I Just Wanted a Peaceful Life After Transferring, but I Fell into a Rom-Com Trap and a Hidden Battlefield No One Knows About

Chapter 8: The Chaos That Rumors Bring to School—Give Me a Break! This Is Ridiculous!

After dropping off Umika at school, I figured I’d buy a birthday present before heading to class myself. But man, when your luck’s bad, nothing ever goes right.

“Damn it! It was sunny just a minute ago—why the hell is it raining now?!”

On my way to school, the sky suddenly darkened, and before I knew it, the rain started pouring.

I pedaled my bike as hard as I could and managed to reach the school, but in the end, I was completely drenched.

Ugh… My clothes are soaked…

Well, at least the dress is in a bag, so it wasn’t drenched. Guess my luck isn’t completely rotten.

I swapped out my shoes for indoor ones and took off my wet jacket as I walked toward the restroom.

Since my jacket was totally soaked, I figured I’d wring it out there.

“Why the hell did it start raining out of nowhere? Lately, my luck’s been awful…”

Muttering complaints under my breath, I made my way to class.

For some reason, I couldn’t shake the feeling that people were staring at me. What’s with all the looks? Being the center of attention like this is seriously annoying…

“Misaki-san.”

Just as I reached the classroom, a guy suddenly called out to me.

Huh? If I remember right, this guy’s Ueno Tomo from my class, isn’t he? We’ve never really talked before. What does he want?

“Oh, Ueno-san.”

“Hey, what happened to you? You didn’t bring an umbrella?”

“Nope. I mean, how was I supposed to know it’d rain?”

Like hell anyone could’ve predicted this! It was bright and sunny just a moment ago, and then out of nowhere—boom, rain! That’s just unfair!

“That’s rough, man.”

“Anyway, what do you want?”

“Oh yeah, about that… I heard you’ve been getting close with Tsunekawa-san, Nakano-san from Class E, and Satohama-san.”

“…Huh? Where the hell did you hear that?”

Oh, shit. Did someone see me at the infirmary that day? And now the whole school knows about it?! Is that why people have been staring at me all day?

“Right now, pretty much everyone in school knows. People are saying you were holding hands with them.”

What?! Holding hands?! That’s not what happened at all! I was just feeling unwell, and they were helping me walk! How did it turn into that?!

Who the hell spread this bullshit?!

“No, that’s completely wrong!”

“But there are people who say they saw it.”

“Shut the hell up! I’m telling you, it’s a damn misunderstanding! I just talked with them for a bit, and we definitely didn’t hold hands! It’s just a stupid rumor!”

I snapped, my voice tinged with irritation, then turned on my heel and marched straight into the classroom, ignoring Ueno.

Why is everyone making such a big deal out of this?! Who started this crap…?

The moment I stepped inside, I saw Tsunekawa surrounded by a group of guys.

…Guess this is because of that rumor too.

But what really caught me off guard was how she handled it.

Even with guys bombarding her with questions, she responded the same way every time:

“Why do you want to know?”

She neither confirmed nor denied anything—just kept throwing their questions right back at them. Damn, that’s smooth.

Still, the fact that we were seen together had already solidified into a “fact” in everyone’s minds.

Denying it, ignoring it—it’d only make people more convinced we had something going on.

God… This is such a pain in the ass. I seriously hate this kind of thing.

I should just ignore it. That’s the best move. If no one asks, I won’t say anything. And if they do ask, I’ll just respond the same way I did to Ueno.

…No. That’s not good enough.

Letting the rumors spread unchecked would be way worse.

The thought of everyone whispering about me behind my back feels like hell.

This is exactly why I transferred schools in the first place—so I wouldn’t have to deal with this kind of crap. I tried so hard to stay under the radar, and yet…

It’s not their fault. They were just worried about me when I wasn’t feeling well.

But the people who twisted the truth and spread this nonsense? I’ll never forgive them.

And to make matters worse, there are even rumors now that I’m dating all three of them—some people are even calling it a three-timing scandal?!

What the hell is wrong with people?!

This is bullshit!

Someone just burn this whole damn world down already… Reduce it to nothing!