Want to be human, but cube-like

No sooner had she finished speaking than Alex reached out and pinched her soft cheek.

"Mmm...?"

Lena mumbled two indistinctly and looked at Alex in confusion.

"You're not allowed to say that anymore."

With a slightly dangerous glint in her eyes, Alex stopped Lena from continuing.

For some reason, she suddenly felt a little afraid that Chihaya, who gave her a sense of warmth, might, as Shoko had said, become disgusted with and distance herself from her after learning about her uniqueness that made her different from the people of this world.

The two of them should have just met.

Where does this feeling come from?

"Um……"

Perhaps Alex's coercion had finally worked, because Lena, who couldn't speak, nodded.

Only then did he let go of her.

However, in reality, Alex didn't use much force. Lena's face was soft and fluffy, like jelly, so she subconsciously softened her touch when she first started touching her.

Lenai, who was released, did not react much. She just turned her head and rubbed her cheeks, which were slightly red from being pinched.

"what……"

Aine, who had been watching the two interact with some headache and didn't know how to stop them, breathed a sigh of relief when she saw this. She looked around, wanting to quickly find some other topics to ease the current atmosphere.

Just then, they saw Lena turn her head and stare blankly at the guitars displayed in the window of a music store next to the three of them.

"By the way, Alex, little Lenai, would you like to take a look at this music store?"

Raising an index finger, Ai Yin asked with a smile.

"It just so happens that Alex's friend won't be back for a while, so why don't we go inside and wander around for a bit to kill some time?"

After she finished speaking, she looked at the two people's reactions.

"Well……?"

Lena pondered for a moment, then glanced at Alex, before remaining noncommittal.

"But Xiangzi will be back soon."

Alex hesitated, glancing at the music store behind her, her eyes seemingly filled with...

A hint of curiosity lingered in my mind.

"It's okay, it's right next door anyway, your friend will see you as soon as he gets back, don't worry."

Seeing that Alex was indeed interested, Aine immediately leaned over and encouraged her.

"Come on, come on~"

She walked behind Alex and first tentatively touched the other's shoulder with her fingertips. Seeing that Alex did not show any resistance, she gently pushed her and led her into the music store.

Lena initially seemed uninterested and appeared to be about to leave, but after glancing at Alex's retreating figure, she followed her inside.

…………

P.S. As mentioned at the end of the previous chapter, Aine's early appearance is a revised result. Originally, these two chapters were supposed to be Rakuna's special, so they definitely wouldn't recognize each other so quickly. I don't like keeping everyone hanging on, making them feel like they're almost there. I'm being upfront about this here first, since we need to cultivate Aine's feelings first.

One more thing: although we've only known each other for a short time, I've had a lot of fun with everyone. However, enthusiasm always fades, and if nothing unexpected happens, this should be the last chapter I update this year. I need to rest and reflect for a while. See you all next year!

love you~

Volume 1: Chapter 39 Unable to Breathe

After rushing around and finally buying everything, Xiangzi returned to the place where she and Alex had parted ways, carrying her shopping bags.

Xiangzi had tried her best to reduce the time, but it was still less than ten minutes slower than expected because she encountered a small problem with the delivery address when ordering soft drinks from the hamburger shop. The shop's computer system couldn't find the address, so Xiangzi had to fill it in manually.

Although she had told Alex that unless there was danger, no matter what happened, she should stay where she was and wait for her to come back, and not respond to anyone who tried to talk to her.

But when Xiangzi thought of Alex's somewhat naive and innocent personality, and her beautiful face that made her look like she was easily deceived, he couldn't help but feel a little worried.

as predicted.

Upon returning here, when Xiangzi didn't see Alex at first glance, his heart skipped a beat, and he immediately felt that something terrible was about to happen.

Where's Alex?!

Were they lured away? Or did something happen to them?

In just a few seconds, she even started thinking about what she should do if Alex exposed her special abilities and became a wanted person.

If she is arrested, should she go back to the Toyokawa family for help?

If Alex kills someone, should I cover for her or persuade her to turn herself in?

For a moment, Xiangzi's thoughts were in complete disarray, and he paced back and forth anxiously several times.

Then, turning around, I saw a musical instrument store not far away, where a lot of people were gathered in a circle.

A thought suddenly flashed through her mind.

"No way?"

After muttering something to herself and pondering for two seconds, Xiangzi still walked towards the music store.

Already in mind, Alex had dismantled a bunch of instruments inside and was preparing to either face criticism or discuss compensation.

However, as soon as I stepped into the store, I heard a melodious piano tune.

Upon hearing the prelude, she knew it was "The Maiden's Prayer," a piece of medium difficulty with a wide range, suitable for testing the piano. For beginners, the difficulty mainly lies in the arpeggios, which are easy to break and difficult to play smoothly. In addition, there are many octaves, which are not very friendly to people with small hands.

These music stores usually do prepare sheet music for customers to try out.

Composed by Polish pianist and composer Anastasia Badadewska at the age of eighteen, this is a classical romantic piece with a relatively simple structure. It basically consists of three chords repeated and varied, with a gentle, undulating melody. The alternating combination of ascending arpeggios and trills creates a wave-like effect, resulting in a light and graceful musical style.

Just like its name suggests, it is simple and pure, repeating itself over and over again, like a pure young girl constantly praying for a bright future.

But as soon as Xiangzi stepped into the music store, she felt that she heard a piece of music that was completely different from what she remembered.

Take two more steps inside, and Xiangzi will see Alex sitting in front of a piano, playing a piece of music.

She gazed intently at the sheet music and piano keys laid out before her, her slender and beautiful hands moving with the agility of a forest sprite, leaping and dancing across the black and white keys.

The people around her were all smiling and enjoying the music, their expressions seemingly only marveling at how good Alex's piano skills were.

But to Xiangzi's ears, the tune played by Alex's fingertips made her frown.

Standard, precise, as flawless as a machine, with the intervals between each note so precise that they are indistinguishable to the human ear, and the duration of each sustain measured in milliseconds.

It didn't feel like a young girl sitting at a piano playing; it felt more like a machine automatically playing a pre-programmed piece.

Even with such a mechanical performance, one can still hear that the machine is playing out a shallow and thin emotion.

That was a sense of confusion about the future and a feeling of helplessness at losing one's home.

The melody, repeated again and again, is no longer the light and cheerful tune, and it has lost its innocent girlishness. Rather than a prayer, it is more like a series of bitter questionings.

Like a fallen leaf adrift on a stagnant pond, the still wind can no longer propel it forward, so it can only rely on its own efforts to find its next resting place.

But since it is just a fallen leaf drifting in the wind, even tiny specks of dust have the courage to corrode it, so how can it have the power to propel itself to seek another breath?

The withered yellow hue represents the foreseeable future of this fallen leaf.

That was the bitterness of having lost even the rights that rotted on the ground.

It is impossible to return to the embrace of flowers and branches.

It also cannot blend into the embrace of mud and soil.

All that remained was a silent dejection.

And the sorrow of suffocation.

a long time.

As the music faded, Alex withdrew her hands from above the keys.

Then, applause rang out, the onlookers murmured a few words of praise, and then dispersed.

Even Toyokawa Shoko had to admit that Alex's piano fundamentals were very solid, and this piece alone was far from enough to gauge her potential.

But it shouldn't be like this.

This piece of music shouldn't have such emotions.

Xiangzi looked up at Alex's beautiful face, who seemed unaware that he had poured his emotions into the music.

Looking at the girl sitting at the piano once more, Xiangzi finally discerned a trace of confusion in her seemingly focused eyes.

"..."

She paused for a moment, just about to step forward.

"Wow! That's amazing, Alex! You played so incredibly well!"

At that moment, a voice from beside him made Xiangzi pause.

"That sounds beautiful! Did Alex start learning piano when she was little?"

A pink-haired girl appeared out of nowhere, darted up to Alex, and chattered away beside her.

What's up with this pink-haired guy?!

She frowned, looking at the...

Fang stood next to Alex, looking like he was about to make a move on her at any moment.

How come Alex was harassed by this strange guy when I was only gone for a dozen minutes?

"Huh? No, I am..."

Just as Alex was about to answer Aine and say that it was her first time playing the piano, she turned her head and saw Shoko glaring at Aine beside her, and immediately stopped talking.

"Xiangzi, you're back?"

Noticing that Shoko seemed to be in a bad mood, and for some reason worried that the two of them might quarrel, Alex subconsciously took two steps forward to separate Aine and Shoko.

"Ah."

Nodding, Xiangzi quickly composed herself and took Alex's hand, ready to walk outside.

"Let's go, I've already bought the things."

"Eh?"

Ai Yin, who had been completely ignored by Xiangzi, paused for half a second before following him out of the music store and approaching Alex.

"Is she the friend you've been waiting for, Alex?"

Although she had just heard Alex call Xiangzi's name, Aine asked another question just in case.

Or perhaps she simply used those words to make the two of them stop in their tracks.

"Yes, my name is Toyokawa Shoko, and I'm Alex's friend. May I ask who you are?"

After taking a deep breath and standing still, Xiangzi, who was slightly impatient for some reason, turned around and immediately put on a standard smile. She asked Aine in a seemingly polite manner.

"Huh? Um, hello..."

Caught off guard by Xiangzi's reaction, Aiyin was forced to switch to communicating with Xiangzi.

Alex, who had stepped aside, was still in a daze when a small hand reached out and tugged at her clothes.

Turning her head, she saw the tiny white fluffy ball looking up at her.

"You can't breathe either?"

Lena asked softly.

…………

P.S. Xiangzi: This pink-haired guy doesn't seem to have any good intentions!

Aiyin: You are the one who came!

Volume 1: Chapter 40 Playing this big?

Breathe.