Chapter 7: If You Say You Love Me, Then Show Some Sincerity.

“It’s not like you can’t have kids even now, right?”

I blurted it out before I could stop myself.

Yuto shot me a sharp glare.

“You serious? You think I can have kids in this body?”

“‘This body’ meaning… because you’re a girl now?”

“…Yeah.”

“Well, even as a girl… you could give birth, right?”

She suddenly grew annoyed.

“Me? With a man? Just the thought makes me sick.”

She spat those words with pure disgust.

“But if you want kids, isn’t that your only option?”

My tone was unintentionally confrontational.

“No way. Not a chance. I’m never sleeping with some random guy. Absolutely not.”

“Then… would it be okay if it were me?”

“…What?”

“At the very least, I’m not some stranger, right? And I don’t hate you or anything. Actually… I kinda like you.”

I said that with a grin.

“Then… would it be okay if it were me?”

I couldn’t comprehend what Raiga had just said. No, more accurately, my brain refused to accept it.

“…Huh?”

What the hell is this guy thinking?

“At the very least, I’m not some stranger, right? And I don’t hate you or anything. Actually… I kinda like you.”

What the hell is that supposed to mean? Is this some kind of joke?

He said it with a cheeky smile like some mischievous kid. I can see how a normal girl might fall for the contrast in an instant.

But I’m not like that.

I’m a guy. My body may have turned into a girl, but there’s no doubt—my heart is still that of a man.

And seriously, who would ever want to date a womanizer like him?

He’s constantly surrounded by girls, always caught in love triangles and messy dramas.

Maybe there are some eccentric girls out there who’d be thrilled just to be part of his harem. But me? No thanks. I can barely tolerate this situation as is, and adding that to the mix? No way in hell.

“Are you gay or something?”

I asked in disbelief. So that’s why he’s been trailing me all this time?

“I’m not!!”

Raiga rushed to explain himself.

“I mean, it's embarrassing to say this face to face, but… I really respect you. And besides, you’re a girl now, right? So… well, it’s not really a problem for me.”

He was clearly flustered.

I’d never seen him like that before—it was kind of refreshing.

—Then, an idea hit me.

With a sly grin, I said,

“If you say you love me, then show some sincerity.”

“If you say you love me, then show some sincerity.”

Yuto said it with a smile—an enchanting one, so alluring it was hard to believe she had once been a man.

…What I said earlier was true.

I really do respect Yuto—the person standing right in front of me.

That’s why I’ve been following her around all this time.

What was it about Yuto that pulled me in so much?

There’s only one answer.

It’s who he—no, she is at her core. Unwavering, unshakable. If I had to put a word to it, I’d call it solitude… or dignity.

I first started to notice Yuto back in middle school.

Back then, I was smack in the middle of puberty, totally lost and unsure of what path I should take.

I guess you could say I was “good with people,” but in reality, all I did was become the version of myself that others wanted to see. I accepted every request with a smile, offered the words people wanted to hear when they were troubled. I was just a mirror reflecting their desires. I didn’t have a “me” of my own.

But Yuto changed that. It’s not like he did anything for me on purpose. Honestly, he probably doesn’t even remember.

Even if I told him, he’d probably just laugh and say, “Seriously? That’s what did it?”

But it was Yuto—undeniably Yuto—who showed me how to live.

I don’t think Yuto even realizes it.

Probably because he’s not that interested in me.

Every time I turned down someone else’s invitation just to prioritize being with Yuto, he’d look irritated.

But what he doesn’t know is—I had never done something like that for anyone else until I met him.

Now then, Yuto had given me three conditions.

“First: Until the battle with the ‘Demon Dragon’ is over, you must protect me no matter what.”

“Yeah.”

No problem.

Just like I told the goddess, that was my intention from the start.

Yuto can’t fight.

He can’t stand the sight of blood.

He’s fine when it’s his own blood, but when it’s someone else’s—especially someone close to him—he freezes up in fear, paralyzed and unable to move. Even if it’s an enemy, it’s the same.

It probably stems from a traumatic childhood incident. When he was young, right after being shoved aside, he witnessed his mother lying in a pool of blood.

“Second: You must never cheat on me.”

“Yeah.”

That’s totally fine.

…Yuto’s got the wrong idea, but I’m not the kind of guy who just hits on women left and right.

For some reason, they come on to me, get the wrong impression, and then blow up at me. I’ve been dragged into more love drama than I deserve, all while being totally innocent.

Sure, I’ve been involved with a lot of women, but the truth is—it was for Yuto’s sake. He’s not good with people. Even though he talks about wanting to get married, he’d never take the first step and talk to a girl himself.

So I was trying to find a woman with enough patience and warmth to support him.

I know how that sounds—like some busybody aunt trying to set up arranged marriages.

Let me make this absolutely clear: I’m still a virgin.

I haven’t even tried flirting with a girl.

Not that it’s anything to be proud of.

“Third: No matter what happens, you have to believe in me.”

“Yeah.”

Of course.

Yuto’s my best friend, isn’t he?

Doubting him would make me less than a man.

“…Sigh.”

Ah. He just sighed.

He doesn’t believe me, does he?

“Well then, until the fight with the ‘Demon Dragon’ is over, I’m counting on you, ‘Hero.’”

“Same to you—don’t forget your part of the deal, ‘Saint.’”

“Who knows.”

And so, our journey began.

To defeat the ‘Demon Dragon’—and for me, to prove my sincerity to Yuto.