/
[Can I call you?]
I ended up sending LINE to Minato. I probably couldn’t mess up if it was through a phone call. Besides, I needed to check on her.
But

[No.]
The message popped up with a cute, useless, notification sound.
[And don’t LINE me.]
Came another message.
I whipped up a few messages to keep her on the line, but she didn’t read.
“Of course
” I muttered. Of course, she wouldn’t want to talk.
I drained a glass of cola and began thinking. Contacting Fujimiya might be viable, but that wouldn’t help anything, if she could do anything, she would have done it by now. We were both stuck, there was nothing to be done

“Hey, Angel, what are you gonna do
” I lay on my back and spoke to the ceiling.
Naturally, no answer came.
“Damnit, think! There must be something I can do
”
◆　◆　◆
If I were allowed to say anything, the next day was worse.
Gone was the confusion and blank faces. Instead,
“By the way, her reputation wasn’t that good since before.”
“Yup, yup. And that she began talking to other people lately, that must be her nature leaking out.”
“Exactly, I thought so too. Like, back to men hunting business.”
The whole school was talking about her, labing her as “Bitch” or “Cheater” without any reservation or decency to use softer words at all. Especially the “Cheater” one, that was one of the results of the twisted facts. Already, the rumor got close to saturation.
I left my things at my desk and went for Hiura.
Without looking, she greeted, “Yo.”
“Hiura, I need your help.”
“Yeah?” she finally looked up.
“I’ll go see Minato, come with me, rein me in.”
“Okay,” she promptly replied.
It turned out Hiura took my words literally. With my collar caught by Hiura, we went to class seven.
There were a lot of people in class seven for early morning, the reason was obvious enough. No one talked to Minato, but the situation was bizarre on its own. All they talk was about her from a distance that was clearly apart from her, yet close enough for her to hear. And her position at the edge of the class only emphasized the distance.
Minato herself was at her desk, staring out the window. I leaned sideways to get a better look at her,
Her eyes glistened unshed tears, her lips were pursed into a thin line. The face of a girl in agony.
“Minato
”
Yeah, bringing Hiura with me was the right choice.
There was nothing to do with this rumor, even if we were to deny the rumor, it would come to the impasse of credibility. To prove her innocence in this case meant revealing her aliment, and I doubt that would convince the curious crowd. So in the end, Minato must have reached the same conclusion as me and decided to accept the reality.
That couldn’t be easy on her.
Someone sniffled a giggle and then gave up. She burst out laughing as if there was something hilarious. Minato’s shoulders jumped in fright.
“Ah– what a shock. What a waste of Kuze’s Top Three.”
My shoulders jumped too, when I realized who it was. My feet took a step, but then Hiura tugged from behind. She yanked my arms firmly and took hold when I didn’t give up. She was being gentle with me, but she had the strength of an athlete.
She narrowed her eyes and shook her head.
“Let me.”
“I say no.”
Of course, this is Hiura. “I guess so.”
Getting hold of the situation, we headed back to our class. Before leaving, my eyes met Fujimiya, she too, was about to cry.
“We found our source.”
As soon as I sat on the concrete floor, Hiura spoke up.
All of the sudden, I felt so, so tired. “Yeah?”
“First year kid, anonymous.”
“And why is that?”
“She was from the same middle school as Yuzuki. She provided information, not the one who spread it.”
“And you know who?” I asked, but I couldn’t expect someone else.
“Yamabuki Karen”
[TN: Karen to the end.]
“Figures”
I wouldn’t put this past her. More so, Minato just slapped her last week, right before the rumor.
“The first year was threatened by Yamabuki. I’m not sure that he ‘bitch’ was added by her or just the result of the process”
“I see
”
“There’s no point in finding out how much she exaggerated, people already did that for her.”
Even the slightest nudge by Yamabuki in the starting stages was enough to steer the masses in the direction. And the operation a while ago only worsened the situation.
She did that even though she knew it would turn out like this
?
“And her goal?”
“Simply out of spite. Either that or–”
“The Kuze’s Top Three,” said a voice from my right spat.
Miwa Reiji made his dramatic entrance once again. Although he didn’t look exactly happy this time. He was unusually serious.
“Explain, Miwa,” urged Hiura.
He frowned. “That’s what it’s all about. Plus Four didn’t entertain her, so she set her eyes on Top Three. Her beauty had already reached its max, so she just had to pull someone down. The humiliation from the slap didn’t sit well with her either. On the side note, she was the one who added that ‘bitch’, I checked from her cronies.” he puffed up a grin. “Being handsome has its merits.”
I wondered how he could look so grim even with a grin. Or perhaps, he was mirroring my own horrid expression. I couldn’t look good right now.
“That’s it?” What the heck?
Her silent agony I saw this morning. Her crying sobs at her house. Just for the Kuze’s Top Three? How selfish could you be? Since when have you got to decide Minato’s fate, Yamabuki? For the sake of a title that she wasn’t even concerned about. For such a trivial thing?
Yamabuki?!
“Akashi.” A cold voice cut through my thoughts.
“You should go home for today.”
I couldn’t remember what happened well, but I went back home and got in the tub.
I remembered screaming from the top of my lungs.
◆　◆　◆
Before I went to bed, I had a short chat with Fujimiya.
[You free?]
Almost immediately after I sent the message, the read tag popped, and a call came from her.
–“Akashi-kun
” She was crying.
“Hello.” What should I say
 “You’re not well,” I noted.
–“It’s nothing, carry on.”
“You talked with Minato?”
–“By LINE, yes. She told me to stay away from her at school though. She told me she didn’t want to put me through it too
 That’s all she said
”
“I see.”
A few moments of silence.
I sat back, thinking. Fujimiya must have felt the same thing as me, if not ten times angrier.
–“Akashi-kun
”
“Hm”
–“I
 What should I do?” she asked desperately. “How do I help her? How do you get rid of rumors? And why, why are they so happy talking about her! They didn’t even give her the benefit of doubt! Why?!”
“Fujimiya
”
–“They don’t even know her! They don’t know what kind of girl Minato is, what she thinks, or how she was raised! And yet! Hey! Tell me! Why?!”
I ought to lower the volume, but I found that I didn’t care.
–“Akashi-kun
 What can I do?”
I couldn’t answer anything. I knew I should say something, I thought I could think something up during the call. I really am an idiot.
After that, she cried on the phone for a while.
What could I do
 Rumors
Angel

It was a surprise when something actually clicked into place.
“Fujimiya”
–“Yeah?” she sniffled a trembling breath.
“Can you say ‘Take care of her’ again?”
Yeah, I’m an idiot. And this plan is only for an idiot.