Page 82 of Everdoll

I reached out and cupped her cheeks in my hands. Her eyes were bright red, and she looked very exhausted.

“W-What are you doing?”

Before she could continue, I leaned in and put a tiny kiss around her eyes. She immediately fell silent. I kissed her lashes gently, breathed warmly on them. When I pulled back, her big amber eyes opened wide again. Oh… she was so cute. Did she get cuter in a week?

“I’m not going anywhere. I won’t go even if you want me to. We made a promise.”

“But I… didn’t know. I spoke thinking you were a robot, I…”

“What difference does it make? I’m the same person.”

“It makes a huge difference!”

Mina pulled her face away from my hands, then crawled on the bed, leaning her back against the wall. “If you weren’t a robot, I’d never say or do such things to you! It was safe that way, but now… Now… if you’re a human…”

“I’m not.”

“What? Really… stop playing around. I saw you!”

I sat on the bed, then brought our faces close. I examined every inch of her. She was really in a terrible state; maybe I should feed her something first.

“I’m not human.” I repeated. “I’m a cyborg.”

Mina’s eyes widened. Then her eyes drifted to my arm, she slowly nodded. “But still… brain and heart are human after all, aren’t they?”

I drew a deep breath. “Hey, Mina…” My hands went to her forehead, stroked her hair. “What are you afraid of? Tell me directly, so I can ease your fears. Hmm? Is it okay, my love?”

“Stay away from me.” She shifted on the bed, but it was too small for both of us, she couldn’t move that much.

“No. I told you I can’t. So tell me, what are you afraid of? I’ll fix it.”

“I can’t do this!”

Silence fell. I observed her patiently. Mina seemed to be searching for her words, brows furrowed.

“I can’t, I… I shouldn’t open up to you. I’ll ruin you too.”

I gave a quiet laugh. She lifted her head up, disbelief in her gaze. I cleared my throat, a sudden wave of shame washing over me.

“You’ve already ruined me.” At my whisper, her lips parted in another surprise. “Even my family didn’t like you. I didn’t understand why at the time, but now I do. They must’ve realized before I did. Raymond shouldn’t be this kind of person right now. I shouldn’t be, but I keep letting you ruin me.”

“But, I…”

“It’s not your fault. It won’t be. I promised you, didn’t I?” I examined her face, then hesitantly, flicked her forehead. When she instantly puckered her lips and glared at me, I swallowed hard.

In that moment, I realized I just wanted to go back to the old days. Back to the time before Mina was torn apart. I wanted us to rush from one adventure to the next in the garden without a care, losing ourselves in our own little world. My eyes welled up with longing, but I blinked quickly and pressed my lips together.

“I said I’d become a strong adult. I’ll keep my word. It’s my turn to be responsible one.”

“It’s not…”

I caressed her lips, silencing her. “I want to take care of you. I want you to feel at ease around me. I want to be special to you.”

When I caught sparkles in her eyes, I forced myself not to grin like an idiot and kept going.

“That’s why I couldn’t say the truth all these years. If you knew I wasn’t a robot… I wouldn’t be any different from others to you. I wanted to see you. To know the parts of you no one else sees.”

“You see me now?” she whispered, half in distrust, half in mockery.