Chapter Text
What a nuisance. A fucking nuisance.
“You have guts,” A pause, followed by a punch to the face. The sound that echoes around them after doesn’t faze the young lad, and neither does the gasps of the lackeys of the person he has pressed against the wall of the obscure alleyway. “Going after me when you are this weak. Heh. Shall I commend your imprudence?”
The shithead smirks at him. Smirks. Smirks! “So this—is how parentless children act—”
Xiao doesn’t let him finish, balancing the stupid piece of garbage' jaw by punching the other side of his face.
There’s a crack, and Xiao relishes in how satisfying it sounds. So satisfying that he goes for another—
“Xi—Xiao!”
Speaking of obscure… no one’s supposed to see the bloodshed currently taking place, how come Xiao can hear the voice of his sister—wait, his sister?
He clicks his tongue. First things first.
Paying the newcomers no attention, Xiao faces the boy opposite him once again, grip on his bloody collar still on. Slackening, but not letting go.
“Speak of this matter again…” he closes in, next words whispered directly against the shell of an ear, “…and your parents might become childless—”
“Xiao! Stop—stop it…!” his sister calls again, several meters away from them, breathing labored. Her voice sounds so close to choking that Xiao decides to take pity on her vocal cords and lets go. The poor boy on his chokehold moments ago immediately falls on his rear, trembling, and transforms into a retching mess so pathetic no one could be able to tell that he was dissing Xiao’s upbringing just a few seconds ago.
When Xiao steps back, he hears the slightly hurried click-clack of a pair of shoes—a premonition; one he’s so used to he can even already hear what words will he hear next. You…
“… promised to stop bullying your schoolmates!”
See?
The phrasing never fails to make Xiao roll his eyes. “Ganyu,” he drawls. Does it look like bullying to you? is what he almost asks, before the tiniest shred of self-awareness takes over him.
And it was the right thing because, from the way his schoolmates are slumped on the dirty ground, bruised and battered, while he’s unscathed, with arms crossed, Xiao looks exactly like a poster delinquent.
Ganyu presses her lips into a thin line, gaze grim.
“Nevermind.” Xiao starts walking away. His sister, for all her concern towards his schoolmates, follows behind him right after without a second glance, based on the sound of her hurried steps. Although Xiao knows what he did was right (by his standards, which is morally questionable at times), the judging stare behind him couldn’t be ignored. He decides to explain. “...And you know me. I would never harm someone unless not undeserved.”
“Of course I know you, you’re my little brother! The problem is… everything provokes you…” Ganyu trails off halfway.
“False.” Xiao shoots his sister a glare. He doesn’t get provoked by everything. It’s everything and everyone that likes to provoke him.
Xiao waves his hand. “Anyway, enough of those halfwits. What are you doing here? Did you stalk me again this time?”
“I—I didn’t ever stalk you!” Ganyu answers immediately, and she sounds so offended it’s almost comical. They both know that it is far from the truth, but Xiao decides to not call his sister on it. It could be annoying to have an unwanted shadow looming over you all the time, however, he thinks that Ganyu’s worries are valid. Probably, the idea of losing her brother too, is what turns her into a creepy stalker every, single, time. It’s endearing.
Xiao’s mood brightens up a little at the thought.
“And to answer you, it was… Childe who saw you enter that place—”
And it was short-lived.
“Who.”
Upon hearing the name, Xiao’s mood takes a turn for worse than it already is, hands clenching into fists. Ganyu must’ve felt the temperature drop too, for she flinches beside him.
Xiao didn’t have the time to feel bad for her as his gaze lands in front of him.
At the entrance of the alley, stands ginger, leaning on a sleek white Benz, a cigarette in one hand. On the other, he holds a phone, and by the way his brows are scrunched and lips are pressed together firmly as he scrolls, anyone who passes by could tell he’s close to an outburst, cursing whoever is on the other side of the screen.
None of it happens.
Instead, when the said ginger sees them, he hastily steps on his smoke and waves at the two of them. With a smile.
Xiao remains rooted to where he’s standing.
“I’m taking the bus.”
-
Xiao, to his dismay, did not take the bus.
How he wishes he did though. If he did, he could be in the comfort of his room, napping, playing games, reading; anything. He would be ignorant, in bliss.
He would be liberated from the rage threatening to swallow him whole at this very moment.
“Wasn’t it enough,” Xiao says, a murmur. But from the tense silence of the dining room, it might as well be a scream. “That I—no, we…” he focuses his attention on his fingers wrestling with each other. Swallowing his fear, he forces the next words out of his gritted teeth. “We let you fool around with that man?”
His father opens his mouth, but Xiao isn't done. He doubts he ever will be. “You really want to let that…” Xiao vaguely motions with his hand. “… someone live with us? In the very place my sister and I were made?”
The sound of a fist meeting with a table forcefully, along with silver cutlery clanking together, albeit expected, did nothing to prevent the cower that coursed through Xiao. If anything, it only fanned the fear in his nerves, its imaginary gust making him shiver.
Xiao has never felt so small as how he feels right now. Not when he sent a son of a politician on a hospital bed. Not when he was caught making out with a boy by his father. Not even when his first lover cheated on him because apparently, he wasn’t enough.
Nothing could compare to this moment. His fear is plenty, it overflows. His anger, however, is immeasurable.
“You have no respect.” Zhongli hisses at him. Beside him, Childe places a hand on his father’s fist. “Haven’t we agreed about this matter? Why are you acting like a child right now?”
“Agree…” Xiao repeats, each syllable spoken with a leer, mocking. Xiao faces Ganyu beside him, whose head hangs low, hands clutched together. “Did we?”
“H-Huh?”
“Do we agree on it? Letting a stranger stay in our home.”
Ganyu blinks at him, startled at having three pairs of eyes suddenly focused on her. “I…we…” She shrinks further on her seat as she faces their father’s direction, her eyes fixated on the bottle of Merlot on the table. She opens her mouth, yet, not a word comes out.
“You.” Xiao presses on.
“Well… this is a bit sudden, Dad. Perhaps… perhaps if you give us more time to—”
“What? What do we need time for? Are we baking cookies?”
“Xiao! Stop terrorizing your sister!” Zhongli stands up from his seat and the glare he’s sending Xiao is lethal. Despite that, on top of his father’s height looming over him like an indestructible stone pillar, Xiao wills himself not to recoil.
He stands up as well. “Am I terrorizing you?” He shifts his gaze to Ganyu.
A tear escapes Ganyu’s eye; her hands haven’t ceased in their jitter. “N—No. You—You’re n-not terrorizing… me…”
Hearing her sister’s answer feeds Xiao’s morale. He faces their father, a derisive expression as if to say, ‘my sister sides with me, what can you do?’
The air is heavy with tension, suffocating Xiao more than the stiff school necktie forced onto him by his sister. Fortunately, as neither Xiao nor his father is willing to back down, Childe intervenes, standing and placing a gloved hand on Zhongli's shoulder. If it weren’t for the current situation, Xiao would snicker from the constipated expression on the ginger's face.
“Don’t be too harsh on him—” coming from you, Xiao comments silently. Although from the way Childe's face turns towards him promptly, it wasn’t unheard as he thought. Childe continues, “Ganyu’s right. Let’s give them time.”
“Even if you—” Xiao cuts his own words, then proceeds to shake his head. Nevermind. He grabs his backpack on the ground and marches for the door. “I’m not dealing with this bullshit.”
Xiao hears his name being called. He doesn’t look back.
-
Without hesitation, the two women immediately drew their swords and stepped forward, intending to slay Itaru.
But this was one yokai they had underestimated.
She dodged their attacks in a single step, grabbed their wrists and twisted them as she turned sideways, sending both of their seven-foot-long nodachi clattering to the ground. Alarmed by the pain, the two reached for their kodachi, but they were too late. Itaru sent one of them flying to the ground with an almighty slap while placing the other into a headlock—
“I knew you would be here.”
Xiao's hand, on its way to flip the page of the book, halts as he hears a voice beside him. He speaks without looking up. “Don't talk to me.”
Xiao flips the page.
For a while, it was silent; a perfect place to sort out one's thoughts, or to cast it aside, in Xiao's case. The soothing breeze, the palest sound of wisteria blooms falling, enveloped by the moonlight, would've been a great contrast to the climax depicted in the book if only Ganyu didn’t ruin it.
He ran from his situation, only for it to chase him.
“Childe isn't that bad.” Ganyu says after a while. “Earlier, Dad offered to pay. Then when he reached for his pocket, the usual, he realized that he didn’t have any mora with him.”
She takes Xiao's silence as a sign to continue. “It wasn't obvious, but I could tell that Dad was a bit embarrassed. Childe just laughed at him.”
Xiao tilts his head, closing his book and putting it down. He was never good at words, so the spontaneous recalling of events from his sister had him confused. “Do you want me to pay for Dad's dinner too?”
Ganyu laughs softly. “No. My point is, you always leave first. You often let aggression get the best of you. You do not observe and listen—”
What?
“Are you seriously dissing me right now?” Xiao bares his teeth at Ganyu. He's aware of his flaws, but how does that connect to the current topic at hand? The spontaneity of her statement is absurd, it makes Xiao want to cut her words off completely and leave. Actually, scratch that. He's leaving. He doesn’t want to deal with it.
He stands up from the wooden bench.
“See? You're doing it right now.”
“What!”
“You didn’t even let me finish. You're already jumping to conclusions in your head. And badmouthing me, maybe.” Ganyu frowns at him. “What I'm trying to say is if you hadn't walked out earlier because you were angry, you would have seen Dad's reaction while he’s looking at Childe. He looks so…” she trails off and it prevents Xiao from completely walking away.
“He looks so happy… and comfortable.” Her voice cracks. “And maybe, that’s what he needs the most, the one thing he craves for… the thing he never experienced when he was with Mom… because…”
And Xiao doesn’t need for her to elaborate. They both know, always did, that their father was forced into a relationship he didn’t want to.
It felt like a bucket of cold water was poured on him, freezing every bone in his body. The night was colder than ever all of a sudden, and yet, his eyes feel warm; prickly.
And he doubts it's because their father couldn’t find happiness. It’s because he couldn’t find it even with them, his children.
Xiao takes a deep breath and fortunately before he could sink deeper into his ocean of despair, a hand takes his wrist into their own.
“I—I'm sorry saying that nonsense…! I just… wanted to tell you what I feel!” he looks back to his sister. She doesn’t look close to having a breakdown anymore, although her face is still a bit flushed, probably partly from humiliation. Then, she brings up Xiao's hand, placing the book on his palm. “I apologize again, this time for disturbing you. I know this place is your sanctuary, so I shall take my leave. Goodnight, Xiao.”
With that, she leaves, leaving Xiao with his whirlpool of emotions.
“What kind of father is that. Tsk.”
Xiao has never whipped his head as fast as he did just right now.
“Archons, of course, his child would be hurt. Is he that ignorant, or just a plain buffoon?”
Gold meets gold, and if Xiao was doused with cold water prior, what he now feels is that, added with a spark of electricity. It feels him to the brim with a shock that he has to look down.
There, sitting to where he previously was, is a boy his age.
He focuses his scrutiny on anything but the stranger's face; the golden locks cascading his body, decorating his exotic clothing like a garland. His skin is delicate, pale, nearly pallid; the light of the moonlight that passes through the vines of wisteria blankets his form, giving him the illusion of an iridescent glow.
He looks ethereal, something that's impossible to miss. How come Xiao noticed him only now?
The stranger speaks again. He sounds so gentle. Xiao finds his gaze on his lips. “Such tale, told under the moon's glow, fills me with melancholy…”
Xiao averts his eyes for the second time, reluctantly.
“But I'm also curious about what transpired to the Twin Oni of Tokaku…” the stranger sighs. “You can't depart yet. I want to know!”
Twin Oni of Tokaku?
Oh. His book.
Xiao steps forward, extending his hand that holds the book, all without looking up. “You… can borrow it. I need to leave, so I can't stay—” He hits himself internally. What the hell was that?!
For a few moments, the two remained unmoving in their places, until Xiao starts to feel the awkwardness seeping in. He figured, maybe, he was being overly amiable—an out-of-character move for him—and that the stranger felt weirded out.
He bites his lip, face burning. “If you do not want to, that's fine—”
The blonde grabs not the book, but him, as he too, stands up, reducing the space between their faces into almost nothing.
Xiao swears under his breath. He will turn to goddamn ashes.
“No.”
“If—If you do not w—want to, no…no one’sforcingyou!”
“No!”
Xiao closes his eyes. “Let go!”
As if on cue, the cold touch on his skin vanishes and by the time he opens his eyes, he's alone. All of it happened so quickly, that Xiao would be convinced it didn’t occurred at all.
He would be, if not for a distant echo.
“You’re not supposed to see.”