Chapter 15
"This is the place…?"
"Yeah, this is the place."
Fuutaro and Ichika stood up in the front of a familiar high rising building, which was a luxury condo where the quintuplets lived. It took them around 15 minutes of walking from the restaurant to this place. On the way to this place, Fuutaro felt familiar of the way that they were going and he even had a thought that they will be going to the condo. But he dismissed that thought, knowing that the quintuplets will not return to their condo until his ban set by their father was lifted. Still, Fuutaro wondered, why did Ichika wanted to go back to the condo? Was there something that need to be done in here? Or did she miss their penthouse? He can't conclude the reason of her coming back here. Feeling puzzled, he then asked Ichika the reason why she wanted to come back to this place.
"Why are we here? I thought you all said, you five didn't want to come back to this place until I become your official tutor again, right?"
"Ahaha… You got surprised, right?" Ichika responded with a laugh and pulled out her phone from her pocket. "Well… I really don't want to come back to this place until you become our official tutor again, but there's something important that I need to get from my room, relating to the work stuffs. My manager told me to bring that the next time I show up to work," she said her reason as she typed something on her phone.
"Is that so? Then, you could've told me earlier." Fuutaro shook his head from hearing the reason. "Anyway, how will we going to enter the condo? Didn't you all threw away your access card back at Christmas day?"
"Don't worry about that. I already messaged the head security of the condo and asked his help for the condo access. Dad personally knew the head security and he said that if our access card got lost or broken, we can contact the head security for help," Ichika said, putting her phone back into her pocket. "It won't take long for him to meet us. He will be here in few minutes."
"Heh… As expected from your dad, a rich and powerful person. It's not a surprise that he knew many important and influential person."
"You will be more than surprised on how many people he knew. I lost count on how many persons dad know whenever we visit him in the hospital."
The two then chatted a little bit about her father and not long after, the head of security appeared from the elevator and opened the lobby entrance from inside. The two then noticed the entrance door had been opened and immediately entered the lobby. Ichika then thanked the head of security for helping them gaining the entrance access.
"Thank you for your help! All five of us lost our access card not long ago, so we don't have anymore access to enter the condo."
"It's not a problem, Nakano-san. Your father already told me that if any of you needed help around the condo, I will be ready to help you all at any time," the head of security said as he pulled out an access card from his pocket. "Oh also, this card is going to be your temporary card to access your penthouse. This temporary card will expire in twenty-four hours, so this access card is going to be unusable after that period of time," he told Ichika about the card expiration period and gave the card to her.
"Yes, I understood." Ichika accepted the temporary access card from the head security. "Once again, thank you for your help. Then, please excuse us." she slightly bowed to thanked him and headed for the elevator.
After saying thank you to the head of security, Fuutaro and Ichika entered the elevator and pressed a button with number 30 on it. In the elevator, Ichika never thought that she returned to this place before Fuutaro come back to become their official tutor again. It was her idea to left the condo because her dad banned Fuutaro to ever stepping in this place again after he apparently spoke rudely and insulted her father. The four also agreed with her idea because they already grew fond of him and can't accept their father decision to ban Fuutaro from the penthouse.
Even though Ichika didn't want to return to this place, the penthouse was one of the most memorable places for her. She started to became interested with him in this place and they also shared a lot of fond memories together too. Because of that factor, Ichika decided to choose the penthouse as the place to confess to Fuutaro. Other factors for her to choose the penthouse, it was quiet and calming place, therefore there will be no interruption from other people when she confessed to him.
After around 10 seconds, the elevator emitted a ding sound and stopped, signing that they finally reached the 30th floor, where the quintuplets penthouse located. The two exited the elevator and walked through the hallway to the penthouse. Even though she already walked through this hallway for hundreds of times, Ichika felt the walk to her penthouse feels much longer than usual because of anxiousness. It usually took like a minute or less for her to reached the penthouse, but this time, she felt like minutes have passed and she still had not reached the penthouse.
After seemingly for like an eternity to Ichika, she and Fuutaro finally arrived at the penthouse entrance door with a "Nakano" name plaque next to it. Ichika then placed the temporary access card on the card scanner and the beep sound came out of it, signing that the door was now unlocked. The two entered the penthouse, greeted by a faint yellow ceiling light at the other side and they took off their shoes before stepping into the penthouse hallway. As they stepped further into the hallway, they noticed that the rest of the hallway was pitch dark and they can barely saw anything in front of them.
"Whoa! It's all dark in here…" Fuutaro said with a surprise as he stopped walking further.
"Wait, the light switch should be around here…" Ichika groped the wall beside her, searching for the light switch. "Got it! this should be the right switch."
Ichika flicked the light switch and the light around the penthouse immediately turned on. With the light turned on, they can saw clearly around them and immediately greeted by the familiar sight of the living room in front of them. The two proceeded to the living room and Fuutaro noticed that the penthouse was very clean and tidy, considering that the five left this place for months and no one had to clean the place. He touched some of the furniture and there was no dust on it, in which he thought it was strange and someone must had been cleaning this penthouse while they were away.
"This place is very clean and tidy… In fact, it's too clean, considering you all left this place for months and there's not a single dust on the furniture."
"Hmm… I guess Ebata-san did all of the cleaning while we're away from this place," Ichika said as she took her coat off and put down her bag on the sofa. "Fuutaro-kun, I'm going to my room to take the stuff. So can you wait in here for a while? It won't take long for me."
"Yeah… I'll be waiting here," Fuutaro replied and he took a seat on the sofa.
Ichika then went up the stairs and headed to her room. She entered her room, flicked the light switch, and Ichika can saw that the room was still in the same state before she left the penthouse months ago, where lot of stuffs like clothes, magazine, rubbish, and other things still scattered on the floor. There was a surprised expression and a gasp from her mouth from seeing the state of her room. Compared to the bedroom in the rented apartment, that bedroom was far cleaner than her bedroom because she and the four kept cleaning the bedroom daily. This made her realized that she was a very messy and disorganized person for this whole time after comparing the state of rented apartment bedroom and her own bedroom in the penthouse.
"Uhh… This room…"
"It's the complete opposite compared to the bedroom in rented apartment…"
"Is my room always this messy and unorganized…?"
At the rented apartment, they made a daily schedule for each person to clean the bedroom. Even if it was Ichika's turn to clean the bedroom, not long after, she ended up trashing the bedroom because of her messy habit. At first, the four sisters seemed to tolerate her behavior, but as the time goes on, they got fed up with her messy habit and warned Ichika to not trash the bedroom or she will be sleeping in the living room. This daily cleaning schedule and the warning by the four made Ichika had no choice but to comply. Months after living at the rented apartment, she started to gain much cleaner habit.
"This room is definitely a mess…"
"I guess it's time for some cleaning…"
Knowing that she can't stand the mess in her room, Ichika then picked up all of the dirty clothes on the floor and put them in the laundry basket nearby. Finished on picking up the clothes, she picked up her magazines and other books that laying around on the bedroom floor and organized it on her desk. Now that the room starting to get more appropriate, there were still some rubbishes laying around the floor and Ichika immediately picked up the rubbish and put it on the trash bin. The cleanup took around 15 minutes and currently, the state of her bedroom was much cleaner and more organized. Even if it was better, her desk was still disorganized with some stuffs falling over on it and her bed was still messy with an untidy blanket and wrinkled bedsheet.
Feeling that her bedroom was clean enough, Ichika fell to her bed and let out a groan from the tiredness. She then thought about the state of her bedroom and how she didn't realize much sooner that her room was a mess.
"*sigh* My room was surely a mess…"
"Compared to the bedroom in our rented apartment… This room is surely like an uncivilized land…"
"Really… Those four really changed my habit…"
"I guess that's not bad… Because a clean and organized room is good sight to see…"
As she kept laying on the bed, Ichika then closed her eyes for a moment, preparing her heart and mind to confess to Fuutaro. The time was getting closer for her to do what she wanted from long time ago and now the opportunity was finally here. She can feel her heart was beating faster and she can also feel a tingling sensation in every part of her body, from head to the feet because of the anxiousness. Ichika was also worried about how Fuutaro will react after she confessed her feelings to him. Will he get surprised by it? Or will he not care about it and act like usual? Or will he take this as a joke and tell her to not mess with him? All of those and other scenarios were filling her mind and she got even more anxious as she kept thinking about it. Ichika opened her eyes and shook her head to get rid of those scenarios and tried to calm her mind by taking a deep breath and exhaling it slowly.
"I need to stay calm…"
"I can't confess to him properly if my mind and heart are all anxious…"
"Whatever his response will be…"
"I need to face it…"
Ichika then stood up from her bed with a determination and she placed her hand on her chest to checked the heartbeat for the last time. She can feel her heart was still beating fast, but not as fast when she thought about the scenarios of Fuutaro's response. She took a deep breath once more to prepare herself for the final time and after the exhale, she felt better enough to execute the last stage of her plan. Ichika flicked the light switch off before leaving her room. She then opened the door, walked out from her bedroom, and headed downstairs.
Fuutaro was focused on his phone, browsing the internet, while waiting for Ichika. The sound of the door closing, averting his attention from his phone to the upstairs, where he saw Ichika finally came out from her bedroom and walking downstairs. He had been wondering on what took her so long to retrieve her stuff, until he remembered that her bedroom was a mess and comparable to an uncivilized land in which he thought that she must had some difficulty on finding her stuffs in a room that can give a junkyard a competition. Fuutaro can saw Ichika approaching him with a grin and he noticed there was some amount of sweat on her face.
"Sorry for taking so long…! I had some difficulty finding the stuff, but I finally found it after searching every corner of my room."
"Heh! Must've been difficult to find your stuffs in those uncivilized land, right? I still can't forget the sight of your bedroom… It's definitely a horrible sight to see," Fuutaro smirked hearing Ichika and teased her bedroom state.
"That's cruel to say, Fuutaro-kun!" Ichika pouted from annoyance, hearing Fuutaro insulted her bedroom. "Finding the stuff didn't take long, but I've been cleaning my bedroom for the past fifteen minutes and it's really tiresome, you know?" she turned her head around from him with a frown.
"Ohh… So you've been cleaning your room? Did I heard that right or my hearings starting to gone wrong?" he said with a narrow eye as he continued to tease her.
"Ughh… You're surely annoying!" Ichika pinched Fuutaro's shoulder in irritation from his constant teasing.
"Ow, ow… That hurts…!" Fuutaro chuckled as he held his stinging shoulder from Ichika's pinching. "Anyway, it's very rare to see you cleaning your room? Did you starting to realize that a messy room is not a good place to live in?"
"Yeah… it's something like that. Compared to the bedroom at the rented apartment, it's much cleaner than mine. We made a daily schedule to clean the bedroom and we're taking a turn on each day to clean the room. Although they seemed to tolerate my messy habit at first, the four got fed up with it and they warned me to not trash the bedroom or I will be sleeping in the living room," Ichika said the reason she cleaned her bedroom earlier. "I guess, they helped me develop a much cleaner habit and it made me realized that a messy bedroom is uncomfortable to sleep in."
"Hmm… Is that so? I'm glad that you finally realized it. Then, I will look forward to inspect your "cleaner" room," Fuutaro said with a teasing tone on the last sentence.
"Yeah, yeah… Whatever you say, Fuutaro-kun…" Ichika rolled her eyes, getting annoyed by him for keep teasing her.
Fuutaro then looked at the clock on the wall and noticed that the time was already past 10 PM. It was getting late and he needed to come home before Raiha and his dad were worried for him. He then said to Ichika that they needed to go home because it was getting late and they still had a school tomorrow.
"Ichika, time's already showing past 10 PM. If we don't have anything to do in here anymore, let's go back home."
"Ehh-uhh… Wait, Fuutaro-kun. Let's stay in here for a while…" Ichika said with a panic expression, holding him from going home.
"Huh…? What do you mean? It's getting late and we still have school tomorrow." Fuutaro raised his eyebrow in confusion, feeling puzzled about her still wanting to stay in this place.
"I know… But I still want to stay in here for some times. Can you accompany me for a while…? I promise it will not take long," Ichika said with a reluctant smile, staring at him with a begging look.
"*sigh* Fine, I guess," Fuutaro sighed. "But when I feel it's taking too long, we're going home, okay?"
"Yes, yes… Then, let's go out to the balcony!" Ichika said as her reluctant smile turned into a cheerful one. "The balcony is a relaxing place to hang around. I'm sure you will like the views and the breeze." she then held Fuutaro by the wrist and pulled him to the balcony.
As he being dragged by Ichika to the balcony, Fuutaro wondered about what Ichika just said to him. There was nothing to do in the penthouse anymore and the time already nearing late night, but Ichika still wanted to stay in here for some reason with him, alone. The speculation and suspicion about her starting to resurfaced again in his mind and Fuutaro deduced that there were still more to this. Fuutaro took a glance to the cheerful Ichika and he thought of what she was going to say to him later.
"There's nothing to be done in here anymore…"
"Yet, you still wanted to stay in here for little while… With me…"
"What are you trying to do…?"
"Is my suspicion about you is true…?"
Tonight, the sky was clear with some clouds on it and there were some amounts of stars visible on it. There was also a full moon and it appeared to be hidden within some clouds passing by, so it was not very visible at the moment. The view of the city at nighttime was very dazzling, the many lights coming from the building, streetlights, and the cars driving on the street made the view astonishing. There was a strong wind current on the balcony because they were on the 30th floor of the condo. Even though the wind was stronger than the one in the street level, tonight, the wind appeared to be soft and enjoyable compared to the usual day.
Both Ichika and Fuutaro were resting their arm on the balcony guardrail and there was a moment of silent between them since the two stepped onto the balcony. Ichika had been looking at the view of the city with a soft smile on her lips as she rested her chin on her arms. She always loved looking at the city at the nighttime and also enjoyed the soft and nice breeze of the wind at the balcony, which always calmed her mind. For Fuutaro, he enjoyed the view of the sky and even closed his eyes for a few seconds, enjoying the gentle breeze of the wind. Ever since he went to this balcony with her last year, he was stunned by the views and took a liking of this place. Even though there were no words coming out from their mouth, the two seemingly enjoyed the moment of silent. Some moments had passed and Ichika finally broke the silent between them.
"Hey, Fuutaro-kun, did I ever tell you that I love hanging around at a high place?"
"No… You never tell me that," Fuutaro said with a smile, still seeing the night sky and enjoyed the breeze. "Although, I noticed after our tutoring session, sometimes you always went out to the balcony by yourself." he then turned his head to see her.
"Yeah… I always go to the balcony to calm and relax my mind after a long day of tutoring session or work," Ichika said as she closed her eyes, also enjoying the breeze of wind. "I love looking at the city from a high place, especially at nighttime, where the light from the building, streets, and the cars finally turned on. It's beautiful, you know? and also, I love the sensation of wind breezing through me." she continued explaining her reason and then opened her eyes to look at the view of the city.
"Hmm… Is that so? Then, I guess it's the same for me," he said as he turned around and leaned with his back against the guardrail.
"Hmm…? You liked it too?" she turned her head to look at Fuutaro.
"Did you remember when you dragged me to this balcony last year? I was stunned by the view of the city. In my life, I never went to a high place before and your penthouse was the first high place that I ever been. The view of the city at the nighttime, the enjoyable breeze that passing through my face, and sometimes you can see the clear sky without a trouble… It's all very amazing. Ever since that experience, I immediately took a liking on hanging around at high place."
"Hehh… You still remember about that, huh?"
"Heh! How could I forget about that? I always remember every moment I went to this place. Especially at that time, I can't forget about it because that moment was where I'm starting to understand more about you," Fuutaro responded with a smirk.
"Ehh…? What do you mean?" Ichika slightly tilted her head and asked him in confusion.
"That moment, I'm starting to understand that you're a selfless older sister who always supported all of your sisters without any ill feelings towards them. You've been working all by yourself to pay for the rented apartment and the daily needs of the other four without complaining. You're really an amazing big sister, you know that?"
"…"
"Really… I guess ever since I'm becoming your tutor, I can feel that I'm starting to change. I can't explain much about it, but I know that I can feel it."
"…"
The compliment from Fuutaro made Ichika anxious and flustered. She put her hand on her chest to check her heartbeat and she can confirm that her heart was beating very fast compared to the beating in the bedroom. The blush was now visible on her cheeks and she also bit her lip from the anxiousness. Right now, her feelings for Fuutaro were uncontrollable and it can burst out at any moment. She immediately closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. Ichika then decided that she needed to confess to Fuutaro right now because she didn't know how much longer she can contain her feelings anymore.
"Ughh… I can't contain this feeling anymore…"
"Why did you keep teasing me…?"
"You're so unfair…"
"Fuutaro-kun…"
"Hey… Fuutaro-kun…" Ichika took her arm off from the guardrail and slowly walked towards Fuutaro.
"Hmm… What is it?"
"Can I ask you something? What if… there is someone who are interested in you? By I mean interested is… That person is in love with you."
"Ehh…?"
Fuutaro got surprised from hearing the question from Ichika. His eyes slightly widened and he gasped from the question because he didn't expect that question coming from her. If there was someone who loved him…? He remembered back before the spring break, Nino confessed to him and said that she loved him at the café where they worked together. The confession from Nino really caught Fuutaro off-guard because it was the first time someone confessed to him and also, he didn't expect someone like Nino took a liking to him, considering the bad chemistry between them in the past.
Fuutaro then further thought, why did Ichika bring up this kind of topic to him? She did tease him about a girlfriend topic few times in the past. But this time, from the tone of her voice, she didn't sound teasing him and he knew that she was asking a serious question. Fuutaro then remembered that he had a speculation and a suspicion that Ichika might like him, in this evening, when he was in bath. He also had this "uncertain" feeling that he might also like Ichika too. But Fuutaro was still uncertain about his suspicion of her and his own feelings because he didn't know a single thing about love and romance kind of stuffs. Wanting to know the direction of this talk, Fuutaro then answered to her question.
"Uhh… Well… I don't really know about that," Fuutaro said with a slight stutter in his sentence, feeling a little uncomfortable answering the love and romance related-topic. "Did you remember what I said last year? I said that I didn't really care about love and all that stuffs, right? But recently, those kinds of topic are bugging me out because there's already someone who said to me… that she liked me," he continued to said as he started to blush from remembering Nino's confession to him.
"Is that so…?" Ichika replied in awe, pretending to be surprised. "What Fuutaro-kun just said… That person must've been Nino, because I was right there when she confessed to him," she thought to herself as she also remembered the moment where Nino was confessing to Fuutaro.
"Then… What if I tell you… That I know another person who really like you too…" Ichika said with a calm voice, although her heart and mind was the opposite of calm.
"Huh? Is that true?" Fuutaro showed a surprised face after hearing Ichika's statement.
"That's true… That person really liked you, although I'm pretty sure you didn't notice her because of your focus on academics." she stopped in front of him and slightly lifted her head to look at him. "From what I know, that person already met you and you also know her."
"Ehh…? Who is that person? Do I really know her well?"
"Unn… You really know her well. In fact, she really liked you so much, she made a promise and bet to you at the cost of her dream because she wanted to be seen by you. She skipped school with you to have fun together and she was having the time of her life because you're always by her side on that day. She worked really hard to fulfill that promise and bet until she fell ill. She also made a promise with you; to not lie, to trust, and not doubting each other," Ichika softly said to Fuutaro, describing the person who liked him. "She did all of that because she loved you."
The words from Ichika made Fuutaro's eyes widened even more and his mouth was now opened from the further surprise. He knew and understood very clearly on what she just said because she only experienced that moment with only one girl and he was also very close to her. In fact, that person she just described was standing right in front of him.
"Then… That person is…"
"That's true… That person is me…" Ichika said, revealing to him that she was that person as she took her glasses off and looked at him with a soft smile.
"I really love you… Fuutaro-kun."
So it was all true… His speculation and suspicion of her was true… That Ichika… had a feeling for him and really liked him. Fuutaro can felt a cold sweat on his face from the sudden anxiousness and he can also feel his heart was beating very fast from her confession. A blush appeared again on both of his cheeks and he starting to become flustered.
Even though he was already in this kind of situation before with Nino, he still can't keep his expression calm. Could it be because of his "uncertain" feelings for her made him become more anxious and can't keep his composure calm? Even though he was still anxious from Ichika's confession, Fuutaro already prepared himself for this kind of situation back at home, when he thought of a scenario where Ichika might like him. He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself a little bit and then responded back to Ichika.
"You know, Ichika… It's good to know that you finally told me about your feelings," Fuutaro said as he stopped leaning on the guardrail and now standing straight, facing towards Ichika. "Can I know how long did you had a feeling for me?"
"Hehe… Well, I guess since the day where I dragged you to this balcony last year," Ichika replied with a small chuckle. "Did you remember when we got trapped in the warehouse on the last year school trip? Ever since that, everytime I'm thinking about you… everytime I'm by your side… I had this unexplainable feeling in my chest and this heart of mine always beating very fast everytime I saw you. From that, I knew that I really fell in love to you, Fuutaro-kun."
"Hmm… Is that so? Then, I'm sorry I didn't notice it earlier."
"Mhhmm… That's fine…" she replied and shook her head.
"I'm glad that you finally told me about your feelings… and I know that you are expecting an answer from me," Fuutaro said with a hesitation and then he looked directly at Ichika. "But, I can't give my answer to you yet…"
"…" Ichika only let out a slight gasp from hearing Fuutaro's response.
The words from Fuutaro felt like a hammer just shattered her heart. She felt a pang in her heart and she didn't know why it happened. Did it happened because Fuutaro won't give his answer to her confession? Ichika already knew that Fuutaro wasn't a romantic type of person and completely hopeless in romance. So even if he didn't say anything about it and/or rejected her confession, she already anticipated and should have feel fine about it. But why… she felt this pang and such hurtful feelings appeared in her heart?
Ichika, unconsciously lowered her head and unknown to her, tears starting to formed in both of her eyes and it flowed right down to her cheeks. There was also a small sob coming out from her mouth and she slightly gritted her teeth because of those hurtful feeling that suddenly appeared in her heart.
For Fuutaro, this was the fourth time he saw Ichika cry and he was still uncomfortable with this sight from her. Did his response really hurt her feelings? Or did he give a wrong response to her? An amount of guilts were filling his heart as he only froze in place from seeing her cry. Fuutaro even questioned back his response, thinking whether it was the right response or not to give.
"Damn it…!"
"I made her cry again…"
"What the hell is wrong with me…?!"
"Did I really made the right decision to said that…?"
After a few moments of thinking, he finally reached a conclusion, that his response was the best he could think of and he will stand by it. Even though, he always felt uncomfortable with the sight of her crying, right now, he braced himself to face it and won't turn away from this situation. He then gathered as much self-confidence and took another deep breath and exhaled it.
"You see, Ichika… Right now, I'm still focus on school and studying. I also have a responsibility to tutor all of you and I made a promise to myself that I will guide all of you through this year until graduation," Fuutaro said with a guilty expression on his face and there was also a sign of uncomfortable expression too. "Besides, I'm still not fully understand about this love and romance stuffs because all I'm good is just studying and studying…"
"*sob*… *sob*" There was only a sobbing coming out from Ichika's mouth, still crying with her head lowered.
"I know that you must be disappointed with my answer right now. I know that you might hate me after tonight… and I understand about your decision," Fuutaro said sternly, still looking at the crying Ichika in front of him. "But, I didn't say that this is my final answer. Earlier, I said that I can't give you my answer… yet."
"Ehh…?" Ichika got surprised hearing him and slowly raised her head to see him.
"Yeah… You heard that right. When the time is right, I will give you my "true" answer about how I feel to you," Fuutaro said as a faint smile starting to formed on his lips.
Hearing those words from Fuutaro, made her mind and heart calmed a little bit. Ichika felt like there was some kind of magical bandage fixing a crack in her heart after Fuutaro said that he had a "true" answer to her confession. So the previous response wasn't really a final answer coming from him and after hearing him saying that he had "true" answer, another spark of hope was igniting inside her heart. So there might be a chance that Fuutaro might feel the same, although he said that he still confused about love and romance stuffs.
Right now, Ichika was speechless and there was only a sob and a small whimper coming out from her mouth. She can't say a single thing to him because of the confusion from many feelings that she experienced right now. Fuutaro can saw that Ichika lowered her head again and the tears from her eyes kept flowing through her cheeks and fell down to the balcony floor.
Fuutaro kind of understood about how she felt right now. The disappointment, sadness, anxiousness, confusion, and other unexplainable feelings were mixing inside of her heart and mind. Fuutaro then felt that he needed to calm Ichika down because he can't stand to see her breaking down again and he didn't want to repeat the incident in the hospital.
"Let me repeat it to you once more… You're really an amazing person, Ichika," Fuutaro sternly said to her and there was a serious expression on his face when he talked to Ichika.
"*sob* W-What do you mean…?"
"Just like I said before, your personality is really amazing. You're really a hardworker, gentle, caring, and full of determination. You managed to balance school, acting job, and paying the life expenses of the other four, which is not an easy task to do. You're really one of the best persons that I ever met in my life."
"…"
"You really worked very hard in the acting world and even willing to take every role available, whether it's minor or major roles, and you even willing to take an embarrassing role to get the money for living expenses. With this kind of mindset, I'm sure you will advance in the acting world in no time."
"…"
"When I looked back on our school skipping experience, I definitely enjoyed every moment of it. I have no regrets skipping school on that day, knowing that we almost got into trouble with the police and also almost got busted by your sisters. In fact, because of that experience with you, I can say that you helped me changed into much better person and I learned to appreciate other things in life than just studying."
"…"
"When the moment you fell ill and passed out, I felt a great guilt in my heart because I didn't do much to hold you back from over-pushing and going overboard. Because of that incident, I made a promise to myself that I will always remind you from going overboard, whether you like it or not. I really cared about you and I don't want to see bad things happened to you."
"…"
"One thing that I really liked and admired from you is… your determination. When you said to me that you will score at least 150 points at each subject on national mock exam, I really think that you're joking with me and it's impossible to achieve that score knowing that you're very lazy person. But, after seeing the look from your eyes and how determined it was to achieve that goal, I really believed in you, that you will be able to fulfill that promise, knowing how hard the path you will going through to achieve it."
"…"
"In the end, you managed to keep your promise and bet because of your amazing personality and determination. I'm proud of you and thank you for doing all of that for me, Ichika." Fuutaro's serious expression then turned into a gentle expression. He then raised his right hand and put it on Ichika's head and gently patted her head.
"Ehh…?"
Ichika can felt Fuutaro's hand scouring through her hair as it gently patted her head. She can saw a gentle expression on his face and there was also a gentle smile that she always hoping to see from him. Both of her eyes widened and a blush appeared again on her cheeks from seeing those gentle expression and gentle smile from him. The warmth sensation appeared in her head as Fuutaro kept patting her head and it spread throughout her body, which greatly calmed her heart and mind. She can feel the words coming from him were really genuine and the words that Fuutaro said to her really warmed her heart. Other than that, Ichika was also glad that he really appreciated her hardwork and their bonding experience together.
Ichika then put her hand again on her chest to check for the heartbeat and she can sense her heartbeat still beating fast. Even if it was beating fast, she can feel there was no sign of anxiousness anymore in those beating. This made her realized, the new spark of hope that was burning in her heart made her no longer feel an anxiousness and it truly calmed her heart.
Ichika then thought, even if Fuutaro didn't give his answer to her confession now, she was fine with it. Because of their bonding experience and what they had been through together, Ichika really trusted him and she believe that Fuutaro will not lie to her. No matter how long will it takes, she will wait for his "true" answer.
"*sob* Thank you…"
"Hmm…?"
"I knew you were trying to calm me down… and thank you for the kind words, it really made me happy."
"Heh… I'm just saying what's on my mind about you."
"You know, Fuutaro-kun." Ichika held Fuutaro's right hand and placed it to her chest where her heart was located. "Can you feel my heart beating through your hand?"
*thump* *thump* *thump*
Fuutaro can felt the heartbeat of Ichika, her heart was beating faster than normal heartbeat. He unconsciously raised his left hand and placed it on his own chest to compare her heartbeat to him. He can feel his heart also beating fast and when he compared it to Ichika's heartbeat, he can feel their heartbeat was synchronized with each other. Fuutaro widened his eyes in surprised and thought to himself, was this kind of phenomena possible? A person sharing the same heartbeat with each other… What did this mean? Was there a hidden meaning behind this?
"Y-Yeah… I can feel the beating. Your heart… is beating fast."
"This heartbeat showed how I really feel about you." Ichika then held Fuutaro's right hand and grasped it tightly with both of her hand. "My feelings for you are still the same and it will not change… No matter how long it takes, I will wait for your answer… I will wait… until you are ready to tell me your "true" answer," she said to him with a gentle smile and with still teary eyes as her face was illuminated by the moonlight.
"I-Ichika…"
Fuutaro eyes widened and his mouth opened in awe from seeing her beautiful face illuminated by the moonlight. His face started to blush again and he can feel his heart beating even faster than before as the "uncertain" feelings of him getting more intense. At this moment, Fuutaro finally fully understood about his "uncertain" feeling as it turned into a "certain" feeling, that he admitted to himself, that he definitely had a feelings for Ichika and liked her after all this time.
"Heh! So it's true then…"
"After all this time…"
"I did have a feeling for you…"
"Well… I'm glad it's true…"
"Because I really liked you too…"
Fuutaro then closed his eyes as another gentle smile was formed again on his lips. He was glad that he was finally able to solved his mysterious feelings and the conclusion of it really made him glad. Fuutaro then opened his eyes and he let go his right hand from Ichika's grasp and showed his right pinky.
"This pinky… is the proof that I will give you my "true" answer to you someday. Remember about our promise in the hospital? Where we promised to each other that we will trust each other, we will not lie to each other, and we will not doubt each other with our pinky?" Fuutaro said with a serious tone in his voice, showing his right pinky in front of Ichika and said about the promise that they made last week. "I… Uesugi Fuutaro, will not lie to you and will promise to you that someday, I will tell you my "true" answer about how I feels to you when the time is right!"
"F-Fuutaro-kun…?"
"You already did your best to keep your promise and bet to me, Ichika. Now it's my turn for me to keep my promise to you." he then held Ichika's left shoulder and nodded, assuring her of his new promise.
"Hehe… I'm glad you still remember about our promise," Ichika softly chuckled from hearing him as she wiped some of her tears in her eyes. "I was thinking that you might not consider it important, knowing you hesitated a bit when I asked you to made the promise."
"Heh! No matter what happened, I will never forget about our promise," Fuutaro smirked hearing Ichika as he let go her shoulder and grabbed something in his pocket. He pulled it out, which turned out to be some pocket tissues. "Here… Use these to wipe your tears." he offered his pocket tissues to her.
"Ahh… Thanks," Ichika said, accepting the pocket tissues and wiped the tears on her eyes and cheeks.
Fuutaro's phone then rang and it looks like someone sent a mail to him. He opened his phone and there was a message coming from his dad, asking where was him right now and told him to come home because it was already late night.
Oi Fuutaro, it's already past 11 PM and where are you right now? Raiha had been waiting for you to come home until 15 minutes ago, but I already told her to go sleep because she still has school tomorrow. Remember, you're still a teenager, not an adult yet, so you shouldn't hang out this late and you still have school on tomorrow, right?
Also, if you're still with Ichika, you better escort her back to her house and be a gentleman. Time already showing late night and it's not good for a girl around her age to walk alone back home.
If you already done with your date with her, reply this message because I'm feeling all sleepy from waiting you to go home.
Fuutaro smirked from reading his dad text message to him. Still, what he said was true, that time was already late night and he needed to come home fast. But before he went home, he thought that he needed to escort Ichika back to her apartment because just like his dad said, late night was not a safe time for a girl to walk around by herself. Fuutaro then slightly smiled and chuckled as he closed the mail from his dad.
"Well… Technically, we are already at her house right now…"
"You didn't have to tell me that, old man…"
"Even if you didn't text me, I'm still going to walk her back home…"
Fuutaro then looked at the upper right screen and he noticed that the time was already past eleven. He then put his phone back to his pocket and told Ichika it was time to go home.
"What is it, Fuutaro-kun?" Ichika wondered from seeing his face expression.
"Ahh… My dad just messaged me to go home right now because it's already late," Fuutaro replied. "Anyway, it's time for us to go back home. Knowing that you just recovered from your illness, I'm sure your sisters will be worried if you come home late."
"Hmm… You have a point and I really don't want them to be worried for me."
"Then, let's go. Let me walk you back to your apartment. At this time, it's not safe for a girl to walk around by herself."
"Ehh… Are you sure? I can just call a taxi and it should be safe for me."
"No… I insist. At this late night, I can't even trust those taxi driver to drive you home."
"Hehe… You're really a gentleman, you know that?"
"Yeah… Let's go home, Ichika," Fuutaro said with the same gentle smile as he extended his hand to Ichika.
"Unn… Lead the way, Fuutaro-kun!" Ichika replied with the same smile.
As she took Fuutaro's hand, Ichika then looked at him, who was leading the way in front of her. She never thought that the whole confession things turned out to be very complicated and confusing. Everytime she watched a TV drama, especially the romance drama, the whole confession things turned out to be very simple, where the couple accepted each other love and live happily ever after the confession. Ichika thought that she was too absorbed on the TV drama and it made her having too much high expectation on how confessing love going to be.
Nevertheless, she was feeling okay on how the reality turned out and even though Fuutaro can't give his "true" answer to her now, she will wait for it, no matter how long it will take. No matter what happened, Ichika believed in Fuutaro and his words, and her feelings to him will not change.
"No matter how long it takes…"
"I will wait for your "true" answer…"
"My feeling for you will still be the same…"
"Because I believed in you… Fuutaro-kun…"
"My one and only One Love…"
The time currently showed around 11 PM and Maruo was still in his office at the hospital. He just finished sorting the medical paper and patient records. As he about to went home, he got a call from the head security of the condo where the quintuplets live. He answered the call and mostly nodded from the phone call without a lot of talking. The call with the head of security lasted for a minute.
"Hmm… Is that so? Then, thank you for telling me this."
Maruo hung up the phone call from the head security of the condo. He had been told by the head of the security, that Ichika asked for a temporary access to the penthouse and she also came with a boy around her age. Maruo had a suspicion that the boy might be Fuutaro, knowing that she was very close with him recently.
Maruo then grabbed his tablet from his desk and opened the CCTV application which was connected to the security camera in the penthouse. Opening the live feed of the security camera, he can saw the lights in the living room had been turned on and at the entrance door, there were two pair of shoes next to each other. So what the head of security said was true, that Ichika and Fuutaro were coming to the penthouse. Maruo then wondered what made Ichika came back to the penthouse, knowing that it was her idea to left the penthouse because he banned Fuutaro from coming to that place. He then switched to the security camera at the balcony and Maruo slightly surprised and widened his eyes as he saw his daughter and Fuutaro in there.
The live feed from the security camera showed that Fuutaro was placing his right hand on Ichika's head and gently patted it. Not long after, Maruo saw Ichika holding Fuutaro's right hand and placed it on her chest for a few seconds and then she held his hand tightly. Maruo then continued to watch the live feed for some minutes until the two left the penthouse.
After he saw the two finally left the penthouse, he closed the app and put the tablet back on his desk. He closed his eyes, thinking that his suspicion of Ichika and Fuutaro was true and this was the concrete proof that he needed to confirm his suspicion. Maruo then thought that he needed to speak to Fuutaro about the apparent "relationship" with one of her daughters.
"So my suspicion was true…"
"There's definitely more than a student-tutor relationship between you two…"
"Uesugi-kun… So you finally made your move on Ichika, huh…?"
"Then, I might need to talk to you about this…"
"To see if you're the right man to be in relationship with her…"
"Because… I won't let my daughter fall into a wrong person…"
A/N:
Chapter 15 is finally finished! This chapter is probably my proudest chapter in this story and I really, really enjoyed writing this chapter.
So yeah, Ichika's confession turned out to be not as she expected. I can see that some of the readers are probably disappointed with how this chapter turned out because Fuutaro kind of "rejected" her confession. I would say this decision was the best I could think of because Fuutaro still has his responsibility as the quintuplets tutor, which he took it very seriously, and he's still not ready yet with a romantic relationship, knowing he's not good with romance and love stuffs.
Even though this happened, it's still not over yet. Now that Fuutaro finally accepted that he liked Ichika, this will open more opportunity for him to develop his love experience more and as well to strengthen his romantic feelings to her.
Oh also, now that this chapter is done, there will only be a few chapters left before this story is completed. This story might be over, but the storyline is not over yet and I already have a plan for the future of this story. I will tell those plan in the final chapter A/N.
As for the review response:
-Rosalina:
Yeah... I guess you have to wait a little longer for it. Anyway, my apology for getting your hope so high for this chapter.
Don't worry, this story and its future is all about FuutaroxIchika and I'm a big supporter of them. So yeah, they will end up together at some point of the story.
-Julia:
Thank you for the compliment! I really appreciate it!
If you like the story feel free to review, follow, and favorite it!