Hu Tao Side Story 1# - Harmony Hexagram Hat

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***

Going back in time, roughly twenty minutes before the party of Kaeya, Yomite and Hu Tao entered the Temple of the Wolf for the first time, to destroy the source of wind power of the Stormterror.

Yomite saw Hu Tao as he made his way up the hill, sitting atop of the highest point in the mountain in the grassy plain, that cheeky smile coated her face as usual.

And weirdly, a flicker of unknown pain passed through him as he looked at the youthful face of his teammate.

She was holding her hat in her hands, her long, dark brown hair swaying in the wind, as she stroked the hat in a steady rhythm, gazing at the moon.

Her smile was obviously plastered on her face, yet when he looked more carefully, her expression was solemn and much darker than he had ever seen it before.

She could sense him coming from miles away, despite him trying to sneak around.

"Assistant-kun~ you're being very sha~dy~" she turned around as she giggled.

"I am not trying to hide really...I just came for you..." He lied as naturally as he breathed.

Taking a closer look at her, he felt like this might have actually been the first time he had seen her without the hat on her head.

She didn't even put it away when she was inside of the Knights' Headquarters, or when she was in the room with the Acting Grand Master.

Usually, you would put down your hat as you enter a building, those were the basics of courtesy in most countries.

But she didn't.

So it was surprising she took it off now, out of all the moments she could choose.

It wasn't like they were that much in a hurry, and not like Yomite had something better to do either, so he sat down next to her and tried to strike up a conversation, "That hat seems to be quite precious to you."

"Mhm. It's my most beloved treasure." She mumbled as she stared into the distance, looking at the floating island of Celestia, hidden within the clouds

She opened up, slowly, telling him a story to fill up the deathly silence.

The name of her hat was Harmony Hexagram Hat.

This hat was somewhat on the hard side, and the insignia of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor adorned its front.

It was said that this hat was passed down from the 75th Director to Hu Tao.

However, that director was large, musclebound, and had a head at least two sizes larger than hers.

Ultimately, Hu Tao had to spend an entire day and night modifying the hat with her own two hands such that its dimensions would fit hers.

When she met with others, she told them, "This hat is magical, upholding good and repelling evil, and is a bringer of peace!"

Her undertakers laughed and left it at that, but they could see the 77th Director clearly did treasure that hat.

No matter the rain or storm, or if Hu Tao returned late covered in muck, that hat would always remain spotless and clean.

It was an artifact of the highest grade currently known as a 5 star.

It didn't have any special effects, but it was a precious memento.

The plum blossom that adorned the side of the hat was plucked from a rare plum tree that Hu Tao planted and grew herself.

There was only one tree like that in the whole world of Teyvat, planted in her backyard.

After she finished the story, she looked into the distance, "Tonight's a beautiful night, doncha think?" his companion asked as she hugged her legs, eyes of crimson focused on the night sky above.

Yomite only gave her a grunt in response, still processing the story about her hat, but it seemed enough for his usually talkative companion.

"It's a nice evening for ghostly pranks!" she giggled, eyes alight with humor. "I wonder if I should go and scare someone. Will you come with me?"

This question left him wondering, but he shook his head, saying, "We still have the quest to complete, don't you remember? We came here for that very reason. We need to go soon."

Her grin faltered a bit, "Ah, that's right..." She further curled up in a ball.

"Jeez, how can you forget stuff like that...Hmm? What's wrong?" He noticed the way she was sitting didn't exactly scream happiness. Something was bothering her.

"Hu Tao?"

"..."

Not getting an answer from her, Yomite asked again.

"Hu Tao?"

"...Earlier...you scrutinized me because I acted that way towards that little boy, Timmie. Do you hate me too?" she asked, her voice uncertain.

This took him by surprise, he shook his head as a response, "No? Not at all...I just disagreed with you because he's a child, and children are usually very sensitive about what you tell them. Why would you think I would hate you because of that?"

"Because...Everyone in Liyue also hates me, but that's alright," she told him with a straight face, "My grandpa used to be very famous. He had numerous guests visiting during his funeral, but my funeral wouldn't have a single guest. Nobody would care if I died." she smiled wryly.

Yomite twisted his lips at these words, "I don't hate you." He said resolutely, making her giggle.

"Really? I seem to be getting on your nerves though~."

"Um..."

He paused, words evaporating within his throat until he could formulate words once again, "It's true that you are unbelievable at times and can easily piss me off, but there is nothing to hate about you so far. If you give me a reason, I might do so, but not right now."

His gentle words created little clouds of hope.

"You really...mean that?" she whispered, her tone expectant.

Yomite cleared his throat, "Listen, there is a huge difference between hate and occasional annoyance, the latter I can swallow after some period of time, and as for the former...it would depend on the situation..."

"I see...You are teaching me so much~! Thank you!" She snickered, her eyes glued at him.

There's little that could be said of what happened for the next twenty minutes.

Both Yomite and Hu Tao continued talking and enjoyed watching the moon together.

Yomite wanted to know more about his chestnut-haired friend and future companion, while Hu Tao wanted to do the same with him.

She didn't know what it was about him.

Maybe because, unlike the rest, he didn't hate her.

Maybe because he didn't run away from her in the first two minutes they've known each other, as most people did.

Maybe because his eyes weren't ostracizing her in any way, and instead, welcomed her for who she was and he wasn't trying to get rid of her every few minutes.

She was happy.

Both learned lots of things from each other.

Yomite learned about Hu Tao's hobbies, one of them was reading books and writing novels, poems and songs.

Which was to his liking, as of course, he was a massive reader himself, although now that he was in a magical world, finally ready to explore things on his own instead of reading about them, he doubted he would read that often.

But finding a fellow reader you could always talk to was nice.

Hu Tao said that she had always loved reading since she was a small child.

Curiously, when Yomite asked her what her favorite book was so that he could check it out himself, Hu Tao hesitated, before replying that she had no preferences whatsoever.

He also learned small stuff like her least favorite food, something called Qingxin Slime Condensate.

Yomite would describe the expression on her face as "Bleugh..." when she talked about its taste.

He found it quite funny.

And so, the time passed and passed, both getting lost in each other until Yomite found out almost half an hour had passed and they had to go back now.

As they were walking down the hill, Hu Tao spoke, "Hee-hee, I am so~ char~ming, aren't I? But to think that Assistant-kun was also into reading books...well I guess the saying you can't judge a book by it's cover heavily applies in this context~." she covered her mouth with her palm and giggled.

"You're shameless, you know that? Imagine calling yourself charming...and saying it out loud even...how creepy..." he spoke as he formed a smile of his own.

She pouted before leaning her entire weight on his shoulder, "I am charming though~! A Young and Charming Director of the Creepy Wangsheng Funeral Parlor~! Uwaaah!" She did a creepy gesture with her hands while letting her tongue dangle out of her mouth as her eyes rolled back.

It was supposed to be creepy but he found it cute instead.

"Disgusting, walk properly."

"Hehehe."

Her smug smirk didn't leave her face as she heartily laughed all the way down.

The night's sky was filled with gentle sounds of laughter.

Kaeya would definitely flip out if they didn't return soon.

***

"Great, you are finally here...I thought you would bring her after a few seconds, what took you so long? Did you get lost or something?" Kaeya asked with a frustrated tone.

"Yep, the woods are dangerous and we got lost pretty easily." Yomite joked.

"Sure...sounds convincing enough...Alright, folks. No one makes offerings to The Four Winds anymore, yet the old winds never truly vanished." He touched the gate with a sense of nostalgia, the three ruby crystals transforming and opening the gate upon his touch.

"We need to clear out the temples, for The Four Winds. Let's go in, team."

Yomite nodded and Hu Tao also voiced her agreement.

"Right." "Okay!~"