Chapter 170: The questions got weird.

Noah realized he hadn’t had any contact with another man since arriving in this world.

For a moment he thought of Ren, who had been his best friend, but turned out to be a woman, and practically everyone else he interacted with was a woman.

Noah frowned.

’That’s true.’

He hadn’t thought about it, and Hikari watched him.

"What’s wrong?"

"I’m thinking."

"Don’t you know what men do?"

"It’s not that."

"You look hesitant."

Noah brought a hand to his chin.

"It’s just that since I arrived..."

He stopped, and Hikari raised an eyebrow, so Noah corrected himself.

"For quite a while now, I’ve barely dealt with other men."

"That makes sense."

"My only male friend..."

Noah stayed silent for a few seconds.

"...turned out not to be male."

Hikari stopped writing.

"What?"

"Long story."

"I want to hear it."

"No."

"It could be relevant."

"It’s not."

Hikari watched him for a moment, then wrote something down, and Noah pointed at the notebook.

"What did you write?"

"Nothing important."

Hikari returned to the topic.

"Then think about other men you’ve known."

Noah breathed in, since that meant thinking about his previous life.

Classmates, people he’d played video games with, casual friends.

Noah tried to remember.

"We usually talked."

Hikari waited.

"We played video games."

She wrote.

"We went out to eat."

She wrote.

"We insulted each other."

Hikari stopped writing.

"What?"

"As a joke."

"Why?"

"I don’t know."

"Was it a form of affection?"

Noah thought.

"I guess."

Hikari wrote a lot, and Noah leaned in.

"What did you put?"

"Don’t look."

Noah sighed.

"We also talked about stupid stuff."

"Define stupid."

"I can’t."

"I need examples."

"Pointless arguments."

"Like what?"

Noah remembered.

"Who would win in a fight."

"Between you guys?"

"No, between characters."

Hikari wrote.

"We also argued about games."

"Okay."

"Movies."

"Okay."

"Food."

"Okay."

"Anything."

Hikari looked up.

"Did you talk about your feelings?"

Noah stayed quiet.

"Less."

"How much less?"

"A lot less."

Hikari frowned.

"That’s impractical."

"Maybe."

"If one of you was sad?"

"It depended."

"Would the other hug him?"

"Sometimes."

"Pat his head?"

"No."

Hikari crossed something out again, and Noah said,

"Stop doing that in front of me."

"I need to update my references."

"I feel responsible."

"You are."

"Thanks."

Hikari moved on to another question.

"Can two men tell each other they love each other?"

"Yes."

She raised her pen.

"In what context?"

"Family."

"And friends?"

"Also."

"Directly?"

Noah hesitated.

"Some."

Hikari smiled, and Noah pointed.

"You liked that."

"No."

"You smiled."

"Next question."

Hikari checked a manga again.

"Would this be realistic?"

Noah looked, and a guy had cooked for another because he was sick.

"Yes."

"Completely?"

"Yes."

Hikari wrote a big checkmark of approval, and Noah laughed.

"You’re way too happy."

"It’s an important scene."

"Why?"

Hikari immediately closed the manga.

"Doesn’t matter."

Noah started to suspect that was one of her favorites while Hikari pulled out another.

"Now a more specific question."

"I don’t like the sound of that."

"Two men share a room on a trip."

"Normal."

"There’s only one bed."

Noah looked at her.

"Why?"

"Booking error."

"Right."

"Would they sleep together?"

"They could, if they don’t feel uncomfortable."

Hikari’s eyes widened.

"Seriously?"

"If there’s no other option."

She wrote quickly.

"Hugging?"

"No."

The pen stopped.

"Why?"

"Why would they sleep hugging!?"

"It’s cold."

"Use a blanket."

"There’s only one."

"Then they share it."

"That brings them closer."

"Yes, but..."

"Then they could end up hugging."

Noah looked at her.

"You’re trying to force the outcome."

"I’m examining possibilities."

"You’re defending the manga scene."

Hikari adjusted her glasses.

"Answer objectively."

Noah started laughing.

"Fine, if one of them is about to die of hypothermia, it could happen."

Hikari wrote something, and Noah added,

"But that doesn’t mean it’s romantic."

Hikari stopped writing, looked at him, then wrote something else.

Noah smiled.

"Did you put a note?"

"Maybe."

Hikari turned to another page.

"Would a man notice immediately if another one changed shampoo?"

Noah blinked.

"No, because we don’t care."

Hikari crossed it out.

"If he cuts two centimeters of hair?"

"No, but we do notice when someone goes bald."

She crossed it out.

"If he changes cologne?"

"Maybe if the cologne is strong."

She checked it.

"If he wears a different shirt?"

"Maybe yes, though we don’t really pay attention to that."

She checked it.

"If his eyelashes look longer?"

Noah looked at her.

"What kind of question is that?"

Hikari held the pen.

"Answer."

"No."

She crossed it out, and Noah couldn’t take it anymore.

"Stop crossing things out!"

"Why?"

"Because those mangas cost money."

Hikari looked at him with complete seriousness.

"I’d rather know the truth."

"It’s fiction!"

"That doesn’t stop me from analyzing it."

"You can enjoy it even if it’s not realistic."

"I do."

"Then don’t mark it."

"I need to remember which parts are unlikely."

Noah dropped his head back.

"This is horrible."

Hikari tilted her head.

"For you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because it’s hurting me what those mangas cost."

Hikari thought, then looked at her mangas.

"It’s not that big a deal."

"You just crossed out like fifteen scenes."

"Seventeen."

Noah looked at her.

"That’s worse."

Hikari closed the notebook.

"Some were unrealistic."

"All stories have unrealistic things."

"I know."

"Then why do you care so much?"

Hikari stayed silent for a few seconds, then answered.

"Because there are things I can’t verify for myself."

Noah stopped joking, and Hikari continued.

"There are few chances to observe how men interact with each other."

"That’s true."

"A lot of content is written by women."

"Also."

"So I don’t know how much is fantasy and how much is based on real behavior."

Noah nodded slowly, understanding better.

For Hikari it wasn’t just a hobby; she was also curious, a very specific kind of curiosity.

Noah smiled a little.

"So I’m a very valuable source."

"Exactly."

"That sounds weird."

"But it’s correct."

Noah thought again about his previous life.

Hikari probably wouldn’t find another person in this world who had so many memories of living with men on a daily basis.

Even though he could never explain the real reason.

"All right."

Hikari opened the notebook again, but Noah raised a hand.

"Wait."

She stopped.

"First my part."

"Your part?"

"About the magical girls."

Hikari looked at her notebook, then at Noah.

"I said I’d think about it."

"After asking questions."

"Yes."

"You’ve already asked a lot."

"I still have more."

Noah pointed at the mangas.

"Hikari."

She looked at the pile, then the notebook, and finally closed the pen.

"Fine."

Noah breathed in relief while Hikari put away her notes.

"I’ll seriously consider your proposal."

"Really?"

"That’s right."

Noah smiled.

"Perfect."

Hikari raised a finger.

"But tomorrow we continue."

Noah’s smile vanished.

"What?"

"I still have questions."

"How many?"

Hikari took her notebook and flipped through it.

"Thirty-seven."

Noah went completely still.

"Thirty-seven?"

"For now."

"For now!?"

"I’ll probably remember more later."

Noah closed his eyes.

’I’ve made a mistake.’

Hikari put away the notebook and picked up her bags while Noah stayed seated.

"Let’s go."

Noah opened his eyes.

"Where?"

"You said you’d help me carry all the mangas to my house."

"Right."

While grabbing the bags, Noah thought.

’I hope becoming a magical girl requires fewer questions.’

Hikari approached.

"By the way."

Noah looked at her.

"What?"

"One last one."

"No."

"It’s important."

"I said no."

"Do men compare the size of their hands?"

"..."

Hikari waited with complete seriousness, so Noah finally answered.

"Sometimes."

Hikari’s eyes lit up and she pulled out the notebook again, at which Noah raised his voice.

"You said we were done!"

"This changes three scenes."

Noah covered his face, because he had definitely made a mistake.