Chapter 32 : Cookie's Taste
After hearing about the various circumstances in Fuyunagi’s family, she brought out her homemade cookies.
They don’t look bad! In fact, they’re normal-looking.
They look pretty delicious too.
There doesn’t seem to be any hair sticking out from them.
These are just regular cookies.
“Go on, eat as much as you like!”
“Okay…”
I picked one up and put it in my mouth.
Crunch, crunch.
Yeah, it’s normal.
It’s delicious.
But…
Is it really okay for me to just say “It’s delicious” here?
‘That pointless, ordinary comment is very typical of you, isn’t it?’
She’d definitely say something like that.
I need to get creative here…
I’ve got to come up with a creative and slightly unexpected comment…
“Ah… well… this is… right! The flavor is—”
“I’ll tell you right now — I don’t think you’d force yourself to say some weird, overthought, nonsensical comment just to please me. I understand you’re not that kind of person… so you won’t say anything like that, right?”
“…Huh…? O-of course not… Yeah… crunch crunch… It’s delicious. Yeah.”
“Fufu, I see. Such an ordinary comment, it’s very typical of you, Taku-chan.”
“Ugh…”
Haha! (In the style of a certain world-famous mouse mascot)
I’m no match against her!
My thoughts were easily predicted, and my initial efforts were immediately crushed.
I want to believe that the sweet cookies didn’t suddenly gain the sour flavor of my sadness because they were topped with my tears.
Soon after that, it was time for me to head home.
Lately, we’ve been stopping by either her place or mine almost every day after school, so the amount of time I spend with Fuyunagi-san outside of school has increased dramatically compared to when we still had those three conditions.
Even though we see each other more now, the amount of time she ‘keeps me on a leash’ has actually gone down.
Fuyunagi-san, being a relatively reasonable and understanding menhera, even makes sure to leave me some private time. She’s truly the perfect girlfriend.
But… engagement…
High schoolers are still kids.
We’re in a world that’s completely unrelated to engagements or marriage.
Marriage was nothing more than a word that normies occasionally tossed around, like a joke, saying things like, ‘Hey, let’s get married~.’
But an actual engagement… it’s honestly laughable.
Fuyunagi-san has no intention of marrying anyone.
She basically has no interest in men.
Even if she picked a boyfriend, it’s just to show him off like a brand-name accessory — there wouldn’t be any love there.
To her, men are nothing more than accessory used to display her pride… so there’s nothing for me to worry about.
To be honest, maybe I was getting carried away.
Maybe I got carried away with the fact that I’d managed to land this impressive position — being the boyfriend of Fuyunagi-san, someone no other guy had ever been able to reach.
Her reputation did take a hit when rumors spread that she was a menhera who cheats.
But even so, her charismatic beauty hasn’t dulled one bit.
She still ranks firmly at the top of the “girls the boys want to date” list, and she’s number one on the “girls they want to do that with” list too.
And I was chosen by this unattainable flower.
Can you really blame me for getting a little carried away…?
That is why I would later be tormented by a great sense of crisis.
By something far beyond what a kid like me could ever hope to deal with.
Character Summary (non-official)
- Majima Takuma / Taku (真島 拓真 / タク) — Taku is an utterly average high school boy in both appearance and ability. His hair and uniform are always neat but unremarkable, giving him the classic “background character” characteristic.
- Fuyunagi Shizuku (冬柳 雫) — Fuyunagi Shizuku is a stunning black-haired high school beauty with a mature, graceful aura. Her long, silky hair, elegant posture, pure and innocent atmosphere, and impressive figure—including her large chest—give her an appearance so gentle and comforting that a tired working adult might instinctively want to cling to her and call her “Mama.” Her looks alone make her feel like a UR-rarity heroine. At school, she’s admired as a pure, wholesome, and almost ideal girl—popular among girls, constantly confessed to by boys, and always at the center of her class. In private, however, Shizuku reveals a selfish, bratty, and emotionally unstable side. She’s clingy, easily upset, mentally fragile, and relies heavily on her boyfriend for emotional support while demanding secrecy and setting controlling conditions in their relationship.
- Sakurada Nagisa (桜田 凪咲) — Sakurada Nagisa is a gyaru and one of the central members of Fuyunagi-san’s friend group. With light-brown hair, piercings, and perfectly applied bold eye makeup, she has a flashy style but is undeniably beautiful—cute enough to stand out even among the popular girls. Sado Kengo’s current girlfriend.
- Natsume Kano (夏芽 華乃) — The class president. A dignified, serious beauty whose pure appearance gives her a charm distinct from Fuyunagi-san. She prioritizes efficiency, logic, and rationality above all else, resulting in a rigid, no-nonsense personality that makes her unpopular with most classmates.
Sado Kengo (佐渡 健吾) — A high-spec soccer club member who once acted as Shizuku’s fake public boyfriend. He is now Sakurada Nagisa’s actual boyfriend.
- Katou Susumu (加藤 進) — The textbook “protagonist’s best friend” character. He’s a founding member of the self-proclaimed “Unpopular Men’s Club”. Although he’s extremely jealous of Takuma for landing a girlfriend like Fuyunagi—thus “betraying” the Unpopular Men’s Club (a group Takuma never actually agreed to join)—Kato remains loyal to him despite both his jealousy and the negative public opinion surrounding Takuma.
- Fuyunagi Reiko (冬柳 澪子) — Fuyunagi Shizuku’s mother.
- Fuyunagi Kanemasa (冬柳 兼政) — Fuyunagi Shizuku’s father.