The Boy Who Cried Fox

Zhongli being very tall

"You two are definitely gay." Ayato wiggled his eyebrows as Zhongli was still trying to get over the new kiss.

"Eh? Oh, I'm not gay. I'm bi." Zhongli corrected him.

"Ooh! Also, Childe gave you that didn't he?" Kaeya pointed at the bracelet. Zhongli nodded and once again turned away from the group. The others began to talk for a bit and Zhongli left half way through one conversation. Making his way back to his dorm, Zhongli set his hair free from the tight constraints of the hair ornament he wore on a daily basis. It fluttered in the wind, cascading behind him as he strolled to his dorm carefree. Once he entered, Zhongli was greeted by five pairs of glowing eyes. Turning on the lights, five people were all seated in the living room with a pile of papers on the coffee table in front of him.

"Hey guys." Zhongli sat down on the floor. He inched closer to the coffee table and looked at the 5 sheets of paper. Yun Jin scooted up behind him and began to play with his hair.

"We all got in. Itto surprisingly scraped by." Gorou was sitting next to the oni, who pouted back. Grabbing the smaller boy into his lap, Itto ruffled his fluffy ginger hair.

"You dare say that to the one and oni Arataki Itto? I won by a landslide!" Half serious, half laughing, Itto plopped the boy onto his lap, who was also giggling.

"Congrats you guys. When are you coming in?" Zhongli dared not to look up as if he did, Yun Jin would scold him for messing up her hairstyle for him.

"No confirmed date but maybe for family day." Albedo, who was reading some alchemy books that Zhongli brought back from the library for him, answered.

"Family day?" Zhongli was confused. He never heard of this event at all. Not even from Venti or Ei.

"You have to bring your family in for a day of activities." Noelle, who was scrolling on the new phone she got for her birthday, looked up towards Zhongli. "Also, we've met Ningguang. She acts like our mom."

"Pft-. I'll tell her that." Zhongli let out a low chuckle. Folding each of the papers in nicely and sealing them, he waited for Yun Jin to be done with whatever she was doing.

"There. There's some leftovers in the fridge for you." Yun Jin moved back, letting him stand up and walk to the fridge. Zhongli took his time, admiring the half up half down look she did for him in the reflection of the microwave. Taking out some almond tofu, Zhongli looked at the bracelet. For some reason, he could not stop staring at it. Was it the fact it was so decorated or that it was his favorite thing, or was it that...No. It could not be the fact Childe gave it to him. As much as he wished, the chances of him and Childe getting together were slim to none. And even if they did, Childe might leave him after 6 months tops. Zhongli stopped thinking about it all as he noticed half a pill next to his half empty plate. He also noticed that the other 5 weren't there. Getting up, Zhongli put the food in the container and went to his room. Undoing his hair again, Zhongli had already showered after his shift and done all his homework so he decided to turn in early. But he then noticed that Ei was online so he texted her about family day.

Beelzebul

Z: Do you know anything about family day?

E: Yea. We have to bring our family to school. It happens next month.

Z: Is Makoto going to be there?