Chapter 167 Principal's Determination

Principal’s Determination

Ai’s PoV

The principal asked me to take a seat.

Normally, since I left the classroom and came here, I was a little prepared to be warned, but my fears were unfounded.

“Aren’t you angry, Principal?”

I dare to ask.

“There must be something important you want to discuss with me, even if you have to leave the class. Normally, I would give you a warning, but considering that you are the one who came. I think it’s something serious.”

“Thank you. It’s about the bullying problem that the soccer team was leading…”

When I said that, he nodded.

“I see, you’ve been looking into it. I heard about you from Minami-san. Also, about you and Aono-kun.”

“Yes, I owe him a debt of gratitude. I think the Literature Club he was a member of is probably involved in the bullying as well. The Literature Club bullied him by disposing of his manuscripts and personal belongings without permission.”

“Yes. The school is investigating it too. Of course, the parties involved are playing dumb.”

“I’m sure they are. But I also heard that the police have some evidence. I have a little connection with them. I’ll report to you as soon as I know something. This is a summary of the information I’ve been able to confirm so far…”

I gave the principal a copy of the report that Kuroi had written for me.

“Hmm…”

Slowly, he turned the pages. This should help the investigation into the literature club.

“And there is one more thing I would like to ask you…”

The principal looks at me, a little surprised. Of course, it’s like he was told there’s a bigger problem than this report, so it’s natural for him to be surprised.

“Let’s hear it…”

“Thank you, it’s actually about a friend of mine named Hayashi in the same class. She used to be a member of a literature club, but she got fed up with this bullying problem and decided to quit the club. She just received this threatening message from an anonymous account on her SNS…”

When I showed him a screenshot of the screen, the principal seemed to have a sense of rejection, even frowning.

“This is terrible. From the circumstantial evidence, it’s definitely someone from the literature club. This is almost a confession…”

“Maybe they thought that if they blackmailed the feeble-minded girl, it wouldn’t get out.”

“Okay, I get it. If the teacher goes public, the threats could escalate. We have to start protecting Hayashi-san. I’ll let her homeroom teacher know. I’ll also ask other teachers to supervise her and the students in the Literature Club. As for you, I would like to ask you to stay with Hayashi-san so that she is not alone until everything is settled…”

As I thought, he handled the situation well. I’m glad I consulted him.

“Yes.”

I’ll try to stay with Hayashi-san as long as possible. If possible, I would like to get help from people I can trust, Eiji-senpai’s friends. If they are the ones who haven’t betrayed Senpai in his bad situation, I can trust them with Hayashi-san; ask Imai-senpai and Endo-senpai to help her…

“Still…it’s a shame that the true intentions of the teacher cannot be conveyed to the students. While bullying is a crime and there are lines that should not be crossed, it still happens. If a second incident has occurred despite previous warnings, we will not tolerate that either. We will try to resolve this case as soon as possible so that Hayashi-san doesn’t have to bear any more emotional burden…”

“Best regards, please…Sensei.”

As I was about to leave after the meeting, the principal stopped me with a soft voice.

“Ichijo-san. I’m well aware of your excellence and your circumstances. But you’re still a high school student. You can’t be too hard on yourself. That’s the school’s job. I really appreciate the support you gave Aono-kun and Hayashi-san. Without you, we would have regretted it for the rest of our lives. But just as importantly, we don’t want you to get hurt. We’re so happy that you trust us…”

I feel like I’m about to explode with emotion. I’m a woman who, until recently, was about to die because I couldn’t trust anyone.

I knew he knew about my circumstances and was warm and supportive. But still…I think my cold heart slowly melted when I saw the adults rushing to help my Senpai this time.

The principal is really prepared. If it’s such a big deal…someone might have to take the blame. If that happens, he is willing to take the blame himself without question.

How can he live with that kind of passion? It’s such a different way of living from the dirty adults I have seen.

When I thought about what words to say, these words came naturally,

“I’m glad to meet an adult I can respect…”