The Handsome Boy I Saved from Getting Beaten on the Train… Turned Out to Be the “Prince” of an All-Girls School - V1 Chapter 03: The Meeting is Chaotic, Yet Still Moves On

Chapter 03: The Meeting is Chaotic, Yet Still Moves On

“This is Saito Kujou.”

“Come in.”

I knocked on the door to the principal’s office, and the reply came almost instantly.

I opened the door and stepped inside.

It was my first time ever entering this room since starting high school.

“Oh, it’s Mr. Neya.”

I’d assumed it would just be the principal since I was called here specifically—

But sitting inside was also my homeroom teacher, Mr. Tsuyoshi Neya.

(Click)

I heard the soft sound of the door locking behind me.

When I turned around, I saw the vice principal—someone I usually only saw during school ceremonies—locking the door from the inside.

…What the heck?

Is this conversation that confidential?

“Kujou, I’ll be direct. It seems you caused a bit of a scene at the station this morning, yes?”

“Well, yeah. The police did ask me a few questions.”

So it was about what happened this morning on the train.

Makes sense.

I couldn’t think of any other reason they’d suddenly call me to the principal’s office.

Maybe they were going to tell me it was an excused tardy since I had a valid reason?

Would be nice if they said it wouldn’t count as being late…

“So? What exactly did you do?”

“Ah, well—”

“Several students saw you being questioned by the police this morning on the platform near school.”

Just as I started to explain, the vice principal cut in sharply without missing a beat.

“Just be honest with us. Was it groping or filming up someone’s skirt?”

“…Sorry, what?”

The principal stared at me with a serious look in his eyes.

The pressure from that gaze was so intense, I couldn’t even get another word out.

“Our school has a pretty big student body, after all… Every few years, we end up with one or two students who have… unfortunate hobbies or habits. So we’re well-prepared to handle these kinds of situations.”

Meanwhile, the principal’s hands—resting on the desk—were visibly shaking.

And his eyes looked… kinda dead inside.

“Have you already reached a settlement with the victim? If this is still in dispute, we can classify your time off as a temporary suspension.”

“No! That’s not it at all! There was a violence incident on the train! Wait, what am I doing explaining this now!? The afternoon classes are about to start!”

“Right now, the priority is for you to open up and be honest about the crime you committed! We’re here to figure out the best course of action for you, as a school.”

“Exactly! You think I’ll let my career with the Board of Education go up in flames because of some student’s uncontrollable urges?!”

“Hey—Mr. Principal, that was way too honest. And why are you still acting like I’ve already committed a crime!? All I did was help a high school student who was being assaulted on the train!”

“Don’t be ridiculous! No one does that kind of good deed unless it’s the beginning of some cheap web manga plot! Just admit it already!”

“Kujou-kun… Has our relationship always been so fragile that you can’t open your heart to me in times like this?”

No, this was actually the first time I’d ever spoken directly with the principal.

I wanted to say that out loud, but…

The looks in the principal and vice principal’s eyes were dead serious.

It was honestly terrifying.

It felt like they had already fabricated some imaginary past where we’d bonded over deep, heartfelt talks or something.

“Wait, didn’t I already explain everything to you this morning, Mr. Neya? Can you back me up here, please?”

“Pfft—sorry, but I only heard your side of the story, Kujou.”

“Seriously!?”

This guy.

Mr. Neya was clearly just watching this whole thing unfold for his own amusement.

He knew full well the principal and vice principal were off the rails, but he was just sitting back and letting it play out.

Right.

That’s exactly the kind of person he was.

Looks like I had no choice but to handle this myself.

“Look, I’ve been telling the truth from the start! If you don’t believe me, then ask the police! They’ll confirm everything.”

“If I go to the police and they tell me something I don’t want to hear, then what!? I’ll end up bedridden from the shock!”

Caught between duty and their own self-preservation, these emotionally unstable old men kept going in circles, refusing to believe anything I said.

What do they call this again?

Something like “the meeting dances, but does not move forward”?

No… scratch that.

This was just a complete waste of time.

And so, thanks to this mess, I ended up missing both fifth and sixth period.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

“Man, watching the principal and vice principal freak out like that was hilarious.”

“You really are the most useless teacher ever, Mr. Neya.”

After that, I had to repeat the same explanation over and over.

Eventually, they kind of decided to believe me—for now.

But the looks on their faces still screamed, “We don’t trust this kid.”

And all that time, Mr. Neya just stood there nodding along with a barely suppressed grin, saying absolutely nothing useful.

Completely worthless.

Honestly, I almost wanted to throw a sarcastic remark at him.

“Hey, teachers are just salarymen too, you know. We’re all just sad little gears that spin quietly under orders from above.”

“Don’t even try. You were clearly just enjoying the show.”

“Cut me some slack. At least I stopped the principal from calling your parents behind your back.”

“…Thanks for that.”

Okay, I take it back.

Sorry for calling you useless, Mr. Neya.

“Don’t mention it. Technically, I am your guardian while you’re in Japan, after all.”

“Can you not mess up my hair, Tsuyoshi-nii? I just got it the way I like it.”

“Oh? What’s this, teenage mood swings now? Didn’t I tell you to call me ‘Mr. Neya’ while we’re at school?”

Mr. Tsuyoshi Neya—my homeroom teacher and also my cousin—ignored my complaint and ruffled my hair like always.

And I didn’t bother resisting.

I just let him.

It wasn’t just because he stopped them from contacting my parents this time.

Tsuyoshi-nii was the one who worked hard behind the scenes—

To keep a healthy distance between me and those people I call my parents.

“Still, Saito helping someone, huh? Guess your honor-student instincts kicked in?”

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve got those anymore.”

“Well, just be careful. There are people who’d worry if something happened to you, you know?”

“Worry? You mean… you too, Tsuyoshi-nii—I mean, Mr. Neya?”

“Of course. If a student from my homeroom gets caught up in trouble, it just means more paperwork for me. I didn’t sign up for late-night patrol duty—I came to this school for the easy life, thanks.” 

“You’re really not supposed to say stuff like that when you’re a teacher, you know.”

“Also—Nishino was actually pretty worried about you. She came to ask me what was going on when you didn’t show up and hadn’t contacted anyone.”

“Rinna did…? Huh… I didn’t realize.”

So she was worried about me, even if she was just teasing and acting casual on the outside.

“Tough life being a popular guy, huh? So, tell me—are you two dating yet? Hmm?”

“Alright, that’s my cue to leave. Bye, Mr. Neya.”

Even if he was my cousin and I owed him a lot,

There was no way I was talking about that kind of stuff with my homeroom teacher.

So, I made my escape before things got weirder.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

“Phew… What a day.”

The moment I stepped into my tiny one-room apartment, I dropped face-first onto the bed—

Didn’t even bother taking off my school blazer.

Today had been nonstop.

Starting with getting dragged into a train assault in the morning,

And then getting grilled by the principal and vice principal…

It felt like I’d gone through a whole week’s worth of events in just one day.

“Oh, right. I should probably text Rinna.”

I ended up skipping both fifth and sixth period too, so she was probably wondering what happened.

She’s probably worried.

And while I’m at it, maybe I’ll tease her a bit for secretly being concerned about me this morning.

Just as I was reaching for my phone—

(Beep Beep ♪)

My phone started ringing.

“Huh? A call? I don’t recognize this number. Might just ignore it like always… Wait—the number ends in 110!? Isn’t that the police!?”

I immediately sat up on my bed in full seiza position.

It’s not a video call or anything, obviously,

But just knowing it was the police on the other end made me instinctively fix my posture.

Yeah… I’m definitely a coward.

“Uh, yes. Kujou speaking.”

“Ah, Kujou-san? This is Tadokoro from the Public Safety Division of the Minami Police Station.”

So it was someone from the police.

Wait… Public Safety Division?

Wouldn’t something like a street fight usually be handled by the Community Affairs Division or the local police box?

“Since the person who committed the assault is a minor, the Public Safety Division is handling the case.”

“Ah, I see.”

So that guy in the construction pants really was a kid, huh?

He did seem kind of immature, but I didn’t expect he was underage.

That would put him around the same age as me or Rei, probably.

“Now, I’d like to go over the situation one more time—”

After that, the call went on with the same questions I’d already answered during the first police interview.

There wasn’t anything new I remembered, so I just repeated what I had said before, and the conversation wrapped up without a hitch.

“One last thing—The victim’s side asked if they could call you directly to thank you. Would it be okay to share your contacts with them?”

“Eh? That’s really not necessary. They don’t need to go out of their way to thank me.”

Hearing that the victim wanted to reach out and say thanks caught me off guard, and I instinctively turned down the offer.

“Well, actually… they were quite insistent. Said they’d really like to thank you personally.”

“…I see. Well, if that’s the case, then sure. Go ahead and give them my number.”

After thinking it over, I figured accepting a thank-you was the polite thing to do.

So I agreed to let them pass along my contact info.

“Alright then. That’s all for now. We’ll reach out again if anything else comes up

“Got it. Thank you for your time.”

And with that, the call ended.

Phew.

I mean, I know I didn’t do anything wrong,

But talking to the police still makes you feel weirdly nervous.

“Ah—crap! Since the police called me, I should’ve asked them to explain the whole situation to the principal and vice principal!”

If the school got a direct call from the police, that would’ve cleared up all the suspicion they still had about me.

But… since it was a case involving minors, maybe the Public Safety Division wouldn’t go that far?

Still, it wouldn’t hurt to ask, right?

What was the officer’s name again… Tadokoro, right?

I should give him a call back and check.

With that thought in mind, I reached for my phone—

“Hm? An incoming call? Oh—it’s from Rinna. Hey, Rinna. Sorry about disappearing this afternoon.”

Ugh, I wanted to call the police back right away…

But I guess Rinna’s probably been worried too.

Besides, I’ve got some teasing ammo now—thanks to what Tsuyoshi-nii told me earlier.

“Saito! What are you doing just sitting around!?”

“Wow, straight into the yelling, huh? What, you missed me that much in the afternoon?”

“So you haven’t seen it yet… Hurry up and search for ‘Whoa-Whoa Dude’ online!”

“‘Whoa-Whoa Dude’? What the heck kind of dumb nickname is that?”

“Just do it, now!”

Since I was still on the phone with Rinna, I grabbed my tablet and typed in the words:

Whoa-Whoa Dude.

And then—

“………”

“So… do you get it now?”

“Yeah…”

At the top of the search results, there was a video thumbnail.

And just one glance was enough to tell me everything.

It was me.

More precisely—it was this morning’s me.

A video of me stepping in to break up that fight on the train.

Even though it had only been uploaded today, the view count had already blown past 3 million.

-:+:-:+:-:+:-:+:-:+:-:+:-:+:-+:-+:-+:-+:-+

Getting questioned by police on the train platform?

Yeah, people always assume it’s for groping first. (Totally based on a real experience.)

Please follow and leave a ★ rating!