Chapter Text
Endorsed by confidence, Mona held up the latest of her exam papers.
In rough red ink that often lacked coherence was the score for a test she’d dedicated a whole night studying for. Foreign languages weren’t exactly her favorite subject area, and she had friends who were better at it. But as long as she got the credit and it contributed to the scholarship she'd been working hard at, she would put care into passing the class.
“A perfect 100, I have not expected any less of you.” One of her friends, Fischl, read as she peered at her grade. Fischl was a devout theatre kid and was in the process of auditioning for a lead role in the next school play. Anytime these plays would come about, Fischl would do something she called a ‘character study’, and she would be in character almost every second of the day, even when she wasn’t in rehearsals. Though she'd been stuck in character with one of her favorite roles for a while now - that of a Germanic princess. “Though with intentions of praise, I am a bit concerned. Tell me, my vassal, just how many hours of sleep have you left abandoned?”
“Fischl’s right, how do you do it?” Lumine, Mona’s closest friend, whined as she stretched out her arms over the table. Lumine and her twin brother, Aether, preferred more social and physical activities. “I’m still getting 60’s, I don’t think I’ll ever get something higher.”
Mona chuckled heartily at their praises, feeling a bit bashful. She had been a straight-A student for as long as she could remember. Every year Mona had always topped her classes, every year she won awards, every year she exceeded her reputation of being academically skilled. She had often been referred to as brilliant by the teachers, and her work was usually, if not always, presented as an example of academic excellence.
But these accomplishments did not come in vain. She spent countless hours revising and learning the topics, sometimes even going ahead of the curriculum for the sake of preparation. She had been in a prestigious and well-acclaimed school, and it was customary for the school to offer a scholarship to any college of choice to the top student in every graduating class. And this time around, the bar was more competitive due to only one spot being opened. Mona absolutely could not let this opportunity pass.
From the very start, starting from before she was even enrolled as a freshman, she had been focused on this one goal. And until now, just like all the years before, she was determined to graduate top of her grade.
However, she had one obstacle in doing so...
"Oi, star freak," she heard the annoying voice call out to her from behind. Mona grimaced at the name he had set for her. He had a voice that ran smooth like threading your fingers through silk, with an edge that brought needles and pins pricking at it. Such a voice could only be fitted for one person, none other than the terribly esteemed Raiden Kunikuzushi–in the flesh. Those in the school called him Scaramouche instead. And all he ever seemed to care about was getting on her nerves.
Mona wouldn’t be surprised if the sole reason he even kept his grades up was purely to irk her. He didn’t have any need to apply for the same scholarship she had been dedicating years to. Nor did he even have the need to do well in his academics, considering the fact that his mother was only one of the most prominent women alive. He could just mention his surname in any job interview, and he would immediately be hired without any hesitation.
It almost felt like his good grades were just given to him because of his status as Raiden Ei's eldest son. He was destined to be successful in life, no matter what he did. While Mona had to work her ass off to get this one scholarship.
As two people wanted the same scholarship, it was a given that they would become rivals, having their positions fixed as the top two students in the school. And it hadn’t been your usual friendly rivalry. It was competitive. Brutally so.
They would scavenge through the other’s work to nitpick something, anything, just to correct the other at any chance given. They would argue with each other so much that it could go on for hours at a time. The entirety of the debate club quaked in their boots when watching their squabbles.
It didn’t matter how little the reason was if it meant the other got the last word. That was how things worked between them.
Mona groaned. She had been fully set on ignoring him due to the offensive name he had called her by, but that proved failure when he tugged at one of her twintails— yet another thing she despised about him. Whenever she would ignore him, he would pull on her hair as if they were still in kindergarten. It was so childish and petty. Completely unfitting for a guy who was said to be born into such a famed and honorable family as his.
She whipped her head around to glare at him, hoping her ponytail would smack him directly in the face during the process. To her dismay, it didn’t. Instead, she saw him leaning back in his chair without a care in the world as if he owned the place— which he kind of did since the school wouldn't be as prestigious as it was without his mother's generous funding.
“What did you get?” He asked, and Mona had already expected this. After every single graded paper, it had been routine for them to compare grades. It was a lengthily waged competition between the pair, some may even dramatically label it as a battle with no foreseeable end. (By some, she was referring to Fischl)
They had always been neck and neck in their scores, the numbers racking closely knitted. Currently, she and Scaramouche had been tied, and the stakes were especially high now as it was the final semester of their senior year. She just had to beat him here, and her application would be accepted smoothly without any problem.
“100,” she boastfully replied, pride swelling in her chest. Mona had fully anticipated him to throw a tantrum at her high grade like the baby he was, even preparing to treat herself with celebratory takeout tonight instead of her usual salad or instant ramen.
But then, the gremlin began laughing. He had the kind of laugh that felt as if you were suddenly planted alone with him in an empty, hollow room. It rang and resounded in your ears till it clogged all sense of hearing and thought– such a villainous laugh for an equally villainous person.
“That’s all you managed?” He croaked, cocking his head to the side, exposing more of his collarbone. He always had an improper habit of leaving the tie of his school uniform loose. Mona found herself wondering if she could tighten the tie to the extent that he’d choke.
“What’s it to you, Raiden boy?” She raised a defiant brow. Mona had gotten a 100, the max score she could have received. There was no higher grade than that.
Scaramouche’s face proceeded to twist to a complacent grin as he lifted his paper to show her, and Mona felt her mouth hang agape as she gawked at the exam packet. The bastard got a 105 on the exam!
It was written in a scribbled, rushed mess of red ink across the heading of the page, just above where his name was. There had even been a little note written by the teacher congratulating him.
“How is that even possible?” She demanded, crossing her arms haughtily. She heard him chuckle at her reaction, which only served to leave her more annoyed. He really knew just the right ways to piss her off, didn’t he? Ever since the day they had met, Scaramouche always nitpicked at the tiniest opportunities to mock her. It was almost like he carefully calculated every loose thread that he could tug on.
“You’re the one with the perfect grade,” he drawled as Mona continued to stare dumbfounded at his packet. Of course, he would mock her.
"You cheated or bribed the teacher somehow, didn't you?" She decided, narrowing her eyes at him.
“Oh, come now, Mona,” Scaramouche said, resting his foot on the floor from its previous crossed position. He leaned forward to his desk. “Do you really take me for a cheater?”
No, she didn't. She knew very well that Scaramouche would be the last person to cheat on an exam. He was too much of a narcissist and didn’t believe that anyone other than himself would have the correct answers. And besides, that didn’t explain the additional five points.
“Besides, the teacher would never give in to my bribes if I tried. You do know the importance of integrity in this school, hm?” He added, and it bothered her how he always happened to have a response for everything. Granted, he had been in the debate club. All of the debate competition trophies and achievements were brought home primarily through his skill. Mona was sure the rest of the club couldn’t ounce in comparison.
A smooth-talking brat, he was. A danger to the peace of the world.
Regardless, there shouldn’t have been any way to get five more points above 100. Mona looked at him, puzzled, and he smiled.
“Extra credit. No brainer.” He said, and Mona’s fingers dug reflexively into the wood of her desk. She couldn’t remember the teacher mentioning anything about bonus credits. It couldn’t have been that she missed it, could it?
“What’s wrong? Forgot how to speak, Megistus?” Cooed Scaramouche, waving his paper in front of Mona’s face. Mona scrunched her nose at the use of her last name. Her aunt gave it to her to signify her greatness, yet Scaramouche, the brat, used it to mock her.
“Whatever.” She huffed, slapping his taunting hand away before looking back at her own paper. Now that she knew his grade, hers didn’t seem as great anymore. Mona sighed, putting down the paper on the table. She hated how he somehow managed to make her disappointed despite getting full marks.
But that didn’t even matter anymore, because he ultimately got the better grade. A setback on her end.
He irked her. Irked her so much.
How could he not when he’s always put such effort into taunting her all the time?
There was always Mona and Scaramouche, and they always seemed to hate each other’s guts. The entire school knew of their dislike for each other. If you asked any student about their relationship, they would all share the same shake of the head and heaved sigh, responding with how horribly tense the atmosphere between them was.
Mona couldn’t even catch a break from his foul mouth at their first meeting, in which he had degraded her passion for astrology. "The stars, the sky... It's all a gigantic hoax. A lie." He had proclaimed so boldly as if there wasn't a single fault in his statement.
She wondered what caused him to always try to be against her. What had she even done for his constant obsession with teasing her? She remembered even being nice to him on their first encounter. They had been assigned to sit next to one another throughout freshman year, and he had been scrolling through his phone before classes commenced. Mona decided to approach him with a smile, even though she’d heard countless rumors and unsolicited advice that warned her about crossing paths with him.
To her attempt at having some faith in him despite his reputation, he’d responded by giving her the cold shoulder.
She’d thought, fine, if he was so disinterested, she wouldn't bother him anymore. It went well the first few days until he began picking on her for doing tarot readings for her friends. This light teasing swung into full-fledged arguments between them. Later, she found out he also applied for the scholarship, and the rest became history.
The dismissal bell rang, and Mona was rushed out of her musings. She didn’t bother sparing Scaramouche a glance as she got out of her seat and headed for her locker. She had been raised as polite and well-mannered due to her aunt, but he didn’t deserve her formalities.
“Okay. What gives? Why do you seem so... happy?” Childe decided to finally ask as he put his controller down after yet another victory that day. After school, he’d visited Scaramouche’s place to play some video games as they usually did. Yet there was something different with the shorter male today.
“What are you talking about?” Scaramouche raised a brow, tossing his controller to his lap as he reached over to take a swig of his soda.
“You’ve been going easy on me today. I’ve won six games in a row, and you haven’t complained a single time…” Childe explained. Scaramouche simply stared at him, completely oblivious to what he’d been trying to hint at.
“You haven’t threatened my life yet.” Childe elaborated further on the boy’s blank stare. Scaramouche had been a verbally violent gamer; Childe would go on to consider him straight up toxic, even. He’d constantly make vulgar remarks, would rage-quit when things weren’t going his way, and would always yell when he lost. It was entertaining, to say the least.
Scaramouche blinked, still clueless.
“You’ve been too peaceful.” Childe clarified. “You’re not particularly the nicest person to play a game with.”
“Maybe if you knew how to follow directions.” Scaramouche rolled his eyes. “Before I told you to hide behind the bush, and you shoot a firework.”
“Besides the point.” Childe dismissed, “Something good must have happened for you to be in such a good mood.”
“...I didn’t threaten your life, so what?” Scaramouche deadpanned. “What do you want me to do about that? You want to get insulted or something?”
“I’m so serious, dude,” Childe insisted. “It’s unsettling that you’ve suddenly become this patient, and–”
“Alright,” Scaramouche interrupted, not particularly interested in Childe’s rambles. The ginger was a complete airhead. “I beat Mona by five points in a test. Big deal.”
“It’s something to do with Mona, of course it is.” Childe mumbled, “When is it not?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Scaramouche grumbled, placing the soda bottle on the floor. He didn’t know what point Childe was trying to make. He didn’t understand Childe half the time he spoke, actually.
Ever since Childe and his other dumb friends approached him while they were still kids, Scaramouche had the unfortunate luck of being stuck with the bunch. They just wouldn’t leave him the fuck alone.
Childe sighed. “She’s your rival, yet you’re absolutely obsessed with her.”
“Obsessed?” Scara repeated, raising a defiant eyebrow at the ginger. He was not obsessed with Mona. “The only thing I’m obsessed with is winning over her.”
And that was not a lie. He loved the look of pure rage in her eyes whenever he’d surpassed her score at an exam with minimal effort. He lavished how she’d be at a complete loss for words whenever he came up with an irrefutable response. He enjoyed the way her eyebrows slanted down whenever he’d mock her, or how pissed off she’d get when he’d tug at her hair.
“Then my skin from today on is green. Every time we talk, you always manage to bring her somehow up, even if what we’re talking about has nothing, and I mean nothing, to do with her.” Childe scoffed. He knew the boy would never come close to admitting it; Scaramouche was too stubborn to do so. The number of times Childe had caught Scaramouche red-handed, absent-mindedly watching Mona as she did her work, was uncountable. Or how he scrolled through her socials so often that if Scaramouche had claimed it was a hobby, Childe would’ve believed him. Or even how he’d kept an eraser he stole from her once as a joke, but hasn’t returned it since. The signs were glaringly there and apparent, but completely and utterly overlooked. “Just admit you’re interested in her already.”
“You’ve gone hysterical. I think your wins may have gone to your head.” Scaramouche sighed, glancing at the clock. “You should be home already.”
Childe just stared at Scaramouche, unamused by his change of subject. “I sometimes wonder how you’re one of the top students at our school. God, you’re a fucking idiot.”
“Says the idiot who would jump off a cliff if it meant his little crush would smile at him.” Scaramouche shot back with a smirk. Childe wasn’t pleased with his love life being a conversational point all of a sudden.
“That idiot is still you.” Childe corrected. He knew damn well Scaramouche would’ve jumped off a rocket ship without hesitation for Mona to even spare a glance his way. “I just asked Lumine out on a date the other day, and she said yes. So your insult is not credible.”
“I bet she’ll grow tired of your shit by the first date.” Scaramouche shrugged confidently. “My insult’s not only still credible, but going to be proven.”
“Fine then, make the bet and lose.” Childe put down his controller before rising to his feet. Scaramouche let out a ridiculing sneer. The ginger had been about to leave the door before making a brief pause. “Oh, and by the way, you should know Mona has a lot of suitors. So I’d advise you to pick up the pace.”
Scaramouche scoffed as Childe left. Like he cared if she had many guys wanting her attention— he didn’t understand the appeal. He didn’t care for any of the anonymous gifts jammed into her locker every Valentine's Day, nor did he care when she’d smile when greeting another guy, on the rare instance, even flirting back. Hell, he didn’t even care for the flock of guys surrounding her, claiming to be fans of her astrology column when none of them even knew the most basic concepts she’d written.
All he cared about was winning against her so he could finally get the scholarship and get rid of her for good.
Yes, that was it.
When Mona had moved out of her Aunt’s house, the old woman made sure to dump half her ancient library collection onto her. That had been the moment Mona found out the terrors of booklice– she couldn’t believe that such an insect existed. For a whole month, Mona could remember trying all sorts of methods to get rid of them, but to no avail.
After nearly ripping out her hair (twice), and another desperate search on the web, Mona finally sucked up her pride and called her Aunt. The next morning, she woke up to her Aunt informing her that her books were lice-free, along with the home-made remedy to get rid of them written down on a post-it. Yet since then, her Aunt kept sending her boxes of old books via mail. It was the woman’s strange, subtle way of showing she cared.
Mona had just been skimming through one of the old astrology books in her Aunt’s latest care package when Lumine called. She answered the phone and shut the book closed, her feet dangling at the edge of the bed as she rolled on her stomach. It wasn't unusual for her friend to call her at such a late time; Mona had actually anticipated her calls around this time.
Before she could even utter a syllable, Lumine beat her to it. "He asked me out!" Her voice was a shriek, and Mona didn’t need to even be physically next to her for her ears to go deaf. She sat upright at Lumine’s squeal, perceiving the news with urgency.
"Was it that ginger from your English class? When did he ask- wait, no, how did he ask you? What's his zodiac sign? Does he have a bad reputation?" She was quick to question; Mona didn't want Lumine to date someone who would leave her heart broken. Not again anyway. Lumine had a rollercoaster for a love life. Most relationships ended up leaving her devastated and at Mona's doorstep. Every breakup led to Mona making a concerning number of trips to the nearest convenience store to refill on tissues and ice cream.
But then again, Mona herself hadn't really dated anyone. She's had a few dates that never went on to be anything serious, especially with how busy her schedule is. So maybe she wasn't exactly an expert in relationship matters, but she still wanted to make sure this guy was good for Lumine.
"Yeah, he is the ginger from English. I don't know his sign; we haven't talked much. He pulled me aside after class- you wouldn't believe how hard my heart was pounding. He smelled so good." Lumine's voice softened as she rambled on about said ginger. Mona knew just by the tone in her best friend's voice well enough that it would turn into a dreFischl smile whenever she talked about him.
"You must really like him." Mona teased. Truth be told, she found herself missing this side of Lumine. "Did he tell you where you guys will be going?"
"He said he wanted to go to this fast food restaurant, you know, the one near Amber's house?" Lumine asked, and Mona hummed in understanding. "The date is tomorrow at 5."
Mona could hear her rummaging through her drawers through the call. She must be searching for a change of clothes as the blonde had been working out more often lately. Lumine had always been naturally fit, and she was in numerous sports clubs.
"That sounds delicious." Mona grinned. Mona was more of a salad person, preferring quick and healthy over full-course meals (not because she was broke and couldn't afford full-course meals), but she wouldn't turn it down if she was ever offered to eat that much. "What are you wearing?”
"Something casual, nothing too fancy," Lumine said. "Oh, and Mona, could you do me a favor?"
Mona now hesitated. Of course, Lumine had a plan. She always did. And as her best friend, Mona was always somehow involved and tangled in her scheming. "What's going on?"
"I need you to be there with me tomorrow," Lumine said, causing Mona to roll her eyes. This wasn't a new request from Lumine, quite a common one, on the contrary.
"Lumine, you can't have me doing this for every date." Mona sighed. The number of times she'd feigned to be undercover just to provide moral support was countless. It was impossible to recollect all the times she'd spied on Lumine and her date, Mona figured she could even create a whole resume out of her experiences.
"Please, Mona, just this last date. I really like this guy, I don't want to screw up. You being there would make me less nervous." Lumine begged, Mona was sure she would have pulled up her puppy eyes if they weren't on a voice call right now. "I'll treat you to whatever you want to eat there." She offered.
Now, this caught Mona's attention. "Anything I want?"
"Anything you want," Lumine confirmed.
"Alright, fine, only because I love you, you know?" Mona gave in; she couldn't deny Lumine. And the food was a tempting plus side.
"You just have to sit around, order whatever you want, and I'll pay for it." Lumine said, "Also, Mona, you should try dating around. Sure, study all you want if that’s your thing, but don’t make it all you do."
Mona snorted at her words.
"Hey! I'm being serious here." Lumine scolded, "I'll guarantee you that once word gets out that you're looking for someone, you'll be flooded by confessions.”
“God, you’re too much.” Mona joked, her tone leveled to appear tired of Lumine’s antics, but she couldn’t budge the smile on her lips.
“Is there someone, anyone, you like or at least find the slightest interest in?"
Mona pondered in thought, mentally rummaging through her list of contacts. “Honestly, not really.” She admitted.
"How about Albedo? You guys are friends, right?" Lumine suggested.
"Yeah," Mona replied easily. "But I like the way things are between us as it is."
Albedo was one of her friends, and he was definitely not a bad guy. Actually, he was the ideal suitor. He was both physically attractive and had a complementary personality, and not to mention smart. They had met in a STEM program and became friends through their shared love for the sciences. Though Mona couldn't imagine the thought of him and her being anything more than friends. She enjoyed the pleasures of their friendship currently, as it was, preferred it actually.
"Alright, what about that one guy... Scaramouche, was it? He's the only other guy you really talk to." Lumine suddenly said, and Mona almost spat out the non-existent water she was drinking.
"I-Are you hearing yourself right now?" She knew Lumine was just throwing it out there, but Mona could laugh at the simple thought of her and Scaramouche being an item. "Hah! Be romantically involved with Scaramouche of all people? As if I would ever go for such an awful guy like him!"
"You were quite defensive about that one…" Lumine draped out in a suspicious tone, and Mona could already tell the blonde was wiggling her brows.
Mona scoffed, "Whatever you're thinking is not going to happen. How did we even go from talking about your love life to mine anyway?"
"I have a feeling he likes you," Lumine said. "I mean, being around you, who wouldn't?"
Mona's cheeks grew warm from Lumine's insinuation. Again, her friend was likely just messing with her, but that didn’t ease the queasy feeling pooling in her stomach. There was no way Scaramouche could like her in that way. They were hardly friends, and he seemed to always be out to get her. Rivals like them don't just turn into lovers.
"I bet he'd rather eat a horse than even consider the prospect of dating me." Mona jeered, and then quickly added on. "And the feeling's mutual."
"Sure, whatever you say." Lumine didn’t let the derision in her tone rest.
"Can we talk about something else?" Mona pleaded, hoping her friend would let it go. The topic was starting to embarrass her.
"Oh, fine, but please do think about dating once in a while." The blonde sighed through the call, and Mona herself could breathe out a sigh of relief. She'd rather talk about literally anything else than whatever conversation Lumine was leading to.
"Don't worry, Archons, I'll think about it," Mona assured, knowing full well that the blonde would continue to bombard her until she gave in. She knew Lumine meant no harm and was just looking out for her, but admittedly, she had no interest in the topic whatsoever.
"Anyway, it's getting late. You should sleep soon, alright?" Lumine said. Now that she mentioned it, Mona noticed how tired she was. This whole week was crammed with homework and projects that caused her many sleepless nights.
Mona yawned in reply. "You're right, I should get going now. Night, Lumine."
"See you! I’ll text you the details about the date." Lumine said before hanging up.
Mona put her phone down next to her and lay back on the mattress, sighing softly as she closed her eyes once more. Buried under the covers, she hoped to get some sleep. But her mind kept going back to what Lumine said.
Her best friend was probably right; maybe her lack of social interactions or her shut-in nature was her downfall in love. Though the thing that bothered her was what Lumine said about Scaramouche. Maybe she was overthinking things; there was absolutely no way he liked her in that way. He had a long line of girls– some boys even– who would literally kill to go out with him.
Mona could not comprehend why anyone would go that far for Scaramouche of all people. He was quite popular in that sense. And she didn't want anything to do with it.