Gun Princess Royale: Awakening the Princess, Book One

by Albert Ruckholdt

  Lizetta recovered and silenced them with a bloodthirsty scowl she then quickly turned on me. “Are you saying you’re going to wear a swimsuit? A girl’s swimsuit?”

  I pointed at the very visible mounds on my chest. “Are you telling me to swim topless?”

  Guffaws of laughter erupted from my male classmates. As for the girls, they appeared shocked and confused, perhaps mentally picturing my appearance in a one piece.

  Lizetta looked ready to explode, and while I was wondering why Miss Marisol wasn’t interceding, the girl folded her arms, and stared at me through narrowed eyes. “You are utterly disgusting. A freak like you has no place in this school.”

  Though her condemnation was harsh there was a modicum of truth to her words and thus I found it difficult to argue with her, offering nothing more than a shrug in reply that I realized a heartbeat later came off as distinctly blasé. This had the effect of adding fuel to the fire already burning within her, and with her lips drawn in a sneer, Lizetta said, “I refuse to believe those are real. If you’re not a freak, then you’re a pervert and a fake too.”

  The classroom fell into acute silence and all eyes turned toward me.

  I wet my lips slowly and kept my attention firmly on Lizetta. “Do you want to see for yourself?”

  Her eyes widened slightly and the sneer became a snarl. “Are you going to show me?”

  “You show me yours and I’ll show you mine.”

  My reply was like an ocean wave washing away drawings in the sand. As the words struck home, Lizetta’s snarl vanished and she stared at me nonplussed with vacant eyes. It took her a while to recover, and during that time my classmates sat in stunned silence before a number of them broke into cries encouraging us to both strip.

  At this point, Miss Marisol stepped in and I wondered why she’d waited so long. “That’s enough. Quiet down. I said quiet down!” After regaining control of her students, she turned her attention on me. “Kassius, there will be no exhibitionism in my classroom today. If you want to expose yourself, go do it in the girls’ toilets. Better still, learn some restraint and don’t do it at all. As for you, Lizetta, you’re being way too loud. If you want to compare sizes pick another time and place, or simply grow up.”

  The girl looked ready to blow her stack, but Marisol ignored her and turned her attention to the rest of the class.

  “I have to admit I’m disappointed to have four of my students suspended a fortnight into the school year. As for the rest of you, don’t even think of starting fights on academy grounds or you’ll find yourself like your Class Rep—that’s right, your Class Rep—suspended for a week.” She paused for a few seconds before asking, “Am I making myself clear?”

  Heads turned toward Shirohime who was sitting stoically at her desk, indifferent to the attention Marisol had drawn toward her. However, I suspected that inwardly she was fuming like smelting pit; her outward calm was like the thin crust surrounding a molten planetary core.

  One of the boys, Micah, asked in a half joking tone, “Does that mean Kassius will be coming to school dressed as a girl?”

  Miss Marisol threw me sidelong glance. “I’m afraid so.”

  I added with a shrug and waved at my chest. “Hard to hide these under a boy’s shirt. The Vice-Principal seems to like me dressed up as a girl. I think it’s something of a fetish for him.”

  Miss Marisol issued a dry warning. “Mister Kassius, mind what you say about the staff of this Academy—Lizetta, will you sit down already!”

  Unable to withstand the pressure exerted upon her by our homeroom teacher, Lizetta acquiesced and sat down with sullen pout distorting her lips.

  Miss Marisol sighed loudly as she returned to her teaching lectern, probably looking forward to the end of homeroom. Fortunately for her, the electronic bell sounding throughout the school indicating the session was at an end, yet she prolonged her agony by waving a hand to instruct the students to remain seated. “Mister Kassius, Miss Shirohime, Miss Anjeur, Miss Letrois. You four will remain behind. The rest of you are free to leave.”

  Ignoring the death glare from Lizetta, I sighed softly and walked over to my intelli-desk, then opened my bag to check the contents within. Afterwards, I shut down my desk, and waited for Miss Marisol to call us up to the teaching lectern. Rising to her feet, Andrea cast a smile my way, and after a shy wave of her fingers, she followed our classmates out the door with a girlish gait that swayed her hips.

  I didn’t know what to make her gesture, but I noticed my heart was beating a little quickly. Andrea had little to do with it, but so too did Tobias who chose to remain seated at his desk, and I suspected he was hanging back because he wanted a word with me. I groaned inwardly, not relishing the prospect of another confrontation with him, not when I was ready to close the lid on our friendship.

  A minute or so after the bell had run, Miss Marisol called Felicia, Angela, Shirohime, and I to the front of the classroom, and we stood in a loose crescent before her at the teaching lectern.

  She addressed me first. “Kassius, as you know the Vice Principal has explained your circumstances to me. When you return to class next week, you’re expected to dress”—she hesitated—“in a manner befitting your appearance. However, I don’t want this causing complications in class.”

  Is that what really bothered her? Not my appearance, but that I could stir up trouble for her? In other words, she wanted smooth sailing through the year, and didn’t need me whipping up rough seas for her.

  I started re-evaluating my opinion of her as a teacher.

  “Regarding swim class,” she continued, “you’re going to sit it out.”

  “Huh?” That announcement took me by surprise. “I’m not going to be swimming—?” I was a little disappointed since I truly enjoyed swimming though I wasn’t very good at it.

  “Do you have any idea the commotion you’re creating?” she asked. “Are you so eager to make it worse?”

  “But this isn’t my fault,” I protested as I indicated my chest.

  She regarded me stonily for a long moment. “Very well. If you want to swim, go down to the school store and get yourself a regulation swimsuit. Depending on how you fit in, I’ll discuss the matter with your gym teacher, Miss De Haviland.”

  It was irrelevant to point out that Miss De Haviland taught the girls and not the boys, because the true question was whether I would be attending classes next week as Ronin Kassius or as someone else? So with that in mind was there any harm in humoring her?

  “Okay, Miss Marisol,” I nodded, making certain to sound defeated. “I’ll go down and pick up a swimsuit.”

  Miss Marisol blinked in surprise. Did she think I was calling her bluff? I have to say she looked faintly annoyed as she shut down her teaching lectern, and grabbed her magazine sized tablet, propping it under her right arm. Sweeping her gaze over the girls around me, she sounded almost cynical as she lectured them.

  “As for the rest of you, I trust you will stay out of trouble for the remainder of the week. You may be suspended, but teaching material will be sent to your accounts so you’d better not slack off. This isn’t a vacation. It’s a suspension. That means you’re still expected to keep up with your studies to the best of your abilities. Is that clear?”

  There were no complaints from the girls flanking me. They just nodded and silently accepted her veiled scolding, as though choosing the path of least resistance. I decided to play along. If the ghost had trouble keeping up its end of the bargain, then I could very well find myself attending swimming class as a girl.

  A shiver drawn out by complicated feelings ran through me.

  Miss Marisol cleared her throat loudly. “Considering that all four of you are suspended for fighting on school grounds, I fear for the future.” Her attention centered on me, and after regarding me critically for long moment, she said, “Kassius, when you’ve picked out your swimsuit, come and see Miss De Haviland and I. We’ll need to see just how convincing you look”—she swallowed quickly—
“as a female student.”

  I kept a lid on the unpleasant urge to gag that welled up within me, and managed a weak, “Yes, Miss Marisol….”

  Turning to leave the classroom, she appeared to reconsider her parting words a number of times before settling on the rather lackluster, “Remember to close the doors on your way out.”

  Even then, she hesitated for a heartbeat as though she wanted to say more, before shaking her head faintly and departing the classroom with a disappointed air. Whether deliberately or not, she left the door open as she exited the room. Beside me, Angela exhaled softly and muttered something unintelligible under her breath before walking across the classroom and shutting the door. Then she turned around and faced us with a complicated expression on her face.

  Feeling as though I’d dodged a bullet or avoided a storm, I looked around the interior of the classroom. Besides the girls and I, only one other person remained behind with us.

  Sitting at his desk, Tobias continued looking out the window for a long while, before turning his head and facing me.

  I returned his silent stare, feeling uncomfortable at the prospect of having to return to my desk to retrieve my carry-bag. Pondering whether I needed it, I checked to ensure my wallet, keys, and phone were in my dress pockets, then turned toward the classroom door. However, I found myself confronted by Angela who stood with arms crossed, barring my way.

  “Hold her, Feli,” Angela instructed.

  Felicia denied me the opportunity to flee, grabbing me in a Judo hold that pinned my arms behind my back and made it hard for me to breathe. I was suddenly in awe and fear of her incredible strength that appeared to exceed that of my Simulacrum body.

  “Please don’t struggle,” the girl replied in an uncharacteristically dour tone, and I didn’t think she was smiling. “It’ll just hurt more.”

  I heard Tobias call out in concern as he pushed back his chair, no doubt standing up. “What are you doing?”

  “Just checking something for ourselves,” Angela replied as she quickly snapped open the buttons of my dress blouse, exposing my chest and full breasts cupped in the white lacy bra. At sight of them, she stiffened sharply and then retreated a couple of steps.

  “I think you have some explaining to do,” she said softly.

  From the look on her face, leaving the classroom without giving her an adequate explanation was going to be a tall order, and I feared that I didn’t have the strength to escape Felicia’s Judo hold on me. Neither did I believe Shirohime would come to my rescue since she was standing to a side watching me with an unusual interest, while glancing at her phone every so often. My only hope of rescue lay with Tobias, but it was dashed when he guardedly asked, “Cass, tell us about the note. Tell us what’s going on.”

  Angela regarded me critically from head to toes. “You really do look like a girl now. A lot more than this morning. It’s not just your chest, but your arms, legs, your hair, and your face too. You really are turning into girl. How is that possible?”

  “Do you really want to know?” I asked in response.

  “I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t.”

  I heard a soft voice in my ears. “Princess?”

  “It’s fine,” I whispered, “this had to happen sooner or later.” Meeting Angela’s eyes, I said to her, “Let me go. I’m not going to run away.”

  Angela sent Felicia a subtle nod, and the latter released me. I flexed my arms and shoulders, working the pain out of my muscles and ligaments, before slowly turning in a half circle to look at Tobias and the girls.

  “I’ll tell you the truth,” I said to them softly, “but you won’t believe me.”

  Chapter 11.

  - I -

  I told them of The Game, of abandoning a girl to her fate, of dying in a city plaza under a strangely luminescent sky, of waking up in the morning with no memory of returning to the apartment, and of being resurrected into a body that wasn’t mine.

  However, I did not tell them everything.

  I kept the ghost a secret from them, and did not reveal it had changed my physical appearance. I did not tell them of my plans to trade this body for another, or of my impending participation in the Gun Princess Royale. I withheld the complete truth from them because I was reluctant to involve them further in my situation. I was preparing to cut my ties with them, and that included Tobias, but there was one other reason why I wasn’t completely open with them, and I considered it a warning from my subconscious.

  When I finished my sorry tale, a heavy, oppressive silence enshrouded the room.

  I looked at the girls, and before regarding Tobias sidelong. “So…do you believe me?”

  Standing a short distance away on either side of me, Angela and Felicia traded vaguely troubled looks, but it wasn’t the response I was expecting from them. It was far too contained and muted, lacking in disbelief. Then there was Shirohime, who rested her backside against an intelli-desk, alternating her attention between me and the phone in her left hand with an almost disinterested look on her face. In contrast, Tobias stood beside his intelli-desk, a grayish pallor dominating his features as he watched me in stark silence.

  “Do you believe me?” I asked him.

  Tobias struggled for words and began to grow slightly distressed. Again it wasn’t what I was expecting. Unlike the girls, he was reacting too strongly to my explanation, and it was both a worry and a puzzle. Eventually, he started to walk across the classroom, heading for the front door, oddly with his phone in hand.

  “Need some air?” I asked mockingly as my gaze followed him.

  “No, I need to make a call.” He sounded distressed.

  I snorted and then scoffed, “Who? Your cousin?”

  “That won’t be necessary,” Shirohime interrupted smoothly, pocketing her phone into her dress and then fluidly pushing away from the intelli-desk she’d been resting against.

  Tobias slowed down as he faced her with a sudden frown. “What?”

  “I believe her,” Shirohime declared as she strode gracefully toward me. “And so do you, Matrim.”

  For a moment, I wondered to whom she referred to until Tobias whispered in disbelief, “How do you know my name?”

  “Have you forgotten?” Shirohime asked him as she stopped a short distance before me. “Your cousin slipped up back at the crêpe shop. And you’ve been slipping up way too often for your own good, Matrim.”

  The distinct change that had come over Shirohime didn’t just unsettle me, it worried me too, and suddenly the little warning whispered by my subconscious wasn’t something I could ignore.

  “Who are you?” I asked, taking a step back.

  “I’m your Class Rep,” she replied easily, reaching up to remove the necklace of black rosary beads that she wore. “And you should know those girls believe you just as much as I do.”

  “…why would they…?” I whispered.

  “Because they’re just like you,” she replied softly with a smile. “They’re fakes too.”

  “What?”

  I glanced at Angela who had become visibly pale. When I threw a look at Felicia, I saw her glaring at Shirohime.

  Fakes? Does that mean they are—?

  While the girls’ faces and my thoughts distracted me, Shirohime slipped the necklace around my neck. Then I heard the soft click of the clasp locking the ends together.

  “Done,” she declared in satisfaction and retreated a step.

  I reached up to my neck but the moment my fingertips touched the rosary beads the strength left my body and I slumped to the floor like a marionette with its strings cut.

  “Cass!” With a short cry and a surprising burst of speed, Tobias caught me before I landed on the floor. Looking up at him with a lethargy that had my head lolling on my shoulders, I saw him reach for the necklace I wore.

  “I wouldn’t touch that, Matrim,” Shirohime advised. “It’s going to sting you and him.”

  Though my body felt disconnected from my mind, I nonetheless experienced th
e intense shock that ran through me. The pain was such that it inverted the colors in the room. Though he was close by, he nonetheless sounded distant as Tobias cried out sharply and almost dropped me when he fell to his knees. When he recovered, I heard him question Shirohime in a voice that dripped with anger and agony.

  “Why?”

  “I’m sorry, Matrim. I truly am,” Shirohime answered softly and to my surprise she sounded as though her heart was breaking. “But this is what she wanted, and we’re all just following your family’s wishes.”

  Tobias’ anger was tainted by incredulity. “What the Hell? My family? What are you talking about? What does my family have to do with this?”

  “You’ll understood soon enough, and so will he.”

  My eyes were having trouble focusing on my surroundings, and Tobias and Shirohime began to sound distant, as though whatever robbed my body of its strength also denied me of my senses. When the ghost spoke to me, its voice was near but broken by static and noise like a poorly tuned radio from yesteryear.

  “…Princess…hold on…attempting…bypass…interference…Simulacrum synapsis…restraining field…necklace….”

  Somehow a little strength returned to my right arm. Though I couldn’t see him very well, I could tell it was Tobias holding me in his arms, and so I reached up to touch him. “…Mat….”

  “Turn this thing off, Shirohime,” he growled.

  “I can’t do that, Matrim—”

  “Don’t you call me by that name.” I’d never heard him sound so menacing, and for a moment I wondered if he really was the friend I’d known for more than three years. “Now turn that inhibitor off.”

  There was a telling silence before her reply. “I’m sorry, Mat, but I can’t do that.”

  “Turn it off, or I’m going to hurt you.”

  “You can’t hurt me, Mat, so please don’t try.”

  “I’m warning you—”

  “You can’t hurt me,” she cried out. “Mat, you don’t know what I can do. You weren’t raised like I was.”

  “Is that what you think?” I felt myself gently lowered to the floor, and then I sensed Tobias rise to his feet. “You think I haven’t been trained. Think again, Class Rep. You’re in for a surprise.”