Innocent Marks
That evening, after Amy returned, I asked her a brief question. It was a question I could only bring up because Shine was away taking a shower.
"Amy?"
"Yes, dear?"
"Do you... happen to have someone you like?"
"Someone I like?"
"Yes."
"Where is this coming from all of a sudden?"
I mumbled, unsure of how to answer her counter-question. My eyes drifted toward the firmly shut bathroom door.
Perhaps noticing where my gaze had landed, Amy placed a hand on my head and spoke.
"Do you like Shine?"
"What? No, it's not like that..."
"Then does Shine like you?"
It was a question that seemed to pierce right through me. As I flusteredly waved my hands, completely at a loss, Amy let out a soft chuckle.
"Come here, Jeff."
Amy reached out and pulled me into an embrace. Wrapped in her soft, fragrant warmth, I buried my face and looked down.
"You two are still young."
"Yes..."
I wanted to protest the word "young," but she was right. Shine and I were still children.
"There's something a little different mixed into what you call 'liking' someone, isn't there?"
I gave a small nod at Amy's words.
"And Shine feels the same way about you?"
"Shine is... a bit different."
"Then, how about burying those feelings a little deeper for now?"
"Why?"
"Because you're both still so young. You might just be startled by a feeling you've never experienced before."
Amy smiled gently, stroking my back. I nodded blankly.
She was right. A feeling I was experiencing for the very first time, and the shock that came with it. The ticklish sensation wasn't necessarily bad, but what if the feelings I harbored were different from what I imagined? Shine and I would surely end up deeply hurt.
"But if you ever become certain of those feelings, why not gather a little courage then?"
"Courage?"
"Asking me a question like this... isn't it because the feelings you have feel a bit scary?"
Scary? My mouth fell open in a daze. I hadn't even considered it. The fact that I was finding this emotion frightening.
I raised my small hand and clutched my chest. A quiet voice echoed behind my pounding heart. Just as Amy said, I was afraid of truly understanding what this feeling was.
"But! What if our current relationship falls apart? I want to get along with Shine, but what if this ruins everything between us?!"
"That's why I suggested burying it a little deeper. If you still feel certain of those emotions later on, that's when you take courage."
At this very moment, I was certain of one thing: the feelings Shine and I harbored were slightly different. I let out a sigh.
"Please keep this a secret from Shine."
Instead of answering, Amy gently stroked my hair. As I lost track of time in her embrace, Shine emerged from the bathroom, finished with her shower.
Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and her hair was damp. She wore a child-sized bathrobe. A faint rosy glow peeked through her skin, making her look exceptionally healthy.
"Come here, Shine."
"Okay."
With practiced familiarity, Shine approached Amy at her call.
"You two. What did you look at today?"
Amy, who was drying Shine's hair, suddenly dropped the question. Shine and I blinked in surprise.
"Well?"
"No. We didn't look at anything."
Shine shook her head, a rare trace of fluster in her voice. Watching her reaction, Amy playfully nudged Shine's head.
"What could it be? What did you look at?"
Amy's voice was full of mischief, but I could feel cold sweat trickling down my spine.
"R-Rain brought it."
Before we could get into even bigger trouble, I pulled out the comic book Rain had brought and handed it to Amy. Watching me surrender the book, Shine's eyes shook violently.
"So you looked at this?"
I nodded. Amy wore a rare expression of stern disapproval. Flip, flip. The pages of the comic book turned rapidly under her fingers.
Catching a glimpse of an illustration in the middle of the book, I quickly covered my face with both hands. It was incredibly embarrassing to see people tangled together, exposing their bare skin.
"Rain showed this to you?"
"Yes."
Smack! Amy rolled up the book and struck it hard against her palm. It looked like Rain would be waking up with a massive bump on her head tomorrow.
"So that's why you asked me that question."
Late that evening, Amy confiscated all the comic books Rain had hidden and left behind. Although the stories had been quite entertaining, I didn't feel any regret. In fact, I felt a bit relieved.
"Are we not allowed to look at this?"
Shine asked Amy, clearly still lingering on the comic books.
"It's far too early for you two."
"Then can we look at them later?"
At Shine's question, Amy gave an awkward smile.
"If you still want to by then."
Shine smiled brightly at Amy's permission and nodded.
In the darkened room, Shine, Amy, and I lay in bed as we always did. I squirmed beneath the covers, trying to find a comfortable position. Usually, wrapping myself in the soft, fragrant blanket would put me to sleep in no time.
"Jeff."
"Yeah?"
Shine's voice cut through my fading consciousness. Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I turned my head. Lying beside me, Shine was staring at me, her eyes sparkling.
"Stay still for a second."
"Shine?"
With those words, Shine began crawling toward me. Her slow, cautious movements were clearly intended to avoid waking Amy. Soon, she was close enough that her breath tickled my ear.
"There's something I want to try."
"What do you mean, try?"
Our whispered voices, identical and girlish, mingled in the dark. Shine stared at me and reached her hand out. What on earth did she want to try? Startled by her sudden movement, I shrank back.
"Stay still, Jeff."
"N-No."
I immediately dove under the covers. Shine reached out to grab me, but I was faster beneath the blanket. After wriggling around for a while, I poked my head out, panting and desperate for cool air.
As my head popped out and I took a deep breath of the cool air, I found Shine sitting right in front of me.
"Just stay still."
Saying this, Shine climbed right on top of me. With the sudden shift in weight and the dip of the mattress, I squeezed my eyes shut.
"What are you trying to do...?"
"Something I saw in the comic book."
Shine buried her face in my neck. The moment her warm breath brushed against my skin, I flinched and tried to squirm away. However, Shine's arms and legs pinned me down, restricting my movements completely.
Sniff, sniff. Shine pressed her nose against my neck and began to sniff. Her soft, pillowy lips brushed against my skin, leaving damp traces behind.
"Are you done now...?"
There was nothing more. After repeating it a few times, Shine tilted her head in confusion.
"Jeff. Doesn't it feel good?"
I shook my head. I was flustered, but it didn't feel particularly good or bad. Feeling a bit restless and confused, I turned my face away.
"I want to sleep."
"Let me try just one more thing."
Shine said, and began to wriggle on top of me.
"What are you doing...?"
"I don't know."
After squirming for a while, Shine tilted her head again.
"I guess this isn't it."
She murmured, finally climbing off me. The spots where her body had pressed against mine felt burning hot. As I shivered in the cool night air, Shine pulled the blanket back over me.
"Let's try something else tomorrow."
"Are you just copying the comic book...?"
"Yeah."
"I don't like it."
At Shine's questioning gaze, which seemed to ask why?, I let out a soft sigh. Shine was still young. She was at an age where she might blindly want to copy things she saw in books.
"You shouldn't just blindly copy things from comic books."
"Why?"
"Because you could get hurt. It's too dangerous."
"But it doesn't seem dangerous at all."
Shine said, clinging to me once more.
"If we do it like this and like this, we'll both feel good..."
Startled by her movements, I panicked and threw the blanket over Shine's face. Caught off guard by the sudden darkness, Shine flailed her hands and scrambled out from under the covers.
"I'm going to sleep."
Ignoring Shine's bewildered look, I turned my back to her. Behind me, I heard her quiet, careful movements. She dragged her pillow closer, lay down right next to me, and pulled up the blanket.
"If you don't like it, Jeff, I won't do it."
Shine's voice was barely a whisper. I wiggled my toes beneath the covers and pulled the blanket all the way up over my face.
I couldn't sleep a wink that night. Every tiny movement Shine made sounded incredibly loud right next to my ear. The skin where her lips had touched throbbed with a strange warmth. Squeezing my eyes shut, I let out a quiet sigh.
Perhaps because of my sleepless night, I woke up at a slightly different time than usual. As the morning announcement broadcast echoed to signal the start of the day, I buried myself deeper into the covers.
"Jeff, time to get up."
"Okay..."
At Amy's urging, I crawled out of bed and headed to the bathroom. I needed to wash my face and change my clothes.
Shine, who had apparently woken up earlier and finished getting ready, was sitting at the table drinking milk. Her gaze flicked to my face before quickly darting away.
"Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah."
Answering Shine's greeting, I entered the bathroom and stepped onto the stool in front of the sink. As I rubbed my sleepy eyes and reached for my toothbrush, I noticed a red mark on my cheek.
Did a bug bite me? I touched the red mark with my finger, but it didn't itch or hurt. However, the red patch was strangely wide.
After washing my face, I walked straight over to Amy.
"Amy."
"Yes, sweetie?"
"I think a bug bit me."
I said, pointing to my cheek. Looking down at me, Amy reached out with both hands, cupping my face to inspect it from side to side.
"A bug?"
"Yes."
Amy examined my face closely, then tilted my head back to look at my neck.
"Looks like you got bitten on your neck, too."
"Huh?"
An unexpected insect attack. Amy pulled some ointment from a drawer and gently dabbed it onto my neck and cheek.
"That's strange. We just had the place pest-controlled not long ago. Did it come from outside?"
Amy muttered in confusion as she applied the medicine. Once she was finished, I quickly changed my clothes and sat down next to Shine.
"Can I have some milk too?"
There was no better way to start the morning than with a glass of milk. I gulped down the cold milk.