Prologue
TL: Butter
ED: DannY
It was recess, and Aoi Tsukishiro was reading a book in a seat at the end of the classroom.
She occasionally brushed off the long hair that had fallen on her ears. She’s just reading a book, but she’s cool.
Coupled with her sly beauty, it was wonderfully cool to be there.
The classroom was full of noise, but only the air around her was calm.
Then a boy approached her.
He was from the other class next door and tried to get into Tsukishiro’s mind sometimes.
“What are you reading, Tsukishiro-san ?”
She had a paperback book with a cover on it, so there was no telling what it was about…
“Don’t speak to me.”
Tsukishiro replied coldly, not even looking at him.
This reaction was a common one, and the boys may be hiding their embarrassment, or they may be making a big deal out of it.
The rest of the group went back.
In the center of the classroom, two boys were playing by throwing a rubber ball.
In the beginning, they only threw it at each other gently at a close distance, but their antics grew more and more serious.
Then they started throwing it to places where the opponent couldn’t reach.
The ball flew towards Tsukishiro’s head with significant momentum.
Tsukishiro silently raised her paperback book to the side of her face.
The ball made a crunching noise, bounced off the book that had been used as a shield, and landed squarely near Tsukishiro’s feet.
And then it fell.
The boys were apologizing, but she still didn’t even bother to look at them.
Slamming the book shut, she got up, brushed the folds of her skirt, and walked out of the classroom.
I was sitting near my seat, talking with my friend, and without even looking at her, I watched her go.”
“That’s right Sukune, thank you for your help the other day. Oh I forgot! This is for the promised juice.”
My friend handed me 120 yen. I shoved it in my pocket and moved to the vending machine. On the way, I saw Tsukishiro sitting on a bench at the end of the second-floor lobby, quietly continuing to read. I walked straight past her and bought an apple juice from the vending machine. I chugged it down and threw it in the garbage can. When I passed by the same place to go back, I saw Tsukishiro being approached by a girl from another class.
“Ano… I’m sorry for disturbing you while you are reading! I’ve been a fan of Tsukishiro-San for a long time.”
“…Yes”
She’s equally unfriendly to girls. No, this time, she just lifted her face and looked at her, which might be considered kindness. Tsukishiro stood up with a gloomy look on her face and went back to her classroom. Eventually, it was after school, and I was returning books for the Library Committee. When I was done, I looked out from the window and saw Tsukishiro outside the school building, looking up at me as she finished getting ready to go home. I noticed her and raised a hand in the air briefly. She looked up at me and smiled softly for a moment.
*
*
*
When I got home and took off my shoes at the door, Tsukishiro came out of the living room in her uniform.
“Welcome home, Yu.”
“I’m home.”
“Dinner’s ready, so you’d better change your clothes.”
“Okay.”
After getting changed, I went into the dining room, where my mother served a platter of Claypot Meat on the table.
It was placed on the table. There were four separate sections with different flavors, and they all smelled good.
“Oh, welcome back. I’ll take care of it.”
Tsukishiro, who had changed into a loose, long-sleeved T-shirt with an open collar and shorts, came up behind me and said.
She snatched the bowl out of my hand.
“How much rice do you want? “
“I’d like a large portion of rice.”
“OK.”
Tsukishiro’s hands were a little fidgety, but she still carefully placed the rice in my bowl. She gently handed me the bowl with both hands and then filled her own bowl with a tiny portion of rice. This action was a little more sloppy than the other one before.
My father, who had changed from a suit to a sloppy outfit, also showed up, and I had dinner with my parents and Tsukishiro as usual. While I was in my room after dinner, I heard a discreet knock on the door. My mother never knocked like this; she was much more violent. and opens the door just as she knocks, making the whole purpose of knocking meaningless. When I got up and opened the door, Tsukishiro was standing there.
“Yu… can I have a word with you?”
When I went to Tsukishiro’s room next door, she silently pointed to the ceiling. There was a huge moth stuck to the ceiling. We both looked up and then looked at each other.
“Yu, can you remove it?”
“No, I can’t reach it.”
“I might be able to reach it if I have Yu carry me on his back.”
“Even if Tsukishiro reached it, will you be able to touch it… ?”
“I thought you were afraid of bugs?”
“No… I’m just saying…”
Tsukishiro looked embarrassed for some reason and turned her face away. I looked around the room for something to use as a platform. There was no study desk in Tsukishiro’s room. She seemed to be using a small one-man desk for studying and writing, but that didn’t look very strong. Fortunately, I had a standing desk and a chair in my room that I had bought for myself in my first year of junior high school.
I moved the chair from my room next door and adjusted its placement.
“Don’t you need a tissue or something? No.
“I don’t need it. It makes it kind of hard to catch.
Just as I was about to get on the chair, the moth fluttered its wings and headed toward me in a fluttering, twisting motion.
“Oh, my God! Aah!
“Heee!”
. I screamed in surprise at the sudden appearance of the moth. The moth was now perched on a not-so-high position on the wall. I could hold on to it in this position. I tried to move, but it wasn’t easy because Tsukishiro stayed firmly glued to me.
I moved slowly like a two-person team sensing the pressure on my back…
Slowly, gently, I reached for the Wall.
“I’ve got it! Tsukishiro, open the window.” The warmth on my back suddenly left me as I called out to her. Tsukishiro quickly opened the window and released the moth into the open air.
“Ah, thank you… Thank you.”
“Yes.”
“I was wondering what to do, but I remembered that Yu used to catch and raise insects when he was in elementary school.”
“That’s not disgusting, it’s a caterpillar that turns into a butterfly or a stag beetle….”
“I don’t want to touch any of them.”
With that said, Tsukishiro finally laughed as if he had been relieved.
As I was returning with the chair, I heard a voice behind me.
“What was Yu doing?”
“Well, a while ago? I have a quiz tomorrow, so I was wondering if I should study.”
“Oh, it’s English, right? Let’s do it together. I’ll teach you.”
“Where?
“My desk is really small ::: Yu’s desk is also for one person ::: Dining Room?”
“That’s right. Then I’ll put back the chair, so I’ll see you later.”
“OK. Then, when you’re ready, let’s meet in the Dining Room.”
Aoi Tsukishiro, my classmate, was my childhood friend who had been with me until the 4th grade of elementary school.
She’s been staying at my house for a while now.
We’re somewhat close now, but she was just perfect when I saw her again in high school.
We were distant. Or rather, we were rather like strangers. It took about four months for us to get to this point, even though we had been together for many years. When we met again, Tsukishiro had become a cool and extremely unfriendly person in all aspects, and I had developed a great distrust of women.
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TLN: Hi guys its Butter. Ufff tsukishiro looks too cute right? Well this is just the prologue, I am sure you guys will love their cute moments as we gradually move on the series. Who knows what sort of challenges will they face in the future? Will there be a confession ? Stay tuned to find out. Also, you can also join our discord server to stay up to date with the translation updates. We’ll that’s all. Butter out.