In the living room, a profound change had come over Nakano Yotsuba.
She stared blankly at a cup on the coffee table, chin in hand, her expression one of cosmic melancholy. "Why do people form bonds? What is love? What is the purpose of existence?"
What could have plunged the usually irrepressibly cheerful Yotsuba into such an existential abyss?
Sakurai Saki and Nakano Ichika.
The evidence was… circumstantial, but to Yotsuba's mind, irrefutable. In such a small room, how could she not have noticed? Her own Ichika-nee, rolling around in bed with Sakurai-kun, right before her eyes!
Morning cuddles were one thing. But to do it so brazenly, with her right there…
Does Ichika have a thing for that kind of risk? A tiny, scandalized part of her brain whispered, It's… kind of thrilling.
'If they're dating, they shouldn't be doing that here!' Doing it was one thing, but doing it in the morning, and then getting caught red-handed by her little sister!
Yotsuba was on the verge of a system crash.
Setting aside the tangled relationship web, a more immediate crisis loomed: How was she supposed to act around Sakurai-kun now? Knowing what she knew, she could barely look him in the eye!
Tap. Tap.
Footsteps descended the stairs.
"Yotsuba? What's wrong?" Ichika, looking perfectly nonchalant, was the first down.
Yotsuba jolted, then turned her head with robotic stiffness. "N-nothing!" The best strategy is to feign ignorance! Discovering your sister and your tutor in a compromising position—this was a secret she would take to the grave. Especially from the parties involved.
"Your face looks weird." Ichika yawned, stretching her arms above her head in a languid, cat-like motion that showcased her figure.
Yotsuba's eyes darted to her sister's bare face. "Ichika… aren't you going to put on makeup?"
"We're all family here. Why bother?" Ichika replied, flopping onto the sofa.
Family?
Is Sakurai-kun family now?
Family = Relatives.
It is known that Ichika and Sakurai-kun shared a bed. Furthermore, Ichika referred to Sakurai-kun as 'family.'
Therefore: Sakurai-kun = Ichika's family!
Ichika's family ≈ Ichika's boyfriend!
Conclusion: Ichika has a boyfriend!
Yotsuba's mental gears, well-oiled for sports but rusty for logic, ground through this deduction at lightning speed. Yet, she sought final confirmation.
"But Ichika, Sakurai-kun is here. Isn't it bad not to wear makeup?"
"So much trouble~" Ichika waved a dismissive hand, snuggling into the couch cushions.
Confirmed! Case closed!
Meanwhile, in Itsuki's room, a different crisis was unfolding.
Nakano Itsuki stood frozen before her digital scale, her face a mask of horror.
"I… I've gained weight."
Had she been eating more? Her diet seemed consistent. But the numbers didn't lie. Itsuki was militant about her weight. She'd attempted diets before, only to succumb to catastrophic binge-eating rebounds, netting zero progress.
"Half a kilogram in less than a week… that's three kilograms a month… thirty-six kilograms a year…" Her brain, sluggish with math problems, became terrifyingly efficient for this calculation.
The result hit her like a freight train.
"I'm doomed!" Despair washed over her features.
Knock. Knock.
"Who is it?"
"It's me! It's me!" The voice was familiar.
"…Sakurai-kun?" Itsuki recognized it this time. Having mentally prepared herself, she opened the door with forced composure.
"What are you doing? Class is starting soon."
"N-nothing!"
Then, Sakurai Saki's gaze drifted past her, landing on the scale of judgment by her feet.
"Do all five of you really weigh the same?" he asked, revisiting a topic from their last tutoring session.
"Mhmm!" Itsuki nodded with fierce conviction. "Exactly the same! A collective 250 kilograms!"
"Really?" Sakurai's eyes flicked to Itsuki's notably plump thighs—a full size thicker than Ichika's, and probably quite soft. He was a skeptic by nature.
"Really!!" Itsuki's protest was vehement.
"Oh," Sakurai noted casually, "that digital scale has a display lag…"
Itsuki whirled around, snatched up the scale, and then pointed an accusing finger at his face. "You saw it?!"
"Five-point… kilograms…" Sakurai averted his gaze. "That's almost 60… you're nearly as heavy as I am." For a girl of the quintuplets' height (under 160cm), 55kg was healthy, but 60kg edged into 'plump' territory. (For reference, Sakurai Saki, at 180cm, weighed 67.5kg.)
"No way! It's still * kilograms off!" Itsuki shouted, her voice cracking. And this traitorous scale! Had it broken down because it couldn't handle her devastating weight…? The tragedy was complete.
No, no, no! Absolutely unacceptable!
"Don't get worked up. I just came to get you because you weren't out yet," Sakurai Saki explained, maintaining his professional facade. "As your tutor."
Under his oddly perceptive gaze, Itsuki scurried past him and firmly closed the door.
Click. The lock engaged.
In the next moment, she whirled around, stood on her tiptoes, and performed a perfect kabedon, pinning him against the wooden door with her hand.
"You. Saw. Nothing," she declared, her cheeks puffed out like an indignant hamster.
"That's…"
Knock-knock! She rapped her knuckles against the door beside his head for emphasis, her smile sweet yet terrifying. "Sakurai-kun~ Repeat after me: 'I have never seen Itsuki's weight.'"
Sakurai Saki, betraying his conscience, parroted, "I have never seen… Itsuki's weight."
"Why the pause?" Itsuki pressed her face closer, their noses almost touching. If Sakurai lowered his head just a fraction, their lips would meet.
"…Fine, I don't care if you don't finish." Seeing his resistance, she pressed on. "Now say: 'Itsuki is a slender, beautiful, and kind-hearted woman.'"
"…"
"Say it!" She leaned in again, eliminating the last millimeter of space.
You're about to make contact, Itsuki-chan. Sakurai strained to keep his head glued to the door.
"…Itsuki is a curvaceous, beautiful, and kind-hearted troublemaker." Sakurai Saki was, at heart, a rebellious spirit. He loved defying petty tyrants.
"Oh, Sakurai-kun must have misspoken." Itsuki's voice was sugar-coated steel. "Would you like to try again?"
As she spoke, she leaned in even closer, her warm breath ghosting over his lips.
This time, she noticed him actively trying to lean away. His retreat ignited a mischievous spark within her.
Itsuki raised her other hand, gently tracing his cheek with her fingertips. "Come on Say it properly"
Trapped, Sakurai averted his eyes and muttered, "…Itsuki is a slender, beautiful, and kind-hearted woman."
"Thank you for the compliment!" Nakano Itsuki's lips curled in a triumphant, utterly shameless smile. The guilt of coercion was nowhere to be seen.
"Itsuki-chan," Sakurai said, his voice dropping. "Don't you think we're a bit… too close?"
He stopped trying to pull away. Instead, he lowered his head, closing the distance she had created, his face now hovering just above hers.
Itsuki's bold facade instantly crumbled. "…Huh?"
"In your own room, pinning your tutor against the wall… Itsuki-chan, behavior like this…" Sakurai pressed his advantage, his gaze intent.
Just as he began to lean in further—
"!!"
Nakano Itsuki, as if scalded, yanked her hand back from the wall and scrambled away like a startled rabbit.
"You—you were the one who peeked at my weight first! You started it!" Her logic became increasingly tangled. "The wall-slam was me… wait, no, that's not…!"
"Anyway! It's all your fault!"
She had just kabedon'd her tutor! And she'd been the one to get in his face! Wasn't that practically an invitation?
So mortifying…! Itsuki dove onto her bed and burrowed under the covers, a cocoon of embarrassment.
Sakurai Saki's voice was calm. "I apologize. I shouldn't have looked at Itsuki-chan's weight."
From within the blanket mound, only incoherent, flustered sounds could be heard. Her face was undoubtedly crimson.
"S-Sakurai-kun… please leave now~"
Seeing her genuinely flustered state, Sakurai abandoned any thought of further teasing.
Though, is this vampire's innate charm a bit too potent?
He pushed the door open and left.
A few seconds later: Click! The lock re-engaged behind him.
Walking down the hallway, Sakurai shook his head. He couldn't fathom Itsuki's weight obsession. So what if she gained a little? It wasn't a big deal. Girls were perpetually on diets; it was a universal constant. With a face like hers, she'd never lack for admirers regardless.
"Sakurai-kun! Where'd you go?" Yotsuba asked as he descended the stairs, her curiosity now tinged with a new, wary intensity.
"To Itsuki's room."
"…Eh?" Yotsuba's face morphed into a landscape of pure, unadulterated confusion.
Hold on. So Sakurai-kun doesn't like Ichika… but Itsuki?
Or… does he like them both?!
The plot, in Yotsuba's mind, had just thickened into an impenetrable stew.