Here With Me (ZhongChi)

V

   Studying together became a habit for Childe and Zhongli.

   They'd usually meet at the school's library, and sit across each other so Zhongli could easily reach over if Childe needed help. Most of their time was spent doing homework, and ending their session by reviewing class notes. Childe oftened asked Zhongli for help to explain certain topics, work through examples, and sometimes even re-teaching him whole subjects because he hadn't paid attention in class. Zhongli is so much easier to focus on.

   The senior never asked Childe for help. Even when he visibly struggled, he refused Childe's help. Not because Childe wouldn't be able to help, but mostly because he wanted to figure it out himself. It was understandable, but it puzzled Childe why they would study together if Zhongli studied so independently. He never even had Childe help when he was testing himself with flashcards.

   At some point they found themselves needing to study at the library during weekends. With midterms exams coming up, they spent more time together, yet less time talking to each other leisurely. It was a bit tiring, but Childe persisted, believing that maybe after midterms they'll finally be able to go out and hangout like the friends they claim to be.

   During the actual midterms exams, Childe wasn't able to see Zhongli once. Not even during breaks, or while changing classrooms. It brought his morale down a bit, but he had Lumine to knock sense into him.

   Everyday after school during the exam period, he followed the twins home, and they studied together for a couple hours. It was less productive than the session with Zhongli, but it was refreshing. He didn't have worry about his pride when procrastinsting, neither did he feel like a bother asking for help like he did with Zhongli.

   When the exam period ended, and their results were revealed, Childe was so dumbfounded that Lumine had to physically shake him back to reality.

   "Holy- since when are you smart?!" she exclaimed, gaping at his results. "You did better than me! How?"

   Paimon looked over their shoulders to see the rankings. "Woah! Were you not in the lowest quarter last time?" she asked.

   "Yeah," he nodded, smiling as he thought of the cause. "Studying with Zhongli really... it really helped, huh."

   "Wanna tell him?" asked Lumine. "Actually, I wanna check the third year rankings. I want to see if he really is a genius," she chuckled, walking to the ranking board next to theirs.

   They blankly stared at the first place.

   "Paimon isn't even surprised."

   "Yeah, me neither," nodded Lumine. "He really is the best of the best," she hummed.

   "I wonder how far ahead he was from second place," thought Childe, aloud.

   "Very far!"

   They jumped at the voice behind them, sighing as they took in the sight of Venti grinning.

   "Venti! Where's Zhongli?" asked Lumine.

   "In our classroom," he said. "He didn't want to go out in the crowded halls, so asked me to report his ranking," he chuckled. "I don't even know why he bothers to check it anymore. He's always on top," he sighed.

   "You never know. One can always come across an unexpected enemy," stated Childe.

   "This isn't an ambush, is it," deadpanned Lumine.

   "Academic ambush," considered Venti. "That's probably what Zhongli fears the most," he nodded, as if it was a known fact.

   They spent a couple minutes searching for Venti's name, unsurprised as it sat right in the average grade rankings, and then parted ways.