Vol. 1 — Chapter 8: Rumors and Reactions
The next morning, the sun was already high when Yuto entered the classroom.
He walked through the door and immediately noticed something was different.
His classmates were whispering.
Some of them turned to look at him, and a few tried to hide their smiles.
"Huh?" he muttered, confused.
He made his way to his seat, pretending not to notice. As he sat down and unpacked his things, Daiki leaned in from the seat behind him with a big grin.
"Yo, Yuto."
"Morning," Yuto said, a little cautious.
Daiki wiggled his eyebrows. "So. You and Yuna, huh?"
Yuto froze. "W-What are you talking about?"
"Oh, c'mon," Daiki smirked. "People saw you two walking home together yesterday. Alone."
Yuto's eyes widened. "Wait—people saw!?"
Souta suddenly popped up from the side. "I heard it too! You two even bought melon bread on the way, right?"
"W-Wait, how did you—!?"
"It's all over the group chat," Souta said, holding up his phone. "Look."
Sure enough, someone had posted a blurry photo of Yuto and Yuna walking side by side outside the bakery. There were emojis and comments below it.
"'They look cute together!'" Souta read aloud. "'I didn't know Yuna had a thing for quiet guys!'" He laughed. "Dude, you're famous now."
Yuto buried his face in his hands.
"This is bad…" he mumbled.
"Why is it bad?" Daiki asked, patting his shoulder. "I say it's good. You two have chemistry!"
Ren, sitting nearby, raised an eyebrow. "You're surprisingly supportive."
Daiki grinned. "Hey, I ship it."
Yuto groaned louder.
Then—tap tap—someone poked his shoulder.
He looked up.
Yuna stood there.
"Good morning," she said with a soft smile.
"G-Good morning!" Yuto nearly jumped.
People around them went quiet.
Souta and Daiki exchanged looks and quickly turned around, pretending not to eavesdrop.
Yuna tilted her head. "Are you okay? You look… panicked."
Yuto glanced around the classroom and leaned closer, whispering, "Everyone's talking about yesterday."
Yuna blinked. "Oh…"
"Someone even took a picture."
She paused, then giggled. "I guess we were kind of obvious."
Yuto blushed. "I-I'm sorry if it caused trouble…"
"No, no, it's fine," she said, waving her hand. "Let them talk. We didn't do anything wrong."
Yuto nodded slowly.
"But," she leaned closer and whispered, "It was fun walking with you."
Yuto's heart skipped.
Before he could reply, the bell rang, and the teacher entered the room.
Yuna went back to her seat.
Yuto stared at his desk for a moment before finally sitting upright.
He didn't notice Rika watching him from the hallway, a bag of bread in her hands.
---
After class, the group met again by the schoolyard tree.
Daiki and Souta were already there, joking about something as usual. Ren leaned against the trunk, reading something on his phone.
Yuto arrived, followed by Yuna.
"Yo!" Souta waved. "Did the rumors make your ears explode yet?"
"Don't talk about it…" Yuto mumbled.
Yuna laughed. "It's kind of funny."
"Funny for you," Yuto said. "I'm dying of embarrassment."
Daiki clapped his shoulder. "You'll live, buddy."
A few moments later, Rika showed up, walking toward them with a small frown on her face.
"Morning," she said.
"Morning!" Yuna waved.
Rika held up the small bag of bread. "I bought some melon bread… but I guess someone else already did that yesterday, huh?"
Yuto looked surprised. "Huh?"
Rika handed the bread to Yuna. "For you."
Yuna smiled. "Thanks, Rika!"
Then Rika turned to Yuto.
"I didn't get you one."
Yuto blinked. "O-Oh. That's fine."
"I thought you already had your fill yesterday," Rika said flatly.
Souta whispered to Daiki, "Uh-oh. Is that jealousy?"
Daiki whispered back, "This is getting spicy."
Yuna blinked. "Rika… are you mad?"
Rika crossed her arms. "Nope."
Yuto shifted awkwardly. "I didn't mean to make anything weird…"
"You didn't," Rika said. "Just surprised, that's all."
The group fell quiet.
Then Ren suddenly spoke.
"...We're just standing around. Can we go eat now?"
Everyone turned to look at him.
Yuna nodded. "Yeah, let's go."
As they walked off together, Rika walked behind the group.
She looked at Yuto and Yuna walking side by side again and sighed.
Maybe I'm just being weird, she thought. But why does it bug me so much?
End of Chapter 8.