Pure Love ✕ Insult Complex-Novel

「 I-I... 」

Megu’s confused.

She probably didn’t expect Ai, who shuts herself inside to say that much.

「 I see. Megumi wasn’t inside the bakery earlier 」

Yukino said.

Right. We were talking in the bakery earlier...

Katsuko-nee, Nei, and Megu were in the storefront.

Therefore, Megu only knows how Ai confronted her classmates outside.

She knew that something changed in Ai, but...

She doesn’t know the conversation inside the bakery. She hasn’t seen how she’s changed.

Then, she hurried back to the classroom to take the afternoon lessons.

「 I-I, Ai... 」

Ai speaks to Megu.

「 Ai became useless because Mama or other people always help me out on anything. But, she didn’t teach me to do things myself 」

Ai speaks awkwardly.

「 Then, I learned a lot...that...I can become better... 」

She desperately tries to convey her thoughts.

「 Then, I...I also understood that doing things together is fun 」

She looks at me.

Ai learned doing things together is better from having sex with me.

「 Then, also...also... 」

Her skin turns red in excitement, and her ears are teary.

「 Ai wants to do something for others too...Not just receiving help from someone. Ai also wants to help others! Even I.... 」

Ai...

「 I don’t want to stay like this... 」

Ai’s in tears.

「 I-I know that, but... 」

Megu looks at Ai with a complicated expression.

「 Why are you telling me that now? 」

I...

「 Isn’t that obvious? Ai wants to help Megu 」

「 Huh? M-Me? Help? From Kiyohara-san? 」

Megu’s eyes opened wide.

「 I mean, I’m... 」

Megu’s the honor student.

She has good grades, lots of friends.

Apart from the circumstances where she’s engaged with me, her classmates and teachers have a high evaluation of her.

If it’s among our family, there are people much more talented than her, but, in our class, she’s someone who has herself together.

She probably doesn’t think of getting help from Ai, a girl who is an introvert.

「 Megumi-san, you’re not confident. Just like Ai 」

Ai said.

「 But, you’re different from Ai. You have courage, unlike Ai. That’s why you get angry quickly, don’t you? 」

Megu getting hot-tempered is the opposite of having no self-confidence.

「 You get scared, worried. Therefore, you throw all off your fear to Yoshida-kun, or anyone you know that’s okay with you getting angry 」

「 Right. Megumi never speaks like that with Misuzu and the girls 」

Edie smiles.

「 It’s only with Darling, Mana, Yukino, or me. They’re only the people Megumi can throw her emotions at 」

「 T-That’s not true, I... 」

「 No, that’s the truth. Megumi, you fawn on Yuzuki or Katsuko, and yet, when it comes to me, or this idiot, you start screaming right away 」

Yukino laughs.

「 I mean, she directs her anger mostly at Darling 」

Megu scolds Edie whenever she does something out of the ordinary, but...

That’s only because Edie’s acting it out to let Megu vent out her anger.

Recently, it’s exposed that Edie’s intelligence is higher than she expects, so Megu hardly scolds Edie anymore.

Mana. Megu knew her as her little sister from the past, and so she could complain to her on various things, but...

Mana’s getting better in helping out Katsuko-nee in the housework, together with Ruriko.

Mana’s becoming more beautiful. Megu feels insecure with it, and so their relationship becomes thinner recently.

「 Oh, I see. She gets depressed with her insecurities with the other girls, and she screams out her stress with this idiot 」

Yukino nods to herself.

「 S-Stop that! I’m not that shallow 」

Megu tries to deny what Ai said.

「 But, that’s how it is from Ai’s eyes 」

Ai’s been observing us for the past few days.

「 No, Ai, I think she’s become better than before, even if she looks like that 」

I look at Megu.

Yukino started living together with us. It increased the people she can quarrel with and throw her complains.

Getting under Tsukiko’s umbrella has fixed her up a bit.

Megu’s stress is less compared to before.

「 But, it’ll only trouble Yoshida-kun if this continues 」

Ai said.

「 Right. I feel sorry for Darling when I see Megumi start complaining to him 」

Edie smiled wryly.

「 Why not? I mean, it’s him. He doesn’t really think of that as troublesome, he’s an idiot who’ll listen to Megumi no matter what 」

Yukino then turns to Megu while saying that.

「 This idiot likes Megumi after all 」

「 Huh? Y-Yoshi-kun? 」

Megu looks at me in surprise?

「 He likes you...That’s why he won’t hate you no matter how angry you get 」

Ai...

「 Ordinary people start to hate people who always get angry at them. People don’t like others getting mad at them, even if they did something wrong 」

「 That’s right. Therefore, everyone tries to be indirect whenever they complain. They know that throwing their anger directly at the person would be the same as attacking that person, they don’t want the other party to hate them 」

「 Megumi, you know that he’ll never hate you no matter what you do, and that’s why you’re so spoiled 」

「 Y-Yukino, I-I’m not spoiled 」

「 You don’t think of what’s ahead and just throw off your anger to him. That’s nothing but being spoiled 」

Yukino snorts.

「 Then, this idiot just allows it. See? You know, if he’s just an ordinary guy, he’d already run away from you, saying “Shut up,” or “Don’t complain about every single thing.” Megumi’s such a heavy woman, and I’m sure that any other guy would break up with you with the reason that they hate how you get angry at them on every single thing 」

「 Y-Yoshi-kun isn’t an ordinary guy! 」

「 That’s right, Darling’s different. He never made a face that says he doesn’t want to do anything dealing with us 」

Edie said.

「 But, that doesn’t mean that Megumi can stay spoiled like now 」

「 Ugh 」

Megu gasps

「 No, it’s not Megu’s problem, it’s my fault 」

I...

「 I thought that if I accept Megu, then it will be okay... 」

That if I just hold it, it will end...

「 But, that way of thinking is wrong. I was just looking down on Megu 」

Megu throws her emotions at me, and I accept it.

I misunderstood that’s how our relationship works.

Before I noticed, I’m looking down on Megu.

To the Megu, who throws her emotions to me due to her insecurity towards Misuzu and the girls.

Thinking that she’s weak, pitiful.

Therefore, I thought I had to endure all of it.

Such a conceited attitude.

「 Megu’s insecurities are for her to fix 」

I tell Megu.

「 You can’t fix anything, even if you throw all of your emotions to me 」

Instead, it made her think that I’m okay no matter how angry she can get.

Her anger only increases.

Yukino and Tsukiko...they were breakwaters to divert her thoughts, but...

The fundamental problem isn’t solved.

「 But, I don’t know what I should do... 」

Megu said.

「 Even I don’t want to get angry at Yoshi-kun all the time. But, I can’t win against anyone 」

Then.

「 Why do you want to win? 」

Ai asks.

「 Everyone’s different. That’s a given. Why do you need to win? 」

Ai stares at Megu.

「 If it’s a fight, then Ai can’t win at anything 」

「 You’re beautiful. Much cuter than me! 」

Megu shouts.

「 That’s what Megumi-san thinks... 」

Ai stares into Megu’s eyes.

「 But, I don’t have any strength. After all, it’s not something Ai brought to herself 」

Then...

「 Ai is weak. I know that I’m weak. But, I don’t want to stay like that. I don’t want to remain weak 」

Ai...

「 I don’t want Yoshida-kun to hate me. After all, Yoshida-kun still likes the current Ai. Therefore, this is my problem 」

Ai really changed.

「 Ai wants to become a girl who can do things on her own. That’s the first step. Then. I want to become better at making pastries. That’s important. I want to become better at sex. I want Yoshida-kun to feel more pleasure 」

Ai continues to talk.

For Megu...

It’s her first time moving for someone else.

「 Other people don’t matter. If I think of others, I’ll only get scared. After all, Ai’s slow, compared to everyone else 」

Megu listens to Ai’s earnest talk.

「 Therefore, I don’t think about them. I only do what I can do at the moment. I only need Yoshida-kun watching me. If I were to think of anything else, I wouldn’t be able to do anything. I’m that kind of idiot 」

「 No, you’re not a simple idiot. You just know that you know nothing. An idiot who has a goal 」

Yukino smiled.

「 Yes, Ai has a goal 」

「 Goal? 」

Megu asks.

「 I want to have self-confidence 」

Ai smiled.

「 If I have confidence in myself, I think I can become happy. That’s why I want to do my best 」

「 Yeah, I’ll support you to that, Ai 」

I tell her.

「 Yes, please support me. Yoshida-kun 」

Ai replied back happily.

「 !!! 」

Megu seems to be shocked.

「 Megumi, you just thought that you lost to Ai, didn’t you? 」

Edie asks with a fed-up tone.

「 I mean, I also want to be confident in myself. But, everyone around Yoshi-kun is much better than me, I don’t know what do I do to gain confidence at all! 」

Megu screams.

「 Therefore, you think that you lose to positive people? 」

Yukino sighs.

「 Why are you so stupid, Megumi?! 」

「 Y-Yukino?! 」

「 You know, I’m also living together with this girl for the past few days. You see, I saw Agnes and the girls teach her how to fold her clothes, how to fix her bed, she learned things that she must do herself! I was seriously worried that she needed someone to wipe her ass 」

「 Auuu. Sorry 」

Ai bows her head.

「 You heard? Agnes was her teacher, you know? It’s the girl confined in the basement until a few months ago. That girl was the one teaching this one. You should know that Agnes hardly knows anything about this world! 」

「 Uuuuuuuu 」

「 She said herself that she’s lagging behind, and yet, this girl who can’t do anything is trying to do something, making up her resolve! 」

Yukino looked at Ai.

「 Can you cook? 」

「 I can’t 」

「 What about laundry? 」

「 I was taught how to use the washing machine 」

「 Sewing? 」

「 What’s that? 」

「 Do you know how to compose letters in a work environment? 」

「 ?????!!! 」

Ai’s mouth is flapping.

「 Ai, shuffle 」

I restart her mind in a hurry.

「 Auuuu 」

Haa.

She starts to panic because of Yukino’s momentum.

「 See? She’s only at this level! What can you do by yourself, Megumi?! Aren’t you an honor student?! 」

「 But... 」

「 I mean, she just started in pastry work and is saying that she wants to get better! You’re much better than her right now 」

「 But, she’ll... 」

Megu looks at Ai...

「 She’ll get better at it someday. Better than me 」

「 This negative-idiot 」

Yukino shouted at her.

「 If you’re thinking like that, then do your best to get better than her, Megumi 」

Edie said.

「 But, she’s much more beautiful than me! 」

Megu...

「 Getting better at something is meaningless! I can’t win against beautiful women 」

「 Megu’s also beautiful in my eyes 」

「 But, Ai-san’s much more beautiful than me!! 」

It returns to that in the end.

Megu’s also a girl. It’s inevitable for her to feel that way.

「 Then, all you had to do is become more beautiful 」

Edie said.

「 I-I can’t do that, you know? I-I’m... 」

「 What are you talking about? You have a reasonable foundation. I mean, you’re my sister 」

「 But, I’m not like Yukino 」

Megu said.

「 Yeah. You’re different from me. But what about Maika? 」

Yukino retorts back.

「 Mana? 」

「 I heard that she’s doing some program Yuzuki and Katsuko made for her to look better, right? The results are showing recently 」

Mana’s reforming herself and becoming more beautiful.

「 Maika’s doing her best...and what about our honor student? Shouldn’t you be working hard too? 」

「 B-But, Mana... 」

Megu speaks evasively.

「 That girl has a dream of becoming a supermodel. That’s why she’s doing her best. But, I... 」

I see.

Is that the case?

「 I don’t have such dreams 」

Megu doesn’t have that solid image of what she wants to become.

She did say back then that she wants to be a teacher, but...

That’s not it.

She needs to have a much more visible and sensible image in her head.

「 Megu, didn’t I promise to marry you when we’re 20? 」

I said.

「 Like, we’ll hold a ceremony with all our classmates attending 」

Megu.

「 Wait, Yoshi-kun? 」

Oh, it looks like Megu misunderstood something...

「 It’s not about annulling the engagement 」

I’ll throw that idea off right away.

「 Now that you get what I’m trying to say. Megu, what kind of bride do you want to become? 」

「 That’s... 」

That’s right, Megu needs to have this mental image of a bright future ahead of her.

「 Is the Megu wearing a wedding dress, beautiful? 」

「 Huh, Yoshi-kun? 」

「 I don’t want a bride that doesn’t look beautiful, just so you know 」

I speak with a serious face.

「 Auuu, Ai wants a white dress and lace around this part 」

Err.

「 Ai, I’ll listen to you later. It’s Megu’s turn right now, okay? 」

「 Uuu 」

I look at Megu.

「 Megu, you need to work hard if you want to look beautiful in your wedding dress in four years 」

「 Yoshi-kun 」

Megu’s an ordinary girl.

Therefore, she needs to think under ordinary circumstances.

「 Then, what will happen after we’re married? 」

I asked her.

「 But, Yoshi-kun, you’re starting a bakery with Katsuko-oneesan, and Misuzu-san also has.... 」

「 Yeah, that too. But, I’m asking you, Megu, what kind of couple do you want us to be? 」

A girlish dream...

「 Do you want a child? 」

「 Well, I do. But, the other girls... 」

Megu looks at Yukino.

「 I want Megu to bear my child too 」

I speak clearly.

「 Boy or girl, which do you want? 」

「 A girl... 」

Megu replies.

「 A cute one? 」

「 Y-Yeah 」

Megu replies.

「 Then, you need to become a beautiful mother for the child 」

「 I-I... 」

「 I mean, Megu will be the mother of the child, don’t you feel sorry for the child if you don’t look beautiful? 」

「 !!! 」

「 Four years can come by in a flash. You don’t have to think of becoming beautiful for yourself or for me. But, think of your child in the future. Start working towards it right now. Become beautiful. Also... 」

That’s right.

「 You want to invite your foster parents at your wedding, right? 」

「 That’s...if possible... 」

Megu was under the care of her foster parents.

「 Don’t you want to look like a beautiful bride for your foster parents? 」

I said.

「 You don’t need to reach Ya-chan or Katsuko-nee’s level. You don’t need Misuzu’s elegance either. Nor Tsukiko’s mysterious aura 」

Megu is Megu, she’s an ordinary girl.

「 You don’t have to work hard to become a supermodel like Mana. All you have to do is work hard to become a beautiful bride that everyone will bless in our marriage four years from now on. I think you can do your best if it’s in the ordinary levels. Something Megu can reach 」

「 Me? 」

「 You always compare yourself with the other girls, and so you start to forget. You waver, thinking of what you should do and what you can do. Assuming that you can’t do it, it’s impossible, and so you give up. That’s how you compare yourself with others 」

「 Yoshi-kun 」

「 But, if you can see that it’s something within your reach, you’ll find out what you can do, what you have to do, and what you want to do 」

Edie continues...

「 Humans can only do what they can imagine. 」

That’s right if one thinks “I can’t” or “it’s impossible,” then they won’t do it.

They’ll give up before trying.

「 Therefore, try out what you can do. Lots of people don’t even try, even though they know that they can! 」

That’s right. Start from there.

「 Ai’s choice of doing things herself, the bakery, and sex, is the right one. She’s trying out something, and that’s what’s in front of her. 」

「 Yes, Ai thought of that 」

Ai nods.

「 Therefore, if Megumi-san has some idea, then do it... 」

「 That’s right. Megumi, you’re too top-heavy. You’re comparing yourself to some monsters in that house 」

Yukino points at Edie.

「 And yeah, Yukino too 」

「 Ahn~ 」

「 Yukino’s also quite amazing 」

Yeah, her show where she just speaks abusively is a hit.

The ratings for Yukino’s show doesn’t go down at all.

「 That’s why, if ever you want to compare yourself with others, don’t do it with us, go with your classmates instead. And then, you’ll be able to come up with some ideas within your reach 」

「 A-Ai is also ordinary 」

Ai looked up at Megu and said.

「 Well, I guess you’re cuter than the ordinary. Like, no ill intent there 」

Yukino said and smiled.

「 P-Please treat me well 」

Ai reaches her hand out to Megu.

「 Also, please don’t monopolize Yoshida-kun. Ai won’t either 」

「 Kiyohara-san? 」

Megu’s surprised.

「 Ai’s also worried. Just like how Megu looks at the other girls with a worried face 」

To Ai, Megu, my fiance, is her most significant threat.

They’ll become classmates soon too.

「 O-Okay, let’s get along 」

Megu found Ai as someone weaker than her for the first time.

Not someone who is a threat that wants to steal me away...

She can sense that this girl is weak by her skin.

「 Okay, kept you waiting huh, it’s my little sister’s fault for being so troublesome 」

Yukino said.

「 Now hurry up and do sex you lot! 」

Right...

「 There’s no better method of getting along than having sex! 」

Edie smiled.