After a while of waiting, Nakano Ichika looked up from the Twitter app on her phone as she realized it was her turn in line to order.
"Good morning, what can I do for you today?". Asked the barista behind the counter politely with a smile.
"Hello! Uhmm, let's see..." Ichika looked at the menu on the wall behind the girl, briefly pondering what to order.
Let's see, what flavor would Fuutarou-kun like...he definitely has coffee vibes, but which one? Maybe an Americano? Or a cappuccino? Yeah, that last one is definitely like him.
"I'd like a tall cappuccino, with a little cinnamon, please." The pink hair said with a gentle smile.
"Good, your order will be ready in a moment."
With a nod, Ichika waited patiently in her place while giving a quick glance at the clock on her phone.
I still had about 20 minutes before he arrived.
Fortunately for her, there weren't too many people in the establishment, so the preparation of her order took a few minutes before it was ready. Once she had the glass in hand, the older Nakano thanked her for the attention, paid and left the place.
Once outside the shop, Ichika walked a few steps and leaned against a nearby bicycle railing, ready and prepared to wait for her target.
After leaving home with her sisters to go to school, she decided to take a small detour with the excuse that she wanted to get a drink from a nearby coffee shop to make her way more pleasant. Said coffee shop was the same one that was on a certain person's route and the one that Ichika went to whenever she wanted to walk to school with him. Actually, this was kind of like a dirty little secret of hers, since if her sisters found out, Nino would undoubtedly use it practically every day, so she made sure to keep this under the table.
With some practice gained from previous times, Ichika knew more or less when Fuutarou would be passing by, so she allowed herself to ponder a bit about her plan, for yes, she had a plan for this occasion.
Said plan was no big deal, it was simply to approach Fuutarou and offer him a coffee in a friendly way to win points with him. Despite the first sister's determination to follow her own path in love, she has not been able to make significant progress since the school year began, so this was a good opportunity. Baby steps get you to Hokkaido...or so the saying went.
Besides, if she was in a hurry to catch up with the rest of her sisters before, now she was behind in the fray and all this because of this so-called childhood friend she didn't know what to think of. On the one hand, she was glad Fuutarou had friends, but on the other...Ichika had a lot of mixed feelings and if she had to put them into simple words...
She was jealous.
She hadn't even gone so far as to feel jealous per se when it came to her sisters, that could qualify as mild annoyance, but the fact that another girl was relating to Fuutarou in such a close way really pissed her off. And she had to admit it, with what she had observed of her she could tell that this girl was a tough nut to crack, I mean, not everyone talks to their father without blinking and declares war on him like she did.
Ichika turned her gaze to the sidewalk to her left stopping her train of thought, as for some reason, she could feel an extremely heavy aura coming from that direction and sure enough, walking while glaring at a textbook full of colorful markers sticking out of the pages, was Fuutarou. The sheer determined pressure he exerted drove away fearful passersby walking past him.
He's really taking this seriously...
Ichika thought, sweating a drop. Once the young man was close enough, she caught his attention.
"Fuutarou-kun. It's very dangerous to walk around without watching where you're going." She said cheerfully as she waved a hand at him once the boy looked up and glanced in her direction. "Morning!".
"It's you Ichika. why do we always meet here?". Fuutarou simply put away his textbook in his backpack and approached her without ever losing his dry expression.
"W-Well, it's just that this is the only starbucks in the area." She said pointing a thumb at the establishment before pointing to the drink in her hands. "Besides I wanted a drink before I started my day, nothing more. As I've told you on previous times, running into you here is nothing more than a great coincidence."
"I guess so, let's walk."
Of course Ichika was grateful to any god for Fuutarou's density.
"By the way, here. I bought it for you." Said the girl starting to walk beside him as she held out the cardboard cup she had bought.
"How can it be for me if this is a coincidence?".
And of course Ichika cursed any god for Fuutarou's density.
"W-well, y-you'll see...".
Without another word, Fuutarou took the coffee from Ichika's hands and took a sip, leaving the girl stunned. "So this is what an exotic coffee tastes like, eh?".
"Don't be exaggerated, it's just an ordinary cappuccino." Ichika said with her cheeks powdered with a slight pink hue upon seeing the boy's actions.
"I don't like coffee because it's too bitter for me, but I really need something to keep me awake. Thank you Ichika."
A tone that darkened slightly, taking all the willpower within the first sister to remain whole and not become a bundle of nerves.
Good! Operation Love Concoction was a resounding success! This should be enough for now. I can't do anything more aggressive at the moment, i.e. throw a fastball like Nino did...it's completely impossible! Although it's true that night after the exams I was planning to do it but...well, I'll leave it as the last resort.
As they walked together, Ichika clasped her hands behind her back while widening her goofy smile even more.
Anyway, for the time being I will let absolutely no one have this position.
"Yesterday was something, huh?". asked Ichika picking up the conversation.
"How many times have we already had problems with that?". Fuutarou growled before taking another sip of his hot drink.
"You seemed pretty motivated, though it seems excessive to me to study in the middle of the street, hehe." Said the girl before something crossed her mind. "Stop, come to think of it, how much studying have you been doing, Fuutarou-kun?".
"I slept in late yesterday and continued studying through breakfast. Heh, it got to a point where Raiha's face started to fill up with letters and numbers." Fuutarou said with a dry smile.
"Fuutarou-kun, you fool!". Ichika pouted. "It's not good for you to overexert yourself so much. You should rest properly."
"Says the one who falls asleep in the middle of sessions."
"That was before! Now my burden has been reduced considerably thanks to my sisters supporting me with the apartment rent." Replied Ichika with a sigh. "As Takebayashi-chan said, we are here to help you, Fuutarou-kun. You're not alone."
"Mhm, yes, I think so." Fuutarou said momentarily looking up at the clouds in the sky, lightly moving the glass in his hands in a circular motion to settle the liquid. "Now that you mention it, unlike your sisters, you were studying while working. So I have nothing to worry about with you."
Ichika's eyes sparkled at those words, faltering for a moment before recovering.
"Fufufu, now you know how to treat a woman. You make me proud." She said flirtatiously as she prodded Fuutarou's side with her elbow.
"Uhm? Do you wear glasses?".Fuutarou asked turning his head to see, indeed, a pair of thick black glasses adorning his student's beautiful face.
"You just noticed!?". The girl shouted before pouting again. "I take it back, you're still an insensitive..."
With a movement, Ichika took a couple of steps forward to stand in front of Fuutarou, who returned his gaze curiously.
"God, I wish you would have noticed it sooner." Ichika sketched a flirtatious smile, winking at her tutor as she adjusted her glasses a bit. "So, teach, don't you think I look smarter? It's kind of like a disguise."
"Disguise?"
"Yesterday there was a trailer for a movie I was in. It was on TV, so I'm trying to be inconspicuous..." Said the girl, looking sideways at the boy. "If you know what I'm talking about, right?...uhm?".
All she received was the sight of a Fuutarou trying to hold back laughter, almost spitting out the sip of liquid he had in his mouth, something that puzzled the first sister.
"Kukuku, You disguised yourself so no one will talk to you at school? Calling Hollywood, we have a master of disguise."
"Stop it! You're embarrassing me, Fuutarou-kun!". Ichika immediately covered her face while her cheeks were red from embarrassment.
"Hehe, still, camouflaging yourself is your specialty, isn't it?".
"Yep, that's not a problem." Ichika said opening her bag to show the inside items to Fuutarou. "Though the same could be said for the others. We always have these things for emergencies. I can turn around, Yotsuba or Miku...Nino too."
Ichika could feel a slight tension in the atmosphere as she said that, however, she quickly worked to discern it.
"Hahaha, however, since Fuutarou-kun can't tell us apart we shouldn't do that." She said scratching the back of her head nervously.
"Don't underestimate me, lately I've been able to see through Miku's disguise without needing some clue...huh?".
Fuutarou's vision caught sight of the backs of 4 silhouettes walking quietly down the street ahead of where the couple stood.
"Aren't those your sisters? I think we caught up with them." Fuutarou started walking after that brief pause. "I'll show you what I'm made of. Let's see. Itsuki, she always has her mouth full. Yotsuba talks too loud."
Stop...
"Nino is the one who walks like she's in a music video".
Stop it...
"Miku tends to slouch sometimes. By the way, my boss at work says the rival store across the street where she works was losing customers. She doesn't know why but she seems happy about it."
Stop talking about the other girls.
"Wait!".
Ichika, who was walking a few steps behind Fuutarou took a couple of strides to grab his hand hurriedly.
Look at me, just look at me!
"Let's skip a few classes, just the two of us."
Ichika looked with a mixture of determination and nervousness into those amber eyes she loved so much. The girl's heart stopped for a few seconds as the young man quirked a tiny smile on his lips.
"No way."
...Eh...?
"Ay why not, just a little bit!".
"Are you crazy? Exams are just around the corner!".
"The first class today is physical education!".
"You would have said it before, in that case...no wait, it wouldn't be right anyway!".
Ring
Running through the halls of the school as fast as they could, both youngsters rushed at full speed towards their classroom.
"We were almost late because of your unnecessary proposals!". Fuutarou said almost breathlessly.
"Fuutarou-kun is too serious!". Replied Ichika equally tired. "You should learn to relax a bit.".
"I'll relax at the tomb, now come on."
After a long run, the tutor-student pair finally arrived at the classroom, quickly opening the sliding door so they could enter, however, as they did so...
In a matter of nanoseconds several thousand eyes focused on the pink hair, who tensed for a brief moment when unexpected attention assaulted her.
"Ichika-san, I saw the news this morning!".
"You're an actress!? Really? Kyaaaa, how exciting!".
"I'm in the same class as a movie star, I can't even believe it!".
All kinds of compliments arrived in the first sister's presence from all over the classroom, coming from her classmates who had been chatting about Ichika's big acting career breakthrough for a while now while watching TV during breakfast.
"Was it a good movie?" Fuutarou asked, giving her a sidelong glance.
"Well, sort of, hehe."
"Heh, aren't you glad you took that audition?". Fuutarou said starting to walk deeper into the room, turning his head slightly to give the Nakano a small smile. "Now you're a professional liar."
Badabum.
Damn, just like that? Showing interest in me, remembering things about me. Over the flattery of my classmates, your simple acts...
While Ichika, possessing a warm smile was surrounded by her classmates, she lovingly placed a hand on her heart, feeling the precious racing heartbeat that a certain tutor had left behind him.
It echoed loudly in my heart.
And as this was happening...
"How far did you go to buy a coffee?". Yotsuba asked quietly looking at her elder with an arched eyebrow.
"When there's a need for coffee, there's a need for coffee." Replied Takebayashi standing next to the fourth sister's seat before briefly bidding her farewell to go talk to Fuutarou, who had just taken a seat.
Meanwhile, a certain quintuplet glared daggers at her older sister. There was no way she was buying that story about going for a drink. Nino knew perfectly well that this was nothing more than Ichika's ruse to walk with Fuu-kun to school and that irritated her. Sure, in the past she cared little or nothing about the two of them arriving at school together, but since Nino realized her crush, oh boy, this one was definitely her business. However, there was little she could do about it. Last time she tried to follow her to find out where she was meeting Fuutarou and copy her strategy, but her sneaky sister had managed to deftly lose sight of her, causing Nino to stomp the floor in fury before going to school by taxi
She had to do something about Ichika and the Fuu-kun's birthday present thing was the perfect time to get the better of her.
Her, and that other one.
Once the sky began to turn a shade of orange and the teacher was erasing the class blackboard, the students of class 3-1 found themselves taking a moment to relax after the school day.
"Wow, I'm exhausted." Sighed Itsuki before putting her glasses back in their case and whittling her tired eyesight a bit.
"You're telling me, but this is no time to rest. We still have our session today." Yotsuba said encouragingly as she put her notebook away in her backpack.
"Poor Ichika, they've been glued to her all day, eh?". Miku commented, glancing in the direction of her senior's seat, a place where two enthusiastic girls had been chatting with her since the bell had rung.
"P.E. class, lunch, I think a girl followed her to the restroom...being famous seems hard." Nino said putting a hand on her hip after hanging up her bag. "Good thing Fuu-kun gave the class a guide on how to recognize us by our accessories or they wouldn't leave the rest of us alone."
"Hmph!" Itsuki pursed her lips in a pout at the memory. "To recognize Itsuki remember that pair of tacky stars? What a gratuitous insult! What's wrong with that fool?".
"There's that Uesugi-san. He sure has it hard sometimes." Yotsuba said scratching her head with an innocent smile.
"Anyway, we'd better hurry. Fuutarou should already be waiting for us in the library." Miku said putting on her backpack, receiving a nod from her family.
"Hey Ichika!" Yotsuba shouted once they all started to leave the classroom, catching her eldest's attention. "We're going ahead, see you in the library!".
"Ah, I'm coming!". Ichika said to Yotsuba once the latter walked through the door.
"Whaaaat? You have to go already?". Complained a girl. "But we want to keep talking to you!".
"Just a little longer, I want to keep hearing your makeup tips!". Said her companion. "Tell me, do you know anyone famous?".
Ichika sweat. If she was completely honest, she was already sick of this, but she disguised it well enough by sketching a nervous smile. She never thought dealing with fans was such a tiring thing, as arrogant as that sounds. Although she had to admit that if she was aiming for stardom, dealing with her classmates seemed like good training for it. In that case, what could she do to get out of it? She highly doubted they would leave her alone by telling her she had things to do, I mean, it was literally the first thing she tried.
Therefore, she had no choice but to use the quintuplets protocol.
"Goodbye!".
With an agility borrowed from her younger sister, Ichika quickly grabbed her bag and ran at full speed out of the classroom, leaving the girls accompanying her in shock.
"Ah! Wait, Ichika-chan!".
As best they could, both girls hurried to catch up with her and once they crossed the door they turned left, quickly locating...
"Miku-chan! Did you see Ichika-chan over here?".
The third sister simply raised her arm and pointed to her right without turning her head.
"She left for beech." She replied softly.
The girls simply thanked her before continuing to run in the direction indicated.
Unrecognizable as shadows...or something like that.
Miku simply apologized to them in her mind, but before she could make another move, she heard voices coming from the same direction she had sent those girls.
"Are you still here?"
Recognizing that voice immediately, Miku turned her head, finding Fuutarou-kun there in the middle of the hallway...with Takebayashi.
"Are you planning to join us today as well?".
"Yeah, why not? I'm still free at least until tomorrow." Replied the redhead simply before extending something in her hand. "Here, I went to buy this for you at the cafeteria. Consider it a small apology for confronting your boss yesterday. I couldn't keep quiet when the guy belittled you like that."
"Technically, ex-boss. Seriously you have balls to do that, I was shitting my pants...though I guess I'm not one to talk." Fuutarou said with a sigh before accepting the object from Takebayashi's hands. "Uh, this is...?".
"Barley tea. It's still your favorite, isn't it?" Said the girl amicably with a smile. "Or did your tastes change too?".
Without another word, Fuutarou took a sip from the straw in the glass, savoring the taste before smiling.
"No, this definitely still tastes just as good. Though it definitely suits Raiha better." Fuutarou said before taking another sip. After that, Fuutarou raised his free hand to rest it on Takebayashi's head to gently caress it.
"Thank you, Takebayashi."
The girl simply let out a tender giggle as she closed her eyes, enjoying the nostalgia Fuutarou's act caused her. No doubt his touch still felt as comforting as when they were children.
An icy blast crossed Miku's spine. As she watched such an exchange, the cold spear of the guardian Cocytus pierced the quintuplet's chest, leaving behind a stabbing pain that made her have to clench her fists to keep from clutching her chest. The cold and miserable air around Miku contrasted markedly with the warmth that the red-haired couple radiated, as if mocking her misery.
I see...a lot has happened since then, but I'm sure that not only me, but all the others are also... No, not only my sisters, her too, I bet everything on it.
Miku looked down.
I guess her seeing only me would be too much to ask... What is the point of taking baby steps if even a stranger comes along to run the marathon making more progress in a few days than I did in half a year?
"Go ahead to the library without me, I have to go to the restroom." Takebayashi announced suddenly.
"Okay, I'll see you there then."
Subsequently, the girl walked out of the scene, leaving a lonely Fuutarou who took another sip of his tea before turning around, noticing the presence of the headphones girl.
"Ah, Miku. how long have you been there?". Fuutarou said starting to move forward. "Walking."
"Sure."
Without another word, Miku started walking behind him.
"By the way, she seems to have it tough, doesn't she?". Fuutarou suddenly commented. "I don't know if it's me or the class likes rumors about us.".
"Eh? what are you talking about?"
"The rumor about Ichika's movie. It spread like wildfire, or at least that's what Nino says." Fuutarou said before taking a sip of his drink. "You're the one who sent me that video of her movie last night, aren't you?
"Do what you want, because I don't plan to lose."
"I want my love to blossom, even if I have to end it."
"Do what you want. Don't feel like you have to be the only one holding back, I guess."
Fuutarou's back was the only witness to the disgusting smile and rotten look that stained the third sister's face.
"Fuutarou!" The quintuplet called, causing the aforementioned to turn to look at her.
"What's wrong?" Asked the tutor, who for some reason he couldn't identify, felt he should be on alert when he saw Miku slowly approaching him. Though he quickly dismissed that thought, I mean, it was Miku, what should you be on alert for?
"I'll let you know something, Fuutarou." She said softly as she walked past him without taking her eyes off the front. "Ichika is in love with you."
Fuutarou was thankful he swallowed the liquid in his mouth or he was sure he would have spit it out from shock.
"...W-What?".
"I think you two would make a very cute couple." With an agility worthy of a snake, Miku stood in front of Fuutarou with her hands behind her back, glaring at him. "And you have my full support."
Fuutarou froze.
"It's...a joke, right?". It was the most plausible explanation he could come up with. None of this was making any sense to him, especially considering...
"No, it's not a joke."
Fuutarou's suspicions went through the roof. What the hell was going on? If what she was saying about Ichika was true, then why was Miku telling him this?
Besides, Miku always had such a scary look?
"Well, They are waiting for us". It was even scarier that in the blink of an eye that expression diluted to her usual bored expression before turning around to keep walking.
Fuutarou could only follow her closely cautiously.
The study session that day was at least heavy enough to make Fuutarou forget about what had transpired earlier in the hallway. He would discreetly give Miku the occasional glance, as if seeking to give himself a second opinion, though, as expected, he found nothing that could tell that anything was wrong with her. Correction, perhaps that made everything all the more unsettling for Fuutarou.
Fortunately, however, everything continued relatively normally until it was time to go home and once again as was beginning to become customary, Takebayashi, Yotsuba and Itsuki walked along the same route before parting ways.
"Wow, the home economics club asked me for help with something again." Yotsuba commented stretching a bit. "Not only them, apparently the basketball club again requires me to advertise to the incoming freshmen."
"You should take care of yourself though, Yotsuba. It's exams soon and we don't want a repeat of last time." Itsuki scolded before snacking on a meat bun. "Since you're the class representative, you should command some respect."
"Sounds like you're pretty popular, Yotsuba." Takebayashi commented.
"You don't say." Sighed Yotsuba before perking up. "But what can you do, I love helping others!".
"As expected from the class representative." Takebayashi said with a chuckle. "You sure take your position very seriously."
"No, it's not just for being the class representative, Kuruma-san." Itsuki corrected. "Yotsuba has always been known for helping anyone in need. And while that's admirable, a lot of times that's counterproductive."
"Well, I can't deny that. Many times they tend to take advantage of people that kind."
"That's right! Yotsuba is the type of person who can't say no and that brings problems, like what I mentioned a moment ago. When we were in second year, there was a time when Yotsuba was almost kidnapped by the evil captain of the athletics club who wanted to take her to a training camp, and days before exams! Can you believe it?" Itsuki grumbled with a pout.
"Who would even think of doing that?". Takebayashi shook her head. "Yeah you have to be stupid."
"Come on girls, don't be so bad." I try to calm Yotsuba with a bead of sweat on my forehead. "Eba-Senpai apologized for that. Besides I also promised Uesugi-san that I wouldn't do it again since I caused a lot of trouble to everyone that time."
"Yeah, Uesugi-kun needs all his concentration with the exam thing." Itsuki said wiping her mouth with a napkin before looking at the black-haired girl. "That was very bold of you Kuruma-san. I've never seen anyone talk to my father like that before."
"I was scared to death!". Yotsuba confirmed fearfully.
"Hehe, yeah, I'm really sorry about that. It's just that I couldn't allow Fuutarou to be treated that way, and judging from everything that was said, I gather that something similar has happened before, right?".
"As expected from Uesugi-san's tutor." Yotsuba marveled. "Yes, the first time she tested him was during our first exams after we transferred. If it wasn't for Nino, he would have been fired."
"The second time...mhm I guess that one didn't count as much, since Uesugi-kun was the one who resigned of his own free will as he felt insecure about being our tutor." Itsuki explained. "I'm sure the reason Father is doing all this is because he hates Uesugi-kun. That's why we moved."
"I guess I'm not understanding." Takebayashi was genuinely confused.
"Well, after Uesugi-san resigned that time, dad banned him from our old apartment. So, since he couldn't enter our apartment, we decided to rent a new one so that he wouldn't have any excuses when we went looking for him to come back!".
"Now that's committing to the cause." Takebayashi said, surprised at the determination of these girls. "I assume the contract isn't in their name since they are underage, right? What does their father think of this?".
"Haha, yes. Dad was furious when we told him." Yotsuba laughed nonchalantly. "He said he disliked the idea, but he still agreed to sign the contract so that we could see for ourselves that this was a bad idea."
"That was until we received our final exam grades last year. Father told Nino that we could go back to the old building together with Uesugi-kun but it backfired on him so we turned down the offer." Itsuki said taking a last bite of her bun.
"It sounds kind of absurd, but we feel that living under those conditions has made us grow up a bit. Even though we know deep down this is nothing more than a temper tantrum." Yotsuba said scratching her cheek a little.
"Mhm, I see. I know what you mean." Nodded Takebayashi before looking warmly at both twins. "It's not wrong to want to better yourself. A job is a good way to get a new perspective. By the way, Itsuki?"
"Uhm?"
Takebayashi suddenly stopped her pace, being mimicked by the Nakano's who looked at her in confusion.
"Forgive me for asking but, you said you were looking for a job that suited you, right? What do you mean by that?".
"Well, you see. My dream is to become a teacher like my mother used to be." Itsuki said, sketching a small smile in the process. "And in order to realize such a dream, I would like to find a job that will help me develop myself so that I can achieve it."
Suddenly, her tender smile decayed into a somewhat sad expression.
"However, I don't want to be the only one of my sisters who doesn't contribute something for household expenses. I found a job online as a promoter at a perfume store, so I think I'll apply for the interview to try my luck..."
"I think that won't be necessary Itsuki." Said a Takebayashi who was all smiles. "I really appreciate you telling me about your dream. And I don't want it to seem like I'm prying too much into your private life, but I have the perfect solution for you."
Holding up her hand, Takebayashi made a card appear from her sleeve with a magic trick between her index and middle fingers, holding it out to the star quintuplet who a bit impressed with the action, took it carefully to read it.
"A-An intensive school?".
"Would you like to work as my co-tutor?". Takebayashi asked.
"Co-tutor? I-I don't understand, Kuruma-san...You work there?".
"Exactly. After I moved, I started working there teaching remedial classes during the vacations." Takebayashi explained in a calm tone.
"Wait a minute, you're a teacher!?". Itsuki shouted in surprise, taking a couple of steps back.
"I wouldn't go that far to say that. Just like Fuutarou, I work as a tutor at that institution." She said with a chuckle.
"Tutor..." Itsuki looked at the card in her hands again. "But working as a co-tutor...I don't feel like I have what it takes, my grades have dropped during the vacations as you noticed yesterday...".
"Teaching something is the best way to learn it. That way the content can be properly chewed and digested, don't you think?".
Both Yotsuba and Itsuki were surprised by her words, as they firsthand knew that to be true thanks to Fuutarou's "Idiot teaches idiot" method he had applied to his study sessions.
"It's true, but I'm not sure. Teaching my sisters is one thing, but teaching a student who needs tutoring is a lot of responsibility." Itsuki said lowering her head a little. "What if I teach him something wrong and he fails an exam because of me causing his future to be ruined, I couldn't-".
She stopped talking when she felt a comforting hand on her head, gently crushing her choke, something that made her tense up a little at first but did nothing to stop her afterwards.
"Aren't your sisters your students when you teach them something?". Takebayashi said in a warm tone. "Besides, relax, in case you forgot, you'll be working with me.".
"But I..." Itsuki looked at her uncertainly.
"If you ask me, this job fits you like a glove. You'll be able to learn firsthand about the profession and develop your teaching skills while reinforcing your own knowledge. Plus, I'll be with you, correcting any mistakes you make, just as you'll correct anything I get wrong."
"Cheer up Itsuki!". Yotsuba said trying to encourage her sister. "This is a win win win! Not to mention you'll make money and the evil Ichika won't have to make you go back to the old apartment!".
After a moment, Takebayashi withdrew her hand carefully, leaving Itsuki a bit thoughtful about her words. Indeed, she was right, this job was exactly what she was looking for, it would be foolish to hesitate now, and to give the girl more reassurance, Takebayashi continued.
"This is a bit sudden, so don't worry, you can tell me your answer later. And if you need to check whether it's what you're looking for or not, you can come at any time of that card and be a listener in a class."
"Kuruma-san...". Itsuki, after looking at the business card in her hands briefly again, bowed deeply. "Thank you so much, I really don't know how to repay you."
"You'll never have to, if that's what you're worried about." She said with a smile.
At that, Ituski pulled herself together and she along with Yotsuba, simply gave her a bright smile. Itsuki excitedly kept Takebayashi's card in her backpack, happy that she finally found something that would bring her closer to achieving her dream.
After that the three realized that they had been talking at the point where their paths split, so they parted ways. Thus ending another busy day.
Or so the redhead thought until she received a text message on her phone and upon unlocking it, Takebayashi read it.
[Uesugi Fuutarou]: Hey, are you free today? If so come to my place after work.
Hello everyone! Finally, after several months I found a small space to upload a new chapter.
I'm very grateful to all of you who have followed, favorite and left a review to this fic, there are already 53 followers and 50 favorites and I really thank each one of you for your support, it really makes me happy to know that you are liking this fanfic. I know it's far from being perfect but I always try to make sure you have fun reading it and distract yourselves from the hustle and bustle of the irl.
I really don't know if I can do this but I would like to give a special thanks to Gazara12 for keeping up with this project, it really motivates me to know that the author of one of the most popular fics in the fandom reads me, thank you very much! Your fic is amazing and really beautiful!
And I would also like to thank the user Kamaiku Ria, for always supporting my work during all this year, it means a lot to me!
As always, your reviews and any suggestions for improvement are welcome. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and hopefully this fic will help distract you during the boring moments of that Christmas dinner (just kidding xD).
Thank you and goodbye.