Chapter 17: Bias and Biases

"Yes?" Hajime asked, wondering why the familiar girl called out to him.

In response, the girl flinched, the shook her head. "Um... n-never mind!" She squealed, closing her eyes before running away in the opposite direction.

"What's her deal?" Hajime scratched his head in confusion as he went on his way to his homeroom teacher's office.

When Hajime entered the room, he was surprised that there was a crowd inside. He almost couldn't get a glimpse of their homeroom teacher due to how cramped the room was. The five college students were present, not to mention their moms and dads as well. Hajime snickered, he didn't want to brag but he was the only one who didn't bring a parent to the meeting. He wondered whether such a thing is worth bragging about or not but after recalling what happened three days ago, he wondered if it was really worth having parents that don't even supervise their children. 'They may be college students but they have the brain of a five-year-old.' Hajime told himself, taking a seat in the corner of the room while everyone stared at him with contempt.

"There he is!" One of them screamed, pointing a finger at Satoshi as if he just committed a crime.

Hajime quietly sat on one of the empty chairs, knowing that if he reacted disagreeably at the commotion, things would just aggravate. Thinking about it, the meeting may seem disadvantageous for him on the surface, but in reality, it's not. He just had to play his cards right.

'He's here, I thought he's not coming.' Akamine-sensei sighed in relief. Her expression didn't change at all however since she wanted to maintain the strong front she displayed in front of everyone. As for Hajime, he briefly caught Akamine-sensei's gentle smile and that's more than enough to assure him that she was on his side, not the college students. At the end of the day, a homeroom teacher would still be biased toward his/her own student, regardless of how troublesome they are.

A few seconds later, the principal entered the office and the meeting finally formally commenced.

As Akamine-sensei cleared her throat, she stared daggers at Hajime, implying that she was serious about the meeting. Her soft and gentle nature was nonexistent, causing Hajime to stiffen his shoulders while waiting for her to speak. The others had the same reaction too.

"Can you explain everything that happened, Hajime?" She simply asked.

There were three routes that Hajime could choose right off the bat. One, he could play it off as a victim and say that he was the one who was attacked first. Two, he could play it off as the innocent one and say that he didn't know what happened. Or three, he could play it off as the bad guy and say— no one would believe five college students lost against a single high schooler. All three wouldn't put Hajime in the bad spot but the reactions of the parents would differ in every option. In a split second, Hajime made up his mind and decided to play it off as the innocent one. "I'm really sorry sensei, I... I didn't know what happened. I got hit with a bat on the back of my head and I fell unconscious. When I came to I was already in the hospital." Hajime continued.

"But these kids... or rather, young men, they said you were the one who attacked them first. Was that true?" Akamine-sensei asked.

Hajime wore a surprised expression on his face, totally getting into his innocent persona. "No, they were the ones who attacked me first. I got hit on the stomach, then at the back with a bat. When I tried to flee the scene he hit me at the back of my head."

"Are you telling me that my son attacked you first?" One of the moms exclaimed. Hajime concluded that she was the mom of the delinquent-looking guy. "Do you think we'd believe lies coming out of a troublemaker's mouth? How dare you try to push the blame on my child."

'With how your son looks, I'd be more surprised if I attacked him first.' Hajime said to himself as the mom tried to grab him by the collar. Akamine-sensei was quicker to react, however, and she managed to get in between Hajime and the old lady.

"Ma'am, I will not tolerate such violence in my office." Akamine-sensei calmly responded. Her eyes were filled with rage however as if she was ready to beat the living daylights out of the lady any minute now.

"Then who broke my son's leg?!" Another mom raised her voice.

"Should we believe one high school student when five of our sons said the same thing?" Another dad said. "Ma'am, we don't want to cause any trouble, but if he decides to settle and pay all our hospital bills, we'll be willing to overlook the cover he caused."

"Don't be like that man, you're willing to overlook our son's injuries by just a settlement? How about their psychological damage? They might even need therapy."

'What's wrong with these people?' Hajime asked himself. "Look, I'm sorry, but I'm not the one who did that to your sons. I... I was the one who almost died due to hemorrhage, and the bat that did me in was your son's bat. That's proof enough that he hit me or in the least responsible for my injuries. As for me, you don't have proof that I hit them. I'm the victim here."

"You dare frame, my son?!" This time, it was the dad who tried to grab Hajime by the collar but the principal stepped forward and got in the way. He cleared his throat, then stared at Hajime from head to toe. "Hajime, did you bring your hospital records?"

Hajime nodded, handing the papers to the principal. After scanning it for a few seconds, he cleared his throat for a second time and spoke. "It's true, there was a small chance he could've died from a hemorrhage. And based on one of the witnesses, it was your son who hit Hajime first. We'd rather believe an eyewitness than the account of both parties."

"We demand a meeting with his parents. Do you think we'll just turn a blind eye to this?! We also brought our son's hospital records! My son even broke his leg!" The dad continued. It was clear that everyone's fuse was hitting its limit.

"I'm sorry, I'm not asking you to settle." Hajime suddenly spoke up. "I'm the victim here, let me just say that out loud. But all I'm asking you is to kindly leave and not cause any more trouble for the principal and my teacher."

"How dare you!" One of the moms said. Hajime doesn't know whose mom she belongs to but she was rather violent, just like everyone else. It was obvious where their sons got their violent and twisted nature.

Somehow, no matter how much Akamine-sensei and the principal explained, the parents were fully convinced that it was Hajime who initially caused trouble and that their sons didn't even commit the slightest of violence. Hajime was nowhere near out of the situation.

"Then how would you explain my son's injury? "

"Their story matches up, how could you not believe them?"

"If you don't settle then I'll... "

Slam!

The door to Akamine-sensei's office suddenly slammed open, causing everyone to turn their heads as momentary silence filled the room. Even Akamine-sensei was shocked since she wasn't expecting a visitor this time around. However, that commotion did provide a little bit of quiet, which gave Akamine-sensei and the principal a room to breathe.

"Oi, Hajime!" The voice then called out as a familiar figure entered the room, followed by another girl who sheepishly walked behind.