Chapter Text
Albedo is what you could consider the school ace. He's the valedictorian, a shining beacon for his classmates and even the teachers themselves. He excels in all fields ranging from mathematics, chemistry, and writing. Though nobody could really say for sure, it’s widely assumed that he excels in the arts too, as he can be seen in the art room for hours afterschool, his large canvas positioned in a way where no one could see what was being put on it. He also was frequently drawing in his sketchbook, his azure eyes rarely seen as his ash blonde hair tended to shield his entire face. See, he’s a beacon sure, but very much unreachable. All eyes are on him, but nobody dare get any closer. Why would they? He let off a cold and icy aura, and with a plain, unreadable expression to match. Either way though, any student caring for their academic standing severely envies him.
One of these students is Sucrose, though she wouldn’t really call it envy. She wasn’t that type of person. More like awe. Could someone like that really exist? Could someone really obtain knowledge with such ease? Though she soon figured talent like that must’ve come at a price, since she never saw him interact with anyone. He kept his eyes glued to his sketchbook, drawing whatever he seemingly felt like drawing, not that anyone got to see of course. Sucrose did envy one thing about him though. He was talented in mostly any area of course, but he seemed especially good at anything science related. In that way, Sucrose could relate to him. She admittedly excelled in science, though she barely made it in any other course. And art? She’d prefer to not think about it.
She actually shared a few courses with Albedo, as well as their lunch period, though she often forgot. Chemistry was one of them. Sucrose never found an opportunity to spark conversation with him though, despite her wanting to. She also found herself relating to Albedo in that she never had many people to hang around either. Sucrose mulled these thoughts over as she sat in her seat for chemistry, expecting the usual.. Listen to the teacher ramble for forty-five minutes and leave. Maybe take a few notes where he does make sense. That's how it always was. The bell rang, and the teacher started to speak.
“Today you’re going to be paired into groups for an assignment. Please communicate thoroughly with your partner.” Did he shoot a look at Albedo for a moment there, or was Sucrose just seeing things? “I’ll be calling out your names and your partners. Please listen carefully. I’d rather not repeat myself.”
And so he did. He read from a list, the paper a little more than an inch from his face as his tired eyes made out the words. The pairs seemed awfully random. Seemingly very little thought was put into who would make a good pair. Did he think putting Hu Tao and Chongyun together would go well at all? There was already a ruckus, but Sucrose did her best to ignore it. Names were called and pairs were formed, one by one they made their way to each other, but soon enough there were two people left who hadn’t been called. Herself, and the guy who still had his eyes on his sketchbook, only half listening for his name. Albedo glanced up, a little surprised he never heard his own name.
“You’re the only two I haven’t called. So stop looking at me. I’d like to assume you’re smart enough.” Then the teacher sat back in his desk, rereading the book he’d read a thousand times.
Couldn’t he have just called their names? Sucrose let out a sigh. He wasn’t a very nice teacher. Either way she knew what he meant. Sucrose quickly gathered her things, though before she could even stand, Albedo was already beside her. “No need.” He sat down, his sketchbook pressed to his side as to remain closed. Come to think of it, this was the first time she’d heard his voice so clearly outside of the valedictorian speeches he had to give against his will every so often.
‘Good first impressions Sucrose! Those are important, you know? Don’t mess this up!’ Sucrose’s mind was going a mile a minute, though she was very quickly interrupted.
“Did you say something? Sorry… I couldn’t quite catch it.” She must’ve thought out loud… She was already messing it up! Sucrose had to scramble for an excuse.
“O-oh! It was nothing important. I was just reminding myself not to mess up the dinner I’ll be making when I get home!”
“Ah I see…”
...Silence. Truth be told Sucrose was no better at socializing than Albedo. This proved her theory the teacher put no thought into the pairings. Either way, the project needed to be started since it did look a little bulky.
“We..we should get started! After all, it seems like a pretty long assignment.” She picked up the thick looking packet and let it drape, revealing what looked like at the very least ten different pages, all packed to the brim with words front and back. She couldn’t help but stare. It seemed everyone else in the room had just gotten a look too. Replacing the loud chatter that once filled the space was now cold, dead silence. A twig could break miles away and it would be heard loud and clear. Albedo even looked a little shocked.
For the first time in the history of ever, Albedo broke the silence. “Let's get started then. There seems to be a lot to do…” From the looks of it, this was a daunting task for even the school's ace. Sucrose sighed and started looking through the packet, her eyes bouncing around the page, looking for something helpful or easy to start off with. This would take forever, but at least she had somebody so skilled by her side. This felt like an opportunity to get to know him better, and for that at least she was thankful.
For days after they tirelessly worked. Writing reports, a presentation, a physical product, all being produced. Sucrose did her best to spark conversation throughout the ordeal. Abedo seemed to be doing the same, though it always felt like he was reading off a list of small talk starters. “The weather is nice,” looked to be his favorite. Still, one conversation in particular stood out in her memory.
“Albedo, if you don’t mind me asking of course, what are you drawing all the time? You seem to be so absorbed by it..”
“Hold on for a moment…” He reached into his bag, shuffling through various notebooks and binders. He pulled out an incredibly thick book. It was brown and leather bound with a nice shade of gold lining the edge of each page. It almost looked like it had never been used a day in it’s life. He opened up to a random page in the book with little thought put into which one. “Here. I hope this is satisfactory.”
None of the space was wasted here. The page was covered head to toe in flowers of a variety Sucrose couldn’t quite put a finger on, wild animals seeming jumping off the page, and what looked to be the view he got from the window in his little corner, his little world. It seemed the common assumption was all too true. Albedo excelled at everything. Even art. Was she forgetting something? How long had she been staring? Right! Sucrose quickly looked up.
“These are really beautiful! You really do have a knack for this! Are you in any art classes by chance? You ought to show these off more often!” Sucrose really did mean it. These were amazing!
“I’m not in any sort of class. It can always be better though. I’m not really sure how to respond..sorry...I’ve never been asked to show my works before.”
“Really? Never?” Albedo looked down with a slight frown, and it hit her. Though you couldn’t see it, Albedo seemingly always had an impenetrable, icy shield up at all times. Quiet and unexpressive, nobody ever put much effort into approaching him and since he could never make an approach himself, he remained by his lonesome. Sucrose was stricken by curiosity now. What was previously awe and a little shred of envy was now fully replaced by the intense desire to learn more about this guy, however odd that thought was in retrospect. “Um, if it’s not too much to ask, where do you get the ideas for what you draw?”
“I only draw things that capture my interest. Why waste time with something I have little to no interest in?” That hit a little harder than it should’ve.
“Oh! Makes sense. If I’m going to be honest, I’m a little jealous…”
“Jealous? Why's that?”
“I’ve always been a poor artist. To tell you the truth I’ve always been kind of bad at anything not related to sciencey type stuff.”
Albedo looked to be in thought for a moment, but was quickly brought back to reality by his own volition. “Are you particularly interested in those things?”
“Not really…”
“Then it makes sense. Like I said, why waste time on things you have no interest in?” That actually did make a lot of sense. Still, just because she wasn’t interested in things like writing or history, it didn’t mean she could ignore them completely! She still had grades to keep up!
“I get what you mean! But my grades don’t really care what I’m interested in, do they? I’m trying, I really am! If only tutors weren’t so expensive.” Sucrose let out a sigh. Albedo raised an eyebrow and put his hand to his chin.
“I could possibly help you out during our Lunch period. We share one right? That’s only if you want me too.” He looked at her expecting a quick answer. His eyes were piercing. Sucrose ended up a little flustered. This was real right? Albedo, in the grand scheme of things, was just another highschooler like her, but this felt like a huge honor! She’d be a fool to turn it down right?
“Are you sure? I would hate to waste your time! Surely there are better things you could be doi-”
“Sucrose.” She shut up real fast. “It's not an issue. Believe me. I rarely do anything of importance during that time period anyways. I’m happy to be of assistance.”
She could’ve cried on the spot. “Thank you so so much! I’ll do my absolute best! You can count on it!” Sucrose had a big grin painted across her face, one that just happened to catch some attention. Albedo wore a small grin of his own, a lot for someone like him. “I’m looking forward to it.” He looked back down to his packet, and though he’d never let Sucrose, or anybody else for that matter see, he had a bit of pink dusted on his cheeks.
It was like this for about a week. Everyday, in the classes leading up to lunch, the two would exchange a glance or two. Sucrose would wave and Albedo would respond back with a small grin. Then lunchtime came and they would barely eat, spending their time on study. Everyday she felt the occasional stare. Whether it be bewilderment, awe, envy, she could never figure it out, though they never lasted long. Albedo would look at them right back, and they quickly turned back around. He never glared or anything. Just looked.
One day, Sucrose asked about it.
“I’m not sure why, but everyone seems to be intimidated by me when I look at them. I’m not sure why… Say, Sucrose. Am I scary looking?” Sucrose looked at him for a moment. She never took too much time to look at his face. I mean really look at it. He was attractive. Wait, but that wasn’t what was being asked was it? Now she had herself a little flustered. Albedo leaned in a little closer. “Is that a yes?” He looked a little...smug?
Sucrose swatted her hands in front of her. “Of course not, of course not! Not scary at all! You look great!”
“Great?” He leaned back to his original position, placing a hand behind his head. Great. Just great. Now Sucrose found herself in a weird position.
“You know… like not scary! Really!” Albedo put a hand to his chin and softly chuckled. He looked back up to her with a smile.
“I know what you meant.” Did he? Did she? She learned then that he had a pretty smile. One capable of shooting a small twang through her heart, though for simplicity’s sake she ignored it.
Another day, Sucrose figured they should actually eat. She rummaged through her bag, looking for a specific box. She felt more and more panic setting in as she looked.
“Is something the matter?” Albedo looked at her with a confused expression. He leaned over to her. “You look distressed.”
“Yeah.. I think I forgot my food at home! Of course, one time I think of making my lunch kind of cute looking too…” She reached into another pocket and grabbed a couple of small candies. They were a mint green color, slightly resembling her hair. She sighed and ate one of the candies.
“I thought you forgot your food?” He was now leaning on the table.
“Oh! I did. But I always carry some candies around. Would you like one?”
Albedo seemed a little surprised by the offer. He sat up. “Sure. What brand are these, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“They don’t have a brand. I-I actually made these myself! It’s a hobby of mine. I always like to carry candy around, since I have a bit of a sweet tooth…” Sucrose looked away, almost looking ashamed, though Albedo kept her gaze on her. She handed him another mint green candy. He popped it into his mouth, closing his eyes and staying quiet for a good ten seconds. “Is it bad? I’m so sorry!”
He flinched and quickly opened his eyes. “No no. This is actually really, really good. Sorry. I guess I got caught up in the flavor. Would you mind if I had another?”
It was a little shocking! Did he like them that much? “Of course! Here here....” Sucrose pulled out a golden candy, honey flavored. “I hope you like it!”
For the rest of that lunch period, they ate candy. One by one Albedo tried each flavor Sucrose had brought. Apple, cherry, strawberry, banana, and so on. And each one was a huge success! “Say, you said you forgot your meal right? I actually have some food leftover… Would you like some?”
“Ah… I’m actually full from the candies.”
So it went on. Their tutoring sessions never failed to turn into simple conversation, even if about a common interest. Sucrose really enjoyed his company, surprisingly enough. The entire time though, a fear ran through her mind. Did he enjoy hers? Even though he offered, she still felt a strange sense of guilt, like she was forcing him to be around her. After all, didn’t he always prefer his solitude? Voicing these concerns, she feared, would only push Albedo away. She certainly didn’t want to do that because, putting all her fears aside, she really enjoyed the time they spent together.
A quiet Friday evening, Sucrose found herself walking through the school hallways, passing classroom and classroom. Through the windows she could see a variety of things. In one room, was Chongyun and Hu Tao, bickering about the long chemistry project which they had failed to get anything substantial done on. It seemed Xingqiu was a mediator. In another room was Bennett and Razor discussing something Sucrose couldn’t seem to make out. Soon though, she was by the art room. Or at least one of them. She started to think about dinner for that night, though before she could figure it out, she saw Albedo walking out of the art room. Sucrose, for a reason she didn’t know, hid behind the corner and watched as he walked off. Why? She knew he wouldn’t have any negative reactions to seeing her, and it’s not like she had any reason to avoid him. But as she emerged from her place of hiding and continued her walk, she paused.
The canvases… the ones he always left them turned, for no one to see. Sucrose put a hand on the door knob. It was unlocked. ‘I’d be intruding right? I shouldn’t.” But curiosity killed the cat. She quietly entered the art room, feeling the need to be stealthy about it. It was a room open to everyone sure, but for the longest time, it felt like Albedo’s territory. In retrospect, he probably wouldn’t care if anyone else used it, but it still felt extremely wrong. He had a single canvas up, facing the window and the outside world in which the sun was starting to set. It was a beautiful sunset, but Sucrose really couldn’t care less.
She stood herself behind the canvas and her blood ran cold. Hot? Maybe hot was more accurate. She felt heat in her face, and her heart rate had jumped. She was just thankful nobody was here to see it, because on the canvas was a portrait of her in amazing detail. It was a headshot of her, a smile across her face, a little bit of pink on her cheeks.
“I only draw things that capture my interest. Why waste time with something I have little to no interest in?”
Those words. Those words rang over and over again in her head. They were all she thought about as she quickly left the building, and they were all she thought about for so long after.