"You're good, son, but you still need to train more."
"I feel like if I use all my strength, there's a high chance I'll miss it."
Right now I'm playing "catching" the baseball in our house yard with my father.
It's not that spacious, and I don't even need to mention what would happen if we throw too fast and accidentally hit someone's window.
"Is there any place you wanna go?"
"Did mom tell you?"
"Yep, that's why I'm asking you."
"Going around the city would be a good start for me."
"Just the city?"
"Anywhere would be good for me."
"Okay, maybe we can try to hang out with everyone and go somewhere."
"Seriously? But if you're all busy, no need to force it."
"Don't worry, Tomoki, this is something we want to do too. A family trip doesn't sound bad, right?"
"Yeah! I'm looking forward to it."
"Nice, so... Do you like Edomae Ayame?"
"Yes, I like her."
"That's a surprise."
"Any man would fall for her, what's the surprise?"
"That you easily admitted it. Tomoki, do you have experience with women?"
"If it's about an intimate relationship, no."
"Intimate— Tomoki, you're still 15."
"Dad... I already am 15."
I already had this talk with my father from my previous world. It was even before I confessed to my childhood friend.
"If your mother hears this, she would overthink and then go on a rampage."
"Don't worry, dad, I already learned the most important thing."
"Hoo... and what is it?"
I grinned a bit and purposely threw slightly faster.
"Responsibility."
"..." — I could see that my father was surprised.
The rule of thumb in this world is that women hold more responsibility for raising the children and even taking care of the man. The reason is because of the polygamy relationships we already discussed in the classroom.
But if the man doesn't take care of his children, I realized the tendency of the woman of the respective child to divorce. Just like Tachibana-san's case.
"But don't tell mom about this, I already received a lecture from her yesterday."
"Hahaha... she's scary after all. So are you planning to date Ayame-san?"
"More like wishing to... Dad, do you have any tips for me? After all, you were able to steal five hearts."
"Son, just be yourself. I'm sure she'll look at you in a special way."
"That's it?"
"That's it, this is how I was able to make them fall for me. At least this is what they told me."
No way... it seems to be easy for a man to be liked by women.
Then if I just confess to Ayame-san it's guaranteed to be accepted?
Nah... life is not that easy. And I don't plan to make the same blunder again.
"Well, thanks I guess."
"You seem to not be convinced."
"You see dad, way before meeting Ayame-san I had someone I liked."
"Seriously!? Then how did it go?"
"Rejected. Even though I made an effort to change myself and be able to have a good relationship with her, it wasn't enough."
"Isn't that the reason? Because you changed yourself."
"If I just stayed the same, then she would just see me as a younger brother or something. I needed to improve myself."
"I wonder what kind of girl she is."
"Haha... a unique one nonetheless. But I don't think I would be able to see her again."
"Did she go somewhere far from here?"
"Yeah... she did."
"That sucks, son."
"It's okay, I already moved on."
"Did you?"
"Yeah, but I don't think I would be able to get over it if I got another rejection."
"Come on, Tomoki, don't sell yourself like this. Besides, think like this, there's a lot of fish to catch in this vast sea."
"... Dad, I wonder what your wives would think if they heard this."
"Then, don't tell them about this, otherwise I would be lectured by them."
"Deal."
After this, we went to the living room to watch TV.
But before that—
"Isn't there anything we can do to pull off this portrait?"
"Even if you ask me... Well, at this point I already got used to it."
"No way..."
And now we start watching TV.
[Welcome everyone! We'll start a show that will definitely help you if you have trouble conquering the heart of the person you like.]
"Look son, this is for you."
"With all the girls there, I guess it's gonna help me."
[And now with the master of love, the one who can see through your heart... I present to you Ai-chan!]
"She's cute, I wonder if she's an idol." — I said.
"I don't know, but it could give us a good reference."
[Hello everyone! If you're watching this I bet you are desperate, but don't worry because I have tips that could help you.]
"I'm not that desperate."
"Are you sure?"
[Now the first tip, make sure to be all dressed up. Appearance is really important and it shows how much you care about how the people around you look at you.]
"That makes sense." — I said.
"She's right, I always made sure to look at least decent."
[For the second tip, start a conversation that interests both of you. Don't be hasty, try to aim for friendship first. Thinking like this will help ease your worries too, right?]
"I already did that, I hope. At least we're at the stage of friendship."
"That's good, son."
[Now you're at the stage where you can comfortably talk with the person you like. But the problem is... the friendzone field. I'll share with you the secrets to break this obstacle.]
"I'll get my notebook."
"Be sure to make it in time."
[First of all, try to be someone reliable. If the person you like has trouble, try to help.]
"Oof— how can I help someone like Ayame-san."
"Uhmm... this is gonna be tough."
[Second trick, use perfume and try to change occasionally. It's a good way to see if the person actually pays attention to you.]
"Perfume? Seriously?" — I asked to my father.
"Don't ask me."
[Third trick, act cute as naturally as possible. Using a high-pitched voice and using accessories will help you.]
"Just like this?" — I said in falsetto.
"God, I hope not."
[Lastly, try to get as close as possible whenever you talk. But only if you're able to complete all the steps I already told you. By the way, be sure to look closely at the eyes, if they look down that's a good sign.]
"Look down... either it's my chest or... uhmm, it's gonna be tough."
"Don't worry son, what's important is not the size but the magic it does."
While we were talking about the tips from the show, mom and my aunts were talking about something.
"Didn't they notice it's for women?" — Aunt Mizuno said.
"Men are kind of slow to take hints after all." — Aunt Serina said.
"By the way, should we change our perfume to see his reaction?" — Aunt Sayori suggested.
"Shouldn't we alert them about the show first?" — asked Aunt Yuna.
"Better not, besides I'm pretty sure they'll notice later. And Tomoki is more clever than he looks—"
"Mom, can I borrow your perfume? I just want to test something."
For some reason, all my aunts and mom were looking at me with wide open eyes and open mouths.
"Tomoki, that show is for women."
"Ah."
I think I don't need that note anymore.