Harem of Side Characters [Rewrite]

Event - Wounds that Heal

I slowly knock on the door.

"Who is it?" I hear Yabu's voice call out.

"It's just me. I wanted to see if everything's alright." I say. After the whole ordeal with Saki and Nishi, I am a bit curious to see how they're all doing.

"Nobody's home!" I hear Manabe yell. Well that just makes no sense.

"I don't think that's going to work, Shiho..."

"Then go out there and tell him that nobody's home!"

"There are...several problems with that suggestion..." Yabu lets out a sigh as she opens the door. "Hello, nice to see you again." She gives me a friendly smile and waves me inside.

Manabe was laying on one of the beds, filddling with her phone like usual. She gave me a glare like usual as I walked inside before returning her attention to the phone.

Saki also laid in another bed, asleep. Morofuji sat nearby gently rubbing the other girl's head.

"Is Saki already asleep?" I ask. Morofuji looks up towards me.

"Yes. She's going through something very bad right now, so she needs a lot of rest. I'm worried about her." Morofuji sadly mumbles.

"Have all three of you stayed here from morning?" I ask.

"Pretty much. I don't really know how to help her in this type of situation, so I thought the least I could do was remain by her side in case she needs anything." She answers.

"Oh, speaking of which, we need to go grab lunch soon." Yabu comments. Morofuji perks up at this.

"I can get lunch for everyone. What would you guys like?" She offers.

"Oh no, we can all go together. We'll buy Saki some food as well." Yabu shakes her head.

"...I don't think that's a good idea." Manabe says. The other girls turn towards her.

"Why?"

"Right now, if she wakes up and we're all gone, what message do you think that would send to her?" Manabe asks. The other girls seem to understand her notion.

"B-but she knows we would never do that!" Morofuji argues.

"...No, but she's not really in the state to think clearly. She very well might jump to conclusions." Yabu concludes. "Should we wake her up then?"

"There's no need. Like I said, I'll get lunch for everyone and bring it back here." Morofuji says.

"Are you sure? I can come with you if you want." Manabe offers, but Morofuji shakes her head.

"I can do it, you should stay here and be there for Saki." She turns to me. "W-would you like to come with me though, A-Ayanokouji?" She nervously asks.

"...Sure, I'll come along." I say. Yabu looks between me and Morofuji.

"...Okay, we'll leave it to you two. Uh... if possible, there's a restaurant that sells beef bowls near one of the corners of the ship. Saki really liked the special there, so if you could get some it would make her really happy." Yabu suggests.

"Okay, I'll try." Morofuji smiles. The both of us leave the room and start to head towards the part of the ship with all the food stalls.

"...Can I ask you something?" I ask Morofuji as we walked.

"Ah...Y-yes?"

"Is there a reason why you wanted to do this alone?"

"...Hehe, yes there is." Morofuji looks away for a moment. "I...don't think I'm a very good friend. Shiho, Nanami, Saki... they always help me whenever I need it. Because of my...fear...I end up needing help a lot."

"Is that so?"

"Mhmm. A few of the boys from my class would try to approach me, and I would get so scared... But then at least one of those three would come. Shiho would get in between me and them, intimidating them so they would go away. Unfortunately, because of that most people in our class hate her... If Saki was there, she would distract the boys with her loud anime talk so I could sneak away. But, that also made most of the class shun her for being weird... and Nanami would come and draw their attention to her so they would leave me alone. It was obvious how uncomfortable it was for her, but she always laughs it off after. They always save me, but I can't do anything for them." Morofuji clenches her fists.

"Yesterday...I saw a glimpse of how deep their wounds are. Both Saki and Shiho have suffered a lot... and yet they are able to stand up for someone like me. I can't do much to help them, but at the very least I can try and make things a little easier for them." She relaxes her fists and smiles at me. "That's why I want to do this. Even if it's not much...I want to do something for them."

"...I see."

"...It's pathetic, isn't it? They get hurt and ruin their own reputations to protect me, and the only thing I can do for them is bring them food." She lets out a humorless laugh.

"I don't think that's true at all."

"...Eh?"

"You said it yourself. They are wounded, and the best thing you can do for people like that is support them. It might sound simple, but its a lot harder than what most people think. When someone has been hurt badly, they feel extremely vulnerable. The first instict we humans have when we feel vulnerable is to hide ourselves away. If you want to help them, you must get them out of their hiding place. To you, bringing them food might not mean much, but it's proof that you didn't turn away and leave them hiding." I explain.

"..."

"But after that, there's going to be a lot more problems. There will be times when the injured person will lash out at you for infiltrating their safe space. They'll hurt you and the people around you without realizing it, and most people will immediately turn away from them and leave them injured. They need someone who's able to stand there and take all of their blows. Once they find that person, only then will their wounds start to heal."

"...Ayanokouji..." Morofuji mumbles. "...How do you know all of this?"

"..."

"The way you talk about this is like...you've experienced it all yourself..."

"..."

"...Are you also hurting, Ayanokouji?"

Yes.

"No, nothing like that. I just read a lot of psychology books, that's all." I reply.

"...I-I see...Just...if you are hurting, please don't be afraid to tell me, or any of my friends." Clearly Morofuji didn't believe my answer at all.

"Thank you for the offer, but you should really be focusing on the well-being of yourself and your friends first." I casually shift the topic over to the other girls and away from me.

"I guess so...but you're our friend too." She confidently replies.

"I...am?" I'm quite surprised to say the least.

"Of course! The four of us think of you as a friend. Even if Shiho won't admit it I know she thinks of you as a friend. Don't tell her I said that though." Morofuji giggles.

"My lips are sealed."

The two of us reach the beef bowl place. It's a very popular stall, but fortunately they had enough to make one of their specialty dish to give to Saki. Morofuji bought the other girl's some other types of food, and even bought me something too. It was very sweet of her. I carried Manabe, Yabu, and my own food meanwhile Morofuji carried Saki's and her own meal.

"...Hey, Ayanokouji?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for coming with me, and also for the advice. I'll do my best to support them...and to support you as well..." Her voice got quieter at the last part, so I couldn't hear it.

"What was that at the end?"

"...I-It's nothing." Morofuji turns to me, blushing, but with a bright smile. She wasn't looking in front of her, so she accidentally bumped into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry-" Morofuji tries to apologize.

"Hey! Watch it!"

The person shoved Morofuji causing her to fall down, and all the food she was carrying was spilled onto the ground.