The Handsome Boy I Saved from Getting Beaten on the Train… Turned Out to Be the “Prince” of an All-Girls School - V1 Chapter 08: A Silent Angry Pretty Boy Is... Kinda Scary

Chapter 08: A Silent Angry Pretty Boy Is… Kinda Scary

“Mmmnya… Did I fall asleep?”

I slowly blinked awake, my eyes adjusting to the faint morning light seeping through the thick blackout curtains.

From the look of it, it was already morning outside.

Thank goodness today was Sunday.

“I think… Rei-kun and I were playing the Game of Life last night on the 50-year setting, but I guess somewhere along the way, we both just passed out. Man, this carpet is seriously comfy.”

We’d totally crashed out in the living room like kids at a sleepover.

The soft texture of the rug against my cheek felt weirdly luxurious.

“Ah—crap. Drooled a little.”

Looking down, I noticed a very obvious drool mark on that fancy carpet.

“…Think I can clean it up before anyone notices?”

That tiny panic spike fully kicked my brain into gear,

And I quickly sat up.

Someone had draped a blanket over me.

Most likely Rei.

And right in front of me, filling up my field of vision,

Was the giant TV screen.

It was still showing the same Game of Life screen from last night—

Specifically, it was paused on Year 32, my turn to make a decision.

Guess that means I knocked out before Rei did.

“Rei-kun… Time to wake up.”

My eyes drifted to a soft lump on the sofa, wrapped snugly in a blanket.

Hearing soft, gentle breathing and watching the rise and fall of the blanket with each breath,
I could safely confirm—
Yep, that peaceful little bundle was what remained of Rei.

“mmnya~… manager-san… just five more minutes…”

“What manager…? Come on, I need to go home already, so wake—UP!”

With that, I yanked the blanket right off of Rei, who was mumbling nonsense in his sleep.

“Ahhyah!? It’s cold!”

“Finally, you’re—wait… huh!?”

There was definitely a person under the blanket on the sofa.

But the one who appeared wasn’t Rei…

It was a woman wearing a nightgown.

Still holding the blanket, I froze in place.

The woman, curled up like a pill bug on the couch, shivered and glared up at me with half-awake eyes.

“You’re so noisy… Now I’m fully awake.”

Turning toward the voice, I saw Rei sitting up from the floor, rubbing his sleepy eyes and grumbling.

Apparently, he’d been sleeping on the floor behind the coffee table—

Hidden from where I had been lying.

“Wait—Mom, you were home!? And what are you doing sleeping like that!?”

Rei let out something between a yell and a screech.

For a guy, his voice was pretty high-pitched.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

“I am so incredibly sorry!!”

“N-No, no, really—it’s my fault for looking like that the moment we met. I’m Suzune, Rei’s mother. Nice to meet you…”

As I dropped into a deep bow on the spot,

For some reason, Suzune-san also dropped into a proper seated bow on the floor and bowed her head too.

“Why were you sleeping there, Mom?”

“Ah, Rei-chan… When I got home late from work last night, I saw you both asleep out here looking like you were having fun. So I kind of… joined in.”

Rei gave her a tired side-eye while Suzune-san poked her fingertips together, trying to explain herself.

She’d changed out of her nightgown into some cozy loungewear and was now wearing glasses she hadn’t had on earlier.

Compared to Rei, she was a bit smaller and gave off a gentle, almost cute vibe.

“I-I’m really sorry for staying over without asking, Suzune-san.”

“Oh, no worries at all. I was a little surprised at first to find a random boy passed out in the living room—but once I got a closer look, I realized it was the boy from that video. I figured you and Rei-chan must’ve hit it off. Thank you for being so kind.”

Suzune-san gave me a warm smile as she said that.

“No, seriously… it’s nothing.”

“This kid actually gets lonely pretty easily, so I’m sure it must’ve been a bit of a handful… but if it’s not too much trouble, I hope you two will stay friends.”

“Mooom, stop! I’m totally fine being on my own, okay!?”

“Rei-chan… That kind of stubborn pride is exactly what got you into that mess in the first place, you know?”

“Uu… I… I mean, that’s…”

Watching Rei get completely steamrolled the moment he tried to talk back,

I couldn’t help but smile.

Yep, definitely mother and son.

“Whoa-whoa, Suzune-san. Don’t be too hard on Rei-kun. The one at fault is the guy who threw the punch.”

“Ooh, I got to hear a live ‘whoa-whoa’! Nice!”

“Mom, we already did that part, you know?”

Man…

Watching a cheerful parent-and-child dynamic like this really warms the heart.

Not a bad way to start the morning.

“Wait, hold on—didn’t Rei-chan contact him to postpone because Mommy suddenly got called into work?”

“Waa! Waa!! M-Mom! And Kujou-kun hasn’t even had breakfast yet, right!? Want me to order something!?”

Rei was on full speed from the moment he woke up.

Probably still riding the high from last night’s game.

“Ah, no, really. I couldn’t possibly intrude on breakfast too. I should get going.”

“Oh, not at all! Since you’re already here, please join us. Rei-chan, the breakfast bread I ordered last night should’ve arrived at the concierge desk downstairs. Could you go pick it up for us?”

“Wait, me?”

“Yes, please. Mommy hasn’t even put on makeup yet, and we can’t just leave Kujou-san waiting here, can we?”

“Sigh… fine, I got it…”

Grumbling the whole way, Rei still obediently headed for the door.

Guess he couldn’t exactly argue, since he was the one who brought up breakfast in the first place.

“Sorry for using you as an excuse like that, Kujou-san.”

“No, not at all.”

“That kid… insisted on reaching out to you personally to postpone the meeting, so asked me directly for your number. But honestly—Rei-chan just really wanted to see you as soon as possible. Sorry for getting you caught up in those little whims.”

“Haha, it’s fine. I actually had a good time.”

He tried so hard to cover it up earlier,

But yeah… his mom saw right through him, huh.

“Anyway, this wasn’t exactly the plan, But would it be alright if I talked to you about Rei now?”

“Of course. It’s probably something you’d rather not discuss in front of him, right?”

I’d already figured that Suzune-san asked him to run that errand just so we could have this conversation.

“Exactly. Still, you really are sharp, Kujou-san. Hard to believe you’re the same age as Rei-chan.”

“You’re too kind…”

“I did speak with your guardian as well, and he said it was fine to talk to you directly. You seem to have his full trust.”

“…Guardian?”

The moment she said that word,

I felt a cold sweat run down my back, and my body tensed up.

“We got a call from Mr. Neya at your school, acting as your guardian. He told us about your family situation too.”

“I see… So you’ve heard.”

So Tsuyoshi-nii was the guardian she mentioned.

Realizing that, the tension in my body eased, and I let out the breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding.

Suzune-san had clearly taken my complicated family situation into account,

And was careful not to bring any of it up in front of Rei.

I really appreciated that.

“Alright then—before Rei-chan comes back, let’s get to the point. It’s about how we’re going to handle the video that got posted.”

With that, it was like a switch had flipped.

The warm, gentle mother from just moments ago vanished—

And in her place stood a fierce, protective mom, ready to fight for her child who had been hurt.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

“Then, regarding the video—we’ll file a formal request to disclose the uploader’s information and pursue legal action. Can I leave that process, including your portion, to my legal counsel?”

“Yes, please. I’d really appreciate that.”

Since we were working on a time limit—trying to wrap this up before Rei returned—

We quickly pulled everything together and finalized the plan.

“Thank you for agreeing to our approach.”

“Also… about the legal fees—Please let me cover my share properly.”

“It’s alright. I’ll take care of it.”

“No, really, I can’t let you—”

“You got dragged into this because of our situation. And honestly, the damage done online was even greater for you. That makes me angry too. So please—at least let me do this much.”

Suzune-san stated it firmly, without hesitation.

Behind her glasses, her eyes were sharp and filled with clear resolve.

Yeah…

No wonder she lives in a place as high-end as this.

“Just—please don’t look at me so directly… I’m not wearing any makeup right now.”

“Ah, sorry about that.”

I’d been caught up admiring her presence and strength,

And ended up staring without realizing.

Her firm, composed demeanor softened again,

And that warm, gentle mom atmosphere returned, breaking the tension in the room.

Still… she must be around the age you’d expect for Rei’s mother,

But she looked really young.

Honestly, if someone told me she and Rei were siblings, I wouldn’t even question it.

“Well, considering you already saw something way more embarrassing than my bare face earlier, I guess it’s a bit late to be shy.”

“You’re really going to bring that up yourself?”

Her mention of it instantly brought back the image of Suzune-san in her nightgown—

And I could feel my face heating up.

Now that I’d seen her switch so seamlessly from strict and composed to soft and casual,

That contrast somehow made the memory even more vivid than when I actually saw it.

“Waa! Waa! Just forget about that!”

Suzune-san waved her hands frantically, her face bright red,

Clearly trying to erase the mental image of her in that nightgown floating above my head.

She really was a unique person—

Strong and composed as a mother,

But still had this girlish side to her.

…Wait.

Did she just figure out I was still picturing her in that nightgown!?

“Yeah, that’s not something I can forget even if I wanted to.”

“Ugh! Even in my line of work, I never wear something that revealing!”

“Wait—your work involves wearing revealing outfits?”

“Don’t tell me… You haven’t realized who I am yet, Kujou-san?”

She tilted her head and looked at me,

Like the realization just dawned on her.

“You’re Rei-kun’s mom—Suzune-san… right?”

Was there supposed to be more to it than that?

“No, I mean—yes, but not just that! Oh man… is it because I’m bare-faced and wearing glasses? Did I lose all my aura…? Okay, look at me—really look at my face.”

“Uh, but didn’t you just say earlier not to stare because you weren’t wearing makeup?”

“That was then! Right now this is a matter of pride, so look properly!”

I wasn’t exactly sure what this was about,

But since Suzune-san told me to look, I stared at her face head-on.

She kept saying it was embarrassing because she wasn’t wearing makeup,

But even up close, without a hint of cosmetics,

Suzune-san had a really well-balanced, beautiful face.

It made sense, honestly.

If Rei was a pretty boy prince type,

Of course his mom would be a total beauty too.

But… huh?

Now that I was really looking at her—

Something about her face felt oddly familiar…

“Come closer. Take a better look.”

“Uh…”

Her voice when she said that had this strange, alluring tone to it,

And her eyes behind those glasses felt like they could pull me right in.

“What are you two doing, staring into each other’s eyes like that, ha?”

That ice-cold voice cut right through the moment, snapping me back to reality.

“R-Rei-kun!? Y-You’re back already?”

“I-It’s not what you think, Rei-chan! We were just having a little chat, that’s all!”

Before I realized it, Rei had silently returned to the living room,

And both I and Suzune-san panicked, quickly stepping apart and fumbling over our explanations.

I mean, we really weren’t doing anything wrong… but still.

“I gave you some space because it sounded like a serious adult conversation… and this is what I walk back into?”

A silently furious pretty boy is seriously terrifying…

So that’s it.

Rei must be super protective of his mom,

And now he’s mad because he thinks I’m trying to steal her.

“W-Wait, Rei-kun! I-It’s not what you think. I-I just thought Suzune-san’s face looked familiar, like I’d seen her somewhere before…”

“Well, duh. That’s because my mom is Kanon Hoshina. You’ve probably seen her in dramas or commercials.”

“…What!?”

While Rei looked at me like ‘you seriously didn’t notice?’,

I couldn’t help but stare at Suzune-san in shock.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kanon Hoshina—an actress.”

Taking full advantage of the moment, Suzune-san dramatically took off her glasses and flashed me a smug smile.

And just like that—

All the pieces clicked in my brain.

On the day of the train incident, I remembered catching a daytime talk show.

There’d been a sudden announcement that Kanon Hoshina had canceled her appearance…

So this was why.

“Wait, when I asked about her job, didn’t you just say it was something like freelance?”

“I just thought… if you knew my mom was Kanon, you’d end up more interested in her than in me…”

Rei muttered that with a small side glance in my direction.

“Aww, Rei-chan, don’t worry. If he’s someone important to you, I’d never dream of stealing him away.”

“Yeah right! You said the same thing back during that lesson, and then—!”

As the two of them dove into a noisy back-and-forth,

I found myself smiling quietly.

Thinking how nice it must be…

To have a family like this.