"Thank you for taking some time out of your busy schedules to come to our wedding reception today." Fuutarou stood up, holding a mic to his mouth as he and Yotsuba were illuminated by a spotlight. "We are truly grateful." Both of them scanned the room, seeing familiar faces filling every table.
Two of their seniors sat in the back of the room, both looking athletic even though they were dressed up for Yotsuba's wedding, one with light-colored hair simply smiled while her companion, one with dark hair, grumbled to herself, they were both happy to have Yotsuba on their team and came here to pay her back for that kindness. In the opposite corner, quietly smiling proudly at her former student, a girl with long black hair sat beside her partner with spikey hair and glasses; Fuutarou looked at them, receiving nods of approval and congratulations from the pair.
Raiha sat off to the side of the room, holding a camera in her hands. "We're very happy to finally be able to hold this ceremony with everyone who has supported us until now, especially since I proposed five years ago." His words sent a wave of amusement through the room. "It's been a long time coming." He smiled, the light glistening off of his eyes.
"Sextuplet game...? Are you all idiots!? And the five of you other than Yotsuba, don't put on a wedding dress just for a stupid game!" A few hours prior, in another room of the building, Fuutarou berated six women who dressed like his wife. "Do you guys fully understand what it is you're doing?"
"I admit, it's a bit complicated..." One said, giving a sidelong glance toward another.
"It's just something that sprung into our minds..." The one receiving the stare replied, chuckling slightly.
"And we're not playing around. Because we're still the family of the bride." A third said, staring at him with an intensity that would make anyone else cower in fear. "That was a lie, of course. Since I'm actually the bride."
"No, it's me"
"If you're looking for the bride, it's me!"
"You dumbasses...and here I was thinking that you'd all grow up and gain some common sense," Fuutarou smirked. "But this is nice in its own way. Don't underestimate me."
"This is so stupid..." One muttered under her breath before she instantly brought her hand up to cover her mouth. Fuuutarou raised an eyebrow at that sister, frowning disappointedly.
"I expected more of a challenge from you, but you outed yourself before I even needed to think about it." He said, sighing and raising his arm. "Only Mutsumi would say that about something you girls did practically every day." He looked around, finding another bride with a small, wry, smile. "Which is why she'd use someone else to try and trick me." He then looked at the one that he singled out earlier. "You're..."
The reception continued, with Yotsuba stuffing Futarou so full of cake that dollops of cream speckled his cheeks. Maeda, the husband, raised a toast to the happy couple before Raiha ran up and placed a wreath of flowers on the fourth sister's head. "We know that the reception is coming to a close, but we have one final event. The newly wedded bride will now convey a message to her family." One of the organizers spoke into a microphone before the lights shifted toward Yotsuba.
"To my dad, and my mom in heaven, without you two, this day wouldn't have come. My mom passed away when I was young, but her lessons and her love will always remain a part of me." She looked down at her prepared speech, nervously gripping the paper as she read the next line. "And dad, everything happened so suddenly and the young me was unable to sort out my emotions. It led to me acting rebelliously and hurting those close to me. I'm sorry to put you through that then, but as time went on, I was able to understand my own feelings and in turn yours. I'm glad you became my dad, that's how I feel now."
Another spotlight was flipped on, shining down on both the doctor and Fuutarou's father as the two stood by the door proudly watching their children. Isanari looked over at the man he was standing beside, smirking as he scanned Maruou's stoic face. "Tsundere."
"I'd like to express my gratitude once more to my family. I am who I am today because of my mom, my dad, and all of my sisters." Yotsuba shut her eyes, smiling wide.
"Huh...me?" The singled out sister pointed to her own face, getting slightly nervous.
"Yeah, Ichika." He declared.
"My eldest sister, Ichika, has a strong sense of individuality and would lead us along. As everyone here knows, she's a very popular actress, and someone I admire from the bottom of my heart." She and Fuutarou looked to the back of the room, at a table of a slightly chubby man with a thin mustache and his daughter who was slightly younger than Raiha.
"My, we can never outsmart you, can we? You've certainly shocked onee-chan." That bride untied her hair, letting the short strands fall down in the way that revealed her true identity as the actress. The sisters gave him golf claps, that was one correct answer.
"This takes me back. You've always given me a hard time. The world praises you as a beauty, but you can't fool me. I know for a fact that you're a slovenly, doltish, do-nothing, lazy slob!" Fuutarou seemed to have blown a gasket, releasing all the pent up stress he's gathered over the time he's known them. "But even so, your drive for self-improvement is a sight to behold. You're a good onee-san."
"What's with you all of a sudden, getting all sentimental!" Ichika, as if it was second nature to her, teased Fuutarou and hit him softly in the chest.
"This is a good chance for me to give you all a piece of my mind. Moving on..." He turned his head toward the next sister in line. "Nino."
"The second sister, Nino, is a little quick-tempered." Yotsuba continued her speech. "But she's strong and strict, always giving us the push from behind. She always overflowed with femininity and had this social air around her, both of which are things I hope to learn from her." She looked up from her paper, eyes falling on a table that sat two of Nino's old friends, one with long dark hair and the other with medium length hair with a lighter shade.
"That's right! You got it, good for you." Nino said smugly, undoing the bun and tying her hair into twin tails with a pair of scrunchies that replaced her butterfly ribbons. "Next please..." She turned her head to the side, hiding her face away from the prying eyes of everyone else in the room.
"Nino..." Fuutarou muttered, staring resolutely at the train that was parked in the rail yard.
"Why'd you have to do it this way? Couldn't you have just picked out Yotsuba from the start?" She sniffled, wiping away a few tears that formed in her eyes.
"That harsh exterior hides and protects your fragile self; the fragility and harshness, both are how you manifest the love that fuels your actions. The old me was unable to give you an adequate answer, I'm sorry." Fuutarou looked at the sister that gave him the most grief when he started, his brows furrowing, not because of anger, but because of his firm stance.
"It's fine...I don't have any regrets..." Nino managed to mumble out, taking a deep breath to compose herself as the assessment continued.
"Now..." Fuutarou turned to the next of his former students. "You're Miku, I bet." He said, and the girl simply confirmed without any of the reactions that the previous two showed, at least not immediately.
"The third of us, Miku, oddly enough, feels less like an older sister and more of my best friend. Someone who treats me like an equal and respects me as much as I respect her. Every step she took toward her own dream made me feel as if I had more I could give, and that feeling pushed me to strive toward my own goals." Yotsuba looked over at a table placed a little to her right, at a couple that had formed while she and Fuutarou were in Tokyo; The cake store and the bread shop's managers had their fingers weaved together.
Without warning, Miku leaned forward and pulled Fuutarou into an embrace while burying her face into his chest. "I still worry sometimes...about if I'm doing the right thing or going down the right path."
"You don't need me to tell you the answer to that." Fuutarou smiled, looking down at the former wallflower that has grown bolder in the time they've spent together. "That sense of worry and unease that you have right now, you'll always battle those feelings for the rest of your life. The battle scars you get from those battles will serve as a sign of you overcoming those battles." He held Miku by her shoulders, pushing her slightly so that he could meet her gaze. "Believe in yourself! You've always had it in you!"
"I thought you'd say that. Thanks, Fuutarou." Miku smiled up at him, having long overcome her own ordeals.
"All that's left is Itsuki and Mutsumi, huh?" Fuutarou turned to the remaining sisters that he still hasn't identified, one of whom is his wife. "You're Itsuki."
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
"But I'm Yotsuba!" Those words had the newlywed man sweating bullets. Another one of the unidentified sisters couldn't hold back her laughter, snickering to herself while covering her mouth with a loose fist.
"Itsuki, the fifth daughter, was always more put together than I ever was. Whenever I was troubled or didn't know what to do, she always guided me in the right direction. Sometimes I wonder what would've happened if the order got switched if; I was the fifth and she was the fourth...whatever changes may have happened if that were the case, I'm certain that she and I would always share that kind of bond." Her gaze glazed over the table where Marou and Isanari sat down after their time in the spotlight. The two men joined the head of a certain cram school, the three of them have one thing in common between them.
"Just kidding!" The false bride dropped her act while attaching her star pins. "Ta-da! Itsuki in the flesh! How was I? I've gotten much better at this, haven't I?" Her glee preceded the sound of two palms hitting two faces, one was Fuutarou's doing.
"You little...you once again prove that meeting the six of you is bad for my health." Fuutarou grit his teeth.
"Honestly sis, is this really something to take pride in?" The last disguised sister, having had enough of this childish ploy, outed herself by removing the tie on her bun and clipping her hair back with a set of simple clips. "I hope you're ready." She sighed, plugging her ears as Fuutarou took in a deep breath.
"You started everything! Ever since I met you in the cafeteria, my life has been thrown into chaos! You're the root of all of my misfortune! Evil incarnate, consuming all of my good luck!" He stomped his foot down, getting into Itsuki's face to really drive home his point.
"Y-You! You're the most tactless person I've ever come across in all my years!"
"Love handles!"
"Kiss fiend! Like I've said multiple times before, there'll never be a time where we see eye-to-eye!" The two of them went back and forth, hurling insults as the other five watched helplessly.
"She's gone back to her old manner of speaking."
"She's dealing with Fuutarou-san, it's a given." Mutsumi sighed, pulling out her phone now that the game was over. She smiled as she read a text that arrived for her in the time they were fooling around.
"And finally, the youngest and smartest of us all, Mutsumi. She and I don't always see eye-to-eye, and that caused a few arguments to break out between us, but she's always taking care of me and I always took care of her. She's like the opposite of me, the perfect rival that pushes me to get stronger in every sense of the word. But even if she is the head to my tails, we both put each other before ourselves. I wouldn't have it any other way." Yotsuba looked to the best man's table where the Maeda family was joined by a light-haired girl that used to style her hair in a ponytail to the side of her head, she now had the tail braided but it still came from the side of her head, a camera was in the hands of the light-haired girl. Aside from those three, an empty chair was at the table; both she and Fuutarou expected that it would be empty since the person it was reserved for was currently undergoing an intense training regimen and getting fitted for a spacesuit.
"Killjoy." Fuutarou said, looking at the sextuplet that never once disguised herself as her sister before today. "Couldn't you have at least waited a few more seconds. It's unsatisfying now that you gave up. How la-" He started complaining, getting interrupted when he felt to fingers jab into his abdomen and send a surge of pain up to his brain.
"We didn't do this so that you can have fun!" Mutsumi berated him, pulling his head down so that she could dig her knuckles into his scalp. "So. Congratulations."
"Yeah. Thanks, for everything. You really took the burden that I had to carry and made it lighter. And you've changed a lot too, so I have to congratulate you as well."
"Changed?"
"I mean, when you first arrived, you were almost as insociable as I was. And now you've got connections everywhere."
"Speak for yourself you nimrod!" She joked, smirking while leaning her back against the wall. "So, you got married. You win this round, Fuutarou-san, but I won't lose next time."
"As competitive as ever, I see..." Ichika muttered, watching the two geniuses bicker jovially. Mutsumi sighed, pressing a button on her phone and walking to a corner of the room where she placed a camera. The sixth sister also dug around in her dress, fishing out a small mic from somewhere around her chest.
"And? All that's left is Yotsuba. Alright, all questions answered, let's get going to the reception."
"That's it!?" Yotsuba, the real bride, yelled at the anticlimactic conclusion to their game.
"If my sisters weren't there, my life would've been completely different. The joy and sadness I felt being a sextuplet, the memories we shared because of our bond, I'll treasure them forever." Yotsuba declared her speech, breathing a sigh of relief as she stood proudly by her beloved's side.
"I've been with you all enough to know that. I've learned a lot of things from all of you, even though I was supposed to be teaching you." Fuutarou crossed his arms, heading toward the door to head for the reception.
"I'm truly happy to have sisters like them. I'm happy to have been born a sextuplet along with my sisters." Yotsuba teared up as the light in the room shone down on the two of them.
"Meeting you sextuplets is something I can take pride in." Fuutarou looked away, hiding his smile from the girls as he walked.
"My family may not be normal, and people can find that strange, but this is the family I love from the bottom of my heart!" She ended her speech, garnering a round of applause from the guests, especially a troupe of red-haired women sitting at the closest table.
The reception finished up, allowing for the husband and wife to return to their rooms for some much-needed relaxation. "Ahh! I'm tired!" Fuutarou exhaled, collapsing into a cushioned chair as Raiha took the suit he wore in order to return it.
"You need to make sure you're a proper husband now, onii-chan!" Raiha said cheerily, leaving her brother to recuperate.
"Five years, huh? That chapter of my life has finally come to a close." Fuutarou muttered, shutting his eyes to try and take a nap before someone arrived. He tried.
"Now that the tension is gone, I'm feeling all tired out." Yotsuba walked up to him with her body slouched over. Having changed out of the stuffy dresses, she stretched around to pop some of her joints.
"So you were nervous after all..."
"Not as much as you, Fuutarou. Your hands were all shaky when it was time to seal our vows with a kiss." Yotsuba teased her new husband as he moved his hand to cover his lips.
"That was to be expected! And it was partially your fault too!" Fuutarou retorted in an effort to save face. "You told me to remember that day five years ago, right? I was panicking at the time, so my memory of it was quite muddy, but after you said that it felt like I was watching a video of it. That spring vacation, under that bell."
"So you and Uesugi-san are going to be trading places?" Yotsuba asked as she approached Mutsumi and Itsuki, all three of them in the visage of the fifth sister for pictures.
"Yeah, since everything's been cleared up, it makes sense for me to go in your boat so that he can stay with his family." Mutsumi played with the hair of the wig, pulling it off to reveal her platinum blonde-dyed hair.
"That and father...might not want to ride a boat with him again."
"Where is he now?"
"I think he's talking with gramps. You should go check on him." Mutsumi suggested, pointing up the path toward the bell of vows.
"It might be confusing if I go there while dressed up as Itsuki, so one of you two should go." Yotsuba protested before her face dipped. "Actually, I think I'll go, after all; head to the boat without me." She said running up the path and past Fuutarou's dad who turned around to glance at the blur of red that sped by. The two girls made their way to the boat, the sound of the bell coming from too far away to reach their ears.
"If I'm right, then at that time you..."
"Uhm, excuse me. Miss bride, you left this in your dressing room." One of the people they hired for the ceremony walked up to the newlyweds, clutching something in her hands. The two of them gave it one quick glance.
"Actually, sorry. But can you throw it away, I won't need it anymore." Yotsuba said, taking one last look at the item she was about to give up.
"Are you sure? It's basically your trademark." Fuutarou asked, pushing down with his arms to get out of the chair. Yotsuba shook her head.
"It's fine. After all, even if we all look the same, there's someone in the world that will recognize me." She turned around to see Fuutarou's face, which had turned a bright crimson with all the blood rushing to his cheeks.
"A-Anyway, what were we talking about again?" Fuutarou asked a rhetorical question. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Then he asked an actual question.
"Ah, well...it was kind of hard to bring up. And there are more things you should know." Yotsuba bowed her head slightly, leaning forward while holding her fingers together behind her back.
"Like what?" Fuutarou asked as he began walking down the hall.
"Well, you see..." Yotsuba was about to say something when they happened upon a conversation happening behind a door that was left slightly ajar.
"The shots look good. You've gotten a lot better at this Tsubaki." Mutsumi's voice seemed shocked and impressed at the same time.
"Of course I'd get better. What do you take me for?" The camerawoman replied, a twinge of pride in her voice. "How long will it take to add this into the final cut?"
"Not too long, I just need some time with my computer." The sixth sister was jubilant as the conversation progressed. It was then that Yotsuba and Fuutarou remembered something that happened in their last year of high school. "Thanks again for this. I'll find a way to pay you back, other than you know...paying you."
"Do you really have to go back?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, Maeda and Mats... Well, the Maedas don't have a lot of time now that they're married, Takeda-kun's training keeps him in a completely different prefecture, so it'll get kind of lonely if you go overseas again."
"I can introduce you to a couple of people. Takebayashi-san and her husband are..." Mutsumi suddenly stopped talking, sighing as her footsteps made it sound like she was pacing around the room. "Fine, just stop making that face at me! Damn puppy eyes! I'll find a job nearby!" She huffed, stomping toward the door to throw it open. "Ah, the happy couple! Come with me, the others are waiting." Mutsumi grabbed both of them by their wrists, dragging them into the lobby where the other four were waiting with a map displayed on a tablet.
"How'd your talk with Tsubaki-chan go?" Ichika called the three of them over, eyes focused on the sixth sister who was blushing slightly. "I guess it went well."
"Well, I got enough footage, if that's what you mean. Anyway, did you decide on a place yet?" The youngest sextuplet deflected, moving over to look at the map.
"Not yet."
"Decide a place for what?" Fuutarou asked, getting Nino to groan in annoyance.
"There's only one thing to do after the wedding ceremony. The honeymoon!" She said matter-of-factly, implying that it was common knowledge that Fuutarou lacked due to his social ineptitude in his time in high school.
"You're tagging along!?"
"We're tagging along!?" Mutsumi was just as shocked as Fuutarou, a curious look plastered on her face as she turned to face Yotsuba. "Why didn't any of you tell me!?"
"Oh come on, don't you think it'd be nice?" Itsuki said, adjusting her glasses as she returned her gaze to the map.
"You're ridiculous..."
"Isn't it alright?" Yotsuba smiled, wrapping her arms around Fuutarou and Mutsumi as she stood in between them. "After all, it's more fun with everyone together, right?"
"Alright everyone, point to where you want to go."
"This is so stupid, this never works out for us. Hasn't worked before, won't work now." Mutsumi reluctantly joined her sisters as they each placed their fingers on the screen. "Don't you guys remember high school?"
"Fuutarou-kun"
"Fuu-kun, wake up!"
"Fuutarou~"
"Uesugi-san!"
"Uesugi-kun, wake up."
"Fuutarou-san! For fuck's sake!"
Uesugi Fuutarou, having just graduated, felt cold water run up his nose as the Nakano siblings surrounded him, the sixth sister holding an empty glass. "Pwaa! What the!? Where am I!? What about the wedding ceremony?" He said, shaking his head and getting as much of the water out as he could.
"Wedding ceremony? What are you talking about?" Nino asked, going off to get something to dry him off.
"Getting a bit ahead of yourself~ I know you already proposed to Yotsuba, but aren't you going a bit too fast?" Ichika teased, taking some paper towels from Nino in order to dry the boy off.
"Let us return to the matter at hand, shall we? Where shall we go for our post-graduation trip?" Itsuki cleared her throat to get everyone's attention as Mutsumi opened up a map on her phone.
"Let's all point to where we want to go!" Yotsuba said, eager to change the topic.
"This isn't a good idea, but whatever. On three! One! Two! Three!"
"Sextuplets are such a pain." Fuutarou said for the second time as the sisters all cast their vote for the honeymoon destination. All he could do was stick along for the ride as they dragged him along in the whirlwind that was their whims. "What's this?" He asked after some time had passed, looking down at the sixth sister as Mutsumi handed him a small disk.
"Late wedding gift. We're watching it once we arrive at the resort." The sixth sister playfully jabbed his arm, walking off to join her sisters as Fuutarou was busy with all of their luggage. "It's the movie. Oh, and look over there." Mutsumi stood a few feet away from the door, pointing up to the sky as a trail of smoke formed on the clear blue backdrop.
"Good going Yuusuke." They both thought as Fuutarou carried the final bag over his shoulder. "Well, let's get going." He said to the only rival that was still on the planet, prying her attention away from her phone's camera as she tried to get a video of Takeda's voyage. Mutsumi exited out of the camera app, taking a few moments to look at her wallpaper before she entered the vehicle after Fuutarou.
She smiled just thinking about the photo she saw. A wide group shot taken a few moments before their graduation, a weekend where one of Ichika's movies played. It was a rare sight, seeing everyone that she'd come to call friends all together, so she couldn't pass up the opportunity. Fuutarou was right in the middle, with the six of them in the row in front of him. Raiha was in front of them, in between Yotsuba and Itsuki. Behind Fuutarou were his dad, their dad, and Shimoda who Itsuki invited. Ichika's manager watched the film with his daughter. Nino and Miku invited their managers. Everyone else was invited by Mutsumi. Her circle of friends consisting of Takeda, Maeda, Matsui, and Tsubaki, as well as Takebayashi who introduced her to Sanada.
A/N: It's over... I'm gonna miss this. Thank you, Negi! I'm still going to work on the revision, you have my word on that, so I'm far from done with this series, but it still feels so surreal to not have to wait for a chapter of this every Tuesday (or Wednesday in my case cuz timezones) The final picture scene might seem cheesy, but I think it makes for a cute image if you can picture it.
