Yuuki stared at the message on her phone, her grip tightening ever so slightly. "Stay away from Kaito. Unless you want the next rumor to be worse."
There it was. The confirmation she had been waiting for. This wasn't just some schoolyard gossip spiraling out of control. It was deliberate. Someone was orchestrating this. And whoever they were, they weren't done yet.
Kaito stood beside her, his hands curled into tense fists. She could see the frustration boiling just beneath his quiet demeanor. His entire life had been built around avoiding attention, around staying invisible. And now, in the span of a single day, someone had pulled him straight into the spotlight.
His voice was low, strained. "What do we do now?"
Yuuki exhaled sharply and pocketed her phone. "We find out who's behind this."
Kaito hesitated. "How?"
She turned her gaze toward the crowd of students lingering outside the cafeteria, all engaged in their own whispered conversations. But beneath their casual chatter, beneath the routine of another school day, something else festered. A game was being played. A careful, deliberate game meant to tear them apart.
And Yuuki had no intention of losing.
They started with the forum. Yuuki wasn't the kind of person to spend time scrolling through meaningless gossip, but now? Now, she had no choice.
Kaito sat next to her in the library, both of them hunched over their phones as they combed through every post, every thread that had spread the rumors. The original picture—the one that had kickstarted it all—had been posted by a throwaway account. No history. No previous activity.
But the comments? Those were a different story.
Yuuki tapped the screen, scanning the usernames. "There," she muttered, pointing at one of the replies.
@SatoRyuu:Knew she wasn't as untouchable as she pretended to be. Probably stringing the poor guy along.
Kaito's brow furrowed. "Sato Ryuu…?"
Yuuki clicked the name, opening the user's profile. "Frequent poster," she mused. "Talks about sports, school events, and—" she scrolled further "—a lot about Ryo's friend group."
Kaito stiffened. "You think he's involved?"
"Maybe." Yuuki narrowed her eyes. "Or maybe he just knows something."
Either way, it was a lead.
Sato Ryuu wasn't hard to find. He was part of the group that always hung around the main hall after school, the ones who talked too loud and laughed just a little too hard when someone else was the subject of a joke.
Yuuki approached first. Kaito followed, keeping a step behind.
Ryuu looked up as they neared, and for a split second, a flicker of something passed through his expression. Recognition? Guilt? Fear?
Yuuki didn't give him time to recover. "You're the one who spread the rumors."
It wasn't a question.
Ryuu blinked. Then, slowly, a grin spread across his face. "Wow, straight to the accusations, huh?"
Yuuki's eyes didn't waver. "You commented on the post first. You've been talking about it non-stop. You clearly know more than you're letting on."
Ryuu chuckled, shaking his head. "Look, Ice Queen, I just said what everyone else was thinking. That picture was already out there. I just… gave it some context."
Kaito clenched his fists. "What context?"
Ryuu shrugged. "You know. The obvious. Late-night café meetups, stolen glances—" He smirked. "—pretty convenient for a guy like you, huh?"
Yuuki stepped forward before Kaito could react, her gaze ice-cold. "Who took the picture?"
Ryuu hesitated. Just for a second. But it was enough.
Yuuki smiled. "You know, don't you?"
Ryuu's jaw tensed. He was trying to play it off, but the cracks were showing.
Yuuki leaned in slightly, voice soft but razor-sharp. "Here's what's going to happen. You're going to tell me who took the picture, or I'm going to make sure every rumor this school has ever whispered about you gets resurfaced and amplified. I guarantee I'm better at it than you are."
For the first time, Ryuu's smirk faltered. He looked at her, then at Kaito, then back again.
And then he sighed.
"Fine."
He shoved his hands in his pockets, glancing around like he was making sure no one was listening. Then, in a voice just above a whisper, he said a name that made Kaito's stomach drop.
"Mika."
Mika had always been quiet. Always the kind of person who hovered in the background, unnoticed.
Until now.
Yuuki found her near the student council office, flipping through her phone. When she saw them approaching, her fingers tightened around the device, her expression carefully neutral.
Yuuki wasted no time. "You took the picture."
Mika didn't respond immediately. Instead, she clicked her phone off and slipped it into her bag. "And if I did?"
Kaito swallowed hard. "Why?"
For a moment, Mika said nothing. Then she sighed. "You two have no idea how things work, do you?"
Yuuki raised an eyebrow. "Enlighten us."
Mika crossed her arms, looking at them like they were children who didn't understand the rules of the world. "Do you know how much people would kill to be in your position?" she asked, staring at Yuuki. "To be seen as untouchable? To have everyone either fear you or admire you?"
Yuuki didn't respond.
Mika's lips curled slightly. "And you," she turned to Kaito, her gaze sharp. "You were supposed to be invisible. You weren't supposed to be someone people talked about. But then, suddenly, you were. You and Yuuki, together. A story like that? It was just waiting to be told."
Kaito felt sick. "So you decided to make it worse?"
Mika shrugged. "I didn't create the rumors. I just gave people something to talk about."
Yuuki's expression darkened. "And the message? The one that told me to stay away from Kaito?"
Mika's smile didn't reach her eyes. "That wasn't me."
Yuuki went still.
Kaito's breath caught.
Mika tilted her head. "Looks like you've got bigger problems than me."
Kaito and Yuuki walked away in silence.
The rumors, the setup, the picture—Mika had done all of that. But the message?
Someone else was pulling the strings.
And if they were willing to escalate things this far, then whatever came next was going to be worse.
Much worse.