Go-Toubun no Hanayome √AE

Chapter 28:A Branching Moment ①

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Summer continued. The quints tried having as much fun as they could, barring the time they had to do their homework. Miku noticed Ichika would put less and less effort, but when she tried helping her, Ichika would simply say it was not her day. Asking Itsuki didn't help, as she would respond in a similar way. Despite some concerns, Miku believed Ichika would make a comeback. The rest of their summer leading up to the anniversary of their mother's death was as normal as you could make it. Ichika continued to practice her roles as much as she could. The sisters had barbecue together. Nino tried calling Maruo multiple times about the upcoming grave visit, but she was turned away every time. Miku, Nino and Fuutarou continued to try their best at their part time job. Miku would always try new experiments with Fuutarou, causing Nino to both be jealous and worry about Fuutarou's health. All he would think about, however, was why he couldn't differentiate the differing tastes like he could before. This resulted in him eating a bunch of Miku's cooking. As soon as he passed out from overconsumption of barely edible food, Nino would have to jump in to save him. The sisters tried going to as many festivals as they could. This time, they could watch the fireworks, something they had missed last year. Itsuki couldn't help but feel sorrow upon looking at them, however. All she could see was memories of her mother. But, she couldn't dwell on that too much, knowing that her time in cram school during summer was important to work towards her dream. Time continued to pass...until it was time to visit Rena's grave. It was only a little bit before the new semester, this meant that it was the anniversary of Rena's death.

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At the cemetery, the only sounds that could be heard was the wind blowing against the hair of the five sisters. They were in silence, praying in front of the grave that housed their mother. Once they were done praying, Yotsuba noticed something.

Yotsuba:"Wait a sec. If these are the flowers we brought, and those are the flowers Uesugi-san gave us, then why are there two more sets of flowers?"

Miku:"Who knows, maybe it was dad?"

Nino:"No way, he had no interest in coming. Doesn't explain the other set either."

Yotsuba:"Maybe it was Shimoda-san."

Itsuki:"No...She stopped bringing them for some reason."

Ichika:"Okay. We've more or less wrapped up here, so let's head on home."

Yotsuba:"It's almost time for us to go back to school."

Itsuki:"...I...You girls..."

Ichika looked at Itsuki, who was trying to speak up. Ichika had been feeling bad about Itsuki, realizing she may have jumped the gun.

Ichika:"Itsuki..."

Miku picked up on this and her worry for what could have happened was finally too much.

Miku:"Hmm, that's it. Ichika, Itsuki, why have you been acting like this?"

Ichika:"W-What are you talking about?"

Itsuki:"Yeah, we don't know what you mean, we're just sad about mom."

Miku:"That's not it. Ever since our trip with Fuutarou, you two have been weird."

Ichika:"There's nothing wrong with keeping a little secret, is there? I mean, don't you have some big secrets yourself?"

Miku:"...Of course I do. I'm sorry if I'm pushing too hard for this...I'm aware we all have secrets that we're ashamed of, but it's clear you two are feeling awkward about the same thing."