In a World of Reversed Chastity, I’m Surrounded by a Clingy Older Woman, a Walking Red Flag, and an Exhausted Office Lady - 2

Chapter 2: You Really Can’t Judge a Person by Their Appearance

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While my neighbor washed the dishes, I took a quick shower, brushed my teeth, and got ready for bed. When I returned, she once again had a blank look on her face.

“Ah, thank you for washing the dishes.”

“………N-No, no. It’s nothing, really. More importantly, you went and took a shower?”

“Yes. It’s already late. Oh, you should go in too. I can lend you a shirt or something.”

There were still many hours left until morning. Her outfit looked quite expensive. It was what people would call a high-fashion type. It wouldn’t be good if it got wrinkled, and I figured she would feel bad about that too. Fortunately, I had several loose, comfortable clothes suitable for sleeping, so I could lend her some.

When I asked her, she seemed unable to process my words, trying to express her emotions with gestures, but in the end she hid her face in her long sleeves and asked me,

“I-Is that okay? Borrowing a boy’s clothes. My scent might get on them, you know?”

“…? You don’t smell bad. I think you smell nice, so it’s fine.”

“!? R-Really, it’s okay?”

For a brief second, I almost misunderstood in a strange direction—wondering if she had body odor—but then I remembered this was a reversed chastity world. I more or less understood why she was reacting like that. Still, I didn’t mind at all. I had no resistance to her using my bath or my clothes.

“It’s fine. I don’t mind. So, for clothes… would this be okay?”

I picked out a few suitable items and handed them to her, then had her head to the bath. If we kept going back and forth like that, it felt like it would drag on, so I figured this was better.

While she was in the shower, I felt a slightly improper curiosity for a moment, but I shook it off and did a final check of the report I needed to submit, and even worked a bit ahead on an upcoming assignment.

I wondered if Renka was properly working on her report right now. I had told her I would think about it together with her tomorrow, but would she at least think about it a little on her own? Then again, knowing Renka, she probably hadn’t thought about it much at all.

“Th-Thanks for the bath.”

While I had been wracking my brain about Renka’s report, quite a bit of time had passed, and my neighbor had finished bathing. Perhaps because she had just gotten out, her body was still warm, her cheeks were bright red.

“You’re welcome. Well then, it’s late, so shall we sleep? I have an extra futon, would that be okay?”

I had a younger sister, Hina, and she sometimes came over, so I had one spare futon. Personally, I wouldn’t have minded letting her use the bed, but that might make her feel awkward, so I suggested the futon for her.

“Eh, i-is that okay? I’d be fine sleeping on the floor or anywhere.”

“It would be a waste not to use it when it’s available. Please don’t hesitate.”

“…Thank you.”

Thanks to Hina’s occasional selfishness, I didn’t have to sleep on the floor tonight. So this was what they meant by “better safe than sorry.” After moving the small table aside, I managed to lay out the futon. All that remained was to turn off the lights and sleep.

“I’ll turn off the lights, okay? Is that okay with you?”

“Y-Yeah. You can turn them off.”

After getting her consent, I switched off the light. With the curtains closed, the room became pitch dark, and I could only feel time passing. If I were alone, I could sleep without thinking about anything, but knowing there was someone else in the room made it hard to fall asleep so easily.

…I was bored, and I couldn’t sleep. As I rolled around restlessly, it suddenly occurred to me. I didn’t even know my neighbor’s name. From the moment we met until now, when we were about to sleep, we hadn’t introduced ourselves even once.

“Are you still awake?”

“Eh? Ah, yeah. I’m awake.”

“Um… come to think of it, what’s your name?”

When I asked, after a few seconds I sensed her suddenly sitting up beside me.

“It’s Yua Shino­nome. Sorry. You’re letting me stay over, and I didn’t even introduce myself.”

I had a feeling my neighbor—now Shinonome-san—was facing me apologetically, so I turned the light back on. As expected, she was bowing her head slightly.

“It’s the same for me. My name is Aoi Shirasu. I’m a first-year university student. Nice to meet you.”

When I bowed as well, Shinonome-san wore a blank expression for what must have been the umpteenth time that day. At some point, the worn-down-by-life atmosphere she had earlier was gone, and she no longer seemed tired either. I had thought she was a cool beauty who only ever wore a languid expression, but over the course of today, I had come to realize that wasn’t quite true.

Just as I thought, you really can’t judge a person by their appearance.

“Shinonome-san?”

“…Ah, uh, s-sorry. This older lady was just a bit surprised. I may look like this, but I’m a working adult. I work as a hairstylist while also doing music-related jobs.”

“Oh, really?”

…Even though I had just thought you couldn’t judge by appearances, I had vaguely guessed she worked in that kind of field, so I wasn’t that surprised.

“Once again, Sh-Shirasu-kun, you’re amazing. Living alone even though you’re a boy. This older lady is surprised.”

“Yeah, people often say I’m unusual. My mom and my little sister tried to stop me too.”

In this world, living alone as a man was considered dangerous unless you lived somewhere with decent security. But I was just an average-looking guy, so I felt I’d probably be fine. More than that, though, the train ride from my family home to the university was quite long. Commuting every day would cost a lot and waste time, so after discussing it with my mom, I was allowed to live alone.

After finishing our brief self-introductions, the conversation suddenly died, and an awkward silence settled in as neither of us knew what to say next. Feeling uncomfortable, I said to her.

“U-Um… shall we really go to sleep now?”

Shinonome-san also said to me. 

“Y-Yeah. This older lady should probably sleep too.”

Perhaps she couldn’t endure the atmosphere either. The room became dark again, and only time passed. Then, suddenly, I heard her voice.

“Shirasu-kun. Thank you for today. G-Good night.”

It was a small voice, but it was unmistakably Shinonome-san’s. She must have thought I might already be asleep and was being considerate.

“Good night, Shinonome-san.”

After saying that to her, I closed my eyes once more, and this time, strangely enough, I was able to fall asleep.

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