Project Rebirth #2

Chapter 14

 "What happened to Morax after the concert incident?" Y/N asked, mainly for the purpose of making conversation.

She was sitting in the backseat of the car with Xiao and Heizou, waiting in the driveway of Morax's mansion. He had not yet come home from work, leaving the group with no other choice. Wanderer was driving, despite technically revoking his own license since he was unable to handle the blood in the back rows.

"He was arrested, but only for several hours. His company bailed him out fairly quickly, although Venti made sure that they would have to pay quite a lot of Mora." Despite Y/N's assumption that Xiao would attempt to avoid the topic of Venti, he seemed to talk about him with no reaction whatsoever.

"Oh. That's interesting," Y/N blatantly lied, not having a clue about what to say next.

"You don't have to try to begin a conversation that you don't want to have," Xiao said while idly examining his nails, which were painted black.

"Oh," Y/N said, then fell silent.

(Important Announcement: I realized that I have been writing this fanfiction like an actual book, which may be boring to some of you. If you want me to change my writing style, I will try to write in a style similar to the author of Falling For You, the Xiaoven fanfiction. Thank you for reading this brief message.)

What was she supposed to do? Y/N had always avoided awkward moments such as this with gentle brushoffs, hurried excuses, and guilty goodbyes. But there was no way to avoid this looming silence that surrounded them on all sides. Heizou let out a hiss of pain, giving Y/N a reason to not have an uncomfortable conversation with Xiao.

"Are you alright?" Y/N asked worriedly, already checking the bandages despite having checked them a dozen times.

"I'm...fine..." Heizou said. Then he slumped against Y/N, and she could tell that he was unconscious.

Y/N frowned, then examined Heizou more carefully. Even with the injuries that he had sustained, he shouldn't be fainting this frequently. She suddenly noticed a dark stain on Heizou's sleeve, spreading rapidly. Y/N pulled away his sleeve, gasping when she discovered a long cut from his shoulder to his wrist. She gagged when she saw the quartz-like gleam of bone jutting out from the wound, painting a gory scene.

Xiao stiffened when he turned to look at the two. "How deep is it?"

"I don't know," Y/N snapped, then looked down in shame as Xiao flinched slightly. No matter how stressed she was, there was no reason to snap at a friend. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Xiao said calmly, then scrutinized the wound. "Based on the amount of blood and the open fracture, it is quite deep."

"Do you think that the bandages can stop the bleeding?" Y/N asked, then added uncertainly, "Or should we bring him to a hospital?"

Xiao thought for a moment. "The best option would be to bring him to a hospital, but has Heizou said anything on the matter?"

Y/N suddenly recalled a conversation that she had with Yuki last night, when Heizou was sleeping. Yuki had mentioned that Heizou absolutely hated going to the hospital, because he was afraid that they would find out about Attutire; that would separate the two for years.

"Yuki once said that he despised hospitals," Y/N offered.

"Hm." Xiao frowned. "Earlier when Heizou mentioned Yuki, he didn't quite explain whether she was his younger sister or not. She is, right?"

"Yes," Y/N clarified.

"If Heizou hates hospitals we should make a tourniquet with the extra bandages to stop most of the bleeding, then bandage the wound," Xiao instructed.