"—wait. Hold on. Surely not. You're not saying that those rumours are—"

"Of course I'm not saying those rumours are true. But they do exist. And if I say, oh, yeah, I really am Iwasaki Iemasa's kid, then the rumours about Iwasaki Iemasa's kid become rumours about me, rather than rumours about maybe me."

"Iwasaki they are coming for my blood if I can't give them anything—"

"Tell them about those rumours instead, then. They're right there, free for the taking."

"Yeah so they're stale, I can't trade on secondhand rumours everyone'll hear about within the week anyway, I need something fresh, something sexy, something hot—"

"And so you want me? Careful, Yoshino-san," he says, taking a step closer, which in the secluded hallway they're hiding away in means there is now very little space for Yoshino to escape to, "you start calling a boy those things," he starts trailing a finger up and down Yoshino's forearm, "he might think you mean them."

Yoshino turns as red as a tomato.

"Are you sure the reason you took me aside was to ask me if I'm really Iwasaki Iemasa's son?" He keeps running his finger against Yoshino's skin. "Do you really not know the answer to that question? Do you really need me to confirm it?"

"W-we-ell if you don't th-then they're still just rumours," he stammers, unable to tear his gaze off Yutaka's.

"I heard a little rumour about one Yoshino Yūji-kun, once upon a time. A little rumour that he'd give you anything, anything to be ahead of the gossip mill—to be the source of the gossip mill. The one everyone keeps coming back to, the one everyone knows to rely on. Is that rumour true, Yūji-kun?"

"I-I-I-I-I need to go to my next class!" he announces, then flees.

But he doesn't flee fast enough to miss the sound of laughter coming from where he just came from.

"You smoke?"

Yutaka holds still so that he doesn't jump; it'd be uncool. "You move very quietly," he observes.

"I've been told. Give me one of those."

He gets her a cigarette and lights it for her. "D'you want something?"

"What, can't a girl just want to mooch a cig off the richest guy at school?" she asks, leaning against the same wall as Yutaka and turning to watch the bustle of the end of the day at the school with him.

"Allegedly the richest guy at school," he corrects her.

"Sure," she agrees. "Anyway, heard you like sucking cock."

He chokes on his spit and starts coughing violently. "That's," cough, "direct," cough cough.

She shrugs and takes a drag of her cigarette. "Well, I like eating pussy, so your secret's safe with me," she says with another shrug.

"Is it," cough, "tell-the-guy-you-met-yesterday-" cough, "tell-the-guy-you-met-yesterday-you're-gay day today?"

"Just figured us queers gotta stick up for each other, you know? And it helps to know who's queer so that you can know who it is you gotta stick up for."

"—you know, I gotta say that one's creative, I'll give you points for that."

"D'you rather I be like Yamada? Ooh, Iwasaki-san," she says, adopting a high-pitched whine and giggling, "you shouldn't hang out with Suwan, everyone will think you're gay. You should hang out with me instead, I'm so hot and pretty, don't you want a piece of me?"