Chastity Reversed: Part-Time Life by the All-Girls High School - Chapter 8: Peeling Off

The clock hands had already passed 10 PM. Time really passed by quickly.

“…hah, hah…”

In this world, women typically took the lead at “night”. Well, there were exceptions (like me), but… that was generally how it was.

“You were great, Koharu.”

“Really…?”

“Yeah. Hard to believe it was only your second time.”

“! D-d-do you think so?”

That was why I let her take the lead this time… Naturally, I guided her to make it easier.

It might sound strange coming from me, but in this world at least, I was quite experienced. Probably. And from my experience… girls who were confident in their “nighttime skills” were usually confident in themselves.

Ah, though that was often just self-proclaimed, of course.

“If I were a virgin, I might have fallen for you.”

“!!!”

“Koharu, I like how you always communicate.”

“R-really?”

“Yeah. Your touch is gentle, and your lead was perfect.”

“No way!! Someone like me couldn’t possibly hurt Sato-san…”

“That’s exactly what I mean. That’s what makes guys happy.”

“! Ehehe… really?”

Surely some of that was due to the personality “created” by him.

“Koharu. You can be confident.”

“…Thank you very much.”

She smiled with reddened cheeks. I watched her from the corner of my eye as I got dressed. It felt like something was “peeling away”.

“There we go… So Koharu, what club were you in?”

“Um, well. I played baseball from elementary through middle school. Partway through, not in a club but in, um, Girls…”

Wow, amazing.

“Girls” was this world’s equivalent of “Boys” from my previous world.

It was more serious, closer to professional than middle school clubs.

“You’re not playing in high school?”

“…I quit. Someone like me was no good at all.”

“Do you have any photos? I’d like to see.”

“Oh. Y-yes, but… here.”

On her smartphone. There she was, making a peace sign with lots of teammates.

“Oh. You were the catcher?”

“Y-you can tell?”

“I’ve seen mitts before.”

That seemed to be the same as my previous world. Though in this world, it was common sense that women played baseball.

“It’s embarrassing. Someone like me was no good at all—”

“Did someone on the team tell you that?”

“Eh?”

“They didn’t, did they?”

“Well, no. But… still…”

She looked down in confusion, her eyes darting around.

“In this group photo. Who’s holding the trophy?”

“…I am. But that’s different. Someone like me had no right to hold it. It wasn’t even that big of a tournament—”

“—Koharu!”

“!”

“Would they let someone ‘no good’ hold such an important trophy?”

“B-but…”

That was a demonstration of how much her old teammates had praised Koharu. I could tell just by looking. In this photo, she was the only one with a confused expression.

“…Let me guess. ‘He’ said those things—Shota?”

“!”

“Not just about baseball. He insulted you at every opportunity, didn’t he?”

“That’s…”

“Nobody stays normal after being mocked day after day.”

He steadily lowered her “value” and changed her personality. Negatively. Passively.

Even baseball, which she was good at—if one kept cursing at it, they’d lose confidence. Not having “parents” around much was also unfortunate. Her self-esteem probably kept dropping ever since meeting him.

—”Someone like me…”—

Like playing with a toy. The girl who happened to move in next door. Those eyes full of hope—

“He was hypnotizing you, making you believe that ‘Tsubaki Koharu is worthless’.”

“…!”

—”Yes… since high school started, uttering ‘Eternal virgin loser’, ‘Forever alone’… constantly, without getting bored”—

Her words weren’t an exaggeration at all.

“This is seriously messed up.”

I remembered.

—”Someone like me”—

—”Someone like me”—

—”Someone like me”—

—”Someone like me”—

—”Someone like me”—

I’d heard it constantly. It had become like a verbal tic.

“—’Tsubaki Koharu needs Inoue Shota’. That’s the kind of hypnosis he was using… or something like that.”

Who did he think he was, God? Now I understood why he kept mocking her about being a “virgin”. It was the best way to lower a “female’s” pride.

And when she lost all her self-esteem, she would cling to—

The one thing she had left.

“Him”, whom she should have hated.

“…!”

“Sorry. This is just my speculation. Being told this by someone you’ve only known for two days—”

“—I… I want to believe in you, Sato-san.”

Small but strong. A voice from her I’d never heard before.

“…Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Just a little bit. By some twist of fate, what remained of her pride had found its way to me.

The “virginity” he had mocked so much was no longer hers. He probably tried to make her his in a panic, but—

In her eyes, I could clearly see determination.

“—I won’t run away anymore.”

Those straightforward eyes made me feel like I could fall for her.