Clap clap clap
Dawn was awoken from her sleep by the deafening cheer. She yawned and looked around, and saw students around her standing up and clapping.
Huh? What's going on?
Dawn turned her head to where everyone was looking at. There, on the stage, she saw her classmates lined up and bowing towards the audience.
Her eyes widened and all her sleepiness disappeared. The play! What happened to the play?!
She hurriedly stood up, planning to rush backstage. However, when she heard Furina thank everyone for watching, she stopped in confusion. Listening closely to the crowd's murmur, it seems…the show was already over?
Dawn looked at the stage in stunned silence, and saw Furina smiling at her.
Now, even though she only knew her for a few months, Dawn still learned to recognize some of Furina's emotions behind her smiling facade. And right now, the petite girl was definitely pissed.
Was it because of her absence? Oh, who was she kidding, of course it was! But if so, how did they manage to finish the performance? Did they replace her? But with whom?
She looked amongst her classmates, and was stunned to see…herself???
…ah, of course! She must be dreaming again! She had remembered her earlier dream, where she was woken up by Focalors to watch their class' play.
Dawn pinched her wrist to wake up. She felt the pain, but other than that, nothing changed. In fact, looking closely at her surroundings, it seemed like she was already in reality.
Dawn felt more and more confused. She scratched her head in annoyance, which was when she finally noticed her different skin color and unfamiliar clothes.
She looked down at herself, then back at the stage. Did she perhaps fall victim to a Pokemon's prank? A kind where she switched bodies with someone?
But if that is so, then who was the one on stage? And who is she now?
She looked to the side, and found herself sandwiched between Focalors and Shinobu. Seeing all their other friends, combined with the Pikachu on her shoulder, Dawn got her answer almost instantly.
"I turned into Dante…"
—
"That. Was. Amazing!"
"Yeah! Dawn, I didn't know you could act so well! I cried when I saw your heartbroken expression at the final scene."
In the Gillig restaurant's private room, Mualani and Candice gushed over Furina and 'Dawn'. Their whole group came here to eat lunch after the opening ceremony finally finished.
"Indeed. You were a natural! If only I had known earlier, you should have been the male lead from the beginning!"
Furina turned to Dawn and also praised.
"Aw, shucks. Quit it, guys. You're embarrassing me tehehe~"
'Dawn' covered her mouth and giggled, her actions making someone else in the room shiver with disgust.
"Hey, stop it! That's not how I act!"
Dante's outburst attracted everyone's surprised gaze. This was especially the case for his voice, which became shrill like a girl's.
"W-what are you talking about, Dante? I don't understand. You're scaring me."
Dawn shivered and hid behind Furina, her one eye peeking at Dante like a timid cat.
"Calm down, Dawn. Dan's just joking."
Shinobu placated the blue-haired girl while giving her boyfriend a reproachful stare.
"Yeah. And I still remember you sleeping through our entire performance! You won't even know how amazing Dawn was!"
Furina placed her hands on her hips. She pouted in dissatisfaction at Dante. Her plan to amaze him failed just because this buffoon stayed up all night and didn't get enough sleep- probably due to doing something stupid like playing video games.
"I-it's alright. Actually, the real reason I was able to perform so amazingly was because of Dante. As long as I think about his handsome and cool appearance, I'm able to forget the crowd and do my best."
The room fell into awkward silence as they stared at Dawn, who had a blush on her face while peeking at Dante.
"... GRAHHHH!!! DON'T USE MY BODY TO SAY THAT!!!"
Everyone had been waiting for someone to speak up after Dawn's remarks. Most of them looked at Shinobu, expecting some kind of reaction from Dante's girlfriend. However, they didn't expect the only male in the room to lunge at Dawn.
"Kyaa~ He's sexually assaulting me!"
"Dante! What are you doing!?"
The girls recovered from their shock and quickly stopped the two people who were wrestling on the ground. Shinobu and Focalors each held Dante's hand, while Furina and the others came to comfort the sobbing Dawn.
"Uwaaa! He touched…he touched my boobies~"
"Seriously Dan, what's wrong with you?! You've been acting weird since earlier!"
Dawn felt aggrieved at being scolded by Shinobu. She glared viciously at Dante who was crouched on the floor. And when she saw him secretly smirk back at her, she finally snapped.
Okay, okay, two can play at that game.
Dawn's eyes became sinister, and she turned to Shinobu with a guilty look.
"Ehem, Shinobu, the truth is, I've been cheating on you."
"Huh?"
Shinobu gazed suspiciously at her boyfriend. What the hell is he talking about?
"Yes! That's right! In fact, from the moment I saw Dawn, my heart always longed for her. Whenever I'm with you, all I can think about is her. This time, I was unable to control my beastly urges…I'm sorry."
'Dante' lowered his head in shame.
Silence once again befell the room, only to be broken shortly after by Shinobu's tired-sounding voice.
"...*sigh* Dan, stop it with the jokes."
"I'm not joking!"
"I'm not talking about you, Dawn."
"Huh?"
Dawn gazed at Shinobu, and finally noticed that the 'Dan' she was addressing was the impersonator. Except for Focalors and Mualani, the others were also confused.
"Haha, alright, alright. I was just taking a little payback for earlier."
A male voice resounded behind Furina. She turned, and saw 'Dawn' chuckling as her form shattered like glass. Then, a second Dante emerged in the room.
"Huh!??"
Except for Mualani, the girls around Dante backed away in stupefaction. The confusion only grew when the other Dante also shattered and became Dawn.
"What's going on!?"
Furina looked back and forth between her friend and the man she was tasked to seduce, her head steaming from thinking overload.
"Yes, Dan. What's going on?"
Shinobu crossed her hands in front of her chest. Even for him, this was too much for a prank.
"Hmm, long story short, I met Dawn on the way to the bathroom. She passed out and wouldn't wake up, and their class's performance was about to start. I saw the script in her hands, and the rest, you saw for yourselves."
"Wait, YOU were the one acting as Dandy??"
Furina tremblingly pointed her fingers at Dante. Suddenly, the uncanny feeling she had about Dawn's increase in acting skills made sense.
"Indeed, my fair lady, Mylene."
Furina's face turned red. She remembered all their intimate interactions on the stage, when she thought she was acting with Dawn.
"B-b-but, how did you do that? Switch identities with her?"
"Like this."
Dante's form shimmered. His red-and-white hair turned blue-and-white, his frame became larger, and a long cane appeared in his hand.
"Settle down! I will have order!"
He tapped his cane against the floor, and his piercing purple eyes glanced across everyone in the room.
"...really? Of all the people you could turn into, you turned into Father?"
"Your objection is overruled! Focalors, you are sentenced to your room for 420 days."
The corner of Focalors' mouth twitched. Seeing her 'Father' acting so…uncharacteristic almost made her chortle.
Dante shifted once again. He turned into different people multiple times, trying his best to do his impression of them. As he did so, he explained the basics of his 'newfound' Ability to his friends.
"Talking to Pokemon, increasing their training speed, and now an instant fashion makeover? I call hax!"
Candice shouted, her statement earning an agreeing nod from most of the other girls.
"Don't forget his increased physique. You really won the genetic lottery, Dan."
"Hahaha, I guess luck has always been with me since birth."
Dante smiled back at the girls. Inside, he was honestly surprised that except for a slight jealousy, none of them exuded much negative emotion. Instead, the way they looked in admiration made Dante feel a bit fuzzy.
A/N: And with that, Volume 2 is (almost) finished! We'll just do some interludes in the following chapters before proceeding to volume 3.As always, if you want to support the story and read up to 30 advanced chapters, head on over to my patreon: patreon.com/Ked2002