Facing Rumors, Setting the Record Straight Is Important. / Ichinose Honami's Past.

Hashiba Hikaru wiped the sweat from his hair. Ichinose Honami was probably still asleep. He put his phone in his pocket and quickened his pace to return to his dorm.

"Honami?"

When he opened the dormitory door, Hashiba Hikaru lowered his voice. After entering the room, he saw his girlfriend still fast asleep on the bed. Her hair was messy, indicating that she had stayed up very late the night before.

"If you don't know yet, then talk to other people first."

Hashiba Hikaru quickly finished showering and changing his clothes. He then opened the already heated Class A chat, where students who had woken up earlier were still venting their anger indignantly, even while still in bed.

Class group chat.

Shibata Sou: This is definitely a fabrication targeting Ichinose!

Kanzaki Ryuji: I think so too. In any case, such slander is a very bad thing and will have a series of consequences.

Ando Sayo: Ichinose doesn't seem to be awake yet. I just sent her a message.

At this moment, Hashiba Hikaru sent out her message, which once again sparked a great response from everyone.

Hashiba Hikaru: Honami hasn't woken up yet, but this was definitely a premeditated act of targeting. Everyone, please don't get agitated. We need to come up with a proper way to handle this and prevent the impact of this incident from escalating further.

Shibata Sou: Classmate Hashiba, who do you think might be behind this?

Hashiba Hikaru: Regardless of who it is, since this comment has already been posted, the number of people who can see it will keep increasing, so I'll deal with this post first.

Kanzaki Ryuji: I'm already up. Are we having a meeting later?

Ando Sayo: I'm going to Classmate Hashiba's dorm right now.

Hashiba Hikaru: Okay, everyone, please don't panic. We need to solve this step by step.

Hashiba Hikaru reassured her classmates in the group chat, and at the same time used her Vice President privileges to lock the post. The next moment, the post was overshadowed by the constantly increasing number of new posts and disappeared from the homepage.

However, since many people had already seen it, the young man didn't have time to deal with each of the ever-growing discussion posts, so he could only control it from the source.

Before leaving the School Forum, Hashiba Hikaru also posted the message she had edited the night before in the name of the Student Council, and it quickly received support from the students of Class A.

"Besides meetings, we also need to use the school's Broadcasting Station or Grand Auditorium."

Hashiba Hikaru briefly considered the next steps. In any case, the top priority was to stabilize Ichinose Honami, since judging from Sakayanagi Arisu's reply, his girlfriend really did have a dark past.

"Light?"

The girl lying on the bed seemed to hear some noise. She slowly opened her eyes, and after seeing the figure standing at the head of the bed, a gentle smile appeared on her beautiful face.

Has Honami woken up?

"Yes, I feel very energetic right now!"

Ichinose Honami sat up and stretched. It was her day off, and being able to see her lover as soon as she woke up made her feel very content.

"Honami, go wash up first. Kanzaki are coming over for a short meeting later. We need to discuss something very important."

Hashiba Hikaru helped the girl up, speaking very gently.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Ichinose Honami looked completely puzzled. She had no idea why a meeting was suddenly needed, since nothing about it had been mentioned yesterday.

"Anyway, don't ask anymore. Honami, go wash your face quickly. Are you planning to face everyone like this?"

Hashiba Hikaru smiled and pointed to the girl's pretty face, where traces of drool still remained.

"Ah, I understand!"

Ichinose Honami glared at her boyfriend, annoyed. As she hurried into the bathroom to wash up, she gazed at his retreating figure, her emotions a complex mix.

The upcoming small meeting will likely reveal some complicated past events, but as her boyfriend, Hashiba Hikaru decides to keep track of Ichinose Honami's emotions throughout.

If Ichinose Honami is unwilling to discuss the past, then simply pretend nothing happened and treat it entirely as a rumor; if she is willing to open up, then a different approach must be taken, and the spread of the true information must be kept to a minimum.

It's almost eight o'clock now, and many people are already up.

The boy's phone received countless text messages, because the post had already caused a sensation throughout the entire campus.

520

Chapter 520 When facing rumors, clarification is very important.

As is well known, Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School is a completely closed school, and this closedness is not only in a physical sense, but also in all other aspects of its management.

Being in this environment for an extended period of time means that any interesting information or event will cause a huge stir among students, leading to widespread dissemination and discussion, and creating a significant impact on public opinion.

On this ordinary Saturday morning, the post about Ichinose Honami immediately ignited everyone's enthusiasm, not just among the first-year students, but also among the second and third-year seniors.

While Ichinose Honami is a well-known beauty among first-year students, her boyfriend, Hashiba Hikaru, is truly famous throughout the entire school.

From her initial display of talent during the Special Exam to the spotlight she received at the Sports Festival, not to mention that she was the first person in the school to become the Student Council Vice President as a first-year student.

Such a high-profile person naturally attracted a lot of attention and comments from his girlfriend. After the post was published, countless people silently forwarded and spread it, and even Horikita Manabu, who usually didn't pay much attention to forum information, knew about it.

Hashiba Hikaru looked at the messages on her phone. There were many messages, including from the girls she was close to, as well as some business partners and subordinates. Everyone was very concerned about this matter.

"Honestly, it will take a lot of time to completely erase the impact of this."

The boy sighed softly. Just then, there was a knock on the door, presumably from Kanzaki Ryuji and the others.

"Hikari, are the classmates here?"

Ichinose Honami emerged from the bathroom. She had finished washing up and changed into a comfortable set of winter loungewear. After being pampered by her boyfriend for so long, the girl exuded an intellectual and mature aura.

"That's probably true."

Hashiba Hikaru nodded, opened the door, and led the students in.

Hello everyone!

The pink-haired girl hadn't had time to check her phone, so she was completely unaware of what had happened and continued to greet everyone with a smile.

Good morning Ichinose.

There was some worry in Ando Sayo's eyes, but she saw the signal on Hashiba Hikaru's face and didn't say anything more.

Standing next to Ando were Kanzaki Ryuji and Shibata Sou, two boys who, besides Hashiba Hikaru, had considerable influence in Class A. Behind them were Minami Kozue and Himeno Yuki. When these five people walked in together, the living room immediately became crowded.

"Everyone, please sit down first, and we can discuss this matter calmly."

Hashiba Hikaru instructed his classmates to sit around the table, and even had his girlfriend sit next to him.

"Um."

After everyone was seated, Ichinose Honami looked at the serious expressions on their faces and wondered what had happened. Had the world changed drastically after she took a nap?

"Honami."

Hashiba Hikaru noticed the inquisitive look on the girl's face. He smiled slightly, then turned his phone screen to the post and gently pushed it toward her.

"Take a look at this first."

What is it?

Ichinose Honami took her boyfriend's phone with a smile, but her expression froze almost instantly after reading the text on it.

"Honami, don't be nervous. Take your time and observe. We won't offer any opinions now; we'll leave the thought to you."

Hashiba Hikaru put her arm around her shoulder and said gently, "After you've sorted out your thoughts, we can discuss how to resolve this."

"Um..."

After being embraced by her boyfriend, Ichinose Honami's heart skipped a beat. She pursed her cherry lips and stared intently at the post on the screen. Apart from the theft incident that happened in junior high school being true, everything else was a fabrication.

However, the number of comments and views below reveals a fact: countless people have already seen it.

"It's okay, don't rush, take your time~"

Hashiba Hikaru pressed her shoulder against the girl's, her voice gentle, "I've frozen this post. No one else will see it except those who saw it before."

"But..."

Ichinose Honami's eyes were filled with extreme unease. She had originally planned to tell her boyfriend about this when she went back to her hometown with Hashiba Hikaru, but the circumstances at the time were not appropriate, so she had not said it until now.

Now that it's suddenly been posted on a forum, not only her boyfriend but also many unrelated students know about it, so it's probably been distorted beyond recognition.

"This is most likely an attack on our Class A by others, trying to undermine Honami's morale through rumors. We don't believe it."

Hashiba Hikaru gently patted the girl's back, then glanced at the classmates sitting opposite him, signaling them to add their comments.

"Yes, this post is anonymous, but I think it's very likely from someone in Class B, because their discussions are the most targeted."

"That's right, and anonymous IDs aren't completely untraceable. If we ask the Computer Research Club, we might be able to find out who it is."

Shibata knew many people and immediately came up with this idea.

"I think this is absolutely a fabrication. We've known each other for so long, Ichinose is definitely not that kind of person!"

Ando Sayo gripped the pink-haired girl's hand tightly on the table and said earnestly.

"However, this is a school. If someone spreads rumors, we can't just punish them directly, since everyone here is a minor, and this is the school's internal forum, which is not open to outsiders."

Kanzaki Ryuji thought about it and realized that even if they found the person responsible, they still wouldn't be able to get them severely punished.

"Regardless, the priority is to identify the specific person and get them to admit their mistake first."

Hashiba Hikaru glanced at his girlfriend, whose eyes were downcast. At that moment, she seemed to have lost her soul, completely devoid of youthful vitality, and simply leaned blankly on the boy's shoulder.

"In addition, I will request the Chairman to conduct a thorough investigation into this matter, and after the truth comes to light, I will issue a clarification broadcast through the Broadcast Station."

Hashiba Hikaru addressed the students earnestly, "Honami's reputation is very important! Although there are fewer than five hundred students across the three grades, each person's memory can become a source of information, so we must thoroughly investigate this matter!"

"I understand what Classmate Hashiba means. What do you need us to do now?"

"Let's gather information from the Campus Forum first, see who the potential targets are, and then eliminate them one by one."

After giving the instructions, Hashiba Hikaru helped his girlfriend up from the chair.

"Honami and I will go to the bedroom first to calm her down, and then we'll decide how to retaliate."

"Understood!"

The five students looked seriously at the boy's face; what they needed most at this moment was to unite as one.

521

Chapter 521 Ichinose Honami's Past.

Inside Hashiba Hikaru's bedroom, Ichinose Honami buried her head in her boyfriend's chest, her body trembling uncontrollably. Clearly, the post had caused her a tremendous emotional shock.

"It's okay, I'm here, it's alright~"

The boy held the girl tightly, patting her back repeatedly, trying to convey strength to her through his body.

"But... I really didn't do these things... Why are they saying that?"

Ichinose Honami's eyes were already red, and tears streamed down her delicate face, soaking into Hashiba Hikaru's chest.

"This is just a rumor. I believe Honami never did these things. Don't be too upset. Once we find this person, I will make him pay the price."

Hashiba Hikaru's tone was gentle. People say words are like knives, and at this moment he understood the meaning of that saying even more. Ichinose Honami was a girl who cared a lot about others, and such accusations naturally crossed her bottom line.

"Then what should we do? If someone really thinks that way, it might affect the evaluation of light, right?"

The pink-haired girl suddenly remembered something very important: Hashiba Hikaru her boyfriend, and this post might affect his reputation.

"I don't care at all. It's just a rumor. If I cared, wouldn't that just be playing into the hands of the rumor-mongers?"

Hashiba Hikaru smiled slightly, "Honami, don't worry about me."

"But..."

Ichinose Honami looked up and, seeing the tenderness on her boyfriend's face, knew very well that he didn't care whether these things were true or false and had complete trust in her.

"No buts, Honami and I are a couple. Even if it affects me, I will still stand by your side."

"Hmm..."

Although Ichinose Honami was touched, she wouldn't have felt such a strong reaction if it were all just rumors, because one thing was true, which was why she lacked confidence in facing the post.

Whether it's her classmates or her boyfriend with whom she shares countless sweet memories, Ichinose Honami believes she can't continue to hide it from everyone.

"Does Guang really think this is all a rumor?"

Ichinose Honami, staring directly into the other person's eyes.