Chapter 5: “Normalcy” in a 1:5 Male-to-Female Ratio

───● The Tsundere OL Secretly Appeals ●○●

Even though it was summer vacation, I had a shift scheduled for Friday.

The kind of people who frequent this establishment don’t exactly get a “summer vacation,” and since I’m on a fixed weekly schedule, I felt awkward saying, “I’m off because school’s out.” Plus, there was the simple, driving sense of duty that I needed to earn money. So, here I was, clocking in as usual.

My main station, as always, was the reception. I guided the high-spirited ladies to their tables and handed them over to the boy in charge.

At first, I had been a bit resistant to the whole idea, but seeing everyone leave with a smile—and realizing I didn’t actually dislike talking to people—made me think it wasn’t so bad after all.

…Though I don’t feel like my “boy” talk skills are improving in the slightest.

I happened to glance at the clock.

It was just about to turn 8:00 PM.

“Almost time…”

I paused my work in the back and returned to the reception desk.

Usually, I’d just wait for a notification that a customer had arrived, but… I knew one specific customer was coming at this time.

And sure enough, less than five minutes after I returned to the front, the entrance door opened.

“Ya-ho. Masato.”

“…Welcome back, Seira-san.”

It was Mochizuki Seira-san, my one and only regular customer.

“Like I said, stop worrying about it! I spend money on you because I want to, and that satisfies me!!”

“Whoa, easy there, Seira-san. Easy.”

It had been about two hours since I showed Seira-san to her table. Normally, for a first-time customer, we might swap out the boys once or twice, but that never happened with her.

And none of the other staff tried to approach her, either. Everyone knew she’d just turn them down.

Seira-san seemed pretty far gone with the alcohol today, and for a while now, her complaints about her university friends had been reaching critical mass.

Once she gets like this, she’s hard to stop.

“Now, now. Don’t you think your friends are genuinely worried about you?”

“No way! Just because they’re happy, they’re looking at me with pity and smirking…! The nerve!”

“Isn’t that a bit too cynical…?”

I continued to listen to her venting as I refilled her empty glass.

Ever since that incident, Seira-san had become rounder, softer… or something like that.

I used to find her a little scary, but lately, I didn’t feel that way at all.

Conversely, her dirty jokes and borderline sexual harassment had increased, but… well.

I guess this is the real Seira-san.

The liquor poured into the glass, the melting ice making a pleasant clink.

“It doesn’t matter anyway. A man better than you isn’t going to just appear out of nowhere, Masato. Rather than running around trying to find one, I’d rather spend my money on you.”

“F-from my position, that is an incredibly difficult comment to respond to…”

“It’s fine. Whether you’re faking it or whatever, as long as you look happy, I’m happy.”

“I’m not faking it, you know?!”

Seira-san downed the contents of her glass in one go and let out a long sigh—fuuu.

Maybe it was because the gloom had lifted from her expression, but looking at her profile like this, she looked truly attractive.

Her suit suited her perfectly. Her almond-shaped eyes were slightly upturned, and her eyelashes curled upward beautifully, giving her a bright, wide-eyed look. Her makeup appeared natural, not too heavy, but just looking at her eyes, I could tell she put a considerable amount of effort into it.

“So, Masato? How many women do you actually have?”

“Bwah?!”

I was staring at her face, a bit mesmerized, when she dropped that bomb.

“‘Bwah?!’ isn’t an answer. God, you’re cute. Come on, there’s gotta be five or six, right?”

“No, no, no! There aren’t… that many!”

Just as I tried to declare there aren’t any, the image of Yuka flashed through my mind—her bewitching smile backlit by fireworks.

After she did that much, after she confessed her feelings so directly… even though she’s a middle schooler.

I honestly didn’t know what to call my relationship with that girl, and I choked on my words.

Seeing my hesitation, Seira-san let out a very obvious, theatrical sigh.

“Haaah… It’s fine. I’m not naive enough to think a guy like you doesn’t have any women at this point. If it’s just hearing about it, I can handle it. Spit it out. Don’t hold back.”

“J-just for the record, when you say ‘if it’s just hearing about it’…”

“Well, if I actually saw you flirting right in front of me, my hand might slip and hit someone.”

“That is terrifying?!”

“And here I thought I’d grown as a person,” she said, not looking even one millimeter apologetic.

Please stop making the light disappear from your eyes so suddenly?!

I mean, I’m happy she likes me, but…!

“Come on, what about that friend I saw at the entrance the other day? She had the face of a woman totally in love.”

“You mean Mizuho…? N-no, no, no, she’s different. We’re classmates. She doesn’t like me like that.”

“Haaah…”

“Could you please stop looking at me like I’m a hopeless idiot?!”

As if to say she was utterly exasperated, Seira-san reached for her glass again.

She took a sip, set the glass down on the table with a clack, and spoke.

“Listen to me. It’s impossible. Being born a woman, meeting you, talking to you—it’s impossible not to fall for you. And even if they didn’t fall in love, they are absolutely looking at you with sexual eyes somewhere in their hearts.”

“That sounds like an outrageous sexual harassment statement?!”

“Listen here~In the first place, most college girls are only thinking, ‘Ah~ can I take this guy home? Can I take a picture of him sleeping in a hotel, upload it to social media, and flex on everyone around me?’ That’s all they think about.”

“I really, really did not want to hear that.”

What is that? …Is that the standard in this world?

The men in my original world were certainly full of ulterior motives, but…

Add the specific female culture of social media flexing to that? …Calmly analyzed, that sounds like hell.

“So? How about it? You’ve already done the deed, haven’t you?”

“You are stepping over some serious lines today?! Should we maybe cut off the alcohol soon?!”

“Ah, actually, wait. If you had done it, my mental state might actually shatter, so I’ll stop asking.”

“We haven’t done it!”

“Oh, really? That reaction… it seems true. There, there…”

“What do you mean, ‘there, there’?!”

Talking to Seira-san lately, I feel like she holds all the cards.

But strangely, it didn’t feel bad. I realized I might be completely poisoned by this environment.

“But well, you hesitated slightly earlier. Someone came to mind, didn’t they?”

“…I’m surprised you could tell…”

“Idiot. How much do you think I’ve been watching you?”

“That is a vaguely scary phrasing.”

…Well, honestly, regarding Yuka, I am clearly wavering.

To be honest, romance in middle school is just an extension of admiration, isn’t it? …That’s what I thought at first.

Yuka is cute, and she’s a good person. She’s going to experience all kinds of encounters with many men from here on out.

For me, if she just remembered me fondly like, “Come to think of it, I wonder how that older guy I used to play basketball with is doing?” that would have been enough to make me happy.

But the way she’s leaving memories now… it’s gone way beyond just “that degree.”

“What? You’ve got such an indecisive look on your face.”

“No… well, you see, there is a girl who’s conveying some incredibly strong feelings to me, but unfortunately, she’s too young…”

“? A high schooler?”

“No, middle school…”

“…I wish I had met you when I was younger, too.”

Seira-san’s student days… I’m actually curious about that.

“And? What are you hesitating for?”

“Well, I mean, surely she’ll have all sorts of romances in the future. I feel like if someone like me gets involved, I might be closing off her possibilities.”

Yuka is going to be popular. Even in this world, Yuka likely won’t have a shortage of suitors.

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaah.”

“Ehhhh…”

Did she just let out a ridiculously huge sigh?

“Masato. You really are an idiot.”

“Ehh…”

After finishing her reaction of utter amazement, Seira-san held up her index finger in front of me.

“Listen. Masato… you don’t understand your own appeal at all.”

“…That’s not true.”

“No, it is. I’ve thought this for a while. Your charm as a man and your self-evaluation aren’t connected in the slightest. That’s one of your good points, but that lack of self-awareness is a sin.”

“…”

“Generally speaking, you are too defenseless. It’s like you’re walking around saying, ‘Please ravish me.’ Women are all beasts, you know?”

“Lately… I intend to be more conscious of it, or so I think…”

Especially after the incident with Yuka, I’ve been trying to be as careful as possible.

But a personality you’ve had since forever doesn’t change so easily…

“Heeh. Then, close your eyes for a second.”

“Huh? Okay, but…”

I had no idea what closing my eyes had to do with the current conversation, but I closed them anyway.

Wafty. The scent of citrus perfume drifted in.

A sensation on my cheek.

“Eh…?”

“See? Still defenseless.”

Before I knew it, Seira-san was very close, and my heart involuntarily skipped a beat.

“You should praise my rationality for not going for the lips.”

“No, wait, th-that was… a surprise attack, or rather…”

“Understand, Masato?”

She sat back properly on the sofa.

Her cheeks were red, perhaps from the alcohol, but her eyes looked at me straight on with serious intensity.

“Be aware of your own charm. I find your personality very desirable, but… keeping on like this, the ones who get hurt won’t just be the others. It will be you, too.”

“…You’re right, aren’t you?”

“Honestly, I don’t care what happens to the women who swarm around you. But I can’t stand to watch you get hurt.”

“Wait, your phrasing…”

“It’s the truth.”

With a composed face, as if she hadn’t said anything extraordinary, Seira-san grabbed her bag and stood up.

Checking the clock, it was indeed about that time.

After settling the bill, Seira-san left the bar.

I followed her out to see her off.

“Nnnn—! Fridays when I can see you really are the best.”

“If you enjoyed yourself, then I’m glad.”

Seira-san stretched her limbs wide.

Her long, glossy hair swayed smoothly in the night breeze of the city.

“…Hey, Masato.”

“…? Yes?”

When Seira-san turned around, even though she was supposed to be drunk…

The grin on her face was slightly seductive.

To me, she looked incredibly attractive.

“I don’t mind being your ‘backup,’ you know?”

“Backup? That’s…”

“I told you, didn’t I?”

Seira-san closed the distance between us just a little.

She took my hand.

I smelled that perfume from earlier, and my heart jumped a little.

“Have confidence in your own charm. At the very least… ever since that day I first met you, I haven’t been able to see anyone but you.”

“Ah…”

“Fufu… You’re blushing. Cute.”

She gently stroked my bangs.

I was embarrassed that I couldn’t resist, but strangely, I didn’t feel like resisting either.

After looking slightly reluctant to part, Seira-san closed her eyes for a moment. Then, she suddenly let go of my hand.

“Well, I’ll leave it at this for today. If you thought, even a little bit, that this was nice… I’ll be waiting for the after-party!”

“Y-you’re saying things like that again!”

Waving her hand casually, Seira-san walked away.

Her brilliant smile, illuminated by the streetlights and the city glow, was beautiful.

Eventually, her back disappeared into the crowd, and she was gone.

“Haa…”

In the end, she controlled the pace the entire time.

My heart was beating fast; I could still feel it.

I looked up at the sky.

The sky above was already pitch black, and the first-magnitude stars, visible even in the city, shone in the night.