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 27: Priorities
Asahiyama High…
Time seemed to be flying faster than Fuutarou could have anticipated. It seemed almost like the Nakano's birthday had come and gone yesterday, when it actually happened two weeks prior. And the national mock exams were around the corner.
In general terms, the best Fuutarou could say was that it was almost a total repeat of the Christmas party, the only exception being that Kintarou wasn't present in person, though Nino wanted to mitigate this somewhat using her laptop, so he could watch the party via videoconference.
Other than that, he couldn't say he didn't have fun. They had the chance to bring out some new games aside from the old ones (again, luck didn't favor him in the King's Game), and the quintuplets were happy with the presents he got for each of them. For Miku, he got her an encyclopedia of Sengoku Wars Online which included brand new information. For Itsuki, a DVD about marine biology he thought she'd find interesting. And Nino, despite her own misgivings, was also content with the Italian cooking recipe book he got her, though the fact that Kintarou helped in picking it may have helped as well.
What occupied his mind at the moment was that, between Ichika and Yotsuba, he had it much easier to pick a present for the latter. The ribbon girl exploded in joy even though his present for her was a sports kit with volleyball equipment, so she wouldn't need to borrow the club's. With Ichika, he had to ask his mother and Raiha for help in choosing something, and he picked a rather expensive perfume bottle (he didn't get why something so small could cost that much) but although the eldest Nakano was pleased, he still was unconvinced about making the right choice.
'Why can't I stop thinking about it? She's happy, so I should be too, right?'
"Uesugi-kun… Uesugi-kun?"
"Huh?" The teacher's voice snapped him out of his trance, and he noticed that almost all the class was staring. "Sorry, what were you saying?"
"Are you alright?" the teacher asked. "It's not like you to get distracted in class."
"I'm sorry, I just have too many things in my head," he apologized. "Can you repeat the question?"
Fortunately, after that he was able to focus more, and the rest of the class hour continued normally, so his little distraction earned him no lectures or punishment. Although, it didn't escape him that the rest of the class had continued to stare at him for the remaining time until the bell rang.
During the break, as the quintuplets went out to the courtyard, Maeda and Takeda stayed in the classroom with him and the three sat for a chat. Now, this was a very normal occurrence and became part of his school routine, but today in particular it was going to be different.
"You sure you're alright, Uesugi-kun?" Takeda asked. "I don't recall ever seeing you ask for a repeated question in class before."
"Well, there's always a first for everything," Maeda replied. "Still, yeah, lately you've been a little weird, man. Somewhat… gone, maybe that's the word? Like you're not quite here, you know?"
"You guys think so?" Fuutarou asked. Both stared at him for a few seconds, and the boy could tell his two classmates stared at him with concern. "I guess I am, a little bit. Too many things in my head lately."
"I assume it has to do in part with the national mock exams? They're coming very soon after all," Takeda commented about it, making Maeda roll his eyes.
"It's always about the studies with ya, don't you have anything else in your mind? I bet it's something related to the Nakanos, is it?"
"Well, both of you are partly right," Fuutarou confessed. "In part, yes, it's because of the exams, among other things. I think I hadn't felt so overwhelmed in a long time."
From the beginning of the term and after he resumed his tutor job, this time with all five sisters at once, Fuutarou had felt his hands fuller than ever. Having to balance studying, work, and relationships all at once was no easy feat. Not impossible, sure, but sometimes he felt like he was being pulled by both of his arms in opposite directions. Too many things to do and so little time.
"So, things are going well between you and Ichika-san?" asked Maeda. "I've seen her less in class lately, she's probably getting more roles as an actress. That must put a strain in your relationship, doesn't it?"
Fuutarou hesitated for a moment before answering that question. Maeda wasn't actually too far off: Ichika's actress schedule frequently interfered with their study sessions, and they hadn't been able to have a proper date since his birthday.
There were many things he needed to talk to her about, but between school and work he just didn't find the chance to. And now with the national exams around the corner, it didn't seem the best time to do it, either.
"Yeah, it's not easy," the blue-haired boy admitted. "But outside of that, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to deal with everything in my head. Truth is, I don't know what to do."
"At these moments, I think the best is to pause, and think what's more important to you," Takeda suggested. "No matter how hard you try to multitask, sometimes it's better to give priority to some things, and deal with the rest later."
"Right, bro," Maeda agreed. "One thing at a time. If I were you, I'd focus on what's more urgent right now. For example, those national exams. Good thing I won't have to worry about them, hahaha."
"And I'd be really disappointed to beat you because you weren't fully focused," the pretty boy added. "You have not forgotten our bet, have you?"
"No, of course not."
"Takeda-kun!" a female voice called out from the door. It was Ohyama, the female class representative. "The Principal's calling you to his office. Says he needs to talk to you about something important."
"Thank you, I'll go immediately," Takeda replied. "It's probably something related to the national exams. If you excuse me."
Next, Takeda exited the room along with his fellow representative, leaving Maeda and Fuutarou by themselves. The first went back to his seat, resting his feet over the desk as he leaned back, while Fuutarou looked at him.
"Oi, don't put your feet there, you'll get your desk dirty," he reprimanded.
"My shoes are spotless," Maeda replied. "Shouldn't you be focused on studying, you know, for your exams? Pretty Boy won't let you live it down if her ranks higher than you on the scores."
"You know what? You may be right," the Uesugi replied, grabbing his notebooks to get to study.
While Maeda chuckled at their aforementioned bet, thinking it was ridiculous, Fuutarou thought about his words, as well as the schoolwork. It seemed like a good advice, and after all, there wasn't much else to do. The national exams were the closest priority, so he'd better focus on them now.
He'd have plenty of time to deal with everything else, once he was done with that.
Nakano apartment…
From the beginning of the term, Fuutarou had been as strict as possible with the Nakano sisters. Being in the last year of high school, it was natural for the workload to increase, and since most of them had after-class activities, sometimes not all of them could be at once.
Today was one of those days: Ichika was at a filming site, while Yotsuba was doing practice with the volley club, leaving Fuutarou with the other three sisters as they checked the English homework. He'd put them to read and translate several paragraphs, and right now he was checking the one he assigned to Nino.
"Very well, no major errors," the boy said as he handed her the sheet back. "That's it for you today."
"Oof, that's good," the second sister sighed in relief. "It's almost dinner time, so if you need me, I'll be in the kitchen."
Fuutarou went back to check on Miku and Itsuki. Fortunately, they were almost done too, and they were doing much better than expected. He was glad to see them work so diligently, despite the occasional complaint.
"Itsuki," Nino suddenly called from the kitchen. "Yesterday I left a package of buns in the lower part of the fridge, and now they're gone. Do you know where they are?"
"I-I don't know what you're talking about," the youngest sister said, visibly nervous. "Didn't you eat them yourself?"
"I'd remember if I had done that. The package was sealed." Nino returned to the living room, arms crossed. "Confess, Itsuki, did you eat them all by yourself?"
"N-no, of course not!" Itsuki exclaimed, waving her arms frantically. Fuutarou saw Nino's glare intensified, like she was about to shoot laser beams from her eyes, and he was grateful of not being her target at the moment. "I-I g-gave some to Yotsuba and Ichika…"
Nino facepalmed. That wasn't much of a difference, as from what she said, she herself didn't even get to eat one, so she had all the reasons to be mad. Preemptively, Itsuki kneeled and put her hands in a begging position.
"I'm sorry, really! I'll buy you another package to make up for it! Right now, if you want to!"
The second sister sighed, but ultimately unfolded her arms and seemingly decided to forgive the big eater for what she did, and accepted the deal.
"Miku, can you go with her to make sure she won't eat them on the way back?"
"Oi!" Itsuki seemed offended. "Don't you trust me?!"
"When it comes to food, obviously not," she said emphatically. She then addressed Miku again. "So then?"
"I don't mind," the middle sister replied. "I'm done with my homework anyway."
"Okay, then go. And don't come back without them, you got it?!"
Itsuki muttered something that Fuutarou didn't quite catch, but she finally complied and went upstairs to get her wallet before heading out with Miku. It'd be a while before they came back, and without Ichika and Yotsuba around either, Fuutarou would stay alone with Nino in the meantime.
It seemed like a good time to talk to her about something important.
"Hey, Nino," he called her. "Mind if I ask you something?"
The second Nakano left what she was doing and glanced at him. Even after a few months they still had some issues getting along, though at least now she tolerated his presence and had toned down on the snarky comments a lot.
"Hum… how are… things going, between you and my cousin?" he said. He mentally reprimanded himself as he realized it sounded a lot better in his head than outside.
Nino for her part just raised an eyebrow, probably puzzled at his question. "Why the interest? Haven't you talked to him lately?"
"No, I've been too busy for that. That's why I'm asking you." That part was true; between school, the tutor job and everything else, he hadn't talked to Kintarou in weeks.
"Bueno, obviously everything's going well," said Nino, placing her hands on her cheeks, and smiling with a dreamy expression. "I wish I could see him in person every day, but he always calls me and asks how I'm doing. Kintarou-kun is an angel, after all."
'A fallen angel with the wings dyed black, maybe,' the boy thought, making up the image in his head, but refrained from saying it out loud. He knew better than to provoke her. "I'm… glad to hear that."
"But you haven't answered my question: why the interest?" Nino repeated, suddenly getting serious again. "I hope you're not trying to sabotage us or something, huh?"
"Oi, do you really think I'd do that?" he defended himself. "No, actually I… look, this isn't easy for me, but I wanted to ask you for advice. Specifically, relationship advice."
The second Nakano's eyes widened briefly. She probably wasn't expecting those words to come out of his mouth, though her expression quickly morphed again, turning into a mocking smirk with the eyes squinted.
"Eeeehh? So, the teacher needs help from one of his students?"
"Don't make fun of me," he said. "Look, I've wanted to ask you this for weeks, but I didn't want to do it in front of the others. Especially… not in front of Ichika. And I'm gonna ask you, please don't tell this to anybody, okay?"
"Hmm… depends on what it is," said Nino. "Anything concerning my sisters concerns me too, you know that."
"Yeah, but… this is personal. You can understand that, right?" he insisted. "Promise me you won't tell anybody?"
"Hmm… okay, I promise," she said. "What's troubling you?"
"Truth is… well, I'd like to know if you and my cousin, have you guys had any… you know, issues?"
"Issues? You mean, like arguments or spats?" The Nakano placed a finger on her mouth, thoughtful. "Hmm… no, we've had nothing of that. Why, have you guys had some?"
"Well… not really, but the past few weeks I've been thinking… maybe I'm not being the best boyfriend for Ichika," the boy confessed.
"You don't say." Nino folded her arms. Her voice tone made it clear she wasn't buying it. "For the record, when we met I had my doubts about you, but I know you're not as bad as I thought. You introduced me to Kintarou-kun, and I appreciate that, you know?"
Fuutarou half-smiled. He'd almost forgotten that he only agreed to do that to get her off himself. But now the two were happy, so he figured it was the right choice in the long run. However, that wasn't the main topic of their conversation.
"My point is, I don't get why you feel that way," Nino continued. "Ichika never stops singing good things about you, so I'm taking her word for it. If there was a problem, she'd have told me already."
"I don't know if it makes sense, but… that's what I'm worried about. Ichika is the first girl I've dated seriously, and I'm afraid I could… do something that may hurt her, you know?"
He could finally let that out. He felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his chest. He knew something was wrong, but didn't know exactly why. All he was certain of was that Nino and Kintarou didn't have that problem… and that it wasn't Ichika's fault, but his.
The second Nakano gave him a puzzled look. There was no anger in her face, just surprise, like she'd never expected him to say something like that. They'd started off with the left foot and still bickered occasionally, though over time they'd come to tolerate one another and sometimes they could even say they were getting along pretty well (beyond whenever she had a complaint during the study sessions, or he scolded her for making a mistake).
"Look, I had my suspicions in regards to you, but at least until now, you've done nothing that makes me mistrust you," the Nakano replied. "But if you ask me, I'd say that, whatever your issue is, it's in here."
To emphasize her point, she tapped her finger on his temple a couple times, leaving him perplexed. He didn't dare ask what she meant, but there was no need, as she proceeded to explain herself:
"Brainiacs like you usually overthink stuff way too much. Instead of using your head, you should think, or better said, feel with the heart." Again, she made her point tapping her finger on his chest, a little harder than before.
"With the heart?" he asked.
"In relationships, feelings are what truly matters," Nino said in a serious tone. "Sometimes, it's better to shut off your head, and do what your heart tells you. I know Kintarou-kun understands my feelings, and I do his.
"But if there's a problem, you shouldn't talk to me about it, but to Ichika. If she chose to date you, it must be because there's something good in you, and if you feel there's something wrong, it's better to solve it now, before it becomes a real problem. You should be sincere with yourself."
Be sincere… those words echoed in his head. Was he being sincere with Ichika? Sincere with himself? The more he thought about it, the more a little voice in the back of his mind told him yes… and another coming from his chest saying no. They were contradicting one another.
Nonetheless, somehow Nino's words gave him some clarity he was lacking before. The chat did help after all.
"Yeah… guess you're right. I need to talk very seriously with Ichika," she finally decided. "Thanks, Nino, that really helped."
"Don't thank me, I'm doing this for my sister's sake, not yours." The girl turned around to go back to the kitchen. "And listen up, if you ever do something that may hurt her… you'll answer to me, is that clear?"
"Yeah, of course," he quickly replied.
The second Nakano returned to the kitchen, leaving him alone with his thoughts for a while. A very brief respite, since one or two minutes later the apartment's door opened up.
"We're back!"
When he looked, he saw Miku and Itsuki had returned, bringing Yotsuba along. The latter quickly came to sit next to her and showed off her toothy grin, while Itsuki and Miku headed for the kitchen. He paid no heed as the youngest sister delivered the package, but at the moment, he had other stuff in his mind.
"How was the practice?" he asked Yotsuba, handing her the English homework.
"Oh, pretty good," the ribbon girl replied. "Next week we'll have a couple practice matches against other schools. It'll serve to study the competition for the regionals."
"We'll have to fit your study schedule to that," said Fuutarou. "Now, get to work."
"Aye, Uesugi-sensei!" she replied with the military salute, and scribbling down immediately.
For some reason, seeing Yotsuba so enthusiastic and cheery as usual made him forget about his worries. Like her presence alone somehow spread out positive energy that dispelled the bad vibes. It was a gift the ribbon girl had and he couldn't explain, but he always liked it.
Something that, for some reason, he didn't always have when he was with Ichika.
A few days later, at the gym…
Following that scuffle with Tsuji and his henchmen, Fuutarou had been considering seriously the possibility of practicing some kind of personal defense. At least, to know how to get an aggressor off himself, and how to throw a good punch so they couldn't give chase after her ran away.
He'd also discovered that, just like hitting baseballs with a bat, punching a sandbag was an excellent way to alleviate stress and forget his troubles for a bit. Also, as he'd proved with Yotsuba and Ichika, it was better to go to the gym with some company.
"Come on, son, punch it harder! A little more and you'll take the sand out of the bag!"
Fuutarou thought that he'd have to pay for it if he did that. Of course, his dad was just kidding. Today Isanari decided to come to the gym too, and he was holding the sandbag from behind while his son gave it punching combos nonstop.
"What a good form, Fuutarou!" he said. "Keep it up and you could be a boxing champion in two or three years."
"Thanks, Dad, but I'd rather not do this professionally," he declared, very seriously.
While he'd discovered he was good for throwing punches, he wasn't eager to find out how much he could take them, and he didn't want to risk potentially suffering cerebral damage that could affect his cognitional capacities. He'd rather pick a career far from the ring, and use this just as a personal defense method.
"A pity," the man replied. "You'd have potential, you know?"
Having already finished that, he went to take a seat and grabbed his water bottle to refresh himself. Today he'd gone a little further than his usual routine, and while he felt he could still give a bit more, he decided it was best to take a pause.
"I still can barely believe you've become regular in a gym, of all places," said Isanari. "Can't say I'm not happy though; it's nice to see you do something other than studying all day long."
"Well, it's a paid membership for a whole year," said Fuutarou. "It'd be ungrateful of me not to use it."
"That's what you say, but admit it. You do enjoy it, am I wrong?"
Fuutarou stared at Isanari, and the shrugged. After getting over the muscle aches during the first months, he had to acknowledge that his visits to the gym were actually pretty enjoyable. Of course, they were a lot more when he came with Yotsuba, as Ichika was so busy with her actress job that she'd rarely get the chance to come with him. And now the fourth sister was in the volley club, she was no longer as available as before.
Partly because of that, he was grateful that his dad decided to come along today. That way, he'd at least have someone to talk to (he found it hard to strike conversation with people he didn't know without Yotsuba around). In turn, Isanari saw this as a way to bond with each other as father and son, so it was a win-win scenario.
"Aside from that, son, I've noticed you look a little troubled lately," the blond man said in a more serious tone. "Something worrying you?"
After he finished his water, Fuutarou looked back at his father, whose arms were now folded. At this point, it was no surprise for him; his parents and sister knew him better than anybody and would always realize when something was wrong or troubled him. So there was no point in denying it.
"Many things, to be honest," he confessed without hesitation. "There's the job, the gym, studies, dating Ichika… I feel like there's a lot of stuff to do, and I wonder if I'll have enough time for everything."
"Oh yeah. If memory serves, next week you'll take the national mock exams, right?" Isanari asked, to what he nodded. "You feeling ready for them?"
"I guess I am," he replied. "Though it won't be easy; after all, they'll cover everything I've studied in the last two years. It'll be the hardest test I've taken in my life."
"Whoa, what's this? My brainiac son having doubts before an exam? I was starting to believe I'd never see the day," Isanari mockingly said without any hesitation, making Fuutarou narrow his eyes at him. "Hey, don't get mad, I'm just kidding. I don't know why you're worried, since you've always been a top student."
"Yeah, but… this test could define my future. You know I'm aiming for the Tokyo University when I graduate, and depending on the result, my chances could be affected."
"Well, you're aiming pretty high," said Isanari. "Not saying it'd be impossible for you, but I don't think it'd hurt to have a backup plan, just in case you don't make it."
Fuutarou thought about it. He'd set his sights on Tokyo U partly due to its difficulty and prestige, but of course it wasn't the only place he could study. The Nagoya University, for example, had also the advantage of being much closer to his family, which would allow him to visit them more often. And while it wasn't as prestigious as the Tokyo U, it also had its merits.
"I've thought about that," said Fuutarou. "But right now, I feel like testing myself. I want to see how high I can get."
"Well, if you want my advice, whatever you choose to do, keep your priorities clear." Isanari immediately grabbed him into a headlock and started ruffling his hair. "But you better not fail, or else I'll disinherit you!"
"Ugh! Let go… old man… you're choking me!"
Again, Fuutarou had to apply his own strength to break free of his father's grip. This time he could push the arm a little further to be able to breathe, to which Isanari, on equal parts amused and proud, told him he was getting better, but he was still too far from matching his strength, and if he wanted to stand a chance he had to at least bench press with eighty kilos at minimum.
Even without Yotsuba around, having his dad at the gym ensured the visit wouldn't be boring at all.
On the day of the national exams…
Despite thinking he'd be very nervous the previous night, Fuutarou was able to sleep like a log, and when he woke up that morning, he felt strangely relaxed and at ease. Somehow, he was able to clear his mind off the things that had him troubled.
After saying goodbye to his family to go to school, he walked all the way to school with no hurry. The more he came closer, the murmurs of the students around him, most of them nervous about what they were about to face, increased. Understandable, as the national exams were serious business, and most of the third years were stressed by them.
"Uesugi-saaaaaaaan!"
Announcing herself with that cry, this time Fuutarou managed to anticipate to Yotsuba's tackle, and upon feeling her right behind her, he stepped aside before she bumped on him, grabbing her ribbon.
"Nice try, but I'm not falling twice for that trick of yours," he said, while she simply giggled showing all of her teeth. Right then, Ichika and the others arrived as well.
"Oh, c'mon, Yotsuba. Why do you always have to rush ahead?" said the eldest sister. "Morning, Fuutarou-kun. Ready for the big day?"
"As ready as I can be, I guess," he said, while Ichika approached to take a look at him. "What's up, do I have something in my face?"
"No, just wanted to make sure," she said. "You don't have eye bags or anything, you slept well last night?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Truth be told, I'm not sure why, but these few days I've felt more at ease. I decided to focus on my short term goals."
"Well, that's good to know." Ichika smiled before winking at him. "Say, how about I treat you something to celebrate? Would you like a prize if you make it first place in the national ranking?"
Fuutarou stared at her. Tempting as the offer sounded, at the time he didn't want to talk about dates, rewards or anything like that. He'd taken Nino's words to heart, about being sincere about his feelings, as much as his father's, of deciding which his priorities were.
At this moment, his short-term goal was to do well in the exam and get the highest ranking he could at national level. Once he fulfilled that goal, he'd have plenty of time to think about his feelings, and everything else he had to deal with.
"We'll talk about that after school," said Fuutarou. "We'd better hurry, the entrance bell will go off any second."
"Hah, always thinking about studying first," said Nino, shrugging. "I don't know what's the big deal about these exams."
"Don't underestimate them, Nino," Itsuki intervened. "These exams are very important for Uesugi-kun, aren't they?"
"Of course they are!" Yotsuba answered for him. "Uesugi-san, we'll do our best as well! So you better not drop your focus!"
"I wouldn't even dream about it," he replied. "Same goes for you five; keep in mind I'm being paid for teaching you. Your grades will determine my paycheck."
"Haha, you've heard Fuutarou-kun, girls," said Ichika. "Let's all do our best to get the best grades, so Dad can pay him his bonuses."
"There's something else." Miku reached into her cardigan's pocket to pull something out. "This is for you."
The boy looked a little puzzled at the middle sister, who was holding out a blue paper crane. Before he could ask about it, the others followed suit, each one pulling out a similar one, albeit in different colors: yellow for Ichika, purple for Nino, green for Yotsuba, and red for Itsuki.
"May they bring you good luck!" said Yotsuba. "Though we know you won't need it, you're a genius after all."
"You girls…" Fuutarou tried to hold back a smile, but he ultimately couldn't and accepted them. "Thanks, thanks a lot. But I'll have to keep them in my pocket. I don't want anybody to think I'm trying to cheat in such a blatant way."
Ichika giggled at the comment, and taking lead of the group, grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to the school grounds, followed by the others. The day of the exams was about to begin.
…
Once in the classroom, everyone was seated as the teacher delivered the sheets and gave the typical final instructions. Fuutarou paid no mind to it, as he knew exactly what he had to do. For security reasons and to reduce the chance of cheating, the students had been grouped randomly among different classes.
The Uesugi boy admitted he felt a little lonely by not seeing any familiar faces. The Nakanos, Maeda and Takeda, they all had been sent to different classrooms. At this point, he would have even tolerated his cousin's presence, if only to liven up the room a little, no matter how unbearable he could get. Was that how it felt, being forcibly separated from his friends?
A similar feeling had invaded him almost a year before. When he was Yotsuba's tutor alone, he was fully aware from the start that it was a temporary arrangement, and that once the school period was over she'd be gone, back to her old school. At first, he didn't think much about it, but as the months went by, she grew on him before he realized, and while he wouldn't admit it out loud, he was saddened by the idea that she would leave his school once everything was over.
'But she didn't,' he thought. 'In the end, Yotsuba didn't leave.'
And that made him happy. He'd have missed her a lot if she had left, and while they couldn't spend as much time together as before, the fact they still studied in the same school made him feel relieved. Somehow, she'd dug deeper into him than he expected.
For that same reason, he was having many doubts in his head, and in his heart. He'd started dating Ichika, and while he was happy with her, as he had no doubts that she liked him… there was a little sting that didn't leave him alone, all this time. Part of him blamed it on the fact that, being quintuplet sisters, genetically identical, it was only logical to see similarities between them. But the more time went by, the more he realized that their differences, while not as visible at first glance, were huge.
Both of them were charming in their own way, extroverted and sociable, popular at school. But while one had talent and aspirations as an actress, the other was athletic and good at sports. Neither would qualify as a model student, but Ichika was, no doubt, the better of the two academically, although Yotsuba clearly put more effort into studying, even when he wasn't looking. That didn't demerit the efforts of either, but it was definitely there as well.
'I wonder… did I make the right call in agreeing to date Ichika? Should I really be dating her?'
The question hadn't left him alone, still going around his head for the past months. On one hand, maybe he felt he was taking the words Rena told him, "If that girl really loves you, don't let her go", way too literally. Maybe, he just went straight to Ichika's arms looking for solace after his broken heart.
And then, there was that kiss under the bell, when he felt something was off. It was subtle, but that kiss felt different to others she usually gave him. As if there was a different intent behind it… or maybe a different person.
'Ichika… you and I need to talk very seriously about that. But for now, I have other immediate priorities.'
That he did. He was handed over his question sheet, so it was about time to begin the exam. Just a quick glance to the first five questions made him realize he knew the answers by heart, which made him smile.
Time to disconnect momentarily his heart and his feelings. At the moment, only his brain and knowledge mattered.
On the day of the results…
"The results fluctuate a bit, but they have overall improved compared to last year, Mr. Nakano."
As he was riding in the back of the car, with Ebata on the wheel, Maruo observed the online bulletins with his daughters' grades. They were performing a lot better than he expected, and he could say he was very pleased with their efforts. Especially Yotsuba, who was at the lowest last year, and she had improved notably and she wasn't as bad as before.
However, there was another thing that caught his attention, and after seeing the national ranking, seeing the name Fuutarou Uesugi on the second place exceeded his expectations about the boy by a wide margin. Especially considering how he had to balance his own studies with his job as his daughters' tutor.
"I believe he deserves a raise," he muttered, trying to repress a smirk.
Right then, his cellphone rang. It was Ichika, and while he had a slight idea of what she wanted to tell him, he figured it wouldn't hurt to listen to her. With that in mind, he pressed the button to answer.
"Hello?"
"Morning, Dad!" she cheerily greeted. "I figure you must have seen the results by now, right?"
"Yes, I'm seeing them now," he replied dryly. "I'm impressed how much your grades have raised, all of you."
"Well, you should be thanking our teacher for that. Isn't that right, Fuutarou-sensei?"
Maruo overheard a drowned voice on the other side, who seemed to be forced to answer by Ichika, as she insisted that he came to talk to him.
"Mr. Nakano… it's good to talk to you."
"Same here," Maruo replied dryly. "You've done a good job helping my daughters raise their grades. The question is… can you keep this up until graduation."
"I won't just keep it," the boy assured. "I plan to raise it even more."
"You're setting the bar very high, Uesugi-kun. Are you sure you can handle it?"
"If you have any doubts, you can see my ranking in the national exams. Though I'll admit I made some mistakes in the last test."
Indeed, the results revealed that Fuutarou had passed the first four subjects without any failures. Only in the last one he made a few mistakes, which prevented him from getting a perfect score. Nevertheless, it was impressive.
"Yes, I acknowledge that I didn't expect you'd make it so high," said Maruo. "Especially having to balance it with the tutoring sessions with my daughters. You've done a good job, and I believe you deserve a reward. Your next pay will be raised by 25%."
"Really? Thank you, sir, you have no idea how…"
"Nevertheless," Maruo interrupted him before he continued, "let's be clear, I won't tolerate any inappropriate behavior towards any of my daughters. Do you understand?"
"Y-yes sir…"
"Oh, Dad," he heard Ichika's voice again. "Don't spook him, poor guy's been too pressured with the exams in the past few days."
"You know I'm just concerned about you girls, Ichika-kun. Like any father worth his salt."
"Yes, I know, Dad," said Ichika. Even while not in video call, he could almost imagine her pouting face. "Anyway, do you mind if we take the rest of the day off? We're gonna make a little party to celebrate Fuutarou-kun's efforts. You can come too, if you like."
"Although I appreciate the invitation, I have work to do," he said with finality. "You can do as you please, as long as you don't get into trouble."
"That's a pity. Well, we still love you, Dad. Bye!"
And with that, the call came to an end. Maruo sighed; the boy was becoming a huge influence to his daughters. For good or ill? He wasn't sure yet, but at least for now, he hadn't given him reasons to mistrust him.
Although he still was due a meeting with the boy's cousin, but that was another business.
A few minutes later, his phone rang again. This time, the number belonged to Principal Takeda. Another call he was expecting for rather obvious reasons.
"Hello?"
"Good day to you, Dr. Nakano. I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"
"No, not at all. I was expecting your call. So, do you wish to continue our conversation where we left off?"
Naturally, Principal Takeda had told him about his young son, Yuusuke, who he later found out was in the same class as young Uesugi. Something about the possibility to pull a few strings to get him a job as a doctor in his hospital. Maruo had made no promises, obviously, but he was willing to listen to what he had to say.
"About that… I've talked to my son about that. There may be a change of plans."
To be continued…
Author's notes:
Good morning, people. Okay, this month's chapter is finally here. Now that I've resumed classes at the university gente, my writing time will be severely limited, so I hope you understand why I've lowered the pace a little. This chapter could be considered the opening for the next arc. Fuutarou has doubts about his feelings and now that he's free of the national exams' pressure, it's time to clear things up with both himself and Ichika. I guess I don't need to spell out what that means, right? We'll soon be entering the next act of this story, to begin the way towards the grand finale.
In any case, there's gonna be one last interlude before the Kyoto trip, as the next will be a mini-chapter focused on Raiha. I know the previous ones were focused on the other quints, but since the canon story gave very little to the side characters, felt it would be fair to give some to the others, including the Uesugi family. It's no big deal; just something related to her school days and hanging out with her friends. Besides, it's good practice for writing children, since I don't do it often.
Anyway, that's all for this chapter. Thanks for the reviews to TheMist33, DapperSquidMan and bobalon. Before I leave, here's another omake, for anyone who's left wondering what happened with Takeda. Till next time, sayonara!
OMAKE #4 – At the Principal's office:
Most students would get nervous at being called at the Principal's office. Some would think that Yuusuke Takeda, being his son, would be exempt from those worries, but the boy knew perfectly that, whenever his father called him at school, it was because he had something important to say.
When he came near the door, he took a deep breath before raising his hand and knocking thrice.
"Come in," the familiar serious voice replied from the other side.
"With your permission," he said, entering and closing the door behind himself. He approached slowly to the desk, and his father turned around to face him. "What can I do for you, Mr. Principal?"
"Son, we're not at school hours. No need for formalities at the moment. I called you because we need to talk about something very important."
Yuusuke held back the urge to sigh. He had a feeling that he already knew what his father wanted to talk to him, but he tried not to show it outwardly, and crossed his arms as he tried to keep a neutral expression in his face.
"I'm all ears… Father."
"As you know, the national exams are around the corner," Mr. Takeda said. "Your performance in them may be crucial to your future."
"Yes, I'm very much aware of that," the boy answered. "But I see no reason why you should be worried. Haven't you seen my grades lately."
In response, the Principal pulled out a couple of paper sheets from the drawer. One was the last exam they'd done with his score (95%), and the other was…
"Isn't that… the answer sheet?"
"You had three wrong answers," Mr. Takeda said emphatically. "If you keep slipping up that way, you won't achieve first place in the national exams, or have you forgotten?"
"Father… what are you getting at with this?" the boy inquired.
"Yuusuke, didn't you say you aspired to be a doctor, like your mother? I have a contact in the central hospital that could get you a good job there in a few years."
Again, that topic came up. Certainly, as a young child he'd considered to follow his mother's footsteps, a successful surgeon who took pride on saving lives at her work. But as it usually happened, growing up and maturing made him understand the implications of such a job, and he wasn't sure whether he wanted to pursue that field.
In fact, since middle school his dreams had been redirected in a different way: more specifically, and even if some thought it sounded corny, he wanted to 'reach the stars', or at least come as close to that as possible.
"That was a long time ago. Now I have a different goal. We talked about this, remember?"
"I'm telling you this as a father who's concerned about his son," the Principal replied. "It's good to have grand aspirations, but you need to be realistic and have your feet on Earth. If you follow your mother's footsteps, you'll have your future secure."
"Secure? That's never a guarantee, Father. Before any career, first I need to secure a spot on Japan's best university."
"About that…"
As he said those words, the Principal pulled out of the drawer something more. It was a sealed envelope, and as he placed it on the desk, young Takeda's eyes widened briefly. He stared at his father, then the envelope, and his father again.
"I made a copy of the answer key for the mock exams. If you memorize this, you'll have an edge."
"Are you telling me… to cheat?"
"I'm telling you to use all resources at hand to get ahead," the Principal replied. "Nobody knows except us, and it won't be cheating as long as nobody else finds out."
Yuusuke grabbed the envelope. He'd always seen his father as a role model, never imagining him capable of pulling something like this. Not just the evident favoritism, but also the implications of going against what meant to be a school principal. Even if it was to 'help' him, young Takeda was very, very clear about the message his father tried to give him.
"I see… do you have so little faith in me, Father? Do you think you're helping me giving me the exam's answers? I'm sorry, but I can't do that."
"Yuusuke…"
"Since I entered this school, I've had a shadow cast over me, for being the Principal's son," he said very seriously. "You've got no idea how hard I've worked to stand out, and while I've always fallen behind Uesugi-kun, at least I'm proud of what I've managed, with my own efforts."
He slammed the envelope over the desk, and turned around to leave the office. He took a few steps to the door, but stopped to say a few last words.
"Any triumph is worthless if it's not earned fairly. I'll show you I don't need to cheat to succeed in my goals."
And without further ado, he opened the door and exited the office. Once he did, he let out a sigh. If it was hard for any student to face the school's principal, it was even harder for him when said principal was his own father. It wasn't nice to tell him those harsh truths in the face, but he knew he'd done the right thing.
"That was a surprise," a female voice said.
Startled, he looked aside to meet the middle Nakano sister. She was leaning backwards on one side of the door, and he took a moment to process the situation. Had she overheard their conversation? How much of it?
"It was for me too," he said, once he regained his composure. "I never thought my father would do something like that for the national exams. Even if he said he was trying to 'help' me."
"Some parents may go to extremes for their children's sake," said Miku. The boy arched an eyebrow; despite her deadpan tone, he could recognize that she said it as if she knew a lot about it.
"Did someone else hear it?" he asked, to what she shook her head, much to his relief. "By the way… what were you doing here?"
"I just wanted to deliver this," she said, holding up the envelope she had in her hand, the kind used for requests made by students. For some reason it had footprints all over. "If you excuse me."
Miku then entered the office. A couple minutes passed and she came back out and looked at him. He was about to ask what was that, but she seemingly read his question before he said anything.
"The school band had lost that envelope in the courtyard. I found it by chance, so I offered to bring it here for them."
"I see. That's… very considerate of you," he said.
She then looked aside for a moment. "I saw you enter the office first, so… I was curious. Sorry for eavesdropping."
The boy gazed at her for a moment, before verifying there was nobody else at the corridor. So, it was pure chance that she was around there at the time, and he couldn't blame her for being curious when she saw him.
Though he got the impression that, lately, they were running into each other quite often at school.
"Hey, it may be weird that I ask you this, but…" just as a precaution, he lowered his voice slightly, "can I ask you not to tell this to anybody? There could be a scandal and my father could lose his job."
"Don't worry," she assured. "Nobody else will know."
As if on cue, in that instant the bell rang, so the two immediately knew they had to go back to the classroom. The two of them walked side by side, neither saying a single word more.
Young Takeda suddenly felt a rush of gratitude. Miku was probably returning the favor for not giving her away during the school camp last year. Despite being so withdrawn she was nice… and a worthy opponent in the games online, on top of that.