#and thrive

In a modern au, hs student Diluc would be a "golden retriever"

He’s kind, gentle, and sweet. Man has good grades and perfect attendance. Charming and handsome to the point that he’s deemed as one of the ‘Campus Crushes.’ Well-liked and very popular. Dominates the basketball varsity team (he’s a team captain) and is often the MVP. Joins clubs that benefits his academics and is running for student council. One of the math wizards who partakes in school vs school competitions. Filthy rich.

Seriously, he’s the guy you usually find in those romcoms.

He who opens doors and waits for the other students to enter the cafeteria.

He who provides support to those who are nervous in reporting their chemistry presentations. He who offers his jacket quietly to that girl when she had blood stains on her skirt. 

He, who, has a smile that lights up the room and makes everyone’s hearts skip a beat.

His name is always the talk of the town 

His lockers filled with rose-scented letters & cheap chocolates every 14th of Feb 

The crowd cheers for his number when he gives them a 3 point shoot, 

Before proudly celebrating the well–deserved golden trophy with his team 

He who is sincere with his speeches regarding “changing the system.” 

Regarding unfair school policies, more renovations for campus facilities, and less homeworks for those who are unfortunate and come home late 

He who dreams of following his father’s footsteps 

By doing his best in school 

Even if it’s a simple thing like tutoring his friends when it comes to math 

Or something more complex when he’s the face of his batch to compete in academic competitions. 

And you bet that this man is favored by so many of his teachers

Bro posts something on social media and it probably gets a hundred likes and numerous supportive comments from friends and others.

He’s practically untouchable. And despite all the fame, he’s pretty private. ( and no one will ever mention how Diluc almost beat up some fools who bullied his younger brother for dreaming to become a pirate. )

He has everything and yet he can’t get the girl that he likes, because unfortunately, she— whose identity is private, for now—doesn’t seem to like him or even notice him

I like to think that Diluc has a lady friend who he can confide with. Maybe, in this case, it’s Lisa. One time, she was sitting beside him during lunch and was very much amused when she caught him staring at that one girl who laughed way too loud with her friends.

He was staring with a little flush and seemed to get a little timid whenever she passed by. 

Lisa couldn’t help but smile behind her fingers as she witnessed the beginning of a new chapter — a blooming flower.

Most people in Diluc’s life ( the judgmental and the nosey ), who think that they have opinions worth mentioning for, always think that they’re right: they expect Diluc to end up with someone like him – and yet he is besotted with that girl who played step foot with her friends outside their classroom despite the class rep reprimanding them to quiet down. That girl ( who had many dreams and becoming a director was one of them ) nearly got her camera confiscated when she was recording her friend climbing on the roof, as if her incident with her math teacher wasn’t enough ) and That. Girl. who somehow became his seatmate during their field trip when they both got late together and had to sit in front. That same girl who offered him if he would like some chocolates that she bought from duty free because it was her birthday soon.

That girl who laughed when she hit her head on the ground while playing basketball and was delivered to the emergency room afterward.

But despite all these “not-so charming flaws,” Diluc finds himself falling anyway.

He wants to try all sorts of things, and he imagines a future where she’s in it.

But he knows that he’s not that intriguing for her eyes. She doesn't seem to be interested in him or befriending him. Was it because he became hot and all sweaty during that one time in their field trip? When he awkwardly made conversation ( despite being praised for his articulate and cohesive speeches and arguments ? ) Was he way too boring and too ambitious for someone as spontaneous and going with the flow? Did he not tick all the checkboxes in her list of the Ideal Types that she wants to date? ( Kaeya informed him that she was sharing her ideal types with her friends, and him being curious was an understatement. )  

Because every time he sees her, she doesn’t bat an eyelash. She focuses so much on her friends and it seems that she has forgotten that she smiled at him during that field trip. When she commented on how the sunset looked beautiful behind him, when he was sitting on the window seat. 

He’s aware that she’s friendly but she’s not befriending him. :( 

And if people are going to ask you what happened between the two of you, perhaps, you’ll just raise a quizzical brow and tilt your head.

“Uhhh. . . What? Who? Ah. Him. The MVP guy? We became seatmates during the field trip and that’s it. We didn’t really talk because I slept throughout the whole ride. He was listening to music so I assumed he didn’t want to have a conversation with me. And I’m out of his league, so next question.”

( Diluc had earphones on but they were lowered down because he wanted to hear her small giggles — and, well. Ridiculous as it was, he was playing stupidly romantic love songs. Kaeya was right, maybe using Spotify premium once in a while wasn’t bad. )

Here’s another hs au concept:

So it starts like this: two fingers clutching a chess piece—a pawn, she recalls—and lips pursing in thought, you inadvertently sigh in defeat and simply put it on a black square. 

However, you confidently eye him anyway and grab his queen piece. You declare a “Checkmate!”

And the guy—the guy who’s sitting right across from you—with the wild, beautiful red hair tied in an elegant ponytail, releases an amused chuckle. You’re sure that the girls watching from the sidelines just swooned from that and you mentally roll your eyes. 

“Last time I’m aware, that’s not how the game works. That’s not how the queen moves.” 

His voice is deep and nice to hear. But the irritation boiling in your gut shoves that comment away and you cross your arms with puffed cheeks. 

“That’s how this queen moves,” You stand from your seat and take your bowl of soggy french fries from Potato Corner. “Checkmate.”

And from that very moment you leave — you think it’s a cool exit, because you know you’ll never see him again, and you’ll never play Chess again, because there are a lot of students in your high school with quirky hair and even stranger personalities. 

Like, who even randomly starts a chess duel during lunch, and in Mondstadt High’s quadrangle? Apparently, that guy. 

You don't really understand why a lot of students are drawn to him so much, especially your classmates. You don’t hide your disdain of course, but your amazing friends decided to pull something underneath their arses to somehow make you meet the guy. Make you meet the guy you weren’t really interested in getting to know. Even if he was quote unquote, a 10.

Thus, leading to that unexpected encounter—them registering your full name when the guy was searching for another player to duel with. For fun.

And you didn’t really know how to play chess, but you were in the mood for some shenanigans, so. . . that happened.

( tldr: u had an interesting meeting with diluc and thought u will never meet him again but then he becomes ur romeo to ur juliet when u joined the theater club. shenanigans ensue. )

i hope this is enough to satiate the people who want a part 2 of the hs au diluc <3 also, it's up to anyone's interpretation if they wonder if my debut hs au fic for him would end up with the reader.

[ edit at 1:02 am: oh. . . diluc in a high school au as a senior. . . oh anon. . . i did not read it carefully and immediately assumed - help - i said too much. . . GSJJDK 🧎🏻‍♀️] and third. . . so. uh! i had one fear. ONE FEAR when i started this writing blog. one fear if i would eventually get that one specific ask, and me from the past was like: no way, there’s a buuuunch of AUs in the world and surely, they wouldn’t ask about college au, right?? / pos

WRONG.

so ummm… regarding the college au. are you gonna believe me if i told you that i had been plotting & writing a diluc college au since last year 🫣 all supported and aided by a wonderful pal ofc :)

here’s a glimpse:

you guys don’t understand how much of a fixation the DILUC college au was for me. like at all FJDHDK only my bestie witnessed how feral i was over this au. it was seriously my life source / j

anyway, i’m not sure if i’d post it because it’s seriously hella of a mess ( like table filled with papers stacked over each other mess ) and i don’t even know if people will enjoy it - i have some crazy projections here 🤸🏻‍♀️

and to end this: if you guys are curious abt diluc and the reader’s dynamic in this one, it’s evidently grumpy x sunshine ( because i am a forever sucker for that trope with diluc ) and she is his first love and he is her last