"Well," said the teacher. "We have a few students with us this year from abroad. Would you all like to come up here and introduce yourselves?"
They came to the front of the classroom, five girls of identical height with identical faces, wearing identical blazers and skirts. The tall, lanky boy with the dark bowl cut who joined them stuck out like a sore thumb.
"Hello," said the first girl, who wore her red hair cut short and had a single pierced ear. She punctuated her statement with a bow. "My name is Ichika Nakano. It is a pleasure to meet you all, and I hope that we can enjoy our year in Austria with you."
Murmurs ran through their classmates, mostly about how pretty and charming she seemed. The boy in the bowl cut privately wondered how long that impression would last.
"Hey." said the second girl, whose hair was decorated with butterfly-print ribbons on either side. She carried herself with all the pride of a duchess. "I'm Nino Nakano-"
"Isn't that a boy's name?" One of the girls asked.
"Not in Japan, it isn't." Nino said. "You may have heard of our daddy, Maruo Nakano. He's the doctor from... that one incident."
'That one incident' occurred several weeks before, when the president of Austria was shot during a visit to Japan. He might have died were it not for a certain doctor who was nearby. Nobody could prove that strings had been pulled to get the daughters of said doctor into a prestigious private school in Austria, but a lot of people suspected as much.
"G-greetings. I am Miku Nakano." said the third girl, who had a pair of blue headphones around her neck and wore her hair in long bangs that seemed designed to hide her face easily. "I am pleased to meet you all."
She glanced up at her classmates, who were staring at her in confusion.
"Uh, Miku?" Ichika said in Japanese. "You said that in Japanese. Remember, this school teaches in German."
"Right. Um, I-ich heisse Miku Nakano. Freut mich, ihr lernenzukennen." she punctuated it with a bow, one deeper and stiffer that Ichika's had been.
"Kennenzulernen." the boy in the bowl cut corrected. He had had to work hard to instill the level of language proficiency the girls had. He wasn't going to stand for further issues.
"I am looking forward to spending time here in the historic city of Salzburg." Miku continued, this time in German.
There were a number of murmurs about Miku as well, and the word "suess" seemed to come up a lot.
"Hey, you guys!" said the fourth girl, who wore her hair in a bob decorated with a green ribbon. "I am Yotsuba Nakano-"
"Are you okay?" One boy asked.
"Why are you in a wheelchair?" A girl asked.
"Why is she chained to her wheelchair?" a second boy asked.
"-I hope that all of us can graduate without any regrets and make some great memories," Yotsuba continued. "Like watching fireworks, or going hiking, or tasting the heart's blood of the innocent as you watch the light fade from their eyes-"
"D-don't mind her!" Ichika interrupted. "Yotsuba's really a very sweet girl. She just says things sometimes due to her… condition…
"And by 'condition', she means the two-hundred-and-something demons that are currently possessing Yotsuba's body." Nino added testily.
Miku hung her head at the mention of demons.
"Yeah, Yotsuba's here in Austria for… treatment…" Ichika said. She did not feel the need to elaborate that "treatment" here was the nuns of the Order of the Clear Eyes trying to extract the demons one-by-one from Yotsuba.
"How did she get possessed by demons?" one of the girls in class asked.
"They lined up and asked her if they could. And she said yes to every single one." Nino said.
This got a laugh out of the class.
"Why's everybody laughing?" Nino asked, confused. "That's exactly what happened."
"Wasn't there anybody in Japan who could help her?" a girl in class asked.
"Well, the local Shinto shrine tried, and they actually managed to get a couple out," Nino said, "but then she burned the shrine down, and suddenly we couldn't find another one that would help her, so we had to look abroad."
"And I am Itsuki Nakano," said the fifth girl, who decorated her long hair with two star-shaped hair ornaments. "In case you're wondering: Yes, my sisters and I are identical quintuplets. I'm personally looking forward to sampling the cuisine here-"
"Of course that's what you're after." the boy with the bowl cut interrupted.
"S-shut up! Can't you stop being rude for one second, Uesugi?" Itsuki asked.
"Maybe you should introduce yourself, too?" The teacher asked.
"My name's Futaro Uesugi." the boy said.
"How do you know Itsuki?" one of the girls in class asked.
"I've been her tutor for the last year." Futaro said proudly. "In fact, I've been tutoring all fives of these morons for the last year."
The looks he got from his new classmates told Futaro that calling a bunch of cute girls who, on average, didn't act like psychopaths, morons was not going to make him Mr. Popularity.
"Please be patient with Futaro!" Miku cut in. "He doesn't make good first impressions, but he is a good person!"
For a moment, all the eyes in the room were on her. Miku looked like she wanted to be invisible.
One of the boys in class cut in, "Hey, are you really just their tutor?"
"Yep." Futaro said. He seemed oblivious to the varying levels of discomfort that the Nakano sisters showed.
"Did you move halfway around the world just to help them pass classes?" One girl asked, clearly confused.
"Their dad… helped me…" Dr. Nakano had done so reluctantly, under the assumption that if he didn't help Futaro, then his daughters would hatch some harebrained scheme to get Futaro to Austria that would probably have run afoul of immigration laws. This was ridiculous, of course, as the plan they and Futaro had actually come up with would have been perfectly legal.
Suffice it to say, Futaro did not feel the need to share this information with his new classmates.
"Well, you all seem like some very interesting students." the teacher said. "I hope that the six of you will enjoy your year here with-" she cut herself off as she heard the faint sound of metal scraping metal.
Yostuba had a lighter in one hand, flicked on. She stared intently into the flame.
"She found another one!" Itsuki said in alarm.
"Get it away from her!" Ichika yelled, be fore she, her sisters, and Futaro all dove on Yotsuba.
Futaro felt a twinge of guilt over lunch. He'd gotten too impatient to truly analyze the menu for the best value. Sure, the sauerkraut and dumplings were fairly cheap, but "fairly" often meant you were ignoring a better solution-
"Hey, Uesugi! Over here!" a familiar voice said. Futaro saw multiple points of red at one particular table. He made his way over to them.
Truly optimizing his lunch orders might take a while, and he'd probably have to do some tests to see what the unwritten rules of this cafeteria were. He took his seat at the table and nodded to the five identical girls sitting there.
He might try just getting a sausage next time. One or two might actually be pretty filling-
"Wer zum Teufel bist du?" Came a voice from across the table. Futaro looked up to see five girls, staring at him with a mix of curiosity and apprehension. That's when he started to notice the little things about them. Like how the one with the bob cut was wearing a blue ribbon instead of a green one. Or how the one with the short hair had a different ear pierced than he was expecting. And his subconscious gave him a clear message: these girls were not familiar. He had most likely never seen any of them before.
Which was doubly confusing, as they looked just like the Nakano sisters. They even wore their hair in five familiar styles.
"There you are, Futaro." came the voice of Ichika from behind him. "Looks like you've already found some fri-" Ichika stopped abruptly as she got a good look at the girls at the table. The girls at the table looked at Ichika, baffled by her appearance. Their confusion turned to fear as the other Nakanos arrived. The ten girls spent a long time staring at each other.
It was the girl with the blue ribbon that broke the silence. "Ahhh! Doppelgangers! They're here to eat us!" she yelled.
"Uh, Vera?" said the girl with the earring in the wrong ear. "Don't you think you're getting a little ahead of yourself?"
"Sit down." said Not-Nino to her doppelgangers. "We have some things to discuss."
The Nakano sisters took their places at the table. They introduced themselves, as did Futaro.
"So, you're from Japan?" Not-Ichika asked, trying to sound conversational.
"We are." Itsuki replied. "And I suppose you five are from Austria?"
"Japan. Great." said not-Nino.
"Yeah, we are." Nino said angrily. "Do you have a problem with that?"
"Tobia, be nice." Not-Ichika said. She turned to face the Nakano sisters. "And let me introduce myself; I'm Heinrike Meidl. These are my sisters Tobia, Reinhilde, Vera, and-"
"What do you have against Japan?" Nino asked, her question clearly directed toward Tobia.
"Our biological father was Japanese." Tobia replied. "And he walked out our mom as soon as he found out she was pregnant with quintuplets."
"Yeah, but what's that have to do with us?" Nino demanded.
"Why shouldn't I be angry, with a girl as loud and rude as you are?" Tobia yelled back.
"Hey! Um, Reinhilde, wasn't it?" Miku asked, looking at the other girl wearing headphones.
She was, apparently, Reinhilde, as she suddenly snapped to attention. She grew visibly tenser at suddenly being the everybody's focus.
"Do you know anything about the castle on the hill?" Miku asked. "It looks like it must be… very old! A few centuries at least, don't you think?"
"W-what makes you think that?" Reinhilde asked nervously.
"Well, you do read a lot of history books when you think nobody's looking." Vera said offhandedly.
"Vera!" Reinhilde complained.
"Reinhilde," Miku said gently. "Somebody once told me that I should have confidence in the things I like. If you're interested in history…"
"It's called Hohensalzburg Fortress, and I've never been there myself," Reinhilde said reluctantly. "We're from Vienna, and we only just moved to Salzburg ourselves. But… I think I'd like to see it myself. Maybe."
"Heh. Miku might seem cold at first, but she's really got a big heart." Yotsuba said. Miku seemed more embarrassed by the sudden praise than anything.
"Hey, Heinrike?" Futaro asked. "What was your biological father's name?"
"His name was- is?- Mudo." she responded.
The Nakano sisters all went silent.
"I thought so." Futaro said. "Ladies," he gestured to the Nakanos, "meet your half-sisters."
"How old are you guys?" Ichika asked.
"Well, right now we're in the eleventh grade." Heinrike said.
"We're in the twelfth." Ichika said.
"Did he move to Austria right after he abandoned mom, just to immediately find another woman? And then abandon her in exactly the same way!?" Nino asked.
"How do we look identical if we're half-sisters?" Itsuki asked. "Especially since we took after our mother."
"Genetics are complicated." Futaro said. This was the most explanation Itsuki would ever receive on the matter.
Tobiah got up from her side of the table and walked to Nino. "I owe you an apology. You're not my enemy. You're my sister. That old bastard is our enemy." Tobiah punctuated her statement with her best impression of a Japanese-style bow.
"And if you guys ever need any help with school-" Miku said.
"You'll have to ask somebody else, because I've already got my hands full." Futaro said.
Miku pouted. "I was going to say that we could help them."
"Oh, yeah. That'd be a better idea." Futaro said.
"How much do you know about the Holy Roman Empire?" Reinhilde asked.
"...Not much." Miku confessed.
"Ooh! Maybe Reinhilde could help you out with your history!" Vera suggested.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Itsuki said. "We never found out what your name is!" she pointed to the last Meidl sister, the one who was tucking in her fourth sausage and had the same sort of cowlick/antenna as Itsuki.
"Oh, that's Itsuki." Reinhilde said.
"Itsuki Meidl." she introduced herself.
"Why-"
"I don't know either." Itsuki M said.
"I'm just surprised Mudo is still alive. I was really hoping he ended up dead in a ditch after he walked out on mom." Yotsuba said.
The Meidl sisters stared at her in horror.
"Ah, that's just the demons talking." Ichika reassured them.
"Haha, yeah, demons. Totally not any of my real feelings in there…" Yotsuba said.
It had been about a week, and Futaro was starting to settle into a routine. There was class, his tutoring sessions with the Nakanos, lunch with the Nakanos and their new-found family members, and Futaro's admittedly awkward attempts at forming friendships among his new male peers.
It was on a Saturday, when Futaro was out on an errand with Ichika and Miku, that things started to escalate.
"Come to Kitty McGee's Irish pub!" said a female crier standing on one street corner, handing out fliers to passers-by. Futaro and his companions wouldn't have payed her any mind, save that she had a face and voice that were both very familiar.
"Oh, hey…" Futaro tried to figure out which of the Meidl sisters the crier was. She had long, face-obscuring bangs, and a pair of green headphones around her neck. "Heinrike!" That was probably a good guess. "How are you doing?" he asked in German.
The girl stared at him in confusion.
Then she saw Ichika, and got more confused.
Then she saw Miku, and she started looking worried.
"C-c'mon! Ya can't be looking to take any more from me, can ye?" she said in accented English.
"Excuse me, but, you look a lot like one of our classmates." Ichika said in English. Or rather, she said something to that effect which was heavily accented and not necessarily grammatically correct, but will be rendered as such in this story for the sake of clarity. "Do you attend Platzhalter Akademie?"
The crier stared at her, confused. "I wouldn't be out workin' on a Saturday if I had money to attend some fancy private school."
"Where are you from?" Miku asked the girl. She took a step towards the other girl, and Futaro noticed for the first time that the crier was noticeably shorter than Miku or Ichika.
"I'm from County Donegal." the crier said.
The other three looked at her, puzzled.
"Ireland. I'm from Ireland."
"And did you come here because of some kind of supernatural problem?" Miku asked, her tone entirely level.
"Y-yeah, actually." the crier said, looking confused. "I, uh… got in trouble with the Fair Folk. I can't set foot on Irish soil for another… eleven months, two weeks, and one day."
The other three gaped. "That's terrible, not being able to go home like that!" Ichika said.
The girl looked surprised. "You're not going to question the whole bein' cursed thing?"
"Oh, we've been through some things ourselves." Ichika said. "Miku here actually just finished her own stint as an evil sorceress-"
Futaro gave Ichika a look that advised not to talk any further.
"Well, I play in a little band with my sisters, and we managed to find a pub that was lookin' for a band, so at least we won't be goin' hungry." the girl said. She handed them three of the fliers she had. It promised that McGee's had good food and affordable beer, but much of the page was taken up by an ad for the Gallagher sisters.
"So you're…?" Futaro asked.
"Triona Gallagher." the girl said. "Those there," she gestured to the flier, "are my sisters Aonghus, Doireann, Caitlin, and Itsuki."
"One of those names sounds off." Futaro said.
Triona sighed. "Yeah, I feel sorry for Aonghus, too. It's rough having a boy's name." Though from the look on her face, Futaro suspected that there was more that was bothering her.
"So, uh, this might surprise you to hear, but-"
"Please don't give me the 'I've got Irish ancestors' bit." Triona said, punctuating it with a cold stare. "I get enough of that from the Americans."
"You don't like fakers, do you?" Miku asked quizically.
"Well, I'm not faking anything." Futaro said. "My dad's mother is from Belfast."
This surprised not only Triona, but Ichika and Miku as well.
"Woah, really? You never brought that up before!" Ichika said.
"It doesn't come up very often." Futaro said. "Besides, where do you think my dad got his blond hair from?"
"I always thought he dyed it." Miku said.
Triona looked at Futaro, pondered something for a moment, and then asked him, "Was your grandmother involved in the… unpleasantness there?" with a note of concern in her voice.
Futaro chuckled. "She was, in her own way. She thought that Ulster should be owned by Japan."
That earned him three blank stares.
"I'm serious! She immigrated to Japan for a reason, you know."
"I believe you." said Triona. "You'd probably say something less ridiculous if you were lying."
"Well, at least now we know why your grandmother knows how to make explosives." Ichika said.
Futaro looked at her, annoyed. "Wrong grandmother."
"Huh?"
"It's my Japanese grandmother who taught Raiha how to make explosives. And she's lived in Gunma Prefecture her whole life." he explained.
"Huh!?"
Triona pouted. "Not everybody from Ireland's a terrorist."
"So, Triona," Miku asked in an attempt at changing the subject that was as subtle as a kick in the face, "was your biological father a Japanese man named Mudo who abandoned your mother as soon as he found out she was pregnant with quintuplets?"
Her ability to keep a straight face is truly astounding, Futaro thought to himself.
"I didn't even say we were quintuplets." Triona said.
Miku pointed to the picture, which had five identical girls.
Triona sighed. "Yeah, it's just like you said. I'm guessing he's your da, too?"
"If it's any consolation, your mother wasn't the only woman he abandoned." Miku said.
"H-hey, Triona? Are you and your sisters going to be playing tonight?" Futaro asked. "Maybe we could come listen to you."
"Well, that would be lovely." Triona said with a smile. It was warm and welcoming, exactly like Miku's.
Futaro took that thought and, with practiced ease, shoved it to the back of his mind.
"Girls, thank you for joining me this morning." Nino said, with the severity of a general who had a war to start. "And Fu, it's great to see you, too." she added, suddenly sounding sweeter than treacle dipped in molasses.
The six of them were gathered in the Nakano's apartment. The sun had just barely risen. Nino had set up a slideshow, and a projector in their living room. None of them were sure where she had gotten the projector from.
"This-" Nino clicked a button and brought up her first slide, "Is my biological father, Mudo." The man in question was bald, had a bushy white beard, and gave Futaro a peculiar sense of unease.
"How did this guy father girls like you?" Futaro asked.
"We try not to think about that." Itsuki N said.
"He's a bastard who abandoned his first wife. We've known that for a long time. What we didn't know before-" Nino clicked the button twice more, bringing up pictures of the Meidl and Gallagher sisters, "Is that our mother was not the last woman he abandoned, either."
Ichika raised her hand. "Does anybody else think that it's weird he's fathered three sets of identical quintuplets? Identical quintuplets are kind of rare."
Nino gave her sister a meaningful look. "Ichika, what if I told you that this happened more than three times?"
"We'd probably think you'd gone insane." Miku said bluntly.
"Nino, did you get any sleep last night?" Itsuki N said.
"This was more important than sleep!" Nino said. She hit her button and brought up the next slide; another set of familiar-looking girls, all bundled up and in the middle of a snow-covered neighborhood. "Meet the Haraldsen sisters of Minneapolis, America."
"Where did you get that picture?" Futaro asked.
"Social media." Nino replied. "And they aren't the only ones! Observe!" She clicked to the next slide. "These are the Santiago sisters of San Antonio, America." She clicked again.
"Brasilia!"
Click.
"Lagos!"
Click.
"Nairobi!"
Click.
"Johannesburg!"
Click.
"Jakarta!"
Click.
"Pyongyang!"
Each picture showed five girls, a little younger than the five before.
"Okay, does anybody else think it's weird that they're always quintuplets?" Ichika asked.
"My working theory is that it's magic." Nino said.
"I hate how much sense that makes." Itsuki N said.
"How did he get into North Korea?" Futaro asked.
"That's not important." Nino said. "What is important is that he got out. Because now-" Click. This time, the slide was a screencap from a social media post. There was a picture of an old man in a suit standing next to a much younger woman in a wedding dress. "He's going to get married to yet another woman, this time in Berlin."
Nino threw her arms out wide. "Do we want to let this happen again?" Nino asked.
"Ooh! Ooh!" Yotsuba said. "I know what we could do!"
"Yotsuba, put the knife down!" Miku said.
Yotsuba looked at her hand, seemingly surprised to realize that she was brandishing a knife. She set in on the coffee table in front of her.
"They're getting married the day after tomorrow!" Nino said. "Luckily, school has been canceled for the next week due to certain complications." She glared at Yotsuba, who seemed oblivious.
"So, what are you suggesting?" Futaro asked.
"That's very simple, Fu; We're going to go to Berlin and stop the wedding."
"Seriously!?" he asked.
"It's only a few hours by train. We could be there by evening." Nino went on.
"Don't we need to make some arrangements if we're going to travel?"
Nino smirked. "I already made them. I've got our train tickets booked, and hotel rooms for all of us."
"You really thought of everything, didn't you?" Futaro asked.
"Indeed. Now, tell me Fu: would you like to come with us?" Nino said, as if she were inviting him on a shopping trip. She clicked to the next slide, a picture of a massive park. "Berlin may not have the kind of reputation that cities like Paris, but there are plenty of romantic places to visit, like the Tiergarten or the Botanical Museum-"
"Ooh! Ooh! I want to go~!" Yotsuba said.
"Does that mean you were planning on not going?" Ichika asked.
"And don't plants wilt at your touch?" Miku added.
"Only 85% of the time, now!" Yotsuba remarked.
"Yeah, I'm going with you all." Futaro said.
Ichika, Nino, Miku, and Yotsuba all took that bit of news well.
"And let me guess," Itsuki N said, "You can't let morons like us travel without supervision?"
Futaro did his best to pretend that wasn't what he was about to say.
There was one thing Futaro wanted to take care of before they left. He stopped by a particular boarding house and knocked on the door. An older woman answered the door.
"Hello, Sister Erika." Futaro nodded to the woman. "I had some questions about Yotsuba's condition." He then proceeded to explain the whole situation to her. "Do you think Yotsuba would be alright to travel in her… condition?"
Sister Erika nodded. "I think she'll be fine as long as somebody's keeping an eye on her at all times." She pondered a moment before adding, "There are some risks associated with travel. Do you want to borrow my mace?"
Futaro had been in exactly one situation in his life in which pepper spray may have been useful, but he didn't want to seem rude. "It couldn't hurt."
Sister Erika went back to her room for a moment, before returning with a mace.
"Oh, you meant that kind of mace. The spiky-metal-ball-on-a-stick kind." Futaro said.
"You can't trust those Prussians." Sister Erika said matter-of-factly.
"So, you went to hear those girls play last night, didn't you?" Itsuki N asked. "How were they?"
Their train was currently stopped in Munich, and they were trying to pass the time with small talk.
"The Gallaghers? They were… surprising." Miku said. Irish music could be roughly placed on a spectrum from "What shall we do without timber?" to "I will personally kick Oliver Cromwell in the crotch". The Gallagher sisters, as it turned out, played music on the latter end.
"I have to go to the bathroom." Yotsuba announced. She got up from her seat before anybody could stop her.
"Hey, Nino?" Futaro asked. "Don't you think maybe you should get some sleep?"
"Why would I do that?" Nino said before downing another glass of DonnerTee™, the tea that has ten times the caffeine of other tea brands. "I'm not going to rest until we take care of that jerk."
"I think you're taking that too literally." Futaro said.
"She never does anything by halves..." Miku noted.
"Thank you, Miku." Nino said.
"...Even when she should." Miku added.
"Hey!"
"Well, Nino, Miku is our little sister. Getting on our nerves is her job." Ichika said.
"Hey, does anybody know where Yotsuba is?" Itsuki N asked.
"I think she's-" Ichika was cut off when Miku suddenly jumped up.
"She's out there!" Miku said, pointing out the window. Sure enough, Yotsuba was out in the crowd, making her way away from the train.
"I told you we should have kept her handcuffed." Nino grumbled. Miku was already making her way to the door, with Futaro close behind.
Unfortunately, they had not paid attention to the announcements that the train was about to depart. The door closed almost immediately after Futaro disembarked, leaving Ichika, Nino, and Itsuki N to watch through the window as their train slowly pulled away from the station, their sisters, and Futaro.
"This is bad." Miku said as she watched the train pull away.
"We left our luggage on there." Futaro said. "All we've got is our phones and wallets. And this." Futaro said, hefting the mace.
"And Yotsuba's running around a strange city." Miku added.
"I'm not sure if we should be more worried about Yotsuba or Munich." Futaro seemed to consider for a moment before asking, "Hey, Miku, would you mind carrying this?" and indicating the mace.
"W-why do I have to carry the mace?" Miku asked indignantly.
"Because you're a lot cuter than I am. People aren't going to care if you have a weapon." Futaro said.
Miku took the mace and hoped that her blush wasn't too obvious.
"Do you mind if I ask you a question, Miku?" Futaro asked. Yotsuba wasn't answering her phone, so they'd been recuded to searching the streets at random and occasionally asking people if they'd seem somebody who looked exactly like Miku.
Futaro was half-worried that they'd discover yet another set of half-sisters, though that hadn't happened. Yet.
"What's up?" Miku asked.
"What exactly are you planning on doing once you get to Berlin?"
Miku looked down. "I figured that Nino had a plan."
"So, you haven't talked to her at all? Or tried to come up with a plan yourself?" he asked.
Miku thought back on the debacle at the inn and hung her head. "I'm not good at making plans."
"A year ago, you weren't good in school." Futaro said. "Did you get better by not trying?"
"No. No, I didn't." she started to smile.
Futaro sighed. They were starting to have a moment, but he was going to have to spoil it. "If that woman is really determined to marry Mudo, she might not change her mind because some strange girls show up and start making accusations."
"So what else can we do?" Miku asked.
Futaro sighed. "I don't have many ideas, myself."
They turned a corner and walked down another street.
Despite a number of attempts to make a call, It wasn't until the train had reached Nuremberg that anybody actually answered Ichika.
"What's going on? Are you three alright?" she asked.
"Well, the good news is we found Yotsuba." Futaro said.
"That's great! Is she alright?" Ichika asked.
"Yeah, she's fine."
"Where are you guys right now?" Ichika asked.
"We're by the train station. It's where we found Yotsuba."
"Okay, so, now you guys just need to grab the next train, and you can catch up to us once we get to Berlin.
Futaro surveyed the charred remains of the Munich train station. "I'm afraid it won't be that easy."
"Guys, I'm really sorry I burned the train station down!" Yotsuba said. "I-if it makes you feel any better, I don't think anybody actually got hurt."
"I'm… not mad…" Futaro said, "But right now, we need to get out of here before you get arrested."
"This is bad… this is bad…" Miku repeated to herself.
"Of course, once we're done with this whole thing, you are going to come back to stand trial." Futaro added.
"Awww…" Yotsuba moaned.
"I doubt you're going to be able to just make puppy-dog eyes at the judge and get off the hook." Futaro said, not knowing that this was exactly what would end up happening. "But we'll have to worry about that later."
"Hey! Hey! Over here!" The three of them looked over to see a man on a motorcycle with a sidecar.
Futaro, Miku, and Yotsuba exchanged a look, silently asking the other if they knew who the man was. They went to talk to him anyway.
"Ah! I knew it was you!" The man pointed to Miku. "You're Triona, aren't you? Triona Gallagher? I'm a big fan of yours!" He paused before adding, "Nice mace, by the way."
This surprised Futaro. The Gallagher sisters had uploaded their music online, but their view counts indicated they weren't reaching a big audience. This man may have been the only one in Munich who had heard of them.
"Yeah, that's me. What can I do fer ye?" Miku replied.
Futaro gaped. Head gotten used to Miku imitating her sisters. Hearing her imitate her half-sisters was new, and Miku was even able to do a passable Irish accent.
"Well, I'd love an autograph, but I also wanted to ask if I could help you out. You look a little worried." The man frowned. "Huh, you're actually taller in person than I expected."
"Uh, y-yeah, me and Cait missed our train, and we've got a gig to play in Berlin soon. We're tryin' to figure out how to get there-"
"Ah, well…" the man thought for a moment. "Do any of you know how to drive a motorcycle?"
Miku and Yotsuba both turned to Futaro.
"I should be able to drive it." Futaro said. "Though I'm not used to sidecars."
"Are ye really goin' to let us borrow your motorcycle and drive it across the country?" Miku asked, disbelievingly.
The man nodded. "We've all heard about what you and your sisters are going through, being stuck in a different country and having to make a living. I want to help. Just… make sure you bring it back in one piece, okay?"
"Thanks. And I'll make sure you get an autograph from me and all of my sisters." Miku said, making a note to ask the real Triona for help with that later.
"One question:" Futaro said, "Do you have three helmets?"
They had managed to at least make it a ways away from Munich before they had to take their first break. The motorcycle's tank hadn't been full when they had taken it, and it was getting perilously close to empty. Futaro pulled into a gas station. Futaro went to get drinks for the three of them, while Miku and Yotsuba refilled the tank.
They'd had a brief conversation before they left about seating arrangements, and they ended up with Futaro driving, Miku seated behind him, and Yotsuba in the sidecar. Neither girl seemed all that happy at the outset, with Miku nervous and embarrassed and Yotsuba trying to pretend that she was alright with it. Miku had spent the intervening time holding onto Futaro like a drowning woman holding onto a life raft, and by the time they stopped she didn't seem sure if she was delighted or mortified.
Futaro went to the drink section to see if they had any green tea. It seemed unlikely that they would have Miku's preferred macha soda here.
Miku had never actually told Futaro that she liked him. That was something he'd figured out on his own. Miku had indirectly confirmed that to him. She wasn't like Nino, who was able to express herself so straightforwardly. There was a part of him that wanted Miku to say how she felt, though he wasn't sure if that was because it meant she was getting braver, or if he was just that selfish.
They did have at least some bottled green tea.
Futaro was undeniably fond of Miku. She'd been the second of the quints, after Yotsuba, to really start helping him with tutoring. She' been the one to encourage him the most after their second round of exams hadn't gone well. She was usually the first to worry or offer her help. Moreover, Futaro had found he simply enjoyed spending time with her.
He wasn't sure if he actually loved her back.
And after the incident with the statue, something had changed between them. For a while, even if it had only been one day, she had been a threat to him… and he'd also been afraid of losing her. Not her and her sisters, afraid that the Miku he knew might simply have been gone. He'd been desperate to find any indication that she was still herself. There was still a part of him that worried about losing her. It was also the part that was happier whenever she was with him.
He picked out a brand of green tea without any sugar. Miku preferred her drinks bitter.
They had a huge selection of sugary sodas.
Yotsuba was the only of the Nakanos who'd never needed winning over. She'd been on his side since day one, and she'd helped him build the relationships he had with her sisters. He was deeply grateful to her for that.
But was gratitude the same as love?
He tried to find a fruity soda, something with no caffeine.
He'd moved halfway around the world to be with her, but he'd done it to be with her sisters, too. He enjoyed being around her; they'd become good friends ever since the two of them started attending the school together.
He picked out a soda that looked good, and went to get himself some coffee.
It was hard for him to pinpoint exactly when he had first realized that Yotsuba had feelings for him. And he wasn't sure how he felt for her, either.
Nino had been the first to say that she loved him. Ichika had made her feelings clear during that messy trip to Kyoto. For the other three, it had been a matter of gradually piecing together small signs.
Though all of the chocolate Miku made for him made things pretty obvious.
He got a disposable cup and began pouring himself some coffee.
He wasn't happy with how Ichika had acted in Kyoto, but he had also come to a sort of understanding about why she did it; she was worried because she saw a possibility disappearing. Disappearing, but not actually gone. It was that uncertainty that had driven her worst behavior.
It was an uncertainty that all of them were going through.
He skipped the sugar and creamer. Black coffee sounded better at the moment.
He made his way to the register.
He didn't want to hurt any of them, but at the same time he couldn't make all of them happy. Perhaps the best he could do was to not prolong their uncertainty any longer.
Futaro got back to the others to find Miku taking a call on speaker phone.
"Am I interrupting?" He asked, before passing out the drinks.
"No, we're just catching up with Ichika." Miku said.
"Yeah," Ichika's voice came through the phone. "Our train has been delayed."
"How long are you guys going to be stopped?" Futaro asked.
"No idea. But Nino's starting to get impatient." Ichika said. "How's it going for you guys?"
Futaro wanted to explain their situation, but Yotsuba beat him to the punch.
"Ooo, a motorcycle ride through Bavaria, huh? How's that going for you?" Ichika said, her tone in full teasing mode.
"So, you're getting bored." Futaro said. It was not a question.
"Maybe." Ichika said. "So, Futaro, are you having fun? It must be nice having Yotsuba hanging off your back all the way."
She's really going hard on this today. She might be more than bored, Futaro thought.
"Actually, Yotsuba's been in the sidecar all the way." Miku said.
Futaro had his reasons for preferring Yotsuba in the sidecar. Yotsuba wouldn't want to do anything while he was driving that would make them crash, but Yotsuba also probably didn't want to swallow squirrels whole. That didn't mean she hadn't swallowed at least two squirrels in as many weeks.
"Oh, well, Futaro probably likes that even better."
Futaro stared. Miku gaped. Yotsuba didn't look happy.
"W-what makes you say that, Ichika?" Yotsuba asked.
"Well, Futaro has asked Miku to marry him before." Ichika said.
"Ichika!" Miku whined.
"Yeah, Ichika," Yotsuba said, "You shouldn't-"
"You're taking that completely out of context." Futaro said.
Yotsuba stared at Futaro. Then Miku. Then Futaro again.
"Explain." was all she said.
"It really wasn't a big deal." Ichika said. "We were playing house and Futaro got carried away."
"Oh, well that- wait, no, now I have even more questions!" Yotsuba said.
"Oh, and you should've heard the way Miku just started gushing about Futaro-"
Miku downed her entire tea in one go and tossed the empty bottle in the trash. "OkayitstimeforustogotalktoyoulaterIchikagoodluckwiththetrain." she said, before hanging up.
The scenery was nice, Futaro had to admit to himself. Germany could be lovely, though he'd never like it better than Japan.
The problem was that they were riding on a motorcycle on a freeway. The wind was deafeningly loud, and didn't leave them mush opportunity to actually talk with each other.
Yotsuba, never one to be easily discouraged, still made some efforts to carry on a conversation. It usually took her a few minutes worth of confused "what"s before she gave up.
They managed to make it a few more hours before they had to stop for another break at another gas station.
"Hey, Futaro?" Miku asked. "Could you get us something to eat?"
"Huh? You mean you two aren't coming in?" Futaro asked.
"We need to talk." Miku said.
Futaro shrugged and left it at that.
Miku waited until Futaro was out of earshot before she started talking. "Yotsuba, are you doing okay?"
"S-sure I am! Of course! You know me-"
"Yotsuba, you've committed a serious case of arson today." Miku interrupted.
"One case that you know of."
"Not helping your case." Miku said.
"Ah, it's fine! I do a lot of arson these days!" Yotsuba said.
"And are you okay with that?" Miku asked.
"...It's not so bad. I mean, sure, I can't be trusted with lighters, and nobody trusts me to go to school without restraints, and that means I can't play any sports, and I can't take care of my own plants anymore because they'll die if I touch them, and… and all of you had to uproot your lives because I screwed up... again, and I think Nino might really hate me now, and-"
She was cut short when Miku suddenly pulled her into a hug.
"It sounds like you need this." Miku said.
"...Thanks." Yotsuba said, before pulling away.
"So why did you do it?" Miku asked.
"Do what?"
"Let yourself get possessed. Why couldn't you just say no?"
Yotsuba didn't answer her.
"...I have a theory." Miku said. "I think you still feel guilty that you spent years looking down on the rest of us."
"I- er, that- I- I- I-" Yotsuba hung her head. "Was it that obvious?"
"You used to glare at me every time I did better than you on a test." Miku said. "You're not a good liar."
"...I'm not proud of it." Yotsuba said.
"And I think that's the problem." Miku said. "I think… I think you're trying to punish yourself. So you keep doing things that'll make you miserable. Like overworking yourself. Or becoming a boarding house for evil spirits."
"And, why do you think that's what I'm doing?" Yotsuba asked.
"Because it's what I did after I fell to the dark side." Miku said. "I told myself that I couldn't see Futaro anymore, that I didn't deserve to, and that whatever unhappiness I got from that is what I deserved." She chuckled. "He told me to stop being a moron."
"Heh." Yotsuba chuckled. "So, did you… y'know… tell Uesugi?"
"Huh?" Miku asked, suddenly flustered. "What do you mean?"
"That you like him." Yotsuba said simply.
"I-I-I- I still haven't." Miku said. "He already knows, but… It still feels like it's important to tell him." She sighed. "And I think I'm the only one who hasn't told him. Nino already did-"
"I love you." Nino said seriously to Futaro, as the two of them stood in the kitchen.
"-And Ichika-"
Ichika caressed Futaro's cheek with one finger, taking some care to not scratch him with her long, claw-like nails. "Of course Ichika loves you, my daaarling. And I do so want the two of you together. Also, I think you're and idiot and I smell bad." Ichika said before downing her glass of brandy and shattering it on the floor, heedless of the mess she had left behind for others to clean up and letting out a maniacal laugh-
"I don't think that's how that happened." Yotsuba said.
"And even Itsuki-"
"I love you Futaro, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Itsuki N said.
"Uh, Itsuki, I know you're happy, but don't you think that's a little much just for offering to buy a pizza?"
"I will bear you as many children as you wi-"
"Stop" he said.
"Okay, but I'm not sure if that really counts." Yotsuba said.
"I guess you and I are the only ones who haven't told Futaro that we love him." Miku said.
"AAAAHHH! Wrong!" Yotsuba said. "I told him before any of you!" She left out the part where she convinced him it had been a joke.
Miku sighed. "Then I really am dead last."
"Aw, don't worry Miku. I don't think it makes any difference." Yotsuba said.
"Really?" Miku asked.
"Of course not!" Yotsuba said.
"What makes you say that?"
"Because it's not like Uesugi would ever like you, anyway." Yotsuba said with a grin.
"Yotsuba…"
"Well, what's there to like? All you ever do is mope-"
"Please, stop-"
"You can never get yourself to do anything because you're always looking for that little bit of extra reassurance that'll never come."
"Stop it." Miku said.
"You can't even cook right, no matter how hard you try."
"Stop it!"
"Why would Uesugi ever love a pathetic, sniveling, incompetent coward like you? He deserves better than some girl he'll have to drag around his whole life, especially-"
Yotsuba was cut off as Miku slapped her in the face.
Yotsuba stared at her sister, shocked. Miku looked back at her. Whatever fire had driven her had extinguished itself already.
"Y-yotsuba, I'm sorry! Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Yotsuba said, rubbing her cheek. "Just the demons taking over again. Definitely not any of my own real feelings mixed in." She wasn't making eye contact with Miku.
"I-I still shouldn't have… uh… Yotsuba?" Miku said, suddenly seeming distracted. "I think we've got another problem."
"What's that?" Yotsuba asked.
"I think I might have slapped one of the demons out of you."
"That's a weirdly specific thing to think." Yotsuba said. "What makes you think that?"
Miku pointed off to the side, where there was a man-sized trout with humanoid legs glaring at them, its piscine eyes full of hate.
"Oh, yeah, I DO remember that demon!" Yotsuba said.
The fish-thing advanced on them.
"I summoned you into this world." Miku said, trying to sound authoritative. "You have to obey me."
"Actually," said the monster, "no, I don't have to obey you at all. Traitor."
The creature charged at them. Miku grabbed the mace off of the back of the motorcycle and took a wild swing at it. The monster crumpled to the ground, before melting into a puddle of black, foul-smelling tar. For the first time, she was glad Futaro had made good on his plans to drag her and her sisters to the gym.
Miku poked the tar with her foot, before smacking it several times with the mace just to make sure it wasn't going to suddenly re-form.
"Huh." Miku said. "Those things aren't as tough as I was expecting."
"Heh, yeah. You should have seen Nino taking them on with my epee."
Miku pulled her hand back, readying another slap.
"Uhh, Miku?" Yotsuba asked.
"Well, there's one less demon in you now, so…"
"Yeah, but most of them don't come out that easily."
Futaro was waiting in line to purchase their food when he got a call.
"Hey, what's up?"
"Uhh… Hey." Ichika said. "So, I've got good news and bad news."
"What's the good news?
"Our train is moving again." she said.
"Hey, that is good news." Futaro said. "So, what's wrong? Did Itsuki get into a fight or something?"
"Oh, no, that's not it. See, the person driving the train right now isn't the one it's supposed to be. The train's kind of… sort of… been hijacked."
Futaro's blood ran cold. "Hijacked!?" He didn't care when the other customers in the gas station turned to stare at him. "What happened? Are you guys okay? Are they taking captives? Have they made any demands?"
"Oh, no, nothing like that." Ichika said, sounding oddly calm for her predicament.
"Ichika, this is serious! You guys could be in danger! Who knows what the hijackers are trying to do?"
"Oh, well, actually I do know. She's just in a big hurry to get to Berlin." Ichika said.
"How do you know that!?" It was then that a thought occurred to Futaro. A stupid, ridiculous thought. "Ichika?" he asked, trying to be calm.
"Yes?"
"Were you guys the ones who hijacked the train?"
"What!? No!" Ichika said indignantly.
Futaro breathed a sigh of relief.
"Itsuki and I had nothing to do with it."
Futaro wished he could take that sigh back.
"Are you telling me," Futaro asked levelly, "that Nino hijacked a train?"
"...You have to remember, she didn't get any sleep last night. She's not thinking straight." Ichika said. "Look, don't worry. Everything is going to be fine."
"Fine? Ichika, you're in a train being driven by a girl with no training who's running on caffeine and hatred. This is a diasaster!"
Futaro then heard a series of shouting and loud banging noises coming through the phone.
"What was that?" he asked.
"Oh, that's just the train's staff trying to get back into the engine." Ichika said, making a decent attempt at sounding casual.
"Does that mean that you're in the engine right now?" he asked.
"Itsuki and I were trying to stop Nino! We just… didn't succeed."
"Okay, so, what are you going to do now?"
"I'm still figuring that out." Ichika said. "Also, I, uh… kinda forgot to charge my phone last night…"
"Why are you-" Futaro never got to answer that question, as the call suddenly dropped. He spent the next several minutes checking through news stories, but there was thankfully nothing about a train crash.
Realizing that the line ahead of him had already finished, he went to make his purchase.
Progress slowed to a crawl after that, as Futaro started making far more frequent stops to try to either call the other group, or check to see if there were any news stories about what had happened to the train. More frequent stops also meant more frequent opportunities for Yotsuba to get into trouble, so they lost even more time trying to keep her from vandalizing buildings or talking people into buying NFTs.
And it wasn't until after they'd stopped for dinner that Futaro realized he had made a wrong turn three hours before, and had ended up going west instead of north.
The drive should have only taken a few hours, but now it was well past dark and they were closer to Hanover than Berlin.
"We should probably stop for the night." Miku said.
Futaro shook his head. "I can keep going!"
"You look exhausted." Miku said. "We should have enough money on us to get a room at a cheap hotel."
"Yotsuba," Futaro complained, "Could you help me out here?"
"Sorry, Uesugi." Yotsuba said quietly. "But I agree with Miku. You need your rest."
Futaro was the first one to wake the next morning. It had cost most the money the three of them had, but he had gotten a night's sleep and felt much better than he had the previous night. The three of them ended up splitting a two-bed room, with Miku and Yotsuba sharing one bed and Futaro having the other to himself.
He was half-expecting to wake up to find Miku sharing his bed again.
Futaro quietly got dressed and went down to the lobby. They offered a complimentary breakfast, so there was no reason not to take it.
He got himself a plate of the cheap eggs and sausage the hotel offered and took a seat in their dining room. He was surprised when a certain girl came in through the door.
"Hey there, Uesugi!" said a familiar girl with a green ribbon tied in her hair.
"Hey there." Futaro replied, somewhat unsure. "Where's your sister?"
"Miku? She's still asleep in the room. She'll be down in a minute." the girl with the ribbon said. She fixed her own plate of food before joining Futaro.
The two of them sat and talked for some time. Their breakfasts were drawn out as they found their conversation more interesting than their food.
"You know," Futaro said at last, "It feels like it's been a really long since I've gotten to talk like this. Yotsuba spends so much of her time any more acting like some deranged parody of herself, and her true personality only shines through on occasion. It was nice to feel like I was talking to the real Yotsuba again."
The girl stared back at him, wide-eyd. "So then-"
"I know it's you, Miku." Futaro said gently.
Pulling her wig off and shaking out her long hair were really just a formality.
"When did you figure it out?" Miku asked.
"As soon as you came in the room, honestly." he answered. "Why did you do it?"
"I-I wasn't trying to trick you! Not exactly…" Miku said. "I know Yotsuba's important to you, and she spent all yesterday causing trouble. I just… I didn't want you to be mad at her."
"You're worried about her, aren't you?" Futaro asked.
Miku nodded. "Yotsuba says she's a bad liar, but she's actually pretty good at convincing us she isn't hurting."
"Still, you shouldn't have tried to trick me," Futaro said, though there was no heat in his words. "And besides, I like spending time with you, too. You could have just come as yourself."
"...Thank you." Miku said, trying to hide her blush.
"Hey there, Uesugi!" said the real Yotsuba, as she joined the two of them. "You'll never guess this weird dream I had last night! I had a big knife, and I was using it to cut up the tires on this motorcycle, and…" It was then that Yotsuba realized that she was holding a knife with a blade covered in some form of black residue.
"Uhh… Maybe it wasn't our motorcycle?" she asked weakly.
As it turns out, it had indeed been their motorcycle.
"Well, maybe we can get the tires fixed?" Yotsuba asked.
Futaro was already on his phone. "There's a place not far from here-"
"See? It's not that bad!" Yotsuba said.
"But their prices are more than the cash we have on hand." Futaro said.
"So, what do we do?" Miku asked.
"We hope your other sisters can take care of this." Futaro said.
It was then that his phone rang. He put it on speaker phone.
"Uesugi?" Itsuki N's voice asked.
"Itsuki, thank goodness you're still alive!" Futaro said.
"That's kind of extreme." Itsuki N said. "But yes, our train has come to a station, we've disembarked, and we're all safe."
"That's great!" Futaro said, sounding honestly relieved.
"And we are currently in a… polity… called Berlin." Itsuki N continued.
"That's… that's a weird way to phrase that…" Futaro said.
"Well, ah, see, that's the funny thing," Itsuki N said. "As it turns out, there's more than one city called 'Berlin'…"
"Itsuki, where are you?" Futaro asked.
"We're in Berlin… Connecticut."
"Huh?" asked Yotsuba.
"Where?" asked Miku.
"What" said Futaro.
"It's in the United States." Itsuki N said.
"So, you're in North America right now." Futaro said.
"That is correct." Itsuki N said.
"And you got there by train." Futaro said.
"It seems this town is a rail hub." Itsuki said.
"You took a train from Munich to North America!" Futaro said.
"That appears to have happened." Itsuki N said.
"How"
"Well, I'm not sure right now, but I have a theory." Itsuki N said.
"And that theory would be?" Futaro asked.
"My theory is that Nino is actually a powerful wizard, but can only use her powers when she's in an altered state of mind." Itsuki N said.
"Those are words you said!" Futaro said in a tone that almost sounded happy.
"W-well do you have any better ideas?" Itsuki N sputtered.
"Maybe you could ask Nino how she did it?" Miku suggested.
"I would, but she ran out of tea and passed out." Itsuki N said. "We don't want to wake her up because, well, at least she's getting some sleep now."
"That's fine!" Futaro said.
"Really?" Itsuki N asked, confused.
"Mm-hmm. Everything's fine!" Futaro said.
Miku and Yotsuba exchanged a worried look.
"Uesugi, are you feeling alright?" Itsuki N asked.
"I feel like I've been set free!" Futaro said, cutting off the call. "I've finally realized that nothing in the world makes sense, and nothing matters!" He gave Miku and Yotsuba a demented grin.
"Futaro, I think you need to sit down." Miku said.
Futaro instead lay down in the middle of the parking lot.
"This isn't good." Yotsuba said.
"So, how are they doing?" Ichika asked. She had just finished lashing their luggage together to make am improvised stretcher for Nino.
"I'm afraid we may have finally driven Uesugi around the bend." Itsuki N said.
"Okay, so…" Ichika said, "We're on the wrong continent, our biological father is about to start another doomed marriage, Miku's alone with a possessed Yotsuba and a possibly insane Futaro, Nino might be wanted by Interpol… what the heck do we do now!?"
"I have an idea." Itsuki N said.
"Here ya go." Said the waitress. She put their order on the table: one stack of pancakes topped with whipped cream, sliced bananas, and crushed pecans; a Denver omelet; a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage; and an order of eggs Benedict covered in holandaise sauce.
Plus a bowl of oatmeal for Ichika.
"Uh, Itsuki? How does this help us?" Ichika asked.
"Well, there's not much we can do about Mudo now, so we'll just have to leave that up to Miku, Yotsuba, and Futaro. In the mean time, we might as well enjoy America." Itsuki N said.
"Futaro?" Miku asked, concerned. "Are you going to get up soon? You've been laying there for the last hour."
"I've never felt better. I'm not worried about anything. At all." Futaro said, looking into the sky. "Maybe this is what it feels like to achieve Nirvana."
"I don't think that's how that works." Miku said. "Yotsuba, can't you do anything?"
"Ooh! Ooh! I've got an idea!" Yotsuba said.
"What's your idea?" Miku asked.
"I'm going to get a pillow to make Uesugi comfy!" She said before running off.
This may have actually been better than Yotsuba trying to help Futaro, though Miku didn't care to think about that at the moment. She took a deep breath to steel herself andd knelt down next to Futaro.
"Hey Miku!" Futaro said cheerily. "Do you want to join me in giving up?"
"No, Futaro. I need you to get up."
Futaro didn't respond.
"If we don't do this, there's going to be another heartbroken woman, and more girls without a father." She took his face in her hands. "I've seen exactly how far you're willing to go to help somebody out, even a girl who's been nothing but mean to you."
Futaro turned his eyes towards her, and his twisted grin was replaced with a look of contemplation.
"If you knew you could have helped them and didn't, is that really going to all be the same to you?"
Futaro gave a wry chuckle. He pushed himself into a sitting position.
"Of course you'd be the one too stubborn to give up." he said. "So, got any ideas what to do about the motorcycle?"
"Actually," Miku said, "I think I might."
Yotsuba did, indeed, return with a pillow. She was confused when she found that Futaro was nowhere to be found.
"Yotsuba," Miku said, "I've been thinking about what you said yesterday."
"Oh?" Yotsuba said, looking curious.
"About how I'm useless." Miku added, sounding dispondant.
"Aww, Miku, I know it seems bad at first, but once you accept that you're garbage, you'll realize that you have a full life of misery to-"
That was enough confirmation for Miku that Yotsuba wasn't the one currently in the driver's seat. She slapped Yotsuba, and something came out of the latter.
That "something" coalesced into what could almost have been mistaken for a man in an overly-realistic pangolin costume. Yotsuba screamed and threw her pillow at it, to little effect.
The mace Futaro brought down on the creature's head had a more pronounced effect, causing it to melt into a puddle of thick, black tar.
"I'm sorry about that, Yotsuba." Miku said. "But we couldn't let the demon know what we were going to do. Are you okay?"
"I-I think I'm okay. And I'm glad that Uesugi is doing better." Yotsuba said.
"Well," said Futaro as he knelt next to the tar, "If you two are willing to help me out, we might be able to patch the tires with this gunk."
A few hours later, the three of them rode into Berlin. Futaro pulled over so the three of them could talk.
"So, what do we do now?" Futaro asked "Go visit the bride-to-be?"
"Actually," Miku said, "I have a different idea."
Mudo had just sat down for lunch when Yotsuba smashed the door to his apartment to pieces with a mace.
"Oh, wow." She said as she stepped through the wreckage into the apartment. "That was a really cheap door."
"Who are you!? What are you doing here!?" Mudo said.
"Oh, I think you can figure out what." Yotsuba said, brandishing the mace again.
Thankfully for Mudo, Futaro came through the doorway next and restrained Yotsuba.
"Yotsuba, no! We're not here to hurt him!" Futaro said.
"Oh, wow, Uesugi. You've gotten a lot stronger, haven't you?" Yotsuba asked.
"Well, I have been hitting the gym…" Futaro said, making sure not to loosen his grip on Yotsuba.
"Hello, Mudo." Miku said as she came in through the doorway. "Tell me, do I look familiar?"
"You-you look like-"
"Like Rena, right? The wife you walked out on back in Japan?" Miku asked.
"Listen, I feel terrible about that-"
"So terrible you've walked out on a dozen more wives since then?" Miku asked bluntly.
"Ah-ah- I-I know I've made some mistakes-"
"And you're going to get married tomorrow, right?" Miku asked.
Mudo nodded.
"Well then," Miku said as she leaned over, her face an inch away from Mudo's, "I just have one thing to say to you:"
Miku smiled. "Congratulations."
Mudo, Futaro, and Yotsuba all stared at her.
"Because I know you're going to be a loving, faithful husband who will stay with your wife through thick and thin. And when you have children, you're going to work hard to be the best father ever for them." Miku said.
"And where does that optimism come from?" Futaro asked.
"Because if he walks out on another family, he's going to make me angry." Miku said darkly. "Yotsuba, how many demons are inside of you right now?"
"Currently one hundred and ninety-nine." Yotsuba said.
"And where did those demons come from?" Miku asked.
"You summoned them so they could help you take over the world!" Yotsuba said.
"So tell me, old man," Miku asked, "What do you think is going to happen if you make me angry?
Mudo's scream of terror could be heard from a mile away.
Futaro, Miku, and Yotsuba were re-mounting the motorcycle.
"You know, I'm calling bullshit on you actually following up on that threat." Futaro said.
Miku smiled. "You're right, but he doesn't know that."
They were fortunate that Nino's hotel reservations were still valid. They checked into two of the three rooms that had been booked, with Miku and Yotsuba sharing one and Futaro having one to himself.
It was originally meant to be his and Nino's, but it would be a while before she was back in Europe.
Futaro had settled in to rest, with the possibility of exploring the city still in the future, when a knock came at his door.
It turned out to be Miku.
"May I come in?" she asked.
Futaro allowed her in.
As soon as he closed the door, Miku announced "Futaro, I'm going to kiss you."
Futaro didn't have time to react. The high difference meant that Miku had to pull his head down slightly to get their mouths together.
He was, all of a sudden, aware of Miku in a way he hadn't been before. Aware of the gentle pressure of her body pressed against his. Aware of the heat of her body, and especially of her breath. Aware of the scent of her.
It left him disoriented, and yet part of him wanted more.
It was disappointing when Miku pulled away from him.
"I do love you, Futaro. I have for a long time."
For all of his academic prowess, Futaro was having trouble getting his brain to remember how words worked.
"I'm sorry. I know that-"
She was interrupted by another knock at the door. Miku's eyes went wide, and she hid herself around the corner. Futaro went to open the door.
He wasn't surprised that it was Yotsuba.
"Hey there, Uesugi." Yotsuba said, sounding unusually subdued.
"Yotsuba, hey. What's-"
"I love you, Uesugi." Yotsuba said.
Futaro blinked. He waited for the next part.
"I'm not joking." Yotsuba said. "And, I wasn't joking when I said it to you a long time ago."
Futaro's mouth hung open.
"You can come out, Miku." Yotsuba added. "I know you're in there."
Miku came to stand by Futaro at the door.
"I know that's a big thing say to you like this, so-"
"Yotsuba." Futaro said.
Both of the sisters stared at him, each tense as a drawn bowstring.
"All five of you mean so much to me. And, I think that the only reason that I was able to get close to you five is because of you. You helped me from the start, at every step of the way. I wouldn't have these relationships without you."
Miku turned red. Yotsuba stared at Futaro as if she couldn't process what was happening.
"So, thank you Yotsuba. I owe you so much. You'll always be dear to me. And, I'm so-"
"Uesugi!" Yotsuba said, equal parts shout and sob. "Don't you dare say one more word!"
"Huh?" Futaro asked, confused.
"If there's- if there's another girl that you love," Yotsuba said, trying to hold back her tears, "Then you owe it to her to love her with all of your heart! And that means:"
Yotsuba, for perhaps the only time Futaro had known her, glared at him.
"Don't you ever apologize for loving her! Not to anybody!"
She couldn't hold back her tears any more.
"Not even me!"
Futaro nodded.
Yotsuba turned and started back to her room.
"Yotsuba?" Miku called after her.
Yotsuba stopped, but didn't turn around.
"Nino doesn't hate you. She could never hate you."
Yotsuba nodded before continuing on her way.
Futaro closed the door.
"Miku, I wanted to tell you-" Futaro trailed off as he suddenly realized his hand was wrapped around Miku's.
He had taken her hand while talking with Yotsuba, and had barely realized he'd done it.
"F-futaro? Does this mean…"
"I love you, Miku." he said.
It looked for a moment like Miku might faint, before she settled on babbling incoherently. It sounded like excited babbling at least, which was probably a good sign.
"I… heard that Berlin has a nice Egyptian Museum. Would you like to visit it?"
Miku finally put together some cohesive words, though they weren't what Futaro was expeccting: "Why me?" she asked.
"Well, you're the girl who keeps looking at me like she thinks I can move mountains- no, actually, that's not it."
"Then what is it?" she asked apprehensively.
"You're the girl who makes me feel like I can move mountains. And won't give up on me until I have." Futaro said. "How does the museum sound?"
"I think it sounds really interesting." Miku said.
Futaro felt like a weight had been cast off his shoulders, and he was more that ready tor have some fun. Still, it felt to him like there must be something he'd forgotten about-
"Raiha?" Futaro asked his little sister.
"Yes, bro?" Raiha asked, the picture of innocence.
"What happened earlier today?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" she said, batting her eyes cutely.
"I mean, the president of Austria was shot today, and I couldn't find you anywhere around that time-"
"Futaro, you're not trying to suggest that I shot him, are you?" Raiha got up from where she was cleaning her sniper rifle and looked up at him balefully, her eyes already welling up with tears. "How could you ever say such a thing?"
"Uh… yeah, you're right, I'm sorry…"
Futaro shook his head. There was nothing suspicious there.
Oh, wait, that day in the cafeteria, if the girl calling me wasn't one of the Nakanos, how did she know my name?
"Y'know, Vera," Heinrike said, "I think that Futaro is that guy we met during that trip to Japan."
"He is." Vera said matter-of-factly while gazing out the window.
"So, are you going to tell him?" Heinrike asked.
"No, I don't think so." Vera said. "It's only a few more weeks until the Alder King takes me as his bride. I'd rather not give Futaro anything to worry about."
Eh, that's probably nothing important. No, the important thing I forgot is-
The fire alarms suddenly went off in the hotel.
"We left Yotsuba alone." Futaro and Miku said in unison, before the two of them took aoff to find her.
Author's Note: I'm going to be discussing spoilers here.
In this story, I put Yotsuba through the wringer, had her acting like a gremlin a lot of the time, and had Futaro get with Miku instead of her. This might be mistaken for a Yotsuba-bashing story. While I admit that Yotsuba wasn't my favorite of the quints and I was kind of disappointed to find out she was the bride, I do still like Yotsuba as a character, I do think she has good chemistry with Futaro, and I did still enjoy the final arc of the story.
I wanted to write a Futaro/Miku story, and the best idea I had was a continuation of "The Statue", which was a story that ended with Yotsuba being possessed, so I had to work with that. Her constant trouble-making was a good plot enabler, and also made for some good jokes due to the sheer absurdity of having her act like that.
There are times I want the reader to genuinely feel for Yotsuba, because I feel like I'm not doing her character justice if the reader doesn't want to give her a hug at least once.
Bonus points to anybody who can correctly guess why I picked the names I did for the Meidls and Gallaghers.
And here's an extra scene, since I couldn't find a good place to put it:
Miku looked across the school's roof to Yusuke. She gave him a deep bow.
"I owe you an apology." she said. "I've realized… that Yi Sun-sin was actually really cool." She thought a moment before adding, "Also, I'm sorry I sicced all of those monsters on you."
Yusuke shook his head. "History is a topic as deep as the ocean and just as vast. It's only natural to revise your view on things. Also, don't worry about he monsters. You're hardly the first person to attack me with a horde of demons."