In This World That Favors Men, I... ~Starting a Sweet School Life in a World With a 1:8 Gender Ratio~ - 15

Chapter 15: Would You Like to Play in Slow Motion?

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There was a P.E. class today.

“Takeda, let’s go!”

I thought we’d be changing in the classroom, but it turned out there was actually a designated boys’ locker room. I had this image of a boys’ locker room being all sweaty and smelly, but when I actually went inside, it was nothing like that. Instead, it was a comfortable space lined with clean lockers. It had toilets, sinks, and even showers. There were tables and chairs for resting, and even a drink dispenser.

“Can we drink this freely?”

“It’s free. You can have as much as you want.”

Private schools are insane.

Apparently, though, this was an exclusive setup for the boys’ locker room. If you weren’t feeling well, you could rest here and still be marked as present. I finished changing.

Even the school tracksuits here were stylish. The base color was navy, with blue and white lines as accents. There were two types of inner shirts—white and navy—and you could wear whichever one you preferred. The chest had a V-cut design, with a navy collar decorated with blue and white stripes. The shorts matched the design of the tracksuit.

The gym shoes were white with blue and navy stripes. The outdoor shoes were navy with white and blue stripes. At some point, they had appeared in my closet, and for some reason, they fit perfectly. The fit was so precise that it actually felt strange.

I was probably an indoor type before. Even now, I still feel like an indoor type, but this body—it was oddly lean and well-built. I even had biceps and somehow, I also had abs even though I never worked out.

I wasn’t ridiculously muscular or anything, but I had just enough definition that if I took my shirt off, my body would look decent. Maybe because of that, I felt a weird sense of disconnect when I moved even though my height doesn’t seem much different from before. Like I could move better than I expected.

How long will it take to get used to this feeling?

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P.E. was separated by gender. Today, the girls were in Gym 1 playing volleyball, while the boys were in Gym 2 doing mat exercises.

“Takeda, you’re crazy flexible!”

The class started with stretching. When I bent forward, my hands slapped flat against the floor. My muscles and tendons stretched pleasantly without any feeling of discomfort.

Damn, I’m amazing if I may say so myself.

I was so flexible that even I couldn’t believe it myself. Stretching made my circulation feel better, and it actually felt good. I might be able to do yoga at this rate.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Why are you acting like it’s someone else’s body? You look like you’d be good at sports. Have you really never done anything?”

“I really haven’t. I don’t even know the rules that well.”

“Man, what a waste.”

“You say that, but you look like you’d be good at sports too, Saitou.”

“Me? I’m not bad at it, but I wouldn’t say I go out of my way to do it. There aren’t many guys in sports, so it doesn’t get that competitive.”

“Yeah, I get that. Team sports are tough with only this many people.”

“Even if you gather everyone, there are only fifteen guys per grade. And not all of them like sports.”

“Honestly, there are more indoor types than outdoor types. Since we were kids, people kept saying it was dangerous outside, so we mostly played indoors.”

I see. This world had both male and female molesters. So little boys weren’t allowed to go outside much, huh?

＊

“Alright! Gather up! Today, we’ll be doing mat exercises. You’ll be trying two moves: the head kip-up and the handstand roll.”

The head kip-up was also known as a head spring.

You started by bending your knees and leaning forward. Placed both hands on the floor, then set your forehead down while supporting yourself with your head. From there, you kicked both legs up hard and landed in a bridge-like position before standing up.

Basically, it was like doing a kip-up from a tripod headstand. The teacher demonstrated, flipping over so smoothly it looked effortless. The movement was so fast that I couldn’t quite catch the part where he flipped. I wished I could see it in slow motion.

《Would you like to play it in slow motion?》

No, I would not.

Wait… My diary… I left it at home. Why is it here? Can it move around on its own?

Since there were so few students, the teacher provided individual assistance, teaching each person in turn.

This kind of service feels pretty luxurious…

Then, it was my turn.

Okay… Hands on the floor, head down… Kick up both legs… Land, and lift my body.

…The teacher helped, but I pulled it off on the first try.

“Takeda-kun, have you done this before? At this level, you could probably do it without assistance.”

Alright, then, without assistance. Hands down, head down… Flip—land. Hey, I can do this.

“Perfect. Takeda-kun, go practice on the other mat for a while.”

“Got it.”

This body was surprisingly light. Flip, land, stand. Flip again, land, stand. It was effortless. Having abs wasn’t just for show, after all. I found myself oddly impressed with my own body.

“Next, we’ll move on to the front handspring. Just like before, I’ll assist at first, so don’t be afraid to go for it.”

The front handspring, also known as a handspring, involved raising both hands and getting a running start. Pushing off with one foot while leaning forward, planting both hands on the ground, and then swinging the remaining leg straight up. The takeoff foot also left the floor, launching the body into a forward flip. The legs came together in midair, forming a bridge-like posture before landing and standing up.

This seemed tough. Without momentum and strong core and back muscles, getting back up would be impossible.

“Alright, Takeda-kun, you go first.”

Looked like I was the first one up. Apparently, the teacher would help with the landing.

Hands up. Run, push off, hands down, kick up—Flip. Oh. I did it.

“Yep. You don’t need assistance. That was very well executed. You’re good to go. Keep practicing over there?”

“Got it.”

Handsprings were a bit acrobatic and looked cool. The takeoff, the high jump, the landing—it was actually pretty fun once I got the hang of it. And just like that, P.E. was over in a flash.

For the record, among the other guys…Yuuki quickly got the hang of it and joined me for an independent practice session.  Uesugi needed some assistance at first but eventually managed and joined us. Houjou struggled just as expected. The real surprise was Saitou. He looked athletic, but it took him quite a while to get it down. When I asked him about it later, he said he was good at ball sports but bad at mat exercises. That said, he still managed to pull it off by the end of class, so he wasn’t that bad at it.

“Takeda, how about playing a light warrior in BatFla? With how agile you are, you’d be a perfect fit.”

That was what Yuuki suggested. BatFla—short for Sengoku Emaki Kafuuden: Battle Flower Gale—was a game where the other five had already chosen their roles.

Yuuki: Thief / Scout

Saitou: Monk / Healer

Houjou: Shield / Defense

Uesugi: Swordsman / Frontline

Imagawa: Mage

If I joined as a light warrior or some other frontliner, the party would be pretty well-balanced. In VR games, having real-life skills was always better than not having them. Since I didn’t have a strong preference for any class, I figured I might as well take Yuuki’s suggestion. As the name implied, light warriors had high AGI (Agility) status. Their weapons were usually swords or spears. The game itself wouldn’t start for a while, but just talking about it like this was already pretty fun in itself.

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