Striving to Become the Ideal Man in a World of Reversed Chastity - Chapter 8: My Childhood Friend Shirayuki-Hime ②

—Ding dong

“Th-that’s too early!?”

That was the doorbell to my apartment. It was the signal that Himeko had arrived, but it was more than 20 minutes earlier than planned, so I started to panic.

I mean, I was still in the middle of drying myself off! Sure, I got out of the bath early knowing Himeko was coming, but… this was way too early!

—Ding dong, ding dong

“This is bad, this is bad!!”

Himeko started ringing the doorbell repeatedly. This only accelerated my panic! …Ah, whatever, I didn’t have time to dry off completely… I needed to let Himeko in quickly or she’d get angry.

(I just need to cover the lower half at least.)

Thinking this, I hurriedly dried my lower body and put on my casual shorts. I gave up on changing into the rest of my clothes and just draped a towel around my neck as I headed to the entrance.

—Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong

“Yes, yes, I heard you!”

I said this while unlocking the front door.

—Click

“Ah, finally open. You’re so slow… huh…?”

“Huff, huff, s-sorry… Hm?”

When I opened the door, Himeko was standing there… but her eyes had widened and she was frozen in place.

“Wh-what kind of outfit are you answering the door in?!”

—SLAM!!

As soon as Himeko came to her senses, she screamed and slammed the door shut. I caught a glimpse of her face turning bright red and her panicking.

“Huh, why?”

“Put some clothes on, you idiot!!”

“Eh? …Oh, right, I see.”

I looked down at myself. Currently, I was only wearing shorts with my upper body completely bare.

But my childhood friend Himeko had seen me shirtless many times before, and I didn’t think she would mind seeing me like this anymore… but come to think of it, sexual morals were reversed in this world, weren’t they? Thanks to relaxing in the bath, I had completely forgotten about all the strange experiences I’d had today.

“S-sorry, I’ll go put on some clothes, just wait a little longer—”

“You… are getting a lecture later…!”

“…Eh?”

I was hurrying to go change into a shirt, but I thought I heard my childhood friend saying something ominous…

◇◇◇◇

“You really are… sigh…”

“I-I’m sorry…”

The time was just past 7:30 PM. After properly changing my clothes, I invited Himeko into my apartment again. As soon as we went to the living room, she made me sit in the formal seiza position, and her lecture time began.

“Sigh… This is something I have to report to your parents.”

“Wh-what!? Why!?”

Himeko crossed her arms, stood imposingly, and glared at me. It had been quite a while since Himeko had been this angry with me, so I flinched.

“…Do you normally do that kind of thing?”

“Eh? What kind of thing?”

“Y-you know… answering the door almost completely naked…!”

“Ah, no, I absolutely never do that…”

“Then why did you open the door in that state today?”

“W-well, that’s… I thought it would be fine since it’s you, Himeko.”

“…! I-I see…”

When I said that, Himeko’s face turned red. She then bashfully averted her gaze and started fidgeting with her hair.

“W-Well, it’s good that it was just me this time… but don’t ever do something like this again, okay? I’m going to report this to your parents so they can properly scold you.”

“Y-Yeah, I’m sorry… but come on, do you really need to be this angry?”

I knew I was in the wrong here, but honestly, I didn’t really understand why Himeko was this upset with me. I mean, sure, I did something like reverse sexual harassment, but still.

“What are you saying? The world is really dangerous these days, you know? And a boy living alone is just asking for trouble.”

“Y-Yeah… but these days, students living alone isn’t that uncommon… Oh.”

(Oh, I see. If the idea of chastity is reversed, then everything else must be reversed too.)

So in this situation, it was like in reality, “a high school girl living alone”. When I thought of it that way, I kind of understood why Himeko was worried.

(…Though it’s super weird that Himeko is worried about me!)

The real Himeko would never worry about me, so this Himeko’s kind atmosphere felt really strange. Well, if I said that to the real Himeko, she’d probably get incredibly angry.

“Also, there have been some sightings of ‘chikan women’ around here lately, so make sure you never go out alone at night, okay?”

“Ch-chikan women!?”

“W-Why are you so surprised?”

What was with these wonderful words that tickled an adolescent boy’s heart!? That was terminology I’d only ever heard in erotic books and videos! …Wait a minute?

“…Hm?”

“Wh-What’s wrong?”

(Erotic books… videos… wait, in this world… huh?)

I got a little excited at the mention of “chikan women”… but wait, in this world, the idea of chastity was reversed, right? And various other things were reversed too, yes? So that meant… what!?

(Wait a second! What happened to the erotic content in this world!?)

The moment I realized this, I started sweating profusely, worried about whether the erotic content saved on my computer was still safe. If it was all gone, I might not recover from the shock… no, I might die from shock, even if this was just a dream!

“…Hey!! Are you listening to me!?”

“Ah, y-yes! I-I’m sorry…!”

It was totally obvious that I was thinking about something completely different, and Himeko got angry at me again. But since I was at fault, I couldn’t help it, so I turned into a bot that just kept apologizing.

Needless to say, inside I was thinking, “Hurry up and go home, Himeko!” I mean, I couldn’t check my computer until she left… please go home soon!

“Living alone as a boy your age is really dangerous! Do you understand?”

“Yes, I’m sorry…”

“You’ve never had any sense of danger since you were young, and it makes me so anxious. You need to be aware that you’re a boy at a vulnerable age.”

“Yes, I’m sorry…”

“And this apartment doesn’t even have that great security, you know? Aren’t you worried about that?”

“Yes, I’m sorry…”

“Geez… that’s why I’m saying, stop living alone… and come stay at my place already.”

“Yes, I’m sor—wait, what?”

I had been committed to being an apologizing bot through Himeko’s words… but suddenly some terrifying words came out and I was shocked.

(S-Stay at H-Himeko’s house…?)