nanorift

[nanorift]

The Science of You — part 3.

Part 2 here!

An extra long chapter yuh

Literally yoru throughout this whole part:

The smell of hydrochloric acid filled the air as Killjoy slowly lowered the piece of magnesium into the acidic pool in the tube. She has to gently lower it, lowering it too fast might cause the the acid to splash onto the table (and on her). Dr. Sabine was watching closely, evaluating them. Killjoy can't afford to lose this, this is a chance to impress Dr. Sabine, maybe make her smile a little.

The metal dropped into the beaker and sizzled.

She could hear the people in her class applauding, cheering on for her.

"Well done, little mouse. I'm impressed," she heard Dr. Sabine say before she left for the next table.

"That was so stressful for nothing!" Killjoy says, letting herself rest on her chair as she watches the metal sizzle and pop in her beaker. The mad scientist in her wanted to see what would happen if she mixed in strong acid, but knew better not to mess with anything in Dr. Sabine's classroom.

"I honestly didn't expect that to work," she says sheepishly, earning a pat on the back from her beloved Raze.

"Ahh come on, Killjoy. You could never fail an experiment. You're the most hardworking person I know," Raze replies, sitting down on her chair as she writes the rest of the conclusion on their report. Killjoy smiles. It's nice knowing that someone acknowledged her long nights of studying.

"Hey nerd," she hears an all too familiar voice behind her and turned to face none other than-

"Yes, Yoru?"

"That was uh- cool. Good job," he says before turning back to check on the report Phoenix was writing.

"Oh!" Killjoy says, slightly taken aback. "Thank you! That's very kind of you-"

"Don't mention it." He replies coldly.

"Hey, a bet is a bet!" She says happily, clapping her hands together.

15 minutes earlier (Yoru's POV)

Yoru grimaces as he watched Phoenix struggle to understand the instructions on the paper. "Do you not know how to read?" He asks, getting a little impatient at the way he was going back and forth from the paper and the metal pieces in front of them.

"Hey! We're a duo remember? You're the brains, and I'm the brawn!"

"I believe I have twice the amount of brawn than you but thank you for the compliment."

Phoenix rolls his eyes. "How about you do the experiment while I write the report? Win win situation, here."

"Fine, but only because this lab would explode if you did it." Yoru says, taking the paper from Phoenix and going over to the shelf to pick out the things needed.

As he arrived at the shelf, it was still crowded from people trying to grab whatever they can. Everyone wanted to finish first so they could leave early. Yoru didn't mind. As long as the experiment was completed and they got graded, he had nothing to complain about.

"Sigh, honestly why are they fighting over who gets to the acids first?" He heard a voice beside him, and turned to see Killjoy, holding the same piece of paper he was holding.

"Don't know, maybe they all want to impress Dr. Sabine. What about you? I thought you wanted to impress her too."

"Yeah but, you know, as long as I do it right I'm sure she'll be impressed."

"Do you wanna bet on it? If you impress her, I'll treat you to whatever you want this evening."

"Anything huh?"

"But if you don't impress her, you have to carry my bag and books for the rest of the semester."

"Hmmm bet!" She says excitedly and runs over to the shelf.

Something about that little skip to the shelf and excited smile made him soft that day.

Once class was over, Killjoy walked over to Yoru who was waiting for her by the building's main entrance.

"Where's your girlfriend?" He asks, swinging the helmet in his hand by its strap.

"Girlfriend?" She replies, slightly confused when she earned an eyebrow raise from the boy. "Oh you mean Raze!" She giggled. "She's with Jett and Neon, they're gonna go to the swimming pool with Phoenix I think."

"Oh, that sounds fun. You don't wanna join them?"

"And miss out on free food?" She laughs, walking past him. "I rarely win any bets you know so this is a first for me."

Yoru hears a buzz from his phone and looks down to it.

Phoenix: I've got you covered, have fun on your date fam ;)

"Ugh, he's so annoying." Yoru mutters as he keeps his phone back in his bag. He walks with Killjoy all the way to the main gate where he goes to his motorcycle. He lifts up the Jiffy stand and pushes his bike out before noticing that Killjoy hasn't move from the front gate. "Well, what are you waiting for?" He says, staring that the girl who had a surprised face.

"That's yours?" Killjoy asks, pushing her glasses up as she gets closer to look at the shiny vehicle he had. "Oh my god, she's beautiful."

Yoru could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks and before he knew it, he put his helmet on her quickly, hastily clicking the buckles. Killjoy, out of confusion and concern, lifted the visor up. "Why are you giving me your helmet?"

Yoru looked visibly confused. "Can't I?"

"Well, its your motorcycle, shouldn't you be the one to wear the helmet?"

"I've been driving this thing for almost two years now. I can stand a few scratch and bruises if we ever fell over." He says, getting on the bike. "Well, get on then."

As Killjoy sheepishly gets on, he starts up the engine. "So where are we going?"

"Hmm..." Killjoy stopped to think for a moment. "I honestly don't really know. I haven't been craving anything. Ooh! What about we go to your favourite restaurant?"

"What?" Yoru replies, looking back at her.

"You heard what I said."

Yoru thinks for a moment before he replies. "There's this ramen stall near the neighborhood, they serve the best sobas I've ever tasted."

"Good! Take me there then!" She says cheerfully, wrapping her arms around his waist.

Yoru could feel the blood rush again and looked to the front, he silently took off driving.

He could look in his mirror and see how excited she looked. She has a big dumb smile plastered on her face as she looked around town. Why was he loving how excited she was? It wasn't like it was anything special. He just lost to a bet and has to splurge his savings on a girl he barely talked to in class.

Who does she think she is to make him feel this way?

They arrived at the stall and it was visibly crowded, Killjoy could see that most of the tables were occupied by people who were in their middle ages and older.

"Do you know these people?" Killjoy asks as she gets off the bike, taking the helmet off and shaking her head a little to get her hair out of her face.

"They're regulars, I don't really talk to them though," he says, leading Killjoy into the stall and to the back.

Killjoy's mind races as Yoru opens the door to the back of the place. Why is he going back there? Did he need the bathroom? Am I being kidnapped??'

"Are you just going to stand there?" Yoru says, still holding the door open for her. Killjoy, slightly terrified, follows in.

In the room, to Killjoy's surprise, had a table with a few chairs. The room wasn't too small nor too large. Just enough for a few people, a friend group perhaps.

"Private room?" Killjoy asks, sitting down on one of the seats. "That's a bit fancy for a roadside stall.

"It's usually reserved for important people. But sometimes they let me come in, per my request for somewhere that doesn't have people screaming at a football match on a big screen," the boy replies, sitting on the seat opposite hers. "So, what do you want to eat?"

"... Is there a menu or...?"

Yoru chuckles. "This is a road side stall, it's nothing fancy so you won't find any menu here. They've got mostly noodles."

"Umm, well, what do you recommend then?"

"Hmm, like I said earlier, there's their famous soba if you want to try that. I promise it's delicious," he says, almost chuckling at how nervous Killjoy looked when she learnt there was no menu.

Earning a nod from Killjoy, Yoru calls for the waiter and orders two sobas.

"You didn't have to choose this spot you know, it looks like we're going on a date," Killjoy chuckles.

"W-What? No of course it's not a date, I just don't like noisy places," Yoru says, giving Killjoy a glare.

"I'm kidding," she laughs, giving the boy a smile.

Two bowls of hot steaming noodles arrive at their table, peaking Killjoy's interest. She leans forward as Yoru brings her bowl closer to her and his to him. It smelled amazing, it smelled as if you were home again. It was quite comforting actually.

"Do you need a fork?" He asks, about to reach over to the table behind him for the utensils.

"I'm good, thanks," the girl replies, swiftly picking up the noodles with her chopsticks.

'Impressive,' Yoru thought before digging in to his meal.

Killjoy had a taste of her soba and immediately was taken aback.

"Gah! It's hot-" she says, sputtering a little.

"I know I'm hot," the boy replies, holding back a snort as Killjoy gave him a poker face.

"Honestly I thought you weren't as cocky as Phoenix was, turns out you both are the epitome of being cocky."

"Hey I may be cocky, but at least the things I'm cocky about are true," he says. "Phoenix, on the other hand, isn't half as stunning as I am."

Killjoy laughs. "You two are like a married couple honestly, are you sure you both aren't dating?"

"Huh- NO!"

[nanorift]

The Science of You — part 2.

Part 1 here!

Hello :D it's nice knowing that you all liked the first part so here's the second!

Also a reason why I include songs in the beginning is because I just felt like it suited the part lmao. The song could be from anyone's perspective.

A song to listen to while reading:

It was fun.

They were all sitting at a table in the dining hall, trays filled with food she didn't hate but didn't love either.

Jett, Raze, Phoenix and Nicole seemingly got along really well and they were having a blast of a conversation. They all seemed to have some sort of interest in sports, Raze loved volleyball, Nicole was a track enthusiast, Jett did gymnastics and Phoenix—though he mostly bragged about being the "art kid" of his family—was heavily invested in basketball and football ("It's football! Not soccer!" As he says it).

The boy who was sitting in front of her eating quietly, however, was silent. He ate his food and only talked when he was spoken too. So, in an attempt to make some actual friends in this school, she tried to spark a conversation.

"So umm, Yoru, do you like to uh- anything? I mean like- do you do sports too or something?" She manages to say, and after a short moment of silence the boy replies.

"I do combat sports," he says, taking a sip of his drink. "Mainly Judo."

"Oh! That's cool! Are you gonna join any of the martial arts clubs later?" she says, a little surprised that someone as quiet as him was into things like fighting.

"You sound like a mom," he says plainly. "And yes, maybe I will, maybe I won't. Who knows?"

"Well it could be fun, you know? And yes, I know I do sound like a mom sometimes. Raze reminds me a lot about that," she chuckles, only to earn a bored glare from the boy.

Did she say something?

Quiet (with the occasional complaints from Phoenix and the gang in the background).

"Are you going to be joining any clubs?" the boy asked, and Klara felt a wave of relief. It was just awkward silence.

"Maybe Mathletes? Chess seems fun too."

"Mathletes? That's boring."

"Hey! Mathematics, for your information, is one of the most interesting subjects out there. Turn that into a competition and you can easily start brain-cramping debates!"

"So... You're a masochist?" The boy grins, seeing Klara's face fluster as she panics a little.

"W-What?" She says, caught off guard. "What does that have anything to do with Math?"

"You like Math, therefore you like to torture yourself. Therefore, you're a masochist," he says smugly. "I'm surprised someone as smart and logical as you couldn't make the connection."

"Just because I like Math and being logical, doesn't mean I'm a masochist!" Klara says, pouting a little.

"Wait you're a masochist?" says Raze, can't help but overhear, earning a groan from the girl as she pulls her beanie down to cover half her face.

Later that evening, Klara was on a bench with her nose stuffed in a book. She was accompanying Raze at volleyball tryouts. She watched as Raze ran across the field to catch the ball and wonders how could someone enjoy running around, getting all sweaty and hot for a ball. Then again, she was one to talk for always having a book around her wherever she went. It could be any book honestly, she would read anything, but her favourites had always been the science forward ones. Non-fiction ones filled her up with knowledge just as much as sci-fi books had coloured her imagination. Every time she reads a sci-fi book, she always wondered if she would be able to recreate the robotics in them. She always had a knack for inventing and robotics so why shouldn't she try?

"Modern Robotics: Mechanics, Planning and Control?"

A familiar voice snapped her out of her trance, making her drop the book. The owner of the voice picked it up sheepishly and scanned the cover quickly, before handing it back to the surprised girl.

"By Frank Chongwoo Park and Kevin Lynch," Yoru says, sitting down next to her. "You're much more of a nerd than I thought you were."

She rolls her eyes before dusting the invisible dust off the book, trying to appear casual and hide her almost obvious state of surprise at the arrival of the boy. "Well, I don't see why I can't study while I my friend plays volleyball."

"True, it's not a crime. I thought you wanted to join the nerd club? Why are you here? Did you wanna catch the ball when it comes flying to your face?" the boy says, smug coating his words. Klara looked up and glared at him, and only then did she have a really good look at him. He was a little sweaty, dressed in a black track suit and sports shoes. A small blue towel hanging around his neck. He had set down his water bottle next to him, which was almost empty.

"It's called Mathletes, and no, I'm not interested in playing with balls. I'm just accompanying Raze," she says, a bit disgruntled. "I see you and the martial arts team had been getting along."

"Not really, I just went for a run," he says before taking his water bottle for a sip, only for it to be empty as soon as the bottle touched his lips.

"Lucky for you, I came prepared," the girl hands over her bottle to him, which was half empty.

"Thanks, and here I thought I'd have to cripple here with nothing to quench my thirst," he says before downing almost half of the remaining water in the bottle.

"God, you're much more cockier than I thought."

"Oh come on, I'm only playing. Don't be such a killjoy," he says before stopping for a moment. "Hmm, Killjoy. It suits you."

"Because I'm boring?" she replies, unamused at the nickname.

"Because you seem like the type of person that'll remind the teacher we had homework when they clearly forgot," he laughs as he watches Klara's face becoming even more unamused. "I'm gonna call you that from now on."

"Oh yes! Because I'm such a killjoy!" She says, propping her head on her hands as she leans forward to watch Raze instead.

"Well, we all have nicknames don't we? It was bound to happen to you too, sooner or later," he says, getting up from his seat. "Well, I hope you don't get hit by a ball later, Killjoy."

Klara gives him a glare. "Thank you for your kind wishes, but I'll be fine," she replies.

Only to be hit on the head with a volleyball that Raze threw.

Ever since that evening, the whole school seemed intent on calling her Killjoy. Jett greeted her one morning with a bright "Yo, Killjoy! Did you finish that biochem homework last night?". Even Raze thought the name suited her.

"I think it sounds cool." Raze says as she linked her phone to her speaker, blasting a loud sound that made Klara almost drop her laundry.

"It does sound kind of like a super villain, doesn't it?" she chuckled as she picked up the fallen shirt back into the basket and set it down near her bed. "I mean, you all have nicknames too, so I guess it was only sooner or later I would have one. At least it isn't some generic nerdy nickname— like- umm..."

"Like bookworm? No! Egghead!" Raze laughs, falling over on her bed.

"Is it because I have an egg-shaped face?" Klara chuckles, throwing the Brazilian girl's tank top at her.

[nanorift]

The Science of You — part 1.

Hi hi hello it's nini :D it's been a while since I wrote any sort of fanfic on here so apologies for any mistakes! A few things to keep in mind when reading this fic:

It's a Highschool/University AU.

The younger agents (killjoy, raze, yoru, phoenix, jett, neon) in the protocol will be the same age.

There will be mentions of the other agents but not as much because they will be the adults in this story.

There will be a few OCs in here to set the school atmosphere.

It's mostly fluff! I try not to write anything nsfw, and if there are any or implications of nsfw in the future I will put a TW first!

And enjoy :D

A song to listen to while reading:

"Klara!" A familiar voice called out, making Klara peek out of the book she was reading in her locker. She recognizes the voice all too well, why wouldn't she?

"Tayane!" She says, hugging her bombshell bestfriend tightly. "Fancy seeing you this early?"

"Aye, I told you, call me Raze," Raze says, pulling her headphones off and letting it rest on her shoulder. "I thought you wanted to go to that fancy pants school out of town," she continues, crossing her arms.

Klara rolls her eyes, chuckling. "Why would I wanna go to that fancy pants school when I can go to this fancy pants school?" She walks with Raze down the hallways, carrying her folder tightly. "Plus, I get to hang out with you more instead of trying to hang out with new people."

Valorant Institute of Science and Technology - it was Klara's dream school. Mostly because she had a scholarship there (more money for food!) but also because her mentor, Mr. Liam Byrne, was the principal there. At least there was someone she could go to if she had any problems.

Everything was white with hints of gray from floor to ceiling. The doors were automatic and would only open if you scanned your ID on the scan pad. The labs were decked with all the chemicals needed for her best friend's next explosive experiment. It was perfect for them, they even shared a room together in the dorms! What better way to spend the rest of their five years there?

"What's our first class again?" Raze asks, chewing a piece of gum she found in her bag.

"Biochemistry, with Dr. Sabine," Klara says, peeping at the schedule on her folder, how efficient.

"I hope she's not all strict and makes us learn on the first day," Raze chuckles as she scans her student ID at the door, Klara following and doing the same.

The class was just as stunning as the hallways were, everything was what every sci-fi story would have. Organic shapes stools and desks with experiment setups on every one of them. The shelves were glass and had bottles of who knows what. On the professor's desk had a few books, a singular pen and a cylindrical shaped casing with, upon closer inspection, had a small black snake and a lush green environment in it.

"Is that a snake?" Klara asked, picking the desk right at the front of the class with Raze since the rest were already taken.

"Maybe it's the professor's pet," Raze replied, putting her headphones away in case this Dr. Sabine was anything but nice. Klara chuckled and shrugged it off. A snake as a pet was definitely interesting.

Klara looked at the time on her watch: 8:57 am. Class starts at 9:00 am.

She felt a poke on her shoulder and turned to look a behind her. A girl with blue eyes and white hair, a grin plastered on her face.

"Can I... help you?" Klara asks, a bit intimidated.

"Hi! I'm Joonhee! But people call me Jett," she says, holding her hand out to Klara. Klara takes it and smiles back.

"Klara, Klara Böhringer. You can call me- well umm, whatever you like I guess," She says.

"I'm Raze!" Raze interrupts, using Klara as support as she leans forward to greet the new person.

"Raze! Off please!" Klara says, struggling a little to hold her balance and Raze gets off her, giggling.

"Were you guys childhood friends or something?" Jett chuckled.

"Actually, yeah we were, how did you know?" Raze asks, a bit confused.

"Well you almost knocked her over and she doesn't seem mad about it, that's a telltale sign," the Korean laughs. "This is Nicole," she continues pointing to a girl with blue hair and neon yellow streaks in her hair. The girl pulls her earphones out and smiles shyly. "Tala Nicole Dimaapi Valdez, but like Jett said, Nicole is fine," she says before keeping her earphones away.

"Hey ladies!" A deep voice called from behind the girls, making all of them to look behind them.

Jett rolled her eyes, grinning. "What is it pretty boy?" Jett replies to the bou with the orange jacket.

"Ah come on-" the boy replies. "Introduce your new friends Jett, we wanna get to know them too," the confident boy says, leaning back on his chair, earning an eye roll from the blue and black haired boy sitting beside him. He, on the other hand, was much more quiet.

Before Jett could say anything though, the main doors of the class opened and a woman with short black hair and a sharp face walked in. Her eyes were sunken with dark circles, her face was pale and had a cold demeanor. The entire class went silent as her presence was as if a storm had started. The woman walked up to her desk before setting her books down with a thud.

It was as if she hated everyone in the room already, which was odd considering Klara hasn't even met her yet. Klara took a glance at her watch and saw that it was precisely 9:00 am.

"I heard she never misses a class," Klara could hear Jett whisper to Nicole behind her.

"And I don't miss any sort of chattering either, Miss Joonhee," says Dr. Sabine sternly, sending Klara a cold shiver down her spine.

Dr. Sabine pushes on the screen of her desk and the white wall behind her started lighting up, turning into a screen with her name bared in bold letters. "Good morning class, I'm Dr. Delilah Sabine—you may refer to me as Dr. Sabine—and I'll be teaching you anything and everything you need to know about Biochemistry. Any questions?"

The class was silent.

"Actually yeah-"

Was silent.

"Yes Mr. Galloway?" Dr. Sabine says, crossing her arms.

"Alright lady no need to be so stern! You can call me Phoenix!" He says with an enthusiastic smile. "Anyways, how did you know all of our names? That's a bit creepy don't you think?" The boy now known to Klara as 'Phoenix' continues.

Dr. Sabine sighs. "Unfortunately, Phoenix, you can only refer to me as Dr. Sabine and Dr. Sabine only, not lady, not madam, just Dr. Sabine. And unlike you, I studied all of your profiles weeks before the semester started, so there will be no ice breaking and we'll be getting straight onto the first topic. Have I made myself clear?"

Her cold tone only made Klara more curious, what could have possibly made her like this? Had she met really really disrespectful students before and decided she didn't want anything like that ever again? Or maybe she was, just, like that. Cold, brooding. A scary lady indeed.

"Ugh, my back hurts," Klara hears Jett saying as they walk out the doors of Advanced Mathematics.

"Enough talking, I'm hungry! Who's up for lunch?" Raze says, throwing her hands up in the air and grinning.

"Can we join too then?" Out of nowhere, Phoenix and his blue haired friend came into the conversation, catching Klara a little by surprise.

"Of course you can join— Phoenix right?" She asks, earning a nod from the British boy. "And your friend here is...?" She continues, hoping maybe she'll get at least a name.

Everyone turned to the boy who had his hands in his pockets. There was an awkward silence for a moment.

"... Yoru. My name is Yoru."

[nanorift]

[2:42 am]

nanorift (killjoy x yoru) one shot.

okay but hear me out, picture killjoy sitting in her lab, tinkering away with her stuff. she gets frustrated after a while and starts throwing her stuff at the walls. it has been five days since she started reworking her turret, trying to see if she could make it more accurate.

"why is nothing working? i could have sworn i did the calculations right! it just doesnt make any sense..." she mutters, tossing and turning all while trying to be quiet so that the other agents dont wake up.

sighing, she gets up to clean up her stuff, grunting at the fact that she hasnt even thought of making a bot that could clean up her room. not long after, she hears a knock on her door.

"who is it?" she says, slightly annoyed before she sees yoru at the door, crossing his arms with a stern look.

"why are you still up?" he says, looking around at the mess.

"i could ask you the same question, its 2 am, yoru. you should head to bed," killjoy replies, picking up her mangled turret and setting it on the table.

"i could if it werent for you throwing your science shit all over the place. what are you working on anyway?" he says, walking in, not even bothering to spare her a glance.

"nothing, im just trying to make chickie here more accurate when he spots enemies."

"chickie?"

"my turret, i mean," she rolls her eyes at yoru finishing up what was left on the floor. "nothing just seems to be working."

yoru smirks, scoffing a little "looks like youre not that smart after all," he says, before earning a punch on the arm from the little scientist.

killjoy walked over to her bed before stopping. "you know what? maybe i just need some fresh air. maybe im just stressed," she says to herself. "yes yes thats probably it."

"youre going out at this hour? on your own?" yoru asked, slight concern in his eyes, not that killjoy noticed it. she was too busy putting her hoodie on.

"well- yeah? i mean, i would wake raze up but she has a mission tomorrow," the brunette says picking up her small yellow purse that raze gifted to her on her birthday. "its not like anyone would wake up if i tried anyways."

killjoy heads over to her door, but before she could reach the handle, yoru exhales a sigh, ruffling his hair. he takes killjoy's arm and drags her down the hall and out of HQ.

"hEY HEY- what are you doing??" she whisper-shouts, earning a shush from the japanese boy, to which she obliged. he takes out some keys from his pocket before picking up his helmet from a rack near the entrance.

"if youre gonna head out at this hour, at least let me escort you. those mirror idiots have spies too you know," he says, buckling the slightly-too-big helmet on the girl.

"Awww, you do care!" she exclaims. "but what about you? you dont have a spare helmet, do you?"

"i dont need a helmet, you on the other hand, need to take care of yourself more," he says, getting on his motorbike while addressing killjoy's wounds on her hands- which were mostly from experimenting too much on her swarm grenades.

she reluctantly sits behind him, holding his waist tightly. she can feel him tense up but brushes it off, too tired to think of anything. she just wanted to watch the night sky and feel the breeze on her face. maybe yoru was right, she does need to take care of herself more. she never gets enough sleep, lives on caffeine and sometimes fall asleep during missions (which was quite concerning, since she's usually watching out for flanks). maybe she was too hard on herself, she keeps offering to fix up the other agents' stuff, never did she ever thought to think that maybe she's the one that needs fixing up.

yoru, well, he noticed of course. his room was just across from hers and he could hear her tinkering going on till dawn, not that he ever thought to tell her of course. he didnt think killjoy would stop even if he did tell her to.

but of course, he still cares.

—

AAAAA i need more nanorift content ;-;