Arae-san called me for some reason, so I left the field with her and went to our classroom. I wanted to know what she needed from me.
Normally, we would go to the back of the gym or somewhere deserted if we wanted to have a talk, but most of those areas were either used by others to practice or were crowded. The classroom was the next best option.
Since she went out her way to do this, something big that she couldn't just tell to anyone might have happened.
"I don't want to beat around the bush, so I'll cut to the case. Amami, Maehara, do you recognize this picture?"
After confirming that there was no one else in the classroom, Arae-san tossed her phone to us.
I received the phone from her and took a look at it with everyone.
"…What is this?"
It was a picture of Amami-san and me together.
The picture showed us facing each other— no, it looked like we were about to kiss.
"…Maki, Yuu, what is this all about?"
"Uh… Um… I think this happened a while ago when I ran into Maki-kun when he was waiting for you, Umi. You know, back when you helped out at the council."
"…Mhm, I can't remember other times when I was together with Amami-san. This should be back when she took some trash from my hair."
I didn't think this was such a big deal because I reported to Umi that I was talking to Amami-san alone. Though I didn't get to tell this part because this was something that Amami-san normally did, like back when we were at the pool.
Still, to the eyes of outsiders who didn't know our group's dynamic, this could be seen as a huge scandal or something of that sort.
Nitta-san, who had been staring at the picture in silence, muttered while furrowing her brows,
"Hm… This image was edited. Look at this part, the position is a little off, see?"
"Eh? You could tell something like this, Ninacchi?"
"Yeah. I posted my selfies on social media often, so I'm familiar with this kind of thing. They purposely edited it so that you two'd look like you're about to kiss. It isn't perfect, but if they want people to get the wrong idea about you two, this much should be enough."
Arae-san nodded to her words, it seemed like she shared the same opinion as hers.
"I don't know where it came from. One of my friends showed it to me. I noticed right away that it was edited, but it seemed like the picture was already spreading among the first and second years."
"So that's why people have been giving us more attention than usual."
I had been wondering why people were gossiping about me, but after seeing this, it all made sense.
I didn't know what kind of rumor was spreading because of this picture, but I knew that it wouldn't be a pleasant one.
It would probably be something along the lines of, 'The dull-looking guy who isn't satisfied with his cute girlfriend is trying to make a move on the school idol.'
"But, who would do something like this?…"
I muttered to myself as I was staring at the picture.
The picture looked out of focus, perhaps it was because whoever did this wanted to add a sense of realism to the picture. They wanted to make the picture look like it was taken in a spur of the moment. Since Amami-san stood out because she was the only blonde girl in our school, this could be the main talk of the whole school at least during the sports festival.
…Seriously, what a disgusting thing that they had done.
A heavy atmosphere enveloped the classroom, even though Amami-san and I hadn't done something wrong.
"…Sorry everyone, I didn't mean to do that, but it seemed like my actions caused people to misunderstand…"
"It's fine, Yuu. Everyone understands."
"That's right, Yuuchin! Our relationship is always like this, it's those people who edited and spread the pictures who are at fault!"
Even though it wasn't intentional, Amami-san and I could also be blamed for this incident. It was our carelessness that caused this situation in the first place. Honestly, I was prepared for Umi to scold me hard because of this. But that was that.
We still couldn't let those people who created this kind of rumor go.
"…My bad. I hesitated on whether to tell you guys about this or not for a second, but I figured that it'd be better to let you know so that you guys could prepare. Prevention is better than a cure, after all."
"I agree with you, Arae. Nina, can you tell Seki about this later? Just in case something troublesome will happen."
"Mm. Well, showing him this image will just trigger him, so I'll just tell him the gist of it. Anyway, we have to look for the source of the rumor. Can you help us out, Araecchi? No, I mean, please help us out."
"…Well, I was the one who told you the story, so of course I'd help."
The two of them had a large network among the students, so we could leave that to them. I would like to help them, but since I was the source of the rumor itself, if I were to make a rash move, it would just worsen the situation. The same thing could be said to both Umi and Amami-san as well.
All we could do was to put our trust in our friends and get through this situation somehow. I wanted to believe that as long as we were together, we could get through this.
"That should settle that part of the story for now. Yuu, what we should do now is run, shout and forget that this ever happened. To do that, you need to cheer up first. Don't make that kind of face, okay?"
"…Okay. Hehe… Thank you, Umi, Nagisa-chan, everyone…"
"No need to thank me. It's really out of character for me to do this of my own accord, but I can't just leave you alone. I know how it feels to be in your position. No one should suffer through this."
"I knew it, you're such a kind girl, Nagisa-chan. I'm really happy to be friends with you. Thank you again, Nagisa-chan!"
"…Think whatever you like. But could you at least stop adding '-chan' to my name? It's embarrassing."
"Is that so? Alright, I'll call you Nagisa from now on."
"Do whatever you want!"
Arae-san turned away in embarrassment as Amami-san gave her a gentle smile.
Those two got along really well. Arae-san's relationship with Umi and I was as dry as ever, but since she was the kind of person who could adjust herself to every kind of situation, it wouldn't be a problem.
People like her were what made socializing interesting.
"Alright, after practice, let's go to a restaurant or something! We could pick up Seki along the way. It's been a while since we went out together, hasn't it? I want to relax, drink and eat a lot. Of course, the playboy over there will treat us."
"Why should I?… Well, whatever. We'll work you to the bone soon, so this is just fitting, I guess."
"Jeez, Ninacchi! Don't worry, Maki-kun, I'll help you pay for everyone's meal."
"Well, if Maki wants to pay, then I'll help him out. I'm his girlfriend after all. I'll let you eat everything you want just for today, Nina."
"…Hm?"
The lineup suddenly became like this:
People who would pay for the meal: Me, Amami-san, Umi.
People who wouldn't pay for the meal: Nitta-san.
At the 3:1 ratio, Nitta-san let out an anxious expression.
"E-Eh? W-Why do I feel like the bad guy suddenly? W-What happened?"
"You are the bad guy, though."
After hearing Arae-san say that with a sigh, everyone immediately laughed.
We had prepared ourselves well for the upcoming shitshow and planned on our next course of action. Our bond as friends had grown even stronger.
…I hoped that everything could go well between us, during and after this incident.