Third POV:It was a little after sunset. Ahri, Aki, Ezreal, Brite, Grey, Nidalee, Lux, Jarvan, and Shyvana were just sitting waiting for the official match.
"This is going to be your first Ionian official match. Are you going to be okay?" Grey asked.
Ahri rolled her eyes "Yes, Grey. I"m going to be alright." she replied. She was a little tired of him asking that but she still truly appreciated it.
"Yeah, don"t worry." Lux said before smirking at Ahri "We"re not going to kick her b.u.t.t too bad." she taunted.
The Fox Vastayan chuckled "Isn"t that cute? You actually think you stand a chance." She taunted with her own smirk.
"Arrogance can be the downfall of the greatest warriors." Jarvan said before smirking himself "Which is exactly why you"ll lose."
"Is it always like this before a match?" Brite asked witnessing the champions taunt each other.
"Kind of, yes." Grey, Ezreal, and Nidalee answered at the same time.
"So who else is in the Match?" the Explorer asked trying to change the subject.
"Well, Garen would have joined," the Prince of Demacia started before looking at Lux "but someone left him to do all the cleaning on his own."
"Yeah, it really sucks that he can"t join." Lux mumbled obviously pretending to look guilty "So what are we going to do after Demacia wins?" she questioned completely changing her att.i.tude.
Ahri chuckled "When Ionia wins we"ll probably celebrate with a feast." she said with a c.o.c.ky smile "But don"t worry Lux, I will let you eat something to make yourself feel better about that loss."
"Oh, it"s on now, Ahri." Lux said pushing her hands forward and snapping her fingers "I"m going to enjoy that defeated look on your face."
"Speaking of, who is going to be with your team, Ahri?" Grey asked.
Ahri was about to answer but stopped with a thoughtful look "I… actually don"t know." She replied while resting her head on her hand "But whoever it is, I just hope it isn"t someone like Jhin, Maia, or Zed."
Grey raised an eyebrow "I get the first two, but what about Zed?" he asked.
Everyone but Brite and Nidalee look at the Abyss Watcher in shock. For a second, they thought that he forgot what happened during his first day here in the Inst.i.tute.
"I don"t know, maybe the fact that he stabbed you in the heart." Ahri said hoping that Grey would see reason.
"So?" Grey asked making them more surprised "I"ve been stabbed in the heart many times. In fact, Brite stabbed me in the heart once." their surprised looks turned to Brite hoping that this was a joke.
"Don"t worry everyone." The Silver Knight said making them think it was indeed a joke. But Brite continued "We were already close to a Bonfire when I stabbed him."
"Okay, but why would you stab him in the first place?" Ezreal asked.
"It was about an argument I think." Grey said with a hand on his chin. The others were shocked that he spoke of it like it was the weather "If you think that"s bad, he once literally ripped my heart out when he was drunk."
"Wow." Lux mumbled as she and everyone looked a little uneasy at how lightly the undead talked about dying. The light mage then gained a smirk "I guess you can say that it was pretty… Heartbreaking." she joked wiggling her eyebrows.
Their uneasy mood was gone and they all looked at the Crownguard in disappointment "Was… that a pun." Aki asked.
Ezreal shook his head "Lux, I don"t know what"s worse. The timing of that pun, or what the pun was about."
"Seriously, Lux. That was way too soon." Nidalee added and Ahri nodded in agreement.
Lux pouted "Hey, you guys don"t have a sense of humor. I"m hilarious." she said with a hand on her chest.
"More like in denial." Ahri said which earned a few chuckles around and a glare from the light mage. The emotion controlling woman than looked at the two undead "Anyway, you two can"t do that stuff anymore. As Grey said, there are no Bonfires in Runeterra."
"And we"re glad." Grey said with Brite nodding in agreement "You think dying countless times is fun? We are happy that now when we die, we"ll die for good."
"Somehow, you two made dying sound like a good thing." Shyvana said feeling uneasy at how they lightly talked about death.
"In our world, a quick death is a blessing." Brite said.
Ahri, Lux, Jarvan, and Shyvana started glowing "Well, looks like it"s time." the Prince said.
"Be careful." Grey told Ahri.
The Nine-Tailed Vastayan giggled "I will." she then blew him a kiss "See ya." she said before vanishing with the Demacians.
Grey rolled his eyes while Brite looked at him curiously "Are you and Ahri… together?" the Silver Knight asked.
For the first time, Grey was grateful that he forgot to uncover his face so that his blush isn"t seen "No, we"re not together. She blows kisses to everyone in the rift, it"s a part of who she is." Grey explained as he tried to distract himself with Silver.
"Yet somehow your Opinion is the only one she cares about." Aki, Ezreal, and Nidalee thought at the same time as the viewing orb appeared.
Grey looked at the orb and recognized a few of the names "Looks like Rakan and Xayah are with Ahri, but I don"t know the other two."
Inside the Match:
Ahri appeared in the summoner rift. She looked at her fellow champions and recognized most of them.
"Hey, Nine-Tails." Rakan greeted standing beside his lover "Been a while."
"Hi. How are you two doing?" Ahri asked.
Xayah shrugged "I"d be happier if I didn"t see Maia alive in the dining hall, but other than that, pretty good." she said and Ahri nodded in agreement.
The Fox Vastayan then looked at her other two teammates. From the memories she gained, she immediately recognized one of them.
It was a woman with long dark blue hair and eyes. She was wearing a mixture of purple robes and metal pieces over a black bodysuit. Behind her were several floating blades circling each other.
This woman was well known in Ionian and Ahri didn"t need many memories to know who she is. It was Xan Irelia, the blade Dancer, Captain of the Ionian guards, and the woman who took most of Ionia back from Noxus.
The last champion was… odd. He was wearing dark purple robes that covered his entire body except for his hands. The hood of the robes had a ponytail attached to it and under the hood was a weird visor with six dots for eyes. And for some reason, he was holding a street lamp with a part of the ground still attached to it.
"Well, about time I got picked." the man said holding his lamp over his shoulder. He looked at Ahri "Hey, beautiful. I"m Jax, the Grand Master At Arms. You doing anything tonight?"
Ahri looked strangely at Jax. From his looks, she thought he would be the wise old hermit type but apparently, she was wrong.
"Yes, actually." Ahri replied trying to get out of the conversation "I-"
Jax started laughing "I"m just kidding. I already know you have a date with the Abyss Watcher. I saw you blow him a kiss and flirt with him before the Match." he started shaking his head "He is one lucky b.a.s.t.a.r.d."
Ahri blushed. She does flirt a lot and lately, she decided to be more open about how she feels about Grey but she didn"t expect someone to immediately think they were dating, not that she minded.
"No," Ahri denied shaking her head "We are not-"
"Finally, you"re making a move." Xayah sighed loudly "I thought you were going to wait for another girl to take him."
Ahri, despite her blush, was angry at the scenario that the rebel just described. Their attention was drawn to Irelia, who cleared her throat.
The captain of the Ionian guards was giving them an unamused look "If you people are done fooling around, then we have a match to attend." she said before waving her hands and her blades stopped spinning "We better not lose because of you people"s foolishness."
"Wow, lighten up." Ahri said crossing her arms with a smirk "We"re talking about love, how is that foolish? I"m pretty sure you have someone like that."
Irelia remained unamused "Save the teasing for after the match, we have work to do."
They heard the sound that meant the beginning of the Match. Of course, Rakan and Xayah went together in the middle. Jax went to the jungle. Irelia the top. And Ahri the bottom.
The Nine-Tailed Vastayan kept walking and pa.s.sed through their team"s turrets. She then encountered the enemy minions and champion. And it just happened to be Lux.
The light mage wasted no time in attacking the fox Vastayan. Lux pulled out a wand with two golden ends and sent a blast of light at Ahri.
Ahri was quick enough to dodge the blast but wasn"t quick enough to dodge the second one. She immediately regained her balance and sent an orb of deception at the young Crownguard.
Lux was struck with the orb of magic that went through her and came back to deal additional damage.
Lux stood back up and waved her hand around before she vanished. Ahri knew about Lux"s magic that controls light, so she already suspected that Lux can go invisible.
Ahri was. .h.i.t with a blast of light again. She created three fox-fires and sent them all at the direction that the attack came from.
One of the fox fires struck Lux who turned visible. Ahri struck the light mage with a couple of magical blasts.
However, Lux than waved her wand and sent a powerful blast of light that was covered in a rainbow at the Vastayan. Ahri was. .h.i.t and was sent to the ground.
Lux got ready to deliver the finishing blow "Guess your start wasn"t so bright." she joked before sending a ball of light energy at Ahri.
But at the last second, Ahri used her spirit rush to jump away from the blast while sending a bolt of magical energy at Lux.
The light mage was cough by surprise and before she regained her balance Ahri blew her a kiss sending a charm spell.
The spell hit it"s mark and pink aura covered Lux. The young Crownguard started harmlessly walking to the Vastayan with a dreamy look on her face.
Ahri took her chance and gathered a powerful orb of fox fire before shooting it Lux. The blast was powerful enough to finish the young Crownguard off.
The Fox Vastayan looked at Lux"s lifeless body with a smirk "It looks like you weren"t doing so hot." her smile vanished and she pinched the bridge of her nose "Great, now I"m making puns." she said sarcastically before she went to attack the minions.
She finished them off before she moved to the turret. Ahri waited until the magical statue started targeting the minions before she started attacking.
She wasn"t able to finish it off before all the minions were gone and it started targeting her. The Fox Vastayan was struck once but managed to move out of range before another one.
"I should send you back to heal." her summoner told her before they made Ahri move so that she was hidden in the bushes "Stand still."
The recall spell activated under her feet. She saw that Lux appeared again but the light mage didn"t spot Ahri before the recall completely activated.
Ahri appeared back in their base. She felt her wounds heal and her mana replenish. After she was done, her summoner made her go back to the same lane.
Time skip: (brought to you by chibi Lux doing a stand-up comedy act in front of her chibi friends, only for a crooked cane to show up and pull her from the stage.)
The match went on for an hour and a half. It was a pretty intense match. Both sides were pretty much even at the beginning, but slowly, Ionia gained the advantage.
Ahri had just destroyed an inhibitor turret before walking inside the enemy base with the minions at her side.
She saw two champions guarding the Nexus. It was Jarvan and Shyvana. The crossbreed was sending waves of fire at the minions and the prince was killing anyone who would pa.s.s that.
Jarvan noticed the Fox Vastayan and immediately charged at her with his spear. Ahri barely just dodged before she sent a charm spell at the Prince.
The spell struck it"s mark and the pink aura appeared around Jarvan. He started walking towards Ahri who prepared an orb of deception to attack.
However, before Ahri attacks she was. .h.i.t with a fireball. She saw Shyvana with her hands blazing. The Fox Vastayan barely dodged another blast.
Jarvan broke out of the charm spell as he shook his head and raised his spear at Ahri again. He charged at her with an even greater speed than before.
Ahri prepared herself for the attack, but before the prince struck her with his spear he was stopped by six floating blades clashing with his weapon.
Irelia jumped in front of Ahri and looked at her over her shoulder "Go for the Nexus, I"ll handle this." she said before turning back to Jarvan.
The captain of the Ionian guards waved her hands. Her blades pushed Jarvan back before they all swung at a wide arc striking the Prince which forced him to go back.
Ahri stood up and went to the Nexus, only for Shyvana to stand in her way. Ahri was about to engage in battle, but a lamp struck the crossbreed making her move back.
Jax stood between Ahri and Shyvana while facing the Demacian royal guard "Go for it." he told Ahri before engaging in battle.
Shyvana glared at Jax before she was covered in flames. When they vanished she appeared as a giant purple dragon wearing red armor with golden tr.i.m.m.i.n.g.
Despite the angry looking dragon, Jax chuckled "Want a piece of the champ?" he taunted while giving a "bring it on" motion.
Shyvana roared and breathed fire at Jax, but the Grand Master simply jumped over the flame and smacked her head away.
Ahri immediately went to attack the Nexus while Jax dealt with the crossbreed. The Vastayan started attacking the crystal.
Jarvan and Shyvana tried to attack Ahri, but Jax and Irelia always stopped them. With the large amount of minions helping, it wasn"t long before Ahri destroyed the Nexus.
"VICTORY, Ionia." the announcer said through the entire rift.
The champions were pulled out of the rift. The Ionian team celebrated while the Demacian team was looking a little slump. Some of the summoners were even apologizing to Jarvan.
"Well, I"m glad everything worked out." Irelia sighed before looking at the rest of her team "While not my first choice, you people did your job right. I"m glad that you were willing to protect Ionia."
"Yeah, Ionia. Not the humans in it, so don"t get any ideas." Xayah said making her lover and Ahri roll their eyes.
"I just like the sushi and noodles they serve." Jax shrugged adding his own opinion, which earned a few chuckles around.
Ahri just crossed her arms "You might have the wrong impression of me. I might flirt and tease people while not taking many things seriously, but Ionia is still my home." she said.
Irelia looked at Ahri for a second before speaking "Nine tails, can I talk to you privately?" she asked.
Ahri raised a curious eyebrow, but she knew Irelia wouldn"t hurt her since the rule of no hurting champions apply to the blade Dancer as well so she shrugged before nodding.
They walked out of the summoning chamber into a secluded hallway where there wasn"t anyone.
"So, what is it?" Ahri asked wanting to know what was so important that they needed to be alone.
Irelia looked around to make sure they were alone before speaking "I want to ask about your friend, the Abyss Watcher." Ahri"s interest was immediately peaked "I want to know if he"s trustworthy."
Ahri was confused "What do you mean?" she asked.
"I don"t like to base my opinion of people on mere rumors." Irelia stated crossing her arms "Since you are the closest Ionian to him, I"d like to ask you if he is a friend or foe."
The dark-haired woman was serious. While the rumors described Grey as a heartless killer, she saw that he had many friends around. One of them even being the master of the kinkou order, Shen.
Irelia wanted to know if he was like the rumors said or he was different. Also, the blade Dancer would rather die than being considered a racist, so she didn"t want to judge him for being undead.
Ahri looked deeply at Irelia. Part of her was mad that the Blade Dancer questioned Grey, but another part was glad that she wasn"t willing to make accusations about him.
The Nine-Tailed Vastayan finally spoke "Truthfully, I would trust Grey with everything I have instead of trusting anything to anyone else." she answered honestly with a fond smile. Ahri honestly didn"t know who to trust if she couldn"t trust Grey.
Irelia took in her answer before nodding "Fine. I"ll take your word for it, but I better not end up regretting that decision." she said before leaving.
Ahri kept looking at the captain of the Ionian guards as she left before leaving herself. While walking through the hallway, she smirked seeing Lux near the entrance of the dining hall.
"Hi, Lux." the Fox Vastayan greeted before her tone got c.o.c.ky "Hope the taste of defeat isn"t too bitter."
The light mage grumble "My summoner was bad, that"s it!" she yelled which made Ahri roll her eyes. Lux then spoke "But just wait, next time, I"m going to shine so bright that you won"t even see what hit you." she joked.
Ahri groaned "Can you please stop it with the puns."
Lux put a hand on her chin "Hmmm… No." she answered which made Ahri groan again.
The two mages reached the table with everyone else and the first to greet them was Grey "Congratulations on the win, Ahri."
"Thanks." Ahri replied sitting beside the Abyss Watcher before petting Silver who jumped to her.
"Don"t worry, Lux." Ezreal said putting a hand on the light mage"s shoulder "I"m sure you"ll do better next time."
"Yeah, yeah." Lux waved her hand before resting her head on her palm.
"Hey, where are Jarvan and Shyvana?" Nidalee asked noticing the absence of the two.
"the Prince was called back to Demacia by the king, and Shyvana went with him. Something about diplomatic things with Noxus." Lux cleared before rubbing her stomach "Now how about that feast? I"m starving."
"We are in the dining hall." Aki pointed out motioning to the lines of food "Can"t you pick something from here?"
"Maybe, but I"d rather go eat outside." Lux replied.
"I guess a change of scenery should be good." Ahri added before pointing a finger at Lux "But I"m choosing."
Lux rolled her eyes before standing up "Whatever, let"s just go."
"Don"t worry, Luxanna." Brite said standing while smirking at Grey "You are not the only one who lost today."
"Oh, go kiss a mimic." Grey said. He took Silver from Ahri and sat the wolf pup on his shoulder.
They all walked towards the gates of the Inst.i.tute where Ahri received her reward for winning the official match.
Walking down the stairs of the Inst.i.tute, they started looking for a place to eat for the night. A restaurant caught Ahri"s attention.
"Let"s go in there." she said pointing at the one she was interested in. The others saw that it was an Ionian restaurant.
They all walked inside where a woman with black hair tied into a pun and was wearing Ionian robes looked at them.
"h.e.l.lo there, how can I help you?" the woman asked.
"Yes, do you have any tables available." Ahri asked.
The woman nodded "Yes, we do." she said before motioning behind her "Go right in."
They walked in and found the inside having Ionian decorations with lanterns on the walls. They were many well made wooden tables and chairs.
They all sat at two tables beside each other. Ahri, Grey, Nidalee, and Aki sat in a table while Brite, Ezreal, and Lux sat at the other.
A waitress came to their tables with a notebook "h.e.l.lo, what can I get for you?"
Ahri looked at the others "I don"t think any of you know about Ionian food?" she asked.
Other than Aki, they all nodded in agreement "Surprisingly, when I showed up for the first time in Runeterra it was in Ionian, but I never tried their food."
"Then you missed out on a lot." Someone said. They looked to see the Grand Master at arms walk up to their table "Hi. Mind if I sit here?"
"Jax?" Ahri said surprised before realizing his request. She looked at the others and they all shrugged "Sure, why not."
"Thanks." Jax replied before sitting down beside Brite. He then looked at Ahri and Grey who were beside each other "So, wanna order? I"ll have the noodles."
Ahri nodded and looked at the waitress "We"ll have some ramen and a round of sushi." she said and the waitress nodded before writing it down and leaving.
Grey looked at the Grand Master "We haven"t been properly introduced, I"m Grey Ashnex."
"I"m Brite of Astora." Brite added to introducing himself.
"Hi, I-I"m Aki." the Shy summoner said.
"I"m Jax, the Grand Master at arms." Jax said before looking at Grey "And I already knew who you are." he said and the Abyss Watcher raised an eyebrow "Word in the Inst.i.tute goes around fast. You have no idea how many people see you as either a role model or as a monster."
Brite groaned "Grey? A role model? I can"t even imagine the horrible sight of children praying to wolves."
Grey glared at the Silver Knight "Hey, I used to do that as a kid."
"Exactly, look how you turned out." Brite replied motioning to the Abyss Watcher.
"Yeah, I turned out better than you." Grey replied which earned a few snickers.
"In your dreams." Brite responded.
"Anyway, I got a question." Jax said breaking the building argument between the undead. The Grand Master looked at Ahri and Grey, who were sitting beside each other "I"m pretty sure dates are supposed to be two people alone, so why are you two with everyone else?"
Grey looked confused while Ahri remembered what Jax said at the beginning of the Match "Jax, this isn"t a date." she cleared out "And that kiss was something I do to everyone in the rift, I did it to Lux during the match."
"Yeah, but you only do that to cast your charm spell. You don"t blow kisses to just anyone outside the rift." Jax countered which made Ahri blush and Grey to start thinking "Plus, I don"t think normal friends hold hands." he said which made Ahri and Grey look at their hands, but they weren"t even touching "Ha Ha, made you look."
The two of them glared at the Grand Master. Their food then came to them. Lux, Ezreal, Aki, and Jax took some noodles while Ahri, Grey, Nidalee, and Brite took sushi.
"I think you will love this, Nidalee." Ahri said motioning to their food "sushi is mainly made of fish."
Nidalee frowned at the fox Vastayan "So just because I turn to a cougar, you think I"ll like fish?" she asked. Ahri just smirked and started pulling away Nidalee"s plate but the Huntress immediately stopped her "Hey, I didn"t say you were wrong." she said before taking her plate back.
Ahri just rolled her eyes before Grey spoke "To be perfectly fair, Ahri does love chicken like most foxes do."
The Fox Vastayan crossed her arms "Who"s side are you on?"
"There are sides?" Grey asked while giving Silver some food. They then looked at Jax, who somehow was eating with his visor still on "How can you eat with your face covered?" the Abyss Watcher asked in genuine curiosity.
Jax stopped eating and looked at Grey "You do realize that"s like the pot calling the kettle black."
"What?" Grey asked.
"You are covering your face again, Grey." Ahri sighed.
Time skip: (brought to you by chibi Ahri and chibi Grey taking a nap on the couch and then unconsciously lean on each other.)
Everyone got back to the Inst.i.tute after having dinner. Jax had already left along with Ezreal.
"Well, guess this is goodnight." Ahri said before looking at Lux and Aki "See you two tomorrow."
"How about we hit the arcade?" Lux suggested before smirking "This time I"ll definitely win."
Ahri rolled her eyes "Whatever you say." she said before walking away with her two roommates.
They entered their room and Grey sat Silver down before he started taking off his armor "I can"t wait to go to sleep."
Ahri looked at the Abyss Watcher before taking a deep breath "Hey Grey, why don"t you join me in bed today." she said. Grey thought it was her usual teasing and was about to decline but she continued "It will be like when we first met, nothing serious."
"Well, are you okay with that?" he asked and she nodded.
"You should probably do it." Nidalee added catching them by surprise "It"s really not healthy to sleep on a couch every day."
While Grey was surprised, he was also glad that this didn"t break into an argument so he sighed "Very well." he said much to Ahri"s happiness.
They all went inside their rooms. Grey had already taken off his armor so he just laid on the bed immediately.
Ahri joined him in bed after changing her clothes in the bathroom. She was now wearing an overgrown white shirt.
The Fox Vastayan laid on her side of the bed and couldn"t help smile. Being in the same bed as Grey gave her a feeling of being safe.
"This brings me back." Ahri mumbled making Grey open his eyes and look at her "It reminds me of when we first met." she added.
The Abyss Watcher chuckled "I didn"t realize how much time pa.s.sed since then." he said and Ahri chuckled while nodding "Ahri… thank you for being with me this whole time."
Ahri just gave him a fond smile "Well… thank you for showing me that I"m not a monster." she said and he returned that smile.
With that, they both closed their eyes and went to sleep, but they unconsciously ended up getting closer with Ahri"s tails going around them.
(A/N: Thank you for reading this, comment, review, and tell me how you feel about my story so far.)