"Hey! Uesugi-san!" Yotsuba's voice broke the morning silence, the day still dark as the sun began rising in the distance to dye the atmosphere a hue of orange.
"Fuutarou-kun, you're here early." Ichika teased him as the five siblings closed in to his figure.
"Well, I feel kind of guilty taking Mutsumi's place; I decided to make myself helpful." Fuutarou waved, offering his hand out to receive their luggage as footsteps were heard coming from the boat docked nearby. Ebata and Maruo emerged from below deck, the two of them giving glances at the boy as he carried a handful of bags onto the vehicle. He felt a chill run up his spine as he walked passed them.
"Uesugi-kun." Itsuki got on deck. "How did you manage to convince father to allow this?" She asked while her sisters were assisting Ebata with some more luggage. Fuutarou paused, swallowing a knot in his throat before sighing.
"As luck would have it, I also won the contest. So my dad gave yours a call. Your father said I was the safest option. Since..." He paused. "He...err...wasn't comfortable allowing Raiha to come since she was a stranger to him...and my dad kinda pissed him off."
Itsuki tilted her head, curious and not convinced. "I see..." She said, walking over to the stairs that lead below. "Well, I have another question."
"What is it?"
"Why did you need to ride this boat? Why didn't you join your fa-"
"Uesugi-sama." Ebata tapped him on the shoulder, approaching with a few more bags. "The master wishes to talk to you." He gave a slight nod, which Fuutarou reciprocated before dashing to the doctor's side, leaving the fifth sister by her lonesome for a while.
The voyage began, the boat quiet as the sisters all took in the view from the starboard side. Nino was snapping pictures of Yotsuba is silly poses, Miku reading a pocket book was joined by Ichika who was silently staring back at the city as it faded over the horizon. Itsuki felt the wind brush her hair as she munched on some sandwiches they had packed. "Uesugi-kun, do you believe this will work?" Below deck, the three males sat conversing over a small bowl of fruit.
"I'm unsure. Mutsumi's done what seemed like the impossible before, so I have no doubt that it's possible, but the odds of this working are slim." Fuutarou said as beads of sweat rolled down his face. "She mentioned something about their grandfather being there, do you think that would affect things?"
"Perhaps. He runs the business where we will be lodging, so he will no doubt be a presence that will be close to the events that will transpire." Ebata took a knife, peeling an apple and cutting it into small chunks.
The atmosphere was tense, Maruo's gaze never leaving the boy. "It would be wise if you were on your best behavior." He said, staring into Fuutarou's soul. The teen nodded, gazing out the porthole to calm himself with the sight of the rippling waves.
Elsewhere, Isanari and Raiha began walking to the dock, carrying only a few things. The wind blew the sea air into their nose as they arrived, turning back at the street and the person following them. "It's go time." He said, looking out at the ocean with his hand to his brow. He stepped aboard, followed after by Raiha. "Are you just going to stand there?" He said to the girl in a beret, a teen with platinum blonde hair neatly tied into a braid that was resting on her shoulder.
"Coming!" She responded, slowly wobbling her way on board in a pair of heeled sandals. "I wonder if this will work." She turned to Isanari as they made their way to their seats to stow their stuff. "Uesugi-senpai."
"It will, Mutsumi-san. It has to." Raiha replied, taking the window seat in the row of two. Mutsumi sat beside her, Isanari getting one of the seats behind them. "By the way, Mutsumi-san. Why don't you dress like that normally?"
"How do I put this?" Mutsumi put her hand to her face, thinking. "It's from when I was studying in other countries. People tend to forget me, or just exclude me. It felt like they were just using me. So I started dressing differently to try and scare them off, to show that I was serious and stuff." She said in a higher pitched tone. "And...I think it looks weird on me."
"Weird? You look great!" Raiha said, looking up at the teen.
"Do I really?" She instinctively brushed her hair with her fingers, stopping as she felt the gem inlaid earring dangling from her ear. It was faint, but different enough that she looked different, the makeup on her face. A light pink lipstick, a bit of blush, and just a touch of eyeliner. Hair brushed to the side then tied into a braid, dyed pale, finished off with a bee hairband and a white beret. "Thank you." She said with a bow as her hands grabbed the dress she was wearing, an old tea dress. All lent to her by members of the Uesugi household, mostly the late mother.
After some time, they were allowed to go above deck. Mutsumi and Raiha clung to the railing of the boat while Isanari snoozes in his seat. The wind blew past them, the air salty. Gulls flew overhead, their squawks joining the sound of the cascading waves from below. Mutsumi shut her eyes, thinking with the sea breeze to calm her down. "Yotsuba...I'm sorry." She muttered, tightening her grip.
"You'd better be! You ruined everything!" Yotsuba's voice resonated in her head. Mutsumi stiffened, her head jittering as she shook the voice out of her mind.
"No. Things will be fine! You're just...I'm just paranoid. There's no way she'd say that..." Mutsumi slapped her cheeks with her palms, the pain enough to bring her back to the moment. Raiha was looking below, the deep blue water sometimes showed fish that swam too close to the surface. A ways off, the two spotted a seagull dive and snatch one from the water before flying away.
"Mutsumi-san! Look!" Raiha grabbed her attention, pointing to the front of the boat, or more specifically: what was on the horizon. An island, with a beach and a port, was approaching, trees turned it a verdant hue in their view. Mutsumi ran up to the nose of the boat, followed by Raiha, and just gazed at the landmass as they approached. She took off her glasses, a wide and excited smile clearly displaying her feelings.
"Grandpa." She muttered as they closed in.
"Uesugi-kun. Why are you just standing there?" Itsuki asked, counting something in her bag meticulously. She and the others were offloading their things, while Fuutarou was staring out at the ocean in search of something. "Are they on their way?"
"I'm not sure, they just said that they left." He said, turning to face the girl. "Shouldn't you be with your sisters. I'll wait here, so you should go ahead."
"What? Oh. I suppose so." Itsuki glared at him out of curiosity, her eyes focusing on his expression. "Well, don't wait too long."
"Itsuki-kun. Let's be off." Maruo interrupted, walking up to the two before turning his mind to the ocean. "Let's not waste time. Even if Uesugi-kun is here, this is a family vacation for the both of us. We should leave him to his family." He said. Itsuki raised an eyebrow, her lips curling as he reluctantly followed the doctor away from Fuutarou.
True to his word, Fuutarou stood for another hour while waiting for the next boat. Greeting his family after dozing off while seated on his bag, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and carried Raiha's luggage. "How are they?" Mutsumi asked, stepping down from the boat with her head facing up the path.
"They seemed fine, but I was stuck with your father and Ebata-san for the trip." He said, sighing as the four of them began walking to their lodging.
"Do you think they'll be able to see through this?" Mutsumi asked, hiding behind the taller people as she looked down at her clothes.
"Maybe."
A few minutes into their trek, they stopped by a small structure. An archway of some sort, the only feature being a bell with a rope. However, that was not the reason they stopped; they stopped as they spotted a haze of red locks flowing in the wind. Mutsumi hid her face more, her beret the only thing visible, popping out from behind Fuutarou's shoulder. Maruo stood nearby, Ebata at his side, both noticed the group approaching. "Uesugi." He said, spotting the hat from where he stood. "Oh dear, it seems like it's going to rain. Let's go everyone." He said, walking away as the girls turned to the latest arrival.
"Raiha-chan!" Yotsuba ran up, embracing the child in her arms so quickly that it seemed like the dust began to kick up. "Come on. I want to show you something..." She said, stopping as a scent reached her sensitive snout. Rose with a slight hint of nuttiness, the source currently standing behind the two male Uesugis.
"Oh, who's that?" Ichika asked, raising an eyebrow. "Could it be?" Mutsumi and Fuutarou felt a chill run up their spine. "You've had a girlfriend this entire time?" Ichika said, bringing her sisters' attention to the hat.
"Uhm...h-hi." Mutsumi walked out shyly. "Act different. Fool them, at least for now. Be someone else." She thought to herself. "I'm Fuu..." She paused. "What do I call him? My normal greeting might give me away."
"You're?" She felt the pressure from her sisters' stares. Miku and Nino seemed to scan her whole figure, Ichika and Yotsuba stared her in the eyes, while Itsuki glanced back and forth between her and Fuutarou.
"I'm Fuu-kun's cousin. It's nice to meet you." She said, shrinking down and backing away from her sisters.
"Cousin?" Miku turned to Fuutarou. "You never mentioned that you were bringing her along."
"Well, it's complicated. I jus..." Fuutarou stuttered, feeling Raiha brush past him and run to the bell.
"What's this bell?" She asked, diverting attention away from Mutsumi. The redheads walked up to her, though they shot occasional glances towards Mutsumi and Fuutarou. Behind her back, Raiha gave Fuutarou a thumbs up.
"The bell of vows." Yotsuba began. "Legend has it that the man and woman who ring this bell together will be bound together for eternity." She turned to Raiha.
"Why do I feel like I've heard something similar before?" Miku commented, touching the rope gently as it dangled at her eyelevel. "Right Fuutarou?" She turned, finding that the Uesugis and Mutsumi have vanished.
"Raiha-chan." Itsuki whispered, bending down to the black haired girl's ear. "Your brother has been acting strange today, do you have any idea about what's going on?" Raiha turned her head, smiled, and shook in denial.
"And that girl. Is she really Fuu-kun's cousin?" Nino overheard, bending down to join the conversation. Raiha managed to talk to them for five minutes by asking about the island.
"I've got to thank Raiha-chan later. She really got us out of that one." Mutsumi said as they met up with Maruo and Ebata outside of the inn. The five of them entered the inn, greeted by a skeletal looking old geezer that Mutsumi instantly ran up to. "Gramps!" She said, pulling his frail body into a hug. The old man whispered into her ear, questions to her attire and her sisters. "Grandpa...I can explain later...but we...sorta got in a small fight. So, can I stay in a different room for now?"
The old man frowned, looking over at Fuutarou and Isanari before whispering into his granddaughter's ear. He reaches down, reluctantly handing her a key before forcing out a smile. "Good luck, Mutsumi." He said in an old raspy voice before setting down a few more keys for the men.
"Thank you grandpa." She hugged him again. "And...don't tell them I'm here. I have a plan, but it has to be a surprise." She said before some staff brought them to their respective rooms. After setting her things down and enjoying a bath in solitude, she walked by the Uesugi family on her way back to her room, meeting with two of the redheads who was waiting for her by her room. She froze, finding two of her sisters with long flowing hair, cowlicks, both dressed in tracksuits and each wearing Itsuki's signature stars.
"Oh, hi." One said, her tone curious and her posture seemed more well put together.
"Itsuki-san?" Mutsumi asked, half genuinely confused and half for her disguise.
"We never got your name." The second one said, her voice coming out slightly more distant, cold and almost secluded.
"Was this one Miku?" She thought to herself, unsure and somewhat afraid. "It's...Mizu...M-Mizuna." She muttered, flustered. "U-uhm...it was nice to meet you." She said frantically, entering her room and shutting the door quickly. "What the fuck?" She thought to herself. "How am I supposed to do this now?"
"Do you think it was her?" The first Itsuki asked the second, who just stared at the ground.
"I don't know yet. She doesn't act like Mutsumi, but..." The second entered a room, meeting with three other Itsukis. "She got us right, so maybe. We're going to ask them about it later, right?" Miku asked, walking over to her bag to pull out her phone and headphones.
"Midnight." Itsuki, the real one, replied. "She's definitely hiding something, they all are."
A/N: Vacation time! With this, maybe I'll be able to put out more chapters, maybe. Post confession Miku was more confident during the pool chapter and the festival arc, so her early confession in this story would have the same effect, I think. By the end of this arc, I'll have "Itsuki" in my muscle memory from typing it so much.
At first, I was on the fence with her being able to identify them right off the bat, but she has spent a lot of time with them by this point. When will she realize this? Who knows.