Pushover | Aether x Reader

Three

"(Y/n), are you, friends, with Aether?" The beautiful, white-haired girl asked, staring at the girl next to her as she proceeded to burn some paper for her art piece.

"Uhh, yeah, I guess so." (Y/n) shrugged. "I think I'm friends with everyone in my class considering I've been with them for the past three years. Why?"

(Y/n)'s eyes remained fixated on the paper in front of her, making sure that she did not misuse the lighter lent to her by the art teacher and accidentally set the whole school on fire. She places it down next to her before blowing on the slightly burnt paper she had in her hand.

"Well... it's just... I've heard people say you speak quite rudely to him." Ayaka held her hands behind her back and rocked herself side-to-side. "And I didn't want to believe them because, well, I know you're strict but you are never rude."

"Exactly," (Y/n) said, holding her paper in front of her. "Look at this beauty, Ayaka." She turned to her friend with a smile, "It looks perfectly natural! Like the parchment you'd use for ancient scrolls!" Her face held a look of pride.

"A-Ah yes..." Ayaka beamed when she realized that the paper did, indeed, look legitimate. "Wow! That's amazing, (Y/n)! Will you be helping the theater club create their props again?"

"You betcha!" (Y/n) nodded. "I would never turn down an offer to create humongous art pieces and use the school's art supplies! They got the best quality paints, it's so, mwah~" She kissed her fingers.

"A-Anyway... Now that I know the rumors are untrue I wanted to ask..." Ayaka trailed, looking away. "Are you not afraid of people making rumors about you? After all, Aether is quite popular... ever since Lumine left, people have become gutsier when it comes to him."

"No, why would I?" (Y/n) said simply, placing her burnt paper down. "Whatever they make up wouldn't be true anyways, how far would they take it without having any evidence?"

"You're right." Ayaka nodded. "Still though... to not care about rumors... you are a very brave person, (Y/n)."

"Not really." (Y/n) shrugged. "I'm just too tired to care. Hu is a truly brave person here. She's always telling her career counselors about her passion to create coffins...."

"Right." Ayaka nodded. "She was skipping class one time and handing out handmade fliers of a trial experience in a coffin she made... It was terrifying."

The door to the art room opened, and a masked boy with green hair came in. (Y/n) recognized him as someone she used to act with in elementary school, but she couldn't seem to remember his name.

"Hello, Dottore! How do you do?" She gave him a friendly wave.

The green-haired fellow looked at her with wide eyes before looking away, a slight blush on his cheeks. "I'm doing alright... what about you, Rosaura?"

"Doing dandy, thank you for asking." (Y/n) smiled before she picked up her fountain pen. "I should start doing the calligraphy, it takes a while."

"Who is he though? I've never seen him around here much." Ayaka's gaze followed Dottore as he walked over to a hidden canvas.

He pulled off the cloth on it, revealing a beautifully made oil painting of a greek goddess. Ayaka's eyes widened, turning to (Y/n) to inform her of something. "(Y/n), he's—"

"Amazing? Yeah, I know." (Y/n) chuckled. "He finds ways to paint with the least amount of people around. Anyways, back to our original discussion, why were you suddenly asking me about Aether?"

Ayaka's eyes widened and her cheeks flared up at the mere thought of the blond boy. In her pocket was a letter she had so carefully made placed in a light blue envelope and sprayed with her favorite perfume.

"Well... you see..."

__________

The sunshine shone through the windows of the empty halls, illuminating the path of the blonde boy as he walked over to his classroom, arms full of textbooks. The sun was already on its way down and a majority of the students had already gone home. However, the little sunshine was still finishing up the last of his errands for the day.

He was tired, yes, but he wasn't about to express that to anyone and destroy his image, no. He preferred to have his day filled to the brim with tasks but be loved by everyone than have lots of free time but be despised.

Kunikuzushi was quite rude and demanding, and he could tell he looked down on him. However, he didn't want to stoop to his level and seek revenge or something of the sort.

Aether sighed as he narrowed his eyes to look at the sun.

"They call me sunshine but I don't think I can ever compete against this ball of fire," he muttered to himself.

The long, empty hall filled with the sound of his school shoes clacking. He expected to hear the exact same rhythm for a long while until another pair of footsteps joined.

He stopped in place and glanced over the pile of textbooks, a not-so-happy-looking (Y/n) standing in front of him with arms full of her supplies.

"(Y/n)!" He beamed, joyful that he got to speak to her again after a while.

For the longest time, he was under the impression that (Y/n) (L/n) was a straightforward girl who only wanted to achieve her goals. While he wasn't necessarily wrong, he left out the part where she cared for others in her own way. The times in which she invited him over to eat with her or lent her supplies to him changed his mind about her.

"Aether," (Y/n) started. "Was this Kunikuzushi's doing?"

"Um..." Aether could suddenly feel himself growing nervous, the deadly look in her eye making him feel like he might be responsible for attempted murder. "I was just doing him a favor, that's all."

(Y/n) sighed and placed her things on top of the pile. Aether thought she wanted him to help carry her things elsewhere. While the weight was too heavy for him to have a comfortable walk, he didn't mind lending a hand to someone who had been so kind to him.

However, the irritated girl seemed to have other plans as she took half of the textbooks from his arms and turned him right around. "We're going back to the student council room."

"Wait, why though—" but the boy did not continue to question her as she walked away swiftly.

She threw open the student council room door with her foot before dropping all the textbooks in front of the purple-haired boy. Both he and (Y/n) had the most terrifying scowls on their faces as they looked at each other in contempt.

"What the hell, (Y/n)?!" Kunikuzushi retorted. "That was supposed to be brought to your classroom!"

"Well, it would've been there already if your lazy ass decided to actually do your responsibilities instead of taking advantage of this poor boy!" (Y/n) gestured for the confused-looking Aether.

Aether gently placed down his own pile of textbooks on the table, smiling sheepishly at Kunikuzushi who glared daggers at him.

"He said yes! Why make such a big deal out of this?!"

"That's because he's too nice to say no, learn to take a hint, Scara-freaking-mouche!" (Y/n) retorted.

Kunikuzushi pushed his chair back, getting to his feet as he redirected his glare to (Y/n). "Don't call me that stupid name, we aren't kids anymore."

"Really? I couldn't tell because of how immature you act." (Y/n) rolled her eyes.

She turned around and pushed Aether out of the room before shutting the door behind them. As they walked away, a bunch of faint profanities could be heard coming from the student council room.

"Jerk," (Y/n) muttered. She turned to Aether, a calmer look on her face, "Go home, don't worry about him," she said.

"I— um... thank you (Y/n)—"

"It's my job as class president." (Y/n) waved him off. "But I won't be in that position for long. You should learn to say no sometimes."

Aether looked down at his feet, somehow feeling upset that he was being scolded. He knew she was right, however, but how could he when he felt that was the only thing he could do to keep people from turning from him?

"Okay... I'll try."