06: Are You Mansplaining Me?

"The scariest job in the world has to be the guy who edits porn for a living. Seriously, think about it. There's an actual human being on this planet who clocks in at 9 AM, opens his laptop, and the first thing he sees is somebody else's cheeks getting clapped, and then he has to edit it like it's a Nike commercial."

"Bro, imagine the mental fortitude. Most of us can't even stay focused on a homework assignment, but this dude is out here adjusting the color grading on back shots, cleaning up the audio on the moans, cutting out awkward strokes like, 'Nah, that one wasn't cinematic enough.'"

"That kind of job would destroy your innocence forever."

"And it's not just the editors. Think about the dudes running those porn websites. They've got to sit through some of the darkest shit on Earth just to decide what's worth posting. Imagine what your brain turns into when that's your algorithm every single day."

"That's when it hit me. We're all living on the same planet, but people spend their time doing wildly different things. Some wake up and stock shelves. Some teach kids. Some perform open heart surgery. And somehow, somewhere, a man is hunched over Premiere Pro, editing another man's meat."

"Life is insane, bro."

Kana held her phone, scrolling and swiping her finger across the screen. From time to time she would switch over to the chat app just to check if that guy had finally replied, 'Why hasn't he replied? Is he embarrassed?'

"Haah..."

Yawning, Kana switched back to scrolling while thinking about that man, Natsuo Fujii.

The guy's life was like an anime.

Wait, his life was an anime!

He actually slept with both of his stepsisters, got one of them pregnant, and ended up marrying the other.

'Dafuq... how did he pull that off?!' She had barely slept the previous night because she couldn't stop watching the anime. After finishing it, she immediately switched to reading the manga.

Originally, Kana had a terrible impression of him because he kept talking back to her and refused to back down. Seriously, why would a normal man with self respect dare to talk back to her? Just look at all the boys around her. They were either simps or afraid of her because she hung around with bullies who were also simps.

Isn't it only natural for boys her age to lower their heads when she was talking them down? That was the normal thing to do... right?

But after watching the anime, she actually discovered that Natsuo was a very nice and passionate person, even if he was also pretty perverted. Anyone who slept with both of his stepsisters had to be at least a little perverted, even if he had been in love with one of them long before she became his stepsister.

Just then, a notification suddenly appeared on her phone. As fast as lightning, she tapped on it.

Natsuo: [I don't know what you're talking about.]

"Hmph! Trying to deny it!" Kana smirked. She immediately started typing.

Kana: [I've already seen your life. No wonder your username was Sister Leveler. You fucked your own sister!]

Hilda: [Sister Leveler +1]

Chelsea: [Sister Leveler +2]

...

'What's going on?!'

Natsuo hurriedly scrolled through the chat, trying to figure out what was going on. His first thought was that the chat group had some feature that exposed his life. He saw that it wasn't just Kana making fun of him. Hilda and Chelsea had joined in as well.

Then he finally saw the message that left him completely stunned.

[Kana sent Anime: [Domestic Girlfriend], Manga: [Domestic Girlfriend]]

Natsuo's hand froze. He read the message again and again. He wasn't dumb, and it didn't take him long to connect the dots. His first thought was that perhaps his life was also a fictional world, just like the other three, especially since he himself had been reincarnated into this world.

Well... sort of.

"Nice bedhead." Just then, a soft, quiet voice interrupted him. It was Rui, glancing at him with her usual blank expression.

"...Did you walk over here just to say that?" Natsuo hurriedly put away his phone and replied in annoyance.

Rui leaned closer and reached up, placing her hands on his head as she tried to straighten his messy hair. Unfortunately, it was too stubborn. In the end, she gave up and said, "I take it you forgot to bring your lunch too, right?"

"Mom left it on the counter."

"Why didn't anyone wake me up?" Natsuo scratched his head and asked. Since they had all woken up early, shouldn't they have woken him up as well?

"Oh, about that, Mom asked me to wake you up. I tried, but you just wouldn't wake up." Rui pursed her lips and looked away, her eyes darting around. She did wake him up. Calling out to him from outside his room counted as waking him up... right?

"...When you lie, at least try to sound convincing." Natsuo's lips twitched, feeling helpless. At this rate, he definitely shouldn't count on someone like Rui to wake him up in the morning next time. "By the way, I had no idea you transferred here."

"I didn't want a long commute to school, so I took the transfer test," Rui replied, giving him a dirty look. "Did I tell you?"

"First time hearing about it," Natsuo shook his head with a tired expression. By now, he had a headache. He suddenly turned around and said, "Let's talk about it later during the break."

"Ok," Rui replied and walked back to her seat.

Watching the two of them talk, Yuuya and Kazuyuki exchanged shocked glances.

What the fuck was going on? Wasn't this the chick from the group date? Wasn't she the one who left with Natsuo back then? Why were they talking as if they lived together?

"Hey, Natsuo! Explain yourself!" Both of them hurried after him, each grabbing one of his shoulders as they stared at him with intense, scary eyes.

"What?"

"What's the deal with her?" Yuuya leaned closer and asked.

"She's my stepsister." Natsuo pushed Yuuya's face away with a look of disgust as he entered the classroom. He then casually explained what had happened before taking his seat.

Seeing that he didn't seem to be in the mood to keep talking, both Yuuya and Kazuyuki stopped pestering him and returned to their own seats.

Natsuo stared at his phone. He hesitated for a long while before finally typing out a reply.

Natsuo: [I don't know what you're talking about.]

Hilda: [It's alright, little Natsuo. Having sex with your stepsister isn't a big deal. In my world, many blood related siblings are married. They like to keep their bloodline pure. Though, for some reason, their children are sometimes born with strange diseases.]

Kana: [That's because inbreeding is bad! It unmasks hidden harmful genetic traits! It's harmful and immoral!]

Chelsea: [You're making such a big deal out of a simple matter. Who cares if he had sex with his stepsister or even his blood sister? It's his life. That's none of our business. @Natsuo, don't be ashamed. Seducing your stepsisters is a skill in itself.]

Natsuo: [You guys! Thank you! Wait... Stepsisters? You mean I slept with both of my stepsisters in the future?!]

Kana: [Didn't you see the files I sent?]

Natsuo: [Not yet. I was planning to look at them after school. Besides, shouldn't you be more concerned about your own life story than mine? Why do you care whether I'm in a relationship with my stepsister or not? Furthermore, I slept with Rui before she became my stepsister!]

Kana: [Oh, are you mansplaining me?]

Natsuo: [You're not my girlfriend. Why should I be 'mansplaining' you?]

Hilda: [Mansplaining? What is that?]

Chelsea: [Mansplaining is a neologism combining "man" and "explaining". It refers to the act of a man explaining something to a woman in a condescending, overconfident, or patronizing manner.]

Natsuo: [Where did you learn that?]

Chelsea: [I googled it.]

Natsuo: [You have access to Google? Wait, you're connected to the internet? How is that even possible?]

Chelsea: [Dunno.]

Kana: [This chat group is weird. Don't try to use common sense to understand it.]

Chelsea: [How do you feel, Natsuo? Are you questioning your own existence now that you've found out that you're nothing more than a fictional character?]

Natsuo: [Why would I? I live my life according to my own desires. I admit that I'm shocked to find out my life is a fictional work, but I'm not going to fall into some kind of existential crisis. My actions are what made me who I am now, and my present actions will shape the person I become in the future. I will live my life the way I want, how I want. Fictional work or not, I won't follow someone else's blueprint laid out for me.]

Kana: [As expected of the Sister Leveler. Even I thought you were cool for a moment!]

Chelsea: [How cute. When you put it that way, it seems like I was overthinking things for nothing.]

Hilda: [You are more mature than your actual age.]

Natsuo read their replies and thought that these three women were actually nice. Well, except for Kana, who was a bit annoying.

[The teacher has arrived. Let's talk later.] He typed the message before putting away his phone.

He was sitting in the second row. If he kept playing with his phone, he would be easily noticed.

...

Unfortunately, he didn't have English as his first period. Time moved painfully slowly as he watched old, wrinkly men and fat middle aged women babbling from the podium. Natsuo grew increasingly restless as he waited for the bell to ring so he could finally take a look at the Domestic Girlfriend manga Kana had sent him. He wanted to know what his future would be.

"Nat..." When the bell rang, Marin turned toward Natsuo's seat, only to see him bolting out of the classroom like a tax evader being chased by the IRS. "...suo, what's his deal? Why's he running like that?"

Natsuo ran straight to the rooftop. He pushed open the door and looked around. Because he had been writing novels, he frequently came up to the rooftop, either to search for inspiration or simply to remember the novels from his past life.

'Hina-sensei? Did something happen?'

The first thing he saw was his beautiful English teacher. Well, she was now also his beautiful stepsister.

He wondered what was wrong. Usually, she came to this place alone whenever she felt depressed or down. She was standing with her back to him, both hands on the rooftop safety fence. Even when he approached her, she didn't notice him at all.

"Sniff... Sniff..."

As he got closer, he noticed her body trembling slightly. Then he heard the faint sound of sobbing.

She was crying.

"Hina-nee?" Natsuo reached out and gently held her shoulder, turning her around.

"Ah! N... Natsuo-kun?! Why are you here?" Hina let out a startled cry. When she saw it was Natsuo, she quickly forced a smile and began wiping away her tears. "Writing another novel? What's the plot this time?"

"Why are you crying?" Natsuo ignored her clumsy attempt to divert his attention. Holding her shoulders with both hands, he stared into her eyes with a serious expression and asked.

Compared to his strange relationship with Rui, which even now he still couldn't fully define, he had known Hina for a long time. They were close, almost like friends. They joked around and supported each other, even if they never really delved into each other's personal matters. Seeing her cry like this made Natsuo feel really upset.

"...Haha, you're still young. You don't have to concern yourself with us adults' matters," Hina said, keeping up her forced smile. She gently patted his head in a dismissive tone, brushing off his question. "Oh, gosh! What's with your hair?"

If it were a normal teenager, this trick might have worked on them. But Natsuo may have been a teenager, and he might not remember most of his previous life. Heck, he didn't even remember his past life's name. One thing was certain, though. Ever since he was a kid, he had always been more mature than others. To him, Hina, who was barely twenty three years old, felt more like she was younger than him.

He grabbed the hand that had been patting his head and said, "Adults' matters, huh? That sounds like something only a wannabe adult would say. Is it your boyfriend? Did he make you cry again?"

"...B... Boyfriend? How did you know?! I mean... that's not it!" His question startled her. The next instant, however, she shook her head violently, denying it.

"It's alright. It's okay." When Natsuo saw her strong reaction, he didn't say anything else. Instead, he suddenly pulled her into a tight hug, gently rubbing her back as he spoke in an incomparably soft and gentle tone.

"You can cry now. No one will see you. It's only you and me. Let it all out."

"I… I…" Hina froze for a moment, but the next instant she hugged him back and burst into tears, bawling her eyes out, "Sniff! Sniff! Uuu… hic…"