Chapter Text
For several months, Vi had dreaded the day this moment would come. The end of 12th grade. The apprehension didn't stem from her very obvious love of sitting in math class every day and snoozing off during her teacher's lessons, but because she knew what was going to come next. Her departure. Her leaving the Undercity. Vander had coaxed her into taking this decision, telling her that she had the possibility of getting into one of Piltover's best colleges thanks to her athletic scholarship, and that a host family would support her at all times.
At first, Vi vehemently refused. Leaving her home city meant leaving everything and everyone behind. How would Jinx, Claggor, and Mylo respond? What would their reactions be upon learning that their sister would be living with a family of Pilties and learning at a prestigious college, while they continued to struggle in the scums of Zaun? Not to mention that Vi would stick out like a sore thumb there. Her with her pink, spiky hair, with her scarred body from god knows how many fights she'd been through. Everybody would recognize her as a Zaunite.
But after weeks of talking this opportunity through and through, Vander convinced her. This was Vi's chance to see the beauty outside of the polluted streets of the Undercity— though she was convinced all she would see were snobbish Pilties— and to make her lacrosse passion more than just a hobby.
Apparently, this Piltover Academy had one of the best women's lacrosse teams across all colleges, they even went to numerous tournaments. Fuck, that could be big for Vi's future career...
Vi's hands were stuffed deep inside her hoodie pockets as she sat in the booth across from Claggor and Jinx, Mylo pigging out on his burger next to her. Vi, on the other hand, was too busy spacing out to think about her own food growing cold in front of her.
"Hello? Earth to Vi?" Jinx snapped her blue and pink nails in front of her face, then pointed at her greasy fries. "Can I have those, since you're not eating and all...?"
Vi scoffed, "You wish." She took out one of her bandaged hands, dipping a couple fries into the mystery sauce Jericho gave her 'on the house' before popping them in her mouth. "You haven't even finished your own food!" she jutted her chin towards the plate in front of her sister.
"I did! This is Claggor's," Jinx stuck out her tongue as she made a gesture to Claggor's second plate of food; some salad of slimy tentacles and whatever the fuck that green thing inside was.
"Are you serious?" Vi exclaimed, letting out a frustrated groan. Of course her siblings would eat twice on her money.
Claggor shrugged, "You offered to take us out, I'm making the most of it." Clearly, he wanted an excuse to not eat the slop-stew Vander had made for them back home.
"You're so inconsiderate, Claggor!" Mylo said with feigned concern, making Vi give him a soft slap over the back of his head.
"Okay, shut up, I— I actually have a reason why I made you guys come here without Vander." Vi started.
"Are you finally going to the loony bin?!" Jinx interrupted her sister with a wide grin, twirling her neon blue braids around her finger. "Can I have your room?"
"You should be the one in the loony bin." Mylo scoffed.
To stop them from bickering, she slammed her fist down on the table. For fuck's sake, Vi was trying to have a serious conversation with her siblings and they couldn't stop making jokes even when she was clearly tense. Lowering her bandaged fist back into her hoodie, she sighed.
"I'm... I'm leaving. Next week." She didn't look up at her siblings. Couldn't look them in the eye.
There was a collective silence before Claggor said, "Okay, Vi. This isn't the first time you've ran away from home." he chuckled.
"Did you and Vander argue again? You always leave when things get snappy between you two." Jinx asked, scrolling through her phone, probably having received a text message from Ekko. Those two had been spending an awful lot of time together, yet whenever Vi asked if they were dating, Jinx got defensive and sent her out of her room.
Vi scrubbed a hand over her face. "This isn't about me running away or arguing with Vander. I'm— I'm going to college. In Piltover."
Mylo almost choked on his food. "Piltover?!" He sputtered, turning in his seat to fully face her. "That's so fucking expensive."
"I have a full-ride scholarship, and I'll have a host family."
Now it was Jinx's turn to sputter; although on her own spit. "Full-ride?! Since when the fuck are you so good at lacrosse? And what do you mean by host family?"
A small, proud smile grew on her face. "Since forever, Pow. I'm good at everything." She said with a cocky tone. "It means I won't be living inside a dorm like most students, I'll stay with a family who offered, the Kirammans I think is their name."
"That's bullshit!" Jinx threw her phone on the table. "They're taking you in like a stray dog? You already have a full-ride scholar thing you said, why don't you just sleep inside a dorm?!"
Claggor laughed, putting a hand on Jinx's shoulder. "Chill out. If I were in Vi's position, I would also want a Piltie family to take care of me. They must be living in a castle."
Mylo chewed down the remainings of his burger before burping, then asked in a shocked voice. "The Kirammans?! As in, the Caitlyn Kiramman?"
Vi finally raised her head; Jinx looked pissed, Claggor seemed happy for her, and Mylo was far more interested in her host family than her going to college. Well, this conversation could've gone way worse...
She tilted her head, munching on a couple more fries. "I don't know. They just told me they have a daughter that's a bit lonely, and that a new person inside the house would do her good."
"You don't know who Caitlyn Kiramman is?" Claggor was flabbergasted as he dug into his suspicious-looking salad. "Seriously, do you never look on the internet? Jinx, show her, please."
Jinx rolled her eyes before grabbing her phone from where she'd thrown it in her burst of anger, fingers quickly typing away before handing Vi her phone. Headlines upon headlines of this girl showed up.
Vi squinted at the sudden harsh light from her sister's phone, taking it in her hand and scrolling. There was nothing too interesting, just a rich girl coming from a rich legacy. Nothing she didn't expect. "Yeah, okay, what am I supposed to see here? It's just a girl my age who is good at shooting rifles, great for her."
"You're supposed to see that she's, like, an elitist bitch." Mylo rolled his eyes. "She's pretty, but she probably won't even talk to you while you're there."
"Mylo, I don't give a shit if she talks to me or not. As long as her parents don't kick me out that's all that matters to me."
Vi leaned back against the old leather seats of the booth, sliding her fries towards Jinx along with her phone. What she said was true, she really didn't care, but she hoped that she could at least introduce herself to this Caitlyn Kiramman girl. It would be awkward to live in the same house as her for a year and not even try to befriend her.
Once everyone was finished eating, Vi asked the waitress for their bill. When she returned, she slipped her an extra ten bucks. "For the hassle." She winked. Might as well flirt one last time here before having to pull her shit together in Piltover.
"Vander, we're back!" Vi called out as she ushered her siblings inside the house first before stepping in behind them, toeing off her shoes in the hallway. Jinx and Mylo were already racing towards the bathroom, pushing each other to see who could get in first.
She walked inside the living room, being greeted by a warm embrace from Vander. "So, how'd it go? You told 'em?" He asked, leading Vi towards the couch. Once they were both seated, he gently pulled Vi's hands out of her hoodie to change her bandages.
She had to suppress a whimper as Vander's rough fingertips brushed against her raw skin, the gauze around her knuckles caked with blood and dirt. "Yeah, I told them." Vi blinked slowly. "Jinx was a bit mad, but I think she'll come around. Mylo didn't like my host family, though..."
"And Claggor?" he asked as he pulled out the first aid kit from under the coffee table.
"He was enjoying his meal." Vi chuckled.
Vander nodded. "That's good." He brushed a sterile wipe over her knuckles. When Vi winced, he took one good look at her face before continuing the routine. "I hope you know that if you want to get into Piltover Academy, you'll have to stop this." Vander lightly raised her own hand, letting Vi see the damage.
She fucking knew. "Thanks for reminding me." The words left her mouth in a sarcastic murmur.
"Don't get mad at your old man, I just don't want to get a call from the Kirammans, or your principal, about you getting expelled."
"I won't get expelled." She hissed when Vander finally wrapped a clean bandage around her knuckles, snug enough to feel secure but also loose enough to be able to move her hand freely. She flexed her fingers, testing how her knuckles felt before saying in a softer tone, though still strained. "I'll be careful. I promise."
Vander smiled then patted her shoulder. "I'm real proud of you."
She smiled back before walking up the stairs to her room. Though as she dragged her feet across each step, she felt the smile slowly dropping off her face. Vi hoped she could keep her promise. With all the benefits this college could provide for her, Vi knew she would have to keep her temper in check— but it would be hard. Really hard.
Of course she tried to be careful all throughout high school as well, but there have been a couple— who was she lying to, many— times where she got into physical fights and left with just a slap on the wrist. But in Piltover? She couldn't afford even a single punch to be thrown. Hell, she was damn sure that if she dared to insult someone they would sue her ass for bullying, or some shit like that.
Once inside her room, Vi closed her door and shuffled through her closet until she found her duffel bag. She used it whenever Vander took them camping, so it was a bit scuffed and worn-down, but good nonetheless.
What should she even take? She mostly wore the same two hoodies on repeat, had one tank top that had a stain from when Jinx's food experiment went wrong, and all her jeans had random patches sewn on. With a huff, she shoved all of those inside her bag. She had no time, or money, to think of going to buy new clothes.
Should Vi take anything sentimental? It wasn't like she was moving away for an eternity, but a year was pretty damn long. An entire year without these idiots...
For a couple of moments, she stood still and listened to the chaos of her home— Jinx and Mylo screaming downstairs, Claggor laughing his ass off at their argument and Vander trying to dissipate said argument.
Her idiots.
Vi reached for a framed photo on her nightstand, one taken inside The Last Drop. She and her siblings were children then, playing some board game and sipping on orange juice with flushed cheeks and messy hair. They all looked pretty damn adorable. If only they had known how the world would try to screw them over back then...
Shaking away the thought, she carefully placed the frame between her clothes so it wouldn't accidentally shatter throughout the road. She then grabbed a couple of toiletries; deodorant and so on, throwing them inside carelessly.
Zipping up her duffel bag, she left it near her dresser before going back downstairs. Vander had managed to sort out the dispute, making Mylo go inside first since he said he was going to 'crap his pants'. Jericho's food did that to anybody.
"Let's watch a movie tonight, all four of us." Vi put her hands on her hips, turning to Vander with a grin. "Sorry, no old folks around. We'll be watching teenagers do hardcore drugs."
Vander shrugged. "You know what? I'm too tired to even disagree with you." He mirrored her grin despite his exhausted expression. He yawned, sitting up from the couch and giving them all— except Mylo— a goodnight forehead kiss before heading to his room.
Next week, Vi would be in Piltover and she would be marveling at the richness of everything around her, but for now she just wanted to enjoy what time she had left with her siblings.
"Stop hogging the blanket, Claggor!" Jinx said, lightly kicking her brother under the quilt to try and pull it over herself. Vi chuckled fondly at the sight as she sat down next to them.
Upon Mylo's return from the bathroom, Jinx quickly went and washed her hair whilst Vi prepared the popcorn. Once everything was done, they agreed to watch some shitty horror movie that Vander said they were too young to see, but thankfully Vi was the responsible one here.
And through all of the screaming from the movie and the crunching of popcorn, Vi only had one thought: she hoped her siblings wouldn't tourment poor Vander while she was away.