NOVEL NEXT chapter 17
17: The Junior’s Hole
The year I became the senior and saw off the senior kindergarteners, Mirim entered the kindergarten.
It’s a reunion with a junior— I gaze at the four-year-old Mirim who’s grown up.
A mature posture. The adult fashion of the smock, combined with the unchanged expression from infancy, made me feel a kind of loneliness as if Mirim had grown up without my knowledge, although we used to play together every weekend. Girls grow up so fast…
Mirim will spend the next two years in the kindergarten.
Just as the ‘enemies’ do to us, they will also subject Mirim to brainwashing education.
Brainwashing education to take away the fighting spirit… It’s still unclear what the clear purpose of the ‘enemies’ is, but it’s certain that continuing to follow them would play into the ‘enemies’ hands.
I wanted to teach Mirim “don’t forget your fighting spirit.”
But I’m five and Mirim is four. I don’t really understand the meaning of the word ‘fighting spirit’… What’s a fighting spirit? It’s kind of a conceptual? Abstract thing, and that’s troublesome. Toddlers don’t really understand abstract concepts. It’s uncomfortable and frustrating.
I hugged Mirim out of anxiety. The rough texture of the smock. A warm body temperature. Mirim’s scent from her silky black hair.
If we were adults, it would have been an issue. But since we’re kids, it’s an affectionate hug.
Mirim remains as silent and expressionless as ever, but only her tail speaks eloquently.
Or rather, there’s a hole for the tail in the smock.
A tail hole… I’ve been at an age where I want to stick my finger in any hole I see lately, so I hugged Mirim tightly and tried sticking my finger into the tail hole. I felt the fluffy base of the tail.
Perhaps Mirim’s mom has made the hole in the smock around her waist herself. Since there are no beast people around here, it must be quite difficult to secure clothes suitable for them.
“Hey, don’t. Mom says it’s bad to put your finger in the tail hole.”
Huh, it’s bad?
—
Tail hole… I never noticed it before, but it might be something very naughty.
In fact, is “hole” a naughty word?
I felt my heart pounding. What is this feeling? Millim’s fidgety tail movements are adding to my excitement. As I watch the thick black tail, enveloped in dark fur, swaying like it’s trying to hide its embarrassment, I instinctively want to grab it.
But I am a rational five-year-old. I think while holding the tail. If the tail hole is naughty, then maybe the tail is also naughty… I don’t know. I can’t seem to stop feeling excited.
Millim is swaying something naughty out of the hole. Millim is naughty. I… I’m starting to feel scared. Naughty things are scary.
Honestly, Millim’s tail has had a hole in her clothes since she was a baby, and every time I hugged her, I kept putting my finger into the tail hole.
But it’s inevitable. When I hug her, the tail hole is just where my hand reaches. So, I put my finger in. But is it wrong? What should I do? I thought while putting my finger into the tail hole. What am I trying to think? I don’t know.
“Your finger’s stretching it, so please stop.”
It’s stretching.
I’m feeling too naughty and scared. Millim is naughty, and Millim is scary.
I stopped hugging Millim and took a step back from her. Then Millim takes a step closer to me. I hug Millim. It was a reflexive action.
I realize. I was scared. I was being naughty. But Millim was more important as a junior. Just because she’s naughty and scary doesn’t mean I can stop hugging her…
I overcome the naughty feeling and hug Millim tightly. Millim also wraps her arms around my waist and hugs me back. If Millim is naughty, then it’s okay for me to be naughty too— that’s how I feel now.
We hugged each other in the genkan of the kindergarten.
This was completely naughty.