Chapter Text
Xiao stood in the middle of an empty corridor. A few meters in front of him there were metal door and behind him darkness. He didn't want to move. He didn't want to approach either door or darkness. The only thing that was left for him to stand in this corridor. The paint was peeling off its walls and mold was growing freely taking every paint-free piece to itself. The boy couldn't stop himself from frowning at the smell that appeared to be floating in the air. Not only because of the growing fungi, but there was something else. Something that Xiao didn't want to think about. Something that he didn't want to recognize, but that metallic stench kept reminding him about itself.
A sudden sound of approaching footsteps made him flinch and turn around. At first they were loud and bold. The sound bounced off the narrow walls making it even louder.
Xiao froze. His heart started beating wildly like a caged bird, trying to burst free. His pupils widened and he felt like he was able to take more of that foul air into his lungs. Despite all that, he couldn't do anything other then stare into that dark corridor. He barely could force his saliva down.
As it got closer, the sound changed. Those were still footsteps, but now they sounded differently. They were no longer boots with stiff, thick sole. They were now heels. Heels.
Xiao didn't remember the moment that his feet moved, but something inside him told him to do so, so he did. He ran toward the door on the other side, but he couldn't reach them. It felt like the walls were longer and longer the faster he ran. Despite that, he couldn't give up. He started hearing a voice getting closer and closer. He didn't understand the words that it said, but he didn't want to.
"Xiao"
Another voice could be heard, once Xiao finally managed to get closer to the door. This one sounded soft and inviting. It made him want to reach that door quicker.
"Xiao"
When he made it to the door and put his hand on the handle, he felt a cold hand on his shoulder. he didn't want to look back. He didn't want to find out who was chasing him. He quickly opened the door and a pouring light assaulted his eyes.
"Xiao, are you awake?"
Xiao woke up in his room. It was bathed in bright light and he had to blink couple times to get used to the lighting. Only then did he notice a man crouching in front of him that had a warm hand on Xiao's shoulder. Zhongli. At the same time an alarm rang, probably for the third time this morning, the sound of which made Xiao cover his ears. Fortunately Zhongli quickly turned it off.
"You overslept. Are you feeling well?" Zhongli asked with a soft smile and extended hand slowly towards his son's forehead.
With a nightmare still vivid in Xiao's mind, the boy instinctually flinched from the hand and immediately regretted it. He noticed a small worried, or even hurt, expression appear on his dad's face before being covered by a smile again.
"I'm fine, sorry" he apologized looking down, not even daring to look at the piece of the fabric of Zhongli's shirt. "I just had a nightmare, it's nothing" he mumbled next and quickly forced himself out of the bed, even though he would rather stay there and hide.
He walked around his room as quickly as possible without looking like a skittish prey. He gathered his books and notebooks on the desk and put it into his backpack, before choosing his clothes and rushing to the bathroom. He stopped just as he was about to close the door when he heard dad talk.
"You're not a burden. If you need anything you can always ask me and I will try to help you" Zhongli paused here for a moment, maybe waiting for an affirmation from his son, or maybe to give Xiao time to think it over. The boy could hear him stand up before continuing " I made you breakfast. Don't take too long or it will go cold" he added before going back to the kitchen.
Xiao slowly closed the door and loosened his grip on his clothes, letting them hit the floor. He hid his face in his palms and took a deep breath. He tried to keep his thought from going in the wrong direction. No, he wasn't stupid. No, he wasn't ungrateful. But did he believe that or were those just empty words that he heard others say to him and he mindlessly decided to repeat them? He wanted to bang his head on the wall or any other hard surface, but a second before making a contact with a wall, he stopped. If he did that, his dad would probably hear it and get even more worried. It wasn't worth it. He could already feel that this day is going to be bad.
—————
Fortunately Xiao wasn't late, but he wasn't early like usual either. He entered his classroom the exact moment the bell rang. He expected to see Venti already in his spot or next to someone's desk discussing something, but there was no trace of Venti being even in the classroom today, which was unusual. Does everything has to be different today?
Xiao didn't even realize that he froze in the entrance and only hearing his name being called snapped him out of his thoughts. He turned his head towards the sound and noticed Kazuha waving at him. Kazuha was always extremely friendly to him for some reason that Xiao didn't understand, but after seeing so many people scoff at him or look at him with distrust, Xiao found that he didn't really mind that friendliness. After talking about it with his dad, the man just simply said that Xiao just needed friends at school, which was a weird thought for the boy. He didn't quite understand why he needed friends this bad, but he would never question Zhongli's words.
Once Xiao sat in his desk, Kazuha turned around and looked at his like he was expecting something. When Xiao didn't say anything, just stared, Kazuha opened his mouth.
"Have you heard?" he sounded like he was about to reveal the biggest secret in the whole country.
"Heard what?" Xiao couldn't help but rise his brow. He haven't heard anything and Kazuha was making him think that he should have heard something.
"About an exchange program, that's why Venti's not here yet" Kazuha explained, eyeing the door from time to time. It must be really important if it causes teachers to be late. "From what I heard, principal Ningguang wants to send some first year students and teachers to UA, a hero school in Japan, for a few months" the boy explained further.
"That's far" Xiao pointed out and saw Kazuha nod. Good thing Xiao no longer qualified as a second year, but also, even if he was a first year, would principal Ningguang consider him as an option? He doubted it. Who would like to send a student to a different country, who's broken and can't even control his own quirk. That would be stupid.
"And weird"
Xiao snapped his head towards a person that just decided to join their conversation. Of course it had to be Wanderer. His voice was unmistakable. Not Xiao's favorite person, not even close, but as long as Wanderer kept his distance, Xiao was content.
"Why weird? Don't other schools do this as a cultural exchange?" Kazuha inquired, having no problem with Wanderer unexpectedly joining them.
"Other schools maybe do that, but Lyiue Academy and UA? No. There is a long history of hate and prejudice between these schools. There is no way that it's going to be civil" Wanderer's words were confident and Xiao began to wonder where did it came from. He never heard anyone mention UA, let alone say anything negative towards it.
"I never heard anything about it" said Kazuha, visibly confused.
"It's old and barely anyone still remembers what it was about. I'm guessing that there were some stupid rumors or something like that" Wanderer carelessly waved his hand, as if what he was talking about wasn't that important, even though he started talking about relationships between two schools.
"Maybe some teachers still remember something about that, or maybe they don't" he shrugged and turned around towards the front of the class.
At the same time, Venti barged in through the door and quieted everyone down.
"Sorry for being late, I had to discuss something with other teachers and the principal, let's begin" Venti said trying to catch his breath.
Before Xiao returned his attention to Venti, he quickly looked over at Kazuha and exchanged a knowing look. Something big was going to happen.
—————
"I don't think that's a good idea. I still have to take care of Xiao" Zhongli tried to explain, but it seemed like Ningguang didn't really want to listen to him.
"I already promised them to that you would come with our students" a principal gave him a pointed look. "And Xiao can either live with someone else for these few months or he can go with you" a weird shine appeared in Ningguang's eyes as she revealed the second option.
Zhongli frowned at that and an unpleasant shiver ran down his spine. He knew that Ningguang was cunning, but he had no idea why did she want to send Xiao there so badly. He wasn't even a first year. He would stick out there like a sore thumb.
"Xiao won't agree to live with Childe or Venti for this long" Zhongli still tried to argue. He didn't even have to ask his son about it to know the answer. "And he doesn't trust anyone else enough to live with them" he adds quickly, before principal can propose any other person.
"Then take him with you"
Zhongl felt like he was slowly losing his composure. Why couldn't Ningguang just leave it be? She's been very accommodating before, what's so different this time? It made no sense.
"Fine. I will ask him if he wants to join, but you have to tell me why are you so desperate to send him on this exchange" at last, Zhongli decided that arguing further would get him nowhere. If he couldn't persuade her to leave Xiao be, then he at least deserved to know what prompted this behavior.
At that Ningguang sighed loudly and briefly glanced at the computer on her desk. After a couple seconds of silence, she nodded and motioned Zhongli to look at the screen.
"I guess it's reasonable for you to know, but you can't tell anyone. At least not yet."
—————————— Arrival ——————————
Xiao looked outside the window at moving building as he and couple more students from Liyue Academy sat in a private bus that was supposed to take them to UA for an exchange program. Xiao hasn't decided yet if he liked that idea. Obviously he agreed to be take part in this, but he did so only because his dad was going too and staying meant living with Childe or Venti for a few months. Sounds like hell.
His thought immediately went to principal Ningguang. It had to be her idea. And for what? Did she want to show which school was better or maybe she just wanted to show off? What other reason would there be for sending a second year on a trip for first years? He didn't appreciate the way that Ningguang went about it either. She just used the fact that Xiao would choose Zhongli over anyone if there is an option like that available.
Also, it wasn't like it was 100% safe. Because of Xiao's past and quirk, sending him on three month trip, far from home, to new environment was very risky.
Additionally, in order to be able to accompany Zhongli, he had to go through additional quirk tests under quirk specialist's supervision that he despised. Baizhu then gave him new meds (more like herbs) that were supposed to calm his quirk a bit. Xiao wasn't really sure how it all worked, but he decided that asking wasn't worth it. He had to take them either way. As if that wasn't enough, Venti had to tag along. His "cool uncle" (more like drunk uncle). And all this so that he could leave his home and travel for several hours to an unknown place. A couple times Xiao even wondered whether he made the right choice. Unfortunately there was no going back now.
All those thought made Xiao suddenly lose all his strength and he hit his head on the window. Surprisingly, he found that coolness of the window was rather grounding. At least there is something good about this trip.
"What are you thinking about Xiao?" Came a question in a calm voice. Once Xiao looked up, he noticed his dad staring at him with a soft smile.
"Nothing" Xiao let out a sight and went back to staring out the window. He almost always answers this question that way. It would be too long to talk about everything that happens in his brain at all times. The boy himself isn't even sure what's happening inside his head most of the time. It's too confusing and impossible for him to explain.
"Did you eat anything other then breakfast today?" Zhongli didn't seem fazed by his son's indifferent behavior.
"No... I'm not hungry" Xiao said looking up at his father. Even though he wasn't good at reading others, he knew exactly what Zhongli was thinking. He was worried.
"I know you don't like changes and trips like this, but don't starve yourself " man said in gentle tone, reaching for a lunch box that was sitting in his bag and then giving it to the student.
Xiao knew what was that from the moment it was retrived from Zhongli's bag. Thanks to his quirk, he could easly smell the dessert. He couldn't hide a small smile that appeared on his face for a short moment. He loved how his dad knew how to make him feel better. No matter what caused it.
"I saw that " Zhongli chucked. For sure he meant that small expression that his son made for less than a second. He always treasures moments like this. His smile grown when his son gave him an eye roll and started eating.
" We will be arriving in 15 minutes" a joyful voice announced from the front of bus.
Xiao heard pleased comments from every student on the bus. After long journey, everyone wanted to finally stretch their legs.
"I hope I don't have to remind anyone that we are guests and we are representing our whole school" Zhongli stood up from his seat, making sure everyone heard him.
Bus erupted with shouts of reassurance. It was once in a lifetime opportunity to take part in program like that so, hopefully, no one is going to do anything dumb. It's rather small chance though. After all, they took a certain pyro student that loves pranking others with them. It's not going to be peaceful trip. Hopefully Xiao is not going to be dragged into trouble, because of a stupid joke.
In less then 10 minutes, a giant glass building in a shape of "H" appeared on the horizon. Xiao already swa this building on the various photos, but seeing it for real was something different and he couldn't explain why he felt that way.
After they stopped in front of the gate, Xiao saw a group of adults standing, clearly waiting for them already on the school grounds. Xiao did not like it. He couldn't stop a frown appearing on his face as everyone had started to gather their baggage and got in line to an exit. In general, he wasn't found of adults. It took him some time to get used to teachers at Liyue Academy. It took him a lot of time to trust Zhongli and Venti (and maybe tolerate Childe). To be honest, he didn't take into the account that he would need to encounter more adults and more or less interact with them.
"You can stick to the back of the group" Zhongli whispered to his son when he noticed not so joyous expression. He briefly ruffled his hair when he passed his son to get off the bus.
"Thanks" Xiao whispered and waited for the last person to leave bus before stepping out himself. He knew it's going to be hard three months.
After making sure that Xiao was as comfortable as possible in that situation, Zhongli left a bus with Venti. At the gate he looked behind to quickly count students. Once he made sure that everything was fine, he joined his co-worker at the front. Venti didn't waste any time to introduce himself to UA principal and teachers.
"Well good morning to you too Principal Nedzu!" Barbatos greeted a white creature. "I'm Venti, nice to meet y'all" he introduced himself.
"Pleasure is all mine" Principal Nedzu replied, his gaze moving from Venti, to Zhongli to students them back at the teachers. "I hope your journey went without any problems" he added shaking Venti's hand.
"It went smooth" Zhongli decided to answer this one. "I'm Zhongli, it's pleasure to meet you" he introduced himself.
"Well, let me introduce you to Hound Dog, UA lifestyle guidance counselor, Thirteen, she usually conducts lessons at USJ and Recovery Girl, she's a nurse" said the Principal while pointing with his paw at the right person.
Man shook hands with UA staff and looked behind at the students. He noticed that all eyes were looking in their direction which pleased him. Good, then probably everyone heard the introduction.
"You took eight students with you, right? " Thirteen asked looking the kids.
"Yes, there was no sudden change in plan" Venti answered, this time in a more serious tone. It was easy to forget that Venti could be serious with how often he acts childish and playful.
"Awesome!" exclaimed Nedzu and turned fully to the students. "Dear Liyue Academy students, I would like to officially welcome you to UA number one hero high school in Japan! It's a first program like that between our schools and I hope we can all learn from each other. Now I would like to invite you for a quick tour of our school and then to meet one of our hero classes" he announced "Please follow me and feel free to ask any question you may have."
Everyone seemed to be rather excited once they started walking towards the entrance to the building. Zhongli let everyone pass him and he situated himself at the end of the group with his son. He smiled at him, hoping to bring at least a sliver of comfort to his son. Xiao looked rather wary and uncertain, but it wasn't as bad as it used to be whenever Xiao met new people.
"Is everything alright?" he asked his son putting a warm hand on his shoulder. He knew that Xiao wasn't too pleased with those arrangements, but he hoped that Xiao won't have too much problems adjusting to most of the changes. And if he had any, Zhongli could only hope that Xiao would tell him.
"I'm fine" Xiao replied not even looking at the man. Zhongli could see that his son was struggling with this new environment, but he also knew that pressing him about it would bring nothing good so he let it be.
"I know it wasn't exactly what you wanted but try to make out of it as much as you can, 'kay?" Zhongli said ruffling Xiao's hair and leading them to join the group.
"I will try" Xiao promised, looking up at Zhongli, before quickening his steps. This time he looked fully genuine.
After he and his son joined once again the group, it didn't seem as anyone noticed it. Everyone was too focused on the tour to switch their attention to Zhongli and Xiao. It seemed like even UA staff was too busy answering questions. Good, the less attention on Xiao the better. Hopefully they didn't miss any important information, but even if they did, Venti could fill them in on that.
The group was led to Hound Dog's office, infirmary, teacher's lounge and variety of classrooms. It took some time but finally they stopped in front of door that had 1a on them.
"You will be joining class 1a during academic lessons and hero training" Nedzu informed UA guests which cause some whispers to appear.
"Are we going to meet them now?" Hu Tao asked clearly excited. The girls just loved meeting new people. The only problem was that sometimes, she tends to say too much.
—————
Xiao was standing behind his father when Hu Tao asked principal Nedzu about meeting UA students. He wasn't too happy about it. He didn't like meeting new people. He could only hope that they weren't too loud.
A white creature stepped into the classroom and motioned the students outside to stay where they are.
Even though the door was closed, Xiao could still hear what was happening there. The moment principal stepped into the room, no one dared to say a word. That wad a good sign. Unfortunately it ended as fast as it started. After, what Xiao assumed it was, information about students from Liyue Academy, a lot of questions were shouted. Xiao had to even cover his ears because of the noise. Considering that his hearing was better then people from other courses, maybe it wasn't too surprising. He noticed from the corner of his eye that Venti himself had a reflex to cover his ears but he stopped in track and just put on a strained smile instead.
Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked at his father who pointed at his own ears. At this motion, Xiao hesitantly uncovered his ears.
"It's quiet now" Zhongli informed a boy. "Come on, Nedzu just invited us to meet 1a students" he added when animal with quirk waved to the group.
Xiao came in after his father, closing door behind him. It looked like no one, except for his father and Venti, noticed that he's even in the room.
While looking around, he noticed how excited UA students were. He didn't share their emotion, but he understood it. After a couple seconds he noticed a black-haired man glaring at them. Probably their teacher. The only person that had them under control. If he could keep them quiet, them maybe he would be a cool teacher.
Aizawa-sensei, tired-looking UA teacher, started explaining situation to his students. From what he deducted, all 1a knew was that students from different school were visiting.
"Okay, you can ask questions now, just one at the time" 1a teacher announced.
The first question was a request for every student to introduce themself. All teenagers but Xiao complied. They just said their names, what course they are in and which year.
Xingqiu- first year, hydro course. Hu Tao- first year, pyro course. Gorou- first year, geo course. Collei- first year, dendro course. Kamisato Ayaka- first year, cryo course. Chongyun- first year, cryo course. Sucrose- first year, anemo course.
Quirks were not mentioned. The easy answer to why is that it wasn't just something that they usually did. Rarely anyone ever asks about quirks in China.
As Xiao expected, the next question was about what those courses meant and which name belongs to which element.
As UA students asked more questions, Xiao could feel Changyun's gaze at him. The question in his eyes was clear. "Are you going to introduce yourself?" Well, he wasn't going to. To be honest, he wanted to see how long he can go unnoticed. For now it was going great and no one bothered him with any question. What was a bit surprising was how Venti was playing along with it.
"Yo, who's the strongest!? I'm going to fight the fucker and win" an ash blonde shouted shooting up from his seat.
"Bakugou, sit down and don't threaten others" the boy's teacher reprimanded while glaring at him with red eyes and floating hair.
Xiao grimaced at the sudden noise. He didn't appreciate that loud the show of 'power'. Was he trying to be intimidating? If so, it didn't work.
He saw how exchange students looked at each other. They were probably thinking if they should say something or not on this matter. Xiao himself exchanged a glance with his dad. He could clearly see the message: "Do not start a fight". It's not like he was planning to do this. It would only show the blondie that his provocation worked.
Xiao saw how Bakugou wanted to argue with his teacher but was quickly stopped by his spiky classmate. Suddenly, someone pointed at his, Zhongli and Venti. He should've chosen a better place.
"And those three people at the back are your teachers?" a red headed student asked, the one that a moment earlier stopped angry boy from challenging Chinese students again.
That question confused exchange students. They didn't remember having a third teacher going with them. The first one to understand what happened was Hu Tao. She just started laughing. That confused UA students, and maybe also a teacher, even more.
Yeah, Hu Tao is dead for Xiao.
"Hu Tao, I think that's enough" Zhongli tried to calm her down. "I'm Zhongli, a head teacher of geo course" the man introduced himself.
"I'm Venti, a head teacher of anemo course" Barbatos followed after Zhongli. "And no, Xiao is not a teacher. He is a second year in my course. He's just testing how long can he stand here unnoticed" he explained turning his head towards Xiao with a sly smile.
"Fight me then! I will win and show everyone that I'm the best!" Bakugou shouted, pointing at Xiao.
Xiao did nothing for a while, just stared at the loudest UA student that he knew. He was considering his options. He could scare the teen, accept his challenge or just decline. The first two options would get Xiao in trouble. Mostly because he was told not to get into any fights.
"No"
It looked like this word made Bakugou even more angry. He started calling Xiao a coward and trying to provoke the older boy to do something, while his teacher tried to get him under control. Though, one look from Zhongli reassured Xiao that he chose wisely. It's not like Xiao considered other options for long. Besides, fight were messy.
"I see no reason to fight you. I don't need to prove my strength to anyone" Xiao interrupted the blonde.
It looked like these words shut the other up. It wasn't that surprising. If Bakugou wanted to keep arguing, he would have to admit to be insecure.
His behavior was slightly similar to Childe's. The difference was that Childe wanted to fight to improve and blonde wanted to show off his strength.
"I will take our guests to the dorms and let them settle in" Nedzu offered. Probably to release the tension. All teachers gladly accepted it and not long after, Chinese students were on their way to separate building.
"You did good" came a voice from the front. Xiao from the start knew who said it. His father put a hand on his shoulder.
"Fighting wouldn't be beneficial for me" Xiao replied trying to keep his expression straight after receiving a praise. It wasn't like he didn't get them often, but strangely, they never ceased to make Xiao... Happy? Proud?
At first he didn't quiet understand why was he getting them, since he was failing at so many things. He didn't know how to behave, eat with chopsticks, he didn't have much knowledge, if any at all. He was falling behind everything.
Now that he was thinking about, wouldn't that exchange set him back even more? What was Ningguang even thinking?
"Won't I need additional lessons later? Or maybe during this stay, I don't know" Xiao looked at his dad, stopping in his tracks.
"Don't you think that you will want to have more time to spend with your new friends?" Zhongli chuckled lightly, but stopped noticing Xiao's unchanging, serious expression. "Why do you think you will fall behind?"
"Because I'm already behind everyone" Xiao's tone was almost desperate. He didn't understand what was that question for. Wasn't that obvious?
"These three months won't make you fall too far behind if at all. I won't hide that your basics were a little rushed to make you more leveled with your classmates, but don't you think now it's a perfect time to refine them? Maybe doing so would even make it easier for you to learn further" Zhongli explained, smiling as he waited for an answer in silence.
Xiao was too stunned to speak. He never thought about that. At first it didn't make sense to him to get back to something he already know in order to learn more, but after that explanation, it became more understable for him.
"Won't they be teaching different things here?" Xiao still couldn't let got of the doubt and confusion. He felt a bit bad questioning his dad, but Zhongli always said that if he was confused, he should ask questions. After all, persistence in confusion was worse then asking a couple awkward or repetitive questions. At some point Xiao has to understand, right?
"Of course there will be differences. We are in different place, different country. That's what this all exchange is about. You learn about other places, see their point of view and learn from them. All those things don't make you fall behind. Ignorance does. Only if you shut yourself away from all this, then this exchange is not going to do anything for you, just drag you behind. And basics should be more or less the same. After all, both schools want to create a new generation of heroes. Do you understand now?" Zhongli's tone was calm, without a hint of annoyance at the need of lengthy explanation. Just as always.
"I think I get it now" Xiao nodded, even his ever-present doubt had to let go after that clarification.
"And if you feel like you're falling behind, you can always ask me or Venti for help" Zhongli proposed before leading Xiao towards the dorm building. "Or you could even ask your new classmates" he added teasingly, which got him and eyeroll and a soft shove.
As they entered the building, they were stopped by Venti.
"Everything alright?" he asked eyeing Xiao for any reaction.
"Everything's fine. Xiao was just a bit confused about something so we had to talk for a bit" Zhongli explained and then asked about the rooms.
Venti happily complied and showed them first Xiao's room and then Zhongli's. After that he decided to go and check on other students.
"I'm serious Xiao, try to make some new friends and make as much as you can from these three months. It's a good opportunity for you to learn more about the world" Zhongli said, before Xiao could take a step towards his temporary room, after saying goodbye.
"I will try" Xiao settled on after a moment of consideration. He couldn't say for sure if he would be able to do everything that his dad is asking of him, but he can try.
"That's enough for me" Zhongli assured and took a step towards Xiao to leave a kiss on his forehead. "Go unpack and get some rest."