"Everyone, today one of the students from the Management campus will carry out an activity with you. Then... the classroom is all yours" — the homeroom teacher said.
"Thank you, teacher... Hello everyone, my name is Inoue Megumi. I'm currently developing a project on how the lack of interaction with men affects a company's productivity. Today I'll explain a bit about some of my results, and after that, we'll have a little experiment in this classroom."
Management campus... if I recall, Ryuichi and Ayame-san went there when we visited the university campus.
"If you have any questions while I explain, feel free to interrupt me, okay? Then, let me explain why I started this project. We already know we currently have a problem with the skewed gender balance, and of course, this makes it harder for women to interact with men. But then a question was raised for me: does the lack of interaction with men impact company productivity?"
This is actually interesting. I could learn more about this world.
"So my main goal is to compare which group of women has more productivity at work. And for that, I conducted interviews with them, asking about their private relationships and how they feel about work."
"Excuse me, does that mean your results will solely be based on their subjective views?" — one of my classmates asked.
"Yes, as you said. When it comes to management, sure, numbers are important — such as profit, for example. But you also need to look at the people who work there, how they interact with each other, and, in my opinion, how they feel about their own lives. This is important. After all, a worker who can't feel joy in their life won't be able to work efficiently. Don't you agree?"
"Yes, you're right! Thank you, Inoue-sensei!"
"Haha... calling me sensei already? It's still too early. I'm just a student after all. Well, moving on — after interviewing them, I was able to divide basically three groups: women who have always been single, those who are currently dating, and those who have already dated."
Everyone was paying attention, after all, we wanted to know the results.
"First of all, from 50 women I was able to interview, 40 never dated once, 7 have already dated, and 3 are currently dating. As for people who claimed they don't have a fulfilling life, 37 were from the group who never dated, 3 had already dated, and none were currently dating. I'll interview more people, but you can already see a pattern."
I didn't know our world's situation was this bad.
"So I concluded that there's a negative impact from the lack of interaction with men. Sure, I'm aware there's a bias due to the low number of women who have at least dated once. But this is a reflection of the gender imbalance, and we need to learn to work with it and overcome this problem. This is my work, and thanks for listening. Any questions?"
Actually, something is bothering me.
"Excuse me, I was wondering if it's not possible to interview men too. I mean... I'm pretty sure men would suffer the same problem from the lack of interaction with women."
"If I'm not mistaken, you're Morikawa-san, right? I saw you in the auditorium, and I must say, you really have a keen eye. I agree with you — and not only me, but anyone can guess that regardless of gender, people would suffer from the lack of relationships. But even so, Morikawa-san, it's really difficult to find men who are socially active, and even harder to find those willing to do interviews. That's why we prefer not to make any assumptions about men in general."
"Thank you very much, Inoue-san." — I replied.
She said she's just a student, but she's way ahead of me. I guess this is how college students are. I wonder if Erina nee-san is like her.
"Then everyone, let's do a small experiment here! I need at least one man, and I'll divide the classroom between the girls who will date him and those who will be single. Any questions?"
"What!?" — everyone said in unison, including the homeroom teacher.
"Good! So, which boy would like to volunteer?"
Cough, cough... male scholarship student... cough, cough. — Ryuichi was coughing while pointing at me... this guy.
"Then Morikawa-san, is it okay for you?"
"Sure, no problem."
If one day someone asks me if I've ever had a girlfriend in my life, I can technically say yes, right?
"Then I'll choose randomly who will date him and who won't."
Right now I'm "dating" half of my classmates. I wonder what kind of face Mom would make if I told her this.
Joking aside, it's kind of unfortunate I'm not dating Ayame-san... but on the other hand...
"Hello, Tomoki-san... Hehe, could I say this is what it would be like if you had accepted my confession back then?"
"Haha... Hey, Tachibana-san. I guess so?" — I replied with an awkward laugh.
Seriously, I knew women are more mentally mature than men, but to be able to joke like this — she has nerves of steel.
"And about what you told me in the morning, sorry for all the trouble I caused you. I forgot to apologize." — Tachibana-san bowed her head.
"Hey, don't worry. You don't need to talk to them, honestly. If things go wrong, you can count on me... not only me but Ryuichi and Ayame-san too. We'd definitely help you."
"Hehe! Thanks, but this is something I want to solve alone."
Yep, Tachibana-san is really strong.
As for Ayame-san, she was smiling and talking with her group, while Ryuichi was given an assignment by Inoue-san.
"Okay, everyone. Like I said before, you only need imagination. Now, let's start... Every day, all of you wake up, brush your teeth, work from morning until sunset, and return home. All of you have this kind of routine."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Now, Morikawa-san, knowing what your girlfriends go through, what would you do?" — Inoue-san asked.
There's no need to think hard, I guess.
"I'd ask how their work was and always try to cheer them up if I noticed something bad happened at their workplace. Since we're dating, I'd at least kiss their foreheads... I just hope they'd like that, though. Oh, and I'd buy cakes and flowers for each of them sometimes... if I had enough money for that."
Well, I guess that's what you can expect from a healthy relationship. Though I realize now how expensive it is to maintain one.
"..." — everyone was looking at me in silence.
"Did I say something weird?"
"Oh! Nothing. Let's continue then... Right, now I want each of you to write on the paper that Satou-san will pass to you what you feel about your current life. And of course, all of you work at the same company. After that, I'll randomly pick one from each group and read it aloud."
Except for me, everyone received a paper to write their opinion. It's understandable since I'd be like an error sample — a bias in her experiment.
After everyone wrote, they folded their papers and gave them to Ryuichi, who passed them to Inoue-san.
"Now let's start with the group who's dating Morikawa-san... let's see... 'I can only pray that one day I'll find a man like him. As for my coworkers, I hope you find a man like him too.' Haha! Look at you, Morikawa-san — you'd be an ideal boyfriend, or maybe even a husband."
I could only smile. I hope to be one too. But imagine buying cake and flowers for each of my girlfriends... I hope there's a discount.
"As for the group who is single... let's see... wait a minute, I think I need my glasses to read this... 'I'm kind of jealous of their current life. I'm worried about my future.'... I understand you. I have friends who are going through something similar."
Even though it was simple, I liked the activity.
"As you can see, what just happened now — I've witnessed this with my friends and coworkers too. Let me get to the point: only a few people have the blessing of meeting the man of their life. This is our reality. But hey! Don't let this discourage you. Life isn't only about relationships; it's about yourself. If your coworker, or your friend, or your neighbor has a married life... well, don't mind!" — she said with a smile.
Everyone applauded. I mean, who wouldn't? I learned something valuable today, and it made me realize how good this school is.
"Thank you everyone, and sorry for keeping you down until this hour. I guess I still need to work on my presentation skills. Anyways, feel free to visit our Management campus. Goodbye!"
"Thank you, Inoue-san. Everyone, you're all dismissed. But I want you to write an essay about what she presented, due this week. Goodbye!" — said the homeroom teacher.
Usually, everyone would complain about homework, even if half-jokingly, but in this school, everyone just nodded and waved to the teacher and Inoue-san.
Is this how high school students usually behave, or are students here just different from normal ones? I should ask Natsumi-chan and Hiyori-chan later.
Since it was getting late, I quickly said goodbye to Ryuichi, Tachibana-san, and Ayame-san. After all, I can't let my mother wait for me.
So when I got into the car, looking at Mom, I wondered how she felt about Dad — and how she felt about our current lifestyle.
I still remember the first day I came to this world. Mom was definitely pissed off when Dad didn't come to see my graduation ceremony. Though I learned later it was because of Natsumi-chan and Hiyori-chan's graduation ceremony — they study at the same school.
Dad said that Mom understood he couldn't leave the two of them, and he apologized to me again for not being able to come that day. Hearing that made me respect my current father even more — he's doing his best.
But I guess Mom was able to hide her frustration from Dad... something my mom from my previous world wouldn't have done.
I never asked Mom if she's really happy seeing Dad with my aunts. I'm kind of afraid to ask, actually. The only thing I can do for her is...
"Mom, thanks for picking me up this late."
"What happened all of a sudden? I won't allow you to go out alone again."
"Seriously, Mom? No, it's just that today I learned it's important to acknowledge people's efforts every day." — I can't tell her it's actually about relationships.
"How sweet~ So does that mean you'll thank me every day? You could start by cleaning the house!"
"Come on, Mom! But if you want, I can try a new dish I was thinking—"
"No thanks!" — Mom immediately refused.
"Ok."
I hope she was joking about cleaning the house, because right now we live in a huge house.
"Thanks, Tomoki... for always being with me..." — Mom mumbled.
"What?" — I asked.
"You can start with the bathroom!"
"Mom!"
Great, is this what I get for being a nice son?
Oh shit, here we go again... literally.
♦♦♦
"Professor, I was able to give a presentation to the first-year students."
"Good! Even though you won't become a teacher, it's important to know how to properly convey your ideas to everyone. So, how did it go?"
"Yeah, it went well, if I have to say. More than that, I talked to the student who got the male scholarship. If he were older, I'd definitely fall in love with him."
"Morikawa-san, right? He's well-known around the campus, especially after President Edomae subtly mentioned him on TV. But anyway, about your project — did you notice something interesting in your results?"
"You mean about the ones who have already dated once?"
"Exactly. The ones who claimed to have fulfilling lives — all of them have a child. Do you know what that means?"
"Yeah! Though, I still want to wait and see how the other applicants will answer. I don't want to jinx it, you know?"
"Don't worry, because personally, I think having a child is a blessing. Sure, responsibility and dedication are a must, but let me tell you something as a senpai of life: the older you get, the easier it is to get tired — that's why you need any source of motivation to keep going."
"Are you saying this as a mother or as a professor?"
"Both. You see, doing research is fulfilling because it helps society in many ways. But dedicating your life to one person — that's all you really need."
"You really love your daughter."
"I went through so many things, but whenever I see her, I know it was worth it. She's everything to me."
"It's good to hear."
"By the way, what are all those papers?"
"Oh, these? The students' answers from my activity."
"Interesting... why is this one so erased? Let me see... 'why?' ... 'hate'... 'unfair'... it's too blurry, I don't think someone would write this."
"I read that one. I guess I should give out more paper next time."
"Don't worry about it. Anyway, it's already late. Take care!"
"You too, Professor! Thanks for your hard work."