Prologue (1/3)

Life had become a troublesome thing, so Fujita Mutsuki had been sighing a lot lately.

For example, his roommate was a young woman who drank beer at a pace of ten cans a day. She claimed she was tougher than your average person, but he was still worried.

For example, his other roommate was an ever-irritated girl. She had always been a bit selfish, short-tempered, and sullen, but it had been especially bad recently.

For example, he was no longer sure how close he was to a classmate he had been interested in since spring. Just as he had thought they had grown closer, he had discovered they could not be friends and now did not know how to approach her.

For example, he stood out in his class recently.

Because a cute transfer student was so attached to him.

"Heh heh♪ Your body is so warm, Mutsuki-kun."

"Y-yeah."

"And you smell great. ~~~ You're sweating."

"Sorry. …And don't sniff at me. It's embarrassing."

Even in the few minutes between their last class and the final homeroom, the transfer student would cling to Mutsuki.

The transfer student sat behind Mutsuki and would lean on Mutsuki's back, sit on his lap, or rub against his chest.

The transfer student was named Satowa Lucia and was the latest cause of trouble for Mutsuki.

Rumors of how cute the transfer student was had spread through the school the very first day and a fan club had already formed by the tenth day. Mutsuki did not dislike the excessive intimacy, but…

"Um, Satowa-kun. It's about time for homeroom, okay?"

"Mh~~ Don't call me Satowa-kun like we're strangers. We're classmates, aren't we?"

"Then…Lucia-kun. For now, um, don't cling to me."

"Okay♪"

When asked, he obediently moved away. Yes, "he".

Satowa Lucia-"kun" was a boy.

His blond hair was kept short, he had big round eyes and soft facial features, he was so small that his S-size uniform looked baggy, and 100% of people would mistake him for a girl if he changed his clothes. Nevertheless, he was definitely a boy.

"Eh heh heh❤ School is so much fun. I wish I'd done this sooner."

Even after hopping off of Mutsuki's lap, he leaned his face in close with a happy smile. Even though he was not a girl, Mutsuki's heart skipped a beat.

The problem was all the jealous glares reaching him from the edges of the room. From both girls and boys.

Mutsuki was not exceptionally good looking or gifted in academics or athletics. He was a perfectly normal student with no real points of interest, so he felt uneasy in the center of attention.

He gave one of the heavy sighs that had become a habit lately.

"You two sure do get along."

His friend, Tomono Sakae, approached.

"Of course. I love Mutsuki-kun sooooo much."

Lucia responded without a care in the world while still hugging Mutsuki.

Caught off guard by a smile so coquettish it seemed wasted on a boy, Sakae's heart skipped a beat, so he smiled bitterly.

"But you can't, Satowa. This guy's already got a wife."

He gestured over with his chin.

A cute girl sat diagonally behind Mutsuki in the farthest back seat by the windows. She had a sullen lopsided frown on her face and she actually was a girl.

The lines of her well-shaped chin descended from her slender cheeks, her eyes were angled sharply upwards, and she had a more dignified look than any of the boys in the class, but her femininity was made apparent by her height that did not even reach 140 cm and the red hair that reached her knees when standing.

That girl, who angled her sharp eyes even further as she glared at Mutsuki, was named Jiyuuni Ange. She had transferred in a little before Lucia had.

Also, she lived with Mutsuki and had recently seemed in a constant state of irritation.

"Oh, how scary. Ha ha. Looks like your wife is pissed."

Sakae rubbed his fist against Mutsuki's cheek.

Mutsuki said nothing. He had known since kindergarten that this childhood friend had no fear, but he would still prefer the boy did not throw oil on the fire. That was part of the reason she had been so irritated lately.

"Everyone, in your seats."

Their teacher arrived and the final homeroom began.

Their homeroom teacher, Katsue Subaru, was young, beautiful, and popular with the boys, but she was quite strict. Both Lucia and Sakae hurried to their seats.

"I have some announcements. The baseball team has a practice game, so hurry on down there. The halls of the southern building have been dirty lately, so be more thorough when cleaning them. And tomorrow's PE is swimming, so don't forget your swimsuits. That is all."

After briskly passing on the information, the student with day duty instructed them to stand and bow.

Once the tense homeroom was complete, they were free to do whatever they wanted. Some collapsed onto their desks and others began chatting with friends, but the majority prepared to leave.

"Let's go, Mutsuki."

Ange was the fastest of that majority. She immediately stood from her seat with her bag in one hand.

As they lived together, they also walked home together. She started tugging on his elbow even though he was not done gathering his things. …And in the process, she knocked over Lucia in the seat behind him.

"Ah! What are you doing?"

"Shut up. You're in the way, so move."

"You could at least ask before shoving me. Ahh, violent girls are the worst. Isn't that right, Mutsuki-kun?"

Lucia gave an exaggerated shrug. Mutsuki did not want to make Ange mad when her eyebrows were already twitching. However, she had been wrong in this case, so he only gave a vague bitter smile.

The girl told him not to stop trying to please everyone and tugged even more on his elbow. That was when Sakae smiled at her blatant behavior.

"Come on now, Jiyuuni. I know you want your husband to yourself, but you shouldn't be this jealous all the time."

"I-I am not jealous! And he's not my husband!"

Unlike Mutsuki, she was far too short-tempered, so she blushed and shouted back at the joke.

It had been a month since she transferred in, but she still did not get that reacting like that was the worst possible option.

"A girl's jealousy is such an ugly thing. And poor Mutsuki-kun has to put up with her all the time."

Lucia knew how to handle these situations and immediately joined in on the teasing.

Ange had only shouted at Sakae, but she gave Lucia a murderous look as if she could never allow him to provoke her. Mutsuki quickly tried to get between the two, but…

"…"

The girl was forced to stop when someone else interrupted with an unnecessarily loud sound of a chair being pushed back.

"…"