"Mmh, the house... should be this one."
It's almost the start of the new school year, and I have just arrived at the place I will be living for the next few years. I'm not just getting a room for myself; I'll be living in a dormitory with other freshmen. I could have rented a small apartment just for me, and Dad wouldn't have stopped me, but this was my choice.
Since I feel... older on the inside than I do on the outside, I don't have many connections with others my age. The only friends I have are Yuki, Ayaka, Noan, Mafuyu, and my childhood friend Sa-chan, who has moved back to her country, causing us to drift apart. In fact, despite all the time we spent together, I don't even know her real name. With the little Russian friend I knew, we simply called each other 'Sa-chan' and 'Saa-kun' as nicknames.
Anyway, since I will be living with older people, I thought it would be beneficial for me to bond with more mature individuals.
"Share House Kitayama... let's see what you have inside."
The dorm wasn't anything special, but from my perspective, it seemed large enough to accommodate four or five people.
"Hello! Is anyone here?"
I unlocked the door with the key the professor gave me. Inside, the house wasn't the typical Western-style dwelling I had expected; instead, it had a mixed design. Right in front of the entrance was a Japanese-style sliding door, which opened into what appeared to be the dining room. Inside were only a carpet, a low table, and the door leading to the kitchen.
"The fridge is... empty. Well, I'll need to buy dinner after my package delivery, which should be arriving in about half an hour."
I didn't want my family to discover my inventory, so I asked my grandpa to arrange for the delivery of a few boxes I needed.
"Well, since no one else is here, it's time to explore!"
The dorm was larger than I had anticipated. Aside from the bare dining room, the kitchen was spacious, featuring another low table— a smaller one that could be used if not too many people were dining.
On the ground floor, a sliding door separated the living area from the sleeping area and the stairs leading to the upper floor. There were two bedrooms on the ground floor, along with a small storage room and a bathroom. The rooms weren't small; they included tatami mats for futons, small wardrobes, and desks—perfect for students.
The upper floor was different, featuring three Western-style bedrooms and a single bathroom, along with a closet for the washing machine and a terrace with two clothes airers. Of the three bedrooms, two were slightly larger than the ground floor rooms, while one was about the same size.
Just after my exploration, the doorbell rang, and my delivery had arrived with five boxes.
I thanked the courier, placed the boxes in the hallway without opening them, then grabbed a yellow post-it note and a pen. I quickly wrote:
'Arrived first. Waiting to arrange the rooms and boxes in the hallway. Going for a walk, then buying food.
-The Youngest'
I chose small words since the note wasn't big enough for longer sentences, and I stuck it to the wall near the dining room. The yellow color made it easy to spot.
Well, since I had some time to spare, perhaps I could visit the shrine I went to last time. Maybe I would find that curious fox... or whatever it was.
---
**POV: Hashiba Kyoya**
Coming to this famous university feels like a dream to me. Just a few days ago, I, a 28-year-old unemployed man, fell asleep and woke up as an 18-year-old. I don't know how it happened, but this time I won't make the same mistakes. This time, I am determined to rebuild my life.
That's why I chose not to attend the more common economic college; instead, I picked the arts college. In fact, it's the same place where the renowned 'Platinum Generation'—incredible talents believed to be unparalleled—graduated. Since we're the same age, there's a chance I could befriend one of them.
Anyway, yesterday I arrived at this shared house, hopeful to meet the people I would be living with for the next few years, but no one was around. Someone had come before me, but he left a note saying he'd return after shopping. Unfortunately, he never came back, so I just organized my things in my room and fell asleep.
But then, I woke up to find a girl sleeping next to me, her pajamas slipping in a way that left... suggestive images. When she woke up, she grabbed a bottle of yogurt I had left nearby and drank from it, spilling some on herself. Then she fell off the bed, dragging me down with her and landing us in an intimate position at the worst possible moment—just as the new fellow tenants walked into the room.
"What are you—UWA?!"
"W-wait, you're misunderstanding! I woke up and then she was right next to me, and—"
I panicked and started explaining my side of the story. Luckily, the blue-haired girl got up and cleared stated the situation.
"Ah~, since my futon hasn't arrived yet, I borrowed his."
"Eh?! For the futon?"
She just smiled while I felt the dubious glances from the others in the room.
Then, a cheerful voice cut through the tension. "Oh~ What is this? I can sense the conflict in the air~!"
A kid appeared, weaving between the two others, who looked at him in confusion.
"Hmm," he said, looking directly at me.
"W-what is it?" I stammered.
He maintained a serious expression and replied, "You fail as a harem protagonist."
"I-I told you, you're misunderstanding!"
---
"You weren't red enough in the face, and your scream was too low. You needed to sound more like a dying pig." I don't know why, but this kid started listing how I 'needed' to behave.
"Well, nothing happened, right?"
The blue-haired girl tried to help me, and if I'm right, you've become another target.
"Also, you! You're stereotyping the 'klutz', but you removed the drama from the situation. It's not something a klutz would ever do! You just needed to tilt your head, and the interrogation mark would have appeared over your head."
I'm sorry, blue-haired girl, but thank you for your sacrifice!
"W-well, why don't we introduce ourselves? I'll start. My name is Kogure Nanako, and I'm from the prefecture of Shiga! You can call me Nanako."
The girl, Nanako, was the one who exclaimed while entering my room. She seems popular; maybe she's a gyaru.
"Let me guess, you had to choose between college and crime—OOF!"
"It seems you'll be a pain in the ass... and we've only known each other for half a minute..."
Wow, Nanako can throw a punch all right.
"Guh... My name is Rokuonji Tsurayuki, but you can call me by my name."
The punched guy had a cool name, which was different from his behavior.
"Then, it's my turn. My name is Hashiba Kyoya. You can call me Kyoya. It's a pleasu—"
"Then, 'Kyoya', can you tell me something?"
"*Gulp* Yes?"
"Can you tell me what happened between yesterday and this morning?"
"I already told you! It was just a series of unfortunate coincidences!"
"Oh? So you coincidentally spent the night with a girl you just met... and then you splashed her with some 'milk'?"
"I told you, it was—"
"Pervert!"
"OOF!"
She took me down with her cushion.
"Haha, it seems it won't be boring here."
Tsurayuki, I don't want this to happen every day...
"Well, I'm next~. My name is Shino Aki! A pleasure to meet you! I'm from Fukuoka in Kyushu, from a town called Itoshima."
"Shinoaki is more of a male name, right?" (Tsurayuki)
"True." (Kyoya)
"Ah, no, my surname is Shino, and my name is Aki. You can call me Aki—"
"Shinoaki feels good, right?" (Nanako)
"I prefer Shinoaki." (Tsurayuki)
"I concur." (Kyoya)
"Shinoaki it is." (Tsurayuki)
"Wha—why don't you listen to me? Mmhp~." (Shinoaki)
"Then the remaining one is..." (Kyoya)
"Kuze Masachika, freak, and happy to be one. It's a pleasure to meet you~."
Everyone turned their gaze to him, the most unusual among us...
"Sorry to ask, but aren't you too... how to say..." (Tsurayuki)
"Short?" (Masachika)
"...yes." (Tsurayuki)
"Mmh, I'm not short. I'm young."
"Young? Ah~ Are you the one who left the note at the entrance?" (Nanako)
"Yes, yesterday I went for a walk, and then... I spent the night outside." (Masachika)
"Oh, I'm sure it was hard. Don't worry! Your Onee-san will make sure you're in bed early!" (Nanako)
When Nanako wanted to take on the role of his caretaker, I noticed a strange expression on his face.
"Haha, yes—" (Masachika)
FLASHBACK START
"HARDER!~"
FLASHBACK END
"-It was really hard," Masachika said.
I sensed something was off.
"All right... Nonoka, if you're wondering if something happened between those two..." Masachika pointed at me and Shiroaki. "Then don't worry. Nothing happened; it's just as both of them told us. It was a coincidence."
"Well, if you say so..." Nonoka replied.
"By the way, Masachika, you mentioned you're younger. How old are you?" Tsurayuki asked.
"Hmm, guess!" Masachika responded playfully.
"12?" Nonoka guessed.
"Nope!" Masachika answered.
"11?" Shiroaki tried.
"Try again!" Masachika teased.
"15, maybe? You seem pretty mature," Tsurayuki suggested.
"Wrong. Kyoya, you're the only one left," Masachika declared.
"Masachika, you're too confident... Kyoya, avenge us!" Nonoka urged, sounding hopeful.
This felt a bit off to me, and I suspected he had used a double entendre. So, I took a shot.
"You're 16," I said confidently.
"As the last answer, can I ask why you think so?" Masachika inquired.
"Certainly. First, you said you're young but didn't specify how much younger you are, which implies you're close to our age but still younger. Then Tsurayuki mentioned how mature you seem. Finally, you're old enough to use double entendres. Also, we're college students living in a shared house, so you can't be much younger than us or you wouldn't live here. That's why I guessed you're 16," I explained.
I felt certain about my deduction. I was a 28-year-old man in an 18-year-old body, so I thought my estimate of his age was reasonable.
Masachika smiled at me. "Good thinking, Kyoya! As expected of the other non-virgin here! Your reasoning is spot on!"
I chuckled, "Hehe!"
"But unfortunately, you're wrong!" Masachika said with a dramatic flair, crossing his arms as if he were on a game show. "I'm currently eight! Nine in two weeks!"
Everyone was taken aback. He had told us he was younger, but not that he was still a child!
"Wow! You are the youngest freshman I know of! Amazing!" Shiroaki exclaimed.
"An eight-year-old in university? What kind of prodigy are you?!" Nonoka asked incredulously.
I could hardly believe it. "Are you serious? Eight years old and in college?!"
"Oh, thank you, thank you all!" Masachika replied, seemingly pleased.
"And also, Kyoya, you seem like a nice guy, but you're already a 'man,' huh?" Tsurayuki remarked with a smirk.
"E-Eh, well... how should I say this..." I stammered.
The girls blushed slightly, both of them suddenly finding the table the most interesting thing in the world.
It's not like I could say, "I came from 10 years in the future," right? Maybe I should say it was just one of my last days of—wait...
Wait...
WAIT...
I slowly turned my head toward Masachika, our youngest roommate. He had referred to me as the "other non-virgin."
From the corner of my eye, I noticed Tsurayuki coming to the same realization.
"M-Masachika, you... you said 'other—'" Tsurayuki started.
"Yes, Tsurayuki, yes. It's exactly as you thought," Masachika interjected.
He looked at me and grinned, then met the others' gazes directly. "So, how do we distribute our chores?"
Everyone was left speechless.
Then I remembered his introduction.
"Ha... yes, undoubtedly, you're a freak," I said.
Masachika's only response was a wider grin, more pronounced this time.
I had traveled 10 years into the past, but I felt like he was something truly special.