(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.

SIDE Aoyama Setsuna

I rode my bicycle through the quiet residential area at night.

I had to find Mizuri as quickly as possible.

I searched every place we had played together.

But…

“She’s not here either.”

Takeda-kun and the others were also searching the city, but I hadn’t heard that she’d been found yet.

Even as I pedaled my bicycle, only anxiety built up in my chest.

“That idiot!”

According to what I heard from Takeda-kun, for some unknown reason, Mizuri had apparently attempted to crawl into Takeda-kun’s bed.

It was a sudden development.

But.

“Come to think of it, Mizuri has had an atmosphere recently like she might do something—thinking back on it.”

She seemed a little different from usual.

I should have asked more at that time. Even when Mizuri said “nothing happened,” I should have gone deeper.

“It’s my mistake.”

According to Takeda-kun’s guess, Mizuri might have been told something by her mother.

Mizuri’s night crawling failed, and after something happened, she apparently became distraught and ran outside.

Mizuri apparently suffered from claustrophobia and fear of darkness, and it all came out at once.

…I didn’t know that either.

Even hearing that, I couldn’t understand at all why she would attempt night crawling.

But there was one thing I could understand.

“…Mizuri is weak right now.”

No, it wasn’t just now.

She had probably been like that for a long time—you were crying in your heart while smiling.

“Ah, damn it!”

I scratched my head frantically.

If I could have noticed sooner—thinking that, I couldn’t forgive myself.

“…Not now! Regret comes later!”

Now I just kept pedaling my bicycle relentlessly.

I searched aimlessly, but I couldn’t find Mizuri with her usual smile anywhere.

Mizuri apparently hadn’t returned home.

So where would she go next?

I thought as hard as I could.

“Go to a friend’s house… no, that’s not it.”

…From Mizuri’s recent way of talking, it was hard to think she’d go to a friend’s house.

Because Mizuri couldn’t show weakness to people, you who couldn’t tell anyone your true feelings wouldn’t go to someone you didn’t consider a friend.

Even I felt like Mizuri didn’t think of me as a friend, so I couldn’t imagine she thought of others that way, and I didn’t think she’d go to such a place.

Besides, she wouldn’t be able to explain the current situation.

“Where would she go—think more, me.”

What did Mizuri always talk about?

[—I have a favorite place recently.]

[Eh, where?]

I think it was a casual conversation.

I desperately dug through my memories.

[—First there’s the cafe I go to often, and then there’s an unpopular hidden park, and also…]

We talked about various things, but I couldn’t recall them clearly. Our relationship shouldn’t have been that shallow.

That was a conversation from around April, I think.

With absolutely no certainty, I headed toward the places we had talked about.

[It’s calm, and nobody says anything to you, and you can relax—that kind of place.]

Why had Mizuri said such things?

That’s right, I had thought about it then too, so I asked afterward.

[Ah, then home?]

[Ah… I don’t hate the current home.]

Mizuri’s bitter smile remained in my memory.

She had said “the current home.” I didn’t understand the meaning then, but now I could understand.

When she said she didn’t hate it, she was talking about home in her fiancée life.

That meant she hated her original home.

Why—that was obvious, because it wasn’t safe.

“I see, Mizuri’s favorite places are where she feels safe.”

At cafes and such, there are people so violence wouldn’t be used.

Conversely, there are no people now.

At a hidden park, nobody would know about it so she wouldn’t be found.

“But she’s not here, not here either.”

Mizuri had been abused. So she wouldn’t go back.

…Thinking the opposite—I should go to a place you think is safe now.

So what’s next?

A place that’s familiar, that she knows well, and is safe.

“…Maybe school?”

There, adults would protect her and she wouldn’t be abused.

Since she knew it well, she could escape too.

“That’s it!”

I hurried toward school.

I reached the school in less than 15 minutes.

Since the school gate wasn’t open, I climbed over the wall to get inside.

“Be there, Mizuri…! Please.”

A scream-like voice leaked from my mouth.

The school building was locked and there were no signs that the main entrance door had been opened—but it was too early to give up.

“Mizuri! It’s me!”

I called out many times as I walked around, but there was no answer.

“If not the front, then… the back?”

I searched for places to enter while walking, but all the windows were locked and didn’t seem enterable.

There were also no signs of broken glass from forced entry.

“…She’s not at school?”

…No, there was still one place.

The place where I had seen her.

The place where I learned her truth.

That place was outside and relatively easy to enter.

“…!”

The moment I realized it, I started running.

I couldn’t think of anywhere else.

I crossed the grounds and headed to the pool.

The night pool looked deep and stagnant, with the bottom invisible.

Just like Mizuri’s heart.

I passed the pool and went to the changing room behind it.

If she was anywhere—thinking that, I reached for the door.

As expected, the door opened.

Is she here? Mizuri.

“…Mizuri?”

I called out but there was no answer.

I slowly opened the door, carefully so as not to startle Mizuri.

Inside was filled with silence, with no presence of anyone.

I searched thoroughly, even checking the lockers, but couldn’t find her.

There were no signs that anyone had been there.

“She’s not here either!”

My anxious feelings grew stronger and stronger.

I had to hurry, I had to find her quickly or Mizuri would break—I felt that way.

I’m not your best friend, so I don’t understand what you’re thinking!!

Complaining words swirled in my head.

“No!”

I slapped both my cheeks hard.

“I can give up anytime!!”

Perhaps because I slapped my cheeks so hard, they hurt.

But I felt like my head became clearer.

“Where else could there be?”

I didn’t think she had entered the school.

I had no more ideas.

I left the changing room and thought.

“Pool…?”

Suddenly the pool caught my eye.

I felt like I was forgetting something, static ran through my mind.

“…Water?”

Remember.

What had Mizuri said?

It was just recently.

I wasn’t old enough to be senile, my brain cells.

Think, think, think.

────────I remembered.

[—I also like the sea. The sound of waves is nice. I want to keep listening to it. There’s nothing to obstruct it, and I feel like I can spread my wings freely… Plus around there I ate delicious food together and it was tasty! I also went to a cat cafe and was healed. I like cats too—they have that solitary feel! So cool!]

“…The sea?”

But that alone was too broad.

At that time, Mizuri was thinking of somewhere specific when she said it.

Some particular sea.

…I didn’t pay attention then, but this was a bit strange.

I didn’t think she had gone alone.

You’d normally think she went with friends, but Mizuri was different.

I didn’t think Mizuri would invite friends—it was rare for Mizuri to play after school anyway.

Especially on weekends.

Moreover, this course—

“—It’s just like a date, isn’t it?”

Maybe────with that hope, I called Takeda-kun.