At Amanogawa Prefectural High, Hanabi Yasuoka is the perfect honor student everyone admires—but beneath her flawless smile lies a secret she's carried for years: she's in love with her homeroom teacher, Narumi Kanei, the gentle "big brother" who tutored her as a lonely child and promised to wait for her.
Mugi Awaya is the quiet, beautiful boy every girl wants—but the one he truly loves is a teacher who will never look his way.
When these two classmates discover each other's forbidden feelings,
Scum's Wish: The Secret Love That Never Was - The Pure and Poisonous Fang — A Secret in the Music Room
From the music room window, she could see the young leaves in the schoolyard swaying in the wind.
The end of April. Nearly a month had passed since the new term began.
Yasuoka Hanabi sat in the very back row of the music room, her eyes fixed on the handout she'd been given. The notes lined up on the staff seemed farther away than usual today.
(Today is music class.)
Hanabi drew a small breath.
For the past two weeks, Hanabi had been acutely conscious of one person: Minagawa Akane. A music teacher with a refined air, popular among the students. But Hanabi alone knew what lay behind that woman's smile.
(Akane-sensei is getting close to my brother.)
The scene she'd witnessed two weeks ago in the staff room corridor wouldn't leave her head. Narumi smiling at Akane, and Akane pressing a finger to her lips—"Keep it a secret"—in a gesture only Hanabi could see.
Ever since then, every time Hanabi thought of Akane, something deep in her chest turned cold.
The door slid open with a rattle.
"All right, everyone, take your seats. Today we're going to do something a little special."
Minagawa Akane walked into the music room.
A white blouse, a pale cardigan. Her soft skirt swayed with each step. Her hair, falling over her shoulders, caught the light from the window and shone gently.
(She's beautiful.)
Hanabi couldn't help thinking it.
Maddening as it was, Akane really was beautiful. She could understand why the students whispered that Akane-sensei was like an angel.
"Today, I'd like each of you to sing for me, one at a time. I'll accompany you on the piano, so try singing along with it."
Akane's voice rang clear through the music room. Sweet, gentle—and yet somewhere in it, a chilling coldness.
(Singing?)
Hanabi braced herself inwardly.
A singing test in music class wasn't unusual. But today, Akane would be accompanying. That alone multiplied Hanabi's nervousness several times over.
"Let's go in order, shall we? By attendance number. First up... Yasuoka-san, would you mind?"
Hanabi felt her heart leap.
(First.)
Akane's gaze settled on Hanabi. She was smiling brightly, but her eyes seemed to see straight through to the depths of Hanabi's heart.
"Yes."
Hanabi rose with the smile of a model student.
She walked to the front of the classroom. Her classmates' stares pricked at her back. Hanabi was used to that kind of attention. The perfect honor student always stood on the side that was watched.
Akane sat down at the piano.
"Then let's begin. You know this song, don't you?"
What Akane began to play was a famous school song. A gentle melody everyone had heard at least once.
Hanabi breathed in and opened her mouth.
Her voice spread through the music room.
Hanabi's singing resonated more beautifully than even she expected. It wasn't as though she'd practiced for this day. But she'd always loved to sing—hoping Narumi would praise her, would say, "You're good at singing too, Hanabi."
(I want my brother to hear me.)
She sang with that thought in her heart.
When she finished the final note, scattered applause rose from her classmates.
"Thank you very much."
Hanabi gave a small bow.
"Hanabi-chan, you sing so well. What a lovely voice."
Akane smiled brightly.
"Thank you. Your accompaniment was wonderful, Akane-sensei."
Hanabi returned a flawless smile of her own.
(That's the end of it.)
Just as she thought that and started back to her seat—
"Mugi-chan will be happy too, I'm sure. He said he wanted to hear you sing, Hanabi-chan."
Hanabi's feet stopped dead.
(Mugi-chan?)
Akane was smiling brightly. To the surrounding students, it must have sounded like nothing but small talk. But Hanabi understood.
(This woman just said that on purpose.)
Akane was watching Hanabi's reaction closely. Her eyes were cold and brimming with curiosity, like a scientist conducting an experiment.
"...Is that so. Mugi never mentioned that to me."
Hanabi didn't let her smile falter.
"Oh, really? Perhaps I was mistaken. But it's true that you sing well, Hanabi-chan. Kanei-sensei praised you too—said 'that girl is perfect at whatever she does.'"
(Bringing up Kanei-sensei's name here.)
Hanabi's chest tightened.
Akane knew Hanabi had feelings for Narumi. She knew—and deliberately said his name.
"I'm glad to hear he said that."
Hanabi desperately held her smile in place.
Seeing it, Akane smiled in satisfaction.
"You really are a good girl, Hanabi-chan. I absolutely adore you."
Those words drove a small thorn into Hanabi's heart.
(Adore me, she says.)
(Coming from her mouth, it all sounds like a lie.)
Hanabi returned to her seat.
Her heart was pounding hard.
(Akane-sensei knows I like Narumi-sensei.)
(She knows, and she says his name right in front of me.)
Hanabi gripped the edge of her handout tightly between her fingertips.
The paper crinkled.
After school.
Hanabi stood in front of the staff room.
In her hands, the career survey form.
(If I frame it as a career consultation, I can see him naturally.)
She made that excuse to herself.
The truth was, she just wanted to see Narumi. She wanted to overwrite what Akane had said two weeks ago—"I dote on her like a little sister"—by looking at Narumi's face.
(If I see my brother, everything will be fine.)
Hanabi took a deep breath and knocked on the staff room door.
"Excuse me."
"Come in."
Hanabi opened the door.
The staff room was filled with the soft light of evening.
Narumi sat at his desk, writing some kind of document. Behind his glasses, his eyes followed the papers with serious focus.
(My brother.)
Warmth spread gently through Hanabi's chest.
"Kanei-sensei, do you have a moment?"
Hanabi approached Narumi's desk.
Narumi looked up.
"Oh, Hanabi. What is it?"
A smile spread across Narumi's face.
(Sensei smiled at me.)
Just that, and Hanabi's heart went floating.
"I wanted to consult you about my career path. I came to submit the form."
Hanabi held out the paper.
"Oh, you've already filled it out. That's my Hanabi. ...Yes, your handwriting is neat. It hasn't changed since you were little."
Narumi took the form and smiled happily.
(It hasn't changed since I was little.)
Hanabi's heart warmed softly.
"Being praised by you makes me embarrassed."
Her smile became just a little bit genuine.
In front of Narumi, the mask of the model student grew ever so slightly thinner.
"So, what did you want to consult about? Is something troubling you?"
Narumi looked at Hanabi with a serious expression.
"Yes, actually..."
Just as Hanabi was about to continue—
"Kanei-sensei, good work today."
A clear voice rang through the staff room.
Hanabi's heart jumped.
She turned. Akane was standing there.
In her hands, a small bundle.
"Ah, Minagawa-sensei. Good work."
Narumi's voice brightened, just slightly.
(Sensei's voice changed.)
Hanabi hadn't missed it.
"Kanei-sensei, you haven't eaten lunch yet, have you? I made too much bento, so... shall we split it?"
Still smiling brightly, Akane settled naturally into the seat beside Narumi.
"Eh, but I couldn't impose. Minagawa-sensei's bento..."
Narumi scratched the back of his head, looking flustered.
"It's fine. I always make too much. Besides, it's tastier eating with someone than alone."
Akane opened the bundle.
Inside was a small bento box packed with colorful side dishes.
"Here, tamagoyaki. I made both the sweet and the savory kind. Kanei-sensei, which do you like?"
Akane held out the rolled omelet to Narumi.
"Eh, ah, then... the sweet one, I suppose."
Narumi, looking more flustered than ever, took the tamagoyaki.
Hanabi could do nothing but stand there and watch.
(Splitting a bento.)
(Sensei and Akane-sensei.)
Hanabi's chest constricted painfully.
"Oh, Hanabi-chan. Did you need something?"
Akane noticed Hanabi.
A knowing smile played at the corner of her mouth.
"...No. I just came to submit my career form."
Hanabi put on a smile.
"I see. You really are so diligent, Hanabi-chan. I'm impressed."
Akane said that, then turned back toward Narumi.
"Kanei-sensei, how's the tamagoyaki? Good?"
"Ah, yes. It's delicious. You're a good cook, Minagawa-sensei."
"Fufu, I'm glad. Then next time, shall we make a bento together?"
"Eh, that's... well, I'd be honored, but..."
Their conversation reached Hanabi's ears as if from far away.
(I shouldn't be here.)
That's what she thought.
"Um, sensei, I'll be going now."
Hanabi forced the words out.
"Ah, yes. I'll listen to your consultation properly another time."
Narumi turned toward Hanabi and spoke gently.
"Yes. Thank you."
Hanabi bowed and left the staff room.
The moment the door closed, her smile crumbled and fell with a sound.
(Splitting a bento.)
(I've never seen sensei look so happy.)
Hanabi bit her lip as she walked down the corridor.
(Akane-sensei knew I was watching.)
(And she did that on purpose.)
Sweat seeped into Hanabi's palms.
"Hanabi-chan."
A voice came from behind her.
Hanabi thought her heart would stop.
She turned. Akane was standing there.
When had she left the staff room?
"...Akane-sensei, did you need something?"
Hanabi rebuilt her smile.
Akane approached her slowly.
Her footsteps echoed unnaturally loud in the corridor.
"Hey, Hanabi-chan."
Akane stopped right in front of Hanabi.
The distance between them was so close they might almost touch.
The scent of Akane's perfume tickled Hanabi's nose.
A sweet, floral scent.
"Hanabi-chan, you like Kanei-sensei, don't you?"
Akane's voice whispered sweetly into Hanabi's ear.
Hanabi's mind went blank.
(She knows.)
(Of course she knows.)
Hanabi's heart thrashed wildly.
"...No. That's not true."
Hanabi denied it desperately, trying to keep her voice from trembling.
"Hmm. Well, that's fine. I'm sensitive about these things."
Akane smiled meaningfully.
That smile was like a cat cornering its prey.
"Hanabi-chan, you can relax. I don't intend to get in your way. If anything, I'd like to cheer you on. ...But then, even I don't know what Kanei-sensei thinks of me."
Akane's words churned Hanabi's heart into a mess.
(Cheer me on?)
(Her?)
(A lie. Definitely a lie.)
"Don't worry about me."
Akane said that and pressed her index finger to her lips.
"Keep it a secret."
That gesture was exactly the same as the one Hanabi had seen two weeks ago.
Akane smiled triumphantly, turned her back on Hanabi, and walked away down the corridor.
Hanabi stood rooted to the spot.
Her legs wouldn't move.
(Don't worry about me.)
(Keep it a secret.)
Akane's words repeated over and over in her head.
(That woman knows how I feel.)
(She knows, and she's getting close to sensei right in front of me.)
Hanabi looked at her palms.
They were soaked with sweat.
That night.
Before she knew it, Hanabi was standing near Narumi's apartment.
"Corpo Shirayama."
An old wooden apartment building fifteen minutes on foot from the station. Where Narumi lived.
(Why am I here?)
Hanabi herself didn't understand why she'd come.
She'd meant to go home. But her feet had carried her here on their own.
(I want to see my brother.)
(But if I see him, what would I even say?)
Hanabi stood hidden in the shadow of a utility pole in front of the apartment.
On the second floor, the second room from the end.
Narumi's light was on.
(Sensei is still awake.)
Hanabi looked up at that light.
A warm, orange glow.
(My brother is under that light.)
Hanabi's chest tightened.
Then—
Hanabi noticed a car parked in front of the apartment.
A small red car.
(That car.)
Hanabi's heart went cold.
The car she'd seen in this same spot two weeks ago.
Akane's car.
(She's here again.)
Hanabi's eyes tracked the license plate.
No mistake. It was Akane's car.
(Last time, I thought it might be a coincidence.)
(But this is the second time.)
The scene from midday flashed through Hanabi's mind.
Akane smiling at Narumi, Narumi looking flustered, the two of them sharing a bento.
(Is Akane-sensei in my brother's room right now?)
(What are the two of t
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