SHIKANOIN HEIZOU

as much as i love best dad diluc, im also a believer of unintentionally horrible dad diluc troupe. tonight, i choose violence. didn't do a proper post format for this one because it's just my brainrots a very long one lmao and shit but anyways

tw: horrible parenting, dark content, neglect, unintentional self-harm, abduction, torture (mentioned but not really written in detail), hurt-comfort but mostly hurt ackdjf

words: 2,022 (tf do you mean my brainrot is longer than my usual fics :<??)

single dad diluc who didn't mean to neglect you, his newborn, because he was mourning for his wife, whom he lost while she was giving birth.

single dad diluc who promised her that he'll take good care of you because that was what she'd want. giving you everything was what they both wanted.

single dad diluc who kept repeating to himself that he needs to be strong for the both of you and all he wants is the best for you.

single dad diluc who almost dropped you because you look too much like your mother. the same chubby cheeks, the same eyelashes, the same scrunch of your nose, everything. he almost wanted to look away because all he can see is her and it keeps breaking his poor broken heart. seeing you is a reminder that he had lost her. little does he know, he had lost you too.

single dad diluc who was doing fine at first. he goes to your crib every night, bottle feeds you, does everything perfectly. except he can't look at you for longer than he needs to. he couldn't hold you for more than a few hours. couldn't let you sleep in his arms because he's restless and his continuous movement stirs you awake every time. couldn't hug you to his chest whenever it gets particularly cold, instead he sits in a chair beside your crib, letting his pyro vision do the work. couldn't stay guarding you for too long because his work starts to pile up and the abyss won't kill themselves up. couldn't dote on you the way he wanted to. couldn't push himself to go to you faster when you start crying.

single dad diluc who almost dropped to his knees the moment you open your eyes and he sees the same shade of red. it reminds him that his wife is dead because of him. because what he could give her wasn't enough to keep her alive. if he had been extra careful with her pregnancy, maybe she'd still be alive.

single dad diluc who cursed himself for thinking that she'd still be alive if she didn't give birth to you, if he had chosen to save her instead of you. he runs to the bathroom, vomiting his words literally and figuratively. he digs his nails into the palm of his hand as punishment, shaking his head and shutting his eyes to keep his tears at bay. he repeats to himself that she'd hate him for even thinking of such a thing. heck, hate is too small of a word for what she'd do to him if she finds out that he even thought about that. he swears to himself that if he ever thought about it for a second time that he'd burn himself alive.

single dad diluc slowly starts to leave the responsibility of taking of you to the maids. in some way, he's unaware that the reason he did this is because he didn't want to hurt the both of you further. he didn't want to look at you and think of the worst things a parent would think of their child. you don't deserve any of his anger, so instead of forcing himself upon you, he subconsciously avoids being around you too much.

single dad diluc who didn't get to hear your first words or see your first steps. his eyes widen when he faintly hears your voice in the hallway, wondering when you started to learn how to speak. he watches you play in the vineyard from the window of his office, unaware of the slight clench of his fist whenever you trip or hurt yourself.

single dad diluc who doesn't know that you don't look at him as your dad but just someone who provides you with everything you need. he was never there for you, so he failed to build a connection with you. he's not aware that his presence brings you uneasiness and suddenly you're standing straight and looking right at the ground. you don't look like a child with an indifferent look on your face. anyone can see the tension between the two of you. yet he still doesn't look your way even as he speaks to you about your studies and your day. your fingers dig into your palm, keeping yourself from bursting into tears because all you can see is a stranger who was supposed to be your dad, but he looks nothing like the fathers you see in the city. when he turns away from you to goes back to his office, you silently pray to barbatos, "please, look at me like i actually exist for once." but he doesn't. you let adelinde guide your trembling form into your room, where your pillow catches all the tears you shed.

single dad diluc who barely knows anything about you and feels too ashamed to face you, so he sends you gifts on your birthdays and holidays through adelinde. most of the things he buys aren't exactly what you're interested in, but you learned to not care. at some point, you realize that he'll never look at you for more than a minute. but only because you've never caught him longingly staring at you, wondering when you started to grow up so fast. he sees so much of your mother in you and it's at that moment he realizes how distant he had been from you. he wants to talk to you, to be there for you, but he just couldn't push himself to do so when you don't even look interested. only because he wasn't there when you cried for your dad to save you from a nightmare and never looked at you long enough to see the small hand that was reaching to hold his.

single dad diluc who envies the close bond between you and your uncle kaeya. he wants to be able to approach you like that, but he knows it's not going to be that easy. but he's relieved to know that you're at least getting along with kaeya, the only other family you have.

single dad diluc who tries to follow kaeya's advice when trying to talk to you, but fails miserably and all he ends up doing is making things awkward.

single dad diluc who starts to wonder when you started to go out for so long. every morning, he'd see you venture out the winery by yourself and come home a little later after the sun sets. sometimes, he'd see you in his nightly patrols, fiery eyes making sure you get home safely. sometimes, he has to physically restrain himself from being all over you when he sees the small cuts on your arms and instead tells adelinde to tend to you quickly.

single dad diluc who assumes that you've been getting into ridiculous trouble and that's why you have so many wounds. little does he know, that you've been getting all these wounds from abyss and humans alike, all that have a vendetta against him. but you sealed your lips shut, you didn't want to bother him when he's already too busy at work. instead, you roll your eyes like a brat and brushed his words away, making up lies about teaching a bully a lesson. this irks him more and he questions where you learned how to be so ill-mannered, but he never gets an answer other than your door slamming shut. he never gets to see how you slide down to the floor, silent tears running down your cheeks and your eyes void of any light from exhaustion. you try to distract yourself, unconsciously digging your nails into your thighs until you hiss from pain. if diluc were to see this, he'd see himself when he was young, doing the same thing to get a hold of himself when things become overwhelming.

single dad diluc who accidentally raised his voice when the two of you got into an argument about your sudden disappearances, the amount of wounds on your person and your rebellious behavior. he'd come to regret accusing you of ridiculous things instead of calmly asking where you've been, because the next thing he knows you're stomping your way out of the house, claiming that you don't need his lectures and that you're used to doing things by yourselves. he desperately wants to chase after you, sit you down and tend to your wounds, but your words rendered him frozen. do you really not need him? are you going to leave him once you're of age? he won't be surprised if you did, but the way that you said that so easily makes his heart bleed. he really fucked up, didn't he? all the promises of taking good care of you and giving you the best, he's broken all of them. he's such a fucking terrible father.

single dad diluc who tries to comfort himself by saying that you're just staying at kaeya's. you always go to kaeya's place, you've spent more than a week there before. until the man himself burst into his office with angry eyes, demanding him to get his ass off his chair and help him look for you. he stares at diluc's confused face in disbelief before explaining that you've been missing for almost a week now. suddenly, diluc's world seems black and white and everything sounds muffled. he couldn't hear the sound of his chair getting thrown back from the way he stands up immediately, but he felt the chill from kaeya's voice while telling him everything they currently know. he doesn't remember the urgency in his steps and the authority in his voice when he orders people around to get all the information he needs. all he knows is that he's getting you back no matter what, even if it costs him his life.

single dad diluc who couldn't get a wink of sleep and barely has the time to eat. the faster he works the sooner he'll get you back. he keeps searching and searching and searching, only resting when fatigue catches up to him but immediately going back to his search when he feels the slightest better. every time he closes his eyes for even a minute, all he can see is your baby face from the first time he held you.

single dad diluc who didn't know what to do with himself when they finally found you in an abandoned abyss camp, lying broken on the ground, bleeding and barely breathing. he almost didn't want the healers to touch you from fear that they'll hurt you further. he thanks the archons for having kaeya back there, telling him that you'll need the help of the healers. reluctantly, he let's them carry you away to the cathedral, where he sits at the stone bench with the heels of his hand pressed against his eyes and elbows digging into his knees. if the circumstances were different, kaeya would've teased him from the onslaught of tears coming from his eyes, but he knows now is not the time. so instead, he places a hand on diluc's shoulder, telling him that you're a strong kid, you'll get through this.

single dad diluc who's not religious, but begs barbatos in his head to save you so many times.

single dad diluc who sits by your bed, watching over you by himself and not leaving your side for more than a few minutes. he claims that he wants to take care of you himself. in truth, he just wants to be the first one to see you open your eyes again.

single dad diluc who stares at your sleeping face, seeing his wife once again and turning sour. you got hurt because of him. he almost lost you and it's his fault. everyone he loves are going to disappear and it's his fault. if only he had been more cautious. if only he had searched for you the moment you didn't come home the next day. if only he had chased you when you left the winery.

if only he had been a better father.

i love eatting dick anws ITS UR FAV POOPY DOOPY SHIT CAN I HAVE ANGST WITH US SEEING CHILDE CHEATING ON US WITH THE BIG MAN ZHONGLI if thats chill with u bro man

ZHONGCHI NOW?! WHAG (yea i'll try ig after i finished my ducking ahh wip)

tokrev 224 spoiler — leaks ,,

i literally have no words to express how i feel <//3

but it’s definitely not me being ready

2 left lol, and anw working on some childe fic rn ahahha

Oh look at me and my homework 😍. I have so many shit pending rn wtf

SEASONS OF BLOSSOM. [0.1]

love can start anywhere, even if yours started out fake.

genshintoon event hosted by @stellumi. img creds: "seasons of blossom" on webtoon.

part 1 (here!) — part 2 [wip]

pairing: xiao + gn!reader // word count: 4.4k // au: fake dating + high school // warnings: fluff, some swearing, reader's height not specified, very slight chilumi but not really (i just needed a character that was shorter than xiao that might like childe, also it's onesided)

author's note: as a writer who only writes fluff, i could not resist a fake dating au with xiao, especially if it's inspired by seasons of blossom. thanks to vera for letting me join this collab! you don't have to really read the webtoon series beforehand to read this, but it is recommended to better understand it! (if you do so, you can just glance at episode 2 + 3 to get a general idea ^^) this work is inspired off of "seasons of blossom" with many events changed, but otherwise i hope you all enjoy!

you like childe just a tiny bit, but you didn't think it was obvious or shown in your expressions at all. while he is seen as a friend of you and lumine, everyone in your class seems to nag at you and talk about how cute of a couple you two would be.

"you see... i like childe too," the girl across the table from you shyly says, and your mind blanks out—who was she again? she sat behind you in class, right? you weren't sure why you were sitting with her and her friends, just being waved over to their table as you and lumine had decided to go to burger king together for your lunch break.

you can hear lumine from beside you letting out a frustrated huff as the girl continues. "i don't really stand a chance of dating him, so just being friends with him would be nice!" your back visibly stiffens when her eyes move to look closely at you. "... but since you're close friends with childe, i wanted to ask you for help. would you be okay with that?"

"oh..." you awkwardly start with a chuckle. "we're just friends, so it really isn't my place to do, uhm... that. i'm not sure if i would be any help anyways."

"of course! you would be super helpful," the girl obliviously cheers and you're not sure if she even noticed your hesitance. "since i'm not really asking for much, can you introduce—"

"no," lumine coldly interrupts, and you sweatdrop at her sudden straightforwardness. she slams her phone down onto the table and all the girls across jolt in surprise. "we're not in elementary school, so why are you asking my friend for help to talk to someone?"

"w-what? why are you being like that lumine?" the girl stammers out while shaking her head. "[name] should be fine with it, so why—"

"because i like him too."

what? everyone around the table turns to lumine in surprise, especially you. she crosses her arms and holds her head up high, continuing with a deadpan look on her face. "i like childe too. so, no."

you can't help it—you yelp out in shock. "wait what?! you like childe? since when?"

"not for long." lumine simply says. "i don't think everyone heard you yet. should i get you a megaphone?"

you mumble out a little oops and a sorry, covering your mouth with your hands. you had no idea that lumine liked childe too—was she joking or just lying for fun?

"w-wow!" the girl's voice from across the table makes you turn to her. "you guys are best friends liking the same guy... what are you two going to do? what if [name] dates childe, lumine?"

your mind races—no one truly knows that you like childe a bit too, it hasn't been confirmed at all. and even if he did return the feelings (which unbeknownst to you, he did), could you do that to lumine and date him in front of her? your heart solemnly skips a bit in your chest, thinking what were these girls doing butting into other people's businesses anyway?

"i think there's a misunderstanding here," you start to speak up, and it's their turn to turn to you instead. "i... don't like childe."

"what?" you can see in your peripheral vision that lumine raises her eyebrow in confusion.

seeing that the other girls are confused too, you continue with the lying. "childe is my friend, yes—but i don't like him romantically like that."

"wait, really?" your classmate leans forward in her chair in absolute bewilderment. her hands palm down onto the table to hold herself up. "then who do you like, if not childe??"

ah, shit. you force a smile as your brain tries to list the people that have nothing at all to do with you. can you really lie your way out of this?

yes, you will, you make yourself think. do it for lumine.

without anymore stalling, you laugh out an awkward chuckle while scratching the back of your head. "i, uh... x-xiao! i like xiao!— you know, the guy who sits at the back of the class?"

while lumine abruptly sits up and yells at you a shocked, "no way in hell!" you can only sheepishly grin and hope that everyone will just believe you and forget about it in a week's time.

little did you know, the very guy that you mentioned is sitting at the table right behind yours— grimacing as his friend beside him (who was listening in on your conversation) spits out their drink at the sound of xiao's name.

you don't know what you have gotten yourself into.

(press "keep reading" to continue!)

"i still don't believe that you like xiao," lumine straightforwardly states. the two of you are standing at the staircase by your classroom, backs to the wall with her standing beside you. "really? the short guy who bumped into us last week?"

you can't help but giddily laugh, remembering what had happened. "well to be fair, i bumped into him first." it was true, you remember the day like it was just this morning.

both you and lumine walk out of the room at the start of your new semester, full of new classes, new teachers, and especially new classmates and students. she links her arm comfortably with yours as you two walk into the hallway. "holy crap, everything is so confusing. how are you and childe so settled in already?"

you can't help but giggle at her words. you open your mouth to respond when you suddenly feel your shoulder hit someone, and you turn to see a raven green-haired boy's head down to look at a game on a phone. one of his friends yelps out, "noo! i died!"

"sorry! are you okay?" you worriedly ask even as lumine still drags you along. you hold out your other hand to tap on the male's shoulder and he turns to you with a blank look. "hello?" ...what was his name again? "sorry for bumping into you—"

"it's fine, it's not my account anyway," the male calmly responds as his friend cries out something about losing a legendary item. your eyebrows only raise higher in concern.

"oh.. really? i'm still sorry, i didn't see you—"

"oh, forget it already!" lumine sighs out, exasperated as she keeps pulling you along. "you don't have to apologize so many times! and it's not your fault you couldn't see him, he's tiny as fuck!"

"l-lumine?!" you call out in surprise as you walk with her down the hallway. "how could you say that?" she only ignores you, continuing ranting about how rude they were for standing in the middle of the hallway. you turn around to look at the male and his friends while hoping that they weren't too offended.

you watch as the green-haired male only stares at you walk away, his friends hovered around him (and also above him, they're taller) while they hold out their hands with concerned looks, probably telling him not to think about what lumine said. you feel a bit bad, even debating going back to apologize for your friend's words when you see his mouth start to open to say something.

"hey," he calls out, and you can see lumine's head turn from beside you. the look of shock completely cascades over your face when he continues to say, "girl who's tinier than the guy who's tiny as fuck. you should grow yourself some common courtesy, it looks like you really need it."

"i still have no idea why you held me back from socking a punch to his face, that little idiot!" lumine's scoff brings you back to reality. you watch as she sips from a box of strawberry milk while her eyebrows narrow. "and by the way, i was lying about liking childe yesterday. i just wanted to say what that girl would say... you get what i mean, right?" she sighs out when you shake your head with a confused look. "you can drop the act, i know you like childe."

well, you confidently think. unfortunately for her, i'm not thinking about backing down anytime soon. "it's nothing like that, lumi. i was being honest, i really do like xiao."

"arghh!! don't say it again, you weirdo!" she cries out, and you giggle. "what's so good about him anyway?! i honestly don't get your type at all."

"he's cute," you speak truthfully— and technically, you were not lying. "his hairstyle suits him, and the way some of his hair strands wave around his face look really pretty." you do a quick motion with your hands to demonstrate and lumine raises her judging eyebrows at you. "and he always has this attractive red eyeliner on that matches his eyes perfectly, and—oh! and his lean figure fits his motorcycle jacket so satisfyingly to me. it's like he's those guys who are hot, pretty, and cute at the same time, don't you think?"

"no! stop rambling dummy!!" lumine visibly reddens, and you were sure that the last description you mentioned reminded her of her crush. you laughed as she spoke, "he's rude and brash! and super short!"

"hmm, kind of reminds me of someone," you funnily teased as the bell rang, and lumine whacked you lightly on the shoulder. "we should head back to class, that was the bell."

"you're such a fucking weirdo," lumine grumbled as you two walked down the stairs to your class floor. you could only keep giggling in return at her words, holding out your hand to take her milk box to throw away.

yet again, out of your notice and vision there he was; xiao at the top of the stairs, leaning against the wall as he looked down at his phone. his friends freaked out and fumbled from beside him, staring at him with a perplexed look.

"what are you going to do, xiao?" one of them, chongyun, asked. a blush was on his face just hearing you talk adoringly about xiao. "our classmate likes you!"

"what do you mean?" xiao simply replies with the phone still in his hands. "i'm gonna defeat this boss, that's what. that was just the warning bell."

"that's not what yunyun means!" hu tao, xiao's other friend, cries out. "remember when i spat out my drink at burger king at our classmates talking about you and childe?"

"yeah, very clearly," he sourly says. he remembers that they weren't really talking about him though—he was only mentioned when you brought up your crush on him.

hu tao ignores his words while ranting on. "that person already said that they liked you! twice! do you not care, oh-mighty nonchalant god?"

xiao only responds with a, "they have a name you know." he turns his head towards chongyun, motioning towards the phone in his hands. "you're on low health, yun."

the blue-haired male completely forgets about the conversation beforehand as he yelps out, "wait-wait-wait, drink a healing potion! that one! quickly!"

hu tao groans. "you two are so clueless!"

hu tao might be half right... but it seems that nobody notices the tips of xiao's ears blazing red, him standing between his friends looking over his shoulder at the phone. your words are still ingrained into his mind as he has to repeatedly take in your words and realize what you had said over and over again... do you actually like him?

ever since april and spring had started, new students were assigned the duty to clean the classroom once the school day was over so the old students from winter didn't have to do it anymore. unfortunately for lumine, your name was called along with the other names, meaning that you couldn't hang out as much after school anymore. you also felt a nudge on your shoulder from the girl (from burger king) who sat behind you, giving you a thumbs-up and a whispered "good luck!" when xiao's name was called as well. you two were stuck on mop duty while childe and zhongli did dusting and amber and yoimiya were on broom duty.

"we should probably come later next time since we have to mop after the brooms," you spoke awkwardly, gripping the handle of your mop to your chest as you stood beside xiao in the back of the classroom. everyone else seemed to lively clean the room together as you two were quiet, xiao on his phone while you guys waited for everyone else to finish together.

the only thing he said in return was a "yeah." and it was silent once again after that.

then came midterms— meaning the students didn't have to clean after the day was over until midterms were over. you quickly gazed at the questions of your paper as the teacher called out instructions, your hand reaching for your pencil bag until you realized you didn't have the right pen the teacher mentioned beforehand. you calmly scooted to the side of your chair and tapped on lumine's shoulder, who sat diagonally to the left and front of you, and she turned and raised her eyebrow at you.

"oh shit, i don't have an extra scantron pen," lumine silently cursed after you told her your problem. she pondered for a while with a finger tapping her chin. "if you want, i can ask the teacher for you—"

"no-no, it's okay," you quickly whispered with a smile. "i'll just ask around, thank you lumi."

she sent you a worried look and a good luck thumbs-up as you leaned back into your chair. swallowing your nerves, you turned around and asked the girl behind you, "hey, do you have an extra scantron pen?"

she shook her head with a sad look, "sorry, i only brought one. maybe ask kyun?"

well crap, you didn't know who that was. you just simply nod your head and whisper a small thank-you before turning back around with a sigh. even if the teacher would scold you in front of everyone, you would just have to ask her if you could borrow one. it didn't seem like there was another way out of this situation.

however, right as you are about to raise your hand, you see a subtle hand out of the corner of your eye place a pen (the exact pen you needed) at the side of your desk. your eyes can't help but widen in shock— everyone you asked didn't seem to have an extra pen, so how did someone else notice that you needed one?

"xiao!" the teacher calls out, and you turn to look up at him with surprise and a little guilt for getting him into any possible trouble. "what are you doing standing up? we are about to start a test."

"i accidentally dropped something," he calmly replies, holding up his other hand with a pen in it. "i need it for the test."

everyone's eyes seem to fly to xiao's figure, and you freeze up as you definitely feel the eyes of lumine and the girl behind you on you. the teacher sighs as she says something along the lines of ask next time, and motions for xiao to sit back down. when he glances at you as he turns around, your heart literally skips a bit before sending him a thankful look before he walks back to his seat.

lumine's eyes feel like they take a while to leave your face, and for the rest of your test, the only thing you can think about is xiao's sunset eyes gazing into yours— even if it was just for half a second. you couldn't even tell if your warm face would ever cool down until you were done answering all of the questions on your papers.

however, lumine's eyes weren't the only ones on you. hu tao stared at the back of your head in awe, absolute surprised at what had just happened.

xiao, the introvert. xiao, the tsundere. xiao, the quiet, scarily good gamer. xiao, the one hu tao knows very well that doesn't like to interact with people at all, just voluntarily stood up and gave you one of his extra pens. well to be honest— his only pen. xiao had turned around in his seat and ordered hu tao to give him one of her extras, because she "always brings a shit-ton of writing utensils". hu tao could only watch in astonishment when he stood up and put his pen onto your desk, and not only that, but also flat-out lied to the teacher with an excuse.

if hu tao said that she wasn't shocked a little bit, then she would be straight-up lying to everyone's faces.

"it's been a while since we had to clean," you start to say, mopping one side of the classroom with xiao mopping the other side. the fact that it was just the two of you inside with unbearable silence was killing you, and although it would be awkward, starting small talk sounded a bit better than two high schoolers silently mopping together. "how did you do on your midterms?"

"alright," is all he says, and you chuckle nervously in response while continuing with the mopping. you keep your eyes focused on the ground, finally realizing why lumine didn't believe your lie of having a crush on xiao—he's complete opposites with childe. while childe is chaotic and full of life, energy, and fun, xiao is quiet and keeps his hobbies to himself. he doesn't seem to speak up much unless asked to, and he seems to keep an expressionless look on his face. and you told lumine that you were crushing on this guy? whoever believed you probably had their eyes on their ass.

you look up when the front of your mop hits against another one, and meet the eyes of xiao in the process. you guys had finished mopping the room, finally meeting at the same side, but it's like you can't stop laughing to make up for the silence when you're with xiao— a brand new giggle bubbles out of you instinctively.

"we met," you point out the obvious, tapping his mop lightly with yours and then pulling it back to your side with a little aftermath of embarrassment. your head suddenly perks up at remembering something to say, and you let out an ahem before speaking again. "oh and, uh... thank you for lending me your pen last time. it was a lot of help."

speaking of which; you had yet to return his pen back to him. you're about to turn around to go to your backpack when xiao suddenly speaks up too, saying your name.

you don't even have a real crush on him— so why does your figure still, stiffening up at the sound of his voice casually saying your name?

"yeah?" you question. is he going to say you're welcome, or something nonchalant like it was nothing? you look at him expectantly while waiting for his answer.

and then out of nowhere: "i thought you liked me."

you completely freeze up as your heart feels like it comes to a complete stop, the mop handle falling out of the palms of your hand as your mouth opens with no words coming out. the male in front of you bends down and expertly catches the mop before it can fall and hit your leg, your figure still in a shocked state.

how did he know? did lumine tell him? there's no way she would— you know that she doesn't want to believe your lie, wanting you to admit your original crush already. besides, even if you really did have a crush on him, your best friend wouldn't be a snitch. xiao just watches as the your startled look turns to one of utter confusion, your fingertips touching when he places the mop back into your hands.

"...huh? w-what are you talking about?" you slowly start to speak, yet another nervous chuckle falling out of your lips. was he really just that good at reading you like a book? not only did he notice that you needed a pen from the back of the classroom, but he found out that you fake-liked him. how did he do it?

you're about to stammer out an excuse when he plainly says, "you yelled it out at burger king a few weeks ago. like this—

"ah! h-haha, uhm!!" you stammer to interrupt him, holding out your other hand to stop him from reenacting what you said before and humiliating you further. "i didn't know you were, er, there..."

oh shit. truly, you ask yourself what have you gotten yourself into? oh goodness— out of all the people you could've chose, why did your brain land on xiao? did it have to be xiao? and why did he have to be at burger king the same time and day as you? where would this even get you?

well... an offer for a fake dating relationship, that's what.

and it brings you unfortunately to now, the two of you as the center of attention the next day in the back of the classroom, because xiao had just carelessly and emotionlessly announced to everyone that you had started dating, on this very day. you didn't know he would— all you did was whisper in his ear, asking him a question about the relationship you two would fake that you talked about yesterday.

the only thing you can do is try to keep a calm smile on your face (and absolutely fail while doing it), spine stiffening up as xiao reaches for your hand and casually holds it in his. even as lumine slams open the door and curses out a "no fucking way!" he still holds your hand up, almost like he's rubbing it in her face in a you were wrong way.

the first thing xiao thinks when he holds your hand is that it's warm—almost like you.

your personality is warm, your aura is warm, even the way you speak is warm. you seem to be nice to everyone even if they were annoying, like the people who kept asking what answers you got after the midterms. you throw people's lunch trays away for them when they ask and you once even told him that you could mop the classroom by yourself, which he declined.

he hates it. he doesn't like how kind you are, and how much of a pushover you seem. you let people walk all over you and don't do a single thing about it. it makes his mind go mad.

... but it kind of makes him feel like someone should be there by your side, to protect you. to play the bad guy and tell people to get lost when they try to order you around.

"sorry if i offended you," you had said the previous day after he had put away the mops, his back to the window and you seated in front of him on a chair. you had just explained the whole situation; about lumine and childe, about the crushes, and why you lied. even the way you fidgeted with your fingers in your lap made him want to look away in disgust, but it was you, your voice, and your hands. it was at least a bit bearable. but xiao could already tell from the way you avoided his gaze that you were thinking about a lot of other things— what to say, what to do, and what you shouldn't do.

"what did you want to achieve by lying?" xiao straightforwardly asked as you finally—and awkwardly—looked up to meet his stare. "you don't care if childe dates someone else? are you really going to back down for your friend?"

"um, it's not like that," you nervously say, then quickly add, "backing down, i mean. but either way, i don't plan on dating someone my best friend has feelings for anyway."

xiao ponders for a moment with a hand in his pocket, keeping his eyes on you until you eventually look away to the side. "does your friend believes your lie?"

you chuckle in response. "ah, definitely not." the male notices that you always seem to be laughing whenever your blonde friend is around or mentioned—you guys must be close. you continue to talk while taking your jacket off, "i'm trying to convince her, but she definitely thinks that i still like childe. i just wish we could get it over with."

he thinks, staring at you pull one of your arms out of your sleeves. for someone who seems like a stubborn pushover, your lying was pretty good—when you were rambling about his looks at the staircase, he almost believed you himself. the tips of ears even turn red at the thought of thinking about it again, but he reminds himself that you were just acting. anyway, what would even be the ideal way to get out of this situation? it didn't seem like just insisting to your friend that you had a crush would continue to work.

"want me to help you?"

"huh?" you look up confused from shrugging off your jacket, then put on a little smile. "oh, this? it's okay, i'm done taking it off anyways."

"what?" xiao raises his eyebrow, and something in him almost wants to scoff from amusement as you awkwardly stiffen up from realization. "why would i help you take off your jacket?"

"t-then what did you mean??"

"you don't care what childe thinks, so it's just lucy that's the problem now, right?" xiao simply asks as he steadily leans off of the wall. taking one of his hands out of his pocket, he runs it through his hair to push aside the hair strands in his eyes, staring at you while waiting for your reply.

"her name is lumine," you slowly speak with your eyes meeting his. "a-and i guess?"

"then it's simple." he steps forward and you stop breathing for a moment— his face is only inches away from yours. you can see every speck of golden red in his amber eyes from here, and count all of his raven-green hair strands from his black hair strands. his scent is sweet— something varying between caramel and honey, but you can't put your finger on it.

well, it's not like you have time to anyway. not when you freeze up at his words; "just go out with me."

"w-what?" you jolt in your chair, abruptly scooting back and looking up at him with a start. "what are you talking about?"

this time xiao finally smiles in amusement. actually, not even a smile— it's practically a small, amused smirk.

"lumine will believe you if we're dating."

end of part one.

ending author's note: now i could be mean and just leave it off here, and although i really want to, i'm not evil 🙏 see ya guys in the next one after i write it!

The Soul of the Death. ( PART. 1 W/ DILUC)

summaries : where you died in a tragic event and reincarnated as your s/o guardian angel.

Characters : diluc x gn!reader (separate)

contains : mention of death, heavy injuries, angst, comfort/hurt

A/N : i got inspired by one of those horror folklore my friend used to tell me. It was actually a tragic love story which lead me to feel some sort-of pity towards the characters. So here we go, an actuall angst with a spice of both comfort/hurt.

DILUC

When diluc saw you dying in his arms, all he could’ve think about is your smile. He wished you could stay longer, he wished he could apologize to you, he wish he could love you in the same amount as your love for him. He cries out for help to the people of the village whom saw the witness of your murderer and even saw the dead end of your life. but none of them respond to his plea, are they deaf?!, he hisses.

The knights of favonious have been sent to the accident after one of the elders of the village took pity on diluc. they arrive 40 minutes late. Now, all they could saw are just diluc dead eyes and your corpse in his lap.

you’ve been pronounced dead in his arms. He could only hear your last word as if it were the wind who guide you to your last breath.

But it was all up to the past he committed to, now he could’ve only see your tombstone and a hand-drawn picture of you as a remembrance of your passing. Though, he doesn’t know that now you’ve been reincarnated as a guardian for him. It was a blessing indeed, but how could you really protect him when he couldn’t even feel your presence now?

“Diluc..” you called. still, he doesn’t answer. you called him again for the tenth time. Purposingly trying to catch his attention, but no answer could be found from his mouth, as if you were just a wind whom ran through his delicate ears.

and in no time, a heavy sound could be hear next to you. shit, He fell unconscious.. you panicked. Thinking any other ways to make him awake, but really? Are you forgetting the fact he could see you if he’s unconscious?

And To his suprised, he manage to hold both of your cold hands which have ran through his soft messy hair for awhile now. As if you were still here with him.

“Love…is this you? Are you..really here..?” , his unsteady voice speaks a lot of his flowing emotions.

“Yes i’m here all the time diluc! you’re temperature is not so stable now, so please take a rest! I’ll be here to comfort you in your sleep, so please let—“

“ahaha, this is so like you, how am i dreaming of you even after everything..i missed you where have you been?” , he feel like he about to tear up anytime soon, he knew he shouldn’t have gone this far. How can a dream resembles everything about you, my dear?

He tries to hug you, and failed. his body temperature drowns him to his unconscious posture, now he could only sobs and wait for you to soothe his hair again while talking about his-now current reality with you being his none other than a guardian angel. He knew you would notice his tears, but who cares for now on? He just want to listen to your voice and feel your presence.

“I have been staying with you for awhile now…so, Diluc i’m here to comfort you even if you could no longer see me in your side.. the arrows in the accident still hurt me indeed but i do not wish for you to see me in pain after-all the love you gave me when i was still alive..”

“I have no regret on loving you..so please live well for me, i’ll stay by your side, call me if you need the wind to embrace you, alright?”

You gently soothes his hair, humming a lullaby every mother in monstadt usually sang to their children.

“oh god..you’re truly are a blessing my love”

★ 【Darkavey】 「 Winter Coat 」 ☆ ✔ republished w/permission ⊳ ⊳ follow me on twitter

I finally finished this navigation thingy, doesnt took me that long tho

Yes.

Okay seriously. Reblog if you're OLDER than 11.

- Takemichi Hanagaki appreciation post:

“Hakkai…Fighting on isn´t painful. What hurts more than anything…is loneliness.”