Want to be human, but cube-like

"...!"

Just then, Xiangzi, carrying a bag of apple juice, came out of the kitchen and immediately saw Alex and Aine in what appeared to be a very ambiguous position. His vision went black.

…………

I'm not sure if the images will cause issues with Photoshop; I feel they might be a bit sensitive, so I won't post them in the illustration section.

Volume 1: Chapter 82 The doll you gave me, was it you who held her and pinched it between your fingers?

"Please be mindful of your appearance in public."

Xiangzi quickened his pace and walked over, put down the apple juice in his hand, and said to Alex with a somewhat helpless expression.

She had taught Alex about social skills before, but for some reason, Alex always forgot when facing Aine.

"Uh... I'm sorry..."

Reminded by Xiangzi's words, Alex realized that her subconscious action was inappropriate; she had forgotten the common sense of maintaining basic social distance from others.

Alex quickly leaned back, creating distance between herself and Aine.

"Ellie always seems to be like this...it's actually quite cute~"

Blinking quickly, Aine concealed her slightly shy expression and said in a nonchalant tone.

"Enjoy your apple juice."

First, Xiangzi pushed the apple juice towards Ai Yin, then put on a slightly apologetic expression.

“Alex isn’t very familiar with social etiquette and the culture here. I’m sorry to have troubled you.”

Her words always carried a strange sense of distance, which inadvertently widened the social gap between Alex and Aine.

"It's okay, I know."

Holding the apple juice in both hands, Ai Yin took a small sip and shook her head slightly.

"It happened before too. She would suddenly hug me, which startled me at first, but then I realized that it was actually proof that Ellie doesn't dislike me."

She chuckled softly as she spoke.

After the two of them went shopping that day, Aine returned home and calmed down, realizing that it wasn't really a big deal.

She had already explained things clearly to Alex on Line that night, telling her to try not to do such things suddenly in the future. She also understood that Alex really didn't know anything about these things, so she stopped caring.

"……Before?"

Xiangzi was taken aback when she heard this. She pondered Aiyin's words for a moment, and then her eyes widened slightly.

Carry me up?!

What have you been doing while I was unaware of your activities?!

"It was last week, the afternoon I told you I was going out."

Blinking, Alex seemed to notice that Xiangzi's expression was a little strange, and she offered an explanation.

"That day, after I bought the musical instrument, I asked Ai to go out on a date... no, not a date, what should I call it?"

Halfway through her sentence, Alex suddenly stopped and asked Aine, somewhat puzzled.

"It's just ordinary shopping, or..."

Just say you want to play together.

Amused by Alex's bewildered expression, Aine put down her apple juice and added with a smile.

"While I was playing the claw machine, she suddenly hugged me from behind and said she wanted to help me win. She really lacks common sense, Ellie..."

Considering there were other customers in the store, Ai lowered her voice and said the sentence with a hint of complaint. She smiled helplessly, rested her chin on one hand, and looked at Alex.

"Well……"

After that night, Alex realized that Aine was troubled by this. She puffed out her cheeks slightly, leaned on the counter, rested her chin on her arms, tilted her head, and looked back at Aine without saying a word. Her expression was very cute.

For some reason, when faced with Aine's light and detached complaints, she would naturally and subconsciously accept them and find it difficult to refute them.

Is it probably because of Aine's voice? She sounds so much like her mother, so she doesn't dare to argue?

"..."

Seeing the two of them looking at each other with perfect understanding, Xiangzi took a deep breath and suppressed the complex emotions surging in his heart.

"You guys... even went to play the claw machine together?"

She asked in a calm, soft voice.

Thinking back, when he came back that day, Alex did indeed give him a blue octopus doll. Xiangzi was curious at the time why Alex would think of buying a doll for her.

So it was the claw machine that Chihaya Aine went to play with?

Moreover, it was Alex who was holding Chihaya Aine from behind and squeezing her together?

As soon as that saccharine image appeared in his mind, Xiangzi felt an indescribable emotion welling up from the bottom of his heart.

She's been sleeping with that octopus plush toy every night for the past few nights. The thought that she got the toy from it all...

She just...

I don't really care at all... really.

"Yes, Ellie gave me one, and I gave Ellie one too."

As she said this with a smug air, Ai Yin's tone carried a hint of boasting.

Xiangzi didn't know that Alex had secretly grabbed the octopus doll without Aine's knowledge. Aine also didn't know that Alex had given Xiangzi a doll. She only felt that she had exchanged gifts with Alex and that Xiangzi hadn't participated, which is why she seemed so proud.

Xiangzi put on her standard smile when facing customers, closed her eyes, and chose to ignore what the other person said.

"Dingling bell~"

Just then, a light wind chime sounded again. Thinking it was a customer, Xiangzi opened his eyes, took a deep breath, composed himself, and prepared to stand in front of the counter to greet them.

But what they saw was a white-haired little girl who wasn't wearing a school uniform, pulling a small cart carrying a guitar case and a black box as she walked in.

"Ugh……"

She sighed silently. This was also a troublesome person in Xiangzi's heart recently, almost on par with Aine.

These past few days, she, like Aine, has come to see Alex almost every afternoon. However, Aine always arrives much earlier than her, while Renai always arrives shortly after Aine leaves.

For some reason, I came earlier today.

"Want to play now?"

The white-haired girl pulled the small cart directly to Alex, tilted her head, and said...

"what?"

Aine, who was standing to the side, looked over in confusion.

"You are...I remember your name is...Xiao Lena?"

She thought for a while before tentatively asking a question.

"Well……?"

Upon hearing this, Lena turned her head and looked at Aine curiously, remaining silent for a long time.

"Ahaha... I think I forgot to introduce myself last time. My name is Chihaya Aine. You can just call me Aine."

"Yes, Aine."

Nodding, Lenai probably meant that she remembered her name, then turned to look at Alex.

"Want to come play? Band?"

She asked again.

"Huh? A band?"

At this moment, Aine, who was standing to the side, interrupted the conversation again, looking at Alex with some surprise.

"You guys formed a band?"

How come Alex suddenly has something she doesn't understand at all?

"I haven't formed a band... but I have been hanging out with Lena lately."

Shaking her head, Alex looked at Ronai, then at Aine.

"It's just that Lena wants Alex to play instruments with her on her own."

Seeing that Alex's explanation was not very clear, Xiangzi had no choice but to answer for her.

Indeed, Alex did not agree to Lenai's request that day. However, when Lenai came to her to play an instrument later, Alex did not resist playing and actually quite liked it, so she acquiesced and would play with her for a while in the afternoon.

Strictly speaking, this probably can't be called a band, right?

…………

P.S. I don't know why, but when I write plots with this kind of slightly strange feel, it flows really well. It's so weird.

While writing, I realized that Xiangzi's first impression of Aine was really bad, almost to the point of being as bad as Lixi's. However, the parts about her bad attitude are actually just internal descriptions; on the surface, she's still very friendly to Aine, so Aine can't tell at all that Xiangzi dislikes her.

Volume 1: Chapter 83 Xiangzi's Little Thoughts

"Aren't you going to play?"

Seeing that the three of them were talking to themselves, Lena pouted unhappily, gently tugged at Alex's sleeve, and asked again in a soft voice.

"Well……"

Alex hesitated for a moment, then glanced at Aine.

"Not now, can we play later?"

Normally, Alex doesn't mind. As long as it's not the store's peak order period, she can make time to play with Renai and relax herself.

However, since Aine is still here today, Rana's matter will have to be postponed.

"why?"

Tilting her head, Lena asked in confusion.

"Because I wanted to practice my spoken English with Aine for a while."

Alex bent down, making Lena look down at her, and answered in a soft voice.

As mentioned before, these past few days, whenever Ai-yin came to chat with Alex after school in the afternoon, Alex would always find an opportunity to practice her spoken English with her.

Although Aine initially made this request as a joke as an extension of a topic, and it was just a very thin verbal agreement between the two, Aine later saw that Alex was very serious about fulfilling the request, so she put away her joking thoughts, started practicing seriously, and planned to find an opportunity to thank Alex later.

That said, in Alex's opinion, teaching Ai Yin spoken English is actually quite interesting.

Recalling the other person's adorable expression—a slight stutter and a blush on their face—because they couldn't distinguish between the sounds f and h, she unconsciously smiled.

"It's okay to be one day short. Ellie, go play with Xiao Lena."

"I have a feeling that there was a subtle malice in Alex's smile just now," Aine said, glancing at her.

"But hasn't Aiyin's spoken language practice been progressing rather slowly?"

Thinking back on this

A few days ago, Ai-yin was still speaking English with some stumbling and hesitation. Alex glanced at Ai-yin hesitantly.

It's really difficult to correct Japanese pronunciation. At the current rate of progress, Alex is actually quite worried about whether Ai-yin will be able to fully master the standard British accent before going abroad.

After all, Ai Yin said that she would be going abroad to study in less than two months.

"Hey...actually, I think my spoken English is pretty good..."

She chuckled somewhat guiltily, then lowered her eyes, took a small sip of her apple juice, and concealed her wandering gaze.

She felt that as long as she could communicate normally, that would be enough, but Alex seemed to have high expectations of her and kept trying to teach her the standard Oxford accent.

Since others were helping her so selflessly, Ai Yin couldn't bring herself to refuse, so she had no choice but to accept it.

Xiangzi, who had been watching the three of them talk from the side, glanced at Aine.

Alex couldn't tell, but she knew that Aine's main purpose was probably not to ask Alex to help her practice her spoken English at all. After all, who would ask for help with such a passive attitude? Every day, she spent more time chatting and laughing with Alex than practicing.