How We Met Again

by Gazara12

In an alternative timeline where Uesugi declined the tutoring job, his past connection to the quintuplets is enough to slowly pull him into the midst of their lives. A Fuu/Yots fic... probably.

8. After The Cold, There's Warmth

Chapter 8:

After The Cold, There's Warmth

As Itsuki and I stepped inside, Ichika and Miku were on the couches on their phones, and Yotsuba was perched on a chair at the table watching us come in, her ribbon trembling. Nino was nowhere to be seen - I could only presume that, with dinner finished, she had decided to wash her hands of the entire affair.

As soon as I stepped into the warmth of the apartment, leaving the frigid balcony behind me, I was hit by a sudden wave of fatigue. I wasn't sure if it was emotional or physical, but regardless, I was ready to go home.

"Is... Is everything alright?" Yotsuba asked timidly as she looked back and forth between us, her bow shaking nervously.

That thing really does have a life of its own, huh?

I nodded.

"Everything's fine. I really need to go home though - I'm absolutely exhausted."

"Oh! Oh, uh, right! I... I guess that makes sense," Yotsuba said, and I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Are you alright? You're stuttering like crazy."

Yotsuba pouted. "I am not stuttering! I've got perfect control over- hey, wait! I was asking about you!"

I snorted, and then took off my shoes and picked them up to carry them to the door. I glanced at the clock on the wall, and then frowned.

"I've got to head down now. If I remember the schedule correctly, my bus comes in seven minutes, and the next one isn't for another thirty after that. I don't want to miss it, so I'd better hurry."

I turned back towards the balcony door.

"I'll see you on Monday, Itsuki. Take care."

She nodded. "You too, Uesugi-kun."

I turned back around to see Yotsuba, Ichika, and Miku all staring at us in shock. Ignoring their confusion in the name of haste, I walked through the apartment to the front door, and slipped my shoes back on to leave.

"Wait, Uesugi-san!"

I turned back around to look at Yotsuba, who had her hand stretched out.

"Yeah?"

"...I'll walk you to the bus stop."

"Huh? Oh, sure. Thanks."

Yotsuba got up from the table, hurried over to the door, and grabbed her coat and her shoes. As she was getting ready, I turned back to the apartment, where Miku and Ichika still had looks of disbelief on their faces.

"I guess I'll see you both around. It was nice meeting you, Miku."

"Uh... likewise," she said, distractedly watching Itsuki go up the stairs.

"Could one of you tell Nino I said goodbye?"

Ichika turned to look at me. "Sure, I'll tell her. It might be fun to see her reaction. See you, Fuutarou-kun."

Yotsuba pulled on my sleeve, and I turned to see that she was ready. Then, we were out in the hall, the door swinging shut behind us, and waiting for the elevator. The entire time we stood there, Yotsuba didn't say a word. After what felt like an eternity, the metal door opened, and we stepped in. Somehow, the marble floor didn't feel nearly as intimidating this time.

Maybe after being in that apartment all day, I've become desensitized to it?

I pushed the button for the ground floor, and the elevator began to descend. We stood there in silence for a few more moments, and then Yotsuba said, uncharacteristically quietly, "So... what happened out there?"

I shrugged. "We cleared the air."

"I could faintly hear yelling. No words though. Itsuki looked pretty angry though. So did you."

"We cleared the air very passionately."

Yotsuba shivered. "When you say it like that, it sounds more like a lovers' quarrel."

I snorted. "Yeah, right. I have zero interest in things like that."

"Oh. Right..."

We were both silent again, and after a few more moments, I snuck a look at Yotsuba's face.

Another hard-to-read look. I don't really understand what's going on with her right now.

"You know," I ventured, "I thought you'd be a bit happier that we ended up reconciling. That was the whole point of Operation Twintail, right?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? I am happy, Uesugi-san!"

"I... see."

You don't look or sound happy.

We rode the elevator in silence for a few more moments. Then, suddenly, Yotsuba reached up and smacked her own face hard with both hands, surprising me. I started, and stepped back.

"Huh? Yotsuba, what the hell are you doing?!"

She looked at me with visible red marks on her cheeks, and then grinned. It struck me as a bit forced, but at this point I wasn't going to complain - I was too busy being confused.

"Nothing! I was just lost in thought, which is a bad idea for an idiot like me! I had to snap myself out of it with the only method I know of."

"...you mean overwhelming violence?"

With a ding, the elevator door opened, and she stepped out into the lobby, spinning on the spot to face me as she did so.

"Exactly!"

I shrugged, and followed her. "You know what? Whatever floats your boat. Uh... how do we open these doors from the inside?"

Yotsuba leaned against one of them, pressing on a metal bar. "You just push. They're only locked from the outside."

Wait, you can do that?!

The door opened, and we stepped out into the cool night air from which I had only just recently escaped. Together, we walked away from the Pentagon, and to my bus stop a few dozen metres down the street. A strangely pensive look had returned to Yotsuba's face.

"You know, Yotsuba," I said as we walked. "I had a lot of fun today."

"Huh? Oh, good! I wanted to make sure you had a great time! I'm really sorry I wasn't able to make it all the way to the end. I guess I didn't plan for my sisters to eat the snacks too. I'll need to get more next time."

Well, it's nice to get confirmation that there will be a "next time".

I waved away her concerns. "Don't worry about it. You basically went from not studying at all, to studying one hour a day, to studying for like nine hours straight, all in a two week span. It's not surprising you gave out."

"But I really wanted to be able to stand on the same field as you..."

"That makes me happy, but you shouldn't do the unreasonable, you know? Think of it like running a marathon. If you try to do a full forty-two kilometre marathon after only two weeks of training, you're going to injure yourself, right?"

Yotsuba nodded glumly. "I guess you're right..."

Then, she frowned. "Wait, how did you know I ran track in middle school?"

"Eh?! I had no clue! That was a coincidence!"

She got close to my face, squinting at my eyes as though trying to suss out my inner thoughts. "Suspicious. Veeeeeery suspicious, Uesugi-san."

"I'm innocent! I swear!"

Suddenly, the bus rounded the corner, and she was briefly illuminated by its headlamps. Her face bathed in light mere centimetres from mine, I could suddenly see every detail. Her orange hair seemed, for a moment, like fire as its strands were illuminated in a deep white glow. Her pale skin reflected the light almost as if it were laced with diamond dust. Her deep blue irises shimmered like the summer sea, and I saw her pupils contract to block out the light. I felt my breath catch in my throat - and then, a split second later, her brain caught up to her eyes, and she shielded her face with her arm, and the moment was gone.

Ephemeral.

"Ah, geez, that's bright!"

I turned to the oncoming bus, winced at the sudden increase in luminosity, and raised my hand to wave the driver down.

"I'll see you on Monday, Yotsuba. Do you want to have lunch together?"

She smiled at me, still partially covering her eyes with her arm.

"Yeah... yeah, that would be nice. I'll look forward to it, Uesugi-san."

The bus pulled up to the stop, and I stepped on-board. Yotsuba waved to me, and I waved back, before finding a seat on the surprisingly full public transit vehicle. Then, she was gone, and I started on the long journey home. A few minutes later, my phone buzzed, and I pulled it out to see an email from Yotsuba.

{Veeeeeeeeery suspicious.}

I snorted, emailed back "False accusations!", and then put my phone away. The ride home was uneventful, but when I finally got there, I unwittingly walked into a trap. While I attempted to be stealthy, it was no use - as soon as I walked in the door, Raiha pounced.

"Onii-chan! Welcome home!"

"I'm back. How was your show? Did the main character die?"

"She got out of it at the last second by being teleported by a new character who was only just introduced in this episode and whose powers were extremely convenient and not at all contrived, but that's not important right now! You went to a girl's house! I wanna know everything!"

I sighed. "Let me at least put my stuff down, Raiha."

"Fiiiine."

I put my bags down in the corner, and sat down at the table. I then looked around the apartment I shared with my family, and a frown settled on my face.

Has it... always been so small?

"Where's Dad?"

"He said he had to pick up an evening shift at the warehouse, so he came home for dinner, and then left again. He won't be home until one, so he said to just go to bed and not stay up for him."

"Ah. Ok, gotcha."

A slight sense of guilt materialized at the back of my mind. While I'd been having fun at Yotsuba's apartment, my dad had been hard at work paying off our debt.

Maybe... I should have taken that tutoring job after all.

"Ok! Now! Tell me EVERYTHING!"

"That's... a lot to tell."

"Did you hug?"

"What? No, that's not why I-"

"Did you smooch?"

"No! I told you-"

"Did you stare into each other's eeeeeeeeyes?"

"Like I just said-"

Suddenly, the image of Yotsuba illuminated mere centimetres from my face, her eyes and mine interlocked, forced itself into my mind. I scowled.

"Stop asking me so many questions, Raiha!"

"Huh? Wait... HUH? You didn't say no to that last one! YOU DIDN'T SAY NO, ONII-CHAN!"

Raiha spent the rest of the evening badgering me with questions about the day, and eventually she got all of the details out of me, including my... discussion with Itsuki on the balcony. She flopped onto the floor, and stared at the ceiling.

"Wow. Onii-chan's love life is complicated."

"What are you talking about? I don't have a love life. This is all purely platonic, and I'd quite like it to stay that way."

Raiha just stared at me. Then, her eyes narrowed.

"Staaaaaaare."

"What? I don't want to have a love life. Also, don't literally say 'stare' when you're staring at people."

"Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaare."

I sighed. With Raiha continuing to pester me about my fictional, unwanted love prospects, I brushed my teeth, and then went to lie down in my futon. Eventually, she gave up.

...Eventually.

I laid under the covers, the lights off, and stared at the ceiling immersed in darkness, listening to my little sister breathe rhythmically. Badgering me with questions had tuckered her out. The shadows seemed to swirl as the small amount of moonlight coming through the window made patterns, like the ebb and flow of the sea.

I couldn't sleep.

Something was bothering me.

There was something off about Yotsuba after I came back into the apartment. She was... distant. Did I do something wrong? Did I upset her?

I frowned.

Yotsuba seems like the type to just tell me if I pissed her off. I don't think it can be that.

I grunted, and rolled over.

...Would she tell me though?

With that thought, I sat up and grabbed my phone, the sudden light completely ruining any semblance of night vision I had developed since going to bed. "There's only one way to find out," I muttered to myself, and started composing an email to her.

{Hey. Are you awake? I have a question for you.}

I waited... and waited. Twenty minutes went by without a response. I sighed anxiously, and decided that there was no point in waiting any longer. I put my phone down, and closed my eyes to try and sleep. The darkness of the small apartment, and the sound of my little sister's breathing... these were things that comforted me.

Bzzzt.

My eyes snapped open. Scrambling, I pulled my phone up to see that I had a response from Yotsuba.

{I was about to go to bed. What's up?}

I paused, wondering how to even put into words what was going through my head. Haltingly, I typed out a response.

{You seemed... unhappy on the way to the bus. Did I do something to upset you?}

The response was almost immediate.

{No.}

Staring down at the curt response, I could feel a sudden ball of anxiety rear up in my stomach. Then, my phone buzzed again.

{You didn't do anything wrong.}

The ball of anxiety began to slowly unravel again. I breathed a sigh of relief to myself, but then paused. The way she had worded the message... it almost seemed like someone had done something wrong, and it just wasn't me that had done it.

{Did someone else do something to upset you?}

{...Sort of?}

I frowned. That was vague. What possible reason could she have for not saying anything if one of her sisters had upset her? Then, suddenly, my phone buzzed one more time, and the words displayed on the small screen seemed to reach out to me from the void.

{Can I call?}

I looked around the small apartment, and at Raiha's sleeping form. I made a calculation, and then nodded to myself. I got up, threw my jacket back on over my pyjamas, put on socks and shoes, and quietly stepped outside. I then emailed back.

{Sure.}

I walked down the steps to the street after locking the door, and stared down at my phone patiently. A minute later, my ringtone started playing - the default tone that had come with the device. The name "Nakano Yotsuba" flashed on the screen, and I picked up.

"Hi, Uesugi-san."

"Hey," I said, staring at nowhere in particular. "What's up? Why'd you want to call?"

Yotsuba was silent on the other end of the line, and I anxiously shifted my weight from one foot to the other. I stared up at the street lamps, their white glow blocking out any possible view of the stars.

"I just... wanted to explain myself."

"Oh. Sure, go ahead."

Yotsuba was silent again. I waited.

"I... don't want to say everything. But... you having to go out on the balcony like that in the cold, all on your own... just because of what I wanted... it brought back some bad memories. It made me feel like I was hurting you with my wishes. I didn't like that. I was feeling guilty."

"...Oh. I see."

Yotsuba was silent on the other end of the line, and after waiting a few moments for her to continue, the silence began to stretch.

"Listen, Yotsuba... going out to the balcony on my own was my idea. I didn't do it because you wanted me to get along with Itsuki - though making up with her was an additional benefit."

"Then why did you do it?"

"I thought I said at the time - I didn't want you five to fight because of my presence. It felt wrong, and Nino was on the verge of going ballistic on Itsuki."

"But that fighting only happened because I wanted you to come, so we could keep the pressure up!"

"And?"

"That makes the fighting my fault, Uesugi-san!"

"Nope. The fighting was Itsuki's and my fault, not yours. If she hadn't been so stubborn, Nino wouldn't have gotten so riled up. If I hadn't been such an ass to her in the first place, she wouldn't have had any reason to be so stubborn. And besides..."

I trailed off, staring up at the starless black sky.

"Uesugi-san?"

"I had a lot more fun than I thought I would today. I don't regret coming over at all. The positives of the day completely outweigh any negatives from being out in the cold in my mind. Don't worry about it."

"...Are you sure?"

"This is the first time I've studied at a-"

What exactly are we?

"-at a-"

You know what? Screw it.

"-at a friend's house in... actually, I think ever? I had a lot of fun, even with Itsuki and Nino trying to give me heart attacks in their own respective ways. Don't blame yourself for what happened. In my mind, it was absolutely worth it."

There was an extremely long silence from Yotsuba's end of the line, and I started to wince to myself.

Did I overstep by calling myself her friend? We've only known each other for two weeks - isn't it a bit soon for that sort of thing? Doesn't friendship take more time than that? What should I-

"Maybe you're right," Yotsuba said quietly. "Maybe I don't need to blame myself."

"Of course I'm right. You don't."

I heard a deep breath on the other end of the call, and then a sigh.

"Ok. I'm going to try my best to believe that. Thanks for checking in on me, Uesugi-san. I appreciate it."

I smiled. "Of course. I'm just glad you're not mad at me."

"No, of course not."

"Alright, I'll let you go then. Have a good night, Yotsuba."

Suddenly, I heard a small snicker from her end of the line, and then she said, "Yep. You too, friendo!"

"Hey! You little-"

Yotsuba cackled on the other end, and then the line went dead. I glared at my phone for a moment, then put it in my pocket and started to walk back to the apartment. As I reached the door, my phone buzzed. I pulled it out to see an email from Yotsuba.

{Thanks. It was fun having a friend over for me too.}

I stared down at the phone, and then a small smile slid across my lips. The ball of anxiety in my stomach was gone, and somehow... I felt a little bit lighter. I re-entered the small apartment filled with warmth and comfort and family, and lay back down in my futon. Just one thought turned itself over and over in my head.

I have a friend.

The rest of the weekend passed quickly. The next day, I spent almost every moment studying, even with Raiha (and my dad, once she filled him in) trying to juice every single detail they could out of me about my time at the Nakano's apartment - and my conversation with Yotsuba afterwards. Raiha was outraged that she had been asleep during my call. By the time Monday morning rolled around, they seemed to be mostly satisfied with the information they'd gotten.

"So, Onii-chan," Raiha said as we ate breakfast before school. "Are you going to see your friend at school today?"

I paused, my chopsticks hovering in front of my mouth. My eyes narrowed, and I looked at my little sister suspiciously.

"...Yes? Why do you ask?"

"No reason."

Yotsuba's words from Saturday evening rose to the surface in my mind. Suspicious. Veeeeery suspicious.

"Uh huh. Ok. I'm going to choose to believe you for now, Raiha. You definitely wouldn't lie to your Onii-chan, right? Especially not about something like this."

Raiha nervously glanced to the side. "W-What? Of course I'm telling the truth, Onii-chan!"

Well, that's the most suspicious thing yet!

"Uh huh. You know, you're very conniving for an eleven-year old sometimes."

Raiha ignored my comment. "A-Anyways! I have a question for you!"

I ate the food that had been so unjustly stranded between my bowl and my face by Raiha's question. "Go for it."

"What's her favourite colour?"

I paused. "Probably green, since that's the colour of her bow that she's always wearing."

"Ok! Thanks!"

You know what? I'm going to just let her keep her secrets. I'm sure I'll find out eventually anyways.

I finished up breakfast, thanked Raiha for it, and then I left for school. The cold front that had moved through over the weekend was persisting, and I shivered in my jacket as I made my commute. My hands were shoved deep into my pockets, and by the time I reached the school gates, I was very grateful for the fact that the school was heated.

It's going to be winter before we know it.

I pulled open my footlocker, and changed my shoes. As I stood back up, I caught a glance of myself in the mirror. My bangs were messily falling into my eyes, and I took a moment to sweep them to the side, and make my hair at least mostly neat. The cowlick at the top, however, I could never do anything about, no matter how much I tried. I sighed, gave up, and then closed my locker.

Putting my bag back onto my shoulder, I made my way to the classroom. I stepped into the room to find it mostly empty - only a few of my classmates had arrived, and two out of the three were playing video games together at the back of the room. The third seemed to be having a small nap before the start of class, her hair falling into her face.

I don't know any of their names. Maybe I should make at least a modicum of effort to remember them...?

I paused, then brushed aside the ridiculous thought. My desk beckoned. I sat down, and pulled out my schedule. We, thankfully, did not have physical education today, which meant my odds of being injured by Itsuki were dramatically lowered. Though, my estimation of the volleyball demon's aim had improved somewhat after our badminton match; apart from a bullseye on my nose, her shots had been fairly accurate.

Maybe I'm the problem here. Maybe I just make projectiles home in on me...

I took a moment to consider that I possibly had supernatural magnetic abilities, except I attracted sports equipment, and not objects with macroscopic magnetic dipoles.

Maybe I was bit by a radioactive baseball in my sleep...?

I laughed quietly to myself, and then put away my schedule. First up was math, and so I pulled out my textbook on the subject. Then, as I stared down at yet more trigonometric identities, a thought idly crossed my mind.

Itsuki isn't my... well, enemy is too strong for what she was, but she's hopefully not going to be constantly butting heads with me anymore. I should probably refrain from referring to her as a "volleyball demon" in my head.

I frowned. Where did that name even come from? I don't normally think of people as demons. It just popped into my mind fully formed one day.

My train of thought was interrupted by the door opening and a group of four students coming in together. After their entrance, the room became significantly noisier, and I decided to just stare out the window. A few minutes later, the door opened once again, and I glanced over to see Itsuki enter the room, her bag over her shoulder. As she walked over to her spot, I raised my hand to say hello. She gave me a curt nod, and then sat at her desk.

That was cold. I thought we were over this?

I inquisitively looked at her as she sat down, and noted that her face was a bit red. She also seemed to be fumbling her things a bit as she pulled them out. I frowned, and looked away. Analyzing the situation as I watched the birds flutter about from crimson-red tree to crimson-red tree, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

Ah. Maybe she's nervous, and embarrassed? That would check out with what I know of her personality so far. Going from glaring at me constantly to being extremely friendly seems like it would be a hard switch for her...

I glanced around the classroom.

...She probably also associates this room with being mad at me. I guess I just need to override that somehow.

I sighed. "I'm not good at this," I muttered to myself, lowering my head into my arms on my desk.

A few minutes later, a huge flood of students entered the room, and then finally the teacher entered, and class began. Throughout the morning periods, I was pretty sure Itsuki wasn't staring at me - if anything, it was only intermittent glances. The hairs on the back of my neck breathed a prayer of thanks, which was impressive, as they lacked respiratory organs.

At lunch, I quickly made my way to the cafeteria, and was surprised to find that Yotsuba was already there. She waved me over to our usual table, and I gratefully put my tray down.

"Hey, Uesugi-san! Good morning! Or, should I say, good afternoon?"

I frowned, pulled out my phone, and then raised an eyebrow.

"It's exactly noon, actually."

"Ah! Well then! Good noon to you, my dear fellow!"

I snorted, and sat down. "A good noon to you as well."

"So," she said, leaning forward. "How have things been with Itsuki? After what happened Saturday, I hope things are better!"

I shrugged helplessly. "She's not radiating hostility anymore, but she's still being very distant. I think she's uncomfortable and nervous about being more friendly with me."

Yotsuba stroked her chin as though she had a long, luxurious beard. "Is that so, Uesugi-san? That is a dilemma, isn't it?"

"Yeah..."

"Then there is only one thing you can do, my good sir!"

I raised an eyebrow, taking a sip of my miso. "That would be... what?"

Yotsuba dramatically slammed her hand down on the table, being careful to only lightly impact the surface, as I was still sipping on my soup.

"You must go on the offensive!"

I took another soup, then lowered my soup.

"You're really gunning for that promotion, huh?"

"Huh? Promotion? What are you- oh, right! Ha, please! If I couldn't do at least this much, I wouldn't be worthy of the eventual title of Corporal!"

I looked down at my rice, and pondered.

On the offensive... huh?

"Hey, Yotsuba?"

"Wazzup?" She said, having stuffed some karaage in her mouth.

"...I think I'm going to invite her to join us for lunch."

Yotsuba suddenly choked on the karaage, and started violently coughing. I hurriedly handed her a cup of water, which luckily she had grabbed with her food, and she gratefully drank it. Blearily, she looked up at me.

"...Eh? You're going to invite her to join us for lunch?!"

"If you're ok with it, that is. I feel like, if we have a positive interaction at school, that'll help shatter the ice."

Yotsuba leaned back in her chair, and stared at me for a long moment. The look that crossed her face could only be described with one word - conflicted. Then, she stared down at her food for a moment.

Then, she sighed.

"You know what? That seems like a good idea. Are you... are you sure you don't want it to be just the two of you, though?"

I frowned.

"I made plans to have lunch with you. I'm not going to ditch you like that."

"Eh? But I could just go have lunch with my other sisters..."

"No. I want to have lunch with you. Getting Itsuki to come join us is simply a strategic addendum to that."

"Strategic adden- you know what? I'm not going to ask what that means."

"An 'addendum' is a thing that is additionally added to something else, usually at the end."

"I said I wasn't gonna ask! ...Actually, I guess I didn't ask. Fair play, Uesugi-san."

Yotsuba took another bite of her karaage. Once she'd swallowed it, she nodded, and said. "It's fine with me. Go get 'em, tiger."

"I... don't know how I feel about that phrasing, but I'll be right back. We'll probably need a bigger table, though."

"I'll keep an eye out!"

As I got up to go find Itsuki and started walking away, I glanced back and saw Yotsuba's expression change slightly. It seemed almost... happier? Like something had unexpectedly brought her joy. I had a feeling that I hadn't been meant to see that face.

I walked over to the table that the other four quints usually occupied to find it empty - but I turned to the cafeteria entrance just in time to see the other four walk in with trays. They made their way over to the table where I was standing, and then Miku spotted me.

"Oh, hi Fuutarou! What are you doing at our table? I thought you were having lunch with Yotsuba?"

Ichika raised a hand in greeting, but Nino just glared at me, and walked past me to put her tray down at the corner of the table furthest away from me.

Wow, petty.

"I was actually wondering if I could borrow Itsuki for a moment?"

Itsuki, who was at the back of the group, raised her eyebrow at my wording, but then turned to look at the others. Ichika and Miku nodded, while Nino simply shrugged, and said, "Do what you want."

She put her tray down, and then stepped away from the table for a moment.

"What can I help you with, Uesugi-kun?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to join Yotsuba and me for lunch?"

Itsuki raised both eyebrows in surprise. "Yotsuba's alright with that?"

"So she says." Why would you think that she wouldn't be...?

Itsuki pondered. She glanced over at her sisters, who had all taken their spots around the table, and then over to where Yotsuba was sitting at the other end of the cafeteria. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and then she shook her head.

Ah, is that a no?

"I'll take you up on that, but I'm not going to make a habit of it. I like having lunch with my sisters."

Ah, the shake must have been at something else.

"That's fine - how you spend your lunch is up to you."

Itsuki walked back to the table and picked up her tray. She said a few words to the others, and I saw Miku pout, and Nino slam her hand into her own forehead in annoyance. Ichika simply looked at me, gave her trademark half-smile, and then nodded. Itsuki returned to me, tray in hand and rolling her eyes.

"Honestly, Nino is so dramatic. Well, shall we?"

I snorted. "She is, indeed, dramatic."

I led the way back to the table.

"Hey, Yotsuba, I'm back. Did you find a bigger table!"

"Aye aye, I did! It's over there!"

"Great," I said, picking up my tray. "Let's go over there."

We moved, and Itsuki sat down next to Yotsuba across the table from me. As we began to eat, I saw Itsuki occasionally take furtive looks at my meal, and I suddenly realized she was thinking back to our first meeting - and the secret I'd revealed to her.

I wasn't sure exactly what to say to that, so I decided to just continue eating without acknowledging it.

At first, it was a little difficult to engage Itsuki in conversation. However, Yotsuba was as lively as ever, and her chatting eventually acted as a social lubricant, keeping the conversation flowing, and making my life a lot easier.

I'm really glad she's here. This would be so much harder otherwise.

"Hey, Uesugi-san! Do you have any photos of Raiha-chan? I wanna know what she looks like!" Yotsuba pled.

"My phone is quite old, so the camera isn't great. I do have a few though. Here, let me check."

I whipped out my phone, and began scrolling through my photos.

"Ah, here we go. This was taken at a festival back in June. We don't have anything fancy like kimono or yukata, but Dad took us to see the fireworks. It was a lot of fun."

I turned the phone around to show them the photo. My dad had snagged my phone without my noticing, and had taken the picture secretly. Raiha was sitting on my shoulders, a huge grin on her face as the fireworks illuminated the two of us. I had a contented smile on my face, and if you looked closely, you could see the reflection of the faraway blast in my eyes. It was one of my favourite photos of us.

"Ahhhh, she's so cute! I want to meet her even more now!" Yotsuba exclaimed.

"She... she is very cute," Itsuki said, staring at the photo with a strange look on her face.

"Eh? Hang on! Uesugi-san, you're wearing the school uniform here! Don't you ever wear anything else?"

"...Of course I do," I said, glancing away from them.

"Ah! That's it! Itsuki, that's the face of a liar!"

Itsuki's eyes narrowed. "That is quite the suspicious reaction, Uesugi-kun."

"Look, the school uniform is pretty nice, and it's comfortable. I enjoy wearing it."

"Hey, Itsuki! Do you think Uesugi-san is one of those people? You know, those people who wear clothes even in the bath? I bet he does that even with the school uniform!"

Itsuki's face reddened. "D-Do you mean a..."

I scowled at Yotsuba. "I'm not a never-nude, Yotsuba. I just like the uniform. Stop judging me."

"Hmmmm... I'm going to choose to believe you for now, Uesugi-san. You're treading on thin ice though!"

I frowned. "How would you even ever verify that in a socially acceptable manner? It's an unfalsifiable accusation. It's bad science."

"Huh? That's easy! You just go to a lo-"

Then, Yotsuba's face went red, and she suddenly stopped talking.

I raised an eyebrow at her in mild surprise at her comment, and then sighed, shaking my head.

"Don't say things like that if you're going to embarrass yourself, please. Let's change the subject."

"Yes. Let's. Please." Itsuki said gratefully. I glanced over at her, and saw that her face was a deep crimson red.

The conversation returned to tamer territory, and I eventually finished my meal. Yotsuba finished hers as well, but Itsuki, having had more to begin with, still had some left. She glanced at my empty bowl, and then down at hers. A frown crossed her face, and then, stuttering slightly, she said,

"U-Uesugi-kun. Would... would you like to have some of my karaage?"

Yotsuba stared at her in abject shock. I, however, recognized it for the olive branch that it was.

"Sure, thanks! I've always wanted to try the cafeteria karaage."

Itsuki took a few pieces out of her bowl with her chopsticks, and laid them on my tray. I popped them in my mouth as Yotsuba looked back and forth between us in confusion.

"Wow, that's delicious," I said. "It's almost as good as the karaage we had at that festival."

"Uesugi-san, if you wanted to try some, you could have just asked me! I've been eating karaage every single time we got lunch together!"

"Is that so? I'm sorry, Yotsuba, I'll ask next time."

"There's no point now that you've already tried it!"

I glanced over at Itsuki, and we both chuckled while Yotsuba pouted. Then, a bell rang, indicating that there were five minutes left until the resumption of classes.

"Ah, shoot. We should head back to class."

Yotsuba's pout vanished as she scrambled to gather up her bag.

"Uesugi-san! I'll see you at the library, right?"

"Of course."

" 'Kay. See you later! See you tonight, Itsuki!"

Yotsuba sprinted off, leaving just Itsuki and I behind as we packed up our bags. We left the cafeteria together and walked to our classroom. As we approached it, Itsuki glanced over at me.

"Hey, Uesugi-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for inviting me for lunch. I had a lot of fun eating with you two - even if things did become a bit... crass at one point."

I nodded. "I'm glad. Shall we?"

She nodded back, and we both entered the classroom. There were some mild murmurings from our classmates as we walked into the room together, but the teacher entered immediately behind us, quickly quelling the whispers. We took our spots, and as I pulled my books out, I could feel Itsuki's gaze on the back of my head again...

But the hostility was entirely gone.

Mission success.