Chapter 21
Departure!

The morning of the school camping trip, I woke up long before the crack of dawn, darkness still filling the narrow confines of our apartment. The wavy dappled pattern of the trees' shadows, cast through the window by the light of the few passing cars and the fluorescent glow of the streetlamps illuminating the night outside, swayed on the ceiling as the trees gently swayed in turn in the wind.

Try as I might, sleep eluded me, and it was with a frustrated sigh that I resigned myself to the bittersweet reality of consciousness.

In lieu of laying in bed for hours in pursuit of a hopeless task, I rose from my futon, careful to be as silent as possible so as to not wake my family members. Tiptoeing my way to the suitcase my father had taken to Tokyo weeks earlier, I unzipped it and inspected the contents, checking one last time that all of my necessities had been packed.

Toiletries? Check.

Cards? Check.

The new clothes my father had dragged me along to buy, thanks to his increased paycheque?

Much to my chagrin, check.

A few days prior, my father had forced me to go buy several new sets of clothes due to his insistence that it was, in some way, improper to wear the school uniform on a school camping trip. I had no idea what the hell the issue was, and I was extremely opposed to spending money on such frivolities - but he had fervently insisted, and I'd had no choice. Raiha had come along as our resident fashionista, and I'd found myself decked out in black jeans, a navy blue buttoned shirt, and a fashionable (according to my sister) light-brown jacket with a faux-fur hood - my "uniform" for the first day. While my father had originally insisted on buying more than just the three sets of clothes, I'd put my foot down at that number.

I had limits to what I would allow, after all.

Having convinced myself that everything I wanted to bring was indeed in the suitcase, I lay down on the tatami mats and stared at the ceiling, my arms crossed across my chest. The dappled shadows of the trees on the ceiling were fading as the amount of light coming through the small window gently increased, the pre-dawn haze diffusing the small amount of light beginning to refract over the horizon.

Restless, and not wanting to wake up my family members, I spontaneously decided to go for a walk.

Writing a quick note and pinning it to the fridge, I got dressed, threw on my new jacket and slipped out the front door. The cool November breeze made me shiver, though thankfully the coat kept most of the wind off. With the light strengthening by the minute, I began to wander, hoping that the gentle exercise would exorcise the nerves building up in my chest over the coming three days. I hadn't been on a school trip since... since...

A car whizzed by, startling me. I looked around, and realized that I had wandered off in a completely random direction. While I had a vague idea of where I was, I had no memory of actually walking there.

"Odd," I murmured to myself.

I continued to walk, my brain entirely uninvolved with the task of determining a final destination. My legs simply operated on autopilot. Eventually, I ascended a small hill, and found myself at a small park. With a jolt, I recognized it as the one to which I had wandered months prior, on a cool morning when I had similarly found myself suffering from insomnia.

I crossed the street, and went to sit on the swings. The sun was still not quite over the horizon to the east, and the silence with which I had so heavily identified on that day permeated the park, broken only occasionally by the sound of a car driving by.

Gently, I dug my heels into the soft dirt beneath my feet, and pushed backwards as far as I could. I slowly rose, and rose, and rose, until I was standing on the very tips of my toes. There was a brief moment when my muscles screamed, aching for release, and the connection between myself and the seat was merely a formality, bound only by tension rather than gravity.

Then, I leapt, and swung forward. Using the initial drop, I straightened my back, and began to pump my legs. Building up angular momentum, eventually I was flying, swinging back and forth and using all of my effort just to keep the steel chains going. The g-forces on my head as I rocked back and forth, while certainly not extreme, cause some measure of vertigo whenever my head leaned back too far, blood rushing up my neck and into my brain. Sweat dripped down my forehead as I fought desperately against gravity and friction to keep myself going.

Then, finally, as I reached the peak of my swing and let go of the chains, the sun broke to the east.

I flew through the air, and landed on my feet in the soft dirt. The seat I was on, suddenly devoid of the mass that had been holding it at its maximum extension, fell back towards the earth, the chains forming small coils in the air. I turned back around to see it swing high up again, and then curl back in on itself once more and fall directly downwards - before slamming into the potential barrier that was the maximum extent of the chains, and violently bounce around before coming to a standstill.

Another bead of sweat rolled down my face, and I wiped it off hastily. Leaving the swing behind, I turned back around, and walked over to the edge of the park, leaning over a railing and overlooking the town below. With the sun having risen, I could see the houses much more clearly, and the people slowly beginning to stir amongst them. The silence, once broken by the creaking of the chains and my pants of exertion, had returned in force.

Only then did it occur to me that the flavour had changed.

As I gazed out over the silent homes, the distinct taste of loneliness that had permeated the early morning silence, the one which I'd contrasted with my own isolation, was gone. Well... perhaps "gone" was too strong of a word. It was still present, but its profile had changed. The flavour had deepened, and loneliness alone was no longer the word to describe it. With its complex layers, maybe a single word just wasn't enough anymore.

Or maybe... maybe the silence isn't what changed. Maybe I did. Maybe I still am.

What I was changing into, however, I didn't yet know. All I knew was that change had occurred, and would almost certainly continue to occur. Feeling vaguely disturbed at this revelation, I pushed away from the railing, began to make my way out of the park, and slowly began the return home.

About five minutes later, as I was waiting to cross the road at an intersection, I saw a girl in a red tracksuit run up to the other side of the crosswalk. She was jogging in place, presumably to keep up her circulation - and then when the light changed, she looked right and left, and crossed the street at a brisk pace. She charged right past me, as I hadn't moved a muscle since I'd spotted her.

"Yotsuba?"

She turned back around, taking an earbud out of her ear, a confused look on her face - and then reeled back in surprise.

"Eh?! Uesugi-san? I didn't recognize you! You're... you're not in the school uniform!"

"Seriously? You don't recognize me by my face?" I asked, slightly wounded.

She shook her head. "It's not that, I just wasn't expecting to see you here, especially this early in the morning!"

"Ah, well, I wasn't expecting to run into you either," I said mildly.

Come to think of it, I have no room to talk about not recognizing people by their faces...

"Why are you over near my house, by the way?" she asked, still jogging in place. "We're pretty far from your place, aren't we?"

I frowned. "Are we that near to your apartment? I just got up to go for an early-morning walk, and I only walked for about half an hour, I think. I'm pretty sure your place is further than that, right?"

Yotsuba frowned in turn, and then looked around her to get her bearings. "Huh, actually, I think I may have been the one to go further than I thought... Uesugi-san, where are we?!"

I shrugged. "I have no idea, I just wandered. I vaguely know how to get back to my place from here, but yours? No clue."

Yotsuba pulled out her phone, loaded up an app, and scrutinized it. Then, she groaned, and slapped her forehead.

"Ah, I made a wrong turn five blocks back! Shoot, that explains why I don't recognize anything. I thought I'd try a new route today..."

"What are you doing anyways?" I asked curiously. "Jogging?"

"Yeah! I go for a run every morning!" she said brightly. "I used to be on the track team, and while I haven't done it in high school, I try to keep my running form up! Just in case, you know?"

"That's commendable," I said, nodding. "This is your form of studying, huh?"

"Hehehe, that's ri- wait, no, studying is studying, and running is running! I can do both, Uesugi-san!"

"I see, I see," I said, putting my hand on my chin. "Can you run and study at the same time?"

"Probably!"

"Very impressive, Yotsuba-sensei," I said, bowing my head deeply.

"Oh, I know! Uesugi-san, would you like to start running with me? It's really fun!"

"Thanks, but I would probably die a horrible, lactic acid-induced death," I said deadpan. "Also, running consumes glucose which I could better use for studying."

"Eh?! What kind of reasons are those?"

"To summarize: I'm very unathletic and definitely can't keep up with you, which would just inconvenience you. So I'll decline. Thanks for the offer though."

"Oh... ok," Yotsuba said, wilting slightly. I immediately felt bad, but my avoidance of running was probably best for all parties involved.

"We can always have fun in other ways," I shrugged, hoping to cheer her up. "We're leaving later this morning after all, so let's make sure to have a great time on the trip!"

My gambit worked, as Yotsuba's face immediately lit up. "Ah, that's right! I gotta go home and finish getting ready! See you later, Uesugi-san!"

With a shout, Yotsuba turned around and ran back across the street the way she'd come. She paused on the other side, and then waved at me.

"You're going to make so many great memories, Uesugi-san - I guarantee it!"

"Sure, sure," I called, waving back. "You'd better make some too, though."

Yotsuba grinned, then ran off, leaving me to idly cross the street at my own pace. I slowly made my own way along the various roads, vaguely moseying in the direction of my family apartment. Finally, I once again began to see streets that I recognized, and from there was able to navigate my way back home. The street traffic was picking up as I made my way back, and by the time I walked in the door, rush hour had begun.

"Onii-chan, welcome back! I'm making breakfast, so go sit down!"

"Wow, I always have sublime timing," I said drily, taking off my coat and placing it over the suitcase. "How is it that I always walk in just as you're making breakfast?"

"Two times isn't always, Onii-chan."

"Hmm, good point. Two data points isn't nearly a large enough sample size," I mused. "I guess I'll just need to do this more often."

"Do as you want," Raiha shrugged. "As long as you don't wake uuuuuoh no no no the eggs are burning! Onii-chaaaaaaaaaaan!"

"Not my fault," I said quickly, sitting down next to the suitcase.

"Dang it, Onii-chan, I was working so hard on those! You distracted me!"

"Sorry, sorry," I said, making an apologetic motion with my hands. "Do you want me to wake up dad?"

"Yeah, I guess..." Raiha said, grumpily. "You made me burn stuff last time you came back from an early-morning walk too..."

"Hey," I frowned. "Two data points isn't nearly a large enough sample size. You said so too."

"Just wake up dad, please."

I shook my father awake, and before long we were all eating Raiha's food. The eggs had been salvageable, and if anything, they just had a slight smoky flavour; I certainly wasn't complaining. After I'd finished my breakfast, I checked my suitcase one last time, and then got ready to leave for school - not that there would be any classes.

"Wait, Onii-chan!" Raiha called right before I left. "I have something for you!"

I raised an eyebrow. "What's up? I need to go soon."

"I made you a charm - here you go!"

Raiha handed me a bracelet made from a series of different woven fabrics. There were different shades of blue mixed in, as well as a few honest-to-god charms.

"It's for your safety during the trip - all sorts of things could happen!" Raiha said, genuine worry in her voice. "I wanted to protect you!"

A smile crossed my face, and I pulled my little sister into a deep hug, warmth spreading throughout my chest.

"Thanks, Raiha," I said softly. "That means a lot to me."

She smiled and cuddled up against me, which was adorable. When I let go, she suddenly started.

"Ahhhh, I almost forgot! I made one for Yotsuba-nee-chan as well!"

"Oh?"

Raiha pulled a second bracelet out of her bag and handed it to me. It was quite similar to the one she'd handed me, save for a few crucial differences. First of all, it was mostly green instead of blue. Secondly, the charms were all four-leaf clovers. Finally, she had put some beads on it which read "Nakano Yotsuba" in hiragana.

"Make sure you give it to her properly!" Raiha said fiercely.

"Don't worry," I smiled. "I'll make sure she gets it."

"Good!"

I then turned to my dad, who spontaneously embraced me in an extremely tight bear hug.

"Have a great time over there, kid," he said gruffly. "Make sure you make tons of great memories."

"Dad," I wheezed, "I can't breathe..."

"Oh, whoops," he said, releasing the pressure slightly. "My bad."

"Geez," I said, pulling back slightly. "You sound like Yotsuba."

"Good. She sounds like a good kid."

"She is," I half-smiled. "Anyways, I need to go, or I'll be late."

"Have fun, Onii-chan!" Raiha called one last time as I left the door, suitcase in tow. I waved, and then I closed the door behind me. The journey to school was a little slower than usual due to the suitcase, but I arrived with plenty of time to spare before the scheduled departure time. I made my way over to the large buses that were sitting outside the school gates, and took a moment to marvel at them.

I'd never gotten the chance to ride on such a thing before. As I was looking around the front and side, our teacher came out of the front door of the school, spotted me, and wandered over.

"Ah, Uesugi, you're early," he said mildly. "Would you like to put your suitcase in the bus?"

"Oh," I said, frowning. "In the bus? Don't I just take it on the bus with me?"

"No, no, think how much room that would waste!" he scoffed. "Suitcases go in the bus, not on the bus."

"I... see," I said carefully. There's so much I have yet to learn about mass transit.

"I'll get the driver to open up the hold for you."

The teacher walked off to talk to an older man who was smoking near the door, who nodded multiple times, put out the cigarette, and then walked over to me. He threw open a gullwing door on the side of the bus, and tossed in my suitcase, sliding it along the metal bottom of the cavity. He slid the door shut again, and then wandered back over to the front of the bus.

"Huh..." I said, staring at the spot where my suitcase had once been. "That's certainly convenient."

"Indeed," the teacher said smugly. "Anyways, I recommend getting on now, unless of course there was someone specific you wanted to ride with. It's a surefire way to get the best seats. I personally recommend sitting on the left-hand side of the bus; the right-hand side walking in."

"Ah, I am planning to ride with someone," I said, bowing my head. "Thank you for the advice though."

The teacher appraised me, and I suddenly felt marginally uncomfortable.

"Is that so?" he said finally. "I see, I see. Well, don't let me interfere with that!"

Then, for some reason, he laughed and wandered off, leaving me quite confused.

I hung out by the gates for about twenty minutes, and gradually more and more students arrived, loading their suitcases into the various buses. Eventually, I saw the quintuplets arrive, and Yotsuba spotted me. Bounding over, she grabbed my hands excitedly.

"Ahhh, it's here, Uesugi-san! It's finally time!"

"Yes," I said, laughing slightly as she pumped my hands up and down. "So it is. Shall we get on the bus?"

"Yeah! Oh, wait, we have to get our bags sorted."

It was only then that I noticed that each of the quints had brought along a large suitcase, with each being around twice the size of my own stowed-away bag. I raised an eyebrow slightly - it seemed distinctly like overkill for only three days' worth of camping. As the driver helped load the suitcases into the belly of the bus, a small part of me was glad that my suitcase was already hidden from sight, so that there would be no need for comparison.

The second the suitcases were put away, Nino immediately left to go sit with some of her friends. The rest of us, however, decided to board one of the buses together, and grab some of the seats near the back, which were apparently arranged in groups of four with a small table in between; perfect for playing cards. However, given there were five of us, naturally one person would be left out - an unforeseen obstacle.

I had, frankly, expected it to be me, but after Yotsuba and Itsuki had already sat down, Miku decisively sat in the group of seats across the aisle. I frowned, but then shrugged, and sat down next to Yotsuba in the aisle seat, with Ichika slipping into the seat across from me to round out the set.

Miku slipped on her headphones almost immediately, and started tapping away on her phone screen. I glanced over at her, and the frown on my face deepened. While Miku often seemed distant, this was anti-social even for her.

Weird.

"Hey, Uesugi-san! Did you properly read the handbook I gave you?!" Yotsuba asked, poking me in the upper arm.

"Who do you think I am?" I sniffed, turning back to face her. "Of course I did."

"Oh reeeeeally?" Yotsuba said, stroking her chin. "Well then, tell me this, good sir - what was on page thirty-four?!"

"The dangers of leaving food outside, and why you should always put it up a tree when camping."

"Eh? Wait, really?"

"Don't ask a pop quiz question you don't know the answer to," I sighed, scratching my head. "Speaking of which, the tips in the guide were kind of pointless, weren't they? We're sleeping inside, not in tents."

"Indeed," Itsuki said from the other side of the table. "Why do we need to know the best ways to catch fish if we're making food from grocery-store purchased ingredients?"

"Now, now," Ichika said, yawning. "It's still good information to- ahh, excuse me. It's still good information to have. What if one day you crash-land in the middle of the forest and have to survive on berries and nuts?"

"I would die," Itsuki and I both said confidently at the exact same moment. Then, we turned to look at each other.

'You would definitely die, Uesugi-kun," Itsuki scoffed. "Probably even faster than me."

"That's almost certainly true," I acknowledged. "I think we've already determined that you have a narrow athletic edge over me."

Plus you have slightly more... energy reserves than me.

I kept the second thought to myself as Itsuki got a smug look on her face.

"Yes, I do seem to recall dominating you at badminton."

My eye twitched. "Wait, what? You call a final score of eleven to nine 'domination'? That's ludicrous."

"Trivialities," Itsuki smirked. "I still won."

"Sure, but that's hardly domination! I still have my pride, damn it!"

"Just take the loss!"

"I did take the loss, but I refuse to let you say I was dominated!" I growled, irritation flaring in my chest. "I fought you practically to a standstill!"

"I'll say whatever I want to say! Besides, you-"

The bus lurched forward with a start, and then slowly began to pull away from the spot it had been parked for the last hour and a half. Yotsuba patted my arm nervously.

"Guys, come on, let's tone it down," she said, smiling somewhat uncomfortably. "We're going on a camping trip! Camping! It's gonna be fun, let's start it off on the right note."

Itsuki and I both looked at each other, looked at Yotsuba, and then back at each other.

"She's right," Itsuki said, a resigned look crossing her face. "This is a stupid thing to fight about. Besides, that badminton match was almost two months ago. Who knows who would win now?"

"True," I shrugged. "Also, we both know that you almost needed an ambulance after that bout."

"God damn it, Uesugi-kun! Why do you always do this?! I was trying to-"

I started laughing, and after a moment of silence, Itsuki rolled her eyes and shook her head - but I could see her irritation breaking into a small smile.

"Seriously? Does winding me up really give you that much pleasure?"

"It depends - but usually, yes," I said decisively. "Also, you started it this time, you know."

"I- ugh, I guess that's true."

Yotsuba looked back and forth between us, the worried look not entirely gone, but she seemed more relaxed as she sensed that neither of us was actually angry anymore.

"Do... do you guys wanna play cards?" she asked, pulling out a pack from a backpack that she'd brought on board - something I regretted not doing, my own pack of cards buried in the ravenous guts of the bus.

"Sure," I said. "You in, Itsuki?"

"I suppose. We may as well - it's a fairly long trip."

"Ichika?" Yotsuba asked. "Do you want to join?"

"In a bit," she replied, closing her eyes. "Big sis wants to get a bit more sleep. I don't like being awake this early when I don't have to be."

"Suit yourself," I said, shrugging, and then the three of us began to play. The game was frankly a bit boring, though - the only quint I'd ever had any trouble beating in card games up to that point was the girl sleeping across the table from me. Constantly cleaning up was no fun, despite the pleasure I occasionally derived from the frustration on Itsuki's face. Whenever I crushed Yotsuba, I just felt a bit bad.

"Ugh, Uesugi-san, you're too good!" Yotsuba complained about an hour into the bus ride.

"Maybe we should play a different game then," I said, raising my eyebrow. "Do you know any I don't? That way, you'll have home-field advantage."

"Hmm," Itsuki said thoughtfully. "Well, there is this one game I learned, I guess..."

At that moment, Ichika stretched her arms high above her head, yawned, and opened one eye.

"Good morning," she said sleepily. "That was a good nap."

"Oh, Ichika!" Yotsuba said. "You should play with us now! Uesugi-san is kicking our butts!"

"Mmm, is that so?" she asked, opening the other eye. "Well, we can't have that, can we? You have to be gentle with a woman's behind, Fuutarou-kun."

"What the hell are you saying?" I asked, my face heating up ever-so-slightly.

"Oh, nothing," she said, a half-smile dancing across her face. She stretched a second time, and then the half-smile turned into a full smile. "Deal me in. I know how to handle rambunctious boys."

Well, that's not ominous at all!

With Ichika in the game, the rounds took on a markedly different tone - I actually lost several times, and each round was a fight for my life. Itsuki and Yotsuba tried to compete... but almost every time, the battle came down to Ichika and I.

"Man, Ichika, you really do know how to handle rambunctious boys!" Yotsuba said cheerfully.

"What part of me is particularly rambunctious?" I asked drily.

"Well, that would be your- uh- uh, nevermind," Yotsuba said, suddenly glancing away from me.

I narrowed my eyes as I stared at her.

Suspicious. Very suspicious.

"Ah, well, I have experience," Ichika said loftily. "After all, I got asked to dance at the bonfire!"

There was a moment of deafening silence.

"I turned him down though, of course," Ichika said, suddenly a bit nervous. "I... I hardly know the guy."

"A-hem."

We all turned to look at the seat across the aisle, where Miku had put down her phone and taken off her headphones.

"Uh-"

"You mean I turned the guy down," she said pointedly. "Thanks for putting me in that situation by the way, Ichika."

"Hey," Ichika protested, "they told me it was a class thing - how was I supposed to know that was a lie?!"

"Wait, hang on," I said, frowning and looking back and forth between them. "I know you two are similar, but how could you possibly pull that off? Surely someone confessing to you would be able to tell the difference, especially with your accessories."

Ichika and Miku exchanged a glance, and then Ichika looked back at me with a look which could only be described as positively devilish.

"Yotsuba," she said commandingly, "we're playing a quintuplets game. Cover his eyes!"

"Eh?! What are you-"

"Roger!"

My words were cut off as Yotsuba reached and pulled me over, covering my eyes with both her hands and plunging my world into darkness. Off-balance, I could feel myself pressing against her shoulder, and both of her hands were wrapped around my face, the soft skin of her palms resting against my upper cheekbones and my brow. With all visual information suddenly cut off, I found my sense of feeling slightly focused, every part of my body hyper-aware of her touch, my shoulder pressing against hers, my arm up against her side...

Calm down, Uesugi Fuutarou. Breathe. You have no need to fall prey to the whims of biology. Sort yourself out.

Despite my internal protestations, I could feel my face heating up, and my heart beginning to pound. I tried to take slightly deeper breaths, hoping that Yotsuba wouldn't notice my attempts to bring my heart rate down. The sensory deprivation imposed by her hands both made matters easier, and also far more difficult.

"Look, I can't join unless you do me," I heard a voice slightly to my right, presumably Itsuki's. "The hair length is a problem."

"Oh, good point - ah, we should switch seats!"

There was the sound of shuffling, and the sound, vibrating through my entire body, of Yotsuba laughing softly. Then, I supposed that Ichika must have given her some sort of non-verbal signal, because she then spontaneously let go of me, allowing me to sit upright again in my chair.

"What the hell are you all playing a-"

My words died in my throat as my eyes took in the sight before me. Where once there had been Miku, Ichika, and Itsuki in order in the seats in front of me from left to right... there were now, in the exact same spots, three carbon copies of Itsuki. I heavily leaned back in my chair, making it creak as it pushed back all thoughts of the previous brief physical encounter with Yotsuba banished entirely from my head by what I was seeing.

"What- what the hell is- who- which one is which?" I finished lamely. At that, Yotsuba burst fully into guffaws of laughter.

"It's a quintuplets game, Uesugi-san! Go ahead, try and guess who is who!"

"Sorry, hang on," I said, turning to Yotsuba, who thankfully was still distinctly not-Itsuki. "I need a minute to process this."

"What is there to process, Fuutarou-kun?" one of the Itsukis said, teasingly. "Are we blowing your mind that much?"

"Yes," I said, turning back around to face them. "Look, I've never seen three people turn into one person before. I'm a little overwhelmed here!"

"I see," the exact same Itsuki said, her face suddenly looking down and away from me. "I'm sorry we're frightening you... Fuutarou..."

I sighed. Obviously none of them would be dumb enough to just use their own respective way of referring to me without any trickery thrown in - it wouldn't be a game otherwise.

Looking over the three identical girls in front of me, I felt a sudden sense of vertigo. How did I know that any particular quintuplet I'd spoken to at any given time in the past was, in fact, the one I'd thought it was? What if, some of the times I'd been studying with Yotsuba, it'd actually been one of her sisters? What if my memories of my time with her... weren't ones she shared as well? What if-

"If you're this convincing, how am I ever supposed to know who's who?!" I complained, deciding to voice my discomfort instead of just keeping it bottled up inside. "I'm sorry that my whole world has been kind of turned upside down here. If you can imitate each other this well, how do I know in general that the quint I'm talking to at any given time... is really the quint I think it is?"

The three Itsukis suddenly looked a bit uncomfortable.

"We- We don't do this most of the time, Uesugi-kun!" the one on the far left said, flustered. "Only for games, or when we really need to!"

"Yeah, that's right, Fuutarou," the one on the far right said, a depressed look on her face. "We only swap out when we really need to... or when it's funny."

"Usually when it's funny," Yotsuba said beside me, chuckling slightly. I frowned, my deep feeling of discomfort not remotely assuaged.

"How do I even know-"

"Trust," Yotsuba said simply, thereby cutting me off. She reached over and grabbed my shoulder gently, the pressure of her hands conducting through my shirt even if the warmth didn't. "That's all there is. We've never swapped out around you before now. That's the truth, Uesugi-san."

I turned to look her in the eyes, searching the depths of the ocean blue, searching for truth. I found myself lost in their depths for a moment, before I shook my head, dispelling my temporary malaise. I'd found my answer. If there was one thing I could believe in... well, it was a simple truth, borne out of hours upon hours of simple observation.

Yotsuba can't lie worth a damn.

"Ok," I sighed. "I believe it. You have to admit, it's a bit disconcerting though!"

"I guess we're just so used to it, we don't think about it," she shrugged. "Anyways, guess, guess!"

"Fine," I sighed, turning back towards the three Itsukis. "I'll guess. Give me a moment to think."

I stared up at the ceiling for a moment to ponder. I'd heard shuffling sounds that resembled people getting up and moving around. However, it was possible that, after having done that, they'd returned to their original seats - so that didn't really give me any information. I could somewhat go off of the way that each had addressed me... but the middle Itsuki had used both Ichika's and Miku's way of referring to me. This heavily implied that they were faking the way they were talking to make it harder.

Putting those pieces together, a wellspring of confidence rose up within me. This was a logic puzzle, and logic puzzles all had solutions. The hints put together... it made me think it had to be...

"From left to right- Miku, Itsuki, Ichika."

"Bzzt!" the one on the far left said. "Incorrect! We're Itsuki, Ichika, Miku."

"Wait, so you were using your real ways of addressing me?" I said, the obvious turned to the traitorous. "Why?!"

"I got flustered!" Itsuki complained. "I wasn't expecting you to suddenly get paranoid and think we'd been tricking you all along, or something like that!"

"I just figured it would throw you off," Miku shrugged, pulling off the wig to reveal her own shorter hair. "Which it did. One more point for the master of disguise."

"Now, now," Ichika said, doing the same. "Don't feel too badly, Fuutarou-kun. You only had a one in six chance of getting it right."

"Eh? One in six?" Yotsuba asked, confused. "Why is it- oh, wait! I remember! Combinatorics!"

"If you remember something from the midterms, then we're in good shape for the final," I said drily. "I'm still pretty shaken by this whole thing, but I'm going to choose to trust that you haven't used that on me at any point. Please keep it that way."

Yotsuba got a serious look on her face at my sombre words, and nodded. I let out a deep breath, and then sighed.

"So anyways," I muttered, turning back to the remaining sisters. "Why did you turn this guy down? Do you not like him, Ichika?"

"I did it," Miku said, "and it's because... it's because I panicked, to be honest. I figured if Ichika desperately wanted to go dance with him, she could always just go apologize later and accept."

"Which I don't," Ichika said, stretching in her seat. "Maeda-kun is nice enough, but... mmm, how do I put this? I'm not really looking to date right now. I have... other things that I've got my mind on."

Her eyes lingered on me for a second in a way that made me feel strangely uncomfortable - but I wasn't really able to vocalize the discomfort, even internally, and eventually her eyes slid away, taking my discomfort with them.

We continued playing cards for a few more hours, but at some point I noticed that the bus had essentially ceased to move. I checked my phone, and also realized that we were about an hour past when we had been due to arrive at the camping grounds.

"Is it just me," I asked, "or have we hardly moved in the last hour?"

"Yes..." Itsuki said, glancing out the window. "It seems as though there is some sort of backup... I wonder why?"

"Probably that," Yotsuba said, her face pressed up against the cool glass.

Leaning over her, I pressed my own face to the glass next to her, just in time to see something fall by the window. It was only then that I realized that the sky above us was a murky grey, and that the falling object hadn't been alone; rather, it was joined by a cohort of its fellows, each dancing and spinning and twisting in the wind as they fluttered to the ground.

"I don't think we're going to make it to the camping grounds today," I said resignedly.

It was beginning to snow.

A/N: Alas, the weather doesn't care one whit about the fact that Fuutarou didn't accept the tutoring job!