Part 5
The rumors hadn’t stopped spreading even when the school finished.
“Wait, wait, wait, wait! What is the meaning of all this Kiyotaka!!”
I got a phone call from Kei as I was returning home, carefree.
“What do you mean by that?”
I understood her, but I asked just in case.
“Don’t act surprised! The rumor’s been going around that, well, you like me.”
“It’s just a rumor, don’t worry.”
“N-, no, no, no, you say I shouldn’t worry because it is just a rumor, but how did end up like this!?”
The inside of my ear started to hurt due to the loudness of her voice. I put my phone away from me and adjusted the volume by touching the lower button with my fingertip.
“It could be a rumor Hashimoto spread. Or maybe the other students saw something?”
“Huuuuuh—-”
Kei let out a silent scream.
“Well, it’s a blessing, right? If it were the opposite, it would be tough.”
“O-opposite?”
“It would be more troublesome if there was a rumor that you liked me. It would be strangely suspicious that you moved on to me immediately after you broke up with Hirata, I think.”
“… It could be…”
“Don’t worry. All rumors fade soon.”
“Really?”
“Although, we could say it became easier for us to stay in touch thanks to this rumor. It will be our cover up if I try to talk with you.”
There were things that I wanted to inform her about. We weren’t supposed to have a conversation in suspicious places originally, but now there was an insurance in such cases.
“No no no no no no no.”
She repeated the word ‘no’ many more times than she did earlier.
“People will look at us weirdly when we are alone! Absolutely weirdly!”
I wonder if repeating yourself like that is a kind of fad or something. What a really strange way of talking.
But in that way, such information could be indirectly planted in Hashimoto’s mind, who was after me.
“Anyway, it’s something you shouldn’t worry about.”
“Even if you say so…… It’s impossible!”
After a long silence, I concluded that it would be difficult after all.
It was Kei, who kept complaining for a while, but eventually dropped the call as if she gave up.
