✎ ..*ੈ✩‧₊˚ heart of chalk - [ Yandere Albedo × Female Reader ]

Side Ch: Best Friends

Note: This chapter has ties with the lore of the main storyline.

This chapter takes place many years before the main storyline.

...

Once upon a time, there existed another department besides Inazuma, Liyue and Mondstadt.

This department was called the Kha'enriah Department, the very first department of Teyvat High.

Three particular girls studied in this department, as best friends.

One wanted to be a scientist.

One wanted to travel the entire world.

One wanted to be a psychologist.

"Rhine, c'mon, can't you let me copy your homework just once?" The first blonde girl whined.

"Be quiet, Alice. I'm trying to study."

"Rhine is too uptight!" A black haired girl grinned, "The homework topic has nothing to do with the exam topics!"

"See, Xinxin gets it!" Alice hugged the black haired girl, "Unlike you, Rhinedottr."

The studious blonde girl only glared back at the two of them in annoyance.

...

"Ah, my heart is aching..." Li Xin rested her head on her desk.

"What's wrong?" Alice looked at her face, "Oh my-"

The black haired girl's face was almost as red as a tomato, her cheeks were flaring up with chilis, and her nose was bleeding like ketchup!

...And drool leaking from the corner of her mouth like a faucet.

"Xinxin, you wanna go to the infirmary?!" Alice blinked in shock.

"Ahah, no..." She grinned widely like an idiot, "T-This psychologist is in love!"

"At least clean up your dirty face..." Rhinedottr said.

"Here, take this handkerchief..." Alice gave her a small piece of cloth.

Wiping her face, the only thing that didn't go away was the blush on her face, "He's right there, s-standing with that addicting face..."

"Who?" Alice tried to look in the same direction.

"Him!" The black haired girl pointed at a boy outside the classroom, talking to his friends.

"Glasses guy?" Alice blinked, "Isn't his name...Enjou, or something?"

"Right, that's right!" Li Xin nodded rapidly, "Why? Why?! Why does he have to be so perfect...?"

"You're into guys with glasses?" Alice eyed the infatuated girl.

"Shut up, Alice." Rhinedottr spoke for only the second time in this conversation.

"My heart hurts..." Li Xin sighed, "My heart hurts at the sight of him talking to anyone besides me."

"Woah there." Alice patted her head.

"Mm...I can imagine us having such a beautiful future..." Li Xin closed her eyes, a blissful feeling manifesting in her chest.

"Hey, how did you two meet? I might just write it into a book..." Alice grinned, "And I will probably name it 'Deepest Desire'."

"It all began in a library..."

...

"Graduation!"

The three girls tossed their navy hats into the air.

Joy was present on their faces, even for the cold girl that was Rhinedottr.

"Here's to the friendship of the three of us, may we be best friends to the very end!" Alice raised a fist into the sky.

"Here's to the friendship of the three of us, let's continue having great memories!" Li Xin raised a fist into the air.

"Here's to the friendship of the three of us, may our bonds never fall apart." Rhinedottr raised a fist into the air.

Here's to the friendship of the three of us.

Us, the students of Kha'enriah.

...

...

...

"Magnum Opus. The most magnificent creation." A girl held a mechanical wolf in her hands.

Albeit, all covered in blood.

"Rhine!" Alice and Li Xin walked into the lab, seeing the scattered organs on the tables.

The lab was a bloody, gross mess. The air inside the room reeked of the metallic stench.

But none of the three girls bothered. None of the three girls could care.

None of the three girls were completely sane anyway.

"Hey, Rhine..." The black haired spoke, "How's your progress?"

The studious blonde glanced towards the other two girls, "I call this a Rifthound."

She set the mechanical body onto the ground.

This lady used animal organs in an attempt to make a working robot that can function exactly like a real animal.

"For this experiment, I used a dog."

The "Rifthound", slowly but surely, began to get up on it's feet by itself. It's mechanical body lifted itself up, and it's heart began to beat...just like a living creature.

"Woah." Alice watched.

"Does it think like a dog?" Li Xin walked over.

"Are you underestimating my scientific prowess?" Rhinedottr glared at her.

Sure enough, when Alice was about to touch it, the Rifthound began to sniff on her hands.

"...Cool!"

"However, these are deemed failures." Rhinedottr turned away and shuffled through her drawers, "Rifthounds are not 'Magnum Opus'. They are not perfection."

"That's so sad..." Alice began to pet the mechanical dog, "See, Rhinedottr would be a terrible mom. But I'm a real mom! Do you wanna be my doggy?"

"Shut it."

"So, what is this so called perfection in your eyes?" Li Xin asked.

"Perfection is a creation that does not malfunction. Perfection is exactly how I want it to be." Rhinedottr answered.

"How will you achieve this perfection?" Li Xin smiled.

"I will attempt so with my next creation. A mechanical dragon, called Durin."

"Wow, a dragon? Don't you think that's a jump?" Alice asked.

"Dragons don't even exist, either! What will you use as the organs?" Li Xin grinned, sinisterly.

"Durin will the be the exception. I will recreate human organs by metal." Rhinedottr replied, "And if Durin turns out to be a failure too..."

"Then...?" Alice continued to pet the Rifthound.

"Then..." Li Xin looked at the studious blonde girl, "You'll begin the Primordial Human Project?"

"Correct. That will be my Magnum Opus." Rhinedottr reached for a human heart on her table, "And can you guess what I'll name that creation?"

"Dunno. What?" Alice glanced at her friend.

"I will name it Albedo."

...