Never Be Friends With Monsters - Chapter 1. The First Day Into The Cub Kindergarten

“Human rights must not be violated!”

 

“Monsters get out of society!”

 

“Monsters are not humans! Oppose monsters from joining the World Human Rights Association!”

 

[PR/N: The term mentioned here was Yokai(妖怪). Yōkai (妖怪, ghost, phantom, strange apparition) are a class of supernatural monsters, spirits, and demons in Japanese folklore.]

 

The swaying crowd held signs in high profile, attracting the attention of countless people coming and going.

 

The most eye-catching one was undoubtedly the little girl who was walking at the back. She was a little fat, with two braids and wearing a thick down jacket, just like a little fat penguin who followed till the end of a great penguin migration, trying to keep up with mom and dad with her short legs.

 

The little girl had an especially made little sign on her hand, which was written in red letters—

 

“I am afraid of monsters.”

 

Walking, the little girl was seen tugging on her mother’s sleeve, and in the midst of a chorus of slogans mixed with was the little girl’s childish voice: “Mom, we should go to sign-up.”

 

The mother of the little girl Zhao Xixi did not hear very clearly, she only said: “Baby, quickly, shout the slogan.”

 

The little girl shouted a sentence vaguely: “Monsters, please get out of the world for human rights…” Others shouted, “get out” but the little girl remembered what the teacher said, when speaking you must be polite, so even if she hated monsters, she couldn’t scold others.

 

Before she finished shouting the slogan, the little girl once again saw a child carrying the Sunshine Kindergarten’s school bag and being led by adults, so the little girl tugged at her mother’s sleeve again—

 

“Mom, we should go sign-up! Or we’ll miss it!” Other children have signed up. If she missed it, she would surely be laughed at.

 

This time, Zhao Xixi’s voice was much louder. Mother Zhao was able to hear her clearly. She was a little upset, her face stern, she bent over and whispered fiercely: “Is it important to study or to drive out the monsters?”

 

Zhao Xixi shrank her head, fumbled her chubby fingers, and whispered: “Teacher said that studying is very important.”

 

Mother Zhao’s face sank, and looked at her daughter: “Then if mom and dad were eaten by monsters, do you still think it’s not as important as your study?”

 

Mom and dad were eaten by monsters?

 

Zhao Xixi was frightened and looked at her mother with tears in her eyes.

 

Mother Zhao saw Zhao Xixi’s tears and became angrier: “Cry, cry, cry and cry, what’s the use of crying?”

 

Father Zhao stopped next to her. “Don’t scold her, she’s still young. I’ll send her to the kindergarten first to sign up, anyway, it’s not convenient for her to stay here.”

 

Mother Zhao was still very angry: “I just think this child is too weak. When we were this old, we already knew everything enough. Look at her, just knows how to cry, how will she live in this society in the future? She will be eaten by monsters!”

 

Zhao Xixi was so young that when she heard what her mother said, she burst into tears all of a sudden.

 

Many people around were watching. Father Zhao hugged Zhao Xixi quickly: “I will take her to sign up first.”

 

Zhao Xixi was very coaxed. After Father Zhao took her out, he rushed to Zhao Xixi’s kindergarten and bought her an ice cream. Zhao Xixi immediately stopped crying and began to eat the ice cream.

 

The father and daughter relied on the address given by Mother Zhao and arrived at the neighborhood of the kindergarten. When they arrived at the entrance, Zhao Xixi just finished her ice cream when she heard a voice—

 

“Little piggy!”

 

She turned and saw a young woman walking over with a little boy.

 

The young woman naturally heard her child calling someone like this, but she first glanced at the little girl hiding behind her Father Zhao’s legs. Although Zhao Xixi felt that she was hiding very well, in fact, father Zhao’s legs could not hide the chubby penguin’s little body well. The young woman only found it cute because of her small body, so she gently educated him: “Is this your classmate? Don’t be so rude.”

 

The young woman turned embarrassedly and apologized to Father Zhao: “The child is still young and ignorant.”

 

Father Zhao smiled heartily, “It’s nothing, children are like this.”

 

Then he looked over and touched Zhao Xixi’s braids. “Xiao Xixi, come out and say hello to your classmate.”

 

When the usually outgoing and lively girl heard this, she didn’t say hello but hid more tightly. Father Zhao didn’t care, thinking it was because of Mother Zhao, but of course he couldn’t say that in front of outsiders at this time, so Father Zhao said cheerfully, “She is just shy. She’s very happy to start school today. She got up early in the morning to carry her school bag and waited for me to bring her over.”

 

Opposite to them, the little boy’s mother said, “This one in my family is also very fond of going to school. Your baby looks so timid, she needs more practice.”

 

Father Zhao took his little daughter out: “How about chatting with your classmate?”

 

Zhao Xixi quickly glanced at the classmate who was making faces. She held back her tears and didn’t want to talk.

 

When the little boy next to her saw this, he pulled Zhao Xixi away while the two adults were talking.

 

Zhao Xixi was pulled aside—

 

“Haha, didn’t you say your dad would beat me up if I called you little piggy? Why didn’t your dad hit me?” The little boy said proudly, pinching Zhao Xixi’s chubby little face as he spoke.

 

Zhao Xixi was a child studying in the primary school, white and chubby, but students liked to laugh at her for being fat.

 

Zhao Xixi’s father opened a feed mill, her classmates somehow found out about it and laughed at her, saying that she was a fat pig who grew up eating pig feed so she was so fat.

 

Even if she didn’t understand a lot of words, her own sensitive heart could feel everybody laughing at her.

 

During the two months of summer vacation, Zhao Xixi lived happily at home. When signing up, her father said that she would not have to go to kindergarten anymore. Zhao Xixi was very happy. She wouldn’t have to share the same class as those classmates anymore.

 

So early in the morning, Zhao Xixi got up and carried the small school bag on her own.

 

That’s why at this moment, Zhao Xixi held back her tears, and tearfully said with a grieving voice, “We will not be in the same class with you in the future, you can’t bully me.”

 

“Hmph, I’ll tell my mom that I want to be in the same class as you. I will bully you then!”

 

The little boy especially liked to see Zhao Xixi’s expression of wanting to cry but not daring to cry. Seeing the tears in her eyes, he had a sense of accomplishment and continued to scare her: “If you cry, you will be eaten by monsters. You are so fat, monsters will definitely like to eat you!”

 

When Zhao Xixi heard this, she held back her tears. Her mother also often said so, children can’t cry, when they cry, they will be eaten by monsters.

 

At this moment, the mother of the little boy seemed to have sensed something wrong, she quickly came over and took her son away.

 

Father Zhao also took Zhao Xixi’s hand and said in a gentle voice, “You should greet your classmates when you see them, if you do, you are a good and polite child. Understand?”

 

Zhao Xixi didn’t dare to tell her father about the bullying of her classmates, so she could only ask: “Is Li going to primary school too?”

 

Father Zhao: “Of course, you are classmates and you will also go to middle school and high school together.”

 

Primary school, middle school, high school…

 

Zhao Xixi felt for a moment that the sky had fallen, and she stood still in tears, refusing to leave.

 

Father Zhao didn’t know what was wrong with her: “Dad has to go to work soon, Xixi hurry up. Let’s follow your classmates and sign up with them.”

 

Mother Zhao was the one who always sent her to kindergarten, so Father Zhao didn’t know the specific location of the kindergarten.

 

Father Zhao thought Zhao Xixi was walking too slowly so he just directly picked her up.

 

When Zhou Xixi thought of being laughed at again as a fat little pig, her heart felt so sad that it would be killed by the bullying. She didn’t want to study anymore.

 

Or else…her dad could go to kindergarten to study and she could go to work. Anyway, the people in her father’s work liked her very much, and the teachers in the kindergarten also liked her.

 

Zhao Xixi thought this was a very good idea. She turned her head and was about to talk to her father when she heard her father say, “Xixi, say hello to the teachers.”

 

Xixi turned her head a little confused and saw a school gate with lots of balloons and two rows of teachers standing next to it.

 

The school director was surprised—

 

“Are you…are you here to help your child sign up?”

 

Father Zhao felt it was funny. If he didn’t go to kindergarten to sign up for his child then did he sign up for himself?

 

“Of course, do I need to fill in any form? Is the money through Alipay or WeChat?”

 

“Either way. Just fill out a form.” The director said happily.

 

Zhao Xixi looked left and right, and confirmed one thing—

 

This was not the kindergarten she used to go to, because the kindergarten before had a lot of fish at the entrance but there was none here, there were only balloons.

 

Father Zhao put Zhao Xixi down and said, “Xixi, go find your classmates to play. In the afternoon, dad will come pick you up.”

 

The teacher also took Zhao Xixi from her dad and took her inside the school.

 

Zhao Xixi, who was still dumbfounded, was brought inside, her eyes wandering around. The two sides on the wall were not as smooth as the previous school, but there were a lot of nets, which looked very fun…

 

Zhao Xixi was led across the net, over the stone walls, and over the single-planked bridge. Zhao Xixi only thought that the new school seemed to be fun. Her previous kindergarten only had things like slides, trampolines, and swings.

 

The single-planked bridge had only one big log. The teacher walked in front and Zhao Xixi followed behind. She was dressed too thickly and walked on the bridge a little wobbly, but she was not afraid at all and even found it very fun.

 

Zhao Xixi couldn’t help but look down, but the bottom was all black and she couldn’t see clearly.

 

After crossing the single-planked bridge, a small forest appeared in front of her. The trees in the forest looked so tall, and the largest tree had a small house on it.

 

The teacher stopped and said, “The classroom is here.”

 

Then she squatted down, touched Zhao Xixi’s head, and gently asked, “Did mom and dad tell you that the classmates this time are different from the previous classmates?”

 

Zhao Xixi shook her head honestly.

 

When the teacher saw her shaking head, she felt a bit strange. When the parents send their child to their school, it stands to reason that the child should be mentally prepared at home. Why didn’t they say that?

 

However, this was the first human cub that their cub kindergarten ushered in. This could be regarded as a milestone for the peaceful coexistence between humans and monsters, and it naturally couldn’t be underestimated.

 

So Teacher Yulan simply hugged the fat human cub and walked to the tree. As soon as they arrived, a staircase made of rope suddenly fell down from the tree.

 

Zhao Xixi’s eyes lit up, and she quickly grabbed the rope and climbed up. When she was at home, her mother would never let her do such fun things. Her mother would always said—

 

“Don’t climb the stairs, what should I do if you fall down?”

 

“You can’t play with scissors, what should I do if you cut your hand?”

 

“You can’t stand on that, what if you fall down?”

 

Generally, students climb up by themselves, but the teacher, considering that the human cub may be physically weak, followed behind. In the end, she didn’t expect the child to be so powerful. With a pull of her chubby hands and a kick on her short legs, Xixi quickly climbed up.

 

Xiao Xixi was panting, standing outside the room and couldn’t help but touch the small treehouse. She liked this school.

 

However, the moment the teacher opened the door, Zhao Xixi was frightened.

 

In the small classroom, the desks and benches were out of place, and right in the middle, a fluffy tiger biting a lion’s head looked up with a fierce expression—

 

There were several other monsters beside them that Zhao Xixi could not recognize.

 

The teacher frowned: “Tiger cub, you are naughty again! Let go of your classmate!”

 

The little tiger cub stared at the scared little Xixi, and naturally let go of the little lion.

 

The teacher said: “Cubs, this is your new classmate, Zhao Xixi. You must take care of your new classmate, especially tiger cubs and lion cubs. Don’t scare her, understand?”

 

As if not hearing the teacher’s words, the tiger cub leapt onto the table next to him. Because of the fight just now, the fluffy head exploded and he even sneezed. Although it looked cute, it was enough to scare the human cub.

 

What’s more terrifying was that the tiger cub looked at Zhao Xixi, then scorned disdainfully.

 

Immediately afterwards, in the quiet classroom, a little milk voice sounded, which was very innocent and nasty—

 

“Can I eat her? She looks delicious.”

 

When Teacher Yulan heard this, she immediately retorted: “Don’t scare your classmate. If you dare to bite her you will be expelled from studying here.”

 

Then she lowered her head and looked at the human cub in her arms. Seeing that she was not crying or making trouble, she didn’t seem to be frightened. She thought that there must be a reason why she was sent to the Cub Kindergarten. This human cub must be very courageous and not afraid of monsters.

 

Teacher Yulan breathed a sigh of relief. She, a big monster, felt that she would affect the little cubs on making friends, so she put Zhao Xixi down and said, “You will be classmates in the future. If you have anything, you will find the teacher, understand?”

 

All the brain cells in Zhao Xixi’s brain were saying… Don’t cry, don’t cry…If you cry, you will be eaten.

 

She wanted to hold the teacher, tell her not to go, or take her with her, but she was too scared. Her whole body felt weak and she couldn’t say anything, she could only watch the teacher leave…

 

As soon as the teacher left, Zhao Xixi’s legs went soft. She wanted to come out of the classroom but a fluffy head suddenly appeared in front of her—

 

It opened its big mouth—

 

Ah ah ah! The monster is going to eat me! After being eaten, I can never see my mother again!

 

Zhao Xixi slumped on the ground, and all her emotions exploded.

 

Crying and howling.

 

The little lion was stunned, and hurriedly looked at the tiger cub next to him for help. In fact, all the cubs were meeting each other for the first time today, but the little lion felt that the tiger cub must have a way.

 

The tiger cub rushed over, covered Zhao Xixi’s mouth with his paws, and said angrily: “If you cry again, you will be eaten!” Everytime the tiger cub goes out, there will be a human cub crying. When a human cub cries, he will be beaten. So in his opinion, this cub was just crying to get the teacher to expel him so he wouldn’t be able to eat his free lunch.

 

The tiger cub was a bit chubby, the paws themselves were fleshy. Zhao Xixi could smell the scent of grass, but she could also feel the sharp claws against her face.

 

When Zhao Xixi heard that the other party was about to eat her, she forced herself to hold back her sobs, and whispered—

 

“No…don’t…eat me.”

 

“I’m not…delicious.”