A/N: Originally, I planned to release Chapter 1 later when I could get a larger head start on other chapters...but it just felt weird leaving a 500 word prologue up on its own! So here's Chapter 1 for you all to enjoy.
Chapter 1: Making Friends
Astronomy Club meetings are held on Fridays during school lunch break. Aside from days where stargazing trips are planned out, there's not much to say. However, none of that matters when all the club's leaders are extremely popular. Even when there is little to discuss, swarms of schoolmates come to visit the club room.
In Syndra's opinion, it's annoying. The boys who chase after her are pitiful. "Syndra, you're so beautiful," she remembers one boy stating. Bold. Bold, but stupid. Syndra knows she's beautiful. She doesn't need some boy to "reassure her" like Ezreal put it. "Syndra, I brought you a bouquet of roses," another boy once said. "Of all things, you proclaim your love with a flower? Flowers wilt and die. What is a bouquet of roses good for? Watching the flowers die slowly together? Even a rock would've been a better gift." Syndra cycles through her memories while even more men swoon over her. She yawns and looks over the boy who is kneeling before her.
As usual, Ahri, Sarah, and Soraka are all surrounded by their respective fan clubs. In particular, Ahri's swarm is taking up majority of the room.
"Mmmm, not the tail." Ahri swishes her tail away from a grabby hand. Ahri fakes an adorable giggle and Syndra rolls her eyes. Ahri's fan club goes wild. Ahri looks around the club room and locks eyes with Syndra.
"Hey, Syndra," Ahri calls from across the room. "Have you seen Ezreal?"
"I'm not his babysitter," Syndra replies cooly. She raises an eyebrow at Ahri.
"So, have you you?"
"He's in the hall."
"Thank you." Ahri motions for the crowd to part and starts heading down the hall.
Ahri wanders around with her fan club on her heels. A large group of girls is cluttered around the classroom doors. "Must be Ezreal's playthings," Ahri thought. She finds the nearest girl and taps her shoulder. "Hey, have you seen Ezreal?" The girl squeals after realizing Ahri is addressing her. "H-He's talking with some pink haired girl," she stammers.
Ahri clenches her teeth at her reply. Fearing that she angered Ahri, the girl blurts out "They're by the corner over there." She points in a general direction and promptly takes her leave.
"Sarah!" Ahri storms into the club room. "Could you tell Ezreal that I want to have a talk with him?" she asks.
Sarah sighs. "Can't you just let Lux and him talk?"
"You knew about this?" Ahri growls.
"Well, yeah. There's no reason to stop them."
"Can you please just go get him? I'll be in the usual spot."
"Fine."
Ahri walked down the hall and quickly turned the corner. The boys behind her followed. "Wait, where'd she go?" the leader of the pack asked.
Ahri breathed a sigh of relief. Hiding in the janitor's closet is the only place she can get away from crazed fans.
Sarah told her fan club to scram while she walked down the hall to fetch Ezreal.
"...If you ever need help, just call us and we'll be there faster than a rocket," Sarah managed to hear Ezreal say as she approached. "Ahri wouldn't like to hear that," she thought to herself.
"And who are you to be volunteering the assistance of your allies?" Sarah slams her hand on Ezreal's shoulder threateningly. Ezreal nearly jumps up in terror.
"Oh. Hey, Sarah," he blurts out. "I sure am popular today. Need something?"
"Hello, uh.. Miss Fortune." Lux gives a nervous, but friendly wave. Lux is nice, but first name basis is reserved for her friends only.
"Hello, Lux. Sorry, Ahri just wants to have a word with Ezreal before lunch ends. Can your chat continue later?" she mutters. Sarah starts pulling Ezreal by the elbow before Lux can say anything. It's nothing personal. Ahri is just a pain to deal with once she's upset.
"Sarah, what the heck?" Ezreal protests.
"Don't give me that. You know how Ahri feels about you talking to Lux," Sarah snarls.
"Can't you talk to her about it?"
Miss Fortune sighs. "You know how stubborn she is."
"Please?" Ezreal begs.
"Charm doesn't work on me. I'll think about it though." Sarah takes a quick glance into the club room. "HEY! WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Ezreal takes a look inside as well.
An upperclassman holds Soraka's arm uncomfortably with one hand while the other hand strokes her ear. Two more upperclassmen surround the pair, preventing Soraka from escaping.
Soraka flattens her ears against her head as much as possible. She shudders at the unwelcome touch.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER!" Miss Fortune yells. The man pulls his hands off Soraka in shock. Soraka immediately runs off and hides behind Sarah.
Miss Fortune glowers at the men. "You filthy pigs." She would beat them up and spit on their mangled bodies if the thought of expulsion wasn't holding her back.
"If I ever see you near Soraka again, I'll beat your faces black and blue," she threatened.
"Hah. Yeah, whatever." The boys knew that her threat was empty. "Come on, boys. Plenty of better girls around anyways." Miss Fortune held herself back from punching their faces in and watched as they left the room. "They're not worth it," she told herself.
"Soraka, are you okay?" she asked as she wrapped an arm around Soraka. Soraka gently nodded her head. "I know you hate when people touch your ears. If you don't like it, tell them to stop it." Soraka nuzzled against Miss Fortune's side. She knew Sarah would baby her. "You know I can't always protect you. You need to learn how to speak up for yourself," she sighed.
"Don't worry, Raka." Ezreal lays a comforting palm on Soraka's shoulder. "I'll take care of them later." He cracks his knuckles.
"You, prettyboy? No," Sarah mocks. "Now go see Ahri. I'll stay here in case those boys come back again."
"By myself?" Ezreal gulps.
"Obviously. What? Do you need me to hold your hand too?"
"No."
"Then, go."
Ezreal groans and starts heading down the hall. He makes sure no one is following him before he slips into the janitor's room.
"You called?" Ezreal jokes. He turns around to face Ahri. She folds her arms crossly.
"I heard you were talking to Lux again."
"Yeah."
"What were you talking about?"
"She just wanted to thank us for helping her with the voidlings last Tuesday."
Ahri sighed sadly as let go of her anger for a moment. "You know how I feel about Lux," she said.
"I know, but…"
"Ezreal, we can't be there to help her team every time. You're putting the rest of us in unnecessary danger."
"I still don't get what that has to do with me talking to her."
"A lot, actually. Listen, if you get too attached then,..."
"Then?" Ezreal awaits for Ahri's answer curiously.
"Then you'll be caught up in one of Lux's poorly thought out plans," Ahri thought to herself. She couldn't bear the thought of losing her family again. "Then she'll become too dependent on us," Ahri lied. She racked her brain for a sensible explanation. "She uhh… needs room to grow as a leader. We're not part of her team, so she should learn to factor in the possibility that we're busy and can't help."
"We could combine teams though," Ezreal suggested. His eyes lit up at the idea.
"No," Ahri said rather harshly. She noticed it herself and quickly changed tone. "Ten guardians on a team is too many. It's hard to coordinate that many people. Plus, there's strength in having two separate teams. We can take care of different locations at the same time. Does that make sense?"
"Yeah. I guess."
"Good. Now unless it's ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, I don't think we should interfere with Lux's team. They do their thing. We do ours. Okay?"
Ezreal raises an eyebrow. "Okay."
The school bell rings, signaling the end of lunch. Ahri gives Ezreal a friendly pat on the back. "Come on. Let's get to class."
Ahri and Ezreal stick their heads out of the janitor closet carefully to make sure no one discovers the team's secret meeting place. No one seems to notice, so they leave for their classroom.