Transferred into Hakuou!? (Hakuouki Fanfiction)

Replay 6: Off The Main Goal

When the teacher calls me in, I stomp my feet into the classroom sulking.

How could my father not tell me anything about this? I guess that that father of mine has been in cahoots with the vixen and her brother. I feel so betrayed that I glare at my new classmates, who quickly avoid my eyes.

"Let's all welcome our new student, Akamine Jun." The teacher speaks slowly as if his days were numbered. I sneak a glance at him. He is old enough to be my grandfather--yet here he is, teaching a class full of possibly mischievous boys. Well, all except me.

I bow slightly. "Hi. I'm Akamine Jun." Silence follow after my introduction and my teacher slowly clears his throat.

"Now, why don't you sit next to Yukimura-kun?" His fingers point to the corner of the class slowly, and I realise with a jolt that Chizuru is in my class. Even though I'm not very close to her, it is a big relief that I know at least a face in this place full of strangers.

I try not to let joy show on my face as I stroll to my new seat. Throwing my schoolbag on the table, I turn to Chizuru, smiling, only to meet a face devoid of any emotion.

"What's wrong?" I can't help but to ask. Chizuru shoots me a glance and totally ignores me. I frown when I gasp aloud. "When did you change into those pants? They don't suit you at all!" I burst out laughing in the middle of the lesson that just started, causing the old teacher to turn around slowly and look at me.

"Is there anything you want to ask about Maths, Akamine-kun?"

I shake my head, too busy staring at Chizuru's pants. When I look up I then notice that ponytail missing from her head.

"Did-did you snap it off before lesson!?" I squeak in exasperation. Chizuru meets my stare with a scowl and proceeds to disregard me. I decide to continue the questioning when we have our lunch break--after all, she can't run away.

I follow Chizuru to the school cafe, bombarding her with a number of questions that will annoy anyone. She doesn't have any reaction though so I get annoyed. I grab her arm in the middle of the cafe and many students stop to stare and murmur.

"Look here," I say in irritation. "Quit ignoring me already. You were following me everywhere trying to get my attention the other day!"

Everyone in the cafe immediately shut up and watch us. I can hear some of them loud-whispering to each other, "Did you hear that? President Yukimura is actually the kind who goes round chasing after girls' skirts..."

President? So she's the president of the student council here? I can't tell at all--she don't seem like the type to boss people around. But wait...girls' skirts? Does this mean she is actually into girls? No wonder she was chasing me so hard that day I helped her.

Chizuru finally speaks, and her voice is low. "I don't know you."

But how could she? She still remembers me when we meet at the gate. Now she feigns not knowing me? She sure is a great actress.

"What do you mean? I helped you the other time in the train! When you are being molested..." I start, and Chizuru's cheeks flush.

"What? How dare you..." She trails off, and I wonder if I said anything wrong. "I don't know you, so stop spreading weird lies around here."

The crowd around us are mumbling among themselves. I stare at Chizuru for a while in disbelief before I grab her hair and pull. Perhaps she is pretending to be a guy right now as some practical joke. Maybe she needs to conceal her real gender to fulfil some weird shoujo manga plot.

Chizuru let out a small hiss of pain as I continue to tug at her hair. Suddenly, she pushes me with a strength that no girl has. A sharp pain shoots up from my ankle as I fall and my hand automatically reaches out to it.

"Are you okay?" Someone asks in concern, and I turn to see Chizuru by my side...except that she is wearing a skirt. How did she manage to change that fast? I look up and see another Chizuru right in front of my eyes. Is this some kind of supernatural occurence? Am I seeing doubles or doppelgangers?

I look at the two Chizurus before opening my mouth to let out the biggest scream of my life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My cheeks are still flaming after an hour.

After screaming for a full twenty seconds I was sent to the infirmary by Souji who just happened to be passing by. Chizuru tagged along worriedly, and while the doctor nursed my sprained ankle she apologised for not informing me that she has a twin in the same school. I waved it off--after all, it wasn't my business. I had just jumped into weird conclusions by myself and become the laughing stock of the school.

I pout as my father chuckles at what Souji tells him. He should be standing at my side instead of giggling like a schoolgirl with the enemy. I slam my chopsticks down on the table and leave for my room without a single word. In my room, I jump into the comforts of my sheets, but the terrible feeling in my chest never fades.

Even though it was my first day of school, I already have a nickname: the scream queen. With a sickening jolt, I realise that this is even worse than my previous school where they admire me from afar. Students are laughing at me from afar instead, and perhaps I will even be bullied. I will probably have a difficult time entering clubs too, if it gets too serious. What if they think that I can't do anything because of the screaming incident? I may be thinking too much, but I don't know how boys think. I bet they are all like Okita Souji or something.

Moreover, if I debut as an actress right now and my new nickname gets leaked into the society, I will become an object of ridicule instead of a talented actress.

Looks like the journey to stardom is still a long, long way to go.