“...............”

“...............”

Lucy and I are still in an awkward situation. We never talked ever since then. She's been staying here with me, though. And both of us are uncomfortable with it.

But luckily for her, unfortunately for me, Douche hasn't shown up ever since.

「August 04, 2021 | Wed」

「16:16」

It's already 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Should I break our awkwardness? Our atmosphere is starting to become a minor annoyance for me.

*Bam*

Someone, a small and petite young elementary student, breaks into my room. She's wearing the uniform of the school I graduated from. I believe she's in sixth grade, according to the blue chord of her ID. She looks troubled. Her eyes are very red, and it's obvious she cried so much on her way here.

“Ate!!”

Ate?

“Binary... What are you doing here?” Lucy finally lifts her head up.

So, they're sisters. They look nothing alike. Is one of them adopted? Binary has dark blue hair and dark blue eyes. Her left eye is covered by her bangs. She looks timid and shy. Her face is a bit rounder than Lucy's. She's also a lot shorter than Lucy. Lucy is quite tall, after all. Well, she's an adult.

“Ate Lucy!! Nanay is... Nanay... sniff...,” and she starts crying.

Oh. I see. I understand the reason she came here running. I think I have an idea.

“Binary... Calm down... What happened to Nanay?!” Lucy tried to comfort Binary, but she herself looks like she needed to be comforted as well.

“Nanay.. Nanay collapsed while we're on our way home... I'm so sorry... Ate... Nanay...”

“N-no... I'm not blaming you.. Where is she? Is she here? Binary...” Lucy also begins to cry. But she's trying to be strong.

“Yes... People helped us...”

“I.. I see... Okay.. Be a good girl and stay here.. sniff..” Lucy is wiping her sister's eyes. Someone needs to wipe hers as well. But she can just do it herself. She's a big girl.

“I'll go—”

“You should rest... You're exhausted..”

“But—”

“I-It's okay... It will be fine. Nanay is strong...!”

What a sad scene to look at.

“..En...”

“So stay here, okay? Wait... Wait for me here..” Lucy is trying to hold back her flowing tears.

“..sniff... En...” Binary reluctantly nodded at her sister.

“...............”

Lucy looked at me first before leaving. This is just a guess but she probably wanted to leave Binary to me. But she couldn't bring herself to ask.

“I'll take care of her.”

“!”

“...............”

Lucy paused after hearing that.

“...............”

And then she continued running without looking back to me.

“...............”

“...............”

Now it's just me and Binary. She's just there standing, looking at the door with an out of focus eyes.

“Sniff..,” she takes a one deep breath before rubbing her eyes dry. She's biting her lower lips and forcing herself to be strong.

Her side profile is pretty cute. She will look more adorable if her tear stained face is cleaned.

“There's a chair beside my bed.”

“...............”

She's just looking at me.

“I gave my word to your sister. So please sit down and wipe the sweat off your back. You'll get a cold, you know. That will increase your ate Lucy's trouble.”

“...............” She nods at me softly while stealing glances from time to time.

“...............”

“...............” Binary is very stiff. She's just like her sister in this aspect. But she's more timid and scared.

This is awkward. She's introverted and shy. Maybe she's even socially anxious. It's hard to start up a conversation with her.

“Your sister...”

“!”

I got her attention.

“She's very demure and conservative. She's good at her job and is very caring. She's meticulous and serious when taking care of me.”

“...............”

“There's just a problem...”

“!”

Did her ears just twitch?

“She's so wishy-washy. She thinks going along with whatever others want will build a peaceful and harmonious relationship with them. It's good, but it's imbalanced. Because she has no boundary, she ends up neglecting herself. Maybe her without is “peaceful” but her within is certainly tumultuous.”

“...............," she's worried.

“She's in conflict. She's stressed. She's stuck.”

“...............,” she's biting her lower lip. She understands what I mean. I guess she herself knows that as well.

“Do you want to help your sister?”

“! Y—” She was about to say something but held herself back.

“Well, I wanna help her. I want her to stand up for herself— to have courage. You can't possibly love others if you can't even love yourself. Am I wrong, li'l Binary?”

“...............” She shakes her head.

“So...”

“Do y—” she stopped herself because I was about to say something.

“You can go ahead first.”

“Uhm... Do... Do you like my.. my sister...?”

“...............”

“...............”

“No. I have a cute and swe— err.. I have a cute girlfriend.” She's no longer sweet after all. In fact, she's salty.

“...............” Now she doesn't know what to say.

“Come here. This is her,” I beckon her to come closer to look at my lock screen wallpaper.

“...............” Binary is reluctant. But she obeyed anyway.

She wobbles towards me. Yes. She is wobbling. Maybe because she's exhausted.

“Uhm...”

“Here. She's Elizabeth. I call her ‘Eli-chan’. I know it sounds embarrassing, but I got used to it.”

I'm certain she's been wearing her uniform since morning. That's usually how it is with everyone. They may change their undershirt, but they won't change their blouse. Wearing two blouses a day is just unnecessary.

Anyway, despite that, she smells good. Her scent is very soft and gentle even though her body temperature is hot. Moreover, she's soaked in sweat right now. Even if she's hygienic, her clothes are bound to smell unpleasant. Yet, it isn't like that.

She's similar to the girls I know. They can manage to keep themselves and their clothes smell pleasant, even if they're sweaty. Or is it just because the natural scent of women is innately attractive to men? I mean, I'm a man and they're the opposite sex, so maybe that's the reason. A natural attraction.

“!”

She looks surprised to the point she unknowingly pushes herself onto to me. Our arms are touching. Her skin is very soft and tender, just like a baby.

Hm. Now I sound like a pervert. Don't misunderstand. I'm being objective here. My thoughts are sincere— Hell. Now it sounds like I'm making an excuse.

Whatever. If you're dirty minded, you'll interpret this scene as ‘dirty’ and that is on you. Don't expose yourself. I may as well remind you she's underage. I took a peek at her ID, and she's just 11 years old.

Alright. Why am I spending so much time on this?

“Ate Hecate!”

What?

“You know her?”

“Err.. ah.. En.. O-opo.. Well I.. When my... nanay Maria cooks... she makes me deliver food to ate Hecate... So.. uh..” She speaks really soft.

Oh. I see. So they're really related. I had my suspicion when I saw Lucy's surname— ‘Nightengale’. Lucy Nightengale.

And she is Binary Nightengale.

“Ahh..,” Binary suddenly gasped. “W-were you t-the boy that helped nanay?”

“If you're talking about the 20th of July, well, yes. Did you figure it out with just those few clues? You're a smart girl, fufu.”

“I.. Binary isn't... Uhm..,” she's so embarrassed she's tearing up.

“You're so adorable.”

She's more fun than Lucy.

“T-Thank you po.. k'ya Mark... Sniff...,” she starts crying again. But this time it's out of gratitude. And...

Gasp... ‘K'ya Mark’... Goddamn bloody hell. My heart... Aaaaah. She's so cute!

“I like that endearment. Call me like that from now on. I'll call you ‘li'l Binary’— Wait. I never told you my name.”

“Eh? It's on the door.”

Yes. It's on the door. But you were panicking when you came here. Not everyone can be attentive in that state of mind. She may actually be smarter than I estimated her to be.

“You're very fascinating.”

“?” She's tilting her head in confusion. And guess what? It's adorable, and it makes me wanna pinch her cheeks. Too bad one side of her face is mostly covered, but she is already very charming this way...