Genshin Impact High School AU

~2~

Xiaoven

Xiao exited the building after another usual day at school. He was almost glad that the school day was over. The classes, although different, seemed repetitive. There were few classes he was interested in while the others were simply ones he sat in. Still, he had good marks so that was enough for him.

He waved goodbye to Zhongli who waved back before getting into his parents' car. He continued walking at his regular pace which was fast compared to everyone else. The PE teacher had practically begged him to do running events with Razor. They'd be an unstoppable team.

However, Xiao had refused. He had no interest in things like athletics. He only did it when he had to and to keep in shape. It didn't give him any enjoyment.

After walking for ten minutes, he reached his destination which was the kindergarten. He was going to pick up his little sister, Qiqi, and then they'd walk home. It was only a five minute walk away. 

He opened the gate and walked in. The kids were currently playing outside (except for Sayu who was still sleeping inside) so Xiao took this opportunity to try and sneakily grab Qiqi's stuff so they could leave. Unfortunately, a certain troublemaker spotted him immediately.

"Xiao!" Klee called out and he was quickly surrounded by the kids who hadn't been picked up yet. Klee stood in front of him with a wide smile. Qiqi stood next to him and held his hand. Her expression was as neutral as always. Diona stood off to the side trying to appear as if she wasn't happy to see him. Teucer stood next to him with a toy in hand.

"Hello guys," he greeted as he pet each of their heads. It was surprising but Xiao was actually quite good with kids. He's been looking after his younger sister so he's had some practice. After picking Qiqi up a few times, this small group flocked to him and they all loved him.

"How was your day everyone?" he smiled.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen you smile."

Xiao looked up and saw Venti, the boy he had a crush on standing a short distance away just outside the gate. Ever since he had first seen him he had been a huge simp for him. One day, he had been wondering around the school and heard lovely music. He followed the sound of it and saw Venti playing the flute.

At the time Xiao had been going through a rough time and Venti's music had saved him. It made him forget about everything he was that mesmerised. They had never talked since Xiao ran as soon as the bell rang for class. Venti probably didn't know that he was even there.

Ever since he attended all of his performances and sometimes listened while he was practising. However, he just didn't know how to talk to him. He was kind of awkward and tended to come off as a jerk when he first talked to someone. He didn't want Venti to have that first impression of him. Surrounded by kids wasn't much better.

"Venti," he greeted simply with a nod of his head. He hoped that the blush he could feel didn't betray him.He looked back at the kids then back at Venti. It was pretty clear he wanted to talk to the boy alone. Unfortunately, they didn't exactly realise this so he took matters into his own hands.

"Qiqi, how about you go get your stuff? And everyone else maybe you should go play before you get picked up?"

Qiqi immediately went to get her stuff while everyone else seemed hesitant. Xiao sighed. "I'll play with you all next time."

They grinned and ran off to play. He walked closer to Venti so only the fence separated them. If he wanted to he could touch Venti's braids effortlessly. He did want to but consent was key and it didn't seem appropriate. 

"Your name is Xiao, right?" Venti asked with that cute smile of his. 

"Yeah."

"Ehe, I see you around school. You look pretty emo and never smile which is why I was surprised. I love your hair though. You have such a cute face too! I meant to talk to you earlier but there was never a good time."

Xiao seemed calm on the outside with only slightly flushed cheeks. On the inside he was dying but in a good way. He was happy, embarrassed and was freaking out. Venti likes my hair and my face!  

"Thank you. I lo- like your braids. I like the colour you dyed them as well. It suits you. You're cute too."

Venti blushed, he wasn't complimented very often. Xiao was staring at him with such intensity as well that he was getting a little embarrassed. It was like he was observing him although it wasn't necessarily bad. 

To be honest, Venti was very interested in Xiao. He was too nervous to actually go up and talk to him. He wasn't intimidated like everyone else was, he thought he was attractive and wanted to get to know him. His friends were always teasing him about it.

"Do you want to hang out sometime?" Xiao asked feeling somewhat shy.

"Sure! I'll come eat lunch with you tomorrow."

"That sounds nice. It's just Zhongli and I," he smiled slightly which signalled that his guard was let down. Only one other person outside of his family could do that and that was Zhongli. He was his best friend and he had saved Xiao when he was at his darkest. 

Venti felt a bit of sympathy for Xiao. Zhongli was the only one who hung out with him. He was his only friend (which he hoped would change before tomorrow ended). He used to have more but they were long gone. They had all transferred and lost all touch with each other. It was a bit of a touchy subject for him so no one dared to bring it up. Xiao was known to get violent sometimes although it hardly compared to Childe.

Venti checked the time. It was past the time that he was meant to be home by. His parents would be home soon and if he got caught staying out later than he was allowed to he would be in serious trouble. Recently, he had been caught sneaking a sip of his parents' wine collection.

Normally, this wouldn't be too serious. It was one sip which wasn't too big of a deal. The problem was that Venti did this often and his sips often lead to gulps. Soon he'd finish a bottle and his parents would smell the alcohol on his breath when they asked where the wine had gone. Not to mention that underage drinking was illegal.

"I'll be going now," Venti sighed.

"Bye."

Xiao watched Venti walk down the road. He admired his very being and longed to figure out if he was as soft as he looked. In terms of personality and skin. He quickly looked somewhere else when the other turned back to wave.