𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐭𝐡

♔ 𝟐: Inchoate

♔

The bells ring, and student's rejoiced. It was finally the start of weekends. Of course, they were given quite a handful of homework, one of them by the literature teacher, Mr. Chang. Y/n was about to leave, when the president appeared, smiling at her. Y/n tilted her head when Keqing had asked a small favor.
"Is it alright if you could tour the newcomer around school?" Y/n happily obliged, and her eyes twinkled upon the newbie's appearance. His hair was long, braided down to his back. His eyes were honey-hued, and his face looked young and attractive. "I-I'm Aether. Please take care of me!" Y/n felt a blush coat her cheeks, the word 'cute' plaguing her mind upon his introduction. "I'm Y/n! Nice to meet you!"

           "And these are the gardens! That's pretty much the whole school!" Y/n lead the male inside the garden. There were different kinds of flowers in the path. Those that caught his attention were the Cecilias, the Lamp Grass, and the Dandelions. Those were on the path that represented the Mondstadtian District of Teyvat. Then, there were the silk flowers, Qingxin, violet grass, horsetail, and glaze lilies from the district of Liyue. On the middle of all the paths was a fountain with seven statues. "It's so pretty..." Aether awed, and he blushed as he looked at his current tour guide. Of course, it was another city's dialect, so it made Y/n tilt her head, confused. "Sorry, I-I'm not from the city so," Y/n's eyes twinkled, "That's fine! I'm also not from around here! I'm living with my cousin for highschool. My university life... I don't know if I'll be staying." Aether smiled, "Glad to know I have someone from out of the city." Suddenly the sound of jazz music flowed out from her phone, catching her off guard. "Sorry, may I take this for a while?" Aether nodded as he let the female take the call.

"Hello~" A teasing greeting made its way to her ears. "Kaeya? Why did you call?" He chuckled, "Diluc much?" Y/n pouted as she heard his response. "I'm picking you up today," He sang with glee. Y/n could feel the smile on his face from voice alone, making her slightly annoyed. "Okay. I'm touring someone around the school at the moment," This elicited an amused sound. "It better be a girl, Y/n," Kaeya chuckled, imagining the blush that never coated her cheeks in reality. "You know, that's awfully Diluc of you." Y/n ended the call without no goodbyes. I swear, these cousins of mine don't know how awfully similar they are to each other.

            Meanwhile, Aether couldn't help but watch her reactions, how her voice switches slightly to monotones when she isn't amused. The pout, however... he couldn't help but remember how she looked like a chipmunk. It was adorable.... she was adorable. He couldn't help, but accept the inchoate longing of her smile.

"Earth to Aether?" He snapped out of his thoughts as a hand waved in front of him. "Ah! Sorry about that!" Y/n slightly giggled. "It's fine! Anyways, let's get back to the tour, shall we?" Aether nodded as the two walked around the gardens.

"Ah, it's only been the first day for him, and he's already getting flustered," From the bushes lies a male with navy blue hair. "I'm actually a little scared for Y/n," Xingqiu mumbled. "Someone's jelly!" Xiangling giggled as she looked at his perplexed face. "We shouldn't be spying on them, you know?" Chongyun commented, looking at the two with disappointed eyes.
            "Uhm..." The trio looked behind, and a familiar green-eyed male came to vision. Beside him was the mysterious and wolf-like male with messy silver hair. "Are we interrupting something?" Bennett asked as he sips on a milkbox. He peers from the bushes, and his eyes twinkled. "It's Y/n!" Bennett immediately dashed towards the female, though Xingqiu tried to stop him.

          "Y/nnnnnn!" Looking behind her, she felt strong arms encasing her in a bearhug. "Benny!" She hugged back after her surprise. "Y/n!" Xiangling called out as she walked out with Chongyun and Xingqiu. "You're all here?" Y/n laughed awkwardly, still encased in Bennett's hug. "You don't think we're a little interested with Mr. Newcomer now, do you?" Y/n giggled. She removed Bennett's hands from her, eliciting a small whine that was unheard. Y/n bowed, "Sorry about that. I thought all of you went home." Xingqiu smiled with a soft blush coating his cheeks. God, Y/n's giggles are beautiful. Aether looked at the female the same way every male did, making Xiangling smirk at what is to happen. "Anyways, these are my friends!"
"Greetings, my liege. I am Xingqiu, Y/n's best friend, and leader of the literature club," The male with navy blue hair bowed, hand on his chest. "I am Chongyun, Y/n's best friend," The other male with icy blue hair introduced, followed by a stare-down with the literature enthusiast. "I'm Xiangling, Y/n's bestest friend, and the aspiring chef of Liyue!" The blue-eyed female exclaimed. "The three of us are from Liyue District. It's culturally different than every other district!" Aether took notes of that. "And we're from Mondstadt. I'm Bennett, and this is Razor! We live together," The male with ash/gray hair introduced, and his friend, Razor nodded subtly. "I'm Aether, and I'm not from the city. Please take care of me," He bows politely.