Sprouting Relationship | Xiao x Aether

Pt.1 : First Sight.

Aether's POV

I dashed through the halls, swerving past others. I just ran from the worst scene in my life. Of course, me getting bullied, as usual like everyday. I kind of forgot the bully's name, but I believe their name was...Diluc? I'm not sure. I kept running through the hallways, until I ran into some boy figure.

"Oh! I'm so so sorry!" I said quickly, picking up my things. I looked up to see a boy with black hair, fading into a greenish teal color at the edges. "Are you okay?" He held out his hand to help me up. As soon as I put my hand on his, I felt the sharpest kick to my neck.

"Yeowch!" I yelped. At this point, everyone was staring at us. I look behind to see the boy with the red hair tied in a low ponytail. Thats...thats the boy, Diluc. Diluc grabbed my uniform collar and pulled me. "S-Stop! My neck hurts!" I screamed.

He ignored me obviously. I saw his arm raise up, predicting that he was going to fucking kill me. I accepted that fate, until I heard footsteps. The sound of a teacher's shoes. I looked at the corner of the hall and saw Ms. Jean, but then quickly, I was punched in the face, very harshly.

"Aether!" Ms. Jean screamed. Diluc let go of my collar, and dropped me onto the marble floor. My head hit quite hard, but I was still conscious somehow. I was breathing heavily, looking up silently at the ceiling. I felt some liquid on my face. I felt it for a moment, then looked at my finger to see bright red blood.

"Ms. Jean! I-I..." Diluc was sweating. I sort of sat up the best I could. I looked around the corner to see Nurse Lisa walking towards me. She supported my back and helped me up. "YOUNG MAN DILUC! IN MY OFFICE, NOW!" Ms. Jean yelled.

Diluc sighed heavily and glared at me with the, 'I'll fucking beat the hell out of you', look. I felt a shiver down my spine, until Nurse Lisa escorted me to the Nurses Office. I looked behind me to see that boy. He was expressionless, and kept walking down the hall.

Xiao's POV

Well that was quite a scene. That blonde boy though...he seemed pretty nice and cute. Wait...What am I saying?! I walked down the hall to where my classroom was for this new semester. I sat down at my table, and watched people storm the popular kids.

The most popular kids in my class were mostly Lumine, Diluc, and Kaeya. Jeez. I silently sat there, until a familiar figure walked in the room all bandaged, and sat down next to me. Thats the same blonde boy that got beat up! "U-Uhm..Hey. Sorry about earlier." I said to him.

He turned towards me. There was a bandage, covering his left eye and went around his head from that left eye. His arm was all bandaged too. "No no! I'm sorry for running into you.." He replied. I giggled and said, "No need to say sorry! Its alright!" The blonde braided boy laughed along with me.

Lumine walked up to the blonde boy's desk. "Oooh! Lovebirds I see!" She teased. I turned away, with my face flushed red. I calmed down and looked back to see the blonde boy's face all red and blushy. "L-Lumine! I just met him!" He yelled. Lumine laughed. "Calm down, Aether! I'm just joking! Or am I?"

So Aether was his name, huh? Lumine waved goodbye to Aether as she sat at her desk, all the way at the front. "So, Aether, right?" I asked. He nodded and smiled softly. "Ah. What a nice name! I'm Xiao!" I giggled and we talked for a while during class. We laughed, and talked gossip about his sister.

The bell rang for lunchtime. Me and Aether walked out the classroom, still chatting and laughing, until Diluc walked up to Aether. "Diluc. Get out!" Aether shouted. Diluc chuckled and grabbed Aethers braid. "Awe! Why you got a braid hmm? Are you are girl?!" Diluc laughed, embarrassing Aether in front of everyone.