After that word escaped Aether's lips, Keqing could only stare in disbelief, as did all of her friends.
"Th- that's impossible," Xingqiu stammered. "How- You- I-" Aether scratched the side of his cheek embarrassedly, and Keqing stared at the board in stony silence. Aether fidgeted a bit, uncomfortable at the silence. Then she took a shaky breath.
"Well… Well played, Aether," she said. Aether noticed that she wasn't looking at him. "You played well. There's only about 5 minutes left of lunch. You'd best prepare for your next class." She walked off to her room, and the rest of her friends approached Aether.
"How?" Xiao asked. He was looking extremely impressed. Aether shrugged.
"I dunno, really. Just… I try to predict Keqing's plans, and be mindful of space, weaknesses, possible exchanges, and threats. Predict and play three moves ahead in my head to see any plans. Make smart moves, go for all sorts of attacks. She actually played really well. Only one or two mistakes brought her position down."
"But still…" Xiao said in wonder. "What a game! I'm sure this'll be a moment to remember."
"I actually feel kinda bad now," Aether said, frowning. "I embarrassed her on my first day. I really should apologize when I get the chance."
"If you do want to talk to her, I expect she'll be on the rooftop in the evening," Albedo whispered. "She goes there when she's upset by something. The stars calm her down. Also, please don't tell her I said this," Albedo whispered. "She doesn't want anyone to know."
Aether nodded. "Alright. I suppose we should get ready for my next class." He pulled out his schedule, and found the subject after lunch.
"I have English for Period 4," Aether said. Xingqiu chuckled.
"Well, you'll be seeing her sooner than we thought. She has English for this period too. Although she might be too upset to talk to you," Xingqiu said. "She's not a very good person to make an enemy out of." Aether bobbed his head, worried.
"I hope I haven't made an enemy on the first day of school. That would suck," he said. Xingqiu patted him on the shoulder.
"It'll be alright. Keqing's usually pretty… difficult to get along with in the beginning, but if you can befriend her, she's typically very helpful to have around. Very useful, I'd say," Xingqiu said.
"I heard that!" Keqing yelled. Xingqiu froze on the spot, and turned towards the exit.
"Sorrygottagonowbyeseeyouatbreak," he said quickly, and he rushed out. Keqing came stomping out of her dorm.
"Where is he?" she growled. "Good for nothing scumbag," she muttered. She turned to Aether, and he gulped. If looks could kill, Aether would be dead where he stood. Her gaze was as sharp as a knife, tearing into him and his very being. Then she spoke.
"Hmph. I want to talk to you after class," she said, pointing at him. "We're going to be late if we don't head out now. You better get going as well, Albedo, Xiao. Aether, follow me to the English classroom. The english teacher is Mr. Ragnvindr, Diluc's father."
As they headed out of the dorms, Albedo and Xiao bid Aether and Keqing farewell. The two of them walked in an extremely awkward silence, and both of them wanted to break the ice about what had just happened. Aether was trying to build up the courage to ask something, and Keqing was trying to figure out how to phrase her words correctly.
"So, I want-"
"About earlier-"
The pair's eyes widened, and Aether hastily gestured with his hands.
"No, no, please, you can go first," Aether said. Keqing cleared her throat awkwardly.
"Ahem. Well, as I was saying, about earlier, I… want to apologize. Getting so cut up over something so small is really, well, petty. I shouldn't have done that. I just didn't expect you to be so strong," Keqing admitted.
"Yeah, I get that all the time," Aether sighed. "No offense, but you let your pride get in your way. You should never let that happen. If you're willing, I can help review what went wrong in the game," Aether offered. Keqing frowned.
"If I have time, sure. What time do you sleep?" Keqing asked. Aether shrugged.
"Depends. Anywhere from seven hours from now to about one hundred seventy five hours from now," Aether said. Keqing stared at him, dumbfounded.
"Are you aware of what you're saying?" she asked. Aether nodded.
"Yep. Anywhere from every day to once a week."
Keqing stared at him incredulously. "Look Aether, I appreciate a joke now and then, but what time do you actually sleep?"
Aether stared at her. "I'm not joking."
"Yeah, sure, whatever," Keqing said. "English class is relatively easy. Just creative writing, grammar, essay writing and stuff. It's only mandatory for this grade, so you can drop it next year if you wish," Keqing explained.
"Alright. Also, I want to ask a question. What are the limits of this 'Loser has to do whatever the winner wants for a week?'" Aether asked.
"Hmph," Keqing said. "Anything goes except inappropriate things. So you can tell me to carry your books or do certain things. Other, well, more… sexual things aren't allowed," she said with a hint of red on her cheeks.
"Okay," Aether said. "Well, I don't need anything right now. I'll let you know if I do."
"We're here," Keqing said, pointing to a classroom. They opened the door to find most of the class already there. The teacher, Mr. Crepus Ragnvindr was standing at the teacher's desk, conversing with his son. When the door opened, the two redheads turned towards the door, and saw the two people.
"Ah, welcome, Keqing," Crepus said. "And…" he looked hesitantly at Aether. "And this young man?"
"My name is Aether. I'm a new student here," Aether said, bowing.
"Ah! So you're Aether, the ninth grader that single-handedly took down Ajax in the MCGT?" Crepus and Diluc asked simultaneously. Their voices attracted the attention of other students in the class, and they were whispering among themselves. Some were impressed, some infatuated, and some disgusted.
"Is that really him?"
"The one that defeated Ajax in the MCGT! Didn't you hear?"
"Still can't believe Ajax lost to someone like him…"
"He's kinda cute though…"
"Ajax is hotter, change my mind…"
"Well, Ajax is older than him. And he does look pretty cute…"
"Well, can't deny that…"
Keqing walked off to her seat and left Crepus and Diluc to briefly chat with Aether.
"So," Crepus ventured. "You've already beat Ajax at the MCGT, correct? I hope you'll do just as well in my English class," he said. Aether nodded politely.
"Thank you sir. I hope to do well as well," Aether said. Diluc regarded Aether for a moment, then opened his mouth.
"Is it true," he said in a low voice. "That you beat Keqing hands down in a game of chess?"
Aether, out of the corner of his eye, could see Keqing's head tilt ever so slightly towards them, listening intently. Diluc noticed none of it, and kept his eyes trained on Aether. Crepus also took interest in the conversation, and listened in.
"Does news really travel that fast?" Aether asked hesitantly. "The match only finished a couple minutes ago," he said, playing for time.
Diluc nodded. "You'll get used to it once you stay for a while. So answer the question. Did you beat Keqing hands down in a game of chess? Yes or no?"
Aether nodded slowly. "As much as I'd like to answer 'Yes, I did,' that would be dishonest. It was quite a close match. Only one or two mistakes on Keqing's side led me to victory. If she hadn't made those mistakes, I have no doubt the match would, at best for me, be a draw."
Diluc bobbed his head, as if satisfied with his answer. "I'll play you some time later. We'll see if we can arrange a time."
"Alright class, settle down," Crepus yelled. "We'll be starting our class with a little warm up. Write a 250 word minimum document introducing yourself, your skills, and what you like. You will read it out to the class. I'll give you fifteen minutes, starting in two minutes. Get ready!"
Aether and Diluc headed to their seats. Diluc sat at the back of the classroom, while Aether sat next to Keqing.
"Th- thanks," Keqing muttered, red dusting her cheeks. Aether nodded mutely.
"I blundered once. I will not blunder again," he whispered back. He pulled out a pen and paper to start writing. After a small thought, he also pulled out a notebook and noted down all of the people he'd met so far, and his impressions.
Xiao - Kind, friendly. Possible threat to Lumine.
Xingqiu - unsure, but most likely kind and friendly. Also kinda horny. Keep away from Lumine.
Albedo - Kind, friendly
Keqing - Kind, friendly. Great at chess. Easily flustered when in battle uniform. Kinda cute.
Diluc - Unsure
Jean - High school popular girl
Childe - Absolute threat. Must be eliminated. Must defend Lumine.
Kaeya - Nice enough. Possible threat to Lumine.
Amber - Peppy, active
Sucrose - Shy. Appears to have a crush on Albedo.
Fischl - Chuunibyou
"What do you mean by that?" Keqing muttered. "That game was played perfectly by you. I couldn't see any blunders."
"I didn't mean the game," he whispered back. "I already embarrassed you once on my first day of school. That's typically not the best way to make an entrance. I would never want to humiliate you further; at least, not until I've known you for a while and we become closer friends and you can just laugh it off."
Keqing raised an eyebrow. "How thoughtful."
Aether nodded slowly. "Any time."
The pair turned back to their work, fully engrossed. Aether hastily scribbled down his name and a couple things that he liked. He jotted down combat and chess as his two skills, as that's what he had shown so far.
"Five more minutes," Crepus called.
Aether set down his pencil, and looked over to Keqing. Her paper was already full of words. Aether stared at her, dumbfounded, while Keqing was staring straight at the teacher. After a couple more words scribbled down, Crepus finally yelled out, "And time is up! I hope you're ready. Now then," he said, clasping his hands together.
"Why don't you go first, Aether?"
Sorry for the shorter-than-usual chapter, the Inazuma 2.0 Trailer and another event sorta killed my train of thought. I do hope I can find it again.
Also, what's another event, you may ask? Well, good question.
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