Rewind | Genshin Impact

Chapter 18

15th of April 2020

"Hey wake up!"

Venti's head was throbbing, he reached for a pillow on his bed and held it over his head.

"Venti we've got to go!" Bennett's voice echoed through his ear. "Come on man, we don't want to be late!"

Hang on....

Venti suddenly bolted up in an upright position, remembering everything that happened in the previous time loops. "I'm back..." He whispered.

Bennett looked taken back, as if trying to understand the situation. "Yeah...?" He said in a questioning tone.

Venti turned to face his blond roommate with wide eyes. "It worked..." He whispered again, "Kaeya's not dead." 

"Uh Venti, how much did you drink last night? Does, sometimes, drunkenness carry over even if you've slept?" Bennett asked in concern.

Suddenly, Venti became aware of the pain in his head and he quickly clutched it in his hands. "Bennett, water, quick." He hurried the boy, which didn't help Bennett's confusion.  

"How did you know I had water?" Bennett questioned him, although he still grabbed the bottle and handed it to Venti. Before the bard could answer his question, Chongyun's head popped into the room.

"Hey guys we should probably leave - you know how upset Xingqiu gets when we're late." Chongyun said.

"Yeah! Don't want to leave Razor waiting!" Bennett chimed in.

"Right, party..." Venti mumbled, taking a gulp of his water. 

"Hey!" Bennett clicked his fingers snapping Venti out of his thoughts. "I know you're tired but we need to leave soon - so please don't take forever to get ready."

"Oh I know something that'll motivate him." Chongyun said as he leaned against the doorframe with a smirk on his face.

"Xiao!" Venti called out. Eyes lighting up at the memory of the boy, he had so much to discuss with him. Although, just as he was about to kick his blankets off a horrible realisation crashed down on him.

Xiao doesn't remember anything that previously happened. Xiao wasn't the one given an extra chance to save Kaeya. He thought back to how he relied mostly on Xiao to find out the information. Although at the end of the day, this was Venti's responsibility. It was up to him to solve the murder. 

The thought of Xiao not remembering anything sent a painful pang to his chest, however he didn't allow himself the time to dwell over it as he kicked off his blankets and made his way towards his desk, much to his friends confusion. He grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, beginning to scribble down all the names of the people who were at the dinner party, suspicious or not.

Bennett

Razor

Amber

Xingqiu

Lumine

Chongyun

Diluc

Xiao

Scaramouche 

Kazuha 

He felt Bennett and Chongyun's presence appear behind him, as they peered over his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Chongyun questioned curiously.

"I'm writing a list." Venti replied, his eyes not leaving the piece of paper. He then grabbed his pen again and underlined the names of the people who were not suspicious.

Bennett

Razor

Amber

Xingqiu

Lumine

Chongyun

Diluc

Xiao

Scaramouche

Kazuha

Sure, he was pretty confident that Chongyun, Xingqiu and Xiao were innocent however he didn't want to underline them until he was certain.

"Uhhh... Did I do something wrong? Why is my name underlined!?" Bennett asked, his voice getting more and more panicked with each word. Although Venti paid him no mind.

"What is Xiao's address?" He turned around to ask Chongyun, staring him dead in the eye.

"W-w-what?" Chongyun spluttered, his eyes widening. 

"Look uh... I don't really have much time. Can you please text Xingqiu and ask him for me?" Venti pressed on, folding the piece of paper and putting it along with the pen in his pocket. 

"I don't... Wha-... Why?" Chongyun questioned, him and Bennett sharing a look.

"I need to... Ask him something?" Venti stated, although it came across as more of a question. While Chongyun and Bennett were standing frozen in shock Venti hastily made his way over to his shoes, wasting no time in putting them on.

"I didn't know you knew Xiao..." Chongyun sighed, deep in thought.

"Uh yeah, I met him at a, uh, club." Venti spluttered out the first thing that came to mind, however it obviously wasn't the best thing to say as it only added to Chongyun and Bennett's confusion.

"From what I've heard about Xiao, I definitely didn't get the impression that he was one to go clubbing...?" Chongyun questioned, causing Venti to laugh nervously.

"Well, people change, ehe." He chuckled, "so, the address?" 

"Ummm... Okay then?" Chongyun said as he pulled out his phone, probably to shoot a quick text to Xingqiu. 

Bennett still seemed, rightfully so, confused by the events that were occurring. "Hey um, are you sure you're okay?" He asked, concern evident in his voice. Venti smiled reassuringly at his roommate, nodding his head in hope to calm the boys worries. He noticed how, over the past couple time loops, Bennett has remained consistent in trying to look after Venti and make sure he was okay. It opened his eyes to the type of person Bennett was, making him feel grateful that he had such a caring friend in his life.

"I got it." Chongyun suddenly said, a smile growing on his face. "I'll forward it to you, although Xingqiu doesn't seem to buy the club story."

At this, Venti leapt up. "Thank you!" He exclaimed, placing his phone in his pocket and waving to his friends as he ran out the door.

"But wait!" He heard a yell behind him which he chose to ignore, he didn't have the time to get distracted again. He was on a mission, and he'd be damned if he screwed it up.