Origin

Under Amy's watchful gaze, I slowly climbed off Shine. Shine showed no intention of getting up until I had completely stepped away. I helped Shine up from where she lay and wrapped my arms around her from behind. Her soft, smooth skin brushed against my cheek, sending a pleasant warmth through me.

"Are you alright, Jeff?"

"Yees." I nodded, resting my head on Shine's shoulder.

Amy, who had been watching us with a peculiar expression, swept a hand over her forehead and let out a soft sigh.

"You ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠really should be resting, though..."

"I don't hurt at all, so I'm fine."

Amy slowly walked over to us. Sitting down on the edge of the plush bed, she reached out and gently brushed my hair aside. Her gaze drifted to the bandages wrapped around my head.

"What if it leaves a scar?"

Following the touch of Amy's fingers, I reached up to feel the bandages. The rough texture of the gauze caught on my fingertips. Surely it wouldn't leave a scar on my forehead like Amy feared, would it? The thought of a blemish on this beautiful body—which looked exactly like Shine's—made me feel a bit uneasy.

"Is Shine sick somewhere?"

Brushing my hair aside, Amy placed her hand on the forehead of Shine, who was still nestled in my arms. Just as she said, Shine did look a bit unwell. Her entire face was flushed red, as if she had caught a feverish cold.

I swept away the hair covering the back of Shine's neck and pressed my face against it. Shine's body gave a violent flinch.

She's hot.

The heat radiating against my cheek made me certain she had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠caught a cold. Burying my face in her back, I asked,

"Shine, are you sick? Did you catch a cold?"

My voice was muffled since I spoke with my face pressed against her neck, but the words were clear enough to understand. Shine slowly shook her head at Amy's and my questions.

"But you seem to have a fever?"

Amy muttered worriedly, checking Shine's temperature here and there. Sensing Amy's movements, I carefully let go of Shine and took a step back.

"I'm not sick..."

Contrary to her words, Shine's fever showed no signs of breaking. Under Amy's gentle insistence, Shine was quickly guided to lie down on the bed.

"I... I don't have a cold."

"Should we call Rabin?"

I stepped up to the side of the bed and took her hand.

"Shine..."

"Jeff, I'm really not sick."

Like hell she wasn't. The hand I was holding was burning hot. She had definitely caught a cold. I stroked her hair with a worried expression. If she was hurting, I was hurting too.

Shine looked at Amy and me, letting out an exasperated sigh. Even her breath felt hot. Closing her eyes, Shine slowly began to regulate her breathing. As her breathing steadied, the flush on her face vanished in an instant. Startled, I frantically touched her cheeks and forehead, prompting Shine to open her eyes.

"Amy! Shine is all better now."

"I told you, it's not a cold."

Shine said, sitting up from the bed. Though Amy and I had made a huge fuss, it seemed Shine really wasn't sick after all. Young children have weaker immune systems, so it wouldn't have been surprising if she had caught something. I used to live with a constant cold back in the day, too.

"You really are fine...?"

Amy nodded, brushing her hand over Shine's now-cool forehead.

"It's just... Jeff made me feel weird."

"Because of me?"

At her words, I leaned my face close to hers. Is it really because of me? I pointed a finger at my cheek, my expression asking the question for me.

"Mmhmm..."

Shine avoided my gaze and nodded. The tips of her ears flushed a light pink. Against her snow-white skin, the change was incredibly obvious. I reached out and pinched Shine's earlobe. Her ears were soft and squishy. I quite liked the texture, so I kept playing with it until Shine pulled her head back to escape my touch. Disappointed, I wiggled my fingers in the empty air.

"S-See? Even now."

Shine clutched her chest, her face turning red. What exactly was the problem?

What is this feeling?

Shine wore a deeply confused expression as she held her chest. Well, as long as she wasn't sick, there was nothing to worry about, right?

After that day, Shine changed noticeably. She would flinch violently whenever I got close, and even when I offered her a candy I was eating, she would turn bright red and refuse to take it. Thanks to that, all the candies I offered ended up going straight into Rain's mouth.

"Rain..."

"Yeah?"

Rain was tapping away at her console, the candy I gave her tucked in her cheek. I crept up right behind Rain and spoke listlessly.

"I think Shine's acting a bit weird lately."

"Shine?"

"Yeah."

Only then did Rain look up from her screen to glance at Shine, who was sitting in the corner of the bed.

"Hmm..."

"It feels like she's avoiding me, but at the same time, she isn't."

"What does that even mean...?"

"I don't really know either."

In any case, the mystery remained unsolved. And so, Shine, Rain, and I let the days drift by.

I found myself with absolutely nothing to do. Having passed her exam, Shine had complete free time until her structured training program was fully prepared. As for me, I was classified as a patient and banned from all training until the bandages on my head could finally come off.

"Should I go talk to her?"

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'll find out what's wrong."

With that, Rain set her console down and trotted over to Shine. Watching her short legs pump as she ran made her look exactly like a little baby chick. Approaching Shine, Rain hopped up next to her and began to talk. I couldn't hear their voices from across the room, but as time passed, it was obvious that Rain was growing increasingly flustered. Rain's face flushed a deep crimson as she squirmed, while Shine calmly explained something to her with a serene expression. The stark contrast between the two left me thoroughly puzzled.

Shine looked at the flustered Rain, brought a finger to her lips, and made a shushing gesture. Rain covered her mouth and nodded frantically. Their conversation finished, Rain came flapping her arms as she ran back to me. Her face was bright red, and she was panting heavily. She was incredibly worked up.

"What did you guys talk about?"

Rain mumbled, looking at me. She looked like she had a mountain of things to say, but her promise to Shine seemed to severely limit what she could actually voice.

"Well..."

"Well?"

"I think... Shine likes you."

I nodded at Rain's words. That was a given. I liked Shine too.

"I like Shine too."

"Ugh..."

Rain shook her head and covered her mouth, as if to say that wasn't what she meant.

"And I like you too, Rain."

I replied with a bright smile. Rain was precious family to me as well. Just like Shine, she showered me with affection without expecting anything in return. Though the depth of those feelings might ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠differ, my affection for Rain, Shine, and Amy was fundamentally the same.

Rain's face flushed red at my answer. Her eyes darted around in a frantic dance. Her eyes, swimming restlessly across the room, looked quite pretty.

"Th-Thanks."

"You like me too, right, Rain?"

"Mmhmm..."

I smiled brightly at her response and took her hand. It was soft and small, not much different from Shine's.

"So tell me. What did you and Shine talk about?"

Faced with my question, Rain looked away with a conflicted expression. At the end of her gaze was Shine. Sitting on the edge of her chair, the look Shine directed our way felt strangely intense. Startled, I quickly let go of Rain's hand.

Shine looked at Rain and once again brought a finger to her lips.

Shh—don't you dare tell Jeff. It was as if I could hear the words echoing in the air. Rain nodded back at her. Did they have some kind of secret between them now? Feeling a bit left out, I pouted.

"I'm going to play games too."

I snatched the console out of Rain's hands.

"But that's mine..."

"I want to play too."

"Okay..."

After spending a good while tapping away and making beeping noises on the console, my neck started to stiffen. I stood up, stretched lightly, and walked over to the refrigerator. I was thirsty and wanted something cold to drink. As I took a cold drink out of the fridge and carried it over to the table, I spotted a peculiar sight.

Shine and Rain were huddled in front of the computer. It looked like Rain was teaching Shine how to use it. I sat down at the table and watched them. Today's choice of cup was a cute one adorned with bunny ears. I poured my drink into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it.

Shine and Rain seemed to be searching for various things on the internet. I was too far away to see the screen clearly, but both of their faces were flushed beet-red. Even their breathing sounded unusually heavy.

My confusion was brief, however, as a blue shield icon suddenly flashed on the screen.

The parental control program Amy had installed had been triggered. Since I was usually the only one who used the computer, Shine and Rain looked utterly bewildered by the sudden block.

I took a sip of my cold, sweet drink. It wasn't carbonated, but it went down smoothly, which I quite liked. A rich, sweet aroma of peaches drifted through the air.

After staring at the screen for a while, unable to bypass the blue shield, the two finally gave up and stepped away from the desk. Watching them retreat to the bed to continue whispering, I quietly slipped over to the computer.

I turned the monitor back on to check the remaining time. Since they hadn't used it for long, there was plenty of time left. As soon as I sat down, I felt their eyes boring into my back.

To avoid raising any suspicion, I acted natural and opened MeTube to watch The Adventures of the Little Witch, just like I always did. Conveniently, a channel I subscribed to had just uploaded a new video, allowing me to kill some time.

After watching for a while, I made sure their attention had drifted elsewhere before immediately opening the browser's search history.

"Oh..."

My jaw dropped in sheer disbelief.

A long list of search queries stretched down the screen—things I could hardly believe the two of them had searched together.

I blinked, touching my cheeks. They felt burning hot.

Scroll, scroll. With every roll of the mouse wheel, my face flushed a deeper shade of crimson.

When I reached the very last search term, I squeezed my eyes shut.

Slowly regulating my breathing, I moved the cursor and wiped the entire search history clean.