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Aether took a deep breath.

He got this, there was nothing to worry about!

Today was his first day at Tevyat Academy after the unexplained closure of Celestia Academy that may have included a class war between the seven most influential students of the school.

But that didn’t matter, today was his first day of school at Tevyat Academy and he had to be excited!

The infamous school with transfers from all over the world consisting of specially selected students that had “visions” worthy enough to be chosen.

It couldn’t possibly be bad as he imagined, right?

…

Today was already the worst day ever.

Leaving his dorm, he entered the school bus to find all the seats occupied.

Looking around, he spotted an empty spot next to a student wearing a green hoodie. He faced the bus’ window, uncaring of anything going on around him.

“Mind if I sit next to you?” Aether asked, saying so of common courtesy despite the fact all the other seats of the bus were occupied.

“Hmph.”

The first day of school and he’s already getting ignored. Taking the other’s grunt as response, Aether sat down next to him.

Just before the bus’ door closed, a frantic blonde haired girl entered. She immediately sat next to Aether and plugged in her headphones.

Letting his head rest on the bus chair, Aether took the opportunity to take a quick nap before classes began.

However, what he didn’t expect was the sound of an anime opening to intrude both his ears.

Great, the students next to him were listening to anime openings at full blast.

…

“Lumine I want to die,” Aether groaned as he saw his sister at the school’s entrance.

“What happened?” His sister nonchalantly asked as she checked her backpack for her belongings.

“I had to spend 20 minutes of my precious life between this green emo kid and this purple weeaboo while both of them blasted anime intros. And by the way, the green one didn’t notice that his headphones weren’t plugged in either.”

“I assume you’re talking about Xiao and Fischl.”

“Please tell me this place has normal people. Or at least people who can actually pretend to be normal.”

Lumine only gave her brother a polite smile.

“I think you’ll fit in here perfectly Aether.”

“You’re only saying that because you were elected as student council present last year!”

“Hey! That’s… not entirely false, but anyways I think you’ll actually like this place. Anyways I gotta head to class now. Love you Aether!” The blond girl remarked as she waved goodbye to her brother.

“Love you too Lumine,” Aether scoffed as he followed the other into the school.

…

Tevyat Academy was a unique environment. It was a private school that consisted of students that had “fit the vision.”

Despite the strict selection of students, the results of exiting the academy were incredibly promising as shown by the roster of successful graduates.

Aether was happy to be accepted after the closing of Celestia Academy, but he hadn’t expected the school to be so…

Underfunded.

Despite the pristine exterior, the interior of the campus resembled eerily similar to a high school campus that was turned into a college academy at the last moment.

Still, this was his new school, he had to make the best of it!

…

Taking a seat for his first lecture, Philosophy, Aether set his backpack down before looking over the syllabus for the class. However before he could read the document, a voice arrived from his side.

“Hey! Are you new here?” Greeted Aether as the student turned to see a blond haired man.

He was blond, green eyed, and wore a strange horns on his head. He dressed like an Inazuman but looked like he came straight from Mondstat.

Was he a weeaboo attractor or something?!

“…Yes,” Aether kindly responded as he decided not to delve too deeply into the man’s ambiguous nationality.

“Oh! Well it’s nice to meet you, my name is Thoma. I’ve been here for a while so if you have any questions, feel free to ask!”

“Thanks. My name is Aether by the way, it’s a pleasure to meet you as well.”

Turning to face the blackboard, Aether saw a word in the board that sent a tremor of fear within his body.

Icebreakers.

The bane of a student’s existence and the most awkward activity to mankind.

The professor, a woman who asked people to call her Yelan because her last name was too hard to pronounce, was on her phone ignoring the class. Whenever somebody had approached her, she only pointed to the blackboard with her heel.

Looking at the prompts on the board, Aether spotted a question that piqued his interest.

“So Thoma, where do you come from?” The smaller man inquired as he turned to face the polite man.

“Inazuma!” Thoma responded as he shuffled to face Aether entirely.

“So if you’re from Inazuma, why are you Mondstatian?”

The class immediately went silent as soon as Aether asked his question. Everybody turned to face him, and Yelan got off her phone to look at Aether as well with an amused expression.

“Haha! I get that a lot, it’s a long story but I was raised mostly in Inazuma. So where did you transfer from?” Thoma laughed out as he attempted to ease the awkward atmosphere.

“Celestia Academy!” Aether responded as he thanked the Archons for the saint that was the man in front of him.

The class immediately went silent again.

Aether decided to spend the rest of the class practicing being quiet.

…

“Oh my archon! I can’t believe ya racially profiled Thoma of all people!” Kirara gasped as she stared at the other man in shock.

Aether didn’t even know this girl but he was glad somebody in his class was speaking to him after the awkward silence.

“I think you’re not really using the word correctly, but yes, you were right that I assumed his ethnicity incorrectly based off of how he looked.”

“Well, at least you know better! It’d be totes major embarrassing if you kept talking to him like that!”

Aether understood half of what she said in that statement but nodded anyways to be nice.

“Anyways, granny always told me to always keep an open mind and I can tell y’er not a bad fellow! Look! Somebody else is coming to greet you!” The girl spoke in a weirdly bumpkin accent, pointing at the man approaching Aether.

“You,” the man stated, giving Aether a large scowl.

“Can I help you?” The blond man asked as he looked closer at the other man.

He seemed… familiar, but something was missing.

“You dropped this earlier,” the man grunted as he handed Aether a cute keychain of a seelie.

It was something he and Lumine bought together at a convenience store in the past, his sister doting on the figure as it was a mascot from a popular anime at the time.

“T-thank you! I didn’t even notice it was missing!”

“Hmph. Be more careful next time.”

Oh.

No wonder he seemed so familiar. This was the same grunt from that guy in school bus.

How hypocritical of him to tell Aether to be more careful when the weeb didn’t even notice that he hadn’t plugged in his headphones in the morning!

The man immediately flushed brightly as his eyebrows furrowed tightly.

…Aether said that aloud hadn’t he?

“Aether, I think ya broke the man.”

…

Declining an invitation for a school tour from the man he accidentally ethnically mislabeled and ignoring Xiao’s death glare for his first period, Aether took a moment to rest in the library.

The library was old, as was to be expected from this rundown campus. But he surprisingly found a large number of students studying already.

Taking a seat at a nearby table, Aether brought out his phone and began to procrastinate on reading his syllabus to play Honkai Star Flop.

However, he couldn’t ignore the burning glare he received from a man across from him.

“May I help you?” Aether inquired as he put down his device to glance at the gray haired man who stared at him.

“Not really,” the guy said in an unbothered as he looked down at his book to ignore him.

Returning back to his game, he felt the man’s eyes return on him.

“Okay is something the matter? I really don’t feel comfortable with you staring at me so much!”

“You’re president Lumine’s younger brother, yes?”

“Yes?”

“Then it seems my guess was correct, considering how similar the two of you looked and the way you both slack off by playing the same game.”

“Who are you?”

“Alhaitham.”

Aether didn’t know whether to be weirded out by how honest the man was or by how nonchalant Alhaitham was.

Deciding to not ponder on it further, Aether resumed his game. He was so close to getting this story chapter do-

Turquoise eyes returned onto him in a flash, scrutinizing the smaller man in an instant.

“You should really spend your time doing something more productive than gaming.”

“Am I not allowed to play games anymore or something?”

“I didn’t say that. It’s just that you could be doing something more efficient while you’re in the campus library.”

“What, you want me to read or something?”

“An excellent choice.”

Aether wanted to punch the pretty man in the face so badly.

Of course one of the handsome men he meets on campus somehow ends up being a literature snob.

He probably thinks he’s better than everybody because he can solve a Wordle on the third guess and call it an ‘educated guess.’

“It’s actually the second guess but you were correct in that assumption,” the student replied as Aether cursed himself for voicing his thoughts aloud again.

“…I’m going to go now,” Aether stated as he excused himself and went to hide in a deeper part of the library.

…

Aether found another table and resumed playing the story quest. Away from any distractions, the blond man smirked to himself with relief.

His next class didn’t start until an hour, so he had plenty of time to procrastinate!

However, unsurprisingly, his game was interrupted by the sound of a person loudly complaining.

Turning his head around, he spotted two white haired men playing a card game. The taller man was currently groveling on his knees while the shorter man only cleaned up his deck, ignoring the commotion.

Aether decided he hadn’t wanted to get involved and continued to play his game.

“WHY?! WHY DO I HAVE TO LOSE TO YOU EVERY TIME, SOMEBODY AVENGE ME!” A pathetic voice cried out, irritating Aether immensely.

Standing up to leave the building, Aether found himself stopped by a stoic voice.

“Do you know how to play Genius Invokation TCG?” The shorter white haired male inquired, his blood orange eyes delving onto him.

“Er, a somewhat I guess. Why?” Aether lied, refusing to admit that he was an avid TCG player to a random student he just met.

“Care for a round?”

You know what? He had nothing better to do for an hour.

Aether took a seat and let the other boy shuffle the deck.

…

“I’m impressed,” the ruby eyed man muttered as he lost. Aether had beaten him twice in a row, both crushing defeats on his end.

“I’m sure it was just bad luck,” Aether replied with a smile, making sure to console the other man.

Of course Aether had won, he was an expert player of Genius Invocation TCG because of how many times he was challenged by Lumine.

He didn’t want to brag but, he was sure the other man had no chance of ever winning against him; nobody could ever defeat his foolproof tactic.

Stalling with freeze like the meta-slave he denied being.

“Care for another rematch?” The boy asked as he eagerly gazed at the golden student, the cards in his hand tightly held.

“No thanks, I have class soon. It was fun playing though! Oh uh, I never got your name?” Aether dismissed, feeling bad for declining but having to get ready for class.

“Cyno.”

“My name is Aether. If we meet up again, I’ll be sure to challenge you again,” the blond man stated as he waved at Cyno before turning to leave.

As Aether made a motion to leave, a hand caught onto his leg.

“THANK YOU FOR AVENGING ME!” Yelled a voice near Aether’s leg.

Aether immediately screamed before witnessing the man under him get slammed by a book being fired at an incredible pace.

“Make any more disruptions Itto and I’ll make sure you’re banned from the library,” Alhaitham warned as he dusted his hands to face the shorter man. “Are you alright?”

“Y-yes,” Aether muttered as he tried to relieve his nerves. “Thanks Alhaitham.”

Maybe underneath his foul personality was a genuine man.

“Make sure not to be late for class. You’ve already caused enough commotion on the first day of the semester.”

Okay he definitely gave Alhaitham too much benefit of the doubt.

“Hey uh, will… Itto be alright by the way?” The blond student asked as he pointed at the man passed out onto the floor.

“He’ll be fine, his head is empty enough already that he has nothing to lose from being hit.”

“Cool,” Aether responded, uncaring of the man’s state in all honesty.

“Guess you can say Alhaitham, knocked Ittout of the park!” Cyno joked as he looked expectantly at the pair.

“Ha ha ha,” Aether dryly laughed out of social courtesy at their other’s terrible pun, only making Cyno look at him in excitement.

“You get it? It’s because Itto sounds like out and Alhaitham knocked it out of the park, or well library in this situation, but the wording of the phrase is very ubiquitous and so-“

“Sorry, I need to go now bye!” Aether stated as he cut off the TCG player and dad joke enthusiast to run off to class.

Finally leaving the library, Alhaitham turned to face Cyno who had a bemused expression.

“It’s rare to see you bother to help someone, the white haired boy commented.

“It’s rare to see you keep asking for rematches, the gray haired man remarked.

They looked at one another, eyes sharp and threatening. Crimson versus turquoise, both unrelenting and equally socially unaware.

“You like him.”

…

Aether barely managed to make it to his next class.

He asked a guy for directions only to get growled at. Of course Aether did the thing any reasonable person would do and growl back as the other man scattered away with his tail tucked between his legs.

The next guy he asked got shoved in a locker before said locker fell on the floor somehow. He of course ignored the entire situation as he only had five minutes to find his class.

But thankfully, he managed to find his way after getting advice from a girl named Dori that he bought hot chips from.

His next lecture was Art History, which he took as an easy elective but was surprisingly intrigued by.

Midway through the class, the teacher had told them to sketch a historical event that they could remember.

Aether did something easy and drew an ugly sketch of what vaguely resembled a war and Itto getting demolished by a textbook.

He was of course given a 100 for his artistic rendition of the Great Archon War.

Turning to exit the class, he noticed a blond man who was still drawing.

His sketchbook detailed a picture of a building that was drawn incredibly, and yet, had a minor detail that irked him so wrongly.

Coming closer, looked at the man. His hair a soft yellow, his eyes crimson, and he dressed very keenly with matching accessories and a golden briefcase.

Aether connected the dots, he was gay obviously.

“Your picture is asymmetrical,” Aether commented.

The man immediately began to tear up.

Great, Aether made a queer guy cry on the first day of school.

…

As Aether fled his Art History classroom before he could be accosted by the flamboyant man on the verge of a breakdown.

Looking around, the hallway was empty. Taking a moment to breathe, Aether checked his phone.

*1 New Message From Lumine*

Lumine: “Aether, we need to talk after class.”

Aether only sighed.

How did so much trouble occur on his first day of school?

“Hey girlie, I didn’t expect to see you here!” Came a playful voice as Aether felt a sense of dread flood his body.

“I think you have the wrong person,” Aether as he immediately checked for the closest exits.

The man before him was a ginger with dead blue eyes, he screamed red flag all over.

“Oh? I’ve never seen you here before. You’ve made a mistake wandering into my territory,” the taller man warned with a smile.

“Your territory? This is a college campus, you’re a student aren’t you?” Aether responded with a dumbfounded look.

“And this spot is my turf. I fought fair and square for it, now I’ll give you a warning and let you leave.”

Aether immediately took the opportunity to escape from the ominous man. It was bad news to be near a man whose eyes screamed bloodlust and whose hair was orange, mostly the orange part to be honest.

“Wait,” the man uttered, stopping Aether in his tracks.

“Yes?”

“Before you go, how much for that keychain?” The ginger stated as he pointed at Aether’s prized seelie keychain. The one that gave Xiao a quarterlife-crisis.

“…it’s not for sale,” he responded, unliking the suddenly tense atmosphere.

“I noticed the student council president with a similar keychain, I think she’d be quite interested if I gave it to her!”

Great, he was being potentially mugged by a random dude on his first day of class. And worst of all, it was by a ginger.

“I’ll ask you one more time, how much?”

“And I’ll respond once more, it’s not for sale!”

“Then I’ll just have to take it the hard way!” The ginger exclaimed as he instantly rushed at Aether.

…

For a man so confident with threatening others, he sure was easy beat in a fight.

Aether was leaning against the locker, hardly even scratched while Childe was on his back with a giant bruise on his face.

“You’re a good fighter comrade,” the taller man commented as he smiled brightly.

“You literally just tried to rob me and now you’re complimenting me?” Aether asked as he questioned if the man he just threw hands with was sane.

“Haha! I haven’t gotten beaten this bad since the president reprimanded me!”

Aether backed away slowly.

“You know, I like Lumine. But you, you’re different. You’re just as feisty, but also cuter. Hey, are you si-?”

The blond responded by running away in any direction that wasn’t Childe, ignoring the man who left on the floor.

As Aether departed, another figure came from the corner.

“Childe, what did I tell you about claiming this hallway as your turf?” Lumine complained as she placed a hand on her hip.

“Hey girlie! You didn’t tell me you had such a cute brother!” Childe chimed as he looked at her with a puppy-like expression. “Is he single?”

Lumine immediately kicked the man on the floor.

…

Aether ran as fast as he could away from the other man. Although he was better in a fight, the other man just brought him immense displeasure.

In his haste, he didn’t pay attention in front of him and bumped into somebody.

Instead of ricocheting off of them however, Aether found himself cushioned by their chest.

Prying himself away from their body, he looked towards and was directly in eye contact with a taller, black haired man with frozen eyes and scars over his body.

“S-sorry!” Aether apologized as he pried himself off the well defined man. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“It’s alright. Hey are you okay? You look awfully pale, like you just got sentenced to fifteen years in Juvie.”

“Yeah I’m fine… I just met somebody, weird,” he responded as he tried to ignore the weirdly hyper specific analogy the other man made.

“From the direction you came from, I’m assuming you met a certain Fatui?” The bigger man commented as he pointed towards the direction Aether was fleeing from.

“Fatui?”

“The Fatui is a gang in this academy. It’s lead by the so-called ‘harbingers’ or students with nothing better to do.”

“Does it include an orange maniac?”

“So you met Childe,” the man commented as he a distasteful expression uttering the name.

“So that’s his name!”

He knew of this Childe, after all, his sister who had been enrolled here year a before had described him as a ‘Snezhnayan transfer Ed Sheeran wannabe with insatiable lust for battle and endless pockets.’

She often used him to get free lunch and rides.

“So where are you going next?” The student in front of him asked.

“Oh, uh… Botany lecture I guess. Do you know the way? I’m new here.”

“Yeah I know the way, follow me.”

“Oh you don’t have to escort me!” Aether stated with a shake of his head. He’d hate to bother this student more than he needed to.

“Nah I don’t mind, I was on the way over for a friend actually, she needed me to get some herbs from the professor.”

“Oh, cool. What’s your name by the way?”

“Wriothesley.”

Aether swore he heard the man say Worcestershire sauce but nodded anyways.

“How do I pronounce that?”

“Rise-lee.”

“Rizzly?”

“Close enough!” The man laughed, uncaring of how Aether butchered his weird Fontanian name.

As the taller man turned and proceeded to walk, Aether took a good look at his back side. He knew the man was well defined from the front but his back side was certainly not lacking in the slightest.

“Uh, Wriothesley?” Aether inquired as he noticed something.

“Hm?”

“Somebody left a sticker on your butt.”

…

“So Worce-… Wriothesley, what major are you?” Aether asked as he followed the man across the campus.

He realized this was the first time he had a conversation with a normal man on the school grounds since he last met Thoma.

“Criminal Justice. What about you?”

“Oh, my name is Aether by the way! And my major is Liberal Arts, I… am not sure what I want to do yet to be quite honest.”

“Eh, you’ll find out one day. It took me a long time to find out I was into Criminal Justice, one day it’ll just dawn upon you,” Wriothesley stated as he shot the smaller man a smirk.

Aether wouldn’t lie and say he didn’t feel charmed by the other man, beneath his scruffy appearance was a genuine man.

“Haha! I sure hope so!” Aether chirped, surprisingly elated to find a kindred spirit in not knowing what major to choose.

Rounding a corner, the black haired man abruptly stopped.

“Hm? Is something wrong?”

“Nope. We’re here,” Wriothesley stated as he pointed at a classroom door.

Before Aether could move, an obnoxious voice greeted his ears.

“Comrade! I didn’t expect to find you here?” Childe yelled out with a bright smile.

“Didn’t expect to see a Fatui punk in this side of the campus? What, did your gang kick you out like your last school?” Wriothesley commented before Aether could make a witty remark in his head before running off.

“Oh? Look who’s threatening me, the campus dog. Should I throw you a bone mutt?” Childe bantered back as he began to crack his knuckles.

“I’ve dealt with nastier things than you Ed Sheeran reject,” Wriothesley spat out as he cracked his neck in anticipation.

“Okay fatherless behavior. No actually, family-less behavior!” The Fatui insulted as he watched the other man’s face contort at experiencing a microaggresion.

“Aether you better leave,” Wriothesley warned as he turned to see the boy missing. “Aether?”

He already left to go to class.

Although he did want to watch the fight that was going to happen, he knew better.

He was going to watch the inevitably posted video of the fight after class anyways.

…

After sitting in his assigned seat after meeting the teacher who was as tall as his knees, Aether took a deep breath in.

Of course the second normal guy he met was secretly a gangster. Or went to jail, not that he particularly cared, it was just uncanny after meeting Childe.

But that was alright, he’s already met the worst of this academy. It had to go up from here right?

Breaking from his thoughts, he turned to face the class’ white board.

…only to have his entire sight blocked by a guy with a hat that can only be described as a Beyblade.

“Excuse me, do you mind taking off your hat? I can’t see the board,” Aether asked politely.

Perhaps the hat was a fashion statement. An abhorrent statement burned his very retinas but nonetheless made the point that this man should never be allowed to buy his own clothes.

“Yes I do mind,” the man in front of him replied back.

Okay so Aether clearly hadn’t met the worst of the worst so far.

He was not going to take this sitting down.

Standing up, he approached the professor who gazed at him curiously.

“Professor Nahida, can I get a new seat? I can’t see from behind the guy in front of me,” he asked, hoping the fellow short person would sympathize with him.

“Hmm… yes that is a problem. Hey you! Hat guy!”

Everybody turned to look at the guy with the giant hat.

“Yes?” The also short man with the hat replied, obviously bothered by the crude but accurate nickname.

“Can you please take off the hat?” Nahida asked, her green eyes staring at the other in fascination.

“No.”

“Sorry, I can’t help you Aether.”

Archons he had to sit behind Beyblade head for the rest of the semester didn’t he?

“I-I… alright. One question. What’s his name?” Aether asked as he gave up trying to pursue the topic of the Hat Guy taking off his non OSHA-complaint hat.

“I don’t know,” she commented nonchalantly.

“Don’t you teach the class?!”

“He didn’t put his name down, in fact, I’m not sure he’s even part of the roster.”

“So you’re just gonna let him stay?”

“Why not!” She replied with a grin.

Tevyat Academy will really just hire anybody from Craigslist won’t they?

…

Leaving his Botany class after being blocked from seeing the board for the entire lecture by a guy’s stupid hat, Aether went to the cafeteria.

“Oh my Archon! Aether! How’s it been going?” Kirara asked as she spotted the blonde across the hall.

“Kirara? It’s going… well it could be better but alright.”

“You’ll be just fine! Sure the peeps are interesting folk but they’re not bad people. Oh, lemme introduce you to my bestie! Gorou, go say hi to Aether!” The Inazuman girl stated in her unique mix of bumpkin and VSCO girl.

“Hey! I’m Gorou, nice to meet you Aether!” The brown hair boy greeted after being abruptly introduced.

“Nice to meet you too Gorou, are you two also heading to the cafeteria?”

“Yup! Me and Gorou walk together before sitting at our tables.”

That’s right, Aether didn’t have a table to usually sit at yet.

“Mind if I join one of you guys? I don’t know too many people that well.”

“Sure!” Gorou replied with a twinkle in his eyes. If the man had a tail, it’d be swinging all over the place.

“Uh, quick question. Who do you sit with?”

“My friend Itto!”

“Oh shoot, I think I forgot something in my last class!” Aether suddenly exclaimed to avoid having to sit with the president of No Child Left Behind. “You guys go without me!”

“Aww, well I hope we can see you next time!”

“Yeah. You’re always welcome to join us!”

Aether had to ignore the pang of guilt that surged in him as he imagined them with animal ears tilted downwards sadly.

…

He didn’t know what was worse. Potentially having lunch with Itto or the table he currently found himself at.

Unsurprisingly, almost all the tables on the lunch hall were full.

Childe excitedly eyed him as he left a spot next to him empty, alongside a snickering hat guy. Near him was also a platinum haired boy with two other people who looked like him.

Cyno noticed him and invited him over for another round of at TCG. He almost accepted before seeing that his table consisted of the condescending bookworm, the gay who was still on the verge of tears, and a guy whose bob was not fye. Alhaitham actually gave him a glance, but was quickly interrupted by his sassy table mates.

He ignored Gorou’s shining eyes as the man sat next to Itto, a girl who was obviously reading yuri on her phone, and the KDA cosplayer next to him.

Thoma spotted him and waved him over, but he felt intimidated by the blue haired man next to him he continuously drank boba at an alarming rate while secretly dumping salt into his tea. Aether didn’t even know where got his drink considering Tevyat Academy didn’t even have a boba store.

Wriothesley was busy having lunch with a white haired man. On closer inspection however, the white haired man’s entire meal consisted of varying bottles of water. Meanwhile the black haired student consumed an ominously purple lunch while avoiding his bottle that also contained a scarily purple substance. All Aether took from their exchange was that Fontainians had weird diets.

Xiao was having lunch with a guy who wore a green beret and was obviously wasted, a red haired man with gaudy mascara and screamed “Eureka!” or “Urethra!” on occasions, and a white haired man who eerily resembled himself that was currently higher than his expectations of this school.

Ignoring the interested glances he received, Aether sat down at a random table.

“I see we have a new guest!” Arrived an excited voice as Aether turned to his side to be faced with a girl with homophobi- heterochromatic eyes and gaudy hat.

“Haha! Another person to witness an episode of our grand journey!” Chimed the girl with an eyepatch and blond hair, who carried a tamagotchi pridefully.

“I’ll tell your fortune if you buy me lunch,” commented a girl with twin tails whose stomach growled right after. The blond girl took pity on her and gave her an apple.

“Hoho, I see you’re an interesting one. Care to share a story?” A tan guy with an eyepatch stated as he eyed Aether with curiosity.

Of all tables to sit at, he had to sit with the Drama students.

…

After the self-introductions were finished, Aether summarized the people he sat with.

Furina was the first girl he met, the girl had an obsession with contacts and was possibly the best and worst actor he ever met. Like in the way where you can tell she’s definitely being fake, but so blatantly obvious that it comes across as rude.

Fischl was the girl with the eyepatch and was the one who listened to anime intros on the way over and managed to be even more of a weeb than he imagined. She also introduced Oz her pet Tamagotchi, which somehow managed to be an undiscovered shade of purple because his eyes burned looking at the device.

Mona was the girl who tried to charge him for lunch. She’s an astrology major but she lives for the theatrics, or so she claims but Aether could obviously tell that nobody can stand her broke self so she sat with her friend Fischl. Oh and she obviously bought her clothes on SHEIN.

Finally, the last person he met was Kaeya. The eyepatch was all he needed to know that something was internally wired incorrectly in him.

However, one perk of sitting with the drama kids, they knew all the gossip of the academy.

“Did you hear the head nurse is apparently a pedo? The shady green guy with the glasses?” Fischl started as the group came to a not quiet-enough whisper.

“Yeah because he works with those two short girls?” Mona supplemented, having some energy within her after eating the pity apple.

“And the purple one seems dead apparently… you don’t think he’s into that kind of thing, right?!” Furina exaggerated, her face distorting at the thought.

“Er, I think that’s just a skin condition,” Kaeya added, calming the wannabe thespian down.

“Did you also hear about the gang war that started earlier?”

“Gang war?”

“Yeah. The Fatui gang started fighting with Wriothesley’s gang, something over a commotion about a guy they’re into or something.”

Aether tensed up immediately.

“Something the matter Aether?” Kaeya questioned, directing his sole eye that wasn’t covered onto the male.

“N-nope. Just shocked that a gang war started so soon,” Aether lied as he swallowed his nerves.

He didn’t accidentally start a gang war because he beat the crap out of a ginger, right?

“Haha! If you say so. Say, aren’t you that student who just transferred here?”

“I am.”

“Quite infamous already you know. The rumors floating around you are absolutely fascinating.”

“Rumors?”

“Like you handled Childe in a fight, that you ethnically profiled Thoma, and you made this guy cry in art history.”

“N-none of those are true!” Aether gasped as he tried to ignore the nosy stares he received.

Okay so the rumors were true but he’d rather die than admit it to Drama majors.

“Haha! They’re just rumors, they’ll die down in a few days,” Kaeya laughed at seeing Aether panicked, his face slightly flushed as he attempted to dismiss any rumors about himself.

“Thank goodness.”

“Probably.”

“Not helping!”

“So what other gossip do you guys have.”

“Uh, Miss Ningguang and Beidou are probably going out?”

“That’s not gossip we’ve been knew.”

“What about Yelan having a child.”

“What?”

“People say her son even attends here, it’s that guy with the blue bob.”

“Girl that’s not her child he just needs an actual barber.”

…

After a lunch worth of gossip about the worryingly obvious relationships between the faculty’s staff, Aether arrived at his next class.

Political Sciences, or the class he was forced to sign up for because the law required so.

Sitting with a huff, Aether prepared himself for the snooze fest of a class to occur.

“Excuse me, are you Aether?”

Shifting to face the voice, Aether was met face to face with the white haired gentleman that he saw at lunch with Worce- Wriothesley.

“Yes I am. And you are?” Aether asked, wary of the encounter that was to happen.

Considering the range of men he met at this school, nothing was off the table at this point.

“Neuvillette. I’m a friend of Wriothesley and Furina,” the man introduced curtly.

So a friend of a friend.

A good starting point that wasn’t being robbed, in the verge of a breakdown, or ambiguously foreign.

“So you also signed up for Political Science his semester?” Aether asked as he smiled softly at the taller man.

“Yes,” Neuvillette stated, the man talking a seat near Aether as he placed his belongings away.

“…”

The silence killed Aether.

He was so used to chatting with overly opinionated men that he didn’t often have to start most of the conversations.

“Uh, any hobbies?”

“Not that I can really think of.”

“A favorite food?”

“Water.”

Well that explained why the man’s meal consisted of four different water bottle brands.

He could work with this. Probably.

“I uh, like water too!”

“…I apologize if this conversation is awkward, I’m not really good at conversing with others,” the taller man stated with a frown, looking guilty at the bland direction of the chat.

“N-no no! It’s fine! I do actually really like water! In fact, my favorite type is… Inazuman, mhm yes, Inazuman water is the best.”

This entire exchange killed Aether within but the puppy dog eyes Neuvillette gave him eroded him.

He looked like he was on the verge of tears but not in the pathetic way like that guy from Art History but in the cute way.

“Really? Inazuman water does have a unique aftertaste that other regions fails to provide, although I myself am partial to water from Mondstadt more. The water tends to have a more crisp taste, and has a refreshing aroma and satisfying flavor,” Neuvillette explained with a passionate tone.

Did Aether spend an entire twenty minutes learning about the subtle differences of water that mattered to literally nobody in the world except Neuvillette?

Yes.

But it was completely justified to avoid the awkward silence of being next to a pretty law major.

…

Unfortunately, Aether was not partnered with Neuvillette for the day. Instead, he was given a man who resembled the bag of hot chips he bought from Dori earlier during the day.

“Nice to meet you… Diluc!” Aether greeted as he tried to recall the man’s name from the awkward icebreaker from earlier.

Not including his conversation with Neuvillette, who he spotted in the corner of his eye talking to a familiar blue haired man sipping boba.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too Aether,” the man calmly responded as he immediately turned to face his phone.

Aether thanked the Archons the man next to him was seemingly normal on the outside. He had enough of people with eyepatches for the entire day.

Since the instructor of the class, Yae Miko, was busy harassing specific students with borderline cancel culture-esque questions, Aether took the opportunity to slack off.

He was tempted to play Genshin Impact again, but the trauma of the library situation was too much to deal with at the moment.

Instead, he decided to check his messages.

*You have multiple messages*

Lumine: “Aether we REALLY need to talk after class today!”

Kaeya: “Have you heard about the rumor of the Darknight Hero, app…”

Furina: “Neuvillette didn’t tell you any embarrassing stories about me right? Please no…”

???: “Comrade, let me take you out on a date please! Oh and a remat…”

Aether took the opportunity to block the last number.

Out of curiosity and pure nosiness, Aether took a glance at Diluc’s phone.

The man was on Discord texting under the name “Darknight Hero.”

Hold on, Darknight Hero?

“Diluc, do you know the Darknight Hero?” The blond questioned before being hit by the nastiest glare known to mankind.

And he thought Xiao’s stink eye was bad but Diluc’s was on an entire level of ‘I’d kill you but you’re not worth the trouble’ look.

“Sorry, but I have no idea what this Darknight Hero is,” the crimson head replied as he turned off his device and faced the board.

“Ah, sorry for the abrupt question. My friend told me about it but I don’t know the details. Is it like a V-tuber thing or twitch user name?”

The man beside him only made an unimpressed face before turning to face the board, content with ignoring Aether.

Aether decided not to press the topic after all, the other classmate seemed to be very secretive about the matter.

He did catch him secretly role playing in class after all.

…

“I’m going to fail this entire semester! It’s over, I’m over!” A voice bemoaned as Aether reluctantly comforted the person in anguish.

This was Layla, the stereotypical stressed girl you meet that cries in anguish at every obstacle but somehow gets the highest grades in the class.

Although Aether could tell she legitimately wasn’t trying to humblebrag, she was on the verge of a breakdown like that queer he met at Art History.

“Layla, you must calm down. Here, want some water?” Came a soothing voice as a blue haired woman came over and handed the trembling girl water.

“T-thank you Ayaka… I think I almost fainted.”

“A-are your nerves that bad Layla?”

“Only after 11:30.”

Did this school have a neurodivergent category for choosing students or something? Because it was alarming how often he got such strange answers from the people he talked to.

And more importantly did that mean he was classified to be among them!?

“Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself. My name is Ayaka, the Vice President of the student council and a friend of Lumine. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person Aether,” the light blue haired girl introduced gracefully, a stark difference from the prior people he met.

“Likewise! I’ve heard a few things about you from Lumine too, so it’s a pleasure to meet you for real!” Aether responded back, pretending that he didn’t know the strange stories that Lumine told him about her.

Like that one time she went swimming with her socks on, and used those same socks in class afterwards.

“Ayaka, is that you?” Came another voice.

“Big brother! Are you finished with your lecture?” Ayaka said as she softly smiled at the incoming figure.

It was the strange blue haired guy who was always drinking boba. Surprisingly, the infinite cup was missing from his hands.

“Yes I did, Professor Yae Miko and I had quite the interesting debate,” the taller sibling commented as he hid a dark expression with a smirk. “Oh, did I interrupt you guys?”

“Not at all! We were just introducing ourselves,” Aether commented, the nervous wreck of a girl leaning onto him as he busily tried to prop her up.

“That’s good to hear. I’d hate to disturb my younger sister trying to make new friends,” Ayato commented as his lilac irises looked over Aether. “Oh, aren’t you also in Political Sciences with Professor Yae Miko?”

“Yes?” The blond man responded as he felt himself getting anxious at the sudden attention.

He was stared at as if the man wanted to devour him alive, smiling innocently in front of his sister and the barely stable scholar next to him.

Ayato wasn’t a bad looking man per se but… he also raised a red flag similar to a certain ginger.

But he was Lumine’s best friend’s older brother, he shouldn’t be causing trouble for her!

“I thought you looked familiar. Ah, but look at the time, I must attend my next lecture. I’ll see you another time my dear little sister. And I hope to see you again, Aether.”

“Ah! That’s right, me and Layla need to head to our next class! Let’s talk more next time Aether,” Ayaka stated pleasantly as she dragged Layla away, leaving Aether by his lonesome.

Considering his next class didn’t start until at least an hour, Aether decided to wander around the campus, ignorant to the eyes laid upon him.

Taking a sip of the boba cup that spawned in his hands, Ayato took out his phone.

Ayato: “Ayaka, I believe Aether forgot something in his previous class. It completely slipped my mind when we were speaking, would you mind giving me his phone number? Oh and his dorm room number in case he fails to pick up?”

He smiled as sinisterly as he leisurely walked to his next lecture.

Ayaka wouldn’t mind letting him have her best friend’s brother, wouldn’t she?

…

“We should make a band together and call it 4Nemo,” Venti stated as he pretended to not be hammered in the middle of music class.

After Aether finished Political Sciences with Neuvillette, the taller man courteously walked the shorter man to his next class for the day.

Aether didn’t expect to meet the entirety of Xiao’s lunch table in class however.

“Please no,” Xiao groaned as he pried off the drunken student from his arm.

“The leaves whirl and wind, but will never find their destination home once more,” Kazuha waxed as he was obviously high.

“Will this help me solve the mysteries of the academy if I form a band with you all?” Heizou asked as he listened to his group for one.

“Probably not,” Aether remarked as he tried to not make 4Nemo happen.

“That settles it, 4Nemo is now a thing!”

Venti’s statement was met by varying pitches of groans.

“You just want us to carry you for the final project of making a song. Also there’s five of us!” Aether objected at the green eyed boy.

“Okay you make a better name then,” Venti retorted as he stuck his tongue out, making Aether do all the work.

“Uh I don’t know, 5Wirl?” The blond man stated, coming up with the first name he could think of.

He didn’t even know how Venti came up with 4Nemo, what were they? Clownfishes???

“You heard Aether! We have the perfect name now, it’s official!”

Despite being drunk, Venti managed to manipulate him into making the group happen.

Aether was impressed despite the fact he wanted to shove the drunkard down the stairs.

“…if I say yes, you guys promise to do your fair share for the project right?” Aether asked as he gave up and let the group happen.

“For you? Almost anything! Oh but make sure to provide alcohol!” Venti cheered as he was met by another wave of groans.

Aether wondered why the younger looking man was always intoxicated, but then stopped his process of thinking upon remembering his Botany instructor and the seemingly dead nurse’s assistant.

“Hmph, just don’t hold me back,” Xiao grunted, pretending to not care about the group. Aether could tell that the first thing Xiao was going to do when he got back home was search up metal anime covers to practice to.

“As the wind brings us together, we swirl new melodies and rhymes to harmony,” Kazuha poetically said as nobody in the group understood whatever he said, well except for maybe Venti but he was too inebriated to care.

“I’d rather not fail this class, but I’d also still prefer a mystery to solve. So yes, I’ll cooperate!” Heizou quipped, also not being understood, but at this point nobody cared or was in no state to argue.

Aether only sighed as the future prospect of spending more time with the team of future SoundCloud artists.

…

“Pick a card, any card!” Lyney resounded, gazing eagerly at Aether as the traveler walked in the hallway for his next lecture.

Aether wanted to pick none of the cards and leave, but he also had some form of courtesy left in him despite all the absurd interactions he’s had today.

“Uh, the left one I guess.”

“Excellent choice!” The magician exclaimed as he reached behind Aether’s ear to bring out a rose. “Didn’t see that coming did you?”

Aether did actually considering he had the bad habit of watching an obscene number of random video compilations at 2AM but decided to spare the boy’s feelings.

“I did not!” Aether exclaimed, and wondering if man was going to pull a handkerchief out or his finger next.

“Haha! And now look at your hands?”

Aether looked down to find the card within his hands. It was the card he chose, and a phone number written on it.

“What’s this number on the card?” Aether asked as he feared he was being hit on by magic or all things.

“My phone number.”

“…what am I supposed to do with this?”

“Call me!” Lyney winked, earning a wince from the blond student.

“For what?” Aether asked, purposely leading out the conversation to see what would happen.

“For the best time of your life!”

“Alright if I ever need a party clown I’ll make sure to call you.”

Aether promptly left the hallway, leaving the magician with a face of awe.

“…I’ve never seen you so jaw-slacked before brother,” a violet eye girl commented as she walked towards the distraught man.

“D-do I really like a clown?” He meekly inquired.

Lynette only nodded solemnly.

…

To his surprise, his Philosophy lab was entirely devoid of men, excluding himself of course.

This would be worrying, but as a gay man sick of men, this was a moment of relief for himself.

“Oh! Are you new here? Come join us?” Arrived a chipper voice as Aether turned to be face to face with Taylor Swift.

Wait Taylor Swift-

Oh wait, it was a woman with gorgeous blond hair and lucious blue eyes, and to her side was a lady with dark blue hair and striking violet eyes, with a snatched ponytail.

He was going to get bullied wasn’t he?

But what do you do when a pretty woman tells you to sit next to her?

Aether sat next to Taylor Swift’s doppelgänger, the rest of the table filled up.

“Hey Navia! Who’s the new face?” A brown haired woman with yellow highlights stated as she took out her pocket mirror to check her impeccable mascara.

Beside her was another woman with blue hair and homophob- heterochromia, she politely smiled at Aether while sitting down.

“My name is Candace and this is Dehya, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Candace stated.

“We should probably introduce ourselves as well! I’m Navia, as Dehya mentioned, and this is Clorinde!” Navia mentioned as she nudged the violet woman on the shoulder.

“Oh, my name is Aether! It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” The blond man replied back as he looked around the class.

It was literally all women. There was a girl with icy blue hair talking about vengeance or whatever weird thing she was ranting about while a brown haired girl hung off her arm, there was the pastel pink girl who read yuri at lunch next to a lady with a bad bob that rivaled Yelan’s own, and a blonde woman whose face was red from being hit on by a brunette with the dead mom ponytail.

“Ah, you must be Aether.”

Turning around, Aether was met face to face with a woman with ebony black hair and blood red eyes, who smiled hollowly at him.

“C-can I help you?” Aether meekly asked as he felt intimidated by the woman’s presence alone.

He may have been gay, but even a homosexual knows when to back off when faced against a more powerful being.

A lesbian.

“No need to look so scared, I have no animosity towards you. So long as you stay on my good side, you’ll be just fine.”

“Arlecchino! Don’t threaten the poor boy, just because you’re a member of the Fatui,” Dehya growled as Arlecchino only let out a small laugh.

“Oh it’s fine. Really, I have no ill intent towards you Aether. In fact, one of my little peers is quite smitten with you.”

“Who?” Aether questioned.

A lot of people were smitten with him already, an alarming amount if he had to admit.

“He just gave you his number didn’t he?”

“The street clown?”

Aether paled.

He shouldn’t have called Lyney a street clown in front of a woman who could probably snap his appendix with her pinky.

“Yes him,” the Fatui nonchalantly agreed as she took a seat near milky blond haired woman. “I hope things between the two of you go well.”

Deciding to take the comment as an expression of good will rather than a thinly veiled threat, Aether sat down and got ready to listen to lecture.

…

Ei was quite literally the worst TA in the world.

Not only did she ignore the entire syllabus and the teacher’s instructions, she decided to express her own views of philosophy.

Aether supported women’s wrongs, but he did have to set the line at cutting off all communication with the outside world to live in isolation as an attempt to attain ‘eternity’ at the expense of everybody else’s hard work and ambitions as a pretty flawed lesson.

Apparently Ei herself had attempted to follow her own philosophy, but was dragged out by her roommate Yae Miko since Ei had apparently owed her years of rent.

“Aether no need to look so nervous, nobody is gonna bite your head off here,” Navia commented as she looked at the man concernedly.

“Even Arlecchino?”

“No, but watch out for Signora though! She will scratch your eye out if you look at her the wrong way, oh and she’s part of the Fatui.”

The woman in question looked at the pair at the mention of her name, but Navia only politely waved as Aether tried his best to smile at her.

“…she’s gonna do something to me isn’t she?” The blond male groaned as he realized he met another Fatui person to watch out for.

“O-of course not! Right Clorinde?”

“Watch your back tonight Aether,” Clorinde only commented as Aether began to think of his will.

“A-anyways! I hope you’ve been enjoying your first day here in Tevyat Academy Aether!”

“I hope so too,” he commented as he pressed his head down onto the table.

Still, between the choice of being in a class with questionable moral lessons and lesbians that towered over him or spending time in the hallway with the chance of encountering Childe, Aether decided this class wasn’t so bad after all.

“So here is the third principle of Euthymia,” Ei spoke as Aether tried his best to tune out whatever anarchist lesson she tried to pass off as Philosophy.

…

Finally, Aether made it to his last class for the day.

After this, he was allowed to return to his dorm and pretend none of this entire day ever happened before he inevitably returned to class the next morning.

Sitting down in his History lecture, Aether was immediately blinded by the professor of the lecture.

His eyes had an amber hue, his hair was tied in refined ponytail that slowly bled out into a dull caramel, and his waist that Aether found himself envious of weirdly enough.

The Archons gave him the hottest professor in mankind and he taught history.

“Hey comrade!” Aether heard as he immediately gagged.

Scanning the classroom for any excuse to ignore the Snezhnayan transferee of issues, Aether spotted a tan haired man.

“Can you please pretended to have a conversation with me so this guy won’t bother me?” Aether begged to a complete stranger.

Yes he was desperate, but this was his last class and he wasn’t particularly in the mood to be hit on or assaulted, or even both considering it was Childe.

The man took a moment to respond, his teal eyes scanning Aether before commenting.

“Sure.”

Aether thanked the Archons for this man’s willingness to help him avoid problematic Snezhnayans!

…

The man he met, by the name of Albedo, was the second most boring person he’s ever had the displeasure of meeting.

The first was Timaeus who stopped Aether for five entire minutes just to talk about the weather or whatever mundane topic he chose before allowing Aether to use the vending machine.

Imagine surviving that long only to exist to bother people at a vending machine.

“Mhm yes this is so fascinating!” Aether lied out of his teeth as Albedo waxed something about the creation of the world or whatever geeky thing he was into.

“I’ve never met as intrigued as you when it comes to possibilities of creating artificial life forms. We should converse more often outside of our lecture meeting.”

“Mhm I’m down for that,” he stated with regret as he now had to pretend to be man’s friend out of obligation.

“Attention everybody, class is now starting,” the handsome professor stated as everybody ignored him to continue talking.

The lecturer only closed his eyes and crossed his arms.

“CAN EVERYBODY SHUT UP CLASS IS STARTING!” Childe screamed aloud as the entire class suddenly went quiet.

“Thank you for the assistance Tartaglia, but I must ask you from refrain from disturbing the class.”

Of course Childe was the student to back up the professors in the annoying way; he was such a total simp of course he’d defend the heartthrob teacher.

Also Tartaglia? Was that his real name? What was Childe a nickname for? Man child?

However the class quickly began to talk again, clearly uncaring of the Fatui member’s screech.

“I WILL HAVE ORDER!” Zhongli professionally commanded, causing the class to shut up.

The entire class went mute in that moment, so silent in fact that they were almost petrified to even utter a noise.

“Thank you, so can everybody flip to the first chapter of the textbook? I will start my lecture from there.”

Aether forgot his textbook, but thankfully the student with a strange creation complex was happy to share his book with him.

…

Zhongli was an awful professor.

He often got off-topic, went on tangents about details nobody cared about, and intoxicated Aether by the sway of his hips as the man taught his lecture. And worst of all, the tests all consisted of open-ended questions.

But he was hot so Aether knew that he was not dropping the class even if he was about to turn into Layla whenever he needed to submit something.

Although, the thought of dropping did flash in his mind as Aether received his syllabus quiz back to receive a staggering five points.

Five points out of a hundred.

Now in all honesty, he did just put ‘Osmanthus wine is best enjoyed with others’ because he truly didn’t listen to the lecture at all, but he shouldn’t already be falling the class on the first day!

As the class dismissed and everybody left, of course taking a quick peek at the handsome professor before leaving the room, Aether approached the man.

“Professor Zhongli, is there any chance I can retake the syllabus quiz? I’m really sorry about the answer I put, I didn’t really understand the topic well.” Aether meekly stated as he attempted his best puppy dog eye face to the other man.

Yes he was shameless but he needed that 3.5+ GPA and he was going to get it by any means necessary.

“Aether, I apologize but I cannot allow redos unless you have a valid excuse. It’s unfair to allow you to have a redo just because you failed to pay attention to the lecture,” Zhongli responded as he closed his eyes, shaking his head in disapproval.

Now any normal student would’ve left after being so throughly called out and rejected, but Aether was far too pushed over the edge and most importantly, way too infatuated with his professor to let it go.

Taking his fingers onto the other man’s sleeve, Aether adopted a teary eyed look.

“Is… there anything I can do to change your mind? Please, professor?” He whispered, making sure the History Professor was forced to look at him as he attempted to say it as sultry as he could.

Zhongli couldn’t resist him, Aether knew the power of his tears.

After all, the random personality quiz he took earlier told him was gaslight-aligned and he understood exactly what he had to do.

“You may exit my class,” the professor stated with an unbothered look.

Aether was going to get expelled on his first day because his hot teacher wouldn’t give him special treatment.

Taking the hint, Aether departed the classroom with his head tilted in shame.

“Aether.”

“Yes professor Zhongli?”

“…I will give you tomorrow to redo the syllabus quiz. I except this to be a secret between us, alright?” Zhongli commented as he looked at the other man with a pitiful look.

“Yes! I understand professor, thank you so much!” The blond man responded with a bright smile, causing the usually stoic professor to give a surprised look, but ultimately smirk after a slight huff.

Not only had he managed to somehow protect his history grade, but he reaffirmed to himself that his crying truly does cause others to do whatever he wants for him!

As the brown haired instructor watched the blond student happily leave, he sighed to himself as he placed a finger on his growing migraine.

He was used to students hitting on him for better grades, or just to do so for whatever reason, like that Tartaglia student who attended all his lectures somehow.

And yet, Aether was different for whatever reason. Perhaps it was because of the boy’s natural charms or the way he his eyes teared up slightly at the moment, pandering to his very being and urge to care for the other.

Or because he desperately wanted somebody to drink osmanthus wine with again.

…

“Lumine! I missed you all day!” Aether cried out as he hugged his twin, the girl hugging him back in response.

“Haha! I missed you too!” Lumine responded. “Anyways, I have to tell you something.”

Aether swallowed in anticipation of what she would say next.

Was it him ethnically profiling Thoma, causing Xiao to malfunction, beating the stuffing out of Childe, causing a gang war, calling out Diluc’s weird role playing, flirting with his professor, or perhaps worst of all…

Sitting next to Drama majors!?

“I’m so sorry Lumine!” Aether let out as the possibilities of what he did overwhelmed him.

“Huh? What are you sorry about? I’m the one who caused the problem here!” Lumine asked as she looked at her brother worryingly.

“What?”

“Don’t get too mad but… I may have accidentally leaked your phone number and dorm room to a number of male students.”

“WhAt?”

“Okay! Okay so here’s what happened! Ayaka asked me for your phone number because her brother wanted it for whatever reason. And of course I told her because she’s wonderful and amazing and would never betray me. And then he gave it to Thoma, who then gave it to Gorou, who then gave it to Itto, don’t give me that look I know, who then got beaten and gave it to Childe, whon then told Lyney and that dude with the really ugly hat, who then accidentally let Alhaitham hear it, who then told his entire table of friends including that guy who broke down in art history and the one with the bob that did not give, then Cyno told Albedo, who then told Diluc, who told Worce- I mean, Wriothesley, who then let Neuvillette know, which didn’t matter because Furina told him already, who told Zhongli, which who finally told me!”

“So you’re telling me basically every man I spoke to today knows my number and where I live?” Aether asked with a dumbfounded expression.

“Yup.”

“If I die I’m blaming you!”

“I’m sorry! I really am!”

“…it’s fine, I can’t be mad at you. You didn’t know that this entire sequence would spiral because you told one girl. And it’s not like I wasn’t part of the issue either.”

“Oh yeah, what exactly did you do Aether?”

“I’m pretty sure all the rumors you’ve heard are true.”

“That you beat the crap out of Childe, caused a gang war, made a gay kid cry, and hit on Professor Zhongli?”

“Yep.”

“Oh Aether, that’s totally fine! Things like this happen all the time here!” Lumine stated, knowing the she also caused problems of similar magnitude during her first year here.

“Oh thank Archon.”

“Oh, but is it true you sat with the Drama Majors at lunch today?”

“…yes,” Aether shamefully admitted.

“I’ve never wanted to disown you in my life any more than at this very moment.”

…

Aether laid upon his bed, his face glued to his phone.

The messages he received were… interesting to say the least.

*You have multiple unread messages*

Lumine: “Do you need me to come with you to school tomorrow? Men can’t be tru…”

Thoma: “I know we got off to a rough start but I really hope we can get to know each-“

Ayato: “Care to get some milk tea tomorrow with me? I can tell you’re the type to like sucking b…”

Gorou: “Will you be free tomorrow at lunch? *Dog Emojii*”

Itto: “How r u doing 2night?”

Xiao: “Do… you watch anime?”

Venti: “Up to drink 2night???”

Kazuha: “Know a good dealer? Also feel free to join me anytime :)”

Heizou: “It seems everyday is a mystery with you, we’re bound to make it far my dear….”

Alhaitham: “Do you have any good recommendations of books to read, Kaveh only recommends self-inserts…”

Kaveh: “Don’t believe what Alhaitham tells you about me! Also my picture was not asymmetrical it was…”

Cyno: “Want to play another round of TCG tomorrow? I’m bringing a new deck. I also thought of a new jo…”

Tighnari: “I heard you talking smack about my bob.”

Childe (ew): “Comrade please answer my texts! I bought another phone to text you w…”

Hat Guy???: “Loser.”

Worcestershire: “Did you make it home safely? Call me if you ever feel unsafe and I’ll escort yo…”

Neuvillette: “I hope to see you in class tomorrow, I brought a bottle of water imported straight from Liyue…”

Lyney: “Want to see another magic show, I promise it’ll be even greater than the last! I’ll dedicate it just for you…”

Kaeya: “Joining us at lunch tomorrow? The group has been excited to discuss some more topics tomorrow, like about Zh…”

Diluc: “Make sure to submit your response for Political Sciences, also don’t trust whatever Kaeya makes up…”

Albedo: “The planet was originally dust but a series of events somehow enacted life onto this world. I believe we can rep…”

Zhongli: “It is illegal for me to message you but I am concerned for your well-being. Also, I would like to know more about your thoughts on Osman…”

Aether turned his phone off.

He needed to get a new phone number. And also needed to stop letting autocorrect spell Wriothesley for him.

Before he could continue his nightly routine of watching an unhealthy amount of videos at night, Aether received another message.

Dainslef: “Did you have a good first day?”

He looked at the sender carefully.

Aether: “Who are you?”

Dainslef: “We met at Celestia Academy?”

Aether: “Sry don’t recall.”

Dainslef: “…I confessed to you.”

Now Aether didn’t pride himself as the most popular kid in his former school, but if he had to remember every person that confessed to him, he’d know half the population of the world by this point.

Aether: “What school do you attend now?”

Dainslef: “Abyss Academy.”

Thank Archon he didn’t attend the same school as this guy. Still, maybe Lumine knew who he was.

Aether: “LUMINE”

Lumine: “what”

Aether: “Who is Dainslef?”

Lumine: “ignore him.”

Aether: “K.”

And with the conversation over with, Aether did his nightly routine and went to sleep for the night.

…

Arriving at the entrance of the academy, Aether was immediately faced with a mob of desperately men or their sassy and also equally gay best friends.

Thoma waved at him nicely while Ayato sipped on his endless boba while staring at the boy like how Yae Miko stared at heterosexuals, ready to roast them alive.

Gorou excitedly waved at him with Aether’s imaginary dog tail on him while Itto tripped on nothing.

Xiao was listening to his anime intros out loud again, Venti was trying his best not to laugh at Xiao, Heizou was theorizing the next episode’s plot twist for the anime Xiao listened to, and Kazuha wasn’t even in the room mentally.

Alhaitham gave him a brief glance before having to turn to the fussy queer by his side. Kaveh only snapped at him with his manicured nails before looking Aether with a fiery attitude and his journal tightly held. Cyno stood silently, but his eyes burned for a desire to play TCG and tell a dad joke. Tighnari just waited by with his bob that wasn’t fye.

Kaeya called him over with a compliment while Diluc only turned away in disinterest as Aether received a coincidental Discord notification. Albedo waved slightly before leaving, assumingely content with just seeing the boy.

Childe excitedly greeted Aether while he leaned on Hat Guy’s obnoxious hat. Hat Guy only flipped off Aether before attempting to stab the ginger on him with his hat.

Wriothesley and Neuvillette both gave him a small smile, the black haired man inviting him over to walk and the white haired man eager to give Aether the bottle he procured the night before.

Zhongli stood a partial distance away from all the students, he himself glad that Aether seemed mentally stable after their last meeting. Aether did spot the small bottle of Osmanthus Wine in his arms however that was enviously eyed by Venti.

Placing a hand on his hip, Aether only let out a tired smile as he watched all the men look at him. It was the second day of school and there’s a mob at his door.

Thankfully, he saw this coming.

“MOVE OVER HOMOSEXUALS I’M PICKING UP MY BROTHER,” yelled a familiar voice as a maniacal ginger was knocked over and a blonde woman emerged.

Wrapping his arm around Lumine’s, Aether departed while looking at the other men with an amused expression, taking in their faces of bewilderment.

Today was his second day at Tevyat Academy, and he was going to make the best of it!