Second Lead Syndrome || Diluc R. x Reader

Direction

The hours seem to blur into days and days into a whole week. Y/N can barely believe it's been a week since the Wine-Tasting Party. The wound still feels fresh to her. To distract herself, she's been working tirelessly on all the work she has missed and any new tasks she must complete. Little to no room is left in her monotonous schedule of waking up, going to work, working all day, and going to sleep just before the sun rises. It keeps her busy, and being busy is good.

The door to her office swings open, Y/N doesn't look up.

"Aren't you going home, Y/N?" Lisa asks, yawning as she drops off a stack of books at Y/N's desk. "You've been working all day. Not to mention, you've been arriving and leaving at the crack of dawn this entire week."

Y/N shrugs, her eyes not leaving the document on her desk. She fills out the basic information of the case she had just solved a few hours ago. "I still have a lot to do. I've been off work for a while."

Lisa frowns as her emerald eyes land on the stack of completed documents on Y/N's desk. "Did you do all of those today?" She asks, gesturing towards the inch-thick pile of papers.

Y/N nods. "Yep. Don't I look super productive?"

"You look super dead." Lisa retorts, examining the bags under her tired eyes and Y/N's handwriting that is becoming progressively sloppier. She lets out a yawn. "Just looking at you makes me tired."

"Then go get some rest," Y/N states, glancing at the clock on the wall across the office. "It's already one in the morning?!"

"Maybe I'll take these books with me, so you don't have an excuse to stay any longer." Lisa mutters, but Y/N quickly places her hand on top of the stack.

"No! They're important." Y/N responds.

Lisa deadpans at the ridiculous girl. "101 Hilichurl Expressions for Dummies?" Lisa reads out the book's title at the top of the stack with a tone that suggests she's severely judging Y/N. "How important." She adds sarcastically.

Y/N flushes with embarrassment. "When you say it like that, it sounds dumb."

"Because it is." Lisa states, crossing her arms.

Y/N shakes her head dismissively before taking her time writing her signature on the last document left.

Lisa rolls her eyes. "You sure are taking your sweet time writing your name."

Y/N sighs, finally lifting her pen from the page and placing it in the stack with all the other documents.

"Y/N, what's wrong?" Lisa's voice suddenly becomes soft as she gazes worriedly at Y/N.

Y/N bites down on her lip. She wants to tell Lisa everything. About what happened that night, how she hurt Diluc, and about the rumours flying around the City. However, she's feeling too tired to go through everything again.

"This has to with Diluc, right?" A sudden voice speaks up.

Y/N and Lisa turn their heads to see Kaeya standing in the doorway. "Kaeya."

"I thought I heard some voices here. Usually, the only sounds come from Jean's office." Kaeya states. "I thought we had an intruder." He chuckles before letting himself into the small room. "What are you two doing here so late?"

"I was planning on going home a while ago but got held up by this weirdo suddenly requesting a stack of books on Hilichurlian." Lisa scoffs.

Kaeya raises his brows in surprise. "Learning a new language all of a sudden?"

"Well, it's always good to learn something new." Y/N retorts defensively.

"It definitely is a good distraction." Kaeya responds, watching Y/N shuffle uncomfortably at how accurate his response was.