03/25/25

Starts during S1E10 when Fuutarou and Ichika are moving the logs to get ready for the campfire. Everything up to this point is the same as the anime. Italics convey thinking.

Title subject to change.

Ichika

"I think… we should call the dance off."

I froze.

Though I saw them coming a mile away, the words still shocked me.

"I mean, the only reason we're doing this is because of a stupid misunderstanding. Anyways, you could do without a guy like me ruining your image. And personally, I feel that high school romance is a waste of time…"

He rambled on, listing all the reasons why it shouldn't be. I didn't hear any of them.

I wanted to stay strong. To keep the pain I felt within hidden from him. To hide how much it pained me to hear how little he thought of himself and how highly he thought of me.

But I couldn't.

A single tear, overflow from the well of emotions I was trying so desperately to contain, fell to the ground of the shed we were in.

Craning my neck downwards to shield myself from his vision, I prayed the angle and surrounding darkness would keep me hidden. But it was no use.

I heard his breath hitch, and through my peripheral, saw him stumble backwards. I couldn't see his face, but I had an idea of what it looked like. "Fuutarou-kun you dork." I thought. "Don't you know you should comfort a girl who's crying?"

My thoughts amused me. Laughing softly, I looked up, revealing the streaks along my face where tears had been moments before."I'm fine, really." I said, forcing a smile. "Don't worry about me."

I wasn't fine. He knew I wasn't.

"It doesn't have anything to do with you!" He said, his voice and movements becoming frantic. "I just… the thing is…"

"Don't worry. I get it. We really don't know each other that well and-"

Suddenly, I heard a shout. "I think there's only one left!"

"Crap. I forgot about the others. How am I going to explain this?" Before I could think of something, they were upon us.

"Hey guys!" called out the two girls walking side by side. I quickly wiped my tears.

"Maybe they won't notice."

"This is the last log! We can take it from he… Nakano-san, why are you crying?"

They noticed.

"Come on Ichika, use those acting skills."

"Um… well you see-" I was cut off before I could speak my half-baked response.

"I tripped and made her drop the log on her foot. I was just about to take her back to the cabin to get treatment."

My eyes widening, I turned quickly towards him. "Fuutarou-kun."

"Ohmagoshareyoualright?!" I was quickly crowded by the two girls. "Damn it Uesugi!" "I thought boys are supposed to be strong." "Not him, he's not good for anything except studying!"

As Fuutarou was put on the defense, I directed my gaze towards him. My emotions began to swell up again. I felt… disappointed. But why? "I don't particularly have feelings towards him. At least, I don't think I do. Maybe it's because this is my first rejection. Usually I'm the one turning people down. Could it be that I'm just not used to being on this side of the situation?"

Deep down, I knew that wasn't it.

I felt a tug on my arm and was quickly yanked back to reality. "Nevermind, you can handle the last one on your own. We'll take her back. I think you've done enough."

"Geez. What'd the guy ever do to them?"

Glancing back, I made eye contact with and cheerily mouthed him a "sorry" before shooting a thumbs up. I needed him to believe that I was okay. The frown on his face showed otherwise.

As I turned away, the smile from my own face disappeared. "Now look what you've done Ichika. All this because you didn't get your way? Just grow up and let it go."

I couldn't let it go.

Later that night, I returned to my room.

I had been taken to have my foot inspected by the teachers and, much to their confusion, there was no sign of injury. They made the conclusion that no mark was left, and I was told to immediately return to my room to rest, that way I wouldn't miss out on tomorrow's planned activities.

Opening the door, I found two of my sisters. Itsuki had crashed out on the floor, hanging half-way off of her futon while Miku was sitting on hers, tapping away at her phone. I greeted Miku, receiving a grunt of acknowledgement.

"Where's Nino and Yotsuba?" I asked.

Miku glanced over at me. "Well, I know Nino is in the common room with her friends, but shouldn't you know where Yotsuba is? She is the one that asked you to help set up the campfire."

"Oops." With all that happened, she completely slipped my mind.

"Oh yeah… about that…"

As if being summoned, there was a knock on the door before Yotsuba hurriedly barged into the room. "Ichika, there you are! The girls told me what happened. Are you okay?"

Miku looked at me with a puzzled look.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said, letting out an awkward laugh. "Can barely even feel it."

"That's because there's nothing to feel."

Turning to Miku, Yotsuba explained "Uesugi-san dropped a log on her foot while helping set up. I'm sure he didn't do it on purpose though." Looking back at me, she said "I hope this doesn't affect your ability to ski tomorrow."

"That's right, tomorrow's activity is skiing."

I heard a swift rustling coming from behind me. "Fuutarou was there?"

I turned around so I was facing Miku, who was now standing on her futon, arms crossed, staring at me with a conflicted look on her face.

"Yeah! Since I helped Uesugi-san with the 'Test of Courage', he agreed to help me with set-up! He broke off into a group with Ichika, so I kind of lost track of them. That's why I was so worried when I heard the news."

"I see…" said Miku without breaking eye-contact.

"Speaking of Fuutarou, did you ever get that situation cleared up?"

"She seems… upset."

"Oh, he um… decided to call it off. Said he didn't want to 'embarrass me.'"

Miku glanced down, a small smirk breaking onto her face. "I see…" she repeated, lighter this time before laying back down and slipping her headphones on..

"Call what off?" I heard from behind me. Surprised, I whipped around. I had forgotten about Yotsuba. Again.

"Oh, it's nothing." I laughed. "Don't worry about it."

Yotsuba leaned in close, squinting her eyes at me, causing me to recoil. "Very suspicious."

Grabbing her bag from beside the door frame, Yotsuba leaned back and shrugged before turning towards the hallway. "Anyways, I'm going to go shower. Good night!"

"Good night." I murmured as she left. After turning off the lights, I walked over and settled down on my futon, facing away from Miku so as to shield my eyes from her blinding phone screen.

"How do her eyes not hurt? And what was that attitude about?"

As I lay there, I contemplated the array of events that had just occurred.

It had been a busy evening. I thought back to Fuutarou-kun's words, and as I replayed them, I felt uneasy.

Bringing my knees to my chest, I curled myself into a ball, attempting to comfort myself. Before long, I had drifted off to sleep.

_

Thanks for reading this first chapter! This is my first fanfic (and the first time I've written creatively in a while, so expect some corny dialogue and plot holes. I'm doing this for fun, and to also give Ichika a little more love since I think she's overly hated. This is a side-project, as I'm in school still, so expect wait times of about two to three weeks. I have a general idea of where I want to go with this, but I'm really just going with whatever I feel. Anyways, thanks again for reading.