Chapter Text
"So, have you heard of the school's seven mysteries?"
Aether blinked, his concentration broken by the voice of the brown-haired girl seated to his right. He opened his mouth to reply before remembering that he was in class, and quickly closed it with an uncertain glance at the teacher. He looked back at the girl, who was waiting for his reply with an expectant grin.
It was only Aether's first day at this school, and he already felt like he had been presented with the most difficult choice in the world.
The teacher, Ms. Jean, if he remembered right, saved him.
"Hu Tao, I know you're excited to greet the new student, but I'd appreciate it if you did that after class, please."
A few students giggled. Hu Tao apologized with the same bright grin, and the class went on.
---
The bell signaling lunch break rang, and Aether yawned and flopped his head on his desk. The day was just half over, and he groaned at the thought of having to endure another three hours of classes. Why on earth did he get a front row seat?
As Aether silently lamented, the girl from earlier, Hu Tao, gave his arm a poke.
He jumped up. "What? Who?"
"Hu Tao."
Aether chose to ignore that.
"As I was saying, have you heard of this school's seven mysteries?"
Aether frowned. "I have no idea what that is."
Hu Tao's eyes sparkled- with what emotion, he wasn't sure- and suddenly, he got the strange feeling that her wide grin was a lot more scary than he'd initially thought.
"One: The lyre that plays by itself in the music room at night." Hu Tao's voice turned slow and dramatic, and Aether's sense of foreboding increased.
"Two: The witch that wanders the teachers' lounge at night, wailing and crying out her lost lover's name.
Three: The masked man who challenges anyone he sees to a battle to the death. He is usually seen near the swimming pool at night."
Aether held a hand up. "Wait, isn't that too many things happening at night?"
Hu Tao shrugged. "Isn't it spookier if it happens at night?" She wiggled her fingers. "Wooooooo-"
"Hu Tao! Are you terrorizing other students already?"
A voice called from outside the classroom, and Aether turned to see a boy with choppy dark blue hair walk in. His stance was polite and reserved, but his eyes held the same mischievous glint that Hu Tao's did, and Aether was starting to wonder if the two of them would let him go back home alive today.
"Xingqiu, hi!" Hu Tao waved energetically, then turned her head to look back at the doorway. "Where's Chongyun? It's so unusual for you two to be separated!"
Xingqiu raised an eyebrow as Hu Tao began putting on a whole show of searching behind Xingqiu, then inside his pockets, then inside HER pockets, for this supposedly missing Chongyun.
"He called in sick today, so he is not at school."
Hu Tao practically shrieked. "Sick! I don't believe it! You know how he is with colds and fever, they run away from him like spirits!"
She wiggled her eyebrows, the sly grin back on her face as she leaned closer to Xingqiu. "On an unrelated note, did you feed him anything spicy yesterday?"
Xingqiu averted his eyes, the hint of a smirk threatening to break his dignified facade. "What do you take me for? I absolutely did not give him any specially made chili popsicles...."
"Um." They both looked at Aether, who was starting to feel quite lost in this conversation.
Xingqiu immediately looked scandalized. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Xingqiu, from Section B. I, along with my dearest friend Chongyun, and our other friend Xiangling, are friends of Hu Tao. It is a pleasure to meet you!"
"HI, I'm Aether! I'm new to this school, and I just met Hu Tao. I don't know anyone else," said Aether with a smile.
Hu Tao leaned over to Aether and whispered loudly, "He says 'dearest friend', but they're both madly in love with each other and are too scared to say anything about it!"
Xingqiu's eyes flashed. "Hu Tao, one more distortion of the truth and I will never help you market your business again."
At this, Hu Tao's eyes grew comically wide. "Sorry! Sorry! Anything but that!"
She turned to Aether. "Xingqiu is a writer and sometimes helps me draft advertisements and spam mail to promote my business!" Whipping out a flyer from seemingly nowhere, she thrust it into Aether's hands.
"Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.... You conduct funerals?!"
"Yes! Would you like a coffin? Buy three, get one for another family member free!"
Aether had never seen anyone look so excited about an entire family dying.
---
School was over for the day, and Aether thought he'd never been more exhausted in his life. Hu Tao had managed to keep him awake throughout the classes by poking him and blowing into his ear at odd intervals, which he wasn't sure if he should have been annoyed about or grateful for.
But school was over, and he could finally go home and sleep.
Unless...
"Do you want to know about the rest of the school's mysteries?"
And Aether couldn't bring himself to say no to that beaming smile.
"Four: The fifth step that doesn't exist in front of the auditorium doors. They say if you step on it, you will go straight to hell." Hu Tao's voice turned dramatic once more.
"Isn't it weird that the fourth mystery is about the fifth step? Why isn't it the fifth mystery?"
Hu Tao looked thoughtful. "I don't know if whoever came up with these was thinking about that at all! But it could be because the fifth step doesn't actually exist. Technically, there are only four steps there."
Aether nodded. "Go on."
"Five: The mirrors of the dance hall. At night, they show you either a young girl speaking prophecies of destruction, or the corpse of a woman who died before her wish was granted."
Aether shuddered. He promised himself that he'd never visit the dance hall. A witch was one thing, but a corpse was just too much for him.
"Six: The guardian of Liyue Academy. A demon bound by oath to protect the students and teachers."
"That doesn't sound scary."
Hu Tao smiled even wider, if that was humanly possible. "His myth may not be, but the man's personality is another deal!"
"How do you know?"
This time, Hu Tao chose to ignore that.
"Seven: The icy empress of the shower rooms. At night, the water in the shower rooms might freeze, leaving the showers and sinks inoperable. They say that if you try to use the shower rooms at this time, your blood and body will slowly freeze over, killing you painfully. A chilling tale, for sure!"
Aether rolled his eyes. "Who would want to use the school showers at night?!"
"You'd be surprised!" said a new voice, and Aether looked up to see a cheerful-looking girl standing behind Hu Tao. "This one time, I snuck into school looking for inspiration for my next dish! And you wouldn't believe it, but it started raining horribly, and I got completely drenched and covered in mud. I had no choice but to go shower and wait for the storm to end!"
She smiled innocently, as though the tale she had just recounted hadn't been weird as fuck.
"Xiangling, perfect timing! Meet Aether, our new member!" Hu Tao clapped Aether on the shoulder repeatedly.
Xiangling's eyebrows shot up. "A new member? So you won't be alone in this class after all! Thank God, I was so worried that you'd be lonely with the three of us in section B and you in C! Hi, Aether!" Xiangling waved at him, and he waved back, uncertain as to what he just got himself into.
But more importantly...
"You didn't encounter the empress, did you?" Aether asked nervously. A creepy tale of seven supernatural beings was one thing, a creepy tale of seven REAL supernatural beings was another. Aether really didn't want to deal with that, whether it was night or not.
"Nope! I showered in nice, hot water and left with unfrozen organs!"
Good. Aether relaxed a bit. At least the rumors were only rumors.
"But I did step on the fifth step once."
What?
"Xiangling.... Doesn't the fifth step not exist?"
Her smile never wavered. "Usually, no, it doesn't!"
Aether almost didn't want to ask his next question, but curiosity got the better of him. "And... What happened after that?"
All of a sudden, shadows crossed Hu Tao and Xiangling's faces. They shared a look, and turned back to Aether.
"Not right now, Aether," Hu Tao said softly, and he noted that it was the first time he'd seen her without a grin on her face.
"Not now, then. I'm really sorry for asking."
And Hu Tao's smile was back, so suddenly that he was tempted to think he'd imagined the earlier exchange. She stood up, grabbing her books from her desk and dropping them inside her bag.
"Let's go meet Xingqiu!" she said, slinging her back over her shoulder and tugging at Aether's sleeve. He put his books in his bag, and joined the two on their way to the door.