Look Me in the Eyes (and tell me that it's me) [Zhongchili]

Chapter 1 - A Chance Meeting

"See you later, little buddy, have a great week now!" Ajax waves off the final kid of the day, who waves back at him across the car park with a gap-toothed grin as he's tugged along by his mother. Once the kid is safely in the car, Ajax heads back into the university's theatre building and into the sideroom that he and Yoimiya host the weekly after-school theatre group they run for the local primary school in.

It started as a little volunteering after their classes, but almost four years later they're still here, back after a week off for mid-spring exams, the final quarter before they graduate and are freed from their studies into the big, wide world.

A large 'Welcome Back' banner is tied up against the back wall of the small, wooden platform that serves as a stage and sheets of lined paper and a pile of pencils sit on the front desk, alongside the project of the day—a stack of handwritten scripts the children wrote about a notable event that happened during the past week's school holiday. The top one, titled 'My Guinea Pig's Great Escape', catches Ajax's eye and he grins.

Kids are precious.

"Hey, Ajax!" Yoimiya waves him over from beneath the right hand side of the banner, the tiny bells inside the large spherical ornament she decorates her hair with jingling along in time with her movements.

It's a little eccentric, in his opinion, but he likes her all the more for it.

"The groundskeeper took the step ladder again during the session and I can't..." She jumps, reaching for the string tying the banner, but fails to come close. "Can you give me a boost?"

"Sure." He strides across the room and crouches enough to let her hop on his back, then he loops his arms under her legs and stands, bringing her in line with the banner.

"Okay, great, I can reach it now. Just a minute—this is tied on super tight!"

"No hurry—the sooner you get done with that, the sooner we have to go home, and that means the sooner I have to study."

"Ugh, don't remind me." Yoimiya continues fiddling with the knot. "Feels strange that it's going to be over so soon. Feels like only yesterday we first met, and now one more set of exams and we'll really be done."

"Don't remind me. Your plans for after graduation still the same?"

"Of course! Stay here in Snezhnaya, get some experience in Snezhnayan pyrotechnics while sending money back to pops and then, once I've learnt enough here, I'll go back to the shop in Inazuma and use everything I've learned to make the best firework shows ever!"

"I'm still amazed how you have everything worked out so easily. You almost make me jealous."

"Aww, but your father lined up something good for you, too, didn't he?"

Ajax groans. "Yup, he's still on about it. Still looking down the next forty years of my life stuck in some dingy office somewhere."

"Well, you should follow your dreams and be happy—don't take it if it's not what you want to do." Yoimiya gives the string a final tug and the banner swings down and to the left. "Ah, got it!"

Easy for her to say. As much as Ajax enjoys her company, it's hard not to be jealous when this specific topic arises. Yoimiya, who's had everything worked out for her since the moment she was born into the family business which, lucky lucky for her, turns out to be her one and only passion in life.

"We can't all be like you," he says as lightheartedly as he can as he lowers her to the ground. "I should probably take it though. Father isn't getting any younger, and he won't be able to support the family forever."

Yoimiya picks up the string and begins to walk the banner across to the other side of the stage, frowning. "You have older siblings, don't you? It's not all on you."