O

Chapter 4

Yotsuba's Greatest Fear

Yotsuba felt like she had just listened to a horror story.

"That..." she gasped for breath, "that couldn't have been Uesugi-san."

"Oh, trust me, it was," said Chihori, "I was there. I heard every word. What about you? Have you ever asked him about his past? Or who his type was?"

Yotsuba opened her mouth to protest... then stopped when she remembered that one time when Miku...

"You did, didn't you?" Chihori seemed to have read her mind, "You asked him that very same question and he gave you those very same answers, didn't he?"

"Yeah," she forced herself to admit, "Yeah, he did."

"That's what I thought," Chihori sighed, "When I went to see him at the festival I wanted to see if he had changed. At first I thought he had softened a little thanks to you and your sisters, but now I see that he's become even worse. He still can't understand basic human feelings. He has no concept of love," her gaze then hardened as she looked at Yotsuba, "I always wondered what it was that changed him. Now I know."

Yotsuba flinched, "Wait... You're... you're blaming me for what happened to Uesugi-san?"

"No you, but the promise you made as kids. You said that when you two met again you would be model students, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm," Chihori slowly nodded, "A promise you broke but he kept. At the cost of his humanity. Well, I guess you should be proud."

Yotsuba couldn't find a response to that.

"You seem to believe that he chose you simply because you changed his life," Chihori shook head, "That wasn't it at all, Yotsuba-san. He chose you because you were the only one who never gave him any trouble like your sisters did. Love had nothing to do with it."

"You're wrong!" she desperately cried, "He has changed!"

"In what way? Name one thing that's different about Fuutarou that I don't know about."

"He forgave me for my past mistakes!"

"Of course he did. It's not because he didn't care about your past, it's because he doesn't care at all. Did you even wonder why he never say that he loved you?"

She swallowed, trying to come up with an answer but couldn't.

"You see? It's not you that he wants, Yotsuba-san. It's your undying loyalty to him. He never cared about your feelings, or your sisters. You just blindly believed everything he said without question because that was what you wanted to hear."

She shook her head, "But I was his first love!"

At this Chihori frowned, "His first love? Did he tell you that?"

She hesitated as she thought back, "N-No. It was Raiha, his sister. She showed me a picture that he always carried in his notebook. It was me and him when we were kids. She told me that the girl was he first love."

"Did Fuutarou tell her that?"

"I... I don't know."

There was a long pause before Chihori started laughing, "I hate to break this to you Yotsuba-san, but you were never his first love. I was."

The moment she heard that Yotsuba felt something die in her.

"Fuutarou had a major crush on me back then but he never gathered the courage to confess," she explained, "Instead he kept trying to impress me by acting all cool and such. It never worked and eventually he gave up. Raiha never knew about me. It would've been a very easy assumption for her to make because she doesn't know better. She made an innocent mistake that you took literally and it went straight to your head."

"But... but..." Yotsuba was now growing desperate, "He gets along with all of us! He's never treated us badly."

"Has he spoken to your sisters since the night he chose you?"

"Y-Yes... he did speak to one, but it didn't seem to go well. He hasn't spoken with anyone else since then."

"That's because he still has no idea how to handle personal relationships. To him it's not important."

"How can you be so certain?!"

"Because I've known him since we were five, Yotsuba-san. You knew him for what? A day at most? And from what you've told me your sisters have spent more time getting to know than you have. Why didn't you? Why haven't you tried to get closer to him?" suddenly her eyes narrowed, "Or could it be that you were afraid that he would find out who you were and would reject you because of it?"

"He's... He's a good guy!" Yotsuba tried to say, "He's looked after us. He got us through school and-"

"Oh, I see," Chihori crossed her arms, "You're convinced that he's still that same boy you met as a child. You think you know everything about Fuutarou? Isn't that what you said to me at the festival? That you knew him better than anyone else?"

Yotsuba cringed and she saw it.

"So that's how it is. You really do believe he's still that boy and you refuse to see him as anything else. He's not that boy anymore, Yotsuba-san. I saw it myself the day when he rejected Hatsuka's feelings," she then stepped closer and leaned in to where she was face to face, "Now I'm curious, Yotsuba-san. Why exactly do you like Fuutarou? Why do you need him so much in your life?"

Yotsuba felt herself swallow. A long minute of intense silence passed between them.

"What I can't understand is why you didn't tell your sisters the full story about you and Fuutarou from the start," Chihori's eyes narrowed, "Why didn't you?"

She was starting to panic. She wanted to run but for some reasons her legs wouldn't move.

"Because it wouldn't have been a good idea," she quickly replied.

"Why?" Chihori moved closer, "What about Fuutarou? Why didn't you tell him yourself?"

"Because I was afraid he would reject me, and I'm the reason why my sisters and I got transferred! If I had told them the truth they would have hated me for it!"

"And you thought by not telling them would make it easier?" when Yotsuba couldn't answer she said, "You really don't have any faith in them, do you?"

The panic was growing inside her. These were the questions she didn't want to answer.

"You don't understand. You don't understand the pain I went through," she cried, "I was too scared to say anything. I didn't believe I was worthy of Fuutarou. I've spent this whole time helping others so I wouldn't have to face my guilt. I did think about telling him the truth and pursuing him myself, but once I realized that my sisters like him I backed out. I wanted to give them a fair chance of winning his heart."

She took that moment to force herself to look at Chihori, hoping that the girl's expression would soften once she started hearing her story. Instead the girl's gaze hardened even more.

"So what you're saying is that instead of facing your problems you've done nothing but run away? That you've spent all this time feeling sorry for yourself instead of doing something about it?" she shook her head, "I don't believe that one bit. You're hiding something. I can tell. So what did you do after he chose you? How did your sisters react when you finally did tell them the truth?"

"Well..." Yotsuba swallowed, "They were surprised, but... they understood. I then had to ask them permission to date Uesugi-san so that-"

"You did what?!"

The sudden outburst made Yotsuba jump. Chihori looked at her as though she had just confessed to a murder.

"I-I-I..." she stuttered, "I had to ask for permission because-"

Chihori slapped her, not hard but enough to make her feel it. Everything went silent as Yotsuba tried to comprehend what just happened.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" Chihori's eyes were spitting fire, "Asking for permission to date the very guy they liked! Have you no shame? That's literally pouring salt in the wound! Just how insensitive can you be? Next you're going to tell me that you kissed him in his sleep and that you did it behind your sisters' back!"

When she saw Yotsuba go pale her jaw dropped.

"Oh, my God! You actually did that, didn't you?!" she threw up her arms and started walking around in circles, "I can't believe this! I seriously can't believe this! What is wrong with you, Yotsuba-san?! Do you ever think about what you're doing?! I don't understand anything about you! Nothing about you makes sense! First you tell me that you want to give your sisters a fair chance, then you turn around and do the exact opposite! Just how messed up can you be? I don't understand how you can go that far without feeling disgusted with yourself! I don't understand why you had to keep everything a sec-"

Suddenly she stopped, and at that moment Yotsuba knew her judgment day had come. An eternity seemed to pass before Chihori slowly turned to her, eyes now wide with revelation.

"Wait a minute," she looked straight into Yotsuba's eyes, lifted a finger, and said, "You're jealous."

She nearly fainted. The secret she had kept for so long had finally been exposed.

"Now I understand," she heard her say.

Her body swayed and she had to grab the guardrail for support.

No! Please! Don't say anymore! I don't want to hear it!

"That's what this is all about. Jealousy."

She wanted to cover her ears but couldn't.

She wanted to run but couldn't.

She wanted to disappear but couldn't.

"I knew something wasn't right when you told me the reasons why you and your sisters had to transfer. Now I know why."

Her entire body was shaking and her knees wobbled, but she forced herself to stay standing. She could feel Chihori's hard gaze boring down on her, but she couldn't bring herself to look up her. She was too frightened.

"Deep down you've always resented them because they're all better than you, and you can't stand it. You're weak and you know it. You hate it more than anything."

Chihori shifted closure to her. She wanted to step back but her feet remained where they were.

"You know what your problem is Yotsuba-san? You're scared. You're scared of being seen as a fraud. You're scared of the outside world. That's what drove you to do all these things. You can't let anyone see just how weak you are. Especially Fuutarou. That's why you've always thrown yourself into everything to the point of exhaustion. In the beginning it was because you wanted to outshine your sisters, then it just became an excuse not face your problems. Or rather, not to face Fuutarou. But you know what I think? I think you also did it hoping that Fuutarou would notice just how kind, loving, and helpful you are to others."

She waited to see Yotsuba would respond. She didn't.

"You're not as selfless and caring as you want to believe, Yotsuba-san," she went on, "You're selfish and you're greedy. Just like with Fuutarou you also took that childhood promise seriously, only you went even further. You couldn't settle at being good at something. You had to be good at everything. You couldn't accept having one thing, you had to have everything! Being the model student wasn't enough for you, was it? You wanted to be the most popular girl in school, the star athlete, the teen idol, the one who had it all. You wanted it all it. Everything!"

She waited again to see if Yotsuba would respond. She still didn't. She only looked away.

"Not even going to try to deny it, huh? Very well, I'll continue. When you made that promise you became arrogant and egotistical. You thought the world to yourself, pride yourself as someone who deserves better. But you didn't want to be special. No, you wanted to be perfect. You so hard wanted to believe you were this teenage superstar, but in reality you're just as average as they come. You wanted the perfect life and you were willing to do anything to get it."

Yotsuba swallowed but she still didn't say anything.

"And for a time you did have it all, but only for a short time. In the process you forgot the most important thing. Your studies. You realized that when reality stepped in and your little fantasy came crashing down all around you. Your sisters came to your rescue and they willingly sacrificed their school lives for you without ever realizing just how much you despised them. Did you really think that they were just going to abandon you? You got lucky that day, and you should have learned your lesson, but then Fuutarou comes back into your life. You transferred to another school and the first thing you see is him."

Yotusba shivered, remembering that day and what it led. Chihori soon explained it.

"He becomes your tutor and you start to think that life isn't so bad after all. Now you get to be with the boy you've always liked, but then your sisters became interested in him and that's when your jealousy returned. This time, it would really rear its ugly head. This time, it was personal. Since you couldn't have the perfect life, you would take Fuutarou instead by becoming the perfect wife. Admit it. You wanted him all to yourself and you were't going to let anyone, your sisters most of all, take him away from you."

"No!" Yotsuba finally shouted.

"No?" Chihori almost seemed happy that she finally responded, "Tell me something. Did you not kiss Fuutarou so that he would only think of you? Was asking for permission to date him your way of sending message that they were not to touch him?"

"N-No! Th-That wasn't it at all!" Yotsuba cried, "I just... I just couldn't help myself at the time. When I kissed him."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Chihori's eyes snorted, "You're not in love with Fuutarou, Yotsuba-san. You're obsessed with him."

Yotsuba lost her breath. The word obsessed was like a blow to her stomach.

"Ob-Obsessed?"

"Was there ever a time that you had a fallout with Fuutarou? Argued with him? Disagreed over something?"

Her silence provided the answer.

"That's what I thought too," Chihori shook her head, "All this time you've done nothing but support Fuutarou in everything he says and does without question. You've built your entire life around him. You practically worship him. You can't live without him, you can't do anything without him, and you can never go against him. Without him you're nothing. Without him your life has no purpose. You're willing to throw your entire life away just to be with him. That's not a living, Yotsuba-san. It's a waste of life. You virtually want to be Fuutarou's mistress for life because that's all you're good for!"

"No!" Yotsuba gasped, "That's not who I am!"

"Oh, yeah? Then tell me. Who are you, Yotsuba-san? Do you know? When was the last time you took a good look at yourself in the mirror?" when only silence greeted her Chihori bobbed her head, "You already know, don't you? That's what the real problem is with you, Yotsuba-san. You won't look in the mirror because you hate what you see. You are your own worst enemy. I'll tell you what I see. I see nothing but a coward, a liar, and a cheat. I see someone is willing to do anything to get what she wants no matter how low she has to real reason why you want to be with Fuutarou isn't because you love him. It's because you want to use him. As a shield. To protect yourself from yourself."

"That's not true!" Yotsuba's voice shook. She was losing and she knew it.

"Oh, yeah? What were your plans for the future if he didn't choose you? Would you have moved on without him? Or would you have found a way to drive a wedge between him and his girlfriend so you could swoop in and take him back for yourself? You've already admitted that you kissed him behind their back. Are you seriously going to try to tell me you wouldn't have gone even further?"

No answer came.

"I didn't think so."

"I did get an offer for an athletic scholarship!" Yotsuba said out of desperation.

But Chihori just raised a brow, "Were you going to accept it?"

Again no answer.

"Of course you weren't, because that would require leaving your precious Fuutarout behind. You can't stand the thought of being away from him, just as you can't stand the thought of him being with one of your sisters. So you made it your mission to be a part of his life by not causing him any problems while pretending to be this sweet little angel who always helps people and in the end it paid off. You took advantage of the fact that you knew him from before and you used it as a way to get ahead by keeping it a secret."

"No! It wasn't like that! I was trying to give my sisters a fair chance to win him."

"The hell you were! That's what you convinced yourself with so you wouldn't feel guilty. You may have fooled Fuutarou and your sisters with that little act of yours but you're not fooling me," Chihori leaned forward and coldly declared, "Face it, Yotsuba-san. You're no good. You can pretend all you want but it won't change anything. You hate your sisters and you want Fuutarou all to yourself!"

"It wasn't my sisters that I hated!"

She finally said it. She had finally admitted the truth.

"It... it was only one of them."

"One of them?" Chiori didn't sound convinced.

The tears finally came as Yotsuba confessed, "The oldest. It was the oldest one I resented. When we were kids she was the most selfish of us all. She always got into trouble, would often drag us into it, and she would always take things from us. Especially from me. Not long after I first met Uesugi-san I... I saw her with him, pretending to be me. I was convinced that she was going to take him for me, just as she'd done with everything else. From that point on I... I hated her. It got worse after we transferred and she started flirting with him. So I... I set her up. I pushed her back into being a selfish person again. She went too far and destroyed whatever chances she had to be with Fuutarou."

Another long minute of silence passed.

"You mean tell me that this was all about getting revenge?" Chiori finally said, "Getting back at your sister for all the bullying she gave you as a kid? And making sure she never got together with you precious Fuutarou?"

Swallowing hard Yotsuba nodded.

Chiori burst out laughing, "Wow. You're even more pathetic than I thought."

She was right. Yotsuba knew it all along.

"So after all this time you're still holding a grudge against your sister simply because she picked on you a lot when you were kids. Did you ever talk to sisters about it?"

"I... did, but they..."

"Wouldn't listen to you? So that means you took it out on them as well instead of simply letting it go. You really are a child, Yotsuba-san. You never grew up. This whole thing, everything that you've done, has nothing to do with Fuutarou. It's all about you," she poked Yotsuba in the chest, "Do you know what happens when you take revenge? You end up hurting someone else. You are one of the most vile characters I have ever met, Yotsuba-san. You only care about yourself and your self pity. You may love Fuutarou and you may love your sisters, but you don't respect either of them."

Yotsuba could only lower her head in shame.

"You want to know what really pisses me off about you? You know all this. You know what you're doing is wrong. You know what you're doing is selfish. You know that you're doing is hurting your sisters. But You. Don't. Care. You don't care enough to do anything about it. Instead you just make one excuse after another while feeling sorry for yourself. This happy go lucky persona of yours is nothing more than a mask to hide how ugly you really are. You don't care about Fuutarou's feelings at all. All you care about is making sure you never have to face your problems and you see him as the perfect way to escape them. That's what this is all about! And now that you've finally got him in your clutches you're going to whatever it takes to keep him from being taken away from you even if you have to hurt your sisters again and again."

Yotsuba's legs finally gave out and she fell to her knees. She tried to cover her ears as she cried.

"Please stop!" she begged, "Don't say anymore!"

"The truth hurts, doesn't it?" there was no mercy in Chihori's voice, "You stand there and say that you wanted to support your sisters, that you wanted to give them a fair chance, but that was a lie from the start. No one could have Fuutarou but you, and you weren't going to let anyone stand in your way, your big sister most of all. You don't even see Fuutarou as a human being. If you really cared about either of them you would have come straight with them both a long time ago. Instead you kept everything a secret and you did nothing but run away. Every. Single. Time. You disgust me. Just looking at you makes me want to vomit."

Yotsuba continued to sob but Chihori wasn't finished.

"What's it going to take for you to finally wake up? When your sisters finally do decide to abandon you after they see who you really are? Or when one of them ends up dead? Or loses her mind? Or both?"

Yotsuba's head snapped straight up, her tears instantly forgotten. The last two questions shook her to the core.

"Wait..." she started to tremble, "What do you mean by that?"

"Do you have any idea just how much harm you have caused for your sisters? They were all in love with the same guy after all. The same guy you took from them by cheating. Are you sure they're taking it well?"

A cold wave of fear suddenly washed over her. When she hesitated Chihori knew the answer.

"You may not know it now, Yotsuba-san, but you might have just set the seeds for tragedy."

"No!" Yotsuba jerked her head back and forth, "They would never happen! They're..."

"Much stronger than that?" Chihori laughed, "You must really be desperate if you really believe that."

"I tried to give them a chance!" Yotsuba wailed, "I really tried!"

"The hell you did! You didn't try hard enough! You've spent all this time feeling sorry for yourself, punishing yourself, all because you couldn't be honest about your feelings. With you, with them, anything! Not once did you ever try to seek help. You think that Fuutarou is the only one who can save from your misery. And when he chose you you did nothing but spit in the faces of your sisters. You say they're all fine with it, well I don't believe it! Call it girl's intuition but they probably all hate you right now. They just won't say it because they don't want to cause problems for Fuutarou and because they love you too much."

Her head hanging again Yotsuba sniffed, "You're right. One of them does hate me. I'm sure of it. She was the one who tried the hardest to win Ueusgi-san's heart. She was the most upset when I told them that I knew him from before. When I tried to apologize to her-"

Chihori scoffed, "Go on."

"She got angry and lashed out at me."

"I can hardly blame her," Chihori shook her head again, "Unbelievable. When I first met you I thought you were just some troubled kid who just needed a push. Now I know otherwise. You are the most pathetic excuse of a human being I have ever met. I have no symphony for you. If this is the way you want to live your life from now then by all means go to him. Perhaps you two deserve each other after all, for your sister definitely doesn't and I don't think she'll want anything to do with you after this. You and Fuutarou will go on to live happily ever after while she is left to pick up the pieces of her broken heart and the knowledge that you betrayed her."

"No!" Yotsuba snapped her head up and reached she out in desperation, "No! I don't want that! I don't want her to hate me! I could never live with that! I never wanted to hurt any of them!"

Chihori swatted her hand away, "You already have. You made your bed, Yotsuba-san. Now go lie in it."

She shifted the strap of her school bag and turned to walk away.

"No! Wait! Please!" Yotsuba cried, trying to stand but her knees were too weak, "Please, tell me it's not too late! How can I make things right? Tell me what I have to do and I'll do it!"

The girl stopped but didn't answer.

"Please," Yotsuba was truly terrified, "I love my sisters, I really do. I never wanted any of this! I know I'm a coward. I know that I've made nothing but excuses, but I wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for them. I owe them that much at least! Please! Tell me what I can do!"

It was a while before Chihori finally looked over her shoulder.

"The time for this to end smoothly is already long gone," she slowly said, "The only way this is going to end, at this point, is that all of you will have to get hurt. What happens next will be entirely up to you. You wanted to tell hear the truth about Fuutarou and I have told you nothing but the truth. If you truly love your sisters then you're going to have to make a decision at the risk of losing everything. That's the only thing you can do. If you still have doubts on what I've just told you about Fuutarou then I'll give you this suggestion."

She half turned and looked at Yotsuba one last time.

"Go on a date with him, and as you do, watch his behavior. Then, once you two are alone, ask him this question. Ask him why he couldn't have dated any of your other sisters. Ask him that. I guarantee you that his response will coincide with what I said. Hopefully by then you will finally come to your senses and make the right decision. If you want to make things right, that's where you need to begin. Otherwise, you'll be living with far more regrets then you've ever had before, and eventually it will destroy both you and everything around you."

With that Chihori left a desperate Yotsuba behind. From here it was all up to her.

She was the last quint to return home. It was the last place she wanted to be but there was nowhere else to go. Gathering her courage, she walked in through the door.

Miku and Itsuki were both at the table. Miku was apparently reading a brand new book she had bought while Itsuki was studying as usual. Ichika was lying on the couch listening to music and scrolling through her phone while Nino was at her usual place in the kitchen preparing dinner.

Ichika was the first one to notice her.

"Hey! What took you so long? We thought you'd be home already before any of us got back."

"Y-Yeah, sorry!" Yotsuba said in her cheerful voice, trying not to feel sick. She really did feel like a fraud, "I forgot to text you guys."

"So where were you?" when Ichika looked at her closely she frowned and stood from the couch, "Hey, are you okay? Your skirt is damp and you look pale."

Itsuki had also noticed, "You look like you've been crying too. Did something happen?"

Yotsuba forced herself to stay calm and keep her face cheerful. Miku was also looking at her and from the corner her eye while Nino gave a very brief glance before turning back to her cooking without saying a word. The little motion was enough to convince Yotsuba that Nino really did resent her for what she'd done. She quickly shifted her attention back to the others. If there was a time where she had to be a good liar it was now.

"I ran into one of my basketball buddies on the way back," she said, trying to keep a straight face while trying to sound as natural as possible, "We hadn't spoken to each other in a while so we hung out for a bit. We then had some ice cream before playing some indoor basketball together. I got so into it I lost track of time. As for my skirt... that was just me being clumsy trying to sprint all the way back here while everything was still wet. Don't worry! I didn't hurt myself!"

She kept her gaze focused on them and waited. If she had turned away they would know in an instant that she was lying, and she knew how much she sucked at lying. Internally she wanted to screw her eyes shut, preparing herself for the questions and berating that was sure to come, but she kept herself composed. She couldn't tell them about her confrontation with Chihori just yet.

"Oh, I see," came Itsuki's reply, "That makes sense."

Yotsuba kept herself from blinking in surprise. Whoa, it actually worked? Aside from Fuutarou Itsuki was the only one who knew how bad of a liar she was. Did she actually managed to lie or was Itsuki simply faking it?

"Why don't you take a quick shower before we eat?" Ichika looked over at Nino's back, "How long before dinner?"

"Thirty minutes," she stiffly replied without even turning.

"Plenty of time," Ichika grinned at Yotsuba.

She grinned back before glancing at Itsuki, but she had gone back to her studying. Either she got very lucky or Itsuki was keeping quiet about it. She wasn't about to stay to find out so she made her way to her room to get a fresh set of clothes.

Fifteen minutes later she felt a great deal better, the hot shower having washed away the coldness from both her body and lightening her spirit. She didn't want to think what Chihori had said to her earlier. All she wanted to do right now was to have dinner, go to bed, and then think about it in the morning.

Wrapped in a fresh towel Yotsuba pulled up a stool and sat down to dry her hair. But when she looked at the mirror she suddenly froze.

Who are you, Yotsuba-san? Do you even know? I'll tell you what I see. I see a liar, a coward, and a cheat.

Those words echoed in her mind and it was at that moment she remembered that old saying. When one looks into the mirror they see their true self. The thing was, Yotsuba had known all along who she really was but had refused to acknowledge it. All this time she avoided looking directly into the mirror, for she was too scared to see the image she knew was always there. Now that she had finally been exposed, she couldn't look away.

She saw who she really was. A weak pathetic loser who had convinced herself that she was utterly useless in every way possible except at being Uesugi-san's one and only true love. At least, that was what she wanted to believe. Hearing that story about his past had left the seeds of doubt in her mind. No matter what she did she couldn't push it away.

You lied to me!

Nino had every right to resent her. Her resentment towards her sisters, especially towards Ichika, had come around to this. Yotsuba was a coward, a liar, and a cheat. She had taken what Nino wanted the most because she wanted it herself. There was no point in denying it anymore. Even though she was in a warm and steamy bathroom her body felt hellishly cold, as though the room itself had turned into a freezer. Everything Takebayashi had said was true. She had created this whole mess and she had refused to see until now.

What was she going to do now?

Ever since the day she and her sisters had been transferred Yotsuba had built a life around helping others without protest, pushing herself to do everything without ever stopping to rest, and even after she collapsed from exhaustion she still wanted to do more. She'd thought that living such a selfless life would be the best way for her to cope with her guilt. She wanted to be a cheerful, easy to get along type person that was always willing to help others and put smiles on people's faces, but in the end that life was built on nothing but a lie.

Through all of those selfless acts she had accomplished nothing. It was all an excuse not to face reality, to make herself feel better. Now she couldn't run anymore. Her past had finally caught up with her.

With a sob her face fell into her hands.

She had so many chances to make things right, to come clean with her sisters, and she had ignored them all. Even Itsuki had given up on her after all she tried to do to help her. Worse, she had taken advantage of Itsuki's kindness. She had made her pose Rena while she stood hidden in the background and watched. It had been the act of an absolute coward. She should have been the one to confront Uesugi-san at that moment. Instead, like she had done so many times, she ran away.

Lifting her face she looked at the mirror once again. She remembered an important conversation she had with him. She had told him that she wanted to make everyone happy only for him to say that was impossible and it was naive of her to think that way.

"Realistically speaking, often times, one's happiness comes at the expense of someone else's," he had told her, "Competing against each other, taking from each other, happiness attained through victory certainly exists too. If it's as you said, then there's really nothing you can do. There are limits. When you choose something, it means not choosing something else. The time will come when a decision will have to be made. There's no avoiding it."

She should have listened to him, but she didn't. As usual. Whenever someone tried to tell her something important she had always ignored it. Uesugi-san, Itsuki, even Mama. All three had tried to tell her something and she never listened. She'd just wanted everything to be given to her. She wanted everything to be perfect. She wanted everyone to accept their relationship without objection and she had gone to the extreme to make it happen. The others had had to start from scratch in getting to know Uesugi-san while she had it easy from the start and she had taken full advantage of it.

In the end, she had done nothing to earn her Happy Ending. She had taken it from everyone else by cheating.

Who was she? She was nothing. Nothing but a pathetic loser who kept making excuses. She had done nothing to help herself. Improve herself. She just found ways to make the ends justify the means.

She had no life. She was just living.

How was she going to fix things? Should she take Chihori's advice? See for herself if Uesugi-san really was who she said he was? What if her dream really was nothing more than a fantasy she created?

She had no choice. She had to find out for herself. She couldn't keep holding on to this illusion that Fuutarou was this perfect hero she had always fantasized him to be when she knew so little about him. If she chose to ignore Chihori's warning she knew she would regret it forever. It could very well result with her losing everything she held dear, but that was the chance she had to take, and the price she had to pay, if she wanted to make things right.

A knock on the bathroom door made her jump.

"Yotsuba?" came Miku's voice, "You okay in there?"

"Y-Yeah!" she answered quickly, "I'm just drying my hair right now."

"Well, make it quick. Dinner's gonna be served in a few minutes."

"Okay! I'll be right there!"

Yotsuba looked at the mirror one last time and with a deep breath she made her decision.