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 26: Birthday Surprises
Nakano apartment…
After the match against Honmoku Higashi, the plan was to head to their apartment for the birthday party. However, when they returned home, after a short stop at the Uesugi home to pick up Raiha and the presents, they realized there was still a little problem.
"Why did you wait until the last minute to decorate?" Fuutarou complained, as he hung a few balloons and streamers on the second floor's handrail.
"That's part of the excitement, Fuutarou-kun," said Ichika. "The excitement of getting everything ready for the celebration. Of course, that also includes cleaning up the mess afterwards."
"I don't know if you're the best to talk about that," the boy said.
While Fuutarou and Ichika were decorating upstairs, the rest was taking care of their own business to contribute to the party. Nino was in the kitchen, preparing dinner and snacks. Itsuki was hanging the decorations on the windows. Miku was entertaining Raiha, playing on the videogame console. And last but not least, Yotsuba was moving the furniture to clear off the living room and have more space.
Seeing the boy above helping them, the ribbon girl couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty. Due to the hype for her volleyball match, they neglected their birthday celebration, and now they were having to run around to get everything done. Luckily for them, the afternoon was still young and they had plenty of time to spare. They'd make sure to have the best of the parties ever.
"Done, I finished here!" she said, dropping herself on the couch, next to Miku and Raiha who were having an ongoing match on the console.
They were playing a racing game with transforming vehicles, alternating between cars, boats and jets. They were in the circuit's final lap, and Raiha seemed to have a huge lead, but Miku was completely relaxed, and the fourth sister knew exactly why.
"This time I'm gonna win, Miku-san!" the little girl celebrated when she entered the final stretch.
"Don't count on that," the middle Nakano replied.
And while she was too behind, Miku did a series of dangerous drift maneuvers that, had she missed, would have knocked her off the track and crash, losing irremediably. But her tight accuracy helped her regain a few seconds, before passing over a turbo platform and fire a missile straight to the front, striking Raiha right when she was about to cross the finish line.
"Aw no!" the little girl exclaimed when Miku overtook her, winning the race. "I can't believe it, you beat me again! You're really good at this!"
"Haha, Miku may not seem like it, but she's an excellent gamer. Not just in Sengoku Wars Online, right?"
"It's one of the few things I'm good at," she said with modesty. "Should we play something else?"
"Okay," said Raiha. "Yotsuba-san, wanna play with us?"
"Sure! How about a few bouts in the Smash? We can be two versus one against Miku!"
"Wouldn't that be unfair?" Raiha asked.
"It would… for you two," said Miku.
Yotsuba had played Miku enough times that she wasn't just boasting, but little Raiha seemingly took it as a challenge. It didn't take long before she decided to take the proposal, and they plugged in another controller to change the game disc.
The Smash had a wide array of characters for all tastes. Yotsuba knew Miku was quite skilled with several of them, if not almost all of them, and in one-on-one fights her record was practically undefeated. Maybe facing her two-on-one they may have a slim chance to beat her.
"Do we play stock, or time?" Raiha asked, once they entered the game select menu.
"You can decide," a stoic Miku replied. "If you think that'll give you an edge."
"Let's play stock; last one standing wins."
They'd play with three lives. Miku chose blue team while Yotsuba and Raiha chose green team. Raiha picked Luigi as her character while Yotsuba chose Link; meanwhile Miku decided to use Sonic. When Raiha asked her why she picked him as in the previous game, the fourth sister explained that Miku had always liked hedgehogs.
"So, which stage do we play?" Raiha asked.
"It's more fun to pick at random," Yotsuba suggested, placing the cursor on the random slot.
As if fate wanted to favor Miku, the random stage turned out to be Green Hill Zone, and Yotsuba could see her middle sister smiling slightly. The countdown went "3, 2, 1," and the battle started.
"Charge, Yotsuba-san!" Raiha exclaimed.
As soon as they began, Raiha had Luigi charge head on against Sonic, wanting to land the first blow. Without even dazing and moving her fingers on her controller, Miku had the blue hedgehog jump to dodge the attack. Yotsuba was waiting behind with Link, ready to throw the Gale Boomerang at her, but she dodged and upon landing, she rolled to land the first blow before Yotsuba could even defend herself.
"Oi!" the ribbon girl cried out. "You'll pay for that one! Raiha-chan!"
"Here I go!"
But it did little for them. Even attacking her together, Miku never let herself get cornered. In fact, she took full advantage of her character's speed to get them to hit one another and increase damage; that way, once they were high enough, she'd just have to deliver the finishing blow and knock them out of the stage. The only life they could take was because, by a miraculous lucky strike, a golden hammer fell very close to Luigi, and Raiha grabbed it without missing a beat. After getting a Star KO for her trouble, Miku wisely waited until the effect wore off and naturally took vengeance for it.
Not to mention when the Smash Ball appeared, the three rushed at it at once, but Miku secured it first, and activated the Super Sonic to quickly make short work of Yotsuba and Raiha's characters, and the two started making a tantrum about how unfair it was.
"How are you so good, Miku-san? We stood no chance!" Raiha exclaimed.
"I warned you," the middle sister replied, still smiling.
"Rematch, rematch!" Yotsuba shouted, almost tossing the controller away. "It can't end this way!"
And so they went on. No matter the character they picked, or the stage they ended at, not even the two together were able to beat Miku. Even the toughest characters to play as, she handled them like a true expert, and it was lucky that they managed, on pure miraculous luck, take two lives from her (one that happened more thanks to a stage hazard than their skill), only to make her even angrier for spoiling her 'perfect game' and get revenge with another devastating Final Smash.
But they didn't give up. Defeating Miku, impossible as it seemed, only encouraged them more to play and got them excited. That in on itself was pretty fun.
"Hey!" Nino called them out. "If you've got time to play there, how about you help me a little here? We need to get the food ready for the party, remember?"
"Wouldn't it be more practical to ask for some delivery?" Itsuki suggested. "I feel you're taking way too long."
"Oh? Don't tell me you'd like to order a pizza from your dear Italian chefs? I'm sure they'd be happy for it," Nino replied in a tone that was clearly trying to instigate an argument.
"Should I tell you that I don't dislike the idea?" Itsuki replied in a similar tone, albeit trying to hold back her annoyance. "Except they don't make delivery, dear sis."
Yotsuba looked over the couch, and she could see how the atmosphere between her two sisters began to tense, even with sparks flying between their eyes. Feeling a storm was about to unleash, she decided it was best to intervene.
"If someone wants delivery, I can go and buy it myself," she offered.
"No, don't trouble yourself, Yotsuba," Nino replied. "We've got everything we need here, I just need some help."
"But the recipe says you just need to leave them in the oven for thirty minutes," said Itsuki. "Why don't you take a break in the meantime?"
"Hmm… you know what? You're right." Nino removed her apron. "Can you make some room? I wanna play too. Three versus one, Miku?"
"You will have no chance," the aforementioned replied.
They plugged in another controller to continue the game. Nino sat on the couch along with them, while Itsuki just stayed watching as a spectator. Despite the ample numerical advantage, Miku would easily take the three of them on at once, regardless of her chosen character, though her favorite was clearly the blue hedgehog.
A while later, Fuutarou and Ichika came back down once they finished decorating the upper floor, and they sat to play as well. They took turns by passing off the controllers each time they lost, except for Miku who kept hers for almost the entirety of the playthrough. They managed to win only five out of fifty battles, and only by pure luck when there was only one standing, and some powerful item fell nearby for them to use.
"Smash Ball, Smash Ball!" cried Yotsuba. "Get it, Raiha-chan!"
"I won't let you."
When Raiha's Greninja tried to catch the Smash Ball throwing Water Shurikens, Miku's Fox McCloud dashed horizontally using Fox Illusion to give the last strike and activate it. Upon doing so, she summoned the rest of the squadron, who rained their laser shots and making her fly out of the screen and going off the "GAME SET!" that gave another victory for Miku's count.
"Ah, it can't be!" Raiha exclaimed. "Really, Miku-san, you're really good at videogames."
"Haha, she's always been," said Yotsuba. "Sometime we should have a gaming weekend."
"Well, there's gonna be time for that another day," said Ichika. "For now…"
Suddenly, the eldest sister stayed quiet, and so did the rest as they sniffed in the air.
"Hey… what's that smell?"
"Is something burning?" Raiha asked.
"Burning… AAAHHH NO!"
Nino ran off back to the kitchen, and upon turning around everyone realized what happened. A few seconds later, Nino opened the oven and a huge, black cloud of smoke came out.
"Darn, they're ruined!" the second sister shouted. "Five more minutes and they may as well be charcoal."
"Hey, calm down," said Itsuki. "It's not the end of the world. They're still edible, aren't they?"
Everyone instantly glanced at Itsuki. Maybe it would only occur to her that those snacks could still be eaten, if only because she hated wasting food.
"Bad news, I have no more ingredients to make more," Nino declared after inspecting them. "And even if I did, I don't think I'll have time, I'd take all night long."
"If that's the case, we'll have to buy something," Fuutarou said. "It may cost more, but it'll save us time. Shall I go?"
"If we have to, I'll come with you," Yotsuba offered. "Everyone, give me the list of what you'd like and I'll get it!"
Immediately, everyone listed what they wanted: drinks, cookies, buns, chips and a lot more of things. To avoid forgetting anything, Fuutarou wrote everything down in his notepad, and once they did and each of the sisters gave them some money, they left the apartment and headed for the elevator.
As they went down, both remained silent for a bit. The ribbon girl was avoiding visual contact, as being alone with him made her notably nervous. She needed all of her strength to keep herself from doing or saying something stupid.
"You didn't need to come," he suddenly spoke.
"Eh?" The silence suddenly being broken snapped her out of her thoughts. "Sorry, you were saying?"
"You didn't need to accompany me," Fuutarou repeated. "I could have gone on my own."
"Well, I didn't want you to do it all by yourself," Yotsuba replied, trying to smile. "There's a lot of stuff for you to carry alone, you know?"
"Hey, I'm not as weak as I was a year ago," the boy defended himself, making her chuckle. He then sighed. "Ah, if I had known this would happen, I'd have told my mom to do something for you girls."
"Sorry we're causing you trouble," Yotsuba apologized.
"It's no trouble," he replied. "You and the others did a lot for me and my cousin in our birthday. It's only fair that I do something for you as well."
Yotsuba smiled. She wasn't actually expecting any rewards for what she did on Fuutarou's birthday. She knew how he was, whenever he felt indebted, he wouldn't rest until he felt he'd paid somehow. But if contributing to their party made him happy, who was her to deny her that?
It was pointless to beat the bush over that. For now, they had to go get the snacks for the party.
A little bit later…
They ran a few laps around the block, but they finally found everything they needed in the supermarket. Night was falling already, so they had to hurry back to the building.
"What time is it?" Yotsuba asked.
"It's 7:48," Fuutarou answered checking his phone. "We better hurry, Nino will be mad if we're not there at eight o'clock."
"Then we better pick up the pace! Let's go, Uesugi-san!"
And without further ado, she ran off nonstop to the building's entrance. She could spot Fuutarou trying to follow her, and while he was gasping, he seemingly did better than a few months back. She was glad to see his physical condition had improved.
"Haha, you're still too slow to compete with me!" she boasted, making him look up.
"Anybody would be. Really, where do you get so much energy?" asked Fuutarou. "Especially after today's match."
"Shishishi, I can always share a little bit with you," she said, showing off her toothy grin.
The boy simply rolled his eyes, but she could spot him trying to repress a smile. She slid the card to open the door and they headed for the elevator. It would be a long trip to the top floor, so they still had a few minutes before going back to the party.
"Hey, I know I already told you this, but… thanks again."
"For what?" the boy asked.
"For helping us with the party," said Yotsuba. "Sorry I've been such a bad host that you had to help us decorate, and now with buying this stuff."
"Ah, don't even mention it." Fuutarou shrugged. "This is nothing, compared to what you and the others did for my birthday, for sure."
"That's not true," said Yotsuba. "Intention is what counts. The fact you came here means a lot to me… and also for Ichika and the others."
It didn't escape Yotsuba that Fuutarou's expression suddenly dimmed down right then. During that year, she'd learned to read him after spending so much time together, and she'd taken notice of those small details, especially when something seemed to bug him.
However, before she could ask about it, the elevator's lights turned off, and it stopped all of a sudden, catching them both off-guard.
"Oh? What's up?"
"Oh no," said Fuutarou. "Must be an electric failure in the building."
"You're not claustrophobic, are you?" the girl asked, a little nervous.
"No, you?"
She shook her head. It was lucky for them that the elevator was relatively big, so it didn't feel so enclosed, but it didn't change the fact they were trapped in there until the failure was fixed. Surely it wouldn't take long.
However, fifteen minutes passed, and both started feeling a little uneasy. Fuutarou decided they better call the apartment to let them know where they were, so the others wouldn't worry about them. Yotsuba asked her to put the phone in videocall to make it easier, as she left hers at the apartment when they went down to buy the snacks.
"Fuutarou-kun? Yotsuba? Where are you guys?" Ichika answered from the other side. Her face seemed to be lit up by her phone's light.
"We're fine, but we're trapped inside the elevator," the boy explained.
"Isn't there power in the apartment?" Yotsuba asked.
"No, in fact there's no power in the entire building," the eldest sister replied. "Looks like there was an accident nearby and a power post was knocked down nearby, so they'll take a while to restore the power."
"Ah, great. Means we're stuck in here until then," Fuutarou complained.
"Well, there's nothing else we can do," Ichika said, trying to calm them down. "At least now we know where you are, we're trying to find the emergency lights here. Yotsuba, can you watch over Fuutarou-kun for me until you get out?"
"Leave it to me, sis!" the fourth sister replied with a salute.
"And you, Fuutarou-kun, don't even think about doing something funny to my little sister in there, are we clear?"
"Oi, who do you take me for?" he replied, making both Ichika and Yotsuba laugh.
Right then, Nino's voice was heard screaming for Ichika to come and help her, so the eldest sister excused herself and ended the call, leaving Yotsuba and Fuutarou by themselves inside the elevator. The boy sat in a corner, fiddling with his phone.
"Well, guess all we can do now is sit and wait."
"Don't you have a game in the phone to kill time?" Yotsuba suggested.
"Game? I have no idea. I've got months with this contraption and I've barely learned to use half the applications."
"Some music in the player?"
The boy's silence gave her all the answer she needed. Yotsuba couldn't believe he was so slow in learning to use a smartphone like this. Even she, for how dumb she was, managed to learn to use hers in less than a month. How hard could it be?
"May I?" the girl asked with a hand extended.
The boy handed over the phone, and the fourth sister slid the finger across the app menu. Without any light in the building they naturally couldn't connect on the Wi-Fi to navigate through internet, but upon opening the music player Yotsuba saw there was a list with about twenty songs. Probably Ichika had put them in there for him.
She then entered the game subfolder, and once more she was surprised to find there were many to choose from. Puzzles, RPGs, car racing, even casino card games. Had he really not touched them all these months?
"Ah, you're gonna like this one," said Yotsuba upon finding one particularly good. "Captain Tsubasa: Dream Team, based on the manga of the same name."
"Isn't that about soccer?" Fuutarou asked. "I've never been good for sport games."
"But this one's different. It has RPG elements, and as you move forward and play the matches, your players level up and grow stronger," Yotsuba explained. "The Story Mode is the best, as it has cinematics of the original manga. C'mon, try it!"
The girl returned the phone, and while he was a little reluctant, the boy finally relented. While he had to go through the forced tutorial to learn the general mechanics, and her giving him some advice, after a few minutes he seemed quite entertained. Though he preferred to skip the cinematics to go straight to the game, much to Yotsuba's chagrin as she liked to see the story.
"Ha, this is so unreal," Fuutarou said. "In real life, this kind of plays would at minimum cause red cards or career-ending injuries. You'd have to be superhuman to pull these stunts."
"That's part of the game's charm, Uesugi-san," said Yotsuba. "It makes it a lot more fun than conventional sports games."
"Well, I can't deny that," Fuutarou agreed. "But Story Mode seems to lineal. Everyone must know already by heart what happens."
"Geez, what a party pooper." Yotsuba puffed up her cheeks in a pout. "Maybe we should play a PvP match, just you and me. I have this game in my phone too, you know?"
The boy glanced at her. He seemed interested, though he quickly focused back on his game. He was quite immersed into it and he spent a while playing, until he had to take a break when the battery's indicator started going low. As the game drained the energy a lot faster, Fuutarou decided to pause it and save to continue later.
"They're taking a while to fix this," said Fuutarou. "We've been here for almost an hour."
"Everything will be fine," Yotsuba replied. "They must be close to solve it."
While she said that out loud, inside Yotsuba felt a little worried. Being trapped in that elevator with the boy made her extremely nervous, and all she could think about to alleviate the tension was to try and keep him entertained with anything. It was the only way to avoid thinking… inappropriate things.
"Hey, Uesugi-san… are things going well between you and Ichika?"
The boy glanced at her again. She wasn't sure why she asked that question, but she couldn't take it back anymore. She needed to be sure.
"Why do you ask?"
"Oh, no, it's nothing!" she said, trying to cover appearances. "I'm just curious, that's all. You haven't gone out on a date since your birthday, have you?"
"Hmm… yeah, that's right. She's too busy sometimes with her acting gigs, so we can't spend much time together."
"Oh, c'mon, don't be so hard on her," Yotsuba protested. "You should be grateful; she spares every free minute for you!"
"It's not that I don't appreciate it," he defended himself. "She's always very attentive with me, and I know she does her best, but… I don't know. Lately, I feel there's something wrong with me. Like I'm not returning it enough."
The ribbon girl was surprised to hear that. In the time they'd been dating, Ichika had said nothing but good things about Fuutarou. The only thing was that, at first, he was a little bit cautious, which was understandable considering he was just fresh out of a broken heart, but as months went by, he'd opened up little by little. She herself had noticed that change in him, more sociable and happier.
On the other hand, she'd never seen them kiss or showing affection in public. At first, she thought it was because he was an extremely reserved person, but now… she wasn't so sure.
"Is this because of the presents?" Yotsuba asked. "Is it because we're giving you expensive stuff?"
She knew he didn't like feeling indebted to anyone, and maybe it didn't help that they gave him very expensive gifts. She gave him the one-year paid membership for the gym, and Ichika also gave him his current cellphone. Then, there was the laptop that, while all of them paid for, also had a very high monetary price. But she saw nothing wrong with that: they were loaded with money and thus could afford expensive presents, and he did the same within his own possibilities. It was the thought that counted after all.
"No, it has nothing to do with that," said Fuutarou. "Rather… I feel I'm not being the boyfriend Ichika deserves."
"Why do you think so?" Yotsuba inquired.
"Ichika is the first girl I'm dating seriously. I've followed my dad's advice about how to act, what to do and what not to do, and everything always turns out well. And yet… I feel something's missing. Something I see between my stupid cousin and Nino, and that Ichika and I lack."
"Uesugi-san, all couples are different. You're not your cousin, and Ichika isn't Nino. Even if it sounds weird that I say that."
The boy gave her a look. Indeed, it was weird for her to say something like that, with them being quintuplet sisters and thus genetically identical. But of course, as they grew up they all developed their own personalities and preferences. Not to mention, she herself was the first who wanted to be different from the rest, although it may have happened sooner or later even without her being the one to start it.
"All couples move at their own pace," Yotsuba continued. "Some zing immediately, others take longer to get along. I don't know what you're lacking, but I'm sure you'll find it if you take time. Maybe before you realize."
"You think so?" the boy asked.
"Yeah! You two have been dating for just a few months. If she likes you and you like her, everything will turn out okay in the end. You're a great guy, and I'm sure you two are meant for each other."
Fuutarou looked away slightly, before looking back at her. He was no longer frowning as much, instead smiling a little.
"You seem to always know what to say to cheer me up, huh?"
"Haha, no way." She giggled. "I just say what occurs to me. You know how clumsy I am."
"No, not quite." The boy gave her a small tap on the head with her knuckle, albeit not to hurt at all. "You may be lousy at school, but you're smarter than you look."
"Oh, is that supposed to be a compliment?" she said with a pout, and giving him a small nudge on the arm.
"But it's true," he said, nudging her back. "Jokes aside, what you lack in brains, you have in heart. You're a good girl, Yotsuba, I mean it."
Yotsuba was grateful they were still in the dark inside the elevator, so he couldn't see her blush at the compliment. Even if he only said it as a friend, it meant a lot to her that he said that to her. Of course, there was nothing she wanted more in the world than to see him smile and happy. And to do that, she had to make sure the relationship between him and her eldest sister turned out well.
Right then, the power was restored, and the elevator illuminated once more, getting back on track. Less than a minute later, they were on the top floor, and as soon as the door opened…
"Yotsuba! I was so worried, I was scared to death in the dark!"
"Hehe, thanks for worrying, Itsuki, but… I'm over here."
When the elevator's door opened, Itsuki jumped in, evidently to try and hug her, but apparently didn't notice that she ended up grabbing Fuutarou and not her. The youngest sister turned as red as her hair while Fuutarou muttered something like "Can you get off?" making a little gesture for her to step away. Yotsuba caught also Ichika and Miku snickering behind them.
"Well, good to see you're both fine," said Ichika, bringing her hands together. "Now the lights are back, we can start the party without issues, can we?"
"Sure," said Yotsuba. "Where's Nino?"
"Oh, she's at the apartment," said Ichika. "Said she has one last thing to do for the party."
"What is it?" Fuutarou asked, interested.
"She wants to bring her boyfriend," Miku was the one to answer.
Fuutarou and Yotsuba exchanged glances. From what the boy had told them, Kintarou wouldn't be available to visit them during their birthday. What did she mean by "bringing him"?
…
In a matter of minutes, the Nakano sisters, Fuutarou and Raiha were all gathered around the apartment's living room, with decorations all over. It was very similar to what she did in the restaurant for Fuutarou's own party, and Yotsuba was very anxious. So much, she would almost shake the liquid out of her glass if they didn't hurry.
Fortunately, right then Ichika went to the party sphere hanging over the upper floor's handrail, and grabbed the rope with one hand as she smiled and raised her own glass with the other.
"Okay, I officially declare our 18th birthday party started now," she said as she pulled the rope, letting out a "HAPPY 18!" curtain, surrounded by five small doodled faces that clearly represented her and her sisters. "Cheers!"
"CHEERS!" everyone else chorused, before downing their drinks.
"Ah, I can't believe this. We've already turned eighteen, now we're adults!" said Itsuki.
"Aren't you getting a little ahead, Itsuki?" Nino mentioned. "Technically, you don't turn eighteen until tomorrow."
"Oh, are you gonna start again?" the youngest sister replied. "If we're getting technically, you don't turn eighteen until past ten tonight!"
Nino pouted, before taking another sip of her drink. Meanwhile, Yotsuba noticed how Fuutarou glanced at her a little confused.
"What are these two talking about?" he asked.
"Haha, well, it's true Mom gave birth to us on a May 5th, but Itsuki was the last to come out of the womb, and the only to do it past midnight," Yotsuba explained. "But since Mom always told us to share everything, that's why we always celebrate our birthday today, together."
"Of course, if Itsuki-chan has any issues, we can always give her a separate party tomorrow," Ichika commented, approaching to take a seat with everyone else.
"Don't even think about it," the youngest replied. "You know I'd feel guilty if you did."
"Well, well, and now for the guest we were missing," said Nino.
At last, the explanation of how Nino planned to bring Kintarou to the party. The second sister had showed up bringing a laptop, which at the time had opened a videoconference window, and the blond Uesugi cousin was greeting them from the screen.
"Yo, cousins! And happy birthday, Nakano sisters!"
"Ah, Kintarou-san!" Raiha greeted back. "How are you doing over there. It's a shame you couldn't come."
"Don't mention it, with how great those parties are," the blonde said. "Well, at least I can watch it live, even if I couldn't send any presents in time."
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," Nino said with a big smile. "So long as you're here, somehow, that's enough for me."
"Alright, what are we waiting for?" said Ichika. "Let the music roll, the party begins now!"
Immediately, they turned on the sound equipment. Ichika dragged Fuutarou to start dancing together (or rather, to flail him around all over the living room). Nino preferred to dance in front of the laptop on the table so Kintarou coul watch her, and meanwhile Miku and Itsuki sat on the couch, the former to just clap a little, and the second trying to sneak a hand to grab a few snacks when nobody noticed.
Yotsuba, for her part, decided to play with Raiha, having her ride on her shoulders as she ran across the living room. At one point she almost slipped and fell backwards, but Fuutarou and Ichika were nearby and managed to catch them. After an apology, they decided to bring out the Twister Moves to have a dance-off tournament. They began by playing one-on-one elimination rounds, Fuutarou fell against Ichika, Nino eliminated Itsuki and Miku tripped over losing against Yotsuba. Raiha was given a free pass so she could face Ichika, wanting to "avenge her big brother", though ultimately Ichika was the winner, meanwhile Yotsuba also defeated Nino, leaving the first and fourth sisters as the finalists.
"Alright, which song do we dance off to?" asked Ichika.
"Make it a very fast-paced one!" Yotsuba exclaimed.
"Oh, is that a challenge, Yotsuba?" The eldest sister squinted her eyes and smirked challengingly.
"Haha, don't think I'm gonna lose to you!" the fourth sister replied enthusiastically.
They ended up choosing a Eurobeat song, the fastest-paced they had at hand. Naturally, it forced them to move nonstop, never allowing a misstep to avoid falling off. They had to repeat the song four more times after they tied, increasing its speed a little on each round to make it more interesting.
Finally, when the song was reaching the final thirty-second mark, Ichika slipped on one of the final steps and fell backwards, giving victory to Yotsuba.
"Hahaha, I win, I win!" the ribbon girl cried out, jumping in joy amidst everyone's applause.
"Oof, that was so close," Ichika said. "And in front of Fuutarou-kun, how shameful of me!"
"C'mon, don't feel so bad, Ichika, you put up a good fight," Nino said trying to comfort her. "How about a karaoke round now?"
They immediately brought out the karaoke set to start singing. Even if Yotsuba was aware of how bad of a singer she was, it was fun to see everyone's faces as they covered their ears when she grabbed the microphone. Although, for some reason, when she tried to invite Fuutarou to sing a duet with her, he refused vehemently, arguing that 'he didn't want to be heard singing'. This weirded out the ribbon girl.
"Are you that bad singing, Uesugi-san?" asked Yotsuba. "C'mon, you didn't sing back on Christmas either. You can't be worse than me, right?"
"Yotsuba, don't bother him," said Ichika, clinging to him in a coquettish and protective manner. "If he doesn't want to, he doesn't want to."
The way Ichika smirked made Yotsuba wonder if her eldest sister knew something she didn't. She'd always make that face when she hid or was up to something. But, in the case it was a "couple secret", then she had no right to pry.
After a while, everyone decided it was about time to open up the presents. The quintuplets insisted in opening the presents Fuutarou had brought for them first, since he had brought for each one of them just like in Christmas. They'd check later the ones they'd give one another.
"Alright, as you say, as you say," the boy told them. "But one at a time, okay? Itsuki, you first."
Itsuki's package was the smallest for some reason, and upon opening she realized why. It was a DVD box with a cover adorned with multiple aquatic animals, coral reefs, and other marine life stuff.
"This is…"
"You like marine biology documentaries, don't you?" Fuutarou interrupted. "This DVD contains a bunch on information, videos, and even interactive games for study."
"That sounds amazing." Itsuki smiled and hugged the box. "Thank you, Uesugi-kun, it's a great present. I can't wait to check it out."
"It was nothing. Now, next one, Miku?" he called out the middle sister. "I wanted to get you another figure for the Sengoku Wars Online collection, but someone told me you've already got the full set."
Right then, Fuutarou looked at her, and Yotsuba couldn't help but laugh a little. Indeed, between her and Ichika, they'd bought her the rest of the figurines in the collection, which now rested on her shelf inside her room.
The boy proceeded to hand her the present, a little bit bigger than Itsuki's. – So, I got you this. I hope it's a good replacement.
Miku grabbed the package and carefully unwrapped it. Her normally unexpressive face was broken by a glint on her eyes, making way to a small smile when she saw it was a book, but not just any kind of book. It was…
"The complete Sengoku Wars Online Guide. The latest edition," said Miku.
"With a lot of brand new info," said Fuutarou. "What do you think?"
"It's… great. Thank you so much."
Miku didn't smile often, but whenever she did, it was always genuine. While the others seemed more excited outwardly, there was no doubt she too was happy with her present.
"Well, well, now is my turn," said Nino. "I hope you got me something good, okay?"
"Oh, no doubt you were one of the hardest," the boy replied. "But I trust you'll like this."
Nino's package was of a similar size to Miku's, and the second sister seemed slightly disappointed when she saw it was also a book. At least, until she saw the front cover and skimmed through it, and her demeanor went from disappointment to curiosity.
"An Italian cooking book?" she asked.
"A little bird told me you want to challenge those brothers again, in their own turf this time," Fuutarou explained. "I thought this could help you, it has plenty of good recipes, you know?"
"Hmm… well, I must admit this doesn't look bad," Nino finally smirked a little. "I guess I must thank you, you must have put a lot of thought into it."
Everyone else clapped while Nino headed for the laptop to show off her present in front of the screen for Kintarou. Yotsuba then took her turn.
"Now, I suppose it's my turn, isn't it? I'm dying to see what you got for me."
"Of course, here you are." He handed her the biggest package, at least compared in size with the rest.
Yotsuba opened it curious and impatiently, and was in for a great surprise when she saw it was a volleyball sports backpack, including the compartment for the ball. But also, it was customized with the numbers 428 embroidered in green. She quickly noticed the backpack wasn't empty, finding a lot of volleyball equipment inside, including sleeves, knee pads and anklets.
"I figured you were still using the school's equipment in the volley club," the boy explained. "I thought it'd be more practical to have your own, as it'll save time when you have practice outside school."
"Wow, this is awesome! Thank you so much, Uesugi-san!"
Without missing a bit, the girl jumped to grab him in a pure gratitude hug. She knew he was the type to give presents that were useful, but that mattered little to her. And again, in her excitement she didn't measure her strength until he asked her to let go so he could breathe, making everyone else laugh.
"Okay, I guess that just leaves me," Ichika intervened. "I assume you saved the best for the finale?"
In response, Fuutarou grabbed the last package, which was notably smaller than the rest. Yotsuba took notice that the others glanced at it very intrigued, but in her experience, sometimes the best things came in smaller packages.
Indeed, the present turned out to be a very fine and expensive perfume. Even a bottle that small probably costed more than the rest of the presents together. Yotsuba was bad at math, but she knew enough to give an estimation of how much of his earnings he must have spent to buy it.
It made sense, he gave his girlfriend the best of the presents.
"Hmm… this is a divine scent, Fuutarou-kun. You deserve a prize for this."
She gave him a small peck on the cheek, making everyone else clap. But as soon as the present exchange finished, Ichika took command once more and ordered them to resume the games, this time playing musical chairs.
The party was far from over, and they still had plenty to celebrate.
May 6th, early morning…
Everyone stayed playing, dancing, singing, eating and more until well past midnight. At the end, they were so tired they ended up falling asleep in the living room. Miku, Itsuki and Nino had cuddled up together on the couch. Ichika and Fuutarou were comfortably seated in one of the armchairs (surprisingly, Ichika didn't strip in her sleep, which would have made a very embarrassing awakening for both). And lastly, Yotsuba had fallen asleep with Raiha on her lap, on another of the armchairs.
For having such a short sleep, the ribbon girl felt strangely refreshed, after burning up so much energy during the birthday party. She rose carefully to avoid disturbing the little girl, and headed to the kitchen for some water, stepping carefully to not to wake anybody else up.
After drinking her water, she stared at the asleep couple on the armchair. They looked so adorable and cute together, an image that inspired her on equal parts joy… and envy. Joy, because she was happy her sister was dating such a wonderful boy, and envy, because a small part of them still wished to be the one resting on that armchair.
'Wipe that idea, Yotsuba. You had your chance. There's no point regretting what could have been.'
And even then, her conversation with Fuutarou when they were trapped in the elevator left her thinking. Wasn't he sure about his feelings? Didn't he know whether he actually liked Ichika or not?
Yotsuba wasn't as dumb as most people thought. She may have been a lousy student and all, but she wasn't as clueless to pick up what happened around her. And if Fuutarou said something was wrong in his relationship with Ichika… it probably was.
Other girls may have thought this would be the perfect chance to play third wheel, and snatch the boy they liked away from their "rival". But not her, she wouldn't steal her own sister's boyfriend. When he made his choice to date Ichika, Yotsuba promised herself she'd do anything in her power to support them, and make sure their relationship worked out.
He deserved it, after all, and yet…
'What should I do?' she asked herself, heading for the backpack Fuutarou had given her. It wasn't certainly as expensive as the perfume he gave Ichika, but it was delivered with affection, to support her on the volley club. And that meant the world to her.
The girl grabbed the backpack and hugged it tightly. It's be a shame to wrinkle it that way, when he'd just purchased it new, but it was the best she could do, to hold back those feelings she had inside.
'I'm so stupid. Yesterday was my birthday, and I won my first match with the volley club. Why am I not happier?'
It wasn't really like she wasn't happy, but… she still had that little thorn inside tormenting her. She couldn't wait for the sun to rise so she could forget about it.
To be continued…
Author's notes:
Well, we're back here, and as promised, the Nakano's birthday party. I wasn't sure what to do to avoid a repeat of Fuutarou's birthday and the Christmas party, so I ended up grabbing one of the ideas I'd proposed for the idea directory at the Discord server (specifically, to have Fuutarou trapped in the elevator with one of them). Since the previous chapter was mostly focused on Yotsuba's volley match, here I decided to show her perspective in regards to Fuutarou and Ichika's relationship. You can see she wants to support the boy and her sister, but her feelings for him are still there and refuse to die.
Next chapter will be a "transition" one, where I'll cover the national exams before starting the next important arc, which at the point we are now is the equivalent of the Sisters' War. Of course, you'll get to see more of Fuutarou's own perspective of what's going on and it'll serve as an entry for what's soon to come. The peace and quiet will soon be disrupted when the truth, lies and secrets come out in many ways, so stay tuned. Thanks a lot for the reviews to TheMist33, ndqthong and bobalon (congrats on finally catching up, man). I'll see you guys next time, sayonara!