Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

okay, so, a general rundown of the au. this is probably going to be updated when I add more lore. The work will be properly capitalised, but this is just an intro/explanation so it could be more consistent.

-Celestia gives visions/is god.
-Paimon is the unknown god except she doesn't attack Aether/Lumine in this. She's Celestia's watchdog? Like she reports back to her. She's in her big form when giving spooky news and tiny form when spying (most of the time).
-Lumine became a villain before Aether even joined Teyvat Academy. Girlboss.
-I am still deciding if I want them to be twins or if she's older. Aether is a teen in this, and there are teenage villains, but with the type of villain I want Lumine to be, she needs to be older/more mature. I suppose this is what has to happen instead of Aether's 500-year nap.
-The Fatui is a villain reform programme, run by The Tsaritsa who used to be a villain herself. This does not include Dottore. It used to include a few of his clones, but he had a sort of kill switch enabled on them and terminated them all.
-The archons are vessels for each of Celestia's elements. So, still gods, but she's the main one. Aether is a vessel for Celestia herself, so he can use all elements without a vision.
-All the archons still have their gnosis.
-Khaenri'ah was a failed branch of Teyvat Academy where there was a lot of unnoticed corruption, which led to many becoming villains and the rest fleeing.
-Nonhumans such as adepti and yokai still exist.
-Nahida overstrained herself, which is why she is now stuck in her child form. She is still the same archon and holds the same memories.
-Focolors could not handle being a vessel, so she made Furina to take over and passed away shortly after that. Furina struggled to handle the gnosis herself, so Neuvillette took over. Celestia is aware of and okay with this.
-Celestia is not a villain/evil but is very overbearing.
-The Natlan students and many important Snezhnaya students are out on missions to conveniently explain their absence for plot purposes.
-Makoto was the original vessel, but she passed. Ei, her sister became the next vessel but made the Shogun to operate in her place whilst she grieved. The Shogun does not have the gnosis and did not at any point, she's just there to pass as Ei/do things in her stead. Wanderer is still a failed puppet, which is why he became a villain in the first place.
-Wanderer is part of the Fatui reform programme but stays in the Sumeru branch as it's agreed that it seems to be greatly helping him. He's probably not as bad as he was in canon, I haven't fully decided, but he hasn't deleted himself from people's memories. There was an incident where he tried to delete his painful memories and had amnesia for a while, but that was fixed.
-Dainsleif is not a villain. He's not a hero either. He only helps Aether, and maybe Kaeya at a push (if he's feeling very nice).
-Teyvat Academy has seven (previously eight) dorms/campuses. It's an ambiguously located island, mostly because I haven't decided where I want it to be. It's completely independent.
-Non-vision holders don't realise what visions are, they think they're support items to enhance quirks and stuff, hence vision experimentation.
-Some students pass between dorms/campuses, for example, Lyney/Lynette/Freminet stay at both the Snezhnaya and Fontaine dorms. Aether travels between them all, he gets anxious about staying in one place for too long.
-Teapots don't exist here.
-Dainsleif doens't stay on campus. People aren't even sure if he's enrolled in Teyvat. He just shows up when he wants and then dips again. Nobody has kicked him out yet so it's probably fine, right?
-Most archons pick cover/civilian personas, even if the students at Teyvat already know it's them. Zhongli, Venti and Neuvillette have civilian personas, Nahida and Ei don't, and I'm not sure about Murata and The Tsaritsa just yet.
-Celestia is technically the principal, but she mostly just gets her minor gods to be her staff and do the work for her. She has no idea what a Word document is. The school would fall apart if not for the random minor deity employed under her.
-Cementoss made temporary housing/dorms at UA which is why 35 transfer students can be housed without smothering the actual dorms. Due to there being so many, they rotate for classes though. Most likely 5 or so at a time.
-There are five students for each dorm, the Snezhnaya students will likely be switched when the mission is over. There are a few miscellaneous students in place of the Natlan students at the moment.
-Teyvat isn't run like other schools, especially not other hero schools. Whilst it is a hero school, it is also a sanctuary for children with visions. Students don't graduate until they feel ready, and many former students choose to stay on as student teachers. Tutors, pretty much. Perhaps even lending an ear. There's a variety. Some even become pros but continue to live on campus.
-The House of the Hearth isn't training child soldiers. It's an orphanage run by The Tsaritsa, but the fact that many, if not all of the children who earn visions later enrol in Teyvat Academy (as it's the safest place for them) has sparked rumours that Teyvat trains child soldiers. Especially because they also have young students going on missions if they feel it is safe. Other hero schools are hypocrites.
-Snezhnaya has sent Arlecchino, Childe, Lyney, Lynette and Freminet.
-Fontaine has sent Neuvillette, Furina, Wriothesley, Navia and Clorinde.
-Inazuma has sent Ei/The Shogun, Ayato, Kokomi, Yae Miko and Heizou.
-Liyue has sent Zhongli, Ningguang, Xiao, Xianyun and Xingqiu.
-Mondstadt has sent Venti, Jean, Bennett, Barbara and Diluc.
-Sumeru has sent Nahida, Wanderer, Cyno, Alhaitham and Candace.
-Extras in place of Natlan include Aether, Dainsleif, Kazuha, Baizhu and Kaeya.

To preface this next section: a lot of the characters are aged down from what they would realistically be because this is a school setting. If you're wondering why most of the nonhuman characters have weird age orders, it's based on physically how old they are. So they may have chronologically been around for hundreds of years, but their body looks like a teenager's so that is how they're treated in the eyes of strangers. It varies, some may have chosen their forms and others may have been born/made with them.

Nonhumans/nonhuman adjacent: Neuvillette is physically around 32, Xianyun is physically in her early 30s, Ei, Yae and Kokomi are physically 29, Zhongli is physically 26, Arlecchino is physically 25, Dainsleif is physically 25, Furina is physically in her early 20s, Venti is physically 17, Wanderer is physically 16, Xiao is physically 15, Aether is 15 both chronologically and physically (due to becoming a vessel his body will no longer age), Nahida's previous form was in its mid-20s, but her current one is around 10.

Humans: Wriothesley is 32, Ningguang is 29, Baizhu is 26, Ayato is 26, Diluc is 24, Jean is 24, Navia is 24, Clorinde is 24, Candace is 23, Cyno is 21, Alhaitham is 19, Childe is 19, Kaeya is 19, Lyney and Lynette are 18, Kazuha is 18, Heizou is 17, Barbara is 17, Bennett is 17, Xingqiu is 17, Freminet is 13.

Chapter Text

“New students, new students!” Mina chanted, pulling Kaminari by his wrist to stare out of the large glass windows across from their classroom. She could see some of her other classmates milling around, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Teyvat Academy kids.

Iida scolded them in the background, but she ignored him. Who cares if they were supposed to go to the auditorium and wait for introductions to start? She wanted to see the students now.

Kaminari excitedly chattered next to her. “Oh man, how strong do you think they’ll be? They’ve gotta be strong, right? ‘Cause they go on all those cool missions. Oh, man, this is sick!”

She shared the sentiments. All they knew about the mystery exchange programme students was that there were a lot of them (hence the auditorium and the size of the temporary dorms Cementoss had made) and that they probably had visions.

Not a lot was known about visions, but students at Teyvat had a lot of them. They seemed so cool! She’d love to get one for herself if she could figure out who made them. She started to imagine her other classmates with them. Kaminari would probably be so badass if he had one of the little purple ones! But then again, it might look weird with his colour scheme. No visions for him.

She was brought out of her musings as she watched Aizawa cross the grass to reach a coach that had just pulled up. The students!

She excitedly shook Kaminari’s arm, pressing her free hand to the glass as if she could see clearer by doing so.

The first to come out was a blonde boy with a braid, followed by a boy with dark hair in braids next to his face that faded into turquoise. He slung an arm around the first boy and stepped aside, just in time for a blonde woman with a ponytail and a man with red hair, also in a ponytail, to step out. Weird, they looked way too old to be students, even from here. Maybe they were teachers? But Mina hadn’t heard anything about teachers…

A teen with blue hair in a side ponytail and an eyepatch (Cool! Did he have some sort of cool quirk relating to his eye?) was pushed out of the coach by a man with short blonde hair, his eye mostly covered in some weird reverse-eyepatch kind of thing. The push didn’t look unkind, just firm. Weird.

“Dude, why is like, half his face covered except for his eye. Is it meant to be an eyepatch? What?” Kaminari piped up from beside her.

“I know!” She replied excitedly, briefly spinning away from the window to face him. “That’s what I was thinking!”

Mina turned back to the window to see that the seven who had left the coach had now piled into a little group, joined now by an ashy blonde boy covered in bandages, and a girl with her hair in cute pigtails.
“Oh my god, she’s so cute!” Mina gushed to a nearby Hagakure and Ururaka. “I could just eat her up!”

After gaining general agreement, she turned back, not wanting to miss a thing. A man with green hair and a weird-looking scarf (Was that a snake?!) with a cane was guided down the stairs of the coach by a man with dark hair in a ponytail, the tips fading into amber.

A boy with blue hair rushed after them with a collapsible chair, setting it up and helping the man with the cane into his seat. Mina was confused. Teyvat was a hero school, so why was someone so physically frail attending? And why were the other students acting like this was normal?

She could hear hushed murmurs amongst most of her classmates, just as confused as she was. Even Iida had stopped trying to corral them to stop and stare.

A boy with dark hair and teal streaks stepped out next, immediately heading to stand next to the dark-haired man. He was quickly followed by a woman with similar hair, as well as one with long white hair.

“Why are they so pretty?!” Mina whined. Seriously, what was Teyvat feeding these girls to make them look so good?

These six also huddled into a group, standing near the first one. Now that she thinks about it, they probably are doing that for a reason. Different friend groups? Dorms? Classes?

A purple-haired woman and a pink-haired woman emerge together, immediately standing off to the side and forming their own little group. They are immediately followed by a boy with maroon hair and a boy with white hair and a red streak. Though they stand near the other two, the boy with white hair looks significantly uncomfortable being near the purple-haired woman.

A blue-haired man and a blonde-haired woman exit together, sharing words as they join the group.

After that, Mina finds herself flabbergasted as an actual little girl skips out of the coach, instantly followed by a scowling boy with indigo hair. Still reeling from the shock, Mina hardly notices the white-haired man, the blue-haired woman and the grey-haired teen that follows.

A white-haired man with blue streaks is followed by a white-haired woman chattering his ear off as they exit the coach. They are then followed by a dark-haired man (Seriously, those can’t be students!), a woman with blue hair and a blonde woman.

A ginger teen bounds down the stairs of the coach and makes a beeline for the second group of students before he is tugged back by a woman with white and black hair, deflating with a whine. Mina giggles at the behaviour. Three students exit the coach, a boy and a girl with grey-blonde hair, and a blonde little boy. He’s older than the little girl from before, but tiny in comparison to everyone else.

“How is he on the hero course?” She finds herself gasping aloud.

“He must be so fragile…” Yaomomo agrees with a sigh.

The coach doors close, so now Iida finally has an excuse to get them all moving to the auditorium, though it’s obvious everyone wants to hang around and observe more.

“You’ll see them closer if you get there,” He huffs, and it motivates everyone to move. There’s a curious buzz amongst them all.

Mina steals one last glance at the students, before seeing Aizawa glaring at the windows, making direct eye contact with her. She gulps and starts to sprint, ignoring Iida’s scolds about running in the halls. She values her life, thank you very much.

Chapter Text

“Apologies,” Baizhu murmured as Zhongli helped him up the stairs to the auditorium stage. “I didn’t expect my pain to flare today,”

“Do not fret,” Zhongli reassured, rubbing his back as he led him to his collapsable chair that Xingqiu had set up again. “You are not lesser for being ill. Don’t think that way,”

Baizhu allowed himself a soft smile, Changsheng hissing softly in his ear. The lights were too bright, he was worried about Qiqi, and his body was in pain, but he pushed it all down. Zhongli was here, Zhongli would make sure everything was okay.

“You have my thanks,” He replied, smiling as Xingqiu bounded over to his other side.

“Are you okay?” The teen whisper-yelled. “Do you need anything? Can I do anything?”

Baizhu sighed fondly, raising a hand to ruffle Xingqiu’s hair. “You can quit worrying, is what you can do. I’m plenty capable on my own, Xingqiu. Don’t fuss over me, go have fun with your friends,”

It took a bit of wheedling, but he eventually managed to convince the boy to go over to Barbara, Bennett and Aether. And Dainsleif, by extension, since he seemed to be flanking Aether more intensely than usual in this unfamiliar environment.

“Was Dainsleif even signed up for the exchange programme?” He turned to question Zhongli, who pursed his lips.

“I… Do not know,” He sighed, which was typical in regards to Dainsleif. “I suppose it’s better that he’s here though, for Aether’s sake, especially because Paimon is not here with us. Perhaps Kaeya’s, too.”

Baizhu nodded at that. Dainsleif was good for Aether, bringing the teen out of his shell more, one of the rare few who had ever heard him speak. Kaeya too, when he was willing to throw him a bone.

He watched as students started to gather in their groups (or as well as Aether and Dainsleif could, who seemed to just be sticking to Mondstadt for now) just as the UA students started pouring in, many panting from sprinting there, followed by the slower going students who filed in in an orderly and calm manner. Their teacher tsked from the corner of the stage he was huddled in, and Baizhu honestly didn’t blame him.

“We’ll do introductions and then let the students ask questions, if that’s okay with you?” He asked, receiving content nods from most of the Teyvat students. As staff, he was more privy to information such as the ages of all of the students, but he knew that his kids were nosy and curious and stupidly good at picking up on things.

“Should we go by the dorms alphabetically?” He heard Furina mumble, eliciting general agreement in response. She then turned, walked to the front of the stage, and clapped her hands with a big grin.

“Hello! My name is Furina, I’m a part of the Fontaine dormitory and I study the Hydro course,” Sweat prickled on the back of her neck and she fought to keep her hands from shaking. Being here, on this stage in front of this audience, reminded her far too much of before where she had to act and pretend she wasn’t falling apart, literally and figuratively until Neuvillette had stepped in.

As if noticing her plight, Neuvillette stepped forward, allowing Furina to fall back amongst the other Fontaine students. “I am Neuvillette, also of the Fontaine dorm and also of the Hydro course,” He gave a polite smile and watched as the UA children attempted to figure out how he could possibly be a student.

Then, Wriothesley stepped forward. “I’m Wriothesley. I’m from the Cryo course, Fontaine dorm.”

Navia excitedly took her turn next. “Hello! I’m Navia! Fontaine dorm, Geo course. It’s wonderful to meet you,”

Clorinde was less excited about her introduction but was not shy in delivering it. “Clorinde, from the Fontaine dorm. Electro course.”

Inazuma was next. Ei stepped to the front of the stage, Wanderer immediately turning away from her. The Kaedahara boy also stared at her wearily. “You may call me Ei,” She spoke to the UA students. She had been told by Miko that her title would hold no meaning to the children, and would confuse them instead. She had not seen this as a problem, but still, Miko insisted. “I am from the Inazuma dorm and Electro course.”

“Yae Miko,” Miko started from beside her. “Also from the Electro course, and also in the Inazuma dorms,” She smiled mischievously at the students, wondering if any were easily startled.

“Hello, my name is Kamisato Ayato and I am from the Inazuma dorm,” He smiled politely. He was used to giving introductions over and over again, so this was nothing new to him. “I am a part of the Hydro course,”

“My name is Sangonomiya Kokomi, I’m also from the Hydro course and I’m also from Inazuma dorm. It’s wonderful to meet everybody,” She smiled sweetly.

“I’m Kaedehara Kazuha, but please, call me Kazuha,” He smiled softly. He tried to project his voice, knowing it was better suited for reciting poetry than travelling far. “From the Inazuma dorm and Anemo course,” That felt easier to say than explaining he rarely ever stayed at Inazuma these days.

“Shikanoin Heizou,” He smiled cheekily. “I’m in the Anemo course and Inazuma dorm too.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all. My name is Zhongli. I am from Liyue dorm and I am a part of the Geo course,”

“I’m Baizhu,” He greeted warmly. “From the Dendro course and the Liyue dorm.”
“Ningguang,” She nodded her head slightly towards the 1-A students. “Of the Liyue dorm and Geo course,”

“My name is Xingqiu, nice to meet you all! I’m from the Liyue dorm and the Hydro course,”

“You may call me Xianyun,” Cloud Retainer started, having been briefed similarly to Ei on the nature of her title within UA. “I am in the Anemo course. Liyue dorm,”

Xiao did not speak, at first. Only when prodded by Zhongli, did he talk. “Xiao. Liyue dorm. Anemo course,” His introduction was over as quickly as it began, and he slotted himself close to Zhongli once more.

Venti, ever a natural at talking to large crowds of people, swanned to the front of the stage where he excitedly introduced himself. “Venti, of the Mondstadt dorm and Anemo course! It’s wonderful to meet you all!”

Following him was Jean, who introduced herself simply. “My name is Jean. I’m also from the Mondstadt dorm and the Anemo course.” She smiled politely at the students, before stepping back again.

“My name is Barbara! It’s wonderful to meet you all! I’m from the Hydro course and the Mondstadt dorm,”

“The name’s Bennett! I’m from the Pyro course and the Mondstadt dorm!” As Bennett stepped forward to be better seen by the UA students as he introduced himself, he managed to trip over his own shoes, only saved from face-planting by Kaeya catching him by the back of his shirt and setting him upright.

“Kaeya, from the Mondstadt dorm and the Cryo course. A pleasure to meet you,” He nodded and stepped back, nudging Diluc forward who responded with a rather grumpy huff.

“Diluc. Mondstadt. Pyro course,” And with that, his brief introduction was done and he stuck to the back of the group once more.

Venti tugged Aether to the front of the stage, knowing that the younger boy couldn’t introduce himself. Well, he could, but he doubted that most of the UA students could understand sign language. “This is Aether! He’s enrolled in all of Teyvat’s courses and doesn’t have a set dorm. He’s selectively mute, so please understand that he’s not being rude by not speaking,” Aether gave a little wave, spotting a student with a rocky-looking head perking up when told that Aether didn’t speak. A few other students shot glances at him, maybe he was mute too?

Aether stepped back, just as Venti shot a glance to Dainsleif, who didn’t get any closer to the front of the stage, but at least deigned to dignify the students with his name. “Dainsleif,” He said dismissively. Venti let out an amused scoff. “Yes, this is Dainsleif. He’s in a similar boat to Aether,” He explained, the half-truth being easier than telling everyone that Dainsleif only showed up where he wanted, and no school or curriculum was going to dictate that for him.

Arlecchino took a commanding step forward. "You may call me Arlecchino. I am of the Pyro course and the Snezhnaya dorm," She gave a nod of acknowledgement to the students, and then fell back.

Childe bounded towards the front of the stage. "Hey!" He greeted, a sharp grin on his face. "You can call me Childe. Hydro course, Snezhnaya dorm. I can't wait to get acquainted with you all!" There was an underlying meaning to those words that had practically every Liyuean and Snezhnayan rolling their eyes.

Lyney held both Lynette's and Freminet's hands and walked them both to the front of the stage. "Hello! I am Lyney, from the Pyro course, and both the Fontaine and Snezhnaya dorms! It's wonderful to meet you! This is my lovely sister Lynette, who is from the Anemo course, and the same dorms as I am. This is my little brother Freminet, from the Cryo course. He is also in the same dorms. Both my siblings are quite shy, so please be patient with them!" Freminet flushed and looked at the floor, wishing he had his helmet with him. Lynette just looked blank. Great success!

Nahida skipped past the three, a wide smile on her face. “Hello! My name is Nahida!” She clapped her hands together. “It’s wonderful to meet you! I’m from the Dendro course and the Sumeru dorm!”

Candace took her cue next. “I’m Candace, of the Hydro course and the Sumeru dorm. Nice to meet everyone,”

Cyno walked to the front of the stage, face set in its usual serious expression. “Cyno. Sumeru dorm and the Electro course. I lost my mood ring the other day and I’m not sure how to feel about it,” He stared expectantly at the students to laugh at his pun, but only attracted a few unsure titters. Unperturbed, he tried again. “I dreamed I was a muffler last night and I woke up exhausted.”

Sensing their cue, the UA students laughed a bit louder, perhaps only in the hope of getting it over with. Alhaitham tugged on Cyno’s arm, his cue that the time for jokes was over and Alhaitham would be taking his introduction now. “I’m Alhaitham. I’m a part of the Dendro course and the Sumeru dorm,”

There was only one person left to make his introduction - Wanderer. But he just scowled, at least until Nahida gave him a little nudge. He let out a deep sigh. “I have many names. Call me whatever you want, just don’t expect a response. If you must know, I’m in the Anemo course and I’m staying in the Sumeru dorms,”

With that, everyone was accounted for. Aizawa, from his little corner of the stage, turned to his students. “You can now ask any questions you may have. Raise your hands, I’ll call on you,”

Predictably, most of his students raised their hands. “Iida,”

Iida stood up and bowed, always respectful. “I must say, it is a pleasure to meet you all!” He yelled. “But I must admit, I have my doubts that many of you are teenagers! Why have so many adults come on this trip with you? Not to mention the young children!”

A quick glance between the Archons, and Zhongli decided to be the one to answer. “Teyvat Acadamy is not a traditional school in any sense, and as such the graduation is a lot more flexible. It is on a student-to-student basis, and even though many of us on this stage are graduates, we have chosen to stay and assist the Academy. Though we are technically no longer students in the traditional sense, we are eligible to represent the Academy in this programme. As for the younger children, they have been decided fully capable and will be safe and watched over by us,” He gave a polite nod.

“Yaoyorozu,”

“Thank you, Mr. Aizawa. I just wanted to ask, how old are you then?” She also gave a polite bow.

This time, it was Neuvillette who answered. “There is a wide range. For the older students, we range from our early twenties to our early thirties. Others are a similar age to you, and the youngest may be up to thirteen,” He explained, skilfully darting around the explanation of Nahida’s ‘real age.’ He did not want to utter falsehoods about her being a child, even though her form was temporarily that of one.

With those two major questions out of the way, a lot of the hands dropped down, the students' confusion (mostly) eased. “Kaminari,”

Kaminari perked up. “Is it true that you guys go on all those super cool missions even when you’re young?” He was shot a glare by Aizawa, but promptly ignored it.

Xianyun decided to take this one. “If one is deemed capable, then one may get to go on missions. However, missions are heavily regulated, especially for younger students. One mustn’t overwork oneself after all,”

Aizawa sighed at his student's lack of tact, and then sighed again when he saw who was the only one left to have their hand up. “Mina,”

“Where do you get your little vision things? How do you pick which one you want? Who makes them?” She blurted out, excited and curious.

Ei answered the first question. “They are gifts bestowed upon us,” The answer was vague, but gave enough of an answer to placate the curious youths.

Venti laughed and agreed. “Yeah, we don’t pick! We just get given what we’re given,” He hummed. “As for how they’re made… Hm, there are some things that even we don’t know!”

“Anything else?” Aizawa asked, eyes raking over the students. He could tell that there were further questions that they wanted to ask, especially Midoriya (he was eyeing up the visions like a dog eyes a steak, buzzing with energy as presumably thousands of questions about their workings sprung to mind), but recognised that they were either too long or too blunt to ask.

“Alright, head to the training grounds. I will show the exchange students to their accommodations, and then we’ll get into groups and train. Sound good?”

Iida’s cries for an orderly exit were left ignored as many of the students sprinted out of the auditorium.

Chapter Text

The Teyvat students followed Aizawa in an orderly and calm manner (surprisingly), slowing their pace for Baizhu, who Zhongli was helping walk along. His cane was still packed away with the rest of his luggage, as he had thought that his folding chair would be enough for the short trip. It wasn’t, but hindsight was everything.

The walk wasn’t terribly long, and everyone trailed after the teacher as he led them into the temporary accommodations. Looking slightly bored, he led them over to a poster on the wall, with a numbered list of rooms with blank spaces next to them.

“There are fourteen rooms in this building, and they fit two or three people in them. That’s what the blank spaces are for. Discuss amongst yourselves who is sharing a room with who. If you ever change your mind, swap rooms. Most of you are adults so you can sort it amongst yourselves,” There was a silent eyebrow raised that read ‘I hope, at least’ that hinted at the man’s experience with fellow staff and/or pro-heroes.

“We can,” Zhongli reassured. A quick discussion ensued about who should room with who. There were the obvious choices - Freminet should be with at least one of his siblings, Aether needed Dainsleif, Xiao could not be separated from Zhongli and the only person that Wanderer fully trusted was Nahida.

Miko, Ei and Kokomi shared the first room. Miko and Ei were obvious enough, with how close they were, but Kokomi’s offer to share had mildly shocked quite a few students. Really though, it was the logical choice. She was familiar enough with Ei, even if they weren’t the best of friends. Besides, Kokomi was good at being civil, unlike a few other people with less-than-stellar opinions of Ei.

Lynette, Lyney and Freminet shared the second room. They were used to it, after all, and all knew how to comfort and be there for each other. Besides, they were all mildly co-dependent with each other.

Room three belonged to Kazuha, Heizou and Ayato. Kazuha and Heizou were quite close, and Heizou and Ayato hadn’t quite worked together fully but were in similar enough spaces in the Academy that they often worked adjacent to one another. Friendly acquaintances.

Room four had been given to Aether and Dainsleif, the first of the two-person bedrooms. In part due to Aether’s reliance on Dainsleif, and in part due to both of their habits of wandering. Aether often got restless and wandered about, and Dainsleif would feel trapped if he couldn’t up and vanish the second he wanted to. A third person would just cause unnecessary stress.

Neuvillette and Wriothesley had roomed together, as had Navia, Clorinde and Furina in rooms five and six respectively. They were all in the same dorm back at Teyvat and knew each other well enough that they were comfortable sharing.

It was already a given that Zhongli and Xiao would be sharing, but Zhongli made sure that Baizhu was in a room with them too. That way, he could keep an eye on both and make sure that both of their respective conditions were not giving them too much grief. Baizhu eyed him thankfully.
Barbara and Jean, who had been making efforts to patch their distant relationship, had taken the opportunity to share the eighth room together. Barbara had beamed in joy when Jean had offered, and everything seemed a bit more okay in the world.

Having reconciled a while ago, Diluc had offered to room with Kaeya, wanting to provide comfort and familiarity to his brother in this foreign environment. Venti had asked if he could share with them, and with a fondly annoyed sigh, Diluc agreed. Kaeya seemed happier for it, anyway.

Xingqiu and Bennett, already close, excitedly agreed to share the tenth room together. Immediately after agreeing, Bennett had tried to take it back, citing his bad luck as the reason why Xingqiu shouldn’t room with him. In fact, he had gone so far as to offer to sleep on the couch, but Xingqiu made sure to reassure him that it would be okay.

Nahida knew that Wanderer wouldn’t feel safe sharing a room with anyone but her, so they took the eleventh room to themselves.

Cyno, Alhaitham and Candace, already friends, naturally gravitated towards each other and agreed to share room twelve.

Room thirteen held Ningguang and Xianyun, who were not necessarily close but knew how to be civil with each other well enough, and so agreed to share a room.

That left Arlecchino and Childe in room fourteen. They had known each other for a long enough time, were a part of the same reform programme together, and Arlecchino knew how to reign in Childe well enough. They were both fine with the arrangement, Childe mostly because it gave him more opportunities to try and coax a spar out of Arlecchino.

With the rooms sorted easily enough, Aizawa turned and spoke to them once more. “We’re going to the training grounds. They’re large enough to fit all of you and my class at once, so I’ll lead you all there. I’ll then brief you on what you shall all be doing for today’s hero training,”

And with that, they walked off. The Teyvat students had already arrived in their hero uniforms, as they had been instructed a few days before the trip.

When they arrived at the training grounds, Aizawa turned to address both the Teyvat Academy students and the UA kids. “Since today is our first day with the Teyvat students here, you’ll just be sparring with each other. To get used to each other’s abilities and skills, one at a time, a Teyvat student will choose a UA student to spar with. This will let me know as to where you all are skills-wise,” The last sentence was meant just for the Teyvat students.

After a pause, Aizawa then asked, “Where’s Dainsleif?” The Teyvat students gave a cursory glance, before grimacing at each other.

“Probably somewhere nearby?” Kaeya offered, much to the chagrin of Aizawa. “He just does this, especially when there’s training involved,”
Iida straightened. “As a hero student, that is most unbecoming! We must put our all into training, to protect as many civilians and be the best heroes that we can!”

He was met with another grimace. “Dainsleif does as Dainsleif does,” Venti offered, and the topic was awkwardly dropped. There was an obvious tension amongst the students after Dainsleif’s disappearing act.

Aizawa sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose to nurse his freshly forming headache. “Alright,” He sighed, mumbling something about not getting paid enough to himself. He then pointed at Venti. “Venti, you’re up. Pick a student to spar against,”

Venti skipped forward, making a show of ooh-ing and ahh-ing as he thought about who to pick. “Sparkly blonde boy!” He chirped, followed by a slightly apologetic, “Sorry, I don’t know your name,”

Aoyama smiled good-naturedly. “It’s Aoyama, mon cherie! Oh, how delighted I am that you picked little old me!”

“Of course! You have a bard’s charm to you,” Venti gave a little ‘ehe’, though the inside joke flew right over Aoyama’s head. He still gave a pleased beam in response. Charm was charm, after all.

Venti turned to Aizawa. “I guess I can’t use my bow?” He sighed slightly. Aizawa paused for a second.

“Do students at Teyvat normally use weapons to spar?”

Venti nods. “We use training ones when sparring. A lot of students find it easier to use weapons as a channel for their elements,”

After pausing to think, Aizawa shook his head. “We’ll stick with hand-to-hand combat and quirks for today. I’ll keep that in mind for later lessons,”

With that, Venti joined Aoyama in a large rectangle marked on the floor, clearly meant to be their fighting ring.

“The spar is won when one of you can no longer fight, is knocked out of bounds, or otherwise forfeits,” Aizawa explains, and both students nod to show their understanding.

Venti hangs back a little bit, wanting Aoyama to make the first move, not knowing what his quirk was. He’s mildly surprised to find a sparkly laser shooting out at him, but is quick enough to summon a gust of wind to float out of the way.

Students gasp, impressed at his flight. Venti keeps the tactic up, using his wind currents to dodge the lasers, occasionally getting close enough to Aoyama to get a hit or a kick in. He decides not to use his black hole, to avoid suspicion.

A little bit into the fight, Venti notices the colour starting to drain from Aoyama’s skin - he looks sickly and sweaty. With every laser shot off, his condition worsens. It’s not hard to figure out from there that if he plays the long game and focuses on avoiding the lasers, Aoyama will incapacitate himself.

That’s exactly what ends up happening. Aoyama shakily raises a hand and announces that he’s tapping out and needs to go to Recovery Girl. Venti floats down, and offers himself up as support to the shaking teen.

Aoyama is carted away by a robot with a stretcher, and Venti is announced as the winner of his match. There is excited chatter amongst a lot of the UA students, most talking about his ‘quirk’, a few others about his strategy.

Diluc was the next to spar. He seemed a bit uncomfortable at the concept of sparring with the students, but seeing how eager most of them were to learn, the discomfort melted away for the most part. He chose Sato because the teen looked like he would be able to hold his own against him.

Diluc was good at hand-to-hand, but he was much better with his claymore. Luckily for him, he was able to use Sato’s lowered intelligence as he increased strength to his advantage. Using a mixture of regular attacks and his flames (as carefully controlled as possible), he pushed Sato out of the ring.

Next was Jean, who was up against Momo. Momo fought well, creating different items to trip up Jean or to get in her way and delay attacks, but Jean was a more experienced fighter and was able to use bursts of Anemo to push Momo out of the ring.

Childe had picked Bakugou, drawn to his explosive temper, much to the chagrin of the Teyvat students. It was a good spar, Bakugou refusing to give up and Childe matching his energy. Blood was drawn as they fought tooth and nail to be the victor, but Childe managed to come out on top. He offered Bakugou a hand up, a manic glint in his eye and blood dripping from his nose. Bakugou was simple to best, at least for Childe, but he was a fun fight.

Zhongli had picked Kirishima, drawn to the boy’s rocky-looking appearance. It had mostly been in jest, a small detail to amuse himself, but Kirishima’s quirk had pertained to rock. It was mostly a battle of shields, Zhongli’s jade shield surrounding him as pillar after pillar rose from the ground beneath them. Kirishima had to utilise unbreakable, which tired him quickly and ultimately lost him the spar.

“You fought well,” Zhongli praised, getting an excited, “Thanks man!” in response.

Xiao chose Ojiro to be his opponent because of his martial arts uniform - humans were fragile, but at least this one should be able to hold his own for a little. Xiao was agile and fast, able to avoid Ojiro’s tail attacks and plunge down to land his own. Xiao emerged as the victor, and Ojiro gave a satisfied hum at his skills.

Kazuha had picked Todoroki because of his seemingly calm demeanour. Todoroki was highly trained, as was Kazuha, but Kazuha’s training had mostly been focused on his swordsmanship. For a while, it looked like Kazuha was going to lose, though he fought well, but he managed to utilize his swirls of wind to use Todoroki’s own quirk against him, ultimately winning the spar.

Ei chose Hagakure, drawn to the girl’s invisibility, thinking it may be a challenge. But even with her invisibility, Ei was easily able to take her down.

Kokomi had chosen Uraraka. A mix of her sharp tactician skills, healing and her regular attacks she was able to take Uraraka down without much fuss. The attacks that Uraraka dealt out were quickly rendered null by Kokomi’s healing. They shared polite words of encouragement at the end of their spar.

Miko had chosen Mina, drawn to her bubbly energy from the questioning earlier. In the ring, she was mildly surprised to find acid being sprayed at her. Thoroughly unamused, she surrounds Mina with her Sesshou Sakura and quickly summons a few smaller thunderbolts to quickly end the battle. It just wouldn’t do to get a faceful of acid. When Mina tapped out, she gave the teenager a wry smile and offered her a hand.

Drawn to Ojiro’s martial arts prowess, Ayato decided to also select him. Though his skills were much stronger with a sword, before he had even been allowed to wield a blade he had been taught martial arts without a weapon. That, along with his hydro clone, allowed him to seize victory for himself, though he praised Ojiro’s skills.

Heizou had picked Kaminari, for a similar reason to Miko. Usually a close-combat fighter, Heizou’s decision to get close had nearly led to his failure as Kaminari shot electricity at him. Smart as he is, he quickly realised he needed to hang back and rely on his Anemo to use Kaminari’s attacks against him. Unfortunately, Kaminari was also suited to long-range fighting and was able to attack Heizou quicker than he could reflect. Heizou smiled good-naturedly, and Kaminari was excitingly recounting his victory to his friends. Bakugou’s eye twitched, but he said nothing.

Cyno chose Shoji for a similar reason that Diluc had picked Sato - he looked like he could hold his own. Of course, against Cyno’s strength and his divine power, he was unable to win, but he fought as hard as he could, earning a respectful nod from Cyno.

Candace chose Jirou, and though Jirou could hold her own in hand-to-hand combat, Candace was much more experienced and had trained for longer. Jirou was ultimately bested.

Aizawa hesitated before calling Nahida’s turn, looking to the other Teyvat students as if questioning if this was really okay. With their nods of reassurance, and Nahida already stepping forward to choose an opponent, he sighed and reluctantly accepted.

Nahida chose Tsuyu, not knowing the students well and ultimately being fond of Tsuyu’s frog-like features.

Tsuyu was hesitant to hit Nahida, obviously seeing her as nothing more than a child. It did not offend Nahida, she was aware of how her form looked and how people would treat her because of it. Still, she did not want to be seen as helpless, or even give Teyvat Academy an even worse impression. She was aware that the students were shocked that she actually could fight. She stuck mostly to using her Dendro attacks, rather than getting close to Tsuyu.

Tsuyu remained hesitant to hurt Nahida, though she did make a few half-hearted attempts to spar with her. Nahida wasn’t insulted by this and offered Tsuyu kind words after she won.

Wanderer was next, and like Childe, he chose Bakugou. He stayed airborne for most of their fight, and Bakugou used his explosions to meet him at his level. Bakugou shot blast after blast at Wanderer, but he was agile and his flight made it easier for him to dodge the explosions. His own returned blasts of Anemo helped send Bakugou off course and use his explosions against him. Wanderer ended up winning the match but grimaced at the excited attentiveness of the teenagers watching.

Alhaitham picked Koda, an uninterested expression on his face. He wasn’t particularly interested in combat, so he chose someone with a nervous demeanour - it shouldn’t be too hard to win against him. He was proven right as Koda called upon bugs and smaller animals to help him. Alhaitham was able to avoid the animals and insects easily by aiming his mirrors at Koda only, who lost pretty quickly.

Baizhu was next, and though told he didn’t have to participate, he assured Aizawa that he would be able to, much to the chagrin of his classmates. Seeing the starry-eyed look on Midoriya, he decided to pick the boy. Unfortunately, the match-up did not work out for Baizhu, who immediately had to throw up his shield and focus on dodging and healing himself. Baizhu recognised that this was not going to help his already flared pain and apologised to Midoriya as he tapped out, making his way to the sidelines with a limp and a grimace. Changsheng whispered a haughty “I told you so,” to mask her worry.

Lyney picked Shinsou with a grin and bounced to the sparring grounds with him. The battle was embarrassingly short for Lyney, as he brightly responded to a question Shinsou shot at him, before walking himself off of the battlefield at Shinsou’s command. Shinsou winced, expecting anger, but Lyney just laughed and waved it off with a chirp of “Well played!”

Lynette was next and she also picked Tsuyu. Tsuyu fought mostly long range, and Lynette fought mostly close range, but by using Enigma Thrust and then a Bogglecat Box or two, Lynette managed to snatch victory for herself.

Freminet picked Hagakure. He had originally been going to pick Midoriya, but after watching his fight with Baizhu, he thought better of it. He had been trained in hand-to-hand combat, but he worked so much better with his claymore. At least he still had Pers. Hagakure, as Tsuyu had been with Nahida, was a little hesitant to hurt Freminet, but that did not mean she didn’t attack. Freminet, using Pers, was able to infuse Cryo into his strikes, which ultimately won him the battle.

Similarly to Diluc, Neuvillette also chose Sato to spar with due to the fact he at least had increased strength where the other students didn’t. The spar did not last for long and Neuvillette quickly bested Sato.

For the same reasons, Wriothesley chose Shoji. He found it a nice change of pace to spar against Shoji’s multiple arms, but Wriothesley was well-versed in hand-to-hand and quickly won.

Furina chose Tsuyu, and Gentilhomme Usher, Surintendante Chevalmarin and Mademoiselle Crabaletta helped her easily secure victory for herself.

Without her umbrella doubling as a gun or access to her canons, Navia found herself unable to win against Iida, who quickly ran her out of bounds. She laughed good-naturedly, promising him a rematch in the future.

Xianyun chose Tokoyami, since he had birdlike features, though she would never admit that that was the reason out loud. With it being light outside, Dark Shadow was frightened and didn’t want to come out. Xianyun was easily able to dispatch Tokoyami using Skyladder.

Arlecchino chose Shinsou, curious about his quirk. He tried to trick her like he had done for Lyney, but she did not fall for it. Far more experienced than Shinsou, she was able to easily take him down once she reached him, and he wasn’t as strong without his capture scarf.

Clorinde chose Iida after watching how he took down Navia, interested in his speed. With her greater combat experience as well as using Impale the Night to surge herself away from his dashing, she managed to come out on top.

Ningguang chose Momo, and, just like Jean, was able to bypass Momo attempting to trip her up with her creations and defeat her.

Xingqiu, being a disciple of the Guhua Clan, was drawn to Ojiro’s martial arts prowess. Using both hand-to-hand combat, and his swords of hydro he was able to best Ojiro.

Bennett picked Kaminari, and their spar did not last long. As soon as Bennett went to throw his first punch, he somehow tripped over both his own and Kaminari’s feet, causing both of them to trip, getting tangled with each other. There was a loud smack as Bennett’s forehead met the concrete floor.

“Owww…” He winced, rubbing his forehead. It was bleeding.

With a sigh, Aizawa turned to Kaminari. “Take him to Recovery Girl, please,”

Barbara picked Uraraka. Her hydro wasn’t that effective against Uraraka’s use of gravity and she lost their match. She beamed and praised Uraraka’s skills.

Aether picked Sero. He decided to use Anemo for their match. Aether was good at dodging and flipping out of the way of things, so Sero’s tape wasn’t too inconvenient of an issue for him. He was able to use his bursts of Anemo to quickly defeat Sero.
Kaeya picked Shoji, who was good at hand-to-hand, but was unable to prevail against Kaeya and his Cryo.

Once every fight had concluded, Aizawa nodded thoughtfully and then turned to his class. “Get changed into your uniforms and then head to class. We’re having class in the auditorium today,”

Once they started to do as he said, he turned to the Teyvat Academy students. “Once the changing rooms are free, you can change into your own UA uniforms. They should be in a briefcase with each of your names on them. They should be tailored to your size, but if there are any issues, come and find me.” He drawled. “Today is one of the only days all of you will be learning with my class at once, which is why we’re in the auditorium, but I’ll split you up into smaller groups after today,”

And with that, they turned and headed towards the changing rooms.