Gotouban no Katachi
(Okay, so I am a very recent fan of this series, but I absolutely adore it! The only slice of life series that I fell in love with, before this, was Fruits Basket. So, it's great to have a series that isn't action filled, to watch and smile and fall in love with. I'm going with the intro for season one of the show over season two. Love the second intro, but the first theme song slaps, so God-damned hard. One last thing. This takes place in an alternate ending to the story, where Fuutarou marries NONE of the sisters. There's one main reason for this; I have had the ending spoiled for my, by accident, and I know not everyone who reads this will read the manga, and even some that do may not have reached that point. Though, if you have seen season two, I guess it could be obvious.)
"Hooo… Wow, am I glad to be off that plane, finally." A girl with short, light pink hair says, as she steps towards a baggage carousel. After grabbing a yellow large yellow case, followed four more. One purple, one blue, one green, and then the last one, which is red. "But, man, that flight sure was long, and kind of rough. I don't think I got more than an hour's rest. What about you, Itsuki? Did you get any sleep?" She asks a red-haired lady.
The red haired one was the first to speak up "How could I?! You know how I feel about heights, Ichika!" She responds to the female with light-pink hair, taking the red suitcase in hand, breathing a very tired sigh of relief. "I'm just glad it's over… What about you, Miku?" She asks, looking up at a light brown-haired lady in a blue shirt and shorts.
Miku nodded, after rubbing her eyes, a small yawn leaving her lips as she grabs her blue case. "Well, I guess I slept okay…" Miku responds, quietly. She brushes a lock of her hair out from in front of her eyes, looking around her surroundings, before passing the green case to a ginger haired lady. "Yotsuba, you said we were looking for a tram to take us to the train station? Do you remember where to go from here?"
The ginger haired girl laughed, nervously, scratching the back of her head. Her bow twitching, almost like it was connected to her body, symbiotically. "Well, yeah, but… My English isn't exactly the best." Yotsuba nervously responded to the other girls. She turns to a fifth girl, one with Dark Pink hair. One who looks identical to the other girls, including Yotsuba. "Nino, I could use your help!"
The dark pink haired girl sighs and takes two steps forward with her purple luggage, looking at all the different signs on the walls and hanging down from the ceiling. "Geez! I swear, sometimes I wonder how we're related, never mind Quintuplets. Let's see…" Nino replied, carefully examining her surroundings until, finally, she found the right path. "This way. It'll take us directly to the trams, which take us to a connecting train station." She adds, leading her sisters around a, where a modern-day tram with three carriages awaits.
The Quintuplets boarded the tram, sitting next to each other. Itsuki closes her eyes and smiles as she looks around at her sisters. "So, this takes about twenty minutes to get to the station, right? Then we get on a train from there to the city of Arbora, yes?" she asks, before yawning again.
"Yup!" Yotsuba responds, energetically. "It should take us a little bit over an hour and a half, to get there!" Itsuki nods, as she's listening to her sister. The jet lag, combined with the inability to sleep on the flight, is really taking its toll on her. Yotsuba put's a hand on Itsukis shoulder, to try and comfort her sister.
Nino yawns, herself, following it up with a small smile. "Then the hotel is a ten-minute walk away, in a secluded area where vehicles aren't allowed to go." She explained. "It's a little inconvenient, but at least the area should be quiet."
"Yeah… That's good." Miku adds, looking out the window at the scenery, which is a mixture of modern and older architecture. "Wasn't it nice of Father to pay for a Holiday out of the country, for passing out exams?" She asks.
Ichika chuckles, as all four sisters nod, slowly. "Yeah, but it's also a little suspicious, too. Especially when you think about how okay he was with not coming with us, either." She says to her sisters, who giggle with each other. The rest of the trip goes, without a hitch. The tram arrived at Haymarket station, early. And while the train from Haymarket to Arbora was delayed by five minutes, it made up the time easily. Check in at The Arbora Inn, a five-star hotel, was a relatively painless process, with all five girls renting out the five most expensive rooms possible, for three months.
A few hours later, and one three course meal down, the girls are all hanging out in Ichika's room, conversing between themselves about the school year, exams, Fuutarou and, most importantly, what they'll all be doing on Scotland, after the jet lag has been slept off. "We made it!" Yotsuba excitedly blurted out. "The view from my room is beautiful! Just red rock cliffs and the Sea!" She adds, her blue eyes almost sparkling with joy, as she looks out the window of Ichika's room. "Wow, your view is just as nice, Ichika! A beautiful beach and- hey! Is that a stage being set up?! We should go check that out!"
"Yotsuba, please…" Miku speaks up, letting out a long, cute yawn. "I'm glad you have so much energy, truly, as it's got us all this far. But would you mind toning it down a little bit now, please?" She asks, falling backwards on to the couch. The jet lag is starting to get to Miku, now. Same goes for Nino who, slowly, starts walking towards the door.
"It's late now. Good night." Is all she can muster up before heading back to her room, slamming the door behind her, accidentally. Which, in turn, frightened Itsuki enough to make her shoot upright in the chair, as opposed to her previous slump across the table. She let's out a little yelp, in the process. Ichika and Yotsuba laugh a little at that.
"Maybe we should all call it a night." Ichika says, stretching her body out. "We'll need our energy for the big day ahead of us, after all." She can see how tired they all are. If Ichika was honest with herself, she's pretty jet-lagged, too. Miku nods and waves to say goodnight, instead of speaking, gently shutting the door behind her.
"Good night Ichika! I'll take Itsuki with me." Yotsuba says, giving her sister a hug, which Ichika returns, gladly. Then she goes over to Itsuki and puts the red-haired quintuplet arm over her shoulder, helping Itsuki up onto her feet. "Come on, Sister. Let's get you to bed." She adds, slowly walking out of the room and over to Itsuki's.
"Yotsuba… I can get there myself, you know?" Itsuki protests, with very little effort. Of course, Yotsuba knows her sister isn't incapable, but that's not going to stop the ginger quintuplet from helping her out. Itsuki pulls her key card out of her pocket and slips it into the electronic lock, before saying good night to Yotsuba and shutting the door. Yotsuba practically skips to her room.
As Itsuki gets into bed, closing her eyes, she smiles to herself. This is the holiday that she, and her four sisters, desperately needed.
