Recipe For a Ruthless Delinquent

Chapter 1 Tomboyish Beauty

“Onii-chan, onii-chan, onii-chan!”

“Ah… what’s this?” I suddenly opened my eyes. In front of me, my little brother was pulling on my arm, shaking me awake.

“Onii-chan!” He kept tugging.

“Ahh, it’s Saturday… why are you up so early in the morning?”

The kid—six years old, black hair, a big smile—was full of energy, pestering me non-stop.

I’m Taiyou Iryoku, ten years old. Yeah, I know—my name sounds pretentious. The power of the sun. I think it’s cool… though it hasn’t exactly helped me in life or at school. No girl has ever said, “Hey, your name is cool.” Actually, most people just think I look tired because of my eyes. Some even think I’m picking a fight. Well… at least I try to act nice so people don’t mistake me for a delinquent. I’m just a normal boy.

“Onii-chan, you promised me, didn’t you?” my brother, Taiyou Kota, kept pestering.

“Ahh…” My mind drifted back to last night. We were watching some new anime after Dragon Fighters and a few rounds of Smasher Maidens. That’s when a new program came on TV. Even though our family wasn’t well-off, our parents still managed to give us a decent life.

Survival Boy. That was the name. Heavy rock music blared as the logo crashed onto the screen, instantly grabbing both our attention. The old 19-inch bulky TV flickered in the dark.

“Well, it looks interesting,” I said.

We sat through the whole 30 minutes—show and ads—and we were hooked. Kota was so close his eyeballs were practically glued to the screen.

The show started with a ten-year-old boy—same age as me. He was traveling with his parents when, suddenly, he got lost in some over-the-top action sequence. Alone in the forest, no food, just a small Swiss knife—the kind with scissors and other weird tools—and a survival book. With some luck, that’s how it all began.

Now it was morning, and we were outside the house at seven, walking through the streets until we finally reached the park.

“Look, we can play here, onii-chan! Over there’s a tree—we can try to climb it like the boy in the show! Maybe we’ll find a river, and animals, and… and…”

Kota was super hyped. Me? I just wanted to go back to sleep. I was half sleepwalking when another voice pulled me fully awake.

And then I saw her.

The first thoughts that flashed through my mind were simple and overwhelming: beautiful and powerful.

Fire-red hair. Sharp red eyes. Soft, pale skin. Taller than me—unmistakably foreign. A baseball cap, her hair tied back in a ponytail, paired with shorts and sneakers. Even at my age, I couldn’t help noticing how striking her presence was—the way her chest pressed against her shirt, a narrow waist balanced by strong legs and wide hips, forming a confident, imposing silhouette.

I was completely stunned in that instant. Her boyish style contrasted sharply with her undeniable femininity, creating a feeling I had never experienced before—one that rushed through my entire body, especially low in my gut.

Beside her stood a boy, also red-haired like her, about Kota’s height, tugging at her arm.

“Look, Ale Onee-chan! That tree’s huge! Let’s climb it and see if we can spot a river or animals!”

His voice matched Kota’s almost perfectly. Both kids were bubbling over with ideas about imitating yesterday’s show.

They turned toward us. Me and Kota turned toward them. We made the same face at the same time, and suddenly the two boys, almost like mirror images, started talking.

“Hey, you watched Survival Boy yesterday, right?” Kota blurted first.

“Yes! It was awesome! I want to explore and survive in the wilderness!” the other boy answered.

They dove straight into conversation. Ah… it’s good to be young. You just become best friends in an instant. That thought made me feel like an old man—even though I was only ten.

I turned to the girl, trying hard not to look at her chest—which was really hard.

“Uh, hello…” I almost choked on the words. Somehow, I spoke in English. What the heck? The little boy was clearly speaking Japanese!

The girl tilted her head. “I don’t speak English.” Her voice was soft but energetic. “Though we’re half Japanese and half Italian, we’ve lived our whole lives here in Japan. So don’t ask me about Italian stuff, I don’t know crap.”

Soft yet energetic—and blunt.

“I see… you’re in the same predicament as me, hehe.” She pointed at the two boys still chattering away.

My heart pounded. Damn, she’s so pretty. And older than me. Come on, play it cool.

“Eh, sorry. I’m still kind of sleepy. I don’t really know what I’m doing. My brother dragged me out here early because of the show.”

“Yeah, same here. I can see your tired eyes.” Her teeth caught the sunlight, almost blinding me.

“Well… my eyes are just like that. Some people think I’m always angry or glaring,” I explained briefly.

I wasn’t sure what else to say. “I’m Iryoku Taiyou. I’m ten. What’s your name? I haven’t seen you guys before.” I was trying to sound casual… I think.

The girl shoved her hands into her shorts pockets and kicked a rock. It sailed across the park like a soccer ball into a goal.

“My name’s Alessandra Mamoru. I’m twelve. And this noisy boy is my little brother, Keisuke. He’s six.”

She grinned slightly.

“You can call me Ale—that’s what my family calls me.”

Her tomboyish movements felt refreshing and cool. My heart was beating harder. Come on, keep the conversation going…

“Ah, that’s my brother, Kota Taiyou. You can call us by our first names as well.”

Nice one, I thought. First-name basis unlocked. That’s one step closer to marriage… okay, maybe I’m skipping a lot of steps, but still.

“You have a cool-sounding name,” Ale said, genuinely.

I almost fainted. Is this destiny? Did my destined person just appear out of nowhere like some romance-anime cliche? Keep it cool, keep it cool…

But then a tug on my shirt snapped me out of it. Kota. “Onii-chan, let’s all play together!” Keisuke chimed in too. “Onee-chan, let’s play like you’re the animals attacking, and me and Kota-kun are two boys surviving in the jungle and we have to beat you!”

Ale turned to me with a smile. I nodded. Nice one, boys.

And so it began—our playtime. We ran, jumped, and acted like wild animals. I surprised myself… Alessandra, this girl, played just like us. She crawled in the dirt, spat on the ground, laughed loud—almost like another boy. Somehow, that made me relax, made me act more familiar, less nervous.

By the end, the four of us were lying on the grass, staring up at the sky, talking about everything—shows, video games. I couldn’t believe how much fun it was.

“And then The Parkour Man jumped from the third rope and did a double flying kick right into the other wrestler’s chest—POW!”

Alessandra slammed her fist into her open palm, acting it out with excitement.

She liked wrestling, sports, video games, and anime. She was cool, she was pretty…

What more could I possibly ask for?

I finally managed to ask her, “Why don’t you guys come to our house to play Smasher Maidens? If you bring your controllers, we can all play at the same time.”

The boys jumped up instantly.

“Yes! That’s gonna be awesome—let’s go!”

I turned to her. “What do you think, Ale?” I asked, trying to sound relaxed.

She grinned. “Okay—but if I beat you, you’ll have to call me Ale Onee-chan, since you’re younger than me. Hehe.”

Oh god, yes. You don’t have to ask twice. I could call you my queen or my wife if you wanted.

I just nodded.

Ale Onee-chan turned to Keisuke. “Let’s go, Kei! Let’s go home and bring the controllers. I’m gonna show you boys who the best Maiden Smasher player in town is—hehe!”

I stopped for a second. That sentence sounded kind of wrong… didn’t it?

All of us were in our room—Kota and I shared it, with bunk beds—sitting in the dark and playing together.

This time, I picked the sporty Maiden, the one with the ponytail—just like Ale’s. I side-eyed her for a second.

“Okay, let’s see,” she said, selecting the muscular barbarian Maiden.

I smirked. Kota and Kei both went ahead and picked the special-tactics and soldier Maidens.

“You boys are so in sync,” Ale teased.

The match began—a four-player free-for-all. The sounds of button-mashing filled the room as the battle kicked off.

Ale Onee-chan punched the air, then bent her arm, flexing her bicep in triumph.

The boys and I were beaten—not by much, but still beaten. I felt my face flush as I said, “Ale Onee-chan…”

She flashed a peace sign, smirking.

Oh my… I could die right now.