Chapter 405: Yotsuba Has Never Stepped Onto the Stage
In front of the Nakano house.
Under Nino's mocking gaze.
Sakurai Saki pushed Itsuki out from behind.
"Alright, stop hiding."
"N… Nino, good morning." Nakano Itsuki spoke with a stiff, robot-like rhythm.
Just thinking about the fact that she and Nino had become "Pole Sisters" made her feel strange.
"Itsuki, what's wrong with you? Why are you so shy?"
Nakano Nino only needed one look to know that something definitely happened last night.
"...Nothing, I just ate a bit too much yesterday."
Itsuki forced herself to stay calm; she didn't want Nino to notice anything.
But unfortunately, just looking at her slightly strange way of walking, Nino already understood roughly what had happened.
She just didn't know who took the initiative.
Nino guessed that it was Itsuki.
Because this Sakurai Saki guy didn't like taking the initiative; if a girl didn't give an invitation, he wouldn't force anyone, like a kind of playboy with boundaries.
"Itsuki, you're not in your dangerous period right now, are you?"
"…In the safe period."
"But I heard that even the safe period can be dangerous. Even when it's safe, it's not really safe, so you have to take proper precautions."
"I didn't do anything with him…" Itsuki insisted stubbornly.
Just when Nino was about to keep teasing her.
At the door, Nakano Yotsuba ran out.
The "bunny ears" on her head bounced twice.
"Yahallo! Good morning! Sakurai-san!"
Full of energy, truly adorable.
Sakurai Saki responded to her: "Good morning, Yotsuba."
"It must be troublesome for Sakurai-san to come all the way here, right?"
"Not at all. Our houses are close, driving doesn't even take twenty minutes."
"Come inside and sit, our house is really big."
Sakurai Saki originally planned to go to the appointment, but thinking about it again, since Miku was here, it seemed he didn't need to head to the meeting point immediately.
Besides, that small park was also nearby.
...
Yotsuba led Sakurai Saki into the living room, then brought tea, busy for several minutes.
"Sakurai-san, here you go."
Sakurai Saki took the cup she handed him: "Thank you."
"No need to thank me. This time all of us did well on the exams thanks to Sakurai-san."
"Where's your new tutor?"
"Dad said we can study well on our own, so there's no need to hire a new tutor."
Sakurai Saki felt that Nakano Maruo was afraid another person like him would appear.
But the fact that the quintuplets could study by themselves was a good thing.
"Last time, about your future, have you decided yet?"
"I want to take the exams myself, I won't enter the sports university anymore." Nakano Yotsuba looked at him, speaking with a seriousness she had never shown before.
"Are you sure? Sports are your specialty. And you even received an invitation from the university."
"It's okay. Because I've already thought it over—if I give up the exam, then all my efforts from this past year would be wasted. After the track and field competition ended, I decided that in this last half-year, I would study seriously."
February next year was the unified exam.
There was still enough time.
"Sakurai-san, I'll do my best."
"This kind of thing, you should tell Nakano-san, right? Saying it to me won't have any effect."
"Dad doesn't care about this kind of thing, he has no demands regarding our future. Sakurai-san was our tutor for a whole year, so I thought I definitely had to tell you something like this." In Nakano Yotsuba's heart, Sakurai Saki was still a strict tutor.
She had absolutely no idea what Sakurai Saki had already done with her sisters.
Which was very normal.
After all, she was the only surviving one at the moment.
The most intimate thing the two of them had ever done was just him feeding her medicine like a lover when she had a cold and ended up in the infirmary.
"Have you decided which school you want to apply to?"
"Not yet, but I plan to enter the same school as Itsuki and the others."
In the Nakano household, except for Ichika, the other sisters were all preparing for exams, and their scores were quite similar, so they would probably be able to enter the same school.
...
While the two were talking.
At the edge of the outer wall near the door.
Nino and Itsuki stood together.
"So there really wasn't any intimate action." Itsuki muttered to herself.
She thought Sakurai Saki definitely wouldn't let Yotsuba off that easily, but unexpectedly, even when alone, the two still maintained a teacher–student state.
"Sakurai-san isn't interested in Yotsuba, he always sees Yotsuba as just a cute little rabbit."
"Little rabbit?"
"Yeah, her ribbon, don't you think it looks like it?"
"… it does look quite similar."
"Mn~ what are you two doing standing here so early in the morning?"
Miku's slightly sleepy voice came from beside them.
It wasn't even eight yet.
She completely didn't understand why the two were standing here.
"Miku?"
Itsuki suddenly heard the voice and jumped. Turning around and seeing Miku in pajamas, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Miku walked without making a sound.
Scared her to death.
"Itsuki, you're back?"
"Umu, Sakurai-san brought me home."
"Oh." Miku still wasn't fully awake.
After a few seconds, she finally reacted.
"Saki-kun?" Miku repeated once.
"That's right. What's wrong?"
"… where?"
"There, talking with Yotsuba." Nino pointed toward the living room.
Nakano Miku nodded slightly, then sleepily walked toward the living room.
...
Sakurai Saki was discussing with Yotsuba about the range of possible university choices, when he noticed the sliding door of the Japanese-style living room being opened.
Miku, wearing only a white shirt and completely defenseless, stepped inside.
Because Miku had sleepwalked like this many times, Sakurai Saki had already become immune to seeing her dressed like this.
"Sakurai-san, what's wrong?" Yotsuba followed Sakurai Saki's gaze, and her face immediately turned bright red. She hurriedly stood up, wanting to take Miku out.
But Miku's movement was faster.
The moment Yotsuba stood up, Miku had already approached Sakurai Saki, even lying down on his lap.
What should she do now?
Yotsuba looked at Miku's blissful face, and even felt a little unwilling to break such a scene.
She knew Miku had feelings for Sakurai Saki, just like Nino, loving someone she couldn't have.
But that couldn't be helped either, Sakurai-san already had Hayasaka-san as his girlfriend, so there was no way he could accept a second girl.
"It's air-conditioned here, it's pretty cold, Yotsuba, go get a blanket."
Sakurai Saki noticed Miku's breathing gradually becoming steady.
Could it be this girl didn't sleep properly last night?
Since it was summer, the air conditioning was on and the temperature was very low; sleeping like this could easily lead to catching a cold.
'We even made an appointment at 9 at the park, and yet it's almost 8 and she's still this sleepy...'
Sakurai Saki strongly suspected that Miku was going to stand him up.
Luckily, he had come to the quintuplets' house early.
"Alright, I got it." Nakano Yotsuba nodded.
This kind of situation with Miku wasn't the first time.
She quietly ran out of the living room.
Sakurai Saki lowered his head to look at the peacefully sleeping Miku.
'What should I do now?'
Originally they agreed to just be friends, but based on her previous behavior, that wasn't something mere friendship could comfort; that was completely girlfriend-level jealousy mode.
...