Note: D! Means Dream.


A new day, a new me. That's what Nakano Ichika had told herself as she entered the school grounds.

To her surprise, and others around her, she had been all by herself. While her sisters had all gone to school together, leaving her to sleep.

Not forgetting what happened the day prior, she decided to stick around by the school gates to see if Fuutarou also arrived late. But it was to no avail.

Getting her mind off that thought, she decided to wave at some classmates. She saw how they turned to her and looked away, which left her confused.

"Why is she showing her face here?"

She hadn't been sure if she heard them correctly but decided to brush it off since the bell had barely rang. Leading her to walk into the halls.

The chattering sounds of the students that roamed the halls grew silent as each of them entered their respective homeroom.

She saw how the remaining students gave her weird, discomforted looks. How they muttered to themselves with each passing second.

"Why is she here?"

"Tch, I can't believe this."

"She really is the worst out of them."

Feeling how they all had their eyes on her, she quickly walked to her homeroom and opened the doors. As she expected to be greeted by her teacher, she was welcomed to an eerie hallway.

A chill ran down her spine, she didn't want to reach the end of that hallway. But her legs moved anyway. Trying to stop herself, she knew what this was. A dream.

A lucid one at that.

"I'm...dreaming? What a crappy dream this is then." She continued to walk down the hall, wondering what lies at the end of it. Maybe a door? Her classroom? A continuation of the hall? Nothing at all?

Walking further down, she finally saw something, a small glare of light. "There's an end to this hall. Hopefully it's not another hall." She picked up her pace, with each passing second, sounds were heard. The tapping of her shoes, the creaking of the boards, and the sound of people talking.

"Who could be over there..?" Going closer to the light, she tried to figure out who the voices were from. Whether it was just random people her mind thought of, or someone she knew, she wanted to know.

The voices got louder, and louder, leading her to figure out who, or what, was talking. With there being three. Three people talking where the light emitted from. "Three people eh? Jeez what a long hallway this is–"

"STOP"

All movement from Ichika was halted. She felt her body randomly start tensing up.

"STOP IT!!"

The blood curdling yell caused her pupils to dilate. As much as she wanted to turn her back and run in the opposite direction. What seemed to be an endless hall away had closed in on her, with her back against the wall. Only way to leave is to head where the scream was from.

She continued to walk towards the scream. Her heart started beating faster and faster as each second passed.

She saw someone. A blonde haired boy that was curled up as they tried to cover their ears, rocking themselves back and forth muttering.

It was Fuutarou. She stood at the frame of the hallway, looking at him. Wondering "Why is he in my dream? Why is he like this?"

"You Ichika."

She turned her head around to see who the voice came from. But she saw no one. "It's your fault." The voices whispered into her ear. But this time it was from a different person.

She felt sweat drip from her face. Why? Why is she dreaming about this? What did she do? Why Fuutarou?

"You know what we/you did." The voices spoke to her. She fell on her bottom, looking up to see Nino and…herself?

"Isn't that right, Fuutarou-kun?" D!Ichika said as she walked over to him and crouched down. Nino followed. They both undone his hands revealing his crying face.

"You did this…I–"

"I HATE YOU. I HATE YOU ICHIKA" Fuutarou yelled at her. "We hate you Ichika." Both herself and Nino told her, giving a creepy smile.

"I didn't…I–I didn't mean too.."

"Didn't mean to what? Mother told us not to make Fuutarou-kun uncomfortable, to not pressure him into something. And what did you do?" D!Ichika smiled as she responded

"She's right y'know."

"Y-You can't talk Nino! You caused it too!" Ichika anxiously said

"Not entirely! The first time was on me, sure. But you initiated the questions, right? I don't think I would've talked to him again throughout the session had you not asked him." Nino smiled

Ichika stood quiet. Was she really all at fault? Surely she wasn't, right? What happened yesterday wasn't all her fault.

"Why do you keep on denying it?" D!Ichika sighed. "So smart, yet so dumb." She said walking closer to her.

Ichika started to move herself back. Thinking to herself, doubting what she had done.

She felt her hands reach nothing. As if there was nowhere to back up to. Turning her head she saw a hole in the ground.

"Bye Ichika." Her dream-like self told her as she pushed her into the hole.

She couldn't scream, couldn't yell, maybe she deserved this. How was Fuutarou feeling right now? She caused it. It was her fault.

She had basically caused her first love to experience a panic attack all because she wanted to tease him? What had gone through her head?

She looked forwards as the light from the room she fell from started to dim. The walls of the cylinder-like hole started to glow. As if it was trying to talk to her but she didn't want to hear it.

But the only thing she heard was a ringing in her ear as she waited till she hit the floor. To finally end this shitty dream

THUMP*

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Her eyes shot wide open, being greeted by the ceiling of her room. She just stared at it for a couple of seconds till she was snapped out of her blank state from the buzzing she heard again.

Turning her head over, her face was brightened by the light coming off the phone. She sat upright and grabbed it.

[Oda-san: Ichika-san, will you be free Sunday?]

*1 missed call: Oda Manager Cell*

[Oda-san: Didn't mean to call you Ichika-san, Kiku-chan took my phone]

She looked at the time and noticed it was barely even 6. She had at least two more hours till she would go to school.

She pushed some of her hair back and opened up her Managers message. "I think I'll be free Sunday, why's that? Tell Kiku-chan I said Hello"

Not thinking, she ended up tossing her phone into the mess that was her room. "Shit."

She crawled towards a random pile where the phone went and started to scavenge for it. She moved dirty clothes, empty bags, magazines, and forgotten homework. "Was my room always this messy??"

After a while she did end up finding her phone. But seeing how much of a mess it was; she decided to tidy it up.

With it only taking her 40 minutes. "Jeez, how do Yotsuba and Mom do it so quickly?" She said throwing herself on her bed.

Starting to close her eyes, she was slowly drifting off to sleep. But she resisted it and woke herself up. Grabbed her phone to check the time, it was 6:57 AM

"Still need to shower." She got off her bed in a lazy manner and let out a yawn. "I should head out for coffee once I'm done with the shower. That'll fully wake me up."

She looked through her closet and picked out her usual outfit for school. Her day has just begun, and she'll try her hardest to make up for her faults.

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"Fuutarou, it's time to wake up."

"Come on Fuutarou. You don't want to be late to school right?"

"Five more minutes…" he grumbled, turning towards the voice. "I guess you don't want your girlfriend walking you to school then?"

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His eyes shot up as he heard those words. As he heard the tone; how he recognized the voice. He knew who it was. "Ayano!" But saw nobody.

His eyes scattered across the room, trying to find her. "Ayano…" He laid back in his bed and grabbed his phone off his drawer. It was 6:57 AM, still a bit too early to get up. He popped open the case to his phone to see that photo again, but nothing was there. In a panic he stood up at the realization of it missing.

"No, No, No! Where did it go?!" He moved his covers, practically making his bed a mess. Started rummaging through his drawers trying to find the photo.

He dropped to his knees. "Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck! Where could it have gone?!" As he was on the ground, he saw something underneath his bed. If his life depended on it, he reached for the object he saw, praying that it was her photo.

And they were answered. The same photo of him and Ayano was underneath the bed. He held it close to his chest "I'm sorry for almost losing our photo Ayano, I'm sorry.."

A knock was heard at his door "Fuutarou, are you alright in there?" It was his little sister. "Y–Yeah. I'm fine; I was just looking for my phone." He felt bad that he lied to Raiha, but she couldn't know what he was looking for.

"...Alright then. Me and Dad will be in the kitchen preparing breakfast okay? Get ready for school."

"I know. I'll be out in a few."

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Raiha walked away from his door, letting out a sigh. "Did he lie to me?"

"What makes you think that?" Her father asked, as he prepared the ingredients for breakfast. "He said he was looking for his phone. It should've been on the top of his drawer, since that's where he usually places it."

"Nah, I don't think he lied to you. Even if he did, what would he lie about?" Isanari said as he moved away from the refrigerator, looking at Raiha. She saw small bags under her father's eyes. He hadn't gotten much sleep.

"The photo? He could've been trying to find it so he said the first thing to come out of his head?"

There was a small silence between them both "...Oh. Yeah. I forgot about that." Raiha let out a sigh, "I could tell you did. You have bags underneath your eyes."

"Haah…I couldn't sleep last night, I kept on thinking about things. Luckily I was able to get at least 3 hours in. Bad part is that I'm supposed to manage the main bakery today."

"Just take the day off. You are the boss y'know? So does it really matter?" Raiha said. Isanari nodded "It does matter, I can't leave the Co-manager in charge on such short notice."

"Aya-san? Just tell her, I'm sure she'll understand."

He crossed his arms and shook his head."No. I won't leave su–" Raiha had cut him off, facing her phone towards him. "I sent her a message, she said it was fine and to rest up."

He let out a sigh. "Fine. I'll go to bed after I take you to school."

With that, Fuutarou had walked out of his room. He was surprised to still see his father at home. "You still haven't gone to work dad?"

"I was supposed to," He said, glancing at Raiha, who just smiled at him. "But I decided to take a day off.

Fuutarou sat next to Raiha. "Really? What will you do with your sudden day off?"

"I don't know, maybe sleep the entire day?" He replied, as he started making breakfast. "Is that really it dad? Jeez, what a boring person you are"

"Hey, I'm not entirely boring. Plus I was just joking around, Raiha." He said looking over at her. "I'll probably go see an old friend, like Mauro. I doubt he's busy"

"Doesn't Mauro-san work in a hospital?" Raiha asked. "He does, but surely he'll make some time for his best friend in the world" Isanari proudly said.

Fuutarou liked seeing these conversations between his father and sister. The bond they had was what kept their family lively. He couldn't imagine how he would live without them.

"Hey, Fuutarou, are you listening?" His father asked him. He snapped out of his thoughts "ehehe…I zoned out, sorry. What were you saying dad?"

"I was asking if you'd be willing to give your Tutors from yesterday another chance?"

"Ah…" sweat fell from his face as he registered his father's words.."I don't know..Will you be able to find another one if I say no?

"Hm. One that could tutor today? I don't think I could." Isanari handed a plate of food to each of his children. Fuutarou just stared at it. Should I give them another chance?

They didn't really do anything to me, Ayano did say it was my fault. And she wouldn't lie to me.

"What about Takebayashi? She could tutor him?" Raiha spoke. Isanari thought about it; she was right, he could ask her. "I could ask her, but that's if she wants to. Plus she would have to transfer schools and need a place to stay at."

"Takebayashi?" Fuutarou told himself. "No. She can't tutor me. Ayano might get mad, plus, I don't want to be a burden to her."

"Dad, we could pro–"

"No. You don't have to ask Takebayashi-san. I think I'll stick with the Nakano's for right now."

Raiha turned to him "Are you sure Fuutarou?" He nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm sure. Yesterday we might've gotten off on the wrong foot, but today will be different."

"I'll call Rena-san and tell her about it." He checked the time on his phone, it was 7:30. "Hey, Raiha, I'm going to be waiting in the car to take you."

"Okay, let me finish eating then I'll go"

"Are you going to take me as well dad?" Fuutarou asked. "I would, but I want you to be familiar with the route to school."

"Oh, alright then."

Isanari grabbed his keys and headed out of the kitchen "Oh! Before I forget! School starts at 8:30 so you should start heading around 7:45!" He yelled down the hall.

"Okay! I'll head out around that time dad!"


Back at the Nakano Residence. Rena was in her room writing out the schedule for the following week.

Why was she still home? She slept through her alarm, which resulted in her waking up later than usual. Hell, she most likely would've still been asleep had she not turned around to hug her husband, only to find him not there.

He had also ticked her off because of that. He'd woken up early, yet didn't wake her up either! "That Maruo, I can't believe he didn't wake me up." She said, continuing to write.

Finishing the schedule, she got her phone to check the time. 7:30, one more hour till school started. Rising from her seat she stretched and let out a yawn.

"I should start waking the girls up before it gets any later." Walking out of her room, she noticed that Ichika's room light was on "Did she sleep with the light on again?"

Rena decided to knock on the door to see if she'll get up from the knock, but it had opened before she could. "Mom? What are you still doing here?" Ichika asked, confused. "If mom is still here, maybe I should ask her about…"

Before she could finish her thought, her mother let out a sigh. "I ended up waking up late"

"Dad didn't wake you up?" She asked. "I should ask her inna bit then."

"No." She crossed her arms, "I thought he would have, but I was wrong." Ichika let out a small chuckle "Dad might be sleeping on the couch tonight" she thought to herself

"Anyway, it's surprising to see you up early." Rena said, looking up and down. She noticed her all dressed and ready for school

"Eh? I'm usually up around this time y'know?"

"Are you now? Nino and Itsuki tell me you're usually the last one to wake up for school." Rena started remembering when her daughters were still small. Even now, Ichika still is the last to wake up, causing her to let out a small laugh.

"What's funny?" Ichika asked "it's nothing, I just remembered something. Anywho, heading to school early?"

"Something like that, I was planning to get some coffee at a nearby café."

"You aren't going to leave with your sisters?"

"I thought about it– and decided to leave without them today." Ichika replied. "And the coffee will at least fully wake me up till Lunch."

"Unless you want me to fall asleep in class again" she sheepishly said, scratching her cheek. Rena shook her head "can't have that. Yoshitaka-san will chew me out if that happens."

Ichika let out a small laugh "Yoshitaka-sensei really is something, isn't she?" She let out a sigh. "Yeah. But that's just her teacher front, she's something else if you get to know her."

"Well, i'll leave you be. I'm going to wake the rest of your sisters up then." She turned around and nearly started knocking on Nino's door before Ichika stopped her. "Wait"

"Has–..Have you heard anything from Fuutarou-kun's father? ..About us continuing tutoring?" She asked, looking directly at her mother.

"I haven't heard anything from his father yet."

Hearing her mother's response left Ichika feeling deflated. "Haah I should have known this would've been the outcome.." she thought to herself

Rena took notice of how her reply left Ichika. Leading her to try and give her daughter some hope. "But I do doubt Isanari-san would leave me without an answer. So it's unsure what Fuutarou-san will say."

Ichika was too indulged in her thoughts that she didn't hear her mother's words "What to do now? The easiest way to talk to him was gone now…"

"Ichika?"

"Doing it at school will be a pain; with Takeda-kun and Madea-kun not trusting me anymore"

"Hellooo Ichika? Are you fine?" Her mother called out to her. Going to call out to her once more, but was stopped, as she heard a ringing coming from downstairs.

"Is someone calling me?" She said outloud as she went down the stairs. The sound of the ringing was able to snap Ichika out of her thoughts.

Ichika let out a sigh. "I should get going then. Before it gets too late for the coffee." She headed out the door while her mother went to her room.

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"It's Isanari-san.." She said picking up the phone. "Hello?"

-Rena! You're– busy cha?

"Huh? Isanari-san, where are you at? It sounds windy"

-Oh! –Sorry, I'm driving haha"

"Huh!? Isanari Uesugi, you shouldn't be on the phone while driving!"

-I know! I have my eyes on the road, my daughter is holding the phone for me"

"That's good, but maybe you should let your daughter talk instead," she said, followed by a sigh.

- Nakano-san, my father wanted to ask if your daughters are free to tutor today.

"Oh! Yes they're free today. Also, Raiha-chan, you don't have to be too formal with me."

-i'll think about it…

-She isn't too fond of your daughters, which might be the reason she's being very formal with you haha

"I understand, had I been in her position I would not be too fond of them either.."

-But yeah, Your daughters will be keeping the tutoring job.

"That's great to hear, I'll tell them once they come out of their rooms.

-You're not at the school? Did something happen?

"No, nothing happened. I just woke up late, that's all.

Isanari let out a laugh -Your #1 fan didn't wake you up? What will happen to him?

"I don't know, but I heard the couch was feeling lonely tonight"

-Haha, well, I hope the girls are better this time around..

"They will."

-Before I let you off, do you know when Maruo will be free? I need to talk to him about something.

"When will he be free? –I think somewhere around 11? He should be in a meeting right now, so you won't be able to talk to him.

-I see. I'll check in around 11, thanks Rena-san.

"No problem, I'll be going then, bye" She slipped the phone into her pocket and exited her room, only to be greeted by a hunched over Nino. "M-Morning Mom.."

Rena raised her brow "Good…morning?"

"Did you hear the entire call?" She asked her 2nd eldest daughter. Nino nodded "So we, uh…got our jobs back?"

"Yes. I hope you five do well today and don't make the same mistakes as yesterday." She replied. The way she said it made Nino feel uneasy

"I'll go see if the rest are awake yet." Rena proceeded to walk up the stairs "I'll make something to eat then.."

-End-


This chapter too wayyy to long to get out. With it mostly being me not knowing how to fully write out my thoughts and stuff lmao