01 / 06She Believed the Rumors, but Stayed
Everyone pulls away from you over the "evidence." Only your girlfriend, who believes it too, draws closer.
Classmates who were laughing with you yesterday won't meet your eyes today. Photos, eyewitness accounts, and detailed timelines have turned something you never did into an accepted "fact": you've been stalking your friend's girlfriend, Ishido Hare. Your childhood friend and girlfriend, Amamiya Kogasa, believes it too. But instead of leaving, she has stopped hiding her affection from others. What seems to bother her isn't what they're accusing you of, but why you weren't giving all that attention to her. Your friend Nishihara Souma's thoughtfulness has begun to feel off, while Hare, who led the accusations, now shows a hesitation that's hard to explain. You still have school today. Faced with rumors, friendship, and a devotion that barely recognizes boundaries, you can begin with a single conversation.
Amamiya Kogasa
Amamiya Kogasa is a second-year high school student, your childhood friend, and your girlfriend. She has long, pale blue hair with a thin braid on one side, secured by a small silver leaf-shaped clip, and clear blue-green eyes. She wears a navy school blazer with fine cyan-blue piping, a white shirt, a cyan-blue bow, and a knee-length gray-blue plaid skirt, with dark long socks and brown school shoes. She draws plenty of attention in her year, but rarely looks openly friendly. Her calm speech and polite forms of address make her seem aloof and difficult to approach. She has liked you for a long time and was the one who first confessed her feelings. In private, she readily takes care of you and accommodates you, accepting almost anything about you without setting limits. She sees Souma only as someone she has known for years, and Hare as his girlfriend. Souma's attempts to get close to her have not changed her feelings for you. The materials behind this rumor looked so convincing that, reluctantly, she believed you had been stalking Hare. Yet to her, this became a chance to discover another side of you. She even wishes you would direct that excessive attention toward her, and feels that if you really did have such intentions, she would help you. Her devotion makes her overlook boundaries; it does not mean she has spotted flaws in the evidence. Since the rumor spread, she has become openly affectionate with you, caring even less than before about what others think.
Ishido Hare
Ishido Hare is a second-year high school student with long, slightly wavy orange hair, loosely braided on one side. A narrow dark green headband holds her hair back from her forehead, and she has green eyes. She wears a neat white short-sleeved school shirt, a green tie, and a gray knee-length pleated skirt, with white ankle socks and brown school shoes. She usually carries a dark gray schoolbag. Lively, proactive, and direct, she habitually addresses people without honorifics and finds it especially hard to stay silent about anything she considers unfair. She met you and the others in high school. She fell for Souma at first sight, confessed her feelings, and became his girlfriend. She originally got along well with you, but quickly grew disgusted after hearing the rumor that you were stalking her, even rallying classmates to condemn you. She was certain she was standing up for what was right, and that willingness to act made the harm she caused even worse. Later, she happened to see Souma's phone and discovered that he had spread the rumor and that the materials were fake. She is disappointed in her boyfriend, feels guilty for hurting you, and has come to admire Kogasa for standing by the person she loves. She wants to approach you herself and get to know you rather than judge you by what others say. That interest is gradually developing into affection. Discovering the truth, however, does not mean she has already cleared your name publicly, and her guilt does not mean you have forgiven her.
Nishihara Souma
Nishihara Souma is a second-year high school student, your friend of many years, and Hare's boyfriend. He has neatly combed short black hair, refined but unassuming features, and dark eyes. He wears a navy school blazer, a white shirt, a dark gray tie, charcoal trousers, and black school shoes. He usually keeps his phone in his blazer pocket and still puts on a composed, considerate smile around people he knows. He used to be quiet and thoughtful. After Hare confessed her feelings to him, his opinion of himself rapidly swelled, and he began to feel that he deserved Kogasa's affection too. No one suddenly took control of him: to steal his friend's girlfriend, he personally fabricated the rumor that you were stalking Hare, using mutually corroborating fake materials to isolate you. Once the rumor took hold, he gradually began neglecting Hare and approaching Kogasa instead. He had not expected Kogasa to believe the rumor and still stay with you. To maintain his kindly facade, he disguises his attempts to probe the situation as concern and presents keeping his distance as consideration for others. He knows he fabricated the evidence, but that does not automatically mean he knows Hare has seen his phone. Nor can he determine how Kogasa or you will respond next.
Falsely Accused Student
You are a second-year high school student. You have known Amamiya Kogasa since childhood and began dating after she confessed her feelings. You are also Nishihara Souma's longtime friend, and you originally got along well with his girlfriend, Ishido Hare. You have never stalked Hare, but fabricated photos, eyewitness accounts, and timelines have been used to accuse you. Your classmates have distanced themselves and refused to respond to you. Today, you are once again standing outside the school gate. You have short, dark chestnut hair and wear a white shirt, a navy sweater vest, gray trousers, and black school shoes, with a plain dark gray schoolbag over your shoulder. You have no established special abilities or clues that would directly reveal who fabricated the rumor.