Burning The Midnight Oil

Chapter 23

The Prince And The Pauper

~Itsuki~

"You're getting used to them?" Itsuki said.

Nino tapped the rim of her glasses like an old-time banker testing his scales. "Oh don't go that far, these thing'll never be part of my 'normal'. But what other choice do I have? Without them it's only a matter of time before I run into a wall and break my nose, or down an open manhole, or, something equally gross. I hadn't thought of all the horrible things that can happen just because I can't see."

"If you let the government declare you legally blind, you can walk around with a cane. That could be fun."

"Ha. Ha. Who even uses a cane anymore?"

"Blind people. Like you."

"It's even less funny the second time."

"Whatever you say," Itsuki took a sip of their shared iced americano and said, "Still, it's good to see you back to normal."

"Well maybe I was a tiny bit overdramatic."

"I'm glad you-"

"But really, glasses of all things! Do you have any idea how hard it is to make them work?"

"Yes."

"Oh, right. But you're an exception like me. Sure, plenty of girls think they look cute, but glasses just make them look like bug-eyed bookworms. It takes a certain refinement to work with these, and I'm lucky enough to have the perfect combination of grace and beauty to pull them off."

Itsuki thought she was still trying to convince herself with happy talk. "Does Futaro think so too?"

Nino glanced towards the sky in heavy thought, failing to hide a hint of pink coloring her cheeks, "Oh he's fine. He'd be fine with anything, really. I could show up in a sari and he'd start prattling on about Indian colonialism."

"Sounds like him."

"It kinda sucks though. I think he's only complimenting me because he read it in some dating guide, not because he means it."

"At least he can learn. But, what did he say? Come on, you were way different when you came to class yesterday, he must've said something to make you feel better."

"Alright, alright! No need to press like that."

"This coming from you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Wow."

"What!?"

"Alright, never mind. Spill it."

"Well, he doesn't hate them."

"Duh. And?"

"You're having too much fun with this."

"Guilty."

"Fine. He told me I look pretty with them. But I don't think he really notices a change, to be honest."

"Huh. Id've thought that'd be his thing."

"Any reason?"

"Well he spends so much time in libraries, and I thought that, you know, maybe he developed a type."

"Oh my god you thought he had a librarian fetish!?"

"Well, maybe?"

"You're kidding!"

"Stop laughing! It makes sense, right?"

"You know what? It does. It really does."

"You don't think...forget it."

"Lets. I never want to think about that again." Nino relaxed into the plushiest chair she'd felt in months, the best seats at the cafe won through luck, cunning and patience. Suddenly she shot forward, grinning like a mad-woman Itsuki feared she was becoming, "Alright, enough about my love life. What about you?"

Itsuki blinked in confusion, "What love life?"

"Exactly! I know Uesugi isn't your type, and thank heaven for that, but there's gotta be someone that's caught your eye."

Nino must have taken her skiddish silence as an admission she didn't have, "There is, isn't there. I knew it! I bet you're too shy to come right out with it, but you shouldn't worry about that. I promise you boys will be more afraid of you than you are of them. They're like little dogs that way."

"Futaro?" She asked, leaning back to balance the distance between them as Nino closed in like a shark smelling blood.

"Well, no, but he's always the exception. But I bet you could get any guy you set your eyes on if you tried. And you have the perfect love guru to guide you. I've got all the experience you'll need to land the budding prince charming of your dreams! So come on, out with it! What's his name?"

Itsuki waited a moment, asking, "Is it my turn?"

"Huh? Yeah, that's what I said."

"Well, there isn't a name."

"No one?"

"Nope."

"Alright, but I don't mean full-on head over heels in love like me, you know. I mean like, baby's first boyfriend levels of crushing."

"Answer's the same there too."

"Come on, there's gotta be someone you're interested in. I know our school isn't a luxury buffet or anything. I noticed the a definite step-down in the hot guy to girl ratio when we transferred here, it sucked. But there are, you know. A few."

"And I'm crushing on precisely zero of them."

Nino deflated like a tube-man after the fan shut off, "Really? No one? Not even a-"

"No, not even a little."

Nino leaned back in her seat, grabbing their drink and looking perturbed, "Alright, fine. You don't gotta act upset, I was just curious."

Itsuki let it go, but she suspected Nino's curiosity would hibernate until it felt the warm new spring. She could see through her sister's veiled attempts as clearly as a sniper sees her mark. Joy and miserly love company, and Nino had none but the ignorant. She wanted to share the quirks and frustrations of new love with someone like her, someone's girlfriend. Sure she had girlfriends at school who were supposedly happily attached, but as much a socialite as she was, she didn't trust them with something so personal. She drew a clear line between friends and family, and some details would never make it past the divide. She needed her sisters. And Itsuki couldn't give her that. Not that Nino would understand why.

Itsuki said, "I can't explain it, I'm just not interested."

"Are we still in the same gym class? Because a couple of the guys, well, I thought they made class more fun back then."

Itsuki rolled her eyes, "That's so vain. Try listening to them for thirty seconds and you'll change your mind if their egos don't bury you."

She shrugged, "It's just eye candy, the boys treat us the same." Nino swirled the last few mouthfuls of cold caffeine and mused, "Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time you had a crush on anybody. I mean, Ichika told me she thought Takeda was cute our first day, but not counting Fuu, that's it. That's not normal, right?"

"It'll happen when it happens. I just haven't found a guy I'm interested in," Itsuki said. It wasn't technically a lie. "And I wouldn't have time even if I wanted that kind of thing. If I want to be a teacher, that's where I need to be putting all my effort. All this catch-up is enough on my plate as it is."

"Please, it's not that bad."

Itsuki raised her eyebrow, "Would you call these last few weeks stable for you?"

She waved it off like banishing a bad smell, "Me and Fuu are the exception! I'm sure it'd be so much smoother for you."

"Yeah, but why risk it now? Let's get to college first, then we'll see."

"Too late for me," she sighed, feigning distress.

"You're doing it again."

"I am not!"

Yes she was, and she was loving it. Forget Ichika, Nino should headline the latest Soap. She wouldn't even have to act, melodrama spewed from her like lather from soap. Itsuki went on, "If anyone's going to date next, my money's on Ichika. Young celebrities are never single for long."

Nino said, "I really hope we're done with this whole family feud thing by then. She's gonna have the best insider scoops."

"She's not a gossip."

"Well yeah, not now. But once you're there, you're there. You think they'll ever put her in one of those magazines?"

"What magazines?"

"The tabloids! The one with all the 'gotcha!' photos, you know?"

"I hope not. Imagine when they find out we're quintuplets."

"I hope they do! If they put us on the front page, I'm framing it." Nino checked her phone and nodded, "Yup, they're on their way."

"Time to go?"

"Yup. Want the rest?" She offered the cup, which Itsuki took gratefully. "You sure you don't want to join us?"

"For shopping? With what?"

"Point taken, but it's the journey that matters." She hefted her shopping bag and waved, "See you at home."

"Yeah, take care."

Itsuki stood and leaned on the railing, watching Nino descend the stairs and stride out the cafe. She stared at the closing doors as they swiveled on their hinge long after the little bell finished jingling goodbye. She felt something welling inside her belly, like a large meal that wouldn't settle.

Mother's death had been a great schism in their world. They could no longer be five wholly alike siblings, they had to divide to fill in the cracks she left behind. Only by picking up the different pieces could they make themselves whole again. Hers wasn't as much an assumption of duty as a continuation.

It had always been her that their mother pulled aside to whisper, look after your siblings, keep them out of trouble, and get them on the straight and narrow as best you can. She didn't know why her mother chose her, but she had. What could Itsuki do but follow? Maybe because, as the littlest and being always at the rear, if her sisters fell or veered off the path, she could spot them and bring them back. She'd learned to channel her mother's voice, the only one her sisters would follow. So when mother died, hers was the last echo of that authority. She kept it strong through their teens. She felt with her strength, their mother was never truly gone. Now she felt it weakening like thunder fading in the mountains.

Did mothers naturally lose their place in their children's lives? She couldn't know firsthand, she only knew that she was failing to keep her family on the right path. Now her sisters were scattering like pollen in the breeze. Watching her family change before her eyes filled her with a sad pride. Was this what growing up means? If so, it terrified her. Now her sisters were at constant war and she was powerless to bring them back together. Every attempt she'd made ended with failure. She felt like a bystander forced to choose a side without knowing if she still belonged.

And if this wasn't a part of growing? If this had all been fixable and she simply failed to see how? Well that was worse, and she wondered if mother had chosen the wrong daughter to act as guardian.

A part of her wanted to wind back the clock and return to their old normal. But then Nino wouldn't have found love, and Yotsuba wouldn't have her best friend. But Ichika was growing cold, Miku was lost, and she was watching her place in the world crumble and disappear.

~Nino~

Their budget was in the red.

Rent was due and they were short. She wouldn't see her paycheck until tomorrow, Itsuki's wouldn't arrive until three days later, and Yotsuba's a week after that. Their landlord's timeline was draconian and without mercy. She'd already slid their check into his mailbox, but that bought her hours when she needed days. A bounced check means no payment, and no payment means eviction, and eviction means defeat. She couldn't return home a loser. She could see the false pity on Ichika's face and Papa's quiet certitude that this couldn't have ended any other way. Her pride wouldn't survive the insult. She would get the rent paid. She needed money now.

She hadn't told the others yet. With Ichika gone, she'd taken over the finances and was the only one with fingers on their economic pulse, and it was weak. But she wasn't ready to share it. Not yet. This whole affair was because of her stupid choice to keep things a secret for so long. She wouldn't burden the others unless there was no other choice. And she still had one left.

Returning to the boutique was a test of willpower. A shared coffee had long ago become a luxury, but her dress had been an oasis in the sweltering heat of their poverty. It was Ichika's final gift before the waters between them acidified. She felt like she was returning the last of Ichika's love with it, and she didn't know when she'd receive it again. But it had been bought on their joint account, the one they'd opened together in their first act of defiance against Papa. It felt like cheating after Ichika purposefully removed all her money from their account. But a missed move was her opportunity, and she needed all she could get.

"I'm here to return this," she told the sales clerk.

She took the dress and examined it with a smile. Employees were compensated for kindness in stores like this, even when returns meant lost commissions. "I see, and was there any problem with it?"

"No, just didn't fit as well as I thought."

"Would you like to exchange it for another size?"

"No thanks, just put it back on the card, please."

"Alright, just one moment ma'am."

Nino wondered if she could sense the real reason for her return, and if she resented her. She hated feeling poor, it made her feel like less of a woman. She wondered how Futaro never felt this way. His family's financial status never defined his worth. She envied his freedom.

She stayed composed as she took her amended receipt and made for the exit. She passed dozens of beautiful dresses she could no longer afford. Walking among them made her feel like an impostor who couldn't blend in. She felt noticeably better once she walked outside, like dropping a ruck sack after a painful hike. It was done, the rent was settled. All it cost her was a silly dress. No big loss. She would have liked to have worn it for Futaro. He wouldn't have cared though, would he. One of his many downsides she got tired of counting. But at least it wasn't a loss, right?

She set it aside and headed for the center of the mall. She took a seat on the bench and texted Futaro as she waited for her friends. He hadn't read her last few texts either, and he wouldn't for some time. He'd be busy studying until she reminded him to take a break. Even those were turning into a luxury. The mock exams were less than a week away. Next Thursday their bet would be made, or lost. Even she was buckling down in her off hours. If he lost to papa for any reason, it wouldn't be her. She was worried how quickly the time had fallen away.

Today would be her last afternoon out on the town before an evening full of her boyfriend's well-meaning abuse. She didn't mind, she was determined to pass. But she had a few hours before all that, and she planned to enjoy them as best she could. So when her friends arrived she was happy for a morning at the mall, just like before. She hugged them and gasped at how long it'd been since they all got together.

It had been a while since she just went out with her friends. No studies to boggle her mind, no Futaro to leave her fuming or flustered, no family fued to break her world, just a getaway window shopping with her girls. She followed her friends as their whims blew them from one store to another like a summer breeze over rolling hills.

Nino insisted they stop in the department store at the end of the mall. Her friends dutifully followed her into the jewelry section, and lost all pretense at hiding their confusion as they entered the men's section. Nino and the sales rep examined half a dozen watches before she settled on a sleek, silver-banded beauty she couldn't wait to set on Futaro's wrist. She bought this with money she'd withdrawn before arriving at the mall. It meant something to her that she paid the eight-thousand yen price tag with money that came from her paycheck, even if the refund had to cover the rest of the shortfall. She declined gift wrapping, knowing she'd do that part herself, and happily carried her purchase out in a small paper bag.

And then Kari pulled them into another store, a chic emporium that was oddly familiar. She didn't notice it was the same store she'd returned the dress to until she was past the door, and by then it was too late. She prayed that the sales woman from before wouldn't be there, but of course she was, it had hardly been more than an hour. And of course Nino looked at her right as she turned to greet the trio. She was far too professional to show her recognition, but it had to be there. Nino made herself small as her two friends perused, attaching herself like a shadow until they left without a single souvenir.

That should have been the worst part of her day, but then they stopped for lunch and her friends popped the question one everyone's minds.

"So that watch, it's not for your dad, is it?" Kari asked.

Nino said, "No, it's for Futaro. Next Friday is his birthday."

"So, you and Uesugi are really a thing now?"

Nino knew it was coming and thought she was ready. Since they'd changed classes at the beginning of the year, they'd saved all their chatting for the weekends. She said, "That's pretty obvious by now, isn't it."

Their other friend, Yumi, said, "Well yeah, we're not really doubting. And that was just a blast, by the way, watching the entire thing blow up on twitter."

Kari said, "But that's not what I'm asking. It's more like...why?"

"Why what?"

"You know. Why him in the first place?"

Nino asked, "Have you met him?"

Kari said, "I'm aware of him, does that count?"

Yumi said, "It doesn't, everyone is aware of him. You can't not be aware of Uesugi. That's kinda why we're asking, why him?"

So it was we now? Nino wondered if they'd storyboarded this. "Yeah yeah, he's the smartest robot in the assembly line. He has all the personality of a wet piece of cardboard. His test scores and his social skills are directly inverse. Anything else?"

"He's poor."

"And dangerously thin."

"And he's always glaring."

"And he thinks he's smarter than everyone, even the teachers."

Nino butted in, "To be fair on that last one, he usually is. No, that's enough, I get it. But have you ever talked to him?"

"Uh, no, not willingly."

"Same."

"Well if you did, you'd understand. He's been tutoring my family for half a year, and yes, there's a lot of glaring and smart-alecking, and I know he loves being the smartest guy in the room. But he's also really sweet underneath all that. He doesn't talk with anyone unless he sees a reason to. Normally he just wants to be left alone to study. Until me, of course," she said with pride.

Kari said, "Okay, but still, him and you? That's like positive and negative coming together."

Nino said, "Don't they do that naturally? Futaro said so."

"Uh, oh. Right. Well bad example. The point is, you're, like, the opposite of Futaro in every possible way. You two getting together is like the North Pole and South Pole becoming neighbors, it'll only happen when the world collapses."

"We're more alike than you'd think," Nino mused, playing through their long, late nights together. "You wouldn't understand, it's complicated."

Yumi said, "Oh, don't do that. Alike how? Come on, don't hold back on us. This is the greatest mystery of the universe we're facing here!"

Kari asked, "Yeah, what else is so great about him?"

"Well, he looks good riding a motorcycle," Nino mused.

"Not what I meant. Answer me this: how long have you two been together now?"

"Two weeks today. Or yesterday. One of the two, we haven't decided." Meaning she hadn't, Futaro probably wouldn't fight the specifics. At least, not these specifics.

"Just two weeks?"

"Yup."

The knowing look they shared was Nino's first sign that something was up. "You sure it wasn't, well, a bit longer?"

"Uh, duh. I was there."

Yumi said, "Come on, you can tell us if it was."

Nino said, "Two weeks. Fourteen days. I can still count."

"Look, all I'm saying is it sounds like you two were together a long time before that."

"Where is that coming from?"

Yumi shot a quick glance at Kari, who said, "Just something we overheard. I mean, you were working together for a long while."

"Well it was just two weeks ago. Sure, I liked him before that, but we weren't dating before then."

"Oh, so that's when the dating started. But was there anything else before that?"

"Like what?" Nino asked. They glanced expectantly at each other again and Nino felt tired at being left outside the know, "Seriously, what the hell? Where're you taking this?"

Kari sighed, "Oh, nowhere. Just curious. You don't have to tell us if you don't want to."

But Yumi said, "Oh no, I wanna know. What's the deal with Uesugi? He's gotta have something good to get you this interested in him. We promise not to tell anyone."

"I already told you-"

"But not everything, right?"

"That's too personal!"

Kari giggled, "Oh I bet it is."

"It? What's this it!?" Nino demanded.

They couldn't explain, breaking out in a fit of giggles. Nino huffed and packed the rest of her lunch plate, "Alright, you wanna play games? Fine. Have fun, see what I care. I should've known you wouldn't understand."

"Oh I think we do, we get it alright," Yumi said between giggles.

"But not like you do, I bet," Kari snorted.

Nino growled and took her food, "Screw off then! I don't need this."

She stormed away like an F1 on the straightaway. She heard them say just as she was leaving earshot, "I bet I know what she needs."

"It!"

Fuck. Just, fuck! She knew this was coming. She'd teased the oddball couples peppered around school before, she knew it was on its way to her like karma coming to collect. She knew they'd tease her for her choice in men. But this was worse than her wildest dreams!

Well fuck them. Let them giggle all the way to graduation if they wanted to!

She snapped to her phone and texted Futaro that she as on her way. If he didn't pick up, he'd be in for a surprise. She needed a palate cleanser after this shit sandwich.

~Futaro~

"No, you've got it wrong," Takeda insisted, "research clearly points to coffee having negligible ill effects on human health!"

Futaro rolled his eyes, "What research? You mean those data dredging indignities to the scientific method? You can find some kind of published research supporting every crack-pot theory from here to the flat earth on the back of a turtle! You can wipe your shoe with a piece of blank paper, and you'll still find some penny dreadful scientific journal willing to publish! You have to check the methodology."

"Exactly, that's my point! Piles and piles of credible, respected papers have been published in no-bullshit journals that back this up! You can toss out everything even remotely questionable and you'll still have plenty of evidence! Coffee is fine, you can drink it 'til you die and you'll be as healthy as a teetotaler next to an alcoholic!"

"You know a teetotaler can still drink coffee-"

"Not my point. What matters is that people have been drinking coffee for hundreds of years. If there were any noticeable effects aside from the buzz, we'd see them."

"First, I'll counter every paper you can find with another saying the opposite, and it'll be just as accredited and have just as many PhDs under the title. Coffee can lead to hypertension, dehydration, insomnia and caffeine addiction, and I'm hardly scratching the surface of what's been researched!"

"And it's good you stopped, because if you went any further you'd really be grasping at straws. What's next? Osteoporosis? Cardiovascular disease? Cancer?"

"That last one might have some evidence-"

"Everything gives you cancer! Everything is a carcinogen to some extent! Might as well stop breathing if you're worried enough to cite that."

"The point is that too much coffee can have those harmful effects!"

"Too much!? How much is too much!? Five cups a day? Seven? Seventy? Far, far more than the average person consumes, even at the extreme end of the bell curve!"

"But not impossible, especially in those with preexisting conditions. Coffee can be the instigator."

"Can, but not fully proven."

"Not in all cases, but it could be. And that danger is itself reason enough to justify further study!"

"I agree!"

"So we agree?"

"I...guess we do."

Futaro leaned back and sipped his black coffee. In spite of his earlier arguments, the benefits outweighed potential harms. "Well, that's settled then."

"Good. Now where were we?"

"Electrovalence in covalent bonds." Futaro flipped open his phone, "We got sidetracked...ten minutes ago."

Takeda rubbed his temple, "Great. Can we focus up here? We're burning daylight."

"We're inside-"

"Don't, not again. Focus up man. Move on."

Futaro shrugged and turned the page of their shared study guide. They'd made remarkable progress for the average test taker, but they were shooting for the top of the mountain, the median wasn't enough. Futaro thought they could have finished the entire book by now if they weren't finding something debatable every other page.

That in itself wasn't a detriment. Futaro was used to arguing his point. The problem was Takeda fought back. Worse, he was good at it. He actually used Futaro's trademark technique: citing research papers he'd studied in the footnotes with names and all, to back up his points. Futaro was used to an argument ending as soon as he pulled up his first reference from his mental library. He'd been struck dumb the first time Takeda did the same. And when he did it again, Futaro took a crash course in debate. It might be the hardest, quickest thinking he'd ever done. It might be missing the point of exam prep, but it was by far the best mental exercise he'd had in years. He actually left the table with headaches after a particularly vigorous exchange of words.

Takeda closed the science section and opened up math. He read the opening paragraph and sighed, "I've worked enough logarithms to last a semester."

"Wanna skip it?"

"You good with them?"

"Good enough for the exams. They giving you trouble?"

"Not me. Them."

"Oh." Ichika, Miku. They always bubbled up in their studies somehow, even after they finished prepping their next study plan. "They giving you trouble again?"

"Same as before. Miku isn't retaining anything I teach her with these, and Ichika keeps demanding to know when she'll ever use this in her life."

"Id've told her she'll need it in case they cast her as a teacher or a scientist."

"I tried that, actually. She insisted they scripted everything for her."

"The lazy acting method."

"An excuse is an excuse to her," Takeda groaned. "How did you ever get them to cooperate?"

"Bribes. Threats. Begging on my knees."

"That's too uncouth."

"It worked. Is Ichika on her phone during lessons?"

"Yeah, she says she has to have it in case her agent needs her."

"Take it and threaten to throw it out the window if she doesn't cooperate."

"Not funny."

"No joke, I'm serious."

"Did you ever do that?"

"Not with her, no. I never needed to go that far. But she used to be much better behaved than how you're describing her. You can't let her get her way. If you give her room, she'll use it. Show her tutoring hours belong to you."

"I'll avoid threatening her phone."

"You might be able to get away with it. I couldn't."

"Why's that?"

"I needed the job. You don't. You can threaten them all you want and get away with it. Probably more than threaten, if need be."

Takeda glowered and said, "I need it more than you think."

"Doesn't look that way to me."

"Well what do you know?"

"More than you, apparently."

"So tell me, what about Miku?"

"Math's always been a weakness for her. I mean, comparatively. Set her down and go over it again and again. And have Ichika help her where she can, they learn best when they're helping each other. She'll pick it up eventually."

"You sound so sure."

"Because I am. I know her. She learns like I did back when I started taking studies seriously. I used to be as bad as her."

Takeda froze, "What? When the hell was that?"

"Hmm, years ago. I was a bit of a punk in primary, I must've ranked near the bottom of my class. I didn't start trying until five, six years ago."

Futaro waited for Takeda to take this wherever he seemingly wanted to take it. When the silence lingered like a drawn longbow, he glanced at the other boy and caught his fiery stare of disbelief. He bristled as if Futaro cursed his unborn children. He asked, "What's up?"

The question was like an alarm. Takeda blinked and sheathed his anger, trying to grin, "Oh, nothing. Just thinking."

Futaro had no idea what Takeda had on his mind, nor did he particularly care. "Alright, so let's move on."

"Sneak attack!"

A sudden weight tackled him from behind like a sledgehammer. Futaro yelped and tumbled out of his chair, taking the clinging attacker with him to the ground.

Nino cried out, "Ow! What the hell, Fuu?"

He felt he should've been the one asking that. He huffed and picked himself up as Nino did the same, dusting off her blouse. "A little warning would've been nice."

"It's a sneak attack! But you'd have known if you'd ever check your phone, I told you I was coming, you know!"

Was he supposed to bind himself to his phone like a ball and chain? Forget it, this was not the hill he died on today. He glanced at Takeda, who was taking all this with no small amusement. "Shut up."

"I didn't say anything."

Nino looked at him, "Takeda."

"Nakano."

"How are my sisters?"

Takeda sighed wearily, she'd asked for family details each time she'd interrupted, and she wouldn't let up until he gave more specifics than a tutor could comfortably give. When would she learn he wasn't her spy? He said, "Since yesterday? Nothing new, really. I think Ichika mentioned an audition for a bit part went poorly, but nothing else."

"And Miku?"

"What about her?"

"Did she tell you what she was doing this weekend?"

"She better be studying."

"Not what I asked."

"If she is, she didn't tell me. Does she normally do something on the weekends?"

Nino sighed, "Alright, never mind. Are you two done?"

"Good enough," Takeda answered. In truth they had a few more lessons remaining on the docket, but studies were over as soon as she arrived. The first time she'd interrupted their session she'd offered to sit and wait while they finished up. She even tried to join in! What a mistake that had been. Futaro watched the hope slowly leave her eyes as they raced through questions far beyond her skills to answer, until she wondered if there was any point in trying to catch up. There was, and he couldn't see that broken by being outclassed. So even though he knew she'd offer to wait on them, it was better this way.

That, and he was reaching his limits with his study partner. Takeda was like cumin, best in pinches, not tablespoons. He could only take so much Takeda in one sitting.

"Wanna pick up same time tomorrow?" He asked Takeda.

Takeda raised his mug, "Cheers."

He quickly gathered his supplies and left with Nino on his arm. He felt something pulsing unpleasantly in his stomach like a knot and wondered if he was cramping. He gently rubbed it with his free hand as they walked.

She asked him, "Did you see my texts?"

"No, I'll check them later."

Nino nudged him, "No, do it now."

"Why? You're here."

"I put a lot of thought into them!"

"Alright, alright."

"Stop saying it twice, you sound annoyed."

"Fine, fine."

"Seriously!"

He kind of was annoyed, but hey, it was a small favor. He browsed through her texts riddled with hearts and emojis, and hearted emojis. She smiled as he read, and maybe one crawled on his lips as well. Nino's love was infectious.

"You're early. I wasn't expecting you for another hour."

"Yeah, well things kinda went to crap with my friends."

"Oh? What happened?"

"They were asking about us and got all weird, like me dating you was against the laws of nature."

"That's hyperbole. Stupid to say something like that."

"Well they did. I got fed up with their BS and left."

"Everything alright between you guys?"

"I dunno, I don't think so. I don't get what they're getting at. I mean sure, I wouldn't have pictured us as a couple if I wasn't part of it. If space-time had a hiccup and I ran into the me from six months ago, she'd vomit if I told her."

"Gee, thanks."

"Come on, you'd do the same."

"I'd be more interested in breaking space-time."

"Yeah, you would. But it'd still be weird for you. You used to think love was some kinda disease that scientists needed to unite to cure."

"That sounds more like it."

"See? But we got together anyways. So yeah, it might be weird for anyone else to believe, but they were just so mean about it." Nino squeezed his arm and leaned in closer, her voice softening like a dimming light, "I don't wanna talk about this. Can we do something?"

"We need to study," Futaro mused. The exams were a lead weight on his mind. But Nino wasn't ready to learn a thing. She was easily consumed by a lingering word, picking it apart like an overgrown scab. She wanted, maybe needed something to take her mind off of her friends. That was part of his job description now, wasn't it?

"But we have time before that. Wanna go to the park?"

Nino looked at him questioningly, "Aren't we gonna meet the others?"

"Well you are an hour early."

She slid her fingers out of his hand. Her fingers glided up his forearm, his hairs staood on end like a power surge. She grinned and let go to skip ahead. He loved her energy, it didn't matter where they were or who was watching, she always showed everyone who cared to see exactly who she was. She was a fire dancing freely in the wind. She skipped like she was flying through a field of sunflowers and he loved watching her go.

He didn't order his eyes to fall, and yet they tumbled down, down, down. And his eyes couldn't help noticing as they slowly slithered south that Nino's attire really put the skinny in skinny jeans. And he remembered that most of Nino's wardrobe consisted of dresses, skirts and other flowing garments straight out of those expensive catalogs he saw on magazine stands. Pants weren't the norm for her, they were the exception. A very curvy, shapely exception.

She was doing this on purpose, wasn't she? It was like she was dangling Eden's apple right under his nose. Oh god, that made it sound like she wanted him to bite her...apple.

...Did she?

Suddenly Nino twirled like a dancer on the stage of life. She eyed him carefully like a mother checking her child standing awfully close to the cookie jar. Futaro's eyes rose just in time. Or, he hoped they did.

Nino grinned knowingly, her eyes sparkling like crystals made of starlight, "Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go!"

~Yusuke~

"I can't friggin' believe it!" Yusuke cried down the empty road.

"Sounds like it," Maeda groaned.

"This asshole admitted that he was a no-good delinquent all the way through primary. And then, one day, he suddenly decides to give a shit, and poof! Einstein reincarnate!"

"You don't say."

"I've been working since day one, day fucking one, to be the best of the best. And this guy comes outta nowhere and shoves me out of the spotlight on, what, a whim? Like he just thought, 'hmm, I guess I'll give being the top academic in the entire freaking country a go, doesn't seem so hard,' and then does it!"

"Ugh," Maeda groaned.

Yusuke stopped, "Oh, I'm sorry. Am I boring you?"

"To death. I'm glad you noticed, I was almost a goner."

"This is serious!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."

"Well it's all I can think about. If you don't wanna share my misery, go home."

"Quit being such a drama queen. I was just enjoying the break, that's all."

"What break?"

"This! You finally stopped bitching about Uesugi for, what, a couple weeks? And just when I think you're over him he's suddenly all you can talk about! Again! It's like watching you get back together with a toxic ex-girlfriend, man!"

Yusuke shoved his hands in his pockets and grumbled, "I wasn't that bad."

"Oh you were. Once a week like clockwork it was Uesugi this, Uesugi that, blah blah blah. And I get it man, you could never top him for, what was it? Two years? Well guess what? You finally did it, crushed him in the final exams like an empty soda can, and it still wasn't enough. Now you're right back to complaining like a broken record. You're more obsessed with him than Romeo with Juliet. I should buy you a punching bag with his face on it!"

"Now who's being overdramatic?"

"Whatever man, you know it's true. You'd feel good knocking it out in the morning. Start your day with a little victory over the android, ya know?"

"Dude, you know how much my dad would freak if he saw his picture at home?"

"He doesn't already have one?"

"Nope."

"You sure?"

"He wouldn't let me forget if he did."

"Even better! You should do it and call his therapist, tell him he's a rich man."

Yusuke couldn't help laughing, "I'd be a corpse if he found out it was me."

"Well, and that's the problem, too. You know where all this obsession with Uesegi's gotta come from, right? It's like this horrible fraternal present."

"He'd shut up about it if I just beat him. It's my own fault I can't."

"Cut that crap, man. Don't go talking like him."

"But he's right! I had the best schooling at one of the best prep schools in the country, and he's kicking my ass left and right like I owe him blood money!"

"Who cares? I'll tell you: just your old man. You wouldn't give a single fuck if he wasn't breathing down your neck like an angry mutt."

"That isn't it."

"Oh yeah it is. Your dad's an asshole, man."

"Yeah, I know," Yusuke sighed.

"He is. And your mom's even worse, but she's gone on business too often to be another devil on your shoulder, thank God. They only care because Uesegi's a wild card who came outta nowhere. They wouldn't bat their pampered eyelashes if he was some minister's heir. But because he's a commoner, he's not allowed to outclass their precious spawn. They can't fathom the idea that his hard work can actually means something. And neither can you, because you actually listen to them. If you just shut them out for a bit, I bet you and Uesugi'd get along just fine."

Yusuke said, "He's my dad, man. I can't just ignore him."

"Really," Maeda pondered. "Where does he think you are right now?"

"Cram school."

"And why's that? Is it because if he found out you were still hanging around me, he'd beat your ass for that too?"

"Pretty much."

"Right, because my family name means dirt like Uesugi. You can't network with me, I'm just a cog in the national machine in your dad's eyes. The only reason we even got to be friends is because church doesn't discriminate like that. I bet he thought it was cute watching you play with the peasants back when we're all young and cute, but he'd blow his blood pressure if he saw us now. So when the hell did you start listening to him about all that shit?"

"Yeah, I got all that. But there's a lot that you just can't get, okay?"

"Oh don't start that bullshit."

"It's true! I can't just tell him off, or he'd-"

"What? What can he really do?"

Yusuke gently touched his cheek and thought over all the things in his father's power to do. Move him across the country, send him to the Defense Forces, anything that was punishment and progress at the same time. But Maeda couldn't understand. You had to live with that guillotine hovering above your neck to see it. "Enough."

Maeda scoffed, "Right, whatever that is. He's still planning to make you the Prime Minister of Planet Earth?"

"Just Japan so far."

"Oh, still on the baby steps, then," Maeda mocked. "Fuckin' megalomaniac prick." It should bother most sons hearing their father insulted so freely. But it couldn't bother Yusuke. He'd thought it secretly often enough, so secretly that he almost missed it when it trespassed in his consciousness. Maeda gave his thoughts voice. He was free of the restraints that bound Yusuke. Hearing his words was like cleaning a neglected window after a dust storm.

Maeda continued, "You know why he's making all these crazy plans for you in the first place?"

Yes, but he wanted to hear Maeda say it. He could never say it out loud himself.

"You see this is what pisses me off. Your dad's got the right history and the right friends and the right family name, but he is a total fucking dumbass. If all was fair, he'd be nothing more than a line worker instead of an undersecretary, which even with all his connections is the highest his stupid ass is ever gonna go. But you are everything he wishes he could be. You got the mind and the name and the skills to get you as far as you wanna go. No one with brains is gonna trust him with something actually important. So he's aiming you. That's why you're the least free person I know, and it's sad. And not because he decided it, either, but because you keep letting him. But you know something? Wanna know why I still hang around with you?"

He liked this part, it's the part that kept his feet firmly on the earth, "What is it?"

"It's because you're actually a good dude. When you're not being all plastic and shit, that is."

Yusuke smirked, "Plastic?"

"You know what I mean. I swear I should package you and sell you at the doll shop when you get all radiant and fake."

Is that what he was? Sometimes he couldn't tell which was which. Perhaps one day the fake would supplant the original to become the real him. He knew Maeda would fight against it, but every day he had to go back home and report, and that man would list everything he did wrong and needed to improve. Every day he felt a little more of that good dude eaten away. And maybe one day he'd wake up and look in the mirror and that good dude wouldn't be there anymore. He would see his father's ideal staring back at him. Would he even notice if it happened?

And if he didn't follow that path, what then? If he broke from his father's wishes and pursued something outside the political realm, where would he even start? His entire life had been mapped since his birth, he didn't know anything else. If he found the courage to abandon his father's dream and find his own, where it would lead? The world outside his destiny was marred with shadow and doubt with its infinity. It all seemed impossible. If he told Maeda any of this, he wouldn't let him believe it. But he couldn't do it here. It felt like getting his hopes up. Perhaps he was too far gone to truly change who he was, and what he would become.

Yusuke noticed a pair of slender sticks next to the trail. He picked them up and weighed them. "Here," he handed one to Maeda.

He took it and asked, "What's this for?"

He motioned to the river, "On three." The pair moved next to each other and readied their sticks. Yusuke gave the count down and on three the two threw their sticks as far as they could. They watched them tumble gracelessly end over end into the dying river. They fell without sound against the wind, with Yusuke's clearing Maeda's by a meter.

Yusuke thrust his hand up in victory, "Too easy!"

"You gave me a shitty stick, anyways."

~Ichika~

She'd agreed to come for this moment. Being surrounded by a gaggle of girls all grinning at proximity to fame was a dreadful affair. She'd have preferred to spend her Sunday afternoon at the spa, on a shoot or quietly snoozing at home. So why had she agreed to join this cluster of faces for a day at the strip? Because she had this chance, right now. The one she'd played in her head any number of times. She needed it to go perfectly.

All she needed was a segue. She'd been waiting for it since her day began. She'd pondered taking advantage of a few of them, but they were too awkward for her taste. She needed something organic to make the leap, like an Olympic diver springing gracefully into the pool. And then it came. A girl who's name she couldn't remember brought up last year's school trip to the woods and the horrible luck she'd had at the fire. Turns out she'd danced with a boy, only to have her heart stepped on the very next day.

Ichika laughed, and when asked why, she assured her it wasn't because of her story. "Oh, it's just that thinking about the trip brings back memories."

They inquired. She knew they would. They insisted on the full story. Anything to keep the young actress involved.

Ichika waved them away, "Oh no, it's not appropriate. It isn't even about me."

Still they pressed on one after another, everyone asking for a story. She'd teased them with bits and pieces of life on set and secrets from behind the scenes. She needed to keep their appetites hungry so that when she told them what she really wanted to say, they'd listen like hungry rabbits on an open prairie.

"Okay, okay! If you insist! But again, this isn't about me, it's about my sister Nino."

Some of their eyes twinkled knowingly. They sensed what was coming.

"So this happened early on. Remember the test of courage? Well Nino and my other sister Itsuki were making their attempt deep in the woods. Suddenly they get separated! Itsuki has no clue where Nino went off to! She wandered around in the forest for over an hour before finding Nino again. She just suddenly waltzed out of the forest glowing like a flashlight, and with a huge rip in her skirt all the way up her thigh."'

Some oohs and ahhs, and she went for the kill, "We asked her what happened in the forest, but she wouldn't say how she ripped her clothing. But later on, she mentioned how she'd met the most charming boy of her life and was totally head over heels!"

One of the girls squealed, "Oh my god! You think they did it?"

Ichika sighed, "Well I can't say that, but I have been wondering how she got her skirt ripped. It is awfully suspicious." She sat back and watched the dominoes begin to fall.

"Oh! I remember, she was telling me about this boy she met at the festival! She said he was her prince charming and that he was going to take her to the dance!"

"But she didn't dance with anybody."

"Exactly! He totally used her like a disposable napkin!"

"Gotta be! She definitely never met him again! She would be the type of girl to go for the whole 'wham, bam, thank you ma'am'!"

"I dunno, doesn't sound like her to me."

Ichika turned to the girl who might kill her momentum. She couldn't have that. Get one person second guessing and others might follow. She needed consensus to get the ball rolling downhill.

She sighed, "I've been wondering myself, I'd hate to think my sister was such a loose girl. But then again, I can't fight the facts. See, there was this other time just after finals. We'd all gone to our grandfather's hot springs for a break and Uesugi happened to be there as well. I know for a fact that she ambushed him in the mixed baths all alone, in nothing but a towel!"

She eyed the girl who dared to question her. She fidgeted nervously and said, "Well, maybe? I've just never seen her as the type, you know? And no one actually saw them, right? So maybe nothing happened at all, who knows?"

Ichika almost frowned. Why was she giving her all this trouble? But then she was saved by the last person she expected.

"I do," someone said. Ichika turned to the girl who would seal the deal for her.

Yumi, Nino's friend, spoke up, "She's definitely that type of girl, I'd know."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well I thought something was strange between them just after we transferred. Nino and I were already friends by then. One day we're walking through the hallway when Uesugi just starts saying all these super, super weird things to her. Stuff about not giving up what they had, and this and that about some night at her place during a festival, and how he was gonna teach her everything he knew."

"Eww! That sound so sketchy!"

"Right? We thought so too. But she got super red and slapped him for it, so I just through Uesugi was being a freak as usual. But then it turns out they've been together for, well who really knows? So Kari and I were with her yesterday and we asked her about how long she and Uesugi had been, you know, active, if you know what I mean."

"Oh! What'd she say?"

"Well, she wouldn't tell us how long, but she never denied it."

Ichika barely hid her grin, despite her training, this was too good to resist. It was going more perfectly than she could've imagined!

The table gave a collective shriek of vindication, "I knew it! She's a total cock slut!"

The girl who dared to doubt her story said, "Sounds like it, I mean I didn't know her that well to begin with, so..."

"And it wasn't just with Uesegi either. She gave it up so easily to a guy she just met, in the forest of all places!"

"Guess she likes it dirty."

"I thought I heard a wolf howling that night! Maybe it was her!"

"Awoooo! Awoooo!"

"And she only just transferred last year! She must've been spreading her legs for loads of guys at her old school!"

Ichika shrugged, "Well, hard to say, it's not like I'm her keeper."

"Oh god, I wonder how many guys she's done it with."

"Eww, now I'm picturing it! Disgusting!"

"I always thought she looked easy."

"I've seen her eyeing guys, should've known she was hungry for it."

"Poor Uesugi, he probably doesn't even know."

"To think we'd ever feel sorry for Uesugi."

They might, but Ichika didn't feel an ounce of pity for her former beloved. Or for Nino, either. They get what they deserve.

A/N

I need to start by telling you all how I was overwhelmed with the response last chapter. I'd been gone for so long, I hadn't expected so many people to pick it up again so quickly. The manga ended. Season 2 is far away. Fandoms fade over time. But then so many of you reached out and told me that yes, you're still there and have been waiting for the story to continue. It's hard to describe the joy and relief I felt, but I think it's familiar to anyone who writes here. This story means something to more than just myself. So I'm thankful to you, especially those who welcomed me back, and know that I intend to continue this story to its conclusion.

When I stopped writing, the story had not yet ended, and now it has. I want to address my own feelings on the conclusion and what I think does and does not work. Many felt disappointed with the ending, and I'm no exception, but not because Nino wasn't chosen or because Yotsuba was. It's multifaceted. Anyone could have been chosen by Futaro for the right reasons and the ending could have worked. The problem with Yotsuba is that, up until that point in the story, from a meta standpoint she was the only choice for selection (I mentioned this in a previous A/N, I believe). Hers was the only arc left without significant closure, and it needed Futaro. So going into the festival, I believed it would be her. But my main issue with her selection is that it ties in with fate.

The manga uses the idea of fate several times outside of their relationship, we see it with the dancing by the fire, the bell, and with their relationship meeting five years before. I understand that we are microscopic pieces in an uncaring universe, but I do not believe that I am bound by destiny, or that my life is set in fate. My life is not so important. It is mine by chance and mine to shape. But Negi shapes his story with fate as a core theme. The girl from before and the chance meeting are all part of that destiny. I went out of my way in this story to disregard the chance meeting from before, to the point where whether or not it was one of the sisters or a misshaped memory is up in the air. Yotsuba's story is entwined with the strings of fate, and her winning helps seal that. A story may be manufactured, and the author may be a designer of fate, but the story doesn't need to reflect that. It's a conscious decision to make something inevitable in the laws of the universe. As I reject fate, I cannot be happy with this ending on those grounds. If it were for another reason, I'd be more accepting.

And then there's how the sisters did not receive, in my view, satisfying conclusions of their own. What separates and makes this harem story superior is how the women are so closely linked. You cannot just cut out family, and seeing the consequences of love and heartbreak should be part of the core of the story. And though we see a definite shift to focus on Yotsuba near the end and some conflict with her family, I don't think there was enough there. I wanted more. But it just putters to the end, and I think that's in part to the author being tired. He's on record that writing a long series is more challenging than he thought. His early work is high quality and good storytelling, but I feel the latter half begins to lag, and he wraps up the story in a less than satisfying way than if he'd had the same momentum throughout. I still consider him a great writer, we wouldn't be so attached to the story and characters if he wasn't. But even great storytellers falter.

So now that we have an ending, I know what I want to do with my story: I want to write a better ending. It won't supplant the author or his work, but it'll take it in a new direction, and I believe provide a more satisfying conclusion for all characters. That's my goal. I have no idea if I will pull it off, we all hoped Negi would, but I do feel I'm up for that challenge and will provide excellent endings, and new beginnings, for all characters that fans, regardless of their favorite sister, can be happy with.

This is where the story stands. We're approaching the halfway point and will be on the tail end soon enough. Thank you to everyone who's reached this point with me and will continue reading to the end, or however far you see fit. Thank you to everyone who's taken the time to comment and review, and who's continued to encourage me to keep writing when my will grew weak. We've never met face to face, but I appreciate you taking the time to let me know that you cared and that the story meant something to you.

Chapter published: June 18th, 2020.