PAID

Rustle, rustle.

A single strand of red hair swayed gently before my eyes.

I held my breath and stared at it with the sharp gaze of a predator stalking its prey.

"Gotcha."

Swish, swish.@@novelbin@@

The red strand dodged my hand like a feisty blade of grass, refusing to be caught.

This was no easy task—it slipped away so effortlessly.

Snap!

After flailing at empty air a few times, I finally managed to grasp the red strand in my hand.

“Heh.”

I smiled brightly, savoring the soft, fluffy sensation of the hair in my grasp. But then, a youthful, disgruntled voice reached my ears.

“…Rain, why are you holding onto my hair?”

“Hah! S-sorry! It was swaying so adorably that I couldn’t help myself.”

Blushing furiously, I let go of little Chris’s silly strand of hair.

Standing about a head shorter than me, little Chris was her “alt character,” nicknamed Christu.

Her round, pouty cheeks filled with annoyance were absolutely adorable. That lone, red strand of hair sticking out and swaying according to her mood was impossibly cute. Her tiny stature was cute. Everything about her was cute.