start over / kaebedo

2

Student council sign-up sheet.

Albedo stood in the corridor, before classes, staring at the corkboard as he was surrounded by silence. He liked this area, considering it only had a few classes on that building floor, it was usually quiet and not crowded, apart from the smokers in the bathrooms - but they stayed quiet too.

Albedo thought to himself for a second, this could give him something to do for once. He picked up the surprisingly not yet stolen pen attached to the corkboard, and wrote his name in his best handwriting, considering he was writing up against a wall.

He stepped away from the corkboard and put the pen back in the plastic holder. On his way out of that corridor, he spotted Ajax.

Wasn't that one of Kaeya's friends? The one who went by 'Childe' for a solid year?

He was quite surprised to receive a smile as he went past.

Albedo immediately took this as a sign that Kaeya had already started talking about him behind his back. Usually, when passing by anyone in this school, no one would even spare him a glance. 

But then again, he thought it wouldn't be a good idea to jump to conclusions. Albedo didn't really think Kaeya was like that, he was still just salty from yesterday. There was still an odd taste in his mouth, like the aftertaste of orange juice.

He hadn't even eaten anything that morning, he just brushed his teeth and was out the door, he usually counted on lunch break to get something to eat. 

The bell went in the middle of his thoughts, and so he strutted off to class.

-------------

Albedo went back to his usual routine, finding a small piece of paper, watching him walk in, and quickly sketching down every single detail he possibly could. Albedo felt like hitting himself over the head with the table after he realized he had drawn Kaeya again, he was supposed to be mad at the guy for goodness sake.

In his daze of disbelief, the teacher toddled over and quickly slid the paper out of Albedo's reach. He cursed himself as the teacher scanned the paper and gave Albedo a knowing look, before taking the paper with him to walk up the rest of the desk isles.

Albedo held his breath when he went past Kaeya's table, he was lucky his teacher wasn't that cruel.

He turned his gaze back towards his actual worksheet. He could feel Kaeya's heavy stare on him, although Albedo refused to turn back and meet that gorgeous blue eye. Throughout the entire lesson, all he could think about was the sketch, he was worried about what his teacher would say, if he had been figured out, even.

And that's when it hit him.

Albedo had always felt as if something about what he observed about Kaeya was missing, and now he knew. His sexuality. It wasn't clear at all, he hadn't heard anything about his past relationships, Albedo had only heard that Kaeya wasn't very committed. 

But that still meant that he could have an attraction to boys, Albedo thought about their earlier interaction and came to the conclusion that yeah, Kaeya isn't straight.

Albedo was about to zone out again, get lost in his thoughts, and be caught by the teacher again until someone's loud as hell metal water bottle fell, the sound echoed from the corner of the room. The criminal gave an apologetic smile.

After class, Albedo was called to stay behind, much to his humiliation. The drawing was promptly handed back to him, and the teacher sighed; "What your feelings towards certain students are is none of my business, but please keep it out of the classroom." Albedo blinked, "You're a good student, Albedo. Please stay focused."

He nodded, internally shocked, "Sorry, sir. But please do know I don't feel that way about Kaeya at all," he didn't even know why he was telling a teacher this, "I just... Like to draw him? However that's not an excuse, it won't happen again."

The teacher nodded in understanding, and Albedo was free to go.

As soon as he walked out of the classroom, he wished he had caused a scene to be held back. 

Kaeya was leaning against the wall, staring at Albedo with half-lidded eyes, his arms were crossed, although he wasn't trying to seem intimidating or angry. "Hey, 'Bedo."

Who?

Albedo gave him a look, clearly not impressed by the nickname. Kaeya chuckled, "Sorry, no nicknames yet?" Had he just forgotten about the blond's tantrum yesterday? "Anyways, I saw your name on the student council sign-up sheet."

"Oh... Yeah. I thought it'd give me something to do during the school day."

Kaeya was about to make a remark, although he bit his tongue. "I signed up too, it would be fun to be on the same council, right?" He smiled, leaning off of the wall and making his way to Albedo, "I'd like to also apologize, care to walk with me?"

He asked a lot of questions.

Albedo wordlessly nodded, following Kaeya side by side as they walked down the crowded stairs. He didn't even know where they were going, he just followed the mop of blue hair. Albedo kept his eyes forward, avoiding all of the senior students going the opposite way. 

And then they were outside, all alone, the season made the leaves fall off of the trees slowly, autumn was Albedo's favorite season to sketch. He'd collect all of the crunchy and dried-out leaves, going the extra mile to get every line and mark into his drawings.

"I want to apologize for yesterday," Kaeya finally spoke up. "My intention wasn't to get the wrong idea or mess with you, I was just trying to make a joke without realizing how you'd take it."

"Okay."

Kaeya bit his lip, "Is there anything I could do for you to forgive me?"

The air went silent, and Albedo thought for a second.

Anything. He could ask Kaeya for anything. He thought of how he could take this opportunity to get some different poses of Kaeya in his sketches, Albedo quickly cleared his mind and decided to go against asking for anything. "No, I forgive you. Your apology was enough."

Kaeya grinned. "Great, thank you. Please let me know if anything I say upsets you..." He paused, "Can I call you 'Bedo?"

"No."

"Alright!"