The following Friday morning, on the Nakanos' final scheduled vacation day -
"You did try convincing Nino to come with us, didn't you?"
"I already told you that I did. Like c'mon, you know her, with how her relationship's like with him. Besides, why did you think she'd agree to help in the first place? Not to mention she's got other plans for today."
"But Miku and Itsuki both had other things to do this morning, and Nino was the only one left in the room, so..."
"Even still, fat chance."
Having left their resort to go souvenir shopping, Ichika and Yotsuba, the only two whose mornings are free, have taken a cab to the nearby Waikiki Shopping Plaza, a smaller shopping mall compared to the Ala Moana they've frequented over the past few days, but as it is a mall that they have not visited yet, the two bank on their chances of finding a souvenir suitable to give to Fuutarou and his sister Raiha, but more so Fuutarou, as they have already spent plenty of time and made many unforgettable memories with Fuutarou's little sister. Standing at the entrance of the Waikiki Shopping Plaza, Ichika takes a quick sigh.
"We don't even know all that much about him, though," she remarks somewhat downheartedly. "So picking out something that he might like's going to be one tough nut to crack, huh?"
"I-I'm sure we'll find something! We can't lose hope now!" Yotsuba urges, trying to encourage her oldest sister.
"I know, I know. But still, my point still stands: we know virtually nothing about him. His tastes, his preferences, his likes...nothing."
"Er, we know he likes...studying? Working?"
Ichika squints back at Yotsuba incredulously. "...what kind of souvenir would fit those, exactly?"
"Uhhhh...maybe...test prep flash cards?" Yotsuba suggests hopefully.
"Yotsuba, do you even hear what's coming out of your mouth right now? Repeat that for me one more time, please."
"Test prep...flash...cards..." Yotsuba's green hair ribbon deflates humbly once more.
"Yeah, so you do realize how silly that sounds. What on earth kind of a souvenir is that?!"
"I-I'm soooorrrryyyy! It's the first thing that came to mind!"
Sighing, Ichika takes the lead as the two of them begin their initial round of the shopping plaza, just window-shopping for now until they can perhaps find a shop or store that might hold something of interest to them, or perhaps more accurately to their tutor.
"Remember, we can always take the easy way out and just get him something boys in general might like, or some kind of generic vacation souvenir," Ichika mentions to her younger sister.
"I know, but that...that feels..."
"Kind of like a cop-out, right?"
"Yeah...I don't know if 'cheap' is the right word to describe it, but..." Yotsuba straightens up after leaning in towards a window behind which sit a row of stuffed animals from the nearby Honolulu Zoo, where Miku and Itsuki have taken Raiha to go see the animals there. "I want to give him something that...he'd like personally. Something that would mean a lot to him..."
Gazing sideways at her sister, Ichika ponders her words for a moment...and then lets her lips curl into a wry smile.
"Hey, Yotsuba, I'm just wondering, but..." she herself leans in towards Yotsuba with a low voice, "...do you maybe...have feelings for Fuutarou-kun...?"
Yotsuba's hair ribbon jolts up in alarm and surprise as its owner whips towards Ichika with cheeks that quickly pump themselves full of embarrassment.
"F-F-Feelings for him!? No, no, no way ~ !" Yotsuba denies feverishly, shaking both her head and her hands out at her fellow quint.
"Heeeeh, you sure it's not?" Taking another step towards Yotsuba, Ichika keeps up her interrogative vibes as she presses the issue further. "Then why did you sound so...passionate in those texts you sent me and Nino yesterday evening?"
"I was just - just super excited! And the idea just popped into my head at the time!" Yotsuba cries.
"Even with that in mind, though, it's not like we've known him for that long, have we? And the most our relationship with him's been is student and tutor for the most part, right? Yet you're still putting your all into picking out just the right souvenir to give to him. And you're saying there's maybe not something a little extra riiiight...here?"
With a sultry finger, Ichika lightly pokes Yotsuba's bosom.
"I-Ichikaaaaaaaa!" Beginning to pout at her sister's teasing, Yotsuba folds her arms crossly and turns away.
"Sorry, sorry, I couldn't help it."
Apologizing quickly, Ichika closes the distance between them once more and gives Yotsuba a hug from behind.
"I haven't had the chance to tease my cute sisters like that in a while. You could say that I just wanted a bit of a taste of the past..." she whispers affectionately to Yotsuba behind her ear. "I didn't mean to make you angry if you are."
Letting her sister's calming words settle her down, Yotsuba nods slowly in understanding.
"You've been really busy lately, too. You weren't at most of Uesugi-san's lessons last week either because of your part-time," Yotsuba notes softly. "You sure you won't make him angry by keeping that up?"
"Aha...about that, Fuutarou-kun's already talked to me about that."
"And what did he say?"
"He wasn't angry with me or anything...he just wanted to know what I was up to, which is reasonable for him to ask. I told him that I'll try not to let it happen like that."
"...your part-time must be like, really important to you, huh?"
"Er, yeah, of course. And it's not like I can just stop doing it, either, since I've been doing it for a while now." Sensing that the topic is going to hard-shift to her part-time job, Ichika quickly changes the subject back to Fuutarou. "So anyways, if you don't, like, have feelings for him or anything like that, then that's fine, I just couldn't help but wonder what's making you go out of your way like this to get him something and bring me along for the ride. Like, think about it, Fuutarou-kun isn't the type to really want anything from us, don't you think?"
"Yeah, that's...that's true, he doesn't strike me as someone who accepts gifts easily..."
"Even though he should, given his situation."
Yotsuba has since slowly turned around to face her sister again.
"But I still want to get him something either way. Even if he never talks about it, it's obvious even to me that he works super hard, both for his own family and for us. And..."
Regaining her edge of confidence, Yotsuba looks straight back into her older sister's own blue eyes, the same as her own.
"...Uesugi-san is a kind person. He doesn't show it much, if at all, but I can tell that he's someone who cares about us, beyond us just being his students. I don't know by how much, but...the fact that he does care a little, I'm sure about."
At this, Ichika bursts out giggling, causing Yotsuba to pout again.
"I-I'm serious, Ichika! Don't be mean to him!"
"No, no, it's just - I can't help but remember yesterday's cruise we had, and then when Fuutarou showed us that picture of the puffer fish spouting water - "
The mention of Fuutarou's joke about Nino yesterday also gets to Yotsuba, who starts cracking up when she doesn't want to, but she can't stop herself and so joins Ichika in a bit of a giggle fit.
"But I get it, seriously, I do. Fuutarou-kun is a nice guy, and that he just doesn't show it to us directly," Ichika agrees.
"That, and I always get everyone their own personalized gifts too every Christmas, you know?" Yotsuba points out. "So if there's someone I care about, of course I'll take the time to get them something that they'll really treasure!"
"AHA! So you do admit it!" Ichika jabs a finger straight back at Yotsuba's face dramatically. "You do care about him!"
"Y-Yes, I do, but - but - but as a friend! Not like that!" the fourth quintuplet yelps quickly.
"Tch. Boooooriiiiing..."
"Why are you trying so hard to be some kind of matchmaker?!"
Laughing at Yotsuba's deduction, Ichika takes a step back away from her. "It's fun to see my sisters grow up, you know? Going through school, meeting new friends, falling in love ~ that's what our youth should be all about, isn't it?"
"That's true, but...but I'm not...I'm not...!" Yotsuba just can't finish the sentence that she wants to.
"Not what, Yotsuba? Hmmmm...?" Ichika leans in again, once more on the offensive, causing Yotsuba's cheeks to pop brightly once more as she spins around to avoid Ichika's leery gaze. "Tell me, tell me, tell me ~ "
"Uuuuu...! Ichika, you bully...! I should've just asked Miku to swap places with you, or just come here by myself instead!"
"Oh c'mon, don't be like that ~ just follow your heart, Yotsuba, let it tell you what Fuutarou-kun really wants ~ !"
"I don't really want anything if you're thinking of getting me something."
By this point, Fuutarou has shown up unexpectedly enough times that the two Nakanos don't show much of a reaction to their tutor suddenly walking towards them out of nowhere. He has reverted back to his usual clothes of a plain white dress shirt and black slacks, and Ichika scowls at him as he approaches.
"You're not hot in those clothes? At least you could ditch the slacks, who the heck walks around in long pants like that here?" she suggests a bit condescendingly.
"I have my ways of dealing with the heat. You've never seen me complain about the heat now, have you?"
"No, but you were rocking the clothes that Nino bought you the other day just fine too, weren't you?"
"I just like my usual style better. Makes me blend in better."
"Blend in? In clothes like that? When everyone else's walking around in Hawaiian shirts and stuff?"
"For the city. You'd be surprised how many people still wear business stuff or, at least, not so vacation-y clothes the further into the city you go." Fuutarou swiftly waves hello to Yotsuba. "So what are the two of you doing here? This hasn't got something to do with that thing Yotsuba was talking about earlier yesterday, right?"
Both of the girls hesitate, especially Yotsuba, who's completely forgotten that her tutor has an idea of what she's up to because of his accidental eavesdropping the previous evening at the mall outside of the arcade.
"Er...well..." Ichika tries to cover for her sister, but Yotsuba talks past her, opting to remain truthful as she prefers to.
"We were, um, thinking about...maybe getting you a souvenir, Uesugi-san," she reveals faithfully. "That was what I was...talking about yesterday. It isn't anything big or anything like that...I thought we should get you something while we're here for all the stuff you've done for us."
Fuutarou nods shortly. "Yeah, I figured."
"Y-You figured? How did you figure that one out so fast? And did you even need to let us know that you knew?" It's Ichika's turn to fold her arms at her tutor. "You should've just played along and let Yotsuba get you something. Talk about being too direct all the time..."
"You know me. But it was just a guess, because I'm here to do the exact same."
Both Ichika and Yotsuba gawk back at him.
"Fuu - Fuutarou-kun's buying a souvenir for someone?!" Squealing on reaction, Ichika hops over to Fuutarou like a bunny running over to some food. Meanwhile, Yotsuba freezes up, as if in shock to hear his intention. "Who is it for? Ichika-onee-chan'll keep it a secret!"
"What about Yotsuba, then?" Fuutarou points shortly at the other quintuplet.
Ichika slowly turns her neck to gaze back at Yotsuba with closed eyes and an air of pressure that grows the more she turns her neck.
"...you won't tell anyone either, right, Yotsuba...?" she smiles with absolutely no generosity in her lips.
"Eeeeek! Uesugi-san, save me, Ichika's gonna do mean things to meeeee ~ !" Yotsuba scampers behind her tutor to use him as cover.
"Fuutarou-kun? Don't try to keep my dear little sister from me," Ichika continues to smile ominously.
"Or else?"
"Or else...I won't come to any more of your lessons."
Fuutarou swiftly pivots one hundred and eighty degrees, lifts up Yotsuba with the greatest of ease by cupping his hands underneath her armpits, and turns around to present Ichika her sister back.
"Here you go. Express delivery," he announces dryly.
"U-Uesugi-saaaaaaaaaan! ! ! ! Why'd you sell me out like that so easilyyyyy! ! ! !" Yotsuba's voice gets raised to a low shriek of laughter as Ichika raises her own hands, their fingers wiggling in anticipation.
"You should know why, Yotsuba, I'm a poor-ass motherfucker who's gotta pay the bills somehow. If all I need to do to ensure that Ichika'll keep coming to my lessons, then your sacrifice shall not be in vain."
"B-B-But - but - if - if you sacrifice me here, that means - that means you'll be losing out on another student! ! ! !"
Pausing, Fuutarou digests Yotsuba's point and quickly yanks her out of Ichika's grasp before the eldest quint can secure her prize.
"That's a good point, actually. I take it back, I can't afford to lose Yotsuba," he declares, having changed his mind. Pouting, Ichika doesn't give up yet.
"But Fuutarou-kun, how can you bear teaching a dummy like Yotsuba? She can't even tell the difference between 'rice' and 'lice'!" she points out savagely.
"Also another good point." Flipping sides a second time, Fuutarou presents Yotsuba back to her sister again.
"Just because of THAT, Uesugi-san?!"
"The fact that you never seem to get those two correct is starting to get under my skin. I'm sorry, but this is the end of the line. You must atone for your poor English skills."
"By giving me to someone who's also bad at English too!?"
"Misery loves company. And five's a crowd."
Setting the quintuplet in his hands down, Fuutarou sighs a bit.
"Anyways, enough fun 'n games. I just wanted to pick up a souvenir for Raiha," he explains quickly. At this, Yotsuba sighs a breath of relief, while Ichika rolls her eyes in disappointment.
"Meh...should've figured," she groans. "Shouldn't have gotten my hopes up..."
"Hopes up? For what?"
"Nothing, nothing! Our dense tutor wouldn't know what for anyway. Hmph!" Ichika cutely turns away from her tutor with the most glorious pout that he's seen her make so far.
"Okay, then." Fuutarou now turns to Yotsuba. "So you two are here to see if you can try to find me something? Like I said, you don't need to bother - "
But Yotsuba shakes her head adamantly. "I want to get you something, Uesugi-san! You've worked hard for our sakes for the past couple of weeks, and - "
"Only a few weeks. I don't think that's a very long time."
"But to us, it is!" Yotsuba argues.
"'Us'...? I'm assuming you're leaving out Nino and Itsuki from that."
"F-For now, yeah, but - but anyways! Please let us get something for you!" Yotsuba bows deeply.
Ichika also steps in to assist her sister, even though merely moments ago the two of them were at odds, even if it was only playful.
"Fuutarou-kun, we're well aware that you're a busy guy and that you'd rather spend your own time by yourself working or whatever, and that you don't want us to buy you anything because you don't feel like you deserve it just yet. But this is a souvenir - it's not meant to reward you because of a job well done. Yotsuba's buying you something because she wants it to be a memoir of our vacation here together."
"But this vacation wasn't meant to have me involved at all. This is your vacation, first and foremost, with Raiha. I'm just here to make sure nothing funny happens," Fuutarou tries to insist, but he can tell that this is a losing battle he's fighting against Ichika, who shakes her head back at him.
"While that might be true, the fact of the matter is that we still came here with you. Yeah, you weren't the one who was with us on the plane or shared a room with us all week, but you still spent time with us. You spent time with all of us at some point, either individually or with all of us together. And that's without getting into all the time you've spent this week making sure, like you said, that nothing bad happened to us this week. You might not think much of it, but some of us like Yotsuba do, which is why she's taking the time to pick out something for you."
Having nothing to say to this, Fuutarou awkwardly frowns, scratching the back of his head and being unable to return Yotsuba's gaze.
"Alright, alright...I concede," he raises his hands in surrender, causing Yotsuba's eyes to light up with happiness. "But seriously...I don't know what I would want. It's not just to save face that I'm telling you not to buy something for me; I legitimately don't know what I would want."
"Oh c'mon, there must be something?" Ichika asks. "Something, anything at all?"
"I mean, what I would really want, I'm already working towards. I've always been of the belief that if you truly want something, you'd work for it yourself and not have to rely on anyone else to get it for you."
"Okay, Uesugi-sensei, we get that you're all old and experienced and stuff, but leave the life lessons for later."
"Oh that's rich, coming from someone who was giving some of her own life lessons to Miku the other day."
At this, Ichika jumps a little. "H-Hey! How'd you find out...?" she blurts out as it's her turn to avert her eyes bashfully.
"What do you mean, Miku told me the night you told her to come meet up with me."
"Agh, I should've known. I'll have to give Miku a little talk later..."
"Don't bully her or anything."
"I'm not going to! Besides, you're the bully here, constantly telling Yotsuba that you don't want her to buy you anything! Just because you don't want something doesn't mean you should reject her feelings like that."
"I-I get it, I get it, really." Running his hand up through his dark hair in exasperation, Fuutarou beckons to the girls. "Then we can just hang out together for the morning and look around; I can look for what to get Raiha while we look for something to get me, as weird as that is to say. How's that sound?"
Both Ichika and Yotsuba smile back at him joyfully and tag along behind him as the three of them resume their window-shopping adventure.
After about two hours of window-shopping and aisle-browsing throughout the stores in this smaller shopping mall, the trio take a break for an early lunch, settling for a gourmet hamburger restaurant called Red Robin.
"This place has a very retro feel, huh?" Ichika remarks once they've taken their seats and placed their orders. She is sitting across from Yotsuba and Fuutarou, who, at her urging, are sitting together.
"Yeah, this place is meant to be evocative of the American 60's and 70's. It was founded back in 1969, after all, in Seattle," Fuutarou explains as classic 60's American music plays at a comfortable level above them through the restaurant's ceiling speakers.
"Wow, you sure know your stuff. You've been here before? It kind of feels like you have."
"Yeah, in fact, a while back. I used to have to travel around a lot, and part of the reason was to visit an old friend of mine who lives over in mainland America, in California, specifically, and he took me out to dinner to a Red Robin over there once. I liked it a lot, so I figured I'd show you girls...though I'm not sure how much you quints like burgers and such."
"Oh don't worry, we love burgers!" Yotsuba giggles happily, clearly excited that she's going to be eating a hamburger for the first time in a very long time. "We usually don't eat them, but that's only because Nino always cooks us healthy food."
"Is it true, by the way, that Nino's really the only one among you five who knows how to actually cook?" Fuutarou asks for clarification, now that Nino's been brought up.
"Ahaha...yeah, it's certainly true. Nino's the only one among us who's taken the time to learn how to cook seriously," Ichika sighs in self-deprecation. "Miku's been trying, but she's been struggling too. Yotsuba and Itsuki just don't have the talent for it, and in the meantime you've got me, who's too lazy to learn."
"Thankfully for the rest of you four, then, that Nino takes care of you all," Fuutarou snorts quietly. "She's flaunted that to me earlier this week when I was hanging out with her; I figured there might be a chance that she was just bluffing or trying to impress me or whatever, but I guess that really is the case."
"It sure is. I mean, think about it, who else have you seen cooking in our house?"
"Miku, but yeah, she's not very good, even I can tell, so your point stands. Unless I count Yotsuba, who knows how to craft drinks."
"B-But that's not, you know, cooking..." Yotsuba points out hesitantly.
"Yeah, guess not. Maybe you'd make a great bartender?"
"A bartender?" Yotsuba quickly envisions herself wearing a fancy dress or a tuxedo, standing behind a counter and pouring out a glass on the rocks for a customer. "Th-That doesn't sound too bad, actually..."
"She needs to learn how to mix more drinks than just Shirley Temples and juice mixes first," Ichika chuckles.
"Well, it's a start. Everyone's gotta start somewhere..." Fuutarou says reassuringly, reaching for his tall glass of ordinary water to take a sip. "I thought you girls wouldn't like the idea of having burgers for lunch since it might be too heavy, or maybe since you're all rich girls, burgers are way too 'commoner food' for you..."
"Aw, it's nothing like that. Do we really come off as spoiled rich girls to you?" Ichika laughs, taking Fuutarou's lead and sipping from her own tall glass of Cherry Coca-Cola.
"...yes?"
"You could at least say it without sounding like that's the most obvious thing in the world!" Ichika laughs, mainly to herself. "I guess there's no point trying to ask you to be a little less direct, huh? But no, we all like going out for burgers every once in a while. Even Nino too, believe it or not..."
"I mean, even for her, I guess it can become pretty boring just cooking and eating homemade food all the time. And I'm sure she's got nights when she doesn't feel like cooking," Fuutarou reasons.
"That's right. You're surprisingly perceptive, if nothing else."
"Believe it or not, it's one of the ways I make up for being an insufferable, insociable karoshi warrior."
"K-Karoshi warrior...what a fitting nickname. Who gave you that?"
"Me."
"So not only are you perceptive, but you've got a hilariously dark sense of humor."
"That's a complement, so thank you." Fuutarou sips some more water. "Either way, I'm glad that my suggestion to come here is working out. The burgers here are great; I can personally vouch for that at least, though remember that they're quite heavy - you'll realize the difference between Japanese and American cuisines right away the moment our food arrives."
"It's okay, we're used to trying out all sorts of different food from around the world. We've vacationed in all sorts of places, after all," Yotsuba reminds her tutor, who rocks his head back a little in realization.
"That's right...then maybe I don't have to worry about that little detail."
"Ehehe ~ you sure do care about us a lot, huh, Uesugi-san?"
"I'm contractually obligated to, so I do put in at least some effort into looking after you all however I can."
"Yeah. Now if only you were getting a souvenir for one of us," Ichika teases him lightly.
"Imagine actually getting a souvenir for one of you, dear God. How the hell is a broke-ass dude like me gonna buy something that's up to your standards?" Fuutarou shudders jokingly.
"It doesn't have to be expensive, sheesh! You think that just because we're rich and spoiled, we want all our gifts to be all classy and expensive?"
Fuutarou looks Ichika straight in the eye across their table, causing her to recoil slightly at his perceived seriousness.
"Uh, yes?" he answers with the most bluntness Ichika's felt in a while, even from him. "You even said it yourself, hello? 'Just because we're rich and spoiled'? What the hell else do you want me to say?"
Pouting for a third time today, Ichika reaches over the table to bop her tutor lightly on the head with the bottoms of her fists as he leans in for another sip through his glass's straw.
"Bad Fuutarou-kun, bad! Bully to girls! Meanie!"
"I wasn't trying to bully you, though. You should've seen what I was trying to do to Yotsuba yesterday when I found her talking about her plans for today."
"I-I was just surprised that you'd walked up behind me like that!" Yotsuba protests.
"But you saw me and Raiha walk into that arcade; it shouldn't have been a surprise that we'd come out again eventually."
"Wait, you knew that I was following you?!" Yotsuba looks utterly shocked.
"With someone like you tailing me, yes, it was quite obvious. You were stalking us for a good hour and half, which is pretty impressive, all things considered."
"So that's what you were doing yesterday while Nino and I were at the spa. Are you sure there isn't maybe a little extra something behind this souvenir you're getting him?" Ichika leers teasingly back at her younger sister, whose face puffs into embarrassment again.
"I-I'm telling you there isn't! ! ! ! I was just trying to make sure that Raiha-chan and Uesugi-san were having fun, that's all!" Scrambling to defend her pure-hearted intentions, Yotsuba glances hurriedly at Fuutarou next to her. "See, see, it's - it's just like how Uesugi-san is always nearby watching over us so that nothing happens to us!"
"You make me sound like a goddamn stalker, Yotsuba."
"Oh, you're not?" Ichika asks plainly, sipping nonchalantly from her soda.
"For what it's worth, I don't actually follow you girls around the damn clock, knowing exactly every single little thing that you do."
"Then how do you know what we're up to at all times? Like how you knew Itsuki was heading out of our hotel room that other night?"
Fuutarou looks around - as the restaurant has recently opened and people usually frequent the restaurant later in the day for dinner, he doesn't need to worry as much about getting overheard.
"I spent the first couple nights planting sensor runes all over the city. That way, I can not only track your girls' movements, but also everything else in the city in case there's any strange behavior going on in the city that might be of concern." Fuutarou gazes straight back at Ichika. "Now that you've mentioned it, I can very well operate as if I'm a frickin' stalker. You know those runes I put in your house? On the front door and on the veranda window door? Imagine what would happen if I put those on your room doors instead. I said that I don't do this, but if I really wanted to, I really can figure out every little thing that you do, and honestly, that would be the best way to guarantee the safety of you and your sisters because I'd know exactly where you are and what you're doing at all times."
As Fuutarou goes further and further into detail, Ichika shrinks back in her seat, realizing that she's opened a can of worms that she probably shouldn't have tried testing him on.
"Obviously that'd be going way too far, so I don't do that. I know you only meant this as a joke, but be careful what you joke about when someone like me gets involved...it's more likely to happen than you think."
"O-Okay...lesson learned, Sensei."
"I wasn't even trying to teach you anything there..."
The three of them lapse into a brief silence, quietly enjoying the retro atmosphere of the hamburger restaurant.
"Uesugi-san," Yotsuba speaks up suddenly, and turning to her to his left, Fuutarou can read a look of urgency in her blue eyes.
"Yeah, what's up?"
"If...if it's alright with you," Yotsuba asks slowly, "could you tell us...what it is that you do as a...m-mage...?"
Uncharacteristically for someone like Fuutarou who gives crisp, snappy answers to questions he's presented with, which is what Ichika and Yotsuba have come to expect from him given the context of their tutoring relationship, he simply peers straight back into Yotsuba's eyes, offering no words of reply for a solid minute. Yotsuba can't seem to tear her own eyes away from him - his dull black eyes, even though they are lightless, empty, and infinite, capture her gaze and viciously refuse to let them go.
Empty...
"Er...you two? Fuutarou-kun?" Ichika calls worriedly to them, her voice breaking the trance-like state that Yotsuba has found herself trapped in, and Fuutarou turns to glance back at the eldest quint. "You don't like being asked that question, huh...?"
"It's not a matter of whether or not I like being asked something like that," he sighs quietly. Placing a hand on the table, Fuutarou removes it after a moment, and on his half of the table sits a small blue rune. After another moment, the rune loses its light to become a faint silhouette, then expands quickly, engulfing their table and some space around it before disappearing from view entirely. "Rather, it's something a good mage should never be asked."
Sitting up straight and pulling out his phone to do his usual routine of checking emails and texts, Fuutarou puts his phone down on the corner of the table after he finds both of them to be empty for now.
"But I will have to make an exception for you girls...though that doesn't mean I'm obligated to tell you everything, for security reasons."
He glances back at Yotsuba, who, having broken out in a small but cold sweat, tenses up again when she receives her tutor's attention once more.
"So why do you ask? You mentioned earlier when we first met two hours ago that you wanted to get me something because you know how supposedly busy I am. Is it because you're just curious, or because you want to have some kind of reinforcement behind you getting me a souvenir gift?"
Opening her mouth but then closing it immediately after, Yotsuba repeats this process a few times like a fish out of water. The icy, suffocating pressure that seems to emanate from Uesugi Fuutarou returns to oppress her will to communicate effectively, though thankfully it isn't as harsh, perhaps because Fuutarou turns his gaze away again to take another sip from his water. Ichika is not immune from this pressure either, even if she is not the one towards whom the pressure is targeted, and so for both her own sake and for her sister's, she remains a silent bystander, somewhat nervously looking on with her Coke straw in her mouth. Eventually, however, Yotsuba does fight back against the icy pressure and hack up the will to talk with the one weapon that she can feel confident in: the truth.
"...it was...because...I wanted to know...I wanted to get an idea of...just how busy of a person you are," Yotsuba croaks. With all her concentration and willpower points boosting her current Speech stat, Yotsuba has no remaining stat points to allot to other areas of social interaction such as posture and presentation, which means that she's got her head down, hair ribbon deflated yet again, talking straight down at the cushion seats on which she and her tutor sit across from Ichika.
"And why's that?"
Fuutarou is speaking with a cold, emotionless calmness, a stillness that has eliminated all semblances of personal bias and extraneous thoughts. While they have heard their tutor talk like this plenty of times before, neither Ichika nor Yotsuba have heard his voice quite like this, where simply hearing it feels like their chests are being filled with buckets of ice. Fuutarou's voice has demonstrated over the weeks his ability to show some deviating emotions from his default iciness, and the two of them have admittedly been enjoying the times when their tutor acts out of his usual shell and becomes more animated, so his stark relapse into his usual standoffish, almost hostile Arctic attitude gives the two of them a grim reminder that their tutor is no ordinary high school freshman. As a matter of fact, there was someone else who acts this way most of the time too -
"Because - because - " Yotsuba's tongue refuses to cooperate with her properly; she has an answer ready for this, for she has anticipated Fuutarou asking her to explain herself, but she just can't spit it out without stammering a few times first. " - because - I wanted to put the most - the most genuine feelings into - into - giving you - th-that souvenir - I thought - if - if - I knew - more about what you do - then - then - I'd - feel happier - giving you - something - that you'd - you'd enjoy - "
That's the best Yotsuba can do, and so squeezing her eyes shut, she prays that Fuutarou will accept her answer. Not that she knows what he'd do if he doesn't, but she's in no position to assume that Fuutarou will be satisfied with the answer she's given him.
But to her growing relief, the oppressive icy atmosphere that has dominated the air among them slowly fades away, and she is able to look back up at her tutor, who is acting the same as if nothing has happened.
"Putting your most genuine feelings into a gift that you plan to give to someone important to you..." Fuutarou repeats slowly, gazing down at his empty phone screen that is as empty as his own eyes are. "While I'm not fully familiar with that kind of sentiment, at least I can tell that it means a lot to you."
Utterly relieved at his approval, Yotsuba nods deeply, unable to stop herself from smiling radiantly with joy.
"You knew that she was telling you the truth, Fuutarou-kun?" Ichika asks from the sidelines.
"She doesn't strike me as the type of person who'd lie. Or, let me rephrase that: I don't think that she's the type of person to lie when it involves something that means a lot to her. I could be wrong about that; after all, I've only known you girls for barely a month, if that, but that's the gut feeling I got when she said that."
Fuutarou slowly rolls his neck backwards, rubbing the back of his neck at the same time.
"Honesty's not something I come across a lot, and so in appreciation of the fact that you decided to be honest with me, or at least I think you are, I'll talk a little about about my whole mage stuff, but only the things that directly concern you girls. While I'm leaving you all in the dark for the most part for your own protection for now, that can't go on forever - though when I'll get the opportunity to sit down with everyone and explain with full transparency what I do as a mage, I have no idea."
As Uesugi speaks, both Ichika and Yotsuba find themselves leaning more and more closely to Fuutarou.
"But for now, I can say this: I'm not just your tutor. As a matter of fact, as you probably already know by now, tutoring you is not actually my main obligation in regards to the Nakano family. It's intended to be a cover-up for the fact that my main responsibility right now is to ensure the safety of the Nakano quintuplets by any means necessary."
Fuutarou is right; it is no secret, especially after their first weekend's incident, to the quintuplets that their tutor has responsibilities that go beyond mere teaching and tutoring. But to hear him physically say this outright feels as though a foundation has finally been laid beneath their feet in regards to their image of the boy named Uesugi Fuutarou, with whom the girls have spent much time over the past several weeks.
"This is naturally a long-term contract. Protection services usually don't last this long because they involve clients who usually have their own entourages anyway and only require special escorts or protection services when they need to enter a potentially hostile area that they don't already know or are familiar with. But you girls are a different story, because the circumstances of this contract are unlike any I've ever had to deal with before."
"How...how so?" Ichika asks, finding herself becoming more and more invested into Fuutarou's words.
"The threats who pose a danger to your safeties are largely unknown; all I know is that they exist, somewhere out there, but obviously that's not a lot of information to work with. Therefore, I have to search for potential threats, identify them if I deem them as confirmed threats, and eliminate them swiftly if I can, ideally before they can start causing trouble and get any of you directly involved. But as that whole warehouse incident showed, not everything goes according to plan."
Fuutarou looks up to meet Ichika's eyes, and now it's her turn to find herself unable to look away.
"Because I'm starting with only a single lead and not much information to work with, I spent a few weeks both before and after I first met you all covering the entire city with surveillance runes. What I did here in Honolulu is similar, just on a much smaller scale since you girls shouldn't be heading outside my scan range here anyway since we're on vacation. But back home, you girls can go wherever you like, and so I have to account for that by covering the entire city - including the suburbs and outskirts. It also includes the boondocks and the less-frequented areas like that warehouse, and that's how I was able to locate you all.
"But just setting up a magical surveillance system alone isn't enough; just like most modern things, I have to maintain them too, because eventually they degrade over time. The really good mages out there have strong enough runes where they don't degrade as quickly or even at all, but I don't quite have that same experience, so for now I have to check my runes from time to time and make sure that they're working as they should, and if they're not, I have to head out and conduct maintenance on them. That by itself doesn't take long, but running around the city with how big it is does.
"And lastly, you girls. I mentioned this just earlier to you, Ichika, but just like how I've been keeping tabs on everyone here, I also do the same for you all back home, but again, just on a much bigger scale because you girls can go anywhere at any time. While I said I don't know all the exact little things that you do, I will tell you that I know where exactly all five of you are in the city. I know when you leave the high-rise, I know if you're at school, I know if you're somewhere downtown doing shopping, and I know if you're someplace that you're not supposed to be because you didn't go there willingly."
Surveying his two-woman audience, Fuutarou exhales quietly, clasping his hands together across his stomach.
"I won't deny that that sounds really unnerving and creepy, that I know exactly where you girls are at any time, and while I won't be changing any of that just because you girls are uncomfortable with it, I apologize if that's what you feel about it," he says. "And I wouldn't have even had to bother you two with that sort of information, but I felt it was necessary to divulge given that Yotsuba's asked me the whole question of what the hell I do as a mage."
"Well, it...it is kind of creepy, not gonna lie, but...if it weren't for that, then...who knows what would've ended up happening to us back at that warehouse..." Ichika mutters somberly, lowering her head a bit. "Definitely if you told us this before, we'd freak out a little...no, probably a lot, to be honest. But now, at least we know why you go to such lengths like that, because...something like that could happen."
"And besides, you've spent a lot of time with us with tutoring, so...I guess it's not so bad...?" Yotsuba mentions awkwardly, scratching her cheek nervously while wondering if her input really has any weight in this conversation.
"Yeah, that's a good point you bring up; part of the reason why I've spent a lot of time over at your place is to just be there physically so that in case something did happen, I'd be more likely to be in position to keep you girls safe," Fuutarou nods, causing Yotsuba to sit back up again, happy to know that she's been proven wrong. "It's not something I could just come out and tell you all, especially not to Nino or Itsuki, but yeah...being there in person with you all makes me feel more confident that I can do my job."
"Hmmm...? So does that mean you enjoy being with us...?" Ichika chuckles, offering her sultry finger to her tutor like she did to Yotsuba earlier that morning.
"Enjoy being with potential academic dropouts like you who need me to explain basic shit three or four times over just so that you get it? Talk about having high hopes."
"Ouch, that part really hurt..."
Fuutarou rolls his eyes a second time today. "I shouldn't feel that way, because I've put up defensive security measures on the entire high-rise so that mages or ordinary crooks can't just waltz up to your house. Not only that, but I've installed a teleportation rune at the roof of the high-rise so that I can get there immediately in case of an imminent emergency, so there's no reason for me to worry about not being there, since I can get there in seconds if I need to to respond to a crisis. It's just that knowledge is power, and knowing what you girls are up to myself in person makes me feel considerably more comfortable."
He takes turns glancing at both quints with whom he's about to have lunch.
"Currently, I'm working on identifying potential threats, namely the one behind the warehouse incident. The drug that Nino used on me, Heisei - it's my only lead, but I'm working on following that lead as far as I can in hopes that it'll take me straight to the one who's behind it. I don't expect it to be that easy, but on the off-chance that it does, then that means less work and hassle for me. But that doesn't mean there aren't more bad guys out there..."
"Uesugi-san, why do people want to come after us like this?" Yotsuba asks fearfully. "I know we haven't really shown this, and I don't know how my sisters have been acting around you when I'm not around, but...after that incident, I realized just...just how dangerous this world can be. I don't know if I can say that to the same extent that you can, but I definitely have a better idea of it now. And knowing that, I just can't help but wonder why it is that the five of us have targets on our backs like this. What did we do, Uesugi-san?"
"I'm trying to figure out the same thing, Yotsuba. I don't know why you're all under fire right now; your dad merely told me that he thinks your lives are in danger but didn't give me any details other than Ebata's death."
Ichika listens to this part intently, but she offers no comment in particular.
"My assumption is that it has something to do with you all being quintuplets," Fuutarou ventures forward a guess. "It's certainly strange that the five of you are being targeted by hostile mages, because mages don't typically go after normal people with no magical ability or knowledge of magic unless they've got a good reason to do so. Of course, there can always be some who don't care to have a good reason and just go after anyone they want indiscriminately, but if they're that deranged already, they're really easy to weed out and take down. In any case, none of you have any magical talents that I'm aware of, so my best guess is that because the five of you are quintuplets, and obviously finding quintuplets is really rare, you girls might present something that they're interested in."
"And just what would that be?" Ichika asks, almost with morbid curiosity. At this, Fuutarou once more peers back at her with those empty black eyes of his.
"How should I know? My job doesn't entail knowing what other mages do, and for the most part I'd rather not know," he replies curtly. "But if you insist on me taking another guess, let's see, how about that warehouse incident? What if those guys sedated you all with their drugs, and then took you back to some godforsaken lab where they tested out more experimental drugs on the five of you to see what kinds of effects they would have? Since the five of you are quintuplets and have the exact same physiologies for the most part, being able to observe what kinds of effects drugs would have on one of you would help whoever's making those drugs be able to easily modify them and test them on you all over, and over, and over, and over again to get the exact kind of drug with the exact kind of effects they're looking for."
Such a grim and terrifying possibility shocks the quintuplets back into silence.
"And that's only what I can think of, and I don't go around doing those kinds of things. Imagine what someone who does regularly do shitty and fucked up things like that can think of."
"O-Okay, we...we get it already," Ichika says quickly, having been immediately turned off from this uncomfortable topic. "Forget I asked..."
Yotsuba looks entirely dejected and full of despair. "...magic really is super scary..."
"Which is why I never talk about it on my own accord unless it's a time like now, when you bug me to talk about it. I stand by my point that magic is something you should live your lives knowing nothing about, because most of the time, it doesn't benefit you at all...it just brings you suffering and pain you don't need when I'm sure you have a lot to deal with already."
Fuutarou's heavy words linger in the air longer than they should.
"...then surely you speak from experience on that?" Ichika points out quietly. "Why do you pursue it, then? Why do you work with it?"
"Because when your family's debt-ridden and you need to make money fast somehow to make sure loan sharks and their debt collectors don't come kicking down your door looking for money that your family owes them, there's not much else in the way of options available," her tutor hisses under his breath, and that alone causes the hairs on both Yotsuba's and Ichika's necks to stand straight up. "In a better situation, knowing what I know now, I would've preferred never getting into magic. I would've rather come to know you girls as just an ordinary tutor, hired by your dad just to teach you enough to make sure you all can graduate without dropping out without having to worry about anything else. But that's not the world that I live in - and so here I am."
Shaking his head, Fuutarou runs a hand up through his black hair again.
"Sorry...that was me venting a little," he apologizes quickly. "Another reason why I don't like it when people ask me about magic...eventually at some point I end up complaining about that crap, about how I never wanted to learn it because I'm bitter about how things turned out for me when it was my own conscious decision that I made to get into it in the first place. You girls are the last people I want to bother with that nonsense."
Sitting back up straight, Ichika gazes back at Fuutarou with no expression.
"You want to leave us out of it, then?"
"Yeah, if possible. Though I can see now that there'll be times like these when I can't really avoid talking about it."
"So then what's the point of Yotsuba trying to find you a souvenir gift?"
Fuutarou slowly looks back up at the eldest quint. Detecting creeping animosity in her voice, he confirms it with the hardened look on Ichika's face.
"Wasn't that what I was wondering earlier today...?" he thinks aloud.
"Yeah, but in my case, it's a rhetorical question," Ichika responds crisply. "Yotsuba cares a lot about choosing the right souvenir for you to take back home; you even acknowledged it yourself a little while ago. So to rephrase my earlier question, what was the point of you telling us all this stuff just now, only to end it with how you didn't want to 'bother' us with it?"
Fuutarou raises an eyebrow back at her. "...your point?"
"Yotsuba wants to put all of her feelings she's got for you into a gift that she wants to buy for you and give to you. I might tease her about the basis for those feelings that she's got, whether it's because she admires you as our tutor or because she has feelings for you that go beyond that, but that's besides the point. You telling us these things about your involvement with magic and how it relates to us is exactly what Yotsuba wants, what she's asking for. So for you to say all that, and then say towards the end 'you girls are the last people I wanna bother with that nonsense', what do you think Yotsuba feels right now?"
"I-Ichika, you don't need to - it's not that big of a deal," the fourth quint tries to mediate like Ichika herself would do for her own sisters, but Ichika isn't about to let herself be stopped. Glaring now with her own razor-sharp blue eyes, the eldest sister is able to nullify what pressure she's been feeling before while Fuutarou was talking to end her peace with:
"I get that you're a busy person. I get that you're normally not that sociable, that you prefer to be alone and be left alone so that you can do whatever it is that you need to do. But we've known each other for a little bit now; you've spent quite some time with us that I don't think is insignificant, but I'm getting the sense that you don't really care to recognize that we value the time that we have spent together so far. If that's the case, you don't deserve a souvenir from any one of us, let alone Yotsuba. If that's how you really feel, leave us be after you're done with lunch."
Locked in the most intense and cutthroat staring contest that Yotsuba's ever seen, Fuutarou and Ichika remain at odds in silence against one another across the table, and Fuutarou is the first to relent, surprisingly enough. Without warning, he stands up, pocketing his phone and taking one last sip of his water.
"Then I'll save you some time," he quietly declares, his narrowed eyes cast down at Ichika in her seat. "Enjoy your lunch; I'll be going on ahead."
As he is starting to leave and rounds the table for the exit, Fuutarou stops for a brief moment.
"This isn't on your itinerary, but your dad did have something planned for you all later tonight at 7:45 PM. So I'd suggest you all meet up at the hotel lobby after you're done packing at 7 o'clock sharp. See you then."
And just like that, Fuutarou is gone, with just the two quintuplets sitting alone at their table. Yotsuba, unsure of what's just unfolded over the past couple minutes, can only mumble weakly,
"...so what are we supposed to do about his lunch...?"