Chapter Text
Lumine walked through the crowded school halls with excitement in her heart and confidence in her step. She was wearing a cute yellow shirt and black shorts, feeling very comfortable in the warm sunny weather. It was her second year in college in the city of Mondstadt; she still wasn’t entirely sure what exactly she wanted to do, so she ended up taking a variety of different classes this year as well. One of those classes being poetry, which from the looks of it, was her first class today.
As the blonde entered the nearly empty classroom, she took her phone out of her back pocket and looked at the time. She still had around ten minutes before the class was meant to start, so she took a seat at one of the desks near the back and placed her bag on the floor. As far as she knew none of her friends had signed up for class, so she was curious who she'd end up sitting with.
Lumine spared a fleeting look out the window. The city of Mondstadt was truly a sight to behold. The city itself was brimming with life, full of people and hope, its citizens proud to be living in the city of dandelions and freedom. The panoramic view was breathtaking in and of itself; amongst the many rooftops and leaves of cedar and birch trees lining the asphalt roads, were sprinkled in the occasional windmills, turning their sails in a slow and steady pace. The streets were decorated with beds of windwheel asters and cecilias, with the staple Mondstadt wind carrying their beautiful scent, as well as the dandelion seeds, far beyond the city outskirts.
As other students started making their way in and taking their seats, Lumine unpacked her bag and placed an empty notebook and some pencils and pens on the desk, getting ready for class. She shot one more look in the direction of the window and felt a warm breeze pool in and envelop her in a sweet scent, the source of which she couldn’t quite place.
Thunk.
Someone was taking a seat next to her. She snapped her head back at the sound of a plastic coffee cup being slammed on their desk. She took a quick glance around the classroom, and noticed the classroom was much more empty than she had anticipated.
Lumine leaned back in her chair to have a better look at her new companion. It was a boy roughly her height, with quite a peculiar hair colour. It was something like a purplish red - somewhere between plum, auburn and maroon. He also appeared to have a darker streak of hair on his left side, the one which was currently facing her. She eyed it more carefully, wondering whether it was his natural hair colour or if it was dyed. He was wearing a white hoodie, tight black jeans, and… was that a choker?
He leaned down in his seat to grab some stuff from his backpack, pulling out some notebooks and an energy drink in a can. Lumine then watched in bewilderment as he opened the can and poured the whole thing into his coffee with a loud fizz.
“I’m going to fucking die.” he muttered to himself with a deadpan expression as he lifted the coffe cup to his lips.
“Wait!” Lumine said with urgency in her voice as she reached out her hand in his direction. He looked at her from the corner of his eye, without actually turning his head. She gulped. “Are you… actually going to drink that?” The blonde looked at the cup and then at him with a grimace on her face.
The man just shrugged, and without skipping a beat, he lifted the cup and proceeded to drink the contents of it. Lumine pulled back her outstretched hand and stared at him, as he chugged the whole thing and, once he was finished, let out a loud sigh.
At that moment another man walked into the classroom, being a couple minutes late. He was wearing a dark blue pullover, a black beret and jeans, and his dark, shoulder-length hair was tied into two braids on the sides of his face. Just judging by his short height and young looking face, you’d think he was simply one of the students. However, seeing the way he confidently carried himself with purpose made Lumine think he was most likely the professor. He then clapped his hands to silence the class, as he strode to the front of the room.
As he reached his desk, he turned on his heels and gave the students a courteous bow.
"Welcome, students!" The professor said joyfully. "My name is Venti, and as you might have guessed, I will be your teacher for this course. I also teach music, so if any of you picked up that class, I will be seeing you there as well!" He clasped his hands together in an excited motion. "As I'm sure you might be aware, this isn't your usual literature class. Instead of focusing on already existing works, I wish to encourage creativity in my students and aid them in expressing themselves and their feelings through poetry.” He paused for a moment and glanced around the room as some students exchanged looks. "There will be five assignments total that you can tackle in any order you'd like, and can submit at any time before the end of the semester. I would like you to write and submit five kinds of poems: an ode, a sonnet, a haiku and a limerick, as well as a fifth poem of your choice, or a freeform." He counted on his fingers. "However! I’d like you to work on at least one of these poems with a partner - how you do it is up to you!" He then placed his hands on his hips. "Now, any questions?"
Lumine thought that didn't sound too bad. She has heard before what kind of teacher Venti was, and this was roughly what she expected. She figured most people who took up this class did so to try their hand in some creative writing, in a way to earn extra credit.
"Excuse me, how are we meant to work on the poems in pairs, exactly?" Someone in the front asked.
"Like I said, that is up to you. You can either write a poem about them, directed to them, or together in a collaboration with them!" He gave a small wink. Some people nodded, others looked among each other. "I'd like you to spend the rest of the class getting grouped in pairs and getting to know one another. Most of our classes will be like this, I'd like you to take this time to work on your poems every week, and come to me for guidance if need be. I'll also be available to answer any more questions at any time. Now, get to it!" Venti clapped his hands again, then turned on his heel and took a seat behind his desk. He pulled out an apple from under his desk and bit into it while browsing through some papers.
"Why hello there, partner!" She heard a voice to her right. The boy sitting next to her was now partially facing her, with his chin resting in his hand and a playful smile on his face. As Lumine turned to look at him, her heart skipped a beat when her eyes momentarily locked with his. Somehow, his demeanour has completely changed in the span of a couple minutes.
Was this the doing of his weird concoction?
She then processed what he had said. She gave him an unamused look.
"I didn't even agree to be your partner yet."
"You should! My intuition tells me we will be great partners."
Lumine let out a sigh. "I suppose we might as well."
She saw his eyes sparkle with delight.
"Shikanoin Heizou, at your service." Right, they haven't even introduced themselves yet.
"Lumine." She responded simply. They should probably get to know each other if they were gonna work on the assignment together. "How come you took up poetry?"
Heizou snickered quietly. "One of my supervisors said I should broaden my horizons."
"Oh? Where do you work?" She paused for a second, then her eyes widened slightly as realisation hit her. “Sorry, I hope that’s not too personal.”
The boy chuckled. “Don't worry, it’s not.” He said as he turned his chair to fully be able to face her. Lumine did the same. "I'm a detective for the Tenryou Commission in Inazuma."
The girl eyed him curiously. "How come you're in Mondstadt, then? Is that also part of you 'broadening your horizons'?" The blonde asked while making quotation marks in the air and playfully rolling her eyes.
"Spot on, partner!" He snapped his fingers and gave her a mischievous smile. "The leader of the Tenryou Commission’s forces, and the person overseeing the police station I work at, said I apparently 'slack off' too much, so she thought getting me some additional qualifications would keep me busy."
"But why Mondstadt?"
"Because she can't supervise me all the way over here." Heizou gave her a wink.
Lumine narrowed her eyes.
"Are you just treating this as a free vacation?"
"Paid vacation, actually!"
She gave him an unamused look.
"Hey, hey, now." He raised his hands up defensively. "I did also pick up some useful classes, you know! Although I need nothing but my intuition to solve cases and bring criminals to justice, being a detective with many talents would be even more impressive, don't you think?" Lumine just stared at him blankly. "Moreover, I heard Mondstadt is a very beautiful city, I wanted to see it for myself." He said while shrugging nonchalantly.
The blonde rubbed the bridge of her nose. He seemed like such a menace. Who let this boy be so pretty?
"...Right. Did you come here by yourself?" Lumine tried to derail the conversation a bit.
Heizou hesitated for a few seconds, looking away and furrowing his brows ever so slightly.
"...It's complicated, but no." He responded, still a little unsure. The girl simply nodded. She decided not to pry. "Enough about me, though! My turn to ask questions. Why did you decide to take poetry? A hobby of yours?" He rested his chin in his hand again, with his elbow on the desk.
"No, not really. Some other students roughly told me what the class looked like, so I thought I'd give it a shot."
"I guess our level of expertise is about the same, then." Heizou let out a soft chuckle. "Are you from Mondstadt?” He asked, twirling a pen in his hand.
“I am not.” Lumine responded, looking at her hands. “We moved here around two years ago.”
“Sounds like you are the perfect candidate to give me a tour of the city! Two years is plenty of time to get familiar with the area.” He gave her a wide but mischievous smile as he leaned back in his chair.
She frowned. The audacity of this guy.
“Fine.” Lumine said and crossed her arms. “But you better put effort into this assignment!”
“Great! It’s a date.”
***
Later that day, once Lumine was finished with her classes, she made her way over to Angel’s Share - a local pub where she worked a part-time job. While she and Heizou technically made plans, they didn't actually exchange any contact information before their class ended. The blonde figured she'd just ask him next week whether he actually wanted that "tour" of Mondstadt or not. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad idea, walking around the city might help them get some inspiration for their poems.
A few hours into her shift, a familiar face walked through the door - a young girl with dark brown hair, a red leather jacket and the signature red bow on her head. She swiftly took a seat, sliding onto one of the barstools near the counter, and greeted Lumine with a warm smile.
"Hello there! I was hoping I'd see you here today." The girl said as she crossed her arms and rested them on the counter.
"Welcome, Amber! What can I get for you?" Lumine greeted her friend while putting away the wine glass she was cleaning.
"Come on now, you don’t need to keep the customer service voice up in front of me.” Amber let out a small giggle, before continuing. “I’ll probably just settle for soda and some fries this time.”
Lumine visibly relaxed her shoulders and exhaled a heavy breath. She didn't even realise her body was so tense.
“Not drinking on a work night?" The blonde teased with a subtle smirk while she wrote down the order and handed it over to the kitchen staff.
"If you ever catch me drinking on a work night just assume my entire career is over." Amber said in a monotone voice, with a blank expression on her face. Lumine let out a stifled giggle, which made Amber laugh as well. "If I remember correctly, today was your first day back at college, right?" The blonde nodded. "How was it? Are you excited?"
Lumine took a few seconds to think.
"It was alright. Already had some projects and assignments announced, you know how it is. Usual college stuff." She eyed the girl. Upon closer inspection, she could see that her hair was messier than usual, and the subtle make-up she wore also seemed a bit smeared. "Are you okay, though? Had a rough day at the fire station?" The blonde asked, offering her friend a sympathetic smile.
"Ehh, it was fine, there haven't been many fires this week, mostly just some tedious work that someone has to do." She responded, looking at her hands and fiddling with her thumbs nervously. Lumine stayed quiet to try and encite her friend to continue speaking. "There's just been some rumours that are getting to me." Amber added eventually.
"Wait, is someone spreading rumours about you at the station? Who do I need to beat up?" The blonde said with a serious expression. She wasn't about to let someone get away with doing that to her friend.
"No, no! It's nothing like that." The girl responded, her eyes widened as she waved her hands in front of her defensively, before laying them back on the wooden counter. "I spoke to Kaeya recently. He said some of the inmates at the police station jail have been behaving weirdly." Lumine furrowed her brows, listening intently to her friend. "He managed to coerce some information out of one of them; apparently, someone by the name 'Cyclone' has recently arrived in the city. They've got even some of the worst inmates shaking in their boots!"
"Do you know what they look like?"
"Not a clue. It's just got me worried, you know? What kind of terrifying person would have that kind of effect on criminals? And they're in Mondstadt! Of all places!" She groaned in frustration.
Lumine put her hand on her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe there's another reason they're scared?"
"Whatever the case, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Please be careful, Lumi."
"Of course! You know me. Plus, I'm sure Kaeya and Jean will be able to track them down in no time." Lumine gave Amber a reassuring smile.
"I hope so…" The girl stayed quiet for a while, most likely lost in thought. She then shook her head violently in an attempt to clear her head. "Well, anyway! I've got some juicy gossip to share with you as well." She said with a mischievous smile on her face.
"Ooh, come on, spill it!"
The girls spent the rest of the evening chatting away. Amber received her order and stayed for some more chit-chat after her meal. Lumine's red-headed boss took over some of her work responsibilities, not having the heart to interrupt the girls' lively conversation.
When it was time to close up, Lumine's twin brother Aether was already waiting for her outside. They exchanged hellos and, after a little bit of small talk, walked back to their shared apartment in comfortable silence.
While Lumine undeniably had a lot on her mind, she still could not escape a certain image that plagued her head; a pair of emerald green eyes, glimmering with glee and looking at her with content and delight, but also a certain curiosity, as if there were questions behind them about her that they wanted answered. She found herself wishing she could see them again.