The sound of rustling flowers and leaves catches everyone's attention as Mutsumi and Yotsuba drop what they were holding. "What?" Mutsumi asked, staring at her sister.

"I..." Ichika turns away for a moment. "I got a really good role, but I have to go full time to get it done on schedule. I'll be dropping out." She smiles back to Mutsumi.

"Hahaha...that's a funny joke sis. Hahaha..." She said weakly. "This can't be happening! No...no...not again!" She thinks to herself as she takes a few desperate steps towards Ichika.

"You didn't know? I thought you handled it." Miku's voice was the last thing she heard before Mutsumi began filtering the sounds out.

"Thank you Mutsumi." Ichika's words cause her to wince, a forced smile accompanied a strained laugh.

"Stop it!" Her soul wanted to yell.

"Without you, I may not have gotten this role."

"Stop!" It wanted to clutch her sister and never let her go. Her body stiff as a stone, leaned over in manic laughter.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go. This is what I want." Ichika's smile, half covered by the shade and her hand, sent a stake through her heart.

"Don't leave!" Mutsumi reaches out to Ichika, gasping once her eyes focus on her figure. Ichika had been replaced by a young blonde boy, then a brunette, then another and another. Memories of people she thought she'd already moved on from were overlapping with her sister, speaking her words.

"Mutsumi. It's better this way." A young boy spoke in Ichika's voice. His form slowly shifting to that of an older woman, much older.

"Not you too."

"This is something I want to do. Please, relax." Ichika says, her visage that of their own mother. "Nothing will go wrong. I'm not going anywhere."

"Liar!" Mutsumi yells, clutching onto Ichika. "Please...don't leave me." She whispers to her sister's ear, pleading for anything.

"Ichika, was there no other choice?" Yotsuba asks, picking up the flowers.

"I want to fully devote myself to my work." Ichika says, running her hands through Mutsumi's hair to calm her down.

"Why did you decide something so important by yourself? Why didn't you consult us? Itsuki say something!" Nino snaps at her, turning to the fifth.

"I..." Itsuki was speechless, still conflicted. "Is work really the only reason?" Her eyes dart to her other sisters; Yotsuba was taking it surprisingly well in her opinion, Miku seemed to be in deep thought but her face was always hard to read, and Mutsumi was...broken.

"Yes. It is." Ichika says, looking down to hide her face from her sisters.

Mutsumi looked up, seeing Ichika's lying eyes.

"You're really amazing Ichika. It'll be lonely without you, but if it's for your job... I really wanted to graduate together though." Yotsuba flashes a somber smile, placing the flowers near their mother's grave.

"I'll still be around at home, you guys are making a mountain out of a molehill." Ichika tries to downplay the situation, laughing gently as she feels Mutsumi trembling in her arms.

The next day, the apartment is a loud as ever; only one voice was the cause of it however. "What should I do? What should I do?" Mutsumi paces around their home.

"Mutsumi?" Yotsuba comes out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel. "You have a plan for this right?" She asks.

"No, but I'm not letting her leave! What the hell is she thinking?" Mutsumi paces back and forth. "How could she do this to us?" She heads upstairs to her room.

"Do you think Uesugi-san is doing something about it too?" Yotsuba asks as Mutsumi shuts herself in the room. "Wah! Uesugi-san! What're you doing here?"

Inside, Mutsumi slams her head repeatedly into the wall. "Think! Think! I'm not going to let this happen! Think!"

"I'm home." Ichika says as she opens the door.

"We're going to talk!" Mutsumi stomps up to her side, taking her arm and dragging her into the closest room: a small closet with boxes and cleaning supplies. "What's your deal? I know full well that there's more to this. Was it the video?"

"No. It really is the job. I just want to-"

"Bullshit! You know you can't lie to me Ichika!" She clutches Ichika's shirt, pulling it closer to her as she looks up at her sister. "Just tell me the truth! It's because of me, isn't it?" Mutsumi grits her teeth, clenching her hands tighter.

"Mutsumi, it really isn't..." The pause in her speech wasn't silent for long.

"I'm not letting you do this to yourself! Once Fuutarou-san finds out we'll..."

"He already tried."

"Even he...Ichika why?" Her grip goes slack as her arms fall to her side. Mutsumi rests her head against her sister's shoulder again.

"Mutsumi...it's not just you. This was going to happen eventually too."

"Is there anything...anything at all that would change your mind?" In a final attempt, she tries to strike a deal, but it falls on deaf ears.

"Mutsumi, I'm sorry. For everything." Ichika says as she opens the door. "Yotsuba, you free today?"

"There has to be something...anything...please." Mutsumi lays her head on the table as the sunlight streams through the large glass panes. "Please...I can't lose her too." She looks at what's on the table, papers and small gadgets she had planned to use to try and convince her. "I can't..."

"Mutsumi." A voice says as the door opens behind her.

"Why are you here? Now's not a good time."

"I see. Don't mind me." It moves around behind her, ending with the sound of a chair being pulled.

"Can we really not do anything?" Mutsumi asks, crumpling the paper she held in her hands.

"It was her choice. The most you can do is support her decision."

"I guess...I guess I really am powerless here. Is this how you felt...when you couldn't save mom?" Mutsumi turns to face the other side of the conversation: Maruo. Her eyes held no anger or resentment, even at the mention of her mother or the recollection of her last checkup.

"Perhaps. I only have a rough estimation for your feelings." He moves his chair to sit beside Mutsumi. "Mutsumi, there are some things that, no matter how hard you try to fight it, will happen. You will lose people, and they will drift away from you. I was told that you are familiar with that ideal, am I correct?" His voice was still cold, but maybe a few degrees higher than before.

"Are we really going to separate? Is it inevitable that we leave each other?"

"Sadly, that is true. However the extent of your divide is up to you and your sisters."

"I..."

"Mutsumi, it's alright. She'll always be your sister, and you'll all always be my daughters."

"...thanks Mar...dad..."

"So, this is the commercial she's in?" Mutsumi looks down at a monitor at the news agency. "She does look like she's enjoying herself."

It was as hectic as it was normally, the team assigned to monitor the actress already writing article after article about her. The boss was walking around, carrying some papers himself and heading towards his office. Mutsumi sways side to side, people rushing past her like they were being chased by a shark. Out of the corner of her eye, she spots an employee on her lunch break reading an article on MAY's latest excursion: a report on the decline in quality of tomatoes from multiple places in the area.

"Mutsumi-san! We're ready for you!" An older employee says, opening the door to a room with chairs and microphones. "First things first. I'm sure you're familiar with the procedures."

"I am. I'd like my face to be hidden, though not for my sake." Mutsumi replies. "My voice can stay unaltered though, I don't mind."

"Very well."

"Hello. My name is Mutsumi..." She pauses. "Mutsumi Tokonato." She lies, not wanting to use her actual family name.

"I see, can you tell us what happened that night? What were their methods of capture?"

"I was walking home alone, having just finished my night's jog. I was tired and decided to rest on a bench." She started by telling a half-truth. "That's when two guys came up to me."

"Did they try anything right away?"

"It's lonely tonight, isn't it?" Mutsumi shuts her eyes. "That's what one of them said as they sat a few feet from me. They kept talking, but I didn't reply; I had a feeling this wasn't good."

"How did they manage to catch you?"

"Force. They noticed that their sly tactics didn't work, so they resorted to chasing me and grabbing me. I was already exhausted, so I couldn't put up much of a fight..." There was a silence, a brief one. "I should've been a bit more careful. I'm just grateful I made this." Pulling out the small device from her pocket, she holds it up to a camera.

"Is this the alarm that alerted the police?"

"It is, I made another for demonstration." She pulls out another, except it's just a collection of wires, chips, a button, and a speaker. "It's connected to an app, one on my phone that overlays onto a map of the area. Once someone presses this button, there's a few seconds of delay as it cuts off all signals to the speaker."

"Why cut off the signal to the speaker?"

"These speakers aren't loud enough to really call people's attention on their own. If they sounded while the signal was on, then the threat will hear it and either run or escalate the situation." She says as she presses the button on the unfinished one.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"This one is set to make the other devices sound off eight times. The one I had was set to six. After the beeping, a small circular blip appears on the app, the color depending on the device that sent the signal. It will update it's location every ten seconds. Pressing the button again will turn the device back to it's signal receiving mode."

"Do you have plans to make more of these? This might significantly lower the crime rate."

"I'll send files and schematics for this to be added to the interview. The code is fairly simple, and registering a new device to the app could be simplified."

The interview continues for an hour, an exposition of her experiences that night and how she's recovering. Afterwards, she is called to a desk to look over the interview and to upload the codes for the devices and the apps. "Thank you Mutsumi-san." Her boss says, looking at the interview being edited to cut out the silence.

"How'd the interview go?" Itsuki asks as the two of them meet at the bakery.

"Okay I guess. It's not really on my mind." Mutsumi takes a bite out of a croissant, it's not flaky but chewy, salty to a fault, and lacks the golden brown sheen of a good bake. "Gross! What the hell is this Miku?"

"Fuutarou's first bake." Miku says, setting down some actual bread. "What's on your mind then? If not the interview."

"Ichika."

"Do you have a plan?" Fuutarou asks, taking a seat at their table. "I tried to get her to stay, but it was no good."

"It's because you tried to act cool when you shouldn't. How self-centered of you." Miku drives a spike through his ego. The four of them eat, the two employees on their break. It's a slow day at the bakery, maybe one or two actual customers eating in with another two heading out with their orders in a bag. The late day's rays shining through the windows, casting shadows from the people walking outside.

"I don't know how I feel about this, in all honestly. Sure, I want her to do what she wants, but that means she won't graduate with us." Itsuki spreads some cream cheese on a bagel.

"I..." Mutsumi mutters.

"There are some things that, no matter how hard you try to fight it, will happen. You will lose people, and they will drift away from you. I was told that you are familiar with that ideal, am I correct?" Maruo's words pop in her head.

"I can't stop her this time...none of us can." She sighs. "In the end, I have to accept this, huh? It sucks...but I can't think of anything." Talking under her breath, she takes a herb bread and matches it with a sweetened cream.

"However the extent of your divide is up to you and your sisters." Another memory from Maruo.

"But she'll always be our Ichika...right?" She adds, a faint smile on her face.

"You know, this isn't the first time something like this happened." Itsuki says. "First it was mom, then you." Mutsumi goes red at her words.

"Sorry." Hanging her head, she fiddles with her fingers as she could feel Fuutarou snicker slightly.

"But you came back." Fuutarou said. "No matter what happens, you six will always have that bond."

"You sound like dad."

"Dad doesn't sound like that at all." Miku says, raising an eyebrow.

"True, he's more secretive with his intentions. Like how he used his connections with the school head to get Takeda-kun in our class." Itsuki adds, reaching for her sixth bagel before having her hand swatted away by Fuutarou.

"Hmm...ulterior motives and secret plans. Sounds like a movie script. Maybe we should make one." Mutsumi jokes. A smile forms on her face as she turns to Fuutarou, who was suddenly in deep thought.

"Make a movie..." Fuutarou stands up, the light from outside shining behind him as he declares his idea. "That's it! I know how we can get Ichika to graduate!" They all look up, meeting with the fire burning in his eyes. "We're going to make a movie, and Ichika's going to star in it!"

"I see. Fuutarou-san, if you're thinking what I'm thinking then..." Mutsumi starts connecting the dots.

"Exactly! That's how we're going to teach her! Her grades won't drop and all she needs to do is attend classes periodically. But..."

"How much does she charge for a film like this?" Itsuki asks.

"Let's ask her. She left with Yotsuba earlier today. I think I know where they are." Mutsumi says as she picks up her bag.

"3 million? That's around 2 years worth of salary from tutoring you guys." Fuutarou says as they all walk home from the park. The sun setting on the day, close in at an intersection.

"Why're you asking?" Ichika leans in towards Fuutarou, scanning his movements and gestures.

"Maybe I should've been an actor..." He mumbles to himself, trying to act cool again. "Then I wouldn't have to deal with all this dra-" He feels an elbow to his gut as Mutsumi hits him.

"Nothing, just wondering if you'll be able to take care of yourself." Itsuki says as Fuutarou turns to head to his home.

"Ichika..." Mutsumi grabs her sister's shoulder. "If anything happens, you can always come back." She smiles.

"Mutsumi...yeah...I know."

"Yotsuba! Help!" Mutsumi yells from her room after dinner. The thundering footsteps and slamming of the door entered her ears as Yotsuba came rushing through. "You've seen everything so far, right? Help me write this script." Mutsumi smiles. Holding up a notebook with a few paragraphs. "I got the first meeting done."

"Don't scare me like that." Yotsuba pouts, walking over to sit on the bed beside Mutsumi. "This is just like how we met that day, except now you're there."

"Alright, what happened next?" Mutsumi asks.

"What! You drugged him on day 1!" Mutsumi exclaims as the five of them gather around for lunch. "Geez, I still don't believe that it's the same you that confessed to him in the back of the kitchen."

"A lot's happened, how far are you on anyway?" Nino asks, taking a peek at the writing. "You're taking so long."

"This would go a lot faster if you all filled me in." Mutsumi pouts as the others eat.

"Sue Harukata. I still remember the answer."

"Wow, a rooftop scene! This'll be good!" Mutsumi says as she and Miku bring out the tent from the trunk.

"The cookoff? Well, I think I know who won there."

"Yeah, though I didn't really taste a difference." Fuutarou sets down her order, a cheese bread.

"Of course you wouldn't. Anything else happen?"

"Oh! Nino got locked out of the house. It all happened after..."

"A fireworks festival? Like this?"

"Yep! This is when we found out about the acting thing too?" Yotsuba and Mutsumi sneak away from their sisters for a while, savoring the chocolate covered banana and takoyaki that they brought with them.

"How do I look by the way?" Mutsumi asks, showing off her yukata with a frog print pattern. Her hair tied into a ponytail on her side.

"Beautiful. You've changed Mutsumi." Yotsuba takes her ribbon and ties it around Mutsumi's head.

"You think so?" The two make their way back to the other people they went to the festival with.

"Mutsumi-chan! Yotsuba-chan!" Raiha runs up to the two of them. "Onii-san and Takeda-san ran off somewhere. We can't find them." She says as the three of them scan their surroundings.

"Uesugi-kun! I've caught 5! That's two more than you!"

"Who said it's over? I can still keep going!" The two of them were hunched over a small pool of water filled with fish. Yotsuba and Mutsumi turn to look at each other before nodding and running over to their side, joining their contest.

"After that was a big exam? By the way, number 19 is wrong, start over." Mutsumi says as Itsuki takes a practice exam she prepared.

"Uesugi-kun really pushed the five of us to the edge. He even stayed over." Itsuki says. "And after that, the school trip happened. We got into a bad snow storm and had to stay at an inn..."

"Ooooh give me the details!"

"Well..." Itsuki mutters. "We had to share a room with him, Nino was particularly against it."

"So were you I'd assume. You're such a prude after all."

"I-I didn't even think of it like that." Itsuki goes red, turning her face back to her paper.

"You're blushing. Well, that's day one. What happened next?"

"Well, day two was...errm...we had to cook. And then Uesugi-kun had the test of courage, with Yotsuba's help."

"Oh right! Fuutarou-san said you ran the wrong way and got lost." Mutsumi teases her sister. "This should also be the night when she met with Kintarou."

"M-Moving on. The next thing that was noteworthy was..." Itsuki thinks for a moment. "Miku and I found him and Ichika in the storehouse. They were soaking wet and he held her in his arms. Ichika got sick the next day...Uesugi-kun was too, but we didn't know until..."

"Not bad. I'm in!" Maeda says, browsing the various cameras on the shelf.

"My first scene is me being scared, it's kind of embarrassing. Can I at least talk to one of you as like a friend or so-" Matsui steps backwards, slipping on the smooth tile floor of the store.

"Hey!" Maeda reaches out for her, catching her in his arm.

"What exactly will your character be doing? All these events happened before you returned from overseas." Takeda asks, holding a microphone in his hand.

"I've got that covered. Plus, I'll be behind the camera for the most part." Mutsumi says as a notification on her phone says that a package arrived at home.

"Hello, we meet again, Oda-san." Mutsumi says.

"Is this for another interview? A photoshoot?"

"That's not why we're here, you should already know." Fuutarou interjects. "This is about Ichika. I want you to reconsider having her drop out of school."

"You're asking for the impossible. She has become an existence greater than any of you could imagine. I believe that it's impossible for her to work and attend school as things are." He sighs. "More importantly, this was her choice. I am going to respect the decision she came to on her own."

"Fine. I give up." Mutsumi says, standing up and getting in Ichika's face. "If this is really what you want, then so be it..."

There was a long silence, the tension building in the air.

"So then, actress Ichika-san. We've decided to shoot our own film. Our goal was to have you star in it." Mutsumi says, pulling out a script from her bag.

"It's a story you know very well, so this shouldn't be a problem for you." Miku chimes in. "It's about a lone genius student tutoring his classmates."

"Shooting will take place twice a week. Since you won't be going to school, you are focusing on work; however I suspect that you still have your downtime between shoots. Am I wrong?" Fuutarou stands.

"Fuutarou-kun, why are you going this far?"

"I'm pissed, you know. To drag me back to this hell after I quit, then quit yourself. I won't rest until I get all of you to graduate with smi-" He feels a fist hit his chin, causing him to bite his tongue.

"Be honest with yourself already, Fuutarou-san."

"Trying to act cool backfired last time." Miku takes out a small envelope. "He says he's thankful that you worked so hard to keep us together."

"Sis, I know things won't be the same now. But, I don't want to lose you. I want us to be together, even just a bit longer...because there are things that can only be done with the six of us...and I want to do them all."

Miku hands over the money, but Ichika's manager takes it out of her hands. "This should cover her pay. However, I'm concerned with the rest of the crew. Not only that, but she will be prioritizing her other role. What is your plan to film this?"

"We've already started, however all voice lines will be added in post." Mutsumi holds out her phone. "Of course, the Ichika here isn't the real one but instead a body double. But there is a scene that only the real one can do. Not only that, we will need her to record the audio."

"You guys..." Ichika looks at the three of them. "This is insane! I can't believe it!" She exclaims with a small smile.

"What did you expect, it was Mutsumi and Fuutarou's plan." Miku sighs. "So, what'll you do?"

"You can count on onee-chan to do her part. Do we have a deal?" She extends her hand. Fuutarou clasps it tightly.

"You bet."

"What scene is first?"

"Review for midterms. Though, we might need multiple takes, to get it perfect." Mutsumi winks.

"Alright, hold still you two." Mutsumi says as Yotsuba and Fuutarou strike a pose in front of a fake temple. The camera clicks as a polaroid slowly slides out. The two take off the wigs as Itsuki hands them something to wipe away the makeup. "Perfect, just like how I remember it."

"I can't believe you let her throw away that picture of us Uesugi-san." Yotsuba pouts. "I guess I wasn't important to you!"

"Wasn't the whole plan for the meeting with Rena your idea? You were the one that wanted to cut ties!" Fuutarou grabs her ribbon and ties it on her head for her.

"Hey, don't you have somewhere to be? You're running late Fuu-kun." Nino says as Mutsumi hands over a camera. "We're behind schedule for that scene."

"Geez, if you keep this up then you won't be able to graduate with them." Fuutarou scolds Ichika as the two of them study in front of the camera.

"It isn't just my sisters I want to graduate with, you know." Ichika turns to meet Fuutarou's eyes.

"Ichika...w-what?"

"Sensei~ I...I love you. I had to say it in such a bad way last time..." She wraps her fingers around him as a sly grin curls on her face. "Please, forgive me for tricking you."

"I already have..." Fuutarou turns away. "More importantly, you got number 54 wrong! Try again!"

"Up late again? Hasn't school already resumed?"

"I'm working on a small project. It won't take long." Mutsumi responds, standing up from her newly purchased laptop and heading to the kitchen.

"I'll make sure of it. You need your rest too."

"Yeah, thanks dad." Mutsumi pours a mug of coffee from a French press. "Actually, there's something I'd like to ask you."

"What would that be?"

"Are you okay with being on camera? It'll just be recording your work, but there are some things that need to be said correctly."

"Those things being?"

"Everything you said to Fuutarou-san. We're making a movie."

"Mutsumi-kun. I'm very busy. Work at the hospital has no downtime..." He meets his daughters gaze. "...but I'll see if I can squeeze you in."

"That distance is decided by us." Mutsmi mutters to herself as Ichika comes home from another late night session. "Yo. How's the big movie coming along?"

"I've memorized half my lines..." Ichika yawns. "How's everyone?"

"Missing you, but we'll manage. After all, we have you for some time tomorrow for filming." Mutsumi saves a file and turns off her computer. "Itsuki managed to submit the predictor exams, the others aren't that far behind too." A smile on her face slowly turns into a chuckle as she finds Ichika asleep on the couch.

"Sleep tight." Closing the door to Ichika's room, the sixth sister heads to her own. Going to bed with happy thoughts, Mutsumi looks at her phone again, a new image her lock screen. The fireworks festival, The six of them front and center, Fuutarou carrying Raiha on his shoulders as Maeda and Matsui strike poses with Takeda outdoing them all by somehow adding a sparkle filter around only himself.