Chapter 3
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Volume 2: The Demons Of The Hananomiya Family
Chapter 3: The Cross-Dressing Man Gets Hit On In The Morning.
“Ah, good morning, Onee-sama!”
“Good morning, Onee-sama! It’s a pleasure to see your beautiful face again today!”
As I climbed the slope leading to the school gate with Honoka, Hanako, and Hina, the students of Hananomiya Girls’ Academy greeted me in this manner.
Though confused, I bowed my head in greeting to them, which caused them to squeal and begin acting like fans chasing after an idol.
Witnessing this, I couldn’t help but let out a wry smile.
“… It seems there are even more people who adore me than before…”
Hearing my words, Hanako, who was standing next to me, nodded slightly, turned her gaze toward me, and spoke.
“It looks like your fan club grew thanks to your performance in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ three days ago. Isn’t that right, Miss Bitch?”
“Stop calling me ‘Bitch’! Yeah, the girls who came to see the play have joined as new members. Plus, thanks to that play, it seems like you’ve gained quite a few male fans too! Look, I’ve been getting all these messages from boys at other schools asking to be introduced to you, Kaede-chan. Isn’t that hilarious?”
Hina flashed her phone at me, grinning broadly.
Displayed on the screen were countless messages, most of which seemed like attempts to hit on me.
Feeling slightly overwhelmed by the sight, Hanako let out a creepy chuckle and spoke to me.
“Isn’t that wonderful, Blue-Eyed One? To think you’re this popular! Perhaps you should consider accepting one of these invitations? Kukuku…”
“Hanako-san? Could you please stop with that teasing already? Even I have my limits, you know?”
“Y-Yes, Hanako-chan! There’s no way Onee-sama would ever go on a date with some random boy! I absolutely won’t allow it! Besides… boys are scary, aren’t they?”
Saying this, Honoka clung to my arm, lowering her eyes in fear.
After staring intently at Honoka, Hanako looked up at my face with a blank expression.
I gave a troubled smile and shook my head.
[…I know, Hanako. I’m the worst kind of scumbag for deceiving Honoka like this.]
Kaede Kisaragi, whom Honoka admires, is just a man pretending to be someone he’s not.
It would be a lie to say I didn’t feel guilty about deceiving her.
So, the right thing to do would be to distance myself from Honoka and quietly fade out of this group.
But… as Honoka’s “Onee-sama”, I couldn’t bring myself to reject her so coldly.
Even though I knew that the closer I stayed to Honoka, the more I would end up hurting her.
Yet, despite knowing this, I still couldn’t bring myself to push her away.
Even though I knew what was right, I couldn’t harden my heart enough to act on it.
“…What a pathetic person I am. I know full well that if things continue like this, I’ll end up hurting Honoka-san…”
“Huh? Onee-sama? Is something wrong?”
Honoka looked up at me with a puzzled expression.
I smiled at her and shifted my gaze forward.
“No, it’s nothing, Honoka-san. Come on, let’s go to school.”
“Yes!”
Hanako stared at me with a meaningful look, but I didn’t react to her gaze.
As Kaede Kisaragi, I simply continued to walk up the hill with my friends, Honoka and Hina.
When we reached the school gate, there was a crowd gathered there.
Wondering what it could be, I tilted my head in curiosity, and a man stepped out from the crowd, pushing through.
The young man, dressed in a black suit with a wolf cut hairstyle, walked up to me and smiled confidently.
“―――――So, you’re Kaede Kisaragi?”
“Yes, but… who are you?”
“Huh? You don’t know who I am? That’s surprising. I thought all girls knew who I am…”
He scratched the back of his head, then looked down at me and snorted.
“My name is Akira Kuroshiki. Last year, I won the Best Actor Award at the Japan Academy Awards.”
“Akira Kuroshiki… Wait, Akira Kuroshiki!?”
I found myself staring at him in disbelief.
A small face, thick, well-defined eyebrows, sharp eyes, and a face that combined both a masculine and wild appeal.
There was no mistaking it. This man was a top-tier young actor in Japan.
He was the son of the legendary Kabuki actor, Murakumo Fujinosuke.
“W-Why is Akira Kuroshiki here…?”
As I muttered in shock, Akira Kuroshiki put his hand on his chin and stared at me intently.
“So, this is the actress who gave that mysterious performance as Juliet. Seeing you up close, you don’t seem to have any presence at all, but… there are rare cases where someone’s demeanor changes when they start acting. You might be one of those types.”
“Uh, excuse me…?”
“Whatever. Hey, how about you skip school today and come hang out with me?”
Saying this, Akira Kuroshiki grabbed my right arm.
Startled by his sudden action, I stiffened, while Honoka, looking frightened, and Hina, looking furious, pulled me away from Kuroshiki’s grasp and stepped in front of me.
“Please let go of Onee-sama!”
“Yeah! What do you think you’re doing, grabbing a girl’s hand like that out of nowhere!? That’s super creepy!!”
“Tch, so noisy… Shut up, you worthless, ugly bastards, stop barking so loudly.”
“W-What did you just say!?”
Furious, Hina confronted Akira Kuroshiki.
In response, Akira Kuroshiki shot her a sharp glare.
Under his piercing gaze, Hina involuntarily froze.
That gaze… it was similar to the sharp look actors give when performing in kabuki.
It was a gaze that an ordinary actor could never produce.
It was clearly a gaze that held the same power as seasoned actors, one that could overwhelm and silence an audience with just a look.
[…Everyone from a kabuki background has eyes like that. This guy has the same unnerving gaze as those monster kabuki actors.]
Honoka, Hina, and Hanako all seemed visibly shaken by his intense gaze.
Kuroshiki let out a small chuckle before turning his gaze back to me.
“…Heh? You’re not scared? You’re even more interesting than I thought, Kaede Kisaragi.”
He laughed, then grabbed my hand again, narrowing his eyes.
“Come on, let’s go somewhere where it’s just the two of us, Kaede. If you want, we could even go to a hotel. Maybe by sleeping with you, I’ll figure out the secret behind that mysterious performance of yours. As long as I get to know you, I don’t care about the details.”
“…You want to get to know me…? So you’re not just trying to hit on me?”
“You think someone like me would be desperate for women? The only thing I care about is learning new acting techniques. I’m a once-in-a-century genius. I can absorb the acting skills of others and make them my own. I’ve slept with many actresses who had fresh acting styles, but that’s all they were to me. To me, actresses are nothing more than experience points to further my own growth.”
As he said this, Kuroshiki showed me eyes as deep and dark as the ocean.
…I remember seeing people with eyes like these when I was a child actor in the entertainment industry.
People who had been cursed by acting, who had ventured into the abyss… They had eyes like this.
They were monsters who would do anything to elevate their skills, even at the cost of their own humanity.
“Now, let’s go. Show me what kind of actress you really are, Kaede.”
“Ouch, that hurts, stop――――!”
Being forcibly dragged to a hotel was definitely not part of the plan.
Nobody wanted things to go in an inappropriate direction.
I guess I have no choice but to make this guy suffer a little…
“Could you please let her go? She belongs to me.”
The moment I heard that voice, a beautiful leg passed right in front of my eyes.
Kuroshiki immediately let go of my hand and dodged the kick by shifting his body, then looked at the person standing in front of me with an annoyed expression.
“…What’s your problem?”
“That’s my line. What do you think you’re doing in front of Hananomiya Girls’ Academy?”
Standing in front of me was none other than Haruki Ginjou.
She glared at Akira Kuroshiki with fierce determination, raised her fists, and took a fighting stance.
Kuroshiki scoffed as if mocking her.
“Huh? I thought you were a guy, but you’re actually a girl? ‘She belongs to me’… Are you saying a girl is interested in another girl? That’s disgusting!”
“You’re so behind the times. You might be popular with women, but I don’t feel anything for you. The only person who attracts me is Kaede-san. I probably swing both ways, but compared to a so-called handsome actor like you, Kaede-san is a hundred times more charming. People have different tastes, and gender is a trivial issue.”
“Hahaha, you’re funny. What’s your name?”
“Haruki Ginjou.”
“Ginjou… are you by any chance the daughter of Kyoichiro Yanagisawa’s brother-in-law…the Hollywood actor, Kosuke Ginjou or related?”
“You’re well-informed. Most people don’t even remember Kosuke Ginjou’s name anymore.”
“You’re related to the Yanagisawa family… So, that means you’re… Fuuma Yanagisawa’s cousin, right?”
“? Fuuma Yanagisawa…? Who’s that?”
“Tch, you’ve killed my mood. I’m done here for today. See ya.”
With that, Kuroshiki turned on his heel to leave.
Without thinking, I called out to his retreating back.
“Um, excuse me! Do you… know Fuuma Yanagisawa?”
At my words, Kuroshiki glanced back at me for a brief moment and spoke quietly.
“He was the one child actor I could never beat—a guy with a screw loose. Well, I guess he’s just a regular person now, since he retired.”
With those words, Kuroshiki quietly walked away.
Translator’s Note: In Japanese Novels, sometimes characters’ last name are used first, but in my translation, I usually to have it be first name, then last name since it sounds and looks better. I might changed this habit of mine in the future.
