Chapter 14
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
Volume 1: First Performance: A Tragic Love Story Of A Young Lady And Spring Cherry Blossoms
Chapter 14: A Cross-Dressing Boy Caused A Gyaru To Fall In Love At First Sight
After encountering a mysterious girl with orange hair and reluctantly buying a cup of “Natto Ramen” from a vending machine after some commotion, I rejoined Honoka and her friends, and the four of us sat down for lunch.
Honoka’s two friends—Hina and Hanako—turned out to be very kind students with good personalities once I started talking to them.
Hina Kasuga, a first-year in the talent and model course, had a flashy blonde appearance but was actually friendly and easy to talk to.
Hanako Sato, a self-proclaimed true ancestor vampire who also worked as a Vtuber, was a first-year in the voice acting course and suffered from chūnibyō (delusions of grandeur).
It seemed these two had been friends with Honoka since middle school.
As I watched the three of them chatting warmly, I felt a sense of a strong bond between them, one that outsiders couldn’t easily intrude upon.
Seeing them like this made me unconsciously recall my own middle school friends.
(Shogo, Class Rep… I wonder how they’re doing.)
I submitted my leave of absence to my previous school just the day before yesterday, on Saturday, so Shogo and the Class Rep were probably surprised today when they heard about my absence.
I still feel really bad for not being able to explain the details to them before today.
But, I couldn’t exactly tell them that I was cross-dressing and attending an all-girls’ school…
What would have been the right thing to say?
…Family circumstances… might have been the best way to put it?
As I was mulling over how to explain things to my friends the next time I saw them, Hina, who was sitting across from me, called out with a puzzled expression.
“Hmm? What’s wrong, Kaede? Why are you suddenly looking off into the distance?”
“Oh, no, it’s nothing. Watching how close you all are reminded me of my middle school friends… I just got a little nostalgic.”
“Your friends… I’m sure they’re all polite, graceful, and beautiful, just like you, right? I can totally picture it!”
Honoka-chan, the girl with the bun hairstyle, put her hand to her cheek and looked at me with sparkling eyes from the seat beside me.
Please, don’t look at me with those pure eyes… My friends include guys who’d place photo books of gravure idols on their desks first thing in the morning… They’re nothing like the decent friends you’re imagining—well, actually, there’s the Class Rep. She’s serious and polite. That strict braid-wearing girl might meet Honoka-chan’s standards, yeah.
As I pictured the braid-wearing girl who always seemed to be angry in my head, Hina spoke to me in a gentle tone.
“Kaede… You don’t have to look so lonely!! You’ve got us at this school, after all! Right, Hanako!?”
“I’m not Hanako; I’m Francesca. Well, yes. Having a beautiful girl like Kaede by my side would certainly benefit me somehow. Very well. I’ll allow you to join Francesca’s party. I won’t expel you for being useless. Consider it a privilege.”
The bob-haired girl, Hanako Sato, said this while flashing a peace sign with an expressionless face.
Seeing this, Hina sighed in exasperation and placed her hand on her forehead, then smiled at me.
“Honestly, this chūnibyō girl… Anyway, we’ll be looking out for you, Kaede! Oh, by the way, you have Rain, right?”
“Oh, yes, of course I do.”
“Alright, then let’s exchange codes now! Let’s create a group chat for the four of us! Yay!”
Hina, who winked at me with her phone in hand, nodded, and I took out my phone from my pocket and launched Rain.
I displayed the QR code and handed my phone to Hina.
“Here it is. Go ahead, Hina-san.”
“Thanks! Friend registration complete! …Huh?”
“? Is something wrong?”
“Well, it seems like Kaede’s Rain header has a photo of a super handsome guy and a small, cute girl together… Who are they? Is that your boyfriend?”
“……………………………..Ah.”
What the hell am I doing?!
Why didn’t I update the header last night after changing the name to ‘Kaede’?!?!?!?!?!
Even though it’s a treasured photo of me and Rurika-chan at the amusement park, I should have anticipated this and changed it to a different photo beforehand!!
Why am I making such a rookie mistake?! Idiot, idiot! I’m such an idiot!!
“Hm? But this person has blonde hair and blue eyes… Oh, I get it! It’s your brother, right, Kaede?!”
Hina had a look on her face like a light bulb had just gone off above her head.
I froze for a moment at her words, then hurriedly nodded several times.
“Y-Yes! That’s right, Hina-san! The person in that photo is my brother!”
“I knew it! But… your brother is super hot… What’s with that physique, that small face… Hmm, this is bad, he might totally be my type… Hey, Kaede, if you ever have time, could you introduce me to your brother? See if he’s interested in a high school model!”
“In-Introduce him?! W-Well, my brother is very busy… He doesn’t have much free time… Ahahaha…”
“Hmm, really? He’s busy, huh.”
Hina sighed with a thoughtful expression as she stared at her phone.
I glanced at her and quickly operated my phone, replacing the header with a safe image—a random picture of a black cat I found online.
With that, I somehow managed to avoid disaster.
I had already deleted the images I’d posted on my timeline, and I’d erased my connections with old friends on Rain.
This should cover everything.
As I looked at the now clean Rain account, I let out a sigh of relief.
“Onee-sama! Please exchange codes with me too!”
“Oh, yes, of course, Honoka-san. Here you go.”
“Wow, I’m so happy!! Okay, let me scan your QR code right away—”
“Wait, Kaede-san. There’s something about you that has been bothering me a lot.”
Suddenly, Hanako glared at me with sharp eyes.
Startled by her intense demeanor, I swallowed nervously and quietly asked.
“S-Something that’s been bothering you…?”
W-What? Could it be that she figured out I’m a guy?!
Hanako started emanating an aura that seemed like it should be accompanied by sound effects, like a Stand user.
I hesitantly spoke up again.
“W-What is it, Hanako-san…?”
“Francesca. …Ahem.”
“Y-Yes…”
“That… is going to stretch.”
“Stretch?”
Her gaze was fixed on the natto ramen in front of me, which I had poured hot water into and covered.
Hanako spoke with a somewhat restless tone while looking at the ramen.
“I’ve been wondering what that tastes like. This Francesca-san wouldn’t mind if you shared some with me, O Blue-eyed One.”
“If it’s just a little… yes, that’s fine.”
So, she was staring at the ramen…
She had such intense eyes that I thought for sure she had discovered my true identity… I was freaking out.
After that, I successfully exchanged Rain codes with both Honoka and Hanako, and we had a light chat.
Then, as the bell tolled, signaling the end of lunch, our meal came to an end.
Incidentally, according to Hanako, the natto ramen was “delicious.”
As for me, it was… pretty underwhelming. It was just overwhelmingly smelly… yeah.
