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 19: Is this a goodbye?
March, a shopping district…
Winter was gone now, making way for spring, and along with it the moment of truth drew closer. Fuutarou's routine continued almost the same way; as the days went by, he and Yotsuba studied harder and harder, fully aware that the final exams were around the corner. Sometimes, the other Nakanos would join too in order to consult some doubts, since they too were having their own final exams at their school.
By the time the end-of-year exams week started, Fuutarou was still a bit worried. Not of Yotsuba flunking it, but rather the possibility of not getting grades high enough to go back to her old school. Her average in Math was still quite low in the last practice test they made, and she only had to fail one subject to render all their efforts into naught.
But at the moment of truth, seeing Yotsuba relaxed and confident put his mind at ease, allowing him to concentrate on his own exams without issues. He'd done everything in his power now, and all he could do now was to trust her and leave the rest in the hands of fate.
Awaiting the results, which would come next week, Fuutarou hadn't visited the Nakano apartment since the night prior to the exams' start. Having nothing else to study he had no reason to be there, so he'd been helping his family with the groceries, even if it was to keep his mind occupied on something.
"Oniichan? You've turned it around too much, haven't you?"
"Huh?"
On the way back home to buy some food they lacked, he and Raiha stopped by a lottery stand to try their luck. With the spare coins he still had, Fuutarou paid three tickets and already used two, which earned him a couple of lollypops that now Raiha happily ate, but on the final chance he'd gotten a bit distracted, still spinning the tombola out of inertia.
"Sorry, there it goes."
The ball finally came out, turning out to be blue, and the woman running the stand rang her bell.
"Congratulations! The prize is two full-day tickets for the amusement park Nagaoka Resortland! Hope you enjoy them!"
Fuutarou accepted the tickets, staring at them for a moment before uttering a "Thank you" and gesture Raiha for them to leave home. It was getting late and they had to be back for dinner.
"You okay, Oniichan? These days you've been… I don't know, distracted?" the little girl asked.
"Is that so?" he replied.
"Are you worried about Yotsuba-san? You've been that way since the exams, does it have to do with that?"
"Well no, but… truth be told, I have been thinking about Yotsuba lately," he admitted in a low voice.
"Ah, don't tell me you've fallen in love with her! Even when you're dating Ichika-san?!"
"No, it's not that!" he frantically replied. "Geez, why does everyone assume that by default? When are you going to get Yotsuba and I are just friends?"
He was getting sick of repeating it. Was it too hard to think that a boy and a girl who spent time together, including lunch and study, could only be good friends? Besides, Yotsuba wasn't even his type.
Though come to think about it, Ichika hardly fit that mold herself, and that didn't prevent him for having a date with her and enjoy it, but that was another thing.
"The point is… well, when the year's over she'll go back to her old school. That means I won't see her daily anymore," he explained, once he calmed down enough to sort out his ideas.
"Ah, I get it now. So you're going to miss her when she leaves, right?"
"Hmm… yeah, I guess so. At first she was too loud and annoying, but… guess I grew accustomed to her. School's gonna feel a little too quiet and boring when she's gone."
"But you know where she lives, and you can visit her anytime, can't you?" Raiha pointed.
Fuutarou looked at his little sister, who smiled at him trying to cheer him up. Raiha was a girl very smart and perceptive for her age, and while she pointed out the obvious, there were some things she didn't catch. Specifically, even though he could visit Yotsuba at the apartment, he really didn't have a reason to go.
In fact, that was the reason why he hadn't gone back after the exams, and now each left for their own home alone after class. It wasn't like he was trying to avoid her or anything, but… he really didn't feel he should accompany her home if he didn't have a reason to be there.
And that made him feel a bit sad inside.
"Anyway, moving on, have you decided what you'll give Ichika-san? You know, White Day's coming up soon and you still haven't bought her a return gift for the chocolate she gave you."
"I know," Fuutarou replied. That was another thing; even though he hadn't forgotten, between the pressure over the finals and everything else they had to do, he ended up pushing it back too much.
"Though if you ask me, those tickets you just won would make a great gift," Raiha added. "You guys could have another date together at the amusement park!"
"You think so?" Fuutarou asked. "I thought maybe… you'd like to use one of these. Maybe we could go together if you wanted."
"And deny you the chance for a dream date? No way, Oniichan! You finally got lucky to find a girl who likes you, no chance I'd get in the way."
Fuutarou looked at the tickets again. If he looked at it that way, it seemed like a good idea. Ichika would surely love to have a date at the amusement park, so he could ask her out and have a good time together. But there was a problem with that.
He hadn't told his parents that, at the end of Valentine's Day, Yotsuba had also given him a chocolate. He saw no need to tell them at the time, since it was just a friendly chocolate, but he knew Yotsuba also deserved a return gift. If he went with Ichika to spend the day at the amusement park, he'd have to leave the ribbon girl aside, and she'd probably would like to go there and have fun.
It'd be a good reward for all her hard work. The ribbon girl had earned it in full, and it'd fulfill double purpose if he gave it on White Day for the chocolate.
'What should I do? A date with Ichika, or giving Yotsuba her reward?'
It was a real dilemma. He only had two tickets for the park. What should he do then? Pick one and leave the other aside? Find another gift? He'd still had some money saved from his last tutoring pay, but he really couldn't think of anything.
The pattern from Christmas repeated again, and at his current rate, it seemed he'd have to cheat and ask his mom and Raiha to help him by preparing some baking sweets. He didn't think they'd refuse, but his own pride wouldn't let him do that unless he had no other choice.
March 13rd…
The results' day came over, and tension in the air was so intense, Fuutarou thought it could be cut by a knife. Even the path where the cherry trees began blooming that day felt quite lonely, which was expected, as everyone was expectant.
At his destination, the students were running laps all over, some celebrating, others upset and/or crying over having to repeat the year. But Fuutarou didn't pay any heed to them. He only cared about finding one person. She was nowhere to be seen that day, though…
"Yotsuba… where are you?"
Fortunately, he spotted a green ribbon sticking out among the sea of people, which helped him pinpoint her. The girl had her back turned at him, and was unusually quiet. That seemed like a bad omen; if she had approved with good scores, she had to be jumping in joy now.
"Yotsuba…" He approached her, a little fearful. She turned upon hearing him, although her hair was falling over her face to the point he couldn't see her expression clearly.
"Uesugi-san… thank you so much…" she whispered almost inaudibly. The boy then noticed something falling on the ground; they were droplets… no, they were tears.
Oh no, he could see it coming. Maybe she was about to say "You did everything you could, it's not your fault, it's mine for being so dumb" or something like that.
No, he couldn't allow that. He could not see her depressed in any way. He had to say something, but what?
"I really… I really made it!" the girl exclaimed, showing her score bulletin.
The boy saw the numbers. 51 in Japanese, 38 in Science, 40 in Social Studies, 39 in English, and 37 in Math. It all summed up a grand total of 205. By the hair, but they made the cut.
"I made it, I really did!" the girl shouted, grabbing him into one of her bone-breaking hugs. "I almost thought I wouldn't, but I did! I can finally go back with my sisters, and it's all thanks to you!"
"Oi, oi! Congratulations, alright! But please let go, and don't go crying all over me!"
Now he understood; the girl wasn't crying over disappointment or shame, but of joy and excitement for having made it. Okay, he could accept that, but if only she weren't so effusive in such an open place where everyone could see them.
"You two seem quite excited."
Yotsuba finally stopped strangling and twirling him around, and then he realized who'd seen them. Takeda and Maeda had come over, each with their own bulletins in hand. Judging by their expressions, they probably passed too.
"If I didn't know better, you two almost look like a couple," Maeda commented. "But well, if you're celebrating that way, that means you passed with high scores, right?"
"Hehe, yeah," the ribbon girl replied. "Barely, but I made it."
"Congratulations, Nakano-san," Takeda answered. "We're very happy for you, even if that means we won't be seeing you next year."
"Yeah, that's right; you were supposed to go back to your old school, right?" Maeda asked. "Hey you, couldn't you have worked a little less hard just so she could stay?"
"I made a promise to her. Besides, I'm getting paid extra for it, that was my job," Fuutarou defended himself.
"Well, I can be certain you approved, but do you want to compare scores, Uesugi-kun?" Takeda offered, showing off his bulletin.
Fuutarou shrugged and followed suit. Curiously enough, both had almost tied on total score, and Takeda barely edged him out by one point, which surprised both Maeda and Yotsuba.
"Wow, what happened for such a big drop?" Maeda asked. "Don't you have always perfect scores?"
"Too many things in my mind, thank you very much," Fuutarou quipped. "Though now that I check, while Takeda beat me on overall score, I scored higher on three out of five subjects."
The pretty boy was surprised to hear that, and both Yotsuba and Maeda checked the scores, and indeed Fuutarou had edged Takeda out in English, Math and Science, if only a little. The Uesugi boy smiled with satisfaction, as it felt good to rub that fact in his face for failing to win on overall score.
"That's true," Takeda acknowledged. "Well, I guess we can consider this time a technical draw?"
"Bah, who cares about grades now?" Maeda interrupted. "We should celebrate now we're free of studying, shouldn't we? Hey, how about we go to an all-you-can eat buffer after class?"
"Much as I'd appreciate the invite, I'll have to decline, since I have plans for today," Fuutarou said, before turning towards Yotsuba. "Today Ichika will be home, right? I'd like to talk to her, and you, of something important."
Yotsuba tilted her head, confused at his words. Maeda protested over the fact of "not being able to have a Bros Only afternoon", while Takeda simply chuckled as he patted him on the back.
In any case, Fuutarou wasn't lying when he said he had something important to tell her. As important as it was to decide what he'd do with the amusement part tickets he won, and which of the two deserved them more, weird as it sounded.
Nakano apartment, after class…
In previous years, when classes were about to finish after the final exams, Fuutarou would find a way to earn some extra cash in a part-time job. This year that seemed unnecessary thanks to all the money he'd saved as Yotsuba's tutor, which left him with a lot of free time. That being the case, winning those amusement park tickets would come in handy to do something different.
However, there was a problem with that, and it was the amount of tickets. He only had two, and if he used one, who should get the other? It didn't seem fair to dump one to spend the day with the other. Well, the solution seemed quite obvious, at least for him.
"Eeeeeehhh?! You're giving them to us?!" Yotsuba exclaimed. "Are you serious, Uesugi-san?!"
"If I'm being honest, I wish I could take you both, but I have only two tickets," Fuutarou said. "Yotsuba, I know how hard you've been working the past months, and you really deserve a reward. Besides, I owe you both a gift for White Day, and I think spending a whole day at the amusement park doesn't sound bad for you two, does it?"
"Well, that's really generous of you," Ichika replied. "But these are special promotion tickets; they give you full access to all attractions in the park for a whole day. They're not easy to come by."
"All the more reason for you to accepted," Fuutarou continued.
"But it won't be fun if you don't come? How can we have fun if you're missing it out?" Yotsuba pointed.
And so things were. The three had sat around the living room's table, while Ichika and Yotsuba looked at the aforementioned tickets. The argument had reached a stalemate, as Fuutarou argued they deserved the day at the amusement park a lot more, while they disagreed. Neither wanted to go there if he wasn't there with them, and when Yotsuba suggested she'd willingly step aside so they could go without her, Ichika staunchly refused.
"No way," the eldest sister stated. "Fuutarou-kun is right; you've earned your reward for all your efforts. You shouldn't just throw it away."
"But you guys would have it much better," the ribbon girl replied. "Wouldn't it be better, to have a date just the two of you?"
"Yotsuba, tell the truth," Ichika insisted. "Do you want to come to the park, or not?"
The fourth sister looked away. It seemed she had a hard time saying it, even if she could have just said yes or no, although by now Fuutarou knew her expressions enough to guess her answer.
"I… I'd love to go, but…"
"Fine, then it's decided," Ichika said, placing one of the tickets in Yotsuba's hand. "I think there's only one way to solve this. We'll have to get another ticket Fuutarou-kun."
"Huh?"
Both, the Uesugi boy and the fourth sister, raised their looks in unison upon hearing that, to meet an Ichika who was smiling from ear to ear. Her eyes had that mischievous look of being up to something, as if she'd realized something they hadn't, and Fuutarou had the feeling that was exactly what was going on.
The pinkette held up the ticket still in her hand, and pointed to a corner.
"Look at the small letter here: 'Valid until March 31st'. That means we can use them any day for the remainder of the month, right? If Yotsuba and I can pay for your own ticket, then the three of us can go together without any issues."
Fuutarou remained silent. Truthfully, it didn't even cross his mind. But then again, he was so focused about thinking of them, he didn't stop to consider alternatives. Although as far as he knew, those tickets weren't sold in public offices, and he just happened to luck out in the lottery. If he was going to the park, he'd have to pay for a normal ticket and everything else had to be paid separately, which posed a different problem.
"Alright, let's assume you get me a ticket," Fuutarou said. "Do you know where to get them, anyway?"
"How hard can it be?" Ichika asked, in a tone that sounded unusually optimistic. "You just leave it to me, your cool big sis will take care of everything."
Fuutarou wondered what she was up to, but Yotsuba grinned, assuring him they could trust her. Well, at least that solved a problem. Just in case, though, he still had in his backpack some bags with sweet buns he bought in his mother's bakery, in case he needed a backup present should the tickets business fall apart.
…
While Fuutarou, Ichika and Yotsuba were chatting in the living room, the other three sisters listened in from above, leaning on the handrail. The trio down below was too deep in their own conversation, they hadn't even noticed the other three sisters.
"So, those three are planning to have fun without us, huh?" Nino muttered. "We'll see about that."
"Nino, may I ask what you're up to?" Itsuki inquired.
"You know, girls, we haven't done something together since Christmas," the second sister continued, smirking evilly. "Maybe we should go as support, and to make sure nothing weird happens."
"And excuse to spy on them," Miku quipped.
"That obvious?" Nino replied, never dropping the evil smirk one bit. That all but confirmed it.
"I don't like the idea of spying on them, but… you're going to drag us anyway, aren't you?" Itsuki said.
The latter part was less a question, and more a resignation, since indeed, Nino grabbed them both from the neck, starting to murmur something about getting their own tickets, some clothes to go incognito and make sure they didn't notice they were being followed.
Anyway, Nino wasn't trying to fool them, or herself. She just wanted to see what was going to happen, and in the worst scenario, make sure that guy wouldn't have any intentions to do double time with her two sisters. He'd accepted him potentially for one, but more than one? Never in this lifetime.
A few days later…
Fuutarou wasn't exactly sure how Ichika did it, as the eldest sister refused to disclose the details, but the fact was she successfully got him the ticket. In fact, she even went the extra mile to get her an additional one in case he wanted to bring Raiha along, but the little girl had already made her choice and didn't want to interfere with her brother's 'date'.
That and apparently she'd choose that day to stay at a friend's house to sleep, so she wouldn't be able to join them even if she wanted to. But it was a moot point anyway.
The boy checked his watch. Again, following his father's advice, he decided to show up ten minutes before the agreed time. They were set to meet by the park's entrance, and there were two minutes left. If he knew them well, they'd probably show up…
"Uesugi-saaaaaaaaaan!"
On that very instant. Fortunately, the boy's reflexes had sharpened and, upon recognizing Yotsuba's footsteps and high-pitched voice, he stepped aside before she tackled him, grabbing her by the ribbon before she fell face first on the ground.
"Nice try, but you have to do better than that," he said as he pulled her back to straighten her.
The ribbon girl giggled, and right then he saw Ichika arrive too, taking some time to appreciate both their outfits. They couldn't be more opposite from each other: Ichika wore her beret, sunshades and scarf from the last time they went out, and although this time she didn't bring the jacket as it was a rather warm day, the rest of the outfit was practically the same, including the high-heel sandals. Yotsuba on the other hand was wearing a denim, knee-length overall over a green blouse, and her running shoes, clearly going for an 'athletic' look over a 'glamorous' one. Both looked quite charming in their own way, he admitted it.
"Yahoo, Fuutarou-kun," the eldest greeted. "Did we make you wait?"
"Not at all," he replied as he shrugged. "I'm glad you two are so punctual."
"Shishishi, we'd never stand you up, no way," Yotsuba said. "Okay, let's go, we have a whole day of fun ahead of us!"
"You said it, Yotsuba," Ichika said. "So, Fuutarou-kun? Won't you be a gentleman and offer your arms to us?"
"Do I really have to?"
Both girls responded puffing up their cheeks. He could only roll his eyes and extend both arms so each could get a hold of one. Both sisters immediately smiled and held onto him, Yotsuba on the right and Ichika on the left, as he wondered to himself how he ended up that way.
Well, if he was stuck that way for the rest of the day, he may as well enjoy it as long as it lasted.
…
Nagaoka Resortland had every attraction expected from an amusement park of its caliber, both for kids, teenagers and adults alike. There was the rollercoaster, the carrousel, the bumper cars, the Ferris Wheel, and more.
It also had an arcade with strength gauging games, and Fuutarou could get some revenge from the fireworks festival with the bell and hammer game. They made a little show when Yotsuba punched a boxing machine so hard that it got busted, although this earned them the applause from everyone present, even the guy running it. Fuutarou for his part felt relieved they weren't getting any charges for the damaged machine.
The boy admittedly felt silly when they rode on the carrousel, but seeing Yotsuba screaming and cheering like a little girl made him forget it. Ichika wasn't screaming, but judging by her smile she was enjoying herself as well. He saw some kids around and remembered Raiha, lamenting that she didn't want to come. He was sure she'd have had fun too.
'Here I am, at the amusement park with two super attractive girls. Who wouldn't envy my luck?'
Of course, he wasn't complaining one bit. Truth was, being close to any of the Nakano quintuplets was bound to liven up the day to anyone.
The park also had a wide variety of restaurant and food stalls. Those weren't covered by the ticket, but that was no problem anyway. They'd stopped at an ice-cream cone stand, but he was tasting his rather slowly, as he occasionally took a glance over his shoulder.
"Something wrong, Fuutarou-kun?" Ichika asked. "Didn't you like your ice-cream?"
"It's not that, just…" he lowered his voice, pointing out discreetly behind himself, "I get the feeling we're being stalked."
Both, Yotsuba and Ichika glanced in the direction he pointed at. About three tables away from them, there was a trio of females (because yes, he was certain they were females) covered with hats, sunshades and mouth masks. At first he'd paid no heed to them, but noticed their presence either close or in each one of the attractions they'd tried, the boy started seeing a few things, and he had a slight idea of who they could be.
"Do you think they are…?" Ichika asked, in the same discreet tone as him.
"I don't know who they're trying to fool," Fuutarou said, leaving an implicit "yes" in his answer. "That type of disguise went out of fashion years ago."
"So what do we do with them?" Yotsuba inquired. "They're not doing anything wrong, are they?"
"No, but… it's kind of annoying to be stalked this way," the boy pointed.
Truthfully he shouldn't be surprised; the "stalking someone when they're having a date" thing (if it could be called that way) was typical of teenagers. Miku and Itsuki didn't seem the type to do something like that, at least not on their own volition, so it was more likely that Nino dragged them to it. Where was his cousin to keep her busy when he needed him?
"If that's the case… how about we give them a little lesson?" Ichika proposed, smirking mischievously.
He and Yotsuba raised eyebrows, and the eldest sister gestured for them to come closer. Then she began whispering what they were about to do, and since there were still many attractions to try, that helped them decided the next one.
…
For many years, Fuutarou never understood the appeal of haunted houses. Not because he found them scary, but rather because he didn't get how someone could get scared by them, as they looked too fake in his opinion.
Today however, he found a plausible reason: each time a scare came out, Ichika clung to him and yelled a "Waaahhh, help me, Fuutarou-kun!" which, despite sounding convincing, he could tell was a little overacted. It made sense; many girls loved to cling to their boyfriends for protections when the "monsters" in the haunted house came out. While he found it a bit silly, he would humor her and hug her to "protect" her, while Yotsuba, for her part, bravely stood in front of them to "fight".
"Step back, you fiends, no one will touch my sister or my friend!"
She seemed to have gotten a little too much in her role. At the very least, he didn't have to deal with a genuinely scaredy-cat sister, even though they could still overhear Itsuki's terrified screams behind them (they sounded the same as in the courage test, so he had no doubt it was her). Suddenly, Ichika's little plan began to make sense.
"So, we head for the maze's center, and we hide there to lie in wait and ambush them?" Fuutarou asked in a low voice, recapping on the plan.
"Shouldn't be too hard. You did learn by heart the route, didn't you?" the eldest sister said.
The boy nodded. The haunted house was a maze, but to prevent the customers from getting lost (especially if they entered with kids), the entrance had a map showing the route to follow. Of course, said route was plagued with scares from beginning to end, as it was the only way to know they were on the right track.
The center of the maze had been decorated like a typical room where a slasher movie murder had occurred. Shredded curtains, furniture tipped over, broken pictures, stains of blood all over the floor and walls… if he didn't know it was all fake he'd be pretty nervous. What mattered, though, was that there were places aplenty to hide and ambush the next innocent victim.
One of the perks of Itsuki being so easily scared was that she, for sure, would hold back Miku and Nino, which gave them a few minutes to get ready. The plan was rather simple: one of them would lie on the floor where a "blood puddle" was painted (clearly to simulate a corpse) to wait for them. Then when they got distracted, they'd come out to give them a good scare.
Now, to decide who'd play the dead…
"One, two, three… rock, paper, scissors, now!"
Fuutarou pulled out rock, and both Yotsuba and Ichika pulled out paper. Two against one, so he'd have to play the corpse. Even though the girl pointed the obvious flaw in the plan (no matter how much he held his breath and stayed motionless, they'd realize he wasn't dead when they checked his pulse), Ichika insisted it wouldn't be a problem, since she knew how they'd react upon seeing him, and he could always pretend he'd just fainted.
Resigned, he lied face down on the blood puddle, and left his arms and legs spread out to make it seem more convincing. Meanwhile, Ichika and Yotsuba hid behind a curtain and a tipped over couch respectively. He also noticed how the eldest sister pulled out a pair of long wigs (she'd brought those again?) and gave Yotsuba one of them. Due to the lack of light in the room he couldn't see the colors clearly, but he figured what they were about to do, to make the act more convincing.
"We're counting on you, Fuutarou-kun!"
"Shhhhh, quiet, I hear them coming!" Yotsuba warned.
The boy turned his head and remained still, hearing the footsteps and muttering coming closer. The sisters' voices were unmistakable, but the one who stood out the most was obviously the youngest one.
"Stop it, let me out of here!" Itsuki whined.
"C'mon, don't chicken out on us," Nino replied. "Really, how can you get scared so easily, with all this that looks so obviously fake?"
He could hear them enter the room, and he had to hold back the urge to turn around and gaze at them. Despite how silly all this seemed, part of him began to think it'd be a lot of fun to give them a good scare, if only to deter them from spying on others.
"Hey… what is that?" Miku asked.
"What? Ah, must be an actor who plays a corpse. He'd probably get back up to scare us, pretending he's a zombie," Nino said.
"Wait, those clothes look like…"
Again, he did his darnest to stay rigid as he heard them approaching. It was no easy feat, since inside he was trying to hold back the inevitable laugh he'd get upon seeing their faces of shock.
About a minute or so of silence went by, and he dared squint through an eye. He could see one of the sisters' legs, and judging by them being covered in long, white socks, he assumed it was probably Nino.
"N-no… he's not d-dead, r-right?" Itsuki asked. The stuttering evidenced that she was considering the possibility.
"Of course not, you dummy," Nino said, although for some reason she wasn't fully convinced. "He probably got so scared he fainted. Poor idiot, he couldn't take it."
'Who're you calling an idiot, you spoiled brat?' he thought, clenching his teeth to avoid screaming out loud and ruin the prank.
"But if he's here, where are Ichika and Yotsuba?" Nino asked again.
He noticed how she stood up; probably to check the room trying to find the other two. Inside, Fuutarou wished for Ichika and Yotsuba to hurry up, since he couldn't stand just to lie down there and he wanted to just get it over with (and also to see their faces when they got scared).
"Alright, game's up," Nino said in a bossy tone. "Come out now, wherever you are!"
Deadly silence. No doubt they wanted to build up suspense; points for that. When he was certain they weren't looking, he fully opened an eye, and could see Itsuki with her back turned towards him, shaking in fear.
"Nino… what if they're not here anymore? What if they just fled leaving Uesugi-kun behind? Or worse… what if they were taken…?"
"N-nonsense, Itsuki…" the second sister replied, albeit betrayed by her voice. "They probably found us out and are trying to play a prank on us. But it won't work!"
"N-Nino… l-look behind you…"
"What's up? Don't think I'm gonna…"
Nino stopped talking. Again, Fuutarou opened his eye when she was certain they weren't watching, and he could see the scene. In front of Nino was Ichika wearing a magenta wig and butterfly ribbons; if he wasn't aware it was her he'd have mistaken them for sure. They were quintuplets after all.
"You've entered forbidden grounds, Nino Nakano," Ichika spoke with the coldest and creepiest voice she could muster. Her acting gift was shining right there. "You're not leaving this place alive."
Meanwhile, Yotsuba, wearing a red wig adorned with yellow star hairclips, approached Itsuki from behind to tap on her shoulder. The youngest sister turned around slowly to face her, and then…
"It's the night of the living quintuplets! Bleaaaaarrghhh!"
The next things happened in quick succession; Nino and Itsuki let out identical, sharp screams of terror in unison, jumped towards one another and held each other in a hug, as they cried out things like "Don't kill us, please!", "We're sorry, forgive us!", and similar. But maybe, the cherry on top was how, while they were on the floor hugging one another and crying like scared little girls, Miku stood firm, completely indifferent to what was going on.
To break the tension, Fuutarou pulled out his phone to snap them a photo, inexorably saving that moment. The camera's flash snapped them out of their scare, and little by little the cries and whining died down, making way for the chuckles of Ichika and Yotsuba. In fact, and despite the lack of light in the room, Fuutarou could see Miku looking away and covering her mouth, as if she'd been enjoying the show.
"Okay, I guess the prank's up now," the boy said, standing up. "What're you three doing here, why were you following us?"
"We're not following anybody," Nino lied. "We just happened to run into each other."
"Think you're fooling anybody?" Fuutarou said. "You've been following us since we entered the park, am I wrong?"
"We're sorry, truly," Itsuki apologized. "This was all Nino's idea; I assure you I didn't want to come, but she dragged us."
"Hey, don't throw me under the bus!" Nino protested, before addressing Miku. "And you, how come you didn't get scared?"
"I saw what they were up to," the middle sister replied. "Thought you'd do it too."
Nino groaned something unintelligible, but before she could jump Miku (who seemed to still be holding back the giggles at what just happened), Ichika got between them.
"There, there, please don't fight," the eldest sister said. "We're at an amusement park, and we're supposed to have fun, right? I got it, how about we enjoy the rest of the rides all together?"
"You're not serious, are you?" Fuutarou asked. He thought he could handle two sisters at once, but all five of them? That was too much, even for him.
"Uesugi-san, don't be such a party crasher," Yotsuba intervened. "The more the merrier, right? Besides, we haven't done anything all together since the Christmas party."
The boy let out a resignation sigh; he couldn't argue against that logic. But well, the idea was coming here to have fun in the first place so, if nothing else, he had to make out the best of it.
"If I must," he finally said. "Alright, fine. But I guess we should first get out of this haunted house."
"Seconded!" Itsuki immediately added. "I don't want to stay in this lugubrious place anymore!"
With both trios coming together, the group now became a sextet. Deep inside, Fuutarou wished that today wasn't like Valentine's Day, and avoid encounters with people he knew and could misunderstand it. While he could avoid collateral damage then, he was certain that, if he was seen in the company of all five Nakano sisters simultaneously, everyone would think he was some sort of playboy.
That thought terrified him, and he wanted to avoid it at any cost.
A bit later…
Once they exited the haunted house, and since dinnertime was drawing closer, everyone headed to one of the fast food restaurants to eat. Fortunately for Fuutarou, the quintuplets quickly agreed upon going for burgers, and since he had no objections he made the voting unanimous.
Everyone was sitting around a table in open air as they ate, with no worries or rushes at all. As he glanced around, Fuutarou couldn't help but notice the amount of people at the park that day, many of whom had come in couples of different ages, students of middle and high school, and some young adults too.
They seemed quite happy, and something in him made him wish he could have come that way too.
"Uesugi-san? Uesugi-san?"
"Huh?" Yotsuba's hand shook in front of him, snapping him out of his daze.
"You okay? You've been distracted for a while, you've barely taken a bite of your burger," the ribbon girl said.
"If you don't want it, you can give it to me," Itsuki said.
"No thank you." He quickly took a couple of large bites to make it clear he was going to eat it. The youngest of the sister seemed disappointed, as she'd already finished her own burger, but he ignored her. "Speaking of, you girls never answered my question from before."
"What question?" Nino inquired.
"Don't play dumb. Though I really don't know why I'm asking if I already know the answer. You came to keep an eye on me because you don't trust me, right?"
Nino looked away, fiddling with one of her ribbons between her fingers. That was enough for him to know he'd hit the bullseye. Still a bit pouty, she finally decided to look at him in the eyes.
"It's not that I don't trust you… I just wanted to be there in case something happened," she answered.
"Oh, were you expecting something to happen?" Ichika asked. "My God, Nino; Fuutarou-kun is a gentleman, what could happen?"
"Gentleman, yeah, sure," the second sister replied. "He's just too withdrawn to even think of making a move with any of us. So unlike other boys…"
Fuutarou knew exactly who he was being compared to, but he didn't feel like starting a fight using his cousin as leverage. If he mentioned Kintarou in front of Nino, it was a 50/50 risk of either making her mad, or making her daydream, and he wasn't willing to put his integrity at stake.
"Seriously, we hadn't had this much fun in a long time, right?" Ichika said. "But hey, if you wanted to come along, you could have told us."
"We didn't want to bother," Itsuki said. "Though I must admit… I did feel curious."
"Well, next time I'd recommend you should use better disguises," Fuutarou said. "Hats, trenchcoats and glasses? That only makes you stick like a sore thumb. Who wears that in spring?"
Itsuki and Miku glanced at Nino, who turned at them both and pouted, evidently feeling betrayed. Miku meanwhile muttered something that sounded like "Told ya" while Yotsuba and Ichika chuckled amusedly.
"We still have two more hours before the park closes, and we've gone to almost every major attraction," Ichika said. "What do we do now."
"The Ferris Wheel?" Itsuki suggested. "I'd love to see the city's view."
"Hmm, not bad, but… I was thinking about a ride in the Tunnel of Love." Ichika moved a finger over Fuutarou's chest suggestively, making the boy gulp a little.
"Overruled, you can't enter there alone with him!" Nino quickly denied, making Ichika pout.
"Well then, how about something we can do all together?" Yotsuba suggested. "Like this!"
The ribbon girl placed a pamphlet over the table for all to see. It was about an attraction that had been opened recently called "Survival 5", and Fuutarou read it out loud.
"It says here this is a survival-styled paintball game," the boy mentioned. "One of those games where you use compressed air weapons loaded with paintballs, and the winner is the one who eliminates the opposite team. But this one seemingly has special rules, look."
He passed the pamphlet to each of the quintuplets so they could read it. As it said, the participants had to make their way through a forest area to try and get to the enemy base in a limited time to capture it. If they got shot in "vital areas", they'd be eliminated and had to play dead until the game was over. And apparently, there was a special prize for those who completed the challenge: fifteen thousand yen in free shopping at the parks souvenir store.
"It actually sounds fun," Ichika said. "I'm in."
"The souvenir store had a lot of cute plushies," Nino added. "It'd love to take them."
"Hum, I don't know, I don't know. I don't like the idea of letting myself get shot, even if it's just with paint bullets." Itsuki embraced herself with a shiver.
"You need to shoot before getting shot," Miku deadpanned.
The argument continued for a while, but since Itsuki was the only one to have any doubts about entering or not, they beat her four to one on the vote, and having no objections himself, Fuutarou agreed too. He secretly agreed with Nino about the plushies, so he could take a few for Raiha when he returned home.
Once they reached a consensus, the six of them finished their burgers and headed for the park's center dome, where the aforementioned game would take place.
…
"Do we really need to wear this? This helmet may ruin my hair."
"Ugh, green isn't really my color, and these pants make me look fat!"
"C'mon girls, it'll be fun."
It seemed that the staff wanted to make the game as realistic as possible, as the first thing they did was to get them in dressing rooms, to get them into military uniforms typical of action movies, complete with cargo pants, tactical vests, caps or helmets, and of course, protective goggles for their eyes. Fuutarou quickly suited up, although the quintuplets were still arguing while he waited outside.
Once they got out he saw the five dressed in uniforms identical to his, albeit with slight variations. Ichika and Nino had chosen shorts rather than long pants, and Yotsuba went the extra mile and rearranged her ribbon as a headband Rambo-style. Their expressions, as usual, were varied: both Ichika and Yotsuba were very pumped, Nino was uncomfortable as she touched her pants, Itsuki was nervous, and Miku remained indifferent.
"Wow, Fuutarou-kun, you look really martial today," Ichika said, looking at him with an appreciative eye.
"So do you all," he replied, lowering his cap's visor to hide his blush. "Well, we're all set, let's go."
After this, time to pick the armament. Everyone realized there were different kinds of weapons, and despite being just replicas they were pretty well done. At Fuutarou's suggestion, each one grabbed one or two small pistols to carry more ammo, and a secondary weapon for greater firepower. Fuutarou took a submachinegun; Miku grabbed what seemed like a long-range rifle (she probably wanted to play sniper); Itsuki couldn't choose and picked a shotgun at random; Ichika and Nino picked each a submachinegun too; and lastly Yotsuba took what looked like a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher.
"You sure you want to use that?" Fuutarou asked her. "It only has four shots, and you can't reload."
"That'll make it more fun," the girl replied, holding the weapon with a strap. "That way I'll have to use them wisely."
Fuutarou was about to repeat the question, but right then, the entrance gates opened, and they met a jungle-like scenery worthy of an action film. Faraway over the treetops, they could see a huge rock hill with a target on top. That was the goal they had to reach to win the game.
"Okay, ladies and gentleman, it's time to get going," Ichika declared, placing herself in front of the group. Everyone held up their weapons and began marching.
The first stretch was rather quiet; the staff probably sought to give them a false sense of security. After walking for about five minutes, some had begun complaining.
"Ah, sheesh, this is so boring," Nino said. "I thought this'd be more exciting, where's the action?"
"They're building up suspense," Fuutarou explained. "They probably plan to lure us somewhere for an ambush. In fact, there are several spots where I think they could do just that."
"Well, in that case, what do you suggest we do, genius?" the second sister said.
All sisters quickly looked at him. The boy was a bit surprised, but he cleared his throat before starting to talk.
"The map they showed us says there are three possible routes to the enemy base. One close to the river through the left, another through a pseudo-rocky canyon, and one through the center on open field."
"So which would be the best route to get there?" Ichika asked.
"That depends," he replied. "Each route has its up and downsides. The first two have places to hide, while the center one leaves you completely exposed. If we assume there'll be enemies in the center route, someone who can run very fast would have higher chances to pass through it, assuming they can evade the shots."
"I could do that!" Yotsuba said.
Fuutarou nodded in agreement and continued. "On the other hand, the rocky canyon would be the fastest route if we climb over the edges. But before getting there, there's a narrow passage that leaves little room to dodge shots. It's likely that there'll be one or two in wait there, so it'll be a matter of who shoots first. We'll have to get inside with our eyes wide open, and the finger on the trigger."
"And the route by the river?" Itsuki asked.
"That could be the most complicated one. It's the one with the most hiding places. If we go that way, the best choice would be lie in wait until the enemy comes out and ambush them. But there's a 50/50 chance they may do the same with us, and we have the time limit against us."
The entire group remained silent for a moment. The route choice was tough, and in this case there was only a plausible action course.
"Then, we'll have to split up, is that what you mean?" Nino asked.
"It seems the soundest decision. We should go in pairs, to watch each other's back. Yotsuba should take the center route, and whoever goes with her needs to be able to keep up. That of course discars Miku and me."
"I think I can do it without issue," Ichika said.
"Alright," Fuutarou nodded. "I can manage through the right route across the canyon, any volunteer to accompany me?"
"I will," Nino immediately said. "Someone has to keep an eye so you don't try anything weird."
Fuutarou almost rolled his eyes; did she really distrust him to that extreme? He didn't have any weird intentions, and what could he do anyway?
"Since you insist. Miku, Itsuki, are you fine with the left route?"
"It's the only one left, so if we have to," Itsuki said with resignation.
"We'll go unnoticed," Miku deadpanned.
The choices already made, the six of them brought their hands together in the center to wish themselves good luck, and quickly split up in pairs in the directions they decided. From here on out they'd be on their own, and the real hunt began.
…
Itsuki and Miku moved side by side across the river. The sensation of being watched almost took over the youngest sister, as the middle one kept a serene disposition, completely unfazed, even though she was clearly wary of her surroundings.
At a certain point, the youngest of the sisters tripped over with a stone and fell face first in a mud puddle. Spitting out with disgust, she asked Miku to watch around as she went to the river to wash her face. Now she understood why they forced her to put on those clothes for the game; they wouldn't only risk getting stained with paint pellets, but also their surroundings.
"How gross," Itsuki said, squeezing her fringe. "Why did I agree to participate in this silly game?"
As she did, Miku continued to watch their surroundings, her eyes and ears open to any movement. They were in a seemingly safe zone, but she knew better than to lower their guard. They could come anytime to ambush them.
"Well, at least they're not disguised as monsters or something," the youngest sister continued to talk. "If they were, I'd be petrified now."
"Quiet," Miku suddenly said, listening in. The stoic sister gestured at Itsuki to hide and grab her weapon quickly.
Surely enough, less than a minute later, three men with military uniforms, albeit with gas masks covering their faces, showed up. They scouted around the area; evidently they detected their presence. Miku gave Itsuki a look, and made a number three gesture with her hand. Itsuki took a while to understand she meant "On the count of three, we jump out and surprise them", and upon catching the message she nodded, as they both counted mentally.
'One…'
'…two…'
"THREE!" Itsuki cried out loud, grabbing her weapon and pulling the trigger to fire a spread shot barrage, hitting one of the foes who immediately dropped on the floor playing dead.
However, even though it was just paint, the red splash made the youngest sister to become paralyzed in terror, due to the bloody look. Fortunately, Miku snuck up behind the other two and shot them with her pistol in the back. They were also a bit melodramatic as they feigned their deaths, but that didn't matter. Danger was gone as fast as it came.
"Oof… thanks for the save," Itsuki said. "That was easy, wasn't it?"
"We caught them off-guard," Miku replied dryly.
That was true, they'd been lucky enough to catch them off-guard, although Miku's stealth at being so silent definitely came in handy. Both sisters quickly agreed they should get away in case there were more enemies in wait to ambush them. The game was still on after all.
…
"You sure this is gonna work?"
"It's the oldest trick in the book. Trust me, they always fall for it."
Meanwhile, across the right route, Fuutarou and Nino had managed to move forward without issues, until they reached the base of the canyon to climb. As Fuutarou predicted, there was a small group of soldiers in wait, guarding the only way upwards, and on top of these was a sentinel with a sniper rifle."
Rather than take their chances, Fuutarou got another idea: he grabbed a pair of branches and tied them up with vines to form a more or less human-sized cross. He removed his vest and placed it on it like it was a coat rack, and for the final touch they put Nino's helmet on it. Now she was holding it up, as they hid behind some rocks.
"Now we just need to wait for them to take the bait," Fuutarou muttered, trying to hold his breath. Seconds later, he gestured with his hand for Nino to raise the decoy.
The second Nakano let out a "Tch", but complied, and a few seconds later, they heard a shot flying across the air, before it hit the vest leaving a red stain.
"Quick, drop it!"
Nino immediately dropped it, leaving it in the middle of the path. Instantly, the boy grabbed his weapon and kneeled, ready for the ambush. Less than a minute later, they heard the footsteps coming in to verify the 'corpse'. It was all a matter of waiting until they were close enough.
"Wait… wait…"
"Ah, hell!" Nino shouted, grabbing her own weapon and unleashing a single rapid-fire barrage screaming like a suffering soul. Fuutarou had to cover his ears, until the noise finally ceased.
'That idiot…' he thought, before coming out to check the show. The Nakano was standing, completely clean, while the 'corpses' of the three soldiers who came to check in lied at her feet.
"Oh, who'd have guessed? I took them all out?" she said, sounding rather satisfied with herself.
"Idiot, hide now!" he screamed.
"Eh?"
There was no time to think; Fuutarou had to pull her by the collar to get her to cover again. He completely ignored her protesting cries, but fortunately put her behind the rock, before the second sniper shot hit her.
"Why'd you do that?" she angrily asked.
"Did you forget about the sniper? While you were busy admiring your body count, he must have had time to reload his rifle. Standing right there, he could have hit you between the eyes before you could even blink."
Nino wanted to protest, but Fuutarou's argument quickly silenced her. From that position, the sniper had the advantage over them, but only for the first shot, and it seemed that, unlike his comrades, he had no intention to abandon his post. They were at a stalemate; they had to go out and face him, but he had higher ground for shooting. The passageway way too narrow, so they couldn't even split up to confuse them.
"We have no choice," Fuutarou said. "One of us has to run there and act as bait so the other can take him out."
"Well, thanks for volunteering," the Nakano replied, almost pushing him out of their cover.
"Oi, when did I say I would go?"
"It's your plan, you put it into practice! Or were you expecting me to do it?"
"Well, you, you'd be a much smaller target."
Fuutarou squinted his eyes, making a "I'm taller than you" gesture, which only angered the Nakano even more. The argument continued back and forth for a bit, until they finally solved it the old fashioned way: with rock, paper and scissors, and the loser would have to go out. After three failed attempts…
"How the hell did he predict I'd pull out scissors?" the Nakano groaned.
"Hold on," Fuutarou pointed at the 'scarecrow' they used as a trap before, now lying on the ground. "Use it as a shield, that way you can get closer."
Nino rolled her eyes, but agreed and lifted it up again before running off. Fuutarou checked his weapon and waited until he heard the sniper's shot. Checking the time, he gauged that it would take the sniper about five seconds to reload the rifle before firing again, and that was their window of opportunity. After the second shot, he ran off quickly through the passageway, trying to move around the rocky hill's base as he aimed with his submachinegun.
"Gotcha!" he cried out as he jumped backwards, shooting a barrage at the sniper when he tried to pull out a gun after he stood up. Immediately as he was splashed by red paint, he dropped himself as if he were dead.
"Well, who'd have guessed? Your little crazy plan actually worked," Nino said, approaching once the danger was finally over, as she checked on the fallen soldier.
"Hey, what're you doing?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Nino pulled out a gun from his chest holster to place it on hers. "Spoils of war, and it'll come in handy to have some extra weapons just in case. Why don't you check the others in case they have something worth taking?"
Fuutarou though he'd heard groans as they were looted, but as they didn't protest, he figured he should do as Nino said. Maybe, those additional weapons would be useful later.
…
Lastly, on the center route, Ichika and Yotsuba had gone forward without issues. Their only obstacle turned out to be a small group of soldiers who had rounded up to ambush them head on making a barricade. All they needed was for Yotsuba to grab her pseudo-rocket launcher, and a single projectile left them all splashed in red. Neither sister wanted to imagine how that would have ended with a real weapon.
While there were a few soldiers in wait on both sides of the path, Yotsuba ran fast enough that they got through the line of fire completely unscathed, and some even ended up killing each other among allies. Or so it looked to Ichika; they went too fast to verify.
"Hmm, this is really fun," Yotsuba said, admiring their job.
"Speak for you; I haven't even had the chance to shoot anything," Ichika chuckled. "Should you have wasted it that way? Fuutarou-kun said we should save it for the end."
"I still have three more shots," Yotsuba replied. "And I haven't used the small guns yet."
Both sisters kept going forward. Having gotten rid of the enemies, they could go with relative ease to join the rest in the intersection point. The game was turning out to be quite exciting and fun, but Ichika still had other things in her mind.
"Hey, Yotsuba," she called, stopping her in her tracks. Once her sister turned around, she took a deep breath before asking the question. "You sure you're fine with this? I mean, you could have agreed to come alone with Fuutarou-kun. I mean, he wanted to reward you for passing all the subjects."
"I'd have liked that," Yotsuba admitted. "But wouldn't it be better, to have another date? You said you had a good time on the first one."
Except for the finale, when they uncovered that mess with the swimming club and had to find the way to bail her out. She couldn't deny she had fun, and from what she saw, so did Fuutarou, but Ichika could tell he wasn't 100% attentive all the time. At the time, she figured it was because it'd been his first time asking out a girl, and he was nervous at the lack of experience, but now... Ichika suspected something else at play.
"Yotsuba, tell me the truth… are you sure you don't wanna try?" she asked very seriously. "Is it okay that you're just friends with him? I mean, I really like him and I'd love to date him for real… but I don't know whether he feels the same for me or not."
"Ah, just give him some time. I'm sure he'll fall for you once you spend more time together and get to know each other. He needs someone as mature as him, not a grown up child like me."
Ichika hated how Yotsuba self-depreciated that way. Truly, she did still have some childish habits, like being playful and still wearing her bear panties from middle school. But she didn't think Yotsuba was any less mature, or attractive. Being sister, the eldest could acknowledge each of them had developed her own charm, and Yotsuba was no exception.
Besides, Ichika wasn't really as 'mature' as Yotsuba made her out to be. She too had her moments and childish quirks, so she doubted that could be an important factor. All she had on her favor was that Fuutarou had given no signs of being in love with her sisters, but with him being so guarded and closed about his feelings, it was hard to tell what he thought or felt at times. She'd have to find the way to bring it out to be sure.
"Okay, let's hurry, we need to get to the others! Let's go!" the girl with the ribbon-turned-headband declared enthusiastically, before running off.
Ichika ran after her, finally deciding to shake those ideas off of her mind. If Yotsuba had already made up her mind, she had too. Knowing that, once the classes were over, they wouldn't meet as often, that would leave the path clear for Ichika to court him.
And that, for some reason, didn't quite make her as happy as it should have.
...
The three teams finally reached the hill where the enemy base was. Yotsuba and Ichika were the first to arrive as they took the shortest route, but they didn't have to wait longer than five minutes, as shortly after Miku and Itsuki arrived from one side, and Fuutarou and Nino from the other.
"Oh, that's great!" Yotsuba exclaimed. "We all made it!"
"Oof, it's great that nobody got hurt," Itsuki said with relief. "You know, this turned out to be more fun than we thought."
"Well, this guy here turned out to be a good ally," Nino said, pointing towards Fuutarou, who burrowed his mouth at the implication. "At least, he had the decency to watch out for my back after sending me as bait for the enemy."
"Why do you complain? We both came out unscathed, didn't we?" he defended himself.
"Yeah, but if it'd been Kintarou-kun, I bet he would have volunteered for it," the second sister replied.
"There, there, calm down," Ichika stepped in. "What matters is that we made it here, and we're about to win."
"We'll see about that! Nobody moves!"
Immediately, the sound of multiple voices drowned by gas masks resounded everywhere. Around them appeared several enemy soldiers, who aimed their weapons at them. Everyone gathered up, clenching their own, not daring to move.
"I admit you've done well, but this is as far as you go," the one who seemed the leader stated. Instead of a cap or helmet, he wore a beret with a commander insignia. "Get ready!"
"Listen…" Fuutarou muttered, ignoring the enemy soldiers. "On my cue, we all spread out and open fire together. Someone will have to survive."
"Is that all your plan, genius?" Nino asked.
"As long as one of us makes it to the base, it'll be enough," Fuutarou insisted. "We have no choice, and maybe we can take out a few of them in the process."
"Aim!"
"Let's do what he says!" Yotsuba replied. "Uesugi-san, on the count of three?"
Fuutarou nodded, while the others followed suit. "One… two…"
"FIRE!"
"THREE!"
Immediately, all hell broke loose in a flurry of shots. Fuutarou's plan half-worked: when they ran off as they fired they managed to take down about half the enemy group, but Itsuki tripped over, and the survivors immediately targeted her without hesitation.
"Itsuki!" Nino shouted, trying to double back to get her.
That was a mistake; a single moment of hesitation costed her getting a flurry of shots, and she had to drop herself as she cried "Oh, why me?! What a drag!". The other four ran to take cover, but Miku straggled and they quickly saw her as an easy picking, taking several projectiles to her back.
"Miku, no!" Ichika exclaimed.
"Go on… you have to… win…" the middle sister muttered before 'dying'.
The remaining three exchanged glances, but quickly realized that they couldn't let the 'sacrifices' of the other three be in vain. Time was still running against them, so they immediately started climbing the rocky hill towards the goal.
A quick glance let them know most of the enemies had come down to intercept them on the bottom of the hill, and only three stayed on the top to defend their high ground. However, these three had the advantage and could shoot at them from there with relative ease, and as they did that, the ones from below could come and chase them.
"Drat, it seems we're trapped here," Ichika said, hidden behind a rock to shield herself from the shots coming from above. "How do we get up there?"
"We don't have to." Fuutarou pointed at the target on top of the hill. "We need to either reach the top or take that target down, right? All we need to do is get close enough to get a good shooting position to fire at it."
"But where from?" Yotsuba asked.
Fuutarou quickly surveyed the terrain. There was a ledge at the other side, much closer to the top of the hill, and it could be a better position to shoot at the target. It also offered nice cover from enemy shots, and it seemed like the sentinels above wouldn't leave their post to halt their advance.
"Yotsuba, how's the rocket launcher you grabbed?" asked Fuutarou.
"Still has three shots left," Yotsuba replied, holding up the aforementioned weapon. The boy smiled pleasantly; they only needed one good shot.
"Alright, go to that ledge over there and shoot the target. Ichika, you cover her from the shots above."
"And what will you do?" the eldest sister asked.
"Keep the guys below at bay, so they won't give us any trouble. Don't worry, I'm sure I can handle them from here."
Both sisters exchanged glances, but finally nodded and decided to trust him. They waited until the shots stopped from above and both ran ahead. Meanwhile, Fuutarou saw the enemies coming from down below, and immediately placed a long loader on his weapon.
"Okay, gentlemen, you want a piece of me? Let's see how you like this!"
Immediately he emptied the rounds on his enemies, blasting them mercilessly. He eliminated over half of them and forced the rest to pull back. Truly, it felt weird to be enjoying that little game, and not because the red paint made them look like he was leaving them with more holes than a strainer. He had this strange drive to win, beyond the prize of getting some souvenirs for his little sister.
Meanwhile, Yotsuba and Ichika got to the ledge avoiding enemy gunfire above, as Fuutarou continued to contain the ones below. Just as the boy told them, they took cover on the ledge, and Yotsuba placed the rocket launcher on her shoulder ready to aim.
"Target locked on… FIRE!"
However, the red paint sphere flew above the target, missing it altogether. The girl's shouting quickly alerted the sentinels, who immediately switched tactics and began making signs. None of them had any clue what they were up to, but Yotsuba quickly got ready to fire the second projectile.
From below, Fuutarou still kept the soldiers at bay. He was lucky that Nino convinced him to take the war spoils from their enemies (conveniently, they used the same gun model as him), which gave him extra ammo to blast them all. It was then he noticed that one of the few survivors was running away from the group for some reason.
And as he squinted his eyes, quickly realized what he was going to do: he was aiming with a sniper rifle at Ichika and Yotsuba, and they hadn't noticed yet.
"Yotsuba, Ichika, watch your backs!" he shouted trying to warn them.
Fuutarou's cry quickly startled them, although Yotsuba managed to launch the second shot from her rocket launcher, which quickly overshot the target from above. It all happened in the blink of an eye: the enemy below was targeting Yotsuba's back and Fuutarou ran off, unsure exactly as to why, to get in the bullet's way.
And he took it. It was just one, and despite it nor being deadly it surely did hurt; maybe he shouldn't have removed his vest when he went with Nino. After the impact, acting like he'd taken a real bullet to the chest wasn't too hard.
"Uesugi-san, no!" he heard Yotsuba cry.
"Fuutarou-kun! You'll pay for that!"
From where he was (he'd kept his eyes wide open) he saw how the sniper took several shots from above and was felled. Seemingly, the eldest sister was taking the game a little seriously and decided to avenge his 'death' by shooting at his 'killer'.
"Yotsuba, hurry!" Ichika exclaimed. "We need to win to avenge Fuutarou-kun and the others!"
"But I only have one shot left!" Yotsuba replied.
"Then make it count! Don't miss this time, hurry up!"
Ichika and Yotsuba we're screaming like he'd been killed for real. If it wasn't because he was supposed to play dead until the game was over, he'd tell them not to overact that way. But he couldn't do anything now, just hope for the best.
Above on the ledge, Ichika had started firing like mad, both to the sentinels above and the survivors below. Yotsuba meanwhile was trying to lock on well on the target with the rocket launcher. Just as Ichika said, she only had one shot left and she had to make it count.
"Come on… please hit it… you can do it!"
She pressed the trigger, and much to her excitement, this time around the target was hit dead in the center. Upon getting the impact, it fell backwards, and immediately a spray of confetti and streamers flew off from the enemy hill, as a victory fanfare music played.
"Congratulations, the game has been completed! Great work!"
"We won?" Yotsuba asked. "We won, Ichika, we did it!"
"Nice shot, Yotsuba!" the eldest sister congratulated her.
Apparently, with that cue all participants involved saw there was no need to continue playing dead. Fuutarou was approached by some of the soldiers whom he had 'killed' a few seconds ago, while others went after the Nakano sisters who fell near the bottom of the hill. He heard Nino complain over how the paint ruined her hair, but it was drowned by Yotsuba's victory cries, as she was jumping triumphantly along with Ichika on the hill's upper part.
The latter was just laughing, although for a brief moment she turned towards him, and winked as she flashed a V-Sign at him. He for his part smiled, giving her a thumbs up as the staff guided him and the Nakanos to a place where they could get changed, as well as wash out the paint stains they still had.
It'd been quite a mad game, but it was pretty fun, and the fact he won a great prize was just a plus to it.
At the end of the day…
Dusk was already falling by the time Fuutarou and the quintuplets left the park. It was strange, but despite everything they did, he didn't feel any fatigue. The boy wasn't sure whether that was because he'd been working out physically, or just a side effect of having fun without any worries in his head. Probably it was a bit of both.
"Wow, today was amazing!" Yotsuba said. "We hadn't had this much fun in years, had we?"
"I would have liked only the five of us," Nino said. "No offense to the present company, obviously."
"None taken," the boy replied.
"Come on, Nino. Remember it was thanks to Fuutarou-kun's sacrifice we won that game, right?" Ichika said.
The boy gave a glance to Nino, or rather, to her bag full of plush dolls from the souvenir shop. He smirked in a way that could easily mean a non-verbal "You owe me those", and the girl's frown made it clear she interpreted it that way.
"That's right!" Yotsuba said. "Who'd have guessed Uesugi-san was a genius not only for studies, but for these games? We owe you our victory today!"
"Don't even think about tossing me in the air, thank you very much," the boy said, holding up his own souvenir bag. "I've got enough reward with these plush dolls for Raiha."
The ribbon girl pouted slightly, as if she'd just been spoiled on something, while the other sisters laughed. Even the quiet Miku couldn't hide a slight smile; she had a great time too.
Right then, as they headed to the bus stop, a very familiar black luxurious car stopped in front of them. The driver's door opened up, letting out a rather old-looking old man who respectfully bowed before them, and whom the sisters quickly recognized.
"Ebata-san?" Ichika was the first to talk.
"Good evening, young ladies," he greeted them, opening the door for the backseats. "Your father sent me to pick you up to take you back home."
"All the better for us; saves us the money for the bus," Nino said. "C'mon girls, everyone get in!"
The quintuplets quickly got into the vehicle one after another. Fuutarou remained still, but much to his surprise, Ebata didn't close the doors once the five were seated, instead addressing him.
"Young Uesugi, if you wish, I can give you the ride to your residence as well," he said courteously.
"Really? Well, since you insist. With your permission."
Even though the car was longer than average, Fuutarou had to admit that it looked notably more spacious inside than it looked outside. The six fit in there without any problems, with him sitting comfortably between Yotsuba and Ichika, while Nino, Miku and Itsuki sat in front of them. The eldest and fourth sisters seemed quite pleased to have him come along for the ride.
Said ride was no big deal; they spent all the while commenting about everything they did at the amusement park and how much they'd love to do it again. The sisters were notably cheery, and it was no surprise considering how much they wanted to spend time all together. That gave Fuutarou a wave of mixed feelings. They really were close as family, and despite being so different, they still remained identical in many aspects beyond having the same faces.
'You finally did it. You fulfilled your promise to help them be all together,' he thought.
He didn't intervene on the chatter at all; he was content with listening in to the comments of each, like how Nino wanted to bring Kintarou the next time they came, or how Miku and Itsuki should get someone special to bring for company and have more fun. In fact, he was so entertained he didn't notice they'd reached his destination.
"We're here, young Uesugi," Ebata called.
"Huh? Ah, of course, thanks for the ride," he said as he opened the door and prepared to exit.
"Um, Ebata-san, can you wait for me a moment?" Yotsuba asked. "I'd like to talk a few things with Uesugi-san."
The other sisters, barring Ichika, gave her strange looks. Maybe they were wondering what she wanted to talk about, but he had a slight idea. As for the eldest, she didn't utter a word, limiting herself to give a nod as a way to say "Go ahead".
Fuutarou exited the car and Yotsuba accompanied him to the entrance of his apartment. They stopped there and the girl finally started the conversation.
"Well… today was a great day, wasn't it?" she said, scratching the back of her head. "We had plenty of fun, didn't we?"
"Yeah, I guess so. It's been ages since I last went to an amusement park, after all," Fuutarou replied. "Though I never imagined I'd spent the whole day with the five of you at once."
"Hehe, sorry about that," Yotsuba apologized. "Never thought they'd follow us."
The two momentarily remained silent, as if thinking about what to say next. Actually, he knew exactly what they were about to talk, he just needed to sort out his thoughts and find the right words.
"I can't believe how fast these months flew," Yotsuba said. "Tomorrow's the year closure ceremony."
"I know," the boy said. "You gave me plenty of headaches, but in the end we achieved our goal. Now the five of you can be together again."
"I'm really, really grateful to you." The girl bowed deeply in gratitude. "I know I wouldn't have made it without you."
"Hey, don't forget your own efforts," he said, patting her on the head. "Come on, stand proud and raise your head high."
The girl complied. Looking her into the eyes he noticed they looked a bit watery, but she was struggling to avoid crying. He better said something before she did.
"So… this means my work as a tutor is complete. To be honest… I think school's gonna feel boring when you leave. I'm… going to miss you a bit."
"Haha, hey, you don't have to," the girl said with a smile. "You have my number, and you can always come visit me home. Besides, you'll want to come see Ichika too, right?"
"Hmm… yeah, I guess," Fuutarou said. "Even so…"
He was having a hard time finding what he wanted to say. No, actually he knew what he wanted to say: despite difficulties, being her tutor was fun, and he was happy for meeting her. Now he was going to miss her because he wouldn't see her daily, and he wouldn't have a real reason to go to her apartment other than simple whim.
"Today was a wonderful day, really," Yotsuba said. "I have no regrets; I'm really happy for everything we did together. Thank you for helping me this whole time, I don't know how I can repay you."
"Don't slack off on your studies and we'll be even," he replied. "Besides… I should thank you as well. Before I met you, I shut into myself and my studies. I hadn't realized how boring my life had become. But then you showed up and… well, you have no idea how much you livened it up."
So it was. His life had become a predetermined routine for years. Even though he'd convinced himself that he was doing the right thing, doing it for his family, he left aside a lot of good things, wanting to become an adult before his time. He was just going through the day-by-day, but he wasn't actually living. It was like walking through a long and dark tunnel in a single direction.
And then Yotsuba came to his life. While at first he saw her as an overgrown child, and too loud for his taste, she ended up becoming a light at the end of that tunnel. She brought a lot of joy to his school life, and despite everything she made him go through, she graduated from being his student to become the best friend he'd ever had. Even if they only had over half a year of knowing each other, he'd never felt so close to anybody like he did her.
"Well, I'm sure you'll be fine without me. You have new friends now, right? Maeda-san and Takeda-san. You won't feel so lonely with them to keep you company."
"Guess not," he admitted. But even if that was the case, he felt it wouldn't be the same. Yotsuba was… Yotsuba, after all.
Right then, the car's horn went off down below. They were probably telling her to hurry so they could leave. He couldn't help but feel a little annoyed, couldn't they wait one or two more minutes?
"Well, guess we'll meet tomorrow at school," the ribbon girl said. "Thanks again for today. We made many great memories, and I'll always treasure them. Bye, Uesugi-san!"
And without further ado, the girl ran off downstairs to head for her car. Fuutarou stood there watching her all the way, never looking away from the car even after it started and drove away. He still hadn't made a move to enter his house.
He'd completed his job as tutor, achieved the goal they'd set, and fulfilled the promise of helping Yotsuba reunite with her sisters. Then, why did he feel now a void inside? After all, she did say it herself: he could still visit or phone her.
'Because she won't need you anymore. That's why you feel this way.'
So it was. If he'd fulfilled his job as tutor, it meant now she could and had to go on her own. And even if he should be happy and proud about it, part of him would have liked to continue walking the same path as her, if only for the rest of high school.
His senior year was going to be very boring without her to liven up the days.
To be continued…
Author's notes:
How's it going, people? Okay, the story still keeps going. I ended up posting this chapter a little sooner than expected; these days I've felt more inspired to write and I've done a few breakthroughs. To be sincere, this one turned out pretty hard and had me do quite a few loops, partly because I originally wanted to do a White Day-themed chapter (counterpart to the Valentine's Day one) followed by another centered on the end of the school year with Fuutarou and the quints going to the amusement park to celebrate, but when I saw the timeline according the the Japanese school year, I had to merge them into a single chapter, resulting in a rather long one.
While I did have fun writing it, I think in the end it feels like a bit of heavy filler, especially considering that it was just to wrap up the second year's events and showing the main cast having fun all together (not to mention I wanted to give equal protagonism to Yotsuba and Ichika). The survival game may come off as familiar to those who during the later 90s and early 2000s saw the You're Under Arrest! anime, as I based on one of those episodes with a similar theme. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it, it's a classic that doesn't deserve to be forgotten.
Now, considering that after this comes the equivalent to the Scrambled Eggs arc (and everything that implies), you guys better strap yourself. This is now where I'm really tuning up the engines to solve the love triangle, and also set off the secondary plots for the other quints (I can finally give some attention to my dear Miku). The next important station will obviously be the Kyoto trip, and while there's not gonna be a Sisters' War, trust me when I say we'll have drama aplenty, although the trigger will start from the next two chapters after this one. I think any fan of the series will know exactly what I'm talking about, but of course between that and the Kyoto climax there's still a long way and lots of events to go.
Thanks for the reviews a Honored Oak, SolarHistorian and TheMist33 in the previous chapter, and also bobalon, whom I hope will catch up soon. Also, thanks to my fellow writers on the Discord server, who really help me with their feedback and ideas exchange too. Heads up; the next chapter may take a while to be posted, since I will pause this story to write an AU oneshot starring Fuutarou and Miku, of a scenario I would have liked to see between them, and I hope you guys find fun. Until next time and as usual, sayonara!