Young Love - Genshin Impact x Reader (Highschool AU)

Chapter 8 - Boy Band?

A/N: ahahaha... its been a little while... i have a bad habit of getting really drawn into genshin during the new updates but dropping it immediately after i finish the archon quests so erm... yeah. that's my bad everyone. but! sumeru is out and i've been loving it !! it's by FAR my favorite region and im excited to get those characters in here too!! let me know how your experiences in the new region are, im curious to see what other people think!

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Ah, the most enjoyable part of any student's day. Lunch. You were so excited about getting to the lunchroom to meet back up with Aether and Lumine that you weren't paying attention to your own surroundings.

You felt yourself bump into someone, almost knocking them over in the process. "Ah-! I-I'm sorry! I wasn't paying attention, I didn't mean to-"

The stranger regained his composure, picking up the strange looking item he'd just dropped with a little laugh. "It's no problem, the hallways are always a crowded area anyways. I should've been more careful!"

You took a second to study his appearance. He was short, with pale skin and strikingly green eyes. His black hair faded into a beautiful teal color in braids on either side of his face. A white flower was pinned in his hair, which reminded you a little of Lumine's. The stranger lightly dusted the item he had dropped, and it was then you realized that it was a lyre.

"I'm Venti, by the way. Headed to lunch, are you?"

"I am." You offered Venti a smile, which he gladly returned. "And uhm, I'm Y/n."

"What a beautiful name... I'll have to use it it a poem sometime...." You felt your face heat a little at the comment, but Venti didn't seem to be looking at you anymore. He was lost in his own thoughts, apparently.

"Oh! You should get to lunch, I don't want to keep you from some delicious food, ehe!" With a wave, Venti dashed off to wherever he was headed before, the lyre clutched carefully across his chest.

You shook your head at the sight. Venti sure seemed odd, though you didn't have much time to think about it. He was right, you should get on your way to lunch.

Once you reached the huge cafeteria and went through the line, you found Aether and Lumine's table. Once again, Amber joined the pair.

"Ah! Y/n, there you are!" Lumine smiled as you took a seat.

"We were starting to worry that you got lost or something." Aether added.

You chuckled, sticking a fork into your food. "Ah, no... I just bumped into a guy named Venti on my way here."

"Venti?" Lumine shot Aether a look before turning back to you. "Interesting. He's not usually out and about. He spends a lot of his time in the band room."

That seemed to make sense to you... he was headed in the general direction of the band room, and he was holding that lyre....

"So he really likes music, then?" You asked. It seemed obvious, but you guessed there was something Lumine wasn't telling you yet.

Aether's face turned a light shade of pink as he stuffed a forkful of food into his mouth and turned away from you. Lumine grinned at his reaction as she draped an arm across your shoulders. "Oh, you have no idea. He's got this little boy band project going on, and he's dragged Aether into it too. What's it called again? An Emo?"

"Anemo. And that's not what it's called anymore... we changed it to Swirl, except the 'S' is a 5... since there's five of us...."

"You're in a boy band?" You looked at Aether with amazement. This was something he'd failed to mention while creating small talk with you the last few days. You weren't sure why he'd hide something so cool! "Who are the other members?"

Aether stared at you for a moment. He studied your expression, gauging how serious you were being. After a moment, he seemed satisfied that you weren't making fun of him, and instead were showing a genuine interest in what he had to say. "Well... there's Xiao, he's from Liyue High. He's kinda scary looking, but once you get to know him he's a pretty big softie. Then there's Kazuha. He's a huge music fanatic from Inazuma. Heizou is the last and newest member, who is also from Inazuma. I'm not sure how Kazuha convinced him to join, since he'd rather be reading police reports than singing anything."

"Remind me again, why didn't you involve Barbra? She's known for her great singing voice." Amber piped up.

"Ah... well, it was Venti who organized it. I'm not really sure why he chose who he did." Aether tapped his chin as he thought.

Lumine hummed. "Well, it wouldn't be a boy band if there was a girl, I suppose. Maybe we can make a rival band! What do you think Amber, Y/n?"

"Yeah! I can get Eula to join us too! I'm sure she'd love that kind of thing!" Amber enthused as she plopped another bite of food into her mouth.

"I'm not much of a singer..." You scratched your neck sheepishly. "I could be a manager or something, maybe?"

Aether sighed. "Or, we can drop the idea. Lumine is only bringing it up because she likes to tease me for my interests."

"Oh, brother dear, you know that's not true. I love your music and nerd group."

"I can hear the sarcasm in your voice."

"Sarcasm? Me? I would never be sarcastic with you."

"You're doing it again."

"This could go on for awhile," Amber whispered to you. "If you're done eating, I can walk you to your next class while they keep bickering."

You nodded. The two of you stood, and the twins were too busy arguing to notice your absence.

"So, what's next for you, Y/n?"

You pulled a little piece of paper out of your pocket. Scrawled on it was your schedule, done by memory after you lost the original. "Choir. That's weird, it's not like a club or anything?"

Amber shook her head. "Nah. For whatever reason both band and choir are full classes here. But hey! At least we're headed to the same place! Venti will be there too. And Barbara, the girl I mentioned before. She's pretty famous around the school for her singing voice and gentle nature."

"So... is Mondstadt like a theater school or something and nobody told me?" She laughed at your remark.

"It kinda seems like that, doesn't it? We aren't officially a theater school, but a lot of the student council is a part of the fine arts department. We do have pretty good sports teams too! We beat Liyue High all the time! Of course... we aren't the best at everything. Sumeru definitely kicks our butts academically. Our mathletes have nothing against theirs."

"Mathletes?"

"Yup! Albedo, Sucrose, Lisa, and a few others who make up Mondstadts brightest always come in second when it comes to the scholars of Sumeru. Of course, they're not actually scholars, but its what they choose to call themselves just to rub it in."

"You sure know a lot, Amber." You smiled at your companion. She gave you a toothy grin.

"That's my job! Now come on Y/n, we're here already!" She grabbed your wrist, pulling you into the classroom behind her.