AN: Here it is, the second installment of After the Confession. Don't worry, I'm not abandoning Itsuki and I won't abandon any of these stories. I just want to jump around between these stories. Anyway, here's a story for if Fuutarou fell in love with Yotsuba.

Chapter 1: Yotsuba's Confession

A bit of sadness overtook Yotsuba as she cleared out her desk. Their final exams had just come in. They had all passed. This would be the last day she would stand in this classroom. She looked over and saw Fuutarou's desk had already been cleared out. She thought for a painful moment, that she'd never see him again.

What a ridiculous thought. They were friends. They were so much more than schoolmates. After everything they had been through, there was no way he'd just abandon them. It gave Yotsuba hope, hope for her sisters, because the hope she had for herself had to stay buried for their sake.

"Our relationship with Uesugi-Kun has ended." Itsuki said as she finished cleaning her desk.

"Now he'll see us as more than just students." Miku said.

"Fuu-Kun isn't stupid, he already saw us as more than that." Nino said.

"Yes, but because of his position he had to keep a certain distance." Ichika stated.

"He'll probably make his decision soon." Yotsuba sighed as she held up one of her old homework assignments. There were red markings from where Fuutarou had helped her. No matter how much distance she put between the past and present, it wasn't enough. Itsuki was wrong, it wasn't the past that had bound her, it was the present. She admired the Fuutarou of the past, but she loved the present Fuutarou even more.

"Yotsuba, is this really okay?" Itsuki said.

"Can we please not talk about it?" Yotsuba said.

"Talk about what?" Miku asked.

"Hide it from Uesugi-Kun all you like, he's bound to figure it out eventually." Itsuki said. "You shouldn't hide it from us regardless."

"Hide…" A thought crossed Ichika's mind before she even finished her words. "I knew it."

"It's not fair to him, or yourself if he makes a decision without knowing everything you've done for him. Everything."

"Itsuki, can we not have this conversation right now?" Yotsuba said.

"If there really is no lingering feelings than why not tell him?" Itsuki asked.

"What am I supposed to do if he has lingering feelings?" Yotsuba said.

"If you want to be the martyr then that's the time to reject him." Itsuki scolded.

"I can't reject him because I love him!" Yotsuba shouted and then quickly covered her mouth.

The other sisters understood instantly. Nino and Ichika had seen the picture. The only one who hadn't was Miku and even she had heard brief mentions of a picture of Fuutarou and a young girl back in Middle School. Just on the limited evidence they had all already concluded that Yotsuba was that girl.

"Fuutarou-Kun...doesn't know?" Ichika gasped. "I, I thought he did when he…" During their recent school trip to Kyoto, Ichika had claimed to be that girl in order to get Fuutarou to fall for her. It backfired though and after that, Ichika assumed it was because he already knew or at the very least suspected.

"I'm...sorry." Yotsuba said as she stuffed everything in her backpack and headed for the door.

"Yotsuba!" Miku grabbed the fourth sister's arm. "Why? Why not tell us. Why spend so much time helping all of us?"

"Because as much as I love him, I know I don't deserve him." Yotsuba broke free of Miku's grasp and opened the door.

Her heart sank. Standing in her way was none other than Fuutarou. He had heard everything. This was just another play by fate to punish Yotsuba for the way she had treated her sisters after their mom died. That's what she thought. That's what she thought every time she saw a concerned look on his face.

"Yo...tsu...ba." His mouth formed the words and she pushed past him and started running.

"Why does this always happen when you're around?" Nino groaned. Ichika bolted out the door after Yotsuba, chasing her down.

"Yotsuba...loves me?" It's like he had found the missing piece of the puzzle. Everything began to click in his mind. She was the one from back then. He had suspected as much, or at least narrowed it down to Itsuki or her. Taking into account the distinct possibility of multiple quints coming at him as that girl over time, and what Rena had done, it could have only been one of those two. And that thought filled Fuutarou with joy.

"Don't just stand around, let's go look for her." Nino said.

"Fuutarou?" Miku said as she passed by. "Why did you come back?"

"That's not important." Itsuki stated. "We're no longer high school students. We can start being honest about our feelings. People like Yotsuba just need an extra push."

Meanwhile, Ichika had lost sight of Yotsuba. The first sister was far from the most athletic. She stayed in relative good shape but only enough to keep her impressive figure. Yotsuba was the only one with actual athletic talents.

"Yotsuba!" Ichika called out. She jumped down a flight of stairs and turned the corner. "It's okay! You're not the only one!"

Yotsuba could hear her calls from her hiding place. Ichika didn't understand. Yotsuba had known right away who Fuutarou was and was scared. She spent so much time hiding the truth from him, that she felt she didn't deserve to have him. It was a vicious cycle, she was unworthy because of how she had treated people and she treated them that way because she was unworthy. All she could do was support Fuutarou and her sisters no matter what, and now they were trying to take that away. She may have loved him for all this time, but she couldn't live with herself if she competed, especially if it meant getting in Miku and Nino's way.

She managed to give Ichika the slip and left the school grounds. She wandered around for a little bit. Her phone was ringing non-stop. Everyone was trying to get ahold of her. They all worried about her even though she didn't want them to. She was fine, everything would be fine. She just needed to calm down and then ...she needed a way to convince Fuutarou of the lie she had been telling herself all year. That them, together, would never happen.

Maybe it was by instinct, that she ended up at that park. She jumped on the swing and started gazing out towards all the houses where all the families would slowly be reuniting for their nightly rituals like dinner and bed. Yotsuba thought of her own family. Her father was never around. Itsuki had betrayed her. Miku, Nino and Ichika no longer had any reason to trust her in their own pursuits of Fuutarou. And the man himself, she was too embarrassed to answer his call.

"Uesugi-San." She rehearsed. She actually didn't like calling him that. It was the most formal way she could properly address him. "Uesugi-San." She swung harder and faster. That name was just another shell. How could anyone address someone they love in such formal language. "Uesugi-San!" It was no use. Everytime she had come to these swings she managed to suppress her feelings. "Fuutarou-Kun." It slipped out. It felt so much better to call him by his first name, just as she had done that day all those years ago. And that joy in her heart caused her to break down. She stopped swinging and started crying.

"I thought I'd find you here." She closed her eyes, wishing that his voice was only in her head and that he wasn't really seeing her like this. "Yotsuba." He took a seat next to her and started swinging.

"You must think I'm pathetic." Yotsuba said. "Crying over a boy I don't even like."

"You're not pathetic because I know when you're lying." Fuutarou said. "I already suspected that you were Rena, or had some hand in it. But why hide it if you felt this way?"

"Because I don't deserve you. We made a promise to study hard to help the people we loved. You did that. You've done so much to help Raiha and everyone else and I…"

"You underestimate the effort you've made." Fuutarou tried stopping her.

"I rejected them. I tried to be special. I tried being the best and I pushed them away. I didn't want them getting in my way ever again. I didn't want to be one-fifth of a complete set. That's why ...that's why I loved you. You were the first person who saw me for me and not as one of the Nakano quintuplets. And I ruined everything."

"That doesn't matter now." Fuutarou said. "Thank you for back then. It did a lot to help me. And regardless of how you might have treated your sisters in between our meetings, you have done more work to help me get through to them than anyone."

"It's the only thing I can do sense it's my fault we needed you anyway." Yotsuba said as she started swinging again. "I could have helped them but I didn't. I didn't help them or accept their help. That's why I failed. But even after everything I did, they refused to let me go."

"That's what love will do to people. They never gave up on you and neither did I."

"It's cruel. Back then, it was actually Ichika that came and played cards with you. That was when I decided to wear this bow. I didn't want them to ever get in my way again. And when I found out Miku was in love with you, I knew it was fate testing me."

"What if it is? And your current actions are going to make you fail. I know Miku and Nino and probably even Ichika have feelings for me. But ultimately, the choice is my own. You don't get to decide what's on my heart." He kicked forward a couple times before launching off the swing. He measured the distance where he landed. He had beaten the distance Yotsuba had cleared. "Yotsuba, you're the one I love."

"Fuutarou-Kun." Yotsuba stopped swinging again, letting her momentum die down. "Don't say that."

"It's true, and not because of the past we share, but for everything you've done for me. Without your mistakes, we might not have ever met again. Isn't that a less cruel way of looking at fate? And it was your own efforts that made me who I am now. Even if my feelings for you were different, I would still want to acknowledge your efforts. It's only fair."

"Uesugi-San." Yotsuba steeled her nerves. The pendulum has swung too far. He was speaking crazy now. "You're such a kidder you!" She did her best to downplay the whole conversation. "Saying such crazy things to cheer me up."

"Yotsuba, thanks for always being on my side." He stepped right in front of her. "Let me have this. You don't have to bury your feelings anymore. I love you."

A whirlwind of emotion swept over the young girl as she was hoisted into Fuutarou's arms. Her lips smacked against his creating fireworks in her soul. This is what she always wanted. She always hoped against hope that Fuutarou would remember and confess to her. She tried killing that dream for her sisters' sake. But that dream came true.

"I love you too, Fuutarou-Kun. I always have."

AN: Honestly, with the themes of destiny throughout the series and how much work Yotsuba has put in, not to mention Fuutarou's whole "let's be fair not equal" speech from the bonfire arc, I do actually think Yotsuba has the best chance of pulling out a victory. And I can see it going something like this.