Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/2912051603068864073
On Monday morning, the moment I walked into the classroom, the atmosphere grew slightly tense.
No one said anything to me out loud. No one blatantly avoided me either. It was just that, in the brief moment before I reached my seat, a few pairs of eyes met mine and then quickly looked away. It was different from the lunch break in Episode 5. Back then, their reactions had been a mix of surprise and understanding, but today, the atmosphere felt more faintly murky.
As I set my bag down at my desk, two boys behind me lowered their voices.
“I hear Segawa’s been turning down every single request from girls ever since he got a girlfriend.”
“He even ditched that errand for the underclassmen, right? Well, maybe his girlfriend’s scary?”
Their voices were just a little too loud for me to pretend not to hear.
My stomach felt heavy. I wanted to snap back, but getting into another argument in the classroom first thing in the morning was too much to handle. As I sat down silently, Shiori from the next row looked over at me. She glanced at my face and seemed to sense something right away.
Even after class started, the rumors didn’t die down.
A first-year student I passed in the hallway glanced my way and chuckled quietly. Just before noon, Tanabe, a classmate of mine, approached my desk looking awkward. He had short-cropped hair and was the type of guy who usually didn’t say anything unnecessary.
“Segawa, there’s a weird rumor going around. Like, you got a girlfriend so you dumped all the other girls at once, or that you were cold to a younger student and made her cry. I don’t think it’s true, but people who don’t know you might believe it.”
“Who told you that?”
“It seems to be going around the first-year club activities. Onodera’s name came up.”
Mei’s face popped into my mind.
I wasn’t surprised. But I felt an unpleasant sense of inevitability. Mei chooses her words carefully—just enough to avoid being accused of lying. “The upperclassman got cold after he got a girlfriend.” “He turned down my request to run an errand.” “He stopped listening to the underclassmen’s requests.” Even if she just lists the facts, depending on how she phrases it, I’d look like the bad guy.
During lunch break, on my way to the courtyard with Shiori, I spotted Mei by the entrance. She was talking with two friends, but when she saw me, her expression stiffened for just a moment.
Shiori was the first to stop.
“Onodera san, can I ask you something?”
Her voice was quiet. Even though she wasn’t yelling, there was a strength in it that wouldn’t let her get away.
Mei immediately put on her cute underclassman act.
“What is it? Did I do something to get scolded by you again, senpai?”
“There’s a rumor going around. That as soon as Minato-kun got a girlfriend, he cut off contact with the girls, or that he abandoned his underclassmen. Did you say that?”
Mei lowered her eyes and smiled awkwardly.
“I just stated the facts. It’s true that you turned me down when I asked you to run an errand, and it’s true that you’ve been cold toward me lately, isn’t it? I can’t be blamed for how others interpreted it.”
Hearing her say that, a chill ran deep through my chest.
She wasn’t trying to make me look like the bad guy. She was just stating the facts. The fact that she was leaving herself that loophole made it all the more infuriating.
But then, a first-year girl standing next to Mei chimed in, looking awkward. She was the same girl who had been with them
“But Mei, you did say, ‘Senpai is the type of person who’ll abandon his juniors once he gets a girlfriend,’ right? And you also said, ‘Maybe Shiori san’s telling him to do that.’ If people hear that, I think that’s exactly how they’ll interpret it.”
The smile faded from Mei’s face.
“That was just how I felt…”
“You’re free to say what you feel. But if that’s spreading around and making it seem like Shiori and I are the bad guys, I’m going to have to correct that.”
I stood directly in front of Mei. My voice was on the verge of trembling, but I didn’t back down.
“I just turned down the shopping trip. I simply told her to ask someone from the club if it was club business. I just decided on my own that I didn’t want to do something she’d dislike. Please stop saying things like I abandoned her or that I’m tied down by Shiori.”
The students at the entrance were looking our way. In the past, I think I would have backed down just from those stares. But today, Tanabe spoke up from behind me.
“Isn’t that just normal for Segawa? He has a girlfriend, so he doesn’t go grocery shopping alone with another girl—that’s not exactly cold, is it?”
Another girl nodded slightly.
“So the rumors were a bit exaggerated, huh?”
I could feel the mood starting to shift. Mei must have sensed it too. Her fingers tightened around the note, and her eyes reddened.
“Please don’t make it seem like I’m the only one at fault. Since you suddenly turned me down, I was in a bind, too.”
“If you were in a bind, you should’ve just said so. Not in a way that makes me look like the bad guy.”
Mei couldn’t retort.
She could no longer maintain the act of being a pitiful underclassman. The expression she’d put on to get the others to protect her was crumbling under their stares. She muttered, “Never mind,” and walked out of the entrance, as if shaking off her friend’s hand.
Left behind, I let out a deep sigh.
Shiori, standing next to me, said in a low voice.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m not okay. But I’d have hated it even more if I’d just let it slide.”
Shiori nodded slightly.
The rumors probably won’t disappear completely. Once words have spread, they linger somewhere. Still, today, I didn’t just stand by and accept being made out to be the bad guy.
In the hallway leading to the courtyard during lunch break, Tanabe called out from behind me, “Segawa, let me know if anything happens.” I turned around and gave a brief nod of thanks.
Shiori was walking beside me, a little closer than usual.
I’d rather believe the words I’d spoken myself than rumors concocted for someone else’s convenience. With that thought in mind, I walked side by side with her into the midday light.
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