Chapter 1
A world with reversed chastity norms.
I'd heard of it by name. I suppose that's because I'm fairly interested in fiction and knew it was popular with certain groups.
Women become more sexually driven than men and start seeking the opposite sex more.
Rape was something women did, not men. Or something like that.
In the end, though, it's just a fantasy born from men's wishful thinking. I think it makes it painfully obvious that men are the more depraved ones, but if I went online and dropped that blazing hot take, I'd definitely get dogpiled.
"Sigh..."
Anyway, the reason I was thinking about something that seemed so utterly irrelevant at first glance was—
'The high school teacher in XX Ward is suspected of committing an indecent act against a male student yesterday...'
Because I'd found out that I'd apparently been reincarnated into this so-called chastity-reversal world.
"Masato! It's already morning!"
"Yeah, yeah! I'm coming out now!"
Then, after this and that (skipped to an astonishing degree).
It was supposed to be a world where chastity norms were reversed, so I could have a harem—woohoo! Or maybe I could get away with doing something a little sexually harassing, right?!
Unfortunately, no steamy developments like that came along.
I mean, it's not like I mind, okay?
Being able to live normally is the best.
Really, I'm grateful just to be allowed to live a normal life. I thought I was going to die at first.
After a while, I realized this place seemed less like another world and more like a parallel one.
For some reason, I had official family records, and a person named Katari Masato had apparently been here in this world from the very beginning.
It said I'd graduated from the high school I'd attended before, and the enrollment procedures for the university I was supposed to start at that spring had already been completed.
In other words, I'd been reincarnated into a world that was almost identical to the one I'd come from, except that the norms around chastity had been reversed.
Apparently, the balance between men and women in this world had gotten a little messed up, and it was now around one man to five women. People say there'll be even fewer men from here on out.
Thank goodness. If it had been one man to a thousand women, like in some of the fiction I'd seen in my old world, I wouldn't have been able to keep my sanity.
I couldn't handle living every day expecting to get attacked.
"Masato, you're working today, remember! Be at the shop by six!"
"Got it!"
The one calling out to me from outside the house was Tsukuda Aika-san, who had formally become my guardian. She's married, but apparently she and her husband don't see each other anymore. There's a lot of baggage there.
Right after I reincarnated, Aika-san found me collapsed in an alley and took me in.
And, on certain conditions, she became my guardian.
She even let me go to university. Of course, I'm paying for it with a scholarship, so I'll work and pay it back myself.
Anyway, I owe her a lot.
I can say without a doubt that I owe my current life to Aika-san.
I opened the front door and greeted Aika-san.
Her wavy brown hair was tied into a braid on one side. She was a beautiful woman, even though she was about to turn thirty.
Maybe because of her line of work, she paid a lot of attention to her appearance.
Aika-san had rented the apartment I lived in.
Her shop was close by, so sometimes she'd come by in the morning like this to check on me.
"So, how's university? Have you made any friends?"
"Uh... yeah, I guess? Sort of..."
"That sounds suspicious. Don't let some weird woman fool you, okay? And if you're staying out overnight, make sure to tell me! Also, quit being so formal!"
"Right, I'm off!"
Feeling embarrassed, I cut the conversation short and hurried away.
Even though she'd told me to stop being formal, it was hard to drop the polite speech with someone I'd only known for a few months, especially when she was my benefactor.
I'm a pretty uptight person, okay?
Still, hearing her say, "Don't let some weird woman fool you," really drove home how different this world was from the one I came from.
Did I look to Aika-san like a helpless girl, by the standards of my old world?
I parted ways with Aika-san and headed to university.
It was eleven in the morning. The sun was mercilessly beating down on the ground.
Summer was just around the corner, and the temperature at this time of day was insanely high.
"It's so hot..."
I wiped the sweat trickling down my forehead and glanced at my favorite wristwatch.
"Crap, I'm not gonna make it for second period..."
The second-period class started at 11:10.
If I kept walking, there was no way I'd avoid being late.
"Guess I'll run—"
Just then, my smartphone vibrated.
I reached into my pocket and pulled it out. I had one notification from social media.
Koumi: 'Masato, your second-period class is in Room 104 today, right? I saved you a seat♪'
"You're a lifesaver! Friends really are the best!"
I stopped myself from running and switched to a brisk walk.
I sent a sticker to show my thanks, then slipped my phone back into my pocket.
If she'd saved me a seat, it wouldn't matter if I was a little late.
The absolute worst is showing up late when you haven't saved a seat and having to take the class right in front of the professor!!
I thanked my classmate Koumi—Igarashi Koumi—in my heart and continued toward the university.
"And so, the meaning of this passage is..."
When I entered the classroom, the lecture had already started.
I was about ten minutes late, but it was a big lecture hall, so it wasn't a problem. My university was pretty relaxed about that sort of thing.
(Masato! Over here...!)
After tapping my student ID on the card reader to register my attendance, I looked around and spotted Koumi waving me over from the very back seat in the far corner.
I hurried along the back and successfully claimed the seat she'd saved for me with her bag.
"Thanks a ton, Koumi. You saved me."
"Hehe... For you, Masato, this is no trouble at all."
The short-haired girl beamed innocently at me. Igarashi Koumi was, without a doubt, my only friend at this university.
Because all the upheaval from my reincarnation had delayed my university enrollment, I ended up joining classes about a month later than the average freshman.
And that first month of freshman year is incredibly important.
Everyone had already formed their own friend groups and decided which clubs they were joining.
I'd resigned myself to being a loner throughout my student life...and then Koumi showed up.
Koumi was cheerful and should have belonged to several groups, but for some reason she was especially kind to me, a loner. C-could it be that she fell in love with me at first sight?!
...Whoa, whoa. My deluded-virgin side was about to log in. Stay strong.
As I was thinking that, someone gave the sleeve of my T-shirt a tug.
"...Hey, since I saved you a seat and all, come eat with me today, okay?"
What is this adorable creature?
The girl gave me an innocent, bashful smile as she invited me out on a date. The sheer destructive power of it was unreal.
Her small earrings peeking out from her neatly cut, short bob of flaxen hair created a cute contrast with her innocent demeanor.
Her shirt had an off-the-shoulder neckline, and when she leaned close, I couldn't help noticing her bare skin. My heart skipped a beat.
Stay calm. Stay calm.
This was exactly when I needed to keep my cool.
I was a cool guy.
"Ah, I'm sooo sorry, but I have a shift today."
"Oh, so are you always working Fridays, Masato?"
"Yeah. Pretty much."
"I see... Then how about next Monday?"
"Oh, yeah, that works for me."
"Yay."
After giving a little fist pump, Koumi shifted back to her original position.
Seriously, how is she this cute???
She's doing this on purpose, isn't she?! Cut it out already!! But she's cute, so I'll let it slide!
...I let out a small sigh and focused on class.
Actually, I shared most of my classes with Koumi.
That was because she had helped me when I registered for classes late.
We were in the same department, too, so she kindly told me which courses I had to take and signed up for the ones we could take together. Was she a goddess???
...But now that I thought about it calmly, I was starting to feel bad.
She was so cute, after all. She must've wanted to take classes with her friend group...
"...Hey, are you sure this is okay? Wouldn't you rather take classes with your friends than with me...?"
"...Hmm? I don't mind at all. I can see my friends at club activities and stuff."
Since we were whispering, our voices didn't carry through the classroom.
"If you want, you can take classes with your friends sometimes. I'm fine on my own."
A girl as popular as her surely had a friend or two in this class.
That's what I thought, but...
"Why?"
For a moment, I felt like the temperature had dropped by about ten degrees.
Koumi was still smiling, but somehow her eyes weren't.
—Huh? Did I just step on a land mine???
"Uh, no, I just thought you might want to take classes with someone else..."
"Do you not like taking classes with me, Masato? Or maybe you want to take classes with another girl?"
"No, no, no! That's not it. I'm seriously grateful, and there couldn't be anything better than getting to take classes with a beautiful girl like you, Koumi!"
I didn't know what was going on, but I had a bad feeling, so I hurriedly tried to explain myself at the speed of sound.
Huh? I don't understand girls. What did I do wrong??? This is scary...
But somewhere around the part where I'd said, "a beautiful girl like you, Koumi," her expression gradually brightened.
"B-beautiful? Really? Do you think I'm cute, Masato?"
For some reason, she suddenly got bashful.
"O-oh, yeah. Of course you're cute. You should be confident!"
"I see... Hehe... I'm cute..."
Phew... Looks like I'd escaped danger.
I just don't get girls these days... Though maybe I should say girls in this world.
What on earth did I do wrong?
Looking at Koumi, so cute and grinning like she'd melted, I breathed a sigh of relief for now.