Harem of Side Characters [Rewrite]

Nene Mori - Loser

Arriving back, our class decided to pick the spot close to a river. We could save a lot of points from drinking the fresh water. Thankfully, the argument about toilets seems to have been resolved. I let out a sigh of relief at that. Everyone else seems to be discussing our next procedure, which is to choose a leader. Because of her previous contributions, Horikita was the one selected to be our class leader. Everything seems to be going smoothly.

After setting up our camp, we once again divided our class into sections in order to gather materials. I was assigned to gather firewood, so I went a little ways away from camp to get some dry sticks. As I walk further away from camp, I found Mori sitting against a tree, alone.

Her cheerful and social personality was nowhere to be found, and I can't help but be taken aback for a moment. She was like a totally different person.

"...I'm taking a break. I was getting quite tired, I'll collect more in a moment." She mumbles towards me.

"...I didn't really need to know that."

"Wait, you're not one of the girls." She finally looks up and realizes I was the one present.

"I am not. Are you here alone?"

"Yeah. There were supposed to be others but..."

"They pushed all the work to you?" I guess. Mori's silence is confirmation enough. Both her and I are outcasts, however she seems to have it a lot harder than me. I believe some of the girls even have a seperate group chat where they insult Mori behind her back, it must be rough.

"...It's nothing new. So, what are you here for?" She asks me.

"I wandered here while gathering firewood. Now, I guess I'm here to comfort you and say nice things."

"Heh... That would make me feel a little better, I suppose." She gives me a weak smile as I approach and sit next to her.

"Are you still being treated as an outcast?"

"Something like that. Maybe I'm just being immature, but it's not a good feeling walking around with others for the whole day knowing that they are judging and criticizing you even though you haven't done anything. I might be a little weird and overbearing sometimes, but I don't think I've done anything to deserve the insults and the ridiculing. I try to brush it off, but sometimes the things they say really hurt. It's funny, you think I'd be used to this by now after all this time." She mutters.

"I don't think a few months is enough to get used to things like that. Besides, getting used to it isn't a good thing."

"If only it were a few months... I didn't exactly have many friends in my last school. It wasn't like I didn't try to get friends, every time someone walks by me I smile and wave at them. But... it was like none of them ever wanted to actually talk to me." She lets out a big sigh, before facing me.

"Sorry... I'm sure me complaining like this means absolutely nothing to you. I'm sure there's other people in our class that have it much harder than me, maybe even you. But...the fact that I keep trying and trying with nothing changing stings a lot more than I thought it would. I don't expect you to change anything, or to even care. But I guess at the bare minimum because we're both outcasts... I hope you at least understand my feelings a bit. No offense to the outcast comment."

"None taken."

"Thanks... I'm just so tired... I want someone to acknowledge that I am a real girl with feelings... and that I would very much like to be real friends with the other girls. So that I can finally stop pretending to be happy." Tears started to form in Mori's eyes.

"You're crying." I point out.

"Yes... I've been doing that a lot lately."

"Just to be clear, I don't think there's anything wrong with crying. I actually think it's pretty cute."

"My sadness is not cute! It's sad! Feel bad for me!" She pouts at me.

"Though, I don't understand. If hanging out with Karuizawa's group makes you feel sad, why hang out with them at all? Surely the other girls like Kokoro, Onodera, or Ichihashi would be happy to talk with you."

"Ha... if only it were that easy. I have my own reasons, and as I told you before, if we ever want to reach Class A we must be able to work together."

"You don't have to get along with everyone in the class in order to do that."

"I disagree... we are Class D, the defective class. We don't have outstanding academics or physical prowess compared to other classes. If we don't have unity on top of all that, is there really a chance we can reach Class A? If there was an exam involving teamwork, their dislike of me could spell disaster. I want to avoid that at all costs."

"...Is getting to Class A really more important than your happiness?" I ask. Mori takes a second to think about her answer, before giving me a sad smile.

"Yes... Unfortunately, I think it is."

Both of us stay silent for a while. Her motivation to Class A is higher than her desire to be happy. What could possibly be the reason for that?

"...Ahem. I shouldn't be pushing those worries on to you. Sorry, I let my emotions get the better of me. I've done enough venting for the time being. Thanks for not interrupting me during my long rant."

"Don't mention it. I much prefer you when you're happy, though."

"Hehe... Well I do feel a little better now that I've talked about it. Now that the sad part is out of the way, let's get back to work!" Mori stands back up, and reaches a hand out to me.

"That is, if you don't mind coming with me. I don't really have a lot of people I can ask because I am what everyone would call... a loser."

I grab her hand, and let her pull me up.

"So... what do we do now?" She asks as we collect our materials. I guess she didn't prepare a conversation topic.

"We could keep talking about you, I guess."

"Is there anything in particular you want to know?"

"...This might be a bit insensitive, but I do wonder what your motive is that you would-"

"That I would sacrifice my happiness to graduate from Class A, right?" She cuts me off. I nod at her.

"I can't blame you for being curious there. Though the reasoning is something really personal and selfish, so I'm not really comfortable sharing it right now. Sorry." She apologizes.

"That's fine. I was actually afraid you were going to admit to having some sort of terminal disease or something." I heard that's a common plot point in stories.

"Hehe...If I did have a terminal disease, don't you think I would prioritize my happiness above everything?"

"...Oh yeah..." I completely overlooked that.

"Although...you're not that far of the mark." I heard her mumble.

I didn't press for more information, I've gotten enough for today. Mori and I talk about various differnt things as we collect our materials. I can clearly see that Mori enjoys socializing and talking with people, and I do admit I enjoy listening to her as well. It's just a shame she was never given the opportunity to socialize with the others.