Chapter 54
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Volume 1: First Performance: A Tragic Love Story Of A Young Lady And Spring Cherry Blossoms
Chapter 54: The Cross-Dressing Boy Reforms His Fans
The school bell rang, signaling the start of the day. After parting ways with Hanako in the courtyard, I hurried towards the first-year acting class.
I dashed up the stairs to the third floor and somehow managed to reach the acting classroom.
Looking around the classroom, I noticed that our homeroom teacher, Ms. Maria, hadn’t arrived yet.
With a sigh of relief, I greeted a few classmates and took my seat.
Then, Honoka, who was sitting in a seat ahead of me, turned around and gave me a smile.
“Good morning, Onee-sama. You’re quite late today, aren’t you?”
“Good morning, Honoka-san. Yes, I had a little business to discuss with Hanako-san.”
“With Hanako-chan…?”
Honoka blinked in surprise and tilted her head curiously.
Since she’s in the voice acting department, she and I don’t have many opportunities to interact.
She must have found it strange.
After clearing my throat, I shifted my gaze to the center of the classroom—towards a certain seat.
“It seems… Tsukishiro-san isn’t here today.”
“That’s right~. She was absent yesterday too~. I wonder if something happened?”
“Who knows…”
After all, given what happened yesterday, there’s no way she could recover in just a day…
But in two days, we’ll be performing ‘Romeo and Juliet’.
I hope she recovers by then… I wonder if she’ll be okay…
“Good morning, everyone~. I’m going to take attendance now~.”
The door slid open, and Ms. Maria entered the classroom, greeting everyone with a cheerful smile.
I decided to put Akane out of my mind for now and focused on attending the morning homeroom.
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“I-I’m so sorry, Onee-sama!!!!!!”
As soon as the first period ended.
I knew they would rush over to me during the break because they had been glancing at me during class, but… as soon as after the end-of-class bell rang, Suzuka Miyauchi and her group of girls ran up to me and deeply bowed their heads.
I looked at them and quietly spoke.
“You’re apologizing to the wrong person. The one you should be apologizing to is Akane Tsukishiro, not me.”
“We know. We did something terrible to Tsukishiro-san… But we need to apologize to you too, Onee-sama!! We’re fans of Kaede, Onee-sama, and yet we… We got carried away and ended up bullying Akane-san…!”
The classroom suddenly went silent at that loud voice, and all of our classmates began to turn their attention towards us.
Even Ms. Maria, who was standing at the podium, about to head to her next class, but she stopped in her tracks and turned to face us.
…I didn’t really want to do anything that would attract attention, but…I guess it can’t be helped in this case.
I refocused my gaze on Miyauchi and her group, speaking again.
“That’s true. Even though it was something you created on your own… every time you act recklessly, my name gets tarnished. To be honest… your foolish behavior has caused me a lot of trouble.”
“Sniff… Yes, y-you’re right…”
Miyauchi replied through her tears.
The other group of girls were also crying, their faces contorted with emotion.
Then, still looking sad, with a determined look on her face… Miyauchi met my eyes and spoke.
“T-That’s why we’ve decided to leave the Kaede Kisaragi Fan Club today. We can’t trouble you any more than this, Onee-sama… So…”
“There’s no need for you to quit. I… forgive you.”
“Huh…?”
I stood up from my seat and looked her in the eye from up close.
Then, tilting my head slightly, I smiled.
“You’ve genuinely reflected on your mistake and are willing to apologize to Tsukishiro-san. Everyone makes mistakes at some point in their lives. So… why not be more careful in the future? As representatives of my fan club, I expect you to grow into wonderful women in the future.”
When I said that and added a wink to my words, for some reason, Suzuka Miyauchi clasped her hands as if in prayer, her eyes sparkling with adoration.
“O-Onee-sama…!! I-I will follow you forever!! I will support you, Kaede-sama, for the rest of my life!!!!!!”
“Me too! I admire you, Kaede, Onee-sama!”
“Ah, t-that’s unfair, Takatsuki-san!! I adore Onee-sama more!!”
Just when I thought I’d managed to wrap things up neatly… Miyauchi and her friends began arguing over who admired me the most.
As I gave them a slightly exasperated smile, I overheard the voices of my classmates around me.
“C-Could it be… Kisaragi-san solved the bullying problem?”
“Recently, those girls had been so obvious toward Tsukishiro-san. But Kisaragi-san resolved it in just a few days.”
“As expected of Kaede Kisaragi, the most influential first-year. It’s no wonder she’s called that.”
The rumors about me started circulating around the classroom.
Among them, I caught a particular conversation.
“Hey, hey, I heard from someone this morning that Kaede, Onee-sama made some delinquent second-year students bow their heads. Is that true?”
“No way… That’s definitely a rumor. I mean, those notorious second-years must be Okunosaka-senpai and her group, right? I heard they’re infamous for hanging out with bad boys from other schools. There’s no way a first-year, who’s only just started school, could handle such terrible people.”
“But still, if Kaede, Onee-sama really did take down those delinquents right after entering… wouldn’t that be super cool? Like, secretly being really strong despite having a cute face.”
“You’ve been reading too much manga. And when did you start calling her Kaede, Onee-sama?”
“Huh? Since today? I’ve decided to join her fan club too!”
“……”
It seems that the events of this morning were witnessed by other students as well.
For someone like me, aiming to be the school’s poster girl in the acting department, rumors of me taking down delinquents aren’t exactly welcome.
I was careless. I’ll have to be even more mindful of my surroundings from now on.
“Wah… I don’t really understand, but Onee-sama, you’re amazing~. Your fans all look so happy~.”
Honoka called out from her seat in front… Happy…?
Even now, Miyauchi and her group are still fighting over who admires me the most… Does that look happy to you? Honoka-chan? To me, it looks like a very tense situation…
“Well… I guess this is fine.”
The bullying issue was resolved, and now the only thing left is the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ performance, which is just two days away.
In this play, I, as Kaede Kisaragi, will be giving it my all and facing off against Akane.
Though I’m dealing with the challenge of the yips… I’ve already made up my mind.
This play will be something truly remarkable (Amazing).