(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 138.1 - Masked Smile - SIDE Aoyama Setsuna

SIDE Aoyama Setsuna

“Mizuri!!!”

I dive toward Mizuri’s slender body so she’ll never disappear again.

My troublesome, contrary, and perverse best friend.

Because if I take my eyes off her, she might whimsically disappear somewhere like a cat.

I absolutely won’t let go. My body moved with that thought alone.

I hadn’t thought about what would happen after.

So—

“—Ah!?”

Catching her was fine.

But maybe because I put too much force into it, Mizuri couldn’t catch me either, and we both went flying backward together.

A moment of weightlessness that came delayed.

Ah, we’re going to fall into the sea.

“Wait a—”

Mizuri, thrown into the air, opens her eyes wide.

Even at a time like this, I can’t help but grin a little at seeing her rare surprised face.

Even though I did it to her, that doesn’t change the outcome.

The two of us dove headfirst into the night sea.

“Gwah!?”

The night sea is cold even though it’s before summer.

The saltiness of the water that entered my mouth made me realize I had fallen into the sea.

‘I need to get up quickly!’

I swim toward the surface, but it’s farther than I thought.

My waterlogged clothes are quite heavy too.

Thanks to wearing thin, light clothes, I somehow managed to get up.

Even while flailing around pathetically, I somehow swim up.

“Puah!”

While struggling and flailing, I somehow made it to the surface.

“Hah hah… I thought I was going to die!”

I take a deep breath to calm my breathing.

“Suuuuu hahhh”

Oxygen flows to my brain and my head starts working rapidly.

“…Wait, Mizuri!?”

I desperately search for Mizuri. But there’s no sign of anyone else floating on the pitch-black sea surface.

“Where?!”

I strain my eyes but she’s nowhere.

I just swore I wouldn’t let go! I let go of her hand right after saying that.

I was so focused on swimming that my hands came apart.

“Damn it!”

I’m such an idiot!

Looking from the sea surface won’t get me anywhere.

I take a deep breath and try to dive into the night sea again.

“…What are you doing?”

“Eh? …Cough”

I’m surprised and swallow water, choking.

Looking behind me, I see Mizuri sitting on the breakwater with her legs crossed and chin resting on her hand, looking down at me.

She’s even taken off her clothes and looks cool.

Mizuri’s face is narrowed as if exasperated.

Actually, she seems exasperated and angry.

“…I mean, suddenly hugging me and making me fall into the sea is honestly like terrorism, isn’t it?”

There’s a barb in her tone. Though that’s typical of Mizuri.

I slowly swim toward the breakwater.

“I didn’t mean to fall, my body just moved unconsciously…”

“You direct-action idiot.”

“Hey…”

Even while saying that, Mizuri extends one hand from the breakwater.

She says harsh things but is kind after all.

I stop complaining and try to grab Mizuri’s hand to climb up, when I happen to see Mizuri’s face.

A smiling face.

But her eyes aren’t smiling.

I had a bad feeling.

“Come on, one more time! Cool your head—”

She forcefully pushes away the hand I’m gripping and lets go.

“Uwah!”

There’s nothing I can do, and I helplessly fall into the sea again.

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“…Why did you drop me?”

“Well, I’d want revenge if I suddenly got caught up in an accident and fell into the sea.”

“…!”

I couldn’t argue with that.

It’s true that even if it wasn’t intentional, I’d be angry if I suddenly got dropped while heartbroken.

“Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine, I dropped you too, so we’re even.”

Silence flows between us.

When I met Mizuri, I had lots of things I wanted to talk about.

Things I wanted to tell her.

But now that I’m face to face with her, I don’t know what to start with.

Mizuri was the one who opened the conversation.

“How did Setsuna know about this place? Did I tell Setsuna about this place?”

“No, I heard you went to the sea but I wasn’t told which place… but I asked someone who remembered.”

“Someone who remembered? Was there such a person?”

Mizuri looks truly confused.

“You came here together, right? Your fiancé remembered properly.”

“Eh, Kyo-kun… I thought he’d forgotten about me and such things, so that’s surprising.”

She looked very surprised.

Of course he wouldn’t forget.

“Kyo-kun is having fun with the other fiancées, so I thought he’d forgotten about a classmate, but maybe he just happened to remember?”

Ah.

I get it.

This woman doesn’t understand anything.

How much Takeda-kun is worried, that he’s running around even now despite his own injury.

That it’s not just Takeda-kun—various people are worried.

“There’s no way it was just by chance. He remembered immediately just by mentioning the sea. Takeda-kun is still desperately searching for you after you ran away, and it’s not just Takeda-kun—all the other fiancées are worried too.”

“…Why? There’s no merit in doing such things for me, right?”

“Merit… !”

Mizuri had the same expression as before. A puzzled expression.

It’s been like this since earlier. There’s something I feel when talking with Mizuri.

This girl can’t understand goodwill or affection received from people.

She thinks there’s some calculation behind it. No, she feels it but can’t accept it? Something like that?

Like she can’t understand that she’s the target of such feelings.

“Ah, Kyo-kun is for his sister’s sake, right? He said it was for money. Ah, so that’s it. The other people each had their own purposes too.”

!!

So that’s how she’s convincing herself.

“…Then why did Setsuna come?”