Sett

Ahhh, Durandal.

Always had good memories here. Well, Sett'd only been here the two times, but still – the twice he had visited had been a great time. Lots of heads, lots of punches, lots of grit.

To his side, Irelia sighed. 'Don't balk at the mess please, it's been an... interesting year.'

'Ha!' Sett grinned, taking a sweeping look around the garden that lead up to the tiny shack these idiots called the clubroom. 'Your mess is a paradise to me, Princess.'

Again, she groaned. 'Don't call me that.'

'Better than Prude, I'd wager.'

'And I'm so grateful,' Irelia said. The path - straight and thin, flanked by a whole'lotta flowers that were probably in bloom – came to an end. In it's place was a gravel trap broken only by uneven planks of bolted wood to denote a path to the Clubroom which, Sett noted, was appropriately scraggly. 'We're here.'

'Tell me again, you're in the what-now club?'

'Battle, Sett. Battle. Don't you guys have your own?'

Sett grunted, his whole body participating in the shrug. 'I'm in the Fighter's Club, so no. Better name for it, if ya ask me.'

'Uh huh,' Irelia said, fiddling around for keys. 'You would say that.'

A slight gap between the door and frame took Sett's notice. 'Someone already here?'

'What?' Irelia followed his gaze, then blinked in surprise. 'No one's usually here at lunch.'

Sett grinned and waltzed into the room, knocking the door wide open. 'Might make this lunch a bit more interesting, eh?'

Behind him Irelia sighed, but followed. 'Please don't beat up my clubmates, Sett.'

'No promises, ma'am.'

Inside the clubroom was much like how Sett remembered it; cramped, wooden, and very dusty. It did feel a little more – lived in? - but other than that, yeah. Sett grunted. He did notice an old television set, hooked up with a console though.

'Ignore the console,' Irelia grumbled.

The only other disparity was a tall figure, hunched over a bookshelf and lost in thought, apparently grumbling to himself. It was blonde, and vaguely familiar -

'Ezreal? Don't usually see you here at lunch,' Irelia said.

The guy – Ezreal, Sett tried to stamp it in – jumped, eyes flailing wildly before coming to an overdramatic stop on the two newcomers, after which he visibly relaxed.

'Yeah, wanted a, er,' he yawned deeply, 'change of pace.'

'Oh, wait,' Sett said. 'We met yesterday, didn't we?'

The kid seemed to finally notice Sett, blink, then nod absently. 'Er, yeah – I'm Ezreal.'

'Ezreal, right, not good with names,' Sett appraised him. Pretty scrawny – lean, not unfit, but definitely not jacked. Despite the hair, which could use a proper cut, pretty good looking, too, but there were noticeable rings of black against his ocean eyes. 'So kid, what's your deal?'

Irelia snorted. 'He's only a year younger, Sett.'

'Yeah, so a kid.'

'I can go fast, and shoot projectiles.'

'Boring. I absorb kinetic energy, then use said energy to create pockets of multiplied density.'

Irelia rolled her eyes, placing her bag on the humorously out-of-place desk at the edge of the room. 'He punches things.'

Wink. 'Very, very hard.'

'Oh,' Ezreal said, non-committal. 'That's pretty cool.'

The conversation died.

'I'll, uh,' Ezreal said, clearing his throat. 'I'll get going now. Jayce's probably gonna want to see me, my gauntlet's done and all. Later.'

Without waiting for either of them to reply, Ezreal left.

'He's a bit touchy,' Sett said.

With a shrug, Irelia set about putting up the dummy – worn and beaten as it was. 'He's been acting weird the past couple weeks. Don't take it to heart.'

'Well, if you say so.' He shook his jacket off and grinned. 'Straight to it, then?'

Irelia stepped back and mirrored the expression. 'Have at it.'

After they'd worked up a good sweat, Sett relaxed his stance and let his breath fold out. 'Ahhhh. Nothin' like a good workout.'

Irelia's blades flew gracefully into a neat pile. 'I agree. It's nice to have a partner.'

'Even if we're not beatin' up the same dude.'

She rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone, flopping onto the bench. Sett noticed she put her foot directly on a browned stain in the flooring, and had a dumb grin on her face when she stared at the screen.

His interest was piqued.

'Whatcha got there, Irelia?'

Her fingers flew across the screen, stupid grin not subsiding.

Ah, Sett got it. He towered over her, peering at the phone, upside-down.

'Take it the thing 'tween you and fox lady worked out?'

Irelia blinked, noticing Sett, then bashfully nodded – which weirded Sett out, he'd not seen that kind of gesture from here, hell, he didn't even know she could make those motions.

'Yeah, I, er, was going to text you, but I've just been so excited I kinda forgot.'

'Aw, ain't that cute,' Sett roared with laughter. 'Well, I'm happy for ya. Glad to know it worked out in the end.'

She smiled, then nodded.

'Okay, well I can tell when I'm not needed,' he said, grabbing a towel from Irelia's bag and slinging it around his neck. 'I'll go grab a quick drink from the vending thing, you want anything?'

'Ionian Citrus, if they have any.'

'Good lass.'

Leaving her to her typings, Sett took a deep breath of the soon-to-be-summer air, door clicking shut behind him. The wind here was gentle, owed mainly to the Valley-like concave of the grounds.

'Ain't it pretty, huh.'

He began walking down the path towards the main building. Now, Sett knew of one vending machine location, which was on the third floor near the arena room, but it was too far. Hopefully he'd find one closer.

Quickly he did, thankfully hidden against the far side of the wall, just before the flowered path broke into the main yard and into the Durandal buildings.

Sett tapped the iced drink Irelia wanted, and picked a bottle of Sweat for himself. Irelia's drink rolled out, but at his own, the machine sputtered.

Sett narrowed his eyes. 'For real?'

He hit the thing.

It groaned, sputtered – then stilled.

Nothing.

'Oh, you are fuckin with me -'

He hit it again.

'You're not robbin' me of my two bucks, you damn -'

A low chuckle came from his side. Sett rounded on the source, a gangly boy with matted, dark blue hair and deep blue eyes of a comparable shade. His uniform was distinctly Durandal, though around his neck was a scarf, untied and flowing to his thighs. It's colour matched his eyes. He was smirking.

'You wanna fuckin go, kid?'

The boy chuckled again. He nodded to the machine and sighed. Sett followed his gaze and grunted.

'Is this a regular thing here? The school lets this shit happen?'

He shrugged, then with practised fingers traced along the lines of the machine. Suddenly he stopped, nodded, then grunted – kneeing the machine about a third of the way up. It caused a damn loud CRASH, causing even Sett to jump.

'Whoa, you wanna break the thing?!'

The boy flashed Sett a grin, winked, then -

A clatter at the bottom of the machine. Sett stared, blinked, then grabbed his delivered drinks.

'Uh, thanks, er -?'

He opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by a girl's voice from behind the corner.

'Pheeeeeeeeeeeel! You done?'

Around the corner poked a girl with similar complexion to the boy. Her eyes, a golden instead of blue, lit up when she saw them. 'This one again? Come on, Lux's match is about to start!'

She noticed Sett, then straightened up, excitement melted into nervousness. 'O-oh, sorry, I didn't realise – where are my manners? I'm Alune, I'm Aphelios's brother, er, ah -'

Sett laughed. 'No problem, missy. Your brother here just did me a huge favour. Don't let me keep ya.'

Alune nodded nervously, then grinned at the boy. 'Come on, let's go!' And she vanished around the corner.

The boy sighed dramatically, though he was smirking. He quickly slipped in the coins, performed his ritual again, and stood with drinks in hand.

'Hey, er, thanks. Though you might wanna let the school know bout this shit, ya know?'

Laughing in response, the boy rounded the corner with a wave of his hand. Sett hummed, staring after him.

'Aphelios, huh?'

With a great big chuckle, Sett made his way back to Irelia.

Ekko

Ponytail'd been acting weird all week.

Well, weirder than usual.

Ekko noticed it got especially bad the evening after detention, wherein Ponytail slinked into the room late, barely said a word, then grunted into a fitful sleep. He twitched a couple times. Ekko just sat at his desk, tinkering away.

'..Huh.'

Ekko let the piece of junk fall from his hand and gave his roommate a look-over. He wasn't injured or anything, and there weren't any other unsavoury marks along his too-white skin.

Well, wasn't his problem anyway.

Or so he'd thought, until the following afternoon's Battle Club meeting, where the kid dropped a bomb on us.

'I want to be the other Battle Club rep for MSI.'

Yasuo roared with laughter. 'Yes!' He cleared his throat. 'I mean, yes, of course you can. No problems.'

Irelia rolled her eyes at the President. 'Congratulations, you've avoided yet another responsibility. Proud of yourself?'

'Immensely,' Yasuo chirped.

'Immenser-ly!' Zoe yelled.

'Im-mes-rally!' Neeko yelled.

Ponytail, though, just nodded. 'Good, thanks. Okay, I'm off.' To Ekko, quickly; 'Dinner?'

Ekko grinned and flashed him a flick of the finger. 'Less.'

Ponytail grunted and left, into the terrible rain, which he didn't seem to even notice, just stepping right out.

Everyone stared after him for a few moments.

'He's acting weird,' Ekko said, eventually.

'Whaddya mean? He is weird,' Yasuo said, hopping back to his puffy chair and kicking his feet onto the desk.

'No, I mean -'

'I agree, Ekko, I saw him here at lunch,' Irelia said, sitting herself down at the bench. 'He was acting a bit off. No wisecracks.'

'He's just brooding! All the cool guys do it,' Zoe said. She blushed, feigning bashfulness. 'How romantic – he's just waiting for me to rush out after him - '

'Ekko, grab her before she actually does,' Irelia said absently.

Ekko complied.

'Anyway,' Irelia continued. 'Do you think it's anything to worry about? You're his roommate, aren't you?'

Hands full with a Gremlin, Ekko shrugged. 'I mean, yeah, but it just started yesterday. I know he's a class rep now, I heard from Sera, and that he's been talking to the moon girl – Aloon?'

'Alune,' Irelia corrected. 'And yes, but I doubt that's the source of it. He say anything to you?'

Ekko shook his head, then gasped in sharp pain – the Gremlin had resorted to biting his arm. 'Hey! Stop it, you damn rat!'

Zoe blew a raspberry and dashed off to the side, giggling all the while. Neeko tilted her head after her, but eventually followed.

'Hmm,' Irelia said. 'Well, hopefully it's nothing big like the Practical.'

'True, true,' Yasuo said, eyes closed and body rocking slowly in the chair. It could do that? 'He seems to be a pretty convenient source of trouble.'

'Think we should do anything?' Ekko said.

'Nah,' Yasuo said. 'It'll sort itself out.'

Ekko snorted. 'It's amazing how little you do your job.'

'I won the presidency by default, my young Ekko.'

'Ignoring the stupidity of that comment, I actually agree with Yasuo for a change,' Irelia said. 'I doubt Ezreal has any real issue that we can help with here, and if it is – I'm not lifting a finger until he explicitly asks. It's barely been two weeks.'

Ekko shrugged. 'If you say so. He's just throwing me off, is all.'

'Well, come here and catch this throw,' Yasuo said, bouncing off his chair and towards the Console in record speed.

'Uhhh, what?' Ekko said.

'You know, throw, like, throwing you? In a game?'

'It only gets funnier when you explain it,' Irelia said.

'And somehow less helpful,' Ekko added.

He grunted. 'Screw you guys. ZOE! LET'S PLAY!'

The summoned popped through a portal and yelled. 'Whooo!'

Irelia rolled her eyes and stood. 'I'm going to leave them to their nonsense. Wanna walk back to the dorms, Ekko? I have an umbrella.'

He felt a jolt. Oh man. He hoped his cheeks weren't red. He tried his best, most winning-er smile and nodded. 'Okay, cool, thanks. I didn't bring one.'

She chuckled. 'Yeah, I figured.'

They made their way outside – ignoring the raucous yelling of the three they left behind – and huddled under Irelia's small umbrella. Ekko's shoulder was getting soaked, but, well, whatever. He felt a little giddy.

'Sooo -' He said, not really sure what to say. 'You, uh, excited for MSI?'

Irelia grunted. She was the taller of the two, so her hands were occupied. 'I suppose. I'm somewhat surprised you didn't volunteer before Ezreal, though.'

Ekko snorted. 'Not really the competitive type.'

'I suppose,' she said. 'Are you covered properly?'

'Oh yeah, for sure,' Ekko said, ignoring the growing wetness at his side. 'You, uh, cooking tonight?'

'Probably, but I've got a meeting with a...' she cleared her throat, 'friend, first.'

'Oh, aight. Let me know, Ponytail and I'll come when you're ready.'

Irelia coughed. 'I'm not sure when I'll be ready, so maybe, uh, you'll have to make some dinner if you want it early.'

Ekko deflated, but smiled right back. 'Sure, no prob, no prob.'

Eventually the dorm building came into view, the vague figure only visible as a backlit silhouette in the now-near-torrential rain. They hurried the last few steps and into the lobby.

'Ahhh, what the hell's up with the rain?' Ekko said. 'It was sunny like, two hours ago?' He wrung out his clothes, water folding in waves onto the damp carpet.

'That's just summer here, I'm afraid,' Irelia said.

'Yeah, it sucks,' said another voice, vaguely familiar.

Ekko looked up from his dripping clothes to see a girl mirroring his movements with her own clothes, spiky black hair matted against her head. She had red eyes, and a scowl.

'Wait, who're you?'

'...Hello, Akali,' Irelia said calmly.

'Sup,' Akali said, wringing out her skirt again. She nodded to Ekko. 'From detention?'

Ekko blinked. 'Oooh, right, yeah. Slept right through it.'

'Same, same.'

Ekko shook his soaked-through shoulder. 'Ekko.'

'Akali.'

'Well then, we'll be on our way,' Irelia said, grabbing Ekko and trying to drag him off.

'Hmm, sure. Tell the blonde kid I say hi, would you?'

'Ponytail?' Ekko said, then remembered. 'Oh right, didn't you threaten him?'

Akali smirked, glint reaching her crimson eyes. 'A bit of harmless fun. The real fun comes in the Tournament.'

'Well, I hope it's fun for three,' Irelia said, turning and huffing. 'You have a problem with Ezreal, you have a problem with me.'

Akali gave Irelia a quick scan. 'Not what I'm usually into, but sure, we can get it on. You're up, buttercup.' She gave herself a final shake – and miraculously, her hair snapped back above her head – and huffed. She winked at Ekko. 'Catch you round?'

Ekko chuckled. 'Try it.'

'Will do.' She waved a lazy wave and vanished down the hallway, presumably to the stairs.

After she'd fully gone, Irelia sighed. 'I do not like her.'

'Really? I think she seems pretty chill, to be honest,' Ekko said.

Irelia grunted. 'Your prerogative. Anyway, I'm off now – I'll text the chat when I'm free.'

'Oh-kay.'

Now alone with a bunch of other students in the lobby, Ekko figured he had some time to kill before dinner.

Heh. Time.

Chuckling at his own joke, Ekko hopped onto one of the sofas and started messing around with his phone.

Qiyana

Beaten and (slightly) bruised, Qiyana grumbled her way out of the Sorcery Clubroom, shooting angry glares at anyone who dared look at her with pity. Idiots. She'd known this was the likely outcome, but it still stung.

For again the Redhead had beaten her, and this time it had actual stakes – the Sorcery Club would send Lux as it's representative to MSI alongside a third year which Qiyana couldn't be bothered to remember the name. It was irrelevant – it wasn't her.

So, off to the training hall. When the clerk (a third year with neon hair whose name, again, didn't matter) tried to ask Qiyana for her to sign the reservation sheet, she felt her anger at a boil. But - still glowering, mind you – she decided it just wasn't worth it. With a grunt and a glare, Qiyana made her way to the small alcove she'd often found herself occupying.

She worked up a sweat, moving as one with her ohmlatl around the cramped room and losing herself in the motion of movement. This was how it was all supposed to be. You train your talent, and you win. And Qiyana was the pinnacle of such talent.

Or so she'd been blind enough to believe.

The thought caused her rage to boil over the limit, hurling her blade to the wall with a visceral scream.

SLAM

It fell to the floor in a bundle of metal, the clinking of steel to wood bouncing off the walls and back to her massively-accelerated-heartrate-ridden ears.

She panted.

'Arrhg!'

She turned around and stormed out into the mini-balcony.

Despite being out here quite frequently, Qiyana hated it. She really only came out here when she needed to think in the clear-ness of her anger, or work through a particularly annoying problem in World Literature class. She found the calming night sky and gentle breeze a good outlet to vent her frustrations to.

...But tonight it was pouring with rain.

She'd heard tales of the summer weather on this continent from back home, but she'd never put much stock in them. Never thought she'd need to care. So now, as she stood with her head barely poking out of the sliding door and onto the nestled stone alcove, she realised that, yes; this wasn't home.

The tiny flower she'd so often glared at, planted lilac in the tiny patch of dirt at the edge of the balcony, stood aggressively in the rain, hungrily drinking in the downpour. It was smirking at Qiyana.

'Hmph!'

Fine, she'd just go somewhere else! She didn't need this, she had plenty of other options in this forsaken school.

A quick check of her phone told her it was closing in on dinner time, so she decided to take a trip to the cafeteria for change. Usually she would just make something in the kitchen and take it back to her room, but tonight she was just so angry.

The cafeteria was busy, as it probably should be. She didn't care; she was here on a mission. Ignoring any glances from people around her, she spotted what she came for and stalked over.

Ekko noticed her first, face scrunching up into mild-to-extreme confusion. He raised a hand with an eyebrow raised and a piece of bacon hanging from his lips; 'Uh, sup, QiQi?'

'Shut up,' she said, slamming herself into the seat next to Ezreal, who jumped.

He swallowed; 'Uh, hey?'

'I am. SO. Angry.'

The two boys exchanged a confused glance, both shrugged, then Ekko; 'What's new?'

'I'm not giving you any of my food by the way; I'm kinda broke this month,' Ezreal added.

Qiyana placed an arm onto the table and leaned on it. 'I do not need your charity.'

'Good, cause for real, I ain't giving you any.'

'So, where's the fire? You don't usually, ah, grace us with your presence,' Ekko said.

'And rightly so, peasants,' Qiyana said. She huffed. 'I was not chosen for the Tournament.'

'Ah right,' Ekko said, shovelling food down his throat, like a savage. 'I saw your match – you got a bit outplayed.'

'I missed it,' Ezreal said. His eyes were not focused. 'Sorry, I guess? Didn't know you wanted us to be there.'

'It was against your girlfriend, dumbass, thought you would've shown up anyway,' Ekko said.

'She's not my girlfriend,' he grumbled.

'Hello? I'M complaining? This isn't about you two?' Qiyana said.

Ekko, bemused, bowed his head a tiny bit. 'Oh, my apologies, your royal highness. Do continue.'

'THANK you.' She exhaled, already feeling better. 'This marks the second time the Redhead has beaten me, and I...' She groaned, angry. 'I cannot! I refuse -'

'Eh, I mean, way I see it,' Ekko said, 'I think you just made a mistake here or there. Nothing a couple of runbacks couldn't fix.'

'I will not be taking part in the Tournament now – how can I face my sisters?!'

Ezreal's face finally drifted back down to reality, softening slightly. 'Oh, I get that. I'd never be able to face the kids at the Home if I let them down like that.'

'Damn, you're helpful,' Ekko said.

'Wait – I only meant it as like, you know -'

'Uh huh.'

'How will I ever prove that I am superior if I cannot even beat those here?!'

Ekko and Ezreal shared another glance.

'Oh, I thought this was something important,' Ezreal said.

Ekko shrugged. 'You'll get 'em next time, champ.'

Qiyana glared. 'Why did I even come to you two with this?'

Ekko snorted. 'No idea, to be honest.'

Through a chuckle, Ezreal said; 'Yeah, I mean – what did you expect?'

Qiyana glared. Why did she come to them? She'd never had this urge before. But when that wave of pure defeat was washing over her earlier, she just...

Ezreal gasped. 'Wait! No... it can't be -!'

Ekko; 'You... consider us friends?!'

Qiyana; 'No! Shut up!'

The two boys laughed.

'It's no big deal, Ponytail and I hate each other a bunch.'

'And unfortunately, we're pretty good friends regardless.'

Ekko chortled. 'Yeah, so I guess you don't have to really worry about it.'

Qiyana was quiet. Ezreal chuckled.

'That's a funky face, Qeeqs.'

'Do not call me that! And I am not making a face!'

'Sure, sure,' he said, smiling.

She huffed, looking away. 'Regardless, I am at a loss for what to do.'

'You can always take a break, you know. No one's rushing you here,' Ekko said.

Ezreal perked up. 'If it makes you feel any better, I do kinda owe my life to you. Wyvern thing and all, sooo – I think you're alright. Pretty okay, by my book.'

She felt a sudden jolt of clarity rush through her. '...What?'

'If only you weren't such a total bitch,' Ekko said, longingly.

Qiyana blinked. She felt something inside her chest. Something... warm?

What?

Ekko tilted his head. 'Yo. Earth to QiQi? You there?'

'We're complimenting you and you're not getting all smug on us?'

'I'm kinda disappointed, honestly.'

Qiyana stared.

That feeling wasn't going away?! She clutched at her chest.

'I am... confused.'

Ezreal snorted and returned to his meal. 'Join the club.'

'Join the Battle one, actually - Zoe'd probably love having you around.'

'Don't think that's allowed.'

'Hmmm. Well, we can at least run it by Braum, I mean – they let Neeko join.'

'Where is she, by the way?'

'Playing that weird game with Yasuo, Zoe too.'

Qiyana found she liked the feeling, and let herself lean further into it. Ekko and Ezreal talked for a few moments, before Ekko glanced at her and double-took.

'Whoa, what the hell?!'

Ezreal, confused, turned and mirrored his reaction; like he'd seen a ghost. 'Huh?!'

Qiyana shot up. 'W-what? What is wrong?!'

'It's, uh, just,' Ekko cleared his throat. 'You're smiling.'

'It's really weird.'

Qiyana blinked. 'I am not!'

Ekko and Ezreal shared one more glance, this time flitting to Qiyana. It held for a moment, and for a second, she felt like it was just the three of them in the room.

Then, the two boys laughed again.

'Oh man! Never do it again, please!' Ekko said.

'My sides!' Ezreal managed. 'Holy – what the hell?'

Qiyana felt the sudden urge to yell something, but even more than that, a rare glimpse of...

She laughed as well. Once.

Well, whatever. She'd worry about it later.

sidenote don't pick lux into qiyana btw that matchup is legit unwinnable

Jayce

'This thing has a much higher potential energy output,' Jayce continued, tapping a dial on the side of the gauntlet. 'This here lets you know when you're getting close to max, so hopefully it won't explode on you again.'

Ezreal, smiling, nodded and took the newly forged piece of tech from Jayce's hand. He flipped it over and put it on. 'Feels good.'

'Good, good,' Jayce said, rolling his neck and stretching out. He'd been at work all day – he'd skipped pretty much every class this week. But he had good reason. 'Now I don't want you breaking this thing in the Tourny, you hear? Wait until at least a bit after – I'm pretty busy during it.'

Ezreal smiled. 'Will do. Thanks, man.'

'No problemo, Ezreal-o.'

Ezreal tilted his head.

Jayce shrugged and grinned. 'Haven't slept yet.'

Rising from his chair, Ezreal snorted. 'Seriously though, thanks. You wanna stop by the Battle Club for our game-thing tomorrow?'

Jayce spun his chair back to face the desk - bits and pieces strewn across – and hummed. 'I'll consider it, I don't too much enjoy video games.'

'Fair enough,' Ezreal said. He slipped the gauntlet off and into his bag. 'Right, I'm off then. Lotta prep.'

Jayce was already working on the next project. 'Later.'

Time was fragile to Jayce. One minute it'd be three in the afternoon, sun up bright and loud, birds chirping and clubroom bustling with activity, and the next it's be the dead of night, the hours where sleep itself slumbered, and he'd be completely and truly alone.

This was one such moment where he used his latent power of time travel; he looked up from his desk to see the room completely void of human presence. Jayce took a gander towards the ticking clock – tocking and ticking it's way through the silence of the night - four eighteen. AM.

A little bit off on the side of his immediate position was a plastic-wrapped sandwich, a little note with don't stay too late! - Amaranthine scribbled across.

Jayce leaned back and sighed, back cracking into motion. 'Damn.'

With extremely fluid motions Jayce rose from the chair, feeling the muscles in his body scream against their sudden use. He grunted, stretched again – he yawned, but whatever – and took a look around the room. No way it was actually four AM again, right?

Yawn.

No matter – he'd finished his work. Looking down at it, he couldn't help but giggle, silly little grin edging at his lips. The Hammer. Done.

It was nice and big, much more so than his last one. Sleek blue handle into mace-like head, it was a beauty. Coating each edge of the head was pulsing yellow lights. He couldn't wait to see how it'd hold up in a fight.

Yawn.

'...Ugh, damn.'

Well, he'd finished. Maybe he could take a breather in the lounge.

He fumbled his way over there, saw the fluffy blue sofa, and with great care – flopped onto it, face-down.

He was out in seconds.

Fire rages.

'Mom! Dad! Where are you?!' I yell.

I'm alone – wood and carpet and stone and wood and oh god – everything's burning. I can't move. The house is on fire.

In my hands I clutch at the object as hard as I can, blue and pulsing as it is. My one ray of hope.

I'm crying.

'Is anyone in there!' A voice.

I jerk. Someone's here? 'Here! Help! Over here!'

The door – our door, the door I'd lived behind for years – explodes into the inferno. I scream – but then, I notice it's different. Blue?

A figure walks in, hand over mouth and coughing hard. 'Keep yelling, I can barely see!'

'Here! Here -'

He finds me, and though he's limping, he scoops my tiny frame into his arms and lifts me up.

But we turn to leave.

'Mom! What about my Mom? Dad?!'

The man grips me, coughs, then hurries through the door whence he came. 'I cannot find them, child. I am sorry.'

'No!'

Now I'm sitting in a car, white and boxy, sirens wailing off in the distance. I'm staring. A man is explaining to me. That they're gone. Poof.

'...I can't see them again?'

The man is shaking his head.

'...Why?'

No answer.

'WHY?!'

He looks away. 'Look kid, I'm sorry, we tried everything -'

I'm crying.

Then I see the man who saved me, limping towards me. His face, the lower half, is covered in bandages, and his eyes have dark circles. He stops in front of me.

'What is your name?'

'Jayce.'

'You are strong, Jayce. Do you know what happened?'

I shake my head. 'There was... an explosion.. and, and – then it was a monster, red and big and flaming and -'

'It is okay now,' he says. 'I am here.'

'The m-m-monster... it took Mom and Dad... I...'

The limping man sighs and places his cane down, crouching. A hand on my shoulder. 'The monster has been dealt with. You are safe.'

I shake my head. 'What about Mom and Dad?'

'I...' he sighs. 'I am sorry.'

'Why are you sorry?' I ask, through my tears.

He just smiles. A sad, forlorn smile. I can tell, even through the bandages.

'Jayce.'

I blink. 'Yes?'

His voice is higher pitched now. 'Jayce!'

'Jayce!'

Snorting, Jayce's eyes shot open, then immediately attempted to shut themselves again – daylight breaking in through the now-open blinds.

A sigh. 'Really, again? Can't you just go back to the dorms for a change?'

Grunting, Jayce slowly rose to a sit. Rubbing his head, he groaned. 'What time is it?'

Amaranthine sighed again. 'It's just past seven. Can you please tell me you weren't working until the small hours again?'

'I wasn't working until the small hours again,' Jayce said, stretching and falling into a yawn.

Rolling her eyes, Amaranthine tapped his shoulder with a clipboard. 'Smartass. Anyway, here – Professor Taric approved your nominations for MSI.'

Jayce scanned the list. 'Cool, thanks.' Yawn again. 'Damn, I need a coffee.'

'No, you idiot, you need to sleep.'

He grunted, standing. 'Nah, I don't have the time, I got class in,' he checked his phone, 'an hour.'

Again, Amaranthine sighed. She did that a lot, Jayce noted. 'I'm asking you as your friend; please go and sleep. You can miss a couple more classes.'

Jayce was about to argue, but he saw the look she was giving him. He knew full well she wasn't going to budge, and that this wasn't a request. He frowned. 'But -'

'No.'

He yawned again.

'See?'

Jayce grunted. 'Fine. But don't come and check on me again, you'll wake me up.'

'Promise me you'll actually sleep then.'

'Fine.'

And so, a few minutes later, Jayce's increasingly groggy body pulled itself into his dorm room. He found it kinda strange that the room was empty, his roommate was usually around.

'Oh yeah, it's classtime,' he muttered. He giggled.

Yaaaawn.

'Oh man. Okay, guess I'll take a quick nap.'

He didn't wake up until the following morning.

(SIDE STORY)

Ahri

Two years ago

The clouds were so pretty, languidly hovering along the blue, completely unhindered by the responsibilities of - well, anything. They just drifted and drifted, soft shapes coming and going as they pleased.

'Ahri.'

I wondered what it would be like to sit on one of those things, just for a minute. Would it be soft? Obviously, I'd fall straight through – but hypothetically, if we were to abandon all rational thought here, lying on a cloud could be bliss. Would it be cold?

Like I said, hypothetical.

'Ahri.'

A finger flicked my forehead, both blinding my view of the clouds and sending a buzz of sharp pain through my face. I jerked forward, clutching at the spot my assailant struck. When my vision - red - cleared, I glared at said assailant.

Yone was standing over me, eyebrows raised and arms crossed. His dyed purple hair was almost as long as mine, and it ruffled angrily in the mid-morning breeze. He looked at me, expecting something.

Still rubbing my forehead, I fell back onto the grass. 'Morning to you, too.'

'You know there's class going on, yes?' Yone said.

I did. 'News to me.'

'You also know that calling in sick would imply that you are sick?'

I did. 'It'd be rude of me to sleep in class.'

'Mhm. So instead you're sleeping out here.' Yone's eyes drifted towards the sky. 'How're the clouds looking today?'

I stretched into a more relaxed position. 'Better looking than you, for a start.'

'Mature.' He gingerly took a seat next to me, though he didn't lie down. I rolled my eyes; Yone didn't like to get his clothes dirty. 'Any ones of particular interest?'

Eyes scanning the blue, I shortly pointed to a cluster of fluff, vaguely rectangular in shape with a couple of protruding limbs. 'Kinda looks like a snowman.' I pointed to another one, a little further to the right. It was rounder, with a couple of holes throughout. 'And this one's making me hungry.'

Yone pointed to one I missed, downwards from the round cloud. It was straight, and made a very loose V shape. 'Looks like a bird.'

It kinda did, actually. I oo'ed. 'Have you been practising without me?'

Yone chuckled, leaning back on one hand. His hair was swaying gently now, giving him an ethereal silhouette. 'Go to class, Ahri.'

I frowned. 'You're not my mom.'

'No, but in her absence, I'm the next best thing.'

'You're only a year older, leave me alone.'

'Now, if I did that, what kind of friend would I be?'

Friend. The word stabbed at me. Obviously, it didn't show on my face, instead there blossomed a wonderfully calm smile. 'A good one.'

Yone flicked my forehead again, and again I jerked up. I whirled on him, glaring. He was chuckling softly to himself.

'Sorry, it's too easy.' He exhaled his last laugh away and stared back up. 'If only you used your wit on something productive.'

Grunting, I fell back again, this time staring aggressively at the azure. 'And if only you used your time on anything else. Literally anything.'

'Like cloud watching?'

I shrugged. 'It's an extremely technical sport.'

'If you say so,' Yone said. 'Personally, I don't see it.'

'And that's why you're not good at it.'

'Hmm.' Yone checked his phone and sighed. 'Well, my study period's almost over.' He stood, huffed, then glanced down at my lying form. My tails were wrapping around me, swaying gently. 'I'll be sure to let professor Graves know you've recovered from your fever for next period.'

I glared. 'Go away, mom.'

'No can do, lil sis. Can't have both my younger siblings wasting their school lives.' He dusted off the few strands of grass that had attached themselves to his pants. 'I'll see you after school.'

He left, and after the momentary annoyance faded, I tried to resume my relaxing sesh, but it just wasn't the same. The coil that'd formed in my stomach was tying knots around itself, and my tails were twitching in aggravation. I frowned into the clouds.

'I'm not your sister,' I grumbled. 'Dumbass.'

Having had my fill of clouds, I pulled out my phone in anger. Or well, as angry as I could manage to be. I didn't really care that much. I began scrolling. Didn't really matter what, just something to do.

Just as I was getting to the good part (maybe), the screen was hijacked by an incoming call. I felt the tips of my ears twitch. The caller screen and I shared a glare for a few moments. Green or red? I didn't have the number saved, maybe I could get away with not answering.

I decided to hit the red. But as my finger deftly moved to press it, my phone slipped out of my grasp and right onto my face.

'Ack!'

The thing bounced off my nose and onto the grass next to me – and to make matters worse, a voice came spewing out of the speakers. 'Hello? Ahri?'

Rubbing my nose, I tried my very hardest not to sigh. 'What do you want, Yasuo?'

'Pick up your damn phone, for one! I don't have time to call you again.'

'Text me like a normal person, then.'

'Uh-huh, sure, are you free after school today? I'm trying to get this girl to go on a date with me, but she thinks it's going to be a with-friends thing, can you come along?'

Looking around at the softly whispering field of grass around me, I hummed. 'I'm pretty busy.'

'I'll buy you a smoothie or whatever-the-hell it is you like. Ice cream?'

'They're called parfaits, Yas.'

'Sure, whatever, I'll buy you a par-fay.'

I considered, noticing an oblong-shaped cloud out of the corner of my eye. I hummed. 'Nah, busy.'

Yasuo groaned on the other side of the line. 'Ahh, you suck. Okay, what if I get Yone to come along, too?'

I froze, quickly recovering and shaking my head. 'You don't think bringing your brother on a date is weird?'

'Not if the chick doesn't think it's a date, and especially not if it gets you to stop being a bitch about it.'

I stayed silent for a moment.

'Come on, please? Pretty please?'

I sighed. 'Fine. But you get me two parfaits.'

Yasuo laughed victoriously. 'Sure, you got it! Thanks, that'll make this so much easier. Okay, I'll text you the details later, bye!'

And he hung up.

I stared at the endcall screen blankly. 'Couldn't you have just texted me later to ask me, then?'

Well, whatever. I put the phone away, suddenly feeling done with that. Thankfully, I felt a powerful resurgence of motivation as I scanned the skies for that weirdly shaped cloud.

I couldn't find it.

Oh well.

I've been gone a while; I feel as though I should offer a quick explanation

Long story short, the ruination event really rubbed me the wrong way. I understand a lot of the issues surrounding the restrictions on dev time and covid and how management sorta bottlenecked the writers, but still, I didn't like it very much - to the point it killed my interest in the game for a bit (that being said, I wrote something as a sort of catharsis on my annoyance with the event, a short one-shot replacing the rookie with Ezreal and making it more of an action/adventure/slight horror kinda thing – which, if that sounds like something you'd like to read, is on my profile).

So I kinda just took a break. I'd had the basic idea for the tournament and it's structure, loosely basing it off how MSI was actually done this year (ignoring the weird double group stage thing) and seeing how it went from there. But I just didn't really have the interest to write it at that moment, so I decided to hold off a while until I felt the spark again, and just work here and there on other stuff I wanted to do, be it fanfic or personal projects.

Fast forward a couple months and Arcane comes it; now that was good. So, yeah, I basically didn't start going full swing on this until arcane came out, to give a rough timeline of the writing process here.

That's also why this is another short story collection (though there's more of a throughline than usual, aside from the ahri one) because these are a lot easier for me to write and get in the headspace to do so. It's on the shorter side, but again – it's a stopgap so as to not have even more time where i'm not posting anything.

Hope that's an adequate explanation as to my absence, weird to think my 'MSI' arc is going to be ongoing through that year's off-season, but hey. We take those.