Chapter 7
The sun almost set and the sky color was currently orange. At this time, most of the school student already went home after school. But for Fuutaro, this was not the time to go home because he just received bad news about Ichika collapsed and passed out on the middle of the sideways when she and her sisters went home.
Right now, he was on his way to the hospital, running, and panicked, after hearing that bad news. He still can't believe and processed how this unfortunate incident happened to her. Fuutaro knew that she was not feeling well since morning, but he didn't expect her to pass out this sudden. As he kept thinking about it, he feels even more frustrated and uneasy, so he tried his hardest to not think about it. Right now, in his mind, he needed to get to the hospital as fast as he can.
After some amounts of minutes of running, he finally arrived at the hospital. He quickly went in and headed to the front desk lobby, asking where Ichika was right now.
"Excuse me *pant*, can you tell me where is a patient with the name of Nakano Ichika *pant* is right now?" Fuutaro asked to the hospital front desk, panting at the same time to catch his breath.
"Please wait for a moment…" the staff at the front desk said, checking the paper for the patient information. "The patient with the name of Nakano Ichika is currently in the emergency room. She just arrived 15 minutes ago with her family."
"Ahh… Thank you."
Fuutaro then made his way to the emergency room. As he arrived in the front of the emergency room, there were Nino, Miku, Yotsuba, and Itsuki, sitting on the bench in front of the emergency room with a worried and gloomy expression on their face. The four sisters then noticed Fuutaro finally arrived and quickly approached him.
"Uesugi-san, you finally arrived…" Yotsuba said with a worried tone.
"Hey! Fuu-kun, we've been calling you for a lot of times," Nino said to him, feeling slightly annoyed with some worried because he didn't answer their call earlier. "Why didn't you answer? Ichika suddenly collapsed on the middle of the sideways and we're all dead worried about her."
"Oi, calm down. My phone was in silent mode. When I finally got a time to checked it, I didn't know all of you been calling me for a lot of times," Fuutaro said, still with a panicky tone in his voice. "Anyway, can you tell me what happened to Ichika and how did she pass out like that?"
"Uhh… It's all started when we're on our way home… Itsuki noticed that something was wrong with Ichika because she walked very strange and slowly. When we saw her face, she was sweating a lot and breathing heavily. Also, her face was very pale and red," Miku explained, feeling uneasy from recalling the incident.
"When we asked her if she was okay, Ichika said she was fine. I can see that she was clearly not fine and not long after, she just collapsed…" Itsuki continued to explain with a mix of seriousness and worried expression.
Fuutaro then sat down after hearing the four sisters explanation, sighing and closing his eyes. He thought to himself, somehow Ichika's sickness got worse as the day goes by. If only he was insistent enough to persuade and bring her to school infirmary, this whole situation could have been avoided. Fuutaro then clutched his fist, feeling frustrated and partly responsible of this situation. He always told Ichika to not over-push herself in both working and studying, but why didn't she listen? Was it because of her promise and bet to him?
Fuutaro then stood up and went to take a peek inside of the emergency room from the small windows on the door. He saw Ichika, unconscious in the hospital bed, being tended by the doctor and medical staffs and he got surprised seeing the quintuplets' dad was also there. He also saw an oxygen mask on her pale face, a heart rate monitor was connected to her finger, and the medical staffs there were doing their best to stabilize her condition. Fuutaro gritted his teeth and slammed his fist in anger at the nearby wall after seeing her condition in the emergency room. Frustration, worries, and guilt were mixing into his heart and mind as he didn't know what to think anymore about this. He took a big sigh and sat again as he buried his face into his hands.
The four sisters can only saw Fuutaro in silence, feeling a pity to him. They both looked at each other and then nodded, feeling like they should tell him about something. Miku then stepped forward, being the first one to talk to Fuutaro to tell him about this something.
"Fuutaro… There's something that we should tell you…" Miku reluctantly said to him, still with an uneasy expression. "It's about Ichika… She's been acting unusual since the day you two skipped school…"
"Ehh…? What do you mean?" Fuutaro said, lifting his head to saw the four sister, wondering about it.
"Ichika… She's been studying harder and longer than any of us since that day. She even stayed up until very late night to study even when we're already asleep," Miku explained.
"Everyday, in the morning, Nino and I always found a lot of empty coffee cup in the trash bin. We always found Ichika falling asleep at the table with her lesson book in the living room," Itsuki said, telling him about her and Nino's finding.
"That's true. I tried to remind her to not over-push herself in studying, but she didn't listen and always keep on doing that," Nino said, feeling gloomy and uncomfortable from remembering it. "We also found out that she's been consuming a lot of headache and pain relief medicine one week nearing the mock exam. I saw the medicine packaging scattered all over the living room table and some of it were already in the trash bin."
"Also… Ichika is still working despite all of that. Sometimes, she went home late from work and keep on studying until very late," Yotsuba added about Ichika's recent unusual habit. "I guess the toll from working, studying, and staying up until very late night happened now…"
"Also, Fuutaro… We don't know why, but Ichika told us to not tell you about this," Miku said. "Ichika said, she didn't want to make you worry about her recent habit."
Flashback
The time was already past midnight and five more days before the day of national mock exam. The living room of the rented apartment was dimly lit with the only light source coming from a study light on the table. At this time, Ichika was still awake, studying for the national mock exam and the pressure starting to get inside her head as the exam day was nearing. She had been drinking her 6th cup of coffee today and it was the 3rd cup since she started her studying. Thanks to the effect of coffee consumption and drinking it regularly, she can stay up until very late night without feeling sleepy and tired, which allowed her to had more extra time to study.
Ichika been looking at the lesson book intensely and been writing the answer non-stop since the start of the study session. The pressure to get at least 150 points on each subject were very heavy because she never achieved a score that high in her life and always scored very low on each mid and final exam in her previous year. She had been intensely studying since the day she made a promise to Fuutaro and she knew that she needed to change her studying habit to fulfill that promise.
Ichika been staying up until very late night for the past couple of weeks to study and can sometimes went past midnight when her work schedule got busy. To stay up until very late, she increased her coffee consumption than usual. Sometimes, she even got a headache from the stress of studying and a muscle pain from the busy schedule of her work which prompted her to consume a headache and pain relief medicine. Recently, the frequency of those medicine consumption started to increase because of the continuing stress of studying and her work schedule got more busier than ever. Lots of those medicine packaging was all over the table and even some of them already in the trash bin.
Right now, Ichika felt very tired because today work schedule was very busy and she ended up went home late than usual. While still studying, she had been yawning and rubbing her eyes a lot, even laying down on the floor for a minute to rest her back. She had been thinking, whether she should go to sleep because she was very sleepy and the coffee didn't do it job to keep her awake.
"I'm very sleepy…"
"Should I call it a day and go to sleep now…?"
"No… I can't. I need to keep studying so I can get a good score…"
"It's because of my bet and promise to him…"
"I won't disappoint him…"
Ichika went back to sitting position and determined to continue her study. Not long after, the bedroom door opened and the four sisters came out in their pajamas with a sleepy but serious face. They then approached Ichika, who still studying and scolded her unhealthy habit for the past few weeks.
"Oi, Ichika! How long are you going to continue this?!" Nino said to Ichika, feeling irritated about her new and unhealthy habit.
"You've been staying up very late for the past few weeks to study and the coffee cup in the trash bin is piling up everyday. It's not good for your health to drink that much coffee, you know?" Itsuki said with a yawn, warning her about the coffee consumption.
"Ahaha… I know… Don't worry about it. National mock exam is nearing, so I need to prepare myself to get a good score." Ichika weakly laughed after hearing their scolding as she put down her pen and turned around to them.
"But… You've been doing this since the day you skipped school. This new habit of yours is not good for your health, knowing that you sometimes went home late after your work," Miku said with a concerned and sleepy face.
"That's true, Ichika! Besides, we already knew that you also drink a lot of headache and pain relief medicine. That's not good, you know? Since it can harm your internal organ just like Itsuki said," Yotsuba also said to Ichika, telling her about the side-effect of excessive medicine consumption.
Ichika can only show a faint smile as she closed her eyes after the scolding from her sisters. In her mind, her only objective was to study and anything other than studying were not important. She can't tell them the reason why she picked up this habit because her bet and promise to Fuutaro were a secret between them and no one can know about it. Ichika then tried to talk to them so she can continue her study.
"Don't worry about me. Besides, I'm already used to it so it should not be a big problem to me." Ichika insisted with a chuckle, while holding the back of her head with her hand. "I promise that I will stop and go back to my normal habit after the mock exam is done."
"*sigh* You better keep your word, okay? I might need to tell Fuu-kun about this habit of yours so he can talk more sense to you," Nino sighed and grumpily said to the not-so serious Ichika.
"W-Wait, Nino! About that…" Ichika panickily said to Nino after hearing she brought up Fuutaro.
"Hmm…? What is it?" Nino wondered about her reaction.
"Please, don't tell Fuutaro-kun about this… I don't want him to worry about me. Besides if you all tell him about this, it can distract him from his studying and he can't finish in top 10 nationally just like he promised to dad."
"You have a point… Fine, I will not tell him about this situation," Nino mumbled and agreed to not telling.
"Hehe… You have my gratitude," Ichika said with a weak laugh.
"Ichika, we will not tell Uesugi-kun about this. But remember to not over-push yourself because it can harm your health and we're worried about you," Itsuki reminded her again as she walked back to the bedroom to sleep.
"Yes, yes! I understood!" Ichika responded with a grin.
"Anyway, let's sleep, Ichika. The time is already past midnight," Nino said as she also walked back to the bedroom.
"Yeah, give me a little more time. I'm almost finished on my studying."
The four sisters then went back to the bedroom and Ichika continued to study for some minutes before she called it a day. In her mind, she still wanted to study more, but the scolding from her sisters forced her to call off her study session. She yawned and stretched her arms before going to the bedroom. Before she went to sleep, she thought to herself that she needed to find more better place to study without any interruption from her sisters.
"Five days left before the mock exam…"
"I need to study all I can…"
"Starting from tomorrow, I'm going to study in my usual coffee shop…"
"That place closed until very late night… So it's a perfect place to study…"
"I'm sorry, you all… I need to do this to keep my promise to him…"
Flashback end
"Ehh… Did Ichika really tell you that?" Fuutaro got surprised after hearing the truth about Ichika.
"Yes…"
Fuutaro eyes widened and he got shocked after hearing the four sisters' explanation. So, this was the reason why Ichika not feeling well today and finally passed out because of the exhaustion toll she accumulated this far. He deduced that Ichika went overboard because of their promise and bet. She made a bet with him, promising that she will score at least 150 points on each subject for the national mock exam and if she failed, she has to quit her dream on becoming an actress, and in return he should agree to skip school with her on that day.
With the new realization and finding, even more guilts were filling his heart and he thought to himself that he was not partly, but indirectly responsible for this unfortunate event. This new realization made him clenched his fist even harder and he slammed his fist onto his knee in anger. If he knew this was the outcome, he shouldn't even agree to accept that bet from her in the first place.
"Damn it…!"
"Why did you do this to yourself?!"
"I told you for so many times, to not over-push yourself…"
"Why… Ichika…?!"
Not long after, the emergency sign light in front of emergency room had been turned off, signing that the emergency procedure was finished. The doctor and medical staffs who tended Ichika, came out and left the emergency room. The quintuplets' dad was the last to left the room because he did an additional checking on Ichika's condition. The four sisters then approached their father to ask about her condition. He didn't answer their question and instead he turned around to Fuutaro, who was sitting on the bench right next to him. He then talked to Fuutaro and asked him to follow him to his office.
"Uesugi-kun, please follow me to my office," Maruo said to Fuutaro. "I need to ask and talk to you about Ichika's condition."
"Ehh… Me?" Fuutaro got surprised from hearing it.
"Don't ask too much. Just follow me to my room," Maruo responded back as he walked away from Fuutaro and the four sisters.
Fuutaro then stood up, he saw the four sisters with an anxiousness and they can only nod with the same anxious expression as him. He then reluctantly and slowly followed Maruo from behind. They both entered the elevator and there was not a single voice coming out from both of them as the elevator moved, which made the atmosphere became tense. The only sounds heard inside were the sound of elevator moving and the ring of elevator when they reached some floor. For Fuutaro, this was a very nerve-wracking situation because he always got this uneasy and anxious feelings whenever he talked to Maruo and this silent was very tense because he knew there will be trouble and something not good going to happen to him.
The elevator then stopped at a certain floor, in which Maruo's office located. They both stepped out from the elevator and Fuutaro followed Maruo from behind. For Fuutaro, this felt like an eternity because of the uneasiness in his mind and the tense atmosphere from the elevator still following him.
After some times of walking, they reached Maruo's office. The two entered the office and Maruo immediately took a seat as he put down a medical document on his desk. Fuutaro, who still standing and frozen in place, felt a cold sweat appearing all over his face as he became more and more nervous, wondering what was going to happen to him. Maruo turned his chair around and then looked directly at Fuutaro with an emotionless face, which made Fuutaro startled from it.
"Uesugi-kun, did you know a thing on what happened to Ichika?"
"No… I don't know what happened to her. All I know is she passed out on the middle of the sideways and the four told me about it by the phone."
"Is that so? Then, do you know what is the current diagnosis of her condition?" Maruo said, picking up a medical paper from the desk.
"No. I don't know…"
"Ichika has been diagnosed of severe exhaustion and extremely high fever. The four had told me that she's been drinking a lot amount of coffee recently and she also consumed a lot of headache and pain relief medicine," Maruo said, giving Ichika's medical paper to Fuutaro. "I already took a blood sample from her to check further for her condition. I suspect that there will be an excessive amount of caffeine, Acetaminophen, and Ibuprofen in her blood based on what the four told me earlier. If the blood test result came out and showed an excessive amount of those contents in her blood, this can make her condition even more critical and she can potentially suffer some organ failure."
"…" Fuutaro silently accepted the paper and he took a glance at it. A real sweat flowed down from his head after hearing the prognosis of Ichika's condition.
"Then… I want to ask you something. What kind of tutoring approach did you put Ichika through until she become ill like this?" Maruo asked to Fuutaro with calm but intimidating tone in his voice.
"I-It's just the usual tutoring style… I didn't do anything bad to her on our study session. You can ask the other four and I'm sure they will tell you the same," Fuutaro panickily said, becoming more nervous because of the intimidating aura from Maruo.
"Speak out the truth, Uesugi-kun. I don't want to hear any nonsense or lie from you."
"It's the truth, I swear!" Fuutaro said. "I really don't know anything about it. I even got shocked knowing her suddenly passed out on the middle of the sideways."
"Don't lie to me. I know you're still hiding something that I didn't know." Maruo closed his eyes after hearing Fuutaro's excuse. "Tell me or else…" he then threw an icy stare, threatening him to tell the truth.
Fuutaro got even more nervous and gulped after that icy stare from Maruo. In his mind, he didn't want to tell Maruo the truth about Ichika's promise and bet to him, knowing it can create more problem and distrust between him and her father. The pressure from Maruo sparked a conflict in his mind, whether he should tell the truth and accept the outcome or lying to avoid getting into trouble. After some seconds of thinking, Fuutaro agreed to himself that he will tell the truth because of the heavy pressure from Maruo and he felt that he was indirectly responsible for Ichika's current condition. He then took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he about to told Maruo the truth about this whole situation.
"Nakano-san, the truth is… I'm kind of responsible about this whole situation."
"Hmm… What do you mean?"
"The reason why Ichika passed out… is she over-study and overworked herself to score at least 150 points on each subject on the national mock exam," Fuutaro explained, looking at the floor because he didn't dare to look at Maruo. "The day after I made a bet with you to finish in top 10 nationally, Ichika also made a bet with me to score 150 points on each subject."
"Why Ichika would made that bet with you? It's not very like her to made a bet that she can't fulfill."
"Ichika... wanted me to skip school with her on that day. I refused her request because of my focus in studying. But she kept begging to me until she cried and then she made a bet and promise to me. She said that if she failed to score 150 points on each subject, she will quit her acting job and in exchange, I have to agree to skip school with her. So in the end, I accepted her request because I can't saw her crying like that and I believe that she is capable to score 150 points," Fuutaro explained the whole story about him and Ichika.
"From what I thought, she took that bet very seriously. The four just told me that Ichika stayed up very late to study, drank a lot of coffee to stay awake at the late night, consumed a lot amount of headache and pain relief medicine, and she still working her acting job despite all of that, everyday until the national mock exam day. I also noticed that she was not feeling well today from this morning and I tried to persuade her to go to school infirmary, but she refused. When the exam was finally over and I'm on my way home, Miku told me that Ichika collapsed and passed out on the middle of sideways and it made me very worried about her…"
"So in conclusion, I'm indirectly responsible about this whole situation." Fuutaro finished telling his explanation, still with his head lowered from the guilt and anxiousness.
After hearing Fuutaro explanation about Ichika's situation, Maruo closed his eyes and thinking for some amount of time. Fuutaro felt some weight being lifted in his heart after telling the truth about the whole situation, but he still had some anxiousness lingering because he feels this was still not over yet. He thought that Maruo will not let him off easily and surely going to punish him for his action. Fuutaro can only stared at the floor, didn't dare to see Maruo, thinking what would happen to him after he told the truth.
"What would happen to me…?"
"Will I lose the tutoring job because of this whole situation…?"
"If that happen… Then so be it…"
"After all… I'm kinda responsible for this…"
"Sorry… Ichika…"
"Uesugi-kun…"
After some moments of silence, Maruo opened his eyes and talked to Fuutaro. This made Fuutaro startled, again, because of the sudden talking and he immediately lifted his head to look back at him. There was still an emotionless expression and icy look on his face, but Fuutaro was sure that he can saw some anger in it despite that expressionless emotion. It didn't help Fuutaro because it still made him nervous and not feeling any better.
"From now on, you're temporarily dismissed from tutoring all my daughters until the result of the national mock exam come out," Maruo said, still looking at Fuutaro with his trademark icy stare. "After hearing your explanation, I can see that you're a bad influence to Ichika, and potentially to the other four. So, I want you to keep your distance to the other four until the mock exam results come out. You can still visit Ichika in the hospital because you're responsible for her situation.
"Just as our agreement, if you managed to finish in top 10 nationally, I will honor our agreement and let you continue your job to tutor my daughter. But, if you failed to finish in top 10 nationally, you will stop tutoring them immediately and I want you to stay away from them, both in school and outside of the school. Do I make myself clear?" Maruo emphasized his warning to Fuutaro.
"Yes… I understood," Fuutaro quietly said with a troubled face.
"Good. Now leave, I don't want to see you for now," Maruo said as he turned around to his desk, looking at the medical papers.
"Then, excuse me…" Fuutaro said as he put Ichika's medical paper on the table near him and slowly heading to the door.
"There's one more thing, Uesugi-kun… If somehow Ichika's condition got worse, I will never forgive you…" Maruo warned to Fuutaro without him turning around to see him.
Fuutaro then exited Maruo's office and he closed the door. He just froze outside of the office because of the warning and the pressure from the Maruo. With a mix of pressure, guilt and shock, he didn't know what to think anymore because it was too much for him to process those feelings at the same time. With a troubled mind and distressed face, he took an elevator to the ground floor and when he exited the elevator, he took a seat on the nearby bench and buried his head into his arms, thinking about this whole situation.
For about 15 minutes, he just sat there, silently, thinking about all of this problem. Not long after, the four sisters found him and immediately approached him.
"U-Uesugi-kun, what happened to you?" Itsuki got surprised from seeing Fuutaro's current state.
"Fuu-kun, how did the talks with dad goes?" Nino asked to Fuutaro, feeling worried for him. "It's not good I guess?"
"Uesugi-san… Did something happen between you and dad?" Yotsuba felt worried to Fuutaro as she took a seat next to him.
"Fuutaro… You can tell us about it… It's also fine if you don't want to," Miku said, feeling a sympathy from seeing Fuutaro.
"…"
Fuutaro ignored them and continued to buried his head in his arm, still not feeling good enough to talk to them. Nino, Miku, and Itsuki then took a seat too to accompany him. Even with him not responding back to them, the four sisters didn't feel annoyed or irritated and instead, they just silently sat with him, letting Fuutaro having some quiet time. After 10 minutes, Fuutaro then took a deep sigh after contemplating in his own mind and he finally lifted his head to look at the four sisters.
"Sorry… It's just… I'm not in the mood to talk right now," Fuutaro said with a stutter in his voice.
"It's okay, Fuutaro," Miku said with a soft voice. "From seeing you right now, I can assume that the talk between our dad and you didn't go well, right?"
"Yeah… You can say it like that."
"Then, what did you and dad talked about? Is it about Ichika?" Nino asked to him, feeling curious about it.
"It's something like that… But I can't talk to you about it right now."
"If you can't tell it right now, then don't, Uesugi-san," Yotsuba said as she understood about his situation. "We will wait until you finally have the time to tell us about it."
"Ahh… Then, can you all leave me alone?" Fuutaro weakly said to the four sisters. "I need some time alone to think and process about this whole situation."
"Then, if that's what you want, we will give you your alone time," Itsuki said with a soft smile as she stood up from the bench. "Also, if you want to see Ichika, she's been moved to the ICU room. The ICU room is through that way," she further said, also pointing at the ICU room location.
"Ahh… Thanks."
"Then, we'll see you in Monday," Itsuki bid her goodbye to Fuutaro. "Take care, Uesugi-kun."
"We'll take our leave, see you, Fuutaro," Miku said with a smile, waving to him.
"See you in school, Uesugi-san," Yotsuba said with a faint smile, also waving to him.
"I guess, I'll see you later, Fuu-kun," Nino said, saying her goodbye to Fuutaro. "Take care of yourself, alright?"
The four sisters then left for home after saying goodbye to their tutor. Fuutaro then leaned backward as he took another deep sigh and closed his eyes. He tried to relax his mind more after his talks with the four sisters and he felt some relief in his heart and mind, knowing that they had some sympathies to his current situation.
After some minutes on relaxing his mind, Fuutaro stood up from the bench and heading to the ICU room to see Ichika. Arriving outside of the ICU room, he can only peek from the window because it was already past visiting time and there was also a sign forbidding anyone but authorized personnel to enter the ICU room. He saw Ichika, still laying in hospital bed, unconscious with the same state like in the emergency room, with oxygen mask on her face, and he can faintly heard the heart rate monitor beeping.
Seeing Ichika's current state, made him frustrated again but not to her, but to himself as he gritted his teeth in frustration and clenched his fist again. Fuutaro then tried to relax his mind again by closing his eyes and taking a deep breath because there was nothing much he can do right now than waiting for her to get better.
Fuutaro then looked at his phone and it was already night time, so he decided to go home after this long and unfortunate day. Before he left, he saw Ichika once more. With a weak smile on his lips, he wished her well and hoping for her to recover fast.
"I hope you can recover well…"
"We're all hoping for your condition to get better…"
"Now rest well… Ichika."
"I'm hoping to see that smile of yours once more, when you're awake."
A/N:
Yes Finally! Chapter 7 is finished and here it is!
Ichika really pushed herself to her limit and even went over because she took the promise and bet very seriously. This chapter was kinda tricky for me to write because I need to do a quick research about how severe can someone get ill based of Ichika condition and I can conclude that it will be kind of severe condition especially adding the excessive consumption of headache and pain relief medicines. So yeah, currently her condition is pretty bad, but I won't make her miss the announcement of national mock exam results because it will be another important moment in this story.
Also I re-read chapter 6 and I noticed there were a lots of grammar and narration mistake. So I went to fix some of the mistake and updated it yesterday. I'm sorry if it's still kinda mess because I'm still learning to write better and proper grammar, so bear with me.
For the review response:
-Rosalina:
Haha big thanks as always and I guess you got dethroned as the first commenter lol. Yeah works really got busier recently and I even needed some break from writing to relax my mind and thank goodness I'm still healthy and feeling good.
-Kraft:
Thanks mate. As always, I really appreciate your review and thanks for the compliment!
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