Shape of the Heart – Four-leaf Clover
By Fox McCloude
Disclaimer: The Quintessential Quintuplets and all related characters belong to Haruba Negi. All rights reserved.
Chapter 10: School Camp – Final Day
School camp site…
The dawn of the the school camp's final day had arrived. Even though he had plenty of fun during the courage test (and just like he expected, he succeeded in scaring pretty much everyone in his class, thus achieving his revenge), his arms still ached from carrying those logs for the bonfire. That day he wanted to do something to minimize physical efforts so as to compensate and rest for a bit.
And he would be doing so, if it wasn't because his cousin woke him up early and dragged him to go on a hike. According to Kintarou, there was no point in repeating yesterday's activity, not to mention that he seemingly had other reasons for this. Whatever those where, though, he refused to tell him; the blond said they'd find out once they reached their destination.
"Hurry up, cous'! At this rate we're gonna miss it!"
"Miss… what…?" Fuutarou gasped for air, carrying the heavy backpack on his shoulders.
"You'll see soon enough!" the blond insisted. "C'mon, one last effort, we're almost there!"
Fuutarou sighed, but having already gotten up there, it was pointless to stop, so he forced himself to go on. For a moment, he took a peek over his shoulder, surprising himself on how high they were. He could barely believe he'd made it all that way without collapsing, though he seemed almost over the edge of his limit.
However, he also saw another thing. The sun was beginning to peek from behind the snowy mountains. At the rate they were going soon it would illuminate the landscape, and when that happened… it'd probably be a sight to see.
Was that what Kintarou wanted him so badly to see?
"Hurry, Fuutarou, get a move on or I'll get to the top without you!"
Snapped out of his thoughts, Fuutarou kept following after Kintarou. Even though they called this 'hiking', it was little more than walking up a giant stairway, and it wasn't actually that hard, except maybe for the altitude and the distance they'd been walking up to that point.
The Uesugi cousins (or at least Fuutarou) had quite a surprise when they saw they weren't the first to arrive to the top: three of the Nakano sisters had gotten ahead, and upon seeing them, they quickly called out for them:
"Ah, Uesugi-san, hey!"
"Kintarou-kun, you're finally here!"
"Morning, Fuutarou-kun!"
Kintarou replied cheerily, while Fuutarou limited himself to just wave at them and try to smile (forcing it a bit in Nino's case). The blond immediately went towards Nino, while Yotsuba and Ichika went for the blue-haired one, each with their respective silly and flirty smiles.
"Nice, you came too. Slept well last night?" the eldest asked.
"Not quite, with that idiot snoring all night." He pointed at his cousin. "But I guess it wasn't a bad night. What're you guys doing here so early?"
"I wanted to invite everyone to see the sunrise from up here," Yotsuba said. "But Itsuki's still asleep, and Miku said she didn't want to come so high, so it was just us three."
"And it would have been just two, if Nino hadn't learned your cousin was coming too," Ichika added. "She agreed to come with us just to wait for him."
"Typical," Fuutarou said, looking at his cousin hanging out with the second sister.
She looked completely different to her usual self: rather than her distrustful scowl, she was happy and cheery, laughing at the blond's bad jokes. She almost looked like a long-haired Yotsuba.
"But well, all that matters is that you're here," Ichika continued. "Yotsuba has something important to talk to you about."
"Talk?" a confused Fuutarou asked.
"You know, Ichika, I'd have preferred a more private place," Yotsuba pouted.
"If it's about those two," Ichika said, "you have nothing to worry about. I get the feeling they'll be too deep in their own business to look at you two. But if it helps, there's a lookout over that side, where you can talk quietly. I'll leave you guys alone for a bit, okay?"
The eldest sister winked at them in an intriguing way, leaving Fuutarou only more confused than before. However, between them and continuing to watch the incoming romance between Nino and Kintarou (which was getting a little too sickeningly sweet for his taste), he supposed it wouldn't hurt to leave with Yotsuba just for a bit, and agreed to it.
Once at the lookout, Fuutarou contemplated the sight. Truth be told, for how exhausting the walk here had been, watching the sunrise from there was worth it. It was a great show to view to begin the day.
"Pretty sunrise. Not a bad reward for coming here," Fuutarou commented, leaning on the guardrail.
"Hehe, I knew you'd like it," Yotsuba said. "That's why I asked Kintarou-san to bring you here. I wanted us to see it together."
Fuutarou gave the ribbon girl a cursory glance. So that was why Kintarou woke him up so early to walk up the hill. It seemed pretty weird already.
Despite that, he noticed the girl was a little… different from usual. Even though she was smiling, Fuutarou realized her smile looked less cheery than usual, and that was evident also in her voice tone when she talked.
"Too bad Miku and Itsuki didn't come too. It'd be great to take a selfie here, all together," she continued.
"They miss it," Fuutarou said, looking back at how high they were. "Hey, by the way… I didn't have the chance to thank you."
"Thank me? For what?"
"For helping me in the courage test," the blue-haired boy said. "After all, you were the one who convinced the theater club to lend us the costumes and all."
He normally wasn't good with words, but he really felt he should say something to Yotsuba. If it was for him, he'd like to do something to repay the debt and make them even, though knowing her she'd probably refuse on the spot.
For now, he stood a few steps ahead of her, and bowed profusely.
"So… thank you very much. I'm in your debt."
"You don't need to thank me, I was glad to do it," the ribbon girl said cheerily. "I had lots of fun too, and if you're happy, I'm happy too."
So the girl said, but his pride wouldn't let him accept that. Debts were a delicate matter for him, no matter if they were small. He could have waited until the camp was over and offer her something later, but something in him told him he should do it now.
Especially since she seemed to be a little downhearted right now. Maybe he could do something to cheer her up.
"If there's anything I can do, whatever it is, just let me know," he insisted. "I really don't want to feel I'm in debt to you."
"Hey, don't exaggerate, Uesugi-san. You already do enough helping me study, with all the trouble that gives you."
Again, the girl's response sounded quite less cheery than usual. He wasn't sure why, but something about that was bugging him. When Yotsuba wasn't acting cheerful and childish, it was because something was off with her.
"Yotsuba, something happened yesterday? Something bugging you?"
"What? No, no, of course not! Why do you ask?"
The girl's chuckle felt forced, just like every time she lied or tried to hide something. She'd always give herself away, and he gave her a stern look to make her talk.
"Yotsuba…"
The girl's look, as well as her ribbon unexplainably, drooped as her demeanor turned somber. The girl kneeled down and started fiddling her finger on the ground.
"Well, it's just… I had something to do, and chickened out in the last second," the girl said.
"And why's that?" he asked. "Let me guess, it has to do with what Ichika said? That something you wanted to talk to me about?"
The girl raised her look, and without uttering a single word, nodded. The Uesugi boy, for his part, folded his arms, wondering what it could be. Something important, or grave? If it were for him, he'd like it if she dropped the mystery and get it over with.
Looking through the corner of his eye, his glance stopped briefly on his wrist, concretely on the good luck charm Raiha made for him. Some would call it superstitious, but even though he didn't believe stories like the bonfire legend, he did believe that a charm imbued with good wishes would work.
Maybe, that was exactly what Yotsuba needed right now.
"Here," he said as he took it off. "You can wear this for a bit."
"What's this?" the ribbon girl asked, her head tilted in confusion.
"A charm Raiha made for me. Maybe it can give you some courage to say whatever you need to say."
He left the charm on the girl's hand. Her face went from confusion to radiant joy in just a few seconds, and she quickly put it on her own wrist, smiling widely again. Now that was better; he preferred the annoyingly cheery Yotsuba instead of a dejected one.
"Haha, I think it really works! I'm feeling more confident now!"
Fuutarou saw how Yotsuba began hopping and punching the air like she was shadow boxing. She looked rather silly, but he preferred her that way, active and full of energy instead of depressed for anything.
After all, if he was going to teach her, he need to keep her motivated.
"Better now?" he asked again.
"Yep, I'm better now!" the girl assured.
"Okay. Now, are you gonna tell me whatever you needed to tell me?"
"Ah, yeah. Well, turns out that…"
"Hey!" Nino's voice called out. "Can any of you take us a photo together?"
Fuutarou saw his cousin and the second Nakano sister holding hands rather tightly, with the girl holding up a cellphone that stood out due to having a bunny-eared case. The blue-haired boy looked around.
"Can't you ask Ichika?"
"Ichika went a little further, said she'd be back later," Kintarou said. "Nino wants to take a picture in a good spot right when the sun comes out."
"Alright, give me that. I'll take it." Fuutarou extended his hand so Nino (reluctantly) handed him her cellphone. Before that, though, he turned to Yotsuba. "Can we talk it later?"
"Sure, no problem. And since we're here, maybe we could take a few for us too. Nino, think you can do that for us?"
"Fair is fair, I guess," the long-haired sister said. "But you take ours first!"
Fuutarou asked them both to get next to the lookout as he framed the photo. At their insistence, he took several of them in varied poses, since Nino didn't seem to find any of them 'perfect' enough, though he suspected that it was just an excuse to take many more. Once he was done, he went with Yotsuba so they could take some from them too, and the ribbon girl was seemingly as pleased with it as her sister.
Even so, as they took the pictures, he glanced at Yotsuba. For a moment it looked like, when they were interrupted, she was happy to dodge whatever she wanted to tell him. Those two were rather inopportune, geez.
What could it be? Curiosity was starting to get the best of him, though not enough to ask for the time being. For now, he'd just leave her the charm and wait for the topic to come up again.
A bit later…
After walking down the hill for breakfast, Yotsuba had been left pensive and distracted. The ski rental shop had yet to open doors to let them access the equipment, and until then she wasn't sure what to do.
The girl was smacking herself in the head for not talking to Fuutarou. She was almost ready to ask him again about the bonfire dance, but Nino and Kintarou interrupting them caused her to forget it, since they were having too much fun, plus having the other two nearby made it much harder. When she explained that to Ichika, the eldest sister understood, and accepted that perhaps it was her fault for bringing them along. So they'd just have to find another place where they could talk without being interrupted.
'To think he was so sweet to give me his charm. Why couldn't it tell him anything?' she thought, glancing at the bracelet on her wrist.
Until the ski hill was open in the afternoon, Yotsuba was still looking for something to do, and since Kintarou had taken (forcibly) Fuutarou with him to hang out, the fourth Nakano sister had yet to find something to kill her time. As for the others, they'd probably be still eating at the cafeteria.
"Ah, Yotsuba, here you are!"
The voice snapped the Nakano girl out of her thoughts, and upon turning around, she saw Matsui approaching. She immediately put up her best smile.
"Hey, Matsui! Need something?"
"I've been looking for you all morning," the brunette answered. "I hadn't been able to thank you for last night, really."
"Ah, it's about Maeda-san, right?" the ribbon girl deduced, and then scratched the back of her head. "Hehe, well, between us, it's not me you should be thanking. I asked Uesugi-san to place you together without anyone the wiser."
"Really? Wow, that was quite witty," Matsui said. "In that case, I'll be sure to thank him later too. I owe it to you both."
"Well then, but tell me, how did things turn out?" Yotsuba asked excitedly.
Matsui shrugged and sighed deeply. That worried Yotsuba for a moment, until her friend smiled again.
"Well, I admit he wasn't as romantic as I could expect. Even so, when I tripped and hurt my foot, he at least was gentle enough to bandage it and help me walk the rest of the test. That was really nice."
"That's good, I'm happy for you. You still haven't invited him to dance at the bonfire?"
"I wanted to, but… I still tried to drop a hint that I'd like him to ask me out," Matsui explained. "For all the good it did; he's too dense to realize."
"Well, don't wait anymore!" Yotsuba exclaimed. "You have to ask him yourself! And drag him by force if you must!"
"Yeah, there's no other choice." Matsui clenched her fists in determination. "I've decided; I'll ask him myself when I see him."
"Haha, that's the spirit!" Yotsuba raised a hand. "High-five!"
Matsui clashed hands with her, and both laughed heartily. Knowing she could give her friend the push to ask her boy out made her forget her own failure for a moment.
Why did she have it so easy to help others out, yet it was so hard to do it herself?
"What about you? Have you asked that Uesugi guy yet?"
"Ah, that… hehehe, well it's just… things have gotten a little complicated and also…"
Yotsuba started fiddling with her fingers, giggling nervously. Matsui gave her an inquisitive half-glare as she placed her hands on her hips, and the Nakano girl was certain that any attempts to lie would just give her away, like always.
"Please don't spread this out, but turns out another of my sisters wanted to dance with him too," she said with honesty. "Let's say we had an agreement on who'd ask him out first and… well, things happened."
"I get it." Matsui nodded. "Well, I'm not criticizing your tastes, or your sisters'. If you guys like Uesugi, maybe he has his own hidden charm under that appearance. Just like my Maeda-kun."
Yotsuba chuckled at that. Matsui was quite bold to refer to him as her Maeda-kun. Maybe if she was Ichika, or Nino, she'd be marking territory with her own boy, just like them.
Though now the topic came up, maybe she could deflect the conversation elsewhere.
"How long have you been crushing on him?" Yotsuba asked.
"Met him in middle school," Matsui answered. "Everyone said he was a thuggish guy, and I couldn't blame them since he always had that scowl in his face. But one day I was at the library, I slipped on the floor and dropped my books, and he was the only one to approach to help me pick them up."
"That was really sweet of him."
"His looks haven't made him very popular," Matsui continued. "But I know he's really nice in the inside, and I like that of him. If only he weren't so clueless…"
Yotsuba nodded. She knew how deceiving appearances could be; after all, Fuutarou was the best example she knew. He had it hard to open up with people, but she knew she was someone with a kind heart in the inside, and with a strong sense of the family. And she did her best to try and make him smile more.
"So, have you made up your plans today? You're gonna try some ski?" Yotsuba asked.
"Maybe later. I've never done it before, so I'll go to the beginner's hill. Maeda-kun will be at the intermediate hill, so I might not see him in a while."
"Well, then maybe we'll run into each other later," the ribbon girl said. "There's someone I need to teach how it's done."
"Good luck with that."
And thus, the brunette went her own way, leaving the ribbon girl alone with her thoughts once more. Truth be told, talking to her was pretty relieving, as she could shake off her troubles about Fuutarou and the bonfire.
There was no point in worrying about it. They could just enjoy themselves and later, she'd calmly asked him about the dance. Nothing could go wrong with that.
A bit later…
Fuutarou had no idea how he ended up at the top of that snowy hill. Once he came back down from the lookout, he wanted to stay at the shelter, drinking a good cup of hot chocolate, but Yotsuba dragged him to ski with her. The ribbon girl argued that only because it was an optional activity he shouldn't skip it out, and it'd be fun on top of that.
"You sure about this?" he asked. "I've never skied in my life."
"Haha, don't worry." She adjusted her green wool cap, which looked like a pair of pointy ears. "If you have troubles I'll gladly hold your hands. You're gonna love it!"
Others could be excited about a girl like her holding their hands, but to him, that image was way too embarrassing. He didn't like having to depend on others, though for important things he'd swallow his pride and accept it.
Then again, fun was never too high on his priority list, but here he was, and since the ski lift was already moving up, that only left him one way back down.
"Well, if I must," the blue-haired teen sighed. "By the way, where are the others?"
"Nino went to the intermediate hill. Said Kintarou-san wanted to show her how to do snowboard."
"Hope they don't end up crashing," Fuutarou muttered under his breath. He knew his cousin well and he loved to show off, and though he never had any accidents of this kind, he never was too careful about it either.
"Ichika and Miku should arrive shortly. Ah, here they come!"
Another of the quintuplets, whom he didn't immediately recognize due to having her hair fully covered under the hoodie, plus she ski goggles, came over, intentionally braking in a way to splash some snow on their feet. When she talked, however, her flirtatious tone quickly gave her away.
"Yahoo! Sorry we're late." She removed her hoodie to reveal her short hair. "So, are you ready, Fuutarou-kun?"
"Not really, but what the heck," he said, seeing a second quintuplet approaching, whom he assumed to be Miku from Yotsuba's earlier words. "So it's just us four then?"
"Itsuki can't stand the cold," the quiet quintuplet replied.
To tell herself apart, she was wearing a white blue cap with a jagged blue stripe, and long strands with fluffy balls on each side. Fuutarou was grateful they identified themselves that way, since the ski rental shop only had suits on two colors: blue for men and pink for women. Otherwise it'd be hellishly impossible to recognize them at first glance, unless they talked.
"Well, if it's just us four, how about you show Fuutarou-kun the ropes, Yotsuba?" the eldest sister said. "You're the best skier among us, after all."
"Yay! Okay, Uesugi-san, first things first, you have to put on your skis."
The boy sighed at the obvious, but he did as he was told, placing the skis on the ground and standing on them to strap them in on his feet. It wasn't too hard; the hard thing was that, as soon as he put them on they slid forward and he fell on his rear, and now he had to stand back up.
"Not that way," Yotsuba said. "It's much harder to stand up with the skis crossed. Here, use the stick to lean on."
"Thanks." He grabbed the aforementioned stick and used it for support to stand back up.
He could hear Ichika and Miku giggling under their breaths as Yotsuba taught him. It was embarrassing, though at least it didn't take him long to understand how to get back on his feet with the skis on. Good, considering that he'd probably be falling on his rear many times.
"Now, separate the legs a bit, bend the ankles, knees and hips." The girl assumed the aforementioned position to illustrate her point, and he followed. "Plant the sticks on the snow, and give yourself a little push forward. Like this!"
The girl pushed herself forward and slid downhill as she screamed excitedly. Fuutarou was left staring at her until she reached the bottom, and he admittedly didn't see it too hard. The hill wasn't too slanted so he wouldn't go too fast. There'd be no risk.
"Okay, now you do it!" Yotsuba shouted from below.
The Uesugi boy exhaled, seeing his own breath in front of him as it chilled, but there was no turning back. Firmly gripping his sticks, he pushed himself forward, beginning a straight line descent. After the first impulse he didn't have to do anything else, for the gravity did the rest and pulled him down.
'Well, this isn't too hard after all.'
Although when he got to the bottom, he almost fell backwards, and Yotsuba had to catch him.
"Whoa, easy there!" the ribbon girl cried out. "Not bad for a first try."
"Yeah, it was even fun," he said in a tone that, much to his own surprise, wasn't sarcastic at all.
Shortly after, Miku and Ichika passed by next to them at full speed, and the latter waved at them cheerily. Fuutarou was a bit surprised that Miku, allegedly the least athletic of the sisters, was such a good skier, which Yotsuba explained they'd gone on vacation to the Swiss Alps once, and they all learned then. Fuutarou smacked himself in the head at the reminder that they had money to spare to visit such places abroad.
Next thing Yotsuba taught him was how to walk using the skis, to go back up without the need for the lift. While Fuutarou felt a little silly walking that way, he could see the usefulness of the method, though he quickly realized it only served on not-too-slanted hills. Once they were up there again, the ribbon girl prepared for another lesson on the correct art of skiing.
"Okay, now I'm gonna show you how to turn around. You just need to crouch down a little, and move the knees and skis on the direction you wanna go."
"Doesn't sound too complicated," he crouched down slightly to try it out. "Is this good enough?"
"Think fast, Fuutarou-kun!"
"Whoa, whoa… aaaaaaaaahhhh!"
He was barely able to look over his shoulder to see Ichika laughing at him next to Yotsuba. That sneaky girl pushed him from behind and sent him downhill, making him shake around a little as he tried to apply what Yotsuba told him before to move around in a little zigzag.
For a moment he got the hang of it, until his feet tangled around and he fell nose first on the snow. Quickly several passersby came over to see him.
"Hey, you okay?"
"Something broken?"
"Bleah… I'm fine, I'm fine," he assured, trying to recall Yotsuba's words about standing up with the skis on. However, after failing miserably, he gave up and unstrapped them to stand up the old-fashioned way.
One minute later, Yotsuba and Ichika came over to see him too.
"Oh my, Fuutarou-kun. That was a bad landing," the eldest Nakano said.
"And whose fault was it, huh?" he protested. "Skiing isn't funny when you're just crashing."
"Oh c'mon, you just need to learn how to turn around," Yotsuba insisted. "Let's go back up again and try again."
Fuutarou wasn't too enthusiastic about going back up again, but at the sisters' insistence he finally agreed, though he spent a while looking over the shoulder just to make sure they wouldn't push him down again. Ichika just giggled amusedly, but fortunately the rest of his descents went down without a hitch, and he finally learned how to turn around and avoid crashing into obstacles.
After a while, Yotsuba got bored of just going up and down over and over, and when she judged Fuutarou was good enough to ski on his own, she suggested they played a little game: she'd count a few seconds to give them a head start, and then she'd chase them downhill to catch them. As expected, she ended up catchin him first, and a few minutes later she also caught Ichika.
Though without explanation, Miku somehow managed to slip away, and she couldn't find her. After a few minutes of searching for her unsuccessfully, Fuutarou suggested they left the beginners' hill and went to the intermediate one. But not to slide down; instead, they wanted to look for her from above using the lift.
"Miku… where'd you go?" Yotsuba asked, looking all over. "Uesugi-san, you saw the cap she was wearing, did you?"
"Of course I did," the boy replied. "Shouldn't be too hard to spot from up here, unless she put the hoodie back on."
"I hope not, that'd be cheating," the ribbon girl said with a pout.
They finally reached the top, but they couldn't see her anywhere. Fuutarou jokingly suggested that Miku probably used some sort of ninja trick to disappear and slip away from them. Both Yotsuba and Ichika laughed at it, thinking that maybe he wasn't so wrong about it.
Once above the hill, Fuutarou looked down to the bottom, and suddenly got a rush of vertigo. The beginners' hill was already pretty fast for him, and while he got the bases alright, he wasn't sure he wanted to go down from up there.
"Yahooooooooooo! Hey cous', why don't you try snowboard?! It's more fun than plain ol' skiing!"
"Unless you're too much of a chicken!"
Turning around he quickly spotted Nino and Kintarou, who instead of using skis were snowboarding. His cousin reached the bottom without problems, though Nino lost her balance when she tried to brake and fell on her butt. She didn't seem to get hurt or something, and he couldn't help but smile when he saw the blond giving her a hand to help her up.
"Those two seem to be having fun. Why don't we make this more interesting?" Ichika suggested.
"Interesting how?" asked Fuutarou.
"How about a little race? Just go down to the bottom in a straight line, and first one to get down is the winner."
"Yay! Sounds fun to me!" Yotsuba exclaimed.
"You guys sure?" asked Fuutarou. "I mean; I can calculate it'd be a rather fast fall from up here."
"Not feeling confident, Fuutarou-kun? Yotsuba already taught the basics; you can do it without problems."
The boy wanted to argue he wasn't so sure about that, but he finally resigned himself. He got in position, ready to descent, and having a little solace in the fact he didn't have to go around flags or something like that.
"Ready? On your marks… get set… GO!"
And with the fourth sister's cue, the three began going downhill. Being a straight line he didn't have to concern about obstacles, and he admittedly found going faster much more fun.
Or at least, he did until he realized another thing: he kept accelerating as he went down, and he began to wonder how he was supposed to stop.
"Fuutarou-kun, you're going too fast!" Ichika shouted.
"Brake, Uesugi-san!" Yotsuba cried out too. "Just like I taught you!"
"You idiot, you didn't teach me that part!" he protested. "Whoaaaaaaahhh!"
Not knowing how to stop he just continued to slide down, and at that speed he took a while to realize he was heading for a small ramp halfway through.
A second later, he was flying up in the air.
"YAAAAAAAAAA-HO-HO-HO-HOOOOEYYY!"
He didn't see the wise guy who let out that holler, but he had the slight suspicion it'd been his cousin, upon seeing him fly through the air. He barely knew the basics about skiing, and if he had no clue as to how to brake at such high speeds (at the beginners' hill, he just stopped upon reaching the flat ground down below), he'd knew less about how to land after a jump like that.
He shut his eyes waiting for the imminent crash, and he felt a sharp pain in one of his legs when he made contact with the ground, before rolling down. His only relief was that, after a little bit, he finally stopped alone, his arms spread around over the snow.
People quickly began to gather around, and even still in a daze he recognized some familiar voices, from the quintuplets as well as his cousin.
"Fuutarou-kun!"
"Uesugi-san, are you okay?!"
"Step aside, he's my family!" Hey, Fuutarou, if you can hear me give me a sign, anything! And don't go into the light!"
How exaggerated; he wasn't in a coma or something. He tried to stand up, but when he tried to move his left leg, the pain he felt from before coursed through his entire limb, making him hold it on reflex.
"Owowowow! I think this time around I broke something, and it wasn't just my pride."
"Whoa easy, cous', don't move," Kintarou got under his armpit to help him get back up. "Yotsuba, give me a hand here, will ya? Can someone take his skis off?"
"I'll do it," Ichika proceeded to remove the equipment, while Yotsuba lifted him from the other side, and the two hoisted him up carefully.
"C'mon, we need to take you to the infirmary, but now," Kintarou said. "Get a move on."
In the midst of the astonished looks of everyone present, they both took him away. Fortunately, it wasn't a long walk, but he already was expecting, at minimum, a reprimand from the teachers, and a call to his parents to inform them of this little accident.
All he could do was pray, in case he did break something, it was just a minor injury and it wouldn't take too long to heal.
That night…
Fuutarou would normally appreciate peace and quiet, especially when he needed to study. But it wasn't the same having it forced upon him due to being sick, or in this case, with an injured leg. He'd have to spend the night at the nursery with his leg on a cast, and hanging over the bed.
He couldn't help but wonder if it had to do with giving Yotsuba Raiha's charm in the morning. Maybe if he'd been wearing it this accident wouldn't have happened.
Just like he imagined it, the teachers gave him quite a lecture for his recklessness, though Yotsuba intervened, saying it was her fault for dragging him to the intermediate hill without being ready yet, assuming full responsibility for the accident. Much as he appreciated it, there were a few things he wanted to tell her, but the pain in the leg prevented him from articulating his words, and by the time the anesthesia wore off, he was no longer in the mood to yell at her or anything.
'How could a school camp go so well, only to end up this way?'
So, lacking a better way to spend his time, the boy grabbed his notebook and a pen, and had been writing for a while. As he promised Raiha he'd bring along some stories to tell her, he supposed he could spend the rest of the night writing down a few tales to read, with everything he did during the camp. Maybe she wouldn't be interested on the fishing part, but she'd get a good laugh with the courage test, and maybe the morning hiking to watch the sunrise. Though she'd probably lament that he missed out the bonfire dance in the finale.
*KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!*
The knocks on the door snapped the boy out of his thoughts. He'd been given an alarm button to press in case he needed something, but he hadn't used it yet. The door was unlocked, though there was a knock-before-enter sign outside too.
"Who is it?"
"Fuutarou-kun? It's me, Ichika. Yotsuba and I brought you some dinner, can we come in?"
Fuutarou was a bit surprised, but he quickly recognized the eldest Nakano's voice. Seeing the hour on the clock, he figured it'd be a good time to eat dinner, so he leaned as comfortably as he could over the bed before greeting them.
"Alright, you can come in," he answered.
Instantly, both Nakano sisters entered the room. Yotsuba carried a small table with several plates and bowls full of food, while Ichika closed the door behind them and circled around the bed to sit on the opposite side to Yotsuba. It was a strange feeling: this was the first time since he could remember someone brought food to his bed, and if it wasn't for having a leg hurt, it'd even be nice.
"With your permission," the ribbon girl said, as she placed the table on him, "we didn't know what you wanted for dinner, so we ordered several dishes for you to pick."
Indeed, the table had a bowl of ramen, another with katsudon, one with miso soup, a plate with gyoza and another with karaage. Truth be told, everything looked so tasty, it quickly opened his appetite.
"Is it okay to have a bit of everything?" he asked. "Unless you guys haven't had your dinner yet, then…"
"Ah, don't worry about us," Ichika said, grabbing a piece of karaage with the chopsticks and bringing it near his face. "Okay, say aaaaaahhhhh."
"Ichika, don't start now, I can eat by myself," he complained, reaching out for the chopsticks, but the pinkette pulled them away.
"Uh-uh, either you accept my terms or you won't eat," the eldest Nakano declared. "Come on, be a good boy, okay?"
"Don't worry, Uesugi-san. We won't tell anyone," Yotsuba added.
The boy rolled his eyes, but as his stomach demanded being fed, he obliged and opened his mouth wide, letting Ichika stuff the food into it. The embarrassment of being fed like that was quickly erased from his mind, as the food was quite good. Nothing like Raiha's or his mothers, but still pretty good.
While Ichika was feeding him, Yotsuba took a peek at the notebook he left aside open, flipping through it with curiosity.
"What's this, Uesugi-san? You're writing down everything you did during the camp?"
"Since I'm stuck in here, I have nothing better to do. And Raiha wanted to hear some stories, so I figured I could write some sort of journal for this trip."
"That's a great idea," Ichika said. "Hey, how about we help you with it? We could write a lot more between us three."
"Yeah!" Yotsuba cried out excitedly. "You'll have many more stories for Raiha-chan if you tell her what we did too!"
"Yotsuba, let's trade places, you feed him," Ichika declared.
Before he could protest or make objections, Ichika gave Yotsuba the chopsticks to continue feeding him, while she grabbed the notebook and began writing down on it. Between the tiredness and hunger, and having no real reasons to refuse, he simply listened to Ichika reciting out loud what she wrote down (which he admitted sounded much better than what he had, upon reading it again).
With all that, he couldn't deny he appreciated that, as much as them coming to give him some company. They could drive him nuts at times, Ichika with her flirting and teasing, and Yotsuba with her childish attitude and penchant for dragging him to do physical effort (and now it had consequences for him), but they were growing on him, one way or another.
That made him harder to think what things would get like once the year was over. Could he really say goodbye to them once he was done with his work?
"Uesugi-san… Uesugi-san!"
"Huh?" When he turned around, Yotsuba accidentally smudged his cheek with the piece of food she was about to give him.
"Ah, sorry!" The girl quickly pulled it away and gave it again. "Here you go."
"Hey, some rice got stuck on your face," Ichika said, reaching out to wipe it off.
And she then began eating the rice grains in a rather… sensuous way, to say the least, before she went back to writing.
The boy caught a little pout from Yotsuba at Ichika's gesture, but quickly smiled again and continued to feed him. For now, he had nothing else but enjoy the moment, and the food, in the company of these two.
…
In the meantime, the other quintuplets were busy outside in their own business. Nino had been the only one among them who got a partner for the bonfire, and now she was waiting for him.
"C'mon, Kintarou-kun."
They agreed to meet when the bonfire tower was lit, but it started five minutes ago and the girl was getting impatiend. Especially since she had something else to give her, a little box she held in her hands.
"I vant to suck yerrrr bleaaaaaagh…" someone whispered on her ear from behind.
This time she wasn't scared; she just giggled before turning around and pretending to be mad at him.
"You're late," she said folding her arms.
"Sorry. I just went to check on my cousin in case he needed something, but Ichika and Yotsuba already got it covered. Though I couldn't help but eavesdrop a little behind the door."
"Hmm… and what did you hear?" the second sister inquired.
"Oh, nothing you should worry about." He shrugged. "They just went to give him dinner, and decided to write a journal for the trip. You know, to have stories for Raiha."
Nino stared at him, letting the words sink in. She had no reasons to believe he'd lie to her or something, but she was still worried about leaving Ichika and Yotsuba alone with Fuutarou. However, as she wanted to stay in Kintarou's good graces, she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, just for today.
"Well, in that case I forgive you for being late," she finally said with a smile, before giving him the box she carred. "By the way, this is for you."
"For me?"
"Some homemade sweets," the girl replied. "To thank you for the save last night."
"Hey, you didn't have to," he said, shrugging it off and trying to push the box away.
"I'm gonna get mad if you don't accept them," Nino threatened with a small pout.
Actually, she wasn't going to get mad; she liked that modest attitude of his after he was so brave when saving her last night. Each minute she spent with Kintarou she found something new to like about him, and today would be no exception. And if the path to a man's heart was through his stomach, she'd gladly walk through it.
Finally, and for peace's sake, he accepted her little gift. He opened the box to taste the first one, and while she was confident that he'd like them, seeing his satisfied expression after eating a few one after another made her heart throb in excitement.
"They're super delicious, thanks a lot," he said, putting the now half-empty box in his bag. "I'll save a few for tomorrow. Meanwhile, I think we had something pending for tonight?"
"Well, the dance already started, and I have nobody else in mind."
"In that case," the blond extended his hand and bowed as he spoke with a feigned formal voice, "would you grant me this dance, milady?"
She smiled and answered in kind, grabbing the edges of her skirt and bowing as well. "It'd be my pleasure."
As she rose she held Kintarou's hand, and both of them walked towards the bonfire. As the next song began to play, Nino waited for him to take the lead and sweep her off her feet.
As soon as they started, though, someone elbowed her in the back; another couple dancing nearby. The Nakano girl quickly glanced around to confront the one responsible.
"Hey, watch it!"
"Huh? There's plenty of space over there, go away," a grumpy male voice replied.
"What's wrong with you? We came here first!" The quintuplet was about to jump him, before her partner held her by the shoulders.
"Nino, calm down." Kintarou then addressed the boy who bumped her. "Maeda, I see you found yourself a partner for the dance."
"More like, she forced me to it," the guy named Maeda replied with a tinge of resignation. "But I guess it's better than being alone."
"What's that supposed to mean?" the aforementioned partner replied. It was a brown-haired girl whom Nino recognized as a friend of Yotsuba.
"Oi, oi, be nice to the lady, will ya?" Kintarou said. "You seemed to get along pretty well during the courage test; heck, you even protected her from me and all."
"If you guys are done talking, there's plenty of room over there," Nino said, making a get-outta-here gesture with her hand. "This is our spot, so if you don't mind…"
"Hey, who gives you the right to…?"
Maeda was about to say something, but Nino gave him such a glare, he quickly froze up and trembled, and immediately grabbed his girl and said they'd better go elsewhere. Immediately, as soon as she saw Kintarou again, her demeanor softened and showed her best smile for the blond.
"Uh, there was no need to scare them away like that," he said with a little chuckle.
"I've told you, this is our spot," the Nakano shrugged. "Now, shall we continue where we were?"
After an affirmative gesture from Kintarou, both continued to dance to the music, fortunately without any more interruptions. Even if she didn't believe in the legend, dancing with a handsome guy would make tonight be all worth it.
This school camp would be a very precious memory for her.
…
As Nino continued to dance with Kintarou and the rest of the couples, Miku had sat alone on one of the nearby stairs to watch. She had neither the talent nor the will to dance, so she didn't bother to look for a partner. She'd rather spend the rest of the camp in some peace and quiet.
At least, until someone else approached the same stairs, but she didn't even turn to see them.
"Is this spot occupied?" The voice asking her seemed familiar, but she didn't pay much heed to it.
"No," she replied dryly. "You're not going to dance."
"I don't feel like it. I'm have no interest in that legend."
"Me neither," the middle Nakano child said.
That was actually a lie. If Miku had someone she liked, she would have loved to dance with that person during the bonfire. Though she wasn't sure she'd have dared to ask him out up front. Or better said, she would have; she wasn't brave enough for that.
After a minute or two, she turned aside and saw it was that Takeda boy, and a strange feeling invaded her. The memory of him praising her horrible stew yesterday was still fresh in her mind, and added to their little run-in in the igloo when he helped her slip away from Yotsuba, made this pretty boy rather… intriguing to her.
"Did you really like it?"
"Pardon?"
"My stew," the girl cleared up. "I'm asking if you actually liked it."
The boy seemed genuinely confused at the question, but quickly nodded.
"I know everyone said it was horrible, but… I don't think it was that bad."
"You seem the exception to the rule," Miku said.
"It was a pity they threw it away. They could have given it to me, if only to not to waste it."
Miku couldn't help but smile slightly. She knew how much of a disastrous cook she was, and if she managed to pull off something remotely edible it'd be a miracle. So it felt nice to be praised, even if it was just one person.
"Hey… thanks again," she said. When the boy looked at her in confusion, she proceeded to elaborate. "For helping me get away from Yotsuba. She'd have caught me if it wasn't for you."
"It was nothing. I just happened to be there."
That being the case, Miku thought it was nice of him to hide her. Even if it was just a game, he had no reasons to help her, yet he did it. He seemed someone nice.
The middle Nakano sister grabbed a can of hot matcha tea and opened it, downing a good gulp to get a little warmer, and then offered it to the boy.
"Do you want some?"
"You sure?"
"It's pretty good for the cold."
The pretty boy shrugged, but accepted it and took a sip. His facial gesture made it seem like it was a bit strong-tasting for him, but still thanked her before giving the can back. Both of them remained silent, just watching as the bonfire continued to burn and crisp.
Miku wasn't good to express herself with words, so she offered him a taste. It was her way to thank him for that little praise to her stew, and for hiding her when Yotsuba was chasing her.
Though a small part of her thought, giving him a taste from the same can… wasn't that what they called an 'indirect kiss'?
The girl laughed inside at that ridiculous thought. Better keep it to herself, as it'd be a good memory of this camp.
…
A bit further away, Itsuki spoke to her father through her cellphone, reporting him all the details of what had transpired during the school camp. Much to her surprise, she was asked about Fuutarou, as Mr. Nakano knew perfectly they'd go to the same camp as him. Itsuki then relayed about his ski accident and how now Ichika and Yotsuba were keeping him company.
"I see," the man replied from the other side of the line. "In that case, I'll do some arrangements to bring him to my hospital."
"Isn't that a bit too much, Father?" Itsuki asked. "I mean, Uesugi-kun doesn't seem to be that badly injured."
"We better be sure. You're never too cautious. Besides, as his employer, I must be assured he's in optimal condition to do his job."
"If you say so." The redhead shrugged. "You want me to tell the others?"
"No, there's no need for that. I'll send Ebata for you guys tomorrow."
"Understood. Goodnight, Father."
Itsuki then ended the call and put her cellphone away, before taking a look around. Discounting that scare she had during the courage test, the camp had gone pretty well. She had plenty of fun, and it seemed the others had too. She was happy for that.
She saw Nino dancing happily with Kintarou next to the bonfire, and the second sister began laughing out loud when the blond boy grabbed her in his arms bridal style to spin her around. Miku was sitting quietly next to another boy on a set of stairs, and while neither seemed to talk much, at some point she saw Miku sharing a sip of her drink with the boy. And while she couldn't see them now, at the time Ichika and Yotsuba were probably enjoying themselves keeping company for Fuutarou at the infirmary.
She couldn't help but feel a strange mix of joy and loneliness. Nino and Miku seemed quite happy, each one her own way, for sharing this moment with someone else. Despite their promise of always sticking together and sharing everything, Itsuki had begun to realize that wouldn't always be possible. Starting when Yotsuba refused to let them transfer with her (not wanting to be a burden to them, that was what she said), and now, each of the others seemed to be getting close to a boy.
To be fair, they were already in the age of getting interested in someone, but Itsuki hadn't given that much thought. After all, one of the last lessons their mother Rena left them before she died, was that they were careful when choosing men, possibly due to what happened with their biological father. Maybe she took it way too much to heart.
'Mom… what would you do right now?'
This school camp would be a fond memory, but maybe it would have been better with someone else's company.
…
Back at the nursery, Fuutarou, Yotsuba and Ichika spent a few hours scribbling on the trip's journal everything they did. Ichika even added a few 'additional details' (or rather, made-up stuff she would have liked to do and couldn't) to spice a bit more the stories for Raiha.
After eating and letting sleepiness take him over, the Uesugi boy asked both Nakanos to vacate the room to let him sleep. They complied, though they refused to leave the door, as they still had something else to do that night. So they waited until they made sure he'd fallen asleep, before entering again.
Both sisters placed themselves on either side, and a few minutes passed before they got used to the room's darkness to see a little cleared. The boy slept peacefully on his bed, both of his hands extended over his blanket.
"It's a shame we missed out the bonfire dance," Ichika whispered. "I'm sure you'd have liked it."
"You should have invited him first," Yotsuba said. "If you hadn't forced me, he'd have agreed to go with you."
"You sure about that?" the eldest replied. "Personally, I'd say we both had equal chances here."
"Don't joke." Yotsuba pouted.
"I'm serious. I'll say it was 50/50 for him to accept going with either of us. Though come to think about it… maybe I could have asked him to go with you if he refused me?"
"Ichika…" The fourth sister gave off a glare, so harsh that even in the dark Ichika could see it.
"Just kidding, just kidding. That wouldn't have been necessary."
Both sisters looked at the still sleeping boy. Pity they didn't have their cellphones at hand to take another photo. Outside, the music and muttering of the students dancing next to the bonfire could still be heard, and it was a shame neither of them could dance with him.
"You know… according to the legend there's no need to actually dance around the bonfire," Yotsuba said. "Holding hands is enough."
"Really?" Ichika perked up. "Well… Fuutarou-kun has two hands, doesn't he?"
"What are you suggesting?"
"I don't know if that legend is true or not. But I do know you want to hold his hand as much as I do. If there's one for each of us, there's nothing wrong, is it?"
"But…"
"Yotsuba," Ichika interrupted, "I've already told you, I don't want to be happy if that means you suffer in silence. I'm not the only one who deserves to express her feelings."
The ribbon girl looked away. It wasn't a matter of whether she wanted to or not; it was more on whether she deserved to. Ichika insisted that she did, but after she was the one to cause Fuutarou's accident with her stupidity, she wasn't so sure now.
All that could have been avoided if she'd been a little more decisive.
When she didn't reply, Ichika grabbed her hand to forcibly place it over his. Yotsuba immediately pulled it back, causing Ichika to groan slightly and try to grab it again by the wrist, but Yotsuba stopped her.
"Enough," she said, resigned. "I can do it myself, you don't have to force me."
Ichika smiled and kneeled on the other side of the bed. When the final song began, both sisters held one of Fuutarou's hands between both of theirs.
"Forgive me, Uesugi-san. It's all my fault you got hurt today," Yotsuba whispered. "I'll make you a magic spell to heal faster."
"Sleep well, Fuutarou-kun," Ichika said. "I know my little sister can be clumsy at times, but she cares for you, and he'd never hurt you on purpose."
Deep in their own feelings, the sisters ended up falling asleep themselves, each holding firmly set softly the boy's hands, with no intention to let go.
…
No one could say for sure whether the bonfire legend was true or not. But many who were asked would say they did hold hands with that special someone that night.
As for Fuutarou Uesugi, all he remembered of that night was having had a rather pleasant dream. A dream where a pair of angels descended from the sky and took him to fly above the clouds, to dance what seemed like an endless waltz. The light prevented him from seeing their faces, but his hands would never forget that warm and beautiful feeling.
A feeling he would reminisce five years later, when he held hands with the woman who'd become his bride.
To be continued…
Author's notes:
Oof, I was quite stuck with this chapter for a while, but I finally finished it. Once again, the challenge was in carrying it out without making it another canon rehash, and taking into account all changes, I needed a different way to truncate the bonfire dance plans. As I needed a pretext to send Fuutarou to Papa Nakano's hospital (so they can meet face to face) all I could think about was causing him a ski accident. If anyone asks, to get some inspiration I rewatched Goofy's animated short "The Art of Skiing", so I couldn't resist including his classic scream somehow. Of course, I couldn't have Fuutarou himself be the one to do it, so plus for having Kintarou there, I guess.
But well, hope you guys enjoy this arc's conclusion. Now, I better let you guys know I'm gonna pause temporarily this story's publication, as I give it time for the anime second season to move forward. The way things are, the Seven Goodbye's arc cannot happen the same way as in canon, since the trigger was the spat between Nino and Itsuki and the circumstances that led to it did not occur here. So I'll give more focus to Yotsuba's entanglement with the track club, but I need to see how to organize the events, and which ones from canon can or should be happening (for example, at this point Fuutarou should begin to search for "Rena" and set off Yotsuba's alarms of being found out).
Okay, I've got nothing else left to say. Thanks for the reviews to TheMist33, Frost, Green and OmegaBox, and to Shadechu Nightray for her work in beta reading and suggestions. And so you guys aren't left wanting, here's a little extra showing how Miku escaped from Yotsuba. Since it was just a rather short scene, I felt it didn't deserve an extra chapter like I did with Nino, but I hope you guys like it. Sayonara!
OMAKE (canon): Miku's Great Escape.
Miku Nakano had no interest in many things. She wasn't a great cook or a fashion victim as Nino. She wasn't athletic or good at sports as Yotsuba. She had no aspirations of being an actress like Ichika. She didn't even have Itsuki's bottomless stomach, which sometimes gave her an edge to win eating contests, if that could be considered a talent.
Thanks to those holidays in the Swiss Alps, she'd learned to ski decently, though that was something all of her sisters could do without problems. And even if she was good at it, she could never compete with Yotsuba.
"She's gonna catch me."
She'd come near the rental building after she slid down the hill, and since she was bound to get caught soon, she decided to take off her skis and find somewhere to hide. She could run behind the building and hope Yotsuba would go elsewhere, but if she didn't…
"Hmm?"
Her look became fixated on a strange bulge near the wooden wall. It wasn't as obvious at first glance, as it was surrounded by skis and snowboards the visitors had left around it, but upon giving it a closer look…
"An igloo?"
Without a second thought, she placed the skis next to the wall and decided to get in it, though she was caught off-guard when she found there was someone else inside.
Or rather, finding said person's rear end, accidentally pushing them forward, and the startle caused her to bump her head with the entrance.
"Ow…" she cried out, holding her head and feeling a lump forming on it.
"Oh, Nakano-san?"
Upon hearing her surname being called, she opened her eyes. The person inside was a boy she barely recognized from yesterday's outdoor cooking.
That pretty-looking boy who praised her stew, despite how horrible it probably was. What was his name, Takeda?
"Ah, sorry, you're not the Nakano-san I know," he said. "You must be one of her sisters, yes?"
"Er… yeah." So this boy knew Yotsuba, then he probably studied at Asahiyama.
Speaking of Yotsuba, right then she heard her high-pitched voice calling out. "Miku! Where are you? I'm gonna catch you wherever you are!"
Time was running out and she needed to hide. So she turned towards Takeda to speak to him with a serious voice.
"Do you mind? My sister… Yotsuba's trying to find me. Don't tell her you saw me."
The Takeda boy raised an eyebrow momentarily, but without asking any questions stepped aside so she could go in. He then got out of the igloo, and she saw how he placed some snowboards in front of the entrance to conceal it better.
A minute or so later, she heard Yotsuba's voice calling out again, and she held her breath as she cuddled her legs together.
"Oh, hi Takeda-san," she heard her greeting. "Did you see one of my sisters passing through here?"
"I think I saw one of them heading that way," he answered, in a rather convincing tone.
"Haha, thanks! I'm gonna catch you, Miku!"
She was barely able to feel a second of relief when she heard Yotsuba skiing away, trying to hold the urge to peek outside. Unfortunately, right then her nose began to itch, and a second later…
"Achoo!" a sneeze came out.
"Eh? What was that?" she heard Yotsuba's voice calling out again.
Oh crap, if she heard her…
"Achoo! Ah, sorry, I'd better get inside. It's getting chilly out here."
She heard Takeda sniffling. She knew he was pretending, but it must have been convincing enough for Yotsuba, as she heard her going away as she still called out for her. Even so, she grabbed her legs tightly until she didn't hear her anymore, and after a minute that stretched forever, the boards in front of the igloo's entrance were removed.
"She's gone."
Miku could finally breathe again, letting out a deep relief sigh, though before she got out of the igloo, she looked both ways just to be sure Yotsuba wasn't around.
"Thank you very much," she said with a little curt, before grabbing her own skis and leave.
A few minutes later, she heard Yotsuba catching Ichika, so she went in the opposite direction. Better for her; while her sister was busy, she could take the chance to slip away from sight, covering her head with the hoodie.
"Stealthy, just like the shadows…" she whispered, making a ninja-like hand gesture.
She was always good to go unnoticed whenever she wanted to, and today it'd be no exception.