Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de - Volume 8 - Chapter Ep

Afterpiece

Lolicon: an abbreviated form of the term “lolita complex,” which itself refers to the phenomenon of harboring romantic or sexual interest in underage girls—“lolicon” can be used both adjectivally, to describe things which relate to such predilections, or nominally, to refer to those persons who experience these feelings. The word “lolita” is drawn from a novel of the same name, written by American author Vladimir Nabokov.

In the context of the novel, “Lolita” is the nickname the narrator gives to a twelve-year-old girl named Dolores Haze. That narrator, referred to as Humbert Humbert, is a college professor who still mourns the premature demise of his childhood love, a girl named Annabel Leigh. Humbert sees a resemblance between Dolores and the departed Annabel, and falls madly, obsessively in love with Dolores as a result. He refers to her as a “nymphet,” and, driven by his irresistible adoration of her...

“Ahhh, I’m exhausted,” I groaned. Our monumental first performance had come to an end, and I’d just finished changing out of my costume. At the moment, I was sitting cross-legged on a piece of cardboard we’d laid out on the floor of the music room’s prep chamber.

“Good work, Andou,” said Chifuyu.

“Thanks. You too,” I replied.

The two of us were the only ones left in the room, on account of our other three members having all been forced to leave to deal with their own tasks. Sayumi and Tomoyo were out in the music room proper, guiding visitors through our display, while Hatoko was helping out with her class’s project. They’d figured that Chifuyu and I would be especially tired since we play the starring roles, so they had scheduled a chunk of time for us to relax and rest up in between showings.

“So, not to spoil our break or anything, but, uhh, Chifuyu...? Wouldn’t you be comfier somewhere else?” I asked.

“Nah,” replied Chifuyu. “I like it here. It’s relaxing.”

“Really?”

“Nowhere else is as good.”

I couldn’t exactly argue with that sort of confidence. Chifuyu was, at the moment, seated on my lap. Well, really, it was more like she was using my crossed legs as a full-on cushion. It was kind of impressive how well sized she was for it, actually.

“A perfect fit,” Chifuyu said with a satisfied air as she leaned back against me. I felt like I’d become a luxury sofa, and I did my best to adapt accordingly. Chifuyu had worked the hardest of anyone that day, and if that’s what it took to help her rest up, I was more than willing to play along.

“Hey, Chifuyu?” I said. “We’re supposed to have another showing first thing in the afternoon. Think you’ll be up for it?”

“Yeah,” Chifuyu grunted.

“Glad to hear it. Just, uh...don’t fall asleep this time, okay?”

“I know,” Chifuyu huffed.

I could understand why she’d be a little irritated by the request, but, like...this was a matter of life and death for me, okay? Who could blame me for being just a little bit paranoid? My imaginary battle with the Four Heavenly Guards and the mastermind who lurked behind them had carved a deep, indelible wound upon my heart.

“I wanted to see you try to do a somersault though.”

“Please don’t bring that up! All talk of my improvised acrobatic action show is off the table! I tried my best, but no! Somersault’s a taboo word from now on!”

“Hmph.”

“Taboo, I say! And speaking of things that are off the table...no actually kissing me next time, got it?” I said as I felt my face begin to grow a little warm.

The aftermath of that little incident had been a genuine disaster. The moment the play had ended, Tomoyo, Hatoko, and Sayumi shot me the chilliest trio of glares I’d ever been subjected to. In contrast to their gazes, which measured somewhere around absolute zero, their cheeks had been a warm, rosy pink. Everyone—me included—had been thrown for a loop...well, everyone except for Chifuyu. She’d been pleased as punch. Anyway, the point is that just the thought of putting on another showing where things were that awkward was enough to give me a migraine.

“No more smooching? Why not?”

“Because, that’s why,” I said, doing my best to make it clear that I was putting my foot down.

“Is it...because I’m a grade schooler?” Chifuyu asked, sounding a little sad.

I sighed. “No, that’s not it. It has nothing to do with you being in grade school—it’s just embarrassing, okay? I wouldn’t do something like that in front of people, even if it was with someone I was dating. You get where I’m coming from, right?”

“Yeah...” Chifuyu agreed, though really, she still didn’t seem totally convinced. I’d thought I was just talking common sense, but it might have come across as dismissive to her. “Hey, Andou? Are you really sure you don’t wanna be a lolicon?” she asked. She sounded incredibly serious, so I decided that it was only fair to respond to her seriously as well.

“Heck no,” I said. “I’m not a lolicon, and I don’t want anyone to think I’m one either.”

Chifuyu just sat there silently on my lap, so I decided to carry on.

“Hey, Chifuyu—do you know where the word ‘lolicon’ comes from?” I asked. Chifuyu shook her head. “It’s an abbreviation of the phrase ‘lolita complex.’ Lolita’s the title of a novel from overseas. It’s about...okay, this is a really rough summary, but it’s about some forty-something-year-old dude who falls in love with a twelve-year-old girl.”

“So, the main character’s a lolicon?”

“Right,” I said with a nod. Technically speaking, it was less that Humbert was a lolicon and more that people with a sexual fixation on little girls like Humbert’s had come to be called lolicons, but that didn’t really matter in the moment. “And there’s this word that comes up in the book—‘nymphet.’”

“Nymphet?”

“Right. It’s supposed to refer to girls from nine to fourteen years old, and particularly ones who display traits that attract people to them.”

That range of ages, according to Humbert, represented a period in which girls weren’t too young, but were still by no means adults, thus granting them an irresistible erotic charm. He takes to calling them “nymphets” in the story, and he’s so passionate about them he loses all sense of self-control.

“The way I understand it, the people we call lolicons are people who’re drawn to ‘nymphets.’ So, if people are into girls from nine to fourteen years old—I mean, I guess the ages don’t really need to be that specific? Point is, if people have strong feelings toward girls who’re still not done developing yet, that makes them lolicons.”

“...”

“Do you see where I’m going with this, Chifuyu? Lolicons are obsessed with girls in the process of growing up. The fact that they aren’t fully developed is the whole point. In other words, no matter how sincere and zealous they are about their feelings...the moment the girl they’re fixated on grows up, I figure all those feelings vanish away in an instant.”

“Ah!” Chifuyu gasped.

A lolicon is defined by their attraction to little girls. To true lolicons, little girls were likely downright sacred...but that sanctity had an expiration date. When a little girl ceased to be little—as time passed by and they matured in a physical and psychological sense, their distinctively youthful features fading away—they also ceased to be special in a lolicon’s eyes, degrading into just another bog-standard woman in the crowd. In my mind, an emotion like that—an emotion that could fade in a split second—wasn’t worthy of being called “love.”

“So, what do you think, Chifuyu? How do you feel about guys who claim to fall genuinely in love with grade schoolers, only to suddenly lose all interest in them the second they turn fifteen? Is that the sort of guy you’d want to be around?”

“No! That’s the worst!” Chifuyu said with a vigorous shake of her head. “I get it. Lolicons are lame. Lolicons suck. Lolicons are awful. Lolicons are just plain bad!”

Chifuyu turned to look over her shoulder, gazing up at me with a look of earnest desperation in her eyes.

“Stop being a lolicon, Andou!”

“...That’ll be tough, considering I never was one to begin with. I told you that way back when this all started, remember?”

“Oh. Right.”

“I’m not a lolicon, so even if I did fall for a girl who was way younger than me, I wouldn’t give up on her out of nowhere when she grew up. Even when she got into middle school, or turned twenty, or hit middle age, or became an old grandma, I’d still love her as much as ever. That’s the kind of guy I want to be, anyway,” I said. I did my best to give her the answer I’d failed to provide three days before.

“Yeah, I know. You’re not a lolicon,” said Chifuyu. “You’re just Andou.”

Chifuyu sounded as happy and satisfied as could be, and hearing her sound like that made me feel all warm and fuzzy in return.

“Hey, Andou?”

“Yeah?”

“Pay me back for the kiss.”

“Pfff!”

That came from so far out of left field I literally choked. I’m talking full-on spit take.

“I gave you my first, so I want you to pay me back,” Chifuyu said.

“I mean...that was my first too, for one thing. And, like...u-umm... Oh jeez, what am I even supposed to do here?”

Is this, like...shotgun wedding material? Should I be introducing myself to her parents when they come to see the afternoon show? Or maybe I should ask for Kuki’s blessing first? I wondered, practically trembling with terror, but...

“I want a squeeze.”

...it turned out that what Chifuyu wanted was surprisingly simple.

“A...squeeze? You mean, like, you want me to hug you?”

“Yeah. I want a squeeze, from behind.”

“Uh... But, like...?”

“I’ve been sleeping in cramped places lately. It’s my thing.”

“O-Oooh, okay, I think I get it now. Basically, you want me to help you nap, right?”

If that was the point, I figured there wasn’t anything indecent about the request after all, probably. In fact, helping Chifuyu sleep soundly seemed like a perfectly humane and decent thing to do, so I wrapped my arms around her and gave her the hug she wanted...though it kinda ended up feeling more like a pin than a hug, if I’m being honest. She was just so tiny, it turned out that way naturally.

“W-Well? How’s this?” I asked.

“Mnh,” Chifuyu grunted. “It’s nice. A perfect fit.”

“Glad to hear it. Feel free to drift off whenever you feel like it.”

“I...don’t think I can sleep. I feel kinda hot.”

“Oh? I mean, I guess you would be, all things considered. Wanna give up on the nap-hug, then?”

“No!” Chifuyu yelped. I’d started to let her go, but she grabbed onto my arms and held them in place. “I’ll stay like this.”

“Uh...”

“It’s not my body that’s hot...so I’m fine...like this,” Chifuyu muttered, so quietly it felt like her voice might fade away altogether. I was holding her from behind, of course, so I had no way of knowing what sort of look was on her face as she said it.

I kept holding her for some time, though Chifuyu never quite managed to fall asleep. Eventually, I started feeling a little mischievous and rested my chin on the top of her head. That must’ve tickled, since Chifuyu let out a little shudder, then she got payback by gently scratching my thigh, making it my turn to squirm. There we sat, in the tiny, narrow room, as friendly and affectionate as a pair of siblings. Or, perhaps, a family. Or extended relatives. Or, just maybe...like a couple in love.