Chapter 42 Part 1
Let’s Go Out to The Town (1) ~Teenage Walk~
Let’s go out to the town.
Part of the reason why Yuu had such a thought was because he was curious about the town, which was full of women each time he looked out of the window of the shuttle bus, but above all else, it was because he wanted to directly see what the store had to offer, as he was planning to buy a birthday present for Sayaka.
In this age when the Internet was not widely available to the public, it was the norm to go directly to the store when you wanted to buy something.
Though, even before he was reborn, when the Internet was in widespread use, when it came to a gift for his beloved lady, Yuu himself was the type who directly chose it in the store, as expected.
He remembered giving his wife accessories from a famous brand before they got married, and after they got married, they visited the store together and bought a practical spring coat for her.
Now that he was a high school student, he didn’t think a gift costing tens of thousands of yen would be appropriate.
However, the other party was the daughter of the president of a large company. Giving her something too cheap would also be improper, so it put him in a tough spot to find the right middle ground.
When it came to gifts for women, it was one’s sisters who could be counted on, but unfortunately, his elder sister was in the middle of shutting herself in.
He could easily ask Kanako and Touko, his security personnel, but since they were too far apart in age, he was worried about whether their preferences matched.
Above all, Yuu himself would like to try checking out the products alone without worrying about troubling others.
Although it was common sense in this world that men were unable to act freely, Yuu, who had lived in a different world, wanted to try walking outside alone every now and then.
However, if Yuu went out alone without his security personnel, it would surely cause a big commotion.
He would warmly welcome being surrounded by pretty girls, but he would like to avoid being chased around by aunties and delinquents.
There, he took note of the event from the other day, where he got to be dressed up as a woman at Rei’s house.
As expected, makeup was beyond him, but with hairstyle alone, one could change their impression a lot.
When he asked Rei about wigs, he said he had many kinds and would give some to him, but as he thought that they were probably not cheap stuff, he refused and asked him to order the same one he wore at that time.
It was on Saturday afternoon that he carried out the plan.
When they took the bus home, they were checked with a list of boys who boarded, so he asked Rei to tell them that someone from his home would pick him up after he finished his work in the student council.
Yuu completed his disguise in a stall of the restroom in the administration building, which was visited by few people after school.
For his outfit, he wore a large hoodie and loose-fitting cargo pants, to keep his crotch from standing out.
On his head, he wore a long, wavy black wig.
The wig boasted such a volume that it covered even his cheeks, making it difficult to see his face from the side.
If he wore a mask on top of that, people shouldn’t be able to tell that he was Yuu.
Even if he had no choice but to speak in the store, he could just say that he had a slight cold, so his voice was hoarse.
In this world, it could be said that there was almost no difference in height between men and women, so there should be no problem in terms of height, either.
「Yup. Looks like I’m good to go.」
He checked his appearances in front of the mirror.
He had no breasts, of course, but he was slender to begin with, so at most, people would probably see him as a woman with a slender figure.
For luggage, instead of his usual backpack, he had brought a small, stylish shoulder bag that looked like it could be used by both men and women.
In his wallet, he normally had about 10,000 yen in bills and coins, but today he added an extra 10,000 yen.
Since he always commuted to and from school by bus, he couldn’t make a detour and play with his friends like he did during his student days in his previous life, so he didn’t have many opportunities to go on a spending spree.
He had been to bookstores and game stores before, accompanied by security personnel, but since they were all works designed for women, they didn’t rouse his desire to buy them, so ultimately, his money continued to simply be saved up.
Incidentally, all portraits on the bills currently in circulation were of women.
The 10,000-yen bill was of Empress Jingu, the 5,000-yen bill was of Murasaki Shikibu, and the 1,000-yen bill was of a politician from the Ryusei era, which was the equivalent of the Meiji era, apparently.
It seemed that in the past, there were also times when portraits of men from before the Heian period, such as Imperial Prince Shotoku and Sugawara Michizane, were used, but looking at the fact that women’s portraits were more often adopted, one could tell just how female-oriented the society had turned out to be.
Yuu left the administration building, checking on the surrounding area all the while, and headed toward the rear entrance to avoid the public eye at a half run.
When he passed by a number of female students, they did take a cursory look at him, but didn’t suspect him.
He couldn’t stop his heart from racing inside, but it seemed that they only thought of him as a regular person visiting the school.
First of all, he looked for a bus stop.
Sairyou Academy was a long way from the station.
For this reason, he had heard that most of the female students either used bicycles or took the bus in the direction of Saiou Station or Higashimatsusaka Station.
He had gained information that although Saiou Station had a station building, there were few stores around it.
In fact, Higashimatsusaka Station had been more prosperous since the olden days and should have a shopping district.
Besides, rather than the place he normally passed by on bus, he was more interested in Higashimatsusaka Station, which he rarely had a chance to visit.
Walking along the road in front of the school, he soon found a bus stop for Higashimatsusaka Station.
Although it was past the peak of the return trip period, there were about ten girls in sailor uniforms, plus two pairs of mothers and daughters waiting, so he got in line behind them.
As soon as he got in line, the daughter, who was about kindergarten age, turned around and stared at him closely, but then looked forward without making any kind of reactions, so he was relieved, as it didn’t seem she had found out that he was a man.
After waiting for about five minutes, the bus arrived.
Two people got off, but most of the seats in the bus were occupied, and most of the passengers who boarded from the bus stop had to stand in the middle aisle.
To keep himself from standing out, Yuu avoided the boarding entrance and stood in the back.
Partly because he was assuming a downward-looking posture, which made his hair cover his face, everyone seemed to think that Yuu was a woman.
Except for Yuu, 100% of the passengers were women. Perhaps because there were a lot of young women, including high school girls, the inside of the but was filled with the sweet and sour smell unique to girls.
Passengers in their seats were either looking out the window or reading magazines or paperbacks.
This was a scene that could only be seen in an era when mobile phones had not yet become widespread.
The girls from Sairyou Academy were standing in groups around the center of the bus and behind Yuu, and they were chatting noisily since a while ago.
The group of three standing right behind Yuu seemed to be first-year students just like him.
Their topics of conversation were jumping all over the place from school lessons, TV dramas, celebrity gossip, and so on.
「Come to think of it, yesterday after school, when I passed by the second school building, I happened to see Hirose-kun, you see~.」
Having his name suddenly called out, Yuu’s heart jumped.
「The heck are you talking about? You were waiting for him to come, weren’t you?」
「Hahaha. You found out, huh. So, you see, unlike the other first-year boys, he always waves back and smiles at us, right?」
「I guess. For us girls, Hirose-kun is a comforting presence.」
「Yes. Moreover, he’s so handsome. I’ve lost count of how many times I wanted to take a picture of him and save it.」
「We’re not allowed to take sneak shots at school, though.」
「True enough.」
「So, making up my mind, I tried to called out to him, you see.」
「「Hey!」」
Come to think of it, yesterday after school, when I was about head to the student council office, there was a girl who called to me, right? So Yuu recalled.
He had a feeling that although she was short and gave off an immature impression, she was pretty cute.
He was assailed with the urge to turn around and see if the girl talking behind him was the same, but refrained himself from doing so.
Although the official statement said that the ban on male-female mingling would be lifted from the second year, it wasn’t like there was any problem in trying to get to know the other party better since the first year.
In fact, if he passed by Hiyama Youko, Aki Kazumi, and the other girls from class 1-5 in the school building or the schoolyards, Yuu would wave his hand to greet them or even stand around talking to them for a while if they were good with time.
Perhaps because they had seen him do this, recently, girls from other classes had started to assertively call out to him, too.
However, overboard actions were considered a problem and they would be given a warning.
If they were found engaging in female degenerate-ish acts, such as taking sneak photos, they might even be subjected to some punishment, from discipline to being suspended from school.
Though, as expected, female students at Sairyou Academy who would go to such lengths were few and far between.
「Fufufu. You see, Hirose-kun chatted with me with that wonderful smile of his. It was only for about five minutes, though. And I even got to shake his hand at the end!」
「Huh, that’s not fair!」
「That’s just too enviable. I guess next time, I’ll try going there, too.」
「I’m afraid if we go there with too many people, we would be warned by the security guards, though~.」
Even if they couldn’t openly be in a relationship during the first year, they were trying to make a connection by calling out to the other party and making him remember their faces and names, even if only vaguely.
The girls who called out to him were all relatively cute, so Yuu welcomed them with open arms.
If there were any problem, it would be that since there were so many of them, it was hard to remember each and every one of them; such suffering from success.
「Ah, I want to meet and chat with Hirose-kun again!」
「He is so wonderful and kind, truly an angel.」
「I can’t wait to be a second year and go out with him.」
「The competition would probably be intense, though.」
「「Yeah, yeah.」」
If these girls know that the person they are gossiping about is standing right next to them, I wonder what kind of face they would make?
He was seized by such curiosity, but he couldn’t afford to reveal his true identity here.
From then on, Yuu spent his time watching the scenery stretched outside the window, straining his ears to listen to the conversation of the girls all the while.
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NEXT CHAPTER
RELEASE RATE
Reborn In A World of Chastity Reversal
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