Thanks to Takizawa-kun actively denying the rumors about us, we managed to get through the next day's rehearsal without hearing anything that could make us feel uncomfortable. We also managed to spend our days relatively peacefully, at least compared to the first few days when the rumors first started.
Of course, we still went to the student council room for lunch. I could still hear some people speaking badly about me whenever I was alone, but the number was too few to be concerned about, so I just ignored it.
The rehearsal day passed by peacefully and then came the next day.
It was finally the day of the sports festival.
As usual, I saw my mom off to work, drank a cup of cold tea and sat down for a while. It was still early in the morning and I had a couple of hours to spare before I needed to leave for school. But ever since I woke up, I had been feeling restless, so I decided to get ready early.
[Umi: Maki, we'll get our lunch from mine and Yuu's place for today.]
[Maki: Got it. By the way, I've already changed, so you can come over whenever. We're all going together today, right?]
[Umi: Yes, but Seki's house is in the opposite direction, so he'll meet us halfway. Only Nina and Yuu will be with me.]
[Nina: Since we're going out of our way to go there, prepare some cold drinks for us, okay?]
[Amami: Let's do our best today, Maki-kun. Of course, it's not only Maki-kun, everyone too!]
[SEKI: I'm the only outcast here… In any case, let's have fun and do our best today!]
[Maki: Yes.]
The five of us exchanged texts as usual.
At first, the group chat members were only Umi and I, but later on, Amami-san, Nitta-san and Nozomu joined in. Thanks to that, my phone became somewhat livelier than before.
I had Nakamura-san, Takizawa-kun, Nitori-san and Houjou-san's contacts too, but our usual five-man group was a special existence to me.
The picture of the five of us, along with both my parents that we took last christmas was neatly placed near the TV stand. I took it out from the album so I could take a look at it whenever I wanted.
Even though I acted selfishly back then, troubling my parents and everyone, showing them my pitiful appearance, they still thought of me as their friend. I wanted to continue making memories with them.
Today's sports festival was the perfect opportunity to fulfill that wish.
As I was thinking about the sports festival, the intercom rang.
"Is it Umi?… No, she has the spare key, so she could just come in if she has already arrived…"
When they first found out about the spare key, Amami-san and Nitta-san teased us about it to hell and back. Though, nowadays, everyone was used to it already and Umi had been treating my house like her second home.
Anyway, she arrived earlier than usual. I guess it was because it was Sunday? Everyone got ready quicker than usual.
"Umi? The door is unlocked, just come in—"
{…Um, sorry, Maehara-kun, I'm not Asanagi-san.}
"…Huh?"
I casually answered the intercom, but the voice that came out from the other side was completely different from what I expected.
Hurriedly, I took a look at the intercom's screen and saw a boy. He was about as tall as me and he wore a pair of glasses. The boy was staring at the camera with an anxious look.
It was Ooyama-kun.
"Ooyama-kun? Huh? How did you know I live here? Have I ever told you before?"
{N-No… I didn't know where you live either, I just followed her…}
"What? You followed who?"
{Me, I brought him here.}
Arae-san's face popped out after she said that.
…I never told her where I lived either. Well, in her case, she could find out about it from my other friends like Amami-san. Nitori-san and Houjou-san also knew where I lived.
"…Give me a moment, I'll open the door."
Arae-san coming to my place during this hour, bringing Ooyama-kun with her even though they weren't especially close or anything. It felt really out of place, but considering what happened recently, I could guess what was going on with those two.
I took a deep breath and went to meet those two at the entrance.
"Umi? Amami-san, Nitta-san…"
And just in time, the three people I was supposed to meet this morning had also arrived at the scene.
"Maki."
"Maki-kun…"
"What's going on, Rep?"
"I don't know. Arae-san, could you tell us what's going on?"
Arae-san looked at our faces and nodded her head.
"…Sorry, Maehara, I planned to do this after the festival, but this guy insisted that I bring him here."
"…"
Ooyama-kun, who had been silent while hiding his face, was lightly kicked by Arae-san. He took a step forward after that.
Arae-san had been trying to look for the source of the rumors for us together with Nitta-san. But, when Nitta-san was busy taking care of Amami-san, it seemed like Arae-san was still looking for the culprit instead of dilly-dallying.
At first, Umi and the others were puzzled by the situation, but they gradually understood what was going on. Their gazes turned especially cold when they were looking at Ooyama-kun.
"…Is it you, Ooyama-kun? The one who spread that picture around?"
"…Yes. I have no excuse. It was me who took that picture."
With a self-mocking tone, he confessed everything that he had done to us.