The Day Subaru Oozora Searches for the Brightest Star
Everyone in Hololive, let's become astronauts! When Subaru Oozora suddenly announces this, a strangely hilarious 'Best Item Arrangement' tournament begins. Its a contest where you can supposedly receive a star from the universe. But Subaru is actually hiding a deeply sad secret. Without knowing it, everyone's small acts of kindness end up hurting Subaru... Yet she keeps acting cheerful. But when the biggest crisis arrives, Subaru realizes she isn't alone! It's a comfy daily life story that will
The Day Subaru Oozora Searches for the Brightest Star - A Grand Assembly of Oddities! The Naraberinpic Games Begin
――Rustle, rustle.
In front of the heavy doors of Komorebi Hall, Shirogane Noel set down the large plastic bags she'd been holding in both hands.
From inside, colorful paper streamers and several bags of still-flat balloons peeked out. They were shopping bags from Penguin-do. She remembered the shopkeeper, Misaki Yoshie, giving her a puzzled look and asking, "What are you going to use all this for?"
" Hehe, with this much, we can make it look just like outer space, don't you think?"
Noel rolled up the sleeves of her white blouse, her long silver hair flowing down her back. Her gray eyes surveyed the empty 200-square-meter space. The ceiling was 4.5 meters high. Usually, streaming booths lined the walls, but today they'd all been cleared out. It felt almost like a gymnasium.
That moment from yesterday suddenly surfaced in her mind.
Subaru's back, there in the Hidamari Room.
Small, curled up, trembling.
Her voice, saying "Good morning," had quivered faintly.
(I'm going to cheer her up. No matter what.)
Noel shook her head and pulled a gold paper streamer from the bag.
Just then, she heard the patter of slippers approaching from behind.
" Wah! Noel-senpai, you've already started setting up?!"
She turned to see Oozora Subaru standing there, eyes wide.
Her bright brown short bob swayed, the braids on the sides bouncing. Her large brown eyes sparkled as she looked at the bags of balloons spread across the floor.
In one hand, she was clutching something.
" Subaru-san, good morning."
Noel smiled brightly.
"Perfect timing. Could you give me a hand?"
Subaru nodded eagerly and carefully placed what she'd been carrying on the floor.
Her small frame, dressed in a white hoodie, settled in neatly beside Noel.
" First, we're making this venue look like outer space! For a Silly Things Exhibition, appearances are everything!"
" How do you even make something look like outer space?"
"Like this!"
Noel unfurled the gold streamer with a flourish. She stretched it taut diagonally from wall to wall. Then she crossed silver streamers over it, forming a mesh pattern. Next, she inflated several blue and white balloons and let them roll across the floor.
Subaru stood there, mouth agape.
" Come on, Subaru-san, you too! Blow up some balloons, please!"
"R-Right!"
Subaru hurriedly grabbed a balloon.
She took a deep breath――and blew.
The blue balloon puffed up.
The sensation spread gently through her palm.
(Come to think of it...)
She remembered folding paper stars with her grandmother when she was little.
Her grandmother would deftly fold the gold origami paper. Subaru would always get lost halfway through and ask for help. "Grandma, how do I do this part?" "This part, you fold it like this." Her gentle voice, her wrinkled fingertips. She'd display the finished stars by the window.
"――ru-san? Subaru-san?"
" Huh? Oh, yes!"
She snapped back to attention to find Noel peering at her with concern.
Subaru quickly put on a smile.
" Sorry, I just spaced out for a second! I'll blow up tons of balloons!"
Noel didn't press further, just smiled gently.
She murmured in her heart.
(What were you remembering just now?)
But she didn't voice it.
Instead, she handed Subaru a blue paper streamer.
" Could you put this up on the wall in the shape of a star?"
"A star... shape?"
Subaru's fingertips trembled slightly.
" Yes. You like stars, don't you, Subaru-san?"
Subaru bit her lip tightly.
Her chest tightened.
(Noel-senpai... she noticed.)
"...Yes."
Answering in a small voice, Subaru took the streamer.
That morning, by the window, when she'd said she was "looking at the stars." Noel had remembered.
Subaru faced the wall and began sticking the streamer into the shape of a pentagram.
One, two, three.
With each star she added, memories of her grandmother resurfaced.
Twilight at Hinatazaka Central Park.
Sitting side by side on a bench, searching for the first star of the evening.
When she'd pointed and said, "Found it!" her grandmother would pat her head and say, "That's wonderful."
(Grandma...)
Subaru gazed intently at the star she'd finished.
" That looks wonderful!"
At Noel's voice, Subaru's smile returned.
" Right?! It's Subaru, you know! Leave the star-making to me!"
She deliberately shouted it out, full of energy and cheer.
Noel caught her breath for a moment at the sound, but said nothing and continued blowing up balloons.
After a while, the walls and ceiling of the hall were filled with stars and balloons.
Gold, silver, blue, white. The paper streamers glittered, just like the Milky Way.
" Look, Noel-senpai! This is amazing!"
Subaru spun around, arms spread wide.
The balloons swayed gently, casting colorful shadows on the floor.
" It's perfect! As expected of Subaru-san!"
Noel nodded, looking satisfied.
Just then――.
"――Wait, what is THAT?!"
Subaru's voice suddenly cracked.
Her gaze was fixed on a massive lump of styrofoam piled up in front of the storage room.
" Hehe, this is my masterpiece, you see."
Noel proudly plunked the lump down in the center of the hall.
Looking closely, it was a handmade model of the solar system.
Planets carved from rounded styrofoam and painted. Orbits forced together with toothpicks. The sun was painted yellow, but the brushstrokes were terribly uneven.
And most of all――.
" Noel-senpai, is Saturn's ring... a rubber band?!"
Where Subaru was pointing, a brown-painted Saturn had what was unmistakably a brown rubber band wrapped around it twice. In fact, the paint had caused the rubber band to stretch out, looking like it might snap at any moment.
" This, you see, is an artistic work expressing the mysteries of the cosmos! The rubber band's elasticity represents the expansion of the universe!"
" No way! You just made that up on the spot, didn't you!"
" You caught me!"
The two of them doubled over laughing.
For the first time in a long while, Subaru laughed without thinking about anything, just purely laughing.
Laughing so hard she was almost in tears.
(Ahaha, what is this, it's so ridiculous.)
She couldn't hold back the laughter welling up.
Noel, her face bright red, was slapping Subaru's shoulder repeatedly.
" H-Hey, Noel-senpai, that hurts!"
" It's because you're laughing so much!"
When the laughter subsided, Noel pointed to the center of the model.
There was a conspicuously empty space there.
"Would it be alright if we placed your work here, Subaru-san?"
Noel's gray eyes gazed steadily at Subaru.
Subaru's heart skipped a beat.
"My... work?"
" Yes. That thing you were holding so preciously earlier. Please, show me."
After a moment's hesitation, Subaru opened the box she'd placed on the floor.
Inside were two "silly things."
One was a silver, star-shaped music box.
Its surface was intricately engraved, and a small pearl was embedded in the center of the lid.
The other was a large duck-shaped coin bank.
Made of yellow plastic, its eyes pointed in slightly odd directions. There was a coin slot on its back, and when you tilted its head, it moved with a creaking sound.
" Oh my, what an adorable duck!"
Noel picked up the coin bank first.
" I found this in the back of my closet. I have no memory of when I bought it. But somehow, I just couldn't throw it away."
" This exquisitely misaligned gaze is wonderful! It has so much charm."
"Right?! And its head moves, look."
Subaru gave the duck's head a little push, and it wobbled with a creaking sound.
Noel burst out laughing again.
" This is a strong contender for the top prize!"
But Noel's gaze quickly shifted to the other item.
The star-shaped music box.
" ...And this one?"
Subaru's expression clouded slightly.
"...That one, it's..."
Choosing her words carefully, Subaru slowly picked up the music box.
Her fingertips traced its silver surface.
"My grandma... gave it to me."
Her voice trembled just a little.
"...It was her last birthday present to me. When you open the lid, it plays the melody of the first star of the evening."
Subaru tried to open the lid.
But her fingers trembled, and she couldn't manage it.
"...Oh, huh..."
Her vision blurred with tears.
(No, I can't cry.)
Subaru squeezed her eyes shut and put on a smile.
" ――I mean, it's really nothing special at all! It can't compete with your solar system model, Noel-senpai!"
She deliberately acted ridiculously cheerful.
But she desperately fought to keep her voice from cracking.
Noel watched her intently.
Her gray eyes narrowed sadly.
But she deliberately chose not to ask anything.
Instead, she gently took the music box from Subaru's hands.
" Thank you, Subaru-san. This is definitely a top contender."
The same words as before.
But this time, Noel said them in an incredibly gentle voice.
" Now then, let's display these two! The duck goes here, and the music box――let's see, we'll put it in the special seat right in the center of the model!"
" What, no! Something of mine..."
" Subaru-san. Your work breathes life into my model. That's why I'm placing it here."
Noel gently placed the star music box in the conspicuously empty space.
Suddenly, the junk-like solar system model seemed somehow special.
The silver star shining in the center pulled together all the shabby planets around it.
Subaru felt a tight warmth spreading deep in her chest.
(Noel-senpai...)
But she couldn't find the right words.
" Alright, the exhibition is perfect now! All that's left is to wait for everyone to arrive――"
That's when it happened.
"――Hold on, Noel-senpai!"
A voice flew in from the entrance of the hall.
Turning around, several other members were standing there, each holding their own "silly things."
" Ah, everyone's here!"
Subaru hurriedly wiped the traces of tears on her sleeve.
" I've been waiting! Come on, line up all your silly things! The grand prize is――the naming rights to a star in the universe!!"
When Noel made her grand declaration, the hall buzzed with excitement.
"Eeeeh?! Naming rights to a star?!"
Subaru's eyes widened too.
" Noel-senpai, is that for real?! You mentioned it yesterday too!"
" Of course! Here, look, proof!"
Noel pulled a handmade certificate from her pocket.
It was a piece of paper that looked like a child had drawn it.
The space to write the star's name was just some lines roughly drawn in crayon. And the lines were all wobbly.
" If you write the name of your favorite star here, it's your star!"
" Noel-senpai, the lines are all crooked! And it's in crayon! Are you serious about this?!"
" I'm completely serious! This is a genuine certificate!"
" There's no way that's true!"
Subaru was laughing out loud again.
But Noel's gray eyes weren't laughing.
(Alright, I'll liven up the contest like this, and I'll definitely take Subaru-san to Sora no Kiterasu.)
Noel swore that firmly in her heart.
Just then, another member, drawn by the commotion, looked at Subaru's exhibit and shouted.
"Hey, look! Subaru-chan's duck is even in the space for Noel-senpai's model! Isn't that against the rules?!"
" Huh? Oh, you're right!"
Looking, the tail of the duck coin bank was sticking into the area of Noel's solar system model.
Only a few centimeters, but it was definitely over the line.
" This is part of my strategy! Subaru-san committed territorial infringement first!"
" That's my fault?! I mean, your model is too close to the duck too, Noel-senpai!"
Subaru casually slipped the rubber band off Noel's model.
" Then, I'll be confiscating this!"
" Aaah! My Saturn! Its ring is gone!"
Subaru grinned and pulled out a red rubber band she'd placed elsewhere.
" Instead, I'll put this on! It's an upgrade to a red rubber band!"
" Hey, red?! Saturn is brown! It doesn't match at all!"
" It's fine! Standing out is what wins!"
Subaru snapped the red rubber band onto Noel's Saturn.
Noel covered her mouth, laughing hysterically.
" Subaru-san, that's not a rubber band anymore, it's just harassment!"
" This is my strategy! I'll do anyth
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