"...Ah...I've really done it now…" A red-haired girl muttered underneath her breath. She looked around far and wide, but it was to no avail in this concrete jungle of Kyoto. The white-dressed child looked away for one second and she's separated from the rest of her sisters! What terrible luck…
...but, maybe they were looking for her! They would find her any minute now! Her four identical sisters would somehow track her down and reunite themselves, reforming the five parts of a whole!
Right?
Oh...but, maybe they wouldn't. She was the one who got lost, so it was her responsibility to find her way back.
Oh, maybe they already ditched her. Perhaps they ran far away, enjoying themselves without the idiot sister who couldn't even follow them…
yeah…
Who would want such a useless sister…
Wait, she wasn't supposed to think of such self-deprecating thoughts. Their mom had told her it was bad and only led to bad things. Yeah, she should trust her sisters! They wouldn't hate her! They were inseprabale!
But...maybe…
Looking over a see-through rail, the girl gazed over the city beneath her. For a usually bustling and sleepless city, it was pretty desolate. Not many people filled the streets and sidewalks, and those who did were dressed in casual bright-colored clothing. Tourists? Well, it was one of the busier business hours of the day, it is to be expected that nearly every Japanese worker is sat in their cramped-up office, but it was still pretty weird. The girl had heard stories of some unlucky people getting stampeded during happy hour, after all.
Yet, despite its emptiness, it was still pretty nonetheless. The way the skyscrapers pierced the sky, how the sun rays bounced from the glass-cased buildings, and even the appetizing aroma of restaurants caused her stomach to rumble a bit! Compared to her tiny apartment shared between four sisters and a busy mom, this place was downright unreal! Her school couldn't compare to even the tiniest of buildings here!
The girl's sapphire eyes slowly locked onto a wide pair of stairs just under her, spotting out a blonde-haired kid seemingly around her age. The boy was wearing a large camera over his neck. He took shots of passing cars, the awe-inspiring towers, and a nearby restaurant. Even from far up, he looked so cool.
"I wish I had the courage to go around this giant place all alone like him…" She slumped.
The boy was now scrolling through the digital gallery of his high-class black camera, going over all the cool pictures and portraits he took. Yet, despite the variety and plethora of his gallery, ranging from pictures of mundane school stuff and train seats all the way to the abnormally fancy restaurants he passed on the way here, his eyes kept shifting back to a picture he took of an unassuming girl.
Ravenlike hair, snow-white skin, and an absolutely killer smile coupled with storm-grey eyes that could poke a hole through one's very soul. These were the main features his school crush possessed. But, despite his outgoing, extraverted, and delinquent-bearing personality, even he trembled at the trace-thought of a confession.
The way crystal clear clarity in her charcoal eyes struck him with bashfulness...It was like he was a coded robot the way he did whatever she asked of him...wow…maybe she would say yes...
"Hey! You can't take a free picture of me just cuz I'm a cosplayer! Pay up!" The grating whines of an older woman clad in a weird medieval-type costume broke him out of his smitten daydream.
"Huh? Who are you, old hag?" The boy questioned nonchalantly. He had no idea why this stranger came up to him as he was just minding his own business. " and what's with the ugly costume? You look like a grown-up five-year-old." Perhaps this full-grown adult had a mental age younger than his own? Wouldn't be the first time he'd seen an adult throw a temper tantrum worst than that of a toddler denied his fifth lollipop.
"wh-Just so you know, it's called cosplay! And of course, a stupid little brat like you wouldn't understand such a sophisticated concept. Look, you even have piss-colored hair!" The stranger's face contorted into a mix of anger before twisting back into one of patronizing superiority. Her mary-had-a-little-lamb get-up did nothing to accentuate her beauty( or their lack of it) nor did it help her case in belittling a child.
"Who the hell're you! Get outta here you dumb oaf!" The boy would not just let himself be disparaged by this ridiculous fool either. "'Course you'd mistake it for piss considering it's too dark to see with those ugly eyes every time you wake up!" Even he laughed at his own retort.
"Shut up! I'm not going to leave until you delete that photo you took of me. That or you pay me."
"I didn't take a photo of a hag-like you!"
"Liar, I saw the flash."
"You're the liar! And I'm not going to get swindled by a scammer like you."
"What did you say you snot-nose-"
As the conversation heated up, a blue-dressed officer silently approached the two bickering persons. He had no idea why a person dressed in a kiddy costume was arguing with a child three times younger than herself, but it was causing a scene.
"Oi, you two, what is the problem?" The man asked, garnering the attention of the two arguers. If nothing else, his pronounced eye bags and tired expression displayed his intent of resolving this issue as soon as possible.
"This kid snapped a picture of me while I wasn't looking! He refuses to pay my fee or delete the photo from his camera gallery too! Who knows what this delinquent could do with my Photo!" Gargled the lady as she took on the role of a victim.
"What no I didn't-" The boy was silenced by the officer, who put his hand up to stop him. He reluctantly agreed.
"Kid, is what she's saying true?" The man asked softly.
"Of course it ain't! I was only scrolling through my pictures!"
"Lying to police officers can get you arrested, brat. I suggest you tell the truth or I'll have this fine man detain you!"
The child had missed the glare the officer shot the lady as his face visibly paled at the forgotten prospects of jail. Going to prison meant he would be separated from his dad and little sister while also dishonoring his late mother. He would never get to see his friends anymore nor would he be able to play with Takebayashi and his friends anymore. The blonde delinquent would be nothing but a social outcast. He would be less than the icky scum people walk upon. Nothing more than irritating garage giving all who passed by an eye-ache...
"Don't listen to her kid." The older man did his best to reassure the shaken-up child, but it did little to knock the kid out of his stupor. Unfortunately, the cop isn't someone you would say is good with kids. " Hey, how about this. If you let me go through your camera, and the photo isn't in there, I can let you off scot-free. Good deal, eh?"
"Uh, yeah…" Blondie absentmindedly agreed to hand over the camera. Yet, right before the exchange was completed, he stopped and suddenly came to his senses. He had totally forgotten about the fact that he took a bunch of pictures of his crush. From the train ride to some temples, he held an arsenal of snapshots of the girl. He couldn't let such an embarrassing fact come to the surface, he would never be able to live it down! "W-well, uh, actually…"
"Hm? It's not like I'm going to steal it! Hahaha! It's my job to arrest the people who do though. " Bluie laughed. "It'll take no less than a minute or two, I promise."
"yeah..I-um, uh, can't hand this camera over...It'll uh...explode if I do!"
The officer raised an eyebrow at such an apparent lie. Was he hiding something? Did he indeed snap the pictures?
"Is there something wrong?"
"N-no! Nothing!"
"Great! Things will go by quicker if you just let me check it. I promise it won't take more than a minute."
"Uh...Yeah, but uh...I can't…"
"Can you tell me why?"
"...No…" His golden eyes shifted all over the place. What a terrible liar.
"...Look, if you don't want to hand it over to me, that's fine. But, I will be forced to take you down to the station and call your parents."
"Oh…" Blondie's head was running. He didn't want to hand the device over, but he didn't want to go down to the police station either!...
In the end, he chose to take the lesser of two evils. "...Ok…"
There it went, the total end of his social life. He wouldn't be able to live this down, he might as well commit seppuku on his way out. God, he wouldn't even be able to meet Takebayashi's eyes anymore. Hnggggg.
Before the officer could accept the device into his hands, a voice rang out. It was a saving grace on the blondes and a major hindrance to the lady's
At the top of the steps stood another child, her long red hair swaying in the spring breeze. Despite her facing away from the sun, a pearly white smile was still visible and so were the burning blues of her eyes. The way her dress gently swung to the side, push by the air, was magnetic in the eyes of the golden child.
"He didn't do it! He's innocent!"
00000000000000000000000000000
White stabbed her closed eyes, past through her heavy eyelids and straight to the pupil. Glowing burgundy replaced the calming dark she slept under.
Regardless of her groggy state, the repetitive beeps of a nearby machine hammered at her worn-out ears. A jackhammer struck across her head while a firm lasso crushed it. Her aching limbs were sapped of any energy they once held, nothing but decoration right now.
The noise of rushed shuffling, orders, and machinery invaded her eardrums. Although not often, she did recognize the collaborative chaos of such a setting. It was one she did not enjoy, as more often than not, it usually served as a bearer of bad news. Yeah...she must be in a hospital.
"Yotsuba? Yotsuba are you awake?" A frantic voice asked from her side. The patient was unable to decipher whose voice it was, but she was certain it was that of one of her sisters. Even though the haze, she could make out the sheer worry and concern embedded within her shaky wor
ds.
"Mmm." It was a feeble grumble, but a grumble nonetheless. Yotsuba knew she would be unable to talk as dryness and soreness choked her throat. Hopefully, her sister would be able to translate her primitive grunts.
"Oh my god-wait here, I'll go get a doctor!" was that...Itsuki? That definitely sounded like her younger sister. Yotsuba had opened her eyes a crack just to see the exiting back of the redheaded sister. Her blurry vision confirmed her suspicion.
Itsuki had left Yotsuba. The fourth quintuplet was all alone in an ugly cream-colored room with searingly white lights. With an aching body. All by herself...yeah... Nakano Yotsuba hated hospitals.
Time passed. How long? The tangerine-haired girl had no clue. There was a clock on top of the door, but the sun's rays had blocked that off. She didn't have a phone nor a watch and counting seconds didn't work either. That got boring real quick. But sure enough, after some time, her sister came back with an older grey-haired man in tow.
Everything about the man screamed 'Doctor!' His grey-stained hair, the bleached-white labcoat, the stereotypical stethoscope hugging his neck. In his hands was a clipboard, pen attached, while his circle-lens glasses enlarged his warm eyes. He seemed familiar. Yotsuba couldn't place her finger on why exactly.
"Hello, Nakano-san! How are you feeling?" He asked before taking a seat on his green swivel stool. Yotsuba didn't respond, her eyes were fixated on a glass of water standing on the night desk. The doctor noticed and reached out. "Ah, here you go."
Yotsuba downed the glass as soon as it touched her hands. To be frank, this was probably the most refreshing glass of water she's ever had in her life. The way the cool liquid smoothly swished down her mouth and into her throat, washing away any spec of sand building up in the former desert. Simply amazing.
"Thanks." Her voice was still rather weak. Not entirely surprising after failing to use it for three and a half days.
"Of course, " the man answered, " How are you feeling? Any pains? Discomforts?"
"...My head hurts." the patient started slowly, "and my body is really sore. Like, no energy."
"Mhm...anything else?" The doctor was scribbling something on his clipboard. Yotsuba didn't know what nor did she care at the moment.
"My head... hurts."
"...ok. Thank you for answering, and uh, pain medication will be coming immediately to ease yourself. I'll be right back, alright?"
"Mhm." Yotsuba's mental capacity exceeded no further than 30% of the usual Yotsubrain. Her head felt clogged up, confused, and hurt. Pretty soon, her world would start spinning, and she was scared she'd spin with it.
"Ok, I'll be back in a jiffy." He got up, glass in hand, and chuckled. "And with a new glass of water as well."
Yotsuba and Itsuki nodded at the farewell.
The fourth quintuplet noticed her sister's red-dyed eyes and tear-stained face but was hesitant to bring it up. It was clear she had been crying for quite some time, and Yotsuba had a hunch as to why. The dark circles below her eyes also told her she hadn't been sleeping much either.
The room was drowned in quietude. It was... an odd atmosphere. It contrasted with Yotsuba's typical upbeat and cheerful personality. It didn't clash with Itsuki's silence, however, it just gave off a different vibe entirely. There was most definitely an elephant standing in the room, but the girls simply averted their eyes.
Well, not until Yotsuba broke the ice.
"No hi?" The blue-eyed girl frowned with fake distraught. She activated her classic puppy-eyed look, an aura of cuteness so powerful that even the grumpiest of grumps would falter. "Awwww!"
Itsuki's lips curled into a quivering line. She had no idea what to say. She was at a loss for words and she didn't know why. The star-accessorized redhead was by all means relieved, but there was this tug at her heart telling her she didn't deserve the relief.
"I...I'm glad." The youngest choked out. Tears welled up. The girl's smile shook and crumbled, now threatening to twist into a trembling frown. Her heart was a storm of emotions, negativity, thankfulness, relief, and knives pointed at herself. The girl couldn't act-
"Thank you, Itsuki." Yotsuba's aura radiated this comforting heat. She was the very fire students would sit around while they passed scary stories and roasted smores, the open flame in a chimney during Christmas eve. It was comforting, nice, like an angel from above-wrapped Itsuki up in their wings. Her words rolled off the tongue like warm milk at 11 pm. Yotsuba, no, Hestia seemed so divine. So gentle, so...so kind. "It's ok, I'm alright...So don't cry, ok?"
Oh.
Itsuki hadn't noticed the warm teardrops sliding down her red face. She tried to hide it. That didn't work. The girl only ended with wet, snot-filled sleeves and a tear-soaked shirt. Once it started it wouldn't stop, like a broken dam unleashing its raging waves onto the masses. It was embarrassing, but…
Yotsuba pulled the crybaby into a hug. She wrapped her arms around her crying sister, unwilling to let go even as Itsuki resisted it at first. The patient didn't care that she was getting soaked, nor did she mind the humiliating state her sister was in. It was her unwavering duty as the older sister to take care of the youngest, and she was going to fill that duty from the bottom of her heart.
"It's ok, Itsuki...I'm ok, see? All fine and dandy." Her silky words blanketed Itsuki. It was comforting. Her eyes still ran and her nose still dripped, but it felt oddly nice. She could feel the discord building up in her chest flush down the drains of her face, and so she cried until everything ran dry.
Yotsuba's fingers ran through Itsuki's red hair, caressing and patting her head. It reminded the staff who managed to take an unassuming glimpse into the room of a mother taking care of their child. The two were in their own world, and although the patient's head still ached, her sisterly instincts took over and washed away the pain, at least temporarily.
"Oh-am I interrupting something?" An honest-sounding voice was heard from the doorway. The two looked towards the source and saw their doctor with a new glass of water and a packet of pills in hand. "Here you go, Nakano-san." He placed the pills on a small desk within arm's reach of the patient.
The bedridden student downed the pills with water before the doctor spoke up once again. Itsuki had already moved to her seat. She wiped away the remaining traces of tears on her face.
"Nakano-san, If I may ask, are you experiencing any memory loss?" His tone was more professional, more doctor-like. It wasn't cold or harsh, just different.
"...uh...no?" Yotsuba answered, resting her chin on her hand while looking up in thought.
"Ah...wait...I'm not sure...I don't remember how I got here."
"Hm? Can you recall what you last remember before waking up here?"
"uh...I think...I think we were at a campsite...Oh yeah! We were on the school field trip." She nodded slowly, her eyelids shut tight to help her focus. "And-uh, I think I was on the Trial of Courage...Yeah. yeah! I was helping with scaring people!"
"Mhm… Can you tell me when this was?"
"Uh, last night."
"Ok...Do you remember anything else? After the, er-, trial of courage, was it?"
"Er...yeah, um...I think I went out in the forest? With...uh...oh, with Uesugi-san!" Yotsuba lit up, grinning proudly as her brain started to resume its functions. "Ah, I can't remember anything after that though."
"Uesugi-Kun?" the doctor raised his eyebrows in surprise at the mention of their tutor's name. " Uesugi Fuutaro?"
"Mhm!" Yotsuba nodded, a little more vigorously than her brain could handle. "Do you know him?"
"...I see." He finished writing his notes down. "So, It seems you have a concussion, Nakano-san. However, you should not worry as it is nothing extreme and they are quite easy to treat. It just takes some time." He switched the subject.
"Ah, I see!" She did not see.
"As long as you take some time to rest, you should be fine." He reassured. "This also means that you should restrict yourself from playing sports, going outside to socialize, and cut down on video games and TV screens, alright?"
"Yes sir!" She saw. It was simple, as long as she like, lay down, and slept a bunch, she'll be back to normal. Mhm, that was something totally easy to do!
"As for your memory loss…" Pumping herself up in another world, Yotsuba missed the worried glance the doctor and Itsuki shared. "Well, they should come back eventually. No need to worry on that front."
"Yes sir!"
"Alright, well I guess that's my cue to leave." The doc chuckled as he got off his stool. "We'll be running some tests later. If all goes well, you may be discharged sometime tomorrow or the day after."
"Thank you, doc!" Yotsuba mustered just enough gas to give an energetic farewell to the man. Despite the patient's exhausted state, her silver smile was just as colorful as an iridescent bubble, actually, maybe brighter than the glow of the dancing rays of a moon.
The doctor was just in earshot range as the girl threw her goodbye. Raising a hand without looking back, he waved his goodbye as well. It had been so long since he saw the quintuplets, yet their infectious energy still brightened up his day. Nearly five years, was it? They grew up in the blink of an eye, huh?
After that, things simmered down. The pain medication took effect. Yotsuba's pain was subsiding, although with the unfortunate side effect of replacing pain with drowsiness. Neither girl minded though, Yotsuba thought that falling asleep would just mean that her required amount of rest would be completed sooner and she'd be back in commission in no time.
Itsuki, on the other hand, was glad that they could only talk about memorable past events. Be it fun stories, embarrassing ones, or even downright ridiculous fables that the twin pair couldn't believe ever happened, at least the redhead wouldn't need to bring up any serious topics. Not right now.
By the time 2 pm rolled around and Miku popped up and Yotsuba was fast asleep in a deep slumber even an earthquake couldn't wake her from. The third quint didn't mind. The joyous conversation Itsuki shared with her was enough to seize her immediate concerns and replace them with that sweet ting of nostalgia. It seemed her younger sister was fine and in a much better state than anyone in their right mind would have guessed.
But...The two wondered just how long this fleeting peace would last. They couldn't hide it from her forever, it just wasn't possible. If it was possible, they wouldn't have hidden it anyway. Yotsuba deserves to know, that is what the two agreed upon...but how would they break the news to her?
"Itsuki…" Miku held eye contact with the youngest. A dull blue replaced her once flaming-sapphire eyes. The maroon-haired girl undoubtedly took it the hardest out of the four sisters. Itsuki remembered how hard she cried once the helicopter took off. Screams and wails were the only thing that came out of her for the first couple of hours, at least until the constant crying wore her to sleep." We have to tell her soon. Things will only get worse the longer we hold it off."
"I know…" the girl's whisper was soft and motherlike. She knew both options would hurt her sister, it was only a matter of mitigating the pain. " I think we should ask papa...Who knows what negative reaction this could have on her health." This was the best option.
"Alright."
"How's Ichika?"
"She's ok."
"That's good." Itsuki was keenly aware of the pride her eldest sister held as being the oldest. Everyone knew that she was keeping a winding facade, one so thin that it could break at the drop of a dime. They could see cracks through the mask every now and then, wet sleeves, sleeping in more often, and sometimes even missing dinner. Other than Yotsuba and Miku, she was probably the most friendly with Uesugi.
"Yeah."
"How about Nino?"
"Same as always, mostly." Miku sighed. It was true, Nino was the one quintuplet least affected by the incident, relatively speaking. She was certainly distraught once news first broke, but she was also the first to simmer down and return to a comparative normal. It was only two days, but the fuschiaette was stubborn that the everything would turn out ok, for both people involved in the accident. She often said that wasting time crying wouldnt do anything, and to a degree, she was right.
"Of course." Itsuki's lips slightly curved into a smile. She was glad to know that her sisters were still staying strong. "Sorry for not coming around as often."
"You basically live here now." Miku snorted, acknowledging Itsuki's absence from the Pentagon. "Nino keeps making extras for you by mistake."
"Really? Tell her she can bring it to me!" The star-haired girl's eyes lit up like a lamp. There was nothing that could beat Nino's cooking, not even those high-class 5-star restaurants they would go to on occasion.
"Ah, I brought some." Miku noted, rummaging through her mint-dyed backpack. She found a plastic bag full of several containers housing food and handed them over to the Sin of Gluttony, her younger sister.
"Ahhhh!" Itsuki melted in delight. Such a blessing would not be wasted, not even the tiniest grains of rice! "Thank you!"
Things stayed quiet. The only sounds being made were the white noise of a monitor and the chomping of Itsuki's jaws. She had decided to take a little snack break from her studying. It was convenient that there was little desk she could use to lay her papers down. Miku was playing on her phone, sitting on Yotsuba's left-hand side next to the window.
Soon an hour passed. Then half an hour. Then half of half an hour. Itsuki was studying and Miku was listening to music with a book in hand.
"Girls." A man had spoken from the doorway. His sleek-jet-black hair was combed clean, his cat-like eyes possessed nothing but exhaustion. He bore more of a resemblance towards a skeleton rather than an actual living human. He looked terrible, even by his standards.
"P-papa?" Both girls stuttered. It was rare their father would not be working, him seeing the girls without the help of a telecommunication device was even rarer. "What are you doing here?"
"Do I need permission to see my daughter?" His monotone voice echoed. "Regardless, It seems Yotsuba is no longer awake."
"Er, yeah, she fell asleep a bit ago," Itsuki stated.
"That is fine. Regardless, I have more important things to discuss with you girls." He was still at the doorway, refusing to move closer in. "Ichika and Nino is not here?"
"They're back at the Pentagon."
"I see. Well, You two may relay the news back to them." He said, beckoning them to follow him with a hand gesture. He walked a brisk gait, one that demonstrated the urgency and determination of such an occupation. His porcelain coat swayed with his legs, so much so it looked he was kicking them back.
The next room they entered was more lively than the corridors of the hospital, although
that isn't saying much. The walls were painted with a deep lead, frames housing his degrees, and certificates hung from tightly secured screws. There were a couple of photos that showed a crack of his personal life and past, however.
There was one in particular that stood out. One of a woman to be exact. She was clad in all-black business attire. White dress shirt covered by a black blazer, a tie to complete the look. The woman's charcoal skirt stopped just below her knees, opaque stockings underneath. Everything about her screamed professional.
Her face was gentle and caring, yet stern. She wasn't smiling, but her cobalt eyes betrayed her serious demeanor. They were soft, lacking in hardness compared to the rest of her features. One could drown in such windows. Her crimson hair flowed around herself, despite it being a picture, one could decipher its silk-like texture and health.
The woman was so magnetic most forgot about the three other people in the picture. To her left was a sandy-blonde boy sporting the most mischievous of smirks. In the middle was a bleach-haired girl. Her eyes were sharp enough to stab whoever was looking at the photo. Her fanged teeth were curved into a titanic smile. On the right was none other than the current doctor himself. His black hair was as telling as ever, although he did not have his eyebags or tired features. He was not smiling.
They all, other than the woman in the back, shared the same black high school uniform and hands that propped an iconic peace-sign.
The pair of quintuplets immediately recognized their mom, the teacher, and their father, the emo-like kid on the right. The younger forms of their parents gave them whiplash. It's not like they got a glimpse of their pasts' very often. The kid on the left seemed familiar, but none the two couldn't quite put their finger on it. As for the girl in the middle, well, she was a complete mystery.
Alas, with a small cough, their father refocused their attention towards himself. In his hand was a manilla folder containing no more than five pages of paper. He opened it on his oak desk and lay the first page out in front of them.
"Yuusuke Takeda will take over tutoring responsibilities in place of Uesugi Fuutaro starting tomorrow after school." It was casual, nonchalant. No hint of emotion, just like it was a daily task in a mundane life. His voice gave off the impression he did not care.
"H-huh?"
"Yuusuke Takeda. He is currently the second ranked student enrolled in Asahiyama Highschool. I have met him and his family before. He should be a fine replacement."
"What?" Repeated questions irritated Nakano Maruo. He disliked repeating himself, but he supposed that was par for the course as a doctor and father. For the other two Nakano's in the room, their world had been beaten, bashed, and is now doing somersaults on a trampoline fifty feet in the air. "W-why are you replacing Fuutarou?"
"He is currently incapable of performing his tasks as a tutor. It is only logical I hire a new tutor." Laconic as always.
"B-but, that's not right! He'll get better a-and he'll be able to tutor us again." Miku stammered out frantically. A replacement seemed downright bizarre and not something she would so easily accept. Hell, it was a change neither of her sisters would just agree with.
"Perhaps. Perhaps he will get better and he will be able to resume his tutoring activities." Itsuki and Miku's face lit up ever so slightly before plunging back into a grimace. "But the same could be said in reverse. Perhaps he will not get better. As of now, it is more likely he will…" he didn't need to finish that train of thought.
"W-what's that supposed to mean?" Itsuki interrupted. Her brow started to run with sweat. "He will get better, right?"
"...Forget I said anything." Maruo sighed. Fatigue must have been clawing at his brain for him to have slipped up like that. "However, the bottom line is, that as of now, Uesugi Fuutaro is unfit to tutor you five." His words left no room to argue despite the twins' wishes. They wanted to ask questions, prod further into his words, but now was not the time.
The sheet of paper lay in front of the sisters. It was looked like a resume, although the boy's face was plastered on the right side of the page. His wheat-colored hair was neat, it carried a bit of elegance, from his eye-length front to his neck-lengthed back. They could've sworn sprinkles of sparkles were flying around the still image, must have been a trick of the light.
"He will begin his first session at 5 pm Tomorrow at the penthouse. I hope you five welcome him."
Both redheads begrudgingly agreed to the proposal. It was not like they could reject him right off the bat nor could they afford to fail to pass this semester. Not only would they be set back a year, but more importantly, it would have felt like betraying Uesugi. They couldn't flunk after all he's done for them.
Night rolled around and soon, four of the five Nakano's were holed up in their apartment. Itsuki and Miku were doing some late reviews for tomorrow's lesson, Nino had just finished her shower, and Ichika was still in her bedroom, probably sleeping like a rock. The place didn't feel the same without Yotsuba. It lacked that energetic atmosphere she brought wherever she went. It felt...in some ways, lifeless.
The life-popping colors that painted the walls now seemed a shade greyer. The food tasted a bit blander, even to Itsuki. It was odd to not hear the joyous laughter of the fourth quint.
Oh right. They had a new tutor coming over tomorrow. Ichika and Nino took it surprisingly well. They didn't give off the shocked reaction the other two had. Their's were more so... dull. A simple 'oh. Ok.' and that was it. Such news seemed to simply bounce off the two, but it was evident it hadn't as Nino planned snacks and the elder cleaned up a bit.
00000000000000000000000000000000
The small hand struck one. Everyone else was asleep. A cold wasp of air diffused through the apartment. Itsuki was snugly tucked into both her bed and her head. Guilt was snapping its salivating jaws at the girl, inching closer and closer as the girl could only watch in fear. She was backed up against a corner.
The rabid beast morphed, twisted, contorted into the shape of a person. The figure was pitch-black with wasps of coal slowly floating off its shape. It no longer held the vicious anger it once did, that was replaced with something much worse.
"It's your fault, you know." She couldn't see any meaningful features, but she knew who it was based on the silhouette alone. Twin ahoge's lay atop his head, his skinny frame looked as if it would snap from the force of a small fan. It was Uesugi Futaro, her now ex-tutor.
"I know."