Chapter 44

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

Chapter 44: A Cross-Dressing Boy Is Troubled By The Issue Of Bullying

From Akane Tsukishiro’s Point Of View

“Ugh. This morning has been really depressing… Just thinking about having to clean up that mess of a locker is just so painful.”

Muttering to myself, I arrived at the entrance and stood in front of my locker. Gathering my resolve, I opened the locker, but… the mess from yesterday was nowhere to be found.

“Huh? W-Why…?”

Inside the shoe cabinet, my clean loafers (Shoes) were sitting there, but the garbage I had seen yesterday was nowhere to be found.

As I stood there, bewildered by the scene, I suddenly overheard a conversation between some female students behind me.

“Hey, hey! I just saw it! Senpai Ginjou was holding Kaede-sama’s hand!”

“What!? Really!? Does that mean those two are… you know… in that kind of relationship?”

“I don’t know, but… from the outside, they look like a beautiful couple, and the perfect match! Well, Senpai Ginjou is a girl, isn’t she…? So…a beautiful girl and a beautiful girl…? Anyway, they’re the best couple at Hananomiya Girls’ Academy!”

The first-year girls from other departments passed by me, chatting away with a sense of excitement.

It’s strange that they can get so excited over a couple between two girls.

Well, whatever. It doesn’t concern me whether Kaede Kisaragi is involved with some random person.

“…A couple, huh…”

But still, Fuuma doesn’t have a girlfriend right now, does he?

N-Not that I care about his love life or anything, but as his childhood friend, I can’t help but be a little curious.

Well… but he’s good looking, but a bit gloomy, right?

He probably gives off such a strong non-dating vibe that he doesn’t have a girlfriend, or even female friends.

I’m probably the only one who could potentially be his girlfriend as his childhood friend!

Yeah, that’s good—Wait, what am I thinking!? It sounds like I want to be his girlfriend!

Don’t be ridiculous!! I’m Akane Tsukishiro, a top actress!!

He should be the one falling for me and begging to date me!!

“..Uh….Sigh. Seriously, even though we met after so long, he didn’t even blush once yesterday. It’s so frustrating.”

Couldn’t he at least have blushed a little? I mean, I’m a popular young actress, you know?

And yet, I suddenly showed up at his house and… w-what’s the deal with not making a move!?

At least ask for my contact details, you insensitive blockhead!!

I changed into the spare loafers (Shoes) I had brought with me and slammed the locker shut in frustration.

The fact that the locker had been cleaned up was a mystery, but… maybe a teacher found it and took care of it.

It’s too much trouble to think about it now, so I’ll just leave it at that.

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From Kaede Kisaragi’s Point Of View

“…They got us.”

Standing in front of Akane’s desk in the middle of the classroom, I frowned.

Akane’s desk was covered with nasty graffiti, making it a pitiful sight.

This must have been done by the same culprits from the bullying incident the other day.

I thought they would only target her locker, but I didn’t expect them to go after her desk too.

I didn’t see that coming.

I underestimated those guys a bit…

“Kaede Kisaragi? What are you doing in front of my desk?”

A voice called out from behind me, and when I turned around, there stood Akane.

She frowned in discomfort as she looked at the graffiti on her desk.

“My desk…”

“T-Tsukishiro-san… I swear I didn’t do this! The desk was already in this state when I entered the classroom earlier.”

“Of course, I know that without you telling me. After all, yesterday, you stayed late after school practicing with me. Judging by the handwriting, this graffiti is from the same culprit who did the locker yesterday. I know you didn’t do it.”

After flashing a small smile at me, Akane directed a sharp gaze at the entire classroom.

Then, she raised her voice for everyone to hear.

“I don’t know who did this, but you’ve got some nerve. You’re a coward who can’t even confront me face-to-face. Did you think something like this would break me? Don’t underestimate me!”

“T-Tsukishiro-san…? Provoking the culprit might make things worse…”

“Kaede Kisaragi, stay quiet. This is a fight that was brought to me. It has nothing to do with you.”

After glaring at me, Akane turned to the drama students and spoke again.

“Whoever wrote this graffiti must not like me, but I’ll definitely make sure the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ play is a success no matter what. I have… an important responsibility to fulfill. So something like this won’t stop me. No matter what you do, I won’t break. You’re no match for me.”

Akane’s purple eyes shone with a strong light, a stark contrast to the timid demeanor she showed the other day. It seemed her mental state had recovered somewhat.

However… if this bullying continues for the two weeks until the actual performance, even someone as strong as her will likely suffer mentally.

Bullying, no matter how mentally strong one is, can be incredibly hard to endure.

I know this all too well from the relentless harassment I faced during middle school because of my striking appearance.

I know better than anyone how difficult it is to endure bullying.

“Oh, good morning, Onee-sama~. …? The atmosphere in the classroom feels tense. Did something happen?”

Honoka, who had just arrived, stopped at the entrance of the classroom, tilting her head in confusion as she looked around. Then, she slowly approached us.

For now… it looks like Akane is on a path to becoming isolated in this classroom.

She’s always been a lone wolf, so it’s not surprising, but the situation where she’s being bullied and disliked by her classmates is definitely not good for her school life.

That prickly girl may have an aggressive attitude, but she’s not a bad person inside… but getting others to understand that is going to be tough.

She even went so far as to provoke the bullies, so there are plenty of problems to deal with when it comes to Akane’s situation.

After letting out a big sigh, I walked over to Honoka and greeted her with a good morning.