Ichika POV 1
"She's gone," Itsuki says, as she enters the classroom.
Nino is pacing the back of the room, bending a plastic ruler she picked up in the classroom, muttering to herself. "This is impossible. Her? How? Why? Has he lost his mind? This makes no sense. Has she tricked him somehow?"
Itsuki walks past Miku, sitting on the floor against the wall, silent and still as a statue, tears slowly seeping from her eyes. Itsuki walks over and sits in the desk next to Ichika.
Itsuki made the right choice to come to me. Talking to those two right now is a terrible idea. I have to be the big sister right now. I'll have to swallow my feelings for now.
"I think he is chasing her," says Itsuki. "But it's Yotsuba. There's no way he can catch her."
She is the fastest. She was always the fastest of us.
And she won the race. Haha.
…
If he lets her go, this will all be for nothing. Our pain will amount to nothing. He should be happy at least.
Ichika tilts her phone so that Itsuki can see the screen, then types a message to Fuutarou.
Ichika: You have to catch her, Fuutarou-kun. This is it.
Ichika is surprised to see a response almost immediately.
Fuutarou: I think I know where she's going.
"I think Nino has lost it," Ichika says to Itsuki, "but she's kind of right. This doesn't make a lot of sense. Why did he go to Yotsuba? Was that his way of not choosing anyone? Did he scheme this with her to avoid making a choice? That does sound like something they'd both do."
"Ichika…have you really not noticed?" Itsuki asks.
Huh?
"Oh you mean the thing from six years ago?"
Did he really pick her just because of that?
"No, not that. I think you three have been too distracted by…Well if you had been paying attention to him…I…think he has liked Yotsuba for a while."
"WHAT?" Nino calls out from the back of the room. "That's ridiculous!"
"Raiha and I have been talking about it for a while," Itsuki says.
"Where is this coming from?" Ichika asks. "Did he say something?"
"No but…he is always looking at her. Even though we all look the same, he always seems to be looking at her. He always tends to drift toward her. He smiles a lot more when he is around her. Raiha says he talks about her way more than the rest of us. Raiha and I think he might be too dense to even be aware of it himself. But I guess he has figured it out at some point, judging from tonight."
Oh.
It's true.
Of course.
Why couldn't I see it?
Why wasn't I paying attention?
That night when I made him choose a drink, he had already made his decision. I wonder if he made it months ago.
"UUGGGHHH!" Nino growls. "Why her?! She hasn't done shit! It's just gonna fall in her lap? No. I'm the one-"
Ichika's thoughts drown out Nino's rant.
You don't get it, Nino. You made the same mistake I did. And we dragged Miku in with us. We kept pushing her to join in. I'm so sorry, Miku.
"We were fighting over him," says Ichika out loud. "We were treating him like an object. We never stopped to consider his feelings."
"What are you talking about?" Nino barks. "I was clearly in the lead. I made my feelings very clear-"
"Your feelings," says Ichika. "What about him? He's a person with his own feelings. Our competition was probably horrible for him. He cares about all of us, so watching us fight probably pissed him off. I was the worst one. I'm sure he hates me now."
A voice comes from the corner. The sisters had long since learned that, when Miku finally speaks up in a situation like this, it's best to pay attention.
"Yotsuba was nice to him. Every day. And she never asked anything in return." Miku states this sadly, still frozen in a blank stare. Ichika can tell there is guilt in Miku's voice.
You shouldn't be guilty Miku. You may not be as diligent as Yotsuba, but you were nice to him. You stuck up for him. At least before we dragged you into our contest.
There is a pause after Miku speaks, since everyone had gone silent when she spoke up.
It is Nino who breaks the silence first. "He must have picked her because she's athletic. I can work out and get abs if that's what he really wants." She starts pacing again. "Fuu-kun is such an idiot. How can he be so stupid? Yotsuba has no interest in love, there's no way she will reciprocate. She's far too immature. Fuu-kun will come crawling back on his knees. I can't wait to gloat."
"I'm not sure about that," says Itsuki.
"Tell us what you know," Ichika says.
Why did Yotsuba confide in Itsuki and not me? I have always tried to support her and be her big sister.
Is it because I got swallowed up in this fight? It has to be. She was afraid of confiding in me because she didn't want to get involved in our fight. She was probably afraid I would sabotage her.
Fuutarou and Yotsuba were both hurt by our fighting. I see that now.
"She told me not to say," says Itsuki. "She told me to never tell him that she was the one he met six years ago. She asked me to help Uesugi forget about that meeting and stop thinking about the girl from his memory. Every time she did it, she looked like she was in a lot of pain."
"So she gave up," says Nino. "She gave up and she wins anyway? This is BULLSHIT!"
As Nino paces and yells, another message pops up on Ichika's phone.
Fuutarou: I found her. It's all finished now.
I'm sorry Fuutarou, but this mess is far from over.
A couple of minutes later, another text arrives—but it's not from Fuutarou.
Yotsuba: Can we talk? I want to apologize in person. I don't think I can face Nino and Miku yet. It's okay if you bring Itsuki.
They both contacted me. None of the others. Just me. Both of them did. They want to rely on me. Why does this make me so happy?
My heart is broken. It hurts. But the fact that they chose to reach out to me makes me feel a little better. A lot better.
I can't let them down. I have to be the big sister. As much as it hurts, I have to help them.
Ichika stands and leaves the classroom. She types a message to Fuutarou.
Ichika: Call me when you can.
A call from Fuutarou lights up her phone almost instantly.
"What did she say?" Ichika asks immediately.
"Well we said a lot of stuff," Fuutarou says.
"I mean did she say 'yes'? Give me the juicy details!"
"Um…it's complicated, but…" his voice gets quiet, making it clear he is with Yotsuba and embarrassed for her to hear him. "She said she has always loved me. So I think that's a yes."
He's probably blushing like crazy.
"Of course it is, you idiot. It's probably best if she avoids Nino and Miku right now, so can you take her to my apartment?"
"Yeah, let me ask…"
"Just give her the phone."
Yotsuba's voice comes on the phone. She sounds awful.
"I'm really sorry, Ichika-"
"No! No apologizing! Just tell me if you're okay."
"Y-yeah I'm okay. J-just been crying. And running."
"Why did you run…Whatever, anyway, I told him to take you to my apartment for tonight."
"Thanks so much…I'm sorry…" Ichika can hear Yotsuba's voice crack like she might start crying again.
"I said no apologizing! I don't remember if I already told you, but my code is 1361. I'll be there in a little while. I just need to make sure Nino doesn't burn the school down."
"Nino…"
Ichika can hear how guilty and sad Yotsuba sounds at the mention of Nino.
"Hey listen. For now, leave Nino to me. And Miku. Your job now is to be happy. And make him happy. He picked you, so you'd better show him some gratitude and give him a big smooch. But no getting freaky in my apartment. His innocent virgin mind clearly isn't ready for that yet."
There's a faint giggle on the other end of the line. It eases Ichika's worry a little bit. But Yotsuba's voice sounds sad when she speaks again.
"But how am I supposed to be happy when my sisters are hurting?"
"Stop. This is not your fault. You can't be thinking about that right now. You will make Fuutarou worried and depressed. He has had a long day, you know. You are going to have to calm your nerves and focus, and stop thinking about things that are outside of your control and aren't your fault."
"Thank y-you, Ichika. I love you."
"I love you too, little sister. Please try your best, okay?"
"Okay, I'll try."
"Give the phone back to Fuutarou-kun real quick."
"Hello this is Fuutarou." His gruff and too-serious voice returns to the phone.
"Did you know your girlfriend was going to have so much baggage?"
I think I'm the only one that realizes that Yotsuba is far more prone to depression than gloomy Miku. She's just good at hiding it.
"She can't have any more baggage than the rest of you idiots," says Fuutarou.
"Haha! That might be true. Hey there's some ice cream in the freezer. You two please eat it for me, I need room in my freezer. And I told Yotsuba not to take your innocence, but if she does try that, just make sure you use protection."
"Stop your teasing. Now's not a good time. But seriously, thank you."
"You two can always count on your big sis Ichika. Talk to you later."
"Bye."
Beep.
It hurts. Hearing his voice hurts. Thinking about him kissing someone else hurts. But the guilt hurts more. I have to help those two kids, but I also need to think about what to do with Nino and Miku. This really is a mess, isn't it? I have to be strong right now. I have to be the big sister. I have to try to make amends.
Ichika returns to the classroom and approaches Itsuki.
"Itsuki, you really are the only smart one in this family."
