Me and Ai

Chapter 33: Kaoru in S Class

Chapter 33: Kaoru in S Class

We've returned to academy and that means that from today until the end of the week, I'll be Kaoru and Kaori will be stuck on a sick leave. It feels a bit awkward wearing the male uniform. It's been quite a while since I last wore this. Last time I wore this uniform was my shift in Saotomate; that's quite a while back indeed. Ugh, I miss my long hair covering my back; I feel

I continued walking towards my classroom and I noticed that most of the students I pass by in the hall were staring at me. I guess it's quite a given since Kaoru has been doing well in modelling and singing; I'm not surprised if most of the students know Kaoru by now.
...I am also not surprised if they mistake me for a transfer student. I barely "come to school" anyway.
I looked at my watch on my right hand. I'll have to remember to leave after my subject before lunch to make it to the recording studio.

Before I knew it, I reached the classroom. I normally enter from the front door when it's this early since my seat it nearer from the front door but I think I'll enter from the back door today.
I went to the back door of the classroom and opened it. The moment I stepped in, a hat came flying towards me like a shuriken! I was able to catch it though.

"NATSUKI! I'M NOT EATING THOSE COOKIES! STAY AWAY!"

Eh? Natsuki is here? I guess he came to see Syo since it's still early.

"Ah! Sorry about that!" Syo came to me immediately after he noticed I caught his hat.
He apologized and I gave him his hat. That was when he noticed.

"Eh?! Is that you, Kaoru?!"

Well, here comes my acting. Sigh. Kaoru's personality is just like a cool character from a shoujo manga; I created a devilish angel. Sigh.
"Long time no see, Kurusu-san."

Natsuki comes over.

"So you're Ori-chan's older brother, right? Nice to meet you! I'm Shinomiya Natsuki."

"It's nice to meet you too. Thank you for being kind to my sister."

I smiled at them and proceeded to my chair.

"Wow. Kaoru-chan sure has a cool atmosphere; don't you think Syo-chan?"

"Yeah. He even looks and acts the part. You should be more like him, Natsuki. You'd totally be popular too."

"Haha. Really now? Kaoru-chan is in the modelling industry but has also entered the idol industry through a mini album he released a while back. They said his voice is clear and deep."

"Really? I guess he'll have a good career but..."

"Hm? What is it, Syo-chan?"

"I wish that he'd be more of a brother to Kaori though. He's never around for her. I can tell he's a good guy but he's lacking a lot as a brother."

"Now that you mention it, that's quite true. Maybe I should give him some of my cookies!"

"What?! No!"

It really is lively when Syo and Natsuki are together haha. I see, even my classmates are already puzzled as to why I'm here. Their whispers sure are getting louder or perhaps it's just my imagination.

After a while, Ren-san arrived in the classroom. I can tell he noticed me since Kaoru is sitting on Kaori's chair. I just avoided eye contact for now and continued looking out the window of the classroom.

"Hey Ochibi, who's that sitting on the lady's chair."

"Huh? Oh, it's Kaoru."

"The lady's brother?"

Syo nodded.

It was almost time for class to start and Natsuki left to go back to his classroom. Hyuga-sensei arrives soon after.
When Hyuga-sensei was at the teacher's desk, I stood up and gave him two letters; the first letter notified him that I filed a sick leave for Kaori while the second letter was about Kaoru's work for the week.

"I see. Very well, do your best." He said to me.
Hyuga-sensei then noticed that everyone was staring at me.

"Kaoru, please stand on front of the class. It seems that you haven't introduced yourself yet."

I nodded and proceeded to the front of the class.
Hyuga-sensei then calls for the class' attention.

"Alright everyone, I'd like to introduce you to your classmate who has never come to class until today."

What a very nice description of me, Hyuga-sensei. Really.

"Good morning, everyone. I'm Yamashita Kaoru, idol course. This is my first time coming to former class since enrolment so please take care of me."

"You can ask Kaoru anything if you'd like so that you guys can get to know him more. Anyone have a question?"

A classmate raised her hand; it was Yukina-chan. Hyuga-sensei signals her to stand up.

"Hi there! I'm Kawabara Yukina. I'm a friend of Yamashita Kaori, the person who sits on the chair you were sitting on, so I was wondering if you're related to her."

"Ah, yes I am related to her. I'm actually her older brother. Kaori is absent today because she's currently sick. Since I decided to come to class, she told me that I could sit at her chair so that I wouldn't need to sit very far from the board."

Yukina-chan then sat down. Another classmate raised his hand.

"I was wondering why you haven't been attending class. It's okay if you don't want to answer. I was just curious."

"You see me and my sister work part time for the school and Shining Agency to pay off half of our tuition fee. We're not poor or anything; it's just that we wanted to help our parents."

"Aren't your parents working?"

"Our father works abroad and our mother is with him so my sister and I live alone at home since junior high school. We get an allowance from our parents each month but we take part time jobs to have some extra money and help with the expenses."

The class started whispering to one another saying how cool and amazing it is. What I can say is that it's tiring. Haha.

Another classmate raised his hand and asked, "So you work as a model, right?"

"Yes. I work for Shining Agency as a model but I have also started entering the idol industry. I hope to become a full fledged idol after graduating from this academy."

"How do you make up for your absence in school? Do you have something like special classes?"

"Yes. In exchange for being absent due to work given to me by Shining Agency, I attend special and extra classes and I am also given extra home work."

Everyone was whispering and talking about me; it was a bit uncomfortable but it can't be helped.
Another girl in class raised her hand and asked, "Kaoru-kun! Do you have a girlfriend at the moment?"

All the girls started getting interested and all.

"..."
I don't know how to answer this question. I thought for a while and just said whatever came to mind.

"Now, now, romance is forbidden in this school. I'm not dating anyone at the moment and I'm more concentrated on work and becoming an idol rather than romance. I also have a sister to look after. You girls should try not to lose your hearts too early and concentrate well. You wouldn't want to fail now, would you?"

Hyuga-sensei tried to calm down the class and then he said, "That's enough now. We have lessons to go through today. Get to know him better during your own time."

I got back to my seat and classes went on as usual.
That was quite a challenge.