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“Have you heard…? Io confessed to…”
“What?! No way! I didn't think she had it in her! What did he say? Are they going out?”
“I'm not sure of what he said, but I heard that he basically just told her a flat out ‘no’! Can you believe it?”
“No!”
“Yes!”
“How cold!”
It was the subject for days, weeks even, Hibiki couldn't believe the event of him turning Io down was still such a hot topic. From the way people talked, it was like he turned her down yesterday.
“Mh- It is cold isn't it?”
“Yeah, I can't believe it, and they've been friends for the whole year at this point!”
“The weather, dumbass! I'm freezing, gimme your scarf!”
“You're such a cold person too!”
He didn't know how bad this would affect his studies or his relationships with others. His relationship with Io, for one, had taken an enormous hit. Daichi had told him to turn people down easy, if he was so adamant about not dating anyone else but…
But… really, what was the point? Io had been after him since the year before, and Hibiki just played dumb. It was either that or confront the issue at the moment, and with how he was, he might have just gone along with it before probably dumping her.
Hibiki's fingers were starting to feel numb, he brought them to his face to breathe hot air onto them and then rub them together. He let his hands fall to his sides and walked to class to pick Daichi up from after school tutoring.
The hallways were filled with whispers, whispers of “She was still crying today? Gosh he must have been harsh. I thought he was such a cool guy”
Hibiki didn't want it to bother him. Really, it was just gossip. Gossip. Baseless thoughts that people had, it was fine, he was sure people would get over it and think he was cool again.
He slid open the door to he and Daichi's class to see Daichi already packing up, mittens slid on his hand and a large wool hat slid on his head after all the extra material was stuffed into his book bag.
The moment he turned his head and saw Hibiki, he lit up.
“You didn't have to wait for me, dude!” Daichi smiled as usual, and Hibiki felt his chest warm up almost impossibly, “You always do that, give yourself a break for once!”
“Give yourself the break,” Hibiki picked Daichi's bookbag for him, despite the grabby hands and whines Daichi made immediately after he'd slung the strap over his shoulder with his own bookbag, “It's boring without you, and I can't text you because I want you to get a good grade.”
“I'm still gonna fail, no worries,” Daichi stood up and waved his hand a little before grabbing at Hibiki's shoulder to pull both bookbags, “Now lemme do you a favor!”
The desk made a noise as it slid forward, Daichi nearly ran around it to almost jump on Hibiki in his efforts to steal both bags from his possession, and Hibiki couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of his chest. Despite the stares they were getting.
They walked out to the hallway. The hallway still filled with whispers.
“Huh. He looks happy.”
“What right does he have?! After turning down our Io like that!”
“With all due respects, Tohru, you probably would have hated him if they started dating.”
“Shut up will you! He's coming this way!”
Daichi made a face. Hibiki's fingers felt cold again, and he rubbed them to warm them up again.
“We’re still inside, why do you think he does that?”
“I don't know, it's like a heater in here, and he's still acting like he's outside. He's cold inside and out, I guess.”
Hibiki's hands stopped their rubbing and fell to his sides quicker than he could register. They still were cold, so he clenched his hands into fists.
“I think he heard you, he's mad now!”
“What's he gonna do, ignore me?”
He remembered when people seemed to like him a lot more. So why? Why did the whispers change?
It was all just gossip, but he heard, and while it didn't matter in the long run- it still hurt.
Daichi bumped into him. And stayed close. Close for much longer than usual than when they were in public. One of Hibiki's hands was wrapped in wool, and while he couldn't interlace his fingers with Daichi’s, he made sure to hold tight.
Daichi's voice was soft in his ear.
“... Don't pay attention to them, okay?” Daichi was quiet for a while as they walked, before saying even more softly, “I still love you…”