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.
Extra: School Days with Raiha
Uesugi residence…
"I'm heading off, Mom! See you later!"
"Take care, Raiha!"
Another normal day began for Raiha Uesugi. Her dad and brother had already left, so only her mom stayed at home to see her off before going to work at the bakery. Normally, they would prepare the bento box together before she left, but today, Raiha managed to do it by herself, without her mom's help.
She felt quite proud of herself for it. That way her mom wouldn't have to waste her time helping her with that before she went to work. Maybe she could even help her prepare lunches for Fuutarou and her dad in the future.
'How's Oniichan doing now?' she wondered. If memory served, today was the day Fuutarou would take on the national mock exams. He hadn't spoken of anything else for the past weeks while he was home.
"Raiha-chan, wait for me!" a familiar voice called out.
"Ah, morning, Nao-chan!"
She'd just walked in front of the house of one of her classmates. Her best friend at school, Naoko Takagi, who was about the same height as her, albeit with dark brown hair tied in high pigtails with red ribbons. She was wearing a green blouse and a red skirt, as her school required no uniform.
"What's up?" Raiha asked once her friend caught up. "Did you finish yesterday's homework?"
"Truth is, I didn't. Got distracted watching Flower Princess yesterday," Nao confessed. "Think you can lend me your notes?"
"I don't know if we'll have time," said Raiha. "You better not slack off; you know how Shiozaki-sensei gets when we don't deliver on time."
Nao pouted, but then both of them laughed. Unlike her brother, Raiha was no study freak who aspired to have nothing but perfect grades, but at least she could be proud to be always above average among her peers in class. So it was no surprise that others asked for her help when they fell behind at something.
"Hey, wanna come over to my house after class?" Nao asked. "My parents bought me a new videogame for my birthday."
"I wish I could, but I promised to help Mom at the bakery today," Raiha replied. "Maybe on the weekend? Or you could invite Yuuta…"
"Is that all you've got?! Nowhere near enough!"
"Ack! I swear, I've got nothing else!"
Both girls stopped on their tracks. In front of them was a trio of kids surrounding a smaller one. The biggest one had his victim pinned against the wall while the other two searched him all over. An emptied backpack lied aside with a bunch of stuff scattered around.
"Yuuta!" Raiha cried, running at them. "Leave him alone, you bullies!"
The trio saw the newly arrived girls, and without missing a beat ran off, dropping their victim who fell on his rear. As Raiha checked her friend to see if he was okay, Nao began picking up the knickknacks scattered around to put them back into the owner's backpack.
"You alright? Did those idiots hurt you?"
"Don't worry, I'm fine," the boy said, even though he seemed on the verge of tears.
This was Yuuta Hayakawa, another of his classmates, a boy with dark hair and blue eyes. He was frequently picked on due to his short height and his 'girly face' as some called it. Raiha realized he had a scrape on his knee, making Raiha shake her head.
"Well, this doesn't look fine at all. Nao-chan, you've got some bandages or something?"
"Hold on." The aforementioned pulled you a bandage box from her backpack to put a few on the boy's knee, making him wince in pain. "C'mon, just hang on a little."
"It's the third time Kitahara and his cronies are picking on you this week," said Raiha. "You have to do something!"
"Something like what?" the boy replied. "I can't fight them, they're bigger and stronger than me."
"Then tell Shiozaki-sensei!" Nao protested. "You can't let them do this anymore!"
"I don't wanna get into trouble. If I accuse them, it'll only make it worse. Besides…"
"Besides what?"
"We made a bet… and I lost," Yuuta explained. "Kitahara forced me to it, but now I have to pay him."
The girls exchanged looks, not getting why he thought that. Then again, maybe it was because it always happened outside school grounds, so whatever they did was not within the teachers' jurisdiction. But even then, they still couldn't believe the boy wouldn't try to defend himself somehow.
However, they had no time to keep arguing, since it was getting late and they had to head to their classroom fast. Fortunately, the scrape on Yuuta's knee didn't hamper his capacity to run fast enough, and the three of them made it on time for the first class.
…
The morning in the elementary school went by as usual; listening in, taking notes, deliver the homework, and everything else. During the breaks, the students would play or discuss with each other anything to kill time until the next class, and then lunch time finally came.
Raiha and Nao would always sit to eat together, occasionally sharing with each other, and today was no exception.
"Wow! Your lunch looks incredible as always, Raiha-chan," Nao exclaimed, reaching out with her chopsticks. "May I?"
"Go ahead, help yourself," the Uesugi girl replied, letting her friend grab a pair of fish sticks and munch on them.
"Hmm, delicious!" the brunette said. "I wish my mom would cook as great as yours!"
"Haha, and if I told you I made this one myself?" Raiha said with a little of pride, much to her friend's surprise. Nao looked at her with widened eyes.
"No way, really? You made it?"
"I asked Mom to show me how to do it myself," Raiha explained. "Took me months, but I finally did it right. What do you think?"
"Wow, that's awesome. Think you could show me? I bet we could sell bento boxes at school and make a lot of money."
Raiha just laughed at that. Nao frequently joked saying she'd like to earn some money somehow, though since her own brother also worked to support the family, she would often consider trying to do other things about it. The lunch boxes didn't sound bad, though it'd take a while to prepare them. And while she often helped at the family bakery, she wouldn't do much but clean the place and help in making the bread.
"They're not as easy to make," said Raiha. "Though if it's just for you, I can show you how to make them yourself."
Before she could elaborate, right then Yuuta returned from the bathroom, and both Raiha and Nao noticed his clothes and hair looked messier than usual. The two naturally felt concerned when the boy sat back on his place, bringing what looked like an empty lunch box.
"Yuuta… are you alright?"
"Huh? Y-yeah, I'm fine," he said. Both Raiha and Nao exchanged glances; evidently neither of them was buying it.
"Don't lie, you don't look good," Nao insisted. "Those idiots again?"
Yuuta looked at them both in shame, evidently trying to pretend everything was fine, but he ultimately couldn't. He explained he'd gone to eat at the bathroom with the hope of avoiding the bully and his gang, but Kitahara found him, and they didn't let him even take a bite.
"They said they'd take it as 'compensation'. And whatever they didn't eat, they tossed it down the toilet," he said sadly.
"I swear, I'm gonna give those jerks a piece of my mind!" Nao was about to stand up, but Raiha stopped her.
"It's not worth getting into trouble, let it be," said Raiha. With the chopsticks she grabbed some rice and a pair of fish croquettes. "Yuuta, if you couldn't eat, have some of mine."
"Yeah, mine too," Nao added, grabbing an egg roll to give it to him as well.
"Thanks, really. I owe you one for this."
The boy started eating, or rather, devouring the food he was given. He seemed quite hungry, and it was no surprise if those bullies didn't even let him taste his own lunch.
Although she stopped Nao from going to pick a fight with those bullies, deep down Raiha wanted to do something for her friend too. Maybe she should ask her mom to help her make some extra, just in case they stole his food again, while she thought of a way to make them stop for good.
…
After class, Raiha and Nao decided to accompany Yuuta back home so he wouldn't be alone, just as a precaution in case those idiots came back to annoy him again. And surely enough, they showed up, but simply took another way and left them alone.
The three walked a stretch together until Nao went her own way, while Raiha decided to take a two-block detour to escort Yuuta all the way to his own home just as a precaution. A couple times she looked over the shoulder as she could have sworn they were being followed, but fortunately they arrived safely and without issues.
"Thanks for accompanying me, Raiha-chan," Yuuta said.
"No need to thank me. But seriously, Yuuta, why do you let those bullies mess with you like that?" the girl asked. "You can't let them do as they please with you!"
"They're bigger and stronger than me," he said as an excuse. "Also, I don't wanna look like a coward for accusing them."
Raiha pouted. Sometimes she wondered why boys cared so much about not being seen as "cowards" or whatever. She didn't think that being scared or asking for help was wrong.
Yuuta was a nice kid, unable to hurt a fly, but sometimes he was too nice for his own good. Apparently he'd taken too much to heart that saying of "violence never being the answer". Not like Raiha wanted to actually fight them or something, but there had to be something she could do.
"Say, Yuuta, wanna have lunch with me tomorrow too? I can make an extra bento for you, if you like," she offered.
"Really? I don't want to bother you."
"Oh, don't worry. Mom taught me how to make it. In fact, I was planning on doing some extra for Nao-chan too, so…"
Suddenly, a bulb turned on inside Raiha's mind. Do some extra, maybe she'd have to ask her mom for some help, but maybe…
"So what? Raiha-chan?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I'll just have to ask my mom to help me. But don't worry, I'll bring something delicious for you, I promise," the Uesugi girl assured. "See you tomorrow!"
And leaving the little boy confused, Raiha turned around and ran off back home. If she managed to get her mom to help her on this, she may be able to get those idiots to leave Yuuta alone once and for all.
Anything to help a friend.
The following day…
When it came to dealing with bullies, there were many methods. Raiha was neither big nor strong enough to fight them directly, but she managed to keep them at bay by not letting them intimidate her. In general, bullies would back off if they saw their potential victims didn't fear them.
Though it probably helped that Kitahara and his cronies never messed with girls, at least not by hitting them. Rather, sometimes they'd try to impress them by playing macho, but they'd leave them alone when they saw they weren't interested. Then again, that time Nao gave him a kick to the shins when he didn't take a no for an answer may have helped too.
Raiha, on the other hand, didn't approve of physical violence, so she preferred to use her head. A trait she may have picked up from her older brother, with his obsession with studies, though she was grateful for it in this case.
…
"Let me get this straight. You want me to help you make two extra lunch boxes for school?"
"I won't have enough time to make them myself, Mom. Please, I need your help on this," Raiha begged.
Once she was done working at the bakery, Raiha went to talk to her mother, to tell her what she was up to. Mrs. Uesugi listened attentively all the story about the problem going on between her friend and the bully picking on him. She wanted to do something about it; for obvious reasons she wasn't going to pick a fight, but she knew another way to challenge him.
"These past few days he's been harassing Yuuta. Forcing him to do his schoolwork, stealing his lunch, and picking on him whenever nobody's watching," said Raiha. "Yuuta won't tell on him with the teachers, he's too scared."
"That's a problem," Kazane admitted. "So, you want me to help you make a bento with extra spicy food, one that Kitahara kid won't be able to eat?"
"I know him well. I know he can't stand spicy food. But I also know that, if someone challenges him to do something, he won't be able to refuse."
"Oh yes, even bullies have their pride," the woman nodded. "Well, I don't approve the idea of spiking someone's food, but it's for a good cause. You want to help your friend, don't you?"
Raiha nodded back. Right then, that was all she could think about to help Yuuta get his tormentors off his back.
…
In theory it was a very simple plan. As soon as she ran into Kitahara, preferably at lunch time, Raiha would offer him the bento in exchange for him leaving Yuuta alone, but on a small condition. He'd have to finish it all; otherwise, he couldn't pick on Yuuta for the rest of the year.
"Morning, Raiha-chan!" Nao's voice greeted her.
"Good morning!" she replied.
"You seem in a good mood today. Did something happen?" her friend asked, a little puzzled.
Raiha didn't answer, just smiled and told her to hurry so they could get to school quickly. If everything went well, Yuuta would be safe from Kitahara and his cronies for the rest of the year. With luck, maybe that bully would be too traumatized to even think about stealing another lunch.
And as if on cue, right as they approached the school they spotted Yuuta running and breathing heavily. And shortly after, Kitahara and his cronies showed up behind them. The two immediately got in front of Yuuta to protect them, and the bullies stopped on their tracks.
"Hey, what're you two doing here? Step back, we've got no business with you!"
"Don't even think about it!" said Nao. "You'll have to go through us first!"
"Wait, Nao-chan," Raiha stepped up. "Say, Kitahara, what would it take for you to leave Yuuta alone for good?"
"Well, that he pays me what he owes," the big boy said with a smug air. He wasn't specifying anything, so Raiha grabbed her backpack and started searching it.
As her friends and the bullies watched her puzzled, Raiha pulled out a bento box. She'd asked her mom to mark it with a ribbon so as to identify the 'special' bento they'd prepared specifically for Kitahara, and separate it from the other two. She presented it, and the larger kid watched her confused.
"My mom made this bento box. If I give it to you, will you leave Yuuta alone? Whatever he owes you, I'm sure this could cover it."
"Oh, you trying to bargain with me, Raiha-chan?" the bully said. While she was annoyed that he used "-chan" with her, the Uesugi girl kept her composure and smiled.
"Maybe. Even more, how about we make a little bet=? As you can see, this box is too large for a single person. If you can't eat it all by yourself, will you leave Yuuta alone for the rest of the year?"
"Ha, is that all? That's easy!" The bully reached out his hands to grab the box, but Raiha pulled it away brusquely. "Hey!"
"Uh-uh, not yet," she warned him. "Come to our classroom at lunch time, then I'll give it to you. I want to make sure you do eat it, you see."
"Gee, how skeptical. Well, not like I'm hungry right now, so I can wait," he said smugly. "Let's go, guys."
Without any further words, Kitahara and his henchmen went their way, leaving Raiha alone with her two friends. Yuuta finally stopped hiding behind the girls and sighed in relief, while Nao gave the Uesugi girl a confused look.
"What are you playing at?" she asked.
"Yeah, Raiha-chan, why did you make that bet?" Yuuta added. "Giving him your lunch won't do any good, they won't leave me alone anyway."
"Well, you don't owe them anything either, Yuuta," said Raiha. "Relax; after today, he won't have any desires to mess with you, neither for this year, or the rest of his life."
Her two friends exchanged confused stares, but neither asked any more questions. The bell was about to ring anyway, so they had to go to class instead of staying there any longer.
…
The morning went by normally, or as normal as it could be while waiting for the school bully to show up in your classroom. Raiha gave a few aside glances and took notice that Yuuta seemed increasingly nervous as the clock went forward, while Nao wanted to ask what she was planning, again.
And right as the lunch bell sounded, almost everyone went to the courtyard to eat, but they obviously stayed where they were. Raiha had already placed the bento box on top of her desk, and sure enough Kitahara and his two cronies showed up in front of her shortly.
"So?" he asked, hands on the hips.
"As promised." Raiha held up the box. "But you know the deal, don't you? You have to eat it all by yourself. If you can't…"
"Ha, give me that!" he said as he brusquely grabbed the box and took out the cover. "Ooohhh! Hmm, this looks pretty good."
"Wow, Kitahara! Gimme a little, will ya?" One of the crones tried to grab a piece, but the bully slapped his hand away.
"Hands off, you moron! This is just for me. Let's not wait any longer, itadakimasu!"
He grabbed the chopsticks and started devouring the box's contents. It was a fairly standard bento at first glance: rice, fried shrimp, an egg roll, and it seemed Kitahara was enjoying it a lot. However, after a couple minutes, he suddenly froze up and stopped munching. His face turned red, and his eyes began crying.
"Aaaahhh, water, water, waaateeeeerrrr!" he screamed as he ran around the entire classroom.
"Kitahara, what's wrong?!"
"No matter, just give me water! You, you tricked me, you little…!" he exclaimed, pointing his finger at Raiha.
"Why do you say that?" Raiha asked. "I never told you what the bento would have, right? But well, if you can't eat it…"
"You… you little…"
"There's no water for you to drink here," said Nao, once she understood what was going on. "You can go running in the hallway if you want, but if you don't finish it, you lose. And that means you leave Yuuta alone."
"For the rest of the year," Raiha said, reminding him of the deal. "And you always honor your bets, don't you, Kitahara?"
The bully wanted to groan something else, but it looked like waiting for the spicy sauce effect to wear off was not an option, so he ran out of the classroom, followed by his two henchmen.
Upon checking the box, they noticed that he managed to eat over half the contents before he succumbed. He probably didn't want to waste it. Yuuta reached and almost grabbed a bite, but Raiha stopped him.
"Don't take that. Here, try this one."
Instantly, Raiha pulled out his two remaining bento boxes, handing one to Yuuta and Nao before opening the remaining one with a large smile. The boy gave her a surprised look.
"You made all this?"
"Mom helped me," Raiha admitted. "I needed to make the bento for Kitahara look presentable and delicious. Of course, we put it some… special spices, you know. Anyway, are we going to eat or what?"
Both the grumbling stomachs of Yuuta and Nao answered for them, so they stopped asking questions and sat to eat with her. Raiha felt quite satisfied, and the rest of the day went without any troubles.
From there on out, they wouldn't bother his friend anymore, and in case they did, Raiha had a few more ideas to dissuade them from even trying.
To be continued…
Author's notes:
Morning, people. Well, as promised, here's the extra chapter starring Raiha. Take this as the appetizer before the next important arc, which would be the equivalent to the Sisters' War, so you can imagine what that means. But well, let's not worry about that at the moment.
As I previously said, aside from giving some chapters to the other quints outside the main triangle, I'd like to give other side characters their chance at the spotlight, and who better than Fuutarou's adorable little sister to start? Truth is, I struggled to pick between several ideas I had for Raiha, showing her at school, at a summer camp with her friends, or helping out at her mom's bakery. In the end I chose to show her standing up to a bully to help her friend, albeit doing so in a more atypical way, as she doesn't seem the type who'd go for directo confrontation (not that she would have to). This won't be the last extra chapter starring, as I don't feel like wasting the other ideas I have, so I hope you enjoyed it.
Thanks for the reviews to TheMist33 and bobalon. Just to let you know, I've resumed class period at the university, so my writing time will be severely limited, meaning my next update may come a little late. Until next time, sayonara!