classes and corridors

- 1

Xiao stuffed the last of his books into his bag and stared at his monitor. The webcam lens' protector was open. He walked over and covered the camera. He sighed. Zhongli thought it would've been a fun idea to send him to highschool so he'll get into a good college. He was making enough from the donations he gets from streaming. He walked downstairs to see his step-dad, Childe or Tartaglia. The ginger and Zhongli started dating after Zhongli found out he had more preference in males than females. Zhongli's previous partner congratulated him and they divorced, leaving Xiao with split custody.

Childe looked up from his phone and smiled. "Hey, buddy. Are you excited for school?" he asked. Xiao slightly nodded. "Don't fret about major details right now. You'll be starting slow despite starting in the middle of the year." Childe patted his back. He handed him a piece of toast to which Xiao ate it. "Do you want me or Zhongli to drive you?" the male asked, shutting his phone off. "You, since I don't know where dad is.." Xiao said, visibly stressed. "Alright. Here, take this. It's a cooling pad. If you get tired, just hold it, okay?" Childe said. Xiao nodded, taking the little packet of blue.

The car engines halted to silence and Xiao stared at the large building in front of him. "If you need anything, notify the office." Childe said. The other nodded and left the car. The car's engines roared back to life and drove away, leaving Xiao to stare at the doors that led inside. He started slowly walking to the door and people squealed at the sight of a famous streamer enter their school.

Xiao looked endlessly at the main room before him. He asked around for the principal's office and eventually found it. He entered to see the principal sitting at the desk. "Hello, and you are?" "Xiao." "Ah, right. I'll get a guide suited for you." He spoke into his microphone.

There was a faint knock on the door and a young boy walked inside. Xiao turned around to see what people would call beauty. The first thing Xiao saw was the greet beret. A while flower sat on the edge with fake, large leaves sprouting out of it. Next was the male's hair. Two neat braids rested on the shoulders. Turquoise colored tips. A bright smile finished off his face. His outfit was nothing out of the ordinary and matched the male's style quite well.

"This is Venti. He has guided many people and they have recommended to use him as a guide. He'll be happy to guide you around the school until you have no further questions." the principal said. Xiao looked to the side. Venti stood, reading Xiao's information. "Alright! We can go now!" Venti said, Xiao following him.

"This is your locker number. Number 62. Mines is 61 so it's right here!" Venti said, patting a large sticker on his locker. It was true, his locker rested next to Xiao's. "Your locket combo is the combo under the paper. I suggest you try to remember it."  Venti said. He handed him a small piece of paper. "Okay next is classes."

Xiao enjoyed this guide a lot. Venti somehow found the pros and cons of each classroom. It made Xiao a bit better knowing classes aren't that boring from what he heard. Lastly, Venti brought him into somewhere cool. "Remove your shoes and socks. Place them into an empty cubby and I'll plaster your stick there." Xiao questioned why, but did anyways. He wanted the cubby next to Venti since he didn't want to be separated in such a big school. Venti smiled and put the sticker on. "Why do I need to remove them though?" Xiao asked. "You'll see."

Venti pushed the doors open and Xiao immediately saw why he needed too. The walls has a neat pattern from the water below and the tile floor was soaked. The water was cold but Venti walked over to the kickboards. "Here's our pool room! Students in the swimming club use this pool and sometimes the school lets other students use it. These are the kickboards, those are diving boards, and pool noodles are leaned against that wall." Venti said. "This is just in case, remember." Venti walked over to the exit and walked over to a station. "Here, you can dry your feet."

They left the pool room and Venti smiled. "How'd you like the tour?" he asked. Xiao looked over at Venti. "It was nice. You somehow have a positive view on school." Xiao said. "Well, I usually try to enjoy everything because that way, I don't get bored!" Xiao looked at the cheerful smile that's been on Venti's face for the entire tour. "Well, I want you to meet some friends of mine!" and Venti dragged Xiao before the streamer could respond.

The cafeteria was packed with students. There was a large table where a bunch of students resided. Venti dragged Xiao there. "Venti, hi! Who's that?" a brown-haired female asked. "This is, Xiao! He's the new student!" Venti smiled. Both hands were still intertwined with each other. "Yeah, and what else? New boyfriend?" a navy-blue haired male said, pointing to the intertwined hands. Venti panicked and let go of Xiao's hand. "Shut up, Xingqiu!" Venti pouted. Xingqiu laughed, the fork on his hand going empty. Xiao went to go see who ate the food and it was an icy-blue haired male. "Hello, nice to meet you Xiao. I'm Xingqiu and this is Chongyun." Xingqiu said. Xiao nodded in response. "I'm Hu Tao!" the brown-haired female said. There was a slight slurping noise then a muffled, "I'm Xiangling!" "Hey, don't put dust on the table, Bedo!" Xiao looked over to see a male scooping chalk dust off the table. "Sorry, Kaeya." Albedo said. Kaeya sighed and gathered the dust from Albedo's hands into a bag. "Hehe, sorry! This table is a mess." Venti said. Xiao shrugged.

Xiao's first day was probably better than most kids' first days of school. He met new people and liked the guide he had. "How was your day, Xiao?" Zhongli asked. "It was nice." Xiao said. Childe was in the other seat and put a bag on Xiao's lap. "Rice buns. For congratulations. And at home with have tofu sizzling to make Almond Tofu." Childe smiled. Xiao slightly smiled and took a rice bun out.

Back at their house, Xiao ran upstairs with a plate of almond tofu. He got ready to stream. He opened his webcam and put his headphones on. Xiao wondered how this future will lay out now. He turned on his computer and started streaming.

words: 1111

a/n: heya! this is the first author note i've had in a while. i want to note that i havent been finding motivation and school started. dw, i'm not quitting! i have a xiaoven one-shot in drafts, a new xingyun chapter in drafts, and a xingyun one-shot book in drafts. so keep note of that. im excited for this book :)