A Nest Of Bugs

Genshin AU: the night you disappeared

Characters: Venti and Xiao

TW: implied child abuse, car accidents, child death, hospitals

The sun was nearing the edge of the horizon, painting the sky vibrant shades of red and yellow and orange. Little feet chased each other over the sidewalk, in a makeshift game of "tag" that took them farther and farther away from home. Xiao led the charge, just old enough that he could outrun his little brother easily. They'd gotten out of their neighborhood a while ago and Venti was still full of energy, still willing to keep going. Without the slightest idea that it was a make-believe game to get them far, far away from the house.

The house that would never be anything close to home.
The house that was dirty, where their parents fought, where too-strong air fresheners didn't do enough to cover up what was underneath. Where Venti and Xiao watched each other suffer at the hands of their mother.

And so they had left, Xiao leading the way further into town. And now he was slower, letting Venti start to catch up to him.

"Tag! You're it!"

The grin on Venti's little face was one Xiao couldn't help but smile at. He'd been gotten. And instantly, Venti was off again, trying his best not to get caught.

"Bet you can't catch me across the street!" he yelled, jumping into the crosswalk without looking.

"Venti-"

A teenager in the car with his girlfriend, going at least ten miles over the speed limit. He appeared almost out of nowhere, taking a sharp corner turn, his car heading straight towards Venti. And Xiao's perception of time seemed to slow as he dashed after his little brother, without enough time to truly protect him.

He grabbed Venti's shirt, tried to shield him.

He barely registered being thrown up into the air, the car rushing through them as if they were nothing.

And then Venti was shaking, trying to pull himself off the ground, but everything hurt and he couldn't lift his head up. All he could see out of the corner of his eye was Xiao. Xiao, lying motionless on the ground. Xiao, whose blood was beginning to stain the asphalt.

Venti sort of went to sleep for a little, but when he woke up again he could hear the siren and feel the bright lights shining on him. It hurt his head too much to listen to, so he went to sleep again.

And when he woke up, Xiao was gone.

The nurse explained to him what happened, but he didn't understand all the way. He didn't understand when his mom came to get him from the hospital and explained again. He really didn't understand when his parents were yelling at him because Xiao was gone. Or where he had gone in the first place.

Perhaps that was how he ended up here. Barefoot, lost, in a neighborhood he didn't recognize at all. Trying to find Xiao, but he wasn't even sure where he saw him last.