Centimeters [Childe/Tartaglia x reader]

Prologue

Word Count: 1490

In Y/n's POV

-About a year prior to attending Liyue University-

"You are so dead this time, Ajax!" I belted out, chasing my best friend, AJ, around the empty club room.

"That's what you always say, (Y/n)! And I've yet to die haha," chuckled out the ginger, running around in circles, avoiding me, my vision in-hand.

"This time," I whispered out, climbing on top of some chairs behind him. "You're mine."

And with that, I pounced onto the back of the taller boy, grabbing ahold of my vision.

"Ah-" yelped out AJ as he lost his balance, which resulted in both of us falling atop of some stacked up books and chairs.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow..." I moaned out repeatedly, rubbing my arms and legs.

"Aw, c'mon now, that was barely just a scratch... and besides... you were the one who fell on top of me."

"Ahehe..."

I pushed some of the fallen books away from me before I rolled off of my best friend's back. I then helped him up from the floor of the club room.

"Well, maybe next time you shouldn't steal my vision... These things are precious, you know... Not everyone gets one," I explained, dusting off my [element] vision before attaching it back to my belt.

"Yeah, I know... You won't stop talking about it each time I take it from you..." said AJ as he rolled his eyes. "Let's start cleaning up before we get yelled at again, shall we, girlie?"

"Must we use that age-old nickname?" This time, it was my turn to roll my eyes.

"What? It's cute, isn't it? It's-"

"-what you first called me when you dropped your pencil in Bio in Freshmen year cause that was when we met. I know. I was there. You don't need to say it every other day, you know... You've probably said it so many times now that it's practically ingrained in my memory..." I said as I picked up a small stack of four books from the floor.

AJ looked back at me with a bored look in his eyes.

"... is this-"

"-how I feel when you lecture me about taking your vision every other week? Yes," chuckled AJ, taking the stack of books from my hands.

"Ha... ha..."

After we finished cleaning up the mess we made, we locked up the club room before walking home.

"So, did you receive any letters from the colleges you applied to?" I asked as I tried my best to keep up with AJ's larger strides.

"Yeah... I did, kind of..." he mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

"You did? That's awesome! Where?!"

"I'm not sure you would like the answer to that question..."