𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐚 |𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭|

★ 4

『𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 4𝐭𝐡, 20𝐗𝐗
𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲』

𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐍'𝐓 snowing that morning.

But a good pile of snow had accumulated in the field of Teyvat Middle School, excited children of all grades running along the snowy plains in excitement.

Kunikuzushi thought otherwise.

Pushed into the pile of snow-which did nothing to soften his landing-the indigo-haired boy grunted in pain.

Before he could react, a ball of snow had collided against his head, the ice sliding down his face in an almost comedic effect.

A group of kids-three towering seniors, to be exact-were snickering in delight at the pathetic view. They took the liberty to throw another ball of snow, landing it straight on his face.

"Are you gonna go cry to mommy now?" One of the kids snickered, squatting down and tugging at Kunikuzushi's hair. "Oh right! You don't got one, do you?"

Right.

Betrayed, abandoned, forgotten-the snow did not feel as cold as before.

It hurts. He wanted to scream.

His eyes were void, thoughts consuming him; no one wanted him anyway, so who cares if he was buried under this pile of snow?

Who cares if he got hurt? If he disappeared right now?

Who cares?

"Hey!"

The three boys turned their attention away from the quiet male, throwing him on the snow once more before rising from their squatting positions.

"Kazuha, call over Mr. Venti." The approaching girl whispered to her companion. The said male looked upon her in worry, looking forth and back from the bullies.

"I promise I won't do anything." She finally mumbled. Satisfied with her answer, he stated a quick 'I'll be right back' before running off.

Unfortunately, he failed to notice the crossed fingers behind her back.

"Gonna go tattle?"

The girl stayed silent, ignoring the three boys and shifting her gaze towards the smaller boy lying in the snow.

She took confident steps towards the three-who had unwittingly cowered at her approaching form-completely walking past them and kneeling on the snow.

"Hey, you okay?"

Kunikuzushi did not answer. One would have assumed that he had lost consciousness; however, the gentleness of the voice lulled his eyes open, weakly turning his head towards the skies.

A look of both worry and fury flashed across the girl's face. What monsters would do this to a kid-a younger one nonetheless?

"Hmph! Weak little orphan kid. Looks pathetic, doesn't he?"

The girl was not sure what gave her so-called peer the idea that she was on their side-the arm of one of the guys pushing down uncomfortably on her shoulder.

"So, you guys did this?"

Kunikuzushi's eyes widened-he wasn't sure if he should be terrified or amazed. Her voice was calm-gentle, even-yet her eyes were livid.

"Pff, it wasn't even a fight." One of the other guys laughed.

"Cool." She answered. The indigo-haired child watched as the girl stood from the snow.

A punch was thrown soon after.

"Ow! What the-"

One of them was tackled to the ground, another fist raised and colliding with the flesh of their face. The other two boys watched in shock, frozen in their places as they watched their friend get beaten.

A sharp glare towards their way sent another shiver down their spine.

The girl rose, balling her gloved hands into a fist before letting it fly towards another face. They could only watch as the threat came closer, unblinking and unmoving.

"[name]!"

Suddenly, the fist stopped. Pathetic swings followed as her arm was now held back from hitting the boy's face.

The boy collapsed, bursting into tears as he began to run away, tears dropping to the ground and melting the snow.

"Who's crying to their mommy n-!"

A hand clasped over her mouth, a series of muffled cries and screams escaping her lips. The other two boys did not stay to watch, helping each other up as they ran back inside for their classes.

"Mm, Mmm!" The girl bit the hand over her mouth, successfully escaping the adult's grip.

"Why did you let them go!?" The child huffed out, voice strained from both exhaustion and vexation. "I need to-"

"[name]. That's enough."

The stern voice of her usually happy-go-lucky teacher caused her to falter, lips pressed to a thin line.

Venti looked down at her with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. Kids these days.

"You promised you wouldn't do anything." The platinum-blond beside him mumbled, looking down at the snow.

[name]'s heart twinged at his saddened voice, feeling guilty for deceiving her friend. "Sorry..." She stated, albeit reluctant to admit her wrong.

"You two get back to class." Venti shooed the two away. "I'll take care of the rest, alright?"

The pair nodded in response, Kazuha tugging the sleeve of her jacket to walk back inside. [name] followed behind-although, she quickly looked towards the boy still in the snow, flashing him an apologetic smile before walking away.

"You alright, kid?"

Kunikuzushi couldn't process what had happened. He could only watch as his saviors walked away, hand in hand through the snow.

Who...cares?