It was dark the next morning when Mutsumi woke up. The not so sound sleeping of her sisters coming to view as her eyes adjusted to the low light, truly a unique sight. Slowly moving as to not wake them, she stood and placed her pillow next to Miku's cheek as Yotsuba retracted her arm. She pulled Itsuki away from Nino, using her blanket as a divider between them. Looking at her work contently, she left to go to the bathroom.

Flicking on the lights, she looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. Her eyes then went to her arms, then down to her legs. She stretched, letting the light in the room hit every angle. "Well, it's a start." She said, touching her face and feeling her skin. Life seemed to ooze out of every pore, color that wasn't there before now vibrant. Still far from healthy, like her sisters, but the healing period is close to its end. She looked at the mirror again, her eyes slightly wet with tears, smiling a smile that won't easily fade. She put her clips on, brushing her hair before she entered the kitchen to set some water boiling.

"Hello? Is anyone awake yet?" A voice called out from outside, familiar. Mutsumi ran to the window, finding Fuutarou waiting at the door. He gives a wave before pointing to the door once more.

"Don't be so loud, they're still asleep. Care for some coffee?" Mutsumi offered, beaming with joy as the water came up to temperature. Fuutarou declined, coffee too bitter for his palate. "Suit yourself~" She chimed, pulling out a small French press and setting up her cup.

"You're acting strange." He said, setting down his things and pulling out some sheets of paper.

"Am I?" Mutsumi tilted her head, the aroma of hot water hitting the grounds bringing even more bliss to her new year. She sat there watching the grounds soak, pulling up a chair and playfully kicking her feet. "I don't feel any different."

"Weird..." Fuutarou muttered to himself. "We should get started soon, I'll go get your sisters." He forced himself up, walking to the door Mutsumi pointed to.

"Good luck~" Mutsumi heard the door shut. Soon, there was a kerfuffle as the sisters were woken from their slumber. Yelling and complaining before the door swung open and the tutor was sent flying through it. "Hahahahaha~" Mutsumi laughed, pouring her brew into two mugs before adding some of the cocoa powder that one of her sisters bought to one.

"Alright, we can finally star-" Unable to finish his sentence, Fuutarou's eyes snapped to the eldest sister. Ichika's eyes were fluttering open and closed, a set of bags nearly invisible on her face unless one takes time to examine her face. Yotsuba reached out, gently rocking her sister.

"Ah, sorry." Ichika shot awake, looking around the room. She apologized, then teased him. "Old habits die hard, my clothes just come off when I'm asleep."

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" Mutsumi said sharply, slowly sliding the mug without cocoa to her. "I don't even want to know what'd happen if you suddenly started stripping while we're studying." She joked, downing her drink before smacking her lips together.

"What about during class?" Yotsuba asked, sniffing the strong scent from the mug before recoiling due to the intensity.

"Ahaha...it only happens at home." Ichika said, sipping the drink gingerly before blowing on it to cool it some more. Itsuki put her hand to her lips in shock.

"They're talking as if sleeping in class is normal..." She said as two people's shadows cascaded over Ichika's form.

"Don't sleep in class!" Mutsumi dug her knuckles into the eldest's head, using her other hand to pinch her cheek. Fuutarou stared at her, an angry look plain to see.

"Don worry..." Ichika said as her face turned red from Mutsumi's attack. "They're going to cut back on my workload so I can focus on studying." Her statement brought everyone's mood up, well...almost everyone. "I'll pass everything for sure next time...and blow dad away."

"Yeah." Miku said, pumping her fists up and down to get herself excited.

"Me too. This time for sure...!" Yotsuba declared, clenching her fists like an anime character.

"That's right. We will all pass, and force dad to acknowledge Uesugi-kun." Itsuki's eyes shifted, meeting his with a determination that was all too common with their blood.

Fuutarou could only scoff, a smile secluded by his arm. "Hmph, I can't believe such a low hurdle would give you guys so much trouble. But the third semester's final would literally by your last chance. Let's get right to it! First we'll tackle the winter break homework together!" He said, setting down his unfilled assignment. Mutsumi followed with her own, her eyes still on Ichika.

"Huh?" Itsuki looked to the tutor, dumbfounded. The tutor and Mutsumi looked to her with the same expression, causing everyone to laugh.

"Fuutarou...Mutsumi..."

"You underestimate us too much." Nino said smugly, a smile on her face that reached to her ears. "We've already finished our homework ages ago."

"Oh...really..." Fuutarou blinked a few times, pinching his arm from underneath the kotatsu. "Wait, why didn't you do it?" His eyes turned to Mutsumi, who was in similar shock.

"Ahh, uhm…well...I was working on the paperwork for this place...and uhh…a personal project..." She said while slowly sliding more and more of her body under the kotatsu as she shrank due to the shame. "I...wait, wanna see it?" She quickly rose back up, nearly knocking everything on the kotatsu off.

"Do your homework." Fuutarou just as quickly shot her down, flipping open the homework and twirling a pencil in his hand. Mutsumi puffed her cheeks, reluctantly following suit as her sisters teased the two geniuses.

"Honestly, what have you two been doing?" Itsuki asked, getting up from her spot to fetch a drink for herself.

"Should we give you a hand?" Ichika teased, returning Mutsumi's punishment back to her; joined by Miku who did the same.

"S-Shut up!" Fuutarou said, hiding his face by burying it as close as possible to his work. Sure enough, the two blazed through their work in record time, leading to all of them reviewing the material together.

"Fuutarou. I don't get this part." Miku called out to across the kotatsu. Fuutarou's head lifted, facing her and meeting her gaze before he got up and walked up to sit beside the headphone wearing sextuplet.

"Let's see." He huffed, squeezing beside her as her face turned shades of pink. He repeated the question, then began listing off possibilities that deepened the shade of Miku's cheeks. Such a display didn't go unnoticed, as Nino's attention was directed at the two for quite some time.

"What?" Miku caught her, to which the second sister feigned ignorance. While this was happening, Ichika's head began to bob up and down as sleep tried to grasp her. Even with Fuutarou's calling, her eyes shut as her body relaxed.

"Just let her sleep." Nino said as Fuutarou's impatience began flaring up. "Despite what Ichika said earlier, it seems like her workload actually increased." Nino rested her head on a hand, pushing her cheek up into a pout.

"She is paying for our living expenses after all." Itsuki shut her eyes as well, not out of tiredness but resignation.

"She told us not to worry...since she has savings but..." Yotsuba turned to look at her sleeping sibling.

"It's all thanks to Ichika that we can study with Fuutarou like thi-" Miku got a flick on the forehead from Mutsumi, who just coughed into her hand.

"Even so, it's pointless if she pushes herself so much that she can't get any studying done." He sighed, raising his arm to wake up the eldest.

"You have a point. So I'm going to look for a job of my own." Mutsumi said nonchalantly, still looking over her homework and double checking with everyone else's. Everyone was speechless for a moment, all staring at her with blank expressions as if their brains were still processing her statement.

"I agree. I would like to reduce her burden. Of course, the jobs shouldn't interfere with our studies; it would be counterproductive otherwise." Itsuki looked over everyone, her eyes somewhat misty. "Even if our impact is minimal, anything we can do to ease her workload would suffice, wouldn't it?" Fuutarou met her gaze, his bangs casting a shadow on his face as he weaved his fingers together.

"Do you have any work experience?" He asked, Itsuki shook her head. "Do you believe you can manage both work and studies, you who is struggling to pass." Itsuki sighed, her determined smile faltering at the face of reality.

"In that case...I shall become a tutor like you!" That statement stunned the group more than Mutsumi's. "I'll learn while I teach! This will improve my knowledge as well. It's two birds with one stone!"

"To kill two birds with one stone, you must have a strong throw and steady aim." Mutsumi said, setting her pen down. "No offence sis, but...try for something more realistic. You wouldn't ask someone who crashed a car to drive in a race, would you?"

"How about a clerk at a supermarket?" Yotsuba suggested, gingerly moving Ichika's head up to set a pillow underneath her. "There's one nearby, so I'd be able to get there in no time."

"You'd be fired right away." Fuutarou said bluntly.

"I'd...want to try working at a maid café." Miku spoke up, her face turning red. Mutsumi's eyes widened, walking off to get her phone. Quickly snapping a picture, she applied a filter to Miku's figure.

"Wow..." Mutsumi's jaw dropped. "You should go for it! You'd have a line of fans on your first day!" She said, a cheeky grin forming as Miku shrank behind her headphones.

"Well, Nino would obviously be a dominatrix?" Fuutarou said absentmindedly.

"What do you mean by 'obviously'!?" Nino yelled, nearly waking Ichika, as she glared at the tutor.

"What are you saying? It'd be something food related you dunce." Mutsumi, getting a thumbs up from the second sister, smacked Fuutarou upside the head.

"It's been your dream to open a restaurant since we were little." Yotsuba added, getting both Mutsumi and Fuutarou's attention.

"Well, that makes sense..."

"I-It was just some nonsense I said as a kid. Don't take it seriously." Nino retorted, a blush forming on her face.

"I know of a good cake shop." Itsuki said cheekily. Things went about as one would expect, with two of the seven of them being uncomfortable as the others shared a chuckle.

"Any tips boss? Since you're experienced in this sorta stuff." Mutsumi stood up, leaning against the wall as she strapped on a pair of gloves that matched the black hoodie she was wearing.

"After I resigned, I worked various jobs in pubs, family restaurants, a coffee shop, and now the cake shop. All of them can't be done half-heartedly." He said, shutting his eyes as his hands gently ran over his stomach.

"Ravenous one, aren't you." Mutsumi joked, stretching her fingers as she pressed a button on her glove to light up her fingertips.

"He must've been aiming for free food." Itsuki added, a small amount of drool escaping her lips before she discretely wiped it away.

"Don't underestimate work! Everything will be fine if you manage to pass your exams and return to that apartment. In order to do that, focus on studying!" He crossed his arms. "It's not like I don't understand Ichika's desire to be an actress, but just this once, choose a reasonable job!" He raised his voice, rousing the eldest only half awake. Her hands slowly reached down to her shirt, sluggishly pulling it up and causing a panic. Miku scrambled to cover his eyes, Itsuki held down Ichika's shirt from behind while Nino blocked his view from the front; both growling angrily at the boy. They wrapped up their session, Fuutarou leaving for the day to go about his business.

"Heading to work?" Mutsumi asked, looking up from the kotatsu at the eldest. Ichika wore a rather large jacket, stuffing something into the pockets before nodding and opening the door. "...just what are they doing to you?" She thought to herself, getting up to follow her path with her eyes through the window. She looked around, Nino was out with friends, Miku was busy reading a cookbook, Yotsuba was out jogging, and Itsuki left for the library. "I'm going out Miku! I'll be back later." She said, entering the bathroom with her bag.

She pulled out her makeup, looking at herself in the mirror before returning it to her bag. "Don't need you anymore." She said, returning her gaze to the her reflection. She tied her hair up, hiding her locks underneath the cap she has. Her fingers drifted to her eyes, removing a set of contacts before putting on a pair of square glasses. She hid her face with a dark blue handkerchief tied to her head, putting her goggles around her neck to finish the look. She stuffed her glowing gloves into the pockets of her black sweats, adjusting her honeycomb patterned arm sleeves and tee. She tied up her sneakers, walking quickly to catch up to Ichika.

"Alright, move everything inside. You can go in; I think the manager is still inside, if he is, tell me." A man says, a van parked in front of a familiar cake shop. Mutsumi slowly approaches, fixing her cap before nonchalantly picking up a boom mic and walking it inside; nobody so much as batting an eye to the extra pair of hands.

"Manager, I think I'll stay and watch after all. An actress I know very well is here." Fuutarou loomed over one of the actresses, red hair tied into pigtails with polka dot bows.

"This is going to be fun." Mutsumi smiled under the handkerchief, setting the mic down and going outside to retrieve something to keep up the ruse.

A/N: Nothing big to say here other than I might slow down on updating this story, might. I have a fire force fic on my mind that I want to write and I just published a short fantasy story called "Crisis Arcanum" on Fictionpress, Wattpad, and Webnovel (curse my indecisiveness). That's not even mentioning Mutsumi's pov on the festival arc once that finally wraps up.