As the shinkansen bound its way carrying the third years of Asahi High off to Kyoto, Fuutarou and Takeda passed the time bantering about trivia and studies. Maeda was bored out of his mind as he was unable to keep up a conversation with the top two brains of his class and found himself staring at the Nakano sisters, who were passing the time away playing cards. As their present game came to a close, Yotsuba peered over at Miku, who was dozing off.
"Miku. Miku! Wake up. The game is over!" Yotsuba said as she shook Miku awake. Miku woke from her daze in a shock.
"Ah! Pair of twos!" Miku laid her hand out.
"You're late! And you're hand's weak" Nino taunted Miku.
Yotsuba leaned over to Miku and started whispering something in her ear.
"You seem sleepy. You got up early this morning and went off somewhere, didn't you?" Yotsuba inquired.
"Yeah. I went to work and begged to use the kitchen." Miku responded.
"Then you're finally going to have Uesugi-san taste it and tell him? You've worked your butt off for this day. I'll be cheering for you till the very end!" Yotsuba encouraged Miku.
"I hope it still tastes good cold." Miku wondered.
Ichika's glance fell upon her two sisters' secret conversation. Something was going on between the two, and she couldn't help but be suspicious of Miku in particular. What was she going to do? Was she planning to confess to Fuutarou? The sudden development that Nino, Itsuki, and She would explore Kyoto together spelled a little relief to her, but she was still not in Fuutarou's immediate group and still lacked complete control of the situation. She decided then and there she had to do something before Miku could expose her lie. Suddenly, an idea sprung in her head.
"I know," Ichika suddenly burst out, "For the next hand we add the rule that the winner gets to give any order they like."
"Any order? Good idea." and intrigued Nino concurred.
"I accept." Itsuki added.
"I won't lose." Miku assured everyone.
Yotsuba could feel the tension rise in the air. Suddenly everyone was fired up over a card game. At least, she was hoping they were fired up over the card game. She was afraid to think what else this could mean.
When the students finally arrived in Kyoto and teachers had finished giving their instructions to all the students, Fuutarou and his group approached Itsuki's group so that Fuutarou could coordinate their plans for the day, as the first day allowed the students to explore Kyoto at their own leisure. The second day, the class would explore temples and shrines as a whole group. The third day consisted of elective field trips to several different locations.
"So. You guys wanted to follow us around. What do you guys want to do today, seeing as we're free to explore wherever today?" Fuutarou asked.
"I was hoping we could explore some of the shrines we aren't going to see tomorrow. It's Kyoto after all, yeah?" Takeda spoke up first. Both Maeda and Nino groaned in displeasure.
"I'm fine with visiting the temples." Miku concurred.
"Who cares about some moldy old temples?" Nino argued. "We're on a trip, and trips mean shopping. I really want to check out some of the fancy shops while we're here."
"You don't get it, do you? This is Kyoto, so we need to try all the local treats we can," Ichika retorted.
"I agree with that opinion, but I would like to revisit some places we saw when we were here last several…" Itsuki declared "So that maybe he'll remember," she murmered. Yotsuba shot a look of suspicion at Itsuki, who was quick to notice. "I mean, a walk would be nice." Itsuki corrected herself.
The girls began bickering with each other over where to go, as they all had their . Fuutarou and the others stood aside in bewilderment.
"Uesugi, dude. Is this how they always are?" Maeda asked.
"Yeah." Fuutarou replied. "Once they get started, it's hard to get them to agree on anything." Fuutarou sighed and murmured "I was fine with just visiting some shrines myself" under his breath.
"Hm hm hm" Yotsuba chuckled, placing her hand on Fuutarou's shoulder. "Do not be troubled, Uesugi-san. Allow me to handle this" she spoke with an exaggerated and confident tone. Yotsuba marched into the circle of her bickering sisters and inserted her own opinion into the argument.
"Everyone. Uesugi-san said he wanted to visit some of the other shrines. So let's go visit the shrines first!" Yotsuba suggested.
"Huh?! Who said you could decide?!" Nino exclaimed.
"Heh heh heh. I won the card game! My word is law" Yotsuba reminded her sisters.
Everyone immediately recalled that Yotsuba won the card game where they placed the stakes of being able to give one order to everyone else on the train ride to Kyoto. Their hopes to steal some alone time with Fuutarou in their preferred setting were dashed.
"What is this place?" Maeda asked. The group had made their way to the Azumamaro Shrine and were offering their prayers to the god of the shrine.
"It's a shrine to the god of academics. Maeda-kun, I'm worried for your grades, so please pray extra hard." Takeda retorted.
"The hell did you say?!" Maeda yelled back.
"Shut up, both of you!" Fuutarou rebuked both of his friends.
"Mu mu mu… How did it end up like this?" A fuming Nino asked herself. Itsuki attempted to console Nino that they would explore the shops later like she wanted. Ichika, meanwhile, had her eyes dead set on Miku. Unfortunately for Maeda, she was so fixated on what her sisters were up to, that she unintentionally ignored several of his attempts to make casual conversations. Miku meanwhile had started to become discouraged.
"This is the only day we're free to eat wherever we'd like; moving in a large is my biggest obstacle afterall." Miku dejectedly murmured to herself.
"It's okay," Yotsuba reassured Miku, "I'm sure you'll have a chance to talk to Uesugi-san alone." Yotsuba could still feel the tension in the air and was also concerned about whether it would choke the excitement out of the trip or not.
As the group made its way to the Fushimi Inari Taisha and began the long ascension up to Ichinomine, the tension began dissipating as everyone was awestruck at the beauty of the seemingly endless torii gates lining the pathway upwards. The girls couldn't help but utter their amazement at the site. Before Nino knew it, she was taking photographs of the beautiful scenery. Suddenly, an idea came to her head.
"Fuu-kun," Nino called out to Fuutarou as she held out her phone to him, "take our picture for us."
The sisters lined up in front of Fuutarou, flashing big smiles and peace signs for the camera. Fuutarou thought to himself that this was the ideal mood for the trip and hoped silently to himself things would stay this cheerful. 'This is how they should be' Fuutarou thought as he took the photo.
"Pictures with just us are pretty important after all." Yotsuba noted.
"Oh, we don't have any pictures of just the five of us?" Ichika asked.
"Didn't we take on back at the fireworks festival?" Miku followed up.
"We haven't taken on since we were on our field trip back in elementary school." Itsuki reminded them.
Itsuki's words stirred up Fuutarou's thoughts. Though he was confident beforehand, a sudden visit by the mysterious Rena at the mall recently made it all but certain to him that the girl he had met six years ago in this very city was indeed one of the Nakano sisters. Where it once was something that completely drove Fuutarou's actions, since Christmas, Fuutarou had relegated those memories of that day to just a cherished memory and had moven on from his childhood crush of that girl. Moreso, Fuutarou had become more aware that a certain girl had started to occupy his thoughts more and more. Fuutarou wasn't sure how he'd feel if he were to meet with the girl from that day fully aware of her identity. A part of him, however, still wanted to thank her for inspiring him to change his life in a matter he still recognized as integral to who he was today. Fuutarou shook his head in frustration. He didn't want to think about this certain topic. He was hoping he could form an even more precious memory of Kyoto this time around with the friends he had made.
As the gang continued their climb up the mountain, exhaustion started to kick in, and the tension in the air started to thicken yet again.
"My leg's hurt" Itsuki whined.
"The stairway's pretty long, huh?" Ichika noticed.
Fuutarou's eyes wandered about the pack as he was starting to hit his own limit and noticed someone was missing.
"Where the heck is Takeda?" He asked.
"He… probably… ran… ahead… of… us…" Maeda wheezed, out of breath and bending over leaning on his knees.
"What the heck. How am I holding up better than you?" Fuutarou mused at Maeda.
"Shut up, Uesugi." Maeda shot back.
"Geeze. You guys are all slow." Yotsuba asserted as she was lead a tired out Miku by hand.
"I'm glad someone doesn't have a care in the world." Nino observed.
"That's Yotsuba's strong point." Ichika pointed out.
"Of course. She's a lot different from a certain schemer I know." Nino vented. "I'm sure you've got something up your sleeve today too, right?" she interrogated Ichika.
"Haha. No… Not today anyway." Ichika responded, feigning innocense. Her thoughts started to dwell on the disguise of Miku she had stashed in her bag. She knew at some point she had to drag Fuutarou away as 'Miku' and cement in his head the lie that she told him back before the mock exam in order to save the image of herself in Fuutarou's head. If she could do that, she was confident that by using a certain memory to her advantage, she could secure Fuutarou's love.
As the group reached the point where the pathway up diverged into two pathways at the Yotsutsuji Intersection, they found Takeda waiting for them.
"I'm truly sorry everyone. It appears I was too focused on moving forward that I ran ahead of everyone. But I'm glad to see you all made it here safely, yeah?"
Everyone was too busy catching their breaths to notice anything Takeda said. Suddenly several stomachs growled. There was a mixture of embarrassment and chuckles at the noise.
"I guess it is lunch time isn't it?" Fuutarou noted.
"Look! There! We can eat there!" an Itsuki exclaimed, pointing at Nishimura-tei within the vicinity of the intersection. "Nino, let's go see if they can seat us." Itsuki said, grabbing the closest sister to her and dragging her off with her to indulge in her favorite pastime, much to Nino's protest at getting dragged away.
"Well… I guess this would be a good opportunity to sit and rest, and there is food to eat here, huh?" Fuutarou said, indicating that the group should stop for lunch.
"Eh? Lunch now?" Miku suddenly protested, clutching the bag of bread she had been carrying all morning to her chest. Getting lunch now compromised her plan to provide Fuutarou lunch as she had hoped. She knew she needed to speak up, but being put on the spot shook her to her core.
"What's wrong, Miku? Did you have someplace else in mind?" Fuutarou turned and responded.
Miku blushed hard. She needed to say it. She had to say it now.
"Uh… Well… You know… About lunch… You… Sorry! I need to use the restroom!" Miku fumbled about, proceeding to dash for the nearest restroom.
"Miku, wait up!" Yotsuba called out to Miku as she chased after her.
"What the heck?" Fuutarou uttered at the confusing interaction he just had.
"Dude. Are you for real?" Maeda rebuked Fuutarou, staring at him in utter disbelief of the density of the person in front of him.
"Shut up," Fuutarou shot back while proceeding to rub the back of his head in frustration, "Let's just go get some food," he said, diverting the subject. Fuutarou in fact had an idea of what was going on with Miku, given his experiences with her during Valentine's day and the final day of spring vacation. At times he thought about how he should give a response to Miku, but Miku was never straightforward with him. Did she actually feel that way towards him, in the first place? It seemed like it. But who was he to presume? Even if it was the case, how would he respond in light of certain other things? It was an unpleasant thought, and he would often put off thinking about it soon after thoughts on this particular subject entered his head.
"I think I will go use the restroom as well. You three can go on ahead without us. We'll catch up to you." Ichika informed Fuutarou.
"Ok" Fuutarou replied.
In the restroom, Miku crumpled. The pressure of confessing was too much for her to handle. Yotsuba tried to encourage her sister to give it another go.
"I can't. It's impossible. There's no way my bread is good enough to impress Fuutarou. It's hard to talk to him alone. Things just aren't going my way."
Yotsuba grabbed Miku by the shoulders and gave her a stern look.
"Miku. You worked so hard for this day. There's no way Uesugi-san wouldn't be impressed by your hard work. Just try again and tell him how you feel. It's better to not have any regrets." Yotsuba reassured Miku, putting up her trademark smile on her face.
"Yotsuba…" Miku uttered. Yotsuba's smile and words were able to calm Miku down and gave her a little more confidence. "Hmm. Alright. I'll give it another chance," she responded.
"You got this." Yotsuba encouraged Miku, giving her a gentle slap to the back to nudge her forward.
As the two exited the restroom and returned and returned to where they left Fuutarou, Maeda, Takeda, and Ichika, Yotsuba and Miku found that the four had now just become two: Takeda and Maeda.
"Huh?" Yotsuba uttered in confusion.
"Um. Maeda-san. Takeda-san. Where did Fuutarou go?" Miku asked.
Takeda and Maeda both looked at each other in confusion.
"He was with you, was he not, Nakano-san?" Takeda asked.
"Ah. You mean Uesugi-san was with one of our sisters?" Yotsuba tried to clarify.
"No. We mean you. The one wearing headphones. You wanted to talk to Uesugi and we saw you run off with him." Maeda asserted, pointing at Miku.
Now Miku and Yotsuba looked at each other in utter confusion.
"I didn't…" Miku started before an infuriated Nino, who had come back to tell the group they secured seats at the restaurant and had overheard the conversation, interrupted.
"What did you say?!" Nino bellowed in anger. "Which way did they go?!" she demanded from the two boys. Takeda and Maeda pointed the direction in which they saw 'Miku' had taken Fuutarou. "Let's go," Nino said, gesturing at Yotsuba and Miku to come with her. The three ran in the direction the two boys pointed. Takeda and Maeda stared at each other in utter confusion again.
"What the hell?" Maeda said.
Elsewhere, Ichika was dragging Fuutarou away, having disguised herself as Miku. She was anxiously looking for a secluded spot, hidden away from prying eyes. She needed to make sure no one would find them before she could safely talk to Fuutarou.
"Miku was acting odd all morning. She was definitely planning something," Ichika thought to herself. She was not particularly comfortable with what she was about to do. "I have to do it again. I can't take back a lie I've already told. In order to stop Miku, I'll keep lying until this role is finished." Ichika said, attempting to assure herself she needed to go through with this.
"I said just wait one darn second!" Fuutarou yelled, using his strength to prevent 'Miku' from dragging him any further. Fuutarou was caught off guard by Miku quickly returning after using the restroom and dragging him off elsewhere because she said she wanted to talk to him about something. The situation was disorienting to him. This Miku didn't seem like the real Miku. This Miku was bold and decisive, unlike the more timid and unsure Miku he was familiar with. Fuutarou wondered if this 'Miku' was connected to the 'Miku' who had told him about Ichika's feelings for him, as he had wondered if that Miku was fake as well. Regardless, he had become impatient and demanded answers.
"If you need to tell me something, then just tell me here and now. I don't know what you were looking for, but we need to head back to the others." Fuutarou demanded of 'Miku.'
Ichika panicked. They needed to keep going, otherwise they risked getting caught if her sisters caught on somehow about what was happening.
"Fuutarou… Just a little bit further… Hahaha." Ichika tried to assure Fuutarou. Suddenly her eyes died. She spotted Nino, Yotsuba, and Miku rushing in after them. Nino looked none too pleased whilst Yotsuba and Miku had looks of concern on their faces.
"Ichika!" Nino cried out.
"Ichika?!" Fuuarou exclaimed while glancing at Ichika, the mystery suddenly being revealed to him.
The three caught up to where the two were standing. Miku was mortified at the sight of her sister dressed up as her all alone with Fuutarou.
"Ichika. Why are you dressed as me?" Miku inquired. Ichika stood there, unable to say anything. "Ichika. If you have a reason, then please…" Miku further pleaded.
Yotsuba became angry. She had seen this Ichika before, and she was none too pleased by it. With fists clenched, she stepped forward.
"Ichika! This isn't what I meant when I told you you didn't have to hold back anymore! Is this what you really want?" she asked.
"What do you mean, Yotsuba?" Miku asked, horrified at where she feared the conversation was going.
"She's trying to stop you from confessing to Uesugi-san!" Yotsuba blurted out, failing to even think about the situation. Everyone's eyes widened in shock. Yotsuba immediately realized her error and was mortified. She covered her mouth and slowly turned towards Miku. Miku's face was flushed red in embarrassment and on the verge of tears.
"What?!" Fuutarou yelled out. His face had also become red.
Miku couldn't handle the situation anymore. She dropped her bag and ran off. Fuutarou and Yotsuba both had frozen, trying to process the situation. Ichika remained silent. Nino took Ichika's silence as an admission of guilt to Yotsuba's accusation.
"You really meant to do it, didn't you Ichika?" Nino yelled, rushing towards Ichika and grabbing her by the collar. "You made Miku cry. So are you satisfied now?" Nino angrily asked her sister.
"Wait, Nino, I'm the one…" Yotsuba tried to redirect Nino's anger at her, believing she was the one to have really hurt Miku in the first place.
"Yotsuba," Ichika interrupted her sister, holding up her hand to silence her, her countenance clearly looking defeated, "Nino is right. Regardless of what happened this is more or less what I was trying to do."
Nino shook Ichika.
"Just how far are you willing to go-" Nino further attempted to interrogate Ichika before Ichika interrupted Nino.
"I don't want to hear that from you." Ichika quipped at Nino. "Remember what you told me back at the hot springs, how you told me you'd knock down anyone in order to make your love come true? So what's the difference between you and me? Tell me, Nino." Ichika further rebuked Nino.
Nino's face went from shocked to sullen as her head bent downward.
"Yeah. I did say that, but" Nino argued back, raising her head to reveal tears forming on her own face, "The bond with my sisters is just as important! Even if the day came and you were chosen over me, I'd want to be happy for you!" she concluded. Nino turned to find Yotsuba and Fuutarou standing in utter shock at what they were witnessing. "Why are you both standing there still? Go look for Miku already!" She barked at them.
"Oh. Right." Fuutarou timidly responded. He turned to Yotsuba and nodded and they both took off in the direction Miku had run in.
Nino and Ichika looked around and noticed a crowd had formed over the commotion they caused. The two bowed and apologized.
"Let's get out of here." Nino told Ichika. The two returned back towards the Yotsutsuji Interaction to inform the others what had happened.
Meanwhile, Fuutarou and Yotsuba began scouring the vast Fushimi Inari Taisha in search of Miku. Fuutarou figured that with her stamina, Miku couldn't have gone too far, but finding her was proving to be difficult. Yotsuba herself was internally agonizing over her own sin. She blurted what she shouldn't have out loud. She hurt Miku. She outed Miku's feelings in front of Fuutarou before she could say it herself. Yotsuba wanted to say something to Fuutarou about it; ask him if he actually heard what she blurted out in public, but she felt it was pointless. She knew Fuutarou had heard everything. There was no denying that reality.
Fuutarou, meanwhile, was thinking of what he should say, if anything, when they found Miku. How would he rectify the situation? How does he even respond to the situation like this? His thoughts also dwelled, in frustration, at Ichika. Why would she do something like this? How did things end up like this? Just a little short while ago things were peaceful and happy. Fuutarou had so many questions as he pushed himself forward in spite of his exhaustion.
"Uesugi-san! I finally found Miku!" Yotsuba cried out pointing to Miku off in the distance, curled up on a bench out of the way.
"Finally." Fuutarou uttered, moving towards Miku, only to have Yotsuba block his way.
"Uesugi-san. Please let me talk to her alone." Yotsuba pleaded with Fuutarou. Fuutarou just nodded his head in agreement and let her go.
Miku sensed someone walking up to her. Raising her head, she looked up to see a remorseful Yotsuba standing in front of her.
"Miku. I'm so glad I found you." Yotsuba said, grasping at and hugging Miku. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Miku. I just blurted out your feelings in front of Uesugi-san. I told you to leave it to me, but I just made it worse for you. Please give me another chance! I promise to make it up to you!" Yotsuba pleaded with Miku.
"Yotsuba…" Miku uttered as she gathered all her thoughts in order to respond to her. "It's not your fault. It's not Ichika's fault. All this time, I kept putting off confessing to Fuutarou. I tried getting the best scores among us. I tried baking him bread. I just kept making excuses. The truth is, I was scared. I'm up against Ichika and Nino. They're cute and sociable. They aren't gloomy and dreary looking like I am. When Fuutarou found out about my feelings, I started thinking that there was no way I was good enough for him. I tried confessing to him once already, but Fuutarou didn't really understand. I can't. I can't do it again." Miku broke down crying in Yotsuba's arms. Yotsuba's heart was rent asunder.
"Miku, that's not true at all." Yotsuba choked in response as she squeezed Miku against herself a bit harder. "You're sensitive, thoughtful, and really kind. There's no way Uesugi-san wouldn't like someone like you. I know it's hard. It's really hard. But don't give up on your feelings, Miku." she added.
"I don't want to give up!" Miku responded.
"Then please believe me. If you think Uesugi-san would fall for Nino or Itsuki, then surely he can fall for Miku too. We're quintuplets, afterall."
Miku's mood lifted slightly at Yotsuba's word. Yotsuba's words were the same words Fuutarou had used to cheer her up back when they first met, and Miku believed them to be true. Yotsuba was right. She couldn't keep moping about. She should at least give it one more serious go.
"All right. I'll give it another try. Yotsuba, thank you very much." Miku replied.
Yotsuba smiled back. The two of them walked back towards Fuutarou. Fuutarou saw and quickly tried to think of what to say to Miku.
"Miku. Are you all right?" was all a flustered Fuutarou could muster.
"Yeah. I'm feeling a little better." A blushing Miku responded. Though she planned to try again confessing, she decided to wait until the awkward mood changed for the better.
"In any case," Fuutarou continued, "I called Itsuki and told her we finally found you since they were looking as well. She said that Ichika is going to the hotel because she's not feeling good. Itsuki also said that she and Nino were going to explore some shops and that Maeda and Takeda were also going to check out some other places as well. Said something about how they all wanted to give Miku some space after what just happened. I guess the plan is to just do our own thing until dinner time."
Fuutarou sighed. He wondered how things got so bad all of a sudden. Just a while ago, everyone was cheery and posing for pictures. Now? The mood had soured completely. There was now yet another mess brewing between the Nakano sisters. Worst of all, he had a feeling he had something to do with it. Suddenly, Yotsuba's stomach growled. Yotsuba chuckled out of embarrassment.
"Well… I guess we should get some lunch. It's a little later than normal. And if it's all right with both of you, there's another shrine I was hoping we could check out afterwards." Fuutarou stated to both Yotsuba and Miku.
"That sounds fine to me, what about you Miku?" Yotsuba asked. Miku nodded her head in agreement.
After having a late lunch, Yotsuba and Miku followed Fuutarou as he led them to the place he wanted to go. Yotsuba was able to strike up a casual conversation between Fuutarou and Miku and things seemed to return back to normal. Miku seemed to cheer up being able to talk normally again with Fuutarou after everything that had happened earlier, which made Yotsuba happy. Fuutarou also found himself in a more pleasant mood, and he hoped that the next stop on their Kyoto expedition would give him more pleasant thoughts to dwell on so he could avoid thinking about what happened earlier. Suddenly, Yotsuba realized she wasn't aware of where they were going and became curious.
"Say, Uesugi-san. What's this place you wanted to visit so badly?" Yotsuba asked.
"The Yasaka shrine." Fuutarou replied.
"Another shrine?" Miku asked.
"Yeah." Fuutarou affirmed.
Yotsuba froze and her eyes widened as Fuutarou and Miku marched forward. They were visiting that shrine? Fuutarou wanted to visit it again? Yotsuba's heart sank as she once more began feeling the burden of guilt that had built up over the years.
As the three arrived at the shrine, partook of the customary purification rituals and began praying at the main hall, Miku's curiosity got the best of her.
"Fuutarou, why did you want to visit this shrine?" Miku asked.
"I came here once during a school trip several years ago. I actually got separated from my group and wound up exploring Kyoto that whole day with another girl about my age I bumped into. We made a promise together when we got lost here, and for the longest time, I was really driven to keep that promise for a long time in case we would ever meet again."
"Another girl? Who was she?" Miku asked, anxiously curious.
"I don't know." Fuutarou replied, pausing for a moment; his eyes were closed and he had a satisfied look on face. "I've since accepted I'll probably never see her again, and that I shouldn't worry about that promise. It's just a nice memory now that I'm thankful for. I guess you could say I just wanted to pay my respects here since I had the chance again."
Miku was even more curious about Fuutarou's story.
"What kind of promise did you even make?" Miku inquired.
Suddenly, Yotsuba, who had mysteriously gone quiet ever since Fuutarou told them where they were going, spoke up yet again.
"I'll do it for my mom… And… Fuutarou-kun will do it for his sister…" Yotsuba uttered, tears streaming down her face. Yotsuba didn't realize that the painful feelings from the past had leaked out. She turned her head towards Miku and Fuutarou. Miku looked confused. Fuutarou, meanwhile, was absolutely stunned. Yotsuba immediately realized that she had actually said out loud what she was thinking.
"Wait… No…" Yotsuba stumbled as she tried to dry up the tears that she became aware of were streaming down her face.
"Yotsuba! Wait… You're…?" Fuutarou uttered before Yotsuba stopped him from finishing.
"Forget it!" she cried.
"But…" Fuutarou replied
"I said forget it!" Yotsuba pleaded.
Yotsuba wouldn't talk to Fuutarou the rest of the day as they made their way back to the hotel. Miku could tell something serious was going on between Fuutarou and Yotsuba, but unlike earlier, she couldn't lighten the mood and let herself feel dejected over the situation. Fuutarou's own heart sunk as his mind began to dwell on the disaster of a day he had just experienced. He then thought back to when he sat down with Yotsuba at the mall the other day and how once again she had urged Fuutarou to make good memories together with that smile on her face.
"You've got to be kidding me." Fuutarou thought to himself. "What the heck?!"