to the moon & back

xvi. new year new faces

The wind blew towards your direction carrying orange and red leaves along with it. With a curse, you yelled, "Archons! I just fixed my hair this morning!" The said leaves got into your hair as you try to brush it off from your now messy hair.

It was your first day back to school and things were going not too well. For starters, you left your backpack in your dorm making it the reason why you couldn't write any notes during your first class.

And second of all, you didn't even eat breakfast! Your poor stomach was rumbling throughout the class, gaining a few looks from your peers.

Hopefully, the rest of the day would go smoothly, right?

As you neared the lunch hall's entrance, you would accidentally bump into someone. "Hey watch where you're going—" You grumbled, not paying attention to who it was you bumped into.

"That's kinda rude, no? You didn't even let me apologise." The person lets out a deep chuckle.

You stopped on your tracks as you turned around to properly see the person.

He looked familiar but you weren't sure who he was. He had a muscular build — it was clear that he worked out. His hair was styled in a way that it looked similar to a pair of wolf ears.

You sighed. "Right, my bad. Did I hurt you in any way or...?"

He shook his head. "No, not at all. I'm fine." He rubs his neck as he seems to observe your looks. "You don't look good though. Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah! I'm fine." You let out a huff. "I just had a rough day so far." You would then notice the way he looked at you. It made you a bit flustered. "I'm Y/N by the way. I take fine arts and it's my third year here!"

"That's cool. I'm Wriothesley, a criminal justice major." He crosses his arms as he continues to observe you, the intensity of his gaze making you a bit more nervous. "I believe I've heard about you before from my friend, Cyno."

"You know Cyno? That's crazy! What a small world we live in, huh?"

You would continue to converse with him even as you enter the lunch hall, too immersed by your conversations. When it was time to sit down, he invited you to sit with him and his friends which you agreed.

There were already multiple faces you knew in the table. Cyno and Tighnari were there and along with Ganyu too. But there were also newer faces. Furina and Xilonen introduced themselves and spoke with you most of the time.

You had fun during that time. It really made your day better. However, the whole time you were at their table, you would notice Wriothesley's lingering gaze. It was odd.

He keeps staring at me... Hopefully I didn't weird him out. It's rare for me to get new friends after all.