Rebirth From Ordinary Person To The Strongest

The next morning arrived.

After a restless night, I wasn't sure if I had even slept or not. I saw Dad off at 6 a.m. when he headed out and then went back to sleep for a bit. By the time I woke up again, it was already 8 a.m.

I made my way to the dining hall, thinking of grabbing breakfast, and there they were—Aya-chan and Shirayuki-sensei, already sitting and eating their breakfast together.

"Oh, good morning, Itsuki-kun," Shirayuki-sensei greeted.

"Morning, Itsuki-kun!" Aya-chan chimed in with a smile.

"Good morning," I replied, grabbing a tray. As I started loading up my tray with food using Silveit, Shirayuki-sensei stood up and walked over to me.

"Itsuki-kun, today we're going to have a Resonance lesson."

"...Huh? What about creating 'memories'? Isn't that what we're supposed to focus on?"

"After hearing what you told us yesterday, I thought we needed to make sure we don't get kicked out again if the 'something' inside Aya tries to force us out. We need to stay in there."

I couldn't help but agree with Shirayuki-sensei's reasoning, and I nodded.

I'd entered Aya-chan's mind twice now, but both times, I had been forcibly expelled by the Ice Princess lurking inside her.

The second time, I managed to stick around a bit longer by using Silveit to anchor myself to the ground, but even then, it had been a close call. In the end, I was kicked out both times, so it hadn't really worked.

"But how do we stay inside Aya-chan's mind once we get in?" I asked.

"I-I spent all night thinking about that! I made some notes, and I'll explain them to you later," she replied enthusiastically.

"Thank you!" I said, grateful but slightly concerned about her having stayed up all night for this.

As I sat next to Aya-chan, who was happily eating her yogurt with bananas, Shirayuki-sensei pulled out a notebook from her bag.

Wait, she's going to give advice here? Now, during breakfast?

"Itsuki-kun, Aya-san, please listen. I'm going to explain what we'll be doing during Resonance later today," Shirayuki-sensei said.

"...Okay," I replied, a bit surprised by the timing.

"First, we need to understand how you were forced out of Aya-san's mind. It's actually quite simple. The 'something' inside Aya-san is forcefully shifting the wavelength," Shirayuki-sensei explained.

"Is that... even possible?" I asked, surprised.

"Yes, it is."

She started explaining without directly referring to the Ice Princess, likely out of consideration for Aya-chan. But what caught my attention was the idea that the Ice Princess was manipulating the wavelengths.

"It's like a broken TV switching channels on its own. It's not something we can stop directly."

"So, what do we do?"

"It's simple. Before the channel fully switches, we just need to switch it back," she said confidently.

"...Huh?"

I understood, sort of, but not really.

"It's a race against time. First, we need to find Aya-san inside her own mind before the 'something' finds us."

"Okay," I agreed.

That part wasn't too hard. When resonating, I could see a thread connecting me to the person, so finding her wouldn't be a problem.

"If we rescue Aya-san before the wavelength shifts, there's no issue. But if it starts to shift, we need to resonate with the Aya-san inside her mind," she continued.

"Ah... I see?" I replied, slightly taken aback by the brute-force approach.

I guess this meant that if I found Aya-chan trapped in something like a cell again, I just needed to resonate with her then and there.

But what if, like last time, she wasn't there at all? Would I have to resonate with that lookalike girl instead?

"If we resonate before the wavelength fully shifts, we can pull the channel back before it changes. That way, we won't get kicked out and can save Aya-san."

"And what happens if the wavelength shifts?" I asked, concerned.

"If you're already resonating, you won't be kicked out. Think of it like locking the channel. That's why we need to find Aya-san before the 'something' finds us and forces us out," she explained.

I understood the theory now. The issue was whether the Ice Princess would even let us resonate this time. She seemed aware of us being in Aya-chan's mind and had already taken countermeasures.

Maybe the rejection was her response to that.

Wait, though... then why was I able to resonate with Aya-chan yesterday during orienteering?

At that time, I was sure the Ice Princess had rejected me. And yet, we resonated.

Why?

"Let's do our best, Itsuki-kun!" Shirayuki-sensei said, her words brimming with optimism.

Her cheerful encouragement snapped me out of my thoughts, and I nodded. Meanwhile, Aya-chan noticed my tray was missing any fruit, so she kindly handed me a piece of pineapple.

In the morning, we continued practicing Resonance, just like yesterday. We were back in the audiovisual room, surrounded by those familiar white desks and chairs, practicing how to resonate quickly.

It felt like going through well-rehearsed math problems—doing it over and over until the movements became second nature. I wanted more practice, but at least I could feel the process becoming more ingrained.

The only thing different from yesterday was that Aya-chan was sitting next to me, cheering me on. Even though we were both elementary school kids, having a girl cheer for me was... a little embarrassing.

But at the same time, it gave me more focus, and before I knew it, it was already after 1 p.m.

Just as I checked the time, Shirayuki-sensei's phone alarm went off, its high-pitched ringing filling the room.

With that signal, I stopped practicing and turned toward Aya-chan.

When I looked at her, I realized she was looking right back at me. Our eyes met for a brief moment, and I felt a bit shy. Explore more at m,v l'e-m|p| y r

"Let's begin, Itsuki-kun," Shirayuki-sensei said.

"R-Right."

At her prompt, I stepped closer to Aya-chan.

"We're going to deepen the resonance. Excuse me, Aya-san," Shirayuki-sensei said as she took Aya-chan's hand, and I did the same, forming a triangle between the three of us. Silveit wound itself around our arms, connecting us.

"Now, let's focus on going over the memories of yesterday. Do it step by step," she instructed.

"...Step by step."

"Start with the orienteering."

Aya-chan and I exchanged glances. When it came to memories of the orienteering, the odd Resonance and Aya-chan's rest stop immediately came to mind.

"Then, remember how we did homework together afterward."

"Yeah, we did."

"You helped me with my math, Itsuki-kun," Aya-chan added with a smile.

"Yeah, that's right."

As we recalled the events of yesterday, it was like a slideshow of memories flashing through my mind, one scene after another.

"And then, we took Renji-san's class," Aya-chan continued.

"The one about monsters, right?" I replied.

As she mentioned it, I could almost hear Renji-san's voice echoing in my mind, the memory bringing a sense of déjà vu. My vision flickered, and the Silveit wrapped around our arms began to glow.

"And we also played a board game together," Aya-chan added.

At that moment, before I could even respond, my vision was suddenly overwhelmed by our shared memories.

The next thing I knew, our consciousnesses had synced, and everything went black.

It was our third time resonating, and I instinctively knew it. When I opened my eyes...

"Where... are we?"

Shirayuki-sensei and I found ourselves standing in a quiet, suburban neighborhood at night. But unlike the rural landscapes I'd seen before, the towering skyscrapers of Tokyo loomed in the distance.