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alwayscorvus · 6 months ago

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Fresh start - Chapter One

Fresh start - HOW IT BEGAN (Aether pov)

highschool! au;

Chapter 1/45 - (old one, written 3 years ago)

I started writing this about… idk 3 years ago? Probably a month before Inazuma came out. Based on information and predictions available at that time. Currently, I would change a lot and def NOT use some of this ships. But for the sake of sentiment and good memories I will stay with the old concept. And I will use my old script.

I just always wanted to finish it. But it doesn't really relate to my current work and preferences/believes. Not that they were that bad in the past hahah but still, I've matured a bit in this 3 years

Smooth the end of a freshly ironed shirt. Firmly tighten the tie. Neatly clasp a watch on right wrist. And carefully examine it in the rays of a rising sun.

A final fix of hair, completed with a significant ruffling to a messy state.

Quick snap of phone. Click and done.

-You look great! - squawking voice of artificial intelligence cheered loudly.

Left corner of boy's mouth lifted up slightly at that.

Blond-haired boy shifted his gaze from phone screen to his reflection in the mirror. Indeed. He looked... pretty good. A white shirt and a light brown pullover trimmed with gold thread greatly hid boy's skinny body. His pants, slightly darker than his sweater, practically didn't stand out from the crowd. And diagonal yellow stripes on his brown tie perfectly highligted his honey-colored eyes. Under which, regular shadows disappeared. For the first time in a while.

Maybe this was the time. Time to say goodbye to them. If not permanently then at least for a while. Boy smiled even wider. He really looked good today!

Although in the picture he looked a bit better... More... carefree. Or maybe it was just this flying fairy icon's fault. The one jumping around photo and making both surprised and impressed faces assigned by a program.

-Aether! -loud, yet kind voice of boy's "mother" rang through the house.

-Coming!

Knocked out of his thoughts, he immediately turn off his phone. With a hasty glance he looked around for his bag. Catching it lying on the bed, he quickly ran out through the open door, almost tripping over his own feet.

Loud shaking of stair steps made his "parent" laugh.

-Now now -she assured through laughter- Easy. If you really took a long time to gather yourself, I would start rushing you more. You still have plenty of time. You will definitely make it! -she exclaimed cheerfully.

Aether merely nodded at that. He opened his bag, allowing metal box with fresh bento to be stuffed inside.

-Have it. I hope you enjoy it!-she smiled broadly and proudly- But if not, don't be afraid to get yourself something! I won't hold a grudge! I have no experience in this anyway... But I'll try to get it! If you have any suggestions, tell me right away. I'll try to get better!

A slightly awkward silence could be felt for a moment. Probably Aether's dull gaze didn't make this situation any better. But he couldn't help it. That's just how he was. Quiet, reserved, definitely not as energetic as woman leaning over him. Luckily, this "moment" like every other, passed quickly.

Checking began; "Did you pack your books?" "A pen?" "You have the money?" "And your phone, right?" "Have you reported your status today?" "Took your medicines?" "Brushed your teeth?"

To all of these questions Aether thoughtfully nodded, though he laughed sincerely at the last one.

-Surely. I am not five years old but eighteen.

-Oh, yeah... I'm sorry. I guess it's not that easy to skip through these stages after all -there she paused for a moment to lovingly run her fingers through Aether's hair. But in this gesture something more was hidden. Some sort of sadness and dissatisfaction that Aether didn't fail to notice- Good luck on your first day of school.

-No thank you, as not jinx it! - with these words he ran towards exit door, where he quickly slipped white sneakers on his feet.

And... just when he was about to leave-... he held door handle a bit longer than he should and turned around. That suprised a woman.

-About you not being able to drop me off on first day because-... because of work. It doesn't matter! I preferred to go there alone anyway. That way I can settle my mind. As Dr. Ping said: "I need to give myself some time to get used to everything."

At this statement "mom" glowed again, as if a weight had just fallen from her shoulders. Aether, however, couldn't enjoy this lovely view. Immediately after his confession he jumped out of the house. Ashamed of his boldness.

Stepping onto a sidewalk, he looked at "his house" for one last time. It stood still, as if unmoved by Aether's loss. Boy shifted his gaze to building next door, and in fact to its resident. A young, petite boy with knees wrapped tightly in blanket, who held a wooden instrument in his hand. Playing a rhythmic melody on it. A melody carried by wind that blew away his red and white hair.

Aether didn't even realize when he started humming. Just as he didn't realize when around twenty minutes later he bumped into another student passing in front of him.

A loud bang and a swish of papers could be heard thanks to passerby's fall. First words of apology came quickly from both mouths. Lady explained that she was in a hurry and pile of papers in front of her nose covered her view. While, gentleman blamed his drifting off and ignorance of dangers in new school. Eventually they both smiled warmly at each other. Then together helped themselves in standing up, shaking off dust and collecting printed sheets.

-Wait a minute, are you new here? Did I heard that correctly?

-Hmm... Yes? -Aether scratched back of his neck rather shy.

-Oho ho ho! -she exclaimed at that statement truly excited- And what? You walk here alone? Just by yourself? Without anyone's knowledge? On your first day? -she started to ask almost sneakily.

-Y-yes?

Girl clapped at this overjoyed, causing papers to spill out again. Boy looked at it a little stupiefied. Perhaps it would be better to retreat unnoticed?

On one hand: he didn't like the idea of collecting papers again. On the other: girl's gestures began to show a terrifying loss of common sense. There was no reason to stay.

Unfortunately, Aether, as Aether was, couldn't refuse to help.

Or maybe he didn't want to? Did anyone even ask him for help?

-Great! You are lucky, my young man, that you found me. I'm Amber! The biggest and greatest! And this school is my territory! -she exclaimed proudly, supporting her hips with her hands and looking up at the sky. Almost waiting for a divine glow to fall on her.

Glow, however, didn't shown.

Then Amber looked down at the mess beneath her feet. Her face darkened, as if she had just realized her actions. She laughed awkwardly.

-Pardon me? Hehe...

First lesson started quite smoothly. Well, except for introduction, which was unexpectedly thrown on Aether's shoulders. Which in reality was normal for a new student. Especially for the one who suddenly joins second class of high school.

Shy Aether mumbled a few sentences about himself. He blurted out something about pretended individual teaching and interests.

Short, pale, young boy didn't really pique a big interest. Maybe because he didn't fit into common canons of beauty. Or maybe because the rest of a class had more interesting topics to talk about. Or the lesson was more entertaining. Whatever it was, none of heads turned towards thw new student.

As soon as Aether noticed this, he quickly relaxed. Which sudden confidence, he began to check out his class himself. Mint-haired creature sitting in a first row, right in front of the professor, almost never put down her hand. She didn't close her mouth either. Every now and then, her shy voice could be heard in the classroom. Full of comments, questions, doubts, but also answers.

He shifted his interest to something else. Aether looked at the room that Amber had brought him to a good few minutes ago.

White walls, big blackboard and modest benches were pretty uninteresting.

Bored Aether glanced at another student. She also occupied one of first desks. This girl however, showed no interest in the lesson. Her main task was probably fixing a headband on her grey hair. What's more, her body was trembling slightly. It was easy to see that she was stressed a lot. When bell rang, girl squealed and almost jumped up on her chair. "I wonder if her hair is gray because of this whole stress".

-Hey you're Aether, right?

Aether turned towards the cheerful high-pitched voice, which led to meeting an amused blue irises.

-I'm Xingqiu, nice to meet you! -he bowed with a broad smile- And this is my friend. Meet Chongyun! -he introduced by pointing at a nodding head- Would you like to have lunch with us and our friends later?

Mentioned lunch came faster than Aether could have expected. Before he knew it, he was already sitting at a stone table under a glass roofing, breathing in fresh spring air. Together with Chongyun and Xingqiu, as well as newcomers: Razor and Bennett they started to enjoy lunch. While getting to know each other.

Suddenly. Out of nowhere. A loud scream was heard by a group. Aether himself, whose name was just shouted, almost fell face-first into his food box. And it was not out of fear but due to the weight of a certain loud girl who had just thrown herself onto his back. Luckily, she was quick to reconsider. And instead of squishing her friend, she sat down next to him. But, she just couldn't help and just had to ask for an explanation about why Aether dared to leave her, instead of eating with her. After declaring an unforgivable grudge, Amber turned to the rest and introduced herself cheerfully.

-How is your first day at school going, huh? -Amber turned towards Aether despite her offence.

Others just looked at them, filling their stomachs in process.

-Eh... well? I guess... I mean, mostly like it? I don't know. So far everything that happened to me has been positive. So... rather good.

-How are classes? Teachers? O! O! Have you met that harsh, old geography professor yet?

-Hmm... no? I only had a language classes today, so I didn't really get a chance. And as for the rest, it waas... normal? I think.

-And how was class, hmm? If anyone is mean to you, your Amber will show them the hell out! -she shouted, as if ready for a battle, pulling up her sleeves.

-No no! It's okay. Nothing happened. Except for that girl with short grey hair, she was a little... weird. But it's not like she wanted anything from me. Onl-

-Are you talking about Noelle? -Xingqiu chimed in.

-Eh? Could it be? The one that was sitting in first bench.

-She was actually more stressed than usual - admitted Chongyun.

-Stressed? It must be that Geo Team again, let me just show them! They won't want to take advantage of this poor girl anymore!

Aether swallowed his saliva heavily and in order to cool down Amber's energy he decided to go a little bit off topic.

-Team?

-Yes, one of the best current teams in stride.

A smile bloomed on dark haired girl's face, which Xingqiu didn't fail to notice. He knew that girl was up to something and that she had some suspicious plans for new student. But he decided not to interfere.

-But there is nothing to talk about -she waved- In the end, stride is the most important sport in this city. Everybody knows it - she answered "casually".

Although it really felt like she wanted to continue...

Aether gave her a doubtful look.

-Stride?

-Yes, stride. Did I mispronounce?

-No, no, I just... what-- what exactly is stride?

Amber choked on her juice that she was just drinking. When loud coughing sounds echoed outside, Aether hurriedly started patting Amber's back, looking at her worried and puzzled.

-You shouldn't do that, it only makes condition worse - Xingqiu alarmed at the sight of Aether's actions. However, he was quickly interrupted by Amber, who, overcoming her choking, exploded:

-Do you not know stride?!

-N-no...?

Aether moved back slightly on the bench. Horrified by Amber's condition and the fact that he had apparently... said something wrong?

But what?

-Man, where have you been living! Under a rock?! Stride competition is one of the biggest events here! Not only does every high school participate in preliminaries, but everyyyoneee comes to official games! Not just students!

Amber started looking around at the rest of her companions in disbelief. Was it just her imagination, or did one of her age-mates really didn't know what stride was? Brown-haired girl let out excess of air, which managed to accumulate in her. She took a big breath and continued, a little more calmed down.

-I'll explain everything to you, don't worry! -she assured, slowly finding clear sides of Aether's ignorance - Oh, it's so good that you found me this morning. Who knows what would have happened to you otherwise. Not knowing about stride is the same as not knowing the taste of world's best Sticky Honey Roast!

Amber was drawn to the topic and began to talk. About how every school has its own representation. But those with outstanding achievements in stride can have two of them. About how each team can have an unlimited number of members. And about how over the years they began to require five official members to keep paperwork under control. About special roles. About stages of race. She wanted to talk about everything, but she actually said practically nothing. She was quickly interrupted by the bell.

Boys were late and hurriedly went to next class.

-Don't worry, we wouldn't leave you at Amber's mercy - laughed Xingqiu - You better watch out for her, her energy is sometimes... unpredictable.

In the last lesson, Aether couldn't concentrate much. It's not that he didn't try, because he did, but... He really didn't understand anything. He had spent last year trying to get back to normal life. It was hard for him to re-master normal skills, like making tea or putting laundry on. He definitely couldn't find time to catch up with school material...

He moved his eyes to the window. It was almost empty outside. Only two figures stood out in school's square. In one of them Aether recognized his neighbor, whom he had pleasure of seeing today on his way to school. He didn't know the other person. After all, that dark purple hair would be impossible to forget. Boys angrily exchanged words while waving their hands dramatically. Aether couldn't hear them from the second floor. But he knew that two of them were definitely arguing about something.

#fanfic #fanfiction #male reader #aether #high school au #genshin impact #genshin impact story #scaramouche #kazuha #kaeya #amber #genshin impact amber #albedo #own story #prince of stride #diluc #chongyun #xingqiu

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