Minato Aqua's School Romance Brain Battle!? ~Reborn with Five Childhood Friends~
Minato Aqua, a virtual idol, awakens to find herself reincarnated as a regular high school girl in modern Japan. Her memories of her past life are hazy, but her talents for singing and streaming have been reset. Determined to enjoy a peaceful school life as a clumsy, otaku girl, her plans are shattered on the first day. Her class is filled with familiar faces—fellow former VTubers like Shirakami Fubuki, Ookami Mio, and her friend Nekomata Okayu. For some reason, even her junior, Haibara Sora, is
Minato Aqua's School Romance Brain Battle!? ~Reborn with Five Childhood Friends~ - Friendship Collapse! Mio's Anger and Rooftop Tears
Since that day, the air in the classroom had shifted, just a little.
Until last week, the usual scene for Aqua, Fubuki, and Mio was eating lunch together while gazing at the zelkova tree in the courtyard, then chatting at *Café Lupo* in the shopping district after school.
But now, no one suggested going to the courtyard anymore. Even the voices inviting each other to the café had become strangely hesitant.
Ever since Okayu had dropped that bombshell with a beaming smile, an invisible crack had formed between Aqua and the others.
"…Au."
One week until midterms.
At her desk, Aqua kept sighing, her Japanese history textbook lying open in front of her. Her waist-length black twintails were, for once, just about even in length on both sides today. She'd always believed in the jinx that mornings when she tied them well meant good things would happen, but she didn't feel good at all.
"Um, I have a suggestion for everyone."
Suddenly, Mio spoke up.
Her black hair, a little longer than shoulder-length, was tied back with a red cord, and she stood with her back perfectly straight. Beneath her blunt bangs, her brown eyes stared directly at Aqua, looking a little nervous.
"Would everyone like to study together at Café Lupo after school today? Midterms are coming up, and I thought if we all gathered, we could make good progress."
"A study session?"
"Yes. I've already invited Fubuki and Okayu. And, if you'd like, Aqua, you too…"
Before Mio could finish, Aqua shot up from her chair with a clatter.
"I want to go! I'll come too!"
Mio's face softened, just a little, with relief.
"Good. Then I'll call for you again after school."
Watching Mio's back as she returned to her seat, a faint ache pulsed deep in Aqua's chest.
(I want to make up with everyone. I want to laugh together, like we used to.)
She clenched both hands tightly.
(I want to do something about this awkward atmosphere.)
——
After school.
The four of them walked side by side down *Hanamichi Street*, the shopping arcade in front of Kasumigaoka Station. Their long shadows stretched across the asphalt beneath their feet.
The street was starting to bustle with mothers shopping for dinner and students heading home from club activities. In the distance, the lively voice of "Takoyaki Ossan" rang out, and hearing it, Mio glanced back for just a moment.
The sign for "Café Lupo" came into view. A warm-looking, two-story shop. A café famous for owner Kawase Yukari's handmade soufflé pancakes.
*Jingle-jangle*, went the doorbell.
"Welcome."
From behind the counter, Kawase-san, wearing a white apron, poked her head out.
"Oh my, all four of you together. It's lively today."
"May we use the sofa seats upstairs? We're planning to study for exams."
"Of course. Make yourselves comfortable."
——
The second floor of the café.
The four of them settled into the sofa seats, which felt almost like a semi-private room. From the street outside, the faint ring of a bicycle bell could be heard, but it was quiet here—perfect for studying.
"Here, Aqua, this is for you."
Mio took charge of the orders, looking at the menu.
"Wow, soufflé pancakes!"
"Fubuki, the same for you, right? Okayu?"
"Same as everyone else is fine~"
Okayu said it with a beaming smile. Her slightly brownish short hair swayed softly in the breeze from the air conditioning.
"Alright then, soufflé pancakes all around. It's a little extravagant, but it's fine once in a while, right?"
Mio smiled, just a little.
Seeing that smile, Aqua felt relieved.
(Good. Mio's pushing herself, but she really does want to get along.)
Fubuki was nodding along too, unconsciously fiddling with the braid on her left side. Her silver hair swayed smoothly, and her red ribbon bounced.
"Everyone's ordering the same pancakes, huh~. Senpai said he has a sweet tooth too."
—In that instant.
The air froze.
Aqua's hand stopped dead.
Fubuki's smile stiffened as if it were a lie.
Mio clutched the order slip, motionless.
Only Okayu, with her usual carefree expression, was gazing at the clouds outside the window.
"…S-Senpai?"
Fubuki's voice was hoarse.
"Kanata-senpai~. The other day, when we were talking about cats in the courtyard, senpai mentioned he likes sweet things. So I thought, maybe if I brought him here, he'd be happy~"
Okayu said it as if she were discussing the weather.
"…R-Right, more importantly, let's start studying."
Mio forced a bright voice and pulled a printout from her bag.
"I made a handout summarizing important dates in Japanese history. It's a list of key events from the Kamakura period to the Edo period that you need to remember—"
"Wow, Mio, that's amazing!"
Fubuki cut in with her usual energy.
But her voice felt just a little too high-pitched.
——
Some time after the study session began.
The handout Mio had made was truly detailed and easy to understand. It was color-coded with red and blue pens, and even had handwritten notes here and there saying things like "This will be on the test!"
"Alright, let's go through it in order from the first page. The establishment of the Kamakura shogunate was in 1192—"
"Ah, that's 1185!"
—Oh no.
After she said it, Aqua covered her mouth.
Mio looked up and blinked.
"…Huh?"
"Ah, um… well, in recent textbooks, they teach it as 1185. The year the Taira clan fell at the Battle of Dan-no-ura is considered the actual year of establishment…"
Aqua hurriedly explained.
But her voice grew smaller and smaller.
(*Au…*)
It was something Kanata-senpai had taught her in the library after school yesterday.
Senpai had gently told her, "The textbooks changed." Remembering that moment, Aqua's ears grew hot.
"Aqua, how do you know that? We haven't learned that in class yet."
Fubuki's golden eyes glinted sharply.
"Eh, ah, that's… um…"
"Aku-tan, keeping secrets isn't allowed, you know?"
"…S-Senpai told me. When we happened to meet in the library…"
When Aqua hung her head and confessed, Fubuki held her breath for a moment, then let out a sigh, as if giving up.
"…Actually, I've been hiding something too."
Fubuki pulled a notebook from her bag.
"This is senpai's Japanese history notebook. It's the one senpai used last year. He said it was really well organized, so I borrowed it."
"Eh!?"
"And since Aqua really struggles with Japanese history, I let her look at it a little yesterday. I'm sorry for keeping it a secret."
Fubuki bowed her head.
—At that moment.
"Ah, that notebook. It's the one Aqua was reading all day yesterday."
Okayu said it while poking at her pancake with a spoon.
"H-Hey, Okayu!"
"Huh? But you were reading it in the classroom yesterday~"
The quiet atmosphere of the sofa seats instantly grew tense.
Mio slowly raised her head.
Her brown eyes looked straight at Fubuki, then at Aqua.
"…Fubuki, you showed that notebook only to Aqua? You didn't show it to me."
Her voice was trembling.
Mio, who was always so reliable, the class representative, the one who protected Aqua and Fubuki—her voice was now terribly small, yet clearly, unmistakably filled with anger.
"M-Mio, it's not like that! Aqua is really bad at Japanese history, and she was about to fail, so I—"
"I'm bad at it too! Why is Aqua the only one who gets special treatment!?"
Mio stood up.
Her chair nearly toppled backward with a loud clatter. She could tell that Kawase-san was looking up from the first floor with concern.
"I've been holding it in this whole time. When Rio-senpai was only kind to Aqua, when Fubuki was secretly talking about senpai with Aqua—even then, I kept swallowing it down, because Aqua is my friend, because Fubuki is my friend…"
The rims of Mio's eyes were red.
"I don't care anymore! Do whatever you want!"
Shouting that, Mio ran down the stairs and burst out of the shop.
The doorbell rang violently.
The three left behind couldn't make a sound.
On the table, the soufflé pancake Mio had ordered sat untouched in the corner, its fluffy cream still on top, growing cold.
"…I've never seen Mio that angry before."
Okayu murmured. Her usual carefree tone was gone from her voice.
"…It's my fault."
Fubuki covered her face with both hands.
Tears spilled through the gaps in her fingers. Her silver hair, her red ribbon—everything seemed to wilt as Fubuki's shoulders trembled faintly.
——
Aqua stood up unsteadily.
"…I'll go after Mio."
But.
Her legs wouldn't move.
(I have no right to go after her.)
It was because of my indecisiveness that Mio got hurt.
If only I had talked more properly about Kanata-senpai. If only we had shared the notebook, the library, everything, with all of us.
(I'm the one who left Mio out.)
"…Uu."
The tears wouldn't stop.
"It's not your fault, Aqua."
With her eyes bright red, Fubuki placed a hand on Aqua's shoulder.
But those words pierced Aqua's heart all the more.
(I haven't done anything to deserve being comforted.)
"Sorry… I'm sorry…"
Saying just that, Aqua shook off Fubuki's hand and ran down the stairs.
——
The next day.
Aqua couldn't muster the courage to go to school.
Climbing "Out-of-Breath Hill" on the way to school, she stopped again and again. In front of the vending machine, she tried to buy a canned juice and scattered her coins everywhere.
(How am I supposed to face Mio today?)
(What am I supposed to say to Fubuki?)
In the end, unable to go to the classroom, Aqua headed for the rooftop.
——
The rooftop.
The door, which was usually supposed to be locked, was slightly ajar today, for some reason.
No one was there.
Aqua sat down in the shadows behind the water tower, hugging her knees.
The October wind whistled, rustling the hem of her skirt. In the distance, the voices of students in gym class could be heard, carried on the wind.
"…If only I hadn't fallen for Kanata-senpai."
The words came out on their own.
"I could have stayed friends with everyone forever…"
Tears fell onto her knees, staining her navy blue skirt.
*Plip, plop.* The tears kept falling, one after another, and wouldn't stop.
(Maybe I shouldn't have met senpai that day, the day of the entrance ceremony.)
(If I hadn't, maybe Fubuki and Mio wouldn't have come to hate me.)
The two people I love most got hurt because of me.
Even though I believed in friendship more than anyone, I'm the one who destroyed that friendship.
"…U, au… *hic*."
Stifling her voice, Aqua kept crying.
—How long had she been like that?
Her smartphone vibrated in her pocket.
Looking at the screen, a message from Fubuki had arrived.
*'I'm sorry. It's all my fault. Aqua, you didn't do anything wrong.'*
Aqua stared blankly at the words.
Her fingers trembled and wouldn't move properly.
She tried to type a reply, but she didn't know what to write, and in the end, she closed the screen.
The sky was already twilight.
A mix of orange and purple spread beyond the rooftop fence. The row of cherry trees along the Hoshimi River floated in the distance as dark silhouettes.
(What should I do?)
(Who can I talk to?)
Until now, whenever she was troubled, the first people she talked to were Fubuki and Mio.
But those two were no longer there.
Aqua was wrapped in a bottomless anxiety, as if the ground beneath her feet had vanished, faced with this feeling of "not knowing what to do" for the very first time.
—At that moment.
*Creeeak.*
There was the sound of the rooftop door slowly opening.
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