Chapter Text
Xiao felt the air around his grow stale. Aether was held at gunpoint. BY HIS OWN SISTER! She wanted blood. She didn’t care if it was her own, someone else’s, or her brother's. She wanted red to flow and someone to die.
“You couldn’t just have listened to what I told you to do, could you?” Lumine asked.
“What are you talking about?” Xiao questioned watching Lumine wave the gun around.
“I’m talking about your targets! I wanted them all dead in cold blood. So I could see the light purge from their eyes.” She giggled maniacally. “But no~! You had to grow a conscience! Do you know how boring that is… seeing someone fall in love instead of be chopped up into tiny little pieces?! But when you killed Childe? That was a work of art. Your talents used for one masterful moment. Makes me wonder why I don’t pay you.”
“Lumine-” Aether tried but Lumine shoved the gun into his side.
“Shut up!” Lumine cried. “You, oh so beautiful and sought after brother of mine, will feel what it’s like to lose everything.”
Xiao saw Aether’s fear and rushed forward. “Get back! I will shoot him!”
“Lumine.” Xiao started but Lumine shot the air before pointing it back at Aether.
“I said stay BACK! I will kill him. I’ll kill you. I’ll wipe this ENTIRE school out!” Lumine screamed.
Xiao’s eyes darted every which way trying to find a way to get everyone out of this situation when he saw Kazuha peaking out of the door to Lumine’s right and Tomo on her left.
Xiao saw Kazuha nodded and he slowly crept up behind her. “Life. So fleeting. So beautiful and precious but can be taken in an instant. I at first protected that life with my life but after a while of getting nothing in return… I tried my hand at the other end of the spectrum. Death is much more fun. The blood was warm and the look on their faces when their little girl was able to kill them so easily was so priceless! I loved it!” Lumine cooed.
“Mom and dad? Y-you killed them?” Aether asked his voice trembling and wary.
“Of course I did! Those fools were going to send me away! They found me with a cat and its blood all over me. Just figured I’d up it a few levels and try people. It was a blessing and a curse. That thrill of killing people for the first time was amazing and every person after that was just that. Thrilling.” Lumine smiled like she was thinking of something fondly. “But my killing spree was interrupted by an investigator. He got too close and so I ended him too and went radio silent but it was agony! Like my body was itching to kill again. It felt like I wasn’t breathing so every bug, every worm, every slug I saw on the road helped quell that if only a little.”
Xiao saw how close Kazuha was to Lumine and knew they needed only a little bit longer. “So what about me? Why did you drag me into this?”
“Because, dear Alatus, we’re so unstable. So willing to kill someone who made my idiot brother upset that just seeing someone die was enough to get my heart beating quickly again… but then you stopped. You made this harder on everyone.” Kazuha was arms length away. “And now someone has to die because of your own negligence to my rules.” Lumine turned and Kazuha’s eyes widened in fear.
It was a blur. Kazuha fell back holding his hand to his chest, blood starting to pour out from in between his fingers. Tomo screaming Kazuha’s name as he slid up next to him and tried to help stop the bleeding. Aether screamed seeing someone get shot right next to him and he fell to the ground. Xiao shivered. Everything that could go wrong went wrong.
He took this as an opportunity. Lumine’s back was turned. This was his chance. Xiao rushed forward but pluming heard him and fired another shot.
It missed.
Xiao saw her eyes filled with fear for a brief moment as he pinned her to the ground. He used his jacket to tie her hands behind her back. She squirmed and screamed as she tried to free herself but to no avail. He touched Aether’s shoulder and he startled. Xiao tilted his head slightly as he wiped away Aether’s tears. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. G-go check on Kazuha.” Aether stuttered. Xiao knew he was still in shock but Kazuha was still gasping and writhing on the floor.
“How is he?” Xiao asked pressing down with Tomo. Tomo had taken off his jacket and started pressing down on the bleeding chest wound. “Is he alright?”
“I’ve definitely been- AGH! Not so hard! I’ve been better!” Kazuha cried out in pain as they pressed to his wound.
“Save your strength. I don’t need you passing out.” Tomo whispered, afraid if his voice was any louder it would give away that he would cry at any given moment.
“I’ll be fine. I’ve been through worse.” Kazuha smiled softly reaching up and touching Tomo’s arm. Xiao smiled softly and turned back to see what Aether was doing.
Aether was watching his sister. She had given up in trying to get away and just laid on the ground. Aether sniffled and hiccuped and tried his best to not look so defeated. He saw Xiao looking at him and opened his mouth to say something when people rushed in. Men wearing bulletproof vests and holding guns.
“We’ve disarmed the assailant people get a paramedic in here! She shot him!” Xiao cried. He stood and backed away letting anyone who needed to help Kazuha would be able to get to him. Kazuha laid there pretending he was barely alive to help seal the deal as the medics rushed in along with his mother and Ningguang and the police escorted Lumine out. She screamed at him. Everything he didn’t would be brought to light. Every. Bad. Deed.
Xiao gulped but he knew he could get through it. Even if Aether didn’t want him anymore… he would still find a way to survive. He always did.
Zhongli rushed in and looked to the carnage around him. Aether crying on the floor and Ningguang, Beidou, and Tomo trying to stem the bleeding. Xiao stood and swaying?
Zhongli rushed forward as Xiao tipped on his side. He caught him and felt the wet warmth of blood leaking from his side. “Help, he’s been shot!” Zhongli cried. “Hold on. Hold on, Xiao, we are going to help you.”
Xiao felt caring arms around him and for once felt like he was in the calming presence of a father.
-~-~-
When Xiao woke up he was surrounded by the pungent smell of cleaning chemicals that one would smell in a hospital. Xiao felt horrified. He’d been in a place like this for days on end. The needles and the testing. He hated it.
He needed to go.
He needed to run!
Suddenly there was a soft soothing hand in his hair. A kind voice cooing and shushing him gently. He opened his eyes and saw Zhongli sitting there. Xiao relaxed exponentially. “Zhongli.”
“There you are Xiao. You’ve been in and out for a while. How are you feeling?” Zhongli asked.
“Better than when I passed out. How is everyone else?” Xiao questioned. “Kazuha. Is he alright?”
Zhongli nodded. “You’ve been out for a week. He’s already healed up enough to go home.”
“A WEEK?! Ow!” Xiao yelped in pain as he sat upright. Zhongli gently helped him lay down.
“Yes, like I said you’ve been in and out for a while.” Xiao deflated. “Your classmates visited you. Tomo, Xiangling, Albedo, Ayaka, Ayato, Thoma, Hu Tao, Razor, Bennett, Chongyun, Xingqiu… Aether. Your classmates certainly care for you.”
Xiao smiled. “I didn’t really know until now.”
Zhongli smiled. “It may be a sore subject since you just woke up but… would you like to come live with me and my wife. She is unable to have children and she would love to have at least someone to dote on.”
Xiao thought for a moment. Wasn’t this everything he wanted? Someone to want him? He smiled. “I would love to meet her.”
-~-~-
Xiao was able to leave the hospital after a few more days of monitoring and he went home with Zhongli. Guizhong, Zhongli’s wife, welcomed him and quickly made him feel at home. He felt like he had a family.
Weeks had passed and he found that staying in a place where you received love as much as you gave it was healthy for a human being.
Lumine was charged with multiple murders and was taken away to life in prison. She wasn’t able to survive in a place like that long. One too many fights and she was on a killing spree in the prison itself. She had to be gunned down and killed for trying to kill a security guard.
Aether was more devastated than he let on. His sister was a murderer and his parents weren’t really on a business trip they were buried in his basement. He would be worse off for where if not for his grandparents arriving to help him feel safe in his own home.
Xiao visited but each time Aether was asleep or not home. It was true. Xiao always visited when he wasn’t there. He didn’t know if he could face him. One day though, he finally worked up his courage.
He walked up to the door and knocked.
“Xiao? What are you doing here?” Aether asked. “My grandparents said you visit constantly but I just miss you. Do you want to come in?”
Xiao nodded. “Yes, please, that would be wonderful.”
Aether invited him in and Xiao sat down at the island and watched Paimon the fish was swimming in her bowl. Xiao sprinkled a few flakes into the pudgy fish’s bowl.
“Why are you here?” Aether asked.
Xiao bit his lip. “I just wanted to see if you were alright.”
“I knew the whole time Xiao. I knew- I know…” Aether said tears streaming down his face.
Xiao gulped. “Wh-what are you talking about?”
“I know that you kill people Xiao! I knew from the beginning. Before you ask how, I saw the blood on your shirt when you killed Kaeya. I saw you kill Kaeya.” Xiao stared in fear. Aether sobbed loudly. “Is it bad that I liked that you cared so much to kill for me? The one person who made me feel genuinely safe because I knew you would take care of me. You would care for me more than my sister even would.”
“I feel like I’m not the right person to ask this to. I feel like I should go away like she did. I feel like I should die in a horrific way because of what I’ve done.” Xiao felt tears in his eyes too. “I don’t deserve you and I never have. Even though I wanted you because you were gorgeous and smart and made me feel loved and seen in a world where I previously was never seen at all! I have a family with Zhongli now. His wife is like the mother I never knew I needed.”
Aether cried. He sobbed. “That’s why I loved it when you started helping bring people together instead of hurt them. Why I adored you when you stopped hurting people. I knew there were some people that needed a different way to leave me be but I… I knew that you just wanted to protect me. Thank you.”
“I feel like I don’t deserve a thank you.” Xiao muttered.
Aether moved closer and hugged him close before placing his forehead against Xiao’s. “I feel like you do. So please… let me thank you for protecting me through everything.”
“First let me thank you for everything you’ve done for me.” Xiao whispered.
“Then after will you let me say thank you?” Aether asked.
“Of course.” Xiao kissed Aether gently and Aether kissed him back. He pulled away and Aether stood completely dazed and giddy.
“How in the world am I to top that?” Aether asked smiled softly.
“Dunno. Want to see if you can?” Xiao asked smiling back at Aether. Aether’s smile brightened.
“I would love nothing more.”