Want to be human, but cube-like

"Seriously! If a girl asks if you've been waiting a long time, you should answer 'No, I just got here too!'"

"And another thing! You couldn't even say 'You look great today!' That's the cause of your death!"

……

Alex snapped out of her reverie, her eyes lighting up.

She knows this question!

"Ah...no, I just came out too."

Alex quickly spoke up, waving her hand while secretly glancing at Xiangzi's hands several times, wondering if a knife would suddenly appear in his hands.

"Oh, that's good. Let's go..."

Completely oblivious to Alex's gaze, Xiangzi merely breathed a slight sigh of relief. As she spoke, she was about to turn to the side and gesture for Alex to come along.

"And you look great today too!"

Before Xiangzi could turn his head, Alex shouted something loudly.

"Eh?!"

Startled by these words, Xiangzi was momentarily stunned, but when he came to his senses, his face turned red.

Why, why are you suddenly saying this?

Completely at a loss for words, Xiangzi froze on the spot.

Why has this conversation suddenly become so strange?

It sounds like the two of us are about to go on a date!

Suddenly, the question Alex had asked her yesterday at the burger joint—whether it was a date—came to mind.

Could it be... could it be that she's always had those feelings for me?!

But Alex doesn't seem like the type of person to say things like that.

"What's wrong, Xiangzi?"

Alex's close approach and her suddenly magnified, exquisite face startled Xiangzi from his reverie.

"Why are you suddenly saying these things..."

Turning his head to avoid direct eye contact with Alex, Xiangzi stammered as he asked a question.

"Mom taught me that. Is what I say strange?"

Tilting her head, Alex looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"..."

Xiangzi's face turned even redder, but this time the reason was different.

I knew it!

She took a deep breath, remained silent for a moment, and then turned to look around.

The passersby, who had been walking their own way, seemed to have all turned their attention to Alex because of her shout. She could even see several pairs of girls who happened to be passing by whispering to each other with strange smiles on their faces.

"Let's go!"

With a turn of his head, Xiangzi tightened his little face and walked towards the commercial street.

"Ok?"

Blinking her crimson eyes, Alex seemed completely bewildered by what had happened.

"Hurry up and chase after her! Your girlfriend is angry."

Just then, two girls appeared out of nowhere, approached Alex, and whispered something with a smile.

"Come on!"

With a frosty expression, Xiangzi turned around, took Alex's hand, and quickly left.

"Wow! Such a strong possessiveness..."

Only the two girls behind him were still whispering and laughing.

Volume 1: Chapter 35 Xiangzi's Hands, So Soft

"Xiangzi, what do you mean by 'little girlfriend'?"

Holding Xiangzi's hand, they were pulled all the way into the mall. As their pace slowed, Alex asked in confusion.

"...You don't need to know this."

Trying hard to keep a straight face, Xiangzi put on a blank expression. She let go of one hand and glanced at the bag she was holding in her other hand.

The original plan was to put Alex back in the burger shop first, and then the two of them would come out, but in the rush, they forgot about it.

"These are your clothes from yesterday. I've washed them and I'm returning them to you."

Feeling inexplicably agitated, she didn't bother to think about it anymore and simply shoved the bag into Alex's arms.

"Ah."

Nodding, Alex grabbed the bag and swiftly shoved it into her backpack.

"Don't……!"

Xiangzi was stunned; she didn't have time to reach out and stop her.

She quickly glanced around. Fortunately, there weren't many people in the mall that morning. Alex had moved so quickly that no one noticed the bag in her hand suddenly disappear.

"Don't let others know that you can hide things where they can't be seen."

Relieved, Xiangzi looked at Alex seriously.

"Huh? Should I take it out again?"

Alex asked, dazed, as she cut the bag back into her hand.

"No, sigh... whatever, do as you like."

With a helpless sigh, Xiangzi finished speaking and watched as Alex magically put the bag away again.

She shook her head and prepared to lead Alex toward the shops in the mall.

"Xiangzi, aren't you going to keep holding hands?"

Alex, whose hands were empty, looked at Xiangzi, whose hands were also empty. She raised the little hand that Xiangzi had been leading her all the way, and lightly clenched her fist, as if savoring the feeling.

"You shouldn't hold hands with people in public, it can cause misunderstandings."

Having made up his mind this time that he would not let Alex's words break through his defenses so easily again, Xiangzi said seriously without turning his head.

"But we were clearly holding hands the whole time?"

Somewhat puzzled, Alex quickly stepped forward and walked to Xiangzi's side.

"That was a special case."

Xiangzi, who was still looking for a shop, casually replied.

"Eh……"

With a regretful expression, Alex had no choice but to follow Xiangzi and continue walking into the mall.

Is there anything you need to buy?

As he took out his phone and opened the memo he had written the night before, Xiangzi asked Alex behind him.

"Seasonings? Sauces? And cheese and drinks?"

Alex replied, recalling what Xiangzi had told her yesterday about what the hamburger shop was missing.

"What else?"

Xiangzi certainly knew these things needed to be bought, after all, she was the one who explained to customers yesterday why the store was short of these items.

"...Um, I don't know."

After thinking for a while, Alex couldn't think of anything she needed.

If she had to say, she would need iron ingots and gold ingots, preferably a brewing stand, and blue dye would also be fine.

But Alex had already tried before that. The items she brought back from the Sky Island were a jumble of undecipherable gibberish in terms of their properties. They wouldn't react at all when she put them in the crafting table. Even if she put a bucket in, she couldn't interact with the cow to get a milk bucket. Water was out of the question, of course.

Aside from matters related to the development of Sky Island, Alex doesn't know what else she needs.

Since Alex doesn't have any ideas for the time being, let's just take a look.

It's still early, so they can browse around first. Xiangzi also wants to see if there's anything Alex might need, and they can look at the things they've already decided to buy later.

As they were talking, the two had already entered a store.

This is a cosmetics store. As soon as you enter, you see a glass counter on one side filled with bottles and jars.

"what are these?"

Curious, Alex leaned closer, her beautiful eyes wide as she peered through the transparent glass at the exquisitely shaped, colorful little bottles inside.

Is it medicine?

Could there be a potion of weakness here?

A thought suddenly occurred to her.

"These are perfumes."

Xiangzi casually picked up a bottle of perfume from the counter for customers to try, touched it lightly to his wrist, and then handed it to Alex.

"A cosmetic product is something used on the body to enrich the olfactory experience and bring people mental pleasure. You can smell it and see if you like it?"

Alex naturally leaned over and took a sniff, but she immediately turned her head away and twitched her nostrils.

"Ah sneeze!"

I sneezed slightly.

Alex seemed to dislike the taste, wrinkling her nose and rubbing it between two fingers.

"Don't you like it?"

He withdrew his wrist, brought it to his nose, and Xiangzi took a light sniff.

It has a cucumber and mint scent, without too many complex layers, but it's a pretty refreshing fragrance, which is more suitable for people who don't often use perfume.

"Xiangzi's original scent was the best."

Alex pursed her lips and replied.

"Eh?"

Upon hearing this, Xiangzi was stunned for a moment.

What smell do I have on me? It's just the smell of cheap laundry detergent, shower gel, and shampoo.

She turned her face away from Alex's gaze and put down the perfume bottle in her hand.

"I think it's fine; this perfume smells quite nice."

Although she said that, she still put her hands in front of her and, out of Alex's sight, vigorously rubbed the spot on her wrist that she had just applied perfume to.

"Excuse me, is there anything I can help you with?"

At this moment, a smiling saleswoman walked over and asked the two of them in a low voice.

"No, I'm just looking around."

Xiangzi shook his head and glanced around casually.

In the past, she might have been somewhat interested, but now, Toyokawa Shoko's only purpose in using cosmetics is to cover up her tired, pale complexion and the dark circles under her eyes.

However, the main purpose today was to buy things for Alex. She didn't know what Alex liked, so she just brought her in to take a look.

But it's likely that Alex doesn't really need these cosmetics. She probably doesn't even have the concept of makeup. Besides, Alex's natural face is beautiful enough.

Just as Xiangzi was about to turn around and leave with Alex, he noticed that Alex had somehow gotten close to the saleswoman.

Alex, who was more than ten centimeters taller than the saleswoman, stared at her quietly.

"Um...sir, is there anything you need?"