Chapter 1

I Don't Need No Comfort

It had been five days since Fuutarou had made his choice. Itsuki had expected things to go back to normal, but to her surprise something had changed tremendously between the quints and their tutor. They still had their study sessions like they always do, but something wasn't right. Something had changed and it was not in a good way. There was a great deal of tension in the air.

It was just like that today in the library. The study session had started like any other. Fuutarou would be giving his lesson for the day, answer any questions, and then he would go around with each quint individually to see how they were doing so far. It was here that Itsuki first noticed that something was off.

In previous sessions Fuutarou had gone through each quint randomly, never in any specific pattern. But for the past week it had changed, for he now seemed to be leaving one certain quint for last. His little talks with herself, Ichika, and Miku would go smoothly. When it Yotsuba's turn she would blush a little and giggle while Fuutarou maintained his serious expression. Sometimes they would exchange a word or two, then go back to the lesson. Other times Fuutarou would berate Yotsuba for a mistake she made.

It was cute seeing the two of them act like that. The two seemed perfectly suited for each other. It was enough to lighten up the mood in the otherwise silent library, but then Fuutarou would turn to the one quint he'd always saved for last.

Nino.

Since the school week started he always seemed reluctant to approach her. Back on Monday when they all entered the classroom Itsuki had noticed that Fuutarou was looking at Nino instead of Yotsuba. His looked like he wanted to say something, but no words came ever came out. It was the same at the study sessions. He would approach Nino, then stop. He would look at her as if he wanted to say something again, but then he would always clam up and he would instead only ask her if she had any questions. Afterwards he would turn away without saying another word.

Nino, on the other hand, was also acting strange. She was unusually quiet and docile. Not once had she say anything snarky, try to make a joke with Fuutarou, or even challenge him like she always did. She would just sit there and simply listen to whatever he was saying. Sometimes they would exchange a few words, with maybe Nino forcing a smile, but beyond that there was very little interaction between them.

For the past five days she hadn't been her usual, boisterous, outgoing self. Instead she had become reserved, almost timid like Miku. This alone was enough to disturb Itsuki. This was not like the Nino she knew. It was as if a stranger had taken the place of her sister.

The thing that caught her attention the most was Nino's reaction towards Fuutarou and Yotsuba. Whenever the two of them interacted, whether it was simple talks or poor and comedic attempts to flirt, Nino would turn away, often looking at her phone, pretending to be engrossed in her studies, or just by looking out the window. Itsuki could have sworn that she saw tears in her eyes sometimes.

At first she thought that Nino was simply being jealous, but when she got a good look at her sister's eyes she realized that wasn't the case. It wasn't just contempt. It was sadness. Disappointment. All of them had known that Nino would take it the hardest when it came to Fuutarou's choice, but this was something far deeper.

She glanced over at Ichika, for she too had noticed Nino's unusual behavior. Last night they had gotten together privately and talked it over. It was clear at this point that something had happened between Fuutarou and Nino that night.

When Nino had returned by herself she had congratulated Yotsuba and walked away, looking like she no longer wanted to be there. Ichika and Miku had gone with her out of concerned. When Fuutarou returned later on he looked really upset, almost snapping at Itsuki and Yotsuba when they asked him and why and not giving any explanation. He didn't speak at all for the rest of the night. His mind seemed to be elsewhere. Even Yotsuba was confused by his strange behavior.

After five days it was time for them to figure out what was going before it escalated into something terrible.

"All right, everyone," Fuutarou said when the session was over, "You got your assignments for the weekend. Be sure to complete them the next time I see you."

As everyone got to their feet, Itsuki glanced at Ichika again and they both nodded. Time to put their plan into action. However, before either of them could open their mouth, Miku suddenly spoke up.

"I'm going to the bookstore," she announced, "There's a new book I want to get."

Oh, Itsuki thought. That saved them some trouble. Originally they planned to have Miku go home with Yotsuba while Istuki spoke with Fuutarou and Ichika to Nino, who was already heading for the door.

"Oh... Okay," Istuki hastily gestured for Ichika to follow Nino, "Um... Yotsuba? Do you mind going home by yourself or at least wait for a little while?"

She ignored Fuutarou's frown while Yotsuba looked at her curiously. From the corner of her eye she saw Ichika leave to go after Nino.

"Any particular reason?" asked Yotsuba.

"I need to speak with Uesugi-kun privately," she answered honestly, "It's important."

She said it firmly enough for Yotsuba to understand that she wouldn't make this request if she didn't have a good reason.

"Okay!" she gave Fuutarou a cheerful smile, "We'll talk later, okay?"

"Y-Yeah..." their confused tutor replied before Yotsuba left.

Once they were gone Itsuki asked Fuutarou to follow her and led him into a empty classroom.

"What's going on, Istuki?" he sounded impatient, "I got things to do."

"Just a moment," she looked outside to make sure no one was around to eavesdrop before sliding the door closed.

Approaching Fuutarou, she crossed her arms and looked him straight in the eye, "I'll get straight to the point. What happened between you and Nino that night?"

Right away he looked uncomfortable. He might have known what this would be about. Now that Itsuki had cornered him there was nothing else he could do except tell the truth.

"I..." with a groan he threw up he hands in frustration, "I really don't know."

Itsuki stared, her concern turning into a huge frown, "What do you mean you don't know?"

"That's just it!" he all but screamed, "I don't know! I went to her with the intention of making sure there were no hard feelings between us but it seems I only ended up making things worse. I've been going over it again and again since that night and I still can't make any sense of it!"

"Alright, calm down," Itsuki backed up a bit, "Just tell me what happened. What did you say to Nino and how did she respond?"

Fuutarou took a moment to compose, "I told Nino why I choose Yotsuba, including the fact that I had met her in Kyoto when we were kids."

Itsuki's eyes widened, "So you knew about that?"

"I figured it out a long time ago," he corrected, "Anyway, after I explained that to her she started acting strangely."

"Strangely? How?"

"She acted like someone who just gave up. Then she went on to say that she thought she finally had a chance with me, that the battle was already over, and nothing of what she did mattered, and then..."

"And then what?" Itsuki had an uneasy feeling growing within her.

"She looked at me and said, 'I guess you just can't fight against fate, can you?'," Fuutarou ran his hands through his thick hair, "The way she said it, the way she looked at me when she said it... I can't get it out of my head. It's been bugging the most me ever since. What did I do wrong? Didn't I do the right thing?"

For a minute, Itsuki couldn't answer. She was replaying Nino's words in her head. Originally she thought that Nino was just taking this harder than the rest, but now she knew otherwise.

"Uesugi-kun, is there anything that happened between you and Nino personally that the rest of us don't know about?"

She saw Fuutarou hesitate and she could almost see the gears of his mind working.

"Well..." he shifted from one foot to another, "She did save my life one time."

"She did?" Istuki's eyes widened. That was unexpected.

"It was all the way back on that winter camping trip. Yotsuba and I were pretending to be ghosts during that test of courage thing."

"Oh, yeah," Itsuki shivered, remembering that night, "So it was you two, huh?"

Fuutarou ignored that and said, "Nino chased after you after you, only she got lost herself. I then found her alone in the forest, but since I was still wearing part of my disguise she mistook for someone else. I was afraid she would get mad at me if she found out it was actually me so I played along. As we were trying to get out of the forest she found what she thought was a path and ran straight for it. It actually led to a cliff and I went after her the moment I saw it. She almost ran right off but I was able to stop in her time by pulling her back, but then I almost fell off the cliff and she saved me by doing the same."

"Oh," Itsuki now felt guilty about leaving Nino behind back then, "Did you ever thank her?"

"I did, but she still didn't know it was me. She then asked me to dance with her at the bond fire. I was actually going to, but then I got trapped in the shed with Ichika."

"I remember that. Did she ever find out about you?"

"She did, later on when she was living by herself after you two had that fallout."

"Ah," Itsuki remembered that time, "How did she find out?"

"I told her that the guy she met was a relative of mine and she said she wanted to meet him. She then tricked me, saying that she knew all along that it was me. Then she put me to sleep."

Itsuki blinked, "She drugged you? Again?"

"Yeah," Fuutarou sighed, "Although looking back, I pretty much had that one coming since I was deceiving her."

"And she was mad at you because of that?"

Fuutarou nodded, "But she forgave right afterwards," he sighed again, more heavily this time, "I don't get her at all. When we first met she hated me, did everything she could to get rid of me. Then all of a sudden she says that she loves me-"

"Wait... what?" Itsuki was completely stunned, "When did that happen?"

"When we were celebrating at the restaurant after the mid-term exam. She followed me into the kitchen and confessed to me. Anyway..."

Fuutarou went on but Itsuki was no longer listening. Nino confessed to him? At the restaurant? After the mid-term exams? That was well before Miku or Ichika made their own confessions. Itsuki was at a loss for words. She never would have suspected that Nino would do such a thing and so quickly. Especially after last time when-

"And now this!" Fuutarou's yell snapped her back to reality, "What's wrong with her? Why is she like this? Why can't she speak to me? Just what did I do wrong? Even at work she says avoids talking to me. I'm been going over it in my head again and again and I still can't figure out an answer. Do you know what's wrong with her? Can you figure it out?"

It took a while for her to answer, "No, I can't, but I do think it would be best if you avoided us for a time."

Fuutarou frowned, "Why?"

"Because this whole thing has turned out to be worse than I originally thought it was going to be. It's turned into a powder keg, and if we're not careful it may end up being blown way out of proportion. I think it's best you left this to us until we figure out what to do about it."


"I thought I'd find you here."

Nino looked up to see Ichika sit down across from her, coffee cup in her hand.

"What are you doing here?" she frowned, "Don't you have a meeting?"

"I'm not suppose to meet with my agent for another hour," Ichika took a sip, "Besides, I wanted to see how you were doing."

"What do you mean?"

"Are you all right, Nino?" Ichika watched for her sister's reaction, "You haven't been yourself lately."

"I'm fine," Nino shrugged, "I just... got a lot of my mind lately."

"You mean you still haven't gotten over it yet?"

Nino glared at her, "If you're going to start lecturing me I'm leaving."

"Calm down," the oldest quint waved, "I just want to know what's going on with you. You and Fuutarou have have barely spoken to each other this past week, and you've also been unusually quiet. Even your cooking feels off. You've never been like this before."

It was some time before Nino shrugged again, "So I've changed, so what? Is that really a bad thing?"

"Maybe not, but you're behavior lately has gotten both me and Itsuki worried."

"There's nothing wrong with me, Ichika. Really, there isn't."

"I want to believe that Nino, but I'm not convinced. We all know that you campaigned for him the hardest so if you want to vent out your frustration go ahead. I'll listen to everything you say."

Nino suddenly laughed, "You know, Fuu-kun said the same thing that night."

"And what did you say?"

"Nothing. I didn't see the point of doing getting mad at him then so why should I now? It won't make a difference. It's over," a minute ticked by before she suddenly asked, "Tell me something, Ichika. Why did you fall for Fuu-kun?"

Her sister blinked, "Pardon?"

"Why did you fall for him? Any other celebrity would have hardly given him the time of day."

"Well..." Ichika grinned, "Because I thought he was cute!"

"I'm being serious, Ichika," huffed Nino, "Why would you go as far as you did in order to win him?"

"I know, I know what you meant," Ichika paused to think it over, "I guess what started it was when he pushed me into pursuing my dream of becoming an actress. If he hadn't I wouldn't be where I'm at now, but that wasn't the only reason. In the celebrity world you always have to keep a watchful eye of everyone around you, because there's always that one person who will look for something, anything, to bring you down so they can get ahead. Sometimes I don't even trust my own agent. With Fuutarou-kun, he doesn't beat around the bush. He calls it as he sees it. He won't make excuses, he always tell the truth. He's loyal, and he'll never turn against you. That's what I truly admire about him. You don't meet very many people like that in the entertainment industry."

"Is that why you did what you did at Kyoto?"

"Pretty much," Ichika shrugged, "It would be easy to say I did it for selfish reasons by wanting him all to myself, but there was more to it than that. I wanted someone to be by my side as my career went on, someone I could trust and lean on whenever things went bad. Fuutarou-kun was the only one who qualified for that position. But, as you saw, I went too far. I hurt Miku's feelings and I destroyed the trust between Fuutarou-kun and me. I deserved what I got. Then again, even if I hadn't blown my chances I probably wouldn't have won anyway."

"How so?"

"Well, think about it. Can you really imagine Fuutarou-kun dating, or even marrying, a celebrity like me? Considering how oblivious he is?"

Nino thought about it for moment, then laughed, "No, I don't think I could. Your worlds would clash too much."

"Exactly. Plus, the celebrity world isn't exactly a nice place for a guy like him. I learned very quickly that either things work in your favor or they don't. The media watches your every move, listens to every word you say. They, for the most part, create you. They can just as easily destroy you."

"I doubt he would really have cared."

"True, but it wouldn't taken long for a rival of mine to go and use him as a way to get to me. I rather not put him through that, and we both know he doesn't like dealing with big problems. It would just cause too much trouble for the both of us. We would never get a moment to ourselves."

"Yeah, I can imagine that."

A moment passed before Ichika asked, "What about you, Nino? Since we're on the subject, what made you fall for him? All your life you've talked about how you've always dreamed of finding your prince in shining armor whisking you away on his great white stead. Fuutarou's anything but that."

"I know," Nino sighed, "He's a nerd who cares more about his studies than about girls and romance."

"So what happened? Something must have happened for you to suddenly have a change of heart."

"To be honest, I don't really know. Maybe it's because he reminded me so much of myself and I didn't like it," Nino took some time to think about it, "Looking back, I think it all started after that fallout I had with Itsuki and I left to live on my own. Do you remember?"

"I do," Ichika nodded.

"One day, I came back from my shopping trip and I found Fuu-kun standing there at the entrance of my apartment building, completely drenched and the chauffeur trying to make him go away because the smell was so bad."

"Drenched?" Ichika was confused, "How did that happen?"

"He fell in the lake, at least that's what he told me. Anyway, I was about to yell at him when I saw his face. He had the look of someone who was completely lost, like he had just lost everything and had nowhere to go. It really took me by surprise. I never seen him like that before."

"I can imagine," Ichika agreed, "So what did you do instead?"

"I brought him to my room and made him take a shower. Then we started talking. I asked how he ended up like that and he told me that he had met someone he thought he would never see again and that she was now gone forever. When he said that, I started crying."

"Crying? Why?"

"Because that's when I knew who he was."

Ichika was silent for a heartbeat, "What do you mean?"

"You remember that boy you and Yotsuba met in Kyoto back when we were kids?"

Her mouth opened, "That was him?! Oh, my God. It really was him."

"You knew?"

"I saw a picture of him and one of us when we were kids. I had a suspicion but I wasn't entirely sure."

"That was Yotsuba."

"Yeah, I know that now. But how did you know?"

"You remember when he came to my room one morning while I was still asleep and demanded that I give his handbook back?"

"Oh, yeah," Ichika laughed, "I remember you screaming bloody murder that morning."

"I made him come to my room again so he could help me have my ears pierced. Or at least, that was the plan. But then his notebook fell open on the floor. In it, he had that same picture," she giggled, "At first I thought it was someone else because he looked like my type and Fuu-kun said it was just a relative of his."

"Only it wasn't."

"Yeah, when I took a closer look I realized he looked familiar. You see, back in Kyoto Yotsuba was telling me about the guy she met. Then we saw you interacting with him at the inn. We were watching from down the hall."

"Oh, I see," Ichika now understood, "So that's how you knew. Even at a distance you recognized him from the picture."

"I'll admit, I wanted to meet him too, but Papa sent him away before I had the chance. Yotsuba wouldn't shut about him afterwards and it eventually got on my nerves. Then everyone started changing and going their separate ways, which I didn't like."

"I remember. You were the last one to really change. Fuutarou-kun played a big role in that, didn't he?"

"He did," Nino nodded, "When I realized he was the guy I never got to meet, I was torn between happy and sad. I decided to finally open up to him and reveal why I was being such a bitch. He listened to every word I said without any interruption. Then he simply told me that I needed to go and make up with everyone, and to no longer hold a grudge against Itsuki. I think that's when I started falling for him. He didn't condemn me for all the things I said and did. He just simply listened and decided helped me out without a fuss. From that point on I decided I was going to make up for lost time."

Ichika suddenly chuckled, "So that's why you confessed to him that night after the mid-term exam."

Nino looked at her, startled, "How did you know that?"

"I overheard you two talking in the kitchen. I was going to confess to him too but it you beat me to it first."

Nino stared, then she blew a breath, "You little sneak."

"Yeah," Ichika grinned, "I guess you were part of the reason why I pulled that stunt in Kyoto, but at that moment I was also happy for you. I thought you've given up on love after what happened last time."

Nino shivered, trying to push the memory, "Please don't remind me of that."

"Still, what on Earth led you to confess that night? I mean, it just came out of nowhere, and you're the last girl I would ever expect to confess to him. Besides, didn't he say back then that no girl would ever confess to him?"

"He did."

"And yet you went and did just that," Ichika shook her head in amazement, "He must have been as shocked as I was."

"He was," Nino grinned, "It was the last thing he ever expected to hear from me."

"So what caused it? You wouldn't have said such a thing right out of the blue."

"You remember I wasn't going to celebrate with you guys that night?"

"Uh-huh, and Fuutarou-kun went out to get you."

Nino smiled as she remembered, "Well, the truth is, I actually went to speak to Papa."

Ichika eyes widened, "You did? About what?"

"I told him that I was going to start living on my own from now on, that I wasn't going to keep depending on him anymore. You can imagine his response to that."

"Oh, I sure could. What happened next?"

Nino giggled like little girl, "Well, Fuu-kun suddenly showed up on the manager's bike and told me to get on because everyone was waiting. It was so strange. He just came out of nowhere, like a knight on his mighty stead coming to my rescue. Papa warned me that I was making a big mistake, but I jumped on anyway and we rode away. I was so amazed and touched that I couldn't help myself."

"And that led you to confess to him, huh?" Ichika gave a warm smile.

"I said it during the ride back but he didn't hear me, so I said it again later in the kitchen. The rest you know."

"Hmm," Ichika bobbed her head in understanding, "No wonder you took it so hard that night. You made all that effort-"

"And it was all for nothing," Nino clenched his fists, "All because..."

Ichika watched her closely, "What?"

Nino shook her head, "Nothing."

"No, it's something," Ichika's voice took the big sister tone, "Talk to me Nino. Tell me what's eating you."

"Nothing's eating me," Nino shifted uncomfortably in her chair while keeping her gaze down.

"You're lying," Ichika pressed in, "I can tell."

"Why are you being so persistent about this?!"

"Because we're sisters, and it's our job to look out for each other. That's what I'm trying to do now. I'm trying to help you, Nino."

"I don't need any help."

"Then why do you have this really sad look whenever you look at Fuutarou? Why do you have an angry one whenever you look at Yotsuba?"

Nino glared at Ichika and she felt her temper rise. She didn't wanted to talk about this, but she knew that Ichika would persist until she got an answer.

"Alright. Fine. I'll tell you," she took several breaths to control herself, "Have you ever wanted something so badly? Something so simple? But every time you try it always ended in disaster, to the point where you just give up. Then you're suddenly given an opportunity, the best opportunity you will ever have, and you put everything into it. You do things you never did before, changed your ways, put in all the hard work, make the greater effort, and try to do everything right. You even prepare yourself for failure, only to discover when you reach the end that somebody else got there well before you did and they did it without having to do much. You then realize that everything that you did and worked so hard for was all just a waste of time."

"Ah," Ichika bobbed her head, "So that's what you're all upset about."

Nino vehemently shook her head as she fought back tears, "How is that even fair? Tell me, Ichika. How was it fair? Yotsuba won because she met Fuu-kun long before the rest of us did. She turned his life around and he fell in love with her for it. And yet, she was the only one who never actively pursued him and he still chooses her? We all believed they were nothing more than friends but it turned out they had a deeper connection that we never knew about because she never told us. She was his destiny. We might as well have told him that Yotsuba was the one he met and left it at that. It would have been easier for all of us."

"But we couldn't help it once we got to know him ourselves."

"A lot of good it did us," Nino sniffed.

"So you hate Yotsuba because she got to him first?"

Nino clenched his fists, "I hate her for a number of things. I hate that she did nothing but hang in the background while we made fools of ourselves. I hate that she never told us anything until now. I hate that she had the nerve to ask us for permission to date Fuutarou, like she was trying to rub it in that she won and we lost."

"I won't argue with you on that," Ichika grimaced, "That girl really doesn't use her head sometimes."

"I hate how she hid her own feelings from us," Nino carried on, "I hate how excited she's been lately. But most of all, I hate her for who she is. A weak, dishonest, pathetic loser who got lucky in the end. All she had to do was just stand there and let her fairy godmother do all the rest. But you know what pisses me off the most?"

"What's that?"

"When I left the apartment after she asked us for permission to date Fuutarou she chased after me so she could apologized."

Ichika blinked. She remembered Nino storming out of the apartment before she herself had taken Yotsuba to the bathroom and berated the girl for her carelessness. She didn't know that Yotsuba had left the building until Itsuki came to her room sometime later and told her that Yotsuba had come running back into the apartment crying. Now she knew why.

"Apologize!" Nino spat, "Apologize for what? That she took away something that was never mine? It pissed me off so much I wanted to strangle her to death!"

The tears were flowing freely now. Ichika waited until she wiped them away.

"You really loved Fuutarou-kun that much?" she slowly said.

"Yeah... yeah, I really did. I just wanted what we all did, a chance to be his girlfriend," Nino sniffed several times, "I even had this stupid dream one time. I was standing outside our apartment waiting for him to pick me up our first date. Then all of a sudden he comes riding up on his brand new bike, looking all cool and badass, and he would ask if I would like to go for a ride. We would then go wherever we wanted without a care in the world. Stupid, huh?"

"Yeah, but still romantic. Cheer up, Nino. It won't be like this forever," Ichika tried to encourage her, "I'll sure you find another guy in the future."

Nino slowly shook her head, "That's what I keep trying to tell myself, but the truth is I don't think I will. No matter where I look, no matter how hard I try, even if I did meet someone, it wouldn't be Fuu-kun. He wasn't just some guy I fell in love with. He was the one. He was my prince. I thought I finally found someone who could accept me for who I am, but now he's gone. Taken away by another. Then again, maybe this is what I deserve for being so mean to him in the beginning."

Ichika stared at her sister, recalling that earlier story when Nino had found Fuutarou standing outside her apartment looking like a man who had lost everything. Now it seemed that the roles were switched. Nino was now in that very same position. She had given all her hopes and dreams to Fuutarou and it had all gone up in smoke.

"Have you considered talking to them about this?" she asked carefully.

"No, and I'm not going to."

"Why not?"

"Because I'll just end up causing trouble if I do. If he's is happy with her then it's not my place to argue. I'll just have to accept it and move on. If I start talking to them, demanding answers, I just know that my anger will get the better of me. I told Yotsuba I would support her, I won't go back on that just because I'm angry. That would just be me going back to where I started before I met Fuu-kun. I don't want him to see me like that anymore. I caused him enough trouble over the months, I'm not going to throw away everything he did for me. I want him to be happy."

This time she felt heart stop. This was a lot worse than she'd imagined. Nino wasn't just taking this badly.

She was actually suffering.

"So," she came to realize, "for the sake of him being happy you will sacrifice-"

"Don't!"

The shout almost made her jump. She couldn't have acted that out even if she tried. She looked at Nino, who's head was down and her entire body was trembling. Whether it was with rage, regret, or fear she didn't know. Perhaps it was a mix of all three.

"Just... don't," Nino said again, this time a lot calmer, "I don't want to start thinking that way. It will just make me feel worse than I already do."

"Then what can I do to help?"

"You can't do anything. This is something I have to deal with on my own. I don't want you guys getting mixed up in my problems," Nino picked up her bag and stood, "I better get going. You should too, Ichika. I'll see you at dinner tonight."

Ichika watched her go. Nino had none of that confidence she usually had in her stride. She looked like someone who was completely battered and beaten.

She sighed heavily and placed her head in her palm, "This is bad. This is really bad."


It had been raining most of the day before finally letting up. Yotsuba all but happily skipped along as she made her way home. Even after almost a week, she still couldn't believe it!

Fuutarou had chosen her! Despite all her fears she held deep within her over the years they were finally gone. Fuutarou had forgiven her for the mistakes she made without another word. She truly had nothing to worry about after all. She had gotten what she always wanted, a life with Fuutarou! She couldn't be anymore happy!

For the past week they had been talking about going on their potential first date together. She was very excited while Fuutarou didn't seem interested, but it didn't bother her. Both of them have never done this before so it was only natural they felt uneasy.

She came to a crosswalk and waited for the light to turn green, almost bouncing with excitement. Then her stomach suddenly growled, so loudly she was certain the entire city heard it.

"Wow. That was loud. When was the last time you ate?"

Turning red with embarrassment she turned to the voice beside her, for it sounded familiar.

"Oh, it's you!"

Standing beside her was Fuutarou's old friend, the one that had come to the festival to see him before coming Yotsuba and her sisters. Last time she had been wearing regular street clothes. This time she was wearing a school uniform. A bang of her long dark hair was held back by single silver clip just like before.

"Yo!" the girl waved, "Didn't expect to see you again so soon."

"Y-Yeah," Yotsuba laughed nervously, "I didn't think so either, Miss..."

"Takabayashi Chihori," the girl introduced herself, "And you?"

"Nakano Yotsuba, the fourth sister."

"Oh, so you're the youngest?"

"No, I'm actually the second youngest."

Takabayashi stared at her, eyes going wide, "Hold on, there are five of you?"

"Yep! We're quintuplets! Not quadruplets," Yotsuba laughed, "My oldest sister wasn't at the festival when you came over."

"Oh, I see. My mistake."

"No worries!"

The light turned green. As they walked across Yotsuba's stomach growled loudly again.

"Did you skip breakfast and lunch?" Takabayashi was incredulous.

"Just lunch," said Yotsuba, "Although I didn't have much of a breakfast either."

"I was just about to get some ice cream. Want to join me? I'll treat you if you like."

"Sure!"

Together the pair of them stopped at a famous ice cream shop, with Yotsuba ordering a three scoop cub of three different flavors. They ordered them to go and they went over to the nearby park. They sat down on a bench near the lake and Yotsuba happily munched away.

She remembered this park. It was the very same one where Rena first appeared before Fuutarou. The very one they gone out on the lake together on a boat. In fact, she was not far from the very spot where she had stood watching them, hidden by the trees.

"You seem really cheerful," noted Takabayashi, "Last time I saw you you looked ready to collapse."

"Well," Yotsuba wiped her mouth with a napkin, "I was finally able to let go of the past like you suggested because something wonderful happened! Fuutarou confessed to me last week!"

Takabayashi choked on her ice cream and went into a coughing fit. Yotsuba reached over and patted her back until she recovered.

"Say that again?" she gasped.

"Fuutarou asked me out," Yotsuba repeated.

It took a full minute for Takabayashi to register the words into her mind. Then she blinked in amazement.

"Well, I'll be damned," she said, "I didn't think that was possible."

"Why's that?" Yotsuba was surprised.

"Because I was convinced that Fuutarou would never open up to anyone ever again. He was always so cold and thoughtless when it came to girls. I guess meeting you also changed that. Congratulations!"

"Thank you!" Yotsuba beamed.

They went back to eating their ice cream before Takabayashi asked, "Is it all right if I call you Yotsuba?"

"Sure! I don't mind."

"Good, and you can call me Chihori. It's much easier than saying my last name."

"I agree. Takabayashi is a bit of a mouthful."

They exchanged a laugh.

"So tell me," Chihori asked next, "How did you manage to get a guy like Fuutarou?"

"Well..." Yotsuba rubbed the back of her head, "I don't really know. I didn't really pursue him like the rest of my sisters did."

"The rest of your sisters?" Chihori stared at her, "All five of you were interested in him?"

"Not so much me," Yotsuba admitted, "I thought Fuutarou wouldn't choose me because of my past mistakes. I sincerely believed that one of my sisters was better suited. Heck, I still think that even now. I guess I got really lucky."

When Chihori didn't answer she looked up, and blinked. The cheerful face Chihori had earlier was gone, replaced with deep concern.

"Forgive me for being forward, Yotsuba-san," she said, "but can you tell me the whole story about your relationship with Fuutarou? How did you and your sisters get to know him?"

Yotsuba looked at her, an uneasy feeling growing in her stomach, but she suspected Chihori wouldn't ask such a question if she didn't have a good reason.

"It's a long story," she warned.

Chihori shrugged her shoulders, "We have plenty of time. Tell me."

"Okay. To begin with, I first met him in Kyoto when my sisters and I..." she went on tell Chihori of how they made that made their childhood promise, how she ended up breaking that very promise, and how she and her sisters unknowingly transferred to his school. She then explained how Fuutarou became their tutor before listing all the events that had happened between all the way up til now. When she finally finished Chimori's face had a fierce scowl.

"Let me see if I understand this correctly," she said, her voice sounding strained, "Your sisters got together and gave Fuutarou an ultimatum, one you didn't honor because you didn't believe you would be chosen, correct?"

"Correct," Yotsuba nodded, wondering where Chihori was going with this.

"Despite the fact you never actively pursuing him, despite you not telling him who you were even though you had no reason not to, despite him knowing that your sisters all had feelings for him, despite him saying that he wasn't going to choose anyone just yet, and despite knowing that he wasn't ready you girls forced him to make a decision."

Yotsuba suddenly felt very small. The way Chihori was speaking to her was like a mother lecturing her child for doing something really bad.

"And yet he still choose you. Why? Why exactly did he choose you? Did he ever tell you?"

"He choose me because I always by his side," she replied.

"Always by his side," Chihori repeated very slowly, her mouth twisting, eyes flashing with anger, "Fuutarou, you idiot! You haven't learned a damn thing, have you?"

She had spoken more to herself, but Yotsuba was startled by the sheer harshness in her voice.

"There's more!" she said quickly, "He also figured out who I was and he didn't hold my past against me. He wanted to support me in return. Is there anything wrong with that? Isn't that the right thing to do?"

Chihori slowly shook her head, looking into the distance, "If it had been anyone but Fuutarou I would agree. Let me ask you something, Yotsuba-san. Do you who Fuutarou is? And I'm not talking about his identity. I'm talking about him as person. What do you know about Fuutarou besides what you've already seen?"

Dread started to grow within Yotsuba.

"What are talking about?" she forced herself to ask.

Fuutarou's old friend looked directly at her, "Has Fuutarou ever talked about his past, aside from saying that he was a bad kid at one time?"

She felt her her heart stop, "No, he never has."

Chihori snorted, "Yeah, that's what I thought."

Yotsuba finally had enough, "All right, Takabayashi. What is this all about? What business of it is yours?"

"Before I answer that, I need to ask one last question. How are your sisters handling this?"

"They're doing fine," she answered automatically.

"Are they?" Chihori didn't look the least bit convinced.

"Yeah, they are," she was getting irritated.

"I don't believe that. In a situation like this there's always that one girl who's suffering for the sake of another's happiness."

Yotsuba flinched, that was exactly how she felt when her sisters were pursuing Fuutarou while she stood in the background. Was Takabayashi suggesting that it was now the other way around because Fuutarou had chosen her? Why would that be the case? They all agreed to accept the outcome no matter what. Why would any of her sisters be suffering as she did?

"Now I need to ask you this question, Yotsuba-san, and I need you to be perfectly honest with me," Chihori's eyes turned deadly serious, "Do you really want to know the whole truth about Fuutarou? I'll you a chance to walk away and forget we ever had this conversation. Your choice."

The poor girl only stood there frozen as an unpleasant recent memory came back to her.


Five days ago...

Yotsuba ran out the apartment building in a full sprint. She needed to find Nino quickly! She had done something incredibly careless and she had to apologize for it. She'd been so excited lately she hadn't thought about how her sisters were doing in the aftermath of Fuutarou's decision. Both Ichika and Itsuki were content with the result. Miku had been disappointed but she seemed to be coping rather well.

It was Nino that Yotsuba was most worried about. Given how much she had campaigned for Fuutarou it was only natural she was taking this hardest. That's why it was important to find her, to make sure there was no hard feelings between them.

Eventually she spotted Nino heading into the park next to the lake. After waiting for the cross light to turn green she sprinted after her sister. She started calling out her name as she got closer. At first she didn't seem to hear her, and when she did she paused for a moment before walking on. As she closed in Yotsuba noticed that there seemed to be a stiffness in her shoulders.

"Wait, Nino!" she cried, "I just want to talk to you!"

Her sister finally halted as Yotsuba pulled up behind her, taking a moment to catch her breath.

"What do you want, Yotsuba?" the second quint said impatiently, keeping her back to her, "I got on my mind right now."

"Look," Yotsuba swallowed, "I'm sorry for what I said earlier. That was really dumb of me. I really don't know what I was thinking."

She did a little chuckle to try to lightened the mood, but Nino wasn't amused.

"Is that all?" she said.

Yotsuba looked at her, "Nino... I never asked for Uesugi-san to choose me-"

Nino snorted, "You're still calling him that? Shouldn't you be on a first name basis now?"

"Nino, please. I know you're really disappointed by how things turned out."

"That's not what I'm mad about."

Yotsuba could almost hear Nino's teeth grinding. Her sister's shoulder began to shake. Taking a breath she stepped closer and placed her hands on Nino's shoulders.

"Nino, I know how you feel. I never asked for this to happen. I was trying to give you guys a chance to win him. I truly am sorry that things-"

She never finished her sentenced as Nino suddenly whirled around. She only caught a brief glimpse of her sister's fury before Nino shoved her. Hard. Yotsuba was unprepared for it and she immediately fell on her bottom. Yelping a little she looked up to see Nino glaring down, fists tightly clenched and all but fighting to control her temper.

"I don't want your sympathy," she forced out, "Just what exactly are you sorry about?"

"Nino," Yotsuba reached out but her sister backed away, not even wanting to look at her, "What's wrong? What exactly did I do?"

Nino shook her head in disgust, "You just don't get it, do you Yotsuba? You are so clueless I can't help but think you're doing it on purpose. You were just like that in our old school. So focused on yourself you had no idea what was going on outside your perfect world."

Yotsuba blinked several times, "W-What are talking about?"

Nino shook her head again before saying, "Why didn't you tell Fuu-kun that you were the girl he met back in Kyoto? The one who changed his life? Especially when you saw him again after we transferred? What did you have to keep it a secret all this time? Why didn't you tell us? Your very own sisters for God's sake! Especially when you knew that we were in love with him! Why couldn't you have honest with us? Was that really so hard for you?"

A cold wave washed over her as Yotsuba struggled to find words.

"I... I couldn't say anything..." she sobbed, "Because I owed you guys so much!"

"You didn't owe us anything!" Nino snapped, "Did you really believed we were mad at you? Don't you have any faith in us? It was our decision to transfer with you."

"I know. I know that now, but if Uesugi-san knew..."

Nino snorted again, "Oh, yeah. That stupid promise you two made when you were kids. That was more important than being honest with you friends, family, and Fuu-kun. That's exactly what I'm talking about. You're so damn worried about how others will think of you it's no wonder you get scared and run away all the time. You are such a coward it honestly insults me to think that you're my sister."

Yotsuba flinched as she felt the impact of those words. Nino may as well have slapped her.

"I ruined your school lives," she said, "I didn't want to ruin Uesugi-san's as well."

There was a moment of silence before Nino said, "You weren't the only reason why we transferred."

Her head napped up, "What?"

Nino gave a soft laugh yet humorless laugh, "You really don't remember, do you? Of course you don't. You were too occupied with yourself to have noticed," she shook her head one last time, "I'm not going to tell you. It won't make a difference anyway. It's over. You got what you wanted. Let's just leave it at that."

With that Nino walked away. Yotsuba watched her go until she was out of sight before she got to her feet and ran all the way back to the apartment with hot tears running down her cheeks.


Present Day

Yotsuba was scared, very sacred.

Takebayashi was all but glaring at her as she waited for an answer. She kept herself from gulping. Part of wanted to run and forget about anything that Takebayashi had said. The other part, the more sensible part, told her she had to stay and listen because the truth was she knew very little about Fuutarou and his past. In fact, none of the quints did. But why should she care?

Didn't Fuutarou tell her the past no longer mattered? That she didn't need to feel guilty anymore? If he didn't care about what happened in her past then why should she care about his? But what if Fuutarou was not the person she always thought he was? She didn't want to believe that, but if she didn't learn the truth for herself it would continue to haunt her. Him choosing her had given her the confidence she needed. If she ran away now then it would become entirely meaningless.

She couldn't run away anymore. There was no going back now. It was time for her to face whatever problems came her way head on. With her decision being made she lifted her eyes and looked directly at Takebayashi.

"Alright, tell me," she said, ignoring her mind screaming at her to run, "Tell me about Uesugi-san."

Chihori studied her for a moment to see if she was being sincere or not before saying, "Before I begin, have any of your sisters confessed to Fuutarou?"

"Yes," Yotsuba nodded right away, "At least two of have as far as I know."

"Well, they are not the first," she paused to let that sink before she her story.