"Hey Ryuichi, what's up!"
"Hey Tomoki, rested well?"
"Yeah, though I needed to sleep a little late since we have homework."
"Not to mention the questions were kind of hard to solve... Yawn... hello guys." — Himari greeted us.
"Hello Tachibana-san, couldn't sleep well?" — Ryuichi asked.
"Yes, that's what happens when you start doing homework in the middle of the night."
"And how about you, Ryuichi?" — I asked him.
"I did it the same day the teacher assigned it to us. Though, there were some questions that were really tough."
"Hmm... I wonder how Ayame did." — I said.
"I can share my answers if you want." — Ayame suddenly said.
"Ayame, if you keep appearing behind me like that, I'm going to have a heart attack."
"Fufu~ that's because you're full of openings."
"Morning Ayame-chan!" — Himari said.
"Morning Himari-san!"
"So, can we see your answer? Good morning, by the way." — Ryuichi said.
"Of course... here!"
Then when we almost started reading her notes—
Ding dong, ding dong.
"What a shame... well, I guess we'll find out through the teacher." — Himari said.
And so everyone went to their seats.
"Good morning everyone, today we'll have another discussion between groups. But before continuing, I have important news. A male student will transfer here, and just like Tomoki-kun, he got a scholarship through the interview." — said the homeroom teacher.
"WHOA!" — Everyone was really surprised.
And more than them.
"Excuse me, teacher! But is he already here?" — Himari eagerly asked.
"He's already in this school, but he's placed in class 1-B."
"Awww..." — Everyone dropped the tension.
Except for one.
"Can I see him now?" — Himari asked.
"Seriously?"
"Sorry… I got a little carried away…"
I can understand the eagerness to meet the male student who got the scholarship, even I'm curious to know him too. But not to that point.
"Now… before you give me the assignment I asked from you, as I said before, I want you to form groups to discuss a topic... this time it's Men's healthcare." — The homeroom teacher announced.
Then, as you can expect, our usual four-person group was formed.
"Men's healthcare... one of the main concerns we have is how difficult it is to find men who can attend us, such as nurses or physician. In general, any healthcare professional lacks men that can give good service." — Satou Ryuichi.
"Yeah, it's really a concern, especially when it's something more delicate." — Tachibana Himari.
"And it's not something easy to solve either. It's not like we can force them to choose this career. And even if they choose it, it's not like everyone will be able to perform well." — Edomae Ayame.
"What's the problem with being attended by a woman? Not a big deal if you ask me." — Me.
The three of them looked at me with surprised faces.
"Tomoki, won't you feel at least uneasy or uncomfortable if a woman starts touching your body? Like your chest or tummy?" — Satou Ryuichi.
"He's right, Tomoki, not to mention the risk of being molested! There were a few cases that happened and were aired in the news!" — Tachibana Himari.
"Tomoki, now I'm kind of worried about you. You should talk about this matter with your parents, especially with your father." — Edomae Ayame.
"Calm down everybody, it's not like I'm clueless. But it's clear that we, as male patients, will need to be attended by female professionals." — Me.
Well, I actually was clueless, but it's not like they need to know.
"You have a point. I guess I need to accept this fact and trust them." — Satou Ryuichi.
"In this case, it's important to be accompanied by a family member if possible, or even by a friend. That way it would be safer." — Tachibana Himari.
"And always encourage reporting if something bad happens, even if it's considered a 'minor' case by the victim." — Edomae Ayame.
"..." — Me.
I was silent, since I remembered something that we, as men, need to do especially when we hit around 40 years old.
Damn...
"Tomoki, what happened?" — Satou Ryuichi.
"Hehe... who knew Tomoki would have trouble discussing this. Don't worry! We always relied on you. You can count on us this time!" — Tachibana Himari.
"Fufu~ as Himari-san said. But I'm kind of surprised since Tomoki always has good insight... wait a minute... Tomoki? Something wrong?" — Edomae Ayame.
"There's something that we, as men, don't want to be seen by any acquaintance, including family members. Something that I want to stay only between me and the doctor." — Me.
I wonder how Dad from here did it.
"What are you talking about now? Sure there's something you want to keep private, but just like you said, we need to adapt." — Satou Ryuichi.
"He's right, Tomoki. Besides, whatever happens, your family will understand and help you whenever you need. Men's healthcare, in the end, doesn't affect only the patient." — Tachibana Himari.
"Tomoki... I'm not your family member but know that I would help you with whatever you need, okay? No matter what happens, I'm not going to leave you hanging." — Edomae Ayame.
"Guys, I understand your points very well. But no matter how I think about it, this is something I don't want to be seen... especially by you, Ayame." — Me.
I shouldn't have brought this up here... especially in front of the girl I like.
"Okay Tomoki, spit out what's going on in your head! First you said it's not a big deal, but now you're making a big case." — Satou Ryuichi.
"Satou-san, maybe it's something really delicate for Tomoki." — Tachibana Himari.
"Yeah, you don't need to feel forced to tell us... especially me..." — Edomae Ayame.
"Sigh~ sorry Ayame and everyone. But it's something that Ryuichi will agree with me on how uncomfortable this procedure is... the prostate exam." — Me.
If Ayame makes such a face, I'd rather expose this shame than make her sad.
"Okay...?" — Satou Ryuichi.
"I—I don't have anything to add." — Tachibana Himari, she was blushing.
"...Kaaa—..." — Edomae Ayame, she became red as a chili pepper.
"But I have a point, right? ... RIGHT? ... I shouldn't have brought this up here." — Me.
But the teacher, hearing my statement, she said to everyone... TO EVERYONE.
"No, Tomoki-kun, it's important to bring this up since it's something that really concerns male healthcare. The more we know, the more we can work to improve quality of life. Besides, just as you said about the prostate exam, many men actually avoid preventive exams, increasing the chances of developing cancer. That's why, Tomoki-kun, I commend you for bringing this up to the class, and if possible, I want you to explain what exactly troubles you about this exam. I know I shouldn't ask you, but you're the only person we can count on."
Everyone was seriously looking at me, some of them even started noting things down.
I wouldn't be surprised if someone made fun of me, but I don't know if it's because girls are more mature than men or because the students here take things more serious.
"Okay, I will tell. But this is something I never did, yet even so, I can already feel the discomfort just by imagining it. So the first main issue is that it's really uncomfortable to take this exam, and the second one is that it kind of hurts our pride as men."
Everyone started murmuring, which I expected, but what I didn't was that Ryuichi too was confused.
"Wait a minute, Tomoki, what do you mean? Is that actually your main concern?" — Ryuichi asked me.
"Yeah? That's why it's something I don't want to be seen by others, including my own family... at least for me. Wouldn't you feel the same?"
"What I don't like is that we would be in a vulnerable state... and God knows what would happen if there's only a woman and a man in a room." — Ryuichi said with a serious and concerned expression.
I actually wanted to retort that I'd be more concerned if the professional who wanted to take advantage of me was a man. But I feel like that would just drag this conversation further.
Since our group kind of brought this stuff up to everyone, other groups started talking about their views on "men's healthcare."
[It's important to encourage men to work as healthcare professionals. At least we could slightly increase the number of men in this area who could provide better assistance to male patients.]
[Instead of increasing the number of men in this area, I think it's more realistic to change how healthcare professionals handle male patients. At first, we thought the only problem was the fear of being assaulted, but just like Morikawa-san brought up, their pride or dignity should be considered too now.]
[What we think is more difficult to change is men's unhealthy lifestyle in general. There are news reports pointing out that women tend to be more concerned about their appearance and health than men, which results in men having a lower life expectancy. We need to encourage men to adopt healthier habits overall, and we believe this would be a more effective solution.]
Lifestyle... just like in my previous world, men over here don't take care of themselves compared to women, I guess. Or maybe it could be worse considering how men don't want to be attended by a woman out of concern or fear.
Nonetheless, I learned something about this world.
♦♦♦
Ding dong, ding dong.
When the lunch period started, everyone began heading to class 1-B to see the new student, and of course I would be curious too.
"Ryuichi! Ayame! How about we see the new student? Let's call Himari too!"
"If you're talking about Tachibana-san, she's already heading there." — Ryuichi said.
"Fufu~ I was wondering if he's actually the same person she met in the summer festival." — Ayame said.
"Seriously? Then we'll finally see the target who Ryuichi described? Now we need to know."
And so we headed there, and I must say, there are a lot of girls surrounding classroom 1-B.
"Excuse me, is this the classroom where the new male student transferred?" — I asked.
"Morikawa-san!? And Satou-san!? Yes! He's here, please go ahead and see him." — The girl was not only surprised but kindly offered us space to get through.
Not only her, but all the girls did that. I guess this is one of the privileges of being a man.
But this time I'm going to use that. My curiosity is killing me, and I didn't forget my plan to buy a lottery ticket.
And so we entered the class... room...