Early the next morning.
After quickly washing up, Ryouma picked up his schoolbag and prepared to head to school.
Although his dormitory room had a private kitchen, he'd been a shut-in otaku in his previous life and the heir to a wealthy conglomerate in this one.
With maids taking care of everything at home, his housekeeping skills were still rather lacking.
For now, he preferred spending money to eat at Keyaki Mall.
As long as you had money...
You could live quite comfortably at this school.
Upon arriving at Class D, Ryouma immediately noticed something strange.
An unusual atmosphere hung over the entire classroom.
Most students had gathered into small groups, whispering among themselves while occasionally glancing toward a certain corner of the room.
Following their wandering gazes, Ryouma spotted Kikyo Kushida.
The same girl who'd declared just yesterday that she wanted to become friends with everyone in the school was now sitting quietly by herself.
Her head hung low, making it impossible to see her expression.
Ryouma walked to his seat, placed his schoolbag down, and lightly tapped Chiaki Matsushita, who sat in front of him.
"What happened?"
"Shh!"
Chiaki turned around and pressed a finger to her lips.
Lowering her voice as much as possible, she handed him her phone.
"Someone posted this yesterday. Take a look first!"
Accepting Matsushita's phone, Ryouma read through the post.
Its contents were rather straightforward.
It claimed that during middle school, Kikyo Kushida had deceived her classmates into trusting her, only to maliciously expose their secrets online.
Her actions had ultimately caused her entire class to fall apart.
The post went on to describe Kushida as a hypocritical, two-faced person who couldn't be trusted.
"Is this true?"
After reading the post, Ryouma asked with obvious surprise.
Chiaki glanced toward Kushida before whispering,
"I'm not sure. After all, the post was made by an anonymous account. It's just... really hard to believe. Who would've thought Kushida could be that kind of person?"
"Amakawa-kun, do you believe what's written here?"
"It's too early to judge. Besides, I'd rather not suspect one of my own classmates."
The atmosphere in the classroom had become incredibly strange.
Everyone was quietly discussing Kushida's supposed true personality.
After all, it had only been one day since school started.
Even after yesterday's introductions, most students barely knew one another's names.
Although many suspected that an anonymous post like this was probably just a malicious rumor...
Better safe than sorry!
Just imagining their own secrets being exposed by Kikyo Kushida in the future was enough to send chills down their spines.
Who they hated, who they liked, or even painful memories from their past...
All of it could become someone else's entertainment.
At best, their relationships could be completely destroyed.
At worst, they could suffer total social ruin!
Although Kikyo Kushida looked perfectly harmless, even somewhat pitiful at the moment, it was probably safer to avoid getting involved with her.
Meanwhile, seated behind Ryouma, Suzune Horikita was silently contemplating something.
'What exactly is this guy trying to accomplish?'
She was one hundred percent certain that Ryouma was responsible for spreading the rumor.
After all, she'd signed a contract concerning Kikyo Kushida just yesterday, and now rumors about Kushida had suddenly appeared.
How could there possibly be such a coincidence?!
More importantly, Suzune knew perfectly well that she was the one who would eventually have to take the blame.
'Whatever.'
Shaking her head, Suzune returned her attention to the book in her hands.
She couldn't care less about what happened to Kikyo Kushida.
Nor did she believe someone like Kushida had any chance of dealing with her.
The atmosphere inside the classroom grew increasingly oppressive.
Everyone continued whispering about what kind of person Kikyo Kushida really was.
'What should I do?'
Watching the scene unfold, Yosuke Hirata grew increasingly anxious.
He never would've imagined something like this happening on only the second day of school!
But he understood one thing perfectly.
Even if everyone simply chose to ignore Kushida, the consequences could become irreversible.
Class D might end up following the same path as his middle school class, ultimately collapsing from within.
That was something Yosuke Hirata absolutely didn't want to see.
He understood all too well just how bottomless human malice could be.
'I have to help Kushida!'
With that thought, Hirata immediately stood up.
However, before he could take action, Ryouma had already approached Kikyo Kushida.
"Kushida, are you okay?"
"Hm?"
Faced with this sudden expression of concern, Kikyo Kushida couldn't react immediately.
Her head remained lowered, her eyes unfocused.
Her heart had already sunk into despair.
It was only the second day of school!
And her past had already been exposed!
Although some parts of the post had been deliberately exaggerated to make her look worse, most of it was true!
Forget becoming friends with everyone in the school.
At this rate, nobody would ever want to approach her again!
Of course, with her social skills, Kikyo Kushida was confident she could still become an influential figure in the class.
At the very least, she wouldn't fall to the bottom of the social hierarchy.
But that wasn't what she wanted!
"Kushida? Are you all right?"
Ryouma asked again, his voice filled with concern.
Like a ray of light piercing through the darkness...
Kikyo Kushida trembled slightly before quickly coming back to her senses.
"I'm fine!"
Kushida instantly raised her head, a gentle smile already appearing on her face.
"Amakawa-kun, I'm sorry for making you worry."
"Don't worry about it."
Ryouma shook his head and spoke softly.
"I don't know who's spreading those rumors, but they've really gone too far. You don't need to pay any attention to something like that, Kushida."
'What an idiot...'
Kushida secretly laughed to herself.