In This World That Favors Men, I... ~Starting a Sweet School Life in a World With a 1:8 Gender Ratio~ - 60

Chapter 60: Yuuki and His Four Sisters

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It was the fifth day of spring break. The day had arrived for the planned ski trip organized by Houjou’s Elder Partner. It seemed we would be traveling to the destination by chartered bus.

And so, early in the morning, I arrived at our meeting place, which was the school parking lot. The sun was already up, making it bright outside, but it was still quite cold. And I was sleepy. Well, it was still spring, after all.

…Is that it?

I spotted a large blue bus parked in the otherwise empty parking lot. Near the entrance door, a woman in a suit stood alone.

“Good morning. Are you a participant? May I have your name, please?”

“Takeda. I’m Yuusei Takeda.”

“Takeda-sama. I am Matsunaga from Miyoshi Travel, responsible for assisting you all on this trip. If you have any large luggage, we can store it here for you. Yuuki-sama’s group has already arrived. Please feel free to board the bus, Takeda-sama.”

Yuuki-sama’s group? A group meant there were more than one person, right? Were they here to see him off? Who else from the Yuuki family had come?

“This is my luggage. Thank you.”

“Certainly. I’ll take care of it for you. The bus has a free drink service. You may help yourself to any beverages in the refrigerator or the thermal pot.”

All-you-can-drink, huh? That’s quite the service.

Now free from the burden of the heavy luggage, I boarded the bus with just a small backpack.

“Good morning, Takeda.”

“Good morning, Yuuki… Ah, um. Good morning.”

Aside from Yuuki, there were four young women. They were probably all his older sisters.

I quickly exchanged greetings with them.

“Takeda-kun, it’s been a while. Do you remember me? I’m Rin, the eldest. Thank you for always looking after my younger brother, Ren.”

Rin, the eldest sister, truly embodied the meaning of her name. She had a dignified presence. Even dressed casually, she somehow had an aura reminiscent of a shrine maiden. Maybe it was because, despite being older, she had a pure and serene aura.

“I’m An, the second eldest. It’s great to see you again. Let’s ski a lot together.”

An looked the most like Yuuki. She was tall for a woman but had a small face. Her stylish short haircut suited her well. The short haircut emphasized her refined appearance.

“I’m Tomoe, the third sister. Takeda-kun, are you interested in snowboarding? I’d be happy if we could do it together.”

“I’m Madoka, the fourth sister. Let’s have lots of fun!”

Tomoe and Madoka looked identical. I soon learned they were identical twins. I had heard they were university students, but they didn’t seem much older than us. Maybe because they were petite? Their oversized-sleeved coats in different colors suited them so well that I almost imagined them with cat ears.

No, seriously. The quality of their spec was high. Not only were they all beautiful, but they were also incredibly cute. And even though we had only exchanged greetings briefly during New Year’s, they were all very friendly. They were nothing like Yuuki in personality.

…But skiing together? What did they mean by that?

“Yuuki, aren’t your sisters just here to see you off?”

“No. My sisters are here as my escorts… Or rather, my chaperones.”

“Chaperones? Is that because of that ‘matter’? Is it still a problem?”

“Yeah. The engagement talks are still ongoing. The other party is surprisingly persistent, but well, that’s just the official excuse. Realistically, Rin alone would be enough to keep an eye on me, but the others tagged along for fun. The three of them are just here to enjoy themselves.”

I see. Officially, they were here as guardians due to the arranged marriage situation. But in reality, it was just a plain vacation for them. While chatting about skiing and snowboarding with the sisters, three classmates from Class C—Katagiri, Hirano, and Wakisaka—arrived, making the bus much livelier.

“What about the others?”

“They’re meeting us at the destination. I heard Houjou already traveled there on the first day of spring break.”

“What about the Elder members?”

“The Elder women will be joining us as their schedules allow. Since I’m the oldest among us, Miyoshi-san, the organizer, asked me to be the trip leader. I might not be the most reliable, but with Matsunaga-san here as well, there’s no need to worry.”

The one saying that was Rin-san. I had joined the trip without much thought, but I was grateful for how well everything had been arranged. I’d have to properly thank Miyoshi-san later.

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Finally, we set off for our destination.

The bus was designed luxuriously, with a long table in the center surrounded by U-shaped seating. Despite being a large bus, it had only twelve seats apart from the driver’s and co-driver’s, making it feel incredibly spacious. The windows were large, letting in plenty of light and creating an open atmosphere. Apparently, this type of bus was called a “salon bus.” Like a moving party room.

With four women and five men, there were only nine of us on board, making the space feel even more relaxed. The seats were plush and comfortable. Meanwhile, the three Class C guys were unusually high-spirited. In fact, they were being quite straight-forward.

“Are you ladies single?”

“Single as in no boyfriends? Then, no, none of us are dating anyone. Rin-nee will probably have to take a husband someday, though.”

“Seriously?! Even though you’re all this cute?!”

“Thank you, Katagiri-kun. You’re quite the smooth talker.”

“No, really. You’re all incredibly beautiful! Is there some family reason you’re not married yet?”

Oh, bold move. He actually asked that question directly.

“Rin has to be selective because she’s the heir, but the rest of us are free to choose. We just don’t feel rushed to have kids yet, so we’re taking our time. If you’re interested, feel free to take one of us.”

I see. Some women aren’t in a hurry to settle down for those kinds of reasons.

“Hey, Ren! You’re making us sound desperate! If you want us to find someone, talk about our good points!”

“Good points? Hmm… Well, everyone’s healthy? And energetic?”

“That’s it?! What about cooking skills? Cleanliness? There’s more to us, right?!”

“Rin and An are good at household chores. But MoeMado…”

“MoeMado?”

“Tomoe and Madoka. Since they’re always together, we just call them that at home.”

“MoeMado… That sounds like an idol duo. Cute.”

“Hirano-kun, do you like idols?”

“Yeah, pretty much. But Katagiri is way more into them.”

“Katagiri-kun too? Are there any popular idols right now?”

“Well, the ones we like are a bit niche.”

“All three of you? Who’s the third?”

All eyes turned to Wakisaka and me. No, not me. I shook my head firmly.

“It’s me!” 

Wakisaka declared enthusiastically.

“Wakisaka-kun too. So, the whole Class C trio. Ren, you’re not interested in idols, right? Takeda-kun, what about you?”

“I’m not really into idols.”

“I’m not really interested in idols either.”

“It’s interesting how guys our age can be so divided on this. Hey, just out of curiosity, which idol do you guys like?”

“It’s Valkyrie Flower Cutie, right?”

“Hey, Yuuki, don’t spill our secrets!”

“No. I think this is one of those times when it’s better to spill. The image of Flower Cutie totally overlaps with my sisters’.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Flower Cutie is a cosplay-style idol group, and all of them wear outfits based on martial arts uniforms. Basically, they look like shrine maiden outfits in different colors. Plus, the members are a mix of the elegant type and the cute type, so their character styles match pretty closely with my sisters too.”

Now that he mentioned it, that did make sense. They really did give off that warrior-maiden vibe. If Flower Cutie was exactly the type that Katagiri and the others liked, then no wonder they got so excited after meeting Yuuki’s four older sisters. They were all older than us, but they were just as beautiful as idols and actresses on TV.

“They’re in casual clothes right now, so it’s not as obvious, but if they wore shrine maiden outfits, they’d really look the part.”

“Shrine maiden outfits! Your sisters wear those? I’d love to see that! Can we see them if we visit the shrine?”

“Yeah. We take shifts for part-time work there, so we might not all be there at the same time, but at least one of us should be around. We met Takeda-kun during the New Year’s shrine visit, remember?”

“That’s right. Shrine maiden outfits and casual clothes do give off pretty different impressions.”

Indeed. Shrine maiden outfits had a special kind of appeal. There was something about seeing a woman in traditional Japanese clothing that could really take your breath away.

“For real? Man, if I had known about this, I wouldn’t have just gone to my neighborhood shrine for New Year’s.”

“In that case, we have a pretty big festival at our shrine in June. That day, all four of my sisters should be there. If you’re interested, you should come check it out.”

“I’m in! Yuuki, let’s swap contact info later. Man, just for this alone, I’m glad I joined this trip.”

The trip had barely even started, though.

“I’m happy to hear that. The festival in June has tons of food stalls too, and we’d all love to have you there, so definitely come and have fun.”

A festival, huh… That actually sounded pretty interesting. And the food stalls? That sounded even better. Maybe a festival date could be a thing? June, huh… June was still far from exam season, so it might be fine to invite the three of them even though they were in the middle of exam prep. I should ask them about it later.

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