Chapter 5: My Protector
Ichika Nakano
I wake up to the sweet smell of coffee filling up our trailer as the cast assistant brings in two carriers containing 8 coffees. I wasn't the only one as the rest of the cast also rose from their slumber like looney toon characters floating to the apple pie.
"Rise and shine people!" Angela said as we all flocked to her waiting for a cup of coffee like the caffeine addicts we all were.
"Ugh you're an angel" I said as the coffee hit my lips. I didn't even care that I almost got 3rd degree burns. This pain was worth it. We all worked until damn near 3 in the morning last night before we were finally allowed to take a break in the trailer. By the time we had to go back, practically all of us had already gone to sleep, including myself.
"you guys were amazing last night; this is the least we could do. The director wants you guys back for tonight's shoot around 10, so go on home and rest up and we'll see you guys back here tonight" Angela said with a smile as she took the empty coffee carriers and left the trailer.
My costars and I spoke about how hard night shoots were and how they can never sleep during the day. We groggily went over our lines a couple times, which ended up being a complete failure because we were all still half asleep. Everyone began leaving as I waited for Mr. Ebata to pull up. I pull out my phone and notice how I didn't have a single text from the girls. Thats strange. I know they've gotten used to me being out for my shoots but not even one of them? Itsuki and Nino are the worrisome ones and they didn't even see any of my stories I put up on IG last night?
Mr. Ebata pulls up and I ask him if anything happened last night with the girls since that's very unlike them. He informs me that the girls didn't come home last night and that they stayed over Akira's house last night. My mind is running every scenario possible. What if Akira brought up Fuutarou and Nino opened her mouth about what I told her. Oh my god, what if he actually went over Akira's house drunk again and told them everything himself?!
I couldn't control my anxiety and pulled out my phone. I began calling the girls starting with Nino. Nothing. Miku, Nothing. Yotsuba, fucking voicemail again. Luckily Itsuki picks up.
"Hey Ichika what's..." Itsuki starts saying before I cut her off.
"Where the fuck are you guys?" I say angrily. "no one's answering the phone and Mr. Ebata said you guys stayed at Akira's last night. Not a single one of you called or texted me to check on me like you always do, what's up with that?". I can tell I caught her off guard with my line of questioning because I could hear her stuttering thinking of something to say.
"W-we all went to Akira's friend's house for a party and ended up staying the night and..." she began saying before I exploded.
"WHO'S HOUSE?! FUUTAROUS?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ALL OF YOU, YOU DON'T KNOW HIM!" I start screaming at her. "Are you there right now? Give me the address I'm on my way!" I say as I hang up. What the fuck are they thinking? What was HE thinking? He has to know this is unacceptable and beyond creepy. Why is he taking it upon himself to meet my sisters. How does he even know them to invite them over? Was he actually awake when we saw him last?
All these different scenarios ran through my head as I gave Mr. Ebata the address and drove to his place. What did he tell them? Did he tell them we've been fucking? Did he tell them I'm a whore? Is he trying to make me jealous? This was Akira's idea. She's probably known this entire time but has been keeping it to herself to do something shady like this to get back at me for taking her man. Well, little does she know, two can play at this game.
"Miss Ichika we have arrived but may I suggest you calm down before you enter, I'd hate for you to embarrass yourself jumping to conclusions" Mr. Ebata said. Did this man read my mind?
"I'm ok Mr. Ebata. I'll call you when we're ready to leave if you want to go get a coffee or something" I say as I exit the SUV and close the door.
Sasaki Martial Arts academy? This man lives at a karate dojo or something? I knew he lived in the ghetto but I didn't think it would look this bad coming here. The actual building was nice and well-kept but the surrounding area was disgusting. How dare he invite my sisters to such a dangerous part of town, and shame on Akira for knowing where he lives and not objecting to it.
I peak into the little karate dojo through the glass windows and see that all the lights are off. No one inside, not even a sign that shows hours of operation, how unprofessional.
"Can I help you young lady?" Said a man with long hair and the same moon tattoo Fuutarou has. He also had a big dragon tattoo from his neck down to his hand. He looks like the man who picked up Akira at school when we first met. "Wait a minute, you're the actor girl Fuutarou talks about right?"
He talks about me? "Umm y-yeah, I'm actually looking for him, is he around?" I say nervously as I bow out of respect. He doesn't look like Fuutarou at all so how does this old guy know him so well if he's related to Akira? He doesn't seem like a scary person but he sure as hell looks like one.
"Yeah, the kid lives on the second floor, let me take you to him. I'm Hideo by the way, this is my academy" he says as he leads the way to a door on the side of the building that opened up to a dimly lit stair case. We get up to the 2nd floor and he starts banging on the door as we hear scrambling footsteps and whispers.
"Oh what's up Hideo what are you doing... Momo?" Fuutarou said with a surprised look on his face. He was wearing an apron on top of his tank top and some sweat pants.
"Oh man it smells great what we cooking?" Hideo says as he walks past Fuutarou casually like he owns the place, which he does. He walks over to Akira and gives her a kiss on the top of her head and pulls up the empty seat across from her.
I look passed Fuutarou to see the Kitchen table filled with all the girls and 2 people I've never seen. A giant fat guy with a face tattoo of a crescent moon wrapped around his eye Mike Tyson style and a little girl who looked just like Fuutarou. Nino was in the kitchen wearing an apron while she was flipping some pancakes.
"Hey look what the cat dragged in! It's our favorite movie star!" Yotsuba said to the little girl sitting next to her as she got up and ran over to hug me.
Itsuki was avoiding eye contact with me as she stuffed her face while the other girls gave me a half assed good morning, including Akira for some reason making my mind think of all the scenarios where Fuutarou made me look bad.
"Can I talk to you outside?" I said to Fuutarou while pulling his arm.
"Why? So you can keep more secrets from us? We already know you guys met on set, just sit down and have breakfast already" Miku said dryly as she drank her tea.
"C'mon Ichika, Nino and I made chocolate chip pancakes, they're Raiha's favorite" Fuu said with a smile as he pulled his arm away and started walking back to the table. He added extra emphasis to my name when he said it because we both know it's the first time he's called me by my real name. That warmth that was always present when he spoke to me was gone. He wasn't rude or anything, he just wasn't warm.
"So you're all the famous quintuplets I've heard so much about? It's a pleasure to finally put a face to all the names" Hideo said laughing at his own dad joke. Of course Yotsuba found it hilarious while the rest of us gave him a pity laugh. "You all have fun last night? Did my boys here treat you ladies right?" he said glancing over at Fuutarou.
"Mickey called me a bitch" Nino said with an evil laugh as she served him a plate causing the big man's face to turn bright red with fear as Hideo shot him a glare that made Nino retract her statement. "w-we were just playing, Mickeys my bestie now!" Nino said as she attached to the fat boy's arm.
"Ah ok that's what I like to hear, we don't treat our guests with disrespect right Mickey?" Hideo said as he took a bite of his pancakes without taking his eyes off of him. Whoever this Hideo person was, Mickey was scared of him.
Hideo went on to tell us all about how him and our father were friends from back in the day and how it was his idea for Akira to tutor us. That's sweet and all but I could honestly care less. He's not telling us what we really want to know. Who the fuck is he really, how does he know Fuutarou, and most importantly, what it is that they do that requires them all to have that crescent moon tattoo? My suspicions of them being in that gang I looked up are proving to be true.
"And which one of you is... Miku?" Hideo said with a smile as Fuutarou poured his coffee and pointed over to Miku. Miku's eyes shot open as we all looked over at my little sister who was beet red. How does he even know her well enough to talk about her to some old guy? "Ah so you're the one Fuu was talking about this morning in training". Why is my man talking to his elder about my sister and not me?
Miku sat there looking around confused when Fuutarou butted in to justify himself. "I told him how you like Sengoku warlords Miku" he said with that big beautiful smile of his as he pulled up the chair and sat next to her.
"Hahaha yeah, Miku is the dork of the family" I say laughing. I look around and stop because I realize me and Nino are the only ones laughing.
"It's ok Miku, you're surrounded by dorks because I used to watch Sengoku documentaries all the time with uncle and Fuu" Akira said finally saying something after being just as quiet as Miku all morning. What the fuck? She can't take a joke? Miku smiled and had a 20-minute conversation sounding like the history channel leaving the rest of us out of their conversation. Itsuki and Yotsuba were playing with the little girl and Nino and the fat boy were washing dishes in the kitchen.
I'm feeling alone. Like no one wants me here. Like I'm crashing a party I wasn't invited to. I'm gone one night and everyone just forgets about me. I know the girls are probably mad at me for keeping him a secret from them but I just need a chance to explain to them privately. Fuutarou won't stop laughing and talking to Miku and Akira. Yotsuba always asks me how my shoot was and she's over there playing daycare with Itsuki and the little girl acting like I don't exist. And Nino is looking like a school girl talking to her crush with this random hoodlum with diabetes.
"Fuutarou can I talk to you outside" I say firmly interrupting his conversation as I stand up and start walking to his balcony without waiting for an answer. I can feel everyone look at the back of my head as I walk away but I don't care. I need answers. I need to know what happened last night before I talk to the girls so I can get our stories straight.
He walks out shortly after me and walks up to me. He's close enough for me to smell his cologne, a scent I've missed. I look up at him and those golden eyes. I had a whole speech planned about how we need to get on the same page, and how we could say that we were just castmates, but I can't even remember my own name right now. He's standing there waiting for me to speak but I'm drawing a blank. I'm so frustrated with myself that tears start forming in my eyes. I'm not sad, I'm not hurt, but for some reason tears is all I could come up with. I'm waiting for him to him to say something but he's just standing there patiently waiting for words to come out of my mouth. This isn't like him, he's normally all over me when I'm having a bad day. Whenever I text him upset, he's always in a rush to make me feel better. Why is he acting different all of a sudden? Like these tears mean nothing to him? I take a step forward and he doesn't move away. I take it as a sign to touch him. I put my hand on his chest and he doesn't pull it away. Fuck it, they already know there's something here between us so there's no point in keep this a secret anymore. I can't stand this feeling of him not wanting me, not talking to me, not giving me the affection that I've grown accustomed to. I look up and start inching closer. I can feel him breathing, I go for a kiss and... he pulls away?
"Why didn't you tell them about me?" Fuutarou said. His question was clear. There was no anger behind it, no ill will, no disappointment, just a question he wanted answered.
I stood there not knowing what to say since I didn't know what he was told. I didn't know how to get out of this so I gotta play this smart.
"I just didn't think it was the right time. The first time they saw you was such a bad first impression, I wanted them to see what I saw...I..." I said as I turned up the water works. A couple years in the business really helped me perfect this skill.
He raised a hand to my cheek and wiped away a tear. It's working, I got him in the palm of my hand.
"I spoke about you to my big bro the day I met you, I guess the feelings weren't mutual" he said as he wiped his hand on my shoulder and started walking back inside. I just stood there stuck. Fuck, what the hell am I supposed to say to that!
"IT WAS NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS BARRY!" I say loud enough to get his attention but not loud enough for everyone inside to hear us.
"It's ok Ichika. Let's go inside, breakfast is getting cold" he said will a small smile and opened the door and screamed "alright, who's ready for seconds!"
Akira Takebayashi
Shortly after Fuu came back inside there was so much unnecessary tension in the room. Ichika sat outside for about 10 minutes before Miku went outside to check on her. She didn't stay out there long though. I couldn't hear what they were saying but I saw Miku rolling her eyes as she walked back in and sat down. Ichika came in shortly after and sat down on the opposite side of the table and started talking to Nino and Mickey like nothing happened. Fuu went to the kitchen to cook more food since Itsuki ate the rest of the pancakes and sat down right next to Miku. Fuu's mood completely changed as soon as he began talking to Miku. I couldn't make out what they were saying since I was sitting by Yotsuba and my uncle but they actually looked happy, and that only made my stomach twist in knots. It's weird how seeing him on the balcony with Ichika made me nervous but seeing him with Miku right now is making me jealous. Was there something there between them maybe? No, no way. Miku is way too reserved, the complete opposite of the slutty girls Fuu usually spends his time with. But then again, I would have never guessed him and Ichika could ever be a thing either. I'm going to keep my eye on her.
"Hey Hideo, so what's up with that pretty moon tattoo all you guys have?" Yotsuba asked with a mouth full of pancakes. Fuu and Mickey both looked at uncle who was sipping his coffee. This is it. This is where my friendship with the girls ends. Uncle has never and will never lie about his ties with the organization. Should've seen this coming and gotten uncle out of here. I look at my uncle and without saying a single word i beg him not to tell her. I may not be physically on my hands and knees but my face is saying otherwise.
"it's a family thing sweetheart, who's got the prettiest one?" uncle says laughing as he pulls his hair back revealing his mark. He looks over at me and gives me a reassuring wink. THANK YOU UNCLE.
The rest of breakfast was just small talk uncle and Raiha made by asking the girls a million questions I'm sure they've heard before. Nino was in the kitchen cleaning up again while Mickey was wrestling around with Raiha. Fuu went over to mess with her and from way over here it looked like she was blushing but I couldn't tell since her face was all scrunched up as she kicked him out so she could finish up by herself.
After we finished eating Fuu asked us all if we wanted to go out to the mall or something since we had nothing to do for the rest of the day like everything was ok but the girls insisted on going home. We all said our good byes and went downstairs to wait for our rides. Yotsuba and Itsuki offered me a ride home but I kindly declined and said I would see them in school the next day.
I go home and do a little light studying while checking my phone every 5 minutes to see if Fuu texted me. Normally Yotsuba sends me funny pictures and memes on IG, but I haven't gotten anything from her either.
I'm sitting here in Fuutarou's hoody thinking about what he could have said to her on the balcony. She was clearly upset before she came back in. I am proud of the fact that I was able to tell him about Ichika acting like she didn't know who he was. He told me they had a thing but it never got to the point of being in a relationship. What caught me off guard was how ok he was about her playing dumb. "I wouldn't want to be seen with me either" he said with a laugh after insulting himself. Pretty concerning coming from someone so confident. Other people would've seen that and assume he was ok, but I knew it bothered him.
Fuu probably called her out for not telling us about their... whatever the fuck they had. I can't say I blame her for lying though. So much has been going on these past couple of days for her to find a good time to mention 'hey that boy that came here drunk? I'm fucking him'. At least Fuu was honest about it. He never lies to me, even if I didn't like what he was saying. It took every ounce of self-control to act like everything was ok at the party yesterday, but Fuu never invites me to parties anymore so I guess I just wanted to show him I could hang and not be a drag on the party.
I woke up this morning hoping this can finally be a fresh start. We have midterms coming up, so the girls and I have something to aim for in our sessions, and we also have the class camping trip shortly after. Father was dead set on me not going, Offering me a vacation to Italy instead but I wanted to be around my classmates and be a normal student for once. We settled on Yoshin being a chaperone and Uncle helped when he said Fuutarou and Mickey were going as well since we're all in the same grade.
I go down stairs and Fuutarou is sitting in the kitchen with my Iced coffee and Blueberry muffin as he greets me with his typical warm smile.
"Your Majesty has finally decided to bless me with your presence, I'm so grateful to be..." he began saying with a cute little curtsy as I told him to shove the muffin up his ass and snatched the ice coffee. We both started laughing until we were red in the face and walked out the house. If he's willing to act like yesterday never happened than so am I. He walked over and opened my door as always and we had a nice drive to school. He told me how he was training Bash in the morning before his training session with Hideo and how he was already on his 4th cup of coffee. I love my little cousin, he was a little douche bag when he first got here, but he really started to go grow on me the more we hung out. I'm glad him and Fuu are getting along so well. He's only a year younger than us so we don't have any classes together but I see him in the halls every once in a while and he always takes the time to say hi to me and ask me how my day is going. I hope father hasn't been too hard on him since I left.
We pull up to the school and Fuutarou doesn't go to the student drop off section and instead parks the car in the parking lot.
"Oh? You're actually going to bless US with YOUR presence today?" I say trying my best to impersonate him when he says the same to me every morning.
"Whoa, I'm an upstanding scholar, a true disciple of knowledge if you will" he says as we both start laughing. He opens my door and we walk to homeroom together. We walk in about 10 minutes early as everyone starts filing in. Pretty much everyone comes over to Mr. Popular over here talking about how much fun they had at the party the other night. As always people ignore me and just talk to Fuu but I'm used to it already. Maybe I'll never understand how people can talk to a known gang member just fine, but the daughter of one is off limits.
Nino walks in and Fuu practically breaks his neck as she walks over to her desk. A bunch of guys are sitting there so they could talk to Fuu.
"Um excuse me...excuse me... GET THE FUCK OFF MY DESK" Nino screams as the boys finally hear her and rush to get off. "Thank you" she says with an innocent smile like she didn't just scold them .5 seconds ago and sits down. She looks over and gives us a nonchalant good morning. That's weird, is she angry with me or something? No, I don't think Nino is that petty to be angry about something and not say it to your face, So why is she... blushing?
Fuu sits on her desk and catches her off guard as she looks up at him surprised that he's so close. Here we go.
"Nino Right?" Fuu said pretending he forgot her name overnight as she nodded with her cheeks bright red. Like she forgot she spoke the same language as him. Why was she being so awkward? She spent all night with him at the party and all morning with him making breakfast, what's different? She's not drunk? is it because she doesn't have her sisters?
"I didn't know you were in my homeroom; this is great! I'm so Lucky to have such a pretty girl next to me" he said with that big smile of his. As if her cheeks weren't red before, now she's as red as a tomato. The sight of her being so blushed makes Fuu laugh as he takes his seat. He looks at me and nods over at her and starts laughing like he's saying "get a load of this".
The teacher walked up front and called us all to attention for the morning announcement. "Ok guys, as you all know we have our class trip coming up soon but we have no volunteers for the test of courage. Mr. Uesugi and Ms. Nakano, since you two haven't volunteered for any other position it's yours by default unless someone else wants to do it"
"don't worry I'll volun.." I began saying before I was interrupted.
"NO ITS FINE! I'll do it!" Nino shouted as she stood at her seat red in the face. She realized that she looked a little foolish so she quickly sat down as a couple giggles filled the room.
"ooookay, well that settles that. Come by after class tomorrow with a written essay about what you Two plan to do" Mr. Lee said as he sat down and dismissed us.
"Wow, you must really wanna spend time with me huh? Lucky me" Fuutarou said with a smooth tone as he rested his chin on Nino's shoulder in front of him and spoke into ear causing her to once again be a speechless red-faced mess.
Shortly after the homeroom bell rang, Nino grabbed her stuff and bolts for the door without so much as a goodbye.
"I think she likes me" Fuutarou said as he leaned back on the legs of his chair laughing.
"Oh you think? Douche bag" I say rolling my eyes as I kick his chair causing him to fall to the floor and leave his dumbass behind.
"oh c'mon u know I'm just messing with her, it's too easy!" he said as he scrambled to his feet to follow me.
We make our way to first period and bump into Itsuki at the door.
"Hey Akira good morning. I didn't know I had this class with you Uesugi?" she said with a happy smile. she's doing a real good job at acting like the incident yesterday never happened. It's no surprise though, Itsuki and Yotsuba are the ones who go out of their way to really make me feel like I exist, I'm glad I get to see them so early in the morning since we have gym next period with Yotsuba.
"Yeah, me and Akira have all of our classes together, do we have classes with all the girls?" Fuutarou asked smiling over at me. I completely forgot he hasn't been to school since the Quints started here so he doesn't know we have classes with them.
"Yup" I say dryly as I hook Itsuki's arm and make my way to our seats since I'm still mad about him flirting with Nino in front of me, even if he was just messing with her.
We had gym next with Yotsuba and they ended up going undefeated in basketball playing 2 on 2 against anyone who dared to challenge them. I was just happy to be a cheerleader on the side since I can barely dribble a ball, let alone shoot one. After gym class me and Yotsuba went to go change.
"What did Ichika say when she got home? She looked real upset when she got there" I say nonchalantly like I don't care when in reality I really want to know everything about this liar.
"Itsuki was really the only one who grilled her about not telling us. She just kept telling us how there was nothing between them and how he's not her type, which I can see honestly, he's actually Nino's type to a T!" Yotsuba said laughing as I gave my best fake laugh since I put that part together after seeing it first thing this morning.
Fuu greeted us in the hallway as he gave Yotsuba a big high five and walked with us half way to science where we bumped into Nino again who was trying to avoid us and rush into class. Fuu looked over at us and said "watch this" with a huge evil smile on his face before yelling out "HEY GORGEOUS! YEAH YOU WITH THE BUTTERFLY RIBBONS LOOKING LIKE MY FAIRY GOD MOTHER! YOU'RE MY WISH COME TRUE BABY GIRL!" from the hallway just to see her get flustered in front of everyone and march into class hiding her face from everyone. I'm not going to lie, at first, I hated the idea of Fuutarou flirting with another girl in front of me but seeing the hot head of the quintuplets turn into a bumbling mess every time Fuu talks to her makes me die laughing.
Science was hands down the funniest class of the day since Fuu ended up getting everyone involved trying to get Nino to 'accept his confession of love'. Even the teacher got in on it and said she would give Nino extra credit if she gave Fuu a chance. Even Nino laughed at that one.
We went to the cafeteria for lunch afterwards and separated for a bit so we could get our food. I sat with Yotsuba and Nino while we waited for everyone else to join us. Ichika came first acting all happy and cheery like everything was ok. I really don't want things to be weird with us so I play along but i can't help but second guess every other word that comes out of her mouth. Itsuki was the next to arrive with a mountain of food while Nino and Ichika picked on her as always.
"Hey where's Uesugi and Miku?" Itsuki asked. We all look around because we were already halfway through lunch and they still weren't with us.
"There they are!" Yotsuba said with her eyes wide open as she spots them like a hawk in the corner of the cafeteria sitting by themselves. Fuu was wearing Miku's headphones and they were both laughing. It must have been too much happiness for Ichika to withstand because she almost immediately got up and started making her way over there with Itsuki and Yotsuba trailing behind.
Miku Nakano
"that's crazy, I had no idea they released a song after Chester passed. It sounds just like they did in the Meteora album" Fuutarou said with a surprised smile as he took off my headphones after I played him 'Lost' by Linkin Park. We bumped into each other at the vending machine while I was buying my matcha soda and somehow ended up speaking about our favorite music. I don't even know how we got to this table, he's just so easy to talk to that i just lost myself in conversation. Those butterflies I felt at the party were still in my stomach but now I have them marching in a single file line.
"Yeah i thought it sounded great but I'm still on the fence with the new singer they picked to replace him she..." i began saying before i as rudely interrupted by my older sister.
"oh no Fuutarou, Miku has you listening to that weird screamo stuff she likes, I'm sorry!" she said laughing at me while she put her hand on his shoulder. She was looking at him but i couldn't help but feel like she as staring at me. Like she was a dog marking its territory. I couldn't help but put my head down in embarrassment.
She asked me point blank when we got home if there was anything between us last night. I told her the truth. There was nothing between us, nothing happened. Itsuki kept quiet about what she saw in the hallway and I didn't tell her about the plans Fuutarou and I made to go see the Sengoku exhibit. Even though nothing physically happened between us, i can't help but feel like a liar.
"Damn Miku, how's it feel to be the only one in your family to have good taste in music?" Fuutarou said with a laugh. Ichika clearly came over her to embarrass me in front of Fuutarou and watching it backfire in her face is putting a small smile on my face.
Ichika immediately started stuttering as she tried to take back what she said before Yotsuba asked us why we were sitting by ourselves. Straight to the point as always.
"Oh we just got sidetracked we'll be over in a minute" Fuutarou said with a warm smile as the girls said ok and walked back to their table. Fuu waited for them to be out of ears reach before he looked at me and said "wanna get out of here?"
I didn't even answer. He took my smile as an answer and took my hand. We snuck out of the cafeteria and made our way to the roof and once we walked out, we got hit by a nice breeze. Sun was out and the roof was empty. A perfect spot for some privacy. the thought of Fuutarou and I alone would've made my brain go crazy if he hadn't made me feel so comfortable on the way up here. We continued talking about music and the different kinds of headphones I use. He didn't bring up Ichika and what she tried to pull at lunch at all which I was grateful for.
"Do you usually come up here for lunch?" I ask him
"Sometimes. Me and Takke come up every once in a while just to mix things up" he said as he cracked open the matcha soda he got from the vending machine after he saw me get one. He took a sip and tilted his head in confusion about what he was drinking.
"You guys really are close huh?" I asked as I tried with every ounce in my body to hide my new found jealousy.
"Oh Takke? That's my best friend. We practically grew up together" he said with a smile before taking another sip and having that smile disappear. "Ok, it's not bad, but I can't tell if I like it or not" he said as we both started laughing.
"It's an acquired taste" I say laughing before changing the subject back to the original one" Sooo… are your families related or something? Because she calls your big brother uncle, so I just assumed you guys were cousins or something…" I say hoping he opens up about their relationship a little more
"Oh Hideo? He basically adopted me a couple of years ago and he's best friends with her dad. I actually work for them so we're always around each other"he says before taking a seat on one the chairs set out and points at the one next to him for me to sit down.
"You work for them? Doing what exactly?" I ask nonchalantly trying to hide my curiosity.
"I'm….. I'm a courier" he said hesitantly. I think he noticed himself and said "have you heard anything about us? About me? Takke and her family?" He said gently looking me in the eyes.
"I'm not exactly the social one so I haven't really talked to anyone besides you and Akira. Why? Is there something I should know?" I say as he cracks a little smile.
"All you need to know is that me and Takke aren't bad people, especially Takke" he said.
Before I could ask him any more questions the bell rang signaling us to get to our next class.
"Do you mind if I walk you to class?" he asked. I couldn't take my eyes off of his. I didn't even want to get off of this rooftop but I manage to snap myself out of it and nod. He picks up my backpack and holds the door open to walk downstairs.
The walk to class was different than the one to the roof. On the way to the roof, I was in the moment. But now I'm stuck in my head thinking about all the questions I should have asked. Like playing a dating sim and regretting the dialogue options you selected, except this is real life and I can't just go back to my last save point.
"Hey Fuutarou. Do you mind if we stop by my locker on the way? I gotta grab a book for class" I ask
"of course" he says with a smile as we walk down the hall to my locker. I open the door and start looking for my book when I over hear 2 boys walking towards us.
"Man, how come I gotta get stuck with the ugly Nakano in like 4 of my classes" one boy said.
"Yeah bro sucks for you, I got the hot actor one in homeroom and the sexy athletic one in math!" The other one said.
"How the fuck can there even be an ugly one when they're fucking quintuplets, she probably came out a little retarded" the first boy said as they started laughing even harder.
I was frozen in place with my head in my locker. I've been called "the plain one", "the ugly duckling", "the basic quintuplet" my whole life. Sometimes even by my own sisters when we argue. Can't say I'm used to it. It still hurts just as bad as it did the first time I heard it in middle school when all the girls started changing their hair to these crazy hair styles. But what makes this so much worse is that they're saying it in front of him. I'm so embarrassed. He's probably going to come to his senses and realize he should just pick Ichika instead. She's clearly the better option.
I close the locker door and Fuutarou is standing there with a smile like nothing happened. I look up at him and I feel my knees buckle a little. I can't even look him in the eyes. My eyes begin to water, but just as a tear begins to fall, he quickly wipes it away and says "c'mon Miku, you'll be late. Let's get you to class" he wipes his hand on his shirt and grabs the book from my hand as we walk to my class. "I'll see you after school, ok?" He says with a final good bye as he pulls out his phone and walks away.
I couldn't focus on anything the teacher was saying. The words those boys said kept repeating in my head. They called me ugly and retarded. They didn't even know me. All they knew was that out of the five of us, I was the worst. The worst looking, the worst dressed, the worst personality. I hate myself.
Just before class ended there was a bunch of sirens outside and an announcement on the loud speakers to stay in our current classroom until we were told to leave. All the students immediately went to the window to see 2 ambulances outside and paramedics rushing in with 2 stretchers. We all gather at the door and see them rush passed us.
All the students begin asking the teacher what's going on and start gossiping about what they could be here for. I hear a couple talk about a teacher maybe having a heart attack and other people talking about how someone could be trying to jump off the roof. And then i saw it. The paramedics were rolling out the 2 boys on the stretchers who look like they were hit by busses. One of them was unconscious while the other was screaming in pain as the paramedic was holding up his leg in a splint. His leg was at a 45 degree angle but not the way it's supposed to be bent. A trail of blood from God knows where was trailing behind them as the paramedics were on the radio.
"Oh my god that was Haru and Yuta from the soccer team!" one of my classmates said. "No way! Yuta was the captain!" said another. Shortly after an announcement was made on the speakers telling us to go to our next class.
I played that image a million times in my head. Ran every possible scenario to explain how this could have happened when I knew the answer. I knew who was responsible but I just didn't want to accept it. I walk into history class and take a seat next to Akira who was already sitting down. Just like everyone else in the class she started talking to me about what happened.
"Oh my god did you hear? I heard 2 students got escorted out by paramedics? Have any idea what happened?" Akira said as I shook my head.
Class began and I sat with these thoughts running rampant in my mind. Running each scenario one by one. And just as I thought about a scenario involving Fuutarou, i look up and see him standing at the door saying good bye to Mickey before walking in and sitting in the empty seat right next to me.
"You're late Mr. Uesugi" said Mr. Hinata.
"Sorry sir, won't happen again" Fuutarou said as he looked over at me. We lock eyes and I'm stuck. My eyes shoot over to his hands as I notice the blood around his knuckles and then his shoes which have blood on them as well. It was all the confirmation I needed. He did it, he put those boys in the hospital.
My eyes go back up to meet those golden eyes once again. He's not taking his eyes off of me. He sees me looking at the blood. It's like he wants me to see it. He's saying a million things right now without saying a single word. I should be scared. I should call this what it is, assault. I should call the cops and tell them everything. What he just did was terrible and wrong, but I couldn't help myself as I feel a smile creep onto my face. I liked it, I liked it a lot.
A/N
HOLY FUCK! This was by far the hardest chapter to write and it's probably my weakest aside from how I ended it. I am so sorry for the delay guys. This was supposed to be up last Friday and I even gave myself an extra day on the deadline I promised and still couldn't make it. I had to rewrite Ichika's Pov at least 3 times. I had something happen in that scene that I'm saving for a later chapter so that was a big reason for the delay. I was so happy to see the positive feedback from new readers. Thank you all so much! Especially and Rollingcardboardbox, your comments really motivated me to try and get this chapter as good as I can make it. I really wanted to show a couple things in this chapter. 1 being how the girls view each other. Akira, Miku, and Ichika. They're all playing the game, and seeing how they all play it differently has been so much fun to write. My favorite part to write was probably Akira's because I wanted to show how a normal day with Fuu at school was. Their back-and-forth dialogue, her jealousy, and seeing Fuu interact with other people from her perspective. Also was diving even deeper into Fuu and Miku's growing relationship. I was going to write a fight scene right there in the hallway but I figured all of it happening behind the scenes would be way cooler to envision than anything I could write lol. Plus seeing how Miku liked it was the perfect cherry on top for me, I hope you guys feel the same lol Thank you all so much for reading and I can't wait to drop the next one!