"Ah, it's still kind of lonely..." Ichika said, walking out of her bedroom and looking out at the quiet apartment. "Mutsumi-chan..." She muttered, walking over to the sixth sister's room and opening the unlocked door; it was empty. Gone was her desk filled with circuits and wires. Gone was her black and white furniture. Her bed was barren, the only thing left was an uncovered mattress. The first sister walked over to the closet, only finding one article of clothing left hanging inside. "She still had this? We used to be so small..." She smiled, taking it out and brushing her hands across the fabric of the white dress they used to wear back when their mother was alive. Reminiscing for a few more seconds, the eldest took one last look at the room before she went to the bathroom to get ready for work.
"Ichika-chan. Good morning." Oda met her outside of the apartment, a frantic look on his face. "Something has come up, we need to go quickly." He ushered her into his car, speeding off toward the shoot of a film across the city.
"Nakano-san! We're going to do scene 34 today, but we have to go now. The weather won't be consistent with our previous shots. Please, hurry and sit down." Ichika got out of the vehicle, instantly getting pulled away to a seat with multiple makeup artists. The rest of the day was hectic, the entire crew trying to get everything done before the sky changed colors.
"Looks like I won't make it." The eldest Nakano muttered to herself, looking at her watch as she stared up at the starry sky. "Guess it's another night at a hotel." She sighed, walking away from the set as Oda called out to her again.
"Ichika-chan, tomorrow looks like a better day for the next few scenes. We'll be shooting earlier than usual, so sleep early tonight." He said, scratching the back of his head as he entered his car. "Kiku has a lot of free time at home now that school is over. But all she's done is stay at home. I was wondering if you'd be willing to look after her for a while since we'll be here for a while; I just can't leave her home alone for days, after all."
"I don't mind. I'll see you tomorrow, manager. I have to go to a hotel." Ichika yawned, watching him drive away. Walking to a nearby hotel and checking a room for herself, the first sister was about to fall asleep when her phone started to ring.
"Hello?"
"Onee-chan! Hey! I want to show you something!" Mutsumi called, her voice excitedly ringing through the eldest's speakers. What followed were a few dozen pictures that the second sister took on her first few days in a different country. "It's so cool here, but I'm so tired... wait... what time is it there?" She asked, getting Ichika to check her phone's clock.
"Around 10 in the evening. Why..."
"Oh, you must be sleepy. Sorry, I'll hang up." Mutsumi said as Ichika hurriedly opened her mouth.
"Wait. Mutsumi-chan. How is it there?" Ichika asked, pulling the covers over herself as she placed an arm under her pillow. "Did you do anything yet?" She asked as her screen changed from a static image to an alert; Mutsumi wanted a video call. Pressing the button to agree to it, Ichika saw the sixth sister's apartment, filled with bags that still needed to be unpacked. Aside from the luggage, the bare essentials were already there; chairs, table, a futon to sleep on.
"All I did was bring my things here, then I went to explore the city for the past few days. Ichika-nee, there's so much to do." Mutsumi turned the camera onto herself, her smiling face a welcome sight for the eldest sister.
"Mutsumi-chan, do your best. And don't forget to make some friends." Ichika smiled herself, shutting her eyes as she thought of her next words carefully. "I already miss you."
"Me too... goodnight sis." The sixth sister laughed, hanging up and leaving Ichika to her thoughts for the rest of the night. A smile slowly formed on the eldest's lips as slumber slowly stole her consciousness away.
"I know you can do it, Mutsumi-chan. You won't be alone anymore."
The next day's shoot came and went with fewer hitches than the previous one, the weather was cooperating and the equipment had no malfunctions. They finished before sunset, all that was left was post-production; Ichika had very little to do now. "I have to go and meet with another one of my clients, I'm leaving Kiku in your care, Ichika-chan. And Kiku, please behave and try not to trouble Ichika-chan, okay?" Oda said, one hand holding his phone as the other fumbled with his keys.
"Okay, papa." The child said, looking up at Ichika as Oda drove off in a hurry. "Ichika-san already graduated, right?" Kiku asked, holding onto the first sister's hand as Ichika started walking away from their shooting location.
"Yeah. Do you want to go anywhere?" Ichika asked, calling a cab for the two of them. "I know a park that I have a lot of fun at." She said, smiling as Kiku's eyes started to sparkle. Telling the driver where they wanted to go, Kiku excitedly looked out the window as they approached the park that overlooked the city below them. Once it stopped, Kiku rushed out and instantly climbed up onto the slide as Ichika paid the driver. "Kiku-chan, did you have fun at school?" Ichika called out as she watched the kid sit down at the top.
"Yeah! I made friends with everyone in my class!" She said before she cheered gleefully while sliding down.
"Even though you called them all brats before?" The eldest sister teased, catching her at the bottom as a man walked into the park with a toolbox and a new chain for the swing. Kiku pouted, puffing out her cheeks as ger embarrassment grew. For the next few hours, the two of them played all over the playground. From the monkey bars to the spring horse things, Kiku's laughter seemed to echo out as she played on them all. Oda called Ichika as Kiku played on the functioning swing. After hanging up, Ichika started to slow the swing down to a halt. "Hey, do you want to visit my sisters?"
Things would go on like this for some time, a year to be specific. Oda would bring Ichika to auditions, Ichika, and the others would take care of Kiku whenever they could, and Ichika slowly started to spend less time with her sisters in the apartment. As her popularity continued to grow, the inevitable slowly came to her.
"America?" Yotsuba asked, looking across the table at the eldest sister as the five of them ate dinner one night. "Wow, that's amazing!"
"Make sure you practice your English," Itsuki said before she got her fifth bowl of rice. "I can assist you if you'd like."
"So, when do you have to leave?" Miku walked closer as she set down more plates of food. "Do you have somewhere to stay?"
"I have an idea, but I still need to make some calls for it to work out. I still have a few months to get everything ready too. It might just be for this one movie, but I hope that I can get more roles for western films." Ichika smiled, already excited at the prospects of her situation.
"Don't forget to keep in touch, okay? So, where are you going? Hollywood? New York? Are you going to be on broadway!?" Nino was excited too, her face already signaling that she was dreaming of some fantastical events that her sister might experience.
"Looks like this first film will be in New York..." Ichika said as her phone started to ring. "Sorry, I have to take this." Excusing herself from the table, the eldest sister made her way to the balcony as she put her phone to her ear. "Really? Thanks, you're a lifesaver. I'm excited, see you soon."
The five of them went to the airport, staying as a group of five for the last time in a long while. "Say hi for us," Yotsuba said, giving her sister a hug before Ichika pulled away and walked toward her gate. "Good luck!" The four of them waved her off, leaving the airport to return to their lives. Ichika got on her plane, her body tingling with excitement as the engines slowly brought her into the sky. Peering down at Japan from her window, she could see the city; only barely though, since it looked like a speck of dust. She put on her headphones, a new pair since she couldn't even look at the old pair that she brought to Kyoto, putting on some music as she leaned back in her seat and sleeping for the rest of the flight.
"Argh... my neck." She said, rubbing it to soothe the pain as she walked off of the plane with her luggage. She went to pick up the rest of her bags as she got a text. "Already?" She asked herself, spotting her bag before she walked out of the airport and waved to a person waiting for her beside a van.
"Yo, Ichika!" Mutsumi said, giving her a two-finger salute as she realized that she spoke in English. "Err... hi, Ichika-nee." She walked up, hugging the eldest sister and helping her with her things.
"Mutsumi-chan, it's been too long!" Ichika entered the van as Mutsumi took the wheel and drove toward an upscale New York apartment building. "Y-You live here?" She asked, looking up in awe as Mutsumi grinned in satisfaction.
"We'll be living here, at least until I finish my studies. I only moved here recently, so even I'm not done with unpacking." Mutsumi ushered her sister into the sparsely furnished home. Boxes stacked up against the walls were filled with many nostalgic devices that were still fresh in the first sister's mind; the snake robot, the chameleon robot, her tracking devices. "I'll be busy with my next assignment for a while, so go get started with your things. Your room is over here." She placed her hand against a door, opening it to reveal an empty room save for a simple desk and a bed.
"How are your studies going?" Ichika walked slightly past the door, looking at Mutsumi's new things; the ones that she unpacked already. First was a computer that seemed like it was built by Mutsumi herself since it looked as discreet as her previous creations but still ran smoothly on the monitor it was connected to. "Do you have any friends?"
"Of course I would have friends!" Mutsumi pouted, gently shoving her sister out of the way while hammering her back softly with her hands. "And yeah, it's going well, I just need to finish up this next assignment and I'll be free for a while." She said, pulling out a strange-looking keyboard; navy colored with weird keys, they had colored dots instead of letters and numbers.
"And... what about you and Tsubaki-chan?" Ichika teased, watching as Mutsumi started to turn red with embarrassment. "Ara ara~"
"I... I've been keeping in touch... she's already ahead of the others in her year. I..." Mutsumi slapped her face, shaking the distraction out of her mind in order to get back to work. The eldest sister laughed for a bit, getting up to unpack as their lives together in the big apple began.
Ichika would be the one paying for most of their luxuries since Mutsumi was too swamped with studies to make much money; whenever she did get paid, they would take a day to relax. Ichika's first big role was as a cop in a horror film set on broadway. Just as she was getting worried, she got a call from someone that her manager referred to her; Oda was still in Japan with other actors and actresses there, so he wouldn't be able to be her manager in America. After a few negotiations, she signed a contract and was getting roles more frequently now.
"Ichika! Ichika!" Mutsumi came bursting through the door, tears streaming down her face as she frantically slammed into her sister. "Look! I got the top score on the finals!" She beamed, holding up the paper that showed her results pridefully.
"Congratulations! We have to go tell the others!" Ichika hugged her sister as Mutsumi pulled out her phone.
"Already on it!" Mutsumi said, taking a picture of herself with the results before she sent it to her sisters, then to Takebayashi, then to...
"Are you not gonna send it?"
"I just... need to build up my confidence!" The sixth sister took a deep breath as she tapped her screen. Before she could continue the conversation with Ichika, the eldest's phone began to ring. Ichika walked off to her room, answering the call as her new manager's voice reached her ears.
"Huh? Hollywood? I've only been here for a year... what? A TV series? Okay, okay. Thank you!" Ichika said, turning around to find her sister's face peeking in through the game she left in the doorway.
"So you're going to leave..." Mutsumi muttered, her voice somewhat somber. "Congratulations! I'll be rooting for you!" She smiled, hugging her sister. "Looks like we have to celebrate twice as hard tonight!" She cheered, opening up her phone to get some food delivered to their apartment.
"Los Angeles, it feels so surreal." Ichika smiled to herself as her cross-country plane started to descend down with California below them. She went to her new home, a humble house compared to the others in the city, but it was cozy. She unpacked and settled in, meeting with her new neighbors as her first few weeks were spent exploring the town during her free time. There were a few auditions for some lower budget films, informal; she was tempted to go for them but she wasn't comfortable with a new environment without her manager.
"Ichika-san! Ichika-san!" Her phone's speakers blared in her ear as she answered the call. "Look! I got a perfect score!" Kiku said, calling from Oda's phone.
"That's amazing, Kiku-chan! You're getting really smart! Maybe one day you'll be smarter than Ichika-nee." Ichika smiled, collapsing on her couch as she looked through all of the auditions her manager listed out for her.
"But my tutor said that you were really dumb when you were in school..." Kiku said with a smile on her face that somehow irritated the eldest sextuplet.
"Who's your tutor?" Ichika asked, ready to form insults at the person.
"Nakano Itsuki-san. She's studying to be a teacher! Do you know her?"
It had been five years since their high school graduation, and four years since she had moved to America. Ichika blew up on the scene for her role in a popular romantic comedy show. Aside from her role on TV, she also starred in action, horror, and romance films; she was usually the first one to die. She also loaned her voice to various animated cartoons, from the childish to the mature. It had been a slow year for her, oddly. "Hello? Manager?"
"Ichika. We have one, an up and coming director fresh out of college." Her manager said over the phone. "I'd like for you to meet her, she has a pretty good script ready and she was really adamant about you being the lead." They then sent a text to the eldest's phone, the phone number of the director. After dialing it up and waiting with bated breath, someone finally picked up on the other side.
"Hello? Nakano, Ichika speaking. I heard you had the script ready."
"Ichika-chan! Yeah! It's my first film out of college, so I... want to work with someone I know to help ease my nerves."
"Tsubaki-chan!?" Ichika nearly dropped the phone in shock, kicking her feet up onto the couch. "I... of course. But I'm not giving you any discounts. Can you budget afford me?" She asked, a bit of concern in her voice as another person walked up to Tsubaki.
"Did you manage to get hold of her, Tsubaki?"
"You know what... we'll talk about the money another time. I'm in." Ichika chuckled as the sound of her sister's voice registered in her brain. "Where is it set?"
"I want to film in Japan..." Tsubaki said excitedly, the sound of her footsteps frantically running up to Mutsumi reaching all the way to LA from New York. "Let's make this the best film ever!" She said before the call cut off. Ichika was about to call her manager when an envelope came in through the mail flap in her door.
"Oh, it's about time..." She smiled, reading the text on the paper, an invitation.