The second day arrived with the air in the apartment still tense. Miku was brought home last night; thankfully, it was nothing too dangerous but it was still concerning that she collapsed like that. "Oh, you're up early." Mutsumi jumped back in shock, her sight fixated on her sister as the two of them walked out of their room at the same time. "Should we make breakfast?"

"I'm going to skip breakfast today," Yotsuba said, tying her ribbon and straightening out her skirt. "There are still things that have to be done, so I'll head to school early." She added, heading down the stairs and out of the apartment before the others even woke up. Mutsumi shifted her wait in confusion before her eyes drifted off to another door.

"Are you awake?" She whispered, opening the door in question while silently stepping inside.

"Hmm? Fuutarou... no, we shouldn't... you're being so persistent today..."

"Miku!? What the hell were you dreaming about?" Mutsumi nearly screamed, her face flushed with blood upon registering her sister's words in her brain. "At least you're awake..."

"Mutsumi? When did I get home?" Miku asked, sitting up on her bed and noticing that she wasn't in her uniform anymore. "What time is it?"

"A few minutes after sunrise. You collapsed yesterday after the fire, or so I was told." Mutsumi walked to the side of the bed, sitting on the edge while placing her hand on Miku's forehead. "You don't seem to have a fever..." She smiled, leaning in closer. "If something goes wrong again, just look for me, okay?"

"Okay..." Pushing herself up, Miku sat on the mattress and slowly clambered out of her bed. After asking Mutsumi to leave her be, she started to get ready for school by placing her clothes on the bed. One by one, the sisters started to wake up, with the last one to rise being Ichika, shocking no one. After Nino made them breakfast, the four of them left the eldest in order to get to school.

"Where's Yotsuba?" Mutsumi wondered as she scanned the festival. Again, the sisters had split up for the day; Itsuki and Nino assisting the pancake stall since the takoyaki stall was put out of commission, leaving Miku and Mutsumi free to do whatever they pleased. As she walked around, she spotted her classmates busy with their own things. The boys of the class were left with nothing to do, so they were walking around aimlessly, all except for Maeda who was being dragged around by Matsui; Tsubaki was with the rest of the broadcasting club, getting interviews from the guests and the girls who weren't working at their stall were going around advertising for it. Just as she was about to take a break, she saw the familiar blur of red hair that could only come from one of her sisters. She thought of running after her, giving up the moment she saw the pace that she was running; it was Yotsuba.

"Did you find her?" Nino asked as Mutsumi returned to the pancake stall. The sixth sister nodded, offering to hold the sign in place of Itsuki who was standing there quietly. They stood there for a few moments, having some chatter to pass the time since there wasn't much foot traffic in the area. "I still can't believe he said that. It could be any one of us."

"That'd be a pain..." Mutsumi chuckled as she looked up at the large screen that was visible from every location of the school, finding Miku's face being broadcasted live by Tsubaki again. The third sister was doing an advertisement for the pancake stall, and that sent an influx of customers their way for the next ten minutes, two of which were very familiar with the sisters. "Hi, would you like some... You came!" She nearly dropped the sign at the sight of two dark-haired teens approaching them.

"Mutsumi, so this is your stall?" Takebayashi asked, holding onto Fuutarou's hand as if she was dragging him around; admittedly, she was. Smiling wide, she let go to grab onto Mutsumi's other hand to shake it around. "Tsubaki-chan made me do an interview, she just wouldn't stop!"

"Yeah, that sounds like something she'd do..." Mutsumi muttered, handing the sign back to Itsuki.

"Wait... You know each other!?" Fuutarou exclaimed; the look of shock on his face was a rare sight. Takebayashi and Mutsumi both looked at him with looks that implied that their friendship was obvious. As he wrapped his brain around the new information, Takebayashi leaned forward and whispered into Mutsumi's ear.

"So, is the one he met..."

"No, she's not here. Should we go find her?" Mutsumi asked, pulling out her phone and launching an app she had. She walked past her friend, turning the corner and finding Miku and Yotsuba eavesdropping on the two of them. "You do remember that we can all find each other's phones, right?" Mutsumi asked as the others looked over her shoulder.

"Maybe... anyway, who is that?" Yotsuba pushed her fingers together, pouting slightly before she was called over by one of her classmates. "I'll be right there!" With that, she ran off to help another person in need.

"There she goes again. That's her..." Mutsumi groaned, watching her sister vanish into the crowd. "I'll show you around, come on!" Grabbing Takebayashi by the hand, Mutsumi skipped away, intending to show her around all the stalls she enjoyed on the first day. They made one lap around the grounds, returning to the pancake stall with food stuffing their mouths and balloons wrapped around their arms. When they got back, Nino was behind the griddle along with some of the boys and girls from their class, Itsuki and Miku were nowhere to be found, and Fuutarou had vanished as well. Takebayashi was having less fun than Mutsumi, which showed on her face.

"What's on your mind?" Mutsumi asked once they got closer. Nino's face was morose, somber; she was in deep thought.

"I guess I was a bit naive to think that he'd be back for the second day." The second sister muttered looking up at Mutsumi and Takebayashi and stifling a laugh. "What is on your face!?"

"Caramel..." Takebayashi groaned. "A certain someone spilled their bucket on me after she won one of the game stalls."

"I said I was sorry! Jeez! I even gave you the prize!" Mutsumi whined, pointing at the snake plushie that was currently being held in her other hand. Takebayashi was about to pinch Mutsumi's cheeks when Tsubaki's voice came over the speakers.

"Attention all visitors. The role of Queen Emerald in the drama club's play will now be filled by Eba-san. Thank you for your understanding of the sudden cast change!"

"There's a play, do you want to..."

"What happened to Yotsuba?" Mutsumi hurriedly pulled out her phone, running down one of the paths as fast as she could while bumping into people. "Yotsuba!" She stopped near the school's entrance, finding her sister on a stretcher as she was being loaded into an ambulance. She ran up to the vehicle, watching as her sister lay still. All she could do was helplessly watch as she was driven to the hospital, Takebayashi catching up to her just as the ambulance started to spin its wheels.

"What happened?"

"I don't know... let's look for Tsubaki, she has to know something if she made that announcement for the drama club." A flip switched in Mutsumi's brain. All she could think of was finding answers, and she always found those answers with clinical precision. "Let's split up. We'll be more likely to find her that way." She said coldly, running off into the festival.

"There she goes again..." Takebayashi chuckled, running in the opposite direction and bumping into Fuutarou as he had a panicked look on his face. Even after pestering him, all she found out was that Yotsuba collapsed. She turned around just as Fuutarou walked up to the manager of Revival, begging for something before the manager reached into his pocket and placed whatever was inside in his hands.

"She's not here... where could she be? Wait, is that Itsuki?" Mutsumi wandered a ways away from where she started, finding her sister conversing with an overweight man with a bald head and a beard. "Hey, Itsuki-"

"Your mother used to be my student. Furthermore, she used to be my coworker. And finally..." The man told Itsuki, staring her down. "She used to be my wife. In other words, I'm your father." Itsuki took a step back, her fingers trembling as she tightened her grip on the sign of the pancake stall.

"I..."

"Itsuki! That's where you've been, I've been looking for you." Mutsumi rushed up to her, her back intentionally turned toward the bald man to hide her growing anger. "We could use some more help at the stall, let's go..."

"Hold it! You!" The man reached out to try and stop Mutsumi, getting his wrist trapped in Mutsumi's grasp as the sixth sister turned around with a sinister stare.

"You're not our father! Leave! You're good at that, aren't you!?" The sixth sister snapped, digging her nails into the man's arm. It was him! He was the first traitor, the first one to leave her, to leave them. Mutsumi's had enough with backstabbing scumbags, unwilling to listen to him purely because of the fact that he claimed to be their biological father. "We're fine without you, with our dad."

"Nakano-kun, huh?" The man said, scoffing at the thought of the doctor. "That kid was a brilliant student, but as a father, he's a failure." He said before the sound of his pained screaming stopped him from speaking another coherent sentence.

"He's done more for us than you could ever know! Just shut up!"

"What he's done is let my daughter walk down the same disillusioned path that Rena did." He said, pulling his arm free. "You know that your abilities fall short of becoming a teacher. I can prepare a number of other paths for you. I want you to remember, I'm sure she said something akin to this, did she not?" His gaze directed at Itsuki, his eyes narrowed.

"Mudou-sensei..." Itsuki muttered, trembling as she placed her hand on Mutsumi's shoulder for support. "Mutsumi... am I?"

"We're going!" Mutsumi grabbed Itsuki's arm and started running. Yotsuba was in the hospital, she was safe, she was with dad; Itsuki's problem was more pressing. The two of them ran to the opposite side of the school, hearing the revving of a motorbike's engine in the distance. "Itsuki, what happened?" They found some solitude inside of an empty classroom, Mutsumi pulling out chairs for the two of them.

"Am I really not fit to become a teacher?" Itsuki asked, a few tears rolling down her cheeks. "It's like he said, my academics are horrible! If I can't even..." She felt Mutsumi place her hand on her cheek.

"Itsuki. Why are you asking me?" Mutsumi asked, looking her sister right in the eyes, their faces inches apart. "Does what I have to say affect your test scores?"

"What do you mean?" Itsuki wiped them away as her lips trembled. Mutsumi stood up, putting her hands in the pocket of her jacket as she turned around to look out the doorway.

"It's your dream, right?" She said, sighing. "Why are you waiting for others to dictate your dream?"

"Even mom said that she regretted it..." Itsuki's words silenced the sixth sister who had to take a few seconds to think of an appropriate reply.

"I... I need to make a few calls, give me a minute." Mutsumi walked out, calling Fuutarou and filling him in on the situation. Meanwhile, footsteps echoed down the hall.

"Mutsumi, I found her... did something happen?" Takebayashi ran up with Tsubaki right behind her. All they saw for a reaction was Mutsumi's grinning face.

"Perfect... I need your help again, Tsubaki-chan."

Mutsumi hatched a plan, sending her friends off with their duties before she returned to the room. "Itsuki, what are you going to do?" Mutsumi asked, looking down at her sister as she curled up into a ball.

"I don't know..." The fifth sister whimpered, shivering in her seat. "I don't know..." Mutsumi clenched her fist, shutting her eyes as she bit her lip.

"Sis, I'm not going to help you here," Mutsumi said bluntly, getting Itsuki to look up at her with shock. "I can't help you here. But if you do want help, know that there are people here that will support you, that believe in your dream too. Look for them if you want." Itsuki could only watch as Mutsumi left the room, walking down the hall and out of sight.

"That was a bit harsh," Takebayashi said, meeting up with Mutsumi as she turned a corner. "So this is what you were like in class..."

"I'll never forgive him!" Mutsumi leaned forward, supporting her weight on her friend's shoulders as her stoic facade faded. "He... made me hurt her... but there really was nothing I could do." She cried as the two of them heard the skidding of Itsuki's chair against the floor. Mutsumi wiped away her tears, walking down the stairs. "We have to go. I just hope Fuutarou-san can do what I can't. I have a lot of things to do, mind helping me?" The two of them would stay until sunset, climbing trees and crawling under tables in preparation for Mutsumi's scheme.