Chastity Reversed: Part-Time Life by the All-Girls High School - Chapter 47: Surrender(Without The Person Present)

“Alright, everyone, make sure you get home safely. And for those of you who haven’t finished your homework—make sure to get it done, okay?”  

”Understood!”  

“Understood… (completely drained)”  

As the teacher gave her farewell, the chairs screeched all at once as students got up to leave.  

It was dismissal time.  

Man, I was exhausted.  

It was my first day back at school in who knew how long… and there was even a surprise academic test. Why?  

I managed to scrape by thanks to cramming through the homework yesterday, but still…  

It didn’t mean I did well, though. Sorry, Old Sora Sato. Probably got, like, 30 points at best.  

“…Ugh.”  

On top of that, the girl sitting next to me kept sneaking glances my way.  

Actually, it felt like the entire class was staring at me.  

What? Should I start referring to myself as ‘boku’ now?  

Sorry, no. The thought alone gave me goosebumps.  

“Um, hey…”  

“Yes?”  

“So, Sato-kun… is it true you’ve lost your memory?”  

“Yep.”  

“Oh… I see.”  

The one who timidly worked up the courage to talk to me was… a girl I didn’t recognize.  

But she definitely had a good build. Lots of muscle, but none of it unnecessary. She looked like the athletic type—maybe track and field?  

She kinda gave off this princely vibe. Like the boyish girls who sometimes popped up in my old world.  

I lost—on muscles, at least.  

She was probably super popular in this world. After all, this place had everything flipped.  

[Sora-nii may have been nice on the outside, but…]  

Ah, right—Akari had mentioned something like that before.  

Looking at the girl next to me, I got the impression Old Me had only acted nice to people he’d wanted to stick close to. Sounded about right. What a trashy guy.  

Yeah. Even coming from me, this was just the worst.  

“Uh… were we close by any chance?”  

“No, not really…”  

“Oh, that’s a relief. Can’t imagine why anyone would want to be close to someone like that.”  

“H-huh?”  

He was trash. Utter garbage. Sora Sato was disgusting.  

“W-wait, this is really throwing me off…”  

She looked confused as I threw in my usual self-deprecating jokes.  

Akari found them funny, at least.  

“U-um… I actually came to give you an answer about that confession…”  

“Wait, what?”  

She leaned in close to whisper, trying to keep her voice down in the noisy, bustling classroom.  

Apparently, Old Me had seriously miscalculated something.  

“You see, it was about a week ago, right? You sent me a message…”  

“…”  

Hold up.  

Didn’t Old Me mention something about slipping in the bath?  

Did he confess through text, then pass out from overheating? Seriously? After sending some dramatic message? What the heck was that?  

Suddenly, everything started clicking into place.  

God, how narrow-minded had he gotten? Love really was terrifying.  

“So, um…”  

“It’s a rejection, right?”  

“Y-yeah, but…”  

“You could’ve just replied to me directly.”  

Not that it would have mattered since his phone broke, so the message never would’ve gotten through anyway.  

And with me being… well, me now, it was all meaningless.  

“I thought it’d be better to tell you in person.”  

“I see. That’s really respectable of you—wait, I mean really ‘womanly’, huh.”  

“!?”  

“That’s probably why Old Me fell for you in the first place.”  

“Uh… I guess?”  

She scratched her cheek in embarrassment.  

It suited her. She really was like a prince.  

“So, what’s your name?”  

“Oh, that’s right. You don’t even know my name… I’m Natsuki Kamiji.”  

“Natsuki, huh. Well, considering I’ve turned into this, don’t let it bother you.”  

“You really are like a completely different person.”  

“Yeah, I hear that a lot.”  

Back in my old world, I couldn’t talk to girls without getting nervous.  

But in this world, it was easier talking to the opposite sex than the same. Everything was flipped.  

And, well, after “playing” with Yuuka the other day, I guessed my resistance to these types of conversations had just disappeared.  

Maybe it was because I’d come to terms with the fact that normal romance wasn’t possible for me anymore.  

“I mean, to begin with, I barely even talked to the old you, so…”  

“Wow… Old Me really shot his shot, huh?”  

“Haha. Oh, sorry, I’ve got to head to my club now!”  

“Ah, got it. Good luck.”  

“Thanks! Bye!”  

Man, she really was smooth to the end.  

…Though the looks I was getting from everyone else weren’t quite as pleasant.  

“What was that?” 

“He was talking to Kamiji-san so casually…” 

“So annoying.”

Amidst the murmurs, more voices chimed in.  

“What’s with the memory-loss act?” 

“He’s just faking it.” 

“And calling himself ‘ore’? So cringey.”

It was the guys.  

Not all of them, but more than half were glaring at me with obvious disgust.  

Ah.  

This was gonna suck.  

In my old world, the only friends I had were other guys.  

Friendships meant the same gender back then.  

“I feel bad for Kamiji-san.” 

“That guy is unbearable.” 

“Is this his idea of a makeover?”

“…”  

My stomach hurt.  

I didn’t want to be here.  

Maybe I couldn’t—no, there was no way I’d become friends with anyone here.  

☆

“Welcome home!”  

“…I’m back, Akari.”  

Sora-nii had returned.  

Since it was just a school day, he came home around noon.  

“Haaah…”  

He sighed deeply.  

From the look of it, school must’ve been rough.  

I bet his classmates were shocked.  

Sora-nii was practically a different person now.  

“Did you eat yet, Akari?” 

“I was waiting to eat with you.”  

“What a sweetheart. I’m so proud to have a sister like you.”  

“…Ugh.”  

“What’s for lunch today~?”  

He opened the fridge and took out the meals Dad had prepared in advance, heating them up and setting them on the table.  

“Itadakimasu!”  

Sora-nii… I really might start becoming useless at this rate…  

“Fried rice and salad today, huh? Tasty.”  

“Hey, Sora-nii.”  

“Yeah?”  

“Is there anything I can do for you?”  

“Huh? Where’s this coming from?”

“I don’t know… just felt like asking.”  

I didn’t even know why I asked that.  

His surprised expression matched my own internal shock.  

I mean, I wasn’t the kind of person to say something like that.  

“Just stay ‘the way you are’ now. That’s all I need.”  

“W-what’s that supposed to mean?”  

“I mean, you don’t need to do anything. You being here already helps me a lot.”  

“???”  

He laughed, while I just couldn’t understand.  

The way I am now, huh…  

“If anything, let me know if there’s something you want me to do for you.”  

“Huh? M-me?”  

“Of course. Big brothers love being relied on by their little sisters.”  

“…Do they?”  

“Probably.”  

I’d never even considered it before.  

With Old Sora-nii, relying on him would’ve been ridiculous.  

But with the Sora-nii now…  

“Can we hang out together?”  

“Oh? Where to?”  

“Really?!”  

“Yeah, why not? It’s summer break, after all.”  

“Then, um… maybe an adventure course, or the beach—oh, wait, the pool! Also, camping!”  

The ideas just kept coming.  

So many things I wanted to do.  

“…How many days of summer break are left?”  

“…About ten, I think.”  

“That’s cutting it close, but we can make it work.”  

“R-really?!”  

“Yep.”  

Lately, I’d been feeling a little strange.  

[I hardly ever talk to my brother.]  

[All we do is fight. He’s so annoying.]  

[As for Akari… I don’t even need to ask, her face says it all.]  

Most of my friends with brothers had similar things to say.  

What I have must be uncommon. Maybe even weird.  

But still…  

“Yay!”  

“Whoa.”  

I jumped into Sora-nii’s chest without thinking.  

His shampoo and body soap were the same as before.  

The scent was identical to Old Sora-nii’s, yet it felt completely different.  

My heart was beating fast.  

But if I could, I’d want to stay wrapped in this scent forever.  

…Was there something wrong with me?  

“Oh, wait. Don’t you have club practice, Akari?”  

“Ah!”  

“Guess we’ll need to narrow it down.”  

“Then… the p-pool. I want to go to the pool the most.”  

“Got it!”