The Handsome Boy I Saved from Getting Beaten on the Train… Turned Out to Be the “Prince” of an All-Girls School - V2 Chapter 02: So, This Is a Story About a Friend…

Chapter 02: So, This Is a Story About a Friend…

“Ahh… The sky looks so nice today.”

There’s just something about those big, fluffy summer clouds.

I could stare at them forever and not get bored.

“Kujou-dono… I must ask you to stop dragging me out under the blue sky whenever you feel like escaping reality.”

Lying next to me on the grass, staring up at the same sky, was Nakajou-san—who was clearly not thrilled about this little hangout.

“C’mon, don’t say that. I don’t have anyone else wise enough to talk to, Nakajou-san.”

“My area of expertise is in the emotional intricacies of male friendships, thank you very much. You relying on me for love advice is like asking a barber to perform heart surgery.”

Okay, yeah, fair…

But still, I really didn’t have anyone else I could talk to about this kind of stuff.

What about my childhood friends back home?

No way.

If you start talking about crushes or relationships in that countryside town, the neighborhood aunties would find out in less than five seconds. Hard pass.

“So, um… this is a story about a friend, okay?”

“Kujou-dono, you don’t have friends. You don’t need to sugarcoat it at this point.”

“Gah—! I-I do! I’ve got plenty… back in my hometown!”

And just like that, I immediately clung to the very friends I mentally discarded a moment ago.

Humans really are weak creatures.

“So? What’s this friend of yours dealing with, exactly?”

Despite all the complaining, Nakajou-san shifted slightly, ready to hear me out.

“Thanks, oh wise one. That’s why I love you, Nakajou-san.”

“…Please never say that in front of Nishino-dono. I’d like to keep my life, if it’s all the same to you.”

Nakajou-san grimaced like she just bit into a lemon, clearly not amused.

But honestly, the fact that she had zero romantic interest in me made her the perfect person to talk to about stuff like this.

Yep—definitely going to keep relying on her from now on.

“Okay, so here’s the situation. There’s this friend, right? And at his school, he’s got this girl he’s close with. But now she’s saying she’s gonna stay over at his place during summer break and just won’t take no for an answer. How can he talk her out of it?”

“Oho~ That’s quite the bold move from Nishino-dono, isn’t it?”

“Wait, hey! Nakajou-san… Friend’s story, remember? No names, please.”

I mean, yeah, I knew full well that Nakajou-san could see straight through me.

But still, this was one of those awkward topics.

I needed to at least pretend it wasn’t about me so I could get through the conversation.

“Alright, alright. So, how did this friend of yours respond?”

“Well, come on… Obviously it’s a no, right? I mean, a guy and girl staying the night together before marriage? No way…”

“My, my… Kujou-dono, you’re more old-fashioned than I expected. Like someone from a noble bloodline.”

“…N-No, not really.”

“Ah, so if she offers herself on a silver platter, you’ll gladly dig in?”

“Why are my only options monk or degenerate!?”

Why is it always zero or a hundred with this girl!?

“But that’s the real question here, isn’t it? Whether she wants something to happen or not. For a girl, staying over at a guy’s house—it all comes down to that.”

“Wait… seriously?”

“Nishino-dono—err, I mean, your friend’s female friend… ahh, forget it, this is too much work! So this girl—she’s the one who said she wants to sleep over, right?”

“Yeah. I mean, my friend tried to say no, but she totally steamrolled him… that’s what he told me!”

“Got it. Classic silver-platter situation. If he makes a move, he’s got a 1000% chance of success.”

Don’t give me a thumbs-up like that, oh wise one.

“Wait, what the heck is a ‘1000% success rate’ supposed to mean?”

“It means that after the first round ends, there’ll be a ‘rematch please’ waiting right after.”

“Like hell he’s gonna go ten rounds in one night!”

Even if I’m a high schooler, that’d straight-up kill me!

Not that I’m planning to do any of that, just to be clear!

“…Speaking of which, where is Nishino-dono today? You two usually go home together after school.”

“She said she’s going shopping for the sleepover—getting stuff ready ahead of time.”

“Makes sense. A lady needs time to prepare.”

“Isn’t that kind of overkill for a one-night stay? It’s not like we’re going on a school trip.”

“Ah, but for a maiden, she wants to look as perfect as possible for her first time. And considering how well-off the Nishino family is… She’s probably booking some fancy express spa treatment and comparing premium lingerie as we speak.”

“Oh. So that’s the direction this is going…”

Girls really go through a lot, huh…

Meanwhile, guys like me can barely manage to clean their rooms at best.

That said, while I was floating away in a light daze of reality avoidance, the situation was actually kind of urgent.

“Hey, Nakajou-san… what do you think I should do?”

“Kujou-dono… you’ve completely dropped the whole ‘this is a story about a friend’ act, haven’t you? Well, I suppose the moment you came crawling to me, any illusion of composure was already gone.”

“Because I don’t have anyone else but you! Don’t abandon me!”

“That’s exactly the kind of thing that gives people the wrong idea! I’m just a piece of straw floating in the river—grab on all you want, but I’ll sink right along with you!”

Don’t worry, Nakajou-san.

Have some faith in yourself.

If we’re sinking, we’ll sink together.

As we kept bickering, both of us still sprawled out on the grass, something suddenly blocked the sunlight from my face.

“What are you two doing, goofing around in this heat?”

“Oh, hey, Tsuyoshi— I mean, Mr. Neya. Hello.”

“Oho, greetings, Professor Neya-dono. By the way, this upward angle of us gazing at our homeroom teacher from the grass? Super emotional. I’m totally using it for a winter comic panel.”

“…Nakajou, you really never make any sense, do you?”

Our homeroom teacher—and “cousin” of mine on paper—Tsuyoshi-nii looked down at us with his usual exasperated expression.

“Nyahaha! Neya-dono, wanna lie down in the grass with us and soak up some youth~?”

“I’ll pass. More importantly—Kujou. That prince of yours is waiting at the front gate again.”

“Geh—! It’s that late already?!”

Since it takes Rei a little while to get here after school ends at her own campus, I’d been using that time to get advice from my ever-wise consultant, Nakajou-san.

“You were just pouring your heart out to me about Nishino-dono a second ago, and now you’ve switched gears to the prince like it’s nothing. Truly impressive adaptability, Kujou-dono. You have a gift.”

“Where did we go so wrong raising this kid…”

With Nakajou-san’s not-so-subtle backhanded compliment and Tsuyoshi-nii’s weary sigh stabbing into my spine,

I took off in a hurry toward the school gates.

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Since this was the beginning of Volume 2, it’s mostly reintroducing characters and catching up.

Starting with Chapter 3, we’ll jump right into some sweet, flirty moments with Rei!

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