(Chastity Reversed) The Legitimate Wife War: How I, a Harem-Hater, Ended Up Creating an Ultra-Eccentric Harem with a Villainess, a Sadistic Beauty Teacher, a Scheming Classmate... etc. - Chapter 121.1: Best Friend SIDE Setsuna Aoyama

Setsuma Aoyama POV

“Finally, pool class!”

The last morning class was the long-awaited swimming lesson.

Today the outside temperature was particularly hot, and the humid, sticky feeling was unbearably unpleasant.

I wanted to get in the pool quickly and feel refreshed.

“Setsuna looks so happy.”

In contrast, my best friend Mizuri was unenthusiastic about the pool.

Her eyes, visible through the bangs that slightly covered them, looked thoroughly listless.

This was unusual for Mizuri, who was usually bright.

Well, did she have this kind of mood during pool class last year too? I don’t really remember.

“Of course, getting in the pool feels great!”

“That’s just like you, Setsuna. I can’t swim and don’t like anything about it.”

In contrast to Mizuri sitting there looking sluggish, everyone in class was heading out of the classroom toward the changing room with light steps.

Everyone seemed somewhat excited.

…Well, their motivation wasn’t just about feeling refreshed in the pool, but for other reasons too.

“How about this then? Like the other girls are looking forward to, you can see the guys in ways you usually can’t, right? Why not look forward to that?”

The reason the girls in class were excited.

This lesson was a co-ed class.

Plus, they could show off to the guys in the pool, and they could see the guys’ physiques—it would be impossible not to get excited.

“Does Setsuna want to see that?”

Well, this girl seemed different from ordinary girls.

The guys being shirtless apparently didn’t motivate her either.

“Hmm, I’m not as interested as the other girls, but… well, if I can see it for free, shouldn’t I take a look?”

“But they’ll all be wearing full-body swimsuits anyway. Would everyone really want to see that?”

Mizuri still didn’t seem to get it.

To begin with, while Mizuri would talk to Takeda-kun and others casually, she didn’t seem that interested in guys themselves.

“If you can see it, you’d want to look, right? Only Mizuri is special! Even with full-body swimsuits, you can see their body lines more than usual, and you can see the bulge of that thing too! Some girls seem to be looking forward to that.”

“Ugh… that’s either very imaginative or just vulgar.”

Mizuri gave a dry laugh.

When it was just the two of us, this girl was often more cutting than when she was showing herself to everyone in the classroom.

I was secretly happy that she only showed me that side, but I didn’t tell Mizuri.

“Stop complaining forever and ever… let’s go.”

“Hmm, I don’t want to go because it’s that time of the month.”

Mizuri started being stubborn at this point.

“Liar, you said it ended the other day, didn’t you?”

“It’s not a lie. It’s going to be like that for about two months now.”

“Sigh, if you keep saying that, Sensei will get angry again.”

“…That’s true. Sigh, I guess I’ll go.”

Mizuri let out a deep sigh and reluctantly got up.

How much did this girl not want to go?

“Come on, let’s go! Class is starting!”

“Okay.”

There was no one left in the classroom.

I didn’t want to be late for class and get scolded by the teacher.

I pulled the grumbling Mizuri’s hand and left the classroom, heading to the changing room.

As we were running down the hallway at a light jog—

“Ah.”

Mizuri suddenly stopped.

“What’s wrong?”

“I forgot my hair tie! I need to go get it.”

“Should I lend you mine?”

“No, no, that would be bad for Setsuna. I can still make it if I run. Setsuna, go ahead!”

Before hearing my reply, Mizuri jogged back to the classroom.

“I don’t use it anyway, so I could lend it to you… well, whatever! It would be troublesome if I’m late too.”

Since Mizuri said to go ahead, I should definitely go first.

Still, was there something bad about the atmosphere if we were together?

Usually I feel like she’d say let’s go get the hair tie together… am I overthinking it?

*****

Mizuri ended up barely not making it to class on time.

Well, the teacher didn’t have time to deal with Mizuri anyway, so her being late went completely unnoticed.

“…Setsuna, what’s this commotion about?”

Mizuri arrived late with a puzzled expression.

“That over there.”

Mizuri also looked where I pointed with my finger.

“Huh? …Ah.”

Mizuri apparently didn’t understand immediately either. She looked where I was pointing, and after a moment understood the situation.

She held her head, going “ah.”

Where I was pointing, there was a male student being warned by the teacher.

He looked puzzled, not understanding why he was being scolded.

“What is Kyo-kun doing?”

“As you can see.”

Sato and Tanaka were properly wearing full-body swimsuits, but this guy…

“Why is Kyo-kun shirtless?!”

“Really.”

The other female classmates were already staring intently.

Their breathing was getting rough, and some looked like they might get nosebleeds.

“Really, that person… sigh… Setsuna, let’s go!”

As soon as Mizuri saw his shirtless figure, she immediately grabbed a towel and rushed toward Takeda-kun.

I hurriedly chased after her.

“…It’s not against school rules, and I thought this was normal.”

When we got close, we could hear Takeda-kun making that kind of excuse.

Even I could understand that being shirtless wasn’t normal.

When did guys swim shirtless? That was at least 30 years ago, wasn’t it?

“Here, Kyo-kun, cover your body with this!”

Mizuri wrapped the towel around Takeda-kun without giving him a choice.

Seeing this, several girls let out disappointed “ah” sounds.

Well, I could understand that feeling, but I was Takeda-kun’s friend, so I should properly stop him and help hide him… though Takeda-kun has a nice body.

“Eh, but—”

“No buts!”

When Takeda-kun still looked dissatisfied, Mizuri whispered something to him in a low voice—

“—You’re right about that.”

Takeda-kun easily backed down due to Mizuri’s mysterious pressure.

…Huh? Are these two perhaps?

No, maybe it’s just my imagination?

“I think there should be men’s replacements, so please come back wearing one of those.”

The PE teacher ordered Takeda-kun to change again.

His slightly dejected figure was amusing to watch.

“Really, Kyo-kun… even though he was so confident yesterday saying tomorrow’s class would be perfect.”

“Did he say that confidently? Something like that?”

Did he say something like that yesterday?

When I asked, Mizuri looked a bit flustered and said,

“Ah, y-yeah, he said it yesterday when we talked together! He looked so happy that I was a bit worried, but my prediction came true… as expected.”

She laughed as if to cover it up with a “tahaha,” and since the teacher was taking attendance, Mizuri also joined everyone.

I lined up too, but something was strange about that conversation just now.

Was there a time yesterday when the two of them talked alone at school?

When I thought back, I didn’t think there had been such a time. So did they meet individually in the morning or after school?

…But that would mean.

Here, my brain rapidly accelerated and had a flash of inspiration.

Various things from before connected clearly and led to one conclusion.

(Could those two possibly be… dating?!)

That would explain why Mizuri rushed to hide Takeda-kun with a towel.

She probably didn’t want other people to see her boyfriend’s naked body!

A kind of possessiveness… so Mizuri was actually doing what she needed to do.

Mizuri listened to the teacher’s talk with a composed face.

But I couldn’t stop grinning.

Because I’d already realized the truth.

Still, Mizuri didn’t need to hide things even from me, her best friend. How secretive.

Thinking about it that way made me a bit dissatisfied.

Well, she was probably looking for the right timing to tell me, but it was still sad.

If she got a boyfriend, I would have been happy enough to die celebrating with her, especially if it was Takeda-kun.

“Sorry, I’m back.”