The wind blew across my face as I sped through the road. I was going as fast as I could, Else risk getting a horrible tan. Eventually, I arrived at my destination, A house with a blue roof, Home. I hid my bike behind a shed and went inside. There wasn't anyone in the living room. As I took off my backpack and sat down in exhaustion, Someone began to climb down from upstairs. Confused, I tried to get a view of the stairway. I don't recognize those footsteps.

A girl showed up. She was short, Had messy black hair and wore a school jersey as casual clothing. What? Despite looking like a person perfectly feeling at home, She definitely doesn't live here. She spotted me.

"... Greetings."

I decided to greet her first.

"Ah, Hello."

She greeted back quickly. Before I could ask her why she was here, A more familiar set of footsteps came in, This time belonging to a real resident, My sister.

"Oh, You're back. Don't worry Nick, It's just my brother. Anyway, you don't need to talk to him. Quickly, Go home and send the files."

"O-oh yeah, Sure."

My sister accompanied the girl outside and sent her on her way. They waved at each other and the girl expressed her gratitude.

"Huh."

--

"Who was that?"

My sister soon came back and sat in the couch's arm, fiddling with her phone.

"Just someone I owe something.

Owed something? To that girl?? Really?

"What's with that face? It looks annoying."

She seemed to have seen how surprised I was. I just coughed it off.

"Well, It's just unexpected."

To be specific, Her admitting she owes someone is unexpected. She just gave me a glare, but sighed and got off the couch.

"So? Did you get it?"

Suddenly, The air tensed up. She now had her back to me and I couldn't see her face. Mine had beads of sweat sliding down from it.

"It's... It's in the bag."

"I see..."

She took the backpack from earlier and got out of the living room. However, She stopped for a bit.

"... See you later in dinner. I'll be in my room if you need me."

Everything was still as tense, Even after her footsteps disappeared.

--

My sister, I had only met her when I was eight years old due to complicated circumstances. Our parents decided to get back together at one point, and finally did it just after our mother's parents died. Holding my mother's hand, Her holding our father's, We both gazed at each other. Steel blue hair, Pink lips, fair skin and less bluer eyes. A stranger, She was to me.

In the first months of living together, We never talked much. However, Through fights and disagreements, We eventually got to know each other...

Present day, My brown hair now had eye catching strands of grey hair and my sister now adopted a slightly darker skin tone thanks to various reasons. We were all sat at the dinner table. We were all either tuning onto the television or being listless.

"Hey Nines."

"Hm?"

As I was listlessly chewing down on my food, Dad asked a question before taking a glass of water.

"Saw you earlier at work today, Did you go somewhere?"

"You saw me in town? Yeah, I just went to buy sunscreen and Alice had me buy paint."

At the mention of her name, My sister glanced glanced at me but returned to staring at the television. I was hoping for her to show a lot more concern at me being asked what my business at town was.

"I see."

Nothing else happened. I just helped Mom with the dishes and decided to go back to my room. Along the way, Alice stood near the stairs at the second floor, She cast me a blushful gaze and disappeared. That made me skip a beat, and even more so because of what it usually implied.

In times like these, What else is there to do except wait the rest of the night out?

--

Just a few months ago, Something started between Alice and I. At first, It felt so bizarre that I only felt nothing but shock but the next instances caused a flood of unfamiliar feelings to come rushing in. Each time we met each other's presence, We could do nothing but glare at each other just like we do during fight. Unfortunately, Beneath those veils, We actually just felt awkward, Nothing more.

I opened my eyes as my phone vibrated. It was midnight. I wemt out of my room, Locked it from outside using its only key and slowly faced Alice's door. My heart was beating wildly and blood was rushing in. I didn't know if I knocking was a good idea so I resorted to calling her instead. But before I could dial her number, She spoke.

"Nines? Is that you? I can see your shadow..."

I see. My shadow seems to have slipped in the Alice of her door.

"... The door's open."

I gulped. Before I laid a hand on the knob, I switched off the lights in the hallway. The door slowly opened... Inside, Alice, Comfortably wrapped by a blanket, sat on a mattress laid on the floor. The room was dark, The dim lamp she propped beside her being the only light source.

Alice had her eyes closed. Only when she stood up and unravelled the blanket she had around her did she finally open them. With only a dim lamp and a dark room, I couldn't rip my gaze off of Alice bare, naked body.

Valda

Don't expect too much out of this series. It's pretty much just a compromise between me and my ongoing writer's block.