It was a quiet summer afternoon, people milling about on their vacation as tourists and locals alike filled the street. A certain redhead, hair tied into a ponytail and sticking out the back of her cap, jeans and a black shirt under a black hoodie, finished off with a pair of boots and hair clips; Mutsumi waited around by an intersection for the light to change. "Ah, there she is." A voice reached her ears, leading to her raising her head to look at the direction it came from. A group of girls emerged from a convenience store across the street, waving to her and beckoning her to come over.
"Sorry, did I make you wait?" Mutsumi lowered her head, bowing apologetically toward the girls. "Even though I was the one that asked you to come out here, I was the last to arrive. I'm sorry. Thank you for your time, Matsui-san, Tsubaki-san..."
"You don't have to be so serious," Tsubaki said, placing her hands on Mutsumi's shoulders to straighten out her back. "Well, let's go shopping!" She said, taking the others' hands in her own and skipping toward the nearest mall. Matsui walked slightly faster to keep up with Tsubaki's pace, while Mutsumi opted to just hover a few feet behind the two of them.
"Why did you call us out? You don't normally talk to people in the class other than Takeda-kun and Uesugi-kun." Matsui asked, glancing over her shoulder as Mutsumi trailed behind with a hunched back and a frowning face. "Is everything okay?"
"Huh? I was just thinking... I had a fight with my sisters during the trip, so I was thinking of getting something for them to apologize." She said, her tone soft and somber. "I'm sorry for dragging you two out here."
"Hey, stop that!" Tsubaki said, walking back to place her hand on the redhead's back. "You gotta cheer up."
"Yeah! But it really is a nice gesture, I'm sure they'll be really happy." The three of them entered the mall, looking around for the right stores. "So what do you want to get them?"
Mutsumi thought for a while, suggesting some clothes for Nino and Ichika. "I have some money saved up from my part-time. So anything's fine with me." She said, reaching for her wallet.
"Do you know their size?" Tsubaki asked, turning around before she put her head in her hands. "Never mind, I forgot that you're sextuplets." She tiptoed over to Mutsumi, raising the girl's arms up and pressing her shirt against her body. "Let's go, I know just the place." Leading the other two to a clothing store, she slowly scanned everything from the window before nodding to herself and entering the establishment.
"Mutsumi-chan, now that we're here I have to ask, why do you always dress like a boy?" Matsui asked as the two of them waited for Tsubaki to pick out clothes, taking a seat near a mirror in the store. Mutsumi looked at her reflection, gripping the bottom hem of her shirt and jacket. "Whenever I see you or your sisters going out, I never see you in skirts or dresses. You almost never wear blouses or have makeup on. I think the only time you dress like a girl is when you're in school."
"It's a long story..." Mutsumi tried to change the subject, still gazing at the mirror. Matsui shifted around her seat, shuffling over to sit a bit closer to Mutsumi.
"We have quite some time." She raised a finger, pointing to Tsubaki who was slowly browsing each rack; she was currently taking deciding between a long-sleeved blouse with purple and pink accents, or a short-sleeved black blouse with diagonal lines that matched with a cardigan that was displayed on one of the mannequins.
"I see..." Mutsumi said, already fearing what was to come. "Then I'll keep it brief. Essentially, it was a mix of needing pockets, and trying to not attract attention." She leaned back, supporting her upper body with her arms. "You know that I came from abroad, it's no secret. Because I went overseas, I met a lot of people. Not all of them were nice to me. I had to move around a lot, so any friends I made would slowly stop talking to me. One day I decided to just try to be there without needing to be there if that makes sense. If people didn't notice me, then I wouldn't make as many friends and wouldn't get sad when I had to fly away to another country. I didn't really have my friends in my class, so I didn't dress to impress anyone."
"I see..." Matsui laced her fingers together, not taking her eyes off of Mutsumi for a moment. "But what about now? You're not going to move away, right? Why not dress to show off? I mean, having friends other than your sisters would be nice, right?"
"I'm not sure..." The sixth Nakano lowered her gaze toward her body. "I might not look good in dresses or skirts or things like that. I'm just not that type of person."
"You won't know until you try, right? And it looks like you're going to have to try." Matsui turned around just as Tsubaki walked up to them, though neither could really recognize her behind the large mountain of cloth that she carried. "You have the same body as your sisters, right? Why not try them on?"
Pushed into a changing room by Tsubaki, Mutsumi was forced to model for the two of them as they decided on what to give to Nino. The first outfit was a pair of jean shorts, a loose and flowing white top that showed off her shoulders and chest, and a high waisted purple jacket that would never be able to zip up all the way. The second was a summer dress, white with faint hints of silver and a ribbon tied around the waist, paired with a light pink overcoat that ran down to the middle of her thighs. "You look great!" Tsubaki said, taking out her phone and snapping a few photos as Mutsumi turned as red as her hair.
"... I think these will do... Let's go... I'm feeling kind of hungry." Still trying to desperately cover her body, Mutsumi slid the curtain closed and changed back into her normal clothes, putting both outfits in a pile. After paying for the clothes, the girls went out of the store and window-shopped along their way to a fast food place. "Since I was late earlier, I'll pay for your orders."
"Okay! Thanks a bunch, Mutsumi-chan!" Tsubaki and Matsui stared at the menu, leaving Mutsumi behind to just watch them. Sighing to herself, she started sulking as she lined up with them.
"I'm just buying their time, right? They probably want to be anywhere else but here, with anyone else but me..." She thought, looking at the situation objectively. "I mean, I barely even know them, but I asked them to come with me..."
"Mutsumi-chan! You're doing it again." Tsubaki said, snapping the girl out of her trance. Mutsumi looked up, only a few centimeters away from Tsubaki's face before she took a step back in surprise. "You really look down."
"I'm fine. I was just... deciding on what to get." She lied, staring up at the menu as the person in front of them left with their order. "We're up."
With their order placed and taken care of, the three sat down at a table while sipping on their drinks. Tsubaki and Matsui passed the time with some gossip; boys, clothes, the latest trends. Mutsumi, on the other hand, just shrank down and ate quietly, unable to follow the conversation. They stopped talking, noticing the redhead's growing unease at the current situation. Just as they opened their mouths to talk to her, a ping sounded off from Mutsumi's phone. "Oh... Oh!" Mutsumi read the notification, a text from a number she hasn't heard from ever since she got back to Japan.
"Who's that?" Tsubaki leaned in from across the table. "Is that your boyfriend?" She teased, trying to sneak a glance.
"N-No! I never... It's just a text from a friend. A friend!" Mutsumi pouted, glancing down to read it. "I'll have to talk with them later." She said, smiling as she returned her phone to her pocket.
"Yeah, sure. Just a friend, yeah." Tsubaki continued to tease, getting an embarrassed chuckle out of Mutsumi and a giggle from Matsui. "Anyway, we have a gift for Nino-chan, who's next?"
"Yotsuba or Miku. I guess I'll flip a coin." Mutsumi took one of the coins from their change and tossed it into the air, leaving it up to luck.
"What would Yotsuba-san like?" Matsui asked, asking while looking at the other two as they browsed the mall's directory.
"She doesn't ask for things often, so it's hard to know what she wants." Mutsumi sighed, shutting her eyes to think about her sister. "Let's see, what would she want?" Maybe a new ribbon, or some weights? She was half-tempted to just send a text asking her, stopping herself as she looked at her phone screen. "I have no idea." She looked at her gallery, looking for clues in the photos she took. "Actually, let's go to a flower shop."
"Daisies and bluebells? Does Yotsuba-chan even like flowers?" Tsubaki asked, stopping to literally smell the roses. Mutsumi took the bouquet in her hand, paying for it and sniffing the aroma that wafted from the plants.
"You'd be surprised. Her room at home had a few dozen flowerpots." She chuckled, moving the flowers over to have a comfortable grip on them. "Well then, let's go get something for Miku."
"Actually, I have to get something myself. I'll meet up with you later." Matsui clapped her hands together, bowing while asking permission from the others in the group.
"Gonna get something for Maeda-kun?" Playfully joshing her friend, Tsubaki garnered Mutsumi's attention. "Are you going to confess yet?"
"It's not like that! We just study together!" Matsui turned crimson, hiding her face with her hands. "B-But I am going to get something for him..." She quickly shuffled off, running away to a shoe store and leaving Mutsumi and Tsubaki by themselves.
"So..." Mutsumi muttered, walking beside Tsubaki as they absentmindedly strolled around to find a gift for the third sister. The air around them was awkward, both of them unable to find something to talk about.
"Ah, I saw Ichika-chan on the news earlier. The photographer got a good shot of her coming out of a cafe. Hex-san, I want to meet them someday." Tsubaki said, scratching the back of her head in an embarrassed fashion as she couldn't bear the silence any longer.
"Well... you're already talking to her..." Mutsumi looked away, hiding a smirk with the flowers she bought. "I didn't know you were into photography, Tsubaki-san." She was slightly surprised, her voice raising up a few pitches from the joy she felt at finding something she can talk with her about.
"Well, I'm part of the school broadcasting club, so I pay attention to lighting and camera angles and... Wait! You're hex-san!?" Tsubaki grabbed Mutsumi's shoulders, shaking the girl violently as she started to smile from ear to ear. "This is amazing! How do you always get those shots of Ichika-chan? She's always so busy..." She then paused, slowly putting the pieces together. "Ahhh, that's how..." She nodded, giggling as they continued to walk around. Making idle chatter as they searched for the right store, the two of them couldn't seem to stop. It started with photography techniques and camera angles, then Mutsumi told Tsubaki about her homemade devices, and after that came the questions about why they got into their hobbies; they just went on and on until they stumbled into a book store.
"Do you think we can find something here?" Mutsumi asked, walking through the shelves. "Oh, she's been trying to learn how to cook! Where are the cookbooks?" She quickly skipped over to the shelf filled with foreign cookbooks. "Le repertoire de la cuisine?" Mutsumi read the title, flipping through the pages of an old-looking book. "Eh?" She thumbed through the pages, struggling to understand it.
"Can you read French?" Tsubaki asked, looking over Mutsumi's shoulder.
"I can... but this is just confusing. Look at this one... This recipe needs this sauce, but the sauce..." Mutsumi flicked over to another page. "Is on this page, and it needs this..." She went to another page, the cycle repeating for a while.
"I think we should look for something else." Tsubaki held the side of her head, getting a little dizzy from all of the page flipping. "How about this?" She reached over to a shelf, pulling out a book from a famous chef. Mutsumi agreed, returning the confusing book and heading out to pay for the cookbook. Tsubaki got a text from Matsui, telling them to meet up at the exit of the mall.
"Did you get something for Miku-san?" Matsui asked, waving the two over the moment she caught sight of them. Mutsumi said nothing, only holding up the book they bought to give her the answer she was looking for. "Tsubaki-chan, are you free next weekend?" Matsui hid a bag behind her back as Mutsumi and Tsubaki walked up to her.
"Yeah? Wanna go out again?" Tsubaki answered, the two of them walking ahead of Mutsumi as they started planning their next girl's hangout. It was then, as she watched the two slowly put distance between them and her, that Mutsumi remembered the position she was in.
"Right... I don't really fit in... They're too close, there's no room for me." She thought, staring at their smiling faces as she slowly followed behind them. She smiled somberly, having enjoyed the short time they spent together that day. "Uhm... Can I come along too?" She blurted out, stopping while staring at them with a curious and hopeful face.
"What are you talking about, Mutsumi-san?" Those words instantly crushed the small amount of hope Mutsumi had.
"I see..."
"Yeah. I thought it was a given that you were invited. I mean, we're friends, right?" Tsubaki turned around with a wide smile on her face, taking a few steps to hold Mutsumi's hands. Mutsumi smiled like a child on their birthday. Tsubaki and Matsui, her first friends since she got back from abroad, and since she left Japan years ago. She was close to tearing up, holding them back to not make the situation awkward.
"Yeah. I'll go." She said, waving goodbye to them as she crossed the road to start heading home. She pulled out her phone again, finally answering the text she got from earlier.
"Mutsumi-chan. How've you been? It's been a while since we talked, what have you been up to? What country are you in now? Did you win anything new? I've been well, and my grades are improving. Thanks for those English tips." The text she got earlier read.
"I've been doing better. I don't need to take my medicine anymore, and I just finished going shopping with my new friends. Also, I made some friends. Didn't win anything since last time. Oh! I'm back in Japan! We should meet-" She stared down at her phone, tapping away to type up her reply. Walking blindly down the sidewalk, she was just about finished with the message when something collided with her forehead. "Ah! Sorry! Sorry! I wasn't looking at where I was going."
"No, no. It's my fault. I wasn't watching... Mutsumi-san?" A familiar face greeted her, long black hair and a gentle smile. "Did you get my message?"
"I was just writing my reply!" Mutsumi instantly ran up to the person she hit when she recognized her face and voice. She took her hands in hers, jumping up and down giddily. "Let's go catch up over some cake, Takebayashi-chan!"
A/N: Since the end of the flashback arc is chapter 90 in the manga, I have a five-chapter buffer to do what I want. Not saying that delay the beach chapter for five chapters, but maybe I'll do something since the timeline gets a bit flexible around this part.