"Cough, cough~ Cough, cough, cough~"
The girl choked.
"You..."
The girl wiped at the corner of her eye.
This time, the tears weren't from crying.
They were just the body's reflexive tears from choking.
"You..."
"Are you this tree?"
Though every part of her told her it was impossible...
She still couldn't help asking.
The girl got no answer.
She stared at the great tree before her.
Her thoughts wavered.
"...Hey."
The girl called out tentatively.
"Hey!"
The girl shouted after getting no response for a long time.
"Come on, at least answer me!"
The light on the glowing orb flickered.
"You're too loud."
It didn't like humans speaking loudly to it.
Much less shouting.
That reminded it of unpleasant memories.
The glowing orb's voice grew a little colder.
Though humans who could hear its voice were extremely rare,
it didn't have to chat with this human.
The girl panicked a little.
She could tell the other party was angry.
Though she was putting on a brave front in her mind, thinking it was clearly his fault.
He was the one who'd ignored her...
She opened her mouth.
She wanted to say something.
But for a moment, she couldn't think of what to say.
"You..."
The girl's eyes lit up a little.
She'd thought of a question.
"Why did you cry with me just now?"
She'd wanted to ask this for a while.
Feeling a little embarrassed, she'd started by asking about how the other party referred to himself.
Partly, she'd been changing the subject to ease her embarrassment.
But now, she brought out this question to bail herself out.
Just as the girl began to feel uneasy, unsure whether her question would get an answer, she finally heard that familiar voice again.