Chapter Text
There's two things you avoid getting yourself into while you're studying at Teyvat University. One is getting on the Student Council President— Scaramouche's bad side, and the second is having to eat in the cafeteria alone with Venti.
But the latter is hard to prevent.
You scratched your neck, annoyed. "Venti, please. If Scaramouche already said no, how else could help?"
"Please, come on, Y/n. Just use your convincing skills like how you convinced everyone that you ain't dating the President." He laughed, casually taking a bite on his extra large burger. A tumbler sitting on his side, definitely not water inside.
"Well, we're not dating." You scoffed, pushing your plate aside. "As far as I know, the university already hired a professional band to perform during the prom night. There's no way he'll change his mind."
"Then at least let us play even just one song!" He beamed, eyes gleaming, nodding to himself making his braids dangle on either side of his face.
You wanted to slap yourself and recall why you're friends with him in the first place. He's loud, annoying, money broke and persistent. He always wants to get what he wants.
Though, maybe the reason why you love him nonetheless, is his passion and talent for music. How mesmerized you were when you heard him sing and how wonderful he played the violin.
That's why you can't say no to him.
"Okay, fine," you heaved a sigh, "I'll try my best to convince him."
He picked up your hands on top of the table, clasping his palms around yours. His big bright green eyes stared at yours, "Really? You're the best, Y/n."
You snatched your hands back and folded them over your chest. "Yeah, right. But this isn't for free. Scaramouche is hard to convince, it's hard to talk to him, so I'm definitely not doing this for nothing."
He slumped back to his seat, taking another bite on his burger. "Anything, Y/n. I'll do it for you!"
As you watch him devour his food, you couldn't help but smirk. Anything, he says. You wonder if he'll really be able to pull off the thing you're about to make him do.
"Hey, I know that look!" Venti snapped once he finished his burger, "What are you planning on making me do? Just be sure it's not some weird and shady stuff, alright? And definitely not about your kink!"
"What kink are you talking about?!"
"I'm kidding," he burst out laughing. "So what is it?"
Before you could say anything more, your phone alarm vibrated on your pocket, indicating that break time is over.
With a sigh, you picked yourself up and slid all your items back to your bag. You gave Venti one last look, "Let's talk about it over lunch later. I have to go to class. Bye!"
You didn't need to hear his answer as you rushed out of the cafeteria.
—
"Where are you eating for lunch?" Albedo approached you once you finished packing up your stuff, ready to run back to the cafeteria and talk to Venti.
Which, take note, was the first time you felt excited to see him.
You looked at him over your shoulder, giving him a smile. "Cafeteria. I'm eating with Venti. Why?"
He scratched his nape, looking away for a moment. "Oh, it's nothing." Then he walked away, not bothering to look back.
Your eyebrows instinctively rose. Did he want to eat lunch with you?
Nonetheless, you didn't have time to think much about it as you ungracefully ran towards the cafeteria. The building is already full of hungry students. You desperately looked around, trying to find Venti's green head.
It didn't fail you as you saw him sitting on the table on a corner— he ain't alone though, as what you expected him to be.
As you slowly approached the table, you recognized the people sitting with him. The auburn head, Heizou. The blond, Aether and the other green head, Xiao. Oh, he's with his friends although you said to meet up with you.
Well, the fault lies with you. You didn't specify for him to come alone.
You heaved a sigh before you called out to him, to them.
"Hey, Y/n."
You gave Venti a side glance while you sat on the remaining space beside Aether. Aether smiled at you while you situate yourself.
"Venti said you'll convince the President to allow us to perform?" Aether started which startled you. You turned to face him immediately, after giving Venti a sharp glare.
He didn't keep it to himself, huh? That's expected.
"No, I said I'll try."
"No, you'll do it, Y/n. That's why we're all here, the Swirl, to hear what you want in return."
To remain calm, you breathe out. "But I only need Venti to do it. You guys are out of it."
"But you're also doing us a favor so we figure if Venti's gonna suffer, we should suffer with him." Heizou said, sipping on his fruit juice.
How is Venti's friend so sweet while the damn leader of the band is so mischevious? Although, the instance you praised Heizou on your mind, the instance he tarnished his own reputation.
"But honestly, Venti should suffer on his own. This is Aether's idea." He laughed and Aether scoffed at him. You could only close your eyes in frustration.
Not in your 20 years of existence did you imagine you'll deal with this kind of circle. All this while Xiao stared at his phone, you figured he's probably watching his favorite cat video or the most intense drum cover.
"Come on, Heizou. You wanted to perform on stage too, right? You should at least help."
"I will help. But wait, where's Kazuha?"
Venti chewed on his fried chicken, looking at Heizou, "Well, I told him to go with me, but he said he needs to do something first so he'll just catch up later."
"That guy, he's always on his own," Aether muttered before he turned to face you again. "Anyway, Y/n, you can tell us what you want. We promise we'll try our best to do it."
Honestly, at this point, you don't know whether you can stomach saying it anymore. With four eyes staring at you, you couldn't help but quiver on your seat. Either way, it's now or never. It's only Venti— quite possibly them, too who can help you.
"Well..." You started, your throat immediately turning dry. You had to hurry up, or else Kazuha will come anytime soon. "Before I say it, promise me you'll not laugh or tease me! I'll fucking slap you, and I mean it."
Xiao took his eyes off his phone for a moment hearing your barbaric response. "Woah."
"Wait, why? For what?" Aether asked, just genuinely curious now.
Venti giggled, placing his elbow on top of the table as he stared at you. "Why do I feel like you'll ask us to help you with your crush?"
"Crush?"
"You like someone?"
"Crush, huh?"
At the mention of this, your cheeks burned red. You could feel your toes curling inside your shoes, fingernails scratching on the table. Damn, it's embarrassing now even if you haven't opened your mouth yet.
"Wait, who is it?" Heizou pressed.
Aether laughed at him, "You know every other suspicious gossip around the university and you don't know the Student Council Vice President's crush? Shame on you."
"Excuse me? I know about the rumor of Y/n dating the President, Scaramouche but didn't they already deny that?"
You wondered how the hell were they able to talk about you right in front of your face as if you weren't sitting between them. You heaved another sigh, "Stop. Scaramouche and I aren't dating and neither will we."
"But you still haven't denied if you like him or not." Venti teased.
See? You haven't even told them about who you actually like and all that's coming out of their mouths are teases. You facepalmed.
"Okay, listen here!" They straightened up, Xiao kept his phone in his pocket ready to focus on the topic at hand. "I want you guys to—"
"Wait, are you okay saying it even if Kazuha still isn't here?" Aether uttered, raising a brow.
And heck, if you could only see your face in the mirror, it's beet red, akin to that of a tomato.
"Why are you blushing?" Venti asked, not because of curiosity, but for the sake of mocking you. He even have a lopsided smile across his stupid face.
"Shut up, Venti."
It is for a fact that Venti doesn't have a clue who the person you like is, but he acts as though he does and that's what's truly annoying. You could even feel your heart knocking on your chest already.
"Sorry." He hummed, "Proceed."
"Okay, so..." You closed your eyes once, gathering all the remaining courage you have on your system. "I like Kazuha, okay? And I still don't have a date for the prom night. I want you all to convince Kazuha to ask me out to be his date, of course, without telling him I asked you to do so!"
One minute, no, they were quiet for an estimated time of three minutes. Their bright eyes were just staring at you, even Xiao who doesn't seem to care looks at you with shock. Probably didn't expect the confession.
And Kazuha? Yes, you like him for quite a while now.
When you reminisce back to when you started liking him, even you, yourself, were shocked to realize how long you've been pining for him.
Three years. Three years in college and three years secretly liking him.
"Is this a prank?" Heizou was the first one to break the silence, his words added with the crunching sound of Venti chewing on his fried chicken.
"Do I look like I'm kidding?"
"Oh shit, I didn't see that coming."
"Language, Aether." Xiao warned, Aether bit his lips and uttered an apology to Xiao.
"Dude! I honestly didn't expect that!" Venti's eyes were glowing, wide as they could be. "It's kind of noticeable from time to time, but actually?"
"Noticable?" Aether blinked, "At what angle? I haven't even saw Y/n talk to him longer than a fucking minute—"
"Aether, watch your words." Xiao tsked, shaking his head.
The reason for Xiao's behavior is that the group had always treated Aether as the baby, considering he's the youngest. While he's always full of warnings, he's also always spoiled. Maybe that's also the reason why they allowed him to take the position of the lead guitarist.
"Sorry, Xiao but I just have to express how hyped I am in this conversation! Kazuha? Really? Why didn't I notice something?"
"Seriously, Y/n? So none of those rumors are true about you and that small ass Scaramouche?" Heizou gasped, crushing the empty carton of juice on his hand.
"Who are you calling small? You're not that tall yourself."
"At least I'm taller than him, I think and that's enough."
You could only roll your eyes, temporarily relieving the embarrassment you've experienced when you confessed about how you like their friend.
Venti suddenly slammed a hand on the table, catching everyone's attention. "I know it's not very noticeable but I have the instinct of a mind reader, guys. Remember when our senior was selling our pictures from the field trip?"
"Oh, yeah. Kazuha's pictures were sold out. I can't forget about that." Aether chuckled.
"Yes, but you didn't know that our senior back then told me that only one person bought all of Kazuha's pictures."
"Wait, don't tell me," Xiao murmured, eyes directed at you.
"Yes, Xiao. I saw one of Kazuha's pictures stuck on Y/n's history book that I borrowed one time."
And that's it! Your face was even redder than before. You couldn't even deny whatever Venti said. All you could do was hide your face with your palms while Venti laughed his ass out.
"Bro! I never would've guessed! So, it's actually true that you never dated Scaramouche? Unbelievable!" Heizou shook his head, eyes brighter than ever as if he had solved a mystery.
"Hey, don't you dare tell anyone else about this or you'll lose your chance to perform!"
Aether's hand found its way on your shoulder, "Y/n, if you really like Kazuha, I'll do my best in order for you to be his prom date!" He chuckled, eyebrows raising up and down.
You don't know if you should be grateful or scared about that.
"Well you should, your dream to perform on stage depends on that." You pushed yourself up, "I'll have to go now—"
Before you can leave, Heizou holds you on your wrist, pulling you back down, "Wait, Kazuha will be here soon and you haven't even eaten your lunch." The smirk on his lips didn't go unnoticed.
If you slapped him right now, would that count as violence?
"Heizou, you better let me go before I lose myself."
"Oh bro, you don't want to see Y/n losing herself. She can bite your skin, by the way." Venti laughed, getting back on devouring his chicken.
Heizou heeds the advice, releasing your wrist as if you have some sort of infectious disease. "Ah, y-you can go now, Y/n."
You eyed him one last time, "You better not say a word about this to anyone!" Then you saw yourself running away.
Of course, your embarrassment wouldn't just end there.
Before you could leave the cafeteria, Kazuha was already walking inside, Albedo walking together with him. You were about to run away so as to not cross paths with him at the moment, but it was too late. Albedo noticed you.
"Y/n?"
Your steps halted, craning your neck to look back at them. A fake smile plastered on your lips. "Yes?"
"You're done eating?"
In a blink of an eye, they were already directly in front of you. From that small distance, you could smell his perfume— a fragrance similar to that of a strawberry and the faint smell of the autumn breeze.
Kazuha gave you a smile. A couple of cute shaped hair clips tried to keep his bangs in place still, some red strands of his hair shadowed his eyes.
"Yeah, how about you guys?" Did your voice sound that soft normally? You couldn't figure it out.
"We're just about to. Are you in a hurry? It hasn't even been 20 minutes since lunch break started."
Normally, you would've gotten out of it with solid excuses but feeling Kazuha's gaze stuck on you, you're feeling dumb all of a sudden.
You averted your gaze, "Ah, I have a lot of things to do. Also about the prom night preparation, you know?"
"The student council must be so busy, but you should take time to properly eat your lunch." Kazuha smiled softly, his voice giving you mixed feelings— making you calm and nervous at the same time.
Kazuha wouldn't know how much impact he had on you and how your fingertips start to shake whenever he talks to you. He probably doesn't have a single clue, nor would he care to know.
You smiled at him, trying not to look directly in his eyes or else you'll get lost in them. "I'm fine. Thank you. Then, I'll get going now."
"Oh sure."
From careful steps, you started sprinting away from the cafeteria immediately reaching the StuCo's office. You decided to hide here for the time being, get drowned on the documents you have to complete.
"Why are you here? Our meeting is at 3 pm."
Scaramouche was the only person inside the office, his eyes fixated on the screen of his laptop and only tore it off to look at you.
"Ah, I just want to finish some documents." You answered, sitting on your own desk.
"Lunch break has just started, are you done eating?"
People always viewed Scaramouche, the President of the Student Council, as someone who's ill-mannered, rude and hard to approach, however you disagree.
He's kind and shows concern, at least to you.
"Yup, how about you? How long have you been here?"
"Since morning. I'm not that hungry. But anyway, did Zhongli submit the budget report? That treasurer isn't doing anything helpful."
Zhongli is the treasurer of the StuCo, and you've always been wondering how he got elected as the treasurer for the longest time. Same goes for the elected secretary, Xingqui, with the worst handwriting of all the people you've met.
"Uh, nope. I haven't even seen him. He also didn't attend yesterday's meeting, didn't he?"
"That useless fuck." He blew a breath, massaging the bridge of nose, his rounded glasses slipping. "If ever you saw him, or maybe just send him a message that I need the budget report as soon as possible. We're short on budget for hiring a professional band, he'll have to do something about that."
A small flickering light bulb appears on top of your head. "Wait, what if we just don't hire a professional band?"
"We need the band for music. They say it'll be boring if it's just music from a speaker."
"Well, what if I told you I know a band who'll give us magnificent music for free?"
Scaramouche squinted a little, "Who?"
"Ever heard of a college music band here at our very own university? They are called the Swirl."
"Give me the member's profile and I'll give it some thought."
—
"Oh fuck, that damn short motherfucker!" Venti cursed on top of his lungs, kicking the trash bin.
"Well, that's your fault for having such low grades. Maybe this is a sign for you to finally level up your study habits?"
Heizou laughed on your side, taking his sunglasses off, "How can he level it up when he doesn't even have one?"
"But what the fuck is wrong with that Scaramouche? Grades are not everything!"
The problem at hand is that when Scaramouche saw Venti's profile and saw that he had some grades that almost failed, key word, almost. That's the reason why he declined letting them perform.
"Bro, he's so petty and for what?"
"Venti, relax. I'll try to talk to him again tomorrow, so stop pouting and acting out of character."
"Oh, by the way, Y/n?" Aether stood up from sitting on the side bench. "We'll start convincing Kazuha tomorrow, okay? But I truly feel like it'll be hard."
"That boy, I don't even know if he currently likes someone."
"Woah, even the great Heizou doesn't know a thing." Venti teased, finally done with sulking.
"I thought you guys left already?"
Approaching from a distance was Xiao and Kazuha, and almost instantly, your heartbeat paced up.
"We were waiting for you, of course." Aether responded, draping his hand on your shoulder. "But we're actually talking about the prom night and stuff."
"Speaking of prom night," Heizou said, looking at Xiao and Kazuha's direction. "I still haven't got a date, dude."
Venti cupped his forehead, shaking his head, his braid dancing aggressively, "Me too, me too. How about you Xiao and Kazuha?"
Your lips gapped when you realized that it was scripted, a skit to know whether Kazuha had already invited someone to prom or not.
Xiao shook his head almost instantly and Kazuha took a quick glance at you, "Uh," He started, "Actually, I do."
"What?!"
Your shoulder immediately fell, unable to think of anything. Who the hell did he invite?