"We got to this page."
Yuka flipped through the pages of Bedtime Story Collection for Good Children. After turning several pages, she finally stopped on page 32, pointed to the story there, and said,
"We already finished the stories before this one. We haven't finished this one yet."
"Okay."
Kotomi Izumi nodded, preparing to read Yuka the story.
"Once upon a time, there was a happy little girl who lived in a small wooden cabin. One day, on her birthday, her father and mother carefully prepared a birthday present for her. Wanting to surprise the little girl, they even wrapped the present specially in a gift box with ribbons.
After receiving the present her parents had prepared for her, the little girl happily asked, 'Mommy, Daddy, what's inside the gift box?'
Her father said, 'Inside the gift box is the happiest little bird in the whole world!'
Her mother said, 'It's a very, very beautiful little bird. It's just as beautiful as you are, so Mommy thinks it must be the happiest little bird in the whole world. Darling, are you happy?'
The happy little girl said, 'I'm happy.'
Just as the little girl was about to unwrap the box, her parents suddenly stopped her.
Her father said, 'You can't be so impatient. You have to blow out the candles on the cake first. This cake was very expensive. It cost us an entire wild boar!'
Her mother said, 'You can't be so impatient. You should try the delicious food Mommy made first! Darling, you're such a hardworking girl. Last night, Uncle John and Grandpa Jack were both very satisfied with you, so before they left, they even gave us an extra half-silver coin. They're such generous gentlemen. It's just a pity you were already so tired that you'd fallen asleep by then. The next time other uncles or grandpas come over, you have to perform well again.'
'Mommy used that half-silver coin to buy lots of ingredients and made all your favorite dishes. You should hurry up and eat instead of rushing to have cake and open your present.'
The happy little girl asked, 'Mommy, Daddy, who am I supposed to listen to?'
Her father said, 'You're such an obedient girl. You should listen to me!'
Her mother said, 'You're such an obedient girl. You should listen to me!'
At that moment, the 'loving' father and mother began to argue.
The little girl sat in her chair, watching her father and mother stand up and quarrel.
In the eyes of a child, fathers and mothers were always so tall, like two giants.
But some 'giants' sheltered their children from wind and rain, while other 'giants' brought their children fear, using money and timber to build cages that imprisoned them.
Whoosh...
The little girl gently blew out the candle on the cake. The cake was tiny, extremely tiny. The enormous candle nearly took up all the space on such a small cake!
Until that moment, the candle's flame had been the only source of light in the entire wooden cabin.
Now, the happy little girl had blown it out.
And so, the entire wooden cabin fell into darkness.
Before the candle went out, the little girl had memorized where her father and mother were standing.
So after she blew out the candle, the little girl stood up and picked up the knife that had been placed on the table to cut the tiny cake.
The happy little girl used the knife in her hand to kill her father, then killed her mother.
After killing her father and mother, the happy little girl sat back down and carefully cut the very, very tiny cake with the knife stained in her parents' blood.
The cake was so small that there was no need to cut it at all. She could have simply put the whole thing into her mouth and eaten it in one bite.
The little girl divided the tiny cake into three portions. One for herself, one for her father, and one for her mother.
The little girl sat in her own seat and ate her portion of cake. Then she padded barefoot over to her father's place and ate the cake from his plate, before moving to her mother's place and eating the cake from her plate as well.
After eating all three portions of the tiny cake, the happy little girl looked at her father and mother lying in a pool of tomato juice. Her little face, smeared with tomato juice, blossomed into a joyful smile. 'The cake was delicious. Thank you, Mommy and Daddy. I'm going to open my present now!'
After saying that, the little girl returned to her chair and nimbly unwrapped the gift box.
But after she opened one gift box, there was another gift box inside it.
The happy little girl was very confused, so she continued unwrapping and unwrapping.
Yet no matter how many times she opened one, all that appeared before her was another layer of gift boxes.
The little girl stared at the gift box in confusion. She didn't understand why her parents had prepared such a present for her. Why had they placed the happiest little bird in the world inside so many gift boxes?
The happy little girl stared for a while, then suddenly understood. 'That's right. Mommy said this little bird is as beautiful as I am, so it's the happiest little bird in the whole world. Does that mean Mommy and Daddy put it inside so many gift boxes because they treated it just like me, locking it inside a cage surrounded by layer after layer? What a poor little bird. I'll save you right away.'
As though responding to the little girl's feelings, a bird's chirping came from inside the gift box.
The more boxes the little girl opened, the more excited she became. She could hardly wait to tear away every one of those cage-like gift boxes and finally see the happiest little bird in the world with her own eyes. And... the happy little girl had already decided how she would get along with the happiest little bird in the world. Now, all she needed to do was open the remaining gift boxes.
As she peeled away layer after layer, the little bird's chirping grew clearer and more frantic.
The happy little girl did not stop. Instead, she curiously asked the bird inside the gift box, 'Happiest little bird in the whole world, are you so impatient because you can't wait to come out and meet me? Don't worry. We'll definitely get along wonderfully. Then we can play together, and play together for a very, very long time.'
Riiip!
With the final sound of the gift box tearing open, an adorable little bird appeared before the happy little girl, lively and hopping about despite its hollow eyes.
The happy little girl politely greeted the happy little bird. 'Hello. It's very nice to meet you. Can we be friends?'
The happiest little bird in the world chirped cheerfully, seemingly agreeing to the little girl's request and willing to become her friend. To show its friendliness, the adorable little bird even hopped onto the happy little girl's hand and chirped happily.
The happy little girl gently stroked the happiest little bird in the world, a delighted smile appearing on her face.
After a while, the happy little girl spoke again. 'Little bird, little bird, we're going to be friends forever, so let's go play in our very own paradise first~ I just don't know how long we'll be able to play, because whenever it gets late at night or evening comes, Mommy always takes me to the little room and makes me lie on the bed to wait for those uncles and grandpas.'
'Every time they come, they give Mommy lots of money. I think it's two copper coins! Mommy always praises me for being such a hardworking good girl.'
'I wonder if they'll come again tonight? Hmm... Forget it. Let's go now. We're going to our very own paradise!'
After saying that, the happy little girl reached out with both tiny hands. Her left hand gently grasped the happy little bird's body, while her right hand gently held its neck. Then—
Crack!
The happy little girl snapped the neck of the happiest little bird in the world! She tore open the little bird's belly too! All of its insides spilled out!
The happy little girl revealed the happiest smile in the whole world!
Then, smiling, the little girl used the knife in her hand to stab through her own head.
Death was the ticket that would allow the happy little girl and the happy little bird to travel to paradise.
That paradise...
Belonged only to the two of them.
And they lived happily ever after~"
After finishing the fairy tale titled The Happy Little Girl and the Happiest Little Bird in the World, Kotomi Izumi instinctively shouted inwardly, What the fuck?!
It had looked perfectly normal at first, only for the plot to become stranger and stranger as it went on. By the time she finished reading it, she realized this was a fucking dark fairy tale!
With that thought, Kotomi Izumi hurriedly flipped through several of the previous pages.
Sure enough, all the earlier stories were the same kind of dark fairy tales. They looked perfectly normal in the beginning, only for the plot to take a complete turn later on!
Kotomi Izumi did believe that children needed to understand that darkness existed in this world, but wasn't giving a child something this intense all at once a little inappropriate?
She lowered her head to look at Yuka, only to find the little girl thoroughly enjoying herself, though she did not look particularly sleepy.
Kotomi Izumi was somewhat baffled. Normally, wouldn't most children burst into tears after hearing the latter half of a story like that?!
"Y-Yuka, aren't you scared?" Kotomi Izumi asked in confusion.
"Scared? Why would I be scared, Penguin Onee-chan? I usually like reading dark fairy tales like these. Sometimes I read the normal fairy tales the other kids like too, but when I'm home alone, I still prefer these dark ones!"
"Did you choose this book yourself?" Kotomi Izumi asked.
"Yep! This publisher specializes in collections of dark fairy tales. They're not actually meant for children, but at the bookstore I go to often, I think the lady who owns the place accidentally mistook this book for children's reading material, so she put it on the children's bookshelf.
"At the time, I thought it was an ordinary fairy-tale book too, but when I opened it, I realized it was full of dark fairy tales. After that, whenever I went to that bookstore, I'd always pick out collections of dark fairy tales published by this company."
Yuka spoke slowly and clearly, her words far too articulate for a child her age.
After she finished speaking, she looked at the somewhat shocked Kotomi Izumi and asked with a soft laugh,
"Penguin Onee-chan, do you think someone my age shouldn't be reading dark fairy tales like these?"
"That's right, but I can also understand why this kind of subject matter interests you," Kotomi Izumi said with a nod.
"Then, Penguin Onee-chan, are you going to stop me from reading dark fairy tales?"
"Before I answer that, I want to ask you something first. Why do you like reading dark fairy tales?"
"Because I think people should believe that light exists in this world, but they should also have the courage to face the darkness!
"The way adults educate children nowadays really has gone wrong! Even if they pretend not to see it, the darkness still exists.
"Trying to hide it and pretending it isn't there won't make the darkness disappear. If anything, it'll only make that darkness grow even deeper.
"If that's the case, then why not let children learn earlier that darkness exists in this world?"
Yuka looked at Kotomi Izumi with an incomparably serious expression and spoke each word with deliberate emphasis.
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