Transmigrated into a World of Reversed Roles
Chapter 19

"Why do I even have to play with you guys..."

Standing on the badminton court with a racket in hand, I let out a sigh.

I glanced at the gorilla-girl next to me. She was holding her racket with a big grin on her face.

"Let's win this, Ren!"

"And why am I even on your team?"

Because I joined in, the number of players became odd, and I ended up being paired with Hina, playing against her older sister, Alice.

I looked across the court at the girl with short, dyed hair.

"Aren’t I just getting in the way here? It’s not fair for it to be two against one."

"Rather than worrying about me, focus on the game. Besides, adding one random guy to Hina doesn’t change anything for me."

Alice answered, her smile never leaving her face.

... My lips twitched. Although I haven't been moving around much lately, I used to play badminton—to the point where my gym teacher praised me.

Being belittled like this makes me a little annoyed.

Now Hina was holding the shuttlecock. Tossing it up, she started with a high serve, aiming for the far corner of the court.

Surprisingly, Alice returned it with ease—also slowly and high.

Since it was headed toward Hina’s side, I stayed still and let her take it. She got into position, jumped as if going for a smash, and—

Her racket swung, but the shuttle still fell to the ground. One point to the opponent.

Alice spoke up:

"See?"

"..."

Now I get it. Alice wasn’t underestimating me earlier—she was underestimating her sister.

Because if Hina plays this badly—then yeah, even with both of us against her, it wouldn’t change a thing.

"Ughhh! Alice Sis is too strong! Ren, you can’t let your guard down against her!"

"Say that to yourself, not to me."

How could she miss a shot that seemed aimed right at her? It actually made me want to praise her for playing that badly. What’s the point of all those muscles if she can’t use them?

It was Alice’s serve now. She aimed her shot at me.

Because I wasn’t really in the mood to play with them—I moved my body just a little and returned the shuttle lightly—which Alice easily returned.

It came back to me, and I hit it back to her. The tempo was slow, repetitive, and this went on for several rounds.

Until—Alice suddenly smashed it fast in my direction. Luckily, I managed to block it just in time.

And by accident, I did a net shot—Alice, being far from the net, couldn't reach it in time.

One point for me.

Alice didn’t flinch, even when I scored. She tossed the shuttle back to me while laughing.

"Heh, not bad. Didn't expect you to return that one."

"I just got lucky."

After I said that, Hina came over. Her eyes sparkled with admiration.

"A—Amazing! Even though it's two-on-one, it's incredible that you could last that long against Alice Sis, and even score a point!"

"Technically, this is one-on-one."

Alice hadn’t targeted Hina once. She had been focused only on me the whole time—as if her sister didn’t exist.

And so, the game continued.

---

Maybe it had been an hour and a half since I started playing against Alice. I didn’t expect the game to become that intense.

Because she kept increasing the tempo every time either of us scored, I unconsciously got serious too.

Even though I lost, honestly, I enjoyed it. Doing intense exercise like this once in a while isn’t so bad.

We were both out of breath, our bodies drenched in sweat. Alice still looked like she had some energy, but she was clearly tired too.

"I’m... I’m done for now."

"Then me too."

Hearing Alice, I stepped off the court—going to return my racket to Hina first.

Honestly, I didn’t even realize when she had moved to the sidelines. While I was focused, she somehow became a spectator without me noticing.

"Um, thanks, Hina."

"For what?"

For the first time, I saw Hina lose the light in her eyes. She looked like someone who had lost all faith in the world.

"...For praising me earlier?"

"Ugh! It’s Big Sis Alice’s fault for never passing the shuttle to me! I invited you, Ren, but she ended up just having fun with you instead!"

"Don’t blame me if you can’t even play."

Alice, who had come over, chimed in. Then she looked at me.

"You’re pretty good to be able to keep up with me. So there are guys whose lives aren’t just about cooking."

"Whether I kept up or not, I still lost in the end."

"Seriously, don’t you want to try going on a date with me sometime? How about this Sunday?"

I just rolled my eyes at that. Sorry, but I already have plans for a date this Sunday. A man of honor knows his priorities.

But, if Alice invites me again for next Sunday... w—well, I might consider it.

Since my body was soaked with sweat and my clothes were sticking to me, I told them:

"I wanna go freshen up at the faucet. My body’s sore."

"Same here."

"I’ll come too, Ren! I’m super tired from earlier!"

"...From what exactly?"

I could understand if it was Alice—but Hina, didn’t you just sit the whole time?

And so, both sisters followed me.

The public faucet was in the park—outside the court, so it took a bit of walking to get there.

I took off my school uniform while walking to cool off. The evening breeze hit my body, and I noticed that the shirt under my uniform was soaked through with sweat.

Finally reaching the faucet, I splashed my face with water—feeling a freshness that I thought only existed in heaven. Afterward, I wiped my face with the edge of my shirt.

But when I looked up and turned around, I saw the two sisters looking surprised. It confused me.

"What is it?"

"Woah, a—a boy’s stomach. This is my first time seeing one this close..."

Hina was the first to speak. Both her hands covered her face—but not her eyes. Alice then added with a smirk.

"So it’s not just your butt that’s sexy..."

Suddenly I felt even more exhausted. I only lifted my shirt a bit—just how pervy are these two? Feels like my whole body is inappropriate in front of them.

Deciding to ignore them, I walked over to a bench and sat down. At first, I planned to leave without waiting for them. But because I took too long to think, Alice had already finished at the faucet and sat next to me.

"Can I sit here?"

"No point in asking when you’ve already done it."

"Why so bitter? Or what, you scared I’ll grab your butt again like at the restaurant, hmm? Blame your manager for making your uniform so sexy."

"I’m more scared you’ll corner me in an alley again in the morning."

"Well~ For that, I genuinely apologize. I was just bored that morning and dragged Hina out for a walk after dawn. When I saw you looking all confused, I just had to tease you a little."

If it was just teasing a little, she didn’t need to go all out against Yona, right?

I sighed.

"What do you want? I already played badminton with you. That should be enough, right?"

"Yeah, playing with you was more fun than I thought. I’ve been getting bored training with Hina all the time. No, more like playing with a dog than training."

Calling your own sister a dog—that’s a bit much, isn’t it?

But Alice wasn’t done yet. Looking at me, she continued:

"But even if she’s as dumb as a dog, she’s still my sister. So... thanks a lot. You’ve been teaching her a lot at work, right?"