It’s evening, and my parents are soon home… as for what I'm currently doing… well, I’m comforting a crying girl.

Maybe this was the perfect opportunity to hold an emergency meeting? BOYS! Help me out!

“You called? Oh~ my own dumb ass. Why are you making a girl cry?” No.1 asked me.

Hey, you’re also me. Why are you asking me that? Wait, am I really going to hold an emergency meeting with myself in my head? Uh… well, whatever!

“Jeez, me, I don’t know! It wasn’t intentional okay?“

“… Yeah, yeah, sure. Anyways, what do we do with her?” No.2 asked.

“Shouldn’t you know?” And No.3 would ask No.2.

“I mean, you are me….” Said No.2

“Shit!” Said No.1.

“What?” we all asked.

“How aren’t you guys confused?” No.1 asked the rest of us.

“There is no need to think so deeply about that now, okay!?” Said No.0, aka me, the original!

As I was deep in my thoughts, Lilly was staring at me. Still, I wasn’t sure what to do with the tears in her eyes.

“Amen.” said all of the No’s.

“GUYS!”

“.....”

Fine! I’ll do it myself! Wait, how does any of this make any sense?

“Hey, Lilly, I’m sorry, okay?”

It was as if she didn’t hear me. She buried her face in my chest.

“........”

… Okay? Really! What does this even mean?! Should I just keep patting her head? I did stop… was that why she looked up? No way, right? Right me?

“.....”

No reply. You guys are traitors!

As I wasn’t entirely sure what to do, I just patted her head like I did before. This time, I gently used the softest and most soothing voice at my disposal. Yes, I trained for this!

“If you’d like, can I cook something for you? As an apology, I mean.”

“......”

Although Lilly didn’t say anything, she nodded. I then released her from my embrace. But as I got up, she held onto the hem of my shirt.

She tilted her head and had a somewhat pained expression on her face. I wasn’t entirely sure what this meant, but… maybe she didn’t want me to go.

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But as I was thinking these lines, her phone rang. We both looked at each other briefly before she picked it up.

“Mom?”

It seemed like her mother had called. Maybe her mom got home and was worried about the fact that Lilly wasn’t at home?

“Yes… Um, I forgot my keys in school….”

She had a sad expression. I know that face, and it's the face of: I did something bad and am prepared to get scolded.

Don’t worry, Lilly, I’ll get scolded alongside you. Or well, I’m not really sure about what, but I’ll take part of the blame!

As I was thinking about unnecessary things, Lilly turned her attention to me.

“Mom wants to speak to you…” she said in a low tone.

“... Okay.”

Handing over the phone to me, I greeted her Mom.

“Hello? Nice to meet you. My name is Luke.”

[Oh~? You have a soothing voice~, *ahem, my name is Nene. I’m sorry if my daughter caused you any problems.]

Crap, I forgot to turn off my: comfort another person voice that I've practiced a ton…. Oh well...

“No, not at all. Is there any problem?”

[... You see, I can’t make it back home… I was sent on a business trip far away….]

“I see, then… should I ask my parents if it's okay to let her stay over? I'm sure they wouldn’t say no to such a cute girl.”

[Is that so? Then before that… what is your relationship with my sweet little Lilly?]

“Huh?”

I was caught off guard and looked at Lilly. She probably knew what her mom had asked and was shyly looking away from me.

“... We’re classmates who have barely spoken?”

[...... Okay, wrong question. What does Luke think of Lilly?]

“A pretty girl who has rejected 4 boys at the start of a new term?”

[.... Are you one of them?]

“No.”

[I see~ could I speak to your parents?]

“Okay, I will send you their number. Also, does this mean she gets permission from you?”

[Hahaha, yes, please take good care of her!]

Lilly’s mother seemed like an energetic person, and it felt like I'd forgotten something… oh. We didn’t even ask the person herself if she was okay with it….

After giving the phone back to Lilly, she would continue to speak to her mom for a little while and would sneak a glance at me every so often. And during that time, I called my parents to explain the situation.

My Dad thought I was joking while Mom was bawling her eyes out for some reason, but they both seemed okay with the idea.

“Are you done?” Lilly asked me

“Yeah? You too?”

She nodded. Holding the hem of her shirt, she would look at me with puppy eyes. I wasn’t sure what it meant, but it sure felt embarrassing to be stared at by a pretty girl.

“Well, my parents are coming home soon. I better prepare dinner.”

Before I could walk into the kitchen, she grabbed my hand.

“Can we cook together?” she asked.

Her adorable, concerned expression made me want to protect her at all costs.

“Sure.”

I had said so without thinking too much about it, but she seemed pleased. But for whatever reason, she walked holding my hand into the kitchen…. Does she like me?

“No, you Idiot!”

And so the No’s were back.

“C’mon, guys… really?”