Chapter Text
It was still humid and gross outside, and Yoimiya would’ve done anything to leave the lecture room and head to the nearest cafe for a smoothie.
How long had it been, anyway? She lifted her head up from the back of her seat, thankful for choosing to tie her hair up high this morning. Glancing around her, she could see how much the students had checked out, several of them deep into sleep and others deciding to browse on online stores while the professor continued to elaborate on topics Yoimiya was sure she’d have to review later. With a sigh, she looked at her phone, a bright 1:13 flashing above the image of fireworks. Just a couple more minutes, then I’m outta here.
It was her last class of the week, a chemistry course she wasn’t particularly excited about. The professor was nice and all, but there was something about the way he talked that made Yoimiya want to drink coffee. And she didn’t even drink coffee.
She couldn’t wait to leave. It wasn’t long before she started tapping her fingers on her desk, her eyes staring down the clock on the wall above the professor as if it had offended her whole entire family. As soon as this class was over, she was going to meet up with her friend for lunch, and then head out to a nearby concert venue to see the local bands perform.
The second the clock displayed 1:15 , she was gone.
—
“Yoimiya, over here!” Ayaka called, immediately covering her mouth. When Yoimiya got to her seat, she glanced at the girl, noticing how red her cheeks were before she hid her face in her palms.
“You good?” Yoimiya set her backpack down beside her, watching as Ayaka shook her head.
“I probably shouldn’t have yelled that so loud.”
“Oh that? Nah.” She waved her hand, picking up the menu on the table. “You’re fine, don’t worry about it. I don’t think it bothered anyone.”
“Are you sure?” Ayaka was peeking through the gaps between her fingers, her grey eyes wide.
“Of course!”
Before the girl could launch into a tirade about how there were people that were somehow even louder at a table just by the door, a waitress walked up over to them, a paper pad and pen in her hand. “What can I get you girls?”
“A burger and some cola, please!”
“I’ll have the same, but with some water instead of cola. Thank you.”
The waitress scribbled their orders down, grabbing the menus and heading off. It wasn’t long before their meals arrived on plates heaping with fries. Yoimiya rubbed her hands together in glee, taking a quick picture of her food before digging right in. Ayaka couldn’t help but laugh, a refined sort of giggle that made Yoimiya smile. “Is my eating seriously that funny?” she pouted, taking a sip of her drink. The cool liquid felt oh-so-pleasing down her dry throat.
“Not at all.” Ayaka grabbed a napkin, draping it over her legs. “I find your enthusiasm infectious, Yoimiya.”
“That means you’ll be jumping around and dancing with me during the concert, right?” The way Ayaka spluttered at that statement made her burst into laughter.
Yoimiya was the type of girl that put her all into her emotions. Whether it was burying herself in her blankets after a particularly depressing episode of her favorite show, or running laps around the dorm building after scoring tickets to a festival she was really anticipating, there was no shortage of feelings that she would be able to supply at any given moment. Which was why, in that very instance when she threw her head back, her arm swung out and knocked her refreshing cola all over the tile floor.
The noise of the cup hitting the floor was so loud, Yoimiya was sure whatever leftover embarrassment Ayaka was feeling from her exclamation was instantly gone. “Oh god,” the girl said, leaping to her feet. “Ugh, this is such a mess. Ayaka?” She turned to her friend with all traces of laughter gone. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to get some napkins.”
“Oh no, your drink!” Ayaka furrowed her brows. “Do you want me to get you another one?”
“It’s okay, I got it! It shouldn’t take that long to clean this up.” As she spoke, some of the staff rushed over, one of them towing a mop along. With a quick thanks, Yoimiya walked over to the condiments area, her hands outstretched for the napkin dispenser before she was even there.
It was empty.
She sighed, pushing her bangs up as she considered her dilemma. Did she even need napkins? It seemed Ayaka had already had some before, anyway. Hopefully, it was enough.
“I really gave us both a shock, huh?” she muttered, the image of her friend’s alarmed face practically burned into her mind. Slowly, she rested her hand on her hip, her bracelets tinkling at the movement. That’s okay, the concert should help fix the mood. Everything’s cool!
“Excuse me, miss,” a gentle voice said from behind her. It was strange, the way she felt as though all the nerves along her spine suddenly ignited at once. She couldn’t quite explain the feeling, except by comparing it to the time when her dad had accidentally set off one of the really loud and explosive fireworks before the rest of them, and Yoimiya had fallen back onto the grass out of shock.
She turned around almost immediately, her heart finally settling when she noticed the boy in front of her, an expectant yet patient look in his crimson eyes.
Yoimiya couldn’t help but smile, because it was usually the first thing she would do when she had no idea what to do. Something shifted in his expression, and he gave a soft smile back as though he was unfazed by the fact that a random girl was smiling at him. They stood like that for a while, she wasn’t sure exactly how long. All she knew was that whoever this boy was, he seemed to be very kind.
When he let out a chuckle, Yoimiya gasped, her face starting to burn. “I’m so sorry, did you need something? Am I in your way?”
“Don’t worry,” he said, shaking his head. He pointed behind her. “I wanted to get some napkins.”
“You’re out of luck, there aren’t any more left.” She slumped over a bit, letting out a sigh. “I don’t know if you heard it–you probably did–but I knocked over my drink like a dummy. Sorry about the noise.”
“Oh, so that’s what that noise was.” He gestured to a table a few feet away, a bunch of boys crowding around something that Yoimiya couldn’t see. “We were making too much noise ourselves, so I don’t think you were the largest disturbance.”
For some reason, she had a hard time imagining him being loud, so she figured the majority of the disturbance he was talking about was his friends. They somehow became even rowdier, one with blue-green hair going so far as to nearly leap on top of the table’s surface. “Venti!” a few of them called out, but he continued to kneel on the table, his focus entirely glued to the cards in his hands as he grinned.
Yoimiya giggled at the sight. “You have a bunch of lively friends!”
“Lively is one way of putting it.” He was smiling again, looking back at his friends now pulling on Venti’s arms so he’d stop glancing at the others’ cards. “I should probably head back.”
“Wait, don’t you need napkins?”
“It’s alright.” He waved to her, turning around to walk to his friends.
He had already calmly sat down before she could ask him for his name.
–
“Oooooo, I’m so excited you have no idea!” If Yoimiya was sitting in a chair, she’d be fidgeting it every which way without a doubt. But, since the concert was standing room only, she was resigned to rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet instead.
Ayaka was beside her, hardly moving a single muscle as she remained still with her hands anxiously clasped, her eyes betraying her curiosity about what would occur on the stage. “I can’t deny, I’m starting to catch your butterflies,” she joked with a light laugh, her cheeks beginning to flush. “I’m a bit overwhelmed but it must be because I’ve never gone to a concert before.”
“We need to change that, concerts are so much fun!” Yoimiya linked her arm through Ayaka’s, lifting her phone up above them. In the resulting picture, the girls were both beaming, the lights of the venue reflected in their eyes. “We should go to a bigger one in the future, those kinds of concerts are on another level.”
Behind the curtains, there was the sound of shuffling, with some thumps from shifting equipment causing the audience to significantly quiet down. Ayaka leaned closer to Yoimiya, her voice hushed. “How many acts are performing tonight?”
“Oh, let me check.” She flicked past the selfie they’d just taken, pinching in on the image of the poster for the event. “Let’s see…there are three acts tonight. Each act is going to play a few songs.”
All of a sudden, there was a high-pitched whine. “Check one, two, three, check, check!” someone said, tapping the mic several times. Finally, the feedback died down, the lights beginning to dim.
“It’s starting!” Yoimiya whispered giddily, shaking Ayaka in the process.
“Evenin’, everyone! Are you ready to rock?” The chipper voice of the announcer was drowned out by the uncontrollably loud cheers that filled the venue. Beside her, Yoimiya sensed Ayaka jump a bit, but when she turned to check on her, she saw that despite the tense way she clutched at the hem of her skirt, Ayaka’s lips were turned up in excitement.
“I didn’t hear you!” the announcer called, and the audience responded, even more raucous than before. With a laugh, the man on the stage nodded enthusiastically. “Alright, that’s what I like to hear! We at TanukiLive are thrilled to have you here with us tonight, and I’m sure the acts that are performing feel the same. Now, before we get into the main course, I’m gonna have you take a second to locate the exits around us in the case of an emergency.”
Yoimiya tapped on Ayaka’s shoulder, pointing towards the glowing red EXIT sign a few feet away from them.
“With that taken care of, we’d like to take a moment to thank a few people for helping us put this event together. A hearty thanks to our sponsor, Yae Publishing House, and our security for the evening provided by Kujou Security Services.” The announcer raised his hand in a flourish, the curtains drawing back behind him. “Without further ado, please, put your hands together for our first act of the evening, the Treasure Hoarders!”
Their name had just left the announcer’s mouth when there was a large crash, the entire room going silent immediately after. Slowly, the announcer turned behind him, murmurs erupting from the audience at the sight of the band trying their best to assemble their instruments. The announcer only stared for a second more before sighing deeply and gesturing towards some crew in the distance. Right away, the curtains covered the scene. “Sorry, everyone. It looks like we’re having some technical issues. Give us about fifteen to twenty minutes to address the issue.” His tone became cheery all of a sudden. “Feel free to take a look at some of the merch stands located right outside this room.”
“Huh, that was weird,” Yoimiya said, hooking her arm through Ayaka’s as the crowd started to push its way out of the room.
Ayaka furrowed her brows. “I wonder what happened. It didn’t look like the instruments were broken.”
Within the twenty minutes they spent just chilling outside, they heard murmurs around them. Everyone was wondering pretty much the same thing.
“Alright, welcome back everyone!” the announcer said once the program resumed. This time, they’d managed to find spots right at the front of the crowd, right beside the stage.
“He looks frazzled,” Yoimiya whispered.
“I don’t blame him,” Ayaka whispered back.
“The bad news is we won’t be hearing from the Treasure Hoarders tonight. The good news is, we still have two more acts that definitely will be performing!” The audience cheered, the curtain pulled back, and with a grin, the announcer exclaimed, “Now, give it up for The Harbingers!”
The announcer had barely made it off the stage before the band began with a bang, the guitarist in the front going wild from the get-go. He was flashy, Yoimiya had to admit, but it didn’t mean the redhead was the star of the show. In fact, the other members of The Harbingers were equally fired up, especially the dark-haired guy on the drums. He seemed especially furious about something, with the way he moved the drumsticks as if it would be the last time he would ever play again in his life.
The crowd was loving it, even though the band wasn’t really interacting with them all that much. The energy was pulsing around them, an almost angry sort of feeling that made everyone jump and shout. A tall woman with silvery blonde hair sang with a raspy voice that brought chills, her voice meshing effortlessly well with the instruments. Everyone on stage was gleaming, with sweat, yes, but also this unexplainable aura as if they existed on a whole other level than everyone else.
It was amazing. Yoimiya’s blood felt like it was on fire, like she was one second away from shooting off into the sky like the final firework of the night. She turned to look at Ayaka, letting out a laugh at the sight of her friend giddy and looser than she had ever seen her before.
The Harbingers played three songs, the last one an explosive performance that left the crowd roaring. The redhead guitarist let out a wicked laugh, sending a wink to the audience that resulted in squeals. His bandmates rolled their eyes at the spectacle, but they stood up and waved to the crowd all the same, the woman blowing a kiss right before the curtains closed.
“Oh my gosh, that was so exciting ,” Ayaka said over the noise of the crowd chattering. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes sparkling.
Yoimiya nodded, clapping. “I know, right? I’m gonna look into them more, their music is really cool.”
“I wonder who’s going next.” Ayaka craned her neck, trying to see if she could peer through the gap between the curtains to make out what was going on behind it. “They must be good if they’re the last act of the evening, right?”
“That’s not always the case, to be honest, but I really hope that’s true,” Yoimiya said, glancing at the poster again. “Huh, it says the last band is called 5WIRL. Five-wirl? Swirl? I don’t know how to say it.”
Ayaka looked at Yoimiya’s phone. “Oh, does that mean they have five members?”
Yoimiya shrugged, slipping her phone back into her pocket. “I dunno, but we’ll find out soon!”
That time arrived about ten minutes later, with the announcer from before hopping back up on the stage and waving to signal to the crowd to quiet down. “Hey, folks, how’s the night treatin’ ya?” It didn’t take much to get the crowd cheering again, and the announcer grinned, the stage lights lighting up his expression even more. “Excellent! Then, that means you’re ready for our final act of the evening, right? Give it up for 5WIRL!”
As the crowd roared in response, Yoimiya felt her heartbeat quicken, her pulse nearly drowning out the noise around her. Weird , she thought, suddenly feeling really warm. She was sure her cheeks were super red by now, but she had no idea why she was getting this excited. She fanned her face as the curtains drew back, her eyes immediately catching someone who looked familiar.
She froze, mirroring the shock she could see on his face. But, he recovered faster, his gentle smile returning as he nodded at her.
“Helloooo, Teyvat University!” At the front of the band, Venti stood with his notable blue-green braids pulled back on top of his head, grinning at the crowd as he lifted his sunglasses up. “It’s an absolute pleasure being able to perform in front of you all, but lemme just introduce all of us real quick because you’ll want to remember our names hehe.” A few of his bandmates groaned, and the crowd laughed. “For starters, I’m Venti, and I’ll be playing the keyboard.”
“I’m Heizou, I’m at the drums!” A boy in the back with wine-colored hair lifted his drumsticks.
“Hi, I’m Aether.” The blond awkwardly started to lift up his violin just like Heizou had done but brought it down quickly, resulting in laughter from the audience. “I, uh, play the electric violin.”
“Xiao.” A boy with dark green hair delicately gripped his guitar, expressionless. “I’m on the bass guitar.”
Yoimiya held her breath when the last one finished tuning his instrument, his crimson eyes meeting hers. “My name is Kazuha,” he said, his words falling against her skin like a spring breeze. “I’ll be playing the electric guitar.”