Stepping into Meng Xiaoxiao’s home, Tang Coco walked into a shrine of anime, walls like a gallery strung with character murals, a pink‑white sofa blooming with plushies like sugared clouds.
“So this is a girl’s heart,” she breathed, a soft sigh drifting like steam off tea.
Crystal hung from the ceiling like frozen starlight, and glossy furniture gleamed like a still lake, all quietly declaring the ease of a rich family’s second daughter.
Meng Xiaoxiao slipped off her white cloth shoes, small feet hugged by white cotton socks like wrapped dumplings, then slid into pink slippers soft as peach petals, and handed Coco a pair like a passing of warm shells.
“Nya~ Big Sis Coco, change and let’s go play inside, I just bought a game console,” her voice chimed like a bell on a ribbon.
“Oh,” Coco answered, the word light as a feather falling, and she shrugged off her track jacket and shoes, toes sinking into the pink slippers like stepping into warm sand.
“Wow, Big Sis Coco’s figure is really good,” Xiaoxiao cooed, eyes bright as spring water.
With the jacket off, Coco’s white tee traced her lines like a clean brushstroke, simple cloth holding a curve like a crescent behind thin cloud.
Xiaoxiao tugged her toward the bedroom like a kitten dragging a ribbon, and of course the room bloomed pink like a peach orchard at dawn; a huge double bed sat there like a quiet island, crowned by a teddy bear as tall as Coco, a plush mountain with round ears.
On a desk, a large curved monitor arced like a new moon, and Xiaoxiao woke it with a touch like striking flint.
“Xiaoxiao, do you live here alone?” Coco asked, sinking onto the bed that yielded like fresh snow, comfort spreading through her like warm tea through cold fingers.
“Yeah, I’d had enough of Yanjing,” Xiaoxiao pouted, words spilling like a stream after rain, “too many things every day and no one to play with, so I came to Ninghai for college.”
Warmth pricked behind Coco’s ribs like sunlight through leaves, because a girl living alone is a lone boat on a big sea; it isn’t easy.
“Good thing I came to Ninghai University,” Xiaoxiao beamed, smile curling like a cat in a sun patch, “or I wouldn’t have met Big Sis Coco, this feels so good~”
“…”
“Come on, let’s play; I’ll grab snacks,” she sang, pressing two game controllers into Coco’s hands like passing twin shells, then darted out like a little whirlwind.
She blew back in with an armful of chips and candies like a harvest basket, and Coco suddenly saw the otaku streak in her rise like a lantern’s glow.
“Big Sis Coco, take off those heavy fake glasses, aren’t they killing you…” Xiaoxiao squinted at her like a tiny judge with a fan.
“…” The band lifted from Coco’s face like a storm cloud parting, and relief slid in like a breeze through gauze.
“Big Sis Coco, your eyebrows are so ugly~” Xiaoxiao teased, mouth curving like a wicked peach.
“Hey, can’t help it, born this way,” Coco parried, words tossed like a paper fan, “not like you, little beauty.”
Xiaoxiao just smiled, a petal-fine curve that landed like a feather on still water.
The game was simple, a Mario‑style two‑player romp, bright blocks rising like toy towers and pitfalls yawning like small ravines.
“Hmm… feels like it’s missing something,” Xiaoxiao mused, eyes turning like little windmills.
“How about a bet, so we’ve got a fire under us,” she added, voice warm as a lantern flame.
“Hm? What kind of bet?” Coco asked, curiosity pricking like a thorn that doesn’t hurt.
“Lemme think…” Xiaoxiao tapped her chin with a finger like a sparrow pecking rice, the pose so cute it could drop whole flocks of girls like petals in a gust.
“Okay, after the game we play hide‑and‑seek,” she declared, words bright as confetti, “whoever loses the game hides, and if she gets found, the finder can make her do anything. How’s that?”
“Just that? Sure,” Coco said, calm as still water, because win or lose, the roles were just two sides of one coin; still, that “anything” glinted like a fishhook in sun, and if she caught it… heh‑heh… a sly wave lapped her thoughts.
They played, first rounds seesawing like a swing in a breeze, and by the end they were tied, a balance like two chopsticks on one finger.
“Ahh, Big Sis Coco’s really strong; we tied,” Xiaoxiao laughed, eyes sparkling like sugar, “come on, one last round to decide it.”
At her words, a small itch of wrongness crawled over Coco like an ant on skin, but ever since she was reborn, her thinking felt foggy like a valley after rain, and she couldn’t place it.
The last game was Snake, lines growing like ivy on a wall; at first they matched, two vines climbing neck and neck, then Xiaoxiao’s snake kissed the wall like a moth meets a lamp, and Coco won.
“Ugh, I’m so mad, I almost had it,” Xiaoxiao puffed, cheeks swelling like a squirrel hoarding nuts.
Victory flickered in Coco’s chest like a firefly, and she soothed, “It’s fine, next time might be yours,” her voice gentle as a hand on warm fur.
“Next time I’ll beat you,” Xiaoxiao vowed, eyes bright like twin stars. “Now let’s play hide‑and‑seek. We said it: you seek, I hide.”
“Okay,” Coco agreed, simple as a nod falling like a leaf.
“Big Sis Coco, sit on the bed and wait,” Xiaoxiao said, pointing with a grin sharp as a cat’s whisker, “I’ll grab the props.”
Coco kept quiet, obedience folding over her like a cloak, and she slipped off her slippers and perched on the bed like a bird on a bough.
Soon Xiaoxiao returned with a few things clutched like secret treasures, steps light as tapping rain.
“Here~ Big Sis Coco, put on this eye mask, no peeking~” she chirped, offering an orange mask painted with big cute eyes like a cartoon owl.
Coco turned it in her hands, the softness like velvet fruit, then slid it on, and darkness poured over her like ink into water.
“Oops~ I forgot the batteries, wait a sec,” Xiaoxiao said, and she pattered to the wardrobe like a mouse into grain.
She came back quickly, breath bright as a bead of dew, not with batteries but with a white belt coiled like a tame snake.
“Big Sis Coco, give me your hand,” she cooed, sweetness humming like a zither string, “I’ll put on a timer watch; when it rings, you can start.”
“…” “Alright…” Coco sighed, annoyance a thin mist in her chest, because counting would’ve done fine like stones in a pocket, but she held out her hand anyway.
Xiaoxiao took her small hand, a gentle capture like a moth cupped in palms, and pretended to fit a watch, then paused like a cat considering a leap.
“Uh… this… Big Sis Coco, give me your other hand,” she murmured, voice tiny as a kitten in rain, “I think I did it backward…”
“…” “Are you trying to be this hopelessly dumb?” Coco deadpanned, words flat as a board, because the girl looked quick as a sparrow, yet sometimes she was adorkably slow like cold honey.
Since Xiaoxiao was kneeling behind her like a shadow, reaching back the other hand was easy as bending a willow, and Coco stretched it back without a second thought.
Seeing it, Xiaoxiao’s smile bloomed like a thief’s moonflower, and she threaded the belt along her forearm like slipping a loop over a post; she caught Coco’s hand and lifted, and the belt slid down onto Coco’s wrist like a ring finding its finger.
“Hm?” A prickle ran through Coco like a fish stirring the pond, because why was this “watch” so heavy, like a stone in a sleeve?
She realized both hands were behind her like wings pinned, and she tried to pull one free, but before she moved—
Click, click, click, click.
“Huh?!”
