Chapter 195: Neighborhood Rules
Wanting to be both the first and last person for the one they love seemed like a natural instinct for living beings.At least, that’s what I believed.When you love someone, you yearn to possess everything about them.Such thoughts made me want to fill even the past I wasn’t part of with my presence.So, it was enjoyable to imagine what it would have been like if we had spent our childhood together.For this reason, Salome and I were in the process of creating a new childhood in our own way. “Hey! Hurry up! Why is a boy so weak?”“Girls are naturally stronger until puberty hits.”
Salome turned out to be more of a gang leader than I expected, and I played the role of a naive city boy trailing behind her.Young Salome was a troublemaker who caused all sorts of mischief, and she was still exactly like that now.
Swish—We stacked empty boxes to peek inside a peculiarly shaped building.Climbing on top of them and standing on our tiptoes, we could see children in dresses twirling to the rhythm of clapping hands.
“One, two, turn. One, two, turn. That’s right. Good. You need to practice diligently now so you won’t embarrass yourselves at court gatherings someday. Now, one, two, turn—.”
It seemed to be some kind of ‘dance school.’I felt there should be a more elegant term for it, but I couldn’t think of one.Then, my attention was drawn to a black-haired child among the others.With a white dress and long hair as dark as ebony, she exuded a strong princess-like aura. She looked to be about 6 years old.
“Miss Garcia. Shall we dance to the teacher’s clapping?”“Yes.”
The girl’s name was Garcia.What a name, reminiscent of an expensive cat breed.The child danced gracefully on the gleaming marble floor, and Salome, observing this scene, clicked her tongue, rolled up a piece of paper to make a blowgun, inserted a pebble, and blew on it.
Fwip—The launched pebble struck Garcia’s ankle.Pat—
“Hiik!”