Rivalry | Scaramouche

04

- [Shivering Death Threats] -

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't bring herself to collapse for a few hours on her mattress, because one thought kept bugging her mind:

'What if he takes all the credit of my work when I did all the work-load?'

With many of her friends, they wouldn't do anything of the sort, some may even give her better tips on how to do said work, but when it came to Scaramouche, his criticisms exceeded far past anyone, possibly in all of Teyvat. Not to mention his egoistic and demanding attitude. He could get away with anything if he tried hard enough.

'Damn it, better I just do the work now than having to listen to that thing...' She sighed, sitting up and swinging her legs off the bed.

She went straight to her study table and pulled out a notebook Miko had given her a few days before, flipping to the first page. She took out her phone as well to research about the topic.

At what seemed to be about 5 A.M, she yawned and put her note book and phone in her bag, the sun rising above the horizon and painting the sky different shades of gold.

She got out of her studying table despite her yawns and her body's constant screams for her to go to sleep, even her ears twitched and folded. She got dressed in her usual attire for school.

'If Lumine or Miko see me in this state, they're going to drag me all the way home and tie me down onto the bed until I get 8 hours of sleep, I can't let them know.'

As the sudden thought came to her, she used a little powder from her makeup kit to cover up her tired face, afterwards she made her way downstairs, where her sister waited, stretching.

---

By the time she'd finished school and was entering the library, Y/n could barely see straight.

Not only did she have extra homework to complete in class, but while walking to the designated area, the students all crowded around her. Her only reason for being popular was being Miko's twin sister.

It wasn't like this wasn't unusual.

She scanned the area, looking for the indigo-haired boy in all the cubicles, however, the place was completely empty, if you excused the librarian who was completely immersed in reading a book.

She then felt two taps on her shoulder, and she turned to see the indigo-hair behind her, his arms crossed.

'I thought you would've heard me by now, looks like your senses are still clogged from last week's collision.' He sighed and shook his head, the bells on his hat's veils chiming as he did so.

'Just... Try not to get distracted again.'

'That won't be a problem.' Y/n rolled her eyes, 'Let's get this over with.'

As they sat down at one of the corner desks, Y/n's head buzzed with a headache due to her lack of sleep. Scaramouche didn't notice her condition at all, or maybe he didn't care. He simply took the initiative and began to explain things she couldn't understand, not even looking in her direction.

'Must focus... Don't fall asleep... Can't... Head...Hurts too much...' However, she couldn't stop as she blacked in and out, soon, her conscious began to fade.

'Sorry, Miko... Plan's...gonna fail...'

And with those final thoughts, her head slumped as she began to sleep.

---

- SCARAMOUCHE POV -

I explained a lot of things once we'd sat down, however, I didn't hear Y/n speak at all, not even a remark which she'd usually do if I ever got information wrong during out many arguments in the hallways.

'Are you even listening to what I'm-?' My voice cut short as I stared at the girl in front of me, she had fallen asleep. Her head laid on the desk while her arms wrapped around her head, her ears folded in a protective manner as she relaxed.

I had noticed her sleepy condition from the way she talked and moved, however, I hadn't thought she would fall asleep right in the middle of my explanation.

'She really knows no bounds...' I thought, sighing.

I reached out to touch her and wake her up so we could continue, when a voice spoke out of nowhere.

'I wouldn't do that if I were you, besides, you might wake her up, and she didn't sleep at all, you know~.'

I turned and glared at the source of the playful voice, Y/n's sister looked down at me, smiling, however, when her gaze fixated on that of her sister's state, her eyes flashed with slight concern.

'She quite literally stayed up all night just to create a bunch of notes for the presentation and dint even bother to tell me, all of this was because she thought you might steal her credit at the end of the day after she did all the heavy lifting, leaving you to collect her payment.'

She handed me a notebook, not bigger than a sketchbook, I opened it and flipped through the pages; Nearly half the book was completely filled with essays on the topic. My mouth couldn't help but part slightly in shock, I nearly forgot her sister was there.

'Such a shame it didn't happen, I wouldn't mind beating you up for a valid reason.' She suddenly spoke, I closed the notebook just so I could glare at the kitsune again.

'Tell me what you want.' I demanded.

'Me? Oh, I don't need anything, I'm just here to give you a small warning.' She spoke, her smile faded and her expression shifted into a glare of her own.

'If you harm my baby sister in any way, I will see to it that you're buried in the deepest part of Mount Yougou, where no one will ever hear you or your screams of terror.'

'Jee, okay, I won't do anything.' I sighed.
'Good.' She spoke again, 'You can cancel the meeting for today and let her slee- Actually, watch over her until she wakes up, until then, you can work on the presentation.'

'Tch, fine.' I grumbled and crossed my arms.

'I'll be taking my leave, don't disturb the little one.'

---

- NEUTRAL POV -

With that, she left the library and went in another direction as Scaramouche took books off the shelves, trying to find anything of the fall of the roman empire, while, occasionally, checking on the sleeping kitsune to know if she'd woken up from her slumber.

Surprisingly, she didn't. 'Don't foxes have very sound-sensitive ears?'

However, as he continued to check up on her, he couldn't help but find her... cute?

'Shut your trap, Scaramouche. What is wrong with you?' he mentally yelled at himself for even thinking that way.

However, as he continued to check up on her, a pit developed and those feelings inside of him grew, and, somehow, he couldn't help but find himself smiling softly as he gazed upon his Y/n.
---
A/n:
(Written: 12/4/2024)