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. September 23rd, 2017. The Pentagon.
Ichika and Inejiro headed inside the building and started making their way towards the Nakano apartment, so they can see what the hell is going on. Why is Fuutarou taking so long? Currently, they just stepped inside the elevator, and are heading up.
"So, how was 'work'?", Inejiro asked Ichika.
"Why the sarcasm, Jiro? It is work".
"Yeah. Who's that guy?"
"I told you, he's my agent!"
"Your agent. Does he have a name?"
"He's called Oda! I swear, Jiro, what's your problem?"
"I know what these sons of bitches are like", Inejiro said very seriously, pointing his finger at Ichika. "You be careful around this lot".
"Whoa. I could tell you were jealous of Fuutarou-kun, but to be jealous of-", Ichika was saying before Inejiro abruptly cut her off.
"Waitwaitwait. Jealous of Uesugi?"
"Well…yeah, it's obvious".
"What is obvious? What are you talking about?"
"You were acting really weird today, Jiro".
"He walked in on you naked!"
"Yeah, well, what's the big deal? It's just Fuutarou-kun".
"'Fuutarou-kun' is a human male!"
"Yeah, but…he's not like other guys, is he? You saw it yourself, he didn't care at all".
"'He's not like other guys' doesn't even begin to describe him. But no, I wasn't 'jealous' of him for going into your room or something, I just had the reasonable assumption that it wasn't a good idea to let him walk into your room while you were naked and Yotsuba was looking at your bloody underwear!"
"Oh, Yotsuba…she is acting a little strange, isn't she?"
Inejiro has to get into 'lying mode'. Again. Obfuscate, at the very least.
"What do you mean, Ichika?"
"Well…I mean…doesn't it seem to you like she's acting a bit differently?"
"She has since you all got kicked out of Kurobara. That's hardly news by now".
"No, that's not what I mean…she seems very proactive when it comes to the tutoring sessions, doesn't she? When has she ever cared about studying?"
"Well that time when you all were in primary school…I think it was after that trip to Kyoto? When you met Maruo. She came back hell bent on studying for some reason. And now I guess she just wants to make sure she doesn't fail again".
"Yeah…I think you're hiding something".
Suddenly, the elevator hit the 30th floor. Saved by the bell, somewhat.
"We're not done talking about this, Jiro…", Ichika said as she stepped out.
"And we're not done talking about your 'job'!", Inejiro replied as he also walked out. They went towards the apartment and, when they got inside they found a…peculiar scene. Fuutarou and Nino were kneeling by the living room table, looking down at the floor. Miku was sitting, more comfortably, in front of Nino, while Itsuki was towering over all of them, an indignant look on her face.
"Oh, what happened here?", asked Ichika, a curious expression on her face.
"Ichika. Inejiro-kun", said Itsuki, realizing they had entered the apartment. She headed towards them, with her cellphone in her hand. "Take a look at this", she said, as she showed her phone's screen to her friend and sister. What they saw was…different grades of shocking.
It was a picture of Nino, wearing nothing but a towel, laying on the floor, with Fuutarou laying over her. A bunch of books seem to be laying around in the floor as well.
"What the hell is this!?", asked Inejiro, noticeably angry. "What happened?"
"He-", "I-", Nino and Fuutarou started talking, before being immediately cut off.
"I wasn't asking you! Itsuki, you have the picture, what the hell is this?", Inejiro asked Itsuki.
"It is what it looks like, Inejiro-kun, I'm afraid", Itsuki replied.
Fuutarou gulped heavily. He's gotten along well with Inejiro so far, but from what little he knows about his relationship with the quintuplets, he doesn't even wanna think about what he'd do if he thinks he sexually harassed one of them, or worse.
"Itsuki, this is probably a wild misunderstanding", Miku said, calmly.
"Well, Miku was here too. I think everyone deserves to be heard", said Ichika, in an authoritative tone. "I know, let's make it fun. I'll play the role of Judge, and I'll hear everyone's case".
"Fun? What's fun about this? There's clearly a whole lot that's gone too fucking far here", said Inejiro. He remembered this afternoon's event, with Fuutarou entering Ichika's room. However trusted Fuutarou may or may not be, it's just insane to have two occasions in the same day in which he's hanging around his naked students. There's gotta be some boundaries. And that's the best case scenario, in case this was just some misunderstanding, like Miku says. Because the picture…doesn't look good.
"Jiro, you already told me that Fuutarou-kun came back here to get something. Let's hear everyone's version".
"Seek truth from facts, I guess. Fine. Play your…Judge role, or whatever", said Inejiro, who went to stand by the table, alongside Itsuki, while Ichika sat on the couch. Itsuki made an elaborate introduction to the matter at hand, truly simulating like they were in a courtroom. Though her expressions seemed taken out of Ace Attorney, not an actual courtroom, but whatever. It seems they've done this kinda thing before, though Inejiro had never taken part in it. Eventually, Nino raised her hand, requesting to speak.
"Yes, Plaintiff Nino-kun", said Ichika, granting her request.
"This guy pretended to leave the apartment, and waited for me to exit the shower", she said, expressing her version of events. Inejiro already knows there's little truth to this story, he was there. He saw Fuutarou leave, and he heard him say he had forgotten something. The chance that it was all an elaborate ploy to peep on Nino, is rather slim. But then, there's the picture. There's the fact that it's been almost half an hour since Fuutarou went back up. Something must have happened.
"H-Hey That's a fabrication!", said Fuutarou, noticeably concerned. Understandably so, of course.
"For his heinous crimes, I request that he be barred permanently from entering here", said Nino, very seriously.
"What kind of kangaroo court are you trying to hold, Nino? That request is absurd without hearing what Miku and Uesugi have to say", said Inejiro. "Also, you're accusing him of something very serious. There's more than firing him to be done if what you say is true".
"Wait a second! This is all too much! Ichika, I just came here to get something!", said Fuutarou, though Ichika purposefully looked away from him. "Y-Your Highness…", Fuutarou corrected himself, playing along. Now Ichika smiled at him.
"I can't believe they're treating this whole thing like a game! Sexual assault is not a fucking game!", Inejiro thought. These girls truly behave like small children at times, it's like they don't understand the seriousness of some things.
Suddenly, Miku raised her hand. "Objection. Fuutarou may look like a criminal, but he's innocent".
"What do you mean, I look like a criminal?"
"That photo doesn't look good for you, that's what she means", said Inejiro.
"I let him in over the intercom. There's a recording too", Miku continued. "Inejiro was down there with him, he can confirm as well".
"Yes, she's correct", Inejiro replied.
"This was an unforeseen accident", Miku said, finishing her statement. Fuutarou was thrilled, and Nino was enraged.
"You're STILL taking his side? This guy said it himself! He was here to 'take' something! To take sneak shots!", the second Nakano said, leaning on the table.
"You mean he forgot something, and came to 'get' it", Miku replied.
"Your Honor, Miku is defending him due to her feelings for him", Nino said, sitting back down confidently.
"N-no…", Miku said, her face completely blushed.
"Hey, what kind of argument is that? I already corroborated Miku's testimony!", said Inejiro, who seemed to be coming around to Fuutarou's side.
"Of course you'll take his side too. You're daddy's stooge like him".
"Okay that's the dumbest argument I've ever heard. Maruo pays me to look after you. Even more so, you're all my friends. If I have enough evidence to believe Uesugi laid a hand on any of you I'll throw him off the balcony".
Fuutarou again gulped. Inejiro is defending him, though the threat is quite scary.
"As I said, what Miku says is true. Any feelings, real or imaginary, she may have, are irrelevant", Inejiro finished. Fuutarou calmed down with this statement.
"I knew you would believe in me, Miku", said Fuutarou while leaning closer to her, again trying and failing spectacularly to be charming.
"Don't come any closer", said Miku as she blushed and looked away. Fuutarou was disappointed.
"Huh? Are you acting like that because you're wary of him?", asked Nino, standing up.
"I'm not. You're imagining things", replied Miku, who also stood up.
"Just so you know, he saw me naked".
"It's not like there's much to see".
"Maybe not for you, but there is for me!"
"Our bodies are about the same".
Miku and Nino were, again, at each other's throats, like usual. Itsuki tried to calm them down, which made them both turn against her. So she ended up crying on Ichika's lap.
"Hm…even if you were right, Miku…would they really end up in this position?", said Ichika, as she looked at the picture again.
"Pass me that", said Inejiro, after which Ichika handed him Itsuki's phone. "Yeah, Uesugi, this requires some further explaining, you're not off the hook yet".
"Ichika, I knew you would understand! This guy threw himself onto me out of nowhere!", Nino said, now standing behind Fuutarou.
"No, I was…"
"Fuutarou…is that true?", Miku asked him.
"Y-yes, but that was…"
"You're guilty. Commit seppuku", Miku said, pouting angrily.
"M-Miku-san?", Fuutarou said, shocked that Miku was now turning against him. He gritted his teeth and looked down, thinking that there has to be some way for him to get out of this…losing his job is the best case scenario at this point. With Inejiro here, there's no way to guess what the worst case scenario is.
"Wait, what about those books that are lying there?", Inejiro asked, still looking at the picture. Itsuki asked for her phone back, and started analyzing the image closely herself.
"The shelves-", Fuutarou started saying, before being cut off by Itsuki.
"Some books fell off the shelves…and he shielded Nino from them?", Itsuki said, thinking out loud. "If you look closely, you could see it that way". Now Ichika and Inejiro were looking at the picture as well, and they both can see that what Itsuki's saying makes sense. "Is that not it?", Itsuki asked, facing Fuutarou.
"That's exactly it! Thanks, Itsuki!", Fuutarou exclaimed happily.
"I haven't done anything for you to thank me. I'm just offering a possible explanation", Itsuki said bashfully. She may hate him, but she is committed to the truth. Miku came behind her to look at the picture as well, and agreed with her assessment.
"It does seem like a likely explanation, yes", said Inejiro.
"Yeah, there's no way Fuutarou-kun would have the balls", said Ichika. It seems the 'jury' turned unanimously in Fuutarou's favor. Though Ichika's argument is…special, let's say.
"H-hey! Why are you all talking like it's been resolved! Stop talking out your ass!", said an angry Nino, realizing she had lost.
"Stop it, Nino", said Miku, worried about her sister's reaction.
"How dare you!?"
"Come on, calm down. We sisters used to get along so well, remember?", said the elder sister, calmly.
"That said, this happened because I was being careless. Sorry", said Fuutarou to Nino, sincerely apologizing.
"We 'used' to? I…", Nino said, tears welling up in her eyes, before immediately running out of the apartment.
"She just left. Should we get her?", asked Fuutarou.
"Let her be", Miku replied.
"Well, Uesugi, I'm sorry I thought ill of you. No, I wasn't gonna throw you off the balcony, by the way".
"G-good to know", Fuutarou replied nervously.
"But there's more explaining to do. It takes you 3 minutes at worst to take the elevator from ground floor up here. So Nino must have been either in the shower when you came up, or just out of the shower. Did you know this when you came back up?"
"M-Miku told me she was in the shower but she didn't mind…"
"I did, yes. No one could know Nino would just be there drying her hair", said Miku.
"Well…I mean, this sort of thing should be easier to avoid. I haven't stumbled into this sort of situation with you all in eight years, and Uesugi did so in a couple of weeks!", Inejiro replied. That made Itsuki and Miku blush. Not Ichika, though.
"I did already say I was careless…it won't happen again", said Fuutarou, apologetically.
"I mean…far be it from me to be defending Nino, but she's not wrong to be pissed off in this case. Even if it was an accident…guess someone's gonna have to talk to her".
"Wait, hold on. It's late, my sister is probably expecting me. I'm gonna get going if you don't mind", said Fuutarou.
"Oh, sure. I'll stay behind, I wanna check on Itsuki, see how she's doing", said Inejiro, who turned to look at the youngest Nakano. "You did get what I was saying, right, Uesugi? Can we avoid this sort of thing from now on?"
"Yeah. I'll be more careful from now on. See you later", said Fuutarou as he picked up his things and left.
"So, Itsuki, how have your studies been going?", Inejiro asked Itsuki, with Ichika and Miku still hanging around.
"Ehhh…well enough I suppose…", said Itsuki, who did not sound convincing at all.
"Well enough? What have you been troubled with?"
"Well…I'll get through it, don't worry".
"Come on, I'm here to help!"
"Inejiro-kun, you can't help me with this! I'm having trouble with math! Have you even been studying math?"
"Not as much as I should…", Inejiro replied. He could hear Ichika and Miku whisper negatively about his performance as a tutor behind his back. "BUT. I have been doing the homework. My last math homework was…reasonably well done. I got most of it correct. More than half anyways. It's going well!"
"Oh…", Itsuki replied, looking down in shame.
"...You didn't do that well, did you?"
"...M-Maybe".
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"That you're doing somewhat better doesn't mean you can teach me!"
"There's two of us, you know?"
"I told you I will not let him teach me. So I'll have to make do on my own".
"Look just…think about it. There's absolutely no need to torture yourself".
"I will just study harder until I finally understand and can start doing well. I don't need him".
"Your willpower is commendable, but it can only take you so far. But I won't argue. It's your choice to make. Just don't kill yourself studying, stress ain't your friend".
"Thank you for your concern, Inejiro-kun, but I'll be fine".
Stubbornness is clearly another one of Itsuki's traits. She's got her mind set on not letting Fuutarou teach her, and no one can move her from that position. It's not like Fuutarou hasn't done anything to make her angry (he did insult her gratuitously back in the cafeteria), but she is the one sister that's the least likely to let something like that go.
"Well Itsuki, if you need anything you know you can ask. Now, Ichika", Inejiro said as he turned towards the eldest sister. "Why don't you join us? You were gonna join us today before you took off, wanna start studying with us?"
"Nah, it's a waste of time", Ichika replied. "Why bother? Not like we're gonna do well anyways".
"Ichika, cut it with that nonsense, you're not dumb, you're lazy".
"I would try harder if school was good for anything. It's clearly not, why do I care about getting good grades?"
"Just good enough grades so you can be done with school next year and do whatever the hell you like afterwards!"
"That's not what you did".
"Am I really the example you're following?"
"You're our sensei now, shouldn't I?"
"Uesugi is your sensei, I'm his sidekick at best. And anyways, does that mean you'll be joining?"
"Not for now. But I'll see. I have to get to know Fuutarou-kun a bit better. Although Miku seems to like him". Miku blushed heavily at her comment.
"Miku decided to give him a chance, maybe you should do the same".
"I-I'll go check on Nino…", said Miku, still embarrassed.
"Oh…Miku…did I say something embarrassing?", said Ichika, in her usual teasing tone.
"She might have already noticed that Miku likes Uesugi. Little gets past Ichika after all…", Inejiro thought.
"No matter. I was gonna get going anyways. Let's go down together Miku", he said, helping Miku get out of the situation.
"Y-Yeah Inejiro, let's go", said Miku as she hurried out of the apartment. Ichika chuckled at her sister's reactions while Itsuki just looks on, not really understanding what's going on. Inejiro, as he said, followed Miku out the door.
"Phew…thank you for getting me out of that", said Miku, as the elevator arrived and they both got inside.
"You won't be able to keep your feelings from Ichika, Miku, don't even try".
"F-feelings…", Miku said, blushing again.
"Don't worry, you're safe with me".
Miku went silent for a couple of seconds.
"I…I thought you would get angry or something", she said, looking down.
"At what?"
Miku lost any embarrassment she felt previously, and sighed.
"...Never mind".
"No, really. Why would you liking Uesugi make me angry?"
"It was foolish of me to even suggest anything like that. Forget about it".
"I swear, my grandpa said something somewhat similar, Ichika asked if I was jealous of Uesugi too…and it's getting on my nerves. It would be some really fucked up shit if your best friend didn't want you dating or f-", Inejiro was gonna say 'falling in love' but cut himself off, for fear of breaking Miku's love-addled brain, "or…whatever. What the hell is up with that?"
"Don't worry about it. I'm…glad you understand". As Miku said that, they reached ground floor and headed out of the building. They found Nino standing defiantly in front of Fuutarou who was sitting on the floor, listening to her speak apparently.
"Nino, how long are you gonna sit here? Hurry up and get back home already", said Miku to her sister.
"Miku? Nakamura?", asked Fuutarou, surprised to see them both coming down together.
"Oh…Fuutarou, you're here too? Perfect, about tomorrow-", Miku was saying before she was cut off by Nino who started leading her inside the building.
"But I still need to talk to him…", said Miku, to no avail. Nino just told her to forget about it before looking back and sticking her tongue out at Fuutarou and Inejiro.
"Well, Uesugi, she completely ignored my existence. Fun", said Inejiro. "What was she saying to you?"
"We talked for a bit, actually", Fuutarou replied.
"Oh, she's awfully talkative today it seems".
They both got going, heading towards their respective homes, while they continued their conversation.
"Yeah…I think I get why she doesn't want me around now. She thinks I'm some sort of intruder, who walked in and disrupted her life with her sisters without her permission".
"Yeah, that makes sense to me. She's incredibly protective of her sisters, as I've said. I don't imagine she's gonna join us any time soon?"
"Doesn't seem like it, no".
"Well, don't concern yourself too much with Nino. Work on Ichika, she's the most likely to join us now".
"She did come down today…before Nino ran her off".
"Yeah, just…we gotta at least get her to stop being such a pain".
"Well, can't you…I mean…talk to her about whatever she's angry at you about?"
"Apparently she's angry at me because of my ex-girlfriend and Yotsuba for some reason, I don't know how to talk about something that's just cuckoo".
Fuutarou sighed.
"See, Nakamura? This is why I say love is just a distraction".
"Many forms of love, Uesugi. Surely you understand love between siblings. You love your sister, right? And I imagine you love your father too".
"It's not the same…they're my family".
"...Has it occurred to you that you might one day love a girl…like she was family? Don't dismiss these things".
"I don't know Nakamura, I really don't, I have no time to be thinking about this stuff right now".
"You should, you numbnuts. It's gonna interfere with your job whether you like it or not", Inejiro thought. Of course he can't say it out loud, it would effectively be ratting out Yotsuba or Miku. Or both.
"Look, Uesugi. Romance is just a part of life. You're gonna have to come to terms with that. Even if you dedicate your life to celibacy, other people won't. And such is the case with other sorts of love. I love the quintuplets. They're not even 'like family', I consider them wholly part of my family. I like to think they see me the same way, some more than others, but still".
Inejiro swallowed hard before continuing his little speech.
"And I love…loved, whatever, my girlfriend. These feelings are very much real. I don't care what you think about love and relationships. You see them as a waste of time, you want nothing to do with it, that's fine, you do you. But don't be so dismissive, man. You might hurt the people around you".
"We're…very different, Nakamura. I'm afraid I can't see eye to eye with you on this. I already told you, we're students, it is our job to study. And as tutor, it is also my job to make sure those girls study. Can't have them getting distracted with notions of love and dating!"
Inejiro is really trying hard to find a way in which to communicate to Fuutarou that he should be more aware of the girls' feelings, but it seems almost impossible. He's hell bent on denying any notion of romance.
"Say what you will, but these feelings exist, and it's not a button you can just turn on or off. If me, you, any of the girls, ended up falling in love, it would just be something that happens, and you wouldn't be able to stop it. It might negatively affect their studies, it might positively affect their studies, it doesn't matter. It will affect their studies. If you wanna be a good tutor, you have to be realistic, and accept that".
Inejiro hopes that by dressing his argument up in the language of reason and framing it in the best interests of his tutoring job, it might get through.
"Fine. I do agree with that. But luckily, it's not a problem for any of the girls right now, as far as I'm aware. So it's no use for me to think about it too much".
Inejiro sighed.
"Just keep that in mind, Uesugi".
"If Nino is angry about something to do with your former relationship, it's something you have to deal with. In my case, it's more to do with being some sort of foreign alien".
"Eh…if you think about it…our predicaments are only somewhat different. Just…I think someone else might have been the 'foreign alien' in my case".
"And you're just figuring this out? So much for paying attention to others' feelings and all that…". Fuutarou correctly sensed the hypocrisy in Inejro's former words. Which is something Inejiro himself has been growingly aware of recently.
"Don't get coy Uesugi…but you're right. I have…been blind to a lot of things it seems. There's a lot I suddenly don't understand. I've been very comfortable in my own bubble for a…while".
"And…I don't know…you say that you love the quintuplets very naturally…it's weird".
"Yeah, what a surprise, you think it's weird. You and everyone else. I don't care".
"Hm…well…that's not really any of my business. For what concerns our tutoring, we need the remaining sisters to join us, and get all of them to study".
"You have Yotsuba and Miku's good graces, so it's a start".
"Miku changed her tune rather quickly, didn't she? Nino implied she had feelings for me earlier, I hope she was joking".
"Ah he did pick up on that, dammit", Inejiro thought.
"Of course she was joking. She always tries to get under Miku's skin".
"I figured that, yeah".
They carried on walking, mostly in silence after this, until it came time for them to part ways. Fuutarou can't get out of his mind that Inejiro's relationship with the quintuplets is just plain…weird. It's a very strange dynamic. It's not a very common thing to hear a guy say he loves his female friends without skipping a beat and so honestly. Even less so in Japanese society, where these public expressions of love are not common, and usually frowned upon. It's just strange. He wonders how the quintuplets see Inejiro. If they could give the same answer so easily. Could they even give an honest answer, whatever that answer may be? It's not really any of his business, and he doesn't want to pay too much attention to these matters, but Inejiro himself is right. You can't completely ignore feelings, and how they might affect your job, especially one where you have to earn others' trust and respect in order to do it properly. That does include his co-tutor. His friendship with the girls is very important for these tutoring sessions. And that friendship is very 'special', and needs to be properly understood especially by Inejiro and the quints, but also Fuutarou. He has to keep these things in mind.
Inejiro reached his home not long after they parted ways, and once inside, he checked his phone to see if there was any news from Yotsuba. Indeed, he got a text from her indicating that her team had won, accompanied by a barrage of happy and proud emojis, which brought a smile to his face. And as luck would have it, at that very moment he got a call from Yotsuba herself.
"Hi, Yotsuba", Inejiro said, answering the call.
"Jiro! I texted you like an hour ago! What kinda guy sees that his best friend ever did well in her basketball game and doesn't even reply?"
"Sorry, troubled day in the office".
"What office?"
Inejiro sighed. He knows Yotsuba isn't actually stupid, but she has these short circuits from time to time that really don't help her in looking any smarter.
"Your house, Yotsuba".
"Oh. What happened?"
"Didn't your sisters tell you anything at all?"
"Not really, no".
"Nino tried to get me and Miku to leave and failed, then Miku and Nino had an argument, then they had a cooking competition to see who impressed Uesugi the most, so no tutoring today, you can imagine…"
"Eh? Nino wanted to impress Uesugi-san too?"
"She just wanted to one up Miku, like always. Then after that we left, but Uesugi had to go back up cause he forgot something…something happened up there and he ended up…entangled with Nino, which was a whole other shit-show…we solved that particular problem, and then I walked home with Uesugi as per usual".
"I…don't understand, what was it that happened with Nino and Uesugi-san?"
"There's really no way I could explain it properly…and I'm kinda tired to be honest, don't wanna be revisiting that. Tell me about your game".
"Oh we did really well! We ran over that other school, they never had a chance!"
"Man, I wish I could have been there…"
"That's right! What's up with you not coming to my games now?"
"Don't you think I would have preferred that to making sure that your sisters don't kill Uesugi, and each other?"
"Well, you should know that Hongo-san told me that they wouldn't have done so well without me, and that she wants me to join the team permanently".
"Yeah, same as she told me".
"Hehe…she told me she expected you to come watch too".
"Yotsuba…"
"What? I'm not gonna stop annoying you with this. You're being a big BIG dummy!"
"Oh you carry on like this and I'm gonna make you first memorize, and then recite, one by one, the names of ALL Tokugawa shoguns from Ieyasu down to Yoshinobu in chronological order. I have powers as co-tutor and I intend to use them".
"No! You can't! That's Uesugi-san's decision!"
"Uesugi will love it!"
"No come on Jiro don't do that! Ahhhh you're so lucky I can't hit you right now! But you'll get what's coming to you!"
Inejiro laughed.
"Well, if you ever wanna play ball to practice…I'm game".
"Yeah. I'll tell Hongo-san too".
"Sure th-", Inejiro started to say before Yotsuba cut him off with laughter.
"Hehehe, I knew it! I got you! You were gonna agree to it!"
"Oh screw you. Well I'm going to bed. Start reading up on the Tokugawa Shogunate!"
"No come on, I was joking!"
"We'll see…you're on probation".
"'Pro' what?"
"It means…ah whatever. I'm out".
"Bye Jiro! Sleep tight".
"You too, Yotsuba".
Tokai, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. September 29th, 2017. Asahiyama High School.
The day is Friday, almost a week having gone by after the events that were just narrated. After a day of class, Inejiro decided to head to the gym, as he's been doing more often than not, and got himself a good workout. Afterwards, he went outside, got himself a cold drink from a nearby vending machine and sat in one of the benches that are next to the school's track. The track team is apparently practicing, running laps around the circuit. It doesn't bother Inejiro at all. He even finds some enjoyment in watching them practice. Nostalgia, probably. Even though he never ran track (he's not fast at all, actually, not very well suited for that sport), it still reminds him of his younger days it seems.
And those very younger days have been in his mind more and more recently. Yotsuba being involved with the basketball team makes him reminisce about his own history as a high school basketball player, reasonably renowned as well. The growing presence of romance in the quintuplets' lives (Fuutarou related, of course) have also brought to his mind another aspect of his past that makes him nostalgic: his former relationship. Never mind that it's apparently related to Nino's issues with him.
Thanks to his grandmother and now Fuutarou as well, added to Ichika and Miku implying some potential jealousy on his part towards their new tutor, has made him look back at his relationship with the quints as well. For some reason, a lot of the memories he holds from the years they've spent together have been creeping into his mind as well. He's no longer as certain as to the nature of their relationship as he's been for years. He is indeed certain about how he feels, but…how do they see their relationship? How has it varied throughout the years?
Anyways, these are some of the things that have been on his mind recently, which has made this past week now coming to an end a pretty calm one. Not much has happened, other than mostly uneventful tutoring sessions that Miku now joins (which is good news), as he spends most of his free time in quiet contemplation, not really doing much else, other than keeping up with doing exercise.
Speaking of which, having worked out quite a bit for the last hour and a half or so, he fell asleep a few minutes after sitting down. He stayed napping for about half an hour, until he was interrupted.
"Nakamura-san?", spoke a familiar female voice. "Oh, he must be asleep", Inejiro heard her say as he started waking up. He half opened his eyes and noticed it was Hongo, dressed in her usual basketball attire. Inejiro yawned and stretched his body, startling her.
"Oh, N-Nakamura-san, did I wake you?"
"Heh, 'course you did".
"Sorry, I didn't mean to…", Hongo said apologetically.
"Eh it's good that you did, I could have carried on for God knows how long. Come, sit", Inejiro said as he gestured to the empty spot next to him in the bench.
"Oh, okay…", Hongo said as she sat down. Somewhat nervous to be in such close proximity to Inejiro.
"Want some?", Inejiro said as he showed her the cold drink (probably not cold anymore, though) he'd been drinking.
"N-n-n-no thank you N-Nakamura-san, you're too kind", said Hongo, wildly blushing. Indirect kiss and all that. Inejiro is none the wiser, because he has only slightly more tact in these situations than Fuutarou does, as much as he likes to complain and mock him.
"Oh suit yourself", Inejiro said as he took a sip himself. He noticed it wasn't cold anymore and therefore didn't taste that good. So he put it down. "Meh, it's hot now. Anyways, what's up?"
"Oh nothing, I saw you sitting here, I wanted to come and say hi", Hongo said. A few seconds went by without anyone saying anything, which was making the whole situation quite awkward. Hongo started looking down at the ground, as one does when you don't know what you say in a conversation that you really want to go on.
"So…", Inejiro said, trying to break the ice, "...right, Yotsuba! What did you think of her game?"
"Ah, Nakano-san. She's brilliant. She was the star of the team. The other team's defense couldn't stop her at all, without fouling. She was amazing, I really cannot stress it enough. As good as you advertised her".
"Yeah we talked about it. She was very happy. I wanted the opinion of someone else who knows the game".
Hongo blushed a little from being complimented.
"O-oh, thank you Nakamura-san. I really don't have much more to say, she's one of the more complete shooting guards I've seen at our level. She's not even that tall, her skill is remarkable. She was taught well, it seems", Hongo said as she smiled.
"Haha, well, I was a center, there's little I could 'teach' her. Taught her to run circles around me more than anything. It got to a point where she was so bloody fast that I couldn't do anything about it. I was never that skilled, I'm just…well, big".
"That you are…", Hongo said, while staring, "...ehem. But don't bring yourself down, I've heard great things about your game".
"I was good, yeah, but at a Japanese high school level what do you need to be a good center other than being big and strong and scaring the hell out of the other kids? Man I was such a bully on the court, that was great fun".
"I wish I could have seen you play…"
"Maybe you will one day".
Hongo suddenly stood up straight very quickly, and stood right in front of Inejiro, who was surprised by the girl's sudden change of posture.
"Nakamura-san!", she said almost like she was a soldier saluting one of her superiors.
"Yes?"
"So. The fireworks festival is tomorrow. Wanna come?"
"Oh shit right, that's tomorrow. I had completely forgotten".
"So. Will you?"
"Damn, that's a team captain right there. That's the strong will you wanna see", Inejiro said as he also stood up. "Look, Hongo-san, I know in which sense you're asking me out, I'm not completely touched in the head. So I have to say. I go with the girls every year. The same's probably gonna happen this time. I would tell you you're welcome to join, but that's not what you want. So…sorry".
"O-oh…", said Hongo, as she looked down in disappointment. "I…should have guessed".
"No big deal. I had forgotten all about it to be honest. But it is the yearly tradition, so, yeah".
"I…don't wish to interfere in your relationship with the Nakanos…it's clear you care for them deeply".
"Come on, you're not interfering. Just not tomorrow. I'll make sure to go to some of your games, and we'll see each other then".
"Okay…well Nakamura-san I'll be going. It was…good to talk to you. We'll talk later", Hongo said with a somewhat sad smile.
"Yeah, talk to you later Hongo-san", Inejiro replied. As the girl left, another girl quickly appeared to take her place. It is none other than the eldest Nakano sister, Ichika, who…might have been listening for a while.
"Yo, Jiro!", she said, greeting her friend.
"Eh, Ichika? Where did you come from?"
"That's a long story…more importantly…what are you up to?", Ichika asked, with the typical sly look she gives when teasing Inejiro or one of her sisters.
"How long have you been listening, Ichika? I know you".
"Well…you were asleep when I found you".
Inejiro sighed.
"...Why do you even ask? With Nino and Miku there's enough kempeis in the family, no need for you to join them!"
Trivia: the "kempeitai" was Imperial Japan's secret police. A member of said organization would be called a "kempei". Like comparing someone to the CIA or the KGB.
"What did you call me Jiro? I swear, Nino is right to get angry at you when you make all these references sometimes".
Ichika is not a very prolific student so she doesn't know about the Imperial secret police either.
"...Never mind. Stop eavesdropping is my point!"
"Oh but if I didn't I wouldn't have heard all of this!"
Inejiro sighed again.
"Eh…why were you here in the first place? It's not like you to linger here after class".
"I needed to talk to you, but you wouldn't pick up your phone. So Itsuki told me you'd probably be in the gym, I went there, didn't find you, and found you here by chance while walking out".
"It didn't occur to you to, you know, make your presence known?"
"Well I saw that girl, the basketball team captain approach you…and I wanted to see what was up with all that, so I hid".
"Marvelous. Tell me all your opinions, I'm sure you have them".
"Let's get going first, Jiro. Let's head home together and we'll talk on the way".
"Yeah, right, let's do that". Inejiro picked up his backpack, which was lying on the bench he had his nap on, and headed out with Ichika.
"Jiro…you do know that girl is completely in love with you, right?", Ichika asked.
"That might be excessive, but yes, I am aware she likes me, I'm not stupid".
"You seem a bit stupid, though. Why did you reject her invitation to the festival?"
"You heard it, why are you asking?"
"Because…well…you mentioned going with us".
"We do that every year! What's weird about that?"
"Eh…that's part of what I wanted to talk to you about, actually…but we're not done talking about this. You know half the school suspects you're dating one of us, right?"
"Only half? I figured it would be more in the 75% range".
"Oh how funny. People are gonna find out that you rejected her to hang out with us. In this festival that families and couples usually attend together".
"And? Those rumors were always gonna come, Ichika. I've been dealing with them since I've known you all. Never mind now that we're classmates!"
"Yeah, play dumb all you like".
"Look, Ichika, it's not the first time you're implying something about me and your sisters, and I'd really like you to be clear. First you ask me if I'm jealous not only of Uesugi, of your bloody agent! Now you're saying that nosy dumbasses spreading rumors about us is something that I should care about. Please, clear this out for me".
"Ok…it's related to what I wanted to talk to you about. Remember my agent?"
"Yeah, mustache guy".
"Oda-san, yes. Well…don't you wanna know how I met him?"
"It's something I've been meaning to ask, yes. How did you meet that guy? It's not exactly easy to get started in show business".
"A…friend introduced us".
"A friend? You have an actress friend? Someone I know?"
"Not an actress…and yes, someone you know".
Inejiro started to get the hint, although subconsciously, for now. He is starting to feel a bit nervous.
"Someone I know…personally? Or someone famous?"
"Let's say…both…somewhat".
Inejiro now stood still in the middle of the sidewalk and faced Ichika directly.
"Ichika. Is she a model?"
"...Yes".
They both went silent for about half a minute.
"...Natsumi. She introduced you".
"...Yeah, Natsumi".
"How long have you been talking to her for? When the hell were you gonna tell me about it?"
"A few months…Jiro you know I always wanted to be an actress, and who else could possibly hook me up with an agent?"
"But…Ichika…I can't believe it!", Inejiro said angrily.
"You're gonna get pissed at me?"
"Not you! Her! What the hell is she doing playing friends with you? Hooking you up with some agent? What is this?"
"What exactly is so weird about this? She was always nice to us, why wouldn't she help me?"
"Oh, so nice. Did your 'friend' tell you anything about what she said when we broke up? Did she?"
"Actually, she did".
"Ah…now I get it. She got you. She got inside your head. That's why you've been making those comments. I can't believe she would do that…to think I loved that girl".
"You love that girl Jiro! It's been almost two years and you can't let go!"
"Shows how much of a stupid fool I am".
"No you're not a fool! And you don't think you're a fool! You're just angry right now. Jiro…believe me. She did not say anything bad about you. In fact, she said she was sorry".
"Look, Ichika…if you wanna go on talking about this, I wanna go home, and sit, and have a smoke and a drink. I won't go overboard, I promise. I'll make you some tea, and we'll talk".
"Jiro…I-"
"I don't wanna hear it. You've all wanted to talk about this for a long long time. Now I wanna talk. So let's go home, and we'll talk".
"Well…fine".
They changed their route and instead of heading to the Pentagon they started heading towards Inejiro's home. Luckily for them, at this point the detour isn't that long, so it didn't take them that much longer to get to Inejiro's place than it would have taken them to get to the Pentagon. They were completely silent the whole way, though. They stopped at a conbini that's near his apartment to get Ichika her cold drink and some snacks, and soon enough got to Inejiro's.
As soon as they got there, he gestured Ichika to sit by the table as he laid out the snacks, served her her drink, and got himself a can of Asahi beer from the fridge.
"See? I told you I wasn't gonna drink heavily. It's just a beer", he said, as he also lit up a cigarette and started smoking, though taking enough care not to breathe smoke into Ichika's face.
"Sure, Jiro, em…it has been a while since I've been here".
"Yeah…we hang out at your place more often than not. But come on, let's not get sidetracked. I'm more calm now…Ichika. The cat's out of the bag now so there's no point hiding these things from you. You already know that when she left for Tokyo she told me to go with her".
"Yes…I did always suspect it though , it was hard to believe she would just leave you behind".
"I had said yes at first. I had already talked to my family about it, they were all very supportive. I was gonna go to Tokyo and enroll in trade school while I worked in whatever job I could find, while she worked on her modeling career. After those…tough couple of years, it seemed like things were looking up. I would get myself an education that could help me get a decent job down the road, and move to a new place with the love of my life, to start anew. Tokyo is not that far away from here either, I could always visit. It all seemed well and good".
"What happened? Why didn't you go?"
"I got a call from a guy called 'Ebata-san'. Sound familiar to you?"
"...I can tell where you're going with this a little bit".
"He told me he worked for Maruo Nakano, your father. And that he wanted to meet with me?"
"Dad did?"
"No, Ebata-san at first. He told me that Maruo was looking into hiring me to look after you. To take in most of the domestic duties that Ebata-san himself had been taking care of. It was clear from what he told me that he was overworked as hell".
"Yeah, I remember all that. Ebata-san was around all the time. We didn't understand back then just how hard he was working for our sake".
"Yeah. So, this you also know, he told me that your dad was looking into hiring me. Because I'm someone that you girls would trust. In fact, Maruo was convinced that I was the only one other than Ebata-san who he could possibly give this job to. Ebata-san had already talked to my dad, to my grandparents, trying to gauge what kinda guy I was…and he was satisfied enough, even though my recent track record at the time wasn't exactly sparkling".
"But he wanted to talk to you as well, not only to offer you the job, but as an audition of sorts. To be sure that you were to be trusted".
"Exactly. We really hit it off. Well you know how I get along with Ebata-san to this day. Thing is, after we met, he managed to convince your dad to hire me, and the rest's history".
"I know all of this. What does this have to do with Natsumi?"
"Well I clearly took the job. The thing is…I had planned to go with her. And…well…I clearly couldn't do both things at the same time. So I told her about it. Asked her if we could just stay here for a while longer, at least until you were all adults and didn't need me around anymore. And she just…snapped. I imagine you know enough about some of the things she said, but if you don't…I'm sorry, I really don't wanna talk about that".
"...Jiro…you chose us over her".
"No. I chose staying with my friends, who clearly needed me. And she chose to leave anyways. She didn't see it that way. She felt I would never love her more than you, and just…well…", Inejiro started tearing up at this point, "...t-that was the last time I saw her, or heard her voice. Just…gone, forever".
Inejiro completely broke into tears. Ichika was still in shock from hearing this for the first time. In reality, Natsumi, Inejiro's former girlfriend, only told her that she had once blamed the quintuplets for them breaking up, and that she was sorry about that. She lied earlier about already knowing that Natsumi had asked Inejiro to go with her. Her shock wore of quickly, and she moved over to comfort her friend, who clearly was letting loose a lot of emotions that he'd had bottled up tight since back then.
"Jiro…it's fine…I'm glad you stayed, and I know the other girls are too", she said while hugging him from behind. "But why didn't you tell any of us about this?"
"Ichika, the last thing I…I would have wanted would have been for any of you to blame yourselves for this! You girls needed me, I couldn't just go! Nor could I worry you! What was I gonna do?"
"Don't worry, Jiro. I think we would have understood, but…it's fine. You really need to talk to Nino about this though".
"Oh sure that will be real easy".
"Jiro…believe me. She needs to know. In fact…all of my sisters need to know, but her especially. I…", Ichika seemed like she was about to say something but cut herself off, "...she is so wrong".
"Yeah, she told me the other day that I was 'a guy that would run off with the first girl that crossed my path'. You can imagine how happy hearing that made me".
"Just…she needs to know. But…I understand that you can't just…tell her right away. It needs time. But you need to try to understand her a bit more and…the time will come".
"You should have Natsumi talk to Nino or something", Inejiro said, laughing a little.
"No! She would hunt her down and kill her!"
"Well, I'll…talk to all of the girls about this eventually. I don't know if they're all gonna be as understanding as you".
"Well that's why I'm the big sister!"
"Heh, yeah. Thank you so much Ichika. I feel…a little bit relieved".
"You're probably very relieved, Jiro. It's awful to bottle your feelings up like this".
"Tell me about it. So…how is she doing?"
"Natsumi?"
"Who else!?"
"You…I imagine you're aware that she's reasonably famous now".
"I saw her on billboards a few times down in Nagoya. Quite a sight. Some of the fashion magazines Nino leaves lying around sometimes too. So yeah, I'm aware. That's not what I was asking".
"What do you want me to tell you? That she misses you? It's not like I was gonna pry into her feelings so much. We didn't talk all that much other than her helping hook me up with Oda-san, but she did say she felt sorry about blaming us. That's all".
"I have always wondered if…you know…if she thinks about me at all".
"I'm sure she does, Jiro, you two really loved each other, it's impossible that she just forgot about you. But…I know it's too much for today, but I need to say it…try to let go. Whatever happened…happened. And we're all here for you, you're not alone in this".
"Yeah, Ichika…I know. It's just…not easy".
"I know, Jiro".
"Well…wait. Ichika, what did you even want to talk to me about earlier? Before you started spying on me and Hongo-san".
"Oh, right…well, you see…I might not be around for the fireworks tomorrow".
A/N: Well, FINALLY, I manage to get this out for y'all. I had a little tiny bit of writer's block in the middle of this, so that's most of the reason for the delay. First time that happens...I imagine not the last! Well these things happen. The ending might seem abrupt too, but...well, that's my attempt at somewhat of a cliffhanger, we'll see if it's well received or not! Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and hopefully next one will be more on schedule than this. If you're interested, do check my profile periodically, I updated it every time I needed to notify y'all that I was postponing this chapter. If anyone knows any other way to notify of delays and things like that, I'd appreciate you telling me. See you next time, and thanks for reading!