Chapter 14: What Is That?
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After Luna graciously handed me my shirt, I threw it back on in a hurry. Now that I'm fully dressed and comfortable, I decided to take a walk outside in the cool morning breeze. I don't want to sit out in the hallway, just in case some girl sees me and accuses me of rape. At this time of the morning, there probably isn't going to be anyone outside of the dorms, so I doubt I have to worry about anyone glaring at me. I make sure to check I have the phone given to me in my pocket. I already had a cellphone of my own. I didn't buy it or anything; the school just gives students little flip phones. 

'It keeps us under control, of course,' Sol answered me when I asked her about it. 'It's actually more like a walkie-talkie. Can you believe it? It's easy to call someone else on the same type of cell phone. But if you want to call anyone on the outside, you have to go through the school. It used to be you could only call pre-approved numbers. Like your family and such. It's the same for email if you want to contact anyone on the outside. The rules make it really hard to contact outsiders.' We were also forbidden to leave school grounds. Vincennes is really strict about contact with the outside world. I'd heard of sheltered children before, but this was just ridiculous. It's surprising that the rules within the school were incredibly lax. Maybe because everyone behaved well, even without the rules. There wasn't even an official 'lights out' time. Sister Clementine said that the fact that mealtimes were all decided in advance lent to a natural rhythm in daily life. 'Doesn't that get inconvenient?' I asked Sol, referring to the phones. She gave me a slight shrug. 'It's no hindrance to the Filles De La Vincennes.1Girls/Maidens of Vincennes.Everyone we know is already on campus. Of course, that isn't true for you, Seraph. I know it's bothersome, but please try to bear it.' 'Actually, I don't have anyone I want to contact outside, either...' 'Really? Not even your pare- ah.' She shut her mouth quickly as she realized her mistake, so I teased her for it. 'Well? What about my parents?' She just smiled apologetically. 'Well, I mean, friends and such.' Me? Friends? I barely stifled a laugh at her words. 'Did... you have a girlfriend, perhaps?' That's when I lost it and burst out laughing. I didn't know Sol could be so hilarious.

I thought things over as I wandered down the path, going nowhere in particular. A sweet smell enveloped me from all sides, but then I caught a whiff of an even lovelier smell. I follow my nose and head towards the source, curious. Oh shit, a stranger. I quickly hide behind a small brick wall. There were two walls about two meters high joined by a floral arc comprised solely of roses. It led to a large wrought iron arbour gazebo that covered a round metal garden table with a few adorning seats. The stranger sat at that table with a willow basket filled with bread and hadn't noticed me yet. She seemed to be playing with a... um... what is that? It's clearly an animal, but... what is that? Ok... Let's just think about it for a second. Ignore the cute little top hat it's wearing and try to identify it. I peek my head out from behind the wall to get a clearer look.

My first thought is that it's an ermine. It's got a white fur coat with a black tail tip, round, black eyes and a long body with short legs. But it's far too big to be one, at least 40cm long. Not to mention it isn't even winter, so if it was a stoat, it should be losing its winter fur and turning brown. I don't even think stoats live in this part of the world. Now that I look closer, it's got large, cat-like ears that's holding its top hat in place. Stoats don't have those. Stoats are also carnivores. They don't eat bread like this thing is. Therefore, it's not a stoat. So what is it?

"Painmangeur," the girl airily called out to it. "Will you eat bread? Pain, manger?" Is she trying to teach the thing french? 

"Kuu," the creature joyfully said in response. Definitely not a stoat. 

"Well, you will eat it today. If you don't, I won't give you your croissant." 

"Kuu! Kuu!" The creature panicked. The girl gaily giggled.

"Just kidding. I made this croissant for you, Painmangeur!" 

"Kuu!" Painmangeur let out another joyous 'Kuu' and began happily munching down on the croissant. The girl with platinum blonde hair looked down at him, her sapphire eyes full of love. It was a beautiful sight to behold. I had never seen a being so gorgeous or lovely in my life, and I doubt I ever will. The girl was pretty cute, too. "Kuu! Kuu!"

"Is it good?"

"Kuu!" I just now realized, but can that creature understand human language? How smart is it? "Kuu?" He noticed me!

"Hmm? What is it, Painmangeur?" the girl asks him, oblivious to my presence.

"Kuu, Kuu!"

"I hear you. You'd like a country roll tomorrow?"

"Kuu! Kuu!" 

"Hmm?" Thankfully, the girl can't communicate properly with him. I'm still hidden. It's time to take my leave, sneakily. I turn to leave and hear a snap. I stepped on a twig. She saw me and screamed. "AHH! A s-s-severed head?!" 

"How d'ya get that idea?!" I step out from behind the wall, showing her that I'm not a floating head. The girl stared at me blankly. She then placed her hand on her chest and let out a sigh of relief. When she did, I just now noticed how... ample... her bosom was. It was the biggest I've ever seen in my life. Her poor back.

"Don't worry. I know I look and sound like it, but I'm not here to cause any harm," I tell her. It sounded a lot less suspicious in my head. She dreamily giggled at my statement.

"I know that. You introduced yourself at the opening ceremony, after all." She had a very equable and amiable air about her. How pleasant. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Sapphire Kay of class 2-B."

"A-Ah, l-likewise. I'm in class 2-C." She bowed to me politely, and I quickly did the same. I'm getting pretty good at conversation if I do say so myself.

"And this is Painmangeur." 

"Kuu!" Painmangeur stood on his hind legs and raised a forelimb in greeting. I walk up to him and shake his paw. He has to be the most intelligent creature there is (aside from some humans). He had a red ribbon tied around his neck in a bow. Combined with his top hat, he looked very dapper.

"So... Is Painmangeur some kind of ermine?" I ask Sapphire. 

"An ermine?" She looked confused.

"You know... like a stoat... or something?" 

"Oh, you're asking about his species. To tell you the truth, I don't know myself..." 

"Is that so..."

"I never really thought about it," she confessed with a slight chuckle. Miss Sapphire seemed to be very laid-back. "Painmangeur is Painmangeur, that's all. Isn't that right, Painmangeur?"

"Kuu!" He affirmed. I guess that's his species name now. 

"I found Painmangeur up above when he was sick." Vincennes was built on a mountainside, so she must mean she found him higher up on the mountain. "I believe he belonged to someone in town who abandoned him. Though he didn't have a collar..." So why would you think he was abandoned? "So I decided to nurse him back to health, and we've been inseparable ever since." I guess that explains why she doesn't know what Painmangeur is. 

"How did you come up with the name? It's pretty unusual."

"He loves to eat bread. 'Pain,' for bread, and 'mangeur,' for eater. Painmangeur."

"How fitting."

"Kuu!" Painmangeur agrees with me. Sapphire suddenly stared out into space. 

"But the truth is, everyone else calls him 'Pankuu,' because he says 'Kuu.' They say that Painmangeur 'is too long' and such. So I proposed 'Panmanjer' as an abbreviation of the name... but it never caught on. It's so upsetting..." Both Sapphire and Painmangeur look so perturbed over it.

"How sad..." Honestly, I'm a little distraught. Painmangeur seems to really like his name, but only one person ever calls him by it. It's so sad.

"You will call him 'Painmangeur', won't you, Seraph?" 

"Of course I will!" 

"Oh, I'm so glad."

"Kuu! Kuu!" They both looked at me with shining eyes and smiling faces. Sapphire picked up the basket from the table. That bread has been in the back of my mind the entire time. 

"Would you like a baguette as a token of my thanks?" She offered me a freshly baked roll.

"Oh, yes please!" I take the bread and sit down opposite to Miss Sapphire. The bread feels great to chew and spread warmth throughout my body. I tear some off and offer it to Painmangeur, who takes it with glee. We sit there in silence for a while as Painmangeur, and I enjoy the bread. Getting kicked out of my room into the cold early morning seemed to be a blessing in disguise. I received a notification of an email on the phone that was lent to me. I've been given permission to return to my room.

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