Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder

by Asako Yuzuki

She’d known back then that lots of girls wanted her. Even though she’d understood that she was desired as a substitute for a man, Rika had felt as though she was being validated in her entirety, in a way that made her special. Come to think of it, it was from around that point on that she had taken care that her body didn’t become rounded and soft. Ensured, too, that she was the best in both her studies and in sport, that she was boyishly rugged and aloof in her behaviour, all the while taking care that these efforts went undetected by people around her. In order to fulfil the wishes of the girls around her for a prince, she needed to excel at everything with cool, calm composure. Sometimes, with a classmate of her choosing, she would open the first couple of buttons of her school shirt, allowing a glimpse of the sturdy nape of her neck and collarbone. She would casually drape her arm around them, brushing shoulders in a way that seemed totally unaffected. Through their uniforms, she could feel their pulses racing. Instilling desire in someone was a lot of fun, regardless of whether that person was male or female.