(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.

When I returned to the classroom, Mizuri was no longer the cold Mizuri from before, but had returned to her usual bright, sunny self.

The usual… Mizuri.

Our eyes met for an instant as I opened the classroom door.

Her initial gaze was eloquent, telling a story.

[Don’t say anything unnecessary, okay?]

When I nodded, Mizuri broke into a bright smile.

“Setsuna~ you’re late! Everyone’s already started eating lunch!”

She smiled at me as if what had happened earlier never occurred.

Cheerful, mischievous, and acting like the good girl who talked to everyone without discrimination.

Without anyone knowing the real Mizuri.

No one here knew. Mizuri wouldn’t let them realize.

Neither Takeda-kun eating lunch with us, nor Sato-kun and Tanaka-kun.

Even the female classmates—no one knew the real Mizuri.

That was probably the secret Mizuri had been hiding all along.

I conversed as usual.

“S-sorry! I took a while changing.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine, I understand! …You were probably excited by Kyo-kun’s bare chest and trying to calm down, right?”

“What?!”

Mizuri said something vulgar with a grin, and Takeda-kun looked troubled.

Was Mizuri calculating this too? Involving Takeda-kun so she wouldn’t have to talk alone with me?

Was she even calculating that strange expression?

…I didn’t know.

My mouth spoke casual things as usual while my mind was in turmoil, as if my spirit and body had separated.

“Y-yeah, Takeda-kun’s muscles were amazing. I can understand why Takeda-kun would want to show them off to everyone. You wanted to make the class girls bleed from their noses, right?”

How about it, Mizuri?

Am I joking around like usual?

“That’s not true! Stop it! I got scolded to death by Akizuki-sensei, so I’ll wear proper clothes next time!”

Takeda-kun was still being teased by Mizuri and warned by Sato-kun and Tanaka-kun.

I laughed along with them.

While desperately hiding my cold, trembling hands.

Hey, Mizuri.

Do you always create smiles like this?

Suppressing all your feelings.

Wrapping everything inside yourself and smiling like you are now?

Or have you stopped feeling anything anymore?

Suddenly, Mizuri looked at me and smiled gently.

Like always, with that warm smile.

Apparently my shitty acting met Mizuri’s approval.

I don’t have much memory of the rest of that day.

Before I knew it, school had ended, and I was home soaking in the bath as usual.

After eating dinner, I sat at my desk to study, but…

“No good~ nothing’s going into my head.”

Unable to focus on anything, I collapsed onto my bed.

Lying there with my eyes closed, what I naturally thought about was… Mizuri.

…Those wounds Mizuri had received probably weren’t the kind made from once or twice.

…It felt like something that had been going on for a long time.

How much had it hurt? How much had she suffered? How painful had it been?

I couldn’t even imagine her suffering.

Thinking of Mizuri’s pain, tears naturally ran down my cheeks.

Even though I had no right to feel that way.

“—Mizuri must have been hurt for such a long time that she completely gave up.”

Enough to hide the pain.

At that time, Mizuri had said:

[It can’t be helped because it’s love.]

Because it’s love, what?

I couldn’t understand what she was saying at all.

How does love connect to violence? Aren’t those completely opposite words?

“I don’t understand at all.”

I thought about various things, but in the end I couldn’t understand why Mizuri gave up or why she refused help.

I didn’t know who was doing it to her either. At least it probably wasn’t someone she could report.

If she could, the clever Mizuri wouldn’t just keep getting hurt.

So the most suspicious would be family…?

Or maybe a boyfriend? I’d never hung out with Mizuri after school. But then there’d be no reason not to break up, right?

Then maybe old friends? But that seemed hard to believe too. So the most likely was…

“…Haha, there’s no point thinking about it.”

Mizuri had directly told me [Setsuna isn’t needed].

What was the point of me thinking about that girl now?

What could a best friend (lol) like me do, when I wasn’t even allowed to help?

(Since Mizuri says it’s fine, it would just be meddling.)

Meddling.

Really?

Was it okay for me to leave it alone thinking that? To leave her wounds as they were?

Could I forgive myself?

I wasn’t good at it, but let me try thinking objectively at times like this.

At least Mizuri’s current state probably wasn’t life-threatening.

…But there was no guarantee it would stay that way.

Or maybe she thought lightly of her own life—given that expression, that was possible too.

Either way, if something happened to Mizuri in the future, I definitely couldn’t forgive myself.

Just imagining it made overwhelming anger surge up.

No good—my feelings kept getting in the way.

“Setsuna~, are you okay not eating dinner?”

Mom’s voice came from outside my room.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Well, if you say so, but it’s unusual to see you with such a troubled face. Very youthful, isn’t it?”

Was being troubled by such dark things considered youthful?

“Well, there’s no point in you thinking about difficult things, so choose the option you won’t regret, okay? I don’t know what you’re worrying about, but~ ahaha!”

Mom went downstairs laughing.

The option I won’t regret.

I wasn’t good at thinking in the first place.

All I could do was act on what I thought was right.

I just needed to think about what I wanted to do.

Knowing Mizuri’s situation, I wanted to do something about it.

If something happened to Mizuri after this, I couldn’t forgive myself for knowing but being unable to do anything.

“I want to help that girl.”

I think you have to move carefully with this kind of thing. It would be terrible if Mizuri became more unhappy because I moved strangely.

First, let me try moving secretly so I don’t cause Mizuri unnecessary trouble.

“Mizuri, just like you didn’t know my true nature, I’ve been hiding something from you too.”

I’d already decided what to do.

“Mizuri, I love you as a friend much more than you think—”

I want my friends to smile.

I want my friends to be healthy.

I want my friends to be happy.

That goes double for best friends.

“Even if you think of me as [Random Friend A], it doesn’t matter.”

There’s no point moping around!

“For now, starting tomorrow I’ll casually touch Mizuri and check her condition. If she’s injured, I’ll take her to Shiraishi-sensei in the nurse’s office… and I should do that other thing too~ ugh, Mizuri will probably get angry if she finds out.”

I made plans for tomorrow’s actions.

Mizuri, I know it’s meddling, but even if you say you don’t want it, I’m going to try to help you.

Because no matter what anyone says, I think of you as my best friend.