Dear Reader,

Have you ever noticed how Hibiki can look like a realistic woman? There's this one scene in the opening credits where Hibiki is sitting in the dark, wearing nothing but a really big shirt and I think 'Whoa... you can't tell at all!'... I have friends, who are guys, who are like that. They have the body structure that is so androgynous that you can't even tell. Put them in a skirt and they'd be able to fool anyone! Really! I once knew this guy who shaved his head and spent the weekend as a hooker named Candy! (well, not really a hooker... He was dressed LIKE a hooker and it was for a costume contest... But DAMN he looked fine!)

I do not own I!My!Me! Strawberry Eggs!

WARNING: Crossdressing, blatant fluff, corniness, OOCness

Here's to my friends!

Stay safe
Stay healthy
Sincerely,

Starr

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The next morning Fuko woke up earlier than usual. She felt a lot better. But knowing that Hibiki-sensei wouldn't be there to wave to her or walk with her to school gave her a tiny twinge. But it was small. She picked up the letter for the class and tucked it into her pocket. The cassette she tucked into her treasure box where she kept everything that was important to her. Including an extra picture of her mother that her father had sent to her when he heard that the other one had been lost. She no longer carried it wherever she went. Hibiki-sensei had taught her that her mother looked after her no matter where Fuko herself was.

"What's the point of heaven if those who are gone can't watch over those still here?"

And Fuko believed that. She finished dressing and walked silently down the stairs, only tripping once. The morning sunlight gleamed on the dew and made the entire path sparkle. She felt new as well. Hibiki-sensei was out there in the world now, finding himself. So she would do the same. But since she had already found herself, or always was herself, she would work hard to get to know herself better. She stared at her feet for a moment as she walked and noticed something she had never seen before. When she walked her right foot turned slightly and dragged along the ground. Her hip turned a little as well. She realized that it was the reason she always tripped. She remembered what Hibiki-sensei had told her about running. To make sure the thighs and hips made a straight line with the shoulders. He had noticed her minuscule odd way of moving. That and the skirt was what made her trip. She wasn't clumsy... Just unbalanced.

"I'll have to work on that." She told herself resolutely straightening her stride and continuing the walk up to Gochiso. Kurage barked eagerly from the doorway.. Hibiki-sensei's dog had always loved Fuko. Maybe it was the way Fuko made his master happy. But Fuko was on Kurage's 'Good Person' list. It was a long list the included Lulu and most of the Indigo class. Kurage could care less about the two perverts. Fuko peered inside the house.

"Umm... Lulu-baachan?" She called softly.

"SHHHH!" Lulu hissed somewhere over her head. Fuko looked up to see the old woman hanging by her knees from the rafters.

"It's rent day... I'll not have them escape on me THIS time." Lulu said, readying her revolver. Fuko swallowed hard.

"I'll just... Uhm... Come back later?" She suggested softly.

"You do that." Lulu said, "I want to know what the idiot said... Have fun in class today." As Fuko made her way up the road she heard the sounds of Lulu's revolver and the pained yelps of her tenants and she took the money they owed her by force. The girl shook her head and entered the school.

"Kuzuha." A soft voice called to her from the entranceway. Fuko turned and smiled.

"Fukae-kun! Good morning!" She greeted cheerfully. Even though she still felt bad about turning him down he was becoming a good friend. An older brother she could count on. She just wished that he would treat Fujio with the same care. But Akira was one of those people who didn't show emotion easily.

"You're here early..." Akira commented, walking with her. Fuko nodded.

"I couldn't get back to sleep... Oh, and yesterday I got a letter from Hibiki-sensei to Indigo class... We have to keep it a secret until class meeting though, otherwise Vice Principal might try to take it away before we have the chance to read it..." She held a finger to her lips, "Secret?" Akira nodded and put a finger to his lips.

"Sure. Secret..."

"You're here early too, Fukae-kun!" Fuko said as they climbed the stairs up to their classroom.

"Some of the guys are planting super glue to the Vice-Principals chair before she gets here." Akira said, "I'm their look out."

"Then aren't you supposed to be looking out?" Fuko asked.

"I've given them enough time to do their dirty deeds..." Akira shrugged, "If they aren't done by now then they deserve to get caught. But it's a secret anyway..."

"I'll keep it, Fukae-kun!" Fuko giggled, putting a finger to her lips again, "Secret!"

"Yeah... Secret..." They entered the classroom to see Aoki and Shyoichi and a few others just finishing up. They made muffled surprised sounds when Fuko entered, but she winked and pretended to ignore them as she put her things away and went to go feed the school pets.

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Reiko-sensei, as guessed, left the classroom with a chair stuck to her behind. The class waited until she left the room before shrieking with laughter.

"Did you SEE the look on her FACE!" Fujio gasped, clutching at her aching ribs.

"She looked like she didn't know whether to pretend nothing had happened, or kill us all!"Akane giggled. Makoto silently exchanged a high five with Naruo. President Yoshihiko went to the front of the class and banged his fist on the desk for oder.

"Now..." He said, adjusting his glasses, "As the class president it is my duty to scold you all..." He mockingly shook his finger at them, "That was a very naughty thing to do and you should all apologize."

"We are very sorry!" The class chorused innocently before snickering again.

"While the vice principal is cleaning up, you should show them the letter Fuko" Seiko suggested. Fuko blushed and stood up.

"Yoshihiko-kun?" She asked.

"Yes, Fuko-chan?"

"Yesterday I got a letter from Hibiki-sensei... He wanted the class to read it."

"Hey! Everyone SHUT UP!" Fujio yelled. The class fell silent.

"Today Fuko-chan has brought us a letter from Hibiki-sensei." Yoshihiko announced. The class leaned forward in their seats expectantly, "Would you like to read it to us Fuko-chan?" Fuko paused for a moment and nodded.

"A letter from Hibiki-chan?" Aoki asked, "What's it say?"

"That's what we're going to find out Moron." Shyoichi said, smacking him upside the head.

"Will you two be QUIET!" Fujio demanded.

"Dear Indigo Class," Fuko began, "Even though apologies make me feel worse instead of better, I still feel as if I should beg forgiveness, even though I don't deserve it. I deceived my students. The one person that they could trust turned out to be not what she seemed. But, truthfully, the only thing I ever lied about was my gender. No matter what I was your teacher and you were my students and that was the reality I lived by. I still see you as my students, in a way, my family. I still care for you all and hope that you will all study hard and be the best you can be while I'm gone. I hope to see you all again someday, without the make-up. Before I was two people. Hibiki-sensei and the weird 'Bra-guy'. I hope when I return those two people will finally be one person. It'll be hard to find the balance between the two, but after teaching you lot and shaking this class into some semblance of order, I think I'm up to the challenge.

I'll send another letter once I'm settled in my new place. Please don't treat your knew teacher too harshly. But if she's a bitch by your standards, I don't think there's a lot I can say to make you behave. Try not to kill anyone. Girls, I want you to remember what I taught you. Your hearts must be bigger than your busts. Help out the guys once in a while, it won't kill you to do some extra work. Don't pile everything onto Kuzuha like before. Guys... Don't get into trouble and don't bait the vice principal. If I hear that you've gotten yourselves expelled, I'll be very disappointed.

Masami... I know your birthday is coming up on the tenth, so Happy Early Birthday.

Don't worry about me. I'll be fine, everything will work out all right in the end, all I have to do is keep going.

Take care of yourselves and each other. Don't take any crap from the other students and teachers, but don't kill them either... Yes I'm talking to you Akira... Behave yourself Naruo... Class President Yoshihiko and Vice President Sumire... I'm counting on you to lead this class... Good luck.

Stay safe

Yours,

Hibiki Amawa"

There was silence for a moment as Fuko folded the letter and put it back in it's envelope.

"I MISS HIBIKI-CHAAAAAN!" Aoki wailed dramatically. The rest of the class stared at him.

"We all miss Hibiki-chan, asshole!" Shyoichi snapped, "You don't have to scream it from the windows..."

"I wonder what Hibiki-sensei is doing right now..." Yoshino muttered.

"He could be anywhere in Japan by now, myun." Masami said.

"The bitch lady's coming back!" Jun warned, racing back to his seat. Everyone scrambled and Fuko clutched the letter to her as she sat down.

"Are we agreed that Fuko-chan keeps the letter?" Yoshihiko whispered loudly.

"Aye!" Indigo class whispered back. Then they were silent as Reiko-sensei entered the classroom. Indigo class smiled innocently at her and she couldn't accuse them because all of them were suspects, even Indigo class' so called 'Angelic' girls.

Damn the cross-dressing freak for giving them minds of their own! Reiko growled to herself as she sat down on the spare chair. It was then that she realized that the chair she had replaced had been super glued as well...