High Impact || Genshin Impact H.S AU

Chapter 8.7

“EI!” Sara exclaimed; her eyes wide as she sees Yae Miko almost get slapped by a very aggressive Ei. She was in the lobby room of the hotel, processing her emotions and trying not to cry too much when she heard shouting familiar shouting. Deciding to follow, praying her gut was wrong, she came to find Ei swearing and shouting at a distressed Yae Miko.

While she didn’t like Yae Miko a few seconds ago, seeing the pink-haired girl get berated by Ei was a sight she didn’t want to see. So, she decided to step in, stopping it from getting worse.

“S-Sara, h-hi,” Ei stutters out, shocked to see her. Sara swallowed a hard lump, knowing what she needed to do.

“Ei, back the fuck away,” Sara says sternly, casting a dirty look at her. Ei looks down, backing away, clearly ashamed. Sara let out a sigh of relief, grateful that Ei’s rage wasn’t persistent anymore, making it easier to handle Ei.

“I-I’m sorry, Yae, I-,” Ei says, her voice strained with shame, tears pouring out. Yae Miko opened her mouth but quickly closed it, glancing at the two.

“I’ll just leave,” Yae Miko says, walking away and into the hotel, likely to change rooms and not sleep in Ei’s room. Sara sighed, and then looked back at a crying Ei, having fallen to her knees on the sand. She scanned the area and saw a few students looking over, confused about what the ruckus was. She nodded, forming a plan in her head.

“Ei, come with me,” Sara said, dashing to Ei and dragging her off her knees. She knew that Ei would want to be away from other people and avoid questions, best to make a public scene out of it all. Ei looked down, saying nothing but Sara could hear sobs and sniffling, the friend clearly overwhelmed and confused.

Following a trail, the two girls went up a rock formation, passing trees, rocks, and dirt. Sara saw the sun dip into the horizon, leaving little room for light. But she wasn’t worried about getting lost, knowing the trail very well after years of visiting the archipelago.

“S-Sara where are you taking us?” Ei finally asks, looking around. Sara only makes a slight groan, not answering her question just yet. “W-we should go back, they’ll worry and I-,” Ei argues, slowing down but Sara drags the girl, pulling her and making sure she doesn’t slow down too much. Ei yelps when getting pulled up the rock formation, surprised at Sara’s strength.

Finally, they make it, the top of the rock formation, where a few trees lie and a lot of grass as well. Sara huffs, catching her breath from speed walking her way up basically a mountain while towing a hesitant girl.

“Here we are, look up Ei,” Sara says, looking up as well. Up in the sky were stars, shining shimmering splendid stars that spread across the night sky.

“Oh,” Ei says, speechless. Sara smiles, hoping to let Ei see the sight and revel it all in, giving her a moment to just calm down from the mess of emotions she must’ve been feeling.

“I’ve never shown it to you guys or my family, always been a personal place of mine when I visited here, made it more enjoyable,” Sara confesses, recounting when she was younger and lonely, so bored she climbed up a rock formation and found the beautiful sight of stars.

Took many cuts and bruises to make it up the first time but when she did, Sara remembered the awe and astonishment she felt.

It was an emotion she remembered feeling again when she first saw Ei.

“Oh, Sara, I-I don’t deserve this, I-,” Ei whimpers out, still amazed by the vast universe of stars as she continues to look, yet her eyes prick with tears. Sara quickly cut her off.

“What happened, Ei?” Sara asks, hoping the stars would mellow out Ei enough. Ei pauses, mouth closed and thinking, gaze still up at the eternal stars.