As usual, I headed to school and opened the classroom door.
When I entered, I would normally hear several voices chatting, but today the atmosphere felt unusually heavy.
"You've gotta be kidding me! What the hell is this!?"
Ishizaki was holding his smartphone in one hand, his face flushed red with anger.
What in the world happened? I've never seen Ishizaki this furious before.
"Ah, Hikigaya."
"Komiya, what's going on?"
"Nah, just some annoying stuff happened. Check this out—you're not unrelated to this either."
Komiya fiddled with his phone and turned the screen toward me.
- Ishizaki Daichi was once sent to juvenile detention for a prank.
- Manabe Shiho was involved in compensated dating in middle school.
- Kaneda Satoru was involved in a violent incident.
What was displayed was a list of various slanderous claims. It seemed to be a post on a forum, with many other statements written as well.
"All kinds of stuff is being written here, but yours is kinda weird, Hikigaya."
"Weird?"
"Yeah. Like, what's written doesn't even make sense... Just take a look for yourself."
Komiya tapped on his phone again. What appeared was...
- Hikigaya Hachiman is not human.
While the other posts on the forum had various comments, this one was almost completely ignored.
At first glance, it was a statement that made no sense.
"Who the hell would understand this? They're just messing with you. You're being made fun of, plain and simple."
"...Yeah, I guess so."
"Before, it was just rumors about Ichinose, but now it's spreading to us too."
For the past few days, Ichinose hadn't been coming to school.
It was because of the rumors circulating around the school.
"Ichinose Honami is a criminal."
At first, no one paid attention to such rumors. Ichinose's reputation across the grade—no, the entire school—was that of an impeccable good person. Doubting someone like that would be harder to believe.
But as soon as these rumors started, Ichinose began skipping school.
From there, the rumors grew, adding more and more embellishments until they became far bigger than they were at the beginning.
It was no surprise Komiya thought he was being dragged into it too.
"Argh!! This pisses me off! I bet it's Class A spreading these rumors! I won't forgive them!"
Unable to contain his anger, Ishizaki clenched his fists and shouted. Anyone would be furious if baseless rumors were spread about them. Kaneda and Manabe, who were also targeted by the rumors in the classroom, seemed to be voicing their frustrations to those around them.
"Calm down!"
"How the hell am I supposed to calm down!? Right, Hikigaya!?"
Despite Komiya's attempts to pacify him, Ishizaki grabbed me aggressively.
"I get being angry. But losing your cool won't help anything right now. Just calm down for a moment."
"But—!"
"Making us angry might be exactly what they want. We have to endure for now."
"Tch... Yeah, you're right. Sorry, I got too heated."
Seeing Ishizaki convinced by my words, Komiya let out a relieved sigh.
Until now, the rumors had only been about Ichinose, but this time, they targeted every class except Class A. It was easy to assume this was Class A's doing.
Once I managed to calm Ishizaki down, I headed to my seat.
Then, as if waiting for that moment, Hiyori approached me.
"Hachiman, are you okay? Please don't pay attention to the rumors."
Her voice was soft and gentle, her brows slightly furrowed in concern.
"Yeah, it's annoying, but they're just rumors. Getting worked up would just be playing into the culprit's hands."
"But... seeing such rumors about you... It makes me really upset too."
As if it were her own problem, Hiyori looked sad, then suddenly grasped my hand with both of hers, wrapping them tightly around mine.
Warmth slowly spread from her hands, thawing the coldness in mine.
"Thanks for worrying about me."
"No, of course I'd worry!"
"I appreciate that, but... uh..."
"...? Is something wrong?"
"The teacher's gonna be here soon, so... your hand...?"
Glancing at our still-intertwined hands, I pointed it out to Hiyori.
Not that I minded—I definitely didn't—but holding hands right up until homeroom would be pushing it.
"...!!"
Realizing what I meant, Hiyori's face instantly turned bright red, and she quickly pulled her hands away in embarrassment.
"S-Sorry!!"
She spun around and dashed back to her seat.
Naturally, some of the other students had witnessed the whole thing. I could feel their curious gazes, but deciding to brush it off—Hiyori was just being her usual airheaded self—I tried not to pay it any mind.
......
After receiving the announcement from Mr. Sakagami about an upcoming test, the brief moment of despair in the class quickly passed.
Me, Hiyori, Ibuki, Ishizaki, and Albert were all heading to the meeting spot to discuss the recent rumors with Hashimoto.
"I swear I'll get that bastard Hashimoto to talk!"
Ishizaki was fuming at the front, but I wondered if he really understood that this was supposed to be a discussion.
"We're here to talk—well, at least in principle. By the way, you didn't bring Ryuuen?"
It was Ishizaki who arranged this meeting with Hashimoto and asked us to come along. He didn't bring Ryuuen, but I assumed there was a reason.
"I couldn't drag Ryuuen into this. Sorry, but I needed you guys with me. If it was just me, I'd get talked into a corner."
When I asked for confirmation, it seemed he had actually thought this through, even considering his own limitations.
"Well, I do find those rumors annoying, so I'll lend you a hand this time."
"Yes."
"I also don't like seeing our classmates being slandered."
"Thanks, guys! Seriously, you're lifesavers!"
Understanding what he couldn't do alone and relying on others—that wasn't something someone with too much pride could do. Maybe Ishizaki really was growing.
"Hey, Ishizaki. It's rare for you to want to talk."
When we arrived at the spot outside school grounds, Hashimoto and Kitou were already there.
Behind them, for some reason, Ayanokouji and Miyake were also present, but they probably weren't involved in this, so we could ignore them.
"Why's Kitou here? I told you to come alone!"
"You brought Albert, didn't you? And unexpectedly, even Hikigaya. Can't blame me for being cautious."
Despite Ishizaki's aggressive tone, Hashimoto remained completely unfazed.
The tension was already thick, and Hiyori, unable to ignore it, spoke up.
"Both of you, calm down. We came here to talk."
"Talk, huh? Fine. So, what's this about?"
"I'll be direct. It's about the rumors. Those rumors were spread by Class A, weren't they?"
Ignoring Hashimoto's suspicious expression, Hiyori pressed on.
"Suspecting us like that's harsh. What's your proof?"
"Don't play dumb with me, you—!"
"Ishizaki, let Hiyori handle this."
I grabbed his raised arm and spoke quietly to calm him down. Somehow, Ishizaki managed to hold back.
"We heard from Kanzaki-kun that Class A was spreading rumors about Ichinose-san."
This was information Ishizaki had shared earlier.
Even with this, Hashimoto's cool demeanor didn't crack.
"Man, people really can't keep their mouths shut. Where'd you even hear that?"
"Answer me, Hashimoto!"
"Scary, scary. Honestly, I don't know anything. I just talked about it 'cause I heard the rumors."
Of course, we weren't getting the truth from Hashimoto.
"Cut the crap! You dragged us into your fight with Class C!"
"Dragged you in? I said I'm not involved."
"You dragged unrelated people into this!"
"What're you even saying? You're just pissed 'cause the rumors got to you, right? Heard you got sent to juvie?"
The moment those words left his mouth, Ishizaki lunged at Hashimoto, fist raised.
"You bastard, Hashimoto!"
As soon as Ishizaki moved, Miyake, who had been watching from the shadows, quickly restrained him in a hold.
"Let go, Miyake! You think I'll just take this lying down!?"
"Knock it off, Ishizaki. You're the one who'll get hurt. You might be confident in a fight, but Kitou here's no pushover either."
"...I'm not confident against Hikigaya, though."
"...Wait, Kitou's saying that? Just how strong are you, Hikigaya?"
Muttering something under his breath, Kitou stepped forward, prompting Ishizaki, Albert (who had been motionless until now), and even Ibuki to raise their fists.
"Cut it out, all of you! You know how this school handles violence!"
"You might wanna rethink that. The current student council president turns a blind eye to some violence."
Miyake tried to stop them, but Hashimoto's words shut him down.
"It's no use, Hiyori. These guys won't give us anything even if we press them. People like this only understand fists."
Hashimoto's smug tone finally pushed even Ibuki and Albert forward.
Hiyori desperately tried to stop them, but Ishizaki and the others were beyond reasoning now.
"You bastards—!!"
"Kitou, guess we've got no choice, huh?"
Realizing words wouldn't settle this, Hashimoto stood beside Kitou, both readying themselves.
"Raaah!"
Ishizaki swung at Kitou, and Ibuki followed up with a sharp kick at Hashimoto.
Kitou blocked the punch, while Hashimoto barely dodged the kick at the last second.
"Whoa, close one!"
"I said knock it off!!"
"Albert! Hold Miyake back for me!"
"OK."
Following Ishizaki's order, Albert stepped in front of Miyake, who had been trying to intervene, and restrained him.
With Miyake caught, Ayanokouji also stepped forward, though he didn't seem interested in joining the fight.
"That's enough."
I had been watching until now, but if this kept up, other students might see, and that'd cause problems.
At my words, not just Ishizaki and Ibuki, but even Hashimoto and Kitou stopped.
"Why're you stopping me, Hikigaya!?"
"Fighting won't get us anywhere. Even if you beat Hashimoto and Kitou here, we still wouldn't learn anything about the rumors."
"But—! I can't just let this slide!"
"Right now, we don't have many options. If this escalates, our class will take the damage."
"Tch..."
Neither Ishizaki nor Ibuki wanted to cause trouble for the class. The same probably went for Hashimoto and the others.
"I'll side with Hikigaya on this one. Me and Kitou might've gone too far too. We'll apologize for that."
"...I never intended to fight Hikigaya in the first place."
Regardless of Hashimoto's tone, Kitou seemed genuinely willing to back down.
"Albert, let Miyake go."
"OK."
Albert nodded and released Miyake, bringing the situation under control.
"Thank you, Hachiman. I couldn't stop them myself."
"It is what it is. I was just the right person for it."
"Well, we're heading out. Hope those rumors disappear."
"..."
With a casual wave, Hashimoto walked off, followed by Kitou.
In the end, nothing was resolved. I couldn't say the rumors would be dealt with, but pushing further wouldn't help either.
"Damn it… What the hell do we do now?"
"For now, we endure. The right time to act will come—until then, we wait."
"I agree. If we act recklessly now, we might just give them more ammunition."
Some might still be unsatisfied, but this was the best we could do for now.
With that, everyone dispersed for the day.
On the now-empty path outside school grounds, I passed by Ayanokouji on my way back.
"Hikigaya Hachiman is not human," huh?
"What about it?"
Our steps halted as we passed each other, standing back-to-back without turning around.
"Don't play dumb. You're the only one in this school who'd write something like that."
"...And? Is something wrong with it?"
At his question, I took a breath—
"No. Nothing at all."
My voice, expression, emotions—none of them wavered as I answered.
"I can guess why you spread those rumors. But..."
I had nothing else to say about the rumors themselves, but there was one thing I needed to make clear.
"...Don't act like you're above it all."
"..."
Ayanokouji said nothing and walked away in the opposite direction.
Without even a glance back, I continued down my own path.
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