beep. beep. beep.
y/n heard a the faint noise of a heartbeat monitor, which became louder as she gained her consciousness. her eyes felt heavy, and so did her arm. wait, where was she? she gazed up at the ceiling above, squinting at the unfamiliar surface.
"there you go again, squinting as always" a tired voice made her stiffen and sit up, but she felt dizzy and fell back into her bed. the weight on her arm had been lifted too.
"am i.. in heaven?" y/n closed her eyes, sighing.
"uh no you aren't, silly." a familiar voice spoke from beside her. her eyes widened, peering at him. although he was bandaged up, she could still recognise his warm, golden eyes. tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision and making her lip tremble.
"xiao!" she sat up once again, hugging him.
xiao smiled at her recovery, relieved that she was back to normal. y/n cried into his shoulder, her tears landing onto his shirt. oh how she missed him. this was scaramouche's cue to leave. y/n pulled away, holding onto his free hand. she noticed his other arm, which was bandaged.
xiao had fractured a few of his knuckles, though they were minor injuries compared to scaramouche. the purple haired male had gotten a concussion from being thrown around and fighting tartaglia. he also had multiple bruises and scratches from the battle on his face and on his limbs.
"..y/nnNNNNN!!!!" y/n sniffled, her name being shouted in the halls of the hospital. heizou was panting as he entered her hospital room, his maroon hair messy from running. he looked up to see a teary eyed y/n holding hands with xiao.
"oh. was i interrupting something?" he was hit with embarrassment, turning to leave.
"no, you weren't, hei. come back here" y/n spoke, her throat feeling tight. heizou sat next to y/n on the other side of the bed, a look of sorrow evident on his face.
noticing his unusual behaviour, y/n asked xiao to leave, bidding him goodbye as he went to the waiting room.
"what's wrong heizou?" she leaned towards him, giving him a reassuring smile. he looked like he was on the verge of bursting into tears. he sighed, a guilty look in his eyes.
"it's all my fault, y/n. it's my fault you ended up getting hurt." he failed to meet her eyes, looking down into his lap. heizou ran his hand through his hair, then rested his face in his hands.
she pouted, shifting closer to embrace him.
"it's fine. besides, i enjoyed it a lot. i got to wear a really nice outfit, and i beat up that bitch lumine!" y/n excitedly cheered, squeezing him tighter. he managed a chuckle, enjoying being in her presence. heizou was lucky to have a friend like y/n.
—
after a while, y/n managed to cheer him up.
"and then we got on this MASSIVE green dragon! it was awesome y/n! i wish you could've seen it too!" heizou exclaimed, giggling at the memory. she grinned at her friend, glad that he was back to normal.
a certain purple haired boy stood at the door, watching the pair laugh from afar. he decided to walk to y/n's bed, leaning against the wall.
"how are you feeling, scara?" y/n glanced at him, smiling. he shrugged, sighing.
"could be better," he muttered, returning her gaze and moving to sit beside her.
y/n reached for her phone, checking the time. 10:00am. 'darn it.' she frowned, 'I have school tomorrow.'.
"what's with the face y/nie?" heizou questioned, raising a brow at her expression.
"we have school tomorrow.. everyone's gonna talk about us." she said, pouting. scaramouche chuckled lightly at her, covering his mouth with his hand.
"pfft, that's nothing compared to what I've done." he scoffed, bragging about his crimes. y/n deadpanned at his boastful behaviour.
•••
when y/n arrived at school with xiao, the students weren't staring at them like she thought they would, neither were they whispering about them. that would be such a cliche thing to do. she was called to the office, along with the other members who went on the mission. they stood outside, waiting to get called into the room.
"i can assure you that we have nothing to do with this!" the blonde protested, standing in front of a guilty looking ginger. she continued arguing with the vice principal, who ignored her comments.
"how foolish." he spoke with a stern yet calm voice. he stood up, opening the door. "both of you are hereby expelled from our school. i will never see your faces, nor will i spot you on school grounds ever again, is that clear?" he glared, his sharp eyes piercing into her soul. the ginger male grabbed her arm, leading her outside of the room.
"i'm sorry for what happened just now. hopefully, you won't be conflicted with their malicious antics anymore." he sighed, welcoming the group into the large room. he closed the door and sat back at his chair.
"thank you, mr. neuvillette." shinobu spoke up.
xiao watched as y/n's eyes were glued to the floor, noticing her heavy breathing. she couldn't handle intimidating situations. at first he was hesitant, slowly inching his hand closer to hers. when it was close enough, he intertwined their hands together, squeezing her fingers tightly to reassure her.
neuvillette cleared his throat, "no, I should be thanking you all. though, not entirely." he further explained the situation with the 'harbingers' gang, and how he has managed to suppress their actions with the help of the police.
"I won't be giving out suspension, as your graduation is in 2 weeks." their eyes widened at the sudden realisation. "though, you will do community service and detention as a consequence of your actions." he spoke with sincerity, eyeing each student individually.
"you are dismissed." he smiled, as if he was silently proud of them. they all breathed a sigh of relief as they exited the room.
"shh, he'll hear us!"
"shut up, bard."
"exCUSE YOU OLD MAN!!"
"hush, guys.. what are you, children?"
neuvillette glanced back at the door connecting the main staff room to his office. chuckling, he stood up and walked over to the hidden trio. as he opened the door they stood frozen in their spot.
"ah, m-mr. neuvillette! pleasure seeing you here! what a coincidence!" venti sweat dropped, spewing nonsense to 'cover up' their little scene.
"thank you, monsieur." ei held a hand to her chest and bowed her head, as if saluting him. she made it seem like he was an almighty figure who just spared their lives.
"i am just doing what is right. justice is to be served." he replied, his presence overwhelming, making zhongli's appearance next to him almost invisible.
—
noelle walked in the halls of the school, turning her head in the direction of the sudden noise filling up the empty hallway. she notices y/n and how happy she is with xiao and her friends. noelle smiled at the group, glad that y/n was back to normal again. she then continued walking to her class.
the friends head back to their classes for the day. that week they studied for their final exams and finished off their last assignments. their afternoons were spent in detention which they did community service in.
other than that, they did do somewhat fun things. after the mission, they all enjoyed hanging out with one another, growing closer as their graduation neared. video game sessions on the weekends, sleepovers in the dorms, endless pranks on other students, you name it.
then came their graduation.
"y/n l/n" the speaker called, the students cheering as she entered the stage. she flashed a smile as she received her certificate, looking into the crowd of graduates for her one and only. there he stood, looking at her with his warm eyes. y/n wiped the tears that welled up in her eyes, walking down the staircase of the stage.
everyone waited patiently as the other students' names were called. then, it was time for the principal's speech.
"students, i congratulate you all for coming this far in your education. i appreciate your hard work and dedication throughout your years at this school, and i am proud of you all. well done." she concluded, applauding the students that stood in front of her. everyone else joined in, hugging one another and crying as they concluded their final day of school.
•••
"gosh, I'm so tired.." y/n flopped onto her bed. xiao smiled softly at her, closing the door behind him.
"well, it's not my fault you danced that hard tonight." he chuckled, crouching beside her. she turned her head, facing him. y/n frowned slightly, giving xiao a pout before facing the other way.
he smiled at her once more, before joining in beside her. he snuggled closely against her, resting his chin on her head and wrapping his hands around her figure.
"I love you, y/n." he whispered, kissing her head and closing his eyes.
"I love you too, xiao." she whispered back, smiling as she fell asleep.
•••
dayum long chapter
i'm itching to start my scara book - which is hopefully better than this book (i might rewrite slightly)
thank you for reading and being patient with my slow ass <3
have an great day/night! :)