The Boy Who Cried Fox

The aftermath (Zhongli's pov)

"I got it!" Venti yelled. There was a lot of chaos as several people were panicking, yelling 'get their parents'. Of course, it was impossible to do so and all that Childe could do was pray that Zhongli was not dead. Sirens could be heard in the distance followed by an ambulance. They swiftly put Zhongli in one of those stretchers and asked if anyone would come along.

"I will." Noelle and Childe said at the same time. As they both got in the ambulance, Noelle explained what happened.

"I knew something was off!" Venti slammed his fists on the table to his dorm. Kazuha warily looked at his roommate. Xiao was sitting next to Zhongli on the floor and was trying his best to remain calm. Aether and this other guy, Heizou(not really important, just here cos he's their roomie), were busy scolding Lumine through text. Ei's serene demeanor had broken and she too seemed ready to kill Childe.

"I swear to Celestia that he shall perish." Ei was busy sharpening the dagger she kept with her.

"Calm down. It's not a big deal. I expected it anyway." Zhongli told them. Yet, even his words didn't feel like his own. Getting up, he went straight back to his own room. On the way, he couldn't help but feel wrong. He did let Childe explain but was there more to it? Well, what's done is done. Walking back, Zhongli noticed Childe still standing there but with another girl in his arms. Standing there to see what was going on, the closer he looked the more it seemed that they were smooching each other. And that girl was no other than Lumine. Tears began to fall like raindrops as he ran back to his dorm. Ignoring his five siblings awaiting his arrival, Zhongli locked himself in his room. Then, his breath quickened and he began to tremble violently.

Z: Goddammit!

Looking frantically around the room, Zhongli searched through drawers upon drawers of miscellaneous objects before pulling out six different pill bottles. Taking out the dosage for each one, Zhongli consumed medication after medication. Feeling too tired to think, he collapsed into bed. The next few days were rocky. With the school split in half, Zhongli seeked shelter from all the drama on the roof half the time. He tried to act normal and cover up the fact that he wasn't okay with the breakup or the fact Childe moved on so quickly just to stay away from all the drama. The one comfort he found was that every day when he got back there would be pills awaiting him. Lumine didn't help either, with her talking about how wonderful it was to be dating Childe. And she would especially talk shit about Zhongli. He didn't care, however, and went on with his life. Baizhu was now the only person he could trust besides Venti and Ei as they've seen him in the past. All the struggles he had to put up with for his siblings. Begging for nursing for Noelle as an infant, getting Yun Jin through her first period, helping Gorou take care of Azhdaha, saving up so that Albedo could get the science funds he needed and teaching Itto how to fight. As a result of all that, he lost his childhood but kept his siblings'. He has always worked alone and that is just how things are meant to be. He was better off on his own anyways. But one day, two familiar faces showed up at his dorm.

"Baizhu? Pantalone?" Zhongli kept the two twins from entering his dorm.

"Our parents are here." Pantalone moved aside, letting a tall green haired woman and a muscular black haired male come forth.

"Zhongli, how nice to see you again. We have a small favor to ask of you." The woman chuckled as she wrapped an arm around him. Zhongli instinctively pulled away.

"Ah, forgive her. But we wanted to ask you, date Baizhu and you'll never have to worry about anything." The man told him.

"No." Zhongli firmly replied.

"Great now-did you just say no?" The woman turned on him and grabbed him by the collar.

"I will not. Kill me for all I fucking care but I'm not dating that pervert if my life depended on it." Zhongli spat back. He glared as the woman dropped him in shock.

"Watch your tongue, young man! You know we can make your life a living hell like last time!" Their dad advanced on Zhongli, hoping that he would retreat in fear. But he just stood there.

"Baizhu is not a pervert. He loves you, we love you. We're only trying to protect you." The woman replied. She feigned hurt in her voice which Zhongli saw right through.

"If you loved us so much, why did you leave?" Zhongli continued to stand his ground.

"We had things to do!" Pantalone joined in, taking his parents' side. Baizhu just stood in a corner, observing the whole situation.

"You were never here! YOU WERE NEVER FUCKING HERE! YOU LEFT! I was 8! I was eight and taking care of them. Taking care of all of them. I was out in the freezing cold in nothing but a thin white shirt and black shorts, dragging Itto's ass in so that he wouldn't freeze to death. Staying up all night when Albedo got chickenpox. I washed Noelle's shitty diapers, I picked lice out of Gorou's hair and I was there, when Yun Jin got her first period. We don't need whatever fucking peice of shit you have to offer." Zhongli slammed the door in their faces before collapsing on the other side. He was exhausted. Leaning against the door, he could still hear them screaming to let them in. Keeping the door firmly shut until the left, Zhongli began to panic. When the door finally was left alone, Zhongli ran straight to his room and broke down. Clenching the sheets tight, Zhongli soon fell asleep from all the stress he'd been under.

The next day, he felt himself breathing slower, vomiting quite frequently and several times he had to stop himself from fainting. When he got back after a day of being in class, it happened all over again and he couldn't take it anymore. After the whole episode ended again, Zhongli grabbed all six of his bottles and a glass of water and ran to the bathroom. Emptying out the entire first two bottles, Zhongli ran to the sink. His vision started to fade in and out. Gripping on to the sink, he threw up everything. As he continued to stare at the sick, he noticed traces of blood in it. Looking up, he saw something that he could barely recognize as himself, all bloody and pale. Reaching for his phone, he staggered as he leaned on the toilet for stability.

"Noelle?" Zhongli coughed out. The more he spoke, the more blood came out.

"A-Li? You don't sound too good." Noelle's voice on the other side echoed off the bathroom walls.

"Get back to the dorms now." Zhongli's coughs escalated to him vomiting again.

"Stay there! I'm coming now!" She hung up and that was the last thing he heard from her. The next thing that happened was Zhongli blacking out and crashing on the floor.

"So, in short, this is all that fucking Baizhu's fault. This is why I'm not yelling at you." Noelle buried her head in her hands, visibly tired and seemed ready to collapse at any point. "This isn't the first time he overdosed."

"I'm sorry..." Childe mumbled. The rest of the ride was silent as both of them had no more to say. As they arrived, they hopped out of the ambulance, Childe lingered by the front door.

"Come on now! You're his boyfriend!" Noelle grabbed his hand and dragged him to the waiting room. They sat there, Noelle telling him everything he had done for her since young.

"Excuse me? Are you his friends?" The nurse had come to give them an update.

"He's the boyfriend, I'm his sister." Noelle jumped up and walked to the nurse.

"I-I'm no-" Childe tried to intervene.

"Shut up." Noelle snapped at him.

"Alright, so, he's fine. In stable condition but is in a coma. He will most likely wake up in three weeks. Thankfully, his body rejected most of the medication so there is not much damage done." The nurse showed them Zhongli's stats before permitting them to enter the ward. As they both entered, Childe ran up to Zhongli and fell on his knees.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Childe grabbed his hand and was sobbing profusely into it. Zhongli just laid there, face as peaceful as ever. Though his mind wasn't fully at peace.

Words: 1470