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He’s always been in his peripheral vision. The hat is, after all, very eye-catching. The few times they met, Sethos’ eyes were always caught off guard from looking at the elaborate hat, pale translucent skin, and piercing eyes. His voice is also quite distracting. Such as now, Sethos should have been on the road to meet Cyno and his family, but the conversation from Vahumana students has side-tracked him.
“CITATION NEEDED!” Hat Guy yells at the top of his lungs. His finger is pointing on one of the students in what Sethos could think of as a group discussion. “You can’t throw that stupid assumption around without citation!”
“I have one!” The student yells back indignantly.
“Oh yeah? Your mother?” Hat Guy sarcastically said. The response makes their arguments grow even bigger with everyone in the group discussion throwing insults at each other.
Akademiya students are hilarious, Sethos thinks.
————
“Are Akademiya students always… passionate when in discussion?” Sethos asks in between his chewing.
Tighnari’s ears perk up and so does Cyno’s hood somehow. Collei, far too young to be in Akademiya, takes glances at her adoptive fathers.
“They could be,” Tighnari says. “They go to Akademiya to study what they want, thus they can be… very engaging in discussions.” He takes a sip of his drink and looks at Sethos with a curious gaze. “Why are you asking? Do you want to study in Akademiya too?”
“Maybe…?” He poses the reply as a question. He’s interested in Akademiya but he’s more interested in one particular man, to be honest.
“You have to be in Spantamad.” Cyno says. There’s a gleam in his eyes that makes Sethos wary. “Spantamad is the best Darshan in Akademiya—”
“No, it’s Amurta.” Tighnari interrupts him.
“—and Collei doesn’t want to go to Spantamad,” Cyno continues on as if he doesn’t hear Tighnari’s interruption. There’s a whine in his tone that makes Sethos realizes this is an old argument for them. “Collei, how could you break my heart? You make me spantaMAD.”
Collie sputtered at the question. “It wasn’t my intention!”
“It’s not about going to Akademiya,” Sethos says before Collei gets more frazzled. “I’m just interested in… you know Hat Guy?” At the name, it seems they all recognize him. “He was debating with his fellow Vahumana students and they’re very… loud.”
“We know of Hat Guy. I heard he’s one of the most promising students in Vahumana,” Tighnari answers thoughtfully.
“I don’t get why he wears a hat though,” Cyno chimes in. “He’s Lord Kusanali’s son, he shouldn’t be afraid of the sun!”
They all stare at Cyno with blank faces. “You know, son and sun? Similar phonetic which means—”
“Yes, we know what phonetic means,” Tighnari interrupts tiredly.
Sethos, however, is barely able to stop choking on his drink. “He is Lord Kusanali’s WHAT?”
————
The next time they meet, it is near Aaru Village. Sethos is chilling on one of the cliffs when out of nowhere a hat falls on top of his head.
“Ouch!” Sethos rubs the top of his head. On the ground near him is the Hat Guy’s hat. But why did it fall down on top of him?
“Oh you caught my hat,” someone says.
Sethos looks up and there he is, the Hat Guy, flying. His pale skin looks even paler under the harsh desert sun that Sethos worries he’ll fall down and faint given how pale he is.
The hat must have knocked his senses out because he can’t stop the words released from his mouth. “Did I just catch your hat? Can I catch your heart next?”
It is, an extremely bad idea to say that.
Because Hat Guy is so shocked he falls down from the sky right into Sethos’ arms.
Okay, maybe not a bad idea.
“WHY DID YOU SAY THAT!” Hat Guy yells in his arms. While his skin remains pale, there’s no doubt he’s flustered.
Cute, Sethos thinks.
“You shouldn’t joke like that! What if I fall to my death? I’ll haunt you and make you regret ever being born!” Hat Guy continues his tirade. He seems to haven’t caught the fact he’s still in Sethos’ arms.
“You can be the ghost that haunts me so I can hunt you to our next life.” Sethos has seen that Cyno’s flirting brand catches his intended attention. Maybe Sethos will get lucky too.
Hat Guy doesn’t seem to agree. He yells profanities for such a long time that Sethos wonders how he seems not to need to breathe.
A wonder, he’s sure.
————
Sethos decides that he should be talking to Tighnari.
It’s not like Cyno will be a bad person to talk to… or well, he is a bad person to talk to. He’s funny but definitely not someone Sethos can talk heart-to-heart with. Tighnari though? Tighnari is wise and perceptive. Definitely someone Sethos can talk to regarding this problem.
As to which, Sethos goes to Gandharva Ville at the time when he knows Cyno will have TCG duels in the city. He’ll bring Collei too, because he believes Collei can avenge Cyno if he loses the duel. Never mind that Collei is not an avid fan of TCG and only plays it to spend time with her usually busy father.
He knocks on the door and soon enough Tighnari lets him in. “I’m surprised you’re here now. Cyno and Collei are outside currently.”
“I know,” Sethos sits in the dining chair. “I want to talk to you, actually.”
“Oh? What is it about?” Tighnari asks as he pours tea into two cups.
Sethos can feel his cheeks heat up. “So I met a guy.”
“Ah, that kind of talk,” Tighnari teases. He brings the tray to the table and puts each cup in front of them. “I like this kind of talk, please continue.”
“Well, last time we met he was so flustered that he yelled profanities.”
Tighnari blinks. “He’s… yelling profanities? What kind of thing did you say to him, exactly?”
“I told him, ‘Did I just catch your hat? Can I catch your heart next?’” He repeats the words and watches as Tighnari’s ears fall flat to his head. “Then I also told him, ‘You can be the ghost that haunts me so I can hunt you to our next life.’”
Tighnari covers his face with his hands. His ears still lay flat on his head and he seems to be taking a deep breath. “Why do you say something like that to him?” He finally says.
“I don’t know,” Sethos admits. “I was losing my train of thought and just… said those things?”
“Please, if you ever think that channeling Cyno is a good way to flirt, be assured that it is not recommended.” Tighnari puts his hands on Sethos’ shoulders. “In fact, never do anything Cyno does. And that includes his stalking behavior.”
Sethos—who has spent a long time stalking Hat Guy whenever he has free time—sweats. “Okay?”
Tighnari pats his shoulders gently. “Just be yourself. I’m sure the one who catches your eyes will be willing to open his heart to you,” he says earnestly.
Those words do give him courage. “Thank you, Tighnari.”
————
It’s a coincidence that he sees Hat Guy in Puspa Cafe, poring over a stack of books as tall as his hat. “Hat Guy?” He approaches him.
That startles Hat Guy. “You! Are you stalking me again?” He asks in annoyance.
That reminds him of what Tighnari said. “I’m picking up my niece, actually.” At least he’s not stalking Hat Guy today. He’s just picking up Collei from her private lesson with Madam Faruzan. “So why are there so many books here?” He asks curiously.
“It’s exam week,” Hat Guy answers. “And I’m going to ace this exam to show those assholes without proper citations what a great essay could be,” he mutters under his breath.
“Good luck with that.” He picks up one of the books, The Maritime Boundary Law: a Study in Sumeru, Liyue, Fontaine and Mondstadt. “Mind if I sit here while I wait for my niece?”
Hat Guy shrugs as he picks another book to do a cross-check. “Suit yourself. Just don’t disturb me.”
“As you wish.” Sethos takes a seat beside Hat Guy and opens the book. Maybe there will come a time when the knowledge will be useful.
————
Somehow one time sitting together in Puspa Cafe became two times, and then three times. They didn’t even do anything, Hat Guy would be busy poring over his books and writing his essays while Sethos would pick a random book as he waited for Collei to finish her lessons. Sometimes they would share snacks that Enteka provided.
And Sethos genuinely looks forward to those times.
This time, however, is different.
When he arrives at Puspa cafe, Hat Guy looks genuinely frazzled. It’s a rare look for him because he usually looks confident and acts as if nothing can bother him. This time though, Hat Guy is muttering under his breath as he’s looking at his essay. One of his feet is tapping on the ground in a strange anxious manner.
Sethos can’t help but worry. “Hat Guy, are you alright?”
“No, I want murder,” he replies scathingly.
Sethos is used to his way of speaking that he’s not surprised. “What got you in a twist?”
“This!” Hat Guy shoves his essay at Sethos. On top of the paper, there’s the number 99 which means— “I’m one point from perfect! Why am I one point from perfect? It should be PERFECT!” he rages on.
“This is already a great grade though?”
“Ugh, you sound like Lord Kusanali.” Right, his mother. Strange that Hat Guy calls his mother by her formal name though. “But no, it’s not good enough. It should have been perfect! What am I doing wrong? I’ve written all the possible clauses in international maritime laws and how they affect different regions, especially regarding the Indigenous monsters and—” he goes on and on.
Sethos, for the life of him, doesn’t understand anything Hat Guy says. He, however, is too caught up thinking how blindingly beautiful Hat Guy is when he’s in his passionate rant over his study.
Still, he listens to Hat Guy in rapt attention until finally, Hat Guy seems to have let off steam.
“I’m going to try to ask for a retest. I’m not going to let this unacceptable number be a stain on my name.” Hat Guy takes a paper and starts to write a letter to his professor, presumably to ask for a retest.
“And what is your name, exactly?” Sethos asks curiously.
“You know it,” Hat Guy grumbles.
“No, I don’t.”
Hat Guy mumbles under his breath and Sethos can only hear the end of it, “...zushi.”
He leans forward, grin getting bigger as he sees Hat Guy become more flustered. “I can’t hear you.”
“Kunikuzushi! Now stop bothering me!” He yells at Sethos, his hand is holding one of the books which he uses as a shield to hide his face.
Sethos laughs. “Nice to meet you, Kunikuzushi.” He offers his hand to shake. Kunikuzushi warily shakes it. “I definitely do not regret meeting someone as passionately beautiful as you.”
“You!” Kunikuzushi starts hitting Sethos with his book.
Embarrassed Kunikuzushi is adorable, Sethos can’t help but think.