Is It Wrong To Have A Harem In Daily Life?

From first meeting Tachibana Rui to their current understanding, Murakami Yuu didn't dare say he knew everything, but he still understood her general situation.

Her parents divorced when she was very young, and she and her sister Tachibana Haruna lived with their mother.

Their family circumstances weren't very good when they were small—their life was quite tight. Children who grow up in such an environment lacking love and security understandably wouldn't have cheerful, outgoing personalities.

You could tell by looking at Tachibana Rui. When he first met her, she sat in a corner position in the hall with that kind of "strangers keep away" aura.

Lacking security, distrusting others, having dependent behaviors toward familiar things, but kind, gentle, and also appearing somewhat clumsy.

This was the general conclusion Murakami Yuu reached through contact and observation with Tachibana Rui.

Then after contacting her sister Tachibana Hina, he found that certain traits in Tachibana Rui didn't feel out of place on her either—it's just that many aspects weren't as obvious as in Tachibana Rui.

According to what Hagiwara Hiiragi had said before,

Tachibana Haruna knew him during her student days. During lunch breaks, the two often spent time alone in the biology lab where almost no one went.

Instead of hanging out with friends, she went to the biology lab every day. Hagiwara Hiiragi was quite handsome too—it wasn't hard to imagine that Tachibana Haruna also had feelings for him, but because his status was that of a teacher, this romance came to nothing.

Just as boys will feel regret for innocent romances they missed in school when they grow up, girls have the same feelings.

Years later, Tachibana Hina encountered that person she once had feelings for again.

This time was different—their relationship was no longer teacher-student. She was an adult with a job and didn't need to be constrained by such reasons anymore.

Hagiwara Hiiragi actively expressed his love to Tachibana Haruna. With the blessing of beautiful, pure romantic memories from the past, and with his assurance that he would divorce and be with her, Tachibana Hina chose to accept.

Perhaps she had doubts in her heart, perhaps she worried about it, but under his comforting repeated assurances, these thoughts would be ignored and pushed aside, with no time to consider them further.

Without an appropriate opportunity, Tachibana Hina might continue being deceived by him, always immersed in the beautiful dream Hagiwara Hiiragi wove for her.

But if someone forced Tachibana Hina to open her eyes and see the sordidness beneath the glamorous surface, she would most likely make the right choice.

After all, dreams are just dreams—no matter how real the falsehood, it cannot become reality.

...

"I'll say it again! Whether I divorce my wife or marry Haruna, we'll make our own plans. You don't need to meddle here!"

Hagiwara Hiiragi excitedly slammed the table and stood up, but still couldn't help slightly raising his head to look up at Murakami Yuu.

This was the natural advantage height brought—even his secretly tiptoeing under the table couldn't change it.

"Making good plans... what contemptible evasive words. Is it so difficult to make some decisive action to truly reassure Tachibana Hina-san?"

"I will, but not now!"

"Not now? Then when—five years, ten years, twenty years? Or perhaps even longer, until after Hagiwara Hiiragi-san and your wife's golden wedding anniversary?"

Murakami Yuu's lips were full of mockery.

"Shut up!"

Hagiwara Hiiragi gritted his teeth.

"What a nice expression. Did I hit a sore spot of Hagiwara Hiiragi-san's? If so, I apologize and express that I dare to do it again next time."

Murakami Yuu lowered his head slightly with a sincere expression.

"You..."

"Enough!!!"

This wasn't from Hagiwara Hiiragi's mouth, but shouted by Tachibana Hina, whose presence had been weak throughout this conversation.

Under Tachibana Rui's starry-eyed admiring gaze, Murakami Yuu shrugged and slowly sat down, calmly drinking some tea.

Although Hagiwara Hiiragi was an adult, he was even more vulnerable than Murakami Yuu had imagined. The truth had been completely laid bare before Tachibana Hina. Unless she chose to be base and close her eyes to ignore it, she knew what she should do.

Hagiwara Hiiragi showed a forced but somewhat bitter smile.

"Hina, let's go eat, okay? Later, just the two of us—we can talk slowly like before."

Heh.

Both Murakami Yuu and Tachibana Rui showed disdainful cold smiles—not very aggressive, but extremely insulting.

"Sometimes I really feel like I'm living backwards. Why can't I see clearly things that even these two can see?"

Tachibana Hina smiled bitterly with a dejected expression, as if talking to herself.

Hearing her say this, Hagiwara Hiiragi showed an anxious expression, his face stiff and somewhat at a loss.

"Hina, don't easily change your thoughts because of this kid's words. You..."

"My thoughts have never changed, but it really won't work after all..."

Tachibana Hinainterrupted Hagiwara Hiiragi, then showed a faint smile with a reminiscent expression.

"That year, I was in high school. Because I was introverted and didn't fit in well, I was isolated by my classmates. The boys liked to play around and flip up my skirt, while the girls privately spread rumors that I was a slut."

"All these terrible things that happened to me—I didn't dare tell my hardworking mother, didn't dare tell my young sister. There was no one to confide in, no one to rely on.

"During that period, it was probably the most difficult and painful time I'd experienced in my life."

Tachibana Rui looked at Tachibana Hina and naturally felt heartache.

Her sister had never told her about these things.

"But fortunately, I met you, Hagiwara Hiiragi-sensei."

Tachibana Hina looked at Hagiwara Hiiragi with a gentle smile.

After meeting that pure gaze, Hagiwara Hiiragi awkwardly lowered his head.

"During that time, the only place I could get a moment's respite was that biology lab you were responsible for managing, Hagiwara Hiiragi-sensei."

"More than once, I felt grateful that I could accidentally step into that place and meet you that day."

"During my most dejected and tormented times, the smile you showed me and the ways you kept cheering me up to lift my spirits were like a beam of light shining on my body from the cold harsh winter, making me feel warm, giving me hope, and providing me with the courage to resist adversity."

"At that time, I couldn't help but fall in love with you. To me, you were like a prince who cut through thorns and brambles, possessing grace and kindness that no other man had."

"But even though these feelings were incredibly strong, I could only hide them in my heart because this wasn't a relationship society could accept. So until high school graduation, I never chose to voice them. Carrying this regret, I went to university, slowly started my life in a new environment, then internships, formal work..."

Then we met again."

"Our relationship was still as intimate as before. Although I knew you had a wife, I still accepted your request to date."

"Because you kept emphasizing to me that you and your wife didn't get along; you kept promising me that you'd divorce her when you found the right opportunity; and you'd occasionally whisper in my ear, describing the dreamlike scene of our future wedding day."

"Thinking about it now, rather than saying I accepted your confession passively, it was more like this was my own wishful thinking."

"I was immersed in past memories and former warmth, unable to extricate myself. I gave myself the most beautiful fantasy on my own, hoping things could develop as I wished, that we might have a beautiful future."

"After all, when something you once lost or missed appears before you again, everyone would want to grasp it tightly and not let go, right?"

"Even if it's no longer the original style, even if it's changed with the passage of time, you'd still want to hold it tightly in your palm, right?"

Murakami Yuu pulled out several tissues from the table and gently patted them on Tachibana Rui's face.

Tachibana Hina's eyes showed pain, but she still forced a smile toward Hagiwara Hiiragi.

"Can I make a request?"

Hagiwara Hiiragi's eyes, which had been staring blankly at a point on the table, moved slightly, and he nodded with difficulty.

"Could you leave me gently and kindly, like the Hagiwara Hiiragi-sensei in my memory?"

Hagiwara Hiiragi took several deep breaths, seeming to struggle, then slowly sighed with resignation. He took off his glasses, stood up, and bowed deeply to Tachibana Hina.

"I won't bother you anymore. Remember to be happy, little Haruna."

"Yes, thank you, Hagiwara Hiiragi-sensei."

Their gazes met in midair. After seeing clearly the meaning in each other's eyes, they quickly separated.

Hagiwara Hiiragi turned and bowed slightly to Murakami Yuu.

Murakami Yuu returned a smile.

Then Hagiwara Hiiragi no longer lingered, turned and strode toward the door, quickly disappearing around the street corner.

Tachibana Hinalooked out the window with tears sliding down her cheeks, but a smile on her lips.

...

Feeling his mission was perfectly completed, Murakami Yuu chose to take his leave twenty minutes later. What followed was warm sister time alone.

For Tachibana Hina, who had revealed all her past heartaches, Tachibana Rui should have a belly full of things she wanted to say to her. Him being there in his awkward position would only disturb the atmosphere between them, so it was better to slip away early.

As for Hagiwara Hiiragi, during Tachibana Haruna's student days, he fulfilled his duties and responsibilities as a teacher, helping a bullied girl regain confidence in life.

But it was also him who, after marriage, when he encountered his grown-up former student, engaged in an illicit affair due to personal desire.

In Murakami Yuu's view, he couldn't be simply defined as a good or bad person. He could only say that what he was doing now wasn't right, but now that everything was over, there was no need to pursue it further.

That evening, Tachibana Rui sent Murakami Yuu a message:

[My sister asked me to thank you.]

Murakami Yuu raised his eyebrows and replied:

[What about you?]

[I thank you too.]

[Aren't you forgetting something?]

It was a while before a reply came.

[I understand. As long as it's something I can do, anything is fine. I'll keep my promise.]

[I don't have anything particular I need your help with right now, so I'll hold onto it for now.]

[Okay.]

...

It was past eight o'clock in the evening when Ogiso Setsuna finished her part-time job and returned home.

Lying on her bed, she looked at the two "Karaoke 6-Hour All-You-Can-Sing Tickets" in her hand, thinking about her own thoughts, unconsciously blushing.

This weekend probably won't have time, but maybe next week she could try inviting Murakami-kun. He should come, right?

"Big sis, the bathtub is full. You can take a bath now!"

Her younger brother Ogiso Takahiro called up to the second floor from the stairway.

"Coming right away."

Ogiso Setsuna called back loudly, got up with her clothes, and came downstairs humming.

"Hey, strange. Big sis, don't you usually look completely burned out when you come back from work? How come you seem to be in a good mood today?"

As they passed each other, Ogiso Takahiro asked puzzledly.

"Eh, do I?"

Ogiso Setsuna pressed her fingertip to her lower lip and thought for a moment.

"Probably because I won karaoke tickets in the shopping district lottery today?"

"Eh? Really? I want to go to karaoke too."

"Sorry, Takahiro. I already made plans with a friend. I'll take you next time, or if you can't wait, you can go with mom and dad."

"I don't want to go with them. The songs they sing are so dated—you'd think it was a middle-aged gathering..."

Ogiso Takahiro showed a disappointed expression.

"You promised—next time you definitely have to take me along."

"Don't worry, don't worry."

Having made her promise, Ogiso Setsuna skipped into the bathroom.

"Mom."

The man sitting in the living room reading a newspaper said to the beautiful woman beside him:

"Looking at Setsuna like this, has she fallen for someone?"

"Maybe. After all, she's at that age."

The beautiful woman smiled.

"This expression is much better than that constantly gloomy face from a while ago."

"That's true."

The man sighed almost imperceptibly, somewhat helplessly.

No matter which family's daughter, they all eventually have to marry and leave their parents' side—this was unavoidable.

Thinking of this, he looked at Ogiso Takahiro eating snacks and watching TV nearby, and somehow suddenly felt a surge of irritation.

"Have you finished your homework and you're just watching TV?"

"I finished it long ago."

"Then go review! With your current grades being so leisurely, how can you get into a good university in the future?"

"Oh..."

Ogiso Takahiro went upstairs looking wronged, not understanding why dad had been fine but suddenly erupted with inexplicable anger.

The wife beside him showed an all-knowing look, smiling as she picked up a strawberry from the coffee table and fed it to the man beside her.

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