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Chapter 12

Smooth Criminal

Three days passed and Nino showed no signs of improvement. By the third day Ichika finally announced she was going to pay Fuutarou a visit after school.

Miku and Itsuki were both going through a crisis of their own. Itsuki had been deeply hurt by the way Yotsuba had used her while Miku was still having a hard time believing that her own sister would stoop to such levels. Ichika, on the other hand, felt tremendously responsible for everything that happened.

The walk to school had become difficult. Nino or Yotsuba would always strike up a conversation during the trip there and on the way back. Now it was so lifeless. So pointless. When they arrived at their classroom they saw that Fuutarou wasn't there and were told by their teacher that he had taken a leave of absence.

This had left them very torn.

On one hand they wanted to see Fuutarou, to tell him how serious Nino's condition was, but at the same time they didn't want to see him at all after he had hurt them so badly.

Their classmates, however, had definitely noticed the sudden change. Fuutarou and Yotsuba were the class representatives after all and their absence was definitely noted, but when Nino didn't come to school their curiosity grew. When they asked the other quints why the only response they received was that Nino wasn't feeling very well and left it at that. When they asked about Fuutarou or Yotsuba they only said that they weren't on speaking terms and refused to say anything else. None of the three quints wanted to talk about it and thankfully their classmates didn't pursue the matter any further.

When the three returned home it was nearly impossible to stay. Just like at school they were torn between wanting to stay for Nino's sake while at the same time they wanted to be anywhere but there. The memories of Fuutarou and Yotsuba haunted them no matter where they looked. The many moments they had shared with them in this very place had become too painful to endure. In the end they resorted to taking turns. At least one quint would stay behind while the others would go wherever they wished.

The next day Yotsuba did come to school. She arrived late and the other students were shocked by how terrible she looked. She was the complete opposite of what she usually was. Instead of always being active she looked tired and miserable. Everything seemed to have gone still as the students felt the tension coming from the other three quints.

The other three had spoken to their homeroom teacher about what had happened before making a request. When Yotsuba had arrived, the teacher had her stay where she was before having three other students seated at the far end of the room switch places with the other three quints. Ichika, Miku, and Itsuki all moved in the opposite direction, refusing to look at their sister. Only when they had settled down was Yotsuba allowed to take her seat.

The event had left the other students stunned. It was now very clear that something had happened between the Nakano Quints and Fuutarou Uesugi.

Miku leaned against the guardrail watching the ocean, a near empty matcha soda can dangling from her fingers as she gazed unseeingly into the distance.

When school was over she had told the others she wanted to spend some time alone. Itsuki returned home while Ichika went off to see Fuutarou. Miku herself had asked her manager of the bakery for some time off based on concern for her sister's health. In truth though she just didn't want to risk running into Fuutarou during work. Her disappointment in him was immeasurable. For what must have been the thousandth time Miku sighed heavily and once again pondered over the recent turn of events.

She didn't know how to handle all this. She wasn't even sure if she could handle it. Fuutarou had disrespected them, Yotsuba had betrayed them, and Nino was suffering with a broken heart. The rest were left at a loss of what to do. Miku herself had no idea where to go from here.

"Hey."

She turned at the sound of the voice and her eyes brightened when she saw a familiar face.

"Oh. Hi, Takeda-san," she smiled at him, "How have you been?"

"Fine, for the most part. How's your ankle?"

"It's fully healed now. I can walk again."

"That's good," he gestured to her neck, "I see you're wearing the headphones I gave you."

Her cheeks warmed as she touched the red headphones bearing the Takeda crest.

"Oh, yes. Thank you for the gift. It was very nice of you."

"You're welcome," he gave her a smile in return.

"How are you getting along with your dad? Is he still trying to find you a new bride?"

"Yeah, but he hasn't been successful so far," he joined her on the rail, "What about you? I saw everything that happened in the classroom. Are things really that bad?"

She finished what was left in her can, "They are."

"Do you want to talk about it? It might make you feel better."

She glanced at Takeda, wondering if it was okay, then she decided there was no harm in it since he had come all this way to see her. She told him about Fuutarou first.

"Wow, what a moron," he said after she was finished, "I told him that he was treating you guys unfairly. I even warned him to be careful so that things didn't blow up in his face and yet he went and did it anyway."

"I'm still having a hard thing believing it," Miku admitted, "We trusted him more than anyone else."

"Want me to go over and beat him up for you?" Takeda suddenly offered, "Knock some sense into that oversize brain of his? Hell, I wish I had when I was talking to him last week."

She looked at him startled, but when she saw he was actually being serious she burst out laughing.

"Thank you, but it's not necessary. Yotsuba-" she grimaced, "Yotsuba already did that for us."

"What did she do?"

"Punched him in the face."

"That's it?" Takeda snorted, "After what he did he should have had a few bones broken," he hesitated before asking, "So... what happened with Yotsuba-san?"

Miku sighed and told him.

"Wow," he said more slowly this time, looking like he had just a big blow to the face, "Wow. I didn't see that coming."

"None of us did. It hurt a lot more than it did with Fuutarou because... she's family."

"Betrayal like that, it always comes from the ones you least expect it to. It's the overly nice ones you should always be a bit wary of, because you never know if they might be keeping a secret, a dark side, or a weakness. Sometimes it's two or all three."

Miku nodded, "I guess we learned that the hard way."

Yusuke shook his head, "I'm really sorry about Nino-san. I hope she recovers."

"We hope so too. We never thought it would turn out like this," some time passed before she said, "You know, despite what Fuutarou said about us he wasn't entirely wrong, especially me."

Takeda looked back at her, "What did he say?"

"That I was trying too hard to be someone I wasn't. You see, I was very shy and timid before I met him. He helped me break out of my shell and that's how I became infatuated with him. I guess you can say that I was like one of those students who didn't want to be separated from their master even when it was time to. We asked him one time who his type was and one of things he said was being a good cook. It made me suddenly want to go to culinary school after graduation so I could be a better cook and be more appealing to him."

At this Takeda raised a brow, "Your cooking is... not so great?"

She couldn't help but giggled on how polite he was trying to be.

"It's not awful, but it's average at best. Nino's the real cook of the family. She really does make some of the most delicious meals you've ever had," she sighed, "To put it simply I was trying too hard to be Fuutarou's ideal wife instead of being myself. In the end I didn't see him as a person. I just saw him as a goal."

"Ah, I see," he understood.

She shrugged, "I guess I did it out of desperation. Guys find girls like me boring."

"Most guys might," he paused before he looked at her with a serious expression, "But I don't."

Her heart skipped a beat, "Thank you, but you don't need to be so polite."

"No, I'm serious," he reached over and squeezed her arm, "I don't find you boring at all. I think that reserved shyness of yours is what makes you attractive."

Her breath caught and she remembered what he said that day when she was assaulted.

Miku is her own person regardless of the circumstances of her birth.

No one had ever spoken that way about her before, not even Fuutarou. For Takeda, a guy she knew so little about before, to say something like that, not once but twice, brought a great sense of unexpected joy. She now felt much better than she did five minutes ago. She looked down at his hand on her arm, feeling its warmth, assuring her that he was here. It was deeply touching that there was someone out there who really did care about her well being outside of her sisters.

"You're far too kind, Takeda-san," she whispered.

He gave a lopsided grin and released his hold, "With you, it's hard not to be," then his green eyes lit up, "Hey, I got an idea. I'm meeting with some friends of mine from another school. It's a get together that we do every other week. Wanna come along? Get your mind off of things for a while?"

She was surprised by his sudden offer.

"Wouldn't I be intruding?" she asked.

"Not at all! Plus, the head nurse will be there. Don't worry, they're good people. They'd love to have you," he held his hand to her, "Come on. My treat."

Miku stared, amazed at how bold he'd become in the last few days, and she realized something. In those last few days Takeda had shown more respect for her than Fuutarou had in the past two years. She wasn't trying to think bad of her former tutor, it was just the simple truth. She then remembered what Fuutarou's dad had said before about them ignoring all the other boys.

If I turn him down and walk away I'll just be doing exactly that, and that's not fair to Takeda-san when he's done so much for me. Besides... she looked at his hand, is there really anything wrong with this? then she thought, I have to move on at some point. Why not start now?

She looked at Takeda and, taking a deep breath, placed her hand in his.

Giving her a warm smile, he closed his fingers around hers and led the way.

They arrived at a place that looked like a combination of a restaurant and an arcade center. At one end there was a variety of different video games and carnival games while at the other end was a pizza restaurant. There also seemed to be a dance floor in the middle.

"What is this place?" asked Miku, noting several high school students from another school.

"A popular fun zone," Takeda explained, "People like to gather here for group events. They often have birthday parties and sometimes they even have wedding dinners here."

Miku blinked at that, "Really?"

"Yo, Yusuke! You made it, pal!"

Miku saw a tall male student approached, two girls right behind him. Laughing, Takeda went over and the two embraced in a big hug, patting each other's backs.

"Hey, there, Yuichi!" he greeted the two girls, "Yura, Ririko. Sorry I couldn't make it last time."

"Don't worry about it!" the girl named Yura hugged him, "We're just glad to see you again."

"Yeah, we really missed you! It's no fun when our star's not here," Ririko, who wore her in twin pigtails, hugged him last before she looked over his shoulder, "I see you brought a friend."

"A real pretty one too," Yuichi smirked at Yusuke, "Girlfriend?"

Miku blushed, but before Yusuke could explain a familiar voice interrupted them.

"There you are, Yusuke-kun! I was starting to wonder if you would show up this time," the school nurse approached, "Oh, Miku-chan! I didn't expect to see you here."

Flustered, Miku made a quick bow, "Hello, Moto-sensei."

"How's your ankle?"

Miku talked to the nurse while Yusuke explained to his friends who she was and why he had brought her here.

"Oh, I see," Yura understood right away.

"I was hoping you guys could help me out," Yusuke grinned sheepishly.

"Not to worry," she smiled, "We'll take good care her."

"Just leave it to us!" grinned Ririko.

Meanwhile, Miku just finished explaining to Moto-sensei what had happened between her sisters.

"I heard something happened between your sisters. I didn't know it was that bad. I'm really sorry to hear that," Moto-sensei patted Miku's shoulder, "But don't worry. You're in good hands now."

"That's right!" Ririko came over and shook her hand vigorously, "So you're Miku! That's a nice name. Any relation to Hatsune Miku?"

"Who?" Miku honestly didn't know who that was.

"Ririko! Really," Yura smiled at her, "I'm Yura, this is Ririko, and that big lout behind me is my boyfriend Yuichi."

"Hey! That's not nice!"

Yura ignored him and said, "It's very nice to meet you, Miku-chan."

"It's very nice to meet you too," Miku bowed.

"Have you ever played any arcade games before?" asked Ririko.

"No, I haven't," Miku grimaced slightly, "I'm not sure I'd be any good."

"We're not either, but that's not the point!"

"She's right," Yura smirked at her, "The point at any game is to have fun no matter what. So, why don't you forget all your troubles for the time being and do just that?"

"Here!" Ririko tugged Miku along, "Let me introduce you to this one. It's one of my favorites!"

Yusuke watched them go, happy to see that Miku was already in a better mood before Yuichi wrapped an arm over his shoulders.

"How you doing, little bro?" he asked, "Still having trouble with your dad?"

Yusuke grinned. Yuichi had always treated him like a little brother, something he was very grateful for.

"Yeah," he admitted, "He recently had me engaged to the most awful girl I ever met."

He quickly explained the incident about his ex-fiance.

"Well, I'm glad you broke that off," said Yuichi, "If she had done that to Yura I would've killed her. So that explains why she's wearing your headphones."

"Yeah," Yusuke grinned sheepishly as he watched Miku.

Yuichi patted his back fondly, "Come on, let's go meet the others."

Miku found herself having more fun than she ever had in her entire life. Takeda's friends had her play every single arcade game there was to offer. Some she did well with while in others she did awful, but the she was constantly cheered on.

At one time Takeda challenged Miku to a racing game where she crashed and burned constantly. At one point she sat there pouting, making everyone laugh. Later on she scored very high on a carnival and won a cute plushie as a reward. In a short time she had gotten along well with Takeda's friends, who in turn were treating her like she was already one of their own.

Then things changed when Yuichi suddenly announced, "Yusuke! It's time."

She saw Takeda glance at his watch and he grinned broadly, "Yes it is."

"Come on. Let's go get ready."

Takeda winked at Miku before following his friend, leaving her confused.

"What's that all about?" she asked the two girls.

"You'll see in a few minutes," said a gleeful Yura.

"Come on! Let's take our seats," Ririko took Miku's arm again, "We got a front row view!"

They moved over to where the dance floor was and sat down at one of the table, where Moto-sensei was waiting.

"How you feeling, Miku-chan?" she rubbed her shoulder, "Are you having fun?"

"Yes," Miku laughed, "A lot of fun. In fact, I don't think I've ever had this fun before. Especially with other people."

"That's good," Moto-sensei suddenly grinned, "But you ain't seen nothing yet! You're about to see a whole new side of Yusuke-kun!"

Miku was really starting to wonder what that was and she turned to Yura.

"How long have have you've known Takeda-san?" she asked.

"We went to middle school together," she smiled fondly, "We were all part of the same club together and Sensei was our advisor."

"And Yusuke-kun was our star member!" piped in Ririko.

"Star member?" Miku was now very curious, "What kind of club was it?"

"A Dancing Club!"

She blinked, wondering if she heard right, "Dancing?"

At that moment the dance floor lights suddenly went off and everyone but her started cheering.

Then the lights came back on and Miku received the surprise of her life. Takeda, Yuichi, and several other boys had changed into suits and ties and were wearing fedora hats. Yusuke, being the lead dancer, was dressed in white while the rest were all in black. Then the music began to play and they started to dance. Miku's jaw dropped when she recognized the music as the famous Michael Jackson song "Smooth Criminal".

"No way!" she started laughing.

Everyone cheered again as Takeda, leading his fellow dancers, approached the table. Yura, Ririko, and Moto-Sensei started giggling. The boys flipped their collars and Takeda winked at Miku again, causing her to blush again before she started giggling herself, unable to help it. Takeda grinned before he and his group "Moonwalked" back to the center of the dance floor and began performing their dance routine based on Jackson's iconic dance moves.

Miku watched in amazement. Takeda moved like he was born to dance. The whole group danced with perfect synchronization. She never imagined that Takeda was a man of many talents. Soon she had her phone out and recording. She had to show this to her sisters. Then she started cheering and clapping herself. By now she really was having the time of her life.

The dance ended when Takeda spun around around twice before taking off his fedora and tossing it right to Miku, who caught it on reflex. Everyone cheered and applauded loudly while Miku, her cheeks bright red, sat there stunned. She lifted her eyes to Takeda, who stood there watching with cheerful smile. Then, unable to contain it anymore, Miku started laughing with joy.

Takeda felt his heart warmed. This was exactly what he was hoping to see.

Miku was sad when it was over.

"Come and see us again," Yura hugged her one last time, "You're always welcomed to join us."

"I'll definitely try," she said, "Thank you for everything."

Takeda's friends said their goodbyes and they parted ways.

"Your friends are so nice," she said to Takeda as they walked back, holding her new plushie to her chest.

"They are," he proudly agreed, "I met them not long after my mom died. I owe them a great deal."

"Thank you for introducing me to them. I've never really made any friends before."

"I'm glad you had a good time."

"Yusuke..." she stopped.

She had used his given name again without thinking.

"It's okay," he said, "You can use my first name."

"Oh, okay. Um...," Miku lowered her eyes, "Th-Thank you, for doing this for me. I feel much better now."

"It was my pleasure, Miku."

She lifted her gaze and they looked into each other's eyes for a moment. She felt her cheeks start to warm again and her heart started to beat rapidly. She was about to ask him something that had been growing in her mind when her phone suddenly ranged. Taking it out, she was surprised to see it was Itsuki calling her. The sun was still out, it wasn't that late yet.

"Hi, Itsuki," she replied, "What's up?"

There was no answer, but she could hear heavy breathing. Miku felt her heart stop.

"Itsuki? Are you there? Are you alright?"

"Miku..." came her sister's voice at last, "where are you right now?"

She froze. Itsuki sounded very distressed.

"I'm on my way home," she swallowed nervously, "Is something wrong?"

"It's... there's been an emergency. You need to come home right away."

Yotsuba missed her sisters.

She walked alone. All by herself. From school.

She didn't even have the company of her friends. Yotsuba never felt so lonely in her life.

She'd always known that one day she and her sisters would go on their separate ways, but not like this. It shouldn't be like this. But it was and she was the one who caused it to happen. Ichika had made that very clear.

Either you find a way to fix this or stay the hell out of our sight, because from this point on you are no longer our sister.

The first night she had spent at Papa's place had been torture to her. Maruo had taken the night shift simply because he was too angry to be around her, not that she held it against him. But spending that first night alone, making her own dinner, eating all by herself, it had been too much to bear.

The cold harsh reality of her situation became clear when she suddenly started up a conversation, only to realize that there was no else at the table. She broke crying after that. She was so used to being around her sisters that she never imagined they wouldn't be there one day.

She missed it all. Their little talks and banters, playing games, goofing with each other, doing everything together. Now... all that was gone. And she hated it. If she had resented her sisters before, she hated not being around them even more. She was only able to finish half of her dinner before putting the rest away and going straight to bed.

However, she wasn't able to sleep. Instead she just laid there, staring at her phone. Many times she wanted to send her sisters a text, to ask how Nino was doing. Other times she would just watch the screen, hoping one of them would try getting in touch with her.

But of course, none came. She was a fool to believe otherwise. Why would they get in touch with her after what she had done to them? In the end she herself didn't have the heart to even send a text. What would she say to them anyway? What could she say? No amount of words or apologies could repair the damage or suffering she had caused for them.

She also had difficulty going to sleep because she was afraid of having nightmares. She couldn't get that awful moment of Nino breaking down right in front of her out of her head, but even as she laid awake she could still hear that horrifying cry of despair. She had covered her ears, begging it to stop, but to no avail. Whenever she couldn't hear it she could see it, and whenever she couldn't see it she could hear it. That moment had changed life forever and had left a deep scar in her heart.

Eventually she did sleep and when she woke up it was well past eleven. School was already halfway over. Maruo had returned that morning and told her to go back to sleep, having already informed the school that she wasn't feeling well today. She simply thank him and went back to sleep. She didn't have the strength to go to school even if she wanted to. When she woke up again Maruo made her a meal and spent the rest of the day in his study before heading to work that evening to do the night shift again, telling her to go to school tomorrow.

On her part she tried to study on her own. She didn't have a choice now, but try as she might she couldn't motivate herself. Ichika's words kept coming back to her.

Don't even think about graduating with us. You've caused too much damage for us to even consider it.

What was the point of studying if she couldn't graduate with her sisters like they wanted to? Had promised to?

The next day she went to school as promised and saw for herself just how much of a scar she had left. She didn't expect Nino to be there. She was, however, a little surprised that Fuutarou wasn't either. She later learned the reason from the homeroom teacher.

However... that was nothing compared to when she saw her other three sisters.

She arrived in the classroom late, and the moment she did everyone's attention snapped straight to her. Obviously they would have noticed yesterday that there was something wrong with the Quints. Yotsuba knew she must have looked miserable, but had paid it no mind. Her only focus was on her sisters.

She almost wished she hadn't when she turned to them. Ichika, Miku, and Itsuki had all stared at her as though she was a stranger. An unwelcome stranger. She shouldn't have been surprised, but it still hurt to see them look at her like that. Then the teacher told her to stay where she was and she watched as three other students switched seats with her sisters, placing themselves at the far end of the classroom. Away from her.

Yotsuba could feel her heart breaking, but what could she do? The message had been sent. Her sisters had made it loud and clear. They wanted nothing to do with her anymore.

Her classmates were then taken by surprise when she asked to be relieved of her position as class representative. She didn't feel she had the right to have that responsibility anymore. Part of the reason she chose that was because of Fuutarou, but he was no longer here. So what was the point?

Naturally, when class was over, her classmates came over to question why there was suddenly such animosity between her and her sisters.

"What did they tell you?" she asked them in return.

"Only that Nino wasn't well and that we had to ask you for the details."

It was a slap to the face, but Yotsuba simply replied with, "I did some things, a bunch of things, that I shouldn't have done and they told me to leave."

When she turned to walk out of the classroom one of them asked, "Was it because of Uesugi?"

She hesitated before sighing heavily and saying, "Part of it was, part of it wasn't. That's all I'll say."

She refused to say anything else. They didn't need to know the full details. This was a personal matter between her and them.

Yotsuba spent the rest of the school day by herself. She rarely saw her sisters. The few times she did they would either completely ignore her or turn the other way. They were determined to avoid her no matter what. She ate lunch by herself on the rooftop and when school was over she went straight home, almost heading back to the penthouse before she remembered that she was no longer living there.

The next day, the third day, was no different. The animosity between the quints had not eased one bit and Yotsuba was beginning to wonder if there would ever be peace between them ever again. It really did feel that their bond was forever severed and could never be repaired. Yotsuba didn't know who she missed more. Her sisters... or Fuutarou.

Fuutarou...

By now he would know the whole truth about her. She had asked her sisters to tell him when and if they ever saw him again. She had dragged him into this mess. She got him involved that had nothing to do with him. He deserved to know the truth. That said, she couldn't help but wonder how he would see her now that her real self had been exposed.

How could she ever make it up to him? How could she make it up to her sisters?

You find a way to fix this.

She wanted to, more than anything, but she had no idea how. All she did know was that she didn't want things to end like this. She didn't want this hatred to last forever, but what could she do? Everything she had done in her life had all been about her and no one else, even when she believed it was. If she did something now, how would she know that she was doing the right thing and not for selfish reasons?

She really wished their mother was here. She had tried to warn Yotsuba several times of something like this happening, and she never listened. Itsuki and even Fuutarou had also tried to tell her something important and she never listened to them either.

Why hadn't she listened?

Because it hadn't been what she wanted to hear. She only wanted to hear things that would make her feel special. That she deserved to have this. That she deserved to have that. That was all that mattered to her. She behaved just like a spoiled princess would and had paid the price for it.

She finally stopped and sighed, remembering what Ichika had said before she was told to leave.

If you had just talked to us, told us how you really felt, this wouldn't have happened.

Why couldn't she have just simply told the truth? Why did she have to be so scared? Why did she have to be such a coward? How could things ever go back to the way they were? How can they ever be a family again?

Yotsuba looked ahead and saw some students from another school crossing the street ahead of her. She suddenly recognized their uniforms and jogged over to them.

Izumi Himuro was able to book a connecting flight to Tokyo via New York. Lita would follow her the day after.

She called her husband and informed him of the situation and asked him to take her suitcases out so she could pack the moment she got home. The next morning she left Lita behind at Chapel Hill and drove straight to Charlotte. Once she was home she told her husband the full story of what happened and why she needed to go to Japan. He knew all about Rena and her daughters. He understood right away and encouraged her to go. They had already planned to go to Japan to visit family and friends for summer vacation anyway. Izumi would just be going sooner than expected.

Afterwards she spent the rest of her day with her four children, making a delicious dinner before heading to bed early. At five the next morning her husband dropped her off at the airport. She took an American Airlines flight to New York and then at ten o'clock she boarded the JAL flight for the long eleven hour journey to Tokyo. After arriving she took the Shinkansen train to Nagoya before finally arriving at her private home in Tokai at around midnight. She ate a quick dinner and then spent the rest of the night and the entire morning sleeping off the jet lag.

By the time she was finally up and about it was just after noon. Yotsuba would still be at school so there was no point in seeing her now. She went out for lunch and bought some groceries. She then rested again until two o'clock before taking her car and headed over to her cousin's school.

She found her at the school's tennis court, just where she expected. Her cousin was currently playing a practice game with one of her teammates. Smiling proudly, Izumi observed her cousin's playing style.

Her backhand slice was definitely her best weapon. She could put it in the right spot once she was properly set up. Her two handed forehand was also powerful and her serve had gotten significantly better. However, there was still room for improvement. Such as...

"Still need to work on your two-handed backhand, Chi-chan," she sang.

She saw her cousin freeze before she whirled around. Her jaw dropped when she saw Izumi standing there.

"Izu-chan!" Chihori cried with joy.

Laughing in delight, Izumi walked onto the court and held out her arms. Chihori Takebayashi immediately came over and hugged her tightly.

"What are you doing here? We weren't expecting you for another two weeks!"

Izumi pinched her cheek and looked at her. Chihori looked just like her mother when she was her age. At age ten she had decided to take up tennis after discovering that she was related to the famous tennis player and that her mother had once been one of Izumi's teammates during high school. Izumi had been her first teacher and had given her lessons whenever she happened to visit. Chihori had showed promise over time. She could definitely go pro one day if she chose to. However, Chihori wanted to go to college first. Part of it was because she wanted to play for the tennis team Izumi was involved with, but also because her boyfriend was going to attend the same college.

"An old friend of mine called me," she explained, "Said he needed some help on a personal matter so I decided to come earlier. I also wanted to see your mother so I decided to come over and pick you up and surprise her. How's she doing by the way?"

"She's doing well," Chihori grinned, "She'll be very happy to see you."

Her coach called her over for a final word with the team before ending practice. Along with Yotsuba Izumi had Miyu keep track of Chihori's progress. Her team hadn't done well enough to go to Nationals but Chihori had proven herself to be their best player. Izumi and Chihori's mother couldn't have been prouder.

After the coach dismissed the team for the day Chihori put her racket back in its bag and the two of them walked together to the school gate.

"Well, Chi-chan," Izumi wrapped one arm around the girl's shoulders, "Are you excited that you're about to enter the big world? Think you'll pass the exams?"

"I'm actually a little nervous, going somewhere so far away from home," Chihori admitted, "but I'm confident I'll make it! I've been keeping up with my studies. Just as you, Mom, and Dad told me to."

"Good girl!" Izumi patted her shoulder, "You'll do fine. Trust me. How's your boyfriend doing? Is he behaving himself?"

"Yes!" Chihori laughed, "He's actually really excited that we'll be-"

Suddenly she stopped. Something ahead of them had caught her attention.

"Yotsuba."

Izumi froze. Yotsuba?

She looked over to where Chihori was looking and saw a girl sitting at a bench near the gate. She recognized the uniform she was wearing... along with the green ribbon on her head.

I'll be damned. It is Yotsuba.

The girl had seen them and stood, looking straight at Chihori. It was clear she wanted to talk to her.

"Can you wait right here?" Chihori handed Izumi her racket bag, "This might take a little while."

"Of course," she said, "Take all the time you need."

Chihori thanked her and went over to speak with the girl.

"So that's Yotsuba," she whispered to herself.

She watched as her cousin conversed with the girl she had not seen since she was a baby.