"Heeeeeere we are."
"Xingqiu, where are we?"
"Come on, don't tell me this isn't the perfect place to confess! There are even lots of beautiful flowers!"
We were on top of one of the mountains near the Harbour, the tallest one. We were next to a bunch of qingxin.
"Huh? Confess what?"
''Confess your love to Hu Tao!"
"Eh? I don't... I already told you, we don't know each other enough. Besides, I think she likes silk flowers better."
"Well, then let's come back here in two weeks!"
"Yeah, whatever, I already told you, I don't like her in that way"
"We'll see if you still don't in two weeks from now, in that case, I'll leave you alone."
<~>
The two weeks passed incredibly quickly. Hu Tao basically became a member of the family and there weren't any other "accidents" like the one of that morning.
*Yaaawn*
"Good morning, sleepyhead."
"Hu Tao?"
"Yeah, did you forget I have to live with you until they build my home back again?"
"No, I was just surprised at the fact that you're cooking, I didn't even know you could."
"Hey! Who did you take me for? I lived alone for a full year at this point, of course I know how to cook!"
"Well, let's taste this..."
You took a bite out of the food that she prepared, the tension was clearly visible in her eyes.
"Mmmh, yeah, I approve. This stuff is really good."
"You're serious?! Yay! Thanks a lot!"
"Anyways, I heard the windblume festival just started, we should go!"
"Oooh, you want to give me a windblume?~"
"Yeah."
*Blush*
"Wha-"
"Hm? Did I say something bad?"
"Nothing... I just..."
"Windblumes do not actually exist as a flower, every person has his own windblume, that they give to the persons that are dearest to them"
"Well, then I want to give you a windblume too!"
"Perfect, let's go to Mondstadt! Oh wait, what about your job?"
"Zhongli can handle a few days as the acting director. Anyways, can you help me with my luggage?"
"Ooook... Yanfei!? Have you already prepared everything for the trip?"
"Yeah! Don't worry!"
~
In Mondstadt...
"Woah!"
"Aaaah, the good old Mondtsadt, as vibrant and windy as ever!"
"Wait, you've already been here?"
"Twice, although we didn't stay a lot, Yanfei wanted to visit a friend, and I just accompanied her, it's the first time we come here during the Windblume festival."
"Hey, Y/N, can I go search for Eula?"
"Sure, just stay in the city for now, okay?"
"Okay! Thanks!"
Yanfei went searching for her friend.
"Hu Tao, have you got any idea yet on what your windblume will be?"
"Well, since now we're in Mondstadt I guess it should be one of the local specialties, but I still have an ace up my sleeve in case I don't find anything fit for the role."
"Lucky you, I'm still very confused about what it should be, Cecilia flowers are really cute, but dandelions just feel right. What about wolfhooks? Are those even considered flowers?"
"Hehehe~ Why don't we go play some games to clear out minds? I heard there are a lot of activities to do!"
"Like?"
A man approached us
"Hey, I heard you were talking about fun activities to do, right? Why don't you try floral pursuit?"
"What's it about?"
"It's basically a maze where you have to collect as many bloom balloons as possible while avoiding getting caught by the ersatz balloons"
"Sounds good, wanna try, Y/N?"
"Hmmm, yeah, why not?"
~
Level one, first room.
"Ok, so we just avoid the slime balloon and try to gather the small ones?"
"Yup, seems kinda easy.
Second room
"Okay...? This became a labyrinth."
"You can also activate a thingy that destroys the balloon if you find yourself cornered."
"Neat! Wait, is that balloon going towards me?" Asked Hu Tao
"What? No, I think they have like, routes they have to follow, try doing a sudden turn or something like that. Also, why did we split up?"
"I have no idea, but I'm calm, since I can still hear you. Eek!"
"Hu Tao? What happened?"
"I'm back at the start!"
"Why?"
"Because it WAS following me and I got stuck at a dead end.
"You mean they actually follo-woah!"
Somehow I found myself at the start after numbing into a slime balloon.
"Hi, Y/N, you got caught too?"
"Yeah..."
"I say we go in, kill them all, collect the little balloons and bolt away."
"Sounds like a plan."
Third room
"This one is the last one, let's not get caught" I grinned smugly
"You make it easy, we don't have anymore power-ups."
"You don't, go back and take it from the second room, it respawns after like 20 seconds."
"Nice, thanks cutie~"
"Hu Tao, we are trying to escape from killer sentient balloons, it's not the moment to be flirty."
"Why not?" I couldn't see her because she was in the other room, but she sounded extremely oblivious to why it was not a good idea.
"Ugh... Just come here and let's get done with this"
"There are like 5 other levels after this, let's do them too! It's fun!"
"Maybe later, I want to try the music one, and then I'd like to see the dragon."
"SEE WHAT?!" She bolted back to the start of the third room, with the expression of someone that just discovered a hidden treasure.
"You didn't know that there's a dragon in Mondstadt? It was under the abyss' control and Aether saved it or something like that."
"Wow, Aether really is a cool dude."
...
"Heyy~ are you jealous?" Hu Tao tapped my shoulder and grinned teasingly
"What? No, of course not!"
"Yes! I finally found your weak spot!"
"Ugh... Let's just go on to the next room."
"Okay!"
We finished the game around a minute later, even if Hu Tao had to restart once again because she didn't notice one of the balloons.
~
"Woo! That was a lot of fun!"
"Yeah, I have to say it's a pretty cool game."
''Hey, didn't you want to try the music one?"
"Oh, heck yeah!" I smiled widely
"I'm not that good with instruments, so I'll just listen to you"
"Wait, you thought I was good? I have never played a single instrument in my life, I just want to learn! Come on, do it with me, please..?"
I tried my best at puppy eyes, and apparently, this time I succeeded????
"How can I say no to that little handsome face of yours? Is it fine if I go first?" She chuckled a bit
"Yeah, no problem" I didn't realize what she said about my face until 5 seconds later
The lady that directed the game gave Hu Tao a lyre and told her to play a song called "caprice of the leaves"
"Congratulations! That was really good for a beginner!" Said the lady.
"Oh, no, I'm not a beginner, I just said that I'm not that good."
"Wow! Can you teach me, Hu Tao?"
"I don't think I'm qualified enough to teach you, but sure, I'll try my best!"
"Wait a minute, we don't have a lyre to learn, this one is hers"
I gave back the instrument
Don't worry, Venti the bard bought it for you two while you were playing Floral pursuit.
"Venti? Oh right! I almost forgot, he lives in Mondstadt!" I made a mental note to go visit him
"You know Venti?!"
"You know Venti?!"
"I met him during the lantern rite, he's a nice fellow." Thinking about it, Venti and Hu Tao have many similarities.
"I met him during the lantern rite too! Anyways, let's start with the lyre lessons, shall we?"
"Yes! Thank you again!"
I spent the next two and a half hours trying to learn the lyre and i must admit that Hu Tao is an incredible teacher
"Nice! You learn really fast!"
"It's all thanks to you, Hu."
In that moment, the girl's face seemed to get a bit redder, but it was probably just the sunset.
"W-why do you use my surname so suddenly?"
"Oh, is that a bad thing?"
"No, not at all. You can also call me by first name, you know..." She whispered
"Hm? Did you say something?"
"No, don't worry."
In that exact moment, when I tried to move, I realized the position we were in, she was behind me, extremely close, and her hands were on mine.
"Hm? Oh, sorry, hehe~."
"No problem (it was nice, I shouldn't have moved...)"
"Anyways, should we go search for Yanfei?"
"Yeah, let's go"
---------------------
Hi! Hope you liked this part!
School's getting a bit rough, so the wait in between the releases might be longer, but don't worry, it won't take much
Thanks for reading! I hope you all have a great day!
-Nova
14/03/23