[Fic Post] May 12, 2009: Rumor-mongering 101, Part 1
Minato started his day in the lonely dorm. Even though none of his dorm mates were what one could call exuberant, their absence remained deeply felt. Regardless, he knew he had something to do as the sole remaining SEES member, so he left for school earlier than usual in hopes of finding someone.
- - -
Arriving at the school gates, he identified the slicked-back hair of the person we wanted to talk to just ahead of him. "Hey, Hidetoshi-kun!" he called out.
Hearing his name called out, Hidetoshi turned to greet his fellow student council member. "Ah, good morning, Minato-kun. You're up early today."
"Yeah, I am. I needed to talk to you, and I know you're usually busy with Student Council work," Minato said.
"Well, the Student Council isn't active this week, same as all other school activities. Not that that should stop us from our duties, of course... but enought small talk. This is about the President, isn't it?" Hidetoshi got to the heart of the matter, curious about Mitsuru's absence, and a bit disturbed at some of the rumors that started popping up because of it.
"Yeah." Minato nodded, remembering what he had learned about manipulating rumors during his time in Sumaru City. First he'd take a portion from an existing rumor, when the facts weren't available knowledge... "I'm not sure what people have been saying concerning her absence, but she's currently unavailable."
"I see. I don't listen to gossip, but even I have heard some strange things. Like how she had been seen near the train station on the night of the incident, for example." Hidetoshi didn't follow rumors much, but he trusted that Minato at least would assuage his fears.
"Oh, she was on one of the trains." A flash of truth and shock, to give the rumor solvency. "She had been called for an emergency meeting at the Kirijo Group, and was kept up until late." Followed by something not necessarily true, but believable given the subject.
"She was on the train? How terrible! I hope the President wasn't affected by what happened..." Hidetoshi couldn't believe this, even though it did seem more plausible than what he had heard.
"Oh, senpai can't be rattled by something like that." Minato said the truth once more, reassuring his friend. "Still, because of that meeting, she's been helping with company work, so she's had to do her studying at home instead of coming here. I'm sure the teachers have been informed of this already." He strengthened the lie and added a half-truth: of course, he had asked Ikutsuki to help him out with the teachers, even though that was hardly necessary - the teachers would have accepted anything Mitsuru had told them after the fact.
"Well, I'm glad it's nothing too serious, then. The rest of the Student Council should be pleased to know this as well."
"Of course. Oh, if there's anything Council-related that you feel Mitsuru-senpai should know about, please let me know and I'll pass it on to her." Minato added.
"I certainly will. Well, I'll be seeing you then, Minato-kun." And with that, Hidetoshi retreated back to the building.
Minato watched Hidetoshi head back, as well as a few other students who seemed to have lingered to overhear. Good, he thought, so far it went along as expected. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Chihiro watching him. He smiled at her, as a greeting, she mumbled back some sort of greeting as well and hurried to school.
All things considered, despite covering for Mitsuru being the highest priority due to her status and responsibilities, Minato found the actual act to be far easier than it would probably be for Akihiko or Yukari. Admittedly, that was mainly because he was already in one of her circles. Still thinking of how best to dilute or replace the rumors regarding his other dormmates' absences, he entered the school before the first bell rang.