Chastity Reversed: Part-Time Life by the All-Girls High School - Chapter 36: Idol (Gender Unknown)

“Why the hell did I say something like that…?”

Waking up after a night’s sleep, I was suddenly overwhelmed by embarrassment over yesterday’s events.  

Even if I had been riding a high, that was not the kind of conversation I should have started.  

I mean, we’d only known each other as friends for one day!  

Was my sense of boundaries completely broken? What kind of idiot sprung something so abrupt out of nowhere?  

…Was I that excited about having a male friend in this world?  

“I must be really losing it,” I muttered to myself.  

“…Suu… Sora-kun…”  

I let out a quiet sigh as I watched him sleep under the blankets.  

It wasn’t even 5 a.m. yet. After brushing my teeth, I changed into my workout clothes.  

It was time for my usual training routine. Ideally, I’d go for a run too, but I couldn’t exactly leave my guest alone in the house.  

I unrolled the yoga mat and began my exercises.

Thirty crunches. Thirty push-ups. Then moved on to bridges and squats, pushing myself a bit more on those.  

…Not to get too specific, but those two exercises really worked the lower body, you know?  

I groaned at the strain.  

Thinking back to how much more training I used to do in my past life, I couldn’t help but marvel. The old me was something else, huh?  

“Hahh…”  

After showering, I stretched out my refreshed body, practicing flexibility exercises in the quiet morning.  

And then—  

“…Good morniiiing…”  

“Morning.”  

“Stretching…? Wow, you’re incredible, doing that so early…”  

“I already did some strength training before this, for the record.”  

“Th-that’s amazing!”  

“It’s just a habit. Oh, there’s a new toothbrush in the cabinet if you need it.”  

“Thanks…”

Still half-asleep, he shuffled out of the living room and toward the bathroom. Of course, I’d made sure it was clean beforehand.  

After all, I got a lot of guests.  

“Gargle, spit… Ahhh. Thanks, this place feels like a hotel!”  

“Well, yeah. I try to keep it stocked.”  

“Do Tanaka-san or Takahashi-san ever come over to hang out?”  

“Ugh—No, no, they’ve never been here. They’re girls, after all.”  

“…Then who does come over?”  

His voice startled me, and I froze mid-stretch.  

Guests.  

What he meant was, the girls I’d brought over—those I’d spent the night with here before.  

Of course, at school, I was known as “the girly guy”—no one suspected me of being a playboy. Everyone assumed I was too delicate for something like that.  

I was careful to keep my hookups a secret, laughing off any suggestion of inappropriate relationships.  

“…?”  

“A-ah, well… family sometimes. You know, it’s always better to be prepared, just in case, right?”  

“Yeah, that makes sense.”  

It wasn’t a lie.  

But there was no way I’d let him find out about the girls I’d brought home. That had to stay hidden, no matter what.  

I’d gotten careless.  

I’d always been mindful of keeping that part of my life under wraps.  

My whole facade depended on it.  

Even at school, my friendships with girls like Takahashi and Tanaka—our class rep, too—were built on the assumption that I was “unattached”. If the truth ever got out, those relationships would crumble instantly.  

“Ah—Hey, hurry up, or you’ll miss the first train.”  

“Ah, you’re right!”  

“Looks like there’s no time for breakfast either.”  

“That’s fine! I’m used to skipping breakfast, anyway. Busy life and all—this happens all the time!”  

“And yet, you somehow had time to stay over here. Are you sure that was okay?”  

“Yup!”  

“If you say so…”  

“I even got my modeling job postponed for this☆!”  

“…What.”  

“Come on, react already!” He playfully swatted at me, laughing.  

“Wow, idols are something else, huh?” I said, lightly mocking him.  

“Stop looking at me like that!” He swatted me again, with mock indignation.  

“Ouch…not really,” I muttered, brushing him off as we made our way to the door.  

“Alright, see you at school☆!”  

“Yeah.”  

He slipped on his shoes and reached for the doorknob when—  

“Hey, Kanata—”  

The words were on the tip of my tongue.  

Are you really a guy?

But before I could say them, he turned around, cutting me off.  

“Hey, Sora-kun.”  

His eyes—large, clear, and unwavering—looked straight at me.  

“We’re already ‘guy friends’, aren’t we?”  

Those words felt like a challenge. His gaze seemed to see through me, to uncover everything I kept hidden.  

…Yeah, he was right.  

Kanata was my friend.  

My first real male friend in this world.  

“Yeah. Of course, we are.”  

That was enough.  

Everyone had their secrets.  

And naturally, so did I.  

Secrets—and mistakes—that I needed to keep locked away.  

What right did I have to expose someone else’s truth without first revealing my own?  

If we were going to coexist like this, I’d carry my secrets alongside his.  

This backward world made it impossible to live in “normal” ways—but if anyone understood that, it was me.  

“Yay☆!”  

“Next time, I’ll show you some ‘girly’ stuff to try out.”  

“Hehe… Okay, see you at school!”  

With that, he dashed outside in his perfectly disguised appearance. I watched him go and then quietly closed the door.  

“…”  

From yesterday until now, so much had happened.  

My mind couldn’t process it all.  

If someone told me it was all a dream, I might believe them.  

Kanata’s every little gesture, his reactions when called “cute”, his overwhelming presence at the end…  

There was only one thing I knew for sure. 

“I guess idols really are something else.”