High Impact || Genshin Impact H.S AU

Chapter 11.5

Noelle grudgingly entered the school. A few days had passed after the young girl was told the news of her not being able to go to the archipelago. At that moment, she felt lost, confused, and unsure of herself. She wasn’t sure if she should continue her activities or just be lazy from once in her life.

But every time she went to school, mentally preparing herself to just give up and let the other Student Council members handle her affairs, she sees someone in distress and immediately feels an obligation to help.

Today, she walks up the school steps, remembering the years she had spent at the district, loving the small-town feel and atmosphere. She knew everyone and therefore knew she was capable of helping everyone. The sense of community and bond she had with her classmates over the years, getting to know them all. She just couldn’t imagine school or life without them.

Not seeing Bennett trip while Razor tries to catch him. Not seeing Barbra be guarded by Rosaria or Sucrose having her nose in a book. Not seeing Xingqiu or Chongyun chat, borderline flirting, it seemed impossible. Yet it was going to be her reality, the fact weighing the hardest on her heart.

Entering the school, she immediately hears the familiar caws of Oz.

Alongside Oz’s caws, she hears Fischl crying out for help, and with that, Noelle’s instincts kick in. Grabbing a jar of peanut butter that she unconsciously brought to school, knowing that Fischl would need, she raises high above herself.

From there she waits.

Standing tall and mighty, with a jar of peanut butter carried highly above, she begins to hear caws and cluttering. She then hears Oz turn the corner and fly right to her jar of peanut butter, perching itself on the rim of the peanut butter and pecking at it. Noelle sighs, grateful her tactic worked again, as always.

“Noelle! Thank you so much!” Fischl exclaims, turning the same corner and rushing to where Noelle was standing.

“It’s my pleasure Fischl, here, hold the peanut butter,” Noelle says, handing the jar to Fischl. Fischl does as instructed, carefully holding while carrying the weight of Oz. The two begin to walk off, turning the same corner and going away. Noelle had a feeling the jar would keep the bird occupied all day.

Noelle decided to head her way to her first period, tired and wishing to rest a bit. The thought of being surrounded by all of her friends and classmates, acting as if nothing was wrong very much unsettled her. She didn’t want to seem a downer and admit she won’t be joining them to the archipelago, but she also wished they knew so they could give her a bit of space.

Deep in thought, Noelle feels her pocket vibrating, realizing someone was texting her.

Amber

Amber: NOELLE COME QUICK!

Amber: There’s an emergency in the Gym!

Amber: We need your help!

Noelle softly nods her head and begins to dash her way to the gym, never wanting to refuse someone's help they need. She just hoped it wasn’t anything too dire.

Dropping her bag off at her 1st period, she heads to the gym, heading down the hallways and passing by the many students she had gotten acquainted with over the years. She finds the gym doors and plunges past through, not expecting what she found on the other side.

“CONGRATULATIONS NOELLE!” Amber screams, scaring Noelle so much that she falls on her butt.

“Oh shoot, sorry maybe a bit too hard,” Amber says, chuckling as she lends a hand to Noelle. Noelle gets up and takes a look around her surroundings.

Around her were her classmates, and friends she is known for the longest time. They all were beaming as if they had news to tell her.

“Amber, what’s going on, where’s the emergency?” Noelle asks, tilting her head in confusion.

“You are the emergency!” Amber exclaims, a bit too excitedly. Noelle blinks, confused.

“But I’m fine,” Noelle says, scanning the gym. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath, waiting.

“NO, you’re not!” Amber says loudly.

The Student council member gets caught off guard by this statement. While she knew it was true, she did wish Amber wasn’t admitting it so loudly and happily.

“O-okay, um what’s happening?” Noelle asks, still confused.

“Amber for archon's sake, just explain the situation,” Lumine calls. Amber blushes and then shuffles her feet.

“Well remember how you texted me about you not being able to afford to go to the new school?” Amber asks.

“Yes”

“WELL! I wanted to help you, for once and I got a bunch of people to help donate money for you to be able to go to the new school, sort of a scholarship if that makes sense,” Amber explains. Noelle’s eyes go wide open, shocked at this.

“I-I, wait what,” Noelle says softly, too in awe and shock at the news.

“Yep! It's all here in this bank account, ready to be transferred to you. I had Ningguang calculate the costs of moving and we made that our goal,” Amber explains, pointing to a happy-looking Ningguang next to Beidou. Noelle waves at them, still in shock.

“I-I can’t believe this,” Noelle says, seeing the thousands of dollars that were ready to be transferred to her family’s bank account. It felt all too real and good.

“Well, we all know how caring and kind you are Noelle, truly an exceptional person here at Genshin High. Therefore, we wanted to help you, for once to make up for all the times you have helped us out of the genuine kindness of your heart,” Amber says. Noelle looks up and sees Amber’s eyes, glinting with pure kindness and wholeheartedness that touched her heart.

Noelle leaped forward and hugged Amber, earning an “awe” from everyone else who was in the audience. The two hug, hearing each other’s heartbeat.
“Thank you, truly,” Noelle whispers.

“It's my pleasure,”