"..." Yotsuba was stunned, staring at the boy that owned the test in her hand. "No way..." She thought, unable to speak as she continued to step toward him. "It really is Fuutarou-kun. This is amazing, to think we'd end up in the same school. He feels totally different compared to five years ago. But still, I'm happy." She took the chair across from him, leaning forward to stare at his face; he was in deep thought for some reason. "Studying during lunch, getting perfect scores... he's been working so hard ever since that day. Compared to that, I..."
After burying her feelings and calling out to him, his eyes finally focused on her.
"Haha, you're finally looking my way."
"How do you know my name?" He asked, reclining in his chair to put some distance between their faces. Following after him for the rest of the day, Yotsuba could only frown. He had forgotten her. "How long are you going to follow me!?" He asked, his tone irritated at her constant pestering. No matter what Yotsuba tried, any small talk she started never got a response from him. She was too ashamed to tell him the truth, what would he think of her.
"You still haven't said thanks." She found an out, the test she returned to him. Playing it off as if she was waiting for thanks all this time was the perfect excuse, allowing her to part ways with him and go to class. After everything that happened in Kurobara, it was only natural that their father would assign them a tutor, and it was a thought that made Yotsuba a little nervous. Would they be mean and scary? It turned out that those fears were unwarranted since the boy from her past would be the one guiding her and her sisters.
"To think that Fuutarou-kun would end up being our tutor. You just can't predict what fate will bring about." Yotsuba talked to herself, swinging alone in the park at night. "Studying isn't my strong suit, but if Fuutarou-kun is with me, I'll do my best." She smiled, the days passing by as Fuutarou struggled with his job.
"Rice starts with an R, not an L! Yotsuba, why are you smiling when I'm getting mad at you?" Fuutarou's role was one that nobody envied, especially because Yotsuba was one of his students. The boy was quickly coming to terms with the reality of the situation as the two of them conversed in the library. Yotsuba liked this closeness, just him and her like this brought her happiness that was different from the one her sisters gave her. But it didn't last since they were soon joined by the third sister. Miku, the drab and meek sister, the girl who would rather listen to music than participate in a conversation, that girl was smiling. Her gaze was aimed at the boy that became her tutor.
"M-Miku, could it be that the person you like is Uesugi-san?" Yotsuba asked, whispering into her ear as her sister looked back with rosy cheeks. If that sparked her curiosity, then the coming days would only cement it as fact. The next few tutoring sessions, and the festival, both of these showed Miku slowly closing the distance between her and Fuutarou. "And that's what Miku said, but..." Yotsuba pondered aloud, speaking to Ichika on the matter.
"She definitely likes him." The eldest said, giving her thoughts on the matter before her phone vibrated with a notification. "Fuutarou-kun is a good guy, but he's childish and that's about it."
For a while, it looked like it was just going to stay like that. Miku had fallen for Fuutarou, and it appeared as if Ichika forgot about that night in Kyoto. Time passed, with a lot of close calls in regards to their grades, but they were improving. The school trip seemed like another stepping stone for them, at least at first. Yotsuba watched, standing beside Fuutarou with both of them dressed for the test of courage, as Ichika looked at Fuutarou reminiscently. He was in a blonde wig, the look jogging the eldest's memory of her night five years ago.
With all of the developments around her, Yotsuba returned to the only place that allowed her to think in silence. "Even though it does feel kind of lonely, I'm glad that everyone is getting along well with Fuutarou-kun. Maybe we should visit him in the hospital?" She asked nobody in particular. After convincing her sisters and pointing out that they had to get their shots soon anyway, they entered the hospital one day.
"Yotsuba, can you go look for Itsuki?" Ichika whispered, looking around the hall for any sign of the fifth sister. They were all gathered together, except for Itsuki. Breaking off to start her search, Yotsuba decided to take a peek in Fuutarou's room. They had just paid him a visit, him getting sick during their last day of the school trip. "Is she in here?" She leaned in, listening in to a conversation happening between Fuutarou and Itsuki.
"Please tell me, the reason that you study."
The words that escaped Fuutarou's mouth brought some bliss. Even after all the years that passed, he still looked back on those memories as fondly as she had. It felt surreal, a strange feeling that nearly brought her over the line of telling him the truth about her identity, nearly. One thing stopped her, one girl.
"This is amazing..." Yotsuba thought, holding the holograph that Mutsumi handed her as a gift from her days overseas. "I could never make this..." Her heart sank slightly, already comparing herself to her sister. The next day, Mutsumi ate lunch with them, already trying to make an enemy of Fuutarou.
"I can teach them myself, wouldn't that be better for everyone?" She showed everyone her achievements, almost all of which were academic or something adjacent like robotics. Yotsuba's eyes widened, only able to stare as her sister did what she couldn't; she fulfilled Yotsuba's promise when Yotsuba herself couldn't. To say that it made her a little envious and dejected was an understatement.
After a few tenuous conversations, things started to unravel in the Nakano household. Itsuki and Nino had left home, and everyone had gone out to get them back. During her search, she ran into Mutsumi as the two of them spied on Itsuki and Fuutarou having a conversation in a park. After Fuutarou returned home, she and Mutsumi called out to Itsuki, having a conversation with her and forming a plan.
"What exactly do you think will happen after that?" Mutsumi asked, referring to the plan that she, Yotsuba, and Itsuki hatched that night.
"I hope that he just forgets and is able to move on. That might help him get everything done." Yotsuba took another look at her sister, the two of them illuminated by a half-covered moon. She was everything that she wanted to be, the version of herself that she wanted to show Fuutarou but couldn't. As Mutsumi stared off into the water, Yotsuba felt some blood start to trickle out of her palms as she dug her nails into them. Anger was not something that the girl was used to dealing with, especially when it was directed toward her own flesh and blood. So the moment she realized that it was bubbling within her, she loosened her grip and wiped the blood away on the inside of her ribbon. "Without the promise weighing him down..." She muttered, finally getting the genius to turn around and face her.
"What promise?" Mutsumi asked; a curious smile on her face that reminded Yotsuba of the smile that she had on that night with Fuutarou.
"Ehh. It's private..." Yotsuba deflected, bottling her anger with a smile. The two of them returned home, Yotsuba going into the bathroom to clean her hands and ribbon when her phone vibrated from an incoming phone call. It was Itsuki, who was currently residing in the Uesugi house, and she suggested that the plan would go into action tomorrow. Yotsuba went to bed for the night, getting up early to inform Mutsumi of the change.
"You deserve to hear this." Mutsumi said, handing Yotsuba an earpiece before walking away in her disguise. Yotsuba snuck around in the bushes, finding a place to sit down as her sister started to talk to her tutor. Everything was going according to plan, and Mutsumi was moving the conversation to the point where she could tell Fuutarou to forget about the past. Yotsuba smiled, yet her hand moved over to her chest as if there was a burning pain around that area. Even with that sensation, she was content just watching and listening to the two of them. It wasn't until she heard her thoughts in a different voice that she started to feel the pain again.
"After all, compared to you, I haven't done anything about our promise, Mutsumi..." Fuutarou said what has been on Yotsuba's mind for months, ever since she met up with him again in the cafeteria. He thought that it was Mutsumi that he met in Kyoto, and it was only natural that he'd think that. It was the combination of both of those things that caused Yotsuba to finally break, her tears starting to form and her lips beginning to tremble.
"I'm sorry, Fuutarou... Uesugi-san." Yotsuba muttered to herself as her eyes moved over to her sister. Yotsuba wiped away her tears as Mutsumi continued to pull him along her plan, the sixth sister's tone shifting significantly after her conversation with Fuutarou. She bid him farewell as Yotsuba emerged from the bushes, fists trembling behind her back. Yotsuba forced herself to smile, Mutsumi didn't know anything about the promise and it wouldn't be right to blame her for it. But no matter how much she smiled, that seed of anger only continued to fester. Day after day, with every passing second that Mutsumi got more comfortable with Fuutarou, Yotsuba silently grit her teeth. It would continue to build up, waiting for the chance to explode out; that chance came one night on the swings.
"I am fine with it. The past is the past." Yotsuba said, swinging to her heart's content as she gazed out into the city. After having a conversation about the plan at the lake, she tried her best to distract herself from her feelings that day. Mutsumi came to confront her about the plan, about how Yotsuba wanted Fuutarou to forget. The sixth sister wondered if it was really the best option they had.
"Well, I'm not. Yotsuba, I'm sorry, but I already told him."
"You what!?" This was too much for Yotsuba. Mutsumi had taken the last straw, and she was having none of it now that she told Fuutarou about the past. The sixth sister always seemed to act before considering everyone else, dragging everyone behind her as she charged forward, even now. But no more, Yotsuba wasn't going to get caught up in her pace, this time Yotsuba would make the choice. "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 you can have something to be proud of too, something only you can have. I didn't feel right taking it, so I'm giving it back." Mutsumi's words only had the opposite effect.
"Proud? Proud of failing him? I'm done." Yotsuba thought, furrowing her brows. "This is for me? I don't believe it. After everything that's happened, all the work I did to make him forget that day, you got in my way by taking my identity, and now you throw all of it in the trash." She wanted to speak, but her anger fused her lips shut, unable to vocalize her thoughts. "You always try to meddle, don't you? Making decisions for others even when they don't ask for help. Well, I'm sick of it!" Her body moved faster than her mind, her fist impacting the side of Mutsumi's head and sending her onto the ground. After a few more heated words, Yotsuba stormed back home, her frenzy ending partway in her walk. It would take days before things between her and Mutsumi would return to normal, but it was thanks to Mutsumi that she could muster up the courage to confront her feelings head-on.
"Yotsuba?" Fuutarou asked, staring at Yotsuba as she somberly walked away. With everyone all disguised as Itsuki, the young boy was having trouble figuring out which of the sisters he was talking to. But the way she dropped her head, the air around her felt like it did during the time they met in the car of the Ferris wheel. It was as if the girl was carrying something heavy on her shoulders that she couldn't tell anyone.
"..." Yotsuba stopped, turning around to look at him with a wide smile on her face. "How did you know?"
"You just seemed like Yotsuba." Fuutarou managed to say before he was tackled to the floor. Time passed, and she found ways to vent out her frustrations. Yotsuba, after taking some time during their high school trip to Kyoto to mull over Mutsumi's words, started to think of herself a bit differently. Which leads us back to the conversation in the boat, on the lake, in a park.
"So, that's everything... I think I may have... what's the word? Overcorrected? I went from thinking of only myself to thinking of everyone except myself. But now I think I've found the right mix of selfishness and selflessness; it's all thanks to you..." Yotsuba finished speaking, rowing herself and her companion back so they could get on solid ground. She looked up at the sky above, the perfect mix of blue and white clouds, a bright day that made her walk home even more jovial. "I'm home!"
"Oh, Yotsuba, where have you been?" Miku asked, browsing her phone for culinary schools.
"Just taking a walk..." Yotsuba said, rather unconvincingly, but she didn't give Miku the chance to ask any followup questions by running into their bedroom. "Ah..."
"...i-san... Oh, I'll call you back." Mutsumi said, hanging up her phone as she turned to look at her sister who had come in unannounced. "So, did you tell him?"
"Yeah. Thanks, Mutsumi." Yotsuba said, walking over to peek at her sister's latest project... which was Itsuki's phone for some reason.