Yandere? Menhera? Bring It On, If You're Confident That I'll love You For Who You Are - Chapter 1

A New Daily Life

“Mmm… ah… oh…”

Enveloped in darkness, the room echoed with the suppressed gasps of a girl and an indecent melody played by lips.

The owner of the voice, as if on the verge of breathlessness, seemed to be in such pain that it would be unbearable for a third party to simply listen; yet in the darkness, the girl was intoxicated with the act alone.

Squish, squash. With noises as if something was mixing inside her mouth, the girl continued to rub her lips against the beloved person before her with an ecstatic expression.

“Haah… ah…! I love… I love you…! I’m in love with you…!”

What was painful, what was sad, none of that mattered anymore.

All that was important was to attain pleasure, to forget the unpleasant reality.

The act, which began from hatred, evolved to reverence, and ultimately to love, had unknowingly become an escape for the girl.

“Haah…! Mmm…!”

Deep inside her heart, she felt loneliness and emptiness. Dreams were different from reality, always welcoming her tenderly.

That is why she would run away. The girl, writhing lasciviously, finally detached her lips from the “photo” she had been pressing against.

“Haah… haah… hehe.”

Her cheeks flushed, drunk on pleasure.

With a height slightly above average for a high school girl, her straight long hair framed what would be described as a beauty that lay between pretty and cute from an outsider’s perspective.

The girl, with her consciousness hazily drifting, let the photo that had been slightly twitching in her hand fall to the ground.

“Finally, today is the day we’ll meet, Minato-kun♩”

With a full-faced smile, the girl cherished the imagined companion in her fantasy.

The photo that fell to the ground was faded and wrinkled.

While vowing eternal love to the photo of her eternal beloved, now completely unrecognizable due to her saliva…

◆

“Fuwa~… ah, so sleepy…”

The next morning, under the clear blue sky, I walked alone towards school, bathed in sunlight reflecting off the window glass, and let out a big yawn that even I was aware of.

It was 8:30 AM. The new rental I had moved into using the summer vacation was conveniently located a 15-minute walk from school.

Perhaps because I arrived a bit early, the number of students surrounding me was thankfully small.

Soon, a massive building loomed before me, welcoming me.

“(It’s been quite a while since I’ve come here…)”

Private Hoshimiya High School.

Starting today, it’s the high school I’ll be attending. Some students come early for club practice, and several of them cast curious glances my way.

Those gazes were definitely directed at me.

The reason was obvious, so my resolve was already set. Without paying much mind, I quickly reached the main gate.

“Yo, long time no see. Problem child!”

Someone called out to me suddenly. Since the person used the term “problem child,” it was clear that I was the one being addressed.

Looking in the direction of the voice, there stood a male student with a handsome face that contradicted the image of “problem child.”

“What’s with that reaction? Huh? Wait, don’t tell me you’ve got amnesia or something…”

“No way. It’s been a while, Yuuya.”

The male student feigning panic was Saotome Yuuya.

A classmate since middle school and a rotten friend.

Despite his handsome appearance, which would get him confessions on occasion, he had a certain “problematic” personality, leading to quick breakups, sometimes within a week.

Perhaps it’s best to introduce him as a self-conceited fool, a character everyone recognizes.

“You call that a self-conceited fool? That’s quite a harsh insult, hey!”

“Oh, you got it right.”

I was honestly impressed by his accurate mind-reading, and Yuuya’s expression changed.

“But man, you’re looking a lot livelier than I expected. That’s a relief. How about her? Is she… okay? With the emotional scars and all?”

“Seems better than I thought. At least, that’s how she’s acting.”

“Rio-chan had it rough too. If I could, I’d want to give that person the same treatment with my own hands—ow!”

Just as Yuuya began to mutter resentfully, a pink bag was placed on his head out of nowhere.

“What are you babbling about so early in the morning?”

A voice came from behind. Turning around, there stood a familiar female student.

“Hey, you’re here too? Long time no see.”

“Yes, it’s been a while. I’m glad to see you’ve returned, Minato-senpai.”

The underclassman, Saotome Haruna, bowed politely.

Her naturally curly short hair and a long face more suited to a woman than a girl perhaps reflected her fashionable personality.

“It’s been about two months since we last met, right before summer vacation started. It’s been a long time.”

“Yes, indeed. And… I was really shocked when I heard the news. It must have been tough, right? With… everything.”

“It seems I’m the talk of the town. The part where I killed my parents is probably the highlight, huh?”

“Eh? Ah… well…”

With a dry laugh, Haruna expressed her gratitude, but it was only frustrating from my point of view.

“Do you normally say something like that out of the blue? You haven’t changed, Minato-senpai.”

“That’s what I told you, there’s no need to be considerate with this guy.”

“You’re too optimistic.”

While saying so, Haruna flicked Yuuya on the forehead. Despite their frequent quarrels, the siblings weren’t on bad terms.

“Sorry, but I’ll go ahead. There are things I need to convey.”

“Ah, sure. Take care.”

“See you later.”

As Yuuya and Haruna saw me off, I turned into the left corridor opposite the crowd and entered the room with the plate indicating it was the staff room.

Now, who should I speak to? As I looked around, I made eye contact with a young male teacher.

“Hey, are you the student who was hospitalized?”

It seems he recognized me. I nodded slightly and approached the young teacher.

“Uh… let’s see, your name is Kurogane Minato, a second-year, right? Your sister… is she taking the day off today? Your parents—oh… sorry… I’ve been so busy, I didn’t read the details…”

The teacher scratched his head awkwardly. Indeed, my background is unusual. It’s natural to expect such a reaction.

“Are you listening? There’s an opening ceremony soon, so shall we go together?”

Accompanied by the teacher, I headed to the venue for the opening ceremony. Although there was a bit of a gap since I last attended school, the fact that summer vacation had lasted over a month meant that the difference in my absence compared to other students wasn’t too substantial—perhaps a silver lining in unfortunate circumstances.

Eventually, the opening ceremony ended and we moved to our classes. As it was the first day, it involved administrative communications about upcoming events, and then the school day was over.

Having nothing particular to do, Yuuya, who was in the same class, and I started preparing to go home when a senior student entered the classroom. Yuuya, noticing my gaze, looked over and called out to the girl—Kanade.

“Hey, Kanade-san. Looking as lovely as ever today. Did you come all the way here just to see me?”

“Hmm, unfortunately not! If anything, I was more concerned about how Minato was doing.”

With her index finger raised and a wink, Kanade turned her eyes towards me.

“Ah, there you are. Are you free right now? There’s something about the future I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Sure, I don’t mind.”

It was something I had anticipated. There was nothing unusual about her approaching me, as we were ostensibly in a relationship on the surface.

“What’s this, a date consultation so early in the new term? I’ve got to say, Kanade-san, you’re quite bold.”

“Ehehe. Especially at times like these, right?”

“Yeah.”

I smiled and nodded appropriately to her. There was no need to upset her by rashly denying anything.

We left the classroom with our lightly packed bags. Led by Yuuya and Kanade, we walked through the school’s corridors.

It has been about two months since the death of my uncle and aunt.

As one might expect, my sister and I became the focus of public and media attention due to our involvement.

Thankfully, being minors, our names weren’t published on the internet or in newspapers, but since the incident occurred just before the summer break, rumors had spread quickly throughout the school.

“Hey… look over there.”

“That’s the guy, right? The older brother of the first-year who almost got killed…”

“Wow, really? He’s back at school.”

“He was at the murder scene, right? Was he hospitalized because of his mental state?”

“I don’t know. But rumors say he was somehow involved in his parents’ deaths too.”

“…Seriously?”

“We better not get too close to him, then.”

As expected, I could overhear whispers just by walking through the corridors.

“Let’s go, Minato.”

Kanade took my hand and hurried away from the disparaging words of the surrounding students. As for the other hot-headed one…

“You guys, talking smack—!”

I grabbed Yuuya by the scruff of his neck as he was about to lash out in anger.

“Come on, we’re leaving.”

I dragged him away through the corridor, wanting to avoid any trouble.

Eventually, we reached the school’s shoe lockers, where thankfully, there weren’t many people around. I let go of Yuuya’s neck, and as he caught his breath with his tongue out, he turned to me, voice raised.

“Is it okay to just let them say all that?”

“Well, it doesn’t exactly make me happy.”

“Then why—!”

“Can’t be helped, look at it from their perspective. To them, a guy who was at his parents’ murder scene is just casually coming to school. Plus, his sister was almost killed by those same parents? No doubt it’s a juicy story.”

“But it’s so frustrating…!”

Yuuya, regaining his composure, still shook with the emotion, his fists trembling.

Talking behind the back of a friend who has suffered emotional wounds is not inherently wrong to be angry about. In fact, it’s a justifiable anger that anyone would feel.

I myself am grateful for Yuuya’s feelings and feel assured by them.

The irony is that the doubts of the students around me about myself are also valid opinions.

“I appreciate the sentiment. So don’t worry about it on my account.”

“Sorry… But if something comes up, you’ll talk to me, right?”

“I know.”

Yuuya then burst into his usual laugh.

Despite his bad history with women, his passionate nature might be something even I should learn from.

“Minato.”

A voice called from behind.

At the same time, a warm sensation spread through my palm.

Turning towards the voice, I saw Kanade holding my left hand between both of hers.

“You remember what I said before, right? About you, Minato—I understand.”

Her expression remained a beaming smile.