Chapter 15
I couldn't believe I was so reckless. This exact event happened before too, and I somehow made it worse than it originally was! I backed up as soon as she and I locked eyes with each other and hoped that Miku wouldn't scream due to the situation.
"Miku, I swear I have an explanation for this! I had this weird dream about this pillow, and I ended up hugging it. I guess you ended up being the pillow when you snuck in here." I explained, embarrassed. Miku seemed to have calmed down enough not to scream, but even I could tell that she was really flustered.
Miku took a deep breath before speaking. "No, it's okay Fuutarou, really. I must have gone to the restroom last night and went back here out of habit. So I'm partially to blame for this as well. She then sat up and twirled her finger around her hair. "And to be honest… I kind of liked it… being hugged like that while I'm asleep."
She then realized what she had said and turned bright red. "I… I mean, my mother used to do that with me before she passed away! So it brought back some fond memories of mine…"
Seeing her smile so early in the morning really made my day, and I couldn't help but softly pat her on the head. "Well, I'm glad that this whole thing wasn't a disaster then!" I said jokingly as I sat up too. Then out of nowhere, Miku's door burst open, revealing Yotsuba.
"Uesugi-san! Have you seen Miku? She wasn't in my room when I woke up, so I came by to check if she was here!" She then saw me and Miku on the bed, and she blushed. "Did you guys… do something last night?"
Miku looked flustered and was about to reply, but I butted in at the right moment. "No, we didn't. Miku just came in to get her uniform before she went to shower. She thought that she would need to shower earlier than usual since there was an extra person who would need to use it. Right, Miku?"
Miku nodded and Yotsuba nodded, a huge look of relief was shown on her face. "Oh thank God! If Nino or Itsuki saw this and misunderstood, you would have been kicked out of the suite by now. Luckily, I was the one to drop by!"
I sighed and gave a small smile, "I guess we are lucky. Hopefully this continues with your exams later. Are the both of you ready for them?". As soon as I asked the question, the two sisters avoided eye contact with me. "I guess you two aren't ready then… and that's perfectly fine, well, at least for today."
Yotsuba looked confused. "Who are you and what have you done to Uesugi-san? He would never say that it's fine for us to not be ready for the exams!" she said as she feigned an expression of horror.
"Let's just say that I had a pleasant dream last night," I said as I gave a subtle look at Miku, who blushes slightly as she saw me looking at her. "And I already told you guys that I'm confident that you all will pass at least one subject and that in itself is a win given how low you guys scored in the first test I gave you. Now you guys should get ready, the test is in an hour and a half, and we wouldn't want to be late.
As the sisters nodded and went out to do their respective morning duties, I reached into my bag to pull out my phone charger, but it seemed I left it at home. "Crap… just when my battery died too…, guess that's alright, it's not like I'll need it for the exam anyway." And with that, I made my way down to start cooking breakfast for everyone. As expected Ichika and Nino are snoring away in their rooms while Itsuki was sitting at the dining table doing some last-minute reviewing.
"Morning, Itsuki. You don't mind if I use your kitchen, do you? Seeing as Nino is still asleep, I might as well cook for you guys. Besides, it's the least I can do since you guys let me stay the night here."
Itsuki looked up from her textbook, surprised. "You can cook, Uesugi-kun? And yes, you can use our kitchen!"
"Yeah, I spent a few years working at cafes and restaurants so I kind of have an idea on how to cook, but I'm not on Nino's level though," I said as I tied an apron around my waist.
I opened the fridge to see several ingredients that Raiha would have loved to cook with. Seeing as there were eggs, milk, butter, and blueberries inside I decided to make some pancakes. As I started making the batter, I noticed that Itsuki was back to studying, with a strained looked on her. "You know if you continue studying like that you might develop wrinkles in your forehead. If I were you, I'd relax a bit before the exam to ease the nerves."
Itsuki instinctively covered her forehead and dropped her textbook. "Uesugi-kun! Don't scare a woman like that! You know wrinkles are one of things we never want to see!"
I laughed as I finished making the batter and started heating up the pan. "Sorry, my bad. But I'm really serious about relaxing before the exam. The more you stress yourself out, the less productive you'll be on the exam, believe me, I've been there, and it made me feel like crap after."
Itsuki lowered her hands and took a deep breath. "Since you're saying this, I have no reason to not believe you, Uesugi-kun. But it still worries me that I didn't prepare enough for the exam though…"
"You'll do fine, well in the Science exam at the very least. I'm confident you'll pass that exam without much difficulty." I said as I started pouring dollops of batter into the pan, the smell of blueberries filling the kitchen. After a couple of minutes, the first batch of pancakes had been made, and I served them to Itsuki. "Eat up while they're hot. Got some syrup ready just in case you want some too."
Itsuki's mouth was watering even before I brought the pancakes to her, and she excitedly started eating the pancakes. "Wow, Uesugi-kun! These pancakes are really good!" Was what I could make out from what she said in between bites. I went back into the kitchen to start making enough pancakes for the remaining quints, as well as the second serving that Itsuki will most likely ask for.
"Did Miku finally make some food without it being a disaster? I can smell those pancakes all the way from my room!" yelled Nino as she made her way down the stairs.
"Morning Nino, hope you don't mind me using your kitchen, everyone else was either asleep or busy so I thought I'd make us some breakfast."
Nino shrugged her shoulders, "If it meant less work on my end, I don't mind. And besides, from the looks of it, you did a good job on those pancakes, not as good as how I would make them, but they're passable."
"Well, I hope they don't disappoint you then, Oh Great and Powerful Nino!" I say as I hand her a plate of pancakes.
She stuck her tongue out and snatched the plate away from me. "Your cooking better not make me puke, Uesugi. Otherwise, you almost losing your job will be the least of your worries." She sat beside Itsuki and started eating, she cautiously took a bite, then another, then another, and before she knew it, she was eating the pancakes really quickly. "They're alright, a little less sugar in the batter would have been better." was what she said in between bites.
"Noted, ma'am. The next time I cook pancakes for you, I'll do them better than this time!" I say jokingly as I finished the rest of the pancakes. Miku and Yotsuba arrived at the dining table soon after and started eating too, and just as expected, Itsuki requested another serving.
I noticed that Ichika was still asleep. So I went up to her room and knocked. "Ichika! Time to wake up!"
No response.
I sighed and tried opening the door, luckily it was unlocked, so I entered. As usual, Ichika's room was a mess, and traversing through the mountains of laundry was pretty difficult. After several leaps and bounds, I finally made it to where Ichika was sleeping. She was still asleep, after all the noise I made trying to get to her. On her bedside table was a script for the first day of shooting we were having this weekend. Coincidentally the first scene of the episode was my character waking up Ichika's, so I thought I'd practice a bit too.
I got the script and went over it a final time before starting. I got beside her and said my first line. "Oy, Rin! Wake up! You can't go around staying in bed all day just because of some K-drama!"
Weirdly enough Ichika responded in character, albeit in a daze. "But… Hari and Tae Moo are so cute together! It makes me feel so jealous!"
I scratch my head in frustration, "This is why I told you to stay away from K-dramas! You and your single ass keep getting jealous of those couples in the series. Honestly, it makes me feel sorry for you."
Ichika slowly moved her hand up and tried to shoo me away. "You don't understand, Renji! I just want to have someone to love me back! But it seems like no one wants to be with me at all…"
I shook my head and smiled, "That's the thing, you idiot. I want you…" I murmured, although I think I said it too loudly. As if on cue, Ichika opened her eyes and she looked flustered.
"Fuutarou-kun? What are you doing here?" she asked.
"You were sleeping in again, so I thought I'd wake you up. I saw that you were reading through the script they gave us, so I decided to practice the wake-up scene for our shoot this weekend. Or did you really think I meant it when I said 'I want you' earlier, Ichika?" I ask teasingly.
"N-n-no of course I knew you were acting! It's just that I was surprised you were the one to wake me up today, normally Yotsuba's the one who wakes me up…"
"Yotsuba's busy eating breakfast right now and speaking of breakfast you should eat, too. Wouldn't want you going to school on an empty stomach after all. I made pancakes for you, so you better eat them while they're still warm." I said as I got up and exited the room. "Oh and don't worry, I didn't peek under your blanket.
Ichika's face reddened as I exited the room. "You... You didn't need to say that you idiot!" she said as she threw the script at the door. She sat up and covered her chest with her blanket. "And of course, I hoped you meant it… idiot"
I made my way down the stairs and saw that the girls were still busy eating breakfast. I got myself a plate and helped myself to some of the remaining pancakes. I stood by the kitchen counter and ate while reviewing for the exams.
"You know, you can sit down here with us, Uesugi. It's not like we'll bite you or anything."
I looked towards the voice and see Nino gesturing for me to sit at the table. I raised an eyebrow before moving toward them and sat down. Nino passed me a cup of coffee as well, and I couldn't help but stare at it suspiciously.
"What? You think I want to drug you again? Seriously you can't let go of the past, can't you? Unbelievable!" she said as she took the cup and drank from it, with a confident look she handed the cup to me. "See? It's clean you ungrateful prick!"
I took the cup, "I wasn't thinking that you were drugging me, Nino. I was just surprised that you out of all your sisters, was the one to invite me to the table. I mean, you're the one who likes me the least right now. And are you sure you want me to drink from this? This is going to be an indirect kiss, you know. Not that I care since it's a free drink after all."
Nino blushed at the thought of having an indirect kiss with me, but she immediately changed it into a scowl. "Gross! Fine, I'll get you a new cup then, why do you have to make things worse every damn time?" She then stood up and headed into the kitchen, much to the amusement of her sisters.
Ichika finally came downstairs and sat at the table. Despite just being woken up earlier she still seemed to be really sleepy, I wouldn't put it past her though since she stayed up late last night going through the script.
We all spent the next few minutes talking about the upcoming exam, despite my warnings to them about not thinking much about it. As we talked, I felt this sense of unease, like something bad had already happened and that I still hadn't noticed it. I instinctively reached for my phone in my pocket to check the time.
But then I remembered.
My phone was dead, and I looked at the clock on the wall and the color practically drained from my face. I turned to Itsuki and sighed. "Itsuki… our classes start at 8:30, right?"
Itsuki looked at me confused, "Yeah, Uesugi-kun, why do you ask?"
"And that clock on the wall's been broken since a few days ago, right?"
"Yes… but I don't see how that would be a problem." She reached into her pocket and got her own phone. "I'm sure we have enough-" and just like that the color drained from her face as well.
I sighed. "We're going to be late, aren't we?"
Teary-eyed, Itsuki could only nod and showed me that it was already 8:15. Seeing, this, the rest of her sisters would panic. Everyone was frantically getting their things as I watched chaos ensue.
I stood up and cracked my neck. "Ah yes, life with the quints will always be chaotic, wouldn't it?" I murmured to myself before gathering everyone's attention. "Alright girls, we have 15 minutes to get to school, so here's what we're going to do…"
Author's Note:
And I'm back! God, getting ready for graduation and then getting COVID got me really busy... hopefully, I can start releasing new chapters at a steady pace now that I'm feeling better, anyways, hope ya'll enjoy the new chapter!
