No matter how messed up the gender ratio was in this world, the world itself did not seem to have changed all that much.
The cityscape, the signs hanging on the buildings — they were not that different from what he had seen in his original world.
Fashion, cosmetics, and other things that Masanojo himself had little interest in, but which were practically essential for women, could be seen all over the town.
Apparently, women of every world thought about the same things.
Still, as expected, in a world with so few men, advertisements aimed at men felt overwhelmingly scarce.
Well, with so few men, companies could not expect much profit by allocating resources to such a small target demographic, so it was understandable.
But no matter which advertisement he looked at — women, women, women.
Even the commercials playing on the video screens featured almost exclusively female performers, making the strangeness impossible to ignore.
Male celebrities and actors were not completely nonexistent, but their numbers were still overwhelmingly small.
However, even in this world with so few men, walking through the city had taught him something.
“There are actually quite a few men walking around.”
Masanojo muttered as he followed a man who had just passed by with his eyes.
Yes, there were a considerable number of men in the city.
Of course it was nothing like his original world.
But even so, considering the gender ratio of this world, the number felt quite high.
As he found this strange, Kyoka walking beside him explained various things.
Within Japan, there existed cities called Special Districts that had been designed to make it easier for men to live.
Among them, the Tokyo Central Special District had a particularly large number of men who had moved there, and the male ratio within the district was relatively high.
In order to protect those gathered men, a considerable budget was allocated to maintaining public order, and as a result the security within the Special District was apparently quite good.
Because of that, the number of men walking outside was reasonably high, and the number Masanojo had actually seen was also fairly substantial.
That said, compared to his original world the number was still low — roughly one man for every several dozen people — but even so, given the gender ratio of this world, that number could be considered exceptional.
“If there are this many men walking around normally, then maybe a bodyguard isn’t really necessary after all…”
“What are you saying, Masanojo-kun?”
Perhaps that was why.
Since there were a fair number of men, maybe a bodyguard was unnecessary.
The honest thought that slipped out of Masanojo’s mouth caused Kyoka to approach him with a slightly angry look.
“No, but Kyoka-san.
Look, there are quite a few men in the city, so I was thinking that even if I walked around alone it shouldn’t be a problem…”
“There’s no way it wouldn’t be a problem.”
“Eh, but…”
“There is no ‘but.'”
“Ehh…”
For a boy right in the middle of puberty like Masanojo, having a beauty like Kyoka constantly by his side was certainly something to be happy about, but at the same time it made him overly conscious, tense, and quite mentally exhausting.
That said, that was purely Masanojo’s perspective.
As a bodyguard, Kyoka had no reason to care about such things.
“Masanojo-kun…”
“Eh?”
“Do you hate being with me?”
Kyoka looked straight into Masanojo’s eyes.
Stared at by those jewel-like beautiful eyes, his heart skipped a beat.
His pulse raced.
“U-Um…”
“Do you hate it?”
“Th-That’s… …I don’t hate it…”
“Fufu.
Then it’s fine, isn’t it?”
Kyoka broke into a full smile.
Faced with such a cute Kyoka, Masanojo could only turn bright red.
“Ugh…”
This was why.
This was exactly why he wanted to act alone.
Kyoka was so cute that his heart could not rest at all.
The heart of a boy in puberty was being thoroughly thrown into chaos by his beautiful bodyguard.
…I just want to shop casually.
That wish of Masanojo’s did not seem likely to be granted anytime soon.
――――――――――――――――――――
Glance
“…”
Glance
“…”
As Masanojo and Kyoka moved through the city, the gazes directed at the two of them made Masanojo feel itchy and uncomfortable.
(Well, of course…)
He sighed inwardly.
He glanced at Kyoka, but she remained completely unfazed by the stares from others.
As expected of a bodyguard, perhaps.
But for Masanojo, who was just an ordinary person, being the center of attention like this was thoroughly uncomfortable.
Let me be clear.
Kyoka was beautiful.
And not just ordinarily beautiful — she was an extraordinarily beautiful woman, far beyond the level of ordinary celebrities.
If anyone saw a peerless beauty like that, their eyes would inevitably be drawn to her.
And the man walking next to her was neither a celebrity nor anyone special — just a plain high school student.
If such a plain kid was walking together with a beauty like that, of course anyone would want to take a second look.
The mismatch was extreme.
Feeling pathetic and sad about how poorly he matched her, combined with the unfamiliar stares, Masanojo’s mood steadily dropped.
“Are you okay?”
Sensing his dejection, Kyoka called out to him with a worried look.
“Um…”
“You’re too beautiful and that’s the problem” was something he could never say.
“It’s been a while since I was out in the city, so I got a little nervous… and the gazes from the people around us are a bit…”
“It’s okay.
Onee-san will protect you.”
For some reason, Kyoka said that and moved even closer.
The distance was now so close that their shoulders were almost touching.
No, that’s exactly the problem.
You’re standing out even more.
We’re attracting even more attention.
Look, that person is staring at us with their eyes wide open.
You’re a beauty, so you shouldn’t do that.
Faced with the even stronger gazes coming from all directions, Masanojo only shrank further.
“You don’t need to worry.
Onee-san is right here with you.”
Kyoka closed the distance so much it almost looked like she was about to hug him.
The people around them were now openly staring at the two of them.
Masanojo stopped thinking.