"Mutsumi? Tsubaki-san? What are you two doing?" Yotsuba asked the moment she got to school on the third day. She was the last of the sisters to get out of bed that morning, taking a few extra minutes of sleep to fully recover from yesterday's collapse. She happened on the sight of Tsubaki climbing up on Mutsumi's shoulders, her arms reaching out for something hidden on top of a tree.
"How's Itsuki?" Mutsumi grunted, looking up as Tsubaki attached whatever she was holding onto one of the branches. The sixth sister bent down, letting her classmate back onto the ground gently as the two of them walked toward a bag they had nearby. Yotsuba watched, looking into the container filled with microphones and cameras.
"Her room was still locked when I left for school. Did something happen?" She raised an eyebrow as she questioned her sister's query.
"Right, you don't know because you were unconscious." Mutsumi sighed, walking over to Yotsuba and handing her an earpiece and a small microphone. "I'll explain later. Shouldn't you be going around..."
"I... I think I'll take a break today." The fourth sister chuckled, taking a seat on one of the nearby benches as she watched the two girls continue their preparations. Just as they were about done and adjusting the sensitivity of the microphones a single voice came through one of the clip-on microphones, the kind that she just gave Yotsuba. Mutsumi put on her earpiece and her eardrum was nearly blown out by the volume.
"Make! Up! Already!" It was Miku's, and she sounded mad.
The sixth sister quickly lowered the volume, taking it off and rubbing her ear. She spent the better part of the day making sure that everything was going according to her plan.
"Alright, is everyone ready?" Mutsumi asked into her mic, hidden away in one of the supply sheds that nobody except the class reps could enter; she was with Yotsuba so that she could get clearance. Sitting on the floor with her laptop open, she waited for a reply from her sisters.
"Nino and I are still a bit busy, give us a few more minutes," Miku replied, the clang of her ladle hitting her bowl meant that she was out of batter. Mutsumi switched to another call as to not disturb them.
"Did you find him?" She asked, her voice connected to multiple people's earpieces at the same time. She waited and waited for a response, the earliest one arriving after five minutes.
"I haven't. Maeda-kun and Matsui-san haven't either." Takeda replied, clearly fatigued.
"I saw Uesugi-san talking with him earlier before he ran off-campus. I'm following him now." Tsubaki said in a low whisper, causing the sixth sister to chuckle. She checked her phone, opening up the map that tracked the location of the chips she implanted in their phones; Fuutarou was heading for the apartment building.
"It's going well, right?" Yotsuba asked, watching in awe as Mutsumi switched on the camera feed.
"Nino, can you call dad?"
Meanwhile, sitting alone in the quiet apartment with her notes in front of her, Itsuki sat there staring at them, a pen in her unmoving hand as if she wanted to write but couldn't. "Even mom and Mutsumi don't believe in me. What am I doing?" She asked herself as the door opened up behind her, letting an exasperated tutor step into the suite. "Uesugi-kun..."
"If you're talking about that old man, just ignore him."
"No, that's not it. Everyone around me has told me the same things. Mudou-sensei, our other teachers, even mom and Mutsumi..." Itsuki finally let her pen fall out of her hand, loosening her grip slightly but keeping her fingers in the same position. "My dream was always to become like our mom... is it wrong for me to want that?" She could hear Fuutarou sigh as he walked up to stand right behind her.
"She had a point. Nothing good comes from being a teacher." Fuutarou said, his words making Itsuki lower her head. His tone was somehow warm, even though his blunt words were harsh. "You're not guaranteed to have amazing students, and you'll learn how stupid some people can be." He added, letting out a long sigh as he took some time to catch his breath. "Just trying to get along with others is exhausting both physically and mentally, and you'll have to adjust your principles to accommodate them. And there are rebellious people who will never listen to you, even so, you'll have to face them head-on." Itsuki turned around, finding an annoyed look plastered all over his face. "I'll never take a job like this again, and you definitely won't want to be a teacher."
"I see..."
"But so what!? There's no point in listening to others' nonsense. Not mine, not your sisters', and definitely not that old man's! It's your dream, so the only one that decides whether to go on or give up is you!" He yelled, his voice echoing in the empty home. Even with all that bravado, Itsuki still sulked.
"But is it really my dream?" Itsuki asked. "Somebody once told me that all I seek is to mimic my mother."
"You're an idiot. You look up to her, right? There's no need to give that up." Fuutarou started to pace around the room. "There's a difference in chasing your dream because you want to be like your mom and chasing your mom because you want to achieve her dream. As long as you understand that, aiming to be like someone you admire is definitely not a goal to be ashamed of."
"I want to be a teacher just like her!" Itsuki screamed out. "This is my dream! I'm doing this because I want to!" Stomping her feet against the floor, she finally put her foot down in regards to the situation.
"If that's what my student wants, then I'll support her with everything I got!"
"But there's something that has to be done first. I wish to talk to that man again." She said, staring into Fuutarou's soul as he started to chuckle to himself.
"Sextuplets..." He said, walking toward the door after handing an earpiece and microphone to Itsuki.
"Good afternoon, Mudou-sensei."
"Hey." The bald man answered, turning around to speak with one of his daughters. "I wasn't expecting you to come, Itsuki-chan."
"Please explain it to me again. If my dream of becoming a teacher like my mother is truly foolish, then what should I do?"
"I want you to be yourself, and I will help you with that." He stood up, taking some steps closer to the redhead. "Even now, you're haunted by the spirit of your mother. Anything other than a teacher is fine. Just don't go down the wrong path as your mother did."
"Why now? Why did you appear before me now?"
"You were always on my mind, even when we were apart. I felt guilty every single second of every single day. But now is my chance to act like a proper father. Our blood brought us together; it gave me the chance to make-up with my beloved daughter." He said as the lights of the nearby stalls changed color and multiple footsteps closed in on the area.
"Father?" Isanari's voice caught Mudou's attention. "That's funny, old man." He waved, jerking his head down to bring his sunglasses down to cover his eyes. "Sup? It's been a while, sensei." Accompanying him was Shimoda, who shared Isanari's glare.
"That being said, we're only here as an entourage. The one who has business with you is him." She said, stepping to the side and allowing Maruo to stand front and center.
"You seem well, Mudou-sensei." The doctor looked at him with his usual cold face, his stare stoic and his voice emotionless.
"Nakano-kun, I do have to apologize to you as well. I caused you a lot of hardship. Come to think of it, you admired Rena more than anyone. My apologies."
"No. In fact, I'm grateful." The doctor put his hand up, his palm facing his former teacher as the bearded man started to bow." He paused, staring at the sextuplet standing nearby. "It's because of your irresponsible actions that I came to know my daughters."
"Is that right? Because, from my perspective, your daughter came to me when she needed assistance. You have failed to fulfill your duties as a father, which is why Itsuki-chan came to me and not you."
"Itsuki is here?" Maruo asked, looking at his daughter.
"That's right. I sympathize with you since it looks like she branded you as a failure in her heart. I wish I could teach you how a true father should..."
"Whatever are you talking about?"
Maruo walked over to the redhead, giving her a quick glance since that was all that he needed to identify her. "Please take a closer look. This isn't Itsuki."
"I'm over here," Itsuki said as Miku removed the clips in her hair. She stepped out from behind a pillar, followed by Ichika, Yotsuba, and Nino. "I apologize for this deception, however, because of this, I've come to a conclusion."
"What of it, I've simply mistaken..."
"One can tell us apart as long as there's love. That's what mom used to say." Itsuki said, looking at Mudou with a blank expression.
"You're still talking about that woman!? Give it a rest! Stop hurling those empty words around, they're meaningless! I'm sure that Rena said something similar to what I said! Try to remember it!" Mudou snapped, yelling out into the sky.
"I do recall her speaking of her regrets. But I don't believe them to be true."
"What you believe is irrelevant! Even Rena herself said so!"
"That may be true! But I don't care! If mom rejects my dream, I'll simply reject her rejection!" Itsuki yelled before she took a single step toward Mudou. "I can say that confidently because I watched my mom carefully. I saw her throw everything into work just to support us. There's no way that a person as kind as she lived a life that could be called a mistake!" Her words pushed Mudou into a corner.
"The things that come out of ignorant kids' mouths..." He grumbled, clenching his fists as Maruo approached him.
"We could say the same thing about you. You kept talking as if you knew everything. You betrayed and cast aside the woman who looked up to you, she even followed in your footsteps. But you only know how she was like up until you left. What you didn't see is the joy that these girls brought to her after that. She had new hope with them when your abandonment took that hope away from her." Maruo scolded him, staring him in the eye as his emotionless facade faded to show his unbridled anger. "You have no right to say anything about her."
"Papa..." The girls all watched as Maruo glared at Mudou as if he was looking at the worst criminal on the planet.
"I'm also not qualified to call myself your father, Itsuki. But I'm thankful that you and your sisters have given me a chance to be one. I wish for you to fulfill your dream, and I am certain that your mother would feel the same way."
"Mudou-sensei... to the very end, you never uttered a single word of apology to mom. I'll never forgive you, and I will never allow you to use me to ease your conscience! You will meet the consequences of your actions one day, I am sure!" Itsuki said as her phone started to vibrate. All of their phones started to vibrate, along with everyone else in attendance on the third day of the festival. Mudou fearfully looked at his, finding a video of his slanderous speech on Rena playing on his screen. Not only that but the description of the video incriminated him of abandonment and neglect. Soon, news articles started popping up on the internet as this leak sent ripples down the media companies.
"Hex-san? How did she?"
"Mudou... say goodbye to your reputation," Mutsumi said, walking down a nearby set of stairs with her laptop tucked under her arm. "Not only that, but we have the DNA results to confirm everything." She grinned, standing beside Maruo while smirking at the bald man. "Now get out of here!" Mudou, having nothing left to retort with, stomped away, leaving the area to the Nakano family and Maruo's classmates.
"You were amazing there, sis." Mutsumi said, pulling Itsuki into an embrace. "And I'm sorry for what I said yesterday..."
"It's okay, Mutsumi. And, thank you." Itsuki hugged back. "How did you manage to get it out that quickly?"
"Well, the news is supposed to be instant, right?" Mutsumi pulled out her phone, opening up a Livestream that was currently offline. "It started running when Miku came up to him. And I had routed all of your microphones to a voice call program and sent the audio from that to the stream. Then, it was a simple as sending a link to it to my boss and some other people that were related to Mudou. Teachers, schools, and some of his old students. The only thing I wish I could've done was: making actual articles about it. Those pop-ups were fake image files." She pouted, puffing her cheeks out as she took a few steps away from Itsuki.
"That's amazing." Her sisters exclaimed.
"That's terrifying!" Isanari and Shimoda said, their mouths agape. "Breaking news... it felt like you were breaking him..." Isanari joked as Mutsumi went around to retrieve all of the cameras and extra microphones she and Tsubaki placed around the area.
"I've got to go talk to my boss, I'll explain everything and try to spread the word." The sixth sister smiled. "And dad, that was nice. Thank you." She waved, placing her things in her bag before she walked away. She called her boss, explaining everything and getting assigned for that article. When she was done, she looked at the map to find her sisters, noticing that Itsuki and Fuutarou's phones were near each other.
"All that's left is... that..." Mutsumi muttered, watching the sunset while leaning against a wall near the entrance of the school.