Archive of Our Own

1.

Lux was a god-weapon fragment.

Despite what might have seemed like the logical decision, the adults in her life chose not to let her in on that fact. Not until her brother got into an ugly fight at Labrys that was big enough for the staff to take action. Garen’s actions weren’t uncommon per se  – she knew very well that Mother and Father had always treated him unfairly, always prioritizing her, which resulted in their strained bond. After the news about the fight reached her, she decided to finally take action and question them about it.

Growing up, she had always been told she was a miracle. She figured it just meant her mother’s pregnancy had been a difficult one. But that didn’t seem like enough to favor her that much.

When Lux finally questioned it, her parents exchanged a look and then said her aunt would explain it better.

And well, explain she did. Aunt Tianna came and sat her down to tell her the truth: Lux was a Durandal fragment that her parents developed. And, apparently, there was a whole team of researchers alongside her with high expectations of her.

In a matter of a few days, her entire world had been flipped upside-down. One minute, she was Luxanna Crownguard, a teenage girl under training. The other, she was a god-weapon fragment herself, with the hopes of being the next big scientific experiment to shine brightly.

It took her a while to wrap her head around the idea. Sure, finding that out helped explain a lot of stuff like how powerful she was, and why Mother and Father clearly had her as their favorite child. But, at the same time, finding out you’re not actually a human is… hard.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much she could do with this information, for now. Lux knew that now was the wrong time to question her parents, with them handling the yearly cross-academy competition that was coming soon, and with the mess Garen got himself into.

There was something that she had to do related to that fact, though.

Tell Ezreal.

The moment the initial shock waved off, she knew she had to tell him. Lux knew it would be unfair not to tell him. She just… had to mentally prepare herself for it. But, after taking a week to process it herself, the time was finally here. She was going to tell Ezreal once and for all.

Mondays were usually the day of the week when they would get lunch together, just the two of them. With the school’s schedule, it was a bit hard to find time to spend together. As a result, lunchtime was when most students would enjoy it with their friends. A bit after they started dating, they chose Monday to be the single day to be just the two of them.

So it was the perfect opportunity to tell him.

She fixed her ribbon, looking at her reflection in the bathroom mirror.

“Okay, Lux,” she whispered to herself, pointing at her reflection. “You're going out there, you're going to have lunch with him, and you're going to tell him about it. He definitely won't freak out about his girlfriend being a freaking god-weapon, and he's going to be totally chill about it, so you can immediately forget about it until the next time things explode in your face again. It's simple. You've got this, girl.”

She took a deep breath, then made her way out of the girls’ bathroom. As soon as she stepped outside, though, she was met with blue eyes extremely close to her.

“Lux!” Ezreal exclaimed.

“Wah!” she jumped, holding on to the door frame to not fall back. “Ezreal!”

Ezreal laughed, bringing his hand to rub the back of his neck.

“Heh, sorry.”

She sighed, starting to walk alongside him down the hallway.

“It's fine. You just scared me, that’s all,” she blinked, then looked at him from the corner of her eye. “And you don't usually wait for me that close to the bathroom.”

“You were taking too long!” he defended himself. “I got worried!”

“What, like Hanako-san got me?” she rolled her eyes, affectionately. “You really can't go 5 minutes away from me, can you?”

“ Or you could've started to feel ill,” he shrugged. “I know you haven't been feeling well for the past week, so…”

She blinked. 

Right, the past week. The week she took to properly process the whole god-weapon fragment thing.

“… I've been feeling better,” not exactly a lie. “Um, Olaf's today?”

Ezreal tilted his head, thinking, as they went downstairs.

“I think Akshan and the others are going for sushi today,” he nodded, “so yeah, Olaf’s will do. Smoothies or milkshakes?”

“Hmm…” Lux brought her hand to her chin to think. The walk from Olaf's to Cuties for milkshakes was shorter, which meant if she didn't tell him at Olaf’s, she’d have less time to tell him on the walk back. And that Ezreal would have to be in the bathroom for a while thanks to his tummy not dealing well with dairy, which also meant less opportunity for her to tell him.

Ezreal finished walking down the stairs first, and he extended his hand to help her – even though it wasn't needed. She stopped, giggling as she rolled her eyes, but accepted his hand.

“Smoothies.” Lux finally replied, letting go of his hand as soon as the steps ended. He pouted, and she held back a laugh as they made their way out of school.

⭐🗡️⭐

Eating out at Olaf’s on Mondays often meant they had a calmer lunch than other days of the week. Not only it was just the two of them at lunch, – which automatically meant the restaurant's staff would hear less noise coming from their table than usual – but Mondays were the day of the week when Olaf's had fewer clients. Second-years usually ended their classes a bit later on Mondays, and most people preferred to go to Olaf’s on Tuesdays, when they'd offer lasagna on self-service.

Having fewer students at the restaurant mean less noise but also less staring. She had always attracted the other students’ looks wherever she went due to her powers, and she knew that despite the staff doing their best to stop any student from discussing that aspect about her, gossip would always find its way. Ezreal ended up attracting looks himself – being chosen by the God-Weapon Durandal. They had both gotten used to the staring pretty quickly, to the point that even when word about their relationship got out, the looks weren’t really bothering them.

But still, being used to it didn’t mean it was pleasurable. So they both appreciated when they could step away from the spotlight of sorts.

Having fewer people around also meant it was perfect to break the news.

“I’m not even gonna say anything this time,” she said, looking at what Ezreal was putting on his plate.

“Well, sorry if I don’t wanna risk getting a parasite,” he said, as he skipped the salad portion and went straight to the french fries. “Remember the worm Jayce found last month?”

“Ever heard of a vermifuge?” Lux countered. “Close your eyes, if there’s a weird texture think it’s just extra protein, take a vermifuge once a year, and you’ll both get all the vitamins and fibers while not having a parasite.”

She moved to the barbecue part of the restaurant, and before Ezreal could argue back, Olaf spoke.

“I thought I’d never see your face around here again.”

Lux laughed.

“I told you she wasn’t feeling well!” Ezreal exclaimed, still picking things.

“Well, as far as I could know, you two could have had an ugly fight, and you were just lying,” Olaf said, crossing his arms, and then looked at her. “Rump steak?”

She nodded, as he turned around to pick up the rump steak from the grill to cut it for her.

“Why would I do that?” her boyfriend said, eyebrows furrowed, as he got to her side of the barbecue line.

The older man lifted an eyebrow as he cut the steak.

“Would you ever admit you were fighting?”

The boy groaned, making Lux laugh. Before she could say anything else, however, they heard all the conversations around them stopping, either with complete silence or with surprised gasps.

They looked around to see what had happened, and it didn’t take long for them to figure it out. A pink-haired girl coming from the entrance and going straight to the serving line: Katarina.

At her side, Ezreal stiffed, and the students’ conversations around them returned, although much more whispered than before.

“Medallion?” Olaf asked, pointing the barbecue fork towards Ezreal. He gulped as he nodded, still focused on Katarina.

Lux moved aside to weigh her plate while Olaf served Ezreal. Once the plate was weighed and the attendant gave her the bill paper, she thanked the attendant and walked towards the tables.

She put her plate down on a table for four – at Olaf’s, you usually either sat at a table for four, at the big table for ten, or had to combine the smaller tables for your group – and put her purse on the chair at her side. Before she even sat down, Ezreal approached the table, inspecting his bill paper with a frown.

“Ugh. I’m never gonna make this get any cheaper.”

Lux giggled.

“Again, lettuce doesn’t make your plate weigh too much.”

The boy groaned as he sat down, throwing his neck to look up with rolling eyes, making her laugh even more.

It was now or never.

“So, um,” she started, looking for the right words as she opened the cutlery packet. “About last week…”

“Yes?” he inquired, fixing his posture to start eating properly. “Are you sure you’re feeling all better? It’s unusual for that to happen to you.”

Lux smiled, avoiding eye contact by looking to the side as she fixed her bangs with her hand.

“I am,” she nodded. “Thanks for the worry. It’s just…”

She sighed before continuing, looking at him again,

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you…”

While Lux spoke, Ezreal suddenly stiffed his posture once again, and his gaze went beyond her. Curious, she followed his gaze. And, there it was: a flush of pink hair coming towards them. Lux could see the other students’ gazes following Katarina. Of all places, she stopped right beside Ezreal.

“Can I sit here?” Katarina asked. Before any of them could reply, though, she sat on the chair next to him.

“…Sure,” Ezreal said, voice cracking.

Great. Now everyone else was staring at their table and murmuring. Just what she needed.

Katarina ate a piece of her meat before speaking up again.

“So, there are a lot of rumors about Labrys Academy making rounds recently.”

Lux immediately straightened her posture.

“What do you think?” Katarina inquired, raising an eyebrow. Ezreal chewed slower than usual.

“I think,” he started. “Caitlyn’s gonna be a tough opponent in the competition.”

The other girl furrowed her eyebrows a bit, head going  a few millimeters back. Probably not anywhere close to what she had expected as an answer.

Lux froze.

Oh, gosh.

Please, let Garen not have told Katarina about the whole god-weapon fragment deal.

“The competition, huh?” Katarina said, chewing on a piece of meat before continuing. “Lots of rumors about that, too.”

Right. The yearly competition often had the help of the schools’ club leaders and class presidents. After Garen’s battle with both Caitlyn and Durandal’s staffs, students started to say the preparations for the competition were almost put on hold – bad blood between Durandal and Labrys. According to the rumors, the reason the preparations continue to move forward, even faster than usual, is that Katarina started taking care of it, alongside Headmaster Swain, from Labrys.

Which… was a weird rumor.

Sure, Lux figured, she guessed it’d make sense if Garen had asked Katarina to deal a bit with his mess, but she usually stays away from politics within Durandal – Lux couldn’t imagine her dealing with all the internal academy politics.

“Are they true?” Lux asked, straight on. That made the leader of the assassin club take her eyes off Ezreal to look her in the eyes.

She snorted a laugh. “And what fun would it be if I just gave you the answer directly?”

Katarina looked at Ezreal again.

“Caitlyn, you said? Big mess with Garen, not as big as with the academy’s staff, though” she said, mumbling the last part.

“…What was that about, anyway?” Ezreal asked.

Lux held her breath.

“Pfff. Like I’d know,” she spun her fork in circles in the air. “I know of the reasons for this behavior, I guess, but I don’t even know what exactly made him do it this time. Pro tip: if you don’t want to end up burned by light, tell Lux your stuff,” Katarina pointed the fork towards Lux. “I should've thrown him a warning dagger.”

She paused, and then her eyebrows furrowed as she was thinking.

“…Wouldn’t it have been better for you to ask her about it?”

Lux fixed her bangs, cutting eye contact by staring at Ezreal’s plate.

“He… has his reasons,” she replied. “Maybe he didn’t act on them quite the right way, but still. I can’t… really judge him for that.”

Katarina snorted, blowing off some strands of her bangs. 

“Anyway,” she moved on. “Caitlyn, right? She’s kinda like you. Chosen by the god-weapon itself.”

Lux relaxed a bit. If Katarina knew about her being a god-weapon fragment, she showed no clear signs that she would act on it or even say anything about it.

“…Yeah,” Ezreal replied, shifting in his seat a bit.

“Don’t stress about it. The medical staff are great at their jobs.”

He coughed, almost choking on his rice.

Lux rolled her eyes.

“Don’t exaggerate. I’m sure he can stand toe to toe with Caitlyn,” she sent him a look with furrowed eyebrows and half-closed eyes. “If he remembers to keep up with his training, that is.”

Ezreal brought his hands to his face to hide it with his palms, elbows upon the table. Katarina snorted loudly.

“Well, he does need to get selected for the competition first,” she said. “He might not even need to worry about it at all.”

“Aren’t you giving your input in the organization?” Lux asked, smirking. “Can’t you do this little favor for your in-law?”

“Don’t push it, girl,” she pointed her fork at Lux, before giving a brief disgusted expression before speaking again. “Besides, we can’t give input about who gets selected. For Durandal it’s all Principal Yuumi and Professor Graves’ decision, I think.”

Ezreal groaned at the mention of Professor Graves, finally removing his hands from his face and going back to eating.

“Great,” he said, chewing. “So that already cuts my chances in half.”

The leader of the assassin club raised an eyebrow.

“Hm. We’ll see.”

They each finished their plates, and Lux immediately got up. She still had time to break the news to Ezreal.

“Well,” she started, with a clap. “It was… nice. To have you for lunch, Katarina. Buuut, Ez, we need to get going, the smoothies, remember?”

“Oh, you’re going for smoothies?” Katarina asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes,” she nodded, patting Ezreal on the shoulder to sign him to get up. “And, y’know, club activities and stuff, so, we reeeaally need to get going…”

“I’ll tag along,” Katarina said, getting up with her bill in her hands.

Lux didn’t need to see Ezreal’s face to know he had his eyes widened. She screamed inside.

“What?”

“Don’t make me repeat it,” Katarina raised an eyebrow, waving the bill. “It’s been way too hot recently. I could go for a smoothie.”

Ezreal looked at the restaurant’s clock.

“Don’t you need to be back earlier than us, though?” he asked. “For the meeting with Jayce about the competition?”

She rolled her eyes. “And?”

“Won’t he be mad?” he asked, voice getting higher pitched but low at every word.

“Pff. And since when do I care?” she slapped him on the shoulder, making him straighten his posture, then turned around. “C’mon, we don’t have all day. Don’t make me regret it.”

Like clockwork, he immediately got up and followed her to the cashier.

Lux sighed. And there goes the plan of telling Ezreal about it, down the drain.

2.

Well, trying to do it during their lunchtime together was a fluke. She couldn't have predicted a wild Katarina showing up to interrupt their time.

But Lux knew she couldn't postpone it for too long – if so, she would eventually lose her courage to tell him.

So, if she was lucky enough, she could catch him before they left school with the rest of the group for lunch. Lux would briefly talk with him privately, play it extremely casually so Ezreal wouldn't freak out, and they would join their classmates at lunch as if no shocking news had just been delivered. It was easy, it had to be.

“Luxanna?” a voice called, making her flinch. She looked to see not only Professor Fiora looking at her but her classmates around her as well. “The answer?”

“Huh…” great. While she was counting the minutes for class to end so she could put her plan into action, she was asked a question that she did not hear.

“ The ocean .” Ezreal, sitting on the seat behind hers, whispered to her.

“T-the ocean!” Lux echoed, recomposing herself. The Professor nodded.

“Correct, that’s what Tiamate is associated with. Do you also know the name of the man who wielded Babylon to kill her?”

“That’s Marduk,” she replied, getting back to her usual rhythm. Professor Fiora smiled.

“Brilliant, as always, Luxanna,” whispers started to go around the classroom. “Next class, we’ll finally approach the history of god-weapon Babylon. So don’t worry if any of you didn’t know the answers to my questions.”

As soon as she finished, the bell rang.

“Remember to read chapters 14 and 15 for our next class. Class is dismissed.”

Lux sighed, gathering her stuff as quickly as she could, before Ezreal – who had barely touched his school supplies all morning – could leave without her.

Ezreal raised an eyebrow seeing her hurrying up, they started to leave the classroom almost side by side.

“Nervous?” he joked. “At least now you get how I feel with Professor Graves.”

“I was just distracted,” Lux replied as they started walking down the stairs. “She caught me off guard, I didn’t even hear the first question!”

He laughed loudly.

“…Thanks for the save, by the way.”

“You’re welcome.” he smiled. She furrowed her eyebrows.

“Don’t think I’m going to leave it at that, though,” Lux stopped in front of him. “You absorb information easily. You just knew the answer to Fiora’s question, and you always know answers to Professor Graves’ – you just get nervous around him!”

“Can you blame me?!” Ezreal exclaimed. “Professor Graves is all ‘Fuck you all. Hey, you in the corner–’”

He imitates the gesture of throwing a chalk.

“‘Do you know how people used to kill their targets with just one single arrow?’ And then everyone and their mom is surprised that I actually know the answer to something stupid like that.”

Lux rolls her eyes.

“Okay, you’re exaggerating his aggressiveness,” she pauses. “…maybe not on the chalk, but his questions aren’t that simple like your example. I just–”

She sighs.

“I don’t know. I get it that you weren’t… raised like me,” this reminds Lux of the topic she needs to talk about with him. “So, of course, you won’t view it with the same importance as me, but I just– I know you’re talented, you could achieve so much! And you want to! But you don’t bother actually learning how to use your powers, and I don’t get why.”

Ezreal pressed his lips.

“It’s–… It’s complicated.”

Lux looked at him, softening. She reached out to grab his hand.

“I know,” she squeezed his hand. “Just know that, whenever you’re ready, I’ll listen, alright?”

He squeezed it back, with a nod and a soft smile. She smiled back before speaking up.

“That does remind me, though… Before we go out for lunch, there’s… something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”

“Oh?” he lets out, a bit taken back.

“Yeah, um…” she takes a deep breath.

Now or never.

“Did you guys know that Professor Graves has a girlfriend?”

“ What?! ” both Ezreal and Lux asked, letting their linked hands go and turning to see Akshan standing behind them. Lux had her eyes wide, while Ezreal had his eyebrows furrowed, scratching the right side of his head.

“Isn't Professor Graves gay?” he asked.

“ What?! ”   this time, both Lux and Akshan exclaimed.

“Now, hold on,” she said, before any of them could. “Both of you, explain. Where did you two get any of that?”

“He was my last period for the morning,” Akshan started. “When there were 30 minutes left, this redhead lady showed up and said something about how she was waiting at his office.”

“He gathered all his stuff and left immediately, but he forgot his cigar pack. You know how he accused everyone he crossed paths with of stealing it last time he lost them? Darius and I thought it would be best if we brought it back to him, so we went to his office. We waited for, like, a shit ass long time before deciding to peek in if he was even there, and that's when we saw it.”

Ezreal raised an eyebrow.

“She was like– how do I put it? Completely pushing him against the table, almost, like, kneeling him, but not necessarily using her hands. Heads all close and all that. We didn't wanna see any more because… gross. So we waited until she stormed out through the door to give him the pack back. Then he threatened us with his cannon for thinking we were snooping around, but we did come out alive.”

“…So?” Ezreal asked.

“What do you mean “so?”!”

“That doesn't prove anything. You're just making assumptions.”

“Dude, no one gets that close to someone if there's nothing going on between them.”

“You don't have the context,” he pointed out.

“You're just saying that because you think he's gay,” Akshan argued.

“There,” Ezreal said, grabbing Akshan by the hips quickly to get them close and immediately letting go. “Does that mean we're dating, now?”

“Ok, now, before I get cheated on right in front of my eyes–” Lux said, coming in between them. “Akshan, they don't usually let people that aren't students or staff on the campus. Do you know who that lady was?”

“No idea,” he replied. “Never seen her before.”

“What was she wearing? Was she carrying any weapon?”

Akshan raised an eyebrow, bringing a hand to his chin.

“She wasn't wearing any kind of uniform, if that's your question. But she did have a weapon. Two guns, I think.”

“Any card attached?” Ezreal asked.

“…oh yeah. She had a visitor's blue card.”

Lux gasped.

“So she's a staff from another academy. What was she doing here?”

“Seeing Professor Graves, obviously.”

“Professor Graves hates being a professor. Why would he be friends with other professors, from another academy, even?” Ezreal asked.

“You hate training, and yet you date the girl who has been training all her life.” Akshan rebutted. Ezrael groaned. “And where did you get your information? And if you say gaydar, I'm throwing you out of this building, because there's no way yours is better than mine.”

“It's not the gaydar.”

“What is it then?” he inquired. “What makes you so sure that you think I have the wrong impression?”

“He had me arranging his office last month,” Ezreal said. “I left his desk for last, but there was, like, a bunch of papers I needed to sort out. But in the middle there was a picture of them.”

He scratched the back of his neck.

“It was from his time in the military, I guess. Him and some other guy with long hair. They were, like, super embarrassed in the picture? That's when he chose to finally show up. He took the picture out of my hands and went all “Stupid kid. I didn't mean to leave that out, so forget you ever saw that. That paperwork isn't going to sort itself out. Now go back to work.’”

Akshan and Lux stared.

“Hold on– first things first, you were alone arranging his office?!”

Lux rolled her eyes. “I do keep saying he is Professor Graves’ favorite.”

“How is making me organize his damn office an indicator of that?”

“Dude, he hates people coming inside his office when he’s there . Imagine when he isn't! What the hell! He'd have killed me if I was in your position!”

“He gave me the keys–” Ezreal tried justifying.

“He what?!” Lux let out.

“Look, never mind that, we're going off-topic, you also don't have any proof! There was nothing indicating anything in the picture!”

“If it had been just the picture, I'd agree. But he reacted so… I don't know. Like, he was mad but not totally Professor Graves mad, he almost seemed embarrassed.”

“He could be bisexual,” Lux prompted, throwing a bucket of cold water on Ezreal's energy.

“I…” he brought his hand back to his neck again. “That's… true…”

Akshan groaned, slapping his forehead.

“And you said I was jumping to assumptions.”

“You both are,” Lux said, rolling her eyes. “All we gathered from this is that someone from another academy came to see him, he had a slightly possible romance while in the military, and Ezreal really is his favorite student.”

“Why would he keep giving me this type of treatment if I'm his favorite?!” Ezreal exclaimed.

“He's tough on you because you're his favorite. He likes you the most, so he wants you to succeed. He just… expresses himself all wrong, I guess.”

Ezreal sighed.

“He makes questions to you every class to keep you alarmed to pay attention, and he goes hard on you during practical classes because he notices you're not training enough, so he tries to make you make up for it. It makes some kind of sense.”

“What do you mean not training enough?” Akshan raised his eyebrow. “This dude has been dragging me for weeks to–”

Before he could finish, Ezreal hit him on the stomach with his elbow.

“Anyway,” he raised his voice. “I'm hungry, and I'd rather not have this discussion on an empty stomach. C'mon.”

He turned and started to walk out.

“Hey! Wait up!” Akshan screamed back, using his grappling hook, making the other students in the hallway startle.

Lux blinked.

Oh, no. 

Now not only was she left with an unfinished gossip, but she also hadn't been able to tell Ezreal.

She sighed.

Well, they do say the third time's the charm.

3.

Alright. Last time was also a fluke. Not her fault if Akshan didn't have the decency to wait for actual lunch to try to gossip with them.

Lux recalculated her route: Doing it on their lunchtime together didn't work, and doing it before didn't as well. Usually, if she and Ezreal were the first people within their group to announce going for smoothies or milkshakes, their friends usually understood it as a sign that they wanted some alone time. Thus, this was her best shot at telling him.

She walked out of the cashier’s counter after she finished paying for lunch, Ezreal being the next in line. Lux stretched herself while doing so, leaning against the handrail of the exit ramp, right next to the cashier.

“Man, I could really go for a smoothie right now.”

Akshan groaned behind Ezreal, rolling her eyes. She could hear Soraka giggling.

“You could just be straight about it, you know?”

“Let them be,” Soraka said, putting a hand behind his back. “It’s endearing.”

The card reader beeped as Ezreal’s card was accepted. Lux rolled her eyes, extending her hand towards him.

“C’mon,” she said, as she grabbed his hand, pulling him out. “Let’s leave them to die of heat.”

All the group laughed, except Akshan, who groaned.

“We can just go to Cutie’s, you know?!” he screamed. Lux turned, showing him her tongue and giggling. Ezreal and her hurried away to go uphill to the snack bar. Ezreal spoke up once the pace slowed down.

“It’s really nice to see you’re doing better.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“I told you I was feeling better on Monday!” she exclaimed. “And we hung out normally with the others just yesterday.”

“I know, but your energy was still… off. You’re really shining today. And I’m not talking about your powers!” Lux laughed. “Besides, you usually don’t do this.”

He raised their joined hands, gaining an eye roll.

“Oh, shut up before I push you to the middle of the street to get run over.”

“Good luck trying, you’re the one on the outside.”

“Oh, yeah, shouldn’t you be the one closest to the street to protect me? How chivalrous of you,” she teased. Ezreal stopped walking, making her stop as well through their joined hands. Lux turned her head to look at him, barely seeing the smirk on his face as he suddenly grabbed her bridal style.

“EZREAL!” she let out, as Ezreal started running up the hill with her. “Put me down!!”

Ezreal was laughing loudly. She had one hand trying to keep her uniform skirt down – even if she had shorts under it – and the other was slapping Ezreal’s shoulder.

“You’re gonna trip, and then we’ll go rolling down!”

They kept at this for a bit, but he eventually stopped, still laughing as he put Lux down. She puffed her cheeks and furrowed her eyebrows, holding off her laugh, and crossed her arms.

“Was that chivalrous enough for you?” he joked, finally calming down his laughter.

“Idiot,” Lux rolled her eyes, turning her face so he couldn’t see the smile on her face, and continuing to walk. “Let’s keep walking. The snack bar isn’t that far.”

The snack bar didn’t have much of an inside, – opening the gate just meant making the counter and kitchen visible – so once they finally reached it, the woman at the counter immediately smiled once she saw them.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you two,” Janna said.

“Hi, Janna,” Lux greeted her. “We were here Monday!”

“Hm, that makes sense. I wasn’t here on Monday,” she grabbed two big plastic cups from the other side of the small kitchen, bringing them to the counter. “The usual, I take it?”

“Yeah,” Ezreal said, hunched over the counter, head above crossed arms upon the counter. “Sugarless strawberry with lemon and strawberry with passion fruit. Is it just you in charge today?”

Janna nodded while picking up the bag of frozen strawberries to prepare the smoothies.

“Yes. The others are taking Zephyr to his routine vet check-up.”

The conversation with Janna was cut short as she began concentrating on making the smoothies. Having the blender so close to her often meant she couldn’t listen to what people were saying. Ezreal turned his head to Lux.

“…So, how are things with Garen?”

She pressed her lips, tapping her fingers over the counter.

“…It’s complicated,” The girl sighed. “Mother and Father are still a bit over the edge, and I guess the preparations for the competition aren’t helping at all…”

“Are they giving you and Garen a hard time?”

“I’d say Garen’s having it worse than me,” she furrowed her eyebrows. “My aunt is the one who’s trying to make sure I’m behaving.”

Janna interrupted them, putting their smoothies over the counter. The two of them smiled, thanking Janna with a nod, before sitting down in front of each other on the tables the snack bar had on the sidewalk.

Ezreal took a sip of his smoothie, before talking again.

“…Why did Garen do that, by the way?”

Right.

This was the time.

“Right,” she sighed. “About that…”

She took a deep breath, preparing herself.

“Well, before anything. I understand if this changes things…”

Had she had the courage to speak, looking him in the eye instead of focusing on how her smoothie moved as she moved the straw, Lux would have noticed Ezreal’s eyes growing wilder as he looked behind her.

“Like, it’s totally reasonable to–”

“Lux!” a well-known voice screamed from behind her. She startled, turning around in her seat.

“Jayce!” Lux exclaimed, voice cracking. “Um, what are you doing here?”

Great. As much as she liked Jayce – and it was honestly always pleasuring to speak to him – she really didn’t need more interruptions this week. The boy approached, running as fast as he could, stopping right beside the seat next to her as he crouched with his hands on his knees.

“Just… give me… a second…” Jayce let out, out of breath. Lux took a quick look at Ezreal, only to see him with a similar stiffness in his posture as he had with Katarina a few days ago – although this one was definitely not out of fear.

Jayce seemed to finally catch his breath, as he threw his head back when getting up, putting his hands on the chair.

“I’ve been looking for you!” he started. “I ate lunch as fast as I could, so I’d have time to look for you, but when I finally found where your group was – you’d already left them!”

“Oh! Is this about what happened last Sorcery Club practice?” she guessed. “Because if so, me and Gwen already–”

“No,” he took a breath before continuing. “It’s nothing about that. I just… need to talk to you.”

“Oh, well, shoot it, then.”

Jayce took a quick glaze toward Ezreal.

“Alone, preferably.”

Ezreal startled, getting out of his seat, supporting his hands on the table.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

“Well, I can leave–”

“Stay.” Lux spat out quickly, putting one of her hands above his.

She turned to look at Jayce again.

“Surely there’s nothing so secret you want to tell me that Ez can’t hear…?”

“It’s not that secret,” he replied, “I’d just rather that people that don’t need to know about it, didn’t.”

“Well, then there’s no problem,” she replied, trying to come up with an excuse. “If it isn’t that secret, there is the chance that I’d end up telling him eventually, but even if I didn’t, then–”

“I want you to be the next class president.” Jayce spit out before she could finish.

Lux gagged.

“What?” she let out, in a much softer tone than previously.

“You know I'm graduating this year,” he said, finally sitting on the chair beside her. “So reelection was always out of chances. If I could choose someone to take my seat, it'd be you.”

She blinked, lost for words.

“I– but…”

“The seat is decided through elections, of course, but past class presidents can express support and help out in the campaigns for the next elections if they're not shooting for reelection – or can't, in my case.”

He laid back.

“I'm not forcing you to do it, of course. But I really can't think of anyone more suited for it than you.”

Lux took a deep breath. She felt extremely honored that Jayce, of all people, thought she was the best fit for the job next year. But, still…

“I…” she cut eye contact, looking down and tightening her fists on her laps. “I don't think I'm ready.”

“You're kidding ,” Ezreal said, catching both hers and Jayce’s attention. “Like, Lux, you can't possibly be serious.”

“You’re the strongest person in our year, you dedicate yourself to it so much you often forget to do stuff that isn't related to the academy, and you’re already on the line for leading the Sorceress Club next year– if anything, you’re more than ready.”

“Not just that,” Jayce intervened. “But you are a natural leader. And, trust me, the way you always try to stay positive can come in handy with being class president. Especially when you have to deal with the bureaucracy.”

“Would people even vote for me, though?” Lux asked, putting her fists above the table. “Some people do hold some… grudges against me.”

“Nonsense,” he shook his head negatively. “Lux, even if some people don’t like you exactly because you’re that good, I trust most people would have the senses to recognize you’re the best fit. Can you even give me one name for whom you would vote for next year?”

Lux pressed her lips, not a single name coming up in her head.

“Again, I’m not pressuring or forcing you to do it. But, at least think about it?”

She looked at Ezreal, who had a soft smile on his face. He reached out his hand to hers..

“You should do it.”

Lux closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and thought about it for a while.

If Jayce himself thinks she’s the best choice…

She nodded, opening her eyes.

“I’ll do it.”

“Yes!” Jayce put his fist in the air and then hugged her, catching her off-guard. It lasted only a few seconds, as he pulled out and put his hands on her shoulder.

“I’ll help you throughout your campaign next year. And, if you get elected, I promise you can always call me if you end up needing help.”

He pulled his hands away, then looked at the counter.

“This calls for a celebration! Janna, give me a big cup of strawberry and orange smoothie! And I’ll pay for their smoothies over here!” 

Lux laughed.

“Shouldn’t we celebrate only when, you know, I actually get elected?”

Ezreal giggled. “With how stubborn you can be, getting you into it is an accomplishment itself.”

Lux rolled her eyes. “Shut up,” though there was no real intention behind it.

“Besides,” he added. “You're enough reason to celebrate.”

She looked at him. And, Lux swore, she had never seen Ezreal with a bigger smile on his face – not even the smile he had when she said “yes” to their first date could compare. He was genuinely and wholeheartedly happy for her. If only she could capture the moment in a photograph.

Lux blushed, averting her eyes.

“If you make me your third wheel, I'm making you pay for our smoothies.” Jayce joked.

They all laughed and settled into a small talk that would only end once club activities began. She was over the moon, only coming down to earth after warm-ups in the sorcery club.

“Dang it,” Lux let out, slapping her forehead, catching a few eyes. “I didn't tell him.”

Maybe next time, Lux.

4.

The universe liked to be cruel to Lux sometimes, apparently. Maybe that was just not her week. 

This time. though, she didn't need to come up with an appropriate time herself.

During their third period Lux got a note from Ezreal.

“meet me after club activities at valoran park?? :DD”

She raised an eyebrow at the note before writing back.

“what time?”

“like, around 5PM I think? so we can shower and stuff

or just go there immediately after showering unless u doing smthg”

Lux pressed her lips.

“would we be back before 7PM?”

“not sure”

“wdym not sure??”

“idk for how long we’ll be out”

“???? what are we even gonna do”

“secret ;)”

She sighed, biting her lower lip. For weekdays students were only allowed to be out of campus until 7 PM. Not that students haven’t found their way around those rules, of course. But she usually wasn’t a part of the crowd who’d break those rules. It wasn’t until she started to hang out with Ezreal that she found herself willing to break some rules, but even nowadays she was always skeptical about it. Always worried about getting caught and the consequences of it – especially if her parents were the ones who caught her.

Despite how curious she was to what he was planning, Lux was inclined to deny it. But she realized this could be the perfect opportunity to finally tell him about being a scientific experiment. With a deep inhale, she wrote back.

“ok”

“???? u feelin good?

u usually take a lot more convincing lol”

“stu before i change my mind”

“D:” 

Lux put the piece of paper inside her pencil case, biting the inside of her cheek while tapping her fingers. 5 PM after school it was, then.

⭐🗡️⭐

Valoran Park was always bursting with people. It made sense, considering it was the biggest park in Durandal City. During the summer, it often hosted attractions such as amusement parks, as it was the time when summer breaks happened, which meant parents would try to find something to do with their children, and teenagers always love a point to hang out with their friends. It wasn’t uncommon for Durandal students to hang out at the park after school, as short of a timeframe as they had to do so.

Lux got to their usual meeting spot at the park – underneath the sakura tree on the small hill – at exactly 5 PM, although she didn’t have to wait for too long.

“Lux!” a voice called behind her, making her turn around to see Ezreal approaching.

She can’t say she wasn’t a bit surprised when she saw him. While he was wearing his usual casual clothes, this was the first time she had seen him without his ponytail – and, for some reason, he brought a backpack with him.

He finally reached the top of the small hill.

“…You have your hair down.”

Ezreal smirked.

“You like it?”

“It’s… different. Different, but nice. Definitely nice.” she smiled.

“Well then.”

Ezreal bowed down, taking one of her hands to kiss it.

“Allow me to take you on a stroll, Milux?” he asked. Lux giggled.

“It’s Luxanna, actually,” she let his hand go as he got back up and tangled one of her arms around his as they started to walk. “But, yes.”

“Do you want some ice cream?”

“…Did you not know for how long we’d be out because you don’t know for how long you’d be in the bathroom?”

Ezreal blushed, and she could see the panic in his face.

“Braum’s ice cream!” he exclaimed. “Y’know, his lactose-free one! Ugh, y-you know I meant that!”

She laughed.

“And you fell for it!”

He groaned, turning his head to the side and trying to hide his blush with his free arm.

They went for their usual stroll around the park. Buying ice cream from Braum’s, complaining about a random school subject, about how harsh the club leaders were being, pushing the other out of the way, so fruits and berries wouldn’t fall on their heads whenever they walked underneath the trees, making sure to step on the berries that had already fallen because Ezreal liked the sensation – you know, the usual. By the time they reached the bridge at Lake Valoran, which was where their strolls usually ended, the sun was beginning to set. Lux took her cellphone out to look at the time – 6 PM. She squinted her eyes.

“So,” she called. “What else do you have planned?”

“Huh?”

She rolled her eyes, then raised an eyebrow.

“I know you didn’t bring me here just for our usual stroll, or else you wouldn’t have said you don’t know when we’d be back at Durandal. So, hit me.”

Ezreal took a deep breath.

“Right. There’s something I want to show you.”

He took his backpack out of his back, opening up to take his gauntlet out of it. As if on command, Lux immediately scolded him.

“We’re not supposed to use our power outside the school,” she said. “Not without a good reason, at least.”

“I know, I know,” he said, putting the gauntlet on. “Just– hear me out,”

He opened and closed his hand, making sure the gauntlet was put on properly.

“You know my Arcane Shift?” Ezreal asked, continuing as she nodded. “Well, I've been practicing it, lately. I was thinking about the possibility of bringing someone else with me during the teleport.”

Lux's eyes widened. “Really? I should've thought of that! Carrying someone else with you would actually be extremely useful in battles. Usually, when we're paired up I often end up worrying about giving you some support with my shield since you're often in vulnerable positions, but doing it with someone else means you may offer support back, not to mention that if the opponent doesn't know you can do it, then–”

Lux cut herself as she noticed him staring at her with an eyebrow raised. She coughed, straightening her posture and looking to the side to avoid eye contact.

“Sorry.”

“Cute,” he smiled. “But, yes. I've been practicing to see if it'd be possible to carry someone else during the spell.”

He raised his hand towards her.

“Allow me to demonstrate?”

She slowly took it, and he pulled her closer to stand side by side.

“…Why’re you smiling like that?” Lux asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ezreal giggled.

“You're lightened up.”

Lux could feel the heat coming up to her cheeks. Of course, Ezreal’s gauntlet made them work like a circuit, and she always forgets to control her magic when she’s that relaxed next to it. She averted her gaze, pouting, as she tried to visualize the magic force circuit in her head to cut it off.

“It'll feel a bit wonky at first, okay?” He asked, and she nodded.

In the next seconds, she felt a weird zap throughout her body, and as soon as she blinked, she and Ezreal were a few meters away from where they initially stood.

She felt dizzy, bringing her free hand to her head.

“The first few times are like that. It takes a while to get used to… you’re good?”

Lux was speechless.

“Ezreal… that… that was incredible!”

He giggled.

“I’m glad you liked it! I’ve… been practicing it for a few weeks to show it to you.”

Usually, this would result in her teasing him – he had expanded on his powers but for the sole reason of impressing her , instead of wanting to improve his control over his powers to excel at it.

But… when she looked at him with the sunset hitting his face just right, smiling like that simply because he had managed to impress her… Lux decided to let it slide for at least one night.

Something was still off, though.

“…That didn’t take long,” she pointed out. “What else do you want to show me?”

He averted his gaze.

“…Actually, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Ezreal said, scratching the back of his neck. “…It’s been… bugging me for a while. It’s about your powers.”

Lux felt her heartbeat accelerate.

Oh.

Maybe he figured out the whole god-weapon fragment thing?

Perhaps it is a good thing he did. Spare her from having to say it out loud. 

She held her breath.

“You have spell thief abilities, right?”

That… wasn't the question she was expecting.

“…Yes?” she replied, cocking her head to the side.

“Do you think you can copy my Arcane Shift, then?”

Lux started and blinked twice, a bit confused. If she concentrated, she could feel the flow of the magic going through Ezreal’s gauntlet.

“Maybe,” Lux replied. “But why, though?”

“Just trust me on this one,” Ezreal smirked. “I need you to try to copy it.”

She took a deep breath and started to try to sense the magic flow. If she just aligned her magic flux with the gauntlet…

Lux felt the zap throughout her body again, the dizziness coming back, making her hold onto the bridge handrail. Whereas Ezreal’s arcane shift had this reddish glow, her copy had a very white, bright one. She was a bit distant from where she originally was. Ezreal rushed towards her.

“I promise you get used to it,” he said, putting his hands on her shoulder. “Can you try to do it again?”

She nodded, trying once again. Ezreal pressed on for her to try over and over again until he decided she was better at it.

“Great,” he smiled. By now, the sun had already set. “Can you try taking me with you while you’re shifting?”

Lux sighed. “Did you bring me all the way here just so you could train me?”

The boy crackled a laugh.

“It’ll be worth it. You’re not tired, are you?”

She shook her head. “I can keep on. How do you go about it, to bring someone with you?”

“Think of it like this…”

Ezreal gave her applause, giggling when she finally managed to figure it out. After some extra attempts to make sure she actually got it, he spoke up.

“Great, now come over here,” he said, getting up on the handrail on his own two feet and extending his hand to help her get up there as well. She raised her eyebrow while taking his hand.

“See the end of the lake on that side?” the boy asked, pointing at it. Lux nodded slowly. “Think we can make it there if we arcane shift in sequence one after the other?”

Her eyes widened, as she finally picked up what he was putting down.

“Are you crazy?!” she let out. “What if we fall?”

“That’s why we’re at the lake. If we fall, the worst thing that’s going to happen is catching a cold.”

Lux pressed her lips, looking at the moonlight beginning to reflect above the water. He caressed her hand.

“…Just… trust me?”

She took a deep breath, nodding.

“Fine.”

They try it for the first time.

It was all wonky – Lux’s reaction time wasn’t perfect, as she had only recently even learned how to arcane shift, so sometimes she’d let them fall more than they should have. Although they didn’t end up in the water, Ezreal’s left foot did end up just in the border of the water, wetting his sock.

“Okay, let’s try this again.”

Lux wasn’t counting how many times they tried it again. She wasn’t really sure where Ezreal wanted to get with all that – although she could think of many ways of putting this to use in a battle, she didn’t quite understand why Ezreal came up and wanted to try something like this.

She spent the entirety of the last attempt looking down. Although they were constantly blinking in and out, if she ignored that, it was almost like she was walking in the air.

Ezreal seemed content at this attempt.

“Great,” he said, then pointed towards a building nearby. “Think we can do this from there?”

Lux stared.

“You want to… go over the park?”

“Yeah,” he said. “But, I want you to be just like you were right now. Paying attention to what’s around you when you’re not the one shifting.”

“Ezreal, that’s much more dangerous than just going across the lake.”

“I know!” he exclaimed, laughing. “That’s what makes it fun!”

He took her hand, pulling her towards the building and ignoring her protests.

Lux stared down once they reached the top of the building. The park was always stunning during the night. The illumination was beautifully done, always complementing the colors of the flowers on the trees. But the visuals didn’t do much to ease her out from the height. Falling from there would ensure at least a broken bone.

Ezreal took her hand and smiled at her.

“Ready?”

No, thank you.

She took a deep breath anyway and nodded. Ezreal arcane shifted.

Lux didn’t look down at first, trying to make sure she got their rhythm right to ensure they wouldn’t fall to their deaths. She only looked down when Ezreal extended his arms while still keeping their hands linked. It was when she realized it.

It wasn’t like they were flying or floating through the air, no – arcane shifting was way less graceful than any of that. But, just like at the lake, if she moved her legs during the blinks, she could almost pretend. 

Going over the park granted an amazing view that a stock point of view could never do. Her worries slowly calmed down as she took in the vision in between blinks.

She could hear Ezreal’s laughter in and out. And when Lux looked to the side, she could catch glimpses of his big smile, his hair flowing in the wind.

No, it wasn’t graceful at all. It was blinks and glimpses, controlling the trajectory of their fall. But it was fun. And it was theirs. And maybe that was enough to make it special.

It was around 8:30 PM when they finally got back to Durandal. Which meant they had to find their way to sneak around to the dorms.

“Okay,” Lux said, staring at the gates. “We can climb up without getting caught if I make us invisible–”

“There's no need for that,” Ezreal said. “We can just arcane shift through.”

Lux blinked.

Oh yeah, they can.

He grabbed her hand, then arcane shifted through the gate. In a blink, they were inside school territory.

“…If we do it one after the other, we can reach the dorms much quicker,” Lux suggested.

“Now, that’s what I’m talking about!” Ezreal smirked.

It really didn’t take long for them to reach the dorm building with it. In a matter of seconds, they were inside the building. The couple giggled as quietly as they could, exchanging looks while they Arcane Shifted through the hallway. Being able to do something like this would certainly come in handy for more than just “floating” through the air.

When they got close to the corridor that led to the male dorm rooms, however, Ezreal stumbled upon something. The impact made him almost fall on his back, letting go of Lux’s hand, and making Lux lose the alignment she had with the gauntlet. Ezreal looked upwards to see what he had hit, and his face immediately fell.

“Professor Graves,” he said, voice cracking.

Lux felt a chill down her spine, then looked at the Professor. He had his arms crossed and a raised eyebrow.

“Mr. Lymere,” Professor Graves said, looking at the boy, then changed to look straight at Lux. “Miss Crownguard.”

She immediately straightened her posture, putting a strand of her bangs behind her ear.

“…Oops?” 

The Professor puffed, then shook his head negatively while looking down with a smirk, as if holding down a laugh. That didn’t last long, as soon after, he uncrossed his arms and looked at Ezreal with a frown, going to his side to put a hand on his shoulder.

“Make it to the dorms without anyone else noticing, and we’ll never speak of this again.”

He put his hand down and started to walk out.

Lux and Ezreal exchanged perplexed looks for a few seconds, then started to laugh. The Professor stopped in his tracks to raise an eyebrow at them, making them stop.

“Tsk.” he let out, walking out once again.

Once he was out of sight, the couple looked at each other again and laughed, only to quiet themselves down a bit by jokingly shushing each other while holding down their giggles. They started to walk toward the male dorm rooms.

“Seriously, Ez. I really do think you’re Professor Graves’ favorite,” she whispered.

“Yeah, favorite stress ball, that is,” he whispered back, rolling his eyes.

“C’mon, you have to admit he has his moments with you! Like this one just now! There was no way he would have done that at the beginning of the year!”

“Maybe Akshan was right that he had a date?” Ezreal suggested in a mocking tone.

Lux buffed.

“I’ll get you to admit it one day, I know it.” she crossed her arms, pouting, as they finally reached the dorm. Ezreal took one of her cheeks in his hand to bring her closer to kiss the other.

“…See you tomorrow?”

Lux stared, then giggled, clasping his hand.

“Yeah, of course.”

He turned to open the door to the dorms but looked at her one last time to wave at her. She waved back and watched him enter the dorms, standing a bit, breathing in and out before making her way to her dorm room.

It was only when she put on her pajamas to sleep that she realized it.

“Shoot!” she slapped herself on her forehead, then covered her face with her hands as she threw herself over her bed. “I didn’t tell him! Again!”

Oh, well.

There was always tomorrow.

5.

No more distractions this time, Lux told herself. This was getting ridiculous, at this point. She wouldn’t wait to find the right moment now. Immediately after club activities, she’d make her way straight to where the battle club reunions happened, find Ezreal, bring him to the school rooftop – a quieter and more private place – and just tell him straight on, without further ado.

As soon as the bell rang, indicating it was finally 4 PM and the end of club activities, Lux got up from the bench she was resting – so quickly she got a black spotted vision, making her put one of her hands on her head.

“Wow, slow down, Lux,” Gwen said, putting her hands on her shoulder.

“Sorry,” Lux replied, sending her a soft smile.

“You’re not usually that eager to wrap up club activities,” Gwen squinted. “Got something to do after school?”

She grabbed her purse from the bench, putting it around her shoulders. “…Something like that.”

Gwen smirked. Lux turned around, and, immediately after seeing her expression, turned her face to the side, crossing her arms.

“W-why are you looking at me like that?”

The other girl laughed.

“Nothing, nothing!” she patted Lux on the shoulder. “You go, I’ll help the others.”

Gwen left, going to check on the other club members.

Lux felt the heat coming to her cheeks, immediately turning around to leave and make her way to the court where the battle club activities were held.

As she approached the court, she could see the students of the battle club through the court’s grid. They were all separated into small groups, sort of, with water bottles and towels in hand. The stand-out was Ezreal, who, instead of being with a group, sat near the center of the court, while the leader of the battle club was speaking to him. Lux couldn’t tell if it was a scold or if the leader was simply giving him some tips.

“What an unusual face to see at the battle club.” 

She jumped and turned around to see Akshan behind her.

“Akshan,” Lux put her hand above her chest. “What are you doing outside the court?”

He shook his water bottle.

“They just had to put the battle club on the single court that doesn't have a water fountain,” he rolled his eyes, then pointed at the gate with his head.

“C’mon, get inside.”

He opened the gate and entered the court, Lux following right behind him.

When they were approaching the area where Ezreal was sitting, it seemed like the club leader was done talking to him, turning around to talk to other members of the group.

Ezreal yawned, lying on his back.

At the same time, Lux, right behind him, inclined a bit of her torso to the front, supporting her weight with her hands on her knees, looking down at him.

“Wow!” he exclaimed, quickly sitting up. Lux giggled, going back to her normal posture as he turned and got on his knees.

“Lux! What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I need a reason to come see you now?”

Ezreal buffed.

“Not what I mean,” he said, getting up properly. “You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“Seems like you’re not the only one good at that art,” Lux teased Akshan, putting her hands on her hips and sending him a look. The boy rolled his eyes, choosing to ignore her.

“What was itnow?” Akshan asked Ezreal, pointing with his head towards the club leader.

“Positioning. Bad calls on where to arcane shift to. Said I need to look around better before deciding where I’m landing.”

Akshan buffed.

“After all that arcane shift training?”

Ezreal put his tongue out, scratching the back of his neck.

Lux couldn’t help but laugh at it, taking his other hand.

“Come with me to the school rooftop?” she asked, smiling. He smiled back, nodding and caressing her hand.

“Yeah, sure.”

Akshan buffed.

“Dang it, you guys are being extra this week.”

Lux called upon her staff to hit Akshan lightly on the head with it.

“Ouch!”

She giggled, looking at Ezreal once again and pulling him by the hand.

“Let’s go.”

As they finally reached the rooftop, Ezreal immediately made his way to the bench, throwing his body as he sat down, extending his legs and sliding his back down the wall as he groaned. Lux laughed.

“Was club activity that heavy today?” she asked, sitting by his left side with much more grace.

“You have no idea,” he said. “They’ve been extra pushy due to all the rumors about the competition. And that doesn't help with the other members’ mood at all.”

“Are they still giving you trouble?”

“Eh,” Ezreal shrugged. “I mean, it's much bettercompared to the beginning of the year. But, y’know, it could be waaaaaay better.”

“They'll come around, eventually,” she replied, putting a strand of her bangs behind her ear. “…depending on who's going to be the leader next year.”

Ezreal buffed, throwing his head backward for a bit.

“Don't even remind me, if only Akshan wasn't graduating this year…”

“I’d love to say you’d make a great leader,” Lux said. “But I’d be lying. If anything, you’d end up encouraging them.”

He let out a loud chuckle. “That sounds about right.”

A few seconds of silence, before he grabbed her hand.

“…You’ll be the perfect sorcery club leader, though.”

Lux rolled her eyes, holding off a giggle as she hit him on the side with her elbow. She then put her head above his shoulder, and they stayed like that for a few minutes.

Despite both of them being sweaty and smelly, it felt oddly nice to stay like that, looking at the sky through the rooftop’s grid. They were both busy people, and Lux wasn't very keen on PDA, so it wasn't often that they had moments like this within school grounds.

…It didn't take long for Ezreal to break it, though.

“So, what do you want?”

“Huh?” Lux took her head off to properly look at him.

“You don’t usually drag me out like this,” he pointed out. “Nor let me get this close at school. So… what’s up?”

She sighed, putting her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands.

“…There’s something I need to tell you about.”

And of course, as soon as she finished, the school’s speakers went loud, playing the school jingle.

They exchanged confused glances. The school jingle was only played when the announcement was considered of extreme importance to the school’s staff.

“Attention, all students! Attention, all students!” Principal Yuumi’s voice came through the speakers. “We request everyone’s presence at auditorium 3. Please, come as quick as possible.”

“What’s going on?” Ezreal asked, distressed.

“I don’t know,” she confessed. “The last time this happened was when Principal Du Couteau disappeared.”

“Well, Principal Yuumi’s clearly doing well–”

Lux hit him with her elbow, getting up and giving him a hand sign to accompany her.

“Let’s get going.”

The auditorium was loud, as students whispered to each other, wondering what this out-of-the-blue call was for. It didn’t take long for the couple to find a familiar face amongst the crowd.

“Hey,” Akshan called, putting his hand in the air to signal for them as they approached the crowd. “Any idea what this is about?”

“No clue,” Lux said, shaking her head negatively. “Last time the emergency ring was used was when Principal Du Couteau disappeared, but it doesn’t seem to be anything like that, now.”

“…The club leaders are all on the stage.” Ezreal pointed out. They turned to look at the auditorium’s stage, and, in fact, all the club leaders were standing behind the microphone for Principal Yuumi’s speeches.

Lux gasped.

“Do you think…?” Akshan asked.

“It might be.” the other boy shrugged.

Principal Yuumi finally went up on the stage. The microphone made the familiar sound of being turned on, making the students silence themselves as the principal fixed it by touching it with her paw.

“Thanks for being all present,” she started. “And I apologize for such a call immediately after club activities, but this announcement bears extreme importance, and it is better to do it sooner rather than later. As you know, the yearly cross-academy competition has yet to happen.”

The student's mumbling came back, although much weaker.

“Usually, it would be the last thing to happen in the school year. However, things are different this year. Due to the efforts of your very own assassin’s club leader, Katarina Du Couteau, the preparations for the competition went great enough that we could push it one month earlier.”

Katarina took one step forward, smirking and bowing, receiving applause from the student crowd. The trio exchanged looks.

“The selected students will have to deal with the competition and finals at the same time?” Ezreal whispered.

“Or they’ll make the competition a part of the finals for them.” Akshan reasoned.

“Doubt it,” Lux deadpanned. “They’d only do that if every competitor showed struggle with finals, but with Jayce being one of them…”

“Now,” Principal Yuumi continued. “Some changes were made to the competition this year.

“Previously, the competition was made out entirely of one-on-one battles. The student who’d won every single battle would snatch the prize for both the battles and the academy. But, when analyzed, we have come to realize that the best student often doesn’t reflect the best academy of the year. As a result, this year, students will mark points for both themselves and their academies. This way, the academy of the winning student won’t necessarily be the winning academy. It can be possible for a Babylon student to win, but Durandal wins the academy competition. With this, we will be having different battle styles throughout the entire tournament.”

“…Do you think that came from Katarina, as well?” she asked, whispering. Her boyfriend shrugged.

“Beats me. I mean– the rumors did say she and Swain were sort of working together, right? Maybe this system benefits Labrys?”

“Now, without further ado, we’ll announce the selected students for the competition.”

The crowd’s noise got louder – a mixture of worried whisperings and celebrations – the Principal sent a deadly gaze, quieting them down.

“As per tradition, of course, every club leader and the class president are automatically selected for the competition. As Class President Jayce Talis is also a club leader, our academy had an extra slot for a competitor. Please listen carefully as I read the selected names.”

“From the Battle Club, Akshan!”

Akshan startled, receiving screams and applause from the crowd.

“You deserve it!” Lux giggled.

“Nicely done.” Ezreal agreed.

“From the Assassin Club, Darius!”

Another round of celebrations.

“From the Battle Club, Ezreal!”

It was now time for Ezreal to be the one startled, tensing up immediately after, eyes widened. Lux grabbed his hand and caressed it, smiling softly.

“I knew you could make it.”

“Oh, way to go, man!” Akshan exclaimed, putting his arm around Ezreal’s shoulder.

“From the Sorcery Club, Luxanna!”

“Oh,” She gasped. “Seems like all three of us made it.”

Ezreal rolled his eyes.

“Did you seriously think you wouldn’t make it?”

“And, finally, from the Assassin Club, Vladimir!”

More applause, before the Principal finished her speech.

“We shall remind every student, especially the selected ones, of the fact that the school schedule is different during cross-academy competition procedures. For the selected ones, of course, you will have extra practice during weekends to prepare for the competition. Every student will have two days of the week free from club activities, as the competitors will be brought together to practice during club periods – which means your club leaders won’t be present to handle the activities. We must remind you, though, as this year Durandal will be the host of the competition, the days free from club activities will be used, so students can help with preparations. It is not an off day.”

“For the competitors, it has been decided every Professor will have their own way of dealing with your finals, considering you will be busy practicing for the competition. However, if you wish so, you can come to me if the way a Professor dealt with it wasn’t the best, and I’ll see what agreement we can all come to. Thank you all for listening, and now, without further ado, let the games begin.”

The school jingle played again as Principal Yuumi walked out, followed by the sudden screaming and cheering from the crowd as they could finally be as loud as they wanted to.

It was then that Lux froze, as she finally realized.

With the competition schedule, both she and Ezreal would be extremely busy.

Which meant, she probably wouldn’t have the time to tell him about it.

Fuck.

+1

It was the endgame of the cross-academy tournament.

After three weeks of battles, it all came down to be decided on the last battle of the tournament. Labrys and Durandal were tied for the academy competition, while Ezreal had a chance to pass Caitlyn and win the students' competition.

Although that could only happen if they win the upcoming battle, of course.

The last batch of battles planned for the tournament were double battles, with randomized pairs, who were announced alongside the brackets. She and Ezreal ended up as a pair.

Caitlyn’s partner was Garen.

Lux took a deep breath, staring at the television showing each competition's points in the cooldown room. Ezreal sat beside her.

“Are you nervous?” he asked.

“Shouldn't I be the one making this question?” Lux raised an eyebrow. “You're the one who can win the students' competition, you know?”

Ezreal shrugged.

“I'm not the one who's gonna battle my brother.”

“So you're not nervous?” she asked, avoiding the elephant in the room.

“Oh, heck yes,” Ezreal replied. “I think I threw up, like, twice already.”

Lux giggled. “Gross.”

“But I'm more worried about you.”

She pressed her lips, staying silent for a while.

“Garen…” She let out. “I know he’s mad. And… I understand why. I can’t blame him for it, even if it might be misdirected.”

She sighed.

“I know he wouldn’t go that far with me, but… I just… I wish he could hear me out.”

Lux tightened her fists.

“Maybe he will, eventually,” Ezreal said, shrugging. “Maybe this is your chance to fix your bond!”

Lux laughed. “At the endgame of a tournament? Doubt it. ‘Garen, I’m so sorry! But Mother and Father are the ones who mistreated you! LUCENT SINGULARITY!’”

The boy chuckled.

“You never know,” he said. “Things only got better with my uncle after I threw a picture frame at the wall.”

They stayed in silence for a moment. Lux took a breath and straightened her posture.

“We-we’ll win,” the girl put a strand of her bangs behind her ear. “For Jayce, if not for us.”

“Right,” Ezreal's voice cracked. He pulled his legs up to hug them. “For Jayce.”

“Ez,” she called, putting a hand over his shoulder. “You're strong enough. I know that, even Jayce knows that. He wouldn't have asked you to make that promise if he didn't believe in you.”

Ezreal's gauntlet started sending energy waves in the magic flow. She tried to ignore it.

“…I just wish you could see it. Durandal wouldn't have touched you and your gauntlet if that wasn't the case.”

“Great. So we have a combination of family affairs and Jayce's trust in me for this battle. No problem at all, we can handle it.”

Lux buffed, holding down her laughter as she hit his sides with her elbow. This only made him laugh back.

Before she could scold him or say anything else, the tournament's fanfare played through the speakers.

Ezreal slowly got up, extending his hand towards her. She took it, getting up as well.

He took a deep breath.

“Let's get this over with.”

It was time.

The battle was tough, to say nonetheless.

Not only were Caitlyn’s powers annoying – she was full of traps, which meant they had to be careful not only on where they were stepping but with her aim as well due to the net – but Garen was extremely resistant. Their best shot was Ezreal’s speed and Lux’s light traps, but Caitlyn made sure to keep Lux at a distance and never let Ezreal develop his speed further.

It was tough, annoying, and tiresome.

Tiresome to her ears, of course. Because Caitlyn simply could not shut up, saying Lux was holding back.

She knew better. She knew this was only Caitlyn provoking her, trying to anger her. It didn’t make it any less annoying.

Or, at least, Lux thought she knew better.

Ezreal made a risky move toward Garen. She knew this would end with him arcane shifting.

Looking at the angle, she had two options. Lux could use her light trap on Garen or send her staff to shield Ezreal during his arcane shift for extra protection.

She chose the second one, and that’s when it happened.

“Oh, c’mon!” Caitlyn scoffed. “Is that really all a fragment of a god-weapon can do? What a shame.”

Lux’s breath stopped. Although she couldn't see it, Ezreal looked at her with widened eyes. She looked at her brother, who was gagged and staring at Caitlyn.

“You told her?” she demanded, eyebrows furrowed. 

“Lux,” Garen let out, a little breathless. “It’s– it’s not like tha–”

She took a step to get closer, lowering down her staff and pointing at him. “You had no right–”

“Headshot.” Caitlyn whispered.

Suddenly, Lux was tackled. She barely looked to see a flush of blonde hair, before feeling her body teleporting to the side – Ezreal. A bullet went in a straight line to where she was before, hitting the invisible shield that protected the audience.

Right, there was a battle going on.

“Hpmf,” Caitlyn buffed. “Such a little rogue god-weapon needs to be put back in her place.”

Rogue?

Lux felt the waves of Labrys’ energy bursting out of Caitlyn’s rifle.

No, she was not the rogue one here. Whatever was going on inside the other girl’s head was messing up badly with Labrys’ touch on her weapon. Lux could feel it.

She tried to move to the side, but she felt a pull on her leg. Both she and Ezreal looked down, only to realize they were stuck in a trap.

It was an ambush, and Ezreal fell right onto it.

Caitlyn started to charge her rifle, and, for Lux, everything after it went almost in slow motion.

She felt the flow of Ezreal’s gauntlet, almost as if pounding on her ears, even.

Lux would not let this end like this. Not after having been exposed in this way. Neither of them had any rights.

She took a deep breath and concentrated all her energy on aligning her magic with the gauntlet.

The power of the god-weapon felt heavy on her bones, but she was a fragment. She could deal with it. She had to.

Caitlyn’s trap opened. The energy started to whirl around her body, and she felt herself levitating, a bow of light forming in her hands.

“CRIMSON COBALT!” she screamed.

And then everything went black.

⭐🗡️⭐

During her time in the infirmary, she was constantly in and out of consciousness. From the small bits where she remembered being somewhat conscious, she remembered Nurse Karma’s voice, the faces of her brother and Ezreal, alongside his laughter.

Once she finally completely gained conscience, the first thing she felt was an ache throughout her body.

“You’re awake,” the strong voice of Karma resonated. Lux tried to sit up, and Karma quickly came to hold her and help her sit up. “Slowly. Don’t push yourself too much.”

Lux groaned, putting a hand above her head.

“Karma…?”

Nurse Karma nodded.

“That’s right. It’s me. Do you remember what happened before you collapsed?”

She squinted her eyes.

“There was… the competition. It was me and Ezreal against Caitlyn and Garen, and…”

Oh.

That’s right.

Caitlyn exposed her as a god-weapon.

Nurse Karma nodded once again.

“Yes, do you remember what happened right before?”

“…I copied Ezreal’s ultimate move.”

Nurse Karma smiled.

“Yes. You overloaded your system, so that’s why you collapsed that badly. You exposed your body to an amount of energy it wasn’t prepared to receive.”

Lux pressed her lips, closing her fists.

“But don’t be mistaken,” the nurse added. “Lux… not even your parents predicted you could do something like that. If you train and expose yourself slowly, you can do it again without harming yourself. But be reasonable.”

She nodded.

“My whole body is aching.”

Karma gave a small laugh.

“Of course it is. You were out for three days,” the nurse walked around to grab some medicine and a cup of water. “Take this. Take it every six hours for the next four days, and you’ll be back to your usual rhythm in no time. Depending on how you’re feeling tonight, you’ll be back at your dorms.”

Lux nodded, accepting the medicine and the cup of water. Nurse Karma walked out of the room. She was back by her side after Lux drank the medicine.

“Ezreal’s here to see you.”

Lux pressed her lips, taking a deep breath.

It was a long time coming, but it was finally time to face it.

“He can come in.”

The nurse nodded and walked out of the room. A few moments later, Ezreal came in.

She looked at him. He let out the breath he was holding, expression only slightly softening up.

“How're you feeling?” Ezreal asks, sitting down on the bed with his arms crossed.

Lux moved a bit slowly to sit side by side with him.

“Fine,” she answered. “My body is still aching, but it's manageable, honestly.”

He nodded.

“I can imagine. You were knocked out for a while.”

“The nurse told me. Feels weird to not have been active for three days.”

The boy smirked. “At least it made you finally take some rest days.”

Lux rolled her eyes and jokingly hit his side with her elbow, making both of them giggle. She then pressed her lips, preparing for what she knew was coming next.

Ezreal looked at her for a bit, then moved his eyes to look at the other side of the room as he caressed his right arm a bit. She heard him breathe in and out before speaking up.

“So, a god-weapon, huh?”

Despite knowing that it was coming, she felt her heart sink. Lux moved her body to be able to look straight forward at him.

“I'm so, so, sorry,” Lux said. “I didn't mean to never tell you that, I was trying to, ever since I found out, but then– but then Katarina, then Akshan, even Jayce- and then you distracted me with your arcane shift, and then the competition was announced, and then we were too busy and–”

“Hey,” he cut her, uncrossing his arms and putting his hands on hers. “Slow down.”

She took a deep breath and looked at their joined hands.

“I only found out about myself recently,” Lux started. “My parents always said I was a miracle and stuff like that, but I figured my mother just had a difficult pregnancy or something like that. But… after Garen got in trouble at Labrys, my aunt sat down with me and told me the truth: I’m the result of years of research and experimentation with a god-weapon fragment. It's why I can channel my powers without my staff, being a fragment of a weapon myself.”

Lux shifted again, removing her hands and sitting with their shoulders side by side again, eyes still looking down.

“It kinda flipped my whole world upside down, y'know? Randomly finding out one day that I'm not… actually a human. Not in the ‘traditional’ way, at least. And that there was an entire research team hoping to see me accomplish greatness and stuff like that. Not just that, but every single adult around me knew, except myself. That's why the school staff was careful about what other students discussed about me, y'know? It took me a while to process… all that.”

She stiffed her posture, turning her head towards him.

“And, I've been meaning to tell you! But every time I tried to, something happened!” 

Ezreal blinked, then his expression fell, her failed attempts flashing through his mind.

“We kept being interrupted by everyone and their mom, and then– then you distracted me with your Arcane Shift! And then the tournament was announced, and we were both busy, and Garen told Caitlyn about it! You shouldn't have found out that way, I'm sorry.”

She took another breath before continuing, looking down again.

“I understand if you're mad. And like, if this whole deal changes how you see me, too. Since I'm not… y'know.”

Ezreal lifted an eyebrow, looking at her.

“I'm not mad,” he replied, raising his right hand to the back of his neck to scratch it. “If anything, I should have paid more attention to notice you tried to tell me stuff more than once and asked you about it. I'm sorry.”

Lux shook her head negatively, giggling a bit.

“I guess you're kind of an airhead, sometimes.”

He chuckled. “My bad.”

Ezreal put his hand down, then put his hand above hers once again.

“And, for the record, that doesn't change anything.”

“…Really?”

“Hell yeah!” Ezreal exclaimed. “Let’s see, your favorite food is cake, you love listening to music, you like to dance, but you’re always afraid to because you don’t have much practice. Your favorite movie is Crime City, and your secret favorite book is Monster Tamers. You’re always there to try to keep me from getting myself into trouble, am I right?”

Lux nodded, slowly.

“Then as far as I’m concerned, you’re still the girl who works her ass off to do well in class, who laughs with me, always tries to see the positive side of stuff, and kicks ass in battle. I mean, look at what you did during that duel! If your power comes from being a god-weapon fragment, then that just makes you, like, extra cool on top of everything else. But, you’re still Lux.”

She giggled, feeling heat reaching her face.

“Besides, I don't think there's anything that could change the fact that I love you, so.”

Lux froze for a few seconds, before abruptly turning her head to look at him. That had been the first time Ezreal said it to her. His eyes were wide, and immediately after they locked eyes, Ezreal put both his hands on his mouth. She could see a bit of his face going red.

She started breathing again, and couldn't control the smile that was coming to her face.

Ezreal removed his hands to speak once again.

“I'm–”

Lux cut him off, immediately taking his face in her hands to kiss it multiple times.

“Hey, hey hey hey–” he said, jokingly struggling against her. “I thought I was supposed to be the overly affectionate one?”

Lux rolled her eyes, stopping the kisses and settling on a hug, to which he returned. “Shut up.”

They stayed like that for a few minutes, before Ezreal spoke up again.

“Do you know which god-weapon, though? Because if it's Durandal, just know I'm never shutting up about you technically choosing me.”

Lux buffed and hit him with an elbow.

She would only admit it much later on, but she did like to believe she would choose him, always.