Chapter Text
Did Aether and Lumine want to be here?
Helllllll no.
Their parents, ever so interested in “exploring” and getting “tired” of desolate, boring towns, had packed up their bags and moved their entire family across the country during their last year of high school.
They stood at the gates of the school.
“This is so sick and twisted.”
Lumine clutched her head in despair, as if her brain’s rent was due.
“It won’t be so bad.”
Aether shrugged, as if they hadn’t just had their friends, their school, and basically their entire teenage lives ripped away from them a week ago.
“Fine.” Lumine sighed. “I’ll just have to be the cool, nonchalant, mysterious new girl.”
She straightened her posture and started practicing what she imagined to be her most coolest expression.
Aether stared at her.
“Okay, stop.”
Lumine turned toward him.
“Now you just look stupid.”
She dropped the expression.
“You being nonchalant? Mysterious?” Aether shook his head. “Bro, the second someone tries to pick a fight with you, your first thought is gonna be to punch them.”
“It is so not!” Lumine slapped his arm, although there was barely enough force behind it to qualify as a hit.
“It totally so is.” Aether immediately grabbed his arm with a face of disgust like she’d just broken it. “Look what you just did. I’m gonna tell Mom on you.”
He stuck out his tongue.
Lumine’s eye twitched.
“You wouldn’t dare…”
A dangerous look slowly crept across her face.
“Hello! You guys must be the new kids!”
A very, very short girl suddenly appeared right in the middle of their sibling argument.
Both twins immediately dropped their fake anger.
“Hi! Don’t mind my sister. She’s a nut job.” Aether pointed at her. “I’m Aether, and the crazy lady who stole all my nutrients in the womb is Lumine.”
“…”
Lumine slowly clenched her hands into fists.
She was going to beat the absolute shit out of him.
Just maybe not before their first day of school.
She took a deep breath, forced a smile onto her face, and turned toward the girl.
“Hi. It’s nice to meet you. What’s your name?”
“I’m Paimon! Hehe!” The girl who just seemed to be getting shorter and shorter beamed. “Paimon will be showing you guys around Mondstadt High!”
She threw a fist into the air.
Lumine stared at it.
…It was somewhat motivating.
Lumine leaned toward Aether and lowered her voice.
“Are all the people in this school this short…? Here I thought we were short.”
Aether slowly turned his head toward her.
The look on his face said enough.
“What?” Lumine whispered.
“Paimon heard that!”
The twins froze. They looked at Paimon. Then at each other.
Great. She talks in third person too.
Maybe twin telepathy really did exist.
“Well, since Paimon is so nice, she will continue to guide you two.”
“Oh, thanks. We appreciate that.” Aether awkwardly scratched the back of his head, apparently attempting to repair the friendship his sister had just destroyed.
“Yeah, thanks. We’ll need it.” Lumine gave Paimon a small nod.
Mondstadt High was… actually kind of insane.
Their old high school had been full of plain, modern buildings that all looked practically identical. Mondstadt was the complete opposite. Tall windows, intricate architecture, old-fashioned details—
Lumine’s eye darted around the school.
“I feel like I’ve been teleported to the 1800s.”
For once, she was unusually quiet.
Paimon grinned.
“Paimon’s been told this school was built a longgggg time ago! But not as long as Liyue High, though.” She suddenly looked very proud of herself.
“Liyue is full of haughty, taughty money grabbers. Remember that.”
“I see, I see.” Aether nodded, mentally filing away the information.
“Our mascot is a falcon, and our school colors are blue and white. Remember that!”
“Does she have to end every sentence with ‘remember that’…?” Lumine muttered.
“And why do you wake up on the wrong side of the bed every day? So many questions out there unanswered, right?”
Aether flicked her forehead.
“Ow!”
“Work on your manners bruh.”
Before Paimon could respond, another voice cut into the conversation.
“Don’t mind Paimon. She can be quite…”
Aether and Lumine turned.
A blue haired boy stood nearby, wearing a grin that immediately told Lumine he was going to be annoying.
“…I don’t even know. There’s not a single word to describe her.” He chuckled.
“The name’s Kaeya. Nice to see two new faces who don’t look like they want to kill me yet.”
Lumine stared at him.
Nope.
Absolutely not.
She knew exactly what type of guy he was.
Kaeya noticed her expression almost immediately.
“C’mon, don’t make that face yet.” He clutched his chest dramatically. “We’ve only just met.”
He gave her an exaggeratedly wounded look like he was a rabbit and Lumine was the hunter who just caught him in a trap.
Lumine’s expression didn't change. Not even a little.
“Sorry, my sister’s just going through puberty. She doesn’t understand common sense yet.” Aether gestured toward her. “The teenage nightmare’s name is Lumine.”
Lumine’s disgusted expression disappeared. Slowly, her hands curled into fists. Aether either didn’t notice or simply didn’t care. She bet on the latter.
“I’m Aether. Nice to meet you, Kaeya.”
He held out his hand, which Kaeya graciously took.
“Pleasure’s mine.”
Lumine stared at the two of them.
She was going to kill Aether.
Later.
After Paimon’s relentless overload of information about.
Every.
Damn.
Single.
Room.
She finally stopped at the end of a hallway, right in front of the principal’s office.
“This is it, guys!” Paimon announced, pointing toward the door. “Our principal, Mr. Venti, is very nice, even if he smells suspiciously like alcohol sometimes…” She paused.
“But that’s it for now! Paimon has to get to class. She’ll see you guys later!”
“Thank you for the guide, Paimon…” Aether sighed.
His feet were begging for mercy. Preferably in the form of a chair. And maybe a noose depending on how this day turned out.
“It took so long…” Lumine muttered.
She rubbed her temples.
“But thanks.”
Paimon gave them one last wave before disappearing down the hallway.
Lumine watched her go.
Silence.
Finally,she could feel her sanity returning.
Then Aether had to open his mouth.
Lumine slowly turned toward him.
“Don’t.”
“I didn’t even say anything.”
“Exactly.”
She knocked on the door first. At this point, Lumine just wanted to get through the damn day.
“Come innnnn!” A bright, melodic voice answered almost immediately.
Lumine opened the door.
“Oh, it’s youuuu two! Great to see you bothhhh.” The man behind the desk smiled at them. His words were slurred.
“Are you deadass—”
Before Lumine could finish, Aether slapped a hand over her mouth.
The look on his face said everything.
Don't you dare.
Lumine rolled her eyes and pulled his hand away.
“Good morning, Mr. Venti,” Aether said, smiling politely. “We just finished our tour, and we’re here to get our schedules.”
“Comeeee anddd sit down like good kids, hehe.” His legs were kicking happily beneath the desk.
Lumine stared at him.
Was this really their principal?
“Yes, sir.”
She sat down first.
Aether's jaw nearly dropped. He wiped away an imaginary tear. His little sister (he’s fucking lying, he’s the younger twin) was finally growing up.
He sat down beside her.
“Here you guys go!”
Mr. Venti slid a paper toward each of them.
“Feel free to choose whichever elective you want and go to the counselors office to register for them. They’re superrr fun, and you even get to go to the other schools!”
“You can?” Aether tilted his head.
“Yes! Now shoo, shoo! Off you go. Mr. Venti has some drinking—”
He paused.
“—I mean, paperwork to do.” He nodded very seriously with a thumbs up. As if his mishap was saveable at this point.
“Very hard. Very time consuming. Lots of thinking. No other activities, of course.” He grinned nervously.
Lumine stared at him.
Unbelievable.
What kind of school had they moved to?
Aether grabbed her arm and started dragging her toward the door.
“Thank you for your help, Mr. Venti.”
“No problem!” Venti waved. “If any kids are kicking your asses—er, I mean…”
He scratched his chin trying to come up with a better word.
“Arses? Yeah that works.” He mumbled to himself.
Aether stopped.
Lumine looked back filled with disbelief.
“Come to me and I’ll give them a gooooodddd smacking, alright?”
Venti reached into his desk drawer.
“Legally, not actually, of course.” He continued on. The sound of a bottle clanking against the desk could be heard.
Aether's smile became noticeably more nervous.
“Yeah…”
He quickly resumed dragging Lumine out of the office while she just stared blankly ahead.
“What kind of dimension are we living in right now?”
Aether said nothing.
“Is this real?”
Still nothing.
“Are we real?”
Aether continued dragging her down the hallway.
“Am I real?”
“Lumine.”
“What?”
“Please stop talking.”
A smack to the back of the head reached Aether before he could even take another step.
“Unfortunately, our schedules aren’t that different.” Aether rubbed the back of his head. “Looks like this is our first class.”
“What do you mean, unfortunately—”
Aether opened the door before she could finish. Immediately, every pair of eyes in the classroom turned toward them.
Great.
“Haha, sorry for the intrusion.” Aether gave an awkward little wave. “We just transferred.”
“Oh! Aether and Lumine, I assume?”
The teacher looked up from his desk.
“I’m Mr. Musk. Find a seat anywhere that’s available.”
Lumine scanned the room. There was an empty seat next to Kaeya.
Of course there was.
Kaeya noticed her looking and immediately waved. It was probably the most performative, grimy, almost cool wave she had ever seen.
Lumine stared at him for a second.
Absolutely not.
Then she noticed the other empty seat.
It was at the same table, next to a brown haired girl with a bright smile already aimed in their direction.
That seemed safer.
Somewhat.
“Come on,” Lumine muttered.
She grabbed Aether’s sleeve and started toward the table.
“Wait, wait, wait—” Aether whispered. “Why are you avoiding him?”
“Because I don’t like him.”
“You’ve known him for, like, five minutes.”
“Exactly.”
Aether sighed.
“That’s not how people work.”
“It is now.”
The brown-haired girl quietly laughed as they approached.
“Hi! You can sit here if you want.”
Lumine paused.
Well.
She was already nicer than Kaeya. That wasn’t a particularly high bar to cross, but still.
“Thanks.”
She dropped her bag beside the desk and sat down.
The girl smiled.
“I’m Amber.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Lumine.”
She was always nicer to nice girls.
Guys, on the other hand, were a different story. The only one she could tolerate for more than five minutes was her brother and that was barely.
“This unlucky guy right here will be sitting next to Kaeya.” Lumine gestured toward Aether. “His name is Aether.”
Aether stared at her.
“Unlucky?”
“You heard me.”
Amber covered a laugh with her hand.
Aether sighed and scratched the back of his head.
“Nice to meet you too, I guess.”
“I don’t bite.” Kaeya shrugged, holding up his hands in surrender.
Lumine raised an eyebrow.
“Great. Aether’s all skin and bones anyway. He probably wouldn’t taste very good.”
There was a brief silence.
Amber snorted.
Kaeya blinked though a smile began to form on his lips.
Aether, in disbelief, slowly turned toward his sister.
“What the hell?”
“What? Maybe there are guys who like that. You’ll finally get a boyfriend one day. There’s still hope for you, so don’t worry your big brain one bit.” Lumine smiled.
She was proud of herself.
Very proud.
That was a damn good line.
That’s what you get.
She was practically cackling in her head.
Aether smacked her on the head.
Lumine immediately turned toward him, already preparing to return the favor.
Before she could smack him back, or get a word out, the lesson began.
She slowly lowered her hand though her expression didn’t get any better.
Saved by the bell.
She stuck out her tongue at Aether, who promptly ignored her and started taking notes instead.
Across the table, Amber and Kaeya were doing their absolute best not to laugh. Judging by the way Amber's shoulders were shaking, she wasn't doing a very good job.
Mr. Musk glanced at the clock.
“Well, I suppose that’s enough suffering for one morning.”
The class collectively looked up with eyes full of hope.
“Since it’s your first day back, I’m not going to make you do anything too serious. Take out a piece of paper and write down three things you’d like to accomplish this semester.”
A few students groaned.
Mr. Musk waved them off.
“Nothing complicated. You have ten minutes.”
The classroom settled into silence.
For about thirty seconds.
Then pencils started dropping onto desks. Someone in the back whispered something that made half the class laugh.
Mr. Musk looked at the clock again.
“…Actually, forget the ten minutes.”
He leaned back in his chair.
“You guys can have free time.”
The room immediately came alive.
Lumine glanced at Aether's paper. A terrible idea entered her mind. She grabbed his pencil and wrote.
My goal is to get a boyfriend who loves femboy like me.
She slid the paper back toward him.
Aether read the sentence in approximately two seconds.
He picked up his pencil.
Lumine watched him write something down before sliding the paper back.
She looked at it.
My goal is to get a life.
“…”
Lumine slowly looked up at him.
Aether was already staring straight ahead, pretending absolutely nothing had happened.
“You're so annoying.” A vein could be seen popping out from her forehead.
“It's free time. I'm setting goals.”
“That's not a goal.”
“Neither was yours.”
Lumine narrowed her eyes.
Amber, sitting across from them, was starting to catch on. She leaned slightly toward Kaeya.
“Are they always like this?”
Kaeya with a full fledged out grin watched the twins silently argue through increasingly aggressive pencil scribbles.
“I hope so.”
“So,” Amber said, still smiling, “are you guys enjoying Mondstadt so far?”
Aether glanced around the classroom. “Honestly? Yeah. It’s pretty nice.”
Lumine looked at him.
“Really?”
“You don't think so?”
“The principal smells like alcohol.”
Kaeya snorted.
Amber immediately covered her mouth again and a small, ‘You’re not wrong’ type of smile could be seen forming on her lips.
“Okay,” she admitted. “That's fair.”
“And Paimon talked for approximately seven hundred years.”
“She does that.”
“And she talks about herself in third person.”
“Yeah.”
Lumine stared at Amber.
“You're all just okay with this?”
Amber shrugged.
“You get used to it.”
Kaeya leaned back in his chair.
“Paimon's actually one of the more normal people here.”
Lumine slowly turned toward him with her eyebrow raised.
“I don't believe you.”
“That's because you're new.”
Aether laughed.
“So, what do you guys usually do around here?”
Amber brightened.
“Oh, there's a lot to do. Clubs, sports, events… and CTE.”
“CTE?” Aether asked.
“Career Technical Education.” Amber tapped her pencil against the desk. “You can take classes that actually relate to careers you're interested in.”
Lumine leaned forward slightly.
Mr. Venti shooed them out to indulge in drinking before they could even get to the specifics. That sounded more useful than whatever random elective she'd been expecting.
“Like what?”
“Pretty much everything. Culinary, business, medical programs, law, engineering…”
Kaeya cut in.
“Civil Justice.”
Amber looked at him.
“You're taking Civil Justice?”
“Yep.”
Lumine raised an eyebrow.
“Really?” She asked.
Kaeya smiled.
“Surprised?”
“A little.”
“Why?”
“You don't look like someone who enjoys following laws.”
Aether immediately covered his mouth, his face filled with invisible tears. His kid sister (again, he’s fucking lying) was heartless. How would she ever make friends? Those were the thoughts running through his head.
Amber let out a small laugh.
Kaeya put a hand over his heart with the same expression on his face from earlier.
“That hurts.”
“You'll live.”
“I might not.”
Amber quickly changed the subject.
“I’m doing EMT, but what are you two interested in?” she asked with a smile.
Aether glanced down at the large list of CTE programs.
“History and Archaeology is more my sort of thing.”
“Oh, that’ll be at Liyue High!”
Aether's face immediately brightened.
“Even better. I get to be away from Lumine.” The smile on his face could save even the most evil. Except for the fact his sister was a demon.
Lumine slowly turned toward him looking pissed.
“You say that like you don't follow me everywhere.”
“You're my sister. It's not exactly a choice.”
“Sounds like a you problem.”
Amber giggled.
“What about you, Lumine?” Kaeya asked.
“Forensics.”
Kaeya glanced over the list.
“Natlan High.”
Lumine nodded.
“I guess so.”
Amber smiled. “I'll be there too.”
“Thank God,” Lumine muttered.
Amber laughed. “See? You'll have someone you know there.”
Kaeya leaned back in his chair. “I'm heading to Fontaine for Civil Justice.”
Lumine looked at him.
“Fontaine?”
“Yep.” He replied with a curt nod and a grin plastered all over his face.
She nodded slowly with a smile.
“Great.”
Kaeya raised an eyebrow.
“Great?”
“Very.”
Aether snorted.
Kaeya put a hand over his heart. “Wow. You really don't want to see me outside of school, do you?”
“I'd rather keep my peace.”
“That's horrible.”
Amber giggled.
“I'm sure we’ll have fun when you get there.”
“Yeah, that makes me feel a lot better now.”
Lumine let out a small smile.
“Wow. I see how it is…” Kaeya scoffed playfully.
Aether just watched the whole exchange unfold, quietly laughing to himself.
After the numerous classes, it was finally time for lunch. The twins hadn't shared their fourth period together, much to their mutual relief.
Lumine pulled out her phone as she walked through the crowded hallway.
Lumine: where r u
The reply came almost immediately.
Aether: in front of u stupid
Lumine raised her eyebrow and looked up. Aether was standing directly in front of her, staring down at his phone.
She stared at him.
He stared back.
“You're an idiot.”
“You texted me.”
“You could've just said something.”
“You could've looked up.”
Lumine rolled her eyes. “Fine you win. Where are we sitting?” Aether pointed toward the cafeteria. “Amber said she saved us a table.” Lumine followed his gaze.
Sure enough, Amber was waving them over and Kaeya was sitting beside her.
Lumine stopped walking.
“…Why is he here?”
Aether sighed.
“Because he's a person, Lumine.”
“Damn it.”
They made their way across the cafeteria. The noise seemed to multiply with every step.
Hundreds of conversations blended together into one giant wall of sound, chairs scraped against the floor, and somewhere nearby someone was already yelling about stealing their fries.
Lumine glanced around.
So this is lunch.
She'd barely sat down when Amber leaned forward.
“Okay! I want you guys to meet some of my friends.”
Lumine glanced at Aether.
“Are we being introduced to the entire school?”
“Probably,” Aether whispered.
Amber gestured toward the girl sitting beside her.
“This is Barbara.”
The blonde girl smiled brightly.
“Hi! It's really nice to meet you!”
“Likewise, I’m Lumine.”
“Nice to meet you, I’m Aether.”
Barbara's smile widened. “You two are the twins, right?”
“Unfortunately,” Lumine sighed.
Aether lightly kicked her ankle underneath the table. She looked at him like she was gonna kill him.
Barbara laughed.
“Paimon told us about you!”
Lumine froze and face palmed.
“Of course she did.”
Amber laughed.
“She was really excited that she got to show you around.”
“I noticed.”
Before the conversation could continue, a boy practically dropped into the seat across from them.
“Hey! You guys are the new students!”
He looked excited.
Almost too excited.
“I'm Bennett!”
“Hi,” Aether said.
Bennett smiled.
“So, uh… welcome to Mondstadt High!”
“Thank you.” Lumine curtly nodded. Younger guys were okay in her book. Some of them were still sleazy but he seemed fine.
“Yeah! I hope you have better luck here than I do.”
There was a pause.
Amber looked at him.
“Bennett.”
“What?”
“Don't say that to the new students.” A bead of sweat rolled down from her forehead.
“What? I'm just being honest!” He threw a fist into the air.
“Don't worry. That's just Bennett.” Kaeya laughed.
Lumine looked between them.
“Is he always like this?”
“Yes,” Barbara spoke with a nervous smile.
“No,” Bennett said at the same time with a frown.
Everyone looked at him.
“…Okay, maybe.” He scratched his head.
A quiet voice came from beside Barbara.
“Lumine.”
She looked over.
A boy with pale hair and red eyes was watching her.
“Razor.”
Lumine blinked.
“…Oh, well hi.”
Razor nodded.
“New.”
“Very observant.”
Aether snorted.
Razor looked at him.
“You laugh.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean it.” His face dropped.
Razor seemed to consider this but ultimately decided.
“Good.”
Lumine stared.
Okay maybe what Kaeya said about Paimon not even being the worst of them wasn’t wrong.
Amber suddenly pointed toward the seat beside Razor.
“And that's Fischl.”
A girl with long blonde hair sat there, seemingly absorbed in whatever she was writing.
She slowly lifted her head.
“Ah. The newly arrived wanderers have finally crossed into the domain of Mondstadt.”
Lumine blinked.
Aether blinked.
Bennett leaned toward them.
“She talks like that all the time don’t take it the wrong way.”
“I do not!” Fischl snapped a hue of pink brushing her cheeks.
A pause.
She straightened herself up.
“I merely choose to communicate with a more refined vocabulary, you all would not understand.”
Kaeya leaned back. “That's exactly what someone who talks like that would say.”
Fischl glared at him.
“Silence, you fool of a rake.”
Amber laughed.
Lumine looked around the table.
Bennett was already arguing with Fischl with Barbara trying her best to mediate.
Razor was quietly eating…. or as quietly as a boy eating his mac and cheese with his two bare hands could?
Kaeya was clearly enjoying himself.
Amber looked like she was having the time of her life.
It was…
Lumine looked down at her food trying her best to hold back a smile.
…not terrible.
Aether nudged her shoulder.
“You look happy.”
“I don't.”
“You do.”
“I don't.”
“Your face isn't doing the scary thing.”
Lumine immediately scowled.
“There.”
“Nevermind then.” Aether laughed.
Amber leaned across the table.
“So! What did you guys think of your first day?”
Lumine opened her mouth.
“Terrible.”
“It's been, like, four hours!” Amber laughed.
“Exactly.”
Kaeya rested his chin against his hand and spoke, “I think she's starting to fit in.”
Lumine begrudgingly looked at him.
“Don't say things like that.” She shuddered, bringing up her arms to cross over her chest.
“Why?”
“Because then I'll have to leave.”
“Too late.”
Lumine sighed.
She had been at Mondstadt High for less than a day. She already had a friend. More than several, apparently.
Lumine had just started eating when a familiar voice appeared behind her.
“Hey! You guys!”
She turned around.
Paimon stood there with her lunch tray, looking far too excited for someone who had already spent most of the morning talking.
“Can Paimon sit here?”
Lumine gestured toward the empty seat. “It’s your cafeteria too, you know.”
Paimon happily dropped into it. “So! Paimon wanted to tell you guys about the student council!”
Aether looked up from his food. “The student council?”
“Yep! They're really important around here.” Lumine raised an eyebrow.
“Are they?”
“Uh huh!”
Paimon pointed toward another table across the cafeteria.
A small group of students were sitting together, some eating while others were talking over what looked like a stack of papers.
“That's the student council table!”
Lumine followed her finger.
“Okay…”
Paimon started pointing them out one by one.
“That’s Jean! She's the student council president and Barbara’s sister.”
A blonde girl was sitting near the middle of the table, looking through a folder while talking to another student.
“Next to her is Eula. She's the vice president.”
The blue haired girl beside Jean looked like she was listening to the conversation while occasionally glancing over the papers.
“And that's Diluc. He's the treasurer.”
Lumine squinted.
She'd never seen him before.
He had red hair and looked like he was taking whatever conversation they were having far more seriously than anyone else at the table.
“There’s also Albedo! He’s just not sitting at the table right now. He's the secretary. He's really smart.”
Kaeya leaned back in his chair, his usual, in Lumine’s words ‘Outright uncanny’, grin. “That's definitely one way to describe him.”
Paimon ignored him. “And, of course…”
She pointed directly at Kaeya.
“…that's Kaeya.”
Lumine slowly turned toward him. “You're on the student council?”
Kaeya smiled. “Surprised?”
“Yes.”
“Wow okay.”He placed a hand over his chest.
“That hurts.” This time he pouted.
Lumine looked back at everyone at the table.
“You're telling me they gave him a position?”
Amber started laughing while Kaeya looked offended. “I'll have you know I'm very responsible.”
Rosaria glanced at him. “No, you're not.”
“Thank you, Rosaria.”
“That wasn't a compliment.”
“I'll take it anyway.”
Aether laughed under his breath.
Lumine looked back toward the council table.
“So what does Kaeya even do?”
“Public relations and events,” Paimon said.
Lumine stared at him.
“So you're basically responsible for talking to people.”
“Pretty much.”
“But everyone wants to kill you.”
Kaeya grinned.
“Yet here I am.”
Paimon nodded.
“Kaeya's actually really good at it! He knows almost everyone in school.”
“Unfortunately,” Rosaria muttered.
Kaeya ignored her.
“Where’s Albedo?”
“He's probably off somewhere doing nerd stuff,” Kaeya said.
Amber nodded.
“Probably.”
Aether glanced toward the council table.
“Like what?”
“Who knows?” Kaeya said. “Chemistry, reading, drawing… probably figuring out how to turn something into a bomb.”
Amber immediately frowned.
“Kaeya.”
“What? I'm just joking.” He chuckled.
“Albedo's really smart! He's one of the best students here.” Paimon beamed.
Lumine took another bite of her lunch.
“What about everyone else?” She asked.
Paimon smiled.
“Oh, Paimon can tell you about them too!”
“I shouldn’t have said that…” Lumine sighed.
Everyone at the table collectively groaned.
The tedious school day was finally over. No more drunk principals, no more crazy people, no more classwork. Lumine flopped onto her bed and sighed. Finally, she could just lie there and do absolutely nothing. Then her phone started buzzing like crazy.
No way…
Another notification appeared.
Why now…
Another.
Why ever?!
Lumine grabbed her phone and immediately froze. She and Aether had somehow been added to a group chat with Amber and Kaeya's group of friends.
Aether added you to "mondstadt dummies 🦅"
She stared at the name for a few seconds.
Then at Aether's name.
He had added her without even telling her.
“Oh, hellllll no.”
Lumine threw her blanket off and stomped out of her room. She marched down the hallway and straight into Aether's room without bothering to knock and slammed the door open. Her face resembled an oni mask.
“Aether.”
He looked up from his bed with a knowing smile. “Hi, why that’s an awfully scary face you're making?”
“You added me to a group chat.”
“Yeah.”
“Without asking me.”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
Aether shrugged. “They seemed nice.”
“You've known them for one day.”
“So?”
“So you don't just add people to group chats! Especially me!”
“I just did.”
Lumine pointed at him as if she was declaring war. “You're going to regret this.”
Aether grinned. “Probably.”
Her phone buzzed again. Both of them looked down at it.
Amber: GUYS THE TWINS ARE HERE!!
Kaeya: Finally
Bennett: HI LUMINE
Barbara: Hi!! Welcome to the group :)
Fischl: The mysterious twin wanderers have now entered the digital realm.
Razor: helo
Lumine slowly looked up from her phone. “This is already a mistake.”
Aether laughed.
Another message appeared.
Kaeya: Lumine you there?
She stared at the screen before typing.
Lumine: unfortunately
Aether immediately started laughing and kicking his feet even.
Amber: 😭
Bennett: LMAO
Kaeya: I knew you'd fit in lololol
Lumine narrowed her eyes at the screen. I hate him.
Another notification popped up.
Kaeya: welcome to the group :)
Lumine’s eye finally twitched.
She smacked Aether on the head.
“Ow!”
“You deserved that.”
“For adding you to a group chat?”
“Yes.”
Aether immediately reached for the pillow beside him. “Oh, you wanna go?”
Lumine's eyes narrowed and her hand twitched.
It was a whole brawl after that. Within seconds, pillows were flying across the room, Aether was trying to shield himself with a blanket, and Lumine was laughing manically as she attempted to tackle him off the bed.
“Get off me!”
“Take me out of the group chat!”
“No!”
“Aether!”
“Never!”
Lumine grabbed another pillow and smacked him with it repeatedly.
“Okay, okay! Stop!”
“You first!”
Their argument continued until both of them were sprawled across the bed, completely out of breath.
Lumine's phone buzzed again.
She picked it up and glanced at the screen.
Amber: are you guys fighting 😭
Lumine looked at Aether.
He looked back at her.
She typed,
Lumine: yep
Kaeya: already?
“What is this school?” Lumine groaned as she put down her phone. She was already sick and tired of the spam. She would definitely have to mute the group chat.
“Amazing at being entertaining.”
“I feel like we just got teleported to a different universe.” Lumine paused, looked at Aether and smiled. “Maybe you really will get a boyfriend who loves femboys.”
“I’ll end you.”
The pillow fight was back on.
The second day of school for the twins wasn't so bad. They were finally starting to get the hang of the school, even if Lumine still wasn't entirely convinced that she liked it. But really, she knew she had already begun to love it.
Then came sixth and seventh period, the time when students left for their CTE classes.
The twins immediately found themselves in a bit of a dilemma. They had come to school together, which meant they had also come in one car. Neither of them had considered what would happen when they had to go to completely different schools in the middle of the day.
So naturally, they fought over the car.
Rather intensely.
After several minutes of arguing, complaining, and Lumine insisting that she should get it because she was the better driver, Aether ultimately won. Mostly because he was going to Liyue High by himself, while Lumine could go to Natlan with the others.
Which meant Lumine had to carpool.
With Amber and Bennett.
She spotted the two of them waiting outside the school and walked over.
“…This is going to be a long drive,” she groaned.
Amber laughed.
“Cheer up, Lumine. I'm sure you'll have fun when we get there,” she said, trying to comfort her. “There's lots of exciting stuff to learn if you're actually invested in your career path.”
Lumine glanced at her with a small smile. “I am invested.”
“Then you'll be fine,” Amber grinned.
“Yeah. And if you get lost, we can just figure it out when we get there.” Bennett nodded.
“That is not reassuring,” Lumine said.
“I'm trying.” Bennett laughed.
Amber opened the car door. “Come on. Let's get going.”
Lumine climbed into the back seat, dropping her bag beside her.The drive to Natlan was long enough that she eventually gave up on staying awake and took a nap.
She woke up when the car pulled into a parking spot at Natlan High.
“We're here,” Amber said.
Lumine slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes before grabbing her bag.
“Finally.”
She climbed out of the car and looked around the unfamiliar campus.
Amber and Bennett started heading toward the building, but Lumine lingered for a moment. She figured she'd find her classroom eventually. How hard could it be?
Apparently, harder than she thought.
She wandered through the halls, occasionally glancing at the signs above the doors. After a few turns, she pulled out her phone and opened the map for the school.
The map loaded.
Then immediately became a pixelated mess.
Lumine stared at it.
“…You're kidding.”
She zoomed in.
And it got even worse…
She turned her phone around, hoping that would magically help.
It didn't.
Great.
If Aether was here he’d be calling her the biggest, dummiest, dummy of all dummies. She shoved her phone back into her pocket and looked down the hallway.
She had absolutely no idea where she was.
And, unfortunately, she had no idea where Forensics was either. She wandered around aimlessly for a few seconds before accidentally bumping into someone.
She looked up. He was tall. A bit taller than Kaeya. Way taller than Aether.
Who isn't, though? She laughed at her own comment in her head.
“Sorry.” She curtly apologized already walking away.
“Hey, girly. Need some help?”
She turned back around.
The boy smiled.
It was a perfectly friendly smile. The kind that probably made his teachers think he was polite and parents think he was a nice kid.
Lumine didn't buy it.
There was something strange about his eyes. They were bright, almost amused, like he was constantly waiting for something interesting to happen.
She stared at him for a moment before making the most disgusted face she'd ever made in her entire existence. She knew exactly what type of person he was. The kind of guy who acted like everyone's best friend but probably had at least ten stories that ended with “and then I got suspended.”
“I'm fine,” Lumine muttered.
She looked back down at her phone.
The map still made absolutely no sense.
The boy glanced at it. “You sure about that?”
Lumine sighed. “…No.”
“Then let me help.” His smile grew, shifting into genuine amusement rather than a farce.
“Okay.”
“What class are you looking for?”
“Forensics.”
“Oh, great. That’s next to my class.” He grinned. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
Lumine hesitated for a moment before following him. She didn't exactly have a better option unless she wanted to spend the next twenty minutes wandering around the school with a pixelated map that looked like it had been made by someone who hated her.
“So you're new?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“Figured.”
“How so?”
“You have that lost look.”
Lumine glanced down at her phone.
“Is it that obvious?” She raised an eyebrow.
“Pretty much.”
She sighed. “I blame the map.”
He laughed. “The map sucks.”
Lumine looked at him for a moment her expression softened just a little.
Okay. Maybe he's not completely unbearable.
“So what's your name?” he asked.
“Lumine.”
“Lumine,” he repeated, almost testing the name. “I'm Ajax.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Ajax?”
“Yeah.”
“Snezhnayan?” Lumine tilted her head.
“Yepppp.”
“And you're in what class?”
“Police Foundations.”
She stopped walking.
He turned around.
“What?” He questioned.
“You're going into law enforcement?”
“Planning on it.”
Lumine looked him up and down. Then she looked back at his face.
“…You?” The look on Lumine’s face was laughable.
Ajax grinned.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.”
“Sure.”
He started walking again, and Lumine followed.
“You don't exactly look like the police type.”
“What does a police type look like?”
“I don't know. Less…”
She gestured vaguely at him.
“Whatever this is.”
Ajax laughed again.
“I'll take that as a compliment.”
“It wasn't.”
“Even better.”
Lumine groaned.
They continued down the hallway, passing groups of students heading toward their own CTE classrooms. Ajax seemed to know almost everyone they passed. He'd wave at one person, call out to another, and occasionally stop for a quick greeting before continuing on.
Lumine watched him for a moment.
Okay.
Maybe he really was just friendly.
Or maybe he was just really good at pretending to be.
She hadn't decided yet.
But his fangirls sure did.
A few girls passing by immediately started whispering to each other the second they noticed him. One of them even turned around to get another look.
Ajax didn't seem to notice. Or, more likely, he was so used to it that he didn't care.
“Do they always do that?” Lumine asked.
He glanced over his shoulder.
“Do what?”
“Stare at you.”
Ajax looked toward the girls, then back at Lumine.
“Oh.” He shrugged and answered, “Probably.”
Lumine stared at him. “That doesn't bother you?”
“Why would it?” He grinned.
“It's flattering.”
“Of course it is.” She groaned.
He laughed as they continued down the hallway.
Lumine shook her head.
Definitely a guy.
“This is your stop, girly.” Ajax smiled.
“Don’t call me that.” A vein practically popped on Lumine’s forehead.
Gods, he was worse than Kaeya.
“I’ll see you later then… girly.”
Lumine stopped.
She slowly turned toward him.
“Are you picking a fight with me?”
Ajax raised an eyebrow at first but then his grin widened.
Lumine began rolling up her sleeves.
“Oh, you're serious?”
“You're about to find out.”
Ajax laughed. “I was just saying goodbye!”
“Then say it normally.”
“Okay.”
He paused but a mischievous look could still be seen in his eyes.
“Goodbye, girly.”
Lumine immediately lunged forward but Ajax quickly stepped backward, laughing as he held his hands up in surrender.
“Okay! Okay! I'll stop!”
“You better.”
He was still grinning.
“See you later, Lumine.”
She narrowed her eyes and sighed, “Better.”
Ajax turned and started walking away, a grin still plastered on his face.
Lumine watched him for a second before muttering under her breath.
“…Definitely worse than Kaeya.”
Definitely gonna punch him one day.