No Wonder I'm Unwanted in This Chastity-Reversed World - Chapter 38

Chapter 38

When our turn came, Kanoya-san and I started walking through the forest.

Of course, the thing on my mind was—

“Actually, Ichise-kun and I met back in elementary school. And… you once helped me.”

Apparently, I had met Kanoya-san in the past… but I couldn’t remember it at all.

Kanoya-san is a total beauty now, so she must have been really cute as a kid too.

But unfortunately, I have no memory of ever interacting with a cute girl when I was younger.

Which is probably why I can’t remember meeting Kanoya-san at all.

I did say I’d try to recall it myself, but at this point, it feels hopeless.

“Kanoya-san. Can you give me some kind of hint to help me remember you?”

Hearing my words, Kanoya-san’s eyes widened slightly—then she gave me a small smile before speaking.

“I’m not sure if this will help, but… instead of telling you directly, I’ll describe the kind of person I used to be.”

“O-Oh?”

So that means she was different from how she is now?

“Back then, I was plain, shy, and timid… I couldn’t even stand in front of people, let alone do anything in public.”

She had said something similar yesterday too.

“…Man. I feel like I’m even more lost now.”

“Take your time. Just getting to talk with you like this makes me happy, Ichise-kun.”

Kanoya-san smiled gently, and for a moment, my heart skipped a beat.

“Talking is fun and all… but I’m also interested in finding some treasure. Would you be willing to help me, Ichise-kun?”

“Oh, of course!”

I rolled up the sleeves of my tracksuit, making a show of my enthusiasm.

And so, while chatting about random things, Kanoya-san and I threw ourselves into the treasure hunt.

For the second round, I got paired with a girl I’d never spoken to before.

Her name was Miyamae-san, and apparently, her current obsession was watching B-grade movies.

She even recommended a few to me, so I figured I’d go rent them with Kuno sometime.

For the third round, for some reason, I ended up paired with Tanaka.

A rare guy and guy pairing.

Because of that, we stood out a lot, and the intense stares from the girls around us made it impossible to hold a normal conversation.

◆◆

“Alright, after a short break, we’ll do one last round!”

“Already the last one!?”

“I still haven’t gotten paired with a guy!”

“This time, I have to get a boy as my partner!”

At Kiyomi-sensei’s announcement, the girls’ reactions were all over the place.

Either way, the excitement in the air was still high.

“So, the next one is the last, huh…”

“Well, if it’s the final round, I guess it’s fine.”

Surprisingly, the boys didn’t seem as against it as before.

Maybe they were starting to enjoy talking with the girls?

“Oh, and by the way—the final partners for this round have already been decided. The last pairs will be with the male bodyguards.”

Kiyomi-sensei firmly declared it as a final decision, but—

As expected, the girls weren’t having it.

“That’s not fair!”

“The male bodyguards are always next to the boys anyway!”

A storm of complaints broke out.

“Alright, alright, quiet down! The male bodyguards might be on duty all the time, but they’re still girls, you know? Maybe, for once, they’d like to talk to a guy just as themselves, not as bodyguards. Also, for this session, they don’t have to stay in disguise. Those with tied-up hair can let it down, and anyone wearing a sarashi can take it off if they want.”

Even the usually composed male bodyguards murmured in surprise at that statement.

And the girls who had been booing?

They started changing their tune.

“I mean… yeah, they are our age, but they’re always working as bodyguards. I guess they deserve a break too.”

“And we get to see their rare, non-disguised look!? That’s actually kinda exciting!”

Since the male bodyguards had built up a solid reputation with their hard work and happened to be a group of beautiful girls, the protests died down.

Now, instead of complaining, the girls were just curious to see their real appearances.

And with that, the final pairings were set—the boys would be paired with the male bodyguards.

During the break—

“Takahashi-kun, looks like we’re partners for the last round~! Nihihi~“

“Tanaka-kun, I’ll be in your care for this one.”

Glancing to the side, I saw Akarizaki-kun and Kamijo-kun chatting with Takahashi and Tanaka.

“So my final partner is Akarizaki, huh… W-Well, at least talking with you is easier than with the other girls.”

“Kamijo-san, looking forward to it! Let’s continue that conversation from when we played cards.”

Takahashi and Tanaka seemed to have warmed up to them quite a bit.

And it looked like Akarizaki-kun and Kamijo-kun noticed it too, as they both looked genuinely happy.

Watching them interact was kind of heartwarming.

As I was smiling at the scene, Rui suddenly appeared beside me.

“Ikuto. Looking forward to this last round. Here, have some water.”

“Thanks.”

She had even gone out of her way to buy me a drink from the vending machine.

I gratefully took the bottle, twisted off the cap, and took a sip.

“Ahh, that’s refreshing…”

“Even though it’s just walking, you still end up sweating a lot, huh?”

“Yeah, seriously.”

It wasn’t like the exercise itself was intense, but maybe I was unknowingly feeling tense from trying to communicate with my partners throughout the event.

I took another long gulp of water.

Rui also took a sip from her bottle…

“Ikuto.”

“Hmm?”

“For the last round, I’m your partner… but do you prefer me in disguise, or as my real self?”

Rui asked, and I instinctively paused mid-sip from my bottle.

She was asking me to choose—but surprisingly, I didn’t even need to think about it.

“Of course, I want to see the cute Rui! Please, show me your true self without the disguise…!”

“Alright.”

With her usual refreshing smile, Rui gave me a satisfied nod.