Confession

Yui shook her head. "I knew you wouldn't believe it. But what is written here is true."

"Why would you say that?" Red asked in apparent surprise.

Yui scrolled down her smartphone and showed another post which was a reply to the original confession.

"I am Mayumi, president of the Lit Club and I can verify that this really happened."

Suddenly Red's expression changed from bewilderment to confusion to a bitter sigh. "Well, I cam't do anything to change how others think. Forget it." Then he took a deep breath and turned into a smile. "I coincidentally invited Mayumi for the trek as well. She is my neighbor and likes to travel, so I thought it would be appropriate. You don't mind right?"

Yui had seen that Mayumi had openly vouched for this confession, so her opinion of Mayumi was positive. Thus she nodded, agreeing to the proposal. At that moment, Nina turned to look at Yui.

"You are going somewhere without Goutou following your coattails? How curious! Isn't he coming back to school tomorrow?" She suddenly spoke with a viper like tongue.

"Mind your own business Nina." Yui snorted. She did not want to see Goutou and she was dreading the drama that would take place tomorrow when he saw the drastic changes.

Nina suddenly turned to Red. "Are you going to camp? I am interested in joining you."

Red had a headache. Having these two woman together would definitely lead to a nightmare. "Nina, don't you dislike men? Besides, you never even tried to talk to me since you moved here. Do you think such a request is appropriate when you insinuated that I was a disgusting person?"

Nina suddenly flushed in embarrassment. She had always thought highly of herself, but suddenly cross questioned like this left her speechless.

"I... am curious about Yui's sudden behavioral change." Nina tried to reason.

"Then I'll have to reject your request. I want to go on a trip to calm my mind, not to have you two fighting." Red said coldly.

Yui was surprised. "Red are you angry?" Then she turned towards Rin and shook her head. She guessed by Red was angry.

Nina was also surprised by the coldness in Red's voice. Which person did not fawn on her, but now she was coldly rejected, which gave her a weird feeling. She was going to counter Red but Yui stopped her.

"Leave Red alone now. He has some things on his mind." Yui said quietly and Nina saw the warning in her eyes. This raised her curiosity even more.

Eventually she messaged Yui asking what exactly happened, to which Yui sent her the link of the posts as well as a brief backstory explaining what happened.

Red was laughing inside. He wasn't angry at all. Instead he was happy and thanking who ever tried to be the good samaritan by posting the confession. He only snarled at Nina on purpose. An arrogant girl like her wouldn't submit to genteel behavior.

During lunch, Red pulled out his bento. "Yui, do you want to have some? Its food I cooked." He asked.

"Alright." She took a few of the squids and ate them and her eyes glowed. "Red, you are such a good cook!"

Red nodded confidently. "A person once told me the way to a beauty's heart is through her stomach. Since then I began practicing cooking diligently!" He laughed.

"That is a stupid adage." Yui mocked.

"Oh really? Didn't I capture a beauty just now?" Red joked.

"Bold!" Yui flared, but then laughed a clear laugh. "Your food is so delicious." She said as she took some more food from his bento.

Meanwhile, everyone in class ignored Aito and Rin. The two were sitting together, but their eyes were dull. They could feel the collective disdain from all the students. When Rin heard Yui laugh like that her heart pained. The two eventually left the class to have lunch elsewhere.

However, the two had become infamous all over school now. Everyone was staring at them awkwardly, when suddenly they saw the five brothers from the health club. Brother five, who had earlier contested in arm wrestling with Red, looked at Aito and sneered.

"Ungrateful Wretch!" He said as he walked off. Aito was stunned as he saw all the others in the corridor nodding and their disgust towards him. His chest felt tight. Rin simply bit her lip. Suddenly she began crying and ran off.

"Now they are doing the pity play. Didn't she do the same thing last time? Is she trying to bait Red again?" Someone loudly sneered.

"This time I will stop Red from being tricked." A boy from 2-C said calmly.

"Good brother. Aito was a scum to begin with, remember when he blatantly accused Red very similarly before Red helped him? He was always like this. I didn't think Rin was like this too. What a shame."

When Rin heard this she trembled. Her tears stopped instinctually and she paled.

However when the others saw that they were even more convinced. "Wow, it really was a pity play! I can't believe it was so blatant!"

On the school's rooftop Aito and Rin were sitting alone.

"Rin, even if the world turns against us, I will always protect you." Aito waxed eloquent.

However, when Rin heard that she finally exploded and slapped Aito.

Pa!

"This is all because of you! You changed your look and your ego took off to the skies. The other students were right! You've always been scum! I remember how you absurdly accused Red that day. Why did you open your big mouth yesterday? You don't care about your own reputation, but you dragged me into the mud too.

For you I sacrificed my friendship with Red, and this is what you did." Rin began crying, sitting away from Aito.

Aito was stunned for sometime, but eventually he accepted it. "I'm sorry Rin. I really am. I just can't see you still have feelings for Red."

Rin shook her head amd stayed quiet. Today was the worst day in her life. It felt like everything was falling apart.

At that moment, Red suddenly felt like he received enlightenment and he felt his understanding of the second layer deepen.

"This is... stealing respect!" Red understood. "This Aito is truly a gift that keeps giving." He thought to himself.