Le Qi Oliet

"I'm back!" A crisp voice came from outside. A girl of about ten skipped over from afar to the manor gates.

She had long purple-blue hair and wore a light-blue Gothic Lolita dress. Her lovely long hair was tied up with a small red bow, and a red butterfly-shaped ribbon was pinned to the front of her dress.

Several strands of purple-blue bangs drifted lightly beside her forehead. A delicate pair of nearsighted glasses rested on her exquisite face, making her look exceptionally adorable!

But what she did next was far from adorable. Hugging a huge bag of bread, the girl skipped to the manor gate and casually waved her hand, giggling as she softly chanted, "Passionate Gate Beyond the Shore—" The moment her voice fell, a gigantic wooden pair of scissors dropped from the sky and went snip, snip, snip, shredding the perfectly good gate to pieces!

"Eternal Finale of a Thousand Years—"

A flash of magical light passed by, and a brand-new gate immediately burst out of the earth, replacing the original one.

"Hehehehe—" Seeing the image carved onto the new gate—a certain someone drooling in his sleep—the girl let out an odd, girlish giggle, apparently very pleased with her handiwork. Humming an unknown tune, she happily pushed open the new gate and skipped inside.

"Huh?" Before she had even run a few steps, the girl spotted the enormous Man-Eating Flower lying on the ground, split into two. Green fluid had spilled everywhere, and it was obvious the flower was dead beyond doubt. Her adorable lips immediately puffed up as she muttered in displeasure, "'Most Beautiful Love' has gone to kiss God. You rotten, awful thing! You secretly stole my 'Most Beautiful Love' without my permission! I won't forgive you, hmph hmph—"

As she spoke, the girl lightly waved her pale hand. A large wooden coffin quietly emerged from the ground, enclosing the Man-Eating Flower's "corpse," before sinking back into the earth.

Having finished all that, the girl immediately ran furiously to the villa, shoved open its doors, and prepared to explode.

"Pfft, pfft—" A faint snoring sound, one the girl knew all too well, suddenly reached her ears. She froze for a moment before quickly realizing what it was. Turning toward the sound, she saw the boy sprawled on the sofa, drooling slightly as he dreamed away, a comfortable smile hanging from the corners of his mouth.

What could he be dreaming about? Why was he smiling so happily... That thought suddenly flashed through the girl's mind. No! That's not right! Don't think you can confuse me so easily and earn my forgiveness!

The girl vigorously shook her head and thought firmly, I must make you take responsibility for secretly taking away all of my "Most Beautiful Love" without my permission!! Yes, you have to take responsibility to the very end!!!

At that thought, a sly, mischievous smile crossed the girl's face. She first put down the huge bag of bread she had been carrying, then quietly crept over to the sofa where the boy slept.

Hehe, I'll start by adopting a few illegitimate children, the source of all evil! With a wicked smile, the girl bent over slightly, pinched a long lock of hair between her fingers, and gently tickled the sleeping boy's face with its tip.

"Mm~" The boy's brows immediately furrowed slightly. Deep asleep, he naturally had no idea someone was pranking him. He simply scratched his itchy face instinctively, then continued meeting Duke Zhou in his dreams.

Hehehe. Finding it fun, the girl's playful spirit rose, and she continued tickling his face. Sure enough, the unsuspecting boy merely scratched his face again and even rolled over, continuing to sleep face-down with his butt in the air. Though his movement was a little larger this time, fortunately, he still showed no sign of waking...

Hm? Seeing that the boy slept like a dead pig without any further reaction, the girl did not lose heart so easily. Since he had rolled over, she would tickle his ears instead! With that thought, she did not hesitate. She carefully moved closer to him, and when she felt she still was not close enough, she could not be bothered to keep bending over. She simply stepped forward, braced her hands on the exposed edges of the sofa, and cautiously lowered herself until she was practically lying on his back.

Yet the girl paid that no mind. She continued lowering her head until the locks of hair on either side hung down, nearly touching the boy's ears. Only then did she finally stop.

Although this was her first time being so close to someone of the opposite sex, making her heart pound wildly in an utterly uncooperative way, the girl still decided to carry her grand prank all the way through without retreat!

Perhaps because it was also her first time secretly getting so close to a boy, amid her nervousness, she felt a trace of inexplicable excitement. Fine beads of sweat had even formed in her palms and on her forehead, though she remained unaware of it.

She slowly lowered her head again. Finally, her hair touched the boy's ear roots and neck. Delighted, the girl could not wait to gently shake her head. With that slight motion, her long purple-blue hair began to slowly brush and tickle the boy's ears and neck...

The boy had been sleeping wonderfully on the sofa. Although he had often slept outside on the grass, how could those lawns compare to the comfort of a soft sofa? Usually, to avoid that strange person's nearly endless magical experiments, he would return home very late and get up early each day to catch up on sleep outside in the trees or on the grass!~

There was no helping it. As he had always said, staying at home was simply too dangerous! For the sake of his life, sleeping outside was comparatively safer...

Thus, the boy had not slept properly in a warm bed for a very, very long time. Though this was only a sofa, to someone accustomed to sleeping on grass and tree branches, even sleeping on a sofa was an incomparably blissful thing!!!

As it happened, nobody else was home today, and that strange person was out. At last, the boy could relive his old sofa dreams~ Since that strange person had unusually gone out today, she must have had something important to do, right? Precisely because he thought so, the boy had relaxed and started sleeping on the sofa. Once he fell asleep, he slept so deeply that he did not even hear someone opening the door!

There was no helping it. It had been far, far too long since he had slept this comfortably. Even if someone sang the divine song "Tantè" right beside his ear, he probably would not have reacted at all...

But just as he slept blissfully, he suddenly felt like his face was a little itchy for some reason. Everyone probably knew this feeling: sometimes, when you were deeply asleep, no matter how others called you, you would not wake up. Yet if someone used something fine like hair to tickle your ears, face, or similar places, you would become much more sensitive!

That was exactly how the boy was now. When he felt his face itch, he instinctively raised a hand and scratched it lightly, but his mind was still muddled and he did not wake up. Who would have thought that shortly after scratching it, his face would start itching again? This time, his reaction was greater. After scratching, he even rolled over, but even so, his consciousness still did not clear. He remained groggy~

However, when the girl propped herself on the sofa, leaned over his back, and attacked his ears and neck with her hair, he finally could not endure it any longer! The itch at his neck and ears made his body shudder instinctively, and in a reflex, his whole body suddenly jerked upward!

Thump— With a dull collision, the back of the boy's head came into intimate contact with the girl's nose.

"Ah—" The girl rolled off the sofa in pain, then crouched on the floor, tightly covering her nose. Tears welled in her eyes as she pitifully whispered, "It hurts..."

"..." The boy stared with black lines across his face at the bespectacled loli crouching before him and demanded viciously, "Le Qi!!! What—are—you—doing?!" One look at her told him that the thing which had disturbed his wonderful sleep had obviously been this girl's handiwork!

The girl was named Le Qi, Le Qi Oliet! She was two years younger than the boy and was already eleven this year. She was the benefactor who had saved him by the sea a year ago! Well, she was also the "strange person" the boy kept talking about~

When it came to Le Qi, this glasses-wearing adorable loli, the boy truly had no way to deal with her. Whether it was her slightly airheaded moe personality or her incomprehensible behavior and manner of speaking, all of it left him completely helpless...

"Say, where did you go today? Why are you back so soon?" the boy asked casually. In truth, he was grumbling endlessly inside. Since you rarely go out, couldn't you just stay out a little longer before coming back? Then I could at least get a good night's sleep...

"Hehe, because I wanted your stomach pouch to feel the warm rhythm of spring!" Le Qi giggled. Then she skipped over to where she had put her things, picked up the huge bag of bread, pulled out a loaf, and waved it in front of the boy. Quite proudly, she said, "What do you think? Isn't my 'Garden of Thought' magnificent?"

"Isn't it just bread..." the boy muttered speechlessly. "And what even is this Garden of Thought? It makes absolutely no sense..."

"What did you say? Bai Bai..." Le Qi asked strangely.

"Huh? Oh, uh... nothing. Don't mind it. Wait, hold on?! What did you just call me?!" The boy answered reflexively, then seemed to realize something. His eyes immediately widened as he stared blankly at Le Qi and shrieked through gritted teeth, "Bai Bai?! Who are you calling Bai Bai?! I have a name, you know!!" When he heard what she had called him, he felt as though a flock of pitch-black crows had flown flamboyantly over his head...

"Huh?! You don't like that name?" Le Qi froze briefly, then said with some distress, "Haven't you always been unable to remember your old name? That's why I decided to give you a new one. And I only came up with Bai Bai after thinking hard for over a month! It's the name that best suits your characteristics! I thought you would like it..." By the end, she blinked her large, innocent eyes pitifully at him, looking as though she were saying, I did my best. May you rest in peace.

"Who the hell would like a name like that?! Stop making decisions on your own, okay?!" The boy could no longer hold back and roared, "Also, what about me looks like it has anything to do with white?!"

"Your clothes?" Le Qi cautiously said, pointing at the moon-white coat he wore.

"You're the one who insisted on making me wear it!!!" the boy shouted without mercy.

"Um, your weapon?" Le Qi pointed at the single-edged longblade hanging at his waist.

"I'll kill you..." The boy immediately glared at Le Qi with murderous intent.

"Then..." Startled by his "ferocious" glare, Le Qi unconsciously shrank her neck and stuck out her tongue. She then scanned him again, trying to find something else that might be connected to white. Suddenly, when she accidentally spotted his jet-black, glossy hair, her eyes lit up. She immediately pointed at his hair and shouted, "Your hair!!!"

"Say, isn't that black..." The boy's face filled with black lines. He felt like he was about to suffocate from anger.

"That's right! It is black!" Le Qi affirmed. But then she abruptly changed course and spoke grandly, "Yet the ultimate extreme of hate is love, and black that shines brightly is also white! The romance between black and white will ultimately walk into the hall at the end of happiness!!!"

"What does any of that even mean..." The boy was decisively speechless. He was truly speechless! Even after experiencing her strange remarks countless times, he still found them utterly incomprehensible...

"I don't care about any hall or whatever! In any case, you are never allowed to call me 'Bai Bai' again!!!" the boy threatened viciously.

"Then how about 'Kennedy'?"

"I'm Obama, then..."

"Then what about 'Mi Lu'?"

"You're the one who's lost..."

"Then what should I call you? You don't have a name..." After discussing it for so long, every name she had thought of had been rejected. Le Qi was beginning to feel unhappy. But then, as if she had suddenly thought of something, inspiration struck. She immediately jumped up in excitement and said happily, "How about I just call you Nameless! What a profound name!! Then I'll call you Nameless from now on, okay?!"

"..." The boy rolled his eyes so hard that he nearly spat blood. But after arguing for so long, he had little energy left. He could not even be bothered to move and only weakly retorted, "Why don't you just call me Long Ao..."

"Huh? That name is great too! It sounds so imposing! Then I'll call you Long Ao from now on!!" Le Qi's eyes lit up, and she immediately raised both hands in approval.

"..." The boy fell completely silent. After a moment of silence, he finally said, "You should just call me Bai Bai..."

"Yay!" Le Qi cheered, giggling as she said, "You have a name now! From now on, your name will be—"

"Achill!" It was as if some slumbering memory in his mind had been stirred. The boy frowned slightly, then interrupted Le Qi before she could finish, blurting out without thinking, "My name is Achill..."

There was confusion in his voice, yet also an indescribable certainty! It was as if he had remembered his own name...