Disclaimer: The Quintessential Quintuplets (Goutoubun no Hanayome) and all its characters are the intellectual property of Mr. Negi Haruba. All rights reserved.
Tokai, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. October 3rd, 2017. Near the Nakamura residence.
After his meeting with Natsumi, Inejiro started heading back home. He was incredibly joyous with how that turned out, never mind the fact that he got to see her again by itself. Ichika's plans usually don't turn out all that well for him, but this time, she went above and beyond. To be able to rebuild his ties to Natsumi is invaluable, even if it's not in the exact way he would have wished. Though that can always change, of course. The only complicated part is that his joy from having seen her again is very distracting from the very serious issues they discussed. Those wouldn't give him a rest.
When he was a few blocks away from his home, his phone started ringing. He was expecting it to be Ichika, but it was Yotsuba.
"Hey, Yotsuba, what's up?"
"Jiro! Eh…are you busy?"
"Not right now. Why?"
"Eh…can you come over? Or…I can go to your place".
"Is there something wrong?"
"Not…really, no. But I need to talk to you".
"I am nearly at my place. Come over, I'll make you something".
"Okay! Going!", Yotsuba said as she hung up abruptly.
Inejiro picked up the pace a little so he could have enough time to at least make some coffee and some sandwiches to share with Yotsuba. There seemed to be some urgency to her request. In fact, it's unlike her to actively ask him to do something (nagging him to hang out and go places with her and her sisters doesn't count). At least since she got kicked out of Kurobara. He hopes it's nothing major, but you never know.
He also took the time to get rid of his 'uniform' and put on a random t-shirt and some track pants, always more comfortable than formal wear of any kind. Some 15 minutes later, there was a knock on the door, and indeed, a ribbon wearing girl was standing on the other side.
"Hi Jiro!", Yotsuba said as she ran inside, without waiting for him to reply. "Oh you actually cooked something, this is a miracle!"
"Don't let Nino hear you refer to 'making a couple of sandwiches' as 'cooking'", Inejiro said as he chuckled. "Help yourself to whatever you want".
Yotsuba started sniffing around the apartment, which earned a very weird look from Inejiro.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"It doesn't smell so much like smoke as it usually does. Cool!"
"I just got here, I told you".
"Doesn't matter, it's still good. Well bon appetit!", Yotsuba said as she happily dug into one of the sandwiches and sat down.
"Well, what was it that you needed? It sounded urgent".
"Oh…I…kinda dropped out of the basketball team".
"Really? When?"
"Yesterday. I didn't tell you anything because…eh, you have your own issues, so…"
"Nonsense, that should never stop you. I'm all ears".
"It's not about the basketball team, really. I dropped out so I could focus more on studying…nonono that's a complete lie!", Yotsuba said while shaking her head wildly. "Or not that much of a lie…I wanna do well in my studies because Uesugi-san is working so hard and it isn't fair that I waste time in the basketball team and other stuff all the time and he keeps believing in me anyways and pushing me to do stuff and I'm SO dumb and stupid and-", Yotsuba was saying, speaking at the speed of light, before Inejiro cut her off.
"Whoa, slow down. You want to focus on your studies so you don't feel that Uesugi's efforts are going to waste. Something like that?"
"Maybe…yeah. It's just…so SO hard for me to study and learn but I wanna do my best for his sake, I really really do".
"Well you made the right choice then, Yotsuba. You don't need to worry about it. The basketball team will have to make do".
"Ugh they were so nice to me and everything…and it was fun. But…I can't".
"Did Hongo and the others take it well? They didn't get angry or anything, right?"
"Yeah, they just said it was a waste that someone as good as me wouldn't play, but…well, I decided".
"Uesugi will be happy to hear that. Really, he will".
"He already knows…eh, for some reason he was standing right outside the basketball team's club room when I told them I would leave".
"Ah, so that's where he followed you to. Nino told me he'd 'run off' after you".
"He ran off after me when he was in the middle of asking them for their addresses…that Uesugi-san why must he be like that!?"
"He's not as aloof and uncaring as a lot of people th-"
"I KNOW, right? I wish everyone could see how good of a person he is".
"Miku and Ichika sure are warming up to him".
"Yeah…they are. That's really nice", Yotsuba said, with a certain sadness in her voice that contradicted her words.
"Yotsuba…look. I can't even imagine what it must be like to be in your shoes right now. Just…it's a fucked up situation, I agree, but, just in case, remember that it's not wrong for you to feel the way you do about Uesugi. Even if some of your sisters feel similarly. You're safe with me, you don't have to pretend to be fine while you're here, when you're not".
"I've just felt this way for so long…kept those memories close to my heart for so long…I'm happy that the girls are warming up to him, I really am but…I don't know, I feel like…I feel lonely all of a sudden. There's nothing special about my relationship with him anymore".
"You were the first one to give him a chance when all the other girls shunned him and rejected him. Without your support this tutoring stuff would have gone nowhere".
"That's not true…I give him so much trouble all the time. Even you", Yotsuba said as she stood up. "Jiro, with all you're going through, with how horrible you were feeling the day of the festival and everything…here I am dropping all my problems on you!"
"Yotsuba how many times do I need to tell you that you are not nor have you ever been a burden? Besides…if it makes you feel better, I am feeling quite better myself today".
"...Really? Did something happen? Oh you were meeting with Ichika today!"
"Look. I'm gonna tell you what happened. Just for the record: I've had nothing to drink today. Not a drop. I slept well. And I'm not lying. So it really happened. You can call Ichika and she'll tell you".
"Ahhhh cut it with the suspense just tell me!"
"I met with Natsumi today".
"WHAT!? HOW!?"
"Ichika kinda arranged it".
Yotsuba sat inches away from Inejiro and stared right at him excitedly. "Tell me everything everything EVERYTHING! What happened? What did you talk about? Are you back together?"
"A lot of what we talked about is VERY private, Yotsuba. Just know that we forgave each other, made our peace with everything that happened. We…are not back together, though. I guess you could say we're kinda like friends now. But still…seeing her again made me really happy, just having her back in my life, I couldn't ask for anything more".
"I'm so happy for you! No more gloomy Jiro then?"
"I'm not gloomy!"
"You SO are. You've been really weird lately. But I'm glad it's all fine now!"
"It's nowhere near 'all fine' Yotsuba…all the parts I can't talk about make it very much not fine!", Inejiro thought.
"Eh…actually…Yotsuba, can I ask you something?"
"Sure!"
"Have you…erm…ever liked anyone other than Uesugi?"
Yotsuba blushed slightly.
"W-Where is that coming from?"
Inejiro noticed that he doesn't have any good explanation to give her as to why he asked.
"...Just thought I'd ask…I'm curious, that's all".
"Okay but if I tell you, you have to tell me something too".
"Fine, I'll regret this, but fine".
"Actually…I've liked Uesugi-san for a very long time. It's been many years since I met him. If…", Yotsuba stopped and made an expression like she was thinking very carefully what to say next. "If I ever liked someone else…let's just say…well…I moved on kinda sorta when I met Fu-...erm, Uesugi-san. And then I didn't because…reasons, but now I met Uesugi-san again. So it doesn't matter", she finished explaining, looking down slightly and scratching the side of her head.
"Thank you, Yotsuba, for answering. For whatever it's worth…I'm sorry".
"What are you even sorry for?"
"I never had this sort of conversation with you. Or any of your sisters. If I should have…I don't know if there was a way I could do it. But it's not right, that I ignored you so much".
"Jiro! Shut up! With all that you do for us? Are you crazy? How can you be sorry for anything? No more gloomy Jiro but DUMB Jiro replaced him! And you must tell me where this is all coming from. This is not like you. Something happened. And we agreed that I got to ask you something in return, so answer!"
"You must promise that you aren't gonna feel guilty or sad or anything of the sort. In fact, swear it".
"Fine, I swear! Now tell me!".
"I broke up with Natsumi because we had agreed to go to Tokyo together. But, just then, your dad offered me this job. And I talked with Ebata-san in the process, and it was pretty clear that you girls needed me the most. So I stayed, she got really pissed, and broke everything off and left. She got mad jealous of you, and now feels pretty guilty about it. Wants to ask for your forgiveness and everything".
There was silence for a few seconds, and Yotsuba's eyes started slowly welling up with tears, that she was trying to fight back but couldn't. Eventually she launched towards Inejiro and started hitting him, although not as strongly as she usually does. It's either not meant to hurt or she doesn't have the strength right now.
"AND YOU'RE SORRY? YOU? YOU STAYED WITH US WHEN YOU COULD HAVE LEFT TOGETHER WITH THE GIRL YOU LOVED AND YOU'RE SORRY?", she yelled while she hit him. "Y-You went through so much pain…when you could have been living the dream out there, with her…and you stayed for us! How, HOW can you be sorry?"
"Yotsuba, calm down!", Inejiro said as he held her tightly by her shoulders and tried to look her straight in the eyes, while she sobbed and averted his gaze. "I wouldn't have been living no goddamn dream. I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay. I did it for my sake as much as yours".
"D-Don't say these things anymore…please…just don't. I don't wanna…", Yotsuba said as she looked up at Inejiro and stared at him for a few seconds. "...Don't, okay? I…I…em…", she mumbled before turning away very quickly. "I-It's fine. I-I'm happy for you...okay…I'm better now", Yotsuba said as she still sniffed every now and then. "I'm sorry for hitting you and…that other stuff".
"I-It's alright...", Inejiro said as he stayed stunned, still looking in the direction where Yotsuba's face was a few seconds ago. "I brought this shit up myself anyways..."
"Um, yeah, I guess. So…it's kinda late, isn't it?"
"You wanna take off?"
"Yeah. No. Well…we do have school tomorrow and everything".
Inejiro looked at the time in his phone and he saw it was 8:00 PM. It's indeed late for a school-day.
"You can stay here if you want. I do have an extra futon".
"E-Eh? A-Are you sure?"
"The offer's there. Not the first time we have a sleepover, is it?"
"Yeah…eh…I mean…I wanna, but…what will Uesugi-san think of that, Jiro? I don't want him thinking…"
"Does he have to know?"
"My sisters will know. And someone will tell him. I'm sorry, Jiro…"
"No, it's fine. I'll call Suzuki-san to pick you up".
"Actually…I kinda wanna walk home".
"It's dark out. Are you sure? I can accompany you then".
"It's safe here, Jiro. Nothing's gonna happen".
"Okay, then. You're leaving now?"
"Yeah…", Yotsuba said as she stood up and headed towards the door. She held the door know as if she was going to open it and leave, but she stood still for a few seconds.
In this moment, she could make a decision that would change everything, irrevocably. She could open the door and leave, and everything will be fine, just like it was. Or…she could turn around. This won't be like any sleepovers they had as kids. She knows that. Not after what just happened. Turning around would require sealing forever all the memories and feelings she has for Fuutarou. She loved him in silence for so long, and now she saw him again. She never thought she'd see him again, but she did. Everything came back to her. That afternoon they spent together in Kyoto. The valuable time they spent together, however small. The promise they made…her failure. They promised they would become smart, the best students possible, so they could help their families out of poverty. Fuutarou fulfilled it, without fail. She failed completely. She has felt undeserving of him ever since they met again. Would he ever look at a girl like her differently? Even worse, would he lose all respect he had for her if he ever found out she's the girl from Kyoto? And now some of her sisters like him too…are they not more deserving than her?
But if she leaves…this is the first time since she met Inejiro, back when she was nine years old, that she might have a chance…however small. She doesn't have to try hard with him. They've been friends for years. He's always been there for her and likely will be as long as she allows him. There's no unfulfilled promises, no need to worry about the past at all. He's Jiro, for God's sake! But…that has a negative side as well. The relationship he has with her, he has with her sisters as well. While she has felt many times that the bond he has with her is different…that's only slightly true. Maybe they share more common interests than the others. Does that mean anything? Is she not misinterpreting him just now? He did ask her if she ever liked 'someone else', and it's obvious to her why he asked. He wanted to know if she ever liked him, or likes him. Then she almost…when they were staring into each others' eyes…she was a second away from…kissing him. And after all that happened, he still asked her to stay the night. But he's Jiro! Maybe he didn't mean anything by it. He clearly still has feelings for Natsumi, and she's Yotsuba! His childhood friend who he always saw as a little sister! And speaking of sisters…if some of her sisters liking Fuutarou is a problem, with Inejiro it's ten-fold. Most of her sisters have liked him for as long as she has. But without having met Fuutarou in the middle of it. Even attempting anything with Inejiro would probably destroy her family life if any of them ever found out. A wrong step could destroy her relationship with him too.
Her younger self would be screaming at her to let go of that door and go back inside. But her current self…her feelings for Fuutarou are too strong. She can't let go of them. Inejiro is probably even more confused than her, at best. He just saw Natsumi again, his feelings are probably all over the place, it's not right to take advantage of that. Besides, he's clearly still in love with her. He's her best friend, no sudden upsurge of emotion is worth putting that on the line. Or her relationship with her sisters. And the reality is…what she told Inejiro is true. She hasn't felt anything like what she feels for Fuutarou now for a long time. This was just a slip up. One that hopefully won't repeat itself.
"Yotsuba…are you alright?", Inejiro asked, after Yotsuba spent almost a minute stood in front of the door.
"Yeah, Jiro, I'm just tired, that's all. See you in school!", Yotsuba said, waving at Inejiro, as she left.
"Bye, Yotsuba…", Inejiro said.
After Yotsuba left, all of a sudden Inejiro started feeling somewhat lonely. He didn't really want her to leave. That's not strange by itself, he has always enjoyed the quints' company. But…of course, this time it's different.
He lit up a cigarette, and it was his time to reflect now. He…what just happened? He just met with Natsumi today, after two years. He is sure his feelings for her are as strong as the day she left. He wishes so much that they could get back together, though it doesn't seem meant to be for now. He is happy enough with just having her back in his life. But she also seems to have messed with something else inside his heart, or inside his brain. Again, what just happened?
He took Natsumi's words to heart, she was right, him being blind to others' feelings was hurting others around him. So, having Yotsuba come over all of a sudden, he sought to get a head start on changing that. To be more open to the girls' feelings. But at one point…hell, what would have happened if Yotsuba hadn't pulled back from him? He didn't pull back, she did! He couldn't pull back. Once their eyes were locked and he was holding her shoulders tightly…he couldn't.
For shame! It's Yotsuba! What the hell is wrong with him? That's what he thinks. Even worse, after all that, he invited her to stay the night! He figures a reasonable person after that mishap would have immediately agreed with her that she should leave. But he didn't. And even more so, he pushed the matter. It goes without saying that in this context, 'staying the night' would have meant something massively different to 'each sleeping in their own futon'. And she stood there by the door. What if she…turned back? Or what if he didn't just wait for her. What if he walked towards her? What if he…he doesn't even wanna continue that train of thought.
Maybe meeting Natsumi just sent his feelings into a tailspin and he got struck with a bout of temporary madness. Maybe those cold showers he joked about with Natsumi are way more necessary than he thought. To think that he was ready to…it's unconscionable. Maybe that was it, the flesh is weak after all.
But there's another possibility, the one that scares him the most. That in being blinded to the quints' feelings…it wasn't just their feelings he was ignoring. Why has it always bothered him so much to have others assume that there's a romantic element to his relationship with the girls? No one likes a gossip, and very few people like to be gossiped about, that's true. Even worse when it involves your childhood friends. But…he goes back to the talk he had with his father, and his grandma earlier. Even his grandpa hinted at it, in his way. Maybe they're not completely wrong. If everyone sees something, well…everyone CAN be wrong, but more likely than not, there's a grain of truth there.
If he does have some hitherto hidden romantic or even sexual feelings…is it exclusive to Yotsuba? Is it for all the girls? Some of them? Who? He left the meeting with Natsumi on cloud nine, but now he finds himself in an even bigger conundrum. Or maybe as he thought before, he was just completely confused and his instincts led him astray. That's the best case scenario, and most comfortable one. He'll hope that was it.
Stopping his train of thought, Inejiro's phone vibrated, so he went to check it out. He had a text from an unknown number. Nevertheless, since he opened it.
"Hi, it's Natsumi! I forgot you didn't have my new number. I had you blocked in the old one anyways lol. If we're gonna get together one of these days we need to have each other's contact. Again…it was really nice to see you again. Let's stay in touch."
Not a second after he finished reading that one, he got another text.
"By the way, I did NOT remember your number off the top of my head. I asked Ichika for it. Don't get any weird ideas, I know what you're like."
"I'm all for getting weird ideas right now it seems, actually", Inejiro said out loud. He immediately sent his reply.
"Didn't even wait for me to respond and already attacked me. Heartbreaking, truly. Hehe, anyways, yeah, it was great to see you too. A somewhat disappointing end but…great overall. Yeah, let's get together on Thursday, like you mentioned earlier. We'll arrange everything tomorrow, or maybe on Thursday itself, it's whatever".
Almost immediately, Natsumi replied back: "Go get that cold shower already!". He just sent her a few laughing emojis and left it there. He considered actually proceeding with a cold shower but…he's afraid of what images his mind would conjure up, and just decided to call it a night and go to bed. Nothing good would come of staying awake a minute further
Tokai, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. October 4th, 2017. Asahiyama High School
The next day, during lunch break, Inejiro went to join Fuutarou while they had lunch, in order to bring to his attention the fact that he would be meeting with Natsumi on Thursday. It is true that Fuutarou is someone who thinks that love and the like is useless, but he's hoping they could come to some agreement.
"Nakamura, what was it that you wanted?", Fuutarou said as they were both sat down with their respective meals. None of the quintuplets are in sight.
"We had arranged for a tutoring session tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah. Did you forget?"
"No, of course not. But here's the thing…my girlfriend, ex-girlfriend, is in town. We met the other day. And she wants us to get together tomorrow".
"Can't you meet her after the tutoring session?"
"Uesugi, I haven't seen her in years. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important".
"Well…it's not like you do much during the tutoring sessions anyways. I do appreciate that you're tutoring Itsuki, but during the main tutoring sessions…"
"That's not even wrong, I'm not gonna get pissed".
"...Still, you never know. You not being there might give the wrong message to the girls".
"That is true. Eh…fine, I'll tell her to meet up after our tutoring session".
"Ok, good. It's not something I particularly care about, but I'm glad you got to see her again Nakamura. I know it's important to you".
"Yeah, thanks, Uesugi".
"Uesugiiiiiiiii-saaaaa…oh, Jiro. Hi", said Yotsuba, who ran straight towards their table when she noticed Fuutarou from afar. When she noticed Inejiro was there too, her expression changed and suddenly became a lot more shy.
"Hey there, Yotsuba", Inejiro said, trying his best not to let yesterday's events make things permanently awkward with one of his best friends.
"Eh, yeah, hi. Uesugi-san!", she called Fuutarou to attention, and pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket. "This is my biology test! I completely sucked at it!", she said as she showed it to him. Fuutarou was interested all of a sudden and grabbed the piece of paper.
"10 out of 100! Yotsuba, the midterms are coming later this month! How can there be no progress from you yet?"
"In her defense, she was getting single digits is…progress. Facts are facts", Inejiro said.
"Y-Yeah Jiro's right it is progress!", Yotsuba said proudly.
"IT'S NOT ENOUGH PROGRESS!", Fuutarou yelled out.
"Well it just means you're gonna have to teach me more!"
"Eh…fine, let's review right now".
"Yay!", Yotsuba yelled happily as she sat down next to Fuutarou. This started to look a lot like third-wheeling to Inejiro so he got up to leave.
"Wait, Nakamura. This isn't your strongest subject either. How did you do on the test?"
"I got a 45. I get it's not the best, but I'll be fine. See you all later", said Inejiro as he was starting to leave, but was interrupted by the appearance of another wild quintuplet.
"Yo, Jiro. Oh, Fuutarou-kun and Yotsuba too. Were you leaving?", asked Ichika, who noticed Inejiro was about to leave. She placed her tray next to Yotsuba and sat down.
"Yeah. Yotsuba's about to review biology".
"Ichika, how did you do?", Yotsuba asked.
"I…got a 30", Ichika said while scratching the back of her head.
"Goodness…are any of you even studying AT ALL?", asked an indignant Fuutarou.
"I'm surely gonna get better now that I'm getting your lessons, right?", Ichika said as she winked at Fuutarou, who didn't look very impressed. "And Jiro, come on, sit back down, we clearly have stuff to talk about".
"Oh holy hell not now Ichika!", Inejiro thought to himself…but he had no good reason that he could give not to sit back down that wouldn't tip off Ichika that something was wrong. So he did indeed sit.
"How did it go yesterday? You didn't tell me anything!", Ichika said. Fuutarou looked annoyed since his mini study session was now ruined and he wouldn't be able to study by himself either, and Yotsuba looked down slightly, trying to hide an embarrassed expression. Thankfully for her (and Inejiro too) Ichika was focused on her friend and not her sister.
"I figured you'd know already. Didn't Natsumi ask you for my number last night?"
"...She didn't ask for your number at all".
"So she DID remember it. Damn tsundere!"
"Wait, Jiro. Do these two know?"
"They know. I just told Uesugi".
"And Yotsuba? You talked to Yotsuba before me? The one who arranged it all? For shame".
"Here it goes. Time to step into the minefield. Ichika is not easy to fool. Let's hope Yotsuba doesn't try to use her non-existent deception skills", Inejiro thought.
"She happened to call right after. I couldn't not tell her, it was kinda relevant I'd say".
Yotsuba was clearly starting to get more and more uncomfortable.
"Oh? Is that so?"
"Yes, Ichika. That's so", Inejiro responded sternly, clearly annoyed by her questions.
"Okay, fine! But tell me about Natsumi, Jiro!"
"We…went over some of the things that led to our break up…", Inejiro started saying, and now Yotsuba started to blush rather heavily, "...which are still of a private nature, of course. We yelled at each other for a bit, but patched up most of our differences. We're not back together or anything, but we did repair our ties. She's gonna be staying in town for a week and we have plans to hang out and everything".
"Oh that's so cool! I'm so happy for you!"
"Yeah, me too. And I've got you to thank for arranging it. Now, if you don't mind, let's allow these two to review biology. And I wanna go take a small nap before afternoon classes".
"Oh you take naps in school. Well I do it during class too!", Ichika said as she laughed.
"That's not funny Ichika…no wonder you get those results", Fuutarou said.
"Well, I'm off. See you later in class Uesugi. And…see you 'round Yotsuba", Inejiro said as this time he got up to leave definitively.
"B-Bye Jiro", Yotsuba said meekly. Ichika noticed there was something weird and followed after Inejiro, not caring about leaving her lunch behind.
"Jiro, is something wrong with Yotsuba?", Ichika asked as she followed Inejiro on his way to his classroom.
"She left the basketball team. Maybe she misses that. I don't know, she seems fine to me".
"You're playing dumb. I can tell when you play dumb".
"No, I clearly am dumb, the dumbest motherfucker I know".
"Let's hope no teacher heard that…"
"Truth is always a defense and all that".
"...One of the things you and Natsumi talked about was my sisters' feelings for you".
"Given that you're speaking in the third person…it doesn't include you, then".
"Jiro…no. I always saw you as a brother. Like, you're big bro to the girls and I'm big sis. That's what I always felt like".
"That's similar to what I felt like too. But apparently I was so very wrong".
"And I'm guessing you talked to Yotsuba about this too".
Inejiro stood on his tracks, which prompted Ichika to do the same.
"Yes, I did".
"I'm guessing…it didn't go too well".
"Depends on your definition of 'well'. But I'm not gonna talk about that part. And please don't ask Yotsuba. I know you're trying to help, and I'm very thankful for helping me with Natsumi but…stay out of this one. Things will be back to normal soon enough".
"There's no going 'back to normal' Jiro, you know that. 'Normal' includes you ignoring their feelings, which you can no longer do. It doesn't mean that things have to be awkward between you. It means that whatever happened, you'll have to discuss it with her again, like it or not".
"Yeah, poor choice of words. I meant I'll…'patch things up' with her. Though we didn't fight, not really, but I get what I'm trying to say, it makes sense to me".
"It's important that you do this, Jiro, really. It'll hurt, but you'll need to face each girls' feelings honestly. It's not just Yotsuba. I can't tell you anything else, I'm not gonna spell out which way each of my sisters feel about you. It wouldn't be fair to them, and you need to figure this out yourself".
"Yeah, I know, and I'm glad you understand that I do. Well, let's hope no evil eavesdroppers heard our chat, and I am truly off to take a nap, for however long I can", Inejiro said as he moved on to his classroom by himself, as Ichika stayed behind. She grinned slightly. She had hoped to make Inejiro face the girls' feelings (and his own) honestly one day, and it seems it is finally happening. That it is happening after Fuutarou came into their lives…is less than ideal, but she doesn't realize that yet.
Inejiro sat down on his desk and tried to take a short nap, but not long after he sat down, Itsuki showed up and went to talk with him.
"Inejiro-kun", she called to him.
"Ugh who wakes me up from my attempted slumber now", Inejrio groaned as he looked up from his desk, and noticed it was Itsuki. "Ah, Itsuki, should have known".
"What is that supposed to mean?", Itsuki said as she pouted.
"Who else calls me 'Inejiro-kun' other than you?"
"That is actually true, yes".
"What is it, then?"
"I need help with the social studies homework".
"What homework?"
"You're always going to say that, aren't you? The geography one, where we were assigned a country at random and have to write a short essay about it!"
"Ah, that. What country did you get?"
"B-Burka…Burke…Burko…something like that".
"...Might it be Burkina Faso?"
"Yes, that one! It's in Africa".
"I know. Can't you just go on Wikipedia or something?"
"Inejiro-kun I want to do my homework well!"
"Well what can I tell you that isn't in Wikipedia? West African country; former french colony that went by the name of 'Upper Volta'; capital city is Ouagadougou; had a revolutionary government in the 80s that pushed through land reform, mass literacy programs and outlawed female genital mutilation and forced marriages, among other things, until the leader, Thomas Sankara was deposed and assassinated in a coup supported by the french and americans; official language is French but there's tens of native languages spoken; borders Mali, Niger, Togo, Benin, Ghana and the Ivory Coast. I don't know, this kind of thing you can find online".
"Well…but you can say all this information off the top of your head".
"Geopolitics is fun, what can I say? Had little to do around home when I was little but listen to grandpa babble on. And he got me into it".
"Which country did you get?"
"Eh…Moldova I think".
"Isn't that where your grandpa lived back in the day?"
"No. I think he might have visited sometime, but no, he lived in the Belarusian SSR. Belarus now. City of Vitebsk more specifically".
"I…don't understand the difference. But wasn't it all the same country back then?"
"Yeah, it was. He left about a decade before it all went to shit. Anyways, don't wanna distract you from your assignment, you got a hard enough country as is".
"Thank you, Inejiro-kun…can you send me all that you told me by e-mail later?"
"It's all literally in Wikipedia! But fine. Don't tell Uesugi I sent you to read Wikipedia. I've got a feeling that he wouldn't like that".
"It's not like we talk much anyways…".
Right then, the bell rang, and students started flowing back into the classroom, Fuutarou included. Afternoon classes were pretty inconsequential, as per usual. The talk Inejiro had with Itsuki made him want to visit his grandparents, who also could serve as a good source of advice for the troubles he's currently facing. So after classes instead of heading back to his apartment he headed towards his father's and grandparents' home. He expected his dad to be working, though. As he arrived, he knocked on the door, and a shirtless Hideo, wearing the same sports pants he was wearing on their family meal a few weeks ago, opened it.
"Hell grandpa ain't you cold like that?", Inejiro said.
"I will be if you don't get bloody inside already", Hideo said as he gestured his grandson inside, who obliged.
"Is grandma around?"
"No. She went jogging or something. And your father is working and has band practice or whatever later".
"What were you up to?"
"Watching TV".
"Shouting at the NHK again?"
"Nah. I was watching this animated movie. From Up On Poppy Hill. It's quite good, you should watch it".
"I have, it's great. I'm sure you sympathize a lot with the male main character".
"Somewhat reminds me of me in some ways, yeah. Ugh now I am cold, I'm gonna go put something on. Grab a couple of beers from the fridge while I do that, will you?", Hideo said as he headed back to his room. Inejiro went to get a couple of beers, and Hideo came back wearing a full tracksuit. They sat down at the dinner table and helped themselves to their beverages.
"What brings you here, Inejiro?"
"I was talking with Itsuki about some homework. We have to write an essay about a random country. I got Moldova".
"You don't need my help, do you? You better know damn well about this stuff".
"Of course, old man. It just reminded me of you. I wonder why?"
"Heh, you only remember your grandpa when you think of some former soviet country. I earned that, surely".
"Anyways, have you ever been to Moldova? I don't remember that".
"When it was part of the union, yeah. A girl I knew back then…her family was from there. I visited a couple of times".
"'A girl you knew'? Why am I just now hearing of this?"
"What? You think your grandmother is the first woman I went out with? I was 42 when I met her".
"Of course not, you just never talk about it".
"Can't talk about it with her around. She gets pissed".
Inejiro laughed at the idea of his grandmother getting jealous of a woman that probably lives in another continent.
"Did you keep in touch at all? You know, after you came back".
"We broke up a few years before I came back. She moved back to Chisinau. Haven't heard from her since. Hell it was hard enough for me to come back to Japan and live life as a normal citizen after having lived in the Soviet Union of all places. Wouldn't have been particularly easy for me to send letters back and forth. I hope she's doing alright, but that's the poorest country in Europe that she went back to. Not back then, it was a pretty important industrial center in the Union, but oh well, reform and openness and all that garbage".
"You can badmouth Gorby another time, old man. On the matter of 'girls we knew'. I…got together with Natsumi yesterday".
"Eh? That girl? Isn't she off in Tokyo?"
"She's not off in Tokyo for the duration of this week, and we got together yesterday".
"What? She finally convinced you to leave with her or something?"
"No. I'm not leaving, and we're not back together. But we made peace, and will start to get along like friends now".
"Poppycock. That doesn't exist. You were whining about her until a couple of days ago. You wanna get back together with her, it's obvious, you're not 'friends'".
"Doesn't matter what I want. I'm pretty sure in another context she'd agree to it too. But it can't be".
"Well, you should be thankful. Getting back with that girl would be a mistake".
"Ugh, why? What do you have against her?"
"Nothing. Hell, she's the prettiest girl I know. Yeah, I see her on the TV sometimes. But that's not everything Inejiro, she's not for you".
"I'd say that's for me to decide".
"Yes, it is, and you make stupid decisions. She's the kind of girl that will never settle down in one place or another, that has high aspirations, wants to get far in her career, travel the world, all that stuff. Nothing wrong with that, I wasn't that different myself back in the day. But that's not you. You'd have come running back in a month if you had left with her for Tokyo, which is just an hour and a half away from here. You don't visit often, but you wanna have us around. And not just us. Not just me, not just your grandmother, not just your father".
"The quintuplets".
"Yes. You can't be apart from those girls. That's probably why that other girl left you. So don't make stupid decisions. Both you and her could get back together in the heat of the moment, but it won't work, and you'll become whiny again".
"You know what she told me? That most of the quintuplets have been in love with me for years, and she's always known that".
"No shit, Inejiro. What was the one that wanted to move in with us that time they went on a trip? And wanted to share your futon with you? Come on…"
"Nino. I thought she hated me for no reason until a few days ago".
"That's what you convinced yourself of. Shutting off other people's feelings when it suits you. Just like your father".
"It…gets more complicated than that. You see…Yotsuba came to visit me after I met Natsumi. I told her about everything".
"I can tell where this is going from a mile away Inejiro, but go on".
"...I made the mistake of asking her, though in a roundabout way, if she had feelings for me. Now, or in the past. She answered also in a roundabout way, but it was clear for me that she does, or did. Then I told her that I had arranged to leave town with Natsumi back in the day, and ended up staying for her and her sisters' sake. She must have felt guilty about that, somewhat angry, and she started hitting me. I held her by the shoulders to get her to stop, and then…we looked into each other's eyes for a moment and…if she hadn't pulled away…I don't know what would have happened".
"Oh, I know".
"I KNOW YOU KNOW. It's a manner of speaking. Worst part is, I invited her to say the night afterwards".
"...Did she?"
"No, she left".
"...Dumbass boy".
"What!?"
"This is why you ignored their feelings. And yours. You don't know what to do with them. That fantasy you had about them being your little sisters or something collapsed and now you don't know what to do. You almost fucked your childhood friend for no reason. This family and women! Each generation more stupid than the last!"
"You're not exactly helping, old man".
"Yes I fucking am. You love these girls like family, now you don't know if they're family, so you don't know how you feel about them. As simple as that. You don't know how you feel. But for God's sake don't make any stupid and rash decisions Inejiro! You're gonna destroy the most important relationships in your life over a temporary bout of confusion!"
"...Yotsuba is in love with her tutor too by the way".
"Pffft. Don't say 'too'. You don't know if she's in love with you. You don't know what you feel either. You'll have to take your time, rethink your relationship with each of the girls, try to gauge what they feel about you, and all that. And then, if you find out that you truly do have feelings for any of them…you'll know how best to proceed. Think with this head, and keep the other one in check", Hideo said as he pointed at his grandson's forehead.
"Yeah…guess I'll have to clear things up wtih Yotsuba first though. I can't be awkward with her, that sucks balls. It's unnatural".
"Do that. And be careful. Pay close attention to what they say, and exercise EXTREME caution with your choice of words. You don't want any misunderstandings".
"Yeah, you're right. Wise village elder".
"You idiots should listen to me more often. Half your problems wouldn't exist".
"Yeah yeah. Go yell your words of wisdom to the NHK", Inejiro said as he got up.
"You're leaving already? Just came for me to solve all your problems, huh?"
"I'm leaving because I have problems to solve. I'll buy you a beer next time, old man. See you around".
"Yeah, yeah. You know the way out", said Hideo as his grandson showed himself out of the door.
As soon as Inejiro left the house, he grabbed his phone and went to text Yotsuba.
"Hey there Yotsuba. I was just with my grandpa at his place, and I'm gonna stop at that playground we hung out in the other day. Would you like to join me? We've got things to talk about, as you know".
Inejiro sent her that message, and started heading towards the playground. Which is the same route he needs to take to go to his apartment. Worst case scenario, she doesn't reply or says no, he can keep going. Or just stop there anyways and have a smoke looking at the city down below.
Which doesn't matter, because a couple of minutes later, he got a reply.
"I was already on my way there actually. So, see you there".
Inejiro could notice that she seems less happy-go-lucky in her reply than she usually is. Usually sends a bunch of smiley faces and weird stickers, now just text. To be expected, she's probably not feeling all that well herself about the whole situation, he figures.
As soon as Inejiro arrived at the playground, he lit up a cigarette, and headed towards the swings, where he noticed Yotsuba was swinging while standing up, as she likes to do.
"Hi", he said as he sat on the swing next to hers. "This won't break from having my fat ass on it, right?" Yotsuba chuckled slightly.
"No Jiro, these chains are actually pretty strong. Don't...swing much though...just in case".
"Gotcha…you know, I was just talking with my grandpa now. He told me about an old girlfriend of his, from back when he lived abroad".
"Really? He never talked about this kind of stuff".
"No, not even to me. Apparently they broke up a few years before he came back to Japan. She moved back to her hometown, and he didn't hear from her ever again. This was back in the 70s".
"But he remembers her…he must think about her sometimes. Even though he loves your grandma".
"Yeah. It's been around 40 years, and he still remembers. 40 years in which they've lived worlds apart. In which he formed a family of his own, with all the troubles he's been through since he came back. That we've all been through. Some things are not that easy to forget. No matter how long ago they happened, or how far away they seem. You get that, don't you?"
"You mean…because of Uesugi-san".
"Yeah. It's not the same, I know. I don't know how long it's been since you two first met, but I imagine it's been less than 40 years. Still, it's important enough for you to still hold on to what you first felt. Am I right?"
"Yeah…that's the way I feel".
"And maybe…you never know what life has in store for you. Imagine if for some reason I end up leaving Japan, like my grandpa did. Or Maruo decides to leave tomorrow and takes you all with him. And we never see each other again. 5, 10, 20, 50 years from now. You'd still remember the time we spent together too, right?"
"Of course I would! How could I forget about you? Jiro, why are you saying all of this?"
"Because both of those things are important. Your feelings for Uesugi. And the bond we have. But they're different things. They're not the same. What happened yesterday…I had just seen Natsumi for the first time in two years, my emotions were all over the place, I brought some things up with you that maybe I shouldn't have…we were both confused. I love you, Yotsuba, and I'm sure you feel similarly. But not in the same way you love Uesugi, or I love Natsumi. It's different. And I don't wanna ruin it over one little mishap, over a moment of confusion, eight years matter more than that".
"...Do you think Uesugi-san can ever love me? In any way?"
"You know I can't answer that. But he cares about you. You were there for him since day one. When all your sisters rejected him. Don't think he doesn't know this. But I don't know if he'll grow to love you, I can't know that".
"Now Miku likes him too…what's the point of even trying? I'll just make my sister sad for no reason. If he knew…he'd never love me. He'd probably hate me".
"If he knew what?"
"I can't tell you…not yet. I hope you understand".
"I understand completely, Yotsuba. You never need to say or do anything you don't want to do".
"...See? There".
"What?"
"That thing you said. You mean it. With you…I'm just Yotsuba. I don't have to try to be different from anyone, or similar to anyone. I'm not just one of my sisters. I'm not better, I'm not worse, but I'm not the same either. I'm just me. And you're fine with that. When I got into basketball, and soccer and all that…you helped me train. When I overextended myself and had to study hard in order to pass my exams…you helped me study. And it wasn't part of your job back then, you just did it. Now when I was thinking about joining the basketball team, you didn't tell me to do it, or not to do it. You'd support me either way. And when I left…you supported me too. I can just be me…and do what I want. Whether it goes well or not, it doesn't matter, you're always there…by my side. I ask you again. Do you think Uesugi-san can ever love me in that way?"
"As I said…I don't know".
"But you can".
There was a deep silence for a few seconds.
"Jiro, it wasn't a 'mishap'. I might have been a bit confused...but I almost...well...did what I did...because I felt like it. Jiro...I don't want things to be like before. Being just your childhood friend...I can't go back to that. But despite everything…I can't give up on Uesugi-san either. So…I can't love you in the way you deserve as long as…my feelings for Uesugi-san remain the same".
"Yotsuba, I…"
"No, Jiro. Don't say anything else. If you say anything…you'll force me to do something that I shouldn't do. As much as I need to figure out my feelings, you need to do it too. You need to talk about this with my sisters. I know you love them as well. And there's Natsumi, who you also love. I don't deserve the right to hurt any of them, my happiness is not more important than anyone else's".
"Yotsuba?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't ever call yourself stupid or dumb again".
"H-Huh? Why? What happened?"
"All those things you said. Only a truly deep thinker could have said them. A stupid person couldn't possibly be so thoughtful".
"W-Well when I come here I think to myself a lot…that's why I come here, really. When I'm sad, or lonely…and I think about stuff".
"I should do that more often, then. But never say your happiness is not important. It is. And it is important to me".
"Jiiiiiiroooooo I told you not to say this stuff anymoreeeeeee", Yotsuba said as she got down from her swing and covered her embarrassed face between her hands.
"Fine, fine. I'll just remind you of how trash you are at FIFA from now on. Cool?"
"Wait, no! That's bull crap!", Yotsuba said as she pointed her finger straight at Inejiro, who laughed heartily, and got up from his swing.
"Oh, the swing held on, cool. Come on, let's get going. Apparently I have homework to do. Booooo".
"Eh…do we? Ah right you're in a different class! What homework?"
"I have to write an essay on Moldova".
"Mol-what?"
"MOL-DO-VA. A country in Eastern Europe. Whatever. I'm out. And…send me a text or something when you're back at the Pentagon. It's dark out and I worry".
"Jiro, I can take care of myself! And you never told me to text you when I arrived before!"
"Yeah, well, it's a good time to start then. See you tomorrow at our tutoring session", Inejiro said as he walked off, raising his hand up high as a sign of farewell.
"Bye, Jiro…", Yotsuba said softly as she stood staring at her…friend…as he walked off.
Soon after Inejiro arrived at his apartment, he got a text from Yotsuba.
"Hiiii Jiroooo I made it back, no one attacked me! Sleep tight!", said Yotsuba's text, this time accompanied with a bunch of smiley faces and other emojis that made absolutely no sense.
"You too. See you tomorrow", said Inejiro's reply.
It appears like they managed to patch things up, and there will be no further awkwardness between them for the foreseeable future. To say that they restored their relationship would however be a complete lie. Nothing's the same anymore. And Inejiro will have to go through a similar process with the remaining quintuplets. Other than Ichika, of course, with whom he cleared things up already. Nino, Miku, Itsuki…he will eventually have to face them honestly as well. And tomorrow he will be meeting Natsumi again. It's always a wild guess what could come from a meeting between those two. So, there's quite the emotional rollercoaster ahead for Inejiro and everyone around him. Never mind that there's still Fuutarou's budding relationship with the girls to consider…
A/N: Well, hey there! This update came...quickly. I was just ridiculously inspired it seems. Hopefully the quality didn't suffer. And what an important chapter it was, oh boy. For those of you that wanted more romantic hints and the like...have fun! Also, this is Chapter 10, which is quite a milestone! When I started writing I was afraid I would drop it after a few chapters, but it hasn't been the case, which makes me really happy. Knowing that a lot of you are enjoying the story really helps. So any reviews or comments you wanna make are very welcome, as always! See you next time!