(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 123.2: The Face I Show and the Face I Hide SIDE Setsuna Aoyama

A female classmate was talking to Mizuri while changing in the changing room.

I listened while changing nearby.

“Yeah! I thought it would reduce my baggage this way.”

“There are people who wear swimsuits directly for that reason…?”

“R-right, aren’t I smart? Everyone should do it too.”

No, I wouldn’t do that. It’s hot.

Look, even the girl who heard it was a bit taken aback.

Well, Mizuri had no choice but to do that.

So that’s how she’d been hiding her wounds until now—one mystery solved.

At the pool, Mizuri was still bad at swimming as usual.

Takeda-kun wore a tight swimsuit. Well, maybe it just looked tight because he was muscular.

Also, while he’d been forgiven for being shirtless before, Takeda-kun’s… that thing… was pretty big, wasn’t it?

I could understand why the class girls got so excited.

Wasn’t that guy really trying to give girls nosebleeds?

After the pool, Mizuri always changed after everyone else had left, making various excuses.

Today I stayed with her.

Only the two of us were in the changing room now.

I casually observed Mizuri’s back as she changed.

“…Don’t worry, the wounds haven’t increased.”

Mizuri said this casually.

“You don’t need to do physical examinations in the morning either. The wounds haven’t increased, and even if they hurt, I don’t show it on my face.”

“Wh-what are you talking about?”

Apparently my intentions had been figured out.

Well, I wasn’t going to admit it.

“I just want to touch boobs.”

“I don’t know about that, but whatever. As long as you don’t tell other people anything. Having unnecessary things done is troublesome.”

Having said what she wanted to say, she seemed to immediately lose interest in the wound topic.

So cold.

Had something happened in Mizuri’s past that forced her to become like this?

“Come on, let’s go eat lunch!”

Mizuri immediately switched back to her usual bright public face.

“Y-yeah.”

Such uneventful days continued.

At school I’d touch Mizuri’s body, and during pool class I’d observe her body.

On the way home, I’d either walk back with Mizuri or follow her afterward. When we went home together, we’d part ways midway, so after she went off alone, I’d take some time before following her trail.

(Well, I hadn’t succeeded so far though…)

For some reason, Mizuri was quite cautious, and I couldn’t follow her all the way home.

At first she’d shake me off, but gradually I was able to keep up.

Then about a week later.

I finally saw Mizuri enter her house.

A very impressive house. It looked like a mansion.

Did Mizuri live here with her family?

It looked very wealthy… but maybe despite shining on the outside, there was unexpected darkness inside?

Just like Mizuri’s heart.

But one worry was resolved—apparently Mizuri did have a proper home.

I’d even imagined the worst-case scenario where she’d been kicked out and was homeless, so I was relieved it wasn’t that.

“Phew, thank goodness…”

I stepped out from hiding and was about to head home when…

“Huh?”

A car was driving toward me down the road.

I felt like I’d seen this car somewhere before…

I hid behind cover again.

The car gradually slowed down and stopped in front of a house.

In front of the house Mizuri had just entered.

(Maybe it’s family?)

Since I’d come this far, I might as well see the family’s faces too. They might be the ones who’d put Mizuri in that condition.

As I strained to watch, a beautiful woman in a maid outfit got out of the driver’s seat.

The maid went around to the back and opened the rear door, and out stepped a man.

“Eh.”

He was wearing remarkably familiar clothes.

Actually, clothes I’d been looking at just moments before.

He entered the house Mizuri had gone into with a practiced manner, leading the maid as if it were his own home.

“…What’s going on, Takeda-kun?”

Mizuri and Takeda-kun in the same house… together?

I couldn’t make sense of it.

*****

The next morning, early, on the school rooftop.

Below, I could see everyone coming to school.

I had called Takeda-kun here via text.

“What did you want to talk about? Aoyama-san… It doesn’t seem like the typical confession-like youth romance thing, judging by your expression.”

Even without looking in a mirror, I knew what kind of face I was making.

I was definitely making a stern expression.

But even seeing my seeping anger, Takeda-kun stood there nonchalantly.

“So what did you want to talk about? I haven’t the faintest idea.”

Well, of course—he probably didn’t think he’d been seen.

“I’m not good at beating around the bush, so I’ll ask directly—”

Takeda-kun nodded and gestured for me to continue.

“—What’s the relationship between Mizuri and Takeda-kun? Is Takeda-kun the cause of Mizuri’s wounds? …Depending on your answer—”

I pressed Takeda-kun’s body against the rooftop fence.

I absolutely wouldn’t let him go until he answered.

“—I won’t forgive you.”