"A chat about what?" Yotsuba asked, staring at her sister with curious eyes. Somber and restrained, a far cry from her usual self, Yotsuba sat still as she waited for her sister's answer. Mutsumi kicked her swing gently, stopping the backswing with her foot before taking a seat.
"Well, let's start with what you just said." Mutsumi looked down at the ground. "I remember the lake, how you wanted him to forget and let go of the past." The youngest sister turned her head, matching the fourth's eyes. "Was that really the best option?" She added. "After all, it was because of that meeting that he was disappointed in himself, to the point that he resigned on his own."
"That was your fault. You went and said those mean things to him while dressed like that!" Yotsuba retorted.
"My fault or not, it all worked out in the end."
"Yeah. That's right. And now he thinks that you're me, so I don't have to worry about him being disappointed in my bad grades."
"Are you okay with that?" Mutsumi asked. "I mean, you're lying to him, and to yourself, by saying that you're fine with him believing a lie."
"I am fine with it. The past is the past."
"Well, I'm not. Yotsuba, I'm sorry, but I already told him."
"You what!?" Yotsuba jumped to her feet, clenching her fist as her frustration showed on her face. Mutsumi gripped the chains of her swings tighter, startled by her usually upbeat sister's genuine rage. "Why would you do that? He didn't need to know!"
"Perhaps. But I don't think your mindset of sacrificing your things for others is healthy. I did it so that you can have something you can be proud of too, something only you can have. I didn't feel right taking it, so I'm giving it back." Mutsumi retorted as Yotsuba took steps to stand in front of her, her hands shaking as she clenched her fists tighter.
"You always try to meddle, don't you? Making decisions for others even when they don't ask for help." Yotsuba said, her voice quaking with emotion. "Well I'm sick of it!" She yelled, her hand gaining speed as it moved towards Mutsumi's temple. "You always interfere, even when nobody asked for it! It would've been better if he didn't know! I thought I could trust you!" There was a yelp from Mutsumi as she hit the ground on her back. She clutched her head, her feet still dangling and now caught in the chains.
"Why?" Mutsumi untangled her legs, slowly standing up while still covering the side of her cranium with her hand that was slowly getting wet. "Why keep up the lie? He deserves to know. What gives you the right to hide the truth from him?" She yelled, her eyes staring down her sister as her free arm raised itself to brace for whatever came next. Looking at this objectively, she knew she was at a disadvantage physically since she was still recovering and was only released from medication a few months prior; not to mention that Yotsuba was the most athletic among them.
"You wouldn't know! You weren't here! You don't know what we...what I went through after you left!" Yotsuba screamed, closing the distance and gazing at her sister; their sparkle replaced with cold emptiness. "I shouldn't have something like this. I shouldn't be someone special to him just because we had a little history!"
"Shouldn't be special? You're not making sense!" Mutsumi reached out her arm. "You can't just erase the past. Like it or not, you'll always be that girl to him, so stop lying to yourself and accept it."
"Just shut up Mutsumi! Don't talk to me like you know better! Don't talk to me like you know me! You left us! You don't know what happened!" Yotsuba gripped her sister's wrist, sending a surge of pain up the arm. "You shouldn't have come back!" Those words made Mutsumi's eyes widen and caused her to drop her other arm, just as Yotsuba threw another punch. Mutsumi lied on the ground as the sound of footsteps quickly faded away in the distance. She clutched her head, her palm stained with her blood.
"Shouldn't have come back?" She repeated, stumbling to her feet as she began walking. "I just wanted to help..."
It was late, dark and cold. She wobbled over to the door, holding her body close and shivering as she knocked on it. The lights switched on inside the home, followed by approaching footsteps and the turning of the doorknob. "Mutsumi? Why are you..."
"Help..." She said weakly, holding the side of her head that was gushing blood. She teetered side to side before falling forward in her lightheadedness. The side of her face had a wide line of her blood, dripping down and onto her shirt. Her vision spun as her eyelids felt heavy. "Help me...Fuutarou-san..." She whispered as her consciousness left her for the night.
"Raiha! Dad! Emergency! Get the bandages!" Fuutarou yelled, carrying her body inside as blood began sprinkling down on their floor. He set her down on the floor gently as the rest of his family scrambled to meet him, shocked to see the girl.
"You two bandage her up! I have to make a call." Isanari ran out the door, pulling out his phone.
Raiha brought their family's emergency kit to Fuutarou and the two siblings began wrapping her head up. Hours passed, Raiha getting some ice and wrapping it in some cloth before going back to bed; Fuutarou watched over the girl. Slowly, Mutsumi began to stir.
"Where am I?" She asked, rubbing her head. Fuutarou sat at the table nearby, looking at their medicine kit that rested on their dinner table. Glancing at the clock showed that it was around three in the morning.
"What happened to you?" Fuutarou asked, playing with his hair and looking at various medicine bottles he had set on the table. He looked tired, his head bobbing up and down as he struggled to stay awake.
"You shouldn't have come back!" Yotsuba's words echoed in her head. She squinted as her head started to pulse with pain, tears squeezing themselves out and streaming down her face. She sniffed, rubbing her eyes.
"Can it wait?" She asked through her quiet sobs. "I'm sorry."
"It's alright. It's pretty late, you should get some rest." Fuutarou said. "Raiha is waiting. You can take my spot." He began returning the first aid to their container, rubbing his eyes. "We'll talk about this to-" He was interrupted by a knock on the door. Mutsumi pushed herself up, leaning against the wall to keep herself upright; Fuutarou left to answer their other visitor.
"Uesugi-kun. Is she awake?" Maruo's voice sounded off as Mutsumi made her way to the door. "Ah. Mutsumi-kun. Let's go, I'm taking home." He said, extending a hand to her. Fuutarou turned around to look at her as Isanari leaned in from outside to peek. Recent events flashed through Mutsumi's mind, her body trembling and her face quivered; eyes filled with fear as she instinctively shielded her head with her arms. "Come with me."
"Maruo. Look at the girl." Isanari interjected, stepping into the house. "I don't know what happened, but she's terrified."
"Which is why I'm bringing her home."
"Would she come here if she felt safe at her own home?" Isanari countered the doctor's argument.
"Don't tell me how to raise my daughter, Uesugi." The doctor glared back. "Mutsumi, your sisters are waiting."
"I..." Mutsumi muttered. "I don't want to go home..." She looked to the doctor, hands clasped as she pleaded. "Please...don't take me back..." She got on her knees, bowing and crying as she begged.
"We'll take care of her, don't worry." Isanari said to the doctor, who shifted his gaze back and forth between all parties involved.
"If I hear anything out of line, your debt will be the last of your problems." Maruo said, looking at his daughter with a worried look before he walked back to the car parked outside.
"I'm sorry for being a bother." Mutsumi sat at the Uesugi's dinner table, the two men of the house sitting across from her. "And...uhm...Uesugi-senpai. This is...something I want to talk to Fuutarou-san about in private."
"Alright, alright. I get you. Just make sure you get some rest. And Fuutarou, make sure you listen." Isanari said, going to her room and leaving the two teens to their business.
"So, do you want to tell me now?" Fuutarou looked her over. She collected herself somewhat, no longer crying and sitting up and looking back at him with a contemplative look.
"Am I a bad person?" She asked, looking down at the table.
"What makes you say that?"
"I just saw someone in pain...so I tried to help..." She mumbled. "But I ended up making things worse by trying to change her situation..."
"I don't know if you're good or bad." Fuutarou said. "But there are just some things you can't change. I learned that firsthand by trying to stop Ichika from acting." He got up, his back turned to her. "So you just gotta learn to deal with it. You should get some rest."
"But I just can't stand and watch...if I didn't do anything then..."
"Then...what? Mutsumi, you just have to trust people sometimes. They can solve their own problems."
"Trust...Trust..." She muttered to herself, following him and sleeping for the night. Her arms wrapped around Raiha in her sleep.
"I thought I could trust you!" The sequence kept replaying in her dreams; everywhere she looked, Yotsuba was there with that look of pure malice. Mutsumi tried to say something, wondering if she could fix everything by finding the right words; her voice vanished. She saw her sister inching closer and closer as she felt the ground beneath her start to crumble away. She was face to face with her, staring into Yotsuba's eyes as she felt the ground finally disappear. She screamed, hoping someone would save her.
"Mutsumi!"
"Mutsumi-san!" The two Uesugis sat up, Raiha had her arms pressed against Mutsumi's body and shook her gently. They both looked at her with concerned faces. Mutsumi looked around, noticing the window that showed a dark night sky. She guessed that it had only been a few minutes since she fell asleep..
"Sorry...I had a nightmare..." She said, tilting her head down apologetically. "I...I'm going to use the bathroom for a bit..." She said, getting up and leaving the room; the two siblings began discussing something in whispers. "I've gone and done it now..." She said, walking around and opening the door to the lavatory. "What am I doing? I'm just causing trouble for Fuutarou-san and his family..."
"You do that a lot, don't you." Yotsuba's voice entered her ears, source coming from the mirror in the room. "You just seem to bring trouble everywhere you go."
"Shut up! You're not real!" Mutsumi yelled, staring down the person reflected in the silvered glass. "Yotsuba would never say that! You're just in my head!" She screamed as the reflection glared at her, grinning.
"Am I?" Yotsuba said with a chilling voice, her fingers seeming to curl out of the surface of the mirror and onto the wall.
"No...You're not real!" Mutsumi said, taking steps backwards until she felt herself press against the wall. "Stop! Don't come closer!" She pleaded, sliding down the wall and hugging her knees. "Don't hurt me!"
Fuutarou barged in, finding the girl cowering on the floor. Trembling and perturbed, Mutsumi's breaths were heavy, her lips trembling with every heave. "Mutsumi, it's okay. No one's here." He said in his most gentle voice, which wasn't very gentle but there was an attempt. "Try to go back to sleep." He suggested. He saw her head bob up and down slightly as she looked around the room. She sighed in relief, getting up and returning to Raiha's side for the remainder of the night.