Chapter Text
The bell sounded. And woke up Hu Tao with it.
'... ats all for the new seatings.' Mrs. Miko said, clapping her hands together.
Hu Tao rubbed her eyes. New seatings? As her classmates began packing their things for the next class, talking, something pink flashed in her peripheral view. And it wasn't Mrs. Miko's hair. She turned to her left, and nearly fell off her chair as she took in the pink haired beauty slowly packing her things away, distracted by the book she was currently holding.
'Hey.' she grinned at the girl.
The other girl looked up at her through her book, backpack on her shoulders. 'Had a good nap?'
Ah.
That's embarrassing, isn't it?
'Heh.. I wouldn't have fallen asleep if I knew you were here.'
The girl raised her eyes, amused, placing her book on the desk. 'Do you happen to be flirting with someone you just met two seconds ago?'
Hu Tao snorted. Holy shit was this girl funny. 'What I didn't happen to get was your na-'
Someone coughed. The brunette whirled around, eyebrows knitted in frustration.
Oh.
It was her friends, Ganyu and Keqing. 'Sorry to interrupt... this. Class starts in two minutes.' Keqing looked at them both.
The still-unnamed girl's smile faltered, and she picked up the book she left on top of her table. She nodded at them as she briskly stepped out of the room. Huh.
'Did you really have to do that? Who cares if we were going to be late?' Hu Tao looked at the pair accusingly. 'We had such a good thing going on.'
'You do know she's Yanfei right? The girl who made out with two thirds of the school?' Ganyu questioned her, fingers intertwining.
This caught Hu Tao off guard. She didn't seem like the type to do that at all.
'She doesn't give off that vibe though? Are you sure you have the right person?'
'Yeah.' Keqing cut in, 'Everyone knows that if you want something you just go to Yanfei for it. No wonder she got shunned by all the girls. And the guys refuse to acknowledge her existence unless they're horny.'
Hu Tao's usual smile was replaced with an uncomfortable frown.
Until it grew deeper as she realized...
'Shit. Class!'
A few days had went by since then, with Hu Tao deciding to not make any decisions until she got to know the girl. The very hot girl.
'Hey, Yanyan.'
Yanfei turned to her right, obviously confused. 'Yanyan, huh?'
'Yes, Yanyan. You doing anything this weekend?'
Well.
'Nope. Why?'
Hu Tao grinned at her with her signature cheeky smile. 'You wanna come over to my house then?'
Yanfei's pen dropped, biology class forgotten. 'H-Huh? How come?' Composing herself, she bent over to pick it up.
'To do the project, duh.' Hu Tao hummed, like it was the most obvious thing ever.
'WHAT?'
The classroom turned silent.
'Is there a problem, Ms. Yanfei?' asked Mrs. Ei, arms crossed and eyebrow raised with amusement as the whole class turned to look at her.
The poor girl's cheeks turned to the color of her hair. 'N-No... Sorry, miss.'
As everyone turned back around, muttering, Ganyu and Keqing eyed Hu Tao.
Mrs. Ei sighed, and continued teaching.
'What project?' hissed Yanfei.
Hu Tao shook with the effort of keeping her laugh in. 'You idiot. I was just kidding.'
Ah.
So she really was like the rest. And here she had gotten her hopes up.
Seething, Yanfei spent the rest of the day giving her the silent treatment. Albeit not without the annoyances the brunette tended to cause.
Like the hushed 'Yanfei!'s she'd hear at least 50 times a class.
Or the little doodles Hu Tao would draw and throw at her.
And the small snacks she'd find hidden in her pencil case.
Don't do that, she thought. Don't give me hope that isn't there.
At the end of the school day, Yanfei made her way to the school gate, book in hand. Another week gone by. Another hope dead. Hope that shouldn't have been there. After all, she hadn't had any real friends in Archons know how long.
And a hand that shouldn't have touched hers did, in fact, touch her.
'Yanyan.'
Great. The very thing she was avoiding all day. And was planning to avoid for the rest of her school years. The girl turned around, unamused.
'Hm?' she asked, trying to sound as bored and disinterested as possible. Ignoring the stinging in her heart.
'You know, I was kidding about the project.' she smiled, letting go of her hand, unfazed by the latter's attitude. 'But not the invitation.'
Oh.
She regained herself.
Ignoring the way her heart leapt with joy.
'Aw, shucks. And here I thought I'd continue exploiting free snacks from you. Too bad I'm not mad at you anymore, huh?'
How could she be? Not when the girl was giving her the widest and most genuine grin.
'Who say I'd stop? But I'll need a little something in return...'
Yanfei's lip curved upwards, eyebrows raised amusingly. 'Hoho... Which is...?'
'Your number.'