Chapter 9
The second day of the school trip had finally begun. The morning started with a quick briefing for the day's trip, followed by breakfast and an hour of free time for the students to prepare. Unlike the previous day, the students were not allowed to roam freely. Instead, they had to stick with their assigned groups and visit the destination that they had decided from the second day trip form.
Fuutaro and his groupmates had decided to visit Kiyomizu-dera, a beautiful temple nestled in the hills of Kyoto. The temple held a special place in Fuutaro's heart as it brought back memories of that memorable girl he had met during his elementary school trip six years ago. He had been thrilled when he found out that Kiyomizu-dera was on the list of places they could visit on this trip during the school trip discussion a month ago. Luckily for him, Takeda had gone along with his choice thanks to his easy-going and friendly nature. Maeda, on the other hand, had initially not been interested in visiting Kiyomizu-dera, but Takeda's persuasion had convinced him to come along.
Currently, all the students were gathered in the hotel lobby, waiting for their respective buses to arrive. The lobby was crowded and noisy, with teachers directing students to their designated groups.
"For those of you who chose to visit Kyoto Imperial Palace, please gather at this point. The bus will be arriving shortly. Don't forget to bring your important belongings and stay with your group at all times."
"Students who chose to visit Kinkaku-ji, your bus has already arrived. Please make your way to the bus and ensure that all of your groupmates are present."
Meanwhile, Fuutaro and his group were sitting on the sofa, waiting for their bus to arrive. The quintuplets were nearby, chatting with their friends by the receptionist's desk. He watched them with a mix of curiosity and hope. But his eyes were set specifically on Ichika as he hoped to spend some time with her during today's trip.
"It's already the second day..."
"I still haven't found the right chance to ask her...
"Maybe I should ask her to go for a walk with me at Kiyomizu-dera..."
"And there's still tomorrow..."
A sudden nudging sensation interrupted Fuutaro's quiet thoughts as Takeda prodded his shoulder with his elbow. With his usual charming expression, Takeda sought to gain his friend's attention. "What's wrong, Uesugi-kun?" Takeda asked before turning to look at where Fuutaro had been staring. He saw the quintuplets and gave his friend a teasing smirk. "I see... I'm not really surprised they picked the same destination as us. You must be happy, right?"
"I guess so," Fuutaro replied in a monotone voice. He then pulled out his itinerary book from his pocket and began reading the schedule. "I told Itsuki last night where I'm planning to visit. She told me she wanted to go to the same place, and in the end, all of them agreed without any objection... As expected from them since they're quintuplets."
"Right..." Takeda chuckled at Fuutaro's response, seemingly amused by his popularity with the quintuplets. "Kiyomizu-dera, huh? I once visited that place with my parents about four years ago. It was truly a great place to visit in Kyoto. The temple architecture, interesting objects in that place, and especially the view, it was stunning."
"Yeah, those are some of the reasons I chose this place," Fuutaro said, closing his itinerary book and leaning back against the sofa. A weak smile appeared on his lips as he mentioned his other reason. "Other than that, I once visited Kiyomizu-dera on my elementary school trip. I have a great memory of that place and always wanted to visit it again when I have the chance."
"I didn't know you were such a sentimental person, knowing you always show that robotic and stiff expression at school," Takeda said. "It's good to know that Uesugi Fuutaro can show other emotions than sulking and sighing. You need to show more of that side, you know? So people can see you positively."
Fuutaro crossed his arms and legs, contemplating what Takeda had said. "Did you really think that of me? To be honest, I don't really care about what others say about me." He closed his eyes. "If there's no reason to do so, then I won't."
"Hey, don't be like that." Takeda lightly tapped Fuutaro on the back of his shoulder. "The whole school sees you that way. You need to ease up and chill more, you know? You're the class rep, and finishing in third place in the mock exam made you more famous in a positive way. So show a friendlier attitude to improve your reputation. Let me give you some advice later on the bus. I'm pretty sure it can help you be more sociable to our peers."
"Yeah, whatever," Fuutaro said dismissively.
Maeda, who had been quiet for a while, joined the conversation out of boredom. He was sitting on another sofa in front of Fuutaro and Takeda, his eyes lazily scanning the room. "He's pretty much correct, Uesugi. I can see people in our class starting to view you more positively after the mock exam," he said, his voice laced with a tinge of amusement. "Kiyomizu-dera... It was not a bad choice, but there were other places that are better, like Kinkaku-ji. I saw it on the net, that place is beautiful and seemed calming with that clear pond," Maeda exclaimed, gesturing towards the last group who had boarded a bus to Kinkaku-ji.
Takeda then turned his attention to the other group member. "You're right. Kinkaku-ji is definitely a great place to visit and I've already been there with my family," he said. "The pond is definitely beautiful, but knowing this is Kyoto and every tourist site is always crowded, you can't really enjoy the calming experience in that place. Take an example when we visited Senbon-torii yesterday, it was very crowded, right?"
Maeda nodded in agreement. "Uhh… Yeah, you got a point. I guess Kiyomizu-dera is all right. I heard from my friends that the view of that place is stunning."
"Also, Kiyomizu-dera has some interesting attractions and objects," Takeda said, his eyes lighting up as he launched into a detailed explanation. "For example, there's a waterfall called Otowa Waterfall. The waterfall has three streams and you can drink the water. Each of the streams represents a long life, success at business or school, or a love life. They say if you drink the water, your wish will be granted, depending on which stream you choose."
Maeda's eyes widened in surprise. "Is that true? That's interesting," he said, his curiosity piqued.
Takeda chuckled. "Yeah, it's a fun story. But for you, I recommend drinking from the stream that will grant intelligence and good luck in school. You really need it so you can at least graduate with an acceptable score, knowing your current grades." He pulled out a water bottle from his backpack and took a swig of water.
"Huh? The hell are you saying to me?!" Maeda exclaimed, feigning annoyance.
"I'm just joking. Take it easy," Takeda said with a grin. He turned to Fuutaro once again. "And Uesugi-kun, there's also another interesting attraction, called 'Love Stones'. In front of Jishu Shrine, there are two stones placed around eighteen meters apart and they say whoever manages to reach from one stone to the other with their eyes closed, will find true love in their life. Good for you?"
Fuutaro looked at Takeda with a narrow, unimpressed gaze. His friend seemed to have no brakes when it came to teasing him about love, romance, or anything related to it. He was always uncomfortable thinking about it, and since he had just experienced these kinds of things recently, he still did not know much about it and felt weird whenever he thought about it. "*sigh* Whatever... I'll keep that in mind so you can shut up talking about it," he said, trying to brush off the topic. But on the other side of his thoughts, he was kind of interested in what Takeda said because there was already a person he liked and was interested in.
Some minutes had passed, and most of the students had already left the hotel for their destination. The only group left in the hotel was the one headed to Kiyomizu-dera. Not long after, the bus for this group arrived, and the leading teacher directed the students to board the bus.
"Our bus has arrived. Go back to your group and board the bus in an orderly fashion."
Following the teacher's directive, this group of students made their way to the bus parked outside the lobby. Fuutaro and his groupmates also stood up from the sofa and joined the other students. Before proceeding, Fuutaro took a quick glance at the quintuplets, who were still near the reception desk. They seemed to be rooted to the spot, showing no sign of boarding the bus. He wondered about it and took a closer look. He immediately noticed that one of the quintuplets was missing, and it was Yotsuba. He could not see the sight of the green ribbon that he always saw among them.
"Hmm… Yotsuba is missing…"
"Come to think of it, I didn't see her with them earlier…"
"Where could she be…?"
"What's wrong, Uesugi?" Maeda asked.
"Uhh… You two go ahead. There are things that I need to discuss with them,"
"Don't take too long, okay?"
Fuutaro made his way over to the quintuplets. He could see a hint of panic on their faces. Nino seemed to be calling someone, probably Yotsuba, Itsuki kept looking at the elevator and the stairs, hoping for the fourth sister to show up, and Ichika and Miku seemed to be heading towards the elevator.
"Oi, what's wrong? The bus is already here, and where is Yotsuba?" Fuutaro asked.
"Umm… Fuutaro-kun, Yotsuba has disappeared since after the briefing," Ichika said as she and Miku stopped in their tracks upon seeing Fuutaro's presence. "Miku said she last saw Yotsuba talking with a teacher in the restaurant about an hour ago. So, we are trying to find her in the restaurant and in our room."
Miku nodded. "Unn… We already asked the other students if they saw her around the lobby, but they didn't. So, we're going to the restaurant to find her, and our room if she's not there." She then turned her head to the second and fifth sister. "Nino and Itsuki already called and messaged her for the past minute, and still no answer from her."
"Really? Did you already tell the teacher about this?" Fuutaro asked, putting his hands on his waist.
"No, we did not," Itsuki replied, pulling out her phone and texting Yotsuba once again. "We are afraid this will cause a scene. Yotsuba can get into trouble if she was found by them."
"Yeah, you have a point. But this will be a problem if we don't find her fast," he stated.
"We know…" Miku said. "Fuutaro, have you seen her or bumped into her by any chance after the briefing?"
"I'm not sure… I don't think I even s—"
In a sudden flash of realization, Fuutaro had a clue about Yotsuba's whereabouts. Some minutes after the free time was over, the students started to assemble in the hotel lobby for the next destination and at this point, Fuutaro was called by his homeroom teacher on the third floor to talk about the third day trip form. He then went to use the nearby restroom, and as he walked out, he spotted a familiar figure enter a conference hall that was used for meetings and briefings throughout the four-day trip. In that split second, he noticed that the person wore a yellow sweater and a ribbon on her hair. It was a clear indication of where she might be.
"I think I have an idea where she is," Fuutaro said, his eyes were wide.
"Ehh? You do?" Nino responded in surprise as she was still attempting to reach Yotsuba on the phone.
"Yeah. You all go ahead and board the bus. I'll go and find her,"
"Do you want us to come with you? I mean, Yotsuba is a part of our group," Ichika asked.
"There's no need," he stated as he approached the nearby elevator and pressed the button. "Besides, if you all come with me, it'll cause even more trouble for you all. Just tell the teacher that Yotsuba is still in your room, and I'll be the one to get her."
"If you say so," Nino replied, placing her phone back into her pocket. "Just don't take too long, Fuu-kun. I'm not sure if that excuse can hold the teacher for too long."
"Got it," Fuutaro nodded and stepped inside the elevator.
Reaching the third floor, Fuutaro jogged towards the nearby conference hall. As he approached, he could hear a loud squeaking noise coming from inside, as if someone was dragging furniture without lifting it. He opened the door and saw Yotsuba, the person he was looking for, moving a table on her own. She then stacked chairs and arranged them around the table. Fuutaro surveyed the room and noticed that she was organizing the tables and chairs alone, and no other person were presents in this hall. All the teachers were supposed to be accompanying the students on the trip this day, so why was Yotsuba alone in the hall?
Without hesitation, Fuutaro shouted to gain Yotsuba's attention, "Oi, Yotsuba!"
Yotsuba turned around to see who had called her. "Hmm? Ahh... Uesugi-san!" she said, noticing Fuutaro's presence. "What's wrong? Is there something you need?"
Fuutaro shook his head, looking disappointed with her lack of awareness of the time. "Just how oblivious are you? Look at the time! The bus is already here, and your sisters have been calling and texting you hundreds of times. Didn't you notice?"
Yotsuba was taken aback when she checked her phone. Her face was a mixture of shock and surprise as she realized she had missed over ten calls and countless chat notifications. It was already way past their scheduled departure time. "Is it already this late? How could I not notice?"
Fuutaro looked at her unimpressed, a hint of annoyance on his face. "Your sisters have been searching for you and asking about your whereabouts. Did you turn off your phone?"
Yotsuba checked her phone again and noticed a small speaker symbol with a cross on it in the upper corner of the screen. "Ahaha... it seems I put my phone on silent mode and forgot to turn it off this morning," she laughed at her own forgetfulness.
"And look where it's gotten you," Fuutaro said, putting his hands on his waist and letting out a sigh. "Anyway, let's hurry down to the lobby before the teacher scolds us."
"Okay, let's go," Yotsuba agreed.
As the two teenagers exited the hall, they went to the elevator and Fuutaro pressed the button for the ground floor on it. While they waited, he pulled out his phone and sent a message to one of the quintuplets, letting her know that he had found the fourth sister. He put his phone away and turned to Yotsuba, who was quiet.
"Hey Yotsuba, why were you all alone in the hall? Moving around chairs and tables and organizing everything by yourself?" he asked.
"Umm… After breakfast, the coordinating teacher asked for my help to sort the forms for the third-day trip," Yotsuba explained hesitantly. "After we finished sorting the forms, sensei went to clean the mess left by the students and also tidy up the unorganized tables and chairs."
"And let me guess, you went to help him," Fuutaro said, raising an eyebrow.
"I couldn't help it, you know? I just couldn't leave him and let him do all the work by himself," she said, defending her actions. "So, I lent him a hand."
Fuutaro nodded understandingly, but he could not help but feel a little frustrated. Yotsuba was always too selfless, too willing to help others even when it was inconvenient for herself. The elevator chimed, signaling its arrival, and the two stepped inside.
"Then how did you end up doing all of that by yourself?" he asked. "Don't tell me he ditched and left you to do all the work by yourself."
Yotsuba rapidly shook her head. "No, No, it's not like that." She sighed and told him, "He eventually went down to the lobby because his bus already arrived. Sensei told me to stop and let the hotel staff do the work, but I told him that I could finish it by myself. So, he left, and I continued to do the work."
Fuutaro also shook his head, "You really need to tone down your habit of helping people, you know? In this kind of situation, you need to think more about yourself, pay attention to your surroundings, and not push yourself too hard. If I hadn't come to find you, you and your sisters could have gotten into trouble with our leading teacher, knowing you just disappeared and could not be contacted."
"Ahaha… My bad," Yotsuba chuckled, looking down at her feet.
The elevator doors slid open, and Fuutaro and Yotsuba made their way to the lobby, where they jogged towards the waiting bus. The leading teacher gave them a stern reprimand as they boarded the bus, but Yotsuba was quick to apologize, and they found their seats. Fuutaro sat next to Takeda, who had saved the seat for him on the right side of the bus, while Maeda sat at the back with another student. Yotsuba sat with Ichika, a few rows ahead of Fuutaro on the left side of the bus.
Once everyone was settled, the leading teacher signaled the bus driver to start the engine, and the bus headed towards their destination. Although the atmosphere on the bus was similar to that of the hotel lobby, it was quieter as there were only a few groups of students compared to before.
Fuutaro sat quietly, poring over his itinerary book, before taking out the brochure of Kiyomizu-dera that he had picked up at the hotel. As he looked at the brochure, he remembered the place as he had seen it six years ago. The excitement of exploring it again filled him with anticipation. The brochure also highlighted other attractions in the area, such as the Otowa Waterfall, Jishu Shrine, Love Stones, and Kiyomizu-zaka Street.
As he flipped through the pages, the topic of the Love Stones caught his attention. Though he was not superstitious, the idea of love sometimes intrigued him ever since that unforgettable moment with Ichika last month. Fuutaro pondered whether he should give the Love Stones a try, as he was already interested in her.
"Should I even give this a try…?"
"It will be embarrassing if the others see me doing it…"
"Also, it's just a superstition…"
"But I can't get it out of my mind…"
While Fuutaro was engrossed in looking at the brochure, Takeda took a peek over his shoulder, causing him to be startled. "You're really looking forward visiting Kiyomizu-dera, huh, Uesugi-kun?" he commented teasingly.
"Oi, can you give me some space? I'm trying to read this brochure," Fuutaro replied in an annoyed tone.
"Alright, alright, don't get all tense up," Takeda said in a playful tone, resting his cheek on his fist. "So, where did you find Nakano Yotsuba-san? I was very sure she was not in her room just like her sisters said to our leading teacher because I saw you and them were kind of panicking back at the hotel lobby before I boarded the bus."
"I found her in the conference hall," Fuutaro replied, still looking at the brochure without even glancing at Takeda. "She was organizing the tables and chairs by herself."
"Really? Why did she do all of that alone? Do you know the reason?" Takeda asked curiously.
"Yotsuba said that she originally helped the coordinator teacher to sort the form for tomorrow's trip. After that, she went to help him organize the hall and when he left, she just continued doing it all alone without looking at the time or checking her phone."
"Heh! It's not really surprising to hear. It's just like her," Takeda said, smirking at the explanation. "You know Uesugi-kun, Yotsuba-san is always going all-out on helping people. Since the start of this school year, I always saw her helping teachers of their errand, volunteering in every sports club, and even doing the after-school classroom cleaning almost by herself when it was her group's turn."
Fuutaro put the brochure into his itinerary book and closed it. Since it was a talk about the quintuplets, or even one of them, he was always kind of interested when talking about them. Even his peers were surprised he was unusually talkative when talking about them, especially in the start of the third year where his classmates were having trouble identifying the correct quintuplets. "Her habit of helping people is always good to see," he remarked. "But the thing is, she always overdoes it and doesn't pay attention to her surroundings or herself. It caused trouble for her once, and me and her sisters had to step in to bail her out of that trouble." He remembered the incident from last year when Yotsuba could not refuse to quit the track team when the exam was nearing.
"Impressive… You even went out of your way to help her, despite it not being a part of your job description to tutor them. It's no wonder they're all supportive of you and even interested in you." Takeda said, grinning. "Anyway, speaking of her, I noticed Yotsuba-san was always by herself during the class representative meeting with the student council after school. Where were you at that time? I thought every class rep was supposed to be present at the monthly student council meeting?"
When Takeda brought up that topic, Fuutaro hesitated and panic flashed across his face. It was true that he always skipped the meetings because of his part-time job after school. "Yeah… About that, I have a part-time job after school every time those meetings took place. So I have no choice but to skip it and leave it to her."
"Hmm… That's not good, Uesugi-kun," Takeda said, his face was stern, crossing his arms and shaking his head. "I know what you mean because I took a few part-time jobs in the past to experience the working world and it was tough. But that's not a good enough excuse to leave her all alone and carrying your responsibility, especially during every meeting."
Fuutaro let out a quiet sigh, feeling guilty about leaving Yotsuba alone during those student council meetings. "Yes, I know. I felt bad about it whenever I asked her to go by herself, but I really can't miss that part-time shift because I need the full wage. So recently, I filled her in on her after-school cleaning turn and did most of the class-rep duty to make up for skipping all of those meetings."
"That's a good start coming from you, especially since you're always acting indifferent and unfriendly to the other students," Takeda said, smiling because of hearing his effort. "Speaking of which, let me give you some advice on how to be friendlier to other people so you can improve your reputation."
"*sigh* Here we go again…"
"See? That sighing needs to go away or be reduced in frequency when you're talking to others if you can't help it," Takeda said, fixing his sitting position and turning towards Fuutaro with an energetic face. "Since you already have the basic grasp of helping people, offer them a help even if they don't seem to need it. But don't get too pushy if they repeatedly refuse your help, or they'll get annoyed and see you as a creep or a weirdo."
Fuutaro responded with a non-committal "Mhmm," indicating his disinterest in the advice.
"Also, show a friendly face and a smile when you're helping them so they can perceive that you're doing it sincerely and not because of some hidden motives or because you feel forced to do so."
"Hmm… Okay…"
"You know why I'm popular in school? When I was part of the student council in our first year, I always helped the other council members with their jobs and gave them a smile and a friendly attitude during meetings," Takeda said, proudly telling Fuutaro about his experiences and attitude. "I also listened to feedback and criticisms from some students about the school rules and regulations. I managed to get some of those feedback points discussed in the meeting and even got a few to be discussed with the principal."
Fuutaro rolled his eyes and remained silent, clearly unimpressed with Takeda's bragging.
Takeda leaned forward in his seat and spoke earnestly to Fuutaro. "So my point is, help people in need when you see them in trouble. Yotsuba-san is a good start for you since you're already close with her. She's always going out of her way to help people, even when she's overwhelmed and doesn't show it. Maybe you can give her a hand when she's doing something."
"Yeah, yeah… Got it," Fuutaro answered with an uninterested tone and massaged the back of his neck, feeling somewhat tired after hearing Takeda's advice and quick bragging.
He had always helped Yotsuba and the rest of the quintuplets whenever they were in trouble, both academically and personally. He did it without being asked, sometimes to their annoyance. But just like Takeda said, maybe he needed to start being more friendly to other students because of his role as a class representative, which often drew attention from them and the teachers in school. It might as well improve his reputation since Takeda and the quintuplets always said that his reputation in school was not that positive, thanks to his indifferent and unfriendly attitude. At first, he did not really care that much about it, but as time went by, he could sense that the negative talk behind him in the school started to slowly bothering him.
"Come to think of it…"
"Ever since I became a class-rep, people starting to act different to me than before…"
"And then Maeda said, after the mock exam they also starting to get a little nicer to me because of my result…"
"Also, when I heard them talking negative things behind me, I'm starting to get a little bit annoyed. Not like I used to…"
"I think I need someone to talk about this and hear about their opinion…"
A/N:
So there you have it, the next quintuplet to spend some alone time with Fuutaro will be Yotsuba.
Regarding the chapter fixes that I mentioned in the previous author's note, I have already updated a few chapters for this story, "Our Promise and Bet," and "I Still Remember You." I forgot to mention last time that I will also update "I Still Remember You" since it suffered from the same problems as "Our Promise and Bet." If you're curious, "I Still Remember You" is a two-shot story about Fuutaro and Yotsuba. You can search for it or check it out on my profile if you're interested in reading it.
Here's the status of the fixed chapters for these three stories:
-Our Promise and Bet: Chapter 1 (Done), Chapter 2 (Done)
-I Still Remember You: Chapter 1 (Done), Chapter 2 (Still in progress and will be completed by the end of the week or earlier)
-That Special Someone: Chapter 1 (Done)
I plan to continue fixing every chapter for those stories (That Special Someone will only be until chapter 6). However, the timetable for these updates will be irregular because, as I mentioned before, I'm still focused on writing this story. If you revisit the fixed chapters, please let me know your opinion about them. Thanks to the little help that I mentioned in the previous chapter, I have been experimenting with a new writing style for those fixed chapters and this chapter. So, please let me know if it's good, better than my previous style, or a little bit weird.
The next chapter will be released on the third week of May (May 15th - May 21st). I need some extra time and rest to write this story since my irl work has been very busy and it drains my energy to keep writing. So, next month might only have one chapter, but there is a small chance for another chapter by the end of the month. Keep an eye out for the third week of May.
As always, thank you for your time in reading the story, and I'll see you in the next chapter!
If you enjoy the story, feel free to review, follow, and favorite it!