"Mr. Loner's" Risky Plan to Fight a Rumor

Today was supposed to be a peaceful day. That was my plan. Go to school, avoid the girls I'd recently gotten involved with, and end the day like that.

Unfortunately, God seemed to have other plans.

"Isn't that...?"

"Yeah, it's him. The one Ms. Tsundere was with last time. In the city library, it seems," one of my classmates said.

I heard them perfectly. There was no way my hearing had gone bad now, right? Maybe it had. There were some things I hadn't heard from Furumi back then. Yeah... I must just be hearing things.

...

But... there was no way I was hearing wrong! 

There was no running away from this. Apparently, from just listening to their whispers—which were quite loud—someone had seen Furumi and me at the city library. No proof, only an eyewitness, thankfully.

With that, something clicked in my head. I already had one person in mind. It had to be her! 

That cheeky underclassman of mine, Kisara Mihashi. Yep, it could only be her. So, with that in mind, I planned to talk to Furumi later at lunchtime.

Soon after, Furumi arrived in the classroom, meeting the gazes of mostly men. The Ms. Tsundere arrived. Furumi seemed confused by the atmosphere around her until one of her friends approached and whispered something to her. 

After that, Furumi looked shocked. I didn't hear what her friend said, but I knew now that she knew. She sat down still talking to her friends. I didn't know what they were talking about, but I hoped she was saying something that could help me.

Shortly after, the teacher came in, and the students who were just talking to their friends sat down in their seats as if they were honor students. With that, the teacher's lecture began.

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Lunchtime came. I hurriedly left the classroom and went straight to the rooftop. The moment I got there, I took out my phone and sent a message to Furumi.

Kazuhiko: Let's not meet here today. Don't follow me. It might be bad if someone sees us.

Furumi: Yeah, got it. But who the hell spread a rumor like that?!

Kazuhiko: There's one person in my mind right now.

Furumi: Who is it?

Kazuhiko: "Kisara Mihashi"

I didn't know why she would do this, so I contacted Kisara on Line since we'd exchanged contact info not long ago. I sent her a message.

Kazuhiko: Kisara, I need to meet you up here on the rooftop ASAP.

Soon after, I heard footsteps approaching.

"Hey! Senpai!" Kisara appeared so fast. How did she run that quickly? Or did she already expect this?

Before I could say anything, Kisara cut me off. "Hey, Senpai! What's going on?! I heard rumors about you and Furumi-senpai in a library not long ago!"

"Didn't you spread that rumor?" I asked her, my tone firm as I tried to confirm my suspicion.

"What are you talking about, Senpai? I did not spread that! If it's about that weekend when you accidentally kissed me, I never even knew you were with Senpai that day! Trust me!" Kisara said, denying my suspicion.

Just looking at her, being all concerned, I knew she wasn't lying. But then, if it wasn't her, who the hell spread that rumor?!

"I trust you now, Kisara," I said, assuring her she was no longer a suspect. "...But, if it wasn't you, who was it?"

That was the biggest question we had right now. If we didn't find the answer, things could get out of control. Just who was it? Someone out there was trying to destroy my peace.

"Senpai, if there's anything I can do, let me help you two with it!" Kisara said, trying to reassure me.

"Thank you, Kisara. I think I know what to do from here on out," I replied.

If it wasn't Kisara, it had to be one of the people who confessed to Furumi, someone who liked her so much that when they saw me with her, they got jealous and planned to destroy my peace. 

If that was really the case, I was done for. It was a total anime scenario, but I never thought it would happen in real life. But that was the only logical thing I could think of.

With that, an idea came to me.

"Hey, Kisara, you're famous with the first-years, right?"

"Yep! I'm very famous, even to some upperclassmen. Though, I doubt I can beat Furumi-senpai," she said, a hint of envy in her voice.

Well, she had a point there. But here came the twist.

"Won't you go out with me?"

"Eh? Kazuhiko-senpai?" Kisara stood frozen, a shocked expression on her face.

It was understandable that she was shocked, but this was the plan I'd come up with. I'd made a promise to Furumi that our relationship, even our friendship, would remain a secret. I would protect that at all costs.

With that, Kisara and I started dating.

Though... I never knew this plan of mine would backfire in the worst way possible.