— Characters: Hu Tao, Qiqi, Hu Tao's grandfather, Baizhu
— Tags: hurt/ comfort, angst, AU
— Summary: When the strange child named Qiqi appeared at Liyue Kindergarten, Hu Tao tried to befriend her. On a rainy day, Hu Tao uncovered the truth behind Qiqi's peculiarity...
— Word count: 2966
— Ao3
There was a new kid in Liyue Kindergarten lately.
Qiqi was her name. She was ill. She was always cold. And she was suffering from a peculiar sickness that caused her to forget who she was or what had just happened five minutes before.
She was taken to Liyue by Bubu Pharmacy owner, Mr. Baizhu. No clue where she had come from, but all the kids in the kindergarten avoided her. Because she was rather frightening. She was far too little for a five-year-old, and her eyes were dead. She couldn't remember anything; and that's why most kids hated playing with her, while the others bullied her.
Only one girl named Hu Tao dared to approach Qiqi. She is the granddaughter of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, which was responsible for all funeral services in Liyue Harbor. She was mischievous, sometimes giving the teachers headaches and forcing them to drop their pleasant smile and discipline her for good. No amount of scolding or punishment could wash away her mischievousness and desire to go against what she was told. She simply preferred to go against the trend. So, while the majority of the children shrieked and wept or fled behind the teachers or another friend when Qiqi came, Hu Tao took the initiative to engage the unusual child in conversation.
"Hey there, wanna play hide and seek?"
"Hide and seek? What is hide-and-seek? ..." Qiqi raised her lifeless eyes. "Qiqi... doesn't know."
Hu Tao explained:
"It's a very fun game. One will hide in a secret place, the other will look for them. Usually I'm the seeker . Because I always find everyone. In fact, when I hide, no one would ever find me! I'm so good at this game! Haha!"
Qiqi's eyes blinked. Perhaps she only comprehended half of what her twin-tails friend said; that part was about hiding and seeking.
"So, do you want to play?"
Hu Tao questioned once again. She noticed other kids in the distance watching them, then whispered to each other. So she tossed her hair, adding:
"Everyone wants to play with me."
Indeed. Hu Tao was considered the most popular child in kindergarten. With the teachers, they kept a watch on her since she was the most rebellious in school. As for the children, she was a cool kid who was never a crybaby and always had nice toys. They liked to surround her since she was always up to mischief, but in the eyes of grownups, those seemed too much to bear. Of course, Qiqi did not know those things. She just nodded her head in agreement to play with Hu Tao out of curiosity. No one had ever asked her to play anything before. Or, if they had, she could not recall it at all.
"Qiqi will hide." She responded.
"Alright. I'll then count to a hundred."
Having said so, Hu Tao then turned her face to the neighboring brick wall and began counting. She was overjoyed to have Qiqi join her in her game. It would be another of her glorious achievements at Liyue Kindergarten: helping a friend in fitting in with everyone. Or perhaps instructing a new friend how to play hide and seek. Alternatively, both. She would have two trophies in a single day.
Hu Tao reached a hundred and turned around, only to discover Qiqi's face looking back at her from behind.
"Qiqi! Why are you still here?"
She scratched her head, seemingly confused.
"What is Qiqi doing?"
Hu Tao grimaced, much like grownups do when they fall to her mischief.
"You must find a place to hide, then I'll go find you. We're playing hide and seek."
She had to explain the rules to Qiqi again. Playing with this friend was much more difficult than it seemed, as Qiqi always forgot to hide when Hu Tao was merely counting to about fifty. They tried to switch roles, but Qiqi only counted for a while, forgetting why she was facing the wall and counting numbers. The game ended with the sound of stomping and Hu Tao's scream that Qiqi didn't understand the rules of the game at all.
Everyone assumed that after this first defeat, Hu Tao would no longer play with Qiqi anymore. But in the days that followed, anyone who walked past the oak tree in the schoolyard would catch Hu Tao patiently showing her forgetful friend how to play hide-and-seek. She even drew on the ground with a dry twig.
"This is me." Hu Tao pointed at the girl who had twin tails on her head. "And this is you." She pointed again at the short-haired girl. "I'll stand here counting to a hundred. During that time, you need to hide somewhere so I won't find out. Until the bell rings, if I still can't find you, you win."
And this time, Qiqi actually remembered the rules. She hid herself in such a secret place that she had yet to be found when it was past playtime.
Hu Tao would not return to class. She sprinted across the playground seeking for her friend, despite the fact that two other babysitters were chasing her and attempting to hold her back. It wasn't until around midday that she discovered Qiqi in an unexpected location. She was resting quietly in a large, empty water container on the side of the cafeteria. Hu Tao surprised her by shouting so loudly. She had no idea why she had slept there either.
After that day, Qiqi was introduced to other friends by Hu Tao: Xiangling, who always had a delicious lunch box, Chongyun, who brought a new flavor of ice cream every day, and Xingqiu, the one with many cool toys. Every morning, Hu Tao had to reintroduce everyone, including herself, to Qiqi. But she did not seem to mind. She had come up with a way to put their names in Qiqi's notebook. As such, Qiqi would not forget them so easily.
Of the games they played together, Qiqi was probably the best at hide and seek. She constantly chose places the children had never been, places that Hu Tao might easily overlook. Qiqi eventually forgot that he was playing. As a result, they all struggled to find her. Hu Tao, on the other hand, was continually laughing because she was amazed by the secret spots Qiqi had hidden that she had never known about.
Since Qiqi knew how to play hide and seek, the number of times Hu Tao won was greatly reduced. She could not give in like that. One day, she suggested:
"How about expanding our map?"
"Huh? What do you mean?" Chongyun asked.
"Well... How about we don't simply play in the playground anymore, but in the woods?"
Hu Tao pointed to the bamboo forest just outside the school. Xiangling anxiety said:
"No way! The teacher told us not to go in there alone!"
"We're not actually alone, are we?" Hu Tao replied quickly. "We've been there before. You've also followed your parents into the forest to pick bamboo shoots to cook, Xiangling!"
"That's right... But... we shouldn't go in there without supervision..."
"Just for a little bit, please?" Hu Tao pleaded. In her eyes, there seemed to be no place that she should not be.
"We're going to be scolded..."
Xiangling looked around anxiously. Hu Tao boldly said:
"If you're scared, stay here. What about you guys? Want to go into the woods?"
"Sure."
Xingqiu replied immediately. Compared to Hu Tao, his mischief could only be equal, not less. If Xingqiu had joined, Chongyun would definitely go with them. In the end, Xiangling gave in.
"Alright. I'll go with you too."
So they secretly led each other into the woods. Hu Tao stood on the outside, silently counting to a hundred in anticipation of being caught red-handed and punished at any moment.
“... Ninety... Nine nine... One hundred!"
Hu Tao eagerly ran into the forest to find her friend. Chongyun was the first to be found. He did not even bother to hide, but just stood in a corner secretly eating ice cream. Then came Xiangling, which was discovered near the most bamboo shoots. Xingqiu was usually the most difficult to track down since he was constantly changing his hiding spots. But after a while, Hu Tao also grasped the hem of his shirt as he prepared to enter a rabbit hole.
There was only one last one left, Qiqi. Hu Tao told the friends to hurry back because break time was almost over. She also told them not to talk about this to anyone, and they could make up an excuse to say that she and Qiqi were having a stomach ache in the bathroom or something. She went to look for Qiqi alone, and she had no luck yet. At that time, she did not know that she had gone too deep into the bamboo forest. The ground became steeper and the sky darkened.
Hu Tao always assumed that she knew Liyue. Her grandfather was very erudite. He taught her everything from a young age, smaller than she was then. Occasionally, he would take her up the mountain, and let her see Liyue Harbor below. To her, mountains or forests were not frightening at all, even darkness. So when the rain began to pour, she did not feel compelled to return to the grownups for assistance in locating Qiqi. She still believed she'd discover her and be the winner in the end.
The rain splashed her face, and the strong wind blew the bamboo high above her head. Even Hu Tao's favorite hat was gone. She kept walking and shouted out Qiqi's name. When the rain-soaked trail caused her to slip and tumble into the mud, Hu Tao realized that she was truly in danger. And she had placed Qiqi in a far greater risk.
It was all Hu Tao's fault that Qiqi was lost. Only then did she realize that running into the woods was a bad idea. If only she had realized it sooner. She turned her head. The furious bamboo branches crashed in the rain like a black army. Hu Tao no longer recognized the familiar trail up the mountain. She became terrified. Her tears turned icy as they mixed with the rain. She screamed Qiqi's, Xiangling's, Chongyun's and Xingqiu's names in vain. She also called for her grandfather. But no one came to help her. The scene in front of her blurred, then she slipped again. This time, she rolled all the way down.
Fortunately for her, she suffered no injuries except for a few scratches and minor bruises. The rain felt pity for her, dropping with beads and not as intense as it had been. Hu Tao stopped crying. She looked around, searching for a way up. At that moment, she saw a pair of black shoes studded with funny pink pom-poms. They belonged to Qiqi.
"Qiqi!" Hu Tao yelled and ran towards her. She found her friend lying behind the rock.
"Oh my goodness, Qiqi!"
After Hu Tao's crying and shaking her friend's shoulders for a while , Qiqi woke up. She looked around perplexed:
"Uh... Where is Qiqi?"
Hu Tao embraced her friend.
"I'm so, so sorry... Sorry, Qiqi! I'll take you back home... I'll take you back..."
Qiqi had no idea what was going on. She definitely fled into the forest, either to play or to bring Mr. Baizhu a basket of medicine. She couldn't recall much. Or was she just having fun? The person who was hugging her and weeping appeared to be familiar. She wondered if this friend had the name of a type of nut.
It stopped raining. The rain went as quick as it came. But for two five-year-olds lost in the bamboo forest, it was terrifying. Hu Tao took Qiqi's hand, saying that she knew the way and would take them both home safely. But Qiqi was unable to walk.
"Qiqi's legs. It hurts."
She must have sprained her ankle. Hu Tao paused for a moment, then bent down, her back to Qiqi.
"Come on. I'll carry you back."
Qiqi was not particularly heavy due to sickness and being underweight. But Hu Tao was even more surprised to find out she was as light as a feather. It was as if she was carrying no one behind her back. Perhaps she was exhausted, so she didn't feel anything, other than Qiqi's tiny, cold arms wrapped around her.
The return of blue sky made it easy to make their way back. Hu Tao was a clever child. She remembered the way thanks to all the times her grandfather took her up the mountain on his trip. The long distance in the eyes of children turned out to be very short compared to reality. But when she brought Qiqi back to school, Hu Tao was out of breath. She collapsed to the ground as the teacher and her friends ****ed over.
Hu Tao smiled, because she had found Qiqi. The teachers would undoubtedly praise her, for her courage to save a friend when in trouble. She turned to Qiqi who was also lying beside her. She said quietly:
"Thank you, for bringing Qiqi home..."
*
* *
Hu Tao awoke in the hospital. Outside the room, she caught sight of Mr. Baizhu and her grandfather. They exchanged something very quickly, and Baizhu left. Her grandfather then pushed the door open.
"Are you awake now, kiddo?"
"Grandpa!"
Hu Tao sat up and extended her hands to him. She wished she could give him a lengthy embrace. Instead, he gave her a pinch on the nose.
"What nice deeds have you committed?"
"Huh? I'm sorry... But... Where's Qiqi? Is she okay? The one who I carried home?"
"Qiqi?"
The Director of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor squinted. He was old and wise. He had seen so many bizarre tales in this world. So he could guess the whole story based on everyone's patchwork of information, of his granddaughter's as well.
"Hu Tao," he said as he put a hand on her head. "There's a story I think you should hear."
*
* *
Five years ago, in the doorway of Bubu Pharmacy appeared a child suffering from a strange dementia. She was always as frigid as ice, and she had no idea who she was or where she came from. Neither could she keep track of what was happening around her in a short period of time. She remembered only one name, and that was Qiqi.
It was thought that because of that rare disease, she was brought back for treatment by Mr. Baizhu. Many people believed that she was cursed. Worst of all, it was rumored that she was an 'experiment' for some of Baizhu's remedies, hence she became like that.
On the other hand, Baizhu wanted her to be able to integrate and make friends. So he took her to Liyue Kindergarten. But her appearance terrified the children and their parents. No one dared to play with her. A few others in the school started mocking and bullying Qiqi because of her differences. They referred to her as a freak, a cursed child, even a monster…
Perhaps, not being able to remember being treated badly or the faces of her bullies was a blessing to Qiqi. She lived like that day by day. Until one, they asked her to join a game of hide and seek. And they told Qiqi to go into the forest.
The children meant no harm but to threaten Qiqi for a bit. They believed there was something really frightening in the bamboo forest since their parents and teachers used to scare them with imaginary monsters in the forest whenever they did not obey. Thus, Qiqi headed into the forest, alone. After that, she never returned.
A severe thunderstorm hit Liyue that day, causing floods in a vast portion of the forest surrounding the school. Qiqi was said to have been swept away by boulders and floodwaters. Perhaps a hopeful person would believe that Qiqi had just forgotten her way home and was now lost somewhere else. In any case, she no longer appeared at Liyue Harbor.
Until one day, five years after that accident and no one dared to mention the traumatic event anymore, Hu Tao found Qiqi's shoes on the mountain. The shoes were torn and covered in mud, but Mr. Baizhu still recognized them as the same he had once bought for the child named Qiqi.
*
* *
Hu Tao had fainted almost a week since she was found outside the edge of the forest. No one knew why she ran into the woods and discovered a pair of tattered shoes that she did not know to whom it belonged. She had a high temperature that concerned her grandfather very much. When she regained consciousness, she thought it had only been a day.
"There are a lot of strange things in this world." His voice rang out in the hospital room. "Our family has long helped the deceased travel to the afterlife. Soon, you will be my successor, Hu Tao. Maybe this is the proof that you are ready for future responsibilities..."
In a dreaming state, Hu Tao felt that the fever was returning to her. All the things in the past few days, Qiqi, the game of hide and seek, the shoes on the mountain... Was it all a figment of her imagination? Or was it something else that drove her to flee into the bamboo grove in the middle of a storm, as if she knew Qiqi was waiting for her?
"Sleep well, my dear grandchild."
He stroked her hair tenderly.
"You've found her. After so many years, she can rest in peace now."
Hu Tao's heavy eyelids gradually closed. Qiqi's voice echoed back in her ears.
Thank you, for bringing Qiqi home.
-The end-
