Chapter 1

[Murder Recipe]

There was no day I’d miss hearing that name.

“Tsukimori is so lovely…,” muttered my cla.s.smate Kamogawa, sighing, upon which the other male students around him nodded deeply.

“Listen guys: don’t let that slender body deceive you! Got me? She’s also got…b.o.o.bs!”

Their insolent gazes were focused on the girl in debate, Tsukimori, who was surrounded by a group of chattering girls. If I were to describe Youko Tsukimori in one word: she was eye-catching.

“Don’t you agree Nonomiya?”

“If you say so.”

“Wow, now that’s a cold reply! Are you really a man? If there’s a mountain, climb it! If there’s a beautiful chick, fall for her! Isn’t that what it means to be a man?”

The guys, led by Kamogawa, began to show over-exaggerated reactions to my indifferent answer.

“Well, I just thought she’s perfect.”

She had a beautiful face, supplemented by a nice figure and outstanding grades. Her pleasing personality made her rather popular. Apparently, she was also good in sports. Youko Tsukimori seemed to be a perfect girl without anything to complain about.

“How’s that bad?”

“I never said it’s bad. It’s just that I can’t relax around her.”

“Aah, that’s true. Tsukimori is a girl beyond our reach after all…”

Fortunately, Kamogawa interpreted my statement to his convenience.

My honest impression was that she was so perfect it was boring and being around her would be suffocating. Maybe it’s just that my personality is a little warped, but I’ve secretly been keeping a distance from Tsukimori because I couldn’t discover a common ground between us.

However, the guys seemed to be highly interested in the famous girl and started discussing rumors about Tsukimori as if they were gossiping about some star.

“But I heard she has a boyfriend in college?”

“Student ‘K’, was it? That guy who’s three years older than her?”

“Eh? I heard she was the lover of a company president…”

“Aah, so that’s why she gets ¥200,000 in allowance every month?”

“No kidding! But I heard someone spotted her together with math teacher k.u.mada when they came out of a love hotel!”

There was no need for a metaphor anymore—she really was a star. I once more realized how special she was.

But then again, she might not have been happy about that special status. At least I wouldn’t be able to stand it.

“It’s all just rumors without any credibility whatsoever.”

A short laugh escaped my mouth because they were discussing this stuff all too seriously and energetically.

“Why don’t you just ask her directly?” Therefore, I confronted them with that question. Just for fun. And as expected, my idea was rejected with vigor close to booing.

“As if we could ask her something like that!!”

Because I was so amused by their reaction, I spurred them on a little more. “If you want, I can go ask as the representative of the cla.s.s?”

“Wait wait wait!! Nonomiya! Don’t rush things! What are we gonna do if the rumors turned out to be true?” Kamogawa rebuked me in a hurry.

“Maybe they really are just rumors?”

“But maybe it’s all true!”

The other guys nodded in agreement to Kamogawa, “Possible. If it’s Tsukimori, very possible!”

Sure enough Youko Tsukimori stood out in this cla.s.s. You could even say she was of a different nature. No wonder everyone was under the impression that she had already experienced a world unbeknownst to high school students; considering that she acted so maturely it was hard to believe that she was our age.

“The truth is hidden in the dark, huh?” Whatever that truth might have been, I could take it easy since I wouldn’t be hurt by it like Kamogawa and the others.

“The truth isn’t always what’s best, is it?” But it looked like they couldn’t take it as easily since the truth would bother them much more.

“Don’t you find this unproductive? If you keep your eyes averted from the truth, you won’t ever be able to obtain what you seek!”

“We don’t care! A couple of days ago, some idiot confessed to her and got harshly rejected. If you carelessly try to reach out for something on a different level, you’re only going to fall down and hurt yourself. I prefer the ideal over the truth! You could even say we want Tsukimori to remain the source of our fantasies for all eternity.”

I was so amazed at this bunch that I could only laugh. “Adolescence is wonderful, isn’t it?”

“Hey, we’re seventeen! Leave us our dreams!”

Apparently I wasn’t supposed to laugh.

Apparently I wasn’t supposed to laugh.

“I shall not bother you anymore if you all insist.”

“We do, we do! Don’t crush the dreams of us delicate boys.”

“You mean ‘impure high school boys’.”

“Who is our dear Nonomiya fond of then? No celebrities allowed, by the way.”

Kamogawa launched an unexpected counterattack. The other guys, too, jumped at the chance and closed ranks by leaning forward and urging, “Tell us! Tell us!”

“Well, let’s see—”

To tell the truth, there was no girl who I could have mentioned specifically, but looking at the situation I didn’t believe those impure high school boys would content themselves with that.

“—I think Usami’s cute.”

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