The six sisters bided their time on the train ride over to Kyoto, staying unusually silent compared to the rest of their class; even Fuutarou was quite talkative, having a very long conversation with Maeda and Takeda. Instead of discussing their plans or the places they want to visit, the redheads had pulled out a deck of cards and were having a small competition between the six of them. The scoreboard was Ichika in first with seven wins, with Miku in a close second as her poker face proved useful in disguising her thoughts; Mutsumi came in third, able to sometimes catch Miku's tells and guess what cards her sisters held. "So, Mutsumi-chan, do you fold?" The eldest asked, the other four already having bowed out of this bout. The current pot was a large pile of snacks they brought which was under Yotsuba's supervision.
"Onee-chan. You underestimate me. I know exactly what you have; it's a full house, right? And it's just threes and fours, right?" She leaned in, grinning as the eldest's face trembled. In truth, she saw her cards in the faint reflection of the window. The sixth sister chuckled, pulling her hand closer to her chest while staring down at the cards with a smile on her face. "I'll ca...no, I'll raise," She said tossing in some caramels from the pocket of her zipped up hoodie.
"...Fold." Ichika said, reluctantly throwing her hand down and reclining in her seat. "What did you have?"
Mutsumi absentmindedly reached over to get something to eat from her winnings. "Trash." She said, revealing her cards out to be an ace, a two, a four, a nine, and a seven. She laughed loudly as Ichika wallowed in her own foolishness. "Yotsuba, what happened to all of the...food..." Everyone's gaze turned to the pile of food, all of the wrappers had been opened up and a trail of crumbs on the floor lead their gaze toward the fifth sister. "...What are we going to bet now?"
"Whoever wins gets to boss the others around. Wouldn't that be fun, right Miku?" Ichika asked, looking up to find the third sister dozing off. Yotsuba shook Miku awake, whispering something into her ear as Mutsumi set up the next match.
"We'll see to it that your bigger bags get to the hotel, but please keep an eye on your valuables." The teachers said, all of the students sitting down in an organized crowd before them. As the class stood up, a certain sound caught Nino's attention, causing her to quickly turn around to see where it came from. "Something wrong?" Mutsumi asked, placing a hand on the second sister's shoulder.
"It might just be my imagination, but did you hear a camera go off?" Nino asked, knowing that Mutsumi had ways of finding out for sure.
"It's probably nothing. There's bound to be a bunch of people here to see the sights, maybe it was just a tourist getting a shot of the bullet train or something." Mutsumi said, dismissing the worry as the others soon joined them. "So, where to first?"
"Well, when it comes to big trips like these, it's all about shopping. A trendy store is way better than some musky old temple." Nino's cheeks turned slightly rosy as her mind wandered around her imagined version of Kyoto, picturing all of the boutiques that would sell her trinkets and clothes.
"You don't get it, do you? We're in Kyoto, so why not do something you can only find here?" Ichika interjected, glancing around the place to look for Fuutarou's group.
"Well, we have three days to do that, right? Why not get the big things out of the way now? Maybe visiting the shrines would bless the rest of our trip." Mutsumi added her own opinion into the mix. "I heard there was a god that was supposed to help with studies." She stared down at her phone, tapping on the screen and swiping around for something. "By the way, Fuutarou-san's group already left." She looked around, finding that her sisters all had the same look in their eyes.
"The hell is this place?" Maeda asked, finishing his prayer before his two groupmates.
"It's the shrine where the god of scholars resides. Maeda-kun, I can't bear to see your abysmal scores another time, so please pray hard." Takeda answered, his eyes still shut. The three of them stood by the shrine, the serenity of the scene broken as Maeda became infuriated at the light-haired boy's jab.
"Both of you shut up!" Fuutarou snapped at both of them. "And if we're done here, then we should go to our next stop." He sighed, ending his prayer and walking down to wait for Takeda. Maeda met him at the bottom of the short staircase, whispering something into Fuutarou's ear while putting his hands in his pocket.
"This is kinda underwhelming." Nino grumbled, the six Nakano sisters spying on the boys as they went to another shrine. "Let's go!" She stood up, walking at the head of the group while her sisters followed; Yotsuba staying near the back to assist Miku who was lagging behind them.
"Woah...I...I've seen some beautiful shit. But this is just breathtaking." Mutsumi stood around, awestruck by the torii that lined their path toward the next shrine. They were numerous, the sisters barely taking a second step beyond one before walking under the next.
"I've seen them in photos, but the real thing is an entirely different experience." Itsuki walked to the side, running her hand down one of the torii.
"Everyone! Show me a peace sign!" Nino pulled out her phone, turning around to snap a picture of her sisters. The five scrambled to strike a pose, the surprise leaving them unprepared.
"Photos of just us is quite rare nowadays." Ichika chuckled as the picture was taken. The five of them all held out two fingers, as per Nino's instructions, while striking vastly different poses. Mutsumi was split off, one hand examining the torii while the other did a peace sign. Yotsuba was front and center, extending her arm and grinning wide. Miku was more contained, hiding her paper bag behind her back. Ichika added a wink to hers as if to tease anyone that would happen across the image. And Itsuki posed, but her eyes were still fixated on the torii.
"True. It's even rarer if it's one with all six of us." Miku yawned, her walking slightly staggered due to her fatigue. "I don't think we've taken one since the last time we went here in elementary school."
All eyes slowly shifted to the sister that spent most of the past few years overseas. "Sorry! Okay! Let's take one now! All toge-"
"Wait, where's Uesugi-san? Did they go up already?" Yotsuba changed the subject, pointing up the path at nothing. "Let's go! We can't get left behind!" She smiled, looking back at all of her sisters to give them a bit of motivation to move. They picked up their pace, closing the distance between the two groups as they ran up the steps.
"How...much...longer?" Miku panted, struggling desperately as her foot slipped and she fell over.
"Gotcha! You okay, sis?" Mutsumi asked, helping Miku up as Yotsuba picked up the bag that she was carrying. "Just a bit farther, okay? We can take a break in a while."
"No...I can keep going! I have to keep going!" Miku said, catching her breath and taking steps with renewed vitality.
"When did she get so unshakable?" Nino muttered, only able to stare as the least physically adept sister stormed up the stairs at a speed that would rival Yotsuba's own. It had flown under her radar until now, but Miku had been pushing herself every day. Just that day, Miku had woken up early to go and use the bakery's kitchen to bake a fresh batch of bread for Fuutarou.
"It's nice to see that she's finally growing out of that awkward, shy phase." Ichika laughed, though she didn't pay attention to Miku's growth either. The sisters continued their trek up the mountain.
"Yeah, unlike a certain villainess. You have a plan up your sleeve, don't you?" Nino asked. Ichika didn't reply, walking forward with a slightly more stoic face. The six of them arrived at a fork in the path, as well as a small rest area where they soothed their aching feet.
"Hey, since it's almost lunchtime, why don't we rest here for a bit?" Itsuki excitedly pointed toward the stop. She was about to start rummaging in her bag for snacks when Miku blurted something out.
"Umm, about lunch..." She said, clutching the bag of bread tightly as everyone stared at her.
"Why don't we go and look for Uesugi-san's group first? Won't it get a bit lonely if it's just the six of us." She said, disguising her true intentions with a nice sentiment. "We're already split into two groups, so each one of us can take a path. That way we won't miss Uesugi-san." She added, looking proud at her sudden flash of brilliance.
"Hold on, deciding that for yourself is a bit..."
"I won the card game! My word is the law! I have the right to order anything!" Yotsuba shouted, getting the sisters to reluctantly climb up the rest of the path split up into groups. It didn't take long for Itsuki and Miku to get winded, only around halfway up the path. "Hurry up, Miku! We won't make it by lunchtime!"
"I can't go on!" Miku fell to her knees, her bravado from earlier fading as she started panting.
"Thanks to your stupid idea, we're in this predicament!" Nino groaned, complaining to her elder sister as the three of them happened across a washroom.
"Well, at least it quiet. It was getting loud in that rest area. Though, I do wonder if the other path is the one that people take more often. We haven't seen anyone else since we started walking up here." Mutsumi commented, looking at the screen on her phone as the three of them entered the washroom.
"Actually...I don't have to go. So I'll go on ahead." Ichika said, slowly walking out of sight as Mutsumi shut off the water of her faucet. Once she was a few meters away from the washroom, Ichika broke out into a sprint, running up the steps as fast as she could while taking things out of her bag. A blue sweater, a pair of Audio-Technica headphones, and a wig with long hair. She smirked, knowing that this route was the shorter one of the two paths that lead up to the summit. "It's too late to go back now." She thought to herself as another voice reached her ears.
"Onee-chan! Stop!" Mutsumi yelled, having run after her the moment Ichika decided to run ahead.
"Don't get in my way, Mutsumi-chan!" Ichika yelled, continuing to bolt up the path as fast as she could. "I can't let this chance slip by!"
"Please stop! Think about how Miku will feel! We're family! You can't do this! Stop before it's too late!" Mutsumi yelled, her voice accompanied by the repeated footfalls of her own body. After a few seconds of running, she managed to grab hold of Ichika's arm. "Please." She looked up at her sister, finding that her face held no semblance of hesitation, even after Mutsumi's pleading.
"I'm sorry, but I can't back down now." She said, pulling her arm free and continuing to dress like Miku.
"I'm sorry too, Onee-chan." Mutsumi reached out a second time, her hand grasping on to the ends of the wig and pulling it off of her sister's head. "I won't let you do this." She said firmly, using her other arm to pull Ichika aside and shove her off of the path into the plants nearby.
"Hey! Get back here- mmpphh!" Ichika tried to get up, but her foot was stuck under a tree root and needed wasn't easy to get out; not only that but Mutsumi took off her jacket and threw it onto her face. By the time she freed herself, the sixth sister was already out of sight. "Damn it..." She muttered as she got back on the path, brushing away the dirt on her clothes.
"I...even after everything I did. Someone else is going to take his attention away from me again." She thought as she slowly climbed up the rest of the way.
"Mutsumi...why are you disguised as me?" Miku's voice reached the eldest's ears as her eyes caught sight of the scene that was unfolding at the end of the path. "Mutsumi? There must be some kind of reason..."
"Mutsumi...is this what you were planning? You knew how hard Miku was working for this, and you wanted to take that away! I wanted to give everyone a fair chance, but you..." Yotsuba exploded, stomping over to the sixth sister's side. "'It'll be okay. I'm here. I won't let this happen again.' You said that to me when we were here last time, but now you're the one doing it." She added, her hands trembling as she clenched them tighter. "You traitor!" Her words stung, causing the sixth sister to take a few steps back and hide her face with the wig.
"I...Miku, I can explain..." Mutsumi lowered her head, shrinking down under the pressure of her two sisters.
"Then explain! I trusted you! How could you!"
"It's..."
"She wanted to stop you!" Yotsuba cut Mutsumi off, not having any of her sister's excuses. As she spoke, a familiar tuft of black hair, tufts that looked like a small rabbit, popped out from the steps behind Yotsuba.
"Yotsuba! Wait!"
"She wanted to stop you from having lunch with Uesugi-san!" She yelled as Fuutarou arrived at the shrine. All eyes turned to face him, all filled with a different emotion; Yotsuba's in shock, Miku's in embarrassment and sadness, Ichika's in fear, and, finally, Mutsumi's in acceptance and melancholy.