"what do you think, y/n? are you satisfied with our after-school plan? your mother said to bring you with me — the first semester has already ended and we, the whole class, should all relax!" enthusiasm filled the classroom's atmosphere as venti, the class president's remark was heard by everyone.
suddenly, murmurs and whispers of excitement echoed — their voices were mixing up through y/n's ears causing her to snicker a little bit before turning her chair toward venti who was patiently waiting for her reply.
"venti, i cannot come if i didn't top the class this semester, alright?" she replied, tired and sighing.
the president, her childhood friend, one of the sources of annoyance and joy to her life, leaned forward and pouted. "man! i'm hundred-percent sure that you'd top the class — uh, wait! the announcement would be made today, yeah?"
"exactly." y/n rolled her eyes, "hey tartaglia." she tapped her seatmate's shoulder, "give me my notebook back. you're not even reviewing anything."
"just a minute, y/n. hu tao was asking me something." he said, not even glancing at her as he laughed out loud like an old witch doing something sinister. his laugh soon came to an end when the impatient y/n snatched the notebook from his hand. as his expression dropped, y/n only furrowed her eyebrows at him. "that's so rude, you know?"
"no, i don't think so. i gave you enough time and you wasted it — that wasn't rude of me, i believe."
"y/n! i really need it, we will pass our notebook to mr. zhongli later! he'll find out that i didn't write anything." he pleaded with almost doe-eyes.
she hissed in disgust, "not my problem, stop bugging me."
"y/n —"
"here. borrow mine instead." tartaglia's whine was cut off when the devil, the bane of her existence, the most annoying person to ever-exist, someone who can ignite her heart with intense anger and hatred — as y/n's described — albedo kreideprinz — offered his notes as he studied y/n's expression.
the smirk of satisfaction covered his lips upon seeing the woman's expression change drastically — everyone could see how anger conquered her innocent face and everyone could feel the building tension between them.
"thanks, man! you're the best!" tartaglia exclaimed with a victorious smile. he could feel y/n's side-glance of death but for he loved his life dearly, didn't bother to meet with her eyes.
"you seemed annoyed, y/n." albedo pointed out the obvious to annoy her even more. he plugged his hands on the both sides of his pants, waiting for tartaglia to finish copying the notes. "have you eaten your breakfast yet?"
"shut up." she exclaimed, not loudly but the way she pronounced it sums up everything.
"are you anxious to find out the ranking for this semester?" he tilted his head, trying to act oblivious.
she hastily closed her book, it created a loud 'thud' but everyone ignored it as an event or scene like this was already a normal occurrence whenever the two of them — albedo and y/n — were near each other.
"anxious? you meant excited? we all know who's going to top the class anyway."
"ah," he chuckled, amused. "it's always me, no matter how hard you try. just try your best next time — do you know the saying ——"
"ha!" she gasped, offended. "you're always too proud of yourself that you didn't notice how arrogant you sounded. hey devil, i aced all the examinations this semester — it's you who should try his best next time."
"you aced them?"
"surprised?"
"i did too."
"what a nice joke." in spite of nervousness covering her system after hearing what he said, she remained unfazed.
"do you think i'm joking?" the look in his eyes were the indication that he was serious and that alone made her nervous — she was somewhat afraid that he will be ahead of her but she was also proud and confident of herself — god knew how hard she studied and worked to achieve that milestone, and her trust in herself won't be easily shaken up by a mere annoyance.
instead, she remarked back, "you look like a joke."
it seemed like god had saved her as mr. zhongli, their class adviser, entered the room and everyone went back to their seats. the room was wintry and silent, her eyes stared at the paper in his table in which she assumed where the most awaited result of her life was written.
her back was straight and proud and her expression remained stoic and unbothered; mr. zhongli cleared his throat, adjusted his round glasses, and stepped forward — he opened his mouth and spoke softly, "i already have the ranking for this semester."
and just like that — in the pit of y/n's stomach awoke something — it was her nervous system and everything in between. she was nervous and excited at the same time.
"after this announcement, everyone is free to go but don't leave the school yet, alright? you all must wait until four pm to go out. i do not want to hear that a student of mine is wandering around the city before four. understood?"
"yes!"
"okay, then.." he held the paper, and everyone looked anticipating. "hm, this is unusual — both albedo and y/n dominated the class for the both of them ranked first."
uncomfortable stares and hesitant claps caused zhongli's eyes to squint a little bit; he examined everyone's expression but their awkward smiles and all made it obvious that there was something going on which he wasn't aware of — more like, the students don't want him to find out about it and so he chose to ignore it and continued. "lumine ranked second."
"wow, lumi! you did well!" tartaglia congratulated like a proud brother.
venti chuckled, "lumi, didn't know you're a hard worker!"
"lumi, did you just betray me? i thought we would fail together?!" hu tao exclaimed with betrayal, cheeks flushed with anger and her lips formed into an annoyed pout which lumine only laughed at. "what's funny? I hate you!"
"love you too, hu."
and soon, the room was filled again with joy and enthusiasm. y/n, on the other hand, remained silent with her teeth and jaw clenched. she remained her eyes looking at the board, though she could feel someone looking at her — and she didn't want to see his annoying smile once again! she could feel herself burning with anger. that sly little fox was once again going after her! trying so hard to beat her in every aspect. her body moved on its own when mr. zhongli finally left the room, she grabbed her belongings and was ready to leave when a hand wrapped around her wrist — preventing her from going out.
"hey, y/n! you topped the class and you will have to come with us!" venti said happily, his eyes were smiling. y/n's lips parted, venti knew she had a soft spot on his eye-smile and he used that to take advantage of her — soon, her angry heart calmed down. she nodded, sitting back down as she waited for them to finish arranging their things.