"oh, hey, coach," you replied, flipping off childe before heading to your dorm. the night breeze was calming and the moon was stitched into the sky. the campus' frat houses were alight, the library was still flooded with students from the seven nations.

"hey, kid. how are you holding up?" she asked as you opened the door to your dormitory hall, barbatos hall. you waved at your dorm director as you passed by her.

"fine, i guess. i'm working under coach zhongli as a hockey manager," you hummed, opening your door to your room. toeing off your shoes, you sat on your desk chair, spinning around.

"zhongli, huh? he was an incredible player when i was skating professionally, nice to hear that's he all settled down. barbara used to talk about his prowess all the time."

"yeah, he's a good guy. teyvat's arena is good under his and coach ningguang's guidance. good skating programs, too."

"the university has always bred the best of the best," coach jean laughed, before sighing softly. "speaking of the best of the best, how's skating going for you? i heard that you were teaching lessons to the little kids the way i do now."

"it's going well. my knee is much better than a couple months ago. of course, no jumping just yet."

"no jumping," she echoed, like she said when she went with you to your physical therapist for the first time. "good. i wouldn't want you out of commission. speaking of which, i had a question for you, if you don't mind."

your eyebrows raised as you stopped spinning in your chair. could she be asking for you back on the national team? or to jump, or to watch you, or– "shoot for it, coach," you eventually settled on, voice hitching in your throat. please be some good news.

"in february, i'd like to discuss your career with you. i'll be in the capital for the national circuit team's championships against the other regions. i would visit sooner, but you know how it is in mondstadt."

you tilted your head, a little curious at her statement. february? that was almost six months out. it was better than bad news, though. "that sounds good with me. maybe we can skate together and i can do a double salchow for you."

"you always did like doing salchows," she laughed briefly, before sighing. "alright. plan for february 12th, then. i'll see you soon."

"thanks, coach. see you then," you bid your goodbyes, before getting up from your chair. you flopped on your bed, letting the moonlight paint your skin. sighing, you squirmed on your bed. a meet up with coach jean would be a make or break moment of your skating career, and you didn't know whether or not you wanted to even go at all.

you looked to an overcast moon, thinking of your newfound team, your old coach, and the ever-thinning ice.

—

mondays were no different from when you were a simple skate guard at the arena, now that you were a hockey manager. you woke up, ate breakfast, and went to your sports medicine classes.

walking to the lecture hall, you stared as the orange leaves wisped around in the wind. the warm summer winds had faded in favor of a cold snap of fall. banners from each dorm hall waved bright flags with its emblem. as you headed to your class for the day, your phone buzzed suddenly.

an unknown number appeared on the screen. "you're heading to the health and sciences hall? nerdddddd."

"childe, quit being crass. it's not like you're actually going to class."

"hey–i go to my advanced entrepreneurship class at noon!"

sliding open the text, you responded. "i'm assuming this is the team, right?"

"you got that right. this is xingqiu, by the way," the first bubble responded. he went on to label each of the numbers with a name.

"how did you even know this is my number?" you asked as you opened the door to your lecture hall.

"coach gave it to us. said it would be convenient," replied xiao.

of course coach zhongli would give them my number, you rolled your eyes, but your didn't hold a grudge against him. "also, hey! how did you even know that i was going to my advanced sports medicine class?!"

"i saw you on the other side of the walkway. you tripped down the stairs to barbatos' hall, ehe!" childe texted back.

"mean!" you replied, before tucking your phone into your jacket. rolling your eyes, you sat down at your spot in the lecture hall. taking out your textbooks, you prepared yourself for the first lesson of the day. you sighed, not expecting them to be so forward with something like this. it was almost like you were forced to be close.the week continued until it was time for the first practice.

—

as you headed from your physiology class, you made a beeline towards the archon arena. like previous days, the sky was silver with rolling clouds. wincing, you assumed that a storm was brewing.

"afternoon, y/n," katheryne, the receptionist called as you passed her by.

"hey, katheryne," you replied to her, waving as you slipped into the backrooms of the rink. the hall was silent; no squeaks from the gym, no yelling coming from the locker rooms. coach zhongli dipped out of his office, tying his hair up.

"early, are we, y/n?" he said with a knowing look, smiling at you gently. "you know, the boys don't usually show up for a half-hour or so. why not get a head start on their equipment, like the sticks and pucks? i have a meeting with ningguang to attend to."

"of course," you responded, mock-saluting. as you headed in opposite directions, you closed your eyes. enjoying a slight break before all hell broke loose sounded very enjoyable.

first, you filled up the empty bottles of water left haphazardly in the fridge. as you opened the fridge, there was a selection of diluc's strange concoctions that kaeya despised, making you wince. when you finished that up, you placed them in the player's lounge.

"oh, hey, y/n!" xingqiu said, shouldering his backpack on. chongyun walked close beside him, a hand in his pocket and popsicle in his mouth. "chongyun and i are usually the first people here. nice to see someone being here for once. we'll be in the gym in a couple of minutes if you need anything."

after, you headed out the hallway to the storage room. flicking on the dingy lights, you looked at the steel rows of shelves. there were neatly folded jerseys, baskets of pucks, and unused sticks. you picked up the basket of pucks, holding it at your hip. when you headed out, you saw three familiar faces.

"hey, manager!" kaeya cheered excitedly. "sorry that we're late. we went on a lunch run for some salads."

"hmph, don't forget the milkshakes that we went for again," diluc said, rolling his eyes. xiao shook his head, only briefly nodding to acknowledge you.

you headed for the rink, pushing open the double doors. the weather outside was worse than when you first walked in, rolling clouds an angry gray. the lights of the arena were not on, making it impossible to see your reflection on the ice. as you headed for the entrance of the rink, you stopped, when you saw a flash of red pass you by, blinding in the stale colors of the arena.

you dropped the bucket in surprise, pucks spilling out on the ice haphazardly. "ah! sorry, sorry," you apologized, only to turn your mouth into a scowl. as you carefully tread the ice in your sneakers, you picked up the pucks. "it's you. i didn't see you come in."

"so cold today, huh, manager?" childe responded, lazily doing figure eights and not bothering to help you place the pucks in the basket. "that's okay to me, to be quiet. it's better for my practice."

"hmph," you grunted, before turning your back on him. he was not worth your time.

you finished preparations for practice, running back and forth between the backrooms and pulling out supplies from the equipment room to the rink. as you began taking the water to the gym, the five-time cup winner appeared. "welcome back, coach," you greeted briefly as you entered the training room. "how did your meeting go?"

"it went well. coach ningguang even brought up you," he hummed, looking out at his team. xiao was reflecting small hand balls back and forth to xingqiu and chongyun, the latter of which got hit in the face.

"really? what'd she say?"

"she said that she's impressed by your drive, and wishes that you'd try out for the university's team to get back into the swing of things."

"hmph, not happening anytime soon. not when coach jean's got an offer for me."

"oh? coach jean's inviting you back on the team? that's good news. i know how much you've been waiting for that."

"not just yet. but we're meeting up in february to discuss my career. that has to mean something."

"better that news than bad news, then," he nodded, placing a hand on his chin. "surely, you will convince her. all you need is a little time to get a routine in place."

"hah, thanks, coach," you smiled as he took headcount of the boys.

"where's childe?" he asked, to which you frowned.

"out skating. i'm assuming that he didn't stretch, either."

he shook his head, sighing. "that boy is going to to overwork himself into the grave." nodding to the team, he hollered at the team. "boys, roll out! i want you all ready in ten minutes."

"yes, coach!" they called, stopping their work in favor of wiping off the sweat from their brows.

"here," you said, wriggling out each of the water bottles from its holder. tossing each of the water bottles out, all of the boys caught them with ease.

"not bad at all for your first day," xiao nodded before heading out the door, everyone else in tow, saying their thank you's along the way.

your chest swelled with pride; maybe you were doing something right, after all. picking up the left over balls from xingqiu and xiao's throwing, you smiled to yourself. it was surely a start.

—

like coach zhongli had said, the boys were on the ice in a matter of minutes. the arena was frosty and bright from the lights. the water bottles were filled again, and your boss addressed his team. there were two bright orange cones on the ice placed in the rink. "let's try the eight drill. childe, please demonstrate for our freshmen."

"you got it!" he responded, smiling. his red sweatshirt was traded in favor of a jersey and safety pads, but his helmet was not on. childe's bright orange hair was sticking out in various directions as he slapped his hockey stick onto the ice. quickly, he slid his left skate on the ice once, then his right, and then he was gone.

he skated to forward and to the right first, going around the orange cone closest to him. curiously, you watched as he leaned forward, casually letting his stick touch the top of the cone. he took to the left next, doing the same to the last cone. he repeated the process as headed back.

"good, good!" his coach hollered, before motioning to chongyun and xingqiu. "now, you will also try this. go on."

xingqiu headed forward first, hitting his stick on the ice. he mimicked childe's actions, though his hitting of the cone let the cone tilt forward. as he headed back, chongyun did the same.

"excellent for a first try," he responded, crossing his arms with a smile. "now, all of you, line up. do the drill, three times over."

like bees in a hive, they made quick work, making light conversations along the way. "they're a well-oiled machine, coach," you said, crossing your arms and leaning across the dasher board.

"thank you. i'm running through the drills my own coach did when i was in the league. it starts easy, but they'll start to hate it soon enough."

"hah," you let out a laugh. "yeah, coach jean was the same way. it's brutal, but it gets the job done."

as coach zhongli blew his whistle, you only imagined the days when you were running drills with your figure skating coach. an hour long stretch by the dasherboard, followed by almost four hours of being on the ice. coach would circle you as you twirled up in the air, her critiques and her compliments coming out in a flurry.

"y/n," your new coach said suddenly, snapping you out of your daze. "there's a collection of drills in my office. would you mind getting them for me?"

"not a problem, coach," you said as you would to jean, when she would critique you.

—

"good practice, boys. especially our freshmen; i was quite surprised to see how well you handled the new warm up routine," you heard coach say as you lugged back the giant goalie nets to their storage space. "make sure to continue helping your manager y/n out, you hear? they're new, but they are going to become the backbone of your team. we have a game in two weeks, and we must prepare them as well."

a chorus of "yes, sir!"'s echoed down the hall as you turned off the arena's lights. the sky was darker than ever, with wind whipping at the trees. when finished tying up your laces, you curiously stepped onto the ice, reminiscing on a period long ago.

the lightning provided a spotlight for you, and with a single strike, you were off. quickly, you lazily did laps around the rink, trying to get hold of a feeling of figure skating that you had once revered. looking at your feet, you determined your options. a salchow or two would be nice, or a basic bunny hop if you didn't want jean to be mad at you.

eventually, you moved your left foot forward first, scissoring it with your right. you landed on your right toe pick with ease. it was almost like you were a kid again, doing the bunny hop, far from the glares of the public.

quickly, you revved up once more, skating around the ice twice. you experimented, going backwards, then forward, and the back again. the wind accompanied you with a song of blowing leaves and pattering rain on the wide windows of archon arena. the ice, though not yet glided over by the zambonis, made you feel like a fish to water.

suddenly, without much conscious thought, you found yourself going backwards, building such a strong momentum that you couldn't even pull yourself forward. left food bracing you, you stopped, prepared to vault yourself in the air. pulling your arms near your chest for balance, you stared at the windows.

and you flew, letting the glare of lightning blind you as you twirled over the ice.

when you finished your descent, you ignored the slight twinge that your knee made, and let your arms float out like that of a butterfly. three strikes of thunder clapped to applaud you. breathing in the crisp air deeply, you sighed. that was more than enough adventure for today on the ice.

if she were here, she would've killed you over your knee.

—

"heading out for the day, y/n?" zhongli said from his office as you shouldered your bag and fished out your phone.

"yeah, coach. thanks for letting me use the arena for a while, i appreciate it," you replied, waving at him.

"of course. don't forget, our first real game is in two weeks," he reminded as you went past his office. "and watch that knee."

"hah! you sound like coach jean," you laughed in response, pushing open the doors to the arena's lobby.

sighing, you looked down at your knee as coach had said. you didn't want to be set back any farther than you already were by it, especially with coach jean's expectant meet up on the horizon.

suddenly, your phone buzzed. you picked up, assuming it to be your friend or one of the team members. "this is y/n speaking. how may i help you?"

"ah, so you're the famed y/n!" a cheerful voice responded. "my sister, your coach jean, relayed your phone number to me."

"b-barbara?" you asked with a tilt of your head.

"yes, that's me!" she giggled. "i heard you became the manager for the teyvat university hockey team. i was wondering if you wanted any advice, coming from someone who used to be in your role."

blinking, you thought about your team and the awkward interactions between you and them, and especially childe. "set a date, and i'll be there."