An Alluring Whimper

Why does she remember that?!

I-I-I… I only barely glazed over that part!

Damn it! It's all her fault! N-Now… s-s-s-she's gonna make fun of me! Urughhhhhhh!

But no matter how much I cursed her on the inside, watching the girl whimper in pain made my eyes soften.

In the end, it IS my fault for jumping to conclusions way too quickly…

The poor Lil Hall brat doesn't deserve ALL the blame.

Hmph! Because I'm so kind and beautiful, I'll forgive you.

But! But you must promise me not to talk anymore about this!

After I drafted the little speech of forgiveness in my mind, I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could do so—

"A-Asu…" Lancera sniffled. "I-It… It hurts…"

Those watery innocent violet eyes stared at me, puppy eyes that pleaded me to comfort her struck deep into my soul.

My lower lip trembled.

"I… I-I…" I'm sorry.

The words were at the tip of my tongue… yet… yet… why couldn't I say it?

"I… C-Can you stand?" I silently cursed myself.

*Enter whimper SFX

"Umm…" What's she trying to say?

*Enter whimper SFX x2

"Uh…" This… For some reason, I'm really uneasy about this. W-Why is she making such a strange sound?!

I-I-I dislike dogs! Though I'm not afraid of them! I swear! I swear again on my beauty and intelligence!

*Enter whimper SFX x3

"S-Stob it! Yur not a dawg."

F*ck. Oh, damn it.

I-I was too nervous, okay?! I-I… It wasn't my fault I stuttered.

I cleared my throat and continued like nothing happened.

"W-What do you want me to do?"

"Hm? Well…" The little brat fidgeted. "Hold my hand!"

(VA reminder: Lancera is taller than Asura)

Ha?

HA?

W-W-W-W-WHAT?!

H-Hold hands?!

I-I-Isn't that tooooooo fast?!

I couldn't help it; the tips of my ears turned red.

At this moment, a frail voice sounded. "You… you won't do it?"

I opened my mouth and closed it several times, not knowing what to say.

Should I agree?

Or should I disagree?

If I disagree, then… would our progress stop?

(VA Note: I'm not sure what progress she's talking about, but this is what your imagination is used for, folks!)

I… I don't want that to happen.

So should I agree?

B-But… Holding hands?!

I subconsciously landed my eyes on Lancera's porcelain smooth skin and her well-groomed nails that were no less than my own.

Those hands… they… they look soft to the touch?

But as soon as I thought of this, I quickly banished those dirty demons in my head.

Wh- How! H-H-H-How could I possibly think that?!

God! You better erase those thoughts from the Earth… or else! I-I'll… I'll cut off your beard!

I quickly turned away from the girl and redirected my gaze to a nearby songbird sitting quietly on a certain branch of a certain tree.

I took a deep breath and puffed up my chest.

"Ahem! I-I-It's… I-It's only because you begged for it with that look of yours! You OBVIOUSLY know that I'm weak against tears… yet you always use them against me! B-But! I'm a magnanimous soul! So I'll forgive you." As I spoke, my voice grew increasingly louder and faster, and I stopped to catch my breath.

"I-I wouldn't possibly want to hold hands with you, you see, b-but… because you look so sad and desperate for my light… t-t-t-that I… I will graciously bless you with my beautiful hands."

There was cold sweat running down my back as I closed my eyes tight, waiting for the Hall brat's reaction.