In a World of Reversed Chastity, I’m Rumored to Be an Easy Bitch (♂) Among Lustful Girls - 53

Chapter 53: What Are You Doing? You Should Be Studying!

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One day during math class, the teacher said this:

“—So that’s why, Sotogahama, come to the faculty room during lunch break.”

Incidentally, the math teacher was also our homeroom teacher. He didn’t say anything in detail, but just from that one line, the entire class more or less understood that Riria had done something. It was pretty impressive, really. What a high-context communication.

When lunch break came around, just as I finished my usual karaage bento, Riria returned from the faculty room. She immediately slipped into the circle of the first-string girls—her usual group. Her face was pale. Even without saying a word, we could basically guess what had happened.

Still, as if speaking on behalf of all our thoughts, Tokiwa-san turned to Riria and said.

“Oh, Gahama, how’d it go? Finally gonna repeat a year? Gonna be our underclassman soon?”

“It’s not that bad, but… It’s bad…”

“You barely scraped through to the next grade last time too. Well, guess you’ll just have to work hard on the next test.”

“Uwaaaan! You all have to teach meee!”

“No way, no way. We’re all barely flying above failing grades ourselves. We’ve got our hands full(ippai).”

“Change the ‘i’ in ‘ippai’ to an ‘o’!”

“Oppao oppao!”

“Kh… It didn’t work…”

Even elementary schoolers don’t fall for that kind of trap these days. Please don’t tell me your intelligence is on par with an elementary schooler, Riria…

Well, this wasn’t something I could do anything about anyway, so I could only hope Riria would be inspired to do her best.

…Or so I thought—until I immediately got a message on my phone.

『Hirakawa-kun! Teach me math!!!』

I wasn’t bad at math, but I wouldn’t say I was particularly good at it either. Still, as someone who lived the stereotypical loner life filled with nothing but studying, I was definitely better at it than Riria.

Given the nature of the people around her, if she was seriously trying to avoid repeating the year, she had no choice but to seek help elsewhere. And so, the person she chose was me. Not that I had any reason to turn her down once she asked. I had nothing better to do, after all.

『Got it. If you’re okay with me teaching you only what I know, I’ll help you with math.』

『Thanks! As expected of Hirakawa-kun! You’re literally God descending down to help me!』

『So, when do you want to do this? I’m free whenever.』

『Strike while the iron’s hot! Make haste! If not now, then when? Now’s the time!”

『It’s the seventh year of Reiwa, you know… What are you even doing? Please just study.”

And so—though I wasn’t entirely sure why—it was decided that I’d be studying with Riria after school today.

Since exams were coming up, I did want to spend time studying for myself too. But I remember reading somewhere that teaching others also helps deepen your own understanding, so at the very least, this wouldn’t be a waste of time. Failing and repeating the year purely because of bad grades—not due to absences—would be kind of embarrassing… Especially at a school like ours. Our school wasn’t exactly a high-level school after all.

Riria would just be adding more layers to her embarrassment. She was practically a walking embarrassment as it is. She should at least aim to move up a grade and graduate properly.

After school, I headed straight home. Even if this was Riria we were talking about, she was still a guest. I had to make sure my room was at least decently tidy. While cleaning, I stumbled upon something. It was that ultra thick item I’d been forced to take from Tokiwa-san, one of the first-string girls, the other day.

In this world where speed was everything, this item was considered as a stamina-boosting item—something deliberately made for endurance. Not very in demand, which probably made it hard to get. And in this world, girls were the ones who typically owned that kind of item, so there was really no need for me to have it.

Riria kept multiple in her wallet, and Hinayo had one hidden in a camouflage box shaped like a dictionary. As for Ayame-san… She probably didn’t have any. That woman gave off zero vibes of having a man in her life. She didn’t have the sliver of a man’s presence in her room. Not even an angstrom.

It’d be a waste to throw it away, so I figured I’d hide it somewhere my parents wouldn’t find it. Like that old cookie tin where I used to keep all my trading cards. Yeah. That spot should be safe.

Once I finished tidying up, I headed to the station to meet Riria. She had insisted, all full of herself, “I’ll head home first and get everything ready, then I’ll come over,” so instead of coming straight from school, we agreed to meet at the station near my house.

I felt like we were losing time that way, but there was no one home today, so we had all the time in the world. Enough time to clean, even. By the way, my dad was working the night shift, and my mom had gone to visit my aunt in the neighboring prefecture. Today, I was free. Invincible. ABSOLUTELY INVINCIBLE.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Did you wait long?”

“No, I just got here too… Wait, you’re dressed kinda casual.”

“Yeah, well. I wanna focus on studying, so I didn’t wanna wear anything tight or restrictive. Now that my shackles are off, I can finally get serious about learning.”

Riria snorted through her nose and struck a smug pose. If that were enough to make her study seriously, she wouldn’t be on the verge of repeating the year. Then I noticed her bag—it was huge.

“Sotogahama-san…? What’s with the giant bag?”

“Uh, well, I thought this might turn into a long battle…”

“A long battle…?”

“Y-you know, people can’t stay focused forever, right? So I thought I’d need to take breaks and stuff…”

“Sotogahama-san, do you even have any intention to study at all?”

“I-I do… I do…” 

“Even if you’re going to take a break eventually, you need to focus on studying first. You really have to give it a try if you want to avoid repeating the year.”

“Y-yes…”

I gave her a stern warning, just in case. If I let her relax, she’d probably start slacking right away. I’d have to keep a close eye on her.

Once we got to my house, I unlocked the door. As soon as we stepped inside, Riria asked me this.

“Hirakawa-kun, um… Your family, are they…?”

“Oh, no one’s home today.”

…Right after saying that, I let out a quiet “Ah.”

This was that trope, wasn’t it? That classic development in a romcom story from the original world.

No. No matter what, I’m going to make Riria study. I won’t lose!

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