Sōbu High had been swirling with chaos and rumors lately.
First, it was the theft incident in Class 1-D. Then came the escalating drama of bullying and social ostracization. And just as the buzz over those events began to cool, the school forum exploded again.
Kuraki Eda hadn't even stepped into the classroom yet, and she could already sense that something was seriously off.
It was a kind of tension she had never felt before.
Usually, when she arrived at school, a few familiar classmates would greet her, and they'd yawn and gossip about the latest pop idols as they walked in together.
But today, not a single person made eye contact. Everyone she passed deliberately avoided her.
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
The unease stirred memories she had tried hard to bury unpleasant ones from junior high.
No. Absolutely not.
I'm in high school now. I can't go through that again.
She had learned how to wear makeup. Learned how to dress. She'd drawn a clear line between who she used to be and who she was now.
She pushed open the classroom door with her usual bright, cheerful smile.
"Good morning, everyone!"
The room, which had been noisy just a moment before, fell silent for a heartbeat. A few students glanced at her, their expressions unreadable, and quickly looked away.
Her smile faltered for the briefest moment. She quickly walked up to one of her usual friends and grabbed her hand.
"Misa, what's going on?"
She deliberately raised her voice and struck a confident pose. "The vibe's seriously weird in here today. Did someone start trash-talking me behind my back while I wasn't around?"
Misa gave her an awkward smile. "Don't be ridiculous…"
She gently pulled her hand away. "I need to drop by my clubroom. Let's talk later, okay?"
Kuraki returned to her seat in a daze.
No sooner had she sat down than she heard hushed voices coming from the desks nearby.
"It wasn't me! Why would I do something that stupid?!"
The voice belonged to Yoshida Yūji tall, athletic, and a core member of the track team. Among the boys in class, he had significant influence.
Since starting high school, Kuraki and Yoshida had quickly joined forces to unite the various cliques in Class 1-D. Most decisions in the class passed without issue, as long as the two of them were aligned.
So what had gone wrong?
The boy sitting next to Yoshida leaned back casually in his chair, speaking with a sly smirk.
"Sounds exactly like something you'd do, Yoshida. I mean, didn't you just boast the other day that you could win Nishimiya over in under a week? And then she shut you down in record time?"
Yoshida scowled. "What's your problem, Fujii?"
Fujii was a member of the piano club, pale-skinned and handsome the pretty-boy type that girls liked and Yoshida couldn't stand.
The two of them had never gotten along. Normally, though, Fujii held back out of fear of Yoshida's fists.
But today was different.
Fujii crossed his arms and sneered. "I never thought highly of you, Yoshida, but I didn't think you were this disgusting. Nishimiya's the real victim here."
Nishimiya?
Yoshida's patience snapped. He lunged forward and punched Fujii hard in the jaw.
The homeroom teacher rushed in just as chaos erupted.
Even as he clutched his reddening chin, Fujii didn't miss a beat, spitting venom through gritted teeth.
"Yoshida Yūji and Kuraki Eda are slandering classmates for their own selfish reasons. This school can't afford to keep scum like them around, sensei!"
The classroom was in an uproar.
And then, Kuraki's phone buzzed.
It was a LINE message from Misa.
Misa: "Forget everything else. Eda, check the school forum right now!"
Kuraki tapped open the app with a sense of foreboding.
What she saw on the homepage nearly made her crush her phone in rage.
[A Look Inside Class 1-D You Couldn't Script This Level of Drama]
"I'm a discipline committee member from a different first-year class. A few days ago, I was called into a meeting about the Class 1-D theft incident. Both Musashi-senpai and Miura-senpai have been asked by the school to conduct a thorough investigation.
"As I sat there, listening to the discussion, I couldn't help but laugh because just days earlier, Kuraki Eda had posted this on Twitter:
'There's this new girl in class acting like some tragic heroine. No way, right? I mean, does she seriously think all the boys like that type? Gross.'
"And now, suddenly, Kuraki's money gets stolen? And the thief just so happens to be the new transfer student? Wow, what a coincidence. Heehee.
"Oh, and by the way, that tweet is still up.
"Kuraki's shady little power plays have been an open secret among the first years for a while now. I won't list them all. Instead, let's talk about someone else
"Yes, you, Yoshida Yūji.
"Top of the class when it comes to flirting. Absolute king of sleaze.
"I still can't figure out why you and Kuraki went after Nishimiya. She didn't steal anything from you. Why were you so eager to lead the charge?
"After thinking it over carefully, I've decided to rule out the possibility that you were just bitter over getting rejected. Even though you did make a bet with the other boys that you'd win her over in a week, and then got shut down so hard your face turned purple, and muttered 'You'll regret this' at her nah, it couldn't be that.
"I believe in your sense of justice. Heehee.
"I heard Kuraki lost a few thousand yen. And when that happened, she forced Nishimiya to empty out her bag on the spot. They didn't find a thing.
"So maybe Nishimiya has Doraemon's fourth-dimensional pocket? Otherwise, could it be that she didn't steal anything at all? Or craziest thought of all maybe Kuraki never lost any money to begin with?
"But if it wasn't Nishimiya… that would mean it had to be someone else in Class 1-D. And there are so many people. How could we possibly guess?
"So it must be Nishimiya, right? Absolutely. No question about it. Heehee."
Kuraki's blood pressure skyrocketed as she read.
And now, everything made sense.
Why the classroom had gone silent when she walked in.
Why everyone was avoiding her like the plague.
Because now, she and Yoshida were standing right alongside Nishimiya on the public scaffold co-conspirators in the court of high school opinion.
The post hadn't accused her or Yoshida directly. Not a single line said they had done anything.
But the tone, the veiled hints, the sarcastic jabs they were far more damaging than any accusation.
Because high school students, drowning in the endless grind of classes and tests, lived for this kind of gossip. They devoured every scandal, every twist, every chance to speculate.
And in that world, nothing stirred the pot more than a juicy mystery.
This post didn't just wound.
It devastated.
Every word hit like a knife to the heart.
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