"Everette? May I perhaps know why you wish to know?"
"No. So, are you willing to answer or...?"
Alice just sighed before thinking. Recent memories of Everette passed through her mind while she began to think about how to construct her answer.
She pulled away from Ada before twirling a lock of her hair. She always had a habit of doing this while she was thinking. After a few seconds, she opened her mouth and began answering Ada's question.
"I've had a very good first impression of him so far. Not only is he quite charming, but he is also quite good-looking too. I would quite like to have a good relationship with him..."
,
The sounds of hands clenching themselves could be subtly heard.
"I-Is that so...? Well—"
"However..."
"Huh?"
Before Ada could finish her sentence, Alice interrupted her with the continuity of her answer. "I wouldn't necessarily say I would be attracted to him like that, considering that he's definitely not my type. By good relationship, I mean one built on trust and closeness - A trustworthy friend."
A knowing glint passed through her eyes, "You really should try to limit those glares of yours, Miss Ada. I'd rather not have the only clothes I have that are sweaty every time I'm near you."
She covered her mouth before playfully giggling. Although she notices Ada's negative looks, she chooses to ignore them and forgive them. Under the reason that—
"You like him, don't you~?" As soon as the words left her mouth, Ada began to tremble with a shocked expression. Alice couldn't help but laugh at this.
"I was actually joking about that! I guess I was right, huh~?"
Ada shot her a hostile glare before huffing, "So what? As you say, he is very charming. What girl isn't attracted to someone like that?"
Alice playfully stared at her, "Any other reasons...?"
Ada's hands shook before slowly placing them in her pockets. She turned her head down at an angle to where her hair veils her face. Memories of the past began to play in her mind slowly.
The memories of the day she met him. The memories of their time playing together. The times when Everette's smile was always plastered on his face.
The times before... THAT incident...
***
Sounds of sirens rang out from outside a dark house. Police cars gathered around the entrance to a broken door that seemed to be forced open by a crowbar.
The police entered the house before recoiling at the strong smell and taste of iron in the air. Stains of blood covered the nearby walls of where a dead body seems to lie. A masked individual lay on their chest in the hallway.
A pool of red liquid gathered below the masked individual, who had a knife stuck deep in the back of his head. In the kitchen was a naked woman who seemed to have already passed away due to a merciless stab wound to her head.
Policeman wandered through the home to find two children huddled in a dark corner.
A little boy with brown eyes and a fearful expression huddled in the arms of a girl near his age. His clothes were stained with blood. Tears streamed down the boy's face as he tightly wrapped his arms around the girl's torso like she was his lifeline.
The girl with blonde hair and blue eyes hummed a soothing tune into his ears while glaring at the policeman who witnessed this scene. Her clothes were ripped and were almost in tatters, almost like something was trying to tear them off her body.
The policemen were able to convince the girl to come with them with the boy. They wrapped them in a blanket and tried to reach out to the boy in her arms.
SLAP!
The girl slapped their hand away before bringing the boy closer to her body. It was so close to where there were barely any gaps between them.
She hissed before screaming at the men:
"DON'T TOUCH HIM!"
The men nodded before backing away from her. She left through the entrance while staring at the boy's sleeping face in her arms. The boy was heavy, but she didn't care.
It was the least she could do for what he did for her.
A small hand softly held her arm, followed by a childish and scared murmur:
"...D-Don't leave... me... Please..."
His face nuzzled closer into her body out of fear, like he was going through a traumatic nightmare. The girl's eyes shone with affection for both before whispering with a comforting tone into his ear.
"Don't worry... I'll always be by your side...—"
She gave a short pause before muttering out the name of the boy:
"—Everette..."
***
"-A!"
"-Da!"
"-Ada!"
Three consecutive calls of her name caused her to break out of her stupor. She looked around and noticed she was inside the bus. A hand patted her shoulder.
She looked towards the owner of the hand to find Everette with an annoyed expression, "Come on, Ada. We're here!"
"Hm? Where?"
Everette facepalmed his face, "Don't you remember that we are travelling to the other factions' current outpost today?"
'Oh right... I forgot about that...'
Ada replayed the memories of last night. She didn't answer Alice's question on whether or not she had other reasons for liking him. Instead, she blew her off and offered her the choice of whether or not she wanted to come with them tomorrow.
Her eyes took a brief glance out the window to see Alice casually conversing with the rest of the group.
She groggily stretched her back before hopping out of her seat and hugging Everette.
"W-What are you doing!?"
"Hm? Can't we just hug sometimes?" She pulled him into a tight hug to where there wasn't any space between them to manoeuvre - just like how she did it back then.
Flick!
"Argh!"
She reeled back from the Everette's flick to her forehead. She stared at Everette's face glowing red before running off. She rubbed the spot that he flicked with an amused smile.
Although her stats were high enough to make it so that a flick like that wouldn't be able to hurt her, she wanted to give Everette the satisfaction that it worked.
She peered out the window to see the group crowding around Everette and comment on his red face. She chuckled:
"As cute as always~..."