Pushover | Aether x Reader

Sixteen

Teyvat High certainly was not for the faint of heart. It consisted of students who fit into a certain hierarchy in which their worth was based on appearance, charisma, and talent. Those who had made their way to the top, however, lay under constant watch by the ones below them. As fortunate as it may seem to be popular, the unspoken truth was the moment you had obtained a title, you were thrown to the wolves— the students whose lives revolved around envy and insecurity.

Among the wolves was Zandik, a teenage boy with a very tainted crime record who frequented visits to the mental hospital. It's a surprise he was even let out at all. Perhaps his parents hoped that he'd put everything in his past behind him if he were given the chance to prove himself.

Every day, he was pushed and shoved; spat and mocked. It was a surprise he didn't so much as react violently to his aggressors despite seemingly having every right to do so.

Zandik was an extremist, he was either on one side or the other but never a pacifist. So where exactly does he direct his attention that he lets all the bullying slide?

"That's her...." Zandik poked his head from behind the wall. "And she brought a rose... She really brought the rose for me!"

His pocket vibrated; a message from the (h/c)-haired girl.

—————

Rosaura <3
I'm here, where are you?

Zandik
Also here
Let me gather my courage pls

Rosarua <3
You don't need courage. You dragged me out of my house by threatening me.
That's gutsy enough, don't you think?

————

"I know you're there, unknown." That was her voice, her sweet voice. The voice that always raised his hopes and evoked certain... reactions from him.

He was tempted to reveal himself, but the lump in his throat and the anxiety surging through his veins stopped him from doing so.

"Give me... A minute or two... Please," he muttered. He hears a couple of steps walking toward him and soon came face-to-face with (Y/n).

She looked surprised, to say the least, surprised that the person she had known to be quiet and meek was behind all this.

"Dottore? What's going on here?" She retorted. "Why were you saying all those things? Was it you who started that fire?"

Zandik said nothing but looked her in the eye. Despite the shocking discovery, (Y/n) secretly hoped her friend would deny all her accusations. She hoped he would simply say, 'It wasn't me, I swear. This is all just a misunderstanding.'

"I had to do it." She felt her heart drop.

"Pardon?" She raised an eyebrow. "This was premeditated?"

"Yes," Zandik nodded. "If I didn't do it, you would stray even farther from me, (Y/n)."

She didn't notice at first but he had already begun advancing toward her.

"Stray further from you?" (Y/n) responded. "If you wanted to speak to me you could've just said so!"

"Yeah! But it doesn't work that way, (Y/n)!" He furrowed his eyes.

Finally, she noticed his actions and immediately felt uneasy at their close distance. She took one step back. And another. And another... Till her back slammed against the wall.

He grabbed both her hands, clutching them in a somewhat loving way. "I just wanted to show you that you seriously need to choose your friends! You don't hang out with me anymore. What will we do when Kunikuzushi hurts us out of envy? What about that girl? What if she succeeded in making you the school punching bag?"

"What are you on about..." (Y/n) sucked in a breath. "Let me go, Zandik. You're the only person I'm concerned about right now. Let. Me. Go."

"But (Y/n), I care about you," Zandik insisted. "Weren't we close? Remember all those times we laughed together and had each other's back? What happened then?"

(Y/n)'s breath hitched. Now that he had mentioned it, she really did not remember what had happened between her, Kunikuzushi, and Zandik. She knew the separation must've been due to the rejection, but there was a missing segment in her memory that was beginning to drive her insane.

"... That was before, Zandik," She said shakily, slowly losing her composure. "Please let me go. I don't feel safe anymore." She pleads, looking him in the eye.

His eyes darkened and his smile disappeared. It was as if he had already given up on the facade he had put up. He transferred his grip onto her wrists and held them in one hand.

"You're the one that's making you feel unsafe," He scowled. "After leading me on and then rejecting me, you expect me to let you go without any closure or revenge?"

He pulled out a handkerchief but the (h/c)-haired girl already knew what was about to come. She lifted her dominant foot and kicked him in the shin, temporarily freeing her from his grasp and allowing her to slip through.

Zandik may be a violent teenager, but that didn't change the fact he remained scrawny from all his medication.

He howled in pain as he grabbed his leg but he quickly recovered and put his attention back on her. He looked angry, no... Furious.

"You bitch...!" He lunged at her with a pocket knife in his hand. How he managed to get the pocket knife through the school security was beyond her.

(Y/n) wasted no time turning around and running for her life. She knew that all she had to do was get out of the evening class building and disturb the hallway full of ongoing subjects. Her running would cause enough of a ruckus and the teachers would immediately see the psychopathic student chasing after her with a knife in hand.

She had already mapped out her escape plan in her head with a firm grip on her leg followed by a sharp pain to her side that cut her off. It was as if all her hopes and dreams were snatched away from her.

How was she gonna go to her dream university now? How was she going to climb the ranks in her dream job? How was she going to do all that when her life was at the mercy of her ex-friend?

"Let me go!" She screams hysterically, kicking and writhing as he drags her across the floor. "Why can't you just leave me alone, huh?! What did I ever do to you for you to try and make my life a living hell?!"

"You left me alone when I needed you the most."

What happened next felt like a blur: a blond boy jumping on her attacker, her attacker's pocket knife being stabbed into the boy's shoulder, a girl screaming at her attacker, and then her body getting dragged away from the scene by the girl.

She could only make out the faint words "get help". But that was enough to get her on her feet. Despite her head throbbing and feeling like she could fall at any moment, she persevered and ran away as fast as she could.

The sedative she had inhaled was slowly making her lose her mind, but her drive to stay awake helped her to hang on a little longer.

She ran down the stairs of the building, surprisingly not tumbling down and cracking her skull. She screamed for help at the top of her lungs, her side already numb from the stab wound.

After what felt like hours of running and shouting for help, she finally came across a person. She didn't even care to check who it was, she simply threw herself at their feet. But before she could even utter another word— she passed out.