"Hey, I can't take this anymore. Can you hand me my clothes back?" Mutsumi whispered into Nino's ear, pointing at the bag from the store they were at earlier.
"What? It's only been a few minutes, maybe an hour at most? Why do you want to change back so soon?"
"It's weird...having to walk in these...and having the air brush my legs is...uncomfortable." Mutsumi flushed, reaching for the bag from over Nino's shoulder. "Just give it!"
"Fine, fine!" Nino reluctantly raised the handle to Mutsumi's fingers, feeling the weight of her sister come off of her back. "Also, can you pick up those chocolate bars?"
"How many?"
"Six...no, make it nine." Nino seemed to push her lip forward while thinking. She looked at the bars, running her fingers across the wrappers while turning one over to see the nutritional facts.
"At least it's dark...but won't you get sick if you eat this much?"
"You're so dense." Nino said, shaking her head. "Just go and change already, oh and can you look for Yotsuba?"
"Isn't she with Fuutarou-sa…" The two turned around, seeing the poor boy pinned on his back by a sack of rice; no sign of the fourth sister who would undoubtedly be assisting at the moment. "I'll see if I can find her."
A quick trip to the nearest restroom later, Mutsumi emerged back in her sweats and tee. The handkerchief hanging around her neck, the goggles made slightly looser to fit over them as her glasses were in her hands to be cleaned. She looked at her phone, slightly disappointed. "Guess it's the old fashioned way, for now." She said, brushing her hair to the side before wandering aimlessly while glancing about. Stopping as a café came into her line of sight. "Is that..." She thought, her eyes widening as she spotted a few familiar faces through the glass.
She entered, seating herself in a chair while putting on her cap to hide her face with the brim, ordering a shot of espresso to blend in. "I'll turn a blind eye to what you girls did. But it seems that you haven't been able to even have a proper meal recently." The doctor said coldly, his gaze on a redheaded girl. "Please tell your sisters this: come home immediately."
"Does that include him?" The redhead replied, wiping the crumbs off of her lips.
"Uesugi-kun? This is a matter within our family. Let's not forget that Uesugi-kun is nothing more than an outsider." He then let out a drawn out exhale, his anger seeping out with those wordless breaths. "And to be clear, I hate him."
"Such a kid..." Mutsumi thought, listening in from nearby.
"We...cannot go back yet. Uesugi-kun is already far too involved with us to be considered an outsider at this point." Itsuki placed her hand on her chest, looking down while trying to keep her dignified aura. "Even Mutsumi, who was supposed to replace him, accepted this and helped bring return him to his teaching role. We, the six of us, have made this choice. Please let us live on our own, at least until the next examination."
"What exactly do you mean by living on your own?" Doctor Nakano laced his fingers together. "You may think that covering rent and daily living expenses, you are doing just that. But what about the tuition fees for school which resumes tomorrow, your mobile plans, not to mention insurance and Mutsumi-kun's condition." His glare piercing, his voice cold. "While you're still receiving my support, what you are doing can hardly be considered being independent."
"...that."
"I have a proposal. I will allow Uesugi-kun back into the house, reinstating him as a tutor. However, both he and Mutsumi-kun will be acting as support of a friend of mine, who is a seasoned tutor." Maruo said, leaving Itsuki in shock.
"I'm in dad." Mutsumi said, straightening her back while seated to her father's rear.
"Mutsumi...when did you?"
"However, it does sting...the way you put it." Mutsumi said, blowing slightly on the shot glass in her hands. "A father should have more faith in his children, right?" Maruo flinched, his eye twitching. "In that aspect, I'm believing more and more in Fuutarou-san's statement with every word you utter." Mutsumi glanced around the room, smirking.
"Faith in you is not the issue. Your grades in the second semester's exams, and they have improved from the results of the first, however I am not assured that the third will go so smoothly. Do you believe Yotsuba-kun can avoid failing?" Maruo calmed himself down, taking sips from his own drink to ease his nerves.
"I will concede that, it is an undisputable fact that she struggles the most when it comes to academics. However...no..." Mutsumi paused, hearing footsteps and seeing a hazy reflection enter from behind Itsuki.
"We can do it." Yotsuba said, her voice lacking it's usual cheer. "If we stay together with Uesugi-san and Mutsumi, we can do it. We want to achieve this with the seven of us, so please believe in us. We won't make the same mistakes over and over again."
"And if you were to fail?"
"My, my...a father is already expecting failure from his daughter." Mutsumi interjected, downing her coffee before slamming the glass down to silence her father. "
"Understand that I have an acquaintance in on the board of trustees of a school in Tokyo...if you were to fail..."
"You'll be transferring us there. You wouldn't bring that up without a related reason." Mutsumi finished his statement. "Honestly, why don't you act like a father for once. Get called out once and you run away, leaving others to fix the problem in your stead. First was Ebata-san, then Fuutarou-san, then me after him, and now this." She stood up, looking down at the doctor as she turned her head around. He was looking at her, all of them were. "When have you ever dealt with us yourself?"
"Very well, you've made your concerns clear." Maruo stood up, fixing his clothes and preparing to leave. "You are free to do things as you wish. But remember, my responsibility as a parent is also to scold my children." He began walking away. "There won't be any more chances." He left, his visage disappearing into the crowd.
"You can come out now." Mutsumi said, looking at the counter where two people were seated.
"There he goes. Your pops is every bit as difficult as I expected him to be." Fuutarou said, walking over to the three of them. Nino was behind him, seemingly deep in thought.
"Everything he said made logical sense. I mean, it goes without saying that relying on the both of you would be worrying. If only we had a seasoned tutor~" She teased, earning a flick on the forehead from Mutsumi. "We owe a great deal to papa for raising us to be who we are today, so I'm obviously grateful. But, he only sees what he deems to be correct."
"So stubborn..." Mutsumi said, adjusting her cap and putting on her gloves. "But threatening us with a transfer, he doesn't hold back, huh?"
"I don't want to transfer schools..." Yotsuba said. "Not again..."
"It doesn't matter." Fuutarou said, his drive getting more intense. "Be it your personal issues, family matters, old school, or threat of transfer; they don't matter." He said, his voice now booming. "I'll just do what I want! I'll make you all advance by my hands with smiles on your faces!" He yelled, getting socked by Mutsumi before he could continue talking.
"Keep it down, you sound like a lunatic!" She rubbed her knuckles, inadvertently lighting up her glove. "And what's with all this talk about you doing everything? Don't forget, who picked up the slack while these two were fighting?!" She grabbed his collar, pulling it closer to her. "The last semester's results won't repeat themselves, you hear me?"
"What happened?" Yotsuba asked.
"When the scores were given out, Mutsumi was tied in second place, with only a few points below Uesugi-kun's perfect 500." Itsuki shook her head. "She spent the rest of the period either glaring at Uesugi-kun or threatening that she'd overtake him."
"You know, I never really cared about it before. But if one of my students is challenging me at my forte, I have to put her in her place." Fuutarou replied, shocking everyone. "Third semester's final exam, higher total wins."
That night, while everyone else was sleeping, Mutsumi sat by the kotatsu. Reference books piled high beside her, a large jug of water within arms reach, and a small light to just barely make the words visible to her. The danced on the paper, her finger tracing each line as she read each word over and over to etch their meaning into her brain. She took a swig of water, wiping her mouth before putting a hand in her pocket.
"I'll talk to her tomorrow." She muttered, feeling the paper she stuffed into her clothes earlier. "But for now, back to studying."
Back to the grind, using the light from her glove to illuminate her book. Reading and reading, until her vision became hazy from sleeplessness. Mutsumi glanced at her phone. "2...30?" She blinked a few times, each one longer than the last. "No, that can't be right. There's no...way." She yawned, closing her eyes one last time before she began snoring due to her posture.
"Mutsumi, who are you?"
A/N: Shorter one this time. Still a bit shocked from 113 and trying to get my head screwed on in the right place. Anyway, the next chapter will be her side of exam prep, so that'll leave out 4 chapters and misalign this from the original chapter numbers