What is なく doing in the following sentence?


I have a sentence that I read in a manga that has caused some confusion for
me. It is an unsaid sentence by a girl who was surprised by an accidental
encounter she had with a boy. She was in a robe and seemed to have just left
the shower. Here is the sentence and my attempted breakdown follows,

> あの時はびっくりしてらしくも **なく** 追い返しちゃったけど.

`あの時` is the non logical topic.

The unsaid subject of the first clause is the speaker.

`びっくりしてらしく` - I believe to be 「びっくり」 + 「する（て form）」and 「らしく」 is 「らしい」, meaning
seeming or appearing, in its て form but with the て left off

`も` - additive particle. In this case it is following the て form so it will
have a meaning of "even though."

**`なく`** is the start of the second clause - ???

The subject of the second clause is still the speaker.

`追い返しちゃった` - "Done" sent away. The action has completed and is a fact. She
done sent away the boy.

`けど` - trailing but, something may be implied.

So my likely incorrect and current best guess and what the speaker is thinking
in her head with this sentence is, _"That time, even though I seemed
surprised, I turned him away."_

I'm not sure at all how **「なく」** fits into this or if my thinking that there
are two logical clauses here is correct. I think that the "even though" part
of my translation sounds a bit funky as well. Of course someone would turn the
other person away if they saw them at an embarrassing moment. Any help would
be much appreciated. Thanks




One possible way is to divide the sentence in four parts as follows:

> あの時は / びっくりして / らしくもなく追い返しちゃった / けど.

Each part has its own role:

> **Time (When?)**
>
> あの時は, or 'at that time.'
>
> **Reason (Why?)**
>
> びっくりして, or 'because I was surprised.'
>
> **Action & Way (What? & How?)**
>
> らしくもなく追い返しちゃった, or 'I turned you away, which was らしくない.'
>
> **Conjunction**
>
> けど, or 'although.'
>
> (In fact, more context is necessary to figure out the meaning of けど. Note
> that someone uses けど both meaninglessly and frequently.)

Now, take a look at らしく **ない**. The word comes from らしい, or more precisely
自分らしい in this context, and is the **negation** of 自分らしい. A 自分らしい act of doing
something is to **be yourself or be honest to yourself** and do it. In
contrast, a 自分らしく **ない** action is to do something, **not** being yourself or
**not** being honest to yourself.

From the discussion above, we can infer the meaning of **なく** and the
sentence:

> あの時はびっくりしてらしくも **なく** 追い返しちゃったけど.
>
> At that time, although I do **n't** normally do (or I actually did **n't**
> want to do) this kind of things, I turned you away because I was surprised.

* * *

**Addendum on も**

**も** emphasizes the sense of **negation** (ない) when it is used in らしく **も**
ない. The same applies to らしくもなく.

The question we ask is: Why did the girl say らしく **も** なく, rather than らしくなく?
To understand her word choice and her feeling, focus on a **causal
relationship**. As discussed above (and as the questioner mentioned in the
comment), the girl did not want to turn away the boy. Then, what made her turn
him away? One cause of her doing so is the surprising encounter with him. But,
is there any other cause? Here **も** comes into play: By using **も** , the
girl **emphasizes** that herself is **not** a cause of her doing so (thus the
surprising encounter is indeed the major/predominant cause). Also, by
emphasizing the sense of negation, she may feel **less** responsible for what
she did.




One possible way is to divide the sentence in four parts as follows:

> あの時は / びっくりして / らしくもなく追い返しちゃった / けど.

Each part has its own role:

> **Time (When?)**
>
> あの時は, or 'at that time.'
>
> **Reason (Why?)**
>
> びっくりして, or 'because I was surprised.'
>
> **Action & Way (What? & How?)**
>
> らしくもなく追い返しちゃった, or 'I turned you away, which was らしくない.'
>
> **Conjunction**
>
> けど, or 'although.'
>
> (In fact, more context is necessary to figure out the meaning of けど. Note
> that someone uses けど both meaninglessly and frequently.)

Now, take a look at らしく **ない**. The word comes from らしい, or more precisely
自分らしい in this context, and is the **negation** of 自分らしい. A 自分らしい act of doing
something is to **be yourself or be honest to yourself** and do it. In
contrast, a 自分らしく **ない** action is to do something, **not** being yourself or
**not** being honest to yourself.

From the discussion above, we can infer the meaning of **なく** and the
sentence:

> あの時はびっくりしてらしくも **なく** 追い返しちゃったけど.
>
> At that time, although I do **n't** normally do (or I actually did **n't**
> want to do) this kind of things, I turned you away because I was surprised.

* * *

**Addendum on も**

**も** emphasizes the sense of **negation** (ない) when it is used in らしく **も**
ない. The same applies to らしくもなく.

The question we ask is: Why did the girl say らしく **も** なく, rather than らしくなく?
To understand her word choice and her feeling, focus on a **causal
relationship**. As discussed above (and as the questioner mentioned in the
comment), the girl did not want to turn away the boy. Then, what made her turn
him away? One cause of her doing so is the surprising encounter with him. But,
is there any other cause? Here **も** comes into play: By using **も** , the
girl **emphasizes** that herself is **not** a cause of her doing so (thus the
surprising encounter is indeed the major/predominant cause). Also, by
emphasizing the sense of negation, she may feel **less** responsible for what
she did.

