Second Lead Syndrome || Diluc R. x Reader

Slim Chances

The room is quite well-kept. A large bed stands against the far wall with a desk opposite of it. The walls are lined with bookshelves and a dresser. The two walk in and begin to look through Diluc's things.

Y/N feels a bit bad for looking through his belongings, especially when they've already basically concluded this case is a sham. "We won't go through everything."

"Having guilty thoughts?" Kaeya chuckles from next to her.

"A little." Y/N opens the desk drawers but finding nothing interesting. Just stationary. Finally, she opens the last drawer to find a picture frame face-down on top of a stack of books.

Y/N grabs the frame and flips it up to see the front of the glass cracked and shattered. The picture behind the glass shows a little boy with vibrant red hair wearing a joyful smile. Next to him, is tan-skinned boy with navy blue hair wearing the same smile. An older man who vaguely resembles Diluc stands behind the two boys. Y/N can only assume this was Diluc and Kaeya with their father when they were younger.

"Yeah, we should stop prying." Y/N says, placing the picture frame back in its original spot.

"I didn't think he kept anything like that anymore." Kaeya mutters to himself. "Anyway, let's get moving."

The two of them leave Diluc's room the same way they found it before exiting the winery. As they walk down through the vineyard, they spot Donna and Diluc having a conversation.

Y/N's eyebrows raise in surprise. "Wow, she's not embarrassing herself." She whispers to Kaeya as the two approach.

The two watch as Donna rambles on and on and Diluc has his mouth shut. The brunette drops a couple of the Lamp Grasses in her hands as she talks, the redhead pointing them out as Donna quikly picks them up. This happens about three or four more times and Donna's face is getting increasingly redder.

"Nevermind." Y/N takes back her original comment.

Donna spots Kaeya and Y/N as she turns to leave, tripping and stumbling a bit. "Bye, Diluc!" Donna waves as she joins Y/N and Kaeya, a handful of blue, glowing Lamp Grass in her hands. "Are we leaving?"

Kaeya nods. "I see you've gotten over your nerves...somewhat."

Donna presses her hands to her cheeks and that's when Y/N realizes just how red her face is. Y/N saw her blushing while talking to Diluc, but up close, she looks like a pyro vision- not a weilder, but the red, glass orb itself. Y/N lets out a chuckle. "You're blushing like crazy."

"A-Am I?" Donna's eyebrows crease with worry.

"It's fine." Y/N replies. To be honest, Donna looks like she's got a chance with the guy. Y/N remarks, but she can't really read that ever-stoic expression of his.

"Come on, let's get moving." Kaeya says. "We're not frozen in place, afterall."

-----

The sun began to set as Y/N left the Knights of Favonius Head Quarters. After she, Kaeya, and Donna had returned to Mondstadt, Y/N filled out the forms regarding the case and whatever paperwork she had left, while Donna returned to Flora's flower shop and Kaeya slunk off to wherever Kaeya goes.

Y/N took a moment to admire the sunset-red of the sky, the sun's rays of gold and yellow highlighting certain points in the clouds. Small moments like this remind her of her life back in Fontaine. Her older sister would often take her on walks during the evenings when she noticed how suffocating it was for Y/N to be at home. Although Y/N doesn't miss her parents in Fontaine, she definitely misses her sister.

A hand lands on Y/N's shoulder, snapping her out of her nostalgic thoughts. "Hey there, Captain!" Y/N looks over to see a brunette a bit shorter than her with a red headband on her head and a matching red, brown, and white outfit, the pryo vision hanging from her belt gleaming in the sunlight.

"Hey, Amber." Y/N smiles down at the girl. "Did you need something?"

"I actually need a little help looking for something." Amber responds. "Master Jean said you're good at this stuff, so I came to find you. Hopefully, you aren't busy."

"Not at all." Y/N replies. "So, what are you looking for?"

"Margaret's cat, Prince."

Y/N looks at Amber with a look of disbelief. "Again?! I searched for that cat all yesterday! I need to have a word with Margaret later." She facepalms. "Anyway, we should start looking for it as soon as possible. Do you have any idea where it went?"

Amber nods. "Apparently Huffman saw a black cat walking around outside of Angel's Share. I was on my over when I spotted you and remembered was Jean said."

"Alright, no time to waste." Y/N says as the two start walking over to the Angel's Share tavern.

It's as busy as ever at the tavern. The sun setting means people finally getting off of work, which means more people headed over to the tavern for a drink or two. As Y/N and Amber walk around the outside of the tavern calling out Prince's name, more and more passerbys give them weird glances- though none of them dare say a word to Captain Y/N.

As Y/N peeks behind a few barrels, a meow rings through the air. Y/N looks up to see a black cat sitting on the edge of the roof.

"I found him!" Y/N calls out to Amber. "In a pretty dangerous spot, too."

Amber rushes over and follows Y/N's gaze to Margaret's athlete of a cat who somehow made his way to the top of the tavern's roof.

Y/N outstretches her arms. "Come on, kitty! Jump." She gestures to the cat to leap into her arms, but it doesn't move.

"I could climb up and get it." Amber suggests. 

Y/N nods. "Alright, here." Amber climbs onto Y/N's shoulders as she reaches for the railing of the balcony. Amber pulls herself up and then pulls Y/N up, as well. Standing on top of Y/N's shoulders again, Amber reaches for the cat.

"Come here, Prince." Amber coos to the cat only for it to hiss and attempt to claw at Amber's face. "Woah!" Amber stumbles a bit as the two collapse on the balcony. "You should try, Captain. Prince doesn't seem to like me too much."

Y/N nods as she gets onto Amber's shoulders. Although Y/N is a bit taller than Amber, Amber is strong enough to hold her captain steady. "Here, Prince." Y/N reaches for the cat that had retreated farther from the roof's edge after Amber had attempted to grab it. "Come on...." Y/N groans as she tries to inch closer to the furball.

"You're moving a bit too much!" Amber calls out as she stumbles back and forth, trying not to let Y/N fall.

"This damn cat...!" Y/N mutters in a strained voice as she tries to get closer to Prince. The cat walks over slowly before jumping into Y/N's arms. "Aha! I got yo- AMBER!" She yelps out as she losing her footing, falling from the small balcony with the black cat in her arms.

"Captain!" Amber calls out as Y/N falls from her shoulder's.

Y/N lands on something soft. "Argh...." The ground lets out a groan as Y/N realizes she fell on top of someone.

Y/N quickly gets off of her poor landing pad. "Oh my Gods, I'm so sor- oh, it's you." Her apologetic tone turns bitter when she sees who she fell on. 

She glares at the redhead whose crimson eyes are glaring right back at her.

What are the chances that it's this asshole? Y/N isn't one for supersitions, but she's starting to think this black cat is bad luck.