It's a Chastity-Reversed World, But It's Different From What I Imagined? - 44

Chapter 44: Reactions on Social Media

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

The very first request we received—to cheer for the swim team—had drawn quite a response on SNS. Even the fact that it was a boys-only club activity was rare enough, but the sight of high school boys dancing like idols and singing captivated the women.

As expected of a world where the concept of chastity was reversed…

For a moment, he remembered anime from his original world, but he wasn’t aiming to be an idol. The reaction spread beyond Aoba High School, with requests coming from other schools asking us to cheer for them as well.

Soon, DMs started arriving daily, asking us to cheer not only for students but even for company employees. It was beginning to take on the aspect of a social activity that went beyond the scope of a high school club.

“So, what should we do?”

Thanks to Seiya, who uploaded everything to SNS, an emergency meeting was called to decide on our future activities.

“What should we do? About what?”

When they looked at the SNS post Seiya had uploaded, we realized that he had taken pictures and videos at some point without us noticing. A group photo of the four of them, individual photos, a dance video and a singing video. All of them were beautifully shot, equal parts embarrassing and memorable.

“DMs are flooding in every single day. After I noticed, I set restrictions so only Aoba High School students could send messages, but the DMs from companies that came in before the restriction are still there.”

The screen he showed was filled with an endless list of DMs.

“Whoa—over ten thousand DMs? And the account already has three hundred thousand followers? That’s amazing! So amazing!”

Yohei seemed to be enjoying the situation, laughing so hard he rolled around on the sofa.

“Damn it! Kill me! To suffer such humiliation…!”

Hayato buried his burning-red face in his hands.

“SNS is incredible, huh. At this rate, we might even get requests from overseas.”

Only Kaoru-sensei remained detached, acting the part of an observer.

“But, if you get this famous, it could cause all sorts of trouble. You’ll have to think about the risk of stalkers too.”

Everyone looked at each other at Kaoru-sensei’s remark.

“Haah, that kind of problem would come up too, huh… For idols, apparently they get men’s security assigned first. But for ordinary people like us, there’s no one like that. Even with the Men’s Protection Law, legally speaking it’s more like, ‘men are rarer than women, so let’s all protect them together.’”

Seiya held his head, and the whole group started worrying.

“Uh, well… My mother runs a bodyguard company. If you’d like, I could ask her about arranging protection for us?”

Yoru had been trained by his mother since he was young. Not just in massage, but also in martial arts, so I figured even if I were to get attacked, I could handle things to some extent. Hayato lacked stamina and was weak. Seiya had experience of being assaulted back in middle school. Yohei… He seemed like the type who would just give in without resisting if attacked.

“As a school, we can’t allow any harm to come to our students either. If you’re going to hire bodyguards, I’ll bring it up with the school administration on your behalf.”

Kaoru-sensei backed me up with his words.

“For now, could you at least talk to her first?”

When Seiya asked him that, I suddenly remembered his mother’s harsh words:

『You’re bad at talking. Your very existence is gross, so you shouldn’t go outside.』

But to protect the friends who had joined him in this club, he resolved to talk to his mother.

“Yeah, leave it to me.”

―――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――

It was the first time I had talked with my mother since the middle school graduation ceremony. Partly because she was busy with work, but also because I had been deliberately avoiding her, deciding to eat dinner alone as part of retraining myself.

I had hesitated to spend time with her. But after confessing my feelings to Yuuna, I had gained at least one thing: confidence. I could say what I wanted to say. I wasn’t the same person I used to be anymore. 

“Mom, there’s something I want to talk about today. Could you make some time for me?”

I had considered speaking with her at home, but decided it wasn’t something I wanted Tsuki to overhear, so I contacted my mother by phone.

“It’s rare to get a message from you, Yoru. Fine. My schedule is clear after eight tonight, so I’ll come pick you up.”

Back at home, I changed into casual clothes. Then I left Tsuki a note saying I would be late tonight and headed out.

Since it had been a while since I last saw my mother, I put on the branded clothes Ran had bought for me. It felt like changing into battle gear to steady my heart. After waiting for a while at the rotary, a stylish woman wearing sunglasses pulled up in an open car.

“Mom.”

I called out to her first, since she was scanning the area.

“…Huh? Yoru?”

Since my mother was always busy, I could easily go days without meeting her if I wanted to.  The last time I had seen her was at my graduation ceremony, nearly four months ago.

“Yeah. Thanks for making time for me today.”

“Oh, uh, well… You are my son, after all.”

Four months ago, my mother had seemed sharp-tongued and stern. But today, she looked downcast, avoiding eye contact.

Does she still think I’m gross?

It hurt to think my own family was thinking of me as someone gross. 

“Shall we go then?”

“Go? Go where?”

“What? To have dinner together, of course.”

“Oh—ah, right, that’s true… let’s go.”

My mother’s open car began to move. I thought the wind resistance would be harsh, but the drive was pleasantly cool and comfortable.

“This place should do.”

The place she brought me to was a top-class hotel’s observation restaurant.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー