Reincarnated Into a Delinquent Manga… Where the Genders Are Reversed and Everyone’s a Girl - Chapter 43 & 44: Undercover Mission | Home Visit

Chapter 43: Undercover Mission

“Hey, so… I was thinking of joining the Shirane faction.”

“…Haaa!?”

The library.

A place ruled by silence—now shattered by Mikoto Shirane, who sat across from me with a giant cloud of question marks practically floating over her head.

Her long, inward-curled white hair slipped off her shoulders as she tilted her head in confusion.

“Treason?”

“Not really. I’m just… curious.”

“Ohh, so you’re the type who strays easily, huh. Poor Myougi-san~.”

Mikoto scratched her cheek with an awkward smile. Her face said it all: this was trouble.

From the corner of her eye, she glanced toward the shelves—right on cue, Mikoto’s followers stepped out, marching in like sumo wrestlers making their entrance into the ring.

“Oi.”

“Yes.”

“What do you think of Shirane-san?”

“Uh… I think she’s really cute.”

“Accepted.”

““Eh?!””

Mikoto and I shouted in unison.

Her face screamed, Are you kidding me right now? But the girl who had just answered looked completely unrepentant—calm and cheerful, like a cloudless summer sky.

The air went still for a moment.

I glanced at Mikoto and noticed her ears had turned red.

“…Well then, that settles it.”

“Eh?”

“Welcome to the Shirane faction, rookie.”

“Eh!?”

Mikoto’s followers grinned wide. One of them stepped up, placed a hand on my shoulder, and leaned her weight against me.

Even though this was a gender-swapped world, I didn’t actually feel much weight pressing down at all.

◇

A few days later.

I set my bag on the desk to pull out my lunch box—and right then, Minato came stomping over, shoulders squared, each step rattling the floor like a drumbeat.

She slammed her palm down on my desk and yelled:

“CHEATING!?”

“…What are you even talking about?”

“I heard it, Takuma-kun—you joined the Shirane faction, didn’t ya!!”

“…And who told you that?”

“Mikoto Shirane!!!!”

Minato ground her teeth.

“She was all smug about it, y’know—like she was introducing her boyfriend or something. We’d barely even talked, and I already wanted to slap her across the face!!”

Honestly, I half-expected Mikoto to keep her mouth shut. She always gave off that secretive vibe.

But nope—she’d gone straight to Minato and spilled everything.

Maybe it was her way of drawing a line.

Or maybe… just plain bragging.

Not that I could see what there was to brag about.

Still, judging by Minato sulking right in front of me, it definitely worked on her.

At the next desk, Chiaki raised an eyebrow.

But she kept quiet, just watching the scene play out.

Minato’s eyes welled up with tears.

“Takuma-kun, I don’t know you anymore!!”

“Huh?!”

She stormed out of the classroom, spouting lines straight out of a sappy romance drama—totally unfitting for a delinquent.

All I could do was watch her back fade into the hallway.

My hand, stretched out on instinct, just sliced through empty air.

“What a sinful man you are.”

Chiaki chuckled softly.

When I turned, she was sipping her strawberry milk with a grin.

“So, what’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”

“…Nothing much. Just felt like it.”

“Hmm~?”

Chiaki didn’t press further.

She only deepened her grin, looking way too knowing for comfort.

“Minato might’ve said all that, but don’t worry—she’ll come crawling back soon enough. Probably with some clumsy line like, ‘H-Hey, wanna grab lunch together?’”

“…You’re not even gonna ask me the reason?”

“You want me to ask? Really, you’re starting to sound like one of those needy boyfriends.”

“That’s not it.”

I shook my head, the corner of my lips twitching up.

After everything that had just happened, my facial muscles felt stiff.

I rubbed at my cheeks with my fingers, trying to loosen them up—when Chiaki suddenly stood.

“I’ll go look for Minato. Not gonna ask for reasons or anything, but if you really get stuck, you can come talk to me. That girl’s not exactly good at this kinda stuff.”

She waved her hand lazily as she spoke.

The gesture looked cool—though maybe in this world, it counted as feminine.

With one hand shoved into the pocket of her skirt, she strode out of the classroom, leaving me behind to stare out the window alone.

“Yayoi called it a spy mission, but maybe she was right… Guess it’s true what they say—if you wanna fool your enemies, you gotta fool your friends first.”

I let out a snort at my own muttering.

Still, since Minato was in the same class, our “reunion” didn’t take long. Barely ten minutes later, our eyes accidentally met—

And both of us instantly looked away, awkward as hell.

Meanwhile, Chiaki sat there with her legs crossed, enjoying the show like she had front-row tickets to a comedy act.

After school, I headed out of the gate alone. Mikoto had called me out today.

When I reached the spot, she was already there—along with her followers.

At first glance, you wouldn’t even peg them as delinquents; their posture was calm, almost proper.

So I didn’t bother putting up any guard when I called out:

“Hey.”

“Good afternoon, Takamure-san!!”

“…What’s with that reaction?”

Perfect ninety-degree bows.

Her whole squad bent like they were greeting a company president—and not at Mikoto, but at me.

I had no clue what was going on.

When I shot Mikoto a questioning look, she just snapped her fingers slowly, like some deep-sea creature stretching after a nap.

“Takuma-kun has now become an officer of the Shirane faction.”

“…Hah?”

“Takuma-kun has now become an officer of the Shirane faction.”

“It’s not that I didn’t hear you, but—seriously?”

My ears worked fine.

It was my brain that short-circuited.

Her followers stood there treating me like some bigshot, and I just couldn’t deal with it.

“Uh, you don’t have to bow or anything,” I said awkwardly.

At that, Mikoto coolly gave her girls new instructions.

“Alright girls, that’s enough for today. You can all head home now.”

“You’re not nervous anymore, huh?”

“But didn’t you say, ‘I’ll get nervous being alone, so come with me’?”

“You still look restless. Want us to walk you all the way home?”

“S-Shut up! I never said that—who even told you that nonsense!?”

All that calm composure from earlier vanished in an instant.

Mikoto whipped her hair around, flustered as she panicked and drove her followers off.

Even as they left, they kept glancing back at her with worried eyes—like parents watching their kid head off to elementary school for the first time.

Chapter 44: Home Visit

“So, what’s with this ‘officer’ thing?”

“Exactly what it sounds like.”

On the way to Mikoto’s house—yeah, somehow the conversation ended up with me tagging along again—I finally couldn’t hold back and asked.

Her followers’ weird reactions.

Mikoto declaring, “Takuma-kun is now an officer of the Shirane faction.”

Nobody had explained a thing to me. What the heck was that supposed to mean?

Mikoto just played it cool.

She wore an expression that basically screamed “Nice weather we’re having,” and said:

“Since Takuma-kun joined the Shirane faction, I figured, why not make a big show of it?”

“…Show off to who?”

“Minaty.”

“…Who the heck is that supposed to be?”

A completely unfamiliar name dropped out of her mouth.

I tilted my head, confused, and she snorted.

“Minato Myougi.”

“…Oh, so that’s ‘Minaty.’”

“Don’t call her that. Makes my skin crawl.”

“Wait, but isn’t that a total double standard??”

I couldn’t tell if her disgust was aimed at me or Minato, but either way, getting mad when someone else used the same nickname definitely counted as a double standard.

Muttering an apology toward her scowl, I followed her down the street.

After a while, a familiar-looking house came into view—Mikoto’s place.

“Been a while.”

“Welcome. It’s a small place, but make yourself at home.”

Mikoto pinched the hem of her skirt and dipped into an exaggerated curtsy. Mischief glittered in her narrowed eyes, but somehow, the gesture actually suited her.

Even though this was my second time here, stepping into a girl’s house still made me nervous.

I carefully lined up my shoes, tread lightly so the floorboards wouldn’t creak, and followed her inside.

In the living room, I sat down on a cushion.

I avoided looking at the wall—because hanging there was the same white delinquent coat I’d seen before.

Some patches were stained red, and up close, a few of those stains had darkened into a rusty black.

Mikoto soon returned, setting down two steaming teacups on the table.

She folded into a neat seiza on her cushion, her movements surprisingly graceful.

“The reason I invited you over today is simple—I wanna know why you joined the Shirane faction.”

“…I was just curious, that’s all.”

“Don’t joke. You don’t seem like the type who switches sides just ‘cause he’s curious.”

She took a sip of her tea, her words cutting sharp.

“Takuma-kun’s not so fickle that he’d jump ship over something like that, right?”

Of course, I couldn’t just blurt out the real reason.

Same as with Yayoi—if I started rambling about this world being a manga and my knowledge messing with the flow, she’d just think I was insane.

But staying completely silent would only make me look more suspicious.

I licked my lips, weighing my words carefully, and finally spoke.

“…You aimed for the boss seat because you thought you could beat Minato, right? I’ve been watching her up close too, and honestly, I felt the same—wondering if she was really cut out for it.”

“So even her own ally thinks that, huh.”

“But… that’s not it. What makes Minato amazing isn’t her strength.”

I looked straight into Mikoto’s eyes.

She didn’t flinch, didn’t show any emotion—just tilted her teacup calmly and took another sip.

“…I see. So what you’re saying is, it’s too soon to judge Minaty purely on strength. She took down the Akagi faction and the Tanigawa faction—well, the Tanigawa part’s kinda iffy, but at the very least, she beat Yayoi Akagi. And you’re telling me to respect that result.”

At some point, my teacup had gone empty.

My throat felt dry with tension, tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth as I forced it to move.

“…Sorry for trying to fool you.”

“It’s fine. I’ve got things I haven’t told you either.”

“…Huh?”

Her eyes drifted toward the wall.

I followed her gaze—to the delinquent coat.

After a short silence, Mikoto began to speak.

“…My mom’s part of a biker gang. That coat hanging there—it’s hers. I grew up watching her looking so damn cool in it. And y’know, being born a girl, I figured—why not aim to be the strongest? Maybe it’s something a guy like you, Takuma-kun, could never really get.”

She gave a shy little smile.

I could understand that feeling, though, so I nodded.

She went on.

“And there’s also my little sister. You’ve met her before, right?”

“Yu-chan, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah. She’s been cute since she was tiny, always going ‘Onee-chan, Onee-chan,’ chasing after me with those sparkling eyes.”

Mikoto’s expression softened as she recalled her sister.

But after a moment, her gaze dropped, and she let out a self-mocking laugh.

“Thinking I could beat Minaty—that’s not the only reason. Honestly, I was embarrassed so I never said it out loud, but… being the boss of Shibakata High sounds cool, right? If I became boss, I could brag about it to Yu from the bottom of my heart. That’s why I’m aiming for it.”

Her face was pure and honest—almost childlike.

I had no words.

If it had just been a misunderstanding about Minato, I might’ve had a chance to correct her.

But this wasn’t about Minato—it was her own wish. And something like that… I couldn’t deny.

Silence filled the room.

The ticking of the clock echoed louder than usual, stretching every second unbearably thin.

Mikoto was the one who finally broke it.

Lifting her teacup, she asked:

“So, Takuma-kun… you planning to quit the Shirane faction?”

“…I tricked you to get in. I can’t stay after that.”

“I’ll forgive you. And I won’t tell the others either.”

“…Thanks.”

Her kindness almost hurt.

After a few more minutes of small talk, I excused myself from the Shirane house.

Mikoto walked me all the way to the door, waving until I turned the corner down the street.

Left alone, I looked up.

The evening sky was streaked red, a few clouds drifting lazily—tomorrow would probably be clear.

“…What the hell am I supposed to do?”

I couldn’t deny Mikoto’s dream.

But I couldn’t betray my loyalty to Minato either.

And I couldn’t afford to derail Fist’s story.

Caught between the two of them, I found myself completely torn.