diff --git a/bot.py b/bot.py
index 5c03c88..ec88277 100644
--- a/bot.py
+++ b/bot.py
@@ -3,11 +3,10 @@
 import asyncio
 from os import environ
 from collections import namedtuple
-from json import loads
 
 import logging
 
-import requests
+import aiohttp
 from telethon import TelegramClient, events
 from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
 
@@ -26,15 +25,17 @@ XKCD_JSON_FMT_STR = "https://xkcd.com/{}/info.0.json"
 MAX_SEARCH_RESULTS = 10
 
 bot = TelegramClient('xkcd', 6, 'eb06d4abfb49dc3eeb1aeb98ae0f581e')
+session = None  # set later
 
 # blockquote element -> Xkcd
-def parse_blockquote(elem):
+async def parse_blockquote(elem):
     children = list(elem.children)
     title = children[0].text
     link = 'https' + children[-1].text[4:]
 
     number = link.rsplit('/', 2)[1]
-    info = loads(requests.get(XKCD_JSON_FMT_STR.format(number)).text)
+    async with session.get(XKCD_JSON_FMT_STR.format(number)) as resp:
+        info = await resp.json()
     alt = info['alt']
 
     # TODO markdown bold the <span> matches
@@ -47,16 +48,17 @@ def parse_blockquote(elem):
     return Xkcd(title, link, text, alt, number)
 
 # string -> [Xkcd]
-def get_xkcds(text):
+async def get_xkcds(text):
     logger.info("getting %s", text)
     if text == '':
         return []
     # TODO return newest when empty
-    soup = BeautifulSoup(requests.get(URL_FMT_STR.format(text)).text, "html.parser")
+    async with session.get(URL_FMT_STR.format(text)) as resp:
+        soup = BeautifulSoup(await resp.text(), "html.parser")
 
     bqs = soup.find_all("blockquote")[:MAX_SEARCH_RESULTS]
     logger.info(bqs)
-    return (parse_blockquote(e) for e in bqs)
+    return await asyncio.gather(*(parse_blockquote(e) for e in bqs))
 
 
 # Define a few command handlers. These usually take the two arguments bot and
@@ -84,7 +86,7 @@ async def inlinequery(event):
         title=xkcd.title,
         url=xkcd.link,
         text=MSG_FMT_STR.format(number=xkcd.number, link=xkcd.link, title=xkcd.title, alt=xkcd.alt)
-    ) for xkcd in get_xkcds(event.text)))
+    ) for xkcd in await get_xkcds(event.text)))
 
     # FIXME get_xkcds returns duplicates, which lead to the same result ID
     #       Build a dict by their ID to remove the duplicates
@@ -92,11 +94,13 @@ async def inlinequery(event):
     await event.answer(result)
 
 
-def main():
-    bot.start(bot_token=environ['TOKEN'])
-    with bot:
-        bot.run_until_disconnected()
+async def main():
+    global session
+    async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
+        await bot.start(bot_token=environ['TOKEN'])
+        async with bot:
+            await bot.run_until_disconnected()
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
-    main()
+    asyncio.get_event_loop().run_until_complete(main())
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index eb5542f..6303893 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-telethon~=1.7
-requests~=2.21
+aiohttp~=3.5
 beautifulsoup4~=4.7
+telethon~=1.7