Chapter Text
April 6, first day of school at Teyvat Academy. Venti’s phone alarm rang as a painful reminder to him that spring break was over, and he was now in his second year of high school.
He rolled over and grabbed his phone.
7:15, it showed.
He gave out a long groan and got himself out of bed. He didn’t have any parents around to yell at him to wake him up, but he promised to walk to school with Kazuha. This year they weren’t in the same class, so walks to and from home and lunch periods were the only times they were going to spend time together on campus.
So, he forced himself to rush through the school morning routine: get up, take a shower, dress in his winter uniform, and have a quick sandwich for breakfast. While he ate the sandwich, he fixed up a quick lunch for himself: egg rolls, rice, and some apple slices in a plastic baggie.
Forcing down the last bite of the sandwich, he ran to the bathroom and brushed his teeth, not even bothering to look at the mirror. Once he did, he ran out of his door with his school bag and saw Kazuha standing by the nearby electric pole.
“Kazuha!” Venti greeted with a big smile and a wave. “How’s everything going?”
“You have some toothpaste on your blazer.”
Kazuha put his hand on his chest and tried to wipe it off, but this ended up flustering Venti. “Hey! I am an adult, thank you very much.”
“An adult who doesn’t bother to check himself in the mirror for a few seconds, got it.”
Venti attempted to change the subject. “How long have you been staying here anyway?”
Kazuha closed his eyes and put his hand on his chin for a few seconds. “Around thirty minutes or so.”
“Thirty?!” Venti fake pouted. “You didn’t even bother checking in on me?!”
“I figured you were sleeping in for a bit.” Kazuha shrugged. “Speaking of which, we better head to school now, shall we?”
Venti agreed. Kazuha’s always been this bold with him: touching his hair whenever a leaf falls on his head the second it lands and wiping off any chalk dust that ends up in Venti’s clothes whenever he cleans up the chalkboard.
He knew he had a slight crush on him. But if Kazuha noticed all these things ending up on Venti but didn’t ask about some sort of increased rate in heartbeat, he figured he knew but didn’t want to say anything in case it ruined their friendship forever.
So, the rational solution was to keep these feelings, never act on them or talk about it and die like a normal person.
They finally reached school and parted ways. It sucked that Kazuha was in a different class but hey, new class means new victims, wait no, friends to make.
He was friends with one person in the class based on what he could remember from the class list: Lumine. Other than Kazuha, she and her twin brother Aether were the two people he was the closest to.
However, as per usual, she was occupied at the moment with a bunch of other students asking for favors or returning things they borrowed from her. He didn’t really know how she does it, but it’s almost like she and her brother befriended the entire school.
Since he didn’t want to bother her, he just retired in his assigned seat for the year. His seatmate was already right next to him: a boy with medium length hair with teal tips, piercing yellow eyes and a purple diamond marking on his forehead.
While he looked intimidating, he knew he was going to spend the rest of his school year next to the guy. So, might as well introduce himself. It’s not like he was occupied.
“Hello there!”
The boy jumped at the sudden greeting, giving away to Venti that he wasn’t used to people talking to him. Nevertheless, he continued.
“The name’s Venti! It seems like we’ll be with each other for a while, so might I thought I might as well introduce myself!”
He looked away for a bit, his elbow on the table with his hand carrying his chin.
Not the talkative type, I see…
“Xiao.”
“What?”
“You told me your name; it’s only right I told you mine.”
Venti, not really knowing what to say since he didn’t have a plan, simply smiled and said “Alright, Xiao, I hope we can get along this year!”
~ ~ ~
Kazuha was waiting in his seat listening to an ambience playlist of rustling leaves and wind, trying his best to ignore the chatter of the classroom. His heightened sense of hearing and smell compared to others was a double-edged sword. While he appreciated listening to the sounds nature gift, he loathed having to hear the clamoring of his classmates every single day.
From a first scan, the only people in the class he recognized were Aether, Gorou and Kokomi. He also couldn’t help but notice that his seatmate was still missing despite class starting in a few minutes. He did overhear rumors of a new student who was a last-minute transfer, so it was most likely them.
Not long after, their homeroom teacher arrived. They did the usual: congratulating them for making it to second year, wishing for the best, all of that.
“Before your own introductions however, I’d like to introduce our new student: Shikanoin Heizou.”
Wait… there’s no chance…
The transfer student walked into the classroom and Kazuha immediately recognized him: the messy burgundy hair with a black streak, green eyes, and a mole under each.
“Hello everyone, my name is Shikanoin Heizou. I was in the top of my class in Narukami Academy however I had to transfer as I had to move back here. I hope we can get along.”
The not-so-subtle bragging, he really hasn’t changed at all, has he?
“Thank you, Heizou. Your seat is right there, next to Kaedehara Kazuha.”
While it was easy to miss, Heizou was a bit surprised to hear that name. He didn’t blame him, the two of them haven’t talked in years since Heizou moved away, and they meet again by pure happenstance.
While Heizou sat next to Kazuha, they didn’t talk to each other for the entire morning. He really didn’t enjoy silence, so this was especially hard on Kazuha.
It wasn’t until lunch when Kazuha got up to go to Venti’s classroom did Heizou say anything to him.
“Did you not miss me?” He asked with that usual grin he’d plaster on.
Kazuha rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help but smile. “Someone hasn’t changed at all, has he?”
“I could say the same here.” He retorted. “Tell me, how’s everything going these days? Are you taking care of yourself? Do you need anything?”
Kazuha’s breath hitched. He must’ve heard about what happened to Tomoharu; it was on national news after all…
“Let’s not dwell on the past. I’m fine now with the support of my moms, please don’t ruin the mood.”
“Of course, of course.” Heizou nodded apologetically. “In any case, are you going somewhere?”
“2-3 classroom. I have a friend there.”
“May I join you?”
~ ~ ~
Venti was scrolling through his phone, waiting for Kazuha to show up. Xiao was still next to him, eating grilled tiger fish on a stick.
He did eventually show up but with a new face that Venti didn’t recognize. Who was this guy?
“Venti, this is Shikanoin Heizou, one of my childhood friends who recently transferred.” Kazuha then turned to Heizou. “Heizou, this is Venti, my friend who I sat next to last year.”
“Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Heizou!” Venti said in his usual cheery tone.
“Likewise.” Heizou nodded.
“Wonderful.” Kazuha commented. “Will your seatmate be alright if we join?”
Xiao spoke up. “Just don’t make too much noise.”
“You heard him.” Kazuha crossed his arms and glanced at Heizou.
“I’m not even going to argue with you, it isn’t worth it.” Heizou muttered.
The four of them, including Xiao who was already three-quarters into his meal, shared their lunch time together. They didn’t exactly have much to say to each other: Venti and Heizou had just met, and Xiao was definitely not going to even acknowledge them, so Kazuha of all people had to break the ever-growing silence.
“You have work later, yes?” Kazuha asked.
“Sigh, sadly yes.” Venti groaned. “Looks like we won’t walk home together.”
“Of course, of course. I suppose that means I should help with kendo recruitment then. Heizou, would you be interested?”
“Absolutely not.”
“It was worth a try.”
While their conversations were sparse, it wasn’t completely awkward which was a win in their books. Eventually, Kazuha and Heizou had to leave to return to their classroom, leaving Venti and Xiao.
“They seem nice.” Xiao commented. “That red haired fellow seemed a bit irritating however.”
A bit was an understatement, Venti thought.
~ ~ ~
After the day ended, Venti left the campus to go to his job at McDonald’s after saying his byes to Kazuha. Kazuha on the other hand was helping the Kamisato siblings with any paperwork they needed to get done on top of recruitment help. While he just wanted to help, the Kamisato siblings insisted on owing him a favor for all the help he’s done now and last year.
And while he does enjoy helping, he couldn’t help but notice how tired he’s gotten, so he figured he should call it a day and go home to play video games.
That was until Heizou caught up to him.
“Kazuha! I was wondering if we can walk home, stop by a convenience store?”
His logical side was telling him that he can’t since a good amount of his energy was spent. On the other hand, his irrational side is telling him to accept his offer.
“Come now, Kazuha, I want to make up our lost time together!”
That smile.
The irrational side won but he also felt some energy return just from that smile.
“Okay, but it’s your treat.”
“You’re no fun.” Heizou commented. “But fine.”