𝙨𝒕𝙖𝒓𝙙𝒐𝙢'𝙨 𝙨𝒆𝙘𝒓𝙚𝒕 - 𝐥𝐲𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐱 𝐟em! 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

chapter 11 - her concert

The day Lyney was looking forward to had arrived.

Y/n's orchestra concert.

He wore fancier clothes than usual—to which he would later see that he was out of place among the casually dressed parents and siblings in the crowd—to show how much he cared, even though y/n insisted that he didn't need to.

Y/n said the concert began at 19:00, so he still had about forty-five minutes to kill before he had to leave, as it was 18:00 sharp.

"How fancy, Lyney," a woman's voice remarked from outside the bathroom, in which Lyney was analyzing himself in the mirror.

"Oh, hello, Mother. Yeah it's formal clothing for um—" he grew embarrassed, "y/n's concert."

"Oh? How thrilling," an uncharacteristic, knowing smirk grew on her face. "You must care a lot for her to go out of your way like this."

He groaned. "Why does everybody keep saying that?"

She ignored him. "Well, I wish you good luck. Y/n is a nice girl. Intelligent, too. I can see why you love her."

He shrieked comically, face flushing red. "Huh—what—excuse me?"

Arlecchino hummed in response, going to continue work in her room. Whatever she actually did in there. Who knows, honestly.

Lyney covered his face with his hands, cheeks warm. Apparently everybody could tease him now. How unfair.

He continued styling his hair with a comb, anxious about his appearance. He really didn't know why he was so anxious, it was just y/n. He felt comfortable around her, yet also felt a need to impress her. Odd.

"Lyney, are you done with the bathroom—huh?" Lynette showed genuine shock on her face. An impressive feat Lyney would have to remember.

"What? Why's everyone giving me that face?"

"Because you look like a groom in a wedding and not like you're going to your best friend's school orchestra concert," she remarked, putting emphasis on the word friend.

"I wanted to look formal... the orchestra themselves are going in concert black, so I figured I should do the same."

"Huh. I almost feel like a slacker, then. I guess I'll style my hair a little differently, to show respect..."

"See, it's not weird!"

"Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night, brother."

*****

Lyney, Lynette, and Freminet strode quickly to the entrance of the school doors, the December night cold and merciless.

A stranger held the door open for them, to which they walked even faster. "Thank you," they said in unison.

The school's auditorium doors were wide open, letting the students, parents, and friends alike to file in to the seats, which were on a slope. As if they were in college already.

Red tinsel hung on the wall above the stage in arches, "Merry Christmas!" and "Happy Holidays!" written in the classic Christmas colors.

The three siblings took seats in the middle very close to the stage, unfortunately not front row. Y/n sat in violin 1 first desk.

She's so amazing. First desk, violin one...

She saw them, and she waved subtly but surely to them before the clock struck 19:00, and the conductor immediately called for the orchestra to tune via held notes on the keyboard.

First came C for the cellos, followed by G, D, A, and E.

They finished tuning their instruments in record time, only two minutes for the entire orchestra.

The conductor spoke. "Thank you, parents and family for attending our concert tonight. And if you're a student, thank you for attending as well. Our orchestra has put in the utmost effort to give you the best display at their highest possible performance. I'm sure you all picked up the small slip of paper at the entrance of the auditorium listing all the songs we will be playing. As you will see, the music consists of Christmas songs composed all around Teyvat."

Lyney held the list in front of him.

1: Carol of the Bells (Snezhnayan)................
2: Canon in D (Mondstadt)............................
3: Winter (Natlan)..........................................
4: Snezhnaya's Nutcracker............................

His eyes widened. The Nutcracker? Were they hiding prodigies in the school's orchestra? Was everybody else really as great as y/n?

The conductor waved subtly held up a countdown of "three, two, one," on his fingers before he signaled for them to begin.

Lyney was immediately immersed in the performance, the melody gentle yet cascading and filling the room with its power.

"Woah," the siblings released below their breath. Lyney and Lynette shared mutual understanding at the moment, the countless practice and rehearsals evidently paying off in the performance.

The orchestra as a whole was undeniably stunning. However, Lyney's eyes were trained on one, single musician throughout the entire concert, never taking his eyes away.

All too soon, the final note of the Nutcracker ceased, and the audience began to clap.

"Okay, orchestra. Pack up your instruments and help me move all the chairs and stands back to the band room."

The orchestra obliged, the students swiftly walking to where their cases were hidden in the dark beside the auditorium stage, packing up their instruments.

In Lyney's opinion, the concert went by too fast. It was only 19:18, and it was already over.

He got a glimpse of y/n scurrying back and forth between the auditorium and the band room.

Lyney emerged from his seat, his siblings doing the same, and met y/n as she came down from the auditorium's stage.

"Hey guys!" She exclaimed casually, and Lyney's breath caught in his throat. He had seen her from a far, but up close had no comparison. The dress code was concert black, and y/n took preciseness to it. She was dressed in a (rather expensive looking) black blouse, with long black pants. Neither pieces of clothing had a single wrinkle.

He realized he was staring, and awkwardly cleared his throat, cheeks red. "Hello! You guys did magnificently!" He covered himself nonchalantly and smoothly (he hoped).

She blushed from the compliment. "Aw, thank you so much! I'm glad you think we did so well. It took a lot of practice," she chuckled, and Lyney wouldn't mind listening to the sound for the rest of his life.

Archons, that thought was too sappy.

"You guys sounded awesome," Freminet added. "It felt like I was transported to another world! Your orchestra must really put in a lot of work." Freminet's eyes were shining.

I mean, makes sense. Freminet plays an instrument too, so he must really hold a lot of admiration.

"I agree. It truly sounded wonderful."

Y/n's face lit up at the compliments. The four conversed animatedly, before y/n's parents apologized and announced they would have to leave.

For sure, he thought, I'll put on the most spectacular performance Teyvat will ever witness. For her.