Transmigrated into a World of Reversed Roles
Chap 16

"Yuri, why did you buy food for them?"

Without hesitation, I asked that directly.

But before Yuri could answer, her two friends spoke up first.

"Hmm, you're worried about Yuri?"

"LOL, don’t get weird ideas. This is already our daily routine. Besides, Yuri, you don’t mind, right?"

One of them put her arm around Yuri’s shoulder and stared sharply at the girl with long bangs.

Choked up, Yuri didn’t look at her friend or even at me—she looked at the floor.

"Y—Yeah."

Even an elementary school kid would know something’s wrong just by seeing this scene.

It made me feel uneasy.

"In that case, pay properly for the bread. You already made Yuri buy that much bread by herself. At the very least, the money you gave her should match the price, right?"

"Yah~ You might be right. But we really don’t have any more money. Yuri’s rich anyway."

"Right, right. As someone well-off, you’re grateful you can help us, right? Yuri?"

Like a broken record, Yuri kept answering with the same word.

"...Yeah."

What the hell?

"You think rich people don’t work hard to earn money?"

"Ugh. He’s mad?"

"Guess it’s fair LOL. Guys will never understand girls’ friendship."

I didn’t need to explain my emotions with words anymore.

At first, I had a good impression of them. Even if they were just self-proclaimed gamers, they should still be good people, right?

Because after all, they were Yuri’s friends.

But turns out, no.

Not even friends, they weren’t even decent people. What kind of friend acts like this? Kaito and I would never do anything like that.

Isn’t this clearly bullying?

My hand clenched into a fist, my feet stepped forward.

Maybe this is why the Game Club failed to be created. Maybe I’ll be called to the counseling room because of this. Maybe my parents will be disappointed in me for this.

But even so, that’s better than letting them treat Yuri horribly like this.

"Ehhh? Gonna get violent?"

"Scary~ But kinda hot, right? A guy like this? Too bad we made him mad. At least I’d want to take him to a hotel once."

They didn’t budge or show fear.

Of course, because this is a world where gender roles are reversed. Their physical strength is stronger as girls.

That’s why, I have no hesitation now. Screw it if I get beaten up later. But at the very least, let me land one punch first!

“E—Enough, Ren!”

Unfortunately, even before I could lift my fist, the voice of that timid girl was heard.

“Why?”—was the first word I wanted to ask her.

Because after staying silent for so long, why would Yuri—the one I wanted to protect—stop me from punching the people who were bullying her?

My hand stopped midair, clenched tighter—but even before I had a chance to feel disappointed, I was stunned by what happened next.

“Pl—Please don’t involve Ren any further.”

Saying that, Yuri dropped the bread she was carrying and stomped on her friend’s foot.

“Wh—”

In pain and confused, Yuri’s friend unconsciously let go of her.

Not missing the chance, Yuri moved forward and punched her in the stomach.

Just when I thought it would stop there, Yuri grabbed her friend’s hair and pulled her downward—before slamming her knee into her with full force.

...The sound of that impact was so loud, I wondered if it was a metal-on-metal hit.

“...”

My mouth dropped open, I could only stay silent and watch it all. Everything happened so fast that the others also couldn’t react.

I… What was I going to say again?

W—Wasn’t Yuri supposed to be a shy and gentle girl!?

How could she pull off such pro moves!? This reminded me of Yona when she beat down Hina and Alice—except Yuri was shorter in this case!

Without saying anything, Yuri then turned to me. Grabbing my wrist—she ran.

“E—Eh?”

I was left confused.

Just like we had committed murder, we ran from the scene and arrived at a quiet hallway.

Catching my breath, my heart was pounding and my blood pumped hard from being forced to run at her pace.

“Are you sure it’s okay to hit them, Yuri!? W—Weren’t they your friends!?”

Yuri didn’t answer right away. She also caught her breath before speaking.

“M—Maybe not.”

“Then why act impulsively!?”

“Because I didn’t want Ren to get hurt because of provoking them!”

Ugh! Her words of concern for me while also stating the fact that I was the one who acted impulsively stabbed my heart.

This was my fault for losing my temper earlier. If only I’d kept a cool head…

I deserve to be blamed here. So I only said one word.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Um .. Eh? No! I didn’t mean to say it’s Ren’s fault! A—Anyway, I’m glad Ren is safe!”

...Alright, our minds are clearly still a mess. We can’t continue this conversation properly like this.

Deciding to give ourselves more time to calm down, my heartbeat finally returned to normal after a few minutes.

I spoke again.

“This is going to be a problem.”

“Right ...”

Our problems aren’t just about being called to the counseling office, or the possibility that our parents might be contacted too.

There’s a bigger issue.

“The Game Club is officially a failure.”

“Right ...”

The minimum number of members required to form a club is four.

Yuri’s two friends were the prospective members of the Game Club. But now that they’ve been beaten up, there’s little chance they’ll still want to join.

That leaves only me and Yuri—just two people. Clearly not enough to meet the requirement.

“Also, they were your ‘friends’, right Yuri? Will you be okay tomorrow?”

They didn’t look like the kind of people who would forgive someone who just humiliated them.

Because I somewhat understand what it feels like to be bullied, I was more worried about Yuri’s safety than the club right now.

“I—I hope so. But at the very least, if they try to get revenge, I won’t go down easily.”

Yeah, your strength earlier was terrifying. I doubt they’d dare to get revenge tomorrow.

“From the start, how did you even become friends with them? If you’re this strong, you should’ve fought back long ago, right?”

“To be honest… I kind of forgot. Th—The only thing I remember is, when I first entered middle school, they were the ones who approached me and asked to be friends. After that, without realizing it… I just ended up being ordered around by them.”

“…What kind of backstory is that?”

“S—Sorry! But that’s really all I remember! I—I think they started taking advantage of me when they realized I was shy and didn’t have any other friends!”

“It’s okay, Yuri. It’s not like I’m interrogating you.”

I sighed.

Pulling out my phone to check the time, I suddenly remembered something.

“Yuri, let’s exchange contacts.”

“Eh?”

“We can’t possibly meet on the train every day, right? Isn’t it annoying if we have to visit each other’s classrooms just to set up a game? Besides, we’re already friends but it’s weird if we haven’t exchanged contacts yet.”