Soon, hand in hand, they rode the elevator up, the car humming like a quiet beehive.

“Big bro, your grip on my hand—doesn’t it feel hot?” The blonde girl twisted her small hand in his palm like a fish turning in water, tilted her head, and her golden eyes peeked out from under the hood like twin coins catching light.

“If you’re uncomfortable, Xue’er, I’ll let go.” Luke’s confidence shrank like a leaf in cold wind, afraid of souring the mood of the girl who felt like a treasure dropped from the heavens.

“It’s nothing… I’m just not used to being pulled along.” Her pale fingers curled and slipped free like a tide drawing back from shore. “Right, I rushed it,” Luke said, scratching his head with a sheepish grin, his smile like a sun peeking past clouds.

“No, no, big bro, don’t mind it~” Seeing his awkwardness, Little Loli used her sweetest voice, and it slid into his ear like warm honey and pooled in his chest like syrup.

“Ha, silly Xue’er, I’m a man who stands tall, not as brittle as you think,” he said, thumping his chest like a pillar holding up the sky.

“Then let’s buy clothes.” Xiao Qianxue stepped two paces ahead like a sparrow hopping forward, glanced back, then turned away again. Luke tightened the bag handles in his fist like gripping a rope on a boat. “Don’t rush, it’s only day one; we’ve got a whole river of time.” He drew a deep breath like cool night air and fell in behind Little Loli’s light steps like a shadow.

Inside the clothing store, a child’s voice chimed like a bell: “Mom, Mom! I want this one!” “Alright, alright, my little princess gets whatever she wants,” the mother cooed, stroking the girl’s hair like smoothing soft feathers.

“Tsk.” Memories drifted through the blonde girl’s mind like gray clouds. She didn’t reach for bright or pricey pieces; with both hands buried in her hoodie like sparrows tucked in a nest, she picked a few hoodies and joggers and passed them to the baffled Luke like stacking plain bricks into his arms.

“Xue’er, why just these?” Luke took the clothes from Xiao Qianxue, eyed the boyish cuts like dull steel, then looked at Little Loli twirling a thread of gold hair like sunlight around her finger.

“No reason. If you must ask, I’m just not in the mood,” she said, her tone like a shutter pulled down against an overcast sky.

“Don’t girls like dressing themselves up pretty? Especially you, Xue’er, you’re so—” Luke was mid-sentence when the blonde darted off and grabbed a nightdress, its fabric flowing like moonlight on water. “I’ll wear this at home from now on, so big bro can feast his eyes,” she said, voice like a teasing breeze.

“Xue’er, you—” Under the hood, no one could see her expression, not even Luke, her face hidden like the moon veiled by thin cloud.

“I mean—” His words stumbled like pebbles on a slope.

“That’s that.” She turned and stepped out of the store, not giving Luke a sliver of chance, and in the dim, her golden pupils flickered like a candle in a draft.

Couldn’t even save Mom and Dad… so useless… what right—what right do I have to live happy like everyone else? The thought hit cold as sleet. Leaning against a pillar like a lone reed by a river, Little Loli tugged the brim of her hood down hard, as if pulling night over her eyes.

The mall bloomed with scenes like lanterns: parents laughing with kids, couples teasing and hugging like swallows in spring. Only one small hooded figure stood in a corner like a stray shadow, her loneliness a cracked note in the festival song.

Luke burst from the store with bags billowing like sails. He’d matched sizes from what she chose and what she wore, then bought a spread of pretty clothes and skirts fit for Little Loli, colors like petals after rain. “Spirited kid, that temper’s something,” he muttered, and when he saw the total, he drew his card like a blade and paid without blinking.

“Xue’er!” He scanned the floor like a lighthouse swinging its beam, and in a small corner he caught the glow of gold hair like a match in the dark. He hitched the bags higher, their plastic rustling like dry leaves, and ran to her side with footsteps drumming like quick rain.

“Hi, big bro~” She lifted her head with a smile as thin as paper, mood patched together like a quilt. Without a mirror to hide it, the red at her eyes clung like the last line of sunset, and Luke saw it.

“Xiaoxue, listen to me.” Luke set the bags down like setting anchors, gripped Xiao Qianxue’s shoulders as if steadying a small boat, and brought his face close until their breaths met like two warm clouds.

“Big bro, you trying to steal a kiss?” she murmured, her tease a light flick of wind.

“…” His silence fell like a pebble into a well.

He cleared his throat twice, small coughs like tapping on wood, and wrestled the mood back like a kite string in a gust. “Listen, Xue’er. Whatever storms hit you before, whoever you lost, whoever hurt you—I don’t know.” His voice was steady as a lantern on a hook, but care and protectiveness burned inside it like coals.

“But remember this: right now, I’m your brother, the one you can trust.” He tapped his chest like striking a drum. “I’m not one of those guys hoping a little sis will hand out fanservice (though, honestly, I kind of am), and I’m not someone who tosses promises like confetti in the wind. If I dare call you my sister, I’ll take care of you with both hands, bring you all a brother should bring, and carry the weight like a shoulder under a beam. Got it?”

He let the words spill in one breath like a river over stones, then drew in air big and deep like a bellows. He looked solemnly at the blonde before him, only to find Xiao Qianxue returning the look with a seasoned gaze, sharp and calm like a scalpel—less a child’s eyes, more a peer with too much life behind them.

“Are you serious?” Her tone rang like iron, a faintly cynical line on her delicate face like a fine crack in porcelain, and her golden eyes locked to his without a slip, twin suns holding the sky.

“I’m serious. I swear.” He pressed his palm to his heart like sealing wax to a letter.

“I hope so, my dear big bro~” The blonde pushed off the floor and stood, and her expression slid back into cute like spring returning after a late frost.

“Stick with me and we’ll eat well and live hot,” Luke said, his mood lifting like a lantern brightening as Little Loli’s spirit rekindled.

“Big bro, did you buy me a whole heap of clothes?” Little Loli eyed the tall bags like stacked clouds.

“Yeah. Those few you picked—never mind you, even I wouldn’t look at them,” he said, his grin crooked like a crescent moon.

“Thanks~” Her thanks fluttered out like a ribbon in wind.

“It’s what a brother does,” he answered, the words nailed down like a plank set firm.

After they swept the home goods aisle and piled up daily necessities for Xiao Qianxue like a winter larder, they turned to leave—until they spotted an adventure arcade beside them, a field of lights like fireflies where you toss rings and play games to win prizes like catching stars.

“Xue’er, big bro’s taking you in.” With their bond settled, Luke’s address grew bold like a banner in sun. He checked their bags with the shop and jogged back to Little Loli like a gust down the corridor.

“Mm.” Her soft reply dropped into the moment like a small pebble in a still lake, sending out gentle ripples.