B-ko glared at the dirty music room wall. There wasn't much else to do, seeing as she was the only one there. The dirty walls weren't all that interesting to the young lady, and soon enough she found herself messing around with her pencil. Tap tap, tap tap; the first tap acting like a grace note to the second, which went in time with the second hand's ticking from the clock in that room.
I'll give them ten minutes, B-ko thought venomously to herself.
Another rumor had spread around that day, one that claimed she and a certain creepy red-eyed boy were in a relationship. It seemed outside of what kind of rumors A-ya would spread, but it spread like a fire nonetheless. B-ko detested the attention she received that day. It was all nonsense, countless people asking her if it was true and countless people being shot down as politely as B-ko could manage in her current state of mind. Perhaps the worst part of it was that B-ko didn't even get her usual lone time at lunch, surrounded by all kinds of questioning classmates.
Perhaps it was because she wouldn't have minded if the rumors were true.
B-ko slammed her pencil against her desk, her cheeks now flushed. She had managed to keep her composure the entire day, but now that she was by herself it was near impossible to keep her feelings in check. She growled nonsense to herself, but was quickly stopped.
"Hey," came a firghtened squeak from the door. B-ko froze on the spot, as did the man.
Much like two deer in headlights, B-ko found herself musing.
Eventually, B-ko turned to face A-ya, and a look of shock came across her face.
"C-ta's not here with you?"
A-ya opened his mouth, but fury found its way back into B-ko's heart before he could speak a word.
"And hey, what was with that rumor today?! Do you think it's fine to spread rumors about my love life like that!?"
"Hey, that rumor wasn't even mine! What use would I have spreading a rumor about us, anyways?"
"You spread rumors about my love life all the time, you can't say this wasn't your doing!"
"That doesn't answer my question!"
"You didn't answer mine!"
By that time, B-ko had made her way across the abandoned classroom and was grabbing A-ya by his shirt collar. A-ya held his hands up in an attempt to show his innocence. Muttering her grief, B-ko let the man go and fell into thought.
"… You wanted to see how well that rumor would spread if you were there to affirm it as my "boyfriend"?" B-ko finally asked.
"As interesting as that would be, I'd far prefer to stay in the shadows, not attracting attention to myself."
B-ko sighed. He was right, that had always been his preference. That didn't mean he wouldn't risk his freedom for a day if it meant making him less bored, however. Though, with how he was acting right now, her accusations wouldn't matter if she didn't have evidence to back them up…
"… Unless you would like me as a boyfriend?"
The tone was mocking, and B-ko hadn't a doubt in the world that he didn't mean it. Despite that, her cheeks flared to a bright red.
"Th-That's not it at all!" She mentally chided herself for sounding so panicked. "It's just, I-I didn't expect you to be part of that rumor and it caught me by surprise and I couldn't really, you know…!"
B-ko stared at A-ya.
A-ya stared at B-ko.
After a minute or so, A-ya starting laughing, and embarrassment made B-ko's cheeks even redder.
"I mean…!" Her words weren't coming out as she meant them to.
"I know, I know," A-ya managed between his chuckles. "If something like that happened to me, I'd be caught off guard, too," he reassured her.
B-ko sighed in defeat, when something in her mind kicked in.
"Wait, what did you just say?"
A-ya paused, rethinking his words, before it hit him as well. He paled.
""I'd be caught off guard as well," right…?"
"Well…"
B-ko snapped. "Those rumors were your doing, then! If they were anyone else's, they certainly would have caught you off guard!"
A-ya backed out of the room. "Hey, let's not jump to any conclusions now…!"
B-ko followed. She glared him down, before asking in a dangerous whisper, "Why?"
The two stared at each other, the air weighing down on both of them. Eventually, A-ya gave his reply.
"I wanted to see how well that rumor would spread if I was there to affirm it."
B-ko nearly hit him. She stomped out of the room, fully ready to go home. A-ya poked at her shoulder, and she reluctantly stopped.
"You forgot your stuff."
B-ko froze, feeling nothing but intangible weight on her shoulder. She turned around, her face red with embarrassment once more, grabbed her stuff, and left without any other protest from A-ya.
Later that night, B-ko received a text from a number that she barely recognized as A-ya's.
"I also wanted to see your reaction."
She threw the cellphone at the wall and hid her face in her pillow, despite no one being there to witness her glowing cheeks.