Minato Aqua's School Romance Brain Battle!? ~Reborn with Five Childhood Friends~ - Transfer Student Sora Swings the Whip of Love at the Crybaby Senpai!

The morning of the midterm exams. The air in the classroom was far heavier than usual. The scratch of pencils racing across paper. The ticking of the clock's second hand. Sighs. Those were the only sounds to be heard. Aqua sat by the window, staring down at her math exam sheet. Her waist-length black twintails were, as always this morning, just a little uneven in length on the left and right. (*X squared... minus... 5X...*) But her head was completely full of things that had nothing to do with formulas. Fubuki's face. Mio's face. Mio's back as she fled the classroom. The sound of the door clicking shut. And then, the cold wind on the rooftop. Her fingers trembled. (*What... was I supposed to do?*) She'd been thinking the same thing yesterday, and the day before. No answer came. Only time kept passing. —*Rattle, rattle, rattle.* Suddenly, the front door of the classroom slid open. " Alright, settle down. Starting today, you'll have a new classmate." At the teacher's voice, everyone looked up. From behind the teacher, a girl stepped into the classroom. She had— Long black hair reaching her waist. Her bangs were cut straight across, just above her eyebrows. Large, purple eyes darted around the room, taking everything in. Her uniform was brand new, the pleats of her skirt still crisp and sharp. She was probably nervous. Her fingertips were clutching tightly at the hem of her skirt. " I'm Haibara Sora. I'll be joining this class starting today." Her voice trembled, just a little. But— The next moment. Sora's eyes flew wide open. Her gaze was fixed on Aqua. Then Fubuki. She scanned the whole classroom as if searching for Mio's seat—and when she spotted Mio staring out the window, those purple eyes began to sparkle. " Ah—" Sora took a step forward. " Aqua-senpai! Fubuki-senpai! Mio-senpai! I found you again—I'm Sora! In our past life, I was your kouhai—" —*Silence.* The classroom fell so quiet you could hear a pin drop. (*...Huh?*) Aqua's mind went completely blank. (*Wh-What did she just say?*) " Auu...!" A weird sound escaped her before she could stop it. Beside her, Fubuki had frozen too, her silver hair swaying. Her golden eyes were perfectly round, her mouth opening and closing wordlessly. Mio had also turned her face from the window, her brown eyes wide beneath her straight-cut bangs. " H-Hold on! You can't just say stuff like 'past life'—" Fubuki flailed her hands in a panic. Sora's face went pale and she clamped a hand over her own mouth. " ...Ah. Oh no." But it was already too late. The entire class was staring at Sora with "?" written all over their faces. " ...Ahem. She's just a little nervous, that's all. It's from an anime. An anime." Mio, having somehow regained her class-rep composure, threw out a lifeline. The teacher blinked a few times, then cleared her throat. " ...Well, there you have it. Haibara-san, the open seat is over there." Sora, still looking a bit embarrassed, bowed her head meekly and headed toward the indicated seat. Three seats behind Aqua. As she walked, Sora stared intently at Aqua's face— And then, she stopped in her tracks. " ...Aqua-senpai, your eyes are all red. Did something happen?" Aqua flinched. (*She noticed...*) Yesterday, the day before—she'd cried before bed, and cried again in the morning. The skin around her eyes was still a little swollen. " I-It's nothing..." Aqua looked down. Sora opened her mouth as if to say something—but the teacher told her to hurry to her seat, and she reluctantly went. — Lunch break. The bell rang, but Aqua remained slumped over her desk, unable to move. She was hungry. But being in the classroom was painful. She was scared to look at Mio's face. Scared to talk to Fubuki, too. (*What do I do?*) In the end, Aqua slipped out of the classroom without even touching her lunch. Her destination: the rooftop. This was the only place she had left. — " Um, Fubuki-senpai, Mio-senpai." Sora stood before Fubuki and Mio's desks. Fubuki, picking at her own lunch, looked up awkwardly. Mio kept her gaze fixed out the window, refusing to look her way. " Where did Aqua-senpai go?" " ...The rooftop." Fubuki answered in a small voice. " That girl's been up there all alone, crying." Mio said it without turning around. Her voice sounded more sad than angry. " ...What happened? Please tell me." Sora looked straight at the two of them. Fubuki and Mio exchanged glances... and then, bit by bit, they began to explain everything. About Kanata-senpai. About Okayu's bombshell revelation. How they'd fought, how Mio had stormed out, how Aqua had locked herself away on the rooftop in tears. When they'd finished, Sora thought for a moment, then smiled brightly. " I see. So all of you senpais are clumsy together, huh?" " ...Huh?" " Hey, what's that supposed to mean? We're being serious here—" Mio spun around, scowling. But Sora's smile didn't waver. " I mean, you all fell for the same person, you're all fighting about it together, and you're all going 'what do we do, what do we do'—doesn't that just mean you want to treasure your own feelings *and* your friends' feelings, all of them?" " Awkward, but kind. You senpais really haven't changed at all." Fubuki froze, mouth hanging open. Mio tried to retort, but no words came out. " I'm going. I'm going to bring Aqua-senpai back." Sora turned on her heel and left the classroom. — The rooftop. *Whoosh.* The wind blew. The October wind was already cold, making the hems of skirts flutter softly. Aqua was sitting behind the water tower, hugging her knees. Her face was buried against them, unmoving. In the distance, she could hear voices from a gym class. *Creeeak.* The sound of the rooftop door opening. Aqua didn't lift her head. (*Fubuki... maybe? Or Mio?*) But— " Senpai, I found you." It was a voice she didn't recognize. When she looked up, standing there was the kouhai who had just transferred in that morning. Haibara Sora. Her long black hair flowed softly in the wind. Her large, purple eyes looked straight down at Aqua. " ...Sora-chan?" " Yes. It's Sora. The Sora who was your kouhai in our past life." Sora plopped down right next to Aqua. Up close, Sora's eyelashes were long, her skin was beautiful—but her hands were gripping her skirt tightly. Aqua could tell she was nervous. " ...I'm sorry. I'm just... a lot's been going on right now..." As Aqua spoke through sobs, Sora shook her head. " Please don't apologize. I've already heard everything. From Fubuki-senpai and Mio-senpai." " ...Oh." Aqua buried her face in her knees again. (*I'm even causing trouble for my kouhai.*) (*I really am hopeless.*) The wind howled, *whoooosh*. Sora was silent for a while, watching Aqua's profile. Then, quietly, she spoke. " Senpai. In my past life, the person I respected most was you, Aqua-senpai." " ...Huh?" When Aqua looked up, Sora was gazing at the distant sky as she continued. " Aqua-senpai, you were always clumsy. You tripped a lot, you stumbled over your words on stream all the time. But you were more stubborn than anyone." " When they said your singing was bad, you practiced for hours. When you messed up a stream, you'd show up properly the next day even after crying. When someone was in trouble, you'd drop everything to go help them." Sora turned toward Aqua and smiled brightly. " So... I don't want to see you crying, senpai." A warmth spread deep in Aqua's chest. " And so, you see..." Suddenly, Sora's expression shifted into a mischievous grin as she peered into Aqua's face. " I'm going to fall in love with Amemiya Kanata-senpai." —Huh? " ............What?" Aqua's brain came to a complete halt. " I'll fall for him, and I'll stir up all of your love lives into an even bigger mess, and then I'll make you cry even more, Aqua-senpai!" " Wha—huh—w-wait, what do you mean—" Aqua blinked rapidly. Her tears had stopped. She was so shocked, she'd completely forgotten to cry. " If you're just going to give up and cry up here, then I'll take everything." Sora looked straight into Aqua's eyes. Those purple eyes, so gentle just moments ago, were now dead serious. " But if you don't want that—" Sora gripped both of Aqua's hands tightly. Her fingers were cold. But her grip was strong. " —then say how you really feel. Properly. To everyone. Keeping quiet around me isn't an option." " I want to see you running at full speed, senpai. Show me that stubborn side of yours." —Ah. Aqua finally understood. This was anger. Sora was angry. She was so frustrated that Aqua wasn't doing anything herself, just sitting there crying, that she couldn't stand it. That's why she was deliberately saying things to provoke her. To light a fire in Aqua's heart. (*She's my kouhai... and I made her go this far.*) (*I really am... completely hopeless.*) But— Strangely, her heart felt lighter. The heavy stone that had been lodged in her chest seemed to crumble away at Sora's words. " ...Pfft." Aqua burst out laughing before she could stop herself. " Ahaha, ahahaha!" She couldn't stop laughing. " S-Senpai?! I was being pretty seriously angry just now, you know!" Now it was Sora's turn to stare at Aqua in surprise. " Because—because, Sora-chan, your way of being angry is so weird! 'Stir it all up into a mess'... ahahaha!" Aqua clutched her stomach, laughing. The cold wind on the rooftop carried her laughter away. " Honestly! This is no laughing matter!" Sora's face was red as she huffed angrily, but the corners of her mouth were twitching up just a little. " ...Thank you, Sora-chan." Aqua wiped her tears with the back of her hand. These tears weren't sad ones. " Alright!" Aqua sprang to her feet with force. " Senpai? Where are you going?" " To apologize to Mio!" Aqua shouted without looking back— She threw the rooftop door open with a bang and raced down the stairs. — The classroom. After school, the classroom was hushed and quiet, most of the students already gone. Mio sat alone by the window. Her black hair, a little longer than her shoulders, was tied back with a red cord, same as always. Her posture was perfectly straight, but her profile looked terribly lonely— " Mio!" Aqua burst into the classroom and ran straight to Mio. Mio stood up, startled. " Aqua... what's wrong, running like that—" Aqua stopped in front of Mio, and while catching her breath, she bowed her head deeply, deeply. " I'm sorry! It's all because I wasn't clear about everything! Getting the strategy notebook from Fubuki, meeting senpai in the library—I should have just told you properly, but I just kept hesitating—" " Of course you'd be angry, Mio! It was my fault!" Tears spilled over one after another, dripping onto the floor. " ...Aqua." Mio's voice was trembling. " I'm sorry too. I lost my temper and said things I didn't need to say... I didn't even listen to your feelings, I just yelled at you..." Mio was crying too. From the eyes of the always-composed class rep, large tears fell silently. " Mio..." Aqua stepped forward and hugged Mio tightly. Mio wrapped her arms around Aqua's back and hugged her back just as hard. " I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." " Me too... I'm really sorry..." The two of them held each other and cried for a long moment. —*Rattle.* " I'm sorry too!" The classroom door slid open and Fubuki burst in. Her silver hair was disheveled, her red ribbon bouncing wildly. Tears were streaming from her fox-like golden eyes. " It was me—I'm the one who stirred everything up between you two! Showing the notebook, meeting in secret—" " Fubuki, I'm sorry too." Aqua reached out to Fubuki as well, and the three of them held each other in a tight embrace. " Auu... uuu..." " Uwaaaah!" " ...Honestly, you're all crying way too much..." Mio said it with a tearful smile, wiping her eyes. " ...What a face I

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Episode 6

Name: Minato Aqua's School Romance Brain Battle!? ~Reborn with Five Childhood Friends~
Author: Novelia

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