"Alright everyone, you will have one and a half hours to walk around the temple site in small groups. Please make sure not to enter any restricted areas and not to touch any of the exhibited objects. Treat this place with respect. Also, we were told that eating is not allowed within the premises, so remember to keep that in mind. We will meet up immediately after the allocated time, so do show up a couple minutes earlier to not be late. One of the employees will then guide us through the inside of the temple and tell us a little bit about its history. Okay?" The teacher explains to the big group of students standing in front of him, right next to the big gate that leads to the temple site. "Perfect, we will meet here later. Have fun!"
Itsuki and Yotsuba, who chose to join this group and visit the old temple, started to look for Fuutarou, considering he had to be here somewhere as he joined the group at the last possible moment. But unfortunately, they didn't see him anywhere. That was odd. He couldn't have gone anywhere by himself as they were advised to walk around in small groups so he had to be with someone...but who? Nonetheless, the two sisters decided to make the most of the trip and ventured forward without him.
The two girls enter the temple site and started to admire a beautiful garden. There were sakura trees intermixed with a host of bright flowers, some that were slowly beginning to lose their color because of the changing seasons. Many of the other girls in their class were also walking around in the garden and looked at all the different flowers planted here. Even Yotsuba couldn't resist, dashing forward to peek at them. She picked two of the flowers that had yet to lose their color, raising them to give Itsuki a better look.
"Itsuki, look at those flowers. Aren't they beautiful? This one actually really suits you!" Yotsuba happily exclaims and hands a pink flower to her. Itsuki smiles brightly and takes the flower.
Itsuki carefully places the flower in her hair, slightly above one of the star hairpins that were part of her usual attire. "How do I look?" Yotsuba's cheeks blush and she begins to giggle as she looks at her sister. "Oh Itsuki, you look so cute right now! Why can't I be as beautiful as you?" Yotsuba latches on to her sister, rubbing their cheeks together as Itsuki tries not to topple over from the sudden glomp.
"What are you talking about? We are quintuplets, all five of us look the same. The only difference between you and me is your haircut, and the ribbon." Itsuki responds with some exasperation, a smile on her face. "And also, you look much cuter than I do. You are always so cheerful, energetic, and sweet, I don't understand how you don't have a boyfriend yet." Yotsuba pouts, before poking at her sister.
"Well, if we are quintuplets, then I don't understand how you don't have a boyfriend yet. You look just like me."
Itsuki laughs amusedly and pats the head of her older sister. "Yeah yeah, you're right. Anyways, let's keep searching for Fuutarou. 'She appeared calm on the outside, but the youngest quintuplet was a mess on the inside. "What will he say when he sees me like this? Will he think that the flower looks good on me? Will he like it? And what if he doesn't like it? I really wanna know what he thinks. Also, I wanna spend time with him, I don't want him walking around here on his own…'
"Alright, let's search somewhere near the temple. We don't exactly know where he went, but it's a good place to start." Yotsuba suggests while pointing at the old and worn temple. "Yeah, that could be a good spot to search for him."
The two sisters enter the temple which is, unsurprisingly, filled with students. They were looking at old furniture that was made centuries ago, rare artifacts that famous historical figures once owned, among other stuff. In the middle of the room, they had entered was the teacher in charge of this tour, currently in the midst of a conversation with the person they had been searching for. Itsuki jumps up happily, almost perfectly emulating Yotsuba, before running up to him.
"Uesugi-kun! There you are!" She exclaims happily as she locks her arms around his, just like Ichika would normally do. "Itsuki? What are you doing?" Fuutarou asks, surprised by the sudden interruption as he turns to look at the beaming girl.
"What do you think I'm doing? We were searching for you! Now, let's go and look around for a bit." Itsuki begins to leave, tugging him along, but stopped when the teacher coughed to get their attention.
"Young girl, as much as I would like to let you have fun with him, I'm sorry to say that I can't let him go with you." The teacher explains. "Earlier, Uesugi-kun turned up late for departure. I know that he normally is an exemplary student and this is the first time that it has happened, but I have to set an example. If I let him go unpunished, then his classmates will think that it is okay to be late, or assume that Uesugi-kun here gets special treatment."
"Oh really? Can't you make an exception?" Yotsuba asks the teacher, her ribbon drooping with disappointment. So they can't even spend time with each other now? Just because he had shown up slightly late? That was ridiculous.
"I'm sorry but I can't do that. He will have to follow me for the rest of the day. But you can join him if you want. I won't hold you back from doing so." The teacher calmly explains before leaning in to take a closer look at Itsuki, plucking the flower from her hair. "Young lady, are you aware that you are not allowed to pick the flowers from the garden?"
Itsuki lowers her head, shaking it while staring at the ground. "No sir, I didn't know that. I apologize for my misbehavior." She mumbles quietly while letting go of Fuutarou. Internally, she was a little disappointed that Fuutarou didn't even realize that she was wearing this flower in her hair before it was taken. She sighed. 'I didn't get to ask him how I looked…'
"Well, now you know it." The teacher turns around and then proceeds to walk down one of the hallways with Fuutarou trailing behind. The two girls look at each other for a short moment, then to the way their friend was dragging his feet, simultaneously deciding to follow the teacher-student duo.
Itsuki looks at Fuutarou, who appeared to be a little bit annoyed about his situation, which was understandable. It wasn't even his fault that he was late, his roommates had held him back from arriving at the bus on time. Maybe she would have to cheer him up so this trip was fun for him as well? But how? She turns her head to the side, eyes landing on a glass cabinet with two swords in it.
"Uesugi-kun, look at that!" She exclaims while grabbing his sleeve to stop him. "Have those swords really been used by a real warrior or a real samurai in the past?" She points at one of the swords as Fuutarou turns to the glass cabinet as well.
Fuutarou chuckles and then turns to Itsuki. "Well, they wouldn't exhibit those swords if they weren't used in the past. They can't just place random swords here, that would be ridiculous. Fuutarou grins at the youngest Nakano and then begins to chuckle mood lightening. "Are you really interested in this stuff? I thought girls like you wouldn't be interested in weaponry. Do I need to start fearing for my life?"
Itsuki's cheeks turn pink at the teasing, but she starts to giggle at her tutor's question. "Hey, Miku is into this sort of stuff and you already know it. But yeah, you are right. I am not interested in swords or weapons like that. Just thought it would be nice to see you smile." Fuutarou blinked, before grinning and patting her head, much to Itsuki's embarrassment.
The teacher, who was watching them interact, sighed slightly before smiling and turning to address them. "Looks like the two of you are enjoying yourself just by looking at a couple of swords. In any case, I remembered I had to prepare a few things for later. So if you want to, you can go around at the temple site without me, Uesugi-kun."
Fuutarou surprised bows deeply in front of his teacher. "Thank you very much. I appreciate that." The teacher laughs, chuckling even as he waves them off. "But make sure not to break any more rules, alright?" Fuutarou nodded his agreement, bidding farewell to the adult.
Yotsuba throws her arms into the air out of sheer happiness. "Yay! Now we can have fun together without having to follow a teacher around!" She exclaims joyfully while jumping between Itsuki and Fuutarou (which did cause the former to feel a little disappointed). "What do we do now? Should we explore more of the interior or should we maybe go outside again and go into the garden again? There is so much we can do until our free time is over!"
"I think we should just stay inside and look around for a bit. Maybe we can find something that is more interesting than a couple of swords." Itsuki suggests, to which the other two nod in agreement. They continue to walk down the hallway they were previously standing in. Every now and then, they would stop to look at some exhibited objects or old paintings hanging on the walls.
'Does Fuutarou know about the dance on the last evening of the school trip? Does he maybe have somebody in mind he wants to ask? No, probably not. And what about me? Should I ask him to dance with me? And what about Ichika? Maybe she also wants to ask him to dance with her.' Itsuki thinks to herself as they walk upstairs, continuing on to the next floor. 'I should probably ask him if he has any plans, that way I can find out if he is interested in dancing with somebody. If he hasn't planned anything yet, I could probably ask him. I mean, what could go wrong? Just a friendly dance between friends.'
"I gotta use the bathroom real quick. Can you wait for me here?" Yotsuba asks while looking around for the said bathroom. Itsuki and Fuutarou stop and then nod. "Yeah, sure." Yotsuba quickly runs down the hallway, leaving a trail of dust even as she disappears into the distance.
"Say, Uesugi-kun, do you have any plans for the third day of our trip?" Itsuki asks even as her cheeks begin to turn red. Fuutarou shakes his head. "No, I have not made any plans yet. What about you?"
"Oh, me? I-I was just thinking about one or two things I could do a-and I thought w-we could maybe…" Itsuki mumbles while the color of her face darkens to the shade of a ripe tomato. Her voice becomes softer and quieter until eventually, Fuutarou couldn't hear a word.
"Is everything alright, Itsuki? What is it you wanted to ask?" Fuutarou asks, slightly confused.
"Fuutarou, do you want to danc-"
Itsuki gets interrupted by another voice calling out to the two young teenagers. It was a young lady dressed in a traditional kimono who was waving at them. "Excuse me, would you like to try on real samurai armor? Or maybe a traditional dress made in the Sengoku Era for the young lady?"
"Oh, uh, I'm not sure. " Fuutarou answers absentmindedly while rubbing the back of his head, mentally weighing the pros and cons. Itsuki turns to the woman who had been interrupting her and sighs. After all, she couldn't even ask him to dance with her because of this random stranger.
"It's completely free so you don't have to pay anything. Come on, it's a great opportunity to take photos!" The lady explains just in time for Yotsuba to come back from the bathroom. "That sounds like a lot of fun. Come on guys, let's try it!"
"Alright, we can give it a try but keep in mind that we don't have all day. We have to get back to our group in half an hour!" Fuutarou concedes as he checks the clock. "Yeah, let's try it," Itsuki mumbles in agreement while her cheeks slowly lose their red color.
The woman takes them into a separate room where multiple suits of armor and dresses were on display. "The two of you can just pick any dress you like and put it on. The changing rooms are on the right." She explains while gesturing to the different dresses. She then grabs Fuutarou by his hand and pulls him to a room on the left. "You on the other hand unfortunately cannot choose. We only have one suit of armor you can wear, the rest are just for show." The two of them disappear behind the door and Yotsuba and Itsuki are left behind in the room to their own devices.
They look at the different dresses which all look very glamorous. Most of them weren't even their size. Suddenly, Yotsuba runs towards Itsuki with a white dress with red flowers on it. "Look at this one. I think that it would look good on you, why don't you try it on?"
Itsuki takes the dress and scans at it for a few moments before she nods and walks into the changing room. She undresses and then tries the dress on. It was pretty tight here and there but all in all, it fit her. But what would Fuutarou think?
Itsuki walks out of the changing room where Yotsuba was waiting. When Yotsuba sees her, she quickly runs at her with a big smile on her face. "Oh my god, Itsuki! You are so gorgeous! You look like a princess!"
Itsuki blushes a little bit and giggles. "You are exaggerating, Yotsuba. I don't look like a princess."
"You don't think so? Uesugi-san, what do you think about that?" Yotsuba asks as she turns around. Half-hidden behind one of the other sets of armor as he approached, already wearing his suit of armor. He slowly walks up to them while wheezing slightly.
"Uesugi-san, is everything alright?" Yotsuba asks, confused about why he looked like he was about to topple over. Fuutarou sighs and then looks down at the two sisters. "This armor is really heavy, you know. Do I at least look somewhat stronger or intimidating?"
The two girls look closely at him and turned to each other as they came to the same answer. "You look like this armor doesn't belong to you…" They both mumble at the same time. Fuutarou sighs once more but wasn't exactly surprised. "Then trying this on wasn't worth my time."
"Wait, what do you think about Itsuki's outfit? How does she look?" Yotsuba asks as she stops him from walking back to the changing room. Fuutarou stops to take a good look, mind stuttering at what he was seeing. He blushes and then turns his head to the side. He was astonished by her beauty. "I-It suits you…It looks nice…" He manages to stutter out a compliment before hurrying back to the changing room, face combusting.
Hearing this also made Itsuki blush a little bit. After hearing it from his mouth, Itsuki felt a little bit more pretty wearing this dress. "See? He also thinks that you look good in it. You truly are a princess!" Yotsuba happily exclaims while smiling brightly at her younger sister. Itsuki nods and smiles back at her, cheeks tinted pink. "Yeah, I guess you are right."
Author's Note:
I am so sorry. I am sorry that you had to wait two whole weeks for a new chapter to release and now it's even one of the shortest chapters yet.
The reason that I wasn't very active the last two weeks was because of my lack of motivation. Right now, I don't feel motivated enough to write like I used to. But I still didn't want to let you wait.
I don't know if I will be active in the next weeks but I hope that one day, I will be able to get back to you with consistent weakly updates.
Danila, this is the equivalent of the school camp but I still called it School Trip. Sorry for the confusion.
Well, I hope that you at least enjoyed this chapter. I will get back to you once I am ready again!