Chapter Text
“Ugh, I can’t believe he said that.” Lumine glowered as she chomped angrily on her hashbrown, making Mona and Keqing shared a look and then looked at the clearly annoyed blonde girl.
“What happened? You NEVER fight with that Fatui boy.” Keqing noted as she sipped on her tea, “I don’t like him at all but I can’t deny that he’s a really good friend to you.”
“He said, and I quote, ‘If you go back to Albedo, our friendship is over, Lumine,’ the nerve!” Lumine flailed her palm dramatically, emphasizing on the point and Mona tapped on the table, thinking away, “Hmm, why would Childe say that? Doesn’t he like that history teacher?”
“Exactly,” Lumine muttered, ruffling her hair slightly in frustration, “Childe’s never acted this way!”
Keqing just chuckled, “This is the first time someone has asked you out in Liyue, isn’t that so?”
“Not in Liyue...in my life…it’s the first time someone has asked me out…” Lumine blushed in embarrassment as Mona and Keqing giggled at her cuteness.
“Aw, forget about Childe for a second. Albedo asked for a date, didn’t he? What do you think of him?” Mona grinned at Lumine, a teasing expression on her face. Lumine tried hard to forget about her cute but annoying ginger best friend and answered truthfully, “I find him cute but I don’t think I see him that way…”
Lumine thought back to Albedo, on her bed, with her, his blue eyes staring at her in anticipation as he waited for an answer to his confession from the blonde girl. She blushed and Keqing pinched her cheek slightly, “Then what’s with this blush on your face? You know, you can go on a date with him and see if it can lead anywhere.” Mona nodded in agreement.
“Should I? But what about C-,” Lumine stopped herself before she uttered her crush/ex-best friend’s name. Mona and Keqing had no idea about her unrequited love for him.
Mona stood up to throw her leftover drink away, but just as she turned, Scaramouche bumped into her with his stupid smirk on his face. Mona almost fell back, ready to insult him but Scaramouche grabbed her waist, pulling her close to him. It looked quite intimate, the entire academy knew of the evil Fatui boy’s twisted crush on her best friend.
Lumine felt her fists clench in irritation as Scaramouche tilted his head at Mona, “Do you like my arms that much, you wanna stay here, Mona?”
Lumine knew Scaramouche was Childe’s friend?...acquaintance? but the way he treated Mona made her want to shove his smug smirk off his face.
Mona rolled her eyes hard, shoving him away and shooting a smile at him, “I gotta take a shower now, ugh, thanks for nothing, man.” She turned to walk away but Scaramouche grabbed her wrist, almost tripping her, “Don’t sass me. You know I hate that.”
Mona was about to reply, struggling against Scaramouche’s grip but Lumine had enough. She banged the table and stood up. Scaramouche looked at her, his face clearly unhappy at being uninterrupted and Lumine glared hard at him, crossing her arms, “Better let go now, Scaramouche. That’s enough of your terrible flirting, I can’t stand it.”
“Shut up, Favonian scum.” Scaramouche released Mona and turned to her, his blue eyes glinting darkly, “How dare you speak to me without permission?”
‘Favonius’ because the military group of Mondstadt was called that and Lumine was definitely NOT a part of it. But how would Scaramouche know that?
Lumine laughed, drawing close to him, “Who do you think you are, irritating Mona like that? Run along now, no one wants to hear you flaunt about yourself.”
“Agreed!” A voice cheered from the cafeteria and Lumine then realized everyone was staring at her and Scaramouche. Childe was sitting with La Signora, his stare burning a hole into her, not moving even an inch and Albedo, with his teal eyes super concerned, was right across her, looking ready to jump in to help her.
“Silence,” Scaramouche ordered, his voice low and the cheering died down. The school bully was intimidating but Lumine knew how to deal with this boy.
“You. If you ever talk to me again, I will personally see to it that you will get the worst thing that can happen to you.” Scaramouche growled out, “I can’t believe that idiot is friends with you of all the people. His tastes are clearly lacking.”
“What did you just say?” Lumine frowned, clearly knowing who he was talking about, annoyed and then Albedo walked to her, pulling her back, “Scaramouche, go away. That’s enough.” He calmly said, his teal eyes hardening and Scaramouche laughed, “Great! Another Favonian scum, there just aren’t enough of you in Liyue, aren’t there?! Butting your noses in where it doesn’t belong!”
“Albedo..” Lumine whispered and Albedo smiled at her, keeping his soft palm on her head, “No point in dragging this out, Lumine, he is like a wild animal..”
“Like a wild animal, huh?” Scaramouche roared, angry, “How dare you-?”
“What’s going on here?” Zhongli-sensei cut in, appearing at the right time and Lumine grinned as Scaramouche scowled and walked away.
Zhongli called over Lumine and Albedo and then spoke to Lumine and spoke, “Care to enlighten me on what exactly happened, Miss Lumine?”
It was like he knew who exactly started the argument. His intuition was crazy, perhaps it was experience? How old was he anyway?
“It was nothing, sir, I picked a fight with Scaramouche. Lumine isn’t involved.” Albedo cut in before Lumine could reply and she stared at him as Zhongli frowned in disapproval, “I hadn’t expected this from you, Mr. Albedo. Don’t make me give you a detention. Dismissed.”
Wait, so he expected that from me? WHAT-
Lumine and Albedo walked away and Lumine smiled at Albedo, “Thank you for covering for me, Albedo. I’m sorry you had to get scolded..”
He just smirked, keeping his palm on her head again, “Do I get something as thanks?”
Lumine blushed as his smirk made her feel things, “Uh...we can go on the date you asked, if you’d like that.”
Albedo smirked again, his eyes connecting with hers, “I would. I will text you soon about the details,” he bent down, whispering in her ear, “I don’t plan on letting you go without repaying this, Lumine.”
She blushed so hard she felt her ears might pop off and Albedo smiled at last, ruffling her hair and leaving. She walked back to Mona and Keqing who were grinning at her, accidentally looking at Childe, who looked like he had a lot to say to her but was in a deep conversation with Signora. Lumine glared at Childe, he didn’t even defend her when Scaramouche was irritating her!
She turned her head away from him, feeling slightly excited about the date with Albedo.
Her first date!
She should mend her relations with Childe but at least that would be easier by her moving on!
Yes. I’ll talk to him after the date. Hope he regains his senses then!
---
“Shouldn’t you have helped her?” Signora whispered to Childe who turned to her and glared, “Mind your own business, Signora.”
He would definitely have a talk with Scaram(douche) about this incident.
Signora raised her hands up defensively, “Calm down, you child.” He rolled his eyes.
Childe grabbed his chest, feeling the need to cough ever since Lumine glared at him. He took a few deep breaths, calming down before he could cough. He would rather die than allow Signora to see his disease; it was his weakness, something he didn’t prefer having out in the open, even if she was one of his oldest friends.
Hanahaki disease.
That’s what Childe was suffering from. His coughing had gotten worse over the night every time he thought about Lumine and how she had walked away from him. He had opted to visit a doctor before he died from choking on the blue, disgustingly pretty blue lily petals he had spit out, a stark contrast to the scarlet red which was his blood.
Hanahaki disease was a disease due to supposed unrequited love. It develops when the victim, in this case, Childe, would think of being unloved by someone (he supposed it was Zhongli) and he would cough out petals or even flowers, until his breathing would be rendered impossible unless the root cause, the flower was removed from his lungs through surgery.
He had jumped at the idea but the doctor had warned him that on removing the flower, he may permanently lose the ability to love and even remember the feelings he had for the person. If the surgery couldn’t be done, the only option was for the target of his affections to love him back, which would reverse the effects of the disease.
Childe couldn’t imagine himself being alone so he figured he would at least confess to Zhongli-sensei, see if the professor could reciprocate his feelings. If not, he would have no choice but to remove it, he just couldn’t do it without at least letting Zhongli-sensei know his overwhelming feelings for him. Who knows, maybe the hot teacher did share his feelings? He had seen him staring at him multiple times but wasn’t sure…
“So, what did you want to ask me that you’re sitting with me at lunch?” Signora inquired, snapping Childe back to reality from his thoughts.
“Uh..ah, right, Signora. Do you know if Zhongli likes blue lilies?” Childe asked and Signora blinked in surprise, before smirking, “Aw, that’s so cute…are you going to gift him glaze lilies?”
Childe remembered his doctor telling him that the flower he coughs out signifies the person he has feelings for.
“Glaze lilies? What are they? He likes them?” Childe questioned, never having seen those flowers (maybe they were the ones he was spitting out?) and Signora chuckled quite mockingly, “Of course. Haven’t you seen that vase on his staff desk? It’s always refilled with glaze lilies. He’s so dedicated to them, it’s adorable.”
“Why have I never known about this?” Childe wondered, honestly unable to remember the flowers, feeling betrayed and Signora laughed, “If you would remove your eyes from his ass then maybe you would’ve noticed it. Although I don’t blame you…”
Childe blushed slightly and Signora patted his back, “Good luck for the confession. Hope you don’t succeed.” He glared at her and she stood up, winking at him, indicating she was joking and then disappearing with her friends, two other Fatui girls who winked at him. He promptly ignored them.
He looked at Lumine who was with her friends Keqing and Mona, discussing something and laughing. He felt his chest squeeze when he realized he couldn’t talk to her because of his stupid argument yesterday with her. Should he have told her about the disease he developed so suddenly?
No way. He couldn’t say that to someone who abandoned him to be with …someone else.
Childe’s chest squeezed again.
Forget about Lumine, I gotta save my life first!
He was finally doing it. He was finally confessing to Zhongli this evening.
Dying because of such a weird disease, never! Childe’s ideal death was deep in battle with a worthy opponent, but that was irrelevant for his cure at the moment.
Glaze lilies, huh. I’m going to get rid of you!
____
Childe fumbled with his red tie, taming his messy yet sexy ginger hair against his head. He had even gone to the extent of wearing a black suit for this occasion. His blue eyes determined, he nodded his head and knocked twice on Zhongli-sensei’s door. Childe held his box of Sumerian tea in his hands, hoping Zhongli would like it when he confessed.
No response from the apartment, so Childe rang the doorbell, sneaking a glance towards Lumine’s apartment, which was shut, the lights were off. Of course she wouldn’t be here…she was probably with that sneaky Albedo guy. Just thinking of him made his blood boil. He wondered what was so good about him that Lumine seemed so whipped about him!
A cough was approaching so he shut thoughts about Lumine right then, when the door opened.
“To what do I owe this pleasure, Childe?”
Zhongli was there, in front of him, in a black button down shirt and baggy pants, his glasses on his face a bit askew and his hair perfectly stylized and tied into a long ponytail as always.
Zhongli’s eyes slightly widened when his eyes landed on the tea Childe was carrying.
“F-For you, sensei…” Childe whispered, his heart pounding. Zhongli was so hot… he just wanted to touch his hair, which would definitely be thick and smooth unlike Lumine’s thin but soft hair..
WAIT, why was he thinking about Lumine at this moment?!
Zhongli seemed to realize what was happening; nevertheless he invited Childe into his apartment. It was eight in the evening. Maybe Childe should’ve chosen a better time to come?
Childe stared at Zhongli’s butt, he couldn’t help himself as Childe was led into the living room.
“Have a seat, please.” Zhongli gestured to his sofa, Childe looking around the apartment. It was so…him. Wooden, with ancient Chinese decor and Childe swore he saw a pair of jade spears on the wall.
“I trust you have something to say to me?” Zhongli questioned Childe and Childe gulped, setting his box on the coffee table.
“I-I LIKE YOU, SENSEI!” He declared loudly, Zhongli jumping from his seat slightly as he was taken aback, “Childe-“
“I’ve liked you since I first saw you-,”
Childe abruptly stopped talking because he noticed two things.
First, there was a ring on Zhongli’s finger, a wedding band. He never noticed because Zhongli always wore gloves. ZHONGLI WAS MARRIED?
Second, there was a vase on a side table in the living room with a few…blue flowers.
Childe interrupted himself to point at the flowers, “What flowers are those?”
Zhongli, albeit shocked, replied without even looking, “Why, those are glaze lilies.”
Childe felt dread fill his heart. That was not the flower he had coughed up right before coming here.
No, that flower was completely different, from the whole blue lily he had coughed up while seeing Lumine’s status about Albedo and her at an ice cream store, smiling so happily.
“About your feelings, I must apologize; I do not wish to pursue romantic relations. Hence, I must reject your confession-…” Zhongli’s voice faded away as Childe felt the weight of his problems dawn on him. Would he have to get the surgery and lose the ability to love? To get rid of his pain?
Childe collapsed to his knees, burying his face in his hands, trembling. He felt like crying. He never knew he was a romantic, but losing all ability to love, familial or romantic, was devastating to him. His siblings…how could he ever lose the love he felt for them? Tonia, Anthony, Teucer…his older siblings too…, his mother, father? Would he have to lose the love he felt for them?!
Why him? Why did this disease have to come on him? Just who did he love so much that he could die from it?
“Childe?” Zhongli asked carefully, walking over and bending next to him. “Are you alright?”
Lumine…would he have to lose the friendly love he felt for her as well...?
Childe felt a wave of pain wash over him, his chest constricting so hard he felt like he was about to die. He loosened his tie and coughed hard. Zhongli stood up, rushing to get water and tissues, his eyes wide as Childe heaved for what felt like forever.
Finally, two lilies, a blue and a white one, fell into his awaiting palms. The scarlet red decorating them felt like the flower was laughing at him, at his misery.
“Hanahaki disease?” Zhongli questioned, or more like declared, bending to lift Childe and seat him at the sofa, handing him the water. Childe smiled weakly at his history teacher who was so considerate and then groaned in pain, “This is not for me. I can be sure of that.” Zhongli announced, staring at the flowers and Childe laughed scornfully, “Yes, I w-was hoping it was you and I could get you to fall in love with me, ridiculous plan, I know-,”
“It certainly is not ridiculous. You must be feeling horrendous due to this disease…”
And yes, Childe felt horrendous. He didn’t even know what that word meant, but it sounded apt.
“And you don’t know who this is for?” Zhongli asked and Childe shook his head, his eyes turning hot. Surgery…
He was in so much pain…
Childe felt his phone beep with a message tone and opened up the notification. Lumine had posted a post with Albedo, “Date with science-genius!” Their hands were intertwined, Lumine had a light blush on her face but Albedo was blushing deeply, a smirk on his face. The both of them were wearing nerdy glasses, and Lumine looked so cute in Childe’s eyes, it was illegal.
Childe felt a surge of anger, feeling like punching Albedo so bad he would never go near Lumine. He knew it wasn’t his fault, but just imagining Lumine with someone else made his rage shoot through the roof.
And here Lumine was having fun…without knowing how much pain he was in.
Childe felt another wave of cough come over him, getting ready to throw the phone away. Thankfully, Zhongli stopped him by grabbing it from his trembling hands.
Zhongli looked at his phone and pondered for a bit, then nodded, “I seem to have realized who it is that you have such deep feelings for, Childe.”
“Oh? Let’s hear it then.” Childe smiled weakly at his teacher who he realized was so nice, he should have actually liked him.
“It is Miss Lumine, I am most certain about it.”
And Childe laughed, he laughed so hard his laugh covered up his cough which developed at Zhongli’s words, “I’m definitely not in love with her, she’s like my little sister!”
Zhongli sighed, patting his back, “Miss Lumine is definitely not your ‘little sister’ as you supposedly think her to be. You possess romantic feelings for her.”
“No…there’s no way, I thought she was like my sister!” Childe whimpered, burying his face in his hands.
Zhongli sighed yet again, “Let me tell you a story…about myself.” Zhongli stared at his ring fondly, “About how it relates to your matter, you can figure it out by yourself and believe me or not, the choice is up to you.”
Lumine?
I love Lumine?
Ridiculous.