Chapter Text
Footsteps echoed through the dark hallway. A young man, a high schooler, took a deep breath as he walked toward the door. Cheers could be heard from outside as he pushed through the front door. Taking a step out, the young man stood in the bleachers, surrounded by exhausted people and tensed up by the ordeal.
The young man saw thousands of people watching from the stands. He looked towards the coach, a rather petite rabbit-looking figure that anyone could have mistaken for a mascot. The rabbit looked towards the young man, giving him only a firm nod—and that was all the young man needed. With a deep sigh and firming his resolve, he picked up and clenched the baseball bat before walking onto the field.
“The Astral Rabbits have announced a pinch hitter. Yunli is coming out, playing third base and batting fourth in the lineup.” A voice on the intercom echoed through the stadium to signify the change in placement. All eyes seemed focused on the young man. Roars of cheers at the intensity of the match said everything. “Coming into bat is Caelus, number 6.”
“A match that you never get to see often. It's a pinch hitter substitution like this during overtime.” The commentator notes, looking at the board. The score was 5 and 5. “It’s the bottom of the thirteenth, two outs. The Rabbits send Caelus to pinch hit. A new player who hasn’t had any notable games prior. As a debut game, this is his chance to showcase his potential in the big leagues to everyone.”
“For a first-time batting, he’s taking over Yunli. Considering Yunli’s exemplary run for a newbie, it was a surprising choice. Manager Pom Pom’s decision is rather fascinating.” Another commentator responds while looking at the field. Caelus is seen using liquid chalk before going in for a few practice swings. “Perhaps that slide to base messed up her hands that she can’t swing. Or it’s a move to weaken Teyvat’s Archons even further.”
“Either way, there has to be some logical reason for it.” The first commentator comments as they look at the pitcher, who takes a deep breath. “On the pitcher mound, Zhong Li’s earth-shaking pitches have forced the Rabbits to lose out after out. But their defense is still strong enough to continue this match.”
“As long as Zhong Li continues pitching like before... The rabbits can’t do much!” The commentator notes. With a deep sigh, Zhong Li readies himself. Adjusting his grip on the ball, his body tenses up before tossing the first pitch. A 100 mph screwball that Caelus swings, cracking the ball with his bat. “The ball veers right! Foul!”
“Zhong Li’s screwballs have been decimating each one of the Rabbits. He truly remains as composed as ever. Nothing seems to weigh him down.” Zhong Li prepares to pitch once more. Winding up and throws another screwball. Once again, Caelus smacks the ball into another foul as it topples behind him into the stands.
Foul after foul with Zhong Li throwing screwball after screwball. Yet Caelus never lets up, even for a second. His whole body tenses up, screaming in anticipation. He knows that Zhong Li must change it, or he’ll adjust properly to get a clean hit. Looking over, he could see Zhong Li tense up at just that. The crowd and the commentators knew. With each hit, he was adjusting his body to the timing. Eventually, he would be able to land a clean hit against Zhong Li’s pitch.
Zhong Li’s eyes light up. Gripping the ball tightly, he tosses a 110 mph fastball. And yet, Caelus was ready for it as he smacked the ball with all of his strength. And the ball is sent flying into the air. It goes further with each second until it reaches the bleachers past the outfield...
“Home run!” The crowd goes ballistic, with everyone standing and cheering and yelling for Caelus’s name. Looking at what just happened, Caelus couldn’t help but stare in awe before dropping his bat and jumping in joy. He couldn’t believe it. A home run against the legendary Zhong Li is like this. He runs through the bases, cheering with vigor through his victory lap. Looking over, he sees his team rushing out to the field excitedly. Pumped up, he speeds up his victory lap before embracing his team, who begins to lift him up in the air.
“Caelus! Caelus! Caelus!”
“Caelus!” A voice calls out, which snaps Caelus from his deep slumber. He looks frantically, wondering where the hell he is. That’s when he noticed that he wasn’t on the baseball field. He was in class as he slowly turned to the front. There, an annoyed Dr. Ratio stands at his desk.
“Y-Yes?!” Caelus responds by wiping the drool from his mouth and looking at the board.
“You wouldn’t happen to be sleeping through my lecture now, would you?” Dr. Ratio commented while folding his arms.
“Of course, I was paying attention. I was paying attention to the lecture! Of course!” Caelus nodded frantically, yet his statement didn’t convince Ratio.
“Is that so? Then answer something for me!” Ratio exclaimed while slamming his book against the chalkboard with a page of notes behind him. “The concept of philosophy and reasoning are based through what? Should be a simple question to answer, right?”
Being put on the spot like this, he scrambles as he tries to think. That’s when he noticed a notebook shifting to his right. The answer he is looking for is written out on the edge of the notebook. He takes a quick read through it before giving his interpretation of it.
“Because it studies the aspects and fundamental questions of humanity. It allows us to reflect on these questions and answer them, which expands on the concept of knowledge that expands through other research fields.” Caelus says, trying to sound professional and confident in his answer. A moment passes as the room is silent, all eyes pointing to Dr. Ratio’s answer. With a deep breath, he slowly nods as his anger dissipates instantly.
“Correct. At least you were able to understand that tidbit. I suppose there is still a person willing to learn.” Dr. Ratio comments as he looks at his pocket watch and notices the time. He lifts his head up to face the class with a small nod. “Homework assigned from last week will be due at the end of the week. Class is dismissed.”
Dr. Ratio quickly gathers his materials and swiftly exits the classroom, which causes Caelus to let out a deep sigh of relief. He turns to the person next to him, a young girl with long silver-blonde hair and deep crimson blue eyes. She was writing a few tidbits into her notebook before noticing that Caelus was staring at her.
“Ah. Welcome back from Dreamland. It looked like you had a pleasant dream, " the young girl said with a small, enthusiastic smile.
“Y-Yeah... It was a great dream.” Caelus was about to ramble into what the dream was about, but that wasn’t the point of his talking to the girl. “Thanks for the help earlier. I would've been toast if I hadn’t seen what you wrote.”
“You would probably have to deal with one of Dr. Ratio’s signature chalk strikes.” The young girl chuckled softly as she began to pack her bag.
“Still. Thanks for the help, Firefly.” Caelus picks up his bag as the two stand up simultaneously.
“Of course! Let’s just say that it’s thanks for helping me out during orientation!” Firefly nods.
“Shall we head ou-” Caelus comments as he turns around, and the two are stopped in their path. All the students exited the classroom as fast as possible, leaving the two standing beside each other awkwardly. The two looked at each other, hopeless at the fact. That was until Caelus had the brilliant idea of leaping over the desk towards the ground.
“And as simple as that!” Caelus comments with a confident smile.
“That does work, doesn’t it?” Firefly says with a small clap.
“Aren’t you going to hop over as well?” Caelus tilts his head a little.
“You dummy! I’m wearing a skirt!” Firefly exclaims.
“Ah, right... And?” Caelus comments, only to be bonked on the head by Firefly’s book bag. The young lass blushed slightly as the crowd of students passed up for the two to reunite before exiting the lecture hall.
“Going back to before. What exactly were you dreaming of?” Firefly inquired, which perked Caelus up a little with a confused expression.
“Hmm? Why the sudden interest?” Caelus tilts his head a little. It wasn’t the first time that he had slept through a lecture. As such, he has had to ask her for her notes a few times.
“It’s just that you seemed so peaceful while you were sleeping. I was wondering what you were dreaming about.” Firefly plays with her fingers a little bit.
“Eh... That means you were watching me while I was sleeping?” Caelus comments, which startles Firefly a bit.
“N-No! You were sitting next to me and all!” Firefly gets a bit flustered by the observation, which makes Caelus chuckle a little.
“Still, it wasn’t anything particularly special. I was just dreaming about baseball.” Caelus says, thinking back to it. However, some of his brain was already starting to forget tidbits about it. “It was kinda awesome, though.”
“That’s right. You and your sister were on your high school’s baseball team, right?” Firefly states, receiving a slight nod.
“Yeah, we were. We won a few regionals but were never allowed to go to the bigger stages, " Caelus says, thinking back to the good old days. It had a nostalgic feeling to it.
“Still, it sounds nice to hear. I kind of want to hear if anything interesting happened from Stelle.” Firefly commented, which made Caelus frown a little.
“Hold on. Why from Stelle in particular? You already have one of the twins right here!” Caelus states with a nervous sweat to Firefly's statement.
“Yeah, but I share a class with her soon. Plus, I feel like she is one to tell embarrassing stories about you.” Firefly looks at her phone before noticing the time she has taken note of. “Speaking of which, I need to run to class, or else I’ll be late.”
“Oh? That’s fine. I planned on meeting with a few friends after this anyway.” Caelus simply shrugs.
“Then, I’ll see you later!” Firefly waves off to Caelus, leaving him standing in the courtyard. Being a bit further away, she turns to him and waves at him again. This time, Caelus waves back with a conflicted smile on his face. As soon as she was gone, Caelus immediately dialed a number on his phone.
“Yeah?” The phone picks up in two rings. It was the voice of a girl that Caelus knew well. Putting his hand in his jacket pocket, he had a serious look on his face.
“You share a class with Firefly, right?” Caelus asks. A brief silence goes by before the voice on the other side of the call answers.
“No.” The voice speaks frankly. Caelus’s eye twitches a little at the answer.
“Liar! She just told me!” Caelus yells towards the phone, catching the attention of a few people passing by around him. He takes a moment before walking off to a nearby table.
“Hah??? If you already know, then why are you asking me?” The voice comments, Caelus taking a deep breath.
“Because she was interested in stuff from when we played baseball in high school,” Caelus says with a cough. He was praying that maybe she didn’t remember something. But his fears were realized.
“Oh... If that’s the case, I can tell her about the time you were ou-” The voice says with a sly tone.
“That’s exactly the story I want you not to tell her!” Caelus lets out while hearing laughter from the other side. “Stelle! This isn’t a laughing matter! I’m being serious here!”
“Ah, fair enough. Beg. And maybe I’ll think about it~” Stelle continues to laugh a little. But Caelus remains silent for a bit.
“Please, my dear of a sister. Please don’t tell her that story. I beg of you for your MERCY!” Caelus grumbled through every word, but that only amused his sister.
“Fine~ Though you owe me five Clockie Pizzas!” Stelle offers.
“Deal!” Caelus answers instantly with a deep sigh. It would put a decent-sized hole in his wallet, but his integrity was safe.
“Okay then. Thanks. Bye!” Stelle hung up the phone before Caelus could say anything. But it didn’t matter as a huge wave of relief passed through him. He didn’t care at this point as he plopped onto the bench, rather exhausted to the point that he closed his eyes. He takes a moment for things to pass when he gets a text message.
“Mmh?” Caelus opens his eyes to see a text message from March 7th. Shortly after, multiple more texts follow, leaving him wondering where he was.
March 7th
Hey!
Where are you?
Hello?
Dan Heng and I have been waiting for a bit!
Sorry. Got held up by something.
Really? Is it bad?
Should we head over to you?
Nah, don’t worry about it. I’ll be there soon.
b
Caelus simply chuckles at the text message before pulling himself up. Scratching the back of his head, he takes a deep breath.
A young woman with long silver hair looks at her phone nonchalantly with a devious smile. People were flooding into the lecture hall, indicating that there was still a bit of time left before the professor arrived.
“Ah! Stelle! I’m not late, am I?” A voice calls out to her from next to her. Stelle looks up to see Firefly breathing heavily from practically running here. Seeing her like this, Stelle couldn’t help but chuckle slightly at her state.
“No. If anything, you’re early, like usual. You realize you don’t have to run here every single time.” Stelle shifts herself to let Firefly move into the desk, where Firefly sits right next to her. “You can take your time.”
“I know... But I just always have that fear that I’ll be late. Then everyone would stare at me while I hurridly go and find a seat.” Firefly scratches her cheek a little with a flustered expression.
“Nobody pays attention to you if you’re late...” Stelle speaks rather frankly before shaking her head.
“I suppose I could walk here...” Firefly plays with her fingers while saying that. Stelle looks over at her friend with an interested look.
“You’re usually stubborn about the way you act things... And yet you seemed to accept the stuff that I’m saying. Why is that?” Stelle asks with a contemplative expression. But before Firefly could answer, the professor walked into the lecture hall and made their way to the desk, seemingly halting their discussion. Though the thought did linger in her mind as the lecture started.