Chapter Text
Ekko didn’t need a reminder of where he came from.
“The boy from Zaun,” they called him. Piltover’s charity case, proof of their so-called “benevolence.”
He was brought as evidence that even the undercity could produce something worthwhile.
It all started when he was ten, the year topside launched its scholarship program for one lucky child from the undercity. The program was a big deal, with speeches about unity and opportunity. For most people in Zaun, it felt like just another empty promise, a shiny distraction from how they took advantage of them. But for Benzo, the pawnshop owner who had become a father figure to Ekko and recognized his potential as a young genius inventor, it was different. He pushed Ekko to apply, believing this was his chance to fully explore his potential.
It was only a matter of time before the scholarship was his. In the blink of an eye, he left the dangerous streets of the undercity behind to join Piltover Academy as one of their students. But it wasn't that simple. The opportunity had come with conditions, stipulations he hadn’t fully understood until he’d already signed on. His acceptance was as much an experiment as it was a charity case, and his performance came with the weight of representing his entire city. Every achievement wasn’t just his; it was a potential door for the next kid from the undercity who dared to dream of something more. Every misstep wasn’t just a failure of his own, it was a reflection on his people.
He’d felt the pressure every day. He’d been warned, no distractions. The academy’s rules were clear: he was to keep his head down, his grades up, and his distance from anything that could "complicate" his image. At some point, he became determined to prove it wasn’t luck or charity that got him there, it was sleepless nights perfecting equations, memorizing theories, and building inventions that left his professors in awe. Even Professor Heimerdinger, Piltover’s head of the council, considered him one of his favorite students.
Over time, he earned his place not just as a student but as Piltover Academy’s newest student council president. His serious demeanor, impeccable uniform, and sharp, determined gaze commanded respect. Ekko wasn’t just smart, he was a force to be reckoned with, a trencher who stood toe-to-toe with Piltover’s elite.
But every force meets its counterbalance.
Jinx was everything Ekko wasn’t. Chaos incarnate in the form of a teenage girl. She thrived on disorder, and rules bored her to death. She lived for the unexpected, always ready to cause trouble with her quick wit and an endless supply of smoke and paint bombs no one could figure out where she kept. If she wasn’t blowing something up, she was planning to.
And yet, for all her chaos, Jinx was a genius in her own right. She wasn’t just smart, she was terrifyingly, infuriatingly brilliant. She solved problems in seconds that left others baffled, included himself. While Ekko carefully worked through equations and theories, Jinx just saw the answers. She’d scrawl them in neon-colors across her notebook, adding doodles of monkeys, explosions, and grinning skulls before proudly presenting them to the stunned professors.
It was a new day, like any other, when Ekko, on his way to a meeting about the upcoming month’s activities, stopped in his tracks in the hallway. A large section of the wall, once decorated with a painting of one of Piltover Academy’s founding professors, was now covered in a neon-pink monkey. The culprit? There was no need to guess.
“Admiring my work, Mr. President?” came a raspy, mocking voice.
Ekko turned and met the source of his constant headaches. Jinx stood just a few steps away, a sly smirk tugging at her lips. Her long, vibrantly blue hair, tied into two braids, swayed as she leaned against a nearby locker. The uniform she wore was completely altered to her taste: tie loose, her name graffitied in neon pink on her blazer, sleeves rolled up, and a skirt that looked suspiciously high according to the academy's standards.
“Jinx,” he said flatly, trying to hold back any frustration because he was just not in the mood. “The new term started yesterday. Couldn’t you have waited a little before causing your usual trouble?”
“Well, no. I was bored!” she chirped, her tone entirely unapologetic. “Besides, that professor looked a bit sad, so I decided to liven him up a little.” she gestured dramatically toward the painting.
Just like him, she was from the undercity. He’d heard about her a year ago when she joined the academy. When he heard they were admitting another zaunite, he felt a surge of pride, thinking that his efforts were starting to pay off. He knew he wasn’t the first, and certainly wouldn’t be the last, but still… What he didn’t expect was a girl like Jinx, who seemed to command respect by unsettling most of the students into keeping their distance.
Nobody at the school could have guessed that he knew her from years ago: Vi’s little sister, the youngest daughter of Vander, the Hound of the Underground, and Benzo’s old friend. But most importantly, his childhood friend. The first time Ekko saw her, she was a shy little girl with short hair, peeking out from behind Vander during a brief visit to Benzo’s workshop. Benzo had told him that she had lost her biological parents in a "peaceful protest," and, having lost his own, Ekko couldn’t help but feel a deep connection to her, which later on developed into a friendship.
Back then, she wasn’t “Jinx.” She went by Powder. He could still picture her, quiet, curious, always eager to tag along with Vi and the others. Sometimes, when Benzo’s workshop wasn’t too busy, Powder would visit him and ask questions about the things Ekko was working on. They’d laugh and play together, tinkering with bits of scrap and inventing little things just for fun.
Then Ekko left, and he never had the chance to say goodbye to her, Vi, Mylo, or Claggor. It wasn’t like the undercity had been easy to leave behind, either. Benzo had warned him about the academy before Ekko left. “It’s a different world up there,” Benzo had said, his voice steady. “They’ll take what they want from you, and you’ll have to figure out how to keep hold of yourself.” He had been proud of him, though, and that had meant something. He’d wanted Ekko to succeed.
As a result, Ekko threw himself into his studies, convincing himself it was for the best, that he would return to the undercity as a new person, someone his friends, especially Powder, could be proud of. But guilt always lingered. He should’ve said something before leaving. At least warned them so they wouldn’t think he’d just disappeared. But fear crept in. As smart and capable as he was, he was scared, scared that they’d see him as someone different. Someone who didn’t belong to their world anymore. Someone who was planning to leave them behind in pursuit of his own dreams.
So, instead he’d left without a word, thinking it would be easier than confronting what he about to lose.
The only person from the undercity he still had contact with was Benzo, and that was during authorized visits to the Academy. He hadn’t visited Zaun since he left. By the time he saw that Powder had joined the academy, it felt like fate was rubbing salt in the wound. Except that her name was no longer Powder, and “Jinx” didn’t ring any bells. It wasn’t until he saw her in person, a pale girl with big blue ocean eyes and a skinny frame smirking in front of the auditorium, that the memories slammed back into him.
Big was his surprise when their first meeting in years ended with a smoke bomb going off. The sudden explosion left everyone in a cloud of confusion, and the disaster that followed made it clear just how much she had changed. He never expected this. The girl he once knew was now standing in front of him, grinning at what she had just done.
She would definitely be a problem, a fact made painfully clear in their subsequent interactions. She was confident, sharp, and unapologetically chaotic. The shy Powder he once knew seemed long gone. A hidden part of him didn’t entirely hate the new version of her, but he was the poster child of the academy and now the newly elected student council president, while she was a troublemaker. It didn’t seem like she was interested in rekindling their friendship either, especially considering how much she enjoyed annoying him, causing trouble, and leaving him to clean up the mess. A year had passed, and not once had they acknowledged their past. It was as if they had started from zero, like they had never known each other at all.
“Anyway,” she interrupted his thoughts, sidling closer, “What’s on your schedule today, Mr. President?”
“Nothing you’d care about,” he said coldly, already turning to leave.
“Careful, Mr. President!” she called after him, laughter bubbling in her voice. “Wouldn’t want you tripping over your own two left feet.”
Ekko froze mid-step, glaring down at his shoes. It wouldn’t be the first time she had pulled some ridiculous prank, tying shoelaces together to send someone sprawling. Her signature laugh echoed behind him as she noticed his immediate reaction.
“Real mature,” he muttered, sighing heavily as he resumed walking.
“Oh, don’t be so boring,” she said, skipping ahead of him and walking backward just to keep pace. “You’re no fun when you’re serious all the time, y’know? You’re gonna get wrinkles if you keep frowning like that.”
Ekko scowled but didn’t answer. It wasn’t worth the energy.
Jinx grinned wider, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Fine, ignore me. I’ll leave you alone. This time.” She twirled dramatically on her heel, then stepped closer to him, leaning in, her voice dropping to a teasing whisper by his ear. “But watch your back, Mr. President. You never know what surprises might pop up.”
Ekko stiffened, caught off guard by the proximity, but quickly changed his expression back to indifference. She pulled away with a wink, walking backwards for a few steps before turning and disappearing around the corner, her cackling fading into the distance. No matter how hard he tried to ignore her, Jinx was always there, her chaos disrupting his carefully built order.
Trying to shake off the encounter, he pushed forward, focusing on the task ahead. He continued walking until he reached the room where the council members and he would have their weekly meetings. He opened the door and saw everyone sitting, with Professor Heimerdinger at the front, as if they had been waiting for him. He realized he was late and cursed himself.
“Running late, young Ekko?” Professor Heimerdinger’s voice startled him. The professor stood with a grin. Ekko had to be thankful that he wasn’t as strict, though being late was definitely embarrassing. He wasn’t exactly known for his lack of punctuality. If anything, he used to be the first one to arrive.
“I apologize, Professor. I ran into some trouble,” Ekko replied stoically. He didn’t need to elaborate; the word “trouble” said enough.
“I see,” the professor mused. “It seems she’s taken an increased interest in meddling with you, more so than before if that wasn’t already possible.” he chuckled.
Ekko remained silent. The student council members exchanged knowing looks. Was it really that amusing? Everyone at the academy knew the two kids from the undercity didn’t get along; they were like fire and ice, with Jinx always stirring things up while he tried to keep things cool. It wasn’t that he was special; Jinx bothered everyone when she had the chance. She had made it her personal mission to mess with him from the moment they first crossed paths. And now that he’d been named president before the new term started, he could already picture how much worse things were about to get. Just as his thoughts began to spiral, the professor cleared his throat, snapping him back to reality.
“With your new role as president comes new responsibilities,” Professor Heimerdinger continued, as if he’d read his thoughts. “I suggest you keep an extra eye on her, all right, young lad?”
Ekko gave a small nod, silently acknowledging the advice. “Understood, Professor.”
“Very good,” Heimerdinger said, adjusting his glasses. “Now, if you’ll begin the meeting, I must take my leave.”
Ekko nodded, stepping to the front.
“All right, so—” he began, only to be interrupted by the distant sound of an explosion. The rest of the room froze, alarmed. Ekko glanced around at the others, a mix of worry and frustration crossing his face.
Just who else could it possibly be? he thought, unsurprised, as the room emptied in a rush.
This year was going to be hard.