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~ - Oshi-katsu Declaration! A Tearful and Laughing Friendship Restart
Midterm exams, final day.
Sitting before the answer sheet for the last subject, Aqua gripped her pen and couldn't move for a while.
Her head was full of things completely different from formulas and historical dates.
(How can I laugh together with everyone again?)
(How can I keep from giving up on Kanata-senpai, but also not destroy our friendship?)
Days had passed since what happened on that rooftop.
Thanks to Sora-chan, she'd made up with both Fubuki and Mio.
Okayu, as always, was bringing everyone together at her own pace.
But something was still missing. A small thorn remained lodged deep in her chest.
(I can't leave things like this.)
The chime rang. Exams were over.
Aqua took a deep breath and pulled out her phone.
She turned the lock screen on and off over and over, then opened her messaging app.
She typed and deleted, typed and deleted, and after thirty minutes, finally pressed send.
*"I have something important to talk about. After school, please gather at the cherry blossom row on Breathless Hill."*
Fubuki, Mio, Okayu, Sora.
She checked the four names.
The moment the sent checkmark appeared, her finger trembled, just a little.
---
Autumn dusk.
The sky was a blend of orange and purple, gently dyeing the cherry blossom row along the Hoshimi River.
Most of the leaves had fallen, and the bare branches traced countless thin lines against the sky.
It was the time when the upperclassmen taking entrance exams trickled down the hill in scattered groups.
Aqua waited for the four of them beneath the largest cherry tree.
Her waist-length black hair was in twintails, but today, strangely, they were perfectly even.
"Ah, everyone!"
The first to arrive was Fubuki.
Her long silver hair sparkled, reflecting the sunset. The red ribbon on her left braid swayed slightly from her run.
"Aqua-tan! What, what, what's the important talk?!"
Her fox-like golden eyes gazed at Aqua with excitement.
"Wait just a little longer. Until everyone's here."
"Geez, the suspense is killing me~"
Fubuki pouted.
Next, Mio and Okayu came up the hill together.
Mio had her shoulder-length black hair tied back, her posture perfectly straight. Okayu walked at her own pace, half a step behind Mio.
"Aqua, did we keep you waiting?"
"No, it's fine."
"Nice weather, huh~ The cherry blossoms aren't blooming, but the sunset's beautiful."
Okayu said, looking up at the bare-branched cherry tree.
Finally, Sora came running, out of breath.
Her long black hair, reaching to her waist, swayed wildly.
"S-sorry! I was tidying up my desk and got delayed!"
Sora bowed deeply, not even caring that her blunt bangs were disheveled.
"Sora-chan, you don't need to rush that much. It's okay."
Aqua couldn't help but laugh. The tension in her shoulders eased, just a little.
——All five were gathered.
"…Hey, everyone."
Aqua clenched both hands tightly in front of her chest.
Her heart was pounding so loudly it was almost annoying.
She'd practiced what to say so many times. Out loud, in front of the mirror.
And yet, now that the moment had come, all her words seemed about to fly away.
"I've been thinking, these past few days… auu…"
Her voice trembled.
Mio stared intently at Aqua. Her gaze urged her to continue.
"About Kanata-senpai… about how I could stay together with everyone… I like senpai, but I also love Fubuki and Mio, and I couldn't choose either. I think I was just pretending not to see my own feelings, being unfair this whole time…"
The smile vanished from Fubuki's face. Something clouded her expression, and it wasn't just the sunset.
Mio's lips pressed tight. Her fingers pinched the edge of her uniform skirt.
"So… I've reached a conclusion!"
Aqua lifted her head.
Her large purple eyes wavered, shimmering with tears. But she looked straight ahead.
"I've decided to make Kanata-senpai my oshi!"
——Silence.
Only the sound of wind passing through the cherry blossom row echoed.
Somewhere, a crow cawed.
"…Oshi?"
Fubuki blinked, her face blank. Her golden eyes flickered once, twice, three times.
"Yes! Oshi-katsu! Romance is… a temporary truce. Instead, we'll all support Kanata-senpai together, in the best way possible! So that senpai can shine even brighter than now! Making goods, cheering with uchiwa fans at events! I'm not giving up on love — I'm transforming it into all of us supporting senpai together!"
Aqua's tone grew faster and faster.
Like when her otaku switch flipped on, words overflowed without stopping.
"That way, there's no need to fight over him anymore! We can all be senpai's fans together! The formation of Team 'Kanata-senpai Oshi Squad'!"
"…That's not fair."
Fubuki murmured.
The next moment.
"It's not fair, Aqua-tan, only you! Why do you get to say something so cool!"
Fubuki burst into loud tears and threw herself at Aqua.
Her silver hair tangled with Aqua's twintails.
She buried her face in Aqua's shoulder and cried out loud like a child.
"I was only thinking about how to get ahead of you, Aqua-tan… hiding your notebook, making you feel bad…"
"That's not true! I thought it was unfair too, how Fubuki was always so close to senpai!"
Tears spilled down Aqua's face as well. She tightened her arms around Fubuki's back.
"And Mio, when you got angry at the café, I couldn't say anything… I left you behind… I'm really sorry!"
While holding Fubuki, Aqua looked at Mio.
Her voice was drenched and messy with tears.
Mio's shoulders trembled. She bit her lip.
But the next moment, large tears spilled from her brown eyes beneath her blunt bangs.
Mio roughly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. But the tears wouldn't stop.
"I'm the one… at that time, I didn't mean to say such awful things. But I'd been so impatient, feeling like I was the only one being left behind…"
Mio stepped forward too, and as if overlapping with Aqua and Fubuki, she hugged them tightly.
The three of them clung together and cried.
Out loud. With faces messy from tears and runny noses.
The sleeves of their uniforms grew wet and cold. No one could tell whose tears were whose.
The sunset warmly illuminated the three of them.
"Ah, youth~"
Okayu gave a slow, gentle clap, smiling. The sound was small and melted into the wind.
"As expected of senpai! This is the epitome of oshi-katsu! I'm so moved!"
Sora wiped her tears, watching Aqua and the others with sparkling eyes. She clutched a handkerchief and sniffled.
"Come on, everyone, stop crying! Here's the oshi-katsu plan from now on!"
Aqua pulled a large sheet of paper from her knapsack.
In letters blurred by tears, it read: *Kanata-senpai Oshi Activity Plan*. It was color-coded with markers and even had sticky notes attached.
"First, we'll make three types of goods! A cheering uchiwa, an oshi-katsu notebook, and… unofficial bromides! We need someone in charge of secretly photographing — I mean, taking artistic natural photos of senpai after school!"
"Hey, Aqua, you've completely switched into otaku mode! I'll do the photos! I'm confident!"
Fubuki raised her hand, laughing through her tears. Her silver hair flared softly from the momentum.
"Wait, please. I believe cheering also requires planning. First, we should analyze senpai's schedule and identify efficient cheering points…"
Mio pulled a business planner from her pocket. She hooked a ballpoint pen behind her ear — already in work mode.
"Instead of an uchiwa, senpai might be happier with a cat toy~ The way he plays with cats in the courtyard is cute."
Okayu tilted her head with a little bob.
"I'll make a banner flag! We'll need a horizontal banner too! 'Student Council President Amemiya Kanata — Number One in the World!'"
Sora waved both hands with overflowing enthusiasm. Her bangs flew up.
"S-Sora-chan, that might be going a bit too far… auu."
——A warm atmosphere filled the cherry blossom row.
As Aqua took out her plan, she remembered something she'd brought along with it.
At the bottom of her knapsack, her fingers brushed against the texture of drawing paper.
"Well then, first, I'll unveil the very first oshi-katsu good! Look at this!"
Aqua pulled out the uchiwa she'd made herself from her knapsack.
On pink drawing paper, written in silver glitter: *Fight! Kanata-senpai*. The handwriting was a little clumsy, but you could tell it was made with all her effort. Glitter stuck to her fingers, sparkling in the sunset.
"How is it?! I spent three hours making it last night!"
"Whoa, Aqua, that's amazing!"
"It's lovely. You can feel the heart put into it."
That was when.
"Then, a cheer for Kanata-senpai! Fight-o!!"
Aqua swung the uchiwa upward with all her might.
In that instant.
——Pop!
A deflating sound, and the paper part of the uchiwa detached from the handle stick.
"Ah."
The uchiwa paper caught the wind and spun down the hill like a top, whirling round and round.
The autumn wind had blown unexpectedly strong.
"Ah, ah, ah!"
Aqua's face went pale in an instant.
"It got away! The uchiwa got away! It's like it's alive!"
"This is no time for joking! We're chasing it!"
"Read the wind! Predict the uchiwa's trajectory—"
"Ah, it's senpai."
——Time stopped for all of them.
From the bottom of Breathless Hill, someone was jogging up.
A jersey. Chestnut-brown hair swayed softly in the sunset.
It was Amemiya Kanata-senpai.
"Eh?"
"No way."
"It can't be."
The uchiwa flew in a straight line, directly toward Kanata-senpai's face.
*Smack!*
A dry sound echoed across the hill.
"Whoa!?"
Kanata-senpai cried out and staggered.
After a clean hit to senpai's face, the uchiwa fluttered softly to the ground.
"Gyaaaaaa!!!"
Aqua's scream echoed through the evening sky. Several crows took flight in surprise.
---
"Senpai! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!!"
Aqua bowed her head over and over with enough force to nearly prostrate herself.
Her twintails swung up and down vigorously. Behind her, Sora was bowing just as deeply.
"Eh? Minato-san? …And, everyone?"
Kanata-senpai blinked and looked around at the five of them.
On his face, clearly imprinted, the glitter letters of *Fight!* were stamped in reverse. Silver sparkles glinted on his forehead and cheek.
"Haha, that surprised me. Is this some kind of strategy? It's like a surprise attack from a Sengoku warlord — rather interesting."
Kanata-senpai smiled cheerfully as he wiped the glitter from his face with his finger.
He gazed at the glitter on his fingertip with curiosity.
(Th-this is god-tier handling…)
It was the moment Aqua's oshi was deified in her heart.
A halo shone behind him in her mind.
"This is, well, a cheering good for oshi-katsu, and, um, since it was amateur craftsmanship, the adhesion was weak, and it went rogue, so to speak…"
Mio stammered out an explanation. She clutched her planner to her chest, red up to her ears.
"It's fate! This means senpai has received the very first oshi-katsu item!"
"S-Sora-chan, your follow-up is a complete mess…"
"Hey, senpai has reflexes like a cat~ I thought he'd be able to catch the uchiwa."
Okayu added an out-of-place comment, causing even more confusion.
——That was when.
"…You're being noisy."
A low voice, devoid of emotion.
Completely stripped of anything resembling warmth.
Everyone flinched and turned around.
Before they knew it, he was standing there.
Hair of an indigo so dark it was nearly black. Ash-silver eyes that gave absolutely no hint of what he was thinking.
Tsukishiro Rio-senpai, wrapped in the most unapproachable aura in the entire school.
"Rio!"
"I was accompanying your run. I lost sight of you partway. …What is this?"
Rio-senpai expressionlessly picked up the uchiwa from the ground.
Silver glitter transferred onto his fingers too.
"Th-that's, Aqua, Aqua made it, an oshi-katsu good…"
Aqua explained in a voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz. Her voice grew smaller and smaller.
Rio-senpai stared at the uchiwa for a while.
He slowly traced the glitter letters with his finger. Then, without lifting his h
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