a Lesson of Lumine

Chapter Nine: Percent for Thought

The next morning, Lumine woke up to the sound of Paimon screaming at her door. "Lumine! Lumine! Lumine!" She yelled.
"What is it?"
"ITS TIME TO GET UP YOU SLEEPY HEAD!" Paimon burst into the room and threw a pillow at Lumine. Despite her small size, gravity came in handy. "Alright, alright. Fine. I'm getting up, okay?" Paimon had a smug grin as she dashed out of the room. Lumine looked at the clock - 7:36. School started at 8:15, and her normal routine would take up that entire time. In a panic, the shower had been chosen as tribute. She put on the first thing she could find (which was sweatpants and a hoodie) before running downstairs. Aether was sitting peacefully in the living room while watching TV. "You're up early!~" He laughed.
"Oh shut up... why didn't my alarm go off?! I can't be late!"
"You don't need to prepare for the entire week in just one day - relax, alright?"
"...Fine...Please don't tell me you took the last of the orange juice?"
"What do you think I'm drinking?"
"Gah!"

After finishing up, the twins rode to school. They parted ways as per usual before Lumine went to her locker. Xiao was a little ways down and was practically slamming everything in his locker. She had to go over and see if something had happened. "Xiao are you okay?"
"What makes you ask?"
"You...clearly seem angry."
"Oh, that. My step-dad dropped me off today."
"Childe? Wasn't he not moving in until winter break?"
"That's what I thought. The guy's an ass."
"Really? He can't be that bad - Zhongli has a good sense of people!"
"Childe treats me like I'm five or treats me like I'm his son. He's quite the manipulator, I'll give him that."
"I'm sorry. Here, how about I dig something out of my locker for compensation?"
"You really don't have to do that," Xiao almost finished when Lumine went back to her locker. After digging around for a few moments, she returned with a small yet delicate necklace. It must have been some sort of childhood accessory. The charm was the same type of flower she always wore in her hair. "I hope this will do - I can look for something else if you'd-"
"It's suitable- I mean... It'll do- wait no..." Xiao tried to find the right words but Lumine had already placed the necklace in his hand before gently whispering, "Thank you. Your smile is quite lovely." Before Xiao could respond, she left to go to her first class. He clenched the necklace for a moment before putting it on. Upon closer inspection, there appeared to be something engraved on the back. Listen to the Stars. The cheesy line made Xiao chuckle before he tucked it in behind his regular sweatshirt.

Lumine had since made her way to Ningguang's class and took her seat next to Chonggyun. He was looking quite nervous though still had his popsicles. "Morning Chonggyun!" She smiled.
"Oh- uh...Good Morning," he waved.
"Everyone seems on edge today. What happened to you?"
"Auntie Shenhe got into a fight with my parents last night. She kept saying that I should be able to bring popsicles to school but my parents said otherwise...it was a headache. But enough about me, how are you?"
"Fine - I woke up late today, so it isn't the best start for me either."
"Thursdays are terrible!" Chonggyun sighed. The beginning school weeks were always weird, staring on either a Tuesday or Wednesday. This time it started on Tuesday. Before Lumine could come up with a response, Miss Ningguang had walked in and set papers on her desk before standing beside the chalkboard. She seemed to prefer that over a whiteboard or anything like that. "Welcome to todays class. Open a blank page for notes and we'll begin with todays lesson which is reviewing percents. If you remember, percents are out of 100. They can never be over or under, unless stated in the problem. An example of which would be 50% of 10, which is five. Can any of you tell me how to turn a percent into a fraction?"
"Ooh!" Ganyu raised her hand to respond.
"Ganyu?"
"You divide the top number by the bottom number, or the part divided by the whole!"
"Correct. You should always round if you get an incredibly long number, such as 33.3333 and so on. Does that make sense?" Nods around the room gave Ningguang the green light to continue, "Here are your worksheets for today. You'll fill both sides out and I will collect them tomorrow at the door. If you don't finish, it's homework. Understand?"
"Yes ma'am!"
"Lovely. You may also use your calculators for this process as well if you would like."

Soon enough, everyone had their work in front of them. This was a breeze for Lumine. She hated math but that hadn't stopped her. Both sides of the worksheet were done as soon as class was half over. She handed it in before continuing to take her seat. Ningguang had instructed her to do something academic, such as reading a book. Lumine began to read her copy of "The Pale Princess and the Six Pygmies." Like in the Fox and the Dandelion Sea, it was haunting yet soothing. The story followed the tales of dark and light - a theme she loved. How two polar opposites could bond was beyond her. Come to think of it... it reminded her of her relationship with Xiao. He was one to be reclusive, not incredibly successful and confused on the whole socialization field. Lumine was bold and brave. She never left a job unless it was done successfully. Even though they were different, she was drawn to him. Whenever she saw him, all Lumine wanted to do was hug him or even hear his voice. Hearing him stumbling to find the right words was,,,incredible. All she could do was hope that Xiao felt similar.
Back in his own classroom, Xiao already knew the response to Lumines thought. He did. He admired her way of always being there for anyone whenever they needed it. As much as he could try and suppress it, the years of buildup didn't help. He wanted to spend time with her but didn't want to at the same time. Words were the enemy. They always got in the way. Though...maybe you didn't need words all the time. Maybe it was expression that mattered. That he could do...hopefully. All in all, he wanted to spend more time with her without anyone else getting in the way. Perhaps a walk through the trees would work for clearing his mind - or something more.

(Gonna have a theater performance, next chapter may not be coming out until the 7th maybe - I'm so sorry!!)