Chapter 13: Rumors I don’t want to know and truths I want to know

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Translator: Soafp

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[Miyabi PoV]

The hallway after school was filled with the lively sounds of students talking and footsteps echoing. Some were heading to their club activities, others were getting ready to go home, and some were walking while chatting with their friends. It was a typical after-school scene, nothing out of the ordinary.

Aoi and I left the classroom with the seniors, making casual conversation as we walked down the hallway.

Then, I overheard a conversation between some classmates walking nearby.

“Man, I was seriously shocked.”

“About what?”

“Did you see Marin Kousaka and Kagura Shinomiya in front of the school gate earlier?”

“Yeah, I saw them! That was really them, huh… I was freaked out.”

“Hey, did you hear about Aizawa who was with them?”

“Aizawa? That super introverted guy? What about him?”

“You didn't see it? Aizawa was talking to them like they were really close.”

“…No way.”

“Yeah, and they said the three of them were heading to a café together.”

“What!? Why? Why is Aizawa with those two?”

“Beats me… But they didn't seem like strangers at all. They looked like they were pretty familiar with each other.”

“That's insane… Did we really have someone like that in our class?”

“No kidding, it's like a dream match.”

I froze in place, my heart pounding.

“…Did you hear that?”

Aoi asked, her voice filled with surprise.

“Hajime… with Marin Kousaka and Kagura Shinomiya?”

I could hardly believe my ears.

Aoi seemed to be thinking the same thing as she exchanged a glance with me, frowning slightly.

Marin Kousaka and Kagura Shinomiya. Two stars everyone knew in the entertainment world.

One was a beautiful actress with a graceful, elegant demeanor, and the other was a popular singer with a mischievous charm. And Hajime was with them?

“…No way.”

Aoi said, sounding incredulous.

“I can't believe it… But if it's true…”

I couldn't hide my shock, and I felt my mouth go dry.

Hajime hardly ever interacted with anyone at school. I'd never seen him with close friends.

So why was he now with celebrities?

I had no idea. But because I didn't know, I wanted to find out.

“Should we… go and check?”

I tried to calm my nerves as I suggested it.

“Sure, I guess… I mean, there's no harm in checking.”

Aoi said with a wry smile, nodding.

“Maybe we should tag along too.”

Godai-senpai suddenly chimed in.

“Eh?”

“I mean, it's interesting, right? It's rare to hear anything about Aizawa.”

Takamatsu-senpai added with amusement, and Godai-senpai nodded in agreement.

I felt a strange sense of unease.

It was as if the seniors knew something about Hajime.

I had thought they'd never spoken to him before, but had they met him somewhere?

I glanced over at Aoi, and she seemed to be thinking the same thing, eyeing the two seniors curiously.

—Something feels off.

But now wasn't the time to dig into that.

I pushed aside the small feeling of discomfort for the moment. Right now, all I wanted was to see what Hajime was doing, what kind of face he was making.

“But do you two know where the café they went to is?”

Godai-senpai called out from behind us.

“If it's the place Hajime used to go to often, I can think of one.”

Aoi said, looking at me.

I nodded.

Back in middle school, when we'd started drifting apart, there was a café Hajime used to hang out at alone.

It was the place his mom had told us about when Aoi and I visited his house a few times.

“…Yeah, let's go.”

With renewed resolve, we decided to head to the café to uncover the truth.