Chapter 10

As I continued picking up the rest of the papers, I could hear Raiha giggling behind me. "Wow, Onii-chan. Never expected that you of all people would be involved in a moment that you only ever see in anime! I can't wait to tell my classmates about this!"

"Believe it or not, this happens way more than you think."

Raiha looked at me, confused. "How do you know that Onii-chan? You've only gotten close to a girl just recently, and I'm sure you didn't experience this when we were younger…"

"Let's just say I know a guy who's had his fair share of anime-like scenarios. Now why don't you stay by the couch while I return these papers to Ichika. I'm sure the other girls are almost ready too, so you won't be waiting for too long."

"How did you know that the girl we saw was Ichika? They all look alike without their accessories"

"Magic."

"Right…"

"Fine, it was just a guess. Ichika seemed to be the obvious choice given how she's the laziest among her sisters, so she'd be the one to get ready last."

Raiha nodded and made her way to the couch. I made way to Ichika's room and knocked on it. "Hey, you seemed to drop something very important Ms. Actress."

Without any warning the door suddenly opened, and I was pulled into the room. With how sudden the pull was, I lost my balance and collided with whoever pulled me, causing the both of us to fall unto to the floor. Ichika was laying on her back, still in the towel she was in.

"Fuutarou-kun… I never knew you were the aggressive type, but don't you think this is going too fast? I mean we literally just met around a week ago."

"You were the one who pulled me in without any warning." I noticed that her towel was beginning to become undone and turned away. "And if anything, it would seem like you're the one trying to seduce me with the lack of clothing you have."

Ichika blushed as she understood what I meant, she tried to tighten the towel around her as I stood up and turned the opposite way, "You should probably get changed first, we can talk after that."

I could hear a little bit of rusting as Ichika dug through the pile of clothes that was in the center of her room. A couple articles of clothing went zooming past me until the rustling finally stopped. "I'm done, you can look now, Fuutarou-kun."

I turned around and saw that Ichika was wearing a different Yukata compared the one she wore in my previous life, instead of the blue and orange yukata she wore before, now she was sporting a yellow one with subtle flower designs. She pointed to the papers that I dropped due to her sudden actions, "You read what was on those papers, didn't you? I mean you wouldn't be calling me 'Ms. Actress' if you hadn't."

I shrugged my shoulders and sighed, "Guilty, I had to find a way to determine who you were at the time. Have I ever told you that it's difficult to tell you girls apart when you're not using your accessories?"

"Nope, but we already knew that, even dad can't tell who's who every now and then, so what more for a guy we just met a few days ago? Anyway, did you tell anyone else about this?"

"I haven't, you haven't told them what your job is until now, so you must have had a reason to do so. It's not my place to tell your sisters something you want to keep a secret."

The tension in Ichika's shoulders lessened as I talked, she sat down on the bed and smiled. "Thanks for keeping it a secret, I plan on telling them about the acting, I swear. It's just that I want to land an actual role first before telling them about it. I need to show them that I'm really serious about this and that I can actually be an actress."

I smiled, knowing how great of an actress she'll become. "Man, being the oldest really is a hassle, isn't it? Having to show how cool you are in front of your siblings is way more draining than what most people think."

"Right? Sure, I'm only a few minutes older than my other sisters, but that still doesn't change the fact that I adopted the role of onee-san to each of them! I gotta show them that they can always rely on me!"

"And I'm sure you'll be able to show them that." I picked up the scripts on the floor and saw the title of one of them, "The Quintessential Bride", if I remember correctly, this show became really popular in my past life, and I knew just what I had to do to help Ichika.

"You know, this 'Quintessential Bride" drama seems like a good role for you, you seem perfect for the heroine role, so why don't you go for this audition? Weirdly enough the audition happens late into the festival, which means you can spend more time with your sisters before auditioning, so what do you say?"

Ichika coughed at my mentioning of the drama. "Wait, you seriously don't think that I can actually pull it off, right? My manage picked that role without my consent, he said it would be the perfect role for me, but I've never fallen in love, so how can you expect me to actually act out a role of a bride?"

"You don't need to be in love to act though, isn't that the whole point of acting? Becoming something you aren't, becoming someone entirely different? Besides, were already at the age where most people fall in love, the 'Springtime of Youth' as what a certain anime reference keeps saying."

A smirk developed on Ichika's face, "So… that means you fell in love with someone, Fuutarou-kun? And you thought it was a good idea to accept a job tutoring five young and attractive women?"

"Yes, I have fallen in love with someone, and I'm not telling you, well, at least not yet. And yes, I thought it was a good idea, I don't know if Nino told you about it, but money's pretty tight for my family, so I'll take any opportunity for a big payout if I can."

Ichika stared at me blankly, trying to process what I said. "Wait… so you really are in love? The ever so studious, and also very scary Fuutarou-kun is in love?"

"Enough joking around, even guys like me can fall in love, alright?" I leaned in close and smiled, "Unless you're jealous that a different girl stole my heart?"

Ichika pushed me away and smiled, "As if, Fuutarou-kun! You're a hundred, no, a million years too early to think I like you that way! Besides, I see you more like a younger brother! Now why don't you go out and get the others, I have to prepare a few things, especially since you want me to go for that drama audition."

I smiled and nodded, "Alright then, just tell me if you need any help then, I'll see if I can do anything to help you later." I then went out of the room and closed the door.

Ichika was still sitting on her bed, she clutched her chest and could feel her heart, beating way faster than normal. And suddenly all the blood rushed to her face as she remembered what I just did to her. "I don't like him… right?"

Just as I exited Ichika's room I bumped into someone. She stumbled backward due to the collision but I somehow managed to catch her hand in time. I finally looked at who I bumped into and realized it was Miku, and only one thing came to mind when I saw her. She was absolutely stunning in her yukata.

"You alright? Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." I helped her steady herself, and I saw that she was blushing. I realized that I was still holding her hand, and I released it immediately.

Miku brushed a stray strand of hair away from her eyes, "Yeah, I'm fine, Fuutarou. What were you doing inside Ichika's room?"

"Oh she dropped something when I arrived here, seemed she was in a hurry and forgot it. So I returned it to her. And I just want to say you look great in your yukata. Blue really suits you."

She turned away, embarrassed. "Flattery won't get you anywhere, Fuutarou. And besides, my sisters would look way better than me if they wore the same yukata…"

"No."

"…No?"

"You need to believe in yourself more, Miku. I'm sure your sisters would say the same thing. I mean you all literally have the same face. If you think they'd look prettier in that yukata, then that means you'll look just as good as them. And sure, right now you may not believe in yourself, but why don't you try to believe in me, who believes in you?"

"Thanks… Fuutarou. You really do have a way with words. But why put in all that effort to cheer me up? A teacher would never go that far for their student…"

"And who said the relationship we had was of a teacher and student? At this point I'd like to think of us as friends now. Out of all you girls you're the one I always feel most comfortable being around with."

She turned away and smiled, before going down the stairs. I followed her down and see that Raiha had met up with Yotsuba, Nino, and Itsuki. Itsuki was munching down on some cookies, probably another batch that Nino had made. While Nino herself was calling someone on her phone, probably confirming the status of the spot she reserved for the seven of us. And lastly Yotsuba was… carrying Raiha on top of her shoulders?

I walked towards them. "How are you liking the view up there, Raiha? You're pretty high up with Yotsuba carrying you like that."

Raiha looked down and smiled, "I'm having a lot of fun, Onii-chan! So this is what it feels like to be tall!"

I smiled and got her off Yotsuba's shoulders, "Glad you're having fun, kiddo. You better save your energy for later though. The fireworks this year are supposedly better than last years!"

Just as I had put Raiha down on the floor, Nino had just finished her phone call. She seemed pleased with herself as she confidently made her way to us. "Got us an upgraded viewing space! If these fireworks are as good as Uesugi makes them out to be, then we might as well go all out and watch them from a rooftop reserved only for us!"

I shrugged my shoulder at her comment. "I didn't hype it that much though, Nino. Don't go around expecting world class fireworks or anything, we are just in a local community in Japan after all, nothing too extravagant. So don't be disappointed if the fireworks aren't as good as you hoped"

Itsuki made her way to us after finishing her cookies. "I'd still think it would be amazing, Uesugi-kun! It would be a nice way to relax after such a daunting school week and getting to spend time with your adorable little sister is a bonus, too!"

"If you think this first week of school was rough, wait till you get to exam season. It'll make you wish you could repeat the first week over and over again! But you are correct on one thing though, my sister is absolutely adorable."

Itsuki nodded in approval as I heard a door open upstairs. Ichika came down a few moments after. I looked at my watch and saw that we had ten minutes left till the start of the festival. Luckily the venue was really close to the quint's place.

"Since we're all ready, why don't we head out now? We only got ten minutes till the festival officially starts."

Nino gathered everyone at the living room and smiled, "Sure, we can leave now… but before that, we gotta take a selfie first! I mean, my followers would love a pic of us in our yukatas!" And without even considering how little time we had left, Nino started taking selfies with her sisters.

I sighed and sat on the couch, watching them snap pictures, and wasting valuable time. Suddenly, Yotsuba pulled me over and readied her phone for a selfie. "Uesugi-san, say cheese!" and with such little time to think, I made the cringiest smile possible.

Yotsuba looked at the picture we just took and laughed way too hard. "U…Uesugi-san, your face! You really don't know how to smile for a picture, don't you!"

My face reddened at her comment! "I barely had any time to react! And besides, you've known for a long time that I can't smile properly in pictures!"

Yotsuba showed a look of surprise, as if I had discovered some sort of secret of hers. And I realized I had said something related to the time we met five years ago. It was too late to take it back, so I stayed silent, hoping for something to get me out of this awkward situation. Luckily Itsuki pulled my arm, saying "Uesugi-kun! Take a picture with me too!"

I took a selfie with Itsuki, who also made fun of my smile in the picture. With that, my awkward situation with Yotsuba was averted, and it seemed like Yotsuba was back to normal too.

Just as everyone finished taking their photos, Ichika pulled me aside and took out her phone. She pretended to take a selfie with me but shown on the screen of her phone was a message.

"I'll be needing your help, after all. Meet me at the parking lot at 9:00 pm tonight. You're going to the audition with me."

I had no idea why she wanted me to tag along on her audition, especially since it was for such a major role. But I had a feeling that it was going to be really hectic tonight…

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Author's Note:

Hey there! Sorry for the long wait, things got a little busy with my internship so I barely had the time to write! Anyways I hope y'all like this new chapter! :D