Striving to Become the Ideal Man in a World of Reversed Chastity

“Huh? N-No way.”

“W-What? Why not?”

After receiving such a terrifying proposal, I immediately refused Himeko. I mean, Himeko and I weren’t like those childhood friends one saw in anime or manga… we had this perfectly awkward distance between us in real life. That’s why living at her house sounded way too scary.

(But wait… if she’s suggesting this…)

Maybe in this reversed world, my relationship with Himeko had continued as close childhood friends even after hitting puberty. Like those childhood friend characters that appeared in romantic comedies? Well, I wouldn’t know.

Plus, my parents and Himeko’s parents were friends, and her parents had always been kind to me since I was a child. So it was easy to imagine that if she really did suggest I stay with them, her parents would gladly give permission.

(But I definitely don’t want to!)

No matter what anyone said, I wanted to continue my free life of living alone. If I moved in with Himeko, I wouldn’t be able to casually look at erotic books or videos or anything. That was like asking me to die. So I’d resist with all my might…!

“Why don’t you want to?”

“W-Well, you know, if I stay at your house, I won’t be able to hang out with friends at home, right? It would be a burden on you and your parents.”

“By friends, you just mean Shima-kun, right? I don’t mind at all.”

“W-Well, it is just Yuji, but… n-no, wouldn’t it be a burden if you invited your friends over and I was there?”

“It wouldn’t be a burden at all?”

“No way that’s true. They’d be like, ‘Who is this person? What is he to Shirayuki-san?’ It would be awkward for both of us, right?”

“It wouldn’t be awkward for me, though.”

“It would be awkward for me! A-And you know! If a boy and girl our age live in the same house, it’ll be trouble when either of us gets into a relationship, right? If our partners get suspicious and we end up fighting—”

“W-what?! Do you have a girlfriend?!”

Himeko let out her loudest shout of the day. I was genuinely surprised.

“Huh? N-No, I don’t.”

“Oh… y-you scared me! …W-Well, I guess that’s obvious. Like someone like you could get a girlfriend anyway.”

“W-What?”

She suddenly started making fun of me for being unpopular, which honestly ticked me off. Though I couldn’t argue back since it was true that I wasn’t popular…

(Wait… but…)

I tried to recall today’s events. According to Kashima-san, I was supposedly an incredibly sexy guy. That was proven by the way my junior, Hikasa, had acted when she was with me. So… could it be that in this dream world, I was actually quite popular?

(Well, whatever. This is just a dream, so I might as well have a huge fight with Himeko!)

Ah, the power of “dream logic” was amazing. What I’m about to do is something I’d never even think of doing in reality. Despite everything, I’m really enjoying this dream world.

“…Well, I never told you this before, Himeko, but actually, I’m super popular.”

“W-WHAT?!”

“Even today, two girls were coming onto me. It’s really troublesome, you know.”

“W-What’s that about?! I never heard anything about this!”

I started making things up on the spot. The fact that Himeko was flustered instead of immediately saying “That’s a lie!” suggested that maybe my theory was correct — in this world, I might actually be the popular type.

“Ah, what kind of girls are they?”

“One classmate and one underclassman. The underclassman is a soccer club junior who always looks up to me. She’s always energetic, charming, and really cute—she’s a great girl.”

“Huh, really? She sounds cute… Hmm. But don’t you think someone from your own grade or older would suit you better?”

“I don’t know… But my classmate is always asking me to do naughty things whenever we meet. She’s really perverted.”

“What?! What kind of girl is she?!”

I tried to talk about Kashima-san and Hikasa while being a bit vague, embellishing a lot all the while, but it was just a dream, so it didn’t matter.

“Huh? She’s a female classmate who adores me. Yeah, girls in puberty are all perverted, which is a problem. Ah, at Himeko’s all-girls school, are there no girls like that?”

“Of course not! There aren’t any female students thinking about such indecent things!”

Himeko said that while blushing. But who knew, maybe Himeko would be perverted in this world too. I had no idea.