The new guy | Genshin impact /Modern AU

5-The new drumer

[Xiao POV]

It was already 4pm when hurried to the music room, I didn't want to arrive much too late. Before I entered I took a minute to catch my breath. All three guys were already sitting in there and looked at me with a smile. "Ah, so you've really come. Didn't think so" Venti said. "I told you: don't judge a book by its cover!" that was the wisdom Kazuha had to share. Aether was sitting there smiling at me. "So, let's just start right away, everybody get your instruments!" I looked around the room to find the drums, I found them standing in a corner. Venti took his guitar out and Kazuha grabbed his flute. "What are we playing?" Aether asked, "The song I gave you last time" Venti responded and in addition he gave me a sheet as well. Venti counted to three and we started playing, after the intro Aether started to sing. I was really caught up in his voice, it was really stunning. That's why I messed up a bit, since I looked at Aether for some time.

When the song was over, Venti began talking "You're quite good Xiao. So what's your final decision? Are you gonna join our band" "Yeah, why not?" I answered. Actually I didn't expect playing in a band to be this fun, so why shouldn't I join. "Great, so the next step on my list is to think of a cool band name, which we'll use to register" Venti kept doing all the talking "How about '4nemo'?" "How did you come up with that name?" Aether questioned Ventis decision. "I have no idea, but I think it sounds cool" he replied "Well I've got nothing to complain about" was Kazuhas opinion. When they were looking at me I just shrugged and said "Sure" "Ok, I'm fine with it" Aether said.

"Ok great, since we've got this out of the way. Let's move on to choosing some songs. I would say everyone suggests one song and were gonna look up some music notes, print them and then play them." The three of us just nodded. As soon as everyone had chosen a song Venti and Kazuha went out to print the music sheets we found online. Thus now it's just me and Aether in here. It was an awkward silence between the two of us, since we weren't really the best of friends. Aether broke it with a question "Say, since when have you been playing the drums?" "I started playing when I was eight then I took lessons for four years, after that I haven't really played" "Oh, why did you stop playing?" I bit my lip, this was a topic I'd rather not talk about. Nevertheless I wanted to tell him, I wanted to trust him. So I told him "Well, when I was younger I used to have a lot of fun with my grandpa. We did lots of fun things together, but then he got really sick and died short after. That was also the time when my parents started to have more and more fights. They often fought till deep into the night, which prevented me from sleeping. And they still haven't made up, that's why I always stay at a dorm during school time"

[Aether POV]

His face got darker and darker with every sentence, seems like he had a really bad time back then. I didn't really know what to say. So I just hugged him, he seemed really confused at first, but then he hugged me back. We stayed like this for some minutes, then we let go of each other. My cheeks had heated up a bit, so I turned away and tried to get them back to normal. He simply said "Thanks!" "Oh eh, it's nothing" I responded blushing again, he didn't notice it since he was just starring at the ground.

I heard voices in the hallway, they belonged to Kazuha and Venti. So I tried to cheer up as good as I could, when they came in I already had put on a smile. "I've got the copies, we can start playing!" he gave sheets to me and Xiao, who looked as 'cheerful' as ever by now.

We played every song once and then Kazuha said that it's enough for today. We all packed our stuff and went outside the room. Since Xiao and I have neighboring rooms, we walked next to each other. "I really appreciate that you told me about your past earlier. Say how about we meet up later, then I can tell you more about myself" "Yeah, sure" Xiao said, which got me all flustered. So I said quickly "Great, see you in half an hour!" before I hurried into my room, hopefully he didn't notice my cheeks began to get all heated up again.

I leaned onto the door of my room, so I could cool down. Unfortunately Lumine was in here too and when she saw my red cheeks she started to grin. "Oho, who made you blush like this?" she asked truly interested. I just gave her a face that's supposed to say 'none of your business'. She left me alone for now, but surely she would play detective from now on.

Well, I can't deny it anymore I have a crush on Xiao. But at least I'm already friends with him and he told me something about his past. Therefore I'll have to tell him something about me, I'll better think of something before I go meet him.