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Kokomi walks through the large doors of the school and takes a deep breath. She was finally there after going through the absolute hell that was getting all the transfer papers and documents from Inazuma and transporting them to Liyue. But after all that, she was grateful.
The sun shone through the glass panels on the ceiling as she looked for a secretary to get her classes from. As she quietly padded through the campus, she took note of some of the students there. Some redhead was flirting with a tall man who looked completely uninterested. Two students with blue hair chatted away endlessly walking past her, and then someone caught her eye. A girl snoring away on one of the couches, laptop fallen on her face, and several random doodles all over her legs. Kokomi turned away shyly- ‘She’s cute’, they thought. Soon the secretary’s desk caught her attention and she was on her way to grab their classes.
“Criminology 101, Ethics 130, Chemistry 128, and Psychology 303… interesting”, she muttered to herself. She was working on her last year on her Bachelor’s in Criminology, a field she had taken interest in since she was young. Studying people and crime was always something fun to do in their free time, so of course she decided to major in it.
She soon left the main building and went to her dorm room to go and start getting ahead while she could. As a transfer student, her grades were impeccably perfect, but not without late nights and definitely not without her Monster (the best flavor was always the Pipeline Punch, she refused to drink any of the others). They started by shooting the teachers a quick email, and soon finished reading the syllabi for each class. After a hot shower and writing down a bit of her thoughts of the day, she soon fell asleep.
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Hu Tao woke up with a jolt, hit her head on her computer, and looked at her surroundings wildy. Her hair was everywhere, clothes wrinkled, and the assignment not even half done. She groaned loudly and cursed herself under her breath, “Fckkkk that assignment was due 30 minutes ago, why why why you stupid idiot.” Another assignment gone unfinished and missing. It felt like she had 3000 of them, and she knew they were never going to get done. It was her last year of her Mortuary Science major (yes that’s a thing, and she’s doing it for the family business), shes hardly passing, and fear creeps up her neck at the thought of failing her classes again and spending another year in this hellhole of a school. She wanted nothing more than to just crawl into a hole and perish. Shame crept up her neck at the thought of her parents berating her endlessly about her “less than acceptable grades” and “worthless work ethic”.
“Suppose I have to do this after all to avoid all that”, she grumbled out loud.
As she shoved all her stuff into her bag, she noticed a girl she could describe as nothing short of elegant, seemingly float out the door. Her heart quickened for a second, but then she soon realized that her laptop was nearly falling out of her bag, put it back in, and rushed out the door to get some sleep.
As soon as she got to the dormitories, she tossed her bag on her chair and passed out on her bed.
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She slowly woke to her Me Gustas Tu (by Gfriend please this is such a good song) alarm softly playing through her phone. She got dressed, drank some tea, and was soon out the door. Kokomi plugged in her headphones and pondered whether she would go to the library first or starbucks. She soon came to a decision and crossed the street to go to starbucks.
They breathed in the heavenly scent of the bustling cafe and cautiously looked around. And then she saw her, the same girl that was previously sleeping in the main campus building was now here, furiously typing away on her computer, eyes heavy with bags. Kokomi tore her eyes away from lingering too long on the girl, and began to order.
“One tall pink drink please! But uh can you put it in a grande cup?”, she chimed.
“Sure”, the young girl said, “Name for the order?”
“Kokomi”. Kokomi sat down and dreamily stared out the window, waiting for their order to finish.
“One tall pink drink in a grande cup for uh… Kokomi?” Kokomi went up and grabbed her drink– and bumped straight into the girl she was staring at. They began to apologize several times before the girl spoke,
“Dude, you’re fine! It’s my fault anyway that I didn’t see you”, she said.
But Kokomi was determined to make things right, “No, no, I didn’t see you either! So uh I guess it was both our faults”, she realized with a chuckle. Their face slightly heated in embarrassment.
“Yeah, yeah whatever. I’m sorry too”, the other said nonchalantly. She gave a small grin and Kokomi thought she would melt. She rushed out of the door before things could get anymore embarrassing and headed to the library.
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Hu tao stood puzzled at the interaction. “She seems like she’s in a hurry”, she thought. To her it was confusing and odd the way the other had behaved, but maybe she was just embarrassed. Who knows. But now she was going to the library because, as usual, she had a sht ton of schoolwork to do. It was so infuriating how much work those dumb professors give. Honestly, what kind of Funeral Services required you to do all this work? Business management, chemistry, biology, it was all too much. But it would be ok. Hu tao calmed herself down and cleared her mind as she entered the library. She found her usual spot at the beanie bag chair with the table and window, and got to work.
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Kokomi wandered around the library, intent on finding their book “Madness of Crowds” by Charles Mackay for her psychology class. He had told her that since they were working on Criminology, they should find books that could possibly help them understand patients they might have in the field later on. Her mind drifted while walking around and inhaling the calming scent of being surrounded by books. And then they saw her again- the girl she bumped into, the one who always seemed to be endlessly working on school work- and she looked even more tired than before. She kept typing away endlessly, and they watched as she groaned in frustration. “Maybe they need help”, Kokomi thought, and so they went over there and tried to see if she might need help.
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“Um hi”, Kokomi heard her voice shake a bit as she spoke, heart pounding in her chest. “I kinda see you around a lot, and to be honest? You seem so tired every time I see you so uh do you want any help?”
Hu Tao looked up at the other, realization dawning on her face. “You!! I bumped into you earlier!”, Kokomi nodded, “Huh, I’ve only ever seen you once before but yeah I could totally use some help. Are you new here?”.
Hu Tao seemed to talk *a lot* but Kokomi didn’t mind, in fact, they kinda enjoyed it. “Yeah I transferred here from Watatsumi College in Inazuma”, she said a little proudly.
Hu Tao seemed enthralled by this, “Whoa, so you’re like, super smart then?”
“I wouldn’t say that but yeah I have pretty decent grades”
“Ok then, time for you to help! Should I pay you or something? I don’t want to just take your time”, but Kokomi just simply smiled and shook their head.
“No, it's fine! Also what’s your name?... And uh pronouns?”, their voice trailed off a bit in the last part, she didn’t know how conservative Liyueans were, so they just approached the topic very carefully.
But Hu Tao just simply said, “The names Hu as in ‘who put me in this coffin’ and Tao as in ‘I can’t geT Out’. And the pronouns are she/her! You?”, Hu Tao put emphasis on the parts that sounded like her name, and Kokomi felt the giggle bubble up in their chest and slip out.
“Oh heh. I’m Sangonomiya Kokomi, but you can just call me Kokomi. The pronouns are she/they!”. Hu Tao then returned the smile and started telling them about what work she has to do.
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Hu Tao’s leg jittered in excitement about the help she was going to get, and maybe because she thought Kokomi was really nice to look at, but she just swallowed down those thoughts and instructed Kokomi about the work they have to do. Apparently Kokomi has already taken Biology, and is taking an advanced Chemistry class right now for her major, so they said that the work would be fairly easy to do. They said they are taking an Ethics class and that she might be able to help with Business Management, but she wasn’t so sure about it. No matter what though, Hu Tao was grateful for the help, and it gave her a chance to finally sleep some while Kokomi worked. As they worked, she slowly drifted off in the early morning sun.
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Kokomi looked at all the work that Hu Tao had to do. She sounded really dejected talking about all the missing assignments and the lack of sleep that she was getting, so she wasn’t too surprised when Hu Tao quickly fell asleep beside them. The work seemed easy enough but it was so much, and apparently this was all assigned within the last week. “No wonder… What kind of professors even hand out this much”, she thought to herself. But she kept pushing on anyway, taking sips here and there while peering over the work. Soon enough, Hu tao rose back up and Kokomi had almost everything done.
“Woah”, she gasped, “You pretty much have everything done! Oh my goodness, thank you so much!!”. Hu Tao was in complete awe of how much work Kokomi had gotten done, and her heart was elated at the sheer kindness of the girl beside her.
Kokomi glanced over a little sleepily at her, “yeah no problem really! Honestly though, your teachers shouldn’t be assigning this much work within a week, I’ve never had teachers like this before, it's crazy”.
But Hu Tao just winked back (and they’d be lying if she said her heart didn’t give a flutter) and started to chat about how that's how it is in the funeral business. Hu Tao soon started to ramble about how her parents wanted her to keep the family funeral business running, and how annoying it was that they kept pushing for super great grades when she was barely passing. Kokomi just listened to her, admiring how adorable and animated she talked.
But soon it was 11 am and they had to part. Her heart dropped at the thought of leaving her but gained a little more hope at the thought of seeing her again.
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Hu Tao sighed as the other left the library, she wanted to spend more time with Kokomi, even if it was just a few minutes of studying. But there’s no way she had a crush on them right? She just simply admired the work ethic and their voice and their aesthetic, nothing gay about that… nope definitely gay. “I suppose I do have a crush then”, she thought to herself. But there were other more important things to focus on, like finishing what Kokomi couldn’t and getting her grades up. After submitting a few of the assignments earlier, the two teachers had already graded some of them, and her grade was finally going up. With Kokomi’s help now, she felt like she would be able to complete this semester and pass. After just barely passing these couple of years, this one seemed to be the worst, so with all the help she felt she would finally achieve the hope of graduating the next year. “I wonder when Kokomi will graduate”, she thought a bit as she was walking down to her next class. She sat down and pulled out her stuff, listening to the professor's dull voice. Soon Hu Tao was just distracted by the thoughts of the others' gracefulness, and was back to daydreaming.
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After classes she dredged her way home, passed a quick hi to her roommate while grabbing food, and tried to fall asleep. But they laid awake, thoughts filling their head of the other. The giggles, the winks, the snarky comments while watching them work after she woke up, even the way she rested her head gently against the glass while sleeping, all of it was just so… Kokomi didn’t know. For once in her life, they were left with no words to describe just how badly she had fallen for her. These feelings were almost unknown to her, because it had always been school, school, school, just a lot of studying and sleep for the good grades she got in return. There was never a lot of room for love amidst all that, but now in their last year of college, it was easier to kick back and relax more. But then they had transferred and she’s able to tutor. It was a lot for Kokomi to take in. The feelings for Tao, the excitement of graduating in just a couple months, and the newfound responsibility of helping the girl that made her heart do little flips in her chest.
Soon morning came and she As soon as Kokomi was out of the dorms, she hurried to the library in hopes that Hu Tao may have still been there. Their legs burned, but they didn’t care. They’ve long since fallen for the aspiring funeral director and her silly little antics. Maybe they liked her since first seeing her, maybe it was when they bumped into each other at the coffee shop, but now she just wanted to see the other.
As they entered the library, they looked around and in between shelves in hopes of seeing the other. As she was searching, she jumped out of her skin as a familiar voice yelled boo and hands covered in rings and doodles grabbed her shoulders. Hu Tao was there behind them with a big and sly grin on her face.
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Their heart fluttered a bit at the teasing but soon caught their breath enough to ask, “Do you have any work for me to do, or were your professors dumb enough to assign more?”
“Dang, not even a hi? I thought you liked me”, Hu Tao teased
But Kokomi froze and blushed before composing herself back to her calm and soft manner before answering back, “Aw why of course I still like you”, (admittedly both of them blushed at that, but neither of them bothered to point it out for the fear of being too awkward), “I just care enough to make sure you don’t need more help”
“So I suppose this was just a one day thing, hm?” Hu tao asked, even a little dejectedly. However, the other just shook their head.
“No, no it’s not like that! I was just wondering. But uh I can’t help everyday, sometimes I have to work so I do genuinely need to know”
“If you want I can pay you back with… something. Although I wouldn’t know what to be honest”, she chuckled.
“Hmm, we can think about it later. As of right now, we should focus on your work. So, anything new from your professors yet?” Kokomi couldn’t think, in all honesty they were a bit flustered from the thoughts of what the payment could possibly be. She overthinks too much.
“Nope not yet, so you’re all clear! Although, maybe we can hang out until one of us has to leave for class or something?” Hu Tao asked hopefully. She was impatient to start hanging out with Kokomi, she wanted to know more about them outside of just school.
“Oh yeah sure! But uh where would we even go? Maybe the cafe?” Kokomi suggested.
But Hu tao nodded enthusiastically, “Ooooh sounds good”.
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Kokomi was nervous and excited and felt so many emotions during their short walk with Tao. They had to tell themself that it was just hanging out and definitely *not* a date. But She couldn’t shake the way Hu Tao winked and giggled while talking about how she might pay her back or the way Hu Tao blushed when asking her to go out. But she would be fine. Easy thoughts, deep breaths, that's all. On the way to the cafe they both talked about their favorite food to get. Hu Tao apparently loved cream cheese bagels with a hot americano, while Kokomi loved the raspberry filled Danish pastry with, of course, her pink drink mixed with the monster. The other was completely appalled at the combo, but after a little convincing and getting her to try it, Hu Tao seemed to like it.
When they got to the cafe they ordered their respective orders and sat to eat. Soon after quietly eating for a bit, Kokomi asked, “So, what year are you in, or rather, how long until you graduate?”
“Oh I graduate next year with a Bachelor’s! What about you?” Hu Tao asked.
Kokomi gave a friendly smile and said, “Oh I’m graduating this year! I can’t wait to have my Bachelor degree!” Kokomi was joyful to finally graduate, and maybe even get a doctorate here in Liyue, but after all the stress of her current degree, they were definitely ready to kick back and relax after they graduate.
Hu Tao looked surprised as they revealed that they were graduating, but then teased, “Oh look at you, you’re so old”
Kokomi blushed and snarked back, “Well at least I’m not a little baby like you!”
But Hu Tao just giggled and gave a wink as usual (the kind that made Kokomi’s heart skip a couple beats). They kept eating and chatting here and there, talking about classes, and parents and just other mundane and simple stuff like that.
Unfortunately, it was soon time to part again, so Kokomi said their goodbyes and to her surprise, got a hug. She walked out of the cafe feeling dazed, thoughts racing through their mind. Their cheeks were warm and they definitely felt like they were just floating. Questions of “Why would she do that? Does she like me? No maybe she was just being friendly”, and all sorts of other heart-pounding panicky thoughts. Before she walked through the door of her class, they let go of their thoughts and prepared for her psychology class, where her favorite teacher waited for class to start. But all through class, they were distracted. Their mind drifted to the other and everything they loved about her. And soon enough, class was over. The professor’s voice pierced her ears, calling her to Professor Ningguang’s classroom. Her heart pounded, she had only been here for a few days and she might already be in trouble.
“Miss Sangonoiya, how are you? I noticed that you seemed… tired. Are you okay?”
“Oh no don’t worry! I was just spacing out a bit. Uhm, just thinking about a new friend I made”, Kokomi replied.
“Oh well I hope your friend is okay, dear. Get some rest if you need it and see you on Wednesday”, her professor said.
“Okay, thank you! Bye”, Kokomi gave a friendly smile and left with a sigh of relief. They thought they were in trouble, but thankfully she had just wanted to check up on them. She hadn’t realized that her spacing out was that noticeable to others, and they noticed that they barely had any notes from the class. “Better step up my game”, she thought out loud, taking note that she had better start paying attention to her work again, and stop letting her mind fall victim to these whimsical and romantic daydreams.
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As the weeks slowly passed by, Hu Tao and Kokomi had been studying with each other and growing closer. Hu Tao’s grades were up and sooner or later she would have to graduate this year. Excitement bubbled up in her chest at the thought of it, and it was all thanks to Kokomi that her grades were like this. She felt her heart ache at the thought of Kokomi though. Despite all the studying together, the hangouts, and the smiles shared between the two, the other had seemed to distance themself from her. She had kinda figured that maybe, just maybe, they had liked her back, but then by the time they met up after their little cafe outing together all Kokomi’s blushing and flustering had sort of just dissipated. She was a bit worried about them, but figured that they could’ve just had a bad day. But then it happened again and again, meeting after meeting, and Hu Tao’s heart kept aching and yearning for the other.
It was a few days before finals, and now Hu Tao and Kokomi were meeting up once more at their spot in the library with the short table, bean bag, and all the natural sunlight the library could offer. She walked in, sat down, and waited patiently. And waited some more. Aaand a bit more after that, until she was sure Kokomi wouldn’t be here. She was about to leave when she saw the doors fling open, and to her surprise, Kokomi was rushing in to sit down.
Hu Tao scanned the other’s state, and to be frank, they were a mess. Their hair seemed to be everywhere but in the cute pigtails they usually wore, their outfit just a hoodie with leggings. And yet they were still such a sight.
“I’m so so sorry! I’ve been so busy trying to study and making sure everything's done and there has been so much to do I’m really sorry!”, Kokomi apologized. Hu Tao could hear how desperate she was, and was a little surprised at how distressed they were over helping her.
“Well, I don’t really expect you to help me all that much during exams, so how about we go get a bite to eat?” Hu Tao said tentatively
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“So how about we go get a bite to eat”, Hu Tao said. Kokomi lit up at the thought of a break from all this work. The end of this semester was nearing, and they were just a few weeks away from graduation, and despite being so close, she was extremely stressed at the sheer amount of work they had to do. Exams, wrapping up long term research papers, presentations. It was a lot. So naturally they agreed to go eat and relax.
“Is it okay if we go to my apartment? I don’t really feel like going out to eat”, Kokomi looked at Hu Tao a little surprised.
“You have an apartment? I mean yeah we can go, I just thought that you would’ve had a dorm like most of the other students here” Kokomi rambled on in shock.
Hu Tao chuckled a little, “yeah my parents are kinda pretentious that way”
Kokomi agreed, and they walked over to her apartment. The walk was fairly short thankfully. Although, the walk was honestly what they needed after being cooped up inside for the past week or two (honestly she wasn’t sure) trying to study and practice for the exams. She was very thankful to finally see the warm blue skies of May. This walk made them feel nostalgic and even a little sentimental because this very may be the last time they walk these paths with exams and graduation so close. Hu Tao finally stopped in front of a nice looking apartment complex.
“Soooo, we’re here! Come on lets head upstairs and go eat”, she said with grin. They quickly headed on up, with Kokomi admiring the regality of it all on the way up. They giggled as they both slid on inside the apartment, however Kokomi’s eyes widened in shock at the difference between outside and the inside. The apartment wasn’t horribly dirty, but it was definitely unorganized. Clothes were strewn on the couch and bed, and dishes were crowded on the counter. Kokomi sighed at the sight.
“Do you… do you want me to help you clean up?”
“What?? No! This is my mess you don’t need to help at all”, Hu Tao exclaimed
But Kokomi was determined. “Are you sure? This is a lot…”
“No, please stop, i can take care of it myself”
“Ah, uh, sorry if I came off as rude, I just didn’t want you to do this all alone”, Kokomi apologized profusely. They began to feel extremely guilty for pushing so much to help; she had probably made it seem like they didn’t like Tao and probably even made it seem like they thought she was gross.
As they kept looking around the apartment, her eyes landed on something particularly interesting.
“Are these the notes i let you borrow?” See, back when they first started studying together and when Kokomi started helping, she let Tao borrow some notes to get things done faster, but now it was the end of the school year so they doubted the other needed them now.
“Oh! Yeah thats another reason I invited you over, I was planning to give the notes back”, Hu Tao explained, “And I also kinda needed to do something else, so coming here was pretty convenient”.
Kokomi noticed a slight blush after the last part she had muttered, and soon found themself blushing too.
“Do something? Is it important?” Kokomi was pretty curious as to what the other had to say, and there was a small spark of hope that maybe, just maybe, Hu Tao would say that she liked them back. But Kokomi just waved away those thoughts, because really, why would Hu Tao choose them of all the people there are?
While Kokomi was lost in thought, Hu Tao grew more serious, and definitely more flustered than her usual teasing self.
“Well, uh, over this semester, I’ve just kinda fallen for you? Like you’re really sweet and kind but so admirable as well, and I was just wondering… would you like to be my partner?” Hu Tao sort of sputtered out the last part, unsure if the other would accept such a confession. All Kokomi could do at that moment though was simply give a small nod to the other.
“I think, I fell in love too. The teasing and the jokes and your persistence was one of the things that drove me so much to help you with your classes, but was eventually the things I fell for. Really.” Kokomi said these words with such heartfelt emotion, that Hu Tao couldn’t keep those tears of relief from spilling out of her eyes. They had both been waiting for this moment for so long, and finally embraced each others arms. After a few beats of silence, Hu Tao spoke.
“So, would you like to go on a real date?”