Remember, everything is intentional.
Chapter 6
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The flashback chapter
A very cliche plot point
All from Miku's eyes
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Nakano Miku is not your average girl.
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Aside from being bad at studying, cooking, and making friends, she also has trouble speaking her mind.
She found it easier to impersonate her sisters whenever she felt the need to be more open around others.
She wore other faces because she was uncomfortable with her own, despite the fact that they all shared the same face.
Flashback:
Miku was walking home from school, exhausted from another study session. Fuutarou was walking directly in front of her. She sometimes found solace as she stared at Fuutarou's back.
"Fuutarou-kun!"
A bubbly, yet sultry voice called out to him. Miku turned around and saw a short haired girl running towards them. Her hair shared the same reddish tints as Miku's, but hers looked closer to pink.
"Ichika? What is it?"
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Nakano Ichika is — .
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"Did you give any thought to my proposal?"
"Remind me again, what proposal?"
"Ara ara, Fuutarou-kun, I'm referring to the school play!"
"And what does that have to do with me?"
"You should really learn to pay attention to others. Remember? I got cast in the leading female role!"
"Oh wow, congrat-
"But I told them I would only do it if you starred as my love interest."
"...come again?"
Miku listened to the interaction and painfully clutched onto her chest.
Fuutarou sneered. "Why would you ask someone like me to act alongside you?"
Ichika blushed. Miku felt her heart racing from the anxiety.
Ichika, please... don't say anything.
"Fuutarou-kun...
Please don't...
"Isn't it obvious?"
Please please please please please-
"I'm in love with you. I've been in love with you for a long time now."
Miku felt the world collapse around her.
Ichika turned around. "Ara, Miku. I didn't see you there."
I was here.
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Nakano Miku wants to be brave like Ichika.
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She wanted to be able to freely speak her mind and confess her feelings for Fuutarou.
But she couldn't do it.
Miku pulled out a notebook. I need to get my mind off of this...
She grabbed a pen. Maybe I'll write a story? No...that's too long.
She pondered. A poem! I'm sure I could come up with a few rhymes.
She thought again. Or maybe I could start with something simple...
Like a Haiku.
Miku began to write.
Snow falls ever slow
Once hitting the ground, they melt
They just disappear
Miku observed her writing. "That was actually kind of fun." She chuckled.
"What was kinda fun?
A pair of footsteps attached to that commanding voice approached closer and closer. Suddenly, another girl was in plain view. She put her hand on the table, exposing her freshly painted fingernails. Her hair was short and arranged in twin tails, tied with two ribbons- one on each size.
"Nino..." Miku muttered.
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Nakano Nino is / / .
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"Let me see what you're writing!"
Nino grabbed Miku's notebook, much to her dismay.
"Nino! Give that back!"
"I'll give it back in a second. I'm just looking... is this a Haiku? Why are you writing a Haiku?"
"That's none of your goddamn business!"
"Whoa, calm down, Miku. I was just asking."
"But why does it matter to you? Give me my notebook back!"
Nino slyly grinned. "What's the magic word?"
Miku snarled. "...please..."
Nino let out a laugh and handed the notebook back to Miku. The latter girl was incredibly embarrassed.
Nino gently patted Miku's head. "I think it's adorable to get into a new hobby."
"But you're teasing me..."
"Because it's so unexpected!"
"That's not a reason."
Nino rolled her eyes. "Well, whatever. I'm about to bake some cookies. You want some?"
"...sure."
The two made their way to the kitchen. Miku watched as Nino delicately mixed her cookie batter that she had made from scratch. Out of everyone that Miku knew, Nino was the best at baking.
Unfortunately, Miku was the worst at baking, despite her job at a bakery.
"I confessed to him the other day." Nino said, not once breaking focus from mixing her batter.
Miku froze. "Confessed to?"
"Who else? Uesugi, of course. Oh, or should I call him Fuu-kun now?"
"F-Fuu-kun? I had no idea you two were on nickname status."
Nino let loose a smile. "Well, stuff happened. This and that."
"That's really vague."
Nino blushed and started to swoon. "I don't know how to explain it, I just get all these butterflies when he's around."
Miku eyes darted to the floor. "T-that's great, Nino... I'm happy for you."
Miku felt herself choke as she held back tears.
First Ichika and now Nino. Why can't I be like them?
Nino and Miku spent the remainder of their time in the kitchen in silence, with only the sound of the oven timer piercing the air.
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Nakano Miku was sprawled out on her bed, lost in thought, and horrifically sad.
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Ichika and Nino, her two eldest sisters, had just confessed to the boy that she loved.
Miku knew that she was the first one to fall in love with Fuutarou. She cursed herself for never having the courage to tell him.
I can't be so straightforward like Ichika.
I can't be so gung-ho like a Nino.
I'm just... me.
Miku's chest was hurting.
I wish I could change.
Miku was the expert at impersonating her sisters- because she wished she was them.
She practiced their mannerisms on a daily basis.
She imagined herself in various situations and wondered how each of her sisters would handle them.
She glorified the idea of being anyone but herself.
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Nakano Miku hates herself.
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Nakano Miku hates herself a lot.
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"Miku?" A high pitched voice called out to her from outside her room.
"Yotsuba... what's up?"
"Can I come in...?"
"Door's open."
Yotsuba carefully opened the door and walked right in. She flashed her usual smile at her sister. In her hand was Miku's notebook.
Miku sprang up from her bed. "Hey, that's mine!"
"I know. I wanted to give it back to you. It was just on the table outside."
Miku walked slowly towards her sister. "Did you read it...?"
"I did..."
Miku sighed. Now Yotsuba's gonna tease me.
"What was it?"
"...huh?"
"What you wrote on the last page! Was it supposed to be a poem?"
"Yotsuba, do you not know what a Haiku is?"
"The volleyball manga?"
"Er, no. It's a poem that follows a 5-7-5 syllable pattern. A lot of Haiku themes focus on nature, but it doesn't necessarily have to be the case."
"That's... super interesting!"
Miku smiled at Yotsuba's pure reaction.
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Nakano Yotsuba is naturally curious and easily amused by most things.
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"Yotsuba, do you want to try writing a few Haikus?"
"Can I?!"
Miku handed her notebook to her sister. "Sure. I don't mind."
Miku and Yotsuba spent the next hour writing Haikus, sharing stories, and bonding. Miku was never the closest with Yotsuba out of all of her sisters, but she felt at ease whenever she was around.
Suddenly, Miku remembered the tumultuous reasoning behind her newfound admiration for poetry. Yotsuba sensed Miku's sadness and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Miku...it's going to be okay."
Miku looked into Yotsuba's curious blue eyes. "Do you even know what's bothering me?"
Yotsuba shook her head. "No, but just in general, everything always turns out alright."
Miku smiled. "Your positivity can be a little gross sometimes, you know that?"
"That's really mean!"
The two laughed together. Yotsuba grabbed Miku's hands. "Let's be best friends from now on!"
"We're already sisters..."
"Let's be best SISTERS from now on!"
"That's not fair to the others, you goof."
Miku had spent the last hour just talking with and getting to know Yotsuba, which really got the gears in her head to turn.
"What if it was just the two of us?"
Yotsuba blinked three times in a row out of confusion. "What do you mean?"
"What if we weren't born as five sisters- Quintuplets- but just as twins? You and me."
"Are you asking if I would like that?"
Miku gulped, then nodded.
Yotsuba shrugged. "It's kinda hard for me to imagine. Why do you ask?"
Miku and Yotsuba sat briefly in silence until:
"I would be okay if it was just us two."
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Nakano Miku felt closer to Nakano Yotsuba than ever.
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"What the hell do you think you're saying?"
A stern voice called out from outside of Miku's room. Yotsuba had left the door open.
Tracing the voice, Miku found herself staring at a girl with the same reddish hair, though it looked more like a deep and brighter shade. That hair was adorned with two yellow star accessories on each side and an ahoge perched at the very top. The trademark Nakano blue eyes hid behind the girl's glasses.
"Itsuki? How much of that did you hear?"
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Nakano Itsuki is ***** .
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"I heard enough of it." The bespectacled girl walked into Miku's room and slowly approached the two sisters on the bed. "How cruel of you to even entertain the idea of us not having been born!"
"I didn't- that's not what I was saying."
"You implied it!"
Yotsuba tried to stand between her two sisters. "Miku! Itsuki! Please calm down!"
Itsuki sneered. "You know that telling someone to calm down usually has the opposite effect, right?"
"I actually agree with that." Miku nodded.
"I'm just trying to help!"
"Miku..." Itsuki continued. "Uesugi-kun is going to be here soon to tutor us. Let's cease any further confrontation."
"But you started it..."
"Are you a child?!"
"But you LITERALLY started it!"
"I love all of our sisters, Miku. Ichika, Nino, you, Yotsuba- I would never think about how it would be like if I wasn't born a quintuplet."
"But Itsuki, don't you ever feel- I don't know- inferior?"
"We're all five fifths. Put us together and we are one. Mother taught us that."
"But Mom is gone now- "
Itsuki slapped Miku with all of her might. Yotsuba gasped and slowly got up from the bed. "I need to pee so I'll, uh, I'll be in the bathroom."
Yotsuba left, closing Miku's bedroom door this time. Itsuki's face was dripping with tears.
"Never in a million years would I have thought you would use Mother's death as an excuse for your hurtful words. I misjudged you, and I have to say I'm incredibly disappointed."
Miku sneered. "You're trying so hard to be like her. I miss her too but you're NOT her!"
Itsuki grabbed onto the collar of Miku's shirt. "No one can replace Mother! I know that. We ALL know that!"
"Then why try?"
"Because who else will?!"
"NO ONE HAS TO!"
The two bickering sisters stayed silent. Itsuki sighed. "Like I said, let's cease this. Uesugi-kun will be here, so I have to wipe my face and get dressed. We'll resume this conversation later."
When did she ever feel the need to get ready just to see Fuutarou?
Miku felt her chest tighten again. "Itsuki...do you also..."
She took a deep breath.
"Do you also like Fuutarou?"
Itsuki immediately felt her face get hot. "W-w-what me? Like HIM? That's preposterous! I-I..."
Itsuki thought a little more and regained her composure. "I think I do. I'm still not completely sure."
Another one. I can't take this anymore.
"Are you going to tell him?" Miku asked, hoping the answer would be no.
Itsuki brushed some of her hair out of her face. "That might be a good idea."
Don't.
"Even if I didn't really acknowledge him as a tutor or a man before, I can't deny that he's had this...effect on me."
Don't!
"I'm sure if I confess, no matter what happens, I can make sense of this all. I guess I'll do it today just to get it over with."
DON'T YOU FUCKING DO IT!
Despite her limited stamina, Miku sprinted past Itsuki and out of her room.
Ichika, who had heard the yelling from her own room, was walking towards Miku's. "Miku?"
Miku ran right past her eldest sister.
Nino, who was still in the kitchen, called out to her as well. "Miku? What's going o-
Miku ran past her second eldest sister as well.
Why can't I be like them? I hate this. I HATE THIS!
The feelings of inferiority were crawling into Miku's gut like a virus. She felt like she was going to throw up.
Before Miku even realized, she had made it outside of the apartment. She was in an open field.
"Where...where is this?"
Miku was so blinded by her thoughts that she had just kept running. She looked down and noticed that the field was an endless sea of green. She reached down and picked up what appeared to be some sort of plant.
"A clover?"
She counted the leaves.
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"Is this field just full of clovers?" Miku picked up a few more from the ground.
She remembered something Yotsuba had once told her.
If you find a four-leaf clover, hold it close to your heart, make a wish, and it'll come true!
Miku rolled her eyes. "Ridiculous..."
Miku counted the leaves of the handful of clovers she had picked up "But I wonder... what if it was true though?"
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"What if I could make a wish on a four-leaf clover and have it come true? I could wish for my ideal world."
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"For Yotsuba too. I want her to be happy too. I want us both to be happy."
Miku pulled the rest of the clovers close to her chest, which still felt was tightening. She continued to count by feeling the leaves with her fingers.
"I can't be like Ichika."
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"I can't be like Nino."
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"I can't be like Itsuki."
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"I wish I was born in a world where Yotsuba and I were twins. Just us two."
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Four.
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And the world went dark.
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Clovers filled the field
Only four leaves can help her
She found one and wished.
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End of Chapter 6
