Pushover | Aether x Reader

Twenty-Seven

Author's note: I apologize for the very sudden hiatus. Life has been very hectic and I suddenly had to start adulting. 🥲

_______

She had not been to the water fountain behind the school in a while as it was known to be Teyvat High's most prominent social area. Even at the ungodliest hours of the day, students could be found hanging out under the trees by the fountain, chatting their worries away. This was the exact reason she had never even considered passing by the place but also the reason she knew Aether would be in it.

Students loved to hold people on a pedestal as their idols and criticize their every move— it just so happened that Aether was one of them.

"Please accept the chocolates, Aether! I spent all night making them!"

"I wrote this letter for you, Aether!"

"Your hair looks pretty today, Aether!'

(Y/n) held a hand in front of her eyes, seemingly blinded by the bright sun that went by the name of Aether Zeus.

How was it that he attracted admirers so easily? All he seemed to do was breathe and smile— but she could not disagree that his smile was as magnetic as possible.

He attended to each and every one of his enthusiasts, treating them all with equal kindness despite their history with him.

"But they don't deserve him, to be honest," (Y/n) muttered as she watched the boy entertain three girls who had once banded together to try and topple his social ranking back in middle school.

When they found out that he was the only popular guy they could not simply flash their pretty eyelashes at and get, they took it upon themselves to attempt to ruin his social standing.

They failed though, of course. And it pissed (Y/n) off how he seemed to have forgiven all their wrongs.

The girls spoke to the blond animatedly, their silky soft arms clinging onto his as though boundaries did not exist. 

It was starting to get to her how unfortunate this situation was. 

"We're so glad you got out of that situation unscathed, Aether!"

'Archons, they're so fake.'

"Yeah! We were all so worried an innocent person like you would get involved!"

'Worried? Ha! They were the ones gossiping about us the entire time it happened!'

Aether laughed a little nervously, "Haha, yeah... I was involved though. I wanted to be involved—"

"It's okay, Aether. You don't have to lie. No sane person would willingly throw themselves into situations like that. No need to try and act brave."

"Yeah~ we'll love you as you are."

And just like that, it was like something in (Y/n) snapped. So what if she had been avoiding Aether all this time? So what if she probably was not acting any less fake than them? If there is one thing she would not tolerate, it is their attempt to belittle him and reduce him to some trophy boy incapable of doing something chivalrous.

She tightened her ponytail and marched over to them, "Hey, Ae, I need to talk to you."

Aether looked shocked and confused as she threw her arm around his shoulder, pulling him away from the girls.

"(Y-Y/n)? You need to talk to me? Why—" 

"It's very urgent and confidential." (Y/n) shot the girls a glare. "Why don't we go somewhere with more privacy?"

Aether's face transformed into a look of relief. 

"Yeah, sure."

'Was she jealous?' Aether thought to himself. 'Nah, there's no way... Maybe she just noticed how uncomfortable I was and decided to help.'

But would a friend who simply wanted to help him escape his unfortunate circumstances grip onto him and glare at every passerby like a possessive girlfriend? He did not think so.

They had not had a proper conversation in quite a long while, but he could not help but think the romantic tension between the two of them was especially intense at that very moment.

'I have never met someone more delusional.' Aether scolded himself.

In the end, they both found themselves hiding behind a wall— somewhat secluded from the other students.

Aether opened his mouth to thank her, a faint blush spread on his cheeks.

"You. What are you hiding?"

His blush seemed to have immediately receded.

"... Huh?"

"I know you've been frequenting Bubu Pharmacy to buy first aid supplies," (Y/n) said, gradually getting into his face. "So just own up. Are you being bullied? Being taken advantage of again? By who? Is it Kunikuzushi?"

"What, no!" Aether backed away. "I'm not being bullied, (Y/n)—"

"That's what you always say." (Y/n) narrowed her eyes. "Sometimes you're not even aware that you're being bullied!"

"Y-yeah, I know, but I really am not being bullied this time..." Aether pouted. "How'd you find out, anyway...? Don't your meds get sent to you through the mail..."

All of a sudden, (Y/n) was silent and Aether found a newfound confidence within himself to turn the tables.

"(Y/n)... You haven't been drinking your meds, haven't you?"

"What, no." (Y/n) crossed her arms and avoided eye contact. "What makes you think I haven't?"

"Bubu Pharmacy recently announced their return transactions," Aether replied. "(Y/n), you know you shouldn't skip out on your medicine..."

"Who cares if I am!" (Y/n) retorted. "And stop changing the topic! Just tell me what you've been needing all those supplies for. If it's not you that's being bullied, then who is—"

"It's Kunikuzushi," Aether said. "He's been the school's favorite victim lately."

(Y/n)'s  jaw dropped. Yes, she had been quite an outcast lately, but she did not think she was so unaware of the school events to miss that Kunikuzushi was being bullied.

"... How did that even happen?"

"Some students put up a forum after Zandik's reason for his actions came out and a lot of people testified against Kunikuzushi's terrible behavior."

"Still though. For Kunikuzushi to be reduced to such a mess in a short amount of time..."

"You'd be surprised how much has changed, (Y/n)." Aether smiled. "Anyways, I'm glad you were worried about me... I didn't expect you to pull my away in front of all those people... You were so cool—" Aether stopped before he could gush any more about he truly felt when he realized that (Y/n) was not really paying attention.

He realized at that moment that while she was concerned for him, there was someone she was even more concerned about.

And it hurt, it really did. It hurt to know that he still seemed to be nothing more than the boy who frustrated her from how much of a pushover he was.

"Can you lead me to Kunikuzushi? I know we've had some bad blood, but I just want to make sure he's still okay."

"Yeah." Aether's head lowered. "Sure, come with me."