Well, adoptive sister to be exact, since they had no blood relation, which was obvious from the complete lack of resemblance between the two, aside from the obvious fact that she was black and he wasn't.
"As I said, Jonathan and I were just having a casual little chat, nothing for you to get all nervous about."
Hearing Melissa and finding her smiling face when looking back at her, Liz glared at her with a frown, arms crossed. "And I know what kind of 'casual little chats' you like having with other guys. I already told you to stay away from him, he's way out of your league."
But Melissa didn't seem intimidated as she raised her arms. "And how can you be so sure about that? Don't you know badgirls are pretty popular with guys? Maybe your brother—"
"No, I'm not interested in you at all, I've said that countless times, and besides, calling yourself a badgirl is just embarrassing." Jonathan cut her off, pointing with an impassive look.
Melissa just smiled meaningfully and winked. "Sure, if that's what you say."
'This bitch is really full of herself, I wish I had that kind of self-esteem.' The corner of Jonathan's eye twitched at her complete lack of shame.
Seeing Melissa's actions and words, Liz frowned even deeper. "You heard him, so back off and stop talking to my brother unless you want me to do something about it."
Melissa raised her eyebrows mockingly. "Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do~?"
Liz then suddenly closed the distance, staring at Melissa just inches away. "What do you think I'll do, huh? Wanna see?"
Not intimidated, Melissa stood her ground, glaring right back. "You really think you're so tough just because you know a few moves, don't you? But guess what, you're not invincible." Melissa's smile widened as she mocked her.
The tense air quickly formed between them, giving the impression that they were about to go for each other's throats and start throwing punches.
And of course, all this commotion had drawn the attention of the surrounding students, who were watching curiously as if they were witnessing a drama, some even pulling out their phones to record.
And they were talking among themselves too, but some of the conversations made Jonathan's face turn even more impassive.
"I can't believe those two hotties are fighting over Jonathan, tsk, lucky bastard."
"Yeah, like it's not enough for him to have Liz as his half-sister, he's got Melissa interested in him too. If it were me, I would've dropped my pants for both already."
"That's because you're an easy slut… but I can't really judge, I'd do the same hahaha~, but I'm sure he's just playing hard to get while thinking the same."
"True, he thinks he's fooling us but I know a fake slut when I see one."
"Period."
That was the conversation between two effeminate boys nearby that he could hear, and they weren't the only ones—many others were saying similar things.
And this was just one of the many strange experiences Jonathan had in this world thanks to the role reversal, the envy, and the "feminine" competitiveness.
Even though he'd never been involved with anyone, there were several rumors about him painting him as some kind of slut, but that was only because of the jealousy guys had toward his looks and popularity.
Basically, they couldn't accept that he was not only handsome but also a "pure" man in both senses of the word.
With the tension between the two girls in front of him dragging on, he was just about to step in when Melissa abruptly backed off.
"Okay okay, you win, I'm not in the mood to deal with the principal so I'll go." Melissa raised her hands as she took steps back before turning around. "See you around Liz, and Jonathan, we'll talk later." She winked at him with a playful smile over her shoulder.
"That piece of shit."
Liz took a step forward, gritting her teeth, but Jonathan calmly placed a hand on her shoulder. "Relax, no need to start a fight."
Liz glared at the retreating back before her expression finally relaxed. "It's just that bitch really pisses me off." Her eyes then turned to him. "She didn't actually try anything with you, right?"
Jonathan shook his head as he slipped his hand back into his pocket. "No, and you know you don't have to worry about that kind of thing, I'm not as weak as the other men."
Liz looked at him for a moment before smiling and quickly hugging his head against her chest. "I know that, but it's my job as a woman to protect you." She said while ruffling his hair.
Jonathan remained expressionless as her breast was pressed against the side of his face. "Right, could you stop messing up my hair and also stop pressing my face against your chest?"
She stopped messing up his hair, but instead of letting him go, she pressed him harder while smiling mischievously. "What's wrong? Getting embarrassed~? You didn't mind when I did this back when we were younger."
"That was because back then you were as flat as a runway, and I just don't like how those effeminate bastards look at you. Besides, more importantly, I'm being stimulated." Jonathan answered calmly, his gaze focusing on the nearby guys looking at him with envy and desire for Elizabeth.
Hearing him, she quickly pulled her arm away and let him go, while he simply straightened up, maintaining his warning glare toward the guys nearby, who quickly backed off, calling him a crazy slut or other things.
And she kept her eyes on him the entire time, something he returned once the others backed away, meeting her eyes calmly.
And so they remained staring silently at each other in an exchange of looks they both knew very well the meaning of.
But after a while, without even touching the subject, Elizabeth smiled carefree. "I'll get going then, let me know if that bitch shows up again, okay? Take care." She ruffled his hair one last time before turning around, raising her hand as she walked off.
Jonathan silently watched the girl walking away, his hands in his jacket pockets. "Don't try to look cool by putting your hands in your jacket pockets, that's embarrassing."
"You have no right to judge me!" She replied without looking back, flipping him off.
Jonathan chuckled lightly, sighing afterward while keeping a faint smile on his face. "No matter how much you try to hide it, you've fallen just as much as I have." Shaking his head slightly, Jonathan turned, heading toward his class.
...
Walking down the sidewalk toward his house, Jonathan quietly looked around the familiar neighborhood.
Classes were already over and after saying goodbye to Chad and Tyrone—those two constantly bothering him because what had happened earlier before class had already spread around—
They wanted to know the details and for him to gossip like a girl, but when he spoke plainly and directly, they complained about how he didn't know how to gossip and stuff like that, accusing him as always of being too "feminine" and acting suspicious as usual.
Either way, his neighborhood was that typical neighborhood of houses with wooden fences at the sides, grassy lawns in front, a tiled path leading to the door, a big garage door out front, and all that.
Some were a bit different from the others in certain aspects but overall they followed the same model.
Passing under the shadow of a tree in front of one house, a man came running along the same sidewalk, quickly catching up to him.
"Jonathan dear~! How are you?"
The man stopped in front of him, grabbing his shoulders and planting quick kisses on his cheeks.
Jonathan showed no reaction to it on his face. "I'm fine, Mr. Smith, and you?"
"I'm great, and your family? How are your sisters and your mother?" Mr. Smith asked, stepping back and putting his hands on his hips.
"They're fine."
"That's great then, I'll get going, still got another kilometer, tell them I said hi, bye bye~"
Jonathan blinked silently as he watched the man waving as he jogged off, his long blond hair swaying in the wind as he ran in leggings and a midriff shirt.
A breeze softly blew against Jonathan's clothes as he stared blankly. "…Okay, maybe I've never really gotten used to this." Murmuring to himself, he turned and kept walking home.
And after just a few more steps, he arrived in front of his house, heading to the dark brown wooden door and opening it casually.
"I'm home." He muttered to himself, the door clicking shut behind him.
"Jonathan? Is that you?"
"Yes." Answering the voice, he turned and took a few steps already slipping off his shoes as the source of the voice appeared in front of him.
Barefoot and wiping her hands on a cloth was a dark-skinned woman of the same height as him. She wore a loose gray shirt that exposed the straps of the sports bra underneath along with short shorts of the same tone, and over all that a white apron.
With straight short hair in a boyish cut, brown eyes, and a faint smile on her face at that moment, this was the mother of his two adoptive sisters and the woman who adopted him five years ago.
Rachel.
Noticing the apron, Jonathan raised an eyebrow. "What are you cooking?"
The older woman placed the cloth over her shoulder, her hands going to her hips. "I suddenly felt like eating a lemon cake so I decided to make one. So, how was school?" She finished by crossing her arms.
He approached, holding his sneakers in hand. "You know, the usual."
"Hmm." Humming, she grabbed him as he reached her side. "And Elizabeth? She dropped you off out front, right?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
Looking at her sideways, Jonathan scratched his head for a moment, that action already giving Rachel the confirmation she wanted. "She went out with Brenda, and no, she dropped me at the end of the street before leaving with her."
Rachel sighed and shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. "That girl doesn't listen, I already told her to always drop you off here out front and she's still stubborn about not listening."
"You don't have to be hard on her, you know I can protect myself." Jonathan said, washing away Elizabeth's guilt, not least because he really didn't consider himself in danger.
"That's not the point, you being stronger than a woman doesn't matter, it's still dangerous out there for a man, especially a handsome one like you." But Rachel didn't accept that and answered him seriously. "Besides, you can beat one woman, but what about ten of them? And you're not immune to drugs either."
Jonathan gave a half-smile at that example. "Immune to drugs? You think someone's gonna try and kidnap me or something? That's a bit much."
She raised an eyebrow. "And how can you be sure of that? There are crazies for everything, there must be some perverted woman out there who'd try it." She then stepped closer, holding his cheeks with a maternal smile. "Understand that it's my job to protect the three of you as the woman of the family, so don't argue and just listen to what I'm saying, okay?"
The faint maternal smile then disappeared as she smacked him hard on the back. "Now go upstairs, and go take a shower already, you've spent the whole day at school, as a man you need to be cleaner and smell better." She walked off without looking back.
Jonathan just shook his head at that mixed behavior, that was another thing he had noticed about this world.
Even though roles had been reversed, he noticed some cases still remained the same, though rare. Rachel was an example of that—though she had somewhat masculine behavior, she also acted very much like a woman.
That was one of the things that made him think this world was more of a caricature than something natural.
But as he thought about that, his gaze unconsciously dropped to her back, focusing on those soft, trembling mounds of her ass stretching the gray shorts, the outline of her panties visible underneath.
Something he quickly realized and immediately looked away from. "Shit." Pinching the bridge of his nose as he muttered, he shook his head while heading toward the stairs.
'Control yourself, first Elizabeth, then the other two, keep calm.' He thought silently as he massaged his forehead.
He climbed the stairs straight toward his room, but when he passed by his other sister's door, he stopped upon hearing noise coming from inside.
Pressing his ear to the door, he could hear…
"Fuck you, noob! Who taught you to play!? Your dad!? Oh right! You don't have a dad because he ditched your cuck mom for some rich old lady! Hahahah!"
Chuckling as he shook his head, Jonathan knocked on the door.
Knock knock knock
He waited for an answer but got none, so after a while, he knocked again, but still got no reply. Not bothering anymore, he opened the door directly.
The furious clicking of a mouse and keyboard greeted him along with the sight of a messy room, a disheveled bed, a wardrobe with a few stickers, a desk with a gaming PC, and a shelf with a few comics and an action figure.
And in front of the gaming PC at that moment was his sister, cursing someone out through her headset like a sailor.
"Your mom's the cuck! Kyahahaha!"
Still smiling in amusement, he called her. "Marianne."
But she didn't react, just kept laughing like a maniac while playing.
He then called louder. "Marianne!"
"Kyaaaaaaaa!" Letting out a high-pitched, extremely girly scream, she spun around, arms raised in shock.
Her startled expression relaxed when she saw him. "Jonathan? Ah! Shit!" But she quickly turned back to the game, though it was already too late.
"Damn it, you made me die, happy now?" Sighing, she pulled off the headset while pointing at the screen.
Jonathan could see her character's camera on the ground as the screen turned gray, and he could also see another female character crouching repeatedly over her character's head.
He could also faintly hear a girl laughing through the headset along with some insults.
"My bad, I didn't mean to scare you but you didn't hear me." He shrugged.
"It's fine, I'll get revenge on that bitch later, but anyway, what's up?" She turned on her chair to face him, arms crossed and legs folded up on the seat.
He was about to speak but then he stopped, his face going blank as he realized how she was dressed.
Wearing dark gray drawstring shorts and a yellow tank top, with light brown skin, brown eyes, and short hair in a wolf cut style—this was his adoptive sister.
But what made his face turn blank was that he could see the outline of her nipples through her shirt, and not only that, he could also see the outline of her lower lips from the way she was sitting.
"…Where are your panties and bra, Marianne?" His voice came out as dry as his stare.