"Okaa-san! Okaa-san! Where are you?" can be heard in the distance. It's coming from a young boy who was near tears, currently searching for his mother. Despite his increasingly frantic cries, no one stops to help him, hence why the boy is currently walking around the festival alone. While some people notice him, and most around him definitely notice his distress, they simply continue past him, a few muttering about the boy as they do so.

"That poor boy..."

"What kind of mother would lose her child at a festival?"

"I hope someone helps him..."

When the boy eventually started crying, stopping in the middle of the crowd of people, left alone by all the people walking past him...

"Hey there...oh come on, don't cry. I will help you find your mother, alright?" The boy looks up to see a friendly girl with a big green ribbon and short, orange hair. She kneels down right in front of him and starts wiping his tears away with a hand. "Come on, big boys don't cry. Cheer up, alright?"

The boy nods and with some effort, finally stops crying as the girl stands up and extends her hand, offering it to him. "See? That wasn't so hard. Now, let's find your mother, shall we?" The boy nods and nervously grabs the girl's hand.

Together the two of them walk through the masses, in search of the young boy's mother.

"I am Yotsuba and what is your name?"

"T-Toru..."

"Toru? What a cute name! Say, where have you last seen your mother? Maybe we can start searching from there."

"She wanted to buy me some sweets and then she disappeared after I stopped to look at something."

"Hey, how about I buy you some sweets while we look for your mother, ok?" The young boy nods happily as he hears Yotsuba's idea, brightening up significantly at the thought of a treat. Together, the two of them walk to a food stand serving different kinds of sweets.

Suddenly, just before they could join the end of the queue, a young woman in her 30s runs up to the two of them and hugs the young boy. "Toru! I am so sorry, I promise you I will never let you out of my sight again." The lady lets go of the boy and turns to Yotsuba as she begins to bow rapidly in front of her. "Thank you very much for taking care of Toru! I don't know how I can show you my gratitude!"

"You don't have to thank me. It was just the right thing for me to do!" Yotsuba waves her hands around, stammering slightly as she lets go of the young boy.

As the two start walking off, the young boy turns to Yotsuba and waves to her with a smile on his face. "Thank you, Onee-chan!" With an equally big grin on her face, Yotsuba waves back to Toru until he eventually disappears into the crowd alongside his mother.

"What a cute little boy...but somehow, he is kinda similar to me. I got lost, just like him. Just like him, I wander through the festival, searching for someone that I have lost sight of. And just like him...I need someone to help me find my way."

Yotsuba slowly lowers her gaze towards the ground in thought, then looks up just in time to be blinded by a bright flash. Yotsuba rubs her eyes and turns towards the source of the light. She looks at an adult man with a brown mustache and short brown hair who has a camera in his hands. Right in front of him stands a young girl with pink hair wearing a kimono that looked very familiar to Yotsuba.

"Ichika...?" Yotsuba whispers so quietly that no one was able to hear her exclamation. Who is that old guy and why was he taking pictures of her sister?

"That picture was also pretty good, Ichika!" The old man says as he once again shows Ichika the pictures he took of her.

"Yeah, you are right. So, where are we going next? Should we go to a spot where the fireworks can be seen without any buildings or people in the way?" Ichika suggests whilst looking at the camera's screen.

Yotsuba hesitantly walks up to the two of them as they begin to leave the vicinity. Because of all the people walking past her and the ones standing in her way, Yotsuba struggled to keep up with Ichika and the creepy man even though she was much more athletic than her sister. Not willing to push past the festival-goers in order to catch up, she carefully navigates through the crowd as fast as possible. Eventually, she loses track of them and gives up her search, standing still.

"Ichika?" Yotsuba whispers, worried about the wellbeing of her sister. She had a bad feeling about this man even though she knew that Ichika, out of all the sisters, should know that man like these could be trying to get her hands on her and know how to avoid them. Even Yotsuba understood that, and she was considered the most naïve of the five.

"Yotsuba!" A familiar-sounding voice calls out from the distance. Yotsuba turns to where the voice was coming from and sees her little sister and Fuutarou hurrying towards her. "Finally, we found you."

"Itsuki, Uesugi-san?"

"Seriously Yotsuba, how can you run away to search for Itsuki and Ichika when you don't even know where to bring them once you found them?" Fuutarou asks in an annoyed tone, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, when I ran off, I hadn't thought that far yet...hehe..." Yotsuba answers with a nervous smile on her face while rubbing the back of her head. Surprisingly, Fuutarou doesn't chew her out, instead choosing to ask her another question.

"Say, have you seen Ichika somewhere? We can't seem to find her anywhere."

"Yes, I have seen her. But I am not sure if she is alright or not. She was with a creepy man that took pictures of her. They said they wanted to go to a place where you can see the fireworks without any buildings or people blocking the way. But I lost track of them..." Yotsuba explains as she slowly lowers her gaze, ribbon sagging with her deflating mood.

"Maybe we should hurry after all. Itsuki, you may have said that Ichika is mature enough to know if she can trust that old man but this is looking more and more suspicious. What if that man really poses a danger to her?" Fuutarou rubs his chin in thought, more worried now that he had concrete evidence about what he saw, and looks around the festival to check if he could see Ichika somewhere.

Yotsuba once again looks up to her tutor and nods boldly. "Yeah, we have to search for her!"

"Then let's not waste any more time."

Yotsuba and Fuutarou begin to walk back into the crowded paths, so focused on their task that they didn't notice that they were leaving Itsuki behind, who was still standing still, rooted to the spot.

Both of Itsuki's hands curl into fists and she bites her lower lip. She had to tell them about Ichika, not doing so would only make everything more complicated from now on. "I...I was not being honest towards you, Uesugi-kun."

Yotsuba and Fuutarou come to a stop once they realize Itsuki had not been following them in the first place. They both turn around simultaneously to look at Itsuki. Her gaze drops to the ground, unable to meet their questioning eyes. "What do you mean, Itsuki?"

"You too, Yotsuba. I was not being honest with you either. I lied to every single of you. Even to Miku and Nino."

Yotsuba looks at her sisters with a confused and concerned look whilst slowly moving closer to her, step by step. "Itsuki...what are you talking about?"

"Ichika...she won't be able to join us today."

"What? You can't be serious, Itsuki!" Yotsuba's concerned frown deepens further, a stark contrast to her usually bubbly nature and bright grin.

"She told me this Thursday evening after I came home from eating at Uesugi-kun's place. She explained that she had found a new job that would 'suit her perfectly'. I was pretty devastated..." Even though Yotsuba was pretty shocked herself, she calmly starts comforting her little sister.

Fuutarou now walks towards the two of them, glancing at Itsuki who was currently still looking at the ground with a sad expression on her face. "A new job? But why would she have to work on a Sunday?"

"She said this Sunday would be the perfect opportunity to show what she was capable of. It probably had something to do with this festival."

"What is she working as, if I may ask?"

"She told me to keep it a secret. I promised her I would, so I will keep it a secret until she thinks it's time to tell everybody."

"But who is the creepy man she is with?"

"That's apparently her colleague. He met with her right after we finished grabbing something to eat, earlier this evening." Itsuki answers as she finally raises up her head to look at Yotsuba and Fuutarou.

"I mean, if she says this would be her perfect opportunity, and that the job suits her perfectly, we should be happy for her, am I right? After all, what is the problem with her not showing up to watch the fireworks with us?" Without knowing it, Fuutarou had stepped on a landmine with that last, careless question.

For a few seconds, everyone remained silent. Fuutarou could only wonder what he had done wrong now. Eyes moving from Itsuki to Yotsuba, and then back to Itsuki, he grimaced at their downtrodden expressions, mentally berating himself.

After a short time, Itsuki finally speaks up. "You couldn't have known why the fireworks festival is important to us, so let me explain to you, Uesugi-kun. It's a memory we share with our mother. She really liked fireworks so she took us to this festival every year..."

"I see, so that's why Nino and Miku are not as mean to me as the last times we had seen each other. It's because watching the fireworks is something special to you and they didn't wanna destroy the mood, even if I'm here."

Again, everyone remained absolutely silent before Itsuki picks up the courage to voice whatever she was thinking about.

"Actually, let me tell you a story...

...one time at a fireworks festival when Mother was still alive..."

"Okaa-san, how much longer do we have to wait?"

"Don't worry, the fireworks will start any second now."

"Okaa-san, Ichika is stealing my snacks again!"

"No, I am not!"

"Hey hey, be nice to each other, ok?"

"Dear Visitors, we will now begin with the fireworks festival!"

"Look, there! The fireworks!"

"They are so beautiful!"

"Look at those colors!"

"Yellow! Pink! Blue! Green! Red!"

"And there are so many of them!"

"Girls, listen up for a second..."

"What is it, Okaa-san?"

"These are the moments that matter. Moments like these where all five of you are together. Moments like these where you all can be happy together. These are the moments that matter.

And if you find yourself in a situation where one or more of you are struggling, then you have to share your happiness with them. Even if only one of you is happy, you have to split your happiness between all five of you.

Joy, Sadness, Anger, and Love. All these emotions should be split into five equal parts among all of you."

"We may have been too young to understand what she was saying back then but I am sure each one of us now follows the same goal. We all want each other to be happy, and for us to be happy together.

Each year, we would go to the fireworks festival together, all five of us. And ever since mother died, the fireworks have been more important to us than ever before...

...But now, Ichika can't be part of this year's firework festival because of her new job. This will be the first time that we don't watch the fireworks together as five. It would mean that we're finally not able to split our happiness into five parts but rather into four parts, leaving one of us behind...

...I don't want this to happen. I want to share this moment with every single one of my sisters. I wanna share it with Nino. With Miku. With Yotsuba. And I also wanna share it with Ichika...

...but considering that she doesn't have the time to join is...this will only remain a dream of mine..."

Suddenly, tears begin to stream down Itsuki's face and drip onto the ground. Itsuki sobs quietly and lowers her head while covering her face with her hands.

"Itsuki...don't cry...I am sure we will find a solution to this..." Yotsuba whispers gently to her sister while wrapping her arms around her and pressing her head into her chest. She carefully strokes Itsuki's hair while trying to hold back her own tears.

"Itsuki."

Itsuki lets go of Yotsuba and slowly turns her head to Fuutarou whilst removing her hands from her face. He's wearing an expression of pure determination.

"This shall not, and will not remain a dream of yours! All five of you should be able to watch the fireworks together, without a single one of you missing! Ichika, Nino, Miku, Yotsuba, Itsuki! I will bring every single one of you to the rooftop of that old man's store in time so you can all enjoy the fireworks as a family!

I don't care if Ichika is busy because of her new job! I promise you that I will find her and bring her back to all of you in time! Your 'dream' will become reality. And I'll make that happen!"

Itsuki abruptly stops crying out of sheer confusion at her tutor's words as she wipes off the last remaining tears on her face.

"But for now, let's bring you two back to Nino and Miku!" Out of nowhere, Fuutarou grabs both girls and walks in the direction towards the store from earlier, where he had left the other two quintuplets at a quick pace. His bold actions leave Itsuki quite speechless, and all she could do now was follow her tutor and see what he had in mind.

25 Minutes remain before the fireworks start.

Eventually, Fuutarou arrives at the store with the two sisters in tow. He and Itsuki were totally out of breath, nearly unable to take one more step forward while Yotsuba was still full of energy. Not surprising, but still kinda depressing.

"Itsuki! Yotsuba!" A loud voice calls from the inside of the store. It's coming from Nino, who is currently slowly walking down the stairs with Miku. It seemed like the pain of her wound had died down, considering she was walking without assistance from her sister. Still, Fuutarou keeps a careful eye on her just in case. "Where have you two been?"

"Nino, what happened to your knee?" Yotsuba asks as she walks towards her sister.

"Ah, it's nothing. I just fell down and scrapped it but I am alright now."

"Say, where is Ichika?" Miku looks around, trying to find the last remaining sister somewhere.

"We haven't found her yet." Itsuki shakes her head and looks down at the ground. "But...there is something I have-"

Suddenly, Fuutarou interrupts her as he walks up to the four sisters. "Don't worry, I will find her."

"But how? She could be anywhere!"

"Just trust me on this one." Fuutarou summons up his flagging strength, then runs off into the distance, quickly disappearing in the crowd.

Nino and Miku could only shake their heads. How dumb was this guy, thinking he could find her? This festival was gigantic and hundreds of people were running around, how could he find Ichika out of all of them?

Yotsuba was confused. Why didn't he ask them to help him search for her? After all, they could find her way faster if they were all looking at once, especially if they split up to cover more ground.

Itsuki, however, was calm. Out of all the sisters, she was the only one who trusted him with all of her heart. She knew that he had a plan, and despite how impossible it seemed, she knew that he would find Ichika.

While she didn't know it, Itsuki was right. Fuutarou did have a plan. He had remembered what Yotsuba told him when he found her.

"They said they wanted to go to a place where you can see the fireworks without any buildings or people blocking the way. But I lost track of them..."

Ichika and her colleague were looking for a place where no people or buildings could block their view on the fireworks. That reduced the number of places he had to look for drastically.

It couldn't be in the marketplace, where the festival was located, because there would be too many people running around.

It could also not be anywhere near tall buildings because those would only block their view even more.

Additionally, it had to be near the festival because if they walked too far, the fireworks would have looked too small to properly enjoy watching them or taking any photos with them in the background.

Keeping all that in mind, Fuutarou runs down from the marketplace and towards the residential area, where there are no large buildings. Only a few people were walking around here, which allowed Fuutarou to easily dodge past them as he continued to sprint.

After a few minutes of constant running, Fuutarou is too exhausted to go on. He kneels down and gasps heavily. He knew his body wouldn't keep up if he goes on like that, so the only possible solution was to walk from now, as quickly as he could without overexerting himself.

He stands up again and turns in several directions to see if Ichika was somewhere nearby. To his delight and no small amount of relief, he could see a man with short brown hair and a pink-haired girl in a kimono walking towards a small playground with no more than a few small trees around it. He finally found them.

"Ichika!"

"Huh?" The man and Ichika turn around and look to Fuutarou who walked up to them with a smile on his face. "Finally, I found you."

"Wait, who are you? What do you want from Ichika?" The man puts her arm in front of Ichika in a defending manner.

"Don't worry, Oda-san. He is my tutor and a friend of my sister." Ichika explains calmly so that the man would lower his arm. "Say, Fuutarou-kun, shouldn't you be with Itsuki right now? Why don't you two watch the fireworks together?"

"Why should I watch the fireworks just with Itsuki? We wanna watch it together with the others. And we also want to watch it with you, Ichika."

"That won't be possible. We still have to take some pictures of Ichika for her portfolio. We especially came to this place to take some shots of her with the fireworks in the background."

Ichika looked at Oda in a surprised and nervous way while Fuutarou was left confused by the odd words.

"Say, what do you mean by 'taking some pictures for her portfolio'?"

"Well, if she wants to be a model, she needs to have a variety of photos her possible clients can look at to see her aptitude." Ichika looked at the man with a very shocked face while Fuutarou only got more confused.

"Ichika?"

With a shaky smile on her face, Ichika turns to her tutor.

"Well, there you have it. I'm gonna become a model."

15 Minutes remain before the fireworks start.

Author's Note:

Hey there guys,

hope you enjoyed this chapter too.

To Gryphon-sama: I was pretty surprised reading your 'unique' review. There will be more Itsuki/Fuutarou Scenes. Also regarding your wish that she will fall in love with him...look at the title of this story, that's your answer.

What do you think about Ichika being a model? Have you found the little teaser that was foreshadowing this happening in the earlier chapters? Tell me about it on the discord I hang out actively.

Alright, see ya in the next chapter!