Want to be human, but cube-like

"Um... Ellie? Can you let go now...?"

Seeing the passengers preparing to board the bus, as well as several strangers passing by, all casting surprised glances at them because of their actions, Ai Yin lowered her head with a slightly flushed face and murmured.

Because of several accidents that Aine has had, Alex now has to hold her hand even when walking.

I was afraid that she might accidentally fall or something else might happen.

"Aine, you seem a bit off tonight. Let me lead you around."

Alex simply turned her head and gave her a slight smile, refusing outright.

It's all because of you, Ellie, that I've become so strange!

Ai Yin only dared to mutter this to herself, puffed out her cheeks, but didn't refute it. She just pursed her lips and thought about it.

"Then... how about we change the way we hold hands? Doesn't this feel weird?"

She whispered a suggestion and moved closer to Alex, trying to use her body to block their clasped hands, so that it wouldn't attract too much attention.

Holding hands is so embarrassing... It feels like something between lovers...

Even in her heart, Ai-yin was a little embarrassed to say that word. She lowered her head and blushed.

"No, Aine, don't you think holding hands like this is comfortable?"

Unexpectedly, Alex simply held both of their hands up to her cheeks and said with a gentle smile.

Now, no matter how Ai Yin adjusted her position, she couldn't hide it anymore. She could only bury her head in the sand like an ostrich, her drooping pink hair barely covering the sides of her face, but it couldn't hide her small, bright red earlobes that looked like they were about to bleed.

"Aion, it's okay if the clothes aren't clean."

After walking for a while, Alex brought up the matter again.

“I really don’t care about this dress; you are much more important than it.”

Her main concern was that she didn't want Aine to spend too much time and energy on this dress, which is why she repeatedly emphasized it.

"Ok, I know."

They were almost at home, and there was no point in arguing about this anymore, so Aine conceded and nodded gently.

"I've arrived at my home, it's just ahead."

She raised her hand slightly in a gesture, gently shaking Alex's still tightly clenched fingers.

The implication is that it's time to break up.

"Then, let's stop here."

Alex glanced up at the house not far away and then spoke.

This last short stretch of road no longer required crossing the street, and the surroundings were completely silent, with no cars or pedestrians in sight. She finally slowly let go of her hand and handed the shopping bag containing the clothes to Ai-yin again.

“Um…Aine…”

Before parting, looking at Ai Yin with a blushing face and downcast eyes, Alex suddenly hesitated for a moment. She parted her lips slightly and called out to the other person who was about to turn around.

"Ok?"

Aine glanced at Alex with a curious pursed-lip expression and gave a soft reply.

"Didn't you tell me today that my feelings for you, for Xiangzi, and for Lena are different from my feelings for my mother?"

It seems that he struggled for a long time before finally figuring out his words.

Alex spoke slowly, word by word.

"I think it's different."

She blinked her beautiful eyes.

"My feelings for you are the same as my feelings for Xiangzi, and also for Le Nai..."

Under the night breeze, these words were carried and whispered into Ai Yin's ears.

"They shouldn't be the same kind."

It made her heart skip a beat.

…………

PS: Straight-ball attack!

The estimate was wrong; it seems we'll have to wait another chapter or two.

Volume 1: Chapter 113

Why do I like you so much?

"……no the same?"

The night wind was cold, but Ai-yin felt a bit hot.

She gripped the handle of the shopping bag tightly, her eyes slightly surprised, her light gray pupils contracting slightly before slowly widening again.

Aine didn't understand why Alex would suddenly say this. She was just a little nervous and unconsciously rubbed her shoe lightly against the rough ground.

Caught off guard, the sudden emergence of this topic stirred up a certain emotion in her.

It was an impulse to escape from this moment.

But Aine had no reason to make such a choice; she didn't even know what Alex was trying to say.

Perhaps I'm overthinking it?

"Hmm...it's just affection for a friend, isn't it?"

By laughing it off, Ai Yin tried to use this method to steer the conversation away from the topic.

"……I have no idea."

Faced with Aine's almost perfunctory attitude, Alex remained silent for a few seconds.

Then, she gently shook her head.

"However, the feeling I have when I'm with you, Aine, is completely different from the feeling I have when I'm with Shoko or Rakuna."

Alex clearly expressed her feelings.

"That's normal~ After all, we've only known each other for less than a month."

With a slightly unfocused gaze, Aine tried to think of a way to make Alex understand that what she felt for her was just ordinary friendship.

Or perhaps, it's a friendship that's closer than ordinary.

In short, at the very least, don't let the conversation veer into something ambiguous.

Otherwise, she might not be able to resist Alex's charm...

"Compared to your long-standing relationship with Xiao Xiang, it's definitely different..."

The conversation turned to Xiangzi, and Aine began to try to steer Alex's thoughts astray.

"I know that Ellie loves playing with me, and I love playing with Ellie too~ Xiao Xiang always looks so serious, it must be so boring, right?"

She smiled and tried to distract Alex with words.

"Xiao Le Nai is the same. That child has a very willful personality, and it's always a bit tiring to be around her."

Although it's not good to talk badly about others behind their backs, Xiao Xiang and Xiao Le Nai would probably forgive her even if they found out.

"so……"

"No, those things are unimportant."

Before she could finish speaking, Alex interrupted Aine's words.

"I've known Xiangzi for less than two days longer than I've known you, Aiyin, since our first meeting."

She still clearly remembers everything that happened after she met Xiangzi. Naturally, she also clearly remembers when she met Aiyin and what happened between them.

"Eh?"

Aine, who was unaware of this matter, was stunned.

She always thought that Xiangzi and Alex, even if they weren't childhood sweethearts, should at least be friends who had known each other for many years.

After all, they are now living together, and Alex usually listens to Xiangzi's opinions and trusts her a lot. This level of intimacy is obviously much deeper than the relationship between himself and Alex.

But Alex's words shattered Aine's impression of their relationship.

In other words, after Alex left her country and came to this unfamiliar city, were her only three friends someone she had only met in this one month?

A month ago, she was truly all alone.

A feeling that was hard to define, whether it was pity or not, welled up inside Aine. But at the same time, Aine also felt a change in her own feelings, which she suspected was the difference in how much Alex liked her and Shoko.

I thought Xiangzi would be far ahead, but I never expected that the two of them were actually on the same starting line.

Her heart suddenly raced, and strange, unspeakable thoughts began to surface in her mind.

"So, it has absolutely nothing to do with how long you've known each other."

Just as Aine was about to start daydreaming, Alex completely ignored her reaction and continued talking.

"I don't understand what my feelings for everyone really mean, but I do know exactly why these feelings came about, and I remember it perfectly well."

She had never tried so proactively and so diligently to tell a story to Aine before.

"Xiangzi is also very important to me, but that's because she was the first person to help me after I came here."

With a furrowed brow, Alex struggled to form words, trying to express her thoughts to Aine.

"Even among the countless people I see every day in this city, Xiangzi is a very special person in my heart because she taught me a lot of common sense, allowing me to integrate into this city normally, just like everyone else."

Ai Yin could even feel the heavy emotional weight in those words.

"Without her, I wouldn't even be able to take the first step out of the hamburger shop, so this kind of liking for Xiangzi is a very special liking."

Oh, I see... So they weren't on the same starting line after all.

Even though he only met Aine two days earlier, Xiangzi still holds such an important place in Alex's heart.

The reason why these two feelings of affection are different is that Ellie likes Xiao Xiang.

But it wasn't me.

It was all just wishful thinking on her part.

Her turbulent thoughts suddenly ceased, and Aine calmed down instantly.

Even though everything she said was about Xiangzi, Aine had successfully steered the conversation off-topic from the topic of Alex showing her feelings for her.

She had clearly achieved her goal.

But why, when listening to Alex recount how important Xiangzi was to her...

Ai Yin, however, suddenly felt a faint bittersweet feeling arise in her heart.

She lowered her head and gently pursed her lips.

“Le Nai, I didn’t like her at first. I wouldn’t say I hated her, but I felt that she was very clingy and was testing my patience.”

But Alex suddenly changed the subject to someone else.

"But later, she would always pester me to play music together and started teaching me how to play without sheet music."

It was as if she was dissecting her views on everyone, one by one, to Aine, dissecting the complex emotions that she couldn't understand herself.

"I gradually got used to the routine of Lena coming to play with me often."

As if recalling the relaxed atmosphere of playing music with Lena, Alex's lips curled up slightly, and she no longer found it so difficult to formulate her words.

"I've started to get used to having Lena by my side, and her importance in my heart has slowly increased. This kind of liking is also a very special and different kind of liking."

Finally, she raised her eyes and looked directly into Aine's eyes.

"I can figure out why I like Xiangzi, and I can also figure out why I like Lena..."

Alex spoke softly, her moist lips glistening with a slight sheen.

"But when facing Aine

But I can't find the reason why I like you.