"Hm?"
The boy abruptly lifted his head.
"What?"
"Do you feel a little happier?"
The big sister smiled and repeated her question, looking at the little boy's bewildered face.
The boy really was a little bewildered.
For the first time...
Someone had done something... to make him happy...
He had already been so grateful that the big sister was willing to patiently listen to him complain for so long.
He hadn't expected...
The boy felt a stinging sensation rise in his nose.
The corners of his eyes grew so hot that he couldn't help blinking.
A tear fell.
It splashed onto the hand holding the flowers.
He instinctively flinched.
So hot.
"Are you unhappy?"
The big sister's expression grew slightly more reserved.
"I thought you would like them—"
In her experience, most humans liked flowers.
Especially since she remembered...
One night, she had passed by a house.
To her surprise, she discovered many humans gathered there.
Curious, she stopped to watch.
She observed them closely.
Before long, she understood why.
It turned out that all those humans had gathered in the middle of the night to watch a flower called the Queen of the Night bloom.
The Queen of the Night blooms for just one night?
It was quite pretty.
When she had tried to think of a way to cheer this child up, she had remembered the heartfelt smiles on those humans' faces...
So had she done something wrong?
"I like them!"
The little boy hurriedly shouted.
"I'm not unhappy!"
"I'm really happy!"
"I'm really, really happy!"
By the end, the little boy's voice had turned choked with tears.
"Is that so?"
The big sister was slightly taken aback.
Then she pressed her lips together and smiled.
"That's good, then."
It seemed