Rewind | Genshin Impact

Chapter 16

27th April 2020:

There was clothes scattered all over Venti's bed as he sorted through them, trying to figure out which would be the most appropriate considering the situation. He needed to look like he was going drinking, although maybe he should also try to make himself appear a bit formal too, he was trying to solve a murder after all.

Finally, he settled with his usual green outfit.

Well, that was a waste of time.

He checked his watch, seeing that he had half an hour to get there. Excitement and nerves filled up inside of him. Earlier in the day, he considered letting his hair loose, however after a few seconds of looking in the mirror he deeply regretted that decision and quickly braided his hair again.

After bidding farewell to Bennett and Chongyun, he skipped down the stairs two at a time and called a cab. Continuously checking his phone to see if he had received any messages from Xiao, feeling disappointed when he saw there were no new notifications. Which, really, he shouldn't be disappointed about because at the end of the day, there was nothing further to clarify. However, he seemed to find himself enjoying talking to the other boy more and more, he had even woken up early in the morning to shoot Xiao a couple texts which lead into a long conversation and a phone call where Venti explained how emoji's work.

Finally, the cab arrived and before he knew it he was entering his second home, a bar. As soon as he entered, he was greeted by a bunch of familiar faces. An outsider looking in would assume, due to the kindness he was receiving and inside jokes thrown at him, that this is the main bar Venti attended. However, that was far from the case. This was probably his forth favourite and fourth most attended bar, although that didn't stop Venti from attending at least once a week. 

Finally, after a few minutes of greeting people and pushing through crowds Venti spotted Xiao sitting at a corner table giving Venti a look of disbelief. Venti skipped over to his table and slid into the seat opposite him.

"Hey!" Venti said with a giggle, "Lumine not here yet?"

"No,  she'll be here soon." Xiao said. "Of course you already know everyone at the bar." He then muttered.

"Well Yeah!" Venti exclaimed enthusiastically, not missing the chance to engage in a conversation which could quite possibly lead to the topic of wine. "They're all really nice here! This is my forth favourite bar, I try to visit it once a week at the least, ehe."

"Of course this is only your forth favourite bar." Xiao mumbled, although before Venti could ask him to repeat Xiao suddenly perked up, looking at something behind the bard. Venti turned around to see a very stressed Lumine making her way over to them.

"Hey Lumine." Xiao smiled, moving over in his seat so she could sit down, Venti giving her a wave.

"I just want to get wasted." Lumine wasted no time in getting to the point.

"Well then.... I've got the perfect wine suggestion for you!" Venti chuckled excitedly.

***

"The thing is though, I loved him!"  Lumine cried out, resting her head in her arms. Xiao was looking around the room as if begging for help as he hesitantly placed his hand on her back and patted it a few times. Venti being too busy chugging his fourth bottle of wine to pay attention.

"But then he just had to get together with Zhongli!" Lumine burst out crying, just making the situation even more awkward for Xiao. At this outburst, Venti put down his wine and decided to pay attention to what he had been ignoring for the last half an hour.

"Wait, who?" Venti questioned, a lot louder then necessary.

"Childeeeeeee-" Lumine dragged out, wiping her nose and eyes on her clothing, not that it helped much as the tears kept pouring down.

"How has this got anything to do with what we want to know?" Venti, in his drunken state, questioned, or rather screamed at Xiao. Which gained the attention of Lumine and a few tables nearby. Xiao eyes turned into full panic for a moment until his face quickly returned to it's usual, uncaring state.

"What do you want to knowwww?" Lumine questioned with a whiny voice, very much out of it.

Xiao looked like he was going to backtrack, but then the boy seemed to have come to a realisation as he leaned forward in his chair. "How's your relationship with Kaeya?"

Well, that was fast.

"Kaeya?" Lumine questioned with a tilt of her head, "dead guy?"

At this, Venti nodded his head enthusiastically, "yeap! dead guy, ehe." 

"Ohhhhh Kaeya," Lumine giggled, "he is dead, isn't he?" 

Xiao looked at her cautiously, before continuing. "Yes, isn't that sad, Lumine?"

"He needs to give me my money back." Lumine pouted, ignoring Xiao's question. "He didn't give me his money back before he died, how rude of him." 

"So, you didn't want him to die?" Xiao questioned, after a moment of hesitation. 

Lumine looked at Xiao thoughtfully, although she seemed to quickly brush the thought in her head off. "Nooooo, because I need my money back, also that takes too much effort. Besides, even though he might not have been my favourite person, it doesn't mean I want him dead." 

Xiao leaned back in his seat, drumming his fingers against the table a bit. Venti was curious to what he was thinking, although was too focused on his new bottle of wine to inquire at this moment.

"Hang onnn-" Lumine suddenly yelled out, as if an life altering realisation hit her. Then she  lowered her voice to a whisper, "you think I did it, don't you?" She giggled uncontrollably, kicking her legs back and forth a bit.

"Well did you?" Venti intervened suddenly.

"Nooooo" Lumine giggled again, "if I didn't want him dead why would I kill him? If you are looking for a murderer then you should go talk to Scaramouche." 

"I told you!" Venti suddenly yelled out, pointing his finger at Xiao, happy that he was right about something. 

"No, I told you it isn't Scaramouche." Xiao sighed in irritation. 

"Well you don't know that for certainnn, do you? That boy changes his personality and alliances in a split second, he is as untrustworthy as they come." She shrugged, making Xiao look at the table seemingly deep in thought. "Hey waiterrrr, more wine pleaseeee." She called out to no one in particular. 

"Nope." Xiao snapped, "no more wine for you. We're getting you home."

"What whyyyyy?" Lumine and Venti cried out unison. Without answering them, Xiao reached for his phone and called a cab, satisfied with the information he had gotten that night.