It's a Chastity-Reversed World, But It's Different From What I Imagined? - 14

Chapter 14: Let’s Make an Effort to Start the Conversation

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It happened on a day with a classroom change. It was the day Seiya was absent for a regular medical checkup, due to the accident that had happened back in middle school.

While walking alone, I saw a bespectacled girl staggering ahead, carrying reference books and other class materials. A plain, literary-type girl, small in stature, with braided hair that stood out.

I knew she was a classmate, but I didn’t know her name. Even if a teacher had asked her, it felt wrong to let a single girl carry such heavy-looking materials all by herself.

More than anything, ever since entering high school, I hadn’t had a proper conversation with anyone besides Seiya. I had gone through all the effort to change my image and try talking to people, yet I hadn’t actually put it into practice.

This was my chance to speak up first. I wanted to get closer to girls too. Someday, I wanted to have a girlfriend too.

Alright, let’s do this.

“Uh, um.”

“Yes? Eh! Eeeehhhhhh!?”

The bespectacled girl turned when I called out, but when she saw my face, she let out a strange shriek and fell back onto her bottom. I hadn’t expected her to be that shocked, and it stung a little.

When she landed, a lacey, rather sexy view opened up, but I turned my back and forced myself to refocus. Without looking at her, I began picking up the materials that had fallen.

“Eh? Eh? Eh? Ah! N-no, don’t! I dropped them, so—!”

Panicking, the bespectacled girl tried to snatch back the class materials I was picking up, but froze when she got close to me.

“You okay? Look, that’s heavy, right? I’ll help you carry it.”

I handed her two light books and picked up the rest of the materials, standing up.

“Huh? Carry? Together?”

“Yeah? But… Am I being a bother?”

I tried to keep my responses short, aiming to make the conversation flow as naturally as possible. On NewTube, the “How to Talk to the Opposite Sex” course had said that stuttering, rambling, or speaking too fast would make you come off as creepy.

So I spoke clearly, slowly, and concisely. Maybe I came on too strong?

“Not a bother at all!!!”

Her denial came in a voice far louder than the timid way she’d been acting before.

“Uh… So, it’s okay for me to help you then?”

“Please!”

Her firm reply startled me a little, but I started walking alongside the bespectacled girl. An awkward silence stretched between us—I had no idea what to say.

“Yo, Icchi—wait, huh? Ku-Kurose-kun?”

As the bespectacled girl turned the corner, we ran into another classmate.

“Tchh!”

I thought I heard the bespectacled girl click her tongue. Was that my imagination?

“Uh, um…”

While I was struggling for a reply…

“Ah, right. Kurose-kun, you’re famous, but you don’t remember me yet, right? I’m from Class 1-A, Umeno Kizuki. And this glasses girl is Ichika Mimori. Got it memorized?”

Her bright, easygoing self-introduction overwhelmed me.

“Ah, uh, right. Kizuki-san and Mimori-san.”

“Non non. It’s Umeno and Ichika!”

“Eh?”

Puzzled, I looked at Mimori, who nodded vigorously.

“Umeno? Ichika?”

I repeated their names with some hesitation. These were girls I had barely spoken to before, practically strangers. Jumping straight to calling them by name felt like a high hurdle, but I forced myself to push past it.

This was a chastity-reversed world after all. Girls here sought out boys. Up until now, the girls I’d met had all been scared of me.

But Umeno’s easygoing attitude—that felt like the ideal kind of exchange in this chastity-reversed world. This was what I’d been waiting for. This was where I’d start getting along with girls and my chastity-reversed world life would truly begin.

“Ah! I’ll help carry it too from here!”

Lost in thought, I didn’t notice Umeno suddenly snatch away the materials I was holding.

“Eh?”

“Y-yes, that’s right. It’s not proper to make a boy carry them. Come on, Ume-chan, let’s go.”

Both girls turned red and ran off. Huh? Huuhhh?? Weren’t we supposed to walk to the classroom together, chatting and getting closer?

“Oh my, Kurose-kun. What are you doing here?”

As I stood dumbfounded in the hallway, Asuka Kuramine spoke to me. She was one of the top five beauties in the school, and I knew she liked Seiya.

“Kuramine-san.”

“Ah, that’s right. Today Shirogane-kun is absent. So? If you’d like, shall we walk to the classroom together?”

It was my first time speaking to Kuramine-san, but unlike the other girls, she seemed composed. She wasn’t the type to suddenly change her behavior like Mimori-san and Kizuki-san had.

“Yeah, I don’t mind.”

“Good. Then let’s go. I’ve been interested in you.”

Though we were the same age, Kuramine-san gave off the air of a mature woman. I’d seen her gaze at Seiya during introductions, and sometimes chatting with him.

She had entered first year as the top of the class. She was a gifted student, and being with her made me tense. But that tension came more from curiosity—wondering what a girl who liked Seiya was really thinking.

“Interested?”

“Yes. We haven’t had much chance to talk. Hey, Kurose-kun, may I ask you something?”

Talented and beautiful, refined and athletic. There were countless four-character idioms that could describe her. Just what was she going to ask?

“Yeahh. Go ahead.”

“D-do you… Do you have a girlfriend?”

…Huh?

“H-have you ever kissed anyone?”

Ah. This is that thing, right? The cliché question a virgin boy blurts out to a girl?

Like, since she couldn’t bring herself to ask Seiya directly, she asked a more approachable Friend A instead? Hmm. That gap between her appearance and the question was…

“Uh, no. I don’t have a girlfriend. And I’ve never kissed anyone.”

I answered honestly.

“I see! I see, that’s good… Yes.”

For some reason, she nodded over and over, looking pleased. While exchanging such ridiculous conversation, we finally reached the classroom. She was supposed to be the main heroine, but this wasn’t what I expected…

In any case, tomorrow marked the start of Golden Week…

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