Tamaki Yumena has a secret. She has been reincarnated from the real world into the world of Oshi no Ko, and she retained all of her memories from her past life. Although she does not recall all the details, nor does she know how the story ends due t...
I was lost in my first life. I did nothing spectacular. I lived to twenty-five, stumbling through my day to day barefoot on shards of glass. I was drenched in perpetual anxiety about the unknown, and what I did know terrified me even more. I finished my primary education, performing about average at best, and no social presence to make up for it. I was constantly swallowed up in guilt that I wasn't achieving more. So when I was killed, from behind, never seeing the perpetrator's face, all I felt was remorse I hadn't done better. Everything spiraled into an inky blackness, and the next moment, I was reopening my eyes in a hospital with a giant woman's face peering down at me.
Wait. No. The woman was an average size; I was the one who was tiny. I had been reincarnated. I assumed because everyone looked so realistically human to me at first, that it had to be the same universe, but it was only a matter of time before I would learn that wasn't the case. I saw so many people in my first hours of new life with unnatural hair and eye colors and exaggerated proportions, I knew something was off. When I saw my own reflection, naturally wavy cotton candy blue hair with pastel pink eyes to match as a newborn, it hit me. I had been isekai-ed into a video game, manga, or anime.
I had been Japanese American in my first life, a third generation. My parents from my first life spoke and wrote in mostly English, so I was learning Japanese at about the same speed of a normal baby. This set me back for a while, but I excelled in other areas. I was determined to make the most of my new life, rather than be a lonely failure like in my last one. I wasn't a genius in my first life, but I knew enough that it looked like brilliance in a toddler girl.
My mother was pleased with my deeply imaginative play with toys and my interest in learning how to read early. She noticed that my drawings were skilled because I had liked art in my first life, even though I was never talented enough to make much money off of it back then. She considered me her art prodigy even though everything I drew was in crayon. I spent most of my time drawing and playing with toys. I was around four in my new life when everything changed. My mother was playing the news, and I was passively listening while playing with toys in my room when I heard her sigh. "That's horrible. She seems like she was really talented and had a bright future."
Curious, I snuck into the living room and stood behind the back of the couch, and I saw her face and name plastered all over my screen. Ai-Chan from idol group B Komachi, managed by Strawberry Productions- I sank to the floor, stunned as the realization hit me.
I had been reincarnated into the world of Oshi No Ko. And Hoshino Ai had just been murdered by a fan that turned into an unstable stalker. Which meant somewhere out there, Aqua and Ruby had just witnessed the death of their mother, and the beginning of their sordid tale had been set into motion. And the worst part? I couldn't remember their real father's name. So what could I do to help prevent further tragedy with what I knew? I had no idea where they lived. I knew their names, but their full names. I struggled to remember any of the other characters' names despite my desperation.
I had been more of a casual fan, not an obsessed one. It had been over four years since I had thought about the anime or the manga, and shit?! How did the series end?! Oh God, it dawned on me: I died before the series finished. I covered my mouth with my hands, curled up on the tatami mat, shaking. If I had known, if I had paid attention to what this world was instead of selfishly focusing on my own progress, maybe I would have figured it out and been able to somehow warn Ai in time. I could have somehow stopped all of this from happening if I had just tried harder. I got a second opportunity at life, and I was still failing. I couldn't help the two kids who probably needed help the most.
So what the hell could I do now?
My mother turned the television off, and I heard the crinkle of faux leather as she rose to her feet and maneuvered around the couch to enter the kitchen, and paused at the sight of me lying on the floor, staring into space in a shocked silence. "Yumena, what are you doing?" she asked in a soft voice. I sat up straight, staring at her. "Mama, I want to be an idol. Like that lady was!" I pointed to the television. "She shone so bright while she was alive, I wanna be like that!"
"Oh no, sweetheart, you saw that?" I nodded. "I'm really sad about what happened to her. I want to be like her! I want to sing and dance and make people smile!" "I don't think you fully understand-" "Someone killed her, right?" I insisted coldly. She blanched, flinching. "Well-" "You're scared something bad will happen to me too if I become an idol," I stated.
"Of course I am-" "But it won't be your fault. I know bad stuff can happen, but I might not even make it very far. Can't I at least try? I can start by taking singing and dancing lessons!" My mother gazed at me like she was understanding for the first time that there was something different about me, and there was an expression almost akin to awe in her eyes. "Okay. Okay. Okay. We can start there."
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