6:20 PM

As the sun was long gone, the light had faded from the first day of the Sunrise Festival. In this new darkness, only one light could be seen among the plethora of street lights. A limo carrying four of the sisters was almost to its destination.

Nino:"Ichika texted me a while ago she was already heading to the apartments. Are you sure you're alright?"

Miku:"Y-Yeah, I just had a massive headache. I should be fine come tomorrow."

Nino:"You're gonna take the same shift? Shouldn't you rest more?"

Miku:"My stamina isn't as bad as it was before. I'll rest plenty once the festival is over."

Nino:"But.."

Yotsuba:"It's okay, Miku. If you want, I can take over for you."

Miku:"Huh?"

Nino:"Yeah, you can...Wait, do you even know how to bake?"

Yotsuba:"Hmm, not really. I'll just pull an all-nighter to learn it! I'm great at picking up skills...as long as they're not academic."

Miku:"Yotsuba…"

Miku moved her arms towards her.

Yotsuba:[Is she going in for a hug? Oh, Miku, I'm glad you could leave it to m-]

Yotsuba's thoughts were interrupted once Miku started pulling her cheeks.

Yotsuba:"Vat abe bou poing!?"

Miku:"Don't make fun of me."

Miku let go of Yotsuba's cheeks.

Yotsuba:"But Miku…"

Miku:"If you really put your mind to it...I'm sure you'd be better than anything I'm currently good at with little to no trouble...But I still have some pride, you know? I won't lose that easily."

Miku smiled at Yotsuba.

Yotsuba:"H-Huh? O-Oh, okay. I'll let you do that."

Miku:"If I'm out of commission, you can fill in, but I'm not letting that happen. I trust you feel the same?"

Yotsuba:"I don't know…"

Miku:"Yot-su-ba."

Miku began to move her arms towards Yotsuba again, this time in a more menacing manner.

Yotsuba:"Okay, okay! I'll rely on you."

Miku:"There we go."

Nino:"..."

{Miku:"A whole year has passed, and I'm still the same."}

Nino:[That wasn't true, was it? You've changed the most out of us...Because of that…]

{"After this, we'll all go our separate ways."}

Nino shut her eyes and shook her head.

Nino:[...I don't want that...I don't want that to happen ever, but...if Miku could...then…]

Miku turns to Itsuki.

Miku:"What happened to you? You look horrible."

Itsuki, whose eyes were not unlike that of a dead fish, looked up as everyone got a good look at all her messy hair.

Itsuki:"I thought Uesugi-kun was here with how rude that statement was."

Yotsuba:"But you do look terrible."

Itsuki:"Eh? Nino, please back me up."

Nino wasn't listening properly.

Nino:"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure is bad."

This last statement broke Itsuki's heart. Nino realized what she said.

Nino:"Oh, I mean-"

Itsuki:"Oh, how could this happen? I can't become a teacher if I get so easily winded."

Miku:"You've been worrying too much about that lately."

Nino:"..."

Itsuki:"It's not enough, I need to surpass everyone quickly."

Miku:"It's not about how quickly you do it."

Itsuki:"Huh? But you told me otherwise back when we were returning from Kyoto."

Yotsuba:"You did?"

Miku:"You were asleep. With that, I'll admit I was in a stressful situation, and it took until after the Sports Festival to realize that. But, because I know that experience firsthand, I understand when you're going through the same thing."

Itsuki:"But you have…"

Miku:"You have to take your time. After all, that's how Fuutarou taught us."

Itsuki:"...That way won't always work...It's because of that slowness that can cause you to miss vital information! Isn't that how the cause behind the stall burning down went unnotice-"

Itsuki closed her mouth before she kept going.

Yotsuba:"Sorry…"

Itsuki:"I didn't mean to…"

Miku:"Haha."

Itsuki:"W-Why are you laughing?"

Miku:"It's nice to see you act like yourself once in a while."

Itsuki:"Like…?"

Miku:"Yotsuba, you know she didn't mean it."

Yotsuba:"Yeah, but it still stings a bit."

Miku:"It was my fault as well."

Yotsuba:"How!? Safety was our job!"

Miku:"I sidetracked them. It was terrible timing too, I'm sure the tension between the boys and girls will get worse now. I wouldn't be surprised if I was the one suspected of making it burn down."

Yotsuba:"But you-"

Miku:"It's fine. I just have to clear my name, and that's exactly what I'll do tomorrow by working even harder. I can't let this beat me."

Yotsuba:[...I'll work even harder! For her sake!]

Miku:"As for you, Itsuki. Just remember what Fuutarou taught us all this time. Now it's up to us to build off of that and come to our own conclusions."

Itsuki:"And what was yours?"

Miku:"Something that I might regret...But then again, I might not. Not knowing what's going to happen is scary, but that's kind of the fun of it all."

Itsuki:"..."

Yotsuba:"Oh, we're here!"

Miku:"Finally. Need to get this headache sorted."

The four sisters finally opened the door to their comfort zone. Nino looked up to see Ichika's door was shut. Once she got there, she knocked.

Nino:"Ichika, are you here?"

There was no response.

Yotsuba:"Oh, her bag is here!"

Nino:"I guess she's sleeping. The trip must have taken its toll."

Inside the room was Ichika, laying down.

Ichika:[I wish I could sleep...But not right now, not after that…]

Itsuki:"I'll eat a quick meal and head off to sleep."

Yotsuba:"Same."

Nino:"What about you, Miku?"

Miku:"I'll just sleep."

Nino:"Oh, sure."

Miku quickly went into her room and closed the door. She put her backpack down and sat on the floor, head between her legs.

Miku:"Honestly, I say such brave stuff…"

Miku shut her eyes.

Miku:"Even though I want to cry…"

End of Chapter 59