Will be edited later

Guys , need your feedback ^_^

Note : The first few chapters will be introductory chapters

_________________________________________________________________________

"Alric are you there? , Alric are you there? , open the door already and let's go plaaaaaay , hey Alric answer already , Alric , Alric "

A familiar and very energetic voice of a young girl came across the door . she was loud, too loud and noisy..... and annoying. These were the thoughts that crossed Alric's mind after hearing the voice across the door.

The thing he hated most in the world after (aimlessly running around and wasting energy = leaving the inn) of course was being interrupted during his reading time. Especially when the book he was reading was a new thick book! Alric ignored the voice hoping she will give up and leave. Or she might even get scolded by the guests resting at the inn for her loud voice.

"Heeeeeeeey Alric are you still sleeping , Alric , Alric answer me already"

"you are being too loud lily, you are disturbing the guests. What … what if they got mad at us? "

"What are you saying Toya !? If I don’t be at least this loud he will just ignore us , that lazy bum good for nothing bookworm "

"That's so cruel lily , to c…call Alric a bookworm!"

'Wait Wait. THAT is what's bothering you , what about lazy bum or good for nothing? Haaaaah , do I have to go through this every morning? Why can't she just leave me in peace? Haaaaah.' Alric thought while heavily sighing .

The energetic voice belonged to a girl named Lily , she is what you would call a childhood friend. While the other timid voice belonged to his other childhood friend Toya.

Alric became friends with Lily and Toya - who were both a year older than him - before he became a shut-in , during the days when he still got outside and used to play with the other children.

After he stopped and became a bookworm only Lily and Toya didn't stop being his friends and always visited him at the inn and dragged him outside by force –most of the time– to play. Especially Lily who appointed herself the leader of their small group was very persistent . She came everyday to bother him and forcefully drag the slim and physically weak Alric outside. She was a lively and energetic girl, too energetic which was troublesome.

Toya on the other hand was timid and has long surrendered his fate to Lily, he stopped resisting long ago. The old ladies of the town adored him so much and always addressed him as 'cute' or 'beautiful' . yes was beautiful like a girl with his smooth white skin , long grey hair that reached his shoulders and his small build . whenever you see him you feel like hugging him.

Alric mistook him for girl when they first met and even had a little crush on him. A lot later he discovered that Toya was a boy . Alric was so shocked that he locked himself in his room for a week and almost cried himself to death. That was one of the main reasons why Alric started to fear and shun the outside world and preferred staying at the inn.

"Alric are you there ? Alric answer already I know you are there. I already asked Mr. Baban down stairs and he told me you haven't left the room."

"Don't ignore me ALRIC , Open or I'll kick the door open"

"Lily he might still be sleeping it's still 7 in the morning after all , a..and keep it down please or we will get scolded"

"HAAAH you are pathetic and you call yourself a man ! If he was asleep isn't that the more reason I should be loud to wake up that shut-in lazy bum"

"B…but"

After nearly 10 minutes of continues knocking and shouting one of the guests residing in the second floor couldn't take the noise anymore and harshly scolded both of them especially Lily since she was making most of the noise by herself. After that it was quite again.

Alric snickered "serves you right for disturbing my peaceful reading time".

5 minutes later the sound of a key being put through the door's lock slowly unlocking it . What Alric saw next was his Older sister Siesta who had a troubled expression on her face , behind her 2 small silhouettes could be seen.

Upon closer inspection one would find the one on the left belonged to a cute boy with a grey hair who was wearing a simple green shirt and green pair of pants . The silhouette on the right belonged to girl with dark red hair in twin tail style , fiery red eyes . She had petit body . She was wearing a long yellow blouse that covered her knees and long pair of brown boots. The girl had hint of tears in her eyes and wore a disappointed expression as if she was on verge of crying. The 2 silhouettes of course belonged to no other than Toya and lily.

Alric was going to rebuke Siesta for using the master key to open the door to his room especially after he especially warned her not to, but stopped after noticing her troubled expression and Lily who was on verge of crying while clenching her small fists.

'Maybe I've gone too far'

Alric felt sorry for troubling his sister. He also felt sorry for Lily ,he felt he was partially responsible for getting her scolded along with Toya. Alric didn't really care about Toya being scolded , he was the source for his trauma a while ago. But since Lily was making most of the noise she also got most of the scolding. And Toya didn't look as bad as Lily.

Deep down Alric appreciated his 2 friends who always visited and played with him . It's true that Lily was annoying and that Toya traumatized him 2 years ago. But they were still his treasured friends who cared for him.

Alric also cared for his friends. He knew that friendship is one of the most precious treasures in this world and that he should not throw this treasure away ,especially a pure friendship that was built between children with no ulterior motives behind it.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Sorry for troubling you sis" Alric told his sister with a troubled smile on his face.

"No problem. Make sure you fix this" Siesta replied with a smile then left the room while closing the door behind her.

'guess I'll have to delay reading you till other time' Alric thought while folding the book and putting it back on the shelf. He then went to Lily who was still standing next the door clenching her while staring at the floor fighting the tears from breaking through.

Alric knew that the energetic and lively Lily who appeared like a tomboy was actually a fragile little girl and a cry-baby with a lot of pride. Yes pride she cried a lot yes but always made sure no one was looking. Only Alric and Toya knew about this. That's why after being dragged to all places by Lily , both Alric and Toya thought of her as a cute girl. For a girl like that to be harshly scolded of course would result in her crying.

After reaching Lily , Alric put his hand on her head, she fidgeted a little but stopped after Alric started patting her .

"Sorry , it was my fault so……. Don't cry . okay" Alric told Lily while gently smiling at her and patting her head.

"m..mm Its caufe Alec wash bineg meaaan too lily thatlily gosh scodesd waaaah waaaaaah " (it's because Alric was being mean too lily that lily got scolded)

Lily couldn't hold it anymore and started sobbing.

"Sorry sorry I was at fault ….. I won't be mean to Lily anymore …. so forgive me okay"

"bfut you alwvys say dat and then doddntplay with Lillly waaaah waah" (but you always say that and then don't play with Lily)

"That's ……"

Alric couldn't help but remember all the times he ignored Lily and she got scolded as the result, which caused his feelings of guilt to increase dramatically. Alric then directed his look to Toya asking for help with his eyes. But when noticing Alric's gaze he looked the other way 'I don't you deal with it' is what he implied. 'You traitoooooooooor' is what Alric conveyed to Toya through his eye communication. 'you reap what you sow , I also got scolded by the way you know!'

While being lost in thought about what to do for the sobbing Lily , Alric remembered a book he read recently titled "How to comfort a crying woman" which made him mature in more than one way . one of the most effective techniques was to hug them . And so did Alric , he stopped patting Lily then moved his hands around her back and hugged her gently pushing her sobbing face towards his chest since he was a full head taller than her. Alric was 110 cm while Lily was only 90 cm , by the way Toya was a little shorter than Alric.

Lily was startled by Alric's action since he never hugged her like that before. but she then settled in his little arms which for some reason felt really big and warm. Few minutes later Lily stopped sobbing while her face had a hint of red .

After noticing that Lily stopped crying , he released her from his embrace .

"I'm really sorry Lily , this will be the last time I cause you to cry. Ok?"

"I promise you that starting from today I'll open the door when you come asking for me okay ?"

After being silent for a while Lily opened her mouth "I know Alric enjoys reading books than playing with us. But I want Alric to play with us as well"

"That's …" Alric was troubled but before he could think of a reply , Toya said "I have a good idea"

"??"

"??"

"Alric , how about read your books outside with us while we play?"

"Lily won't feel lonely if you are there even if you don't join us in playing, right lily ?" Toya said that while glancing at lily who suddenly blushed and her face became like a red tomato.

"W…W…W…Wha…What are you saying Toya? Who said anything about b…being lonely "

"Eh!? I definitely thought you were lonely without Alric . Isn't that why you come here EVERYDAY and cause this ruckus to drag him with you. Anyone who sees you would definitely think You are a MAIDEN IN LOVE "

An innocent smile didn't leave Toya's mouth while he was dropping bombs on Lily completely shattering her dignity in front of her (Beloved) Alric. Toya was acting (cute) through the whole conversation while in fact he was laughing himself to death from the inside without showing it on his face while observing Lily's flustered reactions.

Yes , Toya was known through the town to be cute and innocent and maybe a clumsy sometimes, his actions may have stolen the hearts of all the Onee sans (old ladies) in the town ,but Alric knew better that behind that cute face was in fact a BIG SADIST who enjoyed mentally teasing others , especially simple minded idiots like Lily.

"M…M…Maiden in love!!" Lily was flustered and her face was now glowing red like light bulb.

Alric couldn't watch anymore while Toya was teasing Lily , and honestly he was getting annoyed and wanted to get back to reading his new book!

"No can do" Alric interrupted both of them. After confirming he got both of their attentions he continued "I can't enjoy reading books when it's noisy and I doubt there is any place in town which is quite enough for me to read "

"There is" Toya replied with confident voice.

'That bastard , he is enjoying himself huh.'

"Hoh and where that might be ? , it is true that this is a small town but there is approximately 5000 citizens living in it"

"There is … one place no one dares to go to"

After pondering for a few seconds , Alric's eyes lit up "you don't mean…"

"What what are you 2 talking about ?" Lily was confused

Alric/Toya : "THE GREY BEAR CAVE !! "