Transmigrated into a World of Reversed Roles
Chap 31

I understand how Kaito feels now. Being misunderstood like this really makes your heart race a bit.

"Really?"

"Really."

Hearing how sure I was, the man in front of me let out a relieved sigh.

He asked again:

"Then why did you ask about this? It's rare for me to meet a high school guy who already thinks about getting pregnant."

"…"

I didn’t answer right away. Looking at the white shoes I wore today, to be honest, I didn’t really understand why I asked something like this.

Was it because I was afraid of the fact that men could get pregnant here and that I might end up having a child too? Afraid of losing my original self as a "normal" guy from the old world? Afraid of feeling the pain of giving birth through my banana?

"... Sorry. I don't even know myself."

After hearing me out, he just stared silently for a few seconds. Shifting his gaze while gently rubbing his belly, he finally opened his mouth.

"Seems like you're going through a lot."

"More or less."

"In that case, my thoughts on pregnancy... hmm. Honestly, I don’t really get it either."

You don’t get it even though you’re currently pregnant?

"Why?"

"This is my first time being pregnant, you know. How could I possibly answer your deep-sounding question? What I know is, after I married my wife, my stomach suddenly got bigger and voila, the doctor said I had a baby."

"You weren’t scared about that?"

"Scared?"

The sound he let out from his throat ended with a questioning tone.

"Could it be, right now you're just afraid of the thought that you might get pregnant someday?"

"... Yeah."

His next response was completely outside my expectations. Because somehow, he started laughing. Drawing lots of stares from the other passengers.

Even his wife started glancing at us again.

"Hahaha! So that's it! You're scared, huh? Haha!"

"Why?"

My heart pounded fast. A flashback of my interaction with Alice on the badminton court yesterday played in my head. I didn’t know why, but this situation reminded me of that moment.

The man in front of me finally stopped laughing after nearly a minute. He wiped the tears that came out with his hand.

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh at you. It's just, it kind of reminded me that I used to have the same fear as you."

"... Really?"

He nodded and lowered his voice while glancing left and right.

"Really. Because it’s scary when you imagine it, right? A baby that big coming out of a hole as small as a needle. Especially after I got married, a relative of mine was giving birth. I saw firsthand how terrifying the process was. He didn’t go for a C-section, but his thing was cut so the baby could come out."

Cold sweat dripped from my body.

S-So giving birth is that terrifying? What kind of sin have men committed in this world to deserve something so horrifying!?

For a moment I considered whether I should talk to Mom to refuse the surgery to cure my infertility. But what reason should I give? I-I can’t think straight right now!

Alright, I’ve decided.

"... I'm not going to get married or have kids."

"H-Hey I was just joking, joking! Don’t make such a quick decision!"

"... You lied to me?"

"Not really... But it's safe! My relative, even though his thing got cut, once it was stitched up, everything went back to normal."

My heart felt slightly relieved. At least after giving birth, the banana won’t rot right away. Because if it could only be used once, I might seriously consider not getting married at all.

He asked me again.

"You still want to get married, right?"

"As long as there's someone to marry."

"You don’t have a girlfriend? That’s such a shame with a face like yours. I thought all high schoolers these days had already reached stage C."

He's not wrong. Kaito himself already has a girlfriend. So do the other classmates, though that was in the old world, now I don’t know what their relationship status is.

Also, what did he mean by calling me handsome? Was he teasing me?

I opened my mouth again, wanting to ask. But just then, the train's brakes kicked in and the announcement that the train had arrived in my city echoed.

"Ah... didn’t realize we’d arrived already. Sorry, even though we talked a lot, I still couldn’t give you the answer you were looking for."

As many passengers started to move to get off the train, he began stepping back to avoid any accidental bump that might hit his belly. I saw his wife still far away, so I stood and positioned myself in front of him.

"Are you okay?"

"... I'm even more confused why you don’t have a girlfriend right now. But well, we don’t have much time. So I’ll just give you one piece of advice for now."

The sound of dozens of footsteps filled the train car, but it felt like my ears ignored all that, focusing only on the words he was about to say next.

"Don’t think about pregnancy right now. I don’t know what happened to you, but from what I see, you’re just confused. Or maybe shocked? Anyway, you’re still in high school, and the word ‘pregnant’ shouldn’t be something you need to worry about right now."

His neatly lined white teeth showed as he gave a wide smile.

"So take it easy. Put all the burdens in your head into storage or something, and come back to them when the time is right. Don’t let them mess up your youth and make you end up without a girlfriend, got it?"

"... Why is youth always associated with romance..."

"Because that’s the most fun part, of course! Who wants to spend their youth just thinking about studying all the time? Sure, studying is important to prepare for society. But that doesn’t mean everything has to be boring!"

"You're right."

He was right. Is there any point in thinking about all this when I don’t even have the power to change it?

When I first came to this world, I was shocked, confused, and angry because my entire game collection disappeared overnight. At first, I wondered whether I could survive all these sudden changes. But hasn't everything gone smoothly so far?

I’ve started to adapt, made new acquaintances, gained new experiences, and my life has felt more colorful than before.

So why should I be worrying about pregnancy now?

"Everything will work itself out with time."

A sentence that continued my train of thought was spoken from the mouth of the pregnant man in front of me. His smile seemed gentler. Then he continued.

"By the way, may I get your contact? I'd like to chat with you again sometime. My name is Elias. You?"

"Ren."

"Ren, huh? Such a simple name. But that’s not a bad thing, since it's easy to remember. Maybe your parents chose it with the hope that you'd meet lots of people and be remembered by those who know you. I like it."

After he—no, after Elias said that, his wife, who had been watching all this time, finally came over and guided him out of the train.

With one last small wave of his hand, I kept watching Elias as he slowly walked away.

I got off the train.