And I’m sure the setting they are in in the story is not Brazil, it looks more western. I am not trying to normalize anything, but you can’t call something that is not pedophilia, pedophilia! Pedophilia is not what the 16 year old was doing! And the author was not trying to get readers to interpret the scene in that manner I am sure!
Also, you have to take into consideration their timeline! I’m sure back then it wasn’t that strange for a 16 year old to ask out a 10 year old. If this was based in modern times I would be disgusted for sure, but it’s not, and he wasn’t being predatory, it was just innocent admiration he had for her which led him to ask her out.
The story isn’t in modern times, so why should I need to apply modern time morals to it? You both are overreacting by calling a teenager a predator and pedophile, terms like that should not be thrown around so easily just because you don’t like the age gap. And no, kisses are not illegal in that timeline. Modern day laws do not apply to the laws they had back then. They can date without kissing or having sex as I have mentioned multiples times before. Also, you just said it depends on the context, you contradicted yourself.

Either way, she’s going to be older than most people she comes across so I guess every interaction with a possible ML, you guys are going to label “creepy.”