In This World That Favors Men, I... ~Starting a Sweet School Life in a World With a 1:8 Gender Ratio~ - 139

Chapter 139: Volunteer Cleaning Duty – Part 1

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Yui was intently searching for something on her computer.

I wonder what she is looking for?

“What have you been looking up all this time?”

“Um, I’m looking for volunteer opportunities.”

Talking about volunteer work, things like local cleanups, street fundraising, or helping out at sports events came to mind. It referred to socially beneficial public activities, and there were actually a lot of types out there.

“I think that’s a great idea, but it’s kind of sudden, isn’t it? Why the sudden interest in volunteer work?”

“Well, my homeroom teacher said, ‘Volunteer work gets evaluated on your record along with academics, so participate while you’re still in the lower grades and have more free time.’”

“Around this time of year, right before New Year’s?”

“…In April. Tehe~ I was so busy I just totally forgot. So the volunteer opportunities introduced by the school are already full or no longer accepting applications.”

Yikes. Classic Yui being forgetful again.

“So now you’re looking for something on your own. Have you found anything good?”

“There are volunteer activities, but the ones on weekends are already past the deadline or fully booked.”

Hmm. Most opportunities for high schoolers probably opened up during summer break, so trying to apply for something now, in this awkward in-between season, must be hard. 

“I see. In that case, I’ll ask around too and see if anyone knows something.”

“Really? Thanks, Onii-chan!”

Since Yui helped me out a lot with visiting college open campuses, her forgetfulness might partly be my fault too. I should at least help her gather information for her volunteer work.

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“Is there anything good out there?”

With that in mind, I tried asking around in class the next day, even if it was a long shot.

“There is! Something absolutely perfect. They’re actively recruiting, it’s light work, you just meet on-site. No travel expenses, but in exchange, you get freshly made snacks.”

“For real? What kind of stuff are we talking about? And where?”

“The volunteer activity is cleaning up the shrine grounds. And the place is… My family’s shrine!”

Ohh. If it’s at Yuuki’s family shrine, then it should be safe. This might be the perfect opportunity for Yui.

“Cleaning, like wiping the hallway floors with cloths?”

I imagined something like temple acolytes. Though working with water in this season would probably be rough.

“It’s all outdoors. We’re just gathering fallen leaves, but there’s a ton of them. At this time of the season, fallen leaves are everywhere—it’s a total mess.”

“I see. With a big shrine like that, it definitely sounds like you’d need a lot of help to clean it all up.”

“Exactly. We’ve got a lot of deciduous trees, and since the task is so simple, manpower is key to getting it done quickly. So, how many people are signing up?”

“I was only thinking of asking Yui.”

“Then of course, you’re coming too, right, Takeda?”

“Hmm… Should I?”

I felt bad asking Yui to go alone, but I also felt weird about tagging along to my little sister’s volunteer gig now that we were already in high school.

“The final snack is roasted sweet potatoes, cooked in a bonfire of the leaves we gather. We didn’t skimp on the budget either—we got the good stuff. They’re seriously delicious. And it’s an all-you-can-eat fiesta!”

“I’m in!”

“There it is! I knew that would work on you, Takeda!”

Yuuki did a small fist pump for some reason, but roasted sweet potatoes cooked in a leaf bonfire? That was an easy yes. No way I’d miss out on that.

“Then, can you ask your little sister to invite some of her friends too? The more, the better. And make sure you tell them you’re participating—that’ll help with recruitment!”

“Got it. I’ll let Yui know.”

“This is the true vine method… No, the true sweet potato bait method! Maybe this year I can get off easy for once?”

“Did you say something?”

“Nope, nothing. Just counting on your ability to draw a crowd, Takeda!”

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“To all volunteers—thank you very much for joining today’s cleaning activity at our shrine. We’ll now explain the tasks and group assignments.”

This time last year, we had a huge typhoon which made everything tough for everyone else, but this year we had sunny autumn days in a row. Today’s weather was great too, a bit warm—perfect for cleaning.

This kind of weather just lifts your spirits. Autumn, when the skies are high and horses grow fat. I’m really looking forward to roasting sweet potatoes in a bonfire.

Supermarkets started selling roasted sweet potatoes too these days, but you almost never see the classic street vendors roaming around anymore. Personally, I think that was a huge loss. 

Stone-roasted sweet potatoes—why are they so good? But sweet potatoes roasted in fallen leaves should be delicious too.

When Yui invited her classmates, it turned out they were also looking for volunteer opportunities, so a lot of them ended up joining. 

I guess everyone’s eager to improve their records… Or maybe there are just a lot of forgetful people like Yui in her class?

Professional cleaners were assigned to the main shrine path and the hall of worship, so our area would be the large pond garden and the woods. There were a lot of familiar faces, which made group work easier. Besides us school students, most other participants were locals who help out every year and acquaintances of Yuuki’s older sisters.

Among the school students were me, Yui, the girls from her class, and two guys from Class C—Wakisaka and Hirano.

Apparently, those two—especially Wakisaka—got pretty close with the shrine’s part-time miko (shrine maidens) after working together during New Year’s. Wakisaka was hanging out with some of those miko today, and Hirano seemed to be having a fun conversation with An-san. The third member of Class C’s usual trio, Katagiri, couldn’t make it today due to other commitments.

After a quick briefing, we split into teams and went to collect our cleaning tools.

“Yuusei-kun! We’re in the same group today, so let’s do our best!”

“Moemado—er, I mean, Tomoe-san and Madoka-san. I’m looking forward to working with you too.”

Looks like I got grouped with the Moemado duo.

“You can just call us Moemado. A lot of people do, since it’s hard to tell us apart.”

“You really do look alike. It’s kind of hard to know who is who when you’re dressed the same like today.”

Even with identical twins, usually you start noticing small differences as they grow up. But these two were nearly indistinguishable. Their hairstyles might be slightly different, but not enough for me to tell them apart. With them wearing matching tracksuits and down jackets today, telling them apart would be almost impossible.

《Protagonist Buff: 【Keen Eye L – Twin Identifier】 has been auto-installed. This is a passive skill. You may toggle it ON/OFF at will. Default is ON.》

What kind of skill is that…? I mean, I guess it exists. For now, since we’re in the middle of a conversation, I’ll leave it on default.

“So if you’re saying you get confused, does that mean if you really looked, you’d be able to tell which one of us is Tomoe and which is Madoka, Yuusei-kun?”

“Hmm… I’m not that confident.”

Did the skill appear because I thought I couldn’t tell them apart?

《It’s a protagonist buff.》

To be the protagonist, do I need to distinguish between the two?

“Then let’s play a game.”

“A game?”

“Yeah, the Moemado Guessing Game. When one of us talks to you, you say a name. If you’re right, you get a point. If you’re wrong, minus one. If you rack up enough points, there’s a special prize.”

《Of course.》

And this conversation too?

《Purely coincidence.》

“What’s the prize?”

“That’s a surprise for later.”

“And what if I end up with negative points?”

“Punishment, maybe? I guess… No sweet potatoes for you?”

“I would be utterly devastated then…”

That was my only motivation today.

“Okay, okay, we won’t take away your sweet potatoes.”

That was how the Moemado guessing game began. Would it be cheating if I used a skill that just happened to pop up at the right time?

But I really wanted to see it…The looks on their faces when I guessed correctly and surprised them. Because I was sure—absolutely sure—that both of them wanted me to guess right. Yes. I had a strong feeling they wanted me to guess it right.

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