Someone Who Believes They Can Live Normally in a World Where Chastity Is Reversed (Did You Think You Could Live Normally in a World With a Male-To-Female Ratio of 1:5?)

Classes with Koiumi have ended.

Today wasn’t Friday so there was no bar work. Normally, before heading home, I’d play some basketball or kill time somewhere, but I got a message from Aika-san saying, “Sorry, we had a last-minute vacancy today! Can you come in?” So, off to work I went.

If I can pick up an extra shift, why not? I could use the money. I’ve got to pay off my scholarship too.

It’s Wednesday today, so I doubt my regular, Seira-san, will show up, and I’ll probably be doing back-end tasks like reception or making drinks.

If I was not serving customers, then I could just wear the backstage uniform, and there shouldn’t be any issues with that.

“Welcome back!”

It was a little past 6 o’clock.

The bar was already open, and there was only one person in the break room. As I faced the mirror to fix my hair, my senpai noticed me.

“Oh! It’s been a while, Masato! Thanks for today. Oh, by the way, I heard we got a new regular customer. Nice!”

“Hey, Yusuke-san. Haha… It just happened by chance, really…”

“You may be different from us, but I think you’ll be popular for sure. Aika-san said you’re fixed for Fridays, though!”

Yusuke-senpai helped me out a lot when I first started… He’s probably the one here who reminds me the most of my previous world. He was a bit of a playboy, but his way of thinking about women wasn’t arrogant at all… I really respected him.

For some reason, he’s got a light bandage wrapped around his right arm.

“…Hey, what happened to your arm?”

“Huh? Oh, this? Nah, my girlfriend did this to me the other day… You be careful too, haha.”

Apart from having too much of a liking for women and having quite a few outrageous love stories from this job, he’s… well…

“Come to think of it, I’ve been meaning to tell you something. Come over here, Masato.”

“Huh? What’s up?”

Yusuke-san beckoned me over and made me sit down. He picked up the wax we used earlier and held it in his hand.

“I think you’d look great with an all-back style. How about letting me do your hair just for today?”

“Huh…?”

“It’ll be fine, it’ll be fine! As someone who went to beauty school, I’m telling you, trust me.”

Well, Seira-san wasn’t coming today anyway.

If Seira-san, who I see every week, saw me with an all-back style that didn’t suit me, and said something like, “Eh… Masato-kun, that’s not quite right,” it wouldn’t be surprising.

It would be a big blow to be told that by a customer who went out of their way to request me.

“Just for today, okay?”

“Alright, I’ll leave it to you…”

Yusuke-san took out gel-type wax and a hair iron from his bag. I don’t think it’ll suit me at all, but…

“Masato! Gin and tonic for table 3!”

“Yes!”

I knew it would be busy even on a Wednesday. There were regulars who come in every day. I made the drinks as ordered and took them to the table.

“Sorry for the wait…”

“Be my man!”

“Eh~ stop joking…”

Yeah… I guess she doesn’t see me that way. That’s probably for the best.

I set down the glasses and retreated. This kind of thing was just part of the job.

While washing glasses in the sink…

“Masato! Sorry to ask, but could you go to the drugstore near the station and buy some toilet paper?! Looks like we’re out!”

Yusuke-san, who seemed busy but only popped his head out of the sink, asked me urgently to go shopping.

It’s not good to run out of toilet paper. Did we forget to check the toilets properly when we closed yesterday?

“I got it! I’ll be right back!”

“Sorry! Everyone’s busy with customers… The card’s there! Get a receipt!”

“Got it!”

I wiped my hands and left the shop. It was a bit embarrassing to go out like this with this hairstyle and outfit, but oh well. The surroundings were already dark.

The area near the station was bustling with office workers and students on their way home from work.

It wasn’t as crowded as the stations in big cities, but there were still enough people to watch out for while walking.

“I should buy it quickly and get back…”

I was not crazy enough to walk around in this outfit in such a crowded place.

I’ll just quickly finish shopping and return to the store.

That’s what I thought.

“Excuse me…! I dropped my contact lens…! I’m sorry…!”

A girl was crying as she squatted down, frantically searching around.

Whether she cried because she dropped her contact lens, or for some other reason, I don’t know… But seeing everyone around completely ignore her…

I couldn’t choose to ignore her.

“Are you okay? It’s a contact lens, right? Let’s search for it together.”

“Huh…? …Thank you, I’m sorry.”

With one contact lens missing, it would be extremely difficult for her to search, regardless of her original eyesight.

Fortunately, my eyesight is good… So I should be able to find the contact lens before her.

“Excuse me! We’re looking for a contact lens here!”

I called out to the people around me and started crawling on the ground. It’s no big deal. Today, I’m lucky it’s the shop’s uniform, and it’ll be fine once it’s washed.

After about a minute of searching, I spotted a small glint on the ground – the contact lens.

“I found it…! Here it is!”

“…..!”

The girl’s eyes widened in surprise as I carefully picked it up and placed it on my handkerchief.

“Here you go. Be more careful next time.”

“Thank you… so much.”

“Oh, you don’t need to return the handkerchief. See ya!”

“Wait! Um, um, could you please wait a moment!!”

…Huh, would it have been kind of cool if I had just left confidently like that?

I glanced back at the girl once more.

…

Wait.

Did she call out to me?

“Um… sorry, I’m in a hurry!”

“Ah…”

It pained my heart, but the mission came first. Well, she seems to be fine now that she can see. Good deeds feel good, right? I quickly bought the toilet paper and returned to the shop.

“I’m back!”

“Oh! You took your time. Was it crowded?”

“Yeah, it was a bit busy.”

I headed straight to the toilet, replenished the toilet paper, and finished cleaning. But when I tried to write my name on the checklist, I realized something.

“Huh? Where’s my pen?”

It was in my chest pocket last week, but now it’s gone.

Oh well, I’ll just borrow a new one from the back without thinking too much.

“Hey, Masato! Change into your suit right away!”

“Huh?”

“You got a request! Seems like one of your regulars is here and specifically asked for you.”

But I only work on Fridays, right? Oh, maybe they asked for me just in case and planned to ask another waiter if I wasn’t here?

“Got it!”

“I’ll show them to table 2!”

“Sure thing!”

I tossed my uniform into the locker and quickly changed into my suit for serving.

…Quickly changing into my suit like a member of a certain idol group… I made my way to table number two, where the woman in the stiff suit was sitting as usual.

“Good evening, Seira-san. You’ve come again,” I greeted her.

“…Yes,” she replied.

Hmm? Is she not feeling well? Her ponytail seemed to be drooping listlessly, and her cheeks looked a bit worn out… Yet, she’s still beautiful.

Maybe she’s tired from work. If that’s the case, my job was to cheer her up in times like these. I need to do my best today…

“But I was surprised. You said you only come on Fridays,” I continued.

“…I saw you coming into this shop from outside,” she replied, still looking down.

“Oh, I see! I was just out shopping! Since I didn’t expect to be working today, I’m still in my uniform! It’s kind of embarrassing, unexpectedly…”

Usually, when I’m talking, she’s busy looking around or averting her gaze. But today, she’s just looking down.

Hmm, she seems really down…

“…It’s okay. You can speak freely here without hiding anything. I don’t know what happened to you, Seira-san, but… I actually like listening to you, just like always.”

She squeezed my hand tightly. Tears were falling from her eyes.

“I’m sorry… I’m really sorry…! I…!”

I couldn’t bear to see her like this… So without even realizing it, my hand reached out to her back. I gently rubbed her back.

“It’s okay. Whatever happened… I don’t know, but… you’re not a bad person, Seira-san. You’re a kind person, I know that.”

I felt like my words were hollow. We’ve only known each other for just over a month. We only meet once a week. Most of the time, she’s drunk, ranting about her company or her ex-boyfriend. But even then… I couldn’t bring myself to dislike her for who she really is.

Even though her words may be aggressive, she’s fundamentally a kind person. So even if my words were empty, if they could help her in any way… I wanted to lend her my strength. As I stayed there, she leaned closer to me, our shoulders touching.

Oops. This might get a little awkward if someone sees us…? Well, I can come up with an excuse for this. Surely.

But honestly, I couldn’t just ignore her in this situation.

“It’s okay, Seira-san. I know you’re a kind person,” I reassured her.

“…I’m sorry… I’m the worst woman…!” she cried.

As I continued to rub her back, I couldn’t help but feel a little skeptical. Every time I’m kind to her. Every time we get closer like this. For some reason, it felt like Seira-san was crying even more.