade?” Lisa asked. “I don’t know if I’ll like that. I can get a little possessive with my writing.”
“I hope I’m your partner then. I wouldn’t interfere.” Lisa rolled her eyes at him as the bell rang, and students rushed to the front to see who they had been paired with. Disappointed grunts and squeals of relief resounded from the crowd, and slowly the classroom began to empty as more students exited. Lisa watched Jean check the chart- and to Lisa’s shock, Jean turned to look right at her. Lisa froze, and Kaeya crashed into her backpack behind her. Jean gave her a small smile, or maybe Lisa had only imagined it, and the blonde quickly left the room.
Heart thrumming, Lisa approached the chart, pressing her finger to the top name and sliding down until she found hers.
Pair 12: Jean Gunnhildr, Lisa Minci.
“Who’s your partner?” Kaeya asked from behind her, but Lisa couldn’t answer. He scanned the chart himself and groaned.
“Prof, can I be paired with someone else? Lisa, perhaps?” Lisa turned to him, eyes wide.
“Sorry Kaeya, the pairs are set in stone.”
Kaeya scoffed again. “Well aren’t you lucky,” he grumbled. “Half the school would kill to be in your place.”
“I would kill you if she said yes. Why are you trying to ruin my life?”
Lisa turned back to the page, her eyes memorizing the way their names looked positioned next to each other. It took a few seconds for Kaeya to decide that she wasn’t going to move on her own accord, and grabbed her elbow, pulling her out of class.
“Well, I suppose you’ll need her phone number,” Kaeya said, once Lisa was walking down the hall.
“I suppose.”
“And you’ll have to ask her for it.”
“I will.”
“When?”
“When I see her next,” she replied, waving him off.
“Oh, would you look at that? She’s right there,” Kaeya pointed towards the entrance of the building where students were awaiting their rides. Jean stood at the door watching the cars pass by, as though afraid she would miss hers.
“Oh, there she is,” Lisa said through gritted teeth, her nerves freezing her body.
Her feet failed her for the hundredth time that day, but this time Kaeya placed his hand on her back and gently pushed Lisa forward.
“Hey,” Lisa whispered to him. “I think we have that project together. Can I have your number?”
“Huh?”
“Sorry, just practicing my script,” Lisa muttered.
“Your script? ”
“Hello. It seems we are paired for the project. Please let me know your preferred method of communication.”
“Way too formal. Most of the time I am pretty sure that she is a human, so you can talk to her like one.”
“You’re right. Howdy, friend-”
“Ew.”
“Hey there, I-”
“No.”
Lisa turned to Kaeya, exasperated. “What do you want me to say?!”
“Hi Jean, can I have your number? We have that project coming up, so I thought we should establish communication early on.”
“That sounds too formal to me.”
“She’ll like it.” Lisa turned to Jean. “Go on,” Kaeya urged.
Straightening her spine, Lisa approached the blonde. Would it be too intimate to tap her shoulder? They hadn’t had any physical contact yet, not counting the accidental brush in Calculus.
Before Lisa could decide how to get Jean’s attention from behind, Jean whipped her head around and looked directly at her, expression painfully blank and unreadable.
“Hello,” Jean said. Lisa’s heart leapt. She hadn’t planned this far.
“Hello,” Lisa replied.
This was going terribly.
“We have that project together.” Jean’s voice was so smooth and composed, like she had never yelled a day in her life.
“Yes.”
A pause. Lisa wanted to tear her skin off.
“How should we communicate?” Jean asked.
“I have a phone?” Lisa dumbly offered.
“I do too.” Jean blinked. Lisa glanced at Kaeya, who was uselessly talking to another student at the far end of the hall.
“Okay…”
Jean stared at her, unmoving.
“So, what’s your number?” Lisa pushed, unlocking her own phone and handing it to Jean.
“Oh, right.” Jean took the phone from her hands, and their fingers briefly brushed together in the exchange. Lisa snapped her hand back as if the contact had seared her skin, and immediately cursed her reflexes when Jean looked up at her, face heavy with regret. “I’m sorry,” Jean muttered, quickly typing her number into Lisa’s phone.
Lisa blinked. That did not just happen. She had one chance and she messed it up horrendously. Jean handed her phone back, careful to pinch the far end where Lisa could easily avoid Jean’s fingers. This was her chance to undo her mistake- and take her first risk.
Lisa reached for her phone, but she extended her arm slightly further than Jean had expected and brushed her hand again, this time with obvious intent. And she held eye contact for good measure. Jean’s eyebrows raised just barely, her eyes falling to where their hands had touched for the second time in less than a minute. Lisa looked at her screen and tapped where Jean had written “Jean G” in the contact name, and scrolled through her keyboard. She glanced up at Jean, who was watching intently, and clicked the heart.
“Just so it gets my attention when you text me,” Lisa said, meeting Jean’s eyes again. The blonde’s lips were parted in surprise, just barely. If Lisa wasn’t standing mere inches from her face, she wouldn’t have noticed. It had probably been a while since Jean had been surprised by someone.
There was something so thrilling about being near her. Lisa could almost feel the power and status Jean carried, hidden in her perfect posture, the ironed uniform, the tight ponytail. But when their eyes met, Lisa knew- she could sense it- there was something hidden beneath this polished exterior. Perhaps it was the way Jean’s eyes lingered on hers for longer than Lisa had expected, like she was a kind of specimen in a Petri dish and Jean was about to study her. Or, it was the way Jean looked like she was holding back a smile in the smallest twitch of her lips- like she was forcing herself to keep a straight face. If Lisa stared at Jean for a moment longer, she feared she would be sucked into the blonde’s gaze and never be seen again.
“Have a good day, Miss Minci.” Jean turned on her heel and walked through the school doors, and a shudder ran down Lisa's spine at the sound of her name on Jean's lips. Within seconds, Kaeya reappeared beside Lisa, and they watched in silence as Jean slid into the back seat of a sleek, pricey-looking black vehicle. The car door was held open for Jean by an impossibly tall, muscular man in a suit that resembled more of a building than a human. He closed the door once Jean disappeared into the car, and rounded the vehicle to the driver’s seat.
“How’d it go?”
“I got her number.”
“I see.”
“She watched me put a heart next to her name.”
“I’m sorry?”
“I put a heart next to her name in my phone and she watched me do it.”
“Wow, that’s… bold.”
“Memorable?”
“Definitely.”
“Good.”