Tokai, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Saturday, October 14th, 2017. The Pentagon.
As previously stated, Inejiro nodded off for a few seconds, which naturally caused him to lose sight of Nino, who might or might not have committed trespassing while he was asleep. Regardless, Yotsuba soon arrived, now dressed in her pajamas that double as a bear costume (or maybe a kangaroo, it's unclear), with Miku, also wearing her night wear, behind her.
"Miku! Jiro fell asleep, look!", Yotsuba yelled loudly.
"Just let him, what does it bother you?", Miku asked. To be fair, Inejiro didn't budge at all from Yotsuba's yelling.
"He snores! Aren't we supposed to study here?"
"If you're so concerned about his snoring how are you gonna sleep in the same room as him?"
"Ehehe…I didn't plan for that!"
Ichika soon arrived as well.
"Well, well. What have we here? A sleeping beauty?", she asked.
"Don't prank him, just leave him. We have to study", Miku said.
"I should take revenge for today, I think. That was no way to wake up a lady".
"What would be an acceptable way to wake you up, Ichika? You were supposed to join us".
"Wait, Miku! He had to wake you up too!", Yotsuba said.
"T-That's…true", Miku confessed, blushing heavily. Ichika stared at her with her typical shit eating grin.
"Took a while, too".
"Okay shut up", Miku said softly as she covered her face in her hands. Yotsuba looked at her, confused. Ichika was not confused.
"Oh my. Whatever might have happened in there? I'm intrigued. Hmmm if only someone were to share a room with Jiro tonight and could inquire…", Ichika said, looking at Yotsuba.
"What? Me!?", she yelled, surprised, pointing at herself with her index finger.
"Yeah, you. You can't tell me you aren't interested".
"A-Alright girls, cut it out! Let's get to studying. Fuutarou is making the effort to stay here all night, let's not disappoint him", Miku said.
"Yeah! You're right Miku!", Yotsuba responded enthusiastically.
"God, so boring…", Ichika responded not so enthusiastically. Meanwhile, Inejiro was still snoring.
"Hmph. This guy's asleep. And the other one's in the bath. Some tutors", said Nino, who appeared suspiciously from the general direction of the bathroom and headed to sit beside the fish tank. Meanwhile, the other girls opened up their study materials.
"Uesugi-san has been in the bath for a while, though…", Yotsuba said.
"I'm sure he's savoring the water that five beautiful girls bathed in", Ichika responded.
"Bath…", Miku said while deep in thought, with a slight blush on her. Reader's guess as to what she was picturing in her head.
"Want to go get him?", Ichika asked, leading to Miku strongly shaking her head in disapproval. "You might as well make a move on him while he's here…", she continued. Miku seemed deep in thought, and also looked at Inejiro from the corner of her eye.
"Hm? Conflicted?", Ichika, as perceptive as ever, asked curiously.
"I don't know what you're talking about…", Miku answered softly.
"Ugggh…EH!? Did I fall asleep? Where's Nino?", Inejiro asked loudly, having woken up abruptly.
"I'm here, dumbass", Nino waved at him from beside the fish tank.
"Hm. You girls are reviewing? How studious", Inejiro said, looking at the girls who surrounded him.
"Ehehe yeah, that's what we were doing", Yotsuba responded while scratching her head. Miku looked down silently and Ichika went back to the shit eating grin.
"Uh-huh. I'm sure. Something doesn't feel right here. Like there's a disturbance in the force".
"Oh, now he's a regular nerd too, joy", Nino said with annoyance.
"I'll ignore the disrespectful NEET over there".
"Hey! Watch it!", Nino yelled angrily.
"So…y-you were really asleep?" Miku asked Inejiro.
"Oh! Have I cut back on the snoring? Is that it?", Inejiro asked expectantly.
"No…you haven't", Miku responded, which disappointed Inejiro. "I just h-hoped we weren't disturbing you, that's all".
"No, you didn't disturb me. Besides, I shouldn't have fallen asleep in the first place".
"We've all been working hard Jiro, nothing wrong with resting for a few minutes", Ichika said.
"Yeah, I guess that's true. Well, I'm going out for a smoke. You girls carry on", Inejiro said as he stood up and headed towards the balcony. At that very moment, Fuutarou left the bathroom, dressed in Miku's spare clothes, which consisted of a yellow long sleeved shirt with a drawing of a cat in the middle, and some green pants. The 'cat shirt' in particular looked absolutely ridiculous in the usually uber-serious Fuutarou Uesugi.
"Cute shirt there, Uesugi", Inejiro said as he walked towards the balcony. He gave a knowing look to Nino from afar, who somehow noticed it. Inejiro signaled her to go outside with him, which she did, her annoyance at his request notwithstanding. The other girls were busy welcoming Fuutarou back so they didn't notice.
"What the hell do you want?", Nino asked Inejiro, who was already smoking, as she headed outside.
"Oh, I didn't notice it. That tracksuit looks great on you", Inejiro said as he turned around to look at Nino. As expected, that made her blush wildly.
"W-W-What the hell are you even saying!?", she yelled nervously.
"I said 'that tracksuit looks great on you', I believe".
"Moron! Is that w-what you called me out here for!?", she asked loudly, still blushing like hell.
"Of course not. Come on, be honest. If you tell the truth I won't scold you or anything. Did you go into the bathroom while I was asleep?"
"Fuck. How the hell", Nino cursed with a matter-of-fact tone, her blush gone immediately.
"There you go. Why?"
"I needed to hear it from him".
"You didn't believe me".
"I did believe you! But I needed to hear it from him".
"Did you?"
"Yes".
"How the hell did you make him talk?"
"He confused me for Itsuki, and tried to apologize".
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I didn't even ask him anything. I made him think I was Itsuki and he just spilled everything out".
"He told me to talk to her. Maybe he expected her to know already anyways".
"It didn't sound like it…but sure".
"He also told me VERY EXPLICITLY to NOT tell you. You DID NOT tell him I talked to you before, did you?"
"Of course not! What kind of a bitch do you think I am?"
"The kind that sneaks on men while they're bathing. And not even to lend them a hand…"
"Fucking pig!", Nino said as she hit Inejiro. Funnily enough, none of the other girls, nor Fuutarou, noticed the scene unfolding right in front of them. Good test of their concentration.
"Did you end up telling him it was you? It would be kinda shitty on Itsuki otherwise…"
"I might have…let him see it was me".
"NINO!"
"What? It's revenge for that time he committed trespassing in OUR apartment and groped me!"
"We had established there was no groping, assaulting or anything of the sort. But that's yesterday's news. The thing is, I told you I trusted you, and you went behind my back".
"You said you wouldn't scold me!"
"I lied then. Let's compare lies, shall we?"
"Ah fuck, fair enough. No wait, fair enough my ass! I said I wouldn't conspire to fail the test and I ain't doing that!"
"You're pressuring Uesugi. Causing him stress. For no reason. That fits the definition".
"What!?"
"Listen to me, Nino. I'm getting tired. There was no reason for you to do this shit. None at all. I had already told you everything. Did you think I was lying? Was it some revenge plot on Uesugi for an accident? Were you trying to handicap his work? What is it?"
Nino was stunned and couldn't even go on one of her profanity-laden speeches she usually hits Inejiro (or Fuutarou) with. Most of all when they argue. Her frustration at not being able to offer any response, coupled with the guilt she felt for betraying his trust, made tears start to well up in her eyes.
"I-I…didn't mean to…", she responded meekly.
"Old habits die hard, Nino. I understand. I'll forgive this one. But please…we need to be able to trust each other from now on".
"Y-You hide shit from me all the time!", Nino yelled, back to her usual cockish self.
"Should I betray your sisters' trust then? For your benefit? That would be you betraying their trust as well".
"Fine. FINE".
"And at any rate it's not comparable with you pretty much molesting Uesugi".
"Hmph. How many guys would KILL for a beautiful girl to walk in on them while they're bathing".
"Not Uesugi, that's for sure. And at any rate, that sounded very sex offender-y".
"He did the same!"
"He walked into the living room! We established he was wrong, but it's not under any circumstance the SAME. He was careless at worst".
"Hmph. Whatever. Still defending him".
"Still. Back to the important stuff. Let's…trust each other from now on, alright? I'm not saying 'we should go back to when we were kids' because we are NOT kids and a lot of shit has happened, but…I want you to know you can trust me. And I'd like the same".
"You can't just 'decide' trust like that, you know?"
"Fair. That's true. But let's try. Alright?", Inejiro said as he stretched out his hand to Nino, as if they were making a pact.
"Hmph", Nino said as she stretched hers, and they shook hands. Nino blushed slightly as they touched, and pulled away quickly.
"Motherfucker, your hand is cold as hell!", she said, finding her excuse. Which, however, wasn't false.
"You know I hate this weather".
"You pulled me out here!"
"I'm not gonna smoke inside your house. Unless you wanna lend me your room for that".
"Yeah, no".
"There you go. Let's head inside", Inejiro said as he left the balcony, with Nino in tow. They both headed towards the group, Inejiro in order to join them, and Nino to head back to her earlier sitting spot near the fish tank. Fuutarou reacted nervously when he noticed Nino was back.
"Hey, Nino! W-Why don't you join us?", he asked her nervously, standing up and raising his hand in a gesture of good will.
"I don't need to", she responded dismissively, which frustrated Fuutarou, who clearly thinks that Nino wants him to fail. Not that he has any reason not to, with the information he has at his disposal.
"You do", Inejiro muttered under his breath, which Nino somehow heard, earning him a glare.
"Fuutarou-sensei!", Ichika said, raising her hand, which drew Fuutarou's attention towards her.
"What is it?", Fuutarou asked as he approached her and Miku. As he kneeled to get a closer look at Ichika's notebook, the short haired sister tackled Miku in order to push her on top of Fuutarou.
"Dude!", Fuutarou yelled in surprise.
"Miku says she needs help with something too!", Ichika said with a mature tone of voice and pose, which contrasted profoundly with her actions. Inejiro just rolled his eyes at the scene, and wondered whether he'd made a mistake getting Fuutarou to stay over, and even moreso, enlisting Ichika's help for it.
"Ichika!", yelled a deeply blushing Miku who quickly moved closer to her sister, who just put on a smug expression.
"Alright! I'll answer anything! Ask away!", said Fuutarou as he quickly stood up and put up a commanding pose.
"Here!", yelled Yotsuba as she raised her hand.
"Yotsuba-kun!"
"What's a similar word to 'argument', in English?"
"Good question! 'Debate'", Fuutarou said loudly, in order to make sure Nino could hear him as well. "Remember it like 'De', 'Ba', 'Te'", he continued, spelling out three more familiar hiragana characters that when put together sound similar to the English term.
"'Argument' is a harder word to remember than 'debate', Yotsuba. Credit", Inejiro said.
"Ehehe, thanks! Buuuut you taught me that when you helped me out with my exams back when…well, y'know".
"I did? And you still remember? Mad credit to both of us then".
"Yay!"
"Fuutarou, I want to learn…", Miku started to ask before pausing for a few seconds. "What kind of girls do you like?"
"Eh?", everyone other than Miku (including Nino), asked in unison, surprised by Miku's sudden forwardness. She, meanwhile, stared straight at Fuutarou.
"I have a comment!", Yotsuba yelled while raising her hand, which drew everyone's attention. "I'm kind of interested!"
"Why the…", Fuutarou asked himself in frustration while scratching his head. "Fine, I'll tell you then. The top 3 qualities I look for in a girl! But I'm only revealing one for every page you fill!", Fuutarou said, which led to his students getting to work at a superhuman pace.
"Hell, I'm even kinda interested…", Inejiro said, thinking back on all of the times where Fuutarou defined love and any such matters as completely useless endeavors.
"Okay! Done!", Yotsuba yelled a couple of minutes later, after she was done.
"Of course you'd be the first, Yotsuba…couldn't expect anything less. Still, Pavlov himself would be proud", Inejiro thought to himself.
"Alright! Number three…always cheerful!", Fuutarou responded.
"Okay, I'm done", Miku said soon after.
"Number two…bam! Good at cooking", Fuutarou again responded. This particular response earned a dismissive look from Nino, who was clearly paying close attention to the ordeal.
"I'm done!", Ichika said, being the last of the three to finish.
"Well, let's see…bam! Loves her brother", Fuutarou responded, pointing at himself, which shocked all of the girls. Inejiro just laughed to himself.
"That's bullshit! You're just talking about your sister!", Nino yelled from afar, freezing into place when everyone looked at her.
"What, Nino? You should stop listening in and just join us!"
"I can hear you even if I don't want to!", she said as she walked off.
"It was Raiha-chan!? We worked so hard, it ain't fair!", an indignant Yotsuba said as she ran to Fuutarou's side. Miku just looked distraught after hearing Fuutarou's responses. Probably, realizing that even discounting the third response, she's quite far from Fuutarou's ideal girl.
"How many times does Uesugi need to tell you girls what he feels about this stuff? Honestly", Inejiro said.
"Yeah, I already told you all, I'm not interested in dating", Fuutarou replied, echoing him.
"Wait, Jiro. What about you?", Ichika asked. "I think we're all curious about you too…". Miku and Yotsuba now looked at Inejiro expectantly.
"Judas", Inejiro muttered under his breath as he looked at Ichika, who chuckled in response. "By the way, I don't need to play this game. I have no need for a Pavlovian response".
"A what?", Yotsuba asked.
"He's treating us like dogs", Miku responded.
"Being a dog would be so much fun though!".
"I actually meant that I have no need to train you like dogs", Inejiro said.
"You're boring, Jiro", Ichika said while pouting.
"Very, very boring".
"Hmph…oh wait, look, Miku's already done with her assignment! You have to praise people when they do well, Fuutarou-kun", said Ichika before walking towards Fuutarou. "Here", she said as she grabbed Fuutarou's hand and placed it on Miku's head. "Good job! There there! Well? Get your heart racing?", Ichika asked, as Miku blushed heavily.
"Not really…", Fuutarou responded as he quickly moved his hand away from Miku and the headphone-wearer looked away. Ichika pouted at their response.
"Yotsuba! Check him!", the elder quint shouted with her right arm held up high, which prompted Yotsuba to chase Fuutarou all over the room. Unsurprisingly, he got exhausted after some five seconds of running, and Yotsuba caught him, placing her head against his chest in order to measure his heartrate.
"Taking advantage of the opportunity, huh?", Inejiro thought to himself.
"Whoa! Uesugi-san's heart's racing!", Yotsuba yelled as she jumped back from Fuutarou.
"Obviously, with all that running!" Fuutarou yelled in response.
"You're all so noisy", Itsuki said sternly as she walked down the stairs. "I figured a study group would be quieter".
"Sorry!", said Ichika, as she made an apologetic gesture.
"Miku, can I borrow your headphones?", Itsuki asked.
"Sure, but why?", Miku asked as she handed her headphones to Itsuki.
"I want to focus by myself", Itsuki responded, which stressed Fuutarou.
"Itsuki! Can I trust you?", he asked her.
"I don't want to hold you back", Itsuki said as she walked off. Everyone else stared at her with a worried expression.
"Look, Fuutarou-kun, the stars are so pretty outside. C'mon, let's take a break", Ichika said as she led Fuutarou outside.
"Hey!", Fuutarou said, before following her outside.
"Girls…I should probably go check on Itsuki. Can you promise me that you will keep on studying?", Inejiro asked.
"I'll just help Yotsuba with Japanese history then. Don't worry", Miku responded.
"Yeah, Jiro, I promise", Yotsuba answered in kind. Inejiro nodded and headed upstairs. He knocked on Itsuki's room and didn't get a response. She's probably already put on Miku's noise-canceling headphones and can't hear him.
"Okay, I'm coming in", he said out loud, and tried to open Itsuki's door, which fortunately wasn't locked. He went into the room, and found the main light turned off, only the small lamp in Itsuki's desk offering any light. Itsuki was indeed wearing Miku's headphones, staring straight at a notebook filled with equations, but not writing anything on it. As Inejiro closed the door and approached her, he saw a couple of tears fall on her notebook.
"Itsuki", he said as he touched her shoulder softly. Itsuki jumped straight from her chair in shock.
"I-I-Inejiro-kun! What are you doing here!?", she yelled as she placed her hand in her chest, clearly having been scared by his sudden appearance.
"Did you not see me come in?"
"Wait, I c-can't hear you…", she said as she took off the headphones and placed them around her neck, much like Miku does. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to check on you".
"I-I'm doing fine! You can go!"
"You are not doing fine".
"And what the hell do you want me to do about it!?", Itsuki yelled in frustration, in a manner that's completely uncharacteristic of her.
"Let me try to help you".
"There's nothing you can do! You have done all you can already!", Itsuki said before completely breaking down into tears. Inejiro went to gave her a hug, to console her, but she stepped away. "Stop it. L-Leave me alone".
"What have you been struggling with?", Inejiro asked before grabbing Itsuki's notebook and taking a look at it. "Maths?"
"Maths, biology, physics…everything! I suck at everything!", she responded while crying.
"I have to brush up on a lot of this stuff too. I can't teach you, but we can try to study together. Come on".
"No! I shouldn't get special treatment. Everyone's doing what they're supposed to while I…I make everything harder!"
"Come down then. Miku and Yotsuba are studying by themselves. Uesugi's outside with Ichika. Join them".
"I…I talked to Father", Itsuki said as her crying died down and she started sobbing.
"And?"
"He just…confirmed everything. But he said nothing else. So…Uesugi-kun will probably lose his job. There's no way we will all pass. It's impossible".
"If he does…you girls will have to get back on track somehow. I know you want to do better in school. Let that motivate you. We're all doing our best right now…but if it can't be, it can't be".
"We're not all doing our best, that's just untrue", Itsuki said before sighing deeply. "If Mom was around to see this…mess".
"You girls pretty much raised yourselves. You turned out great. And she'd understand that more than anyone".
"No. I failed her. After she passed, I promised…", Itsuki said before breaking down into tears again. "I'm barely worth being her daughter anymore…". When Itsuki said this, Inejiro walked straight towards her, held her face in both his hands, and made her stare straight into his eyes.
"Itsuki, shut the fuck up and listen to me. Rena worked herself to death for you all. She married Maruo just so she could have the certainty that you would grow up together. She sacrificed more than you even know. And the ONE thing she would NEVER accept is ANY one of you saying that you're not worth being her daughter. And while I'm here, I will NOT hear any of that. Is that clear?"
They both remained silent for a few seconds, before tears started streaming even harder down Itsuki's face, and she finally hugged Inejiro and cried into his shoulder.
"Y-You're right…I-I'm so sorry!", Itsuki said, her voice muffled as she spoke straight into Inejiro's shoulder.
"Don't worry. It's fine", Inejiro said as he patted her head. She cried into his shoulder for a good couple of minutes, before finally pulling away.
"We didn't raise ourselves", she said matter-of-factly as she stepped away from Inejiro. "We had you. I-I know you were just a teenager too and…you had your own problems and everything…and we're not family, not really…maybe one day if you…but not now. D-Don't forget that…we weren't alone".
"It goes both ways, Itsuki. Have you ever wondered where I would have ended up if I hadn't met you?"
"No. And it doesn't matter. Not to me. Still…we have each other, then".
"Yes, we do", Inejiro said as he smiled. "So, do you wanna get to work?"
"Actually…I think I need some sleep", Itsuki said.
"Yeah, good idea", Inejiro responded. "Can you try to make peace with Uesugi tomorrow?"
"Yes. I will. I promise. Go get some sleep as well".
"Well, that sure gives me peace of mind. Good night, Itsuki", Inejiro said as he turned to leave.
"Good night…I-Inejiro".
"No 'kun'?", Inejiro asked as he stopped.
"I-If it's alright with you…it will take some getting used to, however".
"More than alright with me! It was pretty silly for you to use honorifics with me in the first place".
"W-Well so…no more, then. Inejiro".
"Good!", Inejiro said before giving Itsuki a thumbs up, and finally leaving the room.
"Oh. Inejiro. Was Itsuki alright?", asked Miku, who was leaving her room.
"She needs help. But she says she'll try to patch things up with Uesugi, so that's good".
"Oh, yeah, that's good. Well, I'm going to bed. Fuutarou is already set up. Yotsuba is setting up her futon as well".
"Good night Miku".
"Yeah, good night…", Miku said as she headed towards Ichika's room.
Inejiro headed downstairs and towards the kitchen, looking for something to eat. They apparently all forgot to have dinner, being distracted by their studies and everything. There wasn't too much in the fridge that wouldn't require cooking in order to be edible, so he just poured himself a glass of milk and made himself some ham sandwiches. Not exactly a satisfying dinner, but it will have to do.
"Jiroooo", Yotsuba yelled as she ran downstairs. "Ah, there you are!"
"Yotsuba! Your sisters are sleeping".
"Oh, right. Well, everything's ready up there!"
"Cool, thanks".
"Soooooo…I'll be going".
"I'll be right up Yotsuba, don't worry".
"Okay…don't take too long!", Yotsuba said as she ran back upstairs.
"She's still full of energy? I know she's Yotsuba, but…oh boy. I'm not gonna sleep at all, am I?", Inejiro thought to himself, as a rather uncomfortable moment of realization arrived. His meal was finished rather quickly, so he washed the dish, headed outside for a quick smoke, to the bathroom for your regular pre-sleeping rituals, and finally shut off all of the lights in the apartment and headed to Yotsuba's room. He opened the door, and found Yotsuba laying on her futon, moving her legs impatiently. She was not wearing her ribbon, which has been a very uncommon sight for a long time.
"Ugh, finally! What took you so long?", Yotsuba asked as she noticed Inejiro had arrived.
"Eating, smoking, pissing. What else?", Inejiro responded as he headed straight towards Yotsuba's bed.
"What? You're going to sleep right away?".
"Yotsuba, I'm tired. Aren't you tired?"
"Well, yeah, but…I mean, we can hang out a little".
"There'll be time for that, Yotsuba…really, I'm beat", Inejiro said as he basically threw himself at Yotsuba's bed.
"Come on! We never hang out together anymore! We only ever see each other for tutoring!"
"What are you even talking about?"
"When was the last time we did something together that wasn't about school?"
"I spent the night here the other day, unless you forgot".
"That time you were being a boring old man, yeah".
"You not letting me watch TV in peace notwithstanding, it counts".
"Still a hater!"
"There was also the time when we hung out at that playground".
"T-That was…"
"Yeah, fine".
"What I mean is…we used to do so much stuff together, all the time! We used to train together almost every day, play, go for runs, everything!"
"Maybe that's why you flunked out of Kurobara, Yotsuba".
"W-Well…true".
"And you don't wanna do that again, do you?"
"No…I mean, not with Uesugi-san…working so hard for my sake".
"I figured. For that very same reason…try to sleep".
"But…do you truly believe I can do it? Pass the midterms?"
"I believe you're doing your best. That's all any of us can do".
"That's…not very optimistic, Jiro".
"If you did your best, you should have no regrets, no matter what happens".
"No regrets…? And why are you so…it feels weird! Jiro, it's important, I really really REALLY wanna do well in the midterms, but it's not the end of the world either!"
"Maybe. Maybe I'm just tired".
"Jiro! You're hiding something!"
"I'm not hiding anything".
"You so are! You're talking weird now, and this morning, you got all scary all of a sudden! Just to make Nino study! What is it?"
"I want her to pass her midterms, is that so hard to believe?"
"But it's weird! You spent all week tutoring her at lunch, you spent all afternoon with her again today! I get that she doesn't like Uesugi-san, but…it's all weird!"
"What? Are you jealous of Nino now?"
"UGH, JIRO! You're being…IMPOSSIBLE!"
"I just want to sleep, Yotsuba. You said it yourself, I spent all week without taking a break even during lunch. Today, we studied all day as well. I just need a fucking rest".
"Fine, Jiro, fine. I'm sorry I yelled at you".
"Don't worry about it. Just let me sleep, okay?"
"Wait. One last thing. How was Itsuki?"
"She's got a lot on her shoulders. And she can't learn by herself".
"I tell her that she should come study with us but she just doesn't want to…"
"She told me that she'll try to talk things out with Uesugi. We'll see".
"Oh, really? Cool!"
"Yeah, we'll see how that goes. Also, would it kill one of you girls to go with her when she goes to pay her respects to your mother? She doesn't say it but…it's hard on her, and she's always by herself".
"We all went together back in August, Jiro, you know that".
"I know. It's just…I guess I'll go with her next month. I've been meaning to go anyways".
"That would be nice. She will like that".
"I hope so".
"And what about your mom? Have you heard from her?"
"Not from her…well, I did hear from her, but through my grandpa".
"Your grandpa?"
"Yeah. Apparently he's been in touch with her for years. Never told me".
"He has? Really?".
"Yeah".
"But…didn't she run away and abandon you? Why would he…?"
"The story is more complicated than that. From what my grandpa told me. I don't know very much why she left or the circumstances of that, but the circumstances of my birth were very different to what I thought. Well, I had no clue of anything related to that, but I never imagined…"
"Well, I know your parents were our age when you were born".
"Thereabouts, yeah. Long story short, my mother's parents kicked her out of their house when they found out she was pregnant. But told her she could move back in and everything would go back to how it was, if she aborted".
"What!? You can't be serious! Why would they do that!?"
"I assume they're still alive, you could ask them. Regardless, it doesn't matter. Sometimes people can just be…inhumane, it's hard to imagine how much".
"W-W-What happened? What did she do?"
"She was gonna run away and raise me by herself. Grandpa wasn't clear on what my dad wanted to do".
"What? Really? I never…"
"I was shocked to hear that, you can imagine. But my grandpa found out about what she planned to do, and he stepped up. My grandparents would let my mom move in with them, and they would help raise me. And that's what ended up happening".
"So that's when that picture happened, right?"
"Well, after I was born, of course. I still don't know what led her to run away, but the way my grandpa sees it, is that however wrong running away might have been, she didn't deserve to be left to her devices after what her family had done to her, and how she stood up to them. There's still a lot I don't know but…there you go".
"Jiro…you need to fix things with your mom!"
"It's not up to me! She's in Hokkaido right now, she'd call more often if she wanted to, she could come visit if she wanted to".
"I mean, I get it, but…it must be hard for her too, you know?"
"Yeah, probably. Maybe one day. There's still a lot I don't know, though".
"Can't your dad tell you?"
"He never talks about any of this. And grandpa didn't want to tell me anything involving him. Anyways, if either him or grandma found out my grandpa and my mom are still in touch, let's just say they wouldn't like it".
"They don't know?"
"No. Don't ask how he kept it from them".
"I mean…I had no idea. I thought she was more like…"
"Your biological father. No, I don't think so".
"Wait, Jiro. E-Erm…can I ask you something? I always thought so, buuut…"
"Okay, one more question and then, sleep".
"Did your dad and my mom, like…you know".
"I'm pretty sure they had…a thing. I would bet my ass on it".
"WHAT? So it's true?".
"He pretty much confessed it the other day. Why he…they, kept it a secret, I will never know".
"Jiro! Do you ever talk to your father about anything? Like, at all?"
"He's always been very private about this shit, what can I say?"
"Do you realize we could have been…siblings? If things were different…"
"I don't know how long before she…passed, this was. And there's still some small chance that they were just very good friends and I interpreted it wrong. But there you go".
"Yotsuba Nakamura…that would have been me!"
"Yeah. I guess. Maybe".
"I mean…we would have been family. Like, for real! You'd be our big bro!"
"It sounds nice on paper, but Yotsuba, it would have been an absolute shit show, and you know it".
"But why? It'd have been fun!"
"Yotsuba. I know, 'not blood related' and all that crap. Still, what we talked about in the playground. Among siblings? Creepy as fuck. Probably illegal".
"O-Oh…well…y-yeah, I guess".
"We're not family, Yotsuba, not really. But we don't need to be. We're fine as we are".
"I mean, we still could be, if…I-I mean, it doesn't have to be me!"
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that".
"O-Okay".
"Just go to sleep. Good night, Yotsuba. Sleep well".
"Good night, Jiro…"
Not three minutes after, Inejiro was already asleep and snoring loudly. The very fact that she had Inejiro sleeping in her bed a few meters away from her really didn't help Yotsuba in her attempt to sleep. The loud snoring being an added plus.
"Is this what Miku felt like? I'm…so sorry", Yotsuba said to herself. She tried to sleep but she just couldn't. A few hours went by and she just moved around in her futon trying to find a comfortable enough spot again and again…and she just couldn't.
"Jiro? Jiroooo?", Yotsuba said eventually, calling out to Inejiro. It goes without saying that the move had no effect. Still asleep, still snoring. Yotsuba stood up and stood next to her bed, and therefore, Inejiro.
"Jiro", she said, now next to him. Nothing. So she started tugging him, softly at first, more strongly after the first few attempts. Still, nothing. "He must be really tired…", Yotsuba whispered to herself, before skulking back to her futon.
"Could I…?", Yotsuba asked herself, as she looked at her bed, and Inejiro lying on it. "I mean…he's so asleep…if I wake up before he does…he won't know". She's thinking about the possibility of moving over to sleep in her bed, next to Inejiro.
"But…Uesugi-san…", she still whispered to herself as she covered her face in her hands. "Jiro told me so much stuff about his family, maybe I could tell him about…Fuutarou-kun, I mean, Uesugi-san. That could…help?". Even though Yotsuba talked to herself, and not even whispering, Inejiro didn't budge. At all.
Yotsuba stood up again and headed towards him, and stared at him while he slept. He's sleeping fully dressed, which is quite uncharacteristic of him. Considering the circumstances, it goes without saying that he might not wish to sleep naked or in his underwear as he usually does, but still. Not even a change of clothes. Exhaustion explains that one, probably. She stared at his sleeping face, consisting of Inejiro with his eyes shut, his mouth half opened with a bit of drool leaking from it, and making almost inhuman sounds out of his nose.
Despite him being probably funny or ridiculous to a neutral observer, Yotsuba stared at him lovingly, with a smile on her face. She stayed like this for a couple of minutes, before heading back to her futon. "He's here…we're together. Even if…yeah, I should still cherish this", Yotsuba said before laying down on her futon, and finally finding enough inner peace for her to fall asleep.
Tokai, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Sunday, October 15th, 2017. The Pentagon.
It's early morning. Another fun-filled day of…probably studying all day is ahead for the gang. For now, everyone's still asleep. The last few days have taken quite a toll on everyone. And in this particular room, specifically, some particularly loud snores serve as a perfect representation of just how tired everyone is. We're of course talking about Inejiro.
But it's not just the fact that he's snoring loudly, he does that most nights. Yotsuba is sound asleep, despite sleeping in the same room. The restless sleeper herself. Her earlier troubles falling asleep notwithstanding. However, this deep slumber would quickly and abruptly come to an end.
*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*
Inejiro's phone alarm started beeping very loudly, as it does most mornings. This time, however, it's not just his sleep it's disturbing. In fact…it's not disturbing his sleep at all. Yotsuba opened her eyes right away upon hearing the loud noise, and looked towards her bed, currently occupied by Inejiro and that beeping menace of a phone.
The loud beeping went on, and mixed in with Inejiro's snores, to create an absolutely horrific symphony. Not one to just lay patiently, Yotsuba jumped right out of her futon and went to grab Inejiro's phone in order to turn it off.
"Ugh, how do I…?", she blurted out as she struggled with turning the phone's screen on, and turning off the alarm. "Come on!"
His alarm might not have woken him up, but Yotsuba yelling next to him did cause Inejiro to start moving around a little, which she noticed.
"Jiro, you're awake!? Turn this thing off please!"
Inejiro yawned and made some noises with his mouth, before turning on his side and attempting to continue to sleep. This prompted Yotsuba to jump on to the bed, then over Inejiro, and over to the other side, facing him.
"JIRO! Turn it off!", she yelled straight into his face. Inejiro, without as much as opening his eyes, grabbed his phone from her and turned off the alarm.
"Thank you…", Yotsuba said, in shock at his ability to do that without seemingly being awake at all. Well, he was awake, since he sighed loudly.
"It's fucking morning already", he said in a very gruff voice.
"Yeah…it seems it is!"
"Fuck. Where am I even…?", Inejiro asked as he noticed he was sleeping on a bed, not a futon.
"Eh…Jiro, you do know who I am, right?", Yotsuba asked, as she pointed at her own face with her index finger. Then, Inejiro half opened his eyes and noticed it was Yotsuba, a ribbonless and rather disheveled Yotsuba.
"Oh God…what the…Yotsuba's room…Yotsuba's bed…", Inejiro said nervously as he sat, "and you're here too. Oh fuck".
"What…what's the problem?", Yotsuba asked, as she looked at him curiously.
"What do you mean 'what's the problem'? Guess it can't be helped…what's done is done".
"Jiro! What are you even talking about? You stayed here, and so did Uesugi-san, so we could study for the midterms! I slept in my futon, over there!", Yotsuba said as she pointed towards her futon. Inejiro just rubbed his eyes and looked in that general direction.
"Oh…oh that's fine, then".
"What were you even thinking?"
"Never mind. My brain wasn't working".
"You're so dumb sometimes".
"It's early in the morning. I'm allowed to be dumb".
"Hmph. That alarm of yours sucks by the way".
"It does its job".
"It doesn't! It didn't wake you up at all! It just drove me crazy!"
"It does its job most days. So, sleep well?"
"Until now, you mean…yeah, mostly".
"You didn't take too long to fall asleep after I did, I hope".
"N-No…not at all! Was sleeping like a baby right away!", said Yotsuba as she scratched the back of her head and blushed lightly.
"Hm…seems unlikely. But, either way, you didn't bother or try to wake me up at all. Pleasantly surprised by that".
"Hehehe I would never try to wake you up! Not me! Never!"
Then, Inejiro got up from Yotsuba's bed, which was when he noticed that he was fully clothed.
"I slept with all my clothes on…? That's a new one".
"You were really really tired, you probably didn't even notice".
"Yeah, maybe", Inejiro said before letting out a loud yawn. "Eh, gonna head down, make myself something to eat".
"I'll go with you!", Yotsuba said enthusiastically, before the two of them left her room and headed downstairs. There was a noticeable smell coming from the kitchen accompanied by the sound of someone humming while she fried something. It's not particularly hard to guess which quintuplet that was.
"Oh Nino's already up! And she's making breakfast!", Yotsuba yelled happily.
"Shhh, Yotsuba, your sisters are still sleeping", Inejiro said softly, to which Yotsuba responded with an apologetic look.
"Oh, look who's up", Nino said as she noticed the two of them. "Waking up together. Don't even wanna know".
"It was Jiro's phone, it got…really really loud and annoying and…"
"How else am I supposed to wake up in the mornings?", Inejiro asked, cutting Yotsuba off.
"It didn't even wake you up Jiro!"
"I don't really care. There's some omelettes ready already, eat if you want", Nino said before concentrating on her duties again. Inejiro and Yotsuba just nodded and grabbed their breakfast and went to eat it silently, and happily. Then, surprisingly, another quintuplet descended, and she was not the one you'd expect to wake up early without much trouble. Ichika. She let out a loud yawn as she walked into the kitchen and stretched her body.
"Hi everyone! Oh…", she said as she looked around. "She's not here".
"Who's not here?", Inejiro asked with his mouth half full.
"Miku. She wasn't in my bed so I figured…"
"You sure she didn't get lost in your maze?"
"Jiro! This is serious".
"She might be in the bathroom or something, leave her alone".
"Eh…", Nino said as she stopped to think. "I actually woke up a while ago and never saw her come down at all".
"Maybe she's with Itsuki?", Yotsuba asked.
"Who's with me…?", the youngest quintuplet asked as she joined her sisters and Inejiro, also yawning loudly and looking pretty disheveled.
"Miku. She wasn't in my bed just now", Ichika responded, before noticing that there was a couple of plates of omelettes ready, grabbing one for her and one for Itsuki. The glutton of the family looked positively delighted, and they both sat down to have their breakfast.
"I didn't even know she was supposed to sleep in your room. I have no idea".
Then, Nino being done with her cooking duties, finally joined her sisters at the table, with her own plate accompanied by a cup of tea.
"Well, she's obviously somewhere, she can't just disappear", the family cook said.
"C'mon girls, she could be in trouble or something! We need to find her!", Yotsuba yelled worriedly.
"Miku does tend to sleepwalk…only one possible place where she could be. And I'm keeping my ass shut", Inejiro thought.
"Jiro! You look like you have an idea!", Yotsuba said as she looked at Inejiro, sensing that he was deep in thought.
"What? How could I know? I just woke up, it takes time for the ole brain cells to get up and running".
"Well…I'll go walk around the neighborhood and I'll see if she's anywhere", Yotsuba said as she got up and ran out of the apartment.
"Isn't just…calling her on her phone a better idea than that?", Nino asked.
"It's not. You're all getting paranoid over nothing", Inejiro replied.
"Look at this guy. Supposed to look after us. Leave it up to him, and we'll all end up dead in a ditch".
"Hasn't happened yet, and not from your lack of trying. I can't be that bad".
"Girls, come on, let's try to not make a big issue out of this. If she doesn't show up after some time, we can start to worry", Itsuki said, trying to play her motherly role. "Changing subject. Ichika, I'm surprised to see you up so early".
"Heh, not even the last one to get up. Though it was close", Ichika replied.
"And what about…him?" Itsuki asked, clearly referring to Fuutarou.
"Still asleep, I guess", Inejiro replied.
"Huh. He actually stayed over in the end. And here I hoped he would chicken out…"
"Do you even have enough fingers to count all the times you expected Uesugi to walk out? Just give it up, Nino".
"Yeah, we'll see how long that lasts", Nino replied, to which Inejiro shot her a deathly glare, and Itsuki made a worried expression.
"You know what? You two should join us. It will be more fun if we're all together! I mean…I get it if you wanna spend time alone with Jiro, but still…"
"Shut up Ichika!", Nino yelled, while Ichika just smiled. "And Itsuki, do not allow yourself to be manipulated!"
"Doesn't matter. I just can't seem to get along with him anyways", Itsuki responded. "I butted heads with him the other day, we just seem to fight over the most trivial things. I can't be like you or Miku, Ichika", she continued, with a dejected tone and expression. Then, Ichika shot up from her chair and smiled, which Inejiro noticed and made him suspicious that she was about to plot something.
"You can actually!", Ichika shouted, as she moved towards Itsuki and started messing with her hair.
"What do you mean? What are you doing?", a surprised Itsuki asked.
"Ah. Gonna try to fool Uesugi. Good way to mend a relationship, Ichika", Inejiro said sarcastically.
"Shut up Jiro. Let's see, we can put your hair to the side like this and…", Ichika said as she let go of Itsuki, having changed her sister's hairstyle to look more like Miku's. "There, we made a Miku!"
"Ichika, I'm being serious here!", Itsuki said with a frown.
"Ichika!", Nino yelled as she stood up and punched the table. "You parted her hair the wrong way", she said as she made her way to Itsuki to take her turn at fondling her hair. Inejiro just gave them an annoyed look. He hasn't liked them trying to fool others by exploiting their almost indistinguishable appearances for a while. It was a fun little prank when they were kids, but now…and to Fuutarou, their tutor, to boot. Why would Nino even try to 'help' anyways? Does she not want him gone?
"Well…since Miku isn't here, let's see if we can't fool Fuutarou-kun", Ichika said as they were almost done with Itsuki.
"Eh? That's what you were trying to do?", Nino asked.
"There's no way you didn't know, Nino", Inejiro said with an annoyed tone.
"Shut up, no one asked for your opinion. Anyways, that guy's gonna be easy to fool, no way he can tell us apart", Nino said.
"Stop messing with me!", Itsuki yelled.
"Okay, if we're gonna do this, we'll need to get her a change of clothes", Ichika said, completely ignoring Itsuki's pleas.
"Yeah, that's right. Let's do that", Nino said, before she and Ichika helped Itsuki up and led her upstairs.
"Eh…I'll just go and get a smoke", Inejiro said before also getting up and heading outside. He's almost completely sure that Miku must be in her room somehow. She does have a tendency to get up in the middle of the night. And there's a 50/50 chance that being half-awake she just headed straight to her room instead of to Ichika's. And when you add up the tendency of this household to engage in completely unnecessary shenanigans whenever there's an opportunity, the odds are more like 90%. Either way, he trusts Fuutarou not to 'misbehave' so that's not the issue, but he doesn't completely trust Miku…nor her sisters' reaction. If this is not handled with utmost care, absolute shitstorm incoming.
A few minutes later, he went back inside, and found Ichika and Nino sitting at the table again with a very VERY nervous Fuutarou standing near them.
"Yo, good morning, Uesugi. Sleep well?", Inejiro said, greeting him.
"N-N-N-Nakamura…hi", Fuutarou said, almost trembling. Yup, almost certainly, he ended up sleeping with Miku. Probably sounds worse than it is. Probably.
"Wanna have breakfast?"
"N-N-No, I'm fine. We were just…gonna go to the library. Come on, let's go!", he said to Ichika before hurrying towards the door.
"Wait, Fuutarou-kun, I'm coming, I'm coming!", Ichika said as she got up. "Jiro, you joining us too?"
"Give me a few minutes, I'll stick around just in case Miku shows up. And I'll do the dishes, since Nino cooked already".
"Oh, he decided to be helpful. Probably gonna rain today", Nino said sarcastically.
"I always do the bloody dishes!"
"I try to show gratitude and this is how you respond".
"Hmph, some gratitude".
"Okay, I'll leave you lovebirds to your argument, see ya!", Ichika said before heading out with Fuutarou, who was growing exponentially more nervous with every second that he lingered in the apartment.
"LOVEBI…UGHHH", Nino yelled as her face was flushed red with a mix of anger and…well, lovebird stuff.
"If you let Ichika get to you, you lost. Just go up to your room, I'll take care of everything".
"I'll go where I want! You're really quick to get rid of me. C'mon, spit it out, where's Miku?"
"Leave her alone, she's a big girl".
"I should just…kick you in the nuts!"
"You shouldn't advertise it before doing it, you know".
"Screw you! I know you know where Miku is, and I'm not moving from here until you either tell me or she shows up".
"She's in her room. Where else would she be? What's the only place no one has looked?"
"But…wait a second. If she was supposed to be in Ichika's room…INEJIRO!"
"I can hear you".
"SHE SLEPT WITH THAT SON OF A BITCH! That's why he was so…UGH I'LL KILL HIM, WITH MY OWN HANDS".
"Nino…I mean…you do know, don't you?"
"Know what, you imbecile? That Miku seems to have a thing for stupid, ugly morons?"
"Ok, you know. So let it slide and move on".
"I can't believe you're so calm! Miku slept with some guy!"
"Give it a rest now".
"Or what? Or fucking what?"
"One day you'll like, or fall in love with a guy too. Imagine liking Uesugi…if you don't push the boundaries a little…"
"What are you even saying!? And what do you know if I never fell in love with a guy?"
"Another guy, Nino".
"Really bold of you to assume that. If I was…believe me, you'd know".
"Fine, I'll leave it there. Just…if you see Miku, play dumb, act like you didn't even notice that she came out of her room. Let's take the path of least resistance here".
"You know what? I think I know why you're doing this shit. And you're reaching levels of stupid I didn't even think possible".
"You know everything, don't you?"
"Yeah, actually, I do. But it's no use talking to you. Either way, you have dishes to clean, and the work my dear daddy pays you to do".
"I think we should study together again".
"Ugh Inejiro just leave me alone for a fucking day will you?"
"After the midterms we can never speak again if you like".
"Fiiiiine, FINE. F-I-N-E".
"Thank you!"
"Oh you'll owe me big time for this bullshit".
"Like I'm not the one helping you, somehow".
"I'm helping you. Save Uesugi's ass".
"How many times…I want you to do well Nino!"
"Cut it out with that crap".
"Whatever you say. Go upstairs. Oh wait…did Itsuki manage to fool Uesugi?"
"No. He treated her like crap and she locked herself up again".
"Oh for fuck's…gah, I'll have to depend on her again. Fuck".
"Give up! She's not gonna study with him".
"Nope. Go upstairs, I'll be there in a while".
"Hmph. Whatever", Nino scoffed before heading back upstairs. Immediately afterwards, Inejiro called Ichika.
"Jiro? Hi, what is it? Is it about Miku?", Ichika asked as she picked up.
"No. But she's here, don't worry about it. I'll send her to the library. I'll stay here tutoring Nino. BUT. Please find a way to bring Uesugi back here".
"What? Why?"
"Your genius mission to fool him with Itsuki failed. I need them to make amends and I don't care if I have to lock 'em up in a dungeon".
"Leave it to me".
"I imagine he can't hear us currently, right?"
"Of course not! Who do you think you're talking to? Go help Nino, Jiro, leave this all to me. Bye!"
"Fine. Well…", Inejiro whispered to himself while he got started with the dishes. He was done only a couple of minutes after, and it was then that he heard the door from Miku's room opening up, and her approaching the kitchen slowly.
"I-Inejiro…hi. Where's everyone?", she asked him as she got close enough to him.
"Library. Nino and Itsuki are in their rooms".
"F-Fuutarou…he's…in the library then".
"Yeah".
"D-D-Did he sleep…well?", Miku asked nervously.
"Didn't talk to him much. He was kind of in a rush to start studying. The usual".
"O-Oh. Alright".
"There's an omelette I saved in the fridge for whenever you woke up if you wanna help yourself. I'll go check on Itsuki and then to help Nino".
"You're not going to the library".
"No".
"You're…spending a lot of time with Nino lately".
"Yeah, well, that's good, isn't it? But whatever, I told you everything. Have a good one", Inejiro said before heading upstairs, while Miku stayed deep in thought, her heart racing by the thought of having shared a bed with Fuutarou for the night.
Inejiro knocked on Itsuki's door, and she opened up right away.
"Inejiro. What is it?"
"So your sisters' little ploy didn't work".
"Of course not. What did you think was going to happen?"
"Nothing too different from that. Are you alright?"
"I'll have to make do, Inejiro, I tried. It is what it is. Are you going to the library?"
"No, I'm staying to help Nino".
"So if you're staying…oh, Nino, right".
"Miku is down there having breakfast. After she leaves, I recommend you head down there to study. No reason to be cooped up in your room".
"I…I suppose", Itsuki said, somewhat dejected. She was hoping Inejiro could help her out, but it seems to her like he's paying special attention to Nino. Little does she know that he intends to force her to get together with Fuutarou in a last ditch attempt to make amends.
"You're gonna be fine, Itsuki. I believe in you", Inejiro said with a smile as he patted her head softly.
"Th-Thank you", she said with a slight smile, and a light blush. "Don't let me keep you", Itsuki said before turning to go back in her room.
"Remember, go downstairs, it's nicer. It will help". Itsuki nodded and shut the door behind her. Inejiro then headed to the other side of the hallway, to Nino's room. There, he spent the rest of the afternoon. Fuutarou headed back to the Pentagon (Ichika made up some excuse about her having forgotten her pencil case or something like that), meeting Miku on the way there, and assured her that they didn't sleep together at all. Lies, of course, but she seems to have bought it.
When he reached the apartment, he found Itsuki studying by herself, and noticing that she was wearing Miku's headphones, he made her believe that he was mistaking her for Miku, chastising her for her lack of effort, while praising Itsuki. Itsuki bought it at first, but eventually she just played her part as well, which helped them break the ice and start an impromptu tutoring session.
Inejiro and Nino heard Fuutarou arrive, so they silently watched the whole scene from above. Inejiro was quite satisfied by the fact that they seemed to be able to make amends at last. Nino watched the sheer effort that Fuutarou put into helping her sister very curiously. Maybe her heart could be starting to shift as well. Nevertheless, the situation is still quite hopeless…but just a little bit less hopeless than a few hours ago. It can be truly said that if they don't fulfill the goals that Maruo set, it won't have been from lack of trying.
A/N: Welp, sorry I took a bit longer than scheduled to get this out. Been busy, didn't have much time to write, you know the drill. Wasn't a long hiatus though, at least. Without much further ado, hope you enjoyed this chapter! See ya next time!