Chapter 38

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Volume 1: First Performance: A Tragic Love Story Of A Young Lady And Spring Cherry Blossoms

Chapter 38: A Cross-Dressing Boy Examines His Father’s Background

After the commotion where I was forced to grudgingly let Hinata and Hanako’s “Kaede Kisaragi Fan Club” slide due to Karen.

After lunch, Honoka and I headed to the practice building for our afternoon acting class.

As we crossed the connecting passage and walked down the hallway, Honoka smiled at me and spoke up.

“――――――But still, you’re amazing, aren’t you, Onee-sama? A fan club in just three days… You’re not an ordinary person at all!”

I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I just forced a smile.

“To be honest, I’m just confused. I have no idea what it is about me that draws so much attention… I can’t figure it out at all.”

“What do you mean? You’re incredibly beautiful, kind, and strong enough to take down men… You’re a perfect human being with no flaws at all! You have everything that would attract attention!”

“I’m not that perfect. My grades are average, and I don’t think my communication skills are that great either.”

Plus, I’m a pervert who’s cross-dressing and infiltrating an all-girls school.

There’s no hope for me at all, being a cross-dressing pervert. That’s the worst possible score of minus five billion points.

“If you put it that way, it means you don’t have many flaws, right? After all, Onee-sama, you’re amazing!! I’m so happy that Kaede-sama has become my Onee-sama!! There’s no one else as wonderful as you!!”

Honoka looked at me with sparkling eyes.

As I smiled wryly at her, I noticed Kyoichiro standing at the entrance of the classroom.

When he saw me, he waved casually and greeted me.

“Hey, Kisaragi. Sorry about earlier in the restroom. Are you feeling better now?”

“Pigyaaw?!”

Honoka, surprised by the sight of Kyoichiro, lets out a strange shriek and hides behind me.

She’s still afraid of men, huh?

To calm her down, I smiled at her before turning back to Kyoichiro.

“Hello, Professor Yanagisawa. Yes, I’ve recovered enough to attend the afternoon class.”

Is it possible to recover from a period in just a few hours…? I wouldn’t know, since I’m a guy.

“I see. That’s good. I was scheduled to coach the two main roles from today. Without you as Juliet, I wouldn’t have been able to properly guide Tsukishiro. You’ve saved me.”

Kyoichiro smiled as he said this.

For now, from what I can see, there doesn’t seem to be any sign that he’s suspicious.

That’s probably because, like me, he’s also a guy who doesn’t understand the inner workings of a woman’s body.

“Phew,” I said, letting out a sigh of relief.

But then Kyoichiro suddenly called out to me with a serious look on his face.

“Hey, Kisaragi.”

“Yes, Professor Yanagisawa?”

“I couldn’t say it earlier because of the commotion… but I’m sorry about yesterday.”

“Huh?”

“I heard from Haruki. I heard you were abandoned by your parents in the past. It must have been painful to see a loving parent-child relationship right in front of you. I’m sorry.”

Kyoichiro scratched the back of his head as he apologized.

…Seriously. The parent who abandoned me is you, you jerk of a father.

Seeing him act as if it had nothing to do with him made my anger swell up inside me, just like yesterday――but it was the petite girl behind me who stopped me from losing my cool.

Despite her fear of Kyoichiro, Honoka was gripping my hand tightly, looking up at me with a worried expression.

Seeing her kind face somehow calmed me down.

I let out a short breath and shook my head from side to side.

Then, turning back to Kyoichiro, I smiled.

“No, Professor Yanagisawa, you have nothing to apologize for. I’m the one who should apologize for my rude behavior yesterday. Leaving so suddenly like that… I was impolite.”

“No… you didn’t do anything wrong. You’re still a kid, so it’s natural for you to long for your parents.”

Kyoichiro closed his eyes briefly and shrugged his shoulders.

Then, as he opened them, he gazed at me intently.

“…? Is something wrong? Why are you staring at my face…?”

“…You really do look like her.”

“Huh?”

“Yesterday, when I saw you angry, I felt like I was seeing my late wife furious at me. After that, I couldn’t shake this uneasy feeling.”

Kyoichiro let out a small, sad smile and continued.

“Well… I’m also a no-good guy, just like your parents. There’s no way Yuki wouldn’t be mad at me for not being there for my kids. I was a terrible husband and father.”

“What…?”

“Well, see you later, Kisaragi. Get ready, because I’m going to coach you hard starting today.”

With that, Kyoichiro turned his back and walked away.

The kids… he mentioned… Does he mean me and Rurika…?

“? Onee-sama, is something wrong? You have a scary look on your face…”

“…N-No, it’s nothing. Shall we go, Honoka-san?”

“Yes, let’s.”

Honoka and I stepped into the practice room together.

Why did Kyoichiro abandon Rurika and me?

And who exactly is Ginjo Haruki?

There are still so many mysteries… but for now, I need to focus on my training as Kaede Kisaragi.

The more I think about unnecessary things, the worse the quality of my acting will be.

Given that I’ve been out of practice for a long time, I need to train hard and quickly regain my previous skills.